SPEAKER_03 0:01

Kabow. We're back. Stripedaddy. Jake's lawn care. Jake Meisner. Alongside me. The beautiful. The gorgeous. Highly intelligent. No mess around. No games. Catherine. Meisner. What's up, baby?

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Um That was a Kapow instruction or introduction.

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Did you like that? Yeah. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

That was uh That was interesting.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Oh, interesting. Alright, I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Um, hey guys. Uh welcome to another episode of the Stripes and Stories podcast. Featuring at Jock Jake's Longcare248 on uh Instagram and uh what are you at on TikTok? At JLC.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

I have no idea what a TikTok name is. You can look it up because I don't want to mess anything in the recording up on my phone. Um do you want to give the listeners your TikTok again?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

No.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

At Mrs. JLC. Yep. Underscore JLC, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Uh yes. You are at Jake's Longhair248. Oh, nice. The same as Instagram. Kept it consistent. Keeping it easy.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

You know, it's just it's what I do. We love to see it. It's what I do.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Well, guys, um, welcome to another episode.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Oh, you just showed um Catherine just showed me the nana of Stinky sleeping right now. He's been doing this thing where he lays on his back and he just stretches one arm out.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

It's like a starfish when he's sleeping. And it's just so cute.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Oh my god. It's just the cutest freaking thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

And this pineapple sleep sack is just adorable.

SPEAKER_03 1:43

Um, so Catherine had two really, really good podcast ideas to talk about. We're obviously picking one because we gotta stretch this podcast. We've got to keep you guys listening and interested. Um I don't know if you guys know this, but like Catherine for the most part comes up with all of the ideas.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Thank you for giving me the credit, finally. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

You're you're welcome. I didn't know that I uh took credit for it myself.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Um in typical stripes and stories fashion, we're gonna start off the episode with a story. Um, if you don't have one yet, I will start with mine from today. Go for it. Okay. So typical client interaction, you guys. Um a couple of weeks ago, I think I mentioned that we had a guy that we're cutting his lawn on a bi-weekly basis, and it's a big property. It's a big property, and um so we're cutting his lawn, and the first time he was asking me about when we were gonna be there, and this was when we had all that Canadian smoke that filtered through here and Thanks Canada, yeah. And so we were delayed because the guy called the guys called it early, um, just because of the smoke inhalation that they were experiencing all day. Like they were all lightheaded.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

So I called it too. This wasn't just like the guys saying, Hey, we got like I was like, no, we gotta stop. Yeah, this is just ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Yeah. So um, same guy this past week, which was the caveat to that story.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

I texted you at like 9 a.m. and I was like, hey, the new guy that's added, let him know now that there's a potential that we might not service it today. Like I wanted to get it right out in the morning so that way he could plan accordingly.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Oh, you're talking about the day of the smoke. Yeah, yeah. Like the first time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

And so this way, one, the communication's so effective, but also like we're letting him know you're important to us. But like, there are weather conditions at play that are completely out of our control, and we're gonna do our darnest to get your property service today despite the weather, but there is a possibility that we will just delay it 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Yeah, and we try to be like extra communicative with people that we know have been like burned in the past with you know companies not showing up, just so that they feel like we are different because we are, and we want to show them how we're different. And this is one of the reasons why we are, is because we have superior communication to barn on any other lawn care company typically. So, anyway, this week would have been his second mo because he's on a bi-weekly schedule. So he text me first thing this morning after it was weird because Jake and I talked about it last night because he's on a bi-weekly schedule. So typically a lot of the clients we have are on weekly routes, and so we 98%. Yeah, we pick up some bi-weekly people late in the season, um, and which was w one of his. And um, so I have a reminder on my phone for every Wednesday, every two-week Wednesday, for me to remind Jake that like on Thursday this is you cut his launch.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Dang, dang, babe. You're turning me on over here. You got your calendar set and everything. That organization.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah. Um, so anyway, we were talking about it last night, and he's like, Yep, I'm gonna cut him tomorrow. And I was like, Cool. Excuse me. Can you just let me know when you're on your way so that I can make sure to tell him to keep his dogs inside? Because that's specifically what he requested. Um so anyway, we get to, or Jake gets there, or he texts me in the morning and he's like, I don't know if I have PTSD from the other two companies that like screwed me over, but I just want to make sure I'm on your schedule for today. And I said, Absolutely you are. I said, My guess is they will be there late morning, early afternoon. And so he says, again with the TY instead of spelling out thank you, but whatever.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

He's taking texting like very seriously. Because texting was developed with all of these shortened versions of the city. Yeah, the queer T type stuff.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Um so I said, Okay, so I'm telling Jake, I said he's already reached out to me, just letting you know this is what I told him. So I'm hoping that you guys can fit it in in this time frame on your route. I didn't know if you were doing it or if MoCru was doing it. So Jake gets there. This was at like 11, maybe, maybe even a little bit earlier.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

Not I think it was like 1015, 10.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

It was it was very shortly after he had texted me in the morning. And Jake goes, the sprinklers are on. And I was like, Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_03 6:49

I think I called you.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

I think you might have.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Yeah, I was pretty, I was pretty annoyed.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah, yep. Because like we always get annoyed when people kind of like monitor us because we're not the company that just doesn't show up.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

You have no reason, you have no reason to monitor us.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah. So, um, so anyway, he gets there and he's like the sprinklers are on, and he's like, with how hilly this guy's yard is, like, I I can't like I could go to the backflow right now and turn it off.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Yeah. But like it's pointless because this is a I mean, there are some gnarly inclines on this. And I'm like, yeah, I got the fat tires and everything.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Property is kind of like it's almost like looks like it's sitting on top of a mountain with based on how it really does.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

Um so I just said, Well, I guess I'll just have to double back later today.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Yep. And you were like, please text him and tell him to turn the sprinklers off and let him know that we will be doubling back to do his lawn, but it most likely won't be until Catherine, frame the text that I'm extremely annoyed, and also that I am doubling back.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

My I guess my route is just completely based around you today.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah. So I reiterated to the guy, sent him a text, and I said, Hey, so-and-so. I said, the crews just arrived to service your property, and unfortunately the sprinklers are on. I said that you know, with how hilly your property is, there is no way that they feel, you know, it's safe for your lawn or for our equipment to put mowers on it. Um, I said, we will be back. We I said, unfortunately, we have to rearrange the route and we will be there later this afternoon to complete service. I said, in the future, please make sure that on your scheduled service day you do not have the sprinklers on so we don't run into this problem again. And he's like, oh shit, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 8:48

And I was like, shit, shit.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Shit, shit. And I was like, uh, I was like, I get it. I said, and he said, um, he said, and then he sent me a follow-up text and was like, I just turned them off. I was like, well, that really defeats the purpose because like you had them on anyway. So like even though you turn them off, it doesn't change the fact that we have to come back later to Mo. He's lucky we didn't charge him an additional trip fee for that.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

I was honestly I was so tempted to tell him that. I was so tempted.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

It would have just been out of frustration, though. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

And I was like, you know what? Whatever.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Give me time to cool down and then yeah. So anyway, that was uh the story of the week. We also had um what was the other one that we had? There was one other one that I was just thinking of. Oh, so we also picked up another new customer this past week, a property that is being listed for sale. Um, the guy has moved, he wants us to take care of the property. And this isn't so much a bad interaction as much as it's kind of funny.

SPEAKER_03 9:50

Um, yeah, he so he calls me and we hit it off. He's super, super friendly. I'm like, I'm wondering if this guy's in sales, you know what I mean? Like just overly friendly, and uh mentions that he's got a new house that he has purchased, and he has since moved there. And you know, just an hour and a half drive time is not very conducive to come and cut the lawn. And I said, Hey, totally understand. And so we start talking about the property, where he's located, and everything, and he's right smack dab in the middle of our Wednesday route. So I'm like, perfect, this is awesome. Yep, and uh I said, no problem at all. Yep. Obviously, we'll handle it till closing, or when you deem, you know, if you want to do a week or two before closing, like whatever. And I said, I'm gonna get all this information right to my office admin. This was on Monday, um, mid-afternoon, and then hand it all off, and then I'll let you take over from there. Office manager.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

It was actually Tuesday, I think.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

It was Monday because I was on Kirkland in Troy.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

I have this weird memory where like I can literally remember exactly where I was when like there's certain babe, it's so cute. Like, there will be certain um, like I'm on the phone with Connor and I'm trimming, right? And he'll tell me something funny, and I'll be I'll remember that spot in the exact yard. And every time I go to trim that spot, I think of the funny story that Connor told me.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Oh, that's funny. Yeah, it's weird how our brains work out. It's strange. Yeah. Um, okay, so uh he wanted an emailed proposal, so I email it over to him. I'm like, you know, here will be your rate per week. He had an adjacent parcel to his property that he maintained. There's he has like a handshake agreement with the neighbor that they each maintain like a third of this easement parcel, um, whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

So do you think that that parcel that just like the city owns and then they like rarely service it? So then him and the neighbor are like, let's make this look nice. Uh it probably is because I know I've driven by it multiple times.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

It's facing the road, so that probably is what it is, or it legitimately is just an easement that they all like the neighborhood's supposed to take it. Interesting. Yeah, and they all agree to whoever it takes.

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Yeah, it's right off of Bogey Lake in uh White Lake. So it's just interesting that like it would potentially be the neighborhood's responsibility because it's just like it's not like a cul-de-sac, it's at the front of just a street, not the front of a subdivision, the front of a street. So it's very interesting that's not his or the neighbors. Just look caveat for the listeners.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Yeah. Um, and it could be, they all could own it jointly. I mean, you just never know. You know, typically with easements, those are granted for access purposes. So, like whether you want to get stuff in your backyard, so people typically will give it to each other so that they can access their property. So that's probably what it is, I would assume.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

But it's just in the front of a street. I don't know. How would backyards come into play? I'm so confused.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

If like because he's like kind of on a corner lot. So if he needs to get something into his backyard through that corner lot, but somebody else owns it, they would have entered into like an easement agreement where anybody can like this neighbor can go on this part, this neighbor can go on this part, etc.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah, that's kind of just it's like the same way if like you purchase a property up north, like a lot of this happens a lot where um, you know, you have like a shared driveway or whatever, like you grant each other like an easement to have access to it until the end of time so that nobody can say, Oh, you don't have access to this any longer because I'm selling the property. Now you're screwed and you can't, you're landlocked essentially.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Yeah. So we run into that a few times, but that's just typically why people do that.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

Okay, Title Girl. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Um, so anyway, he's like, There's a third of an acre easement that like I'm responsible to mow. Um, I would like that mode as well. And I was like, okay, no problem.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Um I And he's like, I totally understand if that's an additional charge. Like he was like just a very nice potential customer to work for.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah, yep. Um, so we schedule him for lawn maintenance, no problem. He um he we s they go to do the property on Wednesday.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

Crew two.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Crew two. They send Jake a picture. It's completely fried. Like there, I don't think there was there's barely any part of it that was green. Yeah. And so you know, you can still see the stripes from the last time that it was mowed because it was so dry. So they send Jake a picture. I send the guy an email and I'm like, hey, just letting you know that you know, we did not service the property this week. It was way too brown to mow. Um, you know, we'll resume service next week if the weather improves.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

But Chuck in a truck would have loved to have pulled up to that and go, yep, it's cut. Yeah. And then send a bill.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Honestly. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

I mean, because that's a quick 130 bucks.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Oh, yeah. So um I tell the guy that, and then he doesn't respond until today. He sends us an email and is like, um, oh no, like I totally understand that you couldn't mow it and that, you know, you'll resume service next week. He's like, I just have a special request. There's one part of the lawn that typically grows pretty heavily because it's right above the septic tank. And um, he's like, if you guys don't mind just doing that part of the maintenance to kind of like clean it up because I have an open house this coming weekend.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

And this was Thursday afternoon, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:34

This was today.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Yeah, so in the afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yeah. And so I tell him, I said, you know, our typical process for any crew leader that's doing uh lawn maintenance for the day is that if there is a part of the lawn that they can mow, they will. I said, unfortunately, with how brown the grass was, it it just for the health of the lawn, we we just couldn't do that. Um, and I don't think I got a response from him, but I was like, you know, best of luck in your open house or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

I read your email and I was like pretty impressed with it. And I literally looked at Jordan, I was like, dude, you gotta read this. Because earlier in the day, you and I were on the phone. Oh, it was after the sprinkler situation, and you were just like running through, like, okay, I'm gonna do this, this, and that. And then you were mentioning, I think, a couple other things that you did, and Jordan was like, She's like built for management. And I was like, dude, isn't she a badass? He's like, She's like really, really good at what she does. I was like, Yeah, she's really, really talented, brother.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Aw, thanks. That's nice of you guys to say. Um, I feel like usually, like all a lot of the times, like when you're talking via email, it's just about like speaking eloquently. And as long as you can speak eloquently, like anybody can sound of course, you know, smart. But um so anyway, that was our second story, and then our third story. This one's kind of the big one, and then we'll get into what we're actually gonna talk about today. Um, do you want to talk about Mr. Uh House for Sale? Listing photos.

SPEAKER_03 17:17

No, it's it's so stupid, and my brain hurt from just listening to you talking to him, so you go right ahead.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Okay. So uh, well, guys, it's Thursday, and this is the third story that we've got so far. So let's hope tomorrow's a pretty easy day. Um we had him a guy who I don't know if I mentioned this previously last week. Um, I don't think I did because I think this happened Monday or Tuesday. Um we had a guy that reached out to us. Oh, wait, we did. We talked about it on the last podcast. So we don't need to talk about it. Yeah, because I remember Oh, the one that's being released tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Okay, so never mind. We aren't that's that's an old story. So the those are our stories from the week of just customer interactions that we've had. We've had a lot of pleasant interactions. We just sold a job today, um, first in weed removal and um plants implementation on a property. The implementation, look at you. The woman was very, very nice.

SPEAKER_03 18:23

Um I sent you probably in her 70s, maybe 80s.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

And she's like, and I I love you on Facebook. I've been watching your face. I'm like, oh my god. Like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

And then we've got uh you've got another quote tomorrow that you're gonna be working on. Um, so hopefully we get that one too. But yeah, just been a busy, busy week.

SPEAKER_04 18:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

I'm enjoying, you know, preparing quotes so that I can kind of learn how to do it myself, which has been really nice and fun. But uh the meat of and potatoes of what we're gonna talk about today, is when management gets it wrong. Do you want to start?

SPEAKER_03 19:09

Um, well, I didn't really even know where you were gonna go with this when you said it. So I was like, well, what do you mean? And you're like, well, this and this. I'm like, oh, that sounds that's actually really cool to talk about. Um no, keep going. Okay, keep rolling. I I'm babe, I'm just here. This is your podcast. I'm here.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

No, it's not.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

I'm here for the commentary.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

So I thought that this would be a good thing for us to talk about because recently I have been negotiating with my current employer, not JLC, my you know, part-time employer, of what it would take for me to stay on part-time for just a little bit longer while they bridge the gap between, you know, two or three new people coming in.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

They are drowning over there, guys. Yeah. Drowning.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah. So um, in doing that, I just I had a conversation with somebody today at the office, and it was basically about like how all the management, the upper management team, I'm not talking like managers of each branch office. I'm talking like upper management presidents, vice presidents, whatever. All they care about is the bottom line. They don't care about people who are coming up that have new ideas. They don't care about, you know, making specific niche situations work for the betterment of the entire office, which is currently what I'm experiencing, right? Like I am trying to help the team get out of the hole that they're in in a way that's not my current job, just a little bit different. I'll be wearing a couple different hats to try to help them.

SPEAKER_03 20:51

And it's almost like Catherine would be like a quiet liaison, basically. She's working behind the scenes, putting out, I wouldn't say putting out fires, but more so like handling the putting out the pre-fire. Yeah, she yeah, exact what a great way to do it. She is like putting the extinguisher on the non-existent fire.

SPEAKER_04 21:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Like there's no way it can be even be lit. Already sprayed it down. Not possible for this candle or fire to start.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

So um in doing that, I was talking with uh, you know, a person at the office just about how, you know, management, upper management that like owns companies or whatever, like all they typically care about is the bottom line. And they don't care about the success of the individual office, right? Like they're looking at the office's gross numbers, they're not looking at how many customers they've lost, they're not looking at the terrible interactions that have cost the company money, they're not looking at all those things. All they're looking at is this person makes this much. And does it justify having her there? And in my mind, and I've been told this by multiple people, like the skill set that I have justifies what I'm making per hour, what I'll be doing. But the upper management wants an end date because they don't want to continue paying me what I'm being paid to do this role, essentially. They'd rather seem the office go up in flames. So that kind of led me to talking about this topic, which is that management gets it wrong sometimes. And there's no shame in admitting that they get it wrong because you know, you have just because you've been in a role for 10 to 12 years or whatever, and you have tenure on somebody else, it doesn't mean that you can't learn from a person who may only have a year experience that has some fresh ideas, uh, different processes for the way that they might want to do things. So I can speak to it from a management perspective, and obviously so can Jake, but I think Jake can speak to it more from being Guys, life is good.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Catherine got me my Kroger, sparkling water. You should have seen the eye roll that just happened.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

I'm sorry. I maybe I had to do it.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah, you have to do it every episode, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 23:19

It's kind of my it's kind of my thing. It's like the lick.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Oh my god. So anyway, Jake can speak to it more from like a business owner standpoint that might be able to help you guys when like, you know, you're struggling with okay, this is the way I've always done it, but like, okay, I've got this young, you know, new person that's coming into the office, and maybe they're trying to change things up, or maybe they have different ideas for routes that we're doing, or different ideas, and you're like, well, actually, like if I look back on it and take my ego out of the way, then these are actually really good ideas, and I think some of them might be worth implementing.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

You got me while I'm eating a saltine here.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Why is it that every time we podcast, you're always eating or having a sparkling wash?

SPEAKER_03 24:10

Babe, I'm starving all day long.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Why don't you have the rest of the pasta salad that I made?

SPEAKER_03 24:15

I just fit well, I finished the one and I'm saving the other serving for lunch tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Oh, got it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

But no, I love when someone comes up with a creative idea. And I also love seeing people challenge themselves to try and be better as well and look at things with an outside lens. So this is kind of pertaining to it, but it's not. We're driving around today. Blake says, Hey, we got this commercial site, all the beds are prepped. We've got all just everything done. We're ready for mulch. We're gonna get mulch at Daydreamers this afternoon, and then we're loaded up and we're just heading out in the morning. I'm like, All right, naughty boy. Like, I love it. Okay. And he said, Hey, are you thinking black mulch? Because I hate black mulch. I like hardwood, cedar, or my favorite dyed brown.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

And you hate it because it fades so quickly, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:15

And he goes, and I said, Yeah, unfortunately, we do have to do black because one, they've done black in the past, which is no big deal if you want to cover it, but with the design of this commercial company, black will just look best. And it's in their colors, like it just I say, Yep, unfortunately, Blake. He's like, That's what I figured. Okay, cool, just want to double check. And then I was like, How many yards are you thinking? And I look at Jordan, who's sitting next to me in the truck, and I go, I mouth to him, six, six yards. And Jordan's okay. And because I said, you know, Blake, obviously, a lot of the bushes eat up a lot of real estate in these beds. Like they're big beds, but they're not really big. And uh I said, so how many you think, Blake? And Blake's like, oh man, to for me, it's like five, five and a half. And I look at my eyes get big at Jordan. I'm like, I was like, Blake, or I'd mouth to Jordan that it's probably exactly six yards. And I said, So obviously I don't want extra black mulch because ew. It's like as bad as red mulch, if you ask me. I'm like, we could, I think we could do five, but I oh, what do you think? Five and a half or six? He's like, nah, I think we meet in the middle of the five and a half. All right, cool. Like that sounds good. But like Blake is getting it, and like obviously you can measure by hand and get the exact square footage that you need, and like obviously we have the software to do that too, and I'll double check that tonight to make sure. Um, but it's just so cool when someone comes in with a new mindset. For instance, Alex several weeks ago said, Hey, FYI, I adjusted the Wednesday route this way because I get where you're coming from with the efficiency, but based on this, I think we should do instead of one, two, three, we should do three or two, three, one. I was like, Oh, dude, like that makes sense to me too. I see how your method works in your head, and I see how mine works, but I actually like your method better. Let's rock with it. Yeah, and it's just like, but this kind of stuff happens all the time. Like, even Jordan is coming up with ideas and solutions. I'm like, that's a great idea. Like, let's try that. And if it doesn't work, no big deal. We know how to do it this way too.

SPEAKER_04 27:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

And it's just so much fun to see others come up with other ideas that make you come up with other ideas and think about things, and it's just iron sharpening iron. Yeah, it's a blast.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

There's a reason why the Bible talks about it, that it's so important that you know you have people on your team that just push you to be better.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

Yeah, it's just it, it's I I couldn't imagine working for someone or me acting this way, in which no, I just know everything.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Do you have a specific time that you can remember when you can say, oh man, like I made the wrong call on that?

SPEAKER_04 28:18

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

That is a good question.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Because I can I have one and I'll I'll tell I'll say mine before you go ahead and say yours while you think about it.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

You go right ahead. I'm gonna have to try and pick one though.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

So we had an employee that was making a ton of mistakes. I think we talked about her a couple episodes ago. And when I had the decision to lay her off versus lay someone else off, I picked this other person. This other person did good work. They just were kind of like lazy, right? But so they didn't make a ton of mistakes. They were just kind of lazy and like to be on their phone. And you know, that's not a good look when customers are coming up to your desk when they're in the office for closings and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Did she just be on her phone?

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Yeah, but it was like she was like texting, so it's not like she was sitting there like laser focused on her phone, or she'd be like listening to a podcast on YouTube, so like it would always be playing, but it wasn't, and she'd have headphones in, but it wasn't necessarily like she was actually like you know, texting. Just it looks distracting for a customer who's closing a three million dollar deal and they walk up to your desk and you've got headphones in and you're watching a podcast, you know. Um so I had the choice between this person who was making a lot of mistakes or this person who um was just kind of distracted. And I made the decision to let go of the person who was making who was having all of the distractions. And looking back on it, that was the wrong call because what happened with the employee that was making all of these mistakes is that we eventually let her go, which was I think the inevitable option from the beginning. But we also lost a ton of money based on the mistakes that she was making. And this other girl, I could have gotten by with her for longer. I just would have to play interference essentially when a customer would walk to her desk. I'd be like, Oh, hey, how you doing? You know, making conversation so that they didn't have to like knock on her desk and be like, Do you see me? Because you're so like entrenched in whatever you're listening to. And I feel like a lot of times when you're in management or you're in like a leadership role, you kind of have to just make a call on the fly. And then that was one call that I made where I looked back and I was like, Yeah, I got that one wrong because I should have just kept her because there there were gonna be more layoffs coming. I could have let her go second round, but I picked her first round because of that, and I I just I feel like that was the wrong call.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

Okay, I'm because I'm trying to listen to your stories as well, and of course, I've made plenty of mistakes, but like I I'm struggling to think of one right now, so can you give me like broad topics? Like just say, I've ever made a mistake in this area, or this like help help my brain find something.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Have you ever um got something wrong when it comes to working with a customer?

SPEAKER_02 31:47

How so?

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Where you've had to like backtrack something that you've uh told them that you maybe were able to do and then you couldn't do, or maybe like oversold something that you couldn't do. Um Do you have anything that you can think of, or anything that you can think of was a major learning experience? I can think of one for you that I think would be like not necessarily you getting it wrong, but would definitely be something that you could say, oh, I've learned this lesson for the next one.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

You're gonna say Gina's.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Oh my god, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 32:28

Because I was thinking it might be Gina's. So we had just had a badass walkway that we were doing that also was like a patio landing at the front door. And I I knew going into this, it was not as simple as it looked.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

And also, to be fair, this was like one of your introduction to hardscaping. You hadn't done like really a job of this scale.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Of this magnitude.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

And so I knew what the going rate would be for a job like this, and I gave her a significant discount. Plus, I wanted to redo the landscaping as well, because I'm not gonna just have this amazing, beautiful hardscape once it's done and perfected with just like the eh plants. So I was like, look, I'll do the plants at cost. Here's my labor to get this stuff removed in addition to the paper pad or the the walkway. And she's like, Yeah, let's let's do it. I want, yep, I want to do this. She's like, This is a great opportunity for you to learn. And yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

And you exp you set that expectation first.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

I told her I was like, look, I've never done something this complex, and but I want to do it because she's like she was an OG JLC back in the day. And she's like, oh my god, this is so awesome! Like, I'm excited. And it was kind of like everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Everything went wrong.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

And this, like when I was talking to my buddy Um Keith Thompson, he said that he redid a walkway three times.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

He said at this point, you know, after the second failure, he goes, I'm pretty much paying the customer at this point for this walkway.

SPEAKER_04 34:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

Um, and there were so many nuances from we had three different points of elevation that needed to be twisted in, basically. It wasn't, it couldn't just simply flow away from the house.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Not to mention, you were working with a foreman, you had to work around his schedule with Joe. So it already was kind of like a weekend only job, or whenever he had free time and wasn't working with Joe. So already right off the bat, you know it's gonna take long because of the schedule that you have to work around.

SPEAKER_03 34:57

And then we just kept getting bombarded with rain. I mean bombarded. Not to mention tsunami-like conditions.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

It was the middle of summer. I was like six, seven months pregnant when Jake was doing this. We were about to get married, we were planning a wedding, like we had so much going on in our personal life, as well as, you know, Jake's got this job. Meanwhile, he's working every single day of the week. I mean, there were days where every single weekend Jake was there for like six, seven hours. And excuse me. One of the things that Jake and I talk about when we talk about that job is just that, you know, because we could tell, well, at least Jake could tell. I didn't communicate with her, but um towards the end of the job, you could tell she was getting frustrated with the timeline.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

And for it was more middle.

unknown 35:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

It was more middle. Cause once once we started getting everything dialed in, like she was back. Like she was amped, she was excited.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

And uh But there were like weeks where your foreman was out of town doing his own like vacation thing. So we're like, okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

I was in Finland.

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Yeah, like when are we gonna be able to get this done for her? So there were like weekends where, of course, she's doing errands, walking in and out of her house, and she's looking at this dirt in the front, and she's like, Okay, like when is something gonna happen?

SPEAKER_02 36:23

Or the pavers in the driveway, yeah, or the extra material in the driveway. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

So all of meanwhile, I can't sleep at night.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Yeah. All of that was like, and then you had this like, I remember one weekend where you were gonna like hammer out like 12 hours there, you got sick, and you had this horrible I had diarrhoea.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

Yeah, so bad, guys, and I said, and you looked at me like, Wait a minute, I gotta fucking do it.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah, you were like, I have to fucking.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

So I was drinking that teal shit.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Yep, and I think I only had this- She gave it to you when you were there, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:58

And uh I think I should inside her bathroom twice, maybe three times, but thankfully she was now running errands after hearing I'm seeing it was so bad.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Oh god, it was so bad.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

And by that time, I was literally just trying to make sure that Jake was staying hydrated because of how much he was going to the bathroom. Like it was uh at least like 10 to 12 times by like the afternoon. Yeah, it was crazy. So, anyways, but like we got her done, and it's beautiful and it's gorgeous, and I'm sure she wouldn't she wouldn't take back any of it, but that was a major learning experience for you, I feel like, because you know, you learned about how prepared you need to be for something like that, how much you need to update the customer. It's almost like overcommunication wins in that part, and just because you know the customer from you know X many years ago, you know, that doesn't take away from the fact that they still need to be updated literally every single week of what's going on. Yep. Um so I wouldn't say like that would classify as something that you got wrong. I just feel like that's something that you took on knowing how difficult it was gonna be. And then it was just kind of like uh we're kind of just grasping at straws to like get this done because we were so you like you said, you had a hurdle like every single week. We were getting it.

SPEAKER_03 38:26

And it was, but it was such a fun project.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

It was.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

It was so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

You and Justice had a lot of fun doing it together, and like Justice did 80% of the work. And then Joe came in and helped like at the tail end when you were laying the pavers and getting all the stuff out, and then we were um graciously helped by Brett in the beginning because Brett um gave us his Skag Jackal to do all the tear out and the grading for it.

SPEAKER_03 38:51

It was just such a fun team effort all the way around. And I was like, hey Brett, like do you think I could um rent your jackal? Because I'd much rather pay you than just go to you know any rental place and do it. He's like, bro, like, yeah, absolutely. And he's like, No, you don't owe me a penny. Like, please use it, it's brand new. Put some hours on it. Yeah, like cool.

SPEAKER_04 39:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

I have a friend, a dear friend, that just spent $40,000 on a piece of equipment, and he's like, Yeah, get her dirty. Like, what? Yeah, that is so cool. So I would say, yeah. That was uh I wouldn't say it was like an oops, I wouldn't say it was a whoops, it was just a big learning experience and it was fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

Yeah. I I remember that time was like so stressful for you because you'd be like, you know, she's work, she's trying to get a status of what's going on, but then like he was, you know, justice was out of town, you know, and taking his vacation rightfully so as he should.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Because there were certain elements that I knew he was the better fit for me. Yes, which was also I was very proud of myself for not stepping on my own toes and trying to do it, and then yeah, I knew I'm not in certain aspects of this project, I am not the guy.

SPEAKER_04 40:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

And I hired someone who's better than me. Like that to me, that was when it kind of flipped for me from like that's when I started to see explosive growth within my business. Yeah. Is because if you want to grow, you just have to hire people that are better than you at things that you one aren't gonna improve on or don't have interest in. It's not to say, like, oh, I don't have interest in hardscaping and I want to just hire justice. No, I love hardscaping, I think it's so cool, but I want to learn from someone who's better than me.

SPEAKER_00 40:44

Well, and also I think you have to realize like what your capacity is, right? So, like you're still very much in the weeds of like your day-to-day business. So you don't necessarily have the capacity to sit there on a hardscaping job for three, four days at a time to learn all of it because you're still busy running your actual business. You're doing a route, you know, all of these things that you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 41:08

Yeah, mulch installs, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

You're doing payroll, you're doing all of these things that um require so much of your time. So then you end up with this like fragmented job like hers was, where I mean, everybody ended up happy in the end, but the road to get there was just a little bit, a little bit rough.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

It was a little curvy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

So yeah, I feel like when we talk about, you know, management gets it wrong, you know, it there's so many things that like Jake just said, right? Um he hires the best to help him with stuff that he's not necessarily super proficient on. And it's the same thing in any area of your life. In our, you know, in our marriage relationship, we're very like yin and yang. So, like in some areas, especially in Jake's business, I'm much more direct than Jake is when he's dealing with employees or issues that he's having with employees. I'm extrem I'm an extremely direct person when it comes to stuff like that. Some may say that like it it's intimidating, but at the same time, I've been in management for X many years that I have just realized that the more you talk nicely to somebody, the more they almost take advantage of it as if it's like a sign of weakness or if they're not taking you seriously. And Jake's much more on the note of like Okay, continue your thought about being more direct and everything. Okay. So like Jake is much more like compliment sandwich, where he's saying something great in the beginning, he's saying, and then he's saying what you need to improve on, and then he's ending it also with something great, which I think there is a time and a place for that based on the employee, but I think you have to adapt to what the employee will receive, right? So, like sometimes it's being extremely direct with one person versus the next person, you're like, okay, I'm gonna be a little bit nicer because I know that this is gonna be a conversation that's really hard for them to take. And then you have other people that you just don't care. You're like, I'm gonna have this conversation regardless, and I need to be upfront. But when we talk about being like kind of like the yin-in-yang, right? Like, Jake definitely comes at it from a more empathetic, empathetic standpoint. I come at it more from like, this is but this is a business at the end of the day. Business needs to generate revenue. If you're not doing your job, the business is not generating revenue, and then we have a problem. So that's kind of what I would say about it.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

So where you want to go from here?

SPEAKER_00 43:58

You don't have anything to add.

SPEAKER_03 44:00

No, I mean you hit literally all the nails on the head. That's definitely something I need to work on as being more direct. Um but like then maybe I don't have to work on that. You are the more proficient one at that, and now the business gets to scale even more because I have you in that role. Will I still consciously work at it? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 44:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

But do I have to sweat everything into that now? And like, oh no, I gotta get better at this.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:33

No, I don't.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:34

Nope. I have someone on staff that can handle that.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

Yeah. And I think it's it's important for us to emphasize, not even really verbally, to Jake's employees that like Jake is the owner of the business. He runs the business. But when it comes to like certain issues that you're having, like I am not afraid to step in on Jake's behalf and be like and be like, he is handling so much right now. He's had multiple conversations with you. That's like we consider the first line of defense, right? Like you would have a conversation with them about stuff that's going on. Sometimes you would have a second conversation if the behavior doesn't change. And then then it moves to the point to where I need to have a conversation because sometimes when like an outsider is having a conversation with you, it almost like means more, or not even necessarily means more. It's like you take it better from somebody because they're not like the one that's like joking around with you. Like you guys all have this group text together where sometimes you'll be sarcastic, but you're also talking about business. With like me, the interactions that they've had with me is always very like straight-laced. It's like okay, send me your hours, do this, do that, tell me when you're at this customer's house because I need to tell them like it's very, very clear and concise.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

You're the principal.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 45:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

I am the bad cop, you are the good cop.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

Yeah. I'm the cool social studies teacher that everybody, you know, likes to joke with. No, no, no. Everyone likes to joke with, and like, oh, this guy's goofy, but like, yeah, he's gonna teach us something. Like we're we're actually gonna walk away from this class. It might be my favorite class that I've learned. Um, but I do not want to go to principal meister's office. You're the principal.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

Yeah. But I also feel like that's been kind of helping you flourish. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like you being able to detach from like that side of it a little bit has, but also I feel like it's been helpful for you to have somebody to like bounce stuff off of.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Oh my god, like one of your um you know, one of our situations that we're dealing with, I'm like, you're like, well, what do you think about that? You ask me, what do you think? And I'm like, no, what would you do from your management experience that you have? How would you handle the situation? You're like, well, I would do it this way. I'm like, then that's how we're doing it.

SPEAKER_00 47:01

Yeah. It's um, it's really different when you have like management that has to then learn how to like the aspects of owning a business versus you who like you know all the aspects of owning a business, but you don't necessarily have like management experience. Management experience that I have. So I think in that regard, we kind of like, like we said, like iron sharpens iron. We both can we both fit really well together in that.

SPEAKER_03 47:32

Um so from because I don't think of you at all as like HR or anything like that. So within an organization, like would you be the COO? Do you think? Like, would that be kind of like would you be the chief operating officer? Or is there am I just totally missing the mark here?

SPEAKER_00 47:56

No, I mean that sounds about right.

SPEAKER_03 47:57

What would be another position that you think with your skill set you would like would you just be senior management in your organization?

SPEAKER_00 48:08

Um probably just like I would probably call it something as like COO because it's like pretty much operations that I'm handling. So it's not like I'm, you know, financial officer because you kind of handle the big financial stuff. I certainly run payroll and do things like that, but the bulk of like the billing you're still handling and the communication between the clients of like collecting the balances and all that, like you still do. So I would definitely say it's probably more like just an operational role.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

You went from a manager to a COO.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:52

You're big time, baby.

SPEAKER_00 48:54

Yeah, did it come with a fat pay raise?

SPEAKER_03 48:57

I don't know. Why don't you look in that cabinet up there and see what's up there for you? Um but that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Yeah, it's um I've learned in my different roles in management that I've had that really a lot of just being in management is um being kind of just thrown into stuff and figuring it out. And then once you nail that part down and you figured out like a couple things, I feel like it's kind of smooth sailing from there.

SPEAKER_03 49:32

And the problem solving's fun.

SPEAKER_00 49:34

The problem solving is fun, yeah. I definitely agree.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

You really have to change your mindset and just there's so many guys, I feel like, that just they want to have okay, I got 22 lawns today.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

I want no problems, and like that's it. And then once they're done, they go home.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

I think that's the difference between people who try to own businesses and have their own companies that they just want to mow the lawn. They don't want to deal with the business side of things, they don't want to deal with, you know, trying out different softwares for payroll and doing quotes.

SPEAKER_03 50:14

They just want and there's nothing wrong with that. That's so awesome, but like, don't own a company.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Exactly. Go work for someone, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:23

Be so good at it that like you can come in and demand anywhere between $25 and $45 an hour because it's like, no, like I live and breathe cut and grass and I love this. Uh no one's gonna outperform me. No one, no one can compete with my skill set. I don't want to handle any client interaction. Yep, I don't want to text anyone, I don't want to do any billing. Yeah, you're you're a good candidate for this then. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, you're gonna take away a couple of my headaches.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

It's the same thing with like my field as well, is that you have certain managers that are put in place that are like afraid to get into like a hard conversation with a customer or are afraid to handle certain issues. When I was at the office, they'd be like, Will you sit Kathy on them? Like, I need help. I'm like, Yeah, of course. Like, I'm happy to. Like, I would love that. You know, standing up for my team is something that I would do blindly.

SPEAKER_03 51:22

So you don't call Katherine Kathy, just so you guys know. Kathy is an alter ego. Yes. You you you don't want to meet Kathy.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

Kathy problem, you don't want to meet Kathy.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Kathy is Karen. She's a Karen.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

And but I would say a more factual Karen.

SPEAKER_03 51:40

Oh, you have your head on straight.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

Speaking stone cold facts.

SPEAKER_03 51:45

Dang.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:47

Is it not clocking to you that I'm standing on business right now?

SPEAKER_00 51:49

I should start telling people that.

SPEAKER_03 51:51

Is it isn't that clocking to you?

SPEAKER_00 51:52

But it it is. Like, it was to the point to where I was happy to jump in on any issue because I was like, this is my well, first of all, like it's my job to jump in on these kinds of things. But also, like, I want you guys to see how I handle stuff like this so that the next time it comes up, you don't need me. You have autonomy to be able to handle this on your own.

SPEAKER_04 52:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

But also, like, there are certain there were certain managers that I worked with in other offices that would veer away from these types of interactions and would never want to like address anything head on with the customer or have a hard conversation with the customer who's like, where I'll have a conversation and say, hey, this is what we're not getting from you. And this is what would improve us to have a better working relationship where you're getting what you need, we're getting what I need. Your customer in the end is happy because their deal is closing, absent from all of the stuff that you weren't giving us, and all you have to do is do that, and like this interaction would go seamlessly.

SPEAKER_04 53:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:01

But so many people didn't want to have that conversation because they're like, Well, what if we lose the customer? I'm like, so you rather would fix all of these problems instead of just having a conversation with the person who's causing the problems and say, Here's what we can do to make this working relationship better. Can you can you work on doing that so that we don't have these issues moving forward? And 99% of the time it would get better, and then they'd be like, Wow, like I really like the person that I'm working with now. I'm like, Yeah, you should because we sorted out what the problem was.

SPEAKER_04 53:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 53:34

But so many people are afraid to do that, and I don't really understand why. Maybe it's because they're not confrontational or they just don't have like uh the mindset to be able to do it because I feel like you're not afraid to have hard conversations either.

SPEAKER_03 53:50

As of like three months ago, I did not like difficult, awkward conversations. But once I like amongst my team and stuff, I hated having that. What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 54:05

I feel like with customers though, specifically, like you're not you're not shying away from having those difficult conversations.

SPEAKER_03 54:11

Oh god, no.

SPEAKER_00 54:12

You were telling me the other day about a guy that is uh also in sales, just like you, and you guys were going back and forth on this quote that you sent.

SPEAKER_03 54:22

And we were both probably smiling on the phone.

SPEAKER_00 54:24

Yeah, while we were talking. It was fun for you guys, like the riff-raff that you were handling, but like you don't shy away from stuff like that versus like some people maybe like, okay, he's fighting me on this price, like whatever, I'm not even gonna reset.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

Either I'm not gonna do it, or you're just like, oh, fine, I'll just do it for this price, whatever. Yeah, and it's like, no, like one, I know what needs to be made, and I also know the value that we bring, and I'm going to show you in conversing with me how this deal is gonna get done.

SPEAKER_00 54:58

Now, when you have conversations like that, do you have a bottom line number in your head of what you will go down to or no? Or do you kind of just have those conversations off the cuff?

SPEAKER_02 55:10

Mostly off the cuff.

SPEAKER_03 55:12

Um, I know what I need to make in order to make the profit margin that I need. But like, you know, you have a worst-case scenario, but like no, I I try not to think because then you settle.

SPEAKER_04 55:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:27

You settle. You should be shooting for what exactly what you want for the job, and it's it's just so much fun. I love sales because I want to give you exactly what you want. Yeah, but I also need what I want.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:45

I I cannot be the only one bending over backwards.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

And you always talk about it with sales like you're a problem solver. You came to me with a problem. I'm giving you a solution. Where can we meet in the middle to where this benefits both of us mutually?

SPEAKER_03 56:02

So you're here, I'm here.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

We need to we need to look at it from an outside perspective, then. Okay. So you want to be here. Well, then I in order to give you that, I gotta take away this.

SPEAKER_04 56:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

I I can't give you this for this. I can't. I can't. So then you just hit you have the phone.

SPEAKER_00 56:22

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

Yeah, that was such a fun phone call. Oh my god, I loved it.

SPEAKER_00 56:25

Yeah, you were like lighting up when you were telling me about it.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 56:28

I'm still so convinced that like if you ever wanted to get out of long hair, you could go into like medical sales and make a killing. Be fun because of how much you love selling.

SPEAKER_03 56:39

But I hate the medical field.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

I know.

SPEAKER_03 56:42

But I like money.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

I know.

SPEAKER_03 56:44

That would be your maybe I sell my soul to the devil and not go into medical sales.

unknown 56:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:53

You're born to be a business owner.

SPEAKER_03 56:55

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 56:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:57

Yeah, it's just it's too much. I get to have all the fun being the owner.

SPEAKER_04 57:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:02

I get to deal with the fun and riff the fun riff-raff between the team. I get to deal with stupid customers. I get to deal with great customers. Yeah. I get to chase down money. I get to there's no ceiling.

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Yeah, that is true.

SPEAKER_03 57:18

Yeah, that's there's no ceiling. And I can and I can put a ceiling on if I want.

SPEAKER_00 57:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:23

Or I just put a hole in the roof.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

That's one of the things that like I've really realized in the past couple months with you is like now that I've, you know, I'm slowly getting out of the workforce, it makes me think, like, wow, what did I do all this time? Because I clearly had a ceiling, right? Like in your role, you have a max that the industry that's industry-wide that you can typically make. And with you, like, I've now seen, oh my God, like you don't have a limit of what you can do. You can grow as much as you want to, you can shrink down as much as you want to. You can literally control it all. And to have that freedom, I feel like once you have it, you don't ever want to like go back to having a desk job or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 58:11

Like, you just can't but everything comes at a cost.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 58:14

Like this is not to say that it's easy. Like that James Sexton TikTok I sent you.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Like he talks about how, of course, does he want a strong, independent woman and a fierce woman? He said, Yeah, I've done that. He said, I've I've been I've dated the CEOs, I've I've dated the doctors, the other attorneys. I'm not doing it anymore. And he goes, Because I am so stressed and work so hard that I do not want someone else to be like me.

SPEAKER_04 58:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:45

He goes, What a horrible way to live.

SPEAKER_04 58:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

He said, Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. I love the high-profile people I work for.

SPEAKER_04 58:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:52

Um, he said, but it's very demanding. He said, Why would I want to be married to someone that is jumping from phone call to phone call, preparing this and that, and like I'm glued to my phone. I'm glued to my team. He said, That's not that wouldn't be fun to be married. I would never want to be married to me. Yeah. And he goes, so then he talks about the video. He goes, So I just call my girl during the meal. Like, I'm just stressed beyond belief. And I just go, I call her, hey baby, what are you doing? Oh, just kind of hanging out. I might go get my nails done later. How about you? Oh, just buried up to work. But you're gonna go get your nails done? Oh, he goes, I'm so jealous of you right now.

SPEAKER_04 59:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:33

Like that's that's so cool.

SPEAKER_04 59:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:35

And he goes, What else are you gonna do? She's like, I don't know. I might do some grocery shopping and then I gotta do some cleaning and stuff. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 59:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:44

That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 59:45

Well, that kind of, you know, we'll save this full topic for another episode, but that's kind of what we're experiencing lately, right? Like I'm at home all of the time. I whenever you call me, I'm either cleaning, I'm cooking, I'm, you know, working, I'm always doing something around the house. And um I feel like I tr I said it a couple podcast episodes ago. I feel like when one person has a goal that they want to accomplish, the other person just has to take a back seat. Especially when you have kids, for sure. But I feel like in our relationship, our focus right now is growing your company, and that's okay with me. My goals, there will be a later time where my goals become at the forefront. But for right now, I'm okay with those taking a bunch of people.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:45

I thought too, like your main goal was to be a stay-at-home mom. It is so like if anything, we're both getting exactly what we want.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:52

Yes, but at the same time, like once you have that mental like stability of working all the time, it's very hard to like get rid of that. Like, of course, I love being home with Stinky. I would never change anything about that. But having that like mental stimulation and that feeling of being important, like in a job.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:14

But this is the most important job.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:15

It is the most important job. But I'm saying like people coming to you and feeling like, oh, like it's important, like, because I'm the one that knows the answer. You know what I mean? Like, that's something that's really hard to give up when you've worked your entire life to get to that point, and then you get there, and then you're like, okay, having this baby literally like upended everything. So, like, there will be a point again later in life when I go back to a corporate job.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:45

Maybe there's not, but maybe there was or when you start a business or something, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:49

There will be a point to where I'll I'll have that again, but for now, like, I'm okay with my goal of that being put on hold for me to be able to stay at home with Stinky and to be able to grow your business.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:03

Well, it's not my business, it's our business.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:05

You know what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:08

All right, guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:09

What's mine is yours, and what's yours is yours.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:13

That's right. I'm glad you got it right. Say it a little louder for the people in the back.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:19

Baby. What's mine is yours. Let's hear it. Or is it what's mine is ours.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:25

What's yours is ours. What's mine is mine.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:30

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:32

All right, guys. We hope you enjoyed this episode today. Um, next time we will be talking about um, what was the other topic we were talking about? I forget.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:44

Okay, so management when it got is wrong, was today.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:48

And then I almost wrote it down. I was thinking there's no way she'll forget this. What the frick was it?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

Um I don't remember what the other one was.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:00

Oh my god, it was so good.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

I'll think of it. But anyways, we'll have another good episode for the next one. But we hope you enjoyed this one. We will catch on the flippity flip.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:12

Stripedaddy out.