The Reinvention of a Marine: Jared DeRuby's Corporate Climbing Story

Meet Jared DeRuby, a former Marine and present CEO of a prominent talent staffing agency, as he takes us through his remarkable transition from the battlefield to the boardroom. Having served as a wireman in an artillery unit, Jared's journey saw him become a fourth-generation electrician, using the discipline and focus honed in the military to excel in the demanding world of construction. Drawing on these unique experiences, he delves into the often misunderstood role of temporary workers in the industry and the significant impacts of a well-defined recruitment process.

Turning a critical eye to industry standards, Jared emphasizes the power of investment in training and development as a tool to elevate service delivery and keep customers satisfied. As our conversation deepens, we venture into the often-neglected area of mental health, a critical issue within the construction industry. Jared shares his personal experiences, detailing his struggles and triumphs as he transitioned from the Marine Corps to the electrical industry.

In a refreshing twist, Jared reveals how he found a sense of community in an unexpected place - the yoga and spiritual studio he co-owns with his wife. His story is a poignant reminder of the importance of seeking mental health support proactively, whether one is a military or civilian individual. He discusses the value of maintaining a consistent phone number, the potential impact of business cards, and his commitment to treating everyone equally, regardless of their age, position, or demographic. As we conclude this profound episode, remember that we'd love to hear from military veterans in the construction industry who would like to share their stories on our podcast.

https://www.talentcorps.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

And at the end of the day, we don't know when our time is up. Just gotta leave each state to the fullest and make sure you're doing the right things.

Speaker 2: 0:16

This is the Construction Veteran Podcast, connecting and celebrating veterans in construction. Now here's your host, scott Friend. Welcome back to the Construction Veteran Podcast. I'm your host, scott Friend. I'm excited to bring to you guys a former Marine and current CEO of a talent staffing agency, jared Derruby. Let's dig into it. Hey, jared, how's it going? Man, good, scott, how are you? I'm good. I'm glad we could finally team up for this. So Jared and I haven't met in person, but we've known each other for man maybe over a year now. So a guy I used to ride motorcycles with had suggested me linking up with Jared, and we also serve on the same committee for a local veteran organization. But yeah, so, jared, let's talk real quick. What's your service background?

Speaker 1: 1:22

So Marine Corps from 2000 to 2004 served with the Third Battalion. Tethyparines Did a med flow, went over to Afghanistan right after 9-11. First Marines over in Kabul, Afghanistan. We reopened up the embassy in Kandahar and served with 310 the whole four years.

Speaker 2: 1:55

So were you a grunt or another job.

Speaker 1: 1:59

I was a field wireman in an artillery unit, but when we went over to Afghanistan we did not bring our artillery, the big guns. We were a field, basically a grunt unit. But it's not a grunt unit. They call it a provisional rifle squad.

Speaker 2: 2:20

So tell me about that job a little bit. So would that be considered like an electrician sort of job, or what did you do?

Speaker 1: 2:28

Correct. It was basically in the gun line, it was a field wireman and then I cross trained in the field radio operator as well, so basically started out 06, isn't that 06 field MOS. So the field wireman's job in an artillery unit was setting up the communications between the gun lines and the FDC. So the training before we went on flow and before we went to Afghanistan we would do all these field ops but never actually got to have use of it in Afghanistan.

Speaker 2: 3:16

So when you separated did you have kind of a basic base knowledge of the electrical industry, like you could have come out as an apprentice, or does it not have that detail?

Speaker 1: 3:26

Not that detailed. You know, probably grounding would be one, because you had the ground in the desert atmosphere in order for the communications to link up. My background in electrical was before that. I'm a fourth generation electrician and before I went to work I went to end the Marine Corps. I came down here every summer since I was 12 years old and worked for my uncle who owned LMD electrical, and I started out in the warehouse pulling parts and pieces and sending it out to the field and then when I got old enough to go out in the field for the summertime, I would go work out in the field as a helper. Basically they had me digging ditches and doing all the basic helper job and then worked my way up. They're trying to teach me to not be an electrician.

Speaker 2: 4:21

I ended up being electrician. That's awesome. Well, man, that's always encouraging. You know I've shared before that I was knee deep in mud on my first job and I think that gives you a lot more respect for the guys that do this trade. Coming from that, you know. I mean, it's really difficult when you don't have that background. You might have the education, but you get into the field and the guys don't know how hard that backbreaking work is.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Absolutely. I mean, it really did. It had had a different appreciation for it. You know, and being able to fly in people out and knowing exactly what they're doing. You know, help me out. You know, get into the management style and then also also the staffing. So knowing, knowing what I'm providing to people as well.

Speaker 2: 5:08

Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. So, yeah, that's a good segue. Let's talk about that. You mentioned you worked your way up, so let's talk about what you're doing right now.

Speaker 1: 5:17

So, I started a company called Talent Core. I started in 2017, but what not many people understand is we started out as electrical talent off the at the beginning, so electrical talent was just for the electrical industry and our first three customers were MC Dean, prism Electric and Getzler Electric. They came kind of.

Speaker 1: 5:42

those are the first three customers that started us up and it was just electrical and it became you know, here in DFW area, DC and Tampa, and next thing you know, we were going nationwide with it and then more and more people started to ask us to get involved with all MEP trades. So that's when we did the segment to the talent core instead of just electrical talent.

Speaker 2: 6:10

Yeah, and you guys have been exploding over that time. It's been really encouraging to see that growth. So is this the industry you got in after you got out of the core, or what did you do between what you're doing now and the Marine Corps?

Speaker 1: 6:21

So when I first got out of the Marine Corps, I moved down to Dallas and I was going to go work for my uncle again and he just didn't have enough work going on. So I ended up going to work. Well, you know, my uncle Mike goes. You know, call up tradesmen international and I started laughing. I go, what's that? He goes, this is a staffing company. I go again, what's that? He goes. Well, they find you work and they put me on a job. It was DFW Terminal D and I was working for a fire alarm company called FTS and I had no clue what fire alarm was. I knew electrical, but you know, they hired me on at 10 bucks an hour because I just needed a job I needed to go to work.

Speaker 1: 7:08

I remember going out to that job site. I go what's fire alarm? I go it's normally open, open, closed contacts, and you know it's pretty simple. And I go I don't know anything about it but I'll give it a shot and two months later I was running, running people running the job site. I had a few different crews underneath me and they gave me a raise and I went from $10 an hour to 25 bucks an hour.

Speaker 2: 7:33

Nice.

Speaker 1: 7:34

And we're working for tradesmen international. So FTS was the customer. I was one of 40 temps that hit the job site. I remember going to a foreman meeting with Austin commercial and Mills Electric back in the day and one of the guys, joe Champagne, I'll never forget him. He goes, he's rented drinks and I go. Well, I'm one of them and he goes. You're no way, he thought it was a joke. He laughed. I go. No, I'm serious, I work for tradesmen international and he goes. Well, you're the exception. You know, I was just kind of kind of laughed. So you know I did that.

Speaker 1: 8:14

But that right there was, like you know what I heard the necessary evil statement about staffing. I've heard you know all that and I'm like you know it kind of interests me. Then they kind of put a plug in my head and I was like I want to. I think this is something I want to get into.

Speaker 1: 8:30

But you know, again, I worked my way up and then, you know, fts hired me on full-time as a full-time technician and their customers were, you know, raytheon, l3, ti, I, that those were their core customers. They're right off a Floyd circle over there in Richardson area and so we were right across the street from the hill, and we those were the type of our there, those customers were our customers and Got into, you know, not just fire alarm, access control, security. So it was pretty neat. So then trades of international called me up and said hey, we want to get you to come back to work for us. And I said I, I don't really want to go back to work for you, I have a full-time job. They said no, we want you to be a salesperson.

Speaker 2: 9:24

And again that's where I.

Speaker 1: 9:25

That's where I said I don't have any sales experience and I go, well, I don't know anything about sales. And they go, you'll be good, you, you have a good personality and you talk to people, I go. Well, again, I don't know anything about it. They said they trained me, well, they. So I, you know, I gave it a shot, I went to work for them and and I remember my first sales call and I got to the decision-maker, you know it's like, hey, this is Jared Deruby from trades international. I'm looking for, you know, jim, bob or you know whoever it was, and they go, this is him. And I hung up the phone right away. I was like, oh yeah, I finally got to the decision-maker and I didn't know what to say. It's like hung up, that was my intro to sales, basically. And Wow.

Speaker 1: 10:08

So for trades international, I started out as a local rep here in DFW and then they had me open up their San Diego branch for them, and this is in 2006, and so I move out to San Diego, as you know, a couple years, a year and a half out of the Marine Corps and yeah, I guess, almost two years out of the Marine Corps. Yeah, cuz I got an 04. So those six got out of the Marine Corps and got to San Diego and I started that branch operations for trades international and everything was going well and they weren't giving me the support that I needed to help you really grow it. So I Said you know what this isn't working for me? And went back to Texas and I went to work. That's when I went back to work as an electrician, as a superintendent for LMD electrical for my uncle's company, and did a couple of schools and did a few restaurants and and those are type of projects that I was running and Did that for a couple years. And then, oh wait, hit and we had a GC that went out of business, that owed us a bunch of money and just didn't let the rotating doors keep out of the snowball effect, keep on going. So we had to make the tough decisions to close down on LMD and that's what I said. You know what I want to get back into staffing. So in a way I showed up to CLP resources and Knocked on the door guy Rick Renness who, funny enough, he works here, he's a regional director for me here but showed up to this door. I said you know Jared Ruhe. He knew who I was because we were a customer and I told my background. He kind of knew about it but interviewed for the spot and so started with CLP as a local call manager in Plano and just started killing it right away. So in 2008 May of 2008, started out, clp Grew a great local network of People and customers and they promoted me to a major council's manager of Texas and Louisiana in 2009, january 2009 or I guess December of 2008, but started the role in 2009. So Did that for a year, absolutely killed it again 2009, then 2010 they they promoted me to a national sales manager and then in 2013 Are you my?

Speaker 1: 12:45

My group started the ENI, the energy and industrial division for CLP, which turned a true blue and later turned to people ready and we started that homegrown of Business unit and we actually killed it with. With the solar industry, that's, the wind, the industrial shutdowns, turnarounds, and then also the electrical, the large electrical contractors, the heavy, heavy, heavy civil, heavy, commercial type in industrial electrical projects that we've had. And then Did that till 2017 and they did some restructuring, reorg and they wanted to restructure the comp package and I just didn't agree to it and they said, okay, well, you know this is what it is, and if you don't like it and see you later, type thing and so I ended up, I ended up starting electrical talent. That, so that was March 27th of 2017 was my last day with true blue and CLP, and I started electrical talent on April 17th of 2017, and here we are today man.

Speaker 2: 14:01

I know it's a lot to compress, but Overall that's a pretty fast time frame too. I mean, you get all factor duty in 2004 all the way up to starting your own company in 2017, having that background as an electrician prior to the service. So I think it's really neat to see that continual growth and people to hear about that. I want to ask you a couple things that you said. So Temps tend to get a really bad rep in the industry, just like you said. You know the guys still today to this day We'll say, rent a drunk or these bad Condition like that comes with that, that service. I've met some amazing individuals actually one that we're hiring Right now that I've known for probably five years, that has worked with me as a temp and he's actually older and run circles around the young guys. Look, let's talk about that, about the just the bad rep. What do you think causes all that and why people have these negative feelings towards temp folks?

Speaker 1: 14:58

There's, there's, there's companies. It's just like anything, right there's. You get bad rap on construction workers with the different Contractors that you know. Just try to cut corners right. So same thing.

Speaker 1: 15:13

There's a lot, there's a lot of bad Staffing companies out there and temp companies that try to do things the wrong way, the unethical way. Just, you know they're the, they're the order fillers and the body slingers. You know, instead of taking the time and putting the right Recruiting process in place, e-verification, making sure they're doing the right background checks, the right the right reference checks, um, I mean, we are dealing with a, with a person. So at the end of the day, there are different personalities on job sites might might come into play what one person that works well for customer a Might not be the right, great fit for customer B, right. So it's just personality conflicts to certain aspects. But if you do the right processing, right process of recruiting and Do the bend test in the, in the, in the skill set assessments at the office level, and you're knowing that you're putting the right person in front of the right customer, 95% of the time you're gonna hit a home run.

Speaker 1: 16:22

But there is that 5%. That's just the wrong clash of of Personality conflicts. But there is, there's a lot of staffing companies out there that just try to cut corners and just try to Sling bodies and they're they're trying to price sell and it's, you know, at the end of the day, cheap laborers, cheap laborers, not Good and good laborers not not a cheap right.

Speaker 2: 16:45

Yeah, and I like that example used about you know the system that you guys have in place, with the 95% showing up that are just stellar. And and I'm encouraged by companies like yours doing that, because I feel like the rest of the staffing agents, agencies out there, it's, it's flipped, it's like I'll find a 5% which. This one guy that I mentioned earlier, he just stands out my mind. He was the one that I've had in a long time that has just been stellar.

Speaker 2: 17:11

And I've I've had these conversations as a superintendent. You know, hey, just don't just send me a warm body, I need somebody that can follow directions, show up on time, just do do their job. And then I'm looking to and I'm saying this to try to encourage other people that might be getting out Of the service or looking for work. But I'm always looking for the next assistant superintendent or someone that I can refer to the office, because if they've got those soft skills, I think we can, we can teach them what we do, just like they did with you, right, you didn't you know anything about sales, but you had the right attitude and they, they taught you. So I I think there's a lot of folks that get out of the service thinking, oh, I'm stuck to this one career path, or I don't have, I don't have the knowledge to do that, I'm the degree to do that man. There's always so many out there looking to help you out and and really we're all kind of looking for a Replacements and leaving a legacy someday, I think.

Speaker 1: 18:00

Absolutely. That's the major thing you know and that it's. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you Find, when you identify that you want to leave a legacy right.

Speaker 2: 18:12

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:12

That's the major thing. Some people find it sooner in life, and that's something I want to do. I wanted to be an expert in my industry and leave a legacy behind.

Speaker 2: 18:22

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I I've talked about this with other folks too I I'm seeing, at least in my mind. Maybe I'm just naive, but I feel like I'm seeing a big shift in the industry Towards the positive, towards you know, making an impact on people, not just profit, which is always a good thing that we want to make money right, we're not doing this for free, it's not a charity, but but I think a lot of us now are more passionate about growing Individuals as well along the way.

Speaker 1: 18:50

Absolutely that's. It's so funny you say that I've just invested a bunch of money and training development in my organization and that's from the top down, the executive leadership training and development. You know the mid-level Management as well and then down to the sales and then also in to the electrical side of things and trying to work partnerships with the IEC, abc, texo and in CEF of trying to train the workforce as well. Because I'm a firm believer On our level, if we start training the workforce we're gonna put a better product in front of our customers to help them finish a job on time and under budget 100%.

Speaker 2: 19:34

Yeah, and you're raising the bar too. I mean, I think there's a, there's a common gripe right now in the industry is I Don't know if I agree with this, but you know, the younger generation, they're just not quality workers. They don't work hard. I don't subscribe to that. I don't believe that. I've seen some very hard-working guys in their early 20s, girls in their early 20s, but I Don't. I don't think we're doing well as an industry investing in them and that's a problem, and I appreciate that you're doing that.

Speaker 1: 20:00

Mm-hmm. Well, and that's the other thing is, too, is like I'm on Full board with you, is it's the training, is how we train them is different. Right, in the old-school way of training, someone isn't working with the new, new, new group and it's Needs a change. It needs to. It's a way to identify, to get them, to get through to them, to train them the right way and and we're starting to see that that shift actually take place.

Speaker 2: 20:29

That's why I see yeah, and I think humility plays into it a lot too. I mean, there's a lot of older guys that have been doing this 40 plus years that they're very proud of their work but sometimes to a fault and they don't. You know again they're. They're training their replacements. So and they've got it. Think what is the legacy I'm gonna leave behind, whether it's owning a company, training the people underneath them. But I I appreciate you sharing that. That's really like that hinge point, this shift. So I want to. I want to talk about something else you mentioned. So your first sale didn't go as planned. So you know, you hung up, you were nervous, you were scared, but let's talk about what you learn from that, because I think that's one thing not a lot of people share or focus on is Learning from those failures. So what did that teach you?

Speaker 1: 21:14

taught, taught me that I needed to be needed to get more sales calls that I need to.

Speaker 1: 21:21

Not be, to not be scared. You know, I had to get through that uncomfortable. The one thing I realized I wanted to be successful, and that's that's who I am. I I'm a firm believer. I want to be the best on the best person in the industry Sales person, whatever I do, I want to be the best electrician. So I want to be the best.

Speaker 1: 21:44

And when I hung up that phone, I was like, well, I need to get more sales calls to be better at this. And so I just picked up more phone calls. And you know the same thing, when I got to my first meeting, I was horrible. I was afraid to talk and I said, okay, I need to get more meetings in order to be a better, better person of meetings. I need to present more. I needed you know. So you know, repetition makes better, it makes practice and practice makes perfect type thing. And Same model as any athlete would would take it too. It would. You know, the more time you put into something, you know you're gonna get better at it. And if you just commit to that and you have the, the consistency behind it, you're going to get better at it.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Yeah, yeah, and I appreciate you sharing that too, because the reason I ask is you know, jared, you become a really successful guy and not a very long time frame, and so I, like, I appreciate you being humble enough to share that failure. And I don't think a lot of people do that and maybe it's not them sharing, but people see people at the top of the mountain and they don't realize all the crap and all the work they had to go through to get there. So just trying to encourage people that man, if you failed, get back up again. And I appreciate you sharing about starting as a 10 buck an hour guy. So there's possibilities out there. So I want to shift a little bit. So back to your service. How have you found what you're doing now and working through the trades? How has the Marine Corps service helped you today?

Speaker 1: 23:21

Leadership. You know the leadership training, the having the band of brothers. You know mentality everyone works together. There's no one bigger than the team being able to conquer anything. You put something in front of us, we're going to figure it out and charge the hill type mentality. But all boils down to that leadership capability and just you know figure it out factor type thing.

Speaker 1: 23:54

You know, I really do. The military is definitely the band of brothers. Being able to work with anyone. Oh, you know, I think that's the key part is you always find someone's strengths and then the opportunities right, because in the military you didn't get a choice of who you got to work with and you couldn't get rid of them right. So I think it's being able to work with a diverse and a collective group of people and finding their core strengths and adapting to that and working with it. You know, definitely motivating people a certain way, like some people's way of motivation isn't the same as others. So military definitely taught me that. You know the Marine Corps, you know striving to be the best right. The work hard, play hard mentality kind of stuck with me too.

Speaker 2: 24:53

You know, I always find it neat. There's a common thread with all the guests that I ask that question to, and leadership continues to pop up. I think it's very neat how I can't recall off the top of my head but very few people have mentioned you know, I learned this hard skill. Like I know, leadership is the first thing that comes to mind when I'm asked that. But I also came out with some practical skills. Yes, but I think the soft skills which, as we know, I mean makes more people successful in our industry than maybe you know. I might not be the best carpenter, but I know how to lead a crew All right. So let me ask this. So we talked about what made you successful, at least what attributes you took away from the Marine Corps, but if you could change anything, I mean, is there something that you feel that maybe could have made you more successful or successful faster, or maybe something that you wish you knew then, what you know now?

Speaker 1: 25:51

You know I always think about that and you know I kind of live my life with no regrets and everything happens for a reason type thing. Part of success is failure and I like the times that I failed and it made me more successful. Right, I would say I don't know, that's a tough one because that doesn't resonate with me. Just because I like the learning experiences, that one was a tough one for me. I'd have to think about it.

Speaker 2: 26:28

I don't think there's any right answer. No, I appreciate you saying that too, Because I think most people operate similarly. I mean, I know I do, I'm happy where I am now and I don't you know if I went back to tweak something, who knows. But yeah, I think that's wisdom too. I mean, as we mature and realize, man, I wish I had known that I started this earlier. Like investing man, I wish I had invested in this earlier kind of deal.

Speaker 1: 26:53

So hindsight's definitely 2020.

Speaker 1: 26:56

Yeah, I would say. I would say I wish I had invested more at a younger age, right? Well, at the end of the day, I have a pretty diverse book of investments all around me. So everything happened for reasons. I think I wish I didn't go out as much as I did in my younger years, right, and more time going to bed earlier and working out and being healthy, right. But yeah, those are learning lessons as well. I still have my good health to me and, you know, on the track for losing weight.

Speaker 1: 27:34

You know that type of living, a healthy lifestyle and not going out as much anymore and spending more time with my son and my family. So that's, you know, if I had any words of wisdom for anyone. And spend more time with your loved ones, right, and try to build them a better life than what you had. I know people hear that, but they live their life and, you know, didn't spend as much time with their loved ones. And there's only so much time we have on this earth, right. We don't know when our time is up. You just got to leave each day to the fullest and make sure you're doing the right things.

Speaker 2: 28:15

Yeah, you know, I think that's another sign of us just getting older and maturing and understanding these things. But the reason I ask those questions too is there's got to be, you know, a young Lance corporal corporal about to separate, and I really have a passion for just drilling it into their head. Hey, look, this is what matters most in life. So I appreciate you sharing that about your family as well. And same for me, man. I got three little girls. I haven't figured out the sleep thing yet because, again, I have three little girls, so I don't barely sleep anymore. But yeah, I mean, let's take the time for what matters most. Work is out there, the money's out there, it'll come, but you want them by your side as you're growing in the industry and your career.

Speaker 2: 29:05

So in this industry, man, it's tough. We know there are lots of mental health issues, even just not for vets, for the industry as a whole. Alcoholism, which I shared recently, you know, I just became sober again. It's tough. So if we've got somebody that's in the industry currently, that's a vet, that's just strutting them, they're going through the grind and they just don't think, you know, hey, maybe not to the point of taking their life, but you know I'm done with this industry. That's the wrong mentality, because we need people. So what would you say to them? To try to encourage them?

Speaker 1: 29:42

So I mean there's two folds, because I've seen it me personally. I've seen it on the military side the veterans that get getting out of the military. They don't have a purpose right and they lost their band of brothers, they lost their connections, their network of people that went through the same issues with them. And I was the same way I, you know, when I got out of the Marine Corps, I didn't have my purpose, all I knew was go to work and then, after, you know, after work, I get into drugs and alcohol. Right Every night was the same thing and it took.

Speaker 1: 30:21

I got lucky because I was able to say enough's enough and I wanted to change my life. And that's when I met my, my ex-wife, and Went a good direction and I cleaned myself up and I still like to have a good time and I still, I still drink. I don't do it as much as I nearly did, or even even before that. Um, but but I will say that there's a lot of Marines that I've lost, that got under the depression and they never asked for help and if you feel, if Anyone feels like they're, they're alone, they can reach out to me at any time. I got my phone's always on. I've talked to people and the other thing that I do I own a yoga and meditation studio in Frisco with my, with my wife.

Speaker 2: 31:12

I did not expect that. I'm not at all. That's awesome, though.

Speaker 1: 31:17

Not a people, don't know that about me, but In.

Speaker 1: 31:23

It helps. I get a lot of people that are lost, anxiety, depression, and my, my wife, ico, is she's awesome. She does sound bath, meditation, breath work, detox. So you know that side of things really helps out. But it's what I've realized is there. They call it their community and it's talk. It's the same thing with military, military like their community to be military focused, the people that are that are combat vets and they want to talk to combat vets. Right same thing in the community yoga and spiritual and meditation community. They want to talk to like-minded people that they feel comfortable around. So the one thing I will say about depression is finding the like-minded people around you to To explain your story and where you're at. And there's other people out there that have been going through the same thing, that have gone through the same thing, that got themselves out of it, or the work with other people that the support systems around, and there's plenty of support systems. I still think there's plenty to do. We do so much. You know it's 22 kill with them.

Speaker 1: 32:28

Dan Lombardo, it is Vision and his mission has done a great job. We're trying to get the combat vets, motorcycle association vets, helping vets. There's so many, no, not so many. There's a look there's, there's quite a few that I'm involved in, that, you're involved in that help out the vets, that they have the passion to help out the vets and I love that, that mission and and I'm just on a mission to try to help out as many people as I can, because I'm a firm believer I want everyone in my life around me to be successful and succeed and be the best version of themselves and leave this, this world, a better, better place. And you can't do that without the right mental, mental ability or vision or you know, I, just I. It's really passion. There's a lot of passion around me on this and Going into a lot of different directions.

Speaker 2: 33:26

Yeah, no.

Speaker 2: 33:27

I can hear it in your voice. Man, I appreciate that tremendously and I Think, at least for me, when I got out and I missed that brotherhood and the people around me. I Found it so much in the construction industry because you're Working hard, you're working late hours, you're tired, you're, you're all complaining, so something's right, something's going right. Right, no, things are going wrong for not vision. So we, we get that and we connect with these guys. And it's so cool because there's this mutual respect of hey, man, I haven't been in the trade 30 years but you know I had a hard go on deployments and whatnot. So there's this mutual respect that goes with it.

Speaker 2: 34:03

So I I found At least the vets on my sites there. They're more apt to open up to guys that may not have served. But, man, there's always a vet on a job site too, and it might not be another, like G-WATVET or IraqVET or you know whatever campaign you might have been involved in. But we have a lot more similarities than we do, differences at least. I mean, this is not old-school VFW where they look down on the newbies, you know. So it just that that mentality is gone, and what I'm encouraged by too and You've probably run into a lot of these guys.

Speaker 2: 34:41

Like there's people, at least here in DFW, that these guys served at, like the tip of the spear. Like these are the dudes that go bump in the night. And if a guy like that is willing to say I have problems I need to work on and they've come through it, I challenge the guys on my job site. I'm like, look, if this dude is, you know, america's best that we have, if he can suck it up and he could be humble enough to go take care of it, so can you. And Sometimes we need that tough love as vets. It's like you know you need to smack upside the head to say, hey, knucklehead, you got to work on it.

Speaker 1: 35:13

You're absolutely right, and a lot of people are afraid to work. I think it's tough to work on yourself. To be quite honest with you.

Speaker 1: 35:19

Yeah it is very tough and you feel lonely and it's it's called work for a reason. But when you're in your own thoughts, it's hard to get out of it and you know again, like, you know, the yoga, meditation world, I, you know I did that with the help of my, my wife, you know she, she's the one that got me into it. It really helped me and I said, all right, I want to Really get into that and that has been a blessing. But I go, I go to a Psychiatrist every every week, every week, um, I and it really is not just a fermento is just to get me on a clarity, to get my thoughts in the right direction, right, like the other for a sounding board is what I like to say, that you know it's a Wouldn't say judge-free zone.

Speaker 1: 36:10

It's not like that, it's just more of like. It's a way that I can voice out my thoughts and Not have to think so someone around me doesn't think oh my god, your thoughts are crazy every sense, every second of the way. Right, and that helps me out with business, helps me out with my Marriage, helps me out with my kids relationship, it helps me out with everything. Right, it's not like I have. I'm not waiting until there's an issue. I'm going beforehand. It's the preemptive measure as well.

Speaker 2: 36:38

Yeah, that's good wisdom to, and I appreciate that I'll be open to. I do the same. Most recently I I linked up with a equest. I don't know if you're familiar, but they've got a free program for vets and so I've got the therapist, I've got somebody who is like the horse handler, if you will, and and it's therapy with horses involved. Well, I grew up in Kentucky, man, that's the horse capital of the world. So I love our animals that we have on our property, I love being around that there are so, so many free programs. Again, one tribe Fantastic example that people are struggling because I think guys are worried. Oh my gosh, I'm a pen, I'm gonna spend thousands of dollars on therapy, which is not at all the case, and I, you know, you don't have to be a hundred percent disabled, or even have a rating at that, for a lot of these programs to accept you. You just got to prove your service, that's it.

Speaker 1: 37:32

Really that's. I didn't realize that.

Speaker 2: 37:34

Yep, I think when I applied for this one, I think all I provided was my DD 214 I didn't have to give them my disability percentage or anything like that and it's been great man. And, like you said, it might not be a judgment-free zone, but they've. They've really helped me and I haven't been going there for about a few months and we've already had a couple breakthroughs where I'm like man, that's, I didn't think about it that way. It's a good way to look at these things, whether it's marriage, work, kids, whatever.

Speaker 1: 38:00

No way I didn't realize that that's pretty interesting. I mean, I just know there's so many Different outlets nowadays. I get invited to a different military not you know, at least once a week. I know there's one MVP out of Carrollton that does military as well. It's just, you know there's so many different avenues for support. It seems like nowadays is it's really it's? It's it's letting other people know about it, right?

Speaker 1: 38:28

The other vets that don't know the network don't have the network and and yeah, but vice versa, even even other people, let's say other people it's the wrong way, but this is a civilian lifestyle, right? Like those people I'm saying it the wrong way, but like non-military people, there's their support systems out there for them as well, and it's, it's, it's, it's pretty cool. You don't really know about it until you get involved, right and but again, it goes back to my initial statement if you're having issues, you have to speak up. You have to go to someone and and talk, just like, don't be afraid, it's not worth, you know, committing suicide or getting down to the true Depression where you're in a dark spot and you're being isolated by yourself. That doesn't help any, it doesn't help yourself, it doesn't help the situation, it doesn't help the people that love you, that, that that are around you.

Speaker 2: 39:29

Yeah, for sure, and I don't mean to sound callous when I say this, but that first step is the hardest. But you have to be the one to do it. Just like looking for work, you, the networks, are out there, man. I mean, I know between us we probably know half a DFW, golly, but the people are out there to help and support. But you have to make the first step. And I'll give you a great example.

Speaker 2: 39:50

When there's people that'll maybe tell my wife or tell a friend, oh, I'm looking for work, and I say, okay, here, give, give them my, my email, I'll wait to hear from them. Or give them my, my card, my number. I'll wait to hear from them because I want to see, like, do they really Want it or they just looking for a job? Or do these guys want a career, do they want to build a relationship? What is that? But the onus is on the individual for that first step. And there's also things like EAPs. A lot of Places have an employee assistance program. I know for ours. I want to say it's like four or six free counseling sessions, so that's that's just. As a company employee. There's nothing to do with my veteran status. A lot of good established companies have that now.

Speaker 1: 40:34

Yeah, and we do do it in our company. We do it for our employees as well. We have a wellness wellness pull up.

Speaker 1: 40:41

I guess we call it a wellness program now and I hey, I guess the people in culture and my my, you know, we we reframed HR into people in culture because we realized we had to invest in our people instead of, you know, hr, right, hr had a condescending meeting. But yeah, people culture does a great job of getting the wellness programs in place and and making sure our, our Field employee, all of our employees, know about it. So it's a major, separate major corporation and some of stuff.

Speaker 2: 41:17

Like we people Sometimes don't have the time just to do the basics, for it sucks, and I'll say that you know, coming from the field, it is extremely difficult to drag yourself out of bed at four in the morning to go to the gym before work. But I had to personally do that Because I was so exhausted coming home. So you have to stick to some sort of a routine. Diet plays so much into that and your mood, and water I mean hydration, all that. So you know you got to start fixing the small things and I think that'll that'll help a little bit with. You know, by no means am I a physician or anything like that. That's not what I'm getting at. But this is oh, it's gonna fix all your problems if you start drinking a gallon of water a day. But Focus on the small stuff, get everything in order, get some help. So I agree with that.

Speaker 2: 42:09

So let me let me wrap us up here. Jared, I appreciate you doing this if we have vets. So the whole point of this, the show really was to to encourage people to get into the industry and Appeal to vets. Now They've got amazing programs like skill bridge, but if somebody wants to get into the industry. What? How would you encourage them to join and where would you tell them to go look?

Speaker 1: 42:32

My way is definitely you can call talent core. We have local markets, a national team. We we partner with a lot of different contractors to bring in beginning helpers and Give them a career path to get into a pre apprentice program, to apprentice program and and then full-time hire, hire to that customer. So we partner with contractors that way. So if any vets ever need and there's so many, I mean you know the DFW market as well as anyone and I'm speaking just from DFW, I'm not just DFW, I'm speaking all over the country. There's so many Contractors that want to hire vets, happy to plug in to anyone that that sends me the resume or reaches out to us, tell them cord, we're able to plug that and in kind of connect the dots and what, what industry they want to get into, I'd say vets if they want to get in the construction. That's one way we also do light and done in late industrial manufacturing as well. So pickers, packers, a semi line workers, stuff like that. We we do that factory type Workers as well.

Speaker 2: 43:51

That's awesome and I'll link the website on the show. So just to clarify, because if you're listening to this, it's Talent Core C-O-R-P-S.

Speaker 1: 44:00

Yeah, kind of like play on words. Marine Corps Exactly.

Speaker 2: 44:04

Yeah, play on words.

Speaker 1: 44:06

And it's funny, a lot of people don't understand. But a core is a group of people. That's what a core is, so it's pretty neat.

Speaker 2: 44:15

So the website's TalentCore again C-O-R-P-Sorg. Is that right? Yeah, it's TalentCorecom. Okay, man, now I'm sounding old Geez. So no man, jared, I really appreciate it. I know I'll be seeing you soon. We've got a clay shooting event coming up for One Tribe and 22 Kills. So Jared and I are both part of the Leaders in Construction Committee for that Lots of good people raising lots of money for our veterans and first responders. If people want to reach out to you direct, what's the best way?

Speaker 1: 44:49

Now LinkedIn my phone number. You could just put my phone number out there. I would not suggest that.

Speaker 2: 44:55

That's a T-U. I don't know who. I don't know who listens.

Speaker 1: 44:58

You know it's funny, though I answer the salespeople here, they laugh at me. I answer my phone all the time. Anyone that calls me, I answer my phone. They're like you don't know the number. I'm like, hey, you don't know until you answer. So that's honestly. If you wanted my phone number bad enough, you're going to get it online.

Speaker 2: 45:19

I promise you.

Speaker 1: 45:20

I mean, I have a box of business cards that I hand out to people. I've had the same phone number for over 20 years. People have my phone number. So that's not like that. One does not bother me because if I don't want some of the call me or they're bothering me, I hit block.

Speaker 2: 45:35

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:35

Yeah, so do you just take your business cards.

Speaker 2: 45:38

Take your cards and make it rain. Is that what you do? Just everybody has it.

Speaker 1: 45:41

Yeah, honestly I do. I leave business like I remember giving my business card just putting out electrical supply houses, jobs, like I didn't like home depots. I, my phone number is out there, so much it really doesn't matter.

Speaker 2: 45:56

I love it.

Speaker 1: 45:57

I think, seriously, anyone could have my phone number and, honestly, if someone, if someone gave my phone number out, that means they wanted to reach out to me. So I'm here for anyone. Man, it's. I treat the same person the same. The age, each person the same. It doesn't matter their, their position in life or where they're at, or who they are demographic, it doesn't matter. I treat everyone the same.

Speaker 2: 46:22

Yeah, I love that man. I appreciate that and got a lot of respect for you, jared, for what you're doing, what you did. Thanks for being on the show and we will see you soon.

Speaker 1: 46:31

Awesome. Thank you so much, Scott.

Speaker 2: 46:33

All right, man, if you're a military veteran in the construction industry or you're in the construction industry and support our military vets and you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, you can find me at constructionvetpodcast at gmailcom, or send me a message on LinkedIn. You can find me there at Scott friend, let's share the stories and motivate others.