SPEAKER_00 0:01

All right, I'm smiling. Striped daddy here. Um, I'm being told to be quiet because Stinky's on his third nap right now. So I'll I guess I'll try and talk at an appropriate level.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Normally, you normally talk very emphatically and loudly.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Okay. Yeah. Perfect. Well, you got Jake Meisner here, the Striped Daddy, Southeast Michigan, alongside me.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

Office admin.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Just Office Admin today. All right.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

The beautiful, stunning, does it all. Mom, office admin, still works. Gonna be retiring soon.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

By the way. More month. 29 more. No, 39 more days.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

By the way, how does it feel knowing you are retiring?

SPEAKER_02 0:43

It feels amazing. Does it? Yeah, it feels really good. It feels good to, after spending the last like 18 months or less a little less than 18 months, either being pregnant or taking care of Zeke and trying to work. It feels good to be able to be like, now I'm just gonna focus on spending time with him, and that's it. There's nothing else I need to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

You've considered with your current role as a processor, you were a branch manager at a title company, now you're just a processor working from home. And I shouldn't say just a processor, I mean the detail work.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Still the same job, just without the title. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah. They're packing 10 pounds of shit in a five-pound bag.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Totally.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Um, but you are considering during busy times and seasonal, maybe working from home. Or are you going, nah, I'm good. I don't want them wrapped around the bottom.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Yeah, no, I think I'm just good.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

I was going to like think about, you know, maybe working like a seasonal position with them, but then I thought, you know, they're just gonna work me to the bone because they're gonna know your work ethic.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

And all of my customers are immediately gonna want me back. Like that's gonna be way too much for somebody who only would want to work like 15 to 20 hours a week.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Um, tell the listeners about that really nice email that you got from one of your customers.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Oh yeah. So I was letting I've been slowly letting all of my agents and my realtor, well, agents and realtors the same thing, but my realtor customers that I'm gonna be leaving ATA at the end of July. And um they this one woman who I've been very close to for probably like six or seven years now, um, just sent me this really nice email just like thanking me for all my years of like dedication to my job and how I'm gonna be so missed and that hopefully everybody's been saying this, hopefully that when Zeke starts school, I'll be back and um, you know, be able to come back to work. So um that was really nice to hear. Just it's always nice when people kind of acknowledge how hard you've worked and then um just have something nice to say about the work that you do instead of the usual things that get highlighted where which are like the problems and the issues. So it was very nice of her to um to say that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

That's awesome. It it's it's such a good feeling to be one appreciated, but like valued. And the fact that they've seen that you're you're not just a number and you don't just blend in with your company. Yeah. And to get that affirmation from someone else. And I mean, would you were you expecting an email like that from her?

SPEAKER_02 3:43

No, I mean, she's the type of person that would say something like that, but she only does maybe like five to seven deals a year. So like my interactions with her are very small. She is um related to uh Detroit Tiger, and um so she their family, they go to Florida in the winter, and she's only in Michigan for the summers, so she's only doing real estate really in the summers. So that's typically my only interactions with her, unless she's got some like family things she's doing um during the winter. So really nice to um see that I've you know made an impact on somebody's experience. That's all you you hope to have is that your work gets recognized and you have some type of impact on them. So that was really nice.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

That's awesome. I'm so proud of you.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Do you want to tell the listeners your big news? Because by the time this goes live, it'll uh it'll be official.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Yeah, because I'll probably make the video for the gram tonight and post it tonight. But yeah, we're picking up in uh literally an hour um a new diesel truck. Very exciting. Uh it's a 2011 F-350 67, Lariat trim. She's a big girl. Eight-foot bed, four-door.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

So uh for all of you who have been following our Chevy situation, um, we do have the Chevy back. And originally our plan was to wait until October when we are using the lease that I have um as Jake's estimate vehicle. We were originally gonna wait until October to purchase something, kind of just take our time looking and trying to figure out like what exactly we wanted, how much we wanted to invest in another part of the business. Or you look up you look up for a second.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

One of our listeners, but also a close buddy. Um, he's in Rochester Hills mostly. Um, his name's Nate, Hicklin Lawn Service or Lawn Maintenance. I apologize. I think it's Hicklin Lawn Service. We're it's his birthday today. So I one texted him, happy birthday. But then he was just he's asking me some questions about uh like hourly rate for a two-man crew and stuff. But I'm listening to you. Sorry if I just looked wide-eyed.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

No, that's okay. Um so anyway, the plan was originally we were gonna take our time and look come October, basically take the whole winter to figure out like what we were gonna do. Um, because I mean, a year over year for the past couple years, we've been constantly investing back into the business. Um, and when we had this situation with Chevy, um, as much as we have the truck back now, and we're happy that we have it back, we just like are kind of skeptical of how long it'll last, and or even if we'll keep it, if we're gonna want to trade it in, whatever. Um, so we were we've been looking at diesel trucks for you, and I think it was like one random weeknight. I just happened to like be on Facebook and I was like looking at Facebook Marketplace and And at first you were so annoyed that I was constantly looking on Facebook, constantly just on the hunt for diesel truck.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

You're like, I don't think this is the right time. And I was like, look, I'm not going to purchase something at the wrong time. Like I've gotten to this point, you need to trust me, Catherine.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

But also, like, I had to change my mindset. And my mindset was like, you know, oh my God, like I'm gonna be stopping working. You know, there's a lot of adjustments that we have, you know, this year as last year we did too. And so my concern was just like, okay, can we, you know, are we gonna do this? And um, I had to change my mindset and think, like, okay, when there is not a truck on the road, because Joe could ask for his truck back at any time, rightfully so.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

It's who we were borrowing one of his diesels from. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

And then what happens if there's not a crew that's out, that's not food on our table, that's customers that you're having to tell, like, oh, I can't do your lawn because I'm down a truck, which what do they care? It's not their problem. Um, I mean, I'm sure I'm sure some do care, but at the same time, it's like, it's not my problem. Like I paying you for a service, I expect you to complete your service. Um, so coupled with all that, when we heard back from the dealer that they didn't have, you know, a diagnosis on the truck and it was gonna take probably a bit longer. We had a conversation and I was like, Yeah, let's go ahead. So, fast forward, I was on Facebook. Um, I saw this one that Jake just referenced pop up, and I was like, oh, like this is actually really nice. The body was beautiful. Um, so it ended up being I was communicating with the wife who listed it for her husband, and I mean, she was a good one.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

You knew all the questions to ask her.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Yeah, she was so knowledgeable, she was so kind. Um, and then you went to look at it, what, like two days later, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 8:47

I think it was the next day.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

It might have been the next day.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

You basically like Facebook, you you gotta move quick. Totally. Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

And so you just said it was listed like 14 hours ago or something.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

And the dually aspect, I was like, man, that can really propel things for us. Do I need it? No. But can you also take the dually off during the summer months? Yes, you can. Take get a single um body framework for it, and then you can make it just like a standard F 350.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

I mean, I remember you saying like this could help me so much for snow. Like, do you know how much that can tow with snow?

SPEAKER_00 9:27

So I mean Well, I don't know why towing would be important, but payload.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Or yeah, that's what I meant. Yep, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

And um, so you were asking the questions that I told you to ask.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

She gave you the answer, and and it was very like all of the things came together because it was local. A couple of the ones that we were looking at were like in Ohio or Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

So we were like, okay, it's very local to us. I mean, maybe 40 minutes away. Um, and the people just seemed like really genuine. Like they just, it wasn't like a here's the price, take it or leave it, here's what's wrong with it, you know, just very like garage saley kind of eye.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

And um so you just said, hey, um, how about this cash price?

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Does this sound good? And she said Again, power of negotiation because we did negotiate the price down, even though it was just listed, which was kind of like a shot in the dark. But you know, when you tell people you've got like you know, cash on hand, which I mean, we're so blessed that we were able to do that. Yeah. Um, but that's obviously a separate negotiating tool that you have.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Yeah, exactly. Um, hold on, I have a text I have to answer. You can keep going.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

So yeah, we um Jake uh went to look at it uh one night last week and just completely like fell in love with it, and also just like loved that the guy was just super honest. He um was gonna get the rear brakes fixed, which she was like upfront about. Um and like I said, just absolutely beautiful body. Like you can tell he took care of it for a very long time, as long as he had it. Um, so yeah, we we're very excited to now have that join the fleet of JLC vehicles that we have. It just feels like you know, we're we're growing at a rapid pace, but it also feels like it's very God ordained because we're growing so much as my role, like my working role is being diminished. So it really is like almost for me like a confirmation that like we're doing the right thing, like we're on the right path.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Um it's just and like I'm texting the guy so much, and like he's just he's such a genuine person.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Yeah, tell him what he said about you know, you when you were like, I appreciate you being honest.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Oh, he said all you have is your word.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

And he was already planning on doing the brakes and the rotors.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

And he was like, Life's too short to be dishonest. Like, I'm just an honest guy.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah, and he's like, So I'm I'm gonna have those done for you, those will be fresh. And he said, I think one of the calipers is kind of giving me an issue too, so my mechanic will take care of that. And then he texted me, there was just a slight delay, which was no big deal. Um, mechanics are busy, right? They're always fixing stuff. And he said, uh, should be ready Tuesday. You want to just do a Wednesday pickup? And I said, That sounds great. And he said, got everything back. He goes, the one caliper we replaced, and he said the other one was like not bad, but he said, I just went ahead and replaced it for you. I just I wanted to solve the problem so you didn't have the problem down the road.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yeah, and see, that's the exact type of person that when you're purchasing something like not through a dealer, which I mean I didn't really don't know if that'd be any better. Um, but you know, just somebody who's super honest and telling you like exactly what's going on with it, if you would experience any issues, blah, blah, blah. Um so yeah, very excited for that. Um, the whole thing that we're gonna talk about um is industry standards in the green industry. And what we were gonna talk about with that was just kind of like I mean, I'm not gonna talk about my industry because it's much more corporate than you know, Jake's industry is, but I think that there's like some valuable comparisons. Like, for instance, um in the green industry, it's been very hard for Jake over the past couple years to find reliable people. You have people who like either want to show up to work late, to show up when they want, to show up dirty, um, or show up and like want to get paid cash for like just a day's work. And it's like that's not how like building a business works. I mean, sure, if you've got this teeny little like you know, backyard business that you're running, like yeah, you can do something like that. But if you're actually trying to build like a business that has longevity, you can't just like pay cash under the table, like it's not really how it works. Um, so that was one of the things that we were talking about. Um what do you feel like is other stuff that's like just inherent to the green industry and not across the board?

SPEAKER_00 14:32

I mean, you got someone who's great for like three days, yeah, and then all of a sudden like their foot's off the gas and they're like, Well, uh, I've I've proved myself so um I I guess I can just do mediocre work. Yeah. Um, everyone always needs an advance.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Like if you've been with me a while, and like, yes, I will honor that. But I'm I only do that once a year. Like you you can wait till everyone else gets paid on Friday morning. And uh last I checked, I'm the last one to get paid.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

So like I'm paying gobs and payroll, I'm paying, you know, for all the material that's needed for someone else's landscaping job that I might be waiting the 50% on weeks to get the balance. And it's just like everyone thinks when you're the owner that like you've just got this chest of money just sitting around. And it's like, no, I have a budget just like everyone else. I'm blessed where I can do that, but I don't have to do that. Yeah, but why you didn't manage your money properly.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

So now it's my problem.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

So it's my problem, yeah. Oh, okay. And you you're older than me?

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Oh, okay. Yeah, cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

And I think like that's one of the hard things that like we've had a lot of, well, I shouldn't say we because I've only been doing this for like a couple weeks for Jake, but um I feel like you've had a lot of growing pain specifically this summer in reference to like your team. And like, for instance, like we've had damaged equipment, we've and just people not taking care of the stuff, which nobody's gonna take care of anything like you do because it's your equipment. But at the same time, like you aren't paying these guys like twelve dollars an hour, so like why are you not taking care of the equipment that you're using every day? And second of all, it creates more work for you if the machines are not functioning as optimally as they should.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Correct. Like, if there's an issue, why aren't like mistakes happen, and like the guys on staff know, just let me know. Yeah, like I I do you know the amount of times I've hit something by accident that I already knew was there, and it just something happened. I wasn't paying attention or whatever. Like, yeah, totally get it. Just let me know you already have spare blades, you have spare belts, like for the most part, your mobile office has everything you need to be able to fix on site, but if not, that's totally fine. But you need to let me know. And it's just yeah, but now we've we've got such a solid group of guys that they know one how to fix things on the fly, too, which is great in itself.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Well, why don't you tell them about the guy that you had last year? Because um I'll just give them a little before you go into the story since you're texting. Um the uh we had a guy last summer and came in, you know. I don't know if did he do the three training days with you that you normally do.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

No, because we were doing more so like a lot of maintenance, getting ready for spring. Yeah. And uh so no, he didn't have his like normal three days with me.

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah. So we hired him in based on the experience that he had, which I mean, experience is like a friggin' scale if I've ever seen one. Like somebody could say they have a ton of experience, and then you know, what we like to do is when we're interviewing somebody, we'll ask them if they have any work that they're proud of so that we can see, you know, what type of work they're doing. And um, but we weren't doing this last summer.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

This is kind of something we just the maintenance of like trucks and trailers and everything, and then we were doing like cleanups, yeah. And then boom, I had to head to Finland with Connor. Yeah, and so it was kind of like the first week of mowiness.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

Yeah, we hired this guy, and um, like I said, he had great experience. Um he starts working and we're like, it's this is not gonna go well. And I think you probably knew pretty much right away, right? That it was not gonna go well.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah. Um, well, once like one of the newer guys, too, he texts me and he's just like, hey, just FY like because I'm going, I'm in Finland, I'm eight hours ahead or something like that. And so I'm talking to them when it's like 2, 3 a.m. my time there, and like I'm just so confused why the route isn't getting done.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Like I'm like, this doesn't make sense. And we were also getting like complaints from people, yeah, which you can expect that the first week, right? Of course, like everyone, you know, you're you're knocking the dust off.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Yeah, you're getting better, but like you know, but at the same time, it's just like a wort mistakes that like you should be making if you have as much much experience as this person. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you're dusting it off, but also like the general thing that you're doing, you should be used to.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

So So then I'm talking to the other guy who's new, but I had been with him for quite a few weeks, and like I just really like this vibe, and he's now a leader here with us. And I'm like, so what's going on? Like, dude, and he goes, bro, he's not even following the list. I said, What do you mean? And he's like, dude, he's jumping all around on the list. And I said, Wait, so you're telling me the list that I have one through eighteen or one through twenty, he's going like three, not twelve.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

By the way, the list is supposed to be the most um, what's the word?

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Efficient.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Route conscious, yeah, possible.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

And he's like, Yeah, he's not doing what he's I'm like, okay, so again, I'm a leader. Clearly, I I didn't communicate effectively enough. When I hand someone a list one through 20, normally I just go in ascending order. That's just anytime someone hands me a list, maybe this guy didn't think that way.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

That would be common sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

And so he's like, Oh, yeah, you know, I've just been doing this a while and I just I know the area so well. And I'm thinking, you know the name of Rosario Street, then you know Bud Road, and you know, like, what?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

And I said, nah, dude, I get it. Uh my bad. I should have just told you one through twenty means stop one, then stop two, then stop three. Um, so let's just make sure we're following that. And so at this point, I'm already annoyed.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Like well, especially because I think what factored into your annoyance was like you weren't here.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

So it was just extra like, man, come on.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

So then, like my second or third day, stuff's not getting done. I'm getting more complaints. At this point, I'm looking up flights to come back home early.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

And your team is telling you, like, he's jumping around because he needs to get home early.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, it was just so weird.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Like he had to be home at four, even though, like, when we set the expectations, it's like you'll be working until the route is done.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

We give you we allot time for you to get it done between typically like eight to five, pushing to six.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

And yes, it's spring. Growth, so you might have some days where you're doing double cutting, but like it all makes up in the end.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

And so at this point, I'm stressed out of my mind.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

And Connor and um oh my gosh. Why can't my brain Tony? Tony, thank you. Tony, they're looking at me and they're like, 'Are you okay?' I was like, 'I think I have to go home.' And they're like, It's that bad. And I said, Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

So at this point I mean, I had gone to a gala, well, not a gala, but like a brunch thing with your mom in place of you. Um, and she was even telling me that like her property that you maintain, there were issues with, and just like random stuff that like wasn't done. And then her employer, you also do. And then she was saying that stuff was also missed there. And so you're just like, okay. And of course, like I had to be very delicate about what I told you because after finding all this stuff out, I'm like, Oh, I already know my fiance at the time. I was like, he's gonna want to come home. And um, I was like, I don't I don't know if I should tell him, but then I was like, you know what? He needs to know this is his business, this is like how we put food on the table, he needs to know what's going on. Yeah. Then I told you, and then it just kind of spiraled into like looking for flights, trying to figure out what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

So then I'm just like, you know what? Like, I think we had two days left of the work week or whatever. Yeah. And I was like, I'm gonna restore order. Like, I'll obviously send emails letting people one know, hey, obviously, we're we're revamping, we're we're back in spring mode. If things aren't done to perfection, we'll obviously do our best to rectify those situations, you know, just quality damage control. And so I let this leader use that term loosely, um, I let him know, hey, just FYI, you're not worth your weight in gold.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

Well, let's back up before that. Before that, you had a FaceTime while you were in Finland with the entire team, and you were like telling them, like, what's the issue? What's going on here? What? Because at this point you had like eight or nine complaints. It was building quite a list.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

So you're like, there's something that's happening every single day that's a problem. So, like, where is the disconnect?

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

So you had this meeting with them, stuff was still happening. Now God.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

And so I had a private conversation with this guy who I said, look, as a crew leader and your experience, this is what you get paid an hour. And he's like, Nope, that sounds great. Like, I'm definitely gonna prove my worth to you. So I took him at face value. I was like, Great, looking forward to working with you. And I said, Look, man, it's very clear that you weren't trained properly. And shame on whoever trained you because you don't know what you're doing. And I said, So I want to work with you. I want to train you, I want to mold you to get to that hourly rate that we signed you with. But dude, you're you're at my starting rate. This is what everyone starts at, and this is uh he said, Well, I can't do that. You know, I got us a family to support. And I said, totally understand. Um, see ya. Like, this is dude, you you don't know what you're doing. Like your work is dog shit. And so he thought about it and he's like, Yeah, I can't. Okay, totally fine. We'll replace you. And I wish you nothing but the best. And next time, maybe when you're interviewing for something, I wouldn't even share that you've worked in landscaping for 10 years because the 10 years you've put in is horrid. And I said, And I don't mean this to break your spirits, I want you to improve, but like I just wouldn't even mention that. So he's working for one of my buddies that's in Waterford. He goes, bro, I come around the corner, I do a lot of apartment complex. This guy's always on his phone. He told me he's got all this experience, he worked at Jake's, and you know, he said we're on good terms, but it just didn't work out. So I wish he would have I wish he would have reached out to me and like, but he said, dude, he's like literally on his phone blowing, and he's missing the sidewalks that he's literally walking on. Yeah, and I'm like, Yep, that sounds like him.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

So he reached out to me a couple months later, wanted a job. I said, Nope. Like, we're all set, thanks so much. And then he reached out to me again in the winter, you know, just a victim and had this issue and this issue and this issue. And I just didn't respond. It's like at this point, dude, I gave you, I threw you a bone. Do you want consistent work at a lower pay scale to then learn and grow and then get paid higher? I mean, yeah, stay hungry. Yeah, stay hungry. I'm gonna treat you well.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

And so it's just and like why wouldn't you stay hungry? Like you just said, you have a family to support.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Like, I'm giving you the opportunity to learn and grow with this company that's also growing, yeah. But you're not you're not taking it seriously.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

We got five uh peat away's coming shortly, and then we gotta leave in 10 minutes, just so you know. So we got about five minutes left to pod.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Because then we gotta get stinky out to go pick up the truck.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

So it and like again this year, stuff just wasn't making sense.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Like with the timelines of finishing and all this kind of stuff, and I'm going well, especially because everybody that you had this year was returning from last year. So it wasn't like there were new people that were learning the routes, like these are pretty similar, other than the ones that we've added this year.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

And then also, like, we're past spring growth.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

So what the hell is going on? You've got sharp blades, you've got the best mowers, you've got reliable trucks, you've got trailers. Nothing's really breaking. So I just didn't understand. And I'm going, I think I found the bad egg.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

Yeah. But also, you've been doing a lot of quality control this year, which I would say we haven't necessarily been doing in years prior to where Peter Way was dropped off. You're um to where you're doing a route that you send, you know, other team members on to see what's going on. And then, like you said the other day, this person who we let go, you're at his route and you're at a place that he had done, and there's just severely overgrown grass. Yeah, like you're like, what in the world?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

And it's like it's in areas where that person knows the client's not gonna see it. Like, what are you you're telling me that you consciously thought, yeah, oh, the client's not gonna see it, so I'm not gonna do it. What?

SPEAKER_02 29:02

And Jake and I had to have a very serious conversation because I very much come at it from like a manager role of like, this is gonna how is this gonna impact like your customers? Like, we are a white glove service, so of course, like you know, what our prices are reflect that. And if we're not providing white glove service work, i.e., stuff is being missed, like Jake just mentioned. There's you know, patches of grass that aren't getting done, there's things that aren't being uh, you know, done properly, like that's a problem. You can't tell a customer you're gonna charge this premium when you the work isn't premium. So we had to have a serious conversation. And I said, listen, like I know that because Jake has such a kind heart, he wants everybody to win and he wants everybody to learn. But it gets to a point to where you have to say, okay, I've given you X amount of chances to improve. I've told you what needs to be done, it's consistently not being done.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

So at this point, I think there's a total lack of listening to instruction, whether it's in person or written down to refer to.

SPEAKER_02 30:17

Yeah. I mean, we were having issues even with this person where like Jake likes to the guys to let him know when they're on their list, they he likes to say them to say blah blah blah done. So like let's just say one, two, three, street, done. And like that wasn't even getting done. And like again, this is basic stuff from the year prior. So um, like I said, just a lot of like again, growing pains as the business gets larger, as we hire more people. This is just the kind of stuff that we're experiencing, which has been um kind of I think like fun for you to experience, but also like also a headache, not gonna lie, that you're dealing with this.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

Yeah, definitely a bit of a headache, but like it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

I think it's great. It's a challenge every single day. Like, okay, I gotta break through to this person differently. Yeah, it's like, oh, something I didn't even think about that I was like, there's no way I need to communicate this. But no, I'm gonna communicate that going forward.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Yeah, sometimes you really do have to literally spell it out for people, which is very unfortunate because, like you said, people who are older than you or whatever, like they should be able to or even have experience doing this. I mean, come on.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

So, anyway, gang, that's uh so I'm about to destroy this bowl. And uh Pink Pro uh Jeremy, he's a big Pitaway guy, and uh he lets everybody know what he gets. So, in case you guys um I know nobody asked, and nobody really gives a shit, but I'm a uh double chicken hummus based bowl guy, tabouli, peppers, tomato, beets, tzeke, the white sauce, whatever that is, sumac.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

No, the white sauce is just white sauce. No, I know.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

No, I know. I'm saying white sauce plus sumac.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Uh maybe I said tomatoes, maybe I didn't, cucumber. Sometimes you get your own meat, but today, you know, just watching the waistline going with uh the white meat check. And uh yeah, so about to smash this. Let me go grab my phone and uh end this. But sweetheart, anything you wanna say? Closing notes? I feel like you're a good closer.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Just that we are super excited to have another vehicle added to the fleet. We're so blessed that we were able to grow as much as we have this past year, and we're just really looking forward to um seeing how much we can grow even more.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

God is good. God is good in the hard times and the good.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

So all right, gang. Chow ciao.