Pella Windows

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to Cindy Stumbo Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio.
And I'm in the studio tonight. So I have the
group from Peller Windows and Doors, right, everybody introduced yourself.
This is Steve Whitney, Okay, what's your name?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Brad Kramer?

Speaker 1 (00:16):
And who else do we have on with us?

Speaker 3 (00:18):
David Haley?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Okay, David Hadley. I think this is probably I'm probably
your most interesting client you've ever had at Peller. I
don't care what you say. I'm taking all the credit
for being the most crazy stories with Peller. Okay. In
my thirty seven year career, I have never left Pella Windows.
Everybody knows that people have gone by my job site,

(00:42):
have stood out with their signs movin window reps andoson
window reps, local schmokels. Hey, Cindy, do I have your
attention now? Yeah, you have it, and I still can't
give you a window order, right. My loyalty to Peller
has always been the same, and my loyaltyat with all
my vendors have been the same. I don't jump venders
and that's just who I am. But when I think

(01:04):
back of the days, how we all started off like
it was pretty rocky at the beginning, right, So every
one of us has a story of something that happened
with one of us with Peller, and that's what makes
it fun. Like when I think back of the days
with Peller, Steve Whitney screaming at you, turn that goddamn
truck around, you deliver my windows right now. You didn't

(01:25):
have a check on the job site. The check's coming
out there, And then I think we can get to
that one. And another great story is when you guys,
Brad came to work at Peller and brag can probably
tell the story better than me, and then Steve and
I and somehow from the first couple of years of
trying to work out this relationship with some young girl

(01:48):
that's twenty three, twenty four to twenty five, and you
guys are rolling your eyes, going what is this girl
all about? Probably the first girl Builder you had. And
as the story goes, this girl Builder kept her loyal
with your company for thirty seven years and that you
can't take it away from me for sure. Start with
the thirty eight Sammy, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna I'm

(02:10):
gonna hurt my daughter okay, so go ahead. So we
have Pella in the house tonight. And the relationship between
Peller and Cindy Stumble and c Stumble has been one
hell of a great great ride. So Brad, you start
as a salesman, you go, you come to work for Pellaeah,
tell the story.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Thanks, Cindy. Happy to be here in the studio. I think, yes.
I was handed your account over from Steve and.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
He and by the way, Steve was so happy to
get rid of me, but go ahead, okay.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Lots of smiles and taker, and he said, he's she's
not going to be your typical, ordinary builder. So that
was the first thing, and and he was right. I
had gone through, you know, several months of training on
the Pella job truck, knowing how a traditional builder thinks
and works.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
And oh you were trained to deal with how builders are.
So you took a training course with Pella before they
stuck you out on the road and said, okay, now
go se windows correct, okay.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
And I show up at your office and uh, you know,
I I was on time. I prepared prepared a quote
for you. I was very I'm a very black and
white person.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
You think I think you guys are all trained. Can
you push his mike down? So, okay, because I don't
want to go ahead, just down a little further. Good, okay,
you're good. No, ites up, It's right, okay.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
And yeah, So I came into your office, probably a
little nervous because I was prepared that you know.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
That you're walking into Han's office or something. You didn't
know what together.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
I didn't know what I was getting, right, So I
had my By.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
The way, they didn't have Google back then, so you
couldn't even google what somebody look like. Right, you have
no idea what you're walking into.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
No idea, okay, no idea. So I had my plans
in one hand, and I had my proposal in another,
and I had spent hours making sure that everything was
right because I wanted it to be right for you
and be thorough, thoroughly prepared. And you took one look
at me, you said, just give me the quote. You
ripped it from my hands, and you went right to

(04:16):
the last page. All you wanted to know is what
the price was. And once you saw it, yeah, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Look at the bottom line.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Look at the bottom line.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So you prepared this whole proposal, Yeah, and all I
cared about was we're okay, flicking through probably twenty five pages, right, correct.
So you get to the bottom line and yeah, and.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
You said this is ridiculous. Let me and you started
flipping through and said, I need to find out where
you're screwing me because this makes no sense at all,
and I didn't know how to take it. And next
thing you know, you start just again doing things your way,
and you start looking at elevation and you're like, how
much does that window cost? How much does that window cost?

(04:56):
And I didn't know because you had my quote in
your hand, so I'm asking for the quote back and
you start adding it up and you're like, this makes
no sense. And I think I was so flustered because
you threw me off my game and I didn't know
what to do, and I think I walked out of
there and I'm like, I have no idea what just
happened to me?

Speaker 1 (05:17):
But those way, is that what you went back to?
Steven said, yeah, what did you go?

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Probably because we're always supposed to come back knowing did
we get the sale or not? And I said, I
really don't know, but.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
He's probably saying in the back of mine she's going
to stay here, She's going to give it to you.
It's just she's got to understand what she's paying for.
And that's really truly what it comes down to, right,
And that's when I realized, and we can go backwards
and we go forward on this. So look, there have
been companies that have come to me and said, we

(05:49):
service Pella right and we can give you a better number.
I'm sure you can, But can you sit as a
salesperson with me? And can you advise me when I
don't have these windows proportioned the way I want them?
Can you bring to me what Brad's been bringing to
me because Brad reads my mind? And that answer is nobody.

(06:11):
You can't because see, the architect's going to make mistakes,
but Brad's going to catch them every time. Be just
because Brad knows exactly what Cindy wants in a house,
and that is worth for me. If it's two percent
more I want to pay over here, why would I
give up having you that's going to come in there

(06:34):
and know this architect's got transoms. These windows are too short,
you're not going to be happy, or they're too long,
or they're too we've got to get them wider. I
know you're Cindy, you want that big window over the kitchen.
Who else is going to service me that way? It
took you and I probably two houses, maybe three to
get our groove together. And we've been together all this time,

(06:58):
so I can't give up that guy that's going to
do that. And Steve Whitney's the same thing. Steve knows
he can sit in my office. He knows exactly what
I want. So if somehow you retire, you decide, you
know what, I've had an off from stepping out of
the business. I know that there's guys that can stand

(07:20):
behind you, and you guys would never send me out
the wrong guy to handle my account service. I call
you and I say, look, I can't lock this. Doore
for the love of God, right. It's usually it's usually
a Cindy problem or a client problem. Typically you want
to get honest right. You pull it out, you turn it,
you twist it. You to do this sometimes well sometimes

(07:41):
it's a little out of alignment. You come right out,
grow you come right out, you come right out. You
try to fix it first, and then if we need service,
you get service out there. But you always say I'll
be out there tomorrow. You never give me I'll be
out in two weeks because that wouldn't work with my personality. Right.
So my presonal is I'm going to be loyal, but

(08:03):
you got to be loyal back, because that's how business
relationships work. It can't be I'm loyal, but you're not loyal.
And that's what's made Cindy and Brad be together as
a salesman. You're the salesman, right, and that's what's kept
us together all this time. And that's the truth. Like
I can always say, I don't care, like, well we

(08:26):
make a better window. Okay, great, but I'm not leaving Pella.
I don't care how good you into is. I'm not
going to mob and I'm staying with Pella. I'm not
going with Innocent. I'm staying with Peller. If you guys
saw how many times my phone rings throughout the last
thirty seven years, to jump me from Pella, hold that thought,
by the way, I would never jump, but hold that thought.

(08:46):
We're going to break. You're listening to Cindy Stumbo on
Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty and welcome
back to toughest nails on WBZ. And I'm Cindy Stumpo
and you're here with Sammy.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
And Brad and Steve.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
And do you know your name? David? I know we
get nobody. Okay, thank you. So that's the story of
Brad nin Now Steve, we've probably had the biggest blow.
It's at the beginning, right, a learning.

Speaker 4 (09:10):
Curve was steeper for both for both of us. It
was early for you. It was you know, it was
relative literally in my sales career at Peller as well.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
And Steve was the first guy that I met. It's like, David,
every guy at Pella had a certain look back then.
It was a very like checked shirt, very conservative. There's
just a look to Pella guys. If that makes any sense.
I don't know why every headlight blonde here, blue eyes
and and I'm the girl builder and you guys must
be shaking your head. Steve, in all honesty, was I

(09:42):
your first girl builder that you met out there?

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yes, yes, for sure, the first woman builder you know,
even in the in the business at that time. You know,
we certainly have homeowner connections and stuff, and we're interacting
with with you know, spouses and wives. But those and us,
but they're talking about the details of the project, which
but not to the way that you clearly were prepared

(10:06):
to do. And so that was the first time for
me for sure, and still somewhat unique in the business,
not exclusive, but somewhat unique for sure.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
So the first time did you say to yourself, and
let's have an honest conversation because you can't hurt my feelings.
You said, she's roughing, she's rough and tough around the edges, right,
because I wasn't sure. Okay, she's says it. You're not
used to this now, this is this is a girl
that's in her twenties, right, early twenties, twenty four, twenty five,

(10:34):
twenty six, around that age, and coming after you and
you're at that you're about my age at that time, right.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Yeah, just a few years more, Okay, not much, So.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
You had to walk. He would get stavid. He would
get so frustrated with me. He had no patience for me,
by the way, right, And that was just Steve. But
no matter how much he'd have the patience for me,
and I didn't have the patience for him, I wasn't
leaving because I go with my gut and I run
this business at C. Stumple Development for this length of
time on my gut feeling. And even though if I

(11:06):
can't groove with somebody right away, I don't throw the
towel in. I'll get there. I'll get there because this
is the product I want to work with now. Could
if I jump to another you know, Peller, Sure, But
the more you I'm funny, the more you push me
and I got to push you. It's like two kids
in high school get into a fight and then they

(11:27):
become best of friends. Or junior high school or elementary school,
those always seem to be the best relationships. You got
to be scrappy, get the fight out, have you a
few little go rounds, and then it always seems to
just well, time has proven that I'm still here. So
there's nothing that Steven and Steve and I went down

(11:48):
in dirty times. That one time I was down the
cape seam of you were a little girl, like you
a little girl, and it was like I want my windows.
You empty that truck out. But and I remember that
like it was yesterday, and that's a lot of that's
decades ago. But yeah, when you go back to Pella, now,
who do you have to tell he how to tell

(12:09):
you what happened with him? And I Brad, I sure,
Now who do you go back? You answered to Dave,
until David, this woman's crazy. This girl's crazy.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
At that time, I'm not sure it was ninety or
ninety one. I think time it was. Yeah, it was
right out of the banking crash. And I remember the details.
You were over on Washington Street, up in the of
the old garage there where the car dealership was. You
were running that program, and I mean, I remember everything
about the dynamic of that first deal, sitting up in

(12:38):
that little office above the office above in the top floor,
and sitting there with Joe sitting on the desk kind
of looking down at me, and me sitting across from
you at the desk, and I just remember the entire dynamic.
And it was really quick to easily understand that you know,
you were in charge, and that was easy for me

(12:59):
to adapt, to understand and be respectful of. But it
was still also a unique dynamic. And clearly you.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
So did you think, because Joe was sitting in that meeting,
that he's the one that owns the team, he owned
the dealership. Is he the one that owns the building company.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Not No, it didn't feel that way at all, because
it was clearly I mean, I guess you know, No,
you knew that you were running the program there, so
I felt like, you know, he may have some involvement
on some level, but it was clearly I understood very
quickly that this this was your show to run, and
that was easy for me to like theain. I felt

(13:36):
like it was comfortable to adapt to. But then it
was questioned, I think, as I said, I think you
were still in the learning curve of the construction business. Yes,
and I was still relatively early in my business as
well and very much learning the construction businesses at the
same time as a supplier. So it was important for
me to understand that. And you were just one more
builder developer in a sense for me to come to

(13:57):
understand the terms. But that was, like I said, you
or someone who clearly knew what you wanted and understand
was starting to understand that. But was, as Brad described,
just kind of asking pointed questions and you know, and
being who you are at the time. It's really funny,
as you know, after thirty seven years, you're still you
and you were that you were that back then, Yes,

(14:18):
just with a great deal more knowledge today correct as
we have too. But but you were who you were
back then and that was recognizable. So it was easy
whatever that was three or four or five years later
for me to transition the account to Brad when my
role changed, and for Brad to kind of understand what
we're dealing with, and for me to help kind of
guide that and give them a little bit more understanding

(14:39):
of what and who you were at the time. And David,
as I said that experience with the delivery and so forth,
was house number three or four or something on Dudley Road.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
And that I think that was Hollywood Drive, guys.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
The first one was Hollywood Drive.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
You on Hollywood Drive. Then I came right out of
the listen that first house was seven thousand square feet
that I built, and the second one was ten. Yeah,
and I'm in my early twenties, and everybody's going, does
this goo crazy? That's that coming out of the coming
out of the box building those I didn't start with
twenty five hundred square for track homes. Here. I went
out on the big boys, and my father's going, hey,
do you read the newspaper, like there's a recession out here.

(15:15):
Think about it, right, I'm like, yeah, no problem, Newton
adjusted by five percent. We're going to be good. I'm
gonna be good. Don't wry about dad, and yeah, cocky right, yeah,
well there's no question. But it was a cocky'st. But
I remember saying to you one time, Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve,
and you're like, what's it. I'm like, you got to
teach me. You got to teach me the difference of
the line of the windows. You're telling me we got

(15:35):
designal line, architecture series line. So I would come off,
but I had to learn what's the difference between the
pro line, what's the difference between this line that line?
Why am I paying more for this? What explained to me?
And then you would then I'd understand, okay, we have
a price difference. Because so when I didn't understand something,
I would always be the first to say, I don't understand. Explain.

(15:58):
Now let me wrap my arms on. Do I need, Steve?
Do I need the architectural series line on this? Do
I need the designer? And you'd say, okay, Sydney, Yes,
there were some places you need the designer because they're
custom and bump up bar the architecture I can't remember anymore,
and then yes, you can fill in with pro line here.
So that's when I realized, Okay, they're not shoving the

(16:19):
most expensive windows down my throat. They're mixed matching where
I can save and where I have to step up,
and I'll never forget. I said, why are these windows
so much money? They were curved transoms and you said
they are transom windows. I go, well, what does that mean?
What does that mean? Right? What do you mean? Like
he said, it's a curve transom windows, so it's going

(16:41):
to be built in whatever, the architectural design whatever. And
I'm like, well, maybe we should square those off. And
you said to me, the plans say they round, Well
we're going to change those. And you said, well, maybe
you might want to talk to your architect and make
sure that you want them square it off. And I'm like, well,
give me the price difference between the square transom in
the round. So even back then, I would look at

(17:04):
the difference of money, not the transom. So if I
really want the round transom, what was the difference between
the square transom and the round If we're talking one
hundred dollars more window, then I said, oh no, I
want the round and the whole way. I'd always say
to Brad, how much is it this to this? And
what people don't ever do is they don't look at
the difference. Do you really want to say that two

(17:27):
hundred dollars a window when you it's not worth it
to me. That's why I always need to see what's
the difference, Brad. I always say to you, what's the
difference between this window and this window? Then I'll make
a decision if I should step it up. But sometimes
when you look at the difference, see some people just go, oh, okay,
that windows one thousand and fifty nine. Okay, but the

(17:48):
other window's nine to twenty. So we just step up
the extra money to have the thousand and fifty nine window.
You know, I'm just using an example, right, get it
and anybody that the half of brain would, even if you're
on a budget, because it's worth it, right, because you
might want your mullion is a certain way you might
There's so many different things, so I'm I'm inquisitive, but
I still play the same games with Brad all these

(18:11):
years later. Sit down with me, explain let's do this.
Oh now he asked me. Now he says, I have
your quote? Can we sit down? Yeah, he did that
the other day. Because no, he always did that. No,
because he knows you're going to go through the whole
thing with him. So never once does Brad not say
I have your quote? Can we sit down? Send me

(18:32):
the quote and then we'll sit down. That's how it's
always been. Send me the quote and we'll sit down,
and we go through window by window by window. Hold
that thought. I'm sitdy stumping and listen at Toughest Nails on WBZ.
Will be right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails
on WBZ. And I'm Cindy and I'm here with Sammy. Sammy. Sorry,
go ahead, Brad Kramer and Steve and David Hadley. David,

(18:55):
So you're the CEO of Pella of what New England?

Speaker 3 (18:58):
Over there, I'm the CEEO and owner of Powella, New England.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
Now we can hear you. Okay, now we can hear you.
That's good, Okay, all right, So we just left off.
I was saying that the way Brad and I do business, right, Brad,
Look if Brad retired tomorrow would I be lost, No,
because I would say to David and Steve, get me
a guy out here, and he better be just like
Steve right, which sometimes hard to do. But I have

(19:25):
faith that you guys would step in and do what
we need to do. But David, I have a question
for you, as long as all of you, how many people,
how many developers or builders would sell you guys out
to save a thousand or two thousand or three thousand
dollars on a bid? Honestly?

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Too many?

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Too many? So there's the difference, right, You got, Cindy,
that was in your face little you know I'm not.
I'm definitely rough around the edges, no one can you know.
It's where I was raised and that's who I am,
and Steve said it, but I'm loyal. And if every
client stayed loyal and wasn't looking for always just the
bottom line number and doesn't realize how important services it's said,

(20:14):
it's sad everybody that walks and says, well, you know
what I'm going to go with this? You might want
to call Cindy Stump. You'll explain why. Right. So there's
the problem not at the narration coming out our industry
are they loyal or they're not loyal either. In your opinion,
I think more people.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
It depends on what they're looking for, and it depends
on what they value. A partner who is going to
have their back and be in the foxhole with them
thick and thin. Then then you know, loyalty and trust
is a huge issue and something that's not to be
taken lightly. But if they don't have the wisdom to

(20:55):
value loyalty and trust, then they're going to make some
mistakes along the way.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
You know. The crazy part is we all know, especially
in the Newton on the south side, Brad, you noticed
to be fit. To be honest, you've picked up a
lot of builders from my name thousand percent. Pella has
picked up a lot of builders in my area from
my name. Okay, Now, whether you got them as clients
or somebody else got them as clients. But those builders

(21:25):
that came in the last ten, twelve years or fifteen,
they came in copying Cindy Stumpo's look. So the copy
Sydney Stumpos look. You had to go with her windows too, right,
So Pella, when I drive by all those houses, those
guys used to come by my job sites, before we
had Instagram and Facebook and social media and literally take

(21:45):
pictures of everything, right, and I have to throw them
out of my houses. Whip falls out of their hands. Yeah,
it's crazy. Get out of my house. You got noise
to be here. But I know from other builders that
they went with you guys because if Cindy Stumpos do
in it, We're going to use them, right. So a
lot of these guys have built their careers off my

(22:06):
back of my hard work getting my connections made. And
a lot of my subs would say, look at Cydy
without you, we went to made it out here. We
use your name wherever we go. And you know, framers
down to framers whatever. They say it all the time
when a builder goes, who do you work for? Give
me some names I work for. The first name is

(22:26):
Sydney Stemple. If you can work for her, then you
can there. I'll hire you because she's tough, right. I'm
not tough. I just want a good job. I want
to deliver the best of the best, and that's why
I'm with Pella. It's very simple. I don't push products.
I can sit here on my radio show and have

(22:47):
a million commercials. I will not allow it on my show.
I only want and will only push on my social media.
I can't stop by heart media. They want to push
some metapause, go push you on somebody else's show, because
for those while say well, I'm having a metopause moment.
And then all of a sudden we had cases of
this stuff from CBS and Walgreens. I'm like, yep, I'm
not pushing that, and they're like, but Cindy, Nope, doesn't work.

(23:09):
I'm not Nope, it doesn't work. I don't push stuff
I don't work. That doesn't work. Nobody can deny our relationship.
Nobody out there. Everybody knows that. And even some of
the old guys from Marvin that start to retire and
now they'll call me. They're all on my social media
and they'll say, Cindy, if I only had that loyalty
that you gave Pella with my guys throughout the years,

(23:32):
you know, and a lot of times they'd say, you know,
they'd push hard, and I'd say, God, what are you
not listening to? I'm not gonna waste your time. Have
you been a job that you're never going to get?
Why do you want to bid something that I'm never
going to give you ever. And they'd be like, just
give us a shot. No, I'm not gonna even look

(23:52):
at it. So Julie one time, let you know, the
guy was on Julia and Julia and then Rob, you know,
at National he said, let me, you know, bit out
the pillar. Okay, you're not going to get it. He said,
just give me one. I said, you can have the
client that we're doing a renovation up the street. I'll
never forget the Sammi. They delivered Pella windows that didn't open.

(24:16):
Rad do you remember that on Countryside Road? Not one
window open. I go, well, good move. There was people
gonna have windows that don't open. Not one Haskell's house, Sammika,
not one window open, right, And I said, Rob, you
see why don't use you? Now take all these windows back, Brad,
get your ass up to Countryside Road and get me

(24:39):
my windows as fast as you can. Right.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (24:41):
But I let him fall in his face. But he
was my lumber salesman, right. And again, I've been with
them for as long as I've been with you. But
it was I knew he would fall, and that was
a job. I could allow it. And then say, okay,
now you see why I'm with Pella. Now do you
see why you can't haul the windows out and you
couldn't even get them correct that they don't open. Who's

(25:04):
going to live in a house no windows that open?
You can't make this up? Right? So I didn't know
that story. Oh yeah, oh you remember that story, don't you?
Because you had the two houses on Countryside, and the
Haskells had the third, and we were renovating and helping
them out. She was your friend. That's why I stepped in,
because you were going to high school and we were
on that street. So I said, okay, you know what
they're paying directly, will give it to Rob.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Right.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
It's like it was ten windows they needed, but the
ten windows didn't open, not one, Okay, And that's a
good reason. But I think as all those guys have
now retired out, you know now they're riding their boats
and their fishing, and they literally always send me you know,
they watched my stories and they'll send me messages, Cindy.

(25:47):
If we just like I said, if we just had
that same type of loyalty from all the guys, it
would have been great. It would have been great. So
I believe in loyalty. I believe in Pella, and I've
never had a situation, David. I've never had a problem,
you know, Yeah, of course, you know the delivery guys
pull up. Okay, that's not a problem. I don't know, Like,

(26:11):
I can't. There's nothing I can say, David. Was there
one point that you had walked onto Pella and then
came back or you've been there?

Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, I sold a portion of the business for a
bit and uh, but it didn't work out and now
I'm back for good. So you're stuck with me.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
That's not a bad person to be stuck with because
I can go bang my hand on your on your
desk and say I want what I want right, Like,
I'm not really that bad of a pro.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
Actually, well, you know, Cindy, owner to owner, it is.
It is a really unique, uh dynamic that you and
I know each other well and that we've done business
for so long. First of all, it's unique to have
a business be in business and owned by the same
person and managed by the same person for over three decades.

(27:01):
That's unique to have two people who are doing business together,
who are walking that path parallel for that length of
time and still and then have the trust and the
loyalty between the two of us that we have built
over over three decades. That's a really unique story. And
you know you and I my first interaction with you

(27:25):
directly was scary. I don't know if you remember this,
but ahead, well, no, So when I first became aware
of you as a person and as a C STUMPO development,
you were a unique set of extremes. You were very young,

(27:49):
you were very talented, you were very aggressive, you were
very female, and you were very attractive, and you were
very tough than you were very smart and street savvy,
and the industry had not seen anything quite like you.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
El well, that thought hold, that thought was going to break.
Eme Sanney Stumpy listened to Toughest Nails on WBZ. We'd
be right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails. I'm Cindy,
and we're here with Sammy, We're here with Brad, we
here with Steve, and go ahead, David.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
And so you were a very disruptive force in a
what is traditionally a male dominated industry. And my first
direct encounter with you was well over thirty years ago.
We had a disconnect on a delivery and our truck
did not make the delivery. It started its way home,

(28:38):
and I was in a two hour, not to be
disrupted interrupted meeting with Pella Corporation executives on the phone,
and my seventy five year old little receptionist kept sliding
these notes in front of me. The first one said,
Cindy Stumple really wants to speak to you, and I

(28:58):
shook my head no. And then five minutes later, ten
minutes later, Cindy Stumpo says it's urgent. I said no,
And then five minutes ten minutes later, Cindy Stumpo is
scaring me. And then the last one was the most
experience that Cindy Stumpo is sending two men to our

(29:19):
warehouse to put you on the phone, and.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Me, yep.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
In the meantime, you had instructed your project manager to
go jump in his truck and force our delivery crouc
off the road so that he could hand his cell
phone to my driver. And you were on the other
end of that phone call, and that was not a
pleasant phone call. And all this happened while I was

(29:49):
in this meeting, so I was kind of fat, dumb,
and happy, didn't know what was going on exactly, and
by the time I got off that call, it was
it was all over. It was the end of the day.
And you and I spoke, I think first thing the
next morning, and you were extremely pleasant, extremely professional, and
we worked it out. And so it was then that

(30:12):
I realized that we were dealing with a very different
cat in the marketplace, and this was going to be
a really fun, different kind of ride with a what
has turned out to be one of our very most
valuable long term customer partners. And as loyal as you
are to us, we are to you. And I want

(30:34):
you to know that. And our relationship is between our businesses,
but it's also between you and I personally, and you
do have a direct line to me twenty four to seven.
You could call me anytime, night or day, and I
will pick up the phone.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
And I know that, and I know that, and I
never bought you know, I bother the brand. And then
everyone swell.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
And you're waiting for you to call. You'd never called,
I know, because.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
You know what where I go wrong. I'll tell you why.
Because your front end boys take care of everything right,
so they don't have to bother you. But oh my god,
I must I remember, I want him on the phone now,
and the pool woman kept going, I'm trying, Cindy, I'm trying.

Speaker 3 (31:12):
You scared her. She was scared for me.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Seemy. I literally was sending to you guys. I'm like,
if you believe, I'll put the phone. Welcome to nineteen
crazy days, right, but I want I want that truck
turned around and we caught up to the truck and
I'm like, you stop that truck right now. You get
your boss on the phone. No, I I gotta deal
with dispatch. I don't care who you gonna deal with, right,
I'm like, get that person on the phone, Simmy with

(31:37):
Chase the Pellow truck up the street, like your mom
was still google crazy back then. But you guys, you
have to these are like you have legendary stories, all
of you guys. I don't know if they can be
as legendary with any other one of your guide builders,
but this one is probably when you guys have parties
and things, these stories must come up somewhere along the line.

Speaker 3 (31:58):
It's it's that's particular event is iconic in our company's history,
and it also speaks to why you are considered tough
as nails.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
I mean, let's go to my headstone, you know there, Right, David,
I think it's gonna go.

Speaker 3 (32:13):
I hope, So, I hope. So, I mean, listen what
you've accomplished. And you know, you're a developer, you're a builder,
you're an influencer, you're a syndicated podcaster, you're you know,
a bonafide reality TV star. I mean, and and we're
still going strong. And it's three decades later. That is

(32:37):
so unique in any industry. So whatever you're doing, it's
worked very very well for you.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
So, David, when do we sit back and enjoy our lives?
Because I don't see that anytime in my near future,
do you.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
We're not built that way.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
We're not built that.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
We're not built that way. You know, it's not how
we're wired.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
I mean, I mean, we have waiting for approvals for
seventy townhouses that hopefully, by the summertime will be out
of special permit and approved. Right And I don't care
what economy we're rolling into, those are getting built. Those
are getting built.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
Right.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
Look, We've think about how many ups and downs we've
been through. Right, I started in the worst market that
eighty seven Black Monday and built up, learned to live
through that recession. Then we had a hiccup in ninety nine,
and then we had another one to No. Eight, and
we're all still standing here together. We're all still standing together,
so we must all be doing something right. The point is, well,

(33:37):
one thing we share good.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
One thing we share is we both attack a down market. Yes,
and I see that in you clearly, And it's something
I've always believed in because when everybody else is on
their heels, that's the best.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
Time to charge forward. And you saw what I did
in those bad years. Ten eleven slowed out. We were
building a street on Heat Street at the time, and
I kept moving and going. Yeah, product was taken longer
to sell, but our product was selling and nothing was
gonna start me like what people do. And I will

(34:12):
say this all the time. As long as you don't
get over leveraged and underfunded, okay, you will keep yourself
in the game. When you stop robbing Peter to pay
Paul to carry these houses, then you're gonna get yourself.
You're gonna gem yourself up. Right. So I figured away
and the greatest thing that I learned in my twenties,

(34:34):
and maybe I just have this natural ability to live
vicariously through other people. As I watch those other builders
go down in ninety ninety one ninety two, I try
to figure out, as a young girl, what did they
do wrong? So I don't do that. And I remember
I drove around and said, okay, and my dad said, Cindy,
what's bringing them to their knees? As interest? Interest will

(34:56):
kill you. It'll eat you up and spit you out.
You build what you can afford to build you. You
build what you can afford that won't change your lifestyle
if you're holding onto products. So I never want to
be the biggest guy in the room. I want to
be the most consistent guy in the room. And that's
what I set out to do and that's what I've done.

(35:17):
So I wasn't living through the EKG five years like
I always say to Samantha, Okay, we'll be living last
for five years, and then three years later we're bankrupt,
and then five years you know, goes by again and
you're you're up and down. Like I don't want. I
can't meet personally live that way. So I don't mind
being the turtle. The turtle has showed that longevity can

(35:38):
survive what's the sense when you're worth twenty million today
and then you're worth negative and you owe and you're
out of the game. Right, It doesn't work right. So
that's what I took from the older guys. That was
their mistake. And then they come back, you know, back
out of a into a good economy again after they

(36:00):
credit cleaned up, and back and doing the same thing
over and over again, expecting a different result. And Sammy,
you see the same guys out there still doing the
same thing. It's like they never learned from their past mistakes.
I only have to make one mistake one time, and
I'll make thirty more, but there'll be thirty different other mistakes.
They won't be the same mistake over and over again.
So look, we have a long way to go still.

(36:23):
We got a lot of projects coming up out of ground.
I'm sitting here waiting for Brad to bid. I don't
know how many you bidding right now. Did you get
you got Lineman's plans?

Speaker 3 (36:32):
I did.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
Did you get Cabins plans yet? No? No, So you
got to get those. You got the other one that
I sent you? And then what's that? And then the
crazy part here, David is what's holding us up is
the citas and towns are just ridiculous. They've got our hands.

(36:53):
We have nine build outs that we should be working
on right now, right at this moment, and we're sitting
waiting for special permits. We're waiting for building permits, but
we're not getting building permits for thirty sixty days. Right,
these could be I'm sorry, sixty ninety days. It used
to be thirty days in and out.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
Why are they okake us so long?

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Welcome to Massachusetts. Now it's a new you know it's
a new I don't know since COVID. It's just the
way it is. But see the problem is we have
to follow codes, we have to do everything. But then
they don't have to follow codes, right, so it's just
a short of help. Who knows. You know, We've got
so much stuff coming at us here. No more fossil fuel, right,

(37:36):
so that's going to put a heart on me. No
more gas in where I build a Newton Brookline. If
you go to Revere Chelsea, you can have gas. You
come to Newton brook Line you can't have gas. Right,
And now they change the tree ordans in both they
changed the grade average. You can't change the grades. So
some of these deals that we want to buy, we
can't even buy because they don't make sense to buy.

(37:56):
They're just making it very tough on developers. But we
need houses. But we're gonna put your hands behind you're back.
It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. So you have
to have money to carry the cost of this stuff
all that time. I'm Sinny Stumpy listening to Toughest Nails
on WBZ News Radio ten third and welcome back to
Cindey Stumbo Toughest Nails on WBZ. David take us out, Buddy.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
So the reason thoughhy I coll In New England and
see Stumbled Development are such great long term partners because
we share the same core values. We are world class products,
world class service, world class people, all at a competitive price,
and at the end of the day, creating very satisfied
customers is our number one priority.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
That's the best you got, I got one better. You
guys are phenomenal. You're fantastic. There for your clients. That's
what makes you different, that's what stands up you apart
when you add there for your clients. You guys have
never not been there for me or any of my
end users I appreciate. I love PELL, the Windows. Everybody
have a great safe wee get. This is Cindy Stumble.
We'll see you next weekend.