Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Drew Hendrix. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Drew, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Observations of my grandfather, my great uncles, my uncle Troy, and my stepdad began the journey. They were all hard workers and took pride in doing things right and doing them because of a goal. In most cases, they just liked the process of “getting things done”. Working to support family was another strong motivation for them. I suppose I saw this and without really knowing it at the time, their behavior, which I admired, became mine. Without being told by bosses in my first jobs, I just liked doing the job and doing it as well as I could. I count this as an early work ethic, which has matured as I have, along with my increased responsibilities.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I started at Red River Paper in 1997 as my second job after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. I was trying to get into the oil & gas industry, which at the time was not doing well. One recruiter took my resume and promised to pass it along if she knew of any opportunities. I assumed that meant placing it gently into File 13. Well, she did pass it along to a recruiter in Dallas who was working for the founder of Red River Paper. At the time, he was looking for someone to bring in a mold to his way of doing business. I was hired, and my business card title was “Sales.” My friends found that hilarious as we entered the age where entry-level positions were all called Sales Executive or Account Manager. Nope. I was in Sales. Over the years I learned much and did every job you can imagine in a small business. In 2017 I purchased the business from our founder and have been 100% owner since.
I spend a lot of time inside the Red River Paper business. At the heart of it is a light manufacturing operation, which in the paper business is called converting. We take bulk materials and convert them into products for sale. We also warehouse our products, ship them to the end user, and run all of the marketing, sales, and support from inside Red River. The comprehensive nature of our business means I have to be involved in all of those jobs. That said, we began hiring outside experts for some of our processes about a year after I took over. Even after almost 27 years, the growth and learning process continues, and it is still fun to find ways to make things run better and more efficiently. Most importantly, it is fun to make our customers’ experience smoother and more inviting. Our goal is that ordering from Red River Paper should be so easy that it is obvious that they come back and do it again. Years ago I heard a fun quote – “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you did anything at all.” That’s another way of saying ordering from Red River Paper should feel natural and without resistance. That’s the goal.
I spend my spare time with my family and friends. We have a son who just began his career and a daughter who just started college. My hobby is general aviation, and I fly with a local flying club when time allows. I am instrument-rated and have fun flying missions where we move dogs and cats from a shelter or foster care to their furever home.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Having a curiosity about the world is critical to business success. This trait is also called being a life-long learner. Running a business requires you to learn constantly. Even if you work in a “stable” industry, the world is changing fast. The desire to find out what is happening in the world, what new ways you can find to use computers, how politics affect you directly, and where customer demand may be in the future will set you apart from the competition.
I encourage anyone running a business to understand the balance sheet and P&L statement deeply. Find out how the accounts work, how they relate to one another, and how they affect your bottom line. Do not let your accountant or CFO be the expert here. You should know at least as much as they do about your statements. And be persistent with them if you have questions. If they won’t tell you what you want to know, find a professional who will. You would be surprised how hard it is to pin down the accounting profession on questions where answers might be nuanced. Use multiple sources, and heck, ask Chat GPT. Why not?
Finally, I encourage everyone to get good at finding information. These days, the search engine results page may not give you the answer you really need. I have found this true when looking for services and products. Often, the first pages of a search give you paid results. This is not new, but it can be a barrier between your business and a solution to a current problem. It pays to modify my search terms and phrases and to search in the form of a question. Use different search engines. Search in incognito mode and even try different browsers. Finally, try to find a group where owners or managers can share information and feel safe asking questions.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
An important challenge for us is growth. It’s not unique, but it is real. Our industry is not creating hordes of new customers yearly. Growth will come from Red River Paper being more creative and tactical than our competitors. Knowing where to look for customers is a huge issue. The internet is the best place to look. However, the ways to contact customers are gatekept by social media companies, and they play strange games where, many times, they are the only ones who know the rules. The growth challenge is now partially by having customer segments clearly defined. The challenge is finding them in the online ad space.
Contact Info:
- Website:redrivercatalog.com
- Instagram: redriverpaper
- Facebook: redriverpaper
- Youtube: redriverpaper
