In this episode, Billy Duren sits down with Ben Holder, CEO of Plastic Products Company. This is a 100% employee-owned business that employs over 900 people across ten plants nationwide. Ben shares the company's remarkable journey, which began in a garage in 1962 and grew into a major contract manufacturer serving industry giants like 3M and GE Appliances.

Ben dives deep into how employee ownership through their ESOP empowers team members, boosts engagement, and builds real retirement security for everyone, not just the executives. He also highlights the "Find a Better Way" program, which invites every employee to suggest improvements. This initiative has fostered a strong culture of continuous progress, shared pride, and collective ownership of results. The conversation explores what it takes to celebrate that ownership mindset, thoughtfully manage risk, and successfully integrate new acquisitions while preserving the company's core culture.

Billy and Ben also discuss the power of hands-on leadership, clear communication, and intentional mentoring to prepare the next generation of leaders. Ben makes it clear that true leadership isn't about issuing orders from the top. It's about serving others, showing up on the floor, staying present, and committing to lifelong learning. The episode wraps up with practical advice for anyone looking to grow as a leader: stay curious, develop a thick skin, and never underestimate the value of bringing humor and heart to the job.

3 Key Listener Takeaways

Here are three key takeaways for leaders in any industry:


1. Empowerment Drives Engagement and Improvement

Ben Holder showed how educating employees about ESOP, celebrating ownership, and running programs like "Find a Better Way" creates pride, accountability, and nonstop innovation. When people feel like true owners, they step up with ideas and energy that benefit the entire organization.

2. Intentional Succession Planning Sustains Organizational Health

At Plastic Products Company, building the leadership pipeline is a deliberate, multi-layered effort. By identifying talent early, mentoring consistently, and developing future leaders, including Ben's own successor, the company protects its culture and ensures long-term success even as it grows and evolves.


3. Leadership Means Serving Others, Not Commanding

Ben challenges the common misconception that leadership is reserved for the CEO or about telling people what to do. Instead, he emphasizes that anyone can lead by serving, supporting, and helping their colleagues, regardless of title. This servant leadership approach builds trust and brings out the best in teams.

In this episode of Nuts and Bolts of Leadership, host Billy Duren sits down with Lindsay Funkhouser, co-founder of Strategic Mixtape, to explore the true value of executive coaching.

Lindsay explains that coaching is not just for fixing problems. It is a powerful growth tool for high performers. Drawing on her sports psychology background, she shows how leaders, like elite athletes, must continuously upgrade their power skills: self-awareness, listening, trust-building, and adaptive communication.

The conversation highlights a common leadership trap: assuming what got you to this level will keep you there. As responsibilities grow, new skills become essential, especially the ability to truly connect, read your audience, and stay visible across all levels of the organization.

Packed with practical insights on transparency, resilience under pressure, and creating high-trust cultures, this episode underscores that great leadership is a lifelong pursuit of learning, honest feedback, and bringing out the best in every team member.

3 Key Listener Takeaways

Here are three key takeaways for leaders in any industry:

1. Executive Coaching Is Not Remedial - It's for High Performers

Lindsay Funkhouser explains that executive coaching is often misunderstood as something for "fixing" weaknesses. In reality, it is designed to help high-performing leaders gain deeper self-awareness and develop human-oriented skills to reach their next level of effectivenes.

2. Clear Communication Differs from Effective Communication

Communicating clearly is not the same as communicating effectively. Lindsay Funkhouser highlights that true leadership effectiveness comes from ensuring your message creates understanding, trust, and actionable alignment in your audience - not just making sense to yourself.

3. Leadership Self-Awareness Drives Organizational Health

The emotional maturity and self-awareness of leaders directly shape company culture and can either multiply functional or dysfunctional behaviors. Lindsay Funkhouser emphasizes that leaders must know their own strengths, blind spots, and the gap between their intent and their real impact on people to avoid stagnation and foster healthy, resilient organizations.

Show Overview

00:00 Discussing Lindsey's qualifications

06:03 Understanding Executive Coaching Benefits

08:24 Marriage coaching versus counseling myths

13:48 Encouraging open communication for leaders

15:50 Creating a safe work environment

20:37 Leadership lessons from CEO training

22:00 Evolving company culture with growth

26:20 Athletes training for high-pressure situations

31:32 Leadership communication skills

32:24 Challenges in effective communication

37:36 Being thoughtful about your audience

40:26 Impact of leadership self-awareness

44:14 Learning to manage ambitious ideas

46:04 Encouraging creativity in children

50:54 Building self-awareness with feedback

54:00 Lindsay's leadership and sports psychology

In this episode of Nuts and Bolts of Leadership, Billy Duren interviews Jared Levin, CEO of Mainely Tubs, based in Scarborough, Maine. Jared shares his journey of becoming CEO right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the company faced and adapted to the challenges. He talks about Mainely Tubs' unique employee-owned culture, their focus on hiring team players who are "humble, hungry, and smart," and keeping a "low jerk factor."

Jared gives examples of how the company goes above and beyond for customers, emphasizing the mission to "leave you saying wow." He also discusses how leadership means setting an example, like picking up trash in the parking lot, and the importance of steady communication across locations with regular meetings and welcome breakfasts for new team members.

The conversation covers lessons learned from leadership challenges, the value of reading management books, and the role of mentors. Jared gives practical advice for emerging leaders: focus on learning, find mentors, and lead for the right reasons, not just for rewards.

3 Key Listener Takeaways

Here are three key takeaways for leaders in any industry:


1. Culture of Teamwork and "Low Jerk Factor"

Jared emphasized that Mainely Tubs places high value on hiring and retaining humble, hungry, and smart team players, openly communicating their "low jerk factor" policy. This approach fosters a positive, collaborative work environment where teamwork is essential to both employee satisfaction and customer service.


2. Ownership Mindset in an Employee-Owned Company

Mainley Tubs is 100% employee-owned, and Jared explained how this drives an ownership mentality, with team members often going the extra mile, whether it's staying late to help a customer or pitching in across departments. This sense of ownership translates into pride, responsibility, and exceptional service.


3. Service as the Core Differentiator

In a commodity-driven industry, Jared highlighted that the only true differentiator is customer service, not product. The company's mission, "Leave you saying wow," depends on under-promising, over-delivering, and training all teams, from sales to service, to consistently exceed customer expectations.

Show Overview

00:00 Adapting business during the pandemic

08:13 Why Jared loves his hot tub

13:43 Focusing on customer experience

21:18 Thinking like an owner

22:50 Leading by example

29:51 Company growth and customer focus

36:16 Team going above and beyond

40:40 Managing team dynamics

47:40 Leadership lessons and smooth transition

54:26 Advice for aspiring leaders

56:46 Experiencing Whitewater after rapid growth