The Grit Blueprint

Build Loyalty Like a 76-Year Family Business: Chip Gentry, Chief Legal Officer at Quaker Windows

• Grit Blueprint

Share episode

The fastest way to lose great work is to forget the people doing it. We dive into a candid, high-energy conversation with Chip Gentry, Chief Legal Officer at Quaker Windows, on why relationships still beat automation and how trust turns into measurable growth in the built world.

We start with the foundations: face-to-face time, accountability, and agreements that act like partnerships rather than traps. Chip explains how supply chain risk gets easier to manage when your contracts are human, your partners are friends, and your values are visible. From there, we unpack why 2025 demands personalized, legendary experiences for customers and vendors alike, and how open-book management, profit sharing, and real benefits keep talent for decades.

Chip’s path from trial lawyer to fenestration insider is a masterclass in curiosity and niche expertise. He moved beyond compliance by learning the product, hiring experts, and becoming indispensable to clients. Now at Quaker, he’s helping scale a culture where relationships are the backbone, risk is calculated, and innovation is a mandate. We talk commercial expansion, integrated IG capabilities, community investment, and a testing lab that pushes beyond standards to prove performance customers can feel: safety, clarity, comfort, longevity.

This episode is for leaders who want brands chosen on purpose. You’ll hear how to translate technical specs into human outcomes, build vulnerable and diverse teams, and set an innovation rhythm that refreshes 25% of product offerings every five years. It’s a story about staying family-owned, mission-led, and relentlessly modern, about keeping the windshield bigger than the rearview and remembering that showmanship only works when it’s backed by substance.

• Relationships, accountability, and trust as a competitive edge
• Supply chain agreements focused on shared risk and purpose
• Personalization in 2025 customer and vendor experiences
• Open-book management, profit sharing, and retention
• Family legacy shaping mission and governance
• Expansion of Quaker's commercial division and IG integration
• Reinvestment in communities and 100% healthcare
• Chip's journey from trial lawyer to fenestration expert
• Failure as tuition, journaling, and mindset
• Building vulnerable, diverse, high-ownership teams
• Beyond compliance strategy and market vision
• Storytelling that translates specs to human value
•

Watch the Video Version

Catch this episode of The Grit Blueprint Podcast on YouTube:
👉 Stefanie Couch on YouTube

Subscribe to Built to Win

Get exclusive insights, tools, and updates from Grit Blueprint, designed to help you lead and win in the building industry.
👉 Subscribe to Built to Win

Connect with Stefanie Couch & Grit Blueprint

Grit Website: GritBlueprint.com
YouTube: Stefanie Couch
Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch
Stefanie’s Website: StefanieCouch.com

👉 What Is Grit Blueprint?

Grit Blueprint is a media and growth company for the building industry. We help ambitious businesses in the building materials and construction industries grow through visibility, storytelling media, and smart systems.

👉 Book a Strategy Call




...
Chip Gentry:

I feel like it's just important to bring the obvious to me back to the equation, and that is face-to-face meetings, relationships, accountability, and trust are so critical.

Stefanie Couch:

The trend is going towards automation of, you know, a lot of tasks, maybe taking some of that relationship stuff away. But I do agree with you wholeheartedly that I think it's more important right now in 2025 to personalize, to have that customer experience, even vendor experience that's legendary.

Chip Gentry:

Huge believer that every experience you have is an opportunity. You can either focus on the negative and drown yourself in that, or you can focus on the opportunity of what the growth is possible.

Stefanie Couch:

What would happen if you just undid all of those things that were either big failures or mistakes, or you were embarrassed or you weren't ready or whatever? If I took all of those away, I would almost be nowhere. Every runway that I've paved to take off the plane of whatever I'm doing has been paved with those mistakes.

Chip Gentry:

If you take no risk, then you have no direction to seek.

Stefanie Couch:

I absolutely agree. Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast, the playbook for building unmistakable brands that grow, lead, and last in the built world. I'm Stefanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint. And I'm a lifelong building industry insider. I was raised here, built my career here, and now my team and I help others win here. The truth is, you can be the best option in your space and still lose to someone else who simply shows up better and more consistently. Each week on the Grit Blueprint, I'm going to show you how to stand out, earn trust, and turn your brand into a competitive advantage that lasts. If you're ready to be seen, known, chosen, and become unmistakable, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast. I'm your host, Stefanie Couch, and I'm here today, live on the GlassBuild National Glass Association floor with my friend Chip Gentry from Quaker Windows. Welcome to the show.

Chip Gentry:

Pleasure to be here.

Stefanie Couch:

And we are rolling, we are doing some talking today, both of us on the main stage. You just got off stage. I'm going on to talk about AI later today. But I want to talk a little bit more about you and what you're doing in the industry. So you actually are the chief legal officer at Quaker Windows, a company that I've been reading a lot about lately. You guys are having a great run right now. You just got an Inc. 5000, third year in the row, one of the fastest privately owned companies that are growing in the U.S. Congratulations.

Chip Gentry:

Thank you. We're very proud of that.

Stefanie Couch:

What else is going on with you and this amazing company? Just tell me a little bit about it.

Chip Gentry:

Well, you know, Quaker is a 76-year-old family-owned business. Uh, we like to say we're just getting started. So, you know, it's all about our people. Glassbuild is such an important venue for us because we get to get down here and re-engage with our friends. We get to create new friendships. And, you know, uh, most of us understand that all things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. All things not being equal, people still want to do business with their friends. So it give us gives us that time and the energy and the buzz on the floor is just second to none.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah. And you were here earlier speaking about supply chain, and there's a lot going on right now in the supply chain, and there's continually problems and issues and things that come on, but you were talking about how to innovate with that. Tell me a little bit just more about this topic that you were speaking on.

Chip Gentry:

Well, from my perspective, it's it's again about relationships and people. And you know, I'm a big sci-fi fan. So if you read uh do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, became Blade Runner, humans become more machine-like and machines become more human-like. I feel like it's just important to bring the obvious to me back to the equation, and that is face-to-face meetings, relationships, um, accountability, and trust are so critical. And by that, if you have those relationships and you get a contract in, you're able to renegotiate and and fine-tune the language that makes sense from a supply chain risk. Who owns the risk? Is the seller of the product owning the risk all the way to your door, or vice versa, or is there some harmonized middle ground where it's really a true partnership? So it gets away from the legaleese and the big mumbo jumbo words and gets more into what's the purpose and why does this partnership matter for both sides rather than a one-sided draconian agreement?

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, because that feels good when you get them to say yes the first time. But if you don't make an agreement that's symbiotically beneficial, that second time it's not near as fun.

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Stefanie Couch:

We we all do not like to do business that way for sure. I definitely agree with you that what's happening in our environment with AI and technology and some of those things, it does feel like the trend is going towards automation of, you know, a lot of tasks, maybe taking some of that relationship stuff away, taking the personalization, the individualization out. But I do agree with you wholeheartedly that I think it's more important right now in 2025 to personalize, to have that customer experience, even vendor experience that's legendary. How does Quaker do that?

Chip Gentry:

We're a vulnerable leadership team. And by vulnerable, I don't mean weak. I mean that we aren't afraid to expose our authenticity and who we are. And so it's our lifeblood in sharing our story. Um, how did we get to the window and door industry? Why does why does the company matter? Why do the products matter? And it all goes to the people and it all goes to our employees, our open book management, our open door management. Um, we are very transparent with every employee. There's profit sharing involved, their benefit packages are amazing. The pay is highly competitive. And what's amazing to me is I've been associated with the company for almost 27 years, most of my legal career, and seeing it grow from the outside, and now being on the inside, it still blows my mind every day. I'll walk down the hallway, and there's an engineer that's been with us for almost 50 years. Um, there's a bookkeeper that was with us for about 60 years. You know, people just don't leave because when we say we're family, it's not just a parable, it's actual authenticity.

Stefanie Couch:

Well, you were telling me earlier uh the name Quaker window. What brought that to be the name? So tell me the story behind that because I love a good story.

Chip Gentry:

Yeah, so our our founders, uh Bud and Marge Knoll, um, when they got into the window business, they were looking for a brand and and what to call themselves, and they sort of associated the Quaker culture with quality and family values. And so they thought that word in and of itself sort of exposed and and branded themselves as to who they were as people, which then got directly into the product quality.

Stefanie Couch:

And today, what does that legacy mean for Quaker still having that mentality of being the best and not compromising?

Chip Gentry:

We are so blessed in that we now have the third and fourth generation of the family in positions throughout the company. We have a family council that meets as a family all the way out to the extended cousins. And they help uh make sure that our mission is clear and that the mission aligns with their family values and that the corporate side of the business doesn't lose sight of what the family wants to be and what the face of the Quaker brand is. Um and so just working with the family every day, all the way up through board of directors. Um, our four women owners are all members of the board. And uh so they are engaged on a quarterly basis from a strategic perspective, a policy perspective, and really what we're all about. And it helps maintain that continuity that started back in 1949.

Stefanie Couch:

That's amazing. I love a privately owned family business like this that still has so much heart in it, and I think that's why you guys are winning so much. I mean, I truly do. It's hard when you see these companies that the money and the bottom line is the only thing that drives things. It has to be more than that for it to be long-term successful, in my opinion. There are a lot of publicly traded companies that don't operate that way, but I think in the long term, momentum comes from that.

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely.

Stefanie Couch:

What is some of the most what are some of the most exciting things that are happening right now that you're seeing momentum from that fire you up about the future for Quaker?

Chip Gentry:

Boy, I could talk for a week on this topic, but uh just sort of some of the highlights is um we're actively expanding our commercial division. We've got two projects in in play right now. They should be online later next year. We'll have over three million square feet under roof, bringing um some additional IG uh capabilities within our commercial department so we don't have to shuttle product from one plant to the other. Just that holistic integration, bringing on jobs, which is you know what when we walk into a community and say, this is our plan, and we want to be a partner with the community and help support the schools and so help support the tax base and help support job growth, we put our money where our mouth is. So I've I've just been so proud of our leadership team and our CEO, Kevin Blancett, and his character as a as a human and how much he cares about what we're doing and how it affects the communities. And we just very quickly reinvest extra profit and the extra margins directly back into the employees, directly back into the business. You know, like we cover a hundred percent of their health care.

Stefanie Couch:

That's unheard of today. Definitely unheard of. And I'm sure your employees really, really believe that that keeps them there, but also that investment in their growth and development, knowing that the company's growing so much also is super exciting for people because you know there's gonna be more opportunity if you choose to take that.

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely.

Stefanie Couch:

I love it. Well, I want to talk a little bit more about where you're from, you personally. You actually started in a private practice, you own your own legal firm. Yes. So tell me a little bit about that and kind of just who you are. Um, I'm not gonna hold it against you because I'm a Georgia Bulldog fan, that you're a big Missouri Tiger fan.

Chip Gentry:

Yes, ma'am.

Stefanie Couch:

And you go to every game.

Chip Gentry:

Yes.

Stefanie Couch:

Which 35 years that is have you ever missed a game?

Chip Gentry:

I've missed two games because of my son's uh golf schedule.

Stefanie Couch:

Wow. That in 35 years. Yes. That's incredible. The dedication, that dedication tells me a lot about who you are as a human because I that to be that consistent in anything in your life is pretty admirable.

Chip Gentry:

Well, let's be honest, I saw a lot of bad football in the 90s.

Stefanie Couch:

I wasn't gonna bring that up, but you did, so we'll just go ahead and say it. It's it's sometimes it's been rough, but you guys are in the SEC now.

Chip Gentry:

Yeah.

Stefanie Couch:

So um I y'all beat Georgia a few times in the SEC. Absolutely. Uh giving me a heart attack a few seasons in a row of the city.

Chip Gentry:

Beat him down between the hedges once. That was awesome.

Stefanie Couch:

Oh, I remember. Thanks for bringing that up. That's uh this is a sore spot. Um, but I want you to tell me about you and and how did you get from private practice and and where you were to now being a chief legal officer? Because it seems like how does that even happen? How do you get involved with the window industry?

Chip Gentry:

Yeah, again, it goes back to the people. So um I was a baby lawyer, I'd been practicing about three years. I started out doing insurance defense work and absolutely hated it. Uh, working for, well, we don't have to go into the details, but it just didn't didn't fit who I was. You know, I was born on a farm in Indian, Iowa. I lived north of Dallas as a kid, and then basically grew up in junior high and high school north of Kansas City. Okay. So true Midwesterner, right? And Midwesterner values. And uh I decided to become a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer. So as I got into that practice, it just so happened that I met some folks from Quaker Windows, and uh they had never been sued before. And they got themselves into a situation that kind of spread out across the country, and they asked for my advice. And I literally told them I thought they had a great business plan to fix it. They didn't need a lawyer. Well, it turned out that the other side thought differently. And so uh in I came, uh probably way out over my skis, but just jumped into the deep end, loved the people, loved what they were about. They said what they meant, they meant what they said. Um, that's just a dying thing, you know, and a dying value. And so that really drew me to them as humans and people. And then I just instantly became a window geek. And how that happened, I don't know.

Stefanie Couch:

But it happens to the best of us.

Chip Gentry:

I mean, just walking around here, you get to see these things, and and people that don't understand us, it's tough to explain. Yeah. And as that case came to an end, I really just was drawn to the industry. So I hired an expert to help me understand the industry, and I became a fenestration lawyer. Wow. And uh defended companies throughout the country for 27 of almost my 30 years in practice.

Stefanie Couch:

And then uh expert that you hired to tell you about the industry, because I think this is a really interesting concept with all the retirements and stuff that are coming. Did they teach you what did they teach you?

Chip Gentry:

I mean, yeah, they gave me that white paper snapshot of what the domestic industry was about, who made it, you know, what it was made of, where the players were at, where they were located, um, what sort of cases had been out there before. And basically, as a trial lawyer, was there a space for that that needed to be filled? And as I started interviewing other potential clients, I learned that their number one frustration is they would get themselves into a pickle. Their insurance carrier would either hire a lawyer or they would hire a lawyer. And it was just a widget defender. They didn't understand the industry. And so I decided if I was gonna do it, then I was gonna become knowledgeable about the industry, about the products, and really how it works, because it's such a unique industry.

Stefanie Couch:

100%. I think that's so smart. I actually feel like with that's kind of my competitive advantage as well, because I've been in this industry so long. There's just these little nuances that if you didn't understand, you wouldn't even know. You don't know what you don't know. Right. You don't know which rock when you turn it over and see something under it, if you don't know what even it means, right? You don't know if you should leave the rock unturned or not, or turn another rock behind it. And so I think that is something that really to be curious like that. I think curiosity is one of the traits that is what makes most people successful in things that they haven't done if you can keep digging. But also for you to go, you said you were over your skis. What in your life makes you want to be able to go try things that maybe you might not be 100% qualified for or ready for? And how what advice would you give people, maybe that are younger, that are struggling with that?

Chip Gentry:

Well, without over sharing, I can tell you that my counselor is always amazed in that I don't have anything negative to say about things that happened in the past. Um huge believer that every experience you have is an opportunity. You can either focus on the negative and drown yourself in that, or you can focus on the opportunity of what the growth is possible. And uh, and so I just threw some really unfortunate circumstances in my childhood, it sort of taught me by watching how the world worked that if you just train your brain to focus on the positive and the opportunities, you don't have to worry about failing. Because if you surround yourself around good quality people, failure is part of the game and we each understand it. And if you can't pick yourself up, you've got this network that helped pick you up.

Stefanie Couch:

I was giving a speech yesterday in Vegas and uh one of my slides said failure is tuition.

Chip Gentry:

Yes.

Stefanie Couch:

And I have a damn doctorate degree for sure. But it's hard to think of, like you said, what would happen if you just undid all of those things that were either big failures or complete mistakes, or you were embarrassed or you weren't ready or whatever. If I took all of those away, I would almost be nowhere. Because everything, every runway that I've paved to take off the plane of whatever I'm doing has been paved with those mistakes.

Chip Gentry:

If you take no risk, then you have no direction to seek.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, I absolutely agree. And I definitely like to take risk, and I think that's an inherent thing in my personality. I I feel that from you as well, you know, that's you gotta push yourself. So you build these amazing teams, you're leading the Quaker window team. Do you have lawyers under you at at Quaker?

Chip Gentry:

Yeah, our general counsel reports to me, and then I brought a paralegal from my law firm over.

Stefanie Couch:

Okay. And so you're doing this with manufacturing, you have all of these different things. How does it work with a team like that to build a resilient team that's across different parts of an industry that's also a company that's rapidly growing?

Chip Gentry:

What we found, and I certainly have personally found successful. Again, I go back to that vulnerability theme, being able to share openly who you are, what values make you tick. Um, we just seem to get wrapped up today in labels. Labeling is what basically our government encourages to do, our culture encourages to do, our social media encourages us to do. And you take that label and it just categorically says you're either in my circle or you're not my circle, and it leaves out the reality of we probably have so much in common and so much differences that we can learn from and grow from. So I found that finding people that are willing to be that type of person, to share their weaknesses, to share what they're not good at, and then to figure out where their strengths are, what we can use to build them up and help them enhance themselves first, then they can bring that to the team and then we just work together to where I don't want, I don't want my entire team. In fact, I don't want anyone on my team that thinks and has the same experiences that I have. I want that diversity and that that that different perspective because you change your perspective by one degree, it could change everything.

Stefanie Couch:

Yes. My dad used to say when I was a little girl, where two people are the exact same, one of you's not needed.

Chip Gentry:

Right.

Stefanie Couch:

And it's true. If you think about it, you know, if you already have a fork in your hand, you don't need another fork, you need a spoon or a knife. Right. You know, and I think about that a lot. It's what what your strengths are, number one, if you don't know what they are, then that's a problem. You gotta know what your strengths are and also what you're not good at, right? And then figure out how to delegate that and hopefully have people that are better at it than you on your team and then let them go run.

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely.

Stefanie Couch:

It's hard to do that when things are changing rapidly because you you're adding and you're moving and moving parts. I know a lot of your job, I am definitely not a lawyer. But I love lawyers because they keep me from wearing orange, which is not my favorite color.

Chip Gentry:

It's a good show though.

Stefanie Couch:

It is a good show. Um, but at the end of the day, I think about compliance a lot from your perspective. I'm sure that's what most manufacturing type attorneys, lawyers and companies probably are thinking a lot about that, but you talk about beyond compliance. So, first of all, what the heck does that mean for a non-lawyer? Yeah. And what what tactically are you thinking about in your company that is beyond compliance?

Chip Gentry:

So if I came to work and I and my job description was just to make sure we are regulatory compliant, that we're crossing our T's and we're not in our I's from a legal perspective, and I just get wrapped into the big words and the legal mumbo jumbo, what it does is it erodes the idea of thinking macro level, 30,000 feet, sort of seeing we're just in the in the US and just seeing the country as an opportunity rather than just a risk pool. And so by being able to tackle A, identify the risk, B, figure out creative ways to mitigate the risk. I'm a big fan, if you don't have to eradicate the risk, a lot of times that's not even possible. But the bigger risk we can take, but in a calculated fashion, again, it goes to the people. We have to have good quality people making good quality products. The fact that we give all of our employees sort of this ownership mentality helps them come to work and be proud of what they're putting out there in market. Um, and so, you know, for instance, I'm here in Glassbuild. I saw you at FGIA's event over in Indianapolis. And so from a macro level, I'm able to see things strategically on where our market share is, where our market share share is weak, and what we can do to bolster sort of our presence, the quality of our product, and more importantly, our end users' experience with us. Because as we all know, it's not what we tell them, it's how we make them feel. Sure. And um, and if I was just sort of the boring lawyer and the sponge fun or the fun sponge, you know, um, it wouldn't be a fulfilling career for me.

Stefanie Couch:

So no one's ever said you're a boring lawyer. I'm 100% certain of that. Uh so when we met, you were wearing this epic blue suit that was a custom suit. I was, of course, wearing, I think, a pink hat and maybe leopard print brown that day. Um, and so you came up and you were like, Love your outfit. And I was like, Well, I love your outfit. And you had asked me a question during the QA, and we instantly realized number one, that we're both like fashion, fashion people in this window and door industry, which is very rare birds. Um, but you look great and you look great today. You're wearing amazing new shoes. I mean, look at this suit. Likewise. What makes you thank you. What makes you okay? And also to embrace number one, just being chill. Like I that was very early, like Right when I talked to you, I was like, this guy knows who he is, and he's totally embraced it. And then what was that like when you were a little younger? And maybe that wasn't as openly like just be who you are. You're now, you know, higher on the food chain. Yeah. When you were a baby lawyer, were you still like this?

Chip Gentry:

I was. And now back then I have now learned that it was a people pleasing, you know, component to where I liked being flashy. I like standing out. I like to act on stage. Um, I love movies, I love books, and so I love the story component of an experience. So I always wanted sort of people to notice. So then I have an opportunity to help. And uh it will it the lawyer that from our small town that sort of motivated me to go to law school, I just was saw people gravitate towards him. And and uh I I recognize that he was just able to listen to challenges without maybe the emotional um challenges that they've got because of the uh how it was affecting their life, and he just found unique strategies. And so uh I've always dressed the way I dress, um, but now I have a much more healthier understanding of who I am as a person, um, why I've made decisions in the past, why I made mistakes, sometimes repeated mistakes. And what I've learned is is that I still like the flash.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that, you know. Um whether you love or hate him, Elon actually says that salesmanship is showmanship.

Chip Gentry:

Yeah.

Stefanie Couch:

And I think there's a lot to that. And if like a robot engineer says that, I mean, he's like the most engineering mind person I know, but he obviously is brilliant and he thinks that that's important. And Steve Jobs talked a lot about that too about storytelling. Even Warren Buffett, stories translate. And I think that we talked a little bit about this in my speech that you heard. You know, we all have this very tactical, technical product. Like windows are to us very interesting. But to a lot of our end users, it's just a window, or it's even worse, it's an expense that they don't want to have to spend money on.

Chip Gentry:

Right.

Stefanie Couch:

How do you translate that? And you've talked a lot about that with values and stories. How do you translate the Quaker window story to make it intriguing to everyone that you're selling to and also your you know internal stakeholders?

Chip Gentry:

Well, sure. Of course, there's all this engineering specific performance, all these numbers that we window nerds get geeked out on. What is our U values? What's our solar heat gain? All this technical side. But to your point, the folks that are putting these products in their homes, even owners that are putting them in their hotels and their commercial products, they just want to know is it gonna look good? And is it gonna perform? And by perform, they actually are probably getting to their subconscious end am I gonna be safe? Is my materials going to be safe? Um, is it going to look good when I the view I have is it gonna be distorted and things of that nature? And so by really accessing what matters to people, because at the end of the day, I haven't heard a single homeowner that literally is like, Well, I'm looking for this you value. That's not how they come to the table.

Stefanie Couch:

Maybe if they're an architect.

Chip Gentry:

Architects are different animals.

Stefanie Couch:

They're a homeowner architect. Yes. You're like, oh, that's why you asked me 87 questions before we got to the to the color choices.

Chip Gentry:

But that's the you know, to our point about being flashy in our dress, it's okay to stand out with the look, but you have to have the substance behind it. I agree, you have to have the knowledge behind it.

Stefanie Couch:

That's one thing that, you know, I struggle with still a little bit, um, just because I am so different. You know, I'm a bubbly blonde in a pink hat and a pink dress. I have been in this industry my entire life. My dad and granddad had a lumber yard and I started working there when I was five, and I have a lot of chops. But when people first see me and they don't know that, they do just see this and they think I'm just like influencer Barbie or something from the industry. And I do struggle with that a little bit because you have to peel back that at least one layer of the onion or at least talk to someone to be able to see that. So there is a certain amount, uh, especially for me, that I I think about that a lot. Like, I'm never gonna not be me. It just is what it is at this point. That's who I am. But how do you get people past that in your mind of like, oh, she's just this or he's just that? Well, what do you think about that? I mean, I'm just curious your perspective. We didn't pre-prep this question, but like for me, it's something I think about a lot because I do speeches and I'll start answering really in-depth questions. This happened to me yesterday, and people are like, oh wow, okay, you actually are like, you know what you're talking about. But it takes that 30 minutes to an hour of being around me and talking to me to get that. So I'm just curious your thoughts on that.

Chip Gentry:

Well, you echo a vibe that I hope I do, and I'm inside the bottle, so I can't read my label, right? But um being authentic and being curious and asking good questions to people that are into your bubble. And uh, you know, you've always you strick me the first time I saw you is that you're not an exclusive person, you're an inclusive person. So there's that gravitational pull that people are at least curious of do you have the substance? Do you have the background? Do you have the knowledge? And so I think echoing those types of traits, um, I've just naturally been good at, which I'm blessed to have. It's not I don't think about it, I don't, I don't practice it. Um, I do read a lot and journal and you know, introspectively check in on myself as to who I'm evolving to be and how I'm changing today.

Stefanie Couch:

Usually every morning if I'm in my normal schedule.

Chip Gentry:

It's such a critical skill to hone and practice.

Stefanie Couch:

I love it. And then reading it back, you forget a lot of the micro details or uh three years ago I got fired from a job and then started this business. Yeah. And there's things now that I think about daily, you know, that I do all the time. Like it's just no big deal that were epic moments three years ago or two years ago or whatever. And I can go back and read that and know like really how I felt in that moment. And that there's something powerful about that.

Chip Gentry:

Yeah, being able to look in the rear view mirror, you know, it the rear view mirror is small for a reason, you know. We need it, it's a necessary tool, but the front windshield is so much more glorious to see what's out there. Yeah. And so rewinding the tape and hearing your own voice and again going back to how you felt, and then that way the decision tree you had and what decision you took, analyze whether or not it was the right move or not, who's in your circle to help you accomplish those goals? It's a uh it's a it's it's really where happiness is based.

Stefanie Couch:

I agree. And you talked a lot about relationships and talk about the future of where Quaker and where you're going. What excites you the most about the future of Quaker Windows and what you're doing with them?

Chip Gentry:

Well, uh, so it was 2024 where where Kevin and I were having a discussion, and the discussion sort of started dovetailing in perhaps me coming on board and just listening to his passion and what they have and his phrase to anyone that will listen is just getting started. So it's inside the suit. I love it. Because I like that daily reminder of why are we doing what we're doing? It's we're just getting started. We've been around 76 years, but nobody's seen it as to what we're about to accomplish. And and uh so exciting about reinvesting into the plants, exciting that our board has provided us a mission of innovating 25% of our product offerings every five years. Wow. That is unheard of. We used to be a Me Too industry, everybody just copied off each other. Uh, we've got a robust patent strategy, um, and just some of the innovations that our innovation lab, which is massive, we can do all of our own structural testing, we can do thermal testing, impact, and we're testing it beyond the standards. So when we go to market, we can basically say there's a standard and we meet it. But FYI, here's our internal information that it's even better than that.

Stefanie Couch:

If I come to Missouri, can I like shoot a two by four through a window or something?

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm sure I'm gonna have to get you a legal waiver.

Stefanie Couch:

Of course you are. That didn't even cross my mind, Chip. Never thought a thing about a legal waiver.

Chip Gentry:

You're shooting a two by four sounds like a risky business.

Stefanie Couch:

I love it. Well, I'm excited. I mean, just getting started, I feel like that resonates so deeply with me. I'm three years into my business and I feel the exact same way. There's something about having a hunger and an excitement. And the fact that you're 76 years in and it feels like you're too brand new. It feels like you just started. That's really cool.

Chip Gentry:

Yeah, somebody asked me yesterday, how are you so energetic at sort of arguably the twilight of my career, which I took a little offensive. I'm not that old. I was gonna say, like, but uh has this person seen you? But the the reality is, is all the years I've been coming to Glass Build as a speaker, as a contributor, I came from a problem solver where it's already hit the fan. The project's already gone sideways. And so I was playing cleanup and trying to find successful strategies to solve a challenge at the end of the game, bringing my skills and my experience now and being proactive. So going back to one of the things I'm so excited, just seeing the metamorphosis in just the last 10 months, just the last 10 months, uh, is it's just so easy to get up and go to work.

Stefanie Couch:

Wow. You fire me up. Like, I'm let's build some windows. Absolutely. Let's sell I like to sell windows. I'm not a builder, I'm a sell, I'm a salesperson or marketer, brand or whatever you want to call it. But I love that. Well, I'm gonna come to Missouri.

Chip Gentry:

Please do.

Stefanie Couch:

Um, and hopefully I will keep you out of the Georgia Bulldog hedges, at least victoriously anyway. Um, but I am excited to continue to see you at events.

Chip Gentry:

Absolutely.

Stefanie Couch:

And congratulations on all your success, on the Quaker success.

Chip Gentry:

Likewise.

Stefanie Couch:

Thank you for joining me on the Grit Blueprint Podcast.

Chip Gentry:

Daytime.

Stefanie Couch:

Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint Podcast. If this episode helped you think a little differently about how to show up, share it with someone in your building world who needs it. If you're ready to turn visibility into growth, then head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk to us about your growth strategy. Until next time, today I'm mistaken.

Head Shot

Stefanie Couch

Host