How Steelhead Productions Rebuilt Trade Show Exhibits Around Rentals to Cut Waste | Rhiannon Andersen

Russ Fordyce (00:00): Welcome back to the winner's circle, everybody. I'm here today with Yannon from Steelhead Productions. They are in the world's least sustainable industry, making it more sustainable. And we're going to talk to her all about it. Congratulations on the sustainability award. Rhiannon (00:16): Hey, thank you so much. We're really proud. Russ Fordyce (00:19): Yeah, welcome to the show. It's this is a super interesting industry for me because I would have been in it for 30 years building these tremendous booths and you know, trade show booths and showing, you know, at trade shows all over the world. And it is, it's the world's worst industry for sustainability. It's like we build it up and tear it down almost immediately. Rhiannon (00:32): Yeah. Rhiannon (00:40): Yeah. It's un it's unfortunate that, you know, the lack of sustainability plagues, you know, the trade shows and events industry and it definitely isn't great, but it's evolving and we're happy to be a part of the evolution. Russ Fordyce (00:57): Yeah, now so you're at Steelhead Productions and you guys submitted a nomination for this exhibit happy initiative that you guys did that was all about sustainability. Give us a little bit of a kind of the elevator pitch on Steelhead and what you guys do and what you're all about. Rhiannon (01:04): Right. Rhiannon (01:12): Sure. So we are an exhibit or trade show booth design and build agency located in in Las Vegas, really where you know the events industry, the rubber meets the road here for all industries. we do work nationally as well. we do a lot of work in Chicago and in Florida, and then a little bit internationally as well. And In the kind of mid, let's see, like 2008, 9, we were recognizing that there were some really terrible practices inside our industry, as you made mention to building up these really elaborate exhibits, tearing them down, and then throwing away the majority of the components well before their life cycle was over. And our original founder, Had a principle of kind of reuse and recycling components. And it was part of how we worked, but it wasn't the main principle that we existed by. And it was in, you know, this like mid 2000s that we were like, you know, I think we can do a better job if we double down on this commitment to utilize the rental model for the base components. Because as you know, an exhibit tends to be some walls, a demo station here and there, a registration desk, a theater. Many components are used very similarly and can very well be customized with graphic apps applications and different technology utilizations. So we decided to play with that, rental being the base and then customization and really came up with what we're calling the access model, which is hey, I have this thing and you use something similar and you use something similar, but we can make all of it look very customizable by what we overlay. And the model has really picked up steam and garnered us a lot of recognition when it comes to sustainability in an industry that doesn't tend to be very sustainable. But our model is very appealing to a lot of people who care about the planet, you know. Russ Fordyce (03:30): Well, and and Steelhead's taken it beyond just kind of this initiative that you guys have won this award for. You're actually a certified B corporation, which is, you know, the pinnacle of sustainability because you're yeah, that that's a huge deal. And I think I read on your website that you're the actually the only event house in the United States got a certified B Corporation. And there's not a lot of certified B corporations in the world. so yeah, tell us a little bit about that and kind of ha and what's what's the Rhiannon (03:36): Yes, we have. Rhiannon (03:41): We're very proud. Rhiannon (03:54): No, they're really Russ Fordyce (03:59): kind of drives that and what goes into that every year. Rhiannon (04:02): Sure. so for those who aren't familiar with just B Corp in general, it's a third party accreditation that takes a look at for profit companies. So we're for profit, we care about the people who work at Steelhead and who interface with our business. So we are evaluated on that pillar, and then we consider the planet in our operations. And there are just tons of metrics, it's very intensive the evaluation that a company has to go through. It took us about nine months to go through the application process. And now we just received recently in 2025, I believe, our our third year our our next award for that will last us three years. So we are moving into, I think it's our fourth year now of being B Corp certified And it requires us to take a look at all of the different ways that we work, internally and externally. And it's made us a better company for sure, but it's not easy. Russ Fordyce (05:10): Well, and now what's interesting to me is kind we were talking a little bit earlier, you you started in this business because it was a family business. You weren't even in marketing or in this kind of business world, you were in social work. What did you learn in kind of the social work world that kind of got you ready for this kind of events business? Rhiannon (05:20): Yeah. Yep. Rhiannon (05:28): Well, you know, I think, you know, social work is understanding people. And when you understand people and how people work, you can become a good marketer. And I'm so thankful that I was able to translate my understanding of human behavior and overlay that into my marketing career, which now, my goodness, I think I'm celebrating my twenty-first year running a second generation business. my dad did a really great job building the foundation from which we've just built upon. So we were a a successful family business and now, you know, we're eight figures and have over a hundred employees and a hundred and thirty-five thousand square foot facility in Las Vegas. So my my dad's proud and retired and we are you know, just full on running the business, you know, not not necessarily as a family business anymore, but its roots are still there. Russ Fordyce (06:27): Yeah, well it's it's it's an interesting business. Again, I've been in it for, you know, about as long as you have. And you've had to overcome two kind of monumental kind of events in kind of the event world, right? I mean, you had two basically complete shutdowns of event space in the last 20 years with nine eleven and then COVID. having been through that and having been actually a beneficiary of that with all those event dollars coming towards things like like Rhiannon (06:32): Mm-hmm. Rhiannon (06:39): Ha Ha ha ha. Rhiannon (06:46): Yep. Rhiannon (06:50): Yeah. Russ Fordyce (06:56): how how how do you guys manage through that and how do you prepare, you know, for for those blips in the matrix that, you know, are bound to happen? Rhiannon (06:57): Ha ha ha. Rhiannon (07:05): Yeah, there's really not a lot you can do to prepare for something like either one of those because they are just such a reset. I mean, essentially both and thank you for asking because it really speaks to the resiliency and and people's desire to gather like human to human, getting together, because the events industry has had to restart twice. I mean. When all of the planes are grounded and nobody's traveling and everybody's freaking out and just wants to be home for extended period of times with nine eleven. And then with COVID, I mean, really our our business was shut down. I mean our our actual facility was closed for near eighteen months. There's nothing you can do to prepare. And so I think it's just a matter of having a lot of faith and resiliency and being super creative, like you being the beneficiary. I know that, you know, not everybody was hit a as hard as the events industry, but there were people still wanting to connect with one another and that did benefit, especially in the digital space. And we were able to kind of keep ourselves alive from a marketing perspective, one which was great. And then also we leaned into the digital as much as we could. Russ Fordyce (08:27): Yeah, and I and I I would imagine you're starting to see kind of an uptick again as we get out of COVID and as this AI world pushes, you know, humans kind of further away from each other. Are you seeing any kind of shift towards, you know, higher increased kind of I guess, you know, participation rates and and and attendance rates at these events? Rhiannon (08:36): Yeah. Rhiannon (08:47): Yeah, you know, it's really interesting. Just recently I forwarded an article to my marketing and sales team, and it was about businesses really leaning heavily into the face-to-face, whether that be trade shows or events. And I feel just as somebody who appreciates being human and interfacing with other humans, I I love that that's happening. I also embrace AI and this digital space. Like you and I, we live across the country from one another and here we are connecting and learning about each other. And I think that's really beautiful. And it's fulfilling to an extent. But you know, humans want to be around other human beings and being able to participate in that and create beautiful environments and places for people to collide, it's quite wonderful. And we're seeing a lot of companies wanting a lot of it and they want it in a really unique way where the cookie cutter ways of old, you know, you and I have been in the events industry for a long time. And so we know just like that kind of robotic, very corporate way of showing up at events. that's evolving now and it's becoming much more hospitality driven. And it's pretty cool to see the evolution. Russ Fordyce (10:06): It it is very cool. And if somebody hasn't been to a trade show in a while, go to one because this isn't, you know, the table with a backdrop anymore. even the simplest, kind of smallest spaces are like you said, they're very often either they look custom or they are very customized. But y like we said, these trade shows are famously wasteful. There's you know, they're always short timelines, the freight is heavy, and you generally build these things once and then throw them away. And I mean, I've I've built two-story Rhiannon (10:14): No. Rhiannon (10:23): Yeah, right. Rhiannon (10:30): Yeah. Russ Fordyce (10:36): you know, trade show displays, you know, at times from somebody outside the industry, what actually happens when the show ends to all these this stuff? Rhiannon (10:39): Yeah. Rhiannon (10:45): You know, for those who don't like that aspect, the wasteful nature, there are so many ways to repurpose. So the actual infrastructure, as I was saying, a lot of exhibitors are recognizing that there is still a useful life to many of the components. So working with a company like ours who has an inventory that specializes in reconfiguration is definitely a good place to start. Now there are like recycled carpet programs, recycled graphic programs. So many nonprofits can benefit. You know, we everybody gets the pen and the notebook and the bag and all of the swag that goes inside. Well there are so many nonprofits that are happy to take those sort of extra pieces and put them to good use. It just requires a bit of elbow grease and some intentionality to the footprint in its entirety because you can repurpose, my gosh, near everything these days. And and that part's pretty cool. Russ Fordyce (11:49): Yeah. Yeah, it's I think it's the intent. A little intent in planning goes a long way. you guys we've been talking about kind of these boosts that kind of get we used to call them build and burns, literally. you know, we're not just talking about that though with Steelhead. You guys have gone beyond that in terms of sustainability. You actually kind of look throughout the business. Tell us a little bit about kind of outside that customer zone. What have you been doing for employees and your Rhiannon (11:54): Yeah, absolutely. Rhiannon (12:01): Yeah, exactly. Rhiannon (12:10): Right. Russ Fordyce (12:17): Your overall operation. Rhiannon (12:19): Yeah, it's it's extensive. And the way that we approached it, especially when we were leaning into the B Corp certification, was to look through the filter of all of our departments because every single department, we have 13 departments here at Steelhead, and there are ways that every department can be more sustainable. So you know, a lot of the on-site supervisors would have a big book of the plans for the project and all of the details. And every single time, you know, one of our on-site guys would be done setting up the booth, now he has this big binder that just goes in the garbage. And so, you know, we looked through that lens and it's like, can we digitize? And the answer was yes, of course. So now all of our guys have iPads. You know, we looked at our building itself and we have, you know, our Toilets are we consider the the the water and the way the hand dryers work versus paper towels and the climate control. I mean if you i it just became very important to us to consider all of the mechanisms and when you have a building the size of ours and you have the amount of people that we have, it there's a compound effect that happens. So, you know, you may think if we have one bathroom, the amount of paper towels seems very irrelevant. But you take that in times that, you know, among six bathrooms and a hundred people using restrooms, the hand towels versus the dryers that can be rolls and rolls and rolls of hand towel papers over the course of a month. And so there's just this, you know, the compound effect that can happen. And working with each individual manager for them to calculate so that we have some data to substantiate. When you break it down into the small departments, it's calculatable versus thinking, my gosh, what do we do with this whole big entity and how do we turn this entity into a more sustainably considerate business? And it was just, you know, those bite-sized pieces along the way that making a commitment to over time, it's just had really magnificent Rhiannon (14:37): effects, you know, and something so small, like, you know, like a water bottle. You know, we have water available for all of our people and we want people to, you know, we're in Vegas, so it's hot, drink a lot of water. And we put one of those machines, you know, that you see at the airport that calculates the number of bottles. And I think year to date, we've diverted something like thirty thousand plastic bottles from going into the landfill by just installing one of those in our kitchen. It's just it's wild when you make a commitment to it, the positive impacts that can take place. Russ Fordyce (15:11): LK LK makes that machine or one of them and they were actually a sustainability awards a few a winner a few years back for for that machine, exactly. Yeah. I mean it's like it's it's like such a stupid thing. It's just Rhiannon (15:17): Yay. I'm happy. Yeah, so small and easy. And you know, it's but the reality is is that it takes the owners and I feel so proud to be part of an ownership team that cares because to buy that and to have it installed, it requires net profit dollars. And you know, that that you know requires consensus when there are three owners, you know, and we're like, hey, look, do D do we spend take that money and keep it in the savings account or take it as a distribution as owners or do we invest in in the planet that we all call home? And I feel so thankful that we have an ownership team here at Steelhead that thinks similarly around that. Russ Fordyce (16:03): Yeah, now the the numbers were pretty astounding for you guys. I think I read that you cut the energy use per employee by sixty percent or sixty one percent, which was just nuts. because you got bigger and your building got bigger, which is even crazier. So you did that all on the, you know, as you guys are scaling. What's the what's the hardest thing to measure in a business like this where you're trying to know every number? Rhiannon (16:14): Crazy. Rhiannon (16:26): Well, deciding how to measure, you know, it requires work. So you say, you know, the kilowatts and that requires somebody every single month to look at our energy utilization. Well, like who's gonna do that when we're all busy? And so you have to get, you know, thirteen leaders of departments all to row in the same direction. Like this is important to the organization. And you can't just care about it one month and not care about it the next month. You know the events industry is very cyclical. So there are months where we're everybody's working 60 to 80 hours, but yet we've made a commitment to report on that kilowatt number. Somebody needs to take a look at it on top of doing their day-to-day function within the business. And that's a real top-down like how we lead, so goes the rest of the team. So if we let it slip here and there, then it'll be seen as not important. So as owners and and leaders at Steelhead, we have to consistently remind everybody that it's important. And we do that by we have a team meeting every month and it's something that we report on every single month. So nobody forgets because every team meeting we talk about how we're moving the needle from a sustainability standpoint. Russ Fordyce (17:42): Yeah. Now you guys are more than just sustainability. You actually got the top workplace in Nevada for a small company too. what are you doing kind of that makes your company a little bit more special than, you know, I guess all the others in Nevada? Rhiannon (17:49): Yeah. Rhiannon (17:57): Well, thank you for bringing that up. because we do feel really proud. It's actually our sixth year in a row being one of Nevada's best places to work, which is awesome because Nevada houses a lot of industry, you know. thanks. And yeah, so we're really proud. We've also received Inc. magazine. they do best places to work across the country, and we've received that award twice as well. and my business partners, you know, we want to be inside an environment that consider like ourselves as just working owners, you know, we want to be inside of an environment where we feel cared for like mind, body, and spirit as like human beings who spend a lot of freaking time at work. And so we kind of came together and asked ourselves like, well, what do we want? And then if that's something that we want, let's kind of translate that down so the whole entire company can feel that they are a part of a company that cares about their entire show up. So, you know, we have a series of coaches. We have a massage therapist, like financial coaches who come in and have one-on-ones helping people get their credit score up, like apply for a home loan. we have we do you have a nutritionist come in. We just did like a hydration challenge and people were tracking through an app like the amount of water that they drank and then prizes were given. So we'd we'd really do quite a lot just to demonstrate to our people that it's not just their contribution here at work that we care about, but we just really want them to feel good as human beings. Because when you feel good as a whole entire human, you're going to work better, you know, and more efficiently. And then also what we've recognized because we do genuinely care about our steelhead employees, we call them steelheaders. our, you know, attrition, employee attrition is is so low. I mean, we have people nine, thirteen, eighteen years. I mean, it's just really quite magnificent when you really invest in people, how they invest back in in you and your company and one another. It's pretty cool. Russ Fordyce (20:14): Well, and I and I read that you guys do a lot of volunteering as well. I think there are seven organizations that every that the employees go out to every year. Tell us a little bit about that. Rhiannon (20:18): We do. Rhiannon (20:24): So we pay our people, you know, to go and volunteer. So everybody's allotted an amount of hours throughout the year that during their work time we champion them going and and volunteering. And we actually have what's called the Give Happy Committee. So it's a group of the Steelhead employees that get together and find ways for us to positively impact in the community through our time, our talent, our money. And they put together these opportunities. So we do food drives and we've done habitat for humanity, we've decorated hospital rooms, we've cleaned up trails around the red rocks. I mean, we've just done the gamut over the years. And it's not, again, something that's here today, gone tomorrow. We've done that for my goodness, we're probably in our 10th or 11th year now, where every quarter there's a different initiative for give back. Russ Fordyce (21:23): Yeah, that's great. As as you look it back at kind of how you've built this kind of this company and this culture of kind of giving back and taking care of the planet, if you could hand another owner operator kind of some advice to build their own sustainability program and build their business to kind of run around it, what would you what advice would you give them? Rhiannon (21:24): Yeah. Rhiannon (21:46): you know, honestly, it would be to decide what's important to them. Like really lock in on like well, what is important to you as owners, like what are your values, and build the program around what the owners value. Because if again, you let it be a here today, gone tomorrow initiative, your company won't over the long haul stand for that. It won't be the foundation from what your employees trust that you're being built upon or your clients or the community. Like it's so important to just lock in on we value this and it's part of the non-negotiable show-up of how we work, not just what we do. And that really keeps the momentum going over the long haul. And I think that's where the owners really can start to feel the benefit, where it's not just, we volunteered one time. And then have the employees believe that you're a philanthropically driven organization. It takes showing up and showing up and showing up for people to really have faith in that's the type of company that you are. Russ Fordyce (22:56): Yeah. Well, Ryan and Cra congratulations again on the award. This is really you know, a a huge, huge, you know, achievement. The the numbers do speak for themselves, you know, sixty percent reduction in energy and what you're doing with these build and burns, reusing those, like all all great initiatives and congratulations and thank you for doing the hard work that a lot of people aren't doing. Rhiannon (23:00): Thank you. Rhiannon (23:17): Well, thank you so much for setting up a system that can help acknowledge, you know, the smaller companies that are trying their best to do great things. So thank you to you. Russ Fordyce (23:26): Appreciate it. Have a great day. Rhiannon (23:28): Thanks, you too?