Throughout 2019, Thomas will be honoring the achievements of distinguished company leaders and managers in the manufacturing industry. Each month, we will present these respected pillars of industry with the Champion for Industry award. Nominated by their peers, Thomas Champions are leaders who embrace innovation, inspire their colleagues, dedicate themselves to finding trailblazing solutions, and drive business forward.
Thomas has chosen Tracy Tenpenny, vice president of sales and marketing at Tailored Label Products, a label and adhesive solution company, as the next Champion for Industry.
Diversifying Clients for Long-term Success
Tracy Tenpenny has worked at Tailored Label Products (TLP) for almost 14 years. “When I first started, we were a $6.5 million business. This year, we’ll be north of $24 million,” he says. “We have been fortunate enough to grow and not fall into the typical traps of having one or two customers that dominate your business; we have really created a tremendous amount of strength and a very healthy business in not allowing that to occur.”
One example from TLP’s diverse client base? Tesla.
Through “persistence and timing,” Tailored Label Products recently landed the trailblazing energy and automotive company as a dedicated customer. “Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness, and we had a moment in time and we executed it – and it grew,” says Tenpenny. “Now we are their preferred supplier of all their labels.”
As vice president of sales and marketing, Tenpenny’s responsibilities not only hinge on expanding TLP’s reach in the market with brands like Tesla, “but also to do whatever I can to ensure the success of our team members as we continue to drive a truly world-class sales organization,” he says. “I’m very blessed to have a team of highly functioning sales engineers on staff. And it really is a direct indication of the type of culture we have here because we do a great job of developing from within.”
Prioritizing and Fostering Company Culture
In speaking with Tenpenny, it quickly becomes clear how passionate he and the TLP team are about the development of a supportive and collaborative company culture.
“When you are dealing with culture, that’s not something that happens overnight,” he says. “We invest in our employees, and we spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure out best practices and methods to improve our culture; we take it very seriously.”
“We are a world-class manufacturing operation in our industry – and I know that those terms can be overused,” Tenpenny admits. “But when we looked at a point of difference in the marketplace, our culture and our manufacturing operations really set us apart when customers compare us to our competitors.”
Other industry leaders are also taking notice of how Tailored Label Products has differentiated itself from its competition; the company was recently named the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year.
Despite the accolades, Tenpenny says, the company remains steadfastly focused on its employees. “We’ll often say we have 124 families that we have to take care of, and that is our responsibility,” he notes. “That is really core to who we are.”
Advising the Future Generations of Engineers and Industry Professionals
The industry is “facing a unique dynamic right now where you have an older generation of engineers, and you have a younger generation of engineers,” Tenpenny explains.
The two disparate groups highlight how much the workforce – and the workplace – have changed substantially over the past few years. For young engineers and other professionals looking to land a new job in industry, Tenpenny advises adopting the professional mannerisms of the older generation of engineers in order to differentiate themselves from the employment competition.
“It’s never been harder for kids because they’re under a camera and on a phone 24/7 so they’re not allowed to make a mistake,” he says. “[At the same time,] they’ve never had it easier because if they are respectful, if they speak clearly, and if they can look an adult in the eye and talk with confidence, [they have a significant advantage because] their peers aren’t doing that.
“Always remember that no matter where you are, regardless of the situation, you are always being interviewed,” Tenpenny cautions.
Listening for Success
When asked to share his key skills for success in sales, Tenpenny replies, “Listening, listening, listening, having an open mind, and being able to execute.
“I think often people struggle with listening because they have their own ideas – and if there’s something I’ve learned, it’s the older you get, the more you realize how little you truly know,” he says. “I think part of that has more to do with confidence in yourself. [You need to] realize that you don’t always have all the ideas and solutions.
“Take a step back and listen to other people’s thoughts and ideas,” he advises. “It really allows you to form a much better action plan to execute when you have that mindset.”
Leading Responsibly
As a leader, Tenpenny says, “your actions and your attitude transcend through the rest of the organization.”
With that in mind, “it’s important to recognize that your behaviors and actions, while at the time may seem as though they are not impactful, are actually a green light for employees to feel they can act the same way,” Tenpenny says. “You have to constantly remind yourself that how you act in every situation is viewed and modeled going forward.”
For Tenpenny, being a leader at Tailored Label Products “means that I have a responsibility to 124 families to do the best I can every day to try and make the right decisions and cherish their successes, recalibrate after a failure, and constantly inspire and motivate those individuals – even when, at times, it can be tough,” he says. “Because customers can feel that pain when you are struggling.”
The current demanding schedule at TLP is a good example of this responsibility in practice, Tenpenny says. “We are wildly busy, and people are very stressed because they want to do the best they can for our customers,” he explains. “Our job is to let them know they’re doing a great job and that we value how hard they’re working.
“So that’s really my job as a leader internally: putting myself second and making sure they’re front and center and understand that they are the priority,” he says.
Ultimately, “it takes a village to have a successful company, and I am one person of many here at TLP that share in this honor” of being named a Champion for Industry, Tenpenny says. “And quite honestly, I take it on behalf of TLP, because that is where my success truly lies.”