The Grit and Grow Podcast
The Grit and Grow Podcast delivers in-depth, unfiltered interviews featuring emerging entrepreneurs and start-up founders. Join us as we dive into their vision for change, explore their sources of motivation, confront their fears and failures, and uncover the pivotal moments that propelled their ideas into reality.
The Grit and Grow Podcast
From Parade Candy Peddler to Pest Control Powerhouse: Cory Hodnett's Journey of Grit and Entrepreneurial Growth | #gritandgrowpodcast Ep36
Ever wondered how sheer tenacity can turn balloons into a booming business or how an adrenaline junkie leverages his thrill-seeking spirit into entrepreneurial success? That's the story of Cory Hodnett, the dynamic founder of Green Machine Pest Control, who joins us on Grit and Grow to share his riveting journey from parade candy sales to pest control mogul. His anecdotes, from selling cars for fun to sealing homes against scorpions, are as entertaining as they are enlightening, brimming with lessons on the value of grit, charm, and seizing the right opportunities.
Knocking on doors with a smile might not be everyone's idea of a dream job, but for Cory, it was a masterclass in sales and human psychology. Our conversation uncovers the hidden joys and tactics behind each door-to-door encounter, revealing how rejections turned into rewarding customer relationships and teaching opportunities for new recruits. And for those moments when entrepreneurship demands everything, including selling your spouse's car, Cory's stories exemplify the fierce commitment needed to keep the dream thriving, even when you're down to your last $20.
As the episode unfolds, we tackle more than just the entrepreneurial spirit; we dig into the nitty-gritty of keeping Phoenix homes scorpion-free with innovative pest control methods. But it's not all about bugs; we delve into the values that underpin a successful business and life. Cory illustrates how to instill a potent work ethic in children and prepare teens for their own successful ventures, ensuring the next generation is equipped to hustle with heart. So tune in for an episode packed with practical wisdom, infectious laughter, and the kind of stories that stick with you long after the credits roll.
Want to stop your pests dead in their tracks? Call Cory today!
CALL/TEXT: 480-470-5266
https://www.greenmachinepest.com/
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Speaker 2:Well, thank you everybody for joining us here once again. As always, we are your hosts. I'm Brian, I'm Jay and this is the Grit and Grow podcast brought to you by MyCityLender Home Loans and MyCityOffice Flexible Coworking Space, excited to bring that online. We've got a great show today. We've got Corey Hodnett. He is founder and CEO of Green Machine Pest Control and he's going to tell us today how to find a home in Phoenix that doesn't have scorpions. Jay, I love it. And man, does Corey have an entrepreneurial story to tell? He is from Candy Sales at Parades. I read that on your linkedin bio, um, at the beginning, when you were as a kid, and we want to dive into that like we can't hear about that. How did that you know? Um to starting a successful pest control business green machine pest control. Um, corey has a business degree from byu, hawaii.
Speaker 2:That sounds really cool it was fun did not know that they had a uh, a campus there in hawaii.
Speaker 3:That must have been a good time honestly, the hardest part about it is getting your butt into class.
Speaker 1:How do you get anything done?
Speaker 3:It's hard to get a degree over there. It's not academically hard, it's hard to just go to school when you can see the beach and you're like I want to be out there.
Speaker 2:Corey is an adrenaline junkie. I think he's jumped out of airplanes. He's done cliff diving. He told me he was telling me about that. Some waterfalls, that sounds amazing. Oh yeah, he's been in the trenches and he truly exemplifies grit, which is why it's super exciting to have him on the show today. Corey, welcome to the show, man.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the show. Yeah, appreciate it, guys. I'm excited.
Speaker 2:I knew we were going to have a good show when I was reading his LinkedIn bio and he said, quote I've sold everything I can possibly get my hand on. I love it.
Speaker 3:No joke, it's awesome, no joke. Yeah, most recently too, we've been going through cars, and every time we buy a new car, I immediately put it up for sale. My wife's like you got to stop selling my car, and I'm like I paid this much for it. If someone will pay me that much for it, then sure I'll go get another one.
Speaker 1:It's she just doesn't even get excited anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she's like you gotta stop selling my cars. Great, I love it. Yeah, it's fun. I have a good time well take us back to.
Speaker 2:You're a kid and you decide to sell candy at a parade. That that and jay can absolutely identify with this, because jay's got a great story about selling, yeah, candy and pop concessions.
Speaker 1:Oh, you did concessions, that was it. Yeah, yeah, I couldn't get a job at Wendy's, so it was hey, where were you doing concessions at? In my backyard, no way, but let's hear about yours. I want to hear about this.
Speaker 3:So I grew up in Modesto, california, which is like in the hood now it's like, yeah, it's super ghetto. But we used to have this 4th of July parade that just everyone comes out for, and my parents didn't really do the like sit and watch the parade thing, and I don't know if they just had ADD or what, but like they were just like hey, this is a money-making opportunity, our family's going to go out and pay some bills. So we had this wagon, we stuffed it full of like drinks in the in the cooler and then we had, you know, this thing full of candy and then they give us each a fanny pack and they're like stuff the money in the fanny pack and try not to eat and drink all the stuff, just sell it. So like Fourth of July parade was walking up and down selling stuff, like that's every year that is amazing yeah.
Speaker 3:Everything was an opportunity. Growing up, they were always looking for like what can you do? Where do you motivation and drive comes from? We're broke. Look at it, I don't know. I think some of it's like. You know, people like some people, have this like shell that they live inside and that's what keeps them comfortable. I don't think my parents had that. They're both entrepreneurs. My dad was in construction. He, as far as I remember, he always had his own business.
Speaker 3:My mom also had her own business and like they were just very outgoing people and so I was like that's what you do, you, you just go make money out of out of nowhere, you just find it figure it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, someone's got it.
Speaker 3:You just gotta go make it that's incredible.
Speaker 1:So are do your parents? Are they still both entrepreneurs or?
Speaker 3:yeah, um, well, they're kind of retired. I say kind of because, like, my dad still does stuff for people and they still give him money so he doesn't really call it work anymore. But yeah, um, but yeah, that they've always been all the way until until taking a break. Yep, um, yeah, but that was, uh, anytime I wanted something. They'd be like, well, how are you going to go pay for it? How are you going to get it? So that's kind of where the the candy I think I called it Corey's candy backpack Um, love it, awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was in first grade and I was like, I want to, I want to make some money. And my mom's like, well, what are the kids at school like? And I was like, well, I like candy. And she was like, all right, let's go to the store and we'll buy a big box. It's full of candy. And if you mark them up to a and be like, hey, you just want to buy some candy, yeah, that's totally it, what do you need? So I almost got expelled from school in first grade because people kept passing money.
Speaker 1:Now did you take it to the next level? Were you like doing Twinkies and HoHos and everything?
Speaker 3:No, it didn't get that far because the teacher kept catching me because she's like, look, you can sell candy, but only during recess. And I was like cool. But when someone passes you money and they say I want a Snickers or I want like a big hunk bar or whatever it was like, I'm like I can't turn on this money, I better send the kid, Like you know. So I'm like digging in my backpack, I'm like all right, what do I have in here? Like hey, give this to Johnny, don't let the teacher see.
Speaker 3:You know they were like first grade, oh, first grade, yeah, okay I was, yeah, I and I sold all sorts of stuff, those boondoggle lanyards and stuff. I think the other kid was selling them and I was like, how much is he selling those? For eight cents a yard. I'll do it for seven cents a yard. And then I I just brought like a backpack full of these lanyards and was like, yeah, yeah, so, yeah, I did that more than my homework.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was fun, it was fun, what, what has been your, your favorite? I don't even know if that's a good way to ask the question. Like you're, you've, you've got an incredible entrepreneurial trail behind you. Yeah, what, what, what are some standout moments for you that that kind of have shaped who you are today as a business owner?
Speaker 3:out moments for you that kind of have shaped who you are today as a business owner. Well, so one of them was I used to make balloon animals at Red Lobster. Okay, awesome, kind of a weird one, but I had a friend in high school and he was buying his lunch and he pulled out his wad of cash with a rubber band around it. In California that usually means you do drugs.
Speaker 2:So I was like, hey, I thought it was shoes hanging over the telephone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's where you stand, right by that. No, he was like you won't believe it if I tell you. And I was like then, then show me, I want to see what you're doing. And he was like all right. So he brought me to red lobster and he was like making balloon animals table to table and he was raking it in. And I was like I'm in.
Speaker 3:So we made our own little business. It was Airheads Anonymous and we used to. I used to get phone numbers on $5, $10, $20 bills from girls, because I'm still in high school, you know. So, like we, I could show up anytime I want. We got food from the kitchen, so we had dinner and we'd make cash. So it was no taxes. And the world famous biscuits, yeah, oh dude, oh man, I probably had thousands of those things. Um, and after two days they make really good baseballs. Okay, so, yeah, another business. Yeah, but I would.
Speaker 3:I had a. I had a whole thing mapped out. I'd be like all right, I'm on Friday, I'm going to take a girl on a date around. I'd tell her around nine, be like, I'll take you out at nine and then, from six till or five till eight, I'd go make balloon animals and make all the cash I would want to spend on the date. And so I just I was ready to go and I was just balling with this big load of cash, you know.
Speaker 3:So it was fun, but I think that shaped it because I realized like I can create opportunity that works in my time and my level of charisma and effort and cause. If you go in and you're like a weirdo and you got, you know, like you're awkward and you approach a table or you don't want to approach a table and then like you're not going to make money if you don't approach a table, and then if you do approach the table and you don't have like the charisma and the energy, you're not going to get the tips that you think you're going to get. And so like, hey, I want to, I want you to come to my table, so I go over there and he's like I don't even want a balloon, I just went out for you a job and I was like okay what is it?
Speaker 3:so? He wanted me to be, like this, service manager for, like, northern California for Kmart, northern California and Nevada for Kmart. I was gonna travel all through Northern Nevada and California going to every Kmart and like training their front end salespeople to be faster, cause I don't know if you've been to a Kmart but it takes like three years to go through checkout.
Speaker 2:I grew up next to a Kmart that doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately, but what do you think it was that he saw in you that prompted him to to decide that you could do that job, which seems big?
Speaker 3:It was especially for high school. I was still in high school and I'm traveling around Northern California, so I think it was just more that like I had a process to what I was doing and I got people to like me while they waited, and I think that's probably what it is, and so he was like I really want you to In a short period of time you developed a, a no like and a no one like.
Speaker 2:You're not a trust yet, but but at least a no and a like quickly.
Speaker 3:Yeah and I turned. I could turn something that was like you know, I'm being approached for a cold call sale while I'm eating in a restaurant, whereas I'm supposed to be with my family or whatever. So that's a hard sale and I could turn it into like just something super fun and I was having. I was having a good time. That's the thing I've always loved about the work that I do is I'm always having a good time. So if I'm not having a good time, I'm probably not in the right space.
Speaker 2:Are you, do you gauge which? Like, for example, going deciding to to start your own pest control business? Did you think you were going to have a good time? Is that part of your, your, your genesis for kind of getting there? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I mean you could see like the money has to be there and like that kind of stuff, so like you have to have some acumen built into that. But like I. So I had. I had knocked doors for four years selling pest control already, and then I left the industry and came back and knocked another three years and and so I had seven years of door knocking experience. And guess what, I had fun door knocking.
Speaker 3:That's not something you hear very often, but I was having a great time on people's porches chatting with them. I didn't know how to work it with, like you know, like moms that are at home, they got nothing better to do. You know, if I'm having a bad day, I put on some music in my pocket. I'm like popping locking, while you know, if I'm having a bad day, I put on some music in my pocket. I'm like popping lock-in, while I'm waiting for them to like answer the door and I'm sitting in their rocking chairs and they're answering the door and I'm like, hey, what are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm like, hey, I'm just here to sell you pest control. It's cool, like you know, I imagine you got a lot of snooty responses as well.
Speaker 2:So how did, how did you handle that? Like what like for yourself, for you this is still much like. For everyone that's watching or listening, this is still much no, but I mean like on the other side of of a happy person opening the door, is somebody saying get the hell, you know, get off my porch.
Speaker 3:So there was an evolution to it, like at first I took things way too seriously, okay, right, and like I would get pissed and I I have a problem with, so it's probably part of my personality issue.
Speaker 3:But like, so I I mean I had my boss pull me in once and was like dude, did you take an entire thing of flyers and throw it inside the back of this guy's truck? And I was like sure, did he was a jerk. And the guy was like you know, your name and phone number are stamped on every flyer, Right. And I was like, oh, he's not going to be very happy about the ones that I threw inside the truck then and he was like what? And so like it was hard for me, like not to take things seriously. But after I'd done it for a few years I was like I just had to think like that guy probably had a bad day, or that lady was probably in the middle of cooking something, something, and she didn't want to burn it and she just wanted me out of her hair and so it didn't bother me. After a while it wasn't personal.
Speaker 3:It was just whatever I'm fast, I'm closer to the yeses than fighting through this dude that obviously doesn't want to hear from me. So I stopped fighting with them. I was like cool, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Do you have any good stories about initially being told no at the front door but finding your way to a yes?
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, tons of them. So front door, but finding your way to a? Yes, oh yeah, tons of them. Um, so, being that I've done door knocking for over 10 years now, um gosh, there's a number. Just this year I had a lady answer the door and she's like oh gosh, no, I've got a pest control guy. And I was training a dude and he was like no problem, see you later. And started walking away and I was like, don't do that, like right. And so I just like, immediately when someone gives me an objection, I take a casual stance and I just lean against the wall and I was just like you're so smart, like you gotta have pest control out here. Who are you using? And she was like well, it's a, it's this guy, and I just call him when I need him. First sign that it was a lie.
Speaker 3:And I was like oh okay, this isn't for sure. Let's see where this goes, you know, and so like, next thing is like well, I haven't called him in two years, though, and I'm like, oh okay, so you're blowing smokes, so you're doing it yourself, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I was like so you're not really doing anything. She's like no, actually it's been a few years and I just haven't called anyone and I don't even know if the guy still does it, and and and. Next thing, you know, she's bringing us in and she's showing us, like these different vinegars, that one of them tastes like chocolate. She's like I put vinegar on my ice cream and I was like no, you don't.
Speaker 3:She's like you got to try these vinegars and one of them tastes like chocolate, one of them tastes like lemon or vanilla or something. She's having this like You're hanging out and yeah, we're hanging out in her living room. And Before I left she gave me a hug. Yeah, I got water and drink.
Speaker 1:You're in the family now Weird vinegars. Pest control, business Pest control.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she signed up for pest control, she even added on like some warranty stuff and she's like this is going to be great. I'm so excited you guys stopped by and I'm like see this is awesome.
Speaker 1:So after this whole process and the tasting of the vinegar and all that, you're in the family now. Yeah, uh, did you sit down with your guy and you're like so what, what was? Would you learn from this?
Speaker 3:oh yeah, I do that with everyone. Okay, yeah, I'm like all right. So what happened? Start to finish and then we go through it step by step. What did you observe? I'm like, hey, when did you? When did you want to walk away? That's usually the first problem. When did you want to walk away? And he was like, well, right, when she said she had someone. And I was like, yeah, 80% of people in Phoenix have someone.
Speaker 2:So are they're going to say that because they don't want to be talking to you?
Speaker 3:80% legitimately have someone and then other people are like I just don't want to talk to you. So I'm just going to tell you that, because you know it's easy out I gotta, I gotta talk to my husband, whatever. Like, you know, it's like it's just a smoke screen, so like, okay, so so you're going to walk away from all those. But that's the thing, being a true salesman. You are truly a salesman If, when you get to the point where you feel awkward for being there, you find a way to push to the next portion of it.
Speaker 3:You will not be a salesman If you walk away the moment you feel awkward. You're just an order taker, because you just get to the point where the customer felt like, okay, I'm done, and then you're like yeah, me too. That's not a salesman. Salesman knows like oh, we have a problem, I got to fix it, I can get past that. Here's the value. Yeah, like, let's just get past this little, this little weird feeling I got. Let's just keep going, cause you know, something good will come out of it and if I'm chill enough, you won't even notice.
Speaker 2:So it's kind of fun. So what you to transition from knocking on doors as a salesman to I'm going to own the whole thing and build this thing myself.
Speaker 3:So the hardest part about business I felt at the time, which I still do feel, is like where am I going to get my customers? And right now, in the world we're in today, where everyone's worried that the economy is going to shut down and all this crap, it's like, well, where are my customers going to come from.
Speaker 3:My business might not stay open, but the hardest part about it is bringing in the customers and I knew that all I had to do if I ever got stuck was go knock on some doors and I could bring in customers. So that's kind of what brought me to it. I was good at that part and I knew, after doing it for so many summers, I could sell four to 500 customers in a summer and that's enough for a business to run. And I was like all right, I always knew I wanted to be an owner and I didn't want to do the services. I wanted to own a business and that's you know. I got an international business degree because I always wanted to own the business. I'd worked in a few businesses so I saw like from the employee side and then I was like you know what? We're going to go, we're going to go, we're going to go full out.
Speaker 3:There was a tipping point where I had a guy that had me training his sales team and he wanted me to join him for a pest control company and and we just didn't. We had a conflict of like where we wanted the trajectory of the company to go, which was a super blessing. I was glad that he was like hey, by the way, let's let's talk about this part, cause I didn't even think about that. And he was like I don't want to get huge, I just want a route for me and all my sons. And I was like, nope, I want to get, I want to get bigger, I want to have like a whole company that I can be proud of and you know everlasting name, and I don't want to be doing the services. And so it was like all right, I'm just it's just time to start my own.
Speaker 3:But the timing of it was kind of degree and she was like I'd done a couple more summers of knocking and I was like you know what? I'm kind of tired. Do you want to be the breadwinner? I just came home one day and was like do you want to switch? I'd really like to just take care of the kids and like relax and play video games and watch wrestling. And you want to be the breadwinner. And she was like actually, that sounds really fun. You want to be the breadwinner. And she was like actually that sounds really fun. And so she's like I want I'm going to go back to school and be an esthetician and so I was like cool, awesome. So we had her going to school and I lasted like two months and she came home one day and I was like, hey, I started a pest control company and she's like you did what? I'm still in school, I'm not even the breadwinner yet. Like we didn't even get that far and I was like, yeah, I can't do it.
Speaker 1:So this is not for me, you're really good at this.
Speaker 3:I don't cook like I'm struggling to stay organized, to clean the house all the time, like nobody died today. So that's my level of success at this moment I can't, I can't. And she was like that's cool, I was thinking about it too. I want to kind of do my thing on the side. So it worked out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can identify with that completely. When I left executive recruiting which he's also been in recruiting as well he's so many different things when I initially left integrated management, I decided I wasn't going to work for myself at that point and I was going to find another job. And so I I decided, okay, I'm going to put in my my interview britches and I'm going to go find myself a uh, you know, a job that's got a salary and all this, and that I'm sitting here like chuckling.
Speaker 2:A week into it and I had started my own recruiting business and I'm like I got it. I got it. Thankfully, my wife was, was already working and still working, and so, um, that afforded me the luxury of taking a week to decide if I really do want to have a regular job or, or you know, own a business and went that way.
Speaker 3:It's funny when you see it and you're like, hey, I could do this, and you get that entrepreneurial spark like in the uh Michael Gerber's e-myth.
Speaker 2:Have you read that book? No, I have not read that one.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's a good book. It talks about like the entrepreneurial spark where, like a lot of people and this is probably related to one of the reasons why most businesses fail is because the entrepreneur gets like a quick spark and they're like I could do it, and then they don't get the. They don't have like a, they don't they it and then they don't get the they don't have like a they don't, they can't weather the storm and they don't push.
Speaker 3:And I'm not. I have no idea. You know how the recruiting thing turned out for you. But most people get that spark. They get a little bit into it and they go this is hard. And then the fear of success it's not the fear of failure, it's the fear of success comes in, and I always thought I don't have a fear of success. That's stupid. Why would you be afraid of being successful? But what happens is people start to see well, if I get these accounts or if I sell this many, I got to do all that work. I got to fulfill it. I got to wrap boxes, I got to hire people, train people, make manuals, Got to do payroll, Do whatever it takes. I got to pay taxes, All that stuff, and it overwhelms them and they're like I'm not doing that, nope, and then they bail and it's just too much and so like I've never been that way.
Speaker 1:That's one of the things that I really wanted to ask you about, too is like, what do you think are some of the like, the key ingredients that come into the entrepreneur spirit to get you through that? Yeah, like, you've got the spark, for sure, but like what? What gives you the that desire to grind it out and push through the really, really tough times?
Speaker 3:Well, I think for most people it's they don't. They don't actually look at the future very well, um, and if you look at the future a little better, you'll you'll have more of a drive to get to at least that point, right? So when I started my company, um, my pitch to my wife was like hey, I'm going to sell your car and I'm going to buy a pest control truck with it and you drive mine and I'm going to just drive the four-wheeler as my own. So I drive a four-wheeler for a year and a half, like all through town, hot summers, it feels like there's just a hairdryer on your face. But I was like I'm going to sell your car.
Speaker 3:This is how much money is in the bank and, by the way we're spending it. We'll run out of it June 30th. And here's how many accounts I know I can sell and here's when I'm going to hire someone so I can just keep concentrating on selling. And these are all the fees I'll have to pay and all the overhead and all that, and then by July 1st we'll have enough excess that it'll pay our bills. So we're going gonna crisscross and then we'll actually have money to like live after that and it'll be fine. And so I had the plan for the future and I was like I just got to get to that point and we got to end of June and we had 20 bucks in the bank and my wife's like this better work and I was like, don't worry, it will. I was like, please, god, let it work. But I had already done all the legwork I put in the accounts.
Speaker 3:I knew where it was, and the next month we paid our bills and we've been good ever since. But like, and how long ago was that? Oh, that was eight and a half years ago. I did this Tony Robbins thing that I was in for like a year and his biggest thing is like no matter what you're going to do in life, commit. First you commit and then you commit for the reasons that you want to accomplish it and then, based on that, you will make it happen. If you, if you think about it first you're like, ah, this could happen, that wouldn't, that'd be nice. If you'll never commit, you won't do it. That's why most people don't go on the trip of their dreams. They're too afraid to buy the plane tickets. Yep, Because once you buy the plane tickets, you're committed.
Speaker 1:So what do you think are some of those reasons that that someone would commit at this level and I say this level like any entrepreneur or why, stay committed when you, as you mentioned earlier, you got down to 20 bucks in your account?
Speaker 3:How do you stay committed when the walls are like closing in on you, like that. So for me it's like the lions versus sheep, right, like I'm not going to be a sheep and like do what I'm told, I'm going to go after it, because that's who I am. And so I think that there is a difference between people that are meant to be entrepreneurs and people that are meant to be employees, and so I really do feel that that's the case. Some people have the grit to go through it and make their business grow and push, and other people are just. They just want to be told what to do, because that's their comfort zone and they don't like leaving their comfort zone. That's okay, that's good for them.
Speaker 3:But for me, when I saw like all right, here's what I could be doing, here's where I could be, like I'm so hungry for that that my dedication really is like I want to provide a life that my wife has never even dreamed of, and I can't do that as an employee, and I can't well, at the employee, at the level that I was at, and I can't do that unless I push every day. And so when people I've had friends ask like you know, do you ever get like really just burned out or just tired of doing what you're doing or whatever. Yeah, that stuff comes. But, honestly, with every time I reach a point where I'm like, all right, I accomplished that. Or I reach a level where I'm like, gosh, this is the worst. There are days where I call my wife. I'm like, hey, I hate my job today.
Speaker 3:I just I just need to say it and get it on my system and then I'm back on it and then, like the next day I wake up and I'm hungry again and I'm like, all right, I'm on a mission, I'm going to accomplish some stuff, and so, like you have to be at that level where you you just say, no matter what, I'm after it and you just keep going. Yep, I watched an interview with Dr Dre, I think, and they were launching their label or something. They're getting interviewed about their label.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they were like how did you guys get your label off the ground? And he's like you know, the genius thing we did it was we didn't quit.
Speaker 2:I love it.
Speaker 3:That was the genius thing. We just kept going. Every time something got in our way, we just kept going and we just were like Brian.
Speaker 1:Brian you've you've said this a lot in the years that that we've known each other. Brian's always really good he's. He's bringing in lots of awesome words to describe what we do, and like stick-to-itiveness is one of the words that I always remember Brian saying like you know, we just gotta keep showing up Like and there's been a lot of you know times and days and weeks and even months, for example, last year, just alone last year Like how many days did we wake up and still, yet still excited to come in to do this entrepreneurial business?
Speaker 2:together. Well, I first off a shout out to my dad, who gave me that one. That was him. You know, it's just it's. It's this idea of the potential that's there, what it can become and, like what Corey was saying, being able to build a life that's so much bigger than maybe even you can imagine by being a business owner, being an entrepreneur and building it yourself, versus going to work for somebody else. You're never going to get there that way, no, no.
Speaker 2:You know the joy and the fulfillment that comes from seeing something grow. You know, after hitting the wall I don't know how many times you know like that didn't work, that didn't work, that didn't work and um you know, it's kind of like the evolution of our podcast here in our studio. Like there were so many points along the way. Jay, I know you'll agree with me that we were like, yeah, it's not working. We should just put this away.
Speaker 2:Oh, compliance, you know previous companies that we worked for before we started our own mortgage company um uh, you know, challenging compliance requirements and things like that that sort of stifled the creativity and it was just so easy to kind of get down on it. But you know, we just we just knew that there was something there and, um, if we didn't fully put it away it would turn into something, and it has, and we're really excited about what it is today. Yeah, get to meet people like you. Who, who, who has built an awesome company. So I mean, tell us let's, let's move to where Green Machine is today. Sure, so tell us about how. So we're eight years in, right, eight years in, eight years in how many?
Speaker 3:employees do you have? How many trucks do you have out there? So I got 16 employees. I'm running 11 trucks right now. Okay, um, we just uh. Yeah, we just hired a couple more people. So we're constantly growing. We grow between 30 and 50 percent a year. This year I'm on it, I'm gonna, I want to grow over 200 are you still doing any door knocking?
Speaker 3:uh, no, I haven't done it. I did it last year, um, because I had a dude that was door knocking and I was like doing training with him, gotcha, um. But to be honest, like every time I go out and door knock, like it just makes me smile, I kind of miss it that's gonna say you probably don't want to walk away from it it's I.
Speaker 3:You will never hear people say that. Usually they're like, oh gosh, it's door-to-door sales, but it's so fun for me, but you're so good at it. I like face-to-face stuff and I have I'm just having a good time, and so that's how I kind of run life is. I'm like, all right, I'm going to go have a good time, like what are we, what am I doing today? Well, I'm going to go climb in an attic or I'm going to go, you know, like do some door knocking or whatever.
Speaker 2:And you've added insulation too, so it's not just pest control.
Speaker 3:You've expanded your enterprise pest control insulation, which is dope. It kills off termites and scorpions and gets wrapped from the attic, didn't you?
Speaker 2:never imagine that would be a thing, but it is apparently yeah, well, let me tie that in.
Speaker 3:So you asked about the the hard stuff. So this insulation machine that I bought, which we had done insulation jobs for a couple of them or several of them, like a few years back, and we always rented machinery and always broke and it sucked and it clogged and it was like it took four times as long as we thought it would because we had to deal with those problems right. And so, uh, we were like let's, let's get back into that because we know that that's something that we could be doing for people that would help them. And so I bought a machine and I spent freaking 10 grand on this machine. They ship it to me and it arrives late. It arrived, it was supposed to come all at once. It came on one truck and the guy's like I don't know where the other pallet is, and I'm like you got to give me the other pallet, like it's got the hoses and all the other stuff.
Speaker 3:Like, bro, I can't use the machine. The other pallet doesn't come, doesn't come, and I'm like I got a this stuff in it but like doesn't tell us what to do with any of it. Oh, and it doesn't have a power cord and I'm like that shouldn't be a hard thing and so like I can't get a hold of them because it's after hours and I'm like I gotta get a power cord. And so I just went on amazon. I bought every different power cord I could find and I was like I'll return the rest of them, it's fine, and I, no joke.
Speaker 3:I spent like six hours trying to get the right power cord and getting told different stories about what power can go to this thing. I spent tons of time trying to figure out this one machine right and I even put Marco Polo my wife and I had my hand on my head and I was like, babe, I can't, I'm just freaking out right now about this stupid machine. I'm struggling so bad. And my branch manager was like, hey, why don't we just go rent a machine? And I was like no, that's back to the old way and I'm not doing that. I bought this machine. It's gonna work, it's gonna be amazing. I love it, and I was I. Finally, I called an electrician friend and I was like hey, you need to come over here and help me. And he was like bro, I got you, like. And so he showed up. 20 minutes later we snipped up this cord. That was a great cord, but it just didn't have the ends we needed. He spliced on new ends.
Speaker 1:Was it from like a 1970s shop vac or something, or no?
Speaker 3:no, it was a brand new one. It was an RV cord it needed a certain amount of watts to be able to sit through it Like a 30 amp. It was a 30 amp cord, yeah, but it could do 7,500 Watts instead of the 1,800 that you can get from a 10 gauge. Anyway, not knowledge.
Speaker 1:Now we know.
Speaker 3:So he helps me to splice this thing together and I'm like, bro, I hope this works. And so we show up to the job. We've still never used the machine, we still so. Like all these things kind of stack right, like the machines late, it came in different palettes, there's no instructions, no cord. I get to cast all these hurdles and even the night before my guys like we just rent a machine and go back to the old way, right, we can always walk away and go get a job. We can always quit. And I was like no, not quitting. And then the next day we get to the job site and I'm like all I'm going to do is plug this thing in and I hope it works. And, sure enough, plug the, the machine in, plugged it in where their dryer goes, kicked it on. We did a whole attic, 16 inches deep, in an hour and a half and I was like we're talking yeah, we did it.
Speaker 3:You know, let's sell a bunch more of these you know, it just became this whole different thing and I was, that was like the moment where you get past it. You're like, I made it, you know, and that's how the formula worked yeah, the formula. You just worked, you just keep going, you just keep going. Sometimes it sucks, I'm not stopping, we're just going to go you know.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of formula, I'm sure our listeners are wondering when we're going to answer the question or when Corey's going to answer the question. How do you find a house in Phoenix that doesn't have scorpions?
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:They don't exist. You make them, you make them, you make it, yeah, you make it. How?
Speaker 3:do you guys do it? How do you? What's your, what's your secret sauce? So, if you can, if you can tell us I can, I can totally tell you. Um, the scorpions in Arizona or it's, it's so hit or miss on if they are in a house or not in a house, whatever. Um, but I'll just tell you about my house and that's the total truth about how you really make it happen my house.
Speaker 3:I bought a house that had been vacant for six months, which is totally a bad sign in Phoenix, vacant for six months in a scorpion neighborhood. And I know those because I do it. And so my wife's, like you know where we're buying a house, right, and I'm like I own a killing company, like we kill things for living, right, I own a pest control company. So, like, we bought the house and before we even closed on it, I knew that if I seal off the cinder block wall that goes around the property, the the scorpions can't go out of the wall. Because if I give you a black light and say, go find me some scorpions, you'll go to the wall. That's the first place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, um, so I sealed up the wall and I was like, if I don't even get the house like somebody got a gift whatever, and so I sealed it up and then we moved in and we ripped all the carpets out and then we, you know, put new stuff in, moved in, not had one scorpion, and I walk out at night barefoot and take my trash out and my neighbors count scorpions in his yard and it doesn't bother me a bit because I know that if I seal up that wall and then I mix it with pest control, I've eliminated.
Speaker 3:So it's a I consider it to be a battle. So there's this battle that happens between the wall and the house, and so, like if I just wiped out all the troops at the wall, only a few of them are going to make it into the yard, where I've got landmines everywhere because I do pest control, and they got to make it across all the different barriers that I've put up that are, by the way, kid friendly, pet friendly, and then if they ever make it to the house, they're already on their way out. They're going to die. So we actually give a guarantee If you're on our Scorpion Plus service, if we seal up your wall and you get a scorpion inside in the first year, we give you your money back.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic, that's phenomenal, yeah.
Speaker 3:No scorpions.
Speaker 2:But you know what you're doing, and so there probably aren't scorpions.
Speaker 3:No, it's a great guarantee, nobody calls us on it. No, guarantee, nobody calls us on it. No, nobody calls us on it. That's been. My thing is like when I started my company, like everyone has to kind of have like a premise of like what they're going to do differently or whatever, and I just I had heard so many people say well, you can't really get rid of scorpions, you can just take away their food, which is like the crickets and whatnot.
Speaker 3:You just basically chase them off, yeah there's no food for them. They move on. That's such bs dude. There's good products out there, but here's the problem. We get people that start a company and they go well, here's my price.
Speaker 3:And then come summer time, the three things that kill a pest control product is heat, humidity and sunlight. It breaks down the products like a banana peel. Once you've peeled it, okay it. So it kills out the product and breaks it down. Well, they have products that are more like a gobstopper, that are micro-encapsulated, that just let out little bits of product at a time and the heat doesn't affect it, but they're much more expensive.
Speaker 3:So you have to be priced right to be able to afford the right products. You have to do some testing. Every year I treat like a whole bunch of mason jars, and year I treat like a whole bunch of Mason jars, and then I go collect off my neighbor's walls a bunch of scorpions, throw them in the jars and see how long it takes to kill them and which products work the best. And then we have our, our whole basis of service built around that. It's like you know they're, they're not going to have a problem, yeah, yeah, but you can kill scorpions and I don't want. I don't want kids to get stung. That's one of the biggest things. It's like people are afraid because you don't want to test your kids' decision-making skills with a scorpion something that can kill you.
Speaker 3:It's like testing your kids' decision-making skills by letting them in a room with a rattlesnake. Right, you just don't want that to be the time. So kids and then dogs. So many people in Arizona have a dog. Cats will investigate by like batting things around with their paws and stuff so they don't get stung, but dogs shove their nose in it and then right on the nose. So we make homes pet fruit. Uh, pet pet safe, kids safe and no stings yeah, awesome scorpion scorpion whisper yeah, yeah, I love it with confidence too.
Speaker 2:Love it With confidence too. Love it, just so, uh. Are you teaching your kids to be entrepreneurs? Are you how? How are you? How are you, are you raising your kids up to be entrepreneurs?
Speaker 3:A hundred percent?
Speaker 1:That's a great question Okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Um, my kids the same thing as my parents, right, Like they were like you want it, Like there's money out there, you can go get it. And so daughter asked like she was talking to us about there's like a trend on TikTok where you make that cloud thing in your room out of like LED lights and stuffing.
Speaker 3:And she was like I really want to do that. And I was like well, how much is it going to cost to do it? And so, like we added up all the costs together and she's like oh, it's like 180 bucks for all this stuff. And I was like cool, so when are you going to do it? And she was like well, I don't have that much money. And I was like so when are you going to do it? She's like well, I mean, there's my birthday. And I was like okay, that's February, six months, right. And she's like and she's like well, there's Christmas. And I was like okay, that's December, four months. Uh, you're going to wait four months for that.
Speaker 3:And she was like well, I guess we're almost saying it again. And I was like who has the money? And she's like well, I mean, you guys have money. Do you want to pay for it? Will you do it? And I was like nope, sure, won't that? There has to be something that you're willing to do in order to achieve it. And she was like well, what am I going to do? Can I go get a money? And she's like well, I don't know. And I was like, well, how about this. The money is out there and you haven't provided value to anyone to get it back. It's your money. So this is something I love. That Grant Cardone pitches is like when he was on Undercover Billionaire. That's awesome. He was like and he wasn't being full of himself. He's like the money. My money is out there, it's just not mine yet. It's just a matter of like looking at the timeline. The money is mine, but it's in other people's pockets and I haven't provided the value to receive it, to make it mine.
Speaker 1:So I was teaching her this. What a great mindset.
Speaker 3:That's so good, yeah, so where's my money? Who's got my money right? So I was teaching her this principle and she's like all right, so what if I do chores and I earn the money? And I was like, great, how much? How fast do you want to earn it? And she was like, well, I don't know, I could I do like three chores a day. And I was like, could you crank that up? And she's like, yeah, you want me to do like 10 chores a day. And I was like I don't. And I'd be like, great, that's worth 15 bucks. And she's like I mean 15 bucks today. And then the next day she did almost double and I was like she earned it in like three days and I was like that's the way to do it and I had a really clean house.
Speaker 1:So I was pretty happy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm encouraging them to, like you know, be responsible. See what you want. There is never out of reach.
Speaker 3:We just have to make a plan for it and go for it and just commit and so make your plan for it and then just go, and no matter how much effort, grit and grind you have to get after it, it'll be there. You just have to go and maybe you'll get a delay and maybe something you know have some expenses along the way or something. But like you stay committed, you'll achieve it, and so that's what I'm trying to get for them.
Speaker 2:There you'll achieve it, and so that's what I'm trying to get for them. There's a book in your future, and maybe the title can be how to find a house without scorpions, yeah, raising entrepreneurs, oh yeah yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, we do.
Speaker 3:We do like a youth group at church too oh cool and so that's kind of like a fun thing is like I'm one of the leaders in the youth group and we did something where we brought them all in and we were teaching them how to get a job. So this was kind of fun. We wanted to instill in them the ability to be hard workers. Because one thing that I found in the blue collar industry is like, especially after COVID and no offense to anybody watching but like we would get tons of people apply for a job and then nobody would answer the phone and then, out of the people that would answer, we'd schedule like seven or eight interviews because that's all we could get to answer the phone. All of them got an interview and maybe one or two showed up, and out of that one or two, it's like, well, out of the two dudes that showed, or one, one lady, one dude, whatever, uh, who's the best fit?
Speaker 3:It wasn't like I have a whole set of people that are just hungry for a job and really want to work hard, and it wasn't like that and it was like all right, well, I'll try you, and if you aren't a hard worker, we're just going to cut you and do it again. So I, what we started seeing was like there's a problem in the in in the world where, like, people are just kind of like they're quiet, quitting, or whatever where they don't give it their all.
Speaker 3:And so we said, well, we got to do something, cause if we do nothing, then we just get what we get and you can't expect any different cause you have no say. But if we start helping the world by training people to know what to expect, to push and work hard and you know we have to we have to be part of the answer. And so we brought these kids in. We said, okay, here's what's going to happen. Like we're going to do it. We're going to have you guys come in. We're going to have a panel of business owners. You get to shoot every question at them about how to get a job, how to rock the interview, what you're expected thing to like train them on how to really be an awesome employee, and if they ever wanted to level up to like owning their own, we'd, we'd do that too. And so, like they got this panel with all these business owners great experience it was fun.
Speaker 1:That was really cool. And what's the age range on the? They were 12 to 14 year olds.
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, and honestly, like the, the, probably the number one thing that came out of it was they were like well, how do I, how do I make more money? Cause everyone wants to know that.
Speaker 1:How do I make more?
Speaker 3:money and for them. You know, I was just telling them, kind of like, what my my dad taught me when I was younger was like nobody like the. The rate that you get paid when you, when you start, that's the rate that the business is willing to try you out for. And if all you do is what you're expected, then you're going to stay at that trial rate. Yeah, that's what we can afford to risk on you. And if you work your tail off and show that you're amazing, then you'll make what you're worth, right. So don't consider the rate that you get when you first get hired to be your rate that you're worth and so like.
Speaker 3:For example, my dad took me to this job site. We did construction for nine years. I was working with them and we were going to Safeway in the Bay Area and on the drive over he was like all right, I know, you're making minimum wage, which at the time was like five bucks an hour. And he was like you're making minimum wage, but when we get there, i'm'm gonna call you the gopher. You're gonna go for this, go for that. You're just everything that anyone asks you.
Speaker 3:You run and I was like dad, it's on a rooftop and like I'm in shorts and it's hot and he's like I don't care. You run and you pick up materials. You pick up bags of cement, you pick up two by fours, you run across the rooftop with them and you deliver them and then you do whatever they need, and and you, you make it fast. You have a great attitude. You smile, you say yes, sir, and you hustle and I was like you got it. And so I got on this rooftop and I got my first paycheck and instead of minimum wage, they were paying me 15 bucks an hour, which was three times the amount. And so that's what I was telling. These kids was like that's a great story. You get in and you hustle and you show what you're really worth and your employer will have no choice but to level you up because, holy crap.
Speaker 2:Cause now they can't do it without you, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Like dude, I want that around.
Speaker 1:Then you're a part of the team, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 3:And other people see you hustling and they're like well, that guy makes a lot more money it raises the.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it forces the. You know the. Yeah, it forces the. You know the. The tide to rise, you know yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great.
Speaker 2:Well, we need to leave it here. I know Corey's got to get to uh an activity with his kids.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, um, it's been a pleasure, corey, having you on the show, for sure, thank you guys. Hearing your story. Um, just a true entrepreneur. Yeah, you spending the time.
Speaker 3:Appreciate you guys having me and to our listeners.
Speaker 2:If, if, uh, if you are that 80% that already has a pest control company, uh, there's going to be links to Corey and his, his company, green machine down in the uh in the description. Um, these guys know what they're doing, they stand behind their product and that's. That's gotta be worth a listen at least. So, uh, give them a call, and, and, uh, and, and. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 3:I'd love it. Yeah, thank you very much. Thanks again, corey, appreciate you guys.
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