The Perfect 100

Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100.

This week on the podcast, we're going to talk about purpose people and the power of doing
business with heart.

My guest, Amy Lyles, co-owner of Hamilton Appliance in Bartlett, Tennessee, is living
proof that success isn't just about what you sell, it's about how you serve.

uh She and her husband have built a trusted family run business where relationships come
first and every customer feels seen and cared for.

Their approach has earned them loyal clients, community respect and their reputation built
on genuine connection.

Amy, welcome to the show.

Thank you, good to be here.

Yes, awesome.

So let's roll into your 45 seconds so you can tell us a little bit more about what you
guys do there at Hamilton Appliance.

Okay, well we're located in Bartlett and we've been serving the Memphis area for 30 years.

uh We sell all major appliances and we also do used, we do scratch and dent, we do
service, we do parts.

Anything that has to do with a major appliance, we can help you out.

We service all brands and we're just happy to help others with all their major appliance

needs.

Okay, awesome.

Since you're uh local to me, um you're here in Bartlett, Tennessee where I am, I know
you've got, you just said obviously used and pre-owned and parts and that kind of stuff.

So do you guys ship outside of the area also?

Okay.

we don't ship.

We like to keep everything local and face to face.

Okay, perfect.

And that leads me right into my next question perfectly.

So you guys have built a business that is known for trust and taking care of people, two
things that people tend to really notice.

So what does that look like for you?

What do you love most about it?

about it is having that customer walk in the door and say my mom or my dad bought
appliances from you 25 years ago when Mr.

Hamilton was running the store and they always told me if you need an appliance go to
Hamilton's and we hear that all the time.

Okay, that's awesome.

And I know running, well, I'll say I kind of work with my husband because he has a
business and I am in his business and he's in the past been a part of my business.

know running a family-owned business can't always be blissful.

um And you also have to wear lot of hats when it's, you know, a smaller business.

you've got, I know you have seven employees in addition to you and your husband.

So what keeps you grounded day to day?

when challenges start piling up.

Lots of prayer, God, 100%.

Because it can be tough working with your husband, but it's also rewarding because when he
goes to deliver an appliance that I've sold and the customer is like, oh, do you know Amy

in the store?

She's so sweet.

And he'll say, yeah, she can be.

um, and we...

We always get laughs and say, well, I'll make sure I put that in his file, you know?

He is a nice guy.

I think I'll keep him.

So it's fun.

It's fun.

I'm going to use that, put that, I'm going to put that in his file.

uh That's a good one.

um So you're known also for how you naturally connect with people.

Where do you think that comes from and has it always been a part of who you are or has
that grown sort of over time?

Well, it's definitely grown, but I've always been just really, really tried to always
treat others the way I want to be treated my since my early days at Maytag.

Just when I talk to a customer, try to think of how that would affect me and treat them
the way I would want to be treated.

And it's just more so in the face-to-face with appliances and in person, just listening to
the customer, listening to those cues that they give you of what they're looking for, and

just treat them the way you want to be treated.

Yeah, and I worked retail for a long time in automotive, so I feel like there's some
similarities there.

Things break, and sometimes people are unhappy.

How has that played out for you?

I know we're gonna get to your personality um assessment here in a minute, are there ever
stressful times where people will come in and they're unhappy, and what does that look

like for you?

How do you keep that?

100 % a customer walks in and they say, my freezer just went out.

I'm losing food.

Well, I've experienced that.

I experienced that one time when I was out of town and we came home and there was, I mean,
it was a mess and it's, and I can say, no, I know what you're going through.

I've got some freezers here at the store plugged up, bring your food up here, put it in
this freezer.

And when we deliver yours, we'll transfer it.

Just, just trying to treat others the way you want to be treated is, number one.

Yeah, I love that.

I think it's...

um

it's an interesting uh thing to everybody's been there, right?

So everybody and you have some deep skill sets or traits, I guess, that allow you to kind
of connect on that better, which we'll talk again, we'll talk about later.

um But I love that you take that uh extra approach because that means so much to people
that um they don't see that in today's world.

There's a lot less one-to-one caring than

there used to be, especially in retail.

Yeah, and it's hard because you you've got the big box stores that might be able to beat
your price by 30 or $40.

And yeah, they do offer the product for less, but they're not gonna let you come put their
food in their freezers.

No, so hopefully customers will remember that in the future and they'll think that that
was worth the $40 difference.

Right, yeah for sure.

So you are in one of the chapters that coach and we spoke when you were very first coming
into BNI.

um What brought you to BNI and what were you hoping it would do for you and your business?

100 % the camaraderie and the close-knit group.

I felt like when I visited everybody was, friends um and genuinely care about each other.

You know, if somebody's sick, everyone's going, we're praying for you and remember the
next week, how's your dad?

And I actively saw people on Facebook recommending each other.

And that was what I wanted.

I wanted a group of friends that would listen and hear someone say, my fridge went out.

Oh, I know somebody who can help you with that.

And just be genuine with their recommendation of you.

Awesome.

Yeah, so having a lot more salespeople than you actually employ on the streets, so to
speak, out there spreading the word about you is always an awesome thing to have,

Right, right.

It's like you've got a whole oh tribe of people looking out for your customer and to offer
you.

awesome.

So I know your business, because you've just said, is relationship driven and reputation,
especially for uh when you're employing, you're not a big box store.

So when you're the standalone, uh reputation matters, right?

So how has BNI helped you strengthen those connections and earn more trust in the
community?

Well, I've gotten a lot of business from BNI, from referrals, and hopefully I've treated
those customers the way I would want to be treated.

So even if I wasn't able to meet their need right at the time, they still think of us next
time, and they still refer us to other people.

um Even if I...

you know, didn't have the refrigerator that they needed to pick up today.

The impression was made that we really tried.

And with BNI, it has led to me being there for other BNI members.

So then they have a point of reference and a true story to tell customers, hey, my fridge
went out and Amy's guy was there that day.

Yeah.

So it leads to true relationships and um honest referrals.

I love that.

And I think it's, I was thinking earlier when you said something that you have kind of a
unique niche that the, actually have an HVAC person who's local and being here that one of

the reasons not, we've been working with him forever.

And one of the reasons I enjoy, in addition to the good service that he does is I enjoy
that he also offers the option for pre-owned because sometimes, you know, spending for,

and it's not quite, well, maybe you guys have something

that's $10,000 or more.

I don't know if you do the really high end appliances.

Okay, but your air conditioning can be really expensive and sometimes he'll come back with
options that, a new one is this, but you could do that.

And so I imagine that serves a need for a lot of people who same scenario is they can't
afford to go out of pocket big on a brand new appliance, but they still need something.

You have to be able to wash your clothes and you

have to be able store your food.

So I love that you guys provide that option.

Has that been a super helpful niche for growing your business?

Absolutely, and I've been in appliances 30 years now, so I can tell customers honestly,
the life expectancy of a new appliance is 8 to 12 years.

So if you're going to buy something used, you need to think about part of that life
expectancy has been used.

So if you can get three to eight years out of a used appliance, you've done well.

Okay.

If a new one's 8 to 12, you're buying used.

You have to be realistic that part of that life expectancy is gone.

So, yes, it's half the price, but it's half the life expectancy.

So you have to be realistic with this is what you're getting.

And I understand, and a new one may be out of reach right now, but you're looking at three
to five years.

And this is what we can offer you for that.

Yeah.

And we've got, you know, 12 months, same as cash.

So if that helps, but if you can't pay it off in that 12 months, don't do it.

Because the interest rate is so high, I don't recommend it.

But if you're going to be getting that money with a tax return, it may be a good idea for
you to do it.

um So I just.

You know, I've got a young, I've got a son that just got married and got out on his own
and he might not be able to afford a speed clean washer right now.

But he could afford a hot point and make payments over 12 months.

So I recommend doing that.

But if you can't, you know, I'm just honest with people and I hope, you know, that it
comes back.

and they know that I treated them the way I would my son or my mom.

yes, yeah, that makes a big, excuse me, makes a big difference too.

And I way back, way in the way back, I sold cars for a while and used cars, same, same
scenario, right?

Is that you can upfront with the big money and make payments on a brand new car.

And some people, Lord help them.

They would finance for.

you know, 72 months, 94 months, and you're going to pay way more money than that car will
ever, ever be worth when you push it out that far.

In fact, back then, I don't know if they still do it now because it's been so many years,
but we used to sell like conversion vans and, you know, those were high ticket and the

Corvettes were obviously there more now, but uh you're, you know, you're setting yourself
up for a problem potentially in the future when you do stuff like that.

But I digress.

I do have a burning

question about washing machines and maybe I'm being I'm the only one that has this but
since you were coming on out and I was washing my clothes the other day and I was

thinking, ooh, I have to ask Amy this question.

I have two big furry fluffy white great Pyrenees and I wear a lot of black and I was
looking through your social media and I noticed that one of your washing machines has the

claim about.

um It helps reduce dog hair on your clothes.

cause I was actually pulled, that's what I was thinking about is I pulled my black pants
out of the, well, and I don't put them in the dryer or maybe that's my problem because

they're not going to do that.

But I don't like to put stuff black, especially in because you never know what it's going
to pull.

And maybe this is my misconception about how clothes washing works, but the dog hair does
not come off in the wash.

So what am I doing wrong?

Okay.

The dryer is what is gonna aid you in getting hair off.

Because when they come out of the washer, they're still wet, so that hair's just gonna
stick to it.

But the dryer, especially the Speed Queen, has a pet hair setting that is designed to get
the hair off of things.

I understand not wanting to dry it, but it is a dryer that's gonna help you get hair off,
yeah.

Cause it's so frustrating.

I'm like lint rolling, like a crazy person.

I should own stock in lint rolls and everybody that owns a great Pyrenees, if anybody's
out there listening has one or any big white fluffy, know, Samoyas or Huskies, y'all know

my pain.

All right.

Well, let's change gears.

Let's go into your power of one.

So you have a score of.

75 you are in the green congratulations.

So you have you're welcome.

Yeah, it's total It's a we're your 20 points in attendance in the green.

You are 10 points in referrals per week, which is red.

You are five points in visitors, which is in the gray You are 20 points and one to ones in
the green and CEU's also 20 points in the green

So now let's look at your palms.

So you have and this is a total of 25 weeks.

You have no absences, one sub, and you have six referrals given inside, eight referrals
given outside.

You have received inside 13 referrals, received outside referrals 19, two visitors, 33
one-to-ones.

I'm so not surprised.

Thank you for closed business is 11,118 and CEUs are 41.

and you had a big jump one week.

that a training week or um you just got crazy one week?

it was a training week.

listened to a Dave Ramsey book because I was traveling and it was a good week.

Okay, well, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that the CEUs are only BNI CEUs.

So for anyone listening, it has to be BNI specific like this podcast, because we're
talking about BNI, um or it has to be BNI education.

So it is Dr.

Meisner's podcast, Dr.

Ivan Meisner book.

um Unfortunately, Dave Ramsey is not one of the ones that counts for CEU credits.

So but I didn't want to let it go by.

So everybody thinks because if I don't say something, then people are going to be like,
wait a minute.

So just FYI for the future.

but Ivan Meisner, if you didn't see the Ivan Meisner episode, he's I, you know, I have a
personal stock.

You can borrow them because you're local.

If you want to borrow any of my Ivan Meisner books, happy to lending library any of the
ones I have.

But yeah.

So how do you feel about your, either of the, Palms Report or your Power of One?

Any observations?

proud of it.

I think I'm doing pretty good.

Yeah, you're relatively new.

how long ish have you been in?

Do you remember when you started?

Five, six months, yeah.

Yeah, so six months in N75 as a score is amazing.

em I love it when our folks who are under a year jump right off into the green because
that's obviously uh you're going to be more successful when you are doing all the things

that get you the points that get you into the green.

uh Have you felt like it's been easy to keep yourself at that level or has it been kind of
calculated and you know you really have to work at it?

think it's been pretty easy.

Because you said something about the one-to-ones, and a lot of people that are in the
group don't have a store.

They work in an office.

And I have a store, so anytime we mention a one-to-one, it's like, come to the store, let
me show you what we've got, and it's inevitable within two to three weeks,

something, you know, they hear a noise from the fridge and it's like, oh, Amy, you know,
let me, let me text Amy and see what she thinks.

And it's like, I'm glad you, you know, you came to the store so I was in your brain.

And then you thought about, just like you with the washer.

You know, it's something that you would have thought of and it just would have, you know,
went on.

And, but you knew I've got an appliance person so I can check.

And you know, I love that.

I love that, that I'm now who you're going to think of when anything comes up appliance
and you can shoot me a text and say, Hey, you know, my, sister's seeing some water.

What could this be?

Is there something easy I can look at before I call for service?

And I can go, yes, check this first.

Check this, this, and this.

If that doesn't work, we'll send somebody out.

Yeah, and you've got a bit of what I call blue ocean.

You're in BNI, you're a unicorn.

um There aren't a lot of, I don't think I've ever met anyone that does what you do in a
BNI chapter.

it's kind of uh a great spot to be in, where you're the only one doing what you do.

So you can go out and visit lots of folks who can then become partners for you, right?

Yes, yes.

um Unfortunately, the home appliance store is kind of a thing of the past with all the big
box stores, with all the online ordering.

um And the big box stores, they make it really hard, but um it's good for me because there
aren't many of us.

But yeah, they're not as common as they used to be.

So every chapter I go to, the only appliance store in that chapter.

Yeah, and that's an interesting point you bring up.

I'm curious, because that big box or online presence can really hit hard for people like
you, any smaller business that was trying to compete against something now that is mass

produced and from other places.

uh So how do you feel like, oh whether it could be a bookstore, could be any kind of
retail business where

they've encroached on that.

What is the difference for you?

What has allowed you guys to stay in business this long?

customer service, 100%.

um We may not always be able to beat their price, but we always beat their customer
service.

um If you come into our store next week, you're gonna see me, you're gonna see Hannah or
Tristan.

We're not gonna be off working in plumbing or electronics.

It's us.

And this is our core competency as appliances.

It's what we do.

It's what we love.

um And hopefully we gave you the best customer service so that it's worth that $40
difference in price.

Right.

Well, and the knowledge, right, is that your specialty, don't know how many times I've
been somewhere where I've had a specific maybe technical question or, you know, usage or,

you know, any of those things and people just don't know because they're not, they're
given a kind of a cursory knowledge, but they don't have that long depth of experience.

So that's, that's awesome that we have you to come to.

All right.

So let's now take another turn into your CliftonStrengths.

So.

I am going to read from the top what you are or what your top strengths are rather.

So your number one is belief.

You have certain core values that are unchanging.

These values provide direction and a strong sense of purpose.

Your number two is developer.

You recognize and cultivate the potential in others.

You spot the signs of each small improvement and love when you see someone making
progress.

Number three is connectedness.

You believe everything is linked and that there are few coincidences.

For you, everything happens for a reason.

Number four is relator.

You enjoy close relationships.

You find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

And number five is empathy.

You have an instinctive ability to understand people.

You feel others' emotions as if they were your own.

So I think that all of the conversation we had up to this second has kind of highlighted
all of those things, right?

Definitely, definitely.

I was surprised to see belief because a lot of the questions weren't asking about belief
directly.

um And I am very strong in my faith and I tried to shine the light of Jesus on everyone I
meet.

And I didn't hear any of those questions.

So I was shocked that it said belief because it didn't say, you Christian or?

But it knew the questions to ask to reveal that, and that was strong.

that's cool.

Well, and you, don't think I've had anyone as a guest on that had, you have four of your
top five are in the relationship building theme.

uh So your belief is in the executing theme, cause that you're making that happen, right?

For yourself and for others, which is exactly what you just said.

But everything, having four relationships at the top is pretty strong.

It is clear the difference, I asked you the question before I showed this, is the
difference that you make in your business is people, right?

Your relationship developing, connecting, relator, empathy, you said when the freezer goes
and you bring let them bring their food to the store, you felt, you feel that pain and

that's literal for you is you understand, all of us can understand, oh we've lost a fridge
full of food in it.

power outage, but not most of us are gonna let you bring all your food, you know, to my
store, where I'm selling appliances.

That's, you know, maybe across the street to my house.

I'm fine, you know, I've definitely offered that to neighbors, but um that's a whole
nother level, I think.

So, does that resonate for you on the, all the people side of the relationship building?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Alright, so belief and connectedness both point to purpose.

uh So there is a sense that what you do matters and you're part of something bigger.

So how do those show up for you and how you serve your customers or the community?

Well, I hope that even if I can't give them what they're looking for, I can give them some
knowledge um and help them figure out where they need to go if it's not me.

um Because we don't always have the answer to everything.

um And even if I just invite them to church, even if I just pray with them and they leave,

feeling a little bit better about their day, even if I couldn't answer all of their
questions or had the part that they needed to pick up, I could show them where to go, give

them the part number, tell them what they should be paying.

Hopefully that they leave a little bit happier than they were when they came in the door.

Yeah, well, and I want to ask you about your team too, because developer is typically
something you do for and with others.

And usually if you have people working in your business, which you do, uh later you enjoy
working, you know, deeply with a small group of people or, you know, it's usually a small

group of friends, but in business, that means you like to go deep, more deeply into a
relationship than just sort of like.

hey, how's the weather?

Kind of the day to day.

So you're naturally building relationships at a deeper level and you're wanting people to
grow and succeed.

How did those strengths affect how you work with your team, um even or your customers or
other business owners?

I noticed on your social that you promote other businesses too.

So how does that work for you?

Well, like to, anyone I meet, I like to make them a friend um and get to know something
about them, um see if they've got something I can pray for.

um Just have that piece of relation that's not generic and surface level.

um It helps me to remember them and

to ask them about in the future, know, how did this go or how's your son doing?

And honestly, I can't work with someone every day and not care about them.

um So everyone that works with us as a friend and as part of the Hamilton family, um and
even if our time together, you know, is time to end, we hope that they leave as friends.

and think of us fondly in the future.

Love that.

And you also have high empathy.

And so that taking on of other people's things, it helps you understand things, but it
also can be, it hurts you also, right?

Is when you take on other people's pain.

So how do you balance that deep caring uh and still make those smart business decisions?

Cause sometimes those, you know, they go in conflict of each other.

They do, they do.

And um there have been some occasions where we had to make a decision for the business um
that was hard to make because they were our friends.

um But ultimately, this business is how we feed our children.

And we have had to make some decisions that it was time for time together to end.

um And I just hope that they understand and know that we do care about them.

But this is a business.

um And yeah, it's difficult and it has turned into second chance, third chance, fourth
chance, and ultimately, you know, making the decision of our ways.

But I hope that we have been as understanding and as thoughtful as we could be.

And they know, and we have had to let, we had a driver that we had to let go.

And when we let him go, he said, I've been expecting this to happen for about three
months.

And I'm surprised it took you this long.

ah But I hope that he knew that we cared about him and that we, we really tried to give
him as many chances as we could.

And we prayed about it and prayed with him, you know, and.

Ultimately, we had to do what we had to do.

Right.

I know it's an interesting parallel to BNI, think, in some regards is BNI is our work
family also.

You know, we go to a chapter every week where one of our core values is accountability.

you know, but also everybody that, you know, comes to the room we have deep relationships
with because that's how it's also one of our core values is building relationships.

So, you know, that sort of sometimes can

cause problems because the accountability and the relationships get in the way.

So I'm curious, since you have so many relationship building themes, what if you were
looking at that at your, let's focus it at your chapter, and I know you're only six months

in, but let's just say that that was, you saw somebody not kind of following along with
what's going to make them successful.

What would be a recommendation you would give to somebody from your?

perspective from your relationship buildings that you could bring to help somebody get
past that in BNI that wasn't doing the things they needed to be doing.

Hopefully I would have uh a good enough relationship with them that I could come to them
and say, hey, I experienced this and show appreciation for what they do, but also give

some insight into what I experienced and maybe what I thought they could have done
different um in a caring way and not a demeaning way, but just, you know, what do you

think about if you would have done this instead?

um And hopefully they care enough about me as a person and know that I'm coming at it in a
loving way and from a positive input perspective that I'm just trying to help.

um Hopefully they know that I'm coming to that end.

I'm maybe not portraying this like I want, but.

Hopefully they know I'm coming at it from a positive perspective.

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, and it's, I can't help, but uh think about the, the, way the policy in BNI works is
you should, if you're not, you should probably be sitting in the membership committee

chair for conflict resolution.

uh Because that is a, what you just said is textbook for what should happen in, because
people, we have people.

it's I want to let you in on a little secret.

People that are listening, we have people in BNI and people can sometimes have problems
with other people.

In fact, you know, a lot of the challenges that once if you've ever been a coach in BNI,
you will hear about people having problems with people.

so that the very first step is have they talked to each other and if they haven't that and
they don't usually want to, which is

the harder thing, right, is that once I have a problem with someone else, I don't
necessarily want to deal with them anymore.

but that's facilitating that conversation is somebody like Amy should be doing that for
you because Amy has those talents.

You know, these are her, her strengths.

And the fun thing about CliftonStrengths for me is if I, I've mentioned on previous
episodes, I have probably three quarters of my chapter have.

taken the assessment so I can look across the landscape of people in our chapter and say,
ooh, this one needs, you know, this one would be really good at this particular challenge

that we're having and not that one.

And that one might be me, right?

So, because you're at the other end of the spectrum.

have my number in my top five, have Relator.

is my number two, but the rest of yours fall a little farther down the line for me.

it's better sometimes, and especially emotional situations, to have somebody like Amy
sitting in on a conversation because she can diffuse things that she, because she feels

people's emotions.

I am not that person.

don't, I mean, I can see it, but I can't always feel it.

And so, you know, that's a tremendous asset to...

your BNI chapter, but also to your business.

So I'm sure that, would you say, I know we haven't given your husband the assessment,
would you say that your husband has different set of talents than you?

And do you get to sit in on uh when there are, cause I'm sure if you've employed people,
you've also run into those things and you've said you've had some of those challenges.

Are you the kind of the main overseer of those things in your business or how does that
work?

Yes, absolutely.

I'm also the head of HR, so yes.

And I hope that em when I have an issue with someone, I have to remember that I let, you
know, the golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated.

I hope that they'll give me a second chance, like I try to give people.

Yeah, I love that.

So if you've had a team of people and you're on a team of people in BNI and obviously
you're a church-going person, those are a team of people, what do you think separates a

good team from a great team?

think that would be relationships and empathy and just always treating others how you want
to be treated and assume positive motivation.

And that's something that I try to tell my husband because he drives all day in Memphis.

So he deals with Memphis drivers on the daily and

You know, if someone cuts them off, I tried to be the one to say, you don't know where
they're coming from.

Well, they could be rushing to the hospital to say goodbye to a loved one.

You don't know what they're going through.

Just think about, you know, the worst case scenario and just be kind and just be sensitive
to what they could be going through.

Yeah, for those of us, well, for people listening that are not from the Memphis area, uh
and I've lived in a lot of different places, one of which was Washington, DC, which is

known as the, I think LA is the first worst, and then DC is the second worst traffic in
the United States.

And Memphis is, it's not bad in terms of volume, but it's bad in terms of skill sets, in
terms of driving.

ah So we moved here.

I felt like I was taking my life in my hand every day, just trying to pull out of my
driveway sometimes, not my general neighborhood, but people just drive nuts around here.

But the people side of that, again, not surprised because obviously that's your thing, but
I wanted to call attention to that because if you're listening, heard what Amy's strengths

are and you heard her conflict resolution is relationship based.

Sometimes that's what we need, right?

But it's not just in conflict resolution, it is also day-to-day life because I get so busy
sometimes I don't think about, I'm more high-level strategy and getting things

accomplished, maximizing is at the top of my skill set.

I think about people and how they're gonna help me accomplish things, but I don't think
about that heart side, right?

And that's your thing.

So em it's amazing to have somebody, if you don't have those as your natural top five,
then you find somebody like Amy, who you can have a conversation with and she will ground

you.

um Which was my next question is, what grounds you?

And I know that you've mentioned that you pray and your belief system.

um

What and maybe that is your only positive what what keeps you positive?

it that or is there any other daily habits that you do that kind of keep you set you off
on a positive path every day?

Definitely my beliefs, my prayer.

Starting the day in, I try to start the day in the Bible, in God's Word, and let that sink
into my head before the world gets into my head.

And it gives me the solid ground that I need to handle the day.

Okay, awesome.

All right, so if you were to go, you've been in appliances for a very long time, if you
were to go all the way back to the beginning, you know, you're fresh-faced, 18-year-old,

and you're saying to yourself, what am gonna do with my life?

Would you walk the same path, or would you do something different?

Well, I think customer service has always been my strong suit.

um Not specifically appliances, but I did start in customer service right out of high
school and stayed in that for the longest time.

So yeah, I've pretty much, honestly, what I wanted to be when I grew up was always a mom.

So my career life was always second.

And uh so I did that.

I'm a mom of three and that was what I wanted to be when I grew up.

So I did that.

Nice, well, and I felt drawn to customer service also.

I really enjoy, I have high relator, right?

So my number two is relator.

I really love supporting people and getting to know them.

And I feel like I worked in automotive.

So it was back in, you know, a long time ago when there weren't a lot of women in it.

And so I felt uniquely.

position to support women in an environment where that wasn't necessarily, you know, the
case.

So I love that that was a calling for you.

I think that it was a calling for me too, is being able to, I can see, and I come at it
from a whole completely different set of things.

You know, I come at it from, I'm gonna make this experience better for people and that
will bring more to the business by creating that caring environment and, you know,

me getting to know people.

I love when we have repeat customers all the time coming in and I could, I knew their name
and I know their car and I know all the things, you know, people, those little things

matter, right?

As when somebody recognizes, remembers something about you that nobody, you you walk into
a big box store and they don't know you from a hole in the wall.

um And that makes a big difference in your business.

I would imagine for you too, right?

Absolutely, absolutely.

And from the very beginning, I always enjoyed that challenge.

The customer, they was just irate.

And I was able to diffuse the situation and relate to them.

And by the end of the call, they were apologizing for being so harsh.

at the end, they were thanking me.

Yeah.

for taking the time with them and understanding and coming to a resolution that made them
happy.

That's amazing, love that.

So as you look to the future in your business, your community, your relationships, what
excites you most about what kind of impact you would like to make?

Honestly, to be able to still do what I do and sell appliances in a mom and pop brick and
mortar store is a lot because of the way that everybody is going.

AI and big box and uh just to be able to stay open is, I think, our biggest...

challenge and our biggest accomplishment.

um Just to be able to still make money and be able to pay the bills and keep the lights on
and hopefully make a good impression is what we're hoping for.

Okay, well awesome.

Well, I wish you all the success.

Now I want to roll into what I'm doing, which is called a quick fire session.

So we're going to do a lightning round of questions for you just to get you know you a
little bit more and just a couple minutes on each answer.

So the first one is if B and I had a hall of fame for members, what would you want to be
remembered for?

I would want to be remembered for being most transparent.

Okay, awesome.

And what's something people are often surprised to learn about you outside of your
business?

Let's see, people are probably most surprised that it's my husband and I that run it and
that we're still married after nine years.

That's hilarious.

And again, having worked with my husband, I get it.

And if your store had a theme song when the doors opened for you each morning and you
walked in, what song would be playing?

The song that would be playing would be God Did by Sons of Sunday because it's a true
testament of everything that God has done for us and where he's brought us after nine

years.

Okay, love that.

All right, and what is your go-to routine before a big sale or event or even a big meeting
that you're gonna have?

uh prayer before anything big or small prayer.

Alright, and if you were planning your perfect Saturday, what's the first thing on the
agenda?

The first thing on the agenda is to grab my Bible and some coffee and my dog and get in
God's Word to start the day.

Awesome, off on the right foot.

And who's been a key mentor or influence in your life and what's one thing they taught you
that you'll never forget?

um One thing that I'll never forget is my friend Cathy who has been married for 50 years
and worked with her husband and she's given me a lot of good um just sound bites of...

advice for when things get tough, um like not to sweat the small stuff.

And at end of the day, the big picture, what's most important, um is it that he figured
the tax wrong on a ticket?

No, it's that he filled out the ticket in the first place.

Thank you for at least trying.

uh I would say that would probably be it.

Love that.

Ivan Meisner said something similar that his, cause he worked his wife, his first wife
who's passed, but she was in his business a lot.

And he answered it about his marriage.

And he said that she taught him that just to give grace.

And that's what that is, right?

Is he's like, she's not, unless they're trying to physically, know, unless they're
purposely trying to make you crazy, um give them grace.

All right.

And what's something that never fails to make you smile?

my children.

Okay, and finish this sentence.

Success to me looks like...

Looks like treating others the way you want to be treated.

Perfect.

All right, Amy, well, thank you so much for showing us how faith, relationships, and
empathy can turn your business into a true community.

So I really appreciate having you here, and I appreciate having you in BNI.

It's been great getting to know you.

Yes, it's been great getting to know you too.

I look forward to uh more fun sessions and questions.

And yeah, I'd love to see you in the store sometime.

Awesome.

And for our listeners, remember whether you're a business owner or part of a team, your
strengths can shape how you influence, connect and grow.

And if today's episode influenced you to want to find out what your strengths are, you can
go to either the podcast website, the Perfect 100 website or tamisdorick.com and you can

get your own assessment.

And if you decide you want to have coaching and find out more about it, you can do that
too.

And before you leave, don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

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