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Welcome to the Builder Hacks podcast, your go to destination for cutting edge strategies, time tested systems, and invaluable insights to revolutionize your construction business and elevate your life. Join your host, Nate Piper and Keith Mills. Seasoned contractors who are not just in the trenches, but are also pioneering the future of the industry through Concord University. In each episode, we dive deep into the minds of the industry’s most accomplished building professionals, uncovering their secrets to success and sharing actionable tips to help you thrive.
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Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or just starting out, our goal is to empower you to build a brighter future for yourself and for America. Tune in. Level up and let’s build a better tomorrow together. This is the Builder Hacks podcast. Build your future. Building America. So you want to say you want the junior college. Then I want the junior college.
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I failed, I failed speech like I failed in high school. I failed it twice in junior college. And then, you know, and I, I didn’t really I was there to play football. I wasn’t there, to be to be educated. Right. And so, my motivation was, was different. I didn’t what they were wanting me to learn and what I was there to do or two different things.
00:01:20:18 – 00:01:36:02
So I did the I did the bare minimum again. And in the education department, and this is where it’s weird. It’s like they want me to learn stuff and it’s like, I don’t really want to learn that, you know, that’s not that’s not what I want. If it was the thing you wanted to learn, you’re all over it.
00:01:36:06 – 00:01:56:24
Yeah. I mean, it’s like. So I would go to events. You’d have been in there in a heartbeat. Yeah. I mean, I was, you know, I was in the film room. I was, you know, doing drills. I was in the weight room. I was, I was engaged in everything that I wanted. Right. And everything that they were saying that I had to do to get to the thing that I wanted I would do, but it wouldn’t be.
00:01:57:01 – 00:02:20:10
I wasn’t getting a benefit out of it. And so I got through that. And then I did a transfer out to Unlv in Las Vegas, where, I had some family out there, my aunt and, my uncle and and all that. And he had a construction business out there as well, and he built a lot of apartment complexes and condos and things of that nature.
00:02:20:10 – 00:02:39:12
So was that where you got so did you get when you went out there? Did you get reengaged in that industry or or industry at that point or not? Well, yes and no. So as an entrepreneur, I always had 4 or 5 different things of making money along the way. And there’s always been a construction piece, a part of this.
00:02:39:12 – 00:03:00:22
Right? Even even in high school, even in junior college and everything else. I mean, I remember like right after high school, I had I had three jobs. I had one working at the airport, throwing bags. I had another one that was a transportation piece where I was driving people around. This was before Uber and all that. I had a big old van and I would drive people around and.
00:03:00:24 – 00:03:29:16
And then I also had my, like little, you know, construction remodeling kind of thing where I fixed fences and patched doors and, you know, help build this and that and worked around, I remember I had a skid loader there for a while and I’d run, run dirt around and have a dump truck. And, you know, I always had something engaged and and the physical aspect, because I understood one of the biggest components to kind of like elevate yourself through is doing physical work.
00:03:29:22 – 00:03:47:22
Right. And I knew I either had to have skills or I had to have muscle, right. And I was like, well, if I don’t have a skill, I gotta use the muscle. And so that’s where I got in and I just kept doing this thing that it was this handyman job that was, the low end stuff that nobody wanted to do.
00:03:47:24 – 00:04:01:06
I remember one time I went around and I scooped up poo out of, like, everybody’s backyard for all the dogs. And I was like, okay, well, yeah, I actually had a business around that. Neat. So I didn’t I didn’t tell you about that one, but I actually had a business where I was the person doing that for people.
00:04:01:08 – 00:04:22:14
Yeah. I mean, it’s I’m always looking for these opportunities. It’s like, okay, well if that’s an opportunity then I’m going to do it right. I, I never, I never said like, oh, that’s beneath me or no, I can’t do that job or, or what have you. So I was always kind of doing that even through college. and then I transferred out to, to Las Vegas.
00:04:22:14 – 00:04:45:20
And that was a different challenge because you know, trying to do walk on, play sports. I had, a job working as a valet parker. I had a job working, at the hospital. I had a job working for my uncle and going to school. I’m done. I’m just always, you know, trying to stuff day ball, right?
00:04:45:22 – 00:05:05:01
And. And so I’m learning stuff from each one of these, like, valet parking was really great because I had a lot of customer service experience, and I, I kind of got to dive into the corporate model of casinos and understand the inner workings of casino. And then I’m working at a hospital. So I’m understanding, you know, the customer service centers of hospitals and how does that work and how does this industry work?
00:05:05:01 – 00:05:24:21
And, you know, and then I was working and doing, you know, trim packages and laying out trim and and doing door cases and baseboards and all that, you know, in apartment complexes. Right. So I’m getting exposed to a bunch of different areas. And of course, I’m taking classes and I failed, speech again, if you would tell me.
00:05:24:21 – 00:05:40:15
So I failed at high school. I failed twice a year in college, and I fell. What? You know, Nate is consistent, if nothing else. Yeah, I’m, like, solid. Like, I know what I could do, and I know what I can’t do, and but it doesn’t matter. I keep trying at the things that I can’t do. And and keep going.
00:05:40:15 – 00:05:55:08
Exactly. You get get better every time. Yeah. You know why not? You know, I’m not going to take no for an answer just because I failed once or twice. Here I am on a podcast. you know, maybe I want to fail at this too, but who cares? I’m. I’m going forward. Exactly. You never know until you put it out there.
00:05:55:14 – 00:06:16:23
That’s it. And I’m not scared to. I’m not scared to put myself out there. And that that’s another key thing. Don’t be scared to put yourself out there. Put it out there. It’s not for you to decide whether what good or not. And when you when you say that. One of the biggest things and this is for anyone who’s listening to this, and especially if you’ve got like family or friends or like you’ve got to be doing whatever you’re doing now, or they’ve got the path laid out for you.
00:06:16:23 – 00:06:36:18
If you’re coming out of school that you’ve got to go to college or you’ve got the one thing to always look at it. So many people make decisions in their life based on what other people are going to think. Yeah, it’s one of the hardest things for so many people to get past. So if you can forget about what other people think and do, what’s going to be best for you.
00:06:36:22 – 00:06:55:18
So and for those you care about and for those around you. So that’s the best thing you can do so on your end. Because and look at it this way and I heard this from Alex Rosie. So is that one of the people that I go ahead and listen to. And he actually said, you know what, in 300 years, so I’m going to be dead.
00:06:55:20 – 00:07:13:09
And and all the people who are voicing an opinion right now are going to be dead. Two so that’s not going to matter. Then why should it matter now for what they say? So do not let what someone else is saying stop you from doing what you want to do and guess. Unless it’s against the law. I mean, we do have a line there somewhere.
00:07:13:11 – 00:07:41:09
but I, I don’t know someone else’s opinion. I don’t know how even good. You know, it depends on what law it is. least that’s my opinion, right? Like, you know, I still struggle with. I’ve bent a few towards my favor. Yes, I still struggle with seat belts. I just put that up, you know? well, but but then, you know, while I was in college, I also got to go and get indoctrinated into the same home building.
00:07:41:11 – 00:08:03:07
company that you got indoctrinated by, and so it was, it’s like I had skills. Did you get did you get your pin? I did get my pin. Did you? Yeah, I learned I learned that all really well, you know. And it was my choice. It was my fourth. It was like every day it was for us to trust me.
00:08:03:07 – 00:08:22:11
I stood up in front of the trailer and let’s repeat this, was six. Oh, you did yours at the trailer. They had us do it at one of the events, like one of the quarterly events where everybody was together in the room. Well, we we did that. But then my my CRM made me do it in front of him and the other guys every morning.
00:08:22:14 – 00:08:40:14
Right. Because I kept screwing it up and I couldn’t do it right. And he was like, I got to get back up there. We’re going. You’re like, I failed speech. What do you expect exactly? I like, I keep this thing up. He’s like, you messed up the, you know, let’s go back through. You know, it’s like, it was.
00:08:40:16 – 00:09:01:05
Well, anyways, I, you know, it was it was a great learning experience because it gave me a different perspective. And I understand it like, yeah, what is what is the interactive or the interaction between this trade and that trade and how this I knew I knew my piece right. Like I had right old shingles on the roofs.
00:09:01:05 – 00:09:23:11
I had painted apartment complexes. I had swept up big construction warehouses, I had laid flooring, I had done plumbing. I had like I had installed windows, like I had done all of these things. Yeah. You know, growing up in high school for, you know, my family and my friends and family, you know, and I just it was just I did it all.
00:09:23:13 – 00:09:51:15
But then the see, how does it tie all together into working systems right inside of a building starts bringing us together for you. Yeah. I mean, in, like, it’s kind of like when you, you know, the matrix, right? When Neal opens up and he’s like, oh, wow, this is what the real world looks like, right? And it’s not all pretty sunshine and rainbows, but it’s kind of like dark and dingy, but you understand, like, oh, this is real.
00:09:51:17 – 00:10:12:15
That’s make believe. And you’re supposed to make the real stuff look, make believe and and kind of go through that. So yeah, I can I mean it it made sense. And and so that’s kind of where I, I dove into that understanding. And then I went ahead and quit that job. Where are you going to school for anything around construction or what are you going to school for.
00:10:12:15 – 00:10:36:20
No, I was going to school for business, for business administration and business marketing and I’m 12 hours short of my degree. What you use every day. Yeah. Yeah, well, I’m 12 hours short of my degree. Yeah. So. Oh, okay. And and I have no, no intention to go back and that’s it. So I mean it’s the same thing we’ve talked about that before.
00:10:36:20 – 00:11:04:11
I mean I’m the same way as far as that goes. Went to college and stepped away. So because it wasn’t the right thing for me. And I know there’s so many people, especially in this industry, that’s a word that has definitely been what it is. And, you know, the one thing I think about whenever I look at those pieces is, was it what was the reason why or what’s the similarity, why so many people I know in construction have been successful in owning businesses that they stepped away from, even if they went down that route, stepped away and stepped out and decided to go a different path than, you know, what was that?
00:11:04:12 – 00:11:25:01
What was there a point whenever you did that, that you looked at and said, this just isn’t for me? Was there something that clicked so that that made you make a choice, or was it just something that happened? Yeah. I mean, it was I wasn’t there, I wasn’t there for the right reasons. Right? I went there because I wanted to be an athlete.
00:11:25:05 – 00:11:50:04
And then I got to a point where I knew that I wasn’t going to be that athlete. Like, I went, I went to a few combines. I went and practiced, with different teams and, and realized that my athletic ability was good enough to be in there, but I wasn’t the guy that they were looking at being that person, like like my demeanor didn’t fit with their culture, right?
00:11:50:04 – 00:12:11:01
Like, and I get it. I didn’t understand it then. I understand it now. Like, right. They wanted they wanted a Tom Brady type of person. Right? And right. As I was coming out, he was coming out. But they didn’t even want Tom Brady. You know, they they he was until a sixth round. So yeah. Exactly. Yeah. They didn’t even want a Tom Brady.
00:12:11:01 – 00:12:29:19
They, they wanted like a John Elway. They wanted like a Troy Aikman. They, they wanted they wanted a solid, you know individual. And and I didn’t can’t I can’t miss prospect. Right, right. And I didn’t fit their prospect in you know had the arm had the ability had the talent had the footwork had all these these different things.
00:12:29:24 – 00:12:53:01
But I didn’t I didn’t fit into their box of what they were looking for. And I realized that and I had a hard conversation, you know, with the head football coach. And it was just kind of like one of those things like, I need to find a different path. And once I once that kind of came into it, then it was like, okay, well, I don’t need to go to college anymore because that’s not there for me.
00:12:53:06 – 00:13:17:16
Right? And so I went on and I said, well, if I’m not going to be a star, the star athlete, I want to be a gazillion heir. And, what what if I want to make more money than the star athlete makes? Yeah, I want to, Well, I said I said, well, hell, if they’re not going to take me as a as an athlete, then I want to be a I want to be I want to be a franchise owner has got NFL team.
00:13:17:16 – 00:13:35:15
Exactly. And the only way I could that is if I got a good jillion dollars. Right. So how do I make a good deal? You know, and, you know, I like to so my mentality is a little out there. I’m just I’m just warning you guys, like, I think a little bit differently, you know, it’s like I don’t have I don’t have guardrails, you know.
00:13:35:17 – 00:13:54:10
Well. And the one thing that you look at though, and that’s this is one of the interesting pieces though, is the people that I know. So that I’ve talked to horror business owners who have been successful at it, that the reason why they get there is because they’re not that person that thinks in the box. They think what, what so many people and, and call it the regular world.
00:13:54:15 – 00:14:15:16
So I would say they’re, they’re like, they’re in a dream world. So they’re not thinking, you know, logically, they’re way past reality is what it comes down to. And here’s the thing to take away from that, everyone is watching it. Realize that. So the people who are successful, the people who dream way bigger than anyone ever thinks is possible, and when they’re calling you crazy, you’re in the right spot.
00:14:15:18 – 00:14:35:07
That’s it. So that’s when you know you’re on the right path. I mean, how many, how many like early 20 year olds are like, all right, if you’re not going to take me, then I’m just going to become the owner of the NFL team. And and I already know what I already know is NFL. Do I want to buy any I do, I want to go get that team and I want to do this and I’m, I, you know, you’re a little bit outside you really.
00:14:35:07 – 00:14:55:09
But it didn’t matter to me. So then I transition. I was like, well, I want to be in finance. Right. So and and then I was like, well, the people that go to the stock market make a lot of money. I’m going to go there and so that was that was the next venture and realized really quickly, I am not a broker.
00:14:55:11 – 00:15:17:10
I can make picks, I get, I can go through the process, but I can’t live their lifestyle. I can’t be in the box, the guy with a tie, I can’t do the the 19,000 phone calls a day and then turn around and go to the bar and just pound, you know, shots at shotgun shots and then end up, at a ladies joint, you know, try to pick up on girls and all this.
00:15:17:13 – 00:15:36:08
Like, I couldn’t live that lifestyle. That wasn’t that wasn’t me. That was right. I did it for, you know, a while, and and it just it felt icky. I didn’t I didn’t like myself. I didn’t like the process. I didn’t like any of it. And, you know, it was just a lot of hard, hardships. Right. And and I’m trying to figure out who am I.
00:15:36:09 – 00:15:56:18
Right? Because my whole identity has been. That’s the key that’s been tossed out the window. My identity was like, I’m a I’m a star athlete. That was my identity. And I’m a star athlete who’s also a hustler. So that was that was a hard combination, then finally figured it out. And now it’s like, okay, you’re not doing your team businesses and you’re not being an athlete.
00:15:56:18 – 00:16:21:06
And so who are you? Right. And I know I fit clue right was completely off. And about this time there’s a hurricane that hit. And I’m trying to figure out life and all this. And I’m hating where I’m at. And, you know, I get a phone call and it’s like, hey, we got this hurricane. Do you know anybody you know can come down and help and be a part of this?
00:16:21:07 – 00:16:41:04
And I said, well, I’m tired of where I’m at. Let me come on down for a weekend. went down there and something happened to me. Right. It’s kind of like, kind of like your dream that you had where you’re, you know, you wake up and you’re like, it’s so vivid and so real, right? Well, something happened to me when I got down there, and it was.
00:16:41:04 – 00:17:09:08
This was like total destruction, chaos there. There’s everything’s like a war zone kind of component, right? Like nothing’s working. Right. And there was this peace in this calm, that kind of like, oh, this is this is intriguing, but yet this is where you’re supposed to be. And, you know, I’m three days into it, you know, waist high and mud and slush and crap and trees and all kinds of things.
00:17:09:08 – 00:17:27:24
Challenges galore. Didn’t have water, didn’t have food, didn’t have, you know, and, and I fell in love. Right. And it was, it was a is a different type of love than what I’ve experienced, because it was a love that I have, like true passion for. Right? Like, I had a love for football. Right. And I had a love for for baseball.
00:17:27:24 – 00:17:52:18
And I had love for, for, you know, playing basketball, do these things. But having that, that passion, that love, that feeling of accomplishment and, and the thing that I was doing was something like I never experienced before. And I and I’d been in construction and I had worked on thousands of projects and all that, that that’s why. Do you think it was different that that time?
00:17:52:20 – 00:18:13:03
You know, I think it was watching the transformation was really the thing that got to me because I later on in life, you know, you learn things as you gotta go through life and you kind of, you know, look backwards in a mirror and be like, like, what did that happen there and what? But I think it was the transformation, watching something that been destroyed by by nature.
00:18:13:05 – 00:18:36:04
Right. Like, it’s not like you got into a car accident just like, oh, that’s one thing. No, we’re talking blocks and miles of devastation. We’re just like, wiped it all out, right? And you sit back and you look at this stuff from a from a perspective of like, there’s something bigger than me in this world that can do this kind of damage, right?
00:18:36:06 – 00:19:04:06
Whether whether you believe in, in the universe or you believe in God or you just believe in Mother Nature as a whole and there’s all working together, whatever your beliefs are, when you come on to something like that, you realize how small you are as an individual, and then you see the transfer that happens from this destruction that wiped this out to getting it cleaned up, to then getting it rebuilt back into a better condition than what it was.
00:19:04:08 – 00:19:33:02
And you see that transformation that happens not only in the physical structure, but also in the person who had it happen to you and you. You get this overwhelming feeling of like. This is awesome. And it it grabbed hold of me and says, this is what you need to do. And so that’s so you’re saying you almost, almost felt like you were called because when it comes down to.
00:19:33:04 – 00:19:56:21
Yeah, I mean, because what I was doing before I was completely miserable, you know, I was making some cash and more cash and I probably should have it in my early 20s, early mid 20s. But, you know, I wasn’t doing the appropriate things with it. I was spinning it like crazy. And I, I still remember I had made my, my first million dollars before I was 23, and I spent $2 million before I was 24.
00:19:56:21 – 00:20:15:19
So I didn’t want to look at that like, you know, if you’re if you’re the United States of America, you look at that as a normal day at the office. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, like, sign me up. Congress. I can do that job. Yeah. But, you know, that’s those are the life lessons, and that’s what kind of grabs me.
00:20:15:19 – 00:20:35:15
And then it just began, right? And then I didn’t fight the process. I just I didn’t argue with it. I wasn’t competing with it. I just got into alignment with it. And then it was like, okay, where are the things that that work and where are the things that don’t work? Well, I’ll tell you the thing that didn’t work.
00:20:35:17 – 00:20:54:16
Waking up at 8 a.m. did not work because by the time you got to the job site at 830 9:00 in the morning, you had a ton of problems and it was just problems all day long for the rest of the day and in the evening and playing catch up. Then I learned how to get ahead of the eight ball, right?
00:20:54:16 – 00:21:22:14
Like, how do I get so far ahead of it that I’m doing the night before stuff before the morning even came? So now how do I get ahead of these pieces? Right. And I started figuring these things out. That worked for me. And I did the physical labor, most of our jobs, you know, throughout my 20s, I did I moved up into management pretty fast, and it was kind of like managing project, but I never I never wanted to just be a manager.
00:21:22:14 – 00:21:40:13
So I always was like in the trenches with the guys, all of us, because I just did it as a kid and it was just like second nature. I just dive in and get my hands right. I know that that’s not for everybody and every manager that I’ve tried that like, no, once I’m at this level, I’m supposed to be, you know, delegated and and I’m like, yeah, that’s that’s true.
00:21:40:15 – 00:21:59:01
Me personally, I loved being in the trenches. I loved doing the work. I loved getting my hands, you know, it’s it’s still, you know, I look at that as the, the, paradoxical part of it because if you look could talk to the business owners and things like that, most business owners would still get out there and do whatever it was.
00:21:59:07 – 00:22:16:23
And it’s it’s part of it. And this is a lesson for everybody when you want to go to that next level, you do whatever it is that needs to be done. And I’ve had that conversation and, you know, especially coaches and entrepreneurs for, you know, 15 years now, part of that conversation is you need to be doing what’s your highest and best use, what’s going to be the maximum ROI for you, your business.
00:22:16:23 – 00:22:37:23
So the team that you’ve got and everything. And there’s times where I’m the same way, Nate still to this day. So you’ll walk on a jobsite and you’ll see a broom in my hand because I got there and the job site wasn’t clean the way I want it to be clean, I did it. I’m going to make it that way because I, my homeowner, may be the next person in or someone who’s looking at my project in the future and or my trades when they get there.
00:22:37:23 – 00:22:54:09
If they walk into a messy job site, well, they don’t have to worry about cleaning it up because it wasn’t clean when they got here. Yeah. So you step in and you do what needs to be done, and that’s where most successful people will do those same things without thinking twice. Whereas you get the managers a lot of times be like, that’s not my job anymore.
00:22:54:09 – 00:23:15:18
That’s somebody else’s job. So and it’s it’s a key. Look at that. If you’re looking to be successful, always do more. And and there’s no job that is beneath you. There’s no question about that. It’s whatever needs to be done for this business to succeed is what your job is. And it’s so many times that I’ve seen, and I know the managers that will become owners and the managers that will always be managers.
00:23:15:24 – 00:23:37:20
Right. And you, once you’ve been through this cycle so many times, you’re able to identify these pieces. But it really comes down to the people that that have extreme ownership and everything that they do end up rising, that that cream rises to the top, and then they become the owners that then have all the rest pieces. And, and some people just want to be managers and that’s where they’re comfortable like that.
00:23:37:20 – 00:23:57:12
That’s awesome. That’s that’s it. You know, that works. That’s what makes you happy. Then do that. That’s fine. Yeah. For me, I still love getting out and going on the job site, and I always love finding the, you know, a young guy. And he’s they’re always scared of me when I jump on the job site. So they run around or they’re busy and they’re doing busy work and look busy.
00:23:57:12 – 00:24:13:15
The owners care. Yeah. The owners here do something, do something, you know? And so I get over there like, come on, come with me. Let’s let’s look at this. What are you doing? Let’s let’s make sure that we’re in alignment here. And I want to make sure it will show me how to do this. And then he’ll show me his process.
00:24:13:15 – 00:24:36:13
And I’m like, okay, that’s good, but let me give you a trick. Let me show you something else. Let me, let me let me extend this out to you so that you have a better way of doing this or just a different way in case something comes up in the future. And I physically get in there, and I show them how I do it, and I work with them hand in hand just because I want them to understand, like, this is bigger than me, this isn’t about me, this is about you.
00:24:36:15 – 00:24:56:13
And I’m giving you an opportunity and I want you to have that opportunity. But I want you to be as the most successful that you can be and that opportunity. And to do that, you need someone that’s going to guide you, that’s been there before you, and you need someone that you can learn off of. So I always love being able to go out on jobsite and kind of go through those pieces, because that’s what makes the difference in you’re right.
00:24:56:13 – 00:25:16:18
That’s that makes a huge difference in especially in this industry. And it’s like if you’re if anyone who’s out there right now, you’re like, I don’t know what I want to do, you know, am I going to am I going into a change in my life and I’m going to make a different choice about something like working with someone like Nate, doing those types of things like that, who wants to get out there and actually show you the skills and the processes and the way that it can be done.
00:25:16:18 – 00:25:33:00
So in the way that in that case has worked for decades now, with his businesses. So I’ve gone ahead and creating those pieces. But getting with someone who’s got the experience and literally being able to work hand in hand and, and whether you want to call that apprenticing with them because that really isn’t. But he’s learning, he’s mentoring, he’s coaching them.
00:25:33:05 – 00:25:48:16
So along that process. So this is the time to be able to do that. because of the fact that there’s still a lot of people like Nate that are out there. The challenge is, if you’re thinking about ever getting into construction, now’s the time to do that, because a lot of them are starting to get to the point where they’re starting to step away.
00:25:48:18 – 00:26:06:21
Yeah. And then we start losing that knowledge. And I know that’s one of the pieces for us of why we do what we’re doing and how that’s what drives you. And your businesses. Well, it’s one of those things that just helps drive. I mean, when you start looking at like, I probably know how to hang doors like 30 different ways, you know?
00:26:06:23 – 00:26:31:13
Right, 30 different ways to hang doors. Yeah. You know, and it’s like, if you only know one or 2 or 3, then that you’re just kind of like, you’re left with that. It’s like you’re going to find that architects draw things really well, and then to be able to implement what they’ve drawn is something completely different, because walls are straight, they’re they’re not 90 degree angles.
00:26:31:15 – 00:26:57:13
And you’re going to get doors, door frames in and move things. And this is like all the differences. Right. And and so learning these different tricks will help you when these things come up. Right. So they try to figure things out. And so that’s what I try to do I try to help them. No different ways of doing things so that they have an understanding of like nothing is is impossible.
00:26:57:13 – 00:27:13:04
Everything is possible. You just have to have the right balance to be able to implement it at the right time. And so that’s all right. So you came down to get back into where your story was. You came down for the hurricane. So we’re fixing things. So yeah, cleaning up after the hurricane and putting everything back together. Yeah.
00:27:13:04 – 00:27:33:10
So that you were working for somebody else then. Right. Or was this your own piece? No, I, I ended up getting with another guy, and then we became. I worked for him and then we became partners and and then that became our thing and we did that. I, I did that for a while. me and him had a business for about four years, five years together.
00:27:33:12 – 00:28:04:11
And during that time I also became an insurance adjuster and insurance appraisal person. And so I would be doing other pieces, became, a master in water damage and mold mediation and structural engineering. I kind of went back to school and kind of learned some of those pieces and kind of put that back in. So during that time frame, I was doing jobs and learning at night time because this is kind of like my thing, process for everybody.
00:28:04:13 – 00:28:23:00
Yeah. And, I had my first kid and, the relationship, you know, kind of went away because I was spending so much time learning business and doing things that I wasn’t paying attention to family life. And and for those of you guys that are out there, this is, you know, this is kind of common, like things happen in life, right?
00:28:23:02 – 00:28:42:08
Yeah. Very common in the industry. Yeah. And you got to be able to kind of like know what you’re doing and kind of make choices and decisions. But at the end of the day, I made the right decision by being able to maintain, you know, my future knowledge in an industry so that I could provide for him. And, and, and we worked through some of these things.
00:28:42:08 – 00:29:02:14
I mean, you’re never always going to pick out the perfect mate. And if you don’t, then, you know, you have these struggles and things that you have to go through. This is and here’s the other part. There’s a ton of people that are out here going through the same thing. Right? So not everybody picks the high school sweetheart makes down the the white picket fence road.
00:29:02:14 – 00:29:21:07
And it has all of the things like that’s the lie that Disney sold us. And I love Disney. But that’s a lie. The woman has a lie. The man has a lie. We as a society believe the lie. But it doesn’t always happen that way. So you have to be able to be adaptable. You have to do what’s right for you so that you can do what’s right for the family.
00:29:21:07 – 00:29:44:22
And I’m a firm believer in, you know, a man should do what a man has to do to be able to provide, even if it means suffering for him. So in order to provide forward. But we can get into that in other episodes. But, I had a child raising him in different locations, trying to do be a good father, but also trying to, you know, have a business and, and go through development.
00:29:44:22 – 00:30:04:19
So I had a lot of free time at night to be able to read books and kind of go through those pieces. had a stronger hold, got into rebuild. So once you tear it out, you got to rebuild it so that a lot of those, and that went on and then got into real estate, I had a flipping homes.
00:30:04:19 – 00:30:26:13
That was another piece, added that on there and got hit with the 2008 crash and, you know, lost a bunch of money there. And we forget those days. And I want to forget those days because those checks were big. well, and realize whenever Nate says, forget those days, he mean, he means you learn the lessons, so.
00:30:26:15 – 00:30:43:20
But you don’t actually forget that. You forget the pain. The pain dulls. That’s what happens over time. So the the lessons live on forever. And that’s that’s part of every process as a, as whatever you do in life. So you have challenges of the pop up. You learn from the challenge and you for the pain dulls over time.
00:30:43:22 – 00:31:10:18
but you do keep moving forward. You take what you learned there so that it doesn’t repeat itself in the same way. It’s literally what I tell all of my teams. as you’re working on the job site, I don’t expect to see the same challenge pop up a second time. So there are one time challenges. We figure out what the solution to the challenges, what could have been done upstream to to prevent the challenge, and then put the process in place to make sure that that is the way that it happens as we move forward so that we don’t repeat this and revisit this multiple times.
00:31:10:20 – 00:31:16:02
Yes.
