Stars, Stripes, and Significance: Finding Purpose in Our Industry

This past week, I was listening to a podcast episode featuring John Rich of Big & Rich. The show was The Pursuit! with John Rich, where he often interviews musicians, entrepreneurs, and thinkers about purpose and legacy. Throughout the episode, Rich repeated a simple but powerful idea: “I don’t want to be successful. I want to be significant.”

As the conversation unfolded, the meaning became clear. Success is great, but significance lasts. Success can be measured in numbers, titles, or short-term wins—but significance is measured in impact. It’s about being remembered for the right reasons. It’s about doing something that matters to the people around you. During the episode, he spoke lovingly about his boys, his coworkers, and his industry friends—people whose lives he hopes to shape for the better.

That idea has stayed with me as we prepare for another cycle of meetings, conventions, and conversations. And while I will always have a bias toward NHLA’s Convention, there is another event I look for-ward to every year: the IHLA Convention. This year’s theme, Stars, Stripes and Sawdust, fits perfectly with the idea of significance.

Hardwood species supported early settlements, powered the growth of transportation, shaped towns, and fueled industries long before modern materials took the spotlight. Hardwood was the backbone of bridges, railroads, tools, homes, and ships. It helped build communities, businesses, and generations of tradespeople. In a very real way, hardwood was one of America’s earliest and most enduring contributions to its own progress.

So, what does it mean to be significant in a field like ours?

The truth is, significance is not reserved for the largest mills or the biggest suppliers. It is not limited to long-term veterans or major manufacturers. In this industry, anyone can make a significant impact:

• Producers who take pride in every board they cut.

• Suppliers who support mills, yards, and manufacturers with honest service. • Buyers and consumers who understand the value of American hardwoods.

• Inspectors, graders, truck drivers, and everyone in between.

Significance is evident in the way we conduct business, the standards we uphold, the traditions we preserve, and the relationships we maintain. It stems from supporting one another, lifting the industry forward, and ensuring the next generation inherits something strong, respected, and worthwhile.

As we come together in Indianapolis this year under the theme Stars, Stripes, and Sawdust, it’s a good reminder that our work is tied to something much bigger than any single company or individual. It is connected to a material that helped build a nation, a resource that continues to shape American manufacturing, and a community of people who still believe in quality, commitment, and craftsmanship.

If you are attending IHLA, I hope you will stop by our booths, 211 and 213, to say hello, ask a question, or pick up a copy of the Rules Book. We would love to see you and discuss the significance you bring to this industry.

John Hester

Chief Development Officer