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Team Talk

Behind the Scenes with Paul SerVass

August 25, 2021

Paul and his wife, Marsha, are avid hikers. Here’s a photo from their adventures in Argentina

This behind-the-scenes interview didn’t lead to the post I imagined I would write. When I interview business leaders, I usually have four or five questions I plan to ask and then see where the conversation goes. That’s what I did with Paul SerVaas, president of SerVaas Laboratories, the parent company of Bar Keepers Friend.

Whatever questions I asked Paul, the answers had three common themes. Paul’s responses were about how to do things better, making products that helped people, and improving the workplace.

Behind the Scenes with Paul SerVass

Paul might be one of the most enthusiastic and passionate people I’ve ever met. But I need to be careful because Paul SerVaas is also a private person. Time after time his answers to my questions weren’t about him, but about new processes and improvements (in detail), what BKF products did for others, and how proud he was of the BKF team. He wouldn’t want this to be about him, but about what Bar Keepers Friend stands for.

Paul was kind enough to give me a personal tour of the Bar Keepers Friend facilities. On the tour, he pointed out a line that ended with a carton of products that weighed 17 pounds. Paul told me that lifting the cartons was tough on the lower back, so BKF added a robot to lift the cartons. The team named the robot “Hercules.”

The Bar Keepers Friend Bus  

A few years ago, Bar Keepers Friend had many employees from a small town 50 miles from the plant in Indianapolis. Happy employees from the rural area brought in friends and family. Paul explained to me that they went to a four-day work week to cut down on the long commute for these teammates. Eventually BKF bought a bus and ran a shuttle from the small town to the factory.

Paul told me about a call they received from a party planner who wanted to rent the “Bar” bus for a party!

I interviewed two employees last year about a championship Futsal team that BKF sponsored. In the interview I asked about the BKF work culture. They said management asked what they needed to make their job better, and that Paul would come to safety meetings or out to production and ask what he could do to help. Not Mr. SerVass, but Paul, like you’d call family. I think that says a lot.

Stories and More 

As we walked, he told me stories – like the chemist who began as a consultant and became a full-time employee. It seems the chemists’ previous employer wanted to know how to make products cheaper. When the chemist mentioned this, Paul told him not to make BKF products cheaper, but to make them better. That’s just who he is.

Paul talked about how important it was to meet their customer’s needs. They currently have over 420 customers – not the millions of customers like yourself, but the retailers and distributors who sell BKF products. He explained all purchases of BKF products include delivery; and how BKF had more or less become a logistics company to meet their customers’ delivery needs.

Continuing our walk throughout the warehouse, Paul talked about how proud he was that Bar Keepers Friend products made so many people happy. When you google Bar Keepers Friend, there are nearly 15,000,000 results that show up. Thousands of these are videos and photos of people using BKF to restore heirlooms, antiques, and valuables to mint condition. In most of these unsolicited testimonials, many thought “all was lost” until they tried BKF.

Along with Bar Keepers Friend, Paul excitedly gives me a little “inside scoop” about a new, non-BKF product he ideated – one that would assist medical facilities, and help save lives. As of right now, this SerVaas Laboratories product is nearing completion. Once again, this is who Paul is – someone who likes to make people’s lives better.

Showing his Pride 

One of the surprising things Paul mentions is that he’s proud that Bar Keepers Friend has never been personified. There’s no iconic cartoon character, or personable spokesperson. The voice of Bar Keepers Friend is the combined voices of the people who use it!

On the tour, Paul proudly took me outside and showed me their rainwater capture system. (Did I mention Paul is an engineer, by the way? He is, and he loves this stuff). Fifty percent of the water used in BKF liquid products is captured (and then filtered) rainwater from the roof of their facility. He believes BKF might be the largest user of recycled rainwater in Indiana.

The water is stored in huge black tanks outside of the building. Since the tanks do face a residential neighborhood, Paul had the word “RAIN,” in large white letters, printed onto the tank. The last thing Paul wants is for anyone to worry about what’s inside the tanks.

Behind the Scenes with Paul SerVass

I know this post is all over the place, but it’s kind of fitting because it IS so Paul – and not in a bad way – but an incredibly passionate way. Bar Keepers Friend cares about their products, customers, and teammates. They want to make people happy and the world a better place – just like their leader.


About the Author

Randy Clark is a speaker, coach, and author. He publishes a weekly blog at Randy Clark Leadership.com. Randy is passionate about social media, leadership development, and flower gardening. He’s a beer geek, and on weekends (after COVID-19), he can be found fronting the Rock & Roll band Under the Radar. He’s the proud father of two educators; he has four amazing grandchildren and a wife who dedicates her time to helping others. Randy is the author of the Amazon bestseller The New Manager’s Workbook, a crash course in effective management.

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