The Gold Coast Podcast
Hosted by Eric Winegard, this show dives deep into the stories behind South Florida’s most driven entrepreneurs, business owners, and community leaders.
Each episode uncovers the real challenges, lessons, and victories that define the Gold Coast business landscape. Whether you’re a startup founder, established CEO, or simply passionate about growth, you’ll gain valuable insights, strategies, and inspiration from those shaping the region’s economy and culture.
The Gold Coast Podcast
The Key to Building Trust in Business | Joe Williams
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Most people think success comes from college degrees, perfect plans, and doing everything “the right way.”
Joe Williams proves that’s not true.
On this episode of The Gold Coast Podcast, host Eric Winegard sits down with Joe Williams, a Desert Storm veteran turned entrepreneur and founder of HVAC CSI — a company built on one simple principle: tell the truth, educate the customer, and never cut corners.
From intense boot camp stories and 100+ hour military operations…
To building and selling assisted living facilities…
To launching an HVAC company that does things differently…
Joe’s journey is raw, real, and packed with lessons most people never hear.
This episode dives into:
Why skilled trades can outperform college paths
The biggest mistake most service businesses make
How to build trust in an industry full of skepticism
What military discipline teaches you about success
And why honesty is still the ultimate competitive advantage
Joe also breaks down what makes HVAC CSI different: documenting issues with photos and video, educating homeowners, and offering customers real options rather than upsells.
If you’re trying to build a business, choose a career path, or just want a real-world perspective on success, this episode delivers.
In this episode:
From Desert Storm to entrepreneurship
The truth about college vs. skilled trades
Building a business on honesty and reputation
How to stand out in a crowded service industry
Lessons from the military that translate to business
Learn more about HVAC CSI:
Website: www.hvaccsiacrepair.com
Email: info@hvaccsi.net
Phone: 954-880-5526
Subscribe to The Gold Coast Podcast for more real conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners, and high performers.
Thank you all for listening in on today's episode of The Gold Coast Podcast!
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Gold Coast Podcast. I'm your host, Eric Weingard, and today we have an awesome dude in here, a veteran, Joe Williams, and he's got a great story, and he owns a really cool named company, HVAC CSI. So he does some cool CSI stuff when he gets into your house. How are you doing, Joe? Good. Thank you. Thank you for having me here. You know, I really try to one of the, of course, I'm trying to help promote businesses, you know. Um one of one of the main reasons I wanted to start this is I think there's a lot of you know young men, especially out there that are, you know, frustrated financially for sure, especially, you know, inflation and cost of living today. Like it's really tough for a young person today. It is.
SPEAKER_01It is. Yeah, I I you're absolutely right. I have uh um a couple of young guys who um they're in school and uh naturally they've reached out to me and you know, so they want to come and do like uh just a ride along, tag along too. Internship. An internship and um, you know, and and and see what it's like. Like uh basically the biggest thing is making money.
SPEAKER_00Of course.
SPEAKER_01You know. I do try to encourage them though, is that the success will come if you can do something that you will truly love to do. For sure. Right. For me, I've been blessed to uh that just about everything I did in life was something that I enjoy doing. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Whether it's from being a teenager uh working part-time, I worked at a movie theater, going to school part-time. And I tell kids today, that for me was the best part-time job you can have because you saw the free movies. Well, it's it's it's not just to be able to see movies, but the important thing was back then was that what was plaguing a lot of kids was after they do their part-time job, then they go home and then they have to do their homework or study for a test. But with working at a movie theater back then, when the movies go in, you had an hour and a half of nothing to do. So I would pull out my book, I would do my homework, I would study for whatever I need to study. So when I get home, I didn't have to stay up to do that. Uh-huh. I did that while I was working. And the movie theater allowed me to do that because prior to the movie theater, I did also part-time at Walgreens. There's no way you can uh uh uh study or do homework, right? Because you're always ringing up customers. You're you know, uh i you had a lot of things to do. But at the movie theater, it gave that, it gave me the opportunity to s to not fall behind in any of my studies.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's fascinating.
SPEAKER_01I I don't know how it's like now, you know, but again, for these kids that are coming out, I I always tell them that, you know, if you enjoy what you're doing, okay, and you have that passion, then you then you're gonna do it, you're gonna do right by your customers, but you're not gonna wake up and like, oh, I gotta go to work today, right? And I've been blessed that the two business ventures that I've uh done, I have enjoyed. The first thing was the assistant-living facility. I enjoyed it, I loved it. I never got up in the morning and like, oh, I have to go into the office, oh, I have to go into work, because I enjoy what I do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And when I saw that and I started HVAC CSI, again, I, you know, getting up every morning, even on my day off, I still, if I get a call, I still want to go out. My wife have to tell me, no, Joe, you have to take the time. Because for me, I don't consider it work. I enjoy what I do. And so that's what I've tell that's what I tell everyone who comes to me. I'm like, listen, ensure that you enjoy what you do. And that's why I encourage them, come right along, see what we do, because learning it in school and actually doing it is two different things. For sure.
SPEAKER_00You know, the the I think um tell me what you think about this. Like uh I I'm a bit I bash college all the time because you know I when I got out of high school, I was a dropout, I was a knucklehead, so I went into the military, right? Uh I went I went in 1999 to 2003, I was in the Navy, right? So and I did meteorology, by the way. I was a weatherman. And uh, you know, and I got out, you know, and I was the age of twenty-three, I felt this the societal pressure that the only way I'm gonna do anything in life is if I get a degree. So I felt this intense pressure to get a degree, and I got my psychology degree, and that was cool and everything, sure. But I always tell people that I I feel like that was the biggest waste of money and time because when I got out of college as a psych with a psychology degree, the only jobs available were, you know, maybe being a counselor or, you know, and these are like$30,000 a year jobs. You know, maybe today it's$50,000 a year or whatever it is. And it's uh it's very, you know, it's tough to kind of make ends meet on$30,000.
SPEAKER_01It is, especially today. And uh you're right. I don't think college is for everyone. Yeah. And I don't think that it is uh uh absolute I don't think it's 100% the way to go, even if you want to have financial stability. Um there are certain uh you know, career that college is important, an attorney, a doctor, you know, those type of careers, yes, you know, you have to put in that education. But I do think that with uh skilled laborers such as air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, things like that, you don't need to go to uh college for that, you know. You can go to a technical school and you're gonna be better off for it because in college, most of the time it's book knowledge. You go to a technical college, you're gonna have some hands-on experience. So when you get out there, you're not lost. You know, um, yeah, uh for myself, I had a four-year scholarship to FAU for engineering. Okay. But after, but after high school, I I really uh during my 12th grade year, I just felt kind of like burnt out, you know, because you uh from your ninth to eleventh grade, you are so much focused on education, right? You want to get that scholarship. You want, you know, you you're doing everything. By your 12th grade year, you're like, my gosh, I got to go to another four-year of this. Yeah right. So that's it so happens that the recruiter was was there in school, and he's like, hey, come take the as fat test, you know, and see how you do your thing. I was like, okay, uh, it's a it's a day out of school. Yeah, yeah. That's what I did. And then when I chose yes, I did. And he said, you can do anything you want. And I said, I'd like to be a pilot. He says, accept that. Because I wore glasses at the time. You know, I didn't know about eye surgery, you know, uh all that stuff that you could have done. Um, but yeah, so I couldn't be a pilot. Um, because you know, you you saw um top top gun back then, right? You know, so you're getting all the chicks, it's it's the singing of life of the parties. So for me, uh I wanted to be a fighter pilot, but I couldn't do any of that. So I told him, well, I had an engineering scholarship, I'd like to do engineer. And uh so they so he said, Well, there's this thing that's called combat engineer. I was like, Well, you get to blow things up and uh you get to build stuff and blow it up, you know. I'm like, oh, okay, that sounds interesting, you know. When I went to sign the papers, I um I was in the waiting room, and there was um three other enlisted guys that came in. Uh the two was coming off active uh reserves, want to go back active, and one was new. And they asked me what I wanted to do, and I told them, and they're like, Do you realize that when it's hot out hot, you're gonna be outside? When it's cold, you're gonna be outside, you're gonna, you know, these are the conditions you're gonna be in. I was like, well, I don't think I want that, you know. So I w chose then to be a 71 Lima, an administrative specialist. I wanted to be indoor when it's hot. I wanted to be uh um uh, you know, indoor when it's cold.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's of course we go through all the same training. Basic training back then is different from basic training today, from my understanding.
SPEAKER_00What years did you go in, by the way?
SPEAKER_011989.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Okay, you're about a decade old then.
SPEAKER_01But what so happens after I graduate, I finished my AIT, I was stationed in an armored cavalry unit with the Bradleys and the tanks. So now when I got to that unit, I wasn't doing the work of a 71 Lima. I was doing the work of a scout.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And then our unit got called up for Desert Storm. Okay, we were the first unit to go out there because again, it's in a desert, and we were the tanks and Bradleys. So we're one of the first units that had to go out there. So it's it was um it it's I had to do completely something different than what I enlisted for. But, you know, I I I'm I enjoyed my time in the military. But when I came out, you know, that's when uh uh for me for air conditioning, I started being exposed to that. My first uh home I bought. Um the train line clogged up. I never knew anything about this, you know. Water started flooding in my home. I called my cousin who sold us the home, he's a realtor, and I said, Hey, you know, uh there's water leaking from the unit. He's like, oh, just go outside and take a uh garden hose and uh, you know, do a back flush, just open it stuff. I'm like, okay, did it work, but then I went back in my house and it's a complete mess. I said, There has to be a better way to do this. And that was where for me air conditioning came in. Yeah. Wow. You know.
SPEAKER_00And you found a passion from it. Let me let me back up a little bit. Um, you know, t hearing your military story, I think that's almost why they call it service, because you're not necessarily getting to do what you love to do. It's it's a duty, right? And you got switched to do something else. Let's take I want to go back to boot camp. Because I have a couple of stories about boot camp. What was what do you remember about boot camp? What was like the most challenging thing to you in boot camp?
SPEAKER_01Well, the first time when you get there, you arrive at the MEP station, and they it's like a holiday in. It's great, everything. Okay? For the first week, this is where they prepare you, right? You get in your uniform and everything like that. Uh the first thing that hits me was when it's time to get your hair cut. So the barber asks you, How would you like it? What well just a little here then, if you're asking me. Everyone is the same. Shave your head, right? You just uh the second thing was um when it's time for the um drill sergeant to come and test you, right? And uh you have to do your push-ups, your sit-ups, okay? And uh then you pass and they're speaking to you nice and everything, right? Then after you pass and they said, Okay, you know, go gather your stuff and get on the bus. They're going up on the bus, they're even helping you if you need help because you have that 80-pound rucksack on your back, right? You gotta go up there. Then when they drive you to your uh barracks for uh, you know, for your basic training, that's when when they pull up there, that's when it hits you. Reality. They the way they're speak to you and everything, you know, get the hell off my bus uh with all the profanity and everything you could think of. You're like, what happened to this nice guy? And they always park on top of a hill, and you have to go down that hill with your 80-pound rucksack. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_00It was it was a wake-up call. My my boot camp story that I remember vividly that was torturous was the sleep deprivation. Because the very first 24 hours, you don't sleep. You're getting uniforms, they're just jamming you with vaccinations. It's like this, they call it hurry up and wait. You're just literally sitting around waiting for it to be processed. So you do not sleep the first night. Now, the next night, you're thinking, Oh, I'm gonna get a nice night of sleep. You know, you fall asleep around 10 30, 11, whatever it is. And then all of a sudden, bam, 2 30 in the morning, they're like, Wake up, you sonza bitches. And I remember vividly waking up in 2 30 or 3 or whatever it was, and thinking, oh shit. And so for the next several weeks, the sleep deprivation was brutal. It because you know, you don't fall asleep till 11. Maybe you wake up realistically at 3, 3:30. And that that's a rude awakening for a teenager.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00Uh, so the sleep deprivation, I I remember another thing in the military too. This is how bad the sleep deprivation was. We would have to sit in classrooms to learn about whatever our trade or whatever, the military, whatever it was they're teaching us. And guys, you weren't allowed to fall asleep. All right. You know, so if you doze off in class, you know, you would, you know, you'd be in trouble. Right. So we're all looking out for each other. And, you know, anybody who dozed off, we're like smacking them, right? Wake up, Joe, wake up, Jim. Right. And I remember this one guy, he he knocked out and somebody tapped him, like, dude, wake up. His reaction was boom, he hit the dude right in the face and knocked him out gold. Okay. And I remember the instructors made a joke about it, but that's the only way you're allowed to sleep. That's you know, yeah, I got him laughing over there. It was nuts. It was crazy. Like, I I could be wrong. I think they've probably altered the sleep deprivation, but I remember it being that was the the most torturous part for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're you're you're absolutely right about that. Um, you know, lack of sleep, because I remembered when we were doing that uh 15-mile biswak march. I kid you not, probably the first seven miles, I had no recollection of it. I think I was sleeping while we were walking, because when they stop for you to have a rest, that's when it snapped out. And I'm like, I don't remember anything. You know? So yeah, yeah, uh that that's definitely. And one of the things that hit me on my first day at basic training when they said, uh uh go up to your room, drop your um your rucksack and tow the line. So everyone ran up. We put our found our bunk, put our rucksack, and we're like, toe the line. What the hell is toe the line? Not realizing that there is a line in the bay, and you're supposed to bring your toe, your feet right up on that line and stand there and wait. Okay? So no one knew. And we, you know, they use the term beat your face, just doing push-ups. I mean, guys were sweating, was running off them, their hands were slipping, they were um, you know, bloody nose. Still, you had to stay in that area. And you were just doing push-ups. And then after that was done, that's when he decided to now test you on how many push-ups you can do. Yeah, yeah. And of course, no one passed because everyone was at muscle failure.
SPEAKER_00There, you just made me think of something else, too. Another one of the most intense things about boot camp, they would call it, oh, time to make it rain, boys. And what making it rain was is we were in the barracks, so we're inside. You push your bed to the side, you probably got 80 guys in there, and they would make us do cardio and jumping jacks and exercises until our sweat and moisture that we're giving off started to rain from the ceiling. And we weren't done until we started to make it rain. So anytime the instructors would be like, time to make it rain, boys. You're like, oh no, because the intensity was just so high of how hard you had to exercise. I haven't thought about these things in years, but that's why I love talking to another veteran because you make me uh remember these things.
SPEAKER_01It's it's um it's weird that I've um have um people that I know now, younger people that are in the military. And it's weird. I've I've I've seen them go in being in shape, and during the course of their career, they're not in shape. And I'm like, what is the military doing today? I mean, there's no way this person can pass a PT test.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's it's it's so I'm like, this never happened while I was in the I remember um because I was in the Navy, and I remember you know the the Marines being way more fit on average than the Navy guys for sure. Yeah. Um and obviously Army too. But I was I was one of those guys. I was fit, I was jacked, I was athletic, I was aggressive, and I and I trained with a lot of the Marines a lot of times in the gym. And then we had a SEAL team on our boat too, and I worked out with them, not saying I'm as tough as them at all, but I prided myself on on the physical nature of it. Um yeah, that that's crazy today. You can't lower those standards, right? Tell me about Desert Storm, because I was in I remember when Desert Storm kicked in, my favorite team was in the Super Bowl, the Buffalo Bills. And that was like the famous Whitney Houston national anthem.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I wasn't there for uh I I w I was in um Iraq at that time, I think, because that's when we did the counterflank. So that was um for our squadron, we had the order, we did the counterflank uh going up to um to Basra. Okay, so from Saudi Arabia we would enter into Iraq and we did the counterflank there. Um my um so I knew nothing of what was happening with the Super Bowl because we were out there and we did that march pretty fast. It was like 108 hours, you know, uh no sleep. No sleep. I was just driver for the sergeant major of our squadron. So we were in um, so I'm in the um, we call it S3. So we're the tactical, we're the operations center. So you have S1, S2, S3, S4. S1 is the intel um S1 is our support, S2 is the intelligence, S3 is us the operations, so we have the commander of our squadron, you know, the XO, and S4 is the communication, you know. So um uh uh so so naturally we're what the enemy wants to hit out because we're the eyes and ears and the command center for our squadron. You know, so we were always the one moving with our squadron to the front because we have to see what's going on and give the command for our troops. So uh yeah, during that I I I knew nothing about the Super Bowl for that year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know. Uh September 11, 2001, I was in the military. And the first two years prior to that, we were in the Mediterranean and it was a party. We were going from Spain to Italy to Morocco, um, in northern Africa. We were just going to all these cool places and partying. It was like almost like a cruise ship, right? And then September 11th hit, and boom, changed forever. The last two years of my military service, no exaggeration. We went out to sea for nine months and we worked 16 hour days, seven days a week for nine straight months. No beer, no girls, just a bunch of. Dudes and the mission, you know, and uh kind of a cool story with that too. This is how this is kind of a badass story. But when I was when we told we told Saddam Hussein, if you don't step down by March 1st, 2003, we're gonna come in. So March 1st hit, and every, you know, the whole world's just waiting, like, what's going on? What's the United States gonna do? Well, on our ship, I was on the USS side pan, it was just a little bit smaller than an aircraft carrier, but you know, we had we had planes and harriers and all that stuff on it, smaller version of an aircraft carrier. And then all of a sudden, one night we're hearing all this like we can't sleep because we're hearing all this machinery during the middle of the night. It's probably like March 5th. Then on the ship the next day, like you know how you have your name tag on there? Wine guard or Williams, right? Williams, right? Yep. All of a sudden, and you gotta be clean shaven, right? There's no beers, you gotta be right. All of a sudden, all these random dudes showed up on our boat. They had big beards and they had long hair, ponytails, and they had digits for their names. S21567. They ate a bunch of food. The next day, they're gone. You hear some more machinery in the middle of the night. The next day, Saddam Hussein was captured. So that was like the SEAL team that came in and did their mission. So definitely kind of a cool, cool thing to sort of witness and be a part of for sure.
SPEAKER_01Right. No, absolutely. Yeah, I remember when September 11th uh happened. I actually um did my morning ritual before I go into the office, you know, and I turn on the uh just turn on to s you know, watch the news. It was Good Morning America, and all of a sudden I see the Twin Towers, and I saw one of them already on fire. You know. Then the next thing I knew, the other plane came and hit the second tower. I I I was like, what's happening? You know? At that time I'm never thinking it was terrorism at all. I I was thinking that it's, you know, it's it's it's it's a pilot or something. A drunk pilot. Yeah. And uh then I saw the uh when it crumbled, I was like, oh man, unbelievable. Yeah, unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00Tell me, um, all right, so you you got out you got out of the military. What was your first like did you were you an entrepreneur early on or were you working for other companies? Like t tell me about that.
SPEAKER_01Well, my family uh was um I had aunts and uncles that were in the uh sister living facility business, you know, retirement home back from in the 70s. And so it was um I I um my mom uh uh took care of one of my aunts' facility, and I I I um would read to the um to the residents that are there. Yeah. You know, and that was my exposure to you know growing up in that. So I've always in the senior living environment. In the senior living environment. So I always uh uh had a um you know a a liking to it. So when I came out of the military, it was that I'd like to um you know open up a facility, you know, and um so that was my my goal towards that, you know, and um I was I was able to accomplish that back in 1999. Um I bought my very first facility. Wow. And uh, you know, expanded from there, and then in 2015 I sold my last one.
SPEAKER_00What was it that you liked about like what was it that made you gravitate to it early on? You have a soft spot for that.
SPEAKER_01I do. I have a I have a brother who was um who's mentally challenged, you know, so uh definitely that uh there and um and then seeing those clients and when I my mom would have me read to them after school, how much it meant to them because a lot of them, the family would put them in these homes and forget about them. Okay. And uh so I uh for me, when I um got older, I wanted to make a difference. I wanted for these uh, you know, the the last years of their life to not be lonely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's tough. That I don't even think about that. Like, you know, because I've never in my life, I haven't really been around elderly. You know, my uh I I didn't have a father growing up, and because of that, obviously I didn't know those grandparents. My mother's parents died when they were young, and my mother died recently at 69, about a little over a year ago. So I didn't see her get to the elderly stage. So I so I really haven't been exposed to it. Um but that's interesting.
SPEAKER_01You know, in and um for us, we've always taken care of our elderly. It's one of the things that we try never to put them into a facility. You know, we try to care for them at home. We did that for my mom. Um, you know, my dad passed away with a um full cardiac arrest at home. So he never had to go into a facility. For my mom, she lived uh with my sister uh and you know, until she w uh until uh she went to the hospital and she passed away there. So, you know, we we just take care, we we do our best, you know, to take care of our elder. You know, it's one of those things where, you know, as as a baby, your parents are taking care of you, and as they age, they're they're regressing, and you know, so it's now you to step up. And uh I'm fortunate, we're fortunate. Not and and we understand that not every family can do that. Yeah okay, not every family can can take care of someone uh uh you know, because if you have dementia or Alzheimer's, it'll be difficult to keep that person at home. For sure. You know, uh so having a facility is is the right way to go for that. Uh but yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's um so and tell me if I am speaking out of turn or if I'm if I sound green or unknowledgeable about this space. But it sounds like it's a real estate play, but rather than just having tenants that you're not having an impact on, you're running a business that's profitable, but you're also having some fulfillment by taking care of tenants that need you. Yes. Sounds like a good business.
SPEAKER_01It we've we we have grown very close to uh some of these tenants, especially the ones that has character. Okay. Uh one of them I was able to meet that was an electrician on um at NASA on the Apollo mission. I can't remember w which one, but and um so uh, you know, some brilliant people. Another one, uh she was a cousin of Patrick Swayze, maybe a distant cousin. Okay, her name was Carol Swayze. Um so we have met so many uh uh uh you know elderly people that has their uh unique characters. And you know, another one was a great uh Elvis impersonator. These ones, they they Yeah, they don't lose their personality. Yeah, and and you've grown attached to them and you uh you know, you always uh if you you know, I always tell anyone during that time that when I got into it, I I didn't get into it just for the financial reasons, you know. That is a plus, a big plus, you know. And um, but it was really because I um uh liked the environment. I liked being around these people, and I liked making a difference in their life.
SPEAKER_00That's I have a funny take on this. Like I've always wondered when my generation gets to be seniors, it's gonna be an interesting senior living facility because I'm from the Snoop Dogg generation, the MM generation. So I've always envisioned me being in an old folks home just jamming out to some raunchy music, you know.
SPEAKER_01You're absolutely right. Because in our in our facility, we of course would play the 50s and 60s, right? So in our generation, it'll be the 80s and 90s, is what, you know, like even now today, uh, you know, we my wife and I listen a lot to our 80s music.
SPEAKER_00You know, so that's my favorite era for sure. Yeah. Yeah, that's it's the most. I feel just my take on it. I feel like the 80s was kind of a a wholesome era. Like, you know, there's not you know, like Phil Collins' music is you know, it's just it's just uh uh wholesome, it's not raunchy.
SPEAKER_01Even even the rap music told told uh uh um you know hadn't had uh um meaning back then in the 80s, you know. Um I I also was exposed to heavy metal. So I I again, like I said, for someone who of my ethnicity, I I I listen to heavy metal. Okay. Jamaican that listen to heavy metal. Yes. Yes. So, you know, uh I'm I'm you know, Metallica. Yeah I'm you know, I'm um Blair, is that what they're called? Yeah, you know, right? You know, and um I I I think um yeah, so it's it's so I'm well uh I have a lot of uh I'm pretty versatile in the different genre of music that I like.
SPEAKER_00There is one of my favorite songs is by Phil Collins. It's called Um Paradise, right? Um Another Day with Me and You in Paradise. Oh, think twice. About two years ago, I got really emotional listening to the song because if you just casually listen to it, you're thinking, oh, Paradise, you know, martinis and margaritas, right? And we're on vacation. But the song is actually about homeless people being mistreated. And that gets me very emotional. It just so you're talking about seniors kind of being mistreated and forgotten about. I I feel like that with the homeless. I'm like, dude, those are that's somebody's son at one point. They probably are a good person, they just hit rock bottom, right? For the most part. Okay, they're a drug addict. Um sometimes it's not their fault. You know, I I have I have a friend who was prescribed Adderall when he was 11 years old. That started his drug addiction. You know, sometimes there's stories like that, but but if you listen to that song, um he's talking about a woman, a homeless woman that's walking in the rain, and she's like, you know, excuse me, sir, do you know where I can go find some shelter? And she's barefoot, and he just he's like, Ugh, like how dare you come up to me. And he just ignores this homeless woman. And and when I finally heard the lyrics, I'm such a softy these days. I remember I was driving and I just started bawling. And there's literally a homeless person. I I remember right where I was, I was in West Palm, I was getting off, and I heard it, and I'm looking at this homeless person, and I'm listening to the song, and I'm seeing nobody give this person any money or give a shit at all. And I just was like, whew, you know. So part part of my motive, you know, sounds like seniors touch you, the homeless really touch me. And I I uh it I would love to be able to make an impact some sort of way, make a billion-dollar company, keep a hundred million, and and give nine hundred dollars.
SPEAKER_01And give yes, and you know, and definitely there's you know there's definitely a need for that for the homeless. And uh my my my story on that, and I don't know if you've been in Florida long enough, but uh there was a resident in my facility that came to me, and it was one that in Pompineau, where he was um a victim of uh getting beaten on the street. A homeless person. A homeless person. Okay. And so when he was taken to the hospital after uh during after he was recovered enough to come out, I accepted him into my facility, you know. So um, yeah, so that uh so definitely it's it's a there's a there's a need for that, you know, and um th what they are given from I mean the government is doing what they can, you know, um for for supplementing their income to help them to thing. But there's a lot of homeless people that uh probably don't realize that there's um, you know, uh programs out there that can probably help them. You know, and some of them they they feel like their their freedom will be um infringed upon by going into one of these facilities that will help them. You know, some of that is is, you know, they they have that feeling because, you know, you have facilities that are locked and stuff like that. So if they you know, but the i in the state of Florida you you you you can't uh you have to allow there's uh rules and rights for the residents, and uh you cannot lock a residence uh in. They have to be able to come and go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, but a lot of homeless people, they uh they don't know that.
SPEAKER_00I feel um I really feel for people with drug addiction too, because most people just look at an addict as a lowlife. And I'll give you a great story. When I was I was young and dumb, I was reckless as hell. I tried every drug you can imagine. I tried an oxycontin when I was 23 years old. My one buddy gave it to me, and he goes, Hey, this thing's supposed to make us feel really cool. Let's do it. And I'm like, you know, fuck yeah, let's do it. I did it, it felt good, and then two hours later it felt terrible. I was throwing up everywhere, and I said, I'm never touching that again. He did it and became a heroin addict. And it was we both made dumb decisions, my body responded to it differently than his body. And you know, I'm just fortunate that my body didn't like oxycotton, you know, and so I don't know, man. I'm I think sometimes people think I'm too nice about this kind of stuff, but uh like because I do think there is an element to they have to help themselves, you know, whether it's a homeless or an addict for sure. But man, I do I do feel for for people. Um, you know, because the story's not always black and white.
SPEAKER_01No, it's not. And and you know, just like you were talking about the um oxycotin and how it reacted to your body, and from that right away, you knew that, hey, this is not something for me. This happened to me as well when I was in um Desert Storm. And I was uh um we we were in Saudi Arabia in the desert uh there and I remember getting off duty and I went back to my tent and I saw the uh my friends there sitting around smoking. I was like, you know, well what is it about smoking cigarettes? You know, they're like, try it. I'm like, okay, I'll try it. So um going, I'm like, what is it? They're like, no, no, no. Inhale it, go pull it in like that. I did that. And I kid you not, I think I was gonna cough out a lung.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, no, this is not for me. They're like, well, you have to keep doing it and get past that. I'm like, why would I want to get past this? Okay. It it doesn't make sense. Yeah. It you it's not good for your body. Just my personal experience with that happening to me. And then I I just kind of, you know, came to the realization that I think that a lot of people start out smoking just because of maybe peer pressure or to fit in to their group. And then eventually they get hooked.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You know, and um and they feel the peer peer pressure to get past that cough.
SPEAKER_01To get past that cough. You know, and and and and I think that's uh, you know, for me, just like with you and the Oxycotin, because we've seen that in this assisted living facility, these residents are put on these high pain medication. And uh I I know I think now it's more regulated than even when I own my facility. So um, but it was like if a resident wanted it, just tell the doctor and the doctor prescribed it. You know, because you know their thing, but a lot of times it it really is that they were addicted to it and they just wanted more.
SPEAKER_00Um not to keep talking about smokers, but I just want to say this. What I hate about smokers more than anything is they don't realize how bad it smells. I don't care if you want to smoke, if you want to ingest this, if you want to consume this, go right ahead. That's your life. I'm not gonna try to stop you, I'm not gonna suggest it, but consume whatever the hell you want, it's your life. Right. But when your marijuana or your cigarette smoke, I can smell it. Yeah. Get the fuck away from me. You know, and what happens to them, because my mom smoked, and I just said, Mom, we have the house that smells like smoke. When people come over, they're disgusted. I go, I'm disgusted, I can't stand it. It the smell gets normalized. If you smoke weed or you smoke, you don't realize how bad your place smells. And you're just like, what I can't smell it. You know, it's it's like a teenager can't smell his stinky socks, right? So as long as they respect that, like go do whatever you want. Um tell me, so tell me, um, do you want to fast forward? I I'd love to hear about like your business today. Yes. You know what what what your business is today? It sounds like you uh did just went through an acquisition. Like kind of unpack HVAC CSI for me.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um HVAC CSI was created in 2015. The name actually came when I was in um when I was in a class and the instructor was going over um resolving uh you know how to find uh problems to resolve the issue. And one of the uh one of the guys that was attending the class says, wow, that's some HVAC CSI shit. And I was like, I like that name. So naturally in 2015, after we sold our last facility, I went ahead and I registered the name. And um so that's how HVAC CSI came into being. Um, throughout throughout my adult life of owning homes and businesses and uh uh going through uh uh being exposed to the uh air conditioning failing and the different type of air conditioning, whether it's a split system or a mini-split duckless or a um uh or a package unit. I've had buildings that has them all. So and I've seen uh take uh you know having issues calling technicians to come out. But one of the stuff that I've uh uh noticed was that these technicians were just coming out and fixing what was the cause of it not working. But what they were never doing was educating the customer of any um concerns that they come across. Because as an AC technician, if someone has a um a dirty evaporator coil or a dirty blurrow wheel, okay, that right now is not the reason why your AC is not working. It may have been a capacitor, but eventually this was going to lead to another premature failure. So you should educate the customer because they're paying you to come out to fix your unit. I'm pretty sure they would want to know if there was any concerns that you come across that they should know about. Because you don't do that. And this may have happened to you where you have someone come to your home to fix something. They fix it, but then two weeks later you call back again to say, Hey, you know, I called you two weeks ago, you came out and fixed this, now now the same th the unit's not working again. And then they tell you, oh, it's this other thing. Then you have in the back of your mind, well, uh what if it he didn't really fix it the first time?
SPEAKER_00He can I give you the flip side of this, not to interrupt. Okay, this is a really cool conversation, ready. So I don't know anything about I'm not a handy guy. You could tell me there's a unicorn in my Vack unit, and I go, God dang it, he's got to get rid of the unicorn. Okay. So for someone like myself, I don't if you said to me, Hey, you gotta, you gotta, there's this other issue. My initial reaction, unfortunately, is oh, of course he's trying to make an upsell, or that not you personally, but whoever. Of course he's trying to make an upsell. How do you help? Because this is a challenge. Yes. Right? I I go through it myself in my career. You know, we're not, we never, we don't try to sell things that people don't need. We don't try to oversell them. We don't try to undersell them. It's about what do they need, right? Yes. How do you, how do you, how do you overcome that or how do you combat that? Okay.
SPEAKER_01So this is what I would do is all about education.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01Right. Um, and and Google is a very powerful tool as well on education. So everything I tell my customer, I said you can Google it, right? So if you have a dirty blower wheel or a dirty evaporator coil, I tell them that this can lower the efficiency of your unit and it can lead to premature failure. Okay. And um a dirty blower wheel uh causes your motor to work harder, so it can shorten the lifespan of that motor. A dirty evaporator coil can restrict airflow, so you're not getting as much air coming out. Your unit's working longer and harder, so your electric bill is gonna go up, so it's costing you more money. Okay. And uh your your motor is working on a higher static pressure, and it's gonna cause your motor to fail eventually. So, and every word I say, you can Google it, and I take pictures and I video and we attach that to the file.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_01That's one of the beauty of our um HVAC CSI, we're a paperless company. We take pictures and videos, we're able to attach it to their um invoice and have that, along with that when I when we do a diagnostic, we we're telling a story. Okay. If the reason why your unit failed is because of a capacitor, well, there's a reason why that capacitor failed. Okay. It could be that your compressor is overamping and your compressor is overambridging because it's running on a higher head pressure because of a dirty condenser coil. And I can show you how dirty the condenser coil is. All right. Well, to lower the head pressure on that compressor, we should service that condenser coil. Yes, to fix the problem now to get you cooling is for us to replace that capacitor. But we just replacing that and we leave, you can call us back two weeks again and another capacitor fail because of the other symptoms that led to that failure. So for me is educating them, documenting it, showing pictures and videos, and we give them the options. We don't just say, okay, it's my way or the highway. No, we give them like an option one, option two, a good, better, best. And they choose what's best for them and for their budget and for their family, what's best, you know, and whatever they choose, that's what we perform. Okay. And this way, if they choose to be a minimum and they decided not to um address the other concern, then should something happen and we go back because of that concern, then you know, it's no one's fault. It's not the technician's fault.
SPEAKER_00Why your unit. It's interesting. I was going to answer that in two ways. I agree with you. I think because I'm because I'm in marketing, you know, we we help, you know, businesses with their online brand, with getting leads. And it is kind of cool what you said, Google, you can kind of fact check a little bit there, but also Chat GPT, you could literally just ask the question to Chat GPT. You could probably put a picture into Chat GPT and say, hey, what does this look like? Blah, blah, blah, blah, what should I do? Which is kind of cool. Where I was going to go with it is brand and reputation, right? So it's like, you know, if if if an entrepreneur is out there and they're thinking about starting an HVAC company, if if you're telling a homeowner the truth, if you uh are not well manicured, you know, and I know it's tough to stay clean all day, but but you kind of look bummy. Um, you know, if you have a filthy, noisy truck, if you you have bad hygiene, um, if you don't have a website, if you don't have Google reviews, right? Like if you kind of get what I'm at. Like if you don't present yourself as a professional, as trustworthy, you're gonna kind of swim upstream talking to somebody, but I've, you know, or trying to present to them their their options with the product or the service. But I feel if you have that secured brand and reputation and you're well manicured and and and yes, and you're professional, then the fact checking, yeah, you probably still got a fact check, but it's not gonna be as they're gonna be like, oh no, no, I you look like you're hi trust. No, you're right.
SPEAKER_01You know what I'm saying? First impression is is is the best, you know. You you uh pull up your vehicle and um yeah, you pull up your the first the first impression is when you knock on that door. Okay. You're greeting the customer. Okay, and you have to show respect for that customer's home. Put on booties, okay? You know, um you you um you know, ask questions, um, you know, find out because a lot of times it's like when a doctor, when you go to a doctor and they ask you questions to tell you, hey, how are you feeling? You know, what's what's you know, when did this happen? You know, it's the same thing. You know, you do this, do you you know, did you hear any noise, you know, a weird smell before it failed. You know, it's it's yeah it's diagnosing Yes, you know, and um yeah, but you're right. I tell I I I have someone who um uh trained with me and you know, he has a tattoo on his face and stuff, and I said, you know what? Just think about it. If I I know you uh well, um, but if I don't know you and you come to my door, we live in a society today where, you know, it it's it's you know, we affiliate that to something uh like you're a gang, you're uh you know, so you want to be that presentable, as you said, you know. Um and um you know, so it's it's one of these things that, yeah, how you present yourself will go a long way, you know. You do it uh uh negatively, it's gonna affect you.
SPEAKER_00I think I I I like what you're saying. What I tell people too is you can go too far the other way, too. Right. So and and I'm really trying to coach up entrepreneurs and business people that are at a lower level of business. I think you can look too sharp too. Like if you're you're finding you know what I'm saying? Yes, you know, like uh like I wear a nice watch, not every day, but it depends on my environment. But I know my environment.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00You know, if I go to a meeting with you know a certain group of people, I'll go jeans and a polo.
SPEAKER_01You're right. It's the same with us when we travel. You know, when we go to Europe, we dress differently. When we go to the islands, we dress differently. You know, my my you know, I don't wear, as you said, I don't wear my watch when I uh because you just you know they said prevention is better than cure, right? So you want to um not uh put yourself in that spotlight that can attract, you know, unwanted uh responses, you know. And so, yeah, as you said, you have to um, you know, you you dress for the occasion, so to speak.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's um it's critical. It's um, you know, people, yeah, they they they size you up like that, you know, and trust, you know, I would business is pretty simple, and I actually think it's gonna be easier moving forward for this, for this reason. I think there's so much distrust out there with you know, we've all heard of all these scams, or you know, oh my god, Epstein file. I don't even want to get into all this crazy stuff, you know. Um people hear of you know the Bitcoin scam or the financial scams, or and then AI is just gonna create a lot of confusion, I think. Actually, like, oh, is that a real person? Is that so? I think the one of the best business strategies a person can have moving forward is be honest, be ethical, be true, just be 100% honest, ethical, and true, and you're gonna break through the noise.
SPEAKER_01Um, so I think uh saying that I um try to do my business by was um I we were taught this, that we had to memorize this. Uh, when we first uh attended 11th grade American history, the teacher, Miss Singletary, the first five minutes of class, we had to memorize this phrase, right? And we had to get up and say it in front of the class. It goes like this excuses are tools of incompetence that build monuments to nothing. Those who specialize in them are seldom good at anything else.
SPEAKER_00That's hard hitting.
SPEAKER_01That's the phrase that I um, you know, do my business by. And um, so I don't make excuses, as you said. I just tell the truth. Honesty. Okay. Um you know, that's that that me that to me that's what I do. And uh whether the customer believe it or not, the thing is is that I know my conscience is clear. Mm-hmm. You know, when I do uh uh when my business is all about honesty.
SPEAKER_00If you never lie, you never have to remember what you said. Right. Just tell the truth. Just tell the truth. And you'll never have to try to recall because you just say what it is.
SPEAKER_01We're all humans. We make mistakes. Yeah. So I always say, um, you know, honesty is the best policy. And um, you know, and and if you make a mistake, you know, good or bad, I always um, you know, just like I answer my phone, whether it's good or bad, I'm gonna call or answer my phone and uh just tell you the truth. I I'm sorry, I'm running late. Uh, you know, I got caught. Traffic, whatever it is. Okay. Or if I'm can't make it, just say you can't make it. The truth. There's no reason no one's holding a gun to your head to tell you to say anything. So uh that's the way that I've always um do my business.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I like it. I I think uh this is good. I I I really enjoyed the conversation. I think um I want you to do me a small favor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00If if someone wants to learn more about HVAC CSI, maybe they want to work for you. You know, you're always probably looking for technicians. Maybe they want to do business with you, maybe they have a couple questions. Do me a favor, look into that camera and for the next 30 seconds or so, tell them a little bit about HVAC CSI and and where can they find you? Where should they look you?
SPEAKER_01Uh HVACCSI is a family-owned business um since 2015. Um you can find us at www.uhvaxcsiacrepeer.com. Um email info at hvaxcsi.net, and our phone number is 954-880-5526.
SPEAKER_00Hey guys, thanks again for tuning into the Gold Coast podcast. Uh, make sure to give us a like, subscribe, and share this with someone that you think finds some value in this information. I'm your host, Eric Weingard. We'll see you again.