ThinkBiz Podcast
ThinkBiz Podcast is your go-to show for real conversations about building and growing your business. Hosted by Garrett Hammonds of Hammonds Media and Nolan Rogers, we dive into the challenges, wins, and strategies that matter most to small and startup companies. Tune in for expert advice, inspiring stories, and actionable tips to take your business to the next level.
ThinkBiz Podcast
Clean Start, Big Impact: Rob Hair on Leaving Corporate, Leveraging Social Media, & Dominating the OKC Metro
Join us for a powerful conversation with Rob Hair, the founder and Field Director of Exterior Cleaning Professionals, a high-end luxury detail cleaning service in the greater Oklahoma City metro. Rob shares his incredibly relatable journey from a state of "absolute misery" in a toxic corporate job to taking a "leap of faith" into entrepreneurship. Discover how he navigated the "rollercoaster" of early business ownership, the crucial shift from seeking "freedom from" to embracing "freedom to", and why embracing vulnerability was key to his success. We also explore the power of "delayed gratification" in sales, the art of getting a "no" before a "yes", and why "execution" in communication is paramount for building trust and securing referrals. This episode is packed with insights for anyone looking to make a career change, start a small business, or grow an exterior cleaning company.
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Podcast is produced by Hammonds Media. For assistance with you digital marketing needs, visit https://www.hammondsmedia.com
we eat a bunch of silly goslings in an early morning podcast and we're recording hello hello We are here with the ThinkBiz podcast, and today is going to be a very fun episode because we have the legendary... The mighty... The Mr. Rob Hare! What a
SPEAKER_00:great
SPEAKER_01:introduction, thank you. Thank you for being here. We appreciate the early morn before getting to business.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yeah. It's always good to get up early.
SPEAKER_01:It is 7.30 right now at the time that we're recording and it was a little gross getting out of bed. That's fine. My little one did not approve. I should still be in bed for another hour. No
SPEAKER_00:baby girl, you gotta get to work. I had to fetch a binky at 5.15 this morning. My alarm was set for 5.30 and it was just like Why? I don't even get to enjoy.
SPEAKER_01:Why can't I have just 15 minutes?
SPEAKER_00:I did get back into bed, though.
SPEAKER_01:That's fair.
SPEAKER_00:But then I got up.
SPEAKER_01:Well, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Yeah. So my name is Rob Hare and I am the founder and field services, field director, field director of exterior cleaning professionals. And so what we do is we come to your home or business and we provide high end luxury detail cleaning to the exterior sides of whether it be house or building. We specifically work within homes right now with it being summertime and We use an array of cleaning techniques, and we service the greater Oklahoma City metro. We have traveled outside, so we'll go to Enid and the Euphalos of the world, but predominantly we work within Oklahoma City metro. More
SPEAKER_01:than
SPEAKER_00:one Euphalo. Yeah, the Euphalos. Take that, Euphalo.
SPEAKER_01:You're on the outside. Well, no, that's amazing. And I think it's really... important that we highlight the distinction between this is not just like a pressure washing company. Pressure washing is one specific thing that you all do as a part of your exterior cleaning. But you have a variety of methods to be able to help really enhance that curb appeal and keep good maintenance and cleanliness even, you know, talking about mold here with some houses. Um, but this is, this is something that's relatively new for you all. Like, I don't, you know, you've been at it for, for a little bit now, but what's that journey been like as, as you've been creating this successful company?
SPEAKER_00:It's been a ride. Um, it's been a real ride. I'm sure any entrepreneur, uh, or small business owner you were to ask in the beginning stages, um, what's it like? It's, it's been every bit of a, I would say a rollercoaster. I mean, peaks and valleys for sure. Um, we kind of, we're at a spot right now where we were, we were able to, we're actually having dinner last night, sitting back and going, Oh my gosh, we were pretty much already at, uh, We're exceeding the revenue we made in the first year, and we're a couple months into the season. But to kind of back up into it, I was thinking this morning, okay, what am I going to talk about? What am I going to say? And as I'm sitting there making my coffee and stuff, I'm like, okay, for years I always wanted to do something for myself. Wow. I just never knew what it was. And I would say I would have conversations with friends and be like, I always work for myself. I have no idea what I want to do. No idea what I want to do. And I would say that for years. And then it got to a point where I was at in my career. I guess we could say of just being miserable. Absolutely miserable. And this was in the it started in the summer of 2020. Uh, 2022, I believe. I think, yeah, 2022. And, um, I had a really good job and I, I was, uh, in health insurance and it was a different kind of health insurance in terms of what we were selling. We were selling, um, uh, to, uh, self-funded plans. So like businesses are paying it all themselves or not. They're not subbing it out or whatever to, uh, to the big carriers. Well, anyways, uh, I was about 80% working from home. We just had our first daughter. And I thought I was in this space like, well, I get to work from home and I have my daughter that we're raising. Catherine also worked for the same company too, just in a different department. And Catherine's your wife and business partner. Same company. Out of our home office in the same office. And we had our... At that point in time, she was one, I would say. Excuse me. And I thought, I've made it. I got a good salary. My wife is right next to me working same company. It's a family-owned operation. Why am I miserable all the time? You know? And it just got to a point of... I was so unhappy... with what I was doing because I would wake up hating, dreading the day. And I'm supposed to be excited because I don't have to put my daughter in daycare. She's right here next to me and I get to help raise her. But the team I was on And the company I worked for was just kind of a toxic environment. And so it took me a while to realize that it was toxic, but I just hated my life. I mean, that's a strong word, but I guess I didn't hate my life. I hated who I was becoming in that life. I was a glorified email flipper. And it really just exacerbated me. Like, I want to do something. I've got to do something for myself. And my mom would come over and watch our two-year-old– Sorry, I'm saying two because she's two now. But she would come over and watch. She would come over and watch her at the house. And I would go out and just like vent to my mom. Ah, my team is driving me crazy. And one time I went out there and I was like, man, if I was– I have a nephew. He's 20 now. At the time, he was 18. I was like, if I was him, I would go to Home Depot and buy a pressure washer and just go door knocking. I made like$200 in a day. That's what I would just go do. I just want to go– that's what I would do if I was him. And as I was saying it, I just remember telling her, I was like, wait a second, you know, I might do this. Well, um, you're married. So you understand how conversations go, Garrett. Well, my mom leaves and I'm, I'm the type of person, like when I am like, I have an idea and it gets me excited. I am like a fighter jet. I'm all in, I'm coming full, full steam ahead.
UNKNOWN:Um,
SPEAKER_00:So Catherine had, I think she had to go into office that day and she came home and I had already had a plan. Like I'm going to quit my job. I'm going to start this pressure washing business.
SPEAKER_01:She was like, you're what now?
SPEAKER_00:And when I brought it up to her, she was like, whoa, buddy, pump the brakes. What are you talking about? Like, who are you essentially? And we had this big conversation about it. And I was, I mean, I left and I was mad. I was so mad because I was like, I want to do this for myself. Like, this is what I want to do. But I didn't put any thought behind it. It was just like, I'm so miserable here that I have to do something just to get away from it. Well, the dust settled. The conversation went in a different direction and I kind of had to reground myself. Like, okay, hold on, wait a second. Like what, what am I actually thinking about here? Am I just trying to hop around from point A to point B? If I'm going to do that, I'll just go get another job. So, um, time went on, still working for the same companies, trying to like make myself happy, which is a really hard thing to do to make yourself happy in an environment where you're you can't be happy, if that makes sense. So there was one day I was outside and we had a Thai pepper plant, Thai chili pepper plant that Catherine had planted. And I was out there cutting peppers. And I would take like two hours on my day because there were so many peppers. I'd just be out there cutting, listening to a podcast. I was listening to a podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Worth it, though, for
SPEAKER_00:a
SPEAKER_01:good pepper.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I'm a pepper fan.
SPEAKER_00:You know what's funny? We didn't even eat the peppers.
UNKNOWN:What?
SPEAKER_00:They were sacrificial peppers. I gave some of them away, but we have them. They're actually in our kitchen, and she strung a stream all the way through them, and they're like hanging up as a decorum, I guess. Nice. But anyway, so I was listening to this podcast, and this guy.
SPEAKER_01:The Think Biz podcast. podcast, obviously.
SPEAKER_00:We didn't exist then. You're right. I was listening to it and this guy was talking about how during the pandemic he opened up a pressure washing business and it was highly profitable. I just had a moment of like, okay, I was hell-bent on this six months ago. This is coming back into it. I think I can do this. I had... I already had the conversation with my wife, Catherine, now business partner and fellow owner. Okay, how can I approach this differently? And so I actually took time and took notes and journaled about it, about what would it actually look like. And so I kind of regrouped and came to her with this idea of owning my own business and it being... a pressure washing business to start. And so that's kind of where it all cooked up together. And, uh, I packaged it up nice and pretty. And I said, what do you think? And she took some time and she said, I think you should go for it. Now I'm comfortable. I feel secure. Go for it. And so I did and jumped in both feet. I mean, so
SPEAKER_01:that's
SPEAKER_00:amazing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and I think that so many, so many people listening, you know, who have, uh, gone through some kind of journey that's similar it's it's such a relatable story that you have because you know entrepreneurship if you if you from well lack of a better term stumble onto it as opposed to if you know some people go to like get degrees in entrepreneurship nowadays i'm like what does that even mean man but it's um It's something where usually there's a work environment that was not conducive to, you know, how somebody functioned or the team was toxic or there was a moral dilemma. You know, whatever the case is, you know, there's so many stories where somebody can say, I knew I had to take the leap. And when I finally did, it wasn't easy, but it was worth it. And, you know, it's... It doesn't always work. But you and Catherine, in taking that time to be able to find what does work for you, have built something really, really cool.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I think I said it when I presented. Freedom from versus freedom to. And I think so many people decide to become entrepreneurs to have freedom from. I want freedom from my boss. I can't stand. I want freedom from my really toxic team. I want freedom to go take a lunch whenever I want to, whether it be two hours. I want freedom to go to the park with my kids this day. And I wanted that. I'm like, I want that freedom. And I quickly realized that, okay, by having that freedom, I just have another job because now I don't like my new boss, which is me, because now I have this business that's not generating any revenue and nobody's calling me. You know, we built out the website. Nobody's calling. Why isn't anyone calling? Yeah, I'm running these out. You know, all these things. And so I'm like, I have this freedom from. And then I had to kind of zoom out and tweak that to go, okay, freedom to. Now I have the freedom to go to the park. I have the freedom to take as long as of a lunch or whatever I want to go spend time with my daughter. Kind of flipping that on its head. It changed the course for me because, you know, It allowed me to like, I guess, open up space to focus more on being intentional with the work I'm putting in, you know, the outflow, I guess, to be able to get. To reap, to be able to get some, to make the wheel turn. Arguably, that's
SPEAKER_01:a skill set in and of itself that a lot of people just don't have. And I really, really appreciate you, Rob, sharing the story of how you got into this and this process you've been going through the past few years. But to kind of give some of the listeners a little bit more context, what do you actually have to do on that one day where you're missing the job again to make sure that you don't jump out
SPEAKER_00:with both feet? I would say as hard as it is, pick up the phone and call, go to the door and knock, um, call your friends, call your, I would say, you know, your peers and ask for advice, ask for help. Um, and honestly it's, it sounds really easy, like, okay, just to pick up that phone and call, but it's really hard when you're in that moment, when you're like in the trenches, you're like, I don't know what to do. I want to jump out. I just go get another job. Like this is, this is too much to expel that, say it, and then kind of set back and let it set and then go, okay, I can pick up the phone and I can call Nolan. Hey, I'm dealing with this problem. You might have maybe know somebody that needs something done. So I would say that is, is being vulnerable. um, not necessarily to other people, but to yourself, you know, put yourself out there. That's a really hard thing to do. And we all know as business owners, it's very hard to put yourself out there. I think a lot of business owners are introverts to the core. And so I think if you're able to just, whether you're faking it or not, just, just make sure that you, your, your stacking days, um, Even if it's a little bit, you're just stacking,
SPEAKER_01:stacking,
SPEAKER_00:stacking,
SPEAKER_01:but
SPEAKER_00:it's
SPEAKER_01:also reframes. I was listening. I listened to some artists a lot to get different contexts on how to create, how to produce, but it was framed as the price of creation is that vulnerability. And I think that really speaks to part of the entrepreneurial or just business ownership process is that to have the freedom to part of that sacrifice is the vulnerability.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. It is. I
SPEAKER_01:love that. You know, part of, part of what just makes the business a success for y'all is that journey of building relationships because, you know, you, whether that's, you know, knocking on a door and meeting somebody for the first time and connecting with them enough to be able to get a yes. Yeah. Go out and, and, and, wash, clean the exterior of my home, or if it's making a new professional relationship where somebody says, Hey, I have the perfect referral to be able to send your direction. It's, it's just incredible how much relationships tie into, I would say every business
SPEAKER_00:exists. It was eyeopening to me. not only joining the club, but starting to entrepreneurship, maybe with all of us being a little bit newer into this of how everybody knows everyone. Like you, you get behind the door or the curtain is pulled back a little bit. And you're like, wait, okay, so everybody here actually knows one another? And you're exchanging things that way? I did not know that's how business was done. I thought in very, I guess, basic terms of I go out, I pitch this, and this person says yes. And it's not necessarily that simple. It really is all about who you know. And especially in my industry, because referrals are king. I mean, referrals are really what keeps the wheels turning because everybody knows somebody.
SPEAKER_01:So I guess that's a good question of how do you build a strong referral pipeline as a business owner. Yeah. Also kind of a reframe because I would argue that's easier to do when you are already kind of 30s, 40s, and you're starting your first business. But what would you tell that previously 18-year-old nephew? How would he start finding humans that are his referral network? Great question. That's a really good question. This is my job.
SPEAKER_00:So I would– Look at it. You have the device in your hand with your phone. So you can obviously Google anything or run it through a chat type thing to figure out, okay, what's my ideal customer type profile? But if I was talking to my 18-year-old nephew, I would say, go to the neighborhoods with the nice new homes. Go to the neighborhoods where people are paying for lawn care. You see a sprinkler guy out there. You see a gutter guy out there. You see somebody having their home painted. People that are, I hate to say the word disposable income, but there are people out there who are going to pay to have nice things. And we want to be able to partner with those people who are going to pay to have nice things. Cause we are going to bring a white glove service to ensure that those nice things are very well taken care of and upheld. So I would tell him don't need to go to a business, go to a neighborhood and just, and just knock. I mean, it's, it's not fun, but if you can get through the first like five doors and, Everything, the dust, like I say, the dust cells, I'm saying that a lot, but the nerves wear down and you've kind of refined your pitch by that point. It's like, just get to the first five, first three, and then you're going to know what to say. And you're going to know really quick if they're going to want to buy or not. And so I would say that. Go to the neighborhoods where there are nice homes, where you see nice cars driving out and post up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Offer a free service. Offer to do their sidewalk for free. If you're just using a pressure washer, you know. offer to do their driveway for free or just a test section, or maybe their mailbox. I mean, mailboxes, especially here, a lot of people have brick mailboxes and mold and mildew here always grows on the side where the sun is not hitting. So the North side, Northeast, Northwest target those. I mean, and you can have results, you know, within minutes by applying the certain chemical and a certain pressure and make it look brand new. And so, um, It's just finding little things that people don't necessarily know are dirty until you bring it to their attention and they go, oh my gosh, I had no idea that this was even a problem.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's one thing that makes you unique as well is that when you– When you started into things, one, just a good marketing principle in general of you have to show up where your audience is at. And that's whether it's a physical context or digital context, you're going to... You'll find people all the time who are just trying to show up everywhere, and it doesn't make any sense. You've got to show up where your audience is at. But number two is that you don't just keep trying the same thing over and over again. You're testing different offers. You're testing, and then you're learning as you're going. And you are not just about your craft, but about your business. And that's another thing I see. I see businesses do wrong all the time. I'm talking businesses that make 60 to 100 million dollars a year that they you just see lazy marketing. Yeah. And you are constantly looking for ways to be able to say, hey, I. I am learning something new. And so that 18-year-old cousin, if he falls in that same pathway, if he wants to be successful, he's going to do what you're doing, which is always learn and grow and know how to be able to improve your craft.
SPEAKER_00:I always tell people to don't be afraid to jump in with both feet. I mean, I think a lot... This is just my own opinion, but I think a lot of people like to go one foot in, one foot out. That way, it's easy for me to go, okay, that didn't work out. Shut the door. I'm done. I don't. I'm all in all the time because... And actually, I heard this from Robert Norris, a fellow club member. There's no plan B. I don't have a plan B. This is plan A. And I'm going to make plan A work. And so... I'm all in and I push all my chips to the table because high risk, high reward, I guess you could say, but it's also fun. Um,
SPEAKER_01:yeah,
SPEAKER_00:there's a, there's like a adrenaline rush. I kind of get from it.
SPEAKER_01:And you have to reframe the math of the risk as well, because when so few people are actually taking the risk of working for themselves, there's an upside for the rest of us that are willing to just say, we're going to take this risk. But also, yeah, the, burning the boats. Very important.
SPEAKER_00:Because if you hard, it is difficult. It's scary. I definitely, I mean, I'm, I had my moments where I'm, you know, I have those thoughts like, ah, this is just too difficult. Why did I decide to do this? And then you have to go, hold on, pump the brakes, stop and take a step back and just breathe, you know, and realize that, um, There's always going to be a realm where there is a W2 world out there that's always going to be there. Mm-hmm. We all have an expiration date. So. Death. What? Sweet. Yes. I finally get to sleep. We all have this expiration date. And so I look at it as why not?
UNKNOWN:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00:Why not try it? What's the worst that's going to happen?
SPEAKER_01:Death.
SPEAKER_00:Well, it reminds me of
SPEAKER_01:the juxtaposition of two of my favorite movie quotes. On one hand, we have a quote from The 13th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas. So they're about to lay down for the night and wait for these monsters to come with the mist. And one of the guys in the group says to Antonio Banderas' character, he says... You know, the Allfather wrote The Scane of Your Life a long time ago. Go hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Versus a quote from Knight's Tale by Heath Ledger. I love Knight's Tale. So good. So good. But I love that in Knight's Tale, it's all about, is it true, father? Can a man change his stars? Yes, William. If a man believes enough, he can do anything. And I think between those two poles is where business ownership kind of rests. Yeah. Whatever's going to happen is also going
SPEAKER_00:to happen.
SPEAKER_01:And if you believe enough, you can shift the stars.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know, I think a lot of it, too, is... So much of what we're used to is instant gratification. I want it now. I got to have it now. I'm a big believer in therapy. I've been seeing a therapist for like, I think almost nine years now. And he's been hammering it on me for years. Delayed gratification, delayed gratification, delayed gratification, even in, even within the business, having that delayed gratification. I've had jobs or excuse me. I've had cells that have told me no nine months ago. And it sucks. They pop that balloon. You're just like, oh, my gosh. I spent 45 minutes on my pitch, and I'm going to get this sell, and it's a no. But I reframed it. Well, a no today is just a maybe or a yes down the line. And then nine months later, I'll get a phone call. Hey, actually, we saw your Instagram post. We saw your Facebook post. You're right. This is a problem. We want you to come back out and take care of the home. And that's happened. That's happened before. A few times. That's amazing. It's just a reminder that you don't have to have it right now. You just have to tell yourself that I can, I will, I must. And repeat. And then just keep pushing forward. And I think the biggest thing is execution. When it comes to referrals, like your question, on the referral side, execution. Not just in terms of showing up on time, having a clean rig. But executing my conversation with the homeowner, the business owner, that's where I feel like I'm at 30,000 feet is because being able to communicate and execute that communication well, it goes a long ways because people are going to buy from people. And I learned this from a great podcaster and he's local, Michael Morrison. People buy from people they know, like, and trust. So if I can get you to know me, like me, and trust me, then we're going to have a great symbiotic relationship. So I really try to focus on executing my communication with each customer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, there's a book called never split the difference. That's a New York, New York times bestseller out there. Um, but one of the things that's talked about by the author who was a former FBI, um, uh, hostage negotiator who now does business, is that it's actually better to get a no before you get a yes. Now, it's not the exact same context that you were talking about, but a lot of salespeople are trained. Get the yes. Keep getting them to say yes because then at the end, you'll get another yes. But we actually function much better if we can get someone to say no and then yes, because we get a sense of agency over ourselves. And so one of the things that he says on phone calls, you know, don't ask them something. I'll make them say yes. Say, you know, did I catch you at a bad time for this phone call? And if they can talk, they'll say, no, no, now is fine. And that's your first no, right? And so it's interesting just thinking about, you know, there's this persistence that we have to be willing to go in and do the work. But also that no, it psychologically does something for the people that we're talking to, which is kind of cool. And that sales process has to mirror the process that sold ourselves on doing business for ourselves as well. We had to say no to the state that we were in
SPEAKER_00:before we
SPEAKER_01:could actually
SPEAKER_00:only
SPEAKER_01:have
SPEAKER_00:plan A. That is a really good way to frame it. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:I'll give one more shout out here. You mentioned social media. Exterior cleaning pros has an incredible social media presence. Very satisfying. They have... They have really put the time and work in. Rob and Catherine both have spent a lot of time to make some super cool content, which is a perfect transition. We, unfortunately, have come to the end of our time. Wow, that's so fast. I know, I know. And I feel like I could talk forever with you guys.
SPEAKER_00:That's so fast. Well, I will say, on the social media side, that's all Catherine. I just supply the videos. So I'm going to give her her flowers because... If we have time, I begged her, please leave, please leave her job because I need you. I need you. I need you because she is a she she's good. She's very, very good. She's so smart. And she is training herself on marketing. I mean, she's self-taught. I mean, you know, picking your brain, Garrett, and being able to just go in and do things herself is. So I feel like, I mean, she, she, she, the social media and I got a phone call yesterday about our Instagram. Somebody saw it, wanted to quote. So that is all Catherine, all the marketing goes to Catherine. I'm trying to learn more about it. And, um, but yeah, she is, she deserves her flowers on that for sure.
SPEAKER_01:She's an excellent
SPEAKER_00:business woman to be working with too. So very, very fortunate.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, tell us how people can find you if they want to look you up after the podcast.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So we're on Facebook. We are on Instagram. And then we have our website, which is exteriorcleaningprosokc.com, I believe. do that um and then um my i guess can i get my phone number yeah yeah phone number 405-822-0750 that's my personal cell and business line
SPEAKER_01:that's right do you hear that ladies that's his personal cell he has beautiful hair rob hair katherine has a big stick she needs to test
SPEAKER_00:out and um we're not on youtube yet but i think we'll be getting into that realm soon. And I've had people tell me that get a tech talk, get a tech talk. So, um, but you know, uh, Google, Facebook, Instagram, it's the best way to find us, or maybe on a door hanger on your home soon. Yeah. Do what we can only hope. Yes. We only hope.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thank you so much for being here with us. And as always stay sharp. Thank biz.
UNKNOWN:you
