The Huddle - Episode 122 - Turning Off-Peak Times Into Learning Opportunities

In this episode of The Huddle, Daniel and Jose are joined by special guests John Steier and Jorge Orta to discuss how flooring professionals can make the most of the slower winter season. From training programs to skill-building opportunities, they dive into ways to turn off-peak times into a period of growth and learning. Discover the top available training options for the rest of the year and hear practical advice on how to invest in your education during downtime. Don’t let the slow season slow you down!

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 everyone how's it going welcome to the Huddle Paul usually does this and again uh I don't have anything written

down so I don't know exactly what he says and every time he's not here it throws us way

off but we're here today to to just talk we have some special

guests that might be uh popping in having some technical difficulties but hey at least we're here

here he goes right here one of them I got on the

Wi-Fi he got on the Wi-Fi I was gonna go out my van and I

came in and I'm like uh is there any way I can just use your WiFi because it ain't gonna work that seems to be the

thing to do nowadays everybody's almost everybody's got Wi-Fi available and seems that the cell

signals don't really hold anymore no not especially with like anything stre I can

stream music uh but I'm trying to like even like watch Netflix stream Netflix

somewhere that's not really a great location it just don't

work no well we're glad you're here man this is uh Mr John Styer aka the Florin

nator for people that don't know I think everyone knows you on these groups though if they don't they should by now

may they should I mean where have you been living under a rock right I mean earlier what were you live for like

three hours or something 50 it was like 56 minutes here's the and here's the

bedroom I just finished earlier guys yeah we we were we were watching I went

on Facebook and I said I was like he's live right now working on steps now working on

those are the worst man steps are the worst they're also very gratifying though when you're done yeah yeah I I I

enjoy working with them for the simple fact they tie they make everything finished right like a good set of steps

espec you're working residential it's like the first thing you learn to do really is put a set of steps on but it's

also one of the most important things you do when when you're on a when you're on a project because again it ties the

whole project together your steps look like crap it just kind of makes everything look like crap yeah the same

way in uh commercial right everyone typically starts on bass but if the Basse looks like crap everything else

looks like crap it gives them it gives people um oh I I put this on screen I'll

send I'll send you a link in a second like it it makes everyone just

take a look at things and be like hey this don't look right so let me kind of inspect everything else yep yeah well

how many times have you guys you know gone in and and uh I get a kick out of the beaste that um uh you know I I love

when I look at a corner and it's perfect 90 nice and tight but once you notice

one of those that's not like that everything everything you

know every you're right it's just it it jumps out at you you just your brain

just starts looking for similar items or things out of place oh I appreciate you joining us on

short notice today we we did pull an audible today and change we had to change the episode so I I think it's a

great topic because uh I had a whole bunch of crap on my head and I was talking about it when I went live but I

I thought another chance to share some more of my um I call them my deep my

deep carpet thoughts you know on your deep deep carpet thoughts yeah I need to carry a notebook around with me like you

do Jose and start writing this [ __ ] down like I gotta write stuff down because of

ADHD it just leads to other things right like it's helpful in more ways than one yeah yeah but I I uh

um what I was you know it's always like how do we reach how do we get education on the

Forefront and for me it's it's it's about teaching you know the trade teaching how to do it teaching how to

install the material and you know it's it's you know we've got trade

organizations we now have the Floor Covering Education Foundation and you know we have I mean all over

Facebook all over YouTube you can't not see an ad on somebody that wants to make

your business better too right like oh my goodness yeah all you know uh

basically follow this Playbook and you're going to have great success and uh so then you know here I'm always

thinking like gez you know us in the carpet I should say the Floor Covering

Community when we want to get our word out of we want to help we got so much

noise to go up against you know what what do we do to put our message out

there and uh it hit me today I'm like yeah why aren't we why aren't uh you

seeing more training done with with the Facebook groups you know that was that was a

question asked and it's not that I would say I want to spam people and have them

you know hey I'd give you this you know 15 minutes session and then now come to a class it's more like no I mean I I I

think you could I think you can legitimately do a one hour session on a Facebook live and I'll just use I'm on a

carpet job so we could probably use carpet seams and we could cover uh

conventional cool uh seam iron seam ceiling

um the cool Glide right and and you break that up into multiple different

sessions right like today it's just going to be this and you know that's that's you think about it in terms of VI

the videos online that's what they do anyways right they make things a certain amount of time because it engages people

it it makes it makes it so that way their interest is there the whole time and then you're just like all right we'll take on tackle something else the

next time yeah yeah and so I I kind of thought that would be a great way engage

because videos I think really are I mean I I would rather watch a video on how to

learn to do something then try to read a 40 page manual on it right oh yeah

nobody nobody's I mean I just don't think these instructions you know I mean

sometimes you almost have to be uh uh you need a master's degree in language

to even understand what what it's what they're trying to say a lot of that too is is how does an individual interpret

what they read right can they absorb it can they interpret it can they retain it right and and um Everybody learns that

at different rates and and when there's you know one person writing it is almost

robotic that one way does not apply to everybody else and the videos that you

put like you're talking through it and then you're like oh hold on let me let me do this oh and then you you pause for

like it's real time and you know it gives people time to process but when you're explaining it you you don't you

and I and Daniel we don't explain it the way it says it in a book right we're going through it we're going step by

step and experience like and I remember one time when I did it like this I did try this and it didn't really work you

know and yeah that helps a lot well I sure yeah people love I I I love it I'm

sure everybody else loves it they love when you share something and it's genuine you know you're there's not a

back angle to it that you're trying to you know scam them out of something or or set them up for failure when it's a

genuine yeah that's exactly right like hey for 15 years I did this wrong and

then somebody showed me the correct way my life has been so easy there's no reason for you guys to do it that other

way please do it this way you know um and I I I think those might be you know

uh with being involved in CFI now and having that strong passion for like how

do we get out there you know um just hosting an event putting a flyer out

there isn't going to cut it anymore and that that goes for everybody so what can we do to to make this to where you know

we're sought after but we're also getting good information out there that that actually helps uh you know I'm

biased here I'll say CFI but how do we get that good information that makes us at CFI look good and and a lot of it is

through the the videos that are kind of already out there I think you know uh floors by Southern Boys has some

fantastic videos I you know his videos were some of the first first ones I've ever watched like because he he was

engaging it was a real person real time it wasn't cut and chopped up he I mean a

little bit right but as he got better it got like that but it was real time real progress 45

minutes of trial and error let's just say it that way even though it was less error but he's like explaining the whole

thing so what are what are your guys' thoughts with that too because like

versus uh a a 13 or 15 minute video of just somebody holding a camera as

opposed to that you know expensive over edited you know it really looks

good um video uh I mean what are your guys's

thoughts on that I mean is isn't even necessary to put those videos out anymore um yes and no right because

you're going to have the audience for both of them but like you were saying it engages people so people are seeing it

in real time they're they're with you from the time you start and then say you run into an issue and it's not like oh

let me just cut this and then come back when something happens it's like oh we ran into this what are we going to do to

fix it and in certification is like um with the nfct that's kind of what I do

I'm like you guys there's there's going to be mess ups you're gonna end up burning seams you're G to end up burning

Corners I said the the fact of the matter is is this is real word scenario we don't

have any more vinyl job site you have to make that pass in order to to get

certified so what are we going to do to make it pass and then it's like you can ask me

questions and you like a few gonna hold your hand through it it's like hey you

just messed that up that means you got to you gotta double booted or something right it it this is real word scenarios

we don't have any more material what are we going to do now yeah yeah 100% um you know I I do want

to say something about what you said though about the the video versus like that big edited one yeah uh when I when

I watch a one that's like an hour long on a specific item like just you know like a DIY something or I'm learning how

to do something I do tend to fast forward through the edited videos to the points that I need to get to but when

it's like a live video and someone's recording the process and there is no edit I am more engaged in that through

that entire video than I am off of one that is structured through and through um I don't know if that even makes sense

or if anybody else is like that but I will fast forward to all the points I need in the structured video but the

other one I'm I'm getting personality I'm getting I'm getting good feedback I'm getting oh well see what I just did

there yeah don't do that don't do that let me show you what not to do and then Walter here says you know there is not a

textbook standard for our industry for consistent consistency in teaching and I don't think it's just our industry I

think that's just teaching in general enal because you can have everything you know given to you and then each teacher

is going to teach a different way especially knowing that they didn't learn all learn the

same way so they had different teachers and that just kind of gets passed on and you kind of just mimic what you were taught right so you probably find

that that favorite teacher that you had and you're like I'm kind of going to mimic them so I mean that's the same all

the way around that is uh uh that is a 100% I would say with trades to how we

are are teaching teaching um trade is

through our past experience with it you know I I I find myself a lot when I'm uh

teaching or explaining is I'm relating to a lot of my experience of what I had

so if you have a teacher that had a lot of bad experiences

probably gonna they're going to relate to a lot of those those maybe those negative to where if the experiences

were better um for that teacher probably gonna come across and and think about

going through high school you know what teachers did you like you know probably the ones that tended to have a better

attitude towards you could relate to you as a person but then whatever even even

though the the the topic was nothing that you cared about they were still able to to make it um enjoyable for you

so engaging they were engaging right like um if you got a room full of 20 people they're all there to learn

they're all gonna expect different things but they're all gonna find different items funny the humor is

g to be different the deliver is going to be different and and I think it's uh

someone who is teaching who can relate to everyone even if they don't at first but

they make the time to go through and and and find you know one relation with with everybody as far as uh or one thing in

common uh that's those are those are the best teachers and then like you talk about going to

school those are the the ones that resonated with me the most were the ones

that didn't take anything um because they expected more out of me and

until I realized that right myself they were hard on me but once I did realize that and I did I I I did execute to

their expectations as well then then everything was a lot better yeah Mario's

on here he was actually supposed to join us today but he can't figure out his sound like his microphone wasn't even

registering on the software get a new phone Mario time for

a new phone and then since we are talking about um you know in the slow

time what you can do invest in yourself invest in some training but Elena says

that installers don't invest because they see no reward on the financial

side and then they will put other installers down before they they support

them right and you you see that all the time on the groups where people just get on on there to talk crap and um I've

gone as far as I just like to start private messaging for the mo for the

most part instead of like commenting because some is going to try and discredit me right away and typically

that it's someone that just doesn't like me because I'm me which is fine whatever I don't care if you like me or not I go

on there and act like somebody else and make comments to Daniel I'm gonna do that now because I

like St guys I I truthfully I I make post get reactions sometimes and it's

not it's not to not to bring negativity but it's just you know kind of like it's

social media but I think Daniel made a great point you know for those of us

that want to make things better when you see that post and it's a blatant like oh

boy that's bad like how many times have we seen pictures and they're and they're showing the 35 fans sitting trying to

trying to dry out a floor the glue so they can get on it and you've got all the hate coming that's a great scenario

right there that's a PM private message all day hey like dude like hey I just just wanted you to know I'm not going to

post this and call you out but I think that's just the inherit nature of social

media is it makes it to where we can do that and you're never

really I mean we we joke because we say all people get all butt hurt all the time about stuff but like and and it's

usually the generation above us that's talking about my generation oh you guys get all butt always always dude they're

the ones that'll post something stupid dude get torn up and then they're just done they won't even get back on

Facebook you know what because there is there is a a point when you reach a certain age where you just don't really

give a [ __ ] what you say I'm just gonna say this because this how I feel right now let me not think about it just do it

what's up H H welcome what's up everybody how's everybody doing today doing doing good brother you can

you'all hear me yeah we can hear you great awesome awesome yeah man uh good

stuff here on the video stuff uh I know I had talked to John uh in Dalton and we

had talked about videos man how important videos are uh for people because some people just learn off of

visualization what they can see they don't like you were saying they don't read a 40 page book you know uh but yeah

that's super awesome videos I think are are are a way to grasp people's

attention and uh just let them know what we're doing you know it might be something different that they haven't

seen and that's gonna push him to to want to maybe take some training right

you know you just made a really good point by the way how many people a like

if you don't if you think about like this how many people still look for a picture on a menu to order their

food versus looking looking at a menu and just ordering like that like I that

I look at the picture dude if the picture don't look good no like unless I know what it is I love I love our

Mexican restaurant but I can't pronounce a lot of the stuff on it so yes I am

that I'm like that looks just point at the menu this this right here that's what I want yeah yeah I like the Asian

restaurants I want uh the number 15 extra spicy yeah so the the other part

of Elena's statement that she made is they don't see a Financial reward right for going through a certification which

is why they don't do it so uh the thing that I tell people is it's it's not like

it's gonna it's night and day right you have to what are you going to do to Market it and I put it in terms of just

a doctor going through college you know they go out through all that schooling and then you have all types of doctors

you specialize in stuff how are you going to Market it a doctor doesn't just open up their own shop and then be like

all right all the customers come rolling in no it's all about marketing how are you going to Market Market what you just went and got and let people know that

hey this is this is me I'm getting trained I'm worth it because of this and

it to it takes a long time for people to see that worth but I mean we got clients now where it's like they'll they'll text

me after the project and they're they're like it's just a blessing every time we have you guys on our job site and it

took a long time to get to that point but people know now that you know we don't just go out and work and then go

home it's it's a constant reinvestment in our education we have to remember too that

you know it's not just unique to the flooring installers oh you certified and

you're going to get more money I mean there is every other trade you have to

you know to to be an electrician you know you've got to reach certain levels of education and you're not

automatically paid more right away you're just you're available for those

uh promotions and and and the thing is is with them that education is a

requirement so my buddy owns an electric like a electric outfit over here and his

guys have to go once a week on their own time too it's not even during work so you got to go on your own time and go to

school make sure you're doing it because if you don't then you're not gonna you're you'll never move up yeah one

thing I wish that you'd see more of and I know uh um Kyle Haden with four

covering the Floor Covering or floor Academy podcast was really focusing on is making

uh because we're predominantly subcontractors making us smarter in business because uh just like you said

Daniel it's about marketing not only your certification but just marketing yourself making

yourself uh more valuable and how do how do you do that well you you've got to

actually look at yourself like a business and not a job one that that's just that's it um if you are working out

of stores and that's all you want to do that's fine too there's I don't think there's anything about you know um at

least in my area I know what some of these guys are getting paid now it's way better than what it used to be you know

and they're it's because they're bringing attention to the things they're reading on these Facebook groups that they're seeing that oh man there's not a

whole lot of carpet installers why am I still installing carpet for next to nothing you know they're learning how to

say no and that is part of the the education is that we need to teach how

to you know you need education is going to help you realize that you are a

valuable person you know quicker than just going to work every day getting

around people that can that are like-minded that can motivate you are going to make you see things way

different and challenge yourself for the better they'll help you see things different I think is what it is because

they have experiences that you didn't all these things are just you know another tool right another tool to add

to your toolbox what are you going to do with it and uh you know we we partner with with many people and one of our

partners is actually floor cloud and uh we've been using Flor Cloud pretty extensively on these these projects that

we've been on and they've been amazing uh I'm going to play a short video here to show you guys something about floor

cloud 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 and now you know and that's how

that's what I tell the gc's on the job sites it's like hey you got to turn this temperature up hey you got to get a

dehumidifier in there sometimes they don't understand to what what um specs their contract States

either right so so not just teaching your crew you're teaching other people too Walter's in here um

and I I love this engagement because he says as an industry too many trainings and certifications aren't legit right

I'll pop this on screen while I'm reading it so those that don't know the

inner workings don't always know the good ones so I mean how how are we going to

tell do we actually have to go through these things or is it based on just what what you're

hearing how would you that's a great that's a I mean that's a I think I

always go anybody there's I mean there's nothing stopping anybody from going out

um and and teaching and and saying I want to open up the school of carpet

excellence and teaching how to install carpet not write that down we don't yeah

we don't we don't have we don't have like this book this big Bible standard

that we got to obey and hey guess what you might be good enough you can it's America you can get paid for it you know

if you could pull it off pull it off uh I mean Walter makes a great point

there but uh his his other main point is nothing is

credentialing and accredited to differentiate but there are some accredited programs that are starting to

roll out right now so this is not necessarily true um right now because of what's

going on and the thing is is that a lot of the the bigger certifying entities

have their hand in these ones that are becoming accredited right and and and that

process is a little bit lengthy too right like it's got to get approved by the board it's got to go to a university

that's reputable that could accredited the training program has got to have the right curriculum It's gotta you know

there's a lot to it um at FC's uh you know their Apprentice

program they can put in through it it's it's recognized in in throughout theout the nation as an accredited program and

it uses ctef CFI uh nwfa it's using all these

standards that they have that they have written uh to teach the class and

they're popping up everywhere Right add to his first comment I'm sorry hold is

um you know and and which which ones to to each their own if you have three

people go to three different trainings a b and c right each person is going to gain something different from program a

program B program C they're going to find successes in three different areas they're not you know so how do you how

do you rate them if even if in the accredit if a a training is accredited

how do you rate it in terms of a successful or legitimate training do you rate it on the success of the people who

have taken the certification passed and done well or do you rate it on

the the the amount of failures or lack of failures after they've taken the

class but not necessarily the dollar amount that they're making afterwards right like how how do you do

that it's gonna take time too because if these programs are barely rolling out

how much time till you can actually say hey this is a successful rate or a

failure right is as long as those metrics are tracked you know it's only a matter of time he says

so Kevin and Corey both said what's up guys what's up and then he says that

standards and accreditation are different which yes there I love that language right there that is a way

better way to explain that right and then so when you start

getting into you know accreditation and stuff like that going through the schools making sure everything is

legit and I think the issue with just standards are is not even many

installers know that there's standards out there that they're supposed to be following look at look at I I'll give

you guys a great example A lot of these ASM with moisture come on man I would say the

majority of us have no clue you you guys probably do because of of the world you

live in but I I read stuff weekly that just blows my mind that I'm supposed to

know about vinyl T and moisture and well Concrete in general just concrete yeah

what it is is come on and I gotta be responsible for all

this like you try to take two steps forward but you're taking four steps back exactly that's the way I feel

sometimes I'm like man I didn't know that and now that I know that I'm like ah just makes it more

complicated I'm like I'm seeking to carpet if you read just read the manufacturer specifications right a lot

of the resilient is to say hey guys you got have to followm f710 and then guys

just read that and they're like okay and then you you get a group of guys together and you're like Hey guys does

anyone know what ASM f710 is and no one raises their hand and it's like you guys

this is like beginner stuff here this is what everything is based on yeah so Justin

wants to know how we feel about install but install a great program they don't

let us into it because we are not Union which is totally fine you know how about

how about they make it public they make it available to the public and then then they will be able to grade it I can't I can't rate something I don't know that

how it works but if if there's a basis in which they have the install base off of right like all the training entities

and they kind of put everything together and made their own system um tell me what systems they use to create theirs

and then I'll let you know I like it yeah I I've met a couple of the Union

guys uh they're all good dudes they're cool dudes you know yeah same very

knowled we we went to one of the um locally here yeah we went and checked it

out and and yeah we understand right but like had I known about the union and all

that years ago before I had kids before you know I was married then maybe things would be different right now but

unfortunately we live in a part of the state where where there's a divide there is no Union on our side of the state I

don't have a use for it and there's plenty of work without having to to be part of a union and and not only that

the people on the other side of the state are kind of saying that the the unions are struggling a little bit

so yeah there there is a struggle and and probably more more so maybe in the flooring industry right because Le let's

let's be clear a lot of our friends are in the flooring industry so we hear some things um but you know without the proof

we don't know um I just uh I guess I don't know enough about what program install has to to to

say it for sure but if it's a great program and it's proven please patent it share it make the world

a better place to back up to Walter's question about you know who's who and what's what that is a tough question but

I guess if we're looking at what's going on right now we can see the the organizations and what they're doing and

what they're put out and when you're having support from the inspection

Community with your organization you're having support with the manufacturing

community and you're having support from the installation Community I would say that's a success I would say if you

belong to any organization that is that's receiving those three things or

you're getting input from those three things then you I I think you should be able to hold your head up pretty high

and say look it's not a one-sided conversation we're here we've got man ufacturers giving us input we have

inspectors giving us input we have these people over here telling us that we know nothing about concrete giving us their

input I mean there's just so much that that that there is out there but if you're able to uh educate in a way that

appeases kind of all those I think you're doing great well it's less lumps on the road too you know because

everybody I mean at this point everybody's doing their part uh on all sides uh less claims more knowledge

uh you know it just makes the machine run a lot smoother um so yeah people should if people don't think they should

take advantage of it any kind of training I mean anything from a simple sewing class with a couple old ladies

you know it'll help you out anything um right it helps me I do stuff like that

so right here Corey says uh you know quick question when a manufacturer has a

certified training for installing their product how does that specified training affect prior training for like products

or is that even an issue and I think uh Walter kind of answered it right here a

little bit too right the difference in certification is that it's for their products only compared to the General

Flooring industry certification but you have to start looking at things like I can

take just talking about sheet vinyl right because we we love resilience so

just talking about sheet vinyl I can take what I learned from this sheep vinyl manufacturer and kind of translate

it everywhere it's just just the specifics that you have to worry about so what adhesive am I using what what

things like that it's nothing like super huge sometimes but it's just the little

things like that so you can actually transfer that over to more than just one manufacturer and I think that's what

these training entities kind of that's where the value is because you're not just learning one you're like it's a

broad knowledge so you can translate these things over multiple manufacturers

but you always have to refer to manufacturer specifications right because if you try and do it just like I

showed you and then something is different with that adhesive then that automatically makes that installation

wrong yeah that's the warranty right yeah like materials like materials might

go down the same path as far as the process and dos and don'ts but they're just like materials that's where the

manufacturer specs come into play where it's manufacturer specific so that way

if there is something a little bit different if they did add something a little bit different into their material

um you're prepared for that by by reading their literature or referencing their literature versus the general

literature of a type of product the nuances guys yeah it really

is that's I mean that's what training understanding that you you guys

I think uh Daniel you hit it best is you know let's let's P we'll say Armstrong

resilient wrote this whenever and then tarat took a little bit of it they kind

of liked it they tweaked it a little bit to make their own and we as installers have to be able to distinguish between

the two of those or the or however many different products we work with and and when we're just talking training on

installation techniques that's all it is is a technique right there's many techniques to get the same end result

and you just have to take EV all the information and you make it your own because I do things different than Jose

does and he does things different than Crystal does but if you put us all in

three separate rooms we do all we all do our own room that end result is going to

be almost indistinguishable right you you're going to go in there and just it's just going to be like oh preferred

flooring was in here that's it it's not and that's how it should be and that's because of that what what Walter had

said the standard that's the difference between a standard or just a certification or a training right like

yeah yeah the equation's just a little different for everybody right and the

same instance too like we hit this horad and I have been talking like over the weekend and at the end of last week

about a product like I could have gave you know we got a referral from him all

the way from Texas all the way over here wherever he's at whoever called him he referred us and I'm help the gentleman

and there's some installers that walked away from a product and I kind of know what path we should

go down for it right but I couldn't find the right information and he was gracious enough to send me some video

and some screenshots of some literature that helped clear clarify everything because the rep wasn't getting back to

me the sales rep or the tech rep um uh it I could have just went in and banged

it out and acted like I knew exactly what I was doing and that's where that networking aspect comes in right like

you you need to have this network of people that you can lean on because you don't know everything and that's one

thing that like if you think you do right now you don't and remember earlier

when I was talking about having haters and I don't care what you think about me there's guys that put stuff like this

apparently looks like my mother made love to a garden gome and I think that is hilarious so I'm gonna put that that

is hilarious because his dad does look like a garden gnome and then he said uh

Daniel goes to the bar and orders a glass of warm milk actually I don't like warm milk I prefer cold milk but thank

you with ice milk with ice ice in it Paul the hater hey that's fine I'm

pretty sure that his real name's not Paul but we we get the gist so Kevin says not not a bad idea to check with

the flooring and glue manufacturer before moving forward with any job so much changes so rapidly make sure you

get the most updated data sheets and there's stories like this where online it has something and then on the bucket

it has something El it's just like which one do I follow yeah that's Paul Paul Stewart's got the best story about that

one where one said install with this side up the other one said this side down

and he's confused and had to make a phone call and they said yep it's updated on the website but not the

product my girlfriend is a jar of peanut butter I'm just gonna I'll stop now I'll

let him just keep on talk yeah but getting back to that product that Jose and I talked about I had to

reach out to other people as well so Charlene Collins David Hunt I mean uh I try to reach out to the people who have

done it way longer than I have and do it on a regular so I I I believe he has a

library of information cuz he went and he checked it out and in a matter of minutes he came back and he was like hey

man this is what I got let me know if you need anything else and dude that's some people just say every piece of

paper every year and probably put it in a book somewhere and just back because it changes right everything changes that

I know people like that and it's good it's good to have it so you know hey you know this year they had it like this and they changed it up you know this year we

got another Superstar joining us guys Mr Rin shut it off shut it off he

made it show's over that's probably the best gear ship

probably the best gear shift I've ever seen oh he's driving through New York he says yeah heading towards Pennsylvania

then back home I just I was up with Don Perkins and uh putting on a tech

certification oh yeah for last couple days and his his his wife got her Tech

certification nice yeah so so if I go in and out that I'll be like John sty and

and blame it on somebody else no he blames it on himself he blames it on his signal a millennial I can do that you're

an old man you can't do that oh I can H all right anyway so yeah it was really

you know I was really encouraged with it because uh I had you know uh we only had seven and

and uh five of them were 30 and under I had to thre it to learn

had uh probably uh uh uh one 31 so that's

nice man you're kind of breaking up a little bit Rin

yeah can you hear me now we can hear you see you now but can you see me at all yeah Jeremy

says that you need to put on your uh reading glasses if you're driving

no I'm not that old yet yeah you're only like what 150 right

now so so what do you guys got on the agenda what what's coming up that everybody

needs to know about like uh as far as well I'll sort of give you I'll sort of give you a rundown real quick and

and I don't know if that rund Down's coming guys because he's paused now I

think your I think your signal is run down but as far as like uh with with u

with CFI we got some great uh opportunities coming up in the midwest St Louis Fargo North Dakota Minnesota

Wisconsin so so right now we want to kind of know and I got I got it pulled up right here too we're kind of looking

at this this downtime right because um historically this has been around the

time where things start slowing down a little bit and gives people more opportunities to actually

get out and do something and you can't have that scarcity mindset like um I'm

not making any money right now so I'm just not going to do anything right this is actually a perfect time for you to go

out there and and do some training because when you're too busy you're like I can't do it right now because I'm

working yeah no that's a great way to that's that's actually fantastic uh advice right there because you'll never

if you're busy I it's just hard for me to convince install when they're busy to take time off work it just it all they

see is that work ahead of them and if they don't do it somebody else is gonna do it and for whatever reason they're

they're prime example is is we actually did not make it down to the CFI event because we had too much work on on our

our plate like yeah we had too much work you guys that we had deadlines that we weren't

going to make and that's just one of the things we had to do right so like I get it running a business I mean and that's

just what it is because most of the stuff you're gonna have to take off work you're going to have to travel you're going to have to spend money um and none

of that stuff installers really like doing all at one time you know right hey

Rin people are saying maybe if you turn or sunny it was actually Sunny said if you turn off your screen your camera and

just do the audio it might work better I can hear you right now might work better if you just don't do

it it's probably a better idea driving

just I would say stay off the stay off the phone if you're

driving I'm not driving that's why he has it down there no one can see it yeah

no yeah not illegal that's so it looks like uh November

November 12th there's a nfic certification in Dalton and then we have

December 9th um intro to residential carpet in St

Louis and then around that same time is the carpet residential Carpet One

certification and then we we're into next year unless something gets added but I

mean uh we're working on one she wants it a a lvp laminate in uh at at Kim's

carbet in uh North Carolina it's just me and her getting a date plugged in she'd

still like it this year um but there again it's it's uh me and her connecting

uh on what days so we still could have another one yet this year of lvp and and

laminate um then we're going to follow up with a carpet one at her place

probably uh first part of of next year so we got more into making I know we

have some in Wisconsin that's in the making y um you know that that's being

worked on so we got a lot a lot on on the agenda that we're working on and and

hopefully get out but like I said you already I heard you were saying about the nfic one uh uh that's next month and

uh it's both a train the trainer and a certification and you're going to be

theread no I'm sad I'm going to miss it I get married on the 16th so that whole week I have family coming in and Friends

uh Jus and Jose are going to be at it but they're leaving that Saturday I think uh they're flying over here

so to make the wedding well congratulations brother thanks that's right I thought you G have a dumb excuse

like having too much work to not make it no man I I was really bummed out I really wanted to go to that

one he really moved his wedding it was scheduled for during the CFI back and

his medication dude is told his told his fiance that they were moving it because

he was going to the convention that's legit too I probably I

probably would not have had a fiance after that what about um what about like you

know something we don't talk about too much on here on certification what about like or Paul does typically is a hard

surface um and you know and what about like uh codings resonance codings do we

have anybody out there that that that does any of that I mean we've been getting a lot of that across our desk as

well so if if you are just Reach Out Daniel Jose you guys doing

codings we we personally are not but but no we have a guy that that we use to

take care of all of our codings yeah but as far as like the hard surface you know and and wood nwfa has a

few classes uh from now until the end of the year looks like every

I mean we're at the tail end of October so November 5th they have something in

Missouri they just got some stuff in Tennessee coming up and then the the

CTI they got their their calendar I mean just go

to their websites and make sure you're checking on these dates and then the the nfct has

uh in alqua with uh RX some floor prep

stuff on November 6 so you know there there's plenty of stuff out there and if you have you know some stuff on codings

definitely let us know so that we can pass along the information right and which ones you are

worth taking like I I get extreme polishing systems I think I talked to them they were going to be in Vegas one of the same times we were so I was gonna

try to like overlap but our schedule was way too busy so yeah we need some R2 c2s

actually cuz we haven't seen some of those in a while I need my R2 I'm still R1 R same

yeah or we can just do a private event yeah we could do that uh but uh I

know down if I do the carpet one at at Kimmy's I I've done the carpet one there

two years ago so it's going to have our ones in our R2 so we can do both it's

called All Surface one we we could plug getting that if we don't get enough up there uh we can get you to come down

there talking about it more no that's down in North Carolina oh okay awesome

and you're saying something about Jeremy had something Daniel so a couple things first we're gonna address this one right

here why didn't John Styer compete like he said he was going

to John Styer did not make the time to get down there that's why and then he he

he wanted to make sure I seen it because he said the people want to know why John Styer wasn't in Delon last

weekend that is why you know what people who are asking that

question you just don't want him to be there his name isn't the Florin nator for no reason he gave you guys a chance

it so and and and I don't like excuses right like I'm not like but it is it is tough when you want to do a lot of

things you run your own business you know Dalton for me it's an expensive trip trip

um I know it is but uh you know they have Phoenix they got Phoenix coming up

and I it's even further I've got yeah I've got my November filled up but uh

I'll keep it on the radar because I I think it's I I think it's something that we all need to do at some point is just

get out there and and actually do it now say I will say that I don't want to do

it because then I know when I do make it to ties or something like that I will not be able to enjoy my time

there that is it's just all work all work yeah I I talk too much to to do all

that to do the competition now this next comment is legit right because Jeremy's

asking why aren't there and Rin maybe you can weigh in because you're pretty deep into this why aren't there more

scholarships for classes to help get certifications he's always been a W2 employee but not being his own boss or

being a sub he can't really afford to attend those classes um the scholarships they have

out now are geared more towards the guys that are new to the industry rather than

the guys that want to further their education that are already in the industry and and I I agree with what

he's saying that they are Geared for new people in for people taken but because

the FCF is the one that does that not CFI um uh you know because we're being

nonprofit We Can't offer scholarships to it but FCF H has to show a career

path and and so that it has to be at least the one week and more for them to

to put the money in and you'll find that

much with any uh organization that path and not just for a couple day

training right so and then he says uh Jeremy was trying to compete in Chicago

but he got hit in the face with a softball then he says uh he

realized he's one of the few W2 employees who actually takes pride and wants to build his knowledge and hand

skills but it's just his hands are tied when it comes to that financially and

then you're talking about career path and the fcef but what career path is there when you're bringing so many new

people in with not many places to put

them and that's where um if I could answer Jeremy is Jeremy able to talk to

his employer about sponsoring him to go um because there are quite a few you

know I um uh I know a lot of companies around here here that that hire young um

uh mechanics or um Machinery operators and they'll put them through school they

just have them sign like a two-year contract hey for the next two years you know I need you to work here and uh I

I'll tooling so Jeremy if you're interested uh I would have a serious conversation with your with your

employer and say Hey you know this is what I'm I'm serious about this I want to do this uh I just I can't front the

money here's what come up with a plan for him hey this is what it's going to cost me

uh you know what can I do to to make this enticing for you to want to send me to something like right and he says that

they'll have them go but sometimes they're just too busy and then the times where he does have time is when there's

no certifications going on probably yeah and then miss Perkins says that uh WiFi the

women in the Floor Covering industry has scholarships right now so tomorrow is the deadline so if you're interested in

that make sure you're you're going to get on and and see if that's something that you can

do where's Jeremy live here in Grand Rapids with us

okay they are also his employers no I'm messing with you that would have been good oh man

we're also his employers he used to be

but yeah it's it's a it's an expense so I mean they need to put CS at

Dalton hey guys I'm I'm hitting the uh po poo mountains and

that R yeah you're breaking up so thanks for for jumping on Rin we'll talk to you

next time bud thank you Rin yeah so they need a like in Dalton they should have a bunch of Cs that way

we can all go and just sleep there we don't have to have a hotel yeah you know it's cheaper but if you if

anybody the the that would be fantastic I know horge has been down there to see

that facility and anybody else that's been there I think that would be you know anybody watching this uh maybe in

wfca CFI the upper s the upper um really

look at making that into a training center you've got I mean you are right in the hub of everything down there you

have access to um all the Mills you have access to uh

materials um man I I would just I would love to see that I know it's going to come down to a lot of other things too

but you know guys that would be fantastic if if something like that could happen in the future you know

Danny you mentioned something about career path and I think that's where um you know Paul Stewart and go carer has got that Jump Start program um to help

uh individuals hopefully find placement after they take their initial classes with the fcef and and and get through

those courses that they have that that's um you know just another add-on for the career path um and then also as far as

like the the grants and all that Jeremy you know Jeremy's got a he's got a great point there right because there are grants available for um uh Corporate

America to utilize utiliz and it isn't geared and we tried to qualify for some

of we did qualify but we weren't able to use it um to its full potential because

our trainings are out of state they want in-house or instate training and there's

a lot of you know there's a lot of red tape right but maybe maybe some of these

uh the FCF and um some of these other entities have the ability to talk to

some of the grant Underwriters and figure out a way to get the verbage right on there for them to make it more

tailored to to the construction industry industry but

correct I like that yeah right like we can take a little like Daniel and I took

a 10we course on Advanced estimating or something like that I forget what it was called um um you know but that was like

one day a week or 10 weeks you know and they have some of that uh going on um

and I think a lot of those programs are still running through some type of University or the higher education programs and that's what kind of sucks

too because that that comes with um a dollar amount um and to be honest with with you man we're in the trades man the

last thing that I want is is for um a university or a college to have full authority over what education we're able

to receive and what certifications I understand that they got to give it a rating to get it accredited but you we

don't want to give them full power of of what we have right we don't well just think about it in the long run though

it's those kind of classes that actually become more affordable and you're not paying just $600 for two

days yeah and if we can get them you get them into you know the colleges and the

universities it's going to open things up to financial aid I mean because what you're saying you're 100% right you know

right now some of these programs you can go to these community colleges for for nothing you know absolutely nothing if

you're willing to do the the program and you're willing to go put the work in it do got to cost you a dime and yeah I

would love to see our trades just I I know they're do like II know they're doing stuff like that you can qualify

you can get certain amounts of money it sounds like the same thing as like Michigan right but the money has to stay

inhouse it has to go towards training you have to show The Apprentice type

program that you have in place with the training um and that's where the programs like

install have an upper leg because they have all of those docks in place and that's why they're able to flourish W

with within the uh the union and you know and you know that is that is one of the benefits to being part of the unit

they have all of that stuff they created the structure yeah well let's just face it anything anything that you know needs to

happen or should happen in the Floor Covering Community it's going to cost money and it's a lot of money right and

sunny says to check with your local labor department for a available funds they are out there and yes they are but

a lot of the the flooring installers around aren't set up to actually receive

those funds like we've been lucky enough to be set up to

actually provide all the information that they need and because when when they're when you're talking about grants

they want to know your entire business history man it's like if you don't keep track of stuff then you're just already

behind and unfortunately most of the guys that are out doing it are just

doing it and keeping receipts in a box and they're not using the right stuff right so that's kind of another hurdle

that we have to get over and I think that that's the also one of the downfalls of U you know the percentage

of 1099 versus W2 um in our industry it's yeah you know what I mean if you're

1099 you know you there you have to have all the right information in place in

order to even come close to having um a chance at a grant so and that's where

the W2 yeah like luckily we have a Daniel Daniel tracks everything and we got the programs and it's evolved into

what it is right now but it's taking us a long time to be be able to understand the importance of retaining information

and and creating a structure and that's a great Point Jose about being able to

keep track of that because that is there's a difference between you're a 1099 then you have an uh you're you're

some sort of Corporation or LLC there's just and let's face it I'm if I had to

guess most of the guys that I know are just quote unquote self-employed 1099 that's it so Proprietors so

Proprietors it's like those are you're gonna have a hard time probably showing

how you you know for grant money how you want thousands of dollars you're gonna use it so there you go Grant

Underwriters we need a program to help out 1099 individuals yeah right that's a

great that's a point though because that is the majority of of if you're

especially if you're working out of a store um yeah you're probably just showing up $199 at the end of the year

that's what it is Y and Jeremy says he wants to get more certifications so he can teach the more

people he can teach the sooner he can get off his knees and that's 100% I think uh H and I I mean I talk about it

with everyone probably but it's a matter of uh it needs to become a viable career

path in order to just be an instructor and just teach people fulltime oh I think we could have a

podcast just on that because I oh I know I am so G to be very vocal here I am so

tired of saying oh there's no money in education there's no money teaching Floor Covering that means we're doing

something wrong because all these damn colleges all these universities any

anything uh I'll even say even um uh the other trades that are doing stuff with

education the centers in which they have like I was just at one for electrical down in waterl my God it was millions

and millions of dollars okay that's real money that means so we just

the right people need to figure this out because you're right like this is if we get the right people teaching this they

need to make a career off it you should not have to install carpet and then go

every go on a weekend and then do some training I mean it's fun to do but man it's it's not something you're gonna be

able to do all the time you so that that's a good idea you know for any of you guys out there in the flooring

industry that just have some money that they want to invest into the training uh preferred flooring is willing to host a

satellite training facility for you if you provide the the location and we'll take care of the facility for you while

utilizing it for our business and anytime you need to host the training we'll make sure that that space is available since it is

yours I like it yeah so kind of reel us back in because we're running a overtime

already and I know it's hard because we got all these topics and it's just it's

just something that you like you said we could talk about this for for days oh that's a good because there's

there is some very talented um within within nwfa ctef there are some very

talented individuals within those organizations that I would love to see him just teaching full-time you know and

make a career out of it and that's what Jeremy says right here you know that's his ultimate goal is to to be teaching fulltime and that would be awesome

because that dude has has some hand skills for real and uh so I I would last week um we did we were at the NCT event

over in America's Flor Source in Columbus Ohio amazing facility this thing is ridiculous right and um you

know I get up there and I introduce myself and some of these guys you can you never

know what you're going to get because you have those guys that are like I already know everything so that's the

attitude they have but one of the the first questions that someone asked me and it was legitimate like he was like

why are you here teaching this class and I said because man I have all this knowledge in here that if it just stays

in here it's not going to do anyone any good later on in life so the more knowledge that I can pass down to

everyone make sure everyone knows what I know and knows how to do things the right way that's what I want like it's

I'm not here to just make a bunch of money because I'm a certifier right

everyone that's a certifier knows that's not the case that's not why we do it it's usually pro

bono you lose money you tend to lose money it's not like oh I could have made

2,000 bucks this week you but that's why we do it right it's because we enjoy showing people the right way to do

things you know having someone go from um we went out there and you know that

first theme that they did and it was so scorched and then fast forward three

hours later and then they're like hey I need you to come check this out because they did man they they got it and and

then they feel so proud of themselves and you you just look at it and you're like man I I can't believe that it just

takes this amount of time for someone to get this much better and then like you

build them up that's the go you build them up with all this flatlay world and

then you make them do flash cove and it tears them right back down it's like anything else you guys

right like if you guys grew up uh competitive at all and played sports or even were part of a band or anything in

school you didn't you didn't jump in band and and take first chair you didn't

jump on a baseball team and you were starting shortstop and and uh you know or starting pitcher you know what I mean

there's there's a lot of things that you didn't do unless they didn't have a choice but you had to practice you had

to go out and do work on your own and and you know and the the individuals that succeeded in all of that took it

upon themselves to take their own time to get better you know not just when they were at baseball practice not when

they were just you don't go to a game and just that's all you get you don't go to one practice and that's all you get it's continuous and and and I think that

that's where where we fall short uh not just in flooring but uh construction period that's why the the the the road

to success is seems so long to so many because they don't put in the work that is really needed yeah no

it's I don't know why some people act all hard like when they go in there thinking they know everything at the end of the at the end of the whole thing

we're probably going to be friends right because you're going to make like three four friends in the next training and

they're always going to talk to you and you're always going to talk to them and your your circle just gets bigger so you

know that whole attitude at the end of the day once people start talking about what they do and they start loving the

talk you know at the end of the day you're going to leave there and you're going to build a new friend and I I think the best the best thing about us

right because that's why we all get on so much and you go to these classes and you're open-minded because you're not

there to just teach you're there to hey if you guys know something that I don't let me know because I'm constantly

looking for for that too and and I'll tell them guys that and it's like I need

to learn from you as much as you need to learn from me so I'm looking for Victoria's Secret man

I'm looking for that secret go to class and and and ask the dumb question yes

yeah because like I told you get far asking Dum questions I told one of the guys last week I said you know they say

there's no such thing as a dumb question they're 100% is but ask it anyways because it needs to be

asked yeah maybe just don't do it in front of everybody if you really think it's

come so is there anything that we need to cover guys you guys want to do some some close outs right now we're we're at

our time we're over our time so let's just close this thing out and uh I got one thing I want to say and and I'm sure

and Jorge is on here but um guys you know if there's anything you know and I'll put my plug in for CFI I'm here for

uh um I we want to do we want to do things for the the floor industry the

floring community right so you know we need the input back so I'm on social media a lot Jorge is on social media the

Gonzalez boys are on social media let us know I mean I I'm uh I'm open-minded to

it and if you want to have a real talk I'm I'm more than happy to talk about it you know it's not just me or or or Jorge or

Jose or whoever going online and just writing a couple things I mean we want to know what we can do better and we

want to know what we're doing good too yeah or yeah bad good it's all good

feedback it's all great feedback definitely go

ahead I'm sorry what go ahead just closing it out if you have anything oh just closing it out yeah I mean just

basically hey uh go get go get your training done and and make some new

friends those friends are going to have more friends that know stuff and then just like in Jos I's CA and and our case

uh I'm going to know somebody that knows something that he needs to know and it's the triangle a triangle that's all

that's gonna a circle it's gonna circle around knowledge it's a circle it's a triangle of love no it's a circle you

know it's going to come back around and uh at some at some point you know somebody's going to know the answer to

that question and that's what we need we need the collective of Minds together that way we can make our jobs easier man

because we have hard jobs it's not easy uh so we need to make our jobs easier make everybody else's life easier too

you know less claims less this and that and just we need to run that machine nicely well oiled and and get ahead man

cuz it's a tough job you know not everybody's just leaping to this uh to

this type of trade you know slowly they're starting to get in there but you know not everybody wakes up wanting to

be a flooring installer they want to wake up being a police officer a doctor an uh an artist of some sort you know

we're we're way down here but we can do great things and that's what people don't realize you know they just walk

all over our floors every day but they don't realize that somebody actually did that and took a lot of time and sweat so

um that's all I can say as far as me yeah and then um for me um so first

uh Walter said remind everyone about the podcast and I'll let Daniel close it out with that but um I would say

um become a solutionist by trade right like um if you're not preparing for

failure you're not really preparing uh for the industry or for anything not

preparing for failure is set yourself up for Doom and by preparing for failure I mean just educate yourself right take a

class make a phone call um read a book watch a even watch a YouTube video I I anything is better

than nothing so set yourself up for Success uh be part of the solution before it becomes a problem yeah and

since you know that's what we're talking about is training in the downtime right if you do have some time right now check

out what's going on check out CFI check out nfct nwfa ctef like any of these

training entities like every training that you go to you'll learn something different you can take the same class

three times and I guarantee you'll pick up something different every single time it's just like watching a movie right like oh I didn't see that last time but

you picked it up that next time so just get out there and uh Walter says you know remind people that we're live on

here and and social media posts and stuff it's just if if you guys like what we do like

subscribe give us a thumbs down if you don't like it tell us what we can do better we're all about this criticism

man like in in everyday life that's what we strive for if we can do something better we all need to know and then uh

Sunny says the training is great but the relationships you build will be what brings you back and that is so true 100%

yep hanging hanging out with with some of these guys it you don't realize how much someone else loves the same

industry you're in until you get around a group of these guys and we've all hung out together and it's just crazy like

most of the time yeah we do we talk about flooring right but when we get into into conversations you know I'll

call H sometimes and just talk to him for a little bit or he'll call me and it's like you need that sometimes right

just we become friends we really do and it's it's a Brotherhood right but we got

sisters in there too so it's just a community of like-minded

individuals that's all we need and it's weird that it has it's weird that most of the people that I am pretty good and

have good relationships they don't live around me they live in other places so yeah anytime there's a training event or

something like that anything I want to go because I want to see my my friends that I haven't talked to in a while or

you know we might might just talk to each other on the phone but sometimes it's good to you know get a dinner somewhere breakfast something and just

catch up on on stuff you can't talk on the phone sometimes or just anything talk crap about one another just talk

crap about each other that's it [Laughter]

but we appreciate you guys thanks for for joining us and uh we'll see you on the next one thank you everyone yes

thank you for having me