It's time to seize the opportunity to give back!

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says feedback keeps everybody more focused and energized to take needs from the members to the government agencies. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Multimedia Manager Megan Ellsworth and Randy Chaffee, the owner and CEO of Source One Marketing, LLC.

Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone. Welcome back. My name is Megan Ellsworth here@metalcoffeeshop.com, and I am here with Randy Chaffe for another influencer response. Hi, Randy, how are you?

Randy Chaffee: Hey, Megan, I'm great. And you?

Megan Ellsworth: I'm doing great. So this month's question is, what is your suggestion for being involved with local, state, and federal advocacy in the industry? So, Randy, take it away.

Randy Chaffee: Well, great. You know, that's a great question and it really is kind of timely because I just got back a week or so ago from the, uh, national Frame Builders Association, um, conference in expo out in Des Moines, Iowa, and where I'm blessed to be on the board for them and also the, uh, on the board for the Buckeye Frame Builders Association. So, you know, I can speak a little firsthand about the value of what these groups do, these associations do and I think it's really important for a number of, of takes. I guess. One is if you live in an industry, you know, that's where you live, breathe, eat. I, I think you're missing out on a lot of opportunities to give back. Number one, be involved with the membership, be involved with the board, be involved with the committees. Uh, because if you don't give back to where, to the, to an industry that's been good to you, uh, you, you, you can't do just all take right?

Be, you know, just take from the industry, take from the take from the industry and not give back. I just think that long term is not a good route for you to go. But I think the real beauty is, you know, nobody, you and I, we may think we're kind of like, I got some say with somebody and we don't really as an individual, but you just put it together a group and you go to your local, uh, government agencies, your local OSHA, your local whatever or if you go to your state level or your national level, these advocacy groups, the associations and so forth in the industries have a whole lot more power in a group and with numbers. And I think to allow things in the industry to happen with at least having some say from the grassroots is, is a mistake. And if we don't involve ourselves, and we don't ask our lobbyist groups, we don't involve our, our executive directors and our people and these associations to, Hey, go represent us because this is not good for the industry, then being a little bold.

But if we don't do that, we probably ought to just shut up and take what we get, right? Because we didn't do anything about it. You know, we may not always win. We may not always get what we want, but we'll have a whole lot better opportunity to make this industry better if, if we just involve ourselves. And the, I think the important thing coming now, maybe from an aspect of being on a couple of boards in the industry, if we, we need to hear that feedback. We wanna hear the feedback, and it also keeps everybody on the different committees, uh, to maybe more focused and energized to take those needs, uh, from the membership to the different, uh, whether it's government agencies or whatever the case may be, because we know some backing there from the membership, there's a desire for us to do that.

If at some point you figure nobody cares, it's easy to get busy and, and not maybe put the energy that you should. So I think it's important for the membership to push the, their leaders in their association to, look, we, we need these things addressed. You know, that's what you're volunteer to do. Uh, so let's address these things. So, and then the second, uh, part of it is the, the, um, camaraderie, the relationships, the networking that you develop when you get involved in those associations, uh, is huge. And it may be equally important to what I just talked about, because unless you're either on a, on a board or on one of the committees or one of the hired lobbyists, you know, depending on the level of what, what this involves, uh, you may not have a lot of day-to-day involvement or any day-to-day involvement, maybe with these, uh, agencies.

But what you can have is involvement with other industry pros. And we've talked about this Megan before, and I'm a big believer in networking, a big believer in being involved in your industry. Um, and so I think these, these groups, all the trade associations and so forth, really allow us to see what other people are doing, learn from them, uh, develop those lifelong, uh, uh, uh, friendships that, that, you know, you've got somebody, you know, if you're a contractor, a builder and you beat this guy in Des Moines, Iowa, that's from 12 states away, uh, but you remember a good conversation and you can call and say, you know, do you know anybody that knows anything about this? Right? There's just so many of those kinds of opportunities that arise if you just put yourself out there and not just go to the meetings, or not go to the meetings even worse and have no involvement. So that's, I think, I think it's vitally important to, to do that, both from a personal day to day learning, growing, being better at what you do, but also from a standpoint of, uh, of helping the association help you, you know, with the, uh, with the different various agencies. So that's a long-winded version of all that.

Megan Ellsworth: Well, I mean, I think everything you just said is so true, and especially, you know, if we want to make a difference in what goes on in the industry as a whole, you really have to get involved in all of those local, state and regional and federal national associations and groups. So that is so great. Any advice on, um, finding those groups and associations and that people can get involved with?

Randy Chaffee: Yeah. The one is, when you go to the trade shows, they're always there. And some, a lot of the groups sponsor the trade shows, but if they don't sponsor the trade show, uh, they will, um, certainly have a booth or have representation there. Typically look for the people, ask other members, you know, who's, who's involved with this? Who's running this thing? Who's the, who's what, point, point me out to a board member or a somebody that I can talk to? And because I, I, I feel like you always have to make that extra step of yourself. Anybody in the associations want more members? We wanna have people involved, but don't, don't wait for somebody to walk up and say, Hey, do you happen to be a member of this association? Because that may or may not happen. A lot of stuff's going on. Walk up and find the people.

You can also, uh, uh, Google and YouTube it and whatever else you want to do and find who's in the industry. But also, we've talked before in, in past, uh, interviews like this, Megan, we've talked about working with your, uh, manufacturers reps, for example, which is what I do. Um, ask us. We, we probably are involved with some degree or another with these associations, or if we're not, we certainly know who is and can and can send you in the right direction. So, you know, it's really, uh, the, the fact that I'm gonna, I'm gonna go real bold here. Again, if you don't know how to get involved and you're not asking the question, then I guess you really didn't wanna be involved that bad because you could find the answer. You, you just gotta want it. You got, you wanna find, find the answer and reach out and make a little extra effort, and it's really, really worth it.

I spent many a years in this four plus decades of my doing this crazy journey, um, being a goal honor, right? Just doing what I do in the industry, enjoying it, loving it, benefit from it and my enjoyment, enjoyment for the industry has been so much better the last several years since I got more involved and takes more time, takes more effort, takes some other travel, takes some additional things that you have to go do into shows earlier to have a board meeting or you, the, the things you do, right? But could it is some of the best times because you're involved and you're meeting people, you're networking with people, but you're, you, you're trying to have a little influence on an industry that's been good to you. And I think that's just really, really important. And if you don't take that aspect and all you are is a taker, um, you, you, you're never gonna, you may win, you may win big, but you're never gonna win as big as you could if you give back.

And I know there's an old theory, we may or may not talk about this, but, and I think it's a theory that I really believe in is, is you truly, the more you give, you'll get back a bunch of xs, I don't know, five x, 10 x, a hundred XI don't know, there's a lot of Xs there, right? But you always get back more if you just give effortlessly with no expectations. I'm just gonna do what's right, do what's good for the association or the industry and you just get that back somewhere. Um, if you do it without expecting anything back, it's just, it's just the right thing to do.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Absolutely. Ugh, well said, Randy. Um, thank you for such wise thoughts, um, and advice this month. I'm sure everyone out there is better for it. So thank you. And we'll be chatting next month with more wise, um, advice from Randy Chaffe.

Randy Chaffee: You got it. I'll be here anytime you need me, Megan. Thanks for all you guys do. Bye.

Megan Ellsworth: Mm, of course.

Randy Chaffee: Bye.