Ep 12: The Art of Resiliency with Chuck Wolf

Chuck Wolf founded Wolf Camera in the 1970s, and it quickly grew to one of the biggest national retailers of cameras and photofinishing. After merging in 2001, he pivoted to start a marketing consultancy, and has also recently founded Wolf Camera & Photo Design. Today, Chuck joins the show to share his impressive history and the important lessons he learned about business, leadership, and resiliency.

Listen in to learn how Chuck went from less than 10 stores to over 300 stores nationally, as well as how he dealt with industry disruption. He also opens up about how the growth he has gone through aligns with his strengths, how blind spots create challenges, and the secret to his success.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Chuck got started in the camera business.
• The key to competing with the big guys.
• How he marketed his photo business and how he built trust.
• The financials behind his expansion.
• What happened when things went downhill in the camera industry and how Chuck navigated that.
• How he got into marketing and advertising.
• Where he sees his business and the industry going.
• Why family is so important to him.
• How to keep up your energy even when you’re busy.

Ideas Worth Sharing:

• “In a store, you don’t have to be the most educated person in the world, but I’ve found that you have to have the best personality and most pleasant attitude to help people. You can’t get that in big, big, big stores.” – Chuck Wolf
• “A picture is not a picture until it’s printed.” – Chuck Wolf
• “When people wanted quality, they would go to our store.” – Chuck Wolf

Resources:

• Chuck Wolf:  LinkedIn
• Wolf Photo Design Bar
• Cannon Carr: LinkedIn
• CornerCap