ME: “What makes a successful CEO?”
MR. GINSKI: “I would think a CEO first off works harder than anybody in the company, if they really care about their business. A successful CEO knows their business inside and out…they should know the people, they should know all of the positions. Like the way we work our business is from the ground all the way up.”
ME: “Are you a successful CEO and why/why not?”
MR. GINSKI: “Well I think I’m still new, I think compared to some of the other guys I see in the organization I’m very new and I’m learning everything that I can. Every level is like a different learning, you know what I mean? When you open up your office you gotta get use to that and make that successful. Then you open up more offices and you have to make them successful, then you become an organizational head and then you have to manage people. When you first open up an office you’re training and maintaining sales people, now I train, maintain, and manage the leaders of the organizations. So now I have to teach them to develop people. I think there’s always ways to learn, grow, and get better and there’s always someone doing it better than you.”
ME: “Is there any single event that changed the trajectory of your life and caused you to go down this path?”
MR. GINSKI: “Yes. That’s a good question. I was in banking for 23 years and of course I thought I was going to retire a mortgage banker…after 2008/2009 the mortgage industry was devastated. It crashed and then they came out with all these rules and regulations because the government thinks when something crashes they need to protect the people and they regulate the industry more than even what it needs; they think that’s protection. I don’t think it was regulated properly, but the mortgage industry never came back to what it was…so I had to get out of that. I had to take an entry-level position, I’m 52-years-old at that point and I’m in banking and I thought I was going to retire in banking. Now I have to take a whole new job field because I don’t want to be in that industry anymore, so I have to get out of financial services and into something new. So I took an entry-level position at Philadelphia Marketing Group I believe it was, and at that time they offered me this management-training program. So I researched it and I thought their business model was pretty good, of course I didn’t know everything but I had to take a leap of faith and I got out of that industry and learned this. At 52-years-old I was selling NRG home products in Sam’s Club at Franklin Mills Mall at a table. I didn’t mind doing the work if it lead to something greater and bigger, which obviously it worked out for me.”
ME: “Can you describe Elite Maryland Marketing in five words or less?”
MR. GINSKI: “I would say that it’s efficient, profitable, transparent, formal, and honest.”
ME: “What do you look for when hiring someone for Elite Maryland Marketing?”
MR. GINSKI: “I look for three things in a candidate. One, work ethic. Two, coachable. And three, attitude.”
ME: “Was there ever a time you when you doubted your ability to succeed in this field? Any major fears?”
MR. GINSKI: “Yeah when I first got into the business you know, I didn’t know how it was going to turn out or pan out. I had a family, I had two daughters, a house, a car, payments, and switching industries. I didn’t know quite how it was going to turn out. But I saw all these managers that were making money. I saw they all had nice suits, nice cars, and they were going out to eat all the time. They were making money and the employees were taken care of. They were running their businesses well and I saw all that and I said you know these guys are making some money, if they can do it I can certainly do it. If I put the work, the time, the effort in laying the ground floor.”
ME: “Can you describe your first couple of months running Elite Maryland Marketing?”
MR. GINSKI: “Coming here to Maryland from New York it wasn’t that hard because we already had systems in place, personnel that incorporate and they do our financials, they do our accounting, we have lawyers. We plug into already furnished office spaces so when we come down I don’t have to bring a lot of furniture, do a lot of moving, and pay a lot of money for that kind of stuff. I also had myself and a team of four people that I brought with me that were already trained on interviewing, recruiting, and hiring. So it’s a pretty smooth transition, we just have to put the work in and we’ve done it before. That’s our business model, to grow more offices so we do it efficiently and we do it right.”
ME: “How has running a successful business has changed you?”
MR. GINSKI: “I like the financial stability, I think financial stability gives us all a certain confidence and a certain comfort level that we like to be in when we have children and I take it upon myself to care about my employees. And that way we can put them into a good financial situation so they feel comfortable, that it’s a good place to work, and they feel secure. When you have that security you can enjoy your life a little bit better, you can enjoy things, they sky is a little bluer, the hot dog taste a little better. That’s why I like to put the systems in place because when the system works and things are flowing like they are suppose to, it takes a lot of stress and pressure off people because everybody knows what’s expected. So when we have that in place, you know people can enjoy their lives better and they can enjoy their existence here at the company better. You’re not gonna please everyone, but if you can please the majority I think it’s a win.”
ME: “What kind of legacy would you like to leave behind after you retire from this business?”
MR. GINSKI: “Um, that’s a good question. I’ll have a string of offices that are functioning debt free, running the way they’re suppose to run, employing a lot of people. One of my daughters would probably be perfect to run the organization, I can leave her in charge and she can take over. But she’ll of course work her way up from the bottom like I did.”
ME: “So you would make her start in the retailer working?”
MR. GINSKI: “Absolutely because our management-training program is excellent. That’s what make you the best, that’s why our leadership and our management and our internal managers are so good because they start from the bottom and work their way up and learn the business from the ground up. And they excel in the business, they don’t get that job unless they excel. So they’re good at what they do and that makes for successful growth of companies. But yeah she’s gonna start at the bottom, work her way up, and learn what it is because going through the stages is the secret sauce. That’s what helps keep it, if someone is given something they lose it quickly but if someone works for it teaches you how to keep it up in the long run.”
