Five Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom, Tammy Kennon, and Her Company, Chenille Appeal

This is my mom.  You’ve probably read about her but never seen a picture.  She’s the same one that would slip notes into my lunches in elementary school telling me how wonderful, intelligent and loved I was.

Back in the early days when she and my dad started their company in a two hundred square foot garage, she would work during the day (my sister, Kelsey, and I would help run the machinery) and my dad would come home from his day-job and work the night shift.

Today, she and my dad are still the sole shareholders of that company, called Chenille Appeal, which has grown into one of the best known manufacturers of affinity athletic awards in the United States.  The motto growing up was: The business comes first.  There were years we setup the Christmas tree in the office instead of at home because we knew it would be the only way to enjoy it since we were sleeping at the factory in shifts to help get the business off the ground.

Business Lesson #1: There Is Always a Way (My Mom Provided the Faith)

Whereas my dad is the one who provides the analytical skills and operating details, my mom is the one that was the driving engine of faith and ruthless competition.

Way back toward the beginning of the company when we were all still kids, they needed something like $180,000 at a time when that was all the money in the world (adjusted for inflation, that is about $240,000 in today’s dollars).  They always sat us down and talked to us about what was going on, treating us like adults.  My dad said it just wasn’t possible on paper to come up with that kind of money on terms that would be favorable enough without risking the firm’s cash flow.

My mom was convinced that it was the right move and she kept telling my dad, “We are going to figure this out and God is going to provide a way.”  Finally, my dad told her, “My faith isn’t big enough for this.  But I’m going to get out of your way.  If you believe we can get it on these terms, then you need to go do it.  I’m going to support you because this is beyond my faith level at this point based on the numbers.”

Less than 90 days later, they had the money and the business expanded.  It was a perfect example of how both of them contribute skill sets to the company that turned it into what it is today.  The wouldn’t have been able to achieve what they had unless they worked together like that.

Business Lesson #2: Be Ruthless When You Compete.  (Her Competitive Philosophy Is Simple: “I’m Going to Crush That Bitch”)

Another time, a competitor had gotten into a particular niche market that my mom had eyed as a way to make a lot of money quickly without anyone knowing, providing a source of easy cash to fund the growth of the main business.  When she found out who it was, she did reconnaissance, discovered out the competitor’s total order level, finances, sales reps, etc.  I remember sitting in her office during a visit and she looked at Aaron and me and said, without hesitation: “I’m going to crush that bitch.”

It is funny because anyone who knows my mom knows that 90% of the time, she just wants to play.  She wants to bake cupcakes, go golfing, decorate for the holidays, visit family, and drink pumpkin spice lattes as she watches “You’ve Got Mail”.  In fact, she sometimes comes off as timid.

But … and here is the kicker … if you compete with her, she is going to obliterate you and your company.  She will always be fair and she will never use dirty tricks.  She is just relentless.  She plays “business” like most people play competitive sports.  It isn’t for fun.  It is to win.  And winning is determined by growth in annual profits and watching your investment accounts get larger each year.  The fact she wants to give so much away is proof that it is about the game to her and not the money.

I didn’t realize how much of this was in my own DNA until that interesting observation from Aaron a few months ago.

(My dad, on the other hand, is more of a genteel banker type.  He would rather structure deals where everyone benefits and makes money, then goes out and plays golf after having a nice steak.  This has its own appeal; they temper each other well.)

Business Lesson #3: Exceed Your Customers Expectations and Always Keep Your Word to Them.  Part of This Means Never Cutting Corners to Lower Costs Because Quality Matters.

My mom is obsessed with keeping her word to her customers.

I remember once she went over to an employee who had just finished an entire shift (and who no longer works for them).  My mom looked at the merchandise that had just been manufactured and wasn’t happy.  To anyone else, the goods would have passed muster but they weren’t good enough for her.

My mom looked at this employee and said, “Somewhere, in the middle of Kansas, a sixteen year old kid has worked after school to save up enough money to buy his letterman jacket.  He’s excited about it.  It’s going to be in his life forever.  Don’t you think he deserves the best we can possibly give him? This isn’t good enough.  Would it be for your own child?  My name is on this.  It isn’t leaving the factory.”  She then threw the entire run in the trash despite the cost in both materials and payroll, both of which came directly out of her pocket.

Lesson #4: Spending Money Is Not the Source of Happiness In Life … (aka Frugality Matters)

Although my mom, like I, sometimes struggles with it, you have to focus on frugality to become wealthy.  Even though she’d sometimes go out and spend quite a bit, looking at it on an annualized basis, she always put the long-term health of the business first.

For example, despite having reinvested considerable earnings into her company over the years, she has never owned a brand new car.  When it came to increasing her salary or hiring new employees, she always chose new employees.  When it came to whether or not to buy a bigger, better house or pour it back into equipment, she chose the equipment.  She always put the company and its employees before her own paycheck.  That is why now she is able to go to pick up four top-of-the-line iPads without thinking about it, or escape on secret golf weekends with my dad.

Forget your pride.  Do what is best in the long-run even if it means the guy next to you has a brand new Mercedes or a bigger house.  Most people are struggling to pay their bills each month.  She doesn’t have to worry about that because as her friends bought new televisions, better furniture and new cars, she bought shares of Heineken, Nestle, General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway.  And she didn’t just buy them, she and my dad did it through retirement accounts and plans they can’t even access until they turn almost 60 years old!

The hidden message is something most people don’t understand in our consumer-driven culture: Happiness does not come from spending money and acquiring things. It comes from doing what you love, spending time with people you care about and supporting causes that are important to you.  Jesus Christ said it better than anyone: Life does not consist of the abundance of things.

Lesson #5: Give Away at Least 10% of Everything You Make

It didn’t matter if we were broke and couldn’t buy groceries, my mom and dad have always said you give at least 10% of your income away to help others.  They did it when they were making less than minimum wage and they still do, spread out among different churches, charities and other causes that matter to them.  It is a way to thank God and give back in a world where so many people can’t even afford to eat or shelter themselves.

Why Aaron and I Refuse to Compete with Her in Business

These are some of the reasons one of our businesses, Mount Olympus Awards, doesn’t compete with their business, Chenille Appeal.  We sell direct to customers and schools, whereas they specialize in selling directly to sporting goods stores throughout the United States.  I can’t imagine trying to go up against them.  So we don’t.  And that’s the highest praise, from a business perspective, I can pay anyone.

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