Built Different: Business, Family, Discipline

This week on the Dual Coast Podcast, we sit down with Tyler Gravatt for a real conversation about entrepreneurship, family, discipline, sacrifice, and what it actually takes to build something from the ground up.

Starting a business is exciting but the side people don’t always see is the pressure, long hours, uncertainty, setbacks, and sacrifices that come with it. Tyler opens up about his entrepreneurial journey and what he’s learned while navigating the constant challenge of building a business while still being present for his family.

We get into the mindset required to take an idea and turn it into something real, why discipline becomes even more important when motivation disappears, and how entrepreneurs learn to keep moving when things don't go according to plan.

In this episode, we talk about:

🚀 Starting and building a business from the ground up
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Balancing entrepreneurship with family life
🔥 The discipline required to keep showing up
💼 The realities of being a business owner
🧠 Handling pressure, setbacks, and uncertainty
⏳ Managing your time when everything feels like a priority
💪 Sacrifice, resilience, and staying committed to the bigger picture
📈 Lessons Tyler has learned throughout his entrepreneurial journey

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about building a successful business.. it’s about who you have to become along the way.

Whether you’re already a business owner, thinking about taking the leap, or trying to balance career, ambition, and family, this episode brings a perspective every entrepreneur can relate to.

🎙️ Dual Coast Podcast — two coasts, real conversations, and guests who are doing the work.

Subscribe, drop a comment, and join us every Tuesday morning at 9 AM EST / 6 AM PST.

#DualCoastPodcast #TylerGravitt #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneur #Business #BusinessOwner #Startup #Family #Discipline #Mindset #Success #Leadership #PersonalDevelopment #WorkLifeBalance #Podcast

@Dualcoastpodcast @Russellrogersofficial @Danscoca

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Here we go. Good morning, Dual Coast fans. Hold on, let me clap. Good morning, welcome back to another exciting episode of Dual Coast Podcast. If I don't clap, Russ gets upset on the website. I do. I get angry. I gotta do the clap to bring him uh, you know, a little bit of joy this morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

It starts my 5 30 a.m. wake-up call here on Dual Coast. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Very special episode coming up this morning. Mr. Tyler Gravit is backstage right now. We're gonna have a good time with Tyler in a few minutes, but real quick, something to introduce for you, everybody listening right now. We want to bring attention to the Dual Coast store that we have online right now. Russ is wearing his hat, Dual Coast merchandise, available at Dualcoast Podcast Store.printify.me. It's a tongue twister, but I'm gonna put it in the few minutes so that way everybody can get a little feel for that. Dualcoast store has a bunch of new products out there, guys. It has sweatshirts, great merch, t shirts, great merchandise, water bottles. What else we got on there, Russ? Tea, hat sweatshirt.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I mean, you know, it's not a long laundry list of items, correct, but quality, short, concise list of items, but quality items.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Yeah, support us, support us as uh as we're getting our name out there over the last year and a half. Well, you know, we're almost coming up to one complete one and a half years.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I was actually, you know, it's funny you say that because I was talking to Tyler before off air real quick, and I was saying to him, I was thinking about it to myself, I'm like, wow, how long have we been doing this podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:27

And it's yeah, we're we're pushing next next next week, right? Today's the 23rd. Yeah, next Tuesday.

unknown 1:34

Woo!

SPEAKER_00 1:34

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Speaking of next Tuesday, we'll end the month with Camille Ellis, a grief counselor. Going to be an amazing time. It's gonna be at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, but in two weeks, time change.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Correct. We are going to move Dual Coast Podcast morning show one half an hour in the future. So therefore we're gonna start at 6 a.m. on the west coast, 9 a.m. on the east coast, starting in two weeks, everybody. So we're going from 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 a.m. in hopes that more people will listen. No. And I'll be more alert. And we'll be more alert. We just we just made the assumption that more people will be in the middle of their commute at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Everybody just kind of getting into work. We want to turn on to dual coast a little bit early. I think it's more of a beneficial move for us, and I think it's beneficial for our listeners. So we're gonna make a little bit of a move early in the morning, not much of a shift, but a little bit of a shift.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

30 minutes, that's it. 30 minute shift.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yep. Still subscribe, still look, still view, still watch us live on Instagram. Check us out on all our different handles. But you know, most importantly, is we are still here. Yes, we are still here.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

We're still picking. Let's go, baby.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

We're trying to do uh to do our best to make a difference in this world, and uh, you know, through guests like Tyler, who's gonna be on in just a moment. Um, looking forward to talking with Tyler. So let's do it without further ado.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Without further ado, Mr. Tyler grabbed.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Tyler, there he is.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

What's up, guys? What's going on, man?

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Here, lean up a little bit. Let's see that logo on that chest right there. There we go. There it is. Nice, nice, nice. Are you in the shop right now?

SPEAKER_02 3:21

I am not actually the shop. I felt was gonna be too noisy, all the guys working uh robot cars and everything. So I wanted to have a nice quiet space, dedicate some time to you guys this morning. Gotcha, gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Very cool, very cool. Well, I know off-air you guys were connecting on the nonprofit. Dan, you forgot to mention about uh about your nonprofit, and then we're gonna kind of tie that together with Tyler.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

I did forget to uh yeah, that's correct. So I'll I'll kick that up real quick. So with Slice of Charity, we are doing a feed our heroes auto festival, kind of ties into Tyler also, automotive right now. But uh that's gonna be on Friday, July 24th at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. It's gonna be on Long Island, Veterans Massive. It's the whole and Veterans Affairs in Massapequa, New York. Um, it's gonna be great, guys. We have a bunch of exotic cars coming. Porsche Group is coming, who's big on Long Island. We're gonna do a full event, food, drinks, everybody. We are selling tickets uh online at sliceofcharity.org. It's gonna be a great time. July 24th, Friday, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Awesome. Yes, and that ties right into Tyler. It does because of the car business.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yeah. Go ahead, Tyler. I want to hear all about the car business, man, what you're doing and how this all came about.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Yeah, so I I basically started my business by accident. Um, so I'm an entrepreneur, also an entrepreneur. Um, but we do detailing, metal polishing, and and rust prevention vehicle undercoating. Um, so I have a small shop here in Cream Ridge. We have six six guys that work in the shop full time. Um it's small, small in scale. I I still think that I have that small part-time kid hustling for for money in college. That's really how I started the business. Um, doing friends, family, just I grew up in the automotive culture and uh it was off to the races. To date, I haven't done any paid marketing. It's all been pretty much word of mouth connection, uh, which has been a blessing, um, standing on the quality work. But that has grown to me becoming the owner and not so much the operator over the years, and has allowed me to get into different things like Dan. You kind of mentioned the nonprofit space, um, some car cruises, different culture events that we do in the community um around the automotive envelope. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

That's amazing. Yeah, dude. You what's uh Tyler, tell tell us you said it by accident. So let's let's go back uh you know, pre-car and then lead right into that you know, uh accidental run-in with uh vehicles. Did you already have like you know, a love and a passion for for cars prior to this?

SPEAKER_02 6:04

I did. So I actually grew up here in central New Jersey on a family farm. Farm's been in our family since 1913. Um now we primarily do grain farming, but I've always mechanically inclined, tinkering things, working on things. Uh thankful to my parents and grandparents uh were in kind of the hot rod culture, classic cars, muscle cars. So I was always in the garage with my dad, my grandfather, was a tractor or cars, whatever it may be, working with my hands and getting out there. Um so that's where that kind of initial love of mechanics and and car culture came to be. Transitioned through college, um, University of Delaware, mechanical engineering. Um, I worked in a Porsche shop, and then I basically wanted to do something on my own. I always had this kind of entrepreneur mindset, um, whether it's trying to do something better on the farm or just growing into this detailing business. So again, it was it was fans, friends, family, things of that nature. Um, and then it just kind of grew and grew and grew to the point where I need to hire my first employee. I couldn't do it all myself. And I I briefly mentioned I'm also an entrepreneur, so I'm also an engineer for the Navy. The whole time I've been building this business and and working on on the automotive side. So my time was really maxed out um to the point where I could only do so many vehicles essentially by myself. Hired my first employee, turned into a second employee, turned into a commercial shop. Um, so it's it's been off to the races since no pun intended. That's awesome. No pun intended. What's your favorite car? Uh my favorite car. I'm really uh into it. I'm a truck guy. Uh drive from the farm influence. Um, so I I have uh an 86 Chevy pickup. Um, it's actually pink, uh, that my daughter wanted to paint pink. So it's it's like a big monster truck, big pink monster truck, but it's it's so much fun to drive and it's uh it's just a lot of fun. That's cool. That's cool. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

I'm I'm assuming I'm assuming it's all lifted and you know uh looking looking very monstery and ready to run over some, you know, like Porsche cars and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Yeah, you can say that. Very very big, big shiny wheels, big tires. The tires are almost as tall as my daughter. So um, yeah, it's it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Hopefully, not crushing Porsches, hopefully crushing this maybe a little something cheaper than that.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Yeah, yeah. Porsche is my love for for vehicles, is my all-time love.

unknown 8:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

That's a good one. What about you, Skoga?

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Yeah, I side with Porsche. Also, honestly, not I very much so like a 992 turbo. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Um if I were to jump and dabble in the car world, I'd I'd actually probably say Porsche as well. After that experience that I had in college working in that Porsche shop, working on a lot of the the older the 70s to 80s Porsches. It's it's uh the engineering side of that is is bar none. Yeah, I believe that.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

A lot of people say, like, even people who have multiple sports cars like Aston Martin, Lamborghini or that they say Porsche actually handles mechanically the best. You know, um, I don't know if that's true or not, because I've never driven any of those. But that's what I've heard.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

There's all there's always Turo. You can rent somebody's car, you know?

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Yeah, that's fair point.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Fair point.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Uh Tyler, uh, you've built a personal brand around your name. Why do you think personal branding is so important in the business world?

SPEAKER_02 9:43

I think it's it's super important. And I'm I'm still developing my personal brand, to be honest. I I think the last six months I've put a lot more effort into my personal brand than any anything else. Um, and becoming the the operator or excuse me, owner rather than the operator has allowed me to do so to focus on that. So I I talked about our community events. So everyone kind of knows me in the local area uh for some of those community events, and that has fed the business accordingly. So becoming that that expert in in that respective automotive field has has proved dividends in the business. Um so like, oh, he's the truck guy or he's the car guy. We do some giveaways and different things with local businesses and collaborate with other local businesses, even if they're not automotive, but to to stake in the game of hey, those are the experts in that field. Um and even if I don't have that right answer or right path for for that solution, I'll work to get it for you. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

You know, we're two days removed from um Father's Day. So uh tell me what um what did your kids do for you?

SPEAKER_02 10:57

My kids did for me. So uh we had a very low-key day, which is great, um, especially between my Navy position and the business, downtime and family time is super important. Um, so we had a very low-key day. We hung out at the house, we went to back to the farm and and hung out with some family at the farm. So just enjoying that time and presence. It was a beautiful weekend here in Jersey. Um, so being able to get outside and and swim and play was it was perfect. That's awesome. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Well, can you recall your favorite uh moment as being a father?

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Ooh, favorite moment. There's so many. Um, I I don't want to say this is probably one moment, but a recurring moment. Um my trucks are loud. I have a couple of them. So the kids can hear me coming down the road and pulling in the driveway. So uh the moment I pull in the driveway and that the door flies open, we have a storm door, and the kids are are waiting for me to run in. Like that moment in itself after a long day is the best moment of every day.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Very well said, man. Love that also.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Nothing like being a dad, right? Yeah, I absolutely love it. I have a son and a daughter, perfect blend of both. Um it's it's the best.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah. You know, a uh I I would say, you know, like for me, not that you were asking, but just I, you know, that that uh that thought was the moment of seeing my my children being born is probably one of the greatest moments, uh, you know, as being a dad. Like it's it's unbelievable because you know, you love your spouse or whatever, right? But then it's just that love that pours out to that child that you help bring into the world is absolutely amazing. And of course, many highlights along the way. But uh, yeah, so happy Father's Day to you, two days late. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. So let's jump over to the Navy side. And uh let's talk about what your passion was as far as getting into the Navy and what really brought that about.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

So um I'm not really sure what drove me there, to be honest. I I've always had a sense of you know patriotism, things of that nature. Um, but I was really at a career fair and liked what I heard, like the influence. Um, this was almost a decade ago. Uh, I've been very happy. I've I've traveled quite a bit. I've been as far as Japan, um, a lot of time on the West Coast, um, down the East Coast as well. Um, so it allowed me to take that mechanical mindset and provide value directly to the Navy. Um now I'm on I'm on the civilian side, I'm not active duty or anything of that nature. Um, just a civilian. Um, but to be able to see the impact and and how things that I was working on mattered and influenced directly to the fleet, it it showed a lot.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Well, you have the uh Navy's you know style haircut, you know, keeping it, keeping it short. A little white almost white wall action. The reason I didn't join, I was trying to figure out how could I get in the navy with long hair, but yeah, it's not possible.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah, it's it's gonna be tough for you.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

They're gonna let you get past the gate. You're gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Oh, they're like, here through the steps, stay outside, stay out there.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Keep that gun out. Oh, that's funny. Oh, that's funny. That's awesome. Tyler, uh, you know, you've had this business for a number of years now. Coming out of college, we're starting into entrepreneurship. What's something you've changed your mind about in the business world over the last five years that maybe you thought you had a misconception about that you wanted to change?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

I think originally, and even up until recent years, I always thought, okay, if I just work harder, I'll make more money. If I just grind, grind, grind more hours, more hours, more hours, it'll all work out. Um, and that shift has has changed a lot recently. And I'm thankful for it, especially with my kids. When I was first developing the business, um, after I kind of realized it was more than a side hustle, um, I was working seven days a week. I I'd go go work with the Navy, and then I'd work in in the shop until about midnight, and then start it all again at you know 4 or 5 a.m. the next day, seven days a week. So it was 16, 18 hour days, grind, grind, grind. I'm thankful for those moments because it laid the foundation for for what I have now, and I'll never replace that. But to work that method today, it would be simply impossible. Um, I've sacrificed a lot in those years with with my wife, uh, before we had kids, thankfully. And even early on when my son was firstborn, um, I sacrificed a lot of time to develop the business and and grind and provide in that manner. Um, but now to be able to be on this podcast with you guys and have the team working or to to do other events and and look to the future instead of the right now has has shifted quite a bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yeah. How how did you make that transition? Did you start to delegate task more? What did you do that actually got you out of that grind mentality?

SPEAKER_02 16:22

So I I came out of the grind mentality kicking and screaming, um, to say the least. It it still comes back in waves um as certain things need to be done to say I'm I'm totally out of that. I'd be lying to you. Um, but I had to. I I was essentially killing myself um just just to work. And I had no social life, no family life. I was on the verge of of you know losing some of my family. Um and I didn't want that. It you know, the the reason I built the business and was building the business was to provide this this life and be able to step away and enjoy life a little bit. And really I wasn't at that time. Um, it was all work and no play. And now, not to say I'm playing all the time, but it's it's a lot more balance. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

You know, for the for those that are out there that are thinking, um, you know, maybe they work in a nine to five, working for another company and everything, what would you say as far as like somebody that's really you know, got that thought on the on the edge of their tongue in their mind, if they're just like, hmm, I'm I think I want to go on my own. I think I want to do something my own. And they're trying to balance that out in their thoughts. What would what what kind of um advice would you give them going from you know working in the Navy, you know, being in that regiment of life, and then grinding 16, 18 hours into this business? Um, what would what advice would you give to them right now for those that are just contemplating maybe making that initial step? Hold on.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

It's a wild ride. Yeah, um, you will have ups and downs. There, there's no way around that. Um, and I mean, we could geek out and say, you know, three to six months of of safety net expenses and things of that nature, but but hold on. It it is a wild ride. I wouldn't want to replace it for anything else, um, especially being in the position where I am now with my team and and the crew. But it is very hard. It is from the ground level of uh you know moving into a business that I I really learned the technical side as well as the marketing side and HR responsibilities, thing, things of that nature all on the fly. Um, so one thing that I do recommend if anyone's getting into entrepreneurship or business space that doesn't have that kind of experience, I've doubled down and probably progressed twice as fast with a business coach. Um, because I have an engineering background, I'm very methodical risk assessment, but I don't have the the business capability or at least knowledge, uh, you know, other than the school of hard knocks. Um so with a business coach, I've been able to, you know, 2x or 10x that knowledge and path that much faster than what what I once previously could. Yeah, that's great, man.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

That's great. Tyler, when you have to have a certain mentality to be an entrepreneur, and you have to have a certain mindset. What would when you when things aren't working out the kind of way that you want them to work out, how do you keep that self-doubt away? How do you get that mindset mentality that you're not gonna self-sabotage?

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Your vision has to be stronger than the fear of failure. So where where you're going, you have to believe it with all of your heart and and what you're going to. So we've I I just had a had this moment, you know, last week with with the business. We had a couple big hiccups, um, some tooling and equipment, the whole nine yards that way. And I sat to myself, and you know, is this really worth it? Is this worth all the headache and and risk and things of that nature? And you know, but then I have the vision of the next shop. You know, we've only been in our shop for for about three years. We're already planning our next shop and the next team addition and the next services to add and how we can better serve the community, what kind of impact we have with with our few events that we do every year. Could we double that? Um, so your vision has to be larger than your feel fear of failure. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

I love that. I feel like there's always this sense of like something goes wrong, but then you could look at the future and see that sense of excitement, and you have to let that excitement supersede that sense of failure.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

100%.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

And and I've a lot of the problems that I face today, I I prayed for those problems. I mean, from working in my dad's driveway when I first got started to to now having a shop and a team of guys and things of that nature. It's it's I'm I'm very blessed to be where we are now and thankful for for that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Have you worked on a Dan Sikowski car?

SPEAKER_02 21:11

I have I yes, actually, I have uh one of his trucks.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Okay, did you ever screw up on it and hear the wrath of Dan come at you? I have not, thankfully.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

Yeah, yeah. Um, crazy lifted stuff. He has he has a fleet. I mean, he's he's uh he's an automotive enthusiast. He he may not post about it, may not share it, but he he is, and it's it's a very good relationship to have. But does he have a pink truck? That's my other thing. I bet he doesn't. Not that I'm aware of. Big D slacking, bro.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Oh my gosh. I just took my uh granddaughter a couple weeks ago with my brother. We walked through uh a uh car show out in modesto it's a big one it's where you know where graffiti nights i don't know if you ever saw the you know like the movie from modesto and stuff but it was it was unbelievable the amount of cars and trucks you know and it was a hot day so you know my granddaughter lasted about 30 minutes and then you know had to you know give her snow cones and food and you know get her in the shade and play games and try to you know keep it fun and entertaining you know but you know there is just um to see the creativity right uh with people's minds like it it's beautiful to see and when you can put it into a uh a paint job right or chroming things out like it's you know the engines and the interior you know it's uh you know it's a lot of fun but you know being able to to do that hands on is it is awesome so I applaud that you have that creativity but you know teamwork right you know is not easy I have a team in in landscaping uh bringing the team together I I know what that's about we're not necessarily on the job like you are you know we're kind of spread out you know all throughout the week but what is it about teamwork that makes you the happiest that makes it click that when you can bring everybody collectively together um in and bringing you know continuity to your team um team team morale team execution uh managing people is has been uh a very large learning curve for me um tons of different personalities things of that nature one of the highlights for my team uh was just about two weeks ago there's a a big event called Atlantic City Truck Show um over 5,000 vehicles come to this truck show and we detail for on site for some of the vendors so to see my team rally through the chaos of that event it just brings smile to my face um I've done the event for five or six years now um and it's always a a rush.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

So we show up Thursday around noon and we don't leave until Sunday evening uh or Sunday Sunday sometime during the day we had to closure of the show but nonetheless my team basically put in 50 hours straight um very little rest very little sleep to the point where it's you know 3 a.m and we have the lights on and we're all still grinding we got the music we're dancing we're singing it's we're getting a little delirious but the soap's still spraying and we're still putting on tire shine and all that stuff in the dark and just grinding and those moments are you can't help but smile you know it's there's that thing I've seen on social media it's type two fun you know it's it's hard in the moment and really um could be a struggle but you're gonna look back and talk about remember when remember when we did that that crazy thing or that struggle and and then you sit back and chuckle about it. So so that was just a pinnacle moment in the last last month or so for for me and my team. That's awesome. That's awesome have you ever have you ever like looked around and said where is my pen I I think I'll walk around the shop quite a bit and say where where is this where did that go? Everyone seems to have their own organizational strategy I'll call it um but yeah one 100% you ever seen somebody like you know where's my glasses and they're like on top of their head yeah yep I want to I want to back up real quick because I can what does that truck show like entail like what it's in Atlantic City you just said it is it's at Baderfield uh the old airstrip in Atlantic city um it's been going on I want to say five five or six years and we've we've detailed every year on site there except for the first year where we were actually a vendor um but it's it's unlike any other experience I I can't describe it there's there's a uh high horsepower there's a dyno there's a a burnout competition people travel as far as as the West Coast and Texas and things of that nature for for this show um specifically and I mean there's anything from daily driven pickups to half a million dollar to a million dollar show trucks on display um for for you know spectators to look at and talk to and vendors selling and different parts and lift kits and wheels and tires things of that nature.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

That's awesome. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

I don't know that that's that's a lot of vehicles yeah yeah it's it's uh until you experience it it it's you you can't really describe it and like I said we we detail out front of the show so we're on site we're hired by the show um to detail some of the vendor vehicles so we did about about 50 details in about 50 hours that's crazy getting busy getting busy oh my goodness awesome so so when you you know so you're balancing work civilian navy you know you've got the family you've got the kids wife keeping everything balanced as best as you can but what about what about Tyler himself what is it that you do how do you take care of yourself uh in and staying busy and how do you carve out time to make sure that your health and your wellness is top priority so I've gotten a lot better at this recently um but one phys physical um with with my Navy position we have full access to to the base gym and things that nature so my lunch break I'll actually slip away for for about 45 minutes to an hour get a quick workout in and then what I've found is when I do that lunchtime workout it I come back at at one o'clock or whatever it may be and sit down and I'm actually refreshed. I'm not tired. I'm not getting that two o'clock slump where I need to pound another coffee um when that's not capable typically I try to try to get up before um or if I'm not at the base that day I'll I'll wake up before the kids uh hit a quick lift things that nature that's that's what grounds me and um being able to you know work out things that nature um carving out my own time for my own projects like the pink truck you guys have mentioned um being able to work on my own projects has that's what feeds the fire and and keeps that going for me um I mean obviously tons of housework projects or or you know working on things with the kids but even allowing and getting my kids involved in those projects of recent has been huge. So the pink truck it's pink my daughter wanted a pink Barbie truck so we painted it pink so now she's kind of involved and she thinks it's her truck and do the same thing for my son and uh but those those moments and that that uh you know personal project development things of that nature are kind of what keep me grounded.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah that's good man you know we gotta have that you know what you know it's you put we put it out there all the time work life balance right yeah um but you know health is is most important and and that's what dual coast is all about is all about you know making sure that people in the grind are taking you know that that time carving out that time if you've got a nine to five making sure that you get out from that desk and just you know take a five minute walk you know through the office or get outside that would preferably that would be the case but you know really balancing our lives out and really making it a priority. And I I know you and I had a discussion uh you know with regards to this and you were saying at that time like this is something I'm really trying to build into what I'm doing. And it's and it's a high priority. You know so yeah my encouragement is man keep doing it keep doing what you're doing you know and and you could still work out and still have that afternoon coffee because I love coffee.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

I knew that was coming it's true though because even if you look at like a lot of these high level corporations and everything like that they all have gyms on premise like they all encourage the fitness routine they all encourage getting out there health coaches on staff sometimes nutritionists on staff because I think it creates better workforce honestly like and you say you know you go on your lunch break you come back feeling refreshed. I mean I totally agree with that a lot of people who take a break they go they sit down they have lunch they come back and try to rework and they're not doing so hot because they just pounded you know a thousand calories and now they're they're slumping but if you get out get some fresh air feet on the ground you know get a little bit of exercise then I feel like you get more refreshed a little bit more energy 100% I've actually even initiated that similar mindset into the business as well.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

So I I give the guys all of our full-time guys a gym stipend. So hey show me you're going to the gym you're active and we'll pay you know contribute to your membership we do a physical job we're out in the sun we're you know doing wheels tires whatever it may be I want you to be healthy I want you to take that action so we incorporate that into our employment package as well to try to take care of our our guys that's cool dude I like that a lot yeah that's uh that's not something you hear too often that's uh yeah yeah and it's like I said it's it's been super foundational for me so that was you know a a non-negotiable just just from the start when I was developing you know our our hiring package and things of that nature for our first early employees so it's been standard since and I I wouldn't you know not every employee takes us up on it but it's available and I I really do believe in it. Yeah yeah no totally agree man totally that's awesome that is awesome like that what are you gonna say Ross I just cut you off oh no no no no you didn't cut me off no I I I just um what what tell me a little bit about um your relationship with Dan Big D and uh what kind of impact that uh he has made in your life and in your business and in your family because uh I I know that he has a a great role uh in your life yeah so big D he'll claim that we only met a few years ago but I actually met him many years ago at a truck show uh with one of his big lift trucks I was a no name he didn't realize who I was um but I sure surely knew who he was at that time um fast forward a few years his two sons are are developing two businesses and we interact quite a bit in our business um but I came to this this crossroads where I was really down in in the business and at that point the vision wasn't larger than the failure and I I was really concerned so I was entertaining the thought of selling the business for for quite some time and and somehow Big D came into the the threshold and straight up Dan told me hey I I could take your business for pennies on the dollar but here's what I think you should do. You know at that time he wasn't uh I wasn't a coaching client of his it was just brutal honest this is you know where I think I can help you and it was totally free and and he really could have taken my business and turned it into something 10x at what it was at that time for pennies on the dollar and he didn't so for that I'm I'm very grateful. But at that time he kind of took me under his wing informally um I attended one of his free events and it was you know okay this is this is really what I need he really knows what he's talking about.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

And then I've been a coaching client of his um for for about a year or so now and what and looking back over that last uh this last year what uh what would you say is your growth like what is what is your growth man?

SPEAKER_02 33:38

So it's taken the chaos and giving me a lot of control. So we've developed things like systems uh clear training program uh for for new hires which has allowed us to scale and add in some of the the team members that we currently have um and focused on the numbers and a lot of closing a lot of the leaks in the boat that we had um so I was just kept you know trying to pour more in pour more in but I had a hole in the bucket so now closing up those holes we might have a small small leak here and there but we're working to plug those before dumping more fuel onto the fire awesome that's awesome that's awesome Tyler what would you or Big D say is the most underrated business skill um I can't speak for Big D I will say um delegation because I struggle with this um I have a really good general manager now but even when I'm in the shop I notice that I step on his toes and his responsibilities and try to take action um you know and part of that is early on and you know he was new to that role so I still had to guide him and step in every now and then and but now he's he's fully trained and he knows his responsibilities and so my presence in the shop actually sometimes can be detrimental um to his responsibility. So being able to delegate and and you know have faith that he's going to execute on his role as well as our technicians as well um it's it's that delegation piece is is a huge skill that I'm still learning.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Yeah that seems to be a very common answer amongst the entrepreneurs that come on dual coast is delegation seems to be a very underrated skill or you know a skill that needs to be learned as you kind of excel through business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Yeah 100% yeah yeah Skoka have you used the word concur when you're in the medical field?

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Yeah but we say it jokingly because it's in the if you can so we always go do you concur more of a joke thing but yes almost almost on a daily basis concur I love that it's so funny.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

You know there's a lot of fathers that are out there listening today uh Tyler um to to this uh talk and um you know that have children or families you know and what what little bit of advice would you encourage fathers that are out there that are listening and that are entrepreneurs very busy in their lifestyle the importance of family know why you're making the sacrifice and don't don't overstep that sacrifice so in the sense that when when my son was very young um I was I was scaling the business and working to grow the business like I mentioned I was still working seven days a week so I miss a lot of the early on moments um and it put a lot of additional responsibility on my wife who is also still working full time so reflecting back on that that's one piece that I I do miss a lot and I can never get it back but prioritizing the family time now is is super important. So even if it's a 30 minute block where you're gonna go play outside and catch the ball or or go to the park, prioritize that time because just like the gym after lunch we we kind of mentioned um that's gonna bring you back refreshed and give you more purpose to keep grinding and keep going. I for for a lot of time even if I had to go back to the shop after bedtime I'd call it PBT post bedtime I would never miss bedtime. So I I'd always come home from the shop eat dinner put the kids to bed and then if I had to go back I'd go back late in the hours but the hours from like roughly five to seven those those are sacred hours I love that yeah for sure Tyler so you've built this company from the ground up pretty much it has your name attached to it you through the Navy through college and everything you started to scale this business up.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

What legacy do you want to leave with your name on it by forming this business?

SPEAKER_02 37:58

One of the things that I always grew up with uh with a family farm it was um oh I know your father I know your grandfather he's a good man or or they do great work or you know um so so having the the gravat farms legacy tied into me that's that's kind of what I want to leave for my kids to whether it's um you know they see someone at the at the mall or the shopping plaza with a gravat garage t-shirt or a hat and oh yeah your dad did great great work or you know the the company did great work um on my vehicle thank you and things that nature that that sense that I grew up with I think is is something similar just not so much even the vehicles but hey your your dad really took care of me or the guys at the shop really took good care of me and they helped me in a pinch or things of that nature. That that piece I think is is part of the legacy. And we do our own truck shows and community events too um we kind of touch on the nonprofit we do the cruise against suicide with lifted for life um so we'll be in attendance for that and things of that nature and uh we've donated quite a bit to either cancer cancer fundraisers and things things that nature so um that impact goes a lot further than than just trucks and shiny cars and shiny wheels yeah that's awesome yeah I always love the legacy question it's a good one that is a good one it's a great question um you know it's um you know in in this world today you know uh men struggle all the time you know with uh various things in their life and overcoming and what would you say you know for you personally what was the biggest challenge for you to overcome in your own personal life um the biggest challenge in my own personal life was biggest challenge I I'd say say the balance piece um because I I I really did struggle with that for a lot and and then once once I found and KCI really kicked off some of the lifted for life effort um I could I could feel there was a moment I could feel my family life slipping away literally through my fingers like sand falling through my fingers. And it was just one more car one more wheel polish and things of that nature. And there was a moment um right after my son was born um we we had a couple financial pieces with a house and then my son needed open heart surgery things that nature um so that's when I really doubled down to financially provide for the family but I didn't provide as a father I wasn't the the solid rock I wasn't that foundation I wasn't supporting my wife um even though I was financially providing I was missing out on all the other pieces um so that coming to that understanding was a huge hit um to the ego to the you know my professional um development things that nature um so that was a a huge turning point in in my life that's powerful yeah um Tyler we have uh we have a question or a quote I should say that we kind of close every single dual coast episode out with and I I know you've watched a couple episodes and does have to be related to fitness it can be related to pretty much anything and that quote is wellness is not about perfection it's about progress. What would you say that quote means to you I would say that you as long as you're willing to continue to improve you're on the right path. Russ and I talked a couple weeks ago I was in one of the lulls with with my workouts and not staying consistent in you know being physical and that was basically draining me through through the business I wasn't doing my reading things of that nature um the things I try to do the daily habits and I made a path plan made a path um it's not perfect but I'm better than I was yesterday. And I I think that that kind of goes forward on on everything whether it's like you said working out or your mental health there's tons of support out there if you're making a level of effort to get the support you need um or supporting someone else and you see someone else in need hey you know just reaching out giving you a quick phone call checking in wellness check whatever it may be better than yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yeah awesome Tyler it's been a pleasure today man yeah man thank you uh thank you for coming on man just talking about life you know talking about family talking about business talking about Navy I mean just you know a lot of things uh you know in your life that have been impactful and I and I I really really appreciate you know not only just talking to you on the phone but you know seeing you live here uh and talking about it and what wellness is to you what business is to you what family is to you what being an entrepreneur is to you so um I appreciate you sharing all the advice that you've given to others and the things that you've learned and the challenges you've overcome.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

No thank you very much for having me on guys. I I've like Dan mentioned I've listened to a bunch of the the you know audio platform pieces um and I appreciate you guys having me on as a guest. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 43:25

Appreciate you being here Tyler where can people find you in Gravat Garage?

SPEAKER_02 43:30

So I'm on all social media platforms as Tyler Gravat and the business pages at Gravat Garage on all social media platforms.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Awesome man and if you're in New Jersey look for the pink truck the pink truck easy way to cite that is very true.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

This has been a great episode we talked about everything soup to nuts today from mental health physical health cars this has been great really powerful a lot of people listened I'm really happy about that I hope everybody got a lot out of this conversation today please check out Tyler on all his social media handles check out Quebec Garage check us out at Dual Coast Podcast on all social media handles as well as well as the dual coast store like I mentioned before at the dual coast website I'll put that in the comments everybody to check out new time coming up in the next two weeks 6 a.m and 9 a.m that's 6 a.m Pacific Standard Time 9 a.m eastern standard time for the new dual coast timeline we will see everybody next week with a very special guest as well Tyler Cravat thank you so much for being here this morning we really appreciate listening see everybody next week thanks guys have a great day you as well