"I have always made sure to keep my personal feelings and company out of the political spectrum."
Bruce Yacko Tweet
Bruce Yacko is the Owner and CEO of JAWS International, Ltd, which he formed in 2002 after serving an 11-year term at the helm of Canberra Corporation. As the leader and chief visionary for JAWS– which stands for “Just Add Water”– he and his team remain committed to creating sustainable, economically-friendly cleaning products through interchangeable cartridge technology, thus changing the way in which the world cleans on both commercial and consumer levels.
From a branding perspective, Bruce wants his product line to be known for challenging current and potential buyers of JAWS to rethink methods and products associated with traditional cleaning habits, and we’re pleased to share his story with our readers.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us today! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Please introduce yourself to our readers by sharing your story.
Bruce Yacko: I have been married 43 years to a gal who I like better today than when I married her. We have 3 wonderful kids (our oldest, Andrea, and two boy’s CJ & Chase) who fortunately married some awesome mates. Altogether, they have blessed us with 7 grandkids who we truly love and enjoy (all 5 and under).
I have been working for the same company, Canberra Corp., a marketing company that happens to sell innovative cleaning chemicals. Canberra, and its divisions are based in Sylvania, Ohio where we have gladly spent most of our adult lives. I bought the business when I was only 28 years old. Although the name has stayed the same, the business has continued to evolve, grow and improve each year giving us a better opportunity to better serve our associates, suppliers and customers alike. In closing, I have way too many interests with too little time and I’m always up for the next adventure.
2020-2021 was unlike any other year. What is your favorite item you’ve bought in the past months and why?
Bruce Yacko: It truly was a year unlike any other. I was so busy working I didn’t have time for shopping – but I was having fun because I love my job and the people I work with.
Life is like a box of chocolates… What unexpected surprises did life grant you that contributed to your success?
Bruce Yacko: I have always been surprised by how many wonderfully gifted, smart & talented people I have been blessed to know over the years. Even more so, many of these successful and busy people were willing to spend quality time with me imparting what I realized later in life, was so important on both a personal and professional level. These life lessons have helped me to become the leader I am today.
Tell us about the job. Is there any exciting project you’re currently working on?
Bruce Yacko: Yes, we always have been known as innovators in our industry but our latest innovation, the Jaws, Just Add water System has been leading the charge to reduce plastic pollution and the carbon footprint by offering Safer Choice certified, modern day concentrates filled in sustainable child-resistant cartridges.
The JAWS system provides the user the opportunity to re-use their plastic spray bottle for up to 28 refills before having to recycle or repurpose the bottle, which helps eliminate single-use plastic spray bottles. Additionally, we can place over 1mm cartridges on a single truck versus only 16,000 ready-to-use bottles which is a major benefit to the supply chain and planet.
Sir Richard Branson famously stated that “Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” As a CEO/leader how do you feel about this philosophy and if you agree with it, how do you implement that in your company? Conversely, if you disagree, explain why and how do you do things differently?
Bruce Yacko: Absolutely. I agree on all counts. I never could understand, even early in my career, how other leaders who ruled their companies like dictators & spoke so poorly about their workforce could succeed personally and professionally. It just seemed counterintuitive to me.
The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, in many cases, it pushed the employees and the consumers to critical stress points. How did you lead your team through these difficult times and maintain a good reputation?
Bruce Yacko: We produce a wide array of Disinfectants, Sanitizers, and other cleaning chemicals that are offered both at retail and commercially. These items were so critical towards helping our country, customers, associates and citizens gain a level of personal and professional comfort throughout the pandemic. We recognized early on that the pandemic could become a major problem, so we brought in a huge supply of raw materials and packaging components in order to keep our customers and their customers supplied with the products.
We added & trained a third shift & worked weekends all the while working daily to keep our associates and their families healthy. During this time these items, particularly disinfectants, were in short supply and everyday potential new customers were knocking at our doors for product. Knowing how difficult this period could become, we never ventured out and we made sure we could provide our lifelong customers with as much product as possible. After all, was said and done, our customers gushed at the way we performed during a really difficult period as compared to other suppliers, which was very gratifying to hear.
The COVID pandemic raised a lot of polarizing politically charged issues. According to ‘The Harris Poll’, 75% of Americans said that they would avoid taking a position on political issues if they were CEOs.
We would love to know your thoughts about this. Is it better to take a political position or to avoid it completely when it comes to being a great CEO/Leader, do you have one name that comes to mind, please share with us how they influence the CEO you are today? What lessons did they teach you over the years?
Bruce Yacko: I have always made sure to keep my personal feelings and company out of the political spectrum. It is simply not our or my place to do so. Everyone has their own opinion on political matters and I respect them all. Our country and the world has been blessed to have so many great CEO’s and leaders. It would be very unfair of me to name just one.
You have been very generous with your time and knowledge. Our readers would also love to know, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? And what advice do you give most often to new team members?
Bruce Yacko: Pretty simple. Stay focused, be extremely clear to communicate our goals and intensions, make sure to monitor and measure our progress & give others the responsibility & opportunity to do their jobs, and support them when needed. Last, but not least, follow the Golden Rule.
What is one key thing you want to achieve at this moment, and what do you need to overcome to reach your goal?
Bruce Yacko: Change the way the world thinks about cleaning by using our safer, more modern chemistries and by adopting our Jaws Cartridge based Cleaning System. The world and its inhabitants will be better for it.
Thank you so much for your time but before we say goodbye, we do have one more unusual question. If you ask yourself any question what would it be and how would you answer it?
Bruce Yacko: What will tomorrow look like and what can we offer to propel & participate in it.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Bruce Yacko for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Bruce Yacko or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.