Interview with Ken Rayment, Better Process Podcast News

by: Dennis Salazar

15 Apr

ken-rayment

If American manufacturing had a voice, it would sound a lot like Ken Rayment. In spite of his busy full-time job and a very active family life, he finds time to interview people that have a real impact on American business for his very popular podcast show, Better Process Podcast. I have been the subject of several of his interviews, and I can tell you rarely does a host have the sincere interest of the subject that Ken has and his style is so casual, it is certain to even make the most inexperienced interviewee comfortable and eager to share with Ken’s audience.

DS: Ken, you and I first connected about a year and a half ago but I know you have been doing this a while. Give us a little background on when you got started in podcasting.

KR: I started the podcast in July 2006 about 1 year after podcasting was “invented”. I knew that there was a lot of good intelligent work being done in manufacturing and I believed that there was a strong desire among manufacturing people to get that good news out to others. I also thought that there could be a listening audience of people for these stories. I started just talking about manufacturing news. And this was boring … even for me. All 10 downloads for each episode, I found, came from within my house.

DS: How did podcasting change and develop for you?

KR: In January of 2006, I joined podcasternews.com. This is a new exciting group of podcasters doing very short shows (under 5 minutes) together on one website. The wonderful thing I did not know at the time was that the website was put together by a bunch of web geeks. I have found that Google searches my shows almost as soon as they go online and give the companies I interview good results in Google. I also found out that these people were a fun bunch of online friends.

DS: When did you decide to focus on interviewing in manufacturing?

KR: About that same time I decided that just reading the news was not interesting. I decided to talk to companies that manufacture something or provide a service to companies that manufacture something. This was the best decision I could have made for the show. First all the content was provided by the people I interviewed and it was always fresh and best of all interesting.

300betterprocess DS: Ken, even though your show is not about sustainability or green, it is a regular topic because of your personal interest and concern. What role do you believe sustainability will play in the future of American manufacturing?

KR: My father grew up on in a 2 room farm house and as a child I was amazed when I heard that they had a wind generator for electricity on their house. This was their only source of electricity, they were self contained. Although I would not promote going back to those austere days, I believe for many reasons we need to become self-reliant in our energy / resource use. I believe this for reasons of business, security, and social wellness we should first economize and second innovate. Getting back to the question, I believe the American Manufacturer is one of the most innovative in the world. This is where the solutions will come from to solve this problem … if we keep focused on the issue.

DS: How many shows have you done and, knowing what a busy life you live, why do you do it?

KR: I have done over 800 shows at this point and I find each guest has an interesting and intriguing story to tell. It has been a great thing for my life and I hope it has touched the lives of people who listen to the show as well. I ask very simple questions most every time, but the answers are as varied as the make-up of our manufacturing society.

DS: Ken, I have one more question for you on a subject that is near and dear to your heart. I know you enjoy an incredibly productive and fun activity with your kids, please tell our readers about it and how they may be able to help your very worthwhile cause.

KR: Well have you got an hour…? Or better yet how about 8 and you can come be a volunteer! I am passionate about the programs we do with kids and it flows from the work that I have done in the podcast. One of the greatest challenges that companies in this country have is to find qualified workers. The workforce of the 21st century is a buzzword out there in education right now but the truth of the matter is that schools just can’t do it alone. We need people who can do math, we need people who enjoy science, we need people who are into technology and we need people who will do engineering. This is where the innovation that I talk about earlier is going to come from.

We implement different robotics programs at the k-12 level. These programs are fit to the different age ranges, so it is within their ability. These programs motivate and inspire kids to keep up in science, technology, engineering and math. Last year we had 1,000 people at one of the events and started a new high-school program in the state. We have a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit (Action-Works.org) and of course our biggest challenge is fund raising.

I run advertisements on the end of my podcast and all the funds from these sponsorships go to the robotics programs. Dennis, your company has been a sponsor to this great cause in the past and I believe some portion of your current success is due to helping out and getting links back to your website.

DS: That is a terrific program Ken and I applaud your efforts for the kids who enjoy participating and get so much out of it.

Thank you Ken and for anyone interested, you can listen to any of Ken’s interviews including one he recently did with me at: http://www.podcasternews.com/bpp/5429/industry-report-dennis-salazar-salazar-packaging/