Verne Holoubek

Engler Entrepreneurship Author

07/12/2017 Added

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Verne Holoubek discusses his experiences as an entrepreneur in the Spring semester of 2017

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[00:00:05.274]Welcome to the Fourth Annual Spring Engler Celebration.
[00:00:10.266]Tonight is a time for us to look back
[00:00:11.994]on all that we have accomplished together
[00:00:13.679]over the past year.
[00:00:16.164]We also get to hear from Verne Holoubek,
[00:00:20.154]founder of Holoubek Studios, a farmer,
[00:00:23.715]and president of the Terry
[00:00:25.571]and Verne Holoubek Family Foundation.
[00:00:29.304]We'll then conclude the evening with a dessert reception.
[00:00:32.749]This evening is an opportunity for us
[00:00:34.413]to bring everyone involved
[00:00:35.565]in the Engler experience together in one venue.
[00:00:39.203]We are honored to have a gathering of our community tonight
[00:00:43.096]that includes incoming freshman scholarship winners,
[00:00:46.648]current students, parents, faculty,
[00:00:50.477]advisory board members, UNL administration,
[00:00:53.187]Engler alumni, mentors, and future Engler entrepreneurs.
[00:00:58.381]In the interest of time,
[00:01:00.408]we'll only make one formal introduction.
[00:01:02.797]Our friend and our founder, Mr. Paul Engler.
[00:01:06.573]Paul, can you stand, please, and be recognized?
[00:01:09.060](audience applauds)
[00:01:20.233]Although, tonight is a reflection of the Engler program
[00:01:22.852]and over the past year of our events and success,
[00:01:26.927]we still have yet another major event to come in May.
[00:01:30.669]We would like to take this time to show
[00:01:32.792]our appreciation for Carlos Estrada.
[00:01:34.776]Carlos, would you please rise, wherever you may be?
[00:01:38.691](audience applauds)
[00:01:44.525]Carlos has been an essential component
[00:01:46.157]of planning this year's Engler industry tour
[00:01:49.219]where a group of our students and staff
[00:01:50.829]will be traveling to the tech entrepreneurship hub
[00:01:53.165]of the world, Silicon Valley, California.
[00:01:56.661]This trip is unprecedented in the Engler program
[00:01:59.064]and a huge step in bringing value and connections
[00:02:00.867]to our entrepreneurs.
[00:02:02.701]Without Carlos, our program would not have been able
[00:02:04.813]to create such an opportunity for our members
[00:02:07.405]and entrepreneurs.
[00:02:09.565]Earlier this evening, we honored graduating seniors
[00:02:12.088]who are involved in the Engler experience
[00:02:13.848]and have completed the minor.
[00:02:15.853]Would those seniors please stand
[00:02:17.912]to be recognized one more time?
[00:02:21.517](audience applauds)
[00:02:31.096]Lastly, just on a personal note, I guess.
[00:02:34.275]Throughout the past year in the Engler program,
[00:02:36.301]I've met some outstanding individuals.
[00:02:39.533]I just wanted to give a quick round of applause
[00:02:41.560]to the other six member of my executive team
[00:02:44.077]and everything they've done for this program this year.
[00:02:46.915]I think it's just been an outstanding program
[00:02:49.251]to be involved with.
[00:02:50.893]Those six members have, honestly, changed my life.
[00:02:53.604]So, let's give them a round of applause.
[00:02:55.503](audience applauds)
[00:03:01.924]Now we have a short video that shares some of the stories
[00:03:04.729]of how the Engler program has influenced the seniors.
[00:03:07.951]The Engler program has been the single most
[00:03:11.620]valuable experience in my time with the university.
[00:03:14.137]Honestly can't put a value on it.
[00:03:15.812]I knew this was the place for me.
[00:03:17.433]100% the most important thing I've done in college.
[00:03:19.876]I don't want a real job, I want to do flowers
[00:03:22.361]and run my own company.
[00:03:24.217]We've got everything from a rapper
[00:03:27.012]to a tractor mat guy, a sleazy truck salesman,
[00:03:31.300]and down to a ton of production agriculture folks as well.
[00:03:34.873]Just the entrepreneurial spirit.
[00:03:36.324]It's alive and well here in Engler.
[00:03:41.828]My Engler entrepreneurship experience included
[00:03:43.908]starting a video and photo production company.
[00:03:46.479]My business is Triple E Equine LLC.
[00:03:50.393]We have a horse motel.
[00:03:51.823]When I joined the Engler program,
[00:03:53.188]I had been building a hydroponic tomato business
[00:03:56.857]throughout high school.
[00:03:58.201]Since that time, I've explored a few other
[00:04:00.260]entrepreneurial ventures.
[00:04:01.796]Real estate, both in the rental property market
[00:04:05.497]as well as flipping a couple properties here in Lincoln.
[00:04:07.919]I am starting my own business with expanding
[00:04:11.009]my own cow herd at our family's operation.
[00:04:14.564]I started King Pin Enterprises
[00:04:16.495]my freshman year of college.
[00:04:18.873]Coming into Engler, I had already started
[00:04:22.308]Bella Baby Nuts.
[00:04:23.492]Another recent one, Social Media Management Consulting.
[00:04:26.916]I've gone through a few different projects
[00:04:28.256]over the last four years.
[00:04:29.600]Everything from manufacturing to technology
[00:04:33.526]and livestock production.
[00:04:35.627]The company I own is mostly wedding floral.
[00:04:40.726]I took my FFA SAE, or Supervised Agricultural Experience
[00:04:44.299]project of meat goat and then brought that in Englers.
[00:04:53.494]I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs
[00:04:55.414]so when I heard the Engler program,
[00:04:58.102]it's somethings different.
[00:04:59.456]They actually do things.
[00:05:00.736]They start things.
[00:05:02.987]It really caught my attention.
[00:05:04.310]I knew that was something that I'd be interested in.
[00:05:06.923]When I came to college, I really didn't know
[00:05:09.067]that I was an entrepreneur.
[00:05:10.560]I knew that I had this desire to build something
[00:05:12.971]and to do something entrepreneurial.
[00:05:16.054]It really caught my eye
[00:05:16.887]because it was just something different.
[00:05:17.952]It's not like every other organization on campus.
[00:05:20.726]I was like, "Whoa, I need to do this."
[00:05:23.008]This is something that I could take my little hobby
[00:05:25.440]into something that could actually make me money
[00:05:27.895]and support me.
[00:05:29.942]It sounded like something that was right up my alley,
[00:05:32.694]entrepreneurship, building business.
[00:05:35.168]Decided to jump in with both feet
[00:05:38.006]and see where I could have an impact.
[00:05:40.480]Once I met Dr. Field, it was game over.
[00:05:42.816]I knew that the second I started,
[00:05:44.288]I was gonna be going full-fledged.
[00:05:46.752]I really joined for that reason,
[00:05:49.110]just to get started and take off
[00:05:50.603]and quit coming up with excuses of why I was waiting.
[00:05:54.336]The Engler program teaches students
[00:05:56.352]how to pull the trigger, launch,
[00:05:57.931]and invest in themselves.
[00:05:59.811]That's something that no other program focuses on.
[00:06:03.296]To solve problems in this day and age,
[00:06:04.790]you have to be multi-disciplinary.
[00:06:08.235]To do that effectively,
[00:06:09.888]you have to have an entrepreneurial mindset
[00:06:11.478]to pull all these disparate things together
[00:06:13.750]in a unique way to solve problems.
[00:06:15.659]The difference between Engler and other departments,
[00:06:19.158]other places here in Lincoln or around the states,
[00:06:22.496]I think as department, as a university pieces,
[00:06:26.496]that we're actually starting businesses.
[00:06:28.214]We're getting those boots on the ground,
[00:06:29.867]we're bootstrapping, we're going.
[00:06:31.915]And we're making things happen.
[00:06:33.504]This program thinks outside the confines, or the box,
[00:06:37.590]that is part of the normal university experience.
[00:06:41.995]There's no other college program
[00:06:43.467]or organization that I've seen
[00:06:45.142]that you physically start something.
[00:06:46.763]You're surrounded by students who are constantly pushing you
[00:06:48.843]to do better.
[00:06:49.963]They're doing things themselves.
[00:06:51.158]You can surround yourselves as part of this community
[00:06:53.774]of people that are building something.
[00:06:55.179]We talk about the things that no one else does.
[00:06:57.280]We focus on the ares that no one else is,
[00:06:59.830]not necessarily willing to talk about, but,
[00:07:01.995]they don't want to dig deep down in your heart
[00:07:04.406]and talk about passion and grit and drive
[00:07:08.246]and what really motivates you to get up
[00:07:09.728]out of bed in the morning.
[00:07:10.916]No one else talks about that stuff.
[00:07:13.585]You don't just have club meetings.
[00:07:15.142]You have rallies that are amping you up
[00:07:17.564]to reach your full potential.
[00:07:19.206]There's a call to action with this group.
[00:07:21.481]You're building something real.
[00:07:23.217]We're doers not just talkers.
[00:07:25.958]A lot of programs here talk about things forever.
[00:07:30.076]Or we sit down and we think about how we would do it.
[00:07:32.668]It's all kind of theory and it's later on.
[00:07:34.918]We, I think in the Engler program,
[00:07:37.425]acknowledge that time is not a limitless commodity
[00:07:39.665]and that the best time to start is now.
[00:07:41.436]My most valuable experience was spending time
[00:07:44.689]with the executive team.
[00:07:48.092]Going on some of the trips, being exposed to big ideas,
[00:07:51.761]and being shown that some of these big ideas
[00:07:54.918]people are doing and they're working
[00:07:56.828]and you can be successful doing something
[00:07:59.228]that everyone else thinks you're crazy for.
[00:08:01.592]I think it's very valuable that we are taught
[00:08:06.125]the ins and outs of a business.
[00:08:07.981]For me, had it not been for Paul Engler's generosity
[00:08:11.306]and for Tom Field's mentorship,
[00:08:13.589]I would not have had the opportunities that I have had,
[00:08:16.309]including running for student body president,
[00:08:18.069]including building those other businesses.
[00:08:20.032]I think my ah-ha moment in Engler
[00:08:22.517]was attending the Engler board meeting
[00:08:24.512]and getting to meet Joe Stone.
[00:08:26.624]That just showed me that this program is really different
[00:08:29.909]because your board members are genuinely interested
[00:08:33.428]in what you're doing.
[00:08:34.463]They're not just there to serve on a board.
[00:08:36.020]They're not just there for another line in their resume.
[00:08:38.505]It's the same with Engler entrepreneurs.
[00:08:40.191]We're not just here for a resume builder,
[00:08:42.463]we're here to get something done.
[00:08:44.255]I felt like I understood what I was doing.
[00:08:46.889]Rather than wondering and questioning everything,
[00:08:49.471]I knew what I was doing and knew what I had to do
[00:08:51.930]to get it done.
[00:08:52.827]Dr. Field stood up and started to talk.
[00:08:56.251]He made a comment that has still stuck with me.
[00:08:59.365]It's actually a Mark Twain quote.
[00:09:01.925]It's the idea that the two most important days
[00:09:06.075]of your life were the day that you were born
[00:09:08.869]and the day you found out why.
[00:09:14.331]One of the big things Engler teaches us
[00:09:16.091]is about synergy.
[00:09:17.339]And that, while we all have individual strengths,
[00:09:19.835]when you put those people together on a team,
[00:09:22.085]the unbelievable happens and you get tremendous success.
[00:09:25.691]There's no doubt this program wouldn't
[00:09:27.483]have had its success without the people
[00:09:29.398]that make it possible.
[00:09:30.797]I think first, and foremost,
[00:09:31.630]I'd like to Paul for making the experience possible.
[00:09:34.549]Obviously without his contribution,
[00:09:36.376]I wouldn't have had this set of amazing experiences
[00:09:38.808]and opportunities that I have.
[00:09:40.760]He really had a dream.
[00:09:43.864]I think it's a really beautiful dream that he has
[00:09:46.915]that we're here today, a bunch of students
[00:09:50.584]who really are different.
[00:09:53.720]I would say, Paul, it wouldn't be possible without him.
[00:09:56.355]He certainly has set quite the example
[00:09:58.445]for every single person in this program.
[00:10:01.688]As far as what one person can do,
[00:10:04.813]the potential of one person.
[00:10:06.296]I think at the core of it, Paul and Tom,
[00:10:10.136]each in their respective ways
[00:10:11.491]have really made my college experience possible
[00:10:14.189]and made it what it is.
[00:10:15.800]Definitely want to thank Tom.
[00:10:18.435]He's been a huge inspiration throughout my whole four years.
[00:10:22.659]Tom, Michelle, Dave.
[00:10:24.885]Being a part of the staff and helping student,
[00:10:28.504]I think that they do an amazing job.
[00:10:31.544]I'm truly appreciative of the influence they've had on me.
[00:10:34.531]I'm really thankful for Dave, too,
[00:10:35.896]who was ready to help me get everything on paper
[00:10:39.341]and not be afraid to walk into a bank
[00:10:41.880]at 20 years old asking for money
[00:10:44.195]to take off and get started.
[00:10:45.944]Definitely Dave Lam.
[00:10:47.320]So, thanks for coaching me all these years.
[00:10:50.328]It's been great to work with you.
[00:10:51.736]Michelle, of course, too.
[00:10:53.848]We all love Michelle.
[00:10:55.085]To have figureheads and models like them,
[00:10:59.949]that's really key for the growth
[00:11:02.520]and long-term sustainability of a program like this.
[00:11:06.403]Right now we're all building businesses together.
[00:11:08.931]In 10, 15, 20 years when we're either successful
[00:11:12.451]with those business or others,
[00:11:14.445]I think we'll be able to look around the room
[00:11:16.675]or across the state and say,
[00:11:18.733]"I remember when this person launched that business."
[00:11:24.440]During the past year,
[00:11:25.453]the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program
[00:11:28.248]has worked towards bringing our community
[00:11:29.965]and our culture of empowering enterprise builders
[00:11:33.336]to the next level.
[00:11:34.808]This year marked our second annual
[00:11:36.739]3DS Engler Startup experience.
[00:11:39.832]For this, we partnered with a three day starter program
[00:11:42.573]to provide a 48 hour life-changing experience.
[00:11:46.797]53 students and a few community members
[00:11:49.517]and 27 mentors joined forces
[00:11:52.131]for a weekend of ideation, customer feedback,
[00:11:55.447]and business development.
[00:11:57.024]At the end of the three days,
[00:11:58.272]10 businesses pitched their ideas to a panel
[00:12:00.939]of experienced entrepreneurs for feedback and advice.
[00:12:04.736]Among these startups were urban and rural development,
[00:12:08.555]technological advancements in agriculture,
[00:12:11.477]livestock monitoring, pasture management,
[00:12:14.357]campus communications, vitals monitoring for sleepy drivers,
[00:12:19.285]international agriculture,
[00:12:21.248]and customizable ice cream sandwiches.
[00:12:25.291]A major highlight during the spring semester
[00:12:27.243]is also our continued involvement with the Maker Space
[00:12:30.325]at Innovation Campus.
[00:12:32.555]For those of you who don't know,
[00:12:33.771]the Maker Space is a environment
[00:12:35.649]where community members, faculty, and students
[00:12:39.009]are able to come together and get creative in robotics,
[00:12:43.809]electronics, a wood-working shop.
[00:12:46.369]Or, perhaps, like me, make some new hot pads
[00:12:48.939]for a kitchen on the sewing machine.
[00:12:51.958]This year we hosted two separate events at the Maker studio
[00:12:54.785]highlighting our culture and focusing
[00:12:56.833]on a top pillar of ours, build.
[00:13:01.249]This year we also hosted our first ever
[00:13:03.137]Women in Entrepreneurship Conference.
[00:13:04.886]This two day experience was all
[00:13:06.101]about empowering women entrepreneurs
[00:13:08.213]to become catalysts of rural America.
[00:13:10.432]Attendees had the opportunity
[00:13:11.925]to take life-changing connections,
[00:13:14.048]participate in a celebration of women in business,
[00:13:16.395]and learn from some of the greatest, brightest,
[00:13:18.123]and most kindhearted minds.
[00:13:21.675]These events were just the top of how the Engler program
[00:13:23.637]took huge leaps of faith and accomplished much this year.
[00:13:27.403]Students of the program are constantly working
[00:13:29.003]to provide a better experience for others
[00:13:31.072]in working towards their goals as enterprise builder.
[00:13:34.059]Joe, would you please come forward
[00:13:35.072]to introduce our guest lecturer?
[00:13:42.912]Now, we will begin the lecture portion of tonight's event.
[00:13:46.549]Joining us tonight is Verne Holoubek,
[00:13:48.480]founder of Holoubek Studios.
[00:13:50.101]He began his career as a street artist
[00:13:51.669]earning money for college.
[00:13:53.515]As a college senior he created an iron-on heat transfer
[00:13:56.053]system for T-shirts and became an industry legend.
[00:13:59.851]His enterprise drew into a full scale
[00:14:01.355]garment production plant in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
[00:14:03.925]Where Verne was CEO until the sale
[00:14:05.641]of Holoubek Incorporated in 2005.
[00:14:09.110]Today, Verne and his wife Terry own and operate a farm
[00:14:12.032]that is powered almost entirely by solar energy.
[00:14:15.030]Verne is president of the Terry and Verne Holoubek
[00:14:17.728]Family Foundation which funds children's health
[00:14:21.387]and educational causes.
[00:14:23.595]Please join me in welcoming our speaker
[00:14:25.142]for the Engler spring lecture, Verne Holoubek.
[00:14:28.822](audience applauds)
[00:14:44.580]Good evening, everybody.
[00:14:47.556]I wish to thank Tom Fields and Michelle Bassford
[00:14:49.838]for the invitation to be here tonight.
[00:14:53.209]This is a night paying tribute to the graduating class
[00:14:56.596]who will go on to do great things.
[00:14:59.284]It's an honor to be your speaker tonight
[00:15:00.734]for the Fourth Annual Spring Celebration.
[00:15:04.659]I couldn't help but notice that the invitation
[00:15:07.176]said I was to speak after dinner and before the dessert.
[00:15:12.094]So, for you entrepreneurs, this is a teaching moment
[00:15:15.155]in strategic planning.
[00:15:17.096](audience laughs)
[00:15:20.606]And a special thanks must go to Mr. Paul Engler
[00:15:23.091]for making this entrepreneurship possible.
[00:15:34.430]Good.
[00:15:37.726]It has been a long time since you've seen me here.
[00:15:41.445](audience laughing)
[00:15:44.371]You may not recognize me in my new suit of clothes
[00:15:47.582]and without my whiskers.
[00:15:50.835]I've gone into the world and I've learned a great deal.
[00:15:53.576]So, children, when you leave here,
[00:15:55.998]you'll find the world a very upside down place.
[00:16:00.478]I love old movies and I took these lines
[00:16:02.824]from the final scene of the 1933 movie Topaze.
[00:16:07.326]The story ends with this professor's return
[00:16:09.619]to receive and award from the school where he once taught.
[00:16:13.506]Like the film's main character, I, too,
[00:16:16.098]found the world a very upside down place.
[00:16:19.500]I'm sure when you leave here, the same will be true.
[00:16:24.119]A mentor once told me when I lodged my complaint
[00:16:27.596]of the way things are, the response was,
[00:16:31.476]"Verne, you can always maintain your idealism
[00:16:35.138]"but you have to live in the world."
[00:16:37.378]And that's what I've tried to do.
[00:16:40.343]This is a a story about a company that was created
[00:16:42.978]while I was a student here at the University of Nebraska.
[00:16:46.050]Let me tell you how it happened.
[00:16:48.780]But first, I'd like to start with my immigration story.
[00:16:52.322]I'm here because like many of you,
[00:16:54.658]my ancestors were immigrants.
[00:16:58.647]Most arrived poor without much education.
[00:17:01.527]Mostly they came for the promise of America.
[00:17:06.124]In 1870, my great-grandfather Holoubek
[00:17:08.364]homesteaded north of Schuyler.
[00:17:11.010]He and his wife both died young,
[00:17:12.887]leaving a large family to be raised by the eldest sister.
[00:17:16.407]My grandfather was the youngest of those nine children.
[00:17:20.492]My mother's parents and grandparents,
[00:17:23.276]the Jedlicka clan were early homesteaders who arrived
[00:17:26.839]much more prepared and into a ready set of lands.
[00:17:30.679]They had large families that filled two pages
[00:17:32.482]of the phone book.
[00:17:35.863]Education was not part of their heritage
[00:17:37.634]so my mother was denied high school
[00:17:40.055]because here father expected her
[00:17:41.751]to help her two older sisters and six older brothers
[00:17:45.260]work the 2,000 acres they owned in the 1920's.
[00:17:49.239]She was a great reader.
[00:17:50.860]She was self-educated
[00:17:53.250]and often told me she would've done well in high school
[00:17:55.948]because she was the best reader in her eighth grade class.
[00:17:59.671]She cried when she had to leave school.
[00:18:02.722]These are the immigrants of the day.
[00:18:05.122]Those who were shunned by the people who came before them.
[00:18:08.503]Catholic or Jew,
[00:18:10.636]Chinese or Czech,
[00:18:12.716]Irish or Italian, the latest arrived stood at the back
[00:18:15.739]of the line
[00:18:17.595]but never gave up their American dream.
[00:18:20.721]The perseverance of that generation exists today
[00:18:23.355]in the new people arriving on our shores
[00:18:25.531]to better their lives.
[00:18:27.761]I believe we should be welcoming them
[00:18:29.905]for the contributions they will make
[00:18:31.995]just as our ancestors did a mere 150 years ago.
[00:18:36.454]Much of my generation was hard-wired
[00:18:38.790]to that pioneer spirit that was Nebraska.
[00:18:42.843]My mother and father were successful farmers
[00:18:44.934]who raised five children on a half section of land.
[00:18:48.411]Everyone received a college education and a car.
[00:18:52.657]They gave us financial help when it was needed.
[00:18:56.209]But I must remind you that the tuition
[00:18:57.809]of my first semester was 132 dollars
[00:19:02.758]and the hourly wage was a dollar an hour.
[00:19:06.363]By today's standards, it was nearly a free education.
[00:19:10.907]The entrepreneur spirit came to me from their example.
[00:19:15.462]Mom raised chickens and sold eggs.
[00:19:18.609]We milked a few cows and sold cream.
[00:19:22.097]From the time I could walk, my chore was caring
[00:19:25.649]for a flock of 100 roosters that the hatchery gave
[00:19:28.742]to good customers at no charge.
[00:19:31.633]I fed and watered them and years later guarded the flock
[00:19:35.409]from predators with my new Daisy BB gun.
[00:19:39.025]Mom butchered and cleaned the birds and we sold them
[00:19:40.699]to a grocery store in Columbus.
[00:19:43.035]She taught me how to add value to a product.
[00:19:46.363]My pay was a dollar a bird.
[00:19:48.934]I learned to invest early when my father taught me
[00:19:52.625]to put the hundred bucks in a savings account.
[00:19:55.771]He explained the wealth multiplier of compound interest.
[00:20:00.582]I never thought of spending it, letting the interest grow.
[00:20:03.995]Frugal was the password in our household.
[00:20:07.750]My dad was a corn husker.
[00:20:11.675]Besides starting his farm with only a team of horses,
[00:20:14.758]he was a natural entrepreneur.
[00:20:17.243]With a low-key approach offering quality at a fair price
[00:20:20.966]and great customer service, he was a farm dealer
[00:20:24.923]calling on farmers in his territory selling Archer oil.
[00:20:28.966]He added the new hybrid seed corn to the product line.
[00:20:32.603]The land conservation movement,
[00:20:34.406]born in the Dust Bowl of the 1930's,
[00:20:36.977]taught him how to prevent erosion.
[00:20:39.515]Waterways were planted to slow down the runoff
[00:20:41.841]of precious top soil.
[00:20:44.518]He harvested the brome grass seed from roadsides
[00:20:47.739]in his own waterways.
[00:20:49.371]Cleaned it and sold it to his list of customers
[00:20:51.803]who were beginning to understand the importance
[00:20:54.843]of stopping erosion.
[00:20:58.342]Every year, he cleaned part of the old crop,
[00:21:00.241]selling it for next year's seeding.
[00:21:02.801]Then he added tires and some short line equipment
[00:21:04.998]distributed by the Lindsey Brothers.
[00:21:07.590]Every load of cattle of hogs we sold
[00:21:09.517]at the Omaha Stockyard has been a back call
[00:21:11.427]of tires and equipment.
[00:21:13.987]I helped assemble the running gears and bale orders,
[00:21:16.472]watching farmers come and go from his little office
[00:21:18.531]in the house.
[00:21:20.259]I was concerned when he gave too much credit
[00:21:22.093]to his customers, only collecting the past dues
[00:21:24.259]at the end of the year.
[00:21:26.488]He had a big heart and understood how difficult farming
[00:21:29.549]can get when prices are low.
[00:21:32.835]He became their bank at planting time
[00:21:34.659]and kept his customers loyal.
[00:21:37.368]His advice to me was, "Give the customer a little more
[00:21:40.440]"than they thought they paid for."
[00:21:43.343]I'm not sure they knew they were giving me the keys
[00:21:45.135]to a good life but I remembered those lessons
[00:21:48.207]above all else.
[00:21:51.044]My first discovery of self was that I had a gift,
[00:21:55.247]a gift to draw.
[00:21:57.177]In school, I doodled on every notebook
[00:21:58.969]designing new typefaces in a freehand style.
[00:22:02.737]There wasn't an art class in my high school
[00:22:04.422]and there was no encouragement
[00:22:05.446]to follow a creative curriculum.
[00:22:07.707]No one thought you could make a living being an artist.
[00:22:10.907]My idols were Walt Disney, who gave us Mickey Mouse,
[00:22:14.566]Charles Schultz, creator of the Peanuts characters,
[00:22:17.254]Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy.
[00:22:19.878]I taught myself to draw those characters.
[00:22:22.769]Years later, I would be inspired by the work
[00:22:24.774]of artist Andy Warhol,
[00:22:27.398]who screen-printed his art making multiple copies,
[00:22:31.320]turning the art world upside down.
[00:22:34.385]Those were the famous soup cans.
[00:22:38.939]As a high school senior,
[00:22:39.782]my mother and father recognized my talent
[00:22:41.467]and paid for a correspondence course
[00:22:43.142]where I learned the basics of drawing using perspective
[00:22:45.862]and light.
[00:22:48.134]The first money I made from making art
[00:22:51.078]was creating a metal sign for my uncle's Angus farm.
[00:22:54.502]Probably the only art ever made in that high school class
[00:22:57.912]was when I used a torch to cut out a silhouette
[00:22:59.981]of an Angus bull that I drew on 1/4 inch thick
[00:23:02.616]piece of sheet metal purchased at a scrap yard.
[00:23:06.520]Then I painted it black and in bold letters
[00:23:08.643]on both sides, it read, "Victor Jedlicka,
[00:23:12.035]"Angus Farm, Liegh, Nebraska."
[00:23:14.755]I was paid a hundred dollars for the sign.
[00:23:17.539]Those were 1960 dollars.
[00:23:19.736]Or the price of an old car.
[00:23:22.637]The first job made me a professional artist
[00:23:26.147]and I was only 16 years old.
[00:23:28.931]On the school bus, I'd draw a portrait of a pretty blonde
[00:23:31.853]and got a date.
[00:23:33.731]This was beginning to look like a great career path.
[00:23:35.821](audience laughs)
[00:23:38.349]In my senior year, in the spring before graduation,
[00:23:40.813]I was sitting on the fender
[00:23:41.688]of my dad's Allis Chalmers tractor.
[00:23:44.088]As we drove to the corner of our quarter section
[00:23:45.976]to fix the fence.
[00:23:48.131]He'd just purchased my mother's home place,
[00:23:50.029]another quarter, and we started talking
[00:23:52.547]about what happens after high school.
[00:23:55.075]I told him I would stay home after graduation
[00:23:57.027]to help pay for the new land.
[00:23:58.904]"No," he said, "I've saved enough money.
[00:24:00.963]"I think you should go to college."
[00:24:03.160]this was the first time anybody talked
[00:24:04.600]to me about going on to school.
[00:24:07.096]My parents recognized that I may have the ability
[00:24:08.792]to earn a college degree.
[00:24:12.248]I adopted the idea that life would be 20% talent
[00:24:14.573]and 80% work.
[00:24:16.547]My strong points were curiosity, observation, and tenacity.
[00:24:21.325]To overcome my weaker talents,
[00:24:23.512]I would need help from others.
[00:24:25.688]I had to complete that college degree my parents provided
[00:24:28.227]and then learn everything I would use
[00:24:30.477]for the exciting days ahead.
[00:24:33.368]It was the 60's.
[00:24:34.797]For my generation, the most creative and progressive time
[00:24:37.517]to be alive in America.
[00:24:39.683]John F. Kennedy was our president
[00:24:42.029]and he said we're going to the moon
[00:24:43.007]at the end of the decade.
[00:24:44.916]The message I heard was, "You could do anything
[00:24:47.444]"if you got an education and worked hard."
[00:24:51.029]Coming from a farm, work was no stranger.
[00:24:55.168]Both things came true.
[00:24:58.250]My high school's absent in this decision.
[00:25:02.282]They never discussed my further education
[00:25:04.699]as a possibility.
[00:25:06.906]It was my cousins, Don and Dorothy Sedlock,
[00:25:10.799]our neighbors who are already in college
[00:25:13.402]who encouraged me, helping me with the applications,
[00:25:17.135]and gave me a tour of the campus when I visited.
[00:25:21.445]Stopping for ice cream at the dairy building
[00:25:23.183]and ending up at the student union
[00:25:24.634]where bobby socks were mingled, drinking coffee and Cokes.
[00:25:28.203]I was hooked.
[00:25:31.109]One has to ask, how many young people are passed over
[00:25:33.583]by circumstance and never allowed to reach their potential?
[00:25:38.010]We never know from where or from whom
[00:25:40.239]the next big thing will come.
[00:25:42.522]Think of Apple computer and the iPhone.
[00:25:46.970]Steve Jobs was adopted and of Syrian descent.
[00:25:52.815]He was born in Wisconsin.
[00:25:55.685]The first time I left the path was when I made new friends
[00:25:58.106]in a neighboring town.
[00:26:00.325]In high school rivalry, this was akin
[00:26:02.010]to marrying outside your religion.
[00:26:05.455]But I didn't let that stop my curiosity
[00:26:07.429]of what lies beyond the hill in the next valley.
[00:26:12.474]Making my circle bigger, I joined a hot rod club
[00:26:15.375]in Schuyler.
[00:26:17.221]They were townies of an upper class.
[00:26:19.407]But they accepted me as one of the three farm kids
[00:26:21.679]into the club.
[00:26:23.855]My future business partner was a member and an artist.
[00:26:27.514]We loved the idea of art and hot rods.
[00:26:29.530]We started drawing these images on blank white shirts
[00:26:32.517]with magic markers.
[00:26:34.778]The club was a new identity for me.
[00:26:37.402]We were The Coachmen, complete with printed jackets,
[00:26:40.815]patches, declaring us members of the NHRA,
[00:26:44.879]National Hot Rod Association.
[00:26:47.717]The official plaques were displayed in the rear windows
[00:26:49.818]of our dad's sedans that we would drag race
[00:26:52.751]on a flat stretch of Highway 91.
[00:26:56.207]Like James Dean in the movie Rebel Without a Cause,
[00:26:59.919]late night I took the dare.
[00:27:02.159]The kids parked their car on both sides of the road,
[00:27:05.295]some watching for cops with the lights on,
[00:27:07.983]marking the end of the quarter mile,
[00:27:10.501]to witness the Alpha Dogs racing
[00:27:13.029]in our dad's rather slow and heavy coaches.
[00:27:17.765]Driving the family's two ton '55 Packard,
[00:27:20.453]I lost the race to a lighter Rocket 88 Oldsmobile.
[00:27:24.773]I doubt we reached over 50 miles an hour.
[00:27:28.602]None of us had a real hot rod but we dreamed
[00:27:30.420]of building one.
[00:27:32.958]In the last year of my high school,
[00:27:34.622]I decided to build that car using a 1935 Ford Coupe
[00:27:38.345]that I found in a backyard in Liegh.
[00:27:41.831]A more powerful, later model, flathead V8 Mercury engine
[00:27:46.951]that was laying in the trees behind my cousin's barn.
[00:27:50.526]My best friend Rich and I started the project
[00:27:52.425]in my dad's machine shed.
[00:27:54.697]For most of the senior year, he let me work on the car
[00:27:56.979]in a spot he probably needed to store his machinery.
[00:28:00.414]Mom and dad supported me in whatever I wanted to do.
[00:28:03.902]The five of us children were raised free-range,
[00:28:07.198]with very few rules.
[00:28:10.750]They taught us by example and seldom preached.
[00:28:13.598]How did they know what not to do?
[00:28:16.542]By the fall, the little Ford Coupe
[00:28:18.089]was finished and ready to drive.
[00:28:20.830]On a hot day in August,
[00:28:21.833]I left home to attend studies in agriculture
[00:28:24.479]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:28:27.369]Shortly after I pulled on the main highway
[00:28:29.353]in sight of our famous capitol building,
[00:28:31.508]I saw the red lights blinking in my rear view mirror,
[00:28:34.377]pulled over by the state highway patrol.
[00:28:37.055]I rolled down the little window to greet the officer.
[00:28:40.191]Without asking for a license, for he thought I had none,
[00:28:43.903]in a deep patrolman's voice he said,
[00:28:45.791]"Where do you think you're going little boy?"
[00:28:49.077]I've asked that question many times
[00:28:53.173]because I do not have a map to my life.
[00:28:57.152]Half of the 31 students from the 1961 high school class
[00:29:00.501]went on to college.
[00:29:02.304]I was an average student
[00:29:03.552]but I was accepted to the university
[00:29:05.024]so I was just good enough.
[00:29:07.467]In the middle of the freshman year,
[00:29:08.832]the high school principal and superintendent
[00:29:10.526]made a visit to Lincoln to see how their former
[00:29:12.969]students were doing.
[00:29:14.921]Later I was told my principal and superintendent
[00:29:17.567]had a five dollar bet that I wouldn't last a year.
[00:29:21.972]I pulled passing grades in all my courses
[00:29:23.743]so someone lost five dollars.
[00:29:26.900]My best teacher in high school was Mr. Borglum,
[00:29:30.047]who taught algebra and geometry.
[00:29:32.447]They became my favorite subjects.
[00:29:34.985]Solving problems with mathematical solutions
[00:29:38.932]would be easier if I learned these skills.
[00:29:41.767]Later that year, I found Mr. Borglum
[00:29:43.493]in a university research lab,
[00:29:45.733]sorting out proteins, discovering the secrets
[00:29:47.941]of the double helix, DNA.
[00:29:50.928]I was fascinated by his work and I was proud
[00:29:52.901]to have been his student.
[00:29:57.008]This combination or art, math, science,
[00:29:59.088]and business would become the foundation of my career.
[00:30:04.048]The first year of college was a time
[00:30:07.280]to discover the finer points of life.
[00:30:10.459]We were all farm kids and as smart as we thought
[00:30:12.336]we were, we were pretty rough around the edges.
[00:30:15.536]So, the fraternity elders decided
[00:30:17.339]to give the pledges some new information
[00:30:21.392]in social education.
[00:30:23.739]They contracted the Betty Bond Charm School
[00:30:26.363]to teach us some etiquette.
[00:30:28.795]When the attractive well dressed woman entered the room,
[00:30:32.464]we all stood up.
[00:30:34.277]She preceded to teach us table manners.
[00:30:37.147]Like how to use a napkin, how to take soup,
[00:30:42.235]always filling the spoon with a forward motion.
[00:30:45.467]"Never bring the spoon toward you.
[00:30:47.035]"Never slurp," she said.
[00:30:49.008]She advised us on proper dress and showed us
[00:30:50.693]how to make a tie look perfect.
[00:30:53.541]I remember the last lesson when she said,
[00:30:56.112]"Change your underwear every day."
[00:30:58.320](audience laughs)
[00:31:00.677]A custom I've practiced ever since.
[00:31:02.789](audience laughs)
[00:31:09.084]In the spring of the freshman year,
[00:31:10.523]a few guys and one girl met at the Virginia Apartments
[00:31:13.061]to discuss a new venture.
[00:31:15.248]It was a historic location because it was legend
[00:31:18.352]that the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh
[00:31:20.229]once lived there after quitting college
[00:31:23.152]then coming to Lincoln and learning to fly
[00:31:25.253]at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporations Flying School.
[00:31:29.552]He paid his way barnstorming across Nebraska
[00:31:32.283]promoting this new method of travel.
[00:31:35.323]A few years later he'd become the first man to solo across
[00:31:38.117]the Atlantic, landing in a French farm field.
[00:31:41.755]I loved these explorers and vendors
[00:31:43.405]and I wanted to be like them.
[00:31:46.061]It was in that apartment, where the plan was hatched
[00:31:48.473]and a new company formed.
[00:31:53.620]At the end of the meeting,
[00:31:55.795]my friend Carl and I became partners in the new venture
[00:31:59.171]and it was called Holoubek and Languin studios.
[00:32:02.585]We began this trip into a new field,
[00:32:04.858]airbrush art on textiles.
[00:32:08.133]We formed two teams,
[00:32:11.625]we would travel the state fair circuits,
[00:32:13.380]car shows, drag strips, and rodeos and beaches
[00:32:16.857]working as street artists,
[00:32:18.606]painting custom designs on blank white shirts.
[00:32:22.471]Remember, there is no competition when you do something new.
[00:32:27.133]That first summer brought home enough income
[00:32:28.881]to pay for part of the next year of college,
[00:32:32.177]but I started to doubt my direction.
[00:32:35.707]Once back at school after finishing the summer tour,
[00:32:37.926]painting shirts at the Nebraska State Fair,
[00:32:40.721]I decided to get off the path again.
[00:32:44.230]The counselors were puzzled when I told them I wanted
[00:32:46.065]to change majors to art.
[00:32:48.945]The test they gave me said I was more like a farmer
[00:32:50.747]than an artist.
[00:32:52.710]"Surprise, surprise," I said to myself,
[00:32:54.715]"You grew up on a farm and there wasn't an artist in sight."
[00:32:58.558]Not agreeing with them, I insisted.
[00:33:01.118]I continued the required Ag courses,
[00:33:03.720]but enrolled that semester in art school,
[00:33:06.014]taking courses in drawing.
[00:33:08.531]The semester passed, fine art wasn't in my blood.
[00:33:12.779]The teachers were aghast that I would want
[00:33:14.482]to do art for money.
[00:33:16.224]"How low rod," they must've thought.
[00:33:18.619]But I trudged on and decided
[00:33:22.559]that art school would never make me a Disney or a Schultz.
[00:33:26.697]So I went back to the counselors and they came up
[00:33:28.497]with an idea and they said, "Journalism school."
[00:33:31.421]But I said, "That means I would have to start over."
[00:33:34.472]Nearly half my credits to an Ag degree were already earned.
[00:33:39.549]And journalism required courses in the humanities.
[00:33:42.877]I'm not sure who it was, but I have to thank them
[00:33:45.064]for listening to my personal educational needs.
[00:33:48.317]The university created a new degree,
[00:33:51.549]and they called it Ag Journalism.
[00:33:54.226]I would go to J School to finish my studies there,
[00:33:57.170]but continued to add credits to my Ag degree.
[00:34:01.215]It was an experiment.
[00:34:03.199]I cannot tell you how important this move was,
[00:34:05.866]for it changed my life.
[00:34:07.978]It allowed me to explore and realize my dreams.
[00:34:12.287]I studied news writing under the giants,
[00:34:14.783]Neale Copple and Dr. Hall.
[00:34:17.886]The men who created the college of journalism.
[00:34:20.520]We learned about those sacred walls
[00:34:22.035]between news, editorial, and advertising departments.
[00:34:25.662]We understood the difference between truthful information
[00:34:28.254]and propaganda.
[00:34:30.099]You could not be a credible journalist to work on both sides
[00:34:32.467]of that wall.
[00:34:34.957]I was selling art and ideas, not writing about them,
[00:34:38.219]so I chose the advertising sequence.
[00:34:41.152]I began my studies under the infamous, Mr. Book.
[00:34:46.091]Leaving behind his New York position
[00:34:48.085]with the big ad agency BBDO,
[00:34:50.880]he came here to teach country kids
[00:34:53.251]how to create advertising.
[00:34:55.605]It's true I was in Madman's School.
[00:34:58.336]And if you watch the series, it was spot-on.
[00:35:01.696]Mr. Book was straight out of central casting.
[00:35:04.384]He wore impeccable suits, had thin, dark rim glasses
[00:35:08.203]and a mustache.
[00:35:09.632]He smoked a small pipe.
[00:35:12.171]We were allowed to smoke and drink coffee in class
[00:35:14.294]just like the real newsrooms and advertising shops
[00:35:16.673]you see in old movies.
[00:35:19.627]He set up the classroom with an ad agency attitude.
[00:35:25.078]Mr. Book was tough and unforgiving,
[00:35:27.787]once crushing up an ad layout
[00:35:29.931]that took me hours to complete.
[00:35:31.521]Then, without a word he threw it in the wastebasket
[00:35:33.409]by his desk.
[00:35:35.190]In a cold, unencouraging voice he said,
[00:35:37.462]"Come back when you have something good."
[00:35:39.862]I was crushed like that layout in his basket.
[00:35:42.710]But I recovered quickly.
[00:35:44.619]He hated clutter and preached the use of white space.
[00:35:48.321]I finally won his approval with a Valentine's Day
[00:35:50.582]jewelry store ad.
[00:35:53.025]On a solid background, I drew a long stem rose,
[00:35:56.950]laying it diagonally across the page
[00:35:59.073]so that the eye would follow down and to the right
[00:36:01.707]to read the copy.
[00:36:03.373]In a fine script typeface it simply read,
[00:36:06.520]"A rose is a rose."
[00:36:09.091]At the bottom in simple type was the name of the store.
[00:36:13.155]I grew to dislike his methods.
[00:36:15.907]But this many years on,
[00:36:19.325]I know he had prepared me
[00:36:20.339]for the real world where I met many tough customers
[00:36:23.496]who would not accept second rate work.
[00:36:26.237]He made me better than I would've been
[00:36:27.432]without his influence.
[00:36:30.163]About that time, TV became part of the J School.
[00:36:35.731]It was a turning point for the art of advertising.
[00:36:38.909]In the advent of the famous Kennedy-Nixon debate,
[00:36:42.024]where during the campaign JFK's poise
[00:36:44.573]and eloquence of speech was contrasted to a nervous Nixon
[00:36:48.147]whose brow sweated under the unfamiliar,
[00:36:50.899]harsh camera lighting of black and white television.
[00:36:54.632]Like the gentlemen they were,
[00:36:56.317]they showed unity of purpose and shook hands,
[00:36:58.952]smiling for the cameras.
[00:37:01.085]Political campaigns would change forever by television.
[00:37:04.648]So it was, under Mr. Book we studied TV production.
[00:37:09.491]Teamed with a classmate, we wrote and produced
[00:37:12.147]a 30 second commercial for a young men's store
[00:37:14.408]near campus.
[00:37:16.072]The shop's theme was nautical.
[00:37:18.376]So, I painted a ship's porthole on a piece of art board,
[00:37:21.117]cutting out the window.
[00:37:23.272]While the voiceover read the script,
[00:37:24.637]the camera zoomed to the porthole and focused
[00:37:27.283]on a treasure chest full of costume jewelry
[00:37:29.800]and the store's latest collection of campus fashion.
[00:37:33.736]It was a dream come true for a guy
[00:37:35.475]who was told he was more like a farmer than an artist.
[00:37:38.312]With this TV commercial, I finally earned that A.
[00:37:42.909]There were many great teachers in my days here.
[00:37:45.779]I'd like to say a word about two of them.
[00:37:47.336]Professors who influenced me most.
[00:37:50.877]I studied economics under Clayton Yeutter,
[00:37:53.683]who earned his doctorate in the subject.
[00:37:56.317]It was said that he was the only student ever
[00:37:57.951]to receive a straight A grade throughout his college career.
[00:38:01.902]We had interesting class discussions
[00:38:03.491]and I learned a great deal.
[00:38:05.913]Years later he become our secretary of agriculture
[00:38:08.622]during those difficult days of big Ag's move
[00:38:10.873]into the modern world.
[00:38:13.283]10 years later I would meet him again
[00:38:15.203]when he spoke in Milwaukee
[00:38:16.899]in a meeting of the WTO, the World Trade Organization.
[00:38:20.810]He was America's chief trade negotiator
[00:38:23.500]and believed in free trade, reducing tariffs.
[00:38:26.828]His work helped to open the world markets
[00:38:29.527]for Nebraska's farmers.
[00:38:32.151]I was getting ready to set up a shop in London, England
[00:38:34.295]so his words were inspiring.
[00:38:36.567]How lucky I was to be taught by him.
[00:38:39.191]I started reading the economist.
[00:38:42.442]I studied further economics
[00:38:43.743]under the famous Campbell R. McConnell,
[00:38:45.770]who authored the best-selling book
[00:38:46.839]in the world on the subject.
[00:38:49.314]I learned the basics
[00:38:50.147]that would help me understand the economy.
[00:38:52.749]Valuable information I would use in my personal
[00:38:55.053]and business career.
[00:38:57.154]A notable quote I heard him say was,
[00:38:59.927]"Savings, remember, is the prerequisite of investment."
[00:39:04.365]Taking his advice, my wife Terry
[00:39:06.573]and I never incurred credit card debt,
[00:39:09.890]always saving before buying that new sofa.
[00:39:13.840]You don't need to go to the ivy league schools
[00:39:15.581]to find great teachers.
[00:39:16.698]We have them right here at the University of Nebraska.
[00:39:19.392]But you have to look for them and seek them out.
[00:39:21.877]Go to the website Grade Your Professor,
[00:39:23.765]find the ones who score high.
[00:39:25.354]Even if they aren't in your curriculum
[00:39:27.018]or in your college.
[00:39:28.693]Get off the path and take advantage
[00:39:30.410]of what they have to say.
[00:39:33.554]I've told this story many times and it's a pleasure
[00:39:35.707]to repeat it for you tonight.
[00:39:37.132]It was 1964 when I met one of the very first alumni masters.
[00:39:41.774]A new program that brought one alum from each college
[00:39:44.420]to spend a few days on campus talking
[00:39:47.393]and inspiring students.
[00:39:56.726]His name was Merle Jones, then president of CBS.
[00:40:01.296]Later a charter member of the NBA Hall of Fame.
[00:40:08.400]I don't remember much of what he said
[00:40:11.514]but he made a permanent mark on my life.
[00:40:14.384]After he finished his talk, I walked up to shake his hand
[00:40:17.584]and introduce myself.
[00:40:19.941]I told him I was planning on being in the city that summer.
[00:40:22.789]He replied, "Stop in my office when you get to New York."
[00:40:25.349]Then he gave me his card,
[00:40:27.802]The following summer, I put a crew together
[00:40:29.506]for a tour of the east coast.
[00:40:32.165]Airbrushing shirts on the beaches of Cape Cod
[00:40:34.341]and on the streets of Hyannis Port
[00:40:37.808]where the streets were filled with college kids.
[00:40:42.085]Bob Dylan was there waiting to go
[00:40:44.496]to the Newport Jazz Festival
[00:40:45.893]where he would change music forever.
[00:40:51.045]We worked the fair in Boston and two drag races
[00:40:54.416]in Maine and New Jersey, where the first drag racer
[00:40:57.055]broke the 200 mile per hour record.
[00:41:00.392]I sat on the edge of the track,
[00:41:02.333]drawing dragsters in action.
[00:41:05.213]From there we drove into the city
[00:41:06.525]to see my cousin, Berenice.
[00:41:08.973]She was there on a summer job
[00:41:10.541]doing the same thing I was,
[00:41:12.344]looking for experience and adventure.
[00:41:15.427]After showing Mr. Jones' card to security,
[00:41:19.363]the guard at the CBS building took us directly
[00:41:22.093]to the top floor where the elevator opened
[00:41:25.347]into his personal office reception.
[00:41:28.472]His secretary said he was very busy
[00:41:30.051]and he probably wouldn't have time to see us.
[00:41:33.219]My tenacity trait kicked in and I said we would wait.
[00:41:39.405]A New York minute later, he burst through the door,
[00:41:41.560]hand extended, "So good to see you, Verne."
[00:41:45.319]Meeting in his office, he asked if there was anything
[00:41:47.687]we wanted to do.
[00:41:49.564]Nothing particular.
[00:41:51.164]He said he would send some tickets over
[00:41:52.390]to my cousin's apartment.
[00:41:54.544]That afternoon, the courier knocked on the door
[00:41:56.603]with a large envelope.
[00:41:59.110]That night we were sitting in the fifth row,
[00:42:02.651]orchestra seats at the Winter Garden.
[00:42:05.613]You may know it as the home
[00:42:06.896]of Stephen Colbert's late night show.
[00:42:09.883]The musical was a smash hit for a young new talent.
[00:42:14.011]The curtain opened and there she was, Barbara Streisand,
[00:42:17.926]singing the lead role in Funny Girl.
[00:42:20.603]It was the hottest show on Broadway.
[00:42:23.494]I thought, "She's only 21 and I'm only 21."
[00:42:29.318]The next night we had tickets to the Johnny Carson Show.
[00:42:32.966]But Johnny wasn't there.
[00:42:35.451]But the fill-in was one of America's great treasures,
[00:42:37.947]Groucho Marx.
[00:42:40.676]Some of his jokes got bleeped when he broke the rules
[00:42:42.948]of what you could say on television.
[00:42:45.636]I liked his irreverent attitude.
[00:42:49.045]The next day we went to the New York World's Fair.
[00:42:52.155]The giant stainless steel globe landmark still sits there
[00:42:55.505]in the middle of a park in Brooklyn,
[00:42:57.382]in view of Shea Stadium.
[00:42:59.771]I've since visited the barren site,
[00:43:01.297]remember the good times and the things we saw.
[00:43:05.403]Walt Disney was involved in the design of the event.
[00:43:08.450]It was to show the world what was to come,
[00:43:11.117]a prologue to our future.
[00:43:14.402]The GE exhibit featured a futuristic home
[00:43:18.135]with a room that had a large video screen covering a wall.
[00:43:21.218]A home theater they called it.
[00:43:23.245]I thought that might be possible.
[00:43:25.559]We used the first video phones, rode the monorails,
[00:43:29.499]and saw life-sized rocket ship that would take us
[00:43:31.806]to the moon.
[00:43:33.705]And how could you miss the new Mustang at the Ford exhibit?
[00:43:38.217]In all, there were exhibits from 58 countries.
[00:43:41.651]Like seeing the whole world all in one place.
[00:43:44.531]I wanted to see those places.
[00:43:47.155]These are the sites that influenced my generation
[00:43:50.249]to try and do great things.
[00:43:52.905]It was a memorable weekend in New York
[00:43:54.313]and long life love for places like that.
[00:44:00.030]I had no idea that a dozen years later
[00:44:01.758]I would have an office and showroom in the 66th floor
[00:44:04.617]of the Empire State Building.
[00:44:07.305]Holoubek Studios was listed on the directory marquee
[00:44:09.598]by the bank of art deco elevators.
[00:44:12.531]Whenever I walk past that building,
[00:44:14.067]I reminisce being there the night the third remake
[00:44:17.385]of King Kong was being filmed.
[00:44:20.265]This time the ape was climbing the tower
[00:44:21.779]of the New York World Trade Center.
[00:44:24.201]There was a call for extras
[00:44:25.423]but we were too busy working late, making deals.
[00:44:28.943]This was only one of the many adventures I experienced
[00:44:31.290]by traveling both coasts and Canada for five summers.
[00:44:35.471]Selling hand painted T-shirts that no one had seen before.
[00:44:39.759]The second summer on the road,
[00:44:40.783]I could not keep up with orders for custom art
[00:44:43.130]so a production method was devised.
[00:44:45.626]My partner Carl was an art student and learned
[00:44:47.898]about silk screen printing.
[00:44:50.149]So, we began screen printing the outlines
[00:44:52.101]on the blank shirts, coloring them in with an airbrush.
[00:44:56.159]It still took too long.
[00:44:58.263]You had to change a bottle for each new color.
[00:45:05.655]For the next summer, I invented a new airbrush
[00:45:07.692]that would solve this problem of supply and demand.
[00:45:11.116]Working with the local machine shop here in Lincoln,
[00:45:13.410]I drew a sketch inspired by the high school trumpet
[00:45:15.564]I once tried to play.
[00:45:17.890]The solid cylinder of aluminum fit perfectly
[00:45:20.791]in the palm of my hand.
[00:45:22.786]It was attached to a high volume touch up spray gun
[00:45:26.183]like those used in autobody shops
[00:45:29.063]with the configurations of holes, valves,
[00:45:30.759]and a mixing chamber with tubes running to bottles
[00:45:32.828]of three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue.
[00:45:37.361]So that when by pressing one or a combination
[00:45:39.399]of the buttons I could spray the entire spectrum of color.
[00:45:43.537]I could do a shirt in a few minutes
[00:45:47.164]'cause I didn't have to stop and change bottles.
[00:45:50.951]The invention was never patented
[00:45:52.945]and the multi-color airbrush got lost along the way.
[00:45:57.770]The key to increased sales was making the shirts faster.
[00:46:01.147]Or making the shirts more valuable.
[00:46:03.920]I was quick at lettering and I would add a name
[00:46:05.648]on a shirt for another dollar, phrases cost more.
[00:46:09.957]It was personalization that increased the price
[00:46:13.723]we could charge.
[00:46:15.035]It was now a value-added product.
[00:46:18.203]Taking a note from Einstein,
[00:46:20.539]imagine is more important than knowledge.
[00:46:23.696]I was full of ideas figuring out the best way
[00:46:26.395]to achieve an end result.
[00:46:29.861]Name any organization
[00:46:33.199]and you have a base business.
[00:46:35.684]Let me discover how I found that market.
[00:46:41.369]We were working with the Wisconsin State Fair
[00:46:42.916]in Milwaukee when I painted an Old Style label
[00:46:44.935]on a shirt for the owner of a beer garden across the way.
[00:46:49.380]We often traded shirts for food on the grounds.
[00:46:51.983]So when he wanted more shirts for his staff,
[00:46:53.732]we made a deal to trade shirts for beer and brats.
[00:46:56.751](audience laughs)
[00:46:58.500]I was walking across that large grassy mall
[00:47:00.559]from the Old Style beer garden on the way back to my booth
[00:47:04.751]when a young kid handed my a stack of STP stickers.
[00:47:07.972]A new and popular oil added back in the day.
[00:47:11.972]He was tired of his job, handing out the little stickers
[00:47:14.820]one at a time as many people didn't want one.
[00:47:18.020]If I would take them off his hands,
[00:47:19.279]he would appreciate it.
[00:47:21.295]I put the pile of STP stickers on the counter of my booth
[00:47:24.409]along with a little sign that said,
[00:47:25.668]"Stickers 25 cents each."
[00:47:28.047](audience laughs)
[00:47:32.025]They sold out quickly.
[00:47:34.916]So, I started painting the logo on a few shirts
[00:47:36.868]and they began to sell.
[00:47:38.959]I made more of the Old Style shirts
[00:47:40.399]and they began to sell, too.
[00:47:42.500]I discovered branding.
[00:47:47.234]I discovered that people would pay for the privilege
[00:47:49.700]of advertising a product.
[00:47:52.185]I discovered when a customer added these image
[00:47:54.340]to their personal identity, they would become a customer
[00:47:56.591]for life.
[00:47:58.575]This was the beginning of the corporate
[00:48:00.004]printed apparel business.
[00:48:01.764]Not art, recognizable logos with messages.
[00:48:05.860]This was an observation that turned into an industry.
[00:48:09.753]No research, no test market, no focus group.
[00:48:12.441]Just plain putting two and two together.
[00:48:15.897]I bought out the company as inventory
[00:48:17.583]from my partner Carl when he graduated
[00:48:19.641]and went off to London with his wife
[00:48:21.775]to study retail merchandising.
[00:48:28.408]Terry and I were married and she became my life partner.
[00:48:31.672]Finding the right mate is critical to your success.
[00:48:36.227]And I was lucky in my choice.
[00:48:38.883]I continued to tour each summer
[00:48:42.424]but this was not the future of the business.
[00:48:44.781]The little company needed a physical location.
[00:48:48.205]So, I set up a store front at a shop
[00:48:50.243]at 1311 South 11th Street with 1200 square feet
[00:48:54.019]of production and office space.
[00:48:56.557]Then I hung a small sign above the glass door
[00:48:58.456]that read, "Holoubek Studios."
[00:49:01.155]J School classmate, Dan Nelson, and fraternity brother,
[00:49:04.675]Ron Schneider joined the company.
[00:49:07.437]We set up a student sales force
[00:49:08.749]with reps in each house and dorm.
[00:49:11.896]The orders poured in from their sales work.
[00:49:13.976]Before long,
[00:49:16.932]we were doing the majority of Greek garments
[00:49:18.553]and party favors on the campus.
[00:49:21.497]My income became larger than the starting salary at IBM.
[00:49:24.975]And I had a year of college to complete.
[00:49:28.761]Plastisol, a PVC or polyvinyl chloride,
[00:49:33.028]is the coating you have on your dishwasher basket
[00:49:35.577]and on the handle of tools.
[00:49:38.041]Plastisol became the standard flexible ink we used
[00:49:40.324]to print directly on the fabric.
[00:49:43.033]But then I found a new way to use plastisol.
[00:49:49.849]One night in the little shop on South 11th Street,
[00:49:52.409]I worked alone on an idea.
[00:49:55.193]That night, I created my version of a heat transfer
[00:49:57.775]for textiles.
[00:50:00.089]Applying the scientific method,
[00:50:03.044]calculating various times and temperatures,
[00:50:05.293]I figured out how to print and cure multiple colors
[00:50:08.376]of plastisol ink on a coated paper.
[00:50:11.656]The property of plastisol is that it remelts.
[00:50:14.813]With proper curing one could apply the printed art on paper
[00:50:17.917]to decorate fabric.
[00:50:20.104]A simple process that took place with heat
[00:50:23.058]to remelt the plastic and pressure to apply
[00:50:26.930]or in layman's term, you could apply the design
[00:50:29.714]to a T-shirt with a regular household iron.
[00:50:32.946]I rushed home with the first shirt.
[00:50:34.952]Terry washed it over and over.
[00:50:36.872]The image did not wash out.
[00:50:39.080]It was permanent.
[00:50:41.117]Ahead of the curve, we were in a new business
[00:50:43.986]before it was a business.
[00:50:46.397]Here's where the hours of math, chemistry,
[00:50:48.466]and physics classes became the key
[00:50:50.504]to an unpatented invention.
[00:50:53.170]It would be five long years before the iron-on
[00:50:55.570]heat transfer would gain acceptance.
[00:50:58.546]But when it did, it went viral.
[00:51:01.149]And so did Holoubek Studios.
[00:51:04.018]It didn't take long for companies like ours
[00:51:05.842]to start their own production.
[00:51:07.474]Soon we had a trade association,
[00:51:09.608]a trade magazine, and T-shirt trade shows.
[00:51:13.074]We would one day have 20 thousand customers
[00:51:15.026]buying our iron-on design to sell in T-shirt shops
[00:51:17.554]all over the world.
[00:51:19.965]The T-shirt market was estimated at three billion dollars.
[00:51:23.880]We knew we were in the right business.
[00:51:26.386]I learned that competitors make the business larger
[00:51:30.877]and makers become more creative.
[00:51:33.821]Monopolies lose their instinct and crumble
[00:51:35.741]when the young innovators challenge the status quo.
[00:51:40.413]Reaching that first level of success made it possible
[00:51:42.792]for us to travel and explore.
[00:51:45.309]It was time to see Europe.
[00:51:47.570]In 1976, Terry and I took our two oldest children
[00:51:50.589]on a tour of the continent.
[00:51:52.381]We began Czechoslovakia when it was
[00:51:54.077]under Russian communist rule.
[00:51:57.426]A cousin there and his family welcomed us
[00:51:59.293]at a prearranged meeting space
[00:52:02.130]smack-dab in the middle of Prague's Old Town Square.
[00:52:05.981]There was no free press, just the state-owned newspapers.
[00:52:10.418]The radio in our hotel room only had one station.
[00:52:14.130]If we brought in a Time magazine or a shortwave radio,
[00:52:16.680]it would've been a crime.
[00:52:19.133]The authorities always knew where we were
[00:52:21.044]because our passports were collected
[00:52:22.623]at the end of each day and taken to the police station.
[00:52:26.666]Such was the oppression of a country isolated
[00:52:28.852]for 30 years.
[00:52:31.124]The wall around East Europe was called the Iron Curtain.
[00:52:35.188]There was no free travel or trade across that border
[00:52:37.450]without government permission.
[00:52:39.711]I wondered, were they keeping us out,
[00:52:42.634]or keeping the Czechs in?
[00:52:45.578]The planned economy could not match supply to demand.
[00:52:48.959]We witnessed bread lines, stores with empty shelves.
[00:52:53.183]But there was no protest in sight.
[00:52:56.255]More than 20 years would pass before that wall came down.
[00:52:59.636]Without a shot fired, the Czechs found political
[00:53:02.303]and economic freedom.
[00:53:04.610]The end would be trade, not war.
[00:53:07.807]On our last visit to Prague's Old Town,
[00:53:10.292]the Old Town Square was overrun by tourists
[00:53:13.195]and American brands were everywhere.
[00:53:15.734]We visited a cousin who was making parts for BMW
[00:53:18.102]in his small machine shop.
[00:53:19.990]And Microsoft set up camp in the newest democracy on earth.
[00:53:24.139]For that little nation, free trade meant peace
[00:53:26.561]and prosperity and a place for us to sell T-shirts.
[00:53:30.923]Three years after the first visit,
[00:53:34.006]we opened an office and a warehouse in England.
[00:53:36.918]It was the beginning of the European Union.
[00:53:39.905]With free trade and no tariffs between countries.
[00:53:42.539]We arrived to be part of it all.
[00:53:46.390]In the following 35 years, our small company
[00:53:49.387]would become internationally known with offices
[00:53:52.342]in all major cities and the subsidiary,
[00:53:54.337]the IronOn Express UK,
[00:53:56.747]located in London, England
[00:53:59.597]with manufacturing set up in Denmark.
[00:54:04.886]Nothing lasts forever.
[00:54:08.502]The public's taste were changing.
[00:54:11.691]The customer wanted a softer feel to the printed garment.
[00:54:15.105]The heavier plastic heat transfers
[00:54:16.779]and the shops that sold them were on their way out.
[00:54:19.979]We sold the UK company.
[00:54:23.489]Our company adapted and we developed new methods
[00:54:25.526]to print multiple colors directly on the fabric,
[00:54:27.894]like the garments you wear today.
[00:54:30.614]Then we did the unthinkable.
[00:54:33.494]We stopped producing iron-ons,
[00:54:35.499]the product that made the company famous.
[00:54:38.894]This is an example of how technology
[00:54:41.014]can quickly disrupt your business and an industry forever.
[00:54:45.953]The lesson of the STP stickers 25 years earlier,
[00:54:48.630]put us in the corporate licensed apparel business
[00:54:51.201]with our own private label supplying printed shirts
[00:54:53.622]to the Fortune 500 companies.
[00:54:57.451]We bought license to make apparel for movies,
[00:54:59.542]rock stars, cartoon characters,
[00:55:01.910]for anything we thought the public would buy.
[00:55:05.839]Most only lasted a season or two.
[00:55:09.357]When our art and printing people figured out
[00:55:10.829]how to print bright colors on black fabric,
[00:55:13.709]we found the very best license of all.
[00:55:17.755]The final chapter was a license
[00:55:19.120]to make millions and millions of black shirts
[00:55:21.296]for the Harley-Davidson Motor Company
[00:55:24.038]and its worldwide network of dealers.
[00:55:26.683]We traveled to meet those dealers in every state,
[00:55:28.955]Europe, and Asia.
[00:55:30.712]We were global at last.
[00:55:33.904]My favorite order was when we shipped 10 thousand shirts
[00:55:35.952]with the Harley-Davidson dealer in Prague, Czech Republic.
[00:55:40.141]I joined a motorcycle club.
[00:55:42.541]In 2005, we sold the business to VF Corporation,
[00:55:46.381]makers of Wrangler jeans, North Face,
[00:55:50.936]JanSport,
[00:55:53.505]and Nautica.
[00:55:56.705]They were the largest textile company in the world.
[00:56:01.217]I received an excellent education
[00:56:03.200]from the University of Nebraska
[00:56:04.352]but it didn't come easy.
[00:56:06.805]By some instinct I was able to get off the path
[00:56:09.504]when I needed to,
[00:56:11.520]organizing my own major to suit what I wanted to do.
[00:56:15.467]I cannot give much advice to the entrepreneurs here tonight
[00:56:19.435]except to bring you this message from another time
[00:56:21.771]more than 50 years ago,
[00:56:23.392]when I was told I was too young to own a business.
[00:56:27.872]A leader's most important job is to hire the right people.
[00:56:32.267]So, I must give most of the credit
[00:56:33.941]to the hundreds and hundreds of people
[00:56:35.563]who contributed their all to the company.
[00:56:38.272]And to the suppliers who gave us credit when we had none.
[00:56:42.283]There were ups and downs, problems and disasters,
[00:56:46.251]false starts and failures.
[00:56:48.661]But each one was met with tenacity,
[00:56:50.795]the will to never give up.
[00:56:53.696]In my final analysis of success,
[00:56:57.173]it's less about what you did and more
[00:56:59.243]about what you let others do.
[00:57:01.867]It's about being curious of alternatives.
[00:57:06.261]It's about being observant of your environment.
[00:57:09.877]It's about being tenacious in your search for truth.
[00:57:14.496]To those graduates still sorting it out,
[00:57:16.929]I can say from my personal experience,
[00:57:18.721]the University of Nebraska has everything needed
[00:57:20.502]to make your life successful.
[00:57:22.955]So explore those places off the path.
[00:57:26.561]To those who are about to enter the upside down world,
[00:57:29.942]I believe your instincts will take you
[00:57:31.694]where you want to go.
[00:57:34.870]Thank you very much for your time tonight.
[00:57:37.793](audience applauds)
[00:57:44.737]Are we gonna do any questions?
[00:57:46.145]Okay.
[00:57:55.535]Thank you, thank you.
[00:57:57.263]Now, it sounds like Verne is willing
[00:57:59.311]to field some of your questions.
[00:58:01.871]We'll take some time about now.
[00:58:15.583]You mentioned you stopped selling
[00:58:17.624]what made you known in the market.
[00:58:20.920]That was the iron-on.
[00:58:26.401]What information did you use to make that decision?
[00:58:31.699]That's a good question, really good question.
[00:58:35.624]I startled the company when we did it.
[00:58:37.107]I mean, it shook the place up.
[00:58:39.924]But I told the art department and advertising
[00:58:41.851]and sales people, I said,
[00:58:42.939]"Bring out all the catalogs of all our competitors."
[00:58:44.806]And we laid them out on a table.
[00:58:45.883]I said, "Look, this stuff's all looking alike."
[00:58:48.571]We were 150 people making iron-ons.
[00:58:50.801]Now, we were in the commodity business
[00:58:52.454]and the prices went down.
[00:58:53.766]We couldn't make any money selling iron-ons.
[00:58:55.569]Besides, the customers were not buying them.
[00:59:00.233]So, we transitioned from the iron-on
[00:59:02.651]into another popular product we had
[00:59:04.401]that was a lettering system.
[00:59:05.467]You could go to a T-Shirt shop and put your name
[00:59:08.017]or a phrase with these little letters.
[00:59:09.499]I had a patent on the system
[00:59:11.313]where you could put the letters together
[00:59:12.646]and the spacing would be perfect.
[00:59:14.737]That product line continued for probably four years.
[00:59:18.854]We had one guy working on it.
[00:59:20.027]It was dropping about 400 grand
[00:59:21.222]on the bottom line every year
[00:59:22.417]so we weren't gonna let it all go.
[00:59:24.294]We had these little shops still buying the lettering.
[00:59:26.523]We kind of went to the sporting goods market.
[00:59:28.859]But, we just got out of it
[00:59:31.313]and we went after the T-shirt business
[00:59:32.870]'cause that's what people were buying.
[00:59:34.022]We had to change streams.
[00:59:37.489]I guess it was just instinct.
[00:59:41.178]I was observing my environment and we had to change.
[00:59:51.697]You had a question?
[01:00:04.987]Last night I had the opportunity
[01:00:06.609]to talk to a you and your wife and hear a little bit
[01:00:09.041]about your personal life and your story
[01:00:13.851]and get a little bit of inside look on that.
[01:00:16.230]My question is, with all the success that you had
[01:00:19.365]and all the things that you've done,
[01:00:20.923]how did you manage your time with your business,
[01:00:22.789]something that you cared about a lot and you lived
[01:00:26.032]your life, how did you manage that time with your family,
[01:00:29.595]time with your life partner, your wife Terry?
[01:00:32.901]How did you manage that?
[01:00:34.512]I don't know that I did it well.
[01:00:38.760]We took our kids traveling.
[01:00:40.645]We went everywhere, like my dad.
[01:00:43.461]My father would take the family on a vacation.
[01:00:47.696]Very few of our neighbors went on vacation.
[01:00:50.736]When he was growing up during the depression,
[01:00:53.701]he had to hop a freight train and go out west,
[01:00:55.483]pick sugar beets
[01:00:57.819]and potatoes
[01:00:59.487]and sugar cane.
[01:01:02.137]I guess sugar beets.
[01:01:04.473]He would send money home 'cause there was really no money
[01:01:06.905]in that period of time.
[01:01:13.689]But he took us traveling when he did start getting going.
[01:01:16.046]He took us traveling.
[01:01:17.412]Not every year but we went to Milwaukee
[01:01:19.769]and saw the Al Schuler's plant.
[01:01:21.305]We went to South Bend and we saw the Studebaker Plant.
[01:01:25.209]He always took us to factories
[01:01:26.798]so I could see how things were being made.
[01:01:30.116]Always educational trips.
[01:01:31.438]We went to Yellowstone park.
[01:01:34.937]Anybody been to the Black Hills and see the crazy horse?
[01:01:37.678]When we went there it was a rock
[01:01:38.702]and they gave you a picture,
[01:01:39.769]"This is what it's gonna look like.
[01:01:40.676]"Would you please give us some money?"
[01:01:42.635](audience laughs)
[01:01:45.067]I think the guy made his living on that.
[01:01:46.560]I don't think it's still finished.
[01:01:49.653]Managing time with your family,
[01:01:52.352]we took time off when we had to.
[01:01:55.541]We also entered another business
[01:01:58.315]which was merchandising apparel
[01:02:00.416]at a major music festival that draws about a million people.
[01:02:05.045]Our kids were all members of the little company.
[01:02:06.977]The second company, Terry ran it.
[01:02:10.007]We'd do this festival in 10 days.
[01:02:11.553]We'd blow out about 60 thousand shirts at retail
[01:02:14.999]in 10 days.
[01:02:18.359]We were the manufacturer.
[01:02:19.831]We'd make 'em at night, call in with the order
[01:02:22.369]what we were running out of and we'd make it at night.
[01:02:24.719]In the morning we'd have shirts at 10 o'clock
[01:02:26.113]in the festival.
[01:02:28.257]That collected a lot of cash.
[01:02:29.900]I mean, it was cash, cash, money.
[01:02:31.809]So, we took that money, we'd start investing
[01:02:34.167]in these sophisticated printing presses
[01:02:35.724]and we set up a leasing company.
[01:02:38.081]So, the kids were involved in all these things.
[01:02:39.873]I guess we spent a lot of time with them
[01:02:42.475]back at the fair grounds, so to speak.
[01:02:44.577]We also did the Wisconsin State Fair
[01:02:47.287]for a few years.
[01:02:51.927]I guess managing time with family and a business,
[01:02:54.572]it's very difficult because, at least I, maybe,
[01:02:57.249]put in too many hours.
[01:02:59.351]I worked one time 30 days in a row.
[01:03:03.457]Came back from London, commuted back and forth,
[01:03:06.610]trying to manage and the things were,
[01:03:08.289]like I said, they were changing.
[01:03:09.804]We finally sold the company.
[01:03:11.937]But we lived on a farm.
[01:03:14.412]Terry found a nine acre place
[01:03:17.655]with a civil war house and an old barn.
[01:03:21.065]It was cream city brick, if you know what that is.
[01:03:23.009]It's a yellow brick, was popular in Wisconsin.
[01:03:26.145]But the people had painted it pink.
[01:03:29.697]We had it sandblasted and the neighbors thanked us,
[01:03:31.735]"You changed your house back to the original brick."
[01:03:34.487]Then we added another some acres.
[01:03:37.793]It ended up about 40 acres, I think, all together.
[01:03:40.044]Every year we planted a crop.
[01:03:41.324]I used old equipment, old tractors, old stuff
[01:03:43.703]and the kids got to see this work being done.
[01:03:49.541]My son said, "When you're having fun, you're working."
[01:03:55.329]Because we were working.
[01:03:57.100]I hope they got, they did get the message
[01:03:59.425]because they're all working very hard now.
[01:04:02.913]So, we kept them close to our business.
[01:04:06.263]Many times I couldn't be there.
[01:04:08.001]Terry carried the buckets for the chickens.
[01:04:13.217]She pulled a calf.
[01:04:14.401]I was in London, we had a real farm, it was small.
[01:04:18.764]We had 38 head of Simmentals.
[01:04:23.969]When you breed 'em with bigger animals,
[01:04:25.132]you have birthing problems.
[01:04:26.764]So, I was in London and Terry pulled a calf.
[01:04:28.428]She's a city girl but she learned how to do that.
[01:04:32.481]We've always had chickens.
[01:04:34.412]We still have chickens.
[01:04:35.245]Just got the new ones a couple weeks ago.
[01:04:37.111]We used to do with the little chicks and grow 'em
[01:04:39.329]but this time we got smart.
[01:04:40.972]She found a place that sells you chickens ready to lay.
[01:04:44.268]So, the day we got home from our vacation,
[01:04:47.617]picked up the chickens.
[01:04:48.545]A few days later, we had fresh eggs again.
[01:04:50.273]We didn't have to go buy eggs.
[01:04:51.863]I don't think we've bought eggs since 1972.
[01:04:57.079]The kids watched all this.
[01:04:58.124]I think it brought the family together.
[01:04:59.756]Although I was gone a lot, I'll admit that.
[01:05:01.932]I was traveled.
[01:05:05.260]We did 23 trade shows one year.
[01:05:09.601]That's always the weekends so that's half the year, right?
[01:05:11.937]Half the year weekend.
[01:05:14.369]So, I don't know if I managed it well or not
[01:05:16.012]but that's what we did.
[01:05:19.169]Anybody else?
[01:05:33.921]I'd kind of like to add on the last question.
[01:05:38.348]During your senior year at the university,
[01:05:41.559]how did you manage your time between expanding your business
[01:05:45.527]and keeping your grades and keep learning at the university?
[01:05:53.303](audience laughs)
[01:05:55.212]Now it's confession time (chuckles).
[01:05:57.946]I didn't do very well at that.
[01:06:00.663]I was involved with a theatrical group on campus
[01:06:02.604]called the Cosmic Club.
[01:06:03.937]We put on a fall event.
[01:06:06.924]A story to do a skit.
[01:06:09.015]It was the fall review but in the spring we put on
[01:06:11.340]a professional Broadway show.
[01:06:14.807]It was done with the professional people.
[01:06:17.425]Dr. Hall, School of Journalism,
[01:06:21.695]his wife was Lou Hall,
[01:06:24.394]her sister was Vivian Vance
[01:06:26.741]of I Love Lucy, if anybody remembers I Love Lucy.
[01:06:35.541]I was in this Cosmic Club.
[01:06:38.186]First year, you're a worker.
[01:06:40.138]Bob Carey was a worker, too.
[01:06:42.239]He was always a real serious guy.
[01:06:44.871]He began an innocent, good grades, and all that stuff.
[01:06:48.733]That wasn't me, that wasn't me.
[01:06:50.483]We partied a lot.
[01:06:53.277]Cosmic Club took a lot of hours.
[01:06:54.772]I finally got enough bad grades,
[01:06:57.791]they said I couldn't come back.
[01:07:00.649]But, if I would get B's for nine hours in a semester,
[01:07:04.873]I could come back.
[01:07:07.209]Then I took a break for a year for military.
[01:07:09.151]Went to Amarillo and did my basic training.
[01:07:11.551]I was in the Air Force.
[01:07:12.393]I did the air guard for six years.
[01:07:15.217]Then I got back into college.
[01:07:16.617]I was not gonna give up that degree.
[01:07:17.833]I was gonna get that degree no matter what.
[01:07:20.543]I got the B and I got back and I graduated finally.
[01:07:24.020]So, caution to the wise.
[01:07:29.503]Don't do what I did.
[01:07:33.633]We were having so much fun.
[01:07:36.223]And the business took time.
[01:07:37.492]Like I said, it was big income.
[01:07:38.783]I was working nights there and going to school.
[01:07:43.113]That is a thing you gotta think about,
[01:07:44.457]how you're gonna manage that time
[01:07:46.164]and keep it all going.
[01:07:47.583]I was doing too many things at once.
[01:07:50.015]I probably did that most of my life
[01:07:51.732]doing things at once.
[01:07:53.695]I hope that answers your question.
[01:07:57.535]Got one more?
[01:08:07.284]You talk about your personal philosophy
[01:08:09.257]on the finance of your family.
[01:08:12.101]Can you talk a little bit
[01:08:13.033]about your business finance philosophy?
[01:08:16.724]Again?
[01:08:19.519]You talked about how in your personal finance,
[01:08:21.357]you guys didn't use debt.
[01:08:23.933]Could you talk about your business finance
[01:08:25.933]and how you approached that?
[01:08:28.131]Well, I found out the bank's not your friend.
[01:08:32.227]You have to use the bank, don't let 'em use you.
[01:08:36.717]There was a point in time where they wanted
[01:08:37.859]to put us out of business 'cause nobody believed
[01:08:39.565]in the T-shirt business.
[01:08:40.707]The minute things got down turned,
[01:08:41.933]they wanted to get rid of us
[01:08:43.363]and we just built a new factory.
[01:08:46.125]What I did is I went to another bank
[01:08:47.800]who wanted our business.
[01:08:48.856]I didn't tell them the first bank was dropping us.
[01:08:52.216]My strategy was, "You want our business?"
[01:08:55.309]I got an unsecured loan from a new bank
[01:08:57.784]called Associated Bank.
[01:08:59.021]They were just coming to Milwaukee.
[01:09:01.005]I loved the place 'cause we made the deal in folding chairs
[01:09:03.672]in a little office.
[01:09:04.696]They were just getting going.
[01:09:05.955]Associated Bank here, at all?
[01:09:07.779]They're a pretty major bank in the Midwest.
[01:09:10.712]So, they financed.
[01:09:11.545]We financed inventory, or course.
[01:09:13.197]We had like a five million dollar line of credit.
[01:09:17.101]But, like I said, those presses we bought with cash.
[01:09:20.024]We'd bootstrap.
[01:09:21.485]When that thing crashed and all iron-ons were gone,
[01:09:24.472]we sold London, we were about 150 people.
[01:09:27.576]We got down to 15 people.
[01:09:30.211]Talk about a blue day.
[01:09:32.184]We had to put it all back together.
[01:09:34.712]We got it going.
[01:09:36.237]We decided we're not gonna use the bank
[01:09:37.677]for anything if we don't have to.
[01:09:39.448]We gave 'em a line of credit
[01:09:40.899]and sometimes we never had to use it.
[01:09:43.011]Because the Harley-Davidson stuff was 50% margin.
[01:09:45.478]So, I mean, it was pretty lucrative.
[01:09:49.434]I guess you're gonna have a banker someplace along the way.
[01:09:53.828]But as far as personal debt,
[01:09:54.970]Terry and I just never went there because we couldn't.
[01:09:57.978]We wouldn't have damaged our credit for the business
[01:10:00.004]and we weren't going to end up with a bunch
[01:10:01.063]of credit card bills that we couldn't pay.
[01:10:03.887]We lived frugally.
[01:10:05.327]We always bought used cars.
[01:10:10.010]Terry sewed clothes for the kids.
[01:10:11.759]It was very old school.
[01:10:14.234]It may be impossible to do today.
[01:10:17.541]If you're gonna borrow money just be really careful.
[01:10:21.517]There's a saying that if you borrow a million dollars
[01:10:24.643]from a bank, you're in trouble.
[01:10:26.701]You borrow 20 million, they're in trouble.
[01:10:28.931](audience laughs)
[01:10:32.013]Keep tabs on your bank.
[01:10:36.602]They were talking me to borrow money
[01:10:38.450]and want to throw money at us.
[01:10:40.327]We just didn't do it if we didn't have to.
[01:10:42.866]Because you're gonna put money in your company
[01:10:44.348]until you run out.
[01:10:46.844]We bought used equipment, we fixed stuff.
[01:10:48.583]We just did it kind of like farming.
[01:10:50.450]You're not gonna put yourself on the line
[01:10:52.274]where you're gonna lose everything.
[01:10:55.218]You just have to be frugal in all the things you do.
[01:10:59.143]Efficiency a lot of efficiency.
[01:11:02.450]Well, thank you very much.
[01:11:04.082]I really enjoyed this.
[01:11:05.735]I've had a great couple days here
[01:11:07.900]meeting all these students, listening to their ideas.
[01:11:12.295]Great, great teachers with Tom and Michelle.
[01:11:16.796]They have a tremendous career going for themselves here
[01:11:20.188]because they're gonna some day say,
[01:11:21.532]"This is what we did.
[01:11:22.482]"We trained all these entrepreneurs."
[01:11:25.756]Thank you, sir, for making this happen.
[01:11:30.691]I don't think it was in the dictionary.
[01:11:32.034]I don't think anybody knew the word when I was at school.
[01:11:34.882]They certainly couldn't spell it.
[01:11:36.674](audience laughs)
[01:11:38.487]In fact, I was writing this thing,
[01:11:39.981]I put the word entrepreneur and I had it spelled right
[01:11:41.954]and it said that word is not in the dictionary.
[01:11:43.885]I got to talk to these people make these dictionaries
[01:11:45.858]put that word in the dictionary.
[01:11:50.274]Well, thank you very much, again.
[01:11:52.759](audience applauds)
[01:12:03.991]I've kept you from your dessert too long.
[01:12:05.858]So, let's go have some sugar.

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