Let's Talk Talent by Talent Plus
Welcome to the Let’s Talk Talent Podcast by Talent Plus! Join Mark Epp, Talent Plus Management Consultant Director, as he interviews seasoned talent experts who share stories and give insight into how your organization can reach its full potential — through the power of natural talent.
Let's Talk Talent by Talent Plus
Tradition Meets Innovation: How Makenzie, Kramer, and Austin Rath Are Imagining/Shaping the Future of Talent Plus
Tune into our special edition of the Let's Talk Talent Podcast, in honor of Talent Plus' 35 Year Anniversary. In this series, host Mark Epp, Talent Plus Management Consultant Director, speaks with remarkable leaders and individuals, and learns the role talent has played in impacting their personal and professional lives.
This episode features Makenzie Rath, Austin Rath and Kramer Rath — siblings and children of Talent Plus Founders, Kimberly and Doug Rath. They discuss what it’s like to grow up in a family business and take on key roles within the company and how they balance respecting long-standing traditions while pushing forward with innovation.
Listen in to hear their vision for the future of Talent Plus and their advice for other family-owned businesses on how to navigate growth, collaboration and long-term success.
Welcome to let's Talk Talent, the podcast that digs into the science of how we find, retain and develop the best people to get the best results. I'm your host, mark Epp, management Consultant Director at TalentPlus and a certified professional coach. Our 35th anniversary we're bringing you a special series where I talk with exceptional leaders, talent Plus clients and colleagues who've been instrumental in our journey. These discussions highlight the transformative power of talent in driving success and making a lasting difference in both personal and professional lives.
Mark Epp:Joining us today for our 35th anniversary podcast series is Mackenzie Rath, president at Talent Plus, kramer Rath, financial Analyst at Talent Plus, and Austin Rath, research Consultant at Talent Plus. Welcome Kramer, austin and Mackenzie. I am delighted to connect with you today for our podcast.
Makenzie Rath:Thank you.
Mark Epp:Absolutely. Can each of you share a little bit about yourselves and your role at Talent Plus?
Makenzie Rath:I'd be delighted to. It's not far to assume that we are all related with the last name of Rath. Is that great introduction? Mark Mackenzie, personally married to my husband, carl, and we have two girls and another little baby on the way coming soon, so soon to be a family of five here. And I do have the esteemed privilege to serve as the president of Talent Plus and have been with Talent Plus for gosh almost 14 years. So, yes, excited to be here today.
Kramer Rath:Mark. Thank you for the introduction, Kramer. I get the opportunity to be a financial analyst here at Talent Plus, and in many organizations that can mean many different things, but here at Talent Plus I get the opportunity to help our accounting finance team and also get involved in kind of all other areas of the business, which is super fun. Never know what the day is going to bring and what my day is going to look like, so always stay on my toes and get involved in new things every day, which keeps the environment very exciting and joyful. So I'm excited to be here today.
Austin Rath:Great Thanks for being here, yeah, now I'm Austin and I'm a research consultant here at Talent Plus. Austin and I'm a research consultant here at Talent Plus and basically I wake up every single day trying to think of people strategy within our clients and really driving the science of talent forward within each organization Excellent.
Mark Epp:You know it's funny you say you've been here 14 years, seven years. However many years, kramer? I've known you all for almost 20 years. So as I'm looking around the table today, as we're doing this podcast, it's really wonderful for me to see the evolution from when I began at Talent Plus almost 20 years ago to each of you being such an integral part of Talent Plus and the workings of what we do every single day here. Talent Plus has changed my life for the better and for my families as well. So to have you here and to think about the future of Talent Plus is really exciting for me. So what was it like? What was it like growing?
Austin Rath:up in a family with a successful business such as Talent Plus. So Talent Plus 35 years, of course, and you know we saw our parents, doug and Kimberly, you know, really put everything they had into creating a successful business and along that journey, you know we're always on the go, always had parents that were traveling and doing things for the business and I think all of us as we saw that we saw the work ethic and we saw you know what could be and really the impact we started to see the impact within our clients start to take shape. And you know, growing up in a successful business, you know, with a family that is all involved today as well, it's, it's been the biggest blessing I could ask for, because it's taught me so many different things but at the end of the day, it's really taught me how to wake up every day, how to show up every day and then how to work hard.
Mark Epp:There's really no substitute for putting your head down and working really hard. Absolutely. It was no question that your mom and dad set an incredible example for all of us moving forward, and I can see why that work ethic would have been so important to you. Austin, did you always envision yourself as being part of Talent Plus?
Austin Rath:I think that's a two-part question there. I think we all grow up with talent, you know, when we're young and we have aspirations to be astronauts, or you know whatever it may be baseball players, sports dressage right.
Austin Rath:But I think we got to a point all of us kids as we started to enter, you know, professional lives and careers, and I honestly think that we all sat there and we were like this is really cool, we live and breathe this every single day, just as they have, and so we want to continue that effort and hopefully the next 35 years of Talent Plus as well.
Mark Epp:How about you, Kramer, growing up in a family with a successful business? What was that like for you?
Kramer Rath:Yeah, I echo a lot of Austin's comments. I mean, our parents were great role models and, uh, you know, just exemplified all the values that you could possibly want. Um, so it was so fun to be able to grow up around them. And the one thing I think that I would add to his comments is also uh, really provided us a pathway and a opportunity to think big and dream. Um, cause a lot of you know other uh, other kids might not have parents that you know have built something so impactful, um, in so many people's lives.
Kramer Rath:I mean, growing up, I just remembered we would always we didn't really understand, I guess you know, when I was much younger in my life, um, really what the impact of the work that we were doing was. We heard stories all the time and, you know, do we get to join, you know, calls and hear, hear these stories from some clients and some partners out in the world. And it wasn't until, you know, we kind of I don't know. For me, I kind of got probably into my high school life that I really started to tap in and understand, okay, like, how is this actually impacting people? What does it really mean? Not just a surface level of like, okay. It makes them feel good. They're happy. They say that it changes their life, but how does it actually change their life?
Kramer Rath:so for me, it was also yes the power to power to dream, think big, think about what could be every single day, and, uh, I think that you know kind of followed me throughout, from the time I was all growing up, to what I could do, and always thinking about it in that perspective, not what I couldn't do, but what can I do. And ultimately, yeah, let me, let me hear, because I'm so excited to be able to continue their legacy and continue the impact on the world and did you always envision yourself working here?
Kramer Rath:or maybe something else came up first and then you decided to come to talent plus uh, it's I would say it's a layered question, kind of like awesome, we've all got, you know, different dreams. Growing up, I think I really wanted to go play professional soccer, um, and go that route. But uh, you did play football, I play, yeah, I ended up playing, playing some football.
Makenzie Rath:Yeah, go big red, but no, I think.
Kramer Rath:Yeah, as soon as you know, I kind of got into my professional life and started to get involved in some different organizations. I already had a lot of fondness.
Kramer Rath:You know, when we talk about like dinner conversations, growing up we were always talking about the business, so we already knew kind of you know things that were going on, what things they were working through, you know how they were working through different things. So that was kind of always there and as I got into my professional life and other organizations I just, you know, continued to want to go back to Talent Plus and talk about what's going on at Talent Plus.
Mark Epp:And so I would say yes, I knew that I would definitely get involved at Talent Plus, because I just really wanted to be a part of something that had such a profound impact on the world. Mackenzie, how about for you growing up?
Makenzie Rath:with Talent Plus all your life. Yes, it's funny, kramer, you just mentioned growing up with it all your life, and it's funny when I first probably my first year or two here at Talent Plus, because we grew up with it our whole life. Everyone expects you to like oh you already know all these things, so I'm like I conceptually or fundamentally know, but I don't know how to use the systems or I don't know how to use some of the more tactical day-to-day pieces.
Makenzie Rath:So even making sure as we started in the business that we had the right onboarding and experience, because there's a lot of things through. A lot of families play games and talk about school at night. We talked about work most nights growing up but also being a part of those conversations early on. How do you start to develop that business mindset? How do you make tough decisions? How do you chart the course for an organization or for a client who wants to dream big with you? So I think we grew up with a lot of those dinner conversations and I appreciate being involved in that level of dialogue with our folks because it's helped us be better in our own roles and future leaders for the company today and to the idea that I always see myself being a part of it.
Makenzie Rath:I think I did. I definitely was into horses and dressage. I threw that out for a long time. That was a hard decision for me because I personally love my horses so much that I didn't know how I would sell them and make money and run a business because I just wanted to keep them all the whole time, and so it was a conscious decision to want to join the family.
Makenzie Rath:But I think that's something, too, that our parents did a really good job of explaining to us in our high school and college and post-college years of this was their dream and it was okay if it didn't become our dream. Now it's all shaped into um, the three of us working together really closely here as the second generation. But I appreciate not feeling like we were forced into it either, because I because that would be hard to come to a job every day that this isn't what we wanted to do. So each of us made a choice to be here, and I think also that speaks volumes to how we want to keep growing this as a family-owned business in the future.
Mark Epp:Mackenzie, you talked about tough decisions. It must have been a tough decision to take on the presidency here at Talent Plus. How did that evolve and what turned the corner for you to be able to say, yes, I'm going to take on this role?
Makenzie Rath:It was a very tough decision, in part because being able to serve and protect families and the community in which we're a part of, and making sure that Talent Plus would have a lasting future I mean, that's a lot of weight.
Makenzie Rath:And anytime you're going to take on any leadership role, but especially when you're at the helm of an organization and thinking about how do you prepare for that, how am I ready, how am I going to show up every day and ensure that I have the best interests of everyone as we move forward? And so, and at the time when that transition occurred, it was January of 2020 too, and so we we got a few months in and the world completely shifted under everyone's feet, as we know, with um of 2020, with covid, and. And so how to um, how to best navigate those moments in time? And waking up every day ready to learn, and continuing to try harder every single day to further the mission of Talent Plus and the amazing work we get to do with our clients and each other, his colleagues and in our community, to make it better.
Mark Epp:So never giving up on that dream Absolutely so maybe this is a funny question, but I got to ask what do you enjoy most about working with each other, working with your siblings?
Makenzie Rath:What do you enjoy most about working with each other, working with your?
Mark Epp:siblings what?
Makenzie Rath:do you enjoy most? I can't wait to hear Austin Kramer's answer.
Mark Epp:There you go I guess that's an opening.
Kramer Rath:I think it's just the. I mean I'll say most people in the world don't get the opportunity to wake up every single day and go somewhere where their siblings are going to be all collectively working on the same goal. It's definitely not typical, but it's so fun because you're constantly talking to one another, you know thinking differently, innovating together, thinking about again, kind of going back to this whole idea of you know dreaming and thinking big, but constantly you've got, you know, another shoulder that you can go lean on whenever you need to. I think a lot of cases, you know leadership oftentimes might get a little siloed at the top, might feel a little lonely because they're just helping their team and managing their team. I think it's nice that we can all lean on each other, no matter what the situation is if it is at work or if it's personal things.
Kramer Rath:Collectively, you know, work on the same goal together and uh get a share in the banter and um have fun while we're doing it as well, um, making sure that we're, you know, always, always enjoying what we're doing, first and foremost.
Austin Rath:So yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll echo a lot of what Kramer just mentioned. I think that's great. I think, you know, working with your siblings is truly a privilege. We've grown up together, we've known each other forever, right, and it's just seamlessly kind of bounced from one stage of our lives to the next, right. And here we are today and, you know, 10 years from now it's going to have another chapter, right, and I think probably one of my biggest joys of working alongside McKenzie and Kramer is just having the privilege to watch them work, because of the pride they take in their work and that brushes off on me and I want to do everything I can to put my best foot forward, because I see both of them showing up each day doing the same thing, Excellent.
Mark Epp:Mackenzie.
Makenzie Rath:Well, and I think it's also as we've gotten into our adult lives, really knowing each other's strengths too, because there are things Kramer talks numbers and there you can always balance the numbers and we'll always balance them better than I can, and so it's also knowing that each of us play a really important part and, as Austin said, this is going to grow and evolve for the next 10, 20 years beyond, as each of us continues to grow personally and professionally. But I think we've started to develop a really good balance of how we help and support each other and also bring different perspectives too, because there are things that I see and it's it's different. I'm just not close enough to the action than maybe Austin or Kramer, and so making sure we're coming together to dream, to make decisions or to wrestle with something that we all have a different viewpoint on, ultimately helps us have a more holistic approach, or be, more informed about what we're trying to do.
Makenzie Rath:So I think it's really playing to the areas that each of us, or the pieces that each of us, bring to the puzzle too.
Mark Epp:I think that's such an important point that you make, mackenzie, because it's something that I've very much noticed in my work here at Talent Plus is that each person has their part and they contribute that part, helping each other be set up for success. And it's really wonderful to hear, as a family, that there isn't that sort of even jealousy behind that. It's like you know what part you're playing and you're contributing to the whole, which helps all of us move toward that common mission.
Makenzie Rath:Absolutely, and there's a part for us all. There is a place and a part for each of us as we carry the torch for the second generation, and I think you also asked what's most challenging.
Makenzie Rath:I was going to ask that part next I think for me it's making sure that our relationships don't just evolve around work. I know Austin Kramer and I have talked a lot about how do we make sure we're still siblings at the end of the day and we're taking the time to, you know, celebrate personal things whether it's the kid's birthday party or getting married or engaged recently but making sure that we all have really strong relationships established outside of the office too and relying on those first and foremost. But it's a challenge because inevitably, when we all sit around the table, some work always circles back into the conversation. So how do we make sure we're really building our relationships too, from that fun sibling piece too?
Mark Epp:Absolutely. You know there must be so many lessons, so many things. You've all talked a little bit about the examples, the experiences that you've had. There must be so many things. You've all talked a little bit about the examples, the experiences you've had. There must be so many incredible lessons that you've learned. So what have been some of the most valuable lessons that you've learned throughout this journey, either from your own experience growing up or when you've been with clients, or from working closely with other people as well?
Kramer Rath:I'm gonna take an approach and go kind of to, I mean, what we believe as a company. I think that's been. The biggest lesson I think out of all of this for myself is again you know, when I was young I heard my parents talking about talent and you know the power of what it can do inside organizations and you know top performers and what that was. But I didn't understand what it meant when I was growing up. But you know, as I as I you know, got into my professional life and working here at Talent Plus is really seeing the impact of that and really what? What does it mean when you align talent to a role and you help them amplify that every single day and invest in that individual? It's the, it's the lesson of. You know talent's always going to win if you align it and you invest in it, and what that result is at the end of the day and really understanding that approach and then seeing it in action is just phenomenal. You notice it when you walk into some of our clients.
Mark Epp:You'll notice it immediately, as soon as you walk through those doors of whether or not they have talent in the right roles.
Kramer Rath:So I think it's the lesson of, it's what we do every single day, it's what we believe in, it's making sure, you know, allowing people to do what they're good at and what they enjoy every single day really makes the world a better place, and I think that's my overall just biggest takeaway from kind of growing up and then making our way to the business.
Mark Epp:Mackenzie, Austin.
Makenzie Rath:I think some of the other lessons that have really stuck out to me, whether it's been role modeled by our folks or from other amazing people we've had the opportunity to meet and work with is and Austin you already mentioned this but working hard, we have been surrounded by people who are not afraid to put in the time and effort to accomplish their dream or accomplish their goals. And so I think that ability to work hard and also to not be afraid to just jump in and ask or to take the initiative to go figure something out because you needed the answer and so watching that, that balance with working hard but feeling empowered or having permission to then, you know, go do the things you want to do in life.
Makenzie Rath:um, as a key lesson really staying true to who you are and the things that you love and enjoy. And how do you do more of those pieces to what kramer was saying too?
Austin Rath:so those are a couple lessons that come to mind for me yeah, uh, you know again echoing mckenzie and kramer here but getting to see the science in action from a young age even though you know, kramer, you had mentioned this that we didn't really understand the intricate details, right, but being able to be exposed to the science in action from a very young age was a huge lesson for me growing up, and you know you mentioned Tor Schultze and some of the other leaders that you know we've had the pleasure to work alongside over the years and seeing how they show up every single day and how they really put their heart and mind around what they're setting out to accomplish, Right, and then being able to interact with them.
Austin Rath:I mean, it's not every day you get to interact with leaders that are that well respected, right, and have such a you know, past and future success, right, and so I think you know, just being exposed to it from a young age and then growing up with it, starting to understand this is why this is the way it is and this is where talent really shines through. And how can we then take that and see that in action and spread it into other corners of the world, right, and how can we expand our reach with the science of talent. I think that was probably the biggest lesson for me so far, anyway, growing up.
Mark Epp:One of the things, mackenzie, that you said. That was really fascinating to me, because you took this, took on the presidency in 2020, and the world has changed. You talked about that you mentioned. I mean, things are different, people are different. You know, people are working virtually. It's really been tough for hospitals. It's really been tough for hospitality that we work in as well here, how have you been able to respect the tradition of Talent Plus with the needs to innovate and adapt to what we have to do in our culture today, moving forward?
Makenzie Rath:work. I believe in the ability for us to do both. That doesn't mean the way things always have been for 35 years is the way we're potentially always going to do them in the future.
Makenzie Rath:Some things have to be looked at or modernized, for example, but I don't think it's an either or approach where we can't innovate or move the business forward and not bring our culture along with it. And I think also, what colleagues have wanted 35 years ago versus today is also different in terms of the things each of us as individuals is wanting and expecting as well from a place of business and the purpose we all come with each day to grow and support each other and our community and our clients. And so it's balancing. It's a lot of communication and dialogue around.
Makenzie Rath:Are we doing the right things, first and foremost? Are we doing the right things for Talent Plus and by our colleagues? But then how do we make sure that we're not resting on our laurels as well, because our clients do want new and innovative solutions from us. They want us to be able to combine data that historically maybe we couldn't combine because of the lack of technology or computing power, but we can do those things today. And so being able to balance also where our clients are really headed and how do we make sure that we're helping to guide and lead and support them in those conversations too, because we will get left behind otherwise, um, and we can't be naive in thinking that, but we also don't have to change who we are in order to innovate and keep up with our clients. So I think it's, it's, uh, it's the belief that we can do both, but that doesn't mean it's an easy road either.
Mark Epp:So, kramer, mackenzie, austin, what is your vision for the future of Talent Plus and how do you see it growing, evolving? You mentioned that we're going to evolve. We are going to continue to drive that innovation forward. So what's your vision for the future of TalentPlus and how do you see it evolving and growing over the next, say, 10 years?
Makenzie Rath:I think the data is a key component of our future. Not just that we have tens of millions of interviews of individuals that we've studied for selection or development purposes over the years, but how do we take that information and help people in real time and in their day-to-day as we move forward? Because today you get your talent card and potentially you might have more limited interaction with us, but there's so much more we can help invest and develop talent as part of our future, and so that's an area I'm really looking forward to as we see it grow and evolve, because I want someone to be thinking about their talents every day and how they're utilizing them, how they're helping their coworker you know one chair over or one line down, how they're thinking about I want to become a leader over time. Okay, how do?
Makenzie Rath:How do I think about growing into that? What are the areas of investment and development that I, as an individual, need to take some ownership or responsibility for, to learn more? But then how can my organization help support me, too, on a journey that I want to commit to them for? So for me, it's this next phase of thinking about. We have all this amazing data. We can connect diverse and predictive data and analytics like we've never been able to do before, and getting that then into the hands of our clients in real time in order for them to make day-to-day decisions.
Mark Epp:Other thoughts Austin or Kramer.
Kramer Rath:Yeah, I think Mackenzie, you said it all really well it's continuing to think about. You know where we're going, and we've got so much data, like McKinsey said, so much data, science and knowledge that we're sitting on today. How do we continue to look at different ways that we can help organizations and individuals understand it more, but also more frequently? So it's continuing to expand our impact, not just the significance of it, but also the frequency of it, so that this continues to become ingrained in their lives, because we know how impactful the science can be. And so I'm going to kind of just because I'm sitting on the finance side, I constantly just think about numbers when I think about growth and I'm thinking about okay, how many more millions of people can we impact over the next decade? How many more millions of people can we impact over the next decade? That's, that's really what I'm, what I'm striving for. What I think about every single day is how many more lives can we touch and make better in the world?
Austin Rath:Yeah, I think that's great. I kind of want to plug back to the previous question, because it ties together beautifully with respect to tradition and then the need to innovate, and I think one thing that we've seen, you know, just be super heightened here over the past couple of years, is the ability to be agile and the ability to meet your clients or potential clients, kind of where they're at, what are their needs, and listening to them and, you know, taking the stance of you know how can we do that and being open to those types of things. The data and everything comes together beautifully. But if we can think a little bit differently because of a conversation we had with a client or prospect, how does that maybe shape some other conversations that are also happening within our doors? So I think it's going to be very important to continue to have that level of agility moving forward, just with how fast everything is moving around us now as well, how fast we're able to do certain analyses and things of that nature.
Mark Epp:Mackenzie, kramer and Austin. This special podcast series focuses on talent and how it plays a role in the personal and professional lives of our clients and of ourselves, and I've had the great privilege of being around the world and seeing how our science changes people's lives for the better, from those individuals who started at a front line and maybe didn't even know how to work in a hotel or what a luxury hotel might have been know how to work in a hotel or what a luxury hotel might have been to those individuals that are within my own family and have grown and changed and have been so successful because of that focus on talent and strengths. So the same question then goes to you how has this played, as leaders of Talent Plus, in your personal and professional lives?
Kramer Rath:I can go ahead and jump in first, mark. I think this is and I'm thinking about from you know, all the way from growing up to where I am now, this has had an extreme positive impact on my life, kind of in all facets. I mean, I think about growing up around my parents. I was constantly, you know, being encouraged to do what I like, not just being forced into different things. And also those things you know that I was really good at.
Kramer Rath:There were some things where you know we might've been good at them growing up, but we didn't have a care for it, so we weren't continued to be forced into those pathways because we knew it wouldn't be. Our parents knew it wouldn't be enjoyable for us in the longterm. But I think about, you know, kind of understanding talents, kind of from a high level, especially growing up, and you know whether it was working with friends or on teams baseball teams, soccer teams, even team projects, kind of without knowing so, but aligning the individual's talents with where they're going to be best to help on that team project, team project. I think about you know, especially in college and in other cases in high school, you know looking at, you know the different talents that are surrounding me in a room and seeing who I want to pair up for, and you know how we can leverage each other's strengths to produce better outcomes. And then I think about, kind of all the way up into the now is, you know, doing what we get to do every single day and help our clients.
Kramer Rath:And it goes so much further than that, though. It's not just the work that we do that impacts the organizations and they find more success. It's how it impacts their individuals, how it impacts, then, not only their individuals, but those families that they go home to and the communities that they're in. It has a very profound ripple effect. The work that we do and I see that in my own life every single day. You know, as I'm starting my family now and you know getting to continue to, you know sharing relationships with my siblings and my parents and just what it means at the end of the day.
Kramer Rath:So I I'm extremely grateful for the unique opportunity to get to be introduced to it at such a young age and also have parents who really believe in amplifying strengths and talents and focusing on what's right about someone rather than what's wrong about someone.
Mark Epp:Absolutely, absolutely. Strength development is a mindset, and how amazing as I was hearing your comments just now to think that you grew up with parents who understood that innately and they built a business around that, and to be able to grow up with parents who say do what you love to do. Here are your strengths. Continue to evolve those strengths. Moving forward is phenomenal.
Mark Epp:Talent Plus teaches our clients how to do the same thing, and I think of this strength development, as I mentioned, as a mindset, but it's also an enlightened life condition, because when we work with others as you pointed out, what's right about you, not what's wrong about you it changes everything about a person's perspective and helps us to move forward in a much more optimistic way, to move forward to what we want to accomplish. So you know, what is your advice then to other family-owned businesses and how to create and continue to create great organizations.
Kramer Rath:I'm going to keep this a little bit personal I'm just going back to McKinsey's comment earlier but, and more so for, you know, families who might be struggling with kind of the separation of business and personal lives. But make time, be intentional. That's one thing that we always everything seems like we talk about at least a couple of times a year is, you know, being intentional and going and doing things that are outside of work, that are, you know, you're not worried about what's going on, where you're just focused on each other and building a deeper connection with you know, each other's personal lives. So I would just encourage, yeah, encourage, you know, family businesses to be intentional outside of the workplace as well as inside of the workplace. Not that you have to have total separation I mean, you're never going to get that because your your mind's always, you know, thinking about work and other things but just intentionally, make sure that you're going out of your way to invest in the relationship that you have with your siblings.
Mark Epp:Other thoughts.
Makenzie Rath:I think it's the constant communication too, and I know that's a good reminder for me, because there's days I probably, even with Austin and Kramer, do it better than or need to be better at it than I could be. But I think the more that you have to Kramer's point than, or need to be better at it than I could be, but I think the more that you have to Kramer's point you have an invested relationship with whether it's siblings or cousins or whatever that second, third or fourth, you know, on onward generation, looks like within a family business. But communication and planning is key. I think the other piece is you plan for the thing the controllables, you plan as best you can for the uncontrollables, but you also communicate that plan too. So everyone knows in different situations what could or couldn't happen.
Makenzie Rath:And I think having that level of intentional relationships and planning and the communication is really key to continuing to ensure, first and foremost, the you know, the the success of the relationships and the family, the family dynamic, but then also ensuring the business too can continue to grow and thrive successively for generations to come. So I think that's a piece that comes to mind, but I'm also reminded of that we probably need to get together again and keep planning because it's it's something that you have to do constantly. It's not one time and you lay out your life plans and you're good to go so and, frankly, having fun. I I think that back to the intentional time and investment, but I know the more that we haven't laughed very much in this podcast.
Makenzie Rath:I feel like I should throw a chuckle in here, but the more that you can laugh together, that you can dream, big helps. And so making sure that Austin Kramer would say I'm not not high on the fun radar here, like I'm not the fun place I am, but what?
Kramer Rath:are, you are the fun.
Makenzie Rath:I am the fun. Well, yeah, I'm stopping the fun police, what? Or?
Kramer Rath:you are the fun police I am the fun.
Makenzie Rath:Well, yeah, I'm stopping the fun maybe, but the more fun you can have together, too is really important. Absolutely, Austin, bring the fun, austin.
Austin Rath:Absolutely. Bring the fun, austin, absolutely, absolutely. I think you know after hearing Mackenzie and Kramer talk about this, and I agree with all of their points. We can be intentional to spend time and do things outside of work to grow our relationships, but I think one of the big things for me is to be present during those times. We all have different things going on in our lives and whether it's work related or not, but having being intentional is one piece of the puzzle. The next piece is actually being present in those moments and accepting them for what they're worth, because they're valuable. So I think that's that's the biggest piece of advice for me.
Austin Rath:Is you know you can say you're going to go out and have a dinner and do these. For me, is you know you can say you're going to go out and have a dinner and do fun things or spend time together, but until you actually really understand what it means to be present in those moments, yeah, it's beautiful, it's a beautiful thing it's a beautiful statement, austin, I've heard this so often over the last year or so is that we are so often with family having quote-unquote fun, that we wish we were somewhere else, or we may feel like I should be somewhere else because I'm running a big company, or rather than just being fully engaged and present in that moment and that's where life begins and in many ways, it begins and ends right here, right now.
Mark Epp:Begins and in many ways it begins and ends right here, right now. And you talked about fun, and you also talked about impact. To me, impact is fun. That's amazing when we can make a difference in the lives of every person we touch every single day. That's a lot of fun, and we get to do that every single day here at Talent Plus. So thank you so very much for joining us today for this special 35th anniversary podcast. Appreciate your time, your energy. Thank you so very much.
Austin Rath:Austin.
Mark Epp:Mackenzie and Kramer. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mark Thank you Thanks for listening to this episode of let's Talk Talent. I'm your host, mark Epp. If you're looking to develop the natural talent of your team but need help, check out Talent Plus Solutions. If you like what you heard today, please like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.