Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tamra Wyman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tamra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

It takes confidence, grit, belief in yourself, fortitude, endurance, perseverance and a willingness to win. These are not traits you are born with, but these are skills you can develop if you choose to commit to making changes & following through on what you say.

From my favorite speech by Art Williams’ known as “Just Do It” addressed at the 1987 National Religious Broadcaster Convention. “See folks, I want you to know almost everybody in America almost does enough to win. They almost get there. They almost are over the hump. They almost have it going. They almost, in everything they do, almost is a way of life to almost everybody in America. But the winners do it. What do they do? They do whatever it takes to get the job done. They do it, and do it, and do it, and do it, and do it, until the job gets done. And then they talk about how great it is to be somebody they’re proud of. We need leaders in America who can do it. If you want to become somebody, do it. If you want to go into business for yourself, do it. If you want to become financially independent, do it. I hear too much talk in these United States, everybody can talk a good game. We need people in America, who can do it. “

Tamra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began working at a very young age as my parents were entrepreneurs and taught me work ethic. They had a manufacturing business which turned into an online retail business during the internet boom of the 90s. I developed a strong work ethic and knowledge for business. I worked in all of the departments within the business including customer service, web design (at the start), social media, warehouse and inventory, accounting and general office management as my parents started visiting their 2nd home in Arizona more and more.

During my time working with my parents, I married a good looking and hard working man with 17 years of plumbing experience. Long story short, my good looking plumber and I moved to Arizona, we had our first child and my parents decided to retire all within the same year. My heart was not in the online retail business and it was not something I was passionate about. After they discussed plans on closing the company after my sister and I showed no interest in taking it over, I began looking at options for other business opportunities. I decided to use my business experience, investment funds and good looking plumber husband to open a local plumbing company. And the rest is history!

In all seriousness, Doug and I work very well together. We have put together a rock star team and built a company culture that is simply amazing. We are all a family and look out for each other. All new team members usually comment in the first week how refreshing it is to see everyone working together as a team. We share each other’s joy for successes and we offer support through challenges. When we are interviewing, we make sure the candidate is a good fit within our company culture we have created as that is just as important to us as skill and workmanship.

Our departments currently consist of residential and commercial plumbing (water, sewer, gas lines) and, our newest division, appliances. We have plans in the near future on adding many other divisions. We service, repair and install appliances, gas lines, plumbing piping and fittings, Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems, toilets, faucets, shower / tub trim, smart water monitors, tank and tankless water heaters, water softeners and whole home water filtration to name a few. Our services include backflow devices repairs / testing, Hydro-Jetting, leak locating, smoke testing, sewer camera inspections and water / sewer pressure testing.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Implement the concept developed in the book Good to Great – “First Who, Then What—get the right people on the bus.” If you have never read it, go get this book now. Right now…. what are you waiting for? It discusses that those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus. They always think first about who and then about what. When facing chaos and uncertainty, and you cannot possibly predict what’s coming around the corner, your best strategy is to have a bus load of people who can adapt to and perform brilliantly no matter what comes next. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. The problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away when you have the right people on the bus. The right people don’t need to be tightly managed or fired up; they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.

Yes, compensation and incentives are important, but for very different reasons. The purpose of a compensation system should not be to get the right behaviors from the wrong people, but to get the right people on the bus in the first place, and to keep them there.

As I said, it is a GREAT book and worth reading (more than once)!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When we began with Wyman Plumbing & Mechanical, we were newly married, just moved to a new state and just had a newborn baby. I was unemployed shortly after our move when my parents retired and closed down the business, and Doug recently quit working as a full time plumbing technician to acquire his Arizona plumbing license (he couldn’t transfer his license from Colorado when he moved and had to re-test in the new state). I sold my personal vehicle in order to pay cash for a service truck. We cleared out our garage to transform it into a small warehouse filled with a couple of the most popular water heaters, piping, fittings and a small variety of parts we might need after hours when supply houses were closed. I answered phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all while caring for a newborn. Lacking sleep while caring for our newborn daughter, I’d sometimes have to answer phones in a closet to keep from waking her or keep from her cries from reaching the phone receptor to remain as professional as possible. The phone went from ringing once a week, to a couple times a week and then to once a day. I never thought of giving up, never allowed myself to sink into hopelessness and only pushed harder. What else could I do to get another phone call? Who else could I message to get the job? What other groups or networks could I join to get the word out? How do I get the word out to more homeowners and business owners? I joined multiple Chamber of Commerce organizations to which our newborn received the unofficial title of “The Chamber Baby” as she went with me to all the meetings and mixers (and sometimes in her own company shirt). Where there is a will, there is a way! But you have to continue doing it, and doing it, and doing it until the job gets done ….. and then you continue to keep doing it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wyman-services.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/wymanplumbing
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wymanplumbingaz
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wyman-plumbing-and-mechanical-phoenix