George Scarpati shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning George, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Who are you learning from right now?
Mike and Mary, the Owners of RMS Laser-Group, who are also my parents.
Over the years I have gained so much knowledge from them on how the business works. Even after 15 years of working with them they still have so much to offer, and I still have a lot to learn. I’ve come a long way but the journey is ongoing. When I was first brought in, it was learning how every department works, and how to run all of the machines we have. Nowadays it’s more financial, behind the scenes on how to run the business, how to keep your employees and customers happy and have a good work/life balance.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is George Scarpati. As of right now I am the General Manager at RMS Laser-Group. If you have ever called our business, there is a large chance you have talked to me. I keep everything at our shop running as smoothly as possible. I deal with a lot of our clients and organize jobs that go to production in our shop. I started working here when I was 15 years old. I would come straight from high school and come in to run the laser cutting and routing machines. Over the years I have trained in every department and improved my skills. Slowly I moved up the ladder and started taking on more responsibilities. Now I get to work directly with clients. Whether it’s figuring out how to bring a specific design to life or planning how a job will move through the shop, I’m overseeing all aspects of the business. I’m working on getting my bosses (my parents) to a point where they feel comfortable retiring and have confidence that I can run this business on my own. I believe that I am very close to making that a reality.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I pride myself on being very good at talking to people, which includes being able to diffuse a tough situation and make everyone happy. Over the years I have witnessed that not everyone is good at communicating. I believe I have that skill. If my client is in a panic about a job, I am able to work out with them the best way to move through the situation. After talking with unhappy customers or employees, in most cases everyone leaves feeling happy or at least satisfied. Some people are just about business and don’t care about people’s feelings. I get genuine joy from knowing I helped someone, or had someone leave my shop happier than when they came in. That is a skill I don’t think enough people have or are interested in. Communication and empathy are skills I’m proud to have and will continue to make stronger.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Growing up working at RMS Laser-Group there were a few jobs that some people might consider “suffering.” We are a manufacturing shop in a sense and sometimes that means a client needs thousands of parts in a short amount of time. That turns into long, repetitive hours and sometimes overnight shifts. I remember having to stay at the shop overnight on numerous jobs that were very monotonous. Sometimes we’re producing 5,000 laser cut invitations for an event or hundreds of sheets of routered PVC, which means our machines have very long runtimes. Sitting there for hours running 5 laser machines at once, pulling material, stacking parts, loading the material in the machine, and running to the next one to repeat the process for hours on end. Those jobs are trying for me. Dealing with them taught me a lot about patience, proper time management, keeping yourself entertained in a boring situation. Most importantly, they have taught me how to make these kinds of important but tiresome jobs easier for my employees.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
My industry loves to think it is organized. That is a bald-faced lie.
I can’t count how many times I have received large jobs where the client doesn’t know what they want, or changes the project multiple times throughout the production process because details were never finalized. We work with a lot of large companies that need signs for hotels, schools, government buildings, etc. Some of these jobs come with large proposals that are supposed to outline exactly what they need. In most cases these submittals are riddled with errors, like the thickness of the material is wrong, or the spacing of the letters is off.
In addition, a majority of people need jobs rushed through production as fast as possible because of poor time management. Rushing through projects leads to errors in the information given about their job.
But, that is why I am here. I will go through all the details, make sure everything is correct or get the information to make it correct. If your deadline is coming up fast, I will work hard to make sure to help you meet that deadline.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What light inside you have you been dimming?
I’ve been working with my parents here at RMS Laser-Group for over 15 years. Most kids can’t wait to move out or get away from their parents. That couldn’t be farther from the truth for me. I love my parents, I love working with them everyday. Do we disagree on things? Of course we do, you wouldn’t be a normal family if you didn’t. Knowing that someday soon they are going to retire and won’t be at the shop every day with me anymore, won’t be guiding me to be a better business man, a better person… it saddens me. I’m not excited for that day, but know that they deserve to retire and have put so much of themselves in this business and in me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rmslaser-group.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rms_laser_group/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RMSLaser/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rmslaser
