Exciting News
I do have some exciting news I would like to share with you this week. For some of you that are not aware of this, along with the Shannon Wilker Foundation, I also started another company called “The Training ASPECT.” Before we get to the news, I will give you a little background about the company.
In 2014, I had reached a point in my career at John Deere that I decided it was time to do something different. I contacted my boss Matt Cronin and told him I wanted to start my own company. I agreed to stay on for a year so it would be a smooth transition. I left John Deere in December of 2014 and started The Training ASPECT on January 1, 2015. The goal of the company is to provide consulting and customer service training to Agriculture and Construction dealerships. Sometimes I would run into some of my old customers, and they would ask me what I was doing. When I told them, I started a customer service company, some of them would jokingly say, “YOU’RE providing training for customer service?” I told them it was like my basketball coaching, “Do as I say, not as I do! Just because I tell you to pass the ball, doesn’t mean I am going to pass the ball!”
I went into this endeavor with the complete confidence that in a year, it would be established and functioning well. I guess the best way to put this is with a saying my Dad always loved to say. “You’re seldom right, but this time you’re wrong again!” To say this has been a challenge, is an understatement. I have been able to develop some training programs, but not on the level I want it to be. There were times when I thought it was gaining some traction, just to experience a setback in one form or another. I told my Mother-In-Law once that God is teaching me patience and he is aware I am a slow learner.
Now for the exciting news. As of Wednesday, my company is the Dealer Development Consultant for the Far West Equipment Dealership Association. I will be working with the dealers in seven western states to implement training programs and help develop new ones. I will also be responsible for recruiting new dealerships into the association. It is going to require a lot of time and hard work, but I am extremely excited and looking forward to this new opportunity.
I want to thank everyone who has always supported me and had confidence and faith in me. I had family and friends keep telling me they were positive my business would be a success. By far my biggest supporters have been My Mother-In-Law Berna Deane, my sister Patty, and especially my beautiful girlfriend Kristi. Thank you for believing in me. I am extremely appreciative and grateful to have you in my corner. Thanks to everyone else for your thoughts and prayers. I am grateful to all of you. Thanks for reading.
Next week: The first Chukars Game
P.S. If I tell you not to foul, you already know that I am going to foul.