5G Talent Talk with Carrie Charles (00:00)
Thank you for joining me today on 5G Talent Talk. I'm your host, Carrie Charles, and I am really excited that you are here with me today. I'm always excited that you're here with me today, but today's going to be special. We have Brian Stadding, the CEO of Lumos Fiber. Brian, thanks so much for joining me today. It's my pleasure and it's an honor. Thank you, Carrie, for having me. Yes, yes. So let's talk about, let's start with you and

Talk about how you got to where you are today. I mean, it's just your stories, maybe you throw in a challenge you overcame. Yeah, sure. Well, it's been a long time in the process. So I started out right out of college as a telecom technician. And I was a technician for about four, almost five years, and then moved into various roles.

And I've had the opportunity to do just about everything I've set out to do in terms of, you know, having international assignments, running divisions, operational assignments. So I've been very, very fortunate to have opportunity to do just about all that I wanted to do. You know, I think people ask me that a lot. I think probably there's one defining moment in my career that this stands out the most. And it really, it really changed the, the

trajectory for everything. So I moved into kind of an IT project management realm where I was managing some development projects. And the company was in Ameritech at the time and the company was doing the bigger reorganization and I wanted to move more into the business side, kind of get into the business side. And so there was a strategic marketing role that was opened up, I interviewed for and the person that was hiring finally said, well, I can't hire you.

And I said, well, why not? And they said, because A, you make too much money. I can't pay what you make. And B, you're too technical. And then C, you'd be the only person in this group that didn't have an MBA from a really good school. So I said, I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal. I said, I'll take the less money. And after a year, if I exceed your expectations, then you'll support me to go back and get my MBA.

And she said, okay, deal. And so that's what really was probably the defining moment. And, and I worked, you know, for that year, I worked day and night and tried to outwork everybody that had their MBA and, and very fortunate to have some people who supported me. So that anyways, that's, that's probably one of the defining moments, but it's, and I guess the lesson there is, is sometimes you got to take a risk and you got to bet on yourself. Right. And cause everything's not gonna fall in place all the time for you and people aren't just going to give you things.

You really got to go get it. And so that's one of my Wow, we all need to hear that Brian. I mean, especially probably our children right now. But no, we all all need that inspiration. No, that was awesome. So can you tell me the story of Lumos fiber? Yeah, no, great. So little fiber is a combination of two legacy

telephone companies, what was Lumos networks in Virginia, what was North State Communications in North Carolina. They were merged, brought together. Companies created was coming called Segra and Segra in 2021 was sold to Cox communications. And then so Cox kept the enterprise, kind of the B2B side of the business and wanted to spin out the residential and the small business side.

And so that's what happened in 2021. So we formed a company. We ultimately named it Lumos because you had to come up. It was hard to say the name North State if you're going to go to more states. So we decided on Lumos and yeah, we launched the business 2021 and it's been just a tremendous growth experience the last two and a half, three years. Wow. And you have some exciting news to share. Can you share that with me? Yeah. So, so

Some may have heard, we announced that we are entering into a joint venture with T -Mobile. We're very, very excited about that. They announced it on their earnings calls. It's been something that we've been working on for quite a while and we couldn't be more excited. Essentially, you know, EQT being one of the world's largest private equity firms, T -Mobile being one of the biggest and best brands in the industry, come together.

create a 50 -50 joint venture and then Lumos will be the platform that will build fiber, deliver service on top of leveraging T -Mobile's brand and marketing presence and pure tremendous marketplace sales capabilities. So yeah, there's a lot of strategic reasons why it makes sense. Obviously we couldn't be any more excited than partners, T -Mobile's caliber and it's...

It's this, but as I said, it's one of those things where we caught the bus now, now we got to deliver, and it's just gonna fuel some tremendous growth that we're excited about. Yes, well, congratulations. Thank you. That's exciting. So, talk about excitement. What exciting opportunities are you seeing in our industry right now? Yeah, it's, to me, we're really still just getting started with the whole fiber evolution or revolution or whatever you want to call it, right? You've kind of gone through,

the cable industry and then you go through the wireless business and fiber is this technology that it's going to be the best technology I think for the foreseeable future and the way people are using the internet nowadays for home entertainment, for schooling, for work from home, telemedicine and it's just the application that keeps growing. So I am so excited that I think we're just at the start of this huge

dynamic growth and I couldn't be more excited about it in the industry. And you know, one of the things that that just to me changes changes everything is, you know, every day when people talk about getting our fiber service and they can now do what they need to do for work or for from school or whatever, you know, we're really changing people's lives. And, you know, I get so many customers reaching out, tell us how their life has changed with the with our fiber service. And I tell you what that

That's just, it's very, very exciting. And that means everything, right? It really does. It really does. And, you know what, just one, one story. I got many stories. I actually, I try to start our board meetings, every, every meeting with a story, right? Cause you get into the numbers and you get into the PowerPoints and all that, but you lose track of what we're really doing every day. And you know, I got, I got a call.

one day from a great partner of ours up in Virginia, Botetourt County. And a constituent called and said, hey, for me to interview you for this job, I've got to prove that I have the appropriate internet with the appropriate latency, just so I can interview with this job. I work from home. And is there any way you can bring Lumos fiber to my house? We were building fiber there by Thursday of this week. This is like a Tuesday. I'm like,

Sure, we'll get it there by Thursday. Just so people can have an opportunity to have a job and work from home. And it's just things like that. I just got chills. I love hearing this. And so what, I mean, obviously there's been challenges with that, you know, at Lumos. What have been maybe some of those challenges or one of those challenges that you've had to overcome maybe just since you've been at Lumos Fiber?

Yeah, I mean, it's really been a process. I started to put your finger on one specific one because you launched a new brand, right? You got to get people familiar with the new brand. You got to create a new culture. You got to go from a legacy telephone company to a fiber over builder. You got to grow, you know, and the first year we built about 15 ,000 homes. The second year we built 68 ,000 homes. The third year 115 ,000 homes, you know, so just building just the

the muscle memory to be able to do that, to build the additional sales channels. So it's really been a continuous process. And I don't really look at my challenges. I look at opportunities, right? Opportunities to prove yourself. And so it's really been a kind of, like I said, like a process that has been multifaceted, but it's been great. So that's a lot to go, I mean, that's a lot of change. I mean, those are a lot of...

opportunities, if you will. So what would you say? I know this is probably a difficult question, but if you could if you could say there's one thing that really helped, you know, the team make this a success, what would it what would it be? I think it's really an employee base that would jump on board and they were all in right and the people that that decided, you know, hey, this is something we want to do and

And they changed their mindset. They were willing to work differently than they used to be working at, if you will. And so it's really been, you know, the collective team and employees that have grabbed this and said, okay, we're, we're, we're on the bus and we're going to go. And so it's, it's that, that to me, the key and any, and that's what, you know, kind of driving change and leadership is about is really getting people to, to believe in the philosophy that you're, you're pushing forward.

Well, let's talk about your company culture a little more in depth. So what makes Lumos unique? Well, the thing that makes us, I think, the most unique, if I point to one thing, is our commitment to customer experience. It was great when I got here, and it's continued to be great as we've grown. Now, that was the biggest fear was, OK, when you're just kind of small doing your own little thing.

You got a routine, you got it down, but now we're growing, we're expanding, you know, three or four times size. How do you maintain that, that, that core fundamental belief and experience? And so to me, that's what does differentiate Lumos from other companies. A lot of companies talk about customer experience, you know, that's in all our, you know, vision and strategy and all that, but they don't really deliver on it. And the fact that, you know, we, we, we do.

focus on customer experience and we do whatever we can take and people have bought into it. That is, that that's something to me is that we're most proud of. And that's why I, I love wearing my, my little most branded shirts. Cause other companies you've been with it and they're like, you were for so -and -so, you know, I only tell you about the problem. You couldn't go to a party with it. Right now. you know, people, they love it. And so it's really cool. And it sounds like that. Is that what you're most proud of is wearing that shirt and knowing

what you can do for people and customers? Yeah, it does. It is something that does excite you. And I know people say to me all the time, you know, what gets you up? What excites you? What gets you up in a day? And I thought that the fact that I get to change, not me, the team, get to change people's lives every day by bringing this phenomenal technology so that they can improve their life is what gets me up every day. I just can't.

There's been in this industry a long time and it's been really haven't had that kind of breakthrough life changing capability that we have today. So that's what that's what really excites me. You know, when the leader has that passion and that why it just permeates through the whole organization. And I think it's very important for the leader to have that right. And to be able to, you know, to

to get that into the hearts, the souls, the DNA of every single team member, right? All the way down to the customers and just get that, really have that spread there. I think that's so, so important and it sounds like that's happening now. What would you say, like who is Brian Stadding as a leader? Somebody about that? Yeah, that can be a very complicated question.

yeah, and, and actually my board pushes me a lot on that, especially our chairman. She's great about the culture and all that. And thinking through this. So, you know, a lot of companies have their whatever guiding principles or their, you know, whenever, to me, a lot of those are our cliche, right? And I don't want to be another cliche. I want to have something that's very definable and actionable for people to understand. So I've got about 12.

business philosophies that to me, if you do those philosophies, then the culture creates itself, right? Because the problem with culture is people really don't care what you say, it's what you do, how you act, right? And you have to tell them, but then you have to show them, really, that comes down to 100 % of how you care yourself, how you act. And so there's key things that I try to drive. Like number one is make decisions.

Everybody should make decisions. I mean, we all make good decisions. We all make bad decisions. But if the decision is made based on what's best for the customer, what's best for the business, and then what's best for you personally last, we'll be fine. If those get reversed, we're going to have a problem. So the big thing is everybody should be, feel free to make the proper decisions that's good for the business.

And you have to focus on customer experience. you know, we're wrecking, you know, six, reward success, but recognize, I don't even like to use it failures. I like recognize opportunities to learn. Right. And so, you know, and, and just be open and honest and, and be transparent. So it's those types of things that you try to kind of get in it, you know, and, and, and when you show people that this is what you say, and this is what you mean, and this is what you do. People jump on pretty quickly.

And they trust you, right? I mean, it develops, not just you, but they trust the company. Having that trust, you know, allows them to say, okay, I can make a mistake. And then that's innovation, right? That produces innovation right there. No, that's... Yeah, if you're not making some decisions that don't work out, then you're not making enough decisions, right? Because you're right. Because if you're innovating, you're...

that everything's going to work out. Right. And adjust the plan. Right. So. Yes. Yes. So how do you develop leaders at Lumos? Yeah. The big thing for me is, is try to try to make it all inclusive in terms of cross -functional. Right. So in very important meetings, you know, financial meetings, you don't just have your accountants and your finance. You bring in your operations, you bring in sales.

bring in illegal, right? So everybody can, if you want a decision that is engineering based, you know, just get a bunch of engineers, but if you want the best decision, you need everybody's collective input. And, and so, and the more exposure and the more visibility people have to other parts of the business, they're less likely to start pointing fingers or blaming because they've been part of the whole process for understanding what, you know, what we're trying to accomplish, why we're making the decision we're making. so it's really,

creating a cross -functional environment that gets people out of their lanes is kind of my work philosophy. I love that. And also I heard giving people a voice, right? Absolutely. Their input. I mean, that is exactly what the generations want today. I mean, all generations, but specifically millennials and Gen Z, they want a voice. And then that leads to retention.

Boy, you're checking a lot of boxes here, Brian. This is great. Let's switch. Let's move over to workforce and talent. And what challenges do you see or has, let's say, has your team had with acquiring and retaining talent today? And also the two -part question is any strategies that are working for you? Yeah, that's a great question.

So we've been pretty successful in terms of attracting talent. I would say we've been, for the most part, retaining the talent that we really want. The problem is when you're peed back like us in a company, you're not gonna be paying the most of the salary. There's more, you gotta look at the reward down the road versus with short -term incentives, if you will. So that's probably one of the bigger challenges that we have, what we're doing.

the, and we grow so fast, you know, you're gonna, you're gonna make some good hires. You're gonna make some that didn't work out for whatever reason. I think the thing that probably, I hate to say this, the thing that probably has worked well for us that I learned during the whole COVID experience is, you know, we were pretty much work, work remotely. And so, when we, and I think we feel that kind of figured out the thread that makes it.

effective and efficient, even though whenever it's not in the same room all the time. But for example, you know, when I got here, we probably had employees in like five states. Now we have employees in about 28 states. So, you know, there are certain things that can be done remotely. There's certain things that are better off, you know, being collective or you got to be very mindful at when you bring people together or when you have to be in the office. But I would say

that's allowed us to attract some unbelievably amazing talent by not forcing them to move, giving them the flexibility to remotely. So, since I'm in the office every day, it's hard for me to say, but that's probably true. Right. It is true actually. And so many people these days, I know we see it in staffing all the time. They're looking for either remote or hybrid opportunities.

And, but it really, it goes alongside with your business model, right? And your passion and your why of everything that Lumos is doing, which is allowing people to work remote and to be able to have that connectivity and that opportunity. So it's an alignment with that. Yeah. And it's, it's hard for people these days, these families to pick up, you know, if you have young kids and are taking care of, you know, elderly parents, it's, it's, it's hard for people that that's a really, it really impacts their lives.

in a lot of ways. And so I've really come around to adjusting my philosophy on that over time. Thanks to COVID and thanks to great internet. Yes, and I think I have too. Let me ask one question around that though, because we've all, I think many of us as leaders are in that same space, but how do you keep people engaged and I guess remotely?

And anything special, any tips that you can give us that's working for you? Yeah, I don't know. There's any secret sauce that, but, we have, I'm pretty adamant that the leadership team comes together in person at least once a month, just to do that. and then it's having the all employee video calls to update, you know, here's, here's our result. You may not care about our business results, but I'm going to tell you about them anyways.

So we do that every quarter and then twice a year, you know, we do go to the big population centers of our employee base and do in -person town halls so they can hear, you know, A, at the beginning of the year what our strategies are, what our key focus is, and then mid -year how we're doing, this is what we told you, this is how we're doing. So we do that, the entire leadership team does that, you know, twice a year. So it's really kind of trying to over -communicate as much as possible.

Just so people and then making sure people have a voice and right. And, and allow them to ask any questions that they want to ask. And I'll tell you, I tell her, what do you ask any question you want to ask? If I don't know the answer, I'll tell you, don't know the answer. you may not like my answer, but I'm going to tell you anyway. So, so just make sure you understand what question you want to ask. So that's, but that's kind of my, my focus is you really can't over, over communicate. And when people say that to see, there's a suggestion.

enacted or, you know, they stay here, the customer experience. you know, I think it gets people, it gets you motivated. So it's something you got to stay focused in on for sure. Right. Yes. Yes. You really do. And if you've got to keep it, keep it alive, right. Because people can, you know, get in their own world sometimes when they're remote. So, this is, this is fantastic. I'm, I keep asking you so many questions. So.

The last one is, what's the vision? There's exciting times ahead. I mean, what's the vision for the future for Lumos? Yeah, the vision, you know, we stated with this new partnership with T -Mobile that, you know, we want to pass 2 .8 million homes in the next few years with fiber. So the vision is really build it.

as much fiber as fast as you can and then make sure that we put as many happy customers on it as we can. So it's not overly complicated, but that's really the mission that we're on and really excited to do it. Because it's just really the right thing to do. So how can we reach Lumos? And are you hiring? Is there a job or a career page that we can know about? So you can go to...

I'm still old school because I say www .lumosfiber .com. I think we have over 60 job openings right now and we're really just getting started. So yes, there are plenty of opportunities. If people are excited about fiber and building fiber and providing the best internet in the world and the best customer experience in the world, then we're excited.

and changing lives. Those were your words and I love that, Brian. I love it. So, and I appreciate you coming on the show. This has been a pleasure. I know I'm inspired and I've learned a lot from you. So I cannot wait to see what Lumos is going to do over the next few years and decades. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for having me.