The Huddle - Episode 113 - Blue Collar Cruise #2

In the next episode of our series titled Blue Collar Cruise, we continue our journey through the web and various publications to unearth and discuss more controversial topics relevant to the blue-collar community. This episode aims to provoke thought and encourage dialogue on lesser-known or often avoided issues that impact the industry. By shedding light on these critical subjects, we foster a deeper understanding and prompt a call to action among our listeners. Tune in to join the conversation and engage with the pivotal topics that everyone in the blue-collar sector should be talking about.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

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what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to ensure the installers is is equipped with

everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you belong welcome to the team

what's up guys how's it going it's good I always uh expect like

um Jose to say something you know right on the back side of that like oh there

he goes or just leave that too go my cheerleader all right well welcome

everybody uh to this week's episode of the Huddle and our second um episode of

the blue collar cruise we call it Cruise where we get on you know construction uh

oriented uh media find interesting topics and discuss them with you guys

and uh love to hear the comments and see the uh chat go crazy on some of these

things but um oops as as we are getting going what's up

there's Jose he's back man got the

so on this week's uh blue collar cruise we got a couple topics about

sustainability uh some of you guys may have had a patcraft rep come by and show

you their new products which is pretty cool if you are familiar with it talking

about expansion we hear all this bad stuff in the media every week and you

know here on the bluecar cruise we hope to bring you a little bit of sunshine in the construction world

and uh bring up you know the fact that

manufacturing construction is going through the roof

uh sharing a cool um a cool map with you that kind of

shows how uh manufacturing constructions going up and that that goes more goes

further than just manufacturing facility you know uh Daniel you guys do a job

maybe it's just a warehouse but there's always an office space in supporting uh subcontractors like here in witcho if

Spirit grows or Boeing grows what's up Jesus um well then so does a lot of the

manufacturers uh and suppliers to them uh which just has a cascading effect in

any given area you guys um you know what that's like I mean it's

not just because manufacturing is booming what what that creates is what is kind of

exciting yeah with every with every other business that that's going up and like you said at warehouse you know they

they also have a front end that has to run that that business in the front end most of the front end parts of those

types of businesses need to be comfortable in an office yep and then there's a cool bridge that

that we found a time-lapse video of uh which is kind of cool how they've built this thing we'll kind of share

that so getting started with the first

topic and this is uh sustainability topic and and the question that is posed

is can sustainability professionals help contract or save energy so first off we've heard this uh

green uh you know recycled content we had a episode about

recycling products and such um I don't know when was that Daniel like six

months ago probably yeah and this is just talking about

how the awareness uh is still increasing and

that nearly 60% of companies are striving to adopt some type of Greener

uh practices uh whether that's embracing sustainability in their manuf facturing

or using eco-friendly materials and uh designs you know one of the one of the

probably uh monkeys on contractors or Construction Industries back is when we

used to demo stuff we just demo a building and almost all the material just end up in a landfill today we're

recycling con uh concrete we're recycling there's people even recycling

the wood recycling uh metal studs and and all of that and flooring is not uh

you know void of this subject one example of this in floring is Pat

Craft's newly released resilient flooring product uh it's pretty much a

completely PVC uh free product called REM material uh it's full of

recyclable uh resilient n the cool thing is

they put the image on have you guys seen this I have not so they put the they

came in and presented to us about a week ago and they put the image directly on the backing so you don't have a backing

a film you know image film and then a wear layer you just

have the image printed on the product

and then their scratch resistant uh coating put over the top of that so it's really me minimalist in

design it looks the same it's got more of a satin finish and um it's really

cool it is 100% recyclable and uh made from polyethyl or

poly Olan sorry materials and 20% %

postc consumer recycled plastic my question to patcraft when this happened

with um when it happened uh when they came in

was performance-wise how is the product performing from a expansion retraction

and curling is the installation

sustainable so that's because we we've gone through that right when everyone you switches over to something new and

then you don't know the effects until later on yeah and I think in our other episode

we also talked about was the fact that uh you know how how easy is it to get

this material back to them to recycle so that's always a um I think

that's always a big question is it's great that it's recycled if you can return it um but patcraft has a return

Reclamation program uh where the product can be fully recycled at the end of its

lifespan so it's it's going to be essentially it would be made into

ecoworks product line um which is their recycled carpet packing so kind of cool

that Florine has I I think that's one of the attempts that Shaw's you know

leading and being uh sustainable I don't know that these I don't know these subjects

really hit home with a lot of a lot of us I'm not you know I think we should

recycle when we can but I also am not probably Mr

environmentalist you know well it's just becoming more common on job sites too especially like even when I'm going

through bid documents it says that you know the the gc's that bidding it has to have certain

dumpsters on site for everyone to recycle like you said all the way down

to even the concrete yeah so materials that can be recycled get thrown into one dumpster

and there's a trash dumpster is that right yeah and I mean they'll have a a

concrete dumpster a metal dumpster a cardboard dumpster and a trash dumpster

Y is that more common today is it continuing to get more very common

we have had that happen on a handful of jobs but uh usually it's a government work like on on mllo air force base or

something they they'll do that but uh and they'll have in the in the bid

documents too right that you have to recycle whatever you're ripping up like no if and your butts about it it's if it

costs you money they want that number in that in that contract yeah and I think that

contractors who get behind it understand that ultimately the adoption of sustainable practices isn't isn't just

about reducing their environmental impact it's about enhancing the

company's reputation and showing that it's uh driving Innovation and and trying to

find ways to make um sustainability provide some cost savings

as well I know that's one of the the big decisions for construction firms is to

invest in sustainable products and initiatives and people uh you know in a

strategic move to uh provide long-term economic as well as environmental

impact um but it's got to hit mass production everybody wants to do their

part yeah want everybody to to give them a little bit just everybody does a little

bit it all adds up but like as far as it like being common I wanted to add to that it was really breaking up on my

side but um it is very common to see them doing that but like you said it is more on the larger contractors or

government projects or state funded projects where it's built into the contract that uh the school district is

requiring that and um you know it's it's annoying when you do you on

what what's your what's your where do you guys stand on it what's your thoughts is it worth the extra time and

money that's going forward right now on uh you know and has been maybe for the

last five years more heavily I think anything that we can say from going into a landfill is a bonus to be honest with

you especially if it is recyclable why not and and all you're doing

basically passing the buck right you're you're you're charging them in order to do it because there's always going to be

some charges in there well sometimes I'll tell you that new lvt

from for me it's always like how is this going to perform you know how is the new

product going to perform past and better or equal to the previous product lines

um you know it's got to make dollar and cents uh I think so I wonder how many of

our of our audience Mr Flor Flor God is in the house uh have you guys installed

any sustainable products uh particularly if anybody's uh messed around with Pat

Craft's new REM material uh LBT it'd be interesting to know no I was looking on

the website though and it looking like um they actually planned for

um things to happen because they have a back bevel on it so that means that it's it's beveled so that way when it when it

does come together I mean the Top's going to be touching that a slight angle and with that

um that type of I mean you're talking about recycled material you don't know exactly how

that's going to do long term yet right because I mean if it's new we don't know how long they've been testing it they

may may have been testing it for a long time already but if anything environmentally happens they just have that cushion in there so if it's going

to expand and contract yeah I'm sure they most of the

manufacturers that took uh that took a beating in the first attempt at some of that sustainability stuff uh I think um

you know maybe are taking a different approach a more uh dare I say sustained

approach like get trying to get it right I tell you what it looks really like a

really nice product so

that that is uh that is a little bit in the uh environmental Zone couple new

projects that are probably worth bringing up that we found now this is Purdue University so Indiana they're

planning $239 million uh for re for construction and

renovation this came uh as a report by construction dive that Purdue has

outlined several key construction projects one of which is a uh

interdisciplinary life science research building which is on its own $160

million project uh the university got a little bit of State

support but they're also um touting this 140,000 square foot facility will uh

also uh be built in some sustainable Manner and looks like a 2026 completion

one of the uh topics that we love to cover here is just you know some of

these future projects I mean there that's nothing if you're not in Indiana

um necessarily but that's a huge project single single Source at $239

million and there's a lot of that uh which leads us into our next uh topic

which is the

um manufacturing boom so this has really been driven by what would you say Mr

Daniel uh trying to bring jobs back over here right yep there's been a big push

to get jobs back in the US plus the chip manufacturing you know all the scares of

being short of Chip manufacturing I I actually was uh fishing last

week um with a guy who used to build these types of plants for um out in um San Diego for a

big GC and he talked about how complicated a chip manufacturing plant

is but construction dive talks about the US has made significant strives in

revitalizing the uh manufacturing sector and it passed uh you know we we just

passed a 52 billion chips and science act uh that was maybe a year or two ago

uh yeah looks like August of 22 so some of these projects are coming out now and

the uh according to the White House this legislative push has driven over $ 898

billion in private investment across the country so it's it's stuff like you know

biotech uh semic uh semiconductor fabrication you could imagine all these

electrical Vehicles need electric vehicle batteries and clean energy uh so

these are kind of the underpinnings of this huge push this that's almost a

trillion dollars that's almost a trillion

dollars in in manufacturing or in in in money go

into uh us manufacturing so you know if you're if you're out there getting

trained in these uh you know being a highly trained installer you can take uh

advantage of a lot of these ESD floorings as well as most of these facilities have massive offices attached

to them or separate from them uh so you know there's going to be a lot of work for the flooring world through this as

well and I think it just bodess well to look at these positive aspects of the economy when we look at the economy

we're always told to bad on mainstream news but you know the truth is almost a

trillion bucks has went into this and the projects are starting to come out

we're talking about sensors and all this stuff uh that are you know these plants

are being made for and you know speaking of sensors one of the best sensors you

could have in your pocket as a flooring contractor is floor Cloud so floor Cloud's a proud sponsor of the Huddle

and you know their technology puts the job site readings right at your

fingertips let's watch a quick video about floor cloud and um all the benefits of having

that whether you're installer or a company run it

Ashlin fulltime monitoring of your job site conditions via desktop or mobile

device no more manual check checking for temperature humidity or even dupoint no

need for base stations Wi-Fi or external power sources simply scan the QR code on

the front of your sensors and you're up and running with the most accurate and Innovative sight monitoring system in

the flooring industry dispatch your Crews with confidence and reduce your climate related installation issues

floor Cloud now you know now you know now you know

yeah so we're gonna need that kind of Technology uh you know that FL Cloud

brings to the table anytime you do projects like this especially big ones I know you guys have

had good success with for cloud we deploying on a couple of bigger projects

we've got it on on three projects right now so even if it's like we we've already done the moisture testing and

monitored that right for for a while and then uh once it's once everything is

fine and we know you know I have my reports and stuff written up and everyone is good I go pull them out take

them to the next project so we've uh we pulled all the actual moisture tests out

but we still leave the monitor there so I can monitor the ambient conditions and

it it lets you know like on your phone this is out of spec range so that way we

can go to to the contractor and be like hey like if you want me there tomorrow you're going have to do something about

[Music] this well you guys have already used it more than we have and we are excited to

uh get our sensors and start deploying it uh I know that some of our uh some of

the training entities like aft and I believe CFI even are using it to kind of

like um monitor their their their uh training facilities and just show the

cool technology to to people so yeah get yourself a floor Cloud if you're a

flooring contractor uh get with Scott and Patrick over there at floor cloud.com and check it out it is a

savior floor Cloud seems like the commercial contractor savior uh I would

say yeah it's it probably say it definitely is a timesaver well they're not arguing so

those are the types of things with the numbers that that a big Point

too all right continuing on here with construction manufacturing boom one of

the cool things I wanted to bring up is that you know we brought up one of the

largest projects was going to be in Oklahoma City like the tallest building in the

well I don't know how Oklahoma is doing it right though they got a $620 million

norson project in Tulsa so this the Midwest area is getting some stuff

Aurora Colorado's got a $600 million Philip Morris International

facility and down in Stanford North uh Carolina there's a $530

million kaiwa Kiron uh manufacturing plant I mean that just shows you like

the the that's a those are hu those are huge numbers of commitment um you know to technology so

if you have if you're not embracing technology this goes back to several other of our podcasts if you're not

embracing technology uh this should encourage you to dip your toes in there because all

this is in support of sensors as I said um uh chip manufacturing

biotechnology electric vehicles and batteries clean energy which we touched on just a few minutes ago as well um and

and Healthcare will never stop either so I seen on there it says that you know there's uh 4.1 billion in healthcare

Manufacturing in North Carolina that's how big is that gez $4.1 billion Health

manufacturing center in Clayton North Carolina and that's where you know we we talked about

um like broadening your your horizon right and where you could if a lot of

these places that had polished concrete or epoxies or you know resonance

flooring and um we we ran into situation here at one of the battery manufacturers

where it was supposed to be rubber flooring all welded and they pulled it

from under us at the last second and switch it to

epoxy Y and there's there's ESD epoxies out there that that's what it was too

yeah and and it uh we ended up going back in there and I guess they said that after

they installed the epoxies there was bubbles six foot tall in some

areas in the epoxy in the epoxy holy moly how how is that possible

I don't know but he he that's what they said they were like this is what happened so they had to redo it they had

to redo it wow well floor prep is an important

part floor prep and uh and site conditions are an important part of uh

any flooring but it does show the uh the benefits I'll tell you when Amazon was

building all of their plants we we at our epoxy crew do all of the uh Epoxy

paint stripes out the lines yeah just that was like $100,000 worth of work and

we did it on three different Amazon projects so that's just uh opening your

horizons and and uh thinking outside the box a little bit so the chip act which

is the act that was really passed to address our concerns in America for

Semiconductor chips uh but it does State here that uh it's been a significant

Catalyst to all of this and has uh provided $ 52.7 billion for

Semiconductor research development manufacturing and Workforce

Development alongside that is a 25% uh investment tax credit for Capital

expenses in semiconductor manufacturing so we're going to be build building a lot of these semiconductor plants here

to subsidize our uh purchase of semiconductors from Taiwan

and um yeah so I thought that was interesting that you know one one thing

spurred that much growth and uh you know

goes to show you know the the economy is a little bit uh you know in question but

there's plenty of building in construction and your jobs aren't getting taken over anytime soon by AI

they got plenty of other bigger fish to fry than than us so we got a I don't

know man I seen the videos of robots doing like drywall and stuff already so yeah in very

uh very controlled spaces uh I think that it it the the problem is the site

uh they if you build offsite uh material or off-site buildings which I think would be a cool episode is to bring on a

builder that's doing the modular building you know they go they build this um we were planning in a planning

meeting with J dun on a facility a pre-bid planning meeting uh this been

quite a while back but it was talking about building parts of this

Hospital a lot of it was built offsite and then it ships to the and you just they just kind of bolted together even

some of the flooring's installed offsite and then you tie it in almost like mobile home or something so you know

we've also done a fair amount of work with a company called Redbox and they do

these uh blast resistant buildings so like uh F uh fertilizer plants and

foundaries and stuff like that they'll they'll they the office is built offsite

out of container materials it's not like they take used containers and make it

red box manufacturers containers as well but they'll take that and build it off

site the problem is the uh the technology for as far as like AI doing

your deal you could have a robot but a human still has to run that yeah um there AI as I'm talking about is like

you're just replaced with that uh robots uh you know they have the remote

controlled blasting machines and stuff like that I mean in essence Grinders

down machines now and Rollin says like all this is is great right so how is

this going to help the small mom and popop installers doing one room at a time some of them are starving right now

and I think that cuz people don't look you can't you can't just look at

one segment it is is way off just

because if are being kind

of a couple we were talking about

you know what what else can you put under in your portfolio so that way you can go out there and do something else

and it's probably um I in my opinion he's talking more

residential right or you talking about commercial doing one room jobs well even residential these these these places are

then to to boil it down to the small mom popper let's call it the retailer when

you build a new plant that that um that employ four or 5,000 people in an area

there's going to be a residential need for new new housing uh remodels

Replacements all that stuff to support that it is a cascading effect so that's

one way I would also encourage the Mom Pop to evolve a little bit and not you

know we have to to grow into new things and look at other opportunities out

there uh to to expand your business locally right now like what we're seeing

is we're not seeing a Slowdown in new construction you could you'll probably

end up seeing slow downs in remodels right but in the new construction there's still houses going up like they

can't even keep up with it plus we got apartment buildings going up like crazy like they just

sold just around here two or three golf courses and that's what their main focus

is is how many new homes or apartments can we put on these

things yeah I think that's where it helps the Mom Pop is yeah they're not going to go do the epoxy and a 200,000

square foot semiconductor plant but they're going to do the housing for the

the people who the workforce there and those are like guess what John says right here houses need to re yeah so I

remember when net apppp uh moved into our area their average job uh for their

they they were one of the Pioneers in cloud computing technology uh alongside

of um alongside Amazon I think or was

helping uh I could have that wrong but basically their average um their average

salary I can't remember how many thousands of job but their average salary job that they brought when they

moved in uh was 725 that's that's means there's a lot of

highlevel people making uh good money so you're going to have luxury housing you're G to have work uh the workforce

that's putting the stuff together at at higher wages uh demanding nicer homes or

at least nicer finishes maybe they buy a home remodel that thing I think it Spurs

a lot of stuff you know and you can't have billions of dollars run into a single facility and to um all the money

that it takes to to uh employ all the people to fill that facility and it not

have a cascading effect to the local economy so I think it's a good thing I was going to share a share just a map of

of the let me do this I'm G share a map showing the

so says on here

Bill buildings over there and hired very little people like they they brought in

their their own guys but it's still bringing people to the area so you're still looking at

Remodeling and having to change out some

flooring as as far as the jobs I I've been in some of those conversations like

locally when they're talking about you know building this and

that's like our city the first one of the first

questions they ask is how many jobs is this going to bring how much money is this going to put into the economy over

here yeah sometimes it's about local jobs being created sometimes it's about

bringing a higher population to the area as well when they do this a lot of times

a lot of the workers go to the plant from other areas uh which is welcomed as

well I mean the Mom Pop Shop uh I don't know about installer but the mom pop uh

you know um restaurant and there the if

people are moving into the area it they may not hire in the area all the time um

I think it looks like to me that rollin's talking about that they didn't uh hire very many people locally locally

yeah uh but that doesn't mean they didn't bring population with them that then spurred more uh demand for flooring

products and building materials in general but check this map

out these are semiconductor uh plants I mean

Texas Kansas has got Integra this is a big project that we're uh tracking heavy

on is Integra technology IES right here in my hometown another semiconductor

plant in Burlington Kansas and then up in Kansas City area they've got an EV

plant but look at this map you can see the up by that whole concentration right

there yeah up by you guys lots of EV plants up in

there Michigan EV plant like geez Ford Ur

uh Al what does that say alum

cells I don't even know like a dip [ __ ] I can't even read that but you know it's that but proof positive there's a ton of

semiconductor EV and and uh General manufacturing thought that map was

pretty cool showing you that all across the United States they're building these things and it's that new technology we

want to be on the Forefront we just can't have closed minds as as uh installers I think at the end of the day

there's going to be new products we need to have our eyes on I know I want to do a better job of like keeping my eyes

looking forward uh for new product lines new new installation methods Port

flooring ESD floorings uh you know epoxy coatings

I think we're going to we're we're talking about possibly starting an epoxy in-house epoxy crew and and uh focusing

on some of that poured floors um and then of course uh polished

concrete that's always a a big thing in these big manufacturing plants well

manuf are going from floor covering to

just don't have to it and then they start one day they'll start hating it again and we'll go in there

and and throw something made one cycle it's made one cycle I mean all of the

Kroger stores were were VCT or something like that and then they went to polish

concrete stained concrete and then they went back to lvt or they went to lvt

because every time somebody drops something on a stained concrete floor that has a high vinegar content which is

a lot of food uh it just you can't get rid of it it's this big splash Mark and

it's not ever going to get be gone and that vinegar eats the

stain so I I heard a story and we experienced one Walmart where they did polish

concrete because they kept having moisture problems and didn't want to mitigate and uh they had such a moisture

problem that the feet of their metal uh some of the feet on their metal started rusting and they were like oh crap we

got to do something and that's that St back to lvt now so it makes its rounds

um check this video out I'm GNA show you a timlapse video I don't know do we have

time we're we're running short I may leave that but I'll throw it up in the

uh the um see if

share this it's kind of cool these time laap time lapse

videos uh let's see if I can put this in here I'm trying to put it in the chat for everyone yeah if you want to check

out that uh that time lapse of this bridge that they

built um in buck buck Hamshire

uh 450 meter long Viaduct um or via deck was assembled in

three stages I watch a video it's pretty freaking cool um and then to the opinion

poll coming out of uh kind of uh construction dive they they put these

opinion polls up in different times and uh this one is successful mentorship is

a two-way street I thought it'd be interesting to kind of talk about this uh they call it bidirectional mentorship

and it's not just about uh not just valuable but essential for the future of

construction industry so traditionally mentorship has been

viewed as a one-way Street meaning I Mentor somebody where an executive or a

a upper level manager or something you know imparts knowledge in a junior

employee or into a um you know a new

person or or even a friend uh but approaching it where both people

learn because there's a lot I can learn from other people and I try to approach mentorship this way myself uh but it's

par they they say that having it go both ways in the construction industry where

we can learn from the younger uh col our younger colleagues as well to gain a

fresh perspective uh is particularly impactful and it shows uh the senior professionals

where they can gain that fresh perspective the construction industry is facing rapid technology advancements we

just talked about that and with all of that the younger crowd that is being

trained in these uh building Technologies how to build these big plants and stuff is and

prefabrication virtual and augmented reality and AI is taking a big step in

construction from the design and architecture standpoint so these younger professionals are more familiar with all

those Technologies and they're able to offer valuable insights to your more

seasoned um project managers or more seasoned Professionals in

construction um I think like just just looking at that like technology is huge

in that aspect right to where it's you can look at them for

guidance like professionally and then they have to look back at you and be like what else can I be

doing you know myself to to make everything better and more streamlined and that's where a lot of the technology

comes in where we can show the the older generation like look you can use go

Carrera and this is I mean this is a a conversation that my brother just had yesterday and you know they they call us

and they're like hey um we're a little slow right now can do you guys have anything and we're like yeah this is

what we use and they're like man is that really necessary and we're like yeah it is it makes everything more streamlined

like you don't it's a no-brainer the hardest part for most of technology is getting it set up initially after that

it's just keep on using it yeah there's always an adoption curve to all of it

and the the mentorship I think you know speaking of that and the adoption of

Technology ing how fast this stuff moves like John's talking about with one of

his fcef classes the truth is there's there you know we're launching new

technology as an industry um go carrera's launching new

technology um our adoption curve in our industry is going to equate to Our

Success I believe that a lot of this stuff has to do with listening to the younger guys coming out uh what do they

what are they striving for and many of them want to work the way they grew up

most of these most of the younger crowd has grown up with an iPhone or an iPad

or or a you know my four-year-old grandson knows how to go to YouTube like

literally find his video and go to YouTube and play it and then close that out and go to the next YouTube video and

there was a a teacher right and they I don't remember where I seen this but um she kind of

instead of doing lesson plan and you're like kids put everything away only pay attention to me she actually had her

lesson plan right next to just a video of whatever the kids watch on like

YouTube and stuff these days and she said that their attention span just focused right there even though they

might not have been looking at the lesson plan the whole time they did way better at the next test than they would

have if they so that that's yeah I think it's

easy for us to to say that's not the right way to to do things or that's not the right way to learn we I think we

need to be um or you know I strive to be a little bit more open-minded these days

than being uh closed-minded on things uh or say well that's not the right way to

learn that's not you know kids shouldn't be on their devices all day I agree to a

point like let's get out side and play but at the same time what industry are they going to be going into it's going

to be in those those industries that are if they're going to be successful they're going to have to understand

technology and Ai and and understand all this in 15 20 years it's going to be

drastically a different business landscape so you know all of the

companies and people who are open-minded and looking out in the future and really

considering what technologies can help connect us quicker provide efficiencies

and improve uh quality of experience for customers wherever that may be the

people and companies who are adopting that I think are are the ones who are going to not get left behind uh there's

always you know there's always casualties when change happens and I

don't know the answer to how to keep keep that from happening keep it from

having casualties but it is the unfortunate Truth at least to this point is when new things come about there's

people that don't adopt it and get left behind um and uh I'm not not sure that

you can save all those but my employ here on the on the Huddle and our our

approach has always been to at least consider the new technology EX at least

think about it give it a run uh get used to doing business in a

more Modern Way way uh whether that's reading your floor sensors from your

phone at dinner when your Crews on site getting ready to go on site like that's

a that's a huge time saer uh and it's a it's a big um you know it's a a much

better experience for the client other Industries are already doing what you're talking about floring is just or is

starting just needs a couple more kicks in the ass I agree John we're trying to

put the boots on uh just it's just hard in our industry because

it's unregulated compared to some of the these other ones and unmotivated in a

lot of ways I talked to a a good colleague that everybody would know if I said his name but I was just talking to

him on on the phone the other day and he said his efforts in in this realm in

training technology this kind of stuff uh he goes I know you know Paul with go

Carrera but it's like pushing a boulder uphill and it's a big ass Boulder and he

he's been in the industry forever and he he I don't think he can put his thumb on to why we're so resistant why are we so

resistant to new ideas and there's other industries that pick this stuff up like this and they

just you want to talk about being left behind we're the industry that gets left behind because we're so slow or I I

don't know I I don't know I but it ain't going to

keep me from still pushing the limits uh I know it doesn't keep you guys from

pushing the limits and um I think we're just going to keep keep doing what we're

doing because we believe in the cause uh uh keep trying to get better ourselves

and uh hopefully we bring a lot of people along the the journey and um my

my hope is that some other torches get lit and other people can start doing some cool stuff too uh I don't want to

rule the world I just want to get our industry moving forward um that's been

the the maybe the biggest um purpose of go Carrera is the fact is is you got to

be able to deal with people in a digital world and know who you're dealing with and that's the basis of what goera was

or is go career core is and we're just launching jumpstart next week the new

site will be live all the new students out of the fcef and CFI and everybody

that's going to be new out of the programs from flooring Basics um is

they're all going to uh be new candidates on there and updated so it's it's going to be cool if you are looking

to hire new train you know newly trained

individuals if you're an installer go to go career.com

jumpstart and uh check it out the new site will be live next uh Thursday I believe and

it'll have all the new candidates on there so uh a subscription to jumpstart is $99 per

year so if you make one Higher that's less than the sugar it costs in your

coffee every day like it's it's 99 bucks a year you may not have a um candidate

in your area but some of the candidates may be willing to relocate uh so $99 a

year is about as cheap as you can get to peruse new candidates and uh we're

hoping that everybody will uh join that wave of hiring digitally um you'll get

to see a little bit about them schedule an interview do all this good jazz and

uh you know avoid the Craigslist dumpster fire of trying to of

trying to uh you know figure out well Rin it it costs less than your your

black coffee um I don't I don't know a good comeback to that it C costs less than one of the

beans it takes to make that black coffee Andrew support the industry so

we'll put your name up or your company logo up on the website under the supporters and uh there's manufacturers

that are getting involved as well uh as a quick overarching thing to close this

out jump starts uh filling the gap of placement for the industry so as the

fcef CFI AF all these entities train new people we want them to go on to jump

start and then we'll give all of our subcontractor Network as well as all of

the uh the companies that are are member companies uh access to jum start for

that $99 a year uh so everybody's kind of jumping on board with that and you

can hire as many people as you want you can interview and hire as many people as you want for that 99 bucks hire them

all yeah take that monster so what's up

Jose back in back in the saddle he you're on my headphones he can't even

hear you he's back though oh true that all right well we've uh We've came come

to the last uh part of this uh podcast we're running out of time and which is

kind of amazing we've only talked about three different things but what I would say out of all this is

um there is going to be immense opportunity for people in

manufacturing uh in the flooring side for the flooring that support the

manufacturing uh facility office spaces and um Embrace technology guys I

I think that one of the things about the blue colar Cruise today is it's all talking about technology in some manner

so embrace it find the the companies that are being Innovative go alongside them help them out work with your ffs of

the world get involved with go Carrera uh talk with the you know preferred

flooring look at what they're doing um floor cloud like just getting involved

in get involved period it doesn't matter where it is just just get involved man it's the the

industry is not going to move forward without everyone trying to push it and if you're not trying to push it and you're one of those guys that you know

is scared of the change time to look at your mindset

because if you always did what you if you if you always do what you've always done you always get what you always got

right so that I know everyone is scared to change and it's just human nature but I mean it's

the name of the game we got to move forward we gota we got to get on it with technology and making our our jobs a lot

easier yeah that's where courage comes in and taking a leap of faith um and

there's a lot of companies and people who have done that and uh get alongside them I mean I've named some of them on

this podcast multiple multiple times you guys know I'm the founder and CEO of go

Carrera you know preferred flooring and what they've done and that they're big supporters of us and close I mean they

are the Huddle and we do this to bring this information to the Forefront uh so

like Daniel just said get involved in some manner get on the Huddle have have some communication and uh you know come

on as a guest we always appreciate our commenters every single week you guys

rock if you guys catch us on YouTube give us a like subscribe help us get the

message out there and uh we'll keep working on improving ourselves improving

our content improving our platform and we are sincere when we say we want to

change the game the intro that I fumble off often is still very true we want to

change the game and we want to strategize on being the best that we can be and bring you the tools and

techniques that we run across out in the industry that can help us all succeed so

with that I will sign off and tell everybody to have a good week and we'll catch you guys next week yeah thanks

guys we'll see you guys

The Huddle - Episode 112 - Flooring Industry Myths Busted: What You Need to Know

In this episode we tackle common myths that persist among flooring installers. From misconceptions like "you don't need to scrape up old adhesive" to "moisture testing isn't necessary," we debunk the outdated beliefs that can compromise the quality of installations. This episode emphasizes the dangers of the "it'll be ok, I've done it this way for 20 years" mindset, advocating for best practices that ensure durability and customer satisfaction. Tune in to arm yourself with the right knowledge and leave behind harmful myths.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's

band together and for a new Legacy in floring this is where you belong welcome to the

team much better much better much better sorry we're late everybody if you're on

here uh had a few technical difficulties just

a couple can see Daniel's head down right now trying to get everything him and ashin are working

their tails off to to get this thing live streamed so what's up fellas what's

going on brother how you doing how was vacation dude it was pretty

sweet it was pretty sweet we caught a bunch of fish went up to Northern saskatch went to my buddy's place called

Ena Lake Lodge boom way up uh and I tell

you what it was the first time I got to see the Northern Lights really pretty freaking crazy we

got to see him from my house this year you did I just never gotten to see them

I've been up there a couple of times to the lodge and never caught him and then the

I don't know if it was the first night or second night um it they just came through and

the pictures are crazy I bet I bet you they looked way better from where you

were at than my house anyway they were PR it was pretty crazy I'm gonna do an upload

and share some of them but uh yeah so we're going to debunk someo myths

today is that right we're going to try see uh we're gonna give our

input give our input let's establish some I'm not showing that we're live

over on my side are you showing yeah yeah showing live over here all right

well I don't know maybe platforms I don't know maybe I'm a maybe I'm a guest today because it's uh on all so socials

that show them we are live all right why can't I can't see any of my controls so

I can't see anybody chatting you have to call them out if there's anybody because I

can't I have I have zero

chat what's up well I guess Daniel do you have chat over on your side I have

everything on my side we're good all right very good that's going to be just handy dandy all right so number one

floring meth that I can think of swirls around

moisture and the KN the the the lack of the need to moisture test an old slab

and I know we went over this with um in our moisture mitigation kind of

podcast uh several weeks back but it continues the the mystery continues at

least in the general contractor's minds and I hope all of our out there who may

be dealing with this um you know a GC saying well uh the slab's 40 years old

well that's all the more need to test the dog on thing that's the thing it's it's always they say the slab's really

old it doesn't need to be tested or the slab's brand new it doesn't need to be tested it's like or this stuff's been down for 30

years and it's doing just fine yeah well best I can tell you is

follow the rules gentlemen you know we know that as flooring professionals we need to test these slabs particularly

if it's getting a moisture sensitive flooring like an lvt sheet vinyl those

kinds of products and um but I still between our

last podcast and now that has come up again you know that it's an old

slab uh it had a a resilient product on it before and why do we need to test the

the the floor so obviously if you were with us during

that podcast you know but the um the likelihood I forget who was our guest on

that do you remember Daniel Seth theck oh it was yeah was

Seth Jared Lockwood from U yep so you

know they they said it straight up but I don't remember the um the percentage but

it the likelihood of you having an intact um VAP under that yeah under that

slab even if they put one originally is

like there's no chance you know I lost was

deteriorated I had a video from uh some the the the house I moved into a few

years ago and up top in the Afters in the garage they had some plastic wrapped around some carpet like they were trying

to save it right and I went to grab it and it just like it like flaked apart

like I I could scrape the whole thing off of the carpet like it was dandruff and it was like in a bag it was like a

bag and it was just I know it was pretty thin but that just showed exactly what happens to it over time yeah and imagine

it with several tons sitting on it and moving around from the earth over 40

years so so obviously this is a loow hanging fruit as far as a myth but that

is continually brought up um I've even heard floring guys say it in the past

and I'm like dude that's not the that's not true you have you need to the crazy thing is is that they're like super

proud of it when they're like I don't I don't moisture test anything well there there's a heck of a

lot of risk and um no reason not to test it I mean you should charge for it and test it take

time I mean but that just makes them get another certification so yeah but they're so

easy go on to Wagner meters get you one uh pretty easy to get a certification there guys and um also you

know get get floor Cloud if nothing else yeah uh you know those kinds of that

that product right there will will help you with um not only the site monitoring

but you can set your moisture test and then and you know Bluetooth those two together and you can get your results

right back at your office so or on your cell phone if you're an installer that's uh following the moisture testing

so um I had one texted to me uh flooring

is easy H that's a good one brother because I think it comes from the the the one

floor that seems to be pretty easy click together but you still have to know I

mean tell me Daniel what you got to know put together click together LBT properly

I hate click together LBT like so that's one of the things that I had on the list was uh floating floors are easier are

always easier to install right but then at the same time another myth is that

they're foolproof because they're not it's a I think they're

a lot more math is involved because you're dealing with the logging mechanism as like uh a glue down plank I

can shrink it and then you know piece it in and take an eigh inch off and you'll

never notice yeah well let's talk about this a little bit more because there's several

things that I think need to be uh brought up a uh your floor this this

could be a myth on its on its we do have gravity on our side yes yeah that's

about it Nate um the

uh the myth this could be its own myth by itself which is that you don't have

to have a as much floor prep for for solid core clict together

products I can tell you that if you have ulations in your floor whether it be a

hard wood or a wood substrate or a concrete substrate what happens with a big Valley on this

product if you just Loos lay over a big old like a

big and then the the clicking mechanism breaks yeah well and you get a gap or it

starts deaminating uh all kinds of stuff I've seen it happen on Plenty of projects one

of my own uh RPM didn't you know I mean we we've changed our tune and we glue if

it's a click together floor we can't find a good alternate to uh from a style

perspective and and do a u a full glue we'll glue that sucker down we're not

we're not we're not Loos laying anything anymore and

that's and if you have depressions in your floor or high spots you still need to take care of those almost better

really because you get Hollow spots you get deflection in your floor which breaks those mechanisms just take one of

those click uh uh tongues and go like that with it see what happens you don't even need to do that just like your

finger sometimes just a fingernail yeah I tell people too when when when

hey my floor is feeling can you come and take a look at it oh this was just installed a little while ago and blah

blah blah I was like well what well who installed it well I did and then you try to explain that to them and no one ever

understands until say remember the hangers you take a metal hanger and you don't have wire cutters you just bend it

bend it bend it Until It Breaks I said that's what your locking mechanism is doing that's what happens over time on

the deflection and then they go oh just to show that that flooring is

not easy in this Regard in particular I had a general contractor uh he was a

carpenter um that moved up in the ranks and he he was uh fi ops manager for one

of my gc's he installed his own floor he had seen it 100 times and it failed

miserably uh and it was all the locking mechanism and the retailer he bought the

floor from uh telling him that it was

a um that it was uh not necessary to prep as as well

so all you guys out there any homeowners watching you're going to have to prep your floor

so it is not easy that's the most important part of all of our products is having a proper substrate so Roland my

trip was ridiculously great I caught a bunch of

fish uh the travel getting there is quite the adventure because it's far

Northern uh friends don't let friends float floors that's good uh the travel was uh

you know getting to the lodge up there is half the um half the experience and

journey uh we we take a I got a fly to to uh

Edmonton from there I jump on a a plane to uranium City I actually toured

uranium city looked that place up it's it's crazy uh went into the high school

and you can see nature just taking it's been about 30 years I've got

better facts now after doing the tour but it's about 30 40 Years of um the

environment you know just nature taking over and there's there's uh trees

growing up between the walls and the freaking uh concrete

slab like it's Vines are everywhere Moss is growing all over it if it was any of

the wood structures they've completely caved in like the old houses and stuff anyway we fly into uranium City we jump

on a float plane and fly to the lodge and then we jump on another float plane

to go to the Northwest Territories to slay some some big Old Pike I took a client with me and um general contractor

a friend of mine and he caught a 45 inch

Pike holy SM like almost 4 foot dude

second largest pike ever caught at the lodge and get get and check this out

he's never been pike fishing he's NE he's he's done some cat fishing and noodling he's a country boy I remember

the first time I went pike fishing with my uncle I was dude that dude was like shaking the boat it was just like a it

was nothing special right nothing like motorboat and I was so scared I was like

eight years old you these fish are gonna eat eat me up they tried to drop me in the water it it was actually pretty

hilarious after the fact yeah that so thanks for asking Rand it was uh it was

fantastic man just got back about an hour and a half ago already banged out a bid and now I'm here with you fine

fellas talking about floors uh the other thing about uh this whole thing uh you

know it not being easy um and the floating floors and all

this stuff is you know putting them

together getting the locking mechanism Done Right is not Elementary I've seen

so many times it just starts spreading because they didn't get it fully locked in well there's so many locking

mechanisms out there that you have to deal with now you have to know exactly what you're doing what product you're

working with what locking mechanism yeah I could tell you one that

I don't care for but that's another story yeah I won't throw any manufacturers under the under the bus

here but I but I would tell you that most of the locking mechanism stuff just

floating locking floating floors uh you really it's not just a floor prep that's

one thing and that takes a real professional to level a floor and get it actually done right then you have

expansion and retraction stuff so if you go over a 25t span you got to have a

expansion joint and many people don't do that they don't even think about it and I had an

architect spec a spec a uh floating floor in an assisted living down these

200 foot hallways oh well obviously we're going to run at the length but do

you realize that every 20 to 25 foot I'm going to have to put an expansion joint

in here and all the all the accessories uh

you know you can get them to match but nobody wants to go over a big old

hump living yeah what are we pushing there right that's the thing solution

even a floating floor in a commercial application in general it's not the best

idea right because just not a good idea like I I'm not doing it I we quit doing it we we're gonna if you gotta click

together floor we and we can't cross it to a full glue down product we'll still

glue that sucker down yeah I went and looked at a project and he was like this other company came and gave me you know

some samples and he was like these bathrooms flood all the time so I just want to do like an epoxy or something I

was like oh yeah we can do epoxy he was like this other company brought me some click together floor and I asked him

what company waterproof dude and he it was a residential company and that yeah

they told him that it'd be no big deal but yeah I mean it's waterproof that drain floods and then

man that waterproof word you know what that's one of the that's the one word that one written out that's a a a myth

and a half like um I really water resistant yes yeah water resistant is

one right but the the way that it's explained to the consumer the way that it's sold yeah sold to the consumer is

like I have to or marketed rather right marketed to the consumer there you go marketed yeah it's just I hate being the

one to explain it to them but I have to explain it to them because they have that uh they already have that in their

head that I'm buying this because it's waterproof it's it says it right here it say I'm like you're right that piece

itself is waterproof if I dip that single piece in there and I bring it out you know if as long as it's intact it's

waterproof it to to an extent but um it's not giving you a waterproof floor

like you think it's going to right and then Rollin says they let you go 60 to

80 foot without one and deflection is a floating floor's enemy and I think a lot

of people because on the notes well that kind of depends on how big the area is

Rand because it's usually uh most of them it's like 2500 square foot square

feet yeah is another thing that's and hey you got to be damn near a professional just to read the install

instructions and understand what all they're trying to uh tell you but the gapping and the the um you know

expansion retraction if you got a area that's bigger in 2500 square foot you're GNA have half inch expansion around the

perimeters so I remember seeing the specs the first time the SPC came out those specs surpris me um you know they

said I go you know 100 by 100 or whatever when it came out and I wish that the Locking mechanisms weren't so

so booty on SPC because it was pretty sweet to be able to do that but Andy

McWilliams explained it that one really good right like the thinner you go the weaker the locking mechanism is going to

be because they don't have that body there correct because I mean um when we

did the tour there they kind of showed you a microscopic view of it right and you can still see an entire void in

there so when you're already that thin and you still have a void in there it's going to be weaker but I think the the

bigger thing like he was talking about is the deflection and people not realizing that um you're supposed to

have an inch of subfloor underneath a floating floor and people just go over like the three4 inch on a regular basis

like it's no big deal not even rigid not even Goodwood right like three4 inch uh

call particle board or waffle or something like that something that already has deflection at its thickest

um and it's just not even interlocking sometimes sometimes it's a one of those

homes where they just kind of slapped something down right away or did some repairs and didn't uh they didn't put any

thought into the process no and then Nate says uh I'll put the the thing

up again the comment crawling around for a couple hours gives you a whole lot of respect for babies how do they keep on

crawling for years man ain't that the truth I don't

baby some Pro knes man I know because it's it's not

just to cushion your knee right it's it helps your back it helps so much like I

didn't understand that by not wearing knee pads it can

mess my whole body

up and today's knee pads are way better I mean pro has been around for a long time but when I first started installing

it was those hard shell just knee pad you put on the tile scratchers yeah and

they had the they had the soft shell ones too I wear the hard hard shell when

I was laying carpet because you can slide around real nice but they had the soft shell ones too for when you're

doing VCT and stuff it only took me a few times when I was uh early on the uh

install days to scratch up some nice VCT with my knee pads putting

on before I got the soft shells but yeah

nowadays when I crawl around I just usually stand up well the point here is that freaking

I'm not crawling my bad the point here is that you know

these products that are easy to put together if you take two pieces

and you put together yes that that that uh process is easy but leveling your

substrate making sure you put your poly film down or or any you know Prine

moisture barriers about the where your crawl space is to your like in residential stuff if you're going over

concrete floor which again I just glue it down with the high moisture adhesive to always you know go back to your

moisture readings and remember what uh Seth and them said which I learned uh in

that podcast was it's not just that if the the the

question about moisture mitigation is if it has a chance to get to 100 so without a vapor

barrier it will have a chance and so you should moisture mitigate that was a

whole new kind of you know whole new

uh yeah it was new to me I honestly hadn't looked at it that way I didn't know that that was the way the industry

uh you know the manufacturers uh dealt with it I thought changes changes the

way you look at it right it instead of looking at it what it is right now it's does it have the chance and that it's 95

now but your slab is 40 years old you should probably

mitigate yep that's that's the that's the recommendation the to the high

moisture adhesive right I have on here that any adhesive will work right because there's been a lot of times

where we're we when we used to be on jobs and or talking to someone and

they're like I'm just going to grab this adhesive and throw it down with this and it's like man

that's it's not what you should be doing like there's different adhesives for different things

and like then there's also different like it could be for the same product

different moisture tolerances for sure so I think that myth is busted floring

isn't easy even the easier to assemble is not

easy uh you know tile's another example everybody there's man there was so many

people I seen on social like homeowners like doing their own hard tile yeah and

they they're just using the Spin Doctors or you know a leveling system of some sort that they got from Florida core

Lowe's or Home Depot and they're like this is easy you know so easy just spot bonding it this is so easy dude it's it

is uh it's insane or they're not spot bonding and you don't realize that uh

how many Hollow floors are out there because of that product um you got to make sure your

thin set you get away with a little more if you're not going to be you know

lifting it back off that thin set you know your thin set maybe just a sco a

little bit drier than normal hell you got to have a a perfect Bond so that

when you level and pull that that tile up level with the next one that there's

legs to your thin set you know otherwise all you did is pull it off the thin set

and now you have a hollow spot and it's either it's Hollow if it's ceramic tile

it's going to break because ceramic is really not that strong porcelain tile a good 38

porcelain tile probably lasts a long time before it breaks 58 probably won't break but still Hollow still not going

to last for as long as if it was done correctly so some of these things I

we've talked about in previous podcast of Manufacturers and tool companies

trying to engineer the skill out of of uh some of the products because you know

I think it all goes back to the uh shortage and Quality Labor you know um

get enough bad floors they start trying to engineer out the failures I don't know that that's working because 23 to

22 the failure rate or the uh overall dollars in uh failures did not change uh

anything worth talking about so not folks hire a local professional

floring installer to do your project and you'll be

happy I like this one this one's for all the the gc's out there and the people who are actually in the construction is

a new concrete doesn't need prep that's brand new concrete what do you mean you

gotta skim the floor what do you mean you got to encapsulate it what do you mean you gotta grind it buff

it that's brand new yeah and you over tried it looks like a sheet of

glass and the adhesive that we need to use for this particular product has to have some

mechanical Bond you know there's any number of things that go wrong with new concrete

yeah they got a vapor barrier but the the schedules cause a lot of that problem you know again a lot of this

stuff goes back to Mo to moisture and proper preparation of a

job I mean you guys know it's like the stuff isn't it look looks easy even

carpet tile has things you need to be concerned with you know and it's about

as easy as it comes I'll never forget the first carpet

tile project that we were part of that failed this is years ago right and it was uh installing everything to spec but

all the edges started curling because of the way the material was stored and then we installed it in a very large wide

open building and everything came in and I remember them telling us hey we got the manufacturer to send us a back

Bender like what a back Bender what do you mean we got to peel it up run it

through the machine so it cups it and then then we install it again dude you

don't even have to say another word I know who the manufacturer is but don't say I'm not gonna say but don't say it

don't say it we need all you guys to support us so we're not going to call you

out though we might just saying no some point it's not g to come out in the wash

right and and I'm sure they've learned their lesson from that it was a learning learning uh moment it's got surface got

it has to do with surface tension in the

product so yeah that damn HGTV is telling these homeowners they they can

do the flooring themselves but man we were just talking about that Yeah we

actually our episode in a couple week is going to be kind of focused on this

topic itself yeah H has has caused more flooring failures

than than anybody because they the you don't get to go back and

look it it's not like they go back and they're like oh you know that house we did on the flipper flippy Flip Flip

flipper uh whatever show had to replace everything we had to replace it all you

know you don't get to see that I watch those shows and I cringe sometimes the thing about those shows too is you're

watching it and they're like they do everything in this amount of time and then you go give someone a bid and they're like I just watched this show

and they did all their flooring in like three hours what do you mean take you two days I will I will say that being on

set with Rollin a few times and learning the the ins and the outs um what those

crews are able to do with buildings in such a short amount of time

it's amazing yeah had you had somebody like

Rollin yeah he knows like you got you got Mr certified with you yeah well I'm

talking in general have a a a carpenter putting it

in or or they have the homeowner I've I've seen a show where they were doing the deal and the they were letting the

homeowner do some of the demo um and do some of the stuff like

whatever they felt like they could do and they were like oh we think we can do the tile backsplash and we think we can

do the the lvt and you know they're in there putting lvp in and trying to

figure out how to cut around door jams and it's like oh no they figured it out

they figured it out oh yeah I'm sure I'm sure I'm sure it's a beautiful floor well if you if you actually care

about your home and you want some of these products look we're not saying that it

can't be done correctly we're just saying have an actual professional installer do your floors and you got a

hell of a lot better chance of uh of it working out for you in the long run so

you know flooring ain't easy baby hey pay up you want you're account

do my taxes for free Mr accountant you know I think that's the that's the

professional version is like doing that's the original DIY right there what's that your own taxes

yeah well I'll let the pros do that and U for any accountants out there thinking

of uh doing their own floors leave it to us that is hilarious all right what's

our next myth what about um acclamation oh acclamation yeah doesn't

need to acclimate doesn't it what's what's the myth about that one Daniel what's what's you don't need to acclimate what is what do you need to

acclimate for like especially on these we were talking about like click together and stuff a lot of these are

just say just go in and throw it down no acclamation needed so why won't we just

believe them yeah that I don't know maybe Sunny can uh uh chime in here cuz he he's he's

on all these um you know kind of on the front line of a lot of these deals but

try and take an SPC or any floating floor out of a 100 degree warehouse and

go put it in a 70 degree office the same day and watch I it ain't it's not a good

scenario well and like even if it does pan out a time or two you put enough

humidity or something that's in the air like it's going to sweat in between it's

just not a good thing you should always acclimate your floor that's my opinion I don't care what it is I will say we'll

pull it into our where into our office to get it at least you're attempting right and like with us we just delivered

what like six or seven skids of lvt oh to the job site oh did are you laughing

at a comment that came through I don't yeah yeah I'm laughing that that comment right there

that's the one shy category see that's we're boys bro

that's why we're boys right there yeah thermal dynamics that is uh you can't beat

physics folks and quit getting sold these uh pipe dreams

from the manufacturers out there so yeah I think it's pretty clear that

acclamation is I mean all you got to do it it most of the products have well you

know what the other problem with all this is a lot of that has recycled content and different you never know

they don't even know how it's to react no they they they made a mix it didn't

need it I the bottom line is they don't know what's in it even because they get

different raw materials from the you know when I say raw materials recycled

materials to make these backing and these products out of and they don't even truly know what's in that you know

magical pellet dust that they buy and make their products out of

so Nate you're hired volunteer to do some

smacking he's Indian and then uh another one that I I

was looking at was uh heat welded vinyl is completely waterproof like

well there's a couple there waterproof seamless um seamless yeah it's flash coved right you you think

that it's not going to have any anywhere to get water in but that's in all in uh

who's doing it because we've been in projects before where it's like they didn't do any vertical welding

at all and these are in like areas where you can't have any bacteria growing or

harboring and it's just not good I will I will say I will add to that the way that that that

I learned and the way that Daniel was taught back in the day too like was not

right was not right let's just say that every corner had some sort of matching

silicone or [ __ ] yeah like we thought that that was the way it was supposed to be done you know you don't know what you

don't know I remember and then then learning was like what you can do that

you can I didn't know yeah well done

properly it's still a big ask for it to be completely waterproof and just mop

like you know I don't know you can always go into

a lot of these hospitals and you see where the mop line is on the the in uh intergral base it's like that far up and

they just you can just tell they're slopping whatever cleaning uh products

they want on that so maintenance doesn't matter is another

one that uh I don't know if it's a myth but it sure does um come up a lot is

like well I thought we just had to no you still have to clean your floor man epoxy grout will still get

dirty you know it may not we put grout sealer on it too though like it's supposed to stay clean why does it have

all these PE stains man like it's not supposed to do that but look I know it's PE smell it scratch it sniff

it Jack steam

mops that's good for the floor that's especially the lvp yeah it's good for the and real wood

let's run a let's run a thermodynamic product or a real wood product even uh

and let's let's just put freaking as much moisture as we

can into it yeah let's open up the pores by getting as the surface as hot as possible and then I had

a one of my floating floor uh like

disasters was about a 2500 square foot area maybe 3,000 ft it was cafeteria

walkthrough area for a corporation is in there uh you know their their food court

whatever and it was not it ended up curling and

coming apart and all the joints broke and it had nothing to do with the

product or the installation the floor was we made sure the floor was nice and level everything was right other than

today I would glue that sucker down still or talk him into a different product but the guy we went and watched

um them clean it right after the lunch rush and the guy goes back to the

like Boiler Room to get like hot water in a mop and he goes out there with a

mop and I'm talking 212 water you know dunks it in starts mopping it goes when

it hits it start bubbling it took that floor through that expansion retraction

that thermodynamic the the thermoplastic product was just it can't handle that

kind of heat and and uh it ended up curling and failing because of that obviously but um you know he was like

well just cleans it so much better yeah yeah dude you're you're

you're using boiling water it's going to clean it better you got to do proper

maintenance to your floor take care of it if you want to last long that goes from carpet to hot you know hot water

extracting it getting them oils and the dirt and the sand out of there that sits there and every time you walk on it that

sand Cuts Little Fibers if you don't have a good vacuum uh that's both residential and

Commercial more so in residential because it's a it's a cutpile uh you know

construction and it doesn't affect the loop carpets as much to death you know I

would I I would add that maintenance thing that that uh and this might be a myth in its own but to me maintenance is

probably more important than the initial installation right because maintenance can if it's a bad installation it can

kill it faster if it's a great installation it can still kill it like maintenance yeah I don't think anything

is more important than a proper installation but I would say that it that if you you can just like you said

you can kill a great project by improperly maintaining again these

marketing materials not to [ __ ] on the manufacturers out there but you know when it says on your binder in your

office no no maintenance or low maintenance it's like to the enduser

what that me I don't have to clean every day clean it or low maintenance means I

can clean it every once in a while no if you want your floor to last you got to

take care of it and um you know carpet's one of the the biggest it it just gets

matted like you know nothing it turns into like and people wear bare feet on

the carpet and those oils get in the carpet and M mixes with all that get a

uh uh what's that graphic uh um what am I trying to say like alert

to the audience it's gonna get gross uh you know all that yeah disclaimer it gets mixed in

with dead skins and and dirt and dust and just that carpet up I will say that

anywhere I see Daniel walking barefoot I make sure I put my shoes [Laughter]

on is that you don't want to walk on his oil but it's true you're not it's best

for your carpets if you do not if you wear socks at least or you do not uh walk on it with bare feet we we were

just having to he had a deal with the client that he was like there's something wrong with carpet and then he goes over there and he drags his feet

he's like you just got to vacuum it more man you got to get those fibers back up yeah like yeah and who knows how much uh

if you take a good vacuum how many fibers you're going to capture in there uh I would assume you guys aren't

selling like staple products or something like that you're probably selling continuous filament you know one

product cut you know we try not to sell anything that we wouldn't put in our house so it's um yeah he just just

needed a little bit of a a nudge in the right direction so he could understand it and why it was creating that yeah so

no M low maintenance floors do not mean no maintenance floors it means take care of them don't use steam mops like if

you'll read the the install instruction or the uh maintenance car and maintenance that is where the

manufacturers really do come clean they're like giving you not on their marketing material but how to properly

maintain the floor they cover their everything in there because they they'll that's what they point to if you're like

this is not doing well and a homeowner calls and there's a claim or you know an

end user calls and there's a claim they're they're always going to go look at them what how are you maintaining

that floor that's the first question I almost always get when we have a claim how was it properly acclimated

blah blah blah you know did you who in installed it and was it installed properly and some install um background

and then how's it being maintained yeah that I mean in their warranty documentation they have how

you're supposed to well that you need to follow their maintenance plan in their maintenance manual

so yeah so none of it's that easy so here here's one for the salesman out

there right because we've been we've dealt with this uh a few times that like

T size and roll sizes doesn't affect installation

difficulty we' had we've had it where sales people are like you're going to do this 20 foot right here and then no seam

but you got to go through this three foot door and then another

25 dude it's like are you serious dude like how we do it all the time I'm like

okay how does that job look so they're

dropping yeah they're dropping through a door a three foot doorway dropping another like it's said 25 feet right

then you have a three-foot door and then you have to drop another 25 feet through that door that's I'm exaggerating but that's

what it seems like like that's still crazy that's what my brain does crazy large large

format what do you mean you can't put that on here that the the floor goes like this

yeah as with almost everything when we start talking about install it shows you how much it matters to properly prep the

floor you almost have to be a chemist to make sure you got the right ad adhesives

that if you're going to you know have a glue down product and you know maintenance like

all these things matter and it boil normally boils down to proper

prep proper you know Le leveling the floor Moisture

Control situation so making sure you know the moisture and that's another

thing a lot of homeowners don't think they need to worry about moisture well if you have a freaking crawl space

that's only 15 in from from you know the ground level to the bottom of your wood

and you have no the the ba that crawl space is not taken care of um and

waterproofed you're going to get moisture coming up through that wood substrate and into your products so even

with wood floors you guys uh especially in older homes that have really small crawl spaces you got to worry about that

so I had a gentleman um recently actually that he did an add on to his

house and he added on over an existing sidewalk or like concrete that he had

there um for like their like back patio and I saidwell this is what I'm going to

have to do um because you're going to like I guarantee you they didn't put a

vapor barrier underneath your sidewalk and now you have all this finished wood everything's all highend looks super

nice and and I just made some recommendations and and he didn't he didn't really enjoy what I had

to say about his um ideas but most don't yeah it's just trying to protect his

investment for him man I was trying to help him out sure that's most of the most of the time when

you're trying to um uh deal with these things the you know you're you you got

to make sure you got a good project team if you're in the commercial world and that the gc's like understands that like

I'm not trying to we're not banking over here on these these issues we just soon

come in lay our product and be done and be gone man we don't want to have to

level floors mitigate moisture deal with all these things

like we just soon come in and do flooring

but six months down the road get a failure you get a problem who's getting

the first call we are so we have to bring those things up or else you

know yeah I agree Nate that's that's like 90% of it the pro I think a lot of the problem at least with retailers I've

talked to uh like retail installers is that salesmen don't do that a lot of

sales don't do it and they they just want the sell because everybody's paid

on commission or most of them and so if the store down the street will sell it

to them in a kind of I don't know maybe an unethical manner you know uh then you

got to do it well that's a a plague of of the retail world and Commercial you

know we got the Architects and things in the in the in between that at least have

some common sense to it to listen I think for the most part I'm not saying all the time but there's a lot of times

when they'll they'll actually listen to you especially if you've been around a long time and you're a good flooring contractor and got a good reputation

they'll they'll listen to you if you say hey this is the deal but going back to

your myth Daniel we got a job we're bidding right now I got to be real careful because it's in the bidding

process and everything but we have a job right now where an architect it's a big

open area and um uh oh he was about to tell a real

finish s let me finish a sentence big open area and it is

open and it's got floors going in I wonder if his computer died

it probably did well guess

uh Ash what the hell yeah we we can't put hers on there can we um no what

about some other things that that uh that new concrete doesn't need prep and

I like you know we we talked about it not needing moisture testing but when we always why do you need to do so much

prep when this is brand new concrete when you know that story that I told about um being on the job site with the

the GC and then being like it's a half inch different from me to you and you know you're only six foot away from me

dude yeah I know there's so many of that so much of that they just you know what's funny it's like it always comes

back down on the flooring installer and they don't ever want to back charge anybody else right but we have to deal

with all the problems we always have to be the uh we always got to be the the bearer of

bad news we are just the messenger at the end of the project you guys when it comes to stuff like that told you his

computer died yeah my computer totally died and it's been plugged in I kind of

worried about that at the moment so I I'm back can't get rid of me that easy although I do think that the gods are

looking out for me to keep me from saying whatever I was about to say about just gonna leave that alone said

I'm not gonna say anything El customer cut you off right C you

off someone was watching we filled it we we finished your your um because yeah because and

then we started talking about how brand new concrete doesn't need any prep because it's brand

new yeah this had to do with uh tile size and uh how how people budget things

for uh um not consider child yeah for tile size I'll just leave it at that I'm

not going any deeper I feel like I just maybe got saved for no reason at all my computer shut off so I'm just gonna shut

up on that one I I will say like uh when we did the the podcast with uh the gentleman from overseas drawing a total

blank on his name Tom Tom oh Tom cooch and and he said we just self-level every

job like yeah I'd love that I wish I wish that that was that what what

conference were we at that uh that sherox guy said the same thing he said he came over to America when he brought

sherox from Germany he's like you remember that yep that was uh fcica I

believe yeah he was like they they just like kind of rough trial everything in

with a broom and then you go in and Prime and self-level everything all the

time I'd love self-leveling if it was that way like we'd just buy pumps and

and like that' just be part of the business Pump Pump Pump It Up has anybody uh this is not a flooring

meth but has anybody used Sher knox's uh moisture like resistant not resistant

it's like it's moisture proofing like mitigation and leveling at the same time have you guys has anybody used that we

have not used that know about it for a few years and comment if You' used that

if any of our audience has used that uh comment tell me what you think I've got

a job coming up where the the concrete slab is horrendous it's a newer slab

sounds like the slab got away from the concrete guys uh but on top of that it

is testing high and I'm like well if I can kill two birds with one stone right

yeah so I'm wondering if anybody I'll get Shane out here one time so he can talk about that stuff because

that with the way he explained it like he told me about it a while he said there's some things in the works and

this is what it might be and then once it was released he was like hey come here I got I gotta tell you something

that's it's released isn't it right yeah

M I think there's if you're watching us on any of our socials let us know if you've used that product and let me know

what you uh what you think what your experience has been do we have a link to that webinar

coming up Daniel it's um FP and I'm I'm looking it up right

here I got a notification today about it that'd be a good one for people to to

sit in on that's through the FCI right yep and you don't have to be a member to

watch it you might have uh to pay a little something but it's like 25 bucks or something I don't even

know so they're going to have a webinar on it well I don't know if it's necessarily on it but uh Shane um is

going to be speaking on webinar yeah presenter is this Thursday

actually oh sweet they record those too so for

anybody who uh wants to go back and watch them in the future uh if you can't make the the FCC

webinars they record them all and you can get access to them so sweet all all right well hey we only

get through a few of the myths because we get kind of deep into it but I think what we've learned today is acclamation

is necessary flooring ain't easy and level not waterproof and it's it's not

waterproof and you better know how to floor prep if you really want to install flooring correctly right and then we

touched on it but make sure that you know how to heat well too when you're talking

about doing vinyl floors and rubber and all that because especially your inside

Corners where a lot of lot of guys try to get away with just uh uh you know

silicone or right I mean you know I'm guilty of it so I'm not dogging

nobody I'm just as guilty as anybody over the years uh but it should be welded and I know that there are some

inside Corners that are it's dog on near impossible due to other factors

but is what it is if you catch us on our uh you know YouTube Channel please give

us a like And subscribe you know let us know that you're uh enjoying the content

feel free to suggest topics that you guys want to hear topics that interest you doesn't always have to be about

flooring there's a um we have a good network of professionals if you feel like you know uh accounting we had an

accountant on before we've had you know uh personal well-being I for lack of a

better way to say it you know um uh yeah so if you got a topic it doesn't

just have to be about flooring uh let us know what you guys want to see Catch Us on one of the socials uh Facebook or

whatever uh interact episodes are like put online if there's one that catches

your eye and it's like I really want to talk to you guys on that one I'd like to be on that one just reach out man we'll get you on yeah

yep there for and then in in about a month we got the the Spanish episode

coming up too sweet yep Spanish episode's going to be great for all our

uh Spanish speaking uh you know crews out there that uh like to listen to us

ramble you can listen in uh native language when uh Jorge and I Think Jesus

Jorge for sure but they're GNA be Jose is that

right yeah Jose so yeah make sure to tune in for

that and um uh one final plug for FCC

and CFI is coming up really quick it's just in October in Orlando so we got

about a little over a month out now so if you guys don't have travel plans get them booked come down and see us come

hang out and um you know I might even get down there a day or two early I know

that CFI would really like to see some of the local Crews so if you're down in the Orlando area come on over um we're

um we're going to rock it out one other thing CFI a lot of the guys have gotten together uh is and I think this is going

to be for next year going to be doing a Fantasy Football uh league and all the

proceeds are going to sponsoring some installers to go to uh convention which

is pretty freaking cool and uh so hopefully we get a good turnout there and and and make some money and and get

to sponsor some people so just trying to get it to where everybody can get involved uh get in the industry if

nothing else uh reach out to Rolland and and start a local chapter if you're a carpet or you know a vinyl guy and start

a local CFI chapter um you know do this kind of things to get involved you can

always reach out to any of the training entities for training opportunities go to go career's website and go to

training and check out all the training options there uh we just onboarded all

of rx's stuff so you know get trained and and and and get paid man that's the

easiest way I can tell you is getting trained and proving it um you know that's where go Carrera comes in you get

your free profile on there and um you don't have to do work on the platform

but you can and get your Hammer rating and prove to your customers that you uh

Stand Out Above the Rest man so get on join join the uh join the movement you

know our our entry or intro into this podcast is true we're trying to forge a

new Legacy in flooring and that's one based on quality and getting paid what you're worth all we got to do is prove

it and then we can get paid yeah yeah and if if you uh if you have a a project

that you're really proud of make sure sure you go to uh floor trends.com and

submit your uh project to be in the installation Awards I think that that deadline is coming up pretty quick yeah

that's cool August 29th you have in to enter so

make sure you get your projects in there got nine days eight days got plenty of

time th your project about it and be about it be about it all right guys is

the pleasure as always to the audience thank you for joining us today and uh it looks like Efron's going to be joining

on the uh spanishs speaking uh episodes coming up as well so uh yeah tune in

boys and next week peace

The Huddle - Episode 111 - Installer Bucket List: Adventures Outside of Flooring

In this episode we step away from the job site to explore the exhilarating pursuits that flooring professionals enjoy in their free time. From epic travel destinations to adrenaline-pumping hobbies, this episode delves into the adventurous spirits of those in the flooring industry. Join us as we uncover the diverse and exciting ways these pros recharge and inspire themselves outside of work, proving there’s much more to them than just their craft. Tune in to hear about the remarkable escapades that enrich their lives.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle you more your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on playing the game but

changing it we're mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a leg up and ensure your voice is heard we're here for everything you

need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in floring this is where you belong welcome to the team what's up

fellas how's it going always always just save it with that right there right like the scramble

mode and just let me just come back in and be all

calm well with me as always Mr Daniel and Jose Gonzalez have preferred flooring out of Grand Rapids Michigan if

you guys ever need a great floring installer in Grand Rapids they are the ones you need to call I'm Paul Stewart

with go career I'm the founder and CEO there and I'm also the president of Stuart Associates commercial flooring

and your humble host of the Huddle we are having just a little fun today uh we

dove into a topic last week that took us uh how long was that Daniel I think it was hour and a half almost no I think it

was like an hour and 38 minutes no I think it was I think it ended at like an hour 29 so we we we ran an hour and a half

uh respectively last last week and um it

it was what's that said it was John's fault I think it was just a fact that it

was a it's a it's one of them topics you know you start talking about the installer shortage and how to deal with

it it's one of them topics that is not an easy answer so it's not easy question

which is not going to give some easy answer I mean we we've got some complicated Solutions out there um

simple uh but complicated or I should say simple but not easy simple but not

easy yeah yeah uh you know having a job board like jumpstart which um I will be

bringing that up pretty often in this podcast because I uh it's a piece of go career but the purpose of jump is to get

our trained guys the guys that are getting trained in the industry new blood to get them placed with either a

quality subcontractor that runs a a labor shop or um independent installer

that has a fair uh fairly good Hammer rating or get them placed with the company I think uh with the that effort

is uh needed and I'm going to keep uh kind of singing that song every single

week because I think it's important that everybody knows that here in a few weeks we will

have jump start live and there'll be you know 15 20 guys on

there they're going to be newer no balls to do do it for two we don't have the

ball to do it for two hours but we're gonna wait for him to do an episode and then he can stretch it for that long we

yeah we were hoping our first two-hour episode is gonna Bean our Hispanic uh

our Spanish speaking episode so there you go Jorge you got a new bar

to jump over we did an hour and you got you got to do two hours baby um so it was just a complicated

topic with a lot of uh I think um ideas I I love the um the participation we got

and the viewership and the responses and it was awesome so you know when you guys

engage and we tend to maybe get a little long- winded today though we're just

talking installer bucket list stuff that uh I kind of when this topic

came up I I kind of thought about it like what was my installer bucket list

at one point and when I kind of checked off some of them boxes uh you know that

kind of evolves it I think it evolves like everything you do right you set you set

a goal you start going towards it and in the process of doing that you're like you know what else I also want to do

this and what if this or you get to it a lot quicker than you expect and you're like not done got

gotta get yeah and and bucket list stuff I

mean that's going to mix with us I'm assuming you guys are going to be the same but it's going to be a little bit

of a mix between business and pleasure for me you

know I got these these big things I want to do with in business and then uh these

things want to do so um for the audience out there as you

join give us some of your uh some of your bucket list so I the one that I

still have right now and I've got my assistant looking is I want to take helicopter lessons and uh become a

helicopter pilot so I I used to ride in them when I was in the military and uh

you know it's it's speed roping out of a helicopter or things like that it was um

I don't know I I fell in love with it and then I've done several uh a bunch of different tours and helicopters and and

um I feel like I've got a pretty good understanding I've done a lot of studying on it and uh how awesome would

it be to go jump in your helicopter let's just go build one build a helicopter they have those DIY

helicopters that you can build is still like 100 Grand though I think yeah all

right guys I'm I I don't have enough confidence in my mechanical

ability to build the helicopter and then get in it and fly it uh yeah that's you

know I I was looking back at some plaques on my wall and I have a plaque

from 2009 I was 40 under 40 and that is just a from the witch Business Journal

good for you man that's awesome do you know about that okay yeah so there's it's just the

you know people under 40 that are making a splashing business or whatever but um in that article I said I wanted to be a

helicopter pilot that was 2009 and I have done [ __ ] other than

read about it and watch some YouTube videos but the thing is though to be a

helicopter pilot that's a lot of like because I was I fly drones right and to do that commercially you essentially

have to get a you have to go through the same stuff as a pilot you have to not the flying

part but you have to know all the things that Pilots are supposed to know about the the atmosphere and all

that yeah you're a pilot in fact in many ways the helicopter is much more complicated to fly than an

airplane um yeah dude and so there's a particular helicopter I want to fly

called a calibri or a cab G2 it's kind of a cool

looking helicopter come on look it up yeah it's

um see if I can find

it cabri G2

baby so anyway um what do you guys still have on your bucket list I know these

are like uh this is not your typical podcast so I hope that the audience will

participate and help a brother out here with the conversation but uh like old

the old school news ones it's uh this is one of the newest

helicopters on the market from a uh I don't even know if I can share we'll see

I'm saying the uh it just popped up a bunch of pictures

boom do you see that y yeah the same one I got that's the

dog the rail uh the tail rotor has a shroud around it it's a three blade

looks like a sperm it's pretty cool man it looks cool well if you if you look at

the um if you were to look at the let me stop screen sharing if you were to look

at like you want to see a ugly helicopter Don't Shoot Me Robinson but

this is the other kind of more entrylevel helicopter is a

Robinson 40 or 22 yeah see he he did he has done a lot

of research and this one to me is an uglier oh

that's let me get a better picture it's a two

blade uh here's a flying one see

I mean check this bad dog

out you know what I mean look that's way uglier than the G2 that is actually big

old tongue on the top and motor sticking out of the back no tail rotor looks like it looks like it

was designed off of one of the characters from Angry Birds [Laughter]

all right look Mario he has he has balls so he can be on the the podcast with

horhe for two hours there you go Jorge you guys are gonna do it I think you

guys are gonna break eclipse the hour and a half you guys uh we'll get Gotta Have a good topic

because uh I can there's no way this podcast is going an hour and a half what's your uh so another bucket list uh

when I was in installer was really to travel I didn't travel much at all when I was a kid and so I really was like I

jumped on uh traveling uh crew and I was going all over I even had my pregnant uh talk talk

about tacos all day that'll get you there that's Myck T talk about tacos

like Forest Gump talks about shrimp and you'll be good get half the episode

explain different tacos I mean that's kind of uh my bucket list

for real like anywhere we anywhere we travel I want to go and get some tacos

to see what tacos taste like in different places my kids are over it

already they're like oh tacos again but that's when uh Tanya and I travel by

ourselves that's what we do is we try and find like a local place are you guys Foodies yeah you're kind of Foodies I

think I I me and my wife man we go oh we know you are bro we know you are love

eating never SE never seen someone as skinny as you eat as much as you did I

think yeah that was amazing if I didn't if I KN if I knew

that I wouldn't throw up if I ate too much I would I would have joined you but man yeah I I tried I try to find food uh

Jorge says he goes out for the best sushi spots Jorge do you actually eat

sushi like raw sushi or are you the California roll

guy California road I the crazy thing is I'm allergic to shellfish so I actually

eat the raw fish ones because I those are the only ones that I can eat I I

Love Sushi man I I'll try that my wife loves sushi so we'll go try to find a sushi spot that's that's a I don't know

it's fun to explore when you're in um other Town other places like you know

like I said I I wanted to do a a little bit of traveling and he says

raim good man all right you're a real Sushi eater then I few guys and they're

like hey I'm getting a California roll or I want the asparagus cottage cheese

or cream cheese and and something else like dude that's not real Sushi that's

like vegetables rolled up into a roll hey vegetable rolls are delicious too though I know but you know you can't

claim sush Sushi love her if you just let's let's just agree that that we all love food and we will all try

it even if Daniel didn't find out he was allergic to shellfish for a long time so

he just ate it like his whole life until one day he put two and two together no I I think it was develop allergy kind of

like the same way with you and lactose oh yeah yeah I remember that we don't

want to go into that story that was a what's going on Mr zern I do remember when came to that conclusion

though so the uh do you guys have real life bucket list

items shimi is the way to go so like um

real life bucket list items you know honestly things that you feel like you got to check off you know the bucket

list check them off before you go down my bucket list before kids was different than it is now that I have kids because

I want my children to experience everything with man so um you know I really just want to go like visit take

my kids to go visit like uh overseas like ston Hench I need to show them I I'm a geographical guy I like uh seeing

uh you like history and geography and stuff like that yeah I do I do actually and um know like the nascal lines and

the pyramids Daniel's been the Pyramids in Mexico like I like stuff like that

and that's what would be on my bucket list is um is you know like World worldwide

landmarks right something that's recognizable in the entire world not just in Michigan so I actually this past

spring break I got to check that off of my bucket list was to go to chich chinita and I've say that five times

fast I've always been like fascinated with like that the culture down there and I've always wanted to go there and

the last time Tanya and I went um we we didn't go and I was like this time we're

going we made a it was basically a full day trip out of it but really we were

only like walking around there for probably two and a half maybe three hours because it's not very big like

it's huge but they don't let you go up until it was you know declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World they let

you go inside once it was declared that everything is roped off but that was it yeah I mean but still to to go there and

definitely somebody somebody must have stumbled upon a portal in there and they close well I was going to ask you guys

hey are pyramids did the humans build them or did aliens build them dude have

you ever watched the Y files oh dude that that's a really compelling uh case

to be made that I'll go down some controversial rabbit holes with that stuff yeah

100% there's just too much to them man I don't know it's crazy well they they at

Le Le the the Egyptian pyramids uh they did this whole thing go

check it out it's a podcast called the Y files and it is it is pretty freaking

cool Mexicans both a pyramid here and in

Egypt bro he's probably right that if there's a if there's a feat to

be had my those boys will figure it out like we got to get this 2200 ton

block up that hill all right man next it's in place level we level

with our eyes we Plum with our eyes nope just little bit this way good it only

works if you li the tip of your thumb and you get the light To Shine off of it just right they'll Center it that's how

you do it to water level yeah that's so if you guys if you

guys have um what about business-wise you guys got like that's a

big bucket brother that's a big bucket what you what you want to accomplish in in business whether it's with preferred

flooring or something else or you know

like I know it'ser Finding finding the right

um finding the right process the right time just to say boom and then be able

to to do everything that we know that we have to do like the the trust Factor right being

able to find the strength to have that trust I guess is what it is gotta trust everybody around

you so you're saying a business that runs automatically is that kind of the

thought kind of runs without you that would be that would be fantastic but um

I've been trying for 20 years yeah I know man I know that's the thing is uh

you know that the people who have told me that they found success in that their success that the way they found it was

by selling it yeah well I think that's like when you go back to like the EOS right it's

or built to sell really it's it's not in the destination right because the

destination is to sell it it's in the process to get there like we're so I I

guess we're we're still all in process and that that bucket at the end of it is

to actually have something to where you can just hand it over to someone else yeah I guess a short-term bucket uh

list would be to be able to hire the right people to help the infrastructure of the business

in the office the gravitational pull was way different back then when when the pyramids were

built like that the atmosphere was all helium so everything was just way lighter

that's legit I got that from what's that movie called uh 10,000

BC oh no Carter what's that dude Carter goes to Mars so I I think we like as far

as the business bucket list we've already talked about it numerous times and I you know it was years ago when I

just said the that my main goal is just to leave the industry better than when I found it right and I think we're well on

our way to do that it just there's there's so much work to

do that it's it doesn't seem like anything's being done even though we've already progressed you know

exponentially probably but it feels like you haven't done anything because one you're still in it and you're still

trying I was just having a conversation um earlier today about that exact same

thing that we've been doing building go career since 2018 so five years and uh

really five years launched it in 2018 but really got going 2019 but you know

five six years here and it feels like we've not done much um but there's a lot

of people that would tell you differently it's just I think it's that same thing you just said there's so much

freaking things to do still that it feels like this huge mountain it's like

you Crest a little Hill and you think you're getting somewhere and then you look up and you're like oh I still got

to climb that it's it's uh I'm

hoping yeah it is just a money Hill I'm hoping that this next Blitz that we're

in right now does help a lot but you know kind of a a goal is straight up I

mean I tell people all the time I I I want to leave I want to make sure I

didn't that I have a positive impact on the industry that I'm in that I love

and takes a lot of uh people other people to make that happen you guys you

know again I'll throw out there you know CFI and FCI CA convention is coming up

make sure you're there if you're watching I want to see you there come see us come hang out um but you know

that's where we met is at one of the conferences I think it was actually surf TI yeah T but um you know it takes a it

takes a army to change something and a lot of people believing uh that something different

new can be possible um but you know ultimately trying to assist in healing

the industry or being a positive force in that um that's definitely a goal but a bucket

list like would be just that from business standpoint would be that go

careera is fully adopted and that we have this placement and like this machine running that's

bringing new people in placing new people uh giving the consumer the uh

whether that's a GC or a homeowner the ability to know who they're hiring and and the quality and and capabilities of

that person I just think that's a better world in my in my brain anyway and uh

to get a mass adoption I think it definitely make for a better experience overall right um a

more consistent experience anyway and then yeah I mean then consumers get to

pick off of you know off of the uh off of that experience whether it's the

installer or the retail shop that puts their average Hammer rating you know of all their uh subs and employees or all

their inst up and says you know we have an average Hammer of two carpet five and

whatever and homeowners to know that for that to be known like the that rating

the qualification skill score Hammer rating for that idea to be known by the people who who

pay all our bills which are the end users at the end of the day so right Eric says he wants to leave a legacy of

making people's lives easier and disruption to Market Market where people are gouged on select types of products

so if if you guys don't know Eric works with uh gunlock I believe and he's

invents tools I mean things that make our all of our Lives easier and you'll see him at these conventions and stuff

too and you can ask him questions and just don't ask him what's coming out next because he won't tell you I've

tried we need to start doing tool reviews on here and does some some tools and then we'll do a

live review hey it and do this whole we we were working on the my truck this

weekend in the warehouse um and my son came up with an idea for a tool why don't why don't they have this for that

Dad I was like Dang d ding ding invented I was like that's a great idea dude he was

like they don't have that yet it's like no it's like we gotta we got we gota we got to figure something out I don't want

to say it on here because I give too much information sometimes I guess yeah because then Eric will go make it hey

Eric I'll sell you some ideas I see your tight lip you were tight lip last podcast you

like I'd say something but I ain't gonna say it in front of you I can't here here's the reason is don't

give all your secret years over the past couple years I have openly shared some ideas and showed some information of

some things that I was doing and let's just say there's some companies out there right now that have implemented

such yeah yes yes yes after some one-on-one conversations they've implemented such and they're making

money with with it let's just say that all

right well um any what what's up personally we got

travel eating I want to be a helicopter pilot you guys better ride with me if I

get my license and by the way that's like you know know you got to get like three I think 300 hours to be able to

fly other people really yeah Solo solo hours you gotta have 10

tandem hours with an instructor then 20 I believe on your own and then you have

your private pilot's license the crazy have anybody else in your in your craft

you have to have 200 I think it's 200 hours so our the landlord of our

building is actually a pilot too and he's taking my son up in his plane he's just got

like a little two-seater and I was asking him about it and I was like you know like what kind of engine and stuff

like that he said it's no different than the engine in a vehicle it's the same thing yeah a lot of them are if it's a

piston engine then and and carburated piston engines so what you got to start

worrying about is you know freezing uh you know all this kind of

stuff never meant to give it away Eric it just it happened conation and troubl shooting sell it dude don't don't don't

give it away so continue this conversation for

59.99 I mean as far as other bucket list I don't think I ever like wanted to be a

pilot or anything um I've just the the way we grew up we didn't do much

traveling so I think that's why we we look at that like it's something that we want to do and we want our kids to

experience and you know do you have another place in

mind um I would really like to go overseas too but my wife says that is a

no-go for her because her flight limit is like 4 hours at a time and she said

that's way too long to travel that way but also I guess um my bucket list would

actually be to like move to kasum and just open up something over there and

good old Taco Stand I think something it it doesn't matter what it is right as

long as I get to like live that life because you go over there and people are like so easy going and it's almost like

to them even their work is like they they still get to live there so it's

it's not that bad because they know they're they're there they're going home they can go to the beach every day they

don't live far away from it I mean yeah I think the one of the

things about having a conversation like this is just trying to show it's important to dream a little bit like

live outside your work uh you know have have some things some goals outside of

just pure work uh pretty much we talk about work every podcast and so having

some Hobbies uh you know dreams outside of work you know living life we do this

for experiences most people say they want money they really want what money brings it which is the experience of the

new car the experience of the new house or the experience of the trip the experience of having your own Taco Stand

Down In Mexico freedom to be a vision freedom to be a and be able to implement and try some of

your ideas that's all it is that's all that money gives people is is is freedom freedom to to do as they as they

please well allows you to allows you to design shirts for your baseball teams

and Coach your kids teams and travel around doing that and you know you

guys you know it allowed like the whole point of of uh

having hobbies and things like that is just trying to get your mind off work a little bit I tend to be a workaholic a

little and so my brain like circumference around that I'd love to get better at golf I shot a 84 one time

at our at the course I play at that I'm a member of and I my kids were little my

daughter was you shot4 nine holes no it was a it hey you're not steing my

thunder bro that was that was the best game I shot and I was like I told my

kids I'm like I'm going pro this is this I had like four birdies

it was like ridiculous so I I do wish I was uh could

devote a little bit more time into that and I love shooting guns too oh shooting

guns you gotta shoot l a pew pew I like it it's F I just love the smell love the

smell like do you take your girl with you you

shoot no no don't want to give her the the the means yeah can't can't teach

them how to do that you know what's funny man is I actually got in trouble I took my mom's property I went out there and I was going over gun safety with my

family my kids my nephews and it was just a weird scenario neighbors freaked out sent the cops

over it was all good it was it was actually pretty humorous after the fact but it was uh not humorous during the

whole thing but did you get arrested did you get a gun charge okay no good you're

good yeah I'm good it was it was pretty funny those guys those guys were smoking I got to take my my uh so you guys know

I adopted three kids and I've got two boys I want to take them out

shooting and uh so I think I'm gonna take him before the Summer's up which is

coming close but I'm going to take him out to a clay clay range I I'm I'm a little skeptic because my nephew lived

with me when he was about 16 I took him out there and he swung the gun two or three times at our faces and I was like

dude give me a break like I'm gonna have to tackle you next time bro this

a was he just like hey hey yeah like come on man but yeah so shoot I like

shooting I haven't uh my wife told me the other day and I don't know if I should be worried about this but she

wants learn learn how to how to shoot so I think I think everybody should learn how to shoot man I know that that some

people just are against it but I think that that's um I think you should everyone should

know because the more you know the safer you are it sounds dumb but people don't

understand what not to do and that's where the accidents happened um that's why I did that with with the family I

wanted them to understand how it operated I do have to I do get I do owe my son a a gun I did tell him that I'd

get him a rifle 22 if he took care of his a pet gun and get him little golden get him Little

Golden Boy little gold SS baby yeah just a little little to shoot iron

sights isn't that the isn't that how you're supposed to learn well that's how I learned in the military they

didn't I didn't learn how to shoot on yeah you shot iron sights

man he's a pretty good shot already good um well another another deal like

uh you know our our support system here at the Huddle is Ashlin and you know she

wanted to point out that small trips or small experiences and you know a lot of times

that's all the time we have to get away as business owners and as installers so

you know taking that extra day off and going over the weekend planning around

maybe a holiday get you days off those are some of my funnest trips because

when day I'm not missing much work so I don't have as much stress if I take a whole week a whole week off during the

week I uh I stress I just I get all anuty of a an extended weekend right

because that's what Tanya and I do like just me and her and that's where you see

all of our like Vegas trips and stuff like that it's because sometimes like

there was a and we talked about this on the mental health episode where a lot of times it

was me always trying to include the kids and everything and then her being like no we just need some time together right

and that's what I did I was like all right let's start doing these weekends and it it actually worked out and that's all it was was and it and I we actually

didn't take any time off work we would leave after work on Friday come back on Sunday be back to work on

Monday so just you'd leave Friday yep we I like getting out like Thursday evening

go wherever it is and then I got because I'm not missing any work I'm going fishing this weekend actually to Canada

Way the heck up Northern Saskatchewan and I am going to uh take off on

Thursday 5:30 fly out and then I'm back on Tuesday morning so I do I miss Friday

and Monday with two two week weekend days uh in between there and that's

where I get the most uh relaxation anyway because I'm not away from work that long I don't know if that's me or

if it's like you were talking earlier uh Jose if it's not really trust but just

you want to make sure things are you get calls when you're in the office so you you would just in your

head you assume like I'm missing calls when I'm not in the office

it's it's always the fear of always having to play catchup is really what it is always having to play catchup missing

missing an opportunity like those are those are always my fears um says he no vacation since

2022 all work and very little play but he does go to the conventions and stuff

so seeing us is what he enjoys yeah um but I did see that he he went to a

concert a couple weeks ago I think so he didn't even invite me damn who was

it Taylor Swift but I mean even the little things

in town right cuz that's what Tanya and I do too it's like we

love comedy shows we love going to concerts and that's what draws us to Vegas is everything going on and then

even in town he uh we went and seen Boys to Men like ABC BBD that was yeah it was

great and H says he went and seen Ice Cube like dang Yeah

Boy dang that's pretty awesome when was that was that in uh Texas

Jorge you know mentioning all this work and play and stuff we got we got to remember that that one of the keys is

what you were talking about earlier Jose was you know having systems and and

processes and a way of doing things that makes life easier and that you know plays

right into the fact that you know thinking embracing the technology

that'll help you be more efficient um you know my dream with go careera is

that people are just the bottom line is people are getting the right guy on the right job and you don't have to know them 100 you know for 15 years to know

you got the right guy on the right job and to make sure that your job sites are ready you know you ought to look into

floor Cloud which is our sponsor for today's podcast floor Cloud you know

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right now so we've got a total of uh three Bay stations hooked up and

constantly monitoring and it is it's it's huge for me to be able to go to the

GC and when we talk about it and I'm like hey did you get some dehumidifiers in there yet oh no I forgot I said I

know you forgot because I'm looking at the stuff right now I'm telling you you forgot

yeah there's not there there's nothing better to save your time than to me is

technology like having that ability to get the information whether it's your site conditions or uh being able to like

go careers technology that basically gives you insight into the installers uh

background and work history and skills and abilities all these things help you

to uh you know be more efficient maybe in enjoy life a little bit better because like Ashlin

said playing catchup is better than missing out on life experiences because we only have this one life guys you know

try to enjoy some of it work hard uh when we've done our financial uh huddles

put back some money invest your money give some money away and um save

up for some of those life experiences of course the uh conventions

are always a fun time they are manyi vacation a lot of times or they were before we launched the Huddle and now we

now we pretty much work every conference but yeah I do enjoy doing

this so not it's not a it's not a hassle for for me I know just like hodad he

says that you know he does the rugs on the weekend and wall the wall during the week I mean when it when and I think

that's the thing right it's when you have a passion for it it becomes more than just a job and then you enjoy doing

it so when we're working a lot of the times it it doesn't feel like you're working it just feels like you're doing

what you need to do right it's not like I mean granted there are those times

where it's like you're so mentally exhausted from doing like working with

this certain person or architect and it's like man I just I'm product or yeah

and and that's where uh your your home life personal life bevs into work life and vice versa right

like it always the biggest the biggest thing to me is when is dealing

with how do I say this without saying a-hole like just

people who don't want the solution to happen it's almost like I've had uh

superintendent and uh gc's just want to be mad and the job's going not

perfectly as planned or something and instead of focusing on the solutions they want to remind you that three weeks

ago your guys weren't there you know and it's just

like when you get a good good GC that has good high quality superintendent

that are solution oriented and a good for in or whatever that's when I love

doing this business that's when I love just all the moving Parts it takes and

putting them all together and that's when your systems can almost run the thing but you can never take away that

human element so it's about it's about working well with others um I think uh I just experienced some of

that today with with the gentleman from who owns a a construction company

and dude came came at me he didn't come at me very like

professional but he wasn't out of whack but at the same time it's like I don't want to give you a change order I just

want to get in there and get the job done dude yeah this is this is we had a conversation I said we did have a

conversation I told you what I wasn't going to include I said it's there in the in writing right

and like even your guy told you that there was some un foreseeing that popped

up that we needed to assess and now you're getting mad at me because I'm assessing them and giving you a price so

it's okay everything was approved everything was good Ashlin is right it's

not even playing catchup it's uh a lot of the times I'll work you know the if

I'm leaving on a Friday I'm stacking as much time as I can Monday through Thursday sometimes even that previous

weekend right it's it's just all you still got things to do but you can still do it and then get some of these you

know bucket list things done hey I want to go do this this weekend so that means

this is what I got to do you don't Tak care of your bucket list eventually just going to turn into a the other kind of

list start well like like becoming a

pilot yeah yeah well that's GNA happen I I'm finding the school that has the

helicopter and I'm GNA do it guys you got it here on the Huddle you can call

me out on it in six months and see if I've gotten any close

I would say that uh you know the whole idea is take some time for you this goes

into our self-care uh episodes that we've had you know therapists on for and talking about

that um you know put some time aside for yourself your family your kids and um

you know just like you said Daniel talking about you know putting in extra hours that week before it's kind of like

banking hours so you can take you you truly take off the the time that you're gone I'd say that planning is a big part

of it for me I've got to plan it out a little bit more than I'd like to and uh

it's really it was really important when I was a sub I had to like constantly tell the the stores I worked for don't

be booking me for a job this week I'm I'm gonna be gone I won't be there so

I'm I'm gone this week that was before we had a lot of like shared calendars or you know they wrote the schedules and

notebooks and [ __ ] so yeah but you got to do it yeah the other option is like

work while you're there like when we we want to travel my daughter's in

gymnastics we went to the Bahamas while the kids were you know on their vacation schedule sleeping in I

was still waking up at the same time working then once they woke up it was all right now let's make breakfast head

out do something but I already had you know a good four or five hours in the

day already yeah well that's a good that that I you

know I was thinking this last week about changing up my schedule I my body you

know I used to be the four o'clock up go work out at the office by

6 bang out a 12 14 hour day go

home I I need eight hours and that means I'm going to bed like 8

o' and uh so I I've been thinking man how do you go to bed middle a day like

that man some some of my some of my friends have those kind of schedules like you just mentioned Daniel is like

you do some work kids get up you get to enjoy I've

never taken my kid like except for like emergencies or my wies out of town I

have never taken my kids to school not in any like fatherly way either cuz when

you're getting it thrown on you because your wife's out of town or she's sick it's not it's not like you're okay guys

let's make your breakfast it's like let's go get the H in the truck let's go

so I admire you for doing that that's really awesome I've been dropping my girls off at school their summer school

a few times um more than a few times but they love riding with Dad and uh they're

learning a lot of old school songs there you go that's good

just just today old music just today I picked up my daughter from gymnastics we

went to Blakeley and uh uh Corey from Wolf was there and

Jared from utin was there I didn't even know that they were there and I was like oh this is awesome now we don't have to

go get anything to eat let's go see what they got to eat because I was returning some stuff and then drop them off at the

house pick up my son take my son to football then back to the office it's like yeah I got to take my on the

football here pretty soon he's here somewhere well he's probably sitting on the high low that

that's that's the uh I admire you for that I I I need to you know I got three

kids still at the house and two grandkids I need to like work that into my day and not like just take them with

you bro just take them with you they love nothing like my my son he was l i he just loved going with me

like took him out a couple measures meet some people mine are old enough they're like 12 and 14 they don't like coming

here because I put them you know put them to work it's like the back and help the warehouse guys I don't care if

you're pushing a broom or loading up materials or stacking pallets go figure it out my son loves doing all that I did

um I did let my daughter uh my daughter Audrey Drive the Hilo this weekend there

you go she she's eight I told her when she was five I said when you're eight I'll teach you how to drive to Hyo damn

yeah I am a I'm a gramp Paul is Gramps I am I've got a

seven-year-old granddaughter and a four-year-old in National correct me if

I got that wrong but a grandson and we just was on vacation with them talking

about short trips ran just ran down to Branson it's only about four and a half hours away from us and hung out on the

lake did some some of that of course we ate some food and and and uh yeah it's

cool a friend of mine well a friend of my wife's Own It owns a a big house

there we air be and beat it like 10 years ago ended up the owner of it is

the bass player for Rob Zombie if you guys know Rob Zombie is the the the band

Rob Zombie and he's made a few movies too but yeah he's the bass player I think his name is uh rigs uh I forget

his first name off top of my head but yeah so we've stayed in there mic rigs M rigs yeah so we've stayed there every at

least TW once or twice a year ever since my wife and and his fiance are like

buddy buddy she even goes down there with her girlfriends and they all just go hang out so I did get away and hang

out with the grandkids this weekend and and uh it was it was really enjoyable so

I hope all you guys put some time aside you know have some personal

interests some Hobbies spend some time with family make some area rugs on the weekend

whatever crazy thing is this past weekend was T and I's 20year High School

reunion oh yeah how'd that go did you go I did

go three people uh there was probably like 10 15 of us I've never went to a

high school reunion I never went to a high school I don't know I I don't know that my high school really has them yeah

Ashlin says old yes we are old all right guys well that's going to

close us out for the day I want to thank everybody for joining us thank you to

Jose and Daniel for always being uh the Staples of this podcast you

guys rock I also want to say to our audience if you're catching Us on YouTube today no it wasn't a flooring

podcast necessarily but we know the balance of life has to happen you got to have some fun out there so if you like

any of our podcasts check us out on YouTube I think we're on Spotify and all

the podcast Google podcast I believe so wherever you're catching us give us some

love give us a like subscribe follow us uh also participate in the the um live

event every Tuesday we're live you can get on here and we we still do get you know

comments and stuff like after fact if you like I think there was comments coming through this morning even from

last week's where um we were talking about starting wages

and stuff like that which is a very controversial topic right because and everyone will agree that no they're not

where they need to be but what what are we going to do about that it's that's where it takes all of us to keep on

doing something about these things yeah so interact

with and and uh uh another reminder we're going to be at FCI CFI joint

convention in Orlando uh it's coming up October

20 third October 1 to third right October 1st to the third what is

it October 1 yeah okay and then the 22nd

is when uh the NCT is I'm going to be in Ohio

for flash Coen heat weld class I'm be I'mma

be in Florida nice all right guys well thank

you everybody thanks to our audience uh you guys rock you guys who get on here every week and and participate if you're

watching this uh recorded join us join us live give us your thoughts give us your comments and

uh let us know what you guys would like to uh have us talk about and and any uh

experts that you know about that you might want to see on the podcast uh we love having guests uh we'd have a guest

every week uh but then we wouldn't just be able to ramble in front of you either hey we like we like we like to

have some issues so we could help solve some some issues there right before they become big problems and some well the

fun thing is that we are all solution oriented and that's what makes this podcast work is we think about those

things talk through them and and our audience rocks so with that being said we will see you guys next week uh 3 P.M

Central on Tuesday 4 P.M Eastern the right time zone the good time

zone all right guys we'll catch you later

The Huddle - Episode 110 - Addressing Labor Shortages in the Flooring Industry

In this episode with special guest John Steier (Floorinator) we delve into the ongoing challenges of labor shortages and the innovative solutions being implemented to address them. This episode highlights both current efforts and necessary strategies to attract and retain skilled workers, including increased training opportunities, enhanced benefits, and outreach to younger demographics. We discuss how the industry can improve its appeal to potential employees and the importance of investing in workforce development. Tune in to learn about the proactive steps the flooring industry is taking to secure a sustainable and skilled labor force.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up sorry a little technical difficulty what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're your weekly Playbook where

we not only strategize on playing the game but how to change it from mastering

the fundamentals to distinguishing yourself in the marketplace we're here for the installer to give you a voice

and make sure you're equipped with everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this

is where you belong welcome to the team what's up fellas how's it

going um it is going excellent uh for

the audience out there I'm Paul Stewart I'm the founder and CEO of go Carrera

and the president at Stewart and Associates commercial flooring with me as always Mr Daniel and

Jose Gonzalez that preferred flooring out of Grand Rapids Michigan what's going on guys so today we are

addressing labor shortage uh we we could do a topic on this every week probably

every single week it's always seems to be the topic but uh we

are I think we tackle this um oh two or three times a year we

tackle this um and get get ideas flowing and and discuss um not only

you know what are the problems but you know what are some solutions so I'm going to kick it off

with a couple of things um go Carrera has uh created a product

called the jumpstart and it's a job board uh what jump starts intended to do

is have an is be an outlet a conduit for all of the training entities be it CFI

aft ntca fcef all of these uh to give them a

way to board their students onto our uh

site and then provide access to that site and interviews and all this

interactive kind of thing so that when new people come in that the new people are out in front

of the people who are going to hire them so we know that most of our industry uh

the installation is is done by subcontractors or subcontract third

party independent whatever you want to call them that demographic is a

independent contractor right they're they're not employees that means that we need to give them access to hire these

people uh these new students the new blood in the industry um so I say all that GL to say

that I believe one of the greatest failures in our industry right now is

placement there's a lot of activity going on the recruitment front but then when they get out of the twoe course or

the five-week course or the 10we course or whatever uh or um you know uh out of

a some type of a entry-level course they're not getting placed um their companies are still um

looking at Craigslist or running ads on Craigslist or things like this to find

guys I hear installers all the time talk about Craigslist well Craigslist is dead

when it comes to this at the end of the day it provide you with nothing about the person or provide you no background

and that's what jumpstart is um designed to do give you some

background on the student and um allow you to hire them schedule

interviews and everything right off at the site so that is a solution that we've been talking about for a while and

it to me it is the the it's filling the this huge gap in placement so that was a

really long-winded way of asking you guys when when somebody where do you guys look for

new Talent first off and and

secondly what do you think from a placement standpoint would be important uh and what other holes do

you see because recruitment's out there as well I mean there is some efforts going on in recruitment but it's

probably not near enough to what the industry needs um so I'll go ahead and start

the as far as looking for new Talent uh you you kind of have U we got a small

circle right so we we look within the circle um you know if if we're going back to when um you know prior to us

meeting you Paul there really wasn't any other avenues for us to go besides looking on a Craigslist or at some temp

services that could potentially have a construction um Department in there but

um Word of Mouth friends of family uh you know kids of so and so kids of that

that's where the bucket we've been pulling from um has been uh is one of

those things I think it's a comfort thing right like we trust what people are telling us and we have to trust that

they're referring good people to us um that want to grow and and so referrals

friends and family and referrals and Craigs List yeah it has it worked out

yes and no yes it's work out some of them longer than others some of them shorter than others um however I do tell

I do tell friends and family that if they want to remain in the same or they want to keep the relationship as it is

now then they shouldn't come at work because that's great great

advice that's one of those things where we can separate work and friendship work

in family but sometimes they cannot but we've had a lot more practice

yeah you better you better get good at it pretty quick huh uh we we've hired

family I've not had much luck uh

friends uh a little better but not great I have found that once you hire a friend

you're probably your relationship will change um so wouldn't it wouldn't it be

great though to have the a a spot where you can and just

look for guys that have said hey I am I'm I want to be in flooring I've taken

the first level a training that you can at least tell them to grab you know a stair tool or hey grab that kicker or

mix that grout mix that thin set and understand that you know if it's a

Portland grout you got to let it slake for you know five or 10 minutes and then remix it or grab my margin trial or you

know can understand the basics um because I I just have this

intense belief that we are doing really poor in our industry of placing these

new new students and and that kind of comes from reading on Facebook a lot of

the trainers like they're and if you talk to some of them um placement they

they get students in and they graduate them but they then they don't have the resources to get them placed or the

resources to follow up with them it's like right even when we had Carlos on

here that was one of his big talking points was we can we can turn these guys out right we can get them signing up and

they like doing it and then once they're done it's like where am I supposed to go it's

there's it's it's an issue where where you guys are trying to to have somewhere

for them to actually all right this is where we're going to put them you can go here and view everything but then the

other issue we run into is the whole subcontractor mentality where a lot of

these guys are like I'm only going to run as a subcontractor I'm not going to run it as a business and that's really

not what these programs are set up for they're not set up

to here go work for this guy over here on a a

1099 yeah unfortunately well let's talk about that I mean what

what what's the solution there um I there there's two problems and then what

is the solution or at least this my my two cents on on what the problems are

opinion on the solution is maybe when people are signing up for classes maybe there should be classes specific for uh

individuals who are chasing the entrepreneur dream and want to work for themselves versus someone who wants to

work hourly maybe they should be geared towards a towards a different demographic or that specific demographic

I would say um you know are are you wanting to go out on your own right

away if so these are the pitfalls or are you wanting to take some classes and get

some education so that way you can find placement within a company's easier um

and then then obviously the logistic portion of it is um relocation issues um

you know are are you wanting to stay in your radius your area or are you willing

to move elsewhere and are you set up for that yeah so I think educating

them um educating them on the you know during

the training that there's you know two

two ways to go about this being an employee with somebody and being a a

subcontractor but out of these programs I mean I don't want them to

be maybe this is a selfish I don't think they should be nor do I want these new people going out trying to start their

own thing to me that's just as irresponsible as some guy who came to work for me worked for me for six months

and goes out and starts his own install company I had a few of my helpers do that and they failed miserably and it

doesn't do any good for the industry they'd learn no new skill because they didn't stay with somebody long enough to

learn the skills um you know we've got to get them into some type of employment

for some type of time so if you if you're a company that hires by the hour

um or by the day or whatever but you have employee installers jump starts designed to give

those companies a chance to hire and by the as employees

the um subcontract Community we initially

had a threshold where you had to be one hammer or more

uh to be honest at the beginning we had it at two hammers or more but you know

with only about 12% of the entire network being even close to two hammers

we were like well that kind of uh cuts it off right you

you lower the amount of people that can hire so we're opening it up to where any

anybody can hire the guys now I'll be honest in the future we want to minim you know put that filter requirement

back on it um but at the end of the day

you've got to get the guys placed somewhere and have some someone training

them like them coming out of training and not getting at all with a sub or a company that's certainly not helping um

I think we got to just improve put those funds into training someone and then have them leave the

industry right away and Rollin says like one of the things that we have to be working on is to get more dealers to buy

into the programs but um coming from that standpoint

it's would it be beneficial for the dealers yes but they can't see that because the only thing that I think they

see is and we've dealt with this locally is putting bodies on the floor I don't

care they don't care about the education it's just how many people can we put on the floor well that leads to another

piece really one of the biggest problem it's like we have to get hit with a sledgehammer in our industry for things

to happen I'm serious you are here's the the point is a lot of

people are not hiring these younger guys because they they feel like they're okay

they got their 58 year old out there working in another five years this will

be like there'll be no qu no opportunity

other than hiring younger New Blood hey Paul can I

hey John is hey everybody he's back hooray John has joined our call we love

to add to what you're saying there because it it is exactly that everybody

is so complacent right now and I'm going to talk through my experience with people going through training and then

putting them into placement we all love to talk about the wonderful idea of training all these people but when it

comes to uh retailers and and work rooms and all these places stepping up we need

to do a better job getting them involved in the training from day one and not

just saying here you go here's some guys to pick from well there's two things I

think that there's there's got to be some buy into to the to training in general the the and then there has to be

a mechanism that allows them to easily View and

peruse people that have joined the industry and hire make offers like get

some activity with these students even if a student comes out and gets two or three job offers and he goes away that's

still a better experience than coming out and not talking to anybody um like you got to get this

connection from training to placement and that's where jumpstart comes in and

we are doubling down as as a note to the industry we are doubling and tripling down on jumpstart we are going to make

it awesome we are pointing nearly every resource we have at go Carrera at this

this piece of the problem is placement to have a very Dynamic way of uh of a

company or an installer to get on put in your ZIP code what discipline

you do that you're looking for like I'm a carpet and resilient guy or whatever or I'm a tile guy and then view

students then you get on and you can view the students within that zip code

that area and um you know make offers like set up interviews with them right

then look at their background what what what training did they go to where are they from and then jump on an interview

with them it's a hell of a lot better than what we're doing right now and that can only improve now I also believe that

the complacency and the so meaning that

people not hiring the guys I'm I'm fearful that I throw all my

resources at this and there's still not going to get hired to be honest with you and that's that complacency Point piece

that you were talking about I mean that's a real risk I'm taking you know I mean we've been contacted you know a few

times and it's like hey this person is really interested in installing this is what they want to install can you guys

you know bring them over there it's uh they just graduated they went through

this program they don't have any money right now and then you'd have to pay for them to get there you'd have to pay for

them for a place to to live you'd have to cart them around everywhere and it's like it's just the the way that our

industry is it we're we're not set up like that to be able to just well a lot

of people coming in let's face it when a lot of people are coming in and they're well into their 20s or 30s and they're

going through this training they're there because they really do need that helping hand they need that that

Financial stability in their life and there's very few people that are really

set up few businesses that are going to be set up to handle that because you're not talking tens of thousands of dollars

you're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on each individual to

really get somebody to go and that I see this as a big hiccup down the road you

know we can pump out all these people but if we're pumping out all these people and it's still requiring such a

huge investment on the other end how do we make that more appealing to be like okay I'm willing to drop you know or

spend this amount of money well this is this is where part of the problem is

geography right where's most of the trainings happening right where's most of the we all know like if you're in

there's the these train the trainings are siloed around part of that's because the trainers the CFI aft

ntca they go by where they get demand

for example the ntca they have a crap ton of training on the East Coast

Philly like crap tons they come to Kansas once every I mean I don't know

they can correct me on here if I'm wrong but once every six months once every year maybe they're here have you guys

world you know what I mean so if we if we had a way to understand

where the demand is where the people will hire them and that could be a

mechanism of jump too is like put in your ZIP code where you want people and if enough of those requests come in then

you could appeal to a training entity hey man you need to do a carpet training

in you know Grand Rapids there's been 15 inquiries for new installers in that

area area uh or hey ntca and ctef you need to do a course a two your twoe

training course and or maybe it's onewe training course and your ctii

certification in Grand Rapids because a lot of inquiries been coming in that area we just need to tie all the pieces

together somehow um I mean that's what I'm that's this whole launch of working

with jumpstart and you know to be to go through that um a lot of well look

what Kendall says a lot of it right now when it comes to hiring these young

people these days are they want to go to the top dollar knowing nothing and still being and still need to be trained and a

lot of times unfortunately they're not always reliable to show up for work that

is 100% true it gets better though if they did go through a training that that

is somewhat of a fact I want to add to that can you guys hear me okay a little bit

better on the mic now I think you should start you're a little echoey but you're

good all right essentially just super quick it's like the companies are worried about the

the the now the the today we've got to get our industry

looking at this problem everybody talks about it but they got to look out a little bit go ahead Jose sorry about

that so I was going to add to what Kendall said and a lot of a lot of the dollar amounts that are driving the the

people who are whether their entry level or got a little bit of experience is cost of living right so cost of living

has dictated that people don't necessarily want more money for n less

knowledge it's just that they need more money for Less knowledge right and and that's and the the fact that that's

still an issue in our industry um also exposes the fact that we are not in

charge of our pricing as much as we think right the market is dictating that

by flooding it with um I don't want I'm not trying to speak badly about anything but we're training

a lot of people with no placement so a lot of these people with no placement are trying to you know dip and dive and

Dabble and they are actually creating an issue where our our industry is valued

less because of the failure rate is higher because people are just diving in Without Really knowing and that goes

back to the issue that we're talking about is all these training entities and all these programs for all these new

people for entry level are are are we are we going about this wrong are we treating this like a combine and only

the ones that are performing at Peak Performance or learn at a higher capacity those are the ones who are

getting uh verbally drafted to all these other companies and getting these recommendations the other guys are out

there defend for themselves and that's what's causing the market to uh to do what is doing I don't think anybody's

getting I you know it doesn't seem to me that anybody's getting like truly

promoted or placed the the best way that I've seen it happen is when a company

needs training and they pull all their guys in and they hire one of the training entities to come train all

their their entire company or something like that but that that's that's the

most successful way because those people are already placed where the training

land yeah that's where the training lands the best so if you have a new two week guy you

know you they come out of that training better than what they did than what they

were beforehand Jose Jose you said it right so somebody that for whatever

reason they they find out about training for Floor Covering they put themselves through the training they take the time

to do it more than like cannot go to work for for less than

they're going to make at a a a gas station because they're they're looking for something better in their life so

they probably already have the the car payment maybe some kids maybe a house they've got all that they're they're not

going to be able to start off at such a low level and we're they're just going to fizzle out where maybe that that

vetting process needs to happen before you even come into that training or you know are you able to stay are are you

able to stay here you know we'll show you the pathway to get to where you need to but you're not going to be able to

you know realistically you're not going to be making that living wage right away

and I think that's one of the issues that I've always had with like the FCF

right it's because in all their like marketing documentation it's always you

can make x amount per year you can make $150,000 a year your first year and Be

Your Own Boss and they mark it like it's out of the gate you're going to be

making this much money and In fairness I would say they don't actually say in the

first year I don't think but they they they certainly throw those big numbers

around in your first assumption you know these what I'm yeah they're making and

and then when they go through these trainings and then you talk to them and you're like yeah I can offer you this x amount per hour and they're like where

where's this money coming from they're talking about I'm making $100,000 a year yeah that's where like there's no stair

stepping uh I think I've told you guys I know I've told Daniel and Jose about the

vision for jump start in a big way is meaning a placement but also more like a

digital apprenticeship where whoever hires them this would be my dream but

getting the industry to move behind a vision is like very tough

but my dream would be that they go onto the job board whoever hires them has to

be say one and a half hammers or hire on in the go career Network and if you do

if you check that box you can hire off the off of jump start but you can also

then fill out some easy forms and get the first five to eight weeks of that

person's pay covered by an industry Grant and therefore you're taking a risk

on someone new you have to do payroll reporting right through the right through the app which we got this

designed already which just getting the money to push that initiative through

has to have industry support but essentially anybody can be a go- career

member it's free and so then all you got to do is get your Hammer rating once you get your Hammer rating if you're a

hammer and a half or higher you get to use the job board all you want so you have the cream of the crop and then once

you've done that you can even apply to get this guy's uh uh first eight weeks

of wages covered and you just have to do a payroll report and a skill report

every single uh week that would be worth it right who would not do that what's

your thoughts on that idea John that's a that's the big idea of jump I'm gonna be the dream killer here man you lost me

that's just a lot of work but but I love okay let let let let

me find out make sure that I didn't just word salad you to death and

then you you is John yes you're a highly

Hammer rated guy you join jump you join go Carrera you got a you're over two

hammers you go to jumpstart go Carrera D jumpstart you put in your ZIP code you

find a guy you hire him you then just click a button that

says apply for wage supplementation that goes to the grant people and yes this is

complicated it's a complicated problem but that goes to the industry if the industry has put together put aside some

money to cover for a digital apprenticeship it's no different than what an apprenticeship H it's the same

way an apprenticeship happens just digitally so you've got you went and hired Daniel and you're

paying Daniel $18 an hour or $15 an hour

and you want to get his wages covered for the next eight weeks so you're not

worried how much production this guy's getting you can truly worry about the next eight weeks being on job training

and you have a two page form on your phone that you fill out about Daniel

Daniel how many hours did he work how much was he paid boom boom boom boom boom what new skills did Daniel learn

this week boom boom boom is that not worth the $680 you're going to pay him

that week if you could get that supplemented and that is a digital apprenticeship I I am all I am all for I

am all for that stuff I I really am um but again you're you're talking about

money that it's either granted or not I mean I heard you say something about the

flooring industry has money set aside to no no no I'm saying they would have to

this is a big Vision this is not something that hypo I'm sorry I thought this already something that was out

there yes no we want we we have the idea framework out at go Carrera like if this

could happen this is a way you could take a new guy place them with someone who needs them whether it's a sub or an

employ or a company and then that sub or company could get

their first eight weeks of wages supplemented so that the new guy could

be truly on the job trained for like another eight weeks intensely so yeah

anyway I it's a big idea it's not the state of does that with um their

apprenticeship with the plumbers the electricians you hire these guys you just have to have it's a wonderful

program I mean I think I heard of someone getting like 25 Grand not not too terribly long ago because I think

it's Philadelphia does the same thing or Ohio and Philadelphia yeah yes they

supplement your guys so that you can actually train them and they get through

that initial eight weeks of time frame where you don't need to worry is Daniel

producing enough on a day-to-day basis to cover the $15 an hour you're painting

all you care about at that point is getting him up to speed so at the eight weeks when your supplementation's over

that he is making you money so getting getting to that that's that's that's where it needs to get right we need to

and we need to get dealers and and retailers and workrooms behind this

because essentially they're the ones that gonna have to fill this out they're going to have to employ these people and

and you know they're going to have to do the leg work for for these individuals throughout that whole process to to make

that work yeah it's G take it would take work and you'd have to have the industry put aside some money to pay for I mean

who's going to pay for it other than the industry that needs it the most I honestly think right now uh you just

need to look into your States but a lot of state with Apprentice programs if you have Apprentice uh and and this would be

a great question for Jim and Kay with fcef but they Apprentice programs if you

follow through with them they do qualif oh there goes John excuse me you

qualify for he must got a phone of

fundings um as far as MoneyWise goes but it's

there yeah there there's a um there's a

um there's certainly systems out there's systems out there or ways of doing

things that are out there just not for our industry and it's going to take some

work it would take some work on the whoever's hiring them side to fill out the documents properly and it takes some

work on uh whoever to set up the apprenticeship stuff but you know that's

a way that you could graduate a guy through the ranks and then once he's done with that you could even have him

on a digital apprenticeship for one year uh if you'll report back and fill out

all this as the student as the installer you fill this you'll get your apprenticeship license kind of thing

then if you have an apprenticeship guy or something like that you would

know who you're hiring these are all just ideas and that's what this podcast conversation just gave me gave me a

really I don't know seems like a good idea in my head right but um since I share too much information freely and

give people a lot of great ideas I'll wait until we're off air to discuss this one sweet but um the um I I I guess uh

so Kendall put on there too and I wanted to touch base on that is how is this supposed to work with flooring subcontractors though um and I guess

that that's one of those uh one of those questions where that's the whole point

well I think you have to look at it at a at a different perspective right because even when we were 100% a flooring

subcontractor we still hired employees and paid them as employees it wasn't just I'm just going to give you this

percentage or or as you should 1099 you it was all right you're going to be working for me you're going to be

working for me and that's where we need to get in order to things move forward

so so there you go that's where I was going with that is now we're getting into the scenario where there's just a a

disconnect from owning a job versus owning a business right that's right these Subs there's a disconnect and

these Subs hire our employees like you guys did right and and I think that

that's uh and I know we talked about this uh through in some of the conventions and through our travels and

our meetings and I know that um Paul we talked about John you and I probably talked about this when we were um in The

Mastermind group uh with with Kyle is about um the the lack of education on

how to run a business on the front end and what what that requires right because a lot of people who jump into

the trade because the flooring industry isn't regulated like everybody else you can get a knife a tape measure in a van

and be like I'm an installer let's go PE let's go make some dollars right um but

the business aspect people are just don't understand they don't understand

the benefit that it could present to them they only see the dollars and cents that it cost them in the initial setup

and we were we were those people as well we were afraid right of taking a step

afraid of learning afraid of being told you but you did but you did and there's

a lot of people who don't and those people need to be working for you they

do not need to be subcontractors look I'm gonna all [ __ ] aside the worst

problems I have at my flooring company is when a subcontractor Subs my damn job to another sub and I don't know about it

it is absolutely unallowed here but I find out

they did it it's too too late there's punchless there's problems well no crap I paid you $1.75 for this huge uh uh

Early Learning Center uh on lvt and you paid somebody 65 cents what the did you

expect and then my job looks like [ __ ] it's the sub to a sub to a sub [ __ ] that

has got to quit I probably curse more in that one all other episodes

Subs need to hire the hourly hire your installers by the hour

or by the day rate something Fair that's going to pay them and that you make them

better we're never going to get better if you just hire the lowest cost guy

um and try to sub that work to him our industry is plagued with this crap and

it's worse in some areas I believe I I believe unethical is the

way to put it it's unethical I hired you to do a job based off of your we use go

Carrera solely off your go carrera's off your Hammer rating and then you sub it

to another guy unethical for sure there there's

definitely other other ways to do it right it's sometimes it's hey I can't handle this job by myself can you come

help me out it's never just hey he's paying me this will you do it for this

all right let's go yeah if you want to team up if you can partner together

that's a different story you're still on the job you're still the guy I hired I and I

know this is kind of changing the topic but I would love to hear you know more success stories because I think that's

what's going to turn people turn people's view on subcontractor vers employee is I think we need the

saturation of success stories of uh and I'm going to pick on Matt Garcia because

he's got a program he's working with where he um it's based on uh production

and and it's a reward system for his employees it's not just an hourly system and these are things that I think really

need to be heavily talked about they need to be wrote about in magazines they need to be thrown in people's face

because we need to be aware of it otherwise when we hear hourly employee we just we get that negative thought

that we're picking up you know a day labor at Home Depot and and paying him

crap wages when when really what we're meaning is we're we're trying to set a

culture create a culture a business um an environment and where people can everybody can

Thrive Yeah well yeah you got to really worry about like these the the new blood

thriving how do you get you you you know we hired for example we have a guy that

works here that went through a two we course uh it was a two-e CFI course they

had here in witto I sent two or three guys to it one of them completed it and we told them you complete this twoe

course we're hiring you as a and it worked out great if something that way

but I'm the only company in Kansas that H full service there's a tile company up

in St Mary's that hires hourly as well but full service flooring company I'm

the only flooring company in Kansas that hires hourly employees who provides health insurance Vans tools benefits

holiday pay vacation time dental insurance like we're the only ones our industry is

ran by Subs so Subs have to start hiring by the hour we started putting on our

work work orders just as last week that all work performed on this job has to be

by your direct forces because of this subbing to a sub deal we we somehow have

to get away from that if we can get away from that as an industry then and and

like I I don't know if it's how you do it because it's 1099

thing we look at it as our problem but this is a you know

multi-industry multi-state like it's it's a plague in multiple Industries all

skilled labor all skill well and even yes and

so either make it to where 1099s if you are if if the if the government I hate

government like regulation but sometimes it's needed you know if it was where

1099 can only s cannot like if you had 1099a and 1099 B meaning we sub from our

general contractor so we're in first position right so we're going to get a1099 from our general contractor that

they paid us this amount of money on this job on you know this year right

the we 10 one level of 1099 down to 1099

B but there is no 1099 C right these 1099

BS something to track the dilution of of of it so there is no keep on so it can't just keep trickling down that flight of

steps you could could literally do it down yeah Slinky effect right how about

how about you know after after a and b um if there is going to be a c right

let's not call it C let's just call it uh c.1 um in order to have a c.1 you have

to have uh some sort of Licensing that states that you have um a bracket where

you can place people under an employee blanket uh maybe that's something for it I I sat down and talked with some of uh

uh some of the the powers to be right some of the people who make some of the decisions here in Michigan and unfortunately the same answer keeps

coming is that the government doesn't want to invest the money into creating another structured program because it

will take a very long time I get it but also well I'm just saying man someone

else had told me that um since we as an industry aren't held to the same

inspection standards for occupancy for safety I mean some of our stuff is safety I will I will add to that but we

don't have to go through the inspection process like the other trades that uh Rollin had mentioned um therefore we

are an Expendable trade by by that we're not we're not licensed and I think we

talked about that before there there's no license to become a flooring company and it'll NE or a flooring installer and

they'll never be a license California

you have to have Arizona too and I talked to Kyle about it and he said it's just a joke

it's just they just want their money here goes your license that's the that's the bottom line I'm talking a true li

like an actual it's just like Nebraska it's it's a business license it's not a trade license that's all it is just the

the difference is and the reason you don't need inspections is because you we don't have the resulting damage that a

plumber has or a elri electrican you know if you if you wire a house wrong or

a building wrong you can burn the damn thing down uh if you Plum a building

wrong on the seventh floor you could have millions of dollars

of of damage whereas if you put a floor in bad on the seventh floor you're just

replacing a floor on the seventh floor what if you pour self leveler on the seventh floor and it finds a way

down I had that happen thanks for bringing up a terrible m all had thaten had

that well I had it happen at a uh in a u medical facility and it went down into

the ped's ICU so it was really terrible that experience luckily it was a empty

room or else I would have felt as bad as you could feel ours was on the fourth

floor in an electrical room that went down to every electrical room and let's

just say we were able to get everything cleaned up so it can be repainted without substantial

damage yeah well know I I kind of wanted to throw this in here on this conversation

because there's always this is this this this labor shortage 20 years ago when I

started it was the same thing you know and I'm I'm sure Paul you were prior to that and um Daniel and Jose you you

started before that too it was always talked about there's such a there's such a problem with it and and uh I've heard

a lot of you know everybody's got we we there's a million great ideas but it's a lot of it's just getting started doing

and me I live in the middle of nowhere so and I I truly mean that I had to drive to get on some WiFi so I could

jump on this call sell service is that bad but I I think we overthink how to go about even getting

started about this and I think we as installers it's just time for us to step

up and let our voices be heard everywhere that this is a career we chose to do and it's getting in front of

people and and talking about it you know it's not relying on the quote unquote

industry to talk about it at a convention and and make a big speech about it and boy we all feel good about

it but it's actually acting on it and actually doing something about it everybody's situ what what what what is

that to you John you have an audience right now this will be seen by couple of thousand if not more people uh you're

being watched by an audience right now and you'll you'll be seen by at least a couple thousand more so what what what

are some of the let's just talk what are some of the best ideas out there I don't

care what they are who they're from what are some of the best ideas out there to solve the labor shortage yeah so and and

just one more caveat I need to put Daniel and Jose's um

caveat to this qualified labor because they've said it a bunch of times I don't

know that we have a labor shortage we have a Quality Labor shortage

so what are some ideas what so I'm gonna use one I

honestly think what we need to do is is and I know you guys have talked about it

but the high schools we need to be pounding everybody needs to be pounding on their high school door to get these

these young young men and women uh before they go and decide to go be electricians be plumbers be be a

carpenter there's a lot there's a lot of talent in these schools but they have no

clue this is even a career and and for those of us that have been around for you know a year or two we hear this a

lot oh yeah yeah going to the schools going to the schools but you you're not reading about it you're not reading

about um you know state after State you know County after County oh yeah these

these schools are opening up they're bring they're putting a flooring program in I would love I would love to see next

time I log on to Facebook 20 posts 30 posts 40 posts about an installer just

randomly is like hey you know what today I called our high school talk to guidance counselor I'm gonna go in talk

to some kids about Floor Covering so you're you're right reach

reaching out to high schools as a like installers and as um flooring companies

here here's just I'm going to throw one bone in that until we solve the pro or or at

least we have to address the problem we just got through talking about because if Joe Schmo who has been doing flooring

for five years never got any formal training worked for a guy for six months

went out on his own has no idea of what he's doing wrong goes and does this there's two things if you don't have

your business set up that guidance counselor does not want that kid going

to work for you they're looking to put their kids in the best scenario where

they can actually get hired by somebody who's going to treat them well right so

that's a great way to go about it Jim Aaron here says John is a leader in the industry he's volunteering his own time

to visit high schools in his area he is a mo I wish more would follow man big so

I do think you're doing it you doing it John you are put you are putting your money where your mouth is it's not I don't you know we we we over we over

we're overthinking this do I believe The Joe Schmo that doesn't know what he's

doing is gonna be knocking on the door at the high school now he's throwing back a sixpack lighting up another

cigarette and he's on his way that doesn't that that you're talking to a different person there there is the guy watching your the

thousands of people that are gonna be watching this are not joeo I can guarantee it you know you know the the

turds in in the flooring industry are not taking time out of their day to learn more so the thousands of you that

are watching this that do care you don't have to it doesn't have to be perfect

right when you when you want to talk about what you do you know we all think that oh what if I you know I don't seal

my seam or or what if I I bring in the wrong tapping block nobody else knows

nobody else cares you just have to expose them to this and and create that

create that atmosphere in which their the learning can grow if it's gonna grow they have to get excited about they have

to see excited people about it up there yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna point this out i' I've been to a couple uh job fairs I

had gals that were going to be nurses I had guys that were going to school for

um anything other than a trade but they were putting seams together because of the excitement we had at our booth you

know when when kids walk into these when these these trade shows you know and and the guy with this fancy toolbox over

here and he's not talking he's not engaging that ain't going to show any interest in you know it's it's a whole

different way we have to go about this they have to know it's even there how do

we duplicate that so it's it's like very yeah good question right we go to we go

to the the local high schools talk to the guidance counselor right say hey I I

want to come in here and just I I just want to expose the students to a whole

industry that they may not know about in the skilled trades and there's enormous

opportunity there um then the next step is surely they're going to have some

Career Fairs and you try try to get into the career fair and then you set up a

booth and make it Hands-On is that what I heard like kind of something like that

well that's exactly what we we did this year we were fortunate enough to be invited and participate in a career day

at um the local elementary and we didn't know what we were doing we'll be I'll be

honest we did we next time we're bringing candy that's what I know now you know we brought some hands

on for the for the kiddos to uh um to get their hands on right the some LBT interlocking Plank and we had some kids

that loved it we had some kids that only wanted a pencil we we had some kids that asked a lot of questions um you know and

uh they had no idea until that day they had no idea and you know I think um it

was a shot in the dark for us but I think that the the young kids were very responsive and um they

understood there was more understanding that there was more out there than you know obviously fireman policemen all the

people that are normally you know nurses that are normally at these younger School functions but it was it was

refreshing to see how interested they actually were right they're hands on

hands on like at what what age do we have to intercept the kids to where they

lose interest in working with their hands and building with their hands because all children are creative um to

some extent right and they lose interest in that creativity and well that's that's probably the next Point once

you've created the awareness what's the next step now you got some awareness we

got to get them into like we need that's why I want to make sure CFI

doesn't you know just expands training as much as we can do uh any any word I

have with CFI at all is expand the training make it as as

as um what if there was a sponsorship after the awareness John or something

where you get four or five students there has to be some way for the training entities to pay their bills

so you get the the some awareness through through or four students want to go in you get them sponsored somehow

into a CFI five-week course that they come out and they at least know what how

to put a piece of rug on the floor uh probably shouldn't be doing it by themselves at that point but you get

what I'm saying oh yeah that that's that's ideally what you want you know look you

look at um you know this is you were talking about the hypothetical wishful thinking my wishful thinking is Shaw and

Mohawk and and engineered floors and these big Mills they all of a sudden see this and they want they want you know

their they want the the shaw Excellence Academy of floor installation you know

they want they want this out there they want you know some centers throughout the country but until people until you

know guys like us are leaving high school or or or whatever it is and and

wanting to do this right away it's going to be hard to get all those other people

really excited about it uh um to to to throw money I guess at it right and hey

I just want to um add that this to it too is uh uh manufacturers big dogs you

people out there who are listening you know this is us from the installation

side and the the retail side saying that we need to be better as an industry right but however you know we're all

small business owners here or business owners period that are discussing this and we're all Proprietors of uh we were

at one point but it is hard to pass on knowledge and to pass on excitement for

a trade that you know that we know and you manufacture know that someone can make a living on without worrying about

are we going to lose what we built or or how do we subsidize our income while

we're volunteering our time so just putting that out there you guys like John sacrifices a lot of his free time

right now now it's not just free time but it's also time that he could be spending generating revenue for his

business and a lot of people do that everything that we do and and from a volunteer perspective

is just that um and also Brian had put on there unfortunately not all uh people want to hear um or so to your way um SL

you know paren the right way but the nobody ever wants to hear that they're doing it wrong is what it is right like

that's that's that stubbornness of being set in your ways so to speak um but uh

you're right nobody wants to hear they've been doing it wrong for years however I heard it I learned it I

accepted it I moved on I got better because of it so I guess the people who don't want to hear it are the ones that

will need to push out they don't want to continue education the on think down isn't a lot of that driven

because that it seems a little bit biased to the fact that you hire

somebody who has a little bit of experience you know that guy that you

hire that at I've been doing it this way for 10 years or whatever that

guy that that that's not the guy you got to go after you got to go after the young guy and I I do gota state for CFI

I applaud uh Jim Jim brought this up as well but the local chapters are starting

to like gain momentum and Rolland is is

huge in that and just kudos to that whole thing because

the local chapters are where I think some cre some creative excitement can be

made and then those local chapters go out to the high schools that's how I I could see it being

duplicatable is through the local chapters and the guys like you said John

the the Chuck in the truck is not even going to that local chapter he's out trying to get the next Angie's List uh

person to he's just trying to go kick in a couple Apartments today so that way he

can get his case of beer and then do the same thing tomorrow well and that's where working for a beer versus a career

is like that's two separate BS of Life uh oh you just struck a fancy with

John that's the the Jose write that down put that in your

book book of what you call it not beer

jism it's just trying to Cipher the difference between th those two types of individuals is very hard right not only

just you know for us for for the consumer for a retailer whether they're hiring hourly or subcontractors it's

hard to find that divide you you have to learn the hard way because that we don't

have a proper vetting process that is specific regions or States that's that's

the thing right there like there be there needs to be some proper vetting a

b we've got to we've got to get the you the the newer guys into placement

like getting um a guy that's been around a while never really you know did

Apartments I hate to like stereotype somebody because this this is literally someone out there but you know they do a

little bit here a little bit there they and 10 years later they they they're claiming they're the best the world and

they've never had any proper training they've never really turned it into a career doubled down on their craft any

of the stuff we talk about you've got to get them when they're still going to

listen you know I joined the industry when man all I maybe tire stores are a good

recruitment spot because I got really sick of having dirty dirty hands and

that's the whole reason I could be I got paid 50 cents for an hour to go be a carpet Helper and the work was cleaner I

would rather be on a a construction site than uh than um you know out in the cold

changing tires so that's yeah but but at the end of the day I want I want I

didn't knew nothing so I couldn't say like I was all ears I wanted to hear how

how this was all done I wanted to get good um Nate says I started the apartments

I'm not [ __ ] on everybody who's started Apartments we have all laid Apartments okay we all gotta start

somewhere get back to the apartments Nate stay in the apartment we've all done Apartments uh

that's not what I'm saying what I'm what I am saying is that once we get guys into the fold and we're able to somehow

make sure they get with good people eventually um and and and make sure that

once they're with good people that they're able to advance their career how we do that how we track that that's

happening that's what your Mohawks your Shaws your EF contracts that's what they

want they are giving money to uh the fcef for example and Jim Jim has done a

great job over at FCF but they have budget constraints and all this and that that speaks to you John that we have to

get out and get our uh okay thanks thanks that that speaks to

what you said John that the installers we got to get out and and create the

awareness as well doesn't but at some point we've got to get them trained

placed and then somehow Advanced like

trained placed and advanced into becoming because not everybody is just

self motivated for that there has to be a systematic way to do it not everybody's Daniel and Jose Who Loved

figuring this stuff out eventually they got to the point where they fell in love with learning the best methods and being

the best and doing the best installs and become and the notoriety that comes along with that is is um you know a nice

payment as well you guys are known as being freaking excellent flooring

installers especially when it comes to she vinyl and resilient products you're just known for that that's a great thing

to be known for but not everybody's that self-motivated so for it's just like

when I built this company and we have 30s something employees now at Stewart and Associates I had to change from a

five person company where I could tell everybody what to do to putting systems

in place that guided everybody on what to do and to do anything big you have to

have a systematic approach I cannot run this company do this podcast run you

know go Carrera and do all this if I didn't have great employees with great systems and great processes that allow

them to do their job and grow the company whether I'm sitting here on this call or in the office or not these my

people know what to do as a industry we have to set up the systems to train Place advance

we got the train we have training entities go go Carrera is committed this

next stent here is fully committed on filling that placement role through jump

start like we are going to get that right but there has to be others we can't be the only one to be honest with

you I'd love to be the only one because that means we're just huge and blah there just has to be other ways to place

and then Advance yeah that's what it is so we're we're lacking a a solid a solid

format a plan of succession if you will right that's what we're lacking I know that so now if we shift over to like a

the way the unions formatted they do have a plan but it doesn't always entail specifically just the flooring industry

they're just required to log training hours or and I don't know the ins and out so don't quote me if I'm wrong but

you know and in order for them to fulfill that they go to where the work is at because they're part of the Union

they they they can find work if there's dry in their area they can go elsewhere find work so they can have their dues

paid but well you know the the gc's call up and uh back in the day you know I I

was talking to a general contractor uh not too long ago about go carreri he's

like yeah it's just like a digital Union he's like uh which is funny because we

call it the digital Brotherhood uh not to take off any unions out there but um

he was like you know I I used to call the union hall and I'd say I need two Journeymen and this was more in the

carpentry side of things things but he's like I need two Journeymen and two apprentices and they'd come with their

card they showed that they're a journeyman what level they of training

they've taken like all these things were logged and tracked and advanced and

so yeah it's uh so we got a pretty long-winded one here from Jim I'm just

going to read it so that way because it it doesn't say the whole thing not to open up a can of worms here but the

starting pay for an installer for a helper has to increase guys in general we all know that a professional

installer can make a very good living after a few years in the industry but starting wages are constricting us I can

provide several examples where we've been working with Workforce Development organizations the employers of the

students involved and they shared with those organizations that starting pay would be

$15 an hour and then all your work up until that point was wasted and it was

all shut down at that point and that's what working against is things like this

where we are competing in an industry where even a McDonald's is starting at a

a certain wage and stuff like that but the fact of the matter is is where are you placing these guys because we're

we're in the industry we're at and how it's set up we we have to start at these

wages because there's not enough money in it otherwise sometimes let me say

yeah go ahead the um we're working and I I mean we've talked about this

offline before where I'm doing the these bids and people are going in at my cost

so how can I pay someone a higher wage when I can't even win some of these jobs

and then what they're doing is they're going with the lowest they're not even qualified they're going with the lowest amount

look at the email I just got about one of the jobs is sorry we lost this we were not low bid like that was the

followup well that that that problem is a whole new podcast like we have talked about how

that's a terrible the low bid scenario is a terrible scenario like it it sucks

but I would say the guy that we hired after the two week CFI course uh we

started well over that uh $15 a you have to take the risk B the

the problem isn't just the starting wage if you can't sell a vision of a career

then yeah you're being compared to the McDonald's the problem is they don't have a vision for the career so just

pushing back on Jim a little bit not like disagreeing with him but it's not just the starting wage the guy we have

to advance show that there's an advancement that if you could say stop

saying hey you make uh aund and whatever or you you make the it's like hey after

year three you can you you can you know you can be at this if that's a

systematic year three three years of you know a systematic processed three years

then you could be you know your aage the average wage is 72,000 or whatever um

you said it find this vision and Define it for them so that they know because I

can tell you we have guys that make in the 80s and 90s with full health care and all that and you add all that up and

it's over a 100 well over and they are

employee installers so yes you can make a good living and make a a good

wage but you I don't know how to sell that Vision because there's so few companies that hire employee installers

two of them on here I don't I don't know about you John uh necessarily I I I've

got I've got an employee but he's he's like Apprentice yeah um but I know Jose

and Daniel hire you know do the majority of their work in house we do a large a

good portion of our work but we still have Subs we don't hate Subs I love them that's why go career is around the we

just need some accountability around them where they have metrics that they

have to abide by and they and then hiring people and advancing them is

our is somehow we have to invigorate that in the in installation community

that these the subs need to quit trying to find the easiest way to get the job done and start looking at their

installation business as a business and as a career and hiring guys to advance

them so that in five years they've got a hell of a good guy that makes good money

they make good money on him like it can work that way so Paul I I want to just

jump back because what you said I think is what is one of the most important if

not the most pair up one of these students with somebody that gives a damn

you know you can't you can't take somebody that went from a an environment where there's learning positive attitude

all this great stuff and now you've got Debbie Downer over here that they got

work with because that vision is gone it's wiped out um I I'll share my story

I I moved back when I started Floor Covering I moved back in with my parents

because I liked what I did I was and it wasn't I didn't like my pay because it sucked but I liked what I did and I saw

a vision because of the people that I was working with I saw a vision of where I could be in a couple year I knew it

was going to take a couple years but I saw that getting that across to to

someone is very difficult because you might have some age constraint when when I go back and say if you've got a car

payment a house payment and you got kids 15 bucks an hour just ain't gonna can't

it ain't gonna work yeah well that's where intercepting

Talent at the right time comes into play absolutely you know getting them young enough out of train out of the

introductory trainings where yes 15 is what you could

get at your Chipotle but you're that's about that's all you're going to get at

Chipotle you might get a few uh you know inflation style raises to uh $16 by the

time you've been there three years but in three years if you dedicate yourself to this craft you're going to make

substantially more than 15 we're that that's the part

that somehow as a industry we have to tag on to this hey it's a great you can

make a bunch of money but you also have to it's like keeping that from being what they expect and and so many um so

many of the uh the instant this instant

gratification uh it was it was mentioned by a comment earlier that stated that you know they

want all this money right out of the gate this kind of thing

well the that part there's no solving that you just got to move on to the next

guy or the next person like if they don't think that they're going if they think they're G to come out of a six

week course and make a 100,000 a year there's something off there like you know's some delusion going on

in that person's life where yeah value doesn't reflect their knowledge hey Daniel won't you read off

Jims again so before he runs he's gonna say this he's preaching to the choir

right because we talk about it all the time he's been saying it for years manufacturers should require their

products to be installed by certified installers or else the product would come with no warranty it would solve so

many problems in the industry and he'll debate it 10,000% convinced it's uh one

of the best things a manufacturer could do for themselves and the industry at large great

conversation and I think that's kind of what um we just talked about that

recently actually we've talked about it and we support we support the whole freaking idea that manufacturers should

have a level of training what the hurdles there is what's a

certification by What entity who's governing that we have online

certifications we talked about this right yeah we talked about this C

like I remember just a couple of years ago that we were we're at convention and

this whole thing broke out and CF you know all the installers want this all of

us all the good guys who got went and got certified and uh are trained we want

this because we want to keep quit competing with guys who are not okay the

problem is is it UPA is it AF is it CFI is it ntca is it uh in nwfa and if it's

n wfas Only like does cfi's hardwood course count

does their certification count does it and so which who are they gonna who are

they going to Peg as the the one that the the the winner of all that that's

problem get the word certification and the name of it to qualif qualify that's

why we created the hammer rating we're not we're not no longer going with certification we're going to start calling individuals qualified if you

don't pass this test you're not qualified instead of certified and then they can list qualified on their on the

spec and that would change a whole lot it would it would require people to actually get the ball rolling get the

processes or the systems in place for the training for the classification of installers and their talents alongside

with the hammer rating which you have now but now you have an industry following and backing it requiring it

versus just a an owner or an architect or a business business I'm obviously

biased here but a zero to five rating that takes into account all of this is

the obviously the easiest answer now I know I'm biased because I created go Carrera and I I created the hammer

rating but the hammer rating just takes it doesn't matter if it's aft or CF or CFI or whoever did it whoever it's all

aggregated into the hammer rating and if the manufacturer just say this is you

must have a hammer rating of XYZ to install our product or else it comes with no warranty they're not tying to

any entity it cost the installer nothing absolutely zero dollars to get a hammer

rating and zero dollars to do so and the industry for whatever reason it's I I

don't know I don't know the answer I I feel like I know the answer but I don't know how to get it the the sponge to

absorb the water right and and like like Justin says because he went through

install right and the way that they did it and it's just an additional warranty

right you have to if if you're trained and you're qualified you have yeah you still have

this manufacturers warranty but if you use me this warranty gets extended like

that's an installation warranty they they provide I think it's through Lords of London that it's up to $25,000

or something like that replacement warranty if you use an install certified a guy that's certified through

install problem is there which I I love install from the training aspect but

they won't train non-union installers I know well I mean there's a partnership there right like if it doesn't make

dollars they pay their dues yeah and I get it I I I do wish if there was an

install guy watching this uh at some point that they would open up their program char a

nonmember fee to do the your training or something I don't know but install has a

hell of a program and turns out some really good installers honestly um but it is just for unions and we have a vast

GE geography of the United States that are non-un so just to get back on the topic

here right the installer shortage so I I know that we've kind of extended we've gone past our our just a little time

that's what that's what happens when you have great conversation it is too but um you know so really I'm just going to Su

summarize my thoughts we're not really having an installer shortage we're having a shortage of of knowledgeable

installers processes or systems and um a

path to get from A to B for people to find success so so really we're just we're lacking we're lacking

infrastructure in our industry when some places Union or not do in fact have that

but most of that is held internally now if we look at the the big

picture if there was more requirements right off the bat then more people would

find reasons to be structured to have those Pathways and it would it would be

it would be more weird to not have them than the companies who do have them so essentially it goes back to what I said

when we were in Georgia is the race to the bottom starts at the Top If the top

doesn't have the requirements then nobody's going to try to structure anything to follow requirements that

aren't policed yeah it would be it would

be um fantastic if the manufacturers had

like I would have never had to do anything with go careera if the uh if

the manufacturer had a you must be certified and and we knew

what certification meant and it was there was some law that prevented someone from creating some uh hobo style

training and calling it a certification like all the infighting uh

and it's not just our industry but we're really bad at that um so you know and I

appreciate all the great comments about the hammer rating that Jim and and and

Jorge said it was a well thought C out very long process to come up with a

system that just took all of the information from the trainings and created a rating um at the end what if

for for just thinking out loud here I mean what if you go on Mohawk Shaw and

any any of these manufacturers and they've always got find our product right find find a

retailer find a place to buy this what if they just what if just you know they

don't have to say must use certified installer must use you know we like the I like the word qualified but along that

they also have CFI nwfa they they they list that stuff right there on the site

so not only can you buy your product that you want but you can make sure you got the right right person you know uh

to to put it in for you I think that would go a long ways if they just do that I I am going to say one thing that

probably get me in trouble with some of the manufacturers I don't think

they he's got to think about work buddy I don't think they care about this as

much as we want them to because if they have to if their product requires a

higher level quality of installer they're going to sell less product that's why they have made tried to

engineer the qual the craftsmanship product yes and Nate

you're going to sell less material if it's harder to install and so they don't

want I think that's the resistance when I've talked to these manufacturers about using the hammer I'm like I'll I'll

debate anybody on this planet if you want to come up tell me about a better system that would give you a picture of

the skill and capability of an installer what we created if there's a better way

fine I would I would love to hear it but the bottom line is the manufacturers

have to adopt it and I I have had meetings

and it's clear to me that the number one number one concern is selling the

product not that it's installed correctly or that their product looks great when it's done it's just getting

it out the door right and then Jim DS does have this you know because there

aren't enough installers in the field so that's hard for them to do there aren't enough training or the training

organizations don't have the capacity to do everything like right away but if they come out with a solid

date like then it cuts off right here but it says by one one 2030 just

throwing a date out there the installer has to be certified or qualified or whatever it's going to be right it's

they do this with other things just look at um like M and how they're doing the

the CO2 or whatever they have on all their bags and interface was doing it with

the what were they doing it

with but I don't know but I can I I agree with that whole concept zero right

by by this date we're not going to use any more carbon or whatever their goals are they they throw these dates out

there all the time and this is just something that's never thrown out

there he we're all just basically winging

it well speaking of winging it we have wung it about a half hour past time it's

been probably one of my uh one of the best podcasts of recent times it's been

I think my my daughter is gonna shoot us she's on vacation and she's like

you guys running the longest uh podcast while I'm on vacation is fitting she said it way worse than

that though I'm sure I'll hear about that when I join them tomorrow or the next day pretty sure we're gonna break the

internet with this one though like it's yeah record-breaking well everybody needs to hear it whether it's the guy

who's just starting his install you know just got in the industry two weeks ago or the guy who's been in it for 50 years

um but that's it there just everybody's got to hear it nobody ever wants to talk about it can't keep swe sweeping it

under the rug right amen no no pun intended well guys it has been a

pleasure John I'm glad you were able to join us I know you had to stop and get some Wi-Fi and I appreciate that uh

Daniel and Jose you guys are awesome man it's was a great conversation I want to thank our audience for contributing and

and commenting if you guys catch us up uh catch us on YouTube give us a like

and a subscribe or a dislike and a comment uh interact with us if you want to get some of this uh you know help us

to continue to spread the message about our industry you know interact with us

uh that's what the you know algorithmic overlords want to see so uh help help us

out a little bit there if you catch us on um any of the other platforms uh

leave a leave a like and a subscribe or whatever you know give us some love I would say it was pretty cool we some

major Nationwide recruiter re repost one of our episodes of the Huddle uh on

LinkedIn that was pretty freaking cool um so anyway keep engaging guys uh stay

true to the craft and we will see you guys next week

The Huddle - Episode 109 - Strategies for Scaling Up Your Flooring Business

In this episode we explore effective methods for expanding your flooring company responsibly and sustainably. This episode discusses the importance of strategic growth rather than growth for growths sake. We cover how to identify the right times to scale, ways to improve operational efficiencies, and techniques for enhancing customer service and satisfaction. Additionally, we look at investing in staff training and adopting innovative technologies to maintain high standards as your business grows. Tune in to discover practical strategies that can help you scale your flooring business thoughtfully and successfully.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle your weekly Playbook where we strategize not only on playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing yourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give you the installer a voice and ensure you're

equipped with everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you belong

welcome to the team everyone how's it going look at you like

a robot just getting that thing down like

that well you know You' think after about 400

episodes you get it down but uh thanks for

noticing Nobody seen hook go up sponsor our

show the chaos three seconds before you w on air

yeah help help it's all it's all part of uh doing

a podcast folks it's it takes a uh a small tribe and a lot of teamwork

between these talented folks on here that try to keep me in some type of line

but um all right well guys how's it going welcome welcome

the audience to the Huddle I'm Paul Stewart I'm the founder and CEO of go Carrera also I'm the president of Stuart

and Associates with me as always is Mr Daniel and Jose Gonzalez a preferred flooring out of Grand Rapids Michigan so

if you're up in that neck of the woods looking for some high quality commercial flooring providers both materials and

labor sometimes labor sometimes materials whatever you want these guys whatever they need whatever you need

these are your guys Michigan got a solution for that there's an app for that that's

funny what's up Jorge um so today's topic kind of flows along with some

previous topics we had about niching your business uh we also have had a

discussion about expanding your services this is about scaling your business so

this is strategies uh on scaling your business which to be clear

offering more services doesn't necessarily equate scaling and when we're talking about

scaling we want you to think about finances and and the supporting

Personnel that you're going to need if you are say a $500,000 company and you want to go to

five million that's scaling growing um you know you can grow slow

and steady keep with the keep a ahead of inflation on your growth and profit and

you can run a sustainable business you know nice sweet spot if you can find

it I guess to kick us off I was going to ask a

question when should you scale up your flooring business when meaning uh don't

are you and why those two questions you know really should be

um so I think it's worth asking yourself the question of why do you want to is it

because you uh just want a bigger business because uh I can tell you from because

bigger is better right yeah and I think that's that's sometimes the

um that's a lot of times the thought and you know we're just kind of I think a

lot of people are built that way men and women to you know you do something you

build a business it's going well and you want to grow it bigger you want to see how big you can take this

thing I have had experience where I actually made way more money with a lot less headache and less

employees not that employees are always a headache but just less employees less payroll less of everything and there was

a time when I made more money at about you know half the size and we had to

grow through that but those can be challenging times scale doesn't always equal to profit in fact if you're

scaling truly growing your business at a rapid Pace it will eat up your cash flow

so I guys wanted to talk about a few things that you got to think about and maybe we can start in the commercial

space first since we're all got experience there and then I want you

guys to talk about the residential space uh I'm a little less uh knowledgeable in that retail residential but um in the

commercial space you uh you have to really start thinking if you're going to

grow your business big uh you really have to start thinking about banking

relationships tax attorney relationships and contract attorney

relationships those three things are Paramount to you staying in

business what I heard was More Money More Problems that's what I heard

you got it Diddy may be in trouble right now but he had that

right yeah yeah he he got too much money so much money that he forgot that

he could actually create his own problems yeah he thought it grew away from the problems and they came knocking on the doorstep but it is it is there is

a lot to be said about it dude like so so you said something um when you when you're were making the introduction

about the the subject today about making more money right so let's uh you

know you get bigger and this is from our personal experience right revenue generated is greater right like you are

generating more Revenue because you could kick out more work but the profits are the thing that shrunk so that's why

the less people made more money was more profit it was there's more profitability and and keeping

things smaller and cleaner right because now you don't have to watch 50 things you're only watching you're only

watching 10 it's easier to keep track of and know when you're Los you don't have to you don't have to have as many

specialist you know what I mean like in the early days we had a PM that was also

the estimator which was also the warehouse guy that they that's that's us

right now we're you know what I mean the everything guy maintenance maintenance what's today Tuesday main maintenance on

Wednesday as you grow and you get bigger now you need an estimator maybe two

estimator that just estimate uh you may need you know we

have four or five six six project managers so you got to have specialized

people that do that specialized thing uh as you get bigger and the other thing is

as you get bigger you get bigger jobs and bigger Jobs means your the bulk of

your profit is in retainage in commercial and that is held in until the

project not until you're done but until the project is done and the owner has

paid the general contractor his retainage then he'll pay you their your

retainage and that can be I mean I've had that be well over a year you know you do a million and a

half dollar flooring project and even after we're done with our flooring it takes them six months to open the

facility another month to get through final punch list and then another three

four five months for for the GC to get paid his retainage and then you finally

get yours that means all the profit if you got 10% retainage and I tell you

what if you're netting 10% in the commercial business you're doing pretty dog on well especially if you're bigger

if you're you know netting 10% and you're smaller where you have those multiple roles in one person uh it's

it's a little bit uh a little bit easier to obtain those kind of numbers but the

as you grow and you hire employees and you're doing all these things you get Warehouse guys and then warehouse

manager with a warehouse guy and then you get another truck and you get three more trucks and you got Vans and all

this growth eats up your cash flow and when you do that fast you can

run yourself right out of business if you grow too fast so I would ask you to consider why you want to scale if you

are wanting to and if you've got a good set of systems and processes yeah

really well there you go that you can then grow to the next level uh I always

you know I've grow we've grown really fast before and we've grown steady I've

picked steady every day with been in this business since

99 I'd pick steady you know 5% over inflation growth than you know scaling

it 60% a year yeah because it's a lot easier that

way too right like because now instead of having to create uh positions to sustain that

you're slowly understanding what is needed instead of saying I gotta go grab this right now boom okay you're in

charge of this this is your spot and then you grab somebody else throw them in another in another bucket that's your bucket This is Your Bucket This is Your

Bucket when you're slowly growing you can say you know what I can split this one into two or three

buckets that's that's it right because we talked about EOS before and about the

entrepreneurial operating system and how you have to kind of start breaking down the roles

that you do into everything and then start

delegating and that's the the first step right start breaking down down everything that you do and I think

that's one of the issues with um just the installers in general is that we're

always like no one can do it as good as I can do it so that means I'm just going

to have to continue to do it but there there's if you do want to scale there's going to be a point where you you have

to say Okay I need someone to do this so that way I can focus my time on something

else well one other thing to consider what do you love to do

right a lot of us got of us we start a business and we love the installing

maybe we like selling to a customer you get to a certain size

and the problem is is that you will get drug away from doing that stuff that you

love you possibly love doing and tradeoff you're meeting with your Banker

all the time trying to keep money flowing you're trying to get project maybe you're you're trying to set up

lines of credit per project or a major line of credit for your entire company

um you're meeting with attorneys on contracts and you're trying to get through contracts all the time like you

can end up doing a whole different side of the business that you are maybe not

capable of doing at a high level right and maybe which I certainly was not I went through a a Terri terrible Growing

Pains um but that you know I'm a hardheaded nerd that kept thinking that

growth equaled you know was my my goal in life just being bigger is better

bigger is better and that's just wanted to be the biggest Nate says right here

you know because he's from Wisconsin with a dairy analogy a farmer can handle

75 cows but if he doubles the herd he only gets a 10 to 20% increase in income because the bigger herd cost

more and that that yeah that's true I mean across the board I mean the more people you pull in the more labor you

gotta dish out right labor expenses more labor hours you gotta watch I mean if you think

about it this way think about uh if you have employee installers

and they're they're good guys but we all know you may get a 10 minute little uh

rip from the time here and there uh you know we try to limit it by mobile timee

keeping and hiring right but still I've had it happen you have that happen with three

employees that's one thing right 30 minutes a day call it 30 bucks an hour you're

losing 100 bucks a day on wasted uh either way and maybe it's not even nefarious maybe it's just wasted time

cross talking too much whatever but let's say that's three employees equals 100 bucks a day you're losing take that

times 10 or 15 or 20 when you I know grow your team right now you're talking

,000 doll a day you're losing in Lost productivity or maybe stolen time I mean

it's all this stuff matters you really got to track it you know and it's kind

of like tracking your job site and there's a lot of tools out there in the world for tracking your job site but

none even compareed to flor Cloud as you guys know floor Cloud's a

great sponsor of the Huddle here and I want you to discover how floor Cloud can

transport your project side conditions right to your fingertips right there on your phone you want to talk about

increasing efficiency and profitability you can do so if you're growing your business with floor Cloud floor Cloud

will enable realtime monitoring of your job site conditions via desktop or your mobile device so if you're out on

another job site you want to know how one of your other projects site conditions are you can do it right from your mobile phone no more manual checks

for temperature humidity or Doo no need for these big base

stations uh you know or because of Wi-Fi this is all based on cellular so it's

simple you scan the front of the uh device with QR code and you're up and

running with the most accurate and Innovative site monitoring system in the flooring industry you can dispatch your

Crews with confidence now because you don't have to wonder what the site conditions are no more crews going out

turning around and coming back because job site ain't ready I'm a huge believer in floor Cloud technology the easy setup

and simple interface makes it a no-brainer guys so many of our projects are hours away we're in Kansas it could

be four hours away and still be in Kansas so being able to get a sight condition and moisture readings here at

the office is a real savings technology mov fast and being on the front line with Flor cloud is a real game

changer thank you to flor Cloud for sponsoring this episode I know you guys are big Believers and uh have mobilized

their technology so uh that's another thing staying on the Forefront of that when you grow you are now competing when

you're you have a scaled business and you're growing and you're getting bigger and bigger you're now competing with

more sophisticated companies as well I'm not trying to talk you out of growing or scaling your business I'm trying to make

you think and ask yourself the right questions so you can ensure that you

actually want to go through that yeah we we've got um florer Cloud

on one project now and it's already been huge in like because this architect is a pain

but having the you want to scale up you gotta get used to that at the fingertips

and just being like here here is the site conditions right and it it's actually nice because

the architect wants things done right so they're like okay and then they go back to the GC and they're like do something

about this then I'm not fighting it yeah yeah I mean that the not only floor

Cloud um but in technology in general I know you guys as you grew started

looking at different technology different ways to be as effic as you

could possibly be and you know as people coming into the business or you're wanting to grow your business maybe

getting into the commercial world uh you're going to need to uh you know really start investigating that kind of

stuff too so I just don't want it rose buds and and you know flowery rainbows

and stuff as when we start talking about scale when you're talking about scale in your business sounds sexy but to be

honest with you it there's if you're not properly prepared it can be a real hard

thing to do and to do so profitably I should say I know I've had my uh my uh

bruises and scratches and cuts and um so

that's what I would ask everybody if you're talking about Skilling is should you and when should you and why do you

want to I will I will add this too just for like the um the single installer who

thinks that that scaling is actually employing people and and maybe getting uh brick and mortar um you know and

trying to go that way but you know investing in yourself in making sure that you have the right equipment the

right Transportation um the right tooling the right knowledge that is one of the the

things that you can do just to help you scale up organically right like people

like to see someone investing in themselves and they notice it and uh it would help you as well so it it doesn't

necess scaling up to me doesn't necessarily mean you know getting a big going from five to 50 right it might

mean going from one to one plus some good amenities um that that is needed

and that could help you organically scale up and you might see some attention that you haven't or normally

don't see which might open up more doors and make you start thinking about taking the next next steps as

well yeah that's a that's a great point because you know know um there's plenty

of installers out there that let me say this the most profitable

guys I know in the business are the self- performers with a really good team

great equipment a small storage space or a nice shed at their house that has

their equipment and they take care of their equipment they take care of their people they have a great team of four to

four to eight guys those those guys who still get out there and do the work they

get their crews out they got their little crew leaders little they got their crew leaders they get out there

and handle a little guy and they talk on the phone a little bit but each when

when that smaller team is well oiled I know guy bluecollar millionaires man

that have done fantastically well for themselves installing floors running a

good installation business and being smart about it having high trained guys

and investing in their team both morale wise as well as uh training uh you know

skill-wise those are probably the lowest headache most profitable guys I

know I agree Hugo a tile team here in witto we we one year paid them well in

excess of a million dollars and those guys knocked out of the Park want to thank all the little peeps out

there but it's it's um there there's a great deal of of uh pride and and

frankly money to be made running a business that way I think uh I think you're right on

and and those guys are are the ones that like you said they they have a team right like they might not necessarily

have employees but they have a team of people that they're trusted or that they trust that they've acquired over the

years and they might have a team of Builders or contractors that trust them

and their team and they don't have to go out and bid they just get a phone call the best ones actually have at least the

best ones I know actually have employees it's usually a a set of brothers or a

cousin and a literally it's like those two guys

hire people by the hour make sure they're trained care about their equipment and have an accountant that

takes care of everything for them a third party they just drop everything in off once a week and like I said Alex and

Hugo that team they did well in excess of a million dollars for us one year and

they had a team of them two and three other guys and they ran it out of a

garage at their house where they kept all their equipment and they just cared about that and doing great

work building that's um that's that example of you know like some people say

becoming complacent right like being stagnant that's not stagnant that is a

very controlled very very strategic way to go about having a business model it's

no we can't do that guys we're we're still here look it we've just learned how to control this let's see if we can control this and maintain this this line

this control line uh for as long as we possibly can and then once we get to a a good point where we can invest

comfortably then we can make the next jump that's a good way to go about it I like the way that uh you put

that yeah it was an example of a couple of guys brothers that just cared about

having a good time at work they were never up like very rarely they get bent

out of shape but they always got they you know until uh they ended up kind of

going their separate ways one wanted to scale back and even get smaller and do

Residential only um and the other one wanted to stay in commercial to so they split ways from that aspect but they

they it was a amicable split and they they just decided when they were

together they just decided that we're going to have a good time the did break

up Jorge but they they are still uh they they still love one another but it was

it was just a um it's just a testimony of when you can double down they they

could scale their profit uh but they didn't have to scale their growth they could make really good profit make

really good uh you know find better ways to uh you know more efficient saws

more efficient grinding equipment this kind of thing to increase their profit

without necessarily having to do a ton more Revenue so there's two things there

that you want to think about and revenue at the end of the day revenue is pretty

but profit is what gets the you know so what keeps the doors open that's what

keeps the doors open and keeps the lights on and allows you to live the lifestyle that you

want yes sir so what else do you guys we talked about this been really a lot

about commercial you know when when you're talking to a retail um a retailer

maybe a small retailer who's wanting to grow or a you know a

residential uh installation shop wanting to grow that's more in your guys's realm of

expertise what do you guys you know obviously there's like you can open up another store across town or in another

small town outside but um what do you guys res when you're thinking

residentially right and we're focused on um just like the installer base just talking about like maybe being a a one

crew type thing and then you're trying to to to scale up and just trying to maybe sell start selling material it's

what do you got to do in order to store that material it's looking at just like getting a warehouse or um looking at

maybe inventory or something or get partnering with someone that will hold that inventory for you

uh what about quality control you know because you you know what you can do and

maybe what this other guy can do but as you start growing maybe you catch wind of some Builder starts loving you and

starts wanting to throw you all the work that they can all you can

handle how do you quality control that like you know that's one of the one of

the interesting quality control starts with you understanding your limitations

and being transparent with your clients or potential clients that's one way to start quality control don't promise

don't promise the Stars when you can't even make it to the moon you know what I'm saying just uh go you you you got to

be comfortable telling someone I'm uncomfortable with that and this is why but I can do some research

and find out if in my network I have somebody with those strengths and attributes that you're looking for and

if so then we can do work um that's that's the hardest thing to do

right because uh most uh entrepreneurs business owners or anyone trying to grow they're like yes I can yes I can and the

uh just dive in we'll figure we'll figure it out later just say yes and then we'll figure it out right like

uh we're pretty good at that but I'm not gonna go and tell someone

I'm gonna do you know the a bathroom renovation and and pretend that I am

the best that they're ever going to find at doing some custom showers and floors and patterns I'm not going to go do no

um uh no stuff like you see on tiktock or or like U what's his face does all

the time um corge on carpet well him too but on the tile side like Ken Bon

or yeah I'm not I'm not gonna promise anybody like they say that I'm gonna

go I'm GNA connect you with some other people right um now being okay saying no yeah that

that's that I think that's the first that's a hard thing to do I'll admit that it is and I went and measured a

house and the reason why she found us was actually because of the podcast and

she she was moving you know from across the country and she was like I want you to come measure this I found your

podcast you guys are certified I found you on all these sites and then she you know measured her whole house and she

was like and this is this restroom right here I want tile tile shower the whole

works but it's not going to go yet and I said I can do everything else as far as

this bathroom goes I'll put you in touch with someone that's gonna take care of

you yeah well as long as you buy the material for me she probably appreciated

that too humility goes a long way that transparency yeah humility transparency

goes a long way with with people that uh have values in common um with

the yeah so another way though is um and

shout out to some my guys you know that are nfic um you know is getting more

specialized we did talk about that in the previous podcast but when you're one of the few that can do specialized tile

work work or carpet work you can scale the not only your

Revenue but your profit for sure uh because there's just not that many

people that do it I mean even you know here in wiah like I said we're probably

six or 700,000 in the Metro and the there's a very few handful of guys that

do really specialized work like that and you get outside of that

and you have the guys that want to do carpet tole lvp and you know that's it and in the

commercial World The Flash Cove sheet vinyl heat welded stuff is a h good example of work

that is special more specialized now um back when I first started the company I

worked for had we had three or four people that could Flash Cove heat Weld

and it was a much smaller company than what we are and I only

have three crews or three people that I would

send out to do a flashco heat welded cheap Vel project so if you guys are looking to

get trained on some flash code flash cove and heat weld uh NCT is doing a

class in October over at America's Floor Source FYI

where's that up in your neck of the woods yeah it's in Ohio so how about you say it like this if you guys want to get

trained and certified by Daniel himself this is a class you're not gonna want to

miss I might go to that I don't know that makes that makes

me nervous now yeah right might have to go to that too that would be sweet to tell that's

that's a great opportunity if you are an installer that does like carpet tile lvp

and you do good floor prep you know how the floor needs to be for lvp your 2 millimeter thin stuff you know

then learning those sheet vinyl skills man I'm telling you what that is in the

commercial world that is where we are constantly I mean it's one of the

questions we ask every installer comes in to interview you ever do flash cove heat weld no dang you know because those guys

are hard to come by um yeah we've uh we've had to trust

people um to come on job sites and help out I don't say job sit come on projects

to help out when a schedule was laid in front of us that was nearly impossible you get a handful of people they say yes

we do and then you have no choice but to trust them and then next thing you know you're like I need you to get off my job

site what's up leave just leave

please yeah and if you come with you know the

receipts the certifications and the actual training show me the receipts you will I gotta take off I

gotta get my son up to the school all right my man you mean you gotta be a dad I gotta go be a dad for

daddy duties daddy duties well thanks for joining

brother and uh thank you as always for being a staple I try I

do stop stop talking already just leave

bro there he goes all right um so anyway when we when we're

all talking about scaling the business and doing those things that considering

whether or not it's time if you have your resources together and do you want the extra headache I think those are the

the big things just to consider fully before you just start jumping in and growing your business like crazy and you

turn around and you're negative in your bank account you ain't got a the line of credit you got all these like problems

and issues that you're trying to deal with and they all stem from not having enough Capital to run the company um so

stand back ask yourself is it time to grow do I want the extra headache and if I do if I believe that I'm built for

that make sure that you're getting that your personal you know development is

high up on your radar it's something you're going to have to learn to be good at if you're not already good at I had

to learn how to be a business person and I was terrible at it for so long I'm I'm

I would say I'm ashamed but at the end of the day it it it made me better but I had to learn the hard way on a lot of

stuff and it wasn't it wasn't fun I still learning you and us both brother

like yeah still learning the hard way in some things yeah so you made a good point too as far as like you

know you could do your best to to kind of uh dot your eyes cross your tee if you will

but is this my strength I guess is that like am I mentally prepared for for scaling up

and if you are for that next step where is your roof you know you go I think

that's where you know we didn't we didn't game plan at all we just kind of let it all happen and

um I think game planning might have scared us a little bit or made us

rethink our approach um and we might not have had some of the um negative

experiences as far as uh the scaling portion um but I will say like um it

always can't go back to education it always goes back to education you know that's just one of the things you got to learn about it right

uh experience and education it's the only two ways you get good at yeah so before we started doing like um

entertaining the idea of bid work um Daniel and I took a um an advanced

estimating class um we just kind of Dove right in we wanted to understand what we

were looking for on these larger commercial jobs we wanted to understand how the contracts were structured um we

wanted to understand all that so that's a one of steps that that we took in

preparation um probably one of the only steps we took in preparation for our next that's better you know that's

better than nothing at least you took a technical step um yeah I think you know

kind of like I mentioned earlier one and Roland just uh commented said first thing you need to do is look at yourself

and be ready to harder work for the first year work harder for the first year I would venture to say that

if you're starting a business that first couple years going to be the hardest you ever worked in your life to

make um first off secondly um and that shouldn't scare you away just you got to

be ready for it um and secondly you know any time you're growing a business

especially when you hit these big uh like thresholds I'd say three

million then five then 10 then 15 those big thresholds are and it can

be in smaller increments in that but it's these big next steps kind of thing

where your systems that got you to be able to do 500,000 will be obsolete to do five

million yeah it just will be and you have to be willing to consistently

educate yourself and grow and be willing to ask for help and get involved with

the industry and get to know people like the Gonzalez Brothers up there in Michigan

come and get to know some of the people that are on this podcast and uh the some of the experts we've had on here

and understand what it takes to grow your business um and see where they're

at ask them questions and you know get curious and and and grow your mindset

and your your skills and abilities from a business perspective did you see see that comment

from Nate uh being responsible here I'm G put it back up up there um being

responsible for the income of another person or a family keeps me small um

yeah yep you're you are right a lot of responsibility brother and a lot of respect to you for

recognizing that you don't want to be uncomfortable right um well on too much

to where it might affect their family it's a lot dude yeah I mean it's a lot

of pressure to make sure the payrolls met every week and that you're growing

to a sustainable level and uh that you

you know always have the cash flow coming through that you can reinvest in your company business is tough but the

number one stressor uh especially on the early days for me was making payroll 100% and it

was more than just that person's going to be mad at me that person put their faith in me

that they was going to have a job that was going to give them a weekly paycheck that would put food on their table and

that's an immense amount of stress um to have to go through

and know that if you fail you're failing them in a major way and they may not be

able to pay their rent that month because of you yeah and that's that's not

that I I'll second what you said it's admirable that you stay where you you

really love to be and if Nate obviously loves to be where he's at and do the

excellent work he does and do the trainings he does and do those things and not have to have that responsibility

of another person's livelihood on your shoulders that's a big deal it's a big

deal and not everybody should do it um not everybody um can do it or should do

it and that's not to boast those who do it is just the mere fact that not

everybody should be doing that and um you know to back to what n

said too is um you know before we hired our first employee we had it was our

goal to make sure that we had enough money in the bank to cover a Year's wages for them um and that is only

because I was and Daniel was at one point one of the people that experienced a bounce check

right right and they never come at the right time it's always the time when you need it most and it's just like I don't

ever want to tell someone that they can't eat after they worked this hard for me I don't ever want to tell someone

that I worked for a company uh my first my first company in

floring and oh sh he five

paychecks that we held we used to race luckily I had a friend that that ended

up I started my first business my first flooring company with his name was Steve and he was a PM there and he'd call me

this was when cell phones just came out and you played Snake was the biggest game on

the when you had when you when you had a text like this yeah hi hi yeah yeah um

but he'd call and tell me like like got a check and I would go get in

my car and we and as soon as you seen someone else going to their car at 10

o'clock in the morning or 2 in the afternoon everybody went to their car if

you pulled out of driveway everybody's racing to the bank I had five checks at one point uh that I held the problem I

had was the job I had before I made $4 dollar less an hour

and so I was like I'm making better money even though I'm not actually getting the money eventually they always

would clear I eventually but at one point I held five checks man and making better

that experience is also another reason why when I got into business I did Ne I

never wanted to put an employee through that now my Subs I'd talk to them hey you're a sub you're in your own business

too sometimes you know pay gets delayed Subs that's that that is the that is

what you sign up for that's the nature of the beast but uh I did not want an employee ever going without a paycheck I

think that um we've been fortunate enough to to be able to take care of our subs as well um within how wise are you

guys for what in a year of I never even thought of that dude I tell you what man

that's incredible that's really that was hard that was hard to to see money in

the bank and to say I'm broke that but it gets easier it gets

easier over time right you see you see dollars and cents in there you're just that's not really mine I mean my names

on the account the business is in our name but really that's not really mine um and that's that's how we had to go

about it I do want to that's really mature for the time frame you're talking

early days that you guys decide to do that's a business maturity that is that

is uh Next Level so Kudos that was awesome that's awesome to hear you guys

approached it that way I wish I would have man well I didn't that was the only

way it motivated us as well right like it was motivation yeah it helped

motivate us right um another thing is what you said about holding the five checks and that is that is the thing as

a as a a sub too right like when you're getting into the game and when you go from when you start your business you're

already scaling up that's already you're already taken that couple steps more than than a lot of people but you also

have to make sure that you're surrounding yourself with good reputable people who aren't going to be giving you

checks that you have to worry about for larger dollar amounts and larger

projects um and and we experienced that one as well and I mean it was bad like you said you're holding five checks it's

bad when I go pick up a check and and in front of the guy I call the bank check number blah blah blah is there enough

there to cover this like well as usual Roland may have the uh record on

certifications he certainly may have the record here he says I have 23 checks

sitting in my desk from the last company I worked for that's why I have the store I have

now as as in that was motivation like they're not cashed

and yeah did you end up cash and rolling to start your job I took it as uh or start your business I took it as that he

got fed up with yeah not getting paid and started what I want to know is is

how do you have 30 or 27 checks that you didn't cash and still able to start a business we need to get you need to

write a book bro no doubt you got you need a whole new business book because you made a

work yeah yeah yeah you know it's funny we're talking and there's a lot of comments about uh store that uh or you

know like Jorge says here back in his day as pops had to chase down his employers at the local bar bilard to try

to get their weekly pay that's crazy yeah I mean that's a

real thing the key here is you don't want to be that guy none of us you know we don't want to be those those kinds of

guys we want to propel this industry through our businesses into a new uh

Frontier like I say in the intro that's a real thing like we want to improve the industry and the way you can do it is

one company at a time doing the best business you can possibly do now we're all you know I feel it necessary to say

we're not perfect no one's perfect we make mistakes but at the end of the day doing the best work you can the best

quality you can and giv back to your to your industry through getting certified

that is a way of giving back getting your certifications you know get involved

with your local CFI chapters uh getting trained in sheet

vinyl if you're going to go down that route uh being highly trained in tile

work and gauge porcelain panels all this kind of stuff that is giv back to your industry because having the highest

quality Workforce we could possibly have will start to get us recognized again as a real trade I don't know how we ever

lost that it takes more skill to do this business I've said this a thousand times

than any other skilled trade in my opinion you don't need the hand skills that you need in flooring whether it's

in painting maybe in finished carpentry high-end finish carpentry but outside

that like painting acoustical ceilings drywall mud and taping I'm not saying

they don't take skill I'm just saying not the same level of hand skill uh electricians I mean you got to have the

knowledge but it doesn't take that you know great hand skills to strip wire

pull wire like it takes a lot of Mind skill

um if we want to bring our industry to the continue to increase our industry

standing in the construction industry at large it means us giving back and giving

back does look like us getting certified it does look like us getting educated it

does look like us running good businesses and good Crews and good people so yeah so I guess

uh that Circle that Circle of yours right keep it small and tight when you're when you're trying to scale um

I'd say that would keep things a lot simpler and ask advice ask

information um do I look anything that we're saying today on the podcast we're

we're just giving you uh information from our experiences that we're not saying this is GNA work for you this

isn't a template and a how-to guide at all right this is what what we found

worked for us and this is what we've experience experience and what didn't work for us at least the pitfalls

Yeahs if I could go back in time and tell tell our younger selves a little bit of advice it would be keep that

Circle small and tight um only Scale based off of your

strengths and if you have the right crew make sure you scale according to what

they're showing you or who they're showing you they are not what they're telling you they want to be because what

they want to be um for your crew or for your friends and your family that are joining you to help you grow a business

what they want to be is successful for themselves as well um and sometimes

you're not in that future so don't don't put all your eggs in one basket or put

all your eggs in five people's baskets and let them carry them around you gotta you gotta take them eggs back every

night and incubate them a little bit make sure they're dusted off and clean um say about that well I I uh I'm

catching what you're putting down or I'm picking up what you're putting down I think that the big thing that um in

closing here I would say is that a lot of

people uh if taking the same thought process you just had if if I was to go

back to my younger s and and say hey here's a word of advice kid it would be

find The Sweet Spot it's okay like you don't need to be the biggest uh many

times in my business I've we've been the largest flooring contractor in Kansas and in some cases with with uh the

largest in the entire Midwest and so

the the that that's all ego- driven I I would have you know I've I've scaled it

back a little bit and it's it's way harder to do that than it is to uh just

grow steady and as long as you're outpacing inflation you can kind of use

that five to 10% of uh uh post inflation number so if inflation's at growing at

five five eight% you know you need to be growing at 18 to 20% um when inflation's down you don't

have to grow as much to stay nice and profitable but I had some times in my

career in business where we had Hit The Sweet Spot and profits were really good

we had the right siiz team everybody was working together really well every very

few headaches it was like almost like magic and then there's times when every

contract felt like just clawing up a mountain with spikes man you know so I

would tell myself it's okay find The Sweet Spot and that it's okay to be there to stay there and have sustainable

growth sustainable growth that's uh yep why didn't we just say that in the first

five minutes we wouldn't need to be on here for 55 minutes well we gota we gotta fill H we

got to fill up our time too you know we gotta tag them along and drag them along so guys thank you so much for joining us

today thank you for all the comments if you're catching Us on YouTube we'd

really appreciate a like a subscribe that's what helps our Channel grow a little bit um The More We Grow the more people we

can get out to the more uh if you enjoy our message that's your way to share it

so he did send Rin did send me pictures of those uh those that's insane that is

crazy ran you're you're my hero now you were my hero

anyway but um if you catch us on any of the uh social channels give us a like leave us

a comment let us know what kind of topics you'd like us to explore in the future we'll do our best to get expert

on or give you uh a bit of our banter when it comes to that topic so we

appreciate you guys so much you have no idea our weekly uh uh participants that

are always on here you guys rock yeah you're you're the rock of this podcast and we really appreciate that so

everybody out there have a great week and we will catch you next week 3M

Central Tuesday adios [Music]

The Huddle - Episode 108 - The Ins and Outs of Moisture Control in Flooring Projects

In this episode with special guests Seth Pevarnik from Ardex (https://www.ardexamericas.com) and Jared Lockwood from Uzin (https://us.uzin.com) we delve into the crucial role of moisture management in ensuring the longevity and durability of flooring installations. This episode covers why effective moisture control is essential to prevent warping, mold, and other moisture-related issues. We provide expert insights on the best practices and techniques for assessing and mitigating moisture risks, from using moisture barriers to choosing the right materials for different environments. Tune in to learn the key strategies for maintaining the integrity of your flooring projects through proficient moisture control.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle your weekly Playbook where we strategize on everything from playing the

game and mastering your fundamentals we are here to help you

distinguish yourself in the marketplace sorry I fumbled this one I think you say that quite quite

often Paul well you know it's a scripted opening and I try to change it every week but you know you know you know the

deal we're here we're still here to give the installer a voice and make sure you're equipped with everything you need

that's for sure so this week's topic is uh the ins and outs of moisture

control um I know a lot of you guys uh if you especially if you're in

commercial you're going to run across these situations so I'm really happy to

have guest Seth panar pavik and Jared Lockwood and Seth you are with uh Ardex

and and Jared you you are with usine is that right did I get that right yes all

right did I say usine right or is it I don't know the Germans pronounce iten

but yeah you can pronounce it however you want to with me as always is Mr Daniel and

Jose Gonzalez of uh preferred uh floring out of Grand Rapids Michigan migan and

um so welcome guys uh how's the week going I'm trying to wake myself up here

too good the weather's phenomenal here so the weather outside is

weather weather is good and uh thanks for thanks for having on the show today

more importantly glad you can make it how's

business no business is good for us um Summer's the you know heavy time of the the year for

us the June July August lots of school renovation and projects like

that we're just out there selling fancy dirt in a bag you know just kind of you

know how it goes fancy dirt clean recy from the playgrounds around

around here I sure hope not all right so uh I thought it'd be

interesting to get started by just talking about a few um and uh well you know what first Seth

can you give us a little uh intro on yourself a little bit about your background and then we'll go to you Jared and you guys give us a little bit

of info about you guys yeah certainly so my name is Seth bavar I'm the director of technical for

ardx I started with artx back in 1991 I was uh seven years old I I look

pretty good for my for my my early 30s um now I grew up in the in the

construction industry my my father and grandfather were General Contractors so I was a I was a gopher growing up

meaning go for this go for that yeah and um yeah I started uh started with artx

early 990s and um you know been in been in technical for for quite some time and

uh been involved in the industry quite a bit uh you know different ass

associations uh out there and uh really like to to give back uh to the industry

as much as as possible it's done uh it's been great for me to be in the industry

I feel like I I owe it back and and I like to give back as much as

possible well I know I've seen you in just about every convention I've been to so uh you do I certainly see you out and

about trying to trying to uh improve the industry and your on several uh

committees and different things like this and some boards too right I

am awesome Yep heavily involved with FC NCT it's uh able to be board member with

both of those associations and uh contribute in other other ways as well

Canadian Association nfca um asdm just to help build industry standards um the

I RC help build different inspection standards out there for our industry so just just try to help out as much as I

can sweet Jared give us a little bit of background on yourself sir well um I've

been in the flooring industry for 25 years now I guess so started around 90

99 2000 as a ceramic tile helper like

installing ceramic so um been in the industry a while I started with udine

back in 2016 when we uh when we came strong into

the Michigan market and um just been doing that ever since so I was with USG

for a short while before then um doing some moisture mitigation stuff

so so you both got great backgrounds guys this is why we um you know one of

the podcasts we try to bring on a couple of experts I I can vouge um certainly

for Seth I know him a little bit better but Jared's got a l long history and mitigation like he just said and so if

you have any questions make sure to or comments uh good

experiences uh with with with the uh different self- levelers and because

that's certainly a part of moisture mitigation when you start talking about prepping the a uh full mitigation system

for new flooring um you know give us your thoughts and we will uh talk about

them so Mr Daniel Mr Jose well let me just start off by

vouching for Jared right away he did first time we met him this

guy came up to one of our hospitals and helped us with a night project and I was like oh my God this guy's making us

grind everything why why why you know what I know why

now you know why now you know hey I gave you the why too not just the do what you

do but the why now you know and knowing is half the battle only people that are

probably 40 will know where that came from yeah GI

Joe um it was very refeshing to have someone out there with hands on and actually going through the process

instead of just uh letting us uh fail on our own right he made sure that that wasn't that wasn't in the stars for us

so we do appreciate that you know we were there till what 5:30 in the morning Jose we were there forever it was uh it

was a long long night yeah it was a long night let's mention that for a moment for all the uh installers that join us

we got a large audience that's uh typically on here watching and

and you guys as as Tech reps in the industry you actually want to hear from

those guys don't you yeah from the installers yeah the I would say the the

the wor the I wish I had five bucks every time I had somebody call up and say hey I just use your product I think

I did something wrong I could retire it's like it's called beforehand you

know yeah I think a lot of uh we we've promoted on here quite a bit about like

getting in in touch with the tech reps and getting to know the product even a

few a few days beforehand hey what am I going to run into what are some things to really think about with your product

line um in fact I just did a huge uh exterior uh Ardex with some A4 the the

new stuff brand new like I did it was A14 and X90 and x35 drainage mats I just

got through uh phase one of a a big project and you guys you know had Greg

out and and I I probably talk to him for a week ahead of that project uh every

day I wanted to know now this was brand new so I I hadn't even

really uh thought and gotten the concept through on how to put this stuff down correctly and make sure that our guys

are doing it right but it the point is guys get a get a hold of your Tech reps

ahead of time and they want to hear from you guys they're not you know they're not um shy most time when I'm at

convention or any of the the shows they actually want to hear from you guys more

often so don't don't be uh scared to reach out all right so uh hey boys can

you tell me about a moisture failure you've had um yeah recently actually recently

like within the last couple years yeah well just anytime but yeah whatever you want to bring up Daniel has more

information on that one I mean I I can only uh speculate and add to what was uh

secondhand through most of it well it's just I have a project right now I actually was talking to to Jared

earlier um you were using his system over here and the architect just wants

so much information and it's just like can you just provide me with something he's like I can get you an email she like I need

something by end of dayto day he's like my the the documents typically take 72 hours can I just shoot you an email and

it's like well something's better than nothing right but it's it's the MV the moisture

Vapor emission rate came back a little bit high in a couple areas and it's just

on the trenches where they they poured the new concrete so we're going in with

a onep part System since the RH is in check everywhere and we don't necessarily need to do the two-part

system the epoxy system save some dollars and cents all the way around so I'm switching it over

and this architect is just I don't know man well let's not go down that rabbit

hole of of of how to deal with Architects I think that deserves its own

episode no but but it's it is important to know there are different styles of products out there to address things

differently I mean you know a onep part component urethane can handle moisture up to a certain point and then the you

know an f310 epoxy can handle you know as moisture as high as you want it but

like you it's important to educate the contractors that they do have different options they don't just have to go with

an epoxy if the if the moisture is high you know you do have other options so

you know whether a high moisture adhesive or you know a uh a urethane or

or whatever other like there there are other Solutions out there you know sheet membranes that sort of thing so it just

like it every Situation's different so a lot of it is just letting people know what the options are and they can choose the best one well let's talk about I'll

tell you a quick quick one a specific one we had a um floor and and before I

tell you you know kind of identifying this this balance when you're you know

we know when we take a a moisture test it's really a snapshot of the the floor

under those conditions at that time and

so question to both of you guys after I tell my little story will be what do you recommend when it's like

Teeter tottering it it's really kind of at a certain level where you think you

can get away with this XYZ adhesive that uh says it it's let's let's say it's a

95 RH adhesive and you're you're you're right at 95

and what would you guys recommend doing there um I know circumstances change uh

my circumstance was we were below grade at a Early Learning

Center um we we had the same exact scenario we

opted for a higher moisture adhesive went with an lvt down there um it did

seem to have good drainage and different things on the building not that I'm a you know great expert on the outside of

the building or should have to be but sometimes even those things we have to consider in

flooring um but we ended up going with an lvt we sent all the information to

the architect uh we you know had everything

submitted and approved installed it and it probably

took we also considered we were in a wetter season when this happened so we

figured this is probably as kind of as high as it would get you know it would probably dry out um I don't know the

mistake but it failed it took about a year and it started failing and then it

failed drastically it was like something happened now we didn't by all reports

from the owner and the GC there was no event uh no no flooding event or a

piping a pipe breaking or what have you but it seems to me because it lasted

look great for a year and and then kind of started showing some some signs and

then man it just went to uh hell really quick so we ended up having to replace

that floor now we had full you know I mean to be honest with you the GC and the architect all stepped up and so did

the owner I said here's all the testing here's everything here's the reason we went with all this stuff it was all

approved so I can't replace it for free and uh so I got paid for the replacement

but it was a little touchy for me like it was just one of them touchy

situations like well should should should I have done something different so that was that was one scenario where

I really didn't I don't I still don't know

um if I because I don't know if there was an event and there that circumstance

kind of throws me off a little bit meaning that it lasted so long so well and then kind of failed more uh

drastically but that aside I almost wish I would have just completely mitigated

the floor and and done that anyway I think this will give us an opportunity

to talk about that but also let's go through levels you know you got

moisture uh and I'm going to name them off and any of them that I miss I'm going to turn it over to you two and we

can conversate back and forth between all of us but uh I know we have uh you

know the r Goods the uh like uh used to

be called versus Shield what's the new name of it uh garar yeah like a roll out

membrane stuff you got uh one Parts you

got high moisture adhesive actually that's in there as well some of them go

up to 100 R uh or say they do uh you also if you can correlate those with

um you know a more breathable flooring uh I feel more comfortable in those

situations in fact when we replaced we put a the highest moisture adhesive that

uh that EF Florine had and put kinetics in is what ended up uh happening down

there there and that's performed now for five years on with no no issues

whatsoever um but then we have you know the one parts and then two parts and

there's different levels in the two parts even you know it'll handle different stuff different uh levels of

vapor emissions so I'm going to turn it over to you guys on those with all those

deals all these options do you have standard kind of like playbook for the

the audience that this is kind of how we see you using or looking at these

moisture tests versus your with your projects and what to consider there and

then these are the products that you know you might consider to be the best

solution for those right what I one of the things I want to say and and and you

know I Echo what you said Paul and Jared there there are a variety of different types of materials out there and you both

have mentioned the different types the the key thing uh to keep in mind here is

that any material that has a maximum RH of less than

100% should not be should not be used in envir in an environment that it could be

exposed to 100% uh or condens liquid in some capacity and when I say that uh yeah

there there are single component roll on products that might be at a 95 or 98 uh

I we we we had products uh under our brand like that there's there's adhesives that are high RH adhesives

that are lower than 100% meaning 99 and if you look at a project that

we'll just take a building that's 40 years old something like like like the project that you were talking about Paul

you have a building that's you know multiple years old 10 20 30 40 years old you have a concrete slab on ground

um the likelihood of having an intact Vapor retarder underneath that concrete slab is slim to none if one was ever

used in the first place and even though you test for moisture today and it's 95%

RH today um it doesn't mean that at some

point in the future it can't be higher than that so I suspect in that that application that you were referencing

Paul that you know you were you are at you know moisture tolerances during

installation but it was a slab on ground probably no Vapor retarder that was intact and at some point in the future

whether it it was the rainy season you know the heavy snow that's coming off

winter and you're melting and you have all this water uh you get to the point where you have excessive moisture the

point where you're exceeding the performance of that material in that

application so you could take that same similar product that maybe have 99 or a

95 or a 98 maximum and if it's new concrete that has an intact Vapor

retarder or it's new concrete that's on an elevated deck um with no other

sources of moisture and you're reading 98 today that would mean that next month

you're going to re read 97 and the month after that you'll read 96 because that elevated moisture right

now is just going to continue to go down over time if that makes sense that makes a lot of

sense the way you said that too is uh for everyone out there the way he said it to was if you think that it's

susceptible to more moisture at some point in time chances are just to go a little bit One Step Above and Beyond

what what you were thinking yeah yeah yeah and like our approach is very similar like it's

anytime that there there could be a failure of the of the vapor barrier or

like those older buildings just treat it like it's an open slab I mean it's you're you're going to treat it like the

vapor can freely come in and come out and that just means everything like you have to treat it like it's a 100 you

just you just do yeah so but in that specific uh instance you brought up Paul

like you know you also have to look at the limitation of what the Floor Covering is too so like you you you

could have an adhesive that goes 95 98 99% if you but if you're putting down a 90% Floor Covering you're going to end

up with dimensional instability warping all sorts of issues with your floor covering long and the adhesive is Gonna

Keep it stuck but it's gonna it's gonna look like junk so absolutely and I and I'll just add to that Jared uh there's

two terms that I use when we're talking about all these different uh remediation systems and high RH adhesive so when you

really look at an adhesive the adhesive is tolerating that moisture and and if

you have a floor covering that that is you know a lower maximum RH with that

adhesive only tolerating the moisture then that floor Co covering becomes susceptible to moisture whereas a

mitigation system you know such as an epoxy or the urethane that you mentioned

Jared you know those are those are remediating the moisture you know so adhesives generally speaking High R

adhesives I don't want to include every everyone out there every adhesive out there but a majority of your high RH

adhesives just tolerate the the moisture and where mitigation systems actually

remediate I I like that distinction I do like that you guys bring brought that up

the difference between tolerating and and you know it's called mitigation so

moisture mitigation or remediation of that uh problem actually blocking that

uh moisture vapor from coming through yeah and I say that most most

floor coverings you know are going to have a lower tolerance than some of these high moisture adhesives that are on the market and you know it seems like

industrywide people have been overselling the high moisture adhesives without a proven track record so it's

one of those things where it's just like okay let's let's slow down a minute here

and make sure we we walk through all the details of the project and the limitations for everything involved in

your system right and I think that some of the flooring manufacturers have also

um started like in their SPC instead of giving limits for the actual flooring

they just say for the the moisture it's refer to whatever adhesive you're using

they don't even give you that information outright

anymore well you know so so much had to

happen so quickly on moisture if you think about it you know once we lost solvents and things and our adhesives

and I installed back then so uh I know what it's like to have those adhesives

and not shoot we didn't we didn't care I mean you you had

you know uh you that that is I think why so many

people especially building owners they're like well I had VCT down from the 70s and I'm just putting VCT right

back down why is it ain't different and and you got to walk them through this whole uh education process of why we

don't why our adhesives are not near as durable as they used to be from a

moisture standpoint and uh what it means to have water soluble soluble adhesive

and why we have that and all this but um yeah it's it's it had to progress

quickly and then the the mitigation systems you know they were so high cost for owners and stuff

so then manufact started working on the adhesive side of course those always are

progressing to get better but from a flooring contractor and installer

standpoint it appeared to me that you know mitigation systems came out pretty

quickly and and different ways of solving some of the problems but you know

um you know a coaster product that we used to use a lot of and kind of an

early brand you know it's going to cost you $8 a square foot for to put that

down and uh a lot of times it was more than the flooring system and

so the then then we started getting the high moisture adhesives and such and

like you said some of them seem like they were maybe build uh um or promoted

in um I don't know uh if it's it wasn't necessarily I

don't think purposely dishonest I don't want to say that but I I mean maybe oversold is the best way but the problem

for us installers and what the point I'm trying to get to here is we had to

absorb a ton of crap I mean manufacturers had to deal with it but

you had to deal with it in your Silo of being a manufacturer and then flooring in sters and contractors were getting it

from every rep about all these products you had to absorb so much so

quickly there's no no wonder that there's still moisture failures it seems

like most of them can be solved uh and there's a product out there to solve them but uh that seems to

be toning down people are getting more educated on all the products and and so that seems to be but there was this bell

curve of like even though the products were there wrong products were being used or or what have you because it was

frankly it was a lot of information to try to just absorb as a flooring contractor in the early days of figuring

all this out no you're right I mean you go back uh you know 30 and 40 years it's

not like you know specifically you know cutback adhesive was designed to be a you know moisture tolerant uh adhesive

with VC but the reality is it just performed very well you know VCT with cutback in high moisture conditions did

very well you had a lot of solvent adhesives way back when and when the switch was made um you know to get away

from all the nasty chemicals and you get into a lot of water all the waterborne adhesives there were tons of growing

pains uh you know back in the early days you go back 30 years ago a lot of growing pains with the water born

adhesiv but the technologies have have come so far uh with mitigation systems

and with the high adhesives and I just go back to um there there's different

products for different fits just really understand the project and then the

limitations of whatever product you're considering so that we're using the right product uh for the right

application so we had a few com sorry we had a few

comments about do Point can you guys address

dupoint yeah I mean a dupoint uh is uh

is when your job conditions allow you know condensed moisture to to occur I

mean you you let's let's uh I take it we all like beer you know you get h a nice

Frosty mug uh and you got some cold beer and you got warm moist air in the in the

room and you got condensation happening on the outside of the glass it's that you're hitting

dupoint um if you're yeah so it's important for

flooring contractors out there I think the point that our uh listeners are

driving at here is that you can have Mo your moisture testing but if you do

not uh consider ambient conditions as well yeah which is where our partner uh

here on the Huddle floor Cloud comes in to Great advantage to everybody is

checking your due points and and your your site conditions because if you don't if your do points or your your

your ambient conditions uh are going to cause uh a a a condensation factor to

happen um it on even if your Rh is

correct it it can condensate on top and not affect that RH uh reading that you

had you know the week before what have you so uh you know Jason's been a guest

on here before and and he's he's uh his Jason Ramsey and he's he's an inspector

and one of the things that he's been real um well I say Jason Ramsey but also

Jason Canton over at M brought it up as well that you know dupoint is a important factor in all this um probably

very specifically when you start getting into into your uh your areas of you know

high humidity uh uh climate so right and then you know Chad talking

about Builders not wanting to do anything on top of concrete because they say that there's a a vapory tier

underneath and they don't want to spend more money when I mean all these testing all this testing is there for a reason

right that's why we do all this testing plus the ambient conditions so that way

we know the entire system you got have to look at everything and that's where we always say that flooring installers

essentially need to be scientists sometimes right yeah we need to know a lot about everything and if you're not

that's when you get the these guys that are like I've been and we say it time and time again I've been doing it this

way for 20 years yeah that's like as soon as someone tells me that I'm like okay this

is not going to be a good conversation yeah I mean if there's no climate oh like if there's no climate

control in in the building like your D Point's going to vary constantly so it's

like you know your site conditions are very important part of the whole system

right I mean it's going to affect your I mean your flooring materials need to acclimate like your acrylic primers

won't set up there's just there's just a a laundry list of things that happen when you know your your conditions

aren't controlled so monitoring those is very key well I've ran across process um

a particular problem with a uh project

that the the school had their multi a school uh client of ours had their

multi-use facility it was a a separate facility from the school as a rural

school they built a like a gymnasium but it was multi-use and we put down a you know a

athletic flooring and it got some Bubbles and then we pull it up and you

can see visible uh the visible moisture on the concrete but we RH tested and it

was okay I was like what the hell's going on oh well come to find out they were

turning off and this is a school district thing and I think they're getting past this

but this is a rural School District this was just this in the last 12 months they're turning off the uh their

their building control system every they left it off all

summer and then they they turn it off on the weekends even in the winter because they're just trying to

save on these electric on their you know their bills and I get it but that is that destroys our products uh

anymore add to that scenario there's a a school recently where uh you know tons

of renovations have happened over the years some of the school has HVAC some of it does not some of the HVAC is

shared by opening up the fire doors and blowing a fan down the corridor and you

know and this renovation had a lot of resilient Rubber and some foro and we

couldn't explain it to them enough that something was not going to go right for

them because of that well we left the doors open all all night so that way it could all uh be the same temperature for

you in the morning go okay well thank you I mean Frank Frankly this this condensation and dpoint problem can

cause a problem even if you have a mitigation system down um and you don't

have a high level a high moisture adhesive on top of it uh even in that

case you can still have a problem but uh if you have a you know if you mitigate the floor and you're like okay now I can

just use the manufacturers recommended adhesive for this product and it's a 85

RH even though I had 99 everywhere uh previously and I had

high Vapor emissions I mitigated I'm good well if they're going to have a dupoint issue or building control issue

it can still cause a this condensation problem so I don't want to go down that for so as our only topic but it sure has

uh it got brought up I think it was a good thing to get brought up and um and

like J Jason says right here he's seen problems with integral moisture mitigation products and I think what

he's talking is like ad mixtures and stuff oh ad mixtures and and topal stuff

yeah I mean Jared actually talked about this like this was probably going to be something that was going to get brought

up because we were on a project that it was a whole issue with the the ad

mixture and them not I mean it wasn't even with the the mo it ended up being an issue with the

moisture after everything was done but during this time it was just about why do we have to pay for a blot

yeah yeah and it's with the with the ad mixtures it's just like for decades right the flooring

industry has designed their products to utilize the capillary structure of the concrete for its installation and when

you put a product in that densifies that concrete and tries to cut

off that capillary structure things just don't work the same way so it's just

like you have to carefully think about the process with the ad mixtures there's even new ones coming out like Nano

silicates which you know we've had some projects where those work just fine and

other projects where those have popped up as an issue and they're not even like a silic ad mixture they're just like

they're Nan silica yeah yeah yeah the the um to topically

applied at placement uh products that are Nano Silas and not a silicate but a

silic AIC but yeah they function they're not a reactive but they but they do

densify the same sort of way and cut off the capillary structures it's like they can yeah they fill the capillary

structure and and just to make it clear to everybody I

mean we need me adhesive isn't duct tape I mean it's it's a mechanical Bond once

it it dries you're trying to get a mechanical Bond into the pore structure

and um so it's important to have that

but then it does cause problems and so yeah even even if the adhesive

is uh some adhesives are suitable for non-absorbing surfaces but the the thing

about using you know a densifier whether it's a silic or silica you know changes

the density of the concrete you know the mechanic may think it's regular old concrete as he knows it uses the same

square Notch trial uses the same 15minute open time and the moisture from

the waterborne adhesive has nowhere to go and then there's an issue it may require a smaller Notch trial it may

require a longer open time uh to get the moisture out but you got to check with

your manufacturer and their their recommendations for the application yeah again it's just another dog on softball

well fast ball to swing at is it's another thing that flooring contractors have to

discuss and um and and figure out whether or not I mean if it's going to

be used at the end of the day if an ad mixture res use we usually find that out later I mean I love it when we find out

early where we can either start to plan with all the parties that are going to be involved but often they know that you

know the flooring manufacturer recommendation is no ad mixture and they're going to have a fight so usually

it's one of these things where that salesman selling to the uh the uh

concrete company sells it to the GC and it's it's

a done deal before we ever know it and then we find out later uh hopefully in

some cases we we have found out after our floor's done and we're like we've had the lamination deals come

to find out it was the ad mixure we didn't even know it was there had no

idea so of course your Vapor emissions tests come back just

fine I think the the one reason we found out on the project that I was that I was

talking about was because we asked for the the moisture testing results and they were like oh we didn't need to

because this ad mixture is in there that's what started the conversation with everything

yeah one in there it's fine

yeah go ahead sorry Jose I one of the the the bids that I'm working on right now because there's a lot of information

that's not in there um I think I I I included with uh they must provide um a

copy of the moisture test I also included in there that if there were any

AD mixtures added to the concrete then we need to know 20 days prior to our arrival um like just added that in there

like an hour and a half ago I just feel uneasy about some of the literature that was in this bid and I just felt

compelled to put that in there for safety your larger projects you got to I I feel like we need to do a better job

at my flooring company of of just that to be honest with you it's unfortunate

that we got to take all this on I mean I remember the business years ago it was just not we didn't have to have all

these considerations so um I we need to make more money in the flooring industry

because you got to be scientist and like you said chemists and and uh applicators

and make sure the right products in the right area uh but that that's uh you

know that's always the consideration uh on these larger projects because they want to see the easy button for that that led me to the

question I was going to ask was is there a silver bullet with high moisture concrete a a

high a high moist moisture uh

project I don't know I don't know if I'm totally understand your question Paul sorry is there a silver bullet solution

if there's high moisture like is a is one of the mitigation systems that's to

solve every time or should we always consider all of the different options

I know it's a tough tough question to answer but like if you have a new person

in flooring that is and I don't mean a new person but someone starting we're

we're in this phase I just read an article about how many flooring companies are possibly up for sale

you're going to have new ownership coming through gentlemen in the next five to 10 years because a lot of people

are cycling out a lot of baby boomers are leaving their businesses that so my

my question is with these newer people and some of them are not necessarily in flooring that have have are going to be

buying these businesses or stepping into these businesses my question is is there

a one solution uh and you know is it mitigate

the floor if you just don't know the best thing to do is do this and you shouldn't have any

problems I mean I'll I'll say this um I I've always taken the approach that I

evaluate a given project you know with a contractor look at what the needs are

for the contractor we make a recommendation you know based on the needs um I I'll say this also that there

I've I've worked with different hospital organizations where you know they will

use epoxy mitigation always whether it's needed or not because to them that was an

insurance policy for I have a client just like that Wesley Medical Center and it's it's an

artx product that they're just like nope we put mitigation under everything now they got bit hard enough uh that that's

that's the deal yeah the tough thing here is I I can't say that that epoxy

even though there there's a tremendous amount of experience in the industry multiple manufacturers with epoxy for

you know for decades that doesn't necessarily mean epoxy's the One-Stop shop and that's the

fix all I mean you can get into situations where we have um an ASR

situation alkal silica reaction which is you have excessive moisture but you have

a reactive aggregate in there and putting a mitigation system is not going to correct issues that will occur in

that situation and you can also sometimes get into these osmotic situations where we we have a water

source and we have salts from the concrete and we have a some sort of semi-permeable membrane at the surface

of the concrete which could be the pore structure that no matter what you put down uh epoxy mitigation system

resilient flooring terazo uh you end up with a you end up

with a failure an osmotic blister because of the the condition that's there

so I I don't want to say that there's just a one one product fixes

everything uh by any means I mean you get into those situations with ASR and

that's like the concrete has cancer because you have this reactive aggregate in there and what do you do with cancer

you cut the cancer out you know nobody wants to hear it but you got to cut the concrete out and you know and start

over no and those the NRS it's

like the the near surface like the epoxy moisture mitigation just causes that

reaction right I mean you trap the moisture in there it causes the chemical reaction and you know it's it's like

yeah you just have you get blistering and you just have to cut it out there's just no there's no plan B for it right

there's no yeah it's right remove only and the epoxy is it's a factor in there

but uh like removal is the only option so yeah you make a good point it's like

the the epoxy by mediating the moisture you know ends up uh creating a situation

where the ASR can happen you know the fix to that situation if they're if the

client's okay with it is leave it as as concrete and let the moisture Just Breathe Right out into the air if we

don't have liquid alkaline water sitting at the surface to react with the

aggregate the reaction doesn't happen so if the moisture can just evaporate out of the concrete and never have a

condensed alkaline liquid situation there then the the ASR the na nsar doesn't occur okay so tell

us the test what what um series of testing uh you know

between the uh Vapor emissions uh you know and Rh and pH testing what what

what's a good indicator that that's uh present wait that what's present well

how do you know you're have that scenario or is it

a yeah yeah so so you have you have an aggregate that that is in the concrete

that should not be in there there there are ASM tests that that qualify

Aggregates it might be c33 I can't remember offand here but but um there

there are reactive Aggregates out there that should not go into concrete um you know we and I'm sure usine does the same

thing they have to have their Aggregates tested and confirm that they're not a reactive aggregate that they're using in their material um but they these

Aggregates slip in on occasion and if there's no if there's no moisture uh

there's no liquid moisture with with high alkaline liquid moisture then that reaction never

occurs but to to to go to try to test to see if there's reactive aggregate in

concrete I mean it's a hit and miss thing I mean you could take a core sample and and and find a reactive

Aggregate and you could go two inches over and and not find a reactive aggregate they're not supposed to be

there in the first place but they on occasion slip in yeah the times I've

seen it it actually it's spotty across the floor it's just like some places

have some of that Aggregate and the rest of the slab is fine so you could you could have the slab

95% correct but have a literally it's just like a cancer problem where it's

you have you could have a hundred different areas in a 10,000 squ foot building that all have to get repaired

whereas the rest of the slab is fine and they could all be concentrated together or they could be further apart and it's

just incorrect aggregate impure aggregate that comes through from the querry and ends up in the mix so like

the testing for it most of the time it happens retroactively where we have a problem we get osmotic blisters and we

pull up the the moisture mitigation normally and underneath there's a white crusty filmm and uh react reactions

that's taking place at the surface and that's normally how we identify it it's all retroactively because doing samples

you you gotta learn from from the problem like there's no way to test for

it yeah normally you discover it when the problem when you start and this is good education for me I've never had

this happen to me so I I'm a bit unfamiliar with it to be honest with you so thank you for for uh bringing that up

and and I guess I'm really glad I asked the question is there a one a silver

bullet CA because I I I have not had that so it made me curious if if there's

some combination of the testing methods that would uh expose that problem and uh it's

obviously there's not you just kind to kind of have the failure and then find the solution

so um we kind of started this out and we're running a little short on time but I wanted to kind of just go what you

know the the different steps and have you guys give us a chance starting from

a you know a lower level to a higher level moisture reading on both your guys

products line product lines what what is your solution for like hey I'm a little

concerned it's um uh you know it's a 90 RH floor or 92 RH and just one other

thing is these have a 3% um variation factor in your Rh test

so I mean like we don't have to consider enough these these things could and that

could be up or down so um uh what What's your low to kind of high uh there's no

um no specific project here I'm just curious uh to have you guys give you a chance to start from kind of

your bottom product up and uh what your strong you know your your

mitigation uh solution for you know a 25 MVR or something yeah go ahead jar yeah

s from the bottom so typically how we would approach it was I mean you would we

would recommend the uh the f2170 RH testing over you know a calcium

chloride test just because that's a more predictive test so we would prefer that type of reading as

opposed to the calcium chloride um so like you would get your results of the

testing first so that would be the number one thing and then once you have that results you start asking a question

you're say a is it an open slab situation if it's an open slab situation we need to treat it like it's 100% RH

slab so we would recommend you go up to you know an an f3010 right epoxy

moisture mitigation for us that would be p460 that's uh that's our kind of our gold standard for

moisture mitigation up to 100% our age up to um 14 pH so that you know for most

situations you know that's going to be the first question we ask is it an open slab and then once you know if it's a

new slab where we're just waiting on the moisture to go down then we'll start looking at something like a urethane

where you know you can go up to it can go up to 95% RH typically with two code

application so that'd be something like a P4 414 um but you know there are other

Solutions out there like sheet membranes can also go up to 100 those are those are good for like applications where you

also have moisture problems but you have like oil issues in your slab or

something where you know you're not going to have heavy rolling loads you could use something like an RR 185 sheet membrane but you know and when you start

getting into the sheet membrane category of products you you open up a whole another list of concerns like

condensation under it and mold growth and is you know ventilated Cove Base and

there's a whole lot of other details that you start getting into when you're trapping the moisture in a sheet membrane basically you get a cavity

underneath it right so like typically we're not leaning hard on like a sheet

membrane application as as a fix for things uh you know we tend to like

default back to like the epoxy p460 would be kind of the the final goto because we

know it works in most situations

awesome Seth yeah from from our standpoint um we have the the brand

Henry adhesives and we certainly have high RH adhesives under the Henry brand

647 695 they're acrylic types um but we qualify the installation

of those adhesives so being that they have you know a 9 9% r that means if

they're ever in a situation where it gets to 100 then you know the performance the

adhesive is you know off the table at that point so the application uh the job app or I should

say the the the the the the the project itself has to be qualified in that if

we're at 95 96 97 98 99 it has to be a condition where we can't get to 100% or

condensed liquid so when I say that uh we're talking about like new construction where we have uh concrete

that's on a pan above grade or maybe it's a intact Vapor Barrier underneath

we know that today we have a high R of 96 97 98 99 but we know that next month

it's going to be lower and the month after that it's going to be lower and it's forever going to be in a going down

situation you know if that slab was an existing 10 year old 20 30y old uh slab

that's on ground and we have elevation elevated uh RH readings then we know

that that is not mix water that is causing that high high R the concrete is

too old at that point for it to be mixed water so it has to be another source and it's probably from the ground because

there's no Vapor retarder because the slab is so old so I would never use an adhesive in that situation because even

though the the readings today might be okay at some point in the future you know we could get up to condensed liquid

underneath there and then you know the adhesive isn't going to perform anymore so in that situation we want to go with

a remediation material and we have we have two remediation materials uh we

have a two component epoxy that that meets the ASM f310 it's called MC

rapid um you know permeability of uh below 0.1 perms when tested in

accordance withm e96 so that's one option and then our other option is a is

a waterborne material two coat system uh called vb100 that that also

has a permeability of below 0.1 perms when tested in accordance with e96 so um

you know both of those materials could be used in a situation where we could be at 100% our

age so if we have no Vapor retarder underneath the concrete slab and the building's 20 years old I'm not going to

use an adhesive for that use a medication system like VB 100 or

mcer wow I gotta say that some of that's eye opening even uh to a veteran here

that that uh you know some of those uh terms that you guys used where it's if

there's the possibility for it to go to 100% RH you should still probably go to

a mitigation system and not a tolerance system uh yeah that's that's good

info all right man well that hour flew pretty dug on quick I want to uh thank

you guys for joining us today and sharing your knowledge with the audience

and thank you to our audience for all the participation that was awesome and we really appreciate everybody uh coming

and uh participating here at the on the Hub if you don't catch us live get on

YouTube uh check us out there check us out on any of the podcasting uh sites if

you catch us on Facebook or Instagram or uh you know Spotify or whatever make

sure to like it subscribe give us a thumbs up I guess you can give us a thumbs down if you want and uh but any

interaction give us some comments on on your uh on your thoughts I want to I

want to tell you that was was really educational I I think you know I sat here at the end of that and we have a a

training program a platform at our uh at our flooring company and this is going into our M I'm putting this uh video in

our mitigation uh you know our our uh we have a a uh site condition folder in our

training platform and this is going in there and the mitigation because uh I learned some stuff I know my PMS who uh

maybe uh came from different Industries in construction are going to learn a lot off this so thank you guys for your

knowledge yeah I know you were kind of looking for that uh one product fixes

all right but I think that's what this last project I did because I had to do an alternate for moisture mitigation and

I just went with all right we're going with the top dog and then after all the testing came back I'm like hey there's

an option to save some money here yeah yeah

all right well thank you guys hey thank you Jose and Daniel again thank you

every single week for being Rock gentleman you guys are appreciate that

and to our audience we're GNA sign out now thank you catch us on uh next

Tuesday same time 3 pm Central and uh we'll have another uh great episode for

you guys so thank you guys we love you and catch us on next week's episode all

right thanks everyone

The Huddle - Episode 107 - Expanding Your Services

In this episode we explore the benefits of broadening the range of services offered by your flooring business. This episode discusses how diversification can open up new revenue streams, attract a broader clientele, and differentiate your business in a competitive market. By adding services such as custom designs, eco-friendly options, or restoration services, you can meet more of your customers' needs and enhance your business's growth potential. Tune in to discover how expanding your service offerings can lead to greater business success and customer satisfaction.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

hey what's up everyone welcome to the Huddle Paul isn't here to do the intro again so we have to say this yet again

because he's the best at it and we can't even even we can't even try to come close to how good he is at it so we're

just not even going to attempt it welcome everybody to the Huddle your weekly updates of other stuff that Paul

usually says and he Wings it pretty good thanks for joining us today we have

Daniel and Jose with preferred flooring oh wait as always there got you

Paul So today we're going to be uh discussing expanding your services I know a couple weeks ago we talked about

you know focusing on on one and you

know niching down right and how can you focus and become good at that and

really that's what we did and made our name in the resilient side of things but

I think the fact of the matter is is that if we only did resilient uh we were just talking about this before we went

live here is we'd be sitting around for six months out of the year because uh

although yes we are pretty good at it and it's what we like to do it's not

always you know it's not always there so what can we do in order to to stay

afloat and and keep our guys busy and and still

keep on moving so I mean not only that we didn't even in

start in resiling we started in carpet really yeah carpet and vinyl base man

some broadloom and that was uh what we started I just found something that very few

people did and decided to attack that um that was all and Daniel's right

there's a there's a lot of a lot of downtime flooring is seasonal we found out long ago that

flooring is seasonal different types of flooring are seasonal uh in the commercial industry let's let's get that straight commercial wise this is us

talking about that I and and and and I do know now that it applies somewhat to

residential but commercially speaking um you got Seasons right you

have uh let's start with the flooring season you have school season you have Hospital season you have

uh uh industrial season like there are are times of the year when

um these places kind of ramp up and you you know you have your the fiscal year um where a lot of places are ending uh

and but June 30th something like that and they're trying to Bury Bury funds uh

School season is got to keep the budgets right yeah School season is

um during summer break you know you have very small Windows of opportunity to get

a lot of work done um but that's that goes back to what we

started talking about and uh she had mentioned uh what Paul note had said and

I don't recall what that was Daniel about uh um making sure that you get get

training right and and set budgets for yourself when you're looking at expand

in your services um just talking about I mean I've talked to guys that were like

hey I'm going to start concrete polishing and it's like okay you know

that that'd be pretty good are you going to be taking some classes because that's something that

not you can't just go out there and think that you can polish concrete you

know there there's guys that are very good at it and you got to learn from some of these guys and there's classes

for it but not only that you're looking at equipment I mean the the guys that do

our concrete polish and their their equipment is ridiculous I mean they're they they drive around with two grinders

that you know upwards of $30,000 and that's just for the grinder that's not the vacuums that's not the the

generators so it's like how much are you going to actually spend to try and get

started expanding your services and concrete polishing

probably I mean could it be one of those absolutely but you're going to have to start small are you going to start just

doing concrete polishing in garages right in basement something like that

but because you're not going to be doing these huge jobs where it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars

worth of tooling to go in there and do right off the bat so it definitely Paul

is right you got to set your budgets and make sure that you're you're setting yourself up for success by getting the

training right we're all about training on the Huddle so there's no surprise there but yeah you have to get

training educating yourself um to what steps you need is very important and uh

you know you mentioned the buffers like or the Grinders I'm sorry the grinders at $30,000 for one unit and that's on a

very small scale um that's not a it's not a very large uh unit at all and I

think uh long ago when uh I back in my day when I first started doing flooring

um there was a a place down the street from where our office is actually located now called uh Bay Area interiors

and I remember they were doing terazzo they were the only company doing terazzo on this side of the state for a while

there and I remember asking him hey do you want to learn how to do this you we can teach you we can teach you and I was

like uh uh maybe um they like yeah first first you're going to have to get

$100,000 worth of equipment just to start uh yeah nope sorry I'm not I'm not

at that level not right now I was just I was just working with a with a sub at

that time and I remember them trying to sell us on that uh back when the mall was being built and no one around was

doing it I mean you look at the airports and it's very prevalent in airports I talked

I was at a meeting a few weeks ago um and met the the guy that does the

buying for the airports and that's what he was talking about he was like that was his first question to me oh you do

floring do you do do terazzo I said Noe you want terazzo you have a choice of either and then he did he named two

companies I said that's all you got he said yeah I know I said and that's all

you're GNA get unless you go out of state he said there's one more company over by Detroit that does it but other

than that yeah that's there's two companies in Michigan three companies in Michigan and

then that that's basically all you get for trazzle but I mean it is very labor intensive

so not not just that it's the equipment right and the knowhow it's probably very

easy to mess up so just make sure you're you're staying within your budget and

know what you're getting into when it comes to expanding so now that we we

talk about that I mean there's other things that you can expand into so if you are doing carpet which a lot of

people start with you want to get into the resilient side um a lot of guys are

are scared to do it because it is you know we talk about it all the time it's one cut you're done if you cut that 30

foot piece of vinyl short guess what there is no fixing that like you can with carpet

so there is um training out there for it and uh I just seen rodon bush from CFI

posted a couple trainings today that are happening over I I think in uh his area

of Kentucky or something like that and uh the NCT um we're going to be down at

America's Floor Source in October for some heat Weld and Flash Cove stuff so

the training is out there make sure you're you're taking advantage of it this is how you can do it and get your

foot in the door without come come use our equipment come

get your hands on it you know and and see if you can actually see if you even

like it before you start doing it because the last thing you want to do is accept the job and then try and scr

around for all this these tools and and and just go out there and start messing

stuff up right away I mean that's kind of what what we did but we weren't the ones in charge at the time it was uh the

guys that were getting the the projects for us that we worked under at like um

so do you think that you can do this um I'm I'm sure I can do whatever you guys

got uh have you done it before nope are you scared nope just give me some

literature I'll figure it out um but you know you gotta you got to give yourself

a chance to be hands on before you you get thrown out there and I think that's where this is coming from is um you know

don't don't limit yourself to one to one Niche right like if you're good at one

thing chances are you're good or great at another as well and it's just a matter of going to some of uh

educational classes trainings U certifications or just going and hanging out with a group of floor nerds and

getting your hands on something that you typically don't touch just as to to get a feel for it well that that's the other

thing too right is hanging out with and going to these events that that's going to be where you can talk

about things and where you can meet people that are very good at something that you may want to do or job that you

want to take on uh Jim Jimmy called me up and was like hey I got this foro

thing going on asking me a bunch of questions and then when it came down to it he was like Hey I still don't feel

comfortable can you come down and help me out and I did I went down there and helped him out for a day it's because he

put himself out there man he he's a great guy you know we hang out at the events all the time and it's like of

course you know he's a he's a fellow CFI guy um nfic so hey when when your

brother's in need you go help them out and I know that one day uh if if we're ever in that position he'll come and

return the favor and it's all about that networking aspect of things and knowing that hey I might want to get into this

so let me go hang out with the people that are into it already yeah and it's um I know maybe I

was a little bit of a different person too like whenever I wanted to learn something new I really honestly this is

my Approach I offered my assistance for free an evening or a weekend to go learn

something new and it I knew that um I knew that I was just going to be

there asking a bunch of questions and I was going to end up being a gopher but that's totally fine I don't I don't care

I absorb things fairly quickly and I wanted I wanted to see if if something

was in in in my in my if I could understand it if it

was going to be in the realm of something I wanted to try or or do or invest my time in um and and that that

applies to more than just flooring right it applies a large variety of things um

not saying you guys have to do that but you know if uh if someone around you is good at something and and they're

willing to bring you on and show you and you're willing to go learn for eight hours U just by being a helper go do it

and do whatever you can to get a little piece of that knowledge information to see if it's something that you would

like to pursue yeah and there's been plenty of guys that have reached out to us and it's like can I just come help

you guys out for a day or two and it's like man if again if we did sheet vinyl

every single day it'd be no problem like yeah come out here come and help us out but to have the schedules align and for

everything to match up perfectly is is so hard that I can't just be like you know what come help out because it's

like man it could be two three months from now where we'll be have a sheet vinyl project and then even then it's

you know a bathroom yeah like like the one we're doing this week yeah just I mean very

small and then scheduling wise what just happened something happened can't be

there now for a little bit so um scramble mode fill the fill the schedule

um I'm just wondering like um so so I can we can only me Daniel whatever we

can only talk to the area over here there's there's a lot of guys around uh in our local area that um do gravitate

towards one discipline um and they they do team up with other installers to

adopt another discipline um because that's a lot of what

uh the projects entail are more than just one type of flooring um

and I think that's a great way to go about it that's a great way to find out if you'll have a um have a liking to

another discipline but um it's also another way way to avoid learning if you

invite someone to help you out with a project and you're like that's yours over there do not cross this line this

is mine over here uh be uncomfortable for a little bit go help out ask some

questions and vice versa uh to the person who's going to help um I mean

there's a there's a reason why there's multiple materials on on a single project right

and and if you can offer if you can offer more than one discipline to a client they would rather

deal with one person than multiple people it does make things a lot easier um on the back end uh but if not totally

understand um and if you're one of those people that are comfortable offering a service that you have no no knowledge on

man you better keep your fingers crossed and good luck um I will will give you that little

bit of advice right because even going from commercial to residential or

residential to commercial it's completely different world I mean

we know residential guys that will only do Residential and you know commercial guys that will only do commercial

because residentially you that's where you make your money and then you go to Commercial and you're like how can you

even make money here and that's what commercial guys say about residential it's like it's a comfort thing and um you

know I we keep talking about in installations and and Hands-On stuff but you know you're um you could always

expand your services in the industry to to Beyond just being an installer um you

know there's if you're good at something you can go help train you can I mean is is

it is there a lot of money to be made in that probably not the best money but how about we say not yet because that's

something that needs to be talked about in the industry too is that needs to be

something to where you can make a living at training once you can't be your knees

anymore because there's too many guys out there that are great at what they do that are great at teaching that that

should be a career path that people should be able to look at and be like yes I do want to train I mean look at

what John styr is doing that dude is ridiculous when it comes to what he's doing with training right now I mean if

he were to make as much money installing and just focus on training how many

people he could have coming up in the industry would that that's really what we need so how can

we how can we expand not just services but the industry to accept that that's

what we need in here so we can have that option as well that is a a great and

valid point onto that you know you um that's a teach a guy how to fish uh type

scenario right Styer is teaching a lot of individuals how to fish that's for

sure they're going to be feeding a lot of families that's that's worth uh that's worth this waiting gold in my

opinion Kevin says he was always told it's better to be a master of one than a

hack of many back then it was much different time for flooring and the crazy thing is is that I thought it was

different back then where a lot of guys did everything and did it well I mean look

at just like for instance John Namba where he's got certifications and basically anything that you could do he

can he can do ceramic he can do wood he can do carpet what whatever you want to do he can do it right and that's really

how I thought guys back in the day were it's like I'm going to do everything and I'm gonna do it well I think it was a a trade-off too

right like um back in the day they they probably helped a lot with the other ones but there was a trade-off is um

people stayed in their lanes and they understood that there was a lot of work for everyone um and and they worked well

together nowadays it's everybody's competition we're training our Replacements and you know what hell yeah

I want to train a replacement if you're crawling around why why wouldn't you want to someone to take your place on

the floor if you have other uh opportunities and you're strong at something else train your replacement

find some growth um and you know and and everybody's scared of people leaving

their them and going and working for other companies and you know what it's okay that's going to happen regardless

um you know and if they're not a fit for you they they will leave if you're not a fit for them then you leave uh it's just

that's just the way of the world man it's the same way every every career every every job every whatever you want

to look at is like that just uh right we got a comment on uh Instagram they said the correct trained guy will help

increase profits for their employers or themselves and yeah like you you got to

train them so that way you you can't hold anyone hostage right

yeah they're they're going to do whatever they want to do and we we've we've kind of seen people come

full circle a couple times and it's like it's the same thing every single

time when they're like I had to go see what what was out there

and you know right now I'm kind of kicking myself because what could have

been if I would have stayed but it's like man sometimes you got to go see what's out there and you were at a point

where you were like hey I can do this myself and that means that 100% go do it

like I don't think there's been many people that have left um us where it's

like I hate this guy or anything like that it's like if you're gonna go do it go do it

like if you're gonna go be all in go be all in right we we understand everybody's got a family um everybody's

got um dreams everybody's got goals um just just know that there's a lot of

behind the scenes that even we're still learning um that go on for being a

business owner yeah we're still learning 100% we still you know take classes to

learn how to do some things we're in you know um not necessarily like we we did

masterminds with Kyle Haden uh we we're we're in programs with that we learn

through our local chamber and some of the organizations over here where it's like no I'm not you know I'm not 100% at

what I do I'm I still need some help and that's how it always should be throughout your career you should always

be asking for help because there's always something that you can do better if it gets too easy and you don't need any help then you should probably find

something else to do and hand that off um

that's and I think besides like um

training which is a huge one that's something that you can look into because

we're we're definitely lacking a lot of people that that want to get out there and like you said it's not lucrative and

you're not going to make a bunch of money but you do meet a lot of cool people yeah all the time every

day um what other what other um things in

the industry what other um I don't say Services what other careers have kind of popped up that that you didn't know

about Daniel since we started getting really involved I'm looking

at just like moisture

testing um since we got certified for moisture testing like if you haven't thought

about it start thinking about it way what's that I gota redo Mine by the way

oh yeah they have you can redo it at um you can redo it online but if you wanted

to wait you can do it at CFI convention I think there's an amount

amount of time that you have to do it in between though so you got to see when it expired and then yep so but I mean just

just moisture testing in general the the amount of if you really went all

in and just pushed out there that you did moisture testing and went to all these gc's and was like this is a

service that I offer everyone needs it whether they want to believe they do or not everyone does um you get your name

on that list I we get call I got calls

from a job in Ohio and then you you throw out pricing and it is it's not

cheap because that that travel time right but I mean we've I've done a couple jobs for a

contract I don't remember if they were out of of state or if they were in state just on the other side I think they were

over by Detroit somewhere but like doing um big chain stores we're talking you

know 20,000 square feet and they're like we need you to go do some moisture testing I shoot them out of price

they're like all right go do it I'm in and out in two days and I mean it's it's a good chunk of

money that can be made it and I'm doing everything myself it's not like I have you know a couple guys there or anything

I mean helps don't get WR come a long way on that too I mean there's other like you just mentioned the east side of

the state which when we talk about that we're talking the two and a half hour drive minimum um there's there's a lot

of collaboration going on between uh different manufacturers and their teaming up to make things a lot easier

um in the flooring industry too and just happens to be uh one of those one of

those people one of those companies here Flor Cloud 100%

floor cloud is uh actually we just put it on one of our projects and it's doing

a great job I'm able to go to the GC and the architect and say hey man we're monitoring things in real time and this

is what's going on and you have to get these numbers down or else these products are gonna fail and to have um a

credential behind your name that's like like I'm not just doing this to tell you this is what's happening like I'm trying

to make some extra money no I'm trying to tell you these things so I don't have to do anything extra and things aren't

going to fail you know essentially protecting their best interest the

client's best interest the the flooring company's best best interest

um that's one thing you can you can spiral into that people go I'm only gonna do moisture testing I'm only going

to do recently it went and got uh took inspection um class um with nfct um a

few weeks ago down in Georgia for for a week um I mean it's just things like

that because I know that you know getting older and you can't be in denial right

it's it'll be nice to have options as

your career progresses right and and that goes with the discipline and what you what you know little or a lot about

for installation and what you know about uh running a business what you know about

uh helping a business um people management there's a lot of different

things to to think about but honestly man like if you are going to think about something moisture

testing is one of those things that you should be thinking about right now and especially partnering with Flor Cloud

I'm actually going to go ahead and play their video right now because they're they're 100% they're

great realtime monitoring of your job site conditions via desktop or mobile

device no more manual checking for temperature humidity or even dupoint no

need for base stations wifi or external power sources simply scan the QR code on

the front of your sensors and you're up and running with the most accurate and Innovative sight monitoring system in

the flooring industry dispatcher Crews with confidence and reduce your climate

related installation issues floor Cloud now you know now you

know and uh over here on Instagram they're they're saying that it doesn't have to be just specialized training for

certifications they feel that uh everyone needs to be trained on fundamentals and

specifications and when I was in you know one of my first certifications

that's kind of what I was saying it's and I I'll never forget I just talked to him the other day it was

William thoron with um tarat Sports and you know just going into it

and a lot of it was the certification and he he kept on going over things and

he's like you know it it had to do with concrete moisture testing and all this stuff and

he was like but you guys don't need to know about this but you guys don't need to know about this it's like 100% we need to know about this man it's like

we're the ones that are on the ground we need to know about all of this and I think that's the issue is that people

think that you're just a flooring installer you don't need to know about any of this when really we're the ones

that need to know about everything so we're one of those areas where we're just

undervalued and they don't I don't want to say they

right like listen you should know about everything you should know as much as as you possibly can about whatever career

you you choose about every aspect that you want to know about um anytime that

uh a lack of information can hurt you you should

know but getting back on the topic of inspecting you know I've been to um and

especially with the NCT you know Paul's an inspector so I've talked to him quite a bit and he's so he's talked to me and

has talked about you know going that route when it comes to expanding Services too and you know even Chad

bookie is a a local inspector here he was a flooring installer and now his focus is on inspecting

and that's something that you can do too and you're actually kind of ahead already um from

what I've gathered because you just took that inspection certification and you kind of knew a lot of the things that

were going on it's just a matter of how do you put everything together after you're done inspecting right right so

you know and and I'll be honest like um whenever I'm going to a class or going to training certification I'm always a

little like what are we what are we talking about what are we studying do I have do I need to study any literature

right because I'm not I don't do it every day anymore I'm not on the floor every day and I don't know what I'm

missing um I don't know if I'll miss anything but I was uh I'm always a

little nervous going there and went down there and it's just like they started talking and videos and and all the

information everything was like click click click and I was like oh oh okay

yeah guess I have been doing this long enough to retain some

information now after you you went through that class do you think that it's feasible for

someone like pretty new to go through it and come out like knowing what to do or

should they be in it for a while I would

is feasible from a a document standpoint right like they have all the

questions uh or all the answers to all the questions listed somewhere in someplace but if if you have a little if

you have some knowledge on how to navigate through the industry that's going to help you out way more than a a

textbook I mean you have you don't want to say this is what I do this is what I specialize in but

you're going to need six months to write a report right because you don't know the information

that's that's where that's going to be and that's one of those things that we talked about too right it's when you're

talking about expanding your services make sure you're expanding not only

into like these things but making sure that you know how to use a

computer I will say I will say it gets easier I mean

even uh Andy McWilliams uh went from installing to a technical role and he

was like the the hardest part is learning how to use a computer learning all the programs and you know how to put

documents together so I mean that is down the line it it's gonna have to

happen you only got so many miles on your knees guys so what what are you going to do to to offset this thing

I wish there more people interacting today because I would like to know their thoughts on that like um you know where

have they found success and I'll go to uh to Ken Balon right like's good at what he does but he's also spun off he

done a couple things of his own that that um you know we don't know how it is but hopefully it turns out to be very

lucrative for him right um he's sharing information sharing knowledge um and you know there's uh

there's other installers that are out there doing their thing for social media they're getting a lot of

uh a following I would say and they're showing off their work and and now they're also um advertising for for

tooling companies and and and all that and I don't know how much of that is pro bono how much of it is is uh being

reimbursed but it just goes to show that if you find something that you're good

at there are other ways to use that one thing or to use your brain and your skill set to make more money in more

than one Avenue right look at Reuben from uh Flores by Southern bories right that dude has his own like store on his

website now he's going around that dude is now he's setting up his uh his canopy

that he's got with his logos everywhere and showing people you know advocating for training yeah see I mean there's a

lot of different things you don't always have to be the first uh that's for sure it's just uh add to what's already

there but I definitely uh wouldn't recommend just going out

there and again just try to start something that you have no idea about do

your research don't just go out there and I'm just G to like I said go start

some polished concrete and I had to have a conversation with that person it's like I don't think you understand the

amount of stress that you're going to put yourself under I can I can give a quick rundown

on expectations of it but I can't give instructions on it right I only know

what I know because I it's the limited I know from from what it's

supposed to fit what it's supposed to look like when it's done how it's supposed to be and how it looks at from the literature standpoint but I can't

give you step-by-step process on what you're supposed to do but that's what they have YouTube for right yeah yeah

whatever jesusa said he's got signal from the storms in Houston didn't even

uh realize that the the storms were that bad over there hopefully everybody's all right

down there yeah hopefully you're good man let us know uh if you need

anything I don't I don't really know what else to

add to to that I mean everybody's got to find their their own Niche everybody's got to find out what else they're good

at if they're trying to expand to something well yeah but I mean just just like people ask us like why don't we do ceramic right

why don't we expand into ceramic and my answer is I'm already good at what I do

and we've already expanded our services to include other things like we're already good at carpet we're already

good at resilient ceramic is another Beast wood is another Beast I'm I don't

want to be an all-encompassing that just gives you um areas where you can partner up with

people there's somebody out there that's got the years of experience and training and certifications required to do a

phenomenal job for you with you however you want to look at it um you know

and if they're expanding they want to learn what you what you know then help them out and I'm sure they'll help you out yeah and like it don't have to be

anything huge what what we're talking about is you can get in in Spectre kit and I know Chad said that he drives

around in a Tesla so he doesn't you don't need anything super huge or you know a huge amount of

tools or anything uh when I go do moisture testing it's basically in a box in a few boxes that I

can fit in the back of my truck and they look pretty cool because

they're all Milwaukee boxes not bias or anything like that but pretty sweet setup packout

Nation but definitely uh it's always worth researching expanding what what

you're going to what you want to expand into before you actually do it ask people questions come to us ask us

questions um to be honest with you we've probably got 20 $30,000 worth of heat

welding equipment did that all that happen overnight no that took years and years

to collect yeah I dude I still remember the first time we we bought that thing we went we were so excited we went both

to the same job and did a three-foot door seam one three-foot door seam with

the he because we're just excited to have it I think that that's the thing U when

you're finding out how what to expand into if you're excited about it chances are you're going to do whatever you can

to make make sure you have all the right information training and tooling for it so find something to be excited about

don't just jump into it because someone tells you you have to dive into it because you know you

want to and start doing mockups that's what we did to teach ourselves when we

just think about um when we first got the sports floor groover we were in the in the garage on some

underlayment what are we going to do in order to to learn how to use this thing let's let's go use it y notice he said

in a garage that was legit I mean we started in the garage

so now we just have a bigger

garage but definitely uh reach out we wish Paul were could be here he he

definitely can uh lead a conversation and ask questions he's he's way better at it than we are we're definitely uh

just co-hosts yeah just just Co

so uh we appreciate you guys for uh for joining us all the time if you have any questions reach out um if you like the

content you know give us a like a subscribe share please um if you don't like us

still give us a like subscribe share share with everybody else and tell everybody hey look at this I don't like

yeah share it with everyone be like never listen to these guyss for me please everybody these guys have no idea

what they're talking about I mean sometimes maybe we don't

but they don't know yet so share it so uh we'll see you guys uh next week

and we appreciate everything you guys uh do for the for the show and we can't

wait to to keep on going if there's anything you guys want to talk about or know about or bring up I know that

there's a a link or an email address uh that you guys can use to contact right

there the aut forward progress gmail.com go ahead and use that I mean we always

want to know what subjects are on your mind what are you guys experiencing right now um

you know that's goes across the the US not just here in Michigan we want to

know what is going on in the flooring [Music]

world and until next time see you

The Huddle - Episode 105 - The Benefits of Specializing in Niche Flooring Markets

In this episode, with special guest Dwayne Pruitt from Pruitt Flooring (https://pruitt-flooring.com), we explore how focusing your skills on a specific niche can significantly benefit your flooring career. Specialization allows you to become an expert in a particular area, setting you apart from competitors and increasing your value to customers seeking specialized knowledge and expertise. This episode discusses the advantages of niching down, such as higher demand, the ability to command better pricing, and greater customer satisfaction. Tune in to discover how targeting a niche market can enhance your reputation and business growth.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the marketplace we're here to give the

installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in

flooring this is where you belong welcome to the team what's up fellas what's going on welcome to the team

hello with me as always Mr Daniel and Jose Gonzalez of preferred floring and

Grand Rapids Michigan and we got a special guest here in studio today Mr

Dwayne puit often talked about now you can see Mr D

Wayne D Wayne good to be here today's topic we're be talking about Niche and

down in in uh a flooring discipline that uh and what the benefits of that

are um and mostly the benefits of doing that as a young installer or or new to

the industry uh kind of how to approach the flooring business uh oftentimes

we've seen guys go into the flooring business and flooring has a lot of it's

it's like going to school there's a lot of subjects and there's really four main disciplines but there's there's even

more than this you got a you you got carpet resilient which even in resilient

you got multiples what's up Jorge um we got hardwood ceramic towel

but you really you got epoxy floring you got you know polished concrete polish concrete you got all kinds of stuff I

mean in resilient you got vinyl base and M Works base and all these other uh

disciplines uh within them uh we call them subdisciplines at go Carrera but the point is I've seen too many guys try

to take on uh new people to the industry try to take on a white swath of flooring

and each one have their own intricacies and and details and so what I implore

you to do is pick one drive deep get good and then go wide and we we have

some some uh subject matter in that um

Arena I mean Daniel and Jose we have puit on here who

uh did the same thing I myself was a resilient and sheet vinyl guy more

than anything uh but Daniel Jose you guys jumped into it and and are well

known if I was to say what do you known for it's your sheet vinyl and it's our sheing skills and your resilient work

right yep I would have to agree and the benefit of doing

that I know you guys do more you do all almost all flooring now so what was the

benefit of going that direction uh I think the the benefit just started when we when we were told

that there wasn't very many people around that did it and did it well and so the benefit came to trying to get a

skill set so that way we can start trying to to say that's what we specialize in right so the benefit was

so we can get more of that work and we worked for other companies at the time um so I guess Technic it made us more

valuable to those companies um which in turn made that skill set valuable to us

when when we went on our own yeah and you you do end up Dwayne is

known for wearing flashy jeans from the Buckle he is you need to quit looking at

my pants he stares at your butt Dwayne that's why he

knows but the truth is is that um you guys got known for it too I mean it's

it's it's also one of those deals where you can you get sought after for doing

that particular thing when you're known for doing that thing and when you get

really really good and you drill down on it and you're not doing you know some ceramic here a little bit of carpet

there some lvt there and like this wide SWAT it's almost like how handyman

approached the flooring industry what I implore you is that Prof professionals approach it to get really good at one of

the disciplines and then start to apply the knowledge from this one because they're certainly

crossover from resilient to carpet or carpet to resilient and um or tile and

hardwood guys a lot of times you'll see those two trades cross over or really good resilient guys doing hardwood or

vice versa but get really good at something uh Jorge is on with us as

usual and you know he's very specific in what he does and he's done very well and

he's known for what he does so I wanted to ask you Dwayne um first off tell us a

little bit about you I know you're pretty well known in the industry everybody loves you but we'd like to

know a little bit about how did you get started and what was you what did you

drive deep on so when I started out you know as 19 years old first generation

just looking for a job out of high school and they hired me uh from the church said hey you want to learn how to

lay carpet and turns out he laid carpet he did vinyl he did it all and and

honestly I hated the days we did ceramic any it just did not speak to me

I mean I did it it was my job but you know the hands cracked out dried out I

just you know the ceramic never spoke to me and I just always look forward to the days that I knew we were laying carpet I

like how he said that the ceramic never spoke to me it just didn't I I just hated it I

dreaded the days that we were doing some sort of piew work you know obviously lvp and laminate at that time 1988 wasn't

popular but the sheet vinyl was there we did it a little bit not a whole lot I

knew it was tough to deal with had to be a lot more careful I'm I'm not known for a real careful guy but you a lot it's a

lot easier to put a patch in carpet than it is some sheet V I'll tell you that much absolutely and I just you know now

looking into the carpet and different fabrics and everything we have now it still just speaks to me and and I think

Paul would attest in this area I'm known as one of the best carpet guys you're

that that's the point that's one of the reasons I wanted you on today is the fact that when when we were I've known

you for probably 15 or going on 20 years um when we would have a big carpet job

that at a hotel with a Hospitality piece or a wool piece or we always called you

we it was always like let's get PR on this you know and you'd give me [ __ ] because we wouldn't give you the easy

carpet telet his reputation his reputation even

brought him over here to Kazoo to do a theater right like yeah and he didn't even call us to come say hi or

anything he did call he actually came to my kid oh he didn't call me though he came

to my kids ball game that day come on now that's right had to borrow a couple tools there that we needed but and

that's absolutely true you know it I fell into the carpet part and and I it

just spoke to me a little more and then when I kind of started going on my own and I was only 19 years old I think 20

and I got the opportunity to go a guy I was working for George ju Lan of carpet

4 I was working on my 1988 Monte Carlo and they deliver

carpet but he said hey there's these guys that are have a different way of seing up carpet and would you like to go

to the seminar I was like absolutely let's go learn something and honestly I went cocky as could be as most

installers and uh the guys walked in one of them looked like Mario and I was like

who is that like from Mario Brothers Mario Brothers Ed BR he's not he's not

oh that's that's a Luigi I was gonna say he's not a plumber well Mario's a

plumber so anyway but uh and next thing you know a guy named Jim Walker walked in you know wearing his three-piece suit

at that time and this was this has got to be 8990 was really early on and we

you know just like everybody else I learned using a straight edge and cut all my seams and these guys showed me a

row finder and a row cutter the first time and it just blew me away and I sat there I mean at launch I bugged them

after class I kept playing with it they kept let me use it went bought one and it turned out no

matter where I went and I moved around quite a bit back then everywhere from Vegas to Missouri Arkansas Kansas no

matter where I went using that rinder and rad cutter made me the best in the

area wow and it wouldn't take long before I was that first installer that

they would call on especially for the hard stuff and that just you know transpired just just learn how to run a

row and how to run a row and and because nobody was doing it and that was a big Niche for me to no matter where I

went it provided opportunities well it certainly allowed

you to to uh get get the commercial work

because you can't there's not a lot of commercial that you could straight edge so I I started out in carpet but fell in

love uh it spoke to me sheet vinyl I like the fact I liked

kind of like what you you said Jose that there was not a lot of people that did it that's what I actually liked about it

was like there was just very few people a lot of guys will try carpet you know

what I'm saying there's just guys are scared to try sheet vinyl you know what

I mean like if a she vinyl job comes up even around even today if you're not trained in it the guys are like well I

don't really do sheep VY if it's carpet they're like yeah I'll

it's because it's one of those things that they know if if they don't do it right something's they're they're GNA be

paying for something yeah you can't stick a patch in because you you or or

you know once you ruin a sheet good product

it's ruined oh you ruin that 30 foot cut guess what you need another 30 foot cut

and you better figure out where that yeah I love that that I love the pressure of it and I love the fact there

was very few people that would do it and back then it didn't it paid well

compared to the other floorings but it got it's one of the highest paying like

the biggest increases if you look back 10 years to now the increases and and

payout is the the greatest one is she vinyl it is and because more and more

people less and less people are getting trained in it more and more people are

um you know do want to just they learn lvt or

lvp and they say they're a resilient guy and but they won't touch shivon you know

they'll do the LV just like so many people will do lvp or lvt or carpti and

that's the bulk of the industry and commercial but they won't touch the sheet bottle and so it's still one of

those deals where it's it's a it's a I would say still a very uh nice niche to

be in and I love doing it when I did it um the the beauty of being done with the

sheep on a floor it's hard to match but you probably got the same thing out of a a pattern match Casino carpet because

you did a casino for me oh I love that stuff we do a lot of casinos stuff matching that pattern uh even

residentially matching those patterns I just posted here recently a a plaid job we did where we matched the pattern

going up the stairs to the floor that that stuff is where where it's at for me you know um sorry that vinyl's still

hard and ugly so not a big fan of you got that bead going every six foot across it it just still doesn't speak to

me but you know got start somewhere though right pretty soon before you know it you'll be able to do she Vino bro you

gotta give you know what I I still know some good buddies that uh some of Pao guys I call them to to have them go do

it for me so yeah yeah it's not that we run from it but I definitely don't search it

out yeah that's what we started was the carpet too so like I will add to that is

um what you had said about resilient about sheet vinyl Paul is the one shot and what Daniel said the one time you

get one shot you know we're we're pretty competitive so we like that idea like

oh testing me you're testing me I'm testing myself and that's the same thing that let us that's what led us to that

is the the high-end commercial pattern match and all the custom work and it was like what is next right like we do this

fairly well what is next and that was next on the agenda um and it actually made us better carpet installers because

of the fine details uh but that's Daniel took the the resilient part and ran with

it yeah he did and the baby sister did too yeah and then when Jeremy says uh a

little bit ago the floor prep Kings that's where you get that's what what you have to be when you're dealing with

res resilient too it's like a lot of people don't realize that the the reason

why we price resilient or sheep vinyl in particular way we do is

because four days I'm prepping one day I'm installing like it it's crazy the

amount of of prep work that goes into something like that because you'll be able to see every little thing

underneath there most of your commercial vinyls are 080 gauged yep yeah what yeah

it's like it's very can't hide anything he you can't drop a eyelash under it bro

drop a eyelash you'll see it speaking to the floor prep you know you're 100% read on that and a few years ago you know CFI

decided to come out with the book and come out with the class and they said which one of you know who all wants to

be involved in this and I jumped at it and I was incredibly selfish for the reasons why I jumped at it is I wanted

to learn what I didn't know and wow I found out how much I didn't know really

quick so you know that's another Niche you can get into is just floor prep just floor prep but the issue with that

though is is that the guys like us that are will be like well I don't know what

they did so how am I supposed to warranty my stuff on that yeah yeah absolutely yeah it's tough I mean you

can uh especially if you get into big poor projects where you're you're

pouring uh you know big big sherox pores or big yeah latr pores pumping that kind

of stuff those guys are very specialized they got pumps like some of those are huge I'm not talking B where somebody

like you are coming in to install it I'm getting calls to where this thing's two and a half inches out would you please

come up to Northern Kansas and and and level this out for us and and we can do that now and then it also leads to a to

another either tow lvp or or different job but it was really nice to learn

through that that certification that I did with CFI that wow I'm doing it right now you know

before then it was you know whatever we had in the truck we threw it in a bucket and we mixed it up yeah mixing it with a

tri it wasn't that creating the the volcano on the floor and mixing it that

way yes I've been there done that we've seen plenty of guys do the volcano

mixing method and uh if you're if you're patching a single uh nail hole that

might work but when you're prepping an actual floor that that goes across discipline

so I'm glad you brought that up you got the you know you went and got particular training through CFI I remember when um

I sent guys to you to get trained and see CFI trained for I think it was R1

and C1 what a what a uh difference they came out with they had that same thing that

you were talking about they had this attitude when they walked in like they were it was you know like they you

couldn't teach them they were good installers I mean the McDaniel boys are good installers great guys too I like

those guys awesome dudes and Dennis and those guys went there but when they left

they came out and they were like I had no idea yeah and I've said that on this

podcast a hundred times if I've said it once but just watching guys go in that

think they know something and you probably do you know enough to get it on the floor but I I think for our

profession to be Advanced we have to con care about

the longterm the person the customer the client that's have to walk on that floor long term if you care about them you

need to be doing it to last 10 or 15 years not look good for your warranty

warranty period one year like you want to care about the customers La who's

going to be on that floor long term um I preach that at our company I preach that

to our installers that you got to care about the end user who's going to be using that floor for years and years and

years right anding them when you look into even you know more specialized

training like through the manufacturers um I'm tarat Sports certified so I automatically have to

pass on a two-year warranty right off the bat like it's in the paperwork so

the the the gc's might only require that one year still but myself I'm I have to

extend that another year just because I'm certified and and through

affiliations too is they they back you on on the warranty right like they they are they do that because now you have

that knowledge base you have that skill set to comfortably offer that as long as

all all the all the ducts have were in a row and everything was set and laid down properly um as your knowledge and your

skill set uh and what you've learned and your education tells you how to do it um

teaches you how to be a a better installer it also teaches you how to be

more assertive for the requirements needed for that specific Niche that you

have you know one of the things I've I've learned most through Mo most of the trainings I've been through is process

and efficiency learn that that you don't that's why we are always promoting

training whether if you're going to get into carpet and resilient and get get CFI certified or go aft and get get with

those guys and get certified or get trained at the very

least understand what you're doing and get trained in what you're doing um the

the key to me is that you will learn

um we you will learn that the the efficiencies that you uh that

you get out of those trainings will make you more money it it always does every guy that I've talked to that goes

through training of some sort or they get certified in a certain flooring or what have you they they always come out

with I wish I'd have known this 10 years ago or whatever the time frame so if you're new and you've been flirting with

flooring a little bit uh I implore you to get Factory trained or industry

trained in the in the uh business and you'll you'll pick up efficiencies and

you'll pick up skill sets going to make more money and and let you let you be like way or these guys as as a CFI

trainer and now an AF trainer every trainning we go to everybody comes I I wouldn't say everybody but the majority

of guys come in cocky is can all be and they it always starts out that way

there's always a small chip as Jeremy just said and I was Jeremy and Jose's

trainer when see if I started fighting I wasn't cocky though that was back

Jeremy was cocky enough for both of you sure was you know what you walked away learning something I can tell he

learned it and that attitude change and as we're doing those certifications those attitudes always change which that

should speak to all the installers out there just because you think you may know it all and you've been doing it a

certain way for 30 years doesn't mean times haven't changed and and I implore all installers get out there get some

sort of certification I especially if you're going to be doing a commercial know that uh cfi's got like their

commercial um uh carpet trainings the the reason I say that is commercial you

need to understand the adhesives your trial notches how much glue your your

your um putting down supposed to be putting down I remember when I first

started man we would take a a a a tri and literally the saw we wouldn't even

use the Lacher we just used the um the the saw you B it's

hacksaw it's it's a hacksaw with a round blade on it the chainsaw that's a chainsaw sharpener it it was a round

blade I for a chainsaw blade sharpener you notches in everything that's

actually a good idea in a pinch well I mean you have trial but the the better

way is to make sure you got the proper trial and understand why you need V Notch why you need U Notch why you may

need these different types of notches it comes even more in handy if you get or

important I should say if you get into the ceramic tile side of things you get in the ceramic tile side of things and

understanding why you need Square V Moon uh there are certain notches for your gauge porcelain panels back buttering

all this stuff the this is all the knowledge you get from going through like for ceramic to B ctef and going

through and getting CTI Sur certified so proper

equipment is one of the main things that you'll also get out of training and

understanding that um you know like I just said not

not using a a raila to to cut you notches in your trials uh having the

proper equipment and understanding your site conditions all of these things that

go in with commercial work really understanding your moisture readings of your concrete these are this is what it

takes to be a flooring professional and and I should mention that one of our sponsors is floor cloud and you want to

talk about a awesome way to know your site conditions you should have floor

Cloud if you're an installer I I know that in one of the previous episodes it was asked would this work in residential

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for floor Cloud absolutely and just just to add to that we've got one set up in the school here in witto everybody on

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is the temperature and everything right there in the school and I can so simply take okay uh you know scan the QR code

on the front of the sensor and it you set it up right from there it Le it's

like a wizard it just walks you right through setting it up and then put your sensor on on a um a you know a wall

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Cloud now you know well there you go we can let the video speak for itself all right so

um as we're talking about nich and down in flooring there's a a couple of things

there's some trainings going on um the

uh there's trainings going on here in Witchita that you can attend

um and I want to spend some time talking about the uh the competition coming up

because you want to talk about Niche some of these got this is all about Niche so there's going to be some some

trainings coming up here in Witchita that aft puts on um that is some carpet

seaming courses I believe it's in July go to uh their website and you can check

it out more oh it's coming up pretty quick coming up pretty quick

11 yep and we are fully

100% um down with trainings uh

period so kick up the um kick up the the

uh ins comp coming up

yeah so this is something really cool uh the installer of the Year competition at

Ty this is in um Las Vegas uh every year

it's in January and this is the result of guys Niche and down they this this

competition is no joke I'm gonna have Dwayne talk about a little bit he's been involved with it over the years and he's

got a one of his installers that went through it and competed um baby sister

competed I say baby sister it's

Crystal so uh it's okay man it's okay she everybody knows who you're talking

about yeah but Pro can you tell us a little bit about your experience and Zach and some

of the benefits and beauty that I mean I I've been to those competitions every

year and there's something pretty damn special to be involved with man it's a

great thing and just for my perspective of it um was a deal where I'm gonna go

on just a little bit on this cut me off if I need to but how it worked out for us was you know I was going out there

working with CFI set it's a ton of work to set up that stuff out there in Vegas

and so uh myself Jonathan Ven and uh they would always see if IID say hey

bring a couple of your guys out to help us get this stuff done so we went out there and we're working we're setting up

the competition Zach was with us and we had a this the first year I think baby sister um or Crystal ended up competing

as well and we had to set up all these boots well a couple of people dropped out and so they didn't want a couple

empty boots and so they like you know first Robert's like well Dwayne Jonathan you're gonna have to compete and I can't

repeat what Jonathan said but I said Mr ven I don't think I'm ready for that I'm

Rusty you know I can't I can't really step up and do that right now because I don't install every day anymore and you

know it's kind of if you don't use it every day you lose a little bit bit of it so anyway that said um he looked over

at Zach and said you want to do it and by the way Zach had just put in probably 40 45 hours in about four days three

days I don't you guys are insane you know what I'll do it and he jumped up

you know said he said he was willing and um went in and he competed and he and he did very well he had none of his own

tools nothing we borrowed stuff from Here There and Everywhere just to get it done I'll never forget you know I asked

him that first night I like man how you doing you know you doing all right with this he goes and his answer was just

awesome it's just another another day of work boss same crap you always taught us

and that's all it was it was just that easy to him it wasn't until later I realized that all the trainings and

everything I've done and all the teaching I've done on these guys because Zach's been with me since he was 17

18 and it was just those trainings that was able to let him compete on a level

like that yeah and that was just trainings that I've passed down let alone trainings

that he's gotten that I provided to him so that all said he competed he did well

and now he's hooked and I don't think he's gonna quit until he wins it he do you do you know what place he

took almost second the last two three years so he's he's so close dude he's so

close like he's always on track and it's always I'm always watching and then there's always like that you know these installers have to adjust on a fly right

and if it's one thing that throws you off it could mess you up and yeah if you like to

compete like if we're competitive dudes oh and we all have the ego like we are I

should just say installers because Crystal's competitive as hell uh if

you're a competitive installer you should try you don't you don't like there's you you go to a

regional and you qualify for the event uh that's pretty much how runs today so

get get involved get trained get with the uh you know training entities and

and engage with them get to conference CFI uh fcic fcica sorry up in October I

believe it is we'll be there come see us uh go carrer have a booth at that um

come check us out we can help you uh get in touch with the uh people to uh

compete in January even if there's if there's any uh regionals left by that

time but the point is man getting involved is what I read from Dwayne from

you guys I think I think there's a lot of guys or a lot of people that are

apprehensive about doing it right because they they're like yeah I'm good but I don't know if I'm that good but I

was I was that way baby sister was that way and it's like tell us a little bit about that Journey with with Crystal so

I actually kind of pushed her into it right because she she she really is like

and I we it's kind of like imposture syndrome right where you get to a certain level and

then people start becoming like your fans like all right they know her and

all this right and it's she's like I don't understand why people like me so much and it's like you don't have to

understand you just have to roll with it so it's kind of like it yeah and I and I told her I said I'm just we're just I'm

going to sign you up and you're going to do it and whatever happens happens like I know how good you are we trained you

so I know you're going to do things the right way she said no a lot guys like

she said no for months like because then we had a year off because of Co a year

off because of Co so she said no like I'm not doing it uh yes you are I'm not doing it yes you are you you know

something on this you know this whole thing is about Niche you know go into the niche that you've done you all are

installers you're all cocky as can be we all are it's your Niche go into what you know and don't go into it as I gotta

prove myself I'm not failure if for loose go in they're ready to learn something new yeah see where you're at

put yourself up against the best yeah and it was like that when when I was doing it too right you're looking at the other booth and you're like that looks

way better than mine I'm gonna ask him how he did that and I did Roy Lewis Roy Lewis says it the best when he says iron

sharpens iron yeah it's G to make you better when you go against the best and

and that's really what you're going to get out of it there's prizes there's all that and there's ego trip but you're going to come out a better installing a

better person for train for and talking to you know even Zach when he was in

there too it was the same way he was like man this you know this person's stuff looks so much better and they did

it this way and I did it that way and I probably should have did it you know a totally different way than either of us

did it to make it right but it's like man what's done is done already you only got a certain amount of time in there

and you just have to start moving on thousand of those conversations I promise you yeah well you run with the

best you know like you said you you learn and then once you learn you come

back the next year a little bit better and then next year a little bit better um and Jimmy says he wants the belt

get's gonna compete this year or next year rather Jimmy you gonna

compete to to quote to Kevin don't talk about it be about it

yeah baby don't talk about it be about

why is so bad go get it so here's the deal um again we say it every week uh I

sound like a broken record but I enjoy uh sounding that way I reckon is is get

involved in the industry get to the conferences get to cfi's Convention

coming up with uh joint with FCC in October get to Ty get in the competition

get around people we'll be there um are you going to Ty do you think you'll be

there there's a great possibility it'd be awesome to see you go uh I know you've been a staple there so I hope you

go um I'll see you there Dwayne I hope you I really do I'm rooming with you

Jose okay I got plenty of space so guys what as we wind down here

my my biggest message is always like if we if we Niche down you get really good into something then you can broaden your

horizons and it does play into the other disciplines really well I've seen that

work hundreds of times for good installers um what is

do you have the same opinion do you have an alternate opinion about that no we're

I'm I have I'm opinionated about everything right but I think that uh if I asked if you if you have a niche and

you want to learn something right and I'm not GNA say like carpati or just a standard like a square format LV lvp or

lvt or VCT or something like that right find something that is harder than the

standard to do get good at that and then what it's going to do it's going to shed the light on a lot of the other things a

lot of the other disciplines it's going to help educate you on that as well other the the ones that are already

fairly simple to do are going to become no-brainers right like now you have a niche you're specializing in something

that separates you from the crowd they get you requested right like it gets you requested but now you still have all the

other ones that you already know how to do to fall back on but now you're going to be more efficient proficient you're going to understand the science behind

it a little bit more and I wrote down that note I put a there is a certain path to being better

at more types of flooring and it's specializing in one first and then branching off from that um yes and I

will say no matter how good we got at uh at resilient when we went back and took

our first subfloor uh substrate certification class we realized that we might have learned how to do things out

of order uh and just like oh ding ding ding the light goes off you're like

that's why this failed that's why that don't work that's why this works like that it's just like dang that's one

course or one one thing I think everybody should go through a training or a certification or or whatever at

least a training and in in that subfloor prep it's Paramount and important on all

flooring and the more particular flooring you get into the more particular it gets so yeah we all know

carpet's a little bit more forgiving on the floor prep from a visual standpoint but proper installation of it it's

really not right so install it properly Jose is on point with specialty install

H specialty skill Amen to to speak to that and Jose is completely right and

your as well get find that first thing that you're good at what speaks to you

what you enjoy doing hone in on that get really good at that we we've done that

at Pro floring we've done that and it's opened up so many other doors to the floor prep to demo to you just did a

waterproofing deal we we just did a waterproofing deal I was scared to death to do 3,000 feet of waterproofing I

would have never taken out if you're going to take on something new get that training team up with the people that

can do it I I tell all my customers you know you you called me because you know I'm really good at carpet you want me to

do this lvp you want me to do this hardwood I'm G to tell you I'm going to get some subs that way better at it than I am don't expect out of me what I do

for you for carpet to do the same for hardwood C and I tell the rely on some

other people for that I tell our clients the same thing right when I go on some of these pre-bid walks and and stuff

like that and I'm like they're like you guys do this right and I said look we're really good at what we do and I find

other people that are really good at what they do and those are who I bring in I'm not just gonna you know bring in

anyone and they're like good I said that's probably what you're running into a lot right now because they just bid

bid bid bid bid and then can't find anyone here I'm just going to give it to anyone said we don't operate that way so

that's why a lot of times you know I'll pass on a bid when I don't have that solid person there for me already yeah

well and if you you can be that the the point here is to the audience is you can

be that person you can get the that gets the call from the flooring company that

does you know we all know it most of us sub out all of our work if not a lot of

it uh we probably are 70% we have in-house employee hourly installers as

well and I know you guys do is up there in Michigan but Across the Nation most of the flooring's installed by Subs

Dwayne's been a sub for me for you know going on 20 years as we spoke he's done

like the awesome carpet work that we've been proud to team up with him on the the the

point is I wouldn't I wasn't confident in doing it my my guys weren't confident

in doing it so we got the specialty guide to do it so that's you can be in that position that's the whole point

well and a big thing too on that yeah if you got that Niche and you're that specialty guy you get those phone calls

and let's face it not everything goes 100% perfect right yeah I'll never forget the guy that taught me that we

want every job to go great but when there's a problem that's when you really shine so you're going to get those other

calls I get those calls for the lvp the I get calls for heat Weld and I've called you Jose come to Kansas I still

get those calls not just because I'm a great carpet guy but they know I'm gonna stand behind whatever it is I do it's

because of your reputation know you'll take care of them absolutely that Niche will build your

reputation yeah and you're not going to run and hide when there's a problem I like that the it build your reputation

it will and and it's all encompassing too right it's not just it's not just one type of flooring when you build a

reputation like that it's all encompassing right they know that you're the best they might not know what you're really good at but they know that your

name is is their partnered up next to you know great installer great at what

they do and and that's that's the benefit of of getting a niche you do get you do get

the give at carpet but he's only going to warranty is carpet he's going to say the heck with you if something goes bad

on an lvp they know I'm still going to be there because now we're talking about character that Niche has built my

character y all right guys so we have uh beat the

niche out of this conversation and uh but I do think it's

it's valuable if you're getting into floring a lot of these our podcasts are meant to reach out to new upcoming young

installers who want to be in this industry maybe want to talk to some old dudes that have done it some wrong ways

and figured out some right ways and and hire people now and we figured out what

works and whether it's Stewart and Associates or go Carrera over the time I

can want this would hurt a lot of guy anytime I say it on like one of the um

flooring groups you get a bunch of uh butt hurt people people when I say I

would bet on a floring installer that's certified or highly trained every single

time I have hired in tile installers carpet installers all over this nation

and the ones that are certified or highly trained and it shows through on their Hammer rating I've always had a a

much higher likelihood like way higher likelihood for it to turn out right oh

yeah boy so thanks everybody for joining us today if you're not on go career get on

go career and um I appreciate your guys' input I I I love how you guys built your

business uh I still love how you guys are curious and trying to always get

better well that's same with me that's what you got to do and that's that's what we did right we we kind of

hyperfocused on one thing and then in a couple weeks we'll actually be talking about expanding your service right

because it's it's great to focus but you also have to have those things to fill in you certainly want to expand I just

don't want you to come out like a shotgun come out like a rifle and then and then and then you know spread your

wings and um like we've said this whole thing you're going to build a great

reputation a good good relationships with people who you work for and

ultimately it ends in a better uh better scenario and more money for you so all

right guys well thank you for joining it's been a great episode um I love DNE

thanks for being on video because we know how much you love it yeah I've always said I got a face for radio and a

voice for not radio well I appreciate you coming on I

I uh I I love your path and how you built built uh Pro flooring up and you

know anytime we have work this is your guy for carpet if you're in the midwest

I'm telling you uh reach out to him and and uh like you said he now offers and

has for several years offered more services than just that so if you're in MA Michigan you reach out to these guys

if you're in canas you reach out to me and PR and we'll take care of you outside that guys thank you for the

episode it's been awesome we'll catch you next week see

The Huddle - Episode 106 - Blue Collar Cruise #1

In this episode we take a deep dive into the internet and various publications to uncover and discuss controversial topics that are crucial for everyone in the blue-collar sector to talk about. This episode is dedicated to bringing these pressing issues to the forefront, sparking discussions that challenge the status quo and inspire thoughtful debate. Join us as we explore these vital topics, shedding light on under-discussed issues that affect the industry and workforce. Tune in to be part of the conversation and stay informed about the challenges and changes shaping our field.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle your weekly Playbook where we strategize on not only playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing yourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's

band together and Forge a new Legacy in floring this is where you belong welcome to the

team what's up what's up Mr Daniel what's up my brother uh just

texted and said he's not going to make it he's over uh picking up his son he's got a allstar game today that starts

pretty soon here and he's running into horrible signal and stuff like that so

all right as uh as we all know we we would rather not have him on here than to have them all breaking up and stuff

yeah being like a robot robot well

today I would say with me as always Mr Daniel Gonzalez uh Jose is is you know

often driving around in a truck and so we'll miss him today but uh we have the

first episode of the blue collar Cruise hopefully you guys are ready to uh

participate the blue color cruise is easy we basically find interesting topics in the construction industry and

blue collar um work Fields find the art articles distill

them down break them down discuss them give you our opinions kind of wrap about them a little bit your

participation is necessary so if you're watching right now we need your comments

uh it'll help the conversation keep going and uh so how was your fourth my

man it was uh it was not bad we actually didn't we lit a uh we lit fireworks but

before that the family just went to the ball field and actually had a family ball game cooked us cooked up some tacos

and actually had my mom uh my my wife took a picture of my mom hitting off of

my son was pitching to my mom it was actually oh that time she she didn't run though she had a she had a run some else

she had a runner yeah so it it was it was a fun time though to actually see see everyone out there and you know just

playing we didn't go to the Beach we didn't do nothing we just all got together as a family and you know did

some this did some family stuff it was a good time how was yours it was good man

um got cut short a little bit had one of our kids uh my younger son learn that

you do not hold lit fireworks ah imagine that now I'll tell you it was

a smoke bomb gonna say boom boom or yeah so it wasn't quite as like obvious as uh

you think but it was a one of them smoke bombs that go shoot color smoke off out

of each end and he had a hold of it one end went off and then when the other one

went off it burned his hand good got him he learned a quick lesson about

fireworks and uh yeah so we got him doctored up and continued the night but

we did have to shut it down a little bit early and we were over at some friends

house and they had some big stuff so it was kind of it was pretty fun for the uh

time we spent but cut it short a little bit Yeah I tell

you the U baseball game or the softball game whichever you were playing sounds

like a pretty damn good time I'll tell you that it was a good time and then as far as the holding fireworks my daughter

kept on wanting to hold a Roman candle and shoot it because the other kids were and I was like like no sometimes these

things just they come back at you and my nephew Emilio that happened to him one year where it just came back and almost

got him in the face and I'm not trying to to have that happen to my daughter so

she was pretty sad about it but she probably is still sad about it she's sitting over there at the table right

now well her digits thank you yeah she'll be all right all

right well I'm glad everybody made it out safe and uh not Scarred For Eternity my son's just

fine he'll be better for it so as usual sometimes you gotta learn learn the

lesson the hard way so sometimes that's the welcome everybody uh joining us today again today's our first blueco

collar Cruise um for any of those who just joined us Blue Collar cruise is uh we

Cruise the internet and find topics surrounding the construction industry and other bluecollar work fields

and um bring up interesting and and uh sometimes controversial topics we'll

give you our opinions kind of wrap about a little bit get your opinion so comments are not only welcome they're

necessary and we hope you guys are participate and we can have a good time so I'm going to bring up our first topic

of the day and this one's coming out of construction today and it is Saudi

Arabia is building $800 billion doll line to Nowhere Saudi Arabia is

initiating one of the world's most ambitious Urban Development projects it's called the line part of a larger

neom Mega City initiative according to construction today this

initiative uh or this Innovative City aims to redefine what Urban living uh is

all about it's 170 kilometer linear design promising zero carbon footprint

print and seamless Integrity of Technology sustainability and human Centric

design this uh aligns with Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision and seeks to

address Urban challenges through a vertical layout that enhances efficiency and connectivity while minimizing in

environmental impact what do you got on

this look at that thing look at that who mows all that how the hell they get

grass to grow in this in the in the desert like that actually I heard this wall is like extremely tall and some

other designs of this it's um it's like basically a massive

building uh that runs down the center of this thing uh they got Gardens and all

kinds of stuff like it's it's an indoor City in a lot of it's its own self-sufficient

Community yeah dude I don't know about this man it's like you'd be watched all the time you'd always be surveyed you'd

be I mean it's bad enough I mean I mean what's different than just anywhere

right now to be honest with you I mean everything you're watched basically anywhere you

go true but there's different levels of camera there is and different levels of

of like face recogn you can only imagine they'd build that into this whole thing

like it would just be part of

the the design and and and U architecture of it would be a

freaking to me it'd be like a monitored City every step you made they would know

where you're at what you're doing what you're buying in more integrated kind of

uh in a more integrated kind of way so basically ran by

Amazon yeah R Jeff Bezos I would not be surprised if he didn't have a you know

some hand in it that's um yeah so what do you guys think about this let us know

in the comments we'll Cruise comments read them out loud and get your take but to go from the a little deeper in the

article the um a lot of the the The Architects and

um designers have they're actually having problems keeping them all having

problems you know there's been plenty uh many of Architects that have withdrawn due to human rights and ecological

concerns debates over what I just said privacy and uh a technologically

advanced Urban environment and how you would be watched from every moment like

even uh well possibility not to mentioned that has led to the

displacement of local tribes which I know anybody of uh you know Native

American Heritage uh here in America or even you know uh Aztec uh Mexicans

Mexico like probably uh that hits home right

like taking our land man taking our stuff happen all over

again yeah it's kind of it's kind of crazy I mean that that

is um that is a massive development you think about 800 billion and yeah it

would be displacing if you just I mean from the rendering there um and I'm not sure if

that's an actual rendering of the of the um of the overall design or if if that's

one of the options but the footprint of that thing being 170

kilometers you are building and all this uh technology and infrastructure being

you know um part of that design like I said I I can I can see why they have

problems with keeping people involved in this type of a project one the scale and

the risk kicking people you know local tribes out of their native land it looks

like it sounds like um but all that being said the uh the line remains a a

focal point of global attention representing the complexities and aspirations of reimagining urban

spaces in the 21st century you want to talk about like design and all this stuff

like what like in your house try a smart house this would be the if you ever a

smart City basically right yeah like everything tracking everything so so

look like um my wife went and I went to Sam's Club over the weekend and what when we

were checking out you know how they used to you check out and they had you know

the scanner on your phone so I'd scan everything and then they'd have to scan my phone and then they scan

it you know multiple things in the cart to make sure that I actually scanned them and now they have these things in

there you just push your cart through and it's like AI stuff where it's

automatically detected and they don't have to scan anymore it's just yeah it like automatic read what's in your thing

it reads what how many things are in the car it automatically counts them it scans the barcodes and everything so how

when you're when you're thinking about stuff like that you have your credit card on file yeah so I still scan

everything in the app and then I check out in the app and then you just push your cart through and there there's

still people standing there because it's a new technology but it's like you just push it through and they're like all right keep on going instead of having to

scan you know personally and it's like this is this is crazy I mean that's what

with AI and the technology where where things are going it's not ridiculous to

think of an entire city being this way where things are can you imagine that

going going to a store there and you just walk in grab what you're G to get and you walk right out and just charges

your car it's on file for the entire city that you live in that's the thing though they have those in airports too

ran by Amazon you you haven't seen those or where you actually pay with your palm

print I so you just go in there's cameras everywhere you grab whatever you want you go out you put your palm on the

reader you go out it automatically charges your card on file well the airport you kind of expect it a little

bit because you already know you're being you're being watched everywhere yeah like I do I have clear

to to um speed up my travel uh you know

read your eyes and your face recognition all that stuff so you're kind kind of like already on the grid in every way

possible but would you want to live that way I I think uh the only way to to

figure that out is to I mean I don't know about starting a community that big maybe start in like an apartment complex

or something where you know it's uh you can start out small and then test it out

but an enti I know this makes me think of that movie with Sylvester Stallone

where he like gets frozen in time and he's a cop and he comes back as a cop in the

future and it's like everything if you say the f word or you say [ __ ] or

something like there's all these ticket things everywhere and just spits out a ticket for you have you seen that movie

I forget what the name of it is is that that's not time cop is it ah no it is

time cop with um with um oh that's John Claude Van John Claud vaname you're

fine yeah no this is with Sylvester Stallone

it's got he he every move they make like if uh someone was smoking in a

non-smoking Zone it' spit out Demolition Man Demolition Man that's what it is

this this whole concept reminds me of Demolition

Man I mean that's the thing if uh if they

don't start I think it's just a matter of time before it actually someone does

it anyways and like I said it's start out something

small and then well it's it's in the works anyways right but if people keep on backing out

how how much of uh of the vision is gonna actually come to life how how much are they goingon to have to shrink this

thing before it comes to light yeah who knows it's it's you know

the two biggest things is trying to keep an architect sounds like you know keep Architects on board

um it even says in the article renowned Architects have withdrawn from the uh

project critics argue that the lack of sustain the lack of su uh sustainability

and the moral double standards of involved AR Tex undermine the Project's

ethical Foundation it's a technological Utopia

that R raises significant privacy concerns yeah dude I don't know I vote

no I wouldn't I wouldn't want to live there where every move I made was surveyed was known maybe you're not

getting a ticket like in Demolition Man but every single one well we got my brother actually

watching on on Facebook right now all right well

let's cruise the comments see if anybody has anything um Kevin Kevin just says

what's up I told him to come on and talk crap today so hopefully he come Kevin give us your opinion would you live in a

uh in a modern 170 kilometer long linear city that is

uh full of Technology full full of cameras watching your every moov you can't get away from him at all anywhere

by and then Nate Hall provides the alternative where there are alternative

alternative communities living off grid everywhere where you know that that's the opposite side of the spectrum right

where you don't it's like I don't want anyone in my business and I think like that's more

of where people flock to as opposed to yes I want to be watched every minute of

every day dude I I I I lean way more towards

getting being off the grid that's kind of what your home is to me you go home

you're kind of away from stuff you know uh you you get free of all that you you

know when you're driving around and you get to stop lights and stuff there's cameras and there's just this

overarching feeling to me it's that it's it's the what that it's that feeling on

steroids in this concept of a you know and

but yeah the Amish the minites yeah just good old country boys trying to uh get

away from it all too you know what I'm saying but if you really think think about

like as a as a smart home there's many people out there already that

already I know track of their own home right they're already keeping track of

their own home and then you just go on your phone and you're you're already recording

everything it's like what what are you really hiding I mean I got cameras at my house I have cameras at our office

so but that's all already it's it's all that we think it's all for us right

what do we really know talking to you until until they get hacked and

they're like all your information just went out the window here's uh one year

free subscription to this uh identity the that's all that's all you

get yeah that actually brings up like if you think about the

um just like that uh security breach you you mentioned could you imagine a

security breach or a loss of data in a whole for a whole city that is monitored

like foreign governments I don't know maybe I'm a conspiracy theorist a bit it does feel like to me that they've been

conditioning humans to be surveyed all the time and be okay with it and this is

just that next step an 800 billion doll line to

Nowhere all right well let's move on to the next topic next topic coming out of

construction today the new tall building in America has been

revealed it's um it's going to be called Legends Tower and guess where it's

at Oklahoma City right here in the Midwest baby just two hours south it's

gonna be the tallest building in America taller than the World Trade Center um

tall tallest building in America it kind of blew my my mind that they're talk that they're going to put this in um

and Oklahom Oklahoma instead of like New York or California somewhere yeah it's

not in La it's not in like Boston or any of the major cities uh it's in Oklahoma

City it's going to be 1997 feet tall um it's going to be let's see

tapering design on both sides see if I can find a see if they got a rendering

of it I don't think they do they expect the economic impact uh to

be for it to be a catalyst for economic growth and cultural enrichment in Oklahoma City it's expected to create

numerous jobs and attract investment the project signifies a major shift in the

city's economic landscape potentially transforming it into a key

destinations uh key destination for business uh businesses and Leisure

culturally the tower is set to become a landmark symbol in Oklahoma City's uh d

dynamicism i what dynamicism sounds legit to me and

Innovation that sounds like something I'd make up dynamicism

uh it's a statement to the city's Readiness take place on the global stage

dude what do you think about Oklahoma City what what I mean they're not that much bigger than a Grand Rapids or

that's that's my thoughts because we've worked in Oklahoma City before and it that that was my thoughts exactly like

it's it's not huge what is this building going to be done like what yeah I wonder what they even

did to like who who thought of this I know AO Architects and Madison yeah

Madison capital is spearheading the whole thing thing but this could be that Catalyst though right they they built

like kind of like that if you build it they will come this could be that all right we're going to build this we're gonna get a bunch of people here and

then we're gonna kind of expand off of it okay but here's a good question for

you we've been it's either last episode or the episode before we were talking

about the down uh downturn in commercial real estate and all that and in the

midst of all this they're going to build the the nation one of the world's tallest by the way 197 feet but

certainly the tallest building in America it's going to have a luxury hotel a bunch of residential units

retail spaces and it's going to be over two million square

feet well you think square feet in one building we talk about building we talk

about commercial spaces like and and I think what what we were talking about primarily was like office spaces and

shared office spaces stuff like that but when you're talking about stuff like this this is kind of what's

been more booming lately is the mixed use the mixed use stuff right where

almost kind of like what we were just talking about where it can be its own Community where you'll have one building

they can live there they'll have hotels there restaurants and then you I mean

basically you're almost looking at like them building a resort that people can

go to yeah I feel like you know that sounds like one of the things they're trying to

do is attract more you know uh more people more more tourists right become

better tourist destination and businesses I think one of the biggest

questions is is are you going to be bidding this

well maybe a floor you just the restrooms on a job like that restrooms

and the the the the shell as they call it in a new office building that's

probably a five 10 15 who knows million dollars worth of tile if you think of

the bathrooms alone in that sucker yep would you would you bet

it like you like I would bet one bathroom I'd bid the first

floor I'd be the first floor it might be a million bucks right there so

the that would be everyone start looking for for this project on go

Carrera yeah look look for uh 48 bathrooms

spanning [ __ ] it's probably more than that 1,00 feet geez man it's just that's a massive

building they say that it's that it's kind of the vertical growth because of the

residential units and kind of like you said that and that's the thing it's probably like if you look at it in terms

of like not even just phasing but just different projects within the the

project itself right it's going to be this project and then this project and then this project and it's going to be a

a multi-year multiphase thing this say would have

restaurants and probably I mean two million square

feet I know developers that own that you know been around for a long time that

have 2 million square feet under their entire portfolio this is I don't know it blew my mind that

that was in Oklahoma I thought that was was pretty freaking interesting it it

does make sense it like when when we're talking about attracting more people let's get the tourist here um over here

in Grand Rapids they're so our City's name is Grand Rapids they got rid of the

Rapids in the Grand River years ago they built dams got rid of them now they're

talking about restoring the Rapids it's this whole project that they got going on so within this restoring the Rapids

project they're building new things along the Grand River so they're

building a new soccer stadium a new ampl theater um they're relocating the city

services it's like all these things to attract more tourists we're trying to to

get more people to come here because if you think about it like we you go on vacation and all these places ran on

tourism They're ran on tourism because we bring the money so what what do you got to do to to start bringing more

money you got to spend that yeah they're try they're trying to do it in Oklahoma City's done a lot of other things they got Rapids uh to uh to your point

they've got like racetracks and things for you to go drive you know exotic cars

they they've done a lot down in Oklahoma City and they say that these buildings are are uh are symbols of ambition

Innovation and ever evolving American Dream they're also they also mentioned

in the article that they want to uh you know start building up and not out in

major cities and so maybe there's a bit about that I I think it's a pretty freaking cool thing to be going on here

in the Midwest and uh I mean you said it's only what a couple hours away from you yeah it's two

hours south straight down I35 straight out of witto Boom we'll see what kind of uh what kind

of impact it has there in the local city anybody's uh that's in some of these

major cities in the audience let us know uh what your city's building that's pretty cool

all right we're going to keep cruising next

topic there's nine ways that AI this is out of tech News nine ways AI is

transforming the construction industry we've talked about some of this stuff a lot and you know that we're pretty uh

pretty safe uh from an uh installer standpoint it still seems like it most

of these are in resource management and collabor these kind of things but I'm going to read them off

here so safety AI powered sensors and cameras to monitor job sites in real

time and identify potential hazards now that's all cool except for if you

start getting OSHA violations on job sites from AI yeah so the crazy thing is

I was just on a job site today setting a bunch of moisture tests and and stuff like that and uh shout out to flor Cloud

because I just set up a sensor there today so we're full-blown Flor Cloud

today um and we had the safety guy come through and uh as as I was just getting

I put my backpack on I'm just getting ready to leave and he stops me he's like can I talk to you for a second I'm like

yeah go ahead and he's like hey I just want to like can I get a picture of you guys like standing next to some of your

equipment because you guys are bringing in we had a air scrubber and he sees all of our hepac and stuff he's like you

guys bring in all this equipment that you know no one we don't even require and you guys

are just bringing it in I was said I'm not bringing it in for you guys I'm bringing it in we bring it in for us bro

like this is we're trying to to stay healthy but yeah you can take our pictures yeah but yes you can yeah and

he's like yeah I want to they're they're going to shout us out and like their Publications and stuff and I mean oh

that's cool so that that's the other side so AI is not remote monitoring's awesome but you

don't want to get one of them you know $500 hard hat violation because of some

AI uh you know especially boring world like we had a meeting too and I'm like

guys like on the floor when we're installing hard Hat's going to come off and it's going to be right next to us

we're bending down the thing is not going to stay on and they they're like no we understand that just make sure

it's right next to you I said yeah that kind of stuff and then if you're talking about AI just a camera's on you hard

hats off boom violation yeah that's why um you we

didn't include it in the articles but I read an article about them wanting

to move from hard hats to uh safety helmets did you read that I did not have

you ever been on a job that required safety helmets like uh the bump caps it's a it's it

looks like a bicycle helmet dude it's it's smaller the on that snap and it

snaps and yeah that we call them bump caps oh really so yeah it's like um the

drywallers wear them well this the ones we had to buy your

buddy Bezos made us we did three of the of the Amazon projects and every

everybody on the site had to have these certain uh safety helmets and they um

you know they click on they are a little bit they look goofy as hell I'll tell you that but they are a little bit nicer

to uh to wear if you're bending down and such so they'll probably just make you wear safety helmets and send you an OSHA

violation all right so the next thing they're going to be using AI for is uh

plan design I think we all know about that um there's a lot of Architects that

are um leveraging AI I wonder if that's going to help them not make as many

mistakes shout out to any of my Architects out there but man

uh so that's not super interesting I would say project management this is

just a AI tool that predicts delays and cost overruns suggesting

Solutions uh Resource Management quality control realtime

monitoring uh of the project uh to ensure that it meets all the uh all the

uh installation standards it says meets high standards but as opposed you know

as it applies to as flooring guys imagine some AI bot watching your your

Tile Guys install and like hey you get a punch list driven AI driven punch

list I'm they do have like that the matter Port

right where you can go around and do 3D of the entire thing if they just kind of

have that and then you can like zoom in and see everything I can see how that can be pushed right into

procore and you can just boom Zoom right in on something and be like yep that's where that's where that issue is that's

where we have to go fix it yeah I mean you can certainly see some benefits but at the same time the

one that probably worries me the most is just like this the whole fear with AI

and I think it's warranted is there is no humility uh many of you don't know but I

got me a nice ticket on the way here I was speeding to get on the Huddle in

time I'm down in Alabama uh visiting Don Roberts and I

got a ticket the cop was super cool I still got a

ticket um my daughter she gets out of every ticket by the way um me no chance

I'm not cute enough but that being said you know I have I have actually had

a cop plenty of time just say hey man here's a warning slow it down you know no need to be um you know nothing's

worth going that fast give me my little you know read me my read me my the the little right act or whatever and and let

me go on my way same thing with safety stuff right you're walking around job site safety coordinator or safety guy on

a job site sees you without a hard hat he's like hey put your hard hat on but you don't get a fine every time

or get in trouble every time you might get reminded but there so there's no

Humanity to it no no it's like right and wrong is so black and white from that

perspective like you wear hard hats on this job doesn't matter if you're installing tile or installing

floors boom you don't you don't have one it's a violation and I don't know maybe

they'll give you certain amount of violations but I don't know I I'm I'm uh

I'm re I would be reluctant to uh feel comfortable on a job that had a AI

powered safy what what's different what's different from that as opposed to

like the red light cameras right that I still I'm not going

to kill anybody because I don't have my hard hat on though you know you might kill yourself go blowing through a go blowing

through a red light you know what I'm saying like I I guess the risk factor to

me seems like uh the the cameras at and that's only that's still only in select

cities look how much push back that got that still gets in midwestern cities

it's I agree so we've gotten um tickets in the mail before for like Gordon Food

Service trucks that have ran red lights and it's like guys does this this

doesn't even make any sense how was how'd you even get my license plate

from it was like from Pennsylvania or something like

what yeah so artificial intelligence isn't always that intelligent is it's

it's not and then like Nate HW has a comment right here and he says that it's

a huge drain on the electric grid but I I don't know I don't have the data

for that we don't have the data for that I can imagine I mean it it's powered by

electricity so it only makes sense I don't have uh and plus yeah it may be but I'm sure

there's other ways that it saves um I think the overarching like this

Overlord that doesn't have any humility or Humanity to it is what I I don't like

about the whole AI conversation and this is just bringing it to light that it it

looks like um this is going to I mean these

are Technologies being l or used right now like right now

and so maybe coming to a job site near you shout out to all the residential guys they probably won't put them on

every residential job but if you're in commercial big projects where safety's always watched by ocean we've had like

visit our job so so that's a a conversation too because we talked about having the cameras on you in the the the

residential you know that we we already the first portion that we talked about and then already having cameras in our

own homes and then now you're talking about residential guys in construction but there's plenty of times on like the

Facebook groups where guys are like people have cameras in their house I would never work in somewhere where

someone's trying to record me yeah well I I don't know the answer I

tell you I I don't like it I can tell you that I don't like being this feeling like I you know one yeah it makes you

feel like a kid with Overlord parents those you know like a helicopter parent

that's pointing out everything you do wrong like am I going to get awards

for not doing anything wrong for doing everything right and goes into that whole social

credit score that that um both on that project we were talking about Saudi

Arabia is they they discussed that um and the Chinese having social credit

scores and you imagine you'd have a so like if your score fell below certain

amount because of whatever that you can't be on the job site or something I don't know I don't like where it's going

that's just me no and I get that on residential job sites because like homeowners are a lot more particular but

we did a lot of work in hospitals so we were always watched

anyways so we always had to watch what what we were doing

regardless yeah we're we're you know you guys are a lot like us we work on a lot of those same types of

projects like hospitals and stuff and you're being watched pretty close but this seems like you know 10 levels

deeper you imagine you know you know how they do ikra like units to go into a if

you're doing a like we did a Surgery Center and they built a erra containment

spot for when you come out of the job site you go into this icor room you got

a vacuum yourself off wash your hands get on clean your feet all this remove

the scrubs yeah you imagine like

every every step you take would be monitored and maybe that's a it got has

its upsides from a safety standpoint you know people probably wouldn't be getting

hurt as much uh make construction a lot safer but I I personally

uh just like uh speeding I'm willing to um know get the ticket I don't want I

don't want the I don't want the the overlords watching me right I mean we

we've even gotten pushed back to the point where our um app that we use to clock in and clock out records your

location when you clock in and clock out so there's there's been people that

have have not they were like I'm not working for you guys because I'm not using this app I was like all right

then like we got hella push back when we implemented the exact time at our office

it's been 10 years eight years ago probably and we had a guy that he was

from California uh his name was Gary really good dude I love the crap out of him but

he was like so against it he was like I'm not I'm not doing this thing I can

handw write my stuff you don't trust me I'm like it got nothing to do with trust it's about ease and see that's how you

get like inched into it and accustomed to it I'm part of the problem sorry

guys I mean is it there there's different levels though I think I agree

it just does it's like when we were talking about Saudi Arabia's $800 billion doll linear City uh there

there's levels to this thing and it just you're being accustom

you know gently moved into that where someday you'll be in a city it's very possible you'll be in the city where

every moveie you make is watch I'm G be with Nate Hall out in the woods somewhere like

off making your own flooring out of those the trees out there yeah I'm give me a saw meal I'm

gonna do it right baby all right so last uh last

topic of the day is something that hit home with me and I I think is one of the

deals that I hear a lot in our flooring both I I mean I have it in me when I

when I get a contract or I do something I signed the contract I made the deal

and I also see this a lot in um with our flooring installers and it's how to love

the deal you cut so this this is from construction dive and a guy named uh uh Chad uh

pringley of well-built construction he uh Consultants he's the CEO

there delivered a uh compelling analysis of the pitfalls of the con of

construction negotiations and the imper and how imperative it is for contractors

to reframe their approach to deal making drawing on his extensive industry

expertise he ass erts that many contractors um Harbor resentment after

they've made a deal you know they agreed to it and this is particularly when you

have competitive bidding you know that drives down your profits and you still

want that you know half million dollar job or something I'm sure you've been there I know we have where it's like man

you know I'm down to XYZ percent but it's a half million dollar job it's

going to keep guys you know it's like a staple project for some for you and um

you know like frankley said he's he acknowledges the challenges of that

dichotomy where profit margins lag um are the one side of the scale you're

losing but on the other side of the scale you still kind of want the job you know you still want a project um and

maybe you can find some ways to increase profit margin later but what he said is

is in his um oh I guess it was a survey or uh U

investigation that most contractors Harbor resentment towards

clients and what he's aiming to do is a you know avoid those um those conflicts

that you know will ultimately result in damaging reputation so he he advocates

for a paradigm shift mindset in mindset that if you make the deal embrace the deals you

negotiate so I know you've been there I've been there what what's your take on

this you do you have those projects where you're like you're looking at the numbers and

it's like it's getting into crunch time when you're like this is doing an hour and you're going over everything and everything looks good and you're like I

got to do something man because I really want this job so let me start tweak and let me see where I can start cutting

these percentages and then it is like and then you you submit

it and then they come back with you know the the award or or something like that

or the letter of intent and you're like man like I think I think my first

initial thought was I wonder if I messed something up or how low I was if I could

have if I was already good before I started cutting the fat I know it's that old saying like once

you get awarded a job in a competitive bid Pro uh process you're like sh what I

miss you know I want to make it where what did I miss or where did I miss what

or how much did I leave on the table I mean prle advises for like any

contractor to just stand firm on the pricing Des despite um clients pressures

for discounts and I think that if gcc's um on the bigger side

gc's uh you know I think this is probably big uh subcontractors and

general contractors that were uh studied in this but you know standing firm on

pricing there's another tactic uh that

you know we are we've always said like you get an experience with steart

Associates anybody can sell floring we sell an experience at the end of the day we want to make your project Journey as

smooth as possible that's what our goal is that's what we live for um that's our

mission you know to give you a smooth project

Journey that means you got to sell your value but how do you do that in a competitive bids situation I mean right

there you know they're going to the general contractors are stuck if there's 10 General Contractors been B get a job

they're stuck between a rock and a hard place they may want to use you for the additional value but they know their

competitor their competitor is gonna go that L low guy yeah and then so if they

don't use your the the lowest number even though if they want to use

you they they know that they may miss out on the entire project and that just

is a race to the bottom we try to you know we we hard bid a lot of work work

uh we also do a lot of negotiated projects so that's really where we like to live but you know if you are in a

hard- bit scenario I can understand their dichotomy I just wonder um why maybe

maybe I'll email this dude because I wonder why he doesn't recommend to Architects building owners and things to

do the average bid process and that is where the GC takes the

if you get five flooring bids you add them up divided by five and whoever's

closest to the average wins the project same with electrical contractors

everybody would costs go up um I think that is a hard hard one to answer right

be because you're looking at change orders right because it's change order City Once look at those low bids that's

what I'm getting at like you got change orders and these these these other things that come about where if you were

bidding a job just to do it right knowing that low bid is not going to win so there's no reason for you to be low

bid it's also no reason for you to fluff your bid because High bid's not going to get it it's going to be the average guy

so it's going to drive you to bid the job accurately with a a a profit margin

that you feel is doable there's no reason to even lower your profit margin

down to the gutter like happens in the low bid Market it in it increases everybody's um Prof

to me it would increase everybody's professionalism um you know gc's could

hold their subs even more accountable to being professional to having the right equipment to you know going on job sites

with with floor Cloud setting floor Cloud up on their projects having hepo

and all this stuff like have this higher level of expectation even when the job was bid low bid or bid through a bid

process it just would not be low bid it'd be negotiated I wonder what old prl's insights on that would be right

and I I think like you're you're talking hard bid especially when G multiple gc's are bidding this but

um a lot of the bids that we've been doing lately we know who the GC it's already an awarded GC so it's already

their project we're just going in there and biding it to them and they're picking right and that's a benefit for

us because especially when we're doing pre-bids with them because I can go through and I can say hey this is what I

would recommend and and I go through everything with them and then I do get feedback right through through the

bidding process I I go to them I talk to the head of the technical department this is

what's supposed to be happening they get back with me and they're they're talking to the client it's like they're going to bat for me because I'm giving them the

most information that I can do does do always work no that's kind of one of

those Neo that's kind of a negotiated deal or at least a select biders deal

where you're bidding only against

um only sorry I see a comment come across that made me chuckle uh but

you're only bidding you know you're not bidding against every flooring contractor and

that GC is not in that sticky situation between if I choose the low bid I'm not

going to get the bid that's why I love design build and those types of jobs or

construction management uh CM at risk type projects because it's that GC or

the CM at risk that is just evaluating the bids trying to get the best value

for uh for the customer now they still have to be you know competitive competitive they share share all their

numbers but I we've been in the position where GC goes in and like here's our low

bid but here's number two who we actually recommend and they'll recommend you know whichever bid they decide to

recommend um and often we'd be recommended because of what I was

mentioning earlier a smoother project Journey or a better project experience

and so you can get those but that is a method of construction and not a an

overall bit team practice and I just I'm just saying like let's get rid of the I would love to see them get rid of 100%

just get rid of the low bit Al together let's cruise comments a little

bit I know that Nate had a comment about AI program to win

bids I'm pretty sure there there's probably something in the works to have there's there's already Ai takeoffs and

and job costing um I I heard that uh there's some large material suppliers or

material aggregators maybe I don't know if material Banks involved but something

like material bank if you're familiar with them where they have all that stuff and you just an AI

basically draws up the estimate you just tell it the profit

margin it gets the cost for you everything I know that that's in the works I've talked to some people even in

floring I've talked to some people that are uh that own estimating companies and

uh in fact she does um like a panel at a lot of the conventions about Ai and

technology in uh Construction in our industry in particular in flooring so

yeah there's probably some of that coming along you certainly to me the the the

whole the whole thing Chad Pinkley or prle is trying to get across here is

that don't be sour over a deal that you made and leverage yourself on

relationships like I and that would be my best advice to anybody uh you're you

know the installers out there if you own a labor shop and you got a bunch of guys

you know love the deal you make and you know sell your

your service sell your journey sell your ex your uh your project the experience

that you provide with the project be easy to work with that kind of thing build those

relationships and uh but it's hard to do when we're talking about driving bids down to the lowest dollar right so well

yeah and then that's the relationships is key because you know on one of these projects that I just bid and and walking

around with the the project manager and stuff like that and he's like I'm like I always ask who else is

bidding this project and you know they give me the list and I'm like how are you feeling about these guys right now

and they're they're honest with me they're like we are not happy with a lot of these people right now and they give

they go through the list of why they're not happy and I'll be honest with them you know it's like yeah and I I think

and I and I asked them I'm like how do you guys feel with us and they're like oh we love working with you guys it's just sometimes that number is M where it

falls right and it's like but you know what you get with that

number so you got you got to be happy with what you're you're putting out there and then when you said that you

know sometimes you can't budge on your number what we've been through that too

where it's like they come back hey you're just a little bit high can you do this and it's like no sorry that's where

we're at and not even sorry no I'm not sorry like no that's where we're at and then it's

either all right they went with someone else but you know there's been a few times where it's like all right contract to be to you

tomorrow I mean yeah there's been plenty of times and I'm sure it's happened to me on the adverse side where you know

you you're trying to negotiate out a project and they want you to move your number um but I'm always

suspicious of whether or not like it's needed you know or are they pocketing this

extra money um you know where where is the where's the dollars going um there's

been some talk in the industry construction industry about a

um Nate his AI comments uh there's been some talk in the construction

industry um surrounding that where you

know having a if you're familiar with blockchain like open source like you see

it's all public your number would be seen by everybody and it's just you got

a reputation and your your reputation it's kind of like what was talked about with

the uh so social credit score you'd have a um a reputation and that part is a

earned thing so I wouldn't be against that at all like that's earned you only get a good reputation by doing good work

it's just they're sharing that uh that information so if a GC had a good experience with you they share that and

then it takes into account all that but everything would be public and and see

and able to be seen so that's another way I wonder if Pinkley ever thought about either the average bidding

practices uh that are done in some other countries um or or something like that

like a transparent blockchain bidding practice um that would also like as soon as the

Project's funded it shows that the owner paid and so all the subs know and the GC

can't hold on to the money all that would go out the window dude that would be awesome that

part would be great actually I think the whole part would be great because it would really take companies who are

trying to do it right do the business right and provide excellent experience

to their customers you you would just win in those scenarios yeah the the whole

transparency thing with the the bids too I think is a great idea I mean we've done you know a few public bids and you

get that transparency anyways and it's it's huge when you know exactly where

your numbers fall because you're like okay there's $220,000 between us and the

low Bid And We Came in second so either they miss something

or something's going on there or your Labor's a little higher or you you know

you got it's either lab your your labor cost your material cost or your markup

that's the only three things right so either your labor is a little more expensive you didn't get as good pricing

which if you sell a lot you typically do and if you're good at building relationships with your vendors you'll

get good pricing um and then on the other side of that you got your markup and any one of

those factors can come in and and play along all right well we are it's time to

to stop I I didn't even realize it is four' been an hour in already we got we

got through three topics in the blue collar cruise I hope you guys enjoyed that we're gonna find the most uh the

the coolest topics around again just to recap we did you know Saudi Arabia's the

800 million sorry that wouldn't even $800

billion City uh linear City uh the tallest building in um America is now

going to be housed in Oklahoma City just a couple hours south the old witch tow boys here and and uh another cool thing

um you know love the deal that you make and be aware if you see a bunch of

cameras on a job be aware of the AI safety uh overlords coming to a city

near you it sounds like so thank you for uh your participation in the audience

would love to have more hope you enjoyed the content if you did give us a like subscribe go watch us on YouTube make a

comment there whether you like it or you don't just let us know and if you have

any comments that you would uh or topics that you find interesting go ahead and

share him with us and one last thing is remember we're coming up on you know um

convention time for cfi's convention down in uh

Orlando uh right around the corner before you know Ty will be going again in Las Vegas uh in January the

installation competition like where they got all the Regionals coming up so make sure

uh yeah make sure if you're if you're not going to participate in the comp

someone yeah man like get someone out there to to do this we need some new

blood in these things I mean it it was great seeing people that have never been

in it before especially the the two winners last year it's my first time seeing them out there it was amazing

yeah like let's get some new blood out here let's start doing studs out there there's a lot of you guys that are good

installers that watch this show you wouldn't be watching it probably if you weren't a good installer uh get out there recommend

somebody talk someone into do a crystal do a Jose and Daniel and like they did

Crystal and put her in get somebody in the competitions we'd love to see some some uh like Daniel said some new blood

in that thing Seattle Washington like we're a month out guys so if you know

someone in the area sign them up don't even don't even

don't even tell them just be like hey I signed you up you got to be on this yeah let them know uh looks like all surfaces coming

up in September in Chicago and Dalton at

CFI uh training facility I was just there it's pretty freaking awesome in October so if you think you got the

goods or you know someone who um who does it who wants to compete get up

there and do it let's go Justin Justin how about if you're if you sign

up if you sign up for the the Chicago date I will try my best just to come and say hi because that is only like two and

a half hours from me yeah that'd be cool another C uh little note here is if

you're in Orlando if you're an installer there like reach out uh there's going to be

some programs to get um new new blood into the

convention um I hope that that uh I think CFI will be sharing some news here in the near future um if you're in

Orlando and you want to go to the show reach out uh to me or to one of the guys

they'll get you in touch with me or Ashlin and it will be a um it will be a

chance for you to get to go experience the convention uh go to the trade show that kind of thing come check us out at

our booth at go Carrera Daniel and Jose will be there we'll be there wall be there there hanging out and having a

good time so hopefully we get to meet some of you guys uh in the near future I hope you enjoyed the first episode of

the blue collar Cruise let us know what we did good let us know where we could improve uh we want this to uh we're

going to do this on and on uh every month at least once a month we're going to do a blue collar cruise I like

bringing out the new stuff and uh I love research so that's part of the uh part

of the deal so thank you thank you everybody for joining us thank thank you Mr Daniel for uh you know going on this

ride with me it was fun appreciate you Paul and uh we'll see everyone else uh next week all right guys we'll see you

The Huddle - Episode 104 - Managing Time and Resources Effectively

In this episode, with special guest Ben Walker (COO of Go Carrera), we focus on the critical skills needed to efficiently manage both time and resources in the field and the office. This episode offers valuable insights into strategies for prioritizing tasks, optimizing workflows, and utilizing tools that maximize productivity without sacrificing quality. Whether you're coordinating a job site or running office operations, understanding how to effectively allocate your time and resources is key to enhancing performance and achieving business success. Tune in to learn practical tips that can revolutionize your daily operations.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we your weekly Playbook where you not we

talk about not only strategizing on the game but changing it for mastering the fundamentals of the craft to

distinguishing ourselves into the marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're

equipped with everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in floring this is where you belong welcome

to the team what's up welcome to the team what's going on brother what's up

we got Ben with us today Ben is Kevin AKA

Kevin Kevin what's up guys Ben's the CE of go Carrera and here to uh discuss

today's topic managing your time and resources speaking of how you guys been

managing that time and resources this week horribly man things have just

been it's they have just been popping up this week and like

uh is it like new projects or no it's just like someone walking into the

office or like I was at a excuse me a chamber event this morning then as soon

as it ended like I get a phone call while I'm there and I answer and they're like hey how do I get a quote for some

carpet and I'm like uh what's what's the address you know is this residential or commercial they're like it's resid and

this is the address I'm like you know what I'm right down the street and they're like cool I'll see you in 10 minutes well that's a new

opportunity those are at least a little bit uh understandable but there's some

sucks out there I was gonna bring up and ask you guys what your biggest time

suck it all depends on what day and what we got on your agenda that that one was

nice though because when when I showed up there right and we're talking and he's like you know what you were my third phone call just Googled you know

different businesses around here he said the first one didn't answer the phone the second one was like you know what

I'm like four to six weeks out and he was like you were like I'm right around the corner basically he said I don't

even care man he said just give me give me a quote we'll work something out

that's the same thing happened to me today as I got a phone call uh probably about maybe four miles from our office

and I got some uh hard surface in my kitchen failing could you come and take a look at it and kind of lead me in the

right direction like should I put plank over it and I get there and the story

changed a little bit the wife's like can we just regrout it and then I was like I'm I'm sorry man like I wouldn't do

that they they just put it right over the wood substrate like they didn't do they didn't do it the right way that's

that's gonna keep happening well can we just install the floating floor over it

I you can if you want but I wouldn't advise that and I wouldn't do that for you well good on you for not doing

crappy work man but we're talking time sucks we're talking

about things that don't provide any value to you or your

business and suck a bunch of time and before you know it's the stuff that when you go

home and you look back at your day and you're like I didn't get [ __ ]

done I didn't feel personally I I I hate it when I get home and I don't feel like

I did anything productive that day like I just was doing

stuff and one of our biggest one of my biggest time sucks is uh got a minute

meetings hey you got a minute uh yes hey you got a hey you got a minute for sure

th those suck out 10 minutes here 10 minutes there 20es and then you know the

the kind of uh time frame it takes you to get back into whatever you were

doing yeah that's um abely right I just

realized I'm taking care of other people's priorities you know a lot of times people call me and they ask ask me

things and they're legitimate but I end up spending my time taking care of other people's issues rather than the ones

that are really most important to me and I just try to keep in mind uh uh why or

or try to keep in mind what's going to yield the results that you know I'm supposed to deliver and uh just try to

invest my time in those places and not get distracted by something else and sometimes the thing you get distracted

by is kind of interesting and fun for that minute so it's it's easy to do that I know um it's like a reprieve from the

hard work right for sure what Happ you know what you're right chasing information

chasing information that seems to be the hardest or the biggest time um suck for me lately is just knowing that there

things in place where information could be put but not everybody finds it

important so well I like what you said cha dealing with or chasing one of two

other people's priorities so one one thing that there's a bunch of different time management theories and processes

and things but the one that's always landed best

with me personally uh has been what's called a d six a gentleman by the name

of Chad Holmes uh had a program that I took back in 2006 I think it was it was

called Chad holes International and he's a business guy and he he taught time management and having a master and this

is just the simple part of managing your to-dos which there's a lot more to time

management and Resource Management than just this but just managing your to-dos

having a master list and then transferring off of that Master list

that basically gets written once a week and then every day before you leave most

uh advantageously before you leave your office that day before you shut down the

old uh computer or brain for the day you write down the six most important things

off of that Master list for the next day and the theory is that your mind your

subconscious basically will work on that on its own while you sleep and while

you're recuperating and in the morning you get there and you start attacking that

D6 um very similar to that is one of my mentors Andy filla who I was in R

for three or four years and he's the he's one of the head guys there he has

the power list and it's five items uh you can buy his power list online um

but essentially the the same theory is work on the most important things for

that day and don't leave until you get them done yeah now every once in a while

you get some hurdle that prevents you from doing something but for the most part you want to not leave just because

it's five o'clock uh somewhere um but that

sucks to say it like that but yeah yeah but that you're actually completed with the five items or six items and and Andy

says heck if you finish them at two o'clock and those are the five most important things you could do that day you should

leave as a business owner yeah really yeah you mean don't find 20 other things

to put on your list and then try to unfortunately that's how I've done it mostly to be honest with you which is

not really following the the the reward system side of this that he talks about

is like man if you get the five most important things done by two o'clock you deserve to leave you deserve to get out

of there and go because uh as business owners we know that we're going to have

this whole we're going to have plenty of days that you're staying until 8 9 10 o'clock

at night oh yeah we're not banking time really it's not how we work in our heads

but there's going to be plenty of those days that you you uh are going to work you know well past uh when everybody's

left and shut the lights off to finish your D6 but if you're just as committed to staying late you should be just as

committed to cutting out a little early if you get it knocked out you just made me uh made me look at it a little

different but that's that's a that's a that's how uh Andy does it the the point

though is Master list converted to a daily list of what you're going to knock

out that day keeps you focused in executing on tasks that are should be

broken down versions of your long-term bigger goals bigger

goals you know there's another tool that that I've used quite a bit called EOS or entrepreneurial operating system which

sounds like based on what you said sort of a different version of some similar activities but

uh you can Google that EOS or entrepreneurial operating system and the most basic tool is called a vision

traction organizer or VTO and what's really great is on the front and back

side of a piece of paper you end up with uh longterm medium and short-term goals

all within that one piece of paper that is super easy to review and super easy to uh to uh you know kind of make

actionable and you end up everything from weekly goals to uh to 10 your vision

and uh I think that it's it's a great tool to use especially for small fast growing companies because it really

keeps you keeps your mind on these uh longer term goals and just chipping away

at them chipping away at them so that you look up at three months and all of a sudden these these these big things are

falling your way and so uh check out that check out Vis Vision traction Vision traction organizer and

entrepreneurial oper it's a eos.com or something like that right yeah it is and there's the

the books and everything we talked quite a bit about those in earlier

episodes Wickman so we we use EOS at Stuart

Associates uh self-implemented [Music] um the EOS is like for us we we set our

quarterly quarterly rocks and then our weekly to-dos with

um and then you have issues to discuss um during that Weekly leadership meeting

that can easily be be broken down that thought from an installer standpoint and

I know there's a lot of flooring contractors that uh you know run EOS but

from an installer standpoint for those of you that are installers in our audience the idea is still you should

have goals for your business for your installation and then you end up the

next day um executing on those and those can be by project one of the things that

I always talk about when I was installing every day I wasn't the

fastest because I could spread glue faster or because my heat gun was or my

welder was somehow faster at welding it was all process oriented you know it was

all about I I had a very systematic mindset which I still have

um and so I approach jobs in making sure

that tomorrow I'm not coming in and patching floors for example and waiting for floor patch to dry if I have to stay

an extra hour four hours tomorrow yeah if I could

stay an extra hour to patch all the saw joints in six classrooms I'm lay carpet

in tonight before I leave then tomorrow

I'm just rocking and rolling and so there's there's a lot of um these

Concepts that can be used for your installation day-to-day installation stuff and making sure that you end

up not only successful on projects but that you know um you also end up feeling

like you got something done that you didn't waste a bunch of time there's nothing worse than going in patching floors and then sitting around for 4

hours for your patch to dry especially when you're doing stuff that has to dry those kinds of that kind of planning

really makes a big difference man the most proficient productive installer

that we had at Capitol tile his main thing was just daily goals he talked about daily goals all the time he always

had it he always said it first thing in the morning or the day before and uh

those guys would stay until they met that goal uh and and it it showed up in

his results every day what kind of tools do you guys

use actually audience what do you guys do what's your guys's

uh anybody want to chime in that's in the audience that uh Eduardo maybe or or

some some of our uh weekly visitors and

participants what uh back to you guys Daniel and Jose what do you guys do how do you how do you just not become a leaf

in the wind you go into the office and then just wherever the wind blows you that day is where you go what what what

he did right I think uh making lists so I I make the list and that's

what I do I I kind of break it out into because as a business owner there's

multiple different things and it's like these are priority under this umbrella

and then they they go like that so it's I break them out like that and

then I try to keep on task so the top priorities will be at the top and then it goes down and then I try to cross

them off as I go and then when once you start talking about you know what uh

what starts wasting your time and and stuff like that it's uh getting a call on or getting an email from a bid that

you already won and it's like a architect doesn't like your sub midle start getting on it again and this

project supposed to be starting in like a couple weeks and it's like well and

like I talked to the project the GC and stuff he's like dude these are the best submittal I've ever seen I don't even

understand why this architect is being like this but it's like you got to do what the architect wants so now I got to

spend my time trying to to please the architect instead of getting you do that do you jump on that

that day or do you just add it to your list for tomorrow I no I I add it to the

list but it's something that that has to get done that takes priority over some of the other things on my list which is

like um so in the middle of my list is a bunch of proposals that are out for bid

right now right so instead of doing some of these it's all right I have to work

on something that I already have in the works that is going to take priority instead of doing

something like that so let's talk about

delegation if only I had some someone to delegate it to yeah I know the feeling

yeah yeah we're we're trying to work to that that just that the I'm working on

this too guys so one of my biggest things is if it can be done by someone else

than they should be uh I'm kind of going through a coaching program now about about how to be a

CEO I mean uh if I'm just honest with everybody um I

have struggled with with that um but

what I've learned and what's really intriguing is there's only a few things

that a CEO can do that nobody else can do there are things that only I can do

those are the things that I must do everything else should

be considered on how I can delegate it or delegate it and one of the um one of

the things that Rose to the top for me is when we bid work we have a at steuart

Associates at the flooring company we have a rule that every job gets two sets

of eyes or I guess it'd be four two sets four to four total eyes Four Eyes

unless unless someone doesn't have one eye or if they have

glasses so either to two sets of eyes goes over the

The Proposal the spreadsheet the takeoff that kind of thing so that's always fallen on me or

my uh coo at the flooring company Joel or a peer

review then the other big time suck for me and that that has turned into a

full-time job because we have decided that we don't just review the takeoff

and the spreadsheet we have now expanded that the reviewer needs to review the

takeoff the well the plans specs the takeoff and the spreadsheet so almost

like considering it like you're getting ready to take it off by yourself again like you're getting ready to do the

estimate all by yourself and so the that process is a full-time job

with as much as we as many bids as we put out then we have contract review and

signing so I do all of the signing of contracts those two are the biggest time

sucks that I have and one of the things that uh and Nate I I feel your pain

that's one of the biggest things that we struggle with is trust issues with people doing it but uh we're in the

middle uh I've written the job description and we are searching uh so

if anybody out in the uh uh uh audience wants to get a job call me um we are

searching for a contract a bid and contract analyst and that person will review every bid

that goes out of our company of course we'll train exactly what I want to it's going to be a pretty

responsible job very responsible and of course a lot of handholding in the beginning because it is going to take uh

trust um yep but once you get someone trained to properly analyze the bid sign

off on it make any changes that are needed make sure that the estimator hey

it mentions uh you know it doesn't just mention epoxy setting and grouting it

says under the installation instructions epoxy setting and grouting you only have epoxy grouting so you need to add epoxy

setting I use that as an example because we miss that on job not so long ago it's a big Miss and that's a big Miss just

the epoxy setting is an expensive Miss so

um and then contract analysis so if the

uh bid analyst takes notes then he can go back

to those notes when the contract comes in review the scope and most of the terms and

conditions if you're getting consistent contracts from the same people that's the same it's the scope and the exhibits

that you that we have to really analyze and then in my ideal world uh we're

we're wining work and I'm getting contracts on my desk that says approve to sign and then I just put my signature

and date and send it back to our coordinator to uh send it send it back

to the GC so that is a huge time suck that I've

identified and it it's hard to let go because is it important it's incredibly

important but is it something that can be delegated trained and delegated and the

answer is yes is it something that only the CEO can do or if you're an installer

is it something only the lead installer can do and you know I was probably a better

lead installer than I am a CEO I was better at delegating to my helpers on

what to do and only doing the stuff that as a

mechanic I should be doing so putting together seams or in carpet or or

routing and Welding layout deciding the cuts deciding the plan for the day those

kinds of things I see another really smart

comment Nate made I believe with all my heart that if you write things down the chances of remembering it go up 100% so

I totally endorse this whole idea and for me it even works Nate if if I'm like taking notes on my phone I I still get I

think the benefit of that of that memory if you write things down uh if you can't if you even repeat it three or four

times and just do things like that and you really will remember so much more than if you just uh hear something and

passing so that is a really good super simple tool that I I think makes a big

it is it is one of those uh one of those things that at first you're like oh I don't want to write this down but you

start realizing that you know you're you're hearing it now you're writing it now you're seeing it and then if you

read it you know you just touch that same thing four times you know if one trick I I've done a lot is uh send

myself an email yep yep and it's super goofy but it works I thought that was a

standard you guys this just a a I cannot endorse my executive assistant enough to

get an executive assistant that can handle your emails and

calendar that has been a huge savings to me I might just get to lean on my finger

or sit on my finger lean back on my thumb if I can get this bit contract analysis position hired not really just

kidding oh my goodness but Abby who's my uh my assistant she's done fantastic and

she's not even here in the US so you can hire a virtual assistant um I

used a company called wing and that's where I found her and she it's you know

about the same as If you hired here maybe a little cheaper but they're highly highly trained and typically have

technical skills that yeah just and she I don't know how old she is to be honest

with you but I would guess she's 25 and she has the technical skills that like

blow me away and research on things and you know that kind of stuff it's um this

might be a good time to announce uh I wish we had some more uh people in the audience right now but if

you're watching this we're going to be starting a new series that'll go forever

hopefully here on the Huddle called the Blue Collar cruise and we're going to talk about the most relevant uh uh

latest news topics um about once a month we're going to pull them all off of

various uh um uh news reporting sites from everything in construction not just

flooring uh obviously a lot of flooring but AI stuff that's going on new

projects um I read a article today I won't ruin it but like just stuff that

happens and then we're going to just chat about it we're going to give our opinions we'd love for the audience to

participate and give your opinions it's going to give us um some really fun

talking points I believe but the blue colar Cruise stay tuned it's gonna be coming uh June or I'm sorry July 9th I

believe is our first episode of the blue collar Cruise yeah all right so we got

some great topics we went through today but guess who's aggregating and putting all that together after Drive picked the

Articles Abby and Ashlin they're working together to aggregate that and put it

together for uh us three to uh review and talk about and get our opinions

formed um but it it should be a lot of fun but that being said that that's another that's what I'm getting at is a

huge time saer for me is Abby um that's awesome so Kudos Abby if you're watching

doing work doing work get a get an assistant you guys could use one I think it would help you a lot

and it's we could use a couple I'm telling you you get one and you'll find out quickly that she she

supports more than just me she supports a lot of efforts secondary people like

secondary stuff that I don't necessarily I put in motion and she goes

and takes care of it she might talk to Ben she might talk to Ashlin she might talk to like honest whenever I need something

done I just let Ashlin know so oh an

assistant I got a question I got a question Paul I want to go back to to what you said about um if it could be

done by others right and then you know the whole process happens it comes back to you for signing um for everyone out

there is um what does it look like creating those steps and the checklist to create that trust right for your team

um so that way at the end of the day you have something on your desk said ready for a signature and you're comfortable signing it are for people trying to

build that people like Nate uh and Kendall and you know myself and Danny who have a hard time with that trust

Factor right because Details Matter What is it look like and and how does it how do you go about creating a

checklist or a system like that so that way you can trust the process well that's a really great question first off

I started with a just the ideal getting the what I'm delegating into a

job description so I have a full job description for that so now I know what I am going to expect for them to do the

checklist I develop during the training I have a general checklist of items but

that's going to get added and deducted from so I like the person that I'm going

to have doing that to be involved in it uh they'll they'll own it more and so

some things might be taken off that checklist that I initially start some of

and it's right off the job description you know review specs okay I'm going to

teach them how to review specs but there's going to be a checklist there like check this if it says this then

check that you know what I mean does the specifications match the finished Legend

if not which one's more detailed yeah spoiler alert it doesn't

[Laughter] this is true about 92 to 99% of the time they do not and the

point is which one's more detailed that's going to indicate to to you which one the architect or designer spent more

time on then from there if it's still unclear RFI it which one is superseding

in general and don't be flipping flopping back and forth I'm sure you dealt with this at Capital Tile but oh

well the spec matters here but the Finish Legend matters here and it's the finished plan that matters here and

so that checklist will get built out as I'm training them I know we will

discover things together with a good person the right hire and then we'll form that checklist and that'll be what

they'll go through and all the while just like I said we you take notes you guys take notes they will take notes

through this entire process why because then you have all these notes you can go back to when you're an

analyzing the contract if you approve the bid and we get the contract now

you're analyzing the contract and so you have some insight and you go back to your notes so that's how I plan to do it

that's how I've done any new role is allow that new role my first hire in

that new role which unfortunately is not always the right hire but got to start

somewhere um but forming that checklist with

them and that's probably the best way to do it because then you're learning together and and two people creating a

checklist new roles in particular yeah I think also you know when you when you go through that you find uh key elements

you can check but you can check fast and easily and uh you you figure those out

in that checklist process as well and you go back and maybe you check one or two things that you know if those things are right that it gives you a really

strong indication that the other elements of it are are correct too so they you get some checks and balances in

there that give you a lot of confidence what about calendar or email

or things like that a couple of Tricks uh that and I'd love to hear your guys's input on how

you handle your calendar an email but pretty much every I would say good in

the 90 percentile if I'm doing it it's on my calendar um if aby's listening don't pay

attention to this but if she said jump off a bridge I might do it if she told me which

Bridge go to this bridge and jump off on the left side I I might do it if it's

not on my calendar I'll forget it use your calendar we all have smartphones or

99% of us have smartphones they if you have Gmail you got a g a Google Calendar

if you have Yahoo you have Yahoo calendar most every phone has some type of calendar live it live by that

calendar and then email wise um I'm really bad without Abby I'm really bad

with email uh I allow it I have it up all the time I don't want to miss anything I'm really bad at it one of the

things that I'm told is shut that sucker down and give your and time block this

is another time management thing is time blocking and so you set yourself on a

task for a certain amount of time uh and you can go you can go to YouTube and

there's these timers I think it's called the Paro method or something like that and you basically time Block it's around

15 to 25 minutes and you focus on that thing for that amount of time and you

don't you shut your door there are no got a minute meetings there is no email you shut your phone off like complete

focus on that task um email's tough because you there's anxiety built around

it so it's a mixed blessing right I mean it's really good to have all that communication

but a time stock for me is the fact that I get an email and especially if it's something that I'm interested in or

excited about I want to look at it and read it right then and it it takes what five minutes to transition and five or

10 minutes to transition back and and you end up stopping and starting so off or I end up stopping and starting on all

these tasks and if I can just you know do email 30 minutes every twice a day or

something like that it's so much better and I think another thing though is having standards around answering email

I mean for me I try to answer email every day and I have a just a commitment

to no more than 24 hours and I think that having some idea of what you're comfortable with one it gives you

permission not to do it right that second because you know you're going to do it and it I just think it makes you a lot more

efficient your notifications popping up turn those off um that's what B say I'm

bad at it I got a lot better and obviously when you have an assistant that manages all your emails that that

makes it even easier but I would say shut off your notifications look at your

emails in a Time block give yourself a half hour an hour twice a day to siphon

through your emails respond as necessary but one email trick that I did get pretty good

at is um the breaking the habit of like

reading an email and then unreading it so that you can get back to Breaking that habit and saying it

goes in a folder you either deal with it or delete it or put it in a folder for a

review later folder uh of some sort and then when you have time you go do that

what I typically would do and I still find myself like do it sometimes is I

read something I'm like okay that's important enough but I don't want to deal with it right now so I unread it

and I use that as my reminder that's not necessarily the best way to do it as I'm

told um it's like time blocking for your emails or any

communication that's a good idea because you know what that one of the with the opening conversation about uh the time

wasters or what's sucking our time it is emails emails take up a lot of my time

because I do exactly what you just said I'll sift through all of them I'll delete the ones I don't feel are

important and I'll flag the ones I don't want to get anymore but then I'll click on some just to say oh what does this person say oh look at this project let

me let me click that and put uh Mark unread I'll come back to it and then

I'll Mar back it I'll mark it unread three times before I have the time to do it yeah um I'm like oh what was this

about like oh you know what and then I wait till everybody's gone and it's quiet and I know there's

no one gonna be here and then that's when I go but yeah that time blocking I wrote that down and then the folders I

gotta get better at that I have folders that probably haven't been touched in couple years yeah they delete it deal

with it or put it in a folder for later delete it deal with it or ditch it

there you there you go always triple [Laughter]

d's that's your fave I I my son has uh two friends we

call them the triple d's because they're all all their names start with D so we

call him the triple dog Waters what's her real

name Daniel Dylan and Dominic okay that's what you should call even

though they're real name then you got a real problem like I don't know man we just call them triple D I really don't

know their name I have friends that didn't know my real name for years that's because you had nicknames yeah

yeah 100% yeah I would ask people they be like yeah they'd be like

hey aren't you uh and then I'd be like yeah I'm Jose's brother and they'd be like no I don't know Jose be like oh

then I don't know who the hell you're talking about but no yeah it's because his

nickname no one they still don't know his real name right now even though they have him on Facebook

correct so uh a that's kind of some overall time

management stuff um that I've learned over the years Ben has worked for

Fortune 500 companies to small business for himself and now he works at a startup so he got a lot of experience in

dealing with different demands so his V his input on these things are uh

valuable um so I appreciate you joining us yeah really glad to be here um what

about Resource Management like and to apply this to installers I think it's taking care of your equipment knowing

where your equipment's at we still struggle with this even this morning one of our demo tools a little Eddy we

couldn't locate one of them and finally found out it was in this guy's van and had to have the warehouse guy go

pick it up from the J this job site and take it over to this job site but resource management is another key time

killer if we're not careful so how you guys you guys got a great

uh I should say a plethora of really cool tools how do you guys manage to

make sure that you know especially some of the specialty stuff that you know where it's at that you

know when you need it you know managing that whole thing I think a lot of that

is um a lot of those specialty tools don't go out unless the project calls

for it well sure that's one that's one of the items um the other thing is that

um Daniel is very Hands-On with helping the guys load that stuff up sometimes and

that's uh that's one of the ways to deal with it but we just trust the guys to bring it

back and put it back where it goes where it's supposed to go does it happen all the time no it doesn't happen all the time unfortunately um unfortunately when

um sometimes at the end of the day depending on how long how hard the day was it might make it to the uh I mean

youve seen our setup it might make it to you know we have the the area called I call it the Milwaukee way right it might

make it to that to that unit like in front of it like literally two feet from

where it goes it might make it there um sometimes it stays in the van overnight and they unload it in the morning but

for the most part the guys are pretty good at putting everything back or in the vicinity um but that's one of those

hard things to track um the smaller items expensive items that are everyday

use that are hard to find that's that's a different story so toolboard as Justin

brings up is is we have a digital one works great except when installers

trade tools ah on a job side because one guy

needs it tomorrow and in this guy's B

but it's really with this guy and this other guy needs it too or this other crew needs it too um but yeah we've

had I don't know if you can manage all the way out but you should give it your best try we did it online only because

then all of our installers actually have it and sometimes they can self um figure

that out like just call Rob and say hey Rob you're you got this tool yeah I need

to meet you to grab it kind of thing um that's really good stuff right there yeah they have they have access because

it's on Google Sheets and they're shared to it just like um other stuff we want

them to know about so you know what it'd be really cool Jimmy I'll be in Indiana this weekend so will I um' be really

cool if they had some way to like you know they got those what do they call them the air tags if there was like a a

better like a like a sticker version or something way of doing that to where when it goes out of the warehouse it

notices that it's no longer in the warehouse and it enters a van it logs it into van one van two van three and then

when it exits that van it gives a GPS location of where it was exited and if it doesn't get put back in then it

notices that it's in the red it was not returned to the van that would be they

have uh equipment trackers but it's for bigger equipment than what you know even

I mean it'd work on our demo machine or a few of those bigger a welder it's like this big you

know um but yeah there I agree if it was like a sticker this size that you could

put your logo on and put your sticker on and it's got a GPS tracker to always know where it's at it would be fantastic

truth is that's probably not too far away that sounds it's probably someone's got something going especially now that

we're talking about it time sorry would you guys do this and then I'll buy the stickers

right with all the spare time all the spare time a partner deal on goera yeah

we'll put we'll put a partner deal on goer and then yeah we'll block out 25

minutes for that that's efficiency no but yeah it's just

something that we struggle with all the time it's like and a lot of it

is a most of what we deal with is what you talked about it's both Vans are on this one job site they unload both Vans

they load up the tool every single tool on one van

instead of splitting them back up into two Vans and then they leave the shop the next day day no one checks for the

tools they get to the separate job sites and everyone's like well I don't have this and

this and if they were only marked to what van they go to yeah it's a that's a that's a

struggle but um we we did toolboxes for each van the

big ones um full of your day in day out stuff and even that because what what's

a guy gonna say hey man I don't have a broom I need a broom oh I've got mine in

the deal well then he takes his and then then then he doesn't have it when he needs it or whatever hey I'm I don't

have broom well where's yours Rob took it where's Rob's I don't know ask

him you're and all the while you're trying to get a job done that sounds like a Time suck that's a time oh what

about this one hey we're going out to a job to prep today all right here's who's going with me let's go guys get all the

way out there our drive like we don't have a mixer or any patching TRS oh my

God that that'll make you lose your mind they don't call me the the the the

one thing I would say to everybody is

um progress not Perfection like something is better than nothing take

the steps find out what could be better and just kind of improve your systems when it comes to equipment and resources

but your most valuable resource if you'll treat it like money is time uh you know we may not give away

$20 but we some reason as humans will give away 20 minutes no problem oh my

goodness you're so right so right you know so think of your

time literally like money and not don't use the C don't let the cliche uh Cloud

your vision you know the time is money cliche okay we've all heard that I'm saying think of it like money if you

wouldn't give $20 to that person why are you giving them 20

minutes that's crazy and you know um and you know that

that can be used for for some instances right because I do have sometimes when a

a conversation person a person ends up becoming a relationship or a work relationship um that benefits both

parties um so I'd say um hopefully not all of your time is

wasted like that hopefully something materializes out of it but I think um what you're trying to say Paul is

recognize what time is potentially wasted versus what time is invested yeah I mean there I'm not

saying be a robot and you can never have a conversation with someone but I'm just saying like the it's really the god a

minute meetings you know um which leads me to the last part of the time sucks

it's meetings effective meetings so Oprah Winfrey is famous for walking into

the the meeting any meeting what is this meeting about what are our key

objectives and how long is this going to last

boom like if you didn't know what you were there for what the objective of the

meeting was like what are you trying to get out of this meeting and how long it's going to last she's

out you can invite me to all the meeting as you want and I'll probably come but if there's no agenda I won't come there

has to be an agenda it's a it's a maybe it's a those same yeah similar what do

you want out of it what's the agenda what's a reason for this meeting

um and how long is it going to last otherwise you'll

have a 10-minute meeting last 30 minutes people you have a bunch of Jose talking

about everything but the meeting but people will Jose will go down the vision

board and before you know it it's a it's a a 30 minute meeting

that could have um lasted 15 minutes and gotten the same

same goals uh achieved so that's a good one like what I'll probably go but you

better have an agenda yeah and a reason what's this meeting about oh well

we don't really have we don't really know we just want send me an email I'll see you guys later yeah and then Mark it unre four

times at least four times all right well we're nearing the end of the podcast so I want to thank

everybody for joining us if you're watching this on YouTube please give us a like a subscribe comment thumbs up

thumbs down we really don't care as long as you interact with us another thing the blue collar Cruise July 9th it's

going to be fun it's more interactive the goal is to

bring like latest trends and latest things that you may not have the time to

read about you may not have the time to consider and we're going to bring them out and get your opinions on them give

you our opinions again our opinions and not our facts but what we feel about the

topic and we'll discuss now it some of this stuff we'll get into politics uh

not intentionally but anytime you're dealing with large construction or labor issues there's going to be some uh

things brought into the bluecar cruise that is not AR typical content so uh if

you don't uh mind we're it may come up we don't dive into those uh details of

that very often uh try to keep it friendly here and there's nothing friendly in politics so we we we'll try

to keep it as as as crisp as possible but some of that might uh some of that

cream might rise to the top and I'm I'm kind of excited for some uh new content

we're working real hard to siphon through all the the trends and the new stuff and the um new ideas stuff that

flooring people were a little behind Construction in general behind in

technology and staying on the for Forefront but flooring we're we're behind overall constru like the

electrical contractors and the the the um the uh big gcc's and stuff like that

so join us for the blue color cruise and and uh it's going to be fun thanks

Justin I love it yeah guys you guys got anything else any closing uh comments statements on time

and Resource Management n pretty much uh all we all I

came away with was uh I gotta be better I gotta organize compartmentalize and prioritize right um and then 3DS right

delete it deal with it or ditch it I like all the say you come up with

what what was the you remember it what was the the list that you said that you

follow I thought I think you you were talking about D6 or something yeah it's called

D6 is one of them uh and that's from Chad Holmes he's passed away

probably half a decade ago or more by now uh unfortunately but he was a really

Savvy business guy so it was called the D6 and then there's uh Andy filla's

power list and you can actually buy the physical power list from his

website um or you can grab a notebook paper and write down five things whatever whatever a master list

sometimes Master list and then uh that you can follow um like I do certain

routines every day and I built a journal that I eventually I'll publish but I

built a journal I got the copy got the physical uh copies from the publisher

but there are the things I do and sometimes just having it organized for you does help so the power list from

Andy or the D6 um can be powerful tools uh keep you laser focused so I got these

big lists I got like my master list then I organized the master list

into the D list and then I have like these little sheets of paper that I put all of the tasks that involve in that

bigger list I yeah um yeah well you can simplify it maybe a

little bit yeah I could I 100 100% all right guys well I guess we will catch

you guys next uh next week and

um what is next week's topic do you know offand Ashlin I think isn't pu it going

to be on next week I think it is next week that's a

Ain nothing to it but to Pro it yeah I have to remind him because he he he

texted me two Tuesdays early this month one of them he got dressed up for

thinking he was on so I was like dude it's July

2nd so so he's looking forward love it he's looking forward to it he's I think he'll be ready and and uh Dressed Up all

fancy I'm going to tell him put his his uh purple suit on he used to crash my

yeah so next week is uh the benefits of specializing in Niche flooring markets

so yeah so you know if you're awesome carpet ler being an awesome carpet ler

and and Jorge be great for this too because he really did that I know another guy that does you know uh uh

binding and ins surging and that's basically all he does so there's a lot of lot of stuff into there from hardwood

to TI we'll get into that next week join us again if you see us on any of the socials make some comments I'm going to

get better at reading and re uh replying to comments so uh get on there and let

us know what you guys are thinking yeah all right appreciate you guys thank

you week it's great enjoy spending the time with you guys yeah see you guys uh

see everyone next week week all right thanks everyone Kevin

The Huddle - Episode 103 - Tools of the Trade

In this episode, joined by experts from Floor Tool Store (https://www.floortoolstore.com), we dive into the essential tools every flooring professional needs to execute their projects efficiently. This episode emphasizes the importance of being well-equipped, not only to improve work quality but also to enhance productivity and safety on the job. We'll explore the key pieces of equipment that can transform challenging tasks into streamlined operations. Tune in to discover how investing in the right tools can significantly impact your installation success and overall business performance.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle your weekly Playbook where we strategize not only on playing the game but

changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need to

stand out in our Market let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you belong

welcome everybody what's up fellas with me as always Daniel and Jose Gonzalez

although Jose does not look like he's uh in Grand Rapids at the moment they are

from Grand Rapids Michigan and today we have the gentlemen from the four tool

store Dylan Kevin and Justin guys what's going on today not much how's going how

you doing oh you know justy to rule the world you know um today's episode is on

uh you know having the right tools for the trade right like the

um all the tools that'll make you successful so we thought we'd bring on some experts in that realm as we often

do and word so easy on the people call

us installation experts too and we're still learning so I totally understand what you're saying there

no doubt well we had to bring on some guys so we chose these guys no I I we

always talk about being effective in as an installer uh being an old installer

myself and Daniel and Jose we all know that one of the keys to um profitability

is really having the right tools um you know I'm sitting in the back of my truck

if it wasn't for a hot spot I wouldn't be able get on this this uh podcast and

and chat with you fine fellas today so you got to have the right tools to accomplish whatever it is you're trying

to do and these guys have one heck of a awesome website and um although we're not here

just to feature them or anything we're just wanting you to know there's like online uh resources and there there's

been a big move to uh purchasing tools online here the last I don't know five

or 10 years right guys yeah absolutely absolutely how do how do people go about

it like I've always I always like to how do you get past the the people wanting to hold the the the roller or the knife

in their hands I think it's uh no different than all of us ordering from Amazon you know

think of something that you need quickly and you go find it online order it and it's there in two to three days most

likely you guys stock does you stock the the stuff and so the Fulfillment of it's

pretty quick and just out the door or is that how that works yep I mean uh we got a 110,000

foot Warehouse square foot Warehouse that is filled with about anything and

everything you can imagine so it's it's Turn and Burn when we get them in sounds

amazing only 10,000 square feet big shopping mall for us yeah it is

it's a massive shopping mall for contractors it's great kid candy store

what's your guys's uh what What's the what's the approach that kind of set you apart from the uh other online retailers

for for flooring tools I know you guys are a flooring distributor as well but

for the tools in particular what kind of uh set you apart um I mean online I don't think

anything sets us exactly apart we try to make everything simple and easy on our

website uh I think the biggest thing is the people you're buying from you know

our website's owned by Hank Specialties a Midwest distributor that's still familyowned and

operated since 1976 you know two guys started in a 20 by 40 foot garage basically and built it

into what it is so you know when you're on that website buying you're still buying from you know a family

business so we still care about everything that you guys are bringing back Sayan responses that we get we

handle customer service on there is topnotch we get to everyone as fast as we can any issues returns

anything do you guys speaking of returns how's that

work say say something comes in messed up or what have you

um what's what's a process there anything that comes in we just

require pictures of how it arrived damage through shipping want pictures in

the Box whatnot it's broken it's out sh Dam back cut dry Pi the

biggest thing that we can get sweet have you have you guys bought

uh online Daniel Jose oh yeah we online a long time

ago King and then I think um our our local distributor gets a little angry

sometimes because I'm like guys I can get this online for this much well you're Mr Amazon as angry at Daniel they

get angry at Daniel Daniel does that and you can't have one of one of the employees go up to the counter there and

then call Daniel hey what about this well that's not what it says online I can get it for Daniel Mak them he's the

bargainer on the phone it's uh it's actually pretty humorous but but uh um you can't you can't you can't knock a

brother for trying right well I tell you one thing that's

uh you know all this tool talk is really about making the installer as effective as possible um

and you know I know that there's still a lot of guys that like to go into the to

the locations um but we thought you know just introducing

uh floor tool store we show you the website real quick and let you know that

we'll pop up a QR code here in a minute so as you guys come on you'll get 15%

off through this Friday is that correct yep 15% off your order uh so we'll leave

this QR code up here but hey Daniel before that can you just throw up their

website real quick and and kind of uh

Meander around they they have their sales on here but I noticed that everything was really categorized nicely

and it was really easy to navigate the site so that's pretty cool that you can

go through and uh find what you need real quick uh tools for flooring there's

others that are out there uh but the key is really just trying to

get the installer to understand and get comfortable with uh buying online uh our Network in

particular uh being an online community uh takes advantage of some of these

things and so just wanted to give another resource quick view there and

we'll pop I like how it says everything that's in stock like it's ready to go

right now yeah orth it's waiting gold on that one and we're really uh pushing

just tools and installation supplies on there um if you look there's we got some

metals that you can buy but we're not doing base you know we got limited powders on there so it's really just

focused tools and your supplies that you need on your J kind of Everyday Use type

type of list correct we want to keep it to the consumables and the daily users now and

Dylan how long is our site been been active would you say it it's it's actually been active for probably a

decade or more it went uh dormant for a while and within the last three years I

kind of just started poking around on it and was like hey let's fire this thing back up and rechange everything we redid

the whole website layouts and we're we're still evolving it every day we're still adding products changing

descriptions just still doing the best we can with it really a fulltime job oh it can be at

day it can be on days yeah we're we're still in the process of of starting small with those you know

daily and weekly consumables as it continues to grow and we have time you know I'm I'm sure that offering that's

currently on there will will absolutely expand um we we need to I guess kind of

figure out our lane before we we fly too close to the Sun of course so what is the what what's the

goal for the site this is a little bit of a question uh for the installers out

there I mean do they get a outside of you know the obvious not

having to drive to a physical location what are some of the benefits of ordering and buying online in general

just is it just the convenience um M

main I mean Daniel why do you order online convenience probably the biggest

thing it is convenience it's so whenever I'm looking at something it's the time

that it takes right and that's where you get the the old school versus new school mentality it's I will order something

online and send it back before I take the time out of my day to go to

somewhere to try and see if that it's even in stock especially with some of these phone lines that they got now

where it's like it rings twice and then it's like you know push too if you want to be transferred to another location no

I don't want to be transferred to another location I have a question for this Branch right here and it's like I don't want to waste my

time doing that let me just order this it'll get in it's the the thing I need if it's not I I'll send it back or

whatever but my time is valuable and I can just do that real quick rather than

waste my time going over there and that that's something that I don't see that I my

time is valuable because I have so much going on so if I can save time by doing that that's what I'm going to do so I

mean you're purchasing um oh sorry go ahead bro no I was just gonna say one of

the things I see is um and I know that we've done is being able to order at the

point of need you know you're out on a job site you don't have something you're like I ain't gonna next time I'm gonna

have this thing and you're Canna order it right off your phone you know especially if you uh you know our go

career members just being able to log in partner deals and go straight to the site order the stuff get a good

discount it's it's kind of um that that's a convenience that I don't have

to drive but it I also don't forget to order it when I you know or to go to the

place and pick up the thing and end up on a job site with tool I need I mean this is all pretty Elementary stuff but

what's important is that our the the viewers know that there's plenty of resources out there and the easiest way

to uh be effective and I've said this before is have the right tools uh

there's nothing more frustrating than trying to make a screwdriver be a hammer and you're trying to get through a job

because you don't have the right tools to do it so um for all of our guides out there especially young uh you know

apprentices or helpers as you build your your business or you're building your skill set build your tools build up your

own personal like tool chest um I think it's super important for to invest in

yourself in that manner just as we always encourage you to invest in yourself in education invest in your

toolbox too 100% yep and the other benefit too

is that if you're purchasing like reoccurring tools if you're already know how a hand tool works or how it operates

you know what you like it's it's so easy just to go online and purchase that again um or purchase it in bulk so that

way you have what you need if you lose something you have a replacement on hand or if if it's in stock you have a

replacement on hand depending on how you're getting it shipped um there's and it like if you're like me if you go

there to buy a couple things and then you go to the store you're looking at everything else you might want or you

might need it might actually save you money by buying online instead of going and splurging a little bit sorry guys I

didn't want to give that secret away but um the convenience of it could save you money um because Danel not we do like

having we do like having tools that we'll be honest we do like you guys you guys have an impressive Tool uh

uh I don't know what to call it other than a portfolio at your office when I

came up yeah it's like a it's like a collection of the of the the tools that

you're not sure if you will use again or not but really come in handy when you need it correct as well as your

day-to-day stuff don't get me wrong but you guys had some unique stuff up there what's the Kendall says that he

likes uh tools for flooring because it over a certain amount you get free

shipping and I'm looking on your site right now and you guys also offer the free shipping on qualified orders over

$75 so correct

boom yeah this is my favorite type of installer maybe one of my favorite installers period Forge says I even buy

tools I don't need just to sometimes it's funny how we

these are the best of the best guys that are commenting right now the truth is is a lot of installers go out unprepared to

job sites and you know our our dedication here at the Huddle is

sometimes these aren't deep conversations uh sometimes we'll go an hour and a half on diversity and equity

and inclusion and then the next week we'll bring you an awesome uh uh an

awesome uh way to buy your tools and but it's it's just as important that

the fact is is efficiency on the job site I cannot say it enough I've been

there uh you know having the right router or the right welder or the right

Sky knife or or having a having a way to sharpen your Sky knife or or moving over

to um a different type of tool alog together where you can have interchangeable blades which I see is on

your guys' website as too for Norah's uh of a original system um all those things help you be

more effective and make more money so don't like I say on education don't short Change yourself because it costs

money to buy the thing yeah invest in yourself tools are an investment if you buy the right

tools oh 100% two is is our industry is our

industry and and the the insulation methods get more technical you can't go

on a job C like job site like we could 10 or 15 years ago with your standard tool pouch and your your single tool bag

right it's evolving it's getting more Technical and the installers have to as well um just just wanted to shout that

out there I I've been with this company for a little over five years I still have a garage full of tools that I may

have used once in the last five years but it's you know we all love our tools it's one of those where you invest in

the tools you have a hard time letting them go and a lot of that is because you invested in quality tools so kind of

like Paul what you were talking talking about you know you can get tools anywhere you can get basic tools anywhere it's it's the the 8020 rule

some of those tools will pay for themselves over and over and those are the ones that you need to have right

yeah yeah you're nice a lot of those specialty tools

you're only ever gonna have to buy once too yeah that's that was going to be my question about the specialty tools um so

you guys stay Innovative like you got specialty item that you guys distribute and and such yeah for uh so Han

Specialties we just we just took on floor Cloud that we uh just started

about last week I think it was that we're selling at our locations now that's awesome yeah floor Cloud's a

sponsor at at the Huddle here and and we we say it all the time like you want to

really save some time have floor Cloud on your job site save your installers a trip if you're an installer encourage

your to have uh floor Cloud on the job sites especially the larger ones uh it's

amazing how much money you can save if you don't go to a job that's not in the

uh proper site conditions for your flooring and you're you're scheduled there for a week and they could have

solved the whole problem right from a mobile application it's easy setup it's a

device that goes at the job site QR code on the front or a barcode

on the front of the device and you can um you're set up within minutes I know

that preferred flooring has it Stuart Associates so we're going to play a quick video from uh from floor Cloud

right now enables realtime monitoring of your

job site conditions via desktop or mobile device no more manual checking

for temperature humidity or even dupoint no need for base stations Wi-Fi or

external power sources simply scan the QR code on the front of your sensors and

you're up and running with the most accurate and Innovative sight monitoring system in the flooring industry dispatch

your Crews with confidence and reduce your climate related installation issues

floor Cloud now you know yeah that's pretty cool man I love

I love the fact that a they were Innovative enough when they came up with floor Cloud to you know not need some

base station or some big device on the that they it's ran on cellular so the

fact that for most if you can get a sales service you can get and the data

draw down is is uh dealt with as well so if you can get a a a sell signal you can

have floor Cloud on your job site so Kudos yeah that's pretty cool you guys distribute uh floor Cloud um and and how

does the subscription and and things like that work do it still just set up you just get the devices from you

guys yep basically you can just purchase the device from us and everything else is just ran right through floor Cloud

that's awesome pretty simple nice we'll probably have it on our first job here in the next couple

weeks yeah that's about staying Innovative and and and staying on the front line you guys so who's the tool

nerd that goes to the shows to find the new tools or is always talking with Roberts and Taylor and all the people to

to determine what goes on the site uh there's a few of us I'm probably

the leader on looking in adding stuff um

you're thead definitely not not the expert that's used them uh Kevin's our guy that's still installs on the side

and was installer in floring Justin installed ceramic forever so they're the they're the guys that we

bring stuff to and say you know hey what do you think of this or they even bring tools to us and say hey guys you need to

look at this tool look at that tool there's a lot less and less side installation going on I'm getting too

old for that yeah I feel you every once in a while

still get out there but Hey Kevin to or CLE to answer your question is it basically for commercial sites no if you

have a house that you're putting wood in and you have that device and you go stick it there it's it's for residential

and Commercial now obviously ly uh you still need to test your your substrates

and things like that on a residential site one cool thing about floor Cloud on commercial is you can pair it with your

moisture your insu probes uh Wagners and

it'll talk and you can get the your uh substrate moisture RH readings and

temperature readings um right through floor Cloud now we don't you don't put

RH tests in wood so you still have to do something of that uh site measuring but

if your job site conditions the temperature and the the ambient humidity

and those things are all in line you're much likely much more likely for uh say

a wood product uh a wood flooring to um you know be within specifications and

pinwell pinwell I mean you know the moisture pin so so cool what else um do you two guys

have to say Daniel and Jose about uh as you were coming up and building your

tool repertoire up I was just going to ask them like what what are they seeing right now what are the hot items what's

going what do we need what do we need to be looking out for um I think uh floor prep and

grinding is getting to be a lot bigger it is um we've sold the wolf Neo 230 I

mean they just we just sell and sell and sell those that's probably one of our

biggest moving pieces of equipment right now and I don't blame that I mean we

have two of them so it's a it's a good it's a good tool to have in your Arsenal

tell us need a third Jose you need a third we no we have three of them well you might s we have two

NEOS tell us about the Neo the wolf Neo uh well it's a 7inch grinder floor

grinder that basically gets you off your hands and knees you know doing all your hand grinding uh it takes four segments

it's got a head that swivels left or right to get half inch to 3/4 of an inch away from the wall um you can grind you

can get glue off I mean there's array of segments that you can use on it it's

it's a sweet machine you can basically I thought we had three but we

didn't have three we had the original Neo which had the enclosure full round

without the um the flat opening to get closer to the wall so um we had to try

to convert that one no it's opposite it used to be have a flap now it doesn't yeah what

I have the national uh 10 inch but it's a single head so this is a segmented 7

inch yep yep and it's got a like a flex head too so it'll Flex with the floor

you know if you got a high spot it's still going to kind of flex over that spot instead of grind in unless you want

to grind you can sit on it but it'll Flex with the floor as well man wolf is

really Innovative that way a seven inch basically a seven inch planetary

grinder yep um I it's planetary yeah did you say 11 no I I know it's not

officially but it works the same it sounds like the same setup as say uh

Lavino 20 inch like the large Grinders I mean they're segmented they move with the floor those kind of things okay I go

you yeah for your grinding and polishing needs although I'm sure this is not a

polisher my point is no no so so what is one of those things go

for uh $424 and you guys Daniel and Jose you

guys have had uh well you got three of them so I think this is a real stupid

question question but you've had great luck with uh with them right

we we were so impressed with the with the first use that we did end up getting multiple ones and yes we have had really

good luck um especially when you're working in a situation where you have to carry it upstairs this

is a lot lighter than bringing one of the uh planetary Grinders a larger unit that runs off of phase power right um

You can hook this one up to to 110 uh um you don't need an overpowered vacuum

with it as well I mean I will advise dual hea a nice plugin and all that with it because it is a lot more aggressive

than just the standard hand especially if you're running PCD on it and stuff like that I mean that's really what we

bought it for was for our control joints and adhesive removal where our ride on machine wouldn't fit um with the pcds

that was the selling point to be honest um just that that aspect of it I mean

it's got a lot of different uses but that was our main purpose for purchasing them right and since we're on the the

wolf train right now we can talk about like their their other tools their hand tools that we use for vinyl since we're

resilient guys by trade so they have their Lino cut and their green cut I

mean that Leno cut is amazing it cuts down the time on that you would unders

cribe tremendously and the the cut is just so clean once you get it set up the

rail Cuts become very popular too yeah I was uh they tried to talk me into buying

one of those Cory tries to talk me and buy one of those every time I see him probably every

time I can't believe you don't own one yet well I'm to give my my my brother

Danny give me one of the oh yeah they say that uh Paul and Danny look like

brothers hey I have an question for you guys um right now I'm I'm the the let's

just go for tools is are tool sales uh greater on the commercial side right now

or the residential side um the reason I'm asking is like I know that it's going to be uh based off of your area

it's regional but like who's busier right now uh in your area residential or

commercial commercial is definitely busier right now um residential kind of

slowed down we do see it coming back a little bit um and as far as who's buying

it's kind of a it's a different mix um just because they're not buying the same tools I mean

commercial obviously they're more expensive tools you're talking the Neo grinder things like that residential you

know with lvp and everything uh 100 pound rollers all of a sudden started

flying off the shelves um you know lvp Cutters things like

that but with commercial it's all about floor prep right now yeah we we see the same thing up

here so we have a little bit of a unique uh perspective so Kevin is our branch manager in in Greater De moin Land Dylan

and I are up here in Minneapolis but you we service the Upper Midwest in Six States so depending on which location

you were to pose that question to you know depending on the month you may get a different

answer but but I think what Kevin just said as of right now that kind of holds true uh throughout our entire footprint

right now interesting as far as the lvp Cutters you see guys actually like

buying them and loving them or I think that's like you either love it or you hate

it that's kind of one of the tools uh they look at it as a necess

necessity um so they're they really don't give you opinion whether they love it or they hate it they just need

it well if you're doing click you almost have to have it you can get away with if

you're doing glue down um a lot of guys will still just you know we're in

commercial if you got a good eye and just a small square you can score and snap a heck of a lot faster than lineing

it up on a piece of equipment and cutting it so I think it depends on which floor from our crews standpoint

Which floor they uh they're doing if they're doing a you know a solid core or

a a floating floor they'll typically want a de cutter or something but if it

comes down to you know 2 and a half uh mil millimet uh glue down even 5 mm glue

down they're gonna they're gonna score and snap it unless you got to make a Precision

cut out in the field or something then you the choice again but the key guys uh

to the audience is uh follow follow the lead and and invest in yourself in tools

uh give the floor tool store some love love the QR code still up you're going to get 15% off of uh any order between

now and Friday and uh yeah take advantage of

that Mr Daniel and Jose or you guys got anything else to say this gonna be a

shorter episode you can only talk about how awesome tools are for so long uh

without getting into specific tools but yeah it's starting to get the itch I'm G to have to go swing by Home Depot out

here in Georgia just at some tools just it dude and do what your brother does

just order online just order something you

know I I do have a question um uh being the size that you guys are do you guys

offer maintenance on some of the equipment that's purchased through you guys or is that something you prefer to go through the

manufacturer so website we wouldn't unless you can get to us but we do have

a repair center at our headquarters that anybody if they can get it back to us if

we sold it to you we we have a guy that's trained and he's trained on all the wolf products you know National

Equipment stuff we're getting into the Bartell guys now he'll be getting trained on that so he he is trained to

repair pretty much anything it's one of those where he'll he'll take a quick look at it if he

feels comfortable and can diagnose it quickly and the answer is yes um if he's not comfortable over something over his

head then we would kick it back to the manufacturer to rely upon their big picture warranty I

believe yep gotcha we just where would they

take it depends on the product like you know W if that would go back out to Denver you know it all depends your

guys's headquarters is in Minneapolis yeah so any of our locations

we can ship it back from or they could ship it into us you know UPS however they need to get it here yep but I mean

we he fixed staple guns to Wolf mambos the national Commander machines I mean

it's array of tools that come in that he takes care of not the ryons though

right ryons no um ship

that right yeah we that's uh that's that's manufacturer there for the most

part do you guys sell batteries for the Rons perhaps yes not on the website

there's none on there but our locations we do

sweet all right guys well I want to thank everybody for joining us thank you Justin Dylan and Kevin for jumping on

and chatting a bit about your uh website the floor tool store and uh offering

this great discount for everybody it was cool just hanging out chatting about tools um if there's anything else that

we need to know right now before we end let us know we're all about the tools man we're about to take advantage of

this uh this discount I know that I GNA say well someone someone in the uh

audience should buy one of those NEOS alongside me because I'm I'm definitely

gonna get one of them so it's best tool you Al you won't regret it awesome all right everybody

well thank you for joining us today uh audience I know it's a shorter episode

but hopefully you take advantage of the discounts and remember that uh you know

the floor cloud is not just commercial it is residential it help you out a lot on either uh site but man on Commercial

sites it's really a can be a big game changer um just to drive home the point

one uh one more point on the moisture testing is when you are doing the uh

moisture testing the Wagner meter um that is maybe one of the

biggest timesavers because you have to go back and and and read it after you

set the test after you set the probe and when you can do that remotely that's a huge timesaver so if you're in the

commercial World um you won't probably find a more timesaving tool than that so

shout out to the four Cloud Brothers uh Scott and Patrick and

uh Justin get on the get on the floor floor tool store and buy those pries

brother that that's definitely one of the must haves for everyone in the industry is get yourself a good pair of

knee pads because you only got so many miles on your knees man yeah don't don't be like us don't be like us when we

first started and just be like no I don't need any knee pads trust me too

tough to wear knee pad I do buy a $50 pair of knee pads every three months

yeah it's an investment invest I'm the guy that didn't wear knee pads and I'm I'm 48 probably 15 years removed from

daily install and I still have ugly ass knees from it so get yourself some Pro

knes boys you'll look better in shorts 100% you'll save your knes for

later we bought uh every installer in the company new Pro last uh last

Christmas gave them all a new pair for for Christmas so we're big big Believers in that

too nice 100% all right boys well thanks everybody for joining and uh if you guys

ever want to come on and and uh and chat with us uh join the Huddle if you guys

like what you um the content the deals just the information we bring to you

please give us a like And subscribe or comment give us a thumbs up thumbs down we don't really care just interact with

us let us know what we're doing right and what you would like to see more of uh thank you to the audience and thank

you to our guests for the day we'll catch you guys next week appreciate it guys thanks everyone yeah

The Huddle - Episode 102 - Embracing Diversity & Inclusion

In this episode of the Huddle "Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace," with special guest Brooke Davis, we delve into the critical importance of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the workplace and beyond. This episode discusses how embracing DEI not only enriches the workplace environment but also drives innovation and business success. We explore strategies for building a culture that welcomes all backgrounds and perspectives, enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction. Tune in to learn why prioritizing DEI can transform your organization and create a more just and inclusive society.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

as you know this is the Huddle and I'm going to ABB here a bit but we're your weekly Playbook where we not only

strategize on playing the game but changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to

distinguishing yourself in the marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're

equipped with everything you need let's band together and create a new uh Legacy

in flooring this is where you belong welcome to the team guys we got a great episode today

uh we got a guest Miss Brook Davis who I met literally like eight seconds ago um

but uh and that's my own doing by the way she was perfectly on time and and uh

I'm running a bit behind today but uh welcome everybody today's episode is about embracing diversity Equity

inclusion those kinds of things in your business uh as we all know these are hot topics and they can get real

political real fast uh my goal is to kind of guide along I don't have

um you know a lot of I I see a lot of issue but I don't

have a lot of uh experience in this and so we brought in an expert um to help us

along so brke can you give us a little bit of a a background on yourself and

and some um a little bit about you I will Paul when you said you brought in an expert I was like who is that that

would be me so since I'm an expert today I am um Brook Davis and I currently am the

director of diversity equity and mental health services for our school district Keno Hills Public Schools I'm a social

worker by trait um I have my own Consulting where I work with um

organizations to do training and facilitating on all types of things from Team development equity and diversity um

I teach classes entrepreneur classes at Spring grr so I work with young entrepreneurs to help start their

business um and what does that mean for them I'm starting my private practice with purpose

counseling and I actually teach a leadup class for first-time managers at the chamber so you're a busy

person on time I can't even make an excuse now you cannot but yes I like to I like

to stay busy with my passion project so awesome well with me as always is Mr

Daniel and Jose Gonzalez out of Grand Rapids Michigan with preferred flooring

gentlemen how's the week starting off for you guys it's uh busy I wish I had

more time to to actually do the things I needed to it's been filled with meetings so far so I mean y I know the filling

the necessary evil I think TR a lot of people happy trying to

keep a lot of people happy and keep everything on schedule and yeah you understand you know I do

all right well let's kick off the episode uh these run our episodes go um

anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour just kind of depends um I was going to kick off with

just uh maybe my understanding and how we approach um you know equal

opportunity in in the companies uh that I run and one of them is we just don't

care about those things we care about the uh having a credentialing and the

best person getting the job and we've got uh that's been successful for us I

know it gets harder with bigger companies it's been really successful for us to have a good mix of everything

um we in fact try to um you know in the skilled trades our our jobs are a lot of

I would a lot of that work that is not the most desirable a lot of times you

don't go to college uh or I I've yet to have too many kids I guess there's a few

on Tik Tok but uh that say man I want to be a carpet layer when I grow up right

they're usually like firemen or I want to be uh so we have to get out and do some

recruiting and we try to be um very cognizant of recruiting in

in I I don't even know if I'd say underrepresented just like to minorities

and women and anybody who wants to be in the trades we want you that's our

message to everybody if you want in the trades we don't care come on if you don't want to be in the trade we still

want you yeah yeah and exactly um so we're not

maybe um that's kind of how we've approached it um you know my wife's

Hispanic and she's part of the business and we have a a lot of um and we've done

real well with recruiting of the Hispanic uh in the Hispanic Community

not so well in other communities for some reason and I would love to hear your thoughts on how companies can can

be better at those types of activities and maybe reach out to the right uh in

the right ways where it is um you know uh just tring well and it's attracting

just attracting more people um I don't um I don't know that I have the answer

to that but that's how we've approached it to date look I'm gonna break the ice right now for you Paul I'm gonna let you know that you are doing very well at

being very very uh aware of what you're trying to say without without trying to

make it because because hey everybody sees that you're a white dude bro and I know you're trying to yeah I'm the last one that should be talking probably but

at the end of the day TR is is that that that I feel

like you know I don't represent anybody I'm Paul Stewart I believe in

individuality that's just me I believe in being yourself and you know I just

didn't grow up to care about that stuff uh I grew up in in in minority

neighborhoods entire life my wife's Hispanic uh you know and I just that's

just who I am 29 years with the same woman um but the truth is is that you

know it can be it can be a touchy subject so yeah I'm going to be very careful with what I say but also to say

that I really don't want I wish nobody cared if I'm honest I wish it was just

everybody worked together based on what they want to do in life if you want to

be a flooring guy I'm your guy come home you know and that's how I've approached

life so I think that's I I think that is good on one hand Paul because you can come

with an authentic heart but I don't think that's how everybody is raised I don't think that that is how people are

brought into the work you know we we have um I look at our educational system

you're not getting people we we we during our little warm-up I was getting know everybody we talked about this bias

that people are bringing into what you're supposed to do in life everybody is somewhere down throughout history

they told us we had these roles and these guidelines we have to stay in and it's just very hard to break that we

even went back McDonald's has boy toys and girl toys you you you can't be a girl and do certain types of work

because it's not people don't come to the work Paul sometimes with that mentality that you have that is it's

just not socially acceptable so they're not even given a chance in high school to learn about these different options

or careers or trades because they got to be a nurse you know we we we put these traditional roles on men and women and

then even even race goes back into that and then I you have to create an environment where people feel safe I

have to know that in order for me to work for you um I am safe and what that

what the psychological safety looks like um and and how we can come to that so

it's nice that you've had that experience but other just have coming into the space have just not have just

um we have to start to do school differently trades have to be in the Forefront you don't have to say college or a trade it should be it doesn't have

to be either or it can be and but you can do both Andor you can do both kids

that should have opportunities to do both and explore both but that is not what is um taught if you're in

construction if you going to construction if you going to flooring if you going in in most Educational Systems

they're pushing males to those jobs and they're there are some very good women who are good at design Building Trades and doing those type of things but our

Workforce Development programs um when we look at our educational system even in the state of Michigan or ferally are

just not pushing people towards that type of work so you're already coming in with people having this mindset before

they even get to you they have this mindset right and I think like today there's a few people that I know that

actually went to college and you know they they started in at a a company in like a project manager

position and then they got out of it and they're like this is just not for me I need to I need to I'm one of the people

that needs to work with their hands I can't just sit back and not do anything so they I don't want to say that they

wasted their time right because education in all forms is important because regardless of what you do you

should be learning something anyways and education shouldn't stop at any point in your life you should always be learning

something but the they could have been doing something

else instead of getting that degree because technically they didn't need

that degree into what they're doing right now you you we're not allowing people to live out their passion and

make money from what they're good at in their passion we just don't so my mom um she it was three of us and we all went

to college and we all cannot even hang a picture um between the three between the

three of us whereas let me tell this lady is doing her can't believe you said that out she got her work belt on she

building lamps she's doing TW I told her you did I said to her why didn't you give us any of those skills because you

saving a whole hell of a lot of money doing your own stuff and having that Talent versus really and for people of

color and even African-Americans it was that big push to go to college it was to move away from these skills that we grew

up with and sending us to school school school because that is where the rubber for people in these communities hit the

road when in fact um I just went to her house in Detroit and my dad said oh no

she built that she built a patio outside like watch the Youtube and I comedian

and when I say we can't hang a picture I I have a handyman that comes over here he cracks up he said broo did you even

try to put the little thing that go under your bed together did you even try I said it it just it we have had these

reverse roles in society for so long that you have these kids we have trailer parks in our district and I really

didn't know what a trailer park was I want to name that coming from Detroit I was like what is a trailer my mother said what is a trailer I said I think

it's a house on Wheels I have no idea when you go to the trailer parks this bothers me all the time they

don't know how to fix up their own trailers they are rund down that we are not teaching people skill sets that they

need for even not only working in the workforce for basic survival windows are gone out flooring is not how much of

that is uh just to challenge you bet how much of that is um knowledge versus desire to and

pride in your in your place there's probably some of that as well I I I

think it's a little I think it's a little bit of both I think it is um I am

working as hard as I can to make ends meet so I don't have time but we Paul we have a window of opportunity If the

parents don't to teach the kids and that's where I feel like the Gap is if if I go to the trailer park and I'm running programming in the summer and I

say I'm going to teach you how to paint your trailer do basic things to your trailer this is a skill set kids should

be able to have that will carry them and then maybe by the time they're 16 and 17 they will pick other options other than

college or a trade but we're just not exposing them to some of the things that

we need to expose them to when it comes to how to get them out there and to do

have that mentality to um take care of their basic needs and themselves I don't think people lack desire I think if they

had the skill set and knew it is over helming when you don't have the skill set I'm just in a position where I can

pay somebody my friend always says somebody your somebody's problem your problem is always somebody solution yeah

I just don't have the skill that thing to do it and that's a lot of people is we're not exposed in we just had our

first career fear in school in elementary when I was growing up we had career fears these kids loved it that's

all they talked about but we I had to be very intentional about not just having

police doctor at the we want a diversity and skills at this career fa so kids can

say this is an option I didn't even know this existed because all we teach about is the for Force jobs that you can have

which kids aren't going to be an attorney you're not GNA be a policeman you're not gonna be a professional basketball player and doctors those are the four there are so many other things

that we can expose kids to diversity is about access yeah people want to break it down and say it's about race people

want to break it down and say it's about it is about access if I can provide people with access to companies like

yours flooring and different opportunities our society will function differently it's about giving people

access to Opportunities so they can make these decisions themselves part of that I wonder is uh

you know parents always want their kids to you know do better than them or if

you didn't go to college I didn't go to college um you know I wanted both my kids to go to college CU I didn't it was

almost more for me than them you know sure and so breaking down walls are I I

think is part of it as as as well and the education system that you mentioned

makes perfect sense because we talk on the podcast a lot about the fact that

not everybody should go to college and I'm not saying that it's either or but

you know if if they had the option the as you

said the opportunity to the access to the trades and you know flooring

carpentry electricians plumbers drywall painting like it takes a lot to build

buildings and it's a it's one of the largest Industries around is construction as far as total GDP so why

are we not giving them access why is that uh I tell a story on here um fairly

often about when I first got going in floring and I was at a school laying LV or uh VCT before LBT got popular been

laying some VCT in a in a hallway at a middle school and I'll cut it real short

but it I was going to the bathroom and I heard the teacher say if you guys don't straighten up you're going to end up

like those guys out there as if our trade was it took a lot of geometry and stuff to do what I was doing actually

and then later you know we were working at a school um this had it been like 15 years ago now maybe maybe not as long

but we were working at a school and they had people ripping out the flooring in front of us and uh I was talking to one

of them and he was like yeah I'm actually a teacher I just need you know something to do in the summertime

because teacher salary is not cutting it yeah well that's what I'm talking about

is like you but but it's that mindset it's that mind a stigma yes that that is

carrying these kids and it's not just that it is um that whole idea part you

said like our parents my dad was a mailman for years didn't go to college um my mom went when we were in college

my mom went back to college but it's this this this whole idea of one of the things that I got from my parents even

before going to college was wor work ethic like all of us had we all even now we got five jobs my brother's a teacher

we got five jobs my sister she she is we've always learned to have this work ethic like I just told somebody schools

can close tomorrow I'm not gonna ever be broke I'll be right at McDonald's doing what I need to do because I like things

um but that's a story then that's that when you talk about that desire and what we're what that what we're teaching our

kids to go in but if you look at I have a friend who um built a deck and you

look at that and you look at the the things that we can teach kids who do not have options for college or let's be

honest do not even like it we have so many kids that go and you just put all

this money and they come home and we've given them no other op now what now now and I'm not saying um even the president

of grand was talking about the the idea of making space for trades and she's the president of a college like we have to

do this differently and and and we have to look at um you know part the idea of

I wish everybody didn't care everybody that's just not the world we we that's just not the world that um we live in I

Str I struggle four out of the five days at work so I'm like wo when I took this job

and very talented and probably could be doing something else um related to this work but it's a passion and I and I want

to stick stick in there and I want our students to have every option that they can but this year the statistics for us

was I just my superintendent came to me and he said kctc which is our Career Technical School

1300 plus kids in Kent County on a waiting list that means we have 1300 kids that want to do trades 13 we have

nowhere to place kids we have no op get out of class so you know what I mean so now we got kids you can't send them to

college not gonna go to college par that's not an option for parents we're not teaching them a trade you you talk

about rundown spaces if you could teach a 16 year old how much money they can make fixing up basic skills to fix up

trailers like you around a neighborhood just charging basic money to help people paint you you so we're not we're not

being productive in helping with um growing workforces we're not we have to

do this even when Daniel approached me about having uh we have we we can have one credit classes electives he can come

in and teach a foreign class one credit class you can easily come into schools because what these kids are taking for

some of these electives we got kids doing internships I said what do you do for your internships I go helping my mom's class room do you want to do that

no I want no part ofis you even break down these barriers

to say Yoga Yoga as an elective yoga yes break down these

Necessities it's just H it's just not there and again for me it is about when I first started this job um diversity

was about race and Equity diversity was about gender diversity was about being a part of the lgbtq plus Community now

it's about access I am learning if we do not give kids access and opportunities

we're not preparing them for things that they things that they want to do I don't know what what in Kent County I said

what you GNA do with 1300 kids that's just running around the city wanting to do trades and wanting to do this and there's no programs for them traditional

education sometimes has to be done differently and we still are under this mindset of we have everybody has to go

to college we're going to do four years of high school four years of college and a ro is going to be peachy keen and that's just that's just not the way that

it's going to be it's just not nobody's going into education because like Daniel said you cannot even the cost of living

our pair professionals are making $118,000 a

year I'm not working for that that is what this educational system

versus US looking at our ninth and tth and 11th grade curriculums and saying how do we expose kids to trades how do

we get them to find out what they love how do we move away from Ginger specific toys y'all know I'm on my McDonald's

thing boy toys and girls girls get a girl some Legos it's okay you're not gonna hurt the society if you give a

girl some McDonald's toy that's a Lego so I'm taking all McDonald's and these now I think they don't do boy and girl

toys they don't do um gend specific things I'm

hoping but we have we have to do this differently um in order for work for this to to thrive and survive right and

I think like with flooring in general we when you say you know we we have to

show them that you know it's it's an option and flooring we struggle because

we're kind of we're we're fighting for a seat at the table to be named as a trade because

even in the the unions flooring isn't its own trade we're we're grouped in with the Carpenters or the painters um

so so we're fighting that fight at the same time and to for us you know thank

you for letting us be at the career fair because they they had a great time there and you know some of these kids I mean

he they were telling me stories they were like you know what I'm gonna be back I'm gonna go around to the tables but I'll be back and then they spent

focused a lot of their time was hot y doing the click together floring that we

had your booth was hot the little construction Booth was hot had a student come up was like do we get to keep these

I was like well no we didn't bring enough for everybody but you know and I looked around I was like just put it in your bag if it fits just take it home

just go ahead there's an extra pencil there's an extra pencil even even that

has to be more of it we're doing some work at um one of our trailers elpine Meadows and I am and it is some of them

don't own we have to do work because they don't own the trailer like I'm finding out the more I dig into this we have slum lers they're all over they

they don't have the money to fix them up but that doesn't that doesn't absolve us from I'm teaching a class um at Alpine M

I don't even know what the class is gonna be about um but I told somebody one of my entrepreneurs said that he can

redo houses he can help people redo houses I said there has to be a program where we teach people a skill let's just

teach people some skills please [Music]

um heyy you you find and you know that's that's um

so I went to Union which is you know not

technically the the the greatest School in the world right and I'm not saying that it's bad because that's where I

came from I'm proud of where I came from and that's I'm I'm very humble but you know um talking to people at like Junior

Achievement and stuff like that and they're like you know we go to these these schools and some of these kids

just think that they're stuck like they're products of their environment and since this is where I'm from this is

all I'm going to ever be and this is all I can do and it's like without them

seeing people like us it's like no you you have an option like this is where I came from so it's all in how much work

you want to put in and I think that's something that's that's missing when

people talk about it right because they see a lot of where you're at now and not

what you had to go through to get there so they they didn't see you know a

single mom on welfare living with her mom with four kids they didn't

see that part of our Lives growing up but that was that was the case right and

that's where um you you talk about diversity and it not being just a race

thing or um a gender thing but when the the big picture thing is that's what a

lot of people think of right Y and that's where let's let's break that

stigma right now it's not just that but it is very incorporated into that and

how can we get more people in it it's we have to start talking to them and letting them know that they have more

options than to just do whatever is around them at this particular moment

yeah so changing changing the definition of what what's perceived that the diversity as a definition how it's

received I wrote that down and I just want to add to that is maybe it should be more um directed towards resilience

right because if if you are well-rounded and you do have a a diverse background

um in more than one subject um and and now you're incorporating the people that

you surround yourself with um you could exude resilience right like like it's

the it goes to now instead of you saying I know a guy you're saying I have a guy or I have a a family member now you're

creating a circle that is diverse SL resilient to a lot of different

circumstances instead of one um and know what she said something bro you said something earlier and the Daniel just

mentioned that too about um I I put it down as like coring like our students

being coralled in in uh in these schools our children being coralled our adults being coralled into thinking that you

know they have the blinders on and they're only um suited for for One Direction and if they don't go into this higher education

um that they're going to fail um maybe it's um maybe it's a difference of uh the resources available right being

exposed to specific resources and just having that the Curiosity right and and

allowing them to to their mindset to grow think that's what she's kind of saying yeah

just what we're what we're being exposed to in school is basically what you would

be good at uh and what college program you should go through to do that I mean

when I went to my school counselor they did not say hey Paul you'd be really good at flooring like you know you would

be a fantastic flooring guy no you know they were I did the te some test or some

uh you know um and but the problem is a

part of the problem is like if you don't then they say well you got to go into construction as if that's a lower

lot in life correct it resonated with me when when the teacher said you're going

to be doing this like that's not a healthy career to you almost want to say if I wasn't out here doing floors you

wouldn't have a school like I don't I don't what you gonna go in dirt like it's this idea my brother is an African-American male teacher in the

Detroit area which if you're in Detroit you have teachers that reflect you you know what I mean you have people who let

you know that you have the possibility of being a teacher if kids don't see people that are reflected of them INF

floring or have exposure to flooring or say this is something because it's not just the flooring there's one part that

we haven't talked about is really the business end of running a flooring company like it's one thing to be the person doing it but eventually you are

running your own company whether you go to college or not that takes when I work with my entrepreneurs I always say the

skill sets that you have and and the knowledge that you can obtain doesn't always have to come from sitting in this

college seat you I always say I like to work I don't want to work on my bit I like to work my business and not on my

business when I tell people by that I mean I don't want to do all the math the science hiring I want to be the person

doing the presentations but at some point I have to learn how to handle my money I have to learn how to do hiring

people I have to learn so entrepreneurship is not for the faint or weak of heart um the stuff that you're

doing is just one level like I told somebody if you have a gift if you have a gift that you can work with your hands

um you and you build a company you can go back to school and say I want to take some business classes because I'm going to run my own company I'm going to hire

my own staff I said and that's where I think some of those gaps are we're not we're just sending kids to do the

business part without being able to live sometimes what their passion is and work up from their passion entrepreneurship

is starting to be huge right now people want to be because we're they trying to

find jobs trying to work and there's just so many things that we found as Americans that we have gaps in um and so

this whole idea of growing your own company and doing things is important but because I choose that I'm not less

than and that's sometimes how it's presented being a te you know everybody doesn't have to or that being the

fallback that that being the the H you know doct a lawyer or a deal go do

construction it's in the movies even that way you know like it's it's it's

like it's the the I if you can't do anything else you go do that well that's not true no PA when you when you say

when you started and you said when you started and you said I wish everybody um didn't care it's that bias

that people are coming to if that's all you're exposed to and people think that being in construction or if this is these fallback jobs because that's all

they see in the movies these kids are growing up watching TV and watching what's great and what what looks so

pizzazzy when you watch TV like this is a job like I don't uh YouTubers I guess

the kids tell me Miss Davis I'm gonna be a professional YouTuber I said what is that's my that's what my I I just uh

adopted three kids a couple years back and all three of them uh my oldest two had different ideas of course they're

old enough that it wasn't um you being a YouTuber wasn't a profession all three

of my kids said they want to be a YouTuber okay professional YouTuber I'm like come on let me tell you something

no Paul I said the same thing you said I said I don't even know that that's a thing I told my gu kids that's not a job you gonna get a real job the crazy thing

is is that people are making so much money if they're good I watch the and I

said if that gotta be good at something but you have to be good at it that's like me saying I'm G be I told somebody

when they say I'm G be a professional YouTuber I said I'm GNA be a professional basketball player they said no you're not I said well no you're not

either it is a job it is something real we cannot people who do it and do it

well but again I'm not I I when I was in Wyoming I used to work in Wyoming public schools and I told one of the kids ju I

put give me a t-shirt that say Dream Crusher because I'm g walk around crushing

somebody's got to be realistic and and kind of we gotta look for other options say the things that that no one wants to

hear right but they have to hear it so that way they can explore other options they can't wait until they fail and fail

and fail and then say well now let let me hear these other options they have to know that there's things available that

could build onto their strengths right and these YouTubers that that are famous right some sometimes it happens by

accident but they're passionate about what they do like they put in and they're what Justin says right work

they're putting in the work and I'm not saying you can't be I told one kid you got to act when kids say that to me I

say well why do you want to be a professional basketball player because there's so many jobs in sports that you can do that our kids will be good at if

we expose them to them but we stop at I want to be a professional uh basketball player well if you're not what else can

you do and let me help you research let me help you figure it out we now are starting um assessments with kids to

figure out well are you do you want to work with your hands yes well let's look at jobs that you can do that and then

maybe you you want to be debt free and you go to college later after you have this sustainability and you say I got

fluid cash because I um did if you take a I thought somebody if you take a 14

year old and you give them a skill that they can work all through high school they will pay for college themselves I

said we but we missed that we missed this vot because we're not teaching kids at lower levels how to get these skill

sets and then maybe they can say you know what I've been doing floring my whole life with my dad with my brother with my cousin I'm good at it I know the

ins and outs of it I know how to do it this is what I'm going to do I'm going to help my family business I don't want

teachers discouraging that I want us to figure out okay great because you know you have a skill set that I don't have

that's more knowledgeable to me and that is where sometimes I think we miss the boat diversity is about celebrating

difference and we don't allow a lot of that difference to come in place and I had to get there I had to let me tell

you I had to get there when I looked at my diversity journey and My Equity journey and run doing this for a school

district with how do I Encompass ideas of people who don't think like me because they are out there how do I Encompass ideas that really help our

students get what they want and learn and grow and so sitting in this space I really had to think of some things

differently I want uh we had one entrepreneur in our class he wasn't supposed to be in there I told him you snuck in 16 year old I said oh you you

gonna make a lot of money because I said you even have a business and he said yes

and I told somebody last night he is smart enough to get business and FM it

out so he is he gets business and he calls Paul and says I have a job for you

he charging somebody $1,200 Paul's only getting 300 I said but do you actually do the work he said no I don't know how

I said wait wait a minute wait a minute wait wait a minute this is a thing this is a but somebody told me yes I said but

but we don't take these talents he said to me I have to convince my parents not to send me to college that I

have gifts in other areas that's why I snuck into this class because not getting it in school I'm not I his

parents told him you are College Bound no matter what he said I he's super smart when he told me it's graad I said

you're too smart to get those graad he said I am bored to Pieces sitting in classes nothing is respect I want to do

that's the C chall that was me too in high school I got they tested me and they put me in honors classes and I did

my GPA was like 2.1 it's like I should not be in these classes but it's it's the same thing it's like they didn't

interest me right right but and it was always like the English class or history

class like no put me in a math class and science class A's all day long well and

and that is if they think that you can handle those classes because that that now is where race comes in culturally we

don't think based on our data you should be in math or English being a latinx male we don't think because you're

Latino male we're not giving options luckily you went to Union because I just looked at data for schools across the

board and we still have gaps with kids that are getting A's and B's that are students of color that are not

recommended for honors classes or not put in certain situations because we don't think they work hard enough because of their the family might have

broken homes we don't think they can handle it we they might be I have a kid who is A disruption problem

4.0 and I that's me I said you g celebrate that gift

because I put him put them in leadership put them to work one kid came to me and redid my whole computer I said can you

help me with my computers and don't tell nobody I gave you my password he said I'm about to have you set up Miss Davis you about to have all access and I did

and they said bro how did you get your computer work I said oh I had a kid come in here and do it y'all don't know what these kids know they I'm not I'm not

embarrassed to say I will pay a kid I pay kids I told kids you this could be a profession of yours but we don't do that

because we are stuck in society of saying because colleges get money this

is the next level and even in colleges there should be some career some trade opportunities to teach them how to do

that and do that well so people are working in their gifts and passions and then how do we make sure that we are

putting people in those situations and not making them do something based on

race not saying that you're not good enough because you grew up in poverty or not saying you're not good enough because your mom was on welfare are not

saying you are not good enough somebody told me the the cure for cancer is sitting in the inner city in the hood we

we just not celebrating it it's sitting right now in somebody's house with somebody's mother that is on I said it's

not me don't don't get me wrong I don't belong in anybody's operating nobody's hospital

because I believe some people push that way and should not be but we we're not celebrating that but my mother has told me she said if she could do it all over

I said you know how much money I spend getting people to come in here and help me do stuff versus if you would have just taught us to do some of the skills

that you had that our parents had to have they had to have these skills my mother had to learn these skills because they didn't have money to buy people but

she redo does everything she does her own painting she took her wallpaper down she 80 she was like oh I'm not hiring body I'm doing this myself my dad and

she probably likes it loves it yeah loves it that's the reason why I learned

so much I had to like like single mother car breaks down she don't have money to

pay it's like all right Mom let's learn you know or she said she started with tires taught me how to change a tire

change my change the oil right that was it I was like well what happens if this breaks she's like I don't know I caught

your uncle well I'll learn how to do that I'll learn how to do that Mom so you don't have to call nobody I took auto mechanics like I'm 14 years old and

I'm helping replace engines because I want to learn hey I'll come and help you I'll come and do that I want to help

just let I just want to learn and I would go do all that and you know that's that was what I did I did built low

rider bikes help fix engines learned how to do breakes at a young age change tires uh like that was all before I was

16 and those are skills you cannot take or th those are skills that

you will have forever my niece can do everything she's the only niece only grandchild she told me she said said oh

no I I do everything with BB she cooks she cooks the family Thanksgiving I told my mother if you and daddy pass away you

know we ain't going to never have another Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving because the three of us came I'm telling you we only thing you built us for was

to go to college and I said all the other stuff and I'm not running the university but but we have to keep

putting these kids in those spaces because they want to learn my niece can hang pictures they hang in TVs my

handyman was like I talk my he goes around he works at GM he goes around he says on the weekends I put TVs up in

people's house how many people you didn't I said I do know because you didn't put three TVs up in this house I but that's what he does and he's making

a killing because it's a skill set that he taught himself to continue to move on

and he's in that learning SP all the time he said what I take at GM and learn I try to transition it into other

projects and other lives but he said I that's not where I was supposed to be everybody tells me I was supposed to be

doing something different he makes good money at GM and he makes good money with his little I said this little s so you're making good money so we can't

negate that yeah this goes back to the conversation that I had with Paul a few years ago and this is is actually making me think

about it um it's probably just over two years ago we talked about that like why don't they have like some sort of a

aptitude test for students at a younger age to push them in a direction that better suits their their knowledge based

their skill set the way their brain works um for for a better chance of success and then as they get older now

you start filtering everyone out into different directions and then it might actually decrease the it will decrease

the failure rate of higher education in some students and it increase the the success rate of the students that belong

in the higher education not everybody should be pushed towards Corporate America right construction America

exists um entrepreneurship exists there's a lot of other there's a lot of other avenues that that we can kind of

sprinkle everyone across instead of only having like four or five main channels and I think that that's where where the

issue is is um I wasn't geared for higher education I was so bored in class

I just like lost I got kicked out of class when my mom was in class with me we went back to school together I got

kicked out in front of my mom and I thought it was the most hilarious thing and then I still scored higher than her

and she was mad at me but you know it's it's all right um it's just one of those things

where teachers as individuals can see what students have and the gifts that they have but then they pass them on the

next year to someone else you know like back in the day they used to grow with them it still sounds like with the Advent of

you know all of these um higher education like all the schools all the

colleges there's more of them and there's more options at each school as

as time went on like degrees on degrees on degrees that don't equate to um a

standard of living that would I mean if it was a stock if if if the same

thing was somebody offering for you to buy a stock they I'll say you the stock for

$40,000 but it's going to take you 30 years to make back the 40 and you may not make it back like you you are you

you'd walk away op there that it does not make sense the amount of money sometimes

we're spending in colleges that we cannot pay back because job I'm a social worker by trade I went to ainus private

school cannot pay back Grand Valley can I pay the the amount of money and the amount of barriers sometimes we put for

even people getting these jobs we graduated from Grand Valley and then after we finish our masters you got to

take a test the test is $270 every time you take it people taking a test five and six times just to maintain their

employment when you could be a social worker which is helping people and still be good at it without the test I was

like the test is not going to prove that you are good at this job it is just another B and that's the kind of stuff that we have to think about but we also

have to think about um we get so caught up in schools on curriculum curriculum

curriculum to the fact that how do we keep kids engaged so they want to do the

career kids are disengaging there's not enough Hands-On there's not enough I mean even to try to organize a career

fair somebody I had somebody say you really need this I said these it's like

taking shop class now I'm doing it now it they they saw how successful it could be now I got

to do one at every building which is what our intent is now I want to be out in neighborhoods talking to kids about

different things because kids are coming out differently they want to be doing their hands they're exposed differently

they're technology driven they are um I have seen some kids at five six and

seven that really get into this whole idea of um being self-sufficient and doing

some of these things we have to start to celebrate that that's that when people say to me um I struggled in this job

because I was fighting everybody and I'm still fighting everybody but one thing I learned was when we say celebrate diversity or when we say how to bring

diversity into our workplace we have to have a plan on how to celebrate the gifts that our employees are given how

to get them to wear and and that is happening through conversations that is happening through creating that sense of belonging to where what do you I always

say when you start as a what do you want to do long term and how do I get you there I I told somebody you you make

somebody I in my team when I have my team I told them I'm going to make you better than me I'm going to love you

enough to stay but I'm going to produce you I want you to be able to take my job at any point and if you tell me you want

to leave and you're ready I feel like I have gotten you to the level that you want to be at and if you tell me I don't want your job I just want to come in and

help some kids and be a social worker and I'm gonna teach you how to help some kids and be a social worker but we have to open our ears and start listening to

people and start allowing them to have space to talk through what is important

to them and it has to be reflective like I don't want to go to a place right now when I first started Kena I was the only

black person that worked at Kena and my mother said no your grandfather was a custodian there's got to be a custodian

go find a custodian don't call me no more no custodian then my mother said your grandmother both of your grandmother were Cooks they both cooked

one was that big boy she said it has to be a cook we we had a lunchroom table as our dining room table my mother said

that came got there has to be one person in the school district that looks like you I told my mother and my friend was

like how do HS the cooks are black I go get me a lunch they real I said no there there is not one person in this District

that looks like me and I told my mother said oh and I said but I'm gonna stay because I said these kids deserve

somebody who struggled in school I just my parents just told me I was kicked out and sent to Alternative School listen

listen y'all I thought I went to a school I said to my mother remember that school I went to she said oh yeah they ki I told my mother said when I see that

lady I'm beat her up cuz she kicked you out of school and they wouldn't let you back in I said I got kicked out of school she said yes me and your dad

didn't want to tell you but you got kicked out of school and sent to a school in Detroit for um C teens and you

brought all the kids to the house in the neighborhood and we were the first black family in Detroit on our block so you had all the black kids all the white

kids all the naughty kids all the good kids you had them all at the house cuz your daddy said well we didn't sent her to this school because we can't get her

in anywhere else I never had any idea thank God I had parents who loved

me and said she's not she's not going to get all a she's different than her sister and brother we want you're not

going you're not going to destroy her in this educational system y'all not going to bring her down because she's

different you're gonna celebrate the gift she does have and it might not be getting all a like her sister and brother but we put kids in these spaces

to where they just put out my mother said you've always been a community advocate you've always been going to the

parks trying to say well my this guy can do this or that can do that can't we help this person but that's not celebrated because if you don't want to

be a teacher a doctor a principal um all these jobs and there's sometimes no

space for you and we have a lot of kids that we are leaving out which which for sure affect any type of trade when kids

are not getting placed in those systems when kids are not being able to do that you are going to see a decrease in who's coming through your door who can

actually do the work um because it starts with when they have these educational experiences that's where it

starts so we have to start to do school to reflect gotta bring bring back shop

bring back shop class they took it out and they have not looked back that was

my fre favorite class when I was growing up I built a lamp from my parents I

thought thought I was going to be you know a Furniture maker I did upholster

it was it was awesome some of these kids have never made nastay and it shows right I I my my car we we did the the

cars and we raised them every year my car won every year up until my senior year cuz they if your car won they just

kept on putting it back in there and my car won every year until my senior year

and then the teacher finally told me yep someone beat you I I am 50 I just turned 50 just had my 50th birthday happy

birthday thank you and I celebrate it I'm not one of the people who had it but the stuff that you all are talking about

I was on the cust for when those things started getting cancelled you know what I mean like we didn't have

these classes we didn't have this do shop started getting cancelled homech

started get can my mom said y'all can't cook to save your' life please help y'all take a cook yeah we had home too

she said those are some of those basic skills were getting cancelled and everybody keep saying well parents

should be teaching and parents should be teaching but it says something when I can sit in the class and then you're

like you making a car competing with this car I'm learning a skill that maybe my parents didn't have like maybe that

but they started canceling I told my mother I can't remember when we had those classes that is when they started to change things cancel things and the

system has I'm not saying if it's a system if it's broke don't fix it but there were some good things that we took

out that now we are trying to figure out how to get back that there's just not a lot of options 1300 kids in the state of

M in in Kent County that's not even a state that's in our County that will not have access to a

trade because we have no options anymore of where to send them and no classes

being taught we only have one option the kisd has one option to where kids can go

whereas now can we're trying to start internships with people in the community we're saying can this kid come to your place for internship and learn can this

kid come to your place for internship and learn we're starting to set those up ourselves because we have kids who say

they prefer to do that that than than just sit in a class all afternoon they want to learn a trade in the skill and

they know they're going to be good at it learning getting to know who that

um the kids on an individual level yeah class size I mean it gets really

complicated you start digging into this thing because it can go all the way to class sizes increasing and teachers not

being able to kind of individualize their attention to you know when you got

15 students in a class versus 50 and you don't it's like you almost can't get to

know them to make sure that they go to the you know you're kind of encourage them in the right direction so it gets

really um complicated about having the access to or the just we say it all the time

because like when we go around if if uh in fact one of one of my friends does a

lot of teaching a lot of training and flooring and he'll he'll show kids

they'll do like a build my future that's the name of it he's like they didn't

know that flooring was an option they didn't know that that was like a trade here you are walking over billions of

square feet of flooring every year and it's like not even known as an option uh

it's kind of like how do you expose that on a big level

um that's a mystery to me but but even if you start small even if you start

with um I got people Gonzalez are in my district they're family in my district they you you got people who do Flor we

got people who don't have internships you got people in the it's it's understanding your community them having a seat at the table because I always say

who's not at the table whose voice is missing who do we need to bring in to help us solve this I don't know about

flooring I don't know about trades who do I need to bring in to help me which means somebody has to be willing to

listen so this principal white male who thinks they know more than the world who ain't never put in the floor has to be

willing to listen and say listen I know about trades and skills let me help you with this who is not at this table who can honestly help us on a smaller level

solve some of the problems we got to get people seats at the table to where we we we are not diminishing people's voices

because of our own bias because we think if you have a teacher you he you're going to turn out like the man who's

outside the door I wish one kid say what the hell is wrong with him he's working every day he here every day helping you

out we're doing bonds we're getting all this stuff done so we have to change

that mentality and work with our community and the community cannot be just one single person or One race in

the community it is so many different things we have so many different kids that could say that until that career

fair and I saw kids and what they were gra we had a farmer we had I said bring a farmer kids want to do farming we had

construction we had yes we had a nurse and we had um my friend is a social

worker but she also works for the airlines store she said oh she said kids were asking me how many buttons are on

the plane they were because that's their you know what I mean because she said these kids want to know about how to

build the plane I'm the there is a pilot shortage too so she you know and she was like we

she said these kids want to be the ones that are the by the qu these questions

that they were asking she was like they want to explore they don't want to be the I'm the person that passes out the

tickets and I told them that and she said yes I see the pilots yes I'm on the plane but she said kids want to get

their hands dirty they want to know what these jobs and professions look like um

and she said I told a kid a whole lot of buttons she said but I wanted to say I want to take you to see a plane I I want

him to explore a plane I want him to ask what the buttons mean I want to she said I was just listening to him thinking we

are still missing the boat on helping these kids understand that there is a

space for you there was a little girl who did not leave the construction they had a little construction thing she could build she had on a dress she had

on some tights she was on the floor legs wide open building her stuff the whole career fa I said have you moved from

here she said no this is what I want to do I said okay well stay here but that's not celebrate she is she's a Grader by

the time she gets to fifth grade that is going to be discouraged told she GNA be doing something different not making a

Space because we we don't know how to integrate that yet we just have a system

that navian that we're working with our kids to help them assess some things that they want to do honestly like this

is where you can put in there I like to work with my hands I'm gifted at design

I'm gifted at um seeing different things like my mom said I never thought I was

gifted at um their house in Detroit is very nice but she's done a lot of it herself like the how to the layout of the house

the couches the when you walk in people are like wow did she hire a designer I said herself I said she don't have no a

designer she the one who figured out where to put the couch the lamp Center but she said I never that was never

something that I was told that that my parents told me I had to go to college she said which I didn't I went and I left me and here we had you all and I

got to go back but she said this is her heart and soul um I say I always want a grown up place

like you Mom I want a grown up place like this and she was like well you like too much clutter and but that's she's

just good at it but it was never celebrated that she was good at it because they said well you're not going to make any money doing that now she see

people on TV like having their own shows home improvement shows gosh she's like

people are blowing up getting their own line at Target because they got a home improvement show yeah so I don't know

like I love this because this is when I talk about diversity and Equity this is not a conversation I get to engage in

this is not this is not something that we really talk about as it relates to

how do we make diverse spaces for all of our students that reflect the workforce that reflect really what they want to do

um it's fighting it is understanding and different things but these are the conversations like the

system is a little bit of flawed there it sounds like the the the the faucet of of of options and opportunities have

been closed off at too young of an age um and there's there's not

enough well there's not overloading with information it's coming to the surface

it's coming back around so what happened was for a long time we didn't talk about trades they never did anything but now

kids are now that we got these statistics that 1300 kids signed up and there's no space for them in the county

there's nowhere to put them kids are starting we we're now starting to see kids want non-traditional so before it

was we had a few homech non-traditional we went the traditional route everybody does does math calculus honors all this

stuff which is definitely a space for and then now kids are saying by and we

it's reflected in their attendance it's reflected in their behavior it's reflected in how many go to college so

now they're bringing that back up because that's where we're starting to see success and when these kids have these options so schools are trying to

think differently about how to keep these kids engaged because that's where we're struggling we our data is showing us we have attendance problems but

nobody wants to come to a place they don't like and so kids aren't staying at home they're not engaging so that's why

I think it's coming up more it just seems like to me that the options are at the upper level meaning you can go get a

degree in a thousand different things that'll cost you money but in your regular education there's less options

today than there was when I was in school whether it's economics or home

economics or class or uh you know or shop class or you could do uh mechanics

class there was all kinds of stuff to do and now all that's gone out of that

started you know like in Middle Schools when you could go to shop class uh back then it was called Junior High um

showing my age but you know you could go to shop class Junior High and then uh or

you can go to mechanics class homech there was a bunch of different things you could do we have less option at the

lower level and then more options in in the level that cost you money it's to me

it just seems backwards like put those things down here if you want to explore social work you want to explore uh

construction the trades you want to explore being a chef and being a cook or

cost money to explore when you get older that's what it is right at the lower

level it's not there you gotta pay to get and by that time you're like 19 20 years old and you got to take in debt to

explore and that just seems backwards to me well and and they what's nice about that Paul is I think slowly but surely

we're start they're starting to realize that the problem is sounds like it you only have one option kisd here in in

King County they're the only option now for kids to do that exploring that's why you have the weight list because it's

actually moving kids out of their school building and out of their District trying to exp the West Michigan construction Institute now too yeah so

not but that those are ones that are now starting because we are starting to see so many more kids who want those options

but you got to remember when you have kctc and West Michigan how many kids in

schools are competing for those few spots the problem is like you said that weight list is astronomical now because

now we found out that they got a program so it's like and if you a bulldozer if you a bulldog like me all my kids

getting in so somebody that means somebody else's kids is not because when I found out it was a waiting list I said well how many kids that Ken was not on

it because I'm about to make sure my kids get in the programs that they need so it's it's Dog Eat Dog work sorry to

another school but I want my kids having all the advantages so I said oh we going to some meetings we having some conversations because I don't want my

students left out but we only have two or three options I think they're starting to recognize putting more

federal dollars so you have more options putting more grants in there so we have more options for kids and and taking

money from things that are not working and really looking at our um technical really looking at our trades and how do

we build that up at a lower level and put Federal funding towards those type of programs to help kids see where they

want to go because that is hits the road the road and farming and because they

had you know farming class like farming you go out and intern a farm in Middle

School like all that stuff it seems to me that uh it kind of makes me smile

that it's making like it's starting to make this this full turn yeah uh it's

like the pendulum swinging the other Direction so I mean that's that's good news it's now you got to build this the

rebuild the systems and the um infrastructure kind of to be able to

like how do you get more of them in because and you gotta put money money behind it it has to be a

priority you got to put federal dollars to say this is what we want to do to support this so and you know it's one

pot of money that we're all competing with for in school health is competing for money uh I I start to think of

equity different and that has helped because even with DBI money I'm like if that if I can take money and put it

towards trade schools because they're like if it's for me diversity is excess and I can put it towards that I think

that is helping rebuild some of these things but that is the thing is when you put dollars toward everybody's competing

for this same pot of dollars but I also think we can do this by working with people in our community who are doing

these types of things we can do this because there's one component that might be and I don't know all that is a

flooring but somebody can say I went and started flooring but it taught me to do these five other things and within

flooring I didn't know that I could do design I didn't know that I can do this I didn't know so we have to start working with businesses that want to

work with us and say if I can't get into kctc how can I work with Daniel and his company to provide a great internship

experience for our students where they're still getting high school credit for doing some of those thing same things that might equate for a job for

me in the summer that might equate for something else if I do a good job we have to start to think how can we

establish these relationships with local businesses so we can make this progress until the system doesn't have this

bottleneck um because that's what it's going to take it's working with who's in your community who's doing this type of

work right we were already uh because you know my son's going into high school now and we were already talking about

how we can have a whole football team worth the kids working for us in the summer when we need

them with you but I'm serious I um I told somebody I got to reshift my focus

and maybe I wouldn't be so disgruntled all the time if I can get some kids for me it is about the kids like I know this

is why I do that arguing with adults all day about diversity and equity and wearing my Aly t-shirts and celebrating

these things if I can put my kids in spaces where they feel like they're making a difference for their families

they're learning a trade they're getting money that is what's going to carry them that is what's going to make them feel good that is going to help their my

title is diversity equity and mental health and I know we don't feel valued if we're not we are a working Society if

you can't contribute to the society that you live in it is not good for your mental health and kids are having a hard

time and families are having feeling like how can they contribute so I know if I get my kids in some of these

programs and they have mentoring ships so I don't need to say I can't do this because I don't have a father at home or

I don't have a mother at home or I'm adopted or I'm living in foster care because I have a mentor like Daniel who's teaching me a trade and a skill

that helps me feel like I can contribute then all those other things we now have this community perspective and diversity

and equity and mental health looks differently because just sending kids sometimes to counseling and saying this is going to do it's unrealistic for me

it's putting kids in these spaces where one kid was like you think I want not to have any tra to have any windows in my

trailer I just don't know how to fix them I just don't know how to help my mom you know what you just made made me

think about something too it's like so teaching someone how to do uh any of the trades that anything that we do whether

in construction period the the education system is requiring it to be an accredited program why do I need to have

an accredited program that has a go through the the schooling and and and be

filtered out through the governed body instead of me just teaching someone why can't I just pass some background checks

pass some safety classes or safety requirements and then teach that to the kids why you know it's they're still

learning just because it doesn't run through an organization or or a higher education you don't have to you don't

have to be accredited to to do it necessarily or for them to recognize it for them to recognize it and the kid get

credit for it but the exposure side you could have like if you could figure out

a way to have like a I like what you said a mentor like a trade mentor and

you're like trade trade Mentor International and you got all these Tradesmen in there that's willing to

Mentor a few kids a month and take them out onto you know whether it's projects

and you know obviously safety is a always concerned so I realize that don't hit me up in the comments

like but you know uh but Mentor

them um there's got to be some way to to continue the boat I'm glad that it's

it's it's I'm glad the waves coming but it's like we got to capture some of it

somehow young lady that was working at the um career day Katherine um we talked to

her a little about it too and she said that there's some walls up there's some walls up but if a a kid can do some work

like Daniel said in the summer right when they're not in school so it's not interfering with education and then when

they're out of high school say they're 16 to 18 come and work just for with us for a summer to help as an internship

now they have a an an option with experience they can get hired in at a higher rate a paid internship at that

right yeah yeah yeah a paid internship at that then they have experience and they can that's good because you're

doing a lot of unpaid internships even like and is there this is a question to you is there a is there any trade inter

like internships that I mean is that a Thing mo mostly internships I I hear about

with or college or or even um we if you're in high school just a summer job

no you know we have we have a we have programs where kids our seniors have to have our seniors because they've met

their requirement and they have to be there can do internships we just don't have a strong

intern like me and my friend Matt he was like I really want a better internship program so seniors do take in like a kid

emailed me and said can I intern for you and I said what does that inail that means every day I'm with you for every day from um 2 to three to the end of

school and I have to have learning activities what happens is I just say come in sit at a desk file you know what

I mean it's not like a but these kids do um I I don't know what all of our programming our internships looks like

but there are schools that I had one from Byron Center one year and they had started canceling those programs and U

Maggie ran it and she said the problem was people your your intern wanted to be a social worker and she got value she

was in the classroom she was working with kids she was doing groups even as a high schooler she said so but people

don't value The Internship so it became something that schools are like are we going to keep um buying into this whole

idea of a um internship but I I have a very forward thinking super and we've

even talked about um we went through when the tornado took out our whole trailer park took a whole trailer park

out the tornado and me and him walked and knocked on doors and we saw trees in between people's houses and kids

displaced and kids and then the Red Cross only being able to help a portion of them or kids not knowing like one mom

was like I we don't have any windows she's putting plastic on Windows we don't have any floors anymore that's the

kind of stuff where you get your interns and say okay this is a project now that we have to do this is something that's going to help our community I want it

where we we can f are there federal dollars we can help with this are there but that's that whole idea of how do we

have some discussions around this and how do we do this around the community because I think schools already have

internships it's just what they're having the kids it's just a lazy mentality of what they're having the kids do like one kid told me I'm not

learning anything from my internship I'm just going so I can get my credit and be done so I think schools do have

opportunities um Katherine I I didn't know Katherine existed before my career fear but I told her I want people to

have a seat at the table I want you to have when you have to advocate for something and you have when she says their barriers up I want her to talk to

you all and say okay what am I advocating for because she has a seat at the table she's at the table she's at

the ISD she's at the table what do I need to advocate for and why when this money comes down or when they say

because they always say to me broo what are the barriers when we look at diversity and we look at Equity what are the barriers well the barriers are

you're putting barriers up for companies to be able to accept our kids because they're not going through this program

or they're not attached it's not who you know when this is very good opportunities for kids how can we break down those barriers because again if I

say Equity is about access how can I give my kids access when 1,300 are on a waiting list I want to go through other

options I want to be able to set my kids up with this flooring company and that flooring company and it still be accredited because right now there's

nothing else out there for them are they just supposed to not get anything so how can we continue to break down barriers

so kids have access to do these things and how do we say okay well what does the internship program look like and how

do we support it like I'm one person working on everything that there is to work on in a school I need the

counselors to be on board I like I have to tell my counseling team this year we

focused on um making sure our Asian-American students had um people

that they could talk to or understand them and help them get to the next level so I brought in a I'm not doing it I brought in somebody else that's what we

need to do for trades too I need to be able to say to the counselors we focus on trades get trades in this building do what you need to do when when money

comes up I'll say okay I will help apply for a grant or federal dollars or to do this but I need you all to start working

with the kids to find out what they really want to do and it just needs to be a focus of ours for the year so we

need to start glorifying uh trades in any other avenues like we do individuality we need to start putting

everything on a pedestal and Rising it together instead of uh creating that um

the uh every every person out for themselves if someone's not uh supporting what you believe in as an

individual then they're not part of your team we got to try to get rid of that and be more inclusive to everyone being

on the same team and focusing on the same I think that's a that's kind of what I took from this it's you you're

looking at you know the diversity at from a different perspective and it kind of opened my eyes right you're not looking at it like these different

groups you're looking at it is what can we bring to the table so everyone can get can partake yeah access and and not

only that the whole mentorship thing right that you you talked about you know School aside um you know I I joke all

the time about our kids in this school district anytime we're on a a team we

bring the diversity right I joke about that all the time and it's it's nice right for the kids to to have that and I

bring some of our our like the food some kids didn't have

some of the food until we start started coming around and and I like to bring it it

is it is what kids want and it is what kids my niece told me she went to she's

in college right now she said her job she gonna just lay on the beach I told my sister this is what she learning in College New York we are hardworking

family I said your your uh your grandfather was a mailman and delivered newspapers so you could go to college

like your mom is a single mom we work her I don't understand laying on the beach she she she got a job being a

waitress at the like a restaurant that is um that that meets her needs it's on a corner it's in this you know this

those places where it's fan it's not fancy but it's like wear what you want to the restaurant you know what I mean like these new wave restaurants that's

coming up she loves it loves the people she can just be herself but for her it

is she always says people lack culture we go to places there's no C there's Auntie there's just no culture there's

just no there's no she's a great cook she was like there's no flavor you know you got to have when you say you bring

the diversity every time used to say that I used like oh they bringing a flavor because people like to have fun people want to be a part of kids want to

have fun they want to learn they want to this generation that we are raising like she says I want to experience lots of

different things I just don't want to experience one thing I want to learn lots of things and and I think that's where like we get that from my mom right

because um I've gone to Mexico with my mom a number of times now and that's what she pushes you know you're learning

your culture so I take my kids down there and it's like we don't stay at a resort we stay at an Airbnb we eat where

the locals eat we're experiencing the culture and and we we bring that culture

and then we show people here you know whether it's the food they bring that culture back to get everybody

sick let me tell these kids let tell you about the kids because my niece went my daddy my dad she came home she's been in

Taiwan and London she's she's not she if it's up to her she never stepped back on a college campus so she tried to do

study abroad projects she tried to go everywhere she can she came home and my dad said we can't eat at McDonald's we

can't eat at Burger King I can't shop at Amazon she got so many rules these kids come back with these rules she said oh

tick talk and said this this who we gotta vote for he 80 he said I want a hamb I want a hamburger from McDonald's

and I said Daddy sneak and go get one he said I can't she gonna find out but this

is what these kids are about they are experiencing life very different than us and we have to figure out how to

celebrate that and we have to figure out how to like I told my dad some things we have to embrace for her because this is

the life and the generation that she's living but they will work hard they will work hard for you and they will work

hard with you if they know that you are willing to listen and under and understand them and they want to be a

part of something bigger than themselves right she wants to work for a company where that company has she'll say some

type of social justice some type of focus not just people come to work and go home I want to know my co-workers

back in the day you used to go to the part you know my dad was like when he was at the post office we went it was a family the post office was a family now

you don't have that in your workplace where you're experiencing things the baseball team you don't know your neighbors people are all she was like I

wasn't raised that way I was raised with my neighbors being Greek and I went over there and said well teach me something about being Greek and Yaya Tina or so we

it's very different for them and we have to recognize that and they like to do by so she does not want to call somebody in

to fix the toilet my niece said BB taught me how to do it I want to I want to do it she says I told my sister I can

hang the pictures in our house there might not be perfect but I want to hang it so it's just it's just working with this um but

celebrating and that mentorship is very important so even if you are white it's okay that you have a male Latin Mentor

it is okay it is okay that you have somebody that sometimes does not look like you that can help you learn and

grow and that's what we have to start doing is helping these kids find themselves right Elena says that you

know they they run into funding issues too um the best intentions when a

program starts and a lot of it is you know she's been through the the finding people through Goodwill and stuff like

that and there's installers that don't necessarily look or the part or look

like someone that a homeowner would want in their home so you know people don't hire them but that's that's the stigma

send to the commercial world we don't care well I mean we talked about the

eBay study I told y'all about eBay study people are crazy if you got a darker hand selling the phone versus a white

hand they pay more money because this bias that has creeped up into us I look at some of the commercials and how we've

exposed our kids to TV and some of the stuff that they're but it's creeped up to them in thinking that that that part

of that culture matters like I say sometimes they say men know more about women than technology so they're not buying a computer on Marketplace from a

woman I think it just boils down to sometimes you have to hire these people

like we've been through it um Jose's been on the end where you know you walk

into somewhere and they start talking to you like you don't speak English and it's like you work here today and he he

just looks at him he's like I speak better English than you and then just walks away and it's like oh like but

he's also messed around with people where he's like no

English I think he'd be bringing some of that stuff on himself I thank everybody

for their contributions today we ran a little bit over but it was uh it was it's was one of those topics like told

broe before it's one of those topics that it it can go anywhere

yeah anytime you have me it's gonna go over you're that's okay we have to stop

ourselves too we have a really bad habit of talking yeah we've done this before your perspective on this is

really I think some people uh stated this in the comments as well it's eye openening that uh at such a young age

opening up the access is the key to diversity and and uh it sounds like

that's kind of the Crux that point uh you know the inflection point is when they're young to expose them to all

opportunities that uh that you can uh as parents but the school system has to has

to do a better job like you said so I don't know that we can fix that overnight but we certainly can fix it in our community you've suggested some

really cool ways in which we can get involved in fact while I was on here I

Googled like Kansas internship ships for construction and found a a little site

to explore and see what's out there CU you know I just I didn't even know that something like that existed so it's been

high open for me as well something that we'll probably have to get with uh kenell about and probably try and work

something out to get some kids in here're just working on measuring programs in you know in the office while

we're here you know we're five minutes away from the school yeah and it'd be amazing yeah I'm all about

it well I hope that uh that you enjoyed the podcast because we certainly enjoyed

uh I probably talked less than I ever have just listening to you present your

ideas and you do so uh so well and I think that uh I've learned a lot and I

hope everybody else has um it's been a hell of a good time so gentlemen as

always it was a pleasure and Brooke thank you so much for joining us today really it was really awesome so if

you guys like uh like what you see give us a like give us a subscribe make a

comment uh and um you know like it next you don't like it yeah we'll take it

we'll take it either way so thanks everybody um we'll cut this off now and

uh we'll see you guys next week thanks everyone

The Huddle - Episode 101 - How Can Your Local Chamber Help You?

In this episode with special guest Amanda Hentsch from the Grand Rapids Chamber (https://grandrapids.org), we explore the pivotal role that local chambers of commerce play in fostering business growth. Learn how joining your local chamber provides invaluable networking opportunities with other local businesses and entrepreneurs. This episode emphasizes the importance of being known within your community through active participation in chamber events. Discover how these connections can elevate your business to the next level, offering insights, collaborations, and exposure. Tune in and find out why it's not just who you know, but who knows you, that makes the difference.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

hey what's up everyone how's it going my brother is a black screen we got Amanda with us today from

uh the Grand Rapids chamber Paul is uh I think he is on a job site today so we're

gonna he's the only one that can do the the intro so we're going to have to skip it because no one is as good as he

is so welcome to the Huddle uh thanks for joining us today we're going to be

talking about how your your local chamber can help you so we got Amanda here I'm going to have her introduce

herself and just give a little background about you and then we'll we'll dive into it love it thank you

guys so much for having me so my name is Amanda Hench I serve as the Director of

membership with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce um I've been here since 2020

right so my background before coming to the chamber world was actually in the nonprofit sector so my passion which has

really led into my entire career is all about community and Community Partnerships and really helping people

build connections to accomplish their goals and that really started in that nonprofit realm right so working on some

of those corporate relationships to fill and support nonprofits in our community and then I moved over to the chamber in

2020 and you know started here because I wanted to do that on a larger scale and you'll find that that's a really common

thing with people and in the chamber world is how can we make impacts in our community and help our businesses and

our nonprofits and really just help things get to where they need to go right and help people accomplish those

goals that they have right because the chamber is the chamber a nonprofit as well

right it is so the chamber is an interesting type of organization and

that might not understand or know a little bit about nonprofits most nonprofits that people are familiar with are

um 501 c3s and those c3s tend to be donation-based organizations so that's

how they get all of their funding is you know you are donating to make sure that

they can do what they have to do the chamber is still a nonprofit so we're a 501 but we C6 which is a membership

based organization so all the work that we're doing in the community is fueled and funded by members who pay in to be

part of our organization and they help shape the work that we're doing and are really an active participant in how we

can accomplish what we need to do and what our priorities are right and that's where we come in

right because we've been part of the chamber since I believe 2018 so it's been a few years been that

long it's been that long already has been that long yeah you don't realize it but I

mean and uh yeah so when when we first started

getting involved with the chamber I think it was actually um who was

it I think it was Zack veral well Zack veral asked me one time

he was like hey have you and it was specifically about the um the minority

contractors right and he was like are you part of this and I was like no he's and he was like well it's part of the

chamber and then you know we started looking into the chamber and it's like you know what let's just you know take a

look at this to see how it can how we can take advantage of it right and and

see what it can and do for us so um when we went there it wasn't Omar it's when

Dante was there and uh that's who we had our initial meeting with and we talk about

it all the time because you know our first initial meeting and it stuck out

to us to this day is when he he told us and he's like you know it's all about

netork working and and everything right said he said you know the the saying it's not what you know it's who you know

and then he said that's old school it's not who you know it's who knows you so how many people can you get in front of

so that way you're always on the top of their mind he said that's what the chamber is all about it's getting you in

front of these people so that way you know not only do you become you know business associates with them and stuff

like that but um a lot of the times you become friends with them and then end up hanging out you know outside of work so

how can how can the chamber Foster those relationships and I mean over I so love

that he told you that because that is like that is to a te what it is it is and and you know

what it was a it was a great experience from the day on right because when when Daniel brought it up to to me and and we

collectively decided to go down there we were at a Crossroads we were like what

can we do what are we doing wrong what can we wrong and I think that that was when when we actually realized and

admitted to ourselves that we have no idea what we're doing we need some help we need we need information from someone

who's been through it or or or people have been through it and that's where everything just kind of fit right in and

everyone said that I don't want to say said the right things to sell it right but everything that we were hearing was

right in line with what we needed so and and that's what attracted us there because we're the type of

people that hang up on somebody who do you need oh Who you calling for not interested

click um there was no click uh hanging up when we went there for the first

time I love to hear that that like that's why we're in it right it's it's truly I'm so glad that Dante shared that

and you know it's so cool to still have Dante as part of the work that we're doing here at the chamber and we see him all the time I'm sure you guys do too

yeah and he's always somewhere he is he's always advocating for you guys too I mean it just because he's not there

does doesn't mean that he's not advocating for you yeah and that's such like a cool part about you know anybody

who's involved with the chamber it's like building a family of people and champions for this community truly that

is what we see so when we talk about relationship building and I'm so glad you brought that up Daniel because for me that's what is so important and it's

truly it's about building the relationships that will help us get to where we're going because we it's so much harder to do it on your own right

if you're trying to figure it out on on your own and you aren't the expert it's going to take you 10 times longer to

figure that out and is that the best use of your time or can we go find somebody who can help you accomplish that goal

and figure out the best solution or provide some insights and it's all about those relationships because those last

longer than even just the one time that you talk to them especially as you continue to build on that and see those people time and time again right yeah

absolutely I mean there's been you know numerous events that I've I've gone to and it's like someone from the chamber

is always there you know you guys are always welcoming and then it's always like oh Daniel I have this person over

here that you have to meet and it's like like you you guys know exactly who

we should be talking to be before we do yeah and that's like that's what we

want to do right so my team and what we are specialized in through membership

right so membership is there's a lot that goes into it but truly the way that we approach it is it's really getting to

know you and to understand who you are what your business is and what you need

because we have over 2800 members 2,800 that's a lot of people and they are all

from different businesses they're all from different Industries and they all don't need the same thing so it's really

about understanding what your specific needs are so we can do that because if we don't know you at all we're not able

to make those kind of suggestions and recommendations and make those introductions that you'll need so that's

why we have a team of six membership managers and myself so there's seven of us total that are strictly here to build

relationships with you guys and understand what your business needs so we can help create that pathway to

figuring out what you need to plug into whether that's an event or you know another department and team here at the

chamber or maybe it's somebody externally right so if you've come to an event and I'm like you know who you got to talk to it's this person and it's

making that introduction and we do that all the time that's that's what makes it so fun yeah I mean um Samuel was in here a

probably about a month ago now yeah and he we you know we were just talking to him and then he was like you know what

this sounds like you guys need uh a mentor from this area and they work out

of our building and he set us right up like uh our our Mentor is coming in

tomorrow actually so I mean without the chamber that that wouldn't have happened I mean it's just those kind of things

that I wouldn't have known unless someone from the chamber just brought it up yeah

I'm so glad that he did that so that's one of the things that you know we're trying to get back to as an organization

right so coming out of the pandemic in 20120 2021 we want to get back to going and visiting our members and seeing your

business right so coming in really getting to know you on that deeper level

and it's about meeting people where they're at right so not always having you guys come to us yes we have this awesome office space that you can use

which we had your help you know making even better right but with Val of that it's also how can we know more about

your business see what it looks like reference that to other people when you're not around as well and really getting to know you guys and I I think

um like like you said we we were a part of your guys' Remodel and we appreciate that a lot um I think that

actually us having a relationship with you guys um may have helped that quite a

bit I mean it was you know a bid job and I I don't know you know what other

companies came in at but the the post bid was kind of tedious I'll say that

but I mean it it ended up you know we we got the project and everyone was really happy and now every event that you know

we show up to Rick is sure to to you know introduce us to someone and say they're the ones that

did the flooring there they're awesome to work with with and and that it's just you know it it was a great time we we

appreciate that you guys had us on that project that makes me so happy can you

guys hear see me again we sure can [ __ ] get a phone call from someone who

actually watches almost every week he knows what time I'm doing this and my phone shut shut down so anyway I'm back

kendle it was Kendall it was and I want to add to what

Daniel said just a second ago about Rick and we do have a lot of meetings there and he does he does go out of his way to

mention that um we try to be very humble like thank you you know like yeah you

know you know through introductions for through some of the new groups that that we're in and the new people and just try

to say hi and make a small introduction but he always had to add that they did the floors here it's like thank you I

appreciate that yep and that's what we love to do we're like our memb biggest

cheerleaders truly like that's the way to think about it we are here to like support you lift you up make sure that

people know about you that's what we want to do and be that resource for you we say it all the time and it sounds

cliche but we always say we're an extension of your team because we want you to think of us as part of your team

we are here to work for you and make sure that people know about you and when it comes to this beautiful office space

I mean we didn't do this by ourselves there's no chance right we need to make sure that we recognize the people who

went into making this such a beautiful space for our members and to to speak on

Rick specifically right when I even interviewed here at the chamber in 2019 before I started I was so impressed with

the fact that it's such a collaborative office space that when I came in on the work Cafe level on the entry level floor

Rick was just working downstairs right alongside all of our members he is so approachable by everybody and wants

people to be like that and I'd never seen leaders who were that available to

people and that just truly like has been something that we see all the time is our leadership team that's working right

alongside our members who wants them to come up and say hi if we need private spaces we totally can pop into those

private spaces but for the most part you know we want to make sure that we're here and if you guys are around come say

hi we want to talk to you and it's the perfect time to say hi that's a good place to get away when you just want to

get out of the office too whole different setting um so I want to I want to ask a couple of questions so to kind

of Enlighten some people that are out there so you know not just uh the flooring industry listens to to us but

we also have a lot of people just in general construction we have a lot of friends and and family who also follow and listen who are in different walks of

life um do you have to be a business owner to get involved with the

chamber you do not have to be a business owner so I'm so glad that you ask that because I'll tell you right now some of

the biggest things that I've been trying to make sure that our community is aware of is that chamber membership is for

anybody and everybody right it is a membership for a business or an

organization but every single person that works at that company is a part of

the chamber is a member you don't have to be an entrepreneur to be a member of the chamber you can talk to your

leadership teams and see if they can support that we have some folks who have individual memberships here right so

they're in the process of creating a business or maybe they just want to be involved and they have like a private LLC or whatever the case might be but

it's truly membership is for everybody the chamber is a place for everybody every type of Industry every shape and

size every background we want to make sure that it's accessible for everybody because everybody needs that support and

that's what we're here for and if someone has a vested interest in like what's going on in our community and

wants to be part of that work and making change here this is a great way to do it because many voices and many hands make

that message stronger and like I said everybody has something to put into that

and we are completely driven by our members and what our members needs are so we take what our members are saying

very seriously and it helps shape what our priorities are and speaking of shaping that's what

happened with uh I think I I got on the was it the Hispanic Business Council uh became a part of that which transformed

into the Mosaic Collective um yeah which is is also opened up a lot of other

doors and created other relationships for us as well um next thing you know

I'm I'm sitting in a room with with Andy Johnston and then he's got me talking to

uh Mr Tate from the House of Representatives it's just like it was kind of like a lot of things are going

on where local government um and getting very involved and understanding a lot more of the behind the scenes and what

it takes for an economy to to to flourish and and and I'm saying that because I use the chamber for learning

experiences right um I think I think although I know my my voice is very

dusty but um I think I'm getting that um where

people are actually starting to ask questions and listening to everyone's perspective and and uh I'm happy to be a

part of some of that yeah I think honestly that is the

biggest thing is making sure that we have the right voices at the table that people are being represented and being

heard and we're being so intentional with our work to make sure that you know

people we are representing our community correctly and we're thinking about what that is and building these spaces where

people can be their authentic selves is a huge part of that and it's making sure that we have those spaces and it's

helping shape the work that we're doing and making the right moves to make West Michigan a better place for all right so

our mission statement is to create a thriving and prosperous West Michigan for all and we take that very seriously

it shapes everything and when we say for all we mean for all we want to make sure that everyone feels like they have a

place here yeah you guys are are great Partners like you said you're you're an extension of of us right and um I think

anytime that we've had a question we were able to to reach out to you guys and if you guys don't have the answers

it's always like you know what we I can't help you with that but I know someone that does so let me reach out to

them and I mean my brother like this guy comes up with some ridiculous questions

sometimes so I hats off to you guys for being able to to answer whatever he comes up

with uh yeah yeah we always joke and say if we can't have an answer maybe someone

else can and even sometimes if we do have the answer maybe it might not be the answer you want we might be able to

get you the right answer that you're looking for but we'll we'll get you an answer one way or the other right and uh speaking of

Partnerships I am going to play this uh quick video from our partner Flor cloud

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related installation issues floor Cloud now you

know so that's one business that uh we partner with that they they're doing great things for not just the the

flooring industry but the construction industry in general so got to give a a shout out to them all the time because

uh we we run into way too many situations where the site's just not ready and they

they're just on top of their game when making the information available to

everyone and that's huge I honestly like go back to you touched on you know the

educational side of things and I think that's been a huge piece for us as well um and truly when I think about how we

do our programs and for anybody who doesn't know you know the grand a chamber we have over 160 days of

programs and events and that's a lot and we're really intentional about what are those events and how are we supporting

people some of them are network building right so like we touched on the importance of like getting to know people but the other key component that

we really want to focus on and it falls within our economic growth pillar is truly helping business owners and

leaders and anybody who's looking for access to education tap into some experts within very specific Fields so

we've been hosting a variety of workshops throughout the year that are all around business growth right so we

just did one a while back on marketing we've had some on human resources on a small business budget we've done some on

AI you know we have more coming up even sooner touching on things like access to

Capital so how if you're looking for funding for your business and looking to grow your business what does that look

like and we bring in some of those speakers to share on that and it's not always us right so we have experts on our team here but we know that there are

folks in this community that have great tools and great resources and we want to give them that platform so that way

business owners and leaders and folks in the community who are looking for that know that they can here and get access

to that kind of information yeah I mean I was I was we were looking at your calendar earlier and it's like man the

the amount of things that you guys have going on is crazy sometimes and I don't understand how you keep up with it but I

mean that's what you guys have that team for right oh yeah if we didn't have that team I don't know how we'd do it like

this morning we started off the day or at least I can speak for myself we had our Athena leadership Forum which is a

forum where we gather together you know speakers on topics better around supporting uplifting women and Business

Leaders in our community specifically um and that went you know right until around 11:30 and at that same time we

had a recognition celebration for some of our leading investors here at the chamber so half of our staff was there

half of our staff was at this Athena Forum with over 200 attendees and you know there are days we have two three

programs all in the same day but we want to make sure that we're providing that content to people and we make that a

priority and make sure that we're thinking about what they might need and when what time of day works well for

them there's a lot of planning that goes into that right because next week you guys got the CEO

Summit and that's a big are you guys I'm trying to get this okay he's

giving the thumbs up because I just asked them earlier because I I can't be there because I have I have a meeting um

like right in the middle of it like I was like I really want to go to this but I also would really like this project so

kind of got to pick and choose sometimes right but oh yeah again that's where having a team is is really beneficial

because I'll be over here he can go over there and we can still have have our

presence at both uh both of the spots but divide and

conquer I I know that he's one of the speakers there that's I was really trying to you know be there to support

him but hey someone will be there you know and

um I want to bring this up too because I'm G to try to ask the questions as if I don't know anything so just to forew

warn you um not not every chamber is as is as um effective as as the other so I

think that we are a little bit spoiled with what you guys have and what the GIC chamber offers um are there are there

any set amount or set expectations that that anyone should have from their

chamber um and if so what what should they be what might they be yeah you know

that's such a great question what expectations should you have from your chamber truly you know when I think

about that your chamber should be there to listen to you and to learn what your needs are that's like at its core how we

can best be effective for our members because again it goes back to not every business needs the same thing and we

can't do cookie cutter Solutions because that's not going to get anybody what they're looking for and help them so I

say to everybody if you have not gone to meet with somebody at a chamber your local chamber or our chamber for example

the Grand Rapids chamber that is your first step is setting up that meeting to understand what their offerings are if

you're not located in you know Michigan for example or if you are in this

area really get to know us and understand what benefits are out there

because there's a lot within that space and then also vice versa letting us get to know you so it can be hard as a

business owner or as a business leader to come in and be really transparent about I'm struggling and this is what

I'm struggling with right now but if we don't know what's going on the good and the bad we can't make their best

recommendations to help you and we really need to know and understand what that is so it's that first initial make

sure that you have that conversation and really get to know those folks and let them get to know you and then once

that's done you got to stick around right so building relationships takes time it's being consistent with showing

up in those spaces reaching out to them if you need anything answering phone calls if we call you and then also

coming to some of those events it's that variety of the connections that you're

building there's a lot of them too so and it could be a little bit overwhelming as well if um I I guess if

you're an introvert trying to put yourself out there it it may be a little overwhelming it does get easier it's h

one of those muscles that you got to you got to work those muscles out makes it easier though is the chamber team right

cuz I'm like every time you walk in there they're like you need to meet this person it's like that ice breaker

between everyone and cuz I'm I'm an

introvert people say I'm not and like in high school I was voted most outgoing but really I don't really like to talk

to people all that much but I I I guess I people like to talk to me so it makes

it easier I think and uh you know I I can a conversation but having that

person there that's just like hey you got to talk to this person and then it just goes in a chain right like because

you meet this person it's like oh you know what I just talked to you for a little bit you need to meet this other

person and and that that networking um events like that like you guys had do

the what the business exchange lunch in uh pretty frequently and every month that's said

every month the only month we don't do that one is January but like like I'm so glad you bring that up because truly

what I find I see a lot and our our staff is like very sensitive to this and when I say sensitive it's like a good

sensitivity if we're in a room and we see somebody that's standing by themselves and doesn't look very

comfortable we are going to make sure that they have someone that they can talk to and we're going to go chat with them and make sure that they feel

comfortable and feel welcome because the last thing that we want is for someone to come and feel like they don't belong

that is like number one like absolutely not we're not going to let that happen we want to make sure that you feel

comfortable now we do like the hump day happy hours also right that's monthly at the chamber

the last Wednesday of the month and that's a little bit more casual but we have folks who come to that and they

they don't want to network they do come just to have a beer and a sandwich from non Le Burger who's our food sponsor and

then a beer from New Holland right but they might want to talk to like one or two people or bring a client and a

customer to have like a meeting during a happy hour there and that's totally good but someone looks like they're they're

trying to figure out how do I break in we're gonna go make them feel comfortable right and I think we took a

page out of out of your guys's book from you guys doing that too so when we go to conventions and stuff we'll see someone

sitting at a table you know at lunch sitting by themselves and it's like NOP that that's where I'm going to sit

because you know no one you're you're already in an uncomfortable situation

and it's easier for for me to go over there and be a little uncomfortable when

I know how uncomfortable they are not knowing anyone there yeah 100% and it

kind of goes back to like you mentioned you're an introvert but people love talking to you I think people that are

perceived as being introverts but you know preced excuse me as being an extroverted but are actually introverts

I think it's because you prefer the relation the deep relationship conversation you're not like about the

surface level right and that's what we find and the biggest thing for folks who feel comfortable with surface level

networking and getting to know people is just getting that that bridge gapped right so making sure that we can really

make sure to make those connections so you can build that relationship and then by the time you know it I mean you guys

touched on this at the very top of the the recording right but like when you come in and you are going to chamber

events often it becomes like you're seeing your friends you're like running into people that you've met so many

times it turns into oh I'm going to give this person a hug I know them let's catch up and then they can introduce you

to somebody else and it's it's building those deep deep relationships that turn into friendships in the long run which

is so fun it's like my favorite and also the connections that are made too like um you know I just had

um R&R mechanical come and come to my house and do some work right I probably

never would have would have heard of them if it wasn't for the chamber to be honest with you um and I've known about

about Ruben and them for for a few few years now and this is the first time I've actually had a need outside of what

uh what what I could do myself or or had time to do um but so it's just

connections like that that are worth their waiting gold because that just goes back to it's not you know who who

you know it's who knows you right and you knew them so they were in there and

and uh it it's more of a personalized relationship as well right you're not just calling a company because of of

what they offer you're calling a company because you know who they are what they are what they do what they stand for um

you know I understood I understood their values um and it was a no-brainer for

me and you you you know we we've mentioned the your guys's office a few

times can you kind of give us a rundown of what you guys offer at your at your location for all your members yeah yeah

no I'm so glad you bring up the office space because again I mean it's it's a shock to a lot of people and I think

that's why we're so used to having people come here meet because they don't expect this office space to exist for

them but you know we've been here for I want to say it's a little over six years now and they moved into this space

before I started here so I've been here for about that four and a half year timeline right um but they moved from a

more traditional Chamber of Commerce you know office building and I think a lot of people when they hear the

organization title of like Chamber of Commerce it's been I mean they've been around for hundreds of years right so

they're very old organizations a lot of times we have these like perceived you know knowledge of what we think it'll be

and what it looks like and a lot of times when people think Chamber of Commerce they think like old office space almost like an attorney's office a

lot of like dark panel wood that kind of environment and it's like closed off and

it's mainly for the staff when we moved into this space over six years ago we decided to completely flip that around

because as an organization that's about building Partnerships and that wants to be and aims to be the Hub of what's

going on in West Michigan we needed our office space to reflect that so because of that we made this

office space that we are now currently in into a collaborative co-working space for our members and it started out as

mainly having a couple small meeting rooms that were available for members to use and then our work Cafe space which

is a lot more open think like coffee shop but business professional

atmosphere and then last year so last January of 23 we decided to expand that

because we needed more space we ran out of space because we really leaned into what our members needs were and we were

hearing from Members you know coming out of the pandemic that they they needed more working space they were downsizing

their offices they had remote workers who were looking for a place to land and host meetings and we needed to fill that

gap for them and because of that we did a giant expansion and added on I want to

say about nine additional conference rooms um and now we have meeting rooms that seat anywhere from one person desk

space where you can come and plug in your computer to a monitor and have an external Monitor and a keyboard to you

know our two to three person spaces or small meeting rooms that seat up to nine boardrooms that seat

up we've got a handful of those and then we also

have Center space that seats up to 120

and coffee that's available and things like like that

that's all going to be key as

well yeah we we got you breaking up a little bit but I think uh we got the the

gist you know you guys have a huge space right the the conference rooms is where I think anytime we go is where we spend

a majority of our time because it's all for events and every time we're there you guys are are constantly like you

know you guys know you can come uh work over here anytime you want and then when

like when Samuel came here he's seen the setup and it's like the the programs that we use it's just like I have two 32

inch monitors plus my computer so it's like to to get rid of this for a day is

is kind of hard but I AB totally and I think there

are some that it doesn't work for them to go work

remote but then others you know it works well so I mean it's good to hear that you guys have such a great setup I'm

gonna have to come by I don't think I've seen your space

it's it's very small and homey but it gets the job done for the most part yep

we like it um it works it works I think I think what you were saying like you

know throughout the pandemic a lot of people were getting rid of office space and I think you guys expanding and

opening up you know more space for that was huge because I think after that

people were like you can work from home and be fine right but there's still

people out there that are like yeah I like working from home but I still need other people around me like they thrive

on having having that other people around them so to go there and that you

know while we were working there and just going there um through the meetings

and stuff you do you see quite a few people there working and it's it's awesome it's it's a great space

and I we probably should make it a point to to go down there and um like if you

are like say like when we started all we had was like a 10x10 office right when

we started with you guys and we had I think at that time like three desks in

there and no space at all yeah it was pretty small yeah and like for us to to

rent a room to have meetings in would have been huge and that's that's kind of like the

big thing it's you know honestly having just like a quiet space to get away and especially for people who work from home

I can't do that like I'm not a big work from home person it's too distracting for me and I get energy from working

around people but working at a coffee shop is sometimes not the most consistent right it can be hard to find

seating you have to constantly pay for more coffee right whereas we have Coffee

brew fresh all day by Ferris coffee so they're our coffee sponsor here at the chamber and then we have Gordon Water

Systems filtered water which is really nice and truly for us it's it's about creating an environment where people can

come in and feel comfortable for the day and you don't like have to check in and out you come in once and you can hang

out all day um and if you need a room will help you find a room and make sure that you feel comfortable but the other

big thing is we see a lot of people build relationships just from being in the same space because you see the same

people over and over again within that same space you get up and get coffee at the same time you chat with somebody

else that that person might know and it's it goes back to just being in the same space helps you build that relationship and get some of that

visibility which is really cool yeah and did did you touch on uh

your guys's little the studio that you're in now I didn't so I apologize

that I broke up I have no idea why that happened but you know one of the things that we added on when we did our

expansion was we created a studio room that has some sound dampening on the walls because you know people like me

I'm pretty loud so people can hear me regardless so I've got this nice little wall behind me that helps keep the sound

more insulated in this room and then yeah you two I'm this yeah yeah everyone can hear me all the time and then we

also have some really great um recording equipment that's ailable for our members so right now it's all stowed away

because it's much more high-teen out of my league I'm not the expert but our marketing team works with our members so

if we a member needs to come in and you know record a podcast for example or record you know an audio book we've had

people do that or commercials that's happened before um or do very formal interviews and like voiceover work we've

had people come in and do that and we again we're it's trying to fill that Gap but making it in a a way that it's

comfortable for people they have you know some of those Comforts like coffee and tea and all of that as well as the

spaces that they need that will be supportive for them and a whole bunch of amazing

people we try we really try and I think a lot of people don't even know what the

different teams are here at the chamber right because we have so many people here we have over 30 staff and we're

growing so we had some new folks that you all see the official announcement of

uh here soon out on social media so if you guys aren't following our social medias we definitely recommend that to

make sure that you stay up to date on what's going on at the chamber but you know with our different teams I touched on the economic growth piece right so

that's our team that's really working with businesses to figure out what resources they specifically need and

doing a lot of that resource building but we also have a team that's dedicated to advocacy and public policy so they're

doing a lot when it comes to government and policy initiatives that are going on in our town in our city um and in our

region even to make sure that our members voices are heard when laws are getting passed or being AV valuated and

then we also have a team that's dedicated to talent development and leadership development growth so building strong leaders for this

community and making sure that we're building Community while we do that and then the other piece of that pie is also

diversity equity and inclusion work so making sure that we're building an inclusive environment and inclusive leaders in workplaces and really working

with people on all of those fronts to make sure that we have well-rounded businesses and a well-rounded community

that is a place for resource development and support and just developing those

relationships which is just like the joy of our work truly yeah I think that's one of the big things that that Drew Us

in was the the Dei that you guys had and you know the West Michigan minority

contractors is you know what what piqued our interest and it's it's actually

gained us quite a bit of not just work but relationships with the people so

it's huge to to get out there and put yourself out there and you know become part of the chamber to to

just see what they have to offer right it's a lot like and I know that

that first step is always a lot and and the the groups that are available like uh um you know last year

I was or two years ago I was part of a um like a a Sales Group cuz I wanted to learn I don't know if I really had a

place in there to give information but I was part of the group and I absorbed a lot of information now I'm on my second

term with the CEO group um which you know I always feel like I'm learning

more than I I contribute right like they have a lot more to offer than what I can contribute which um I think everybody

feels like that at some point but just those type of groups that are available um to to be a part of is worth his

waiting go that I've learned so much already just listen I like I like to listen I like to learn I take a lot of

notes not today though not taking notes today though now why you driving in doing that that'd be way too much right

yeah yeah I probably shouldn't be driving and doing this either but I'm doing my best to not uh stay here you're

committed we appreciate ask uh can someone who lives outside of Grand

Rapids join the the chamber or come attend events yeah so I was just going

to address that for sure so you know I think a lot of people hear our name as the Grand Rapids chamber and they think

that that means that you have to be part of the city of Grand Rapids in order to be part of our chamber so I mentioned

this earlier but we have over 2,800 members and that's unique businesses

right that are members of the chamber it's a business-based membership or a nonprofit for example anybody can be

part of the chamber truly we're Regional based chamber so we have a lot of members who are actually out on the Lakeshore over in like the mosan Grand

Haven area we have members that are on the east side of the state we have members that are up on Mao and we have

members that have locations outside of the state of Michigan so anybody is able to be part of this we do have some

virtual events that people can attend um but for the most part it's about you know do you have a vested interest in

what's going on in West Michigan and in Grand Rapids and really want to make sure that you're part of the the

community building and the growth of our city and do you have clients and customers even that are here right so if

you have clients that are here and that's a great example as to why we have some hotels that are up on meno they

don't have locations here but their clients are coming from here so you know if you have clients that are here making

sure that you're present here and you're sending your business development folks to some key events or even just doing

some advertising with us or even just having your members on our business directory being on the directory is a

great way for people to get to know your business and it's passive marketing it's just being there so if someone comes to

our website and search sech es flooring for example you guys are going to pop up because you're on the directory you've

got those keywords that are going to help with your SEO so your search engine optimization and we make sure when we're

meeting with our members to go what do you think people would be searching and you want to make sure that you pop up if

they're searching that so what are your lines of business what services do you offer what are the things that make you

unique and that helps us make sure that you're getting some of that visibility here and you're involved and then again

meeting with somebody on our team helps cury what your pathway is so I mentioned we have 160 days of programs and events

that doesn't mean you have to go to all 160 that's way too much we want to narrow it down it is impossible I don't

even go to 160 days of programs there's no chance but we want to figure out like what are the two to five I'd

say very most things that you and your business should be tapped into and Jose

you mentioned this of my favorite those roundtables it's building those deep relationships and that's one that I

recommend for just about anybody because it's small group discussions with people that are outside of your industry and

it's you know really asking them how would you approach this challenge that I'm facing or I'm trying to accomplish

this how what have you done that's worked well and it gets you out of your industry's like sideload train of

thought which is really cool and it's great to get offside perspective yeah for sure my

no I that yeah that's it's amazing that you guys like like I said like when we

started we were very small just to have that meeting room to to bring clients to

and not have to yeah worry about it right it's crazy amount of things you

guys offer yeah yeah I've had stories of people who um you you know like

attorneys who've done like mediation between two different people for example so they have two meeting rooms booked

and they're going back and forth between the two rooms to work on things and I've had you know stories of we have some

like consultants for example who they set up shop and they're here all day

this is their office space and they're just here and they're connecting with our teams and they know us really well

um and again I think it's the more that you are around the more that you're going to get to know your chamber and

it's figuring out if you don't know anything about the chamber most Chambers do this I know that we do this and we

talked about this offline but we have a chamber 101 coming up here on the 26th where we're going to be doing a deep

dive information about all things chamber so if you don't know anything and you're like where do I even start

that is where I always point someone in that direction because it's a great way to understand member benefits our

different offerings what are some of those events get to know other people we generally see over a hundred people

attend that so it's really great networking as well as information and it's so fitting that today this is your

101 episode and it's chamber 101 that's what we do so this is like it's like a mini chamber 101 right now I mean yeah I

mean you that's gives a huge Deep dive into what you guys I I've attended one

before and I've tried to get some of the like my sister and stuff to go see what

you guys have going on and it's like like you said sometimes you know it's hard to attend things so things come up

but I mean it's great information and um that's where I think I really learned

about like the other programs that you guys offer like

um what was it the Davenport for example you guys have a discount at Davenport

for members like 20% off I believe right yeah for all new students and like the

amount of people who don't know about that I'm like everybody should know this because it's not just for the employees

of the business it's for their dependents so if you have kids that are about to go off to college like that is

use that 20% off because that's huge and like your spouse even and that works for professional development so if you want

to go back and get some certification on like project management at their Institute for professional Excellence

you can get 25% or 20% off excuse me if you're a first-time student with them which is huge and is that for every

single one of our employees too then right every single employee and their dependence so we actually have some

members who put that in their um employee benefits package when they're hiring somebody they're like Hey listen

you work for us you're a chamber member you get this discount and you can do all this other stuff as right and I and well

like before such a great way truly what are those

benefits yeah I think before we started we we talked kind of about

um a lot of people are like what is the are going to do for me what benefits am

I going to get right away and stuff and it's kind of like um yeah we we attend a lot of events in the flooring industry

and we always tell people the same thing they're like in certifications and stuff and they're always like well how is that going to benefit me but it's like what

are you going to do in order to make it benefit you right so like you said putting it in your benefits package yeah

it's technically like a pass through thing but it's still something that you can put on your stuff to make it more

enticing for someone to join yeah I think right now especially with

hiring people right like I I talked to so many businesses who are hiring and a lot of people look at employers and jobs

for businesses that they know and it's how are you getting your company out there so people are like oh I know that

company I want to work for them so it's building that brand and that reputation in a way um and really pyb backing on

like what we have to offer here at the chamber so we one of the other things that I feel like a lot of people don't know we have we have a job board so if

you're hiring you can put your open positions on the job board so people can get to know what those positions are and

you know apply right through there it connects right to whatever platform you're using and it's just a great tool

to continue to boost those openings for you yeah I mean whatever you can do in

in order to uh entice people to join the team because it's it's tough out there

right now it is is is there anything else that you wanted to touch on that you guys offer

that we haven't talked about yet oh man I mean there's so much truly if I could

say anything to anybody that's like you know what do I do where do I start like I said it's it's reaching out to us

directly you'll find all all of our contact information right on our website and our we easiest website ever it's

literally Grand rapids. org um that is our website and you'll see all of our

programs and events on there if you're not getting our newsletters subscribe to those go to our social media channels

right that's a great way to stay up to date on like what's going on and come to chamber 101 come to a happy hour that we

host monthly that's just a great way to get to know people and you know we're we're truly here for everyone and that's

one of the stigmas that I'm trying to break down is you know we're not a chamber for small business and we're not a chamber for large business we're truly

a chamber of commerce for all and that's how chamers should be and we want to continue to be that place no absolutely

we love it and I mean people can't say no to free food and drinks right it's true it's hard to say know when you have

Burgers and Beer that are like right there and ready for you right and I did pull this up I wanted to put it this is

uh your guys's entrance right there the little work

Cafe this is where you guys host a lot of the events and stuff right in here

yeah so I mean it's it's a great working space so I just wanted to show people

exactly what they'd be getting into I think um I think it's definitely worth

checking out and we we appreciate everything you guys do oh well thank you so much truly like I said I think the

the secret sauce to what we do at the chamber it's not just our staff but it's our members right like we have such an

amazing Community here in West Michigan and such amazing businesses just like you guys and it if we're not doing it

together it's so much harder so like I want to really focus on how can we create these Partnerships and

relationships to get to where we need to be and really just having more people at the table is better for everybody

absolutely so I I think uh we we've covered a lot of stuff today yeah you

guys do offer a lot of stuff so we do um if if anyone needs to reach out to

anyone like she said just go over to uh Grand rapids. org and uh I believe I

have it pulled up right here you guys can go on there and you can pull up your entire the entire team right and email

entire team individually if you wanted to yep and our emails are so easy so if anybody that's on has questions you guys

are so welcome to contact me directly my email is literally just Amanda grandrapids dorg easiest email um my

phone number is also on the website so phone you can call you can email you can reach out to any of our team we're truly

here for the community so no question is a bad question well we appreciate you uh

joining us today and if there's anything else that we can help uh the chamber out with definitely let us know and you guys

have done so much for us already so we definitely appreciate you guys and we look forward to to you know going to all

your guys' amazing events and and keep the relationships going yeah thank you so much for having

me this has been amazing oh look he he's back

now just for the time for the ending yeah welcome back I I I heard I heard

most of it I heard most of it

so we got a baseball game today so I muted I muted myself while I was at the office grabbing a couple things so I

didn't interfere with uh with Daniel's feed here's the website just so everyone

can see yeah you guys just redid the website too right we did last year was a big

year for us we got a new website had a bunch of new folks expanded our team you know redid the office space and we're

just constantly growing so if there's anything I can also say you know we're going to be consistently growing and changing so everything we're doing we're

trying to be Innovative and think about what our community needs and we're always going to switch it

up awesome well like I said I appreciate it and uh we'll see you I mean are you

going to be there on Tuesday at the CEO I will I'll see you guys at the CEO

Summit and I'll see you at happy hour and all the events

all right sounds good thanks for joining and uh thanks everyone make sure you guys uh like And subscribe to to and if

you don't like it let us know too and still subscribe so that way you can keep giving us a thumbs

down uh let us know what what we can do better so appreciate it and we'll see you guys next

week thanks everyone

The Huddle - Episode 100 - Apprentice to Expert

In our 100th episode "From Apprentice to Expert: Navigating Career Paths in Flooring Installation," we delve into the vast career opportunities available to flooring installers. From starting as apprentices to becoming seasoned experts, the journey doesn't stop there. This episode highlights the importance of ongoing education and skill development, enabling installers to advance into various roles such as inspectors, business owners, salesmen, project managers, and technical or sales representatives. Tune in to learn how your career ambitions can guide your educational pursuits, opening doors to diverse professional paths in the flooring industry.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to episode number 100 of the Huddle 100 he's been wait

he's been waiting all day say one he's been practicing in the bathroom I heard him well you are here at your weekly

Playbook where we strategize not only on playing the game but changing it from sorry about that have a little

technical difficulty but we still know how to help you master your craft and distinguish yourself in the marketplace

we're here to give you the voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's band together on this

episode 100 to forge a new Legacy in flooring welcome to the team this is

where you belong what's up fellas what's going on

brother Day in the Life brother 100th episode uh I'm Paul Stewart founder and

CEO of go Carrera with me as always Mr Daniel and Jose Gonzalez a preferred

flooring up in Michigan and and uh host

extraordinaire of the Huddle flooring podcast we're all right you know I'm

pretty impressed that we we've uh we've reached a hundred we got a congrats from

Tom thank you sir appreciate that Tom runs a uh podcast in the UK so he knows

how how hard it can be to stay on on uh a a schedule and get to a 100 episodes

so dudes thank you so much for being here this entire time thank you to all of our um all of our uh audience and

people who watch the Huddle we certainly appreciate you guys uh you're why we do

it a lot of the topics ideas discussions come from you guys

so all right well today's episode is about moving from Apprentice to expert

um there a lot a lot of different Avenues we can go down so uh you know

I'll get it out of the way you know we got to get educated and it takes experience and those are the the two two

things we got to have to move you know from from any level to the next level so

certainly it requires a lot of training uh years of experience um but if you're

at that point there are some key uh key metrics I think or key key thought

processes that uh you have to think about to go to expert so let me get Mr

Daniel's take what's your take on moving from

Apprentice to expert because it's not like one day you go in you're an apprentice and the next day you're an expert so no absolutely not it's the the

biggest thing is to and I I used to say this all the time and I need to start saying it again it's never stopped

learning right um I think like when I was in school it was

always I always want it to be done you just want to put everything down and

then just never have to learn again but in the in reality that that's not the

case I wish it was but it's not like if you're not learning something new every day you're falling behind and it I guess

it's not even something new it's like being better than you were the day before because there's always something

that you you're you're lacking right so you can become better at what you're doing every single day and I think um

that that's the ticket and I think it really like for me it actually started

when I graduated high school and um it was one of my uncles he in my graduation

card he he wrote in there that uh that he was proud of me and that I'm always

the best at everything I do and I really took that to heart and then kind of tried to well year a few years later

anyways thinking about that and then just trying you know what he's right I am really good at what I do let me kind

of focus all my energy into what I'm doing so that way I can be the best and uh I think that's what really

motivated me into you know doing the installer of the year and honestly I

didn't really think I was that good I thought I was just mediocre at best but

then you know people started ask me where where I learned the stuff from and it's like that guy is sitting you know

in that in that desk right there and we we taught ourselves and it's they they

their minds are blown with the amount of information that we know just by teaching yourselves and that's because

of that mindset you know you have to want to learn and and better

yourself well you say you taught yourself and that's always an important part but you also went and got taught

and open had open mind on learning and I I tell I we all have kids so you know

I've got three new ones in the in the house I say new hell they've been there for about years now so it's not so new

but uh the 14-year-old uh you know he he would

love what I've tried to talk to him about is um learning how to learn like

when he gets down on school or whatever I'm like dude school is teaching you how

to learn more I mean a lot of this stuff you may not actually use until you get

out in the world uh but you got to learn how to learn and that's part of what

school can do for you but what I was going to say is at 14 you know he went out for track for the

first time this year and wanted like wanted to be the the king Supreme on the

team like first year going out like everything he does he wants to it's one

thing um he wants to be the best which I truly support and appreciate but

expecting to be the best without putting in the years of work that other kids have put in is a different story and I

see that same kind of thing in floring in the trades in general like you come

in and you're here for six months and you want to you're you you were you know

with an installer for six months and you want to be the looked at as the best not

that you are striving to be the best but you want to be considered the best uh and you just don't know what you don't

know yet um so one of the things that in

in my opinion that like makes a makes it clear that you're no longer an

apprentice is not that you quit learning you like you said D you don't ever stop learning but you are also then prepared

to start teaching and that's kind of where I seen

as I got better and better where I really I wasn't scared that someone's going to come take my job or you know

this fear that I'm going to be I'm training my replacement all this stuff we've heard in the industry that wasn't

there and that's when I think you become an expert is when you're so when you've become so proficient at your your

craft not only can you teach but you're willing to teach and you want to teach

um that to me is the difference between like an expert and uh you know we'll

call it a a journeyman or a um or an

apprentice yes sir how about you Jose

it's just one of make get up and do some push-ups something get the energy go oh

Energy's there Energy's there bro I just like listening to everybody else talk nobody wants to hear my D voice all the

time come on now you sound so you got that you got a voice for radio bro come

on yeah face for radio yes

um you know it's hard to say man because like like Daniel said just you know his story and my story are very similar as

far as when we decided that this was the career and and we're always going to remain apprentices right like we're

always learning something um uh and like Daniel said well let me

add to that that Daniel was the first one in the household to graduate from high school out of my parents myself and

everything and I'm the oldest so I do want to add to that so that's why that card means more than he thinks to him

about my uncle being proud um and as far as as like when that

transition was made I don't even know if that transition's been made for me yet or not right like everybody tells me it

is everybody tells me that we're good at what we do um but yeah but being good is one thing

dude like when we're talking about going from Apprentice to experts like what what is that that or or even to a full

journeyman what some of the best guys I know want to teach someone else what they know and you guys are the op teach

dude I want to teach wanting to teach and wanting to help and get out on site and show

somebody like I know you guys have went helped people finish jobs but you're also kind of showing them how to finish

a job and how to get from where they're at to a completed a successfully

completed project that that's where expert is to me it's the guys that are

not scared to teach other people what they've learned because they are so confident in what they know and and how

they perform you can teach one other thing and and I'll let you sorry for

butting in by the way because oh no I love it it's what it's for it's what it's about brother but is want you you

know not only are you willing to teach but you understand that there's still a

lot after you've taught somebody to be considered an expert by your client and

that's really what we ought to be thinking about is from a customer standpoint what makes an expert right

there's still a lot you can show somebody how to properly groove or cut

or weld or grout or any of the disciplines but there's still a lot they

have to do to be considered experts from the customer they have to execute there's a lot of execution in there

so you know carry on if that thought helps at all but that's kind of my uh my

two cents no it all any information helps right like so I wrote down I wrote

down I keep looking over here because I'm writing down notes as as we start talking like I always do uh

um I think uh once I hit that um once I decided that I wanted to teach

instead of instead of keep going because I'm still learning but that Comfort level that put you in the classification

of expert you're right I am comfortable talking about a lot of things with the client um I am comfortable giving them

answers I'm comfortable educating them I might not have all the the scientific

terminology down like Daniel does because that's what that dude likes to remember uh but the um being able to

explain anything in the manner in which anyone can understand is my superpower um and that is through learning

alongside of everyone and and going through my my trials and tribulations as

an apprentice as as a journeyman learning everything that I that I did to get to that label the the expert labels

bestowed upon me I never once started telling people I'm an expert I just tell people or have told any anyone who's

asked that I'm I'm my knowledge is pretty extensive in this category but

they're still more I like I like what you said it's not a self identifying thing it's what other people identify

you as an expert um you know you can claim it after after other people people

have told you though so you you are one of the more humble guys I know I'm

trying to be man because I don't like I don't go out there and and and push that um that agenda from about me on anybody

well you're just that way man both you guys are and that's just kind of how it works uh maybe that's a a good sign

because a lot of the real good guys that you know they're like oh man I'm I'm pretty good except for it I think he

tell you how good he is it's like uh that goes back to that old school Bruce Lee um comment when they asked him if he

was good he said um if I told you I I was a good I would be boasting but if I

told you I I I wasn't you know I'd be lying yeah so says that that her dad you

know set the standard for her at a young age trained everyone that walked through the door and never hesitated to show

someone another way and I think uh oh we got another comment coming in right here

also rewarding them for advancing their skills even with something as simple as not only traving glue but now they are

trimming a wall they're making a seam and you know it's not even just showing them another way it's um being an expert

is looking at them and asking them hey maybe you know something I don't too

right because there's been yeah like uh who's the who's the person that said that it was Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or

something said that they like to hire lazy people because they'll find an easy way to do

something well yeah once you figure out the uh standards finding those shortcuts

and those tricks is is um probably a good sign you

know of an expert as well I think it what Elena said is is

proof maybe for her dad being an expert is the fact is he wasn't he wasn't

scared to show any we've had like plenty of talks on this podcast about how

installers get this mindset that like if I start training somebody else um that

I'm gonna all of a sudden train train my someone to replace me that like you call

a Daniel scarcity mindset you know yeah really the the experts they're not

scared because they they know what they have to offer and they want to teach others they want that knowledge to get

uh sent on to other people so for all you experts out there uh you know train your guys get them get them a good

foundation and you know on job site training that's that's a tradesman's path I mean we all learn on

the job but at the same time we have to get in and get reinforced with some certifications and some some industry

standard training as well that's what helps us really like solidify that we're doing it the right

way and once you have that Foundation I think that's where I've learned uh

you'll learn tricks in those things but you'll also learn how you're supposed to do it and and once you have a really

good foundation you can kind of start to find your way of doing things I know you guys both have little tricks and stuff

of how you do something uh I know a lot of to guys have their tricks of how to

how to do something whether it's mitering a corner or making it you know or even you see a ton of videos on

striking uh you know uh silicone uh corners and things like this everybody

has a little tricks but the fact is you got to do it get that Foundation First that's what I think

anyway yeah just a basic General understanding of what you're doing uh is

is the best foundation um and also adding to that Foundation is is the

science behind it right because the science behind everything will will actually lead you in the right direction and

what I would say what shortcuts or what um I don't want to say shortcuts right

like that's that's a bad word techniques what techniques what techniques or tricks uh that that you can add to your

toolbox uh and keep up your sleeve uh for specific uh materials items

scenarios um I just talked about this with one of my buddies the other day who has uh purchased some some wood flooring

from us and he's like I got glue everywhere I wiped it on my boots I wiped it on them like dude it's like

Daniel was like that too Daniel wiped it on his pants I just started wiping the glue like when I'm gluing started wiping

it when I where I know it was going to be covered on the back of another piece on the wall where the base is gonna go I

said I kept my pants clean like I didn't have any glue on my pants after a while I can't say I can't say I kept mine

clean but I I started carrying a a wet rag with me a wet rag yeah yeah yeah

unfortun down every now and again yeah I just uh uh I would just

keep a wet rag but you know to each their own in the early days I look like

my uh the fronts of my pants were made of glue so I mean you know they would stand

up I would still look like that today right now it become it becomes habit right so

we've identified that clean pants are not a sign of an expert

right come on man an expert at keeping your pants clean but that's about it

um so I I think that depends right because looking at when we were watching

like Chris susum at the installation competition and the way that he was like

calm and collected like some of these other guys were all like like us you know all dirty and stuff and wiping

stuff up everywhere but not this guy he's calm collected not sweating really

super clean and just going about his day and that's him being an expert us not so

much I be sweating all over stuff everywhere it's like there's there's

different there's different looks and it's just what whatever look you take

and it gets the job done I think amen well I I um if you wanted a path uh you

know some of the great training companies out there whether it's CFI aft

you know install uh if you're in the union um there's uh

NCT NCT uh o OPAC like there's all these

different train in fact if you if anybody in the audience would love a

list of the training entities out there where you can go uh to their websites

we're happy to send it to you or you can go to go career's website and go to training and you can see all the

different um organiz a there and although not all of them are on our

website we're happy to send you even the unions and the the different places

where you can get that training but going through those um those entities I tell you what we've had guys go through

I had a couple it's probably been over a month ago now I had one of our guys

that's uh he's been in stallen floors forever but he went through a pattern uh correction course with with Robert uh

Varden and it he came back like in awe and he's been doing Casino work and and

patterned carpet work for a long time so getting to the trainings uh you'll

you'll you know if you've watched the Huddle you know I'm always a a proponent of that because those are are places

where you'll learn little tricks you'll also start to build that Foundation where you can teach other people that's

where I learned how to teach other people is is going through different courses and such and um because you you

take note of how you were taught what resonated with you in the course not all of us are great teachers by by nature

and uh I wouldn't say that I am I had to learn that I would say that I agree with that

last statement like it I have to have to be in a it's got to be a good day for me

to be considered to for me to consider myself a great teacher um there's a lot of there's a lot of outside sources that

could dictate your patience your uh the way you deliver uh what you're trying to

say um and also making sure you have the time right it's hard to teach when

you're when you're in crunch time or always encourage time I I will tell you that but yeah like teaching is also

something you have to learn too right so it's just one of those other things that you have to take the time out and you

can't just get out there and day one you're going to be the perfect person is just like learning the trade it's

learning how to teach yeah what's your name is John John John the Florin nator he's the

only one that day one he was perfect well I I you

know in all the conventions and different times we've been around

CFI um you know that's one of the things they have a train the trainer because they know that they have to teach others

how to teach you know what I'm saying and uh and uh Dave Garden says it all

the time you know it's important it's it's one thing to be really really good at what you do but being able to

transfer that first off being willing to transfer that but then after being willing having the skill set that it

takes to teach other people I mean you know teachers go to school to teach [Music]

kindergarteners right and then yeah so they go to school to learn how to teach young children uh you're trying to teach

other adults it's as it's as important that you learn how to teach and that's

where you'll learn it is how you learn um and uh you know when I when I first

got in the trade I I was taught not in a great way it was uh it was it was not

the best environment for learning um I hope that's changing in the industry uh

because a lot of mechanics as we called them uh were not the friendliest guys to

work with and uh hopefully as real experts will try they want to pass on

their knowledge that's that's my view and I believe that uh hopefully that's

kind of changing I see a tide going to back to education back to a mix of

Education with your experience and uh I know a lot of the CFI people get on here

and tell you that's that's the key to success in any trade is learn it apply

revise learn reply REI or apply revise you know and continuing that that course

throughout your whole career um that's why you guys are so good at different aspects of floring and not just one

aspect of flooring right you know what I'm saying like understanding what a how a spec reads and you start to understand

like you said Jose about the scientific side really we're talking chemistry when

you're starting to talk about the acrylic adhesives and the latexes and the the the different types of adhesives

on the market and how they apply to the flooring um uh products that you're installing

whether it's an epoxy set or you know get into tile in your epoxy setting and

grouting or thin setting thick setting you know all this stuff uh has to do

with chemistry um and I think that's an important part too is learning that stuff it's hard to

teach somebody you can teach them how to cut something right but if they don't understand the the chemistry of why

they're doing something that they're doing whether it's in residential or commercial um that's where you can have

some issues uh we talk a lot in floring about having to be concrete experts

chemists you know environmental uh experts and and uh flooring experts all

in the same package but there's a lot of Truth to that and that's that expert level is when you can know that not only

I know how to install this product but I know the environment supposed to be installed I know the adhesives I know

the surface profile the concrete that's necessary all that stuff oh yeah yeah

yeah and you know what I do want to add to that because what you just you just made me think of something too it's it's not only knowing it but right but

knowing where to find the information if you don't know it offand um that can

play a very important very crucial role in in that that expert level or expert

category um is understanding who what when where and why and if you don't know

any of that just this is the direction I need to go give me a little

bit yep yeah Elena says that there are just as many professional skills needed as

hand skills to be top tier installer and that's true because

you you just have to be all-encompassing right to to be considered one of one of

those top and because do a lot of what do you consider a top tier I think a lot of

the looking like big picture stuff a lot of the installers are are more independent our our industry is ran more

on Independent installers than the the bigger companies so when you look at it in terms of that you know you need

someone that's going to be running their own business so they have to be personable they have to be great with the the customers with the clients they

have to be good with the the paperwork side they have to be good with you know being able to teach someone

because it's it's hard to do everything by yourself especially when you're talking about like doing carpet you

don't want to be carrying trying to carry up a a 50 foot roll of carpet up three flights of steps by yourself right

so it's just you know little stuff like that so there there's so many important parts to being able to to be one of

those those top guys and then I think one one thing that ends up happening is

um people start looking at it and it's like they look at you and I mean we've

been doing this for 20 20 something OD years already and it's like I want what

you have right now but at the same time I don't want to do all the work that you

put into it and that's where I think we need to start building something out to where it's like where where do I get

from this point where I'm at now to where you're at and I think that's kind of what this episode kind of entails

right it's like how do we all come to an agreement because I've had conversations with people and no one seems to agree to

where where we start where what the next step is and then where where are we

going with it and then without agreement like what's going to happen do does someone like us just put something

together and then just push it out there yeah and there just a lot of variables to to factor in that too right like

individuals have to understand that they'll have limitations set and by themselves not only by themselves as in

this is all I want to do but there are those limitations that this is really all I can do and understanding and

recognizing uh your limitations and boundaries that are set forth is very important in in the progress of from um

Apprentice to expert right your expert might only entail one or two things versus several things so like it's just

you kind of bro you kind of broached the you know from a skill set standpoint

into uh the fact that our industry is so heavily uh represented by uh subcontract

independent these the independent installer in general whether you're getting your work

from excuse me getting your work from the market or you're getting your work

from shops your your own company and like you said Daniel now you got to

learn some of these other skill sets to be professional you can still be an

expert but that we've talked about this plenty of times you need to decide whether or not your expert level um in

ation skills um should be a should be if you're say you're an employee if you

should go over to that other side because there's so much more that you got to deal with but go back hly like I

think we just have to start looking at it as a long-term thing right it doesn't

matter if you want to go to if you feel like you want to go to the other side it's you only you got to start looking

at everything is you only have so many miles on your knees once you once you hit that that M that last mile what are

you going to do after that and we're kind of going through that right now um because you'd be proud of that that guy

right there Jose put a spreadsheet together for the guys to go through and we're keeping track of stuff on every

project and you know just like with everything new there's going to be some push back with everything and um we have

what what I call the Monday meeting but today's Tuesday since yesterday was a holiday and uh we had the meeting this

morning and he's like yeah man like this is one of the guys was like this is just really like I'm having a hard time with

it because I'm used to just showing up doing my job and going home and I said yeah but what you need to realize is

that you know we have someone here that used to work at a factory and even in a factory he was doing this exact same

thing so it doesn't matter where you're kind of like going this is something

that you're not going to get away from and if you're going to keep on pushing back you're just going to keep on holding yourself back yeah so tell me

about the spreadsheet what's the purpose of it well at first I had to get my sheet together um to learn how to do it

that's the that's I just want to open with that but Daniel can explain the purpose now so the the purpose of the

spreadsheet is just to keep track of the project on a daily and a weekly basis so

that way we can see where we're falling short like where time next where where

time is lost what is our Act a what's the average that people are putting in and stuff like that so that way we can

better do job costing and stuff like that yeah it also gives us a little bit of a metric as to where we're failing as

Leaders to to educate and to train right um that's also what it does because if

we're consistently showing that one person is um not completing x amount of

square feet in in the time frame that everybody else is or they're

you can just tell what's a burden a a t a a burden of a task on someone's

shoulders right so we're trying to alleviate some of that and understand where we're falling short and what can

we do to be better so that way just trying to identify areas for where there's room for improvement right all

the way around it's not just one person it it is it is a wide open window um on

on what people are doing right because it's a sheet that everyone can view and they can edit their their own stuff um

but it it's also a wide open view on where production is being made where production is being lost and where we

can be better um and it also tracks all the information that we need for billing and and and surprises at the end um

because that's something let you guys becoming experts in business right I mean you're just going from one one

thing to the next and that's kind of what you were talking about Daniel is like yeah and when you when you do

decide to go over you're always trying to find room for improvement maybe that's one of those identifying factors

of a expert is someone who's constantly looking for how can I be better at what

I'm doing whatever that is you guys are you know known as installer uh expert

installation professionals but you're also running a a full business that employs other installers and so you're

trying to find ways to improve that whole experience for your customer and your employees right yeah there's

there's a lot that goes into it there definitely a lot that's just tip of the iceberg there too yeah I mean we've had

episodes on on uh running a successful sub company and and starting kicking

your uh business from a you know launching a business and all that but it's all about being willing to learn

and having an open mindset and really being a problem solver thinking about those areas where we're we're falling

short and what kind of systematic approach can we take to to improving those and that's where your spreadsheet

comes in I mean you know um that's a lot of the reason why the metrics that are tracked on

goera is professionalism attitude punctuality dependability and

exceptional quality one of those have to do with your craft the others have to do

with the way you approach your craft and that's that's another thing I'm telling you what if you can knock those five

metrics out the park whether you're working for a shop or you're working for a uh direct with a um you know a client

a customer those are the things that everybody looks for um you know that

we've been blessed this last month on go career to have a an enormous amount of work orders going out on the network and

guys getting kudos for these metrics and you're starting to really see where guys

are standing out and and approaching the business a little bit different L um

it's it's one of those great equalizers right now in the in the industry is most of the like we have had such good luck

knock on wood uh with getting our work orders filled not for my company even

we're talking we have 16 other clients on go career but what I'm getting at here is that most really

um most of your handyman kind of installers that do not necessarily do

the best work they won't even get on that platform uh so the very first thing

that I've noticed is being willing to like put yourself out there here's what

I know uh and I want to improve and getting your Hammer rating and those

kinds of things those are steps kind of in that same direction they can be applied through anything goker is just

an example of it but if you did whether it's in business like you guys are doing

a spread spreadsheet to help improve yourself that means you have to track what you're doing now and discover where

you you may not be doing the best so that you can improve and uh you know

expert like I I think of really good installers they want to know I like I

want to know if my employees think I'm a good boss and so I encourage them to tell me you know if they feel like I'm

falling down somewhere to just display that come and talk to me about that let's get better together and

you guys have that same attitude and customers love it um at the end of the day it it all ends up showing in the

products that we put down gotta put a little bit of that love into it that's for sure and you talk

about giving Kudos I do just want to bring up um I want to give kudos to Dan

and Denise uh from D and D flooring I don't know if you guys even have seen

But Denise has been going through a bunch of stuff with surgeries and and whatnot so they've uh fallen on some

hard times so I just want to give them you know this the support that they need right now they do a lot for the industry

as well so if anyone has anything that they can do you know scan this right

here go to the GoFundMe and give what you can I mean even you know $5 you know

can can go a long way with what they got going on right now so we we appreciate

everything that Dan and Denise do and I'm supporting them today um Dan

was one of my uh one of our certifiers over when we did the nfic and uh he

argued with me for a long time about doing it but I'm sure we'll see him at the at

one of uh the sheet vinyl certifications at some point even though he said he's not going to do it but that's the that's

the yeah let's leave that up for a little bit guys let's support uh Dan and Denise and that's the beauty of uh help

out our fellow flooring uh yeah folks it is one of the let's show them that you

know uh what the flooring industry is all about I've seen it in CFI uh I've

seen it you know sharing like bulking money together to help other people I know there's other uh uh funds out there

uh in our industry and um you know you guys should scan this and and let's help

them out absolutely they're they're great people so we're definitely going to

going to be donating to them and we hope you guys all do too and just you know like I said any little thing helps and

they're great people they support the industry so let's start uh supporting the people that support the industry as

well amen certainly an expert in my mind Dan

I wasn't invited so what your guys is um you know

as we're going through this you know discussion you like I said at the very

beginning we could take it down multiple paths but if if you guys are out uh

anybody in the audience that's newer to the industry you know something you guys

said earlier brought kind of struck a chord with me one thing uh I mentioned

about my son wanting to be like the king Supreme the day walks on the job you

know take take this seriously if you really want to be a professional you got to take it seriously and that's putting

in the work to get better and um you know setting yourself up for successes

it's it's not going to happen uh if you are wanting like you said Daniel people

wanting what you have at 20 years in the industry in six months I mean you look

at it look so my son and I um for his birthday went and seen gret ofan Fleet right I was wearing the the concert

shirt last week on the show and then if you they're from Michigan and if you just look at it in

terms of just a band right you can kind of relate anything

to different things right so you relate being in a band and you're playing shows

for just your family and then you get a little bit better better and then you start playing shows

at at bars and then you get a little bit better and then you start playing shows at you know these small concert venues

and then now you look at them and they're I mean I seen them in Vegas and they played T-Mobile Arena and then

they're over here and they're playing you know van andle Arena and it's like

they went from one of those opening acts to be in that headliner and you can't be that headliner without putting in that

time you got to start somewhere and you can't just be that that that person that

just goes from zero to 100 like that and being under someone's Wing that that can

show you how to do do things is one of the main main ways to go yeah opening X

like learn from the the main the main show and that's the benefits of taking

your lumps along the way instead of just getting pushed all the way up there right you take your lumps you're You're

Building long-term uh long-term success right you're looking at the long game if

you're skipping and jumping and you're already at the Finish Line when it took people years I can I can almost assure

you that that long game isn't going to be very long um you know for some and some people it might work out like that

no well do you w to be do you want to be call do you want to be known as the best or you want to call yourself the best or

you know great or good or whatever well we've also other people do it that

other people do it that it becomes special especially at the installation competitions because I mean if you're

you're in there I mean you're probably one of the better installers in the nation so yeah kudos to you already but

when when it comes down to it and there are guys in there that are judging your

every single move and you're still not making the cut and then instead of being like all right I could have done better

you get angry and then start resenting people that's when you kind of got to

take a look at yourself and these people unfortunately never will but that's you

know their progress some won't yeah some some will learn some but there there is

those people right where it's like they're going to be the best they know they're the best they'll always be the

best regardless of what any of what happens regardless of the evidence yeah

yeah and you know I talk to them you know face to face it's like man

why you didn't win these reasons right here and I wasn't even a judge and I can tell you

what you were doing wrong and it's they thought that doing things the

hard way was going to be like showing the judges that all right I'm doing it

the hard way I should get more points no man that's where you got to realize is that

uh you got to work smarter not harder because getting it done efficiently and

the right way is way better than doing it the hard way and it's still being wrong well and that's where you really

make hay in this business is once you know how to do it finding those

efficiencies and getting better getting quicker we always said quality before speed and if if you can get that quality

first and then find the tricks to get faster um that's where you're going to make really good money in the business

and right and that's why that's why we're constantly reinvesting and we have

an issue with buying new tools right because you have to buy the new tools they're always it's like always the the

next best thing and it's like let me see if it really is sometimes it is and

sometimes it's not and but right you know what when it is it really is and it does save you some time so yeah at the

end of the day you know a a hammer is just a hammer to anyone but there's

there's different reasons and different H or there's different hammers for different purposes and knowing and

understanding uh even a tools limitations and then what you could

benefit from upgrading or buying a different version of the same the same

tool um there's a a lot to be said of someone who is willing to understand

that you know a hammer is just a hammer until it doesn't work for what you need it for um and I want to add to the

question you or whatever you said to Daniel about uh being the best I'm not gonna lie dude when we started preferred

flooring I straight up tell Daniel my goal is to be the best installation outfit out there like I wasn't lying you

know I was a little I was a little upset I was a little little uh probably a a little FL

chip on my shoulder uh when when I got let go uh because I I knew that I was

good at what I did I never said I was the best I knew that I was better than what they had didn't say I was the best

I just said I yield the best outcome and I know

the majority of what we're doing here and I know what I'm generating for you

yeah but it's different to have a it's different to have a goal of being the best and saying I'm I'm the best

self-proclaim to be the best without the evidence right hey ha have the evidence

um you know uh if you feel like you're the best but you're you know there's

plenty of ways to uh display that first off it's like the success of your

installation business if you're installation business if you're the best and we're talking you know once your th

this is why these conversations can get hard to even have sometimes because yeah are we because right you are you the

best at the individual skill set maybe and and that might be able to

um uh display itself very well if you're an

employee installer you start going to out into the the independent World well you got

to be the best at other things to be the best installation outfit as you said it

takes a dedication to learning new skill sets uh uh the humbleness to say I'm not

doing things as efficiently as possible and the courage to get out there and

talk to other people about how to get better uh one of the things a lot of flooring companies get to do which installers can

do as well by getting involved in the um the different trade shows and the different uh conventions that are out

there but you know being part of an association whether it's the fcica or fuse or starnet or any of these

or commercial one I think is another one uh the commercial

USA you get to get around other flooring companies and share best practices the people who are like some of the guys

that I admire in fuse because Stuart Associates is a fuse member are the guys

who um are willing to just tell you straight up what they do that's made

them successful like they you can literally just copy them and they don't care you're in a different region uh

they don't have a lot you know the competition is just uh you know there's always a little bit of that but at the

end of the day the really good ones are like we know there's a lot to the execution side of this so we'll share

our knowledge but it's up to you to execute right and um that that's a lot

of whether you're you're doing a a the hand skills training or the professional

skills training and learning that you know how to become a Prof professional

you know this episode is really about expert versus not versus but going from

Apprentice to uh expert but the my my daughter just sent

me a deal my my saying is at the end of the day so you know at theend beginning day I might

change it to the beginning of the day at the beginning of the next day tell you what do donate a dollar to Dan and

Denise for every time said at the end of the day and uh they they'll they'll

they'll probably fund that whole um issue they got going on and at least we know asin's paying attention yeah but

true true that you know one of the things I think about it when I try to get better at something is who can help

me get there and that takes humility and I got to swallow some lumps in my you

know throat sometimes and be humble enough to go ask somebody for help or ask somebody for uh advice or go to that

seminar at the fuse conference instead of going hanging out with people uh you

know all these conferences you can go to the seminars you can learn the stuff or you can go hang out in the hall or go

down and grab a a a beer with the guys at the bar um going to the seminars

learning applying yourself and and actually trying to get better um there's

some companies uh you know one of them Garmin comes to mind at infus that Scott

just he's a he's an expert at every level in my mind I look at him and I I know he does things right and we try to

kind of pick his brain when we're at the conference so those things are are the

same set of skills or I don't even know if it's skill the same kind of Pathway

to be becoming a really good installer if you're just getting started if you

are in the audience and you're just getting started again we at the Huddle really push for you to go get the

industry training it's the way that you're showing your dedication and when you mix that um that education with your

experience that's that's where you get you know you can I I agree Kevin you can

learn some stuff at the bar I've had well Kevin was drinking beers I was not

drinking beers but I learned some stuff from him too so yeah well you can but that th those

those bar trips are usually uh after maybe not always but a lot of the times

uh I've got to sit and chat and learn has been uh you know right at the end of the day or at the end of the the the uh

conference right on Justin I feel like an expert is never achievable in the real world we should always be learning

till the day we hang up the pads respect to everyone who's made a career of this

I agree you never stop learning but expert doesn't mean that you can't learn anymore you know what I mean like expert

y doesn't mean that you can't get better um yeah so did someone say beer no yeah

I I think that like overall like this is all great conversation but I I still

think the fact of the matter is is that without anything set in stone and without someone pushing it out there

like looking at what the union is doing and putting it in terms of all right

you're starting here you have to do this in order to move here in order to move to that next level this is what you have

to do without someone actually putting something out like that and we've been working on something like that um it's

just hard with how small we are like doing we used

a hammer rating for for that it's just we don't know where to say expert at to

five and the the I mean we've had we we talked to you guys about it too especially you know when we first

started talking and that was the thing you're and I brought it up to you like we were working on this you guys invited

us over and you're like how many levels are in there and we start counting and you're like how many you know hammers

are in the hammer rating and it everything kind of lined up together so yeah I mean it it it's it does it

everything lines up it's just a matter of someone taking initiative and saying all right in order to get from here to

here this is what you need to do and titles aside man it's just you need to be able to see where you need to go in

the industry like in order to move here this is what I have to do and then um looking at it from a different

perspective too it's like baby sister was in here a couple weeks ago and she

was asking questions and I said what you need to understand is we're we're doing we're set up we're one company but we're

kind of set up as two because we're doing the labor and we're doing the sales so it's

like we're two companies in one and she was like wow I never really looked at it

that way either so it's like yeah your sales and service and

that's that's where you're a full service flooring company um if you're selling your labor awesome be an expert

at it uh we're nearing the end of our podcast what I want to thank everybody

this is our 100th episode uh I I

100 I want to thank all the audience for for coming in live each week um

sometimes we have four or five people sometimes we have 25 people uh we get a

lot of interaction on our on our socials and on our YouTube channels and such so please if you like it the Huddle you

want to support us go give us a like subscribe um you

know communicate with us leave comments and also every time we we put down uh we

love topics we love the topics that come from the audience because it it really tells us what you guys want to have us

dig into um we come up here and we we ablib a lot but there's research that

goes on on uh topics that we don't know about so so if you uh if you like us

give us some uh give us some love best of luck Kevin Kevin Kevin's

going to Atlanta to do his uh nfic Masters next week yeah and look Kevin

Kevin doesn't install on a daily basis you know what I'm saying right he

go he goes home he goes home and practices in the garage don't let him trick you

all right fellas well we're nearing the end you guys got anything um close us out

with um yeah if if if you're on that path or want to put yourself on that path from

um Apprentice to expert uh make sure that you are doing your best to be the

best for you right because if you're doing it for someone else you're G to lose interest but if you're doing it for you for your career for your family

whatever whatever drives you do it for you because e e eventually someone will take notice and um that that label of

expert will get bestowed upon you as a gift and not a label that is uh um

selfed yeah self-proclaimed yeah I would say that and I think I wrote down something right here too is uh like my

interpretation of expert is where uh where knowledge experience execution and

education all come at a Crossroads that's where that's where you get that that label from

nice well like you said that everyone like that label of expert kind of gets

bestowed on to you right and that's kind of what has happened to us especially in the resilient world and we definitely

appreciate that but we're still learning something every day amen and this is what like Kevin

says right here never be afraid to reach out for a direction and I think that's what set you apart is

taking what you don't know realizing what you don't know being humble and

then asking for that direction yep consant learning for sure

and you'll take those next steps you'll whether you're start going to be just the best employee ever and uh and be the

best installer at at your company or you're going to go out and strike your own path and open a labor shop or you're

going to go sales and and uh and installation whatever path you decide

you're going to have to put on your learner hat and be willing to ask for help

so all right guys well congrats a hundred times we've been on this uh

podcast almost every time together and uh I want to thank you guys for always

being here and carrying the torch and and um always bringing knowledge always

being engaged it's it's been awesome and we're going to continue to do this thing again if you guys you know want to

support us Hammer that like And subscribe and uh you know comment on our

socials let us know what you're thinking of and and let us let us know what to talk about a little bit we got our we

got our can I started I just got a well yeah you can replay it as you can

always watch it you can always watch it Rin um so yeah thanks to every everybody

100 shows is uh is it's a quite defeat and I I I appreciate everybody involved

including all the people in the background that make this possible so thanks to Ashlin she's our SI she's our

Silent Assassin in the background and uh we we certainly

appreciate all her uh efforts and putting this together keep basically

does everything we just we just show up and then start talking yeah

all right guys well thank you so much we will see you guys next week and from

there see you thanks everyone

The Huddle - Episode 99 - The Psychological Impact of Installer Burnout

In the latest episode of our podcast, "The Psychological Impact of Installer Burnout and Strategies for Self-Care," we delve into the mental effects of burnout on flooring installers and discuss effective self-care strategies with special guests Crystal Sims and Florencio Guilarte. Burnout can lead to significant stress, reduced productivity, and emotional exhaustion. Our discussion focuses on recognizing early signs of burnout and implementing practical steps for mental rejuvenation. Tune in to learn about balancing work demands with personal health, incorporating relaxation techniques, and setting professional boundaries to maintain well-being and enhance job satisfaction.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

hey what's up every everyone welcome to the Huddle Paul's not here to do his intro again and it messes everyone up

every single time thanks for joining us today we got

uh me Jose and uh some more family members

today we got baby sister everyone knows Crystal Sims and uh most of you might

not know this is Flo his name's florencio but we call him Flo because uh

no one can remember floreno or even say it because they can't roll their RS

that's legit so uh Crystal why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself tell people about

you uh my name is Crystal Sims I work at preferred flooring in Grand

Michigan a little bit about me let's see uh I have three

boys I love self growth and learning a lot

about myself and I'm excited to be here word um you

might so my name is florencio Gil that loud that loud and

uh I work at preferred flooring too been working since I was like 14 years old

just helping out in the summer when I could because that's what we were supposed to do so I learned the trade

back then been getting back into it and finding a little bit of passion in it

but I'd say I'm a man who's always extroverted I

like talking to people like having conversations um I'm really big on music

writing an album this year hopefully I make it out on that yeah that's a little

bit about me I got a son and wife at home yep well she's not a wife

yet girlfriend that's my

girlfriend so today we're g to be talking about uh the psychological impact of installer burnout I think

we've all kind of been there and been through it right at some point in our careers and what what can we do to kind

of mitigate that I mean um what happened the first time you got burned out and I

can kind of kind of lean on you on this one because um so this is not Flo's

first time actually working with us and um he was in the field before he was in

the office and the last time he was here he actually just came up to me and he was like I'm just not feeling it and um

you actually what moved to Iowa shortly after you left here so H how were you feeling when when you were kind of going

through that um I guess I had my mind on everything that I wasn't everything that

I told myself that I was going to do in life and I wasn't doing and it felt like I always had floring to fall back on to

flooring this flooring that flooring's gonna help you do this flooring is gonna help you do that in a sense

it's I just had to get away I had to remove myself from the situation because I was focused on things that I thought

was my future focus on things that uh I thought was going to help me get the life that I desired but at the end of

the day when I moved back from iow it was just like you know that wasn't working out bu

go back to flooring hey what's up Justin how's it going you know I I just think about

it burnout happens like once a month for me just

because it is a trade that I I've had to learn to love had to find the things

that made me want to keep going I guess and honestly I just smoke a lot of marijuana

to drown out the thoughts so I can keep coming to work the next day I think that's called

addiction word word and you know we talked about this

in other episodes too about what people do and then

and I mean marijuana's one of those things right but there's definitely

worse things that you could be doing and you know our trade is riddled with people that are on prescription pills or

get addicted to um I mean heroin other things that that

could be a lot worse and even more addictive and and take you on a path

that is uh could be even worse so I mean detal it it could be worse and it's all

in what else can you do in order to uh mitigate that that burnout baby

sister what about you what about the the first time that you felt burnt out what what did that feel

like um well first I want to say that

the word mitigate I don't know I think that it's

inevitable to have burnout at some point because we're continuous learning and

evolving so I think the best thing for us is to prepare for things such as burnout

um for me I think a lot of it for me

was started when I was put in the spotlight and I

felt uh I guess Unworthy of the the position that I was in I mean I know

that I'm fortunate to have a family to support me and get me

to overcome some of my fears to put me in those positions that help me overcome

my fears but to me it felt a lot like I

wasn't what do they call that uh impostor syndrome you were

autopilot yeah like but it was like imposter Sy like I couldn't understand

the hype but at the same time

uh I was in a position where I didn't it

was almost like my values didn't aligned with what position I was in so for me

the burnout happened when the things that uh I was saying

like saying yes I'm a leader yes I'm doing this yes I'm good at my job but I didn't feel those things deep inside and

so the burnout came when I wasn't uh my my outer reality was not

aligned with my inner reality and I was kind of resistant to or oblivious to

that fact and I had to really hey Paul and and I really had to go through

the experience though right like I had to mess everything up at work and I had to

fight myself mentally and I had like you really have to go through those steps to know like okay I'm I'm really doing this

to myself I I feel like burnout we do to ourselves well me personally for my

experience um and I think that like like Flo said

for some people it happens once a month for some people it happens for you know

a year consecutively it just it all depends on the person uh for me I picked

up I could picked up cookie decorating so maybe better than marijuana but

probably not because I also went through a phase where I kind of shut everyone out completely and just focused

on uh making cookies and growing um I well I think it it all depends on what

you want to do right so it's like they talk about

like addiction transfer and so y we

myself you and josea have all gone through weight loss surgery right so we've all kind of gone through we were

all addicted to food at at some point I was addicted to being big sexy

that's what I was addicted to so it it it it's all about you know

what what can you do to to take something from over here and kind of

transfer that to somewhere else and sometimes it is shutting other people out because you have to be alone in

order to figure yourself out sometimes I think up Paul my check my check there

you go check we we didn't even attempt to do the intro today Paul because no

one can do it as good as you he he he he did attempt he did

attempt well I I I will just have to watch that back I'm sure you don't don't

knock it out of the park n bro I saw a bug on the ground it was crawling by my feet and right when he was about to

start I looked at said I said there's a bug and then he [Laughter]

started so we're we're just talking about uh the the first time you know you f you felt burnt out and how we've all

been there do you have any this story about the first time you you felt burnt out at

all you know I I was sitting here listening to Crystal kind of

um chat and and talk about the time frames that it could be

um some people it's once a month some people it's it's once a year I feel like

I still uh hit that just in a different a different way um and it's it's most of

the time it's in some interval that I've like I

push myself really hard and you know then I'll find myself to like get into

this funk um and I I've got a I've got a business

coach uh therapist business therapist maybe I should call her because more than just a

coach but uh her name's Olga and um I tap straight into back with her

every single time that I get into that like it's it's odd guys because for for

most of us we perform we we we work hard we want to do the right things and then

you just find yourself in this position where you feel worthless and I can't

even describe where it comes from uh or why it's there but when it comes on um

instead of me this is me personally instead of

um you know staying in that state I want to get out of it and so I am a huge

proponent in like talking to somebody and family is is great and there's some

people that works for for me I just need a like is not a stranger anymore but

even just a stranger to like say I don't know I'm screwed up this is what's going on and I just feel like

[ __ ] and I don't even want to go to work I don't want to get up I slept 15 hours

last night and I still feel like crap I'm just tired all the time and I feel worthless fix me

please obviously it doesn't happen quite that easy but uh if we're talking about

the first time I mean probably uh would be about a two

year years after I started the company back in 99 it' been about three years we had

grown pretty crazily and then uh I Had A disruption with my partner a

disagreement not a single but a long-term disagreement and he got into a funk and wasn't coming like he just quit

coming to the off he gave up and I had to find a way through it and Banks and

you know money and all this stuff was and um

I I found that talking to people uh was was a good way but even if it's just

getting on my knees and praying um but it's a real thing and it's

something that you got to be mindful of as you're leading up that's what I think I mean Crystal do you find that like if

you're cognizant of the now I can almost feel when I'm getting close to that and

start to you you get that feeling yeah I definitely get that feeling because like

I'll get to like the middle of the week or sometimes it's at the beginning of the week where I wake up and it's like I

don't want to do what I need to do today like that work is just at the back of my

mind I want to do everything else but that just because I am burnt out I am

sick of doing the same thing for five days a week for 365 days a year like you

work 65 days a year no that's more like 320 days but

days it's a lot of days a year though I getting back I

think go ahead well I was gonna say that I think that what I see in common is

that the burnout is resistance to growth uh that's the

way I like to look at it because usually right before you're about to have like a

major breakthrough usually go through this bout of depression or burnout or

like kind of like a defeated feeling and then once you accept and acknowledge

that oh I'm in this place and I can't get up like it's just part of you that's

like okay well now you acknowledge that something is not right and then you start to then you hit like a major break

they like okay this is what we're going to do next it's it's about slowing down

and uh listening to yourself and being aware I think that's a really big one is

like you said you can feel it when it's coming when you're coming up to it it's

I think a lot of it has to do with your level of awareness because for a long time I like to say that I was sleep

sleep uh and like in the last few years is like everything is just so different

to me there's a like I'm a lot more aware of myself and so the more you know

yourself and how you work like um

mentally physically uh I think that you're you can see it coming a lot

easier well the the more you um I I used to just drown it out and when I mean

drowned it out I mean with bourbon you know and that give me to the next

day we we all have like Tony Robbins says this um but so does a a friend of

mine Ed that you know you have what type of person you are we all have six human

needs variety is one of them and how high that human need is on in each

individual is different but like variety is a need that I have and when I find

myself not being just all work no play no no family um

and doing the same thing over and over again not adding any variety to my life and this could be different for each

person but me personally I've got to get some variety going because it can be

monotonous going into the office I mean to have a successful company you got to do what are we told to do do things in a

systematic way the same way is what that means every day all day that's how you

build a successful company it's also if you're doing that very much a lack of

variety right you're using the same programs communicating in the same

effective manner with a lot of the same at least type of people and so adding

some flavor into your life or at least for me it was it was about getting away

from drowning out my uh those that feeling of the state I

was entering um and like you said being aware that I was being more aware now

and kudos to you for figuring that out at your age I mean I'm 48 I feel like I

just figured it out a couple years ago she's not much younger than you

bro don't I think we're always I think we're always figuring it out there's

once you're aware of one thing is just it'll always continue on higher and

higher yeah once you once you kind of find it then and you recognize it one

thing I had to do is just I quit drinking and then it's funny when you

take away those numbing factors when you use it the way I did um that you're

you're you're you're not aware you're numb all the time you're almost like a zombie you know like zombie yeah you're

there but you're not really there what was you going to say autopilot yes like you're living your

life behind glossed eyes you you see everything you notice stuff but you

don't feel for it you don't act upon it just don't care you just don't exist at

that time yeah just don't care it's legit out of

body speaking about body was one way you could be out of body and still gather

information oh that was a clever way to just uh slide right into our sponsor for

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out amen but it is like an out of- body experience when you're talking about

being numb for for sometimes years and

um I know that doing the same thing and doing it over and over again is one one

thing that can cause that but the other deal is do you see value in in what you're providing another thing that I've

exercised I was taught was like think about the people that you're helping when you're doing the thing that you're

doing and in flooring we are improving people's lives whether they're they

um you know it's their home or their business it adds Pride to their facilities it adds Pride to their home

they get to feel like uh you know I mean we've all been through walkthroughs

where people are like man I just you can feel it I just love this well if you focus on when I was I should I'm real

careful not to give advice because I'm no mental health expert but for myself

uh I found when I focused on on the value that I'm providing to others that it helped me get through that monotonous

and actually find Value in the the system again in the the day in day out

routine is when I was thinking about someone else I found when I'm just focusing on poor me that's when I start

sliding down in there and uh Olga's done a good job of like pointing some of that stuff out for me uh I may only talk to

her once or twice a year but it's it's always a pleasure and those are the kind of um you know relationships that if you

have within your family or within a good friend or heck hire a coach I don't it's

money well spent if you need to um you know i' I've just learned these

things these these little Lynch pin little spots in my life where I can be

it it like that I'm I'm headed back that direction you know what I mean and

um again it's when I'm being selfish is probably the the biggest culprit of it

you just said it right there that's what I was waiting to here so I'm gonna butt in I haven't said anything yet right I wanted to listen to everybody uh but so

I'm just gonna go back to the burnout Lake um I also had a drinking problem when I was younger uh in my younger days

I would say uh but the the burnout for me didn't always come from work right it

just came from situations in my life um and then me instead of dealing with it

head on just me being selfish I wanted the best outcome for myself in a lot of different different ways and so I tried

to find out what that was um so I I

would say that I tried to find Outlets you know like um uh softball was one for

a very long time I mean I played ball for a lot played baseball since started when I was 11 I didn't stopped playing

ball until last year at 40 something never never took a year off

um but the the burnout would come from people right I would get burnt out from

people it was never from work right the physical aspect was always it used to be

easy for me now it's very difficult um but that's other reasons but so the

physical aspect used to be easy and fun and I used to love being the fat guy who

was strong showing everybody that but it was the the mental portion and having to

learn how to deal with people on a day today basis when when it wasn't always

easy um it wasn't easy being the 19-year-old bossing the 30 something year olds around because I was already

better at their job than they were they were the ones that taught me and then I got better um or or the new guys that

were it was never easy doing any of that and I think that that's where my burnout come come from is that I always wanted

to do the best I could or be the best I could and prove that I was I was better

at this today than I was yesterday didn't matter what it was and I think

that's where the burnout come from for me as I put myself in a position to don't mess up you talk so much crap

about everybody else that you can't mess up man right um and I still do that but I deal with a lot of stuff I deal with a

lot of stuff through humor I like to crack jokes make fun of everything um I

that pressure we put on ourselves can be crushing y it is and

and you can only controlled your controllables and it took me a long time to realize that even though it's still

frustrating now today knowing that there's things that are controllable to other individuals

around you that you surround yourself with they did they just decide and choose not to control do I get mad upset

yeah but I try to let things go very quickly so it doesn't eat at me um I used to smoke pot I used to drink

all the time used to tell people that I smok pot I used to live to smoke and

smoke to live uh but uh you know I

just through different changes and different view views in my life different parts of my life I I I had a

different view I'm one of those people that and I think Daniel my family here can attest to it if I say I'm not doing

something anymore I quit I quit smoking and never

went back I mean I did fill it with other voids but um I also quit doing that too um and you

know I quit smoking started vaping uh Then I then you know my son was three years old picked up a ink pen top and

acted like he was vaping boom done like that day

done um well coping uh have you guys

talked about like what are the positive coping mechanisms because you got

listening to you Jose there's a couple things you got physical and mental burnout I never really had a physical a

problem with physical burnout it was always mental it's always similar in

some of the same vein as what you were just saying which is like I put a lot of pressure on myself I I always want to be

the best at what I'm doing and so I've I've got this like I can't let you the

these people down kind of syndrome and the truth is is that we add a lot of

that pressure to ourselves so how do we how do you how do you cope with it what's your guys's coping mechanism not not in a NE

not necessarily in a negative way but um we all have to deal with this so we do

and and you know I've come to realize that I love to learn right so my coping for me is I I

love to learn doesn't matter what it is I go down a lot of rabbit holes so that

way when someone that I that I care about a friend family whatever I love to learn things so that

way I can help them to any capacity and that's my coping mechanism is I try to

offer some kind of insight no matter what the subject is no matter what the problem is and if I can't then I say hey

I can't but we can learn together you know and so when you're when you're like at that level you you find that like

engaging other people and helping them is um beneficial and do these people

just come into your life at this opportune time is there and and that you know CU or do you just reach out to

somebody uh you know you're feeling like you know I don't want to I don't want to

do this anymore and then do you reach out to someone or is it just kind of opportunistically come into your life I

think uh I think everything aligns for a reason right

um I don't know maybe I put out that Vibe sometimes maybe someone's putting out a Vibe and I kind of extend

a little bit of a assistance by making a comment or saying something but I leave it at that I don't overstep my

boundaries I don't I don't impede on anybody's life I don't you know I'm not the gossip type um if you didn't hear it

from me then it you know if I didn't hear it from someone's mouth or the source or whoever's at the subject I

could care less what people are saying about someone else but um I do my best to try to make myself

available to everyone right so it's more it's more like when

you're when you're going through it than than people like in your life or somewhere um maybe close to you um maybe

comes around needing some help is that like when when I think

about one of the uh best ways to like deal with stuff is doing it yourself you

know we learn a lot of us especially as technician kind of people learn by doing

and you are doing the thing that would help you the most by giving to someone else you know what I mean um I'll put it

like this um I had a very close friend have some very some issues internally that they

were dealing with right so I did a lot of research come to find out I was also dealing with a lot of those issues so I

did more research and then it was just like I was so worried that the our

medical industry is crap the way and the systematic order they have you do things so I went and found a lot of different

uh options and information about uh uh specific prescriptions and what it could

do what it couldn't do and how the imbalance Could Happen by having too much of one not of the other um and then

I found out a lot about myself through that process and we're talking like six months of just reading and downloading

articles and reading books or listening to audio books um I want want that route

and learned for my myself because I was trying to find some answers for this

person um did it help I don't know but all I did six months of reading and

listening well did it help you I mean yeah well it helped me 100% um all of

that that information that that I kind of crammed in there all went to like a you know a half hour conversation here a

10-minute conversation there right I never try to pressure anybody or anything like that or even myself

because I'm not always the best person to talk to sometimes I'm in those moods like yeah don't care right now just let

me be yeah you can always get tacos and watch uh flooring Tik Tok videos yeah

100% what about you uh you and Daniel and Flo what are you guys I think uh you

weren't in here for the the beginning of what baby sister said when she was getting burned out but it was kind of

like being pushed into the the Limelight and not really feeling like she was um

to the capacity of what everyone thought she was right and that kind of feeling

burned out because of that and I I think everything comes full circle because you

know people are going to push you to where they feel that they think that you should be and you kind of need that push

and then where they see value where they see value you be and then when when you

start feeling that burnout is when you kind of said people will start kind of reaching out to you like hey I and do I

have some questions that I think that you could answer or I need some help with this and that that's when you kind

of look at it like hey maybe I I do have that value and that's where you kind of

kind of start putting out where yeah I I do have this information that you need maybe I I can help you out and then you

you also have to start reaching out to other people too because

it's it's not always you know I always have the answer you have to start

reaching out to people too and and being humble like no I don't always have the answer so reaching out to your network

and and because you you never know when where people are at too people can be

feeling that same way so it's like hey I'm I'm need some help with this you know do you mind helping me out you know

they could be feeling that same way that you are and they need someone reaching out at the same time

so ironically reaching out to someone for help and asking them for their expertise even when they are feeling

burned out can actually help them feel less burned out I think ding ding ding ding

ding yeah the crystal is that when you first kind of as as your brother said

throw going in kind of being pushed into the Limelight did you feel like uh because other

people seen value in you and value in what you had to offer and you've did you

feel like you weren't worthy absolutely 100% uh earlier I I

referred to it as um impostor syndrome so just not not

feeling like I am who people say that I am or not feeling

my like just not knowing who I was uh for me like it was definitely an

identity shift for me when uh when I went through my most recent bout of

burnout um just yeah I lost my train that happens

to sometimes well going through your most recent ballot of burnout I

I what was the question again I person know that um for me it's it's a lot of

the same exact thing you just said imposter syndrome when I've you

know been asked to do something or pushed out into this role uh or I put myself in the

role and I'm like what in the hell were you thinking you're just a flooring installer guy um but a lot of the time

that and this is the point I wanted to make you know when we were talking about earlier where uh the the you were saying

right when that pain is really bad it's like where the breakthroughs on the other side and that that's a common like

theme that is like I would say that is true you're very close you're right

around the corner from a break a breakthrough uh if you can just endure a

little bit longer and sometimes uh at least in my case it was persevering

through times when I wanted to quit um I mean everybody knows I I I'm the founder

of go Carrera and when I started that in 20 uh 2018 really and there's been so

many times throughout this journey that I've like who are you what are you at

you're just an you're an actor you know you're an actor well the

truth is is that because the the breakthroughs on the other side of burnout It's really

because you're going through all this to condition yourself to become the person that you have to be to accept that that

new uh that breakthrough you can't just it's it's like the it's it's why so many

lottery winners right they can't manage a hundred bucks and then they win a 100 million and they're broken three years

you know uh it's something like 80 some percent of ball lottery winners end up

absolutely broke and the stats in the NBA and NFL are very similar they they

never learn they never became who they need to become to ex to to have that

their their identity didn't match their reality and you talked about an identity crisis earlier and these things are deep

subjects sometimes we get deep on the Huddle because this is stuff we're all really dealing with in real life and I

know our audience is too so yeah I mean there's plenty of times where where you know we're at a school event or

something and you know they they come up to me and they're like man you guys are killing it and all this and then you

know and deep down inside you're just like man I am struggling so much man I

am killing myself that's what that's how you like H yeah I'm killing myself

nobody even sorry I can even relate to that today like talking to the kids they

came up to me great questions they were like so why do you do what you do he

said I said uh because this was my last option that's what I told the kids and

they're like they're like do you love with you do I said I've learned to love parts of

it but like I if I'm speaking honestly like my biggest passion is music and

writing and and I want to be a professional singing actor one day like that's the goal and I'm using the

flooring industry as a stepping stone and I want to perfect my craft in it because it is the only thing that is

pushing me forward in life that's allowing me to create something that's allowing in order to be a great singer you have to experience a lot of

depression and and and despair so you're welcome for giving you all the yeah

you're welcome no and I think about what uh what Paul was saying like everything

at at a point in your life just aligns and you start seeing all the stuff that you went through and all the times that

you thought you weren't going to make it the times that you thought you were at the bottom of your road but you have to

reach Rock Bottom to be able to rise up to the top where you want to be because Rock Bottom changes too guys right Rock

Bottom changes all the time every time you reach a new level your bottom Rises too um you know but you can always go

you can always regress further than that bottom and and and Paul you had mentioned you said something like every

time you feel you're at that point of burnout you're just right around the corner right around the corner man I

mean you see that picture on on Facebook right where they're like mining for diamonds and there's two people one one

above the other and then one is keeps on going the other guy just turns around

and he's right there and then sometimes you got to realize that you know and and that's that's where you got to have have

that mindset and it's like you do and well what is the mindset I'm gonna interrupt you the mindset what what is

the mindset that that the mindset is is like because there is times where you're

like what the hell am I doing man like why am I doing this and then that's

where these people come in and it's like you look at at yourself at at at the impostor syndrome and it's like and then

you talk to these people and it's like you know what there is people that are telling me that I'm doing a great job

maybe I am doing a great job I also think it's it's like recognizing

that that struggle is a blessing like the journey Daniel you're

like one of the most positive guys I know and recognizing that that struggle

that despair that you're in is the that you should be grateful you should know

that you're right around the corner and if you keep pushing you're going to have a breakthrough and it may be a little

one or it could be a huge I've had them multiple different ways and uh you know

Ed melette told me one time we were having a discussion he says you just need bit what you should strive for in

life is is more important problems that's what success gives you just

bigger more important problems we're none of us ever going to success our way out of problems it's just yeah you get

bigger more important ones if you if you're if your rock bottoms raising with

you I like to call them lessons we're we're all here to learn lessons and if we don't learn the lesson you

continuously repeat the lesson until you finally learn what you're supposed to

learn from that experience which is why um I feel like a lot of people stay in

lack mindsets or uh poverty mindsets because

they uh I also refer to it as like a victimization people like to victimize themselves and it's not and I'm not

saying like it's not anyone's fault this is the way we've been programmed like how we have grown up that way and so

um yeah it's all of these lessons all of the problems or struggles that we grow

through are for a purpose and we may not know it right away but later on down the

road something that Jose just randomly picked up one day that's him following

his intuition and he's going to use that knowledge maybe five to 10 years down

the road but there was a reason we learn what we learn and we do what we do so that later on down the road it's going

to serve a purpose eventually in our life as long as we use it that way we

see as purposeful yeah and you're aware

aware of it right yeah my poor my poor kids at home I I totally overload them with information ever since they they

could talk I I've never answered them in baby Babble or anything like that if they've asked me a questions I've always

explained everything to a te whether it put me in a bad spot or not and man like

giving kids the scientific explanation for everything might not be the way to go but I didn't know and yet like I

didn't I want them to know everything that I know at a way younger age than I than I did so that way that way he puts

some in a better better position and um but but at the same time sometimes they

they disagree with you and then it's like all right go learn yeah that's okay

that's okay and I talked to lencho today about that too like hey so tell them whatever they want

a good a a good lesson in this is my nie right she's lived with me for 5 years

and um this kind of goes back to what you were saying it's like you do things not

for not so people tell you that you're such a good person and all that right because people do they come up to me and

they're like oh you're such a great person for you know bringing her in and stuff it's not why I did it right it's

not why she lives with me it's because you know I had the resources come over

give you a better school district and all that but this year she didn't want to do softball and now she's regretting

it and she's like she talked to you know Jose about it and she's like why didn't he just make me do it and it's like life

lesson man like you you got to learn things and I I felt that it was time I'm

not going to make you do it because I knew you were going to regret it and I think that she's at the age right now to

where that that was going to be a great life lesson for her yeah and as adults we kind of go through the same thing

even you know where that's a great lesson for how old is she

17 okay yeah I mean that's that and even a few years younger it's a great lesson great time for that

lesson because when you're an adult you just don't have as many uh safety nets

under you right you don't have parents or uncles or aunts as much around you as

a safety net when you make a bad decision so you kind of got to just learn to live with your decisions and it

teach tees you to kind of be more thoughtful about the decisions you make and think about how

it's going to affect you in the future or affect other people in the future and uh I was just to get this right with the

six human needs that I mentioned earlier it and if you think about this some of them are counteractive and in fact I

think we should do a podcast on like contradictions like but C human need

number one is certainty number two uncertainty and variety number three and these are not in order

just in uh you know they're different for each person but significance being

significant that's one of my that's high up on mine I want to do something that matters uh connection and love growth

and contribution so that's like the six human needs

that you know people like Tony Robbins and Ed mlet talk about if you think

about all those when you're what you were talking about earlier Jose when you're helping people or even you Daniel

when you guys were talking about helping other people that's contribution and if that's high up on your list and I know

it is on yours because you guys not to call you out but you guys train other people you help other people when they

need help on projects like you want to help other people that contribution to

uh other people's lives I feel like that is the one of all of the needs needs being so selfless

that can get you out of a lot of your funk at least for me I I got to quit talking that guy no I know for that goes

along with like uh success and change in your life too because if you're surrounding yourself with the top uh I

mean the top five people that you surround yourself with is ultimately how your life's going to turn out and if you spend your entire life just helping

people and giving sewing sowing sewing never reaping never gaining never expecting to gain

then at the end of the day you're going to get everything you ever wanted yeah they say that hopefully that that the

five people that you're most around like you just said is uh your network equals your net

worth so like the people that you hang out with are who you're going to end up

acting the most alike or um and you know that's why if you've ever had a business

coach or a mentor uh that that's that's a good Mentor they'll tell you like you got to be

around people that have done what you want to do or are living the kind of

life that you want to live and that doesn't always mean money I'm not even just talking about money I'm talking about

like the the type of life that they live I got a buddy of mine he he makes good

money but he's not like a a wealthy guy one of the happiest goddamn fellas I've

ever met though like he he travels more than anyone I know uh him and his wife

go all over the dang World he's got a good job that allows him for that free

time to do it and that's what he loves to do he's one of the happiest guys I know and um I don't know where I was

going with that so I'm with you Crystal on a loss of track of the thought but

um he just had a Crystal I had a crystal moment I'm sorry

Crystal Clear Crystal moments um so right along with that is what the type

of people you surround yourself with I think that it's important to also know your values it's where your values are

going to knowing your values are going to help you uh live more intentional and

make decisions based on what you believe and how you perceive yourself I guess in

a way and so the people you surround yourself with uh should absolutely have

the values that you aspire to have um and that's continuously changing and

growing and as you learn and evolve as well um I'm about to have another

Crystal moment though because I did I'm gonna build on that the the the one of the contradictions that

always happen in my head is just what you said being around the people one one

group of thought or one train of thought will say be around like-minded people

that's the best way to live a happy life but that's also the best way to like not

grow not not have anybody pushing you or being drug in a in a uh by example of

other people so it's kind of a contradiction in my head a lot of the self-help stuff will add this dichotomy

to your brain it's all about how you feel though um is what I've learned and so sometimes

it it is about being around like-minded people but most of the time I want to be around people who are going to push me

and that can be difficult if you're um you know if you're a a workaholic like

myself you don't get around a lot of people other than your employees and then you get home to your family like

yep it's it's just and and installer installer same way you work

your butt off you're doing good you're around the same guys or the same people every day um so it's even Variety in the

people that you hang out with I think and um have having a little bit of a a a

deeper bench than just your same my biggest ruts is when I've had

the same buddies doing the same thing and we leave work go meet for a drink do

this thing and that that that rut is is hard to get out of because you you don't have anyone around

you to pull you out they want to in fact keep you there with them well that's why I say that your values change because

sometimes when we stick around people for longer than we need to it's because

our values are no longer aligned and we are looking for growth and we are looking for something different so I

think it's important to also come back to what you're valuing you know every so

often to make sure that you're still in alignment with the people that you surround yourself with because have you

had to I I'm sorry I was just going to ask I'm curious have you had to cut people out of your life that didn't no

longer fit into your your I think that they I think that they fall off um

automatically just because I feel like your Vibe the um the frequency that you

put out naturally draws draws that same frequency in or rejects that frequency

that that doesn't match like the vibe the energy we keep talking

about values right and I wrote down a couple things and that's what I do when I look down here guys I write down some things as I um you know I think when

we're we're talking about value I just want like for me my perspective of the value is going to be the you know what

kind of value do you bring to a group to your people to your family you know you got emotional informational motivational

inspirational these are values that go beyond like what financials could could bring right

um and and I think he just wrote some lyrics for you FL but um but to add on when when you

asked when you asked uh you know how do you have you had to cut people off um she's right like you got to also

remember like the value that you see within somebody else has placed a value on you whether it's friends or family

right they've bestowed that value on you once you are are no longer in that in

that category that where you are valuable to some aspect of them everybody cuts themselves off at

some point right um you know everyone's after something regardless of how nice

they are who they are everybody um well we all have feed off the energy yeah we

all have needs I feed off your energy you feed off mine and if we're aligned and whether it's energy or value um that

we see in one another when when we're aligned we're align but if it becomes

becomes a a portion where some old friends were just no longer aligned then it's no longer aligned it doesn't mean

that I don't value our friendship and our history or anything like that all it means is that hey you know what um we

are on two different paths but every time every now and then we're going to cross paths and I would love to give you a hug shake hands and continue that

conversation where we left off because now that is our value and and and I think that that goes the same for a lot

of different aspects of life is um got to take the good with all the bad

right and sometimes the good becomes very very little um and you have to understand and recognize when to walk

away so that way you can avoid that long stretch of bad yeah it's funny you say

um V you know you described value in how

people look at you because I've always looked at you know as what Crystal was saying is the

value I'm providing to a Marketplace and is there any value that that I

provide and if so then I'll I'll be rewarded in some manner

um the thinking of it the way you just posed it makes you be maybe have to be a

little bit more self-aware and not and a little less selfish too is how what is the value that other people see in you

that that you may not see in yourself and again I think that helping other

people um I know a lot of authors I'll just say this to round that thought out

that write the book because of what they're going through and the book is

even if it's a self-help book it's it's like that's their therapy is writing that book there's there's part of them

that is is helping other people and they're not quite there themselves so if you read a book 90% of the time that

person's not in some you know perfect place and giving this

authoritative uh you know Direction a lot of times it's what they've they just

went through or they're currently going through and they're documenting um I thought that was interesting I've talked

to some authors about that and then I I wrote you know not really a book I just put a journal together like best

practices of how I uh found you know success in different areas of of my

routines and um going through that was as therapeutic

as like I'm not perfect in any manner of of even executing on on what I put in

that book and encourage other people to do there's therapy and helping other people I guess is and we said that

earlier but at the end of the day there's you can help yourself a lot just by extending the hand to somebody else

yeah and you you were talking about authors and I always talk about Simon cic because he's one of my favorites and

that's what he says you know there's all these self-help books there but there's no section on help others and that's

where kind of where we we got into this um topic right and I think that's one of

the the biggest takeaways from this this episode is you know not

only you know helping yourself but one of the biggest things that you can do is help someone else and that's one of the

biggest ways that you can help yourself help someone else kind of rounds out that whole sew and reaping so

thing that FL was talking about earlier yeah and uh that one of the Facebook groups that we that I brought up before

was uh mind and body for the flooring trade and Chad Lewis you know put on

there and the only thing that he put on there is perspective and it's a a whiteboard and it says that uh someone

else is dreaming of the job you hate the home you complain about oh yeah the smile you forget to wear and the health

you take for granted don't let difficult times make you forget your blessings

y amen and the whole church said amen amen

amen that that's for real man that's that's a great way to put it someone else's dreaming of the life you have is

basically the shortest version of that like they're they're dreaming of having there's people out there dreaming to

have kids that you're like God dang it leave me alone I just want a a break damn you know what I actually have a

perfect example for that um so when my kids were a little bit younger um my

oldest son Emilio was always uh making comments about how Daniel would put his

son in travel Sports and how he couldn't do that and I actually admired that

Daniel did things like that and so I actually made it one of my goal it it made it one of my goals to get to a

place where I could do that for my kids and it's just a perfect example of seeing someone where you want to be and

instead of envying them or being upset that they're somewhere better strive to

become that like that's literally what it's about yeah and being grateful for where

you're at I think is the last part of that like yeah you you can want more and still be grateful for where you're at

and read that again Daniel I think everybody liked that all right it says uh someone else

is dreaming of the job you hate the home you complain about the smile you forget to wear and the health you take for

granted don't let difficult times make you forget your blessings man that's so good it's better

to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all right that's I mean this goes to the C your blessings thing

right you can look you can word that and and compare it to a whole bunch of different things but be grateful for

what you do have instead of be instead of envious for what you don't in research ing the um writing of the

journal I I'm uh hopefully publishing this month

um gratitude is in every single like it's like the um the core of the Earth

or the universe it's like these things that everything is yeah it's like

everything is built around that you can't you you can't get somewhere

if you're not grateful for where you're at so it also helps pull you out of those depths when you're we're talking

about burnout and we're talking about like man why am I even doing this and

this isn't just in flooring I mean I know plenty of people in plenty of

professions trades Etc that that struggle with the same thing like we all

get there but just remember someone else is dreaming of the house you live in

the life you have the health you take for granted that is a powerful thought if

you will let it sink in and the next time you're having a hard time just remember that you know your parents used

to tell you there's kids well my parents would say there's kids in Africa

kill for that food and I couldn't I can't stand PE I still can't stand peace

but you know I'd have to choke him down CU dad was like there's people that kill for that food I it never really

resonated well why peas they're the devil's uh never

mind there was time I told my mom to tell them to come get the food then and I got in trouble you know bet you did

you know that that comment that that that little uh thing that Daniel read it it reminded me just gave me a flashback

of a memory I had about hanging out and you know you hang out with some people

and I remember this the gentleman walked I mean we were we were young right teen teenagers young 20s and there was a guy in a wheelchair

and and one of the gentleman in the group that I was with walked by and was like dude I wish I had a wheelchair and

without hesitation the dude in wheelchair said I wish I could walk and then it just like stopped and I

just like like is is the is the dude that s said hey I like he I know that he didn't

mean it like that like he just wish he could roll around real quick right but he didn't think

about like the full picture but the way that that dude came back with I wish I could walk just like I think that that

seems like the uh the correct response but at the same time it would be uh uh

yep that's my [Laughter] mom it would be funny uh the opposite

direction hey man I wish I could walk he goes I wish I had a wheelchair

yeah yeah and then I mean other people aside right there's also that that saying it says five years what I I

pulled it up right here says just remember five years ago you dreamed about where you are

now that's not true not for me well but I the other thing is a lot

of our dreams and we're all guilty of this but a lot of our dreams we they are

just that dreams and we've never turned them into goals and the one thing that

we can't argue is you are sitting where you're at right now in life with your

circumstances benefits and everything as a direct result of all the

decisions you've made it's just a culmination of all the decisions you've made and when you look at it like that

you'll find these spots in your life where like you wanted to blame someone else but if you dig down you'll find

where you could have changed it it's one of the things that's probably the most exhausting to my employees and my kids

is I'm like well what could you have done different well I didn't estimate the job or I didn't do this or what no

no no no where could you have made the situation better what could you have

done what's in your control that you could have done to improve the situation

well not even that it's on the flip side like if you would have changed it where have you where would you be now like if

you would have changed something before you wouldn't have your son right now that's you wouldn't have your girl right

now that's if I would have changed something before if I would have followed on the career path that I wanted to I wouldn't be where I'm at now

we wouldn't be talking now so you know every everything happens yeah you're at now because of

the choices that you made yeah I think it's dangerous to start thinking like if I'd have done that I'd be here you know

what I mean like there there's so much it goes back to gratitude I'm sure you're very grateful

for your son or do is it a son or a daughter his son yeah his son okay so

yeah he look so squishy one little difference in your life and he may not exist same with mine got right before

right before I met his mother I was due to deploy to quate for a year and a half

and they didn't send me because of my back cuz it was wet

yep W my bad my bad no um I was gonna say

something uh it was when uh Paul was talking about just like the decisions you make in your life and how that

ultimately like affects the way that your life turns out but at the same time it's not the decisions that you make

it's the actions you choose to take partake in like you know what I mean like well yeah the the the actions are a

decision that's the point is that if if you don't decide to act on something

then it's just a dream you know if you decide to act you've then turned it in started to turn it into a

goal that's funny you say that because I just started making like a um a flowchart of how to make goals and a

flowchart yeah um and it's it's something that I'm working on to present to the guys at work because if you're

just going through life going through the motions without any goals like you you come to a place where it's like [ __ ]

I like I could I need to do something I need to change something to better my

circumstances or else this is where I'm going to be forever and that's when the burnout starts and the and the

resentment and all of those things and then I mean on the flip side

of that there are going to be guys that don't want to change and they're going to push back and see but they're also

here to show us something they're here to show us what it's like if you don't

choose to change well that's where the best lessons come from failure right that's

that's where that comes from if you watch people fail or you fail yourself those are some of the best lessons um

and I want I want to add to that whole dream thing you know we all dream of of something when we're a kid right and we

let go of those things because reality kicks Us in the ass and we have to

accept a Direction but it doesn't mean that the dream has to stop a dream a

dream without action it will eventually become your nightmare so don't don't just let it all go let it let it let it

play out do something towards that toward that that goal that dream let it flow let it flow there's a reason that

you have that Vision at such a young age yeah and those th those um those

dreams turn into nightmares as you said is because you're not doing what you got

this inner feeling that you're supposed to be doing a lot of um you know a lot

of my most guilty guilty moments are when I'm not doing the thing that I'm

the the stuff I know I'm supposed to be doing you know if I don't journal for two weeks in a row and I I do often fall

into that um I get as much guilt as I do like um

uh uneasy because I haven't done it and it doesn't matter if you do it in the morning or in

the evening whatever just the the truth is is if you look at all why do we know what Thomas Jefferson

or or Albert Einstein said not just because they said it and it got recorded

because they weren't recorded every moment it's because they wrote everything down they left a a legacy and

one thing that I've and I'm I'm an advocate for journaling for people is because it's you're

telling yourself you're worth leaving this past you existing we're all

going to die someday and my grandkids or my great grandkids might read some of

this stuff and say grandpa was kind of stupid or was really smart whichever one

but you're you're telling yourself that you're worthy of your your thoughts and your you being down on paper being left

uh for the future sorry if that got too deep but

it's it's uh it's kind of the I the psychological idea behind

journaling and it's something that you can look back on to see how much you've grown in the last year has yeah there's

practical application to it for sure gotta say your goals out loud when

you do that they tend to come true don't just put them on paper but speak them in reality

I love that be careful what you say because when you don't do it that's when you get attacked

[Laughter] amen th this is true uh that saying it

out loud and I don't want to get all ooly oo I love wo this is where I

thought this whole conversation was gonna go with baby sister to be honest with you the frequency you talk about the

these are true things and that's why God you know you're encouraged to speak it out loud is because what is what do you

hear when I speak You're just hearing a frequency coming out of my mouth wavesound Wes three times you perceive

it in your own in your own way everyone is perceiving it differently yeah and when you speak it aloud uh there is

something to be said for that so I uh I'm glad you brought that up

yeah because that's that was the whole that's kind of the whole um thing with the impostor syndrome you're saying one

thing but your your actions are not aligning with that and that's why you

you you start to attack yourself in a sense because you're not being authentic

you're not being true to who you say you are so once your values start to align

with the things that you're actually saying you're able to live more in the flow of life more in in the flow of Life

connect you're more connected to the the natural frequency of Earth

yeah and Flo looks like he just had an epiphany oh we do that all the time I think he I think he just realized he

forgot to put his clothes in the dryer

no oh my goodness I'm sorry Beetle Juice Beetle Juice Beetle Juice well guys we

have uh we're about 4:15 here um I came

in late so I don't I don't get to say that uh that I I know all of what was

said before come on I got to say that this is I love this stuff because it's

it's been a journey for me in my entire life I you

know didn't grow up the best and blah blah blah and I always dreamed of a better life and I am living what I

dreamed and now that should remind me in a lot of ways when I'm starting to get

um down on myself when I see a 30 m 30-year-old you know that's knocking out

of the park in his business bus and I'm over here like shoving the cart up the

up the hill still with go Carrera and um that yeah but life at one point that's

that's a crazy thought and that 30-year-old who who's uh who's who's kicking ass right you don't understand

how many Paul Stewarts he had talking to him through his life at a younger age right we don't know his journey or their

Journey his hers whatever we don't know that either and and that's where I never

try to be envious of anybody I I've always tried not to be right but you're human everybody's human it happens it

comes in naturally and then if you can be aware and then correct it yeah

integrate it you can kind of like okay what is he doing that and and maybe take

the Envy out and turn it into action often that's the first kind of like thing when you're in and it's

usually when for me anyway when I'm in a kind of a a a not the best state anyway

and then I see that and you just you know how when you that's why they call it the Snowball Effect you know it just

gets worse and worse as you if you let yourself go down the hill uh if you're not aware before you know it you will be

uh a rock bottom and I can say one thing I would like to say anyway is that you

don't have to hit rock bottom to change that's one thing I I've learned in my

life like if you just see yourself headed in the wrong Direction you there

life always has all these multiple paths in front of you jump off that ladder you

can choose which path you go on and you can also see far enough in the future to

know whether you're on the right path or not the path that going to lead you to where you want to be uh so it's

sometimes you just got to be willing to Pivot a little bit you know um it's it's

uh or or have those people around you that are going to push you into the into that path right go go um I will I will

say say this somebody I was I was dating a girl this is a very long time ago I was dating someone and I went and hung

out with a in a crowd that I probably wouldn't be hanging out in right you know and and let's just say

that there was a lot of wealth around and and we'll just say it that way because I I didn't take it for what he

said as wealth as in dollars and cents is he he asked me a question and uh he

said uh you know do you know why poor people are poor and I said I don't know

because they don't have any money he said uh yes to some aspect but it's

because they make it's because they make poor decisions right and I didn't take that as a financial um advice I took

that as um you know because wealth is is described as many different things I

took that as life advice right like if you want something out of life no matter what it is what decisions are you making

right now that could eventually lead up to it now are you making the right decisions or you making poor decisions

that are going to derail you um and long ago I made the choice to I gotta work my

ass off if I stop then my my progression

stops right and that's that's the what I had to make a choice and well at the

same time you have people who are working their ass off and still never getting anywhere this is true

right well 100% but are they like you

know you can really work your tail off but if you can run as hard as you can

down the wrong path and that it's really like yes you working your having a plan

like like you said I floring is sustaining my life I'm

good at it while I'm pursuing this other career if you're not taking those steps

in that path to be a a performer then you can run in the wrong direction and

still feel like you're working your tell off but it's because you're working your tell off going the wrong direction so

being being aware that life has always has off ramps it's like a highway

there's always another offramp to go a different direction and um you just have

to be cognizant am I on the right path and that's where goals come in and that's where like you know even if you

miss them most Americans don't set goals because of the fear of letting yourself

down or letting others like you you you you're encouraged to set these big goals

but then you know that the likelihood of hitting them is going to be tough um and

maybe uh not real likely but so you set these big goals but it's not about

achieving them it's about the Journey of going towards it and um learning those

lessons on the path that's for me I keep talking like I'm but that's that's where

I've learned and and you said it correct earlier right when it's like the authors just write

about what they're going through and that's kind of what we talk about on here too it's just what we're going through and what we see and that that

that's what we're seeing and like the the the goal for all of us is to to see

the the industry be better than when we came into it and that that's just our

goal and that's what we're pushing for my goal is to see the world be better go

bigger you know what and and my my whole selfish goal out of everything that I do and everything I try to do is that one

day uh my kids be proud that's my selfish

goal yeah that's that's um not really selfish if you're

thinking about your children and about you know them being proud of you um I

think that's inherent to Parenting like you want your children to be proud of you uh you want to know you were you you

did some things better than your parents um so Kudos on all of that for sure I

played softball better than my mother yeah bro I'm throw the way I like

to look at it as um how do I perceive myself Through The

Eyes of someone else like how are my kids going to perceive me um and I just

strive to to I guess go back to when I was a kid what did I want to see from uh

my parent or how did I want to grow um and I just try to stick to what I feel

is right even if and I say that no well I was going to say that earlier that a

lot of a lot of um things that we've been talking about I feel like a lot of it

has to do with the feelings like your intuition your gut feeling like if you're on the right path you're not you

can't logically think about that you have it's like um a feeling you get or an inner knowing like yeah this not this

don't feel good you're probably on the wrong path if it does feel good you're probably in alignment with the path

you're supposed to be on I guess that's the most simple way to put it yeah intuition is important in all this

but I uh I would be you know how all this ties back into

um burnout I actually gotta go

burnout wrapping it up right now burnout in um in your career

is about I think being grateful aware this just my take and we'll go around

and then we can close this thing out but being grateful and aware and uh those

are two big changes um and if you guys like the podcast man please give us a

like And subscribe I this kind of thing I've learned from here so I can't um I

can't you know you can't participate in this kind of I feel like an author right

now from the standpoint of what I'm talking about and what we're talking about in this conversation there's been

some nuggets and some epiphanies of my own so if you do like the stuff we're

not always um you know in the mindset thing but we do deal with that a lot because it's it's an important part of

having a happy life so I want to thank you guys for all coming on here and kind of sharing it's it's um refreshing and

and I've learned some stuff here so thank thank you every and thanks always

refreshing to keep it real man and that and that's that's uh yeah when hnet keep it 100 would you

T but you guys should hang around my family man like we are like special

we're fun to be around special special Crystal closing uh

statement um this is like my absolute favorite

stuff to talk about because I love learning uh different perspectives uh

and hearing the things that people have to go through all the time and I think

that the mindset and your self-awareness is is like a key factor

in growth and uh and like you said gratitude gratitude is the center of

everything and you really have to break down everything that you

thought you knew in order to be grateful for everything that you do have um and that's when your life will start to

change amen you guys got any last uh last words

before we close this out um I mean it's just uh this is what

I wanted to say you need to fall in love with the process of becoming great because if you're fixated on the outcome

and just what you want in life you're not making the decisions and taking the necessary precautions to get yourself

there and if you're okay with being in the dirt success is dirty success is

hard success is almost unable almost

unattainable hard to get there go to the just focus up grind it out and win in

the dark I love it that's his next song Grind it out winning no my next

song is give or tape that's what it is nice look for it on Apple

music we're getting there we're not there yet we're getting there no Danel

just be aware man and uh always know that when when you're feeling down someone else is like that too so

definitely reach out and and know that if if you're feeling like that someone

else is reach out talk to someone and um be that

ear and lend that voice amen Jose final thoughts yeah just

um just be okay failing failure failure is just is just

a the hardest and most efficient way to learn and then just take that onto the

next one you'll find your path eventually fail forward yeah what what did I say I said uh

um fail out loud succeed in silence failure is a necessary

tool love it all right everybody I don't want to fail my son so I gotta get out of here all right guys well thanks

everybody for joining us uh today we went over subject sometimes but uh it's been a

pleasure it doesn't feel like an hour and a half to me uh maybe because uh it wasn't I shut up lat well thanks

everybody we'll see you guys next week and uh thanks for everybody joining us Flo and Crystal and thanks to Daniel and

Jose thanks for joining us guys appreciate you guys love the audience keep coming back give us a like And

subscribe guys we'll talk to you later next time peace out okay bye

The Huddle - Episode 98 - Troubleshooting Installation Challenges in Real-Time

In this episode of "Troubleshooting Installation Challenges in Real Time," we explore how cutting-edge software is revolutionizing the way installation and sales teams address job site issues. The computers everyone carry in their pockets enable real-time troubleshooting, allowing teams to swiftly identify problems and propose solutions. With the ability to create and agree on change orders instantly, both sides can align before any paperwork is finalized. Discover the use of up and coming technology not only speeds up resolution but also enhances communication and agreement between sales and installation, ultimately improving project outcomes and client satisfaction.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're back with your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on playing

the game but changing it from mastering the fundamentals of The Craft and distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's

band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you belong welcome to the team what's up fellas

what's going on going on brother that that you're getting so good at that you're getting so good at that intro

just so you know well uh you know we had to switch

it up and it took it only took me a mere four months to get it down so

hey I add my last name since everyone else has their last

name got to get official got to get official baby man it's good to see you

guys how's a week gone it's Tuesday it's only Tuesday and

it's already been a week right it's been a week for uh since we got to see each other so let's just let's just say it's

been a little hectic and me like because I'm so last minute I was trying to hook up another camera so that way I didn't

have to look here I could have looked right there nah technology doesn't like me not

right this moment but I'll tell you what does love you these guys

at least that guy this guy well today welcome to the to the episode everybody

today we're going to be talking about um troubleshooting installation

challenges in real time kind of like when you have issues out in the

field um what do you do right like what's the what what's kind of the um

first thing you do so I'm going to kick it off with I think we've said this a

million times call your rep call the tech department um one or both of those

if you're having a problem with a product compatibility uh you know what do you

guys you guys call them all the time tell what's some you

know different instances because I think some people think oh this is a stupid question but to me I tell our crews like

there are no stupid questions when it comes to this because once you put this stuff down yeah you you bought it once

you install it right and I think one of the biggest things is um because we always read the installation

instructions that come with the product and then we're always constantly pulling it up online too so once once you have

conflicting information it's like hey which one am I supposed to follow is

this one outdated or is this one outdated and it's calling to make sure that you're following the the correct

one um it was probably five five six years ago we were

doing some stair treads and and that happened and I called and I'm like what is going on like it says this in the box

but it says this online and they're like oh yeah we forgot to change the stuff online so yeah the stuff in the Box was

actually the right stuff so well I have a counter to that one since we're telling War Stories or at least stories

um and could be conflicting information or just something that's not really you you're in a situation out in the field

that isn't really covered in the installation instructions you know um

mine is just the same as yours though we were doing a a bunch of lvt with a uh

sound barrier underlayment underneath it and it has two sides very clearly one

side has a a film on it the other side does not and

the uh instructions that we had sent with the work order stated film up and we got that off

of the website the instructions in

the um in the package itself said film down and so we called to make sure but

the web this particular company the website was and I I think in general

don't take this as an absolute but in general the web it's easier for them to change the

website uh installation instructions then re they're not going to recall you

know three million um three million rolls of product to change a piece of

paper you know so uh in general they most manufacturers try to keep their

websites up but had we not had we flipped that because we had a major claim on this job due to a big flood had

we uh not installed it the way the manufacturer said our liability would

have been there in fact the GC was trying to pin us on it and brought this to our first mediation on this

situation and um brought that piece of paper and says well this says film film

down and I was like oh yeah I got him I got oh hey however a GC that can

actually read and understand some instructions even though they might have been the wrong ones

impressive well it's funny how they can all of a sudden read when they're uh uh those those documents when they're uh

trying to pin something off on somebody else but their building envelope flooded and caused a problem and they uh

replaced what was wet and didn't didn't really want the rest of the areas

replaced in those areas is because of how moisture Works um failed as well and

um so they were trying to pin it on us and um anyway long story short it goes

back to the the the fact is is that had I just went off of one same scenario

Daniel just said I I would have been up up poop creep right and that's why you

know it's it sucks because everyone's like always read the instructions but

it's always important to read multiple sets of instructions and then reach out and and that that's why you have these

phone numbers you know that's why every every box will have a phone number on it so so you can get a hold of these people

and that's what they're there or Google question yeah you can always Google the Manu you know Shaw tech department or or

protector rep you know tech department or whisper map tech department and or

tech services and it'll come up the key here is make the put the effort into

making the call I think that's one of the the lowline things here and and it

seems Elementary and maybe some people in the audience feel like well no crap

here but truth is we were just on a a call last week's huddle was with the

inspectors and they were talking about how often that just does not happen doesn't happen yeah and uh people just

go forward they don't make the call and they get stuck with the situation

and um so we're we're employing our audience to call the tech department in

those cases so that's one way you can really work through an issue when that

you fall into when you're out on site because a lot of these installation challenges they can happen before you

even start the installation right you go to site you visit the site and this guy

over there has been dealing with a project last week that's been a huge headache to where it's like they that's

why he was saying something about gc's where they don't want to follow follow manufacturers recommendations and and

stuff like that and it it didn't matter how much literature you sent sent them it's

and the thing that they kept on saying was no other flooring contractor across

the country has needed to do any prep dude dude God that's just so

insane we need to have we're gonna invite the bullet some sometime soon and

uh this year and have you know get some gc's on here and let's have some it's going to get Gnarly

so if you're in the audience right now when we launch that when you should be uh make sure you're on because it's

probably GNA get kind of kind of hairy we I mean it's not US versus gc's

because we love there are client we love them but at the end of the day these are the challenges

that are unnecessary to me like if if

that's what the manufacturer says why is it so

hard I don't know where the other phone is I think it's on the desk that's right next to him so it's all good we're we're

all we're all working guys so I don't think anybody cares too much no h says

that he has a GC that can join yeah we we'd like to get gc's from from everywhere that way it's not just you know centrally

located yeah I don't want my uh we we don't want our gc's I don't want my head being the only

one cut off I got a guy that I could probably get on that sold his company

and has since uh is now owner's rep and so he works with the owner and gc's and

he was always a real good one so um I have to think of one that really

causes uh some Havoc that would still be willing to join but I'd like to have

that conversation but anyway got off track there sorry guys and like be before the job site

like even when you're you're not the one that's like bidding the job and stuff

when you're working for a store and everything you can still have that communication and I think it it's just

important that um that everyone knows that there's always that

that line of communication there that that needs to be there even with the stores right that hey I just want to

know as much about this project as possible can you give me more information and I think that I mean go

carera does a great job of that I mean we have um people that use it with us

and you know that that line of communication is very important hey here's this information ask all these

questions and everything is tracked in there um do you want to watch that video right now about well let me add just one

thing that you know that we have you've got all these different scenarios so

there's tons of tools and I think we were talking beforehand like there's a lot of tools out there you can use um

that that can help because when you're troubleshooting things it may not be as

something like we just described where you're dealing with two different installation instructions or something

but you're dealing with a layout issue or you're dealing with a floor prep problem or you go to a job site and you

were told that you know the floors are in good shape like Jose maybe and then

you get there and it's like disastrous you know um in all those cases if you

work for a store you really have to get them involved because you you're not going to do it for free nor should you

so you got to get them involved in these uh scenarios whether it's a layout out issue um or whatever but yeah like one

of the key features so you can use text messages emails any means of

communication is better than nothing um WhatsApp those types of Technologies the

the thing that go Carrera does do uh to to plug here a little bit we have a few

instances where we took this really seriously and one of them is chat like

the reason that is in my opinion so superior to the other methods is your

work order that you have with that store that chat stays with that work order forever so you're not searching through

six months later um you know trying to see what was said about a given scenario

in a text message string with an you email or something that where did we

talk about this cuz you're talking on email you're talking on text message and you can't find you're searching and

trying to all you need to know with go Carrera is what was the job name go to that job find that work order and look

at the communication that you both had so um yeah let alone the pictures and

everything yeah show that video of uh

chat so this just video of how chat Works chat is a feature where you can

ask questions before you bid on a job so once you found a job click view details

review the work order offer look through it make sure that you

understand everything and maybe you have a question what you'll do is you'll go to the upper right hand corner and you'll

click on this chat bubble right here and simply type your question or your

concern with the uh work order offer as the company's responding you'll

see that they're responding and that's it guys get to chat back and forth what's really cool

about this feature is the work impressive this communication stays with

the work order forever quick thumbs

baby yeah the fact and to clarify you can use that feature before you um

accept a work order or you can use that feature after you have a work order that

you're performing the job and you want to ask questions or whatever but th those are just good ways to have the um

everybody on the same page um and like I said there's other means

and but they're they they're just hard to go back I I've lived the life of

trying to we've all lived the life and that's why it's we we've all been through it and that's why we know how

beneficial it is to have it all in one area yeah

look this is all coming look I didn't like the change right like I'm technolog

is against me so therefore I'm against technology but I I will let you know that it is a little bit of a learning curve to make sure that you're

using um the right channels and it may seem like a hassle to have to to get

used to something but when you have all Communications there and you can reference everything on a specific

project oh dude like that makes life so easier you don't have to go through 100 messages or scroll down or oh it got

deleted that thread got deleted it's there yeah yeah so what's important

um when you're when you are troubleshooting those things you know

also pick up the phone if you have to but the reason the chat is or even I

would say in certain uh circumstances something in writing is better is because you're going to get some

directive and a phone call is better than nothing but it's probably um needs to be

either before or after that phone call a written

communication yeah and sent because I've had too many times where you have that

phone call and it's he said she said B it's it's always I don't remember that I

don't recall right now to remember that so I'm

gonna pretend I forgot it so another uh key

is that I think is important is having having you know colleagues in the

industry uh that's one of the reasons we kind of talk to you guys about um talk

to the entire audience all the time about making it to some of the conventions or shows or uh you know some

of the the trade shows and stuff is because that's where you meet people and if I have a question that I don't know

about and it's got to do with sheet vinyl I know who I'm calling I'm calling a few people if it's a real technical

install question Daniel's on my list you know so is Jose like you guys are on my

list who I would call uh because I know where Daniel's

at uh and you know or watching YouTube

videos like Crystal's got some well they're I think those are Tik toks but of really cool little features little

little tricks to the trade on outside and inside Corners with sheet vinyl and such particularly if you got crappy

sheetrock but so that's just side note um but the truth is is knowing people

will help you troubleshoot your problem as well because the manufacturer there

are plenty of instances where you need a trick to get you through the problem

like up use crystals uh out you know using

sheet metal for an outside corner when the sheetrock you know was that far I believe from the ground if I

remember the video right it probably you know this far from the ground would you can't weld you know it makes it hard as

CRA hard yeah you can't get your Co stick

there I mean like there's all these deals right and um you know

understanding who those little tricks if you call tech department they're going to say well tell the GC to fix sheetrock right GC is

not on site and you got to have this room done by tomorrow so you're always GNA have these different so that's kind

of talked to manufacturers about that before and that's where they get into the whole well you you should have been

there two months ahead of time and then found these things out so they could have fixed it when in reality that's

just not possible in most cases yeah they just got sheetrock up last week bud

welcome to construction right yeah they they sit in the Ivory Tower a lot of times and they know their

stuff uh but at the end of the day what they don't know is your job site and so

a lot of times you need those tricks and that's when you need a friend you need somebody that you can call that you

trust that's done that is a specialist at what you do or the situation you're

in and be able to talk to them you know um Ballin knows best has that for a lot

of type thing and and if the a if AI doesn't have the answer they have the

mentors on there that boom things get shot out and then they come back with a

human being that hey this didn't shoot out what you needed yeah here I go shout

out to Kim Ballin even though I haven't seen him on here recently get your butt on the podcast

Ken uh the I think he's trying to grow some hair back or something like that I don't know trying to get a stop and look I wore

puit shirt today he needs to get on here too oh man yeah we gotta crack open the

bottles for puit get him on few Bud Lights entice him we have to

bribe him like you got to bribe the forklift driver on a job

site I got a wig for him Jorge probably does have a wig for him actually

he cut off I know I seen the ponytail uh picture Jorge you're a genius on social

bro great job it's funny um like but

yeah one of the biggest secrets like even looking back on everything

um taking pictures and videos of documenting everything because like

technology your phone will timestamp everything like the metadata in there

you can't fake this is true yeah

the so taking pictures there's there's several ways um again we're going to be

plugging go career here in a second because we got an awesome feature that deals with this but whether it's WhatsApp or a FaceTime kind of gives you

some you know visibility on site um but at least taking pictures and

building a report afterwards like this is this area this is the problem with

this and like documenting that you can do that in chat but we have a product on

if you're in go careera there's product called Link and Link will be is an

interactive video feature where you send your if you're an installer you'll

receive a text message from whoever you're doing the work for uh most likely a shop or somebody who's using go

Carrera and you click uh you know type in your name and you join the call and then they have

control of the camera portion of your phone to be able to zoom in and you guys can you can hold the phone and just show

them the problem and you guys can actually draw on the screen

and figure out the problem together that's why it's interactive video and

then at the end of that you get a link you get a report and it automatically it

saves you all the time of like emailing pictures and then downloading them and

then putting them on a word dock or a PDF and then typing in what the this takes all the metadata that Daniel was

just talking about location if your locations turn on your phone it'll even

take your location so that everyone knows you're on the job site like when

this report gets sent to whoever uh it's needed to be I'll tell a quick story on

link and I think I've probably told this one for but it was such a great experience that I had a installer out in

the field and we had different Siz tiles both listed as 4x12 from the same

manufacturer but they were two different styles and so the sizing was different so one of the groud joints

either had to get bigger or one of them had to get smaller and one was a flat tile one was a wavy tile and uh there

was that was an issue and they stacked on top of each other half the wall was flat and the top half was wavy the other

issue was at the top they wanted aquadec metal on this wavy tile and so we were trying to explain over the phone to the

designer that it's going to look so bad like it's better just to cut into the

ceiling Grid it's going to look horrific to put a piece quatic metal across the top of there because either the high

side's going to be too high or the low side's going to be too low I mean which side do you match anyway long story

short we were able to get on on a single link called The GC uh the superintendent

the project manager the PM was in uh Witchita I was in Witchita the designer

was in New York and the architect and then the uh superintendent was actually

on vacation and we all had to collaborate on this single thing so on

one link call you can have up to eight people on it and we were able to draw it

all out figure out which ones make make uh text notes on the on the picture

itself and then provide that report to the GC and uh architect and say this is

the uh synopsis of our phone conversation or our link call and all

the details that were taken and they were blown away because not only did we

were we able to um solve the problem without having to wait a week for the architect or designer to come into town

we were also able to um you know provide them with a report that kind of gave an overview of what what we were talking

about so that was pretty cool which is great because the last time I was dealing with that whole different tile

siiz situation I had to go to the project site with the architect and show

them and stack them on each other to say listen they just don't add up I don't

care if it says on the box that this is 4 in and this is 12 in it's just

they don't add up it's nomal right isn't it amazing that like just to try to get

the concept across to a designer's all I kept hearing was it's

the same manufacturer and they say it's the same size and I'm like this is a 40

foot wall well it's really like there's hundreds of feet of it but this one wall

walking into the two bathrooms and they go you know the AL Cove into a bathroom a set of bathrooms

that one wall like it's going to be visible from the hallways I mean it had to be right and if you're

just the on a 4X 12 if you're off just a sco just a little bit and you use same

gr joints you're going to run off you know and it so anyway you can um you can

save a bunch of time by using technology and even a even a WhatsApp call where

they're on the other side you may not be able to make the cool mark ups and have the report done for you but pictures or

something with a written documentation showing what you did um Let me let me

let me add that problem let me add to that about the markups so like if

there's a little slight difference in terminology that's where the video feature and the markups will come in handy you like wait wait this is what

I'm talking about right here look stop and then freeze zoom in circle note like this is what I'm talking about what is

that why is that there um that that's where the the markups and the video will

come in handy for anyone who who don't really understand the limitations of that yeah picture speaks a thousand

words as they say and video you know real time markup real time markup that's that's pretty

dope it is yeah we we'll we'll start uh you already gave them kind of the the

rundown of you know you get a text message and then uh for the link and

then you you pull it up oh yeah show them that video and then uh we'll start

with the text message how about that that'll work check this out

guys link call and it'll come across your text message and there's the text

message you click on the text message click on the

link type in your

name click [Music]

continue hey Umberto how are you hey Ben so got a question on the height of the

wall tile the drawings show the uh wall tile

coming to about right here on the drawing at 4T above finish floor that's

going to fall right in the middle of this outlet

and um I can do it higher and so the

outlet is in the tile but I didn't know which way to go with

that you see those pointers below or above let me go ahead uh so those

pointers like allow you to explain exactly and and this is just a

demonstration but when you're in the real [ __ ] of a project trying to figure things out those pointers come in real

Handy right and you can change your colors and everything so that way you can differentiate between the

pointers show choices are that we might and the tile so this is about where the

drawing shows and this is at 4 foot okay right to

there if I go well I can go 4ot 3 to

here yeah and that's going to be a full tile

correct four four full rows with a three 3in bullnose to

there I think that makes the most sense to me and then uh uh everything will be protected with the tile

uh I guess the other option would be to to bring it down

here at this level yeah like right oh I think it

would be something like right there and that would be 3ot

like 10 in or so not I I don't know for uh perfect but I think this would be 3

10 in this and then you guys get the point like everything is tracked in that job

like this video is saved right all I kept wanting to do was ask

is there going to be enough material if we go that high well fair point but the the cool

thing like uh Daniel just said is that then you get you just download the report afterwards and you have that and

you can send it to whoever it is and say that you can record the video and send that as well so it's really cool if

you're trying to work through those details on job sites and if you're a company it could save you a trip out to

the job site uh particularly if it's um you know not right down the street I

mean even if it's on the other side of Grand Rapids it be a half hour you know or witw that's the project that that

we've been dealing with is about what 20 minutes away something like that so Jose

says that most of the gc's he's encountered seem to be poorly educated on how flooring specs go

and um and it's in all their contract documents about which specs to follow

which standards to follow follow the manufacturers recommendations and all

this and they'll still tell you to uh no that's not what we're going to do but so

so I'll add something to that too right it's it's maybe they're acting like they don't know and the reason I say that is

because the whole scenario that's unfolded lately with all the black and white in front of them

they still look at it like this and it was like so yeah it's like selective reading

my mom used to tell me I had selective hearing that's part of that's part of troubleshooting too right problem

solving on the Fly making sure you know where to find the correct information uh to help educate that that's that's a a

great aspect to uh or a great uh thing to add to to this episode on there just

know where you're looking know why you're looking yeah well if you know the specs and you

I think they you know we kind of went through this last week uh during the episode with the inspectors is like

knowing your stuff makes you it will help if you are kind of

willy-nilly about how it should be done and you don't know the specs yourself and you're having a conversation with a

I don't care if it's a homeowner or a GC or a builder or who um you know we do

some uh residential not very much couple two three houses a year but we've been

in the situation where the homeowner's like well I don't understand why you can't have this done in time I'm like

ma'am you're doing hardwood we can't do it until your windows are done and your

hvac's on and we have your your floor ried out and moisture tested and like we

can't do that entire process in time in the time frame you're asking so

so either way it's about knowing your stuff so that you can be more of an

authority when you present or when you have a a conversation with your customer

whoever that is so what's um what what's your guys uh

thoughts around you know when you're you're troubleshooting a problem uh what what is the like if we

were to say hey go step by step what would your first thing be if you uh

whatever scenario you want to pull up but kind of almost any scenario what was

your first what's your first go to I guess it depends on what kind of

kind of issue we're talking about are we talking uh just a a a material issue communication issue like let's call it a

a project stoppage issue it doesn't matter why why ever this right here what

what has said and engineered wood without windows in yeah that's a project

stop start buckling after three months does not Sur I would definitely look at the work

order and see what I have going in there when I'm walking on the job site doing your homework and reading the work order

and the information prior to walking into a project um is huge right so I

mean it's about preventing it but if I walk in there and I know what's going on I'm looking around like hey hold

on we got to stop right here let's figure this out this is what we're installing in this area this is what we're installing over here there's

window why are the windows in okay if the windows aren in is the HVAC in hvac's not up and running we are running

on temp power or temp uh heat propane throwing moisture everywhere let's find

out when that's GNA happen when that's going in um you know is if that's not on

is the water even running how can I operate and prep and get ready for my stuff the water isn't running it's long

list of things go through my head really fast well any of those you're going to call the customer first right and let

them know there's a problem maybe they are one of the one of those customers

that are you know like common sense or

or listen to The Experts and you're like hey I need X Y and Z to continue going

forward um after let's say uh it's a it's a

problem with the product that is going to stop the job and we're always under schedule issues

so yeah um first call you

know is well sales person yeah it's like I'm gonna look at some documents online

see if I can figure it out real quick if I cannot I'm G to call my sales rep let him know that I'm getting ready to call

the tech rep because that's who I really want to talk to and I talk to the

technical department that's kind of my like almost every time it it kind of goes in that order um and I get the tech

rep on for a couple of reasons I want to build my case with them and have them on my side oh yes

able to be on the phone when I go talk to the GC again if I have a problem or

the homeowner or whoever it is so then I got the tech rep over here saying yeah

sir sorry um we highly do not recommend you install your your engineered wood

without windows highly recommend not doing that and so

you get you got little bit of backup so that's that's another benefit of calling your Tech uh Department pretty

quickly yeah and and I think it's too is knowing the technical aspect and trying

to get that message across is really great but also being able to communicate with um you know the the gender or the

homeowner or um whoever whoever is the owner of that project period um finding

common ground and and a line of communication is always great you don't some people don't take too kindly to the

direct approach some people um don't take too kindly to the fluff approach so you got to find your happy

medium I don't have a happy medium yeah you do that's what Daniel

calls me talk their ear off until they they

they start listening well one

of one of the things that I think is really important is like a lot of people

will um a lot of people know this stuff I think you got to have the confidence

to make the call it's clear to me that not not enough installers make phone calls to

the tech department they call their shop they'll call talk to the GC and try to

let them fix it but if you get direction from a shop and you don't know that you're do they're

telling you to do it wrong you're kind of at disadvantage if something was to fail so called the and we've been to

hundreds of conferences and talk to the technical departments at every time and what do they say we want you guys to

call me please call us they're kind of attention starved on top of that so they

love it when you give them a call so you know that that but enough

enough people aren't aren't calling so it's got to be either what confidence they don't know which

hopefully by now if you're um if you followed this podcast for any length of

time we've encouraged you uh to do so and we're telling you now call the tech rep um but why else don't they call I

mean what what are the reasons not not not why is that not happening more often

I think it's the same reason why people don't want to go get certified they don't want to have someone tell them

that they've been doing something wrong their entire careers that could be part of it well

and you know this might be too they just don't know they're doing something wrong right you don't know what you don't know

um and and to add to that is you know the the the installers end up becoming

the middle the middleman in a conversation that they may not want to be a part of right and that's where like

had said uh look up the specs call the tech rep call you know you don't if you're an installer you don't always

have to call the sales rep first right call the tech rep find out you know let me try to solve this little bit of a

problem and then you have information to talk to both the general the homeowner or the the the sales rep whether you're

working for a store um and their sales person or the sales rep themselves um

information is information is worth this waiting gold in in a conversation like that when

you know something is outside of the norm yeah for sure and I

mean if you don't know just like I said earlier and what you just alluded alluded to is if you don't

know um you can get LED astray too you know like if if so getting that Tech rep

on the phone you may be mistaken I learn from them uh I'm not ashamed to to kind

of be the dumb in the room and and learn something new I know it just sucks when you ask

them questions and they're just like you know how to do this no bro I called you because I need to need you to tell me I

think that's a unique Daniel problem because they all know you and you call and they're like oh come on man you I

know you know this and you're like nope not this one buddy calling you for Aon you know that's the thing too is is

if if if you call someone and they know you know what you're doing but if you

call them and say yeah I know what I'm doing right and they and it's proven that you know what you're doing they they may not be willing to divulge

information or maybe another trick of the trade or a secret that could help you become a better version of you um

and you can't call someone as if you know it all you got to call them with an open mind and and and try to absorb any

any tidbit of information they might have that is that is outside of what you already

know amen yeah listen and learn if you you know the Huddle's about I

mean our biggest like Ploy is to is education I think if we had one like

major thing that we push oh it's every week is get educated you know get

educated know what you're doing um it's it's a bit mindboggling to me that that

so and we know this because go Carrera we you know have thousands of installers on there the

average Hammer rating is is pretty low and the average Hammer rating is low

because we're a flooring a generation of flooring installers that that skipped

training and there's I'm I'm hoping the Resurgence is here and we can continue

to more more uh embrace the the new trainings there's new tricks you'll

learn there stuff you know that you just think you know uh we I've told this

story before too we've we've sent a couple of really good installers to CFI

certification and um when they got through that class they were like man I

did I've been doing this part wrong for a lot of years and Derek's on on he's a

very good installer but he learned tricks and easier ways of doing things

you would be surprised that you're going to I guarantee you go to some of this stuff you're going to learn some stuff

that'll save you time and it'll be worth it it'll it's like any investment which

that's what a training is it's an investment in yourself um it takes a

little bit of time to pay back but it will pay you back you guys are believers in that

right absolutely oh yeah I don't think we'd be here talking to you if we weren't

is rhetorical and then uh I one of the other softwares that we use to um to to

communicate real time is Microsoft teams and I just wanted to do a little

this is a post by baby sister that she did so they can kind of see keeping

everything in the job so that way everything is tracked all right we're

done with this area and this is the same thing that we use when issues come up we're like take

pictures there's stuff in the way take a picture put it in there that way everything is

timestamp but keep track of another piece if your job if you're on a a

commercial job and you got procore uh and you're working through a lot of times that Subs can upload their

pictures for different issues uh a lot of times they don't turn that feature on until it's punch list time yep punch

list that's that's going to say take a picture of your punch list and make sure it's done yep um we like using that the

chat feature um or you know whether you're using chat or or teams or

whatever the key is you know tracking everything like we we have um you know

technology can be a real pain in the rear I know that but at the same time

man it saves so much time there's no way company our size could do the amount of

work we get done with the number of people back in the 70s like we'd have to

have you know an additional 30% 40% staff members

just just think about like the drawings and scaling

everything by hand and using the rulers and coloring everything up a ruler and

then you get an addendum and it's like oh man they just changed all this stuff

the white out dude pull out the I used to love I

used to love getting the big the big drawing and doing a seam layout right uh you know and and getting out the color

pencils I used to love that now you know what the drafting tables are just a

thing of the past man um they look cool in the corner though yeah I got rid of

my uh custom desk about four or five years ago cuz it's it's it was had a

desk here and a drafting table in the back behind it and you know uh I I did

that for many years and then you start to get on screen stuff and then different ways of communicating that's

so much faster and uh the key here that that we're trying to drive home is

document your stuff have a way to when you're when you

have kind of a methodology in your head like don't think you know it all call the tech rep call your shop if you're

working for a shop or call your uh customer whoever that is and have a conversation but then back your

knowledge up with the tech rep uh and the sales rep a lot of those guys know uh guys and gals know uh what they're

talking about but I like talking to The Tech Guys because most of them are old installer

so they love what they do yeah and shout out to like um I'm getting ready to do a

a a new product with ardx and those guys have been fantastic ardx doesn't sponsor

the show or anything but their tech department has been really fantastic

they flew a guy out I don't have I didn't even have the job yet but we're doing a exterior P project about 4,000

foot um on a thick bed their

A14 like you can go as deep deep as you want with that the pebble Aggregate and

um the A14 it's an exterior mortar uh like mud bed basically uh that's per

permeable and lets the water go through it to the uh substrate Drainage Systems

so a lot of places will put the dra system amazing yeah I'm gonna video the

whole thing I'm gonna go live on it too you guys don't see me live on Facebook very often but I'm gonna go live on that

baby but artx is been excellent I'm just telling you even I've got a lot of

experience with M they they've done just given some shout outs to the good Tech departments out there it's because you

you call them man and they they send people out it's like hey you guys got a big job coming up when are you starting

it I want to be there I want to make sure go right they flew a guy out just

to talk to the owner and kind of go through the process and and put their eyes on it before I've even won the job

I just told them I this is going to happen I would really appreciate if you guys would come out and sometimes even have to be the

actual manufacturer right it's the distributor it's hey they got this product going in it's not the right product let me talk to them I'll get

something else specified right yeah yep yeah so it's a really good

um you know outlet for you to to you should be leveraging the tech department

of the manufacturers that's the bottom line leverage them use them for their knowledge have them come out to your job

sites I mean we've had where jobs were stopped and I'm like all I can do is get

the tech guy to come out and they can be out here and and it's amazing how quick they can get those guys deployed too but

uh you know they can come out and walk look at it and they'll tell you themselves whether or not I'm being too

picky or if you're right Mr owner or or GC or whoever it is you know what else

is another software that really helps with installation challenges in real

time floor Cloud floor Cloud no this is true in real time if

you can prevent it if you can prevent it and go and know your job's ready uh what

what a benefit so installers out there I look I know you guys aren't using

necessarily floor Cloud but you should talk to your your um if you're working

for a shop or a dealer you should talk to them about it especially on larger projects and I'm not talking just

commercial like even larger Custom Homes I've got a home that I'm working on right now it's basically built like a

commercial project it's super big um you know once they get things closed in and

stuff floor Cloud's going out there I'm not you know I'm not GNA be waiting for

the week before to get the information so you know you'll see you'll save a lot

of money as an installer not going to a job site just to find out it's not ready right time is money so is fuel these

days God ridiculous so

um you know we've pretty much beat up this whole scenario we've talked

about technology talked about calling your Tech rep talked about having buddies like Jorge and Daniel and Jose

or you know calling calling um somebody

at CFI and being able to talk to them uh so get involved in the industry that's

another one of our big ploes education and involvement and you're going to get

people on your side like and and there there's again give uh Ken ballan a bit

of a shout out there's still working on this thing but it works uh you know to to an extent and they got mentors that

that if it's not got the answer but they AI machine that that uh you know you ask

a question and you you can get an answer back and and people keep on testing it right and they're like you're not giving

me the right answer but they don't understand that it's technology these are the beginning stages it's only going to get better from here so yeah and you

can help it get better by asking the questions we fought that a lot through the years of go Carrera it it takes

usage to get better and feedback to get better so um yeah shout out to everybody

out there trying to work on these problems and make make life a little bit easier for the guys out in the field uh

the more the more you're putting your hands on the product and putting it down the more money you're making solving

these problems the more efficient you can be the more the less time you take

the less time you are uh you know not installing and let's be honest that's how we make money you right we make

money putting the product down if there's ever a topic that you guys want us to cover definitely uh reach out the

email address is going across the screen um if you're listening in it's the Huddle forward progress gmail.com or

reach out to one of us personally um just you can also go on Facebook uh we've been putting the the events in

there if there's one that like jumps out to you definitely reach out and just say hey I would really like to be on this

one that's why we're not putting any guests on that way if you know more people wna want to join in that that's

what we want we want more people to join in so hey reach out let us know um and

we'll we'll definitely try and fit you in where we can yeah we're we're certainly um open for topics topics are

the thing that like it doesn't uh always have to surround flooring uh we've done

several podcasts on business and the reason we feel like we're um you know

uniquely positioned to be able to give some of the business uh guidance is we

all started as installers uh I installed for 20 years or so uh you know these guys have

installed dang the old

man yeah no doubt getting there but I'll tell you we went through a lot of the

stuff you're going to go through and I've mentored a few guys on Facebook that you know just reached out in my

messenger and said hey man I want I'm going to buy this this store uh they

really struggled with X Y and Z what's your you got any advice and I've I've

helped people out um I know you guys have as well and this podcast is kind of

there for for that as well so if you have a business topic if we don't know it we will go find an expert and we've

also reached out to you too so appreciate that and next week we are going to have a baby sister on because

you know she's still in the thick of it installing and uh it's going to be the psychological impact of installer

burnout and strategies for self-care over the past few years she's really you know honed in

on her self-care and I think it it's important for for people to to

understand that you know self-care is is really important you got to realize that

sometimes hey maybe taking off an hour early today and then putting in that

extra hour tomorrow is what needs to happen I mean job still got to get done but but hey sometimes you know hey man

it's tough out there it's a give and take situation sometimes right well we all know the economy is kind of rough

from a cost perspective we're spending more on everything that that's not I don't care where you lie in in politics

and we don't get into that here but bottom line [ __ ] costs a heck of a

lot more it used to and um you know so there's stress outside of work and then

you add the stress of a pro you know of a project um and and we've had we had a

um you know a counselor on here probably two or three maybe four episodes ago and

uh a lot of talk about that so I'm looking forward to that that um episode

again I I think we you know believe in keeping that on the Forefront of our minds cu our brothers and sisters out

there in floring you know we know it's tough we know it can be a hard Road and

and hopefully we you can consider us here for you here at the Huddle so if you do like you know the podcast you

want to support us the best way you can support us is giving us you know some some comments a like a subscribe give us

um some topics throw topics in the comments um any of that stuff helps with

the uh you know all the algorithms out there in the world that that uh put us on feeds and and get us more um uh

viewers and what we want to do is get the message out to every installer in the nation uh about what we're our our

main purpose here and that's helping you guys be more successful like that's our main goal if we can bring topics up that

we have some knowledge in or we can bring an expert in and um help you be

more successful live a higher quality life overall yeah there that's my goal

that's our goal that's what we're here for so I want to thank everybody thank you too as always the Staples it's

always fun getting with you guys and and chatting it through and um it was a great topic I think it's it's super

important um and I look forward to next week's topic as well so guys gotting

closing closing gotting closing arguments yeah no no arguments no arguments I do

have uh um I think uh with all the technology and the information that is

at our fingertips no one really has an excuse anymore to to not know um you

want to explore all those Avenues so that way at the end of the job you can tell somebody with confidence that you

got 99 problems and the floor ain't one so work I love it yeah leave it to Jose

keep track of everything man sorry dude keep track of everything and then communicate as things are happening um

I've been on too many projects where in the beginning we weren't

keeping track so we we learned the hard way to give you guys this information and then once we started keeping track

of everything you know we got on those jobs where it's like we we I got told in meetings I

can't believe you guys have this much information and it's like yeah man that's what that's what happens when you get burned you learn yeah that's Le

learn from our mistakes and you know keep track of everything get kicked in the old junk a time or two and you

you'll do it the you'll start documenting more and and feel free to reach out I mean we got a call when was

it last week from Texas and I mean you posted on flooring and STS of America I

think reaching out to see if anyone in Texas is um you know proficient in vinyl

and heat welding because there's a gentleman down there that's that was watching our videos and was you know he

was he's trying to learn and he's like I've watched your videos I still just

cannot get it and it's like yep I can't do it yeah try to get him connected yeah

and that's what we're here for connecting the community so if you're in Texas and you're listening to this right

now or you're listening to it on the podcast when it comes out next week reach out to us so we can connect you to

the gentleman down there Y and he he's in facility maintenance he's not an installer guys so he is reaching out for

help that could potentially lead to more work yeah help him out probably doing

some patches probably just keeping the facility you know moving forward that

kind of thing something this big can turn into an entire floor in a hospital you never know right it often does

especially in hospital so well super um I look forward to seeing you guys again

next week and to the audience again give us a like subscribe give us some love out there and keep on sharing us man we

appreciate everything you guys do for us yeah we do appr definitely give us a

thumbs down we like that too can't grow if we don't know that's right all right

fellas we'll catch you guys next week all right we'll see you

The Huddle - Episode 97 - Inspector Courses; Why Installers Should Take Them

In this episode of "Inspector Classes; Why Installers Should Take Them," special guests Paul Pleshek from the National Association of Floor Covering Technicians (https://nafct.com) and Jason Ramsay from California Flooring Service (https://californiaflooringservice.com) discuss the importance of training and certification for flooring installers. Attending inspector classes equips professionals with advanced skills and industry insights, enhancing installation quality and customer satisfaction. Certification also boosts credibility, opening doors to new opportunities and allowing installers to command higher rates. Join us to learn how these educational advancements can elevate your flooring business.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle whoa got a little feedback there we're your weekly playbook for not only

strategizing on the game but changing it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the

marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and ensure you're equipped with everything you need let's

band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you belong welcome aboard

everybody and welcome to this week's episode of the huddle with me as always

Mr Daniel and Jose Gonzalez out of grand records Michigan preferred

flooring we got a couple special guests with us today uh we're going to be talking inspector so we thought hey

let's bring on some inspectors so we got Paul pek from the NCT and Jason Ramsey

we've had Jason on before Jason and Paul welcome guys uh should be a funfilled

topic are we um do a little bit of housekeeping here are we all live we are

live all right yay it's working magic things happen when when uh

you get to downgrade from the newest software and then things just magically happen right yeah well you know

technology is fun fellas so I know right we can all relate so today we're going

to be talking about not just inspectors and inspection courses and maybe a path

forward for installers from the aspect of um maybe furthering your career after

installation but more so what type of courses or what type of insights Can We

Gather from current active inspectors that can help us be better installers

and prevent uh some of the pitfalls maybe Identify some of those identify

some of the areas where uh we struggle as installers and inspectors are Keen at

picking up on those uh those parts and pieces and also let's Break Down The Walls the of of uh the image of both

sides so uh I'm going to start with one of the CR the the more contentious

points is do inspectors hate installers or do installers hate inspectors uh I've

I've heard both sides of the story yes installers do hate inspectors I hate all

of you I think the truth is is that most of

them feel like it's a there's battle lines drawn and um being both on the

installer side and then being on the flooring company side where I hire installers and and deal with I've dealt

with inspections I've dealt with uh you know claims and such um many it's it's I think it's

perception so you guys want to like address this part and get it out of

the way at the very beginning what what what's an inspector how does the

inspection take course like how do you guys get hired and then during after that what is your what is your real

goals Jason I would say okay yeah one one of

us either one of you so I think I think so how we're contacted is you know it

could be a manufacturer distributor a homeowner it could be an installer anybody to be honest and I think our job

is to really just inspect and Report okay um stay completely unbiased focus

on on the issues and the facts and just report that as it is you know and

there's this notion out there where I think installers think that inspectors there's no respect for inspectors

because they don't think that well what do you know right you've never touched a trial or had a knife in your hand or a straight edge or know anything

about this stuff and I think that that's that's where they there's not a respect for

inspectors and there's also this talk that oh they're just hired by these people and they're going to do whatever they say well you know there may be some

element of that out there but that couldn't be farther from the truth with with the good inspectors and the ones that have some

Integrity I I think I'd add on to that I I what I usually find is uh good installers don't dislike good inspectors

bad installers dislike all inspectors good installers just like bad inspectors

and I think that's the that's just the fact is that hey we all know there's bad installers there's hack installers

there's hack inspectors there's good PE people at what they do um you end up building a rapport with most of them but

yeah there's people out there that can't stand you because you're constantly looking at their work well yeah guess what well guess why I'm constantly

looking at your work and where do we go with that well you

know I'll let you run the interview I I could run off I said before you started no I I I think you were going in the

right direction I mean how do I I I uh I would love for someone

else to say what what what's your how do we get away from that I

mean I T I tend to think that highly certified and and well- trained installers doing things the right way

don't mind uh their product or their project being inspected as bad as

somebody who maybe is not certified and feels like he's been doing it the right way for a

long time so even before I was certified I wanted to be on every inspection

anyways because it's like if I'm doing something wrong I want to know what I'm doing wrong so okay you're

unicorn well that's the thing though it's it's it's the level of professionalism you bring to the table

and it's it was always well if I am doing something wrong I need to know what I'm doing wrong to be able to fix

it right so that way it doesn't happen again but the reality of the matter was I knew I was doing everything right

because of the processes that we had so if I was going to be doing sheet vinyl

which is pretty much everything that we were always getting inspected well I know I'm going to be doing sheet vinyl

right so I still want to be there and every time we got it inspected they were like yeah there's nothing wrong with

this sheet vinyl I mean they were measuring The Notches they were going through every every single thing and

it's like yeah you you did everything right it's just the the material right or the adhesive application that they

said that was supposed to work in this space it just didn't work or or they get on it too early and

try to blame it on the installers say's feeling so I still wanted to be there

regardless because I just needed to know like is it

something that I did from my perspective I always liked it when the install I

like it when the installer comes out I mean I started inspecting floors in 1995 as you can tell it's

been day it's been a couple here um and you

know it doesn't it should never intimidate or cause issues with the inspector if the installer is present I

mean I've been on jobs where I've inspected the flooring and there were five attorneys there representing every party that could possibly be involved I

mean we don't we've been in different situations where it it and if your

inspector doesn't want an installer there um that's a kind of a red flag to

me right now maybe if the installer wants to be argumentative or if the inspector's being argumentative with the

installer maybe you need to diffuse the situation but there really shouldn't be a time when uh the inspector himself is

excluding people from the proc process it's it's better for us if the installers there you answer more

questions and sometimes give an idea there's often times that you had to do things a certain way and getting that

explanation can help might still be wrong but you know yeah at least a reasonable explanation uh can be

included in the process I did find out um one time that inspectors really don't

like you to be there to ask them a bunch of questions so how do you well I think good inspectors do I mean I've had both

and you guys I'll let the inspectors chime in here but I I've been on the installer side I know you guys have too

but I've been there when the inspector was pleasant and you worked through the

scenario with him and and um I never like get getting combative with the

inspector what the problem we've always had is uh inspector saying things on

site and then their report coming back completely different that's if I have

any negative experience with it um it would be

that so it comes down a lot of it to that commissioning party right and how much you can discuss or talk so a lot of

times we can't really opine I mean we can't are are we can't talk about it right what's going on but what I like to

do I love it when the installers are there and if it's a homeowner and I'll ask that home over my Fe to discuss and

she says yes beautiful and we can have this conversation I can explain everything and it's and it's great

because it's about educating and helping them then they'll have an aha moment but when I can't talk that's when I say you

know I'm sorry I'm not I'm not at Liberty to discuss but just kind of watch what I'm doing and I can kind of

you can kind of figure it out right what I'm focusing on and what I'm doing hopefully that installer can can see

that and and understand what I'm kind of zeroing in on um but eventually they do get their reports as well and I I I I

like to tell them that you know those reports you can use was kind of a blueprint um to figure out kind of what

went wrong I I I just had one last week where big ego installer and I couldn't

talk to him whoa boy he blew up at me and um I just ask well did you document

moisture before you and the Calin chloride and the r

and so so so you uh the site conditions

is that one of the the first um that's probably one of the first questions for

an inspector Right add installation yeah when you go on to I

mean you're you you are concerned with how were the was the moisture testing

done what were the readings what was the ambient you know temperature what's the

humidity those types of things are a big concern for an inspector when they're going into an inspection to figure out

what the conditions site conditions were during the installation was the product

properly acclimated all that kind of stuff is that right that's part of the equation

absolutely there's many more components but that's definitely a start depending on if that's where that that inspector

wants to start with things yeah yeah so I think one of the it's it's a common

question from me uh or for me when we have an inspection is like what was the

moisture readings you have the moisture readings all this stuff and so I think this is a great time to bring up one of

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Prior to deploying your your um cruise is not only huge time saving but in the

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the guys uh reach out to us and we'll get you connected so those sight conditions are important uh I always get

asked did did the product get acclimated what was the temperature and all that stuff so

listen I'll pile on I'll pile on there for you Paul I think that there's that

is a a huge piece of the puzzle for an inspector if you can actually document it that way literally takes away

everything that can be suspect in the beginning of the in well not everything I hate I hate talking in Broad

absolutes yeah but um uh there is no question that

99 out of 100 times when an inspector walks into the job they say we ask them now did you test beforehand and half the

time they say no all right 80% of the time they say no the other 20% of the time they say yes and you say what kind

of meter 95% of the time they say no what's that I said you mean 95% of the

time they say no yeah well yeah yes I it is a vast majority of the time

yes I mean it doesn't help that like with the ad mixtures these days the ad

mixture when he says you do not need to test that might be that might be episode

two right there add mixtures that's it that's the title of the episode just add mixtures

yeah listen if uh the bottom line with anything that has to do with flooring is this for from an inspector standpoint

the manufacturer comes out and says here's a product that we sell we sell this product and if you install it

according to our instructions in the environment that we approve under usage that we approve we will warranty that

product that's what they State when you buy the product that's where you have a warranty is if it is installed in an

environment they approve maintained how they approve installed how they approve they're going to say hey that floor is

going to last a long time x number of years depending on what the product is and the minute that somebody says well I

don't have to install it that way I've been doing this for 30 years and I've never had problem in my entire career

and I can just do it this way because it's worked every time and that floor

fails that warranty is void it doesn't exist anymore that's it right that floor

might perform if you need that warranty now you carry it because you installed it improperly so I got a question on that

um for for everyone out there is there is there any literature or any specific uh type of way to approach it when

you're being asked to install something outside of manufactur specifications that will protect the installer I mean

we live in Michigan right so when we have our Winters there are a lot of times when we have

um you know like one time we had a failure in a restroom that was very that was you know 10 feet away from an exit

door in in the middle of winter in a factory that was operational and that was the employees entrance so every time

they open and close the door we get cold air cold Air's dryer uh then conditioned air you know so it it did uh it did its

magic on on some of uh some of the adhesive right but um we had all the the

right dcks in place like you said um when the inspector got there however the

story that the adhesive was telling didn't reflect our temperature of the slab the ambient temperature and

humidity it didn't reflect any of that and he was having a very hard time taking our word and our documents

uh truthful so what was the answer yeah is

that what what's your at the end of that did you did they find that it was an

installation error or did they um so the beginning that's leaning towards because your

question was is there a way to protect yourself I think that you there are you

can create a document as whether you're an installer or a a flooring company we

have one that we send if we're required to or requested to install outside of

conditions uh but in those in those letters um you know they're

always there I can tell you a few things um make sure that it's super clear and

I've covered this on the podcast before but super clear of the possible problem

and that you and you'll find that they'll get the conditions on right if you send a letter like this uh all the

possible problems and the they um promis to identify harmless for any and all

failures as well as any and all safety issues that result from a failure and

that you are confident that the the chance of failure is high installing

under these conditions and then you make and it's much longer than that but that's you make the architect contractor

and owner sign that document and we've not had one signed

I like the owner part wait get they don't want to go to the owner they don't want the they're scared to go to the

architect or the owner because really the fact that they're behind don't have HVAC on and whatever caused them to be

behind the owner and architect are like well you're the GC you build the building if it's not ready uh what can

we do but it's the only way uh I do know that there's been other documents and I

don't want to spend a ton of time on this but there's other do doents have been created where the GC signs off and

the flooring company took it right in the shorts in the in in law as far as

like they go to court the installer lost that deal because he's the professional he didn't identify clearly identify what

the possible problems were he didn't identify that that uh there could be

safety hazards he didn't ask him to hold them harmless or identify him from any and all potential lawsuits that could uh

come up when you start putting that stuff in your letter the gc's um very

rarely do they move forward with that because it's hard to get all three uh

you know stakeholders to sign a document like that right and I think that's the

go ahead Jason were you gonna say something yeah unfor it all comes back to the installer you're the professional

that's what the judge says why' you do the job I me you're the you're the one you know better and so that's it

and I think that's where the differentiator though is is between being a company that's going to the GC

and doing it and being the installer that's on site that's sub through the company that's doing it because you

there there's multiple channels right where it's all right I as a company I can fight the GC and say no I'm not

going to do it or I can be that company that's like all right I know the GC is not going to budge installer just do it

anyways or if you don't do this I'm not going to give you any more work it's just I i' I've seen both sides of the

the coin there it's a hell of a dichotomy to go through as an installer it's a hell of a position to be put in

it's not good but it happens a lot the

the what we our attempt is to get in writing that they are uh even if it's

just a response to that letter and they don't sign it but a getting proof that

they are try forcing us and threatening us with liquidated damages if we don't move forward those are the types of

things that happen and those stand up very well in court I'm not gonna lie Paul I've used I

mean you hooked us up with that document and I've used it and that was just to do moisture testing period like I'm not

going to install this job if you don't let me moisture test like this is brand new concrete regardless if it was brand new

if it's old concrete I want to do moisture testing think what I'm sorry I think

that what what um we were what we're talking about today and what we're talking about in general with education

is the fact that the more that you can talk at a high level and sound very informed and sound very um um steadfast

in what you're seeing the more that you can convince end users and general

contractors that this is not just something you're not trying to do an hat on sale you're not trying you know you've got instructions here that have

to be met the more that you can refer not just to the installation instructions but the more that you can just off the top of your head refer to

uh ASM standards and and uh installation guidelines and consensus documents

through the industry the more that you can just start rattling these things off when you're trying to talk to a general

contractor the more Authority that you speak with the more that you're GNA sound authentic instead of salesman like

right so it still all comes down to educating your constantly on these

things and working through them not just a class here and there but continually you know and and going to what we had

talked about with this the inspection classes are a big part of that I know that doing the inspector classes May me

better at my job before I got into inspections I know that when people talk about inspections when they have that

level of education and you can start talking with authority about the manufacturing process and the installation process and the maintenance

and and everything that has to do with the flooring from beginning to end when you can talk to a customer and know

you're right because nothing ruins your own um uh the the image they have of you

or your own reputation like telling your customer something and just being dead wrong just flat out wrong I can't tell

you how many times I've gone out on a carpet clean and had a customer say well my carpet cleaner came in and said that it was matted it was uh it was

wearing and it's a cheap carpet and it's garbage and it's wearing and I look at it I'm like well it's not wearing it's

you know it's Madding words matter right it's Madding it's crushing it's cornrowing it's terminology terminology

right you know yeah yeah so being able to go out and and educate yourself and

get this level of knowledge where you talk as an authority on subjects people sense that people sense genuiness people

sense um your your knowledge and being able to go out and do that and I think

that's where as we talked about before that's where I think inspector schools come in important for installers sure

you might want to do it down the road yeah you can make decent money at it you can go get off your news look at floors

and and help people out but legitimately every day that you go out on a job the

knowledge you would get as a as a certified or as a flooring inspector helps you to be better at that job right

so Kendall says uh are there two different standards between residential and Commercial when it comes to moisture

testing asking because residential has wood subfloors different

methods that's right so for concrete it's the same for the wood you'll need to test that that wood with a basically

like a pin meter you know and you can you can get that wood moisture content of that subor and then the wood you're

going to install you can compare those and see what Ranger and what the manufacturer

requires for the wood so just the different methods just the different methods it's the same same testing and

requirements commercial versus residential just different between concrete yep and different different

standards per Floor Covering uh National wood floor Association has what is it 20

tests per thousand square feet Jason do you remember that off the top of your head crazy it's well above it's well

above and beyond what ASM 1869 and 2170 require and then also most Manu man

manufacturers usually will mirror the Asm standards but the nwfa is excessive

it's above and beyond it's crazy yeah something like 20 it's go ahead sorry yeah no go in their

defense yeah I get it you're really gonna get that real consensus and understand what's going on I get it and

it's wood floors which can be more sensitive to localized issues and localized problems so well I'm glad you

brought up earlier Paul about the the TR the um understanding what you're saying

like presenting from a Authority position that the fact is is that getting it's the difference between

being an installer it's been doing it 25 years and you learned from your uncle while you may know how to put the

product down uh what you are lacking is what I think our industry lacks a lot of

is professionalism understanding your craft understanding it not just how to do it

but why are you doing it that way why why are you doing a certain method why

is that necessary for a proper installation and when you get that knowledge you're more likely to do it

the right way yeah and we're not even talking like getting an inspector's certification per se right we're just

talking about getting trained like going through a a class to see what they're looking for you don't even have to go

get certified really it's just hey let me go check out what you guys are

looking for yeah I know a lot of inspectors are old installers and they got leg up so

Paul you you were just talking about um it benefiting installers and and how

that can Jason what's your thoughts on that absolutely and I think that's why

there's there's there's organizations like the nfct out there that are gonna you know if you take take that course

you're going to have so much more knowledge and learn really so much more about what you're doing instead of just

slapping things down bluing It Whatever cutting it you're going to have much more knowledge of what's going on I think that's what if you did take an

inspector course you're going to learn more about the products you're you know what it is that um you're dealing with

instead of just going through the motions because I think as you start off as helpers and you go to these levels you know you're just going through the

motions whatever that guy TS and to them and that's there's this lineage um and you just get in that rut

and that's what you do and you think that that's the way you do things but you're not really understanding why you're doing things what are these

products made out of and so taking these CL these courses are going to really help well round you to understand a

little bit more about what what you're doing you know yeah I always say confident confidence comes from the why

and you know what as an installer you're always continually learning you know if you mess up you cut a corner you don't

do something right and you get an inspector that comes out I think you have to and there's a lot of egos out

there there's big ego in the Flor row as you guys know right okay um but you know if you can Embrace some of that I've

been through it you know learn the hard way but that's you're still it's like going to school or college you're paying for things where you're going to pay for

it in different ways and it may be more expensive but you know it's a huge lesson and hopefully you don't do it

again there's two ways you learn you go through the hard way or somebody somewhere has taught you and you paid

attention sometimes sometimes that is the hard

sometimes is the hard way you could watch the Huddle listen to us go get

trained uh get some inspe courses through NCT and uh or there's other

organizations but Paul's like you know he's he Paul what they're doing yeah man you

gotta you gotta get get with that and I think there's a few things to think about when you're an installer if you

focus on a few things and that's really reading the manufacturers guidelines and then the second point would be reading

the manufacturers guidelines right Paul Mr pich you right because you know how your course is it's it's always hounding

and pounding that in because people don't read right we don't want we don't even take directions we just go drive we

figure it out right let com want a video man and there's a few things I mean if

you you guys know me I I just I I I preach and talk substrate substrate subfloor substrate subfloor because

hello right I mean these new prodcts that we're dealing with these days 30 years ago there wasn't the there wasn't the luxury vinyl Force per se I mean

there was like there was there was some like foro stuff but um not to where

things are today and you know getting your moisture your moisture your substrates expansion a few things

acclamation and you're going to be getting you're going to be you know on the road to success I understand that

people don't pay and money can be an issue and that's be for another Another Story Another topic as well another day

and I and I appreciate you putting up that thanks thanks for the the kind words there Jason too uh this course we

put together and we try to work with people as much as possible I think you all know that and I have known the guys

over at inspector Training Services will Stoner and Andrew fronsac for 20 years I served on the board of the National

Institute of certified floor coverings inspectors with them and and have done events with them and have just um they

they've been part of my growth within the industry part of my some of my mentors as I've I've grown up in the

industry and when I got a chance to go and do a class with them I think one of the advantages we've got here is you're

going to get certification from two organizations you're going to get a carpet inspector certification and a

advanced which is the carpet the commercial carpet side of it so from both organizations you'll have to pass

both exams and go through both processes but you'll get multiple listing sites

through one class um I really think we're going to do a mill tour we're

going to take a tour of a mill that basically starts as pellets and comes out as rolls so that's going to be a uh

it's one of the parts of the process that I really enjoy but I think that when you see the knowledge and the

variation between what you get in normal training uh for FL just just specific to

flooring inst installation when you start taking classes that go into the manufacturing process that go into you

know um determining cause of problems you start to see like like Paul was

saying you start to see the why you start to see the why you have to do it a certain way you start to understand in

more in depth that these things aren't just arbitrary uh rules to make it so that you avoid the warranty they're

actually important things that impact the performance of the material you're putting down so thank you for sharing

that I appreciate it yeah no problem I know you didn't ask me to but I wanted to share I mean um and it's it's not

just you know installers that can benefit from doing the inspector classes I've I've been in classes where

inspectors actually come to the installation class to learn learn more about it so that way they're inspecting

so it's kind of like we're learning from each other too so it it's it goes full

circle man like you can see Clayton just popped in

and 40 moisture test for the first 1,000 for wood floor covering and 20 for the

first 10,000 for wood so I mean think about that who that's that's crazy I mean but that's what they say and you

see a lot of these manufacturers it's really it's designed it's really difficult for installers to comply to

all of that you got to try to check as many boxes as you can but I understand

the difficulty of it and plus everybody wants it yesterday there's timing we got bills to pay you got put food on the

table I get it so there's all these things and so that's why I feel sometimes installers end up cutting

cutting some Corners um because of they just they roll the dice they roll the dice right and that's where like I got

the the floor Cloud uh QR code pulled up right here and that's the thing right it's the technology that we have right

now to make things so much easier where you just go set it up and then you can keep track of everything when you're not

even on the job site like man the the technology these days people need to to start getting on it and making things

that much easier that way when inspectors do come around it's like hey do you have this it's like absolutely

man it's right here take a look at it yeah the more you can

the more you can leverage that the the more efficient you can be um so along

that vein as inspectors when you come out on a

core a a inspection no matter who hired you what is your your full intent I'm

going to set this up actually your full intent is to just get down to the you stated it earlier Jason to the to what

happened you're not really I mean I think there's this aura about like

inspectors are against installers like I stated early on but that's not really the case for most inspectors um the what

is your guys as true like what is not maybe maybe job is the right way to say

it what is your real what is your goal when you go to a site our goal ultimately is to be

unbiased I mean unbiased is the word we're not we're supposed to come in there and have no feelings about a job

whatsoever it is what it is the job tells us what's going on and you know um

that's exactly how we are supposed to call it we're not um we're not supposed

to go in there and try to hang it on anybody we're not showing up I think

installers probably if I had one one side of it to say that installers get

that feeling is because Manu when I said before that manufacturers make a product they say give you the product they say

install it this way maintain it this way keep it in this environment have this kind of traffic they

have Clayton this is

why oh yeah um you know we go in and we we um we the manufacturers make the

rules for usage the rules for installation so even if I walk in as an

inspector and I say I totally understand why you did that and makes complete sense to me but you know I can't say it's right I can't say you know take it

the manufacturer says do it this way or we don't warranty it that's the bottom

line so we are kind of in that we're frequently in that position to say hey the manufacturer sets the

rules for the product they sell right yeah and what in what what

cases do you guys um when when a manufacturers installation instructions

uh how often do you find they go again against umm recommendations like

standards you ever run across that manufacturing instructions manufactur

instructions or installers yeah no the the installation instructions from the

manufacturer conflicting with um say any

of the have you ever ran across any of that right where where a manufactur

manuf no I mean like they say to install it XYZ way acclamation is one that comes

to mind some uh many manufacturers say no acclamation needed for a particular

lvt and then you can find in other documents industry documents that recommend that it should be acclimated

even though that manufacturer States clearly on their stuff not no

acclamation needed manufacturers instructions supersede industry standard

because they're very specific products especially on that side of it you know on the wood side of of of things maybe

there's not as much that they can do to a certain product but these are completely engineered materials they're not you know just harvested and and made

so um yeah if they make something and they feel they can get a competitive advantage on some of those things and

the bottom line is that if they say it they have to stand behind it right they say that you don't have to acclimate it

and then it fails because you didn't acclimate it there's other things that if they're

not there you can default to ASN standards paracity testing Matt whatever

Matt B different things but you can but just like Paul said you that's that's

that's what you have to follow with what they say and if you comply to all that in theory you should be covered so Jimmy

says you know he's just being honest as an installer he had some jobs fail if he didn't have a training background he

would have been stuck inspector he believes it's the inspector's job to get the manufacturers off the hook because

it was an obvious manufa a material issue and then him arguing he proved that it was installation related in the

end they had to pay him to replace the defective floor and then Rollin follows

that up with if they are to be fair then why so many times he hears they are checking in areas that have no problem

looking for something wrong so um this is kind of goes back to my brother's

sters talking about about inspectors right this is this is the the kind of

the fight that we we were were hoping to kind of see right and I think this goes back to my brother's issue earlier cuz

when um the job that he was talking about with the VCT being in the area

where it failed and then them saying no it's an installer issue and then he said

we were like no we're certified to in saw your product and then magically they were like okay never

mind so well I wanted to touch I did see that when I wanted I'm sorry did I interrupt go ahead

no I did want to touch on what what Rin said I'll say flat out that um I learned

a lesson so I I in my own uh experience now keep in mind we talked about that

experience is what you get when things go right and wisdom is what you get when things go wrong but um

I had one job and it was really early on and I was doing a it was just a texture claim on a carpet and I was trying to be

this diligent inspector the manufacturer had given me this checklist I went through and part of the checklist was

checking for seam sealer don't ask me I was a new inspector and I went ahead and I said oh gee I'll I'll do what they

asked I ran into that installer and and I forget I'm sorry I don't know if it was a texture claim but anyway they

denied the claim and they blamed it on the seam sealer which had nothing to do with the claim and ever since then I

have never looked at a thing that was unrelated to the claim I've told manufacturers when they send those checklists that I'll look at everything

that's pertinent to the claim but I absolutely will not look at you know um

I'm not going to look at uh I'm not gonna look at expansion space when I'm out on a gloss claim for

example now yeah is already thinking of examples where expansion space can uh can affect what you think is gloss but

so a there's one of two things either it's an inspector that is inexperienced

who doesn't quite understand that you're not supposed to be out there hunting for or looking for other issues um the other thing though it

could be two-sided because we get it frequently when we go out on a claim and the homeowner will get us there and

suddenly that one claim they had for um for for crackling noises become six

different items that they want us to look at while we're there and the manufacturers say well take a look at all of it so tell tell me why they did

this hey I do it the same time to doctors every time I got a doctor's appointment

you know I try to get it over in one point appointment that's why your bill goes from free to

$800 you know I I got one I got I saw a report where it was a a finish claim and

the report they're checking for expansion so it kind of blew me away but um you know sometimes with those

protocol that we have to follow and you have on you have to rule so sometimes I have Stars what are you doing that for

what are you looking over there well maybe I'm ruling things out right maybe I have to do a comparison guys like why

are you checking moist over there but little does he know I'm doing a qu I'm qualifying some areas I gotta get a

reference point so that you know but I'm not going into that but the guy thinks I'm an idiot doing what I'm doing I'm

doing a hammer tap test in an a goes what the hell are you doing what you know and I'm I'm ruling things out or

I'm following protocol you still have to be somewhat thorough because sometimes when you you you try to surmise or think

something but you get in there and you you're real thorough and you do a deep dive you realize oh my God this actually

this is going on and another thing is I'll be there and they'll be the lawyer they'll be this person that person four

people and they try to sell you on something they try to steer you off into the wrong direction on something and ah

I know what this guy is doing it's totally not that right that's such a classic one oh outside over there

there's an apple tree in this G what so but that a lot of that stuff happen

so my point is you got to be kind of thorough you got to rule some things out and check some things out even though it may not obviously on a finish you don't

need to check Gap expansion space right but there are some things you have to be somewhat thorough and that could be

sometimes spe question for you guys yes go s and

and just popped in my head with what he was saying is uh now we're in the DIY

era right and and if uh if a homeowner can can file a claim and hire an inspector or an inspector gets sent

out when you guys go to a DIY what are the I guess what is the the the failure

rate versus homeowner install versus manufacturer defect do they understand

150% okay I'm just asking because like you know it's uh you know this so so easy an electrician can do it type

things but um we had just had the there was a post I think you guys talked about

recently that was um you guys talked about a PO I think

where they just talked about oh oh that one yeah yes the corch post yes and no

skilled labor required ofs that the instructions also say test the test sub florn ASM thism

that you know requir

yeah I missed that so uh what just so it was in one of the magazines right and it

was and I already said it so I'm going to say it again it was a ctech post and

right there in big bold letters it said no skilled labor required to install it yeah and then

Paul did was it in the fine print right there on that page or was it did you look up

the specs on it I just looked up the the installation instructions quick so look up the

installation instructions and it says right in the installation instructions test for this test for that has to be

within this tolerance but but you don't have to be skilled to do that yeah so so

they were just referring to the installation yeah think about that being qualified to do these moisture tests

when you if you do go to court did you use a qualified person um to do these

these tests right that's another one if not you don't even you're already done look at the end of the day there's

very few DIY products that are actually DIY they the substrate that Jason kind

of obsessed on in our first podcast with him which rightfully so uh that matters

way more almost more than how you put the product in nine times out of 10

that's going to be the thing that grabs you is um not not doing the floor prep

correctly or not um not testing for moisture not putting the the the

moisture barrier they tell me I wasn't paid to do it that's what they tell me on site when

I have conversations with them when I can speak I know I wasn't paid to I wasn't paid to put a moisture beer I

wasn't paid to prep the customer didn't pay me my boss didn't pay me they're not paying me well maybe they told me not to

do it maybe not what about this one right here I think that's comment right here guys and I got a comment on an

email right here that says uh we've never had to do that in any other building all over the whole

country we're talking about prep for VCT yeah yeah well unfortunately that

that's the kind of stuff that we run up against and and uh from the installer

side the truth is is that installers the going back again to Paul's earlier

comment being uh well educated on our craft not just

having the hand skills to actually do it but having the Mind skills and the professionalism to understand why you're

doing it that way will go a long way and and if you're not getting paid to do

something you just don't you don't just then do the next step that that in every

contract that I get uh for in the commercial world and

uh so we don't get a lot of contracts in the residential world I don't I don't think but uh

in the in the commercial world all the contracts state that once you start applying your our product to the

previous guy's product you you own it so you have to bring up the problems and stop uh for example this applies to

cheat rockers right the plumber didn't have uh on a project the valves stemmed

out to where he could cut around them and they just laid the sheet walk over them and what happened they had to go

take all that down at on their own dime it's the same thing with Florine we install over a bad

concrete or wood substrate we don't stop bring up the problem create a solution

and then apply that solution then we are taking responsibility for the the issue

not being paid for it or you know whatever that is not an excuse just

don't it's that's where Integrity comes in right Integrity comes in that that's

one of our our core values and we talk about this with the guys a lot and they're like um I thought you said we

weren't getting paid for that I said I know we're not getting paid for it but we have to do it like it's that's the

thing it's gonna take 45 minutes of our time like it's gonna take 45 minutes

just get it done I know it's going to be right just do it yeah there's the right

way and the easy way right and so that's that's an issue that that plagues a lot of installers is

easy can I'm going to say that one of the the problems is that

installers um having the thought that they that being paid for the installation is only to take this

product and click it to another piece of the same product that is not installation my friends that is you

might as well be a DIY if you're not going to take the next step of being a professional knowing why you're doing

something and knowing what you what what the right steps are if you're if you're properly educated I'll use um like a

just a a vapor barrier underneath you know um ctech or any any floating uh uh

uh click product that's supposed to be there it's in the install instructions if you're not paid for it maybe that's

when you don't accept the project from the company or from the like I won't do this unless I I've got to do this piece

and you got to pay me to do this piece or else I can't do it

that's that's having integrity and standing up too uh sometimes it's like how long is it going to take you to do

uh uh to roll out the VIS Queen and put it down if you can still get it done and still make good money for the day do it

and you know you got it done right what if the installer just doesn't know that that's what you're supposed to do will

that hold up in court yeah well I didn't know you were supposed to do that so you know I don't

need to do it right that doesn't work that that doesn't work you know but um

I'll tell you that a lot of times what what happens is it's also

that chain right when you have four men or the managers or the owners or whoever they're working for um there's no

communication and you know I think you guys have all touched upon this but also can go back to estimating too and

improper estimating or bidding projects or and then you get in there yeah and

then you realize oh I'm you know I'm not going to make any money out and so then you start getting into these moral

issues and judgment calls depending on if it's a contractor or if it's subed out or if it's an employee there's going

to be different mindsets along the way which could cause you know cause because unfortunately when when an inspector

goes out to to inspect costing somebody some

money you know every time right every time and it's it's sad sometimes when I

go out and I see some of these guys and they they just did bonehead moves I think to myself gosh man and I have to

report it properly and I just feel you know but you know you're going to learn and hopefully you learn from this

mistake like Paul said you know you either win or you become wise and hopefully you know it doesn't cost you

too much because lot one job can put can can bankrupt a business yeah well one

job could pay for your proper training uh to get your training ahead of time

that's why we're out here educating to to try and get in front of all that all of this stuff it's a struggle I I we

fight from go careera to the Huddle we we are aligned on getting properly

trained to install products and and you know go careera is uh an

accreditation uh process for installers but at the end of the day we we the

whole purpose is to get trained you can either spend your money or invest it

when you get trained that stays with you it's like putting money in the stock market or you can go spend it on Jolly

Ranchers or whatever the hell and it's gone forever um the the the whole goal

is to and and who know like you can't even put a dollar figure on the stress

and the the the the the pressure that comes on you when you have a big

claim so avoid all that get properly trained get get some in uh inspect

courses you know I'm I'm going to myself take an inspector course and N afct is

is a great place to go guys so like get get an inspector course under your belt

make sure you got the industry standard training as well that you have uh if

it's a product you know a manufacturer specific training or you know getting

your standard kind of um I'd call it you know industry training from a CFI uh you

or an aft or one of the the training entities and I know NCT also has some

trainings the get educated get professional get trained and then you

can you you're you're starting off in such a better place than the the learn

as you go take your hits lose money and you're going to get taught one way or

another or you're it's going to cost you to get taught one way or another it's much better to invest it early on and

you'll have a happier in stallation career and and if I could add just one thing to that with all of these

questions you that everybody had with with with inspectors and their socalled

or or perceived allegiances listen if you can go to a doctor who's got eight years of school and and a million

dollars worth of student loans maybe um and you can go to them and get a second opinion when they have told you what's

wrong with you you sure as heck can go get a second opinion on a flooring inspector go find somebody else bring

them in if you disagree with it there's nothing wrong with that it doesn't need to be ar done that before yeah I was

going to bring that up because we talked about like the biases when you're like or yeah the biases and you think that an

inspector is out to get you and you know when they don't invite you and who hires

this person because we've been on that side where we were an an installer right we were labor only the the flooring

store hired an inspector and then said hey they said that you that's what

exactly what they said you guys didn't use seam sealer we said oh really all right we are gonna hire our own

inspector to go out there never mind never mind I would behoove them to do it I

mean they bring Mr please Shi in behind me all the time but I just come out squeaky

C you're good hey I've been I've been in litigation

with with inspectors I'm good friends with you know we can we can also disagree on things and sometimes we

agree on things in different uh in different ways but you know we had a

friend inspect our stuff and fail it oh not even and that was a couple years ago

it was and it was like there's no way but you know what no we're we're still friends we're still great friends and he

he failed it and it wasn't it wasn't based on installation it was based on um

false information that was given to us by the GC

but at the end of the day the the the um

if the that's a good uh example of an inspector just doing his job regardless of what the

deal is like doing his job and I've I've won inspections because I hired another

inspector come down and I mean it happens and like Paul just said it's get

a second opinion if if you don't agree but many of them don't do that if I I

find let me say this I would imagine that it's it's not as um comfortable to

ask for a second inspection if you haven't been properly trained um and you

don't know if you if you have been you have that confidence that like I'm gonna hire like an untrained

guy is scared of two inspectors saying it's your fault now where do you go

right so hire a third and a fourth Keep On hiring until someone says it's not your fault eventually the stack the deck

stacked against you at the end of the day I I'm I know I'm drilling on training but to me that's that's like

the secret weapon is really knowing what you're doing and what you're talking about and then hire getting that second

opinion you know and or third in some cases I mean I mean

they so I wonder possibilities I wonder what the um what is the Manu when you

guys um do manufacturers hate it when you fail their floor and find them at

fault they argue sometimes that's a question I've been uh

given listen if I could if I could say one thing um

inspectors as a group and this happened just a little before I got involved with another group um early on we were

inspecting floors on the wood floor side this was probably 15 years ago now um we

would go out and look at checks and manufacturers would say that checks were site related and that was their company

line they said now that's that's not part that's not our fault these are site

related issues and the floor checks from a from a dry environment when you have insufficient humidification over winter

Etc so some inspectors a group of inspectors went and talked to Alex Weeden Hoff down at Forest Products lab

and they talked to some guys over at some some universities and talked to them and this and these these these wood

professionals came and said no that's impossible because you need about a I don't know if it was like a 10% gradient

to create enough enough uh tension to to tear the the wood grain it has to happen

fairly rapidly that doesn't happen within a within a home environment so

inspector started to refer to that and we started talking about it and how that happened in the Kil drying process when

um you know and and what happens is they would dry down and then the checks would open up and then the condition they

would they steam it they add some moisture to it and then all the checks close up then they put it in the house it gets dry and those those existing

checks open up well so inspectors work towards finding

the right answers not just taking answers that were given by the industry and provided by the industry and when

that happened the industry just went and said well that's characteristic of what it's not a defect but that's a different

story how convenient you you bought it we do as

inspectors we do look for areas that we can find proof because we we're supposed

to implement the scientific method right we're supposed to go in there we're supposed to create a theory on what's happening with the floor we're supposed

to take the tests that are designed to test that theory to make sure it's correct or not correct and if it is

correct we can move on with the proof according to our testing if it's not correct then we we have to find a different Theory and start over when

Jason was talking earlier about the things that you go and do when you go look at a flooring and you're looking at something and think oh this is

completely unrelated well you might be testing a theory and finding out that that theory is wrong you could be doing

something that um you think is unrelated but that was that inspector's first

first hypothesis that he's going in to say well I think this is what's doing it

it's not it we moved on to a different to a different thought so you know if you bu the scientific method any of

you'll start to realize quickly that inspections is a very cut and dry business it has very little to do with

personal opinions on somebody's um ability or somebody's

profession that's right you don't really care you gotta you gotta you know get the facts just the facts ma'am well

that's what Clayton says right he's at this comment right here the answers are in the floor and presenting that

information in a way that is inarguable so so the answers are there you just got

to find them right and I think that's the the biggest takeaway from today is is that one if you're getting an

inspector that you feel is uh kind of going behind your back and trying to to go in the manufacturer's

favor you you always have that that option to to get your own opinion right hire hire your own inspector and and see

uh see what they say and two man go to these classes because you want to know

what they're looking for and you guys are called inspectors for a reason you're there to inspect and that's why

you're over there doing something like why is he over there he's inspecting that's his job yeah you're gonna find

out why you're gonna find out why they're looking at something how to install properly you should be getting

the the proper training certifications do so and then go to one of these inspector courses that'll help you

understand why they're looking at different things and maybe you misunderstood Rollins I love Rolland but I thought I'd

bring up his comment earlier you know that uh checking areas that don't have a

problem like it seems like Paul was alluding that could be testing a hypothesis about the the actual problem

who knows but the point is you won't know till you learn so we are rounding up on the hour here

what was you g to say uh Jose I was just wondering if uh if they

have gadgets to go with their inspector title inspector Gad lots of gadgets many

gadgets so I know you guys are go ahead said and also um when when Daniel or I

or one of us from preferred come down to to take the class um is it gonna come with a shirt that says uh science don't

lie on the back oh not bad trademark we already trademarked

that tradar just the fact

[Music] man maybe go ahead Jason I was gonna

tell Mr pich I do the col uh uh one more

thing you're leaving you're leaving you're leaving one more thing um did you do a moisture

testing hey I'll say sometimes I I know we could talk all day I say sometimes I

uh um we'll go out and whatever I think the problem is with the floor I'll do it last because I've gotten yelled at for

checking like flatness and things like that so sometimes I just say what I think it is to last so if they're gonna

start yelling at me I can just do it quick and get out the door yeah yeah I did the combo I did the combo last week

to the guy who showed up on site and was mad at me because I couldn't tell him anything and I was leaving and I go oh

one more thing did did you do did you do did you do the moisture test oh man well I did the calcium chloride and the the

the the RH and manufacturer I go did you did you do it though and then you know

no okay thank you have a nice day right guy almost sounded like Aro Schwarzenegger for a

second yeah yeah but like Mr pek says doing it last sometimes like that that's

a yeah okay so let's round this out we all

agree that being properly trained is your first line defense uh maybe

considered taking the inspector course to understand more why and um up your

professionalism and then the inspectors are not your enemy a

lot of times uh engaging with them and being their present and helping them um

Can can uh turn out it's not always going it's not like they're there to get

you I guess is what I'm trying to say uh they're there to find the problem and you can always go back and get a second

opinion if you if you need one so um advice let's round it out with advice

for installers uh outside of what I just said about getting trained and uh

actually taking the inspector course what what when they're dealing with an inspector um on a

project best practices like what what helps you guys out from the uh

inspector's side and I'll kick it off with the installer side maybe we can just go around the uh room

to me I love it when you know what I look for an inspector is someone who actually is trying to discover the issue

regardless uh and a lot of times you can tell and uh it's not always pointing

towards one way or the other um but friendliness and um you know having your

report match the the stuff you say on site um or otherwise maybe don't say

anything anything or or tell me you can't say something or or what have you

um whatever you need to do that's from the installer company kind of perspective uh you know don't have those

two conflict that would be a big uh big thing for me what about one of you inspectors H how can installers and

companies work with you the best when you are on site make this thing go as good as

possible if we can discuss maybe just be open to um

discussion and um not be confrontational and I think that um if you have an open

mind about things and you reallying to learn about what potentially is going on I think that's going to be beneficial

for for the installer and or the company that's commissioned or person I I personally

love documentation if you did moisture testing take pictures of it or get floor Cloud right I mean I love everything

that's done prior to the installation to help me exclude everything

beforehand right if I can exclude everything leading up to installation based on your documentation suddenly I

can come in there and say well okay what happened after the installation um if you can verify the flatness if you go

through and you know get some pictures show what you did show where the areas were um with wood floor Subs with wood

sub Flo they change and it doesn't necessarily mean you know when I see a a

wood subfloor issue if it's six months out that's one thing if I'm five years down the road

what's changed when did the issue arise so for me documentation everything that you have that documents everything that

you did helps me to say that not I think this is what you did but this I know this is what you did because you showed

me pictures of it you showed me what you did yeah for sure how about another

flooring guy I what I look for in in an inspector is someone to come over and uh

when you're done inspecting to buy me lunch easy damn damn it Daniel damn it I

was gonna say buy me tacos that's it and and that's only because that's happened

almost every time and I think that's probably because like I said every time I'm I have an

inspector it's always hey you guys did everything right and then it's always can I buy you lunch and I think they

just want to pick my brain because they don't they probably don't come across someone with as much knowledge as you

know as we have and they're just like where where did you learn from where did

you get this information from and it's like you know I just tell them man it's

it's because we were so I learned from the Huddle you know

that's where we learned from if I were put in that situation again and not go back through all my

experiences uh with inspectors is uh just just understand that uh not

everybody not everybody knows everything about flooring and sometimes those

people are there to learn and as soon as as soon as they feel like it's going uh

in the opposite way and not in their favor they are gonna get a little defensive and just bear with them be a

little patient cool hey do you guys want to give your uh information because you

guys are still inspecting right so if anyone's in your area they can hire you

guys yeah where can they find you Jason if they're out in California how do they get a hold of you Nate Nate you are

right uh OC flooring inspections.com or California flooring service is my

installation company either one thank you Paul uh listen I mostly mostly come out

to these things for the National Association of Floor Covering technicians for the education of it I

still do inspections in Wisconsin you got Google you can find me but um what's your cell phone

number just Google just Google Paul pck inspector he'll pop up um

but we've uh you know we've we've got a a vinyl course we did online I think we're going to we've got some things

lined up I think we'll you'll see some different inspection things coming up here we've got the carpet one down in

Georgia it's the best place to do it because that's where the flooring is frankly the more you get manufacturers involved in your inspector courses the

more you can have conversations uh that are sort of off the off the Record when

you can get in manufacturers aside and and ask them questions where they're not

you know being documented and so forth they can give you some different answers and different things to look for so

getting to an inspector course that's down in Georgia really does pay for itself because that's where the that's

where the manufacturers can come hang out and and and just kind of get to know everybody that's there so you know we we

appreciate that and uh we appreciate your you guys support with the Huddle and you know everything that you guys do

for the industry I don't know is that our QR code that says insector or in in

inspector oh yep that's me I that don't I don't know how to spell apparently I was doing it while we were

talking that's okay get it does it does take you to the right spot though you

got the right you got the main part correct so well thanks guys for joining us today

it's been it's awesome as usual with these uh things we could probably talk another hour and not even know went by

but uh for the algorithms and the love if you enjoy what you've watched or

found it you know informational please give us a subscribe a like on whatever platform you're watching um comment let

us know what you want to hear and uh I want to thank Daniel and Jose for all

the contributions and and holding the huddle up and helping it keep going um

thank you uh Jason and Paul for joining us today it was a great conversation and uh I'm sure we'll have round two in the

near future absolutely and also if if you don't like the content still like And subscribe and just bash us all the

time yeah interact either way baby all right guys well it's been a

pleasure I thank you guys for joining us until next week we'll talk to guys we'll see you all right thanks gentlemen

The Huddle - Episode 96 - Leveraging Social Media

In this episode, we're joined by Shannon Vogel from Reach Social (https://reachsocial.media), to unlock the secrets behind harnessing social media for the flooring industry. Discover how to craft a brand and reputation that resonates with a wide audience, turning followers into customers. Shannon will share her expert tips and tricks on effective social media strategies, content creation, and engagement techniques that make your business stand out. This episode is packed with insights on elevating your online presence. Tune in to transform your social media approach and drive your business forward.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we're your weekly Playbook where we not only strategize on the game but changing

it from mastering the fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the marketplace which is really of

important today uh we are here to give the installer a a voice and a leg up in

everything you need let's band together and create a new Legacy and flooring this is where you belong

so today we didn't have our fancy music and

things were going haywire before the uh the show and uh we just uh had to uh

call an audible so sorry you didn't get that they like to update the the software without letting anyone know

yeah and it sounds like that might be a standard um standard operating procedure

in uh a lot of different platforms which I'm sure Shannon will share a little bit

about that today so today we're going to be discussing marketing yourself and

using social media for this um and and how you guys can

really you know I'm no social media expert in fact I'm pretty terrible at it Shannon is an expert and so we have an

expert on that's going to help us uh you know kind of navigate these Waters so Shannon can you tell us a little bit

about you and your exper experience in flooring and how you what you do and a

little bit about um Shannon sure um first thank you so much for having me I

love any opportunity to educate and Inspire anybody about crazy world of social media um so I started out

actually going to school to be a therapist and um at the very last minute got rerouted back to the family

construction business and my dad goes hey what do you think about coming back to smalltown USA and selling flooring

and I was like no I'm going to Atlanta and I'm gonna wear heels and I'm gonna do all the things in this fancy life and

I ended up in construction it's the best thing that ever happened to me um worked for you know my dad was really really

great at his craft and I got to learn so many things the right way and then um

eventually outgrew smalltown USA again for the third time and then uh went to a

bigger city to work for a bigger flooring company and really found my love and passion for flooring because

every body has to have one and why not make it the foundation of your home why not make it the thing that makes your

house a home and make your home better so I did um retail flooring sales

commercial flooring sales um residential and Commercial interior design and at

one point um somebody asked me in 2007 to start the blog for the world Floor

Covering Association and when she called me she said do you know what a Blog is and I googled the answer and I was like

yeah it's um online articles that you put on the internet and she well we're going to do one and you're the one

because we don't know anybody else that understands design flooring and technology so I said great you know

we're We're Off to the Races so in 2007 somewhere around there we got the

blog up to 15,000 readers a month and was like holy cow we had no idea that

there was this much interest that people wanted to know so then that turned into um the company said well if you can do

that well can you do Facebook thing and I was like it's brand new let me figure it out so then you know as each platform

came along I got to figure it out for the flooring industry and then it finally got to the point where um

retailers dealers manufacturers installers everybody they were like how do we do it for ourselves and there's a

very small percentage that want to do it themselves which is actually why I have a company because nobody wants to do it

nobody understands it and nobody could figure out you know how often that it changes so um when Susie homeowner broke

me because she did not understand that her she I remember the woman complaining

to me she said that her brass on her floor vents didn't match the brass on her faucets and I was like

lady what I tell you in the beginning like wait until the bathroom is finished wait till the towels are hanging on the

wall wait till the picture's hanging and then if you don't like your bathroom call me but right now like bro these

things aren't even made in the same country like they're one's not even brass so anyway so she drove me to look for another opportunity and then um so I

just hitched my wagon to the internet and have been doing this for 15 years and then um recently went out and left

the agency I was with because they got purchased and went out on my own and um just helping helping the flooring

industry one person at a time wonderful so you're you're uh your organic

flooring person turned turned uh social media and marketing expert yes and what

was cool about it was getting to learn it when nobody did it nobody there was no road map it was just figuring it out

um so it funny how the universe works and things come around my background in Psychology ended up playing such a big

part in meeting with customers for interior design but it plays a lot in social media because you have to

understand what people think how they think what they need and how to serve a

message up to them in a mindset where it's not about you and that's something that I preach all the time to people

that are doing their own social media this is not what can you say buy from me buy from me buy from me this is you have

to think about your customer and think about what they're nervous about and what they need and you need to hand them the solution in a way that works for

them not in a way that that patch you on the back your

solutionist so is that the if to kick things off for uh a lot of our audiences

uh installers we we have some companies and even manufacturers that that uh

watch the show but um from the installers perspective is that would

that be your first piece of advice is don't make it about you okay so I'll say half and half it

depends if you're an installer that looks at yourself like an artisan and

you have you understand that your personal brand and you work your personal brand then absolutely it can be

about you as well but first and foremost I tell people to think about social media like a relationship and where we

how are we on um can we do language in a little gray area or yeah yeah yeah do whatever you need to I tell people to

think about you know did you walk up to your wife Paul are you married did you walk up and say hey would you like to

get married and have sex the first day I would have got slapped I think exactly gota ease into this thing like you have

to build a relationship it's truly separate social and media it is media that first and foremost has to be social

so in a relationship you have to like ask about us you have to send us flowers you have to do all the things like you

have to keep showing up so supp Court your audience a little bit you have to cour your AI you gotta woo them you

gotta woo them about a relationship so how are you gonna get somebody to say oh my gosh I have to work with them like I

will only have them crystal is the only one I'll work with so if you have a personality and you're a kind person and

you know you do good things in the world and you want to promote that part of yourself and absolutely do because that tells the whole story because your job

is to tell a story that somebody can fall in love with and follow the other

thing I'll tell installers is um and I was so waiting for the opportunity to say this so we get pictures all the time

from the installers or from our clients our retailers from their installers and

I give them the whole speech about you got to think about Susie homeowner as your audience right so I'm generally

most person's Susie homeowner I'm 46 years old I can afford to do new floors I love my home and I I want to do my

friends right I'm a woman so if I mean is what it is so when you're one upper

you're a one upper don't want to be but you gotta be you know it's a doggy dog we gotta do it you got have the nicest

place to drink mimosas thank you so when I'm scrolling through social um you know I'm on the

couch at nine o'clock at night in my bathrob I've done all my work I've you know put done everything with the dogs everybody's had dinner and I'm scrolling

through with my iPad in one hand a glass of wine in one hand right so I'm scrolling through and I'm seeing who

went out to dinner who had a baby who ate a grilled cheese sandwich right when your post shows up in my feed first of

all do not punch me in the face with I can install hardwood for $1.99 don't punch me in the face with

price show me something pretty and then make me want it after

you show me something pretty and make me want it make me trust you how do you make me trust you you either have

somebody else say how great you are are because people trust what other people say 80% more than they trust when you say it so when I talk about telling that

story if if you'll go in that order and show me something beautiful that I'm like oh I don't have that that looks new

that looks shiny that looks better than my neighbors I want that then I'm like yeah but I don't really know because every woman in their mind has in the

back of their head you're going to come in my house you're going to take too long and you're not going to clean up so

if you show me something pretty then you tell me a little a bit about yourself you your company however depends on the size that you are and you tell me that

you're going to take care of my home you're going to get in and get out you're going to treat me fairly I'm going to be safe and you're going to

vacuum on the way out you have my attention and by the time we go through that whole process and then you show me

maybe a testimonial that says you know somebody else said oh my gosh they were so great to work with and it turned out

even better than I imagined I have everything I need to not only pick you but not argue with you about price

because I want to feel safe I want to feel secure and I want to feel like you're I'm going to give a good job and

you're going to be there for my warranty that's another thing that people don't want you to think women don't want to

think you're going to come in make my house a mess leave and then drive off

back yeah you know so a couple of tips like if you um have branded swag and you

wear that to the door you're lowering yeah you're lowering her anxiety already 20 points because it's

the right person showing up for the job and you look professional So to that in her mind says they're good company they

can afford nice swag so they're going to be there for my warranty right so the soap box that I get on so go back to me

I'm in my bathrobe got my glass of wine I'm sitting on the couch and I'm inspired now and I want a new shower right I want a new tile shower

and you you hear me and then you submit a picture and there is a tool laying on

the kitchen or the bathroom sink the toilet lid is up and

there's still trash in the corner you know what you just told me not so much

you're not going to clean up yeah you're G to break my [ __ ] you're G leave my house dirty no thanks but if you show me

a beautiful picture that all I need to see is I don't have that and I want that

and this is where I go get it so even if you're not a good photographer please close the toilet lid

move the tools out of the way or use editing software to erase things right

anything that you can do to make it look as good as you can so that's step number one you really want to knock somebody

out of the park take a picture of a 1970s bathroom and do like you know before and after when you see for like

weight loss supplements or whatever girl couldn't look any worse in the beginning and she looks like a supermodel on the

other side it's not really fair that she should have had like on a nice shirt and a ey shirt and her hair brush and her hairbrush and she's all sad in the first

picture Mo she's all sad in the first picture so go ahead and make that bathroom look as sad as you want like

you know the towels not straight on the towel bar kind of thing in the before picture and then take the after picture

at the same angle and all somebody has to do is go I have that same pink tile I

hate it and my husband won't fold the towel then you see this beautiful light bright bathroom with the towel properly

folded and I swear to you she will think if I buy this tile and upgrade my bathroom my husband's going to start

folding his towel it's like the you remember the stain master commercial where the dad was laying on the floor

playing with the baby and every woman in America thought if I buy stain Master carpet my husband's going to come home he's not going to go to the bar after

work and he's gonna lay on the floor and play with my baby you have to paint the picture of

what you want them to see and a lot of this is not his baby though not like a conscious thought necessarily is I I was

just saying I missed Jose's joke because I'm over here talking

but um some this is a lot of this just subconscious right like it just kind of

clicks and they don't even know it so exactly right so can you uh reiterate

one more time the in order those those most important steps show me show me

something pretty right and I'm inspired then show me how you work show

me that you're going to do a good job or that you have a professional presence and then show me that I can trust you

with a review or testimonial tell people all the time at social media currency if you can get a video testimonial 20

seconds or less from a customer think about it if if someone writes a testimonial and you type it it looks

good and it really really helps but in the back of my mind I'm like is that true like did they just

make that up I mean is that their sister is that real that's that's what I was

just thinking it's still nice if somebody says oh I you know I worked with such and such installer and it

really I my expectations were exceeded and my shower came out better than I could imagine if you type that that's one

thing but when I'm enthusiastically saying that as a happy customer you can't fake that and I realize you know

if you're listening to this I'm gon throw a lot of information at you that just let 10% of it soak in figure out

one thing that you can Implement today and then when you get comfortable with that then start adding on the other

things and a lot of this stuff will come back to you once you get going but somebody told me one time they said

Shannon sometimes it's like drinking shamp hang out of a fire hose with you like it's a lot but I want to give you a

ton of information that you can go back and listen to this over and over and and get what you need so

yeah so um show me something pretty prove that

you can do it and then build trust and then if you're an artisan you said earlier you can make it a little bit

about you because you're showing more of your product but you don't you still wouldn't recommend anybody be like like

you can have this shower yourself for $5,000 or something just just show that

you um the special little things you do some of the videos I watch when I'm on

Instagram or whatever or when guys are doing little you know trinky things on

the tile like on schlutter metals or they're doing something special with a carpet seam or a set of stairs or

something you know that's the kind of stuff that snags me but from your perspective uh showing that before and

after is that enough for an artisan or is it should they go further if you are

like really I know one guy he was on the podcast last week he does really pretty

much high-end carpet work right Jorge and he does very beautiful ridiculous

stuff yeah beautiful work um does he when he's showing the process

that seems to grab a guy like I want to know how he did it so like when he's

doing the thing that kind of grabs the guy but that before and after or something really beautiful is kind of

the catch to get the main buyer in a home which is the women to respond that I have to be fair

it's not all women and I don't mean to imply that you shouldn't cater to men and do all those things because there

are a lot of men that are making decisions but generally when people are learning this process it's easier to stick with the Susie homeowner

idea different but there's also statistics and I mean I

hate to say it statistically flooring purchases at least the ultimate decision and usually

the kickoff is the is the female in the house the woman you know makes the final

color choices and can talk the husband into the extra money to get what she

really wants and yeah it's kind of that crazy that's that's what statistics tell

us but surely uh there's other ways I'm just trying to like hone in on when you

show a process that's going to grab a guy and that's probably okay to do as

well if you show that like before and after as well like maybe on the next slide or or vice versa so you're gonna

want to rotate different types of content to a tell a story but to grab different types of people so I think

it's a great idea if you're somebody like Jorge that has been doing it a long time I assume and if you do something

that sets you apart think about what your differentiator is if um you know I'm a big Crystal fan so I'll use

crystal in a lot of examples women are typically more meticulous and thoughtful and mindful about detail I would

absolutely as preferred foring I would promote that I would talk about Crystal and because she's a woman she pays more

attention to specifics and details and things like that I would say something like you were talking about the carpet

seams I do it short though like guys want it this long and a step by step process women want the little tidbit of

oh you do it this way because you've been and you slide in because you've been in business for 30 years what am I

hearing as a woman you've been doing it a long time you're not a rookie you're not going to screw it up and you're

gonna be around to service my warranty so if you are an artist and you can talk

about the process and say this is how I do it differently or say this is how they do it at Home Depo or a box store

or this is why you know you could do a series on and be you know everybody likes funny everybody likes dogs and

everybody likes babies I don't recommend bringing a dog or baby to your install um but but if the homeowner's dog walks

in then certainly don't cut that out but anything that you can do to reinforce that confidence and talk about what sets

you apart and if you aren't comfortable being on video then just start with your

voice like let your voice be heard um and just set it up where they can see like part of you working preferably not

you're behind and your your underwear crack um the other side of you like maybe you're working um but anything you

can do to show why somebody should pick you so if you're an individual installer you're telling a little bit different

story than a company that hires installers so if you are a single person or a small crew and it's your business

you're going to talk about yourself your business your differentiators and drive all of that back to you the voice for

somebody like preferred flooring is a little different where you're going to say you know these are our amazing installers and this is what makes our

installers what sets us apart and the company's going to take the credit versus the individual person you can

certainly call out your individual installers that have been with you a long time that you think are going to stay

100% um but really if you'll you know just make a mental checklist of you know

trust and safety and inspiration and education if you mix those things up you're going to be

successful so I'm gonna V in now finally can you guys hear me all right my butt in a little bit because I I want to go

over a lot of what you just talked about so three PS pretty process proof right

that's and then and then the the the difference between the men and the women and and I so you had mentioned something

about uh getting your foot in the door whether they're talking about using humor uh puppies or babies is it okay

that I just naturally do that all the time like I will plug in a one liner with a total stranger and then and then

laugh a little bit and try to G gauge where they're at nothing inappropriate obviously

but so that's then I would comfort them then I would comfort them like no okay I'm just playing that's a joke no this

is what we do this is what we're about um and have you looked at the website no you haven't well we have it on social

media there there we have a few projects like that um and you can check it out and if you see anything else that stands

out just let me know uh we're always open to suggestions yeah don't forget your your call to action at the end and

again if you're overwhelmed at this point just bear with us because you'll this will come later but at the end don't hesitate to say if you want to see

more of my work check me out over here if you want to see yeah testimonials or

there's no shame in saying at the end if you've had a good experience leave a review on Google um it's it sometimes it

doesn't feel natural to self-promote but if you think about it like you're helping them help you then women like to

help so that's okay it's it's totally funny you say that um just yesterday I

was at a church looking at a church with with another flooring store large commercial job and um she was like well

I just kind of want something like this but I don't really know so I said well pull up our website we have some pictures of what you're talking about

there maybe it to give you some inspiration and she pulled it up she's like just like that yes and she's like

maybe not those colors but yeah that's the right idea and then she's like can I go visit these job sites can you give me

the addresses I'm like of course so on that note one of the things that you can do that will blow somebody away

is get on Pinterest and build boards that show different areas so do one that

shows showers one that shows backsplashes one that shows living rooms bedrooms think about how people shop

because like if I'm if I'm doing a kitchen I don't care about your bathrooms I don't want to see a shower if if I'm on a kitchen I'm in a kitchen

mode so separate those and house all of your install photos like it's cool if you pull them up on

your phone but you know you're scrolling through and then it might pop out you know what you ate last Wednesday or your mother-in-law's something or something

you might not want people to see so if you will put it all on Pinterest if you'll say to the woman hey and we're

Gathering ideas for your installation if you're the salesperson if we're Gathering ideas for your installation hey are you on Pinterest if that girl

says she's on Pinterest you say can I take a look at your boards oh my gosh

yes you want to look at my boards and then I I say that this is like getting into a woman's panty drawer you will

know if she is a thong or a granny panty in two seconds you will be able to see

if she's high-end or cheap you'll be able to see if she's light or dark Coastal or Mediterranean or conservative

you'll be able to see their style and not wear yourself out and not wear her out trying to figure out what they want

so then you look at hers for a minute then you go would you like to see some of my installs and first when you have more than four she's going to go oh so

this isn't your first rodeo just the sheer number of them is going to say I've been in business for a long time

and then you scroll through and she's going to go man I mean this is a you know the madeup exaggerative example but man I came in here thinking I want a 12

x 12 White Tile laid straight I saw this personal spa retreat now I want four

different tiles I want she doesn't know this but a $60 a foot shower floor I want a feature strip I want a bench and

a shampoo shelf and you have all of a sudden taken a $2,000 shower to 10 and you you just been on your phone for five

minutes and now now she wants the new LED lights in the bathroom yeah and if

you your own photos you can still go to all the manufacturers and just repin their stuff and put it on a board for

inspiration you don't have to have done it in order to inspire

her that's a you know what that's a great idea I never even thought about Pinterest that's really good Insight

like going and looking at their Pinterest and getting a fill and then if

you have your Pinterest set up in room room by room scene I think that's that's

a if nothing else that's a great nugget that you guys can do it's

actionable and um straight from the horse's mouth as far as what works so

how much I had a question I wrote down how how much of your own life like on your company's uh socials you sharers it

all just like quarantined company only or do you show any of you I mean we all

have usually like a business page and then we'll have our personal page and

people will go over to the personal page I assume is kind of the you know

checking you out kind of thing but do you do you recommend any

sharing of personal stuff or like a vacation or anything like that or do you

just keep that for your personal thing and leave it leave it alone if I don't touch on the thing make sure I come back

to that because that's really important so if you have a personal profile you have to think do I want to be friends

with all of my customers because that's going to happen so if you can manage a personal profile and a public like a

business page do that if you can't manage both and manage them well just do the one if you are

comfortable talking about your personal life and don't mind people seeing about your personal life I mean what woman

doesn't want to connect it's like when you go to a restaurant if you know the chef you're so much happier like if you

know major food so I think if you put a little ideally you put a little mix you

tell a good clean story on your personal page don't start talking about Jesus politics and complaining about things

because nobody wants to work with that person keep that to yourself go do it somewhere else you do whatever you want with Jesus in politics just don't do it

on social and then on your business page I would love to follow an installer especially if I'm trying to decide who

I'm going to work with if I'm looking at installer a and installer B and installer A's got you know tools on the

counter and I see you know butt cracks and all the things but over here I've got inspiration education all the things

we talked about and I got to think about this like tell me if this is like an OSHA violation but like if your daughter

stops by for to say hi for lunch or you know having daughter with your lunch on the break and the kids's cute or you

know the wife and I are doing some personal work life balance and this is what we did this Saturday showing who

you are as a human is going to make me connect with you the vacation thing

everybody deserves to take a vacation everybody should take a vacation and everybody should have work life balance

but if you post that you were in Maui for 14 days I'm probably gonna think

they think they're paying for it I think I just bought you that truck and I just bought you your vacation at least at

least my part Le you charge you overcharge me which it's not true anybody that runs a good business should

be able to drive the most expensive truck and should be able to go on vacation all of that is fair but that's

not an American mindset yeah the perception is definitely not there keep

it um keep it off or keep it short probably just keep it humble but if you

have a cute kid and your partner wife spouse agrees that that child can be on the internet then yes I mean show a

family photo show that you're you know if you're a family guy or um and again I feel bad because talking

about male installers and I know we have female installers but percentage oh talk about them rip them apart um a good I

just don't want to be too heavy on one side or the other but um but absolutely tell tell your story just find that

balance and don't talk too much don't not too much business on your personal not too much personal on your business I

will also say on your business page that's not where you need to hustle

like that's not where you want to say you know come Bu from me say I'm proud

of my work like I had a really great client that I really had enjoyed working with or um the other thing I'll tell you

I tell installers all the time to go get on social see what other installers are posting join some of the flooring groups

and see what people are talking about and what they're posting and look at that and go oh man I really like that

I'm going to use that for my social or that's terrible that girl said not to do that I'm not going to do that or you

know that lighting looks terrible maybe I'm going to Google to figure out how to take you know how to take better pictures so go see what other people are

doing and trust your gut on how that represents you and how you tell your story that's yeah great advice there too

because I know that I share a lot of uh a lot of my life on my personal definitely not on the work right but I

do a lot of live video feeds for sports events um or short videos or or I share

something that I find humorous and that's just a little bit of insight into like who I am but I also do troll

Facebook for people I know and care about and I drop a lot of on liners and then I just leave and just leave it at

that you're still showing up and being seen and you know back to the baseball thing like if you post um you know if

you sponsor a little league team or your kids in little league and you go play um all somebody needs to choose you is a

connection and that connection can be anything from you have colored hair or big thick glasses or my kid also plays

Little League they know what it's like to have to come home from practice at 9 o' and still be at work at 8:00 the next morning um so any anything that you can

do to find that human connection is going to be helpful that's awesome so um we've

talked about a lot of the the best practices what what are huge don'ts like

kind of touched on the the vacation thing but what are the huge like just

don't do this um I'll throw one out there that turns me off every single

time and it's particularly in um well actually it doesn't just have to

be in groups complaining like just bitching and moaning about something

especially talking about a customer being a pain in the rear or just

anything like that just turns me off pause right there think about so if I'm

Susie home on the couch with my y my iPad right and I see you complaining about a customer do I want to put myself

in a position where you're going to piss and moan and [ __ ] about me yeah that's that's the that's the point yeah that

yeah that to me is like the big my I mean I'm no social media expert but you

don't have to be for that that is like a big don't uh to me so definitely don't

complain do not post in all caps do not

post with I mean cap do your capitalization put a period at the end of the sentence and put a capital letter

to start the thing because if people see that you can't even punctuate a sentence right how are you going to get my shower

right if you don't pay attention to those kind of details um next is don't

let chat GPT write all of your content because every we can all see it

now they have the same pattern they use the same words I love the word Elevate but everything chat GPT splits out has the word Elevate in it and then it puts

two emojis at the beginning and two at the end so don't use chat GPT for everything um

yeah don't complain um don't post pictures that are blurry um if you take pictures or video that um

what if you're just that fast and the picture cannot caption you properly

saying tell it where it's not me it's not me definitely I've never been in a blurry action

picture um but anything that um you can do with an app like if it's dark you can

lighten it um don't post pictures of people or home addresses or jobs that

you don't have permission do not post a picture of someone's child in their home

do not post a picture of someone wealthy that has a private life don't post anything and you can turn it into a

positive you can say hey your shower turned out so great it's literally my favorite job that I've done this year

would you mind if I took some pictures and then you hand them hopefully your card or something that has your social

icons on it and then say hey when I post this you know we'd love to put this on our website and we're going to post this on our social because what's she G to do

she's going to go tell all of her friends I'm on the internet and they like my project and then she's going to share it to her personal then she's

going to share it with her friends and then her friends are going to say well I want something better than that and I know where to go because I read it on

the shirt so

um it it's best practice and probably required to get

release from the homeowner to post if it's just a shower that's like your

standard 3x5 shower that's non-descriptive of the

property it's probably still best to get release I'm a rule follower I would I

would ask verbally always I think that's enough nine times out of 10 um you can

have somebody sign a release but I know half the people have already left this conversation if they hear they have to now take a picture of their stuff they

have to talk to the lady again and they have to get a waiver there nobody's doing that um as long as you the 3x5

shower yes all day long that's your work it could be anybody's and you literally could say no no no I did that Three Doors Down and what nobody knows the

difference but if there's a family picture or the house address or anything that identifies them some people don't

want other people to know that they can afford yeah yeah just don't want your

house address posted on someone else's page because you don't have any way to vet anybody or whatever so that that

makes complete sense so does the family photos so being mindful of that I I

think it goes without saying but you did mention it earlier don't get pictures with other

people's children I think that may be up there with complaining on the do not dos

like and that's kind of just weird I'll be honest that's a little weird and there are things that you know that you

have to think about like if you take a picture of a woman that is I mean she wouldn't probably be in witness

protection but if she has an abusive ex-husband that doesn't know where she lived because she packed up and moved the kid and you just exposed them you

don't want to be that person just be mindful and I don't want to scare anybody off talk to the person

and I nine times these are pretty simple things I mean it's not like you're you're not saying uh don't take pictures

just be mindful that I mean you see through the camera be mindful when you're taking the picture that the towel

straight when you're doing your picture but also that there's not a family photo up right above it that's going to get

captured and if it does you know how to move it you know how to photoshop that

off and you do that before posting it's it's just being con courteous to

people's privacy um um also we've been in that situation before we we've actually um

posted pictures of just a floor right just up close floor and we're asked to remove it it's like we don't have any

information we don't say we didn't say where where it is location family's name

is you know we posted a picture of uh a very intricate floor that we did um and

it was for obviously for um our our portfolio but also for um training

purposes and informational purposes and they were like take it down we're going to sue you I'm like well there's no

information there yeah so I guess uh go ahead like if someone's gonna know where you live by this little uh picture of a

two foot by two foot area of your floor then yeah I guess uh I guess we we would have to take that down but it didn't

make sense yeah I got two quick things um don't post any OSHA violations like if you're supposed to do something and

you're not doing in that photo don't get yourself in trouble um and the other W

have to come back to me well the OSHA violation when I have a good story on I

had a guy I had one of our crews have you heard that song uh that's

the only thing I can think of a world of violations parody of Willy Wonka yeah

yeah so um he's hanging on a door he had

spread some glue and he's hanging on a door and and Swinging himself out over

this glue to the doorway so that he can get out of the room and not only is it like terrible

practice his fingers could have got caught whatever uh but this got uh

videoed and then posted by his helper it

had I don't want to misquote but I think it was 178,000 views in 24 hours and

then it got up to like ridiculous numbers and then I found out about I was like take that down yeah I mean we

should be following the rules guys and we do um we have a very strict I feel

like I got to like uh say this we have very strict safety policy but guys are

got people are people and they make mistakes and you just don't want to post them out there in the world but that was

uh one where it went viral so quick had we left that up it

would have had millions of views within that's a week and that's not the equivalent to uh the crystal jumping

over the glue video yeah it's like um or or when uh Jeremy recorded that H

burst and then the job boss came up after I already posted and he was like hey don't post that

anywhere take it down you know that's a that's a good thing and I got maybe that's a question for for you Shannon is

um you know like how long does someone have after they post

something to remove it before it can be shared by someone else's account and then like like there's your answer you

have no time you have zero time because you don't know that I'll give you an

extreme example that somebody like if I'm videoing the kid opening the

refrigerator door back and forth because I think it's funny and I happen to left my computer open and that thing was on it and it was in the video you might

have taken it down but it's still running around from some other source and somebody's gonna sell it even more

and say look what I caught kind of thing I know nobody okay um you have no time

so slow down read everything that you post and before you hit Post stop and

think for one second and if you say to yourself This doesn't feel right don't do it or just take a minute and go you

know maybe I don't want to take this risk I did I remember the other thing the other thing you don't want to do is

do not steal photos from Architects or designers they will cut you um if you want toct of your work that they hired a

professional photographer and they paid the money they'll probably let you use it you just need to give them and the photographer credit but just because you

installed it doesn't mean you own that picture whoever took the picture owns it I feel like that's happened to someone

us or somebody pretty close to us at one point somebody's picture was used on somebody else's uh

profile I will tell you a quick story of uh being at a conference

and to piggyback on that is make sure you um don't steal other people's work

now I think that goes without saying but we actually had a guy that me and

another gentleman at go Carrera was talking to um that had just finished a

conversation with a gentleman and this guy was showing him pictures of work that he had done supposedly just so

happens it was that guy's install and that guy called him out

right then oh my goodness but didn't just call him out it was like oh really

that's a really intricate uh Medallion it was a wood floor uh H how did you do

this part here and he was like oh well I did this and that and he's like well what about this over here and he's like

oh I did and he says dude you didn't do any of that I custom made that that metal insert myself at my

shop wow so don't use anybody else's stuff because you you when you get

caught like that I'm sure uh nothing feels worse I have one more question

that I had on my list to make sure I asked can we back up one second Paul yes stealing thing don't steal pictures from

Google either because there are little Bots and things on the back end that you will get a letter and a lawsuit you do

not own that image just because you saw it amen all good

stuff so the the last question I had was uh

consistency so is there a consistency in timing is there a good time better time

to post than others and what type of consistency should people um you know

kind of is there a Cadence to this thing and or does that change on per platform

or best practice just round us out this whole uh awesome you know podcast with

that kind of nugget so the great news is

that the data will tell you the answers okay so I first tell people do the best

you can do what you can do well most people I say post three times a week but

if you can only post once a week I'd rather you do one really great post and three half-ass posts if you can't do one

a week and you can only do two a month you're still showing up you're not going

anywhere you're not you know the algorithm is not going to kiss you on the forehead but you're still showing up

if you can't do two posts a month I probably wouldn't get on social and only get on the platforms

that you can get on and man well if you use software a lot of times

the software will tell you the best day and time to post if you use um meta

business Suite it will tell you the best day and time to post for your audience

but also don't Google it because if you Google it you're gonna get the answer to the person that's trying to sell you

something use sense so go back to me in the bathroom and the wine and 9:00 on

the couch right when I'm at 9:00 my head is clear I'm in a good mood I got a

slight buzz you show me something pretty and my head is not cloudy if you show me

a pretty shower at nine o'clock in the morning maybe I think about it all day but typically as a rule consistently in

this industry if you will post at something 50 10 minutes to the top of the hour think about it when you like

right before this podcast started you were doing something else right but you had to end right before what were you doing in those 10 minutes most people

are on social media so if you do it around lunchtime at 10 minutes till the top of the hour if you were asking a

question which is another good thing to add to your strategy even if you don't care about the answer ask questions like

which do you prefer this light or dark left or right this shower this this installation if you'll do that on a

Saturday you're more likely to get more interaction and engagement but use common sense of when the person on the

other end wants to receive this information the last thing I'll tell you that we know for sure is if you're posting on LinkedIn

that by the way is not just a platform if you're looking for a job or for hiring it is the place that you go for

business only information so your Builders are there you're you know

that's where the all the business conversation is you don't want to post more than two times a week on LinkedIn

and the best times overall are 7 AM and 4m so if you think about it people get

to work and they see what's going on just like they check the news and then everybody's brains checked out at four o'clock and they're ready to go home so

they're on social but let your data do the talking look at your reports and look at your insights

and if it shows that nobody clicked on anything if you post Thursday at noon stop posting Thursday at noon yeah but

try to use some common sense about what the what the content is and who's receiving it on the other end yeah

that's good stuff I mean just best practices

um it's it's funny quality over quantity folks same thing as

flooring like quality over quantity and consistency two times a week of quality

is better than five times a week of not not as quality not well as well

formulated posting right and um also

that top of the hour thing is super accurate and I never thought of that so

that's that's another one of them things that you know uh we hope the audience

really pays attention to because it makes complete sense and it happens all

the time usually when I go to lunch or go go to eat and I come back to my

office and if I'm like five 10 minutes before you know my my little half hour I

take I may I sit in my truck and I'll I'll be on social uh in some manner so

it makes a heck of a lot of sense that's that's really good Insight so um we are

rounding out the podcast I have to be off of here myself pretty quick um so if

I leave the guys will close it out but I did want to go around and see if there's uh any questions uh or final insights

from anybody I think my favorite thing about today is that it's about social media and we couldn't get it on any

social platforms today I think uh you you guys so I don't

know if you can see that Shannon but there's a whole conversation going on on both sides of the screen here um but I

was doing get distracted just it did not for whatever reason and Daniel's been he

disappeared for a moment trying to solve the problem uh but um the we typically

go live to and we'll have 20 participants and be post showing their

comments and such and today our platform decided to not go live and uh couldn't

figure that out but we'll get it posted on there and everybody will see this it's okay they blamed it on us yeah 100%

yeah well it happen such is the world of of technology sometimes it doesn't work

perfectly so um that's that's great Daniel thank you

uh what what else guys do you have any other questions because Shannon the way you delivered all that information was

like I every time I leaned over I was taking notes because we do a lot of Social and to me these things are

actionable things that we can all do to improve our businesses

so if you guys aren't taking notes uh and you're probably you're not watching

this I know but you will be uh or sh there's a lot of really insightful

important information so I do have one other little tidbit that's easy to execute um if you have a company van or

you know a truck that you show up with put the Facebook and Instagram whatever sites you're on put those on the back of

your truck and so people can follow you it'll it's a easy thing to do that anytime they see your truck and your

name um people will do what they're told and anybody right now it's I watch this all the time it doesn't matter what the

QR code is for people will scan it so if you have a cars made a huge comeback they've been around forever I hope

everybody thought they were worthless and now they're they're awesome Q code owes

hilarious yeah you want to know what's funny is is a lot of the things that you've mentioned here today is we've

kind of done on accident to be honest with you like we just thought that hey let's just do this hey let's just do this didn't realize um that we were we

were following some kind of it's not a set list right but we were following um a progression list and uh and and by the

way a shout out to your vest today um thank you for the support um and that was that was going to go with the

question I had is um depending on the size and what you're trying to do um what are thoughts on on branding and

trying to um go through making sure that your brand is protected if you're on

socials is that something that should be done is that something um is all individualized um protected how like

somebody's using your content or your name or um just let's just say the logo uh like say

somebody's using uh the logo or or uses um a very similar name uh to kind of

gain the attention of that one company um and and the reason I say that

is um a thing that I used a little while ago a while ago on like Tik Tock is I started hashtagging everything that was

popular um in the media at the time and it was getting a lot of traction over to my personal Tik Tok but I was like

hashtagging like the Johnny Depp thing and Milwaukee tools and and I started noticing I was getting a lot of traffic

that I necessarily didn't need or want I just wanted to see if it it would work and it did so yes it works but that

traffic you're getting is not quality traffic um and and I'm gonna unfollow you if I see that because if I want to

go see what's going on with Johnny Depp I want to see all Johnny Depp and if I see anything else I'm like you just

wasted my time you just tricked me and now I don't trust you so puppies it was puppies I had pictures of puppies videos

but in just super quick I gotta go I got a four clock thank you Shannon I'm not

I'm not going to shut down I'm just going to leave into the my office and uh it was a pleasure having you on and I I

learned a ton so uh if you guys like the content and the uh the the podcast

please consider giving us a like And subscribe it's the best way to support us um and you guys can close it out I

appreciate it thank you guys and I will see you see you guys next week thanks Shannon thanks great questions

The Huddle - Episode 95 - Supporting the Hispanic Community

In our special episode, we shine a light on the diversity within the flooring industry, celebrating the significant contributions of Hispanic and Latino professionals. We are excited to have special guests Jorge Orta, Jesus Garcia, Eduardo Martinez and Jose Molar! Recognizing the importance of inclusion and visibility, we delve into initiatives aimed at empowering these vital members of our community through specialized training, certifications, and participation in industry events. This bilingual episode, will start in English and transition to Spanish, features special guests who share their insights and experiences. Join us as we explore ways to support and uplift the Hispanic community in the flooring industry, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to grow and succeed.

En nuestro episodio especial, iluminamos la diversidad dentro de la industria de Pisos, celebrando las significativas contribuciones de los profesionales hispanos y latinos.
¡Estamos emocionados de tener como invitados especiales a Jorge Orta, Jesús García, Eduardo Martínez y José Molar! Reconociendo la importancia de la inclusión y visibilidad, nos adentramos en iniciativas dirigidas a empoderar a estos miembros vitales de nuestra comunidad a través de entrenamientos especializados, certificaciones y participación en eventos de la industria. Este episodio bilingüe, comenzará en inglés y transicionará al español, y cuenta con invitados especiales que comparten sus perspectivas y experiencias. Únase a nosotros mientras exploramos maneras de apoyar y elevar a la comunidad hispana en la industria de Pisos, asegurando que todos tengan la oportunidad de crecer y tener éxito.

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

The Huddle fue creado por Paul Stuart de Stuart & Associates y Go Carrera, junto con Jose y Daniel Gonzalez de Preferred Flooring. Está orientado a ayudarte a mantener el progreso en tu carrera en el sector de los suelos, cubriendo temas desde el crecimiento personal y empresarial hasta consejos y trucos de instalación y todo lo demás.

¿Quieres ser un invitado en The Huddle? Envía un correo a thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com hoy mismo!

Crea tu perfil de Instalador GRATIS en https://gocarrera.com y conviértete en parte del futuro de la industria HOY MISMO! ¡RECIBE FORMACIÓN! Encuentra una lista de fechas de formación aquí: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/ https://www.preferredflooringmi.com https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up team welcome to the Huddle we your wa we your weekly Playbook where

everything uh you know surrounding this huddle is not only about playing the game but changing it from mastering

fundamentals of the craft to distinguishing ourselves in the marketplace we're here to give the installer a voice and to Ure you're

equipped with everything you need let's band together and Forge a new Legacy in flooring this is where you

belong today's a pretty special podcast welcome gentlemen with me as always Mr Daniel

and Jose Gonzalez we got J and Jose with us Eduardo today's pretty special we're

gonna be doing a um Spanish uh podcast so we're going to be talking to our our

uh members of our Hispanic Community let them kind of run the podcast chitty chat about the things that are um you know

hurdles and pitfalls in in the community and how we can do better uh as a as an

industry to embrace and um bring along the talent that's there there's a talent

pool and uh you know I believe that the guys on the call today can can attest to

getting plugged into the industry getting trained getting certified uh getting good projects and

uh you know working in this industry is is about get you know a lot of it's about getting plugged in you meet great

people that's where I met all you guys so what's up uh what's up Daniel and Jose what are you guys up to same old

man super busy all the time nice nice try trying not to be we

got we got Jose out in the field working and we got jhead taking a little time

off today for us so welcome gent got to show the drink bro cuz you're you're at the bar that's right a

little Jose's like man I'm at I'm at the at the job site working and Jorge is

chilling on a patio somewhere well actually I was working to be honest but right now I have to pull up to a

Starbucks because we're in a new construction and there's no Services over there even the phone signal is very

bad right there so I have to take some time for work but you know gotcha well

we appreciate it bro yeah thanks for being on today man appreciate that Ed's

um camera was strobing a little bit so I don't know if he just turned the camera off or we can still hear him but yeah

I'm not sure you guys I might just back in we can hear you Eduardo I wanted to

go around and just get a quick background on on um you guys horge you

want to start us off tell us a little bit about yourself and and uh give us a little quick background about

Jorge well it all started off when I was a wee little lad no

M no um I'm based out of San Antonio Texas uh I do carpet installations um

CFI and nfic certified um and it's

pretty busy down here I don't know about everywhere else uh we tend to keep busy especially if you have um your trainings

you know you have training you have experience you're definitely going to get some jobs out of here um but yeah

it's it's it's fun times it's it's going to get hot pretty soon so I love the heat makes me it makes me run better

than the cold so that's why I live down here man cuz I like to work year round no snow there you go I'm kind of jealous

I'm down with that yeah me too our boys in Michigan know all about the snow yeah

how about you Jose tell us a little bit about you and and uh what you got going

on in in the flooring World well nice to meet you to everyone who is hearing us

right now I'm Jose M and I'm a Serge from Florence stalard with hardwood and

residential one and I'm always happy to be here to be honest I always will

appreciate all the all all you do for the floring industry especially you're giving us chance to express ourself in

Spanish that is something that never happened but I start um when I was 16

years old I am only I only like four years certifi but I'm completely open to

keep working with CFI and keep learning and I always appreciate B CFI because

that off me a lot of opportunities in the field and something some so uh

something that I would say is if you do make work you will got you will be

always busy so CFI show you how to do a great job and by the end of the day it's

customer satisfaction if you keep them busy you will be busy you know yep

keeping that customer is what it's all about and doing good quality work step one you got to kind of get that down and

uh you know that that seems to me to be one of the most important parts you can be a great salesman but you deliver one

bad project and yeah by a customer right yeah that that that's completely true

that's completely true so uh Eduardo tell us a bit about

you can you guys hear yeah we're good yeah grew up in the trade my my my father was an installer

uh I don't know if he was a passionate installer but he he provided for our family through it uh recently have taken

a step back out of the field for about last year been actually just trying to get educated and I found a lot of

mentorship I've been involved with the local Chambers I guess just finding

opportunities to get more educated meet more people Network and I really understand the the next level of the

business so it's it's not always just I can slap down the ground the floor on the ground it's you know contracts

financing from Banks understanding taxes understanding how to borrow and grow your business so I I've

been just took a step back and I've been getting a lot really educated last year uh but I did install till was 28 and a

half and uh I'm looking forward to maybe installing again in the meantime I'm learning everything else that supports

the role that's awesome and I think that's the the misconception right is that

like being a Craftsman and and doing the installation is the hard part and in some cases that's actually the easy part

it's all the behind the scenes stuff is the hard part yeah it's it's tough to get both

sides uh right um you know typically you got really good Craftsmen

that are not very good businessmen or good businessmen that are not very good Craftsmen when you get both that's where

the magic really happens and you get good high- performing people with with

very happy customers and and they don't end up in you know the irs's uh call

list so you taxes and and handling your business is uh always always a big part

of this industry and because so many of us are subcontractors right we subw work

or we work direct with homeowners or whatever um you know understanding the

business side and what you're actually making on a job if you're working from a shop are your prices in line with what

it takes for you to make a good living this industry should Supply you with a really good living if you do it right

it's a great industry to be a part of um yeah I know that Jose and Daniel have

shared their story on here and I've shared mine and these guys it's their turn to share with the Hispanic

community of of uh the successes and and the pitfalls and some of the things you guys have ran

across not only from the industry but also as it applies to you know being

maybe Spanish first speaking and hey hey Jesus what's up buddy um made it but uh

you know you guys have unique challenges and things you got to deal with on a daily basis so Jesus looks like he's out

in the field working as well I love it showing us his beautiful work as always

like on on Facebook I'm always catching his uh his live videos

yeah so we are going to um go over

several topics uh Jorge is gonna kind of moderate the uh podcast War I got a

couple questions for you before we kind of go to a sponsor and then uh kick this

thing off what one of the things that that I think happens um and correct me

if I'm wrong but is the language barrier can or the the perception can be that

the guy doesn't know what he's talking about and when we were talking I was talking with Daniel earlier you know

because of the language barriers scared to ask certain questions and so I'm hoping you know on a as a side note

hoping that this podcast starts connecting the Hispanic Community where they can call somebody and just ask the

question that they need to ask uh is that a problem or is that um that that

you guys run into and maybe that's for Jesus and and Jose as well and Eduardo

where it's like this perception of uh you know not perfect English equals that

you you run across some of those problems I I will add to that real quick before you go in there hor is that it

doesn't matter whether you speak Spanish or not if you look the part that's that's where where where the judgment

was pass and like I told you earlier today is I've been in that situation too and and just to clear the air Daniel and

I aren't aren't fluid in Spanish we don't speak Spanish that was uh that was eliminated from from our home even

though we look like we do yeah so back in the day it was eliminated because uh the Discrimination

that that my father was put into he didn't want us to be treated any differently than than our neighbors so

that put a kabash and that's why I consider us handicapped Mexicans [Laughter]

[Music] I think a lot of uh I think a lot of Spanish speaking individuals like my dad

and maybe the guys in that age range that are pretty much on their way out um I think they did have uh issues with

communicating over uh things that they might have had issues with at some point

and there's not a lot of Spanish-speaking people in certain organizations as well that can help them out sometimes uh so I think that is a

issue I think we need more individuals that speak Spanish uh in order to touch

more individuals out there that only speak Spanish and speak you know choppy

English for example my dad's one of them you know he's he's that guy and he understands 40% of the stuff you tell

him and he's going to rewrite it somehow in his head and it's not going to come out the way it should but he knows what

you're telling him he knows the job it's just how do you express because the job's going to be the same you know

unless if the person doesn't know how that do the flooring portion of it something it it's the the the job

language it's pretty much the same but it's the the English and the Spanish

barriers that that can keep some of these guys from even progressing um even trying to go out to

get a certification from CFI it might keep them from like hey well those guys don't speak English how are they going to know what I'm saying uh so there's a

lot of talent out there in the Spanish Community it's just how do we bring that out how do we bring that F how do you

build a community around where Comfort where there's bilingual um people and um that support

where it's like hey you know almost like a huge group text which would be

incredibly annoying but you know just as a concept where it's like hey I got this

issue almost like ball Ballin knows best but in Spanish kind of thing um you know

that that type of stuff is is what's intriguing to me is how you build communities around uh where common you

know best practices can be shared and pitfalls and problems can be solved

together you know definitely all right well I got a a

question um being that that you guys are down south and we're North right we're

Yankees live in Michigan I know I get it but um to me my perception is the the

communic barri the language [Music]

barrier your microphone's messing up yeah your microphone's a little off always messing

up well I caught about 8% yeah I caught about eight% of what you said so I got

better I don't know if it's messed up yet or not I had my game all the way down good I just uh was saying that the

uh communication barrier from the southern states to the northern States um like in my head it's different in

Michigan than it is in Texas because if I go to Texas I cannot communicate the way I feel I should in Michigan I can is

that you guys travel a bit you guys notice that there's differences in different parts of the

US as far as the language itself or yeah just just communication uh altogether

the language barrier I mean you're very flid right so I'm sure that you can communicate very well um and I guess

this is more Ward uh the broken English Spanish language

barrier uh for some of us it's pretty easy um I mean Spanish is is uh it can

be different just like English is New York people are going to sound different from Texas people and so forth so

depending on what part of Mexico or what country you're from you're going to have a different way of saying certain things

but most of the times it's just like English you're going to understand a lot of what's coming out maybe a few words

you might not get them because they change over depending on what country they're from uh but yeah overall we

don't really have an issue I can talk to people from other places I just went to Denver the other day for a training class and there was people from uh I

think they were from um El Salvador um and I had no problem

communicating with him explained to him the test it the test was in Spanish so

everything flowed really well uh there was some issues on the test on some of the words that weren't translated over

correctly so I had to kind of explain to them this is what a means this is what b means and that's what they're trying to

tell you so you know common sense told them yeah it's this answer uh but yeah

it's pretty much the same anywhere you go um other than maybe if you get people who are from the Caribbean they're going

to have way different words different dialect yeah um but it

just depends what part of world you from go ahead I'm sorry just just for

the record CFI yeah just for the record CFI is working to translate corre

correctly those those sets are ready so we're working to to correct to fix all

that issues because when you try to translate something and you are not and you ain't got the Spanish like 100%

native so you you don't get it so especially because it can be something crazy it makes sense in English but not

in Spanish so we are working and change that already no 100% because even in the

in our description I sent it to hor and I'm like does uh does this sound good

and he's like everything is pretty good just change these few things and so I did because I don't speak it so I'm I'm

trying to uh to ask someone who does look I failed Spanish you guys I'll

be honest me too failed it 100% BR you speak Spanish but I mean there's a lot of English speakers that

also fail English so I just didn't do the homework all right well we're gonna kick

this thing off off and let you guys uh take the reins here so we're going go to

a quick word from our sponsor today and so we're g to play a quick video and

then we'll as soon as that video is off it's all yours Jorge let's roll Ashlin

if you can still hear me [Music]

the

know [Music]

improving your skills

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see

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[Music]

guelin for

yeah simp something as simple as not reading the instructions that's the first thing you should do

one glue is the same like the other and it's not there's different instructions

Workforce floating carpet

see

see e

[Music]

uh like R1 I have an R1 but I have an nfic and then you also have I think an

R1 and a lb or something so we're better suited right

now for translating and best the you know instead of uh teaching really uh I

could teach the basics a lot of basic stuff you know and there's some stuff that I might not even understand

sometimes I have to ask questions

myself

[Music]

e for

um

for for

me for

[Music]

[Music]

R all the time yeah

full scholarship to go do them yeah why aren't people taking advantage of this

you know it's uh free it's free education

C

for for

[Music]

retainers going to to stores paying a big retainer guys's never paying it back

if you did a good job uh what are some things uh that

might bother you that uh people in the Hispanic Community

get taken advantage of

you know uh I remember when I was working for some people I mean they were paying 30 cents square foot I mean I

can't live off of that

[Music]

um

see

Pockets the money and he's good um

see

[Music]

if I'm gonna take somebody to court or something over a retainage or anything like that ESC it cost time and

[Music] money

for

for [Applause]

for for

C

fling contract General

Contractors yeah

[Music] oh I'm gonna I want to be a carpet man tomorrow when I grow up I want to grow

up and I want to be a carpet man like my dad you know and especially a lot of a lot of parents they don't want their

kids in this business because it's hard it's a very hard business it's not easy it's anybody that's in this carpet

business I applaud them because it's very very hard it's not

easy and if you if you if somebody asked you or if somebody ask you where you work and you tell them well I'm a carp

installer the first thing that a regular people say is oh man that is a job that is hard on me which is true

so finally I think finally we are getting SE in the in the in the table

next to contractors hbac pluming General Contractors this tra start getting like

re uh people start trusting in carpet like a trade so that is that is that is

something that is getting pretty important these times to be honest yeah

it is a hard job but it's very rewarding and some of us love getting punished

every day doing it you can do a good living doing glor St to be honest yeah

it can be it can be risky too the the upside and the downside because there's ups and downs because everyone in this

video and anyone watching or hearing they've lost they they don't they don't always win so we all know what it's like

to lose and get back up so anything is risky staying inside your house is risky a plane could hit your house just go

outside and go do something right hey and I want to say uh throw a shout out to marrow here uh he says his father's

his hero and that's true with me too and I'm pretty sure with a lot of you guys my dad taught me and I still work with

him on a daily basis it's just us too a team of two and I love my dad and I love

everything he does every day so I want to throw a shout out to him Jose uh

Jimmy uh Jose huarez thank you for commenting uh but yeah I really

appreciate uh what he has to say because we all started somewhere and even though

I went to go do something different at some point in my life came right back to this uh because I love it I love it I

love doing it every day well that's something that we all share yes you know the this I want to

thank you guys for the for getting on and and running the podcast today and

and uh flowing together I I catch about

a little you know a little concept here and there and I'll tell you that one thing that's true uh it may be a tough

business but like you just said man it it is rewarding I got started when I just got back from from basic training

for the National Guard so pretty much right out of high school and I had so much pride that I was actually putting

something together I don't know if we all feel that way but when I would do carpet and I'd stand back and the room

would be done I was like man I did that you know yeah there's a lot of Pride to it and I think that drives a lot of us

that uh that install and installed in whether it's in our past or we're currently installing it's like that that

Pride factor of getting something done and you did that yeah yeah you can sleep

very well at night I know I do I sleep very great I sleep like a

baby well I'll have to get your secret there I think yeah no kidding I I

couldn't when I had my long hair man I it was always in my face so that's why I chopped it off and well you still have

your superpower dude so it didn't H you didn't lose them like Samson did

yeah so did you guys um did you guys discuss some of the pitfalls that

that the um you know is facing the community and that's that uh I'm curious

that there's some crossover just in general and uh try to find those those

points where you know we can go to the industry and and and um you know

leverage a little bit of of of what the Huddle is and what go Carrera is to help

improve uh situation so what would you guys uh you know a 10c overview of some

of that stuff maybe not 10 seconds but you know what I mean I was gonna say 10 short

recap a short a short recap of kind of um how you guys feel that that some of

the hurdles that are to be overcome in our industry for for the Hispanic

Community I believe that as long as we're getting the word out there we we

literally have to push some of these Hispanic members in there somehow I'm going to have to attract them uh and I

think um I'm going to try testing stuff out here I just went last week to Pro source and Pro Source has a sale month

on April and October so we have a lot of little they have prizes and they have

people who come in vendors uh food trucks all kinds of stuff and

guess what who comes in the installers do because they invite us they're very welcoming and while I was there I was

wearing my CFI stuff my Badges and all that talking to individuals trying to get them to hey there's going to be a

competition coming in soon you know would you guys like to participate in that that way hey there's money involved

there's this involved there has to be something that captures some of these individuals so they can start training

because it's they're lacking I mean a lot of us are lacking uh so we really need to get them out there and and push

them because if you're going to stay in this business you need to do something about it you can't stay stagnant forever

you gotta yeah like Daniel said a while ago that continued education um is

important no matter what line of work you in so you know you either continuously strive to be better than

you were or like you just said you become stagnant you just complacent you're happy where you're at and you'll

never grow and and and unfortunately those people get overlooked over time

some stuff starts getting repetitious you start getting fed up you start you start getting bored and and I mean you

start getting frustrated because you're always doing the same stuff same job so there's a lot of stuff in the flooring

business you don't have to just do one you could you could maneuver yourself all the way around there's so much stuff

that you can do in this business you should never be bored and if you're we always talk about we always talk about

you know taking yourself out of your comfort zone right and that's what what it is right take yourself out of your comfort zone and go to a certification

go to one of these trade shows or something and and just put yourself out there I mean Jose was one of those guys

that I looked over and he was uh sitting at a table by himself and it's like that ain't happening I'm going to and and as

an introvert that's me taking myself out of my comfort zone and and and sitting myself over there and start talking to

someone because if I'm uncomfortable I can only imagine how someone is that there that don't know anyone how

uncomfortable they are so it's taken you know just put yourself in their position and and just introduce them to people

same thing with Eduardo right when when you were in Vegas and you were like man I have no idea where I'm going meet me

over here I'll take you to where you need to be that's how I met Jose he posted on Facebook Hey is anybody else

here and my wife saw it and she was like hey we should go meet this guy we just met him in a a little hallway and it was

like that was actually uh FC IA right yeah I was FICA yep that's right because you won

the artx uh scholarship for the Sim program I'm big old nerd and I can write

yeah Daniel was so mad at you about that I know I was like this dude that's all right I want the very

next one so it's okay well I

um just to kind of touch on all of the you know reaching out and building

Community um I I would would say that the when we run ads on Facebook for go

career for example and we run them in in Spanish we've hired a Spanish speaker to

help people get on boarded and help a bilingual um Raquel she's she's

excellent but the point is is that they are the community is responding like

they want to get better they want to show that their their quality and a zero to five score that go Carrera offers

uh you know culminates it doesn't matter if you got your training at a little bit of CFI a little bit of NCT a little bit

at uh you know natural fiber with PJ it all culminates in that score and we have

found we have seen an immense uh increase in Hispanic signups just from

trying to meet them uh where they're at from a a language standpoint I mean

Jesus has been a huge proponent go career from day one uh and finally got signed up because Raquel was able to

call and communicate with him and work through those little details so I think reaching out and and and doing podcasts

like this and and having the community come around and uh get to voice some of

their their concerns um is step one you know it's like let's just keep going and figure

out how to uh engage with one another and and tear down tear down walls build

bridges in this industry I think it's genius what you did man because before

you had other applications like NG's list and all that stuff where we have to be paying to try to beat the other guy

you know whereas to here everybody's set up on a like a like a rating system the

hammer rating system and really we're just going in there and other people are looking for us the retailers and all

these other individuals so I think that's very smart um I wish you could have done it 10 years ago um yeah no

kidding but uh it would have helped out a lot back then uh but it's going to help on from here forward everybody

that's going to get into that uh into that application because it's I mean

it's a no-brainer well and when you go to we're we're slowly dipping our toes

more into the B to C uh and when you have those credentials and you can go to a homeowner and say Here's my badge scan

my QR code take a look at my past work and and my hammer rating and and this

third party verifies everything you're automatically setting yourself apart right um but I guess why I brought that

up was more that how cool it is when you when you do engage

anybody uh that's different than you if you'll engage them where they're at the response is is is typically very

positive so just a a quick uh example of

what I've witnessed just just hiring a a bilingual person to uh help the

Hispanics that have broken English but can speak some English but you know you start dealing with little little details

whether it's on a on sewing something or a small detail and you're trying to explain something very specific you got

to have that native speaker I think and and that helps and has has uh assisted a lot of guys to get

through and it makes everything flow a lot better and the people who are actually Spanish speakers that are

getting the help they're going to say hey we need to stay on this because nobody else is doing anything like that

either the more help they get the better amen well gentlemen thank you so much

for today I hope you had a great conversation and was able to um you know

connect a little bit we'd love to do this uh on a frequent basis uh I'll get

with you guys and we'll reach out and and see if we can do this as a thing like have you guys have a a

Outlet on a more consistent basis even if it's not the same day right get something on the schedule that works for

you guys and keep on keeping on man we we got to get more engagement and you guys do a

great job I'm I'm glad that you know we we met at all these these spots and you

know we become friends you guys just Jose text me pretty frequently just hey how's it going and I appreciate that man

thank you for that yeah yeah well no no uh we can be friends outside

on the of the flooring you know oh absolutely theend at the end of the day yeah at the end of the day we are

Community but we can talk about other things you know and that is something that we are building right now a

relationship a family and no not everything works you know some sometimes

it's just to say hi and another times it's just yeah and another times it's just for questions and yeah looking for

people with yeah looking looking for people with experience but I'm glad to meet to be honest yeah glad to meet

everybody uh everybody that I've met and I've come across CFI nfic all you guys

very uh very knowledgeable and even if it's something little I I take it and

I'll I'll use it later uh so there's a lot of guys out there uh that have helped out and we always appreciate you

now so T wants to know how do you say the Huddle in Spanish how do you say the Huddle in

Spanish and it says and then it has a few other ones but I don't

know one of those things that just is not very translatable huh my mom talks about all the

time yeah I got a question for Mario because I'm trying to help him out just Mario not for me gonna reverse engineer

this do you have you guys come across anyone who has um learned uh Spanish and

what programs have they used or they told you about that help them uh learn it better and absorb it

faster asking for a friend asking for Mario no I'll be Mario not me not me

Mario let me write this down though let me write this down say it slow I don't know if I know of any ones that teach

you Spanish it's more of the ones that would teach you English those are the ones I need to know because it's gonna

it's gonna be the same thing right yeah goes both ways right so it's pushing it

out to the people that need to learn English so we need to know that too I mean Tanya's been doing uh do Bingo

she's on a streak right now her and my son ever since we've been to Mexico they they started that so whether it's

working or not I don't know back in the day there was one called engim baras uh English without

barriers uh that was a real popular one um and a lot of people used it to learn English uh and they have for other

languages as well so U I'm not sure if that's still around that was like 20 years ago but I'm pretty sure they just

got better if they old I'm old bro no bro you're only 25 what you

talking about 43 de is my birthday I'll be 43 oh

thank how Mexican can you get [Laughter]

right all right guys well we are uh nearing the end and I always um I'm

curious like big takeaways uh any advice to the uh audience uh what you guys got

for Rosetta Stone Rosetta Stone

yeah well so so you know it sounds like to me if we could all speak be bilingual

it'd be a better world but um I know that we're that that uh Jose and and

Daniel are asking for friends on this thing but it would be interesting to see

uh one day Jose just comes on the podcast and starts rapping in Spanish

I'll be uh dude dude I dream in Spanish I dream in Spanish how crazy is that

what what's yeah 100% it's our responsibility

to get the word out to the Hispanic Community because we're pulling each other in like this you know grab him by

the hand get over here and so that's how we ended up here talking to you guys we got to do it to the next guy and then

the next guy and then next girl whatever you know whoever wants to come in but I mean I met a lot of y'all through video

and now I'm talk to y'all so the fact that we're making this video is going to help find more

people sweet so engage with your with your buddies uh pass the word along if you

like what you've seen what you've heard on the Huddle at any point consider giving us a like And subscribe to the

YouTube channels follow us on Facebook and uh we're on all of it you know Instagram uh LinkedIn all the above you

have a follow uh join US Weekly we had a good audience this week and uh so thank

you to you guys and join us every week we're here 3 pm Central um every Tuesday

so uh again if you've if you're on the video you seen we were we were looping

you know if you have topics that you'd like for us to address you can email us at the Huddle for uh forward progress

gmail.com so we love hearing from you guys addressing the issues that the

audience um wants to hear about sometimes we're not the exact experts on

it and we'll bring an expert on for that so uh jhead thanks a lot for kind of

moderating and and running the uh the show today it was awesome just sitting back and watching you guys rap J thanks

for joining us man from the job site is already gone and and probably uh

spreading some glue at the moment and Eduardo thank you so much for joining us as well man it's it's been a blast we

appreciate you guys thank you we're keep fighting a good fight together we for sure would been able to do this episode

without you guys man you guys are awesome thanks a lot appreciate you guys yeah all right

guys all right everybody join every Tuesday 3 pm Central give us a like And

subscribe support the channel and when you hear from our sponsors you know give them some love

The Huddle - Episode 94 - Starting from Ground Zero

The team dives into the foundational steps of launching a business from scratch with special guest Jake Lutz from Federated Insurance (https://www.federatedinsurance.com). Embarking on an entrepreneurial journey with nothing but a vision requires not just passion, but also meticulous planning. We cover the essentials—from securing the appropriate insurance to the importance of forming an LLC, ensuring your venture is protected and poised for success. We emphasize the significance of separating personal and business finances through a dedicated business bank account and lay out strategies for building your business's credit from day one. This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to turn their dream into reality, providing the tools and knowledge to start on solid ground.

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!

GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/

The Huddle was created by Paul Stuart of Stuart & Associates and Go Carrera, alongside Jose and Daniel Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring. Aimed at helping you maintain forward progress in your flooring career, they cover topics from personal and business growth, to installation tips & tricks and everything in-between.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email thehuddleforwardprogress@gmail.com today!

Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/
https://www.preferredflooringmi.com
https://www.stuartandassociates.com

hey guys what's up welcome to the Huddle uh Paul usually gives his little uh intro but he's not here today he's uh

doing other things uh we're just here to talk about uh you know flooring and what

we do uh today we got special guest on this is uh Jake from not from State Farm from

Federated insurance so Jake uh why don't you give us a little bit about yourself and and

what you do and who you do it for yeah definitely so I'm a Michigan guy my whole life a michigander I'm from like

St Joe area right on the west coast went to Western Michigan now I've been with

federat for a little bit over a year now we do business insurance for small businesses so work comp general

liability property um we big on risk management you know we want to keep your guys getting to the site every day we

don't want them hurt at home so we help you know prevent injuries a lot with driving and stuff like that so really

just you know here to help out people it's awesome get to hang out with Daniel and Jose here and talk a little bit more

about how we can help other people yeah that's awesome thanks for being with us today um I know H was

having some some issues can we hear you now can you hear us oh we can't hear you

now we could hear you before and then now you can't now we

can't so he he has technical difficulties like every single week oh wait it says that oh it just

said that you were muted but you probably tried unmuting yourself I'm going to remove you again you can try and add yourself again get rid of them

for a minute so today we're just going to be talking about starting from Ground Zero um not only are we having technical

difficulties on his end but Facebook has been horrible to work with lately and

that is uh not just like this platform but even when I'm trying to stream

videos of baseball and stuff like that Facebook and pages are just not getting

along lately and I I don't understand it that's

crazy but let me see if I can try and turn this

one see if any of these ones are going to

work yeah Ash said that Instagram is live so I got that one

at least we're somewhere heck yeah so just talking about starting from Ground Zero what people can do to uh to start a

business I was just contacted um well they they posted in a group asking some

questions right so it's tax

time all right I think we're we got hoser back

but I was just really loud so we're going to have to mute them

anyways yeah I don't think he's going to be on today no he's looks a little busy right

now so with with tax time you know people that that have just started came

and and were asking questions about just that tax time what can they do and and stuff like that and it's uh

do you got to pay quarterly don't you have to pay quarterly and I think with with it being that time of year I I'm

pretty sure and we always say you know talk to an accountant right because that

that's not what we do but you know my accountant told me that once you start

paying quarterly you always have to pay quarterly so if you if you start you got to keep on going but if you don't then

then you're all right just paying one lump sum at the end of the year you guys you guys don't deal with

any of that though right no but that sounds that sounds I'm pretty much right from what I've heard from other business

owners is you know once you start on the quarterly then you have to stay on it and it's over a certain amount as when you start have to start really the

government requires you to pay quarterly but right we don't that's not much on the taxes part and then I mean the

penalties if you don't aren't super huge or anything so if if it's not in the

cards for you just pay at the end of the year but it it is really sad to see that

huge chunk of change go out of your account every year definitely

so how long have you been with uh Federated so I've been with Federated um

in out in the field talking to customers for about a year now and then I was in home office for a year learning and we

do a lot of training looking through policies and stuff like that okay and so so Jake you're actually our agent so we

appreciate you I mean he he's came in here a few times and hung out talked got

us all set up and I think that you know Federated does a great job on um the

visits and getting in here and making sure that everything is set up correctly better than you know the the previous

people that we've used and I I appreciate you guys for that um what do you get what do you recommend you know

for someone that's just starting out or someone that's looking for insurance what should they be looking for yeah know that's a that's a great

question I feel like it's kind of crazy like I said I haven't been doing this 40 years or anything like that but um we've

just been noticing that I've been seeing every day of people that have no idea what's in their policy um which is you know pretty scary

because if something were to happen we had a couple fires this week that were million dollar fires in the midwest um

you know took out the whole building and they were left with you know the video says not even a pencil not even a piece of paper left no records kept you know

all their equipment burned down to the ground and they pretty much just preached in the whole video of like hey

make sure you have a plan in place make sure you have everything covered everything kind of listed and down so I would say just really when you start you

know you don't have a ton of stuff to deal with obviously you do but not not as crazy it'll be once you're know 10 years into it so really just kind of

focus and make sure that everything you do is really just thought through and um so you're not GNA have to do it twice

but when looking for insurance just make sure you really have a good agent and ask a lot of questions um I love when

people ask questions it makes you know lets me know that hey they're trying to figure out what's going on because it's it's confusing that's why I went up

there for nine months to learn it um you know I understand you guys are doing kind of a whole different operation a whole different you know flooring is way

different than insurance but you know just make sure you ask those questions cuz if I had someone come floor my house I would have no idea what I'm doing I'd

have to ask a whole bunch of question I know and that's what we say all the time right like a lot of people on the groups um the flooring groups that that were a

part of they always preached like if you don't know how to do it you shouldn't be

doing it you know get get a professional you know basically saying I'm a professional so I should be in there not you and I think that's what we have to

start looking at at a lot of aspects of the business is hiring a professional because we don't know everything so I'm

not going to try and do the whole Insurance room that's what that's what we have you for and I

mean you you're handling claims for us right now I mean not you personally but

you're the guy that I'm like hey this is what's happening what's going on and you you point me in the direction where I

need to go and it sucks because I mean I've been without my truck now for like

two months can you guys hear me now we can hear you

now yeah I and I think I finally have at least one feet on Facebook going

so go Gotta so welcome back we were just

talking about sorry about that BR no and he's gone just as fast as he

got here that's how I feel like I am when I'm driving too oh it

happens hop in hop out um I know a lot of people you know are

worried about liability insurance and and getting themselves covered that way right

um but one one thing that that always pops up in the groups too is workers comp do people need it don't they need

it what what's what's your take on on everything yeah so work comp is I mean

if they're at a Onan Twan shop and it's the business owners right say it's just you and Jose you guys are just starting

up and it's just you to you guys wouldn't need work comp because the point of work comp is you it's for your

employees so as soon as you know I came on there and outside party as that employee right and I go and work for you

as soon as I get hurt you're going to have to pay you know legally for my medical bills for any kind of injuries I

get on the job during a jerk job related task my loss wages so if I'm out for three weeks you have to pay for you know

some of those lost wages up to a certain percent um but the real thing is is as a business business owner it doesn't

really benefit you tooo much because to actually get the benefits of the work comp you have to work zero hours a week

so very hard for the boss but as an employee that's heck yeah zero hours a week and I'm going to get a patient

portion of my pay that's a home run for them right but for business owners that's not really possible and second if

you have a broken leg and you file it on your work comp as a business owner that's going to count against you for three years so 10 grand 10 grand 10

grand so that one broken leg is going to cost you $30,000 on losses on your business yes

the insurance company's going to pay it out but they're going to be expecting to try to recoup that over the next couple years so it's just not really you know

your best bet as the business owner but if you have an employee there's no other choice but to put it on the business so

as an owner you don't you want to be on more of a Disability Policy because it can cover you 365 anywhere in the world

247 and it covers your full paycheck where work comp is only going to cover about 80% of your paycheck so now as far

as disability is there just one type of disability that you recommend or is there multiple types yeah so there's

really depends on kind of your budget and how much really your health also right that's the harder one to qualify

for but there's a one in four chance of becoming disabled which is kind of frightening um so it's definitely harder

to qualify for it and then there's a two-year benefit you can do up to a fiveyear benefit or to age 67 so if you

were to get hurt they're willing to pay your whatever salary you you know protect with the Disability Policy let's

say 50 Grand they're willing to pay you that 50 Grand after taxes so maybe it's like 35 36 they're willing to pay that

for five years and that allows you to not have to pull from the business you're not have to go and get a second

job not have to have the spouse work because you're still getting that same income while you're down now with with

the disability does that cover even if you're doing office work and stuff like that to keep the business running or do

you have to stop working altogether how does that work do you know yeah so you can still work um there's obviously an

hour they don't want you to be you know working full-time 50 hours a week and collecting the disability but I've had a

you know business owner for example in town that he was a contractor he would come in in the morning and he would just

kind of get his crew out there get his Fleet out there and then he would go home around you know 10 or 11 o'clock

which they had no problem with but you know that he wasn't out there running the same he he couldn't he had you know cancer he wasn't able to do it if he

wanted to so it's those kind of situations know broken legs arms we know you're going to be in there there's not

really a problem with that it's more of the ones that are going to take you down The Strokes that can't answers um You'

be able to still go and work for a couple hours okay and since we're on the the top of of insurance we have one of

our partners is actually floor cloud and there's no better Insurance than to to get them on your job sites and and make

sure that everything is going right so we're going to have a video here of floor

Cloud enables realtime monitoring of your job site conditions via desktop or

mobile device no more manual checking for temperature humidity or even dupoint

no need for base stations Wi-Fi or external power sources simply scan the

QR code on the front of your sensors and you're up and running with the most accurate and Innovative sight monitoring

system in the flooring industry dispatch your Crews with confidence and reduce your climate related installation issues

floor Cloud now you know now you know cuz you had no idea

about floor Cloud until right now and there ain't no better Insurance than keeping everything you know on your job

site monitored so that way if there's anything happening you're on top of

things seems like it' be awesome it is awesome uh if my brother was over on his

his his side he has a Flor Cloud box hanging up cuz we we just uh got some of

their units and can't wait to put them on some job sites no definitely that'll be cool so I know with us um we have

disability insurance and we have um life

insurance disability and life yeah so I know you there there's multiple

different life insurances as well but I think that's probably its own full podcast on that subject isn't it yeah

there's just that's definitely a full onion but a lot of good stuff you know just kind of I would say see what you

can qualify for and start somewhere you know it have to be enough to you know build a tajma hall but you know it's

always nice to have something in place and you can always move it later um but yeah that's a it's definitely a necessity for sure like I'm not an older

guy and I have it you know anyone should have it but I would say as a business owner definitely you need to have your

liability and at least probably some coverage for your tools I mean that might not be really depends on what you

can all float if everything starts going how you want it you obviously add on more coverages you know because you're going to have more exposures but

definitely to start you need to have general liability and I would say commercial umbrella right cuz I mean we started

with just the the liability um we did have workers comp like from the Geto CU

well probably about a year in as soon as we started hiring people we we got it you know right away and then it wasn't

until later on where we started um working with the contractors where they require the umbrella is when we got the

umbrella and now we're actually working through right now I just got an email from you I think earlier today was

talking about a 3 million umbrella policy which I mean that's a little excessive because everyone around here

doesn't require that but we're working with a contractor out of New York and they're like they want to see that $3

million policy and it's just like man it's not in the Cs for these small projects 100% that's you've said it

multiple times it all depends on kind of what stage you're at and if it makes sense you know that's a big part of it right you can start adding things on as

you go like I don't need an umbrella policy but if I'm going to work with this person I'm 100% going to need it so

until you start working with that person until it's required right it's not it's not really worth getting but um

insurance is one of those those huge topics where people think that it's just not necessary until

something happens then it's like why didn't I have it I mean one of our employees before um our ride on floor

demo machine I mean it's like I don't even know what they are brand new now I think we paid like 30 $35,000 for it and

he he uh was bringing it down a ramp and the ramp wasn't secured or something

ended up falling off the side and it's just stuff like that I

mean I don't know what that bill was but I know all we had to pay was the deductible on it I don't I don't even

want to see what a bill like that was I'm pretty sure they had to rebuild it from everything

W that scary no it's that you said it right it's the craziest part is we talk to people all the time that have done it

for 40 years and have never had a loss and they have the worst policy because they've never tested the safety net you

know and then the people that have had a fire or they've had a bad accident their policies are beefed all the way up

because they they've lived that moment they don't want to feel that you know that worst moment again of dang for two more Grand I wouldn't be feeling like

this right now right for two more for two more Grand it could have saved me 120 or something like that yeah or you

could still be in business you know it's like the hard stuff and the the guy that you know dumped that that machine

thankfully you know he didn't get hurt but if he did that workers's comp policy that's where that would have kicked in

and it would have you know had had us covered but you know I'm glad that he didn't get hurt you never want to see

anyone hurt regardless of what insurance you have you insurance is one of those things that you you want it there but

you don't ever want to use it yep 100% which is that's the hard part of like

you know trying to find new clients is you're trying to sell them something that they hopefully they'll never use it's like no I hope you don't have a

fire but in case you do you know but right I think

um speaking about fires I mean when our landlord's insurance guy came in here he

was inspecting all of our fire extinguishers and everything and he's like hey this one's got to be trash and

stuff like that and it's like that's that's why it's in that pile and not hanging up on the wall but they don't

even want to see it in the building basically yeah fires are bad right now we read I

heard a stat today and it's one in four businesses don't come back after a fire I mean just I mean you're not too

you live in Grand Rapids now I live in Wyoming yeah okay so Grand Rapids Brewing Company they had a fire in their

kitchen kitchen and they just decided yeah we're not even going to reopen after this dang yeah it's it's it's

happening we had like I said $3 million ones in this area and it's the crazy part is everyone says it's not going to

be me I'm good I have a brick building and then you know something happens a lot of times it's oily Rags that's our

number one right now or bad electrical circuits overloading things that you know you have an old building now

they've put more power on the transmitters that go to all the different buildings and it zaps your building it fries everything um which is

just scary because you can't really do much besides rewire it for 25 grand um

depending on you know the size of the project but it's definitely something just to have a good plan like you said having fire extinguishers having a plan

in place of what happens what do we do and um as a Federated client you will get like a walk through and a fire

safety checklist and all that kind of stuff to make sure because you know we don't want you having a fire either if you go out of business we can't Ure you

so you know that's just in our best interest to keep it going too so we don't want anything like that happening yeah we got to make money so that way we

can pay you guys money right exactly um we were talking about workers

comp right and then hiring employees and when you're when you're starting from Ground Zero that is 100% hard to hard to

do especially when you don't know about it and um I think it was a couple weeks

ago we had a podcast that was was about that right you know hiring employees and

putting them on payroll and how kind of easy it is once you get your head wrapped around

it and then once you once you do get employees their your worker workers comp

policy does have tools in place in order to not only protect them you know from

working but I mean you guys have the the toolbox talks the seven minute safety trainer we have um GPS units in our vans

keeping track of the guys and and stuff like that can you kind of give us a rundown on what you guys offer there so

that way people can know that you know you guys aren't just just that insurance policy you guys actually offer more

benefits than just something written down on paper saying that the company you're working for is protected no yeah

that's that's huge right now because you've been seeing a lot of agencies kind of getting bought out and they're saying hey if your premium is under a

certain amount we're just going to send everything in the mail um which is scary because that means you're getting no service at all like they're getting 20%

30% increases and with no explanation we're kind of doing the opposite we see our clients four times a year if they

allow us you know we obviously understand you guys got busy schedules but um we see and I just did a meeting

the other day with a hvat guy in town and sat down as 15 employees we went through a driving safety so watching

speeding harsh breaking um turning and just making sure like hey they get to

the job site you know safe and they were all really receptive to it they took a little quiz at the end so kind of read

through it all they take a quiz they sign on it so then it all goes into a database system online where now it's

tracked where it says Hey Jake took this quiz so next time I'm going 50 miles over the speed limit doing harsh turns

that's going to say hey we told Jake not to do that and he signed right here so it's really a nice cya also um and then

the little trackers that he was talking about um they just monitor this they don't monitor the location but they

monitor like I said the harsh breaking the speeding the turning and then it gives them a score at the end so say

Jose right now is on his phone and driving it would dock him for that and give him like you know an 80 when he got

home and and that would that would go on like

a a listing of all the different kinds of people that are driving at the organization right so the 10 employees

and then we usually say hey do a a monthly or every two month prize so hey this is the best driver and not to focus

on the five bottom drivers but focus on the top five and say Hey you know you should get better like Jerry or hey you

know you want everyone fighting to be the top drivers not hey we're the worst five that's cool um so we've just that's our biggest second biggest claim is auto

so it's been huge to help clients just kind of slow down their team because a lot of them been driving for years but

it's just those kind of constant reminders of hey let's all get there safe let's all get home safe um which is

nice and really unique to Federated yeah and since you know we started with that

the guys have like you know when we first were talking about it it kind of becomes a competition it's like my score

was better than yours this week and when when someone's isn't better he's like yeah but I have this many more miles

than you it's because you know and it is it's getting to that that point where it's

a a talking point in the in the Monday meetings for us definitely and they all want to be the best they don't want to

you know be at the bottom of the chart and all that does is keep lower Auto claims you know keeps your premium down

and gets them there safe so it's only a win-win win it's just getting them over that First Leap of doing it in the first

place which you know is my job which is the fun part and that's one thing that that people need to realize right it's

insurance is also there in these programs to protect you as a business not only are you you

know teaching the employees you know the right ways to do things but that is a

safety net for you to say hey we've already gone through this he signed off

on it and it and it protects you as a business definitely because put yourself

in the courtroom of if you didn't sign off on it and you didn't do that training and they're saying hey Daniel you know what was the last training you

told them about driving oh we had a Monday talk okay where's it on paper oh it's not on

what do you guys talk about oh it's you know in a filing cabinet this is you can go in there with the paper sign that he

got a eight out of n you know nine out of 10 on his quiz and he passed it and he signed it on this date and it's all

kept online so you don't even have to keep paper track um and it's just a really nice way to defend yourself in

there so as that business owner you know you can get walk out of there and not have the you know finger pointed at you

because as soon as they know you're the owner they think oh he's got the most money we're going for it all and then that's that's when they

right that that misconception that business owners have all the money when

we we pay all the money all the money just passes through our hands yeah you're the ones providing

money for everyone else so it's but we definitely heard of that of like hey they got zillion dollars in their pocket but you know you're just out here

working too I miss so much of it guys I'm just like the dude in the background right

now like the hype person just ha yeah yeah

no we we we covered quite a bit now um I did have someone asking a question on

Instagram but I don't know if they're they're still live or not so if they chime back in I'll let you

know okay but I mean the these programs are

great man like I didn't I didn't realize how much was included until Federated

because the other agents that we used didn't go too in depth on everything

that was included and sometimes I mean um you get agents that they're just they're pulling from every wit Ray right

like this is a better rate so this is who you're going to get so they may not know and I think that's one of the the

reasons why we went with Federated is because you guys were just so involved in everything like no we may not run

this program but I can tell you about it and I can point you to the person that can give you the the entire rundown so

we appreciate that for sure definitely no it's kind of the first program that we've come across that that felt like it

was actually customized for our industry right and I don't know if you said that yet or not Daniel but I I I I do

remember those conversations and and not knowing that that that was available for us uh through our

affiliations um with FCI um a shame on us for not doing our

research but I I do remember I do remember having those conversations like oh wait yeah that's

exactly what we need yeah that makes it so much easier that that's that is and

not to knock the other agents that we worked with because I've been with and I'm still currently with them I've been with them since I was 18 years old uh

for the auto at least and um it just they weren't able to customize they just

shot the dark they were a what do they call it um a broker a broker yeah they were an

insurance broker right so they just kind of shopped around for what the the best

price was for what we needed as long as it was within the param that we requested um

but what is the gentleman that we signed up with was his name Jordan right we

we're ready to work for you yeah he was persistent he was he was he was in here

man but it does it does take it but I feel like hopefully you guys are seeing the benefits of of that decision now you

know we're definitely set up different we're a direct writer so we were directly for Federated I don't go in

shop markets I don't have 10 choices I have one choice so I know that choice you know inside and out and you know I'm

able to offer everything you know in that package like you're saying built right for you so it really allow us to

be fully transparent I'm not saying hey I found a better one over here you know it's cheaper um because that's usually

what happens it's cheaper but this isn't included they don't they don't really tell you that either yeah they usually

miss that part yeah all inclusive is is way better

and cheaper isn't always the the best way to go there's going to be something missing in some point

can't send a change order into your insurance guy and it and it worked out that you know you were able to come on here

because not only are we with Federated but Paul he's missing today but his

companies are also with Federated so that's awesome is he around yeah

what's that that's is he from the area no he's from uh Kansas wiat

Kansas so you guys are

everywhere now as far as um you've never like ran

your own business or anything though right so I actually ran my own painting company I was a contractor for two from

the ground up so I know exactly what you guys are talking about all I had was work comp and you know three guys in a truck so I definitely get it get the

grind the hustle um that's what I'm saying start off with just a million dollar general liability and work comp

once you get some guys and that'll just go based off your payroll so you were W in there in in the

in the beginning stages too but I'll let him ask his question so I have a question um is there a different

approach to gentlemen or or or companies or individuals that are P primarily

residential versus commercial um you know like do you do you uh gauge what your your needs

are based off of the clientele you have commercial residential high-end uh

multif family like how how how does that that get approached from your standpoint and how do you direct uh

clients yeah so for like we did mostly residential um so that would be just a lot of door knocking which is always fun

um and then commercial ones it was a little bit harder just because we were so new and they were like bigger buildings and we really have all the

equipment and you know all the kind of cash flow to go buy all this equipment to or all the materials to start so I

would say we mostly did like residential and stuff like the painting um oh no I'm sorry I was I was referring more to

Leading your clients um coverage wise based off of uh based off of their their

their Niche what what uh industry of the flooring or what part of the flooring industry are they end that that's where

I was going residential versus commercial um I I I don't think there's a difference in whether you're

residential commercial it's just difference once you start getting into like tile setting and stuff like that I

think there's different coverages or something yeah there's for insurance there's not going to be much different

um pretty much is all going to fall under the flooring but there might be specific exposures that you have like hey we bring a lot of fuel on the site

because we use heavy equipment for our flooring or it's really going to depend on kind of all the different variables of what they have which just comes down

to like asking the questions um you know residential people are probably going to have less property because they're going

to probably keep it at their house not have as big of an operation where commercial they're going to have to have a lot of equipment so maybe have a

little B more property coverage maybe more employees because they're doing bigger buildings um so yeah it's really

going to probably depend on but I would say it's it's definitely harder to find Residential contractors for insurance

because they're out of their house most of the time um where commercial is going to be out of like bigger buildings but

just the only way is just to keep going and try to find them it's like hunting or fishing gotcha and I will say to

everybody one thing that we learned is as you if you're a commercial outfit or even residential and as you growing

document everything that you have document your purchase price yeah that's that's one of the questions on on

Facebook I just had to check on my phone because the the feed's not coming through because Facebook is being janky

lately but uh they they said tools let's talk tools so yeah can you give us a

rundown on what what should people be keeping track of from day one right like

I bought this is it covered is it not how can we keep track of it to make sure that that way if anything

happens I I don't have to go and purchase all these tools again yeah so

what I've seen um I kind of talk on both sides of the coin from other policies right deal with a lot of landscapers

kind know flooring anything under 10 grand most companies make you schedule

so I've seen it all the way up to like 150 bucks 200 bucks so that's your drill that's your saw right that's um some

pretty light tools um and then anything over 10,000 they obviously scheduled too

so pretty much every inch of it we're Federated we our main book is contractors so we know you guys have a

lot of stuff under 10 grand and it's really not worth putting every little piece of inch on it like I've seen four

or five pages of tools before and I'm like does this get annoying every year every time you get a new drill like this is know it's a lot of work here um and

what the big part is with Federated we only schedule things over 10 grand and then we put a limit on anything under it

so the nice part about that is you don't really have to we want you to keep a track of it so it's easier to go remember what you bought but you don't

have to show a receipt for every inch of it which for a fire example or a big trailer you know example stolen on a job

site it's really nice to not know oh I got to go find all my receipts oh I hope I remember where I put that one because

most companies with insurance you know not a huge fan of the industry like Federated but they they don't want to pay out right that's kind of the

insurance scheme is or SCH where it's like hey Insurance isn't good they don't want want ret trct that terminology

there brother yeah but um but cool part about

Federated is we want to pay you out so we say hey anything under 10 grand we got you covered we'll put it all under a blanket limit and then anything over 10

grand so your skid loaders your heavy equipment you know maybe some tools we'll schedule up and actually put it on

the policy so it'll say hey these are your 10 vehicles or these are your 10 pieces of

equipment but if you does that does that apply to like say we have

a trailer full of tools and collectively they value more than than 20 grand on a trailer at one time because they're

they're part of a system right like individually purchased it's one price but together because they're part of a

system that we have to implement and they're used in conjunction with one another does that change the perception

of that that's a good question I feel like it would yeah it' be scheduled as one then just to make it easier but are

you talking like a scaffolding or something like that no I'm saying like if if we if we were polishing concrete

and I would have my grinder my vacuum um and then the the heads generator the

generator like this is all I need all of this to do this one task um oh that

would all fall underneath the $10,000 limit under the blanket limit okay okay

and then and then there there is a difference between tools that travel versus tools that stay um that are

stationary yep yes you'll have a transportation floater which is anytime it's transporting to job site or you

know to back to the shop and then you'll actually have a a quck like a a job a job limit so you'll have how much you

could lose on one job if you had all the materials all the labor at it so there's multiple buckets I don't

want to confuse anyone that doesn't know a ton about insurance but there's multiple buckets of where it all kind of Falls that's what we're here to do

brother we're here to confuse people so they ask questions right so that way that way they can hopefully get answers

so we can hopefully get answers I mean I it's all I think that's one of the things though is people have to not be

scared to ask those questions right because I mean when you were in here I mean the first time you came in you were

probably here for a few hours and it's like what what do we need to to let you know what information can we get from

you so that way we can keep track better and stuff like that and I mean we walked the warehouse what is this what is that

um it it it it was great

because I learned more about insurance when when you guys were here than in the

I mean we've been with you guys for what two years now three years three years almost then the 11 years to you guys so

yeah which I 100% believe because the question from Instagram

was how can they improve their insurance which kind of gets back to what you and Jose were talking about like trying to

figure out what actually what do you actually need and

do you have anything that is too much right I don't know if

there's a such thing as as that I mean unless you're paying a ridiculous amount of

money yeah don't want you insurance right so is he spending too much or not

enough and then the the other question to that was like the the buckets how do

how do I know if my grinder and Shop back is covered I think that's that

$10,000 limit right so if it's a tool that you purchase that's under 10,000 it's covered up to a certain amount is

that what you were saying yep and that would be with feder though and I've seen like I was before that I said

there was a bunch of policies every other policy I've seen from the competitors they have them individually scheduled out but a tool that small my

guess is it's going to fall under a blanket limit like your contents um yeah but they're going to probably want I've

never seen anyone file a claim for it because again you don't really want to file claims kind of to answer your whole question there's like nuanes claims

which are like small claims wind Shields right someone you lose your shop back um and then there's the top there's C

catastrophic so that means hey the building burns down hey we hit someone driving home hey one of my guys takes

the truck home and wrecks it right those are the claims that can put you all the way out of business right harassment or

like hey this gas station had bad gas and now my truck won't start that's more

of a setback though because you're still going right but if it like your truck blew up there that'd be that'd be catastrophic right well my truck isn't

working right now so but no we'll get that figured out

poor Tru that's a brand new truck wow everything new everything 70,000

miles on it yeah that's new um I I do I have a more of a scenario right like uh

you know you were just talking about the the equipment and the vacuums what um is there a change in responsibility if you

are on a job site and you are storing your tools on a job site and then something happens within that job site

or are is that something that is covered for us as well um if if I leave or I

just use the grinder in the vacuum if I leave my equipment inside of a a a project a job site where it's supposed

to be um locked up uh and secure and then something happens it gets stolen um

is that something that is covered by by our insurance or is that covered by the property insurance or should it be

covered by the property insurance I should say no that's a great question I actually ran into it yesterday um with a

hvc contractor that's working downtown Grand Rapids someone came in and cleaned out all the everyone besides their

trades because they had it in a big lock trailer took all their equipment and the contractors were really mad and so they

tried to get from from from the project right and the people that had the project that paid him to do the work

pulled out the contract and said hey anything that kind of like when you go to the gym if you lose your headphones it's on you it was the same thing it was

hey if anything happens here it's on you so good news is You' have insurance for that under your policy but the bad news

is you have take that loss and pay the deductible um they're kind of just washing their hands with and they're

saying hey we told you you signed here and that's in the huge document that you know they give you yeah the master

contract cover say we gonna pay and this is all

stuff like um you know I just read through some of those lines the other day on one of the contracts and um it is

is is and people are always deferring responsibility back onto you as an

individual or you as a company and I think that's where just knowing that information um

knowing that that's what you're going to be put up against uh can hopefully let some individual prepare themselves

better for the real world the real world nobody wants to take responsibility for lost stolen or broken items um so just

make sure that you're covered or understand that there are some things that you will just take a loss on um

that's the hard Truth for sure well yeah that's that's I guess something

that is always on someone's mind what should I claim and what shouldn't I

claim right you were talking about like a nuisance claim when it's just like man this is a $200 vacuum just go buy

another one right yep as as opposed to if it's a grinder combo vac which you

know a grinder can cost you know $18 to $30,000 plus the vacuum can cost you

know5 to $220,000 we're talking about is it is it and it sucks right because we're

talking about starting from ground zero so some of these newer companies if they lose that you know 23,000 worth of

equipment that could set them back far enough to where hey I can't even do anything anymore but is it at that point

is it still worth it to make a claim or is it like not worth it yeah no so we'll

kind of work that one backwards definitely um that's what insurance is for it's for when you you have no other

options you can't pay it right that's when you put it on your insurance um so if they had that big you know big

grinder and Shop back stolen um that was definitely a and if it was going to put them out of business that's that's what

you use your insurance for um obviously it's going to hurt you in a year or two with the losses but it'll keep you in

business but for the smaller stuff you know like say your truck kind of work it backwards that that hurts that sucks you

know it's nothing small but it's hey we're going to survive we can always get another truck and if you take it down even smaller right to a nuisance it's

like hey I got a windshield I'm just going to pay it so I would say pay it anytime you can and if you can't pay it

or if you do pay it and it's going to really really hurt the business then use the insurance um but as an insurance PE

agent we don't like seeing the windshields the small stuff just because we know it they see that and our our

Underwriters see that who pick all the prices and they just they don't like it because they want you to take on a little bit of the risk too um and if you

do you know that you get favorable pricing for sure because they understand that hey you know how to you want to

obviously reduce claims because you know you're going to cover some of them where instead of you filing little claims they like dang even a even a wind you know

windshield they're going to file on us um but obviously Mor of the stories if you can

pay it pay it if it's too big to pay it and it's going to really hurt your business then use your insurance that's

and 100% ask your insurance agent right because if I texted you was like Hey man we got a windshield is it better if I

just do this or oh who clicked on that my brother probably

me or or should I just you know pay it out of pocket and you'll be truthful and be like it's just going to cost this

much man just pay it out of pocket and that's happened before with one of when we were on a a different insurance and

it was like man and it was when we were fairly new and it was you know a sprinter windshield so we were like man

this is going to cost so much and it was I think it end up been like $4 $480 and it's like at the end of the

day that's not that bad right could have been worse and since we my bad just

before you say anything if it's like a work comp claim on someone's hurt definitely take them to the hospital we're not talking about that stuff we're talking about you know obviously the

windshield and stuff like that that's what I was going to say I think it I think

um uh having insurance for from a young age right like being responsible for myself you kind of start picking and

choosing what is worth the claim and what isn't worth the claim like because

the more it's like anybody else you nickel and dime your insurance company your RS are going to go up right they

have to they have to make up for for that that increase and liability that that you're providing or that that you

are costing them not providing them but costing them so I guess uh long story short something you come out of pocket

come out of pocket protect yourself long-term Wise from from priceing potential price increases on your

insurance use it right because even with my truck right I was just taking it to the mechanic like I need to get this

fixed and then it wasn't until they were like you should probably contact your insurance when I was like oh my be

something that needs to be you know more investigated that I I don't have time for it but you guys have a team

dedicated to that kind of stuff and you know they they were asking me questions about it like hey where'd you get it what time were you there and all that

stuff so it's like I'll give them the information and they'll do whatever they have to do with it

and I know it wasn't anything that I did definitely and if big gas you didn't

pump the fuel you pumped the fuel bro

saying sorry that it I just wanted to butt in with

that so when you started your painting business did you start as a sole

proprietor how did you start that out yeah so it was actually uh it was in college it was kind of like a LLC

internship deal where we all had to file our own and then um they pretty much taught me the ropes they've been doing

it for like 25 years it's called College Works painting um but they teach you all how to hire how to do the interviews

you're actually sitting in you know I went from knocking on the doors to sitting in their kitchen table you know with both spouses at the table trying to

close the deal to you know getting I did $125,000 in Revenue my first year and

had four employees who were actually had to be on the site every day with you know to-do list and everything ready to go before they got there give them their

tools give them their 10 things they got to get done in 10 hours and then you know manage it the whole time and I

usually help too just to get some of the labor down um to obviously make some more profit but um

I know where that question was going to but yeah it was uh it was um LLC now I'm more interested in the program that you

just said right that that's why I was asking because a lot of a lot of guys you know they'll start out as like a so

prop or something like that and then think that the the whole LLC thing is just too intimidating because one you're

starting off a lot of people in the trades are starting off at with no money in their pocket so you're trying to keep

the cost down as much as you can but if you do file an LLC you can do it yourself you don't have to hire someone

to do it and it's just I mean what do the state charge like $25 or something to to fact something in y so it's it's

just a matter of you know getting in your paperwork and and St and stuff like that that way you know once you get your

your LLC get your federal identification number that way you can go open a bank

account and I think that's one of the biggest things that people do do wrong is trying to run a business out of their

personal bank account oh yeah that yeah don't don't do that guys please don't do that protect

yourself don't do that so it's kind of like get all this

stuff set up get with a a a great Insurance you know agent so that way you

can get get yourself protected and it it does suck

because business costs money there there's no way around it but once you're

you're all set up the same thing like we talked about with with payroll a few

weeks ago it's once you get everything set up it pretty much just runs on autopilot and all you got to do is keep

on maintaining right and that's where your agent comes in um ask them

questions see see what you can do but it's just getting that that LLC set

up at least so that way you're protected and then you know us as a business we are an LLC but we're taxed as an escorp

which is a whole another thing um definitely get get an accountant there's

plenty of accountants out there that don't they don't charge much like we're

we're fortunate enough to have an accountant where I can a I ask him questions and stuff and he hasn't been charging me for asking him all the

questions but that could change at any moment but he's the one that that that set us in the the path of the ESC Corp

we're employees of our business now you know we're owner operators we're paid on a W2 just like our

employees and then man once you get set up start making money before you start

thinking about benefits or anything because it's uh it's tough out there and

I I don't even know if Federated does offer any benefits

packages yes we do actually and they're super popular right now um just with not like a group health but we have what's

called like a keyman program which puts um life insurance on one of your key employees and you can do disability so

if they were to get hurt you're going to be covering their life insurance and their disability to keep them you know you have a really good guy he's running

the crew you know he's the third man or third woman and you know if she were to not come to work it would really be a

problem for the business you can have life insurance on her say 100 Grand and 50 Grand will go to her you can you

obviously pick the allocation you guys come up to an agreement but 50 Grand goes to her 50 Grand goes to you so her

family now can you know have a little bit more be a little more easier time you know now that their spouse has

passed away and then you guys have that 50 Grand either hire somebody new or while you know you're trying to find somebody new to kind of fill that Gap

that she left um and then with disability it's hey how long are you do you want to pay this person if they're

out you know if they're out a year or two are you going to feel bad if you don't pay them you obviously want to have them come back so that kind of

allow to pay out of that policy pay through the insurance instead of paying out of your guys's pocket um so those

are two big benefits that as a Federate employee I have on myself you know Federate puts that on us to keep us here so they're doing it to us i' been huge

with our contractors huge with our machine shops because you know saw someone today yesterday um was trying to

go in there to find the boss you know like just like when I come into your guys's place and they said oh he's on the job site you know we had two people

quit yesterday they got poached from somewhere else so it's happening it's real and they probably got poached for like two bucks which would just suck um

to have you know one of your best people leave for a couple bucks a year hour when yeah and you know

that's that that's a whole another podcast too is talking about you know people

leaving for pennies on the dollar and then re you don't realize until later

like yeah probably had it pretty good over there buty The Grass Is Always Greener somewhere else right it is but that's

life man you live and you learn um so yeah I didn't even I I don't know if we even talked about those policies before

but I think we we may have but I my my my thing is is that if you are looking

into disability and stuff do it when you are younger and you're not going to have

like issues because once you start getting older and then it just takes one thing when they're like oh yeah you had

this so it's not going to happen right now like I myself had um bariatric

surgery right so that's when one reason why the disability and the life weren't

going to cover us because they I think they said that we have to be like three or four years out of bariatric surgery

to get out of that all right you're not going to end up kicking the bucket from this surgery so we'll cover you now yep

but all it takes is you know something like that for them to to not qualify and that's why it's insurance right

you're you're paying for it now so that way later on when you're like me you don't have to worry about about it 100%

yeah actually one of my teammates texted me today he was on his way home and saw a gas station saw one of his old clients

cars pulled in was talking to him and the person just kind of started the conversation with hey um you know I'm

sorry we didn't move forward with the option last year you know we didn't didn't think we needed it at the time and now his wife has leukemia and now

they can't they said no to it and now they have no money coming in here and it's it's a bad time for him and it's just one of the situations where he just

texted out to the group like hey make sure you push on it you know this does change people's lives because you never

want to be you but it's one in four chance of being you which is scary and then life insurance is one in seven so

it's not the best odds hey that's why we're on here

talking you know just letting people know you know get these things set up early you know maybe not right when you

start but as soon as you you find a little bit of cushion start implementing these things one at a time so that way

when something is needed it's there definitely they're so customizable too

that's the coolest part is start with 50 bucks 100 bucks a month and you know whatever you spend on the weekends and

you'll have something in place which is really cool you don't have to spend a bunch of money to get the starting one

no should do is you guys should start implementing like trade specific insurance like you know how M MLB the

pitchers can have insurance on the arm I should be able to to ensure my knes we

can do that through another company actually we can it's a thing it is a

thing man you guys got to get on that these young guys man cuz I we always say

you only got so many miles on your knees and then you're done yeah when you guys are you got the pads on all day and you

know down there and then you know one of one of the other things you know before we wrap

this up we're about at the end right here is don't be scared to reach out man communication is key and we talk about

communication a lot and just ask questions whether it's you know to to us you know you can always reach out to us

at the Huddle I'm sure we we'll get to your information Jake I'm sure they can reach out to you and you can point them

in the direction of you know maybe their local agent or something but that's what the network is for man it's you know ask

questions if I don't know it I'll point you to someone that that can help you and don't be scared to ask questions

because there's too many people out there that will die on their you know what what they

need to do because it's like I'm not asking asking anyone for help and we're we're a community we're here for for

everyone and we appreciate everyone that listens so if you are listening you know don't don't forget to to like subscribe

you know follow us and tell us that you you do like us or that you don't that's that's fine too you know constructive

criticism or just criticism in general man we we we want to hear it all we want to hear what people like and what people

don't like so we're going to wrap this up Jake I appreciate you for being on here um my

brother you know was on here for a little but you know that's what that's what the hudle is man we're we're here as a

community to help everyone out so just you know go let them know again where you're from and how they can get a hold

of you or um or just your company in general if if you don't want them pointed in your direction yeah no I

appreciate the opportunity to come on here say this is awesome definitely the highlight of the week um I'm from Federated insurance I'm live in Grand

Rapids here you can if you search Federated Insurance you'll be able to get all my information from that um

there's definitely a local agent in your hometown but if you you want to just look through your policy want to figure

out hey am I is there something in here that's not right you know your premium should be going up a little bit every year if they're going down there's

something going on um but just yeah Federated I'm still I'm still trying to

convince you to have ours go down I think that's a conversation every time we talk but you're doing great with the

drive safe you got a bunch of implementations right you want to do more safety training those are ways that we can get your premium down compared to

to just saying like oh if you know screw that I'll be fine myself then it's really hard to fight for it you know

every time think the last um cuz you guys do the the seven minute which is a

different thing than the videos because you guys actually will have videos and stuff too so I I'll kind of implement

both of them at the same time and the last one we did was back safety and the guys were like man we kind of really

needed this refresher and you don't realize it because you're just you know

going doing the same thing every day but it's like yeah I'm GNA start taking better care of my back 100% yeah you

only got one back right gotta take care of it well thanks Jake and uh I

appreciate it and I'm sure you'll you'll be in here soon I think our our renewals in a in a few months so

yeah we'll be in there soon definitely see you soon yeah thanks guys again and uh we'll see you next week