Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Port Saint Lucie. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Benjamin John helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Port St Lucie, Florida.
Is your business serving the residents of Port Saint Lucie? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpPSL.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
EP# 278: From DIY Homeowner to Trusted Entrepreneur | James Sutcliffe's Journey with All-Around Railings and Fences
What makes James Sutcliffe with All Around Railings and Fences a good neighbor?
What happens when a passion for home improvement turns into a thriving business? Join us on the Good Neighbor Podcast as we chat with James Sutcliffe, founder of All Around Railings and Fences, about his journey from handy homeowner to trusted business owner on the Treasure Coast. James recounts how a frustrating search for a reliable contractor led him to start his own company nearly 20 years ago. Today, his business is known for its high-quality installations, catering to both commercial and residential clients.
Beyond the blueprints and railings, James opens up about the personal challenges he faced, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how he managed to keep his business afloat. Get a glimpse into James's life outside of work—his love for the water, his commitment to his community in Stewart, and how he balances family time with his entrepreneurial responsibilities. This episode offers a rich narrative of resilience, community ties, and the relentless pursuit of quality and service.
To learn more about James Sutcliffe go to:
https://aarailings.com/
All Around Railings and Fences
772-247-4687
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a fencing or railing company? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the good pleasure of introducing to you your good neighbor, james Sutcliffe, with All Around Railing and Fencing. James, how are you doing today? I'm doing terrific. How are you doing? I am doing great. Listen, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.
Speaker 3:Sure, so we're a fence and railing company here in Stewart Been on the Treasure Coast now for gosh almost 20 years. We service everything from commercial customers for hotels and hospitals through residential customers and developers and builders all the way down from Boca Raton up through Sebastian.
Speaker 2:So, James, how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:Interestingly enough, I was always really handy around my house and built all kinds of things and I was trying to get a company to come out and install a railing for my property long ago and I couldn't get anyone to show up. I called multiple organizations and they just simply wouldn't come out. Or they said they were going to come out and they never showed up, or they just simply couldn't do what I was looking to do. So I ended up just putting it in myself. You know, after that was installed and a lot of my neighbors saw it, they said, wow, you should start a company. That thing looks fantastic. I started the company and you know, and now it's been almost 20 years and we've been very successful ever since.
Speaker 2:Just want to ask you was that a wooden fence, a metal rail? I mean, what was that that you put around your house?
Speaker 3:It was. It's what's called cable railing, so you may see them sometimes at hotels around the pools. It's the railing that has usually the horizontal stainless cable that's going in between the posts. It usually is something that's put in front of areas where you want a barricade but you want an unobstructed or a minimally obstructed view. So I live on the water. We wanted to have a view of the water but also have that barricade.
Speaker 2:Okay, interesting. I hear a lot of interesting stories sitting in my chair over here, so what are some of the myths and misconceptions of the industry?
Speaker 3:I think a lot of the myths and misconceptions is that all the builders are the same. You know that there's oftentimes a price shopping model of well, I can get it from here, I can get it from there, and everything's the same. You know there is some consistency when it comes to some of the products, that some things are blown over during hurricanes and large storms and some aren't, and that almost always is exclusively dependent on how it's installed. So we pride ourselves on following and installing beyond code specifications and ensuring that products will last for a lifetime.
Speaker 2:So, James, when you're not busy running your business, what do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:Well gosh, my kids keep me busy. I have two older kids who are grown, and my son works for the company and happens to run it for us. But I have two younger kids and they keep me pretty busy, and you know that one's a gymnast and one's a dancer, and they have me traveling all over the world.
Speaker 3:But outside of that, I try to spend as much time as possible on the water. I live here in Stewart for a reason. It's that I love the water and I love the beach, but I also love the community. So we get out on the boat and do as much time as we can out there and enjoying this atmosphere.
Speaker 2:OK let's change gears a little bit. Life often throws us curveballs. Let's talk about one hardship, one challenge, something that you went through and you could look back today and say you're better and stronger because of it. What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:I think the most immediate thing that comes to mind I think for all of us, and particularly the small business owners, is during COVID and managing the pandemic and trying to identify how you stay afloat and keep business running during those situations.
Speaker 3:You know we're very, very people dependent and our obligations to customers are paramount. So if we don't have staff that are available or there's specific restrictions that don't allow us to do our jobs, it doesn't allow for us to meet the expectations and exceed the expectations of our customers. And we were hit just as hard, if not as hard, harder, than everyone else, in the area where I couldn't get our staff to come to work or I couldn't get people to allow us to go do our product or installations, and it really challenged us as an organization and threatened us to remain open. But you know, we hung on, hung in there and were able to work our ways through it, even if it meant you know, me or my son or family members having to help us to go out and do installations and ensure that we met the expectations and met the deadlines when necessary to get those things going. But it's probably the hardest thing we've had to deal with in the last 10 years.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure that showed you how strong you are. You're stronger than you thought, right I?
Speaker 3:think that a lot of us learned about perseverance during that time and what we can do to ensure you know you survive. You know survivability is critical and in this industry right now there's a lot of uncertainty. You have no idea where the market's going to go, so you know. Fortunately, we've been able to see various cycles and business cycles over the last 20 years, so we can prepare for those things and ensure that we're here to stay. But the pandemic definitely tested me and probably many others very closely.
Speaker 2:And you've been around for a long time so I'm sure you know usually when the storm, you know the weaker companies fall by the wayside right.
Speaker 3:That's usually the case, but you know I don't want to speak for other organizations or the leaders of those organizations, but you have to be able to take the good with the bad and prepare for that. So if you're a small business owner and you're not prepared for the worst and you're not going to be ready to be available for when it's time for the best, so, james, I'm going to put you on the spot here a little bit.
Speaker 2:I know there's a lot you want to share about your company, but I want you to narrow it down to one thing, one thing that you want our listeners to remember about all around the railing and fences.
Speaker 3:Well, one thing that I would say, I want our listeners to remember, is, again, as I mentioned, a quality installation is what's going to make the difference for your solution. So, shopping around for price is critical, but the quality of your install is going to be paramount, and that's what we strive for.
Speaker 2:And then, on that note, I know there's one word on my listeners lips right now and that's how You're looking around their house and the fence and that old fence is hanging on. How can we get more information on all around railing and fences?
Speaker 3:We have a lot of different outlets for communication, but the most effective one is just going directly to our website at wwwaarailingscom. You can go on there and see the various type of products that we installed and the locations that we install. You can choose from different products if you need a design idea, and you can book or schedule an estimate directly on our website. So you don't even have to pick up a phone and call us. You can schedule 24 hours a day, all day long, and pick a time that meets the best needs for you, and we're willing to come out for free. It's not going to cost you anything for us to come take a look at your project and get you your estimate the same day?
Speaker 2:And for the old school people that just like to hit the buttons on the phone, is there a number you'd like to share?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. Our phone number is 772-247-4687. And Danielle is typically the person who's going to answer the phone and she'll brighten your day when you give her a call.
Speaker 2:Excellent, James. It's been a pleasure having you on the show. We wish you and your business the very best moving forward.
Speaker 3:It's great to meet you and I appreciate you having us on and thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Port St Lucie. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpportsaintlucycom. That's gnpportsaintlucycom, or call 772-362-3840.