The Triaxle Podcast: Episode - 7 "Paytience"

Join Triaxle CEO Matt Williams with Guest Dylan Mercier of D2 Contracting for the 7th installment of the Triaxle Podcast. 

Dylan offers an extremely unique perspective on breaking into the excavating world at a young age. In short amount of time, Dylan has found instant success and traction while building a strong network and reputation. Listen as Matt and Dylan discuss what it takes, and just how he got here despite being very new by contrast to the rest of the industry. What time to enter the trades!

Thanks to Dylan for dropping in and spending the time with us. Be sure to download the Triaxle App and check out D2 Contracting. You can also find or contact them at https://d2-contracting.com/

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Transcript

00:00:16:05 - 00:00:23:04
Matt
All right, everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Tribe So podcast. We are here today with Dylan Mercer or Mercia. How do you say that?

00:00:23:04 - 00:00:30:22
Dylan
Del Mercier, Murcia. Yeah, you said it like the French, Canadians, Murcia.

00:00:31:00 - 00:00:38:01
Matt
Murcia. Okay, yeah. Del Murcia of D-2 contracting. And you are out of Brighton, Michigan, is that correct, sir?

00:00:38:02 - 00:00:39:04
Dylan
Brighton, Michigan.

00:00:39:06 - 00:00:43:05
Matt
All right. And you are primarily into the excavating.

00:00:43:07 - 00:00:48:07
Dylan
Side of the underground excavating pretty much anything we can do with an excavator.

00:00:48:08 - 00:01:06:10
Matt
Night. So, Dylan was one of our first success stories on Trike, so he reached out to me after he was only on a couple of weeks. Tell me about this connection made. And we've we've chatted a couple of times since then. He's a great dude and he's a young man hustling really hard to make a name for himself and kind of get a good business going.

00:01:06:10 - 00:01:23:14
Matt
So we're happy to have him on here today and dig into his his business up there in Michigan. And you just tell me about some frost laws in Michigan that are pretty interesting and new to me. So we'll appeal that back and a little bit here. But tell me, Dylan, a little bit how you know how you got started.

00:01:23:14 - 00:01:32:02
Matt
What interested you to to get into the construction industry and how your found your way to owning your own company at a young age.

00:01:32:04 - 00:01:59:02
Dylan
Yeah, it's kind of a crazy story. I'm really I mean, I'm pretty much like first generation when it comes to anything, you know, like what we're used to. I made my dad. I grew up working for him. He owns a painting company, so I did a lot of painting and gutters and siding growing up, which led me to a construction management degree at Eastern Michigan.

00:01:59:04 - 00:02:26:10
Dylan
That took me about eight years to do. But I was glad because I got to work a lot of different jobs during that. One of those jobs was I was superintending a it was a middle school. They do a lot of school renovations in the summertime here, unlike, like public bonds. So they're paid with, but they're paid with or paid.

00:02:26:12 - 00:02:48:13
Dylan
It's all tax dollars that pay for it. And they and they put a lot of money into these schools, which I think is great. And I ended up superintending one of these jobs at the time. I had no idea what I was doing, even superintending the shall I no business doing it. But I had a connection there and they were like they just kind of, you know, put me in the fire and said, Here you go, Good way to learn.

00:02:48:13 - 00:03:10:04
Dylan
And what ended up happening like a couple of weeks into it, it kind of it was a $14 million job that we were doing in eight weeks. So I got real I was way in over my head after like two or three weeks. So they brought in another superintendent and made him in charge of everything inside. And I was in charge of everything outside at the time.

00:03:10:06 - 00:03:29:16
Dylan
They had just the pavers found a sinkhole when they pulled all the parking lot, they they milled the parking lot and they were I think they were undercutting it in a couple of places. And they found the sinkhole and ends up being this big like diesel tank from a really old boiler. So it ended up being a huge nightmare.

00:03:29:16 - 00:03:49:19
Dylan
But that was like really where I got my first like look at, you know, like bigger style excavating. I had worked for a couple of landscape companies and ran skid loaders and built retaining walls and stuff, but nothing like crazy like that. They had a 335 out there and a 336 pull in a big 5000 gallon tank out of the ground.

00:03:49:21 - 00:04:17:12
Dylan
And I was just you know, I spent that entire summer outside working with those pavers and the sewer guys. And I learned a lot. And I was going into my last semester at college and knew that I didn't want to be in the office because that was the next step up at that job. I just worked all summer, the internship, so I went to my dad and asked for.

00:04:17:12 - 00:04:36:18
Dylan
I put a presentation together. I told him I wanted a this is like 2018, 2019. I wanted a skid loader off one of those drum motors. And I was like, Here's, you know how you can make your return on investment and blah, blah, blah, this and that. And he was like, This is all great, but I don't know anything about this.

00:04:36:20 - 00:04:56:11
Dylan
Why don't you take this to somebody else? So that's what I did. I took it to somebody else and it worked. Believe it or not. And I was with him for a couple of years, and pretty much I was just running his company until I got to a point and I kind of got a shove by some of my buddies in this industry, and they were just like, Go off on your own.

00:04:56:11 - 00:05:17:05
Dylan
And that's what I did. And that was July of last year. And it just I don't know, it's it's take out I'm sorry, July of 2022, I opened the LLC and we did our first job, August the 2022. But this past summer was our first real season. So it was it was exciting.

00:05:17:07 - 00:05:19:07
Matt
So you're not you're not even into it two years yet?

00:05:19:07 - 00:05:33:03
Dylan
No, we're not even this is the first real, real winner, you know, with employees and, you know, a bigger overhead. We got like equipment now and stuff. So it's it's way different than it was last winter. Sure.

00:05:33:03 - 00:05:40:19
Matt
That's a big deal. And what and what was the deal with the drum culture? You propose that to somebody else and did you end up running that for them?

00:05:40:21 - 00:05:56:21
Dylan
Actually, I went to a land clearing company that was local. They were real small at the time, like three or four employees. He was like the only guy in the area that had one of those drum molders at the time. That was kind of before they got. I feel like they've gotten really popular in the last couple of years.

00:05:56:23 - 00:06:20:11
Dylan
I'm not saying I was in front of the Times or anything, but it just back then, I think like 2018, they just weren't as popular. And I found a guy who had one and I didn't really want. I was I always like the business side of things. And I think he realized that pretty quickly when I was selling jobs, not even a week after being there.

00:06:20:11 - 00:06:34:14
Dylan
So he was like, Why don't you go, like, talk to people and and do your thing and like, let's find some guys that can that can, you know, let's put a solid crew together and do some work. And that's what we did. And we did a lot of right away clearing for the state on road projects and stuff.

00:06:34:14 - 00:06:49:07
Dylan
It was really cool that I got to learn on somebody else's dime that first year year and a half, because then when I got into it, I was not seasoned, but I knew what to expect to a certain degree. So I think it helped.

00:06:49:09 - 00:07:05:09
Matt
Sure, 100%. So you kind of started learning about the business side while, you know, helping run that division or that area for somebody else that you weren't 100% in, but you still got your feet wet and learned about the sales side and the business, that's also that's.

00:07:05:11 - 00:07:29:09
Dylan
A great way to do it. I was able to correlate, you know, everything I was learning with the construction management degree. You know, all your project delivery methods and ways of bidding and estimating. I was able to kind of bring that into it. So it was cool that I, looking back like I've grown a lot. So it's cool that like, you know, progress and figure out like I'll never forget the first municipal job I did for them.

00:07:29:11 - 00:07:43:19
Dylan
I was about 60 grand shy the next day I left that much on the table and it was a good job, like local right in town. And I just told them I was like, I'm really sorry, but we got to do it. Like, we just have to do it. We got to. And that that was we ended up doing it.

00:07:43:19 - 00:08:01:21
Dylan
And I think it worked in his favor too, because he's still doing a lot of that. So yeah, but yeah, it was. Yeah, I'm glad that I didn't have to do that on my dime. Sure. So I'm forever grateful for, you know, to have a guy who just like, Yeah, come try it out too. You can do.

00:08:01:23 - 00:08:09:22
Matt
Yeah, that's awesome. This is not a lot of relationships that would really work like that, you know? Yeah, you probably found something pretty good there, so that's cool.

00:08:10:03 - 00:08:14:23
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah, it was cool. And. And yeah, it worked out, man.

00:08:15:01 - 00:08:30:21
Matt
So you made the leap and you had the itch and you want to do your own thing and you got the nudge by your buddy, so. So you went out and start your own thing. Good for you. How did you finally decide to do it? That. That that was your path?

00:08:30:23 - 00:08:57:05
Dylan
I, I mean, my entire family, both my brothers, entrepreneurs, my parents are entrepreneurs. I always kind of knew in the back of my head at some point I was going to do it. If you asked me today, I wish I would have started three years ago, but I'm glad, like I said, that I did what I did. Honestly, I was at the time, last July of 2022, I was even scared to do it.

00:08:57:05 - 00:09:15:01
Dylan
And I mean, my buddies were like, yeah, just do it. It's like, Well, it's really easy for you to say, like, just do it. It's like, I make good money right now and I'm not going to make any money. And I don't know, I just I sold, I sold about everything I had and just put all my chips in.

00:09:15:01 - 00:09:17:12
Dylan
And now it's worked out thus far.

00:09:17:18 - 00:09:35:08
Matt
Yeah, that's good. You got to have faith in yourself to to you know, faith in yourself is more important than than what other people say or do. But certainly, like, getting the nudge from them is helpful. But ultimately, like, you're the one that knows, like, this is going to work and I'm going to make it happen and yeah, sell all my shit and I'm going for it.

00:09:35:13 - 00:09:55:17
Matt
So yeah, that's awesome. What? So you're doing what you're doing? You do some pretty decent sized excavating jobs. You know, from what I see for for somebody that's into it for just under two years, that's pretty cool. What's what's your what do you like to do? What's your what's your forte? What's your what's your favorite service? I.

00:09:55:19 - 00:10:19:02
Dylan
I love underground I think is yeah I think the complexity of it I think I mean some days you get your ass kicked and literally put in 20 feet of pipe and other days you put in a couple of hundred feet. Like it's just, I think because it's ever changing and there's really like it's when you can really like pin pin it down and find a good crew.

00:10:19:02 - 00:10:45:02
Dylan
It's like poetry in motion, which for we're getting there, which is so cool to see. But I just, I like everything about it. I like, you know, the danger factor. It's just I like it. I've never had the I, I shouldn't wear it this way. I've just never I get, you know, you start moving big quality dirt. I kind of lose my attention.

00:10:45:02 - 00:10:56:09
Dylan
I get like, let's do something else. And I get real, like all over the place. So that is cool for me, cause it's just always like something different. You never know what you're going to get into.

00:10:56:11 - 00:11:23:13
Matt
I'd have to agree. We did a little bit of of underground. We did some sewer line work for a local borough here in Clarks summit. And, you know, when you're digging holes or you're just moving dirt, there's really not a lot of pressure. You just you just kind of like, cruise along. But when you have an eight foot trench, you know, a hundred feet long in the road, and you have to either close that or plate that before the night comes, like, you know, there's a lot of times like no lunch.

00:11:23:13 - 00:11:25:03
Matt
You're just moving all day long.

00:11:25:03 - 00:11:26:21
Dylan
And we didn't tell you.

00:11:26:23 - 00:11:34:06
Matt
Yeah, but it's kind of, you know, I like that kind of pressure. I work. I always worked a lot better under pressure. And I guess I've always said.

00:11:34:08 - 00:11:46:02
Dylan
That I just thrive when I'm uncomfortable. That you're more uncomfortable. I am. I just seem to just. I don't know. I like the stress, I like the chaos. It just it makes my it it just calms me down.

00:11:46:07 - 00:11:56:09
Matt
Sure. Sometimes you regret it a little bit when you're like 9:00 at night, still wrapping up in the snow is falling and. Yeah, and and everybody's getting cranky and they want to go home. But, you.

00:11:56:09 - 00:12:24:00
Dylan
Know, yeah, I kept a we did a utility hookup in a in a really, really nice it's probably one of the most wealthy cities around us real big houses around there and we did a utility hookup in the fall for one of them and it was definitely like our hardest one to date because we were on like a main road there was a ton of traffic control.

00:12:24:00 - 00:12:39:15
Dylan
We had a lane shut down and we had a directional drill, the water all the way across the road and that road spanned, you know, a couple of hundred feet wide. So it was an entire process. And a lot of people, even the inspectors, looked at me like, There's no way you're doing all this. I was like, You must watch.

00:12:39:17 - 00:13:04:16
Dylan
We we did it all in one day. But we were there till 11:00. And one of my best guys, it was his first wedding anniversary that night, and he was not happy about that. And neither was his wife. But, you know, I made it up to him after that. But yeah, stuff like that happens and you just got to get it done because like you said, like in that case, we we couldn't plate the road.

00:13:04:16 - 00:13:10:01
Dylan
I told the city, we're doing it, let's do it. So we did it and got through. So it was cool.

00:13:10:03 - 00:13:12:17
Matt
That's awesome. And it proved to yourself that you could do it.

00:13:12:19 - 00:13:18:05
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it was like, I don't know how many hours straight, but it was a lot.

00:13:18:07 - 00:13:40:13
Matt
Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Good deal. So what would you say is, as a young businessman in especially, you know, the construction industry is, is a beast in itself. There's a lot of moving parts. There's a lot of things that can make or break your day. And then running a business has it has its own challenges. So when you combine those, you know, we're we're in a very hectic, fast paced, very stressful business.

00:13:40:13 - 00:13:59:12
Matt
But it can be very rewarding. What would you say as a as a young guy, you know, just getting into this for your first couple of years, what are some of the biggest challenges that you run into that you know, whether it's employees or getting equipment or or landing jobs, what's the one of the biggest hurdles that you have to overcome?

00:13:59:14 - 00:14:21:10
Dylan
The hardest thing at first for me from an ego standpoint was like realizing that none of these banks want anything to do with me. I thought like I thought for sure, like a certain amount of signed contracts or revenue would you could take that to a bank and you know, and have them work with you and I learned that very quickly.

00:14:21:10 - 00:14:43:01
Dylan
Like that's not how that works. They they don't trust you for a long time and it takes a lot to gain their trust. So that was something that was like super hard for me at first because renting especially when you're, you know, renting three or four pieces of equipment at a time, is really, really painful when you have to pay that bill at the end of the job, you feel like it all just kind of disappears after that.

00:14:43:03 - 00:15:14:00
Dylan
So but now it's it's really like just staying levelheaded and and like always on a straight and narrow, obviously the manpower is always difficult, but I've been pretty lucky, man. I found some really good guys. I've, I've filtered through some not so great guys. I've filtered through some guys that were great who just couldn't cut it. And, you know, this kind of environment.

00:15:14:02 - 00:15:38:01
Dylan
But to me, like, the biggest challenges is really just another thing to like. It's hard for me to really gain trust in people, especially older people. They kind of look at me like, you're sure, you know, like what's going on. And I always tell people, like, listen, if I don't, I'll either ask you or I know somebody that does, like, I've got enough resources and connections.

00:15:38:01 - 00:15:55:00
Dylan
I like to think I do at least that there's always someone willing to help me. And I think I do have some of the resources I do. Some of the companies we, you know, work under, they are great to me. And they'd show up, you know, at midnight if they had to, to fix something just because I needed help.

00:15:55:00 - 00:16:11:17
Dylan
So it's cool to have that around, especially, you know, as a young guy in the industry, it's I know it's really hard to get that respect from a lot of the older guys, but I think once they see you working hard and getting your teeth kicked in, they're like, You got it?

00:16:11:23 - 00:16:15:11
Matt
Yeah, you can hang with. Yeah, it can be it can be a buddy of ours.

00:16:15:11 - 00:16:26:23
Dylan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just put your head down and grind. Honestly, that's. It's. There's nothing to it. It's, it's not rocket science. It you just got to work.

00:16:27:05 - 00:16:46:02
Matt
Sure. And deal with the highs and lows. So you are so you have a slow period right now. We were talking before we kicked off here you have some frost laws in place there, so you're kind of stuck sitting on your hands waiting to move some things around. So I'm from Pennsylvania. We don't have the winters that you guys have up there.

00:16:46:04 - 00:17:03:14
Matt
We have some localized restrictions when it comes to, you know, moving things during you know, during the end of the winter months, but nothing statewide. So tell me a little bit about that. How how does this work? And I don't expect you to know all the ins and outs and percentages, but like basically you can't move anything at all.

00:17:03:15 - 00:17:05:10
Matt
No.

00:17:05:12 - 00:17:30:12
Dylan
It's not less. I mean, it's it's not that crazy, but it is in a sense, like pretty much you can get on a highway or like a federal, you know, like any MDOT own roads. So like obviously there's some smaller highways that you can get on, but it's like my biggest thing is like and I ask people this all the time and they're kind of just like, I don't really know.

00:17:30:12 - 00:17:57:11
Dylan
It's like, okay, how do you get to that road? And then when you need to get off that road, like, how do you get off that road? Because all our Class B and class roads, it's it's like a no no. You can't even you can't even and again, I know we were talking about this earlier, but I if I'm correct, our laws, it's 65% of what the truck is capable of during the season on weight restrictions.

00:17:57:13 - 00:18:16:22
Dylan
But it's all based off axles too. So a lot of guys will you'll you see crazy stuff like the last couple of days I've seen some wild stuff guys pulling on minis on a on a quad axle lowboy just stuff like that. Or it's just like what? Like, But for some reason we can't pull our three weight behind.

00:18:16:22 - 00:18:44:17
Dylan
It's a 25. It's really difficult with the trucking and stuff to send and aggregate like you're getting less than a half load. I think that's the biggest thing. But it's a killer. I wish I knew. I I'm hoping down the road I can learn more about it. But I'm telling you, like you even asked, you know, seasoned guys over here and they're just going, just just don't don't do anything super heavy.

00:18:44:17 - 00:18:48:17
Dylan
And it's like, All right, I guess we'll just go like that or.

00:18:48:17 - 00:18:49:23
Matt
Do it on Sunday night.

00:18:50:01 - 00:18:59:23
Dylan
Yeah, that's. Yeah. So I'm going to we're going to road, we're going to go drop a piece of equipment off on Sunday because the only day you can do it and it's everybody else does it too.

00:19:00:00 - 00:19:04:12
Matt
We'll release the podcast after Sunday. So if that's not the case, they listened.

00:19:04:14 - 00:19:08:08
Dylan
A little way back. Yeah.

00:19:08:10 - 00:19:17:03
Matt
So, so with this restriction, is this is it known that this is coming or is it just like an instant cutoff? Like, hey, by the way, I can't move anything.

00:19:17:05 - 00:19:39:18
Dylan
It's yeah, one person always starts it off. So you always get that one county like obviously Michigan farm right? There is a county up in this town. The first one never went red last week, which means like, or actually like they give you like two days of warning and then they and then, you know, they, they turn them on.

00:19:39:19 - 00:20:13:21
Dylan
They went and then a couple of others went. And it I mean they're making the right call because we did have frost and our roads do need the little bit of love they can get because they're not great. But yeah I mean ours went into effect they told us yesterday morning and tomorrow we're done. So I mean, I'm sure there was a lot of guys moving equipment today, but some I'd say about 50% of the counties have been off since like Tuesday or Monday this week.

00:20:13:23 - 00:20:15:22
Dylan
Well, yeah.

00:20:16:00 - 00:20:21:11
Matt
So you have jobs planned. I mean, you have work lined up and you just you have no idea in this.

00:20:21:13 - 00:20:46:04
Dylan
House that it's. Yeah. And it's like not something, you know, I can't I mean, it depends who you're working for, I guess for like a municipality, for instance, that I'm working for right now. We're going to next week. It's a wastewater treatment plant like that that's been a contract that's been set in stone since last November. So I can't go back to now and be like, well, since my scope work falls on.

00:20:46:06 - 00:21:06:22
Dylan
So I was like, I'm going to need some extra help. And they're like, Yeah, well sorry, your you're which, you know, we kind of got lucky because it's usually a little bit later in the year. You can make it through February and into March before they turn on previous years. They're, you know, usually towards the middle of March and then they kind of carry through April.

00:21:06:22 - 00:21:25:22
Dylan
Halfway through April, they turn off. Last year we didn't have them at all because it didn't we didn't really get any frosts. And the only reason I know that is because we were working the whole time and it just it just never came 30, 20 degrees for a week and then turn around and be 50 degrees. And actually this winter was a little bit more harsh, but I'm hoping it's over.

00:21:25:22 - 00:21:53:03
Dylan
I know we'll get a couple more cold snaps mixed in, but it's looking like 60 or 50 is next week. So if everything if the stars align correctly, they should turn it back off next week. But we'll see. That's that's what's scaring me is that it becomes like a you know, like a game almost. And they're just, you know, they if they wanted to, they could leave them on until the end of March.

00:21:53:03 - 00:21:58:22
Dylan
I just I don't know what they're going to do and nobody else does either. It's so you're sit and wait, just waiting.

00:21:58:22 - 00:22:10:02
Matt
So if you want to work, you got to overpay to move things. You've got to you've got to haul five tonne of material in a in a truck that can haul 22 ton or whatever the present.

00:22:10:04 - 00:22:13:18
Dylan
Ten an hour tandems like five or six ton.

00:22:13:20 - 00:22:20:00
Matt
That's awful. Yeah. Nature of the beast. That's well one of the challenges in the construction industry.

00:22:20:01 - 00:22:37:05
Dylan
Yes sir. It makes it, it makes for a fun couple of weeks. But I'm hoping that with the weather next week it, I mean realistically speaking they should turn them off. But you never know what I don't. I mean, whoever has the the job to be able to make that call, that's a cool job because.

00:22:37:07 - 00:22:39:02
Matt
I guarantee you they're not in the business.

00:22:39:04 - 00:22:46:05
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of people stay like, you know, it's in their hands, so I don't know.

00:22:46:07 - 00:23:06:18
Matt
I get it. I mean, our infrastructure across the country is failing. It's. It's falling apart everywhere. So I get, you know, whatever, you know, whatever they think they need to do to try and maintain, I mean, it's certainly in the best interest of the of the taxpayers and the residents, you know, But sometimes it's a burden that, yeah, you know, you don't want to deal with and you just have to work around it, you know?

00:23:06:19 - 00:23:07:12
Matt
Yeah.

00:23:07:13 - 00:23:12:09
Dylan
I'm in the same boat. I mean, I get it, but at the same time it's just like, this is terrible.

00:23:12:11 - 00:23:15:15
Matt
Yeah, well, you get time to go play then take off and.

00:23:15:17 - 00:23:33:21
Dylan
Yeah, yeah, it would be. I wish I would take. The problem is you don't know when it's going to happen so it's and I kind of called our county and, and the surrounding counties I called their bluff because they're, they're usually the last ones. And believe it or not, they still didn't turn them off. And then that's when our governor stepped in and was like, no, everybody's done really?

00:23:33:22 - 00:23:35:12
Matt
Because the whole state.

00:23:35:14 - 00:23:37:00
Dylan
Yeah, everywhere.

00:23:37:02 - 00:23:44:20
Matt
Wow. So you could be in an area where it's not really actually affected as bad. You could be in the southern the southern portion that's not Yeah.

00:23:44:22 - 00:24:07:04
Dylan
Yeah. Down by like Chicago, South Bend right there. Well I know it's going to be really warm there in this coming weekend, but like they're always they kind of always start at the borders and like the thumb obviously because of the bridge in Canada like it's it's thought out in their heads. They know what they're doing. And as far as like where the trucks are coming in from, sure.

00:24:07:06 - 00:24:09:06
Matt
Good opportunity for them to make a couple bucks.

00:24:09:06 - 00:24:12:13
Dylan
They're pulling people to a lot of bikes, A lot of bikes.

00:24:12:16 - 00:24:15:13
Matt
I wonder if there's anything behind that.

00:24:15:15 - 00:24:18:11
Dylan
I don't know. You never know what those guys know.

00:24:18:11 - 00:24:18:22
Matt
You the.

00:24:19:01 - 00:24:20:14
Dylan
You know.

00:24:20:16 - 00:24:23:04
Matt
Well, you just have to ride it out and do what you can. So.

00:24:23:05 - 00:24:28:18
Dylan
Yeah, but you just got to adapt and overcome. That's. That's what I always tell my guys. Just figure it out.

00:24:28:19 - 00:24:46:11
Matt
That's it. That's it. So one of the things I thought when you and I spoke back, it was either late summer, early fall. One of the things that I thought was interesting, kind of like your model, the way you're you're there doing this as an early like an early company is you're you are renting a lot of equipment or you're you're kind of like borrowing from buddies.

00:24:46:11 - 00:25:01:17
Matt
You're not going out and just you know, taking out you know, loans to buy everything that you need. It seems like you have a pretty good system and you also have some good relationships. A guy who's like helping you out and giving you equipment at reasonable prices to kind of get rolling there.

00:25:01:19 - 00:25:23:06
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah, that that was something that like I knew right away just from, you know, spending the time I had in the industry already. It's it's really easy to, you know, go show other companies like how you like I, you know, just go to the companies I look up to the most and just kind of like, you know, walk in their doors and how can I help you?

00:25:23:06 - 00:25:41:05
Dylan
What what can I do for you? And it's like, well, like, I don't know, like, what do you want? It's like, just let me do something for you. Like, who knows? I might be able to do it, you know, quicker or cheaper or whatever it may be. And that's how I started, was just basically selling myself to other companies.

00:25:41:05 - 00:26:09:02
Dylan
And then that fell into, like you said, they're like, Hey, you want to rent our 315? You want to rent our D five? It's like, sure, yeah. If you I mean, can you give me, you know, 600 bucks off compared to work out which charge? Yeah, no problem like that. That's kind of where it all started. And now I just, I just everybody I talked to, I'm like, like we got a, I got a buddy that I met because I rented one of his minis all summer.

00:26:09:04 - 00:26:26:00
Dylan
He's got a 323 next gen like 40 hours on. I don't know what he does, but he's in a niche market because he's got a bunch of equipment just sitting around doing nothing. I was talking to the other day and he's he's like, You got me like, do you need anything? And I was like, Yeah, we need a we need a big excavator for a while.

00:26:26:00 - 00:26:43:19
Dylan
He's like, You can use my 323 till July. I was like, Perfect, I'll take it. And we agreed on a price and we're going to I don't know how we're going to move that, but we are supposed to be using that next week. So that's, that's why again, it's like I hope they shut them off, but I really don't know.

00:26:43:21 - 00:26:44:18
Dylan
Yeah.

00:26:44:20 - 00:27:00:03
Matt
Yeah. Interesting. Well, relationships. I mean, relationships in this business. In this business, any business are key, you know? And if you can maintain those, that's awesome because it it is tempting. You know, you don't like everybody hates renting a machine and then paying a $6,000.

00:27:00:05 - 00:27:00:15
Dylan
Ceremonial.

00:27:00:17 - 00:27:20:11
Matt
Bill or 12 grand or whatever it is. And it's just like gone. And in me personally, I always looked at it like, man, that could that could have been a $2,000 monthly payment, you know, And I always look at and run the numbers. But, you know, certainly with the size jobs that you're doing and the and the big pieces of iron that you need, like, you know, that's a that's a great way to think about it and do it.

00:27:20:11 - 00:27:39:19
Matt
And I think that could potentially attribute to your success down the road thinking out of the box and kind of doing it that way, because a lot of guys don't do that. They will just go and sign their name on the dotted line for anything and everything that they can get. And then when you hit these times, you know, like you, you're being forced to stay home.

00:27:39:19 - 00:27:42:23
Matt
You can't work. You know, that adds up quick, you know.

00:27:42:23 - 00:27:43:22
Dylan
And it does.

00:27:43:22 - 00:27:50:10
Matt
That can be a big hit. And for some of those guys, if they can't get out for two months, they don't have enough money in the bank to make those payments.

00:27:50:10 - 00:28:20:11
Dylan
So, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's scary enough for me as it is. I couldn't imagine having, you know, three or $4,000 payments on some bigger excavators, $5,000 payments on some bigger excavators. It would just I mean, it wouldn't feel good. I know that. And I think, you know, the fact that I don't have that weighing, I mean, I have a lot weighing on my shoulders, but the fact that I don't have something like that weighing on my shoulders because trust me, I can't tell you how many times the last two months I've had the conversation with my card salesman, like, let's just price one out.

00:28:20:11 - 00:28:37:08
Dylan
And he's just But I've got a really good salesman, too. He's on my side and he knows, like, you know, he's like and he even straight up told me yesterday is like, rent the 323. You'd be making a mistake not to like, even if I owed you a machine like it just you're not. You can't get that for what it is.

00:28:37:10 - 00:28:58:12
Dylan
And I'm just it it works. But going back to the, you know, building those relationships, this industry, for some reason, and I don't know if it's just because it's around us. But one one thing that I value, you know, just as a person and I always have, just because it's the way I was raised, you can't you can't bite the hand that feeds you.

00:28:58:14 - 00:29:22:06
Dylan
So I think what helped me with, especially some of these bigger companies is, is the the loyalty that I showed them, you know, from the beginning and even now, like there's there's times where I've been asked to now bid jobs at some of these other companies are doing it. I'm just like, no way. Like, I am not even going to get in the middle of that and I'll call them and tell them.

00:29:22:08 - 00:29:42:16
Dylan
So I think that that also has really, really helped me because I now have their trust too. So they're like, I like, you know, we can work together. I'm not in this seeing you guys and you're not in this to get me. So I think, I don't know or I just work around a bunch of nice guys that that want to take care of me.

00:29:42:16 - 00:29:44:07
Dylan
I don't know. But it's. It's awesome.

00:29:44:10 - 00:30:01:16
Matt
I think it's a combination of both. Yeah, it is. Because, you know, even sometimes the the nice guys will still won't tell you that they're going to go out and bid that job, you know, because they're looking out for themselves. But no, I think it's a combination of both. And and certainly relationships go a long way and it could be make or break for a company 100%.

00:30:01:20 - 00:30:02:02
Matt
it could.

00:30:02:02 - 00:30:24:13
Dylan
Be like I wouldn't I would not be where we're at if I didn't have some of these people. I was put on really big jobs very quickly and was just like, whoa, hey, this this is what you guys do every day. And it was it just allowed me to kind of like, you know, really jump through that hoop a lot quicker than most can.

00:30:24:15 - 00:30:48:06
Matt
Yeah, for sure. Social media is is is a big thing, obviously. So when I started in business, I would go into business officially around like 22, 23, and I had a flip phone, a Nextel shirt, flip phone back. Yeah, Yeah. With you guys, though, I mean, it's it's really cool. You know, social media is there's so many negatives to it, but there's so many positives, too.

00:30:48:06 - 00:31:16:17
Matt
And I think it's really cool to see a lot of you young guys like I even see on your social media, your buddies with Taylor White up in Canada, no credit Taylor White. And then, you know, just seeing you guys like connect in and communicating and collaborating and sharing ideas and and resources like all across the country with guys like you would never, never have connected with and you wouldn't create this in your in your little local network, you know.

00:31:16:18 - 00:31:33:11
Dylan
So it's it's insane. It really is. I there's no way to describe it. I mean, so many people like, you know, old friends of mine that I, you know, have grown apart from there. And, you know, I catch up with them every now and then. They're like, wait, you're going where? With who? The kid you met on Instagram.

00:31:33:11 - 00:31:41:01
Dylan
It's like, Yeah, they're like, You're my fucking best friend. Like, I'm telling you, three of my best friends are kids that I met on Instagram, which is insane.

00:31:41:03 - 00:32:00:20
Matt
Yeah. So not only are you making friends, but you also have people to bounce ideas off of. Like if you get stuck or you don't know what to do now you have a whole nother network of people that you can lean on to ask these questions, you know? And so, you know, it sounds like you have a really great, like local network where you have a lot of really awesome people that you can lean on and ask questions.

00:32:00:20 - 00:32:26:19
Matt
But if you didn't have that, you can at least, you know, ping somebody from two states over and say, Hey, man, how did you do this? You know, I don't have anybody here. I can ask. So I think that's one of the the really cool things I see social media doing for people that use it in that way is, is you just the the possibilities to connect and share ideas and techniques and struggles and wins, you know, like it's just endless.

00:32:26:19 - 00:32:28:02
Matt
It is pretty cool.

00:32:28:04 - 00:32:54:08
Dylan
It's really cool to like especially like three of my good buddies. We're all at like different places in business to like, you know. Taylor they've been around for forever. You know, he, he's kind of taken over. He's taken over his dad's reins. You got, like, my buddy Luke Payne, He's just skyrocketed a couple of my other bodies. Like, it just it's everybody's got a different perspective on things and they'll even call me and I give them a different perspective on things.

00:32:54:08 - 00:33:22:19
Dylan
And they're like, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Like it's that there's so many different ways to look at things and I think really being able to step back and like, open your eyes and see the bigger picture too, I think that's a big thing, you know, as far as like a growth standpoint goes, which I don't know, like it's it's, you know, just talk about this and I'm getting a little sidetracked, but me, Taylor, Luke and Wil are going to Big Sky in, like two and a half weeks.

00:33:22:19 - 00:33:45:00
Dylan
It'll be we did it last year and we're doing it again this year and again. It's three dudes I met on Instagram like going to Big Sky. It's just. It's weird when you say like that. It's like, Hey, I met these guys on Instagram, I was on a snowmobile trip and most people are like, Well, but yeah, it's, it's, it's cool because we can go there and talk about all kinds of stuff and hardship and everything.

00:33:45:02 - 00:33:47:05
Matt
Plus Big Sky is friggin awesome.

00:33:47:07 - 00:33:48:13
Dylan
dude, it's amazing. You're Ben.

00:33:48:16 - 00:34:03:21
Matt
I skied there. Yeah. In 2000. Yeah. Been a long time. I actually went to Bozeman, Montana State in Bozeman for one year. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So I love Montana. It's awesome. I haven't been back since, but I will get there someday. But Big Sky, man, I love it.

00:34:03:23 - 00:34:18:19
Dylan
I got my first taste of it last year. I had never ridden a snowmobile and they took me up way out in the backcountry. And it was miserable, to say the least, because it's really hard to ride a snowmobile out there. But I had a great time and I'm looking forward to it again this year.

00:34:18:21 - 00:34:30:15
Matt
Nice, awesome, awesome. And again, mutual interest, mutual industry and you know, you made some buddies and you can chew the shit and talk work a little bit and and have fun with it. So yeah, it's pretty.

00:34:30:15 - 00:34:33:04
Dylan
Yeah that's really cool.

00:34:33:06 - 00:34:50:05
Matt
So what's your like what where do you see yourself in in ten years? What's your, what's your goal for D-2 contract. You know, you want to stay kind of small, keep it low key. You're looking to kind of blow up and and take on some bigger projects. What do you hope? What's the vision?

00:34:50:06 - 00:35:18:17
Dylan
To be honest, you know, I think about it a lot. I, I know I don't want to be, you know, one of these conglomerates with two, 300 employees. But I think like somewhere around the 50 mark would be great for me. I think that's a, you know, a small enough company where it's still super personable. Everybody kind of knows each other, but you're still out there doing a lot of work.

00:35:18:18 - 00:35:46:17
Dylan
I just don't see us like really slowing down or not. I just I'm addicted to the chase. I'm always chasing after the next big thing and they just continue to grow. And with that, great people are coming along. So I hope that it continues to go on an upward trend. I can't say I wouldn't be, you know, I'm sure it you could do really well with, you know, a a good six man crew.

00:35:46:19 - 00:36:05:04
Dylan
You could do a lot of pipe if everybody knew what was going on and get a lot done. But I, I think I want something bigger than that. I want to really like, have a place that people can come work where like someone like me, when I was younger, I thought that I was so much smarter than I was and I wasn't.

00:36:05:04 - 00:36:29:19
Dylan
But I just it just took that one person to give me a chance. And then, you know, you get that chance and it's like, wow. Like you actually sort of could figure it out. Like, I know you weren't very good at it at first, but you, you made it or you did it. You know, you got that job and it's I don't know, I, I want to do it for, you know, some of these younger kids like we have a lot of high school kids out of high school that work for us now, like in the summertime laborers and stuff.

00:36:29:19 - 00:36:49:05
Dylan
And it's hilarious to see, you know, 318 year olds out of a job like with Zero Clue that's going on. It is. It is so funny because I was there. I was that kid. Like, I mean, I grew up doing siting and painting and gutter. So the first time I was on a job, like, I was just like, what in the hell?

00:36:49:05 - 00:36:53:21
Dylan
Like, this is so different. I don't know. It's it's cool.

00:36:53:23 - 00:37:03:19
Matt
Does it does it frustrate you having 318 year olds, you know, on a roll, looking at it, going like, man, you guys are getting enough done, We're it.

00:37:03:21 - 00:37:29:07
Dylan
I have a I've got a tolerance, obviously, because, you know, nobody's going to want it as bad as is. You know me for instance. So I definitely do have a tolerance. But yes, it is frustrating. Like my younger brother worked for me this past summer and he's he's never had a real job in his life. But, you know, we played sports growing up, like all the time, even in the summer.

00:37:29:09 - 00:37:47:13
Dylan
And it's he's exactly like I was when he was, you know, 18 right out of high school going into college. And I would like to watch him grow over the summertime. And and, you know, he's he by the end of the summer, he's down in the hole, like installing a hydrant assembly on a six inch water main in the middle of the road.

00:37:47:13 - 00:37:50:07
Dylan
I'm just like, Fuck, yeah, dude, this is awesome.

00:37:50:09 - 00:37:51:04
Matt
Yeah, that's great.

00:37:51:04 - 00:38:07:01
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know, it's it's like the looks that we get sometimes from inspectors or like, certain municipalities or whatever it may be. It's just, it's, it's you can't I mean, I just it's indescribable. It's hilarious.

00:38:07:01 - 00:38:11:21
Matt
But you sent the high school kids over to, to the water main.

00:38:12:02 - 00:38:30:04
Dylan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's, it's cool, man. I, I don't know. I really would like to grow this into something big, but we're not. I'm not in a rush, and I'm kind of just going with, you know, things as we progress. So see where it takes us.

00:38:30:06 - 00:38:47:21
Matt
Yeah, that's a good attitude. I mean, a lot of different obstacles that get thrown at. Yeah, the economy's looking like it might be a little rough here for a while. So you got to kind of, you know, you're at the phase where you're building and growing, but you also have to know you got to be smart and make sure you make the right choice because things could shut down quick, even even governmental stuff.

00:38:47:21 - 00:38:55:12
Matt
You know, if we get squirrely enough, you know, some of these some of these projects, you know, might not be around the way they've been coming in. So.

00:38:55:14 - 00:39:16:13
Dylan
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ah, I will say our, our governor is she just dropped another bill, another like it's a crazy number. Everybody's praising her right now but it's something in the billions so she's spending it before she's done here and in the next couple of years. But and it's all infrastructure too, which is awesome. I think it's kind of the trickle down effect, too.

00:39:16:16 - 00:39:39:03
Dylan
It affects a lot of us because I'm I mean, shoot, I go and do some of these big websites every day. I we were been remove and replace for a school district decided rocks and asphalt today that I found it's they're out there and a lot of guys don't want those small jobs too so we love those.

00:39:39:05 - 00:40:04:18
Matt
Don't take work nobody else wants man Yeah yeah that's that can work out very well. So we actually, we have a scholarship that we implemented for some of our local high school students here. That's awesome. What, like if you had any advice for young kids that are contemplating either getting into the construction industry or going into business for themselves?

00:40:04:20 - 00:40:20:09
Matt
And I'm putting you on the spot here because I didn't really ask you before if you had any advice to give to any of the young guys out there that might be listening to this. What would that be for a young Dylan that's, you know, really aggressive and hitting this hard and and making a name for himself out there.

00:40:20:11 - 00:40:48:21
Dylan
I think the biggest thing is just like, be patient. You got to you also have to, like, be tough. It's I know it sounds cliche, but you've got to be tough like and that's the who aren't and it's no, no shot at them. They're just you know, they're just not meant for this industry, you know? So I think the ones that can, you know, get through all the name calling and like doing what the fuck are you doing?

00:40:48:21 - 00:41:20:09
Dylan
Like, you idiot. Like, I think if you can put up with that for the first couple of years and get past that, the I mean, literally the it's the world is an endless opportunity because there's so much opportunity in this industry to begin with. But for a lot of people and I remember, you know, being 18, working my first home builder and again, like he'd be like, go grab X tool or Y tool, and I'd come back with something completely different.

00:41:20:09 - 00:41:46:23
Dylan
And he'd just be like, What the fuck is wrong with you? They're like, I just told you this last week, and I'm just like, I'm sorry. Like, it's it's a huge learning curve and it's not something that is taught to everybody. And it's it's kept in a sense where like, you got to just figure it out, trial and error and you're going to look dumb a lot before you feel like you actually like, I get this.

00:41:46:23 - 00:42:11:07
Dylan
And I think accepting that and just kind of tuck in your tail between your legs and and, you know, just just being humbly confident almost about it is the way to go. Just don't don't show up and act like, you know everything because it'll it'll it'll go back in your face really quickly. Yeah it just it's not a good luck at all.

00:42:11:09 - 00:42:33:18
Matt
I think that's really good advice and having a big ego as a young guy coming into this business, you'll get humbled really quick, you know? And a lot of guys, you know, there is it's construction, man. There's going to be a little bit of ball bust. Then there's going to be, you know, raise it and go like, you know, but at the end of the day, you know, just trying to keep it, keep it fun, keep it loose, you know, kind of like, you know, just have a good time.

00:42:33:18 - 00:42:42:16
Matt
And it's part of being the new guy on the job. It's just just how it goes. You got to you got to walk through those fires to keep, you know, working your way up.

00:42:42:16 - 00:42:59:12
Dylan
So it's no different than like a sports team or something. So I try to get a lot of that, like we're in athletics and stuff because it seems to correlate well, you get that like competitive drive out of somebody like, you know, like that where they turn around and say hey, fuck you too. It's like, Yeah, there you go.

00:42:59:12 - 00:43:20:01
Dylan
Yeah. All right. You're hired. Yeah. No, it's you know, there's this is a competitive industry and it's cutthroat. Like, if you can't do it will gladly go find the next person that can. Yeah. So you definitely, you know, you got to be confident, but yeah, humbly confident.

00:43:20:03 - 00:43:37:08
Matt
And I think patience is a big one too, because a lot of it I see and, and I'm not really one to speak because historically I'm one of the most impatient people you'll ever meet in your life. But I've learned over the years to to like, you know, expectations. You just got to kind of dial back a little bit.

00:43:37:08 - 00:43:54:15
Matt
But I think when I was younger, I realized I was starting off at the bottom. You know, I my first summer my first summer job after getting my license, I work for a contractor and I started off sweeping floors and that's what I expected. I didn't expect to say, Hey, go, give me the saw. I'm going to go cut rafters for you.

00:43:54:15 - 00:44:11:21
Matt
It just doesn't work like that. I didn't know shit about anything, you know? But I think now, you know, a lot of the younger kids that maybe they realize that they don't belong or it's not for them as they come in and, you know, they want the keys to the dozer the first day, you know, and, and, you know, when you say, no, here's a shovel, get in the trends.

00:44:11:21 - 00:44:14:00
Matt
They're like, man, you know.

00:44:14:02 - 00:44:15:14
Dylan
So so.

00:44:15:19 - 00:44:17:20
Matt
You're you're smirking, like, yeah, I got.

00:44:17:21 - 00:44:40:11
Dylan
Horror stories already. I mean, let's hear. All right. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, no solid anybody either. But it's like I, we had one kid working for us, a great kid, like, super levelheaded, but he wanted to be an operator right away, and he was mess around the shop. One day we sent him back to the shop.

00:44:40:11 - 00:45:06:11
Dylan
We were doing a concrete job. Like I said, we do everything but we got in with the local municipality here in Brighton, so it was like a no brainer for me. I was like, Let's call this sidewalk boys. We were doing some flower porn sidewalks and we needed some more two by fours and stuff. So we sent them back to the shop to get two by fours and for some reason they pulled the mini out of the and he was messing around, probably trying to get some seed time or something.

00:45:06:13 - 00:45:28:09
Dylan
And this was a week after I had just closed on our new shop and he was taking it back in the building and he drove rather than driving the machine and straight, you know, boomed out like all the way down, tucked in or, you know, backwards. He drove in with the tracks going forward, but the machine was sideways.

00:45:28:09 - 00:45:33:12
Dylan
So the boom was it's you know, they're 14 foot doors, but it's, you know, three o six is still like I think it's.

00:45:33:12 - 00:45:34:12
Matt
Still only 14.

00:45:34:12 - 00:45:55:09
Dylan
He put it it's a pre-internet, it's a pre-engineered metal building, too. So it's not like it's just, you know, like post frame or anything. He drove the blade of the 306 through the building and bent and broke like a pre-engineered metal, like an I-beam and tore a bunch of signing off and freaked out and probably moved it some more.

00:45:55:09 - 00:46:18:01
Dylan
It was bad. And that was just one of those things where it's like, dude, like I you can't like, that's something like, I can't help you. They're like, You weren't even supposed to be doing that. They can't help you. It's, it's just things like that. That's where like, like I said and you said it to, like, just be patient and like, Wait your turn.

00:46:18:01 - 00:46:35:15
Dylan
Like, your time will come, I promise you. And if you're not good at it, we're going to tell you pretty quickly like this is a for you. You're better at, you know, running the laser or whatever it may be. But everybody wants to be the excavator operator. And, you know, in the skids here, when it's 90 degrees out.

00:46:35:18 - 00:46:38:16
Dylan
I like being in the hole, though. I love it. I didn't.

00:46:38:16 - 00:46:46:02
Matt
Mind. I mean, I'd be one of the first guys to grab a rake, shovel and slingshot and gravel around like, you know, I didn't mind it, but some guys do.

00:46:46:02 - 00:46:48:18
Dylan
And yeah, it's it's hard for some people. I don't know why.

00:46:49:00 - 00:47:05:21
Matt
And not only like can can the patience be tough too? It's hard to teach them patience, but getting the message across. But sometimes attitudes change too. Like, you know, I start to see with like the younger guys, like if they're not doing what they want to do, they kind of don't really want to be around.

00:47:05:23 - 00:47:08:23
Dylan
They don't really want instant gratification. Yeah.

00:47:09:01 - 00:47:24:12
Matt
Yeah. They're not willing to like, look at this, like, all right, this is a career. I have to work my way up, take these steps. They just they want to make the big bucks run. The bigger equipment, take the cool Instagram videos for their stories. They don't want to show their buddies. Hey, look, I'm in. I'm in the trench again with the shovel.

00:47:24:12 - 00:47:26:15
Matt
They want to show them that they're in the excavator, but.

00:47:26:16 - 00:47:55:00
Dylan
Little did they know that's the that's the that's the most badass thing right there. I'd rather be down in the trench box. Look at me like Snapchat. But no, I don't know. Apparently, being the excavator operators, what's cool, you know? Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, it's, it's, it's an uphill battle, but, you know, you figure it out. The ones that they do, all right, they stick it out and a lot of them done really well for themselves.

00:47:55:02 - 00:48:12:10
Matt
Yeah. Yeah. And there's and you know, kind of going back to, you know, the, the incentives for the young guys to take a look at the industry is there's a ton of opportunity. And if you can have the patience if you can if you can just be a little bit humble, be willing to learn and have some patience.

00:48:12:12 - 00:48:37:18
Matt
There's there's phenomenal opportunities coming up the next ten years. Our workforce is is disappearing. I think the numbers over the next ten years, 60%. I don't I don't have anything to back that up. But 60% of the the blue collar construction industry workforce is leaving. That's a huge gap. And with the increased demand is increased pay, increased opportunities, you know, the opportunities are going to be endless.

00:48:37:18 - 00:48:58:15
Matt
So for guys that want to get into it, like literally now is the best time we've ever seen, you know, that I've seen in my lifetime. And we'll probably ever see a see again. There's going to be a lot of, you know, whether it's as an employee or as an entrepreneur getting into the business, there's endless work out there regardless the economic situation.

00:48:58:15 - 00:49:19:11
Matt
There's always, you know, infrastructure type stuff that has to be done. Things always have to be built. So it's a phenomenal opportunity. So you know, young guys like you bringing on, you know, and there's a difference, too. Like you have a different perspective. You're you're a younger guy. You know, if you if you go and work for a bias that, say, 60 years old, well, he's old school.

00:49:19:11 - 00:49:25:12
Matt
He's got his ways of doing it. He has no filter and he's not you know, he's not going to, you know, be sticking.

00:49:25:14 - 00:49:27:01
Dylan
To the yellow sky as to,

00:49:27:02 - 00:49:29:09
Matt
I've learned I've learned a ton from those guys at.

00:49:29:10 - 00:49:50:00
Dylan
Time. I've learned more from them, the biggest assholes, because deep down, they're the nicest guys, you know, and they want to teach you. It just, I think it, like, pisses them off like, sometimes. Like how dumb someone like me and my generation is. We're just like, now to Instagram. It's just. Yeah.

00:49:50:02 - 00:50:09:14
Matt
But what I found with with those older guys is what they once they see that you can work and you're willing to work, you get all the respect in the world. And that that happened to me personally when I was younger with, with a crew that I was working with. There was a guy and he had a reputation for be like a hard ass hothead and, you know, a fly off the handle.

00:50:09:14 - 00:50:19:07
Matt
And when he saw how I could move and how I would work and I, you know, I did what I was supposed to do, like he he was awesome to me. I didn't get any of that shit that the other guys got, you know?

00:50:19:07 - 00:50:20:15
Dylan
So, yeah.

00:50:20:17 - 00:50:22:04
Matt
Goes a long way. You know, that's.

00:50:22:10 - 00:50:44:18
Dylan
That's one thing I can, I can attest. My dad put me on his cruise, you know, crawl around a roof all summer, you know, just all kinds of different people like working there right next to him. Like, that was when I realized, like, wow, if you just work your ass off and work as hard as these guys are working, they don't look at you any differently.

00:50:44:20 - 00:50:58:12
Dylan
It's the everybody's the same. It's when you are sitting there on your phone not doing anything, bitching and moaning about everything else, but working. Sure. That's that's when they're like, Screw this kid.

00:50:58:14 - 00:51:00:05
Matt
Well, there goes your chance.

00:51:00:07 - 00:51:05:14
Dylan
Yeah. Yeah, it really is like that, too. It's gone. Just like that. And it's hard to get it back.

00:51:05:16 - 00:51:08:00
Matt
Sure. And word travels fast, too, you know.

00:51:08:01 - 00:51:33:08
Dylan
It sure does. In this industry. Yeah, it it travels very fast. That was something I learned to pretty quickly. Like for good and for better or for worse. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, most of it, like, thankfully for me, you know, wasn't super bad. But when I realized that was actually how I kind of ended up leaving where I was working, as I told the cat salesman who's now my cat salesman, who was also where I was working as cat salesman.

00:51:33:10 - 00:51:45:23
Dylan
And within 24 hours, the guy that I was working for knew I mean, he always knew at some point I was going to leave. He just didn't know it was going to be that early because, like I said, I got that push from some of my buddies and I was like, All right, I mean, I guess I can do it.

00:51:46:01 - 00:51:53:03
Dylan
And I was like, really a fucking cat salesman. Like, that's how you're going to find out how many different. That's how it's. Yeah, yeah.

00:51:53:04 - 00:51:54:16
Matt
You didn't get to tell him.

00:51:54:18 - 00:52:04:20
Dylan
To this day. He'll never admit it because I still give him shit about it. But yeah, he, he, I had it just that's the only logical reason, you know what I mean?

00:52:04:21 - 00:52:05:16
Matt
Sure.

00:52:05:18 - 00:52:11:11
Dylan
Yeah, but that's what I realized. Like, shit. Like everybody talks.

00:52:11:12 - 00:52:25:05
Matt
yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's a good deal. Well, hey, man, it was awesome having you on. I wish you luck with your frosts shutdown that you have up there. Hopefully that gets sorted out sooner than later.

00:52:25:07 - 00:52:29:17
Dylan
We're open. So I think I think Gretchen Whitmer is going to come through for us, but we'll see.

00:52:29:18 - 00:52:43:19
Matt
I hope so. That's great. It's great to see a young guy kicking ass. I like your style. I like how you're doing it and I like how you're aggressive, but you're smart and you're kind of taking it. You know, you're taking it slow and doing it, you know, one step at a time, but you're out there and you're work.

00:52:43:19 - 00:52:48:09
Matt
So I think that's awesome. So I wish you the best of luck and hope you have a great season.

00:52:48:11 - 00:52:49:22
Dylan
I appreciate it. Thank you.

00:52:50:00 - 00:52:50:22
Matt
Awesome.

00:52:51:00 - 00:52:52:10
Dylan
I'm sure we'll be back.

00:52:52:12 - 00:52:56:08
Matt
Yes, sir. We'll have to drag the trailer out and do it in person sometime. Yeah, I.

00:52:56:08 - 00:52:59:04
Dylan
Got we got to do one and then. That's really sweet, man.

00:52:59:06 - 00:53:11:13
Matt
I'll bring it up once the frost lines are done. I'm not going to pay fines for that bullshit. I mean, it was awesome having John will be chatting with you again soon. Have a great day. I thanks all right to see you.