Trisha Griffith

I attribute my success to always showing up and dedication. I work day in, day out. I mean, even currently now, I'm the last person to log off on my computer. I answer the phones on the weekends. I don't turn work off a lot. We're a very small team that handles a very large account of the business, so it takes people like that to grow. You have to have somebody who always answers the phone. In this industry, that's what's gonna get you the business - you gotta be quick, and you gotta always be there when people need you. That has been a big thing for me. I never turn that off. People always know that if they call me or they email me, it's going to be taken care of. They don't have to second-guess it, and I'm gonna answer. I'm pretty much one of the only people that answers the phone in the industry on the weekends. Being responsive and being dependable is definitely my strongest suit - my availability, being responsive, and being dependable. I also bring value to work as far as expertise in my role. It's respected by coworkers and by customers and suppliers, and building those relationships has been crucial.

To let your work speak for itself, continue learning, and never be afraid to step into opportunities even when entering spaces traditionally dominated by men.

If I were a young girl to come into my business, definitely focus on product knowledge - know your products, know what you're selling. Understand your customers' problems. Build the relationships. These aren't just transactions, they're relationships that you build, and people travel around in this market a lot, so those relationships are really important. Give people the trust, invest time in your suppliers and your coworkers, invest time in your customers. Listen more than you talk. Being a woman, definitely speak up at the table. Share your ideas, share your perspective, because your perspective is valuable. Just because you're the youngest person in the room, or you're a woman, it doesn't not validate your perspective. Let your work speak about you. Don't spend your energy proving to the wrong people - just let your work speak for itself. Develop a thick skin, because this industry can be direct, and there's a lot of rough edges. Don't take things so personally, but don't tolerate disrespect. Find mentors. Find people, find advocates that teach you, they challenge you, and ones that can open doors for you that have similar backgrounds. Make sure they have integrity and experience. Protect your reputation. Know your valuable assets, and keep honest. Keep your word, admit to your mistakes, and work through your problems. And take care of yourself outside of work. Don't sacrifice relationships, your happiness, your health for work. Build your career, but also enjoy life.

The biggest challenges right now are that I sell a commodity product, so it's a very competitive market. It's been challenging with tariffs and new political aspects of the business, because that affects how we are priced and how our cost of goods is distributed to customers, and whether they're able to buy or not. Our market's very saturated, so there's a lot of crossovers in customers, so it really depends on your relationships with your customers on where they go for business. On the opportunities side, there's definitely growth as far as building and expanding our network. We're now in a position where we've put our heads down and put the work in, and we've become recognizable to the industry. We've built a name and we're standing on a marketing platform that is recognized by Google and so forth. Now we're ready to get involved, put in work on the customer relations side of business, building those stronger outreaches, putting our time and our money back into the community, back into the industry, and just growing the business from there. Our goal is to grow it, be able to buy up our competitors, and then be kind of the sole person left in the market.

There's always reliability and accountability. I stay very loyal to my company. In this business, a lot of people switch around and change from one place to the next, because it's a very transitional position to be in, and I've always stayed loyal to my companies that I've worked for. We built this from the ground up, so there were a lot of times when it would have been easy to walk out when there wasn't a lot going in, but I've always put my head down and my work ethic is very, very strong. Having growth with our company and achieving that has been a very big thing for me and the company. In my personal life, just trust and commitment to things. Family's always really important. I'm always looking for ways to grow and self-improvement, and of course, in health. Fitness is a big thing for me that I've put a lot of dedication and hard work into, since I competed for so long.