October 25, 2025 • 27 mins
A housing crash. A hard pivot. And a promise to be the crew your friends actually recommend. Laura Engstrom, president of Alternate Design Plumbing, joins us to share how a service-first mindset turned a new construction slowdown into a thriving residential brand built on trust, quality, and community referrals.
We dig into the early lessons that shaped her leadership—cleaning homes, property management, and restaurant work—and why relief is the real product in home services. Laura walks us through the 2008 decision to exit new construction rather than slash prices, and how a relentless focus on integrity, communication, and doing it right the first time created staying power across economic cycles. We talk frankly about DIY pitfalls, unlicensed handymen, and the operational discipline required to protect customers and your name.
Hiring gets real here too. Laura shares the simple signal she trusts most—initiative—plus her two-step interview process, why the team must approve, and how the 90-day probation turns promises into proof. We also explore the digital front door for home services and how partnering with Peakzi to build FAQs and helpful blogs is boosting visibility for AI-driven search and customer queries.
If you lead a home service business or care about building a resilient, referral-worthy operation, you’ll hear practical takeaways on culture, standards, and reputation that travel beyond plumbing. Stick around to the end for how to connect with Alternate Design Plumbing, tour their working showroom, and keep your own brand visible and credible in a changing market.
Peakzi Podcast: Home Services Success Stories - If this conversation helped you, follow the show, leave a quick review, and share it with a fellow owner who needs a boost today.
Peakzi Podcast: Home Services Success Stories
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories
podcast, powered by Peaksy, thenumber one AI platform for
growing your home servicesbusiness.
And on the show today, we haveLaura Engstrom, who is the
president at Alternate DesignPlumbing.
Laura, welcome to the show.
How are you?
Good, Julian.
How are you doing?
(00:20):
Doing really great.
It's great to have you on.
SPEAKER_01 (00:22):
Good, thanks.
And it's Monday.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
Here we are.
It is Monday, and we'rerecording, and I appreciate you
carving out some time.
I know scheduling is always themost difficult part.
So uh so Laura, take a minutejust to introduce yourself to
our audience, if you would.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
As Julian noted, I'm Laura Engstrom with Alternate
Design Plumbing.
We are a residential plumbingcontractor.
Our tagline is we're the goodguys your friends told you
about.
And that has been such a lead-into build rapport in the
community with our fellowbusiness owners who then
(00:58):
comfortably refer us becausethey know we are the good guys.
And so once we get into theresidential homes, we meet the
homeowners.
They usually fall in love withmy technicians and we uh we're
in good.
So what we've done and how we'vebuilt it with the also with the
input from certain paths hasbeen very, very successful.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
Oh, we're definitely excited to dig in more about the
business and why you have becomea success.
And that's the whole purpose ofthe show is to share the secrets
of success for uh our our futureguests.
So, but just a bit about you,Laura.
It's interesting about yourbackground because you've
always, for the most part, beenself-employed most of your adult
life.
You've worked in propertymanagement, different service
roles.
So, what drew you toentrepreneurship?
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
I think I was always a little bit of a rebel.
Um, I've been a hard worker andI always, whatever jobs I had, I
was always appreciated by mybosses.
And I liked the freedom ofinterestingly, my home services
history started with cleaninghouses, and there's tremendous
(02:07):
freedom in having that as yoursource of income.
You have some people who youbecome very, very intimately
familiar with and who you builda tremendous amount of trust
with, and you realize that what,in the eyes of many, would be
mean menial labor is genuinely alifesaver for many a man and
(02:32):
woman out there who is trying toeke their way through everything
that pulls at them during theday, but they can come home and
their house is clean.
I always like the expression, Ithink it was Zig Ziggler that
would always say, you know, it'salways nice to hear the vacuum
cleaner running, especially whensomeone else is running it.
So there's so there's sometruth, and no matter what your
(02:56):
service is that you bring tosomeone, it's a service that
they need.
Otherwise, there'd be no reasonfor you to start a business.
So I started out in cleaninghouses, so I understood that
providing a service is somethingthat goes all the way to the
heart of another human beingbecause you take something off
of their plate that brings themrelief, but they also know it's
(03:18):
being done well, being doneright, and they take comfort in
that, and they take comfort inhaving a clean home.
So that was many moons ago, andso I had done that for quite
some time, and then I ended upworking at a property management
company at an apartment complex,and that again, uh, doing
(03:39):
background checks on people,trying to find those suitable
apartment for them and theirfamily and their needs.
Then I also worked at arestaurant as a waitress uh in
the evenings and on the weekendswhile I was doing the property
management.
So there again, it was serviceindustry where I understood how
important it was to bring asmile to people's faces.
(04:02):
And when you when you can dothat through their belly, then
you always know you're gonna besuccessful.
So yeah, by by saying landing inthe plumbing industry as a as a
service industry, everythingjust kind of kept bleeding
toward me having what it takesto understand what people are
(04:24):
looking for and what makes themhappy and what they're willing
to spend their money on.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
I think there's a lot of very interesting insights
there.
So it first sounds like you weredrawn to entrepreneurship
because you've always been kindof a rebel, an independent
person.
And you you said the wordfreedom a few times at least,
right?
And then because of that, youproperty management, it sounded
like food service, a bunch ofdifferent things, but you gained
a very uh a keen insight intothe benefit of the service of
(04:53):
others, and you've always beentaught in a very where the
rubber meets the road, speakingto the customer, understanding
what truly motivates them.
Um and that's that's really,really cool.
So, so how did you ultimatelydecide on plumbing?
What was the genesis storythere?
A relationship.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
I ended up in a relationship with David, and he
had he had started thisbusiness, and um at the time I
was working, so I wasn't reallyactive, proactively involved in
the day-to-day of running thecompany, but over time I got
(05:32):
involved in helping around theproperty here at the at the
where we run the business outof.
(06:04):
And work in the office becausethe gal that David had had in
here with him for many years wasretiring.
So we hired this young girl, andshe was uh I fired her.
About three and a half, fourmonths into it, I fired her, and
I ended up coming into theoffice.
(06:25):
I had to get trained onQuickBooks, I had to figure out
what, when, and where.
And so that's how I ended up inthe office working with David.
So not only was it our dreamoffsite to see this be
successful, but then I became acrucial part of the team in the
(06:47):
day-to-day trenches to make sureit was successful and it was run
well and with efficiency andintegrity and all those details
that have to be monitored andaddressed were all handled to
assist David largely.
SPEAKER_00 (07:04):
So you came in to primarily assist him, but you
are now, of course, thepresident of the company, right?
Did you see yourself becomingthe president?
What did it just happenorganically or what happened?
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
No, no.
Um it was just an evolution.
Um, David's gone through manydifferent phases of the company.
We got out of new constructionin 2008.
The interesting part abouthiring that girl in 2006 and her
(07:35):
being an epic fail uh andbringing me into the office was
good in that 2006 was when theboom or the crash, the housing
crash started to manifest itselfbehind the scenes.
Uh, we started feeling thesqueeze from the builders.
They all wanted us to sharpenour pencils, and there was we
(07:58):
were not ones to concede, youknow, we brought a lot of
quality to the jobs, they didn'thave to babysit us, and we were
arguably not willing to lowerour pricing.
Um, so it got to the point wherethe builders started shopping
and they started findingplumbers who would do the work
cheaper than us.
And then there was anotherbuilder that was into us for
(08:20):
some significant amount ofmoney.
And so we ended up in 2006.
We fired one builder and we hadanother builder let us go.
And by 2008, that was when wefound certain path, and we
completely shut down newconstruction in our business,
(08:44):
and we overnight basicallyswitched from new construction
to residential service.
And that was that was what haskept us going through
everything, through all thechanges in the economy, through
all the changes in our personallives.
(09:10):
There's been nothing easy aboutany of this.
You can imagine.
Anybody that starts anybody thatstarts a business understands
what's that what that's like.
And that's essentially what wedid is we restarted the
business, but we completelychanged what we were doing in
the business as far as the typeof service that we were doing.
(09:32):
Am I answering your question,Julian?
SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
You are your and it sounds like there was a
definitely a significant shift.
And I think as most of ourlisteners are other business
owners, they can certainlyempathize with the constant
change and the adversity and allthat.
But you have been servicingCentral Florida for 30 years,
you're certainly a leader in thespace, despite all the
adversity, despite all thechanges.
What do you think has been thesecret to your longevity and
(09:55):
growth?
SPEAKER_01 (09:57):
Quality and genuine concern.
Um as my historical background,not only in work, but just in
how I was raised, I was I wasalways genuinely interested in
other people and to bring aservice to them that I knew they
(10:21):
needed, whether they knew it ornot.
Um being connected to peoplemakes you realize that your
quality, your integrity, allthose things that people are
looking for is valued.
And so we've focused on that.
We've done people right, we'vedone our employees right, we
(10:42):
take good care of all that wehave as far as our vehicles, our
employees, our equipment, ourhomeowners, our property,
ourselves.
So that way when we go out andwe want to take care of others,
they see that we come from aplace where that's what we do.
(11:03):
So I've never betrayed that partof who I am.
And I've always focused on whatwould I want done for me.
Isn't that how we do it?
The golden rule do unto othersas you would have done unto you.
And that's easy to go by.
That's an easy way to live.
(11:24):
There's no trying to rememberwhat you said or you know,
making up for failures becauseyou just don't.
You go and you do it, you do itright the first time.
You take good care of people,and there's always a reward in
that.
And the reward has been thatit's kept us going through the
ups and downs in the economy,it's kept us going.
(11:47):
And some years are better thanothers, but that's business.
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
I think what you said was absolutely beautiful.
What I heard was number one,quality.
And number two, you're bringingsort of who authentically you
are to the business.
And that is you are a lover ofpeople, you have a deep
background in serving people andunderstanding the importance of
doing that and not just yourcustomers, but your employees,
and that trickles down andcreates a culture of excellence.
(12:12):
So I think all that makes a lotof sense.
Um, you also did mention, youknow, there are some some
challenges within the industry,and you face pressures like DIY
culture, unlicensed handyman,workforce cultures, uh what
workforce challenges.
So um, which of these has beenthe toughest?
And how are you continuing toinnovate and improve?
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
Which of these is the toughest?
All of them, all of them, and aswe go forward, um all of them
are evolving and changing, andand sometimes you feel like all
you do is climb the wall.
You know, the do-it-yourselfers.
(12:55):
I I totally respect and admirewhen people are inclined,
whether it be mechanically orwhatever, if they if they can
figure something out good forthem.
It's when they start going andtrying to help their neighbors
and their mom and everybody elsethat they start to compromise
(13:15):
other people in other homes.
And that's what's scary.
The handyman, good grief, anyone of you that's on the next
door app can see every daysomebody's looking for lawn
maintenance, an electrician, aroofer, a plumber, you name it,
they're looking.
(13:37):
And they're and they have thatmentality that if they go onto
an app like that, they'relooking for references because
people don't run into each otherdowntown anymore and talk to
their neighbors about who do youuse for this or that.
They're looking for the comfortof getting someone that's a
referral to them in a sense, sothat they feel like they're
(13:58):
getting led in the rightdirection because they don't
know and they know they don'tknow.
But when you look on those nextdoor apps and wherever else you
may go just to kind of followwhat the community's doing, and
you realize how many people outthere are lying and cheating and
thieving and hurting otherpeople.
(14:21):
There's a lot of people outthere that can talk a good talk
and they cannot deliver, and thehomeowner doesn't know until
it's too late.
And the homeowner doesn't knowthey don't know.
And as for the employees, Davidand I were just talking about it
this morning.
I I what do we know?
(14:43):
We know that when you start abusiness, you create jobs, and
then someone else comes in andchooses to fill that job, but
you create that job.
So the employees have a tendencyto forget that we don't need
them, we could just shut down,or we could hire someone else
(15:04):
because we created that job, butwe created that job because we
wanted to give someone else anopportunity, and it that whole
circle of why people build abusiness and especially as we
watch our culture change, and somany of the small moms and pops
are getting bought out by bigcorporates, and people don't
(15:26):
even think about what it takesto run a company or to be
obligated or committed tosomeone.
But we create a job for someone,and when they come in and they
agree to take that job, we asthe co-creator have rules,
boundaries, and limitations thatwe put on that job that we've
(15:49):
created.
And the employees nowadays, andI don't and I'm not just gonna
say it's uh Gen X and Gen Z,it's even millennials very much
so, and even some of our babyboomers.
They they decide that they'regonna come in and tell us how
it's gonna run or what timethey're gonna show up.
(16:11):
And you just scratch your head.
You don't want to fire thembecause they're a good worker
when they're there.
But yet you let one get awaywith it and then they all want
to get away with it, and youhate to let go the guy who wants
(16:32):
to come in an hour away.
We have to have some rules andboundaries because in order to
provide the service that we havethat we provide, when we tell
someone we're gonna be there atnine o'clock in the morning, we
need our tech to show up atseven and get his truck ready
and be there for training andthen get him dispatched to the
job.
And they just have their ownidea of what time to show up.
(16:55):
And it's I don't, I'm sure thatothers are running into it and
it's mind-boggling to me.
So yeah, those are some of thesome of the uphill climb of
running a business.
And I think we're allexperiencing it.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
So, what kind of tip would you give to other home
services business owners interms of a hiring strategy or
hiring tip to make sure thatyou're bringing in the best
people?
SPEAKER_01 (17:17):
Well, thank God for the 90-day probationary period,
right?
Because people can sellthemselves all day long, but
they can't always deliver.
Um, I have I and I and one ofthe other things I've
experienced over the years,Julian, and this is gonna sound
crazy to say, but it seems to betrue over and over.
(17:38):
There are every time I advertisefor plumbers, I get absolute
it's just not good.
It's like the bottom of thebarrel comes shuffling in the
door or calling.
And I always teased, I've teasedfor 20 years of being in the
(17:59):
business.
I've teased that I I let theplumbing god send me in a good
plumber.
And I have had some of the mostamazing people walk in the front
door of my showroom looking fora job, and that alone is what
I'm looking for.
I'm looking for someone withinitiative, someone who's got
enough initiative to get up offof their rear end and go looking
(18:21):
and go walking in, cold callingat a plumbing company to see if
they're looking for help.
And you can be assured thetiming is almost always
beautifully right when we'relooking, someone comes in the
door.
So that very fact that they'vewalked in the door and they have
the initiative to do that, andthey're not just there to
(18:41):
fulfill an obligation that theyhave to keep collecting
unemployment, they're literallylooking to work.
If they come in the door andthere's that to begin with,
that's that's the firstbeautiful thing when you're
looking for help, but there's noguarantees on that.
And then the interview process,I always interview them myself,
(19:04):
and then I make them come in thenext day at start time to
interview with the crew with thetechs, and they have to pass the
muster.
Um, so it's been a it's it'sbeen a it's been an
ever-changing and anotherevolving part of running the
(19:25):
business is trying to figure outwhat our rules and boundaries
are going to be, knowing thatthe next generation of plumbers
walking in the door havedifferent work ethics than David
and myself.
So I don't know if I can givethe best advice for the next
person watching this podcast.
(19:46):
I I'm still figuring it outmyself.
I I just know that I I watch forwhat is heartfelt, them looking
me in the eye, and then how theydeliver once they get here, and
then go from there.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
I appreciate the honesty because you, as you
know, are certainly not the onlyones struggling with finding
great talent.
But what I did hear is that thethe first characteristic trait
is is um is initiative.
Is this person a go-getter,right?
Then not only do you interviewthis person yourself, but you
have them meet with a team tomake sure they're culture fit,
you have multiple differenttakes.
But ultimately, just like youmentioned, hiring is kind of a
(20:26):
gamble sometimes.
You do the best that you can andsee kind of how they turn out.
You mentioned the 90-dayprobation.
There's no there's no resultslike results, right?
So see how they see how theyplay out.
Um, great, great, awesome.
And I think I think that'sactually a pretty pretty decent
takeaway.
So this show was brought to umthis show is brought to us by
(20:47):
Peaksy.
So tell our audience what isPeaksy for those who've never
who who have never heard of itbefore, what is it?
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
They are our step into the world of AI.
As much as I may have myreservations about it, I also
understand that if we don't stayon the cutting edge, we will be
left behind.
And right now, in this day andage, it appears we will be left
behind rapidly.
So we want to be accessible toany clients, and Pixie is
(21:20):
helping us maintain our presenceon the internet in the AI part
of the world.
So they are helping us uh buildour frequently asked questions
so that when people are speakinginto their devices and they're
asking questions that could betriggered uh to resources that
(21:42):
Peaksy has helped help build forus, then we can become a
resource that people are steeredtoward.
Um we're also working on ourblogs that will drop a couple
times a month.
And that again is where AI willpull from, and they seem to know
how AI works and what it'slooking for, and helping us have
(22:07):
the content out there andaccessible so that we will be
part of what people find whenthey're searching.
So I'm excited to have them as aresource, as a part of our team
to make sure that we, as Imentioned, stay on the cutting
edge.
Um, we need to be available topeople, and people are using
(22:28):
their phones for just abouteverything.
I think some of them arereplacing a spouse with their
phone, but you know, we've gotto be there and be available and
be found, findable.
SPEAKER_00 (22:41):
So, what would you say has been the most tangible
benefit of using Peaksy so far?
SPEAKER_01 (22:49):
Um Well, I'm seeing that even Google is noting that
we're getting more visibility,um, which is good.
I think part of what we cleanedup and added into our presence
using Peaksy has um helped us.
We've had a very good presenceonline, especially with Google,
(23:10):
but it looks like it's it's umimproving as well.
Tangible, I'm not sure yet.
Um, we're still fairly new tothe team.
Um, I'm excited and lookingforward to seeing how we can
possibly find a way to eventrack any of what the results
are from what we're putting intothis.
SPEAKER_00 (23:32):
Gotcha.
Okay, so definitely from avisibility standpoint, um, it's
it seems to be generatingresults.
You're also new to it.
So the the benefits are gonnacontinue to unfold.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
So, Laura, help us begin to sortof land the plane here uh for
us.
So, so what are you what do youthink about the future of your
business, the future ofalternate design plumbing?
What are you most excited about?
(23:52):
And what else do you want us toknow about your success story?
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
I think we're gonna be here forever.
I have been uh maybe not me andDavid, um, but I'd like to think
that there's gonna be a nextgeneration that's gonna come in
here and get keep this ballrolling because we have we all
know and we all see that thehome services industries are
(24:18):
needed.
And until they can make robotsthat can figure out plumbing and
crawl under people's houses anddig ditches, I I think we're
safe to we're safe for anothercouple of decades, decades, I'm
hoping.
So my vision is that we cancontinue to be visible in our
communities, that we cancontinue to provide that service
(24:41):
that people are looking for,that they we can provide that
service with the honesty and theintegrity that they need,
because people's wallets arebeing squeezed.
And when they spend the money,they want to be able to spend it
wisely and know that the workgets done right and there's
proper insurance if there's everan issue that we're protected,
(25:03):
the homeowners protected, ourplumbers are protected.
We want everybody to know thatthey're working with a credible
company.
So my vision is that there'sgonna be just a vast array of
people that come on board withour company as a client, and
that our plumbers are gonna staybusy as many days of the week as
(25:24):
they want to work, and we'rejust gonna continue to grow and
grow and grow.
SPEAKER_00 (25:29):
Love that, love that very much.
So, so Laura, tell our ouraudience how do they connect
with you, learn more about thebusiness, connect with you
personally, share all that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:40):
Any of you can go to our website, alternate
designplumbing.com.
We've got a great showroom here.
Uh, it's not a big one, butwe've got a lot of functioning
fixtures, so you can come in andplay with the faucet before you
buy it.
We you can flush the toiletbefore you buy it.
We got just some cool stuff.
Um we've got guys in trucks.
(26:02):
We like to call our warehouse onwheels.
So if you see us on the road,you can always give a call.
Our phone number is386-774-8080.
You can reach me via email atLaura L-A-U-R-A at alternate
designplumbing.com.
We're on uh LinkedIn.
(26:23):
Um, I'm on Twitter, and that'sabout it.
I'm not telling anybody anythingelse.
SPEAKER_00 (26:29):
Well, I think that's plenty of contact information.
And we'll make sure to have allyour contact uh info in the show
notes as well so our listeningaudience can reach out to you.
So, Laura, this has been reallywonderful in a world full of AI
and automation.
It's so cool to see like yourlove for people and humanity
into a business.
And um really appreciate yousharing your story with us
today.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
My pleasure, Julian.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
And everyone else, thank you all for tuning in to
another episode of the HomeServices Success Stories
Podcast.
As always, make sure tosubscribe, comment, and share.
And we'll see you next time onthe next episode of the Home
Services Success Stories Podcastpowered by Pixie.
Welcome to the Home Services Success Stories
podcast, powered by Peaksy, thenumber one AI platform for
growing your home servicesbusiness.
And on the show today, we haveLaura Engstrom, who is the
president at Alternate DesignPlumbing.
Laura, welcome to the show.
How are you?
Good, Julian.
How are you doing?
(00:20):
Doing really great.
It's great to have you on.
SPEAKER_01 (00:22):
Good, thanks.
And it's Monday.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
Here we are.
It is Monday, and we'rerecording, and I appreciate you
carving out some time.
I know scheduling is always themost difficult part.
So uh so Laura, take a minutejust to introduce yourself to
our audience, if you would.
SPEAKER_01 (00:35):
As Julian noted, I'm Laura Engstrom with Alternate
Design Plumbing.
We are a residential plumbingcontractor.
Our tagline is we're the goodguys your friends told you
about.
And that has been such a lead-into build rapport in the
community with our fellowbusiness owners who then
(00:58):
comfortably refer us becausethey know we are the good guys.
And so once we get into theresidential homes, we meet the
homeowners.
They usually fall in love withmy technicians and we uh we're
in good.
So what we've done and how we'vebuilt it with the also with the
input from certain paths hasbeen very, very successful.
SPEAKER_00 (01:20):
Oh, we're definitely excited to dig in more about the
business and why you have becomea success.
And that's the whole purpose ofthe show is to share the secrets
of success for uh our our futureguests.
So, but just a bit about you,Laura.
It's interesting about yourbackground because you've
always, for the most part, beenself-employed most of your adult
life.
You've worked in propertymanagement, different service
roles.
So, what drew you toentrepreneurship?
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
I think I was always a little bit of a rebel.
Um, I've been a hard worker andI always, whatever jobs I had, I
was always appreciated by mybosses.
And I liked the freedom ofinterestingly, my home services
history started with cleaninghouses, and there's tremendous
(02:07):
freedom in having that as yoursource of income.
You have some people who youbecome very, very intimately
familiar with and who you builda tremendous amount of trust
with, and you realize that what,in the eyes of many, would be
mean menial labor is genuinely alifesaver for many a man and
(02:32):
woman out there who is trying toeke their way through everything
that pulls at them during theday, but they can come home and
their house is clean.
I always like the expression, Ithink it was Zig Ziggler that
would always say, you know, it'salways nice to hear the vacuum
cleaner running, especially whensomeone else is running it.
So there's so there's sometruth, and no matter what your
(02:56):
service is that you bring tosomeone, it's a service that
they need.
Otherwise, there'd be no reasonfor you to start a business.
So I started out in cleaninghouses, so I understood that
providing a service is somethingthat goes all the way to the
heart of another human beingbecause you take something off
of their plate that brings themrelief, but they also know it's
(03:18):
being done well, being doneright, and they take comfort in
that, and they take comfort inhaving a clean home.
So that was many moons ago, andso I had done that for quite
some time, and then I ended upworking at a property management
company at an apartment complex,and that again, uh, doing
(03:39):
background checks on people,trying to find those suitable
apartment for them and theirfamily and their needs.
Then I also worked at arestaurant as a waitress uh in
the evenings and on the weekendswhile I was doing the property
management.
So there again, it was serviceindustry where I understood how
important it was to bring asmile to people's faces.
(04:02):
And when you when you can dothat through their belly, then
you always know you're gonna besuccessful.
So yeah, by by saying landing inthe plumbing industry as a as a
service industry, everythingjust kind of kept bleeding
toward me having what it takesto understand what people are
(04:24):
looking for and what makes themhappy and what they're willing
to spend their money on.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
I think there's a lot of very interesting insights
there.
So it first sounds like you weredrawn to entrepreneurship
because you've always been kindof a rebel, an independent
person.
And you you said the wordfreedom a few times at least,
right?
And then because of that, youproperty management, it sounded
like food service, a bunch ofdifferent things, but you gained
a very uh a keen insight intothe benefit of the service of
(04:53):
others, and you've always beentaught in a very where the
rubber meets the road, speakingto the customer, understanding
what truly motivates them.
Um and that's that's really,really cool.
So, so how did you ultimatelydecide on plumbing?
What was the genesis storythere?
A relationship.
SPEAKER_01 (05:11):
I ended up in a relationship with David, and he
had he had started thisbusiness, and um at the time I
was working, so I wasn't reallyactive, proactively involved in
the day-to-day of running thecompany, but over time I got
(05:32):
involved in helping around theproperty here at the at the
where we run the business outof.
(06:04):
And work in the office becausethe gal that David had had in
here with him for many years wasretiring.
So we hired this young girl, andshe was uh I fired her.
About three and a half, fourmonths into it, I fired her, and
I ended up coming into theoffice.
(06:25):
I had to get trained onQuickBooks, I had to figure out
what, when, and where.
And so that's how I ended up inthe office working with David.
So not only was it our dreamoffsite to see this be
successful, but then I became acrucial part of the team in the
(06:47):
day-to-day trenches to make sureit was successful and it was run
well and with efficiency andintegrity and all those details
that have to be monitored andaddressed were all handled to
assist David largely.
SPEAKER_00 (07:04):
So you came in to primarily assist him, but you
are now, of course, thepresident of the company, right?
Did you see yourself becomingthe president?
What did it just happenorganically or what happened?
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
No, no.
Um it was just an evolution.
Um, David's gone through manydifferent phases of the company.
We got out of new constructionin 2008.
The interesting part abouthiring that girl in 2006 and her
(07:35):
being an epic fail uh andbringing me into the office was
good in that 2006 was when theboom or the crash, the housing
crash started to manifest itselfbehind the scenes.
Uh, we started feeling thesqueeze from the builders.
They all wanted us to sharpenour pencils, and there was we
(07:58):
were not ones to concede, youknow, we brought a lot of
quality to the jobs, they didn'thave to babysit us, and we were
arguably not willing to lowerour pricing.
Um, so it got to the point wherethe builders started shopping
and they started findingplumbers who would do the work
cheaper than us.
And then there was anotherbuilder that was into us for
(08:20):
some significant amount ofmoney.
And so we ended up in 2006.
We fired one builder and we hadanother builder let us go.
And by 2008, that was when wefound certain path, and we
completely shut down newconstruction in our business,
(08:44):
and we overnight basicallyswitched from new construction
to residential service.
And that was that was what haskept us going through
everything, through all thechanges in the economy, through
all the changes in our personallives.
(09:10):
There's been nothing easy aboutany of this.
You can imagine.
Anybody that starts anybody thatstarts a business understands
what's that what that's like.
And that's essentially what wedid is we restarted the
business, but we completelychanged what we were doing in
the business as far as the typeof service that we were doing.
(09:32):
Am I answering your question,Julian?
SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
You are your and it sounds like there was a
definitely a significant shift.
And I think as most of ourlisteners are other business
owners, they can certainlyempathize with the constant
change and the adversity and allthat.
But you have been servicingCentral Florida for 30 years,
you're certainly a leader in thespace, despite all the
adversity, despite all thechanges.
What do you think has been thesecret to your longevity and
(09:55):
growth?
SPEAKER_01 (09:57):
Quality and genuine concern.
Um as my historical background,not only in work, but just in
how I was raised, I was I wasalways genuinely interested in
other people and to bring aservice to them that I knew they
(10:21):
needed, whether they knew it ornot.
Um being connected to peoplemakes you realize that your
quality, your integrity, allthose things that people are
looking for is valued.
And so we've focused on that.
We've done people right, we'vedone our employees right, we
(10:42):
take good care of all that wehave as far as our vehicles, our
employees, our equipment, ourhomeowners, our property,
ourselves.
So that way when we go out andwe want to take care of others,
they see that we come from aplace where that's what we do.
(11:03):
So I've never betrayed that partof who I am.
And I've always focused on whatwould I want done for me.
Isn't that how we do it?
The golden rule do unto othersas you would have done unto you.
And that's easy to go by.
That's an easy way to live.
(11:24):
There's no trying to rememberwhat you said or you know,
making up for failures becauseyou just don't.
You go and you do it, you do itright the first time.
You take good care of people,and there's always a reward in
that.
And the reward has been thatit's kept us going through the
ups and downs in the economy,it's kept us going.
(11:47):
And some years are better thanothers, but that's business.
SPEAKER_00 (11:51):
I think what you said was absolutely beautiful.
What I heard was number one,quality.
And number two, you're bringingsort of who authentically you
are to the business.
And that is you are a lover ofpeople, you have a deep
background in serving people andunderstanding the importance of
doing that and not just yourcustomers, but your employees,
and that trickles down andcreates a culture of excellence.
(12:12):
So I think all that makes a lotof sense.
Um, you also did mention, youknow, there are some some
challenges within the industry,and you face pressures like DIY
culture, unlicensed handyman,workforce cultures, uh what
workforce challenges.
So um, which of these has beenthe toughest?
And how are you continuing toinnovate and improve?
SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
Which of these is the toughest?
All of them, all of them, and aswe go forward, um all of them
are evolving and changing, andand sometimes you feel like all
you do is climb the wall.
You know, the do-it-yourselfers.
(12:55):
I I totally respect and admirewhen people are inclined,
whether it be mechanically orwhatever, if they if they can
figure something out good forthem.
It's when they start going andtrying to help their neighbors
and their mom and everybody elsethat they start to compromise
(13:15):
other people in other homes.
And that's what's scary.
The handyman, good grief, anyone of you that's on the next
door app can see every daysomebody's looking for lawn
maintenance, an electrician, aroofer, a plumber, you name it,
they're looking.
(13:37):
And they're and they have thatmentality that if they go onto
an app like that, they'relooking for references because
people don't run into each otherdowntown anymore and talk to
their neighbors about who do youuse for this or that.
They're looking for the comfortof getting someone that's a
referral to them in a sense, sothat they feel like they're
(13:58):
getting led in the rightdirection because they don't
know and they know they don'tknow.
But when you look on those nextdoor apps and wherever else you
may go just to kind of followwhat the community's doing, and
you realize how many people outthere are lying and cheating and
thieving and hurting otherpeople.
(14:21):
There's a lot of people outthere that can talk a good talk
and they cannot deliver, and thehomeowner doesn't know until
it's too late.
And the homeowner doesn't knowthey don't know.
And as for the employees, Davidand I were just talking about it
this morning.
I I what do we know?
(14:43):
We know that when you start abusiness, you create jobs, and
then someone else comes in andchooses to fill that job, but
you create that job.
So the employees have a tendencyto forget that we don't need
them, we could just shut down,or we could hire someone else
(15:04):
because we created that job, butwe created that job because we
wanted to give someone else anopportunity, and it that whole
circle of why people build abusiness and especially as we
watch our culture change, and somany of the small moms and pops
are getting bought out by bigcorporates, and people don't
(15:26):
even think about what it takesto run a company or to be
obligated or committed tosomeone.
But we create a job for someone,and when they come in and they
agree to take that job, we asthe co-creator have rules,
boundaries, and limitations thatwe put on that job that we've
(15:49):
created.
And the employees nowadays, andI don't and I'm not just gonna
say it's uh Gen X and Gen Z,it's even millennials very much
so, and even some of our babyboomers.
They they decide that they'regonna come in and tell us how
it's gonna run or what timethey're gonna show up.
(16:11):
And you just scratch your head.
You don't want to fire thembecause they're a good worker
when they're there.
But yet you let one get awaywith it and then they all want
to get away with it, and youhate to let go the guy who wants
(16:32):
to come in an hour away.
We have to have some rules andboundaries because in order to
provide the service that we havethat we provide, when we tell
someone we're gonna be there atnine o'clock in the morning, we
need our tech to show up atseven and get his truck ready
and be there for training andthen get him dispatched to the
job.
And they just have their ownidea of what time to show up.
(16:55):
And it's I don't, I'm sure thatothers are running into it and
it's mind-boggling to me.
So yeah, those are some of thesome of the uphill climb of
running a business.
And I think we're allexperiencing it.
SPEAKER_00 (17:07):
So, what kind of tip would you give to other home
services business owners interms of a hiring strategy or
hiring tip to make sure thatyou're bringing in the best
people?
SPEAKER_01 (17:17):
Well, thank God for the 90-day probationary period,
right?
Because people can sellthemselves all day long, but
they can't always deliver.
Um, I have I and I and one ofthe other things I've
experienced over the years,Julian, and this is gonna sound
crazy to say, but it seems to betrue over and over.
(17:38):
There are every time I advertisefor plumbers, I get absolute
it's just not good.
It's like the bottom of thebarrel comes shuffling in the
door or calling.
And I always teased, I've teasedfor 20 years of being in the
(17:59):
business.
I've teased that I I let theplumbing god send me in a good
plumber.
And I have had some of the mostamazing people walk in the front
door of my showroom looking fora job, and that alone is what
I'm looking for.
I'm looking for someone withinitiative, someone who's got
enough initiative to get up offof their rear end and go looking
(18:21):
and go walking in, cold callingat a plumbing company to see if
they're looking for help.
And you can be assured thetiming is almost always
beautifully right when we'relooking, someone comes in the
door.
So that very fact that they'vewalked in the door and they have
the initiative to do that, andthey're not just there to
(18:41):
fulfill an obligation that theyhave to keep collecting
unemployment, they're literallylooking to work.
If they come in the door andthere's that to begin with,
that's that's the firstbeautiful thing when you're
looking for help, but there's noguarantees on that.
And then the interview process,I always interview them myself,
(19:04):
and then I make them come in thenext day at start time to
interview with the crew with thetechs, and they have to pass the
muster.
Um, so it's been a it's it'sbeen a it's been an
ever-changing and anotherevolving part of running the
(19:25):
business is trying to figure outwhat our rules and boundaries
are going to be, knowing thatthe next generation of plumbers
walking in the door havedifferent work ethics than David
and myself.
So I don't know if I can givethe best advice for the next
person watching this podcast.
(19:46):
I I'm still figuring it outmyself.
I I just know that I I watch forwhat is heartfelt, them looking
me in the eye, and then how theydeliver once they get here, and
then go from there.
SPEAKER_00 (20:06):
I appreciate the honesty because you, as you
know, are certainly not the onlyones struggling with finding
great talent.
But what I did hear is that thethe first characteristic trait
is is um is initiative.
Is this person a go-getter,right?
Then not only do you interviewthis person yourself, but you
have them meet with a team tomake sure they're culture fit,
you have multiple differenttakes.
But ultimately, just like youmentioned, hiring is kind of a
(20:26):
gamble sometimes.
You do the best that you can andsee kind of how they turn out.
You mentioned the 90-dayprobation.
There's no there's no resultslike results, right?
So see how they see how theyplay out.
Um, great, great, awesome.
And I think I think that'sactually a pretty pretty decent
takeaway.
So this show was brought to umthis show is brought to us by
(20:47):
Peaksy.
So tell our audience what isPeaksy for those who've never
who who have never heard of itbefore, what is it?
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
They are our step into the world of AI.
As much as I may have myreservations about it, I also
understand that if we don't stayon the cutting edge, we will be
left behind.
And right now, in this day andage, it appears we will be left
behind rapidly.
So we want to be accessible toany clients, and Pixie is
(21:20):
helping us maintain our presenceon the internet in the AI part
of the world.
So they are helping us uh buildour frequently asked questions
so that when people are speakinginto their devices and they're
asking questions that could betriggered uh to resources that
(21:42):
Peaksy has helped help build forus, then we can become a
resource that people are steeredtoward.
Um we're also working on ourblogs that will drop a couple
times a month.
And that again is where AI willpull from, and they seem to know
how AI works and what it'slooking for, and helping us have
(22:07):
the content out there andaccessible so that we will be
part of what people find whenthey're searching.
So I'm excited to have them as aresource, as a part of our team
to make sure that we, as Imentioned, stay on the cutting
edge.
Um, we need to be available topeople, and people are using
(22:28):
their phones for just abouteverything.
I think some of them arereplacing a spouse with their
phone, but you know, we've gotto be there and be available and
be found, findable.
SPEAKER_00 (22:41):
So, what would you say has been the most tangible
benefit of using Peaksy so far?
SPEAKER_01 (22:49):
Um Well, I'm seeing that even Google is noting that
we're getting more visibility,um, which is good.
I think part of what we cleanedup and added into our presence
using Peaksy has um helped us.
We've had a very good presenceonline, especially with Google,
(23:10):
but it looks like it's it's umimproving as well.
Tangible, I'm not sure yet.
Um, we're still fairly new tothe team.
Um, I'm excited and lookingforward to seeing how we can
possibly find a way to eventrack any of what the results
are from what we're putting intothis.
SPEAKER_00 (23:32):
Gotcha.
Okay, so definitely from avisibility standpoint, um, it's
it seems to be generatingresults.
You're also new to it.
So the the benefits are gonnacontinue to unfold.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
So, Laura, help us begin to sortof land the plane here uh for
us.
So, so what are you what do youthink about the future of your
business, the future ofalternate design plumbing?
What are you most excited about?
(23:52):
And what else do you want us toknow about your success story?
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
I think we're gonna be here forever.
I have been uh maybe not me andDavid, um, but I'd like to think
that there's gonna be a nextgeneration that's gonna come in
here and get keep this ballrolling because we have we all
know and we all see that thehome services industries are
(24:18):
needed.
And until they can make robotsthat can figure out plumbing and
crawl under people's houses anddig ditches, I I think we're
safe to we're safe for anothercouple of decades, decades, I'm
hoping.
So my vision is that we cancontinue to be visible in our
communities, that we cancontinue to provide that service
(24:41):
that people are looking for,that they we can provide that
service with the honesty and theintegrity that they need,
because people's wallets arebeing squeezed.
And when they spend the money,they want to be able to spend it
wisely and know that the workgets done right and there's
proper insurance if there's everan issue that we're protected,
(25:03):
the homeowners protected, ourplumbers are protected.
We want everybody to know thatthey're working with a credible
company.
So my vision is that there'sgonna be just a vast array of
people that come on board withour company as a client, and
that our plumbers are gonna staybusy as many days of the week as
(25:24):
they want to work, and we'rejust gonna continue to grow and
grow and grow.
SPEAKER_00 (25:29):
Love that, love that very much.
So, so Laura, tell our ouraudience how do they connect
with you, learn more about thebusiness, connect with you
personally, share all that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:40):
Any of you can go to our website, alternate
designplumbing.com.
We've got a great showroom here.
Uh, it's not a big one, butwe've got a lot of functioning
fixtures, so you can come in andplay with the faucet before you
buy it.
We you can flush the toiletbefore you buy it.
We got just some cool stuff.
Um we've got guys in trucks.
(26:02):
We like to call our warehouse onwheels.
So if you see us on the road,you can always give a call.
Our phone number is386-774-8080.
You can reach me via email atLaura L-A-U-R-A at alternate
designplumbing.com.
We're on uh LinkedIn.
(26:23):
Um, I'm on Twitter, and that'sabout it.
I'm not telling anybody anythingelse.
SPEAKER_00 (26:29):
Well, I think that's plenty of contact information.
And we'll make sure to have allyour contact uh info in the show
notes as well so our listeningaudience can reach out to you.
So, Laura, this has been reallywonderful in a world full of AI
and automation.
It's so cool to see like yourlove for people and humanity
into a business.
And um really appreciate yousharing your story with us
today.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
My pleasure, Julian.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (26:50):
And everyone else, thank you all for tuning in to
another episode of the HomeServices Success Stories
Podcast.
As always, make sure tosubscribe, comment, and share.
And we'll see you next time onthe next episode of the Home
Services Success Stories Podcastpowered by Pixie.
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