From Life's Setbacks to Stronger Connections | Brian Riley's Story

Recorded remotely from Brian Riley’s garage pub hangout, this episode follows Brian’s path from growing up in Enfield, Connecticut and playing football and baseball to a life shaped by “saying yes,” including a chance retail interview that launched a 20-year career with Structure/Express, where he met his wife Cheryl and focused on developing teams. Brian contrasts today’s club “super team” sports with neighborhood development, explains why time and relationships matter more than money, and shares how COVID pushed him into business development and restoration. He discusses prioritizing trust over selling, rejecting referral-fee kickbacks in trades, helping customers avoid unnecessary insurance claims, and Built Different Restoration’s emphasis on accessibility, ownership, and doing the right thing. Brian defines legacy as being a good person and a great dad, advocates kindness, community, and travel, and describes his dream of owning a community pub.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Be a good human. We're not we're not religious, right? But I think I think a lot of our friends are devout Christians. And I think the underlying message to any religion is just to be a good, decent person. You know, like we're not gonna be a bully. We're not gonna make fun of people, we're not gonna like get greedy and walk, just be a decent human. I think if we do that as parents, we've done our job.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Hey there, welcome back to Above and Beyond Rex with Celebration. I'm your host, John Simon. This season we're raising the bar, diving into the fact of purpose, finding moments of leader. Am I favored for the guide? Real story. Let's get into it. Today's episode is a special one because we're not in the studio. As you can tell by the background, we're coming to you remotely from one of the most legendary neighborhood hangouts you'll ever see. Flippy McGingerson.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I'm I'm uh I'm honored to have you as our first is it first out of studio?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

First out of studio. Built inside his own garage, it's a reflection of the man behind it. Welcoming, memorable, and all about bringing people together. Our guest, Brian Riley, is a relationship builder, a community guy, an amazing father to his three kids, and the proud husband to his much better half, Cheryl. This is a man who clearly loves people, loves family, and knows how to create connection everywhere he goes. Brian, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

This is great, man. I'm excited just to hang out, talk a little bit, we'll uh we'll share some stories, but uh do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

So yeah, so is there a pint limit?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Is there a pint limit? There are no pint limits. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

We could be trashed out on the floor when this is over. We might be. So I start every episode kind of running into where you grew up, what did that look like?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

I grew up in Enfield, Connecticut. Small town back east in New England. Great, great childhood, no regrets. It was just getting a little too small for me at the time. Where I looked around and a lot of my friends were going off to college, they were going off into careers, and I wasn't. So I had a I had a moment where I was like, something has to change. So it did. Yeah? Yeah. Did you uh play sports growing up? I did. I played football and baseball pretty much my entire life. Okay. Yep. How how'd that go for you? It was great. We uh listen, sports back then were completely different than they are now. We're in a we're in a culture of you must win and win, and you build these teams that are just loaded with great players, and all they do is win. Yeah. Where back when I was growing up, it was more about development. And you play with your buddies, you play with your buddies every day, and you got better together and you got coached and you got developed and you learned kind of how to win, how to lose. Kids are a lot better skilled today in their sports and their particular sports. But a lot of times these kids are into clubs and they are just they win and they win and they win and they do not know how to handle how to lose because they win so frequently because of the super teams and the club environment. It's completely changed from when we were younger. Yeah, it's um I personally do not like it. There's there's a need for it, I guess, but I do think it prevents the kids from developing and just building those bonds that I probably you had growing up playing neighborhood sports with your buddies. Yeah, a lot of kids today they don't they don't play sports with their friends, they play sports with the best kids around. Yeah, and I think that's a big miss in our in our kids' development.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Yeah, no, I think I would agree with that. I mean, I think and and really it goes beyond that. I I'm I'm totally a proponent of school of choice. Yeah. Right? I think kids, I think people should be able to choose, but with that I think comes some downfall because yeah, I mean, you get, oh, I don't like this teacher, so I'm gonna move the kids. So now all of a sudden you've got kids growing up with kids that aren't in their neighborhood.

SPEAKER_04 4:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

You know, and can you still develop and build those same relationships? It's like that whole thing where it's like, I just don't know if and it's different. So, like for me, I mean, I grew up in a very small town. It's like this is the elementary school you went to, this is the middle school you went to, there's a junior high, you know, and you didn't have a choice.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

No, it was regimented, and I I liked it, you know. Like, I don't know, those are I don't know about you, but for me, those are my best friends still to this day growing up, are those kids that you you grew up in your small town with, man. Like it was uh it was good. I loved it. Yeah, but again, when you get older and you have different needs and different wants, like you gotta make a choice. And then shout out to the Gilbert Chamber. But like the Gilbert Chamber is where I first presented, like how change uh how saying yes has changed my life, you know, like long, it's a long story, but basically I was I was doing nothing with my life in Enfield. Snowstorm hit, no one was on the road. I had just bought a four by four, and I decided to go driving. I went to the mall, pretty much was all shut down, and then I walked into a store called Structure. Do you remember Structure?

SPEAKER_04 5:26

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

And uh I had no business being in there, man. I was totally hungover, a disaster, and then I went in and I'll never forget the store manager's name. Her name was Tracy Nevins, and she goes, Are you here for the interview? And I was like, Yeah, no, I am. Yeah, so that's awesome. There's a longer story to this, but I basically say, like, my journey started with that conversation by just saying yes. I got hired on at Structure, and then eventually I became one of the store managers of one of the most profitable stores for Express. That's where I met my wife, that's where I had started my family. So like I owe everything to that moment saying yes, getting out of Enfield, and eventually being where I am today.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. That's awesome. Uh take me back to school. How big was the school that you went to? High school?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

It was small. It was um, it was small. I would probably say like a Williamsfield, probably a little smaller than Williamsfield. That's huge.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Is it is Williamsfield huge? Well, it's to me. I I mean I graduated with 104 people or something.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

All right, I'll probably say 100, like 180, 200 people, you know, but like, yeah, I wouldn't change it. I absolutely loved my hometown. I like I did. Do you still go back? I used to. Once in a while I did, but like, you know, it's you go back and it's been 20 years, you know. Like people have lives, they have families, they have jobs. It's tough to kind of like, sorry, Jan. You're good, he's good. Go. He's gonna trip. Sorry. So it's tough because people have they have life, man. Yeah, you know, and it's uh we stay in touch by by phone and text, occasionally a vacation here and there, but I understand. Like time for me, like time for me is more important than anything.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah. Yeah. Anybody in your formative years in in those early years that stepped up, slapped you upside the head, kind of kept you straight, or were you?

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I had a really good core of friends, man. Okay. I think I I lessons that I taught I talked to my girls about, and even Oaks, who's my youngest son, but like, you show me your friends, I'll show you your future. It's kind of like our message that we have for our kids. And for me, like, I had the best. That's awesome. I had the best, man. I didn't have anyone like shake me. Like, my brother always kind of like protected me. He's big brother, protected me. But like for me to be where I am, it's obviously a shout out to my my family, but my friends, man, my core friends back home in Connecticut. I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. Nice. Did you go to college after high school? I did. Well, not after high school. After high school, I took a year off, and then I went um, I went to a small college up in Boston uh called Endicott College, played baseball for a year. That's all I wanted to do, man. I didn't want to do the college thing. So I played a year, did it, and I got out, and then I started running a rec center back home. Okay. Uh put a lot of the sports programs in for the youth programs, and like it's like uh it's like a YMCA fartown. But yeah, no, I yeah, listen, man, like I have been kind not I hate using the word screw up. It's not a screw up, but like I've never been driven by money. I don't think money makes happiness. Back to the pub, you know. Like I like time with good people and I like talking about life. Like I love sharing life with a lot of our friends in our neighborhood. Like you've become part of this pub, you know. Like, for me, time. Yeah, time is more important than money because I've seen it. Like, I've seen, and we'll talk about it, I'm sure, later, but like I've seen those guys that are making millions and millions and millions, but like they have no time. Yeah, they're always working. Yeah, and it's like, all right, like as I gotten older, I'm 50 now, and like I realize our time is kind of like getting shorter and shorter by the day. So my priorities change, you know. Like, I pick up my kids, I drop them off at school. Like, I won't miss a I won't miss an event. That's just me now.

SPEAKER_04 9:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Where a lot of people are driven by money. Money has never made me happy. I've never had money growing up, but I was always happy. I was always a happy kid. So I never equated money and happiness. And I still have that philosophy. Money's great. Money is great, but it's not important, it's not more important than health and then time, and just this, man. This is yeah, this is the best. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Well, I the having gotten to know you a little bit over time, you are a very magnetic personality. You you attract people, I think you attract quality people. Yeah. And and you're you're charismatic to be around. I mean, you're you're there, there's quality there. So I think that's the cool thing, right? You can get people that everybody likes to be around, but nobody really knows why they like to be around that person, you know? Yeah. And and I feel like I feel like with you, I mean, that's there, but then there's also this you do, you go out of your way to make everybody feel like they're part of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Well, that means a lot. That means a lot, and I I appreciate that. And I think regardless of who you're around, like if you like today, like you are giving me some time, I'm giving you your time. I think, I think that's one of the most important, if not the most important quality doing business development. Because that's what I do, right? I do business development for built different restoration. And my whole thing is if I give you time, or vice versa, if you give me time, yeah, there's no distractions, there's no phones, there's no side conversations, like A TVs. Well, this is this is kind of like an everyday Sunday morning, you know. Like awesome, yeah. I but normally the door is open and people will come, you know. Like I'll have like maybe 20 to 30 people a day come by and have a pint and we'll watch some sports and we'll just talk about life. You know, we'll talk about kids, we'll talk about careers. And in our neighborhood, like we have we have a uh just a variety of people from all walks of life, but when you come in here, everyone is just I don't know, it's it's an equal like there's nothing that I want out of conversations with people. Yeah, and we were talking earlier, sorry, we were talking earlier after we were talking earlier after off of camera, but like in the beginning of my career, I don't know if you're gonna talk about this, but I had no idea what I was doing because I was all about retail. It was retail for 20 years, you know, and it was great to me. I loved it. Um, but then COVID happened and everyone thought we were dying. Yeah. And then I kind of saw the writing on the wall when they shut us down, and luckily we were considered uh essential workers.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

So they allowed us to go in and just do online fulfillment ships. And then when we reopened, it was all of the restrictions. It was like it was masks, it was gloves, it was wiping down with antibacterial liquids, and it was just like, all right, like this isn't happening. So I had a great opportunity with a great company out in Colorado, the uh Hazletin Construction. They had a they had a uh a restoration arm down here, and they were gonna do restoration along with development with some of the larger construction companies. And they asked me if I wanted to come do business development, and I was like, I have no idea what that is, but going back to the power of saying yes, I said yes, man, let's do it. And I got my teeth kicked in. Okay, I had no idea what I was doing, no idea. And eventually, like they ended up relocating, they went back to Colorado. Long story short, saying yes gave me the opportunity where I am now, working for Bob, working for Built Different, but like from where I was, I was all about selling, selling, selling, just not being me. Yeah, um, and there's an example, so I'll get back to it. But like now that I'm more comfortable in my role and I've got my teeth kicked in, I met some really good people. Some people in multifamily insurance, like these guys are considered, I consider they're very good friends, right? Um I don't sell anymore. Like, I hate that word sell. I think connecting, building a relationship. Like you and like you were a target of mine when I was with another company because you're an insurance, commercial insurance. Yeah, you know, and then like I went in there when I first probably met you. I I I do remember the day. I don't remember how we conversated. Um, but I know I probably went in there trying to sell you that you need me as a business. And now I flipped. Now I connect, and I don't I don't lie. Like we're at a golf tournament on Friday, and we just rebranded. So like I gave a girl one of my cards and she's like, Oh my god, I remember you. She's like, I remember this card. She's like, we gotta get back together. And like I looked at Shayna when she had left, and I was like, She's so full of shit. There's zero chance you remembered me because we've just got these cards in, you know. Like, and I looked at Shayna and I was like, Look, listen, we never lie. Yeah, we never lie because you start getting into that lie or you're getting into telling them what they want, like, it just doesn't work. Connect with me. And if we don't connect, that's fine. You might you might connect with someone else down the road. Right. But I want to have business, I want to do business with people I like, I trust. Mark Newman talks about it. No like and trust, right?

SPEAKER_04 14:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

And that's that's stayed with me.

SPEAKER_04 14:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

And I I observe everybody when I'm out. And I learn from them and what they say and how they approach, but like, it's big. Like you have to, you have to learn. You can't go in there not wanting to learn from somebody.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Well, and I think, I think too, I mean, to your to your whole point, and it's crazy because I've been I've been in sales positions that are boiler room sales positions, right? Yeah. Dial, dial, dial, dial. Yep. And I I I truly believe I'm the worst salesperson in the world because I can't close a deal. Right. Right? But it's because I want the person to make the decision that yes, you're the person I want to do business with.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

And I'm I'm not gonna chase you down, I'm not gonna scrub at your heels and and beg you, and you know, I will do what I can to be a friend or a colleague or a consultant for that person. At the end of the day, there's a million insurance agents out there, just like there's a million restoration companies. Yeah. So you gotta do business with people that you know I can trust, right? 100%. So so if I can if I can create that in some way, shape, or form outside of what it is that I do, then hopefully somebody will think about me, you know, when they need, oh, you know what, our guy's a douchebag. Yeah, call this guy, you know, type of thing. Give him a chance for a little bit, see how it goes. But but yeah, it's it's it's incredible. And I feel like I, you know, and I think that's one of the reasons I can't stand like open networking events that people like, you know, shake hands, handle cards, shake hands, handle cards. I hate it, man. And the number of mailing lists I'm on from people that I've met at events like that, yeah. Just like just lose my contact information. Yeah. So it's like, but anyways, were there moments that influenced you or shaped you into who you are today?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Oh, that's a great question. It's a great question. So I was in LA, my dad had passed away, and I was just doing time as uh an associate for structure, right? And one of my managers at the time was like, hey, you gotta kind of get your shit together, you know. Like I went back, handled business, and then I came back to LA where I was like, all right, you know, like I gotta figure this out. So eventually I got promoted to assistant manager, and then I took over the largest running express store in California at the time, you know, like, and that's kind of where I found me because I was able to implement how I coach. I used to coach baseball back home, and for me it was the development and growth of my players, and I just translated it into how I manage my team. Okay. There's a lot of people out there that just use their people to get where they need to go, and they are good, and they keep their people at a certain level just so everyone is good, and they look, they make that manager look good. I was the exact opposite. I wanted to see my people shine. Like my assistant managers have better been a store manager in the next year or two, you know? So that's kind of how I judge success, how I developed and how my team had turned out in the future, whether it was store manager, regional manager. So that's kind of how I know if you're a good manager, if you're a good person or not, when you want to see your team shine and grow and develop together, because that's the only thing that matters. Yeah. And you see that. Like, so I do a lot of multifamily work, Gray Star, AMC. So I see a ton of property managers that I love doing business with because they have that same philosophy as me. And it's the same as retail, and it translates throughout all of our industries. If you have a community manager that loves to see the development of their people, those are the people that I want to work with. Those are the ones that I want to be a vendor for. Yeah. Because they care more about that than they do about personal growth. Because if you have development of your team, you'll have personal growth, it'll just come together. Yeah. So yeah, man, I think that aha moments are usually unfortunately when it comes to like a life-changing event in someone's in someone's career.

SPEAKER_04 17:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Like we've talked about it, man. Like I could tell you stories all day when I had gotten to LA or the the journey from Connecticut to LA. I mean, just from finding our house in Agri Topia. We found it on Craigslist.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

By the way, if anybody wants to live two doors down from yeah, I I pulled to the neighborhood, I'm like, their house is for sale.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

And I'm like, oh no, it's yeah, no, not ours, man. We're uh if I leave, I'm going to a beach, man. Like, uh, yeah. If you if everyone that knows me like beach makes me happy, I'm out.

unknown 18:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

I'm out. And so do pints. Well done on that. That's a good pint.

SPEAKER_04 18:32

That's a good pint.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yeah, no, that's a yeah, that's a great question. And I think we're gonna probably go, you're gonna cut and you're gonna edit, but like, these are the questions I like.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Because it makes you think and it and it and it connects you to somebody.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

Who were specific people in your life? Maybe a manager, maybe your parents, maybe older brother, that really had influence on kind of tuning you into who you are. I mean, obviously, friends and all that stuff building you along the way. But but was it really just a self-discover discovery, or was there somebody who kind of took you and said, you know what, I see something here that could be developed?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Shit, man. I don't know that I don't know. Like, I like looking back, you have your influences, your parental influences, right? Like, my mom was probably the toughest person I've ever met. Worked her ass off for us, like mom obviously was that role model. I don't know if I ever had that wake-up moment other than me kind of like self-reflecting and figuring it out for myself. Gotcha. And then again, like once once your your spouse comes in, it changes the whole dynamic. Um, and I always say this, I'm the fun one, Cheryl's the smart one, right? Like, she she's been she's been a huge influence of me. I don't tell her that enough, and I don't want to get too emotional, but like if I had to say one person, I'd probably say, I'd probably say mom as like just one of the toughest people I've ever met. Cheryl kind of straightened my ass out back in LA. Gotcha. Um, got everything kind of together, and then we we've never like since 2001.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

What what was it about Cheryl that that that clicked you in? I mean, do you remember seeing her on the sales floor and going, Oh, oh shit.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Oh, yes, but I can't talk about that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can't talk about that. So we had uh we had like side bets. We had side bets, man, and uh yeah, it was so she was the crown jewel. There's a very long story to this, but structure and express. So structure was guys, express was women, and we were in Sherman Oaks, California, and then I was in our store when we got the news that structures were closing. And they were like, hey, like they they sent whoever was in charge of that at the time, they sent him in, and I had a discussion to him. I was like, hey, I was like, that women's store down the hall is like three times our size. Why don't you take our guys' product and put it into the girls' store and do a dual gender store? Okay. I I swear to you, a week later, we got a memo saying, All right, we're not closing, we're going into express women. So I was the I was the guy. I was the guy that did express how it is today. It was dual gender. Yeah, that that is a 100% truth fact. But yeah, man, we we had fun because it was our guys' team and then our girls' team. Oh my gosh, and then it was Michael Weiss and Leslie Wexner, notorious for Jeffrey Epstein. He was in charge of Bath and Body Works, he was in charge of Victoria's Secret, limited brands. So he came into our store and invited the guys to a new event in Hollywood for the Express Grand Store opening. No. He had Cheryl work it. So Cheryl was working the fitting rooms. Okay, and I was a personal guest of Leslie Wexner over at uh over at a shitty. I will say it on, I won't say it, but I'll tell you offline. Creepy dude. Creepy dude. But hey, like it was fun. But little things like that, like, it's stories, John. You know, like you meet so many cool people throughout your life, and I hope you spend time with them, man. Like I uh I I played in a Japanese baseball league in LA. Okay. Yeah. Met some great people, learned about the Japanese. Never, never drink with the Japanese. Never drink with the Japanese. They will un they will drink you under the table. Oh my gosh, yes. But there's

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Saki, is that what it is?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

It's socky bombs. Okay. It's socky bombs. But yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

What do they say once it goes down? And then there's something like when you when you you you know you put it on the bottom. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

I say socky, you say bomb, sake, socky, bomb, and they whack the table and then you chug it. Man, I had the best time with those guys. But growing up in Connecticut, when the predominant race was white, yeah. Going to LA, like I sold all my stuff. So I sold everything, and the girl I was dating at the time, we drove across country and just figured it out. But like at the time, you you go from Whiteville to Connecticut, and then you go into Sherman Oaks, California, and you see Persian, Armenian, Israeli, Black, Hispanic, and it's mind-blowing.

unknown 23:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

It's mind-blowing. Like I remember, I remember, and I'll tell I'll go back and tell you a story of that. So I was on a mic once, and a lady was speaking Spanish to me. At the time, I had no idea. I'm much better now. But I got on the mic and I was like, hey, does anyone speak Mexican in the store? No. Yeah. And like all my buddies were like, dude, what did you just say? And I was like, what? And like they gave me a lesson. So basically, they gave me a lesson. But I learned a lot and I applied it. You know, like I took over a store that the workers were predominantly white. And a store where you had a mix of cup customers. So I matched my my shopping demographic to my people that I had in my store. Gotcha. So if it was 40% Armenian customer, I had a 40% Armenian staff. And then sales went through the roof. And we were we were generating sales. We were number one store in the country. Wow. And it was because I identified and we kind of like course corrected and we just coached little things, man. Yeah. Little things that you can do to your business and that just that just can blow it up. Yeah. Challenges and setbacks along the way. A lot.

SPEAKER_04 24:52

Yeah. A lot.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

How do you overcome them? How do you get through? I don't get rattled, man. I don't. I don't get rattled. Support. You let Cheryl carry it? I do. I let Cheryl carry all the stress and the burden of all of my screw-ups. It's pretty squat to the pub. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

I'm in the tavern.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yeah. Like when you figure it out, let me know. Drinks, I guess. No, man, like anyone, we're alive. We're good. Like, life could be so much worse. People people tend to always just focus on the negative where I'm like, all right, like, how could it be worse? You know, like, what could be worse?

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Um if that answered your question. If not, then we can revisit.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

Kind of somewhat. So we talked a little bit about uh, you know, and I may have boosted your ego, but talked a little bit about how you're a connector, you're you're a people person. I see you as a people person.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

I like people that I know aren't full of shit. Uh like for me.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Are you a good judge of character?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

I am. Yeah. A pretty dialed in.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

That that I will die on. Like that's the hill I'll die on.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

I'm a snow. Snowball. I don't know how you say it. Like, I and I trust way too easy. People told me that over time. Yeah, dude, you gotta just so I I need somebody. Like Christine's kind of that person for me now. She's like, you might even think about that.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I I coming from that retail environment, so like you obviously have people that walk into your store and there's people that try to steal from you, right? So I always tell people, listen to your gut, listen to your instincts. Nine times out of ten, we we stopped listening to our instincts a long time ago. But we have an instinct in our body from the evolutionary times of our of our being, right? You're in a cave and there's a dinosaur out there, and they're like, dude, don't go out there, you're gonna get eaten.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

And then like they go out there, they get eaten, they're like, oh shit, I should have listened to my my gut, right? Right, right. So I always tell people, listen to your gut. And if someone something inside of you is telling this person is not for you, cut ties and go. Yeah. When I was I was done. I I had left first on site, I was one of their national, national team members in Arizona. I won't get into the story, but I left. Um, and I was done with restoration just because of that industry. You know this as an insurance guy. Oh, yeah. We'll talk. So we're gonna talk about trades. So the trade industry in in Arizona is as crooked, can I say crooked? Is as crooked as it possibly can be. And when I say that, there's a lot of there's a lot of trades out there that work and operate on a referral-based business. Are you familiar with that industry? Like the referral base. So I've always hated that. I've always hated that, and I've always hated people that I've networked with and partnered with and grew a relationship with that practice that. I think there's companies out there that do just really good work, you know, like there's some plumbing companies that I work with that just do good plumbing work, and I don't worry about no kickbacks. I don't want to get it.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

And I don't know if we can use kickbacks, but I don't want to.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Like I don't. I just want you to go represent me while I'm not there as good as you can and do great work, and I'll keep I'll keep sending you money. Yeah. But a lot of these these resto companies, plumbing companies, like, and it's mainly the larger ones, like anything that has dry in them or force or luxe. I'm not gonna name any names, but like the bigger ones, right? You're a plumber, I'm one of those guys. You call me just by calling me, you'll give me$1,500 cash. Just by calling me. The resto company. And then like wait, wait a second. Just to call you, just to call me, and I come out, we put our flag down, Jan, here's fifteen hundred dollars. And that's the going rate right now. So if I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but that's the going rate as of maybe last week. And and I will I will challenge anyone that wants to challenge me on this. Like, I this is 100% true. But in the end, the restoration company's not giving you$1,500. You're not making$1,500 from the restoration company. Yeah, you're making$1,500 from that customer that you went out that needed your help. Yeah. And I think that is why I stayed in the restoration business. You know, like when Bob interviewed me, I was like, man, I'm done. Like, I've seen some crazy shit out there that I do not like. And he was like, give us a shot. And I did. And and luckily him and Marcus have been phenomenal. And that is a practice we don't we don't use. If I partner with you and if I send a vendor out, I get nothing. Our company gets nothing. It's just more of, hey, you do really good work and we're gonna continue sending work, and that's how it should be, in my opinion. Yeah, yeah. But if you do have a loss and you have a plumber that comes out and says, hey, let me call these guys, ask them first if they get a referral fee. Because if they do, then you're gonna lose that money.

SPEAKER_04 30:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

That's that's just that's just how it is out there. Yeah. And it stinks, but that's kind of the the environment in roofing, plumbing, restoration. Like it's just windshields. Windshields, it's the wild west out there. And so back to your question, I will not surround myself with people that that do that. I know them, they're good people, but I won't do business with them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

Um well this you it's interesting because the insurance industry is not so different on the business side of the house. Now, in Arizona, it's a little bit less wild west as it is in California, yeah, with the broker fees. Yeah, but there's agents that I know that charge very big broker fees, and we get paid by the carrier. So we're getting compensated for writing policies. And some people say, Well, now then you're working for the carriers. Like, well, all the carriers pay and they pretty much pay the same thing. So it's not like a you know, but if then I'm charging a broker fee on top of that, which some people are, it it becomes a pretty crazy set of circumstances, I guess, if you will. And and you know, restoration, and I talked to Bob about this a few times, I think you and I've talked about it, where you know, you get a water loss, and it's like, okay, we need two dehumidifiers, we need seven floor fans, we're gonna have to, you know, cut out 12 inches up, rip the carpet out. Yeah, we'll have those dehumidifiers and those floor fans in there for three weeks. It's like we're in the desert. What are we doing? It's like we're in the desert. What are we doing? Yeah. So it's those things where it's like to find somebody that you can really truly trust, I think, is a is huge. And and if if I'm willing to do business with you and I'm not getting compensated for it, I will continue to do business with you. Yeah, right. You know, right? Until something goes wrong. Yeah. And then if we can't work it out, then you know, obviously something needs to be fixed there. But if you're compensating me, I'm not gonna worry about something going wrong.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

It's like, eh, whatever. Yeah. 1500 bucks. And that's minimum, by the way. Dude. That's minimum. There's there's uh we met a company, they they have a partnership with a restoration company. Again, I won't say names. This is this is true. This is a true story. Me and Bob met with these guys, and they said they've given them so much referral fees, he was able to buy a cabin in Munts Park. I shit you not. So, guys, this is my last this is probably my last ride as a restoration rep. Yeah, I like my home, I like these guys, but I'm very well aware of the industry out there, man. And it's it's it's not wow. You got some good ones. There's there there are some really good ones. Yeah, but there's a lot of bad ones. Just ask questions. Yeah, just ask questions, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Have you never heard of that before?

SPEAKER_02 32:50

No, I I mean, um I've I've heard of referral fees, yeah. But you know, and I've been approached, obviously being an insurance, and people are like, oh, and I'm like, nah, no, no, you know, can't do it. There's ethics, right? Like, yeah. Well, yeah, it's like I can't do it. And and it's my license on the line. Like, yeah, I'm not willing to throw away my livelihood to get a hundred bucks or fifteen hundred dollars or whatever it is. But I guess where I'm where I'm dumbfounded is is fifteen hundred dollars. And I get it, right? Like I used to be an adjuster for auto claims. Okay. When I started my career. And we would if I had a if I had a a claim where let's say I had a uh a funky body line in a car that I knew was gonna take a little bit extra time, but yet, you know, there was you you could you could fluff a little bit, right? You could you could work it, massage a little bit, say, okay, well, I can give you a little here, but I gotta take there, and you know, those types of things. I mean, that's a lot of money. Yeah. That's a lot of money. And that adds up because you know it's coming from either the homeowner or the insurance company. And nine times out of ten, it's the insurance company.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

100%. And that, but that's where we're at right now with insurance, right? Like that's why everyone's rates are skyrocketing. Yeah. It's it's insane out there because five years ago you could you could file a claim and not really worry about it. Now I go in there, I was like, listen, if you can pay out of pocket, pay out of pocket.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

So I think the relationship between the insurance agent and the restoration company has to be dialed in.

SPEAKER_04 34:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Because if I go out there and I represent, let's say I represent you, and it's a claim that shouldn't be a claim, but I say, hey, file a claim. There's a good chance you're gonna lose that customer, that that person as a customer, right? Yeah. Or the rates are gonna skyrocket or they're gonna shop somebody else. Yeah, but if I go in there and say, hey, Yana's a buddy of mine, we've done this a bunch of times. This isn't a claim. Out of pocket, if you need to work, if we need to work with you as far as payment plans, we'll do that. But do not file a claim because you have one claim right now, silver bullet, catastrophic loss. Don't use a claim to handle a handyman job. Yeah, you know, like, and I think that that is where I'm able to be like, all right, insurance agents, trust us. Yeah. And we've done it for them, and we've done it for them time and time and again. Like, and I saved, I saved a few customers, not me, our company has saved a few customers from exploring other options from agents, and they're like, This is something new to us.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Because normally they're like, all right, claim. If you get somebody that comes out and says, hey, file a claim, what's a claim number? Remove them off a job immediately. Work together. And I and I think if people truly care about the experience when you call me and I come out and you're three inches of water across the whole house, file a claim. Yeah. But if it's a small leak in a bathroom, hey, let's reassess, let's work together with your agent, with you, and with us and see what's the best course of what's the best route.

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Because every time you call that claim line and mention the word claim, you have a claim on your record.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

And that's the worst thing right now for customers. Yeah. And I think the good restoration companies identify that. And we work together with the agent, with the customer, whether it's state farm, all state, farmers, like there has to be some sort of agreement where we're like, we're on the same page and it's for the best for the customer. Because it's just, it comes back. You don't want to lose anyone.

SPEAKER_02 36:14

No. No.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

We'll we work, we're I can't we work hard.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

We do for the business we have, right? We don't want to lose it. And and it's tough, you know. The crystal ball question that we get all the time. If I file this claim, what's it gonna do to my rates? You're gonna get increased. Yeah, I mean, it's gonna go up. Yeah will it be 10%, 20%, 30%? Don't know, but it will go up. Yeah. You know, and ultimately, if you're impounding your payments through which most people are, now your monthly mortgage payment is going. And they're gonna increase it more because they're trying to build back you know, so or this, like not this house, but this house has a water loss in its history.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah. Like, does that affect rates as an insurance? You would know that more than me.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Absolutely. If you go to buy, let's say the house two doors down, yeah. Let's say they have a basement, the sump pump seat stopped working and it flooded the entire basement, and they got a fifty thousand dollar claim. That claim's gonna follow the house. It's also gonna follow those people when they move to a new house. Which is crazy. I get it when it's crazy. Yeah. So it's those are the things where it's like, yeah, it can it can and it's it used to be three years, now it's seven to ten years that it just hangs right on there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

So I have a surprise for you. Oh, I have a surprise for you. So I hate to brag. I hate to brag, but we are probably the only place in Arizona that carries a particular beer. Would you like one? Yes. All right.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

But we won't yes.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

This is this is very special, by the way. This is America's oldest brewery. Yingling. This is called Yingling. Yingling. So Yingling, um I I was able to get some Yingling.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Did this get uh what are they what are the chairs?

SPEAKER_01 37:51

We get it air-shipped in for at uh Lippies. No, yeah, we get it, we get it air-shipped along with Guinness and Kilkenny. We've got uh 12 taps, two, 14 taps, plus a cooler. That's good. It's good.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 38:02

Yeah. This is America's oldest brewery.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

That is really good. I've never had that before. Good stuff. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

First, thank you. You're gonna remember this. I am so back, so I I wanted to tell this story because I hope you're gonna address this, I'm sorry, but like when I present, like my first presentation is about how yes has changed my life, but I end it with a quote that says, People will never forget how you make them feel. And I think whether you're just starting out or whether you're established, I know as an agent, it's gotta suck to have people come in and solicit you. Oh. But you could either be kind or you could be a jerk. And I think there's too many jerks out there. So I have a story. So when I when I first started with First On Site, I was given, I was given a community. It was a development by Wood Partners. Okay. And these were the Alta properties, and they were the best teams out there, beautiful communities. And I went in and I totally bombed, totally bombed. And I tell a story to everybody. Like, she's one of my favorite people on the planet in our industry. Like, she is just kind. So I went in and I fumbled and I stumbled and I was the worst salesperson, right? And she was kind enough to agree to go to a lunch with me. So she took her team with me. Her name was Danielle Paulson. She's a regional now. Um, she's just a great person, she's a friend of mine. But the impact that her kindness had on me that day is kind of how I operate in my industry now. A new BD comes up to me, I will always give them time because of that experience I had with Danielle and her team at Ulta over at Cooley Station. So when you're out there and you're and you're getting solicited or you're having a just a bad day, and someone comes in and asks you for help or advice or they're looking for maybe an opportunity to build business with you, give them that opportunity. Because the impact that you have on somebody that comes in is could be potentially huge.

SPEAKER_04 40:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

And not only did I I gained a client, but like she's a friend of mine, and she opened up some amazing opportunities for me out there. And it's because I remembered that, and she they they she that team will always be my priority because of that kindness that one day where she didn't need to be.

SPEAKER_04 40:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

And she was amazing. So I've I've I've applied that every time where I'm in a bad mood, someone asks me help, like, I'm in. What do you need? How can I help? Oh, 100%. Even if it's somebody in my industry, like I have no problem introducing other BD people to other of my contacts.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

I'm and I'm not, I don't, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. Yeah. Relating to what you're saying. I'm the same way. Like, people have joined the chamber or other groups, and they're like, hey, you should talk to young. Yeah. You know, an insurance person. Yeah. They come talk to me, they're like, hey, I'm dealing with this. There is so much business out there, and I'll tell people, I'm not the right agent for everybody. I talk too much. I like to educate people on what they're buying. I like them to know what they're buying and make an informed decision. I'm not going to try to make it a transaction. Hopefully, I will be there and I tell people, look, everybody has my cell phone. So call me. Yeah. I may not answer right away, but I'll answer as quickly as I can. Right. But I feel like if if I can help whether that's develop or shape or form or or instill knowledge upon somebody where I fell down, dude, I wish somebody would have done that to me 20 years ago, 30 years ago, you know? Yeah. Said, hey, maybe, maybe if you had done this, you know, had I started something back then, yeah, you know, where would I be today type of thing? But anyways, no, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

I think that's the key. That that is the key. Just be kind. And that's and that I so I talked to Frank. So Frank, APN guy, um, I just started to speak to him. He he's been great to me. Bob introduced me, but I told him last week, I I hate exclusive groups. Yeah. And it's because I like earning, earning business, earning friendships, earning time. And if you put me in the room with 20 restoration companies, I might not be the right guy for 10, but I might be the perfect guy for 10.

SPEAKER_04 42:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

And I think I think those groups, because I've been in, I've been in other groups where it's been exclusive, where I'm like, I'm not referring to this person because I gave them an opportunity and they blew it. Yeah. So you're kind of stuck. And that is why like the Gilbert Chamber for me has been awesome. Like there, that's I met some great people. Elder, Karen Hanson, Jeremy, P, like every I can go on, right? And I met they're just friends.

SPEAKER_04 42:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

That I do business with. But I trust them, and they've been they've been amazing and gracious with their time and their connections. Anton, do you know Antonette? Yeah. Has been amazing for me. Her and Artie, that like that is my group. Yeah. But I love the format of APN and being not exclusive because it gives me the opportunity to see more people and earn their business and trust. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:10

Well, it'll it allows you to, uh you said it. I I was gonna say, you know, develop, but but earn the business. I mean, if if I'm in a in an exclusive group, and I won't name a name of an exclusive group, but if I'm I'm in an exclusive group, there's almost there's almost a is this am I getting these referrals because this person has actually done business with me or because they're trying to get a niche on a you know a scorecard? Right. Whatever.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

So those are the it's tough because I I think there's value in both, but at the same time, I would rather somebody think of me because I've developed a relationship with them and they're like, hey, you know, I I do business for this guy. Yeah, you should too, you know, kind of thing. Let's talk legacy for a second. Yeah. Yep. Keeps you straight and narrow. No? A hundred percent. Yeah, man. Yeah, you got the three kids. Yep. What what does legacy mean to you? And what where do you think you want that to look like when when you're gone, what do you hope they say about you?

SPEAKER_01 44:09

Oh man, like I gotta like, I gotta, I gotta take this in because I will get I will get emotional on this. Um, and I and I won't do it. I won't. Like, everyone that knows me, like every story that I tell is 100% true, whether it's things that I've seen in the restoration world, and I present it to the chamber or like my first, like everything. And I think I'll go back to your question. Okay, everything that you speak to and you talk about, it has to be true. You can't go back and you can't circle BS, right? You can't recover BS. So you gotta be honest and truthful. My legacy is I just want people to know he was a good dad. That's it. Time, I was there, I cared, I loved, I guided, and then it's up to them. Yeah. It's up to them. So, like, how old are your kids now? 16, driving. 16, 12, and 10. So I'm gonna have some time. But I when I when I get married, I just want people to say he was a good dude, and then he was a great dad. I'm probably the best husband on the planet, but like well if that's Cheryl someday. You can interview her down the room. We'll get a second opinion on that. But no, that is my legacy, Yan. I yeah, that's my legacy. And I tell people like uh I think I tell people, so when we're doing our will, we're doing our trust. Have you ever done that? Mm hmm. It's the worst. Oh, it's horrible. It's the worst experience in the world. But there was a question in Cheryl's mess, and there was like this poor lady, this poor lady that was doing it with us. She had asked, she's like, hey, she's like, it was end of life. Like, what do you want? You want to be buried or you want to be crematored? And I was like, hey, I've been thinking a lot about this. And I'm like, and I'd really like to be stuffed. And like she was like, what? And I was like, I want to give all of my friends some time with me to take me out.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

Like just prop me up. Just like a jukebox or whatever that's like.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

Stuffed dead body with like a pint in my hand, you know, like just take pictures, hang out with me. Oh my god, there's um, but no man, uh I can talk about that just because it doesn't bother me. But my legacy will be just to be a good person and a great dad.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

That's uh you remember Alma Rhea? Yes, yes. So I would meet with her, I met with her a few times obviously before she passed, but uh out at uh out at Gilbert Memorial Park, and we would joke about I definitely want to be cream. Like nobody wants, I don't know. To me, it's like yeah, whatever. But I'm like, I think I do want like a monument, but I want it to be in the ground so it looks like just a plate, and when you get close enough, it's like motion sensitive, so it's pops up, and then it's got like a reader board on it and says, Hey, thanks for coming into the meeting today.

SPEAKER_01 46:43

You're like animatronic, like you're you're you they they they bury you like like feet first, but you're like you're standing up and then you pop up and you're like an animatronic yawn.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

Place all my joints of metal.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

Welcome to MySpace. Like, oh my god, that would be hysterical. Anything you could do to make people laugh.

SPEAKER_04 47:01

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:01

Because there's not enough, there's not enough laughter out there anymore, man. And I don't know what happened. I think it was COVID.

SPEAKER_04 47:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

COVID made everyone kind of crazy, and it seems like we we haven't broke out of that yet.

SPEAKER_02 47:12

Well, I think I think what COVID did, in my opinion, is destroyed trust. Yeah. Like truly destroyed what little trust was left between authority and I agree. You know, non-authority, so to speak. And and people just don't know how to deal with that.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

Let me ask you this. Like, in your in what while you you've done this 2,500 downloads, you don't really talk a lot about politics. No. And I get it, but do you do you find we've become so broken? People can't talk anymore, whether you're left or right, it seems like no one can have a conversation without losing their minds. Yes. And it's unfortunately because I I noticed that Facebook, post, social media, which is the worst, right? It's the worst. Yeah. But I think when you're in a room with somebody and you have different views, I think that's what makes our country great.

SPEAKER_04 48:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

And you shouldn't hate somebody because they believe something else. Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

They should be able to have a conversation at least. And and if you agree to disagree, whatever. You know, it's like, yes, number one, I try to stay away from politics just because it is so polarizing, right? Yep. I have my beliefs and my feelings, but I also like to think, and I may talk to people who know me, they may say no, not, but I like to think that I'm open-minded enough to be able to listen to and hear somebody else's point of view. I may not agree with it, but at least hear it. And there are times when I see things and I listen to stuff and I think, how could anybody think that X, whatever, is even logical?

SPEAKER_01 49:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

Right?

SPEAKER_01 49:24

Like landing on the moon.

unknown 49:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

Because that never happened. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

JFK assassination. Right? I mean, I'm peeling the label.

SPEAKER_01 49:33

Yo, you're like, why did I agree to do that? I got I talked about the moon landing in the chamber once in there. Like now I think I have the majority of my my chambered referral team agreeing with me.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

There are definitely some holes in the story. There's a lot of holes, John.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

You can be honest with me. There's a lot of holes.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

It's it's a very interesting concept. Yeah. But I'm glad that we are finally potentially going back. But let let's let's just do it. Or going. Do it. Let's just do it. Whichever it could be. Right. But yes, no, I agree with you 100%. And it doesn't really matter what it is. I mean, everybody wants to throw darts at somebody else, right? Yeah. They're not willing to stop and go, is my way of thinking the absolute? Right. Or is there possibility that because my experience of growing up and my life are one thing? I mean, you talked about growing up in a white Connecticut.

SPEAKER_04 50:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:26

I grew up in a white Washington state. We had one black kid in my family, I mean not my family, in the uh town. He was adopted by a pastor in the town. There are quite a few Hispanics or Mexicans in your world. Yes. But I, you know, it wasn't a very diverse community. It was a very white community. I can't speak to what it would be like to grow up in the inner city. I can't speak to what it would be like to grow up in the bayou. I can't, you know, those things I have no idea. I can say, look, every person has the same opportunity to do something with their life if they don't like the circumstances that they currently have. That's the beauty of America. For sure. Right? If you create yourself as a victim and you live in that victimhood, well, that's your choice. Yeah. Right? So we this whole conversation about politics, right, left, center, you know, whatever it is, I think, or at least I'd like to think in my unicorn fantasy world, sure, that the majority of us live someplace in the middle. Yeah, I agree. Right? We may think, well, this is okay, that's okay. The loudest pieces are on the fringe. Yeah. And you need to accept me for this, or you need to stop doing that. Or but the majority of us live in the middle. But if we get into conversations, and and I have no problem getting into political conversations, I just feel like there's enough people out there that aren't mature enough to be able to handle those conversations. Yeah. That it would turn into a very nightmarish situation.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

It it is a nightmare, you know, but I think we should be able to. But I do think, you know, like with CNN, social media, Fox News, regardless of what side you're on, it's called programming for a reason. Yeah. And it's not news. It's not. That is opinion. It it's it's not. I mean, the investigative news reporter has kind of died away, right?

SPEAKER_02 52:19

Well, and that's why, and we're gonna go down this political world, but that's why right now California is trying to outlaw investigative reporting. Which is bonkers. It's crazy. It's like, wait a second. Isn't that a First Amendment right to view and report on something that you see and that you believe, but because you don't believe in it, now you want to hell? Yeah. It's like, wait a second. Now you're now you're treading in in water that no, not even, you know. And then they find, well, that's that's a federal government, that's not the state, so we need to be ruled by the state. It's like, wait a second. You you know, you're you're trying to have these things both ways. We're kind of a mess right now. We're absolutely a mess. We're a mess because we're allowing the fringes on both sides to dictate the direction. Agreed. So you give me started. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

See, we can talk about politics. You and I can talk about politics.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

I mean, I could I could go down a road that would probably just I mean, I and it's weird because I think on a quite frequent basis, I have very steadfast thoughts and beliefs on how I think about things. And usually it's more fiscal than whatever the other side of fiscal is. I can't think of it. Anyways, but I think that you got me talking about something like that. Listen, but that's but it's but it's crazy because I feel like people just don't stop and think about what they're actually doing and saying.

SPEAKER_04 53:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:48

I mean, small, tiny, tiny little example. When you when you get people marching in the street protesting against something that really is for what they believe in, but they're against it because it doesn't fit their narrative. I mean, it's like stop and think about what you're doing. Yeah. And I just feel I feel like common sense has gone out the window. But anyway. Common sense has long gone out the window. It's like but I think, I think to your point, I think we sat alone for a year plus. Plus, throwing darts on the internet, creating these crazy ideologies. Right.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

I leave me be, I leave you be. That's kind of my philosophy, right? If you want to do something, do it. Just don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. But this is kind of how this started was during COVID. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:38

Don't force feed your thoughts and beliefs on me because you think it's right for you.

SPEAKER_01 54:45

Go do it.

SPEAKER_02 54:46

Do it. I don't care. Yep. Go do it.

SPEAKER_01 54:48

Were you expecting to talk about politics?

SPEAKER_02 54:51

Not at all.

SPEAKER_01 54:51

So that goes back, like hijacked my conversation. People, people love being led, right? They love being led in our industry. It's love being led. But I like pushing, I like pushing boundaries. I like, I like talking about things. I think the more uncomfortable you are, the more you grow as a person, as a business developer, as an agent, as an owner. Like, you have to be uncomfortable at times. And that's okay. Yeah. But learn, apply, and grow. Well, and and be okay with not being right. Right. You don't have to be right all the time.

SPEAKER_02 55:25

I mean, we're both married. Which I am very right. So we're probably not right ever. I admit that I'm not right. Not right to keep the peace. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

No, but like, I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_02 55:36

It's no, I mean, it's as as a I think, you know, the the the beauty between we'll call it a uh a male and female relationship. I'm not talking any of the others, whatever. The the beauty of it is for the most part, broad brush, men are very singular-minded and methodical and what I will consider logical. Women are more feeling and holistic and thought think about all this stuff. A lot of times I don't think men think about if you're gonna throw a rock in the pond, what are all the rippers ripples gonna be? Right, right? How's that gonna impact it? Sure. It's like I'm just gonna throw a rock. Yeah. We'll deal with whatever else comes up when it comes up. You know, what's the plan? I don't know. Right.

SPEAKER_01 56:21

Deal with it. It's it is crazy, you know, like, and I'm not just saying this, but like throughout my experience, the toughest people I've met and I've known are women. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:31

Hands down. My mom, my wife, wife's mom, like these are some like I'm fascinated by, and I'll say Christine, but probably m the majority of women that are in my life. I'm fascinated by their ability to truly hold everything together. Yeah. Yeah. I mean because I can't.

SPEAKER_01 56:56

If I had to deal with all the stuff they deal with, I was like, I can't do it. Yeah, man. What what's next? Let's let's go. Let's do this. Now I'm feeling pretty good. Okay. Don't ask me any like now you're ready to talk about your family? Emotional questions. Because I don't do that. Like I don't that's one of the things, you know, but like, shoot, we'll we'll figure this out. We're gonna cut and edit.

SPEAKER_02 57:14

So let's let's let's talk about let's talk about build different restoration. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 57:20

What makes you different? Built different. I mean, I've done this so many times, you know. I I think with us, with the relationships I and we have built, I think having access to me as your account rep, to Marcus as the general manager, to Bob as the owner, and to Justin as the GC president of our rebuild, that's saying a lot. And you have 24-7 access to us, where a lot of these companies don't give that information out. We'll handle it tomorrow, we'll handle it Monday. But like we work in emergency services. So it doesn't matter what time it is. If you're a customer and you need us, you call anyone on our team at any time and we will help you. Man, I see I've seen it. Like I I when I first started out, I saw how to do it. I saw how to do it. They were great. Matt Critchley, HRS, like they knew they knew their shit. And I saw how they took care of customers. And then I also had that exact opposite experience when I was with a larger company, and I saw how it was more of how much money can we get out of this account. And now that I'm with Built Different, it's more of that experience I had I initially had when I was with Matt. When I first interviewed with those guys, they basically said, We are we are in the business of helping people. Money will come. Like money, money will 100% come if you do certain things right. And I think they were missing some some pieces that I brought, but I also have learned from those guys, you know, like Bob and Marcus are are devout believers in Christ. And they and they you hear this a lot, and I'm not I'm not banging on that, but like you hear it, but you don't see it, right? Like uh a lot of a lot of BS goes around that, but not with those guys. Like they they have done everything that they've told me that they were gonna do when it came to my accounts, my customers, my friends, and they do it the right way. They do it the right way, and I can come home at night and I can sleep fine. I don't worry about it because I know if one restoration companies are gonna screw something up. Like that, that 100% will happen with whatever whatever, even you. You will screw something up. Oh, absolutely. But what separates us from a lot of the companies is that we will own it. We're not gonna ghost you, we're gonna make it right, we're gonna do the right thing, and we're gonna learn from it. Where it's happened. But as far as trust, care for their client, accessibility, response time, there's no one out there that beats us. Yeah, not one person, not one company. And I think that is what separates Built Different from everybody else. Like, we've been able to grow pretty quickly, not just because me or not because of Shayna, it's because our team is aligned in all of our beliefs, and um, I think that's a pretty special thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:19

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:21

Yeah, see, I I I I say that so many times, but like I truly believe that. I'm not a believer, like I'm not. And Bob and Marcus, all those guys know it. Like, they know that. But I can tell anyone that's watching this, listening to this, those guys are the real deal, and they and they truly will do the right thing regardless of the situation. So I love working for those guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:43

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:44

Yep. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:45

At this stage in your life, what's your focus? Who uh what are my dreams? Yeah, I mean, what what what is it that you want? I mean, we talked about legacy a little bit. Yeah. But what what is it that you want to do? I mean, because money's not an ob not money, I mean you're wealthy as wealthy can be.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:04

All right, that's not true.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:04

I am not.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:05

I am not, but I also live within my means. Yeah, like a lot of these, a lot of the people out there that are like, I need the best car, I need the newest fashion, I need this, I need that, and I need a lot of it. I've got everything I've ever wanted, ever wanted.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

So I don't need, I don't need the beamer. I don't need I don't need anything. Yeah, I've got it. Make sense? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:27

You have a Mustang in the driveway, so do you know that story about that?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

Yeah, it's an amazing story.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:32

It is incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:33

It's an incredible story.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

It's absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:35

Um, that's not my Mustang.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:36

No, I know it's Cheryl.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:37

My Oaks was like, what's your dream car? I was like, Nissan Maxima. He's like, You already have it. I was like, exactly. But my dream car is a 67 Camaro, but like, I'm not gonna go out and buy a 67 Camaro. I'd rather save that 40 grand.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

I actually have a friend who's got two of them. Maybe he'll sell me one. He actually wants to sell them.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:53

Send me pics. I'd rather, I'd rather retire early, spend time with my kids, hang out with my friends, live on a beach, but I want to own a pub, man. Like you've known this about me. Like, this is great, right? But I wanna I want to go next level and I want to have I think the community pub has gone away.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:11

And I think everything has become so bougie and like high end, and it's like, oh my god, this is the best, whatever it is. Best seafood, best mech. I like I want to.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:21

Well, when everything's infused with basil or cucumber or like come on, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

Come in. I want to have a pub and I want to have great pints, I want to have great conversation, and I want that connection to come back to our community. Like, I think I think community is everything, but I don't know if people still have that that pride in their community. Yeah. So I think the pub does so much more for a for an area, for a community that I want to do. Like, I've told everyone this. What's your dream? It's to own a pub, spend time with my wife, my kids, and travel. That's it. Beach, man. Mountains or beach? Beach, 100%. Like I I want nothing to do with landlock, mountains, like nothing. You put me in Aruba, I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

I'm done. What what life's lessons have you taken away so far from your life? We could say you're halfway through at 50. Right? Yeah. At least. What life lessons have you learned that that you would if you could just take it out of your brain and implant it into your kids, and then which ones took you the longest to actually absorb and be a good human. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:31

Be a good human. We're not we're not religious, right? But I think I think a lot of our friends are devout Christians. And I think the underlying message to any religion is just to be a good, decent person. You know, like we're not gonna be a bully, we're not gonna make fun of people, we're not gonna like get greedy and want, just be a decent human. I think if we do that as parents, we've done our job. Yeah. I think the world needs more decent humans, adults and kids. I'm the first person to say, hey, you're kind of a dick. Sorry, burn in my language.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:06

Like, no, there's you know, and it's crazy because I I mean we see this in in little community Facebook pages all over our beautiful little town, but I feel like there's a piece of lack of responsibility that is creating a generation that just is dicks. Yeah. Don't be a dick. Yeah. It's like this stuff where you see like somebody standing on the subway waiting for a subway train, and somebody walks up and just clocks them for no reason. Punches them in the face. Yeah, or pushes them to it's like what the fuck is in your mind that would make you want to do that? Yeah, man. Some old lady walking down the street and you just clock her for no reason.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:49

Yeah, because there's no there's no fear of repercussion. No. That person should be publicly executed. Absolutely. But I think, and I always compare other, like I'm not saying we're the best, but like I always compare because I I've lived it, I've experienced it. Agrotopia is a special place. It's a special place. You have special friends, like some of our friends that we do life with on a daily basis are here, and they become family to us, man. Like they mean the world to us. Yeah. But this this was farm. And this was this was a vision by the Johnston family that turned into this.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:25

Like, are you familiar with our with our you know what's crazy? When we lived, we lived in in the Seattle area, and we were talking about possibly moving to Arizona someday, and uh, there was an article in the Seattle PI about this concept agartopia. And this is back in the early 90s. Oh shit. Yeah, and it was like one of those things where it was like, oh, that sounds like a really cool place. So when we finally moved here in 99, we came looking for it, and it wasn't here yet, but it was like it was, yeah. So we knew about it before we came.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:59

It's it's an amazing place, and just to kind of like speak briefly on it, it's the basically the circle of life. Like you have the townhomes for a family that's just starting out, right? And then you have your you have your traditional uh single story, you have basements here for your larger families that are expanding, you have restaurants, and then you have a senior living facility. You do not have to leave our neighborhood. It's the circle of life. You have a school. You it used to be Surrey Garden, now it's Gilbert Christian, but like you have everything in here, and I love doing life with our all of our friends and our people in our neighborhood. And I had that in Enfield too, but like I don't know if a lot of people do have that still. I think I think that's a miss.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:39

Well, I think I think in smaller communities they have it because Agri-topia is in and of itself a smaller community, right? Right? So you've got a smaller community in a large metropolitan area. And I feel like like we talked about early on, my hometown. I mean, we had 6,000 people, 5,000 people in my hometown. There was an elementary school, was that it's like basically K through four, I think, and then five through six, seven, eight. You know, I mean it's like yeah, but it was like that was where you went, you know, and and you you you didn't have a choice. Yep. You could homeschool, but that was so different time, right? Not then, right? But so I think there's a there's a disconnect. We've become so drive into our garage, close the garage door, go inside, yeah, get out, go. And the thing that you've done here, especially with the tavern, is brought them inside, right? I mean, the times that I've been here and the people that are here, it's impressive. I mean, you know, and then you do the Irish band on the trailer and yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:46

It's uh it's it's a special place. I I always tell people like until you experience it, it it is a magical place. Like, and I know I sound crazy, like you gotta come in and experience.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:57

I mean, I'd buy two houses down from you. I just don't know if I could do Christmas, dude. You mean I love Christmas, yeah, but we're the type of people that's Like, oh shit, I forgot a dozen eggs at the store.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

But then your neighbor would bring you a dozen eggs.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:12

Yeah. You love Christmas, though. I love Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:14

So here's my thing. Let's talk Christmas. You have the ability to provide a core memory for a lot of kids that don't have this. Yeah. That's true. So 20 years from now, these kids that are walking through our neighborhood with the magic and the lights and Santa, they're gonna do that with their kids. And I think for us as agrotopians and as very good neighbors in the way our neighborhood was built in design. If you have a problem with that, shame on you. And two, anytime you can you can you can create that magic for somebody that doesn't have it, they don't, right? Look, we're very aware of the people that are walking through. Yeah, they love it, they enjoy it, but maybe they don't have that in their neighborhood that we can provide it. You do that 100% of the time. And I will that's a hill I will always die on. Like this this magic in our neighborhood, it's not from me, it's from everybody. It started off with Tamarisk and Virginia Street, but it's grown. And it's a magic I'll never let not.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:18

Well, it is it is amazing. I mean, obviously, thinking about it from a homeowner's perspective, if I had to live it for a month, right, it would it would probably wear on me. However, the magic is the only way I can put it. It's magic. Walking in, and it's crazy because I do decorate my house and and I've got an idea this year. Christine may or may not like it. But I'm well, anyway, so but it's it's yeah, I would say it's on the level of Disney from a perspective of the magic that sure, you know, you you come into. So I I mean I applaud you and I agree with you 100%. I mean, you know, when when when we go look at Christmas lights every year, a lot of times it will be, well, let's park five miles away. Right. You know, but there's certain neighborhoods that every single year we go drive through. Yeah. Just because, you know, they they leave that impression. And you're like, oh, this person, frickin' grumpy old Billy over here doesn't decorate, you know. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:24

You're not, listen, don't do it. Don't move into here with the I with the idea of you're not gonna decorate. You'll get publicly shamed. Yeah and like if you're gonna do it, won't.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:32

One more round. We are back. What else you got? Back. We're still doing it. We'll go our third, our third and final schmidticks. Schmidtwich! We haven't on tap too, but I'm gonna give it to you in the can.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:47

Hell nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:48

You ever have a schmidics?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:49

Uh not in the can.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:50

All right. Cheers. Thanks for uh thanks for having me. Thank you. I've loved your I loved your podcasts. Um, I watch them a lot. Well, good. What is something that you've taken away from doing all of these interviews? Like obviously you're learning. What's the one takeaway that you've had? You didn't think I was gonna interview.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:09

No, that's a tough question. The one thing I I would say that we're not so different from each other. And which is which really is kind of why I started the podcast in the beginning, because I wanted I wanted to have conversations with people. Yeah. You know, when when you you've probably experienced this, but when you go to networking events, and specifically, what do you do? And you say, I do insurance, they're kind of like, you know, glazed over, I need to go that way. Look, but dealing with businesses all the time, I felt like in life we all deal with the same shit. We've all been bullied at some point, we've all had to, you know, pull up our bootstraps and you know, fight through it. Yep. You know, we've we've had loss, we've had, you know, all that stuff. So I I mean, I think it's just solidified that that that we're not so different, and it doesn't matter. I mean, and I think most people want opportunity. Yep. You know, I hell, I would love to be smart enough to figure out some widget that I could make that you could sell 72 billion of and I got a dollar for everyone you sold, and I can just sit back and be like, you know, I'm not that smart. No, actually, I've probably thought about those things, but the minute I've thought about it, I've forgotten about it, and because I don't know how to do it or whatever. But you know, the majority of people want to live their life, they want to, they want to be happy, they want to be able to provide for their kids and their families, but but the podcast has allowed me to have conversations with people that I don't know whether real or not, I don't know whether I would have had the wherewithal to be able to actually have the conversations.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:53

I get it, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:54

Yeah, because everything is so transactional.

unknown 1:12:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:58

And it's it's how can I get you to like me so that I can do business with you and that sort of thing. And it's like, and I hate that. Like I hate sales. Yeah. I if if I could have the mentality of making widgets in a in a factory for eight hours a day, agree. It would be amazing. Agreed. I would shoot myself in five minutes. So it's that whole thing where it's like, man, I just and I have ideas. I have ideas. I mean, I want to talk to you about your your tavern, because I'm like, dude, that'd be so fucking cool. It it's it's uh I mean, it'd be so cool. It's close. So there's getting getting people to a point where they feel comfortable to take a chance is a hard hurdle to get over. But through doing the podcast, I'm finding most people hold their nose and jump. Yeah. I mean, there's thought, don't get me wrong, there's planning, there's all that stuff that goes into it, but a lot of people just go, I'm gonna take a chance. And if I'm gonna take a chance on anybody, I may as well take it on myself.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:08

You have to take a chance. Yeah, you have to. And it's funny that you said that because I've got a I've got a one of my best friends back home in Canada or Massachusetts. Look at look at this. Have you ever had this is nice. This is we had Guinness, the greatest beer on the planet. Then you had Yangling. Yes. And then you had an Iron Red Ale.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:27

This is I feel quite spoiled.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:30

I feel great. Back to your question. So what were we were talking about, please refresh me. With regards to Taking a Chance. Yeah, there you go. Woo! We're back. So taking a chance. So my buddy back home, his son is an amazing artist. But when you're in a small town and you're an artist and you kind of think outside of the box from the jocks or the normal, the the normal, right? Right? Right. You're kind of an outcast. Mainstream. You're kind of, you're kind of you're an outcast. He just got accepted to a college out in LA for acting and music. And I was like, that is the greatest news I've heard. Because once you find your people, doesn't matter what it is, your happiness just shoots through the roof. Yeah. And I think for me, you had talked to me earlier about what kind of makes me tick. I love it when my my friends are happy. And I think a lot of us are not happy.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:25

Do you feel, do you feel, and I'm gonna I'm not asking you this to make you emotional, it's not that at all. But as a guy, as a person that I am, and I feel like you and I are very similar in the way that we deal with life, when Cheryl's happy, you can do no wrong. Or it gives you confidence.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:45

100%. I think when not just a spouse, or not just Cheryl, but like when your spouse, when your spouse is like what when you connect, supportive, not just happy, but like if your spouse is like, hey Jan, you have an idea, and she's like, hey, you should do it. This is what we're all in together. Yeah, the more that you're in together with your spouse on anything, the happier I am. Yeah. Because there's nothing, there's nothing I'd rather do than do something with her.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:18

So if I have an opportunity to do a pub or to do like a trip, like all of my friends were like, hey, we're gonna go P West. Let's go. It's like, all right, me and sure will be there. They're like, what? You're gonna bring your wife? It's like, yeah, I like my wife better than you. Yeah, right. Like, why wouldn't I bring my wife? Right. You know what I mean? Like, I have more fun with my wife than I do with the majority of my people, like my people. Yeah. And they're like, oh, well, it's guys' weekend. It's like, well, have fun. Like, yeah, I'm going with her, man. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:48

Experience that with her. Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, I just feel like I yeah. Anyway, so no, continue.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:55

Maybe I didn't answer it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:56

No, no, no, you did. I I just think there's there's this confidence boost when you feel like, and I think you said it accurately more than I did, because it's a when when you feel like that person is, I'm gonna say behind you, but it's not a I'm standing behind you so you can do what you want to do. It's not that. It's they've gotten behind whatever the vision is. It's interesting because you talk about the pub, and Christine at one point, her and her ex-husband owned a gelato shop. I could see her in a we'll call it a retail environment, but I'm not talking clothing retail, I'm talking hospitality, more restaurant type environment. Where she, because she loves to talk to everybody and anybody. And she'll talk for hours. Yeah. To anybody and everybody. It's like, whatever it is. I mean, it's like, and it's amazing to me because I don't have that gift. I don't, I mean, I can talk to people, but I don't have the gift of oh, I can talk.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:56

Oh, I love talking.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:58

So it's it's incredible because I think that that'd be that that's cool. I mean, anyways, I don't I don't remember where I was going with that.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:05

No, but let me let me piggyback on that because you had mentioned something, and I know you weren't you weren't saying this the way you said it, but like I don't like I I've never liked behind you. Yeah. And when I like when we walk, it doesn't matter if it's Cheryl or if my kids, like my girls are on the side of me. Like I hate the whole philosophy of who's behind you? What's your wife? Like, no, my wife is on the side of me, my kids are on the side of me. Like, no one's behind me. Yeah, and but once that happens, once we're like in alignment, yeah. Hey, we have this idea, like uh everyone knows I want to open a pub. But once my wife got on board, it changed everything. Yeah, it was like, all right, now it's game time. But yeah, I think you're a lot stronger when you have your spouse, not just wife, like alpha females are out there. Like, there's a lot in APN, there's a lot out there, right? You're stronger when you're together and you're in alignment than you are with somebody behind you. Yeah, if that makes any sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:03

No, absolutely makes sense. And and I guess alignment is a better way to say it. Behind you, I know I know you weren't saying supportive.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:11

100% and that makes me tick. Hey, I'm in. All right, yeah, no one's stopping me.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:16

Yeah. Because I feel like, yeah, anyways, I was gonna.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:20

But the pubs, but the pub is real, man. Like this, this has been amazing for me. I I love meeting people, man. Like, you know that. Like, we've had we've had Victoria Cross winners in our pub, World War II heroes in our pub, fighter pilots in our pub, World War II bomber, like you name it, it's they've been in here. Yeah, and I think the the more time you take to learn about someone, and the and uh and the more special you make people feel, that's life, man. Yeah, yeah. Like, we're here for what 70 years? How old are you? 55. You have potentially less than 20 years, yeah. So what are we gonna do with it? Right? That's the question I ask myself every day. Like, I want to be happy. Yeah, I want to be happy, and I think that's the first question you ask somebody. Hey, are you happy? And they they think about it. No one really asks that question a lot. Like, what was the when was the last time somebody asked you about it?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:17

Let me ask you that. What is happy? What's happiness? What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 1:20:21

Uh time. Time for me is happiness. Okay. And I'm in a position now, like, I've I like I've I've worked hard like to gain clients and accounts and to help a business grow. And I'm not done. Are we good? Yeah, we're good. I was looking to make sure they're both recording. Happiness for me, man, it's just dude. I like this. You and I haven't hung out like this. No. And we don't need to film.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:45

No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:46

But this is this is why I love the pub. Like my my my buddy Willie and I. We were we were we were joking with the idea of like writing a book on how to live life. Like what makes life a good life? And it's just the people you surround yourself with, whether it's professional or personal, don't take any shit, don't be unhappy, like, and make and make course corrections as you go. But like, all these pictures on this wall is the entire growth, development of my my life with these people, and they're they've been amazing. Like, do life with people that you love. Are you successful?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:26

Depends on what you what you consider success. What do you do I make it doesn't matter what I think of it?

SPEAKER_01 1:21:31

I listen to me. If you told me I was gonna have this when I was 15, I'm it. But going back, man, like I've never equated it with money like this, all these pictures, when you look at these pictures on the wall, that's more important to me than anything. Yeah, anything. You you could ask a billionaire that, but they might not be. Yeah, because they don't have this. Yeah, get all the money in the world, they they they they they earned it, they did whatever they wanted, but the majority of those guys are just not happy. Yeah, I'm thrilled. I love my life. Well, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:03

And success is what you want it to be. Yeah, I mean, am I successful? Did you ask that? I feel like I'm successful. The fact that I've been through bankruptcy, divorce, lost the house, and I jokingly say you could write a country song about my life and it would fit to the point where I started a business. I've had very supportive people in my life that have that have helped me get to where I'm at. Not from a monetary perspective, so much as a support perspective. But yeah, I mean, am I where I want to be yet? No, but I'm still working at it. Yeah, you know, and I would hope that people see that I'm successful. I mean, but it matters, but it doesn't matter, right? Yeah, you know, you look at it and you're like, do you care what people think? There was a a thing that came up in Instagram and it was a bunch of different celebrities like Kevin Hart and and uh Dwayne Johnson and Jason Momo, I think, was on there. Anyways, basically it was it was really that whole thing where it's like, don't give a fuck what anybody else thinks. No, and and as soon as you can stop giving a fuck what anybody else thinks, then and only then can you truly be successful.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:21

100%.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:22

And that's and it's so true. My problem is I do still think what you know, I still care what other people think, but at the same time, it's like I'm getting closer and closer to that point where it's like, this is who I am, right? Right. And I used to I used to laugh and think, at what point do you become old and crotchety? And I think it's just a point where you go, I don't give a shit what I'm saying. Yeah, I don't give a shit. I'm just gonna say whatever I want and I don't care. Yeah, I got too little time left to really give two shits about what you think about me.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:51

Right. Or to work overly harder than I need to. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:56

Right, exactly. Exactly. I mean, you know, there's there's there's always you know, if if you make X, you set your goal at making X, which, you know, I think I have that goal that I I know what I want to be making, but let's say I set that goal and then I get to that point. Am I happy? You know, getting to that, does that make me happy? Or is now there a new goal that I need to achieve because now I'm spread to the point where I need to, you know, make more. Yeah, no, man, I I've I've heard that a lot. So I don't know. I mean, I just I feel like your focus, I I love, I love your outlook and your focus, and the number of times we've talked, and it's like I think about back to when I was a kid, my parents scuba do scuba dove, scuba dived. You could say scuba dove. I don't think it's right, but you could say I know what you mean. They would scuba dive a lot, and they were part of uh a group called Sea Scouts, but I can remember at a very young age, under five, maybe five or six, but under five, going with my dad to get the tanks refilled by the guy that was tearing up the tanks for sure. And I can remember at that time thinking that's a cool job. Yeah. And I don't know why, but I can remember that. And I can think now, like, I've never gone scuba diving in open water. I've been in a lake, you know, with my dad's equipment and stuff, but I've never gone open water, I've never done any of those things. But when you talk about being on the beach and stuff like that, that's where my mind goes. Like, I think, yeah, how cool it'd be just to be there's there's a chillness to it of, you know, whatever. And I'm sure it's different, right? It's that whole grass is greener on the other side. But it's much greener.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:39

It's like like we were we were down in Aruba for my 50th in January, and they have a they have a thing called uh shout out to the jolly pirates. Yeah, that's right, we have the same birthday. I forgot about that. Yeah, same birthday. The Jolly Pirates. These guys take a pirate ship out and they take a bunch of people out, then they do rope rope swings into the ocean and they get drunk, and it's the best time ever.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:03

So yeah, like if you said you could do that for 365 days of the year, you would you be happy? Yes. It would be amazing. Yeah, it'd be amazing. What would you do in Aruba? I'd probably bartend. I'd own a pub somewhere, yeah, and I would just veg out, and I'm good with that.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:19

I'm good with that, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:20

Work work from whatever time to whatever time.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:24

And I couldn't imagine just doing the 80-hour a week grind. I'm sorry, the grind culture has to die. Yeah, it has to die. For what? I think we're getting closer. I I don't. No? I don't. I think the whole grind culture has to go away. It's like, oh, I'm gonna grind for 80 years. For what? So you can die and leave all the money to your kids? Yeah. It's what, like for what? Yeah, yeah. No, I'm gonna grind for 51 years, and then I'm gonna retire in Aruba and swing off a rope swing all day long. That's all I want to do. Yeah, and that's like I think if everyone just had more honest discussions about that, like what makes you happy? Well, I'm rope swinging into the Houston does.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:04

It's it's funny because the the kids the kids make fun of me because I love watching Alaska Lost Frontier and some of those different homestead shows and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:14

I would die in two weeks. I would I would be dead. I'm the worst. Like if it comes to that, that's fine. Like, could you survive out there?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:20

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:21

I I couldn't. I would die.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:22

Really?

SPEAKER_01 1:27:23

Yeah, I would get eaten or I would freeze to death because I don't know how to start a fire. And I don't like firing guns. I'm buffered nuds, but like I don't know if I can shoot anything. I'd probably get eaten by a bear or I would freeze to death. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:35

Yeah, I uh I I think I I definitely think I could.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:38

So let me ask you this. Let me ask you this question. Yeah. Now I'm gonna reverse it. Okay. Sorry if I'm going off screen. Yeah, let's let's do it. So you're like an uh you're like uh you're you're an Alaskan uh Bush person. Yeah. You have three people that you have to survive a year with. Who are you taking and why? It's an amazing question, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:58

Gosh, that's tough.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:00

That's tough. Three people?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:02

Wow, that's that's tough. That's brutal. You know, say Christine. Yeah, you say Christine, but then people are like, oh, you're gonna say Christine. You take Christine. I would take Christine. Because she is resourceful and she could get shit done.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:16

Three people. Could you can you grow like are you a farmer? Can you grow up?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:20

Yeah, I mean Yeah, I mean I could I can I can source stuff, I can propagate, and I can do I mean I grew up in a small town, my parents had no money. So we did a lot of that stuff. We okay can shit all the time. We'd go to the the which the ladies now I think one of the senators or something for the state of Washington, but we'd go to their house all the time and pick peaches. Do you know where Winatchie is? Oh yeah. My dad, my dad's family used to have a farm there.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:47

My uh good friend of ours that I knew from Burbank had an apple orchard. Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:51

Yeah, yeah. My my dad's family had apple orchards. That's amazing. In fact, my great-grandfather, little known fact, this will go out. My great-grandfather had uh dementia and Alzheimer's, which we're now dealing with with my mom. But uh they had a he's they still had parts of the orchard, and his little house was in the orchard. And uh they ended up he he ended up leaving the house naked, thinking that he was walking into the bathroom and was walking down the street naked.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:24

And uh I want to party with that guy, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:28

Yeah, no, I my family in fact after they sold the orchards there, my uncle Wayne bought bought uh pineapple plantation in Hawaii and had that for I don't know if he still has it. Wow, I think it's gone now. I think he's probably passed away, but but anyway, so he had that for a number of years. So yeah, I know exactly where Wenatche is. That's really my favorite town in in the entire state of Washington is Leavenworth, which is just the best place to go for Christmas, I've heard. It is amazing. Yeah. If you guys ever have an opportunity to go either for Oktoberfest or for Christmas, the Christmas lighting and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:04

It's like uh it's like a like a German. Bavarian, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:07

Yeah, bavarian, yeah. Yeah, and you you you roll into town and it's like they I mean some of the some of the best wineries have their wine stuff there, but then you've got beer like there's no tomorrow and fresh baked bread and pretzels, that'd be amazing, bratwurst and sauerkraut. I mean, it's just like it's it's authentic. It's that's amazing. That's amazing. So if you ever get a chance, Leavenworth is my favorite, favorite, favorite place. Aside from, do you remember the show uh Northern Exposure? Yeah. So there the the there was a when they started the show, it was actually filmed in Roslyn, Washington, or Parson Roslyn, Washington, which was close to where I went to college.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:47

So it was Rob Morrow, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:50

And um, there was a uh site of a building that had a moose and stuff on it. The moose would walk in front of it, but there was a pizza shop there, and it's funny because recently we were having we were having some pizza and they served their pizza, the crust is an inch before it hits the toppings, the sauce and toppings, okay. But they then serve that with powdered sugar and honey. Okay, and that's basically dessert is powdered sugar, honey, and the crust.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:20

On the crust, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:21

And it was it's it's called Rosalind Pizza, but I think there it was something, it was called something else. But anyway, so that yeah, there's I love Washington. That's amazing. There's some great place up there. I mean, it's funny because people are like, oh, you love it so much. It's like I don't miss the winter, like at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:37

Because humans shouldn't live in the cold. No, it's freaking cold. Or like the rain.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:41

Well, you grew up in in the world.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:42

I did, but like my friends still stayed there. It's like, all right, like you have a four-hour flight, you can come back to like sunshine and happiness. Right, right. You want to stay there? You wonder why everyone's so miserable. They're all depressed and miserable. That's how Seattle is.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:55

That's how Seattle is. It's like we moved to Seattle, lived in Seattle for a few years, and it's like, dude, I I couldn't know. My brother lives in Ketchikan, and he'll probably listen to this. He lives in Ketchikan, Alaska.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:07

Alaska. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:07

So it's it's basically it's in the inner.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:11

Yeah, I know exactly where it is. It's where like uh like the the the seaplanes come in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:15

So and and they live basically on the edge of a rainforest. That's amazing. And I'm like, I don't know how you do it. I wouldn't do it. It's amazing. I don't, I I don't under I don't think, I'm fairly certain, they don't have like a well or water. It basically it rains so much that they have these tanks that fill up. They boil it. Yeah, and it's like they treat the water, and it's like I'm like, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:40

I mean I tell all my friends back home, Jan. I was like, look, there's there are these shiny little things that have wings that they fly away. Yeah. Come see me. Because I'm not coming home.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:50

Yeah, it's it's like I love going home in the summer, which now my parents aren't there, so I'll have to see if I actually go back. But okay. But uh, I still got a really good buddy who's got a big piece of land up there. So until he l sells it, I'll probably go back once he needs to be. Are you a hunter? I used to be. I'm not anymore. I haven't hunted, I haven't hunted since I since since we moved to Arizona. But I used to hunt, yeah. Bo, both bow and rifle.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:15

But you ever fur trap anything?

SPEAKER_02 1:33:18

No. No. No. Used to fish all the time. I used to fish. Funny story. I used to fish all the time. In fact, my daughter, before we moved to Arizona, so we moved to Arizona when she was 99, four years old. We I used to take her fishing and we'd sit and fish and whatever. I moved to Arizona, or we moved to Arizona in '99. The house that we moved into next door, the guy had a boat. He's like, hey, you want to go fishing with Mike? Absolutely. We went up to Sawaro. I'm standing on the dock as he's putting the boat in, and I'm thinking, I will never eat a fish that comes out of this water. Oh, yeah. You know, and we used to fish to eat the fish. You know, it's like, yeah. And I'm like, there's no way in hell I'm eating a fish that comes out of this water. So, all right. We should probably wrap it.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:08

I had fun, man. Yeah, no, I had a great time. This was great. We listen, if we do this again, we'll we'll we'll dive into like more deep detailed stories. I'll get you crying on the show. Probably not gonna happen, but we'll talk, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:22

Well, I I really appreciate it. One more question. If you could today go back and talk to your 13-year-old self, what words of wisdom would you tell yourself that you wish you would have known all those years ago?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:37

Stick with the blondes. Always blondes. Um travel more and just be and enjoy yourself, enjoy your time. I think traveling, I never traveled until I met Cheryl. I really never got on a plane. Um, but traveling for me recently, like the last maybe 10 years, has opened up so many different feelings, whether it's mine or my kids. Like, we were out in Barcelona and it's Spanish. My oldest daughter. No, Spanish. Hey, you see where I went with that? Yeah, I did. It wasn't Barcelonian, it was Spanish. Um, but my daughter was able to like communicate with the servers. Really? The hosts, and I was like, wow, like this is amazing. So I would tell you, if if anything from this to them, travel. Yeah, travel as much as you can, go and see as many places and meet as many people as you can that don't necessarily have the same views as you or the same government as you, like, just go and travel. Like, I love uh I love watching Anthony Bourdain with my kids. He was all about travel and food. And I think when you really break down us as a species, it's travel and food. Meet as many people as you can, go to as many places as you can and just experience it. You don't have to document it, you don't have to social media it like just go and meet people. Like we, my wife and I, like, so Cheryl used to live in Aruba for like seven years. Her dad was uh uh an engineer for Sunoko, and he he he was an engineer down there at the oil fields, and we went, we've been going recently back, and we've gotten to the point where like we land and we go to our resort hotel, and they know us, and they're like, Brian, Cheryl, welcome back. Oh my god, they give us hugs, like and it's because you take the time to learn their story and where they're from. Like, dude, like you said earlier, we're not we're not different, yeah. We're not, it's that stupid thing, yeah. It's the things in our hands that divide us, yeah. Just shut it off. Go meet people. Like, you can go anywhere and meet people, and we have the same want in life. It's just to be happy, to be to be left alone, and to have our kids be like as safe and as protected as they can be. But like it doesn't matter where you go. That is the that is the core belief everywhere, yeah. But travel. Yeah, I would tell my I would tell my younger one to just travel as much as you can.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:18

I think that's awesome. I was just talking to I just had Alia Goutier.

unknown 1:37:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:24

I ran.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:25

Iran, yes. Yes, just had her on the podcast, and I think like I haven't traveled a lot. I've been to New Zealand, I've been to Canada, I've been to Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:35

Barely into Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:37

When I went to New Zealand, it freaked me out because I didn't know what to expect, right? But I feel like we are fed all day what to think and see and hear of other places, right? So it's like, oh my god. When I went to New Zealand, I think I shared this before. When I went to New Zealand, I I had a lay over Melbourne. There was there was a guy in Melbourne that we did the eye connecting things. It was like type of thing. That's it. Get off the plane in Auckland, New Zealand, or Christchurch, I think. Get off the plane in Christchurch, and I'm waiting for the bag. And here's this guy again. And you know, kind of like connect, it's like, okay, this is weird type thing. End up, I'm supposed to be going to a hostel to wait for my brother, because he's flying in. I end up this guy's uh we're standing outside. This guy's waiting for his wife to pick him up.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:32

So we start talking. Well, he happens to be a pastor from somewhere in Christchurch. He was in Colorado because a cousin passed away and he was doing the ceremony and did all this stuff. Invites me to dinner. And I'm like, kind of feeling like creeped out a little bit, like this is weird. But I'm like, you know what? Okay, yeah. He goes, Yeah, we'll take you to dinner. You know, your first night here, we'll take you to dinner. I'm thinking, this is cool. I'm gonna get a true New Zealand dinner, my first night in in New Zealand. You know where we went? Outback. Kentucky Fried Chicken. Kentucky fried chicken. That's the best. Yeah. I mean, different experience, you know, but it was one of those things where it's like that was my aha moment that you know what?

SPEAKER_01 1:39:17

We're all the same.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:18

Yeah, it's not that different. And what you see on TV is not what's going on out there. It's not.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:24

And I I watched her briefly, the Iran, the Iran. Yeah. And then every every time you kind of like watch people when they travel, they're like, hey, where's your favorite spot? And it's always Iran, Iraq, random places. Yeah, perfectly. And it's like these people are amazing.

SPEAKER_04 1:39:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:42

But we're we're taught through programming, yeah, you gotta hate the Iraqis, you gotta hate the Iranians, you gotta hate the Russians.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:50

Yeah. And here I am thinking, oh, does she live on a dirt floor in a clay hut?

SPEAKER_01 1:39:55

Yeah, 100%. Right. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:59

Yeah, that's right. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:01

And it's it's our perception, it's our ignorance here. Yeah, but that story was amazing. And every time I watch, we all have the same wants. Yeah, yeah. So it's like, where's the disconnect? Why are we doing this? Why are they doing that? When does it stop? Control. Totally like off topic. Oh, yeah, absolutely. But I've met so many of my good friends are Iranian, Iraqi. I've got a couple like Russian, like, we're all the same. Yeah, we are all the same. It's just we're divided through that thing. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:34

You're told what we should be doing.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:36

Which is crazy to me. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:37

Well, Brian, always appreciate it. Thank you very much. It's great. Hey, you had a gift for me. I have a gift for you. Oh, I love it. This is uh for an addition of your bar. Although, I mean, you didn't drink a lot of hard alcohol.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:52

I do not touch uh tequila, but that's it. I love this.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:56

Yeah, so it says I went above and beyond, it's got your name on the back of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:59

Hopefully, you have me back.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:00

You've got a oh yeah, of course. And it's got its challenge coin in there because you went above and beyond. So appreciate you taking the time on a Sunday to meet with me. Uh and we finally got together.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:10

So you're uh you're doing some good things, man. I'm proud of you. Thank you. And I'm glad to call you a friend. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah, man, for sure. This is Brian Riley, and I went above and beyond.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:29

Don't wait away, yes.