Evan Ransome - Building Businesses with Heart

In this episode of The American Operator, we sit down with Evan Ransome, a serial entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in consulting, startups, and leadership. From his unique childhood split between Ohio and Tokyo to his journey through the challenges of entrepreneurship, Evan shares valuable lessons on culture, team building, and maintaining work-life balance.

Discover the story behind Golden Home Management and how Evan combines business with a deeply rooted sense of family values and generosity. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur, a business leader, or simply curious about how to navigate the complexities of building a career while staying true to your core values, this conversation is packed with insights and inspiration.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share your thoughts in the comments!

Topics Covered:

Navigating cultural differences and their impact on leadership
Building and scaling businesses with integrity
Balancing entrepreneurship with family life
Why team culture is critical for business success
Lessons learned from failures and triumphs in entrepreneurship
#owneroperator #interview #podcastforsmallbusinessowners #podcastclips #entrepreneur #acquisition

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Transcript

00:00:24:04 - 00:00:33:11
Speaker 1
all right, team, welcome to another episode of The American Operator. I'm here in Austin, Texas, in studio with Evan Ransome. How are you, my friend?

00:00:33:15 - 00:00:35:14
Speaker 2
I am living the dream, as always.

00:00:35:14 - 00:00:40:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's the same. That is the Ransome family, household saying, man, living the dream.

00:00:40:08 - 00:00:43:05
Speaker 2
It is literally a mural on the side of my house.

00:00:43:07 - 00:00:46:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. Which, Austin artist did that?

00:00:46:05 - 00:00:51:09
Speaker 2
Oh, man, you're gonna put me on the spot. I don't remember her wonderful name, but she's great. No, you.

00:00:51:09 - 00:00:52:09
Speaker 3
Don't need to. I was just like.

00:00:52:09 - 00:00:53:11
Speaker 1
It's sound local, though, right?

00:00:53:11 - 00:01:01:23
Speaker 2
Yeah, definitely someone local that we found on Instagram that we can maybe at in the comments of this, podcast later, but.

00:01:02:00 - 00:01:03:16
Speaker 3
Well, it's cool man. No it's cool.

00:01:03:16 - 00:01:35:08
Speaker 1
That definitely brings the whole thing together. Well, let's do this. There's so many things we're going to cover today. And I know that, for the folks tuning in right now, I think they'll really appreciate just your perspective on things. Evan and I are buddies. We've known each other for some time, but one of the things that I've always really appreciated about Evan is not only the fact that he's been a multi-time founder, a guy who's bought business before, a guy who's won and, you know, and had his like levels of fails and triumphs and those kinds of things that come along with it, but just been a good person throughout this whole

00:01:35:08 - 00:01:51:09
Speaker 1
thing. I would say he prioritizes and I would know he wouldn't speak this way about himself, but he is prioritizes. Just like, how do we treat people well and how do we do the right thing, even if that comes at, what we would consider in the business world, you know, the financial cost of running a business or whatever the case might be.

00:01:51:09 - 00:02:09:15
Speaker 1
So I'm looking forward to diving into that today. But let's start maybe just giving folks a little background on kind of how you grew up means you're you're, you're a midwest guy by trade, but you've also have had your kind of entrance into the world internationally at a young age, too.

00:02:09:17 - 00:02:36:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. I, I'm from a three stoplight town in Ohio. But then moved from there to Tokyo, Japan. So I went, you know, from there in fourth grade and then, culture shock, big time. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade in Tokyo moved back to the three stoplight town for seventh and eighth grade, ninth, 10th and 11th in, Tokyo again.

00:02:36:17 - 00:03:04:20
Speaker 2
And then for my senior year, moved to a slightly larger town in Ohio or five life for for. Yeah, for my senior year. So, a lot of back and forth, gave me some cool perspective on kind of, you know, what the world looks like, and, but but some, you know, I think instilled some, some of those Midwestern values while also, you know, valuing the exposure of of understanding that the world is a big place and, that different is just different.

00:03:04:20 - 00:03:05:15
Speaker 2
Not always wrong.

00:03:05:15 - 00:03:10:18
Speaker 1
Yeah, I know this is the American operator, but talk to me about. And y'all just got back from Japan not too long ago.

00:03:10:18 - 00:03:13:00
Speaker 2
We did. We were there last week, actually. Yeah.

00:03:13:05 - 00:03:24:06
Speaker 1
Talk to me about something with the, just whether it's Japanese culture or just, like, the way they think about business or running things. What's something that's always impressed you just about the way they do things.

00:03:24:08 - 00:03:25:08
Speaker 2
Man?

00:03:25:09 - 00:03:28:01
Speaker 4
They are so collective.

00:03:28:01 - 00:03:57:11
Speaker 2
Where we're so individual. So the way they sort of operate is like, you know, it is only what's best for the group. It's only what's, you know, better. Like, they're not necessarily thinking about themselves. They're only thinking about, you know, as a group of people or as my company is what I'm doing better for all of us in a group, where what what we're trained to do is like, I'm trying to get ahead.

00:03:57:13 - 00:04:21:15
Speaker 2
I'm trying to move myself forward. And so it it just kind of is very different. And so from a business standpoint, it, it allows us as Americans to kind of push the envelope because we're naturally going to, try to find ways to succeed. And by doing that, we're willing to kind of think outside the box to do that.

00:04:21:17 - 00:04:42:18
Speaker 2
But then it also means that we're kind of willing to step on toes and hurt people along the way sometimes, and they would never do that. But, on a, like, cultural just living their perspective and just being back this time was so fun to be in a place where just, you know, the common decency that they all have.

00:04:42:18 - 00:04:43:14
Speaker 4
It's just.

00:04:43:16 - 00:05:00:03
Speaker 2
A wonderful thing sometimes. Yeah. Like it's just like everyone's so nice and everyone's just, like, there and pleasant and, you know, it was just a kind of a fun place. Fun time to be back. But, I love I love both places. It's fun to kind of have truly. That's a piece of my heart and home. But, you know, I'm.

00:05:00:03 - 00:05:05:23
Speaker 2
I'm as American as apple pie at the same time. I just maybe have a little miso mixed in, then.

00:05:06:01 - 00:05:07:11
Speaker 3
Nothing wrong with those two guys.

00:05:07:11 - 00:05:16:16
Speaker 1
You know, I've always been. I think it's just kind of Asian in general, but, like, also incredibly, like, all their public stuff is incredibly pristine.

00:05:16:18 - 00:05:18:19
Speaker 2
And and ridiculously on time.

00:05:18:21 - 00:05:29:13
Speaker 1
Ridiculously on time. They're meticulous about like, cleanliness. Unreal. Man. Like, you know, must not think that you're on American public trains unless you just had a little bit of, funk or something.

00:05:29:13 - 00:05:33:02
Speaker 3
Oh, yeah. Like you would just be the boss of the subway.

00:05:33:04 - 00:05:38:17
Speaker 1
Then you're like, okay, it's public transit. Yeah, for sure. Over there. It's, It's remarkable.

00:05:38:19 - 00:05:59:21
Speaker 2
Yeah, it really is. They are, I mean, to the point where it's a little bit of overkill, right? Like, they they're so good at recycling that, like, because it's an island and they're like, they have a million different way. Trash cans and stuff. And rules. There's also no trash cans that you get to, like, put stuff in.

00:05:59:23 - 00:06:19:18
Speaker 2
There, you have to take your trash with you everywhere. But the, like, no one has a water bottle that they carry with them. Everyone just gets a new bottle of water. And or, you know, buys a, pet bottle. But that's because it's clean and they know that it's going to the new one's going to be clean.

00:06:19:18 - 00:06:37:01
Speaker 2
And like, when you wash your own, it's not it's not necessarily super clean. Yeah. And so that's kind of the culture. And they're happy to dispose of it in the right way and recycle it. And knowing that like that's a fine, it will get reused and cleaned. But yeah, the culture of just like, my, you know, I get it, it gets pretty clean, right?

00:06:37:01 - 00:06:51:19
Speaker 2
Like, or I'll just reuse this like, but this, it just had water in it. I'll just reuse it over and over and over again like that. It's like, yeah. But there's like, you know, biofilm and stuff in there. They're like, why? Why would you do that? It's just such a funny. Yeah. They're so they're so clean. It's awesome.

00:06:51:21 - 00:06:52:19
Speaker 1
I dig you, man.

00:06:52:19 - 00:06:53:00
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:06:53:00 - 00:07:07:23
Speaker 1
I think let's get right into. I want to talk a little bit about your elevator. You're more than a little bit of your experience just with, like, different businesses. You run a company right now founded own a company called Golden Home Management. Incredible mission. And where it kicked off to.

00:07:07:23 - 00:07:21:07
Speaker 1
And then you all have expanded from there. But before we get into that and kind of give some folks some context on it, just kind of share a little bit about your, your professional journey. I mean, I know you've done everything from the world of consulting all the way to like building tiny homes and getting that stuff moving.

00:07:21:07 - 00:07:26:09
Speaker 1
Just kind of give folks a little insight and little flavor in that. Evan Ransom, the the operator.

00:07:26:09 - 00:07:55:09
Speaker 2
Sure. Yeah. So I like to say I'm like the king of finding the back door into into, entrepreneurship or or really anything on the business side because I wasn't really a very good student. So I was forced to do that. But, so my journey is, you know, went to Ohio State for, actually studied, opera for a year, at a small liberal arts college and realized I wasn't going to make any money as a singer.

00:07:55:11 - 00:08:16:21
Speaker 2
And so then I realized if I switched to business, I was probably not going to make, I was going to lose my scholarship. And also be spending a lot of money for a small liberal arts college that no one had heard of for business. So I switched to Ohio State. And then, had a great time at Ohio State.

00:08:16:23 - 00:08:43:13
Speaker 2
Some would say maybe too much fun. But I, I met a lot of great people, got, very into, the business world and joined a business fraternity there, and met a lot of my best friends even today, from that. But the big thing that I recognized while I was in school was how powerful networking was and how powerful, just kind of building a group of people that you could call upon was at that point.

00:08:43:15 - 00:09:09:09
Speaker 2
And so I, I managed to find my way into a consulting club that was meant for MBAs that I got to be a part of, making that be the first undergraduate group. I was one of the first undergrads to be a part of the consulting club meant for MBAs. By kind of wiggling my way through to that, that led me to, Microsoft for a summer.

00:09:09:11 - 00:09:15:14
Speaker 2
Even though, again, no grades to be able to do that just kind of wiggled my way through because I was with the MBAs.

00:09:15:15 - 00:09:17:14
Speaker 4
And then managed to.

00:09:17:14 - 00:09:41:07
Speaker 2
Then get a job, tried to get a job at Deloitte. They looked at my resume and very kindly handed it right back to me and told me that my GPA was not high enough to get a job at Deloitte. And then all of my friends were moving to Chicago. So then I just started applying to every consulting job in Chicago and found one at a company called NTT data, which happened to be a Japanese consulting firm.

00:09:41:07 - 00:09:44:21
Speaker 2
Luckily, I could kind of play the whole I grew up there and do.

00:09:44:21 - 00:09:45:22
Speaker 3
Something about that. Yeah.

00:09:45:22 - 00:10:15:21
Speaker 2
And and, really that company had just it had just become NTT data. They had acquired, US based consulting firm. And the guys who had just been acquired kind of looked at me and they were like, oh, the new acquirers will love you like this. This will be great. You know, be kind of a fun thing for, for all of us, even though I, you know, I didn't speak fluent Japanese at that point, I still didn't, you know, it was just kind of a this will get you've got good experience and, and you'll be a fine analyst.

00:10:15:23 - 00:10:31:06
Speaker 2
So, again, back to not necessarily always being the, the, the perfect fit, just kind of making the connections that needed to happen. So I spent two years there and then ended up at Deloitte, which is where I wanted to be anyways.

00:10:31:08 - 00:10:32:03
Speaker 4
And, and.

00:10:32:03 - 00:10:34:21
Speaker 2
The, you know, going back to the back door, right. Like that's.

00:10:34:21 - 00:10:35:08
Speaker 4
The.

00:10:35:08 - 00:10:51:06
Speaker 2
The I, I found a way to be where I wanted to be, and I actually ended up making more money than my peers because I came in as an experienced hire two years later, which was a great, you know, a funny path to being where I wanted to be.

00:10:51:08 - 00:11:08:10
Speaker 1
Can I ask real quick, where does the. That's something I've known about you, but you just saying that again reminded me just, kind of the way you think about the world. What is the was even born that way. We've shown an example that, like, just because someone says, no, you can't do this. Like you're going to find your another way in.

00:11:08:10 - 00:11:15:23
Speaker 1
Or was that through necessity? Like, what prompted that creative or so maybe call it stubbornness about like, no, no, I will find my way in.

00:11:16:04 - 00:11:18:15
Speaker 4
So it's you know, like.

00:11:18:15 - 00:11:42:05
Speaker 2
I it's funny, I know that, at the time, it was not something I would have, like, ever probably given him credit for, but the like it is 100% from my dad. My dad worked his way off of the assembly line at Honda into being an engineer there. Like with me.

00:11:42:05 - 00:11:43:17
Speaker 1
Like just putting parts on the vehicle.

00:11:43:17 - 00:12:12:03
Speaker 2
With no degree. Right? So, he was. Yeah. Literally one of the guys just being. Yeah, putting the parts on and took advantage of every opportunity presented to him to eventually go from just being one of those guys to then getting the opportunities to go basically represent the entire plant in Japan to with the designers to basically say, hey, like what you're doing, you know, someone's gonna have to stand on their head to put this in.

00:12:12:03 - 00:12:34:20
Speaker 2
And, you know, in our plant in Ohio. And so seeing him kind of go from, you know, just working his butt off and then, you know, making taking all of those opportunities and, like, recognizing that, like, hey, you know, you don't have to go to, to some fancy school. You don't have to go do all this stuff to be an engineer.

00:12:34:20 - 00:12:57:17
Speaker 2
Like he made it happen for himself. I think that kind of, you know, was instilled in me in an early age. Like there is certainly like, don't let people tell you you can't do stuff, right. So, yeah, I don't think I've ever told that. Thanks, dad. Credit all credit to you on that. Pretty cool, you know, pretty cool perspective sitting here now at 36, going backwards.

00:12:57:17 - 00:13:02:11
Speaker 3
So it's a product of age. Yeah. Right. Like it's the same thing that like.

00:13:02:13 - 00:13:04:14
Speaker 2
But yeah, that's that's definitely where that came from.

00:13:04:20 - 00:13:29:21
Speaker 1
Right now, there's nothing better than having an example like that. Yeah. They were I'd like to think that type of, willfulness and that grit, like, still exist. And I mean, you're living example of someone in a, in the next generation or two that, like, still embodies that. But I'll tell you, it feels that they're like that, that generation of, folks just like a lot of them just used that.

00:13:29:21 - 00:13:33:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. Like, well, I'll show you, you know, I'm going to show you how to 100% get done.

00:13:34:00 - 00:13:49:03
Speaker 2
Well, also in like the there's just no world that that could happen anymore either. Right? Like you can't just become an engineer at Honda by working your way off the assembly line anymore, right? Like you have to have a fancy degree to go behind an engineer. And.

00:13:49:03 - 00:13:50:03
Speaker 1
And they got a line out.

00:13:50:03 - 00:13:50:13
Speaker 3
The. Yeah.

00:13:50:18 - 00:14:11:11
Speaker 2
There's a million people applying for that job. Right. And so it's a cool thing that like, he took those those opportunities and I'm sure Honda would probably tell me that, no, there isn't a path to doing that. And there probably is a very there probably is a path. I'm sorry. Honda for, for that. But it's definitely not is not as much of a thing.

00:14:11:11 - 00:14:28:17
Speaker 2
Right. Like and it maybe isn't wasn't as much of a thing when he did it, but, it's a cool it's still cool. And I know that it's not as easy, or not as much of an opportunity today to kind of give yourself this, like, I'm going to take these steps and move forward. Yeah. So it's cool.

00:14:29:06 - 00:14:46:21
Speaker 1
That's cool insight. I mean, I didn't I didn't know that. Yeah. So when you get so you get, you get kind of through going back to kind of your story here when you get through the, kind of the opportunities in the world and those things as you're moving through, what prompted you to go, you know what, I need to just do my thing.

00:14:46:23 - 00:15:17:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, I got trained on this tool called Anaplan. It's a planning and budgeting tool for big businesses, basically. And they hired me kind of specifically to do that, because it related to the stuff I was doing. I was very good at Excel, basically at my previous job. And, it was kind of akin to that, but, but slightly more three dimensional modeling, I guess.

00:15:18:02 - 00:15:19:07
Speaker 4
Yeah.

00:15:19:09 - 00:15:26:16
Speaker 2
I'm not a coder by any means. Don't don't ever try to ask me or to write a line of code. We'll we'll look at it and be like, I have no idea what this does.

00:15:26:18 - 00:15:30:14
Speaker 4
At some point, but yeah. Yeah, this looks great. But,

00:15:30:16 - 00:15:52:16
Speaker 2
Anaplan was like, just similar enough to excel that it was one of those that, like, made sense to me really quickly. So within two years, I had kind of become I was one of I was in the first class of solutions architects. I got dubbed a master and a planner in the first class of master and a planners, and I.

00:15:52:16 - 00:15:53:21
Speaker 4
Was sitting.

00:15:53:21 - 00:16:16:21
Speaker 2
In a meeting with the Deloitte partner and a senior executive from, top business and realized I was doing all the talking in the meeting with the Deloitte partner in there and doing all of the explaining of how the tool worked and everything. And I kind of left there going, wow, that guy makes a lot of money. That Deloitte partner does.

00:16:16:21 - 00:16:33:20
Speaker 2
But I did all the talking. I feel like I should maybe be doing this on my own. And there was another guy at Deloitte that was like the same credentials as me, had been doing stuff, but on a different project. And so we just started talking about, hey, should we try to go do this on our own?

00:16:33:21 - 00:16:59:13
Speaker 2
And you know, what's the worst case scenario? Right. And I think that that that moment for us was like the worst case scenario is not that bad, right? We would if we tried to go leave and start our own firm and we failed. We would just go get a job making more money at another consulting firm. That seemed like a pretty good worst case scenario.

00:16:59:15 - 00:17:21:23
Speaker 2
So, so we took the leap, to go start the business together, start a consulting firm kind of implementing this anaplan product together. And that was kind of the kickoff for of my entrepreneurial journey. Never looked back. Never looked back? Yeah. No, and definitely learned that I was much more of. I am an entrepreneur, not a consultant.

00:17:21:23 - 00:17:43:03
Speaker 2
I have way more fun. Once I got the, the, got into building the business part that it was like, oh, this is way better than helping big businesses make more money, right? Like the the building, the business part is the fun part. So that was where, you know, once I started to kind of get that feeling, it kind of, you know, exploded from there.

00:17:43:10 - 00:18:00:23
Speaker 1
Can you talk to me about the how do you kind of delineate the difference between you talking about, like, yeah, you realized consulting isn't for me. Building the business is for those folks who maybe are thinking right now like, hey, maybe I want to go do some business building or whatever it might be. What are the parts of it that resonate with your soul?

00:18:00:23 - 00:18:05:09
Speaker 1
You're like, this is why I like doing this. And what are the parts that are also? But beware.

00:18:05:11 - 00:18:26:20
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think I found that I was actually I tell this is my like favorite line for entrepreneurs. Like you can't be an entrepreneur if you're not comfortable being excited and terrified at the exact same time. Like that needs to be the state you live in all the time and I found like that that was okay for me.

00:18:26:20 - 00:18:54:09
Speaker 2
Like, I like not only okay, like I thrived in that in that world. And so, what that really means is like, yeah, like, sure, I got to be worried about cash flow, and I got to be excited about growing and about the future and everything else at the same time. Right. And if the being terrified about running out of cash doesn't motivate me to go do everything else that I need, then I'm in a bad spot, right?

00:18:54:09 - 00:19:09:00
Speaker 2
So, that's kind of like where. Yeah, I had to I had to thrive in that space. And I think that that was kind of the moment for me where it's like, yeah, okay. Now we're now we're, we're we're moving.

00:19:09:00 - 00:19:15:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. There's a lot of other stuff. I loved building the teams. I love building culture.

00:19:15:00 - 00:19:45:09
Speaker 2
I loved the, you know, the, you know, talking to to a young analyst and talking about, hey, this is how we're going to, you know, build your career and what things look like and how you should be excited about what the future holds for you. That was so fun for me, right? Like, it wasn't about how much we were going to help this client, it was about how much we were going to do as a company and what that meant for opportunities for them.

00:19:45:11 - 00:19:46:12
Speaker 2
That was the fun part.

00:19:46:15 - 00:20:07:13
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. And I think, yeah, there's a bit of that like that just either oozes in your. It kind of doesn't. I found that I've had a hard time and I think in a, in a good way, I have a hard time like putting your finger on like who's going to be really great at this or not? I think it's a bit of this the way you grow up, what do you get exposed to, how you think about those things

00:20:07:13 - 00:20:11:12
Speaker 1
you mentioned about building culture and teams as being a is a big point for you?

00:20:11:14 - 00:20:27:17
Speaker 1
One, I want to get a little into how you think about those things, but do you find that culture and values and how you design team structures and ethos and all that stuff, as is important for small business as it is for a mega corporate, you know, fortune 100.

00:20:27:19 - 00:21:06:23
Speaker 2
I would argue almost more important, right, because you have to like it's the core of growing your business and it's like the people that you're going to build your business around have to kind of exude the core values that you in the culture that you want to build. And if you're not kind of if everyone if the, the very first employees and the very first people aren't bought in on this and they're not going to kind of blossom all the rest of it, then you're going to end up kind of down the road and you're going to be like, oh man, wait, this isn't exactly what I was hoping.

00:21:06:23 - 00:21:31:21
Speaker 2
Now I've got a hole. I've either got to let some people go. I'm like, you're you're not going to be marching as fast in the direction that you want to go. If you don't have those sort of just. And it's tough to call those soldiers like you want them to be like, like just what's the right word, like, really motivated and just excited to be there, right?

00:21:31:21 - 00:21:58:03
Speaker 2
Like it like it needs to be that they're so driven. Like they want to be, like thinking about your business, like, and taking it to the moon, right? Like it's their thing. And, and that is where it goes back to, like, if you can't, if you can't preach the the end game and like, where, where we're going and if that doesn't excite them, then you don't want them on the team.

00:21:58:04 - 00:22:18:15
Speaker 2
Right. And so where you're going has to include all of the culture stuff in like what this will look like, what the business will look like needs to also not just be about the money. It needs to be like, think about how much fun it's going to be when we have 50 people in this room and we're all like playing ping pong and we're doing, you know, whatever, whatever.

00:22:18:17 - 00:22:44:02
Speaker 2
An individual entrepreneur's vision of what this looks like is like it's called you're called a visionary for a reason. Typically, as an entrepreneur, like, you need to be able to think about that and pitch that to your people. And the early people need to then kind of be able to get so excited about that, that they're then telling the people that you're going to expect to be under them about it as well and get so excited about it.

00:22:44:02 - 00:23:01:15
Speaker 1
It's kind of like, yeah, it's like spawns right into becoming this very contagious thing. But yeah, what what would you tell somebody who is thinking, okay, yeah, it sounds great Evan. But you know, man like that just sounds extra like that sounds like cherry on top. I'm more concerned about the cupcake and the the product and all this stuff.

00:23:01:15 - 00:23:06:18
Speaker 1
I if I get into it, fine. But at the end of the day, that's not ultimately what's going to drive a return.

00:23:06:20 - 00:23:29:16
Speaker 2
I would yeah, sure. Great question. I'll use the current business I'm building as an example. Right. So we have one of our core values is, buttoned up. And every week we have a, all team meeting that we talk about our core values. And it's not just, hey, these are let's read our core values or whatever. It's.

00:23:29:18 - 00:24:03:18
Speaker 2
How did someone on the team use our core values this week? Let's talk about them. And that motivates everybody to actually exude your core values. Right. And so if you're not creating a process right, buttoned up for us means we're not just, you know, flying by the seat of our pants like when something's not, done with a process, it needs to be.

00:24:03:19 - 00:24:33:16
Speaker 2
We need to create a process right. And so if we are rewarding that and calling that out, then we've, we're we're creating a culture of people actually creating processes that our business which then actually creates value at your business. And like so if you're literally just the the founder or you've bought a business where it's like, all I care about is increasing the value of this company, well guess what?

00:24:33:16 - 00:24:56:17
Speaker 2
Like having processes at your company actually does increase the value of your company, right? But you've done it by actually creating culture and like rewarding your employees and just like making it be, hey, like we are like, this matters to us, right? Like we're all like like we want to scale this thing and we do that because like it, like the this is how we operate, right?

00:24:56:17 - 00:25:07:03
Speaker 2
And we're, we're, we're talking about it. And it's a part of our day to day lives. Like, you can absolutely make your core values be like the.

00:25:07:03 - 00:25:09:01
Speaker 4
Most rah rah.

00:25:09:01 - 00:25:35:02
Speaker 2
Like. Yeah, sure. There we taught we created them. They are on a wall someplace and we're never going to talk about them again. Or you can make them be like, if you're not living them, you're out, right? Like it's up to you. But I, I firmly believe that, like, you can make it super powerful and like, let it drive your business forward and and like, it's the reason you hire and fire people, right.

00:25:35:02 - 00:25:51:18
Speaker 2
Like and and it just such an easy way to kind of make the your life as a leader easier too. Because I get looked at when someone's not living my core values. People are like, my team is like, hey, like.

00:25:51:20 - 00:25:53:01
Speaker 1
I'm a very buttoned up boss.

00:25:53:01 - 00:25:57:07
Speaker 4
Yeah, like. And is like, is this guy going to like, how long are you going to let this stand?

00:25:57:07 - 00:26:01:17
Speaker 2
Right? Like, like, is this person going to stay here? Like, what's the deal?

00:26:01:19 - 00:26:04:13
Speaker 4
And then it's, you know, it's it's one of those where it's like.

00:26:04:17 - 00:26:17:22
Speaker 2
Okay, well, like, like, all right, we got to give em a little time, right? Like, like, you know, can't we can't just fire every single person that, like, messes up one time on our core values, right? Like, sometimes you're, like, managing that, because it's like.

00:26:18:00 - 00:26:20:22
Speaker 4
Grace is also a thing, right? So.

00:26:20:23 - 00:26:45:15
Speaker 2
You know, that's a fun. I love those conversations. Right? I'd rather have those conversations than worry about, like, how, you know, people that don't care about our core values. Right? So it's a it's a it's a fun, fun place to get to. Right. That, you know, it just it we've we've gone so far into the core values where it's like you have to and the culture by nature of that.

00:26:45:15 - 00:26:48:06
Speaker 2
Like if you're not in your out. Right. Yeah.

00:26:48:07 - 00:27:16:13
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's that's such a unlock to when you think about those in my, I think about a team or business or a company more technical. You know, they might have this conversation that goes something like, we gotta figure out a new project management tool, another process, another system, another accountability thing. Because right now we've noticed that there's just a lot of, customer interactions and emails are just kind of all over the place, and it's sloppy and it doesn't make any sense or whatever.

00:27:16:14 - 00:27:46:05
Speaker 1
What I heard Evan just say is like, yeah, you could do that. And probably more importantly, you should probably just figure out a way that, like, you tie what you're looking for, like more emotionally to somebody, right? So that you don't necessarily have they're going to go to themselves and go, you know what? Ted just got celebrated last week because he just crushed client engagement in a way that like they are, they always feel like like the exact words over and over again is how clear and quick he is with his responses.

00:27:46:07 - 00:28:03:00
Speaker 1
I probably look at my email one more time. Far, far this off because I want to be Ted next week, right? Like that's. But you can do it both ways. But to your point, there's just something more like in you when you do it through the values lens versus here's another project management tool and here's a script. Go do your job.

00:28:03:01 - 00:28:31:01
Speaker 2
Yeah, yeah, 100%. And it's like I think what we're seeing and with, you know, all of the current generations of people, what Gen Z just whatever we're on right now. Yeah. Is that relationship matters a lot too. Right. So how do we make sure that they're they understand the why. Right. Like I spent so much time explaining why I do things as a business leader to my team.

00:28:31:03 - 00:28:51:15
Speaker 2
And I get feedback a lot. That's like, you know, no one else, no one else spends time like, this is the first place I've ever worked where, like, you like the the leader, like actually like tells us why he's like, exactly why we're doing things. Like, maybe I'm a little bit. Maybe I overshare sometimes or like I. But I'd rather on that side.

00:28:51:15 - 00:29:17:00
Speaker 2
Right? I'd rather my team know exactly why we're doing things and exactly why all of this stuff is happening and what the potential impacts to them are. Then like, have them just kind of going like, I'm just here for my job. I'm just doing my job. Blinders on doesn't matter because like, if they're not thinking about the the why then then it is just a job, right?

00:29:17:00 - 00:29:38:13
Speaker 2
Like it's just they're they're not they're not bought in on any of this stuff. They're just showing up, punching the clock. And they're thinking about us like, okay, I'm doing this thing until I can get the heck out of it, right? Like, yeah. Rather than being like, oh, right. If I do this this way, the way that Evan was asking me to, we will it will impact the business in this better way.

00:29:38:15 - 00:29:55:08
Speaker 2
So I should try to do it that way, because ultimately we'll have these better impacts which will better impact my opportunities. Like, you know, if I can if if I can stitch it all together for them, then then they get it right. Like and so spending the time on that is always worthwhile.

00:29:55:09 - 00:30:07:23
Speaker 1
Yeah. And now you're kind of reducing the trade offs where they get to go like no, me literally doing a good job at work also makes me a good human. Yes. And being a good human also makes me get at work. And I don't have to, like, figure out when to turn that on and off. Where does the.

00:30:07:23 - 00:30:13:12
Speaker 1
Well, actually, before we get into that, if you were going to scrap gold in homes. All right, what do you do? What is gold in homes.

00:30:13:12 - 00:30:27:11
Speaker 2
Right. Yeah, it's a home concierge business. Kind of for any homeowner. Think about it. Like if you as a homeowner still had a landlord, but you didn't have to pay any rent.

00:30:27:13 - 00:30:28:10
Speaker 4
And you could just.

00:30:28:10 - 00:31:03:17
Speaker 2
Call your concierge or your landlord for anything that went wrong and any issue for your house. That's what we're building. But doing it through like a hospitality lens. So you get one person that is your person, and it's not meant to be a like an app or portal or anything like I've got one individual's phone number that I can call, text or email and whatever happens at my house, they're on it.

00:31:03:17 - 00:31:30:13
Speaker 2
Like, and then we manage all the vendors and manage all of the stuff that happens at your house. And basically that's what the team does. So we then create relationships. A lot of vendors create strategic partnerships and kind of become the sales funnel for the vendors, kind of like Angie's List, but instead of Angie's List, like selling the leads, the relationship with the vendors is very much a, hey, we're you're full.

00:31:30:15 - 00:32:00:04
Speaker 2
We're bringing you jobs, not leads. And so the dynamic is the customers don't pay. We make money off of the vendors. The customers don't pay a dollar more than they would if they call the vendor directly. So, that's kind of like it's a it's a it's it's a concept that a lot of people have a hard time believing where they're like, wait, so I don't really have to pay a dollar more for my garbage disposal?

00:32:00:06 - 00:32:20:22
Speaker 2
Fix? It's 450 bucks if I call the plumber myself, it's 450 bucks if you guys facilitate it for me. But you guys will also, like, I only have to have a relationship with you, and you'll be able to do the plumber, or you'll do the electrician. If I have a handyman, you'll need you'll do that. If I need a new lawn guy, you'll do that.

00:32:21:02 - 00:32:45:22
Speaker 2
Wait. You'll also, remodel my whole kitchen. Like, how does this all work? And it's basically that because we manage all these relationships with these vendors, we just get a cut of their stuff. But because of the volume that we'll bring them, they're willing to do that because they'll have a cost of sale. And so we just take their cost of sale and become that sort of single point of contact for the customer.

00:32:46:00 - 00:32:47:00
Speaker 2
That's kind of how it works.

00:32:47:00 - 00:33:06:01
Speaker 1
That's cool. Visit yourself in a real pain point, man. There's so many times where you have also this. It's twofold. It's the who's the seventh like you like you got so many different like who's the seventh plumber? We talked you last year and like, was that the guy or gal we liked or was this other person. So there's like a bit of this validating who's good and who's not.

00:33:06:01 - 00:33:18:20
Speaker 1
And then also, it's the fatigue you got doing Google and nobody returned to call you like that. You got great reviews and no one will answer the phone. And so you just got let me just shoot even a text real quick. Yeah, yeah. And see how he, you know, see if you can help me out with this.

00:33:18:20 - 00:33:39:04
Speaker 1
And the answer is yes. So going back to values now the folks understand golden Homes. There's obviously something that layers into all this. Right. Like there's, there's a there's a personal ethos I would imagine that informs how you think about teams, people. I think anybody who's ever met you would say, that guy really gives a hoot about folks.

00:33:39:04 - 00:33:45:16
Speaker 1
And there's a way in which you do that. Where does that come from? Or can you give folks a little insight into what that is?

00:33:45:18 - 00:34:12:23
Speaker 2
Yeah. So, a while back, my wife and I sort of sat down and talked about what we wanted our family values to be. And we kind of came up with three words that nicely fit into a fun acronym that, that align to an egg. So exposure, gratitude, food and generosity are what kind of drive myself and my family.

00:34:13:01 - 00:34:38:13
Speaker 2
Exposure is not I walk around nude. It means, more that we value getting and seeing things from different perspectives. Right. And understanding that, you know, as I mentioned from the Japan thing, like, different isn't good or bad at sometimes it's just different. Right. And so making sure we see and understand things from different perspectives is so important.

00:34:38:15 - 00:35:12:02
Speaker 2
And then, you know, as we on the gratitude side and the generosity side, understanding that like, we need to be happy in a van down by the river, right? Like, it doesn't it doesn't. What we have today can't define our happiness. It can't define, the the, the way that we live our lives like it. It can only be that, like the the happiness just has to come from our friends, our, you know, faith and everything else.

00:35:12:04 - 00:35:44:19
Speaker 2
It can't be that, like the the money or the business or the success or any of that stuff is what, what where we find happiness and so that's where the gratitude comes from, is understanding that a little bit and appreciating the success we've had in everything else. But but really understanding that that's not what drives us. And then, the generosity is definitely knowing that because of that, like, you know, we we should feel more than willing to kind of give, the things that we have.

00:35:44:21 - 00:36:09:11
Speaker 2
And so I don't, you know, those are what drives me. I think going through that process personally for us more allowed me to kind of say, I need to make sure anything I do, we think about this for our businesses, we think about this for, you know, our, for, for kind of any organization I'm a part of needs to have their own version of this.

00:36:09:11 - 00:36:33:15
Speaker 2
Right. Like that's what applies to myself and my family. But as for Golden Home, like, our core values are, buttoned up and team. No surprises and, growth mindset and don't mess this up. I mean, we're we're like family, right? And I put, like, in there because I'm big on family, and I make sure that people understand that.

00:36:33:15 - 00:37:04:03
Speaker 2
Like, while we really want to love each other, like, we're not each other's family, right? And you got to go home to yours. And so we're going to treat each other that way. But you got to go home. So that's a big thing, for us. But I think, yeah, I think those values are really important, but I building our own family values first, was such an important thing to be able to then give me the perspective for how we needed to look at our own organizations to build that in.

00:37:04:05 - 00:37:19:22
Speaker 1
Something that you you wake up one day and go, hey, we need to really think about our personal values because it's going to help me nest and everything else that I do. Or what was the kind of the the stitch in the side that made you kind of think about it. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just organic, just kind of.

00:37:19:23 - 00:37:24:00
Speaker 1
I imagine most folks out there aren't aren't thinking about that.

00:37:24:02 - 00:37:44:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. It wasn't like, a moment or anything. I think, my wife and I just kind of took a weekend away one weekend and kind of spent some time together and we were, you know, before we had a kid or anything else. We were just kind of like, you know, we should probably think about this beforehand, right?

00:37:44:17 - 00:38:06:21
Speaker 2
A lot of people have like a family coat of arms or something like that. And it's like, what if we had, you know, like our own thing? That was, you know, something that we tried to live by that we could make decisions off of, right? So, like, now when we think about with our we have a two year old son, but it's like now that drives how we make decisions, right?

00:38:06:21 - 00:38:27:15
Speaker 2
It's how we say like, okay, when our son gets older and we're thinking about whether we're going to take him out of school to go, on a trip to Europe for a couple days, like, well, education isn't the exposure is. Right. So we're going to go take him to go to Europe for those extra, that extra a little bit of time.

00:38:27:19 - 00:38:56:14
Speaker 2
Another family education might be the right. And so that's the big thing right. So that was just kind of where we were sitting down and just saying, hey, as we look forward it creating this will be useful to us. It will help us stay grounded in something. And so I think that like, it wasn't an thing, it was just like we were we were looking for how we were going to make some decisions in the future.

00:38:56:16 - 00:39:16:20
Speaker 1
There's a lot of folks that I think would benefit from. There's just the grounding exercise. To your point, it's not right or wrong. It's just better that it is like, what is the thing? Because otherwise, especially in the world of running and leading teams, like it's easy to get slapped in the wind about so many different ways or so.

00:39:16:20 - 00:39:33:11
Speaker 1
There's always some other gurus out there that's going to tell you, like how to go do a thing, and it is just a refreshing thing to be able to sit there and go, yeah, it's not what I stand for though, and I know there's a lot of ways to skin this cat, and kind of an ethos of ours is like, you know, momentum over perfection, right?

00:39:33:11 - 00:39:48:12
Speaker 1
Like just keep it moving, you know? And I think when you're stuck and you're like, where's it all going? It's easy to be like, was it exposure or not? Is this a generous way of acting or is this a bit of a, you know, a closed mindset on how we do those things? And. Yeah, I mean, you can see it.

00:39:48:12 - 00:40:06:06
Speaker 1
I mean, I think in the circles, if we think about all our friends and family around us, they're probably a little different. And the ones that do well, not always the same. They just kind of have that groundedness about them. Speaking of family, one thing that I know you prioritize in addition to people is, is your family and and the friends that you hold close.

00:40:06:06 - 00:40:27:15
Speaker 1
And I think a lot of folks would say, Evan is somebody who is a good friend of theirs and a good friend back to them. How does business tie in all that? You know, I got to imagine that it doesn't fit perfectly. Like one of those Russian nesting dolls, you know, or like everything lines up just, well, like, just talk to me about not only the friends.

00:40:27:15 - 00:40:30:04
Speaker 1
Maybe start with the family part of it like you and share.

00:40:30:04 - 00:40:35:05
Speaker 1
Like, what are the things that you think about when you are on this journey of being a business? Operator.

00:40:35:07 - 00:40:36:07
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:40:36:09 - 00:41:04:20
Speaker 2
One of the things I talk about where I like to talk about when I talk about like, business or being an entrepreneur, and or a business owner or, you know, in any capacity. And your family is understanding that they only like there isn't a, a work life balance in that scenario. Right? Like you are. It is only a blend.

00:41:04:22 - 00:41:32:16
Speaker 2
And like there isn't a, a an off switch. I don't just like, turn my phone off when I go home. Right. Like like I, I also can't turn my brain off when I go home. Right? Like I am constantly thinking about the business. I am constantly worrying about things. And then I think the other piece is like when I'm at work and I've got people asking me questions all day or, you know, you know, I've got a million worries that are happening.

00:41:32:18 - 00:41:46:17
Speaker 2
I'm the top of the food chain, right? And so any business owner, if you're buying or you're starting a business, you are that person. You are the person at the top of the food chain that is worrying about everything that's going on with it. And so it.

00:41:46:17 - 00:41:47:18
Speaker 4
Becomes.

00:41:47:18 - 00:42:24:11
Speaker 2
Then when you want to go home, it's such an easy thing to try to slip into. And I struggled with this for a long time. Your wife or your person being your your your the person you want to talk to about all of that stuff. Right? And all of the stresses and everything else that you've got. But like, they have a life too, and and all the rest of that, and they've been stressing about work and they didn't necessarily sign up for all of the entrepreneurial stuff.

00:42:24:13 - 00:42:48:22
Speaker 2
To be a business owner at the same time. And so making sure that they understand that this life is something that, like, we're in now together, and that they can be a sounding board for you a little bit is good, but just as important is making sure that you have some boundaries set where you know that, like, hey, we're just we're going to not talk about work now, right?

00:42:48:22 - 00:43:14:19
Speaker 2
And whether that means, like, you're comfortable bottling it up for a few hours and just kind of like eating it and like being happy on the couch for a minute and putting your phone away. Or that you've got to find your other group of people. This is the big thing I talk about, like every business owner, whether whatever phase of the business is you're in, there is a group for you, right?

00:43:14:19 - 00:43:32:19
Speaker 2
Like, you know, if it's, if you've built your business a little bit, there's a group called a yo. If you're in a small, you're still growing. There's groups like the. And I like there's a million, you know, there's there's groups like what you guys are building that there's so many awesome.

00:43:32:21 - 00:43:33:14
Speaker 3
Groups.

00:43:33:14 - 00:43:59:10
Speaker 2
To be a part of as you are growing your business, because it is so lonely at the top. You have to find peers that are in it with you, even if like, it doesn't mean like I'm building a plumbing business. I must find other plumbers. It's I'm building a business. You would be amazed at the other random business owner that has the exact same problems, right?

00:43:59:10 - 00:44:30:17
Speaker 2
Like it could be. You know that I'm building a candle making business and you're a plumber, and we have the same problems, right? So just finding that group of people, to kind of commiserate with, is so important to kind of just have that sounding board so that your family life isn't that only place that you have the sounding board is just absolutely critical to finding success in this and making all of it work.

00:44:30:17 - 00:44:43:09
Speaker 2
Otherwise, you will absolutely kind of alienate the family pieces because you're just so the requirements of you as a business owner are so high, right? Like that. You're you have to be thinking about it or else you won't be successful.

00:44:43:11 - 00:44:56:19
Speaker 1
Why is it important to protect that family situation? Why is it important to have that boundary? You know, folks are thinking, why not? There's like another board of advisors there and happens to be my wife or husband.

00:44:57:01 - 00:45:33:06
Speaker 2
Listen, my wife is way smarter than me. I ask her stuff all the time, right? Like, it's not that you can't write a, she is a sounding board for a lot of stuff, but it's more that there needs to be a it can't be the only thing, right? It needs to be that there's space there. You have to create space for for all of the reasons that you fell in love with that person and all of the other things that happen in your family and the stuff that that person has going on.

00:45:33:07 - 00:46:05:20
Speaker 2
Right. Like, yeah. I think that that otherwise it can truly just be all consuming. And if you don't create the space, it just it will devour like your business has the you will that if your business will devour any space, you let it right. If, if if given the opportunity. Because ultimately if you're, if you're a good business owner, you're trying to grow your business and you're trying you're thinking about it constantly.

00:46:05:20 - 00:46:36:14
Speaker 2
You're trying to figure out how you can make this thing go. And so if you don't intentionally create space to say, oh, no, I'm spending some time with my family, oh, no, I'm doing this stuff. Or I'm just not. I'm choosing not to talk about work right now. Then you will naturally be doing that. And then you won't give your significant other or your other people, even your friends, the opportunity to have space to talk about themselves.

00:46:36:16 - 00:46:43:04
Speaker 2
And it's just, it's tough. It's not an easy place to be. Which is why that other peer group is a great place to kind of vent to.

00:46:43:10 - 00:47:09:17
Speaker 1
And kind of split your time if than when you are bring in when you do kind of go, you know, hey, Sarah, I do need to bring this is something I do need to share with you. Do you find it that typically is in the in the lane at least nowadays, I'm sure in the early days and maybe it was calibrating, but more like there's something core to my DNA that I'm in conflicted with and what it is and I'm trying to do is she and and providing just a good sounding board for those things because she knows you the best.

00:47:09:17 - 00:47:17:14
Speaker 1
If you're thinking about those kind of decisions versus a very operational like, do we do this project management tool or do we do this other thing.

00:47:17:16 - 00:47:38:18
Speaker 2
Definitely knows me better than anyone else. So yeah, from that perspective for sure. She like anything that has to do with money too. I think that like, I'm a big believer that that that should be talked about. Like just because it makes life easier on, some people don't talk to their spouse, some entrepreneurs don't talk to their sponsors about money.

00:47:38:19 - 00:48:20:01
Speaker 2
I'm a big believer that boy like that's a huge risk to just like kind of, you know, bury that down. There's always money conversations. So that's one that like, I'll always talk to her about. And then I, I like talking to her about, when I struggle with people, because I think the she knows me so well that when I'm like, man, like, really riled up about a person, she'll she'll have me reflect on myself a little bit and, and probably be like, hey, you know, like you, you were that person or, you know, you might be overreacting, right?

00:48:20:03 - 00:48:22:13
Speaker 2
So definitely in those scenarios,

00:48:22:15 - 00:48:24:03
Speaker 3
She's also got the.

00:48:24:05 - 00:48:29:04
Speaker 1
She's kind of probably got the, the eloquence, but also just kind of that permission.

00:48:29:04 - 00:48:31:14
Speaker 3
Yeah. For sure. Somebody else is. Yeah. I mean.

00:48:31:14 - 00:48:41:11
Speaker 2
Like anybody that works for me is probably going to be like, you know, a little bit pulled back, right. Like, and she, in the right, in the right places will not necessarily pull punches, which is important.

00:48:41:15 - 00:48:56:11
Speaker 1
How do you as a, how do you as a, as the person at the helm like not only maintain a self-awareness to be able to have that conversation, but then be able to receive that feedback and go do something with it?

00:48:56:13 - 00:49:20:23
Speaker 2
I mean, it's it's a good question. There's I'm not always great at it. I'll be honest, I think the hearing it from her is helpful is like, I've, I will I will usually be able to do that. I will also push back a lot on that stuff for sure. Knowing myself now.

00:49:20:23 - 00:49:22:01
Speaker 3
I'm not being that way. Yeah.

00:49:22:01 - 00:49:37:09
Speaker 2
What do you mean? Or here's the million reasons why I'm not doing that. And then I'll eventually, like, kind of be like, oh, you're right. Like, you know, like she usually is. So definitely it's it's more just like self-realization after the fact, after I've pushed back 17 times.

00:49:37:11 - 00:49:39:11
Speaker 3
There's a marinating period. Yeah. For sure.

00:49:39:11 - 00:49:47:20
Speaker 2
Okay. I will say that, like, the nice thing about the entrepreneurial peer group, is that

00:49:47:20 - 00:50:12:07
Speaker 2
I really enjoy when I'm talk, when I get to talk to that group of people about things and they share experiences with me, not advice. And so when I've got something going on and they're giving me like, hey, this is what I did in that, you know, in that situation, and I don't have to have someone tell me, hey, this is what you should do.

00:50:12:09 - 00:50:41:19
Speaker 2
Because every entrepreneur, like, is Type-A, like, don't tell me what to do. Like, I know what I'm doing. So if if like, everyone gets kind of a visceral reaction to like being told what to do. But if if I'm able to ask peers, hey, when this happened in your scenario, how did you handle it? And then I can kind of pick and choose from those experiences and say, okay, great, now I know what I'm going to go do.

00:50:42:00 - 00:51:00:18
Speaker 2
That is super helpful. And so I try then when I'm talking to other peers or trying to, you know, I try not to give advice as much. I try to talk about my in my experience, when I've been in this situation, that's how you know, this is what I did, right? Rather than always trying to give.

00:51:00:18 - 00:51:11:19
Speaker 1
Advice, you know, and I think that's it's the personality. You can really some of the best information could be right in front of you. But if you don't have a way to like a catalyst to listen to it, it doesn't mean anything. Yeah.

00:51:11:19 - 00:51:22:16
Speaker 1
I know we're coming up here on on time, but I do want to ask, just as I was thinking about your your journey and kind of the way you think about things.

00:51:22:18 - 00:51:45:01
Speaker 1
Reflecting on the years you've been operating as a leader, operating as a business owner, as someone who's just getting your hands dirty and stuff, what would you tell either a younger version of yourself or anybody up and coming in this world about what you underestimated? Like this was harder than I thought, and what was better than you thought it was going to be.

00:51:49:19 - 00:52:17:11
Speaker 2
Fundraising was way harder than I thought. Is way harder than I thought. And then I think. The better is getting to.

00:52:17:13 - 00:52:21:18
Speaker 4
Getting to just build.

00:52:21:20 - 00:52:46:17
Speaker 2
People up along the way. Right. Like taking people further, you know, with you along the ride. And creating friendships and creating, you know, community. I think that, like, isn't something that when you go to start a business, you're like, yeah, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to like, be able to like, make friends and like, create a, you know, a life for all of these people.

00:52:46:17 - 00:53:04:10
Speaker 2
It's like you're thinking about yourself, like going back to collective versus individual, like you don't start a business because you, like, want to help all these people necessarily, right? Like you start a business because it's like, I'm going to go be successful. And I like want to make a bunch of money. Like that's like the or I'm trying to solve a problem or whatever, like I'm trying to do these things.

00:53:04:12 - 00:53:06:20
Speaker 2
Otherwise you're starting a nonprofit, right? Like.

00:53:07:20 - 00:53:35:22
Speaker 2
And so I think that the like, the, like very pleasant to reward is, is that like, all of these other people get lives and jobs and you form friendships and like, there's, you know, there's just all of these other positive results that come from getting to build businesses, or, you know, be a part of them. And I think that's just like the perspective.

00:53:35:22 - 00:54:05:19
Speaker 2
I think taking a step back and kind of appreciating what you're building is important. And I don't know that that, someone if your nose is just to the grindstone and focused on growth. I didn't do that for I didn't do that soon enough. I think, as I was starting to build and now I try to, like, every once in a while, just sort of take a step back and be like, hey, like, this has been really hard, but look like, you know, people have been employed for the last two years because of what I'm doing.

00:54:05:21 - 00:54:23:04
Speaker 2
Like, like these people's kids have, you know, clothes on their back, like, that's a cool thing because of, like, what? I decided to start, right? Like, that's a that's just a, you know, it's not a it's not a, it's not something that should be lost on you I think.

00:54:23:06 - 00:54:24:15
Speaker 4
Yeah. There's, there's.

00:54:24:17 - 00:54:41:20
Speaker 1
So I would consider those small wins. But in a lot of, in the essence of it, it's, it's kind of just the win. Right. Like that's probably at the end of the day you just get to do it for more. Yeah. Dig that man. You kind of think about you grow company to 500 folks. Yeah I'm sure there's more revenue associated with that.

00:54:41:22 - 00:55:09:02
Speaker 1
But the reality of it is, is like you just like you're you're creating this tribe that you're going out there and helping facilitate all the things like they care about. And their family conversations are about in right. Even something little right. Like there, as you were saying, that I go, oh yeah, man, that's right. Because of this thing that I just kind of like thought about doing or taking on as, like even logistically enables all my team to fly back home for Thanksgiving.

00:55:09:04 - 00:55:22:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, because I'm paying them because of the value we're adding in a way that makes sense. Because of this crazy idea that I had for this endeavor that I wanted to take on. It's like a cool thing to feel good about, even as, I don't know, practical as it might seem.

00:55:22:10 - 00:55:38:14
Speaker 2
Yeah. And, you know, the the pessimist could be like, well, those people have a job someplace else or whatever, right? It's like, but they don't like, they have a job with me. Right? I can, you know, I get to claim that. Right? Like, that's the cool thing about being a business owner is that I get to claim that, no, that's me.

00:55:38:14 - 00:55:44:01
Speaker 2
That that did that. And I. And I'm the reason that they get to go home. Right. So yeah, of course.

00:55:44:01 - 00:56:06:11
Speaker 1
But yeah it's awesome man. Yeah. Evan, I appreciate you coming in and chatting with us on this stuff. I have a feeling we're going to hear and see from you again, but, I think the talk on the family stuff's important. It's one thing that we recognize, I recognize is I talk to more and more folks. And part of this probably just getting older is how much that has to be in the consideration.

00:56:06:11 - 00:56:20:23
Speaker 1
Not like is a nice to have, but like you got to really think about how you are if you're taking on whether it's even just a 9 to 5, but especially if you're taking on this idea of operating a business, it is. It is this all consuming beast.

00:56:20:23 - 00:56:21:09
Speaker 4
It is.

00:56:21:09 - 00:56:36:19
Speaker 1
And if you do not have alignment with your with your battle buddy at home, it's not a good recipe there for anything to include the boundaries. I think that's something folks don't think about it so I know what he or she is in. Yeah, like well, make sure they understand what it is and calibrate often.

00:56:36:19 - 00:56:42:08
Speaker 3
Yeah, you know for sure for sure. There's yeah, there's a thing that sometimes they.

00:56:42:08 - 00:56:58:01
Speaker 1
Don't sign up for. I even think about myself. I just thinking about like, I mean, there's a there definitely is there is some good chemistry there that you can find. There are there are, brilliant family dynamics that come out of doing that. But I think the true sign of approach would I get to watch you all do all the time?

00:56:58:01 - 00:57:05:12
Speaker 1
Is having that maybe not having it perfect, but just having it out on the table that like, we're going to make this as good as we can be along the way.

00:57:05:13 - 00:57:10:00
Speaker 2
Yeah, we're definitely not perfect. And don't don't get any ideas. But we're trying real hard.

00:57:10:02 - 00:57:27:04
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well buddy thanks again, man. And keep doing what you're doing. I love all the stuff that you're building and how y'all are building it. And, if anybody's interested in checking out Evan, what the team is doing there, Golden homes, just go check it out. It just uses values. And I think you just know that it's more than just, window dressing.

00:57:27:09 - 00:57:31:08
Speaker 2
Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you for having me, man. Appreciate it.