Myriah explains the critical role of collaboration, innovation, and adaptation in overcoming industry challenges. She emphasizes the value of integration and partnership, as well as understanding the well-educated consumer of the future.
Myriah explains the critical role of collaboration, innovation, and adaptation in overcoming industry challenges. She emphasizes the value of integration and partnership, as well as cohesive teamwork across departments and with vendor partners.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today’s episode, we talk with Myriah Kingen, Director of Facilities Management at Tractor Supply Company. For more than 85 years, Tractor Supply Company has served the needs of recreational farmers, ranchers, homeowners, gardeners, pet enthusiasts and all those who enjoy living Life Out Here. Tractor Supply is the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the U.S., ranking 291 on the Fortune 500.
Guest Bio:
With over two decades of diverse experience spanning facilities, construction, and procurement, Myriah possesses a demonstrated proficiency in multi-site asset and portfolio management across various sectors, including traditional and non-traditional retail, as well as healthcare. Her commitment to innovation, strategic thinking, team empowerment, and fostering an enjoyable work environment defines her professional ethos. Currently serving as the Director of Facilities at Tractor Supply Company, Myriah leads a dynamic team supporting all repair and maintenance activities across Tractor Supply and Petsense by Tractor Supply locations. She brings a wealth of industry insight and leadership, reflected in her 18-year engagement with the ConnexFM association, where she has contributed extensively to committees, councils, and served as Board Chair in 2019. Beyond her professional endeavors, Myriah finds solace in travel and adventure, having trekked through four countries, including a memorable 60-mile journey over 13 days in Nepal's Everest region. Her upcoming expedition to trek Mont Blanc further underscores her passion for exploration and challenge.
TIMESTAMPS
**(00:59) - About Tractor Supply
**(01:47) - Myriah’s journey
**(07:51) - Articulating the industry’s value
**(09:22) - Connex FM
**(12:44) - Women in the industry
**(17:14) - Navigating the industry’s challenges
**(28:45) - The consumer of the future
**(34:05) - Where to find Myriah
**(34:44) - Sid’s takeaways
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LINKS
00:00:00] Welcome to elevating brick and mortar, a podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance. On today's episode, we'll talk with Myriah Kingen, director of facilities management at Tractor Supply Company. Myriah talks about how to use transferable skills to your organization's advantage. She'll also describe her work as an advocate for women in the industry and how to stay ahead in your role. Now here's your host industry and FM technology thought leader and chief business development officer at service channel, Sid Shetty, along with our guest Myriah Kingen.
[00:01:09] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Season 3 of Elevating Brick and Mortar. Thank you for joining us. I am here today with Mariah Kingan, Director of Facilities Management at Tractor Supply Company. Mariah, welcome. Thank you for being here.
[00:01:23] Myriah Kingen: Thank you, Sid. I'm really excited to be here with you today.
[00:01:26] Sid Shetty: We're excited as well. So Myriah, let's get started. For folks in our audience who might not be familiar with the brand, can you share some insight into the Tractor Supply Company?
[00:01:36] Myriah Kingen: Yes, absolutely. Tractor Supply is actually the largest rural lifestyle retailer in the United States. Our purpose is to serve life out here. And we've been in business for more than 85 years. We actually just had our 85th anniversary last year. And we have over 2200 tractor supply stores, and just over 200 PetSense by tractor supply stores across the country.
[00:02:02] Sid Shetty: That's fantastic. I want to dig in more into the company, of course, but before that, let's talk about you and your journey. As a Director of Facilities Management, what are you responsible for, for Tractor Supply? How did you fall into the space?
[00:02:20] Myriah Kingen: Oh my goodness, so, so many good questions. So for Tractor Supply, I started here about nine months ago, in general, what my team is responsible for is the traditional asset management through reactive and proactive maintenance, and replacement. And I'm spearheading our new asset management strategy, which is really great. And this role really touches so many different departments. So I've been learning about the company, the role, and really how I can be the best partner, um, to support my internal, um, And my external customers, which is great.
[00:02:55] Gosh, what attracted me to the role? Honestly, I wasn't looking as it happens sometimes. Um, but an industry friend let me know about Tractor Supply and I didn't really know a lot about the company. but as I started to learn more about them, I learned that they were a mission driven and value focused company.
[00:03:18] And that all sounded really great, because culture is a big thing for me within a company. But I didn't know if it was too good to be true, right? Sometimes there's a lot of talk, but not a lot of action behind that. And I realized immediately, like through my interview process, when I visited a store that they say what they mean, and that culture drives all the way down to the store level.
[00:03:41] The, from the cashier to the other team members that were there at the location, you could tell they loved Tractor and were passionate about making my experience a great one while I visited. So I knew right then it was a really wonderful company to join. If we go all the way back, like you asked, how did I even get here?
[00:04:03] Honestly, what I tell people is I kind of tripped and fell into the industry. Um, I think there's a lot of maybe tenured facilities professionals that have a similar story to mine. Um, and, and women especially, because it's not something that we went to school for, there was no education around facilities, um, when I was in college.
[00:04:25] So I worked traditional retail. Um, thought I was going to go and, and be in operations and then I was able to get that coveted office job and I landed in human resources and I didn't like it. It wasn't for me. Um,
[00:04:42] Sid Shetty: Human resources. I didn't know that's where you started. That's very interesting.
[00:04:50] Myriah Kingen: I gotta say, I didn't last long there. It wasn't, it wasn't what, uh, what really lifted me up. Um, but then I found out about this facilities position and I thought, oh, this is great. I'll apply for it. And of course, My dad, who's a very handy person, was like, what are you going to do in facilities?
[00:05:10] You can't even screw in your own light bulb. And so fast forward, I got the job and a couple months in, I came back to my dad and I said, you know what, dad, I don't have to screw in the light bulb. I have to tell someone else to screw in the light bulb. You know what? I'm pretty good at that. So yeah, it's been great.
[00:05:26] And since that very first job, I've now worked at six different multi site companies across several different verticals, including pet services, healthcare, traditional and non traditional retail.
[00:05:38] Sid Shetty: Yeah. That's, that's fascinating. I mean, you've had a rich experience, you know, across a few big brand names and like you mentioned, across several different verticals. How does that past experience, you know, come to play, you know, at a company like TractorSupply, um, because, you know, your role covers a lot of areas, but can you share a little bit more about that?
[00:06:01] Myriah Kingen: You know, it doesn't maybe seem like it, but I do think this, this role is a pretty good fit for me and where I am in my life right now because it is a culmination of some of these past roles that I've had. So I've worked for a couple of different clothing retailers in the past, and we have clothing that we sell in our stores.
[00:06:21] I've worked for a pet retailer and tractor has a huge pet and animal offering. We've also, um, I've also worked at a storage company and roll up doors is our biggest repair category,
[00:06:33] Sid Shetty: There you go.
[00:06:34] Myriah Kingen: Figuring out what that is. And so it's been really fun to kind of bring all of those past experiences together into this new role and showcase what I've learned and bring that forward.
[00:06:45] Sid Shetty: What is TractorSupply's North Star in terms of the kind of value and experience it offers to its customers and, you know, in your role, what kind of impact do you and your team want to or hope to make, uh, on delivering that brand promise?
[00:07:03] Myriah Kingen: Yeah, that's a good question. A big question. Um, I'll, I'll start by sharing our company's mission and that is to work hard, have fun, and make money by providing legendary service and great products at everyday low prices. I think that's a really strong mission and that mission is supported by 10 different values that really does drive our everyday business decision and it's actually up on my wall here at work and everywhere that we go, these, this mission and these values are showcased.
[00:07:33] Bye. You know, even when I was interviewing, as I mentioned, I could feel that culture. It's strong. It's pervasive. It's among the whole company. And it actually dispatches out to our vendor partners as well. And so for my team, we try to provide that legendary service to both our internal and our external partners.
[00:07:52] So our partners can be our stores that we service. It can be our vendor partners that we work with. When I say partner, I don't use that word lightly, um, it is something that I truly believe in is partnership. And it's something that we work on every day here at Tractor is to be good partners. We try to have really honest and open communication, get that feedback loop, and we're not perfect at it. It's something that we're still working on as a team. And I actually encourage all of our partners to keep us accountable, which by the way, accountability, one of our values.
[00:08:28] Sid Shetty: We know you've been in the space for a long time and, when you look at our space, there's a certain impact that the physical brick and mortar space has on a brand and the kind of experience that they deliver to their consumer.
[00:08:44] Do you feel like our industry like does a good job articulating that and actually, um, gets its due credit?
[00:08:52] Myriah Kingen: I think yes and no. I mean, it all starts from the beginning and I would say that, you know, our design and construction is a huge part of how the facilities can operate. And, and we need to be together from the start. So if our design, say, isn't a good fit for how we operate, then it can lead to more maintenance, to and long term expenses.
[00:09:18] If construction doesn't build out our new stores to spec, we could have ongoing issues that are often really costly to fix and are very disruptive to our business. So thankfully here at Tractor, our construction design and facilities teams all roll up under one umbrella. And so we've got great collaboration from start to finish. And if there's something that's not working, I can go and talk to those teams and vice versa so that we can partner. And so I would say, if your teams are not interconnected, as I know they are not in some companies, I would suggest that you be the one to step forward, get to know these teams, and actually integrate yourself into their processes early and often. Because that's the only way that you're going to be able to be successful long term.
[00:10:02] Sid Shetty: Now, Myriah, you have not just been a leader at the brands you've served, right, but you are a loud voice at the industry level as well, and were even chair of ConnexFM. Tell us a little bit about that. What was that journey like?
[00:10:16] Myriah Kingen: Well, some people say I have a loud voice,
[00:10:19] And, and I'm not sure how loud my voice really is, but I think where it comes from is that I truly care about this industry and my desire is to give back just as much or even more than I've received over the years. And the only way that I know how to do that is by, is by sharing my voice, being, being loud, right? My journey in Connex has been great. I did become the chair of Connex in 2019, and that was an amazing and wonderful experience, but I'll have to say it wasn't an easy or a direct path to get there.
[00:10:51] When I joined Connex 18 years ago, I never thought that I would have a seat at the board table. That wasn't something that I, that I even thought about. When I started, as, as I said, I didn't know anything about facilities. So I really used the association to lean in. I went to every event, every conference, every education session I could. I joined committees. I networked like crazy. And from that, I believe my career has really blossomed and advanced. It's all through those relationships that I've built. And that's what's kind of compelled me to give back and to get on the board. Um, as you know, it's not an easy process. I interviewed three times to get elected, uh, before I finally did get elected.
[00:11:38] And, um, and when I, when, when I got there, I was so excited, but I was also really nervous to have that seat at the table. Because again, it's not a position that I really imagined having. It was really cool, but also super foreign to me. I suppose you never really know if you're going to be ready for something until you, until you dive in. And then the cool thing that happened during my chair season is we actually changed our association name. We rebranded ourselves. So we went from PRISM to Connex, ConnexFM. And that was, That was actually a really fun way to kind of end my leadership team because we even had a full on marching band that came out at the end of the day, which is really cool.
[00:12:20] Sid Shetty: Yeah, I remember that. Um, when you look back, what makes you most proud of the work you did? And, and when you look ahead, what kind of impact do you hope to continue making with your involvement with the association?
[00:12:36] Myriah Kingen: Well, you've known me for a long time in the industry, Sid, and hopefully you can also attest that, you know, I feel like my personal and professional brand is all about innovation, adventure, strategy, and fun, right? I like to joke around and have fun as well. For my teams in general, my role has always been to make their lives easier.
[00:12:56] I do whatever I can to remove roadblocks, find solutions, automate, provide development opportunities, whatever it is that they need to be successful. And then for my customers, I really try to treat them the way I want to be treated. With care, respect, some firmness, and definitely some clarity. As I look forward, I can only hope that my impact is positive, uplifting, beneficial, and like I said, oftentimes with a little bit of humor and, and fun to keep things light.
[00:13:26] Sid Shetty: Yeah. You're also a big advocate for women in the industry. And, do you think there's enough representation of women in our space?
[00:13:35] Myriah Kingen: No, honestly, I don't. I think that women in this industry are still under, um, represented, and I can say that I've seen improvement over the years that I've been in the industry. When I first started, um, there were very few women in facilities and especially in leadership roles. Um, thankfully, I personally was able to find some really strong women to learn from, to grow with, and honestly lean on throughout the years.
[00:14:01] I believe women are really well suited actually to this industry, but it might feel like it's out of their comfort zone or even still too much of a male dominated industry. I think there's a saying that most people have heard it before is, Men apply for jobs when they meet only 60 percent of the qualifications, and women apply only when they meet 100 percent of them, and there's been a lot of studies around that, and it's not necessarily that women need more confidence, as I think it's that they need help understanding how their experiences meet the required qualifications of the job.
[00:14:36] And I can say the same thing for veterans, too, right? You need, you need a translator, right? If a mom, or a woman comes to me and says, I'm a mom of three kids. Well, what that could mean in her resume is, I'm a leader that's able to balance the needs of a team while meeting goals and staying on budget.
[00:14:54] Right? How do we help people translate their experience into qualifications and get them comfortable taking these jobs?
[00:15:02] Sid Shetty: Yeah, and you actually, today, co chair, uh, the Women in Action Committee, right, uh, within Connex. Tell us about, uh, about, about that.
[00:15:12] Myriah Kingen: Yes, absolutely. It's definitely a passion project of mine to be on the committee and to be a co chair. So WEA, Women in Action, is a committee that supports the advancement and introduction of women into the facilities management industry through three pillars, education, professional development, and networking.
[00:15:32] So we're actually a group of 15 women and men that help shape and deliver content for any women or supporters of women in the industry. So we've addressed topics like technology, women and trade skills. Employee retention, creating your personal brand, and so much more. And the other thing I'm excited about is that we support through education and credentialing, and we've been able to fundraise and give away 14 educational grants just this year.
[00:15:59] Sid Shetty: Wow, that's pretty impressive. You know, and if you take a step back, I mean, there's the challenge that we just spoke about, but there's also a, you know, a challenge with skilled trade and just labor in general, right? There's a, there's a shortage. Um, there's not enough skill labor coming into the workforce. There's not enough representation in the workforce. How do you get your arms around that?
[00:16:26] Myriah Kingen: Yeah, I mean there's a, there's a couple of different ways. One of the things that I would say is, if you have the opportunity, Hire a woman. When resumes come across your desk, don't look at them just for the true job qualifications that they have. Try to dig a little bit deeper and see what their experience has been that could relate to what you're looking for. Especially if you have a position that can tolerate a learning curve, try hiring a woman who's With those, those qualifications are close to those qualifications and train them up to become a part of the industry. Cause once you're in the industry, there's so many different places to go. There's so many different opportunities that, that anyone, but women especially can get into knowing like how to take that first step, but somebody's got to hire them first.
[00:17:16] Sid Shetty: Yeah. Yeah. No, that, that's fantastic. And, and thank you for being a champion for women. I mean, you know, this is something that I think, if we can figure out how to do well, it benefits all of us. You're one among the many amazing women leaders that I've had the pleasure of working with, and there's no doubt, you know, we need more representation, um, in our space.
[00:17:39] When you look at the post pandemic world, right, The challenges with the labor shortage and skilled labor gap, um, and supply chain issues, there's still remnants of these issues that affect facilities teams day in and day out. And just because we've stopped talking about it doesn't mean that it's no longer an issue. Does that affect your business? How are you navigating through it?
[00:18:06] Myriah Kingen: Labor shortages, skilled trade deficits, I mean, you name it, it's still there. It's pervasive. It's prevalent. Um, we may not talk about it as much as we used to, but it's there. And we, we need to do better.
[00:18:21] We need to do more. Um, you know, jobs are taking longer to complete, costs are higher. Um, even though some material costs have come down, labor costs have not come down, and you know, the industry isn't just saying, Oh, here's some extra money, right? Here's some extra expense dollars that you can take to offset this.
[00:18:41] So you really have to be nimble and, you know, work with your team, work with your, with your vendor partners and understand what you can do. I mean, I found it very beneficial to really partner with my suppliers. There are still programs out there that will offer you help for energy reduction, for sustainability, um, it may not something, be something that you know about, but your vendor partners can, can help you, um, in those cases. So, look for those opportunities, get creative. You know, talk to your industry peers. What are they doing? We don't have a lot of trade secrets. So, steal with pride. Right? Steal with integrity. Don't recreate the wheel every time. But, but do get creative. Don't just sit back and say, well, this is the way we've always done it, so I guess I'm just going to need to get more money to offset.
[00:19:34] Because chances are that's not going to be an available resource for you.
[00:19:38] Sid Shetty: Yeah. Let's pivot a little bit and just talk about current time that we're in, right? Which is, there's a lot of change happening in terms of how retailers interact with their consumers. The kind of technologies that are coming out that are impacting the way, uh, consumers shop. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:19:58] What excites you about the time that we're in right now?
[00:20:02] Myriah Kingen: Gosh, I, I'm both excited and also a little scared, honestly.
[00:20:06] Sid Shetty: Yeah,
[00:20:07] Myriah Kingen: Um, I'm, I'm not the biggest technology person, and so I think it's really cool, like, what, what's coming ahead for us. I mean, AI is probably the biggest thing that everybody talks about, and if it's not affecting you currently in your position, it probably will soon, or even in your life and social media.
[00:20:25] But I think what's cool about it is that it's going to continue to expand our choice. And I think that's so powerful because we all, we all want something different. And so instead of always having to get whatever cookie cutter offering is available. You can now choose if, you know, sustainability is something that's really important for you. You can dig into that custom, that custom field right as you're looking and understand what company is going to deliver that for you or, you know, what, you know, what peer in the industry can help you.
[00:20:59] And so it's, it's scary, Because you don't know what's going on, uh, 100%, but it's also very cool because it's going to expand your opportunity to, to choose and be in control.
[00:21:10] Sid Shetty: yeah, 100%. Just how even traditionally e commerce first, you know, companies are looking to have a broader physical presence. Uh, because ultimately this data that shows that when you have a physical space, your, even your e commerce activity sees a huge uptick, right? Even if you are traditionally a brick and mortar business. You know, having kind of a combination has a huge impact on how your consumers see convenience and the cart gets bigger, right?
[00:21:48] They, they shop with more, uh, confidence because of how they can return products and so on and so forth. And then when you're in the physical spaces, just, uh, The, the kind of technologies that are being tested right now to create this whole convergence of physical and digital are fascinating, right?
[00:22:06] But I'd love your take, you know, as someone who's on the inside, but also as a consumer, uh, what are the kinds of things that you're seeing as a consumer that excite you and are kind of shaping your perception of your own expectations of a brand? And then I'd love your take on, you know, putting your hat on as someone who is within the retail business and, and sharing, how do you then think about preparing your team for the future.
[00:22:35] Myriah Kingen: As a consumer, as a customer, I, I, like I said, I want that choice. I want that ability to, to get it and kind of get it now. Right. I think we're, we're all geared towards, um, You know, the Amazon effect where, you know, I can push a button and it's at my doorstep the next morning. So how, you know, how can that be offered?
[00:22:54] But then how can we also get back to higher customer service? That's one of the things that I feel has moved away from when you're in a traditional retail setting or in a brick and mortar. You had customer service people, your team members in the location, offering value to you. So how can you make sure that those people in the stores are helping the customers and have the tools, the tools that they need?
[00:23:22] That's always something that, you know, that you wonder about, you know, walk in and you ask a question and are you getting the right answer? Are, are your teams, you know, fully engaged and educated and how do you keep them educated? Same thing for facilities. How do we keep our people educated? Whether it's our service suppliers or, you know, my team is Accepting work tickets and dispatching and making sure that everything runs smoothly. So how can we make sure that they know what they're doing is right, what they're doing is timely, that the quality is good on the back end, and that we're eventually getting what we pay for. And part of that, I think, comes from these different technologies. When, like right now, we have opportunities to have, you know, AI or digital with our technicians in the field.
[00:24:13] So if I've got an HVAC contractor on my rooftop and they've got a question, now they can get that answer. They can do virtual reality or, you know, scan a barcode if you do tagging and get that help and feedback versus stopping what you're doing, getting off the roof, getting in your truck, Going over to the supply house or talking to a different team member and then coming back again.
[00:24:39] So it could have a huge impact, which also goes back to cost impact to get the job done right in the first trip without having to make those additional unnecessary stops because you have that technology at your fingertips. That's what excites me is being able to help our teams. Help themselves and get better every day.
[00:24:58] Sid Shetty: Like today, like there are so many factors that impact where consumers spend their time and money, right? Everything from locations to the design, the technology that's in those spaces, the experiences that are being offered, social media, influencers, right? How do you stand out in a world like that?
[00:25:19] Myriah Kingen: Yeah, you know, I'm still figuring that out as well. I guess it's a good question, right? Like, I think whether you're trying to focus on your own personal brand or you're working with your company to have a brand that stands out, it's something that you need to be thoughtful and, and careful and critical about, cause there are a lot of opportunities out there, but there also can be some misinformation and there can be the fake news, everything else that's happening.
[00:25:45] So how do you make sure that your brand has the integrity that you're looking for, that it, that it is not compromised in any way. And, and so I think for me, that's one of the, one of the biggest things to understand is who do you want to be? Who do you want to put out there? And then drive towards that success. I think that's how you stand out, is really being authentic.
[00:26:07] Sid Shetty: How have you been able to successfully make the case for facilities when it comes to, you know, getting additional budget for investments or having enough budget to manage and maintain your locations? Sometimes facilities can get forgotten because, you know, the brands are so focused on just getting into new geographies and then the focus is on building the location, uh, and then opening up that once it's open, they move on. And then, you know, the, the physical space is kept running, uh, and in the condition that represents the brand by the team that oversees facilities, but sometimes that's forgotten, right? How do you make that case? And how have you successfully tied the roles that you've had and the teams that you've led to that higher level message, which is the physical space, um, is preserved to brand standard by this group.
[00:27:09] Myriah Kingen: Yeah, it's not easy. That is absolutely for sure. It is, you know, facilities is not a revenue generator. We spend the money and it's hard to constantly let everybody know what value you bring when it, when it doesn't necessarily hit the bottom line directly. And so I think that's one of the ways to do that is to understand that, to accept that, to take that on as, um, as an opportunity.
[00:27:36] What can I do to help support my stores. What can I do that's going to increase the brand standard? What can I do to reduce my costs or capitalize more, save the bottom line? What opportunities are there? What innovations can I bring to the table? I think that's really where Facilities is going in the future is looking at, at that, you know, how can we be smarter?
[00:28:00] How can we, um, You know, make good choices. Again, going back to that vendor partnerships, how do we make sure that our vendors understand where we're trying to go and provide us with really quality solutions and also price effective solutions so that we can work together. And, um, And I also think it's about strategizing. What can we do to be more strategic and proactive? What can we do to, you know, stay close in the industry with all the new technologies and leverage all of those, you know, where possible.
[00:28:38] So maybe start by understanding and learning where your leadership wants you to go and what is important to them and tailor the message that you have to meet those needs because it is brand experience. It is, you know, it, it is preserving your assets and preserving, um, that, that physical space that you have, but it's also the environment that your teams work in every day. And so that customer culture, that team member culture is really important as well. So yeah, customize, tailor and, and listen, listen to what your company needs and provide solutions that fall in line with those values.
[00:29:16] Sid Shetty: I love that. Yeah, that, that, that, that's exactly what I think our audience needs to hear because every brand might have a different value proposition, right? But if you really listen and understand what your role is in delivering on that value prop to the consumer, you'll find a way to, you know, get your message across and get what you need to really, um, have a program that you can be proud of. So love it. Um, Mariah, as you look into the future. What does the consumer of the future look like?
[00:29:46] Myriah Kingen: Uh, goodness. Um, smart, capable, highly educated. I think that's a big thing. People are educating themselves more now before making their choices. And it's so much easier to do now than it ever has been. And so if you're not keeping up with what people know, they're going to call you out on it. Say, well, you know, what about this? Or I heard another company talk about that. And so supporting your customer is, is really going to be important when you look at what they know and how much more they know. And cause you can, you can Google anything, right? You can, you can find the answers. And, um, and so being, being that step ahead of the customer, I think is, is what's going to be good from a company standpoint.
[00:30:33] But yeah, I think, I think the consumer of the future is, they're going to be smart. They're, they're going to, they're going to know what they want and they're, they're going to go after all those attributes that we've talked about before. You know, is it sustainable? Is it, is it something, is it a culture that I can put, you know, put behind my own brand?
[00:30:51] Um, what is it that I'm looking for in the purchase that I'm making? Because it's not just about the widget anymore. It's about the feeling I get from buying that widget. It's about the status I get from having that widget. It's, um, it's, it's all of those things combined. So yeah, our, our future consumer, they're, they're smart.
[00:31:08] Sid Shetty: Yeah, 100 percent agree. You know, and there's also technologies like AI and robotics and drones and autonomous vehicles that are becoming more ubiquitous, right? It's, it's, it's finding its way into everything. Um, how do you think that impacts the world of facilities?
[00:31:27] Myriah Kingen: Oh, and if it is not impacting you today, it will be very soon. Um, all, all of these things that you talked about, like I've been using drones in facilities for years, um, mostly for condition assessments. It is a liability. There's danger, right? In climbing up on roofs and getting into hard to reach and unaccessible places. I don't think that you can rely, only and solely on drones. Um, sometimes a human's look and touch is, uh, is really important, but to get the overall essence of what you're doing is, is great, um, autonomous vehicles, I'm not sure yet, but wouldn't it be cool again, if you've got that HVAC technician on the roof and they need, you know, their flux capacitor, and they just call up their autonomous vehicle, and it, and it drives it right over, or that drone that flies it over and drops it on the rooftop, and they can keep working and get that job done, right? Wouldn't, wouldn't that be, wouldn't that be cool? I mean, there's, there's so many things that are on the horizon that people are talking about.
[00:32:28] Some things are real, and some things are, are still to be developed. But really leveraging those technologies, leveraging those, um, you know, those advancements, I think could be huge for the facilities world.
[00:32:41] Sid Shetty: Yeah, and I think, You know, the more we can educate ourselves, the better prepared we're going to be, right? And I think, I think that's why being part of associations where you can be among your peers, um, and have access to information and sessions and subject matter experts becomes absolutely critical, right?
[00:33:00] Because if you're not going to Educate yourself and, and know how to use these tools, someone who does is going to get a leg up, right? Or you might, you might find yourself in a situation where you're not prepared and, and fall.
[00:33:15] Myriah Kingen: Mm hmm. Yeah, I agree. I mean, you do have to prepare. You have to be ready for it.
[00:33:21] So, yeah, I think it is something that you need to understand is existing and do what you can to prepare for it, because even if it's not you directly, surround yourself with those professionals, surround yourself with those people that can help you be better and build and prepare for what's coming.
[00:33:38] Sid Shetty: Curiosity, right? Being and staying curious, I think, is the biggest asset you can have because you don't have to be an expert in anything, but if you're curious, you'll probably figure it out. Um, What advice would you give to the folks in our audience who want to make a bigger impact in our, in our industry or are maybe starting out in their career? What would you say to them?
[00:34:02] Myriah Kingen: Yeah. Honestly, that was it. It's it. It's it. Stay curious. It's a lesson that I learned from a previous boss and a mentor of mine. And, you know, he had a sticky note, um, on his monitor that said, stay curious. I've always really leaned into that. Um, I'm a big why person. Some of my team members can probably tell you that.
[00:34:22] What does Mariah always ask? Why, right? Why are we doing it this way? Is this the best way to do it? And it's not about Trying to determine that somebody is doing something wrong. It's really challenging the idea of, well, that's the way we've always done it. That's not going to keep you going long term in, in this industry, in the career, you need to find innovative solutions.
[00:34:47] And ask your teams, listen to what they have to say, get loud, right? Speak up. No one can hear you if you don't speak up.
[00:34:56] Sid Shetty: that's right. That's right. Well, with that Myriah, I just want to say a huge thank you. I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. For folks in our audience who might want to connect with you or look you up and, and reach out, Where can they find you?
[00:35:10] Myriah Kingen: Absolutely. The two best ways to find me, one is on LinkedIn, find my profile, reach out to me. I love connecting with new people and then come to Connex fm, come to an event. I, uh, I always go to the annual conferences, sometimes the mid years and I love meeting and connecting with new people. So yeah, please do reach out and find me.
[00:35:29] I would love to make more connections.
[00:35:31] Sid Shetty: Mariah, thank you so much and we really appreciate you being here and for all those in our audience, thank you for joining us as well and we'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.
[00:35:42] I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Myriah Kingen Director of Facilities Management at TractorSupply. In our conversation, Mariah talked about how no matter what kind of brand you serve or role you've had, there's always overlap and transferable skills, and it is up to you to use that to your advantage, to create value for your organization.
[00:36:03] As an advocate for women in the industry, Myriah also talks about how critical it is to have women and minorities represented And how different perspectives can be advantageous for everyone. Myriah talks about the importance of being curious. There's a lot of change taking place today. And the way to stay ahead in your role is to be and stay curious and embrace change.
[00:36:27] With that, I'm your host Sid Shetty, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.