Ep 220 - "Building Wolf, with Freddie Bosquez"

Speaker A: Hey, quick intro to the show. We're about to jump into. Chris, my battle buddy. He's on the road getting ready to hang out with some friends in the Arizona area. But anyways, we've got a really cool show. We've got a longtime friend, gentleman that's. That's been in the industry for, uh, or with us for a long time. I think we calculated sometime around 2013 or 14 is when we met the first time. He's got an amazing story. He now owns and operates Wolf Construction and Restoration. Just a great journey professionally, from kind of a young stud trying to find his way in the trades and the home services space to kind of that journey that he had maturing coming up in the ranks, getting married, having kids, and all those life lessons that come along the way that ultimately culminated into him being just a very good young entrepreneur, building a really great business that anybody would be proud of. And I think every single one of us during this episode is going to be able to find these moments in time where we've experienced what it is that he's sharing and we can absolutely relate to both the good times and the bad times associated with this entrepreneurial journey. So really excited to have our very first in house guest with the new studio. And then of course, it being a friend is all the more rich. So thanks for hanging out with us. Let's jump into the show.

Speaker B: Wow. How many of you have listened to the Head Harden Boots podcast? I can't tell you that. React how much that means to us. Welcome back to the Headhart and Boots podcast. I'm Chris.

Speaker A: And I'm Brennan. Join us as we wr messful with what it takes to transform ourselves and the businesses we lead. This new camera angle makes my arms look smaller than yours.

Speaker B: I'm noticing that and I really appreciate it. I thought you did that on purpose.

Speaker A: No, I. I don't. I didn't and I. I am not happy with it.

Speaker B: Wow. So this. This is us pretending. This was our first take. It's actually our second take, so.

Speaker A: Exactly. Now the point of pretending is to not let the cat out of the bag immediately while you're still pretending. So I. I do believe you.

Speaker B: We kind of failed on that we task.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Welcome to the studio, Freddy Boss.

Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker B: This is an exciting episode because it's our first live in studio guest.

Speaker A: That's right. First of many.

Speaker B: And you and I have got a history with Freddie. We're going to talk about that and a whole bunch else. But this is, uh, this is fun.

Speaker A: Yeah. I'll do a little tiny stage setting. So the reason we were excited to get Freddie in house one is, Freddie, you're gonna see if he lets any of it out. Oftentimes what happens, Freddy, is everybody gets hella nervous and then we'll only get about 50% of their personal to chill and give us all of it.

Speaker C: But your hand.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. Like, what do I do? You know, when you're dancing. So Freddy's got a fun personality that if he lets it out of the bag, it's going to add a lot to the conversation. I think we'll probably drum up a few stories from the day of things that he spearheaded inside the businesses we were a part of together. But I think the other thing too is. And we just pulled it up yesterday, we were talking about a specific example of since you went out and started your own company, you've leaned into social media a lot.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: And you're slinging some H content. So again, it's like you're just kind of doing some things, I think a little out of the ordinary. And I think that's always fun to share with people. And so anyways. Yeah. How many years has it been now? Do you know? Do you remember?

Speaker C: Oh, man, I don't know.

Speaker A: Like, it was early on, right? Yeah. So it had to be like, you think 2013ish. Does that sound close? Yeah, 2013, 14, I think, which is crazy. So a little bit of history.

Speaker C: I had more hair back then.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, yeah, me too. You have. Fully.

Speaker C: Spider man

Speaker B: was the front runner.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And then we all just fell in line behind him.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Uh, yeah, I was the one went down swinging first.

Speaker C: Yeah. This is a choice, by the way.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, of course it is.

Speaker B: Yeah. I don't like the way mine comes in. That's why I keep it low. Yeah.

Speaker A: It's more like a screen covering than. Than a closed door nowadays.

Speaker B: Well, Freddy, dude, let's hear your story, man. Take us back. Like, uh, I think we always want to start with how people get into the blue collar trades. And for you, it started with restoration, I'm guessing. But anyway, take us back though, childhood Freddie. Start with childhood Freddie. Give us a little sense of, like, what family culture was, like what your situation was you grew up into. And then take us past high school and work.

Speaker C: Yeah. So we grew up lower middle class, for sure. Hardworking parents. Father worked at a manufacturing company, so he was always there doing that stuff. And then he got promoted to basically, they, um. You're Kind of like a subcontractor for that. And they send you out to set the homes. Once they're purchased, they get set on the plot of the land. He'd put them together, drywall everything up, um, just basically make it so the house looks like A half, B, half, C half or one again. And he did that for the longest of time. And then we. We kind of followed, you know, wherever we moved, we. The plant would kind of shift a bit where they would send them. So he. We kind of depending on the seasons, you know, we'd have money for rent here. Money for. And not money for it anymore. And then we'd go live with grandma. He could, you know. So it was definitely a str. But as you're a kid, you're aware that you're not a rich kid.

Speaker A: Yeah. When you're a poor kid.

Speaker C: Yeah, now we weren't poor. You know, we always had food, we always had clothes. But there is definitely a struggle. So growing up, the middle child syndrome definitely hit me where like I didn't want to do those things that would cost the parents money. And my brother and sister didn't think like that. They were both sports kids, so they played the football, cheerleading and volleyball. I would look at the little paper when it gets sent to you in the class, how much the sport was going to cost. And I wanted to play football so bad with my buddies, but it just wasn't in the cards for me. I just knew that was going to be tough for them. I didn't want to do that to them. So I stayed away from sports. I think I played a season of basketball with.

Speaker A: So you didn't even. I mean, you filtered yourself. You're like, I'm not even going to ask.

Speaker C: I'm not going to do. I've always had that about me. That's why to this day I'm still. I still struggle with that. It's a good thing to struggle with in this right situation, but it's a struggle that you always feel like I shouldn't want more for myself, like give it to them type of thing, you know. And so that's something I've always dealt with. But because of that I ended up getting into music. I had a PlayStation at the time and I sold that to get a pawn shop bass guitar. And a buddy of mine played drums and so we started a band and we were punk rockers and then learn alternative and then learn. And then we. We got to be fairly good at it. We were on 94.7nrk a couple times, you know, with some other bands I was in, we'd play big shows. That was cool. That was like. Did you know this?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: It was really cool.

Speaker A: Every once in a while, he would drop some. Some. He would play around people at the shop. Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: It was fun. You know, I still have that stuff in my shop right now, just in the corner while I'll play it. But that was definitely something, um, I wanted to pursue. And then the band just kind of. We all kind of got a little bit older. Things slowed kind of.

Speaker A: What was the time frame we're talking about? Like, oh, man.

Speaker C: Definitely early 20s. Early, early 20s. Okay. And then I had my first son, and I was working at a manufacturing company at that time, too. And then that was around the time of, like, the. That last recession we had. Were all the homes and everything just shut down.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: And so they had layoffs.

Speaker A: Now.

Speaker C: I was. I started in interior doors, and then I progressed into forklift driver. And then from then they progressed me into shipping and receiving, where I was, like, the youngest guy running a shipping and receiving warehouse. Just shipping out stuff to all these other contractors and homeowners that needed stuff. It was very cool. I learned a lot quickly. And then it.

Speaker B: You know, the.

Speaker A: So, like.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker C: Around that time, it crashed. And I was stressing out because I just had my first son. And the relationship I was in was very much depending on me bringing in the money. And then I remember looking on craigslist back then, and I don't think it was on the paper back then. Maybe it was.

Speaker A: I don't know, back in my day, there's this paper.

Speaker C: So it was like a craigslist thing. I remember that. And it was for restoration technician needed. And it listed out what it was. And one of the main things was trauma scene cleanup and then this and that. And I was like, well, that's kind of interesting. And then so I went into the Salem west branch that was in. Not too far from my house, actually, and kind of just presented myself. Hey, I'm looking for a job.

Speaker A: It was a serve pro, right?

Speaker C: Yeah. And little did I know, Kay, the owner, was sitting in the corner, which I thought was maybe just the receptionist

Speaker A: lady when you rolled it.

Speaker C: Yeah. And then the. The actual front desk lady was there, and she took my information. I think Kay was kind of watching me m. Out the side of her eye. And then one of the, um, managers came out and was, like, looking, uh, for a job. Serro's hungry for workers.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So, like.

Speaker C: Yeah, Me being scared, if I was even to get to someone, they were like, got somebody today.

Speaker A: He's a breather.

Speaker C: Yeah, we're gonna use them. So. But he gave me a little test. He's like, I want you to sketch out this office, and I'll be back. He was all. He was just moving. I was like, okay. And I didn't know how to sketch out a building back then. I did also. I was from doing the interior doors at the manufacturing company. I was used to doing everything in, like, inches, you know.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, things. So I did my sketch in different versus, like, feet and inches, you know, so he thought that was funny. But he's like, well, he knows how to use a tape measure, I guess. So there's something there.

Speaker A: And he's still breathing. Yeah.

Speaker C: So then he took me into the back office and said, here's what we do. Showed me some pictures of a job that they had been working on. Probably not something you should do also, because he showed me some of the trauma scene cleanups. You know, like, is this really what you would want? I was like, wow, that. That's crazy that I just saw that. But also, I mean, there's a. There's a. Interesting factor to it. Like, you're like, that would be something I think I would want to see. Like, I would want to experience what that would be like to. To be on a site like that, because we only see it from movies

Speaker A: and stuff like that.

Speaker C: So your brain is unaware of what reality is until you're actually there.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: Uh, later on, you know, I start to do the majority of all the traumas and cleanups for them later on. And that turned into a whole nother. A whole nother side story. But from there, I was hooked. You know, I started coming in. I was hired, like, the next day show up, and I didn't know, you know, what to do with my hands as soon as I walk in there and they're just like, start cleaning this. You know, that's the thing about the restoration industry that I try to stop on my own is, like, direction. Like, the owners, the operators and managers know what to do, but the people on site that are going to do it don't know what to do. And so, you know, for us not to jump ahead, but, like, our mornings, the guys just wanted to get to the trucks and get to the shop and start moving things. I'm like, but why? What are you. What are you doing with. You're just wanting to move. Let's sit down. Here's the jobs this is what I expect. This is what's going on until everybody gives me a yes. You understand? Then we can leave the office door. I love that we're locked in here till everybody's aware because or else all four of us are going to go in four different directions when we open that door. And that's what happens. So that's what it was like. Going there is just chaos and pretty

Speaker A: high volume shop really always kind of had been a fairly high end. Yeah.

Speaker C: And. And not to say that they didn't know what they were doing, but it was just like so much, you know, like, how can you capture being 100% on each project that's impossible without having high players. And obviously they were in need of people. So. So when you think about it, we'd go to these, you know, my first missions we go and I was trailing some kid that was just a little bit older than me. And we're in like, you know, million dollar home. And he's like, this is what we're gonna do. I'm like, how does he know we need to do that? Like, how is he confident that we can just tear up this hardwood? It goes all over, you know. And you're just mind is just like, man, these young kids are like in control of some pretty Lord of the Flies.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Like oh my God. Like doesn't need to call the office before we start. I'm gonna go get the thing you request. But.

Speaker A: Well, and it's interesting too because I can see how that ties back to your personality. Yeah. So like you were already the kid looking at the fact she about season. Yeah, yeah. And going, oh my gosh, that's going to be 80 bucks.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Now you're in a million dollar home with like ongoing hardwood floor and you're doing this mental calculation of holy crap, the husband.

Speaker C: Where is he at? I wasn't aware of insurance, how that process worked. You know, you don't know anything other than like one's lunch.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Like how long till lunch? So that, that's pretty much that's how, that's how I got introduced to it. So it was always chaotic. But like then when you start to learn more, you start to realize it's not as you were the chaotic person. Like you just didn't understand where everybody was going, uh, up in there, why he was over there, why they were talking about it. And then you start to learn like, oh, there's a pace here that if you keep up with the pace, you can really find what needs to happen. Oh, he knows it has to get removed because that little beeping thing that he was holding.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: Was. There's no way around it.

Speaker A: So you were starting to see then firsthand that technically the team does have rhyme and rhythm to what's happening. You were just essentially overwhelmed by the lack of experience. Okay, okay.

Speaker C: Or, you know, and like, uh, in my business, like, just nobody's speaking out loud.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I've done this thing lately with my crew where I just talk out loud. I try not to just sit there in silence thinking about the problem.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: I have to. Even at the dinner table, I'm, um, with my family, and I'm, like, just eating my food, thinking about it. I have to stop myself and just maybe not have a conversation about their day, but just let them know what I'm thinking about. Helps the conversations just start again, you know, like with the wife. Cause she's. She's under the impression that, oh, he's thinking about something. Let him just think with it. But, like, I need her back and forth to help me, and then I need my kids to feel present in the moment. And then. Okay, I got that done.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Hey, how's. You know, maybe later we should rearrange a room. What would be a crazy way we could rearrange it? You know, get their brains sparked up and talking again. But that was a really thing I st. Struggled with in the beginning of the business, was just staying in my head. And I, you know, I've always kind of been like that too, but I see that. And a lot of young males in the industry is. They're just in their head the entire time. They're not really speaking to a manager or anybody about that. Because you kind of feel annoying when you start, well, why are we doing that? Why are we doing that? And some of us that don't have the teaching, uh, quality. It is annoying.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, there's 50 steps. Like, do you want me to explain all 50? Or I could just get it done and then maybe on the drive home, I'll explain it to you. But I forgot, you know.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: So there's that as a young person in it, you either ask a lot of questions and then you retain that information, or you ask a lot of questions just. Just to talk. Yeah, that was one thing that was like, I never knew that fine line for it. But yeah. So, uh, you know, I progressed into serve pro, and then I. I stayed there for a quite about a while, just learning and doing and learning. Doing a lot of just after hour calls. You Know, because I was just available. There was a want. I always wanted to, to be the guy to, to check it out first or to be there first and to feel like I could map it out. To feel like I could.

Speaker A: Why? What. What drove that?

Speaker C: You know, that was the thing that it's like for sure ego, you know. Yeah, for sure, ego. But a lot of it was like I felt like I was the most capable and I didn't want somebody to not get the best service, you know. And that is the lot of ego. But it's also like I didn't want somebody to mess it up and then we have to fix it. You know, it was always like a fixing thing with me. Like I, huh, would have to fix it. If they just, if they wouldn't have done that, it just would have been easier and I just understood that. I understood it better because I gave so many hours of grinding nights. I just, I just understood it better and it was just easier for me to drive versus be the passenger.

Speaker B: Maybe you cared a little bit more.

Speaker C: I cared a little bit more. And being a passenger is hard for me to just sit there and watch. I gotta be moving. I understand why people move the way they move because if you sit still for too long for me too, you know, the brain just starts um, you know, doing things. And I hate, I hate that feeling of not being productive. And uh, the other thing that I avoid saying is the reason I wanted to do those was because it would help me not have to worry about my life, my personal life.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And you know, me and Brandon had some conversations, you know, when I worked under him, about my personal life affecting the work life. And that was a lot of it too is like, if I can, if I can fix this house, you know, that makes me feel good about not being able to fix my relationship or you know, my drinking problem or whatever it have been. There was a lot of things, but like young males in that industry, the type of person that wants to help usually needs the help the most. And that person really, you can see that they want to help and they do everything. They, you know, they grind. But if you talk to them about their personal life, they're going through something that kind of hides that, you know. And so that was. The mask I wore was work.

Speaker A: You know, like what was going on. Do you mind?

Speaker C: You know, for uh, as a young male I definitely had a problem with alcohol. I don't have a problem with alcohol anymore because I choose not to. But back then I was, was m. Not choosing to. To Accept that problem, you know, and so there was a lot of things that led to the trauma scene cleanups. You know, you'd go there and you'd see, you know, a child that was, you know, murdered, and you're having to clean it up and then you go home. Like, that was just, like, bonkers to me. So I didn't want to go home with that. So I would go to the bar with a co worker or a friend, and then just. I would think of it as, like, cooling down. Like, let me just cool it down. Let me just drink and not think about, I don't want to take this home with me. Well, what I learned later in life from a trauma scene instructor was that you have to talk about it to them. They're not seeing what. So you. You feel like you're putting that burden on them of seeing what you just seen or just spent the day cleaning up. They don't see it. They just hear you talking about you talking about it is the helpful part, you know, for them. They feel like they can help you. You're releasing that. It's like a whole process for you.

Speaker A: But they're not necessarily taking on the emotional burden because they actually didn't get the physical exposure, is what you're saying. Yeah, I've never thought about it that way.

Speaker C: And it's the same with work, you know, like, if you had a bad day, you talk about a bad day, and it kind of helps relieve the bad day, and somebody helps you through it. But, like, they're not in the crawl space with you. You know, they're not. You're not seeing all that. So they don't see or feel all the emotion. But you let that emotion out is so important, especially as, you know, the. A young male, which I never did. I just held it in there. Just held it. And then the next day I'd show up angry because I was angry that a little kid got, you know, But I, uh, showed up angry, you know, and I'd be a problem in the morning or. And then you're. You just kind of have to forget that you did that, and then you push it out, and then you go to another one. You go. You get numb to it, and you get numb to it. But I remember the. The trauma scenes were the ones that, like, then I was so attached to them. Like, I need to be the one that. That cleans it because I don't want somebody else to leave some blood splatter. And then the family sees that and that, you know, like, I was I didn't want them to see what I had to see. You know, you. You kind of take that on. So, you know, the, the people that do the trauma scene can kind of relate to that feeling. You're not like, oh, wow, this is crazy. It's like, man, I got to make sure that the mom doesn't walk in here.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And because especially as you get family, you start to realize like the implications of everything that's involved. You know, it's not just like a job anymore. It is like a whole emotional service for everybody.

Speaker A: Dude, do you, uh. Was it you and I that responded to the. This is probably something you've seen more than once, but it was a young girl. I think she was probably 13 or 14. And when we walked into the house, the house was like a shrine to her accomplishments, academic and sports. Was that you and me?

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that, dude.

Speaker A: So. So we did this loss. I mean, technically her name was Anna Hannibal. Dude, you remember the last name because it was Hannibal.

Speaker C: Yeah, her name was Anna Hannibal.

Speaker A: Dude. We walked into this home and it was very like. I think at first glance you would just think, well, that's a proud parents. It was different. Like there was a worshiping. And again, I'm not trying to like turn this into something spiritual, but there was a worshiping of the child's accomplishments and that child committed suicide.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker A: So under the pressure of all these accolades, which this is not a unique story, like there's a lot of professional sports people that say they walk this line at some point. So she takes her life in her own room and I believe it was the mother for the next. The whole time we were doing the job, the mom was in bed.

Speaker C: Mhm.

Speaker A: In the home and just crushed under what just happened. So like, just to provide like for those that aren't first responders in our audience, like especially those that maybe are not super connected to the industry that we came from on restoration and understanding what a true quote. First responder can look like inside that field. Like, that's the kind of stuff our guys and gals are. Are dealing with. And so, yeah, to add some depth to what you're saying about the sense of responsibility then to the family. Like, like imagine our crew was having trouble communicating with the homeowner because she was literally in her own bedroom.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: Suffering.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: And our team's trying to clean up that environment and work through this process, so.

Speaker C: Or worse, you're like, she's in there. I can't get a. I can't ask her these questions. Yeah, we're just going to come back tomorrow.

Speaker A: Yeah. And. And I remember, I think on, um, that one specifically, for example, there was days where, like, we couldn't do anything. Yeah, yeah. And it was. Was not strategy, it wasn't tactics, it wasn't insurance payments. It was emotional nut, like lostness.

Speaker C: And on that one, I actually found her. Her note, you know, under the bed. And so, like, what do you do with that book? Have to. You have to preserve it. You have to take care that you have. And then, man, it's just like, you know, you're the person handing that. Who do you hand it to? Do you hand it to your mom? Next family member to hand to the manager? There's all those things.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, come and come into play with those. That, uh, one thing, you know, it's hard with those, but that I learned later from the instructor was to not relate to it while you're there, because then you start getting angry.

Speaker B: You.

Speaker C: You know, there was a scenario he talks about where a tech was so angry, threw a chair through a window because, wow.

Speaker A: You just get swept up in the moment.

Speaker C: M. You know, like, I could see that, you know, you think, I would never do that. I could see that happen. Uh, you know, there's those flash of anger that you get from something that you're a part of because you are a part of it once you step on site.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And, you know, just making sure that you're, you know, there's pictures on the wall, things like that. You know, we were instructed, don't look at those. Don't. Not that you don't want to put a face to it, but not yet. Not then. You, uh, know, you, you just, you have a task, follow the task. But if you start looking at the photos and the awards and you start, man, there's a swell of emotion that could come up. You know, I had one scenario where I had to go clean another child murder that the father had committed. And you walk in there in the pool of, you know, blood is the little boy's pants, the little Levi jeans the night before. I literally just changed my son the same age out of those same. You know, because the target brands are all the result.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah, you know, Yeah, I just.

Speaker C: Just had changed his pants out of those. I remember folding them, putting them off the side, chained in him, put him to bed. And then I walk into that and it was like a, uh, it was like a simulation. You know, you're like, you just got dropped into. Like, how are you going to Handle this situation. You're just like, oh my gosh. The guy I was with, the technician immediately starts to puke. And I'm like, hey, control yourself. Let's put you out in the box truck, get you some water. I know you're going through something, but I cannot have the homeowner, the husband, the wife, uh, see you reacting this way. We're, we are their only help on getting this out of there for them. And if we are, you know, not physically able to do it, they're going to feel so drained that they know they have to do it. And luckily, one of the marketers I was with at the time, Steve Yerger, he stepped up, came in, was like, yeah, what are we gonna do? And he came in and we got.

Speaker A: He was a hammer. Yeah.

Speaker C: He, uh, he knew, he understood. He used to be, uh, around those situations a lot. So he came in, we knocked it out, got it, got it cleaned up. You know, as you know, the only thing we can do that's just clean it up. Yeah. And then the chaplain, Todd Pinch, really good friend and, and um, help source, he came out, deals with the family, got things on his end that he knows he can do. What tool can you provide? Is always, you know, the thing and every job. Like, what tool are you? Okay, maybe you're just a skill saw. Maybe you're just a hammer, Maybe you're just the nail. But just do that, you know, don't try to be another tool, um, unless you're capable. Because. And that's how I treat, you know, all of our jobs too. Like, what tool do we have? What tool can we use? We don't have that tool. Somebody else that has that tool has got to come, you know, another contractor, another person can come in and take it over. But I don't really like the fake it till you make it. Even though I've done that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Many times. But I don't like that because that's. Pardon me, feels like, ah, uh, the guilt. Because what if we faked it? We don't make it. Yeah, it's on me. Yeah, that's the shame that you live with on some of these projects. If you don't handle them correctly, you know, there's consequences, there's. There. The, the. One of the jobs that, uh, has had pushed me to be better was I went in on a Cat 3 claim for an adjuster that scared me. She was so ruthless and she was just like the principal of the adjusters.

Speaker A: Yeah, I know who you're talking about.

Speaker C: She scared me and you're gonna share a first name? M. I don't.

Speaker A: I don't know. She might hunt you down. Yeah. I will say, though, that. That she became my. She was one of my personally top referring adjusters.

Speaker C: Yeah. Later on, I beat the level.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: But to there it was. It was bad. And she got me on a claim and was not the potential I should have been because of the drinking, because of the late nights, because of the cockiness, because of that. I slipped up on something that I should understood the protocols and, you know, started cleaning things. But I also did, uh, you know, the mistake of putting the wrong equipment and. And turning on the wrong equipment and things like that, causing technically more damage to the environment. And she caught me on it, and I think she saw that I was broken from it because I was so embarrassed. And I couldn't believe that she gave me some helpful tips and she was like, it is what it is, but you guys are just gonna have to do this. And, uh. And so that broke me. And then that sparked me to, like, pay attention a little bit more. A little bit more. But because of the drinking, I always slipped back. Yeah. But I learned, you know, like, I always ask, tell the guys, you know, like, hey, don't do that. You know that. Ask me how I know. Yeah, because I know.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: Not because it's just a Freddy thing that I want you to do. No, it's because a Freddy did that once. And this outcome. I don't want that to happen to you.

Speaker A: Dude, can I. Are you okay if I do some Q A with you? Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Okay. Are you cool with that? All right, so you opened Pandora's box here, Freddie. Just so you know, this is absolutely your fault. So I'm thinking about our time working together under, uh, a same flag. And, you know, it's funny because in a lot of ways, I felt like you and I always had good communication. Like, I. I felt like most of the time I had a pretty decent sense of where you were coming from. But. And like, as we're starting to hear a more mature telling of your story, because obviously now you're using, you know, several decades, couple decades of experience to look back on now. It's like, oh, uh, I didn't totally understand what was going on. So I'm gonna share, if you're okay with it. I would like to share some scenarios, types of scenarios I had with you often. And I would love to hear kind of your perspective on what was happening at the time. And now looking back, I know you're running into similar frustrations as you develop people now.

Speaker B: This is gonna be fun, right?

Speaker A: Okay, so as old as. And again, I want to be clear that this is for learning. Like, Freddy, you're, uh, a man's man now, dude. Like, okay, so back in the day, it's a great. Yeah, it starts, right? It's like the experience is paying off. These battle scars have. Have created lessons that were learned. But. Okay, so I'm thinking back in the day, and I'm thinking how many times I wanted. And I'm going to use some. Some kind of language that our. Our listeners, I think, are used to listening to, but I wanted a force multiplier out of you. Like, you were capable of being the force multiplier, because by the time you came over to our team and started working with us, you were already, hands down, had so many more losses under your belt compared to anybody in our roster. But then on top of that, like, I've made this comment before. Like, I can tell a lot about a recruit when they come in based on how they carry themselves in their uniform. So, like, the guy that comes in and either has his, you know, glasses over the back of his neck or turned upside down on the bill of his hat, hat's straight, and clean shirts tucked in, probably has a knife on his. His hip somewhere. Like, that tells me this is a dude that takes his work seriously. Like, I can just make that judgment. I've been right probably 9.9% of the, you know, uh, out of 10 times, right? You were one of those dudes. So when you came in, like you care was in your uniform, where you carried yourself, you have a system and a process to almost everything that you touch. And it was really obvious to our team at all times, that's Freddy's system. He's operating from his system. Am I okay so far?

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: But then I couldn't. And I'm gonna kind of shit on you a little bit here, but. But I could not get you for the life of me then to make more of you.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And that's all I wanted. Like, as a leader, I'm like, this guy's the avatar when he's on. Like, if I could get Freddy's eight cylinders to fire at the same time, the guy's unstoppable. And so then as a leader, I'm thinking to myself, from my own experience, when I became responsible for other people, it helped me keep my shit together. Yeah, right. It's like some layer of accountability. So I'm like, okay, inevitably that's what will happen. Okay. And you know, our chain of command at that time, like, you know, there were several personalities in it, but I'm like, just give him responsibility because it'll help him keep his shit together. And it would. In bouts, like, you would have these moments where you're at the top and you're crushing, and then when you fucking fell, dude, you. It was a good one.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: What's happening, like, you know, in those scenarios, like, and you know what I'm talking about, like, what were you experiencing personally in those moments of time and now looking back, what would you say was, was going on? Does that make sense?

Speaker C: Yeah. No. 100%. It's. It's what I try to tell my young crew about. I, that Freddy back there only cared about to get to the end of the shift and being really good at it. I had no five year plan. I had no goals. I had no strategy of how Freddie could go from being, uh, in apartments to a homeowner. As that person, I would never, ever dream or imagine I would be a homeowner or have a nice vehicle. It was, man, gonna be, this is how much my check is gonna be. This is how much I need to pay the bills. That was it. Just living in that everything else is the problem, not me mentality. And so that was a lot of it is just not having a structure or goals, not having a, uh, plan out, man, that was, you know, something that I, I never thought about in my early 20s is just as corny as it sounding. Goals, just like, yeah, uh, a great goal and then a monthly goal, just anything. And you know, there was people that tried to convey that to me, but I couldn't hear it because I was just so stuck of living for the weekend, you know, what am I going to do this weekend? You know, And I see that my guys. You say that and I'm like, you know, it's funny you say that because when they come and they look a little hungover, they look a little like you didn't get the sleep you should have. I'm like, you saw me, you saw what I looked like when I me thinking, no, I'm here, I'm here though. Yeah, I'm here. Let's go.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker C: But you saw what I look like showing up. How embarrassing. You know, so that was those things where I just didn't have that, you know, accountability. You didn't have the motivation to be a better version of yourself because it just, it didn't apply to you. Why Would it apply to you back then? So not having real sense of needing a mentor and utilizing a mentor because as uh, some of us, we don't want to talk about our problems. We don't want to, we don't want to embarrass ourselves, but we don't want also you to know the real me because I don't like the real me. I hide it from myself throughout the day. Definitely going to hide it from everybody else. You know what I mean? And so that was a lot of the thing I went through with, with working, just not enjoying the ride, uh, getting myself somewhere. I was just trying to get to the end of the day to start my little weekend to hide from my other problems.

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Speaker A: Dude, your comment of I uh, didn't like myself, so I certainly wasn't gonna, you know, share that. That's super insightful. It's, it's kind of, it's interesting because it makes me think about, you know, these applications where I've had more direct reports. It's a little bit different here at Floodlight because, you know, our, our team members are like ex business owners. They're all in like phase two of career. So it's not like we're, it's a different conversation. But you know, one of the opportunities that we have in the blue collar space is that so many of our team members are young and in the first phases of any kind of formal career development whatsoever. But I don't think I ever thought about it that way. Like, I'm just thinking about all the interactions I've had with team members and I have kind of a gut thing that I've always leaned into where I'll just get kind of a vibe I need to say something or I have the opportunity to push back kind of hard and they're going to be able to take it well. But that's not the same though. Like that's still kind of operating by accident a little. Like the gut instinct just happened to work a lot. But that's different than an intentional strategy. And I think part of what I'm hearing you say is if leaders understand potentially that a lot of times this frustrating behavior or a lack of experiencing something that they know this person should be able to produce could be based on that. Like, that they're not happy with themselves about things and that they're playing a game of hiding that from themselves. Well then what would give me any perception that somehow I would then get that from them? Right. Like if, if you're so, so anyways, I'm not even sure what, what you would do with that per se, but it does kind of change where the ownership of that is. So like at the end of the day I couldn't make you do anything but. And like, if I had known at the time that Freddie just basically is massively disappointed with himself, it might have changed the approach for sure.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: You know, and it could have been maybe at the time more effective more like earlier on.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: And so I think part of like me hearing you, I'm kind of going, there's an opportunity for those of us that now have younger teams.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: That, okay, there's something, uh, interesting there that you're getting a first person perspective on that could equip us as leaders to Get a different experience and maybe have an effect faster. Because I think my approach, and obviously you'd be able to say this, I think my approach at the time is a little bit of, I know you're better than that, which has value, but it's not a one size fits all.

Speaker C: Yeah. And the problem is the. The individual isn't going to change other than for themselves, you know, Same with, like, my drinking, I didn't stop until I just wanted to stop. And I just stopped. But with my attitude back there, I didn't turn into this version of me until I wanted to turn into this version of me. And then there was people that, like my wife, she's the one that started the business for us. And I say that by. She saw me working at another franchise and just doing it, and she kind of started to realize that I was, like, aware of all the things in the business. What we didn't know that we were just so stupid today. But, you know, she was like, oh, you know how to do all this? Why don't you just do it for yourself? And I was like, that's a lot of work. Like, no, thank you. I don't want to have to do that. Like, these people have shops and employees. Like, no way. But she knows the thing that drives and makes me go to the next level is force. If I'm just forced into it, I will get out of it. Like, if I'm forced to clean up a murder scene, forced to tackle a crawl space, I'm, um, terrified of spiders. Crawl spaces, to me are like freaking fear factory. And I just put on the suit and I feel like I just pretend that the suit is armor. And I go in and I. There's a big spider and I'm just, you know. So she knows if I'm just forced into it, I'm going to do it. So she goes, gets the contractor's license booklet and the. You do it online and the course. And then I come home the next day and she's like, so I got it. It's going to be here. Here's the book.

Speaker A: I already paid for it.

Speaker C: Yeah, I already paid for it. It's here. I hate homework. I hate things like that. You know, she's a super smart. She's got her master's and teachers. That's where she. She's from. To her, it's easy. And I'm like, are you freaking kidding me? I was planning on, you know, going fishing or doing this, you know, and now I gotta do this. But, uh, my ego was like, well, I can't let my girl. I can't do this. And now I have to get my contractor's license so I can show it to her that I can do it. And then, and then it starts and then she's, you know, so she's the reason, the push for sure. But like now we've reached that point where we're, we're stagnant in the business. And now I'm looking and hoping for another push, you know what I mean? And I think she's already. She's in the same thing too. Like, this is not what she wanted to do, but she did it for us. And she obviously seen a return that it came from it versus teaching. But I know for her there's, there's not a, uh, like a purpose for her, like a purpose that she drove out to here. And for me, it's a skill that I've had that I've just held on to. And I'm like that I'm equipped with this. I have to use it if I want the family to later benefit from it. But definitely going back to what you said is like, I wouldn't have done that without a push from the right person. Definitely takes, you know, because you could have a bunch of people saying, you're messing up, you're messing up. Get better. I need this from you. Until the right person points the finger at that individual, they won't, you know, maybe it's grandpa, maybe it's mom, maybe it's brother that just came back. You know, whatever. Maybe it is the manager that you look up to. But I definitely see that with young guys that I bring on into my business is this kid wants to be here. He's present, but he is on the weekend. I don't know if he's coming back Monday.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: But when he's there, he's showing up. You know, I have one of those individuals. Individuals right now. And I've sent him to the class. He's gotten certified. He's doing all the things. He's OSHA certified now, all these things. And he knows how to do all these things that he never thought he was going to be able to do. But I see that young Freddy in him in there. And I'm just like, uh, that's the part of me. To my next level of as a business owners. How can I get that young Freddie out of him to make. Yeah, uh, man, uh, to a better version of himself. Not better like me, but like a. Just a better version of himself, whatever that is. You know, and that's why I love, you know, that our. Our brand is the wolf. Because that's definitely what I felt like as a. A young male is like, I could either be a protector or I could be a hunter. And that hunter is hungry for just destroying his life, you know, just. Just taking. Just being rageful and just not caring where he goes or what he does or he can, you know, protect his package. And then, you know, that's kind of like the origin story of, like, the wolf, you know, because I've always been a lone wolf. Never really held on to teams. Yeah. Like, it was hard for me to work with teams because in a team, you get to a point where you work with somebody and you don't have to speak. I love that, you know, you can just work together. It's like. It's like a song. You're just going to the rhythm and you're doing things, but if you're not and somebody's at a tune, that really bothers me. And it's so hard to keep up with somebody that just isn't in tune, isn't keeping pace. You know, it's very rare that you find the person that's like, has the same rhythm as you, and then. Yeah, and then that person finds something else too, and then they go somewhere else or they find a different job. So for me, teams have always been hard because I'm just so stubborn about my process.

Speaker A: Yeah. And you would cycle, you know, you would have these times where, for a moment, we would be seeing a healthy Freddie. What. What is now? I. I do believe wholeheartedly that your crew's experience now from you, because you do have that character. You have the charisma, you have the ability to communicate at the level that you're sharing with us today. Which, by the way, dude, hats off. Like, thank you for us and our listeners, but I'm having a really great fucking time. But it's like, you would have these moments where that version of you would come out, and that's what we would get so excited about. It's like, man, if he stays in that zone, team will be a, uh, force to be reckoned with because of Freddy's standard that he holds himself to. The quality, the output, the considerations, the proactiveness, and the way that you're thinking about how this job needs to be produced. Why, at what cycle? Like, we wanted the whole team to have that same level of independence and ability to adapt and overcome by leveraging a known skill into multiple scenarios. Right. That was your Gift like you are just naturally gifted at that. But then it would be like at times it felt like probably if I did, you know, ratios 60 to 65% of the time you just wanted nothing to do with everybody else.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And then there was probably about 15% of the time where I think this missional version of you would start coming out. And I think you kind of caught a fire when someone would receive your guidance the right way is probably what would happen. If my guts or, you know, or serving me is that Freddy would have an audience member. He would speak to them and they would respond the way. And he's like, oh, this is somebody I can teach how to play guitar.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And then you are in. And then the next day, if you went out with the crew that was made up of the team that haven't struck that for you, it was like you just came back and everything was again.

Speaker C: And I guarantee you I did all the work that day. Yeah. Because I didn't want them.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And they felt it. So it's like you would swing from these moments of being a force, multiple multiplier. But it was such a short period of time in comparison to the kind of the. Sorry. Like the cancer that you brought because you were so put off by everybody and you had zero filter. So like the team knew how disgusted you were. Like, I remember several team meetings where your behavior told the rest of them they are second class citizens.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Like you literally don't have the time of day for them.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So.

Speaker A: And again, like, I, uh, warned you. But on also, just to affirm you and be clear, this is, this was years ago, years and years ago. And you've learned so much since then. But so, okay, within that scenario, like, how do you look back on that now and how are you leveraging that to be so different because you are now with your existing team.

Speaker C: Yeah. So, because I can remember, you know, being like that with these guys. Like almost the, the belittling, the. It's. It's more than hazing, you know, because hazing is kind of a little bit different. But like, there is that, you know, to it that I remember just being like, like that. Like just simple tasks, you know, you don't know what that is. Like, come on, dude, keep up. Just follow me. Just bag behind me, you know, like you're just a bad guy, you know?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, you know, being like that because my goal is to get it done, get out, then go and try to enjoy a weekend or the, the night, you know, I Wanted to get there, but these guys needed to be on my rhythm, you know? Now I'm like, slow down. Make sure everybody's got ppe. Hey, we got. We got to wear it, man. Like, trust me, put the knee pads on. Trust me, put the mat, Put the goggles on. Like, I'm really big about the PPE now. Really big about the guys. Like, you don't need to rush that. We have eight hours here. We need. Like, we don't need to rush this job. I'm really big on the guys about. Not that we have endless amount of monies, but, like, I don't care about the money. If you need something, let's get it. If we need something here, let's get it. Let's make sure we're doing the right things. We're testing for leaden asbestos. We're doing all the protocols that we need to do. So let's slow down and do that, because if we rush past that, one of you guys are going to get hurt, and I'm gonna have to fold up a wolf flag and present it to you.

Speaker A: Yeah, right. Wolf flag. I love it.

Speaker C: But there's that. It was just like, uh, now I can slow down. I'm not rushing anymore. Back then, I was rushing. Now I am. I, um, can slow it down. We can talk about the process and making them feel comfortable with the process. Like, you want to. You know, some of the other things that we do is we remove athletic tracks from high schools and colleges during our down season. You want to drive the excavator? Okay. Like, let me show you how to drive the excavator.

Speaker B: Let.

Speaker C: Let's. You want to take a picture of you driving it? Send to your girlfriend. Heck, yeah, dude. Like, I'll do it. Here, let me get you. So there's that of, uh, just letting other people drive and me being okay being the passenger now because I drove for so long that nobody was capable of driving because I always held on to the steering wheel. And so now letting them, you know, steer the boat and me helping paddle is like, what I want to just make sure they're aware of, but also that they're teaching the next guy that maybe I don't have time to teach and spend because I'm not going to be in their vehicle with them every job. You know, eventually they've got to do it on their own, and they do now. And just stopping that, that, uh, belittling, you know, that's one of the things when I, you know, hey, guys, let's not talk to each other like that. I had a. An employee that was related to one of our employees. And so when they were on job sites, they talked to each other like family members. And their skin color was different. So the homeowner doesn't know that they're related, you know, and the way that they would talk to each other was like, yo, dude, stop. Like, you cannot. For one, like, dude, you can't. Person like that. But for two, the homeowner cannot hear that you guys communicate like that in their home. Maybe that's a trigger for them. Maybe they. That is going to cause them to be like, negative star review. You know, whatever. They just argued. They're not mad at each other. They're just fine. But, like, what people perceive of them is. Is ultimately what we also care about in the company. So I want the guys to also know that this is not going to be the environment that we just allow each other to belittle or make fun. If you don't know what a screwdriver is, I've had a guy come work and he didn't know what a Phillips versus a screwdriver. And all of, you know, everybody wanted to make. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Speaker A: You felt it coming. The cannon fodder.

Speaker C: Grab one and show them the difference. Just show him that he.

Speaker A: If.

Speaker C: If you've never held, you know, it's hard to say. If you've never held one, you don't know. Yeah, I don't know how a, uh, freaking phone works, but if I went and talked to a guy and that's in the manufacturer phone, he'd probably think I'm an idiot for not knowing the simple processes in there. Yeah, it's the same thing, you know, with the tools and the processes and stuff. Just making it so he can feel comfortable for asking the next time he doesn't know what another thing. So it doesn't slip into him being like, why didn't want to ask in front you, like, just tell me. Just talk to me.

Speaker A: What shifted, though? Like, what? Because you've taught, you've said several times, like, it requires these little internal catalysts. Yeah. To make that thing lived out.

Speaker B: What.

Speaker A: Can you recall a specific scenario or event that kind of flipped you into this new mode?

Speaker C: I think I just. And maybe it is true, maybe it isn't. But, like, when I had my daughter, I just got a little bit more. Less manly, you know, about the everything. Because I wasn't gonna yell at her about putting a dress on. Uh, you know what I mean? Like, there's just, you Just kind of tone down a little bit. And there's other things too. Like my, my eldest son, I lost connection and you know, just access to him because of that old Freddy, you know, so. So there's that. That I just like, you just hold on to. Like that's the reason why, because you're like that. So change it now. You know, now that I'm older, you realize how easy it would have been to just slow down, you know, M. And so, so that's why it just stands out to me to just like not belittle somebody just because they didn't. You. They weren't aware of it and just giving, you know, that assurance that they can speak freely without being judged, you know, by something they just don't know.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, man, that's really insightful. And I think, I mean, I think that's my lived experience is I feel like our, my kids, our kids have been the catalyst. Just they. Yeah, yeah. It's like, it's. Jana and I started having these little monsters. You just realize, I don't know, you just get forced to deploy different tools. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: I think the biggest thing for me with kids is I had to get a handle on my anger.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: You know, it's like, I think especially in the blue collar trades, there's just the, uh, it's a little more expected. People are gonna yell and holler and cuss and like, anger is just sort of ever present in our space. I think that's changing. Like there's more people like you and I, and we're like learning as we get older. But. But yeah, it was, uh, that was the thing. It was kids and marriage. It starts to like shave off those rough edges. You realize, hey, this isn't gonna work. Yeah, I can't show up this way anymore.

Speaker A: Well, and you're motivated, I think in a different way to, to get a different result. Like, it's hard and, and this makes sense. Like it's hard for me to get super motivated by JoJo, who's just as secretly self centered as I am. And I see a few hours a day at work and at the end of the day he's not paying my mortgage or really has no long term effect on my life. That is a harder catalyst to lean in and be like, objectively, gosh, I could really approach this differently. Well, when do you get married or you start having children? It's like, well, this is a lifelong scenario. Like, this isn't going to end soon and it's not over on Friday. So you just have a different level. Level of motivation to engage in the battle, I think, which is. It's the forced environmental thing. Like you said.

Speaker B: This is sort of a perfect segue to ask the question. You know, you. Your wife is integrated into the business. Some may not realize from the recent social media post that office manager is your partner.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: Let's. Let's jump to, like, so how long has Wolf been around? So we're.

Speaker A: If you're my wife. Yeah, yeah, it could be either one. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker C: So we're year six. We started in 2020, right at, like, the end of the year of 2020, November. We got our. But so we're six years into it now, which to me, I'm like, we're so freaking.

Speaker A: You're a Covid launch.

Speaker C: Yeah, we are. And our daughter is Covid baby. She was born during that time too. So we're so behind. But yeah, we've done so much, and there's just this, like, this fire still in the business, which is. Which is great. But, yeah, she. She definitely pushed us to launch.

Speaker B: You guys seem to really like each other.

Speaker C: We seem to, but you're great at

Speaker B: conveying that in your social media.

Speaker C: But, like, we are so opposite, and that's why we attract. But we are so opposite. She's a busybody, always doing stuff, and she has checklists and all these things. I'm more of a, uh, get forced into it. Oh, we got to go do that. All right, let's go do it. Get it done. I'm not planning to do anything. Like, it's just happening. I'm there. I gotta finish. But she's like, what time was the start? And then how are we going? And then what time are we gonna. You know, I'm, like, exhausted from it. But because of that, that's why we've. We work so well. Is she holds me accountable. I'm forcing myself to get the things done. The thing that we lack, though, that we've really been working on this year is just communicating because you can get so wrapped up in your day and that the kids are fed, we're good, everybody's awesome. And then we just kind of scroll away from each other. Yeah. So this year we've been really working. Yeah, we've been really working on talking more about the business. Because before I was like, I'm so tired to talk about the business. But then m. I'm like, we need to talk about the business. So now we. We talk about the business in a positive Way, not the things that are stressing us out about. We'll save that for when we're on the clock, when we're winding.

Speaker A: Oh, this is interesting. Okay.

Speaker C: We're talking about the positive things, and I'm always like, what's our goal? What's our, you know, like, what's our goal? She's very in her head as well, but in a calculated way that she wants to give the right answer. She's not just gonna spitball.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, she lands on the right answer. She's very calculated in that way.

Speaker A: So she really is your analyst in terms of natural wiring. Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah. And so when we are having our conversations, I have to pull out of her. And there was a lot of time in her beginning of the business where I was so angry at her for not doing enough in the business. I was very macho about it. Like, I'm freaking working all day, I get home, and now I've got to look over this. What are you doing? Uh, and really what I found out and we came to terms with is that I just felt alone and the business, because she just wasn't telling me all the things that she was doing and. And.

Speaker A: Or thinking about process and, you know,

Speaker C: and if I just looked at all the things that she accomplished, even just the QuickBooks and the, uh, all the billings that she's going through, I would be like, oh, dang, I'm glad, uh, you did that. But I don't know. You don't know what. What somebody's doing with their time when you're out, you know, working in the field and so really showing each other what we're bringing to the table has really changed our. The way we feel about the business. Because it was kind of like, well, if you're not doing this and I'm doing this, then why are we doing this? Like, you know, I. I don't want to do this alone. I can't, for one. There's no way We're. We are up against teams. There are teams that are just doing this better all day, every day. And if, uh, we cannot have the drive to compete with Michael Jordan, then why are we playing? You know? And. And so, like, that, I think, also was like, for her. Oh, this is how he. He just needs to have the reassurance. I'm just like, I just need to get pet. I'm just like, yeah, just. Just pet me. And so I'm good. I could wag my tail again. Let's go. You know, but that was really difficult for us to find Out. You know, nobody's coaching us, nobody's telling us how to be a, uh, business, how to be husband and wife. You know, I like steps to something, and if I don't know those steps, it's just like chaotic in my brain. Like, what are the step? How are other people doing this? I want to know how they're doing it. So on things like that, like raising a family and being a father, there's, there's no. You just have to learn it. And it took a toll. You know, our second year, uh, last year actually was our worst year we ever had in business. Layoffs. Just money wasn't there. And it was a sense of, like, me not doing enough for the company, you know, And I, And I felt like I was just non stop and there was no reward. And then on her end, she's doing all the things but no reward. And we're like, this, this is not working. What is it? Well, what we didn't know was, uh, we were grinding all the way to that reward. And then the next year, everything paid off. And all that year's worth of doing the things that we just held as reps paid off came and it just boom, boom, boom, boom. It added up. But that's very difficult, as you guys know as business owners, to grind and not see a reward.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Just not. And it's not that you can't be like, oh, well, in six months it'll be here. You just have no idea when it's gonna happen.

Speaker A: Yeah. People keep telling you, yeah, but it's like, yeah, you don't know.

Speaker C: But the rent is due.

Speaker A: Yeah. That is an actual payment that's required on that date.

Speaker C: I know when that's gonna happen.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: In the midst of that chrome, you talk about being a husband and a wife. Like in the midst of all that stress. When times are good or bad, there's a certain level of stress that every business kind of carries. Right. How do you guys manage the marriage part? Because you got young kids too.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker B: Like, have you guys learned any kind of rhythms or a strategy for that romance?

Speaker C: Yeah, the romance is hard because, you know, I'll get home from work and I'll just be dirty toast. Just dirty from whatever it be. And I'll enter the door and she wants to hug me, and I'm like, stop, hold on. I'm sweaty. And just don't. But I'm also like, but don't think that I don't want you to hug me after I get out of the shower. I have to say these things. Because if you. If you don't hear me say these things, you're gonna be like, oh, he just keeps pushing me off. Why doesn't he want to touch me before I take. You know, there's all those little things.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, we ended the same thing with her. Hey, hold on. I gotta do this. And then I'm, uh, like, but don't. But give me a hug after, you know? And so we just. The constant reassurance of things. And she knows she has to put me in a situation. I don't like going on vacation. I think it's a burden. It's a waste of money. I can't stand it. Um, I don't like it at all until I'm there. Then I'm like, damn. But leading up to it, I'm stressed. I feel guilty. I've got to make sure that the crew is good. I got to make sure the jobs are good. And she's the planner, so she takes care of everything. And then I'm like, uh. But she knows she can't get mad at me because I'm driving the company. I know I can't get mad at her for booking this when we're in the middle of our busiest season because she wants family time. And so there's that, you know, that we have to just realize it's for the greater good. And then when we're there, we're like, yo. And it's fun.

Speaker A: But I think that's a real, real approach, though, like, in the sense of, um. I think sometimes when we talk about these things that make things survivable and really go beyond that to where, like, there's an opportunity to thrive a bit, is that we want it to feel like the movie.

Speaker C: Yeah. Ah, yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: Everybody is so in love that, like, they couldn't act out of alignment if they tried.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: And the reality of it is that's not true.

Speaker C: Ah.

Speaker A: That. That so much of succeeding in a relationship or in a business. Like you said, we were putting the reps in. It felt crappy. There was nothing sexy about it. Uh, but we did it anyways. And thankfully, now, this year, we're reaping the benefit of those reps. Yeah, that's the same shit that happens for everybody. Like, you like, having to. It seems like a pain in the ass. Or are you any less in love because you have to say out loud now, look, yeah, I do want to hug you. I just am gross, so just give me 10 minutes. Like, I think people hear that stuff and they Go. Well, if it was real love or if you're really, uh, in awe with each other, that's not required. Uh, and that's what destroys marriages because you end up not ever experiencing the raw self fueling of being this epic person to your partner.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: And then you act as if, if you went for outside of your marriage, that somehow you're going to find that relationship is going to feel like that and won't require any mechanical, you know, reminders or whatever. And that's what happens. Like that's kind of the false. You know, I feel like that we buy into.

Speaker B: Yeah. I think what I'm, I'm hearing a theme from you is you've really learned over the last 10 years or however long, like the importance of getting out of your head.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: And communicating what's in your head with the people around you, including your wife. This is like a thing between both of you. She's got to do the same. Mhm. The more you guys share, the more aware you are.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Of each other.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker B: The more aware you are of your crew, where they're at. Seems like. Because that was the question that kept. As you were talking. I'm like, God, this is a different

Speaker A: Freddy than I. Oh my gosh.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: It's not even from the summit days.

Speaker B: I'm like, man, what was the instigator? But it's just like.

Speaker C: Because a lot of that communication was just like, I know what answer you want to hear, so I'm just going to tell you that answer. I can just get out of here.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, and that's, that's one thing that I tell my wife too. I, I don't want to give you a yes or a no to whatever that you want to hear. Let me tell you how I really feel. I don't want to go on this vacation. I don't want to do these things. But I can assure you once we're there.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I'm going to enjoy it. So.

Speaker A: Yes, let's do it.

Speaker C: I need you to understand that, that uh, you're going to talk to, you're going to bring it up to you and be like, just, just, just know that one. When we're there, I'm good. But you gotta allow me to. I, I can't feel excited about it because I have the, the weight right now of, of the company. And when you're holding so much weight, man, you don't want to let go until you're ready to let go of it. I mean, you can, you can really crumble under that.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: Pressure. Yeah. But if you can hold on to it and drop it safely, you can pick it up again. That's what, you know, our biggest thing is. Like, just let me deal with it, how I deal with it. You know, I'm not a superhuman being. I'm not a David Goggins. I'm not just a regular dude that I'm having to navigate through my own emotions. I know you have your set of emotions. Let's communicate about those and. And then it will work. But I. I can't, like, tell you. Yeah, I'm so excited to go and so excited. And then I slip up and say something, and you're like, oh, so he doesn't want to go. And then we have this conversation about that, you know, so, you know, when you go, like, beast mode into the company, I talked with this a lot of people. You, like, forget your family. M. When you're trying to, like, build it, uh, your vision is just that there is no time for. For the family. If you really want to, like, progress. There's no way I can check in and check out, like, being Peter Parker and Spider Man. You. You. You gotta put the mask on to be Spider Man.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: M. I take it off to be Perry Parker. Yeah, you're building that. That business I had to come to terms with. And I told her, too, like, I have to check out. Like, I have to just get all this stuff dialed in. I'm gonna have to be out of town to get this project. I'm gonna have to do this, you know? And it turned into where it was really hard when my kids would see me in. In my wolf construction clothes. They knew dad was going out that day, and I had to just, like, you almost, like, hide putting on the clothes to leave because the daughter would be like, hey, you know, I thought we're gonna go to the park later. Yeah, Mom's gonna take you to the park. I just got to go do this thing really quick, you know? And then there's that struggle of a father leaving to go do this. But, man, the bills got to get paid. I got to get. The homeowner is going to sign the check today. They have it. You know, there's all these excuses, but it's because the business and, you know, the family. For me, I'm still figuring out how to make Peter Parker and. Yeah. Coexist.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I only say that because I just saw the movie recently, but like I said, like, dude, I. Now I'm so emotional as an adult. I see I'm just like. My son's like, are you great? I'm like, yes.

Speaker A: Uh, because you're like, like, dude, you

Speaker C: have no idea, man. Like, yeah, uh, I see the message here. You know, you see the messages and you see the things now as a. As an experienced person, as an adult, as a father, like, crap. Now I know what. My dad was just tired all the time, you know, like, um, I see why, you know, we were so poor and struggling because my parents didn't have a vision. They just didn't. And I'm not holding that against them. Yeah, but they just didn't. And I want to make sure I have that as the. As the foundation for my kids later, because, you know, I told my wife, basically, I'm sacrificing our. My body. I'm giving it all so that they can have a platform later if I can. If I can be the origin story to. To for them. That's my goal, is to just get them there. Because it took me so long to get here today, um, that I don't want them to have to, uh. I could not imagine them having to go through my struggle for them like that. Like, she's. Same with my family, you know, the struggle they went through to get. To just get me where I was like that. That's pretty much the driver, I think, with a lot of young or even just later entrepreneurs that just figure it out. They're like, fuck, I wasted so much time, um, just to get here.

Speaker A: Yeah. Um, if we could cut that down, you know, how old are your. Your kids now? What's the spread?

Speaker C: So I got one half, six and nine, and then my oldest is, uh, 17.

Speaker A: Okay. So here's. This is something that I feel like I've witnessed firsthand recently that I. I like sharing because I think it gives parents in the middle of the fight some level of reality check and affirmation at the same time. So sharing this with you again, this isn't a holier than thou. It's just like, I'm a decade and a half in front of you, your kids in the moment, it's weird. Like, Janet and I were just actually talking about this where, you know, our kids are privileged, dude, hands down. Like, when you look at their youth versus my wife and I's youth, and we had, you know, we actually didn't have the most horrible stories either. They had a good life. And in our protecting, in our wanting to do it differently, in our effort to give them a different shot, we also accidentally created an experience that for Lack of a better way to describe it. And this would probably be off putting to both of them. It's made them soft. So then what happens is as a parent is it's hard to look back and say, well, we should have made it hard, we should have been harder, we should have made it harder. I think we've messed it up, we've made them soft. And the reality of it is, hang with me is that now my son and my daughter are mid-20s and ah, my son is getting exposed to this idea of being a parent now for the first time. He's married to a woman who has a daughter. So our grandbaby Bibi, but she was like an already created individual by the time he rolled in. So he doesn't even, and this is probably a beer conversation for another time with him. But he thinks he understands what being a parent is but he doesn't know from Jamie's perspective because she was there from the beginning. And it's a very different path but in, in the exposure that he's having, he's recognizing. Like you said, like, oh my gosh, like the fact that all my friends came over and hung out in our game room above the garage was very unique and different and not normal. The fact that our home was a place that invited all of our kids as friends because we wanted to be the singular most influential parent group was different. The neighborhood they grew up in, the house that they grew up in, the access to schools that they grew up. Like all of a sudden now my son is recognizing because he's experiencing his own decision making hardships. He's starting to recognize what he's had. So here's my point is that you're going to go through this arc where when your kids are young they still have no, uh, you could be the most communicative parent on the planet. They don't have the context because you're not exposing them um, to the bullshit that you were exposed to. So it's like they have head knowledge but until you experience it in your guts, you don't really know. And so they, they on it. They, they don't give you the feedback loop that makes you feel empowered by this hard path that you're walking as a parent because these sacrifices that you're making and providing are being received well. Then they go through a phase where they begin to blame you for all the, that you didn't do. So then as a parent you're frustrated because like kid, your mom and I busted our ass and made every sacrifice under the sun to get you where you're at. And then all of a sudden, though, brother, if you hang in the pocket long enough, like, don't. Don't give up. Like, hang. Be positive and understand that then when they begin to get exposed to these things that they're forced, like you said, the outside catalyst makes them make a decision. And then all of a sudden they go, oh, my gosh. And so it's like, I think the encouragement to parents is. And sometimes we get those miracle families where you're just like, you hate them because their kids are like, come out amazing somehow. But for the rest of the normal world, you're gonna go through this cycle. And it's very hard not to give up on all the effort and stuff that you put in. But, man, when your kids recognize it, even though it may be a 15 year gap from when you made the sacrifice, you feel so honored and rewarded for that thing that you did 15 years ago because your kids now are recognizing it. So my encouragement to you as you go through this cycle is you're fighting the right fight. Don't give up. It could be 15 years before you hear that from your own kid.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: But when you do, dude, there is no sweeter song.

Speaker C: Yeah, I totally appreciate that because that's. That's definitely the sacrifice we hope.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, for. Because.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Yeah, there could. They could have a totally different father.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And so I am thankful that I'm at least giving him this version of the father because, man, yeah. Yeah, it sucks. Like you say, I hate that it took me so long to be this version of it, but I'm thankful that I eventually ended up there and I'm not. And there's so much more to grow and become and. And learn. And they'll teach me along the way as well, and other people. But my biggest thing that I always try to, you know, explain to people, it's just. Especially the younger males in this industry and the women too. But I can only speak from a male's point of view. Is that like not having a purpose when you're in blue collar?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Just do your. Your grinding. You're giving your body away for so many days and hours and months and years and no. No clear way of giving yourself any. No way out. You know, you're just like, yo, why? I'm just gonna go. This other contractor is gonna give me a little bit more money now. I'm gonna go there and there's another four years there. And then, oh, this other contractor, you know, gonna offer me a Vehicle. If I go there and then there's another four years there. And if that's what you want to do, great. But like not exposing yourself to other riches is, is something, you know, I tell my guys, if you ever find a better opportunity, please tell me. I will be a reference for you. Like, do it. That's great. You are taking a chance on me being motivated enough to continue doing this. Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, so if you ever find a better opportunity to do it. But I would love to see what that opportunity is that you're thinking is an opportunity.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: If you're going to like, not to crap on it, but if you're going to like McDonald's.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Versus from here.

Speaker A: Because it feels easier.

Speaker C: Yeah. I'm doing something wrong.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: For you. Um, but you know, it's really hard when I see, you know, like other companies. Sometimes I'll meet another competitor at a job and we'll be working alongside or looking at it and I uh, just see the crew and you can see potential. Uh, I can see potential in people fairly quickly when I meet them. You know, like that gut feeling.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And I'm just like, yeah. You know, like, is he getting taken care of here? You know, what does that look like for him? Or is he just another body that they're gonna just kick out of this? Yeah, he's just gonna, you know, lose three or four years.

Speaker A: Yeah. Uh, he'll end up back at the bottom of somebody's pyramid somewhere.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, listen dude, like, we gotta put a cap on this. Otherwise I think this will be a three hour Joe Rogan episode. Five minutes.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker A: Help us understand. I mean, because I think everybody's gotten a really clear picture, I know I have, of who you were, what you're becoming, current state. But I also am getting this perspective from you that you're also now thinking about the future more than ever. Give me like three buckets. Personal. So as a dad, as a husband, what's on the horizon for you that's got you excited that you want to lean in and invest your kind of time and energy and maturity into. And then same with the business. And then is there any non family business related hobbies or excitements that you have? Those are the three buckets.

Speaker C: Yeah. So trying to find more ways to make more time for the family is obviously a, uh, big one. My mother, she just recently had a mild heart attack. Calls me in the middle of the night, I'm like, what's going on? My dad suffers from vertigo, so I thought it was from him because he's wheelchair bound right now. It was for her. Never crossed my mind that it would be for her. And I'm just like, crap, I'm out there, the truck, I'm on the way to her. Take her to the hospital. We're there till like four in the morning. I'm not leaving her. You know, it's that role, that switch. She did everything when I was a kid. Now I got to do it for her. And I'm definitely not going to let my mom be there by herself. You know, it's so late in the night. I can't really tell brother and sister yet. Just seeing how that happened and just knowing that I need to be present everywhere for. Even to my mother, to my brother, my sister, my family. Having to focus more time to them is like, is definitely hard for me to, to figure out how to do, you know? Like, I. It's so hard to like, sometimes I have a hard time having a conversation with my daughter. I'm thinking about this and she's, you know, she's still on cocomelon time. You know what I mean? Like, so really trying to do more just family stuff where we shut everything down. It sounds so basic, but man, it's like it has to happen.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And I have to force us to do it. Just getting together. Like we. We're uh, building a playground on our property for the kids, you know, just so we can be out there. Even if we are working, at least we can be out there watching them on the playground. And, um, we're home doing what matters with them. Checking in with the parents every day. Every day. You know, just checking in, visiting, going over. But I definitely want to allocate myself more for that time and do less of the beast mode version of myself and focus more on that. Because you could lose it at any, at any moment. Yeah. Would I rather lose the business or family? You know, that's a, that's a big weight, you know. Yeah. Rather give the business up any day. But I gotta do both right now.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Gotta do both. Sure. Yeah. And then the other question, business. The, uh, business, you know, I was talking to Chris about this earlier is we're looking into possibly starting another business. So I would love to start a excavating, uh, company that's just more dialed into the commercial side of things that we do. The restoration is our bread and butter, fire and water mold. We love that. But there's this also, this other want that we're finding that people want us to do. And I would Love to start doing that more as well. For the business only. Because I feel like there's this. I was explaining to you that residential, you really learn how to take care of people's houses and homes and the job site in commercial, and you go to these big commercial sites, they don't care. There's just no sense of care for the property. But when we work on those properties, GCs and other people see how much effort we're putting in the care, and they're like, we want those guys to come back and do this. Give. Let's give them that. Well, uh, you can't. I don't want to do both. I don't want Wolf Construction to do. Be a, uh, we do everything thing. I just don't. I want us to just be that. But I would love to have something that does that, that I could hand off to somebody to do that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And, you know, I've got a buddy, Corey, that also is starting to do things like that too. And I think between me and him, we have enough capability, manpower to both let that build without giving all of.

Speaker A: All your time.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Especially with two people with the same type of mentality towards it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Because. Yeah, like I said, it'd be great to do that. It's not necessary that we do that. But that is something that I would love to have as a goal.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, I need another push. I need a goal. And then, who knows? Doing that, I learned something more about this.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: This really work. And then I realized this is where I should be. Or that we can do both. Because there's people that do both.

Speaker A: Yeah. For sure.

Speaker C: You know.

Speaker A: Yeah. That might be a. Might almost be a reward as you lean more into not having to drive all things.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker A: One of the remote, you know, rewards you may reap is, wow, I can actually pursue more than I thought I was capable of. Yeah.

Speaker C: Because there is a lot of work in that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, we've built. We've installed playgrounds, we've done the track, we've done concrete, we've done. We've done all these things that I never really thought we would do.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And then we do them, and then we're getting really good at them. I gotta put reps in it to be the best at it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: And if we could be the best, that's great.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, but if I don't get started now and it'll never happen.

Speaker A: Love it.

Speaker C: So, yeah, love that.

Speaker A: Are you gonna have any time for a Hobby.

Speaker C: I love fishing, and that's our biggest thing that I would love to do. So.

Speaker A: Because you all do it, right? Like, uh, your whole little crew.

Speaker C: No, but I forced them to be into it. Hey, I'll keep you on the clock if you go with me.

Speaker B: All right.

Speaker C: So we just recently won that Best of North.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Best of Willamette.

Speaker B: Congratulations.

Speaker C: Never thought that would happen. I told the guys, if we place, we will. I'll pay for a fishing trip for us. But we won the gold in it. I was like, damn. Yeah. Okay.

Speaker A: So now the local bass pond's probably not good enough.

Speaker C: And so I've had some contractor buddies that have boats, and so they're like, yeah, let's go salmon fishing. I'm like, I gotta figure that out. Because I. I want these guys to know that.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: That was not just something that was being said.

Speaker A: Like, they get the reward, and you can't let them shave your head or anything.

Speaker C: Yeah. So we. We. I want to do that. They're excited about doing that. And it's just one of those things that in the company, I want to be able to do those.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Building things with them. And some of them have never been fishing, so. Or caught a fish. So, like, cool. Like, let's do that. Let's. Let's give you that. Better catch one first. But, yeah, I'll get you hooked up. So, yeah, the. The hobbies is that. And, you know, with the social media thing, it is kind of turned into, like, just something I get kind of excited about.

Speaker A: Like, yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, you know, I'm trying to. The guys are more excited about it now too. We just had our first spiral video, like, 1.3 million views.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: A video that filmed at the end of our day. We didn't even set the props correctly, so the comments are just eating us. One person was literally like, you're a loser. I'm just like, but that's something we enjoy, and they get excited. So it is kind of like making the job environment a little bit more fun.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, because, uh, when you're scrolling, I was like, whatever you laugh at, that's what we should do. Because that's what it is. I got really bored about, like, here's our demo.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: You've probably seen this everywhere.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: But if I do a skit inside that, then it becomes a little bit more fun for us. So we're trying to do more skits. And so it's technically. It's like, mandatory. A half an hour after lunch, we do a video or two.

Speaker B: Wow.

Speaker C: Uh, and if it needs to be done in the morning because of certain things or at the end of the day, we do that. But every day we got to pump out two pieces of content.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker C: And it's just become rep. So now, like, when I'm editing. Okay, send. It doesn't have to be a commercial. Doesn't have to be the. We don't even. I don't even think I sell in any of our videos. Like, I'm.

Speaker A: You rare. Yeah. I don't think you've ever, uh. I think maybe sometimes like a zipper brand or something, but. And your last one is so epic, dude. Okay. So I want to point people towards you, obviously. 1. Because I think people have a lot to learn from what you're doing on social media. We didn't even have a chance to get into that. We may actually have you back on at some point, like, just to unpack that because you guys are having a lot of fun. You're doing great stuff with it. So where do I point people to find you both to learn from you on the social media side? And then obviously, as you being a restorer.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: There's a lot of single trades and companies that need a restoration partner here in Oregon and would like to seek you out that way. So where do we.

Speaker B: Where they need their high school or university track.

Speaker C: That's right.

Speaker A: That's right.

Speaker B: Yeah. Renovated.

Speaker C: Use it before you lose it. Money goes away. Uh, so Instagram, we are Wolf Construction Restoration. And on TikTok, on Facebook. On TikTok, we've grown in some followers. We don't have many followers, but we've grown. I have a couple of videos on there where I'm like, hey, you need exact met codes. Here they are. I just, you know, like, here's what I use. And I've had a lot of people just reach. I will pay you for that. I'm like, I don't really know how that's gonna work. I don't really want to deal with all that. Here's the. My chit sheet. Use it easy. And so we've had a lot of people that just have supported us because of my willingness to just like, to share. To share. And then like, when I have a new tool that I like, like our buddies at reuse it, people are like, whoa, Magnet doors.

Speaker A: And yeah.

Speaker C: You know, all these things. That's crazy. Yeah. I'm just using my. Like. Like try it out.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Get a little commission off of it. So it's awesome. Other little tools, you know, that I'VE picked up throughout the. Recently just got into 3D printing. My brain now, too, is just like, what have I been using? That has just been a struggle for me. And I want it to be different.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I'm gonna start. The equipment, like every technician knows is just the people and, um, that invented or come up with it. They just don't understand how we use it.

Speaker B: It.

Speaker C: They think they do. They don't. You know, you've seen the little metal tabs that hold the ducting. And you turn it on it.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker C: You putting tape over it looks trashy.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: So, you know, that's where my brain's at. Next to another little side quest is to start manufacturing or creating attachments and things like that. Learning how to use the process and then 3D rendering stuff and just seeing how it looks. Yeah, I would love to be. And also just like, personalizing gifts. Like, not to.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: But like, personalizing little gifts for homeowners, you know, or we work for the VA building downtown. So I printed off a couple little VA guys to have their logo and to give to them and just making things, you know, which I got from you from the Ritz Carlton thing. It was just like.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: A little extra step. Yeah. To just show that you're thinking about them off the job, you know, like, I'm not just here to, you know, finish it and, uh, get a Google review. Like, I took some time out of my night and, you know, design this and hopefully that you can remember the work that we put on here. But, uh. Or toss it. Filament was cheap, so. But there's that extra push that I've always wanted to do. Like, you know, like, are you okay? In our contracts, we say, are you okay with this posting on social media? So someone says, no. Then I don't.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: I take our company cam photos, for sure. Like, I don't make a video at their house. They're not comfortable with it.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: If they're comfortable with it. Hey, cool. Yeah, I would love to get the confidence to be like, would you like to be in it?

Speaker A: You know? Yeah.

Speaker C: But that's real hard to do.

Speaker A: Yeah. It'll come.

Speaker B: Uh.

Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker A: Because you're getting a huge. You're starting to get a following of people that are paying attention to what you're doing.

Speaker C: Well, and the biggest thing is, like, none of our competitors are doing it. Yeah. You know, the marketers are posting their happy fourth July.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yep.

Speaker C: And, you know, we're doing stuff daily just in the real important thing. And it's not just because I like seeing my face and stuff. The real important thing is I'm flooding Google, uh, with so much content up to date. Content, the date stamp to everything, the keywords that when people go to look for a service, I immediately pop up. Uh, Facebook and Instagram met are all one.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

Speaker C: Google integrated that. So, like, it's there for them to just see. And then we're always in red. We're always have the same type of gear. We always have our two savage sunglasses.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Uh, so we stand out.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker C: A little bit more. And so people just start to see

Speaker A: that, like, and recognize and trust it. Like, that's the Wolfgang. Yeah, that's who that. Yeah, I love it, dude.

Speaker C: And then they see the guy, like, we had our recent, uh, a job. We just went to an insurance claim. The guy called me because he's seen our videos. He knew we could help when we go there, and he's like, which one of you is Reuben? Oh, that's Ruben right there.

Speaker A: Nice.

Speaker C: The guys.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And they were like, yo. And I'm like, you see, like, it's fun. It's. Yeah, it's fun for them. And it's like, it allows the homeowner to know that we're. We're like, real. Like, we are really gonna show up, man. Gonna be a temp agency guy.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: Shows up and doesn't understand what he. He's doing that day.

Speaker A: Great example. Yeah.

Speaker C: You know, it's just like, oh, I've seen these guys work. I know this guy's capable. Have fun. I'll check him.

Speaker A: Yeah. Big trust builder.

Speaker C: Big trust. But, yeah, we, you know, you don't want somebody hovering over you.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: When they seen a. Just a catalog of who you are, and they can just. Yeah. Just trust that you're going to take care of the house and they can go do their shopping list for that day.

Speaker A: I love it. Okay, we. We got a close shop. I got to get this guy in

Speaker B: an order flight to the airport.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: Where you go? Yeah.

Speaker B: San Diego.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Okay. We're doing a workshop for restorers.

Speaker A: Teach some teams down there. Yeah. Road warrior action, bro. This was super fun.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: I'm really thankful that you. You chose to take time with us. I think we do want to get you back out at some point, maybe early next year, and kind of chat more about the tactics and techniques that you're deploying in your business. For those that. That didn't really get a vibe for this. Freddie's team at Wolf has been growing very quickly. They are succeeding. The social media is paying off the reps that Freddie said. Like, that would be fun to hear what those were. Yeah, because I think that that, uh, people will have more questions about that. But, dude, I mean, we tip our hat to you. We respect you and your wife and what you guys are doing so much. And bro, you have, I mean, you're a totally different man.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: You know, uh, than the years ago when we first met. So thanks for hanging out with us, dude. All right, everybody. Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of Headhart and Boots.

Speaker B: And if you're enjoying the show but you love this episode, please hit Follow Formerly known as subscribe, write us a review or share this episode with a friend. Share it on LinkedIn, share it via text, whatever. It all helps. Thanks for listening.