"Keep moving forward and doing everything you can to help others and support those affected by the pandemic in need."
Eric Goodman had a lifesaving operation at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital when he was 15 years old. He was in ICU for weeks, the hospital for months, and in a full-body cast for eight months. He had to have therapy to learn how to walk again. This is the reason he started working in healthcare and volunteering for healthcare charities.
His company Mountain View Services, Inc. is a healthcare supply company serving all of Southern California. They service homes for developmentally disabled adults and children, hospices, and home care. They also donate medical supplies to many local charities. He is on the board of directors for the American Heart Association, Mountain Shadows Foundation, The Fontana Foundation of Hope and was a twenty-year board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Eric Goodman: Mountain View Services, Inc. has been the leading supplier of groceries, medical supplies, janitorial supplies, nutritional supplements, incontinent supplies, durable medical equipment, OTCs, personal supplies, safety and facility supplies, linens, and office supplies to healthcare facilities since 1988. We save you time and money by reducing labor costs, employee liability, vehicle costs, theft, etc. Our services include free menus, order forms, in-services, budgeting, and delivery.
As President/CEO of Mountain View Services, Inc., a leading medical supply and distribution company, serving more than 500 ICF/DD (Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled Adults and Children) facilities throughout Southern California, My mission is to provide the highest quality products and services available to his clients, so they, in turn, can provide the highest quality care to the residents they serve. We are a family-owned and operated company.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Eric Goodman: It was a very challenging year for our industry! We want to grow our business because we want to help more people. We want MVS not only to be the leader of healthcare supplies in our industry and community, but we want people to see MVS as a community partner and resource for those in need. We want to be a leader and pioneer in Corporate Social Responsibility for organizations that are not Fortune 500 companies but local family-owned companies that can make the greatest impact in their community.
We are soon launching the Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud through the United Way to help engage our team in employee giving, volunteering, and learning. This empowers everyone to make an impact while supporting our company causes, and causes they are passionate about.”
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Eric Goodman: Keep moving forward and doing everything you can to help others and support those effected by the pandemic in need. We need to keep our communities and business strong. I have been saying this for over two years now, “we can all get through this, if we all work together” I saw amazing compassion in our industry and with my customers as we all worked together to help make sure everyone had everything they needed during the pandemic.
Customers would call me and offer to help other customers with items and we would network with everyone to share PPE we had available.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Eric Goodman: We had to change how we do business like everyone else. We went virtual for meetings with customers and vendors but our staff has been working from the office every day as we are a distributor. We did not know how we were going to provide products with no shortages to our customers.
Some say it was day by day but I am very happy today that during the entire pandemic we never shorted one customer and supplied everyone with what they needed to operate their facilities. We never even ran out of suppling toilet paper! It was a major accomplishment for my team.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Eric Goodman: Take care of those who have taken care of you and not try to services everyone, We stopped accepting new customers for the first year and took care of all the customers who have supported us for the last 34 years…
We could have sold more and helped add t our pockets but we wanted to do what was right. We continue to monitor the supply chain and bring in extra stock and work with our customers to make sure we have what they need even if we have to keep extra for them.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Eric Goodman: We expect this to continue and we are working to update all our systems and make sure we are ready for the changes as customers want to.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Eric Goodman: Eight plus hours a day now…
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Eric Goodman: We use the Sales Force Philanthropy cloud for our team and we use LinkedIn and our monthly newsletter to share with our customers.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Eric Goodman: We have discovered that many families can’t find the healthcare products they need at local stores, or the information needed to know what products can help their special needs, family members.
We are a resource, advocate, and supplier that wants to help. We need to get the word out. There is help. Not enough companies know what we do and that we are here to help make a difference in our community and help make an impact in the lives of others. We need more support from our strong community of partners, customers, vendors, and team members.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Eric Goodman: Marketing
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Eric Goodman: We can’t keep just throwing more money at the problem. We need to pay base don skill and knowledge. People should be compensated for their training and education not just because the cost of living goes up and they want more money, The system is broke and needs an overhaul.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Eric Goodman: Interesting question, I would like to have the power protect as many people as I could from my team to my customers. Know what they need and have it ready to help.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Eric Goodman: Helping others. The more people we meet, the more people we can help. Success to me personally and professionally is by how many people I can help and make a difference in their life.
Help us share our story so people in need and other companies can partner with us to make an impact. Like, share, and forward this story, you never know who in your network could benefit. Thank you.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Eric Goodman 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 Eric Goodman 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.
