Building a business based on pyramid-like models is quite common in the entrepreneurial world, especially when it comes to developing a company’s structure. But there are few who know the best way to nurture a different perspective, how to mold a company culture to thrive. Tyler Bray is one such inspiring name who believes in reversing the pyramid and assisting his employees in fulfilling their dreams to inspire individual growth and ensure holistic progress for his company.
This perspective came from starting early. Tyler’s teenage years were not typical, but those early years helped him learn a perspective that is distinctly different from other entrepreneurs. It shaped his vision of running a business, which he now nurtures to its fullest potential.
His Realizations As A Leader
For Tyler Bray, an influential leader should be empathetic in nature. This value grew into the reverse pyramid leadership structure, in which Tyler leads as a supportive base for his team, and the overall mission sits at the top.
As part of this work ethic, he always asks his employees about his direct reports, what they find alluring about the job, which part they enjoy the least, and about their projected growth trajectories for themselves.
Tyler often gets valuable insights from these answers and it helps him understand his employees’ passions and interests, one which is crucial for aligning visions and setting goals for the company. The process Tyler has adopted firmly establishes the fact that he cares for his team and it puts him in an advantageous position while developing a work culture to use his resources optimally.
As a necessary step, he builds a bond with his leadership team and through them, he cascades down his vision and reaches each and every member of his organization. When the business is small, it is easy to communicate the vision to each team member. But with the team expanding, this simple task becomes difficult and that is when the leadership team comes in handy. This culture has to be replicable so that it stays as a part of the company for long.
Tyler knows each member of his team. He knows them personally, and it helps him determine strategic routes that he can adopt to help them out with their career and other problems.
Forward progress happens when all team members have adequate mental stimulation. To maintain that, innovations and growth are necessary and they need to occur at regular intervals.
Tyler feels a leader has a responsibility to keep his team engaged. . Otherwise, for his employees, aligning visions with him would become difficult. There is no hard and fast rule or best practices that can dictate one to emerge as an ideal leader. Each business is different and as a leader, the onus is on the owner to mold its growth trajectories as per the need.
Drilling down into his insights reveals two structures – business model and business culture that could define his working. When he started his venture, it was important for him to look for something new, something unique that would give him an edge in the market. That is what he did.
While doing so, he developed his business culture, where reaching the highest potential and maintaining values of mutual respect were doable tasks. This culture, Tyler realized, is sustainable and ensures durability and strong communication within the team.
What Motivated Him?
When he was only 14, Tyler Bray had a heart-to-heart chat with his stepfather about the future he envisioned for himself. That day he had an epiphany and realized that he could become successful as an entrepreneur. He found himself in the same shoes as his stepfather.
Tyler’s father gave him an opportunity. He had some parts, which he allowed Tyler to flip. After completing his 9th grade, he listed those parts on eBay and Craigslist and started making money from there. His entrepreneurial dreams took off from there. He chose the name TK Trailers Parts as a quick solution – TK stands for Tyler and Kane, the latter is his brother and the abbreviation was even their virtual identity for online games.
TK Trailers is another venture where Tyler has started manufacturing parts but it is still in its nascent stage in terms of production. He seeks assistance from one of his other entrepreneurial ventures in designing and producing parts – Master Plans and Designs. Such diversification highlights a holistic approach and opens up prospects.
How Was The Ride?
Tyler started young and at a time when his mates were busy in schools and playgrounds. He was so passionate and obsessed with success and his work that he often “started off working from 8:00 every morning often until 2:00 the next morning.” Within a year, his business clocked 1 million as revenue. The sense of building something gave him a sense of purpose and he continued this for two years till he reached 16.
That age was crucial for him as he hired people to work on his behalf. A sense of loss, regret of missing out on a normal childhood engulfed him and he grew depressed. But then the light dawned on him and he felt “horrible for feeling horrible” as he had an amazing business to handle.
After a discussion with his mother, Tyler Bray went back to Allen, Texas, to finish his high school years from a regular school. There he had fun like a normal school kid. He got signed as a model and did other stuff that is ‘teenage’ in nature. But the time had a downside as well. Inevitably, het let certain things slip with his business.
But when he returned, he took charge of the company and straightened out things to bring things back on track. He started working hard and, with a fresh mind, experienced things and implemented them to emerge stronger than ever. The unconventional teenage years were full of roller coaster emotions, but the experience was worth the effort.
From a member of a family living in a one-bedroom apartment with eight other members, he changed his track to emerge as a successful entrepreneur. He was mentored by his stepfather who made him realize that traditional courses are not the path fit for Tyler. He had his ups and downs but got enough time to build a strong team and stay ahead of others. Like many others, his business also got hit by the pandemic but he had enough time to develop a strong team before that.
If he has to look back and do things differently, he will focus more on building a strong team. He will also teach himself that there is no limit for growth as there is always something within the architecture of a particular entrepreneurial venture that can be improved. Growth might be slow but there is no point in blaming the circumstances. It is better to find out ways to move ahead rather than wasting time pointing fingers.
When he started out, his goal was to make his mother proud as a small token of his gratitude for what she had done for him. Now, he is motivated to build a team to ensure the best opportunities for his members. In doing so, he would also ensure that his clients are in good hands.
Why Is TK Trailers Different?
Tyler is good at identifying opportunities and that helped him a lot in reshaping an outdated industry by launching modern tools to upgrade the platform. His methods simplified the buying process. His logistical expertise helped them reduce the downtime for their clients.
The method he applies to understand his clients’ pain points is quite simple. He places himself in their shoes to learn about their troubles and then finds solutions so that his clients get more from each engagement. In fact, this has led to innovations, which many of TK Trailers’ competitors have started following.
His Plans for the Future
Tyler Bray is willing to invest more time in developing his team so that he can free up some time for himself and plan things for his company. As a result, he has started hiring top-level experts to help him develop strategies for the coming days and initiate methods to streamline the workflow. He is also trying to build credibility so that he can evolve as a role model for many.
His present business models are aiming for exponential growth. All his methods, be it related to business or building a team, sprout from his immense desire to know more about people. Tyler Bray believes that it forms the core of any business as it helps with “vendor relations, internal relations, customer relations and literally everything” that has an integral role in the business.
