Thriving in uncertain times: Travis Mack

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This video opens with J.P. Morgan and Chase logos, and text over white: 'Thriving in uncertain times.'

More text appears over a black background: 'Talent management: Recruitment, retention and upskilling.'

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A man with a light blue plaid blazer over a white dress shirt speaks from an office.

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Frederick Royall III, Head of Diverse Businesses, JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking.

Frederick:

Travis, it's great to see you. Super excited about our discussion today.

On screen:

A man in a burgundy and blue striped suit jacket with a blue and white patterned dress shirt speaks from an office with a window and diplomas behind him. He wears over-ear headphones with a microphone. Text: Travis Mack, Founder, Chairman and CEO: Saalex Corp. President and CEO: Valeo Networks. Founder: Greenwood Self Storage Funds. Founder: The Mack Foundation.

Travis:

Well, listen, Fred, thank you so much for having me. You know, I certainly appreciate getting on here and chatting with you.

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Text over black reads: 'How have you found quality talent amid external pressures?'

Frederick:

How have you found quality talent amid external pressures?

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Text appears under Travis: 'Be creative.'

Travis:

Well, we've tried to be creative. As you know, this is a very competitive market right now, with, you know, record -low unemployment and things of that nature. So we've had to shift the way that we've identified talent and brought on talent.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Be flexible.'

Travis:

So we've had to be a little bit more flexible with regards to that. You know, with regards to being open to remote work, being open to remote hybrid. We've found ourselves going to the employees versus the employees having to come to us. We're competing against everybody trying to find that right talent, trying to fill out that pipeline, and really trying to execute on the strategy that we've laid out. And you can't do that without people. You need good people surrounding you in order to execute in those areas.

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Text appears under Frederick: 'Be proactive, not reactive.'

Frederick:

And by the way, I love the idea of being proactive about engaging and identifying talent rather than being reactive. So I think that's excellent advice. Have you had to do anything differently to attract top talent across diverse populations?

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Text over black reads: 'How do you attract top talent across diverse populations?'

Travis:

We've done some really, you know, forward-leaning things like going and establishing relationship with, you know, minority institutions, HBCUs, vocational schools,

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Text appears under Travis: 'Build relationships with like-minded businesses and community organizations.'

Travis

you know, even high school, where we have really tried to engage earlier and doing something, you know, that we like to call somewhat of greening the workforce. We're just looking in a few different areas trying to identify that talent that can help push us to the next level.

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Text over black reads: 'What are your businesses doing to mitigate these workforce-related challenges?'

Frederick:

You just spend a little bit more time as you dig across the portfolio about how you've had to navigate these challenges?

Travis:

So, we've spent a lot of time trying to expand our benefit offerings. We're on ESOP, which is an employee-owned, employee stock option program, for our employee base to give them something, an additional benefit above and beyond of 401k, going to the workforce versus the workforce having to come to us. That has been, you know, an area that we've we've tried to do better in and being flexible in our approach. We think some of those things have really given us the ability to attract a workforce that we know will take us into the future. So it's about that flexibility. It's about adding value, you know, to their lives.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Add value.' Frederick:

Frederick:

Travis, thank you. Thank you for all that you've done. Congratulations on the success that you've had. And I know that you're just getting started. -[laughs] There's so much to come, my friend.

Travis:

Oh, thank you so much, my friend. It is a pleasure to hang out with you and chat with you.

Text on screen:

Logos appear over a white background: J.P. Morgan and Chase.

Legal disclosures:

'Chase, J.P. Morgan, JPMorgan Chase, and Story by J.P. Morgan are marketing names for certain businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively, "JPMC," "We," "Our," or "Us," as the context may require).

The material contained in this video is intended as general market commentary and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, accounting, financial, business, real estate, or any other advice, and should not be relied upon as such. The views, opinions, estimates and strategies expressed in this video are those of JPMC, or other featured speakers, any differ from those of Commercial Banking or other JPMC employees and affiliates. This video in no way constitutes an offer or commitment to provide a particular product or service. Products and services offered by JPMC and its affiliates are subject to applicable laws and regulations, as well as our service terms and policies. Not all products and services are available in all geographic areas or to all customers. Credit is subject to approval. Rates and programs are subject to change; certain restrictions apply.

This content does not constitute J.P. Morgan research and should not be treated as such. Any views expressed are often based on current market conditions and are subject to change without notice. Any statistics references have been obtained from external sources deemed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. In no event shall JPMorgan Chase nor any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any use of, for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon, or for any inaccuracies or errors in or omissions from, the information in this video.

Copyright 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Deposits held in non-U.S. branches are not FDIC insured.

END

Text on screen:

This video opens with J.P. Morgan and Chase logos, and text over white: 'Thriving in uncertain times.'

More text appears over a black background: 'Financial discipline and strategic planning: Adapting to market downturns.'

On screen:

A man with a light blue plaid blazer over a white dress shirt speaks from an office.

Text on screen:

Frederick Royall III, Head of Diverse Businesses, JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking.

Frederick:

The current business environment demands that companies be nimble. Travis, how do you balance that with the need for financial discipline among market downturns?

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Text over black reads: 'How do you stay nimble and financially disciplined during market downturns?'

On screen:

A man in a burgundy and blue striped suit jacket with a blue and white patterned dress shirt speaks from an office with a window and diplomas behind him. He wears over-ear headphones with a microphone. Text: Travis Mack, Founder, Chairman and CEO: Saalex Corp. President and CEO: Valeo Networks. Founder: Greenwood Self Storage Funds. Founder: The Mack Foundation.

Travis:

Economic and financial discipline is crucial during this time.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Accept that you're working with fewer resources.'

Travis:

Just know that you're probably not going to have the resources that you once had, you know, two, three, four years ago, or have access to those resources two, three, four years ago. So being fiscally disciplined in your approach and having a process for how you're, you know, making these expenditures is I think is a worthwhile evolution for your organization.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Follow a process for all expenditures.'

Frederick:

Can you share more about what's your approach to risk management?

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Text over black reads: 'What's your approach to risk management?'

Travis:

Data, data, data and more data.

Text on screen:

Text appears under Travis: 'Rely on data to make decisions.'

Travis:

I'm driven by data. I'm not driven by perfection or trying to get to perfection. I'm a 70% kind of guy. Let me get 70% of the way, you know what, then we need to make a decision and we need to move in that direction.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Embrace diversity of thought.'

Travis:

You know, I'm also driven by diversity of thought. I like having multiple inputs in order to make important decisions, right? Diversity of thought to me is critical. It shouldn't just be one voice in the room, it should be multiple voices in the room. So I think what you try to do is you try to take, you know, diligent approaches and you're not swinging for home runs, you're swinging for singles, right? You're trying to, to use a baseball term, you know, you're trying to put the ball in play and you're trying to make small, progressive steps in the direction that you want to go.

Frederick:

So as you think about that balance between the long term vision of the business with methodically working through your short term goals, can you share a little bit about how do you balance those two objectives?

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Text over black reads: 'How do you balance short-and long-term objectives?'

Travis:

To me, it's like a map. And what my long term guidance is, okay, I want to go from the east coast to the west coast. And so what I try to focus on, I really try to focus on the short term stuff. And when I say short term, I'm talking about a year, two years out.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Focus on the short term: Prioritize needs 1 to 2 years out.'

Travis:

Honestly, I think that's where I get the most granular planning and the most vision from. And so that's really how I approach planning is in incremental steps headed in a direction, right, headed in a direction? We want to look like this in 10 years. That's turn by turn directions before you had GPS, right? That's turn by turn directions on a map, right, trying to chart the direction that you want to go. So that's kind of how I look at long term vision and how I am going to move the organization in the direction that I would like for it to go.

Text on screen:

Logos appear over a white background: J.P. Morgan and Chase.

Legal disclosures:

'Chase, J.P. Morgan, JPMorgan Chase, and Story by J.P. Morgan are marketing names for certain businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively, "JPMC," "We," "Our," or "Us," as the context may require).

The material contained in this video is intended as general market commentary and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, accounting, financial, business, real estate, or any other advice, and should not be relied upon as such. The views, opinions, estimates and strategies expressed in this video are those of JPMC, or other featured speakers, any differ from those of Commercial Banking or other JPMC employees and affiliates. This video in no way constitutes an offer or commitment to provide a particular product or service. Products and services offered by JPMC and its affiliates are subject to applicable laws and regulations, as well as our service terms and policies. Not all products and services are available in all geographic areas or to all customers. Credit is subject to approval. Rates and programs are subject to change; certain restrictions apply.

This content does not constitute J.P. Morgan research and should not be treated as such. Any views expressed are often based on current market conditions and are subject to change without notice. Any statistics references have been obtained from external sources deemed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. In no event shall JPMorgan Chase nor any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any use of, for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon, or for any inaccuracies or errors in or omissions from, the information in this video.

Copyright 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Deposits held in non-U.S. branches are not FDIC insured.

END

Text on screen:          

This video opens with J.P. Morgan and Chase logos, and text over white: 'Thriving in uncertain times.'

More text appears over a black background: 'Business resiliency and leadership: How to be flexible, yet firm.'

On screen:

A man with a light blue plaid blazer over a white dress shirt speaks from an office. Text: Frederick Royall III, Head of Diverse Businesses, JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking.

Frederick:

Can you talk a little bit about the first business, how it started, the direction that you were headed, and you know, how you kind of managed through resources?

Text on screen:

Text over black reads: ‘How did you manage resources with your first business?’

On screen:

A man in a burgundy and blue striped suit jacket with a blue and white patterned dress shirt speaks from an office with a window and diplomas behind him. He wears over-ear headphones with a microphone.

Text on screen:

Travis Mack, Founder, Chairman and CEO: Saalex Corp. President and CEO: Valeo Networks. Founder: Greenwood Self Storage Funds. Founder: The Mack Foundation.

Travis:

Me personally, I think it's all about pivots and I'll give you a quick story. So, when I first started out, when I first started Saalex, you know, we started out as an IT consulting firm, right? And I started it back in 1998. Now check the brilliance of this, okay Fred? I started an IT consulting company right as the dotcom bubble was crashing. I had to immediately figure out where I needed to go with regards to the business. So I got an opportunity to go down to TRW, support a quality assurance effort down there, which kind of spawned me into the aerospace and defense community.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Embrace new opportunities that can help you pivot or expand your business.'

Travis:

So that was a point where I had to make a quick pivot. If I didn't make that pivot, I'm not quite sure where I'd be. You're always resource challenged as a small business.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Be relentless in your pursuit of additional resources.'

Travis:

I think I was rejected 12 times if I remember correctly, you know with loans and things of that nature. So you're always fighting that battle and you're always trying to make sure that you can get to the next level.

Frederick:

Travis, we are in a market environment that can, that's rapidly changing. So as you kind of think about business resiliency, can you share what, what does that mean to you

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Text over black reads: 'What does business resiliency mean to you?'

Frederick:

and what do you rely on to help guide and shape your business decisions?

Travis:

Business resiliency to me is about perseverance. You know, you're gonna have to go through some fires as an entrepreneur, as a business owner. There are certainly gonna be more bad days than there are good days. And you, those good days that you do have, you kind of gotta celebrate those, you know, as they come about.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Focus on what's in the best interests of your organization.'

Travis:

You need to be focused in your efforts of trying to figure out what is in the best interests of your organization and how do you put your organization in a position to succeed?

Frederick:

What advice would you have to business owners that are in the eye of the storm that are trying to manage through?

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Text over black reads: 'What advice do you have for business owners?'

Travis:

I think it is always in your best interest to be the cool, the cool calm head in the room. The one thing that I've learned over the years if everyone else sees you freak out, they're gonna freak out. Okay. So I think that's really important for you to have that level levelheaded thought and try and promote a sense of calmness throughout your organization.

Text on screen:

Text appears under Travis: 'Stay level-headed and promote calm throughout the organization.'

Frederick:

Clearly you've grown the business organically. But you've also used acquisitions as a way to further scale growth. So can you talk a little bit about one, kind of why you arrived at that as a method that you wanted to drive the growth of the business and how has that worked on behalf of Saalex?

Text over black reads: 'How have mergers and acquisitions helped you drive growth?'

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Text over black reads: 'How have mergers and acquisitions helped you drive growth?'

Travis:

So our success also, you know, forced us to figure out other ways of growing the organization outside of just bids and proposals. And so this is when we started down the M and A, the mergers and acquisitions track, in order to identify federal contractors that would, that we could acquire, that would fit into our mold and that would fit into our core capabilities, that we could go out and leverage those capabilities to a larger federal customer.

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Text appears under Travis: 'Look for acquisition targets that will enhance and expand your current offerings.'

Travis:

And we think it's the engine of the future. We really do. We think that's the mechanism in order for us to grow and scale the organization.

Logo:

Logos appear over a white background: J.P. Morgan and Chase.

Legal disclosures:

'Chase, J.P. Morgan, JPMorgan Chase, and Story by J.P. Morgan are marketing names for certain businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide (collectively, "JPMC," "We," "Our," or "Us," as the context may require).

The material contained in this video is intended as general market commentary and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, accounting, financial, business, real estate, or any other advice, and should not be relied upon as such. The views, opinions, estimates and strategies expressed in this video are those of JPMC, or other featured speakers, any differ from those of Commercial Banking or other JPMC employees and affiliates. This video in no way constitutes an offer or commitment to provide a particular product or service. Products and services offered by JPMC and its affiliates are subject to applicable laws and regulations, as well as our service terms and policies. Not all products and services are available in all geographic areas or to all customers. Credit is subject to approval. Rates and programs are subject to change; certain restrictions apply.

This content does not constitute J.P. Morgan research and should not be treated as such. Any views expressed are often based on current market conditions and are subject to change without notice. Any statistics references have been obtained from external sources deemed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee their accuracy or completeness. In no event shall JPMorgan Chase nor any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any use of, for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon, or for any inaccuracies or errors in or omissions from, the information in this video.

Copyright 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Deposits held in non-U.S. branches are not FDIC insured.

END