Episode 1: The Value-First Approach: Defining the Rawlins Way (Interview Edition)

In this inaugural episode of The Rawlins Way, host Dr. James Bryant sits down with Scott Rawlins, founder and CEO of Rawlins Infra Consult, to discuss the company’s unique value-driven approach to infrastructure consulting. Scott shares the journey of building the company, its rapid growth, and the core values that define its culture. Learn how Rawlins Infra Consult delivers tailored solutions, fosters teamwork, and maintains a strong focus on work-life balance. Whether you’re a new team member or a long-time contributor, this episode offers valuable insights into what makes Rawlins Infra Consult stand out.

Episode 1 The Value-First Approach: Defining the Rawlins Way (Interview Edition)
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Rawlins way, the podcast that redefines consulting purpose driven focus on delivering exceptional value. Join us as we explore the principles, people, and projects shaping the future of infrastructure management. This is where innovation meets purpose and every conversation delivers insights to inspire.

[00:00:20] Let's dive in.

[00:00:24] Dr. James Bryant: Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Rawlins way. I'm Dr. James Bryan. And I have the pleasure of sitting down with my longtime colleague, Scott Rawlins, founder, and CEO of Rawlins infer consult. Scott. And I have known each other for many years, and today we're exploring their unique approach to value driven infrastructure consulting.

[00:00:44] Dr. James Bryant: Scott Can you talk a little bit about what Rawlins is all about?

[00:00:49] Scott Rawlins: You bet. So we started, or I started this almost eight years ago now. coming from the public sector, in a D O T and understanding all those pressures and the things it [00:01:00] takes to really lead an organization. I wanted to give back a little bit. I want to, go out and help other dots.

[00:01:07] Scott Rawlins: in DOT leadership, it's constantly changing across the United States. and, people are coming in, new ideas and new ways of doing things or, wanting to fix something here and there. just having a group that could, say we stood in your shoes we faced some of those same challenges 

[00:01:23] Scott Rawlins: Here's what we did talking to our counterparts giving those folkssome leverage if you will of exploring the ideas they have or you know Trying to deal with pressures Being in those shoes before 95 percent of your day is eaten up by what walks in the door or who calls you.

[00:01:41] Scott Rawlins: working on the business versus, in the business is getting shorter with those pressures. having a group of individuals that have been there and done it can provide some, some resources to explore those, opportunities of improvement.

[00:01:54] Scott Rawlins: I just felt that was something that would be very valuable and it's been turning out that way. We've [00:02:00] got a lot of people that are interested in what we do and the team that we've put together it's been a lot of fun.

[00:02:05] Dr. James Bryant: You've experienced significant growth since founding the company. Can you walk us through that journey?

[00:02:13] Scott Rawlins: Yeah, so it started almost eight years ago with just me, and then probably about four and a half years in, so almost, four years ago, three and a half years ago, hired my first employee, Paul Steinman, who I'd worked with. he worked with another consultant and I just got to know him. we seem to gel well together.

[00:02:31] Scott Rawlins: We seem to work well together project we were working on. from there, we've grown to 42 people now as of today. we probably need quite a bit more as we go forward because there's a lot of clients out there, existing clients, new clients we just got, and others we've been talking to.

[00:02:49] Scott Rawlins: it's been a whirlwind. growing from just me to 42 people in about a three year period. It's amazing and also a little [00:03:00] bit scary at the same time. you're trying to build the ship as you're flying it, right?

[00:03:04] Dr. James Bryant: It's come together. everybody understands the culture we're trying to create here of being a team, working together, focusing on our clients and their needs and making sure we're delivering for them.

[00:03:15] Dr. James Bryant: Let's talk about company culture. What are the core values? that drives this organization?

[00:03:21] Scott Rawlins: I don't think, we've done like a strategic plan and said, here's our core values, here's our mission and our goals, we've got some things, that we've talked through, but, It's really about just providing value, right? Providing value to clients, where they need it.

[00:03:36] Scott Rawlins: we got a diverse group of skill sets on our team, that have been at the top of DOTs in the country, leading programs, leading the organization, and just really pro that value piece is so important, and then what the client needs, We don't go in with preconceived ideas of how we're going to fix them or, what issues we're going to tackle.

[00:03:58] Scott Rawlins: It's about listening to the [00:04:00] client, being observant to the pressures they're feeling every DOT is facing different challenges, have different, rules, regulations, different cultures that you're dealing with. so the diversity of our group, really the value we provide is that we come from nine different dots.

[00:04:17] Scott Rawlins: And the 42 people we have people who have worked in nine different dots the Federal Highway administration or coming from the private sector working for dots. so that diversity of knowledge, experience, we, we try to package that together to try to tackle anything that comes out of.

[00:04:32] 

[00:04:33] Dr. James Bryant: you serve in the way that they need it. And part of how you fulfill that is by having a staff that has diverse background and experience in working with different state DOTs. 

[00:04:45] Scott Rawlins: and the culture, internal culture, then, James, to get to that, is of a team, right? I don't want to say family but working together as a team. We don't have a hierarchy. we have basically a flat organization. managers [00:05:00] themselves, the client has needs.

[00:05:01] Scott Rawlins: We have certain tasks we have to do. We have certain, business development opportunities we're pursuing. we tackle those things as a team, working together, supporting each other. that's really the team atmosphere that we're all about. people, are living up to that and taking ownership of that, and I really appreciate what our team is all about, because we've come from government, we've come from bureaucracy.

[00:05:25] Scott Rawlins: we don't want to do that in our private consultancy firm, We want to make it as free and open and, make sure that we're focused on the right things. Most of that is delivering for the client and meeting their needs. But also what's important in that teamwork is supporting each other, making sure that we have a good work life balance.

[00:05:44] Scott Rawlins: Making sure that, when things need to happen on the family side, we have another teammate that can still pick up the ball and continue it down the road, delivering for the client. work life balance is very important, teamwork, and being considerate and listening to our clients and meeting their needs.

[00:05:59] 

[00:05:59] Dr. James Bryant: [00:06:00] those are all qualities that I think anyone would want in the organization that they're working for. 

[00:06:06] Dr. James Bryant: What is your vision for growth of the company and an extra three to five years? And what are the qualities in the types of people? That you're looking to hire.

[00:06:17] Scott Rawlins: Yeah.we've got, another big engagement. and a couple others on the burners right now that, we've been tracking and communicating and are well positioned for, the one thing that when me and Paul started this, I said, we're only going to work with people that we want, that want to work with us.

[00:06:33] Scott Rawlins: there's gotta be a desire there on both sides. a willingness To work together and succeed, most importantly, what we tell our clients is, this is about you. your career, your business, your organization.

[00:06:45] Scott Rawlins: we're here to make you successful, right? We're not here for us. this is all about you and what you're trying to achieve. and that's gotta be a two way street. we've got to work with people That want to achieve something and want to push the envelope and bring these diverse skill sets that [00:07:00] we have to bear for them.

[00:07:01] Scott Rawlins: the growth is going to be natural based on, where we're going as far as people. I would say We look out there for people that just want to get stuff done. There's always those Venn diagrams about, good people. And, in the center, it's Get stuff done.

[00:07:19] Scott Rawlins: 

[00:07:19] Dr. James Bryant: they have to havethe Ability to do it right. It's not enough to think about it, it's not enough to have great ideals, but you have to execute.

[00:07:27] Scott Rawlins: Yeah, they gotta be people people, right? People that can, build relationships, build that trust. Can speak from a level of understanding and competency, right? building trust with the client is so important. that they're willing to open up and tell us what the issues are and what to be aware of and what they're trying to achieve.

[00:07:52] Scott Rawlins: so people that have been in the fire and have done it, willing to come in and, be part of what we're trying to do here, but they [00:08:00] also have to roll up their sleeves and do, right? a lot of times we see folks coming out of the public sector at the highest levels and they just, want to go stand around at conferences and, chit chat.

[00:08:10] Scott Rawlins: that's just not us, right? we do that, but we also roll up our sleeves when a client says, Hey, I need this report or I need you to do this review and I need you to go talk to these folks. we go and do that. so they've got to be a doer and able to communicate and listen, which the most important part is listening.

[00:08:27] Scott Rawlins: don't come in there with preconceived ideas of what they need you got to listen to them and meet their needs.

[00:08:32]Dr. James Bryant: What are some of the challenges that you see in the consulting world? 

[00:08:38] Scott Rawlins: I've been on the consultant side for a little over 12 years now. one of the biggest challenges in the strategy world is coming in thinking you know the solution before you even talk to the client. And, or telling the client that, XY or ZDOT did it this way and you need to do that, right?

[00:08:56] Scott Rawlins: no one wants to be told, that another DOT is [00:09:00] doing it better than them, right? And so what I tell my staff all the time is bring ideas, but bringing in a way that it is not, offensive or threatening. It's, Hey, this is what we've seen in some other dots, and this is they face these similar problems or issues.

[00:09:19] Scott Rawlins: And this is how they dealt with it, or this is how another DOT dealt with it. But, you don't need to, throw names around or anything. You just need to talk about the industry, and what's happening, and some of the good things that you're hearing, and some of the solutions that others are trying.

[00:09:35] Scott Rawlins: it's a much easier conversation. I've seen a lot of consultants that trip on themselves thinking that they've solved the problem before they even know what the problem is.

[00:09:42] Scott Rawlins: Yeah. 

[00:09:44] Dr. James Bryant: problem if you have not. Clearly identified and articulated that problem. Or if the client hasn't identified that problem, because it's their problem that you're solving. if you don't take the time to do that, You will miss the mark no matter how great [00:10:00] the product or solution you have, you won't be aiming for the right thing.

[00:10:04] Scott Rawlins: Yeah.

[00:10:05] Dr. James Bryant: As we approach the, holiday season. What message would you like to share with your team? 

[00:10:11] Scott Rawlins: Yeah. during the holidays, I talked about having that right work life balance and cherish those moments, right? your family, we're on this earth for a pretty short time. making sure that you're spending time with the family, making sure that they're solid.

[00:10:25] Scott Rawlins: If you don't have a solid family life, it affects you on the work life and of course, serving our clients at the same time. So to me, it's very important to have that work life balance. if you're energized at work and want to get out of bed and work on that client's issue, that's what I'm striving for.

[00:10:42] Scott Rawlins: And the only way to do that is make sure that you're good on the family, that you've, Taking the kid to the soccer game or, you went to dinner with your wife or, whatever that may be, I think supporting our team during those times is very important.

[00:10:56] Scott Rawlins: support each other, there's hard times out there. we have several people who [00:11:00] live in Florida, they've been through two hurricanes this summer, and we all stepped up what can we do to take some of the work off your, and also what can we do, on your personal side to help you, with whatever you're dealing with.

[00:11:11] Scott Rawlins: that's being a team and that's, I think ultimately for our staff, having a good work life balance is going to be critical for us to build a great culture and a great company.

[00:11:22] Dr. James Bryant: What are some of the steps? That you are currently taking or you envision. Taking in order to build on the culture that you're creating now. 

[00:11:35] Scott Rawlins: Yeah, some of that is, doing more of these podcasts, we do a newsletter every other month where we, highlight some of the personal things that are going on in various team members, successes that are happening, not only on the personal side, but on the work side, celebrating, good client feedback, Whether we're helping them with a conference, or we just delivered a training session for them, providing that feedback to each of the [00:12:00] team members is very important.

[00:12:01] Scott Rawlins: and then just getting together, right? in these days after COVID, a lot more Zoom calls, Teams calls like this, that gets only so far, I think. Face to face is important. we try to do at least one, retreat a year. we did many retreats this year where we split up the country and did many retreats with several folks.

[00:12:22] Scott Rawlins: talking through it, communicating, telling everybody what's happening, not only on the work side, but on the company side how do we improve things? How do we make your life easier? The more that we can take the administrative burden off our employees and they can focus on the clients, we strive for that, there's certain things we have to do, for invoicing or, record keeping, 

[00:12:43] Scott Rawlins: We're building this ship and trying to make that as efficient as possible. So it doesn't have to be a big burden on everybody.

[00:12:50] Dr. James Bryant: Scott. Thank you for giving us an inside. Look into how Rawlins Infor consult is reshaping infrastructure consulting. I'm Dr. James Bryant, and [00:13:00] you've been listening to the Rawlins way.

[00:13:02] Thank you for tuning in to the Rawlins way. Remember this podcast is for you, our incredible team. So if you have ideas or stories to share, let us know until next time, keep striving for excellence and delivering unmatched results.