Q&A WITH J. BRAD BRITTON

INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY GUEST HOST — TRENT BOOTH

How’d you get started with Cutco?

• Brad heard about Cutco/Vector from his friend, Randy Meador

• Started with John Carpenter

• Working with John was a fantastic learning experience because John was such a great example of positivity, magnetism, and how to treat other people.

 

How did your path take you from new rep to District Manager in Sacramento?

• Second became Branch Manager in Beaumont TX

• Broke the all-time record, finished #2 behind Jeff Kunkel

• Became District Manager in OKC, then opportunity opened up in Sacramento CA

 

What contributed to your great success as a DM/DVM in Sacramento?

• Having a consistent home in Sacramento led to a building process that created an “empire” within a couple years.

• Mark Lovas was a key player in those early days, and Brad’s influence was instrumental in helping Mark grow and build his career.

 

Tell about building the dynasty of the Western Region.

• I paid attention to my mentor, Bruce Goodman, and tried to model what he had done.

• “Do right by people,” was a critical lesson from Bruce.  Even if it cost some money in the short-term, you make decisions in the best interest of your people.

• “Pay attention to how you treat people, because you never know who might work for you someday.”  Always being aware of our influence on others.

• Developing the Western Region was a byproduct of running the business right on a day-to-day basis.

 

Walk us through the thinking that led you to leave the company for a while.

• Brad had a special needs son who needed extra time.

• Was home schooling his older daughter as well.

• Had a friend that had an opportunity for him to do some flexible consulting work.

• Brad always thought he would eventually come back to Vector in some capacity down the road.  He was away from the business for 9 years.

• Trent also left Vector for 20 months and could NOT find anything resembling the kind of culture that existed in Vector/Cutco.

• You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

• For many people in Vector, this is their first career and they don’t have anything to compare it to.

 

Lessons Brad has shared with his daughter, Madison:

• Brad shares about his daughter, Madison, working for the past 4 Summers.

• Trent’s own daughter just started as a Cutco rep this Summer.

• Reps have time/capacity to do more than they think they can do.

• The importance of the ways in which we talk to ourselves.

• “Treat yourself as well as the people you are serving.” — Trent

 

How did the Cutco Cares World Impact Initiative come to be?

• A way for Vector/Cutco people to impact others while on our annual company trips.

• Started with an experience in Rome, where a group brought food to some homeless people.

• The next year in Prague, a small group again served the community

• The formal program for Cutco Cares began the following year (2017) in Costa Rica, helping children who lived in poverty nearby.

• Since then, we have also served communities in Munich and Cayman Islands.

• We serve an underserved part of humanity.

If you’re not growing, life gets really boring.

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”  — Helen Keller

 

Interview ends with Brad’s 4 core philosophies:

• Connection — with every person that we encounter

• Execution — actually doing the things we know we ought to do

• Simplicity — finding ways to simplify our tasks

• Gratitude —  The opposite is entitlement

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Coming Soon!

SHOW RESOURCES

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