July 12, 2023 • 20 mins
Building a foundation for an industry with many players takes commitment, integrity and relentlessness–just three of many qualities that have enabled Brian Hess to build a 8-Figure company and forge enduring relationships with clients that are in the rankings to span decade(s).
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
And welcome in. This is theCEO's Ushould Know Podcast. I'm your host,
Johnny hart Well. Let's say helloto Brian Hassle the Pavement Group.
Good morning, thank you for joiningme. Thanks for having me, Johnny.
All right, so tell me everythingwe need to know about the Pavement
Group and or Brian hass Well,first and foremost husband, father of four
going on five, coming in Decemberhere of this year. And yeah,
(00:26):
founder and CEO of the Pavement Group, also founder of Top Contractor School.
So at the Payment Group, it'san interesting story. You know, we
started as a national company. Westarted here in Pittsburgh, but now we're
coming back to our roots and startingto really grow roots here in Pittsburgh and
do a lot more business here inPittsburgh and gain a lot more exposure in
Pittsburgh. But we service the largestbrands in the country. So if you
(00:48):
shop there, pump your gas there, do your banking there, by your
groceries there, get your packages fromthere. We probably do business with them
and we handle their asphalt and concrete. So they're parting commercial then not so
much residential, all commercial commercial.And what about the school. So Top
Contractor School was away for us togive back to the contractors that help us
(01:11):
across the country complete the projects.That's how it started, was the idea
of me taking the sales, marketing, leadership, etc. That I experienced
over my lifetime, all the knowledgethat I gained and being able to give
it back to the local business ownersthat service our clients across the country for
us. All Right, the knowledgethat you've gained. How did you start
in this business? Yeah? So, back in two ten I relocated from
(01:33):
Pittsburgh down to South Florida with acorporate company. So, and when I
moved down there, my very firstclient was a construction company, an asphalt
paving company in Miami. And theowner of that business was from Pittsburgh.
And by the end of our business, by the end of our business meeting,
he said, young man, youshould quit your job and come work
for me. You know, atthat time, I was thirty years old,
(01:55):
had a great corporate job. Youknow what most people would views as
the dream job, you know,going to every sporting event, going to
all the fancy things that people loveto do in the in the corporate settings.
And so I thought, man,this guy is crazy, right,
I'm not not going to leave thisgreat job and go work for a paving
company that was in one of theworst neighborhoods in all of Miami. Right,
And after a year of getting toknow this guy, I figured out
(02:17):
that, you know, construction wasreally where my roots were from. You
know, my dad's a steel worker, and so blue collar was in my
blood. And so I took thejump from corporate America into private business and
started working for a construction company.What did he see in you? So,
I think, you know, what'smissing in the in the construction industry
is really technology a lot. We'revery heavy in technology at the Pavement Group,
(02:40):
and so that was my background.I solved technology problems for construction companies
for many years in Corporate America,and so between that and the sales and
marketing background that I had, thatthat was what was missing in his company,
and some leadership as well. Andso you know, going into that
business, I always ok, Isaid, I couldn't have told you the
difference between asphalt and concrete back intwenty eleven. I knew there was a
(03:04):
difference the way it looked, right, one was black, one was gray,
But I couldn't have told you thetechnical difference. But that really didn't
matter. It was about taking careof people, just like any business right
and so, you know, askingthe right questions, discovering what people's real
problems are, Like, what problemwere we actually trying to solve that makes
their life better? Is really whatbusiness is all about. And so I
(03:25):
was able to do that pretty quicklyentering the construction industry, and it's still
our business model to this day.Well, you made it sound like it
was intuitive that you know, peopleunderstand that, but they when you talk
about technology and in construction, itdoesn't seem intuitive. So what kind of
technology do you use to make adifference to your customers? Yeah, So
(03:50):
one of the challenges that anybody thatowns a portfolio of properties would have,
even if it was just here inthe city of Pittsburgh, if you've got,
you know, properties in Monroeville andCranberry and Beaver and all over the
place, it's really difficult for thoseproperty or facility managers to be able to
know what issues exist, what triphazards exist on their parking lots. And
so we develop technology that first andforemost collects the data. So we take
(04:13):
photos and videos of all the issuesand all the existing conditions on those parking
lots, compile that so they cansee it in a cloud based system,
and then we've over years, we'vedeveloped predictive pricing that allows us to price
those things for them. So it'sessentially like shopping online for asphalt and concrete
solutions. Now, this is somethingI'm totally unfamiliar with and not prepared to
(04:34):
ask. But because I know nothingabout that, I'm like you, I
barely know the difference between concrete andasphalt. So when it comes to your
business, where are you in thepantheon of people in your business in the
greater Pittsburgh area, Let's start herefirst, meaning where do we? Yeah?
(04:55):
What makes you different than other maybeother paving companies? Yeah, I
think I think the probably the biggestdraw to the payment group is that when
people experience the payment group, theyexperience something different that they're not used to
receiving and construction, meaning the actualcustomer experience. So the experience that they
have signing a contract, from thetime that they call our office to the
(05:16):
time that they sign a contract tothe way that the project is completed.
There's a level of experience to that, meaning it's friendly, it's proactive,
it's communicative, it's all the thingsthat contractors are typically known for missing.
We've invested all of our money anddeveloped every technology solution that we have into
(05:38):
solving the typical issues that contractors areknown for, right so communication, not
doing what they say they're going todo, not following up the customer,
not knowing exactly what they're getting,or verifying that they're getting what they're supposed
to be getting. We've solved allof those problems with technology, and most
importantly, we make sure that there'sa personal connection. You know, one
(05:59):
of the things that I say allthe time as we use technology at every
twist and turn that we can toreduce costs, increase efficiency, but we
always and forever will continue doing businessthe old fashioned way by looking people in
the eye and shaking their hand.And you started here in Pittsburgh, yes,
sir, and now you've branched nationally. So we always we were always
a national company. So last yearwe did business in forty four states,
(06:21):
but we started here in Pittsburgh,so headquarters was always here in Pittsburgh.
We started nationally because that's where ourcustomer base. You know, the people
that I was always doing business withWe're from and we started in twenty eighteen.
They were all across the country,but as we started to grow,
we were like, man, I'mgetting on all these airplanes and flying all
over the country to do business whenthere's a ton of opportunity right here in
(06:44):
Pittsburgh. And so over the lastthree years, I would say we've really
put a heavy focus on being herein Pittsburgh, doing a lot of business
in Pittsburgh, still continuing to serviceour clients, of course across the country,
because every customer we have has propertiesin forty four to fifty state.
Well Technology Solutions is a hallmark ofPittsburghers. I mean you go back to
George Westinghouse. We've always been andthe cutting edge of customer service because we
(07:10):
think a little bit different. Wealso we're a little bit more approachable and
coming up with solutions. And sothat sounds like you took a Pittsburgh philosophy,
bottled it and made it into yourown kind of philosophy. Am I
wrong? Is that kind of yourThat is that Brian's roots? You're one
(07:32):
hundred percent right, man. Idid a video up on the West End
Overlook years ago, and I talkedabout how much similarity there is of our
our company and the idea of reinventingan industry, right and really innovating an
industry. And it's much like therebirth of Pittsburgh, right, It's it's
rebirth itself so many times, andall the way back to the beginning right
(07:53):
to Carnegie, and you know allof the famous Pittsburgh folks, they've all
had that same mentality of really innovationand you know, doing things that are
different and challenging the status quo andalways doing that with relationship first, right,
having those old fashion shake your hand, look people in the eye relationships.
And that's really anybody that does businesswith the Payment Group and experiences who
(08:18):
we are is going to feel thatright that that experience I believe represents our
company, but more importantly represents Pittsburghand who we are. Does your entrepreneurial
spirit go beyond the payment Group?Absolutely? Yeah, I see opportunities all
the time. On the top contractorsside of things. We do several events
(08:41):
per year. So we were justin Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan with a
group of contractors. We have threeday long retreats twice a year that we
go all over the country and youknow, coach and train those folks and
have events to help level up theirbusinesses. Within Top Contractors School, we
have a media arm that produces videocontent, podcasts, all kinds of different
(09:03):
things to help them market their businessesbetter and make them more well known in
their own markets. So yeah,everything, man, when you're an entrepreneur
at heart, seeing the opportunities versusthan opportunities is probably the most challenging thing
as an entrepreneur, rights knowing whatto say no to because everything as an
entrepreneur looks like an opportunity sometimes andyou've got to be able to filter that
(09:26):
out. You seem like a veryexcitable boy, absolutely always have been.
What gets you up, what getsyou motivated people, man, make it
a difference, you know, beingable to impact those people. You know,
for the first thirty eight years ofmy life, I was you know,
quote unquote an employee, and youknow, everywhere that I worked,
(09:48):
I enjoyed all the experiences that Ihad, and as an employee, but
you know, over those years ofme working for other people, I always
felt like there was something missing,and so my passion was being able to
create that for other people, youknow, and be able to create a
place where they could build the familylife, build the success, build the
income. Anything that they wanted todo was to be able to create a
(10:09):
company that enabled them to do thatgave them the ability to to burn their
own path if you will, Right, are you a creative person? Yeah?
Yeah, I never I never thoughtof myself as that. It was
many years. You know, Iwas always a sales guy, so to
say, right, you know,my career was mostly in sales and sales
leadership, and I never realized untilI really got into small business and then
(10:35):
out on my own, I neverrealized that I was deep rooted a marketer,
right, And to be a marketer, you have to be a creative
You are an artist, you know. I always say business is my art.
You know, we hit We havean artist on our staff, and
he always says, like, man, you know, I can't relate to
what you do. And I alwayssay the same thing about him. You
know, you give me a paintbrushand I'm useless. But in the world
(10:56):
a business, I can paint abeautiful picture, you know. And so
when it comes to people and processesand the way that that all works together
and building relationships, I can see, you know, how relationships and how
people can be you know, howwe could be mutually beneficial to each other.
Right, And that is one ofthe most important things to me is
(11:16):
being able to impact people. Andeverywhere that you go, right and every
hand that you shake is a newopportunity for a relationship and a friendship,
and a business opportunity and a betterlife. Where you want to take this
creativity, this entrepreneurial creativity, wheredo you ultimately want to go? Man?
You know, I want to takethe Payment group to levels that no
(11:37):
company in our industry has ever beento. And through doing that, I
really believe that we will make Pittsburgha staple of you know, a destination
where people end up coming for eventsand just to see what it is that
we're doing, because you know,we're being innovative in an industry that needs
it so desperately, and so thatallows us to gain a lot of it
(12:00):
tension, and through that, Ijust want to be able to positively impact
people's lives. You know, theconstruction industry is full of family businesses,
and those family businesses many times arestarted from those blue collar guys that are
working with their hands that don't likewhat they're doing, and so they end
up starting businesses, and what they'remissing are the business strategies, the simple
(12:24):
processes, the things. You know, they do the work really well,
and they're missing that whole other piece. And I believe through working with the
Pavement Group, they can not onlybe able to complete the work of the
largest brands in the country, butlearn the skills and the missing information that
allows What is that missing information thatpeople overlook that you think that because you
know, obviously you figured it outfor this particular part of construction, But
(12:48):
I'm sure that there's other facets ofconstruction that could probably learn from your expertise.
Yeah. I think many times it'syou know, it's leadership. You
know, the way that leadership isevolving in this day and age. You
know, it's very different to leadpeople today than it was ten years ago.
I think sales and marketing is somethingthat not every construction company has experienced
(13:11):
doing right. The guys in thefield don't typically aren't the salespeople right,
and so they don't understand how togenerate sales or how to generate attention.
I think systems and processes are achallenge for construction companies because most of them
start on a low budget, justlike we did, and they don't have
the money to invest, and theyneed to understand the technology tools that are
available for free or next to freethat they can invest too that allows their
(13:35):
business to grow exponentially. What aresome of those tools that you say are
free or next to free that youthink is making a difference in your life
and your business. Yeah, westarted so the technology that I described to
you, You know that GPS coordinatesphotos and videos and allows us to analyze
large portfolios of properties. That startedout uploading pictures from our iPhones to Google
(13:58):
Maps and being able to plot them. It's a free service. Our work
order system that we currently use wasdesigned from a Google Sheet spreadsheet that was
just a live spreadsheet that all ofour people across the country could you view
live and see all the updates nomatter who was doing it, whether our
team in Florida or North Carolina orWisconsin was updating something they could see at
(14:20):
all. And so I think alot of that is just contractors not being
familiar with what tools are available tothem, and that's part of what we
do with the Payment Group and TopContractor school is really pulled back the curtain
of how can you grow your business? Because a more successful business anywhere in
the country that we do business with, a more successful contractor, there is
a more successful team member for thepayment group. You're a marketer, a
(14:45):
creative marketer. How are you marketingthis particular philosophy and how have you seen
success in getting people to understand whatyou're trying to sell? Yeah? Absolutely,
so. Social media is our biggestpoint of distribution, always has been,
you know, Instagram, Facebook,LinkedIn Twitter, now threads just came
(15:07):
out. YouTube. All of thoseplatforms are our friends, right and those
are those are all free for acontractor to go and you know, sign
up for and start to share theirstory. All of us carry around a
video camera today in our pockets,and so you know, we utilize those
tools from day one. You know, when we started the business, I
just had a hunch that social mediawas going to be a massive driver,
(15:30):
and you know, five years agoit was far less than it is today.
And so we invested into you know, producing videos, into doing the
training necessary to be able to learnhow to do that stuff. So that
is one point of distribution. Obviously, having a website that welcomes people and
it explains to them what you do. And then we have a podcast through
the Pavement group called Talking Lots,and so a couple of guys on the
(15:54):
team run that podcast and have alot of guests on there that are industry
influencer or other business influences that wouldbe interesting conversations. And so all of
those social media podcasts platforms really helpus be able to not just reach people,
but be able to tell our storyand allow people to get to know
(16:14):
us on a personal level. Right, And we all say people do business
with those that they know, likeand trust, and any platform that we
can access that we can get contentout to that allows people to get to
know us as individuals is a successfulone for us. Who couldn't love a
Pittsburgher? I agree, man,I agree? Are you a Pittsburgh or
at heart? One hundred percent tothe core? Man? Anybody that knows
(16:36):
me will tell you, you know, I love this city. It's been
home for me. It's it's beenyou know, even even the five years
that I spent in Florida, Man, I mostly hung out with Pittsburgh people
down there, because you know,I can relate to them. You know,
and you know, the Midwesterners area lot alike. You know,
(16:56):
there's a lot of similarities when youget outside of Pittsburgh. You know,
even those people up in Boston whowe you know in the sports world,
we don't get along with so well. But you start to realize that that
that northeast Midwest section of America hasa lot of the same values and principles
and blue collar, hard working nature. But yeah, Pittsburgh's home, man.
I love it here. I lovethe city, I love the people,
(17:18):
I love the energy about it,and it will always be home to
me. Well, Pittsburghers, takecare of Pittsburghers. How do you How
do you or your company give backto the community. Yes, so we
committed about a year and a halfago, we committed to giving ten percent
of our net profits back to thecommunity every single year, and so we
do that through a variety of nonprofits. So we had an art event at
(17:41):
STAGEAE where we supported Steel City Impact. I'm on the board of Steel City
Impact. So that's a great organism, which is that it supports Stow Rocks
High School. So we do alot with the youth there at stow Rocks
High School, trying to give backto a community that desperately needs it.
And so, you know, wetake those kids on trips, we have
an after school program, We doall kinds of stuff there, and we
(18:03):
really you know, I'm leaving thisinterview and going to the best of the
Batch. So we donated some pickleballequipment to be able to have those kids
to be able to play pickleball downthere. So Christian Kot's from the Steelers
and Charlie Batch are having the kidsdown there playing some pickleball. And so
me and a couple of guys fromthe team are going down there to meet
the kids and hopefully play some pickleballwith them. Who's this Charlie Batch character,
(18:26):
right, Yeah, he's a legendhere in Pittsburgh. Is a guy
that's touched so many people. Right, He's a great guy, and he's
a really good dude. He reallyis. So all right, we only
have about a minute left. Whatis the one thing you want people to
know about either Brian Hess or yourcompany? You know, I think that
(18:47):
it's important for people to know thatyou can do anything with your life that
you want to. You know,there was a point in my life when
I was thirty eight years old andI was making the decision to start a
business or not. And you know, I had a lot of doubts,
right, those doubts that everybody tellsyou, you know, be careful,
play it safe. And you know, for me, I think the most
(19:07):
important message that I could give anybodyas now multiple eight figure CEO of a
business that didn't exist five years ago, is that you can do anything you
want with your life. And youknow, don't let anybody tell you that
your dreams aren't possible, because ifyou put in enough work, you do
the work every single day. Youhave priorities, and you take the actions
that line up with those priorities,you can create anything that you want and
(19:30):
that success will create massive success forlots of other people. Well. As
a father of four going on five, you have a lot of work to
do, ay Man, looking forwardto doing the work. All right.
So if somebody wants information on yourproducts, what's the website? It's just
the Pavement Group dot com. ThePavement Group dot com. Brian Hess of
(19:52):
the Pavement Group and a CEO youShould Know, Brian, Thank you so
much, Thank you, Johnny.This has been the CEO you Should Know
podcast showcasing businesses that are driving ourregional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's commitment to
the communities we serve. I'm JohnnyHartwell, thank you so much for listening.
And welcome in. This is theCEO's Ushould Know Podcast. I'm your host,
Johnny hart Well. Let's say helloto Brian Hassle the Pavement Group.
Good morning, thank you for joiningme. Thanks for having me, Johnny.
All right, so tell me everythingwe need to know about the Pavement
Group and or Brian hass Well,first and foremost husband, father of four
going on five, coming in Decemberhere of this year. And yeah,
(00:26):
founder and CEO of the Pavement Group, also founder of Top Contractor School.
So at the Payment Group, it'san interesting story. You know, we
started as a national company. Westarted here in Pittsburgh, but now we're
coming back to our roots and startingto really grow roots here in Pittsburgh and
do a lot more business here inPittsburgh and gain a lot more exposure in
Pittsburgh. But we service the largestbrands in the country. So if you
(00:48):
shop there, pump your gas there, do your banking there, by your
groceries there, get your packages fromthere. We probably do business with them
and we handle their asphalt and concrete. So they're parting commercial then not so
much residential, all commercial commercial.And what about the school. So Top
Contractor School was away for us togive back to the contractors that help us
(01:11):
across the country complete the projects.That's how it started, was the idea
of me taking the sales, marketing, leadership, etc. That I experienced
over my lifetime, all the knowledgethat I gained and being able to give
it back to the local business ownersthat service our clients across the country for
us. All Right, the knowledgethat you've gained. How did you start
in this business? Yeah? So, back in two ten I relocated from
(01:33):
Pittsburgh down to South Florida with acorporate company. So, and when I
moved down there, my very firstclient was a construction company, an asphalt
paving company in Miami. And theowner of that business was from Pittsburgh.
And by the end of our business, by the end of our business meeting,
he said, young man, youshould quit your job and come work
for me. You know, atthat time, I was thirty years old,
(01:55):
had a great corporate job. Youknow what most people would views as
the dream job, you know,going to every sporting event, going to
all the fancy things that people loveto do in the in the corporate settings.
And so I thought, man,this guy is crazy, right,
I'm not not going to leave thisgreat job and go work for a paving
company that was in one of theworst neighborhoods in all of Miami. Right,
And after a year of getting toknow this guy, I figured out
(02:17):
that, you know, construction wasreally where my roots were from. You
know, my dad's a steel worker, and so blue collar was in my
blood. And so I took thejump from corporate America into private business and
started working for a construction company.What did he see in you? So,
I think, you know, what'smissing in the in the construction industry
is really technology a lot. We'revery heavy in technology at the Pavement Group,
(02:40):
and so that was my background.I solved technology problems for construction companies
for many years in Corporate America,and so between that and the sales and
marketing background that I had, thatthat was what was missing in his company,
and some leadership as well. Andso you know, going into that
business, I always ok, Isaid, I couldn't have told you the
difference between asphalt and concrete back intwenty eleven. I knew there was a
(03:04):
difference the way it looked, right, one was black, one was gray,
But I couldn't have told you thetechnical difference. But that really didn't
matter. It was about taking careof people, just like any business right
and so, you know, askingthe right questions, discovering what people's real
problems are, Like, what problemwere we actually trying to solve that makes
their life better? Is really whatbusiness is all about. And so I
(03:25):
was able to do that pretty quicklyentering the construction industry, and it's still
our business model to this day.Well, you made it sound like it
was intuitive that you know, peopleunderstand that, but they when you talk
about technology and in construction, itdoesn't seem intuitive. So what kind of
technology do you use to make adifference to your customers? Yeah, So
(03:50):
one of the challenges that anybody thatowns a portfolio of properties would have,
even if it was just here inthe city of Pittsburgh, if you've got,
you know, properties in Monroeville andCranberry and Beaver and all over the
place, it's really difficult for thoseproperty or facility managers to be able to
know what issues exist, what triphazards exist on their parking lots. And
so we develop technology that first andforemost collects the data. So we take
(04:13):
photos and videos of all the issuesand all the existing conditions on those parking
lots, compile that so they cansee it in a cloud based system,
and then we've over years, we'vedeveloped predictive pricing that allows us to price
those things for them. So it'sessentially like shopping online for asphalt and concrete
solutions. Now, this is somethingI'm totally unfamiliar with and not prepared to
(04:34):
ask. But because I know nothingabout that, I'm like you, I
barely know the difference between concrete andasphalt. So when it comes to your
business, where are you in thepantheon of people in your business in the
greater Pittsburgh area, Let's start herefirst, meaning where do we? Yeah?
(04:55):
What makes you different than other maybeother paving companies? Yeah, I
think I think the probably the biggestdraw to the payment group is that when
people experience the payment group, theyexperience something different that they're not used to
receiving and construction, meaning the actualcustomer experience. So the experience that they
have signing a contract, from thetime that they call our office to the
(05:16):
time that they sign a contract tothe way that the project is completed.
There's a level of experience to that, meaning it's friendly, it's proactive,
it's communicative, it's all the thingsthat contractors are typically known for missing.
We've invested all of our money anddeveloped every technology solution that we have into
(05:38):
solving the typical issues that contractors areknown for, right so communication, not
doing what they say they're going todo, not following up the customer,
not knowing exactly what they're getting,or verifying that they're getting what they're supposed
to be getting. We've solved allof those problems with technology, and most
importantly, we make sure that there'sa personal connection. You know, one
(05:59):
of the things that I say allthe time as we use technology at every
twist and turn that we can toreduce costs, increase efficiency, but we
always and forever will continue doing businessthe old fashioned way by looking people in
the eye and shaking their hand.And you started here in Pittsburgh, yes,
sir, and now you've branched nationally. So we always we were always
a national company. So last yearwe did business in forty four states,
(06:21):
but we started here in Pittsburgh,so headquarters was always here in Pittsburgh.
We started nationally because that's where ourcustomer base. You know, the people
that I was always doing business withWe're from and we started in twenty eighteen.
They were all across the country,but as we started to grow,
we were like, man, I'mgetting on all these airplanes and flying all
over the country to do business whenthere's a ton of opportunity right here in
(06:44):
Pittsburgh. And so over the lastthree years, I would say we've really
put a heavy focus on being herein Pittsburgh, doing a lot of business
in Pittsburgh, still continuing to serviceour clients, of course across the country,
because every customer we have has propertiesin forty four to fifty state.
Well Technology Solutions is a hallmark ofPittsburghers. I mean you go back to
George Westinghouse. We've always been andthe cutting edge of customer service because we
(07:10):
think a little bit different. Wealso we're a little bit more approachable and
coming up with solutions. And sothat sounds like you took a Pittsburgh philosophy,
bottled it and made it into yourown kind of philosophy. Am I
wrong? Is that kind of yourThat is that Brian's roots? You're one
(07:32):
hundred percent right, man. Idid a video up on the West End
Overlook years ago, and I talkedabout how much similarity there is of our
our company and the idea of reinventingan industry, right and really innovating an
industry. And it's much like therebirth of Pittsburgh, right, It's it's
rebirth itself so many times, andall the way back to the beginning right
(07:53):
to Carnegie, and you know allof the famous Pittsburgh folks, they've all
had that same mentality of really innovationand you know, doing things that are
different and challenging the status quo andalways doing that with relationship first, right,
having those old fashion shake your hand, look people in the eye relationships.
And that's really anybody that does businesswith the Payment Group and experiences who
(08:18):
we are is going to feel thatright that that experience I believe represents our
company, but more importantly represents Pittsburghand who we are. Does your entrepreneurial
spirit go beyond the payment Group?Absolutely? Yeah, I see opportunities all
the time. On the top contractorsside of things. We do several events
(08:41):
per year. So we were justin Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan with a
group of contractors. We have threeday long retreats twice a year that we
go all over the country and youknow, coach and train those folks and
have events to help level up theirbusinesses. Within Top Contractors School, we
have a media arm that produces videocontent, podcasts, all kinds of different
(09:03):
things to help them market their businessesbetter and make them more well known in
their own markets. So yeah,everything, man, when you're an entrepreneur
at heart, seeing the opportunities versusthan opportunities is probably the most challenging thing
as an entrepreneur, rights knowing whatto say no to because everything as an
entrepreneur looks like an opportunity sometimes andyou've got to be able to filter that
(09:26):
out. You seem like a veryexcitable boy, absolutely always have been.
What gets you up, what getsyou motivated people, man, make it
a difference, you know, beingable to impact those people. You know,
for the first thirty eight years ofmy life, I was you know,
quote unquote an employee, and youknow, everywhere that I worked,
(09:48):
I enjoyed all the experiences that Ihad, and as an employee, but
you know, over those years ofme working for other people, I always
felt like there was something missing,and so my passion was being able to
create that for other people, youknow, and be able to create a
place where they could build the familylife, build the success, build the
income. Anything that they wanted todo was to be able to create a
(10:09):
company that enabled them to do thatgave them the ability to to burn their
own path if you will, Right, are you a creative person? Yeah?
Yeah, I never I never thoughtof myself as that. It was
many years. You know, Iwas always a sales guy, so to
say, right, you know,my career was mostly in sales and sales
leadership, and I never realized untilI really got into small business and then
(10:35):
out on my own, I neverrealized that I was deep rooted a marketer,
right, And to be a marketer, you have to be a creative
You are an artist, you know. I always say business is my art.
You know, we hit We havean artist on our staff, and
he always says, like, man, you know, I can't relate to
what you do. And I alwayssay the same thing about him. You
know, you give me a paintbrushand I'm useless. But in the world
(10:56):
a business, I can paint abeautiful picture, you know. And so
when it comes to people and processesand the way that that all works together
and building relationships, I can see, you know, how relationships and how
people can be you know, howwe could be mutually beneficial to each other.
Right, And that is one ofthe most important things to me is
(11:16):
being able to impact people. Andeverywhere that you go, right and every
hand that you shake is a newopportunity for a relationship and a friendship,
and a business opportunity and a betterlife. Where you want to take this
creativity, this entrepreneurial creativity, wheredo you ultimately want to go? Man?
You know, I want to takethe Payment group to levels that no
(11:37):
company in our industry has ever beento. And through doing that, I
really believe that we will make Pittsburgha staple of you know, a destination
where people end up coming for eventsand just to see what it is that
we're doing, because you know,we're being innovative in an industry that needs
it so desperately, and so thatallows us to gain a lot of it
(12:00):
tension, and through that, Ijust want to be able to positively impact
people's lives. You know, theconstruction industry is full of family businesses,
and those family businesses many times arestarted from those blue collar guys that are
working with their hands that don't likewhat they're doing, and so they end
up starting businesses, and what they'remissing are the business strategies, the simple
(12:24):
processes, the things. You know, they do the work really well,
and they're missing that whole other piece. And I believe through working with the
Pavement Group, they can not onlybe able to complete the work of the
largest brands in the country, butlearn the skills and the missing information that
allows What is that missing information thatpeople overlook that you think that because you
know, obviously you figured it outfor this particular part of construction, But
(12:48):
I'm sure that there's other facets ofconstruction that could probably learn from your expertise.
Yeah. I think many times it'syou know, it's leadership. You
know, the way that leadership isevolving in this day and age. You
know, it's very different to leadpeople today than it was ten years ago.
I think sales and marketing is somethingthat not every construction company has experienced
(13:11):
doing right. The guys in thefield don't typically aren't the salespeople right,
and so they don't understand how togenerate sales or how to generate attention.
I think systems and processes are achallenge for construction companies because most of them
start on a low budget, justlike we did, and they don't have
the money to invest, and theyneed to understand the technology tools that are
available for free or next to freethat they can invest too that allows their
(13:35):
business to grow exponentially. What aresome of those tools that you say are
free or next to free that youthink is making a difference in your life
and your business. Yeah, westarted so the technology that I described to
you, You know that GPS coordinatesphotos and videos and allows us to analyze
large portfolios of properties. That startedout uploading pictures from our iPhones to Google
(13:58):
Maps and being able to plot them. It's a free service. Our work
order system that we currently use wasdesigned from a Google Sheet spreadsheet that was
just a live spreadsheet that all ofour people across the country could you view
live and see all the updates nomatter who was doing it, whether our
team in Florida or North Carolina orWisconsin was updating something they could see at
(14:20):
all. And so I think alot of that is just contractors not being
familiar with what tools are available tothem, and that's part of what we
do with the Payment Group and TopContractor school is really pulled back the curtain
of how can you grow your business? Because a more successful business anywhere in
the country that we do business with, a more successful contractor, there is
a more successful team member for thepayment group. You're a marketer, a
(14:45):
creative marketer. How are you marketingthis particular philosophy and how have you seen
success in getting people to understand whatyou're trying to sell? Yeah? Absolutely,
so. Social media is our biggestpoint of distribution, always has been,
you know, Instagram, Facebook,LinkedIn Twitter, now threads just came
(15:07):
out. YouTube. All of thoseplatforms are our friends, right and those
are those are all free for acontractor to go and you know, sign
up for and start to share theirstory. All of us carry around a
video camera today in our pockets,and so you know, we utilize those
tools from day one. You know, when we started the business, I
just had a hunch that social mediawas going to be a massive driver,
(15:30):
and you know, five years agoit was far less than it is today.
And so we invested into you know, producing videos, into doing the
training necessary to be able to learnhow to do that stuff. So that
is one point of distribution. Obviously, having a website that welcomes people and
it explains to them what you do. And then we have a podcast through
the Pavement group called Talking Lots,and so a couple of guys on the
(15:54):
team run that podcast and have alot of guests on there that are industry
influencer or other business influences that wouldbe interesting conversations. And so all of
those social media podcasts platforms really helpus be able to not just reach people,
but be able to tell our storyand allow people to get to know
(16:14):
us on a personal level. Right, And we all say people do business
with those that they know, likeand trust, and any platform that we
can access that we can get contentout to that allows people to get to
know us as individuals is a successfulone for us. Who couldn't love a
Pittsburgher? I agree, man,I agree? Are you a Pittsburgh or
at heart? One hundred percent tothe core? Man? Anybody that knows
(16:36):
me will tell you, you know, I love this city. It's been
home for me. It's it's beenyou know, even even the five years
that I spent in Florida, Man, I mostly hung out with Pittsburgh people
down there, because you know,I can relate to them. You know,
and you know, the Midwesterners area lot alike. You know,
(16:56):
there's a lot of similarities when youget outside of Pittsburgh. You know,
even those people up in Boston whowe you know in the sports world,
we don't get along with so well. But you start to realize that that
that northeast Midwest section of America hasa lot of the same values and principles
and blue collar, hard working nature. But yeah, Pittsburgh's home, man.
I love it here. I lovethe city, I love the people,
(17:18):
I love the energy about it,and it will always be home to
me. Well, Pittsburghers, takecare of Pittsburghers. How do you How
do you or your company give backto the community. Yes, so we
committed about a year and a halfago, we committed to giving ten percent
of our net profits back to thecommunity every single year, and so we
do that through a variety of nonprofits. So we had an art event at
(17:41):
STAGEAE where we supported Steel City Impact. I'm on the board of Steel City
Impact. So that's a great organism, which is that it supports Stow Rocks
High School. So we do alot with the youth there at stow Rocks
High School, trying to give backto a community that desperately needs it.
And so, you know, wetake those kids on trips, we have
an after school program, We doall kinds of stuff there, and we
(18:03):
really you know, I'm leaving thisinterview and going to the best of the
Batch. So we donated some pickleballequipment to be able to have those kids
to be able to play pickleball downthere. So Christian Kot's from the Steelers
and Charlie Batch are having the kidsdown there playing some pickleball. And so
me and a couple of guys fromthe team are going down there to meet
the kids and hopefully play some pickleballwith them. Who's this Charlie Batch character,
(18:26):
right, Yeah, he's a legendhere in Pittsburgh. Is a guy
that's touched so many people. Right, He's a great guy, and he's
a really good dude. He reallyis. So all right, we only
have about a minute left. Whatis the one thing you want people to
know about either Brian Hess or yourcompany? You know, I think that
(18:47):
it's important for people to know thatyou can do anything with your life that
you want to. You know,there was a point in my life when
I was thirty eight years old andI was making the decision to start a
business or not. And you know, I had a lot of doubts,
right, those doubts that everybody tellsyou, you know, be careful,
play it safe. And you know, for me, I think the most
(19:07):
important message that I could give anybodyas now multiple eight figure CEO of a
business that didn't exist five years ago, is that you can do anything you
want with your life. And youknow, don't let anybody tell you that
your dreams aren't possible, because ifyou put in enough work, you do
the work every single day. Youhave priorities, and you take the actions
that line up with those priorities,you can create anything that you want and
(19:30):
that success will create massive success forlots of other people. Well. As
a father of four going on five, you have a lot of work to
do, ay Man, looking forwardto doing the work. All right.
So if somebody wants information on yourproducts, what's the website? It's just
the Pavement Group dot com. ThePavement Group dot com. Brian Hess of
(19:52):
the Pavement Group and a CEO youShould Know, Brian, Thank you so
much, Thank you, Johnny.This has been the CEO you Should Know
podcast showcasing businesses that are driving ourregional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's commitment to
the communities we serve. I'm JohnnyHartwell, thank you so much for listening.
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