Founder's Story
Over a Decade of Success: Grady Marin on Leadership, AI, and The Future of The Records Company | S2 Ep. 156
Mon, 9 Dec 2024
In this episode of Founder's Story, we’re joined by Grady Marin, the founder and president of The Records Company. Since 2013, the groundbreaking business has been transforming data management for the legal and medical sectors. Grady shares the journey that led him to create a company rooted in authenticity, empathy, and innovation.What We Cover:Grady’s entrepreneurial roots and how his small-town upbringing shaped his leadership style.The inspiration behind founding The Records Company and the challenges of staying ahead in a competitive industry.How trust and empathy form the foundation of his business and leadership philosophy.The role of artificial intelligence in revolutionizing data management and the ethical considerations it brings.Grady’s thoughts on staying adaptable and leveraging technology while maintaining the human touch.The highs and lows of building a business that has stood the test of time for over a decade.Grady also discusses his lifelong passion for learning, the mentors who shaped his perspective, and how his dedication to innovation continues to push The Records Company into the future.Links & Resources:Learn more about The Records Company: www.therecordsco.comThis episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone navigating the intersection of technology and business. Don't miss Grady’s insights on building trust, embracing innovation, and staying true to your mission.Our Sponsors:* Check out Indeed: https://indeed.com/FOUNDERSSTORY* Check out Northwest Registered Agent and use my code FOUNDERS for a great deal: https://northwestregisteredagent.com* Check out Plus500: https://plus500.com* Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com
Chapter 1: What inspired Grady Marin to start The Records Company?
I think for me, I've always been an entrepreneur. I've always had a very unique, independent spirit. And for me, I grew up in a very small community. And so I've learned a lot about what it means to be in a community, to take care of the community and to have that social ecosystem. So for me, I always wanted to do my own thing. I'm like the anomaly.
Chapter 2: How has Grady's small-town upbringing influenced his leadership style?
I didn't ever want to follow into a particular stride or follow others. I always wanted to be a leader. So, you know, I started out in law. I thought that's where I wanted to be. I thought I wanted to change the world. I wanted to do that in the legal mindset. But as I went along, I really enjoyed business and I really enjoyed educating people and I enjoyed learning.
And for me, that meant I had to create something for myself. So I wanted to create a more efficient, functional, but also fundamentally different system that would help aid the legal community, but also in the medical community as well. Because as we jump forward with artificial intelligence, there's just so many things that you can do with data. And I've always been a nerd for data.
So for me, that's how I leaped forward. And you say, well, businesses don't or they're not inclined to survive past one to three years. And that's true. And I think when I went to Harvard and you learn from the best of the best, Francis Fry is one of the most famous.
Chapter 3: What role does trust and empathy play in Grady's business philosophy?
esteemed monumentally groundbreaking professors for me because she teaches a lot of things to do with empathy and so you have an authentic you have an authenticity you have a logic and then you have an empathy wobble so she creates this trust triangle and for me that's what it was about is you have to create trust with your clients
And if you have established trust and they trust you, then you can survive forever. But you have to also stay ahead of the curve and you have to keep moving progressively and start learning from technology. I can just keep talking forever about business.
No, that was great. And by the way, we had Frances on the show before, and she said something that really has stuck with me for the last few years, that everyone needs to feel celebrated, cherished and embraced when it comes to leadership. I'd love to understand your perspective on leaders.
I mean, over 10 years in business means you've obviously had to, you know, employ or hire or lead all different types of people. How has that played out in your career?
For my career, I've had to lead all different types, and I never stop learning. Every day, it's a new milestone. Every day, it's a new personality. And I can't say that I've seen the same thing twice all the time, because with people, you get things different all the time. People...
You get people that are square, that don't like to step outside the box, and then you get people that like to stay outside the box, and then you get people that like to play inside the box and outside the box. So for me, I actually love people. I actually love the aspect of blending people with business. And I think that's what's grounded me.
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Chapter 4: How is artificial intelligence revolutionizing data management?
What's kept the records company moving forward and has been successful is the fact that we always look at it in a concierge way. We're always trying to do better, be more, give more. We're actually in it to help people to try to make their lives better. Whether that is B2B or B2C, we are primarily B2B, but
For us, the inspiration for me and the inspiration for our corporation is so that we can bring business to the forefront, but also so that it can help the masses. And so for me, authenticity of being an authentic leader and leading with empathy and also keeping myself anchored with logic is how I've moved and how I've stayed successful. And it's because I always keep the client in mind.
Because what I hope that we're leaning forward to in the future is honing in on artificial intelligence and utilizing its capabilities to actually help humanity, aid humanity, whether that's a fusion between business or between people. We're actually looking forward to...
to the future of using the data, the data that the records company collects, and being able to utilize that in a meaningful way to maybe create groundbreaking, you know, to be able to cure cancer, to be able to create things that you wouldn't see fathomable if it weren't for the data that we harness. We're not going out and giving data away. We can't. We're not permitted.
But I hope that one day, and that's kind of where we're pivoting to, is utilizing the data with permission and with parameter to create meaningful change and to be that change manager and that change agent toward the future so that we can create something that's going to be monumentally groundbreaking for humanity in the future.
I'm glad you bring up AI. Obviously, it's the major topic, right? The last few years and going into the future and the ability, like you said, to the ability that AI, what it can do to take data and find things that we as humans probably can't see patterns. You know, like you're saying, it could maybe solve things like cancer. It's incredible.
Is there anything about AI just in general that scares you in the future?
Of course, I always have reservations because without limitations or without parameters, artificial intelligence, who knows where it can go? Because it can think faster than we can. It can process information faster than we can. What I found, though, is that it can't make empathetic decisions. And I think that's what's missing in artificial intelligence.
And I think that's what leads people to be very reserved and afraid of the future with artificial intelligence. I can tell you from the financial sector, when you're talking about lending and algorithms, I can tell you personally from the last eight months that AI doesn't always make the best decision because it's utilizing data. It's analyzing data from credit scores.
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Chapter 5: What are the ethical considerations of using AI in business?
Chapter 6: What challenges has Grady faced over a decade in business?
Is there anything about AI just in general that scares you in the future?
Of course, I always have reservations because without limitations or without parameters, artificial intelligence, who knows where it can go? Because it can think faster than we can. It can process information faster than we can. What I found, though, is that it can't make empathetic decisions. And I think that's what's missing in artificial intelligence.
And I think that's what leads people to be very reserved and afraid of the future with artificial intelligence. I can tell you from the financial sector, when you're talking about lending and algorithms, I can tell you personally from the last eight months that AI doesn't always make the best decision because it's utilizing data. It's analyzing data from credit scores.
From it wants to connect bank accounts so that it can read how much money you have in your account and it can decide whether or not you're a risk for the future. And it's taken out the human side of things. One of the examples of that is American Express. They were at the forefront. They were the best in card member services.
They were the best in terms of giving you higher credit limits, flexibility. That has been taken out of the picture for the most part at American Express because they have allowed artificial intelligence in. to make decisions regarding lending because it's risk assessment. And of course they're going to do it.
We're utilizing artificial intelligence in our day-to-day lives to make things easier for ourselves and for our businesses. But it can get scary, and I don't think that artificial intelligence can make the best decisions if you eliminate the human touch. So I think that's where we have to be a little cognizant and cautious of the future.
That is so true. It does. It's like it makes very structured, you know, it creates something just based on the data. We're a human, like you're saying, we're having a conversation. We can understand more. I'll be interested to see in the future, though, how they do AI that analyzes body movement, voice tone. I know they're already doing some there. Yeah.
Curious to see how this will make decisions, if it'll change the decisions that, you know, like credit card companies that, you know, if that'll change how they do things or it's just, you know, strictly, like you said, just based on your account balances in and out, transactions, your risk assessment. So I'm curious about when it comes to the ups and downs of business in general.
Over 11 years, almost 12 years in business in this industry, I'm sure you've had some amazing highs. I'm sure there's also been some lows. Has there been a challenge that has taught you something?
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Chapter 7: How can businesses maintain a human touch while leveraging technology?
There are humans on the other side of that. But we're actually honing in on the intelligence, honing in on the new technological advances to make the process easier for everyone. But with that being said, yes, we had one hell of a year this past year with how AI has came in and taken away a lot of what we used to do manually and And it's now in the programs that our customers are using.
And they're saying, hey, why do I need you? Why are you any better than what I'm using now? Unfortunately, AI hasn't advanced as much as it needs to. And I think a lot of it's because we've set barriers to where it can't advance, rightfully so. That's a discussion for another day. But I think that that's what's caused a lot of the challenges.
is we've had to prove to our customers and re-emphasize and re-establish ourselves. And we've had to pivot a little bit and say, hey, artificial intelligence is here. It's helpful, but it can't take away the human touch. It can't take away everything that you think that it can, because, you know, if you put something in chat GPT and you say, I want you to say this, it will, but sometimes it's,
It says it too professionally. It just doesn't have that empathetic tone that you need it to have. Will it get there? Maybe. I mean, you've got Elon Musk that's creating robots. That looks pretty cool. But I think that what we're doing as a business, though, is we're actually taking artificial intelligence.
We've invested a lot of money into artificial intelligence to bring it in, to do things that were manual tasks, to make things process and move a lot quicker. Because in our industry, it's all about how fast you can move the data. And who's doing it the right way and who's safeguarding the data? Because data security is everything now, especially when you're talking about AI.
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Chapter 8: What are Grady's thoughts on the future of AI and its impact on humanity?
I hope one day I have a humanoid best friend. I feel like I have friends with a humanoid, right? That could do a lot of work for me. So I'm hoping that, you know, my humanoid can make much better food than I can. And thank you for sharing all that, by the way. Yeah. I might even want to talk to dogs out. Oh, my gosh. Yes. That would be epic.
That's a trillion-dollar company right there, a dog-walking humanoid robot. I am curious, too, when you really started seeing yourself becoming an industry leader and you really started seeing success from your organization, what was that feeling like? What was going through your mind? How did you feel?
When people become successful, they don't actually realize they've became successful. You just feel like you've always felt. And you start to have aha moments when you're being asked to speak or you're being asked to teach or you're being asked to hold workshops. Or when you walk into a room and everyone starts to look at you and you start wondering why.
Am I wearing something that's not matching or do I have something on my shirt? There's always something and it just becomes surreal and you actually don't know when it happens. I don't even consider myself successful. I just consider myself learned, educated, cultured. And, you know, I make mistakes on a daily basis like everyone else. You know, you have to learn from your mistakes.
You have to work through processes. It's just how it is, especially in business, especially just as a person. I'm just a person. For me, it was surreal when I had discovered for myself that maybe I've moved past the mom and pop shop. Maybe I've moved past working out of my partner's garage. And that's kind of how it is.
I mean, I'm one of the co-founders of our corporation and we had met, her name is Zagata Zachary. We had met in Panera Bread and her and I worked in a very boring law firm and her and I just, we were at our end of rope. So I was like, I'm so bored. I have to do something. I'm such a nerd. I love learning. And I never stopped learning.
Like you mentioned earlier, I went to Harvard Business School and then I went to Syatt Business School at Oxford. And, you know, I still participated in programs at Harvard University. And as a matter of fact, I'm going to Kennedy School of Government to possibly explore civic duties in the future. But You know, that's just how it all began.
And I don't know when I ever became successful or even if I would consider myself that successful. I'm just running a business that I love.
Hey, that talk, you know, that humility right there. You know, I think it's like kindness and being humble at the same time. We all know that there's No matter what success we get, there's always someone that's even more successful than we are. Right. But I really enjoyed this conversation and I took away a lot of things.
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