Good Neighbor Podcast: Milton & More
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Milton, Crabapple, and Hickory Flat
Good Neighbor Podcast: Milton & More
EP # 144: Waypoint Construction and the Sealant Guys with Rusk Jones
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Embrace the transformative tale of Rusk Jones, who left the corporate grind to become a shining light in Atlanta's hardscaping scene. Step into Rusk's world on the Good Neighbor Podcast as he unfolds the narrative of Waypoint Construction and the Sealant Guys, from their inception to becoming a force majeure in elegant outdoor crafting. Rusk not only shares his personal evolution but also debunks stonework myths and addresses the intricacies of water management in hardscape designs. His insights are a treasure trove for homeowners searching for innovative and cost-effective ways to beautify their external abodes.
This episode is a masterclass in resilience and creativity from a man who has weathered the fiercest of economic tempests. Rusk's strategic 'Guerrilla Marketing Warfare' has seen his ventures thrive through the 2008 financial crisis and the recent pandemic, proving adaptability is key. My conversation with Rusk transcends mere business talk, as we delve into his pursuits of golf, art, and a master's degree in theological studies. It's a poignant reminder of how a well-rounded life, sprinkled with personal interactions, fortifies not just our businesses, but our very beings. Join us for a session that artfully blends the spirit of entrepreneurship with the zest of living richly.
Local Hardscaping Business Interview With Owner
Speaker 1This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Poehler.
Speaker 2Hey everybody, I'm excited to be chatting this morning with Rusk Jones. He's the owner of Waypoint Construction and the Sealant Guys. Welcome Rusk.
Speaker 3Hey, good morning Stacey. How are you?
Speaker 2Good, good. So why don't you start off by telling us a little bit about your businesses?
Speaker 3Well, I mean, we have been in business Stacey for 20 years in Atlanta, georgia, and we started out in the hardscapes industry with just stone.
Speaker 3And then I had a partner at the time who's Brazilian and he went back to Brazil after the first crash but he introduced me to the world of pavers and from there we just organically grew and in a very short period of time we were on some really fun projects, some prestigious projects whether it was Scana Energy or Emory University or other famous people, if you will houses as a result of just good work.
Speaker 3So we are hardscapes guys and what that means is anything outside your house, really stone, pavers, concrete fireplaces, kitchens, and so after 20 years, we've been so fortunate to work with some of the finest architects and builders in the city, and I think we've been so fortunate to work with some of the finest architects and builders in this city and I think we've been able to take what we see on very large projects and then bring it to just normal people, because a lot of times what you see on these big projects is just creative ways to do things. They don't necessarily cost more money, they're just creative. That's what we do. They don't necessarily cost more money, they're just creative.
Speaker 2That's what we do. Awesome, awesome. And tell us a little bit about yourself. You know how did you decide 20 years ago that this is what you wanted to do? You know what were you doing before?
Speaker 3Well it was. I came out of corporate America and I had taken some time off. My wife and I were living out the lake, we had a couple of kids and I was going to do a Mr Mom and work on a postgraduate degree, and I built a patio.
Speaker 3I built a patio at my house. I happened to hire the right guys and little did I know that I was able to see things that aren't there. You know, to coin a good movie. My neighbor saw it and said, hey, would you build me one? And I said, sure, that was $41 million and 20 years ago and I have been so fortunate to always be able to be on property and see things and be able to be on property and see things and be able to read plans, and I think, coming from corporate America, you learn how to run a business somewhat. But, more importantly, I think we just understood that people are spending hard-earned money and not telling people what they need, but try to build what they say they want and tell them honest answers. Sometimes people have really bad ideas, sometimes they have great ideas and they don't have a budget to support it, and then we try to find that happy medium to where they have a wonderful place to relax and entertain.
Speaker 2Awesome, awesome. What were you going to do your postgraduate work in?
Speaker 3Tane Awesome, Awesome. What were you going to do your postgraduate work in? I'm actually doing it now, 20 years later a master's degree in theological studies. So one of those calls?
Speaker 2Good for you.
Speaker 3Good for you, never too late, right, exactly I don't want to become a mind of mush as I get older. You have to think about things like longevity and how the business continues. After I decide I want to do other things.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah for sure. Can you think of any myths or misconceptions that might be out there about hardscaping? Or just you know outdoor, you know building in general?
Speaker 3Yeah, and in fact that's a great question. I have addressed a couple of those on my website, which we'll talk about later. So the biggest misconception is that anybody can do stonework, and so there's this belief that if you see a guy with a trailer or a wheelbarrow and he's got a sticker on the side of his truck that says they're stonemasons, that they must be good, and that's just simply not true. I think the biggest misconception that homeowners have is number one they don't always have the right tools.
Speaker 3As a professional, we have the tools, but they always underestimate water, the power of water, the problems of water and that's something that I have the greatest respect for 20 years later that I did not have 20 years ago when I started. You think it's just water. Water is our arch enemy. So I'd say people underestimate the skill level of the people they hire because they go the cheapest and sometimes that's fine, but most of the times it's not. When they want to do it themselves, they underestimate the time and the weight. The first five or six wheelbarrows is fine. Then you look back and you realize you've got a hundred more to go and it's not fun. So there is a responsibility of a professional to tell the homeowner how it works and why they're going to pay them a little bit more to perhaps complete the task.
Speaker 2And what does the sealant side of the business do?
Speaker 3You know, sealant guys, is one of those cool kind of organic use. A good marketing term here vertical integration of services. So here we have this business. I've got well over a million square feet of pavers on the ground in Atlanta. I've got well over a million square feet of pavers on the ground in Atlanta.
Speaker 3And then clients 5, 10, 15 years ago would say how do I make them look like they did when you installed them? And we heard that eight years ago enough times that I thought maybe we ought to just start looking at the opportunities. And, as it would be, one of my largest clients is a manufacturer of very high-end precast concrete products company called heartstone, and the owner and I are close friends. And so Steve and I began to look at products that would clean and seal his product because it required it more. And then we realized this stuff's pretty good and as a result of that we thought well, we probably ought to create a business. It's something that is completely independent of construction and it's been fun. And so we actually have our own sealant line that we've been developing for almost 10 years, called Waypoint Sealants, and we market that as a way for a homeowner to have access to professional grade products at a reasonable price.
Speaker 2Wow, wow. And basically, can they take a project that they had installed like 10, 15 years ago and make it look brand new?
Speaker 3Exactly. I was just in Dunwoody and I realized that I was near a project I did almost 19 years ago and as I drove by the house I saw the homeowner in the front yard and I wheeled in my truck I got the greatest picture of this sweet lady. I'm a pretty good sized guy she can't be four foot 11 if she's that tall and I got a picture of a stand in there. And it's just a rare, fun thing. That doesn't happen very often, but it's a great source of pride to have them take you to their backyard, show you what you built, show you how it still looks and be happy with it. And you know those. I wish they happened more often, but people are pretty transitional in Atlanta and they're not always there when you drop by.
Speaker 2Yeah, I just. I just finished reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's book called Be Useful and he did masonry work when he first moved to America.
Speaker 3I believe he was a bricklayer.
Speaker 2Yeah, and he says you know of all the things he's done. He's still so proud you know he can drive by places and know like I built that you know. And it sounds like you have a little bit of that pride too when you can kind of see things you did 20 years ago.
Speaker 3You know, one of the things to remember is and I use this analogy a lot is what the people see in your front yard is what you know, that's what the neighbors are supposed to see, and you have to be compliant with the homeowners association. And what we do most of the time is we're in the backyard. I mean I'm back where you sit around, have a cup of coffee, relax with your family, your friends, and whether you're a public figure that everybody would know, or a sports figure or any other people where public demand seems to always want some of your time and then to be in your backyard with you where you're just relaxed is just an honor. And when you realize you're there, most of what we build is a want, not really a need. I mean, there's times when a wall's got a problem or a driveway's got a problem, but mostly what we build is lifestyle, and that's really has been a boom since COVID.
Speaker 3I mean, think about the way that business is conducting itself since COVID. So you thought you were going to sell your house before COVID, so you didn't worry about your yard or your pool renovation. Covid hits you can't sell your house, you can't go to work and your office is looking at your backyard, that the pool needs to be repaired, the yard isn't fixed and your barbecue you always wanted is not there, and now you're going to look at it for a few years. So this massive boom happened in Atlanta, but there was a shortage of labor. So it was a real strange moment in time, but it opened people's eyes to the value of outdoor living and the value of taking care and creating work, live space.
Speaker 2What have been some of your favorite projects that you've designed?
Speaker 3Right now because I'm a golf geek. I've been doing putting greens for a while, I mean, and it's just something that I really wish I'd have been doing it earlier. I was involved with a company years ago where I was just part of the work team. I didn't own it and I really couldn't figure out why he was doing it. He's retired and I'm not doing it. He's retired and I'm not, but it's a very fun project. So putting greens are fun, but I think, without naming names, meeting a couple of the people that I've been able to work for, who are world known people, number one in finding out how normal they really are, where we end up talking about how to cook on the green egg and just maybe a fishing trip or something that's fun. But I think I get the greatest satisfaction and it's why I still go on a lot of calls myself is just seeing normal homeowners.
Speaker 3Look, our projects can get crazy, but most of them are, you know, 10, 20, $30,000. They're really just good, all American backyard projects and I love being in that venue because it's hard earned money and it means a lot. It means just as much as a percentage of income as some of the other crazy stuff and I like just looking at it and they don't see it and I've been able to walk in and go oh, you know, there's the fireplace you wanted or there's your kitchen. Building kitchens is fun because I'm an outdoor kitchen cook and just seeing people send me smiley photos of barbecue or their pool deck or whatever. And whenever we do a renovation I think it has the greatest effect because you're able to bring something back to life or you're able to restore something and there's there's some artistic value to that.
Surviving Business Challenges Through Adaptability
Speaker 2Definitely, Definitely. I'm sure over the last 20 years there's been some ups and downs. Can you talk us through maybe some of the challenges you've faced as a business owner and how you've gotten through them?
Speaker 3I think that's a great question and at 63, almost 64, I've been in the marketplace for 42 years now and I've traveled the United States and done a lot of things. I've been in Atlanta for 37 years and one of the challenges we all faced was in 2008, 2009, with the first crash, and then I would liken the COVID experience to be something kind of like that, but I think the one that we can all identify with in the hardscapes industry, banking industry would probably be the 9-10-11 crash, and I was very, very fortunate enough to be picked up by one of my large paver manufacturers to travel and train, and so I'll share with you the way that I handled it. And then I was able to kind of share that experience with other business owners, which, put simply, as a business owner, when you're confronted with that kind of challenge, particularly in our industry, I told them. I said look, I said you existed in a place as a business owner where the giants never knew you existed. They didn't need you, they were all over the place handling multimillion dollar properties. You existed, they didn't need you, they were all over the place handling multimillion dollar properties. And then the market contracted and now all of a sudden you got a competitor who has more people, more cars, more shirts, more advertising and better known than you are, and he needs your business to survive because the large marketplace is contracted and, just like any other business, they have overhead and cash flow. So the question became for small business owners how do you survive in any downturn in the market? And J Conrad Levinson wrote a book back in the late 80s called Guerrilla Marketing Warfare.
Speaker 3That just never left my brain was whenever you have a competitor who can outspend you, out-advertise you and out-maneuver you with large group of people, then you have to reduce the sale to things that don't cost money. And my message to business owners is when things contract and it's interesting that you use the words kindness and trust and all that, I taught it as path of least resistance like and or trust. Those are the three things, and if you provide those three things, then you can get people's mind off the cost of things, which is always important. But you can compete, and what that means is how well do you identify with your clients? How well do you present yourself? How well do you with your clients? How well do you present yourself? How well do you run your business? How well, do you complete your tasks and you can survive, but you also have to be adaptable.
Speaker 3So, for us, what we looked at was we were very centered into a couple of areas, but we realized that natural change big markets for us to move into would be concrete. For example, Not unusual for a stone guy to be a concrete guy. It might be unusual for a stone guy to become a painter, but not a concrete guy. Paver guys could get into cleaning and sealing. Paver guys could get into walls, which we already did some of.
Speaker 3So we looked at our core strengths, which any business should do who am I? What am I, what's my SWOT, what are my weaknesses, what are my opportunities and basically decided that we could vertically integrate, we could move into a couple of different markets with the belief that and for the financial people that are listening that we could create an inverse relationship in our portfolio One's up and one's down, one you know they wouldn't both crash at the same time and essentially that's what happened in oh, eight, nine and ten was the market just basically the bubble broke. Um, I think everyone in the market today should have a healthy fear of that, but we should also be prepared to transition. But we should also be prepared to transition laterally or look at what they can and can't do and sometimes narrow their focus, get rid of things and just focus on what they do best, and I think that's the best business advice I could say after being out here for 40 years.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah. That's definitely a good way to look at it. What do you like to do for fun? I know you mentioned golf, but what are some of the things you do when you're not working?
Speaker 3Sharon and I are empty nesters. So we have a cat now, which we can't believe we had a cat. The cat's taking over the house. But no, I'm a golfer, I read I'm an artist. So I believe in kind of a holistic approach to life. In many ways my faith is extraordinarily important to me, so that is something that I'm pursuing again as an advanced education degree.
Speaker 3I believe strongly that our generation, my age group, has something to offer, to offer and it's very interesting. It's interesting and concerning when I look at the two generations, because I came up as my, my sons would tell me, you know, in the dark ages, no internet, no cell phone, black and white tv, no cable, you know, and then I grew into that, like the rest of us. But I think in the world that you and I are in, this marketing, this communications world of technology, I think that something that is lost is this one-on-one, and even our conversation now is not as beneficial as if we were together having a cup of coffee. There's something that's missing. As good as it is, we see each other and we talk to each other, each other, and so I think, um, but almost tying in the business, the, the ability to communicate and the ability to just enjoy other people's company is something that will carry people along the way.
Speaker 2Awesome, Awesome. Do you think you're going to do something um once? You do have your degree in theology? You know, in the church. Have you thought about it?
Speaker 3yeah, I'm not. I'm. There's no plans for ordination or anything like that.
Speaker 3I I think, that I think that my passion is teaching. You know so, and I believe strongly, um, that it's, it's. It's something that the bible is, something that people need to read, and I tell people. I said I'm like the Six Flags operator guy. I said I love the roller coaster just like you do. I love the loops, I love the speed, I love riding the ride, just like you do. The only difference is is I'm taking a little more time to figure out how the ride really works, and I can tell you if you push this button that does that. I can tell you why you don't fall out of the roller coaster when you're upside down. I can tell you things and I'm willing to show you the same little set of instructions that I was given to make the ride even more fun. And that's a simple way to put it.
Speaker 2I like that analogy even more fun, and that's a simple way to put it. I like that analogy. Is there one thing you haven't had a chance to tell us about your businesses that you'd like to make sure our listeners learn?
Speaker 3You know, I think the businesses themselves kind of speak for themselves. I mean, being around and surviving, I mean, has a lot to do with it, and we're very open with our portfolio. I encourage people to go to our website. I do podcasts for a reason. I do case studies for a reason. I try to educate people because there are some look, there's some really good do-it-yourselfers out there and my deal is knock yourself out. I mean, we're here.
Speaker 3Countless times in 20 years I've had phone calls with people. I said you know what. You got it going on. You actually understand what you're doing and you'll probably do well. Just be careful of this, this and this and you should do fine. I mean, I've told people for 20 years Atlanta is a big market. Nobody can have it all. Nobody can have it all. It's just the way it is can have it all. It's just the way it is. So find your lane, be the best you can be. Tell people honestly what you do. Charge a fair price. But I think if people will go to the website that they'll find that it's informative.
Speaker 3Waypointconstructioncom the sealant guys is really more about what we do in the sealant the clean and seal and the restoration side of things. Clean and seal in the restoration side of things. But you know we're among good companies. We're certainly not the only one and I'm pleased to say that a lot of my good friends have competitive businesses and we all believe the same thing and we're more about iron, sharpening iron. How do we maintain excellence knowing that we're most likely never going to run into each other in the market?
Speaker 3And I think there's a liberating feeling when you can say, if you ever ran into one of my friends, he or she is, you've made a wise choice. They're wonderful people, I've known them for years and you couldn't do any better and thank you for calling me. But I got to go. And oftentimes I'll say that's not really what I do do or I'm not capable of doing that. Now Please call this person, because I've known them forever and they're wonderful. And I think there's there's a liberating feeling when you can just honestly say call Stacy, because her podcast is crazy cool in Milton Georgia.
Speaker 2Awesome. One last question then for you, Russ when did you come up with the name Waypoint Construction?
Speaker 3You know, I've never been asked that before. That's good. So when you think about what a waypoint is? It actually started when I was consulting and the idea was how do you show people you know, how do you set goals, you know? I mean, one of the things that I think is missing terribly in our college education system is they don't teach them how to set, manage and achieve goals. It seems to all come with, whatever company you're working for, and hopefully they do it or don't. So I had this idea like all right, if I'm going to consult Stacey on how to move her business, the first thing in a goal is you have to have a goal, you have to know where you want to go, and a waypoint in construction is a fixed point, a documented fixed point, and you create multiple waypoints depending upon what you're doing. If you're building a wall, for example, you have multiple waypoints that determine the location and the height. So I decided what we were going to do when we built Waypoint was we would identify a point in time, a goal, and then we would determine how to reach that goal. And we reached those goals.
Speaker 3And when I talk to clients, it's more of a consultative approach. It's like why am I in your backyard, Stacey, Tell me about the party I'm going to go to tonight? Or's more of a consultative approach. It's like why am I in your backyard, Stacey, Tell me about the party I'm going to go to tonight? Or tell me about how you relax when you come off the road.
Speaker 3And those conversations are all meant to identify where you're trying to go and why you would pay me money to get there. And sometimes I say you can't get there for that budget, or I can't do it because, or I am the right guy and we need to get going, type thing. So it's all the above, but it's all meant to just establish and I think what we do is help people kind of weed through all these ideas, all these these Instagrams and all of these Pinterest photos and bring it down to what is it that you can do now, tomorrow or next year, and what does it cost to achieve that and what expectations should you have? And those are all waypoints, those are all places or positions towards a goal.
Speaker 2Well, that's great.
Speaker 3Great question. I need to write that down.
Speaker 2Well, thank you again for joining us today. Rusk, it was great talking to you and learning a little bit more about Waypoint. Thanks again.
Speaker 3Thank you, miss Stacey. It's been a real pleasure to be with you and I'm glad you guys called.
Speaker 2Awesome.
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Milton More. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPMiltoncom. That's GNPMiltoncom, that's GNPMiltoncom, or call 470-664-4930.