All-In Design
"All-In Design" is IIDA Alabama's podcast that invites you into the dynamic world of commercial interior design. Immerse yourself in the artistry, innovation, and inspiration that shape the spaces where we work, collaborate, and create. Discover the latest trends, cutting-edge technologies, and timeless design principles that define the ever-evolving landscape of commercial interiors.
All-In Design
Episode #53 - Interview with Adam Whitley
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Join us on this episode of All-In Design, as we speak with Adam Whitley of Interface. We had a great conversation with Adam learning about his background in the flooring industry, extensive schooling at Auburn, and what part of the Unicorn he makes up with his partner in the market. It was nice to turn the tables and ask "All-In Design wants to know..."
From the chair that I'm sitting in in the IIDA Alabama recording studio. This is All in Design. Hello and welcome to All in Design, IIDA Alabama's podcast. Thank you for listening. My name's Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo.
SPEAKER_06Hey everybody.
SPEAKER_04And um yeah, it looks like um if if what I'm seeing is correct, we have another guest.
SPEAKER_06The planning that goes into these shows is really immense. And uh Chad, Chad, uh it took a little bit to get that out because there's just copious amounts of notes that we've been going through. Right. Um, especially just normally, but especially ahead of this next guest. Um The research. The research highly researched. Um The interns were busy. The interns were busy, yeah. You know, we really need to expand the staff. Summer's coming up. Oh, it's true. So we should probably put out a call for more interns on top of the ones we already have, because we're a well-organized machine over here. Um that said, again, going into the planning, um, our next guest really needs no introduction because he So we're not going to. We're just gonna keep talking amongst ourselves. Um He is one half, some might say the lesser half of Team Unicorn.
SPEAKER_05The back half.
SPEAKER_06The back half. Oh, there we go. Yeah. The back half. You're the rump. Not the horn. The rump of Team Unicorn. So Interface Team Unicorn, uh, our good buddy uh and friend, account executive at Interface, Mr. Adam Whitley. So glad to have you on the show. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02It's good to be here. It's good to be here. I've I've you know I've watched so many episodes or listened to so many episodes, uh, what do you know, like 15 hours so? Yep. And uh I'm the second biggest fan, Mickey Davis being the first, obviously, out there. Uh and I always imagined, I've been in your space here uh so many times, like which little room I never imagined it was in this room. This one, yeah, put us in a closet. You're right. The couch is so comfortable. All this plushness.
SPEAKER_06We used IIDA money for the espresso machine. It's delicious. Yeah, we were joking earlier about how we were called professional. We had you know, kind of off recording, we're pre professional podcast hosts, and um, we're still not getting paid. So we're still amateur level. That's right. So anyway, we're super stoked to have you on the show. Thank you guys, I appreciate it. The the floor is yours if you want to introduce yourself uh officially to the folks that that don't know who you are.
SPEAKER_04And and kind of give a little bit of background as to how you how you found where you are now.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, absolutely. Um yeah, so Adam Whitley, I live in Montgomery, Alabama. When I was south of here, that's right. Uh when I was 16 years old, uh summer came about, and all my buddies were getting jobs uh in retail or at the mall or you know, movie theater, something like that. And in the back of my head, I was like, you know, minimum wage is like$4.50 an hour. I was like, I can make more money than that. So uh a buddy of mine's dad owned a carpet uh flooring dealership. And so I went to him, I was like, hey, can I work for you during the summer? And he was like, absolutely. So I jumped on board uh installing Broadloom carpet and VCT uh for miles in school systems for uh for the summer when after I was 16, making like 12 bucks an hour and in 1996, 16-year-old making twelve. Oh man, and get and working 60 plus hours a week, you know.
SPEAKER_06So you're getting time and a half?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, time and a half. Oh man, I was living.
SPEAKER_04But on the weekend you're rolling up in your car with the music player and your money's just falling.
SPEAKER_02It's just yeah, it's just like it's raining before raining was even cool, you know. But it was great. So uh 16, you know, summer after 10th grade, 11th grade came along. I was like, hey, can I do the same thing? He was like, sure. So did it again. Uh and then uh I obviously after senior year, did it again. And then uh, like every little good little boy or girl does in the state of Alabama, you choose Alabama or Auburn, you know, and so I chose Auburn. So I moved to Auburn and started taking classes for maybe a month. And a buddy of mine was like, hey, uh I'm moving into the a the fraternity house. Can you put carpet in my dorm room? You know how to do that, right? I was like, Yeah, sure. So uh so I went over there, measured it, went to Lowe's, bought some carpet, put it down. About halfway through installing, uh, his buddy came by and said, Hey, I want carpet in my room. He's like, How much are you charging? And so I told him, I was like, You get me in all the parties, like, you know, hands down, VIP, I'll put carpet in there. And his and told his buddy, I was like, uh, he's already got me in the party, so that's that barter's up. But uh I'll tell you what, go around and ask how many of your fraternity brothers want carpet in their dorm room, uh, and I'll run you a package deal. Well, about a week later, I walked out of there with about five thousand dollars of daddy's money. Oh my god. And so at that point I made my first sale, and I was like, you know what? There may be more to life than going to college. So I dropped out. So I dropped out and uh I just started working. I learned this. Did you did you stay on campus and continu like went to sororities and stayed there until uh you know uh my parents weren't gonna pay for me to live there anymore, and so uh moved back to the five thousand dollars a week. I was making five dollars a week, that's right. Uh so moved back, uh moved back to Montgomery and and was doing some installs, did some other odd and end jobs. Um and then Was it was so when you moved back to Montgomery, you didn't go back to work for the guy that you'd worked with before? I did some. I was kind of subcontract labor at that point. I realized that's the way I could go. I could, you know, could do anything and everything. And so uh I was gonna tie having a good time with it. And then in my early 20s, I moved to uh Big Sky, Montana to work uh at the ski resort. I was like, you know what, I need to get out of Alabama for a little bit. So moved to Big Sky, Montana. Um, and then what were you doing there? Uh working at the ski resort, doing hotel maintenance. Okay. It was great. I skied every day and rode bikes every day it was still installing carpet. Yeah, um, I think so. Do you want carpet in your hotel? That's right. Yeah. Uh and then I hit the age of 25, and that's when the mail brain develops, you know, and I woke up one day and I was like, ah, I can't be a ski bum forever. So I moved back to Montgomery, really didn't know what my next move was. Um, and in and and reconnected with who is now my wife, and kind of realized it's like I may be here a little bit longer than expected. I need a job. So I went back to the dealership where I first started installing carp at the age of 16. I was like, hey, I want to learn to do what you guys do. I want to estimate, I want to project manage. And they're like, all right, let us think about it. And the owner was like, Because you've already broken their hearts several times. He's like, are you done playing? And I was like, What do you mean? He's like, Are you done playing? You know, he's like, I can't invest in you, and then you move off. And it's like, I'm done. I'm done. I met a girl, you know, I'm done. And uh so he said, All right, we'll give you 90 days, kind of a trial period, 90 days. And that was in 2008. 90 days passed. Uh, and in 2017, I took over as president of the company, and I ran the company until I was about to say the safely until it went up. No. Uh ran the company until uh 2023, and uh that's when my good friend Lori Bailey approached me and was like, Hey, uh, I need to partner up. Um would you ever consider uh being my partner? And I was like, heck yeah, let's do this. So uh you live once, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_06What precipitated the change? Just something new? Did you need to do that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, I was diagnosed with cancer back in early 2017 and kind of battled that and just kind of changed my mindset. You know, like, hey, if if don't turn down an opportunity, you know? So um so yeah.
SPEAKER_04So uh Do you want to go into uh furniture sales?
SPEAKER_02Uh no, I've learned to the test.
SPEAKER_05That's the one non-YOLO for people. No. No, no, I'm good. Thanks. Uh Lori tried it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02For a year and a half, maybe. Yeah. But it was good. Um I love working with architects. I always learned working with architects and designers. And I think Mickey, when Mickey was on, he said it best, and I never really thought of it. But as a dealer, I wasn't specifiable, if you will, you know, if you will. And so I thought that was a beautiful way of Mickey, because Mickey and I share a lot of like just kind of I was in the business for so long and I love the way he runs a business, and we we share a lot. But he said, I'm not specifiable necessarily. And I was like, Wow, that's a really good way. I love working with architects and working with designers, I love working through problems, you know, crazy renovation and you know, flooring issues and all this stuff. And so but I was not specifiable necessarily. So when I had the opportunity to come over to Interface, I I jumped on it. Lori was my uh rep, obviously, as a dealer. Right. Uh when I first started in 2008, she was actually uh bently rep and then moved over to Interface. And so I've known Lori for a long time. And so uh it's just a great, great opportunity.
SPEAKER_06Right. Yeah. And now you're the rump now I'm the team unicorn.
SPEAKER_02I'm the background of a of a unicorn.
SPEAKER_06For the people who don't know what uh the the team in unicorn is, talk a little a little bit about that. Just you know, kind of what it what it is. I mean, you know, I will I'll give a little spoiler alert that you guys you do an excellent job at your your social media award winning, if I if I'm correct in saying that. Uh but yeah, you guys you guys have kind of branded yourself as as as Team Unicorn, but you've got a whole kind of shtick out there, but it seems to be working.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh so uh Lori apparently uh uh figure she uh she claimed she was very picky at who she was going to pick as a partner, and so the joke was um after we had lunch one day and she said, Hey, are you interested? And I was like, Hey yeah. So she called uh her boss at the time, Ellen, and was like, Hey, I found I found my unicorn, and just kind of like because she was picky. So anyway, so the running joke was uh during my interview process, we're like, Hey, we're we're interviewing the unicorn, whatever. Anyway, so uh fast forward to a sales meeting a couple years ago, we had a a another uh sales team up in Indianapolis, and they were like, You guys need to like embrace Team Unicorn. And we're like, well, you know, this out the other, and then uh like it's an inside joke. Yeah, it's kind of an inside joke. It wasn't really anything, you know, but they were like, no, you need to embrace it because they have a little they have a little team up there and they kind of embrace it and then the market took to it. So anyway, so so yeah, so we kind of embraced Team Unicorn. And uh then we started this Unicorns Wanna Know, which kind of started off as kind of a funny thing just to see, and then it just is it's been fun. It's a it's a creative outlet for how often do you guys do that? We post every other Friday. Okay, that's what we try to do. Right as you know, it's there's a lot of work that goes into outside of our normal running around, you know, sales jobs and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_04It's more important than anything else you do.
SPEAKER_02It's more important than you. That's right, yes.
SPEAKER_06Uh but yeah, it's how far in advance do you do you do you plan? And I asked that question just having you know a little bit of peek behind the curtains and and recognizing not just the guests that you have on answering the questions, but sometimes uh event locations.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_06Right. So I'll see that like you're you know, you'll ask a question and then but the person would have answered it you know several months ago. Yeah, you know, which makes sense, like because you're gonna get it, you get a good variety of kind of people and places in terms of answering answering these singular questions. Of you know, I think one was you know, what what lunchbox did you have when you went to school? So how when you come up with a question, like are you like, okay, we're gonna ask this question now for the next 90 days, right? And then cut it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I keep a tally, you know, of of you know, so I've got uh I know about how many it takes to make a two-minute reel, so I kind of keep a tally. And there's a lot of profiling in these questions, you know, like when we go into food. Like it's like, you know, it's like, I definitely know they had a cool lunchbox, like your lunchbox, but it's like yeah, I know I know Mark had a cool lunchbox for sure. What was your cool box?
SPEAKER_06It was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Right. I think that was what it was. And then in high school, though, it was uh it was a brown paper bag. Right. Yeah, yeah. So I made my I made my lunch for four years. Yeah, never went through the lunch line once at Vistavia.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So we did uh once upon a time, we did a it was when that TV show was popular, uh Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? And so we themed a presentation off of that and had questions, but I went to I think it's probably still there, lunchboxes.com, where you can go and buy a bunch of they've got all these metal old school lunchboxes, um and so you can buy them there. So I bought so I you know the box lunches would be in these metal lunchboxes as part of the theme.
SPEAKER_06I was gonna say you're gonna write that down. You're gonna write down lunchboxes.com.
SPEAKER_02We do it like I'll get this random text from the Lori like you know at midnight, and it'll be like you know, a question. We think of like questions at all times, and we're writing and doing sales and all this stuff, and all of a sudden we'll like squirrel and we'll think of something for unicorns want to know, and or we'll shoot a video somewhere, and we'll be passing by theater or whatever on looking. We're like, oh yeah, we got that one coming up, so we'll we'll jump out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. And get some stranger and to video us or something like that.
SPEAKER_06It's yeah, oh, so you get you don't you're not always just propping the phone up?
SPEAKER_02Uh most of the time we are, but we have been known to to to grab folks and be like, hey, can you just do this really quickly? Can you hold a phone? Can you hold this? Yeah.
SPEAKER_06You look like you're not gonna run away with this. That's right, yeah. Or turn the camera on yourself. That's right, yeah. Nice. Do you have a favorite project that you've worked on?
SPEAKER_02Are you as a is that a as a dealer or as uh as a as a rat?
SPEAKER_04No, just personally in your home life, like around the house.
SPEAKER_02Um pretty crafty guy. Yeah, I I put it in a wood-burning stove uh in the last couple years, and it was it was probably the most the hardest thing that I've ever done. Uh like like the running the pipe up and through a roof and all that. Yeah, that was uh that's the same.
SPEAKER_06Is this like a like an Edison stove, like to keep your house warm, like the room warm that you're in, or like you're cooking on it?
SPEAKER_02No, there's well uh yeah, like uh like to keep the room warm. Oh but like an old-fashioned time. Okay, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But now, okay, professionally. Now back to the purpose of this podcast.
SPEAKER_02Uh so yeah, so um obviously through the years uh doing some really cool as a dealer doing some uh some of the athletic stuff at Auburn University. I think I I physically laid the carpet in the locker room, you know, as a as a you know, teenager and then doing it a couple times. Um but then actually there was a project in my kind of my exodus of of uh being a dealer that Davis uh worked on. Uh and uh it was the an old waterworks building in Montgomery, and they had holes in the floor the size of a Volkswagen, and they had they had structural uh limitations, but they wanted to put a floor over it. So, anyways, uh they put their trust in me and we created this system and it was amazing. And it was one of the most um in depth projects of like figuring out like problem solving. And uh it was to this day is probably one of my favorite uh projects just to problem solve and come up with solutions and then and uh not necessarily failing, but like hitting roadblocks and then like trying to you know have them divert and stuff like that. So I like that. I enjoy that. Yeah. Uh so that's that's something I enjoy doing now is is is finding solutions for problems and and seeing the end result.
SPEAKER_04Are the two of you strictly Alabama? Is that the territory?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we cover Montgomery to Huntsville. Okay, uh basically the north half of Alabama, uh, and then east and west to the state line.
SPEAKER_04How do you divide that up, the two of you?
SPEAKER_02You know, we don't. We're we're team unicorn, we are one. Uh we don't really divide it up. But did it start that way? The front and the back end of the horse cannot move. Yeah, that's it. They just they just fall. You know, no, it didn't. Um Lori and I, you know, fortunately, we have known her for so long, and we were we were friends, and and um we just thought it'd be cool to go to market um just as one. And um we have the interface carpet LVT, and then we have Nora as well.
SPEAKER_04Did you start Nora? Because I'm trying to think like maybe because I was trying to remember when I first met you, it seemed like it was you were tied more to Nora.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I'm considered probably the Nora specialist on our team. Okay. Uh we sell all both of us sell all three products, um, but uh the Nora is is a more of a technical product, you know. Uh Nora goes into spaces of the code. So over Lori's head. Is that what you're saying? No, well, here's the cool thing. Here's the other cool thing. It's you know, Lori's incredible design background, and then I've got a little technical background with being a you know install and dealer and such. So uh I feel like we've got a good balance. Good balance, you know. So um, but yeah, I'm considering the North specialist on our team, but we go to market as one. Okay. And it's been really cool to see how the market has accepted us as one, you know, it's like they email us together and stuff like that. Right. Um, it's not this is yours, this is mine, because it just kind of gets messy, you know. It's like we're gonna go, we're gonna go with one. I spent a lot of time on the road because I'm on the southern uh tip of our territory. Sure. Kind of in the middle.
SPEAKER_04And she's like, go to Huntsville.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's now, now we need a rear end in Huntsville to go. Yeah, yeah. Uh so no, it's but it's good. Um I spend a lot of time in Birmingham, a lot of time in Huntsville. We we we try to spread ourselves all over the place. But um we do a lot of meetings together, but we also divide and conquer as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I was gonna say, like how how often are you guys presenting together or versus separate?
SPEAKER_02It's it it varies.
SPEAKER_04I would say why do you how do you choose?
SPEAKER_02Like what it just depends it's just the demands of the day. You know, really we um our text chain usually starts you know early in the morning and goes to late in the afternoon. Um it's and we can we have to shift and jive, you know, like this morning we were we were presenting together and then we divided and conquered and and went separate ways, and then uh we may end up back at the same place at at some point, you know, at an event or something like that. Uh but I'd say on average, probably you know, 80% of the of the time we're presenting together. Um and then we'll divide and conquer. You know, you may have a demand at in Tuscaloosa and a demand in Huntsville at the same time, so obviously we can't be in two places at one time. So that's the beauty of it. We can we do have the ability to do that.
SPEAKER_04So how do you when you guys present together, just curious, because I've I've always done it largely by myself, but occasionally there will be another rep if I'm doing something with somebody that's uh tied to what I'm doing. Um how do you guys divide the presentation up?
SPEAKER_02Wow, that's a really good question. I know it is.
SPEAKER_06I know the answer. He does all the heavy lifting.
SPEAKER_02I do. I'm here just to lift and go pick up lunch.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02If you ever know if we come present, okay. I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_06Lori comes in like five minutes before before. Okay, you know, yeah, strolling in, nothing in her hands.
SPEAKER_02That's it. Yeah, nothing. Just just walking in, you know, and he throws the petals as she walks into the room. That's right. The warm towelette. No, it's it's fun. Um, you know, uh we're very fortunate. Right out of the gate, we started presenting together, and it was just it was just very fluid. And you know, you you do it so many times, and it's just like you kind of know each other's strengths and weaknesses, you know, and you present and present, present. And we really don't even like we don't plan. We just kind of like we're talking about it.
SPEAKER_04It's it's more you both have the same knowledge, you know each other really well. It's a general overview, you know.
SPEAKER_02We go, hey, here we go, you know, this is what we're gonna do, and then uh you know we just bounce off of each other and and uh and do it.
SPEAKER_06When you started out when you when you you know committed, I would say, to to flooring, you know, you're leaving Auburn, you're gonna like, I'm gonna do this uh sabbatical aside, which kudos on the sabbatical. I think I ever did. Best thing I ever did for sure. I'd I'd shout that to the rooftops for people. Um now I I didn't my brain didn't fully develop till I was 35. So kudos, kudos on you. I'm I've always been a late bloomer though. When you were saying, like, yeah, 25 hit, I was like, oh, I did the same thing, but I was 35 when that happened to me. Um you just had to find the right girl, really kind of. I did, yeah, yeah. You know, we haven't talked about my wife in a while. So hey Aaron, it's now my responsibility. She will listen to this one, though. Okay. Yeah, she she thinks Adam's great. Um did you did you see yourself because you work, you you mentioned a couple of firms already, but so you work a lot with you know uh architecture uh and interior design firms. Did your design knowledge kind of did you did you have any sort of innate design skills or have your design skills grown as you've been in the industry?
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_06Because you know you're kind of working with some superstars out there, but you've got to be able to, you know, obviously you know your knowledge, you know your specification, but just in terms of like solutions is not just application. No. Right?
SPEAKER_02So you absolutely. Um I did. I I picked up little tidbits here and there. Um I tell you, it it's it's cool to see, like I can't, I'm not a designer by by trade. Like I'm just not. Um barely went to school. I barely went to school, I know, right?
SPEAKER_06That's how you know and your friends. That's right.
SPEAKER_02Barely college dropout Adam would likely got out of 12th grade, graduated number 43 out of 45. Proud of that. Um But no, but it's it's so it's so cool. And my wife is a my wife is an architect, and it's it's fun to see, and I've learned not to question her any design. Like, you know, but you're gonna say at all. No, no, no, no, no, no, like what it but like it's so cool to me to see uh designers and architects in the profession, like they'll say, Oh, I'm gonna do this, and you're like, ah, okay. But then just to see it all come together is just to me, it just it blows my mind. Um but yeah, I picked up little uh little bitty tips and you know, learn a little bit along the way. Yeah. Uh and uh yeah, definitely. I've I've definitely learned uh what colors to put together and what colors not together. Start somewhere. Yeah, and don't wear linen after we labored it.
SPEAKER_06I didn't know your wife was an architect. Yeah she didn't either.
SPEAKER_02Uh she has a much harder job now. She she raises uh she's at home uh with our kids. Yeah uh we have three kids uh a 12 year old a 10 year old and and a uh seven year old and so we uh are they all boys or is it two boys two boys and a girl Wilder uh and then Field and then Freya uh is my daughter the caboose uh so when we started having kids she uh worked for a commercial firm in Montgomery and uh started having kids and so she kind of stepped away uh super proud of her she got licensed while she was you know raising kids at home and uh very cool it's a it's a it's a tough job raising uh yes offspring of mine I can tell you that and and Chad's kids yeah yes yeah thank you for doing that thank you for raising my kids as well my my wife listens to the podcast and right now she's like son of a Adam is just gushing so it sounded like when you were um giving us your background like you had met her previously and then then you went out to Colorado and you came back and reconnected so absolutely yeah I I met her in the fifth grade uh yeah and uh we never dated uh went to church together and uh never dated and then we we she found she was uh she was home summer uh interning at a firm one summer when I was there one summer and ran into her at Subway and I said hey uh so I remember the foot long can we make it turkey uh I'll remember there was a it was an arch she was interning an architect with a a letter P and so I went back to uh to a found a yellow pages and looked at architect firms and found uh it was PH and J and Montgomery and I called them up I was like can I speak to Alicia and they're like hold on I was like all right first shot right the guy from Subway I was like I was like hey uh can I cook you dinner this whatever and so she came over and I cooked her dinner and we hung out and then uh just we just never talked again for a while. Uh yeah yada we didn't talk for a while moving to Montana I was just you know we're just hanging out as friends and then uh she went off and did uh she studied abroad over in in Rome uh and then we found ourselves she had actually interviewed for for jobs over in over in Europe uh after she graduated and and then she met me and she never called those people back and we settled in Montgomery. So there we go. Way to go buddy yeah similar my wife was planning on moving to uh the Pacific Northwest and then I screwed that up for her it's amazing when you meet a great guy huh what happens was she at all what did she think about you calling her office I'm just imagining some of the people that are listening were like some I met some dude in a restaurant and then you missed my office yeah it was it was ballsy yeah she was like no she was very impressed very impressed uh yellow pages I'll remember it was P I was just like because I I'd seen her in a while it's just kind of like oh man man I I wish I would have listened better.
SPEAKER_04You know what I'm saying wasn't there a Seinfeld episode where they knew that she worked in an office building and so they kept trying to catch her in an office building and they had to come up with reasons why they were in the office building.
SPEAKER_06Yes yeah yeah because they're like waiting in the lobby yeah yeah well well done good on you yeah proud of you um outside of interface you you know you've never really struck me as a guy who has hobbies so uh I don't know if we we might not have any time to to talk about your non-hobbies but what is what are some of your non-hobbies?
SPEAKER_02Well uh stay busy with my with my family with the kids you know uh they're all involved in in activities we do we do scouts uh we love to travel you know we've got a we've got a little a camper we like to like to pull around and uh like to like to do uh that we travel and we travel we went to Canada uh in a in a camper uh nice tremendous fun road trips with the kids are just like memories like I hope they are memories some good some bad but they're great great memories you know uh in my mind we're taking them all over the country and hopefully they're getting inspired and they're like you know when I do something I want to go here there whatever something like that so but uh when I'm out spending time with the kids or my wife I enjoy kayaking whitewater kayaking and mountain biking it's two of my favorite so you and our you and our buddies were connected on Instagram and and it seems like you put as much effort into the the the play hard with the family as you do with the work hard on the work hard play hard man being a little tongue in cheek with your non-hobbies because yeah there's always something of like there's there's fishing there's camping you're slacklining your you know yeah I love it uh we've got a little farm uh that we like to spend at you know up near Lake Martin we spend a lot of time up there uh man I'm I just I like to stay busy you know the kids Chad and our my mind's text uh or invite text keep getting lost in the ether to that so just we'll talk offline we'll talk offline about the the next time so tell me about Pinewood Derby what are your thoughts on Pinewood Derby Oh here we go yeah wow man yeah you can get you know so when into I didn't do scouts growing up I spent a lot of time outside just and there but I just didn't need I didn't need it I didn't I didn't want the organization he was in stock this is where it started he was in stock always in the pull my juice box pull my high stake I didn't like the organization like I just didn't want the ordin now that I have three kids I'm like no you need organization we need uh so first year Pi With Derby we did it you know and my kids didn't win didn't even come close we were slow and I was like my wife is like we got to get better at this you know it's just amazing the whole like process of like yeah it's become a whole industry to itself it is you can spend as much money on a little wooden block as you want to like you know whatever but the the dry titanium lithium whatever on the app yeah it's you can I mean there's all this science to it so it's incredible there's like there's a certain weight that it can not be over or under right yeah five something ounces and then there's the outlaw division there's all this stuff but we did we took uh we took uh we had one that took first first place I think this year so we were stepping our game up yeah yeah stepping our game up I I think it made I think I think it won everything that's uh hashtag humble brag that's yeah the humble brag yeah because I remember like my son he did scouts really for a couple years um and but it just where he was going to school and where all the kids from that that group were it was a different school so he was kind of the outsider so it was kind of like I don't know if I want to be here but we did we did the Pinewood Derby and trying to like we did it was his design I'm like you know whatever you want to do that you know it's up to you as far as the design of it.
SPEAKER_04It was the ugliest looking car um you've ever seen but we got the weight just right yeah got the weight just right and then we put the you know whatever on the axles so that it would you know spin really fast yeah and he came in third we got third so it's like yeah yeah not first but yeah was that Adam holding up the trophy yeah yeah yeah you thought you looked familiar pushing kids out of the way that's it yes this is for me I mean us kids this is for us there's some folks to get all into I I just you know and try but you know yeah well you know organized it's organized fun so you guys doing it for the kids it's good it's good yeah um where at what talking about going I'm gonna go back travel a little bit do you guys I know your your your territory's Alabama but do you travel much outside of the state at all for projects or anything like that or just with interface in general?
SPEAKER_02Yeah uh so based out of uh LeGrange headquartered in Atlanta uh we have mill in the Grange find ourselves up there uh every so often in and in Atlanta at our base camp we have a phenomenal facility in Atlanta it's so beautiful I love going up there uh outside of that just sales meetings uh we just got back from Phoenix uh a couple weeks ago which is good lots of conventions go on in Phoenix I didn't know that until I visited there and I was like oh yeah it is what what is a carpet convention like never mind it's that's it's that exciting fuzzy side up fuzzy side up fuzzy side up that's uh that's it that's how easy carpet is that's it that's it um do you find being in your role now as a rep how how is it different than than what you were doing prior prior when you were at the dealership yeah wow um it's a different stress uh I would say I work I work a lot harder like there's there's a lot more demands and sales um than as a dealer uh dealer has its challenges don't get don't get me wrong um dealer has its challenges but I work a lot harder um now I feel like um I enjoy it it's a different challenge um it's a new challenge I love what I do what are what are the different stresses curious so with a dealer I feel like the stress was always with a general contractor you know and I don't as a as a rep I don't necessarily have that that direct connection that direct line with a general contractor as much every so often uh we we will but uh at that point it was it was general contractors now it's you know dealing with the dealers but fortunately just kind of knowing what a dealer that I'm talking to or you know we're trying to work on an issue of whatever I've been in their shoes before you know and so I hopefully hopefully that transpires to them and they and does laurie go you take this one like if there's those things kind of and they're like what shade of pink do I put with this I'm like you take this one you know it's uh it's it's you know it's it is um or or something like that but yeah um it's a different it's a different whole different challenge but um but a lot of fun for anyone whether they're at a you know at a at a dealership right now flooring dealership right now or or you know if they're designers right now that are looking to make the jump into sales you know because that's not uncommon.
SPEAKER_06We've had we've had several on here I mean Lori included um do you have any advice for them in terms of kind of one a little bit how to start you know and that may that you know that's always very unique and personal just depending on the a person's situation and kind of where they are and who they know but also what they can expect from being a rep.
SPEAKER_02That's a really good question. You know being a dealer for for as long as I was I felt like I had a grasp of what a rep did. Moving into this role it is that and a lot more it it was you know I knew there would be things that you know but i anybody who wants to who thinks they want to get into sales I would encourage them to talk to other people who are in sales. I love what I do. I talk to I talk to a lot of people in sales thinking that one day I would may I would like to go into sales they probably didn't know I was you know picking their brains just to see um but yeah talk with other people in sales and if you want do it go for it you know that's the that's the way jump it jump off you know go for it um go full you gotta go full full speed ahead um both feed in and uh go for it.
SPEAKER_04What was the biggest surprise? Like if you if you already had kind of an idea what it was going to be and you're probably correct on a large large part of it. But what was something we're like oh that's something I hadn't anticipated.
SPEAKER_02You know I don't think there was any like huge just surprise like I don't I mean I think in general you know I think uh in general I don't think there's like just some huge like you know surprise I really I really don't think there was a just a you know easier harder what you thought it would be um it's it's a it's exactly what I thought it would be um it really is um it's I tell you what I tell you what I love to present I love I'm a people person I love to present the the after presenting just the natural high of of presenting in front of a crowd you know presenting a product that you're passionate about and you know you you know you feel even if if if you get sample orders if you don't get it just presenting and then you know one after another after another after another coming home switching gears from that like that I don't say cloud but just that your energy your adrenaline it's an adrenaline rope you're on yeah you're on you're on and I tell Alicia my wife I tell her all the time it's like I'm a rockette and I'm up there doing my rockette dance one time you tell her this all the time all the time it's like I'm a rockette and I'm like sitting up there she's like how's your day and I just do the little roquette kick you know because I mean it is it's not it's not routine as much as that but it's like I'm a roquette and you're on stage every day and it's just like boom boom boom boom and you got to hit those high kicks you got to hit it doesn't matter what's going on it doesn't matter what's going on at home it doesn't matter how you feel if you got a tummy ache or if you got whatever when you're in front of a customer you're on yeah you're on you know you you paid to come to a show you know at the Rockettes that Roquette every one of them's gonna do that same kick right you got to put everything aside and you got to be on for that hour or that 45 minutes or whatever it is. So I think just coming down off of those you know back to back to back to back weeks on end you know and it's just like there's a lot that that just that will uh I don't get socially exhausted a whole lot but but but I have found myself in this role sometimes going man I'm socially exhausted I'm tired I'm tired. I'm beat yeah I'm tired.
SPEAKER_04So yeah that's probably I I get that especially when we've got sales manager in town and so you've got you know appointment appointment appointment appointment appointment or neocon where you don't have any time off because you're either at the show taking people through showrooms and then you're meeting for drinks and then you're going out to dinner and then you redo the self same thing over and over again for several days. You know it gets I feel like I get hit by a car. I get done it's like don't call me Thursday or Friday after neokon because I'm not going to answer right I just can't do it. I can't physically do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah it's um it will mentally it will it's an it's an exhaust if you're doing it right.
SPEAKER_06Uh yeah I would say yeah if you're doing it right. Yeah because you show up yeah yeah you should you show up you know just just one first you show up you're there but then also to what you're talking about now you show up and you're on.
SPEAKER_02And you have days that you're off. I mean you have days that you're not as you know it's like because it you may you know what for whatever reason you know you have days that you come out of a of a of a performance if you will and then just like that was not my strongest performance but then you know it it then you get that like an hour later you get that email and you're like well shoot it resonated to me like that. So it's a just a it's such a strong feeling there.
SPEAKER_04Right and it's it's good I mean I think also you know your performance and what you can do whereas they may not know. Right. Right. So for them they may still be like oh he was great he was fantastic.
SPEAKER_06And we're on we're our own worst crit right yeah well and to and to piggyback off that you are also going to show up again right you know you're like you're not gonna be like oh like I didn't hit there. I'm never going back. It's like oh I'm gonna go back again like that's it.
SPEAKER_02Round two that's right.
SPEAKER_06Is there is there a part of a rep the part of the rep job that that you hate? And I'll answer this for myself. Yeah so I don't want to like tee you up podcasts doing podcasts he hates them. He hates doing podcasts especially last minute what I disliked the most when I was a rep was not the the the the coffee meetings and the ordering lunch and the stuff like that. It was getting the lunch order and it's like I want a Diet Coke I want a water I want a half and half tea I want a sweet tea I want a Mr. Pib mixed with Sprite I hated the drinks I hated I hated the drink orders. Yeah and it just got to the point where I would order food and then either before or after literally go through like a either a CVS and just buy a bunch of bottled waters or something like that or diet cokes or whatever or Publix and just like gallon of sweet gallon unsweet and I would call it real.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. There you go. Yeah you know fortunately enough like most people now are into like have their own water bottles you know most people but I do yeah same thing you know it's it's it's hard to get all those drinks especially Karen drinks stuff like that do the same thing that and lunches can even the lunch orders themselves can be really particular and you're concerned about it because like you have food allergies and such concerned about it.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_06Yeah yeah you'll die if you eat nuts not my problem for a while I would do I would do bottled water yeah but then have like the little flavored sweeteners that you could you know lemonade or iced tea or whatever smart yeah yeah package of aspect right yeah just a little bit so bottles of water and sweeten low is that yeah I'm gonna upscale this right with some food coloring yeah you can make it purple if you want perfect want a fanta?
SPEAKER_05Here you go the most ratchet fanta I've ever had so did he answer the question?
SPEAKER_02No not really I think you just agreed with the drink no no I uh my least my least favorite is expense reports. I hate I hate sitting down doing expense reports. That's my that's my least favorite you know part. I don't mind uh yeah it's uh yeah how do is it automated at all? Um it's like like take a picture of their seat and I mean it's a program computer program you go and it's I think it's just taking the slowing down taking the time and and sitting there and and doing it and and you know logging in you know who you do I think that is like everyone it goes against you know your personality which is I want to be in front of people I want to be proceeding right I don't want to be doing paperwork.
SPEAKER_04That's right it's like I don't remember figure it out.
SPEAKER_02That's Super Bowl tickets for it's uh were there four people at this team or 19 you know I spent a lot of time in the car yeah you spend uh doing right you know so you listen to this podcast what else do you listen to while you're in the car? A lot of fish and a lot of Grateful Dead I've listen I'm um that's I listen to a lot of uh fortunately with technology you can go back and listen to shows you know live recorded shows and so I stay up to date on on music uh and then I tell you I listen to comedy like uh like some days I just listen to comedy and that just kind of a I don't know it's humor right you know black explicit comedy it's funny you looked right at me well I mean that's a oh the reason why I say it's I mean that's the title on the like the the you know the button I push it's like it's right here I I I have maybe mentioned this on the podcast before but if not I know I've I know Chad and I have talked about it I was raised on as an as a young kid like seventh eighth grade on Richard Pryor.
SPEAKER_06Yeah that's a fantastic example yeah you know and and it's you know other kids you know like they're you know they may have gotten exposed to some different music than I did at an earlier age but I was exposed to some some some some really cutting yeah and at the time cutting edge comedy at a very young age.
SPEAKER_02You know and I I think I relate comedians like stand-up comedians to I mean performers which what's what we are a lot of times as performers and we're up there on stage and it's just funny. It's cool to see people who have that quick wit and such like that and and can bring humor.
SPEAKER_04I've got a question. So uh when you're presenting and sometimes that you know that that thought hits you it's a funny joke and you throw it out just based on what you know what you're presenting you know on the screen or whatever. And you throw the joke out and people laugh and so then next time you're doing a presentation you're like oh I'm gonna say that joke I used and it may still land but it doesn't land the same way it did the first time. Yeah and then you find it's like this diminished return as you can like clearly my enthusiasm for the joke and my delivery that first time really good.
SPEAKER_06Or the second time the segue wasn't there at all.
SPEAKER_02So now people are just like huh but it's funny in presenting like you know you have those little jokes. I mean because you do the same like you got a product launch and you do that same presentation so many times. So you know like you can read your audience you're like three steps ahead you're talking but you really don't know what you're talking about. You're thinking ahead of like I know this slide is about to come up am I going to drop that joke am I am I I think I am yep here we go boom did it hit oh yeah it hit there we go so and then you back off sometimes but it's like that's that's like the things you learn on the road you know and it just takes practice. It just takes practice that's it yeah that's it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah it is it is funny how yeah where you're you're giving the presentation and you've said it so many times that you've stopped paying attention to the words coming out of your mouth because you're already thinking about the next thing that you're talking about. Right. It's hysterical it is it is it is quite funny it's like driving a car and you get to the the destination you're like I don't remember any of that trip.
SPEAKER_06Right that's right exactly which is most of my travels to Birmingham especially while you're listening to fish and are you going to widespread?
SPEAKER_02Uh in Birmingham I I got we've got a scouting event we're going canoeing that weekend yeah so we're not not not going. I've never been I've never seen widespread I'm no you should you should I've been invited you should go I have been once but it's probab is probably not four or five years since they when they got started like Oh long time ago maybe a college a college fraternity party or something probably yeah absolutely yeah um okay well then I won't look for you the Coca Cola amphitheater is beautiful I haven't been there. I'm super yeah I haven't been there yet either we do got tickets for Mumford and Sons so we'll be here for that That's great. Yeah, it's a it's a great venue out there. Super excited to see what that whole end of Birmingham does. It's like a caraway hospital. I went up there for fish for two nights, and it was like they still had like there's a lot of debris and demo, and people are like, oh, we're parking. I was like, God, just imagine in five years what this is going to be like. I mean, you know, it's like all those little houses. Anyways, it's crazy. It's cool. Super pumped about seeing what that happens up there. Yeah. Same point.
SPEAKER_04Awesome. Um, I know you guys have both have appointments coming up here in a few minutes. Is that correct? We do. T minus eight minutes.
SPEAKER_06T minus eight minutes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So do we want to switch to where's your appointment here? Yeah. As long as I three o'clock.
SPEAKER_06We'll just this is mobile. We just walk into the car.
SPEAKER_02No, we're good. I'm just kidding. No, we're good.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Um, I guess we'll do rapid fire questions. Normally I have a list that I've prepared, but since uh this particular episode uh happened a little bit spur of the moment, I don't have a list, and neither does Mark.
SPEAKER_06No, I don't have my You don't have your handcrafted list, and I don't have my copy.
SPEAKER_04So um what's what's the next uh trip that you're planning on taking?
SPEAKER_02Oh we're leave we're going to Universal uh spring break, so uh week after next.
SPEAKER_04We will be there as well.
SPEAKER_02Week after next! Yeah. What what days? Yes, on location. We're leaving on uh next on Sunday, okay and we'll be there pretty much the whole week. Uh we're gonna be. But but we're doing three days in the park. So uh maybe Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or something like that.
SPEAKER_04Uh we will be at Universal Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and then a uh a break day, and then two days at Disney.
SPEAKER_02Man, that's so we can maybe see. Yeah, yeah, we'll cross paths. We'll go get a wand. Like y'all and Harry. Yeah, we'll curse each other, yes. Hexes.
SPEAKER_06Please do hexes, that's like please record this. Yes. I just want to see you guys in Harry Potter World swinging wands at each other. Yeah, that's gonna be great. Yeah. Unicorns wanna know.
SPEAKER_02Unicorns want to know.
SPEAKER_06Do you have a favorite place that you've ever visited?
SPEAKER_02You know, uh when we went to Canada, we were camping on um Lake Ontario. Just beautiful up there. Uh that was that was phenomenal. Uh swam in like Michigan last I mean, I could rattle them off. Swam in Lake Michigan last summer with the snow. It was fun. Yeah, I like water. I'm a big I love I love water. Uh but that Canada trip was that. Doesn't know how to swim, but it just swim.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Dropped out.
SPEAKER_06I think we've talked about this before. You dropped out dropped out of swim lessons. The YMCA, you're a tadpole, you're like, I'm done with this. Yeah, done with this. What could possibly go wrong? I think we've talked about this. The older I've gotten, the more I'm like, I'm not going to miss this opportunity to in this body of water. No, yeah, no. No matter how cold it is. No matter how cold it is. Like, I'm just gonna make it happen.
SPEAKER_02We hiked at Dunes National Park, which is the newest national park up there, and it's literally like you see like people like stranded in the desert and they're like gasping for water. You know, we hike through these dunes and you end up on Lake Michigan on this beach. And it doesn't matter. Like you're so hot and your skin is just dry, and then jumping into Lake Michigan that realistically is probably in the low sixties temperature-wise, and it was just like the most refreshing thing on earth. It was fantastic, so it's a very memorable moment.
SPEAKER_04Is there anything that you're sneaking good at that most people don't know?
SPEAKER_02Um I can make a uh I can make some mean biscuits. Okay. Like you like you like you popped the two. Like Lady and said, No, I can I'm proud of it. I can make a good biscuit, a good homemade biscuit from scratch. Okay.
SPEAKER_06That's awesome. Nice. Um this is a rapid fire question, but how we don't have time for a long time. I know we don't. Chad's looking at me like there's there's literally a clock. Um how many washes? Or how many times do you take a shower before you wash the towel?
SPEAKER_02That would be two more. That would be two. That would be two.
SPEAKER_05Like a Titsy Roll question.
SPEAKER_01Let's see.
SPEAKER_05One, right? Three.
SPEAKER_01Three.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we were this is a little joke that we were talking about earlier. Uh and so we may have some more questions coming up in future episodes based on a conversation earlier with Mickey. Yeah. Yeah. And that was one of them.
SPEAKER_04And it was a marriage questionnaire to see the compatibility that he had created.
SPEAKER_02And that sneak peek question was like, wow. I would love to see the rest of that question.
SPEAKER_04And how many how many dates do you go on before you just you know this is going pretty well?
SPEAKER_05And so I just want to see. I don't want to presume anything. But if we live together, married.
SPEAKER_06How many times do you shower before you put the freshen up the towel? Right. Yeah. That's amazing. Two for you.
SPEAKER_04Um let me see. Um favorite restaurant.
SPEAKER_02Um in the neighborhood. Good good option.
SPEAKER_06Um, given the if you had ninety seconds hypothetically, to say whatever you want, how would you feel that ninety seconds? With dead air. Wow.
SPEAKER_02And then the um, just uh be the person, uh, you know, be be the person, what is it? Be the person to to that makes people believe that they're still good people on earth. Uh don't turn down any opportunity. You live life once. Go out at full speed ahead. Now just repeat that over and over. Love one another. Love one another. Love one another. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06That was good.
SPEAKER_04That was beautiful. Thank you.
SPEAKER_06Are we gonna put that in in his in his song?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we'll put that in the song. What genre of song do you want for the uh end of the podcast? Oh, let's go rap. Rap, rap, yeah, rap. And uh what what chorus line do you want? Be good to everyone?
SPEAKER_02Or be good to everyone. You like you like deep thought because I've heard like all these, and it's like, oh man, I would do I would now I'm here and I'm like, oh let's use the word unicorn and sustainability. Yep. Unicorn sustainability and uh living wall.
SPEAKER_06I love it. Chad's Chad's writing it down to it. I got it, got it. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Hey, thanks guys, I appreciate it. Thanks, Adam.
SPEAKER_00A lot of fun Adam in the chair, got the mics in the room, in the face floor, make the whole space blow. Steppers on the table, add him in the flow. Which way should it go? When the dime steps are in the gold state, I'm on the traffic, keep flowing until we get this honest looking for the glow in the westerns in the hallway say Unicorns won't unicorns. I'm in the market, everybody knows. Let's be on the move with the stable days, all the rest in the game. We can't win love to the car next time, oh, steam unicorn. In the face floor in the spotlight, me in the comrades go in the whole side of the world saying you need to win.