The ROI of Connecting With Others

Jeremy Owens, a third-generation construction professional and owner of U.S. Construction Zone, discusses the intersection of business and parenting, the importance of open communication with children, and the challenges of being a business owner in this episode of the Bringing Up Business podcast.

Jeremy also shares his passion for mental health awareness in the construction industry, the significance of creating safe spaces for conversations, and the need for a supportive work culture. The conversation also touches on understanding team motivation and the legacy Jeremy hopes to leave for his children.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses suicide and substance abuse. We are including this content because it is relevant to our guest’s story, and discussing it can help normalize the struggles that we are all at risk of facing. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call, text, or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

More About Jeremy Owens

Jeremy Owens is a proud father of 3 and owner of 3 Generations Improvements. His newest venture, US Construction Zone, has become a catalyst in finding Jeremy's voice in the construction industry. As a 3rd generation in the remodeling industry, Owens is influencing the construction industry in positive ways and desires to leave a lasting legacy that his family business and 3 kids will be proud of! He is the host of a popular monthly live show called ‘Construction Executives Live’, where he enjoys learning from and highlighting the greatest minds in the industry.

jeremy@usconstructionzone.com

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Transcript

Kaila Sachse (00:03.109)
Welcome to the Bringing Up Business podcast where we talk about business and parenting. I am your host, Kaila Sachse mom of a toddler and owner of a marketing and creative agency called Yumari Digital. Yumari Digital specializes in websites, marketing, and branding to help businesses grow. I'm looking forward to chatting with today's guest, Jeremy Owens. Jeremy is the third generation in the remodeling industry.

And he is also the owner of two businesses. The first is called Three Generations Improvements, and the other is U.S. Construction Zone. His grandpa, Bob Owens, started in construction in 1956. And with his dad's integrity-filled leadership, Jeremy has enjoyed a successful 24-year career in construction. Jeremy's newest venture and passion project, U.S. Construction Zone,

was founded in 2021 and it became a catalyst in finding Jeremy's voice in the construction industry. As a sought after podcast guest, obviously he's on this show, I sought after him, and networker, Owens is influencing the construction industry in positive ways. He desires to leave a lasting legacy that his family business and three kids will be proud of. He is the host of a popular monthly live

Jeremy Owens (01:15.031)
Right.

Kaila Sachse (01:31.057)
podcast called Construction Executives Live, where he enjoys learning from and highlighting the greatest minds in the industry. Finally, he is a proud father of three. He is a coach for his son's sports teams, and he is an outdoorsman. Jeremy, I'm so excited to get into it with you. Welcome to the show.

Jeremy Owens (01:53.954)
Thank you, Kaila, for having me. I love the introduction. Thank you for that. I wish I had that looped into my house so that my kids gave a crap, right?

Kaila Sachse (02:01.35)
You know what, I'll send you the script and then you can put it on like a teleprompter or something around, you know, each room. Yeah.

Jeremy Owens (02:04.288)
All right.

Kaila Sachse (02:09.767)
Remind us, how old are your kids?

Jeremy Owens (02:13.378)
I have a 20, 18 and 14 year old. So you kind of spread out a little bit, but, to my older daughters, they're now into college years and my son's entering high school next year. So we're really one left in, in the under school and everybody else is in college. So it's, it's different rhythm for sure. It's, it's allowed me to have a little bit of extra free time that I didn't have. Like when they're all

Kaila Sachse (02:33.424)
Yeah.

Jeremy Owens (02:40.778)
and preteen and in sports and music and things that there was no free time. But now I kind of have a little bit of a break here and a chance to exhale.

Kaila Sachse (02:46.021)
Mmm.

Kaila Sachse (02:51.782)
I get that. I get that. My son is two and what three months as of right as of today and yeah, my bandwidth is maxed out. He's a lot and I can only imagine adding in all of the sports and school functions and all the other things that you know kids get into. So yeah, that must be nice. That must be nice. On the flip side, it sounds like they're a little too cool for you now and

They're not really about dead.

Jeremy Owens (03:21.39)
Yeah, no, exactly. Yeah, they end up having, you know, friends life and jobs and things that take them away from family, which is cool. Like I, you know, people ask me, Oh, what's your favorite age? It's always the age they're at now. Like, honestly, it's every time it's, I don't want to go back. I don't want to start over. I really do like the way they are. Cause now it's different. Now it's become more of a friendship with my daughters and there's a lot less parenting going on, you know, trying to take myself out of the, you know,

imparting my wisdom, biting my tongue a little bit more, but you know, doing my best with that.

Kaila Sachse (03:52.826)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (03:57.83)
Mmm. So would you say that you have a relationship with your kids that enables them to be able to come to you with things? Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah.

Jeremy Owens (04:10.124)
Definitely, definitely. my kid's mom and myself were very open people. We talked about our mistakes. We weren't, we weren't the parents that were like, no, you can't know you shouldn't. It was more like, Hey, this is what happened when I did that. And so it was, it's always been very honest and open. And I think that that obviously opens the door for, for that kind of more robust communication as they get older. So yeah, we talk about all the good stuff and bad stuff and it's, it's very rewarding. I,

you know, can't say enough about, you know, how difficult it was to parent, especially with the technology that they had, going through COVID and going through some things that really was a struggle, some death in the family and things like that, where was like, they've had some stuff come, come at them. And, I'm just hopeful that that is a, is a character building thing for them in their future. So that's the hope, you know, obviously they'll, they'll be prepared for some things.

in the future, because we all have them, right? It's life.

Kaila Sachse (05:13.431)
Yeah, yeah, that is life. I'm inspired by how you've been able to stay honest with your kids and share with them like, hey, this is what I did. I actually made that mistake because I feel like there's a lot of pressure on parents to try to have this facade of like, just listen, do as I say, right? I'm going to tell you what to do.

Jeremy Owens (05:38.891)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (05:41.029)
And we're just gonna pretend like I'm not a human. I'm just a superhero who can do no wrong as a parent, right? So it's, yeah, that's so inspiring.

Jeremy Owens (05:49.196)
Yeah. Yeah, no, it's different. mean, obviously everyone's got a different upbringing, right? And I'm very cognizant of that in my life. And I think that I've always had that ability to see, kind of see through some of the noise and some of the reactions and responses that you get from people. mean, I kind of go like, I wonder what happened to him or her growing up, you know, because

know, life is hard for everyone really, but you know, when you don't have an upbringing that's solid, it's even harder. And so I try to kind of put that lens on when I'm getting a response that I don't like take a minute to go like, maybe they're having a bad day or maybe they've had a bad life so far. it's been kind of a...

It's a learning experience for me, but it's also been something I've done since I was young. So it's something that I really think it's a God given skill that I'm happy I have.

Kaila Sachse (06:49.894)
that is so cool. Being able to give the benefit of the doubt to somebody when they are not acting in a way that we expect them to or would hope that they do. I feel like that's not only giving grace to the other person, but it's also giving grace to ourselves and not having to hang on to an unnecessary anger or any other unnecessary feelings. Instead, we can just be at peace and say, you know what? That other person is humaning.

Jeremy Owens (07:00.846)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (07:18.399)
I'm a human too, sometimes I mess up and this is just, this is how we do it, this is how we do life.

Jeremy Owens (07:25.23)
Yeah. I mean, and you could take that everywhere. It travels well. And in business, it's the same thing, right? It's going to get a bad response from a, from a client and, know, maybe somebody gets angry or upset and like, it's, so easy, especially for construction people. You know, we all have a little bit of an ego and you know, it's easy to respond in, you know, with anger and with like, you know, you're right. And let's just dig your heels in and let's make sure they know I'm right.

when it just doesn't make any sense. It's so much easier just to apologize, redo something and move on because that stress level just ramps up quick and you can feel it. It's like a physical feeling and it's like a weight on your shoulders and on your chest and there's sighing going on all day and you're like, why am I sighing all the time? I can't get a deep breath.

Kaila Sachse (08:05.582)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (08:18.179)
Hahaha

Jeremy Owens (08:20.204)
You and you just, realize what it is and you just got, you just got to cut that out. It's just not, it's not worth the, whatever that is. It's just not worth

Kaila Sachse (08:29.321)
100%. You know, it wasn't until I hired a life coach that I learned that our emotions, particularly the negative ones too, live in our body and exhibit themselves in physical ways. just, I never connected that. I never knew that that was a thing until she taught me. Her name is Randy. She was amazing.

Jeremy Owens (08:31.022)
and

Kaila Sachse (08:53.451)
So let's dig into that a little bit more because it sounds like you have that understanding when you're feeling say stressed out and you find yourself sighing a lot. That is your body's way of saying, Jeremy is stressed out, Jeremy feels stressed. What are some other emotions and bodily signs that maybe you notice that tell you we've got a red flag going on, something needs to be updated in our world?

Jeremy Owens (09:07.63)
and

Jeremy Owens (09:19.768)
Yeah, I think being a business owner, the way I see it in myself, besides those physical things is the mental part of checking out, right? It's like you, you're kind of in a fog, like you, you know, shut the computer off for the day and you go, it's family time, right? And you just, you're kind of glazed over. You're just, you're constantly thinking about it. And it's not something that you can necessarily control. It's like just something tugging at you and you're, you're listening to it and you're at dinner and you're just like,

kind of spaced out. so I think that's the way I recognize it the most is like, you know, family members saying, are you there kind of thing? And it's, you know, it didn't happen often. It definitely wasn't something that was a common occurrence. But at the same time, like that is part of being a business owner that a lot of folks don't realize is that you carry a lot with you and there's a lot on you, you know, when you're feeding a lot of mouths and there's

things aren't going well or whatever it may be. It's, usually on the owner. It's the one submitting payroll, right? And if, if it's tough, if times are tough or if there's a tough client, you know, you're the one that feels that everybody else is sleeping well that night, you know? And so, you know, that's the pro and the con. I, know, I always say I work 60 hours, so I don't have to work 40 though. The pros of, you know, owning a business to me far outweigh the cons. for me, it's always been about

you know, freedom of time. You know, I haven't missed my kids anything. I haven't missed their games or the recitals or their performances. It's like that to me is invaluable.

Kaila Sachse (10:45.762)
Hmm.

Kaila Sachse (10:55.886)
that is huge. Yes, that is a huge, huge benefit. You know, you did talk about some of the cons and I think it's important to be honest about what not that you're not, but but it's important to to showcase, hey, this this is all that comes with owning a business. And and as we know, this show is for people who may be interested in starting a business. So it's really important to understand what we're getting into. Now for you.

It sounds like you inherited one of your businesses from your dad who inherited it from his dad. Is that correct?

Jeremy Owens (11:33.418)
So it was a little bit more complicated than that. My dad and grandpa owned a business up in Spokane, Washington. That's where my family's originally from called Owens Western Builders. And that's where they really operated in the 70s. And we moved down to Folsom, California in the late 80s. So in that timeframe, I was going through school. I went to college, got a degree. After that degree, my dad and I hooked up.

So our basically our second business at that time, called three generations improvement. So he kind of gave me the reins right away. I mean, he, he always knew what his lane was and that's always been in sales and dealing with clients and he's great at it. And, and he knew my lane would be the ownership piece. so it's something I've had from the beginning, you know, going on almost 25 years or so, in the seat and it's.

It's great. Like I said, there's so many things to be very grateful and blessed for. You said kind some of the negatives. mean, besides those moments of difficulty, mean, think of 2008, 2009, no one wanted to have a business then. was just, it was awful. So big moments of economy, you feel obviously. The small things are the ones that are...

A little bit hard to measure. But like I said, those times of checking out, you know, I know that my ex wife, Valerie, who are best friends now, and she'd comment a lot about, you know, on vacation and you're still kind of checking in on the business. And, you know, when you're small, it's not some something you want to do. It's not something that I felt like I really had to necessarily. But at the same time, it was like, if I don't follow up,

It just gets worse for me, you know? And so if there's a client that needs something or, and we, you know, we try to do our best to pass that on to others. But if it's something that, that the business needed me for, if I wait a week, you know, that particular client goes from, you know, a level one to a level 10, you know? So it's like, there are things that about business that, that unless you own one, you, you won't understand. and, you know,

Kaila Sachse (13:46.581)
Right?

Jeremy Owens (13:55.114)
Ideally you want to get to the level where you have the, that second in command and third in command and fourth command that can just drive the business for you. You know, we kind of built it to be a little more lean and mean and to be a little bit, you know, less overhead. you know, which that's the con part, right? Is, is that you, you kind of are on a lot. And, so that it does, it does have an effect on the family. And I was very present, but at the same time, you know,

In the morning when they're still sleeping, I'm probably down in the lobby of the hotel drinking coffee and on my laptop.

So those are the little tiny things that, my kids saw me work in horror and they always have, but it's also that business ownership piece where if you are not a business owner, you're not even bringing your laptop. So it's those little things they add up, but like I said, on the ledger for me, it's so much more positive.

Kaila Sachse (14:45.216)
Hahaha

Kaila Sachse (14:56.8)
Yeah, yeah, 100%. I have been self-employed since 2016. I've taken a handful of vacations and they were bona fide, like, do not, don't try to contact me because I am off the grid. And yet I still found myself going on my phone, into my email, making sure that there were no fires. And that's just kind of part of

Jeremy Owens (15:02.542)
So.

Jeremy Owens (15:21.965)
rights.

Kaila Sachse (15:24.649)
part of being that lean mean, a smaller team and making sure that, like you being the boss and you running everything, you being the manager too, that's what's involved. You have to check up on your business and make sure that there's still a pulse and things are still going on.

Jeremy Owens (15:46.508)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it, you know, a lot of people could call that a negative, but to me it's like, you know, that's the position you're in, right? Like if you, if you want to take the, that time off, then a, need to either build a bigger team and have replaced yourself better or be on own a business. Because like, if you're just going to be that person that is going to take, you know, seven to 10 days of completely checking out and thinking everything's going to be great when you get back.

You got a rude awakening and now you have this thing with like online reviews and there's so much power that that that folks have, especially homeowners and clients that, you know, you don't want to mess with your business like that.

Kaila Sachse (16:30.055)
Yeah, yeah, that's a solid reminder for everybody out there with the business and with an online presence. Make sure you're constantly combing through, not constantly, but make sure you are regularly combing through that online presence to make sure that what's being said about your business is accurate, right? And so if there's a, for example, if there's a negative review and it's not accurate, it's gotta be addressed and that has to be figured out.

Or vice versa, if there's a negative review and it is accurate, maybe it's something about your, your, something that your team did, or maybe that even you did, that also has to be addressed. You want to make sure you're, you're in service of people and not to the detriment of others. So, so tell us about what happened in 2021. You start us construction zone. That was a catalyst for you. How did your life change? What, what did that look like?

Jeremy Owens (17:12.428)
Absolutely.

Jeremy Owens (17:24.142)
Yeah, I could say that it was, this was a COVID thing, right? I kind of had some ideas about like, Hey, we need to really connect. You know, we weren't able to connect during those COVID years, right? And, know, I'm not a huge conference goer, but I typically go to maybe one a year typically. And that's where you get to be around your peers and around mentors and folks that are really leading the industry. And it's a good place to really.

You know, kind of reset focus, get some new ideas, all those things. you know, when that stopped, it kind of made me think like there's, you know, we have LinkedIn, which is, you know, how it is. It's just, there's a lot of folks on there and there's a lot of noise. And I really just wanted to try to find a place where, you know, we're construction folks and especially managers owners that could connect and really talk about our issues. And, know, our issues are tough because, you know, we're at the top, you know, like.

It's, difficult to talk to a lot of folks about your problems. So you really do need to have mentors or other people around you that you could go to them for, because otherwise, you you keep them to yourself. And, and, and that to me is a bad, it's a bad move. know, mental health is very important to me, but also learning from others is very important to me too. I, I figured this thing out along the way. I had a business degree that I haven't used. I still haven't used yet. I'm waiting on, I'm waiting.

But, you know, like, so like until you start doing it, you don't really know what you don't know. And then you, you know, you make mistakes and you, you, know, you don't make mistakes, but also like, if you're willing to ask others for advice and be a networker, then I think it really does help your business. So it really was built in along that is like, let's find a way to connect. And, and really it was, turned into.

a lot of podcasting, turned into building products and services geared for the construction industry. It turned into me having people that I trusted and making sure they're highlighted on there. So I want it to be eventually a place where there's a big laundry list of things that can purchase and places you can go to get to get the help you need. And that's kind of where I envision it going. It's difficult to spend the time, you know, when you already have this big baby. So

Jeremy Owens (19:45.578)
It's a, it's that I wish I had more time for, but at the same time, you know, it's, why it's a side hustle, right? It's, it's meant to be just kind of a fun thing to do and really a passion thing for me.

Kaila Sachse (19:58.813)
What kickstarted your passion for helping people in the construction industry with mental health, I'll say lack of support because it sounds like there's a lack of support in that industry. Is that true? And where is this passion coming from?

Jeremy Owens (20:18.53)
Yeah, it's kind of always been a component of our life. Unfortunately, basically a few days before we got locked down in California, my wife at the time's brother committed suicide. And so that moment was obviously a very pivotal moment for our family, but also a galvanizing one for me in that I wanted to be someone that could

be open enough to talk to anybody with those issues. And so that really started it. Obviously going through COVID and having that issue and having a divorce for my kids. And there's a lot that they dealt with in a couple year window. Like I said, that really did challenge all of us. So mental health is important for my family. And then for the industry itself, construction is ranked number two in suicide deaths.

really the last good 10, 20 years, it's been kind of a hidden secret because it's not something they like to highlight as an industry, but it's been there. Now people are talking about it and it's a little more mainstream because there's a little bit less stigma, there's a little bit less of that, know, we're tough guys, you know, so it really has changed, the industry has changed in allowing the conversation to at least start. So...

I've had a lot of mental professionals on my podcast. I've had, you know, just folks that have dealt with them themselves, but also people who can help. And so I've taken a lot of zoom calls with, just checking in on people and being, being something, some person that, you know, they don't really know from Adam, but at the same time, they know I'm open to, to the conversation and, and being real about it and being honest about, you know, our own personal struggles. it.

It really has been quite, quite a thing for me. You know, I obviously didn't think it was going to be this way, but for me, that's if I had a million dollars today would be how can I help that part of the industry, you know, Excel because it's, it's like I said, it's a real big struggle and there's still a lot of kind of old mentality folks, older, older kind of reneging, industry in that.

Jeremy Owens (22:40.62)
we're really having a hard time with the younger folks. So the older guys are still holding on to their bravado and the mentality that I can get through it, I can do it myself and that I don't need help and all those things. And it usually ends up turning into alcohol and substance abuse, which is a big component to why there's such an issue.

Kaila Sachse (23:02.523)
Mm.

Kaila Sachse (23:06.811)
That's so it's so unfortunate because I can see how One person's actions can domino effect into everybody else in their life, right? So if one person is holding on to say that bravado as you say and they they don't feel comfortable With their own emotions. They don't even know how to identify their own emotions. They don't know how to express them and get them out instead what they do is they numb it with with a substance or

Jeremy Owens (23:35.415)
you

Kaila Sachse (23:35.782)
Fortunately take their own life and that Ripple effects that doesn't just affect them that affects their family their their friends their neighbors their co-workers everybody so it's it's so beautiful how you are Challenging the stigma and helping to normalize Something that it sounds like hasn't been been talked about How do you?

How do you create a safe space for someone to be able to come to you with these conversations? Because that's obviously very hard. How do you do that?

Jeremy Owens (24:11.96)
Yeah, I think it's for me, it's been just such a huge talking point, right? If people have checked me out and, and seen some of the guests and go back and review some of my content or go to other people's podcasts. And it's like a very common talking point for me. So I think for one, it's if it is something you're passionate about, you got to talk about it a lot and then have experts on and, know, them, them talk about, you know, what, what it means to them and what we should do. And here's where you should call and here are your websites and all those types of things.

all start coming into play, then you're like, okay, now we got something. And then a couple of times, people sending me like, hey, can we jump on a call? have a couple of things, taking a call. Like that has been, that's been like one of my secrets is that you don't know what it is. You're like, look at them. You're like, I don't even know what, I mean, are they selling something or, you know, like you're, for the most part, people are like, I'm too busy. I'm just gonna pass on that, you know.

And for me, it was, especially during COVID, was like learning that zoom calls are okay. And that you get kind of used to them. And you're like, before you know it, you're like doing maybe one a day and you're like, man, I'm meeting a lot of people here. This is kind of cool. You know, you want to jump on my podcast, you know, just like stuff like that just started coming from it. but also there are a couple of people who are just like, just fully wanted to talk. And like, there were some that were in the military that, you know, have always struggled with mental health and.

You know, so it was just like, man, anytime let's stay in touch. And so it was just being open about it. I think that's all. That's the starting point is like, you're open about it. Talk about it. Take a call, you know, be vulnerable, talk about it yourself and your own struggles with it. And then maybe they open up, maybe they don't. If they don't, that's fine. You just stay in touch and know that you're the person that if you need to talk, I can be here. I can't help you in that I can't.

solve it, you know, but you know, I can listen and that's about that's about the extent of my mental health capabilities.

Kaila Sachse (26:08.922)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (26:14.99)
Yeah, yeah. What is what is something that we can do as colleagues as friends as as loved ones to look out for our circle and and watch for any signs of someone who is struggling? What do we look for? How do we address it? Or do we address it? How do we?

Jeremy Owens (26:34.734)
You know, I think it's what I've kind of talked a lot about with my folks is that it's changed the conversation. And one of it is that we grew up in an industry and being with my dad and grandpa, like it was all business. was like work, work, work. You know, you don't really even compliment people because you don't want them to get like, you know, a big head about it. You just want them to work. You don't really even know what their family situation is. You know, you sure, you know, they're married, but you don't know.

about what they're doing. You you don't ask about their kids. You just don't ask anything. And the business meetings are all business. Hey, how do we do on sales today? How do we do in this? And it's stopping that and having moments to actually check in with people and getting one on one time with your team and making sure that you're asking a question, you know, how you're doing, but then asking it again, how are you doing? Because if you ask how you're doing, people say, I'm good. And then it's just, you're off. That's not checking in.

Kaila Sachse (27:31.566)
Yeah, right, right, right.

Jeremy Owens (27:34.892)
You have to really get in and you have to say like, how did that baseball game go last night? You have to dig in. And if you're not digging in, then you can't do anything. They're not going to come to you for anything. You're not a play a safe place. You're not a person they're going to trust. So like, and that, that is an individual decision that, and that can be a business decision too. You can figure out things to do as a business. And if you're the owner that that's not good at that, that's fine. Find somebody on your team that is.

but you need to have a space where people can talk about their lives. And we spend so much time together, you know, more so than probably our own family. So to not even know what's going on in their life, it's really crazy to me, but it's, our industry was very, very much known for that. So, and there's obviously industries that are very similar. You know, you talk about police and fire and military, and you talk about...

You know, there's farming and agriculture is right now number one in terms of suicide. So there are some, some industries that it's still not part of the conversation. And so that's the little tiny things you can do, but it takes time. It's chipping away. Like, you're not going to say that one time and then Johnny's not going to come to you tomorrow and talk about his mental health. It's going to some time. It's going to take them actually trusting that, you know,

Kaila Sachse (28:51.416)
Right.

Jeremy Owens (28:59.811)
you do or you are looking out for.

Kaila Sachse (29:01.942)
Right, right. Some of my favorite work relationships are those where we hop on the phone or we hop on Zoom and there's a good five, 10 minutes of just catching up. How's your life? How's your husband? How's this going on? How's that going on? How are your kids? Just like getting to know each other again and connect on that human level.

Jeremy Owens (29:18.018)
Mm-hmm.

Kaila Sachse (29:29.313)
And then we dive into all of the business stuff. And it's something I've had the opportunity to learn through a few of my clients who've actually taught that to me, where it's like, hey, we don't have to be all business. It's okay to talk about our humanity and our wellbeing first before we jump into the ABCs of what has to be done next to make XYZ dollars.

Jeremy Owens (29:33.069)
Yeah.

Jeremy Owens (29:56.942)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (29:57.224)
We can connect, it's okay. And if anything I'm learning as a business owner, it's worth it to do that. There may not be an actual ROI, right? Your bottom line might not show it, but you spending that time getting to know your team, talk to them and even hold them during the hard moments. I've had team members come to me and be like, Kaila, I'm struggling right now. And be like, okay, that's okay, that's okay. You're allowed to struggle.

Jeremy Owens (30:25.496)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (30:26.914)
You're allowed to struggle if you can't meet the deadline, that's okay. We'll figure it out. Like your humanity is more important than the business dollars and cents. Those will figure themselves out always. And I feel like maybe part of that comes from an abundant mindset. I don't know. I don't know. Because it can get really easy to get caught up in scarcity. What do you think?

Jeremy Owens (30:32.941)
Right.

Jeremy Owens (30:51.342)
Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. I mean, I think you're right in that it's not measurable at the moment, but I think it does hit the bottom line and like retention is important, right? And I think for our industry, we had the biggest problem with, we commoditize everything. Everything's about numbers. And before you know it, your top sales guy is going to your competitor because the number is just slightly better. And sure, he has no reason to stay.

Kaila Sachse (31:01.847)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy Owens (31:20.462)
What reason did you give them to stay? It's all about the money. So if it's all about the money, then they're just going to keep moving around. And that's what we found a lot in our industry. We're still struggling with that, but it's getting better. And that we know that you have to have an environment that they want to come work for. You have to have, you know, a culture you have to have like, you know, for the younger generations, if you're not talking about culture, if you're not talking about, you know, what you stand for, what you give back to what

you what's your community service look like, then you're not going to be able to hire anybody for one, but to retain them is going to be next to impossible. So I think that's where, if you have a big enough business where you have that many team members, then you really have to focus on that whole culture piece and knowing that, I really like that. I like that job. You know, if I go make an extra 20 grand next year, I don't know that it's worth it because I know I like this. You know, so if...

Kaila Sachse (32:16.2)
Right.

Jeremy Owens (32:17.846)
If you can kind of somehow figure out that secret sauce and if they do move on because of money, then that doesn't fit your culture, that's fine. Move on to somebody else. So it really is, if you can get that well-oiled machine working, then you'll attract the right people and it'll work itself out.

Kaila Sachse (32:28.181)
Right

Kaila Sachse (32:36.817)
a hundred percent. I just had the coolest conversation with Paul Stonick from Kik Consultancy. His episode is actually out now. And we talk about how you can go out and buy the coolest office, the coolest, you know, nap pods and, coffee station and all the coolest things. But realistically, your employees, they care more about how they're treated, how they feel when they show up to work.

the people who they are around. You can have the coolest office set up, but if you're sitting next to somebody who you don't enjoy working with, how important is the office set up, really? If you're under leadership who is pressing you in a way that just isn't working, are you gonna stick around? Are you gonna stick through that just because you have a pinball machine in the break room? I don't know, probably not.

Jeremy Owens (33:32.446)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, you're right. And it's, I'm working on this thought and presentation. It's it's kind of more in my head at this point. But it's really about finding your why and and every everybody's different, right? I mean, everybody has a different some some are, you know, motivated by money and some are motivated by recognition. And some are motivated, motivated by quality time and freedom of time to spend elsewhere. You know,

is some are not motivated by any of those things and they want less days work. You just don't know. So unless you if you don't find out what that is because a lot of people in our industry they just go right to sales. They just go right to here's our scoreboard. We're going to recognize the top salesperson. They're going to get an extra whatever and that's it. Like so everyone's got to fit in this box of like OK I got to sell more. But a lot of people are motivated by that. They're like

I don't even want the extra thousand bucks. And I really hate the scoreboard thing, you know, like, so like you got to find out what motivated you almost have to customize it for each person and go like, Hey, you know, what is it that you what you what do you like? You like money? Do you want, know, Friday off you want like, how do we, how do we help kind of motivate each one individually and recognition for our industry has been awful forever. So like that's never been a thing. You never recognize.

Kaila Sachse (34:33.501)
Hahaha

Jeremy Owens (34:57.044)
anybody so now it's changing in that you know at least you're recognizing people for doing doing good things and and that's that's a starting point I think

Kaila Sachse (35:06.901)
How do you figure out someone's motivation? I mean is it is it as simple as asking them what? What do you want? Do you want more money? Do you want more days off or is it is there a different strategy? How do you how do you figure out what your team members want?

Jeremy Owens (35:21.87)
Yeah, it's tough. I, that's the kind of thing I'm trying to formulate. I there's, there's a couple of books that are in front of me and there's some other things that I'm kind of working through, but it really is about, you know, having the conversation first, right. And really you have to dive into it. And there might be some personality test things in there as well that I've, I've read about that, you know, kind of getting an idea of what motivates your team. It's not as simple as, what do you want? You know, cause a lot of times.

Kaila Sachse (35:49.235)
Yeah.

Jeremy Owens (35:51.054)
go to like what makes sense like, yeah, the money makes sense, you know, but you really have to dig in and, you know, going to going to like an industry related conference, you can kind of see the differences there. You know, like I was just I was just in one in Chicago and it's it's really all about when you're there, it's all about highlighting the biggest, you know, like, you know, we did 150 million last year and you're seeing all this kind of play out and you're like, that doesn't motivate me personally.

And I'm sure there's other folks that feel the same way, but for a lot of people, there's a competition that happens. They're like, okay, I got to really get to this. You how do we kind of level up with them? And so like, it's interesting, but you kind of know right away where you fall. And for me, it's like, I don't care to compete with you. want, you know, sure, I need money for my family, but I want to make sure that I have time to do what I want to do and not be my entire life is my business.

Kaila Sachse (36:49.969)
Mm-hmm. It sounds like some some personal development needs to happen there for you to be able to identify it for yourself and understanding what What motivates you is it external factors? Is it you know, does it look financial? Does it look like other people's expectations of me or is it internal? Who has I think it's Gretchen Rubin's ooh, I've got to link this in this show notes, but

Jeremy Owens (36:57.271)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy Owens (37:10.657)
you

Kaila Sachse (37:15.816)
really really cool author she dives into the three personality types and you know, is it is it extrinsic is it intrinsic or are you rebellious? So it's like how do you respond best what what actually motivates you? Yeah, I gotta I gotta find that added to the show notes, but

Jeremy Owens (37:21.388)
Mmm.

Jeremy Owens (37:26.286)
Hmm.

Jeremy Owens (37:33.096)
Yeah, and I'll also add this one. The book that I started based on a recommendation from a friend is Start With Why. And it is a book by Simon Sinek, S-I-N-E-K. He does a TED Talk that I watched. And it's really interesting because it does talk about not only like

Kaila Sachse (37:42.42)
Hmm.

Kaila Sachse (37:49.767)
yes.

Jeremy Owens (38:01.464)
trying to find your why, also like do it as a business and talking about your why more. And a lot of people just go right to, know, here's the product, here's the, here's the money, blah, blah, blah. But like, if you don't talk about why you're doing it and getting, and getting into again, that culture piece or that here's what we do as a business. Like this is why we do this. then a lot of folks, obviously you're drawn to that. Hey, they buy from people anyways, but

If they buy from people with a heart and with a passion for something and with, you know, we give back to this organization, then that extra five grand on a $80,000 ticket isn't going to really matter. They're going to be like, that's something, you know, I like that. So like trying to figure that out for your business. What does that look like? You know, start with your why.

Kaila Sachse (38:49.157)
Yeah, yeah, and from the business owners end as well, when you understand why you are running the business, why you're founding the business, why you're running the business, that's going to help later on when things get tough. Because you can look back and be like, wow, this time is really difficult. Do I want to keep moving forward? But then when you think about your why, you're like, well, yeah, obviously I want to keep going because my why is so strong.

I'm on a mission, I have a purpose, I'm gonna keep going. It's motivational in that regard.

Jeremy Owens (39:23.906)
Yeah, yeah, definitely, no doubt.

Kaila Sachse (39:26.183)
Yeah, so what are your, let's talk about your family for a second. What are your dreams for your kids? Because obviously it sounds like you're changing the game here. You're opening up really important conversations for the industry. What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your kids? What do you want them to learn from you?

Jeremy Owens (39:46.326)
Yeah, it's a great, it's a great question because the legacy piece is kind of really the word that I would narrow down to the reason I started U.S. Construction Zone is that, you know, my biggest why is that in the end of after all my career and spending all this time doing this, you know, what do I, what do I have to show for it? You know, and it's not going to be about the money, right? It's going to be, are my kids proud of me for what I accomplished? And

What's cool about podcasts is it my voice is going to live on, which is great, but what else, you know, what did you help build? What'd you do in the community? What, and a lot of these things that, you know, I don't talk about, they're going to uncover it eventually. Right. my, my son who's 14, he went with me, the second year to, this remodeling conference called pinnacle experience. And he's just, he's learning about the industry. Maybe, maybe he's going to do what I do. I don't know, but.

It's pretty cool because we go and then we go to baseball stadiums and we do, we have a lot of bonding time. Um, but so he's seeing, he's seeing me actively in the business and so he's seeing it firsthand. But really that legacy piece to me is, is everything. And that's, that's my biggest why is, is what, what am I going to have to show for this thing? And it's, you like I said, it's not going to be how much money we have or, or the things we have. It'll be like, what did you do to get back to?

your business or your industry or your community or all of those things.

Kaila Sachse (41:17.104)
Yeah, that's so beautiful. Jeremy, where can people find you? If they need help, if they want to hire you, what resources do you have available? Where can they find you?

Jeremy Owens (41:30.124)
Yeah, definitely you can email me, jeremy at usconstructionzone.com. I'm on LinkedIn, kind of. I try to, but follow me there. You jump on my live shows. If you want to book a call for me, just ask. I'm an open book. I have people from our industry on my show and people from out of my industry from my show. Kaila's going to be on my show next month, I believe. for me, it's about meeting

Kaila Sachse (41:53.55)
I am. Yes?

Jeremy Owens (41:58.766)
people that are cool or have something to say and are passionate about something and sharing that with my audience and it works. It's just real life, real people, real hurt, real pain, real mistakes, real things to say. It's amazing how many topics you can really uncover when you're doing it like that. It's not for me, it's not sales 101. I really like to peek behind the curtain as much as I can with people.

Kaila Sachse (42:12.059)
Yeah.

Kaila Sachse (42:24.387)
Yeah, that resonates. That resonates so much. know, as, a marketer, I get into the, the, the backend of businesses to help them grow. And gosh, I love marketing, but I don't want to run a show about marketing. I'd rather run a show about talking about business owners and what the life is like behind it. So I completely resonate with, with what you're saying. Thank you so much.

Jeremy Owens (42:35.618)
No, no,

Kaila Sachse (42:52.421)
for all that you are doing. It sounds like you are positively impacting the lives of people in the construction industry. I would say, I would dare to say the lives of men as well. So thank you so much for destigmatizing a difficult topic. This is important.

Jeremy Owens (43:09.774)
Thank you. Thank you so much for saying that for having me. That's what really does keep me going is just getting the feedback of, of keep going. You know, that's really kind of, you know, all the matters because I can keep running my three generations business all day and I'll get the positive feedback I get from our, clients and projects, but that this is bigger. It's bigger than that. And, and that's why I keep getting the encouragement to keep going. And I'm like, I don't know where it's going, but I'll just, I'll just, you know, I'm along for the ride.

Kaila Sachse (43:40.165)
So beautiful. Thank you so much for your time today, Jeremy. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. I look forward to being on your show next month.

Jeremy Owens (43:50.432)
as well. Thank you so much.

Kaila Sachse (43:51.217)
Thank you.