33 min
How Rihm Family Companies’ Kari Rihm led During 2020 One Take CEO Interviews
-
- Business
Kari Rihm discusses everything from quickly fixing ‘leaking pipes’ and adjusting to market demands, to soul searching for hidden bias and getting others to care more about people they don’t know during this 20th episode of One Take CEO Interviews.
She is owner, president and CEO of South St. Paul-based Rihm Family Companies (RFC), a fourth-generation family-owned business that employs more than 350 people in 21 locations. RFC is comprised of Rihm Kenworth, the world’s second oldest continuously operated Rihm Kenworth truck dealership, and three related businesses providing genuine and aftermarket truck parts and accessories, truck rental and leasing, and international truck and parts sales and service training.
One take away regarding Covid-19’s pressure on her business: “When the pressure's on the pipes you find out where the leaks are,” she says. Rapid shifts in market demand compared with initial expectations about the pandemic’s impact on her industry led Rihm and her leadership team to look at processes more quickly, ask whether they were “leaking” and if so, how to fix them. “The other thing was finding out really who you can depend on in terms of your external resources.”
George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers, and the elevated awareness of racial discrimination that still exists in Minnesota, also affected Rihm. “I thought that I lived in a state that was very welcoming and that that enjoyed its immigrant communities [truck drivers in this region have become much more diverse in the last 10 years]. And when I heard that Minnesota is one of the most racist states in the nation...it caused some soul searching but also some researching as to why people are saying that the state is so discriminatory. I learned more about what institutional racism means and how it's been employed in our state, and it's shocking. I have been very open with our employees after that happened, asking them also to do some soul searching themselves, and I hope that they have.”
Rihm is optimistic that 2021 will be a good year for the industry and her business. But she remains concerned about Covid-19 and how people’s individual beliefs can hurt her business, not to mention other people. The biggest challenge is, “still needing to constantly communicate what the symptoms are and when you should stay home,” instead of coming to work and possibly giving the virus to others.
“The other part is caring about the people you don’t know. You know you should maybe care about who you work next to and your family, but I think it’s hard for people to think about caring about somebody who lives across town, or is just passing through, such as our transient truck drivers who could catch the virus here and take it to another community,” she says. “So, it’s tough. Our society has been a “me society” for so long it’s all about me. Well, I think we’re finding out it’s not all about me, it’s all about us.”
---
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dale-kurschner/support
Kari Rihm discusses everything from quickly fixing ‘leaking pipes’ and adjusting to market demands, to soul searching for hidden bias and getting others to care more about people they don’t know during this 20th episode of One Take CEO Interviews.
She is owner, president and CEO of South St. Paul-based Rihm Family Companies (RFC), a fourth-generation family-owned business that employs more than 350 people in 21 locations. RFC is comprised of Rihm Kenworth, the world’s second oldest continuously operated Rihm Kenworth truck dealership, and three related businesses providing genuine and aftermarket truck parts and accessories, truck rental and leasing, and international truck and parts sales and service training.
One take away regarding Covid-19’s pressure on her business: “When the pressure's on the pipes you find out where the leaks are,” she says. Rapid shifts in market demand compared with initial expectations about the pandemic’s impact on her industry led Rihm and her leadership team to look at processes more quickly, ask whether they were “leaking” and if so, how to fix them. “The other thing was finding out really who you can depend on in terms of your external resources.”
George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers, and the elevated awareness of racial discrimination that still exists in Minnesota, also affected Rihm. “I thought that I lived in a state that was very welcoming and that that enjoyed its immigrant communities [truck drivers in this region have become much more diverse in the last 10 years]. And when I heard that Minnesota is one of the most racist states in the nation...it caused some soul searching but also some researching as to why people are saying that the state is so discriminatory. I learned more about what institutional racism means and how it's been employed in our state, and it's shocking. I have been very open with our employees after that happened, asking them also to do some soul searching themselves, and I hope that they have.”
Rihm is optimistic that 2021 will be a good year for the industry and her business. But she remains concerned about Covid-19 and how people’s individual beliefs can hurt her business, not to mention other people. The biggest challenge is, “still needing to constantly communicate what the symptoms are and when you should stay home,” instead of coming to work and possibly giving the virus to others.
“The other part is caring about the people you don’t know. You know you should maybe care about who you work next to and your family, but I think it’s hard for people to think about caring about somebody who lives across town, or is just passing through, such as our transient truck drivers who could catch the virus here and take it to another community,” she says. “So, it’s tough. Our society has been a “me society” for so long it’s all about me. Well, I think we’re finding out it’s not all about me, it’s all about us.”
---
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dale-kurschner/support
33 min