Kerry Siggins: CEO of StoneAge, Inc.

Episode 238

How do you grow as a leader, learning to maximize your strengths while overcoming your weaknesses? On today's show, Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge Inc. shares how conquering her struggles with substance abuse helped her to lead and empower others. On this episode of #TheKaraGoldinShow.

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Transcript

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be, I want to just make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked down knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control control control. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show, though, join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi, everyone, it’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin show. And I’m so thrilled to have our next guest here we have Kerry Siggins, who is the CEO of stone age. And she’s also the CEO of a subsidiary called bread where, which we’re going to hear a little bit more about. And Carrie and I are both part of this group called YPO. I was actually on her podcast recently. So it was a lot of fun talking to her about my journey and my book undaunted too. But as I started to look a little bit more into stone age and kind of her journey, which is a lot of what we talked about on the Kara Goldin show, I really wanted to have her on to talk a little bit more about that, but just a little bit about Stone Age. It’s a they manufacture equipment used in the industrial cleaning industry. And we’re gonna let her talk a little bit more about bread, where to and sort of what they’re up to. But Carrie has an incredible journey that she is willing to share before her time at Stone Age, she battled a substance abuse challenge, which is She’s so brave to be able to share a little bit more about that, and how she’s able to take challenging times and turn that into lessons and, and, you know, facing her fears along the way, and being able to use a lot of those learnings to grow and develop the team that she has today. Can’t wait to hear her talk more about that. And like I said, she’s just so inspiring, and is the CEO of this incredible company based out of Colorado, not too far from Durango. We were talking about that earlier. She got to go skiing this weekend. Very, very jealous. So. So welcome, Carrie, very excited to have you here.

Kerry Siggins 2:45
Thanks for having me. I really appreciate that lovely intro. Absolutely. So

Kara Goldin 2:48
for those listeners who aren’t familiar with stone age, let’s start about just about the company first.

Kerry Siggins 2:56
Okay, perfect. All right. Yeah, so probably people haven’t heard about stone age. But everything you use, I can guarantee a stone age product has touched. So we basically make squirt guns on steroids. And, and that’s high pressure water jetting equipment used in industrial cleaning. So our tooling, and now robots clean, any kind of facility, from refineries, to chemical plants to food processing. So literally, quite literally, everything that you use comes from a facility that has to be cleaned. And we’re the global leader in this type of equipment. So it is not a glamorous industry. I never expected to be spending my career in industrial cleaning. But it’s fascinating. It is an incredibly important aspect of manufacturing and processes that we use every day. And so I’ve had a lot of fun. And as last 15 years on this journey,

Kara Goldin 3:48
that’s amazing. So let’s go back to your childhood. So you I mentioned you’re based in Colorado. So did you grow up in Colorado?

Kerry Siggins 3:57
I did. Born and raised on the western slope of Colorado, I spent my entire life trying to figure out how to get away from it. And then funny full circle. I’m back again,

Kara Goldin 4:05
you’re back there. So tell us a little bit more about being raised in rural Colorado and and maybe talk about your upbringing a little bit.

Kerry Siggins 4:16
Sure. So I had a great upbringing. i My mother was a single mother, my my dad left when I was about four years old, and he was in and out of our lives, but but not around very much. And so my mom raised my brother and I literally like 15 miles outside of a small little town. We had three or four acres we had horses like she’d have to go out and break the ice in the in the horses water trough in the winter. I mean, she’s just this remarkable, amazing human being who worked two or three jobs she put herself through college. And when I was 12 years old to get a communications degree so she could sense she could make a better life for ourselves. So I will Watch this whole time growing up, my mother really struggled to make ends meet, but just pure determination to provide for her family. And that was very motivating for me. And, and maybe even in some unhealthy ways, like I just I vowed it was never going to be like her. I didn’t want to be in rural Colorado, he didn’t want to be stuck, you know, breaking ice on a horse’s water trough, you know, when I was 40 years old. And so, you know, I had this really inspiring role model. But I also could not wait to get out of a small town. I just, I knew I was meant to do more. And, and so I was always working hard to figure out how to get out. Get out of that small little town. And so where did you go? So I went to Colorado School of Mines in Denver golden after I graduated. And that’s an interesting story. So I’m always been a wild, a wild child, I was always a boundary pusher. When I was 16. I got in a little bit of trouble with an older boy, and just making bad decisions. And my mom actually said to me, when you’re 18, you were out of this house, I do not care if you work at Walmart for the rest of your life. But you are not saying here. And I was shocked, I could not believe that. She didn’t think I was going to go to college. And she was like, What are you doing, it’s gonna make you go to college, you don’t even go to school now. And so at that moment, I decided that’s it, I’m going to prove everybody that I’m not a loser, that I am smart enough to fulfill this dream that I have of leaving. So I buckled down, I decided I was going to go to school minds, get an engineering degree, even though it was 100% Sure what an engineer did, and I was gonna get a softball scholarship, because my mom didn’t have money to put me through college. And that’s what I did. And I made that happen. And in 1997, when I graduated from Montrose high school, I headed to the big metropolitan of Denver, and, and started my, my city life and my studies

Kara Goldin 7:00
there, wow. And then were you graduated, where you’re an engineer,

Kerry Siggins 7:04
I have an engineering degree, but I am not an engineer. In fact, if you would ever drive on a bridge or something that I designed, you just shouldn’t do that for fear of your own. I have no interest in design, I always was very good at math. And I love solving math problems. But about my junior year in height and at mines, I just knew that this wasn’t what I was meant to do. So I actually studied business econ at the same time. So I did a dual degree while I was there, and then graduated and and had no idea what I was supposed to do with my life after after that, like most college graduates, maybe not all, but that was me. I was lost.

Kara Goldin 7:44
And so And did you leave Colorado,

Kerry Siggins 7:48
I did. So after I graduated, so I went to mines, which is a difficult school, two degrees, playing softball and working in four years, all I did was grind it out. I mean, I literally just put my head down. And it was a means to an end. In fact, I’m embarrassed to say, but I only remember, like maybe a handful of people I went to college with like it was legitimately just a means to an end. And what happened was, I didn’t know myself, all I was trying to do was prove that I could make it through mines. My dad actually had told me that he didn’t think I was smart enough to graduate from engineering school. So I was determined to prove him wrong. I was really doing all of these things for other people to try to prove myself. And after I graduated, I had no idea what I was going to do. I had an engineering job that I hated. And I actually that’s when I developed my my, the beginning of my substance abuse issues. So I met this charismatic, near Rockstar kind of guy in downtown Denver, and he was up all the parties and everybody knew him. And it was just this life that I didn’t have growing up in rural Colorado and going to engineering school, you know, it’s not very cool. And, and so all of a sudden, I was at the front of the line. And all of a sudden everybody in the city knew who I was, and it really feel this need to be seen and recognize that had been building up since my dad had left. And yeah, I got myself into a pretty bad situation. So I decided at that time, this was about a year after I had graduated that I needed to get out of Denver. And so I packed up my bags and I moved to Austin, Texas, no job, didn’t know anybody there but decided that that’s how I needed to start over was to, I don’t know, move closer to the border. When you have a drug problem. You should always move closer to the border with not not a great decision, but but I got out of Denver and at least, you know, got through that bad relationship.

Kara Goldin 9:41
And so you got to Austin and what was sort of did you did you find a job when she got to Austin?

Kerry Siggins 9:49
Yeah, I did. I started that’s how I got into manufacturing operations. So I began working for Eaton Corporation, which is huge manufacturing company I worked in their electrical switchgear division and I ran all of the field engineers. So there were about 30 engineers in the office and my boss was never there. He had a substance abuse issue to oxycontin before that was a thing. And so I was basically running this office with influence, I didn’t have a title, no one reported to me. But I still had to keep things going, even though he was barely at work. So that’s where I found my love for people management and for operations management and for engineering services. But all that same time, I didn’t get over my substance abuse issues. So it was like leading this dual life of, you know, really developing a great career, but also living this this life of this of a self destructive path really going down the self destructive path of continuing to use drugs and, and living this kind of dual

Kara Goldin 10:49
life. And how did you know that you had a problem? I mean, what was it because you were highly functioning, it sounds like and you were, you know, living your life and, and living in Austin, which sounds like a lot of fun, lots of places to get in trouble, probably as well. And, and so what what was kind of the point, when you just said, I got to do something here,

Kerry Siggins 11:13
deep down inside, I always knew it was a problem. It’s hard to hide that from yourself. And so but I couldn’t control it, and I couldn’t admit it. And so it just progressively got worse, and you know, actually pushed me over the edge was I decided, this is the summer of 20 of 2006, I decided I was going to do a figure competition. So you know, bodybuilding kind of thing. And I’m very muscular, very athletic. And I was like, I can do it. Well, when you have a drug issue, and all of a sudden, you’re analyzing every single thing that you’re putting in your mouth. It pushed me over the edge, and it was really self destructive. And I actually overdosed on Labor Day of 2006, because I wasn’t eating. And I was using drugs and, and I just took it too far. And so it was at that point that I realized, alright, you have so much more potential in you, you can do more with your life. And I laid there on the floor of my apartment, and I just evaluated the state of my relationships. And I just realized that I was this really selfish, self centered human being who was doing all of these things for recognition for this need to be seen as successful for a badass. And really, I was a fraud and a fake. And I couldn’t go to work. And so that was it. That was when I decided I had to change my life. And I was 27 years old. Wow.

Kara Goldin 12:42
Amazing. I mean, it must have taken, obviously, it must have been a scary time for you trying to figure out okay, how do I get back up? How do I? How do I share with my team that this is going on with me? And and so did you stay in Austin after you got out? So you left?

Kerry Siggins 13:02
So I left? So I nurse myself? So I could there was no way I could. I could tell anybody what had happened. I was so ashamed. While I was nursing myself through this, and it took me about 334 days before I could like actually, Okay, I’m ready to face this. And I was just laying there in bed thinking about all the things I was going to change. So no, I called a really good friend of mine who lived in Austin and told him everything. And then I called my mom, and she’s in rural Colorado. And I said, That’s it, I will choose to live I’m gonna choose today. And so I decided to go back home to my roots and figure out how to rebuild my life into into something that was a life worth living.

Kara Goldin 13:46
That’s amazing. So your mom, your back with your mom. And and what do you think you learned from that challenging time? I’m always sort of curious when I really think that no matter what the challenges are that you go through, if you start to look at, okay, what I learned about myself, what things did I learn that I could actually do different or that I could enhance on those things so that I could be stronger in some way and teach others? I mean, what were some of the lessons that you learned from that?

Kerry Siggins 14:20
The biggest thing I learned is really how destructive imposter syndrome is. And I learned why I had it. So I started working with a life coach who introduced me to the Enneagram which was exactly what I needed, because it really helped me understand my style, which is an achiever and in these low levels of help drive you to very narcissistic behavior, self destructive behavior so that you get the attention that you want and I think it all stems from my father leaving and and you know, telling me all of these horrible things all of my life I always just wanted to be seen So I learned the power of self awareness, and then how that self awareness could actually help me get over trying to pretend to be somebody. I wasn’t. I just took it so far. And of course, I’m really driven and being a high achiever. Of course I did. But yeah, I think that’s, I think that’s really the start of it. And then I knew that I had leadership qualities, and always been a leader and a leader, because my mom says, I was, you know, came out of the womb as a leader. So then I started to really say, Okay, how do I apply all of this that I’ve learned about self awareness and self forgiveness and imposter syndrome, and become a kind of leader that people want to follow? And so that’s really, you know, where I am right now, today, and why I talk about it so openly is that I think that people need to look inside and understand their triggers and their fears. And, you know, the the choices that they make, so that they can choose to channel that into a positive way, and change their lives totally.

Kara Goldin 16:07
Well, I think I’ve heard it talked about as authentic leadership. And I think that there’s different paths that people ultimately go on to get there. But this is definitely a part of that. So you ended up getting a role, not the CEO role, but a more junior role at Stone Age. So talk to me a little bit about that. I mean, you find it was at your first job when you came back?

Kerry Siggins 16:36
Yeah, it was, for sure. When I got back to Durango, I have so much gratitude for the two founders who saw the potential in me, and they had no idea of my story back then may know it now. But yeah, I applied for general manager position, it was a manufacturing company, much, much smaller Eaton I was running, you know, $100 million p&l, do 24. And this is a little, you know, $8 million company. And I was like, Well, I’m gonna apply for it. And even though I’m under qualified, if I don’t get it, perhaps it’s a foot in the door. And so the founders who also went to Colorado School of Mines, decided that they saw something in me and the management team at the time said, we want to work for her, not these crusty old men who are going to, you know, be boring and change the way we operate. So they decided to take a risk and hire me, but they brought me in as the director of operations. And that way, I had an opportunity to get my feet underneath me and learn the industry and really learn how to manage a bigger team. And then I was promoted to General Manager year after that, and then a year and a half after that into the CEO position.

Kara Goldin 17:40
What did you learn? I mean, you’d worked in larger companies. So what did you learn that you loved about kind of the entrepreneurial spirit? I mean, you didn’t start Stone Age, but they were pretty tiny when you got there in comparison to sort of what you’ve grown this to be. I mean, what was kind of what did you feel like was different in terms of the environment?

Kerry Siggins 18:02
Oh, the ability to make an impact and make decisions. That’s huge. Working in Eton, even though I had because of my role. And because of the situation my boss was in, I definitely had access to people, people higher up in the organization, but they still didn’t understand what it was like to really truly be with the customer. And I was always frustrated by that disconnect, because it’s like, Hey, we’re here, we’re the ones dealing with, with the, with the customers in the field, and you guys are making decisions that that you have no idea how it’s impacting your team, your boots on the ground. And so that’s what I loved most about coming into a small company company that was very entrepreneurial, spirited, we’re an employee owned company. So everybody thinks and acts like owners, and I loved the ability to make a decision and see the impact that it had on the company, on my employees, on my customers on my suppliers. It was so empowering and motivating from coming from a huge, huge corporation like

Kara Goldin 19:05
Eaton, I bet to to the people that were working inside of stone age that you had the ability to kind of explain how you can differentiate, right, especially in the sales process, but also to supplier you know, anybody else that you guys were working with, I mean, to be able to have that kind of experience was probably super helpful. So you were elevated to the CEO role after three years, which is such a journey and a testament to you and you know, here as we just discussed, you’ve you had the challenges, but you were able to overcome those and really show up and work hard and I’m sure it wasn’t always easy, but also found people who you know really believed in you and saw your potential more than anything else I read that your team has coined your style is carried Human Engineering. So what does that mean to you? And what are some of the methods that you use for developing and empowering the team?

Kerry Siggins 20:09
Yeah, sure. So I always would, you know, I would tell that little, you know, that little self self depreciating joke there about, you know, you don’t want to drive on anything that I design. I’m not an engineer. But what I was really good at was being able to, I’m really good at getting people to tell me things, mostly because I just asked questions. I’m deeply curious about humanity. So I would just ask a lot of questions. And then I was like, oh, you know, what this role would be suited better, better for you and, and so I would make tweaks within the organization. And the next thing, we knew we were having explosive growth. And it wasn’t because of so much of a strategy shift. Even though we did make a lot of business model changes. Even in those early days, it was mostly just getting people in the right places in the company to really excel to align their roles with what they were good at. And so that’s where they coined me with the human engineer, well, you’re, you’re an engineer, you’re just a human engineer. And so that’s where that came from. And I think my ability to grow a team really comes from that curiosity and that desire to help people find the right places, within the company, or even not with the company, if it doesn’t make sense to stay within Stone Age, for for developing your career, the way you want to go. It’s really all about how do I help people get the best out of themselves and live the fulfilling life that they want and find purpose in their work? And that just takes getting to know people and asking questions and picking up on the cues and really thinking about organizational development from a strategic perspective. And and that’s how I that’s how I build the team. Did you walk

Kara Goldin 21:53
into this company thinking that in because this was a the CEOs were the founders? Right? Yeah. When you came in, did you walk in thinking that this was going to happen, that you were going to become the CEO? I mean, you’re really looking for an opportunity to kind of start back up again. Right. But I think it I mean, it’s, it’s pretty exciting that they saw that they were able to step away from the business and and bring you in, and have you take it to the next level. So what would you share with people who are listening? Who maybe think of that is like the dream opportunity? How do you find those opportunities where you are able to come in and really take a company to the next level?

Kerry Siggins 22:38
i Okay, I remember the conversation with John Moga. Ma, the founder who I reported to and he was like, young lady, do you know that you don’t even have any idea the opportunity that you’ve been given? And, you know, okay, dad, yeah, because he is the same age as my dad, I tease him about it all the time. And, and I really didn’t have any idea of what it was going to turn into. So even though I’m not the founder, this is still my company, I still have complete control over the direction that we’re going. And that is such an unusual thing for a hired gun to be in that situation. So. So yeah, it’s really, it is a dream, it’s amazing, I never thought it would happen. And the advice I would give to people who are looking for those types of opportunities. One, I think it’s really important and care, I know that you know, this too, you know, I think it’s really important to work in all different sizes of organizations working and you know, a humongous organization, you know, multibillion dollar 40,000 employee organization really helped me understand, like, what it’s like in corporate America, and then being able to go to some smaller, different types of companies and then come to Stone Age, I’m glad I had that breadth of experience at 28, when they hired me, there was no way that I would have been able to have to come in and be as impactful as I was without having that experience with Eaton. So I think it’s really important to get different experiences and different types of companies, different sizes of companies, different types of roles, so that you’re prepared to take that step into executive leadership. And then you want to work in an organization that believes in promoting from within, you know, I wouldn’t have gotten that. That General Manager position CEO position if they didn’t believe in developing people and hiring from within. So if you want to make that that that leap, I think it’s really important to find companies who have the CEO from within type, or, or C level or VP, whatever that executive role you’re looking for, from within. I think that’s going to be the best way to achieve it unless you go out and start your own company.

Kara Goldin 24:51
Yeah, definitely. But I also think that they probably saw early on your ability to really get to know People and want to know people as well, I think, you know, you’re, we’re obviously a people person even before you got to stone age, but just wanting to understand how people tick, right, working inside of a large company, then going into a smaller company, some things that would really freak people out, right that you’re not going to have the same resources, things were just done differently. But there are people that really want to be much more hands on and also get to know all the different employees and and their different roles in the company. So I think that, frankly, I think that is a great CEO, like somebody who can really go in and understand not only who the employees are, and what makes them tick, and what makes them want to grow and be at the company, but also, how can you be helpful along the way. So obviously, he saw this in front of them. You were a godsend, I think, in many ways. So I think I think it goes in reverse to how do you find people like Kerry to come into your organization? So as well, because it’s, it’s timing more than anything else? So over the course of the last two years, we’ve seen a major technology, technological shift from the rise of remote working to digitization, how has stone age really changed over the last couple of years?

Kerry Siggins 26:29
Yeah, so we’re transitioning from being a manufacturing company, to a tech company, which is an interesting transition when you’re taking a 40 plus year old company, and, and really dramatically changing the business model. But I believe it’s what companies have to do to stay relevant today. So yeah, the the very first tool that was ever developed was a waterjet, drill for uranium mining applications in the in the 70s. And we’ve expanded on that technology, and really was always just focused on the tool that goes on the end of the hose. And now automation is taking over. And there’s just much safer, more efficient ways to do this work than a guy with his hands on a host shoving a tool down a pipe, which is, you know, God forbid, so what they do, and a lot of places. But yeah, we’re really advancing technology, building robotic equipment. I just bought a Iot Product Development Company bread, where you mentioned earlier, they were they were a supplier of ours, a vendor of ours, they helped us develop some of that technology within our first IoT enabled product. And so our products now, you know, not only can do the work semi autonomously, and eventually autonomously, but they’re also collecting data, giving the people doing the cleaning, and all of these plants information on what’s going on inside of their their production assets. So technology is is is going to dramatically change the way industrial cleaning works, which needs to happen. It’s a very old school, dangerous manual industry. And I think it’s going to stretch already dramatically changed Stone Age, and I think it’s gonna it’s gonna really change the way the whole industry works, and have a positive impact on all those types of facilities. Definitely.

Kara Goldin 28:10
Have you gone more to remote working for a lot of your employees? Or stayed yaml?

Kerry Siggins 28:18
Yeah, so in our so we’re, you know, people have to be on site to do their jobs. They’re here, obviously, manufacturing, production, shipping, receiving things like that. And then we been employee owned, we treat people like adults. And so one of our values is his practice self leadership. And so we’ve really left it up to individuals and their teams to figure out what works best for them. So in our headquarters here in Durango, it’s where most of our employees are, people are coming in and out a day, a week, two days a week, some people are on the office five days a week, even though they can do their job from home, but we’re trying to make it as flexible as we can. So people can have autonomy and control over their own work. That’s

Kara Goldin 29:02
terrific. So you’ve already shared one story with us. But I’d love to see if you’ve got another story in year to share a challenge maybe and, and growing Stone Age and what did you take away from that experience that you can share that others might learn from?

Kerry Siggins 29:22
Oh, God, so many things. So I think the the biggest most recent one really came down to patent attorneys. So we are in a very technological industry. We’ve got over 100 patents, you know, in the the it’s multiplied when you take all those patents and put them around the world. And so we are very protective of our patents and we’ve actually sued for for infringement and have won. And I got into a spat with a competitor over in Europe and I was so convinced I was right. I had been through several of these before. And, and I knew that the patent was weak, I knew exactly how we were going to beat it. But I had to do it in Europe. And so and so they sued us for infringement. And I took us down this path, and the CEO there tried to try to come up with a settlement tried to come up with a licensing agreement. And I just said, No, I know, I’m right. I know you’re wrong. And and when we got to, you know, into the, into the lawsuit, it turns out that neither one of us had an airtight case. And so we wound up settling. And I spent millions of dollars on this, all trying to prove that I was right. And this was a really tough pill to swallow, because it’s a competitor. I had had convinced the board that this was the right way to go. And so yeah, I was I was filled with all kinds of anxiety, anxiety, and shame that I let my ego get the best of me that I just didn’t say what’s the best thing for the company and, and settle it at the very beginning, I was scared to go to the board and say, Hey, we’re going to have to settle, you know, here’s the the agreement that I negotiated with, I know, I told you that we were going to win this and we didn’t. So it just brought up like all of those things that demons that I had been working on for so long, front and center for me. So what I learned is one, don’t let your ego get the best of you. There’s never anything that’s black or white, especially in the world of patent litigation of any kind of litigation, really, and to you know, how to face those decisions that you make that you think you’re making the right ones in the moment, and you realize that that it was it and it doesn’t mean that you hide it, or pretend you didn’t make it or minimize it, you just own it. And you deal with the aftermath, and, and then move forward. So and learn from it. Right? I’m never gonna make that mistake again, hopefully. But it was a really, really painful one for sure. And it caused me lots of anxiety and worry that, you know, I was putting the company in a bad spot and that the board would be really upset with me and fire me and you know, all those stories, you tell yourself all that went through my head?

Kara Goldin 32:14
Wow, that’s a that’s a great story. And how long ago was that? Oh, God,

Kerry Siggins 32:18
that all happened during the pandemic. We started it in 2019. And was in 2020 20 was a year of Hell, we had an encryption attack. So ransomware we didn’t have to pay the ransom. But I was down for four weeks, then immediately into the pandemic, all while battling this lawsuit in in, in Europe, which we did everything over zoom and talking to a judge in a foreign language and trying to do do negotiations and and, and, you know, translations through the court system via Zam a was horrifying. It was so stressful. Wow. Such a bad year. Such

Kara Goldin 32:57
a crazy, crazy time. But I’m glad that you’re on the other end of it. So and great lessons to be learned. And so red wires. So tell me a little bit more about that.

Kerry Siggins 33:08
Oh, what a cool company. I’m so excited about breadwinner. So breadwinner is a product development company that helps people bring IoT products to life. And IoT, just for people who don’t know is Internet of Things. It’s your your security camera system that you can, you know, alert you when something’s going on. And you can see from your home your phone, it’s your it’s Alexa, right? That’s all IoT. And so they are a consulting company who does engineering services, and helps clients bring these products to life. And what I’m really excited about is not only the consulting services, but we’re really transitioning them to solutions as a service company, where they offer end to end end to end solutions for their clients. But ultimately, we will develop our own IoT products. So we just bought a software company called medium one. It’s an IoT Cloud Platform. So basically, an analytics I’m sorry, basically a data visualization platform, it will eventually do analytics, so that you can, you know, easily start hook up your your connected device and see the data that it’s producing. We just came out with our first hardware product, which is called the slice board, which helps clients speed to market to when they’re developing their IoT product. And ultimately, I think out of all of this, that we’ll learn, we’ll say, Hey, here’s a niche that we can actually come up with a solution. And instead of helping our clients develop it that we come up with her own. So that’s really where the five year vision is going and getting ready to hire a CEO to run it. So I don’t have to be the CEO of breadwinner, too. And I’m really, really excited. I think we’re going to scale it and grow it really fast and at diversifies what we’re doing and it’s it’s helping new technology come to market faster. That’s

Kara Goldin 34:53
awesome. What a great idea for sure. So that’s super, super great. That’s your your own little entrepreneur. Norio venture again. So you’re going back down to the bottom and starting again. So I love that. Well, thank you so much, Kerry. It’s been truly inspirational having you on on just to hear about your journey. And and where can people find out more about you and stone age. And I know you’ve got a book coming out next year as well. We’re all really excited to have a look at that and hear more about some of the lessons that you’ve learned along the way. So tell us more where we can hear about all that.

Kerry Siggins 35:37
Sure, sure. So I social media. LinkedIn is where I do most of my posting, especially around my thought leadership on leadership and philosophy and, and some of the things that you heard about today, Carrie Siggins, my website, Carrie siggins.com. I have Instagram, all of that stuff. But LinkedIn, LinkedIn, and my websites the best place, Stone Age is Stone Age tools, calm, and redware is breadwinner.com. And and love to reach out, I would love to hear from you. And yes, my book is coming out next year. I’m still debating on the title right now. So no titles to be revealed. But it’s all about my leadership philosophy and sharing some of this journey and the things that I’ve learned about flaws, and admitting those flaws and using them to power you to make to become a better leader. So reach out anytime.

Kara Goldin 36:31
It’s so great. Well, thank you for coming on. And thanks, everybody, for listening. And please subscribe to the Kara Goldin show so that you’re able to not miss out on on all of these amazing people who I have coming on. People like Carrie and so many others. And please be sure to send in those five star reviews as well for this episode, and all episodes that you’re able to listen to, it really helps in the algorithm and find me on all social channels at Kara Goldin. And don’t forget to pick up a copy of my book on daunted where you can hear about my journey. And we are here every Monday and Wednesday. And I believe actually adding another day. Coming soon, very, very soon. So hopefully, we’ll be able to hear from you and hear other guests that you think that we should be interviewing as well. People like Carrie, as I said, but also entrepreneurs, CEOs, founders, and just incredible people that are doing great things that we can all learn from. So thanks, everyone. Have a great rest of the week. Thanks, Kerry, spy. Before we sign off, I want to talk to you about fear. People like to talk about fearless leaders. But achieving big goals isn’t about fearlessness. Successful leaders recognize their fears and decide to deal with them head on in order to move forward. This is where my new book undaunted comes in. This book is designed for anyone who wants to succeed in the face of fear, overcome doubts and live a little undaunted. Order your copy today at undaunted, the book calm and learn how to look your doubts and doubters in the eye and achieve your dreams. For a limited time. You’ll also receive a free case of hint water. Do you have a question for me or want to nominate an innovator to spotlight send me a tweet at Kara Goldin and let me know. And if you liked what you heard, please leave me a review on Apple podcasts. You can also follow along with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn at Kara Goldin. Thanks for listening