R & D isn't Research & Development

This week, the one and only Rusty Harmeyer joins us for another exciting podcast full of stories, screw-ups, and sound business advice. You won't want to miss this one!

Transcript

Welcome to this edition of the Hoel Roofing & Remodeling Podcast. Today our special guest is Rusty Harmeyer. Rusty is owner operator of Harmeyer auction and, appraisal. And, I just personally had Rusty come in today because, believe it or not, it was probably, 21 years ago that you were coaching, I was one of them, high school kids, coach and livestock, with you and, you know, your daughter Natalie.

Well, we graduated high school together, so, pretty much grew up 4 or 5 miles down the road from you guys. So, you know, neighbors and, you know, just, a mentor of mine from a lot closer, you know, then it was it was more of a closer here lately. More of a farmer being a business owner. So I'll give you a second to, introduce yourself and your family.

Sure. Well, thanks, Bob. It is indeed my pleasure to be asked, to be a part of this. And and as you referenced, I'm Rusty Harmeyer. I own and operate Harmeyer auction and appraisal company. we started in business in 2000 here in Rush County. I'm also involved with Halterman Real Estate and Farm Management. I got involved with those folks from a real estate standpoint, if you want to think they were my managing broker at the time.

since then, I've, I've turned in to their director of auction operations, their lead auctioneer. And Howard and I formed Halterman-Harmeyer Real Estate services, as a separate standalone company outside of Halterman Real Estate and Farm Management. So, that that's a little bit of of what we do. I've got a great team of folks that help us.

Most of them are all here local. there's about 16 or 17 of us that provide auction services for our clients. There's six of us that are, that do appraisal service for our clients. And then, like I said, I'm also very involved with the Halterman side of it, and in helping them market and sell their, their real estate, anything that's done auction related I'm involved with directly through with that.

So so one or not one question, just kind of one thing I noticed, you guys were probably one of the first ones to really start doing, the online auctions. Yep. and as a business owner, I know when you're a trendsetter, you're doing it before everybody else is. Nobody likes you. You know, you I hate that I, I wish I could go blow two days every weekend at an auction and stand around and not buy what I want, you know, so kind of just talk.

What what got you, started in that of of going to the online like is that, I mean, did somebody encourage that? Did you just kind of see that as something that needed done? Well, it's really funny because I always I make the comment we were online before online was cool. Oh, Covid made everybody go online and now everybody's like, oh, that's there's a big benefit to that.

But we started in the online platform. actually I think it was either 10 or 11 years ago this summer. And it was something that I, you know, we've always been fairly tech savvy and fairly forward thinking. Yep. and I it was something that I kind of wanted to do. And I had the opportunity to meet an elderly gentleman and his wife from over in the edge of Illinois.

And these folks were in their late 70s at that time and was doing everything online. And it was just intriguing that, you know, typically that the stereotype is, well, they're older folks. They don't know how to do technology, right. And so I was able to get with them and, and, and sit down over supper and, and have a really deep conversation.

And I ask him just that, why did you go online? And he said, well, I had to. I lost all my help. Me and my wife aren't physically able to tote bedroom suits, out of the house and into the trailer and to the fairgrounds and all of that. And it's like, you know, okay, that I follow that. And and we talked about it and I asked him a lot of questions.

Well, it's funny how fate just kind of makes things happen because I had a couple guys, dear friends of mine, that was helping me with the auction business, and they were both farmers. one was also, a full time fireman, and they were my muscle, during, during the summer and through the winter and helping us get everything moved from the house, either to the fairgrounds, Mahoning Valley, wherever we was holding the auction.

Well, both of those guys, the fireman became assistant fire chief. And so instead of working 24 and all 48, now he's working every day, 9 to 5, eight, eight, five, whatever. And and the other guy retired from farming and went to work at a full time job in town. So I went from having two guys that I could just say, okay, this is what we're doing, and they go do it too.

It was just me and Kathy Frost. Kathy has been with me almost as long as I've been in the auction business. And and Kathy's, first husband was my seventh and eighth grade industrial arts teacher. So I've known Kathy for ever. And it was just heard I and these two guys, for the most part. Well, then it was just her and I.

And so we're really kind of struggling on how we're going to find labor to do this or we've got to do something different. And I had an opportunity to do a sale and it was just right down the road here on Cherry Street was a small house, really didn't have a lot of merchandise to sell. And and my charge was just to get the stuff out of the house so we could sell the house.

so I told Kathy, I said, this is the perfect opportunity to try this online thing. Kathy was not for it at the time. She she had tried and tried to convince me that this wasn't going to work. I said I might not, but we're going to try, right? And lo and behold, this property, the the items in this, in this property, the personal property brought more than two times what we both thought it would generate.

Right. And there again, we were under the impression that most of our buyers would come within, you know, 15, 20 mile radius while we were selling stuff to the other side of Indianapolis. And it was it was literally just stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. and so after we got all done and everybody came and got their stuff and they carried it out of the house and all that, it's like, wow, this is way easier than loading it all up into the trailer.

Taking them to the fairgrounds, unloading it, setting it all up, doing all the work we got to do. So it it enabled her and I to continue doing estate auctions where with just her and I, we couldn't have done estate auctions unless we could do them on site. Right. So that's how the online auction got born. And and there was a learning curve.

There's absolutely a learning curve to that. We kept trying to make it fit the live auction. And we still do to some extent. But there was new things that we had to kind of figure out. And okay, what happens if the guy is 30 miles away and he buys $3 worth of stuff and he won't come and get it?

Okay. How do we handle that? Yeah. You know, I I've heard every excuse under the sun why they can't come to pick up the day they are supposed to. you know, there's one guy, his grandma has died five times. And the last time I finally asked him, I said, when are we going to bury this poor lady?

Because she's died five and he could just. He got that deer to head like it looks like. Oh, yeah, I guess I have used that excuse a lot, so. But it does make us and I, I've helped other auctioneers get in the online auction platform, and I tell them all, it will make you a better auctioneer. Right. Because before, if we're sorting it for a live auction and you're going through the kitchen drawers, you're just throwing stuff in a box and whoever's interested, they're going to look through that box and see what's there.

we're doing that online. We've got to look through the box and see what's there. We've got to tell them that there's three steak knives and seven, you know, filet knives and all of that. So we know and much more detail exactly what we're selling. Well, and you say, well what does that mean. Well, that means we know also that we've got to market certain things in a different way.

Right? You know, if we stumble across that one oddball piece, then we've got to market that and we got to do it well, and maybe we got to touch a different market than we would for just the pots and pans and, you know, bedroom suits and those kind of things. So it does make you a better auctioneer. and in reality, an auctioneer is nothing more than a marketer.

Yep, yep. I mean, yeah, I can talk fast and and I can do all that, but the the the real true success of having a successful auction is you got to make sure that the buyers know that they have an opportunity to buy what they want to buy on a given day, on a given day, or at a certain time.

And that's the challenge. People like to buy stuff. they just kind of know that it's being for sale and how and when you're going to sell. so that's a it's really forced us to be a better auctioneer, which in, in reality is just made us become better marketers. Yeah. I don't know. I should probably not like you for it because my wife's always on there like, oh, I seen this antique dresser and,

Yeah. And then, the, the, the worst part or the funny part was the time that her, her and her mom were bidding against each other. Their mom was trying to buy it for her for Christmas, for my wife, for a Christmas present. And like, we showed up and my wife's like, I was bidding on that. So that was that was kind of funny, you know, when that happens.

But yeah, I mean, like I said, like, I, I, I look back and I want to I want to take back, because I remember this conversation like it was yesterday, which is kind of ironic, but, I remember, you know, as business owners, people will see that, you know, you've been in business now for 20, 24 years.

we've been in business seven, eight years, whatever it is, like, oh my gosh, like overnight success. But I remember, when we were, when I was coaching livestock with, or you were coaching us, I was judging livestock. I remember you were driving, I want to say to Detroit for an auto auction. And I remember just, like, question you a little bit like where?

Which I mean, when you're 16, I guess. Now I realize that Detroit’s a lot closer than, you know, as a 16 year old, you're like Detroit. That's a long way away. But I just remember you saying, hey, man, it's paying my bills right now, you know? And, what some people forget or don't understand. And when you start a business, sometimes it you have to take that auction job or that, you know, weekly or, every other weekly income just to, you know, pay the bills so you can have the opportunity to sell Aunt Susie's, you know, you know, home items and whatnot.

It was really funny when, when I had this idea come to my head, I was, I was I had a full time job, expense account, company vehicle, you know, my wife and I, and we was raising our daughter Natalie out on orange pike and and I come home and I tell my wife, I said, you know, I think I want to quit my job and pursue being an auctioneer.

And she's like, you're joking, right? I mean, you do know we got two car payments, a mortgage payment, insurance light bill, you know, all that. And Natalie would have been.... I don’t know, 12, 13 years old. And, you know, how are we gonna, How are we going to pay the bills? And it's like, you know, I really don't know, but we'll figure it out.

And there for a while. Some people know this. Most people probably don't. I cleaned, I cleaned a church, I mowed grass, I was I was driving to Cincinnati one day a week to help with a car auction. that was a regular paycheck. The church cleaning job. That was a regular paycheck. I was also doing real estate appraisals, and I could count on 1 or 2 real estate appraisal checks coming in every week.

And, you know, we're doing the math and it's like, you know, I really think I can replace the income that I'm about to walk away from. But it was the unknown. Oh, yeah. You know, you know, every other week you're getting this many dollars put in your checking account, right? And now you're going to do what? And my dad asked me the same thing.

He's like, boy, do you know what you're doing? And it's like, well, maybe not really, but we'll try. And and the only way I could really get ready to go on with it was I was 35 at the time and I said, look, give me five years. And if you've not made a go of this, I'm going to be 40 years old.

I'm still very employable. I can I can go to work for somebody else and they'll hire me. I've got 20 or 25 years before I'm going to retire, so I can I can go back into the into the industry or into the, you know, the world of work and, and be hired and get a regular paycheck again and after about it took about a year and a half.

It was like, yeah, this was the right decision. But, you know, for the first year it was nip and tuck and yeah, we paid all the bills. But the unknown, as you know, the unknown can really weigh on you. Right. You know. Yeah. I hope I've got a job now and yeah, we've got enough income for the next couple months with what we got coming up.

But what happens in six months, right. If the phone quits ringing? And and it is a little unnerving, but, it was still the the greatest decision I ever made other than marrying my wife. Right? Yeah. No. Absolutely. And, you know, and and I love to hear you talk about that. You're playing the church or, you know, whatever that was or what, whatever.

What else that you were doing just because that's something else that people don't realize or they don't remember. I always, you know, me and Emily, we always joke and laugh about some of the stupid entrepreneur ideas that I had that we tried before this actually took off, you know, and, you know, we learned a lot. And, you know, it's just and and I always say, like, not to get religious or spiritual, but you have to have the faith in yourself, and your spouse has to have that faith because, like, I can I mean, literally, we are sitting on the couch when we decided that we were going to make this roofing business

work come hell or water, like Emily was literally nursing Riley. And there's no way she was two weeks old. Right? And I remember saying one more time, like, I'm ready to start my own company. And she's like, let's do it. And it was like, that was almost like Emily calling made it a carpet like, sure. All right. You said it for about nine months in a year, right?

Like put up or shut up, you know, and and like, so, and you know, fortunately, like, and, you know, we had a lot of support and there were some people that were like, well, what are you going to do in the economy? you know, turns or gets worse? And it's like, okay, well, right now I'm selling roofs.

So I think I could probably do a better job selling for myself than somebody else. So, you know, that's just something that, you know, you gotta, you got to come to. But, you know, like I said, that that right there is, is is always that's always fun to hear because, you know, you're just not you're not afraid to clean a church.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, you walked away from a nice pay and salary, expense account, a car, a it, all that. And then you look up and you're like, okay, oh, well, you know, I'm, I'm scrubbing toilets now to make sure, you know, the make sure there's food on the table or, you know, whatever, whatever that looks like.

So was there was there anything like that you tried inside the auctioneer business that, like, you know, didn't really work, that maybe got, you know, it's all to me. To me. I try to not look at it as a failure. It's either win or you learn is how I try to look at things like, you know, no matter if we really failed at it, like, I just want to learn something from it and, you know, move forward, you know, and and you're right.

Not every decision you make works out the way you thought it was going to work out. for somebody that did take that big leap of faith, I, I am fairly conservative, and I learned early on that if you surround yourself by successful people, the likelihood of you being successful is much greater. And and the fact that I was able to work at car auctions, early on, early on in my auction career, and I got to an opportunity, you know, the first the first car auction job that I had, there was 16 of us working there.

All of those guys with the exception of myself and one other, had been in the auction business for quite a while, so I was surrounded by people that I could that I got to know really well. And when I had a harebrained idea, I'd floated past those folks first. As much as I'd love to say I'm a frontiersman and I come up with all these great ideas, most everything has been thought of before me for the most part.

and, you know, I nobody ever said, oh, no, don't try that. Right. A lot of guys said, yeah, I've done that and this is what I learned from it. Or this what worked really well, this is what didn't work well. So, you know, I was I pretty actively involved in the Auctioneers Association. And we have a saying in a, in a group of auctioneers that went through a program and it's called R&D.

And everybody thinks about research and development. No, it's rip off and duplicate. So when somebody else is doing something right. Yeah. Rip it off and just go do it right. Duplicate. And so I was able to do that a lot. So to answer your question, did I have any really ideas that didn't work. Well no. But I really vetted them before I kind of said, okay, this is what we're going to try.

I've really not had any big learning experiences in, in my career, but I say that because I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best auctioneers in the country and and yeah, we all do, you know, contract work. You show up at the car auction, you walk in, you hear, you talk to the boss, he hands you your paycheck.

You go work for an hour or 2 or 3 and you go home. Pretty cut and dried. Well, but at the same time, all these guys are just like me. And they've got what we call personal business, private, you know, personal property type business. And and so they're all doing things too. So is, is there is if you're going to call it R&D.

I like that is so was a lot of auctioneers get their start in the car business then. No no no no no absolutely not. Actually I was extremely fortunate there. Get a good friend of mine, Todd Woodruff, got me in the car business. I jokingly say that the good Lord himself could walk into a car auction and say, hey, I'm the good Lord himself, and I'm an auctioneer, and I want to work at a car auction, and the manager's going to be very polite, and he's going to look at his resume and talk to him and ask questions and all of that.

And the good Lord won't get out of the door, and he's going to throw that resume in the trash, because without somebody saying, hey, I know that guy, and he's a pretty good guy, you, you know, we could probably use him. You will not get it. You will not get in the car auction business. It is one of the hardest, closest guarded fraternities there is out there.

and there again, because of Todd, I was able to get in the first one and he told me right up front, once you get one, then you can get as many as you want, but you got to get the first one. Okay. because very few auction companies car auction companies are going to give somebody the opportunity to work that doesn't have experience.

Okay? And it's almost just dumb luck for that first time. And it really was, the car auction company that I went to work with was called Manheim. It was down in Cincinnati. Todd had been down there for 3 or 4 years, and they had a situation where they needed eight additional auctioneers next week. Oh, wow. And, you know, it's just like you saying, hey, I got to have five experienced roofing crews by the end of the end of next week.

Well, that's that's easy to say, hard to do. And finding eight experienced car auctioneers that's not already working, that's pretty tough to do. And Todd said, hey, I got a guy I think he can come and help us. And I got my foot in the door. And I was able to stay for a lot of, for a lot of years.

And then from there I went to work, in Columbus, at Columbus Fair, Columbus, Ohio. I worked at work there one day a week, then that became two days a week. I was going to Detroit. At one point in time. I was working five car auctions a week. that's about all I could do. because most of them, the closest one was Cincinnati.

And that was the better part of an hour and 45 minutes away. Right. I'm there for 2 or 4 hours, but you pretty much shoot the better part of a day. By the time you leave, you get there, you do your job, you get back home. It doesn't leave a whole lot of daylight time left. So it it was extremely difficult.

And without Kathy, I couldn't have done that. Right, right. because between Kathy and Wayne and Dave, they were able to do a lot of, get, get the work done. More time than I could just. And it's funny because I talked to Kathy yesterday and we jokingly said, she goes, remember when you first hired me? You told me that I was going to do all the work, and you were just going to show up on Saturday morning and talk fast?

And I said, yep. And she goes, well, that's kind of the way it is. And I said, yeah, only, only there's you and 15 others doing all the work. Well, and I mean, that's a, that's another thing like, you know, people don't realize, you know, behind the scene, like, you know, how much like you I underst. I mean, not only that, I can imagine the help that you have to have to have the success you've had.

Same thing. Like, you know, we look at each other, we understand. Well, they they've got a good team back at home or back at the office because then, you know, you can get away to do stuff like this and that kind of stuff. So how long is it been since you've been in car? The car, but still in the car auction business?

I choose to remain in the car auction business. I actually I sell cars this morning. I work for Adesa Car Auction Company, which is the world headquarters is in Indianapolis, but I work in, Cincinnati. Dayton, which is about halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, right there at Franklin. Okay. And they have two car auctions a week. And I am fortunate enough to get to work at both of those.

Now, on Tuesdays, there's oh, I don't know. A dozen, 14 of us that probably work there on Tuesday. Then every Friday there's four of us that work there. And then once a month they have what they call the specialty sale, which is boats and RVs and motorcycles and things of that nature. Then there's another group of six guys that work there on that sale, but that's a monthly sale.

But, you know, people I ask, I had other car auctioneers, they know what all I do and they see on the website how much I got going on and and they say, why do you still do this? And I and I tell them, I said, this is my golf game. I when I get here and I climb up on the block, it's something.

First off, calling bids and selling cars is something I absolutely enjoy doing. And when I get there and I crawl up on the block, I have to shut my phone off. I can't answer it. I can't respond to a text. I can't reply to an email for an hour or two. I'm just there doing something I really, really enjoy doing and they pay me for it.

Believe it or not, I hope Jay Howland Mike long is going to watch this because they're going to. That guy will come and do for free. But but no, it is something that I absolutely, thoroughly enjoy. I sold 100 cars this morning. We had 100 cars in my lane, and I think I sold every one of them, which is just because of the consignor.

I would love to tell you it's my world renowned auction prowess. But it's not. It's just the fact that the consignors that I get to sell, they bring their cars there to to sell them and turn them into cash. They most we most sell them all. But I think I did sell every one of them today. Well, I was just talking about that, with, I believe, Jonathan Holzback and my wife, couple of days ago.

Like, you know, when you come down to the Rush County 4-H auction, like, you're so good at, like, you know, hey, now, are you really going to lose out on the chance of buying a 2023 grand champion barrel? Because there's not another one, you know, and like, I mean, and you can hear, you can hear your passion and your love for the auction, for the kids, for the 4-H.

You know, kind of all that together. and that's just, I mean, that, that, that, well, people don't understand is like, yes, we were called to be in business and stuff like that, but we genuinely have to really enjoy what we're doing. Sure. Yeah. There's crap that happens that you know, if you did enjoy doing it, you throw the towel in.

But so it is and, and it's funny because, like, I feel like I'm one of them that I don't really have, I don't have an off switch and like, I don't have a, hobby of golfing or hunting. Like, I would rather just go do more work, like me and Emily's in the process of building a house right now, and I'm in GC in it, and like, it's I think I got it.

I got it at 2:00 this morning, like I was trying to do stuff with the house and then I needed help get some stuff ready here for the business. And, this morning Emily left before I got up and going, and she texted me. She's like, I have no idea how you stay up so late. And I was like, I just had to get, you know, get stuff done.

But it comes around of, like, actually enjoying, you know, what you're doing. for me, something I like to do is I like running, excavating equipment. And we bought a mini to dig water lines and electrical lines and all that, and it's like, I got to actually go do some dirt work with the skid loader later this evening or like, and I'm looking forward to because like you said, like I can answer my phone but still like you just you get in that that zone and just and like you, you genuinely enjoy that.

So yeah. Yeah. Well you brought up 4-H. And and that is something that's near dear to my heart. I was ten years for each member. My wife is a ten year for each member. Right after I got out of 4-H, we became four leaders. we were the leaders of two different clubs for, I don't know, probably six, seven years until Natalie got old enough to where she could start showing and we were going to get involved in show and livestock with her.

and, and so 4-H has a special place, so selling 4-H livestock auctions is something that I again, I absolutely do. I enjoy doing, I sell 5 or 6 of those a year. they're all donated free, gratis. And, and people say, why do you drive clear to Huntington County? And it's like, because I like it.

And I enjoy it. obviously it makes no sense to spend the whole day and drive to Huntington and back for, donut a cup of coffee. But that's what we do. and here in Rush County, you know, I've been very fortunate and been involved with that 4-H auction for a long, long time. Connersville, Fayette County, that was another one that I've been involved with.

You know, I, I grew up in 4-H in Wayne County. I've been helping with the Wayne County 4-H livestock auction for probably, I don't know, 10 or 12 years anyway. And I get involved in Trouble County to, Preble County is is a big county and they have a huge livestock auction. They run, two rings in two different buildings, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys.

They're sold in one ring. The swine, for the most part, it's just strictly hogs are sold in another ring in another building. And and it's they start at 8:00 in the morning, and their goal is to be done by four that afternoon running two rigs. and so they, you know, they bring a lot of auctioneers in and out.

guys can come in and they work in the morning. I sell cars that day of their auction. So I go sell cars and then I come and help them, in the afternoon. And it really works out good because there's guys who can't stay all day and just like myself, I can't see all day either. So, but it is it is something that I really, really enjoy.

And I do fundraising auctioneer auctions as well. I got the Bella the Hospital Foundation. Yep. They've been is tonight that I'm going to do and and I, I don't want to sound like I'm toot my own horn, but I do feel like I'm pretty successful at these fundraising auctions because I can get people to relax and enjoy themselves.

And people come up to me say, oh, I just had the best time. And it's like, you know, because if you're laughing, you don't feel me in your billfold getting all your money out. If you're not having a good time, I reach my hand in your billfold. You know it right away. And it's like, get out of there.

And and so if I, if I can have people enjoy themselves and, and enjoy the event, it's way easier to get money out of their pocket. And the, the 4-H fairs the same way. I like to, you know, poke fun at the folks that I know well enough and I can poke fun with and and it just gives everybody a more relaxed, enjoyable event.

Well, and it's funny you say that because it's been several years ago now. You were doing a fundraiser for something. I don't remember what it was. And I remember 1 or 2 things that you you must have known the guy buying it because like, you got it up four times higher than it ever should have been. And then you're like, oh, thanks so much.

You know what? He this degree that he's actually going to pay the 1500 bucks and we're going to sell it again. So let's start with $1,000 and you know, and like and I'm like, I'm conservative. Like I'm super like I don't want to say I'm super cheap, but, you know, I'm looking for a good deal sometimes. But I've come to realize that when you go to something like that, like spin, you know, I know it's a $300 grill, but it's 500 bucks, right?

Five, 600 bucks because it's helping out. Whatever. It's helping you out, you know? So that's, a good friend of mine, Mary Jane Apple. we were having that conversation. We went to a fundraiser one time for a mission trip of somebody, and she said that her husband, Brad, got on her because she's like, oh, I'm going to get that for a deal.

And he's like, gosh darn it, Mary Jane. they're they're doing this for a fundraiser. And I've kind of, you know, I've always remembered that that, you know, and like I said, like you, you do a good job at the the, the for range of just, you know, of stopping it and you know, sometimes like I was at an auction that you weren't running.

I won't say which auction it was, but like, they were selling like land or something. And man, it was so dry and like, I was ready to take a nap. And I was interested in trying to buy something, you know? So it's like you got to have that, and entertainment, part. And it's no different than no matter what you're selling, you're selling that pig or whatever.

Like if my sales guys walks in to sell somebody's roof, like, if they're laughing and relax, you know, it's just it's a lot better. You know, customer experience is something that, you know, that we always, we always talk about. So what? I kind of go back to, like, after you got started, like, you know, you said it was a year and a half late into it.

You kind of felt like you were making it. Like what? How do you what did you feel like when you when you when you hit that the the goal when when I finally said, you know what, I think this is going to work. I was able to have enough weekly income coming in that I could quit clean in the church and, and, and, and, you know, if it wasn't hard work, it was something that I had to do and I had it wasn't that I had to be there on a specific day at a specific time, but I had to get it done.

But it was the fact that I got to get it done, and it's got to be done by Saturday night at, you know, 9:00 or whatever time. and, and when I was able to say, you know what, guys, I appreciate the opportunity, but you need to find somebody else to do this. And that was like, you know what I think?

And I finally made it. I think I finally made it. I guess I guess that's what that was when I said, you know what? It's this is going to work. But I've just been blessed by so many different people, and been able to get opportunities because of my, my sphere of sphere of influence. The folks that, for whatever reason, think that I'm a okay guy and and try to help me get along and and they're again no different than your business, Bob.

You know that your success is only as good as the guys helping you. And I've just been more than blessed with the quality and and the number of folks that are willing to help me. And it's it's one thing, you know, it's one thing to hire a guy and he's going to show up at 7:00 in the morning and he's going to leave at three, and you're going to hand him X number of dollars.

Yeah, those are guys are important. But it's the guy that man. It's going to rain tomorrow and we've got two more hours and we'll have this roof done. We're going to stay and get it done. I heard somebody tell it's an ownership responsibility. If you can get an employee that will pick up our responsibility or the way we think about things, you've got you've got an employee, but you got more than employee.

You got you got a partner, right? You got a partner. I was just having this conversation. I said, you know, self-employment mentality. Like, you know, if our team and I don't even say employee because, it's I want a team members because I genuinely want, like, you know, them to say, hey, I went ahead and even one of my subcontractors was nice enough, though in the new house, I kind of guess when I was buying flooring and I was two freaking boxes short and I was texting one of my subs and he's like, hey man, he goes, my brother lives right around the corner.

I've got to swing by and get some stuff from him in the morning. I'll just swing by and get it. And he was working on a job out here for us, but he got two boxes of freaking flooring from Indy to Falmouth, and he even took them to my house. I told him I was like, I'll come by the jobsite and grab them, and I just text them was like, hey man, is that is that flooring at the jobsite?

He goes, oh no, I just went ahead and it's in your garage. It's right here. And I'm like, you know, and that's that's a subcontractor in our world. We have a lot of subcontractors. But that's another thing like me and Emily's been extremely intentional about building them relationships. I mean, a lot of our subs, like we buy their kids Christmas presents in a Christmas celebration, you know, just because, like, you know, in and in our construction world, just buy them launcher, bringing them water on a cold day or Gatorade.

Like, they're not even used to that from, you know, our, our main roofing Hispanic crew always says that, they've never worked for two white people, for me and Emily, that they've never worked for two harder working white people. Yeah. because they just seen us in the beginning. Like we're flipping houses, like we're working all day running the business.

And from seven, 8:00 at night to midnight, one of 2:00 in the morning, like, we're we're freaking painting and doing this and that flip house just to keep that income, you know, rolling. And then you look up and then you hire a couple people and then you realize how crappy of a positive. Yep. Yeah, yeah. It's like shit.

I just thought I figured out this business thing. Now I gotta know I'm in the business of hiring people or, you know, poor Ellie, that works for me. She applied a couple times before we ever hired her, and she said she is giving up. She wasn't applying. Yeah, and then I reached out to her, you know, and, so.

Yeah, I mean, that's the the team is the team is what makes us shine. And you know what? You know what makes us look good. And it doesn't surprise me that you've had somebody with you for 20 years, 20 plus years, just because you know your consistency. And that's another time. Like you've been consistent at what you've done to, as an entrepreneur, we're mad about shiny object syndrome stuff.

Like, maybe I should also be, you know, doing this. So, so what is, just so, like, if, you know, we can help generate some business for you. What? So is your main part of your business, the selling personal property? Well, if you look at. So we'll typically do, her buyer auction appraisal company will typically do 120, 130, I think I think last year we did 138 auctions, probably 75% of those as far as just number of auctions is personal property.

Okay. Now, from a dollars and cents standpoint, we probably sell as many dollars of farm equipment as we do personal property just because of the dollar value, right? You know, when I was a sophomore in high school working for my uncle on the dairy farm, driving a 4400 Massey Ferguson combined, if you told me then that, hey, you know, in your lifetime, you're going to see a combined cost $1 million.

I told you, use crazier back, you know? But we're here, so, dollar wise, you know, it's probably about the same. we mainly sell personal property estate type stuff, which that gets jewelry, that gets gold and silver, that gets antiques, that gets firearms. I mean, that's a big umbrella. we sell more of those auctions a year than anything dollar wise.

It's about 5050 farm equipment versus personal property. And then the real estate is something completely separate and at least in my mind, it's completely separate. and, you know, we mainly sell farms. Haldeman real estate, farm management. We are pretty much egg property oriented people. And there again, as you know, you just bought it. You just bought some land.

You know what farmland has been bringing, right? You know, and then again, when I got my realtor's license, if somebody said, well, you're going to sell $20 million with the real estate one year on year, nut. Well, I surpassed that last year in 23. You know, so but there again, nobody would ever thought we would be selling farms for $22,000 an acre, right.

You know, so the, the dollar value of the asset we're selling has went up. So it also makes the total dollar gross sale go up as well. But we do we sell a lot of estate type stuff. And if you look on the website you know there's usually 2 or 3 auctions. The bidding is open all the time.

And and the vast majority of that is estate type stuff. Right, right. So yeah, because I mean that shout out, you guys actually helped out, my in-laws, my wife's grandma passed away and you guys, did the appraisal on that. That's probably been a year and a half ago now. Right? So, I mean, I know that, I know you do you trading more appraisals then you walked in this building, you're like, yeah, I praise this.

Yeah, this is a transmission shop, you know? Yeah. So you probably do more appraisals than somebody like me would even realize, you know? so we we do, we do a lot of appraisals and it's, and we, I don't want to say we don't try to do appraisals because we do. And actually, I was a real estate appraiser before I was anything that was the first license that I obtained.

and we'll probably do, gosh, I'd have to sit down and really add it up because I've got four, four guys do an appraisal work. but we probably do a hundred appraisals a year. The vast majority of those are just like your your wife's grandmothers, you know, these passed. We need to get a piece of real estate appraised.

We need a personal property inventory, an appraisal. that's usually the first contact. The first touch that we have with with a family is through an appraisal. Then sometimes it immediately follows up with, okay, now we need you to sell it, whether it's the personal property or the real estate or whatever. Sometimes it's five years down the road.

we just got a call. We just got a call a couple of days ago. Hey, you guys appraised my grandfather's farm five years ago. Now we think. We think we're ready to sell it. so you never know what. What's going to lead to where? Right? You know, and I just like you. You started out just putting shingles on.

Well, now you do way more than just put shingles, right. Well, why is that? Well, because the opportunity presents itself. Yep, yep. Exactly. You know, somebody needed your services and it's like, yes, I can do that. And so you start. Yep. Absolutely. So you know, you and I our businesses are completely different but yet they're very, very similar.

You know, if you every every place that you say roofing, you cross that out and put auctions or an appraisal, it the story would read about the same. It really would. Yeah. I mean you got to take care of people. And like I said, the consistency of that's crazy to think that you've, you've been doing it 24, 25 years because then it's like I just seen a cousin of mine, she's technically a second cousin of mine.

Her third. Her youngest turned 25 today. And I was like, damn, I'm not 25 anymore, rusty. So, yeah. you know, one thing that I do, and again, it's one of the things I really, really enjoy, I announce at the Indiana State Fair, and I started out announcing in the sheep barn the the Blue Ribbon Pavilion. And the last few years I've been, the announcer for the grand drive in the supreme drive, and I didn't realize how long I'd been doing it till just.

And it happened just last year. I was sitting there in the Coliseum, was getting ready for the grand drive, and I was kind of going over the script, if you will, and and run of the show is what they like to call it. But anyway, I had this young lady sit down and, and, she said, you know, you I've been listening to you for a lot of years.

And, and there again, I'm thinking, okay, she's probably a sophomore or maybe a junior in high school. And I said, oh, yeah. And she goes, yeah, you was you was the announcer in the sheep barn the very first year I was in for it, I said, what are you, a sophomore? Junior? She goes, no, I'm a junior in college.

And it's like, oh crap, I am old, I am old. So yeah, I know exactly what you mean about I can't be that old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, speaking of that, this is kind of off subject and that's kind of squirrel. were you part of an engagement? in the sheep barn? for somebody from Rush County, maybe.

I'm totally. No, no, I, you know, the the at the Indiana State Fair, if you receive a champion championship, you get invited to the celebration of champions. Okay. and I emcee that event. That's usually a month or so after the state fair when they have that awards. And, yeah, one of there was a Rush County girl.

Emily's younger sister. Oh, good lord, don't. You did have to bring that up. Yes, yes, I was involved in that. Okay, I thought so. yeah. The reason her and the reason she's married is I read the engagement, so. Yeah. Right before the. So they have problems. I get the blame that on. Yeah, exactly. yeah. The, Spencer came to me and he said, here, can you read this for me right before we do the the supreme drive?

At that time, we were just we picked the Supreme you in the blue ribbon pavilion. Okay? And it's like, yeah, yeah, I laid down there. I'll read it here in a minute. Yeah. That's fine. Well, I had no idea what it was. And, and you know, we, we just because at the time we did, we picked the supreme champion.

You 15 minutes after we got done with the last breed champion. And and so we got done with the breed champion and it's like, okay, I started calling people, hey, we're gonna, you know, do the supreme drive, and we need the reserve champions here. And kind of giving them how this is all going to work. And, and I had just enough time to kind of run to the bathroom.

And I grabbed that paper as I'm going to the bathroom, it's like, what is he want me to read? And I start reading. It's like, oh crap, oh crap. I got oh no. And well, that was tough. He did a great job. Yeah, yeah. speaking of that, you still doing a lot of soccer? Did you hand all that over the Natalie?

Well, we. Judy and I, the only livestock, and I don't really can't call them livestock because you're pets. But we own Judy, and I only own three dogs and a barn cat. Okay, all the other livestock up on 38 belongs to Natalie and Jeremy. Okay, now, there's some in my barn. we I just got to have something go to the barn and feed.

So their bucks are in our barn, and I've got some use. I normally grow out to you lambs and turn them into yearling ewes in my bar. Okay. We did. The grandkids had horses up until just about a month ago when we finally moved the last horse on. the kids take riding lessons, and, the lady that teaches, I'm Tracy Fletcher.

Tracy teaches lots of kids how to ride horses. And and for the most part, they're younger kids. So older horses that can't carry fat people like you and me, and they're great for the for the little kids to ride. And, and so she gets a lot of older horses. And she lost a couple three horses over the winter.

they're getting older horses, just like older folks. They don't winter. Well, yep. And, so she called here about a month ago, and we've we've got an old horse for our youngest granddaughter, Hayes. And she said, hey, would there be any chance that you guys that I could use him or I would even buy him and the girls have found softball?

Yep. The last couple of years. And so riding horses isn't near as him as it was. So PA's just been. That was his name. PA he's just been kind of a pasture pet for the last year or so. And now he said, what do you think? I said, absolutely, let him go down there and let let people enjoy.

Yeah, yeah. so we took him down here. So we right now we have no equine at the farm. First time in a while, actually. so, but we just got, sheep all the all the all the livestock on my side of the road is sheep. Okay, okay. So yeah, I keep I've, I personally haven't owned any livestock now for a couple of years and it's kind of getting the edge.

And my wife I see an idea my wife just yesterday and she said no. And she don't ever hardly look at me and just say no. She might say, well, whatever you think, honey. And, you know, you've seen that look. It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, she didn't want me to do that. But she flat looked at me, you know, so it's funny because after we put to set again our new place, I had the fence built and I wanted the septic in first just to make sure that we got that done.

And, the amount of money I've spent on fence for seven. Freaking. That's stupid. Yeah. And then my boy, he can start showing next year. So we got to have that conversation of, getting into that and, yeah, that's I mean, I got so much out of FFA and 4-H like, I want him to do it, but my dad was always like, you're showing cattle.

And I look how much easier hogs are. Oh yeah. Yeah. You know and and there again we've, we've showed just about our family has showed just about every species that you can take to the fair. And they're the cattle by no stretch. Imagination is the most absolute, the most demanding project there is out there, not only from a time standpoint, but an investment standpoint, from an equipment standpoint.

And there's just nothing easy about showing cattle. Yeah, but and I I'd always say this you can ask a lot of livestock people. Well in 2021 who had the grand lamb at the Indiana State Fair and and unless they're directly involved in the lamb show and it's like, yeah, I don't know. But most of the people can tell you who had the grand champion steer right.

And it's just and I think that's just because it carries a lot more significance. and I don't know why because they're again, we've showed hogs, we've showed sheep, we've showed goats. It doesn't matter what you show, if you're going to be successful at it, you're going to have to put the hours in. Right now. You're right.

Showing hogs, showing sheep, you're going to put hours in, but you're not going to probably spend 4 or 5 hours a day working a lamb. You might spend an hour a day, right. You're not going to spend 4 or 5 hours. And and that lamb you can probably get by with not rinsing him and work and working his shag.

That's a new thing. And in the sheep world, working his leg like wool. But once a day where if you're showing cattle, it's twice a day and you're going to do it in the morning, and when it gets hot, you're going to have him in the barn before the sun comes up. And as you know, that's a really cold come the middle of June.

Sunrises early. Yeah. So, and you're not going to turn out you're not going to turn that calf out until pretty much the sun goes dead. Right? And there again, everybody knows it's about 10:00 before the sun goes down in July. So yeah, it is it is an absolute most rewarding, experience that anybody can do. But by far, the cattle is the most demanding.

Well, and just like I just think back, and, I mean, my dad was old school when it came to forage, like he didn't. I was lucky if he got the damn cast to the fair without complaining about it. Now, he was there to support me when we showed. I don't want to take anything away from that, but I remember, one night, Thursday night, Ross County fair.

I'm out there. Just get my calf cleaned up, get them some feed to kind of settle them in. And a guy walked up. And, I mean, I've always been a salesman, so I just started shooting the breeze of this guy. I couldn't have been seventh or eighth grade. And come to find out, he own Perfect North slows down in Lawrenceburg, right?

And he came back the following night and bought my steer at the auction. Right. and like, it took me, like, even it took me a little bit to put two and two together. I'm like, oh, you know what? That had to be in that guy that I literally spent a half an hour call to, you know, about, about my calf and just, just the experience of getting of being out there and meeting people.

Like, I remember going to an open show, to livestock judge when I was in high school, with Jerry Foreman and his boys. And, it was the Henry County, Hoosier Classic, I think they called it. Yep. And the judging was in the morning. I was back in the barn shooting the breeze with them, and they're getting ready to do the announcements of the results.

And, Jerry's like, you better get up there for us right now. Well, I was like, second place individual, so then I had to, like, run through the barn, you know? So just just that then relationships, you know, you know, that's that's what started this relationship right here. So like, I don't want I don't I want my kids to, to understand and appreciate that.

Now my poor wife didn't show any livestock so she doesn't really have a clue. Yeah. What the heck. You know, she really doesn't know what. Yeah, she's about to walk into. Not at all. And I mean, she's gonna she's gonna end up in on most of the bird. Yep. So I guess we gotta decide, like, I mean, this is the conversation that, you know, we're going to have, you know, moving forward.

But I also I know the value of kids that are in for a change. Just like when I'm hiring people now, like they can, you know, they know how to talk to people. They know how to interact. You know, they can, you know, I go back to the livestock judging, like the bill, to look somebody in the eyes and tell them my reasons or, you know, like third or fourth or fifth grade, like stand up, you know.

And what I didn't realize back then was I was talking to the guy that owned the damn cattle right when I was placing him, like, you know. yeah. And that just, like I said, I hire people almost every day or, you know, once a month. And just like the, the, the lack of them qualities in humans that we have right now, it's like, guys, we gotta put these phones down and yep, you know, do something.

And, you know, I mentioned earlier that the girls have found softball, right. And and we have never, ever been a sports family. Natalie. She played softball a couple of years. When she was a little girl, we showed livestock. That's what we did. and and the girls have found softball, and Riley's found basketball and cross-country. But, you know, we riggin the oldest.

she's not the oldest. Riley's older, by a year. But anyway, Regan plays on a travel softball team, and so we go to the tourneys and and watch her play. And I'm a, I'm a student of people and I like, yeah, I'm watching the game, but I'm watching people. Right. And I'm always listening and the, the conversations that you hear, the comments that you hear it a sporting event and it doesn't it can be baseball, it can be softball, it can be football, it can be you know, whatever.

But a youth sporting event, the conversation that you hear, the comments you hear, and then you go to a livestock event and certain stands and listen to the conversation in the comments and and night and day different. Right? Absolutely. Night and day different. And you know, I, I've said this numerous times that you will not find a better place to, have your kids grow up in the bar.

so.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and it's just, it's just that, the values and what you learn, you know, inside a barn, that people just, you know, like, you know, my dad raised us three older kids as a single dad, you know, and he made mistakes. However, like, what he taught us, like, you know, I don't want to gloat about my dad, but all of his kids, have their own jobs, and, you know, they're they're they're contributing to society, as, you know.

Right. Whatever. You know, and we've all taken different paths, too. Sure. but, you know, my brother's a firefighter. You know, I own a business, but still, like, you know, we're contributing, you know, every day. And, like you said, it's just it's it's the values. It's late nights in the barns. It's the. You've got to. It's so much like business.

You've got to be consistent. You've got to put the time in and you're going to put time in that. Other people are never going to. Right, you know. Right. Never going to see, you know, right. You know, I heard it, I had a I had an opportunity to listen to a guy and, and and you can relate to this because you've showed livestock and, and you know, the people that are very successful, they really, really quickly get branded as, they own the judge or they know the judge or they paid him a bribe or, you know, they know it's, winning.

Success is the time that preparation meets opportunity. And the the folks that are successful in the show ring, they're probably the ones that are spending seven hours in the barn. If we're talking about cattle. Right. They're the ones that are spending seven hours in the barn versus that guy that stood fourth or fifth, that only spends an hour in the barn.

Right. And and you've got to be prepared to be successful and, and preparation starts at home. It's it's no different than anything you if you're going to be successful, you got to be prepared. And and we're talking about showing livestock and that happens at home in the barn. if we're talking about scholastic ability, then that happens at home study, at home work or in the library.

Now I'm really dating myself because we you have to go to the library to get information. But but we have a thing called the internet. Yeah, yeah, I know there's this little thing you carry around, I know I get, I get it, but, no. And it doesn't matter if whatever. If you're going to be successful at whatever you want to do, you've got to you got to prepare and and the folks that prepare the best, most of the time are the most successful, you know, cross-country runner, marathon runner.

It isn't like he just woke up that morning. Just. Yeah, I think I run the Boston Marathon today. Yeah, just, you know. Yeah, that's the only way somebody I know that I'm run. Somebody bigger than me. He's chasing me. So. But but, you know and and there again, we're I, we're kind of getting off of track here a little bit, but, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter what what you want to do. Whatever trips your trigger with short livestock, sports, scholastics, being a layman in the in the church, if you're really, really prepared, then you're going to be successful. So, And that's that's hard to do in sports, especially with youth sports, because that's something that the kids do kind of on their own and with their team.

Right. You know, as as you and I both know, there is there is no individual in short livestock. Yeah. Johnny or Susie is going to take the calf in the ring, but there is a whole village back home that gets the work done. And yeah, Johnny and Susie is going to be a part of that village, but it is just Johnny and Susie and so.

Well, and I mean, you know, one thing, with sports and, and this can be in livestock, too. It's just like like there's got to be a love for the kids, that that they do that. And that's like one thing, like, I want to make sure my kids want to show livestock like element, encourage them. And if they sign up for it this year, they're going to complete it.

That's just they need to learn that value. But I've seen I've I've watched for families. and where some of them forced the kids all the way through and then, you know, some of them know that one's kind of took the sports route in high school, and I'm fine with that. This one's going to continue to show and like you said, like there is, you know, whatever that looks like is that the veterinarian involved, is that the nutrition involved in feeding the animal and, you know, and and one thing that I always, I always feel like, is, is you see a lot of that in that kind of in the livestock industry is,

you know, if you're selling lambs, like a lot of times you're stopping in and checking on them later and like, you've you're not making any more money by doing that. It's genuinely your love. Like you even helped show up and fit that lamb. Or give some pointers or, you know, whatever that looks like. And that's, you know, that's the part of that bill.

It's like you're saying that, you know, nobody else, you know, sees like, you know, I worked for Rob Jackman. My wife worked for Rob. Like, I watched them kids grow up and, you know, they won a lot. And honestly, that pissed some people off. But I've also been over there many a nights, and my kids are out there till dark.

Yeah, working on them damn animals. And yes, they had quality animals. Don't get me wrong however, like they put the time and effort. and it's really no different in sports because we've all known people that were super athletic, that were just freaking lazy, and then the ones that weren't as athletic, but they went out there and just, you know, put the time in, put the time in, put the time in.

And then when you see them have success like that, it's, you know, it's it's fun. And I get it's easy to root for the guy that that wins, you know. but as a country, sometimes I feel like we demonize success. We do like, we hate Tom Brady. Like, love them or hate him like, damn, that guy is talent.

He's good and he's it puts the time in. Absolutely. And like I said, he didn't just wake up and say, you know what I like? I go win a Super Bowl today, right? He he works at it probably 10 or 12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week. Yep. Then and there is no offseason. Absolutely. There is there.

And and it doesn't matter whether we're talking about sports, livestock, whatever. and it's in it just comes back to how the kids are raised. Yep. You know, and and I said early on, you surround yourself with successful people. You be successful. If you surround yourself with people that you are comfortable with, then most likely they're good people.

and, and it's, you know, people look at me when our grandkids were little, now they're still fairly little, but I'm talking about 4 or 5 years old. We would turn them loose, literally turn them loose in the sheep barn. But they did not walk out of that mark. Right. Because we knew enough people in the sheep barn.

No, nothing bad was going to happen, right, everybody? Oh, that's the plot, kids. But yeah, that's Rusty's grandkids, right? and and it doesn't matter whether they're looking at my grandkids or I'm looking at somebody else's grandkids. I know, and I'm going to look after them and there's not anybody in that barn that I would be concerned about.

Correct. now, obviously I can't I'm not going to walk them out on the midway. It's okay. See you. See you tonight. You know, that's not going to happen, right? but but because for the most part, people in the livestock world are just like me. they're just like you. They're they're family oriented, or they wouldn't be there.

Right? they're what I call quote unquote good people. Right? Right. and I don't want to say that you don't find good people to sporting events because you do. There's a lot, a lot of good people at sporting events, but it's just not in our wheelhouse. Right. and so when we're at sporting events, the two littles, the two youngest grandkids, you know, we keep them within eyesight, right?

And we don't make them sit right beside us, but they're going to stay within eyesight. Right. So and there's there's a lot of days that you know, oh he's missing. He's oh four, four hours ago. But I got a text. She was with the shape or girl. Right. Or whatever, you know so well and that's another thing is like you watch in the livestock, you watch, you know, when somebody was their first year in forage and then you see them seven, eight, nine years in and then they're back to sure, you know, and that that's another thing is like, people just don't see that that and that's, you know, one thing that I say

that we're our country is hurting is the lack of apprenticeship in like business. and that's kind of like apprenticeship inside 4-H like, you know, you know, if my son, you know, start showing next year, then there's probably going to be somebody, you know, seven, eight, nine, ten year for each member, like reach back and kind of, you know, help him.

And, you know, maybe it's hard to steer it away in or whatever that is. And then you know, and then and 4 or 5, six, seven, eight years, ten years he can repay that. And just the value, you know, John Herbert was a kid that mentored, he's young, he's a man now, my little brother, man.

And like, my dad still talks about when John mentored my brother and my brothers are grown man now. So, you know, it's like people like that. You just kind of, it just it just it matters. And there's just such a long lasting, you know, affect, you know, with that. So. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. as we rack, as we rack up, as we, wrap up, like any other words of advice, I really appreciate our conversation.

Rest. No, I mean, I, I we could we could sit here and and talk for the rest of the day. and I've got an appointment, and I'm already ten minutes late, too, so that that's okay. but no, I, I don't it it's the I tell people this all the time, and I know it's cliche and and everybody's heard it.

You know, the success to business is just treating people the way they need to be treated. And I tell people it's not I'm not smart. I just know how I want to be treated. And that's how I treat other people. And and just like we talked before we started the interview, you know, there's times when it's like, you know what?

That is not I'm going to I'm going to do something for a client that is not necessary. It is not going to benefit me any way at all down in the future. But it's it's just the right thing to do. And I know you've heard it. I've heard it multiple times. Dual, you know, doing the right thing when somebody is not watching is the right thing to do, right well.

And doing the right thing isn't always easy. Oh, absolutely. Not all doing doing the right thing. Sometimes one of the hardest things you do. Yeah. And and then sometimes it's we don't need to do the right thing because it's, it's wrong. But it's the thing we do anyway. Right. And you just grin and bear it and, and move on and hope that somebody is watching.

Right, right, right, right. When you don't think they're watching. Well, and, you know, and, and people are well, literally yesterday, we went to a memorial service for a friend of mine, that we lost to cancer, Nick piano at 43. And, one of his daughters is in my daughter's grade, and, he was a mentor.

He encouraged me when I went to start the business. He hired me multiple times. Never once price shot me. Never once held up my money like just one of them guys that you do business. Sure. That was a gleaming example of Jesus Christ and the love he has for us and all that. And, it was a celebration of life.

And it was hard, like, you know, if I'm being honest, it's like, okay, God, this one doesn't make sense, right? Five beautiful children's, beautiful wife, would talk to anybody about Jesus and just love them. And, they had a worship service and we sang 4 or 5 worship songs, you know, preacher talked, his mom came up, sister in law came up, and we left.

And as worship song came on the radio, and I didn't even realize it was the one that one of them that we had just heard. Church and my eight year old is like that. We just sang that at church, right? I was like, Holy cow, because I screw up every day as a dad, as a husband, as a business owner, everything.

But I was like, you know, he is he is watching. He is paying attention. And, you know, people people are paying attention, like as a business owner or just in life when you do the right thing, like, I don't care if it's your team member. you know, it could be, you know, an attorney or an accountant, whatever that looks like, you know?

So, absolutely. But we, we do appreciate your time, rusty. and I just want to give a shout out if, rusty can help you. He's not here to sell a service, but appraisal, auction stuff. If rusty can help you, check out his company. Great guy. my wife spends way too much money with him sometimes.

actually, just pick something up. The other day in Indy, by Greenwood, this stupid little thing. And I was like, you made me drive for. Yes. Yeah. You know, so. But we made it to, All right, guys, thank you and have a great day.