KSS April eKourier 2024

FEATURE

MESSAGE FROM SAM

Sam at KSS Homebush NSW in 1994 before opening

IT'S NOT A JOB, IT'S A LIFESTYLE

My leadership was soon tested by an uncomfortable people shock in 1998. This challenged me and triggered a deep and forensic review of culture and leader- ship. We embarked on an intensive and challenging period of change that was also explored in the podcast. Family businesses have unique challenges that were teased out in the podcast. Working with a parent comes with dynamics that do not exist in a typical business. A longstanding personal relationship comes with history and emotions that need to be consciously managed with humility and emotional intelligence. My dad and I seemed to get more of it right, than we got wrong. Over the years, there have been many exciting opportunities where we have taken big leaps of expansion (such as acquiring Millers in 2004 and NZ in 2007) or operating changes. It has been a rewarding and fulfilling ride where success is founded on enthusiastic support of the people in the business. I am grateful that so many people are like me and feel being part of KSS is not a job, it’s a lifestyle. Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

T he recent Australian Financial Review podcast (How I made it) I did was an interesting session that forced me to reflect on my own career journey, as well as the journey of growth and change KSS has undergone. The journalist, Julie-Ann Sprague, was genuinely intrigued and amazed at the rise we have had. I have to admit I was a reluctant partic- ipant in the podcast. It took Julie-Ann nearly two years of persistent requests before I relented, and then I actually enjoyed the candid chat about KSS and my journey. When I started in 1991, we had eight locations operating with another to soon open. We operated with a manual one-write book-keeping system known as Kalamazoo. Our marketing consisted of advertisements in the Yellow Pages and leveraging our high visibility locations. Revenue management was an unknown term and we adjusted rents with minimal strategy or absolutely no science.

prehistoric time compared to the sophistication we possess today.

In my initial time in the business, I worked in the centres as an Assistant Manager or Roving Relief Manager (now known as Team Support Manager). I was tasked with many projects to improve the business and given additional responsibilities. These included marketing, rebranding, project managing expansions, IT and security adoption, hiring and even terminating Team Members, large R&M projects and so on. After several years working at the coal-face learning the business from the ground-up, my dad pushed me in the deep end, handing the reigns over to me as he moved overseas. This was late 1994 and I was only a month before turning 25 years old. The company had 12 locations at the time with a couple in the pipeline. We continued to acquire land and develop properties. Every new project I would evolve and improve the product and customer experience.

It's a distant memory from an almost

3 Kennards Kourier April 2024