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All of these are learned skills. And in the point of it is, is that you might not know how to do it when you start, but you learn how to do each one of them. And then once you get through those, then you can now take that experience to the next job and the next level. Welcome to the Builder Hacks podcast.

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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 keep meals 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.

00:01:14:07 – 00:01:33:26
In this week on the podcast, we’re going to dive into something that we get asked all the time. When I’m I’m talking to somebody new. They’re like, whenever they come into the company, like, what do I need to do to be successful in this? So I definitely think there’s some key traits, as in the building itself. So and some of these are definitely be things that follow in whatever industry might be in.

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But there’s definitely some keys for any of the building trades so that go across the board. And it’s one of the things that we’ve seen. So I definitely want to go through and cover that with you. And you know what? I’m going to I want to do a make a little a little game out of this for you if you’re okay with that today.

00:01:48:17 – 00:02:02:15
Absolutely. All right. Awesome. So we’re going to cover some of the traits. And when we get done with the trait. So it’s the question was is well do I need to have that. Do I need to bring that to the game first? So, you know, do I need to have that before I come and work in the building trades?

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Is this something or is this something I want to learn whenever I come in? Is this something that’s going to be taught to me on how to go ahead and do whatever this trade is that’s important for the industry. So and you know what? There might even be a couple of them. So words it could be either or both as you’re going through it.

00:02:17:00 – 00:02:36:17
All right. I’m up for this challenge. All right. That’s what we love to hear. All right. Now one of the big things everyone always thinks about is, I mean, they think building is something that is technical in there, right? So it is technical. So you’re going to want to have some proficiency in certain skills. So possibly tools things, things like saws nail guns.

00:02:36:17 – 00:02:53:28
So depending on which part of the industry you’re in, measuring tools no matter what part of the industry you’re in. So those are some of the technical skills, just the easy basic pieces. So that you might want to have. So whenever you come into the industry or might that could be something that you’re going to develop here. So with that kind of a skill mate.

00:02:54:00 – 00:03:13:14
So when you talk technical, are there any other technical skills that you think no matter what the trade is that they would need to have. So and then we’re going to ask you bring it or learn it. Great question. The only caveat that I’d have to it would be if you’re going to be an architect, that’s a little bit more defined skill.

00:03:13:15 – 00:03:42:21
But all of those skills are learnable skills. And if you’re physically doing the job, all of it can be learned on the job site. You don’t have to bring it. Everybody’s going to teach you exactly how to do it right. It is one night when you started, did you have the technical skills when you started? No, when I got started, it was pick up that broom and push it and I’ll tell you.

00:03:42:24 – 00:04:00:00
And I was horrible. I didn’t know how to sweep. I didn’t know how to. I didn’t know how to do any of that. I made, like, you know, dust piles and multiple areas and broke the dust across the floor, and I didn’t I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t set up. But today I could sweep a room.

00:04:00:00 – 00:04:15:18
Really fast. Yeah. And it’s and it’s literally funny that you say that because everyone always thinks, and I’ve had so many people that like a lot of the trades for the guys that work with us, so are my subcontractors. They’ll be like, yeah, I told them to go sweep the house and I don’t know what he did. It doesn’t look like he did anything.

00:04:15:19 – 00:04:31:07
I’m like, did you show him what you meant? No. He’s like, well, no, he doesn’t know how to sweep a house. I’m like, it doesn’t matter whether he knows how to sweep. You have a sweep of house your way when you want those. When it comes down, you know. So it is. It’s good. No, it’s one of the things.

00:04:31:09 – 00:04:49:03
All of these are learned skills. And in the point of it is, is that you might not know how to do it when you start, but you learn how to do each one of them. And then once you get through those, then you can now take that experience to the next job and the next level and the next thing.

00:04:49:03 – 00:05:05:25
Right. These are just you have to have it before you start. This is you start to have it. And it’s it is definitely one of those things where a lot of it’s learned. I’m the same way Nate was as far as that goes whenever I came. So he I think he got it easier than I got it. You know Nate got to go ahead and push the broom.

00:05:05:25 – 00:05:25:24
I was told to go pick up all that lumber over there and move it from here to the back of the house. Yeah, that was my those were my jobs, you know, get those shingles up on the roof. So take that off the wall. I had to I had to upgrade the those. I had a guest house, I did I was a, I was on the bottom end of the totem pole, like real hard at like below the maggot belly.

00:05:25:24 – 00:05:42:06
So, you know, I’m talking about I had to I had to earn my way to be able to carry them. It was to trust me with that. Either that or your contractors, Nate, were worried about the appearance of the jobsite and the safety of the jobsite also. And mine weren’t. That could have been into I don’t know. But my my were my we were like, let’s give this man torture.

00:05:42:11 – 00:06:00:17
Yeah. Give them the proof. They got a fail. All right. Awesome. One of the other things that comes in as far as a, a skill that you’re going to want to have. So in the industry is knowledge of building codes. And this is a little different depending on where you’re at. So because like if you’re the framer you’ve got structural codes.

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You’ve got to know same as like the Masons and things like that. Whereas if you’re one of the trades, which we always call maps, which is the mechanical, the electrical, so in the plumbing, so if you’re any of those, they’ve got another set of codes that they need to know. Now. They also need to know some basic building codes because they don’t want to see the Hvac guy that comes in and cuts all your floor trusses to run the main trunk line through the house, because that’s the most convenient place to do it.

00:06:24:27 – 00:06:41:09
So that type of thing. So they have a few things they need to know. So is that something that when they come in, is that something they’ve got to learn, or is that something they need to know when they come into the industry? If you’re coming into the industry, you don’t need to know that either. You will be taught what all these things are now.

00:06:41:09 – 00:07:00:12
You’ll probably be taught wrong the first time, but if you’re lucky enough to get somebody to teach you right, good. But you’re going to learn. They’re going to teach you. You’re going to see it. You’re going to ask questions. You don’t have to know all this stuff. Like we started talking about like mastery, right? And we’ll probably get into an episode about mastery in the future.

00:07:00:15 – 00:07:22:12
But mastery is once you’ve kind of like, know how to do it with your eyes closed. Right now, you’re just in the beginning stages of like, can I put on my sheet? Right? So don’t worry about mastery. Worry about like what’s in front of you today and everything on a jobsite is going to be taught to you. And if it’s not up to you, then you need to go find another person that’s going to teach you.

00:07:22:15 – 00:07:35:26
And one of the tips that I would give you, especially on the learning side of things like this, and I think this is something that gets overlooked a lot. And like on my team, it’s one of the pieces I talk about all the time. I mean, when you’re in the field and you’re learning a trade, you may not be able to have a notebook with you to write things down.

00:07:36:02 – 00:07:51:12
So what I would say is, you know, either on your way home or if you’re at break, you know, pull out a notebook, write some of these things down, especially as you’re learning them, because then you’re able to go back and review them and have them. So because at some point you may get left on a job site, you’re the person that take care of something.

00:07:51:14 – 00:08:06:26
Well, and you may not, you may go, oh crap, because it’s easy whenever you or somebody else and they’ve talked to you about it 13 times, that first time, you’re by yourself and you’ve got to remember it on your own. That’s a whole different ballgame. So when it comes down to so go ahead and keep it. Some notes like that would be a good thing.

00:08:06:26 – 00:08:28:22
It’s something I recommend to all of my team. I know that for sure. Well, I recommend everybody keep it a notebook in their truck or their van with them. Right. And writing down these little tips and tricks. And at the end of the day, here’s another good, here’s another good one, I don’t I really talked about this too much, but, when I was kind of growing up and going through this whole process, I did it.

00:08:28:22 – 00:08:50:18
And I’ve taught a few other people, but don’t really talk about it too much. But at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, if you have a notebook, write down what you learned that day. Just a quick little one sentence, one paragraph. What did I learn that day before you go to sleep? Because once you go to sleep, you’re going to forget half of the stuff that you learned, and you’re not going to remember what happened the day before.

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But if you do it right before you go to sleep, you’ll remember it. And then it becomes this logbook that you can go back and reference in the future anytime you come across these things. Because, if you get far enough down the road, you’re going to forget all of the things that you learned in the beginning and you’re going be left with be like, what?

00:09:09:09 – 00:09:30:05
How did I do that? All this, you know, it keep you keep a logbook of all of the things that you learned. It’ll be valuable. It’s one of those things that by doing that written version. So it’s it’s one of those pieces that so many people don’t realize this, but if you write it, you’re involving another sense. And what that extra sense does is it actually embeds it deeper with you by going ahead and doing that.

00:09:30:08 – 00:09:52:28
so I, I do that same thing. I write stuff down all the time, and people are always like, well, why don’t you just go ahead and, you know, digitally put it in, you know, something? Whether it’s I say like, it doesn’t it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t stick, doesn’t the same way. So now I will one of the things I will do, especially when I’m in the field and something new comes up, I have an app that I use called Otter, so which is one where you can actually just speak and it records everything and then transcribes it too.

00:09:53:01 – 00:10:04:15
So that’s my way to capture quick notes whenever I need to in the field. And I can capture a note and then I take that later on in the day. So and then move that to wherever it needs to be moved to. Or if it’s a skill like that, that’s something that you’d be able to go ahead and log in.

00:10:04:15 – 00:10:25:15
But I would highly encourage you to write it like Nate was talking about, just to get it at a deeper level. Yeah, it’s just memory. All right. So those those pieces there are both learn learn on job site. Perfect. So the next thing that we have and it’s one of those funny ones so that that there’s so many people that I talk to in school.

00:10:25:15 – 00:10:42:20
And I know Paige, whenever she was going through school, she’s like, do I really need to learn this math stuff? do I need to know about how to go ahead and do all these different things? So mathematical skills. Nate, is this something you know, because I know how often I’ve got to calculate things, especially on an estimating side.

00:10:42:22 – 00:10:57:28
Well, whenever you’ve got to do like, hey, I’ve got to put tile on some kind of flooring that’s going in this area here. How much flooring do I need? So I know I need to have math skills for that. Is that something that is you bring with you? Is that something that you learn so, or is that some combination of everything?

00:10:58:00 – 00:11:18:01
It is it is both. Right. So you have to bring a basic level of math. Right. And what I mean by basic level of math, you have to be able to add and subtract, right? Possibly multiply divide. That’s possible. Right. And you don’t even have to be that great. But you have to be able to add and subtract, right.

00:11:18:01 – 00:11:39:21
You have to be able to know, hey, go get those ten boards over there and bring them over here right. Or you know, you need to go pick up ten, ten bricks or eight bricks or 18 bricks or whatever. You have to be able to count, right? You have to be able to add things together. Right? I mean, we’re talking about like, I’ve had some guys that struggled at math, right?

00:11:39:21 – 00:12:09:08
And they struggled with counting and they struggled. And these are grown men. Right. But right. You know, we worked with them anyway. They, they I found that if they have a basic level of math, right, like you, you graduated you know elementary school. You now have a basic level math. I can work with you right. Where your skill set comes in is if you can do multiplication division and move into to what is it.

00:12:09:08 – 00:12:32:13
It’s it starts with a algebra. There we go. I was struggling there for a second. If you get to algebra, then now you’re cooking with some gas, right? But yeah, to come in, you need basic level. We prefer more, but we need basic level. Right. That algebra comes in when you’re trying to figure out how much square footage is in a room.

00:12:32:15 – 00:12:55:01
Right. And then we’re going to get all the way up to algebra two and maybe even some Trig, just depending on what level you want to end up your career in. Right? Right. And there. Right. That’s that’s really what it comes down to is where are you looking your career to be. So the higher you go typically the higher the level of skills you’re going to need to know.

00:12:55:04 – 00:13:13:14
Well. And I’m telling you at the top you’re going to need two things. Just two. And you have to master, you have to master math and you have to master communication. Those two things will put you at the very top. Top. And when I say master math, I mean you need to be able to do some Trig. You need to be able to do some algebra.

00:13:13:14 – 00:13:34:00
You need to be able to, you know, understand and be able to add or subtract rapidly so that you can make choices and decisions. The better you are at math, the further and farther and better the company will be, no question about it. so that’s definitely and I agree with Nate on that part. So bring now I will actually throw out there Nate.

00:13:34:02 – 00:13:54:08
So this is something that they can learn out there too. Because like you said you’ve you’ve taught multiple the people as long as they come with a basic level basic level, you’re able to go ahead and help them for the things that they’re going to need for the position that they’re in. Absolutely. Now, I will give them a bunch trash talking the whole time, either or, that’s all I got.

00:13:54:09 – 00:14:05:22
Added some stress right? That’s called team building is what that’s called the building. I do a lot of team building.

00:14:05:24 – 00:14:22:00
and it is it’s and in construction we’re talking about that it’s in construction. One of the biggest things that happens is usually we’re always picking on each other is what it does, and it does go ahead and create that team in that bond. So whatever you go ahead and do that. And that’s one of the things that I well this is a whole different topic.

00:14:22:00 – 00:14:44:12
So we’re going to skip that topic for now. So oh man I had a great story. Yeah. All right I got to tell it real fast. All right I will sidetrack us for a second and then we’ll be right back. So the other day we’re doing, we’re doing headshot photos. company headshot photos. And one of the project managers said to a younger project manager, he’s only been in the business for about it about a year.

00:14:44:14 – 00:15:07:06
And, they said, fix your eyebrows. He was like, well, talking about it, he he didn’t know. He didn’t know what was going on. So he’s going like this. And he said, he wrote that. I read. And the whole time everybody else was just laughing. And it’s just the greatest thing. So yeah, there’s a lot of joking that goes along in this industry.

00:15:07:07 – 00:15:33:19
We all pull a little harmless little pranks on each other. So. But all right, I digress. Let’s get back on topic. So next skills to bring physical strength and stamina. I mean obviously construction is something that is it can be highly demanding. Yeah. As far as that what it is I mean, whether you’re on ladders, whether you’re carrying materials, whether you’re bending over a lot, whether you’re actually down on your hands and knees at certain times, doing things.

00:15:33:27 – 00:16:00:29
So it is definitely something that is physically demanding. Is that something that they can they have to bring with them, or is that something that they can learn and get whenever they get to the site? The great question. I think it’s a two part answer. And so answer number one, yes, you absolutely have to be physically capable to do the job.

00:16:01:01 – 00:16:33:24
Answer number two, depending on what is going on with you medically, whether you can get physical enough to be able to get into it, for instance, if you can physically stand up, walk, carry, lift, do a 10 pound weight, and that’s kind of where you you max out, you’re probably going to have a hard time coming on to the job site because you’re going to get exhausted very quickly.

00:16:33:27 – 00:16:58:00
But if you have the the, the mental grit to be able to push through it and build muscle and build it, then then you can create the muscle and you can create, you know, the, the stamina to be able to do the job. So don’t think that you need to come in as a world class athlete in order to be able to do the job.

00:16:58:03 – 00:17:25:18
You just have to be able one. Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s an easy tip. Well, it’s not cheap. It’s a it’s an easy way to get paid to lift and make money and work and work out. Yeah. So but the it it can be learned. But you have to start off with the physical ability to do it. For instance if you had you know, probably nobody today had polio.

00:17:25:18 – 00:17:46:00
But polio was was a disease back in the day where it would, you know, hinder muscle development and made it very hard that I knew a lot of people that came into the trades and did it even know that they had these physical, elements that were that were key. But they persevered and they find a way.

00:17:46:03 – 00:18:08:09
So as long as, you know, I would say the hardest part would be if you can’t stand or walk, that’s going to be like the bare minimum entry into the business. If you have to have assistance and you’re in a wheelchair and things of that nature, you need to find a desk job that’s in this industry that will help you and a lot of that.

00:18:08:10 – 00:18:29:09
Then there’s a lot of those two, right? They’re just not going to be physically out on the job site. You’ll have to deal with accounting. You’ll have to deal with bookkeeping. You can do back end stuff. You can do architectural, you know, drawings, engineering, design work, all those other pieces. But to be out in the field on a project, you got to physically be able to walk.

00:18:29:13 – 00:18:46:25
Step one. And it is. I think that’s one of those pieces. And I think you hit that very well. There’s a minimum level that you’re going to need to be able to do. well, some of those things, a lot of things are learned even on that side, on the physical strength and stamina. because you may come in, as we talked about the that the athlete.

00:18:46:27 – 00:19:00:25
So you might come in as the athlete and I, you know, hey, I was a great football player. I was a great runner. I was a great swimmer or something like that. So when you come to do construction, it’s just like anything else. So when you come to do it, you’re using a different set of muscles in a different way than what you ever had before.

00:19:00:27 – 00:19:21:04
So you’re going to go ahead and get the opportunity to develop those muscles. I mean, the first few days, no matter, I don’t care what you did before, you’re going to be sore. I will guarantee it, guaranteed. Just the way it’s going to be. and the more you do it, though, as long as you have the capability to be able to do it so those muscles will get used to it, it becomes easier and easier and easier is what it is.

00:19:21:04 – 00:19:36:12
And you can definitely, even if you come in and you’re not able to lift a whole lot, the more you do this and the techniques that you can actually learn. my daughter Paige, so it was a perfect example. You know, I always talk to her about it because she’s five foot one, so she’s not a tall girl.

00:19:36:14 – 00:19:49:07
So as far as that, girls. So she’s not a, you know, she’s not a big on like a big strong girl or anything like that. So whenever she comes in that everything that I’ve told her I said is for her. It’s all about she’s got our quotas. You got to be smarter than the materials. You’re moving. But that’s what it comes down to.

00:19:49:14 – 00:20:03:14
And what that means is you’ve got to learn balance point because things are so much lighter if you know how to balance them. Now there’s tips and tricks that you can learn, and that’s ask the guys and the ladies that have been in the industry for a longer time. So ask them how they go ahead and do that.

00:20:03:14 – 00:20:15:03
They’re willing to share. I mean, they want it to be as easy as it can be for you. because that means you’re going to be around for a long time if you’re if you learn the tips and the tricks. So I do think that there’s a certain level, I agree, certain level that you definitely have to come in with though.

00:20:15:07 – 00:20:35:07
And there’s pieces you will learn for sure. So and develop while you’re out there. Well, that’s what we’re talking about with Matt, right? We’re talking about how to leverage, how to move stuff, how to, you know, and that’s kind of what come back full circle back to math. Right. You got to be able to you know, take physics right.

00:20:35:10 – 00:20:54:26
Use geometry and kind of like manipulate all these construction materials. Right. And, and I, I’m a big component of, like, I’ve got some project managers want to go pick up all their own material, and I’ve got others that want to use delivery services. Yeah. Doesn’t matter to me. Let’s get the job in the material. And so that you know, all of that happens.

00:20:54:26 – 00:21:12:23
I’m not worried about how it happens as long as it did. Yeah. I agree. All right. Perfect. another one. So that because of the fact that we’re in construction and obviously we’ve got construction documents, which in a lot of cases there’s, you know, their specifications, but blueprints are typically something that we see a lot of. Yeah.

00:21:12:23 – 00:21:41:22
So when you come in for blueprints, but do you have to know how to read blueprints, interpret them, understand those pieces whenever you come in. Is that something you’ve got to bring, or is that something that you learn in the field? Well, in 20 plus years of doing this, the only person that I’ve ever seen that comes in knowing how to read blueprints is that darn architect that I don’t like, who spent four years in or eight years in college in his architectural degree.

00:21:41:24 – 00:21:59:21
Right. And he draws them. That’s the only person I’ve ever met coming into this industry that understands blueprint or or someone who grew up in a building family and got to see it because they were taught ahead of time. But you’re exactly right. Other than that. So those are about the only like nobody knows how to read them.

00:21:59:23 – 00:22:21:27
They’re they’re odd little, you know, shapes and sizes. I grew up reading horse books. Right. You know, and those are complicated too. So so don’t worry about reading blueprints that comes, you know, later on down the road when you’re getting into things if you’re seeing them. But they become a visual, representation of what you’re doing. So they’re important for you to look at.

00:22:21:27 – 00:22:41:12
But nobody knows how to read them. Start off, you know, and even even people who have been in the industry five, ten, 15 years, they’ll still come to me and be like, what does this mean? What are we talking about? What is where’s this supposed to go? This doesn’t line up. And a lot of it has to do with the architect that never went out on the field, drew it up and doesn’t understand.

00:22:41:12 – 00:22:56:08
Like, now there’s a big boulder there. You can’t put that line there or. No, we got to move that out of the way or you know, this doesn’t line up with this, you know, and it’s different. And one thing you realize is even whenever you know how to read blueprints, different architects and engineers draw things in different ways that actually mean the same thing.

00:22:56:08 – 00:23:13:00
And it’s figuring that out and learning how to think like they think to put those pieces together. And that’s an acquired skill. There’s no question about it. There’s no question you walk in with the best. The best I can give you on that is the read the key code. Study the key. That’s it. But don’t worry about blueprints.

00:23:13:02 – 00:23:30:21
you know you’ll learn that’s not a, that’s not a day. That’s not a two day problem you know. Not when you’re getting started. No definitely not. It’s not a two day thing you have to bring with you I agree entirely. Well, problem solving skills. And when I say problem solving skills, what I mean is how can you troubleshoot and find solutions?

00:23:30:21 – 00:23:53:01
If there’s a challenge, can you figure something out to go ahead and get past the challenge? because, you know, that happens a lot. And in any this is in any business environment, let alone in the construction. And you hear Nate and I talking about it all the time. But, you know, even the engineers and architects go ahead and send you all plans and then you’ve got a problem solve what’s going on based off of what they said and what you truly are looking at in the field and how it’s actually going to work together.

00:23:53:01 – 00:24:12:18
So is that something that they need to bring with them, Nate? Or is that something that they’re going to have to learn in the field? So instead, well, they definitely need, to know how to do the, the lumber stretching tool in order to be able to operate that problem. I don’t know what Nate’s talking about. Make sure to go back and listen.

00:24:12:19 – 00:24:35:24
A couple episodes ago, what we talked about the lumber structure and the wire structure. Yeah. And the pipe structure. You know, don’t forget the plumbers. Don’t forget the pipes. Right? Yeah. Don’t forget the pipes, Roger. You know, problem solving is is one of those things. It’s like. If you got it, it’s very value. And if you don’t, it’s learnable.

00:24:35:27 – 00:25:04:13
And depending on where you fall in the in the, in the pecking order of the job site, you’re going to be asked to do some things right now. You might be an excellent problem solver, and you might have the, the ability, the to look at the problem, figure it out and then just do it. You also might be able to look at the problem, know what it is, figure it out and do it.

00:25:04:13 – 00:25:26:02
And it might interfere with something that your project manager or somebody higher up in the chain didn’t want you to do, right? So take that. What a piece of caution. Well, and what Nate’s talking about is, a lot of times, especially in the beginning, whenever you get involved in whatever trade it is that you’re going to add and you problem solving, you may solve it for you.

00:25:26:04 – 00:25:45:18
So but you may inadvertently go ahead and create a challenge for somebody else. Who’s this person into the house? Yeah, that’s what it comes down to and knows that part of there is definitely a learned piece. There’s no question about how your trade works in the overall dynamic of the project. Exactly. Yeah. Let’s kind of give you a quick, quick story.

00:25:45:18 – 00:26:04:02
I kind of got it. That worked for me for a decade. And and when he first started, you know, he was he was one of those guys is gung ho, always willing to get in there and get his hands dirty and keep working and and all this. But every time it came to a problem, he’d always figure out the hardest way to do it.

00:26:04:05 – 00:26:20:28
And then about halfway through, figure out the easiest way to do it. And then were to stop and go all the way back and undo all the hard stuff and then redo it all. I was like, do you understand? You do a double work? He’s like, well, I figured out a faster way. So like, next time I, I was like, okay, I get it.

00:26:20:28 – 00:26:41:18
You know, next time it will be faster, but this time it’s going to be twice as hard, you know? Right. So you guys are going to go through problem solving skills. It is a learned piece because you might know what works best for you in that moment. You might not you might do it the hardest way. You might do it the easiest way.

00:26:41:18 – 00:27:02:16
You’re going to get plenty of opportunities to try out both sides. Yes. And in doing that, you’ll get a Rolodex of ways to do so. And so I always laugh about it, but I don’t. There is no right or wrong. There’s only get it done. So exactly right. So and it’s and that’s one of the keys there. It’s just there’s different.

00:27:02:16 – 00:27:23:23
And it’s one of the, the pieces that I always tell my team and my business partners, which is what we call our subcontractors, that our company. So is we always talk to everybody because someone else may have a different and better solution that they’ve seen, done, worked through before. So whatever the case may be that we haven’t, so utilize your resources, especially when you’re problem solving something.

00:27:23:25 – 00:27:38:03
reach out to others. I mean, there’s all kinds of times where I’ll call other guys who have been in the industry like my drywall, what I call my drywall contractor actually has a ton of skills because he’s done so many different things in the industry. And we’ll be doing a renovation or something, and I’ll call him and go, hey, this is what I got going on.

00:27:38:03 – 00:27:53:22
So have you ever seen or done anything like this? What’s the what solution did you have? You know, and that’s we always reach out whenever we’ve got those types of challenges because there’s you’re always going to encounter or something you’ve never seen before. Well and may not have an idea on what to do with it. so utilize your resources.

00:27:53:22 – 00:28:21:10
That’s one of the big things you learn in that process is utilize the resources of the people around you. Have the experience. Absolutely awesome. teamwork and communication. Nate. so effectively and you’ve touched on this a little bit earlier. So on the communication side and we’re joking around on the teamwork side of things, do you need to come with really good communication skills and having been a part of a team or know how to be a part of a team whenever you come?

00:28:21:12 – 00:28:31:04
Well, or is this something that they can develop whenever they get into the job? Another great question.

00:28:31:06 – 00:28:56:09
I think today yeah. I mean, you know, you’re not going to fall part. I I think it’s a learned skill, but I think you have to come. You have to bring something in order to learn that skill. And the thing that you have to bring is you have to bring an openness where you’re not going to be guarded or, you know, standoffish with everybody.

00:28:56:15 – 00:29:19:01
Right? Because at the end of the day, you have to be you have to understand that this is a a team sport. This is not an individual sport. This is not God, okay? I love to play golf. Golf is a great sport. It’s a great sport where I get to challenge myself with nature. This is like football, right?

00:29:19:04 – 00:29:54:23
Or it’s like soccer or it’s like baseball even. I think probably baseball is probably the best component to that. You know, where you have multiple team members and each team member is doing their individual job. And together, collectively, you’re trying to accomplish a common goal, right? So you have to be open to be accepting of their positivity and their negativity and their criticism and their and their knowledge and their helping and support it.

00:29:54:23 – 00:30:17:17
Like you have to be open to all of it. It’s not just singular. And so if if that’s not your characteristic, then that’s not going to be a good fit for you to be in this trait, right? Like you have to be inclusive. It’s just that’s just part of it. That’s and one of the things that actually you mentioned when we were talking, previously.

00:30:17:19 – 00:30:34:07
So on the on the problem solving part of everything. So is that ability to be able to communicate so is key because whenever you reach out to others, well, instead of having your own project manager decided he had every time he did something, he did the hardest, most time consuming way to do it just because he didn’t know any different.

00:30:34:09 – 00:30:51:22
Well, if you communicate with your team so and you communicate with the other resources around you, the more effectively you’re able to do that and ask for assistance. And so many people, especially in this industry, so come in with the they have an ego side of things where they feel they’ve got to know it all to be able to go ahead and do these things.

00:30:51:22 – 00:31:05:15
And, and there’s times where some of them don’t want to share. So I wonder if they’ve got that experience and things like that. And it’s unfortunate because I mean that and I live in what we call on and world. So which means the more I know, the more I reach out, the more I the further I go. So the more success I have now.

00:31:05:17 – 00:31:20:27
It is what it comes down to when you can communicate so and be open about it like I hold no secrets. My team, my business partners can all ask anything that they want to ask of me, including like the dollars that we do and stuff like that. I don’t care, I’ll let you know. So as far as that goes.

00:31:21:02 – 00:31:37:02
So I know where we’re at with things. And a lot of the times other people are doing that for other reasons. Like my business partner will ask me, hey, what are you doing revenue wise? And know what are your percentage and things like, because they’re looking to grow their business and make sure that they’re doing it well, to continue on in the industry and be able to grow their business.

00:31:37:02 – 00:31:52:01
So that’s why I share those kinds of things with them. You know, if you’re asking for how to go ahead and do you know a certain job or a certain specific skill in that, that you’re putting something together, asking those questions, communicating. And if there’s challenges, this is like one of the things I, I talk to my team about all the time.

00:31:52:01 – 00:32:09:21
If they’re there and they’re talking to a homeowner, and the homeowner brings up questions that whether they were able to go ahead and solve whatever the question was or whatever the question was, I want that to be communicated to the rest of our team. That way, we know that something’s been addressed because we’ll have the homeowner who’s literally like the child.

00:32:09:24 – 00:32:26:09
So who does the mom and the dad thing? I’ll go to this project manager and ask the question, and then whenever I’m out on the job site, they may ask me the same exact question, thinking they’re going to divide and conquer us and get a different answer and and go with the answer they like the best. Yeah. whenever that’s communicated back, I already know.

00:32:26:09 – 00:32:41:12
And then I can go ahead and say, even if I don’t say, well, you already talked to page about this, so I may say I’ll just give the same answer so that we’re in congruence. So and then they don’t look to go ahead and do those things. That was what it comes down to. But that communication is is one of the biggest pieces.

00:32:41:12 – 00:32:55:19
And like even give another example on the communication side with our business partners, we communicate all the time on double on confirming them when they’re supposed to be on job sites for the next day. Well, and then we also go ahead and find out whether they have any challenges and things like that that we need to go ahead and resolve.

00:32:55:24 – 00:33:08:02
So that communication. So, you know, we may find out the plumber got out there and wasn’t able to finish up the way we’re supposed to be. What the electrician is supposed to be in tomorrow know that you can come in, but the plumber is not done in that bathroom that you’re working in, so you guys be standing on top of each other.

00:33:08:02 – 00:33:25:22
I’m okay with it if you’re okay with it. If you’re not, then let’s push the next day of all of those things. Make everybody’s life and job so much easier. Well, then go on ahead and having them show up out there and, you know, it’s a hall bathroom and you’re five by eight for the whole bathroom, and you got plumber and an electrician in there with all of their tools and everything that they’re looking to do.

00:33:25:22 – 00:33:43:06
And just like there’s not space to do this. Yeah, that’s what it comes out. Well, that’s what that’s what causes arguments and fights and and you’ll see of that too out there. And the job in the job field, job sites is that if if people are not working together, it is apparent it is not there’s no hiding it.

00:33:43:06 – 00:34:06:14
Right. And and you have all of these different personalities that are trying to work to get something done, and they’re all on time constraints and everything else. And, and a lot of times stress levels are high. Right. And so you’ll see that. So that’s why communicating and and doing the the forefront of communication is so valuable. you might not think that it means anything, right.

00:34:06:14 – 00:34:38:14
It might be hey, we’re going to go to lunch and we’ll be back in an hour. Right. You you might think, well, why do I have to relay that to the the other person that’s here that doesn’t even work with me, the blah, blah, blah, you know? Well, it matters because whether this is a new construction or a remodel job, that communication, unless the other trade with if somebody else comes on the job site and you’re not there and they’re there and they’re asking for you that they have an answer to give them, other than, I don’t know, never saw them, don’t know what’s happening.

00:34:38:16 – 00:34:57:21
And it leads this void, of not knowing. And that then helps snowball that thing. And so it’s no different than if we’re playing baseball. And it’s like, hey, I need I need a pinch runner. I’m getting out, and you flag out and you get off base and somebody else comes back on that mean that you’re out of the game.

00:34:57:21 – 00:35:24:27
It just means, hey, look, somebody else had to step in and do this pitch work, right? Communication is is is huge on any job site. And, now that is a skill that can be learned, but you better bring some of it with you and be able to, be open to it. And that, like I mentioned earlier in, in today’s podcast, that was one of the big that’s one of the big keys that determine the people who go on to be really successful.

00:35:24:27 – 00:35:45:17
So in their specific trade and or in the industry overall. So being owners and things like that is communication. So is one of those huge key pieces. So that those who do it well so will succeed. and it could be like Nate’s example of, hey, they want the lunch now. Well that’s great. You know what? They maybe the electrician needs to jump in that bathroom we were talking about earlier just to go ahead.

00:35:45:23 – 00:35:59:19
So. And split a vanity light into two lights because we’ve got a double vanity. Now that we’re putting in, there are double sinks. So we’re putting in there. So and literally it’s going to take him 25 minutes to go ahead and do this. He can literally hit it while the is at lunch and be out of there before the plumber gets back.

00:35:59:19 – 00:36:15:14
So that kind of communication and coordination makes things just easier. And getting your team to realize that, it’s been something that I’ve been really blessed with being able to do, with my business partners is we’ve gotten to the point now where they talk to each other, so whenever they’re on jobs. So those types of things can happen.

00:36:15:14 – 00:36:35:12
And it is always facilitated through my team, which is great. Whenever you’re able to get them to that point. And that takes some time. I mean, most of my people have been working with me for, I think, the shortest ones, I know there’s a couple that have just started within the last 2 or 3 years, but the majority of the team, my core team, have been with me for over a decade now for what we do, and they’ve just grown to know each other.

00:36:35:12 – 00:36:52:06
They learn how to work with each other. They communicate just because they know it makes it easier. But that your job as the owner of the company and as an as an employee for whoever you work for when you first start out, so is to be communicating as much as you possibly can. There’s no such thing as under, over communication.

00:36:52:06 – 00:37:07:28
There is no such thing as communication, so there’s never enough communication. So they’re great. All right. So that’s, you said that’s a combination. So you need to bring some skills. Yeah, definitely something you’re going to learn for your position. Do on some of the things you need to be communicating and who you need to be communicating with.

00:37:08:01 – 00:37:27:29
Yeah. Perfect. I got a couple more and we’ll be wrapped up on the skills that you got to bring attention to detail. Nate. and in this industry. So and it can mean multiple different things. It can be, you know, precision in measuring something if you’re going to make cuts. So one of the things that I think of is for quality checks.

00:37:28:01 – 00:37:46:02
So did you hit all the details. You know, if you were reading through the blueprint your check and structure, did they get all the straps, you know, those types of things. Or if we’re looking at finishes, does everything fit together appropriately, you know, and are you able to catch those things? Is that something that they need to bring with them or something they can learn on the job site?

00:37:46:05 – 00:38:19:13
Another excellent question like you asked some really good questions like, hey, every once in a while I get lucky. Nate. Hey, I’m telling you, Plattsburgh finds a knot, baby. you know, it’s like. Attention to detail. You know, the interesting part about attention to detail is that it is a, It’s a present thing, right? Like you have to be present in the moment in order to be able to, to maintain attention to detail.

00:38:19:15 – 00:38:50:21
Right. Like, it’s a it’s a brain component, right? And not everybody has that component. And some people are just meant to, I pick up rock and that’s that, that’s, that’s that’s their job, right? That’s okay. And and, you know, they can be good at doing that job and they can do that job repetitively. Right? Attention to detail comes into, you know, being cautious of like where you’re at.

00:38:50:25 – 00:39:14:06
And I would say that the more attention to detail that you have, the more value that you have. And, you know, and I think everybody has a level of detail, that they start off with. but what they need to be able to do is learn how that detail impacts their job, their experience, their work, and everything else.

00:39:14:08 – 00:39:40:13
And the more detail that you have, and the more specific that you get to, the better off you’re going to be. I grew up in a different area where math is, and it all kind of kind of circle circles back around the math. Right? But math was a definite number, right? You get to a .0000000 9% of whatever, right?

00:39:40:15 – 00:40:05:10
I didn’t grow up in the new math way of get close enough and will graduate. You. So I think I think that’s kind of part of the mind frame that you have to have coming into any job or any trade is that you have to be able to know that I need to be present in the moment while I’m there, doing the thing that I’m doing, so that I can have the best result.

00:40:05:12 – 00:40:37:20
You know, carpenters have this saying, it’s like measure twice, cut once. Right. And, and that’s that’s the important, the detail. It’s like they want to make sure before they cut that lumber that they’ve measured it twice just to make sure that they’ve gotten the number that they’re going to cut correctly. Yeah. And I think that’s the and whether and whether you’re, you know, like when I first started out and he picked up a broom, the attention to detail was like, okay, I swept the main area, but did I get the corners right.

00:40:37:21 – 00:41:07:17
Right. And and that’s the attention to detail in that. And, and it really comes back to you’re going to be judged on the amount of detail that you’re able to, you know, retain and be, you know, consistent with. And so I think it’s I think it’s a skill that you have to bring. And I think it’s also a skill that you have to learn, because you have to learn how to be so obsessively detail oriented that nothing gets left behind.

00:41:07:17 – 00:41:38:16
Because I’ll tell you from experience, the people that have the least amount of detail are the people that get the dirtiest, ugliest jobs and never get the right. For instance, if you’re a new construction, you’re in the production line, right? And you’re just going blow, go, go, blow, go because you don’t have the detailed aspect or the cleanliness aspect to go back and make sure that your tools were put up, or make sure that you did things the, you know, the right way at the finish.

00:41:38:19 – 00:42:00:19
And so it’s definitely, definitely a learnable skill, but you got to bring in, you know, the right mind frame to be able to do right. And that and I think that you hit that right on the head there. And whenever you said that is the right mindset. Many come in knowing or having the ability to focus and be able to dive deep into something like that.

00:42:00:21 – 00:42:26:04
and you can learn the intricacies of each different trade, for sure. So for what that means, to be detail oriented there. and that’s, it’s one of the things that separated me whenever I first started working in production, building on the you were talking about the company was had a discussion whether they were going to go ahead and do front end and back end building, which back then meant that you had one construction manager who manages the process of all the rough trades all the way up to drywall.

00:42:26:06 – 00:42:40:08
So and then you had another construction manager who took it from drywall and took care of all the finished trades, everything that the homeowner sees when they’re moving into the house and living in the house, and they wanted to go ahead and do that. And there because they had guys that were very good at pushing things very fast on the front end.

00:42:40:13 – 00:43:02:03
And then you had the people that the attention to detail on the back end. So and the funny thing is the attention to detail people. So we’re typically the people who are promoted into vice presidents of construction, you know, and, and moved up further in the company. So because that’s the part that matters a lot. And when we did that, when they went through that, we wouldn’t let it happen because I was one of the attention to detail people.

00:43:02:08 – 00:43:17:04
I didn’t want the people on the front end doing what they were doing, because that basically meant they were getting bonus on how fast they got us to the stage where we get the drywall. They wouldn’t have cared how much headache I had to deal with trying to get what they did look good. So exactly, exactly. That’s and that’s part of it.

00:43:17:04 – 00:43:42:20
When you’re the detail person like Nate was made a, an analogy earlier of the framers for cut or measure twice, cut once reasonable madness. Because as a construction company, that’s if you’re having if you make a wrong measurement and you over cut something so many you cut too much away, that piece is now useless, which means it now cost the company money, and it could cost time if you only had a limited number of things on the job site for whatever was being done, you know, so you could cost time at the same time.

00:43:42:20 – 00:44:00:07
So that attention to detail is key across the board, for being able to do it and that attention to detail, as you if you want to move up in the industry that you’re in. So that’s how you become the supervisor because you’re able to spot those things. Yeah. And how you’re able to go ahead and help lift the level of the results.

00:44:00:07 – 00:44:15:24
So and that’s always what it comes down to is the happier the homeowners are. So the more you’re able to go ahead and make as a company or whatever trade you’re in, because that’s what gets around. That’s the word of the mouth that spreads. So because of the attention to detail, well, it’s one of those things where I’ll just kind of give you a little secret.

00:44:15:25 – 00:44:39:27
Our company, it’s like I don’t announce it. It’s not not prevalent. Right. But it is something that I look for in the interview process. Right. how well do they pay attention to the details that we’re putting into the job description? Right. And can I follow some things there? But then and that’s the thing that we’re evaluating in the first 90 days, right.

00:44:39:27 – 00:45:03:27
Because we do a 90 day, you know, evaluation right before you, you know, becoming a full, full time employee, 90 day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re not in a probationary period. And, and one of the key indicators is like, how much attention to detail are they doing in the, in the job that we’ve assigned them to do. Now, some of them are, you know, they’re blowing and going or in and out.

00:45:03:27 – 00:45:21:21
They’re not really paying attention. And you know, it’s like, do I really want somebody that’s not paying attention to some of the higher level things? And it could be small things. It’s like, yeah, you know, and and it comes in in various ways. Right. It’s like, hey, can you write up a report on what happened on this project?

00:45:21:23 – 00:45:41:04
And if they start writing and they’re writing so fast and it’s so sloppy and there’s no periods, there’s no commas, there’s no punctuation, well then that’s a, that’s a point where it’s like, okay, you’re attention to detail, right? This report is that you’re just trying to rush through it. It doesn’t matter to you or you know, did you clean the house?

00:45:41:04 – 00:46:00:03
Is the house clean before we presented it? Right. Did you call the cleaners? No. Like like there’s all of these levels of detail that really plays into it. And it’s a valuation point that that I use as a business owner to figure out if this person is going to be a good fit or not. For my company and my representation.

00:46:00:05 – 00:46:29:18
And so when when you guys are out there in the world and you’re going out there, know that that is a learnable skill, but it is a being present in the moment skill that you really need to focus on, because that’s the thing that’s going to move the needle and what that piece and this is like one of the key things, like all of these pieces that we’re talking about as you go to work for somebody in the construction industry, or if you decide, hey, construction is a thing for me, I’m going to go work for somebody somewhere, somewhere else and do this.

00:46:29:21 – 00:46:47:22
Look at these pieces and ask these questions of whoever you’re going to go work for. So they’ll give you some of the answers. So literally, the things that they’re looking for, like Nate was running down through some of the things that he but they go ahead and check out, as far as their people go, they’ll give you I give that if someone ask me, I give you what the criteria are.

00:46:47:23 – 00:47:11:26
I’m not hiding and it’s not a secret that it’s not an invisible succeed. It’s not an invisible test. Oh, weird though, you know, ask me. I’ll tell you exactly what I’m. All right, we got two more, Nate. All right. Time management. and and this comes down to, I mean, there’s two different components on this piece, and it depends on the level you’re at, though.

00:47:11:26 – 00:47:28:21
Obviously, time management to be first get started is how effectively you’re utilizing your time getting things done on the job site, whatever you’ve been instructed to do, how effectively you’re able to do that, how you’re able to hit that schedule that set out for you by somebody else. Well, and if you need assistance or anything like that, are you asking for assistance?

00:47:28:21 – 00:47:49:12
And then secondly, later on. So whenever you become possibly the supervisor, wherever you’re at or the owner, if you decide to go and open up your own company, well, how do you bring all these pieces together? So is this something that you need to bring into the company, or is this something you can learn when you’re on the site?

00:47:49:15 – 00:48:28:02
Yeah. All right. Well, time management. Is crucial. People. People say all the time. Time is money. I don’t necessarily believe time is money. I believe time is of essence is a valuable commodity. And with that, you can make money with time. But I don’t think time is money. Okay. part of the problem that we have in today’s society is that, the majority of people do not respect other people’s time.

00:48:28:05 – 00:48:51:15
And so if they don’t respect other people’s time, they don’t respect their own time. And I really think that that that’s the skill that we’re talking about is that it’s a respect issue more than it is anything else. And above all, because if you respect somebody else’s time, then you’re going to be on the job site appropriately at the right time.

00:48:51:15 – 00:49:11:21
If you say you’re going to be there at at eight a Am, you’re there at 8 a.m., you’re not there 845 if if you say that you’re going to, you know, have this job done by Friday at 5 p.m., that doesn’t mean that you finish the job on Monday. These are the things that make that make the difference.

00:49:11:21 – 00:49:42:21
Right? But it is it. It boils down to respect, right? And either you have respect or you don’t have respect. And that is the that is the the key component that you need to bring into, the business. The other component of knowing how to utilize your time is a learned skill, right? So you have the skill that, that you have to bring in, which you have to respect the time, time constraints, time limit.

00:49:42:23 – 00:50:07:05
But you also then need to be able to learn how to efficiently cut down the time that’s there. And so I would say that this is a two part, but both of them are needed. And I think in today’s society that we just don’t give enough respect to time and we don’t respect other people’s time. And it’s my it’s the number one complaint I get from homeowners whenever we’re not all on time.

00:50:07:05 – 00:50:32:17
And and what I love about Keith’s business is his business is on time. And so literally, the name of all of my companies have a long time in it, there’s no question, because it is so valuable. It’s so like if you got a customer and they have their life, they’re going and they’re paying you. They’re paying you to have things done within a time constraint that that they are told about.

00:50:32:20 – 00:50:59:19
Now they have to make adjustments. You don’t know that you like. You have a million things going on in your day. There’s 24 hours. You only have so much time. You’re trying to get your stuff done. They’re trying to get their stuff from you. There’s the, you know, the people that are delivering materials have to do theirs. It is it is time sensitive all the time, like time is a commodity and and those that don’t respect it aren’t going to make it.

00:50:59:21 – 00:51:20:03
They’re just not. And so then that part that Nate’s talking about, it’s funny that when you come down to the whole time component, I’ve literally I had a homeowner who said she’d ask for referrals from an engineer that she was working with for designing prints on her house. And they don’t they don’t refer one person. They give, you know, 2 or 3 people to go ahead and let them make their own decision.

00:51:20:03 – 00:51:41:08
They don’t want to be the they don’t want to. They don’t want that coming back later. Don’t go. Well, you told me that you have to work with this person and they, so they go ahead and give multiple referrals. I was what they did. And the reason why the lady called me so was because of the fact she’s like, whenever they told me the name of your company, I knew I had to call you, she said, because if anyone’s got enough balls to go ahead and call themselves on time.

00:51:41:14 – 00:51:58:04
So I want to work with that person because of that fact that if they’re going to do that, I know they’re going to show up, they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do, and they’re going to do it. And they had a house. They had a project where they were having to move out of their home while we did a big addition, redid the whole inside of the house two at the same time, and they had a certain time frame that they were going to hit.

00:51:58:04 – 00:52:16:18
While they were doing this, they were renting a house to live in. so that meant that it needed to actually hit the way it needed to hit. Those are the that’s the little things like that that you don’t realize people make decisions on. Yeah. And that that’s what that’s a customer, whether that’s an employer, whether that’s someone you’re doing business with.

00:52:16:20 – 00:52:35:25
All of that time management pieces is huge. So Nate, is that something that they’ve got to come with or something that they can learn they have to have built, right? They have to be able that they have to understand that they have to be able to respect, it. And that’s the skill that they have to bring with them.

00:52:35:28 – 00:53:00:08
Right? Because if they don’t have the respect for time, they don’t. If they don’t value time, then then it’s never going to be any better, right? It’s always going to be a hassle. There’s always going to be problems. I, you know, inside of our company, we kind of talk about when we’re doing, you know, sales pitches. Right. There’s there’s three things that that motivate a buyer.

00:53:00:10 – 00:53:19:01
Right. And what I mean by a buyer, meaning a customer that wants to give us money. Right. And and those three things are time, money and pain. Right. And and so either they have or they or they do not have time. But you have to be able to understand those two things. Either they have or they don’t have money.

00:53:19:02 – 00:53:33:04
Right. And either they have or they don’t have pain. Right. We can get into that, that that’s probably going to be a different story. But let’s let’s stick on time. Either they have all the time in the world to get a project done.

00:53:33:07 – 00:53:53:12
Or they have zero time and they have to get a project that the project has to be done. But if everybody inside your organization doesn’t respect the time constraints that are put on the project, then it’s a problem. And it’s a, it’s a, it’s a snowball problem that just gathers as it goes down the hill and everybody is fighting against it.

00:53:53:14 – 00:54:20:26
And the only thing that I’ve been able to find out is if a person respects their own time, and they respect time of others, then things will move forward. If they do not. It is a constant battle on every single project. So for me, if I find somebody who is not respectful of time, my time, others time, everything else, I don’t need them in my organization because they’re not going to be respectful.

00:54:20:29 – 00:54:57:29
And that’s a big thing for me. So. You don’t have to have respect for time, but understand that you will not be successful in life if you agree with that in life, not in life. In life it is that is a that is a life skill that you have to have and you should bring that. Now, the time management piece, the efficiency piece, that is a learned skill that can be taught because we can teach you how to condense two days and into one by doing process.

00:54:58:01 – 00:55:32:31
That’s right. But I can’t I can’t teach you how to respect that. I agree. All right, we got one more last one. All right, I’m ready a great attitude. Ooh. So do you think that this is important to have and bring with you to the to any job. So or in this case in the the construction industry. Or is it something you can learn once you get here.

00:55:32:23 – 00:56:13:03
I don’t think an attitude can be learned. You either have a great attitude or you have a really crappy attention. Now both can be, you know, in a, in a, in a company, but the ones that have good attitudes who are, motivated, excited, wanting to, to grow and to be do, they go a lot further and a lot faster, those that are hesitant and, resistant to change into everything else.

00:56:13:09 – 00:56:49:24
You’re just the anchor on a boat if you’re bitching and griping all the time. Yeah, you’re just the anchor in your boat and your sales are trying to go. And the anchors dragging on the the sea floor. And, you know, in some cases, you need to be able to have some constraints on in a company, but you don’t need 50% of them being, you know, grumpy old men, you know, you know, and and actually, that’s one of the, the pieces that’s so, in the construction industry, you have that image of people who are the grumpy old men.

00:56:49:26 – 00:57:14:04
Yeah. And there’s so many people that think that. And unfortunately, you know, because of the industry and the image that’s been out, been put out there, the preconception that most people have is that that is how they are. Sometimes they’re trusting that, you know, they’re just rusted. One of the biggest things that can set you apart so fast in this industry is to show up with that great attitude, like Nate’s talking about, you know, there’s always ways to go ahead and make it even better.

00:57:14:04 – 00:57:32:17
But when you show up with that attitude already that you’re willing to go ahead and do things that you’re excited to learn so that you want to go ahead and be as helpful as you possibly can be. Those are the people that they talked about already. I will go ahead and go out of my way to include you in things that I might not have included you in originally, because I’m going to give you every opportunity to grow.

00:57:32:20 – 00:57:49:16
Yeah, because that’s the type of person so that I want my homeowners to be around. That’s the type of person I want my business partners to be around, the type of person that the rest of the team is attracted to, to go ahead and work with, and that becomes a valuable person. Those are the people that they already set at that excel.

00:57:49:16 – 00:58:04:20
They rise to the top really fast. So now I, I will say this, if you if you realize right now so that you’re one of the person who pitches and gripes so more than you’re the person who shows up with a big smile on her face saying hi to everybody. So asking how everything is and stuff like that.

00:58:04:20 – 00:58:28:25
If you realize you’re that person, well, you can change it. But it takes a shift in how you view what you want to do and what you want to show up with. And it takes heavy lifting. So because you’re usually fighting against something you’ve been doing for years in your life, well, I retract my statement saying that they can’t do it, that it’s impossible.

00:58:28:27 – 00:59:07:17
Right? I will say. I’ve seen it. I’ve done it to some. But I’ll give you guys just I’ll give you the the answer to it right now. So two things. One, the grumpy old men are grumpy old men because they have been withered away and beaten and thrown down and abused and and repetitively abused, abused. And they haven’t been able to, like, get out of the rut that everybody keeps pushing them down into because they’ve fallen down into different devices to kind of help them cope with whatever stress that they’re under.

00:59:07:17 – 00:59:33:26
Right. Because this is it can be a stressful industry. So with that being said, if it’s natural for you to be able to, you know, shut down or push out or be grumpy, right? What you’re really dealing with is you’re dealing with an identity that you have of yourself, and then that’s what’s being projected out to the world, which then is what is causing all these other pieces.

00:59:33:28 – 00:59:50:22
And if you want to change that, it’s as simple as changing your identity into who you are, what you believe. We’re getting into a whole other conversation topic here, right? But, that that that is definitely a podcast on its own for sure. Yeah, it is, but I’m just going to give you the, the high level surface, the surface touch.

00:59:50:22 – 01:00:11:28
Right. If you are able to change your identity, the change your belief of who you are and to change your identity of what you can be and who you should be and how you serve. Like you, you make that mental ship all of a sudden within 24 hours, you could choose from being grumpy to being happy and being cheerful and being that other person.

01:00:12:02 – 01:00:36:05
But you have to be able to make the sacrifice to change and look at yourself differently than how you’re looking at yourself today. It’s absolutely 100% possible. I know, I know a lot of people don’t understand all the ins and outs, and it take me long into the podcast to teach it, but it is possible. You don’t have to be grumpy all the time, but if you are and you don’t want to change, you will sink.

01:00:36:05 – 01:00:51:23
You will not rise. You will be the bodega if you come in being having a great attitude, you will definitely ever. And it’s one of the funniest things I look at. So if you look back at it, people with a great attitude seem to have what everyone looks at. Look, they just have an easy life. Things happen for them.

01:00:51:27 – 01:01:08:19
Yeah, well, they have an easy life because of the fact that they choose a positive way to view things. They look as the glass is half full, they look for ways to make things happen as opposed to the other sides of all of those pieces. And that just things do happen. I always say, you know, I’m not a lucky person.

01:01:08:21 – 01:01:27:10
I’ve created my luck because I put the work in ahead of time, that whenever the opportunity shows up, I’m able to take advantage of the opportunity. And because of that fact that makes me look lucky. I just put in all the work that needed to be there for the luck to happen. What’s it? Yeah, these are some great questions.

01:01:27:12 – 01:01:44:00
Hopefully people get a lot out of these because, I think this is the I think this is a good one as far as that part goes. And it really does for construction, especially because we’re talking about going ahead and getting people into the industry through conquering everything by going ahead and doing that and coming in and knowing some of these pieces ahead of time.

01:01:44:00 – 01:01:56:18
I know one of the, you know, look, whenever I first started, one of the challenges was I didn’t know what I needed to have to be in the industry. And this kind of opens it up a little bit. And I think for a lot of people, it’ll be the oh, well, I don’t have to have all of this stuff to get started.

01:01:56:20 – 01:02:15:20
Yeah. Which is key. You don’t have to have tools. You don’t have to have an absorbing amount of knowledge. You don’t have. You have to have a willingness to come in and smile. Bingo. That’s it. You have to have a willingness. That’s it. That’s all you need. Everything else is figured well. And literally that piece, that great attitude.

01:02:15:22 – 01:02:33:01
So coming in there and that willingness that’ll carry you in in this industry for sure. Because you can go ahead and pick up anything. And that was one of the things that I’m sure Nate was that way. I know I was that way whenever I got started, I had that willingness. And, you know, you saw guys that have been in the industry for 25, 30 years who were getting bent out of shape.

01:02:33:03 – 01:02:51:20
So because of the fact that I was getting to supervise people. So within a year, and that’s because I came in with that attitude and that those questions and that being a sponge and learning and learning the process is where I was working now and finding out. And those were the things that helped me excel right away. You know, can I tell you guys a quick story?

01:02:51:22 – 01:03:14:13
I guess this has been like two months ago. I, received an email, you know, came in through our generic company email at, at info at, at our company. Right. And, it was this weird thing and I was like, is this a sales pitch? Is it like, you know, and and the email read something like, I saw your company online.

01:03:14:15 – 01:03:39:25
you guys look like you do great work. I want to apply for an intern. an intern position and and then contact info and all this stuff. And I looked at it, and my first thought was like, this is eye spamming me. And then and then I was like, okay, is India coming after me? They they, they, they have their their bots out there, you know, trying to find me like, what is this hook here?

01:03:39:25 – 01:04:10:15
Because I haven’t had an intern request and probably five years. Right, right. And and I and I said to myself, I said, well, what’s the worst thing that could happen? And, so they they spam me with a whole bunch more emails that I don’t ever listen to ignore. Anyways, it was bad. So. So, I went ahead and I responded and it turned out that it was it was a person that that was truly interested in becoming or getting into the industry.

01:04:10:17 – 01:04:32:29
You know, they were, working for a family business that they had been for, you know, many years and, you know, taking some classes in college but never got to the point, didn’t get didn’t graduate in this industry, didn’t know anything about it, has never picked up a tool. And you know, and during the conversation I’m having with this person on the phone, I said, you know what?

01:04:33:00 – 01:04:52:17
You need to come into my office. Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Yeah. And they came in and we sat out at my conference table and we talked for about an hour. And over that, that conversation, I realized that this person really had an interest in being in the interior designer space, but didn’t have any idea how to be into that space, didn’t know where to go.

01:04:52:18 – 01:05:12:29
They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how to start, didn’t, but they had the willingness to step out of their comfort zone and send somebody that they didn’t know. An email and an email led into a conversation. The conversation led to an in-person meeting that in-person meeting then landed into me offering that person an internship for 30 days.

01:05:13:01 – 01:05:31:00
Yeah, for them to be able to come in and learn how to do cabinet drawings, because that’s where an interior person needs to start and then understand the measurements they needed. Understand the math. They need to understand how to put things together, and then they can move into what color schemes and all the rest of the stuff they’ve been in.

01:05:31:02 – 01:05:55:13
That person’s now been with me for almost a month now, and I’m transitioning that person from intern into employee. And it came with nothing. Nothing, no skills, never done it before, only a willingness and a good attitude. It will do whatever to get the job done and that’s what it takes. So if you’re hearing it, that’s what it takes.

01:05:55:15 – 01:06:11:09
And it is. That’s it. I think that that’s key for many people to realize. This doesn’t have to be something that I had this new stuff with my, my dad. So I used to do this stuff with, you know, friends, parents and things like that where I learned construction that isn’t necessary. if you’ve got some of those skills, it could be great.

01:06:11:09 – 01:06:27:18
It could be a great fit, depending on what you want to do. Yet at the same time, I know more people in this industry who didn’t do that. So who got involved because of the fact that they had a great attitude? No, I’m it may be a something that’s, you know, for me, whenever I started out, it was the fact that I got to be outside all day long.

01:06:27:23 – 01:06:42:26
So I got sun. That was it, which I loved at that age. And I learned that might not have been a best thing for me. Well, and I got the pay that I was getting was great compared to other things I was getting. And I was getting to learn a useful, useful skill that whether I stuck with this or not, I’d be able to use it for the rest of my life.

01:06:42:28 – 01:06:59:22
Those pieces together were what brought me into it. I had zero ability, so whenever I came in, I just had the the willingness. So to go ahead and do this, if you’ve got the willingness, definitely this is a spot where there are so many people that that’s the first thing we look for. All my business partners, that’s all.

01:06:59:22 – 01:07:17:12
That’s all they’re looking for is anybody that’s coming in brand new. So there’s a willingness to go ahead and learn. so I think that is definitely the key, to be able to go ahead and do that for sure. So if you’ve got a willingness, there are opportunities. Well, starting with Concord or starting with talking to someone like Nate or talking to someone like myself, where you’ve got an opportunity to get in and learn.

01:07:17:20 – 01:07:40:06
So that’s the route to go. Reach out. We would love to hear from you. So we’re always looking for great people in any of our companies. Anything else you want to add next? No, I’m happy. All right. Well great then though if you guys got value from this. So make sure to share these hacks with other builders or future builders that you might know.

01:07:40:06 – 01:08:00:27
People who might want to get into the construction industry. So make sure to like this episode and take 10s to review it if you would. So we love that back is with more reviews so and higher ratings, we can help get this message out. So to more current and future builders of America. Well, and one thing that we would love to hear, I mean, you heard Nate and I say like multiple times as we were going through this.

01:08:01:05 – 01:08:15:21
So we need to make another podcast about that. If there’s things that you guys love that you would love to know more about this industry. So that would help you figure out, hey, this is something I definitely want to go ahead and do. So then go ahead and put that in the comments. So we will definitely take a look at that.

01:08:15:26 – 01:08:28:04
So if it’s something that we think would be a great segment for that for the audience and a whole, well, we’ll go ahead and do that. We would love to have your feedback. We want to deliver what you’re looking for. There’s no question about it. So go ahead and put those notes in there okay. That would be perfect.

01:08:28:11 – 01:08:46:25
Now what we want to say is, you know, as we always find out. So keep building our future building America. We’re here with the Builder Hacks podcast. We look forward to listening to you, listening to us soon and seeing you in the near future. If you got value from this, share these hacks to other builders or future builders.

01:08:47:01 – 01:09:06:19
Make sure to like this episode and take 10s to give her a viewer rating. With more reviews and higher ratings, we can help out more current and future builders of America, and we want to know what other topics you might want to hear more about, or construction professionals we should invite on as guests. You can let us know these in the comments here.

01:09:06:27 – 01:09:24:27
So on social media wherever you heard about the Builder Hacks podcast from Keep Building Our Future Building America.