SPEAKER_02 0:02

All right, gang. Welcome back to episode two. We've officially named the podcast Stories and Stripes. So welcome back. Jake Meisner, Jake's Lawn Care, aka the Stripe Daddy, and alongside me is My Life. Well, that's Catherine. Apparently, she's just known as my life. But um Man, we had a heck of a week this week, huh?

SPEAKER_00 0:29

We're sitting on our patio because Stinky is napping. Um typical for us is just to record anywhere where he's not so that we can get some quiet time.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

No, it's funny. You actually brought up filming or not filming, but recording the podcast. You're like, when are we doing it? When are we doing it? And then I get back home from running errands and you're like, hey, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Well, because you've been telling me all week that we needed to record another episode. And we just don't have any time during the week. It's so busy. As soon as you get home, we're basically doing his bath time. And then I go to the gym, and then by the time we get home, it's like 9 30 and we're both beat.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah, the day's pretty long when you get up at 4 15 in the morning. So it's nice to sleep in a little bit on a Saturday, have just so much family time. My dad was over, stepmom was over. It was great.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Sleep in. I was up at 6 a.m. with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

That's what I'm saying. Like that's sleeping in for us.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Oh for you, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Yeah, that's sleeping in. Um so obviously we put out a lot of fires this week, just managing um you know, crew expectations, handling those.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Um yeah, we had a couple of customer issues this week.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Yeah, we had the Google review scenario. I mean, that was hilarious. We can get into that later. Um, but we kind of wanted to talk about work ethic. Correct?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah, we both we were talking the other night, this was maybe like Wednesday, and I was just giving Jay kind of a rundown of like long story short, I'm gonna be stopping work soon to just focus on JLC and um to focus on taking care of stink. And we were talking, and I was just giving him an explanation of kind of how I was raised, where like money was a big issue to my mom and dad. That's ultimately one of the big reasons why they separated. And I was telling him that my mom didn't re-enter the workforce until she was 40. And to just look at the trajectory of her starting working part-time at the makeup counter and Lord and Taylor versus now she's this sales rep for a huge automotive supplier and makes probably almost $200,000 a year. The trajectory of that is just insane. And I think it's a lot has to do with how we were raised. We were raised to work hard. Um, I'm not gonna say play hard because I feel like everybody says that, but we were just raised to continue to try to be better and do better. And that got us on the conversation of this is a great talking point because we were both raised that way to work very hard. And we kind of also found it within ourselves to work hard.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Yeah, I think when you have parents that work extremely hard for everything that they have and they've given you, that definitely sets a tone. I do feel though there's certain things and personality traits that God puts in you that you just can't fight. So for instance, you know, my dad worked extremely hard for my family before my parents got divorced, he still works extremely hard, but there was something in me that saw that. You know, this wasn't just like, oh yeah, like I have, you know, we have a nice house and you know, we we got the nice cars, and I'm not saying like, you know, we're driving around in Bentley's or anything like that, but like my parents always had newer vehicles and such. But I feel like there's a recognition as a kid, and you how do I how do I explain this more clearly? I feel like you either have it or you don't. You either get so used to this and you're accustomed to it, and you either adapt your lifestyle to have what you had as a kid, or you actually appreciate what your parents have given you, and you want to not only be like them, but you want to exceed them. And to me, I just feel like there are so many kids nowadays, even adult kids. I I still consider myself a kid. I'm 30 years old and I feel like I'm a kid, but there's so many people, and I see it all the time on Instagram, you know, I'm 30 years old, and I and people think I'm cocky because it's like, no, I'm competing with 50 and 60-year-old men because they're the only ones with work ethic versus the 20, the 30, some even 40-year-olds, they're just losers. Yeah, they're straight up losers waiting for handouts. And life is so like it's so easy to make money in this country, but you have to be willing to put in the work. You're not gonna be handed anything.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah. I I ran into that when I started working at 16 because my parents were basically like, we're not paying for anything. Like they had their issues, and um, so it was kind of like all the kids were on their own because they were focusing on their own issues. And I think that kind of instilled in me how to manage money. And then as I got older, you know, obviously, if you want more money, if you're trying to manage it on your own, and then you want more of it, you work harder, you learn more at whatever current role you're doing to try to increase what you're making.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

And I wouldn't even say sometimes, too, you're working harder, you're actually working smarter. So you're taking some of that money and you're investing it. A lot of people do it backwards. They think, oh, you know what? I'm gonna buy this, buy this, buy this, buy this, and then whatever's left over, I'm gonna invest. Really, what you should be doing is budgeting, okay, I'm gonna invest 80% of this and whatever's left, that's paying my bills, and that's paying for my fun SHIT.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Well, what I was also trying to say is that um when I started working in my current industry, which is title insurance, the primary people that I was competing with, like you just said, 50 and 60 year olds. The people who were doing my job were 50 and 60 year olds. And coming in as a 24-year-old person, you obviously excel. One because of your work ethic, but you can just do things so much faster. You you're sharper, you're you're better with technology, you're able to pick up things so much more quickly. So, in that area, because of the industry that I chose, it was easy for me to excel. Well, I wouldn't say easy, but it was easy to learn new things to be able to increase my capacity, and then that factored into earning more money.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Do you feel like the people that were older in your positions or just coworkers that were 40, 50, 60, do you feel like they saw that work ethic and they appreciated it? Or do you feel that they saw that work ethic and they were almost like annoyed that like this hot shot 24-year-old's coming in here, she's got a work ethic, she wants to grow in this company.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Well, what do you think the vibe was?

SPEAKER_00 8:10

I don't think that my co-workers were annoyed because I think they knew that that would mean that the company would take advantage and put more work on me. So it was less work for them.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Because when they So they're like, I like this girl.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Yeah, when they had an issue with a customer, then I would be taking over for that customer because of the type of skills that I had. And that's no shade to anybody.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

It's just they it was kind of the seniority thing. Yeah, they're just like, ah well, fresh blood, we're gonna have her take care of this.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

So that kind of forces you to advocate for yourself because I come from working for the man essentially. I'm working for someone else, I'm not working for myself like you do. So I was constantly interviewing for other jobs, going back to them and saying, Hey, I have this other offer for X amount of money. Are you what are you what can you offer me? Because no company is just gonna willingly offer you more money. You have to advocate for yourself. And so that's kind of how I climbed the ladder and where I'm currently at. But you know, it's a lot different. I feel like when you have a really good work ethic, people see that. And even now, when I asked to be able to work from home because we have stink, they knew my work was not gonna change because my work ethic is so strong, and I think when other people see that, that's so important.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Absolutely, and I think it's gonna be fascinating seeing our son develop. Like, what's his work ethic gonna be like? Obviously, we're gonna do our best to shape that work ethic and show him, you know, you work hard for everything you have. We're we're certainly gonna take care of him, but we're not gonna make his life easier.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

No, he's not gonna be getting the next best toy. I mean, his grandparents will certainly make sure that he has that, but um us as his parents are not going to be giving him everything that he wants. If he wants, you know, if he gets to the age where he wants to start learning things from us, then sure, if you want to go help dad do an oil change on the mowers, then maybe he'll take you to the store and you can earn a new toy or something.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

That was what was so cool about talking to Wendell, our electrician. Yeah. When he came over. Hutchinson electric, this guy's been in business 35 plus years, just built an empire, and he's local to us in Waterford. Amazing Christian dude. And he was we were talking about work ethic, and because Zeke was there taking it all in while he was taking a look at things that we need around our house and some for some future construction that we have going. And he was talking about his granddaughter came over to visit, she's 12 years old, and he she says, You know, grandpa, I want to go use the um the golf carts, right? It was uh that was the main reason she was there. She was gonna like drive around the property and play with the toys and stuff, right? And he's like, Absolutely, sweetheart, but we got work to do first. And she's like, Well, what do we have to do? He said, Well, I gotta you know, you know, my epoxy garage, that floor that's so beautiful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's really dirty from winter, so we gotta get the simple green out, we gotta mop it, we gotta scrub it, and once we get that done, then we can play. And this little girl starts, he said, she just got her hands dirty. I mean, she was going crazy, getting everything clean, and he was having some landscaping done at his house. Long story short, of it, there was like a drainage issue in the garage. And that water was not flowing from the garage to the piping and out of wherever the landscape bed was. And he goes, Sweetheart, we got a problem. I gotta go get some type of machinery. He had to leave. And he said, So wouldn't why don't you do this, sweetheart? Why don't you go ahead and finish scrubbing and try and get some of the water out? And I'm gonna go get some tools from the shop, and then I'll be back. And he said, I'll be darned. I get back, and he goes, he says, This little squirt, this little squirt had not only finished cleaning the garage, but she had solved the drainage problem. She managed to get all of the water out, figured it out, and I don't know if he was testing her to see, like, I wonder if she'll kind of figure it out on her own. And maybe he was just gonna go grab the tool just in case.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

No, I think he's the type of guy that wants to teach people to like figure it out. And I I think that that's why he left her there. Because he was like, Let me, you know, I want to see if she can figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

So he comes back and it it just looks amazing. Everything is taken care of, and she's like, Grandpa, what what do you think? What do you how does it look? How does it look? And he goes, Sweetheart, are you kidding me? This is the best the garage floor has ever looked. And you not only took care of cleaning it, but you figured out the drainage problem. So then after that, boom, it was playtime. They were gonna have a blast on the property, and then her parents came, and the first thing that she wanted to tell them, not how much fun I had with grandpa, not what I did this, did that. No, guys, guys, come come here, come in the garage, come in the garage. You gotta see how good. Look at this. Grandpa said the floor has never looked this good. And I feel like that is so that is just missing in the younger generation. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

And she also asked him, what are we gonna do next week?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Yeah, what are we doing next weekend? And I just he's such a mentor to look up to, not only as like a Christian dude, a business owner, a grandpa, a father. Like this guy encompasses everything. And we were both talking about how blessed we were before he left within our businesses, and he goes, I uh I ask the Lord every single day, why am I this blessed? And he because he said, you know, I shouldn't be where I'm at today, and I just don't understand. He said, Don't get me wrong, Jake. I donate a lot of money to different organizations, I give my tithes to church, but like I don't deserve this life. And he just he keeps wondering, why is God doing this? Why is he blessing me so much?

SPEAKER_00 14:36

And such an amazing guy that after 35 years in the electrical business, is that what it is? Electrical business?

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Well, so he's done he's done he's been a licensed electrician for 35 years, and then he has had his construction company as well for 32 years.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Yeah, but I'm just saying he's been in this for 35 years and he's now he was telling us that he's now starting to pull back. And the reason that he is pulling back is because he wants time with his grandkids, which is like such a testament to who he is as a person, the fact that he has gobs of money, probably more than he'll ever need.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Oh, yeah, there's no way he could spend it, and probably his children or his grandchildren couldn't even spend it.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yeah, and the what he wants to do with his time is to spend it with his grandkids and teach them the value of hard work and the value of being proud of what you're doing. And that is so what is lacking in our society. I mean, as a manager, when I was looking to hire people, I was amazed at the type of work ethic that people had. And you can just tell right away from interviewing people when you're asking them about what their current duties are, you can tell what kind of worth work ethic they have. And it's just so lacking. I mean, it's so what I think don't think people understand is it's so easy to excel because of how bad people's work ethic is.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

It's a piece of cake. It like, and the thing is my 100% is gonna be different than someone else's hundred percent, no question. And I've had to learn that as a boss, and that's that's totally fine, but I'm telling you, I just have to give 50%, 40% more than someone else's 80 to 90 percent, yep, and you blow these people out of the water, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

And and just to be clear, these are people that are your age, not people who are significantly older than you. I'm sure they're included.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Oh, yeah. This is yeah, this is kids around my age, yeah, but also no, the the 40, 50, 60 year olds that are just kind of coasting and they're just hoping that uh social security hits and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Or just doing this as a job to get by versus actually trying to build a successful business.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Correct. It's not difficult. You just have to one understand people because you have to understand your team, you have to know how to motivate people because you can't grow by yourself. You have to grow with others, you have to take care of your people as well, but I have to understand how I talk to employee X. I have to understand that talking to employee X isn't gonna work with employee B. I have to so you have to actually give a little bit of effort into understanding people as well. So don't get me wrong, like you can't just say, Oh, I'm gonna start a landscaping company, it's gonna be great, and I'm gonna be able to motivate everyone. No, it it doesn't work that way. Just like in title work, you know, I'm gonna talk to someone this way, yeah, I'm gonna talk more direct to this person, I'm gonna be a smidge softer with this person, this person needs the feedback sandwich. I can't just give it to them straight.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

And then there's certain people that you just realize that nothing you say is gonna get through to get through to them.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Yeah, and it's it's time to see you.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

When we terminated somebody, um, was it last year? Um, it was after she had been working for us for about eight months, and we had explained to her how to do things probably 20, 30 times, to the point to where you should not be asking these same questions. Yes. Write it down if you're not gonna retain it and reference what we've taught what we told you. And she just kept asking the same question, and finally we kind of like I looked at my co-manager and I was like, is she just not clocking what we're saying? And she was like, Yeah, I think she's not.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, and you can't put in what God left out.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

No, yeah, and so we ended up letting her go, but based on what she was saying, we had a little bit of hesitation, but we didn't really have many applicants, so we were kind of like, all right, let's just go with the best of what we think it's gonna be. And immediately it was like, oh no, what did we do? And I feel like, like you said, there's some people that you can talk to a certain way, there's some people that you have to be a little more delicate with, but ultimately, as a boss or as a manager, what you want is for people to ingest what you're saying and try to move forward based on the suggestions that you're giving them. And you just have to learn that some people are just they don't have it.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Um like when you, for instance, sorry to interrupt, but for instance, when you meet people, new guys that you're bringing on on the crew, you always tell me you know within 20 minutes if the person's gonna make it or not. Right?

SPEAKER_02 19:45

I'd say 10 now, but yeah, you can tell pretty darn quick. And I was talking to my buddy Keith on the phone, KT landscaping, and he had a guy uh call, I think it was his foreman, his foreman said, Yeah, such and such doesn't know how to use a rake. And he's like, What do you what do you mean? He goes, like, he he truly doesn't know how to use a rake. And you're in landscaping, it's in it's in the name. Like, if you don't know how to use a rake, I don't think I need to take the time to explain this one to you.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Okay, I'm sorry. If you don't understand what a rake is, do you not understand what a fork is? Because it's basically the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

But again, it's and we don't know everyone's circumstances and where they're coming from. So, you know, we don't want to judge too hard, but it's just like you're applying to a landscaping company and you someone hands you a rake, you might want to at least fake it till you make it, or just try to maybe do a little Google search, landscaping tools.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Technology is everywhere, it'll show you anything you need to know.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Um, there was uh another story I wanted to tell when you were talking, you got me fired up. Um, you were talking about what you can't put in what God left out. Yeah. Um, and I mean, but it just it goes back to show the old saying, quick to fire, slow to hire. Like we're blessed at that point within our business where we've got some great, great team members. And if I want to bring someone on, you better impress me. You better have a darn good resume, you better be able to carry yourself well, and let's see what you got. But if if I can tell within that first 20, 30 minutes, see ya.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Well, I think that's what's different about me moving into this role as office admin is that I'm so used to the corporate world, right? So you have to do everything by the book. It's like you have one conversation with them per HR, then you have a second follow up conversation. And if by the third conversation, they still aren't meeting your expectations. Then HR will allow you to fire off.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

But like with you, you're self-employed, so you can just be like, Yeah, bye. Yep. Like today's your last day. And to me, like my corporate brain has a hard time comprehending that that's just how you do things. Yeah, you're so bad. Um, but yeah, it's it's pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Yeah. Um, so obviously, stripes and stories. I think we gotta do a couple stories from the week. The first one, it's the Google reviews. I mean, we gotta just start with that. So we're gonna give you, I'll try break down the short version because I don't want to bore you guys.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

And we're really lucky because this story just happened yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah, this happened yesterday. So we're in Bloomfield Hills, and I have slowly grown. I think we've been in this subdivision somewhere between five and eight years.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

For the people who don't know where like what type of neighborhood that is, it's very upscale.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Yeah, I mean it's a nice, nice, it's not like crazy Bloomfield Hills. No, but it's not. But you know, there's a couple million dollar homes that we service, and then you've got your six, seven, eight hundred thousand dollar homes. Yep. So very nice neighborhood. And we have grown slowly in this subdivision to the point where we're taking on several homes. And so I was there last Friday maintaining the properties with my team member Dominic. And it was starting to get a little bit on the later side, just playing catch up with all the rain. And I thought, you know what? I don't want to tick anybody off. This is a nice neighborhood.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

It's a long holiday weekend.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah, it's a long holiday weekend. And I just it's getting close to seven o'clock. I'm calling it. So I had two houses to do. Now, family friend took care of his house, took care of five other neighbors, and he has two rental properties on the basically, you can see them from his backyard on a different street behind him. Now, he's had issues at his personal home with the neighbors next door. And I gotta be careful how I say this. There has never been an issue with my client reaching out to them about an issue. It's always them coming to him with an issue.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Yeah, you can just say that they're the problem.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

Yeah, they're the problem.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

And so these two rental properties surround their house, basically. So I think there's a little bit of beef with my client because they're like, you know, he's a very successful entrepreneur. He's in a beautiful home, and then he owns two rentals behind them.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

They're probably worried he's gonna buy up their house.

SPEAKER_02 24:49

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, so they have never said, and this is, as you guys know, this is kind of an unfiltered podcast where like we just we don't edit anything, we just keep it's raw. And like, I don't take shit from anybody, and that's how I carry myself, and they have never said anything to me because they just know I'm not those types of people wouldn't. Yeah, I'm I'm not gonna put up with your shit. And so I get a call from Cameron, and we took care of those two rental properties on Tuesday of this week because we had to play catch up.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

The next business day.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Yes, thank you. The next business day. Monday was the holiday. So I cut the two rental properties on Tuesday behind these people's houses. And then come Friday, we are there again taking care of the six to eight houses, whatever it is, and then we're gonna do the rentals that are behind. Now, I cut high on Tuesday, anticipating that I was gonna cut on Friday, because I don't want to burn out the lawn or anything like that. We're starting to enter the hot season. And for some odd reason, Cameron calls me on Friday and he goes, Hey, um, behind the rental on the left is a house, and they're like filming me, and they're they're they're pointing at their phone while they're filming, like, okay. And uh so Cam's like, the the dude's mad at me. He said, like, we're so disrespectful to cut twice this week. And I said, and again, I'm unfiltered. I said, fuck them, dude. I said, they're literally miserable people. Can you imagine, bro? You're mad at the lawn crew at 12 45 on a Friday. This is what you're pissed about.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

And also, when they are in their regular regularly scheduled service, I'm there two and a half hours Friday at like 3 and 4 p.m. It's not like it's nine, ten o'clock at night. Correct. So calm down.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

And then also they act like we're there all day. Yep. Eight houses, nine houses, whatever it is. No, we're we're in and out in like an hour forty-five, two and a half hours. So I'm obviously ticked about the situation, and I said, All right, nope, just ignore them. I'm Cameron, I am so proud of you and how you handled yourself in that situation. Not reactive. They're miserable people. Do not let them impact your day. I will handle this situation. Thank you for letting me know. So I let the client know, who was fully in the know of the situation. Don't mind me, I'm just walking to open the sliding door for Mozzie so he can come outside. We're enjoying the uh beautiful weather. And so I let the client know of the situation, which they already knew what? What are you looking at?

SPEAKER_00 27:46

He's limping.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

What?

SPEAKER_00 27:48

His limp.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yeah, he's limping a little bit. It's fine. So he he obviously knew the situation. And like, Catherine, do you think I was gonna charge Gus for either Tuesday or Friday's cut and go, yeah, I'm gonna need uh $70 here, $70 here, and actually it's gonna be a double charge.

SPEAKER_04 28:06

Of course not.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

No, because that's not how I run things. So he, my client, just reams this guy a new asshole. And said, you know, this is the this is the what the tenth time you've had an issue with contractors at my house, whether it's a tree guy, a plumber, uh irrigation guy, and they always get after the contractor, right? They they yell at them, but of course, this guy doesn't have the cojones to come up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he doesn't have the cojones to come up to me because he knows. So then client lets me know, hey, just FYI. He said something about leaving a review or something on your website, and I'm like, oh, fantastic! Can't wait to read this. So this MFR, him and his wife make uh two reviews, one from hers and one from his, and they're you know, totally oh, I took a picture, so they're trying to uh you know talk about my character and uh try to make me look bad.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

So the one review and the words what the one review said, keep it up, Jake. I'll make sure you have nobody to work with in this neighborhood.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

How scary better look out, yeah. And I think you guys can imagine what these people look like. I asked Connor, I sent him a screenshot, my best friend. I said, What do you think these people look like? He goes, I'm gonna guess heavy on the seed oil diet. And I said, Yeah, you're pretty accurate on that one. So keep it up, Jake, and I'll make sure you have zero houses to do in this neighborhood. Check your bill, folks. He shows up when he doesn't need to, twice in three days, he's mowing dirt. By the way, the picture that they took, it looks as if this is his grandmother's phone.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

You're taking it on a flip phone.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Oh, 100%. And but does that look like dirt or does that look like green grass, too?

SPEAKER_00 29:59

It's pretty green. Pretty green. I don't see any brown.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Okay. So we got that. Then let's see. Oh, the wife. Here we go. One star, zero respect for surrounding neighbors. Um, and then there were two other reviews that came in from just random spam accounts. Spam accounts. So they left four. Can you imagine the time it took them to do this? They left four one-star reviews. So I obviously wanted to go ahead and get a response down because we're very popular on Google and had to address this pretty quickly. So I said, thank you for leaving a review for your neighbor, such and such, who uses our services. You don't. Out of respect for your neighborhood, two houses couldn't be maintained last Friday, 5-22, because we were approaching 7 p.m. and we didn't want to make noise in your neighborhood. Because I know that these people, I know who they are. Like I just know they're gonna try and pull something. So I said, we didn't want to make noise in your neighborhood, even though legally we can work till 8 p.m. Monday was the holiday, and two properties were maintained on Tuesday, 5-26. Those properties were cut again today, 529, to keep the properties on schedule. Blank Blank, who owns a home on Kirkcaldy and the two rentals behind you on Yorkton, was aware of the situation and the scheduling. I'm not quite sure why you're worried about his invoicing. Nonetheless, he wasn't even charged for today, question mark. I'm not sure what your problem with such and such is or me is. I'm not sure if it's because he surrounds you with real estate or you don't like the fact that our business has grown over the last eight years in your neighborhood. Either way, I feel badly for you, and I'll keep you in my prayers. Thank you for taking time out of your day to share odd information. Like you're not gonna get a like a rise out of me.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Like you're just odd information and false information.

SPEAKER_02 31:53

You're just a loser at the end of the day. You're a straight up loser, and this is you're worried about the lawn guy, but it goes to show you if you're not getting hate, you're not doing things, right? You're not growing. I'm sure my client, who's worth gobs of money, I'm sure he's gotten a lot of haters over the years. I'm sure Wendell, who we were talking about, has gotten a lot of haters over the years.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

So it has nothing to do with you.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Go find something better to do with your time.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

Maybe to order another extra large pizza for delivery.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Write a review. I mean, honestly, like you're not even a customer.

SPEAKER_02 32:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Like, buzz off.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

I just don't get why a mower or a trimmer on someone else's property agitates people. Do you think it's because they can't afford service and they have to get their big booties out there and do it themselves?

SPEAKER_00 32:51

No, I think that it's just people who want to complain. They're just miserable people.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Everything's a problem to them. They're a victim.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

If something's out at the grocery store, they're gonna go up to the store manager and complain that something isn't available.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

When it's completely out of everybody's control.

SPEAKER_02 33:09

I um straight up losers.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

That kind of stuff used to really bother me when I was um working as a manager. We would get so many people who would like they wouldn't even be involved, and they're contacting us about something that's going on on the property, and you're just like, You're not even involved. Like, why are you reaching out?

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Why are you concerned about this?

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Yeah, like stop. Um what I did want to add, I have a little story of my own. And speaking of what I call these people, which is the neighborhood commissioner, Jake takes it upon himself to think that he's the neighborhood commissioner of our subdivision.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

But total opposite attitude.

SPEAKER_00 33:49

Total opposite attitude, correct. You would never I mean you would be proud of somebody that's working hard and mowing their lawn versus complaining for whatever time it is. If it's six in the morning or eight o'clock at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

How am I a neighborhood commissioner?

SPEAKER_00 34:02

So Jacob, we take Stinky for a walk every night around our neighborhood around like 7, 7:30, right before he goes to bed, and we give him a bath. And Jake is Mr. Popular. Okay. The first time we took a walk, he got business doing a landscaping job. Second time, a guy goes, Oh yeah, you're in lawn care, right? And he goes, Yeah. And he goes, Yeah, I'm thinking about uh redoing my back patio. And uh you you offer something like that? And he said, Yep, just give me a call. There's my truck and uh it's got my phone number right on it.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

Yeah, sorry, I don't have cards on me. I'm on a family walk.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Yeah. Anyway, now I think he just gets a kick out of it. And I'm the type of person where when we're walking, I'll say like, hey, how's your day? But that's it.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

I'm not gonna- You're you're still walking as you're asking the question.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

I am not a chit-chatty type of gal, and that's one of the strengths that we have in our relationship. Jake is the chatter, and I'm the one that kind of like puts a bookend to the conversation. Um, so we have been on a family walk several times this week, and every single time Jake finds somebody new to talk to a couple days ago.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Uh-uh. Hold on. Before you before you could continue, do I approach them or do they approach me?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

I would say it's a little bit of both.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Oh, you think it's 50-50.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Because you initiate contact when there is a when you lock eyes. If somebody is in their driveway and they're just doing something, and you look at them and they look at you, you're like, hey, how you doing? Good, you're doing good? Great. That's a really cute kid right there. And so the other night we were on our family walk, and there's this dog that's typically walked right around the time that we take Sneaky for a walk and we take Mozzie. And so Jake is Jake is walking, he's walking Mozzie, I'm pushing the stroller, and we're sitting there, and I said, Oh, there's Penny. And little did I know, Penny's owner, who we have not met before. We've met the wife, but we have not met the husband.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

Steve.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Yep, is um is sitting outside in his front yard with Penny. She's on her leash. And so Jake starts talking, and somehow, I don't even know, because I was just so like, I'm gonna continue on this walk.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Just you just leave me high and dry every time.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Somehow it ends up to, hey, why don't you guys come over and grab a beer? And I'm like, huh?

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Well, you didn't hear that.

SPEAKER_00 36:44

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

You didn't hear that. I think I brought that to your attention.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

No, I heard that before.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Oh, so you heard it the 40 feet away that you were okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

So I don't know where the conversation went, but we're just chit-chatting. He wanted to know which house we were, and I said, Oh, we're on such and such street.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

He's getting ready for summer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

And we're like, And he had just this badass Georgia accent.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:02

And I can't, I don't even think I can't.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Just a very charismatic guy.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yeah, very like, yeah. Clearly in sales or owned a business or something like that. And so we're just shooting it. And he's asking about you guys ready for summer and you can be on the lake. And I'm like, well, you know, we're not big boaters or lake people. I got a Harley. I'm mostly in the free time that I limited free time I have him on my bike. And he's like, Oh, well, that's cool, that's cool, man. And he said, Well, gosh, love talking to you, love to have you over for beer sometime.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

And I was like, that sounds great.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Somehow our 15-minute family walk has turned into us grabbing a beer with one of our neighbors.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

Well, I said, and I walk up to Catherine, I was like, Hey, they invited us to over to have a beer sometime. I think that'd be great. She goes, Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

I'm just, I I'm not like Jake. I have a very hard time making small talk with people. If I know you, I can certainly have a long conversation with you. But if we're like just meeting right off the get-go, I am not the one you're tapped out on friends.

SPEAKER_02 38:04

You're like, hey, I I have two friends, and like that's all I can do.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

I'm also the type of person that after like, you know, being with somebody for like two and three hours, I'm like, yep, I'm good. My social battery is empty. And Jake gets like energized.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

Oh, I get a high from it by this. Which is okay, so this is interesting talking about like personality types and such. I'm an extroverted introvert. So it actually takes me a little bit longer to get excited about going to an event or something like that. Like, I'm like, oh my gosh, I'd rather be at home with my wife hanging out, you know, whatever. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

Yeah, but then when you get there, you're gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 38:37

But when I get there, oh, I'm energized. And then I want to keep going.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Perfect example of that is today when I called um my nail salon, scheduled you an eyebrow wax. You know, you're not really excited about it because it's just an eyebrow wax. You get there, all the guy has to do is offer you a corona, and you're like, This place is the best. I want to live here.

SPEAKER_02 38:58

Well, he was so nice, the owner. And like he was very charismatic, and like I can tell this place is gorgeous because of him. And then I'm sitting there and he's like, Oh yeah, Catherine, she made you reservation. I see, yeah, sure did. Yep. And he goes, Let me get you uh a corona. I was like, That sounds great. And so I text you, I go, Can I live here? Like, this place is phenomenal. The guy gave me a corona. I was like, You're gonna pedicure tomorrow. Maybe I'm getting a pedicure for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

Well, I'm getting a manicure, but Oh, you get manicure.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

I do my own toes. But um, that just goes to show that guy, bringing it back to our conversation about work ethic, this guy could be in the middle of doing somebody's nails, and immediately when you walk through the door, he's greeting you. He's asking you you would prefer a beverage, a snack, whatever you would like. And he told me the last time I was there, which was two weeks ago, that this past week was the best week that they've had at their salon. And I said, Good for you for doing so well, because you can just tell, like you, you love to serve others, and that's your craft. That's what you do in lawn care and landscaping. This guy, you can tell, he was like made to work at this place and serve others by you know his craft, which is nails.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

It's just it's so cool to like I just love seeing people win. Like this kid, um Jordan Massarelli. Is that yeah, Massarelli? This young kid who's selling life insurance. I mean, talk about a boring industry, and he has made it so fun. He's like the Wolf of Wall Street. He loves the Wolf of Wall Street and he like kind of acts like um Jordan Belfort, but he's so passionate about getting people coverage, and I would be passionate too on the commission checks that you get too, but he's so darn good at what he does, and he started posting on Instagram, he's like IG famous now, which I don't think anyone who wants to post about like their fun stuff, they're not trying to do it to get like Instagram famous or anything. They just like showing, like, this is what I do. This kid's driving a Lambo now. He's in you know, who knows the situation? Maybe he's leasing it, maybe he bought it cash. I don't care, but clearly he can afford to drive a Lamborghini. He's got team members under him that he is training to then not only make a killer living for themselves, but also it's his brokerage. So he's making a killing too on their killings as well. And it's just like good for this kid, but you know, all the haters on there, like, oh, F you, like you're ripping people off, or blah blah blah. And a lot of people don't even understand life insurance.

SPEAKER_00 41:43

A lot of people think that we go, he's gonna get out of here.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

Yeah, I'm getting fired up again. But like people don't understand life insurance is a wealth building tool. And if you think that life insurance is stupid, you're stupid. Because you can borrow against your death benefit.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

You're just misinformed.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

Yeah, misinformed. That's nice. But like you can borrow against your death benefit. So if you have a $500 policy and you've paid into that policy, whatever you've put in, you can take out tax-free and reinvest it. Whether that's reinvesting in a business, reinvesting in yourself, you just take the death benefit, right? So if you're reinvesting this, it's to get cash flow back. So once you make that your money back that you took out of your um your death benefit, you put it back into your death benefit because you obviously want to benefit your family in case of unexpected things. But like, oh, there's just so much misinformation, and people just don't understand how the real world works, how actual wealth is built, they just think, oh, yeah, I'm gonna work my nine to five and I'm gonna retire by 55 or 60, and I'll be good. If you think you're gonna have enough money from social security in this day and age, let alone in 30, 40, 50 years, good luck.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

Well, I think the sad part is that, and this is kind of like off on a tangent, but the sad part is that you know, 40, 50 years ago, you could. You could work in 99.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

It was a different time.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

Have the wife stay at home, two cars in the driveway, a kid in college, a dog, and you're doing great.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

And now you can barely make it on one person's salary because the health care alone that you're taking out of your paycheck is astronomically large. And I think that that is something that people, you know, but you get told your entire life work your nine to five, get a degree in whatever what you want to do, and then you just go to work.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

So it's interesting. Do you know who started the whole education system? The Rockefellers, right? I think you guys know that last name. Pretty wealthy family. Did the Rockefellers send their kids to the school systems that they started? Started, babe, the public school system?

SPEAKER_00 44:01

No, they sent them to private school.

SPEAKER_02 44:03

Private school or homeschooling. So basically, the Rockefellers knew I'm going to create a generation of workers, and the school systems have failed us. Now, there are great teachers out there. I'm not saying there's bad teachers. I have wonderful, wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 44:21

No, no. I loved like my educators in high school, my private, I went to parochial school, a Lutheran school, very small, kindergarten through eighth grade. Amazing people. But the system itself is broken. It does not teach you about life. I don't need to know the Pythagorean theorem. I need to understand investing. I need to understand life insurance. I need to understand taxes, mortgage, insurance. Credit. Thank you. I need to understand. So when I graduate from college, or if I decide to work after high school and I don't want to go to college or I don't want to go to trade school, whatever, it doesn't matter. You do whatever the heck you want to do. But I need to be equipped with some knowledge. And yet we have completely failed children and teenagers. They have no effing idea what the real world is like. You know, I got, I feel like I had a good sense of it in high school. And I don't know why I did. I don't know if it was because I was curious. I don't know if it was my parents, but I knew more than the average kid. Then went to college, and I'm even in my college classes, I'm going, these liberal art university professors, they're trying to like shit on our healthcare system in America. Yeah, I know it's broken, but we're not going to go to a European model of healthcare. One, that would take decades to do, but I also don't want to be taxed up the ass 75%. Yeah, we're uh we're already taxed up the ass, and we're half under half of what people in Europe and monarchs and communist countries experience.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

I was reading an article yesterday um in Fox 2 Detroit where apparently in, I can't remember if it's Oak Park or Hazel Park, there were people who their property taxes were going up, and they were getting uh messages from their mortgage company that their escrows were going up, meaning their mortgage was going up because their because the escrow was short, yeah. And their mortgage payments were going from $2,400 a month to $3,100. And in this day and age, who has an extra $700 sitting around because the cost of everything is so high? But all that to say, we're already getting taxed. Why are your taxes on a $300,000 house $10,000 a year?

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

When like when I'm looking up homes for you, as far as what the price would be of when I'm measuring the lot size, I'm seeing a $900,000 house that their taxes are eight thousand dollars. Make it make sense. Are you just trying to create one class in the country? Like what's the end goal here? And I know that's off on a tangent, but when we talk about the school systems and how, you know, you have to wonder bringing it back to work ethic. Is this why people have such terrible work ethic?

SPEAKER_02 47:22

They're just broken.

SPEAKER_00 47:23

Because they're taught this way through this school system and then they have no idea what the real world looks like.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

And then here's the government to save you.

SPEAKER_00 47:30

Put in it, and then now there's this entitlement where it's like bringing it back to, I think we talked about it in the last episode, where our electrician was saying people are coming in wanting fifty thousand fifty dollars an hour and saying, What are you gonna do for me?

SPEAKER_02 47:46

in three months.

SPEAKER_00 47:46

What do you mean, what am I gonna do for you?

SPEAKER_02 47:48

Like I got you fifty dollars an hour for me healthcare, I got you a retirement uh investment account. Yeah. What do you what do you mean, what am I gonna do for you?

SPEAKER_00 47:58

But it's all of this entitlement, and I think that that is to say that people get out in the real world and they're so used to being spoofed at everything that all of a sudden they're like, huh, huh, huh? I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

So my Instagram's like, you know, just filled with either lawn care or motivational type stuff. What's going on, real quick before we end this with the straight? You keep up with all the news, the global news.

SPEAKER_00 48:25

With what?

SPEAKER_02 48:26

The um the blockade. What's going on there?

SPEAKER_00 48:29

To be honest, I haven't really been keeping up with it. Oh darn.

SPEAKER_02 48:32

I'm I'm wondering when these fuel prices are gonna go down, but um it's just it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

It's crazy, like it's getting to the point to where I think we may have to add on like a fuel surcharge to the cost of what we're because prices are insane. Yeah, they've gone from $369 to $4.99.

SPEAKER_04 48:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

When you're talking about how much you're filling up truck, multiple trucks, mowers every single day.

SPEAKER_02 48:58

It's crazy, babe, to pull up.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

It's sick.

SPEAKER_02 49:00

It's yeah, it's it's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Like the gas station probably sees you coming and are like, yes, he's here.

SPEAKER_02 49:06

I pull up and I'm just like, man, how much am I gonna get bent over today? Yep. And like I just didn't like three, four, five hundred dollars for trucks, mixed fuel, mowers. And don't get me wrong, we're we know our numbers and we know how to run a business. So, like, gas prices are not gonna break us, but at the same time, it still hurts. And this business expense has gone up significantly, I think. Yeah, and I think Fullerton was talking about on one of his podcasts, one of his newer sponsors.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Also, like, why are you wondering why we're charging X amount for your lawn when like you see the gas prices that you see how high the cost of everything is? Like, of course prices are gonna be up.

SPEAKER_02 49:49

Yeah. Why are you questioning a company with all five-star reviews, four fake one star reviews, and clearly the price is why it is.

SPEAKER_00 50:01

For instance, this week, speaking of another story, this is a lawn care story that we and then we can end it. Okay. Um, Jake sent me um somebody's information to quote them on lawn service. Um, typically what Jake does is he'll get like the details, name, phone number, property address, and email just in case, so that you know, when I quote them, I have their information in case we need to add them to the code.

SPEAKER_02 50:23

And then boom, we're sending lawn care agreement for them and card and filed links.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

So Jake sends me this text chain between this and a potential customer, basically saying that um he's uh he wants to inquire about a price for lawn maintenance. And so Jake sends it to me, and I for I don't even remember how it came up, but he was basically saying that he's his price went up this year, so he's shopping around. And Jake's response was, Well, I can pretty much tell you we're a white glove service, so our price is probably gonna be higher.

SPEAKER_02 50:58

We're gonna be the highest you have.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Yeah. So I look up the house. It's a two and a half million dollar house.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

Is it really?

SPEAKER_00 51:06

Yes. And of course, quote the price. Yeah, crickets.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

Nothing, no response.

SPEAKER_00 51:13

So be appreciative of what the price that you're getting, and also like proud of Jake for not being the type of person that says, no, I'll match that. He explained that his price was gonna be higher, which gives validity to the person that he's already paying, which is probably higher than he was paying previously. But also, he's basically saying, Yeah, the industry has changed. The prices are higher. Like, you know, he's not lying to you. He's not just trying to raise the price on you. Yeah, let me come in here, you're you're getting cut for 40, let me do 38. Yeah, we're gonna do the price match guarantee. Doing it for 68, we'll match that.

SPEAKER_02 51:52

So I that's so funny. I didn't even know that you had done that, but um, so there was just total crickets, not even chopping around and doesn't even have the decency to say, hey, no, no, thank you. Appreciate it. It's just so funny.

SPEAKER_00 52:07

I sent out so many quotes this week, and it's like crickets, and then like it comes to be I'm following up with them, and it's like, you know, crickets again. Okay. Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_02 52:18

Now don't act like we're it it's everybody's staying, like everybody's quiet. Like you get a lot of responses. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. But like, you know, that one guy that calls me and he wants, you know, I took the call. Urgent, urg urgent, urgent, need a cut yesterday. Um, and you know, wants to explain, I'm looking for a year-round partner. Great. I'm looking for a year-round client. Cool, how can I help? And you know, he says, had it sodd last year, his guy isn't showing up. And I oh, it's funny, I didn't tell you this. He goes, and I understand it might be more this first time, um, you know, because it's been a couple weeks. He's like, you know, I can probably throw you a 20 or something. I said, a 20? Wow, okay. And he said, like, how unrealistic is same-day service? And I said, very unrealistic, but I can make it happen, but it comes at a cost. Yeah. And he goes, Okay, what is it? And I said, You haven't sent me your information, and once we get off the phone, right? You'll send me a text.

SPEAKER_00 53:19

Am I cutting two acres? Am I cutting half an acre?

SPEAKER_02 53:21

You'll you'll send me a text with your full name, best email address, and property address, and my office admin will send you pricing. So get off the phone, waste six minutes of my time talking to this guy, and I get you all the information, and like, you know, we're trying to fit this guy in. We want, and it's coming at a premium price. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:48

Same-day service, overgrown. Because you're gonna need to add it to your route.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

100%. And so I, you know, 10-15 minutes later, I asked Katherine, you heard from him? No, haven't heard from him? I said, Okay, let him know. I need to know in 30 minutes because I did. I need to know, am I shaping my route around you? Yep, or no. And it's just like, he's like, Well, how unrealistic is I don't know. Yeah, I'm waiting, I'm sitting here with my mowers waiting for a call, going, I hope the phone rings because I need to cut some grass and make some money.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

But this is also the same guy that called us last week, requested an urgent cut because he had just bought this house. The previous owner did not maintain it. So, me in my head, I'm thinking, okay, he's probably gonna need a triple cut to get him back to normal.

SPEAKER_02 54:36

Look at you. Oh, that's hot. You're saying the knowledge. Yeah, it's probably gonna need a triple.

SPEAKER_00 54:42

So, anyway, um, similar situation. He's messaging me saying it's urgent. I'm like, Yeah, understand. Like, I get it, it's urgent. Here's the price for urgent service.

SPEAKER_02 54:53

Wait, so you don't want it done next week?

SPEAKER_00 54:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:56

So send him the quote, send him what the price would be to get you out there, and of course, crickets. Okay. Thank you for wasting my time.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

I thought this was urgent.

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:10

You can urgently say no.

SPEAKER_00 55:12

It's so urgent that you can't even say a no, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 55:14

Yeah. You can urgently say no.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:16

Okay. Yeah, so it's just it's fun though. It's fun, like getting all these calls and taking the call, writing down the information, boom, send it to you. And I'm like, how fast can this little lady do it?

SPEAKER_00 55:30

But also, like, think about all the time that you've saved from all of these people who don't even care to take the time to respond. All of the time that's taking off of your plate that I'm handling, so that Oh, I'm getting back so many hours. You're probably spending 10 to 15 hours a week. You're saving 10 to 15 hours a week by me doing all the me doing the follow-up, 100%, me sending all the agreements, me doing the billing and invoicing, me doing payroll.

SPEAKER_02 56:00

And we can actually focus on the people that actually value us.

SPEAKER_00 56:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 56:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

So it's really like I almost think of myself as like a filter. I'm filtering out actual clients versus people who don't care.

SPEAKER_02 56:11

Yeah, you're averaging, let's say, six to eight minutes for all these hunyaks that actually don't value the service. I can put that six to eight minutes back into someone else's property. I can go, oh, you know what? The Smiths, I noticed that they got those weeds over there.

SPEAKER_04 56:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 56:27

Hey, Cameron, you mind helping me with this real fast? Why? Because this is what we do, bro.

SPEAKER_00 56:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

Let's let you know what we got a couple extra minutes. We're good on time. And it's like, so it's just it's a full circle thing. And I just love it. I love it. Because we're just able to help new people, we're able to help our existing people, and we can just go above and beyond.

SPEAKER_00 56:50

But again, like that leads back to work ethic. We're not taking an entire business day to get a quote back to you. We're getting, unless I'm walking stinky or putting him down for a nap, you're getting a quote within 15 to 30 minutes of reaching out to I don't even think 30.

SPEAKER_01 57:06

I think you're getting it between 10 to 15.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

Yeah, like I don't even think it's that long, but I'm giving myself a little grace just in case. And like the fact that, like, I don't know, just insane to me the way that this industry works.

SPEAKER_02 57:20

Okay, this was absolutely fire. How long do you think this podcast was?

SPEAKER_00 57:23

An hour and 15.

SPEAKER_02 57:24

Nope, 57 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 57:26

But look good. Wow, good for you. To me, it felt like 15 minutes, and I looked down, I'm like, oh my gosh, Red almost.

SPEAKER_00 57:31

So you're normally pretty good at the guessing.

SPEAKER_02 57:33

Is the is the kid still asleep?

SPEAKER_00 57:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

He's still sleeping like a champ?

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Yeah, we gotta wake him up soon.

SPEAKER_02 57:38

Yeah, I mean, he's gonna be a nightmare if we don't wake him up. Yeah. Are we going uh to run some errands with him?

SPEAKER_00 57:43

Uh nope.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

We're staying home?

SPEAKER_00 57:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:46

We're not gonna do anything fun? I mean This is the fun for the night?

SPEAKER_00 57:51

That can be a conversation for a later time.

SPEAKER_02 57:53

Okay. Alright, fair enough. Well, uh, how do how are we gonna start ending these things? Are we gonna do some music?

SPEAKER_00 58:01

Guys, just remember to always remember have a good work ethic.

SPEAKER_01 58:06

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 58:07

Do not waste your time doing something that you're not passionate about. Find what you like to do and bust your ass out.

SPEAKER_02 58:14

And just yeah, give it everything you got. Because once you do, like I'm telling you, it comes back.

SPEAKER_00 58:22

You don't want to look back at your life and say, I wish I would have worked harder.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

I wish I would have done this so that I could have done this.

SPEAKER_02 58:30

There, and don't get me wrong, you know, there's days with this bad knee after the drive home where I'm walking and limping, right?

SPEAKER_00 58:36

But like before you're walking in, and once you sit down, you can't get up.

SPEAKER_02 58:40

Yeah. But like there's something about putting in that 12 to 14 hour day and going, man, I kicked my own ass today.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

I had a hard day's work.

SPEAKER_02 58:50

I but I took care of people and people that depend on me and my team. We were there for them. There's just and I know it's hard the longer days in the spring where I'm gone, and like you're in the trenches with stink, you're in the trenches with the JLC paperwork, you're in the trenches with the title work for the company you work for. But like it it just fires me up. I just like am I it do I have a problem?

SPEAKER_00 59:17

No. I think too, like as somebody whose goal is to be a stay-at-home mom with Stinky and you know, do work for JLC, it's so revitalizing to know that you're supporting your family. And not even like obviously you're the breadwinner, but me being able to assist you and take things off of your plate that make your life easier. Who wouldn't want to do that?

SPEAKER_02 59:45

Who wouldn't want to do that?

SPEAKER_00 59:46

Yeah, we're a team.

SPEAKER_02 59:48

It would be the exact same if you were like this real estate mogul, right? And like I needed a pullback on my business.

SPEAKER_04 59:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 59:56

And like if you're straight up killing it, boom, okay. I'm I'm taking either a year off of JLC or like, hey, I'm doing part-time. Yep. Because guess what? You want, you've got this goal, you've got this ambition. I don't give a rat's ass if you're the breadwinner or I'm the breadwinner. We're a team.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:14

And nothing's gonna stop us. So if I'm the stay-at-home dad or whatever, cool. Yeah, I'll be your trophy husband, baby. I'll have I'll have the house clean, I'll be working out. What's that? You're always a trophy husband. Oh, thanks, baby. But like whatever you need, I'm gonna do it. And vice versa.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

And if your partner ain't giving you what you need, you need to be having a conversation. No, you need you need you need to be having a conversation with that partner and saying, hey, like, we got a chit-chat.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

I've never felt like in a relationship that I've been in that I've had like a real partner until we met. And now I feel like if I'm feeling overloaded or whatever, I can say, Hey, I need this, this, and this, I need you to do this. And you're like, got it. And vice versa.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

Remember the other night when I was I don't know what stressed, oh, it was all the complaints. It was a couple emails about some uh poor performance from the team. And it it just it broke me. Yeah, I was so disheartened to like know that like my company, my team members, like I pulled up to some sites or got complaints. I was just like, man, like I I I thought we talked about this, and like that's okay. That's on me, right? I gotta be a better communicator, I gotta be a better leader. Yeah, exactly. Yep, but it it broke me, and I was so stressed out, even though I didn't need to be stressed out, because I just take this to heart, all this stuff so personally. And I was so it's your baby, yeah. It's my baby, but like then my baby's crying, my real baby Zeke, and the dogs were being crazy, I was sore, I'd been up since like four after the gym, and I just looked at you, I said, Babe, I got stinky was screaming. I said, Babe, I'm sorry, but I got 10%. Yeah, and you're like, I got it. I was like, God bless me. Like, uh, how did I get this lucky? And then there's nights where you're like, I gotta go to the gym, I gotta get out of here.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:10

Yeah, do it. And I think too, like, you know, when if you know that you're gonna have a long day, when you're up at 4 30 in the morning, you're transferring laundry, you're loading the dishwasher, you're doing things to make my day easier because you know I'm gonna have a longer day taking care of stinky. And like that's something that you know, if you're in a relationship with somebody, do the little things because in the grand scheme of things, the little things matter so much more than the big grand gestures. Yeah, like if you're gonna be with me in the fire, I value that so much more than I value you buying me a new purse.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:47

Yeah, yeah, you taking that load out and not just throwing it in the basket, yeah, you actually folding it, bringing the basket up, like that goes so much further, and like, you know, like I hate when food's on the left side of the sink that doesn't have the disposal, and like I'll tell you, babe, well, where's the food on the left side? And you're you like you're like, I know it's gonna drive him nuts, so I'm just gonna make sure that that's taken care of. It's truly these little wins that you can do for your partner, and if you can just one, two, three different things to make their life easier, you've got a partner for life. You're just you're willing to go through the thick, the thin, the fire, whatever it is that you're dealing with. I got your back.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:34

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:35

What a great way to act.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:36

And look at that. We it all wrapped back around a work ethic.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:39

I think he is awake.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:40

And he's awake. Let's go get our boy.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:42

All right.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:43

All right, gang. Episode two done. We'll see you on the next one.