August 6, 2025 • 57 mins
After earning a degree in architectural engineering, Blair Roedel became a senior estimator for a mechanical engineering firm, and eventually found her way to remodeling. In this episode, she explains how she launched BEC Innovations during the early days of the pandemic and grew it into a values-driven renovation company in the Nashville area. She shares how she defined her company standards from the beginning, built a strong internal culture, and developed a recruiting process to find team members who align with her expectations.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How Roedel uses educational content on her website to drive leads and set expectations
- Roedel’s approach to recruiting and how she finds team members who share her mindset
- How Roedel uses personalized video messages to close more sales
- How creating a pricing guide on the company website has helped set expectations and filter leads
- The tools and communication habits that help her team stay ahead of client concerns.
Learn more about BEC Innovations LLC. here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Eric (00:00):
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Welcome to the podcast where wetake a deep dive into the stories
behind construction business leaders.
(00:41):
We will share how they got started,how they found success, and the
lessons learned along the way.
I'm your host, Eric Fortenberry.
Welcome to Builder Stories.
Welcome back everybody.
Today.
I'm really excited.
I've got Blair Roedel.
She is the owner of BEC Innovations.
(01:01):
They're located in Hendersonville,Tennessee, specializing
in residential remodeling.
So really excited to have you on the show.
Welcome to Builder Stories Blair.
Blair (01:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
Eric (01:12):
Yeah.
So why don't you kick us off withjust a little bit of background.
How did you, how'd youget into construction?
What led you to start your own business?
Blair (01:19):
Um, well, it was somewhat on accident.
Um, I graduated withan engineering degree.
Um, it was a five-year program and afteryear four of this intensive program,
I was like, oh, I don't actuallywanna do design, but I'm in too far.
So I was like, you know,construction would make sense.
And, you know, so yeah, I thought, I waslike, I don't wanna sit behind a desk
(01:42):
all day, which is exactly what I do now.
So, um, it, it's, youknow, it, it's what it is.
So I worked in corporate construction forclose to 10 years, um, for a mechanical,
uh, union shop, uh, in Kansas City,and then transferred down to Tennessee,
took a promotion for the same company.
And, uh, when we moved, wemoved into a very builder grade.
(02:06):
Cookie cutter neighborhoodbecause we needed, you know, we
didn't know anyone other than thepeople that I was working with.
And, um, so it was the closest wayto, for us to meet people was to
help them with their handyman tasks,hanging curtains and stuff like that.
And so that's how we got started.
And then in the height of a globalpandemic, we were like, you know,
maybe we should make this realand get a company and an LLC and
(02:28):
a license and all the things.
And it's been off to the races ever since.
Eric (02:32):
Nice.
So, so what year wasthat when you founded it?
Blair (02:35):
Uh, 2020.
Actually, Monday is ourfive year anniversary.
Eric (02:39):
All right.
Congrats.
Blair (02:41):
Pretty exciting.
Eric (02:42):
Yeah.
No, most, most businessesdon't even make it a year.
So five years is quite the testament
Blair (02:47):
or just a sign of mental illness.
One of the two.
We don't know.
Eric (02:51):
That's, that's right.
You know, most, uh, most, most people, uh,you know, to, to persevere through all the
ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
You, you gotta be aspecial, uh, special person.
Really passionate about whatyou, uh, what what you're doing.
Otherwise, you know, you, you, you'dmost likely quit somewhere along the way.
Blair (03:06):
It's true.
That's true.
Eric (03:08):
So what, what would you say has been like, you know, kind of the one,
you know, the, the, the biggest challengefor you getting this, you know, off the
ground, going out, you know, on your own?
Blair (03:17):
Um, I think the hardest part of scaling and growing the business has
been finding the right people, um, andmaking sure that we are investing in
the right people, in the right spotsand the right jobs and all of that.
And it seems like we've really made huge.
Waves in the last year and getting thatpart right and now all of a sudden it's
(03:38):
feeling like, okay, this is feeling muchbetter than it has, you know, previously.
And, uh, just much morecomfortable, much more.
It's like, this is how thingsare supposed to be working.
So yeah, that's been, and
Eric (03:51):
what's, what's the team look like today?
Blair (03:53):
Um, so we have a full-time project manager, full-time administrator,
and then we have three fieldtechnicians, one of whom is my husband.
So.
Eric (04:02):
Yeah.
So I'm curious what, you know, when,when you first got going, like what,
what was, you know, your typical joblike, what did those first, those first
jobs that, that you got under yourbelt, kinda what did those look like and
how has it sort of adapted over time?
Blair (04:14):
So, our first jobs were just basically handyman style.
Can someone come changeout these pendant fixtures?
Can someone change out this faucetcan come on, uh, hang these curtains.
Stuff like that.
It was very like just punch listy stuff.
And then we had someone, um, sendus a question about some built-ins.
And then, oh, by the way, I've gotthis indent in my, I've got this
(04:37):
alcove in my primary closet, buton the other side is my kitchen.
And I would rather much ratherhave cabinetry in the kitchen.
Can you move this walland extend the cabinetry?
And uh, so all of a suddenit was like, oh, oh, we can.
We can do this, you know, like, and,uh, so then you learn the lessons about,
oh, you gotta like, mess with the floor.
(04:58):
And oh, by the way, thisis glued to the slab.
And oh, by the way, this is, this is,you know, these are lessons, this is
the lead time on these custom cabinets.
This is, and you don't knowthe questions that you have to
ask until you have to ask them.
Eric (05:13):
So, and what, like, kind of when you, when you look at your jobs today,
like what's, what's your ideal job?
You know, maybe averagejob size type of work?
Blair (05:21):
So currently we are leaning very heavily into kitchens
and bathrooms and additions.
So we are, you know,full home renovations.
Like we wanna get into themultiple trade situations.
We want to, you know, reallylean into high design, um,
high-end finishes, selections.
(05:43):
We wanna work with youthrough the whole process.
Um, so that's really what we're focusingon now, which is much different.
Eric (05:51):
Yeah.
So you, so you, you do have, so yougot three people, you know, that
you're, you're, you know, employed,field crew, but I assume then
you're using a bunch of subs forall of the mechanicals that correct?
Blair (06:03):
Yeah.
So most of what our strategy is, isthat we, we focus on the more technical
persnickety scopes of work, and thenwe allow our trade partners to do
more of the labor intensive, uh.
Time consuming things like drywallfinishing and flooring and stuff like
that, that, so that we can use our guysin really high result, um, trades and,
(06:28):
you know, really specialty situations.
Uh, we're a licensed generalcontractor and we're also a licensed
mechanical and plumbing contractor,so that gives us a lot of freedom.
Eric (06:38):
That makes, makes total sense.
Have you found it to be, you know,easier or harder to, you know, to
work with subs and trades, you know,versus kind of having in-house people?
Blair (06:48):
I think there are benefits to both and which is why we've
taken on this hybrid role.
You know, when my phone rings andsomebody says, oh my God, my toilet
just exploded and I don't know what'shappening, you know, it's hard for
me to call a sub and be like, Hey,this is my next door neighbor.
And we need to like this, thisperson really matters to me.
(07:10):
Can you go help them out?
Whereas if, if this is one of my people,um, it's much easier to deploy our own
labor for specific situations like that.
Eric (07:20):
Sure, yeah.
I mean, I, I, I always hear peoplekind of debate, you know, between, you
know, do we, do we get our own people?
Do we, you know, use trade partners?
Like, you know, I, I, I, I think the.
The hybrid model is a, is a reallygood approach because then you're
getting the best of both worlds.
And well, look, if any of those tradepartners are awesome and you know,
you end up wanting to lock 'em upand bring them on full time, great.
You can do that.
No, no problem at all.
(07:41):
So, right.
You know, it's a, definitely a good,good approach, I think to, to be able
to use the strengths of both, youknow, to help you build the business.
Mm-hmm.
Would you say that, you know,or, or, or maybe first tell us a
little bit about like what, what'syour sales process look like?
So, you know, if someone findsout about you, are they, you know,
are they going to your website?
Are they calling in?
And kinda like, how do you take them allthe way through, you know, qualifying
(08:02):
them to, you know, are, are you goingout on site, are you doing estimates?
Kind of, you know, designcontracts, things like that.
Kind of walk us through thefull, the full scope there.
Blair (08:11):
So most people are reaching out either through our website and
submitting a contract form, uh, which thenautomatically comes into JobTread, um, or
they are reaching out through our phone.
Um, and so Rusty, ouradministrator, will qualify them.
Um, ask several questions.
(08:31):
You know, have you worked witha general contractor before?
What is your experience?
What is your timeline?
What is your budget?
We've also implemented somethingon our website called Price Guide
ai, which has been helpful forpeople to be able to get an idea.
Like a lot of people call and youknow, they're like, I would really
like this 300 square foot bathroomrenovated, and oh, by the way, I have
(08:53):
$25,000 and I want it down to the studs.
And it's like, that's justnot reality my friend.
Like you can't hardlyget a shower for that.
Um.
So, you know, that has been beneficialfor some of the, not tire kickers,
but people who just don't understandwhat, um, construction costs nowadays.
So once we get through and we answerthese questions and Rusty verifies
(09:16):
that, you know, some of the initialinformation that I need in order to call
them, I will call them and provide aballpark budget, um, with, you know, all
the caveats that, Hey, I haven't seenyour space, but I'm going based off of.
My experience, I quote jobslike this every day of the week.
(09:36):
Um, you know, and once we verify thatthey are in line with our anticipated
budget, then we'll set up an onsite,which is when I go out, take.
Measurements, verify questions.
Look at, you know, wherethe plumbing systems are.
Look at is this a load bearing wall?
You know, just all of those questionsthat are really hard to answer when
(09:58):
you don't understand, um, the logisticsand the space itself in relation to
everything else that's around it.
Um, and then I'll puttogether an estimate.
Um, we have found, and here's a littletrick, we have found that people are.
Falling off.
(10:18):
It's like they, they get excited 'causethere's a lot of activity and then
while I'm putting together an estimate,they fall off the face of the earth.
And then it's like, uh, you know, sowe've started sending a while, you
wait email, which is, you know, I senda 45 second video approximately just
saying, Hey, here's some videos fromour website, here's some blog posts,
(10:41):
here's some this and this and this.
And, um, they're allrelevant to the project that.
They have going on.
So that allows me to stay in contact, um,and also drive some more traffic to our
website, which helps other people find us.
Um, and then, uh, I will present theestimate over Google Meet, talk about
(11:04):
it, and then about three days laterI will follow up and that's when we
are trying to figure out, you know.
What is our pre-construction timeline?
When are we gonna be onsite to take measurements?
When are we gonna line up our subs?
When are we gonna start construction?
When are we gonna end constructionand contract signing and all that.
So that's, oh, that's awesome.
A really long-winded way of telling youexactly how we walk through this, but it's
(11:28):
very high touch, very, um, you know, wewanna make sure that people understand
what they're walking into during theconstruction process as well as, um.
Working with us throughout, hopefullythe whole process, they're feeling
the same way, um, including thefollow up and warranty process.
Eric (11:47):
No, that's, that's awesome.
I love the, uh, the, the verydetailed, intentional, you know,
kind of check-in points and, and,and touch points there along the way.
I wanna go back.
So, so the price guide.ai, that's, uh, youknow, Marcus Sheridan's, uh, tool there.
Super, super awesome.
I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm curious tolearn a little bit more about that.
Like, you know, have you found that,you know, the, the estimate that.
It's providing has been, you know,fairly accurate and within the ballpark,
(12:11):
like how much work have you done toreally fine tune that, you know, to
make sure that it is aligning with,you know, ultimately what, what you
think you'll be able to come out with.
Blair (12:19):
So you can set like basics, like, hey, a, a three piece
bathroom, a minimum is $25,000.
You know?
Um, and you could, you could setthat if it was a powder room, you
could set a different minimum.
Um, you can set it basedon the square footage.
You, I have modified it to whereit's like, okay, how far out
(12:39):
are we gonna be scheduling this?
Because my pricing today is goingto be different than my pricing
in three or six or 12 months.
So I've included modifications andadjustments based on anticipated increases
in material costs, labor costs, um, laborshortages because of what's going on.
You know, all of thesethings that adjust and.
(13:02):
Modify based on what you want.
Do you want designer finishes?
Do you wanna work with a designer?
Um, are we providing that designer?
All of those questions go into it.
So we've got, um, a price guidefor a bathroom with all of the
options, a kitchen, an addition,and soon a screen porch.
(13:23):
So, yeah.
Eric (13:25):
Nice.
Yeah.
And have you found that, like, youknow, have you, have you been able
to kind of look and, and measure the,you know, kind of the conversion rate?
I mean, is that, you know, is,is that obviously you know.
The people who just were, were notanywhere close to within that budget,
that that kind of just sort of weedsthem out and then the people who
are kind of keeps, keeps 'em going.
Blair (13:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we've had several peoplewho are calling in and saying,
well, I really don't have anyidea what this project is worth.
Um, I would love to have a budget,but I just don't know what's real.
So that's a great wayfor them to like get.
A realistic idea of what constructioncosts in Nashville, um, for the
type of project that they want.
(14:04):
Do they want under cabinet lighting?
Do they want, uh, sconces ordo they want a vanity light?
You know, there's so many ofthose little different nuanced
things and it's not perfect.
And you know, there's clarification sevenways to Sunday, but it at least provides
some context for where we're going.
Um.
(14:24):
And just, you know, a startingpoint to continue a conversation.
Eric (14:28):
Yeah.
And I, you know, I see on yourwebsite you've, you know, you,
you've really done a good job.
You know, I think trying to providemore of the educational, you
know, content too, to help peopleunderstand, you know, what it's like.
'cause, 'cause you're right, a lot of,you know, people, they don't, they've
never gone through a construction project.
They don't know what it's like.
And so I think, you know, the morecomfortable you can, you know,
make them feel and the betterthat you can sort of warm them up.
(14:50):
And then when it comes to thosefirst conversations, like, you know,
it's, it's not as much of a shock,hopefully, when they've already
had a couple different, you know.
Areas where they can learn a littlebit more about what it might be
like and what the budget would be.
Blair (15:02):
Right?
We wanna, our goal witheverything that we do is to answer
questions before their questions.
We know what your next question's goingto be because we, we deal with clients
and customers all the time, and we knowthat this is a sticky point, and this is
a spot that people feel uncomfortable.
So our whole goal in.
Growing this company is to answerquestions and to make people feel more
(15:24):
comfortable with us than anyone else.
Part of that is a fully women-ledmanagement staff, which is
unheard of in construction, letalone residential remodeling.
I mean, it's just, it's crazy.
So, you know, I think that thathas been a huge selling point and
beneficial portion of our business.
Eric (15:47):
That's great.
Do you, do you find that, like, you know,when, when people are doing that initial
outreach, I mean, is it, is it moreoften, you know, the, the, the woman,
you know, the, the the person kind ofreaching out and then you're able to,
you know, kind of have that connection?
Like, or, you know, are, are you, youknow, seeing a lot of people, I mean,
I'm, I'm just curious, like, who, whoare you kind of getting those initial
contacts with and at what point doyou try to bring in both, you know,
(16:09):
if let's say it's a husband and wife,like at what point do you want to
be, you know, pitching to both peopleversus just working with one of them?
Blair (16:16):
We would love to have conversations with both the whole way through.
I mean, the goal would be that weare able to connect with both of
the people in the household, whetherthey're the decision maker or not.
That's my, oh, that really gets me going.
Uh, the, I can't speak toyou without your husband bit.
Oh man, that makes me wanna rage.
(16:36):
Um, our goal would be to speak to bothpeople because our goal is to connect
with both people in the relationshipand in the household, however.
Most of the time I feel that weare being reached out to by the,
um, the one who is at home more.
(16:57):
And so that person traditionally is afemale in a heterosexual relationship.
Um, and those, we also found that duringCOVID especially, people were like, well.
If I'm not proud of my space,I don't wanna have people over.
And so people are like, how do I nestand how do I, like if I have to spend
(17:19):
this much time at home and if I can'tgo out, then I wanna bring people in.
And so how do I make thisspace more comfortable?
And so that's where a lot ofpeople were like, you know, really
reaching out and stuff, whichhas changed a little bit, but um,
Eric (17:34):
sure
Blair (17:35):
it's been interesting.
Eric (17:37):
Would you say that, you know, again, being a woman owned, woman led, you know,
business has that, like, do you feel likethere have been, you know, it's, it's.
If there've been additionalchallenges for you to overcome,
you know, in the field, either withclients or with subcontractors.
Like, you know, some of the, some ofthe other women owned businesses that
I've, that I've had on the show have,have, you know, expressed that, you know,
sometimes, you know, they don't feel likethey're getting the same level of expect.
(17:59):
And it's like, look, I, I know just aboutconstruction, you know, just as much
about construction as any other contractorthat's gonna come to your house.
How, how have you sort of feltthat, you know, has, has that
been a hindrance to you at all?
Blair (18:10):
I don't experience that very much with, um, clients per se.
Uh, every once in a while I'llget some rando who, you know,
my, I have a, I have a boy name.
I was named after men.
And so when I show up, peopleare like, I'm sorry, who are you?
Like, are you the marketing girl?
Like, what's happening, you know?
Um, so that, you know, but it's not veryoften that I deal with that with clients.
(18:34):
I will sometimes getit with subcontractors.
Um, but at the same time, ourmanagement staff is female.
And so it's not surprising whenanother lady walks up to site.
Uh, my thing is I'm like, don'tstop working when I'm here.
Like, I need you to get the job done.
Like, just pick up yourtools, get your work done.
(18:55):
Like, let's keep moving.
Um, but it is, it's like you.
Some people will say that it's likefighting underwater, uh, trying
to prove that you belong here.
And as much as I don't disagree withthe fact that like this is a different
experience than what men experience,um, I think that the benefits of what we
(19:22):
are doing and the way that we are doingit, um, is worth the struggle, I guess.
I
Eric (19:30):
mean, it'd be great to see more women getting, you know, even
into the, the, the field roles too.
I mean, do you, do you see any, you know,like any, any ideas or any, you know,
advice or guidance that you might be ableto share with women out there who, you
know, may be looking to, to, to figureout how they can get into construction?
Because, you know, again, it's, it's.
Phenomenal profession.
You know, there's great opportunitieswith so many amazing companies, but,
(19:52):
you know, I feel like there's that kindof, that mental, you know, barrier to
thinking that like, they, they can't,and, and that's not true at all.
It's, it's just, you know, they need that.
Right.
You know, kind of encouragement.
Go get the training, go, youknow, what, what do you see?
What do you think is, is theopportunity there for women?
I
Blair (20:06):
think that the problem really is that.
Women traditionally, and girlsjust don't even think that this
is a possibility, you know?
And so I think the sooner that wecan implement the idea that you can.
Go do all of these things.
Go be a union electrician, go be alineman, go like there is, oh my God,
(20:28):
there's so much money to be made and somuch opportunity, especially with the
boomer generation retiring and so muchknowledge that is about to be lost.
It's, it's crazy and it really isconcerning because you don't know
how this is going to impact ourlabor force in 5, 10, 15 years.
(20:49):
Um.
But the goal would be that we meet womenwhere they are and girls where they are
as early as we can get them, and justcontinue to say like, Hey, this is not a
difficult, this is not an easy row to hoe.
However, the juice is worth the squeeze.
(21:11):
You know, we've been doing this, I've beendoing this for, oh God, close to 15 years.
Um, and I, I know I, I look like I'm five.
No, I like to tell people, I'm like,I know I look 47, but I'm really 36.
This is construction, but it's, uh,it is a valuable business to be in.
(21:34):
There's so much opportunity, and aspeople retire and age out and go enjoy
the fruits of their labor over theselast 30, 40 years in construction,
there's gonna be even more opportunity.
Eric (21:46):
So, absolutely.
You know, and, and, and we were talkingearlier, and I mean, you, you said kind
of, you know, one of your philosophiesis really trying to build, you know,
your, your business around avoiding.
The typical construction, chaos and, and,and the mess and everything that gets, you
know, I mean, it, it, it is complicated.
I mean, there are a lot of movingparts, you know, construction and,
and it's, it's not easy, right.
(22:06):
And it, it takes, you know, a lot ofcoordination to be able to pull off, you
know, these, these large scale projects.
I mean, you, you gotmultiple trades involved.
You got, you know, could be weeks,months, long projects, you know, and to
make sure that you're not dropping ballsand that things aren't going off the
rails and you're staying on budget like.
That is a very, you know, difficulttask and most people, you know,
again, they, they struggle with that.
(22:27):
So, you know, I'm curious to learnmore about, you know, your philosophy
and how you've gone about, you know,trying to build a business that,
you know, that avoids all of that.
Blair (22:35):
Well, I mean, I think that what people tell.
Every construction company at theend of every project is, I just
wish there was more communication.
I just wish there was more communication.
Um, I wish that, you know, I just knew alittle bit more about what was going on,
um, because this is really overwhelming.
I mean, outside of the house thatyou are purchasing, this is likely
(23:00):
a large renovation would be thelargest investment that you make.
Um, and so this is.
Such a huge undertaking.
So we, you know, we workreally hard to control dust.
We work really hard to, uh, makesure that we know that if you have
animals, that they stay inside.
(23:20):
We make really sure that we're notleaving, um, dangerous openings
in the floor or, you know, uh.
Utilities open or anything like that.
When we leave, at the end of theday, we're making sure that we're
not leaving our tools everywhere.
'cause you live here, like there's justso many ways, so many little things.
(23:41):
We've added all of these checklistthings to our daily log, and did you
reset the thermostat to how you set it?
Or if you changed the thermostat, did youreset it to how it was when you got here?
Um, have you, if you opened anywindows, did you reclose them?
Just all of those little things,and that's part of our daily log
and JobTread because it's, these arethe things that you learn over time.
(24:02):
It's like, well, I gotta callat 8:00 PM because you left
the window open and it rained.
It's like, well, now that'ssome, how do we prevent this
from happening in the future?
We make it a checklist.
Eric (24:13):
Do you have, like, just like how you, you know, you, you said earlier
in the process, kind of while they're,while they're waiting, while you're
preparing the detailed estimate, youknow, you send them kind of a, you
know, a couple, you know, a couplevideos, things to engage them on, on,
on kind of where that process is going.
Do you, do you have other touchpoints like once you've gotten into
construction where you're, you're sendingout like engagement type content to
(24:35):
kind of give them, you know, updates?
Blair (24:37):
So every, I mean, our project manager's on site.
Basically every day on every project.
Um, but additionally, wesend out Thursday updates.
We found that people tend to stew overthe weekend, and so our goal is to
hit them before they start stewing.
There's that preemptivecommunication that we're trying
(24:58):
to engage throughout our business.
Um.
So we just send like, here's what happenedand here's what's about to happen.
Here's your updatedschedule from JobTread.
And um, here is your project ledger,which is something that we've created,
um, just like this is what yourcontract value is based on your base
contract, any change orders, anydeductive change orders, et cetera.
(25:21):
This is your total contractand here's what you paid.
So this is what you have left to owe.
Um, and I understand thatthere's been an update that.
Job Try is doing that for us now.
And we just haven't figured it out yet.
We haven't even started.
But that's how we've kind of donethat too, is just by creating these,
uh, project ledgers so that wecan answer questions before people
(25:41):
even know what the question is.
Um, that's great.
And then, uh, for awarranty process, we have.
Started reaching out, um, 30 days afterour project has ended, and then we set
a reminder at 11 months, uh, after theproject ends and saying like, Hey, your 12
month warranty is about 30 days from over.
(26:04):
Would love to see if there'sanything that you need.
Otherwise, we have enjoyed workingyour space and enjoyed seeing
this space come back to life.
So.
Eric (26:13):
That's awesome.
And
Blair (26:14):
we're reminding people that, you know, there's this resource
that is included as part of yourcontract if something's going
wrong and we wanna know about it,
Eric (26:22):
did, does that ever turn into an additional job or more
work beyond just kind of whatevermight be a warranty claim?
Blair (26:28):
It hasn't yet.
Um, but I think it's just like, oh,these people said that they were
gonna do this and then they did it.
It's like, okay, this builds so muchcredibility and trust and, and they feel
so much more confident telling theirfriends about us because, um, now it's
like, okay, yeah, you, you said youwere gonna do this and now you did it.
(26:49):
Look you there.
Amazing.
Eric (26:52):
Yeah.
You know, you, you talkedabout how, you know, you.
When you think about how to improve aproject, you know, from the client's
perspective, it's it's that they wishthat they knew more and that they were
kept in the loop and, and they, youknow, they, they saw the, the activity
and, and that just, that reminds meof, so when, when I had, uh, our pool
built at our house, like it was, itwas done by a job truck contractor.
(27:12):
And at first they weren'tsharing the daily logs with us.
And I was like, Hey, you know.
I just so happen to know there arelikely daily logs there, you know?
Would you guys be open to share?
Like
Blair (27:21):
you so happen to know they didn't know who you were.
Eric (27:23):
Yeah, no, they, they knew who I was.
I was, come off man.
I think it'd be awesome if, youknow, if, if they shared the
daily logs, they're like, well, wenever really thought about that.
I was like, yeah, like, you know,that, that would just like be, you
know, really neat for us to see that.
And then when they did it, I meanit was like total game changer.
Like we felt so much more involved.
In the project, like we were alongthe journey with them, right.
(27:44):
And just seeing all of the things and, andeven the things that like, there's no way
we would've seen or known, like they, theyeven shared like just the internal stuff.
Like, you know, hey, you know,we're, we're still waiting.
Hadn't gotten a, you know, hadn'theard back about when we'll
be able to get this scheduled.
But like, you know, to us, like, youmight not think that, you know, the
client would wanna know that, but like.
Oh my gosh.
Like, you know, they're, you know, andwith a pool, there's a lot of kind of,
(28:07):
you know, times where you can end upwaiting and it's like, we're sitting there
wondering like, when are they coming out?
Are they, you know, where are they?
Where, you know, we'recalling the project manager.
Like, and when they started sharing that,like, it was just like such a, it, it,
honestly, it felt like a relief to beable to just go and check in whenever
we wanted and say, oh, okay, cool.
Yeah.
They're just still waiting on that.
Like, you know, it it, like you said,it, it just, it, it really helps.
(28:29):
So that you're not stewing over theweekend and that you're not sitting
there thinking they're dropping ballsand that we need to like, you know,
keep micromanaging the project becauselike there's so much behind the scenes
that happens that, you know, again, theclients just often aren't privy to that.
And I think it's like, you know, tothe extent that people are willing
to open up and, and provide thatextreme level of transparency, you
know, to to, to the extent that youknow that, that, that makes sense.
(28:51):
You know, I think that's awesome.
Now, again, if you got a bunch ofdifferent crews and they're all
submitting daily logs and like, I,you know, I totally agree that like
sometimes the larger, you know,especially longer term project, maybe
it makes sense and it sounds like youguys might be curating, you know, a
daily log that you're sharing, you know,once a week or something like that.
Like a weekly
Blair (29:07):
log.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Eric (29:09):
Totally think that, you know, that, that, that works.
That makes sense too.
And I, and I think though, it's, it'sjust the, the action of like, you know,
being proactive and sharing informationalong the way and not just waiting till
that major milestone or that next drawpayment that, that you need to get paid.
Blair (29:23):
Exactly.
You know, it's like if the only timeI'm hearing from you is when you need
money, it's like you are probably notmanaging this relationship in the way
that you said that you were going to.
So how do we, how do we move this forward?
How do we, it's always like, you know,there's this funnel of success and so how
do we keep moving up so that we're moresuccessful as we go up in the funnel?
Eric (29:46):
So.
How do you go about, you know, you, you,I think you had mentioned earlier that
you were using nice job, you know, what,what's your strategy to, you know, really
try to take, you know, a very happy,satisfied client and, and, and, and
really kind of, you know, leverage thatto, you know, to either get referrals,
you know, to, you know, get, you know,five star reviews, whatever it may be.
Like, what's your approach there?
Blair (30:08):
So we have, we deploy it, we've got a, a handyman, um, small projects, and we
book him out for minimums of two hours sohe can hit a lot of jobs any given week.
Um, and so we will finish, uh, aproject and invoice and once they
pay, it's like, okay, we need toni, we need to get them a nice job.
(30:31):
So my next thing is like, how do we workthrough automations and also JobTread.
I know that you guys are workingon that, which is very exciting.
So Ca Zapier is not good on my brain.
Um, it's, it is not logical.
Um, so we're, you know, I'm excited tobring in more automations on things like
that, but also we've had clients who arejust like, I don't, what do you want me?
(30:57):
To put in a review, and I know thatthere's somebody I think in Florida,
um, who has developed an AI writing,like a, a review writing tool.
And he will.
It's like it asks you a few questions andthen you answer them and then it's like,
well, what do you think about this review?
(31:18):
And then if you like it, then you copyand paste it and put it in Google.
I'm like, that's brilliant.
Awesome.
Like, he's way smarter than me, butI'm like, that is like, if you wanna
highlight certain bits about every,you know, like price, transparency.
Lack of change orders or, youknow, whatever you wanna highlight
(31:39):
because it's part of your brandidentity or whatever, then a tool
like that would make so much sense.
So I
Eric (31:47):
thought
Blair (31:47):
that
Eric (31:47):
that
Blair (31:47):
was
Eric (31:47):
really, really cool.
Do you ever, uh, do, do you evertry to actually like record, like a
video testimonial or capture content?
Blair (31:56):
Yeah, so we've got, um, testimonials on our site, um, and we, you
know, we love getting video testimonials.
They don't do super well.
Like, um, as far like video doesn't.
Show up on Google or whatever.
I don't really know how it all works,uh, but we love getting people on video
(32:18):
just talking about their experienceand you know, the, how the renovation
makes them feel and how this house isso much more them after the fact than
it was before and stuff like that.
I think it just brings such a humantouch to a Google review, you know?
Eric (32:35):
Have you ever brought out.
Ha.
Have you ever thought about like, or,or, or have you ever brought out like a
professional, you know, videographer orsomebody to like, you know, maybe, you
know, you got a really awesome projectand like having somebody come out?
You know, I mean, a lot of times Iknow people will have professional
photos done, which, you know, again,I highly recommend think it's awesome.
I, there's one person, uh, I dunno,several months ago, told me on
(32:56):
builder stories, they actually have.
Uh, that they have a professional photoshoot like scheduled and then they
tell them, Hey, by the way, you know,you, you and your family might as well,
you know, get dressed up and we'd behappy to shoot some family photos for
you too while we're already out there.
Everybody said it's just like sucha great, like no, they're, they're
getting two birds of the one stone andthe family gets exactly these awesome
(33:17):
photos in front of this work that theyjust did, and now it truly is a prized
possession they're gonna put on the wall.
And remember forever, right?
Blair (33:24):
No, that's brilliant.
Um, yeah, no, we have our,we have a lot of our projects
photographed professionally.
Um, but most of the videos thatwe've shot are just like on a self.
We're lucky if we put it on like a tripod.
But, um, yeah, we've got one guy on ourcrew that has some marketing experience.
We're like, Hey, I'm gonnause you for a half hour.
Like, let's just go talk to these people.
(33:46):
Whatever.
Eric (33:46):
Nice.
So have, have you ever, uh, you know, andagain, by, I'm gonna go ahead and assume
so, I mean, ha like, has there ever beena project where, you know, kind of got,
got off track, unexpected things happen,and, and, and how did you deal with that?
Like how did you, you know, help the,help help the client work through and,
and have the confidence that you guyswill be able to get it all figured out?
Blair (34:06):
You know, we've had a few situations where like, you know,
things went differently than what.
We had hoped and what we had promised, andobviously what our expected experience is.
And so, you know, the thing that wehave to do is to mind our contract.
Um, we have to make sure thatwe're honoring our commitments
(34:30):
and sometimes people'sexpectations, um, are not reality.
And so communicating that, hey, thisis, this is what reality is, and.
I think it's just having a reallyfrank and honest conversation
with people goes such a long way.
(34:50):
Um, whether that be face to face,uh, in a coffee shop, you know, just
like having a really calm and logicalconversation goes such a long way.
Um, and, you know, sometimesit still doesn't work, but.
It, you know, you do what you can.
(35:11):
You're still a human.
Sometimes things don't go theway that you want them to.
Um, but the goal is to keep a client.
Uh, I don't not like not trashingyour name, but the goal would be to
at least gain enough trust that theystill believe that you are a good
(35:33):
person in it at the end of the day.
Right.
Eric (35:37):
Yeah.
I think, you know, again, as justbeing, you know, as transparent
as you possibly can, you know,
Blair (35:41):
absolutely.
Eric (35:42):
Come out with it.
Fall on the sword right away.
We're not gonna just throwthings under the rug.
It's, you know, it, it, it does go a longway when people do come in and admit their
mistakes and say, look, this happened.
We should have done this.
Here's what we're gonna do.
This is what I want.
Blair (35:54):
Right?
Yeah.
This is, this is not what ourexpectations are and I am so
sorry that this has happened.
And there, there are alwaysgoing to be those projects.
Yeah.
Eric (36:06):
And, you know, again, I think to, to the extent that you can educate
them upfront that, look, the one knownof of construction is that there are
unknowns, you know, that is guaranteedevery time we are gonna, I don't have
Blair (36:17):
x-ray eyeballs turns out.
Eric (36:20):
Yep.
So you, you had mentioned earlierto me that, you know, I think it
was maybe about six months ago youhad joined Remodelers Advantage.
Is that right?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm, I'm curious what, youknow, what, what led you to that
group and, and what's it been like?
Blair (36:35):
So, um, I've got, uh, a couple years of experience in EO in
Nashville, which is a huge chapter.
Um, we don't qualify for the realeo, um, because of our revenue.
Which has to be like, a lothigher than what we are.
Um, but we qualified for Catalyst,which is like, hey, here is like, learn
(36:58):
how to be an entrepreneur basically.
So that's an 18 month program, sixmonths of classes, and then 12 months
of forum, which was small group.
And then I did another yearof forum, um, to continue to
grow and forum and, you know.
Communicate with otherentrepreneurs in town.
So, you know, we had, um,marketing managers, we had, or
(37:21):
marketing agency owners really.
We had a bubble tea shop.
We had a restaurateur, you know,I mean they're really like broad.
We had therapist really broad, um,businesses, which was super cool.
Um, and I realized just likeevery year I get a new group.
I have to start over and there'sso much intimacy and I was like, I
(37:43):
just wanna make a home somewhere.
And so I realized that as long as Istayed in EO until I got into big eo, I
was going to continue getting new people.
And I was like, I need to find a home.
So I did some research.
Um, I have done some, you know.
Private business coaching previously, andit ended up always just being social hour.
(38:07):
And I was like, I need somethinga little more like, you know, set.
I need some rigidity, I need somehigh expectations, all the things.
And so I figured that a groupof remodelers specifically in
such a niche, um, experience andmarket would be super beneficial.
So ended up signing on, did theirjumpstart in January and February,
(38:27):
and I joined the Atlas group.
So.
Eric (38:31):
Awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's a great, great organization.
I mean, I, you know, I, I, I love.
How focused and how dialed in they are.
And I mean, you know, you dohave to have a minimum revenue
to, to join their program.
But I, I think that really helpsto narrow, you know, the, the, the
focus for everyone that's in therethat like, you know, you, you're
likely going through a lot of thesame challenges at the same time.
(38:52):
Hitting those kind of, those, thosecommon growth spur, you know, once
you know, it's kind of getting to amillion is, is a whole different set
of challenges that than to go from, youknow, one to, to two, to five to 10 to 20.
And so I, I like that they'vereally been very intentional about
the members that they bring in.
And, and they're all focused on, youknow, remodeling, design build, you
know, it's, it's a very great group.
(39:13):
You know, we've, we've been, we'vebeen part of that organization just
as you know, as, as partners for, formany years now, and it's been awesome
to watch the growth of, you know,of their organization as a whole.
But then just to see the impact of somany, you know, of our JobTread users
who have joined and gone through it.
I mean, I, you know, I, I, I literally,I can see firsthand like, you know, you
know, you, you get in there in a couplemonths, you're going by, and then boom,
(39:34):
there's just this like, kind of, it, itfeels like a, a rocket takes off and,
and like everything, you know, must startto click because like they, they really
get you dialed in and then seeing andworking so closely with your peers, you
know, and I love how, like, you, I thinkit's like what, twice a twice a year,
you kind of go around to different, youknow, companies, actual offices and spend
time doing those round tables with their
Blair (39:54):
employees, which is like such a big thing.
It's massive.
It's crazy.
Eric (40:00):
It's so neat to say, you know, again, I, I think.
I think it's so helpful for, for,for all entrepreneurs out there and
business owners and, and leaders whoyou know, it, it, it can, it can very
often feel very lonely at the top andyou think, you know, you're the only
one you know, and that you, you don'thave that, that peer or that person that
you know you can kind of connect with.
And that's where like these, you.
These, these groups and theseorganizations that are, are built around,
(40:22):
creating those connections like thatcan make such a huge impact, right?
When you have now that, that those,those, those dedicated people that,
you know, they get to know you.
And like anytime you have that challengeor something comes up like, you know,
tough employees situation, like younow have that, that place to reach out
to and get that, you know, that thirdparty perspective who is, you know, not,
not, you know, deep in the thick of it.
(40:43):
They're like, Hey, here's what it lookslike from my perspective, and here's
maybe some ideas like that's so valuable.
Blair (40:48):
My favorite is like, people come up with like these crazy stories and it's
like, has anybody dealt with this before?
And if you have, how did you protectyourself going forward so you
didn't have to deal with it again?
That's always my favorite thing to ask islike, okay, what did we learn from this?
And how do we protectourselves in the future?
Eric (41:03):
Yeah.
Blair (41:04):
So how do we prevent future issues?
Eric (41:07):
So I'm, I'm curious, you know, talking about the future,
like what's, what's your goal here?
What, you know, what's the,the, the five, 10 year plan?
Where do you want, you know,to, to, to take the business?
Blair (41:17):
Um, well, we would like to grow.
We're in kind of smallbusiness purgatory right now.
We're in this weird one and a half to $3million range, and it's like, how do we
bust through this as quickly as possible?
Um, and we.
I mean, the, the end goal would be asell, but I don't know if that's reality.
But the whole goal is to definitelyget it to a point where it doesn't
(41:39):
feel like as much of a job, Isuppose, um, and is not quite as
overwhelming as maybe it is right now.
So a little more freedom, a littlemore, uh, ability to say no to
jobs that aren't a perfect fit.
That'd be great.
Eric (41:54):
Sure.
You know, I think it's,uh, it's, it's, you know.
It's all a function of time.
Right.
You know, and, and, and, and the morethat you can, you know, have an annual
budget, kind of plan out your growthand understand, you know, 'cause I
see a lot of times people, you know,entrepreneurs, I mean, it, it's, it's
very difficult to, to quit just puttingon every hat and just wanting to dive
in and do it all yourself and, youknow, at the right time, time, wastes
Blair (42:15):
time.
Yeah.
Right.
I can't, I can't waste time in dreaming
Eric (42:19):
Yeah.
Know exactly.
And so, but you know, it's, it's, again,it comes back to like, when is the right
time to keep building out the team?
Ultimately, you know, when you canstart kind of shedding some of those
responsibilities and be able to putpeople in place that are hopefully
better than you at dealing withwhatever responsibility it may be.
Like, I think that's where, you know, Istart to see people, you know, able to,
(42:40):
to kind of have a little bit less of that,you know, every single day it's, you know,
where we're, we're, we're shouldering allthe way to the world and you know, having
to, you know, play firefighter, dealingwith all those, those tough situations,
it's all about building out a great team.
Right.
You know, which is, you know,is interesting you said.
You thought it's kind of been one of the,you know, the most challenging things
is finding the right people to get ontothe team, which, you know, it, it can,
(43:00):
it can take a long time to, to do that.
And, and, and I think, you know,to some extent it's, it's also
about, you know, making sure thatyou're, you know, that, that, that
you know what you're looking for.
You know, having those clearly definedroles, responsibilities, you know, not
just taking the first person that comesin the door and hiring them because, you
know, you need somebody in that seat.
You know, it's about, you know,finding the, the right people.
(43:22):
What does your, like, what, what isyour recruiting and, and, and, you
know, kind of hiring process look like?
Blair (43:28):
Um, our goal is always to hire for the ability to do the job,
but also our team is so small thatif somebody is not a good culture
fit, none of the rest of it matters.
So, you know, we've gotthis checklist of, you know.
The job description says you needto do this and this and this.
And so we will judge them based ona score of one to 10 of can they do
(43:52):
these things and how do we prove this?
And then the last bit, and it's weightedthe heaviest are the vibes sounds.
So Gen Z, but, um, it's like we, you,you, if you don't want to collaborate
with someone, if you don't want to bein such a close proximity with someone
(44:14):
who you work with every single day, andthen none of the rest of it matters.
No.
You know.
Eric (44:23):
So I, I, you know, I think some of the, the, the, the, the things I've heard
that, that really make the most sensehere is that, you know, I mean, and if
you think about it, right, like, it's easyfor someone to come in and put on their
game face for an hour or two, you know,but like, what I've, what I've heard to be
the most effective way is to actually, youknow, bring them in for a day or a couple
days and, and again, you pay 'em andeverything, but like, go like, you know.
(44:45):
Submerge them with theteam into the projects.
Like what is it like being with thatperson at the end of a hard day?
Is that the type of person, you know,that that, that you wanna be at working
side by side with every single dayand like really making sure that yeah,
they, do they feel like a great fit?
Like do you want to go spendtime with them outside of work?
Is that a person you know, youwant to get to know and like you're
(45:05):
excited to, to work with every day?
And you know, I'm a big proponentof, you know, again, involve, you
know, many people on your team.
That recruiting in that hiring processbecause, you know, at the end of
the day, like the, the team itselfknows best if this is gonna be a
good addition or if this is gonnabe, you know, not a good addition.
And, you know, we, we, wedo that here at JobTread.
I mean, it's, you know, we, we give peoplean exercise, they gotta come in, they
(45:27):
gotta, you know, go through a full thingand, and there will be a team of us.
And sometimes that'sintimidating to people.
But look, at the end of the day, likeif, if you didn't wanna involve people.
Blair (45:36):
JobTread is so collaborative and JobTread has, you know, I
feel like you have created sucha, not bottom up, but what is it?
Um, you know, there's like this funneland the owners at the bottom and it's
like, rather than the normal trianglewhere the owners at the top, you have
created a situation like this whereyou are really supporting your team.
(45:59):
And something else that I sawthat I thought was so interesting
and so beautiful is, um.
There are certain companies, and I can'tremember which one, but they require that
the most junior in the room speak first.
Uh, as far as like providingfeedback on a presentation or
(46:20):
whatever because they, they wannasee who has the right, uh, like.
Kind of gut feel and it's notbeing intimidated or influenced
by those who are more senior.
So I thought that that was reallyinteresting and it's kind of
something, you know, we provide.
It's like if anybody has bad vibes onsomebody, you get veto power like we are.
(46:43):
That that's not it.
If somebody's gut is saying this is ared flag, like we wanna know about it.
So yeah, that's kind of what we've done.
Eric (46:52):
I, I, I love that.
And, and I, and I wholeheartedly believethere's like, just, there's, there's
an energy about people, like when, whenthey step into the room, like I can,
like within like minutes, like just.
You hear 'em talking for just a fewminutes, like you can tell that, that
energy, like, is this a very positiveenergy or are you feeling hesitation
or feeling something a little bit off?
Like, you know, you gotta learn to listento that gut intuition and, you know, I
(47:14):
feel like too though, you know, again,just like what you said, like it's often,
it's, it's easy for it know, like, let,let's say I'm super gung-ho on someone.
Like, I, I really want thisperson to work and like.
But like to some extent, sometimesthat can be like blinders, right?
And it's like I'm onlyseeing what I wanna speak
Blair (47:29):
so desperate for this position to be filled that I'm willing to,
and then you find out, well, thiswould've been cheaper and easier
for me to just continue doing whatI was doing as opposed to hiring,
documenting, and then firing someone,and then starting the process over.
So,
Eric (47:48):
yeah, I, I, I also believe a lot, I mean, kind of to to what
you're saying about, you know, thekind of the owner being at the bottom.
Like, I, I, my, my, my goal hasalways been, you know, to keep
organizations as flat as possible.
You know, I feel like when you geta bunch of hierarchy, you know,
a bunch of bureaucrat, you know.
Just, it just, it, the, the organizationjust slows down tremendously.
And if you hire the right people whodon't need to be micromanaged, like
(48:12):
your goal, my, my goal is to just removebarriers and remove blockers so that my
people can fly, you know, not be heldback and tracked and all this and that.
Like, you know, I think at the endof the day, like I, you know, I,
I want my sleeves rolled up and Iwanna be right down in the trenches
next to anyone else in that company.
And there's nothing that, like, Iwouldn't ask someone else to do that.
Like, I couldn't or haven'tdone myself, you know?
(48:32):
My team would probably tell you, I need toquit doing some of the things that I do.
And I just, it's like, look,I, you know, I, yeah, I still
built desks for new employees.
I, I don't know, I, I probablyshouldn't, and I know we need to be
hiring more of that out, but like,I just, you know, some of the things
I do, I just, I can't help myself.
But like, I, I think that at the end ofthe day, like I want the team to know that
like, I'm not just, you know, wanting tosit back and, you know, get fat and happy.
(48:53):
I'm, I'm trying to workjust as hard of Yeah.
I mean, I, I wanna be the hardest worker.
Uh.
Blair (49:00):
Yeah, so I, no, I think that's really respectable and I think it's
such a, I think that goes so far inthe intangible culture of the business,
and I think that's why you guyshave built such cult following and
such a, you know, really loyal team.
So there's, you shouldbe giving this podcast.
(49:21):
How things are going fory'all, what you're doing.
You've got things to teach.
Eric (49:26):
I'm, I'm curious though, when, you know, and, and I think one of the
things that's been, you know, reallyhelpful for us too is, I mean, we, we,
we have a very clear mission and visionand, you know, our, our, our purpose
is, is, is just very, very clear and,and that helps us to recruit and attract
people with that similar, you know,passion and that similar drive and
motivation and desire to help others.
How have you gone about, you know,thinking about, you know, what, what's
(49:49):
the, the vision and the mission of, of,of BEC and, and how do you, you know,
instill that into all of your people?
Blair (49:55):
You know, we haven't done a great job of, you know, quote unquote publishing
or even finalizing anything like that.
It probably needs to be a higher priority,and it's just not, to be frank, it's
like, um, we're, I feel like that's.
Uh, what's aspirational?
(50:15):
Um, you know, which is a beautiful thing.
And I think as we get, um, furtherin and with more people and a bigger
team and stuff like that, we'regonna have people who are gonna
buy in and people who are not.
Um, right now it's kind of this like.
Unspoken, like, Hey, you know, we, we tookour guys to Topgolf, um, on Monday, uh,
(50:38):
to celebrate the business, turning fiveand like everybody's families came out
and it's just like really, really cool.
Um, you know, and so if you, if youdon't wanna be part of that, then
this probably isn't the right placefor you if you don't want to have
lunch together on a Friday afternoon.
Um.
For, you know, finishing up a really toughproject because you'd rather just go home.
(50:59):
This probably isn't a spotfor you, and that's okay.
Like, I've got 27 other recommendationsfor people who might fit you better.
That's okay.
But, you know, we,
Eric (51:09):
I love involving the family.
I mean, that, that such a good move,you know, and it's like, hey, when they,
Blair (51:14):
we take so much of our guys' time and you know, it's like.
They come home with all these stories ofthings that happened and everything else.
It's like, it's really good tolike put a face with a name.
And our guys have been withus for a long time now.
Um, so it's not like they're meetingfor the first time, you know, but it
is like, you know, several, I thinkour whole team, yeah, our whole team
came to our house for Thanksgiving.
(51:35):
'cause several of themdon't have family close by.
It's like, well we're having, you know,a big family Thanksgiving, so might as
well just make enough for everybody.
Um, so just stuff like that.
It's, it's really fun.
Eric (51:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, let me ask you though, I mean,what, what gets you up every day?
Like what do you, what makes you themost excited about, you know, coming
to work and, and, and, and what is itthat you know that that drives you?
Blair (51:58):
So I think that I'm finally allowing myself
to really enjoy and lean intowhere is the company going next?
And it's like this big picture and.
I'm still doing the estimate.
I'm still doing sales, you know, I'mstill doing all of these things, but
(52:21):
I'm also getting to, you know, whichis very like 10 foot in front of you.
But I'm also getting to look up and seewhat's ahead of us and planning and being
preemptive and trying to think aboutwhere the company's gonna be in a year.
Where are we gonna be in two?
Where are we gonna be in five?
(52:42):
Where, you know, what comes next andwhat is our next hire and what is our
next big, um, what is our next big ask?
Stuff like that.
So those are, that's what I'mreally enjoying right now.
Eric (52:56):
Nice.
Is, is there anything in particularthat like you would love to inspire,
you know, within your community,you know, through your business?
Blair (53:06):
Um, I think that I just would really like to
communicate that renovations.
Can be intimate and they don'thave to be as difficult as what
they have been in the past.
And, um, I think that renovations withoutthe runaround, um, is aspirational.
I mean, I think that it's reallybeautiful and I think that the more
(53:29):
transparency and directness and.
Just communication, um, that you canprovide to any client, no matter what
kind of project you're doing, the moresuccessful everybody's gonna feel,
Eric (53:42):
would you say your company is, uh, is, is, is here for that,
uh, that, that mission to help make,make that a reality for more people.
Blair (53:49):
I mean, that's the goal, right?
That's what we wanna do.
Eric (53:52):
All right.
Well, I think you're on to,uh, you know, kind of a, a, a
vision, a mission statement here.
Come up with some core valuesand know, I, I, I, I do.
I think it's such an important thingthough, to get your teams aligned,
you know, and, and then again, youcan use that, you know, to help also.
Get your clients aligned with yourbusiness and, and, and the core values and
what you're all about and get your subs,trades like everyone working with you.
(54:14):
Like having that and, and, andit, and it can take a long time.
I know people have worked on this foryears, but once you can kind of finally
nail it down, you know, it's so much, youknow, it's such a powerful tool to get
everybody on the same page and, and atthe end of the day when you gotta make
hard decisions or, or have tough times,like being able to fall back on that.
It, it can give you thatboost, that shining light.
(54:36):
This is our guiding light.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Well, look, I, I know we're, uh, comingup here at, at, at the, the top of the
hour, but like, I'm, I'm, I'm curious,like any last, you know, advice that,
you know, you would, you would giveto others who, you know, maybe earlier
on in their journey, you know, if,if you were to start over, you know,
knowing what you know now, like what,what would you have done differently?
(54:57):
What, what would you encourageothers, you know, who, who are trying
to, to build a successful business?
Blair (55:02):
Hmm.
I think that the biggest question thatevery entrepreneur and business should
be asking is, what does the clientneed and what does the client want?
And as soon as you find a way tofocus on those needs and wants, you
(55:23):
know, a need is a renovation or a, arepair or whatever, but the want is.
Not feeling in the dark and notfeeling like they, um, are being
a burden and all of those things.
As soon as you figure outwhat those things are and
how to serve that you're set.
(55:43):
Like you lean in all the way in, just dothe thing like, um, and trust the process.
It's, it's a slog some days andthen other days you, it's like, oh
wow, we're, things are paying off.
Things are happening.
It's awesome.
Easy.
Eric (56:01):
Great, great advice and you know, look, I, Blair, I really appreciate you
coming on sharing your story, you know,some of the challenges and the successes
that you've had and just giving everyone,you know, again, a perspective that,
you know, hopefully they'll be able totake away a couple nuggets from this
and can implement it to their business.
But it's been really awesome justseeing your growth over the last year.
Can't wait to see, you know, in thenext five, 10 years where you're able to
(56:21):
take your business, I have no doubt thatyou'll build something great, something
awesome, and be able to achieve all ofthose goals that you've got for yourself.
So thank you for, for taking the timeto come on and share this with everyone.
Blair (56:31):
Thanks so much for having me.
Eric (56:33):
All right.
Have a good one.
Blair (56:35):
Thanks.
Eric (56:35):
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Builder Stories.
We hope you enjoyed the conversationand gained valuable insights that can
help you in your journey along the way.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe show and leave us a review.
And as always, if you or someone youknow has a story to share, please
contact us@builderstories.com.
(56:55):
We'd love to hear from you.
I'm Eric Fortenberry, and remember,every builder has a unique story.
Keep building yours.
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(00:21):
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We can't wait to see you in Dallas.
Welcome to the podcast where wetake a deep dive into the stories
behind construction business leaders.
(00:41):
We will share how they got started,how they found success, and the
lessons learned along the way.
I'm your host, Eric Fortenberry.
Welcome to Builder Stories.
Welcome back everybody.
Today.
I'm really excited.
I've got Blair Roedel.
She is the owner of BEC Innovations.
(01:01):
They're located in Hendersonville,Tennessee, specializing
in residential remodeling.
So really excited to have you on the show.
Welcome to Builder Stories Blair.
Blair (01:10):
Thank you so much for having me.
Eric (01:12):
Yeah.
So why don't you kick us off withjust a little bit of background.
How did you, how'd youget into construction?
What led you to start your own business?
Blair (01:19):
Um, well, it was somewhat on accident.
Um, I graduated withan engineering degree.
Um, it was a five-year program and afteryear four of this intensive program,
I was like, oh, I don't actuallywanna do design, but I'm in too far.
So I was like, you know,construction would make sense.
And, you know, so yeah, I thought, I waslike, I don't wanna sit behind a desk
(01:42):
all day, which is exactly what I do now.
So, um, it, it's, youknow, it, it's what it is.
So I worked in corporate construction forclose to 10 years, um, for a mechanical,
uh, union shop, uh, in Kansas City,and then transferred down to Tennessee,
took a promotion for the same company.
And, uh, when we moved, wemoved into a very builder grade.
(02:06):
Cookie cutter neighborhoodbecause we needed, you know, we
didn't know anyone other than thepeople that I was working with.
And, um, so it was the closest wayto, for us to meet people was to
help them with their handyman tasks,hanging curtains and stuff like that.
And so that's how we got started.
And then in the height of a globalpandemic, we were like, you know,
maybe we should make this realand get a company and an LLC and
(02:28):
a license and all the things.
And it's been off to the races ever since.
Eric (02:32):
Nice.
So, so what year wasthat when you founded it?
Blair (02:35):
Uh, 2020.
Actually, Monday is ourfive year anniversary.
Eric (02:39):
All right.
Congrats.
Blair (02:41):
Pretty exciting.
Eric (02:42):
Yeah.
No, most, most businessesdon't even make it a year.
So five years is quite the testament
Blair (02:47):
or just a sign of mental illness.
One of the two.
We don't know.
Eric (02:51):
That's, that's right.
You know, most, uh, most, most people, uh,you know, to, to persevere through all the
ups and downs of being an entrepreneur.
You, you gotta be aspecial, uh, special person.
Really passionate about whatyou, uh, what what you're doing.
Otherwise, you know, you, you, you'dmost likely quit somewhere along the way.
Blair (03:06):
It's true.
That's true.
Eric (03:08):
So what, what would you say has been like, you know, kind of the one,
you know, the, the, the biggest challengefor you getting this, you know, off the
ground, going out, you know, on your own?
Blair (03:17):
Um, I think the hardest part of scaling and growing the business has
been finding the right people, um, andmaking sure that we are investing in
the right people, in the right spotsand the right jobs and all of that.
And it seems like we've really made huge.
Waves in the last year and getting thatpart right and now all of a sudden it's
(03:38):
feeling like, okay, this is feeling muchbetter than it has, you know, previously.
And, uh, just much morecomfortable, much more.
It's like, this is how thingsare supposed to be working.
So yeah, that's been, and
Eric (03:51):
what's, what's the team look like today?
Blair (03:53):
Um, so we have a full-time project manager, full-time administrator,
and then we have three fieldtechnicians, one of whom is my husband.
So.
Eric (04:02):
Yeah.
So I'm curious what, you know, when,when you first got going, like what,
what was, you know, your typical joblike, what did those first, those first
jobs that, that you got under yourbelt, kinda what did those look like and
how has it sort of adapted over time?
Blair (04:14):
So, our first jobs were just basically handyman style.
Can someone come changeout these pendant fixtures?
Can someone change out this faucetcan come on, uh, hang these curtains.
Stuff like that.
It was very like just punch listy stuff.
And then we had someone, um, sendus a question about some built-ins.
And then, oh, by the way, I've gotthis indent in my, I've got this
(04:37):
alcove in my primary closet, buton the other side is my kitchen.
And I would rather much ratherhave cabinetry in the kitchen.
Can you move this walland extend the cabinetry?
And uh, so all of a suddenit was like, oh, oh, we can.
We can do this, you know, like, and,uh, so then you learn the lessons about,
oh, you gotta like, mess with the floor.
(04:58):
And oh, by the way, thisis glued to the slab.
And oh, by the way, this is, this is,you know, these are lessons, this is
the lead time on these custom cabinets.
This is, and you don't knowthe questions that you have to
ask until you have to ask them.
Eric (05:13):
So, and what, like, kind of when you, when you look at your jobs today,
like what's, what's your ideal job?
You know, maybe averagejob size type of work?
Blair (05:21):
So currently we are leaning very heavily into kitchens
and bathrooms and additions.
So we are, you know,full home renovations.
Like we wanna get into themultiple trade situations.
We want to, you know, reallylean into high design, um,
high-end finishes, selections.
(05:43):
We wanna work with youthrough the whole process.
Um, so that's really what we're focusingon now, which is much different.
Eric (05:51):
Yeah.
So you, so you, you do have, so yougot three people, you know, that
you're, you're, you know, employed,field crew, but I assume then
you're using a bunch of subs forall of the mechanicals that correct?
Blair (06:03):
Yeah.
So most of what our strategy is, isthat we, we focus on the more technical
persnickety scopes of work, and thenwe allow our trade partners to do
more of the labor intensive, uh.
Time consuming things like drywallfinishing and flooring and stuff like
that, that, so that we can use our guysin really high result, um, trades and,
(06:28):
you know, really specialty situations.
Uh, we're a licensed generalcontractor and we're also a licensed
mechanical and plumbing contractor,so that gives us a lot of freedom.
Eric (06:38):
That makes, makes total sense.
Have you found it to be, you know,easier or harder to, you know, to
work with subs and trades, you know,versus kind of having in-house people?
Blair (06:48):
I think there are benefits to both and which is why we've
taken on this hybrid role.
You know, when my phone rings andsomebody says, oh my God, my toilet
just exploded and I don't know what'shappening, you know, it's hard for
me to call a sub and be like, Hey,this is my next door neighbor.
And we need to like this, thisperson really matters to me.
(07:10):
Can you go help them out?
Whereas if, if this is one of my people,um, it's much easier to deploy our own
labor for specific situations like that.
Eric (07:20):
Sure, yeah.
I mean, I, I, I always hear peoplekind of debate, you know, between, you
know, do we, do we get our own people?
Do we, you know, use trade partners?
Like, you know, I, I, I, I think the.
The hybrid model is a, is a reallygood approach because then you're
getting the best of both worlds.
And well, look, if any of those tradepartners are awesome and you know,
you end up wanting to lock 'em upand bring them on full time, great.
You can do that.
No, no problem at all.
(07:41):
So, right.
You know, it's a, definitely a good,good approach, I think to, to be able
to use the strengths of both, youknow, to help you build the business.
Mm-hmm.
Would you say that, you know,or, or, or maybe first tell us a
little bit about like what, what'syour sales process look like?
So, you know, if someone findsout about you, are they, you know,
are they going to your website?
Are they calling in?
And kinda like, how do you take them allthe way through, you know, qualifying
(08:02):
them to, you know, are, are you goingout on site, are you doing estimates?
Kind of, you know, designcontracts, things like that.
Kind of walk us through thefull, the full scope there.
Blair (08:11):
So most people are reaching out either through our website and
submitting a contract form, uh, which thenautomatically comes into JobTread, um, or
they are reaching out through our phone.
Um, and so Rusty, ouradministrator, will qualify them.
Um, ask several questions.
(08:31):
You know, have you worked witha general contractor before?
What is your experience?
What is your timeline?
What is your budget?
We've also implemented somethingon our website called Price Guide
ai, which has been helpful forpeople to be able to get an idea.
Like a lot of people call and youknow, they're like, I would really
like this 300 square foot bathroomrenovated, and oh, by the way, I have
(08:53):
$25,000 and I want it down to the studs.
And it's like, that's justnot reality my friend.
Like you can't hardlyget a shower for that.
Um.
So, you know, that has been beneficialfor some of the, not tire kickers,
but people who just don't understandwhat, um, construction costs nowadays.
So once we get through and we answerthese questions and Rusty verifies
(09:16):
that, you know, some of the initialinformation that I need in order to call
them, I will call them and provide aballpark budget, um, with, you know, all
the caveats that, Hey, I haven't seenyour space, but I'm going based off of.
My experience, I quote jobslike this every day of the week.
(09:36):
Um, you know, and once we verify thatthey are in line with our anticipated
budget, then we'll set up an onsite,which is when I go out, take.
Measurements, verify questions.
Look at, you know, wherethe plumbing systems are.
Look at is this a load bearing wall?
You know, just all of those questionsthat are really hard to answer when
(09:58):
you don't understand, um, the logisticsand the space itself in relation to
everything else that's around it.
Um, and then I'll puttogether an estimate.
Um, we have found, and here's a littletrick, we have found that people are.
Falling off.
(10:18):
It's like they, they get excited 'causethere's a lot of activity and then
while I'm putting together an estimate,they fall off the face of the earth.
And then it's like, uh, you know, sowe've started sending a while, you
wait email, which is, you know, I senda 45 second video approximately just
saying, Hey, here's some videos fromour website, here's some blog posts,
(10:41):
here's some this and this and this.
And, um, they're allrelevant to the project that.
They have going on.
So that allows me to stay in contact, um,and also drive some more traffic to our
website, which helps other people find us.
Um, and then, uh, I will present theestimate over Google Meet, talk about
(11:04):
it, and then about three days laterI will follow up and that's when we
are trying to figure out, you know.
What is our pre-construction timeline?
When are we gonna be onsite to take measurements?
When are we gonna line up our subs?
When are we gonna start construction?
When are we gonna end constructionand contract signing and all that.
So that's, oh, that's awesome.
A really long-winded way of telling youexactly how we walk through this, but it's
(11:28):
very high touch, very, um, you know, wewanna make sure that people understand
what they're walking into during theconstruction process as well as, um.
Working with us throughout, hopefullythe whole process, they're feeling
the same way, um, including thefollow up and warranty process.
Eric (11:47):
No, that's, that's awesome.
I love the, uh, the, the verydetailed, intentional, you know,
kind of check-in points and, and,and touch points there along the way.
I wanna go back.
So, so the price guide.ai, that's, uh, youknow, Marcus Sheridan's, uh, tool there.
Super, super awesome.
I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm curious tolearn a little bit more about that.
Like, you know, have you found that,you know, the, the estimate that.
It's providing has been, you know,fairly accurate and within the ballpark,
(12:11):
like how much work have you done toreally fine tune that, you know, to
make sure that it is aligning with,you know, ultimately what, what you
think you'll be able to come out with.
Blair (12:19):
So you can set like basics, like, hey, a, a three piece
bathroom, a minimum is $25,000.
You know?
Um, and you could, you could setthat if it was a powder room, you
could set a different minimum.
Um, you can set it basedon the square footage.
You, I have modified it to whereit's like, okay, how far out
(12:39):
are we gonna be scheduling this?
Because my pricing today is goingto be different than my pricing
in three or six or 12 months.
So I've included modifications andadjustments based on anticipated increases
in material costs, labor costs, um, laborshortages because of what's going on.
You know, all of thesethings that adjust and.
(13:02):
Modify based on what you want.
Do you want designer finishes?
Do you wanna work with a designer?
Um, are we providing that designer?
All of those questions go into it.
So we've got, um, a price guidefor a bathroom with all of the
options, a kitchen, an addition,and soon a screen porch.
(13:23):
So, yeah.
Eric (13:25):
Nice.
Yeah.
And have you found that, like, youknow, have you, have you been able
to kind of look and, and measure the,you know, kind of the conversion rate?
I mean, is that, you know, is,is that obviously you know.
The people who just were, were notanywhere close to within that budget,
that that kind of just sort of weedsthem out and then the people who
are kind of keeps, keeps 'em going.
Blair (13:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we've had several peoplewho are calling in and saying,
well, I really don't have anyidea what this project is worth.
Um, I would love to have a budget,but I just don't know what's real.
So that's a great wayfor them to like get.
A realistic idea of what constructioncosts in Nashville, um, for the
type of project that they want.
(14:04):
Do they want under cabinet lighting?
Do they want, uh, sconces ordo they want a vanity light?
You know, there's so many ofthose little different nuanced
things and it's not perfect.
And you know, there's clarification sevenways to Sunday, but it at least provides
some context for where we're going.
Um.
(14:24):
And just, you know, a startingpoint to continue a conversation.
Eric (14:28):
Yeah.
And I, you know, I see on yourwebsite you've, you know, you,
you've really done a good job.
You know, I think trying to providemore of the educational, you
know, content too, to help peopleunderstand, you know, what it's like.
'cause, 'cause you're right, a lot of,you know, people, they don't, they've
never gone through a construction project.
They don't know what it's like.
And so I think, you know, the morecomfortable you can, you know,
make them feel and the betterthat you can sort of warm them up.
(14:50):
And then when it comes to thosefirst conversations, like, you know,
it's, it's not as much of a shock,hopefully, when they've already
had a couple different, you know.
Areas where they can learn a littlebit more about what it might be
like and what the budget would be.
Blair (15:02):
Right?
We wanna, our goal witheverything that we do is to answer
questions before their questions.
We know what your next question's goingto be because we, we deal with clients
and customers all the time, and we knowthat this is a sticky point, and this is
a spot that people feel uncomfortable.
So our whole goal in.
Growing this company is to answerquestions and to make people feel more
(15:24):
comfortable with us than anyone else.
Part of that is a fully women-ledmanagement staff, which is
unheard of in construction, letalone residential remodeling.
I mean, it's just, it's crazy.
So, you know, I think that thathas been a huge selling point and
beneficial portion of our business.
Eric (15:47):
That's great.
Do you, do you find that, like, you know,when, when people are doing that initial
outreach, I mean, is it, is it moreoften, you know, the, the, the woman,
you know, the, the the person kind ofreaching out and then you're able to,
you know, kind of have that connection?
Like, or, you know, are, are you, youknow, seeing a lot of people, I mean,
I'm, I'm just curious, like, who, whoare you kind of getting those initial
contacts with and at what point doyou try to bring in both, you know,
(16:09):
if let's say it's a husband and wife,like at what point do you want to
be, you know, pitching to both peopleversus just working with one of them?
Blair (16:16):
We would love to have conversations with both the whole way through.
I mean, the goal would be that weare able to connect with both of
the people in the household, whetherthey're the decision maker or not.
That's my, oh, that really gets me going.
Uh, the, I can't speak toyou without your husband bit.
Oh man, that makes me wanna rage.
(16:36):
Um, our goal would be to speak to bothpeople because our goal is to connect
with both people in the relationshipand in the household, however.
Most of the time I feel that weare being reached out to by the,
um, the one who is at home more.
(16:57):
And so that person traditionally is afemale in a heterosexual relationship.
Um, and those, we also found that duringCOVID especially, people were like, well.
If I'm not proud of my space,I don't wanna have people over.
And so people are like, how do I nestand how do I, like if I have to spend
(17:19):
this much time at home and if I can'tgo out, then I wanna bring people in.
And so how do I make thisspace more comfortable?
And so that's where a lot ofpeople were like, you know, really
reaching out and stuff, whichhas changed a little bit, but um,
Eric (17:34):
sure
Blair (17:35):
it's been interesting.
Eric (17:37):
Would you say that, you know, again, being a woman owned, woman led, you know,
business has that, like, do you feel likethere have been, you know, it's, it's.
If there've been additionalchallenges for you to overcome,
you know, in the field, either withclients or with subcontractors.
Like, you know, some of the, some ofthe other women owned businesses that
I've, that I've had on the show have,have, you know, expressed that, you know,
sometimes, you know, they don't feel likethey're getting the same level of expect.
(17:59):
And it's like, look, I, I know just aboutconstruction, you know, just as much
about construction as any other contractorthat's gonna come to your house.
How, how have you sort of feltthat, you know, has, has that
been a hindrance to you at all?
Blair (18:10):
I don't experience that very much with, um, clients per se.
Uh, every once in a while I'llget some rando who, you know,
my, I have a, I have a boy name.
I was named after men.
And so when I show up, peopleare like, I'm sorry, who are you?
Like, are you the marketing girl?
Like, what's happening, you know?
Um, so that, you know, but it's not veryoften that I deal with that with clients.
(18:34):
I will sometimes getit with subcontractors.
Um, but at the same time, ourmanagement staff is female.
And so it's not surprising whenanother lady walks up to site.
Uh, my thing is I'm like, don'tstop working when I'm here.
Like, I need you to get the job done.
Like, just pick up yourtools, get your work done.
(18:55):
Like, let's keep moving.
Um, but it is, it's like you.
Some people will say that it's likefighting underwater, uh, trying
to prove that you belong here.
And as much as I don't disagree withthe fact that like this is a different
experience than what men experience,um, I think that the benefits of what we
(19:22):
are doing and the way that we are doingit, um, is worth the struggle, I guess.
I
Eric (19:30):
mean, it'd be great to see more women getting, you know, even
into the, the, the field roles too.
I mean, do you, do you see any, you know,like any, any ideas or any, you know,
advice or guidance that you might be ableto share with women out there who, you
know, may be looking to, to, to figureout how they can get into construction?
Because, you know, again, it's, it's.
Phenomenal profession.
You know, there's great opportunitieswith so many amazing companies, but,
(19:52):
you know, I feel like there's that kindof, that mental, you know, barrier to
thinking that like, they, they can't,and, and that's not true at all.
It's, it's just, you know, they need that.
Right.
You know, kind of encouragement.
Go get the training, go, youknow, what, what do you see?
What do you think is, is theopportunity there for women?
I
Blair (20:06):
think that the problem really is that.
Women traditionally, and girlsjust don't even think that this
is a possibility, you know?
And so I think the sooner that wecan implement the idea that you can.
Go do all of these things.
Go be a union electrician, go be alineman, go like there is, oh my God,
(20:28):
there's so much money to be made and somuch opportunity, especially with the
boomer generation retiring and so muchknowledge that is about to be lost.
It's, it's crazy and it really isconcerning because you don't know
how this is going to impact ourlabor force in 5, 10, 15 years.
(20:49):
Um.
But the goal would be that we meet womenwhere they are and girls where they are
as early as we can get them, and justcontinue to say like, Hey, this is not a
difficult, this is not an easy row to hoe.
However, the juice is worth the squeeze.
(21:11):
You know, we've been doing this, I've beendoing this for, oh God, close to 15 years.
Um, and I, I know I, I look like I'm five.
No, I like to tell people, I'm like,I know I look 47, but I'm really 36.
This is construction, but it's, uh,it is a valuable business to be in.
(21:34):
There's so much opportunity, and aspeople retire and age out and go enjoy
the fruits of their labor over theselast 30, 40 years in construction,
there's gonna be even more opportunity.
Eric (21:46):
So, absolutely.
You know, and, and, and we were talkingearlier, and I mean, you, you said kind
of, you know, one of your philosophiesis really trying to build, you know,
your, your business around avoiding.
The typical construction, chaos and, and,and the mess and everything that gets, you
know, I mean, it, it, it is complicated.
I mean, there are a lot of movingparts, you know, construction and,
and it's, it's not easy, right.
(22:06):
And it, it takes, you know, a lot ofcoordination to be able to pull off, you
know, these, these large scale projects.
I mean, you, you gotmultiple trades involved.
You got, you know, could be weeks,months, long projects, you know, and to
make sure that you're not dropping ballsand that things aren't going off the
rails and you're staying on budget like.
That is a very, you know, difficulttask and most people, you know,
again, they, they struggle with that.
(22:27):
So, you know, I'm curious to learnmore about, you know, your philosophy
and how you've gone about, you know,trying to build a business that,
you know, that avoids all of that.
Blair (22:35):
Well, I mean, I think that what people tell.
Every construction company at theend of every project is, I just
wish there was more communication.
I just wish there was more communication.
Um, I wish that, you know, I just knew alittle bit more about what was going on,
um, because this is really overwhelming.
I mean, outside of the house thatyou are purchasing, this is likely
(23:00):
a large renovation would be thelargest investment that you make.
Um, and so this is.
Such a huge undertaking.
So we, you know, we workreally hard to control dust.
We work really hard to, uh, makesure that we know that if you have
animals, that they stay inside.
(23:20):
We make really sure that we're notleaving, um, dangerous openings
in the floor or, you know, uh.
Utilities open or anything like that.
When we leave, at the end of theday, we're making sure that we're
not leaving our tools everywhere.
'cause you live here, like there's justso many ways, so many little things.
(23:41):
We've added all of these checklistthings to our daily log, and did you
reset the thermostat to how you set it?
Or if you changed the thermostat, did youreset it to how it was when you got here?
Um, have you, if you opened anywindows, did you reclose them?
Just all of those little things,and that's part of our daily log
and JobTread because it's, these arethe things that you learn over time.
(24:02):
It's like, well, I gotta callat 8:00 PM because you left
the window open and it rained.
It's like, well, now that'ssome, how do we prevent this
from happening in the future?
We make it a checklist.
Eric (24:13):
Do you have, like, just like how you, you know, you, you said earlier
in the process, kind of while they're,while they're waiting, while you're
preparing the detailed estimate, youknow, you send them kind of a, you
know, a couple, you know, a couplevideos, things to engage them on, on,
on kind of where that process is going.
Do you, do you have other touchpoints like once you've gotten into
construction where you're, you're sendingout like engagement type content to
(24:35):
kind of give them, you know, updates?
Blair (24:37):
So every, I mean, our project manager's on site.
Basically every day on every project.
Um, but additionally, wesend out Thursday updates.
We found that people tend to stew overthe weekend, and so our goal is to
hit them before they start stewing.
There's that preemptivecommunication that we're trying
(24:58):
to engage throughout our business.
Um.
So we just send like, here's what happenedand here's what's about to happen.
Here's your updatedschedule from JobTread.
And um, here is your project ledger,which is something that we've created,
um, just like this is what yourcontract value is based on your base
contract, any change orders, anydeductive change orders, et cetera.
(25:21):
This is your total contractand here's what you paid.
So this is what you have left to owe.
Um, and I understand thatthere's been an update that.
Job Try is doing that for us now.
And we just haven't figured it out yet.
We haven't even started.
But that's how we've kind of donethat too, is just by creating these,
uh, project ledgers so that wecan answer questions before people
(25:41):
even know what the question is.
Um, that's great.
And then, uh, for awarranty process, we have.
Started reaching out, um, 30 days afterour project has ended, and then we set
a reminder at 11 months, uh, after theproject ends and saying like, Hey, your 12
month warranty is about 30 days from over.
(26:04):
Would love to see if there'sanything that you need.
Otherwise, we have enjoyed workingyour space and enjoyed seeing
this space come back to life.
So.
Eric (26:13):
That's awesome.
And
Blair (26:14):
we're reminding people that, you know, there's this resource
that is included as part of yourcontract if something's going
wrong and we wanna know about it,
Eric (26:22):
did, does that ever turn into an additional job or more
work beyond just kind of whatevermight be a warranty claim?
Blair (26:28):
It hasn't yet.
Um, but I think it's just like, oh,these people said that they were
gonna do this and then they did it.
It's like, okay, this builds so muchcredibility and trust and, and they feel
so much more confident telling theirfriends about us because, um, now it's
like, okay, yeah, you, you said youwere gonna do this and now you did it.
(26:49):
Look you there.
Amazing.
Eric (26:52):
Yeah.
You know, you, you talkedabout how, you know, you.
When you think about how to improve aproject, you know, from the client's
perspective, it's it's that they wishthat they knew more and that they were
kept in the loop and, and they, youknow, they, they saw the, the activity
and, and that just, that reminds meof, so when, when I had, uh, our pool
built at our house, like it was, itwas done by a job truck contractor.
(27:12):
And at first they weren'tsharing the daily logs with us.
And I was like, Hey, you know.
I just so happen to know there arelikely daily logs there, you know?
Would you guys be open to share?
Like
Blair (27:21):
you so happen to know they didn't know who you were.
Eric (27:23):
Yeah, no, they, they knew who I was.
I was, come off man.
I think it'd be awesome if, youknow, if, if they shared the
daily logs, they're like, well, wenever really thought about that.
I was like, yeah, like, you know,that, that would just like be, you
know, really neat for us to see that.
And then when they did it, I meanit was like total game changer.
Like we felt so much more involved.
In the project, like we were alongthe journey with them, right.
(27:44):
And just seeing all of the things and, andeven the things that like, there's no way
we would've seen or known, like they, theyeven shared like just the internal stuff.
Like, you know, hey, you know,we're, we're still waiting.
Hadn't gotten a, you know, hadn'theard back about when we'll
be able to get this scheduled.
But like, you know, to us, like, youmight not think that, you know, the
client would wanna know that, but like.
Oh my gosh.
Like, you know, they're, you know, andwith a pool, there's a lot of kind of,
(28:07):
you know, times where you can end upwaiting and it's like, we're sitting there
wondering like, when are they coming out?
Are they, you know, where are they?
Where, you know, we'recalling the project manager.
Like, and when they started sharing that,like, it was just like such a, it, it,
honestly, it felt like a relief to beable to just go and check in whenever
we wanted and say, oh, okay, cool.
Yeah.
They're just still waiting on that.
Like, you know, it it, like you said,it, it just, it, it really helps.
(28:29):
So that you're not stewing over theweekend and that you're not sitting
there thinking they're dropping ballsand that we need to like, you know,
keep micromanaging the project becauselike there's so much behind the scenes
that happens that, you know, again, theclients just often aren't privy to that.
And I think it's like, you know, tothe extent that people are willing
to open up and, and provide thatextreme level of transparency, you
know, to to, to the extent that youknow that, that, that makes sense.
(28:51):
You know, I think that's awesome.
Now, again, if you got a bunch ofdifferent crews and they're all
submitting daily logs and like, I,you know, I totally agree that like
sometimes the larger, you know,especially longer term project, maybe
it makes sense and it sounds like youguys might be curating, you know, a
daily log that you're sharing, you know,once a week or something like that.
Like a weekly
Blair (29:07):
log.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Eric (29:09):
Totally think that, you know, that, that, that works.
That makes sense too.
And I, and I think though, it's, it'sjust the, the action of like, you know,
being proactive and sharing informationalong the way and not just waiting till
that major milestone or that next drawpayment that, that you need to get paid.
Blair (29:23):
Exactly.
You know, it's like if the only timeI'm hearing from you is when you need
money, it's like you are probably notmanaging this relationship in the way
that you said that you were going to.
So how do we, how do we move this forward?
How do we, it's always like, you know,there's this funnel of success and so how
do we keep moving up so that we're moresuccessful as we go up in the funnel?
Eric (29:46):
So.
How do you go about, you know, you, you,I think you had mentioned earlier that
you were using nice job, you know, what,what's your strategy to, you know, really
try to take, you know, a very happy,satisfied client and, and, and, and
really kind of, you know, leverage thatto, you know, to either get referrals,
you know, to, you know, get, you know,five star reviews, whatever it may be.
Like, what's your approach there?
Blair (30:08):
So we have, we deploy it, we've got a, a handyman, um, small projects, and we
book him out for minimums of two hours sohe can hit a lot of jobs any given week.
Um, and so we will finish, uh, aproject and invoice and once they
pay, it's like, okay, we need toni, we need to get them a nice job.
(30:31):
So my next thing is like, how do we workthrough automations and also JobTread.
I know that you guys are workingon that, which is very exciting.
So Ca Zapier is not good on my brain.
Um, it's, it is not logical.
Um, so we're, you know, I'm excited tobring in more automations on things like
that, but also we've had clients who arejust like, I don't, what do you want me?
(30:57):
To put in a review, and I know thatthere's somebody I think in Florida,
um, who has developed an AI writing,like a, a review writing tool.
And he will.
It's like it asks you a few questions andthen you answer them and then it's like,
well, what do you think about this review?
(31:18):
And then if you like it, then you copyand paste it and put it in Google.
I'm like, that's brilliant.
Awesome.
Like, he's way smarter than me, butI'm like, that is like, if you wanna
highlight certain bits about every,you know, like price, transparency.
Lack of change orders or, youknow, whatever you wanna highlight
(31:39):
because it's part of your brandidentity or whatever, then a tool
like that would make so much sense.
So I
Eric (31:47):
thought
Blair (31:47):
that
Eric (31:47):
that
Blair (31:47):
was
Eric (31:47):
really, really cool.
Do you ever, uh, do, do you evertry to actually like record, like a
video testimonial or capture content?
Blair (31:56):
Yeah, so we've got, um, testimonials on our site, um, and we, you
know, we love getting video testimonials.
They don't do super well.
Like, um, as far like video doesn't.
Show up on Google or whatever.
I don't really know how it all works,uh, but we love getting people on video
(32:18):
just talking about their experienceand you know, the, how the renovation
makes them feel and how this house isso much more them after the fact than
it was before and stuff like that.
I think it just brings such a humantouch to a Google review, you know?
Eric (32:35):
Have you ever brought out.
Ha.
Have you ever thought about like, or,or, or have you ever brought out like a
professional, you know, videographer orsomebody to like, you know, maybe, you
know, you got a really awesome projectand like having somebody come out?
You know, I mean, a lot of times Iknow people will have professional
photos done, which, you know, again,I highly recommend think it's awesome.
I, there's one person, uh, I dunno,several months ago, told me on
(32:56):
builder stories, they actually have.
Uh, that they have a professional photoshoot like scheduled and then they
tell them, Hey, by the way, you know,you, you and your family might as well,
you know, get dressed up and we'd behappy to shoot some family photos for
you too while we're already out there.
Everybody said it's just like sucha great, like no, they're, they're
getting two birds of the one stone andthe family gets exactly these awesome
(33:17):
photos in front of this work that theyjust did, and now it truly is a prized
possession they're gonna put on the wall.
And remember forever, right?
Blair (33:24):
No, that's brilliant.
Um, yeah, no, we have our,we have a lot of our projects
photographed professionally.
Um, but most of the videos thatwe've shot are just like on a self.
We're lucky if we put it on like a tripod.
But, um, yeah, we've got one guy on ourcrew that has some marketing experience.
We're like, Hey, I'm gonnause you for a half hour.
Like, let's just go talk to these people.
(33:46):
Whatever.
Eric (33:46):
Nice.
So have, have you ever, uh, you know, andagain, by, I'm gonna go ahead and assume
so, I mean, ha like, has there ever beena project where, you know, kind of got,
got off track, unexpected things happen,and, and, and how did you deal with that?
Like how did you, you know, help the,help help the client work through and,
and have the confidence that you guyswill be able to get it all figured out?
Blair (34:06):
You know, we've had a few situations where like, you know,
things went differently than what.
We had hoped and what we had promised, andobviously what our expected experience is.
And so, you know, the thing that wehave to do is to mind our contract.
Um, we have to make sure thatwe're honoring our commitments
(34:30):
and sometimes people'sexpectations, um, are not reality.
And so communicating that, hey, thisis, this is what reality is, and.
I think it's just having a reallyfrank and honest conversation
with people goes such a long way.
(34:50):
Um, whether that be face to face,uh, in a coffee shop, you know, just
like having a really calm and logicalconversation goes such a long way.
Um, and, you know, sometimesit still doesn't work, but.
It, you know, you do what you can.
(35:11):
You're still a human.
Sometimes things don't go theway that you want them to.
Um, but the goal is to keep a client.
Uh, I don't not like not trashingyour name, but the goal would be to
at least gain enough trust that theystill believe that you are a good
(35:33):
person in it at the end of the day.
Right.
Eric (35:37):
Yeah.
I think, you know, again, as justbeing, you know, as transparent
as you possibly can, you know,
Blair (35:41):
absolutely.
Eric (35:42):
Come out with it.
Fall on the sword right away.
We're not gonna just throwthings under the rug.
It's, you know, it, it, it does go a longway when people do come in and admit their
mistakes and say, look, this happened.
We should have done this.
Here's what we're gonna do.
This is what I want.
Blair (35:54):
Right?
Yeah.
This is, this is not what ourexpectations are and I am so
sorry that this has happened.
And there, there are alwaysgoing to be those projects.
Yeah.
Eric (36:06):
And, you know, again, I think to, to the extent that you can educate
them upfront that, look, the one knownof of construction is that there are
unknowns, you know, that is guaranteedevery time we are gonna, I don't have
Blair (36:17):
x-ray eyeballs turns out.
Eric (36:20):
Yep.
So you, you had mentioned earlierto me that, you know, I think it
was maybe about six months ago youhad joined Remodelers Advantage.
Is that right?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm, I'm curious what, youknow, what, what led you to that
group and, and what's it been like?
Blair (36:35):
So, um, I've got, uh, a couple years of experience in EO in
Nashville, which is a huge chapter.
Um, we don't qualify for the realeo, um, because of our revenue.
Which has to be like, a lothigher than what we are.
Um, but we qualified for Catalyst,which is like, hey, here is like, learn
(36:58):
how to be an entrepreneur basically.
So that's an 18 month program, sixmonths of classes, and then 12 months
of forum, which was small group.
And then I did another yearof forum, um, to continue to
grow and forum and, you know.
Communicate with otherentrepreneurs in town.
So, you know, we had, um,marketing managers, we had, or
(37:21):
marketing agency owners really.
We had a bubble tea shop.
We had a restaurateur, you know,I mean they're really like broad.
We had therapist really broad, um,businesses, which was super cool.
Um, and I realized just likeevery year I get a new group.
I have to start over and there'sso much intimacy and I was like, I
(37:43):
just wanna make a home somewhere.
And so I realized that as long as Istayed in EO until I got into big eo, I
was going to continue getting new people.
And I was like, I need to find a home.
So I did some research.
Um, I have done some, you know.
Private business coaching previously, andit ended up always just being social hour.
(38:07):
And I was like, I need somethinga little more like, you know, set.
I need some rigidity, I need somehigh expectations, all the things.
And so I figured that a groupof remodelers specifically in
such a niche, um, experience andmarket would be super beneficial.
So ended up signing on, did theirjumpstart in January and February,
(38:27):
and I joined the Atlas group.
So.
Eric (38:31):
Awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's a great, great organization.
I mean, I, you know, I, I, I love.
How focused and how dialed in they are.
And I mean, you know, you dohave to have a minimum revenue
to, to join their program.
But I, I think that really helpsto narrow, you know, the, the, the
focus for everyone that's in therethat like, you know, you, you're
likely going through a lot of thesame challenges at the same time.
(38:52):
Hitting those kind of, those, thosecommon growth spur, you know, once
you know, it's kind of getting to amillion is, is a whole different set
of challenges that than to go from, youknow, one to, to two, to five to 10 to 20.
And so I, I like that they'vereally been very intentional about
the members that they bring in.
And, and they're all focused on, youknow, remodeling, design build, you
know, it's, it's a very great group.
(39:13):
You know, we've, we've been, we'vebeen part of that organization just
as you know, as, as partners for, formany years now, and it's been awesome
to watch the growth of, you know,of their organization as a whole.
But then just to see the impact of somany, you know, of our JobTread users
who have joined and gone through it.
I mean, I, you know, I, I, I literally,I can see firsthand like, you know, you
know, you, you get in there in a couplemonths, you're going by, and then boom,
(39:34):
there's just this like, kind of, it, itfeels like a, a rocket takes off and,
and like everything, you know, must startto click because like they, they really
get you dialed in and then seeing andworking so closely with your peers, you
know, and I love how, like, you, I thinkit's like what, twice a twice a year,
you kind of go around to different, youknow, companies, actual offices and spend
time doing those round tables with their
Blair (39:54):
employees, which is like such a big thing.
It's massive.
It's crazy.
Eric (40:00):
It's so neat to say, you know, again, I, I think.
I think it's so helpful for, for,for all entrepreneurs out there and
business owners and, and leaders whoyou know, it, it, it can, it can very
often feel very lonely at the top andyou think, you know, you're the only
one you know, and that you, you don'thave that, that peer or that person that
you know you can kind of connect with.
And that's where like these, you.
These, these groups and theseorganizations that are, are built around,
(40:22):
creating those connections like thatcan make such a huge impact, right?
When you have now that, that those,those, those dedicated people that,
you know, they get to know you.
And like anytime you have that challengeor something comes up like, you know,
tough employees situation, like younow have that, that place to reach out
to and get that, you know, that thirdparty perspective who is, you know, not,
not, you know, deep in the thick of it.
(40:43):
They're like, Hey, here's what it lookslike from my perspective, and here's
maybe some ideas like that's so valuable.
Blair (40:48):
My favorite is like, people come up with like these crazy stories and it's
like, has anybody dealt with this before?
And if you have, how did you protectyourself going forward so you
didn't have to deal with it again?
That's always my favorite thing to ask islike, okay, what did we learn from this?
And how do we protectourselves in the future?
Eric (41:03):
Yeah.
Blair (41:04):
So how do we prevent future issues?
Eric (41:07):
So I'm, I'm curious, you know, talking about the future,
like what's, what's your goal here?
What, you know, what's the,the, the five, 10 year plan?
Where do you want, you know,to, to, to take the business?
Blair (41:17):
Um, well, we would like to grow.
We're in kind of smallbusiness purgatory right now.
We're in this weird one and a half to $3million range, and it's like, how do we
bust through this as quickly as possible?
Um, and we.
I mean, the, the end goal would be asell, but I don't know if that's reality.
But the whole goal is to definitelyget it to a point where it doesn't
(41:39):
feel like as much of a job, Isuppose, um, and is not quite as
overwhelming as maybe it is right now.
So a little more freedom, a littlemore, uh, ability to say no to
jobs that aren't a perfect fit.
That'd be great.
Eric (41:54):
Sure.
You know, I think it's,uh, it's, it's, you know.
It's all a function of time.
Right.
You know, and, and, and, and the morethat you can, you know, have an annual
budget, kind of plan out your growthand understand, you know, 'cause I
see a lot of times people, you know,entrepreneurs, I mean, it, it's, it's
very difficult to, to quit just puttingon every hat and just wanting to dive
in and do it all yourself and, youknow, at the right time, time, wastes
Blair (42:15):
time.
Yeah.
Right.
I can't, I can't waste time in dreaming
Eric (42:19):
Yeah.
Know exactly.
And so, but you know, it's, it's, again,it comes back to like, when is the right
time to keep building out the team?
Ultimately, you know, when you canstart kind of shedding some of those
responsibilities and be able to putpeople in place that are hopefully
better than you at dealing withwhatever responsibility it may be.
Like, I think that's where, you know, Istart to see people, you know, able to,
(42:40):
to kind of have a little bit less of that,you know, every single day it's, you know,
where we're, we're, we're shouldering allthe way to the world and you know, having
to, you know, play firefighter, dealingwith all those, those tough situations,
it's all about building out a great team.
Right.
You know, which is, you know,is interesting you said.
You thought it's kind of been one of the,you know, the most challenging things
is finding the right people to get ontothe team, which, you know, it, it can,
(43:00):
it can take a long time to, to do that.
And, and, and I think, you know,to some extent it's, it's also
about, you know, making sure thatyou're, you know, that, that, that
you know what you're looking for.
You know, having those clearly definedroles, responsibilities, you know, not
just taking the first person that comesin the door and hiring them because, you
know, you need somebody in that seat.
You know, it's about, you know,finding the, the right people.
(43:22):
What does your, like, what, what isyour recruiting and, and, and, you
know, kind of hiring process look like?
Blair (43:28):
Um, our goal is always to hire for the ability to do the job,
but also our team is so small thatif somebody is not a good culture
fit, none of the rest of it matters.
So, you know, we've gotthis checklist of, you know.
The job description says you needto do this and this and this.
And so we will judge them based ona score of one to 10 of can they do
(43:52):
these things and how do we prove this?
And then the last bit, and it's weightedthe heaviest are the vibes sounds.
So Gen Z, but, um, it's like we, you,you, if you don't want to collaborate
with someone, if you don't want to bein such a close proximity with someone
(44:14):
who you work with every single day, andthen none of the rest of it matters.
No.
You know.
Eric (44:23):
So I, I, you know, I think some of the, the, the, the, the things I've heard
that, that really make the most sensehere is that, you know, I mean, and if
you think about it, right, like, it's easyfor someone to come in and put on their
game face for an hour or two, you know,but like, what I've, what I've heard to be
the most effective way is to actually, youknow, bring them in for a day or a couple
days and, and again, you pay 'em andeverything, but like, go like, you know.
(44:45):
Submerge them with theteam into the projects.
Like what is it like being with thatperson at the end of a hard day?
Is that the type of person, you know,that that, that you wanna be at working
side by side with every single dayand like really making sure that yeah,
they, do they feel like a great fit?
Like do you want to go spendtime with them outside of work?
Is that a person you know, youwant to get to know and like you're
(45:05):
excited to, to work with every day?
And you know, I'm a big proponentof, you know, again, involve, you
know, many people on your team.
That recruiting in that hiring processbecause, you know, at the end of
the day, like the, the team itselfknows best if this is gonna be a
good addition or if this is gonnabe, you know, not a good addition.
And, you know, we, we, wedo that here at JobTread.
I mean, it's, you know, we, we give peoplean exercise, they gotta come in, they
(45:27):
gotta, you know, go through a full thingand, and there will be a team of us.
And sometimes that'sintimidating to people.
But look, at the end of the day, likeif, if you didn't wanna involve people.
Blair (45:36):
JobTread is so collaborative and JobTread has, you know, I
feel like you have created sucha, not bottom up, but what is it?
Um, you know, there's like this funneland the owners at the bottom and it's
like, rather than the normal trianglewhere the owners at the top, you have
created a situation like this whereyou are really supporting your team.
(45:59):
And something else that I sawthat I thought was so interesting
and so beautiful is, um.
There are certain companies, and I can'tremember which one, but they require that
the most junior in the room speak first.
Uh, as far as like providingfeedback on a presentation or
(46:20):
whatever because they, they wannasee who has the right, uh, like.
Kind of gut feel and it's notbeing intimidated or influenced
by those who are more senior.
So I thought that that was reallyinteresting and it's kind of
something, you know, we provide.
It's like if anybody has bad vibes onsomebody, you get veto power like we are.
(46:43):
That that's not it.
If somebody's gut is saying this is ared flag, like we wanna know about it.
So yeah, that's kind of what we've done.
Eric (46:52):
I, I, I love that.
And, and I, and I wholeheartedly believethere's like, just, there's, there's
an energy about people, like when, whenthey step into the room, like I can,
like within like minutes, like just.
You hear 'em talking for just a fewminutes, like you can tell that, that
energy, like, is this a very positiveenergy or are you feeling hesitation
or feeling something a little bit off?
Like, you know, you gotta learn to listento that gut intuition and, you know, I
(47:14):
feel like too though, you know, again,just like what you said, like it's often,
it's, it's easy for it know, like, let,let's say I'm super gung-ho on someone.
Like, I, I really want thisperson to work and like.
But like to some extent, sometimesthat can be like blinders, right?
And it's like I'm onlyseeing what I wanna speak
Blair (47:29):
so desperate for this position to be filled that I'm willing to,
and then you find out, well, thiswould've been cheaper and easier
for me to just continue doing whatI was doing as opposed to hiring,
documenting, and then firing someone,and then starting the process over.
So,
Eric (47:48):
yeah, I, I, I also believe a lot, I mean, kind of to to what
you're saying about, you know, thekind of the owner being at the bottom.
Like, I, I, my, my, my goal hasalways been, you know, to keep
organizations as flat as possible.
You know, I feel like when you geta bunch of hierarchy, you know,
a bunch of bureaucrat, you know.
Just, it just, it, the, the organizationjust slows down tremendously.
And if you hire the right people whodon't need to be micromanaged, like
(48:12):
your goal, my, my goal is to just removebarriers and remove blockers so that my
people can fly, you know, not be heldback and tracked and all this and that.
Like, you know, I think at the endof the day, like I, you know, I,
I want my sleeves rolled up and Iwanna be right down in the trenches
next to anyone else in that company.
And there's nothing that, like, Iwouldn't ask someone else to do that.
Like, I couldn't or haven'tdone myself, you know?
(48:32):
My team would probably tell you, I need toquit doing some of the things that I do.
And I just, it's like, look,I, you know, I, yeah, I still
built desks for new employees.
I, I don't know, I, I probablyshouldn't, and I know we need to be
hiring more of that out, but like,I just, you know, some of the things
I do, I just, I can't help myself.
But like, I, I think that at the end ofthe day, like I want the team to know that
like, I'm not just, you know, wanting tosit back and, you know, get fat and happy.
(48:53):
I'm, I'm trying to workjust as hard of Yeah.
I mean, I, I wanna be the hardest worker.
Uh.
Blair (49:00):
Yeah, so I, no, I think that's really respectable and I think it's
such a, I think that goes so far inthe intangible culture of the business,
and I think that's why you guyshave built such cult following and
such a, you know, really loyal team.
So there's, you shouldbe giving this podcast.
(49:21):
How things are going fory'all, what you're doing.
You've got things to teach.
Eric (49:26):
I'm, I'm curious though, when, you know, and, and I think one of the
things that's been, you know, reallyhelpful for us too is, I mean, we, we,
we have a very clear mission and visionand, you know, our, our, our purpose
is, is, is just very, very clear and,and that helps us to recruit and attract
people with that similar, you know,passion and that similar drive and
motivation and desire to help others.
How have you gone about, you know,thinking about, you know, what, what's
(49:49):
the, the vision and the mission of, of,of BEC and, and how do you, you know,
instill that into all of your people?
Blair (49:55):
You know, we haven't done a great job of, you know, quote unquote publishing
or even finalizing anything like that.
It probably needs to be a higher priority,and it's just not, to be frank, it's
like, um, we're, I feel like that's.
Uh, what's aspirational?
(50:15):
Um, you know, which is a beautiful thing.
And I think as we get, um, furtherin and with more people and a bigger
team and stuff like that, we'regonna have people who are gonna
buy in and people who are not.
Um, right now it's kind of this like.
Unspoken, like, Hey, you know, we, we tookour guys to Topgolf, um, on Monday, uh,
(50:38):
to celebrate the business, turning fiveand like everybody's families came out
and it's just like really, really cool.
Um, you know, and so if you, if youdon't wanna be part of that, then
this probably isn't the right placefor you if you don't want to have
lunch together on a Friday afternoon.
Um.
For, you know, finishing up a really toughproject because you'd rather just go home.
(50:59):
This probably isn't a spotfor you, and that's okay.
Like, I've got 27 other recommendationsfor people who might fit you better.
That's okay.
But, you know, we,
Eric (51:09):
I love involving the family.
I mean, that, that such a good move,you know, and it's like, hey, when they,
Blair (51:14):
we take so much of our guys' time and you know, it's like.
They come home with all these stories ofthings that happened and everything else.
It's like, it's really good tolike put a face with a name.
And our guys have been withus for a long time now.
Um, so it's not like they're meetingfor the first time, you know, but it
is like, you know, several, I thinkour whole team, yeah, our whole team
came to our house for Thanksgiving.
(51:35):
'cause several of themdon't have family close by.
It's like, well we're having, you know,a big family Thanksgiving, so might as
well just make enough for everybody.
Um, so just stuff like that.
It's, it's really fun.
Eric (51:46):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, let me ask you though, I mean,what, what gets you up every day?
Like what do you, what makes you themost excited about, you know, coming
to work and, and, and, and what is itthat you know that that drives you?
Blair (51:58):
So I think that I'm finally allowing myself
to really enjoy and lean intowhere is the company going next?
And it's like this big picture and.
I'm still doing the estimate.
I'm still doing sales, you know, I'mstill doing all of these things, but
(52:21):
I'm also getting to, you know, whichis very like 10 foot in front of you.
But I'm also getting to look up and seewhat's ahead of us and planning and being
preemptive and trying to think aboutwhere the company's gonna be in a year.
Where are we gonna be in two?
Where are we gonna be in five?
(52:42):
Where, you know, what comes next andwhat is our next hire and what is our
next big, um, what is our next big ask?
Stuff like that.
So those are, that's what I'mreally enjoying right now.
Eric (52:56):
Nice.
Is, is there anything in particularthat like you would love to inspire,
you know, within your community,you know, through your business?
Blair (53:06):
Um, I think that I just would really like to
communicate that renovations.
Can be intimate and they don'thave to be as difficult as what
they have been in the past.
And, um, I think that renovations withoutthe runaround, um, is aspirational.
I mean, I think that it's reallybeautiful and I think that the more
(53:29):
transparency and directness and.
Just communication, um, that you canprovide to any client, no matter what
kind of project you're doing, the moresuccessful everybody's gonna feel,
Eric (53:42):
would you say your company is, uh, is, is, is here for that,
uh, that, that mission to help make,make that a reality for more people.
Blair (53:49):
I mean, that's the goal, right?
That's what we wanna do.
Eric (53:52):
All right.
Well, I think you're on to,uh, you know, kind of a, a, a
vision, a mission statement here.
Come up with some core valuesand know, I, I, I, I do.
I think it's such an important thingthough, to get your teams aligned,
you know, and, and then again, youcan use that, you know, to help also.
Get your clients aligned with yourbusiness and, and, and the core values and
what you're all about and get your subs,trades like everyone working with you.
(54:14):
Like having that and, and, andit, and it can take a long time.
I know people have worked on this foryears, but once you can kind of finally
nail it down, you know, it's so much, youknow, it's such a powerful tool to get
everybody on the same page and, and atthe end of the day when you gotta make
hard decisions or, or have tough times,like being able to fall back on that.
It, it can give you thatboost, that shining light.
(54:36):
This is our guiding light.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Well, look, I, I know we're, uh, comingup here at, at, at the, the top of the
hour, but like, I'm, I'm, I'm curious,like any last, you know, advice that,
you know, you would, you would giveto others who, you know, maybe earlier
on in their journey, you know, if,if you were to start over, you know,
knowing what you know now, like what,what would you have done differently?
(54:57):
What, what would you encourageothers, you know, who, who are trying
to, to build a successful business?
Blair (55:02):
Hmm.
I think that the biggest question thatevery entrepreneur and business should
be asking is, what does the clientneed and what does the client want?
And as soon as you find a way tofocus on those needs and wants, you
(55:23):
know, a need is a renovation or a, arepair or whatever, but the want is.
Not feeling in the dark and notfeeling like they, um, are being
a burden and all of those things.
As soon as you figure outwhat those things are and
how to serve that you're set.
(55:43):
Like you lean in all the way in, just dothe thing like, um, and trust the process.
It's, it's a slog some days andthen other days you, it's like, oh
wow, we're, things are paying off.
Things are happening.
It's awesome.
Easy.
Eric (56:01):
Great, great advice and you know, look, I, Blair, I really appreciate you
coming on sharing your story, you know,some of the challenges and the successes
that you've had and just giving everyone,you know, again, a perspective that,
you know, hopefully they'll be able totake away a couple nuggets from this
and can implement it to their business.
But it's been really awesome justseeing your growth over the last year.
Can't wait to see, you know, in thenext five, 10 years where you're able to
(56:21):
take your business, I have no doubt thatyou'll build something great, something
awesome, and be able to achieve all ofthose goals that you've got for yourself.
So thank you for, for taking the timeto come on and share this with everyone.
Blair (56:31):
Thanks so much for having me.
Eric (56:33):
All right.
Have a good one.
Blair (56:35):
Thanks.
Eric (56:35):
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Builder Stories.
We hope you enjoyed the conversationand gained valuable insights that can
help you in your journey along the way.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe show and leave us a review.
And as always, if you or someone youknow has a story to share, please
contact us@builderstories.com.
(56:55):
We'd love to hear from you.
I'm Eric Fortenberry, and remember,every builder has a unique story.
Keep building yours.
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