Episodes of The Sport Clips Haircuts Hall of Fame Podcast - Huddle Team

Episode Air Date	Guest Name	Guest Title	Topic(s)
March 8, 2019	Saronna Maldonado and Fileshia Almaguer	Huddle Team	The planning, highlights and coordination involved with Huddle

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Transcription:

Chad Jordan: Hey everybody, this is Chad Jordan, Director of Marketing for Digital Services at Sport Clips and this is another edition of The Hall of Fame Podcast. We're gonna try to make it through here. We've ... Sometimes I interview people and I haven't met them yet and we don't go way back, but I got two of my best friends in the Sports Clips world with me today and we're gonna talk through a lot of details. Before I ramble on, let's have ... We have two guests with me, so let's have the first guest, immediately to my right, introduce herself and what she does at Sport Clips.

Saronna: My name is Saronna Maldonado and I'm the Director of Events for Sport Clips.

Chad Jordan: All right. Hi, Saronna, and to your right is ...

Fileshia: Fileshia Almaguer and I'm the Event Coordinator for Sport Clips.

Chad Jordan: What their job titles could possibly be is the two-headed monster that runs Huddles. The reason I said that we go way back and we're friends. They're the ones who kind of gave me my bucket list item last year getting to help emcee Huddle and we'll do some more fun things this year. I thought with Huddle now weeks away, and that's all in the same place at the same time, just today having discussed some Huddle things, I thought it'd be cool to get them together and for all the Sport Clips world to kind of to get to find out what really goes in to pulling off Huddle events all around Sport Clips, but specifically the national convention which we call Huddle.

Chad Jordan: I'm going to start with Saronna and you ... I want to get to know a little bit about your role here, how long you've been here. Did you come here right away hit the ground running doing Huddle? All that kind of stuff. Can you give me kind of a one-minute overview of what the heck you're doing here?

Saronna: Sure. Actually, I started out ... I was on maternity leave with my daughter looking for a job when I started here, so I [crosstalk 00:02:00]-

Chad Jordan: What had you been previously?

Saronna: A Massage therapist before that. Actually, jobless before that. Massage therapist until my stomach got too big.

Chad Jordan: How many kiddos?

Saronna: Four total. She was my third. Yep. At four weeks, when she was four weeks old, I interviewed here. Five weeks old, I started working here. That is going on 17 years [crosstalk 00:02:29]-

Chad Jordan: What capacity? 17 years and [crosstalk 00:02:29]-

Saronna: 17 years and I started out [crosstalk 00:02:29]-

Chad Jordan: Did you start at [crosstalk 00:02:30]-

Saronna: Started out in the operations department as an operations coordinator and then eventually ... I started in the fall and there's thing that comes around every spring called the National Huddle and they needed some extra help and they said, "Hey, you know, why don't we take you to the Huddle if you're willing to help us out?" My first Huddle was in 2003.

Chad Jordan: Where was it?

Saronna: Las Vegas.

Chad Jordan: How many people attended that one?

Saronna: Just over 200.

Chad Jordan: Okay, so 17 years ago it was ... One-tenth ... One-twentieth of the size of what it is now?

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: You go Vegas and what do you see there?

Saronna: We went to The Golden Nugget.

Chad Jordan: It's off the strip?

Saronna: It was off the strip.

Chad Jordan: It's Fremont Street, right?

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: Yeah. Okay. W

Saronna: We go there and honestly, I didn't have a clue what I was doing there. I remember that one of my ... Firstly, I was intimated by Gordon. I mean who wasn't?

Chad Jordan: Right.

Saronna: Here [crosstalk 00:03:32]0

Chad Jordan: Have you gotten over that? Or is that still an intimidation factor?

Saronna: It's still there, just a little bit-

Chad Jordan: Okay. All right.

Saronna: A little bit. My first glimpse of Gordon being human, because here I am ... New girl coming in ... He's founder and CEO of the company, was that Huddle. In 2003, that was back when we actually provided a printed binder for every single attendee. Granted it was over 200, but it was a binder.

Chad Jordan: A binder of?

Saronna: Hand outs, a binder of agenda. We didn't have a mobile app back then, stuff like that. Also, a much lower budget back then too. Anyway, we ... Our boxes of binders didn't show up at the Huddle and Nancy Vandiver and I were devastated and [crosstalk 00:04:21]-

Chad Jordan: Wait. Whose responsibility was to ship them? Was this [crosstalk 00:04:24]-

Saronna: We had our [crosstalk 00:04:24]-

Chad Jordan: A Saronna stamped thing or ...

Saronna: We had out front desk person ship them and she didn't fill out the label correctly on a two-day overnight. What she did was put a sticker on the box that said two day. The part which doesn't mean anything to anyone unless she filled that part out on the shipping thing. Anyway, they were at some UPS hub or FedEx hub, something and they wouldn't bring them to us. They were close by but it was [crosstalk 00:04:54]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, so they made them to Vegas but they wouldn't ...

Saronna: They wouldn't deliver them.

Chad Jordan: Oh my.

Saronna: No. We're devastated. We're thinking we don't have all of this to hand them out, to give them. We worked hard on them. Gordon walked into the room, which is called our War Room, so it's the locker room now, but it's the onsite Sport Clips office. He walks in, sees that Nancy and I are devastated, and just figures out the situation. He said, "Well, if they didn't know they were gonna receive them, then they won't miss them."

Chad Jordan: Wow. Oh [crosstalk 00:05:30]-

Saronna: That was my-

Chad Jordan: That's his solution?

Saronna: That was the solution, and so that was my [crosstalk 00:05:34]-

Chad Jordan: Is that instant relief? I mean, you-

Saronna: It was instant relief because then I thought, "Okay, Gordon's human, one", 'cause again, this is almost 17 years ago, and intimidated. I'm thinking he's gonna be upset and it [crosstalk 00:05:48]-

Chad Jordan: Huddle's ruined.

Saronna: Huddle's ruined, and he walks in and says that and it's like ... Nancy and I just ... It was a relief.

Chad Jordan: That's cool.

Saronna: I knew the kind of person that Gordon was and he has a heart.

Chad Jordan: Yes, he's a human being.

Saronna: He is human.

Chad Jordan: He's not a robot and he's not unfeeling. That's for sure. You ... How long before you become ... I mean, that wasn't ... It's not like Huddle's the only thing that you do, although it probably feels like that. How long before it really kind of morphs into what it is today in terms of your role?

Saronna: I kind of took a back seat to some folks that were handed off the role of directing the Huddle. At that time that many years ago, was kind of given to the person that, one, kind of made sense, but two, who was willing to take that. It fell under a couple of people after I'd say 2003. Sandy Craven came on in 2004. She was actually my boss, so she took the lead for The National Huddle in 2005. I think before that was another gal in franchising, Beth Becker. It was Nancy, Beth Becker, Sandy Craven for 2005. After that, it was presented that I would start leading the Huddle, so my first National Huddle that I took the lead was 2006, and that was in Orlando.

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay. The Swan and Dolphin?

Saronna: Actually the Royal Pacific.

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay. It's before it was at the [crosstalk 00:07:30]-

Saronna: It was actually-

Chad Jordan: Disney Properties or-

Saronna: Yeah, it was at Universal. Yeah.

Chad Jordan: Are you ... Is it pretty much a solo effort at that time?

Saronna: Yeah, it was a solo effort in that a single person being in the lead there, but over the years we've acquired some folks that are willing to help us out along the way. We definitely couldn't do it without them. Those are the folks we call the Huddle Crew. Then it was a much smaller crew and probably, oh, I don't know, maybe 10 people.

Chad Jordan: Is it ... In 2006, is it overwhelming trying to pull it off when you're [crosstalk 00:08:11]-

Saronna: It's overwhelming. One, I'm green still. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't anything about audio/;visual at that point. I mean, I'm very basic stuff. To save money, not only did I have a lead position in directing the Huddle, I also ran the show from behind the stage, so-

Chad Jordan: You are in essence the production team as well?

Saronna: I was the production team [crosstalk 00:08:37]-

Chad Jordan: Oh my gosh [crosstalk 00:08:37]-

Saronna: We had an audio/visual company, but we didn't have a production crew, and so I have a headset on behind stage. Again, I don't have a clue what I'm doing. The AV crew knows what they're doing. That was a little bit of roughness, getting through that and talking with these guys through the headset and figuring out what to do. It was definitely a learning experience and actually ... Probably the second time that I realized how human Gordon is ...

Chad Jordan: What happened?

Saronna: Gordon came backstage, and I'm running the show. He gives me a thumb drive or something with his ... I don't even know if we had thumb drives then. It was something with his [crosstalk 00:09:25]-

Chad Jordan: PowerPoint or [crosstalk 00:09:27] yeah.

Saronna: He says, "This is for the State of Sport Clips." At this point, I think we're over 400 attendees in general session, which today would be a good-sized [crosstalk 00:09:37] breakout.

Chad Jordan: It's an important presentation. Yeah.

Saronna: It's an important presentation. It's the State of Sport Clips. It's the Founder and CEO on our big stage. He comes back there, he gives me an updated PowerPoint. He goes, "I put this on a 10-second loop, so every 10 seconds it's going to loop to the second slide-

Chad Jordan: He says this?

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: He wants to speak ... Get up there and get off the stage. He wants to keep going. Okay.

Saronna: He does, but he's just gonna follow his slides. The first thing I said was, "Are you sure you can do that?" He said, "Yes I am." I said, "Okay." I was too green to challenge that. I was too green to fix it, and maybe on the sly and not tell him about it.

Chad Jordan: Not drag it out to 20 seconds instead of 10.

Saronna: We got into the presentation and he wasn't keeping up with the slides.

Chad Jordan: Oh, how can you? 10 seconds is not a long time.

Saronna: We tried to on the back end ... You can freeze the screen ... You can freeze it, take it down as long as the screen still stays the same, you can take it down, do some modifications and pull it back up, hopefully before anyone figures that out. We did that on our end and we were trying to fix it. Again, green, know nothing about PowerPoint. The AV guys probably know a little bit more than me, but we're still trying to find that place inside PowerPoint where you can turn that off. It didn't go for the next slide and Gordon over the microphone [crosstalk 00:11:11]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay.

Saronna: Says, "Saronna, can I get my next slide?"

Chad Jordan: Oh, by name [crosstalk 00:11:17]. Ouch.

Saronna: By name, so we didn't have a choice but to ... We put it back into show mode. Anyway, I remember after this and it being the State of Sport Clips, I just sat back in my chair and the tears rolled down my eyes [crosstalk 00:11:29]-

Chad Jordan: Oh yeah, your very first solo Huddle, and this is what happens.

Saronna: That was it, yes. I remember, though, after that Gordon realized what happened and he actually acknowledged and apologized, and I apologized of course for my not knowing any better. It's been a learning experience between the two of us. I feel like we had a tradition of something like that each year for the last 17 [crosstalk 00:11:57]-

Chad Jordan: Needless to say, there's no more 10-second loops allowed on [crosstalk 00:12:00]-

Saronna: No 10-second loops, but I will bring that up to him as many times as I can.

Chad Jordan: When you need to prove a point. Now I tried to tell you that 10 seconds wasn't long enough, but ...

Saronna: I mean, that was ... Again, the second time I saw how human he was-

Chad Jordan: Well-

Saronna: And he rolled with the punches and trusted me to continue to take the lead from there, so ...

Chad Jordan: I want to get into some more Huddle disasters in a minute, if you're willing to share some, 'cause I think our audience would get a kick out of 'em, especially all the Sport Clips stylists that are listening and the managers. Before I do that, I want to shift ... By the way, I also want to get into some Huddle highlights and kind of what some of your favorite memories over the years, whether it's the Brave the Shave or Shave the Date or whatever we called it for St. Baldrick's or some other ... I don't want to put words in your mouth.

Chad Jordan: I need to shift over a little bit because at some point it's obvious this has gotten too big. The Huddles are too well-attended, too important, all that kind of stuff, that it can't be a one-woman show and you needed help. We have our friend Fileshia here, who comes to the forefront. I need to find out, Fileshia, first of all, you obviously probably did not get hired to be the right hand woman of Huddle, so what ... How does your career get you to Sport Clips? What happens? How do you get here?

Fileshia: I went to hair school in ... I think it was 2017 ... 2006, 2017 ... Or 2007.

Chad Jordan: Okay, I was gonna say, "Really? Wow, you were [crosstalk 00:13:37] -

Fileshia: It was just the other day.

Saronna: Just the other day.

Fileshia: No, so I was actually 17. I graduated high school early. At that time [crosstalk 00:13:44]-

Chad Jordan: 'Cause you're so smart. Yeah.

Fileshia: I mean, no ... I was working at a hair salon and running tanning beds and stuff and she was ... I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. She was like, "Go to hair school. You can always use it no matter what." I was like, "Okay." I moved three hours away from home.

Chad Jordan: Where was this?

Fileshia: I worked ... I am from Salmon, Idaho.

Chad Jordan: Okay, so this is all going down in Idaho, so you're [crosstalk 00:14:08]-

Fileshia: Yep, in Idaho. I went to school in Pocatello, Idaho. Actually I think it's [crosstalk 00:14:11]-

Chad Jordan: We got a store there.

Fileshia: More ... Yeah. It was my first store.

Chad Jordan: Really?

Fileshia: Yep.

Chad Jordan: That Sport Clips?

Fileshia: Pocatello, yeah.

Chad Jordan: Awesome.

Fileshia: Not ... It's moved since I was there, 'cause I was over by like the Walmart one by Starbucks. I was going through hair school. I was 17, almost 18, graduated ... Or before I graduated, I needed ... I mean, let's just be honest, it was beer money, but I needed some money.

Chad Jordan: Look, man [crosstalk 00:14:36]. At 18, maybe Idaho's laws are different [crosstalk 00:14:39]-

Fileshia: I don't know [crosstalk 00:14:39]-

Chad Jordan: And then the rest of [crosstalk 00:14:39]-

Fileshia: A lot of older friends.

Chad Jordan: Okay, all right.

Fileshia: I needed just like extra spending money, and I wasn't able ... I wasn't like finding a job. I really didn't want to work fast food and I had a friend named Tiffany that I had went to hair school with, and her and a couple other girls were working at Sport Clips in Pocatello. She's like, "Hey, we need a coordinator, so come interview." I got the job right on the spot-

Chad Jordan: 'Cause you love to talk.

Fileshia: Yeah [crosstalk 00:15:03]-

Chad Jordan: Yeah, so that was a natural fit [crosstalk 00:15:05]-

Fileshia: I mean, I'm very friendly and so I started working there in 2007. Graduated and got a ... I actually did not have a hair styling position only one day a week at the Pocatello store, so I drove 45 minutes-

Chad Jordan: Whoa.

Fileshia: To Idaho Falls and worked there, which actually was a really good experience because they were a lot busier than Pocatello at the time. I got my speed up, I was learning from some of the other girls how to cut hair because, I mean, we were busy. They finally got a position at Pocatello, so I moved ... Started the Pocatello store [crosstalk 00:15:46]-

Chad Jordan: Didn't have to commute anymore.

Fileshia: No, thank goodness, 'cause that drive ... I mean, I drive it that much now, but when I was young and driving my little golf Volkswagen, which was good on gas, that did help ... I started the Pocatello store, became an Assistant Manager, and then-

Chad Jordan: They gave you keys to the whole [crosstalk 00:16:03]-

Fileshia: I mean, they did [crosstalk 00:16:03]-

Chad Jordan: I need to talk [crosstalk 00:16:04]-

Fileshia: Money [crosstalk 00:16:04]-

Chad Jordan: Who is that? Jason Bowman? Who do I need to talk to about it? No, I'm just kidding.

Fileshia: Honestly, I've asked people ... Duke Sorenson was my AB, and-

Chad Jordan: Shout out to Duke.

Fileshia: Yes, Duke, who was very friendly. That was one thing, so me being so young ... I mean, all these like ... You would hear about, "Oh, if a guy in a cowboy hat", which I mean, Gordon never did visit our store when I was there, but, "If Duke comes in you need to be acting on spot." He was so nice and just like so friendly. Would play games with us. He brought treats and stuff. He definitely made that like whatever you had in your mind totally go away 'cause he was so nice.

Fileshia: Yep, so then I kind of had a weird little spot there and I was like, "Do I really want to do hair anymore?" I started working in assisted living, but I still worked part time at Sport Clips, so they still needed someone to hold the keys, which I mean, that was me. I still worked like two or three days there and did assisted living for about a year. Then my friend was like, "Dude, you need to either do one or the other. Focus on something." By this time I was about 19 and I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna go with Sport Clips. I mean, I went to school for hair. I'm gonna do hair."

Fileshia: I quite at the assisted living place and I was working at the store full time, was again full-time Assistant Manager. My ex-husband lives here in Georgetown, and so we ... He asked me to marry him, so I was like, "Well, I guess I better move down there." I ... In July of 2009 I interviewed at TX110-

Chad Jordan: All right, the Georgetown location-

Fileshia: Georgetown location. Got the job on the spot, 'cause I mean, I'm so [crosstalk 00:17:49]-

Chad Jordan: Right, I mean [crosstalk 00:17:49] who would ever turn you down for a job?

Fileshia: Yeah, I know, so then I moved down here fully in the end of September 2009, so then I started. Became a keyholder there and then in December I applied to be a coach for Austin and some of San Antonio's stores and got the position.

Chad Jordan: I didn't know this. Awesome, okay.

Fileshia: I-

Chad Jordan: No wonder the coaches love you so much.

Fileshia: I mean, I know very few of 'em [crosstalk 00:18:18]-

Chad Jordan: You were [crosstalk 00:18:18]-

Fileshia: Back then that was way smaller. I started coaching my first store to actually like do new hire training and things like that, was actually TX117 over in Pflugerville. I did that, then I found out I was pregnant with my son, who's now eight, in February.

Chad Jordan: Your son's name-

Fileshia: Is Legend.

Chad Jordan: Of course it is.

Fileshia: Of course, yep. I coached my whole pregnancy. My very first Huddle was at the Rio in Las Vegas.

Chad Jordan: Now, you're just going, you're just attending, right?

Fileshia: Yes, as [crosstalk 00:18:57]-

Chad Jordan: You're not helping?

Fileshia: No. I did actually help with registration, but like very brief. I was putting bags together. It was nothing significant. I wasn't really ... I was just attending.

Chad Jordan: Where was it?

Fileshia: At the Rio in Las Vegas.

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay. Yeah.

Fileshia: I was 20 and pregnant, so that was really fun.

Chad Jordan: Wow.

Fileshia: Nobody wanted to hang out with me. Actually, I did make a friend. Brandy, actually, who was my friend, Brandy Owens. She befriended me, would hang out with me.

Chad Jordan: It was a pity friendship, let's [crosstalk 00:19:24] be honest.

Fileshia: It really was. I mean [crosstalk 00:19:25] it was pretty pathetic. I ended up having my son in October of 2010 and I was like, "Do I really" ... I was gonna take a year off, and I was kind of like ho humming around if I even want to go back to Sport Clips. I was really kind of overdoing hair. I mean, again, this wasn't my passion.

Chad Jordan: Yeah [crosstalk 00:19:47] something you kind of stumbled into 'cause you needed a job and you knew you could always work it. Yeah.

Fileshia: Yeah, and I was grateful for it. Well, then ... I was kind of like, "Okay, well, I'm gonna take my year off with my son and will kind of decide then." Well, Legend was five months old and I got a call and I remember this day very specifically. Legend was in the bath tub and it was later, it was like maybe around six or seven and I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. It was [crosstalk 00:20:12]-

Chad Jordan: 512 area code? Yeah [crosstalk 00:20:14] okay.

Fileshia: I was like, "That's weird. It must be here." I answered it and it was Betty Logan.

Chad Jordan: Oh, my goodness. Good thing you answered.

Fileshia: I know, right?

Chad Jordan: Wow.

Fileshia: Good thing that didn't go to voicemail [crosstalk 00:20:25] she didn't leave a voicemail it might ... I mean, I wouldn't be here.

Chad Jordan: No kidding.

Fileshia: I answered and she was like, "Hi, Fileshia, this is Betty", and we chit-chatted for a second and she's like, "We had a question. Your name got brought up when we were talking about hiring like a part-time admin." Betty and I would cross paths ... Obviously I knew her because I worked for her at the [crosstalk 00:20:43]-

Chad Jordan: Betty is the wife of the CEO and Founder Gordon and also helped run the company stores [crosstalk 00:20:49]-

Fileshia: Yes, for quite the [crosstalk 00:20:50]-

Chad Jordan: Which you had worked for.

Fileshia: Right, yeah. I would see her in the store and stuff.

Chad Jordan: Your name gets brought up because they need an admin at headquarters? Or-

Fileshia: At headquarters for the Austin stores.

Chad Jordan: All right. Which we call The A-Team.

Fileshia: Which we call The A-Team, yeah, the company stores. Betty and I crossed paths obviously at TX110, but also ... Not as a coach, but I would have to come to the office to print stuff and things like that, so we'd always say hi and things like that. I helped her a couple of times with her computer and whatnot.

Chad Jordan: You're really good at that kind of stuff, I mean, that's right up your alley.

Fileshia: I mean, yeah. Right. She asked and I was like, "Yeah, let me kind of talk it over and see what we can do. I worked for ... I obviously accepted and worked for six hours. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for two hours every morning, from eight to 10.

Chad Jordan: Did you bring Legend with you? I mean-

Fileshia: Sometimes.

Chad Jordan: Okay, cool.

Fileshia: At that point it worked out with his Dad's schedule and everything, so ... Not really, but then like sometimes where when we were actually moving from building one to building four, I was actually ... Got volunteered to pack, and so I just brought him in and, of course, Daddy would play with him and things like that. Well, then, Legend turned one and Edward was my boss at the time had asked if I could start working maybe like five hours a day instead of just the two.

Chad Jordan: Still in the admin role?

Fileshia: Still in the admin role. Still ... By that time I think it was Operation Coordinator. I of course said yes, and was working one to two days in the store, just kind of depending on what TX110 needed at the time, and then the rest of the time in office working as an admin until I think nine to one was my shift. Well, Edward would always ... I was over ... I started to then kind of go into helping with the coaches' schedules and things like that. Well, Edward would always schedule meetings at like 1:30 or 2 that I needed to be in with the coaches or something. I'd go pick up Legend and I would bring him to the office, so Legend was part of a lot of meetings. There was ... You can still [crosstalk 00:23:01]-

Chad Jordan: I'm sure he was a perfect angel in every single one.

Fileshia: Oh, yeah. I mean [crosstalk 00:23:04]-

Chad Jordan: Just like his mother.

Fileshia: Yeah, exactly. There is actually still dry erase marker in some of the chairs. Edward would give him those styrofoam balls and I would cringe because he would eat 'em.

Chad Jordan: Oh, yeah.

Fileshia: Saronna gave him ... She used to sit outside of that, our little office, and she actually gave Legend a little NASCAR thing and he practically ate half of it [crosstalk 00:23:26]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, wow.

Saronna: It was a styrofoam [crosstalk 00:23:27]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay [crosstalk 00:23:28]-

Fileshia: I was so scared that this like meant something to her. She had it autographed or something, and so I hung onto the pieces [crosstalk 00:23:33]-

Chad Jordan: Just in case-

Fileshia: The pieces if I needed to-

Chad Jordan: To super glue them back together [crosstalk 00:23:38] and make it look like-

Fileshia: That my son ate her thing. Yep, so I started out there. Slowly that turns into full time, and then it totally transitioned into full time with me not even working in the stores anymore. I still helped with success checks if one of our coaches was sick. I would travel back and forth to Vegas, 'cause those were at the time company stores as well and would help out there, and then I would go in the back ... I did there pep rallies. They're big quarterly pep rallies, so that's really where my events started.

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay. That gave you your chops for [crosstalk 00:24:13]-

Fileshia: Doing a more ... It's like ... Yeah, and planning and find the logistics of it. Seeing where we were gonna do it at. If we could fit. Well, about that time is when I started to realize, "Saronna's kind of funny and she's kind of cool to hang out with." I would go into the back and we would have ... There was a little styling chair back there for like her guest chair, it was in the corner, and I would interview with her. We did this for a year.

Chad Jordan: Interview? What do you mean?

Fileshia: Like, it was a-

Saronna: Pretend [crosstalk 00:24:37]-

Fileshia: Mock interview [crosstalk 00:24:38]-

Chad Jordan: Like for a job? Or for your news channel? Or [crosstalk 00:24:41]-

Saronna: Yeah. If they were to ever allow me to have someone, then let's interview and we'll interview and she's ... Yeah, we'd pretend [crosstalk 00:24:48]-

Chad Jordan: Really? Wait a minute, so you were kind of prepping, bracing yourselves for [crosstalk 00:24:52]-

Fileshia: It was pretend. We literally never thought [crosstalk 00:24:53]-

Chad Jordan: If there could ever be another person in the Huddle Team, the Huddle Department, you wanted to be able to ace the interview-

Fileshia: Oh, yeah.

Saronna: Yeah, and it actually started probably on that airplane, coming-

Fileshia: Oh yeah.

Saronna: Back from ... Where-

Fileshia: It was Vegas.

Saronna: It was Vegas. We're talking ... Saronna just came down off of a big adrenaline high, I mean she hit [crosstalk 00:25:18]-

Fileshia: One-man show-

Saronna: Just down, just ... I was tired. Usually that last day coming home after the National Huddle on Wednesday ... My hair's back, I don't have any makeup on, I usually had Jan Mansfield regional ... Like her shirt on, her t-shirt that she'd give us and she doesn't give us anymore, but [crosstalk 00:25:35]-

Chad Jordan: What ... I'll have [crosstalk 00:25:37]-

Saronna: I know.

Chad Jordan: A talk with Jan.

Saronna: Anyway, we're on the airplane and Fileshia I think is right across from me, tired, and asking I mean one question after the next after the next after the next after the next-

Fileshia: I mean-

Saronna: I [crosstalk 00:25:50] did ... I took it in stride. She [crosstalk 00:25:53]-

Chad Jordan: I'm waiting for [crosstalk 00:25:54] the snap to happen.

Fileshia: No.

Saronna: No [crosstalk 00:25:56] I-

Chad Jordan: Oh, wow [crosstalk 00:25:56]-

Fileshia: No snapping [crosstalk 00:25:57]-

Saronna: Nothing, but it's funny because that was the first part of the start interviewing and ever since then when she joined on, then she got ...

Fileshia: It was like, "Wow."

Saronna: She like ... "I feel bad for doing it to her on a Wednesday [crosstalk 00:26:10]-

Chad Jordan: Right, "Why did I [crosstalk 00:26:10] do that?" Yeah.

Saronna: Yeah, 'cause I mean [crosstalk 00:26:12]-

Chad Jordan: Kept my mouth shut and head down and let you-

Fileshia: Totally. No, I [crosstalk 00:26:16]-

Chad Jordan: Come back to Earth [crosstalk 00:26:17]-

Fileshia: I just went to this great conference and everything like that. Yeah, I ... I grilled her [crosstalk 00:26:22]-

Saronna: A total 50 questions [crosstalk 00:26:23]-

Fileshia: I asked her everything. I mean, this was a two-and-a-half-hour flight. I mean, I guarantee that she was like one of the first people off that plane, like, 'Bye, Fileshia."

Chad Jordan: She's not even ... Yeah, literal "Bye, Fileshia."

Fileshia: Yeah, we did our mock interviews and [crosstalk 00:26:36]-

Chad Jordan: When ... How does it happen? Does Gordon or Edward come up to one of y'all and say, "Hey, we need to add more to this"? This is just [crosstalk 00:26:42]0

Saronna: I had a conversation with Connie Boltinghouse, who is the Vice-President of Operations at the time, and I just told her I need some help. I think we're at that point. I think we're at the point much earlier, but at the point that I think I was coming to terms with needing to add someone on and stuff. That kind of got the ball rolling.

Chad Jordan: You actually said, "Help"? I ... Uncle, I [crosstalk 00:27:09]-

Saronna: Connie saw that, too. Connie was fairly new ... Gosh, I don't know at that point, but from an outsider coming in initially, I know that she could see [crosstalk 00:27:23]-

Chad Jordan: She had been with, what, Regis? Or [crosstalk 00:27:25]-

Saronna: She'd been with Regis.

Chad Jordan: Or another large brand? I bet she is used to a convention team having more than one person having to do all of the heavy lifting, so she probably thought, "No, this is a good fit." What year? When is that?

Fileshia: I kind of started a little into 2014, like the last couple of months, 'cause I needed to finish transitioning myself out of the A-Team company stores and into the position with Saronna. I was working like one or two days with Saronna, the rest of the days transitioning in 2014. Full on all five days, 40 hours a week ... Was December 29th of 2014, but say 2015.

Saronna: 2015 was her first actual [crosstalk 00:28:06] Huddle-

Chad Jordan: That was your first Huddle?

Fileshia: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Chad Jordan: Is that San Antonio?

Fileshia: It was [crosstalk 00:28:09]-

Chad Jordan: Or Vegas?

Fileshia: Las Vegas, Caesars.

Saronna: Caesars, yeah.

Chad Jordan: All right. Now you guys have been working ... This will be ... Is that the fifth? '15, '16, '17, '18, '19. This is the fifth one?

Saronna: Fifth huddle-

Fileshia: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Chad Jordan: That you guys will both kind of be like I said a two-headed monster pulling this off. Can you give me what events during those times ... What have been some of the highlights?

Saronna: During the last five years?

Chad Jordan: Yeah. Memories together, let's say.

Saronna: Oh gosh.

Chad Jordan: It doesn't necessarily have to be at Huddle. It could be Huddle prep, and it's gotta be ... This does have to be family sensitive, but ...

Saronna: I think ... It's just ... It's been a learning experience for both of us because I think over that five-year span, five-Huddle span, we implemented seating, assigned seating.

Chad Jordan: What did it used to be? Just free-for-all? Everybody would come in?

Saronna: We tried to do it sort of loosely by region. I mean, it wasn't anything to what it is now.

Fileshia: In the like general session, yes, it was like masses would just run in [crosstalk 00:29:20]-

Saronna: Oh my gosh.

Fileshia: Which we loved because, I mean [crosstalk 00:29:22]-

Chad Jordan: Good energy-

Fileshia: There was ... People would fall, which was fun [crosstalk 00:29:25]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, yeah [crosstalk 00:29:25]-

Fileshia: Shoes flying [crosstalk 00:29:25]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, yeah, hair getting pulled [crosstalk 00:29:28] and ... Oh, I would [crosstalk 00:29:28] have loved to have seen video from that.

Fileshia: That was ... That used to be ... Well, so my first year in 2015, it was we figured out where everybody ... All the regions were sitting on site. We would look up off of the registration list and say, "Okay, the Mansfields have 200. The Weissman's have 300", and then I would place them in the seating chart and that was [crosstalk 00:29:52]-

Chad Jordan: You did that on site?

Fileshia: On site, and that was [crosstalk 00:29:55]-

Chad Jordan: Just gluttons for punishment? I mean, why [crosstalk 00:29:57]-

Fileshia: Yeah, I mean I [crosstalk 00:29:59]-

Chad Jordan: You had 364 days to get ready, but that's when you wanted to do the seating chart was [crosstalk 00:30:04]-

Fileshia: I kind of came into that, so it was ... It used to kind of go [crosstalk 00:30:06]-

Chad Jordan: Just because I guess when it was smaller you could just do it and it wasn't a big deal, but [crosstalk 00:30:11]-

Fileshia: People would run in and just save their tables and put like flags or whatever they were doing.

Saronna: Yeah, and I think honestly it was after ... Typically right after the first of the year, so in January was when more support team starts to kick into the Huddle thinking. We're thinking of it year-round and some of the others are ... Now in January, we're on the home stretch. It's starting to be top of mind, so I'm pretty sure the seating kind of took a back seat to what we actually had to do.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, it was of less importance.

Saronna: Yeah, at the time.

Fileshia: At that point, also, because what happens is managers or whoever bring guests. They might bring a husband, a wife, or whatnot. Well, then what happens is, "Oh, hey, you're coming to the awards banquet with me", and now that person has taken another manager's, another team leader's seat. On registration I have that say ... We're just using Jan Mansfield, we're not picking on here or anything.

Chad Jordan: Right, until she gives us all a shirt.

Fileshia: Yeah, if she gives us a shirt, we might not use her [crosstalk 00:31:15]-

Chad Jordan: In color, I don't want the black writing on the gray shirt again. Mansfields ...

Fileshia: Say she has 200. Well, say five ... That makes a different. Even five of her managers bring their husbands or wives or whatnot, that takes up now that many seats and now I don't have enough for that group. What ended up happening is 2015 was like the nightmare of seating for me was that we didn't have enough seats. Of course, it's my first Huddle. I'm devastated and we're trying to find the seats. There was seats, but there was like one here, one there, so really the say, 50, 60 people that didn't have seats, there was 50, 60 seats out there [crosstalk 00:31:58]-

Chad Jordan: Just not where they wanted to sit [crosstalk 00:31:58]-

Fileshia: Just not where [crosstalk 00:31:59] they wanted ... With people. It wasn't with their friends and things like that. I get it, and so they were disappointed and I was disappointed. It was what it was, so-

Chad Jordan: What are some things you guys had learned together over the years that you kind of refined? Besides the seating arrangements?

Fileshia: Yeah, seating is definitely a huge one.

Saronna: Oh gosh. Refined how to handle breakouts for sure [crosstalk 00:32:19]-

Fileshia: Definitely-

Saronna: That's probably the year I feel that we finally have nailed it.

Chad Jordan: Is it gonna be bad scanning when people go in? Okay [crosstalk 00:32:29]-

Saronna: There's no bad scanning-

Chad Jordan: No bad scanning. Breaking [crosstalk 00:32:31] news, no bad scanning [crosstalk 00:32:33]. What else?

Saronna: Check that.

Chad Jordan: What else? About the breakouts, I mean, is kind of improved over the years?

Saronna: Yeah, well, so we finally have what I feel is a core Huddle crew that is generally invested and has the desire to [crosstalk 00:32:56]-

Chad Jordan: To make it excellent?

Saronna: To see ... To make this ... When I say "core Huddle crew", that's a handful of us that are taking the lead and we have some folks that fall underneath us [crosstalk 00:33:07]-

Chad Jordan: It's y'all, too, and then like other support team members [crosstalk 00:33:10]-

Saronna: Yeah, so we had-

Chad Jordan: You have full-time jobs outside of events, but-

Fileshia: Yeah, right.

Chad Jordan: Step in and help [crosstalk 00:33:13] out-

Saronna: We had [crosstalk 00:33:14] handling the suppliers and exhibits. We have Preston Leffler, who's actually been on our Huddle crew for a few times now-

Fileshia: Five years.

Saronna: And has definitely hung with us and he's been one of those that has stayed steady the whole time and he's been able to give us some great feedback. He's got a good head on his shoulders for the organization of [crosstalk 00:33:43]-

Chad Jordan: Yeah, definitely.

Saronna: That along with Fileshia being on the floor and seeing now over the last few years how the flow of the crowd works. How the handling each breakout ... How many ... The extent of the number of PowerPoints being handled.

Chad Jordan: Edited at the last minute.

Saronna: Edited at the last minute. We've been able to work together on that, but also with the core Huddle crew to fine tune what that looks like. We now have what we feel is a great process for that.

Chad Jordan: What's your favorite thing now that you wish you'd had the whole time?

Saronna: Favorite thing now we'd had the whole time is ... What, the whole time in the last five years?

Chad Jordan: Yeah, just whatever. I mean ... From the outside looking in, I would say the app feels like ... Having an actual [crosstalk 00:34:34] event app is probably [crosstalk 00:34:36]-

Saronna: Absolutely [crosstalk 00:34:36]-

Chad Jordan: A lifesaver. You don't have to have binders that you're worried get shipped or anything like that.

Saronna: Yeah, we don't have to have that, and that is a lifesaver, but it is ... If we had to print the information going into the mobile app, you would need one of those printers that print off ...

Chad Jordan: Oh, can you imagine?

Saronna: House plans, building plans, I don't know what that printer's called. Is it AutoCAD or something? You'd have to have one of those. It's massive. The information going in is just outrageous, and so yes, by the time it gets published to the mobile app, then the mobile app is easier, but it takes a lot of work and we just published that yesterday.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, so the app is out. People [crosstalk 00:35:17] can download it. In fact, I'll probably include instructions with this [crosstalk 00:35:22]-

Fileshia: Yeah, you have to be registered.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, you gotta register. You gotta go through, register first, but you can tie it to your social media stuff. I saw [crosstalk 00:35:27]-

Fileshia: You can, yeah, you can [crosstalk 00:35:27]-

Chad Jordan: That you can tie it ... To me, I tied it to Facebook, of course, so that was ... You can upload profile pictures, you can chat with people, attendees that are coming. All of that kind of stuff. Is there gonna be a game this year? I know we gamified it last year.

Fileshia: Yes. I don't think we quite hit what the game will be called, but yeah, there will be another game-

Chad Jordan: With prizes?

Fileshia: With prizes. Are you gonna ... I know [crosstalk 00:35:51]-

Chad Jordan: I'm not gonna say which prizes [crosstalk 00:35:53]-

Fileshia: I'm like [crosstalk 00:35:53] off the top of my head [crosstalk 00:35:54]-

Chad Jordan: Yeah, we'll [crosstalk 00:35:56] tease that out there. We'll do prizes. Last year they were pretty cool. We do have a really big prize and a really big game going on right now with the Sport Clips Karaoke Battle. How are you feeling about that?

Fileshia: Oh, I mean, it's going great. I mean, thank goodness for you and Whitney for kind of [crosstalk 00:36:12] it out.

Chad Jordan: I think [crosstalk 00:36:14]-

Fileshia: You publishing and Whitney doing her videos and stuff, yeah, I think it's a lot of fun. We ... In the past years ... I wasn't part of the team at this point, but they did Sport Clips Idol, so almost every year there's at least one or two people that ask if we could do Sport Clips Idol, so really that's the ... We took that and then you [crosstalk 00:36:34]-

Chad Jordan: Well, the reason [crosstalk 00:36:35] for karaoke ... We actually debated for those not ... The three of us, just to find out ... We debated what we should do, whether Sport Clips Got Talent, or Sport Clips Idol, or we even thought a lip sync battle would be fun. That's really hard to share on social media because if you don't have the songs licensed, they're gonna get muted and then it looks ridiculous, two people doing a lip sync battle and/or a team of Sport Clips team members doing a lip sync battle and the music's muted. When you do a karaoke video, as long as you're not using the original music, it's passable and you can upload it on social media, share it, do all that kind of stuff.

Chad Jordan: That's why we went and ... What I feel is that it's gotten so much late momentum. Like we had originally announced it in January, which felt like more than enough time, but ... Of a deadline at the end of February, and then we realized, "It's gonna take them a couple of weeks, months to really [crosstalk 00:37:34]-

Saronna: Catch up-

Chad Jordan: Yeah, for the fire to spread and so we of course extended the deadline to March 22nd. I don't know. We had some great early entries, of course, but some of these later entries are fantastic. In terms of details, I think we're still hammering out exactly how we're going to reveal. There's gonna be a top five that everyone at Huddle I believe is gonna be able to vote on. There's gonna be a Huddle team that's gonna pick the five videos that qualify for best video, almost like the Oscars, best picture, but then at Huddle we're thinking, is it a poll that we're gonna [crosstalk 00:38:13]-

Fileshia: I'll be a poll [crosstalk 00:38:14]. It'll be live.

Chad Jordan: They're ... Everyone at Huddle's gonna get a chance to vote. They're gonna get the chance [crosstalk 00:38:19]-

Saronna: To vote-

Chad Jordan: To see the videos and then vote.

Saronna: Yeah, winner determined right then, so-

Chad Jordan: I know these details still need to be hammered out, but we heard ... I believe it was Al Rodriguez who gave us the idea of maybe we should at least pick as a Huddle team or something. Even if they're not the top five videos, the video that might have had the best lyrics and the video that had the best choreography or something like that. It won't win the grand prize, but just to give them a shout out or show their picture or something on stage. We may do something like that if you guys are up for it and if we have the time to put it all together.

Chad Jordan: Anything else in terms ... Oh, how about this? If I'm allowed ... You might not be able to answer ... You might not be willing to answer this, so if you're not, forgive me. Are you able to share with us where some of the upcoming Huddles are gonna be in the years to come?

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: Okay. Where are we looking?

Saronna: We finished signing a ton of contracts. Already in the pipeline for quite a ... For a few years anyway now has been San Antonio for 2020 and 2021 [crosstalk 00:39:25]-

Chad Jordan: Okay, so back-to-back years in [crosstalk 00:39:26] the same place-

Saronna: Back-to-back years, San Antonio. Always a great location for us. '22, we will be in Nashville at Music City Center-

Chad Jordan: Wow. First time ever in Nashville, right?

Saronna: First time ever, mm-hmm (affirmative).

Chad Jordan: Awesome.

Saronna: 2023, we have signed that contract as well for Fort Worth.

Chad Jordan: Okay, so [crosstalk 00:39:43]-

Saronna: Fort Worth Convention Center [crosstalk 00:39:45]-

Chad Jordan: Dallas area, Fort Worth?

Saronna: Right, yeah.

Chad Jordan: Back to Texas, okay.

Saronna: I believe if we calculated right, that's our 30 years now at '23.

Fileshia: '24.

Saronna: '24 or '23?

Fileshia: 2024, 'cause it'll be back in Nashville.

Chad Jordan: I think '23. If 2018 [crosstalk 00:40:05]-

Saronna: I think it's '23. It would have been 'cause we were gonna sign [crosstalk 00:40:06]-

Chad Jordan: 2018 plus [crosstalk 00:40:07] five is, yeah, '23 [crosstalk 00:40:08]-

Saronna: Maybe not. '23? Yeah.

Fileshia: Then we are actually back in Nashville in '24. We have a possibility to go back in San Antonio in '25, but nothing's signed on that.

Chad Jordan: Cool, but so some new venues. Have we ever been to Forth Worth area before for a Huddle?

Fileshia: No, we've not.

Chad Jordan: Okay, so that'll be new. Nashville'll be new. San Antonio will be familiar but reliable, so no more Vegas for a while.

Fileshia: Not for a while.

Chad Jordan: Kind of get Vegas out of our system. If you need to go to Vegas, go for like a vacation [crosstalk 00:40:39]-

Saronna: Something else, yeah-

Chad Jordan: Not for a convention. All right, so I'm winding down. I have a couple of questions here I want to ask you guys, but anything that you were hoping I was gonna ask that I haven't? Or you were hoping I wasn't gonna ask that I did? Anything that you wanted to share about kind of your Huddle experience, what it's like behind the scenes?

Saronna: Behind the scenes, all I can say is we've got a great crew because it takes a lot of work. We've employed about probably less than 35. I don't know what the actual number is, and by employed, I mean we've asked people internally to join us at the National Huddle to help [crosstalk 00:41:23]-

Chad Jordan: You volunteered them in other words, okay/

Saronna: To help bring registration to life, the breakouts, exhibits, various things, because there is so many moving parts for a Huddle this size. We're projected to hit over 3100 this year, so we're definitely thankful for them, but also to the ones that are involved on presenting ... The presenting side of it. We do lean on a lot of support team members. Team leaders ... We have some team leaders that are actually heading up breakouts this year. We're thankful for them, but honestly, all in all, without everyone just joining together and helping bring this thing to life, it would be ... It takes a lot of people in other words-

Chad Jordan: It-

Saronna: It would be very difficult [crosstalk 00:42:12]-

Chad Jordan: What no one knows is that I literally had to drag you guys in here kicking and screaming because you do not want attention and you like doing stuff behind the scenes, so this is me giving the people what they want. I know they want a glimpse at really who puts Huddles together. What are ... Put your thinking cap on and imagine it's Huddle Week. What is your favorite ... Now, I know when it's over and there's relief ... What is ... Each of you, what is your favorite part of Huddle?

Saronna: Oh, it's always the show. The minute the call is made ... This is how it works for the doors to be opened. We have a swarm of folks that are standing outside general session door. Fileshia's on that side of general session. I'm behind stage. We're talking through our headsets to make sure because it's not a matter of just opening the doors. The production company has to be ready, and by ready mean when they come in in the morning they have to check their sound again. We may even have a speaker kind of just a voice test in the ... Mike test in the morning. There are different things that they're still testing and there are 23 people that are involved in this and they have to be all in position and ready so that when we open the doors, we're ready and we look ready.

Saronna: That's my favorite part, is making that call. Actually, Fileshia usually starts with, "Saronna, are you ready? Can we open the doors? Let me know when you're ready?" Us going back and forth for maybe five minutes. "Okay, stand by. Stand by maybe five minutes. We're five minutes out." That's kind of how it goes, and then immediately when I said, "Okay, go", she's making the call on that side for security to open the doors. The very first thing I do is step away from the curtain and go to the side and just watch everyone come in. That moment means everything to me. The kickoff, the State of Sport Clips, all of that is just really kicks that adrenaline up for me. I mean, it's a show. It's a show at that point.

Chad Jordan: What about you, Fileshia? Same thing? Or-

Fileshia: No, 'cause ... Honestly, 'cause I'm more on the floor, so yes, I'll sneak back there and hang out with Saronna for a little bit or just like see ... It really is cool. I mean, it's [crosstalk 00:44:36]-

Chad Jordan: You have a headset and you're communicating with her [crosstalk 00:44:38]-

Fileshia: Sometimes. She is known to take it out and [crosstalk 00:44:41]-

Chad Jordan: When she's had enough of you?

Fileshia: Well, or us, 'cause I mean there is usually about 15 of us on the headsets, but I ... We're always on cellphone. We're always texting. I'm there, but mine's actually it ... Seeing the breakouts and walking into the breakouts and seeing that, and it's honestly our Huddle crew. We couldn't do it without 'em. That's a big thing for me, and the coaches, the arties, I mean, that's what I like going and hanging out with, is then we have fun. We did this together, and I think that's [crosstalk 00:45:13].

Saronna: Yeah, and that's when it comes to live. I mean, it comes to life [crosstalk 00:45:18]-

Chad Jordan: Your hard work paying off, everything you ... All the blood, sweat [crosstalk 00:45:20] and tears [crosstalk 00:45:21]-

Saronna: You see everything starting to move the way you've been planning it for a year, but with the six months proceeding especially that timeframe. You see everyone doing what they're supposed to do. You have people coming forth with ideas and they're really fully invested in this and they want to see it succeed just as much as we do.

Chad Jordan: I'm speaking on behalf of everybody else at Sport Clips, for me, it's my favorite week of the year. I mean, literally it's circled on my calendar. Not just last year, because you guys gave me an opportunity to do some fun stuff, but it's just the energy, getting to see everybody. It all coming together. It's heaven. It's a week of heaven. Old friends that you don't get to see that often or for me, if I travel a lot, I haven't seen them in months, and so to get to reconnect and know that Huddle is that go-to place that we're all gonna see each other and for our brand and our culture, it is the highlight of the year.

Chad Jordan: On behalf of everybody in the system, thank you guys. I'm not done with you yet. I got one question for each of you. It's a slightly different question, okay? I will ask ... Let's see, who do I want to ask first? Let's go with Saronna. All right. What about Fileshia ... Whether it's a characteristic, a trait, a personality ... What do you most appreciate that she's brought to you, your role, the team at Sport Clips, all that kind of stuff? What one quality if you could put your finger on it do you most appreciate it?

Saronna: That's hard, because I feel like there are several.

Chad Jordan: I know, you got to throw a dart and pick one.

Saronna: I would say the one thing that stands out is right the opposite of me, and it's probably why we work so well together. The opposite part is that I will take forever to do something because I want it to be and look a certain way. Fileshia has that ability to say, "I want to get this out quick", and she gets things out quick. I'll drive myself nuts trying to make [crosstalk 00:47:37]-

Chad Jordan: Obsess over one little [crosstalk 00:47:39]-

Saronna: Sell over [crosstalk 00:47:40]-

Chad Jordan: Yeah, right-

Saronna: Make this right, put a colon in instead of a semicolon, so I appreciate that she is able to move forward and just kind of let go of some of that that I hold onto, because it keeps things moving and it makes things happen. There are so many moving parts if ... At this point, I would be critiquing everything.

Fileshia: I've already sent it out.

Saronna: Yeah, she's already sent it out.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, said done. She's a go-getter for sure.

Saronna: She's a go-getter. Yeah.

Chad Jordan: Fileshia, your question that I want to ask you, and it's about Saronna, is ... She's obviously a mentor to you, a friend, all these other sorts of things, but to me when I have mentors, there's usually one thing that I look up to and I say, "That is what I value the most. That's what I want to adopt into my own style or my own leadership capability." What do you see in her as a leader, as a mentor that you value and appreciate the most?

Fileshia: That's kind of funny because I probably value her ... That, one, she has a backbone, but as well that she is a perfectionist. Even though I'm not, and that's what she likes about me, and like my misspellings and I have to have spell-check. I do ... What that has done for me over the years has made it so that my ... Even if I make a little flyer or a graphic for social media, even though I can get it out quickly and things like that ... Of course, my letter might be off that much where Saronna would spend hours fixing it, I still haven't been able to take the things that I'm putting out there and perfecting them to ... More so me and where I know that even though it might not be a hundred percent Saronna standard, it's still 98% Saronna standard and she's still proud. Really, it's her perfectionism.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, spirit of excellence that she has, for sure, and you adopting that and I like that. Here's what I'm gonna do right now. I have a live read that I'm gonna do. I have an announcement about a Help A Hero contest, so I'm gonna read that and then I've got 10 kind of bonus questions that will just end this podcast with. Okay?

Chad Jordan: All right, so that's exciting about Help A Hero. Now, here are the questions that I promised that I would ask you guys. I'm gonna ask you ... I'm gonna probably alternate on how I do these. Let's go with Saronna first. Which ... Number one, which super power would you most like to have?

Saronna: Flying.

Chad Jordan: Flying?

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: To get to Huddle faster and-

Saronna: I always wanted to fly when I was little.

Chad Jordan: I'm gonna ask you another one, then, right away. Number two, what is your personal motto?

Saronna: Oh, gosh. Do your best.

Chad Jordan: Do your best?

Saronna: Yes.

Chad Jordan: Of course, Miss Perfectionist over here. Let's go to Fileshia. Other than where you live right now, where else in the world would you most like to live?

Fileshia: Somewhere warm. I don't know, like-

Chad Jordan: Santa Barbara, California, maybe?

Fileshia: Of course, it's warm there [crosstalk 00:50:56]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, yes. Okay [crosstalk 00:50:56]. It's 70 year-round. No, is there really another place?

Fileshia: I really do like California, actually, now that ... I don't like that there's like a bajillion people there, but when ... San Diego, when we were there for the Leadership Huddle, beautiful weather.

Chad Jordan: You know what you have a bajillion of in Texas? Mosquitoes. We don't have those in California, so-

Fileshia: Oh, well, I'm down for that, too.

Chad Jordan: Yeah, so I'm saying ... Yeah. We trade the mosquitoes for the people. Let's go ... Fileshia. Who is the celebrity you'd most like to meet one day?

Fileshia: Is it Chris Pratt that plays on Parks and Rec?

Chad Jordan: Yeah.

Saronna: Yeah.

Chad Jordan: And Jurassic World and [crosstalk 00:51:34] The Guardians of the Galaxy [crosstalk 00:51:35]-

Fileshia: I think he's just really funny. I like funny people.

Chad Jordan: All right. What about ... We'll ask that to Saronna as well.

Saronna: Oh, Will Ferrell.

Chad Jordan: Will Ferrell?

Saronna: With [crosstalk 00:51:42] -

Chad Jordan: Oh man, we gotta get him for a Huddle. Heck yeah.

Fileshia: That's a good one, too.

Chad Jordan: Instead of spending all our money on a venue, we'll just get one celebrity to come to a parking lot somewhere where we all gather. Number five, Saronna. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Saronna: Are you frickin' kidding me?

Chad Jordan: Okay. Are we cleaning that up for ... Okay. I know ... I'm [crosstalk 00:52:06] saying, are we giving the clean version? Fileshia?

Saronna: Actually, one thing that I'm quoted for on our Huddle quote board is, "Why can't people be better?"

Chad Jordan: Why can't people be better?

Fileshia: That's true.

Saronna: It is.

Fileshia: Really, if you ask yourself it that [crosstalk 00:52:18] a couple of times, it makes sense.

Chad Jordan: You say that out loud? Or you just think that [crosstalk 00:52:22]-

Saronna: I said it out loud once [crosstalk 00:52:24]-

Chad Jordan: Okay, all right-

Saronna: And now Whitney holds me to it. She kind of states it out loud. Every now and then she'll just randomly say, "Why can't people be better?"

Chad Jordan: I like it. Let's go with Fileshia. What sound or noise do you love?

Fileshia: Sound or noise?

Chad Jordan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Fileshia: I mean ... I have been listening to a certain some of these duet a lot, so [crosstalk 00:52:46]-

Chad Jordan: Oh, okay, yeah [crosstalk 00:52:47]-

Fileshia: Two people's voices [crosstalk 00:52:49]-

Chad Jordan: That magically intwine to tell a wonderful story.

Fileshia: It's funny because my son's like, "You're listening to that again?" Yes, leave me alone.

Chad Jordan: Oh my goodness. All right. Saronna, what sound or noise do you hate?

Saronna: Someone chewing with their mouth open.

Chad Jordan: Ooh, I'm glad I spit my gum out before this podcast. I would have totally been doing that this whole time. Let's go Saronna here. What profession other than your own would you have been good at or at least have wanted to try?

Saronna: Oh yes. I love DIY projects with wood things in particular, so I'd probably be a woodworker.

Chad Jordan: Really?

Saronna: Or a photographer.

Chad Jordan: Wow. Yeah, I've seen some of the photos you do. That's amazing.

Saronna: Thank you.

Chad Jordan: Okay, Fileshia. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Fileshia: My achievement?

Chad Jordan: Yes.

Fileshia: Like something I was good at?

Chad Jordan: What do you consider the best thing you've ever done in your life?

Fileshia: Well, I kind of feel obligated to say my son.

Chad Jordan: Well, he's probably not listening to this, so if you don't want to say [crosstalk 00:53:54] it it's not [crosstalk 00:53:54] gonna crush his spirit [crosstalk 00:53:56].

Fileshia: Honestly, it was my greatest thing that I ever done was go and sit in there and interview with Saronna.

Chad Jordan: Really?

Fileshia: I think it could stem from going to hair school because ... Staying with Sport Clips, 'cause it's led me to where I am today, but I mean, if ... Well, when it ... I guess it was interviewing her on the airplane, but kind of going out of my shell because a lot of people don't know that I really am shy. Just taking one for it, 'cause I mean this has been [crosstalk 00:54:23]-

Chad Jordan: This is where it's led [crosstalk 00:54:23]-

Fileshia: I can honestly say I love my job and that's important.

Chad Jordan: Not everybody can say that, obviously.

Fileshia: Exactly.

Chad Jordan: Saronna, if heaven indeed exists ... This is last question ... If heaven indeed exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Saronna: Oh gosh. Let me take me to your mother.

Chad Jordan: Oh, that would be sweet.

Saronna: I know.

Chad Jordan: I thought maybe you were gonna say, "Why can't people be better?"

Saronna: I know. I'm like [crosstalk 00:54:46].

Chad Jordan: Anyways, so thank you all. We just scratched the surface, so we'll probably have to do another podcast like this again at some point. Yes, we will, because there's a ton of stuff. Newsflash, I did not prep them at all on any of the questions we were gonna ask. We were just hanging out having a conversation and having a good time. Maybe next time I'll give you a heads-up on what some of the stuff's gonna be and [crosstalk 00:55:12] then you'll be more willing to sit down with me.

Chad Jordan: Huddle this year is April ...

Saronna: 6th.

Fileshia: 6th.

Chad Jordan: 6th through the ...

Saronna: 9th.

Fileshia: 9th.

Chad Jordan: 9th in Las Vegas at The Mirage-

Fileshia: Correct.

Chad Jordan: Right? We promise everyone's gonna have a good time. I know they're gonna have a good time right before general sessions, that's what ... Oh, and David Wolfe is again gonna be emcee, so everybody can be ready for him. We love him and got a great awards banquet planned. If you've done a karaoke video, we're setting up a time for you to meet with Gordon Logan and have a photo session with him.

Saronna: We have three great showcase speakers [crosstalk 00:55:51]-

Chad Jordan: Speakers, yeah.

Saronna: We have Brittany Fitzgerald. She's on the Sport Clips Artistic Team. Kelly Cardenas with Paul Mitchell, and we have Amy Leschke-Kahle, who's with The Marcus Buckingham Company.

Chad Jordan: Amazing [crosstalk 00:56:03]-

Saronna: Noah Robbins is closing keynote, so we're excited.

Chad Jordan: Awesome. We're gonna have a great time. We promise you're gonna have a good time, and here's my advice if you're listening and you're a manager. Once you get to Vegas, two words ... I'm just gonna give you two words. Pace yourself. Pace yourself, all right?

Chad Jordan: Thank you all, ladies, appreciate it.

Saronna: Thank you [crosstalk 00:56:23]-

Chad Jordan: Thanks for tuning in everybody. Stick around for next week, we'll have another great episode for you. Thanks.