Episode #52 - Interview with Tracy Engel

Join us on this episode of All-In Design, as we speak with Tracy Engel with ASD|SKY.  Tracy comes to the podcast with a lot of experience and shares her path through the industry and longevity with her current firm. We speak on the importance of developing relationships and Tracy shares some tips on how to impress when you are young designer. For people that know Tracy, she is direct and has a great sense of humor. It's a fun episode, so we hope you check it out.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Recorded live before a studio audience, this is All in Design.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Hello and welcome to All in Design Idea Alabamas Podcast. Thank you for listening. My name's Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo.

SPEAKER_05 0:30

Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

And uh if you've got a child with you, if you're in the car riding along, uh you might want to go uh to a different podcast. Uh not sure where this one's gonna go, but there could be some profanity. Um there will be some profanity. So uh just be aware. I don't know if I've ever had that disclaimer off the top, but I think that might be our best opener ever.

SPEAKER_05 0:53

Because now people are definitely not gonna change the podcast just because they want to know. They love profanity.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

I I'm gonna switch up my swear words so to keep them more potent.

SPEAKER_05 1:05

Oh, okay, okay. So it's just not gonna be like free-flowing.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

You're gonna kind of So I say like and I really meant five.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

Oh, okay. It's gonna work out.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

I don't know if we'll see.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

I'm not skeptical, but I'm just we'll see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

We'll see. Yeah. Tell us about the um Democratic Party.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Interview's over. And we're I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Uh why don't you introduce who we have to do?

SPEAKER_05 1:33

Uh yeah, so uh yeah, so buckle up, folks. Uh actually it's gonna be a good one. We have uh we have our our good friend and very talented uh designer uh Tracy Ingle here with us. She is with ASD Sky, and she is the I'm I'm looking at her business card. She gave it to me very officially earlier. Uh she is vice president and a principal at ASD Sky. So uh you're not not a big deal. And we're we're actually we are very thrilled to have you on the show, and we're we're looking forward to uh uh chatting with you and cussing with you. So that said, uh the floor is yours if you want to get us started and tell folks about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Um okay. I wish I'd taken notes. Here's your questionnaire. Um no, I've been I graduated from Auburn in 1990, 1992. 1992. Yes. And um I went to work for ASD in Atlanta as my first job, um and thrilled because we were in the middle of a recession. So I was pretty pumped that I actually got a job.

SPEAKER_06 2:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

And then moved to Birmingham to be with my now husband, then boyfriend, and I worked at Garrison Barrett with Lee Perry and Nancy Jernigan and group. So that's where it all began. That's where it all began. Yeah, yeah. And um Lee was kind of put up with me for the nine months that I was there. And then I went to HKW.

SPEAKER_05 3:04

And the decades since y'all are very good friends. We are now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

But um I went to HKW for four years, started their interiors group, and that was great. But both my husband and I were working there, and we decided to get married, so I left. But I left because my um CEO of ASD called me and said, Hey, we just won this awesome merger project. Um, we beat out all the big guys for the merger between First American Bank and Am South Bank in Birmingham. So if you know me, you probably know that I still work on Regions projects. And it has been that was um January 2nd of or 3rd of 2000 that I went back to work for ASD. So this is my 27th year in Birmingham and working on 30 years with ASD. So I know it's a long time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Congratulations. Where are you from originally?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Atlanta.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Okay. Yeah. So that job was did did you intern or just straight out of college got a job there?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

I didn't get a job straight out of college. It took like nine months because the aforementioned recession.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Um, which wasn't very nice to our graduating class. But anyways, it was awesome. I actually did really fun internships with um, I don't even think they're in existence anymore, but with Osgood and associates in Atlanta, and it was a ball. I didn't know it was so much fun, but I didn't realize you actually had to work too.

SPEAKER_05 4:29

So what was what was just because we've talked to a lot of people about their internships, and none of them have been like, it was a ball. No, I don't think anyone's mentioned that before. No, yeah. So what what made it awesome?

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Um actually I I met the most fun people. Um and really they kind of took me under their wing as those fun guys in our industry do, and um just were sweet to me all summer. We we um probably partied a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Yeah, but yeah, it was fun. That's awesome. And then do you met your husband, I guess, at Auburn? Yeah. Okay, and he was from here?

SPEAKER_00 5:03

He's from here. Okay. Yeah, we were we were walking down the hall of um Dudley before school started, and Gaines Blackwell, he's walking down the crit hall with Chris, and he says, Oh, Tracy, you know Chris Engel. And I was like, don't think I do. He said, Well, he's gonna join our studio this fall, and I was like, Good for him.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

Couldn't care less.

SPEAKER_05 5:28

Great chat.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

And uh yeah, that seemed to work out for me actually.

SPEAKER_05 5:33

So how long, how like how so after that, because we just we go all over the place with this podcast. So after that, how long did you start was it before you started dating? Like, I mean, were you kind of like, uh, or did it was there a time to like get to know each other?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

So that was in '91, and then we married in ninety-nine.

SPEAKER_05 5:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

So it was a it was a lengthy courtship.

SPEAKER_05 5:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

He had to make sure I was all right.

SPEAKER_05 5:57

Yeah. And he had to get you to Birmingham. That's true. Was there any apprehension about leaving Atlanta and coming to Birmingham? Leave.

SPEAKER_03 6:06

Almost. Almost. There are bets right now.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Like how quickly can we No, I'd I'm thrilled to be in Birmingham. I I mean, I still have family in Atlanta, and I try not to go except for to see my mom and my brothers. So my nieces and my nephews, and great nieces and nephews, and whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:28

Do they ever come here? Or do you have to go brave the Atlanta traffic? It's horrible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

So what what inspired you to become an interior designer in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

That's a great question. Thank you so much. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Thank you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:45

You hit with the professional stuff, I'll go with the personal. We'll just the tag team of this.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

How long do you date your husband?

SPEAKER_05 6:52

We're doing great. What is this? Episode 52? It is, yes. We're solid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

I like it. Um actually I took drafting in high school, and my art teacher like got me to take pottery, and then she got me to take, you know, a drawing class and a modeling, and not modeling, but you know, clay modeling. And it was my junior year. Actually, I think it was probably my senior year. They don't back then, you know, there wasn't a lot of pressure when you're a sophomore or junior to kind of figure out what you want to be when you grow up. Right. But anyway, now you need to know. Absolutely. Yeah. So she said, um, won't you go to the library and go look up Eileen Gray and Frank Lloyd Wright? And I was like, I ain't never heard of them.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

I literally and this is this was when libraries had books in them. Correct. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Thank you for pointing out my age. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Well, I it was the same for me as well. But it's but I I'll go to the high school now and you go into like their their library, and there's like zero books. That's right. You're like, Really? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's bizarre. That's a shame.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

So so I did, and I so I was like, this Allen Grey, I've never seen furniture like this. You know, it's all super clean and modern and crebussier, who's that? You know, that kind of stuff. And so I go back and I was like, well, that's pretty cool. And she's like, Well, do you think you'd rather be an interior designer or an architect?

SPEAKER_03 8:08

And I was like, Those are the two options.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

I was like, interior designer sounds pretty cool. And she's like, Okay, you should go to Auburn. I was like, okay. And that was that's literally the end of it.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

So and so when you started at Auburn, were you already on that track or did you kind of I did I didn't do summer op.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

I did like I did first year and then I did the rest of the, you know, I didn't do this, whatever summer op. Yeah. But yes, I was on I knew what I was gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 8:35

It's spidal.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

No.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

What no? Dudley.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Dudley, okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Right?

SPEAKER_03 8:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

It's the architecture school.

SPEAKER_05 8:43

That's where yeah, that's where architecture was. So it was interior design. I guess interior design was not in spital at that time. Again, not to age you the way Chad was in the world. I don't even know what Spidal is. Spidal Hall in Auburn. Well, it's no longer it's longer no longer.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

But yeah, that's where that's where Chesney took interior design.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_05 9:00

Now that we've done now that we've run through the history of Auburn's buildings for architecture and interior design. So yeah, they're building a new college of human sciences. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

And so my daughter is going to Auburn. Um she'll be starting in the fall. And so the the new building, well, I think it's it's either the fall of 27 or something. I think it's 27. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

So you're letting her go into this field.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Yes. That's interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

So tell us everything you hate about interior discipline.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Well, it it was the one thing we told Jack he couldn't do. I mean, we were like, you can do anything else in the world, but like it's hard, you know?

SPEAKER_04 9:42

It's tough, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

I mean, it's a hard industry to I mean, if you want to retire before you're 60, anyways. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:49

So what does he do? Again, I'm hitting the personal question. Sure. What does your son do? Let's talk about your son. Because he's not an interior designer or an architect.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Yeah, and he will never listen to this podcast. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

Well, you know, hey, so I said that about my sister when we had my dad on. And then about a week after his episode came out, I got a screenshot from my sister of the scrolling transcript of the point me saying, Yeah, don't worry, Michelle will never listen.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

So that said But so she didn't listen, she just read it. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_05 10:20

No, she did listen to the whole episode. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Yeah. Jack's not going to listen to this. Okay. Um, he he is um in in investment banking at Raymond James.

SPEAKER_05 10:29

Oh, so he wants to like retire when he's like 32. Correct. Yes. You can fund the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

We do we do stuff like that. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_05 10:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

We can spend all our money because he's not going to need it.

SPEAKER_03 10:45

Yeah, there you go. That's awesome. And if we don't mind, maybe explain the making bread for people that didn't listen to us before we started recording.

SPEAKER_05 10:53

Yeah, so uh Jack, see, I told you this podcast is all over the place. So Jack got you a uh Le Cruz bread baker, correct?

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Bread oven.

SPEAKER_05 11:03

Bread oven for Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Cast iron gift. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_05 11:06

And you haven't done anything with it yet.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Yes, I have.

SPEAKER_05 11:08

But until well, I mean, just now, like just this past weekend.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Well, no, this weekend I started making starter. But I had made some quick breads before, just like, you know, you can you can mix them up in the morning with like instant. No one's gonna find this at all in the city. Oh, you'd be surprised. You'd be surprised.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

What I'm angling for is that for Mickey to send us some bread is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_05 11:32

Why don't we angle for a lay crusade? Yeah, she probably has a budget. Let's shoot high.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah, she says.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

All right. I'll bring you some bread. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yeah, we'll have you on the show again. Yeah. But you said you threw out the baking bread thing, like, oh, that's why you're baking bread. And I figured we should probably mention what that meant. That's true.

SPEAKER_05 11:48

So but uh and we're and where they're gonna leave this point just after I make this comment. So you have made things in this Lay Crusade that you gifted you. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Crunchy white bread. Okay. It's crunchy.

SPEAKER_05 11:59

Oh, but now you've started a starter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I've started a starter, which we're calling Defenestration. That's too complicated.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

The conversation we had was that she would say, sorry, um, that she was starting a starter, and I said there should be a word for that. Because that sounds stupid. I'm starting the starter.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Starting the starter. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

There should be like an official term for that.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Uh I got nothing.

SPEAKER_05 12:24

Yeah. So after you move back to Burnington. Ignition. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Ignition. Oh, that's good. I like that. Bread ignition. Yeah. No, I can't. Yeah. She just made to everyone who can't see us because we still don't have cameras, is the turning the key. Like you're turning the key on.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

Although nobody has keys anymore, so okay.

SPEAKER_05 12:42

Yeah. So are you having fun on the podcast? She's regretting it. Yeah. Okay. So uh ASD.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 12:54

Banking, you're you're back in it. You're in Birmingham.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

How were the like how were those first years um I'm using air quotes here in the real world as a designer? What was that like?

SPEAKER_00 13:08

So I would I I gotta I would have to go back to my first project in Birmingham, which was for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.

SPEAKER_03 13:18

It's a small little company. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

And and the CEO at the time was this guy named Dick Jones. And and I mean Dick wanted something that no one could give him. And we kind of sorry. Anyways, so they hire this young little newbie girl from Atlanta who thinks she knows everything. That's me. And spoiler alert. Yeah. And they and they throw throw me at Dick, and he's like, I want something like not that you would see everywhere. It's for like this presentation room, is what they called it. So anyway, so I go out there and and you know, we do all these wack-a-doo things. I mean, like steel floors that you walk on. When you walk on them, they make noise, just like let you know you're changing flooring and now entering the presentation room and just like wacky colors, and I got to custom design desks and whatever. So that was amazing. And they kind of just was your first? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Uh yes. And it was it was incredible. And I mean, I still I thought I rolled the world, even at that point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

So has it all been a letdown since then? Pretty much. Yeah. Do whatever you want, and there's no budget. Steel floors that make noise.

SPEAKER_06 14:38

Step one.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

So no, um, I don't know. That was a great start. And I got to do, I mean, like at HKW, I got to do some really, really cool, fun projects. Um, but what I found out is like our industry, like my job isn't really about I mean it is about designing, but it's also what the best thing God, I can't even talk.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

What I'm best at not important on a podcast.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

Um, Lori said, no snorting. Um is that really what I'm good at is um is maintaining relationships. And I mean, I I think that becomes pretty clear when you have the same client for 20-something years. And and and and really truly along the way, as I've picked up other clients, I tend to, well, and I told you all this in that, but I learned from a great guy out of Atlanta that I work with, that I've worked with since I think 2017, I think.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

Steve Martin.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Steve Martin. And Steve, uh, he's he's about 10 years older than me, but he taught me you work with people that you know, you like, and you trust. And you're gonna go along the way with some people and you're gonna be like, well, I thought I knew them and I thought I liked them, or I thought I trusted them, but actually I don't. They suck and I'm done with them. But you can't always do that in this industry because sometimes you just need the work.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

So um, but as as I've matured, well as as I've gotten older in my career. There we go. There, yeah, that's more accurate. As I've gotten older in in my career, I it's easier to say, you know, thanks. I've I'm busy. Yeah, I'm good. Yeah. So it's it's awesome though. Like I got to work with um, I hope they don't mind if I say I'm sure they're not gonna listen to this podcast either, but no one listens. No one listens. There's a there's a law group um that we did their offices in Atlanta. It's called KMCL. And they have a small office here. And the folks from our Atlanta office who did their office here said, hey, they just need some help with like, you know, some tchotkis and some of this, and like will you go buy some art and you know and and they turned out to be like it was it was kind of a love fest. I mean, it was so fun to meet cool people who were just nice and genuinely appreciate your help. So yeah, it's about relationships.

SPEAKER_05 17:16

Did did you especially in those kind of formative years, was was is building relationships and and maintaining them? Is that something you've always been natural? And and the reason I ask that question is because we've had several designers on the podcast that are, you know, one or two years out of school and you know, we kind of talk about where they see their strengths, and you know, some of them are like, you know, their their design strengths and some of their pres presentation strengths. I don't know if we've actually heard, and I could be wrong, but anyone say relationship strengths. I'm sure it's been touched on, but not as direct as you. And I you know, to kind of quote my dad, uh that that would be a skill like anything else. So I'm just curious if it's something that like you've always been like that or you've worked at it.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

So I didn't know that that's what it was. Um but as I look back for sure, I I mean, my my father taught me a lot of stuff, and one of them is to be persistent. And so kind of if you know me, you wouldn't agree that I'm I can be pretty persistent. Um and I think that's part of um relationship building is like people that you want to stay in relationships with, you're persistent. You gotta make an effort. Yeah. And and and vice versa. So I don't know. I mean, it's I didn't really realize that's what it was until we did the strengths finder, which is you know that book. No. So it's it identifies like what your skills are within your um industry. And my boss is where all of us, the management group is standing in this big conference room, and and he goes, Not surprising, we only have two woos in our company. And I was like, everyone's like, woos, what and woos I'm currently. But it stands for winning others over. Okay. And and he said, Not even our marketing people are woos, and basically, y'all should be the two marketing people. And I was like, no, thank you. That's not I mean, that's not what I want. I don't want a market per se. Right, right. But it is, it's it's it's you know, forming and keeping relationships, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

And I think that was what was the name of the book?

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Uh Strengths Finder.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

It's a little bit of a tongue twister. But um, yeah, I mean it's kind of interesting to you know, you just you're answering a bunch of questions, you're not really sure what they're related to. But anyway, that sounds really boring. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 19:37

We'll talk about it on the next podcast. Perfect. Yeah. Um, did I just the question just went completely out of my head because we're doing so good. Um how did I get my hair like this? How did you get your hair like this? Have you so you mentioned kind of uh outside of like the the the times where you not say needed work, but you gotta you know you gotta work, you gotta you know maintain your career. You don't have to list any groups by name, but when you had those opportunities where you're like, ah no, like I'm gonna break up with you in terms of like a work relationship. Was that something that you also learned early? Or did that come with time?

SPEAKER_00 20:15

No, that definitely comes with time. I mean, it did for me anyways, but I didn't really realize it was okay to say no. I mean, I would just take on more and more and more, and I'd you know, people who know me today would probably argue when I say this, but like I I I worked my butt off. I mean, I the first really the first 20 years of my career, I felt like it was breakneck speed, and you know, I I would never turn down a project.

SPEAKER_05 20:44

Right. And now and now you're shaking your head no, even now you're like, now you can be selective. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

I don't even care about selective. I just I just ne like I I mean we we'll talk about it later, I'm certain, but um Bank Independent is such a cool project. I mean, it's a huge, it's a hundred thousand square feet. And those people didn't know us. We walked in, you know, to an interview. We insisted on it being in person, even though it might have been during that period where people weren't meeting face to face. Right. And um and I think you just what was the question?

SPEAKER_05 21:22

All right. Oh, like your ability, at what point in time did you break up with people?

SPEAKER_00 21:26

Oh, well, anyways, I don't know what I was gonna say, but they're such a cool client that like, oh, didn't I mean we knew nothing about them, but we left literally left that interview and we were like, oh my god, we're totally doing that project and they are awesome. And I think it's one of those where like there was no hesitation. Like we all knew. It was a good fit. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Yeah. Yeah. We've talked I mean, your your dad talked about that as far as interior designers finding the right firm. Mm-hmm. That, you know, when you start off as an interior designer, sometimes you'll get hired at a firm and you're like, This sucks. I hate this. But it turns out it's not that you hate interior design. It's just that that particular firm doesn't vibe with you. It's just not the right fit. Culture doesn't fit, whatever. Um, but yeah, I I remember there was a rep I was talking to, and it was kind of a similar thing where he was like, Oh, I don't I don't even call on them because X, Y, like they're too difficult, or they you know, whatever. And I was like, huh. You cannot call on people. Yeah. You just say no. I didn't know you could do that.

SPEAKER_05 22:25

You still call on everyone. I try to. Yeah. Well, because also you've never, we learned this, I guess, last last year. Yeah. Chad's never lost a project. No, never. Uh-uh. Oh, really? Ever. Yeah. Ever. Everything. Me neither. That ever gets specified. It's really amazing. It is pretty amazing. It's really what we should talk about on the show.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Yeah. Well, I only go after one project a year. Oh. That's smart. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Batten 1,000. When he knows he can win already.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 22:54

We timed our.

SPEAKER_05 22:56

We all, yeah, we all yeah, everybody's taking sips at the same time.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

That was funny. So um how do you how do you normally gather inspirations for a project? If you're meeting with the client and you have your initial meeting with them and you kind of do some fact-finding, then where do you go from there?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

I really think you should take that question off this list. Okay. Um, okay. I like this feedback. And I only say that because I am I the only one who like Yes.

SPEAKER_05 23:25

You're one of a kind.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

It's kind of interesting. Thank you. It's kind of interesting. I just never have like I'm not a Pinterest or a go get on Gensler's website or whoever's website and go find out what they're doing with the lit, you know. But a lot of people are.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

Like that a lot of the answers we've gotten are similar to that. So that's that's why this is No offense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

But that it's just not I don't know. I think um what I was never exposed to as a young person is probably more fascinating than what I have been exposed to. Because like so um Chris's grandfather, that's my husband, built this cottage up at Lake George.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

Chris's grandfather is your husband.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 24:14

Actually, I I I am also Yeah, oh yeah. Oh, yeah, we'll get to that too.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Uh so he built this cottage up at Silver Bay at Lake George in New York. And the first year that I went up there with Chris was the summer of 92, right after we graduated from 1992. Um and so the Silver Bay has what it's called a YMCA, but it's not like a YMCA here. It's more if you think of like dirty dancing, that kind of situation, it's like camps and stuff. And I had never seen Adirondack architecture. Like it was it was mind-blowing. Like um structure exposed on the exterior and the interior finishes, which you're seeing on the outside. I mean, it and just it was nuts. I mean, and even like throughout college, I didn't know what Adirondack architecture was. I mean, I didn't know it was a thing.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Right. I'm just familiar with the chair.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

And it's more than that. Okay. I'll show you pictures. Okay, great. Um, what was the question?

SPEAKER_05 25:21

So you're getting I was gonna say so you're getting but you're getting so you're getting your information, your inspiration from just basically real life experiences as they come to you.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

I mean, sort of, but I mean I love art and I like to think we have good art. And there's sometimes I'll be sitting there struggling on a project, and it's like, oh dang. That's what it needs to be. And it I mean, it can be that random, but I think the best thing that I've ever done is um this is gonna sound corny, but is playing the piano because it's sort of or pottery, it kind of makes everything kind of leaves your brain, and you're not like I cannot focus on what I'm actually supposed to be focusing on. Right. And your brain allows it still working on it, other things to enter that you hadn't thought about before.

SPEAKER_05 26:07

So you didn't write that down. You wrote down having a drink and walking barefoot in the grass. Uh well that's that was yeah, overcoming creative blocks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Yeah, I see. Wrong.

SPEAKER_05 26:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Her answer was uh you always start with the color and the mood. Yeah, okay. Which I don't usually read the questionnaires. I glance at them. Okay. You know? Well Which is why when you took mine from me, I was like, ah, whatever. I'm not sure. Whereas mine is it's it's color-coding and it's annotated. I mean, I did I did highlight red your answers.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Thanks. I put it in italics for you as well. Thanks. Um, but that it so there's so much. But the the the whole like mental block kind of thing, that I mean, like I do find just quitting sometimes. Just forget it. Don't even try anymore. I mean, just get it get away from it. Yeah, do something different. Go paint a room, go work in the garden. I mean, truly.

SPEAKER_05 27:01

Make some sourdough.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Make some sourdough.

SPEAKER_05 27:03

I didn't know you were a pianist, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Well, I'm not really good. But you can play, plink, plink, plink. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

But Chris is like, what is she doing? Why do we have a piano?

SPEAKER_00 27:19

He actually gave me the piano, gave me the piano for Christmas one year.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Had you taken lessons prior to this? Like, were you already? No. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Okay. So I took lessons for nine years after he gave me that piano.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

Cool. Good for you. Okay, but had you like hinted that you wanted a piano, or is this some random?

SPEAKER_00 27:39

So I had always wanted to like my neighbor, my girlfriend neighbor growing up, she had a like a little upright piano, and I was like, I want to play, and she would take lessons at home. I was like, I want to play piano, and my mom's like, We we have five kids, we're not getting a piano. I was like, okay. So I I guess I had always maybe it wasn't really a hint per se. It was more of like You've talked about it. I think I said something like this I might buy myself a little upright piano. And Chris was like, Oh, hell no.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

I'm gonna cut that off and just go ahead and get the hell no part. No, no, no, no, no. I meant like he's like cutting you off, like you're not getting that, you're not getting that. Yes. I'm gonna go ahead and get you this. Correct. Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

It's he that's what he does. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:22

So did he get you something nicer? Is that what you're implying? Oh hell no. Hell yes. Oh hell yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Oh, hell yes. He has he he does very well in the gifting department.

SPEAKER_05 28:34

Oh well, maybe he should listen to this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

No, he doesn't need to, he just needs to, he's not listening to this. I promise you. Neither my son nor my husband are listening to this. Okay, moving on.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Okay. Well, I want to know like other gifts he's given. Well, that's a good question. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Really? Okay. He is the best handbag giver.

SPEAKER_05 28:57

Okay. Wow. That's that's a skill. Would not have guessed that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Look at this bad boy.

SPEAKER_05 29:04

That is a good handbag. That is a cool handbag.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Yeah. He's he's really cool. For cameras.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

No, no. No, for people, for people that they can't see it, it's kind of like a like a grandmother's bag with a lot of brass.

SPEAKER_05 29:17

And you're still has anyone ever seen Mary Poppins? It appears to be made out of carpet. And you could put a small child in it.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

That's what's nice about not having cameras. We can make stuff with it. It's true. All right. It's it's uh black leather.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Um but it's cool because it folds completely down, like flat. Like all these little things.

SPEAKER_05 29:40

It looks like a like either a fortune cookie or one of those fortune teller things that you fold up.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

Well, we'll we can put a picture up of it up there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:49

Instead of your headshot, just send me a photo of this bag. That ass handbag. That'll that'll look great for me and Chad. Tracy Ingle, and here's a picture of a leather bag.

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Well, we can put our head popping out of it. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Photoshop me on that severed head popping out of the bag. That's great. So, okay, handbags. This is fascinating, I think. At least I I find it fascinating. Nobody else does. But what else does he like? Uh handbags are amazing. What is there other jewelry?

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yeah, he's good at he's listening. He's got game. I used to be the better gifter, and then he realized really in the world of gifting, you can't go wrong with handbags, jewelry, jackets. Right. Yeah. He's good at that.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

Right, but you can also go very wrong with those things.

unknown 30:41

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_05 30:42

You found a you found a winner. You guys are meant to be. I really think it's gonna work out after all these decades. I think I think this is a solid choice that you've made.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

He's a better person than I am. I promise you that. Wait, and I tell everybody that. That's not that's not that's a truth. He's he's awesome. Delete that.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

Aaron and I don't really give each other gifts. We say that every year. Like for Christmas, we're not gonna give each other gifts. And then she agrees to it, and then I always get her a little something. Well, but she doesn't get you anything? No. Okay. Yeah, and I'm fine with it. Like, yeah, don't get me wrong. Okay, so I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

So Jack has moved out of the house. He bought a house, he moved out, and we talked, like we said this Christmas, maybe we should not buy gifts and we should like go on a trip instead. And I was like, sounds great, because he's impossible to buy for. Right. Yeah, because he buys everything he needs.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

So I'm all good with it. I think we're gonna we're gonna lean into that next year.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

But do you think your husband will? Do you think he'll still get you gifts? I hope so. He's not listening. We'll tell him. We'll tell him. Just kidding. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Ours, we do Chesney and I will but we exchange gifts, and then obviously the kids get gifts. And then if we got other family around, so my parents are usually there, and my older brother and his uh wife is there, and so we draw a name for the other adults. So we've got one other adult we're shopping for than our spouses and then kids.

SPEAKER_05 32:09

Is there a better gift giver in the more family?

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Um I'm pretty good. Yeah, I figured you probably would be. And then my younger brother who's in Portugal, who probably won't listen to this, usually those are kind of oddball ones that everyone's kind of like, huh, you know, just because he's in Portugal. So I don't think he knows what people, you know, if there's not a list to go by, yeah, he will find something. And it's kind of a fun yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

So you're saying he is a good gifter. No. Oh no. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

No, now my wife would disagree. My wife, when she's gotten gifts from them, she's like, she goes, Oh, this is great. But the rest of us, sometimes it's like, oh, okay, all right, thanks. You know, I got a uh a book by They Might Be Giants, the band. Okay. Am I a fan of They Might Be Giants? I'm not not a fan of the game. Yeah, but yeah, but it was like a you know, big coffee table book. Oh, okay. Yeah, but it's just like you're like, oh. But he's in Portugal, so you don't have to put it on your table. Yeah, he's in Portugal. You don't have to put it on your table.

SPEAKER_05 33:11

Yeah, yeah. I just assume that you would say that Lou was a terrible gift giver. Lou does listen to the show. Yeah, he does listen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

I've always liked Lou. Yeah. Yeah. Lou's a good guy. Yeah. Terrible.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

Tracy's like, I don't know who Lou is. I I actually do know who Lou is. Lou actually has the They Might Be Giants book currently. Perfect. Because we we will re-gift to things in our family. So there's there's certain gifts that circulate. Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. That's funny. All right. Well, thanks for coming on.

SPEAKER_05 33:43

Okay, we got to I always let me look at my list. I always look to Chad. I'm like, we're gonna go back to the next question.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Let me see if I have anything on my list that I need to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 33:55

Well, I have a thing on my list that's just to ask you about.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 33:58

I'm with you. Yeah, move there's other things we can talk about. But it is funny because I went to the next page and it's like, you know, like how do you work with the budget constraints while still achieving stunning design? I actually have no idea was your um response. Um there was yeah. What tips do you have for listeners who want to improve their space on a limited budget?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Did I answer that?

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Simplicity is harder to achieve, so if you're really limited on a budget, maybe throw the kitchen sink at it.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Yeah. I mean, put a bunch of color on it. Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I'm down for that. Right. Sorry, I kind of forgot what I what I said. I probably thought about it a little bit harder. I'm I feel like I'm on the spot. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

So did you find things you wanted to talk about?

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Or yeah, but not yet.

SPEAKER_03 34:45

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 34:46

Yes, but not yet. I do have I have no idea where this is gonna go. Perfect. But uh our our mutual friend, uh, and and from what I can tell, one of your very dear friends, Lori Bailey.

SPEAKER_03 35:00

Was she at HKW as well?

SPEAKER_00 35:02

She so um You're thinking about how to word this?

SPEAKER_05 35:08

No, I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Because she's if she listens to this, she's gonna argue. But she was working for like the healthcare or you know, I don't remember. Anyways, and she said we weren't we weren't hiring, but I was like, well, sh I kind of think she seems like a nice person. I'll interview her anyways. And she came in and we interviewed, and I was like, Thanks, but we're really not looking. And I mean, she never followed back up.

SPEAKER_05 35:37

Oh, I gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

And and she never said, like, hey, I'm following back up. So I I mean she's gonna go.

SPEAKER_05 35:42

So you moved on, yeah. Persistency.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

She said I never called her back, and I was like, but that's not my job.

SPEAKER_05 35:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

It's your job. Yeah, anyway, so she went on and did bigger, greater things. So she's doing all right. She was better off for not working with me, anyways. That's uh, I mean, we wouldn't be friends to death.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

But she but there's still that part of your relationship, yeah. Where it's the simmering underneath.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

It's actually a huge joke. I mean, it really is. She's like, You never called me. And I was like, Well, you didn't follow up. It's your job. And that's for the young kids today to remember that. Right.

SPEAKER_05 36:15

Yeah, you should. It is on them to follow up.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

See, Lori?

SPEAKER_05 36:19

I may not get this exactly right, but I think I'm gonna be pretty close. But one of the things that Lori has joked with me about, especially when we first met, was that she interned at Gresham a million years ago. This is the same time frame that you're talking about. She's younger than me, Mark. So Yes. Yes. Well, you know, I mean, I'm not quite sure. That's not me. Um and so she interned it at Gresham while my obviously while my dad was there. I think he might have even been over the interns. I don't know. But she will joke that she was the only intern that didn't get hired after she didn't follow up after the songs. Probably that's probably the case. She's like, they're like, okay, bye. They never call me back. See you later. Yeah. And then she's like, I never heard from them again until I started selling carpet. Yeah. It worked out for her. She's obviously figured out how to follow up.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

I I I she seems a little skilled.

SPEAKER_05 37:14

I thought you were about to be like, maybe. Maybe. Um she texted uh me and Chad yesterday. And the first thing she said to us was be sure to ask Tracy who is in her hot tub tomorrow. Deep breath from Tracy here.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Well, I don't really think we should go there.

SPEAKER_05 37:37

Okay. You want to talk about politics instead?

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Well, it's kind of the same. Oh, okay. I mean, some of my hot tub people. Yeah. Yeah, like Pete Heggseth. Are you like who's that? Oh, I know who Pete Hegseth is, yeah. He's the Secretary of Defense. It's not Secretary of War of War discounting. Um but I'm it it's not like it would have been like you and Chad are not in my hot tub, no offense.

SPEAKER_05 38:02

It's it's not I'm actually maybe a little bit offended. I'm not at all offended.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Okay. Yeah. Chad's like, I didn't want to be in your hot tub.

SPEAKER_05 38:10

Okay, so I get it. This is like your hot tub list. Okay. I thought it was a literal hot tub. That's what I thought so too. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

Yeah. So it's like who and it doesn't have to be just like super hot people, but like clearly, because we're not in. Good save. But it it would be people that like are interesting. Keep talking. Okay, Pete Heggs.

SPEAKER_05 38:39

People who are interesting and they don't even have to be hot. Let's get back to how old you are.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Lori also told me not to snort. Did I say that already? Yes. I'm trying really hard.

SPEAKER_05 38:53

So Pete Heggseth, is that it? This would be a very dangerous recurring question on this show. So who would you want to be in a hot tub with?

SPEAKER_00 39:09

I mean, like Jill and Lori, they keep tabs of who's in their hot tub. Like I'm I'm sort of like, oh, I would put him in my hot tub or her.

SPEAKER_06 39:18

I mean, like not oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Wow. It's okay. I have painted myself into corner.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

What you're saying is that it Lori's more into who's in her hot tub. I think who's in her hot tub? Let's put her on the spot.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Pete Heggseth? I don't know. I really don't know. Why don't you text her and find out?

SPEAKER_03 39:37

Um I'll do that. Yeah, I'll work on that.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

But um Yeah, I I mean i I think it's just one of those things a lot we'll be talking about someone and we'll be like, oh, he he could be in my hot tub.

unknown 39:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:49

Kind of like that. What's great is she didn't really follow up any further in this thread with like, oh no, I'm kidding, don't ask that question.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

She she knows I don't care. Did my face turn red? No, you're good.

SPEAKER_05 40:01

Okay. Um, you know, Lori's been on the show before, but we haven't had Jill Hicks. So we could have Jill on and we could ask her.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

You really should have had Jill and me on together.

SPEAKER_05 40:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Really, y'all wouldn't have to actually talk.

SPEAKER_04 40:16

Right.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

We have we have it does. We've we've we've we've talked about having another episode where there's two guests. We have had one so far.

SPEAKER_03 40:26

Um and it went a bit off the rails.

SPEAKER_05 40:29

Yeah, and we knew and we knew it it was, we we knew it was gonna happen before. We didn't know at the speed that it would go off the rails, and it was in about the first 17 seconds.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Perfect. So Jill and I have the same sense of humor. So that is always interesting. But the cool thing about Jill, not only is Jill one of are we allowed are we talking about other people? Is that fun? Yeah, yeah. She's fiercely loyal. We're talking about Lori. Yeah, that's true. She is fiercely loyal and and one of my dearest friends for certain. We have I I love to tell people this because I think it's kind of cool. And I won't say every week because there's been exceptions, but Jill and I have had lunch every week since 2003.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

Oh wow, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

That is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 41:21

So she knows a lot about me. Yeah. I know less about her.

SPEAKER_05 41:25

Yeah. And do you talk too much at these lunches?

SPEAKER_00 41:27

No, I just I'm an open book. I mean, ask me a question except for the hot tub and I'll answer it.

SPEAKER_05 41:33

And you did, you did, you know.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

Um but it I mean, so it just goes back to that fiercely loyal, you know.

SPEAKER_04 41:40

Yeah, you got your people. Right. Yeah. You're good at relationships.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Apparently.

SPEAKER_04 41:44

Yeah. Have you and Jill ever worked together?

SPEAKER_00 41:47

No.

SPEAKER_04 41:48

No?

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Yes. Actually. Um, but she uh when I was super busy and I didn't um have other people in our Atlanta office available to help, um, she did help me on a couple of projects. Um and I think it was like she said we we'll just be friends instead.

SPEAKER_05 42:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

It goes back to the whole reason I don't have employees.

SPEAKER_05 42:11

I just that was actually I was gonna lead into this, and just real quick for the people who don't know, Jill Hicks is here in Birmingham and she is her own company, Jill Hicks Design. Correct. So we'll we'll have her we'll have her on the show sometime. But yeah, so that actually I did want to ask you about that. So you do you work solo in the interior design realm of what you do? Like how did like how do you because you you mentioned to me the other day, like you don't have any employees under you. You're just kind of like you're by design. Yeah, but you're just your own person going.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Um so I I mean I've worked with like um some folks in the Atlanta office worked with me on Bank Independent, and I've had people from like San Francisco and LA and Tampa really um significantly early in my career. All those offices have I've worked with at some point in time or another. Um but it's I I just again, I just kind of like let me do my own thing.

SPEAKER_05 43:06

It's obviously a formula that works. All right, I was just giving you an update. Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_03 43:10

It's it's not a good update because I said, Lori, who's in your hot tub, we want to know. She wrote, but ha ha ha, need to think about that. And I said, We're recording now, need an answer. She said, Is this alive? I said, Yep. And she went, and that's as far as we've gotten. Yeah, and now it's just her bubbles. Yeah, it's just her bubbles. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:27

One one question that we didn't ask that we should is tell us about uh ASD Sky and kind of what work you do, what work they generally do, like commercial healthcare, you know, banking.

SPEAKER_00 43:43

So we're we're actually ASD Sky Core.

SPEAKER_06 43:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Um and Core is our landscape group group. Not only do they do um landscape design, but they have an installation crew, which is super cool. We acquired them, I don't even know, maybe seven or eight years ago.

SPEAKER_05 43:59

That's how old. old your business card is is that they're not on your business card.

SPEAKER_00 44:04

Well that's our official name. Anyways, we're really just we don't actually are our we just do business as ASD Sky.

SPEAKER_06 44:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Anyways, Sky is our graphics group and ASD is architecture and interiors, but um we kind of do everything now. We even have like double we have a multifamily group in Nashville. And I think I mean except for we don't get deep into healthcare, which is fine with me. But um yeah I mean where's it headquartered? Atlanta.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

Atlanta okay I do have an answer. She came back with Matthew McConaughey. Okay I could he could go to Austin Chad Chad and Mark. Yeah that Dan suck up and Matthew will be intimidated by y'all. You know she is a really great guest.

SPEAKER_05 44:55

She's a good wasn't let's talk about her more she's just so you know Matthew McConaughey, Chad and Mark.

unknown 45:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 45:03

We've got it in digital inc. Whereas we have you recording to our faces being like you guys are not in the hot tub. So that's fine. Okay. Cool.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

I mean honesty is always the best policy.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

It is yeah we do we don't want to get our hopes up okay put us back on the yeah um what uh what advice would you give young designers coming up?

SPEAKER_00 45:29

I did answer that. You did and you answered it well I would like to look at it because I I was kind of I mean somewhat impressive a little bit. Because I I I actually have thought a lot about this because one of the mistakes I feel like I made in college was not taking business classes.

SPEAKER_03 45:48

Yeah I thought that was a good answer.

SPEAKER_00 45:50

Because our industry is not just about design I mean as we've touched on it's about relationships. It's about I mean what if you want to do your own thing? You got to start a company are you going to be an LLC? What do you you know and how do you go about navigating that and not if you don't anyways I think that's valuable. Business classes important um I think and we've already touched on this too I mean I worked my fanny off.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

See how I do you see those you did yeah you wanted to see you went through like four words I think I did too mine and then I ended up with Fanny Fanny.

SPEAKER_00 46:28

But I worked really hard and I and I think one of the things that I always did as a younger person was I made sure my boss left the door out the door before I did. Right.

SPEAKER_03 46:41

I didn't want to be I didn't want to be the one he comes searching for me at 505 and I've now left the building um and the thing that that I've learned as I've gotten a little bit older or um matured matured is um you go with older either way I'm I'm at older okay yeah fine um is that go ask your boss to go to lunch you know um I and I'm not trying to say that my husband's not busy but he's like a lot of people just assume that I'm super busy and and I'm not you know I don't have time for lunch or a drink or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 47:22

And I think you've heard the phrase you know it's it's lonely at the top well because people just assume you're right you know people are taking you out for lunch and breakfast and cocktails and dinners every single night and and that's not the case.

SPEAKER_03 47:34

I mean so I think And that's why he's such a good gift giver he's all that free time.

SPEAKER_05 47:39

It's on the internet all the time doesn't have anybody to go to lunch with um I actually I actually really like that and and just anecdotally and be long before I got into this industry I worked at Alice Beach in Florida in the infancy. It only been around for about two or three years once they started having actually houses and so it was very small staff. I mean EBSCO here in Birmingham which is like a Fortune 100 company as y'all know is huge. Alice Beach down there was very tiny and there was maybe like 35 or 40 people that worked for Alice Beach. And one of those people is Jason Comer and at the time Jason Comer was the town founder and Jason and I completely different walks of life completely different stages in in careers I mean I was just a vagabond at the time but but we knew but I knew I knew him and so one day I asked him to lunch and he says and he said yes but it was like we're gonna go to lunch next week and I mentioned that to my dad and this is the whole reason I tell you tell you the story is he said oh so you asked the town founder to Alice Beach to go to lunch and I said yes and he said well one good on you he said two what are you gonna say and I said I don't know I've just asked him for lunch he goes well just be prepared with something because he didn't say yes but because he didn't want to hear from you and so you know to piggyback off what you were saying I encourage the younger designers to ask managers ask owners principals VPs whatever to get to know them better because to your point Tracy they they will likely say yes um but just come prepared with something something to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Yeah well and they're they're likely going to be asking questions. Yes yeah kind of anticipate what those might be and think through them.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Well I do um so when I worked so Tom Williams is our CEO he hired me in 1992 nine yeah ninety two three whatever it is and so at one point I was like um he was he was the vice president at that point and he I said hey you know Michael and I are going to drinks get drinks after work today why don't you come and he's like okay well it just so happens that on the way over there apparently maybe I ran over a screw or something and I go out to my car to leave and I've got my bag phone you know sitting in the side seat and um forgot to 1992 correct and um and I went oh hell and so I go and get Tom and I was like do you know how to change a tire and he's like are you kidding me and I was that's why you're invited and so so he went out there and he changed my tire for it and I mean like literally still to this day it's hilarious. I mean I've got you know a leader in our company out there changing my tire and he still brings it up like every management meeting he's like remember back in 92 when I changed your tire in the parking lot.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

I mean but you know it's it's a joke now it's funny and it wouldn't happen if I hadn't said hey come on for drinks I I did I love the comment too just as far as getting to work early leaving late is that that gets noticed. Yeah that gets noticed. You know the work that you do obviously you know they're they're looking at but that could get lost with other people's work but your physical presence being seen being there early be seen being seen leaving late that gets noticed and if you want to move up that's a great tip.

SPEAKER_04 51:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 51:10

Yeah so well done that was a good answer way to go that was your good that was a good answer. That was it that was the one that was the one yeah that was the one so I'm also really good at self-deprecation so no need for y'all to you've done so no you say no need for us to pile on okay okay just leave that to you all right well we are uh 51 minutes in if we want to jump to rapid fire do you have do you have do you have that list or I have I have my my giant list over here.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

I did have one quote I was trying to see if I could find it. Oh a quote this is just because I knew that y'all were going to preface this with a language warning. Oh and I said someone said having a dirty minded friend is better than a fake friend.

SPEAKER_03 51:58

Someone said that someone said that really that's amazing. Might have been me I was at a dermatologist's office and they had a quote on the wall but it was from the guy the dermatologist and I was I just found that so weird to have a quote on the wall that was your own quote it's like okay that right it's like an inspirational kind of like kind of but it was from his yeah it's it was weird to quote yourself print it out and put it on a wall for everyone to see yep.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

I didn't really didn't make that up okay do you have a uh a favorite swear word every single one all of them all of them all of them okay that is actually a better answer than I thought it was going to be I I especially like the one that is multi I like one that you can use as an adjective a noun a verb you know add and the Swiss Army knife of press words. So the one that starts with F is really good.

SPEAKER_05 52:52

Okay. Yeah did you ever see back But I have tried to cut back.

SPEAKER_00 52:55

Like I've been I've been I've been changing even crap to crud.

SPEAKER_05 52:59

Like people who go into dry January or just no one month of no swearing. Why crap to crud?

SPEAKER_00 53:08

Is it just crud sounds less offensive than crap I guess so I guess it does.

SPEAKER_05 53:13

Yeah did you ever back in the late uh or maybe it was in the early 1990s or maybe in the late 1980s there was an ESPN movie uh on Bobby Knight and they do a whole like segment of why do you say this word and he goes into an expletive laden of like how it just it applies to every every use in the English vocabulary does in you know Christmas vacation yes yeah yep what is your uh biggest grammar pet peeve um I am the predicate please use I am the subject and me my son says me and Johnny are going to the store no you're not not today yeah this is yeah this one this one grinds my gears too because now people have gotten so they've overcorrected and I hear people say Tracy and I when they should be saying Tracy and me. Like it's like because you have those people that yeah they get it wrong just out of the gate.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

I had a great conversation with Chad and me or he had a great conversation with Chad and me come on. Yeah it's not hard me and the sub me and the predicate I and the subject there's very few exceptions.

SPEAKER_05 54:37

I also think that punctuation is underutilized well we have a friend that's exactly what I was thinking who shall name remain nameless but everyone who knows Chad and me and and some friends on the board knows who we're talking about and we love her dealer dearly we have recently learned because we are also elders that who use punctuation who use punctuation in text that it shows your age it it it shows not just it doesn't necessarily show our age shows our anger intent or yeah there's like I've heard just if you put if you into text in a period That's aggressive you might as well have been putting in all caps yeah no that's the same thing I say too and I don't know at what point this became a thing where it was like my niece said you can't use two exclamation points yeah that was another one people find that like oh my god he's mad at me I don't care yeah no no it's bizarre but I guess we're all just old and we don't get it I just don't care.

SPEAKER_03 55:41

Yeah I mean I don't I I've tried to like in in some particular text threads that that Chad and I are both in to like just be a little bit of a well and I have I have yeah and there was I pointed it out Friday we were having drinks and I was like yeah well I did notice as I was getting to the bottom of this text thread I was the only one using punctuation. Nobody else was I was like no I need to start leaving off punctuation because everyone else but clearly I'm the one we use commas dashes colons and semicolons in texts.

SPEAKER_00 56:07

Nobody cares.

SPEAKER_03 56:09

In a text a semicolon in a text that's a that's that's hardcore how long are your texts like title that's a good point subheaders chapters like wow and she was saying the same text the exact same that you used all yeah yeah yeah um oh look at me as usual just flipping through my pages uh describe yourself in three words no no no and no I'll take that as an answer because it was again we need cameras because the look on your face there was no you weren't being funny no you were like shaking her head no not doing no I'm not gonna do it okay Chad you're if that was a text it'd be no period I think yes and it would come across as it would actually be no dot dot dot okay all right um this is kind of connected to a question you asked all right so Nancy gave us the most unique answer to this question which was what is your go-to non-swear curse word like if you've got kids present want to curse but what what would come out Nancy's was dog bite the luck um well I don't think I should say it because well it's still it was something about going and that's always a good one yeah you don't know what I'm talking about look at Chad's so innocent no no no I do but like what's your non-curse word like what's I did we I don't have any you just use them okay what is scared non-curse word curse both ghost I love it I love it I will say so when the nieces the great nieces and nephews are right I think there's a lot of you tell them I I think I'd do a lot of like dang it shoot okay crud a lot of yeah crud yeah a lot of those I've gotten better y'all it's it's it's it's fine you know it's what was Nancy's then now I feel like mine was a dog bite the luck dog bite Nancy has it's not a real thing we googled it we googled it there were like the entirety of the internet there were like two hits yeah Nancy's pretty sage though she grew up in Mississippi is it because you grew up in Atlanta that you probably swear like a sailor mark yeah okay I mean I cuss a lot I you know I feel like the majority of this conversation has been around curse words well I will say that you know one thing we didn't say is when we when we sent you the email to invite you to be on the show yeah you were like yes but do you realize what your You know me right yeah yeah that's what it was you know me right and we're like yeah no we're definitely it'll be fine it'll be fine beep beep uh what is your number one design pet peeve was that a question that I answered no this is a rapid fire question mine they're never very rapid peeve slow rapid fire um yeah I don't I don't have I mean I don't even know what that means what is a design pet fire you know you you answer some questions very similarly to my dad by the way like I reject your question all right next what's your biggest vice I mean in what in the realm of what like anything yeah um yeah I mean I have a lot I mean I like wine this is the confessional part of it's dim the lights I I actually truly okay I have an answer for your I I am not a patient person and it gets pointed out frequently my lack of patience there's a there's a um a girl a woman y'all probably know her at IE and she said you know you texted me and you said you know oh I didn't realize we're meeting there and she said all of a sudden there's this car like flying by me on Red Mountain Expressway and we get there and she's like some idiot was flying past me going like 80 miles an hour and I was like what what color was the car?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:36

And she's like it was a black and I was like oh whoops okay that was a long answer. Yeah I lack patience. Okay that's what advice is right sure yeah yeah what's the single best piece of swag you've ever received from a vendor a vendor yeah um I still have a a print street and Bentley bag from when I was working at HKW and I don't use it but I like it. Yeah they were made to last yeah they were all cotton yeah made in the USA yeah yeah rotad what's the best trip you've ever been on um so we go to Lake George every summer so that's the best trip we always go on um the second best trip I've been on was to well not the second tied for second Switzerland and Germany we went to go see rides being made um for Alabama what is what was it called Alabama Adventure before Vision Land Oh yeah yeah um that was awesome you went to go see the rides being made is that you said we visited the factory yeah um they were being made project you worked on yeah oh okay yeah yeah we just took the family to Germany and Switzerland to go watch roller coasters being built that were then going to be shipped to Jacksonville Alabama right it was it was crazy and then Jill and I went to um Australia and New Zealand as part of back in the day when um there was a manufacturer maybe that BI represents they um used to do trips they used to do trips and you know they called it a design award yeah it was awesome but that was an incredible trip.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:23

Were you all gone like two weeks? I'd imagine you're 11 days I think it was good. It takes a long time to get there so I'm glad I did that when I was young. Yeah for sure yeah yeah yeah because I don't think I could do it today 15 hours on an airplane you get one more I got I I got one more I do have one more and I forgot what it was already did y'all want me to ask y'all any questions?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:46

Sure.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:46

Sure oh no that was mine that was the sw that was the vendor swag question wasn't it or what was your mine was trip and she just told us about a trip see I just stopped listening apparently do you that's that's my advice is I stop listening to guests who won't have me in their hot tub do you have questions for us not particularly if you're out of questions I was just gonna you know offer like aren't you hot?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:16

Like you're in a jacket I always wear a jacket.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:19

Okay yeah it's it's it's his brand um I I do have I keep asking this one I don't know why I come back to it are you a killer spider or catch and release person?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:29

Kill kill that coming truckers yeah yeah yeah I just no that's not I don't I don't I don't care for my husband will like take a moth and like I was like he's coming back in even before you close the door he's like what are you saying when you're killing the spider usually like oh you know gross.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:52

But my last one is what's your happy place?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:54

I mean we've I've already talked about it like a hundred times. It's their hot tub.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:58

It's not my it's her it's her mind hot tub with Pete exactly my my happy place and anybody who knows me knows this.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:06

I'm not saying you don't know me you do now. So why don't we do the show is Silver Bay Lake George. Okay I mean so we we um we now own Chris's grandfather's cottage with his sister and it's awesome we've been doing all kinds of projects on the cottage to make it sustainable for a long time I mean it it's it is one of the cleanest lakes in the United States of America is it is beautiful and it's all fed by either um snow melt or streams. So the water is like freaking crazy clear. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:46

How long does it take to get there?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:48

Driving or flying it takes about depending on who's driving and what time of day and what the traffic seems to be if you're driving 80. If if I'm driving between 80 and 90 it takes about 16 hours.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:58

Oh where is it?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:00

It's um on the border of Vermont it's about 40 miles south of Montreal I don't know why I thought it was in Georgia. No New York.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:08

Yeah okay yeah when when she said like glacier water I was like it's probably not in Georgia.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:13

Snowmelt snowmelt snow melt glacier they got snowmelt in mint so you never know right yeah it's like one little creek yeah okay cool nice awesome great we look forward to the invite since you didn't bring any gifts I didn't know I didn't know I was supposed to I'm not we're not in the hot tub we're not going on the the trip to the non affair it's the worst episode ever thanks for thanks for coming on really thanks for we won't be publishing this one will we yeah yeah thank you all awesome thanks Tracy appreciate you thanks

SPEAKER_01 1:06:09

Chad sent an email late last night. Said Tracy, what I feel's right. She wrote back quick, didn't miss a beat. Saw that message, wagon, we will be sweet. Mark just laughs and man oh man, you probably should have had a better plan. Now we're live with a brand new feel. Same good heart, just a different wheel. Mike's turned up in Birmingham, little mix-up, but here we stand. We can't play that a radio still. We'll ride our own and make it a real. Hey, roll that wrong wagon on. All in design from dust till dawn. Trace in the studio line. Laughing at chat, but it's all alright. It ain't that song, but it's got that feel. Clap your hands, let the backbeat squeal. Wrong wagon. Right wheel. From design boards to deadline calls, big ideas in conference halls. She said there's one name she'd pick for real. Pete Higgs it in the hot tub, that's a deal. But Mark and Chad, that's a hard no-go. Keep that water cold and let it snow. Stories roll and the laugh comes free. That's how this podcast oughta be. Hey, roll that wrong wagon on. Call in crew, just rolling strong. Every guest brings something real, then a record deal. Oh, raise your voice, let the laughter heal. It wasn't that hit, but here's the deal wrong wagon ride wheel. Wrong wagon ride wheel