"Having a failure does not make you a failure."
Jim Estill is the owner and CEO of Danby Appliances. They sell about 2,000,000 appliances per year – mostly fridges, freezers, wine coolers but also window and portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers(the common theme – they have compressors). And microwaves, stoves, dishwashers, laundry, etc. He has been an entrepreneur for his entire life. Growing a technology distribution business from the trunk of his car to more than $2 Billion in sales. He is an investor, advisor, and board member to over 150 technology businesses, including Blackberry – formerly Research In Motion (RIM) – where he served as a founding director for 13 years. He has also written two books. One on time management called “Time Leadership: Using the Secrets of Leadership for Time Management,” and more recently “Zero to $2 Billion: The Marketing and Branding Story Behind the Growth.” But mostly he is a Humanitarian. Trying to do the Right Thing.
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Table of Contents
Let’s start with a brief introduction first. Introduce yourself to our readers.
Jim Estill: I am an engineer and wanted to design circuit boards. I needed a computer but got a better deal if I bought 2 of them. So I bought 2 and sold one, then I bought another 2 then a printer, then some memory, etc. Soon I was buying and selling computers, peripherals, and software. I grew this business to $2 Billion in sales. While growing the company, I saw many interesting tech companies and invested in, advised, and mentored over 150 of them. The most famous one was Blackberry where I joined their board before they went public and remained a board member for 13 years.
I retired but sat on the board of Danby Appliances. The CEO retired so I said, “I can run it for a while”. As I started running it, I realized I liked running a company so was going to make this my next decade gig. The ownership group asked me to sell the company. I said “for how much?” They told me so I said “fine, I will buy it”. So now I own and run Danby appliances. We sell about 2,000,000 appliances per year – mostly in the US and Canada.
Our audience is interested to know about how you got started in the first place. Did you always want to become a CEO or was it something you were led to? Our readers would love to know your story!
Jim Estill: I always wanted to own and run my own company. The roots of that date to my high school days when I started a house painting business. I was hired by my brothers and friends. I liked the direct drive connection between hard work and compensation. This desire to own and run a company stayed with me through the years.
“Selfmade” is a myth. We all received help, no doubt you love to show appreciation to those who supported you when the going got tough, who has been your most important professional inspiration?
Jim Estill: My most important inspiration was my father. His high integrity, work ethic, and concern for others and the community were exemplary. One person I was also influenced by who was very similar to my father was John Wood – the former owner of Danby Appliances. He was a “handshake” business person. His word was his bond. And he was fair. John Wood owned companies so was more similar to what I was aspiring to be (my father was a lifelong employee)
How did your journey lead you to become a CEO? What difficulties did you face along the way and what did you learn from them?
Jim Estill: I became a CEO straight out of university…but a CEO of a one-person company. I then grew the business under me. The difficulties I faced were the same as most start-ups. Massive hours and workload and not being paid for it. Every dollar I earned went back to the company so I learned to be frugal. This served me well throughout my entire career.
Tell us about your company. What does your business do and what are your responsibilities as a CEO?
Jim Estill: Danby Appliances makes and sells appliances like fridges, freezers, wine coolers, microwaves, ranges, and laundry. We sell mostly in North America. We sell about 2,000,000 appliances per year. As CEO, I do not do much – I have a team that executes and does most of the real work. The business involves the design, logistics, warehousing, selling, marketing, etc so as CEO, I touch many of those.
What does CEO stand for? Beyond the dictionary definition, how would you define it?
Jim Estill: CEO stands for Chief Enabling Officer. The job of the CEO is to enable others to do their job. Success is about servant leadership. My job is to help my team succeed.
When you first became a CEO, how was it different from what you expected? What surprised you?
Jim Estill: I was CEO when I started my business. I did not expect perks or people to help me. It was only over time that I grew a “real” company with hundreds of people. Then I learned that people do most of the real work. My role was simply to guide and help where I could.
There are many schools of thought as to what a CEO’s core roles and responsibilities are. Based on your experience, what are the main things a CEO should focus on? Explain and please share examples or stories to illustrate your vision.
Jim Estill: I believe the most important role of the CEO is to coach on culture and let the team make the decisions. Good culture allows a company to grow and thrive. As CEO, our role is to simply enable it. For example, if I come in one morning and the board room is painted. I should praise the decision since I did not have to make the decision or paint the boardroom. But if the bill comes in at $10,000 then it would be a cultural problem. Did it need painting? Did we get 3 quotes? Was there another way to do it?
Share with us one of the most difficult decisions you had to make for your company that benefited your employees or customers. What made this decision so difficult and what were the positive impacts?
Jim Estill: Because I believe so much in culture, the most difficult decision I had to make was removing those people from our company who did not exemplify the culture we wanted. No CEO likes firing people (or if they did, they would lack human empathy). Although terminations are difficult, I have found in most cases, the company and the person terminated end up better off. It might not feel like that at the time but it usually is.
How would you define success? Does it mean generating a certain amount of wealth, gaining a certain level of popularity, or helping a certain number of people?
Jim Estill: Financial success is easy to measure so that is the success that most people focus on. More important though is a contribution to society including those who work with you but also community, the environment, and the world. Wealth has no meaning unless it is shared for good. Success is embedded in the Danby Appliances tagline “do the right thing”
Some leadership skills are innate while others can be learned. What leadership skills do you possess innately and what skills have you cultivated over the years as a CEO?
Jim Estill: Financial success is easy to measure so that is the success that most people focus on. More important though is a contribution to society including those who work with you but also community, the environment, and the world. Wealth has no meaning unless it is shared for good. Success is embedded in the Danby Appliances tagline “do the right thing”
How did your role as a CEO help your business overcome challenges caused by the pandemic? Explain with practical examples.
Jim Estill: The pandemic hugely challenged everything I knew about leadership. Pre-pandemic, I was very much about wandering around. About being present. I needed to re-invent how I lead. So now we use a lot of video meetings. And we have to work much harder on our communications. I see people looking more to leaders in times of challenge. People want leadership now more than ever.
Do you have any advice for aspiring CEOs and future leaders? What advice would you give a CEO that is just starting on their journey?
Jim Estill: My advice is “let your team help you”. A well lead company has a team that wants to help. They just need to know what direction to go. I would suggest “be zen”. Often things will work out regardless of what you do. And worry does not help unless it is problem-solving. Fail. Having a failure does not make you a failure.
Thank you for sharing some of your knowledge with our readers! They would also like to know, what is one skill that you’ve always wanted to acquire but never really could?
Jim Estill: There are many skills I have not yet acquired. I am a constant learner though so do not feel there is a skill I need that I have not acquired. There are lots of skills that need polish (EG – my French has slipped a lot.)
Before we finish things off, we have one final question for you. If you wrote a book about your life today, what would the title be?
Jim Estill: “Do The Right Thing.” This is what I hope to do in life and to inspire more people to also do this.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Jim Estill 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 Jim Estill or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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