Renovating Our Studio And Trying To Stay Married: Behind The Scenes & Bloopers | Building Grit E2

I'm Stefanie Couch, and this is Building Grit, the behind-the-scenes story of how we're building Grit Blueprint into a category of one business in the building industry. 

Follow us through the most hands-on chapters yet of building our studio from the ground up at Grit Studios in Clayton, Georgia.

We start at the front door, literally. Michael Tull of Tull Sales walks me through how to install a front door, and we pull out the old, tired half-lite steel door to make room for a brand-new Plastpro Nova-90. It was generously donated by Plastpro and built by Harris Door and Millwork, and it changes the entire feel of the space.

Ben and I tackle our first Trusscore slat wall install, a smart storage solution that we will use for tripods and camera gear, while Heidi Pearl keeps morale high. Then I walk you through the finished vision: my working office with built-in film sets, the strategy war room, the Grit lounge, the podcast stage with acoustic walls and blue velvet curtains, a dedicated photography corner, and the Grit glam room.

This is the human side of building a business that refuses to blend in.

What you'll take away today:

Entrepreneurship isn't glamorous, and this episode doesn't pretend otherwise. You'll watch me admit that building this business has been four years of making the best out of the hard days, and we'll show you the honest, unfiltered version of it.

Behind the scenes of Grit Studios means dust, half-finished walls, and a door that fought us the whole way. You'll see an actual install with Michael Tull, including the steel hiding behind the aluminum that nobody plans for, not just a polished after photo.

Unscripted moments are the point here. The human side of a build shows up in the small stuff: working together, laughing at our mistakes, and figuring it all out on camera.

Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth.

You do great work. The right people should know it.

Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue.

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🚀 About Stefanie Couch

Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional.

Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market.

🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com
Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
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Transcript

[00:00]  Grit Studios Update: Building a Podcast Studio From Scratch

Stefanie Couch  00:00

Grit Studios update. We've been working. We've done a lot, and we've got a lot yet to do, so I wanted to give you a quick update. New front door from Plastpro. This is a three-quarter lite with rain glass. We're going to paint this pink. Today we're at Grit Studios, and I'm here with Michael Tull from Tull Sales.

[00:16]  Installing a New Plastpro Front Door

Stefanie Couch  00:16

He is actually going to help me install our brand-new front door. So we're taking out the old, ugly half-lite steel door, and we're about to put in a brand-new Plastpro double door, which is right here beside me. This is a three-quarter lite over panel with rain glass.

Michael Tull  00:30

Rain glass.

Stefanie Couch  00:31

And we're going to install this, so you're going to show me the ropes, right?

Michael Tull  00:35

I don't know anything about what I'm doing. So we're going to try to install an out-swing door. We're lucky. We've already measured the door, we've measured the frame, and our distributor got it exactly right.

Stefanie Couch  00:46

Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Michael Tull  00:47

So hopefully the old one's going to go out and the new one's going to come in, and we'll be done.

Michael Tull  00:51

So, Stefanie.

Stefanie Couch  00:52

Yes.

Michael Tull  00:53

Guess what's behind the aluminum?

Stefanie Couch  00:54

What?

Michael Tull  00:55

Steel.

Stefanie Couch  00:56

Oh my gosh. You just thought this was going to be easy.

Michael Tull  01:01

I never thought it was going to be easy.

Stefanie Couch  01:03

You've been doing this long enough to never say that word. I want this on camera.

Stefanie Couch  01:08

We're going to get a Suburban and we're going to wrap it pink.

Michael Tull  01:14

I have to do it three times.

Stefanie Couch  01:15

There's a nice QR code out here that says, “Scan for install instructions.”

Michael Tull  01:19

It does? Are you kidding me?

Stefanie Couch  01:22

Yes. Milwaukee for life. Wish they made them in pink. You could wrap it. You can wrap a drill. I could wrap anything pink, including my next car.

Michael Tull  01:40

Is there really a QR code on there? Scan for install instructions. It sure is. It's got my name on here, too.

[02:06]  The Honest Truth About Building Industry Entrepreneurship

Michael Tull  02:06

Melanie wants to know if you ever made chicken salad out of chicken, well, you know what.

Stefanie Couch  02:09

Every day. That's literally been my whole life the last four years of trying to start this business.

Michael Tull  02:14

I know. We know. We've got experience too.

Stefanie Couch  02:17

That is what you look up in the entrepreneurship dictionary. That's the definition of it.

Michael Tull  02:32

Hallelujah. Y'all are in? Woo-hoo. Let's keep our day job.

[02:39]  New Plastpro Nova-90 Rain Glass Door Reveal

Stefanie Couch  02:39

We have a brand-new door. She is in. She is beautiful. We have a Plastpro Nova-90, three-quarter lite over panel. It's got rain glass, so it's textured. You can't see through it. It also has low-E on the outside, so it actually blocks the sun. Michael Tull and his wife Melanie helped us install this today. It was donated by Plastpro for the studio and built by Harris Door and Millwork. So we are so excited to have this in. The whole place looks different now, so thank you to everyone involved.

[03:04]  Framing New Offices Inside a Podcast Studio

Stefanie Couch  03:04

We've done some work in the foyer here. We framed this in to be closed off. This was just totally open, and so was this wall in the kitchen. We've still got a little bit of a mess in the kitchen, but we're working on that. We're going to hopefully get new cabinets eventually. This has been super exciting. So we framed up an 11 by 20 office for Ben, and one for me on the other side.

[03:45]  Installing a Trusscore Slat Wall for Camera Gear

Stefanie Couch  03:45

This week we did Trusscore. I'm Stefanie Couch.

Ben Couch  03:50

And I'm Ben Couch. Trusscore day.

Stefanie Couch  03:55

That's not what we're doing. I'm Stefanie Couch.

Ben Couch  03:57

And I'm Ben Couch.

Stefanie Couch  03:58

And this is Heidi Pearl Couch, and we're here today at Grit Studios, and we're about to do a Trusscore project, and we're super pumped. We're going to be doing this slat wall, which is going to hold camera gear, and tripods, and all the things. Then we're also going to have this gray vertical board at the bottom and at the top. So we're going to get started with this. This is our first time doing this. We've watched some install videos, so we're going to see what happens.

Ben Couch  04:26

Success is what will happen.

Stefanie Couch  04:28

It's going to be a success. All right, let's go.

Ben Couch  04:30

Yeah.

Stefanie Couch  04:32

Once upon a time, in Clayton, Georgia, in Grit Studios, they were building a Trusscore wall and trying to stay married.

[04:48]  Studio Tour: Film Sets, Layout, and Our Vision

Stefanie Couch  04:48

This is going to be my office. It's kind of a war zone right now, a construction zone, but the desk is going to be here and the couch here. Over here on this side, we're talking about putting a little round table so I can have some small meetings. The idea here is to have three areas where we can meet and film while I'm in here working. These are going to be little sets as we walk through this hallway.

Stefanie Couch  05:10

This is the war room, so we're going to have a conference table. This will be framed out so we can film in here as well, and hold meetings, strategy days, all those cool things. This is going to end up being the Grit lounge. We've got a little makeshift setup here for now, but it's going to be a chill area, and hopefully also somewhere we can do photos and filming.

Stefanie Couch  05:34

All right, my favorite part, the podcast area and the stage. This actually came with the building, but we've done a lot of work here. We got new carpet, and we're going to be doing a podcast backdrop wall here with slat acoustic walls, which are supposed to come in today and get installed. Then we're going to have velvet blue curtains on both sides, really to help with the sound. So this will be my podcast set, but if we have events, we'll also be able to do them up here on the stage.

[06:00]  Grit Glam Room Reveal and What is Next

Stefanie Couch  06:00

This spot is going to be our photography area. It's got a little work to do, but we're just going to have a roll-down backdrop here. And then, tucked in a little hideaway, the Grit glam room is ready. We've done a lot in here: carpet, paint, chandeliers. We redid the small bathroom, and I love this little lounge area. Heidi Pearl likes it too. Come on up, Heidi Pearl. You want to join me? There we go.

Stefanie Couch  06:26

And this is the Grit Studios tour so far. We've got work to do, but we've made a lot of progress. We're getting really close to being able to live and work in here, so thanks for joining me.

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