We were lucky to catch up with Matthew Cote recently and have shared our conversation below.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am the Southeast Account Manager for a medical distribution company AMSCO Medical. We service physician offices, laboratories, surgical centers, hospitals, veterinarians, and home healthcare with all their medical, surgical, and laboratory equipment & supply needs. I am located in South Carolina so I am primarily focused on Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. However, the company itself is officed out of Illinois and has a very heavy influence in with the Midwestern states. We have been in business for over 25 years and it was in 2022 that I had moved to South Carolina and we started to put more of a focus on these Southeastern areas. With our growth over the past 25 plus years we were able to last month launch our very own private label nitrile glove branded as ALPHAFIT.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
When I think about the three qualities that were and still are most impactful in my journey it reminds me of the quote by Warren Buffet “Look for 3 things in a person. Intelligence, Energy, & Integrity. If they don’t have the last one, don’t even bother with the first two.” Integrity has to be number one in everything you do. It is going to be the thing that drives you to do what is right each and every time. Integrity is going to be the thing that will define you and either make you trustworthy or not. And it’s a simple thing to practice do what you say and say what you do. From there energy can be looked at a couple different ways. I look at is as the same way as your work ethic. Put in the energy/work to become the best that you can be. You can’t give the world the best of you if you aren’t taking the time to build the best of you. This leaves intelligence. Learn your craft. Spend time building your knowledge base not only with your industry but what factors effect your industry. Dive in the learn all aspects that can effect what you do. Visualize where the puck is going before it’s hit. The best way I have found to improve and develop these traits is to find a mentor that will push you and give you constructive criticism/feedback. You can’t improve by surrounding yourself or looking to those that will always tell you you are right. You need to find that one person you will trust to tell you when you are wrong and work with you to get you back on the right path.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
As I had ended the last question this one builds right off of it. I have a great mentor/friend in Kari Strout that has been there for a lot of my development as an individual. She was my general manager when I started working in Easton, OH for a previous company. We connected on multiple levels as we had a lot in common with how we approached life and business. She was able to help refine my skills and guide them along my time there. Plenty of hard lessons learned for both of us along the way, but is what has made that relationship so special. Still to this day we talk and discuss business and life. To be honest while working on this article I had a 60min conversation to make sure what I wanted to say was coming across the right way. Finding those people that you can count on to talk through whatever you are going through is crucial. Not always easy to find, but when you do hold on tight and do not let go. You never know what life is going to put in front of you so having someone to help navigate that is a big blessing.
Contact Info:
- Website: Amscomedical.com
- Instagram: @MatthewMedSpa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMSCOMedical/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/matthewacote
