In the first episode, get to know the history of Mike Carlucci, Regional Director of Distribution, and Pat Judd, Director of Bedding, as they go back more than thirty years and share their stories of working together on a drive team, growing their careers, and building their families, all here at Raymour & Flanigan.

Matt Carlucci 30 years ago. Yeah.

Trista Rosen 30 years ago. Tell me a little bit about what brought you to Raymour and how you wound up on the same delivery team all those years ago.

Pat Judd I was just I was still going to school. It was really a temporary spot. I planned out and it turns out it's been [here] 32 years now, so it turned out to be something more than temporary. But I wasn't planning on being 32 years. You know, I was playing, you know, just a temporary until I found, you know, until I graduated and, you know, obviously found another job.

Trista Rosen College, your high school path.

Pat Judd Kindergarten.

Trista Rosen So Pat is now in college?

Pat Judd Well, we can talk about that. You know, I was actually still going to college and I was looking for a job, you know, obviously to make some money and something that carried me through graduation.

Trista Rosen What was the job that you started then?

Pat Judd Actually, I was a CDA on a truck, so I was delivering furniture. And then I think we were going to Utica at the time. And then they offered a truck to go to Binghamton when we opened up the Johnson City store. So Mike Carlucci, who started about six months before me.

Trista Rosen Now, Mike, did you start as the CDA?

Matt Carlucci No, I started in receiving. And, uh, after, you know, a year or two of climbing within the warehouse to different jobs. You know, I got offered an opportunity to be a CDA on a delivery truck. Turns out with Pat, and we drove every day from here down to Binghamton and made our deliveries and came back. And those were some long days.

Trista Rosen How long did you all do that for? Because Binghamton is about an hour from where we are in Syracuse. Maybe a little bit more even.

Pat Judd That was about an hour and a half drive to our first stop.

Pat Judd Take out 20,000, which by the way, was a lot more product than day and $20,000. But we were right.

Trista Rosen Tell me about those long days and maybe a cheeky story that's HR appropriate that we can share with our.

Matt Carlucci So I got a good one right out of right out of the gate.

Pat Judd Oh, I'm out here now.

Trista Rosen You prepared notes with your story. He was right in there.

Pat Judd I'm going to get my notes out. Okay.

Matt Carlucci So Pat had a lot going on and outside of work back then, he owned a lawn care business, and he actually paid somebody to take care of the lawns and stuff while he was working all day. He's always been a real go-getter. So his personal vehicle had to be used by that young man that was doing his lawn care. So I used to pick him up for work every day and every day I would be there at 6 a.m. like I was supposed to be.

Pat Judd I don't remember anything, and.

Matt Carlucci He wouldn't even be out of bed yet. So I'd be sitting in the living room with two year old Ryan just watching cartoons and joking around and wrestling with him on the floor while Pat was getting ready for work.

Trista Rosen Two year old Ryan Judd, who, by the way, now works at Raymour & Flanigan as a store manager.

Pat Judd Yes. And he's been here 17 years, if you can believe that. Yeah. Which, by the way, says a different thing about your age.

Matt Carlucci Oh.

Pat Judd But he literally he, like, he would show up at the house, pick me up and he actually taught my son how to pitch. Right. And went out to pitch, you know, in high school.  and he gave him a lot of tips on pitching. And that started as, his baseball career sort of with a wiffle ball, the front yard.

Matt Carlucci Yeah. It's like a little, like a nephew to me.

Trista Rosen That's great. And Ryan's been here 17 years. you said

Pat Judd Ryan's been here 17 years.

Trista Rosen I remember. So I've been with the company on and off for 16 years. And I remember when he was, I think, a backroom associate at our value center over in Clay. So. And, Mike, you have children who work here as well.

Matt Carlucci Well - jeez.

Trista Rosen Sorry.

Matt Carlucci I got a lot of you know, I have a son, Jack, who is a, uh, operations supervisor at CC, and he started out in the Valley Center. Uh, daughter Riley, who started out in customer care at the Clarence Center, who is currently, um. Doing customer care in the CC but she just found out that she received the job in H.R. for the risk management team.

Trista Rosen We're excited to have her on the team

Matt Carlucci That's great. My oldest daughter, Sidney, from high school through college, worked in customer care in all the different local stores, and she actually was offered an opportunity to to come on board full time. But she had been working on her master's and she had some other things going on. So she's doing something else. And I guess the other big piece is I met my wife here, you know.

Trista Rosen Oh, tell us a little bit about that.

Matt Carlucci She worked in accounting and back in the day where everybody was in one building. And, you know, we see the GS, you know, a half dozen times a year now. You'd see him three times a week back then. But the accounting department was up where IT is and the distribution center at that point. And, you know, the break room was in the warehouse. And I mean, I knew her because my, uh, I graduated with her older sister, but we really met - started dating at Raymour and got married. 

Trista Rosen How long have you and Kim been married now?

Matt Carlucci Uh, be 30 years. This, uh, New Year's Eve.

Trista Rosen Wow. Congratulations.

Pat Judd Congratulations. That's awesome.

Trista Rosen Well, and, Pat, you met your wife ar Raymour & Flanigan as well?

Pat Judd I did. She was actually a store manager down in Redding, and I was in Syracuse. I was recovering from an injury. Um, and, you know, I said, I want to do an Ironman. I said, if I ever get better, I'm going to do one. In January. I was able to walk a mile on a treadmill. I didn't have a bike and I didnt know how to swim, but I committed to it. So I scheduled one that September and there was a group up here that got me on the MO, somebody on his team and a few other folks that decided to do it with me. And Scott had just done a leadership class with a gal from the Philadelphia market, which turns out was Ali. So she decided to join us for the event. And she came up and well, the rest is history.

Trista Rosen And Ali is now over in Liverpool or Syracuse Customer Service Center as our regional director of operations.

Pat Judd Yes.

Trista Rosen Excellent. Excellent.

Pat Judd I think she's been the director of operations for probably four or five years. Um, she's been with the company, believe it or not, 18 years as well.

Trista Rosen Oh, wow.

Pat Judd Yeah.

Trista Rosen So it's good for both of you. Raymond & Flanigan really has turned into and bled into your family and created your family's for you.

Matt Carlucci Oh, yeah. Geez. I just talked about my kids. I got aunts and uncles and nephews, you know, working here right now. So, you know, I got an uncle in the call center. My nephew is a supervisor at the Value Center.

Trista Rosen Well, from the recruiting team. Greatly appreciate you're referring people to work here, which does bring me to the fact that we're currently in the the great place to work survey cycle. You know, a random sampling of our associates have gotten the great place to work survey. I'm curious to know, I mean, the survey is anonymous, but if either of you would share, you know, why do you think remarketing it as a great place to work and what's encouraged you to have, you know, your sons or daughters or family members working here?

Pat Judd Yeah, I you know, like I said, I started out temporary, like this is a temporary position and then you become engaged in the, you know, the environment, the culture. And it was very exciting to be part of the culture and watch the company grow and be, you know, be part of it for so long. You know, you build relationships with folks like Mike, you know, from a personal, you know, and a business. And it really just means so much. I mean, I'm a better leader because of my experience with him. Um.

Trista Rosen We have that on tape. So if you ever need it, it's been recorded.

Pat Judd Well you know the funny part about it - was he he's he's you know at the time he was it still is very methodical strategic and I was not that you know I'm driver passive like we're both passionate but yeah and you know I'd jump in the fire both feet first you know and and he'd be there like okay you know, hold on a second. Let's put the fire out first and then we'll jump in. But we'll measure the distance, you know, So but that made me a better person, a better leader today. You know, as you learn from those things over the years. And I mean, there are several people that help, you know, you through your career journey. Um, and I can go through the whole list of, of all of them, and it's a long list, but Mike was obviously on the, you know, on the front end of that, you know, starting on a truck.

Trista Rosen Well, jeez, you would have been fired if it wasn't for Mike, you know, being late to work.

Pat Judd It sounds like. But I would have hadn't gone a long time ago

Trista Rosen We don't remember those days?

Pat Judd No, I don't. Sorry. I'm not sure about that. So. So, you know, it's funny, because our careers circled back together a couple of years later. So we were both on the truck together. Then we kind of went different paths. I went into sales. For a year or two and you are on a different path. I think working in the stores or supervising some of the stores. And then we ended up I was the CDM, so the customer delivery manager in the Syracuse Service Center and he was the ops manager. So we shared an office and our desks were face to face. So.

Trista Rosen Oh, just when you thought he'd gotten away from him?

Pat Judd Just about. We've had all kinds of hours. It just got better like that. And that's where it really helped develop our, you know, we continue to develop our relationship and our leadership skills and, you know, styles that, you know, helped us develop, you know, who we are today. So that was a great experience. I think we were in those roles for 2 to 3 years, right?

Matt Carlucci Yeah.

Trista Rosen Oh wow. That's amazing. And then from there, where did you sense we're talking about your career trajectory? Where did you go from there?

Pat Judd From there I went, let me see. As a CDM, um, I went back to, uh, I went back to I actually Neal Rosenbaum said, Hey, you know, I'm to come back to sales and I'm like, Neal, what am I going to do? I don't know. We'll figure it out when you get here. I have no idea why I made that leap. I have no idea. I just said okay. And I went back to the sales side and I was the I was a regional trainer and recruiter for a while, store manager for a while before I took over the, you know, the director bedding, you know, cover the senior buyer for the category, which, you know, I've been now since 2006, so just about 16 years. And it's been exciting. And it did grow not only personally and professionally. Your family grows becomes part of the business, you know, but then you get to you know, you get to a whole other level and understand the business, you know, from a bigger perspective and being part of something much greater.

Trista Rosen Thats amazing.

Pat Judd Which is exciting.

Trista Rosen Yeah. And I know you and I crossed paths because we're both field based. We travel a lot, so we get to hear the feedback from our associates real time and address it, bring it back here, talk about it, and really make some changes, which is probably a lot of the reason why we carry certain categories. And I know you  check in and just pretty regularly with our associates in the field and they appreciate that.

Pat Judd We work for the folks in the field as you do. And you know, they're the ones that make it all happen. So with that in mind, I'm traveling most Tuesday and Wednesday, you know, to the field to connect, to stay connected to the field, to understand what we're doing well and how we can, you know, service them better, the things that we don't have that we need. So those are, you know, and that's really been the way of life for the last 10 to 15 years. And frankly, it's the best part. It's about connecting with the folks.

Trista Rosen I love that. And well, thank you for circling back to the question. So, Mike, how about for you? What do you think makes Raymour & Flanigan such a great place to work?

Matt Carlucci For me, it's all relational. It's all people. I've been here a long time, so I'm in the know about things that some people aren't. Part of my loyalty. Um, I don't wanna come off as too much of a kiss up, but just knowing what good people are, owners are, and some of the things that I know that they've done that they don't want anybody to know they've done. Um.

Trista Rosen The humility.

Matt Carlucci Yeah, they are. They are just. I mean, some of it has been. Some of the things they have done have been for people that are very close to me. So I'm actually starting to get a little emotional here, but they're just really, really good people. And, uh, you know, they're easy to work hard for. Um, but the reason I stay here is because of all the people, you know.

Trista Rosen I think people like to think that the company makes us drive and work really hard. But as someone who's left the company and come back, I know the people are what brought me back, but also the opportunity to really, like, fall into who you are. If you're a driven, self-motivated person, you don't need the company, you know, overseeing you, you know. What did they say? Poking you with a stick? You're just out there doing it. And I know you know, we've had many long conversations about the work and how rewarding and fulfilling it is.

Matt Carlucci Well, you know, the other pieces, you know, uh, I mean, we're the poster child for what this company offers, and that's just an opportunity. So, you know, if you come to worry about yourself, do the things you're supposed to do, you'll get your opportunity at some point. It's not like people don't notice what's going on and who's making things happen and so forth. So sometimes you have to wait.

Trista Rosen What do you think the one thing is, Mike, that it takes to be successful here at Raymour & Flanigan or the one thing that that you had that made you really successful here at Raymour

Matt Carlucci Um, well, let me just say, when I came here, I didn't have the confidence. What you need is somebody that believes in you is what you need. And in my opinion, and I've got that here through several people over several different opportunities that I got and, eventually you get confident and you start to understand how things work. And you know, we're a way different company than we were 30 years ago, you know.

Trista Rosen Absolutely.

Matt Carlucci And, uh, but everything's in this company. You have to have a mind for a change because it's coming, like it or not.

Trista Rosen So when a lot of that change is based on our associates and their feedback. So we'll wrap up with you just with one question. As it relates, you've been here a long time, you've seen a lot of things. You've mentioned the change and you mentioned some of the things that the owners have done that they may not be, you know, willing to share. But what's the one thing that sticks in your mind that we have changed the company based on our associates and their feedback?

Matt Carlucci The biggest change. And, you know, remember, I'm an operations guy, distribution guy. The biggest change I've seen in this company is our commitment to safety, uh, as it pertains to where we were, say, even 15 years ago. It's just a total change. And, uh, you know, we don't put, we don't put pressure on our people to put themselves in bad scenarios, in, in positions to get hurt. And, uh, you know, it's just different than it used to be. Used to be, though, not that nobody cared, but there just wasn't enough attention paid to it. And, uh, and I just see that as a huge win for, for the company and for the associates.

Trista Rosen I was just at a recent Associate Appreciation breakfast where we were sitting with new associates, some of whom came from Wayfair or Amazon. And they said that it was the first job where they felt as though they were heard and that safety was truly a value that we weren't just trying to. I mean, we're a very productive company, but I think we've shown that you can be productive and safe at the same time. So much of that has been a partnership between leadership and associate feedback. So Pat will wrap with you. Same two questions. One, what do you think has made you most successful or what is the one thing you think people need to be successful here at Raymour & Flanigan?

Pat Judd Um, I, you know, the biggest thing for me is the culture. The owners have a tremendous amount of respect for the ownership and the leadership in the company, you know, at every level. Um, so, you know, passion is obviously a big element, which I'm a fan of.

Trista Rosen And you definitely have.

Pat Judd But, you know, the owners have been involved. You know, we've, you know, we've had this year's been a little bit challenging on a personal level. And the support, you know, personally and professionally this year has just been, you know, off the charts and they're very much appreciated. So, um, those things make a difference, you know, and that's in my 32nd year. But that was part of, you know, my, you know, my career here. So, um, you know, the leadership and the support, um, you know, at every level in the organization.

Trista Rosen Yeah, it goes back to the mission of taking care of our people and they'll take great care of our customers.

Pat Judd We're always committed to driving the business, but, you know, the owner's leadership is going to take it to one story. When I was the CDM was sitting there and, you know, had to review the fuel bills, you know, for all the trucks. So we had five or ten trucks at the time, and you'd have to go through each one of the receipts. They'd bring in the standard, cross-reference them. And I found an error and it was $50, $100, whatever it was. And I sent it back and, you know, to get redone so that we would get the credit. And so they had to show the credit on the bill, you know, that we had found it in like a week later. Neil Goldberg calls me up and he says: "Hey, I just wanted to thank you for catching the error on the fuel bill". It was a $500 million company at the time, and he was calling to thank me. I mean, the fact that he was engaged in it and there's probably 100 more stories, you know, where we you know where we are, you know, you know, again, Tina's being so engaged and listening and hearing is, you know, it's it's it's refreshing.

Trista Rosen And they probably did all of our jobs at some point or another. Like they never really ask us to do something that they're not willing to do themselves. So.

Pat Judd Yeah, when we opened up the Fairfield store, I remember I went down with the group and I was pushing a sofa next to Steve and retagging, you know, the tags to put, you know, as we took over that location. So and by the way, there's probably 150 of those stores.

Trista Rosen Just as recently as January when we took over the top locations. They were all in there pushing furniture and wrapping.

Matt Carlucci Yeah, I remember when I was just a distribution associate at the DC when it was half the size or a third of the size of this town and we were overwhelmed on Christmas Eve. We used to do pickups right at the distribution center for all the local stores, and they would just come one after another and, you know, so I'm on a lift truck there. A couple of people didn't show up that day and I'm just running ragged and all of a sudden I hear a truck pull into the next dial lift truck and it starts coming up and I look through and there's Steve Goldberg, like: "Hey, how are you?" And me and him busted it out the rest of the afternoon, you know.

Trista Rosen Yeah, well, Mike, Pat, I really appreciate that both of you took the time to sit down with us today to kick off this series: There's no place like home. I can't think of two better people to sit with, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the relationship I have with each of you and with your families who work here too. So thank you for everything that you do day in and day out.

Pat Judd You welcome and thank you very much

Matt Carlucci Thanks.