This week on The Huddle Paul, Daniel, Jose (Crystal’s brothers) and Crystal (baby sister) discuss bridging the generational gap in the industry; from how to get more young installers involved and how to get older installers to mentor them.

FORWARD PROGRESS SCHOLARSHIP: email Ashlynn@gocarrera.com or message GoCarrera on social media to apply to be able to win a CIM Scholarship and be a part of a 3 days to CIM.

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 is where the flooring industry can get together and talk about everything! Lead by Paul Stuart from Go Carerra who is joined by Daniel and Jose Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring.

https://www.preferredflooringmi.com

https://www.stuartandassociates.com

this week's huddle we come at you

every Tuesday to discuss how to maintain

forward progress in your flooring career

so this week with us is uh we got the

preferred flooring folks again Crystal's

joining us Daniel Jose and Ashland's

going to come on here and discuss

um

a scholarship that we are doing for uh

the Sim program with the scic8 so

Ashland take it away

okay well if you missed it last week um

Daniel and Paul were in Florida with CJ

in the FBI fcsca

um we have now created the forward

progress scholarship which will help

send an installer to be part of the

fcica certified installation manager

program

um with the option to also be a part of

the three-day System Program

um all you have to do go ahead and just

email Ashland and go Carrera that's

Ashlynn gokaro.com or you can message us

on any of our social medias right now

for more information on how to apply

foreign

I would say

um

that the Sim program is is going to be

Hammer rated now so you'll get Hammer

rating for going through the program uh

there's more and more installers that I

think as we've looked at it

um and talked to more guys there's more

than I realized that have went through

the program already and it's a

tremendous

um

it's a tremendous training uh teaching

you a lot of the stuff we go over on

whether it's running projects uh or or

trying to manage Crews or or get work

done a lot of the best practices are

right there in that same program uh

again that's ran by the seica and the

Ford progress uh scholarship

again just to Echo what Ashland just

said

email her Ashland gocarera.com that's

a-s-h-l-y-n-n

and then

um we can get you hooked up and entered

into the to the uh uh scholarship

and uh we will be announcing I'm not

sure which uh three days to Sam we're

going to promote quite yet but that'll

come about here

um Ashlyn can let you know that so

hopefully we get plenty of applicants

because I really would like to see who's

in interested in uh learning more of the

business side and the uh maybe not so

much Technical Training but more uh

mindset and and how to go about running

winning projects

oh that was loud my bad what's that

was loud hey you push the button over

here they mean interrupt gotcha so this

week our discussion is uh the

generational yeah Bridging the

generational Gap so as many people on

this call know

um and a lot of the flooring companies

can attest is the average age of the

installer is somewhere between that 53

to 58 depending on the region

there's been a lot of discussion about

and and Jose can talk about it too uh at

our fcica uh convention there was that

was like probably the most talked about

topic was the new generation and the old

generation and how to get those two to

come together and transfer of Knowledge

from the older guys to older men and

women that are in the trade into the

younger men and women that are joining

the trade now

um there was a lot of quick to uh say

well the younger Generations lazy and

doesn't want to work I think we heard

that a little bit uh I I don't know that

you know we pushed back yeah I know Jose

pushed back on that thought process and

that um I'm you know my my opinion is

the older guys need to really stand

stand up and Mentor the younger

generation like just take the burden on

yourself that it is our duty uh as you

know experienced installers to pass that

that knowledge on uh so when you're

dealing with a helper or something look

look at you less as just an employee

uh employer Arrangement and maybe look

at it as a mentor mentee Arrangement as

well

um but anyway I know that came up a lot

what's your thoughts of the of how that

was uh discussed during the convention

well because I think I think the the

thought process no matter where you're

at is always the same you know you

the younger generation is lazy uh the

older generation is aging out it's too

late for me to teach somebody

um you know and

it's not perspective if you're going to

believe that they're lazy then then

you're going to believe you're not going

to let it go but if you're if you're

saying that but not offering an

opportunity and not devoting some time

to

for someone who falls under that

category then you're not really

getting your hands dirty uh so to speak

you have to give someone an opportunity

to fail before you already labeled them

uh lazy or or a failure at what you're

trying to teach

um well I think you pointed out

something that's important that that

when I bring it up and that is

they're they operate differently yeah it

doesn't mean lazy they're they're trying

to find more efficient ways to do things

and that's not so far from what you know

like some of the tool manufacturers are

doing they're trying to make tools that

make it easier on your body we got to

sit through several demonstrations of

awesome tools that keep you off your

knees like

that's all beneficial right it's it's

it's not you brought that point up but I

wanted to remind you about that that you

you said you know they're different

they're they just up they they approach

things differently that doesn't mean

they're lazy though yeah they've already

they've already um

they grew up in a different time right

they have a lot of information at their

fingertips and when you

when you are teaching uh someone who

who's part of the younger generation

they don't just take what you said and

go back and just Ponder on that right

they take what you said go back and find

many other variations of your thought

process and then they YouTube it they

come back they come back to the table

with a hybrid version of what they feel

the direction of that should go and just

because

just because we went through uh from

point A to point B

walking through the snow with one socket

no shoes doesn't mean that they're going

to want to do that same process right

they're going to say hey

I was getting a vehicle let's go and and

try to expedite this let's let's try to

make it easier on everybody involved

um they're gonna help uh refine the

training process well there's been you

know people that have come through here

and then that's what they do they

research stuff and go on YouTube and

then they'll come back and be like hey

check this out and sometimes it's like I

never knew about that let's look into

this and you can't be closed-minded you

have to take that information and and

expand on it

yeah do you think do you do you know

another thing that came up was that

um

not that not just that the younger

generation was necessarily lazy

um but also that they seem to not uh

want to

it's not that they're lazy it's just

they're not as money driven do you

remember that when they kept saying that

it's not they're not as money driven so

they're would you see that as true and

Crystal you're in the room here thanks

for joining us today do you do you do

you guys

see that as true do you see that the

younger generation is not as Money

Motivated and more experienced as far as

like they want their work life to have

to be rewarding in some way and but not

totally consume their life

so I don't mean to interrupting your

thought process so so my my opinion on

you know a lot of the younger generation

grew up where their parents have devoted

a lot of time to their craft and to

their business or to work where there

was not a lot of uh not of not a lot of

family time per se right

so in order to break that cycle the

thought process has to change and when

the thought process changed the systems

change and that's what they're doing is

they're approaching it a little bit

different

yeah they want to go out and be

successful and have a good career a good

paying job but if they're going to find

balance of work and home life work and

family they're going to find balance

more than

more than the older generators the other

generation is I got to provide so work

is important so they can live a better

life well you know what you did a good

job they are they did live a better life

but now they understand that they missed

a lot of family time and they're trying

to close that Gap so I think a lot of it

like um

looking at

my nephews and stuff that are

you know they're you know in their

younger 20s and seeing how and my nieces

too like they jump from job to job and

you want to say that they're not Money

Motivated but if you look at the the

younger people they'll jump from one job

to another

for a quarter an hour

and it's like we were offering you not

not us but you know one company was

offering them so much but then they jump

over here just because that quarter an

hour but they're a lot of the that

that's just one one aspect of it but a

lot of the younger people that that I

talk to and I think they're looking more

for the benefits package you know what

is what they want that Health Care they

want to know that they're going to be

covered in retirement they're looking

out you know because they're they're

looking at their parents right now or

their grandparents and they're like

they're retiring with nothing like I

don't want to be that person that has to

work in order to make it through

retirement

well a cool metric outside flooring is

that

the US has the youngest investor

population in its history meaning our

population is investing earlier younger

than ever

uh which would you know kind of go to

your point Daniel that you know they

care about their future

um I don't know so a where's the rubber

meet the road how do we Bridge uh the

generational Gap what is the what what's

our best advice to give to the audience

on how to approach younger because I

think part of this is

you can't just throw your hands up say

they don't want to learn or they're lazy

or whatever like it's it's in our

approach the older folks

um you know

it's I think it's on our shoulders to

approach the younger generation in a way

that they understand

so that that's part of it what's your

guys's thoughts on that like how do we

actually Bridge it we got to start

listening to what the younger generation

is saying the the women in flooring at

convention at CFI convention actually

opened my eyes up to them probably them

too it's all when you know Jeff was just

sitting off to the side and

and at the end you know he came in and

said that everything that we were saying

is all based on assumption you I assume

this so that's where this thought

process is and they assume this so it's

it's open communication between everyone

and knowing that one you got to take the

younger generation's perspective into

account and two you got to realize that

you're not always right we say all the

time that you know just because I've

I've been doing this for 40 years well

you've been doing it wrong for 40 years

I don't necessarily mean that you know

everyone's thought process process has

been wrong but you have to evolve your

thought process in order to know that

you know things are changing let's start

changing with the times

just because you've done this for 30

years doesn't mean it's right right now

it's it's about time to start changing

and we got you know John steyer right

here he says that the younger generation

is they work to Live While you know

their moms and dads live to work and I

see that a lot because you talk more

like that you know in some of these

groups they're like oh you only work 45

hours I remember my first part-time job

you know yeah we can go back to that and

it's like people say that that is how it

was like even when I came into the

trades it was like if you weren't

working 60 hours a week there was

something wrong with you and now it's

like

people want to put in their 40 hours and

they want to be able to walk away and be

like all right I put in my 40 hours let

me go and and do what I want to do and

people right now you know they got

Hobbies our guys that blows glass he

doesn't want to do this 60 hours a week

and then go blow glass it's like I want

to put in my time so that way I can go

do what I enjoy doing all right enjoy

it's almost like we've went back to when

yes you know back to when there was some

bounce I mean back in the 50s or so you

know you didn't work

70 80 hours back then

um and you didn't you didn't have two

family households either two family

income households either back then uh

not so much right for the most part the

van went out and earned a living and and

had some balance uh nowadays there's a

two income families which is awesome but

and almost required anymore to be honest

with you but the point is

now that you have that it's almost like

you realize that all we're doing is

working coming home and eating dinner

going to bed and repeating the process

tomorrow

and so families maybe are starting you

know younger generation realizing like

I I love that saying I've never heard

that but that is as accurate as I've

heard it spoke in so little words I did

I I do love to work in a lot of ways I

live to work and tires I'm right there

yeah

I I

um

my

experience with the younger generation

um in installing in particular has been

a little mixed

I don't see them as lazy at all what

I've experienced is

um it's like they have to earn their way

to learn meaning that the older

generation doesn't want to teach them

until they've proven themselves long

enough that they're gonna actually uh

absorb the information and put it to

good use it's almost like there's a test

uh and I've I've watched it with our own

Crews uh where you know one of our older

crew members you know won't teach a new

guy anything until he's kind of proven

himself that he's going to be there for

a bit that he's actually wants to learn

and apply that knowledge so it's like I

think the older generation in some ways

just don't want to waste their time

either and so

on that side and that's kind of what you

deal with that earlier right when I'm

saying that

um talking about my nephews and stuff

because I've talked to him I've talked

to you know my niece about it and it's

like you look at their work history and

through the court I mean their how does

our nephew's 21 lunch over right yeah 21

and then you know my niece is around the

same age

um

and it's like you look at it and it

through the work history from when they

turn 18 to 21 they can give you three

four pages of employers that they work

for and it's like as an employer you

look at that and you're like if I hire

this person what is

what is what are the chances that

they're going to stick around long

enough for me to get my return on

investment so I kind of see it from that

perspective too right well that's where

the younger generation has to give a

little bit you know we're defending them

but at the same time from an employer

standpoint and just like I said the old

dude standpoint or old you know older

installer standpoint

if you're if you're a job Hopper like

how do we get back to some some

long-term consistency because I do know

that the stats show that younger people

have more jobs I've had four jobs my

entire life I'm 46 years old uh you know

I know people who are 22 and have had 20

jobs or 10 jobs or whatever they've had

four jobs in the last month yeah thing

when I when I got into the flooring

industry and I was hired part of my

conversations were oh man I've worked

I've worked here here here here here and

I was 18 years old and

um uh the gentleman I worked for a ray

it was like this is years later he's

like dude when you started working with

me and you started telling me all these

places you work and we just like because

I started chewing temporary they decided

to ask me to stick around because like I

was so nervous that you were just gonna

leave I was like it wasn't

about me leaving I I left these places

because and now we're talking about it

makes sense I left them because it

didn't fit my life it didn't fit what I

was trying to do at the time or what was

important to me at the time right

because

I worked for money back then but when I

was you know before I was 18 but at the

same time is I still wanted to play

baseball and I still had school and I

still had other things

um and some employers were not willing

to bend so to speak to to accommodate

some of that but um

I I don't think the the long list of uh

ex-employ or exemplate ex employment

places will scare me away I think that

maybe they just have a little more

experience with people

um so I kind of look at it like you know

the glass half full with that right and

it's all on perspective right John says

that um

when he graduated high school you're

lucky to get a factory job at 40 hours a

week and now factories are wanting you

to work 60 plus hours with weekends you

know mandatory

yeah he's one of the younger ones he's

what 23. 24.

um

there was another one right here earlier

uh George

Jorge yeah he said um go up a little bit

but about people training that they're

they're afraid that they're going oh

right here and go on their own operator

yeah

and really that's that's really what you

want right because if someone is

comfortable enough to go on their own

that means that you did your job while

training them sometimes sometimes people

just think that it's going to be easy

money and then they go out there and

that's a whole another issue right right

um yeah there's a couple of different

ways that happens I mean I think you

should be proud if you get somebody and

you

um

train them well enough to go out and and

start their own gig I think that should

be a source of Pride

um yes and and not looked at as bad but

there's this

epidemic of of guys or girls and more in

the guys to be honest with you that that

that work for six months under somebody

and then think they are flooring and

seller

um you know

there's that that's a problem and

obviously uh we don't do this podcast to

just promote go career but that is one

of the things go career prevents is if

you've only got six months experience

and maybe a training or two you're just

not going to have that higher Hammer

rating and not qualify for that much

work because reality is different than

that there's a few unicorns out there

that can

you know picked this thing up in a year

or something but

there's there's there's so much to uh

being a flooring installer so many to to

really be effective that you know six

months or a year is a tall order

um but at the end of the day I I think

that

if we're able to from what even what uh

Jorge said

understand that what giving because I've

heard this argument you know they're

going to take my job or it's going to be

more competition or that well if you

train them correctly and you teach them

the business side too on how to give you

know price yourself

correctly in the market you're creating

good competition you're not creating bad

competition you're not creating you know

hacks and you don't creating a

partnership anyway it's not even

necessarily competition you could be

creating a partnership if that person is

is trustworthy and the workmanship is

great you're creating someone else who

can essentially help you with your

business as well

yeah

yeah I don't know there's not a silver

bullet to this question or this this um

this problem really but the discussion

and I don't know is there a

you know convention and the the the

shows is when this gets talked about a

lot in bigger group settings but

fcef CFI

NTC all the different organizations you

know I think they struggle with this

same problem I mean they talk about it

so is there it would be interesting to

really understand is there steps that

can be taken like

prescribe steps like

to to solve in the problem or is it just

like we have to take these ideals that

we're talking about and then do the best

we can and that's where it's been that's

where it stood but it'd be interesting

if we could say you know

new guy

just out of the gate realize they want

to have a life that's first off they

they're they're not you

they're they didn't live your life they

lived a different life

realize they want to have one

so then you train around that and be

okay with somebody working 40 hours and

maybe one of the things is dropping that

that uh negative uh viewpoint on 40

hours is somehow not a full week that's

a full week's work you know

still lost still

drive time everything else involved in

there too right I mean 40 Hour Work Week

local within a half hour drive you're

still devoting 10 to 12 hours to your

your work

yeah

I think that uh

a lot of the younger generation right

now is looking for a comfortable

workplace somewhere where they're

feelings are considered just as much as

you know them wanting to enjoy life like

if someone comes and they're in a

hostile work environment they're not

going to want to stay there uh the

younger generation is a lot more

sensitive I guess is that is that the

right word they're just not willing to

put up with what we did they can't they

they have the benefit of picking and

choosing their their jobs because our

parents worked so hard so if they go to

a job and they're being yelled at or

belittled or they're just you know

certain Vibes if you will that they

don't agree with then they're just

essentially like I don't have to put up

with this I can go work over here like

tomorrow and that's that's what I've

realized like leading some of these some

of the newer guys on our crew like I

really have to approach every individual

a little bit different you lead everyone

a little bit differently you know some

you could pick on a little bit more but

some you really have to

watch the your words and because you

don't want to offend people because

everyone's personality is different

everyone might you might be joking but

they might not know that you're joking

so just taking their feelings into

consideration and kind of

um leading based on their personality

getting to know people and that's kind

of what you know we touched on earlier

it's not

it's the I've always done this or this

is how I was brought brought in the

trade so this is how you're going to be

brought in the trade and that's what

we're trying to break right now right

and you know Eduardo said you know he

said the last guy that I worked for I

walked like I'm not gonna put up with

this you know and and that's that's the

gravity of the situation right now is

they do not have to put up with it and

what what is gonna happen is that you

know the more especially with technology

everyone is talking and it's like yeah

dude I didn't put up with that and I

just walked well that's what I'm gonna

do tomorrow well here we are with the

Clash of I of these ideals you know from

the two generations you know the the

older generation thinks that the younger

generation should be tougher scanned and

just

kind of deal with it the way that they

did

because I think I know I've had bad jobs

you know you guys have probably had some

crappy crappy jobs

um

we just dealt with it you know what I

mean and they they're not willing to

deal with that uh that conflict

the older generation feels like they

ought to just have thicker skin

and but there has to be some give

somewhere we're going to have this

problem and we're not going to even come

close to solving some of these issues

without those coming those two ideas

softening a little bit like

not being so sensitive but also being

more sensitive but both sides almost

seem like they have to move a little bit

I don't know how to make that happen

yeah I gotta find that dance right dance

right it's got a balance because if

you're not willing to look at their

point of view they're not going to be

willing to look at yours right so it's

it's that give and take and and you

gotta find that balance

um even like Tim asks right here he says

what is there to entice the younger

generation and then he follows that up

with you know you look at

what would make someone want to come to

this trade from being a plumber or an

electrician like what are we offering

that other people aren't and I think at

this point in time there really isn't

anything that the flooring industry is

offering that that you know other people

aren't we're actually probably far

behind what other people are offering

because you're looking at you know

electricians and even around here we

have

you know

electrical companies that have huge

workforces and it's like

you look at that and it's like people

want to go work there but then when you

look at the flooring industry it's

always I Want To Be My Own Boss I want

I want to

have my own work I don't want to work

for someone and it the stigma just

shouldn't be there because there's

companies out there that

that can put you in a better spot than

you know going out there on your own and

struggling for those couple years

um even if it's just a stepping stone

there's I know plenty of electricians

that have gone through some of these

companies and they do their own thing

now but it but it's going through them

and getting that necessary education in

order to get to that level what's that

education

so the electricians and the plumbers

that and and people who are the Steel

Erectors

um they're all subject to inspections

right they have to have an inspection

their workmanship has to be to a

specific level and standard for the job

to proceed to carry on

we don't get our stuff looked at unless

it fails

they appreciate yeah so so government

category government jobs uh we had this

discussion in our office last week or

the week before about

um

some of our government projects

you get each

um

sorry I had a chat come up uh you get

each step of the way

gets inspected so we are doing ceramic

tile and the prep got inspected prior to

the waterproofing and when the

waterproofing was done we had to call

the Corps of Engineers guy in to inspect

the waterproofing and then it was the

next step in the next step that would be

awesome if that happened it would

prevent a lot of failures but it just

isn't part of the trade I think that

your point to the electricians and the

the plumbers and things like that

from a trade perspective they they get

better press than we do for sure I mean

if you're scrolling through your feed

and you see something about you know

joining trade it's usually electrician

or plumber

you know electricians are like

um

they're not my favorite people on job

sites but the

um they certainly have the best press

you know what I mean uh

our industry being so independent and

installers wanting to become

subcontractors uh and and work on their

own and do their own work

that is a that's that's tough if you

work for a company and we we have hourly

Anne Subs uh and many of our subs were

hourly at some point

um

so I think that there's there's a prog a

progression that you could go through uh

to becoming Your Own Boss but there's

such a low barrier of Entry to to jump

into flooring that

guys do try to do it like

six months after they've started with

somebody and they don't don't have any

previous experience and so

I think there's a dance there as well

but I think if

in my opinion

if the older generation will embrace the

younger generation and I know we're

we're a one of a million podcasts out

there so whoever's listening

um embrace the younger generation and

understand that you're Pro you're

providing for them a long life of of

earning if you can truly teach them how

to do fluorine

Eduardo what the the Q a that jumped up

is uh you know you achieving dreams is

possible through the flooring industry

well it is I mean you can make a lot of

money especially as a sub but only if

you're properly trained I mean a few

failures and you're out of business if

you're not if you're not doing it right

you know right I mean so look at us just

last week we were in Georgia for the

nfic certification right and

um a lot of that carpet I've never

even laid hands on until we got there

and did I I went there for the

certification right but I I went there

with um

to learn about the product in case it

ever comes up not because that's what

I'm gonna go out looking for I just want

to know enough about something that if

it pops up

even if I'm not the one doing it I can

know something about it and I know

something is off right away

yeah

and it's it's that getting getting

educated like that

well what's the what's the

best way I I know that as we've talked

before in uh previous huddles

um

you know the ftef and in TCA all the

organizations are kind of working on in

the wfca

um working on attracting new

um younger installers it seems like

that's working a bit but

from an overall standpoint

um it'd be interesting to know

their

um

how many of those guys that they've ran

through their 10-week course got a job

and are staying what's the staying power

what's the

um you know how long is that acquisition

staying with the the trade

is the training working possibly but is

is are we resonating as an industry are

we resonating with the younger crowd

that that's that's a good question for

them I think it's still too early to

know right because it's this is just

popping off in the last couple years so

that data has to start filtering through

and that you know and it's not we don't

need to know just that we need to know

like who are they being placed with or

be they be in place with someone that's

going to pay them right

treat them right obviously treatment's a

big part of this

and uh you know just just in our

business it's been an evolution right

we've

and and I've said this before it's when

we started saying that

in when we stopped saying I can't afford

this and started saying we can't afford

not to do it is when you know that

progression started coming along and

it's

people need to start thinking like that

you know I can't afford to pay my taxes

well at some point you're going to get

hit and you're going to be like man I

can't afford not to right yeah I

shouldn't that was a mistake and you

know I can't afford to pay my employees

right well the

the classification of workers right now

that's going on everywhere and it's a

lot of it is due to you know Uber and

doordash and stuff but it's

that's legit man it's gonna come back to

bite us at some point and it's are you

gonna you know start researching and

getting on the right path now or are you

gonna wait until it's too late

um a lot of the

the younger people want to see that

that income coming legit because once

they get that 10.99 and they go to file

their tax and they're like wait I owe

money yeah what's this about I thought I

got refunds at the end of the year okay

besides besides the Young Generation who

are trying to avoid paying some kind of

outstanding debt that that they've

acquired uh I don't know too many that

are real interested in worrying about

their taxes at the turn of the year or

every quarter you know they

just the ones who are trying to avoid

you know getting garnishments and stuff

like that and you know I know some of it

is

they've just

trying to put on the back burner so they

catch up some of this they're trying to

avoid it period but

not very many young people are coming up

like hey is there a way for me to just

pay my taxes in you know about every

quarter one lump sum that's what I want

to do you know yeah you kind of

no one jumps into it because they want

to they jump into it because they feel

like that's a start it's the beginning

or out of necessity

yeah the tax thing is we beat on it all

the time because so doggone important if

you're going to be an independent

pay in quarterly talk to an accountant

pay in quarterly income taxes estimates

and then you might get a refund at the

end of the year you might not but at

least you're not going to have a huge

tax bill at the end of the year uh

managing the money from a business

standpoint

the the business piece of this uh for

Subs is

it's one of the most important parts

because you can have a great installer

that really gets himself uh you know in

a pickle that ends up you know there was

a time there when sub was about the

it was the

it's still the majority of the work but

I mean it seemed like you couldn't hire

an hourly if you wanted to uh and then

it turned and it was a lot of guys who

got behind on taxes and just needed to

get the IRS off their back so they get a

W-2 and then they they get garnished and

that's a better scenario than their

house getting taken and everything else

that could happen so they get a job they

get a W-2 The Government Can garnish

them and they're they're hap that's a

happier existence we've had several guys

come in because of that over over the

years but just don't get yourself in

that scenario pay your taxes on a

quarterly basis I know it sucks but at

the end of the day it's a much better

existence than getting some huge tax

bill at the end of the year and these

are things that the younger generation

may not even like I'm talking about just

getting them into the trade I would love

for him to go to work for a company for

a preferred or Steward Associates or

someone who hires by the hour for

several years before they go out and

start their own gig but and this kind of

ties back into you know one of the the

previous podcasts when we were talking

about

um our body being our most important

tool and how we have to take care of it

because

for the longest time I didn't have

health insurance and that made me not go

to the doctor at all

and it's like

just for you know simple stuff look at

take you know your shoulder right

his shoulder was is messed up and we

didn't have a health insurance so here

of course I'm not going to deal with the

doctor like uh it'll probably be better

next week

these younger kids you know

when they come into work somewhere and

they have that accessible and you tell

them yeah go to the doctor go to the

dentist you know take care of your body

that's not

what we were brought up like it's beat

yourself up as much as you can and if

you go see a doctor well

you're a little B that's that's all it

came down to and it's like no that's

that that's where you get these younger

people and they they look at things from

a different perspective and doing things

differently so that way they don't have

to work as hard because

honestly I tell the guys like

I'm 35 my hips and my knees are

basically done

well there's a dichotomy of it too right

you're like we're we're short

in dollars in our industry so guys are

working long hours and harder than

I mean I've got guys that

like have been ran pretty hard over the

summer

um you know it's it's tough because you

got the work that has to get done you

got the crews that can do it but it

requires a lot more time

um

we need to make flooring a living wage

at 40 hours I think is one of the

answers like make it a living wage at 40

hours

and when I say living I mean if we're

going to compete

in the end in the construction industry

we a living wage isn't

making it you know just getting by it's

it's being able to afford a lifestyle

and somehow that has to happen within 40

hours right and a lot of that has to do

with

um

going back to the business side of

things people think that oh I'm just

going to do this repair is going to take

me 15 minutes I'll just charge them 15

minutes worth of work but it's it's more

involved than that it's your fuel it's

the you know the the wear and tear on

the vehicle it's your body it's your

insurance like all this gets wrapped up

into that package of the 15 minutes and

what the repair that takes you

45 minutes to drive to 15 minutes to do

45 minutes to drive back and that's

that's not including loading up the

tools that you need in the morning

making sure you have everything it's all

this gets wrapped up into it so you know

you're looking all in at least four

hours and you have to hit a minimum day

charge because at that four hours

is it really four hours if you don't

have anything to do after that because

you scheduled it yeah that's just lost

time at that point

so

um in order to have the younger people

come in and

be sustainable you have to know how to

run things like that because if you're

going to hire someone to go do that and

it's like yeah it only took you 15

minutes but

younger people yeah I know that I'm not

gonna go do this for 15 minutes right

you have to be able to to make sure that

that they're covered for that day as

well

yeah and the the

I mean you can do the best you can as a

shop but you know our industry also has

a vast uh amount of installers that work

you know directly with Builders and such

and

you know good business practices is a

whole nother

podcast and we've had a couple we'll

keep having them because to me it's it's

you know I think to all of us it's

important that they understand the

business side of this if you're going to

be a sub but bringing in and Bridging

the generational gap between installers

to me

uh really equates from this conversation

experience is important to the

the younger generation

take into account the way that you come

across as an older person to that

younger generation because their

feelings

like it or hate it that I think

sensitive is the right word crystal it's

like a bit more sensitive a bit more in

touch with their feelings and a bit more

in touch with the fact that like if

their experience sucks at work they

don't want to spend eight hours doing it

or ten hours for that matter so the

experience of working has to be somewhat

you know pleasurable or else we're not

going to attract them and fluorine's a

tough business uh you know it can be

tough on your body but there's also some

really cool stuff uh you know staying in

tune and I know I preach about the

conventions and the shows but you get to

go see some I got to see tools I've

never seen I've been doing this my whole

life and I got to see tools I've never

seen because they're constantly coming

out with new stuff that will save your

body uh Jose and I've seen a few of them

that they will save your body they will

save you time they will save the time on

the floor so that's getting involved

that requires some effort on

um

that requires some effort on the uh new

installers shoulders to you know take

that step too though

it'll make their work look a lot better

too and put them on a whole nother

platform as well which brings more value

to them long term yeah even if you're by

the hour if you're if you're versed on

the like if one of my guys came up to me

and said hey I've seen this awesome tool

that I was watching this this video

online with wolf and they showed this

tool can we get it that would be

encouraging to me

yeah

you know awesome tools because of people

coming in like that like hey you gotta

check this out

let me check it out yeah

[Music]

first place I've ever seen it was at a

Convention as a matter of fact I had it

before it hit the market and

you know we were we were doing our own

custom uh transitions nosings reducers

uh for with Ali and sitting there

peeling my hand and this guy says look

at this peel the whole plank full print

everything in like two minutes and I was

like

what yeah

well I I think I got mentioned on here

uh before and it may have been you

Daniel talked about crab stretcher that

was like a

you know a carpet crab stretcher was

that was

mind-blowingly uh awesome to me when I

first seen it

and we just on two sides of a scene

kicking it together and putting stay

Nails in trying to you know get bow and

skew out and stuff well I'm not

mind-blowing the crab structure was and

I don't know I just I don't know if

he'll remember but what was the name of

the job the first job we did using the

craft store shirt

the only reason we bought it you don't

remember Bible's for Mexico

I'll remember is on the Lake Shore and

we bought the crab stretcher for it

because we had some very long seams and

I was not looking forward to me banging

that to get a little half inch pattern

so I'll never forget the job I'll never

forget where

I was just like I was happy we bought a

new tool hey yeah well there

there there's the other thing is

with the new tools

um I I know the tool manufacturers do a

pretty good job of like getting their

stuff out there but I think a lot of

that uh could reside with the the

younger generation as well is the fact

that not all this stuff is the way we

used to do it I mean my Kicker was 10

times better than the guy I learned from

who actually had an old kicker with a

cotton butt you know I mean it was

wrapped in leather and it was a cotton

butt and uh you know mine was a Cadillac

compared to that so I mean the tools are

getting better for us our bodies don't

have to take the damage if you're

interested in the flooring trade Reach

Out

to to me Paul at go Carrera Daniel and

uh Jose even Crystal I bet has a uh uh

preferred flooring Michigan what's your

guys's uh email it's Daniel

where am I you can do pfmi dot team

remember I I said we shortened it up he

was like that's preferred flooring Mi is

too long so my pinkies don't work

so I mean reach out

um we can get you connected to some

awesome training

truth is is that the industry is getting

better it is a good industry the one

thing that I think we do have is a good

Community people that want to solve some

of the problems we're just trying to

figure everything out

um it's kind of I've said it before I

think we're the biggest smallest Big

Industry there is you know it's like you

have access to a lot of people in this

industry that you know you go to a

convention you can literally sit there

and talk to the CEO of a multi-billion

dollar manufacturer so you know

kind of getting involved is important or

at least

go get a job with a company that's

involved if you're just an installer

that and you're looking for an hourly

gig or something go with account at

least get with a company that's involved

in this stuff you be encouraged if you

see your your president or your your

your install manager or something going

to these conventions because that's

where we learn about the new tools about

the new processes awesome new ways of

doing things I learned something at

fciaca this last week that I'm we're

going to be implementing we're we're

going to integrate even further than we

are now at the flooring company so

um you know there's always something to

learn

um I think if we all keep our our

learning hats on and

um

you know kind of address what the uh

younger generation is looking for I just

got a chat says entry level uh should

come with health insurance well at a

company you know at my flooring company

you have your health insurance paid for

so a lot of companies will you know you

you have the access but if you're going

to be a sub now you have to start out

looking at group policies and stuff like

that and I know the ntca

um and some of the other organizations

have group rates for health insurance so

as a sub if you want to look into that

uh reach out we can we can get you

connected but there are group kind of

health insurance for a sub if you want

but at the end of the day if you want

your health insurance provided you're

going to have to go to work by the hour

for a company and that's okay

yeah and you know that if you are a

company like you know we are

know that the benefits that you can

offer do go a long way with uh the new

hires at

that are coming in

um and it's not just health insurance or

the retirement you have to look at

packages like through the the chamber we

get 20 off of one of the local colleges

and we get discounts at

um certain you know office supply stores

and other things that can can benefit

the employees that are coming in it's

not just what you're you're offering

it's I mean it kind of is what you're

offering right but it's the entire

package deal it's not just

this is what we're offering because

health insurance and stuff like that

it's expand on everything that from

every organization that you're involved

in because all that can entice one

person to come on board

yeah you got to get pretty comprehensive

with it for sure

um I don't know that we solved any

problems it's always a good discussion

to try to understand and get get a you

know conversation going about

um this topic in particular because I

think that

you well it's it's clear from every

report you get from the industry that

we're aging out and not replacing fast

enough so this conversation has to

continue

um and you know leaders in this this

industry have to kind of open arms and

and and lock hands with the others and

and try to help solve the problem so

continue to do it I know you guys will

and I I hope that uh we can make an

impact here right and that whole um from

the CFI convention the women in flooring

Roundtable that they did when the

younger ladies that were in there did

speak out about how they felt about

everything is actually on our YouTube if

you wanted to go over there and watch

that entire thing it's

it's nice to see how there's you know

the older generation and then at the

very end the younger generation kind of

spoke up and and pretty much let us know

exactly if you let us know how she felt

and it was yeah

okay yeah and the they that particular

meeting really echoed a lot of what we

talked about the experience uh you know

having a work experience that's Pleasant

you know the fact that

um you know

the sexism in construction in general uh

and how they've made it through that

some of the uh

more experienced installers in that room

spoke about that and I I'm sure it's

still around but I I think that we're

getting better as a society on those I

on those matters and uh you know

hopefully you know anybody who wants to

be in flooring is welcome in my opinion

and we'd love to have all of you so uh

if you're interested in flooring there

are a lot of programs out there that you

can get tied into you can always shoot

an email to support gocarera.com if you

have questions about that how to get

involved uh when conventions are or when

shows are we can share any of that

information with you and we also have a

you know a page dedicated to training

and where they're at and everything like

that on our website at gocarera.com uh

you can reach out to Daniel Jose and

them over preferred flooring I guarantee

you they can get you hooked into some

awesome trainings if you're if you're

looking to get involved in this industry

so and uh so with that guys uh we've

reached our time limit and uh I want to

appreciate

I want to tell you I appreciate the the

input I know it's like you know a lot of

these you want to get to some resolution

we can't get to resolution on this

matter we can just have discussions and

hope that people here people make this

is something that the conversation is

going to have to keep on going on

because it's going to be constantly

evolving anyways because as soon as as

soon as we get that

this generation that we're dealing with

right now as soon as we're like all

right we understand them that's when the

next one's coming in yeah yeah

so you got to be pliable

got to all right guys so much Crystal

what's up don't forget about the the

scholarship

yes uh just to mention that again thank

you Daniel as uh The Sims scholarship

with the fcica again email support to go

Carrera or Ashland go Carrera

um and uh enter to uh win that

scholarship again it's an awesome

training and I think you'll hear a lot

of the stuff that we've talked about uh

echoed in that training but with you

know deeper knowledge and deeper

training into it so

um anybody

when we figure out which one we're gonna

kind of push for this maybe we got to

make it so me and you were there so that

way they're not there by themselves yeah

that'd be awesome

yeah Stockton's the next one I just

don't know if they are going to be able

to have room at that one so I believe

we're gonna have to go with the one

after that and I don't know that that's

been set yet so that's why we're not

quite sure

um of which one were I believe it's the

next one after Stockton but I just don't

have the dates and the time and the the

location but yeah that would be that's a

great idea let's go to that one and

whoever wins can hang out with Daniel

and I and and maybe Crystal will be

there if we can't be there you know yeah

so that way someone will be there right

yeah that'd be awesome

thanks a lot I appreciate you and uh we

will be uh seeing you guys next week and

uh have a pleasant week everyone thanks

you too see ya thanks bye

thank you