August 5, 2025 • 22 mins
What happens when genuine service gets lost in corporate sales tactics? On the Epic Entrepreneur’s Podcast, Dasean Willard, founder of Eagle Air Services and Repair, shares his mission to restore honesty and integrity in the HVAC industry. From flashlight holder at 13 to business owner, his journey offers timeless lessons for entrepreneurs across all fields.
"We've kind of lost our way a little bit in the service industry, and I'm on a mission to clean it up," explains Willard. With private equity companies increasingly acquiring HVAC businesses and prioritizing sales over service, he saw an opportunity to offer something different: honest evaluations and genuine solutions without the aggressive upselling. Having worked for larger companies and witnessed this transformation firsthand, his approach represents a return to fundamentals that many customers find refreshing.
The conversation reveals powerful insights for entrepreneurs across any industry. Willard shares his struggle to properly value his expertise—a common challenge for service-based business owners. "We tend to cut ourselves short," he admits, whether to win a job or out of empathy for customers. His breakthrough came with realizing customers are paying for knowledge, not just time. As he puts it, "When I become more efficient at my job, it's better for both of us."
Among the most memorable moments is Willard's advice on bringing energy to your business: "Be a thermostat, not a thermometer." While thermometers merely react to their environment, thermostats set the temperature and influence everything around them. Similarly, his observation that "direction is way more important than speed" captures the essence of purposeful business growth. These principles, combined with his emphasis on coachability in employees and establishing clear work-family boundaries, provide a roadmap for purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
Want to hear more wisdom from entrepreneurs who are redefining their industries? Subscribe to the Epic Entrepreneur's Podcast for conversations that go beyond business tactics to explore the values and mindsets driving successful leaders.
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All the best!
Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey there and welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneur's Podcast.
Hey, I'm Bill Gilliland withAction Coach, business Growth
Partners and today I am superpumped.
I've got Deshaun Willard ofEagle Air Services and Repair.
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank you for having me Super pumped to be here.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So tell us a little bit about introduce yourself,
tell us a little bit about EagleAir Service and Repair.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, so I've been in the industry, introduced to it
by my stepfather when I wasabout 13.
So always been around it insome capacity, you know, holding
flashlights and handing tools.
And back in the day when wewere doing those things, I
remember saying, man, this isterrible, I could never do this
job and I want to work in the ACand I want to be a dentist.
(00:55):
And until that collegechemistry came around and I was
like, well, maybe dentistry isnot in my future after all.
So many, many years of justlearning in the trade and
on-field experience has beencrucial for me, and after
working for some of the biggercompanies around and just kind
(01:18):
of seeing how things were done,I decided that I would step out
on my own and try to just add anew, fresh perspective to the
industry as a whole.
I think we've kind of lost ourway a little bit in the service
industry and I'm on a mission toclean it up and change it a
little bit.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Let's talk about that a little bit.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthat wanting to clean it up and
make it or whatever you?
I think you said clean it up.
Tell me what that means.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So I think, with this new wave of private equity
sweeping the nation in allindustries really, but
specifically the heating and airindustry I've noticed over the
last few years there's been aslow process over the last
decade maybe really where HVACcompanies and service industries
(02:13):
are getting bought up byprivate equity and when that
happens you know there's a realshift into the sales world as
opposed to the service world, soas to where you used to you had
your neighborhood guy who youcould call and reach out to and
say, hey, my system's notworking, and they would show up,
they would fix what's wrong andthey would leave.
(02:35):
And there's been a little bitof a shift in that and while it
can be beneficial in some ways,I believe that there's
definitely an opportunity forsomebody to come in and just
give an honest opinion and keepit about the service a little
bit less about the sales.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I get it.
I get what you're saying.
I get what you're sayingbecause it can get super salesy
and they put a lot ofcommissions and pressures and
everything on the technicians tosell more to add on to do this.
It can create some conflicts inthere.
So let me ask you something Ifyou had to start over from
(03:16):
square one in the business, whatwould you do differently, man?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
what would I do differently?
I think that first off, I wouldput a little of good talent
technicians who are able to do athorough evaluation of a system
(03:48):
and explain what's going on.
I think I would have done alittle bit more to try and get
other people involved in it andyou know, as I get into some of
the nitty gritty of businessownership, I'm trying to get to
that a little bit more get reachsome of the people who you know
(04:09):
maybe they've never heard ofthe opportunity to be in HVAC
and just trying to spread that,I think is a is a good way to
help kind of combat thatshortage that we're facing as an
industry as a whole.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, yeah, we're.
We're on a bit of that missionhere as well, because you know
we're we're facing as anindustry as a whole.
Yeah, we're on a bit of thatmission here as well, because
we're involved with trades andconstruction and those kind of
industries and we need skilledlabor.
I mean, we need people that aretrained and it's a great
profession and the truth is, AIis never going to replace it.
So it's going to help usactually making it better, but
(04:47):
it's not going to.
Somebody's still got to installthe unit and somebody's still
got to take care of it.
So, yeah, I love that.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings as an owner
and employer?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
employer.
My biggest learnings, well,first and foremost, has been not
being afraid to charge whatyou're worth.
And you know, coming from abackground of very modest
beginnings and understanding thevalue of a dollar, when I first
started out it was really toughfor me to justify to myself
pricing, and I think that can bethe biggest hindrance to a
service-based business owner,especially a small business like
(05:31):
myself.
We tend to cut ourselves short,whether it be to win a job or
whether it be you know you'redealing with a certain specific
situation where you, you knowyour heart, gets into the, into
the mix of like man.
I feel bad for chargingsomebody this much, but you have
to be able to know that yourtime is valuable and you've put
(05:54):
the work in and the time and theeffort and the resources to to
be good at what you do, and thatcosts money.
So that would be the biggestfor me personally uh, biggest
thing, I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, love that.
Yeah, they're not paying foryour time, they're paying for
your expertise and yourknowledge.
That's right and, in fact, ifyou can do it faster, that's
better for everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Had a conversation about that with a client
recently, about the hourly wageand stuff like that, and they're
like, well, that seems to be alittle bit higher.
And I said, yeah, but if youthink of it this way, this job
used to take me five to sixhours to do, but now that I can
(06:36):
do it in two to three hours, whywould I punish myself for
getting better at what I do?
So it's an interestingperspective and it's you know,
when you explain it that way, itmakes a little more sense.
So when I become more efficientat my job, it's better for both
of us.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Oh, 100%, yeah, 100%, yeah, yeah.
I used to own an auto shop andeverything there is set what
they call flat rate, and so,like you change an alternator,
for example, it's, you know,it's an hour and a half or
whatever it is, and that's whatyou charge.
If the technician can get itdone in 45 minutes, he still
gets paid for an hour and a half, and so what they call flat
(07:14):
rate, and that's such better forthe customer.
They get the car back faster.
You know, the better thetechnician is, the everybody
wins, and so it's a win-win.
It's the same here.
It's pretty cool.
What do you think some of thecommon misconceptions are about
running a business and how doyou address them?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The biggest misconception that I had was
life's going to be easy when Istart my business.
When I start my business,everything is just going to flow
and it's just going to happen.
And you know, maybe that's alittle bit of the optimist in me
.
I'm very optimistic and youknow, I believe attitude is
(07:55):
everything.
So I was going into it naive,thinking that, oh, everything's
just going to work itself outand it'll, it'll.
You know, we'll find a way andjust make it happen.
And you know that's a big, bigreality that I had to face, that
things don't just happen.
You got to make them happen.
So that was.
But you know I'm a big believerin saying that.
(08:17):
You know, pressure is aprivilege and you either rise to
the occasion or you don't.
I love that.
Pressure is a privilege and youeither rise to the occasion or,
or you don't.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I love that pressure is a privilege Seems like a good
title for the episode.
Pressure is a privilege, lovethat yeah.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
The main thing, first and foremost.
You know everything that I do,I don't want to, I don't want to
take the credit as if it's it'sme doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Um.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I'm a big believer in uh Lord and savior, jesus
Christ, and I do believe that ifit weren't for him and, you
know, showing me the path thatI'm to take, that's my prayer
every day is, is, show me thepath forward that you would have
me take.
And, um, you know, justcontinuing to be obedient to
that has really I've seen a, a,a big change just even in the
last few years.
Really, just giving it to him,implementing a plan, but knowing
(09:14):
that ultimately it's his planthat will come to fruition, so
that's been the biggest thing.
And then just having uhcheerleaders along the way, my
wife has been incredible andhelping uh, help me get to where
I am, and my mother includedyou know my mom, my wife has
been incredible in helping meget to where I am, and my mother
included my mom had me at 15,so we always say that we grew up
together and if it weren't forher just unwavering positivity
and just ability to overcome,none of this would have been
(09:37):
possible.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So definitely, my mom is a big, big part of that.
Yeah, my take on it is it's wayeasier to know when I'm on the
wrong path.
I get the message pretty clearwhen I'm headed down.
I love that you're looking forthe right path, but I get the
message from God a lot that I'mon the wrong path.
(10:02):
So, yeah, I don't know, it worksboth ways, but it seems like
it's easier to see the wrong oneSometimes.
Yeah, yeah, but you know, andthen you got to act on it.
I mean, you know, you got tochange.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You got to change, so it's funny yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
So how do you balance ?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You talk about your family, I mean how do you
balance sort of the personallife with the business life?
I think setting settingboundaries early.
You know, my stepfather owns aheating and air company and he's
been in business for over 10years and growing up it was you
(10:53):
know.
If that phone rings, we'releaving.
It doesn't matter where we are,it doesn't matter what we're
doing.
It could be birthdays, it couldbe graduation, it could be, you
know, family reunion.
It doesn't matter when thatphone rings.
We got to go because if wedon't, somebody will.
And my stepfather has instilledan incredible sense of work
ethic in me, which I'm extremelythankful for, and something
that I want to do is to makesure that I am going to work
hard, but I am also going toprioritize family time, and when
(11:15):
that time comes, the phone isoff or it's somewhere else and
if you call me during that time,you'll get my voicemail and I
will get back to you as soon aspossible.
But it's been super crucialestablishing those boundaries of
OK, this is family time andthat's it.
So I think being superintentional with defining those
moments has been crucial for forat least me and my family.
(11:37):
So that's, that's kind of howwe do things around here.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Understand, understand.
So what qualities would youlook for in employees?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I would say just willingness to learn, being
coachable is such a lost art.
I feel like when a lot ofpeople, I think, in today's
society, just think that theyhave it all figured out.
And again, going back to God'spurpose in our life, the motto
(12:09):
of my church is go, be who Godmade you to be.
And I think that when we'redoing that, when we're being who
God made us to be, there's youdon't feel the rift, you don't
feel the resistance, it's justyou know what's supposed to be
done.
And I think if we could createa culture where coachability is
a priority, it would just thatwould be.
The most important thing to meis just coachability.
(12:31):
You don't have to know I canteach you what you need to know
how to fix something or how todo something, how you present
yourself, how you speak topeople.
Those are the things that youknow.
That coachability and justbeing accountable for yourself
is huge.
So the main thing for me wouldbe coachability.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, willingness to learn, willingness to take the
learning.
I mean it's such a greatprofession and you know the
truth is getting into it andlearning it is then it gives you
all kinds of options.
I mean you'll never not work.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I mean there's there's, there's always, there's
always a job for you and youknow, if everything you know
went crazy and we had to move toEurope, I could find a job.
We had to move somewhere elseacross the globe.
I can find a job A hundredpercent, because it's a skill
that is just not taught as wellanymore and people aren't
(13:30):
looking for it because theydon't.
Quite frankly, a lot of themdon't want to work or work hard
in that kind of sense.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I mean, but you can make a great living.
Yeah, there's a lot of goodreasons to get into it, so
finding the people who want towork and a coach, but then
they're out there.
Those folks are out there, youknow and some of them may be
listening and it's a great place.
They can, yeah, you know, comedo your apprenticeship and then
(13:58):
move on.
If you want to start your ownbusiness, that's a great thing
too.
So, nothing, absolutely.
I had worked for a guy one time,and he's like Bill, you know.
I told him I was going to gointo business.
He said that's great, you know,when I was leaving, and he's
like that's great.
I'm always proud of people thatcome and work for us and then
want to, you know, start theirown business.
You know that's's uh, you know,but that's uh, that's, that's a
(14:23):
.
That's a great way.
So let's uh, epic, uh BE.
Epic stands is an, is anacronym.
The B stands for uh, bring theenergy, uh, and then the EPIC is
another uh, you know, education, planning, inspiration and
commitment.
So I want to get your, I wantto get like a quick thought from
you, like a sentence or two oneach one, just kind of a quick
(14:44):
fire round.
Would that be good?
Sure, all right.
So bring the energy.
What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Bring the energy.
My favorite thing that comes tomind with that is the
thermostat versus thethermometer.
If you're a thermometer, youjust kind of read the
temperature in the room and youknow you react accordingly.
You're very reactive.
Uh, thermostat, you set thetone, you set the temperature.
When you walk into the room,people know what you're about.
(15:11):
They, they gravitate towardsyou because they can feel that
energy.
And when you do that, I thinkyou can take control of of a lot
of your, your situation.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Man, I love that, love that.
Okay, how about education?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
What's your thoughts on education?
I think knowing being superfocused on what it is that
you're wanting to be educated on.
I think education as a whole isimperative to success, but
knowing what you want to beeducated on is also super
crucial.
I love that.
How about planning?
Educated on is also supercrucial.
(15:46):
I love that.
How about planning, Somethingthat's taken me a long time to
get better at, but equally ascrucial?
My favorite saying for that isa ship without a map is lost at
sea.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I love that.
I love that.
So what are your thoughts oninspiration, either finding it
or being an inspiration.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I think that's something that you know.
They say a smart man looksaround, but a wise man looks
within.
So until you can find what thatis inside of you, it's really
going to be hard to look aroundyour surroundings to find the
inspiration aside from familyand things like that.
But you've got to find thatintrinsic motivation to want
(16:32):
more.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I love that.
I love that.
And how about C?
What's your thoughts oncommitting and commitment?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Commitment, in my opinion, might be the most
important, because if you've gotthe plan, you've got the energy
, you've got everything else,but you can't commit to what it
is that you're trying to do,then I don't believe any of the
other ones really are going tobe that effective.
So you got to commit, you gotto find what you're wanting to
do and go for it.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Cool.
So what do you wish you hadknown or somebody had told you
before you went into business?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It's not.
It's not going to all be fun,it's not going to all be great.
There's going to be some things.
There's going to be learningcurves, there's going to be some
pain.
That all comes along with it.
And you know, looking at it now, I'm thankful for those things.
But again I'm just such apositive, optimistic person.
(17:33):
I'm just like, yeah, this iseverything's going to be great,
it's going to be awesome.
And then here come the storms.
It's going to rain.
We don't know when, we don'tknow for how long, but it will
rain.
So being prepared for thosemoments is crucial.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Cool.
So what words of advice wouldyou have for other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Make a plan.
It may not go exactly to thatplan, but just make sure that
you know the direction you'reheading in and.
I'm a big believer of directionis way more important than
speed.
Know where you're going and youmight not get there in the time
that you thought, you mighttake a few detours, but I think
that you know the lessons in thejourney and the blessings in
the journey as well.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, I love that, love that.
So how can people get a hold ofyou?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
What's the best way for them, let's say, to get a
hold of you and your company?
Yeah, so text message by myphone number and Facebook email
(18:59):
no-transcript.
I've watched my parents do itfor years.
They've started to get intosome advertising, but a large
part of their business has beenword of mouth and they've
sustained that for over a decade.
So I believe the best businessis referral business.
I'm in multiple networkinggroups and B&Is and things like
that and I just the power ofhaving a referral from somebody
(19:22):
you know like and trust is farmore important to me than you
know running Angie's List ads.
Nothing against Angie's List oranything like that, but I just
find more value in thosecustomers.
So that would be my advice.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, really kind of depends on what kind of business
you want to build.
That's exactly that's exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, it depends on how fastyou know what, what, what your
scaling plans are.
At some point you will, youwill scale.
So that's it.
So um super cool, any um anyother last words of advice you'd
like to give people?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Um, never, uh, never be afraid to dream too big love,
it love it, love it hey, thisis so cool.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I really appreciate you being on here.
Thanks, thanks for it thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I appreciate you having me.
It's an honor and until nexttime, all the best.
Hey there and welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneur's Podcast.
Hey, I'm Bill Gilliland withAction Coach, business Growth
Partners and today I am superpumped.
I've got Deshaun Willard ofEagle Air Services and Repair.
Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank you for having me Super pumped to be here.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So tell us a little bit about introduce yourself,
tell us a little bit about EagleAir Service and Repair.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, so I've been in the industry, introduced to it
by my stepfather when I wasabout 13.
So always been around it insome capacity, you know, holding
flashlights and handing tools.
And back in the day when wewere doing those things, I
remember saying, man, this isterrible, I could never do this
job and I want to work in the ACand I want to be a dentist.
(00:55):
And until that collegechemistry came around and I was
like, well, maybe dentistry isnot in my future after all.
So many, many years of justlearning in the trade and
on-field experience has beencrucial for me, and after
working for some of the biggercompanies around and just kind
(01:18):
of seeing how things were done,I decided that I would step out
on my own and try to just add anew, fresh perspective to the
industry as a whole.
I think we've kind of lost ourway a little bit in the service
industry and I'm on a mission toclean it up and change it a
little bit.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Let's talk about that a little bit.
Tell us a little bit more aboutthat wanting to clean it up and
make it or whatever you?
I think you said clean it up.
Tell me what that means.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So I think, with this new wave of private equity
sweeping the nation in allindustries really, but
specifically the heating and airindustry I've noticed over the
last few years there's been aslow process over the last
decade maybe really where HVACcompanies and service industries
(02:13):
are getting bought up byprivate equity and when that
happens you know there's a realshift into the sales world as
opposed to the service world, soas to where you used to you had
your neighborhood guy who youcould call and reach out to and
say, hey, my system's notworking, and they would show up,
they would fix what's wrong andthey would leave.
(02:35):
And there's been a little bitof a shift in that and while it
can be beneficial in some ways,I believe that there's
definitely an opportunity forsomebody to come in and just
give an honest opinion and keepit about the service a little
bit less about the sales.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, I get it.
I get what you're saying.
I get what you're sayingbecause it can get super salesy
and they put a lot ofcommissions and pressures and
everything on the technicians tosell more to add on to do this.
It can create some conflicts inthere.
So let me ask you something Ifyou had to start over from
(03:16):
square one in the business, whatwould you do differently, man?
Speaker 2 (03:24):
what would I do differently?
I think that first off, I wouldput a little of good talent
technicians who are able to do athorough evaluation of a system
(03:48):
and explain what's going on.
I think I would have done alittle bit more to try and get
other people involved in it andyou know, as I get into some of
the nitty gritty of businessownership, I'm trying to get to
that a little bit more get reachsome of the people who you know
(04:09):
maybe they've never heard ofthe opportunity to be in HVAC
and just trying to spread that,I think is a is a good way to
help kind of combat thatshortage that we're facing as an
industry as a whole.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, yeah, we're.
We're on a bit of that missionhere as well, because you know
we're we're facing as anindustry as a whole.
Yeah, we're on a bit of thatmission here as well, because
we're involved with trades andconstruction and those kind of
industries and we need skilledlabor.
I mean, we need people that aretrained and it's a great
profession and the truth is, AIis never going to replace it.
So it's going to help usactually making it better, but
(04:47):
it's not going to.
Somebody's still got to installthe unit and somebody's still
got to take care of it.
So, yeah, I love that.
So what have been some of yourbiggest learnings as an owner
and employer?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
employer.
My biggest learnings, well,first and foremost, has been not
being afraid to charge whatyou're worth.
And you know, coming from abackground of very modest
beginnings and understanding thevalue of a dollar, when I first
started out it was really toughfor me to justify to myself
pricing, and I think that can bethe biggest hindrance to a
service-based business owner,especially a small business like
(05:31):
myself.
We tend to cut ourselves short,whether it be to win a job or
whether it be you know you'redealing with a certain specific
situation where you, you knowyour heart, gets into the, into
the mix of like man.
I feel bad for chargingsomebody this much, but you have
to be able to know that yourtime is valuable and you've put
(05:54):
the work in and the time and theeffort and the resources to to
be good at what you do, and thatcosts money.
So that would be the biggestfor me personally uh, biggest
thing, I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, love that.
Yeah, they're not paying foryour time, they're paying for
your expertise and yourknowledge.
That's right and, in fact, ifyou can do it faster, that's
better for everybody.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Had a conversation about that with a client
recently, about the hourly wageand stuff like that, and they're
like, well, that seems to be alittle bit higher.
And I said, yeah, but if youthink of it this way, this job
used to take me five to sixhours to do, but now that I can
(06:36):
do it in two to three hours, whywould I punish myself for
getting better at what I do?
So it's an interestingperspective and it's you know,
when you explain it that way, itmakes a little more sense.
So when I become more efficientat my job, it's better for both
of us.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Oh, 100%, yeah, 100%, yeah, yeah.
I used to own an auto shop andeverything there is set what
they call flat rate, and so,like you change an alternator,
for example, it's, you know,it's an hour and a half or
whatever it is, and that's whatyou charge.
If the technician can get itdone in 45 minutes, he still
gets paid for an hour and a half, and so what they call flat
(07:14):
rate, and that's such better forthe customer.
They get the car back faster.
You know, the better thetechnician is, the everybody
wins, and so it's a win-win.
It's the same here.
It's pretty cool.
What do you think some of thecommon misconceptions are about
running a business and how doyou address them?
Speaker 2 (07:35):
The biggest misconception that I had was
life's going to be easy when Istart my business.
When I start my business,everything is just going to flow
and it's just going to happen.
And you know, maybe that's alittle bit of the optimist in me
.
I'm very optimistic and youknow, I believe attitude is
(07:55):
everything.
So I was going into it naive,thinking that, oh, everything's
just going to work itself outand it'll, it'll.
You know, we'll find a way andjust make it happen.
And you know that's a big, bigreality that I had to face, that
things don't just happen.
You got to make them happen.
So that was.
But you know I'm a big believerin saying that.
(08:17):
You know, pressure is aprivilege and you either rise to
the occasion or you don't.
I love that.
Pressure is a privilege and youeither rise to the occasion or,
or you don't.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I love that pressure is a privilege Seems like a good
title for the episode.
Pressure is a privilege, lovethat yeah.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
The main thing, first and foremost.
You know everything that I do,I don't want to, I don't want to
take the credit as if it's it'sme doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Um.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I'm a big believer in uh Lord and savior, jesus
Christ, and I do believe that ifit weren't for him and, you
know, showing me the path thatI'm to take, that's my prayer
every day is, is, show me thepath forward that you would have
me take.
And, um, you know, justcontinuing to be obedient to
that has really I've seen a, a,a big change just even in the
last few years.
Really, just giving it to him,implementing a plan, but knowing
(09:14):
that ultimately it's his planthat will come to fruition, so
that's been the biggest thing.
And then just having uhcheerleaders along the way, my
wife has been incredible andhelping uh, help me get to where
I am, and my mother includedyou know my mom, my wife has
been incredible in helping meget to where I am, and my mother
included my mom had me at 15,so we always say that we grew up
together and if it weren't forher just unwavering positivity
and just ability to overcome,none of this would have been
(09:37):
possible.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So definitely, my mom is a big, big part of that.
Yeah, my take on it is it's wayeasier to know when I'm on the
wrong path.
I get the message pretty clearwhen I'm headed down.
I love that you're looking forthe right path, but I get the
message from God a lot that I'mon the wrong path.
(10:02):
So, yeah, I don't know, it worksboth ways, but it seems like
it's easier to see the wrong oneSometimes.
Yeah, yeah, but you know, andthen you got to act on it.
I mean, you know, you got tochange.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
You got to change, so it's funny yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
So how do you balance ?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You talk about your family, I mean how do you
balance sort of the personallife with the business life?
I think setting settingboundaries early.
You know, my stepfather owns aheating and air company and he's
been in business for over 10years and growing up it was you
(10:53):
know.
If that phone rings, we'releaving.
It doesn't matter where we are,it doesn't matter what we're
doing.
It could be birthdays, it couldbe graduation, it could be, you
know, family reunion.
It doesn't matter when thatphone rings.
We got to go because if wedon't, somebody will.
And my stepfather has instilledan incredible sense of work
ethic in me, which I'm extremelythankful for, and something
that I want to do is to makesure that I am going to work
hard, but I am also going toprioritize family time, and when
(11:15):
that time comes, the phone isoff or it's somewhere else and
if you call me during that time,you'll get my voicemail and I
will get back to you as soon aspossible.
But it's been super crucialestablishing those boundaries of
OK, this is family time andthat's it.
So I think being superintentional with defining those
moments has been crucial for forat least me and my family.
(11:37):
So that's, that's kind of howwe do things around here.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Understand, understand.
So what qualities would youlook for in employees?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I would say just willingness to learn, being
coachable is such a lost art.
I feel like when a lot ofpeople, I think, in today's
society, just think that theyhave it all figured out.
And again, going back to God'spurpose in our life, the motto
(12:09):
of my church is go, be who Godmade you to be.
And I think that when we'redoing that, when we're being who
God made us to be, there's youdon't feel the rift, you don't
feel the resistance, it's justyou know what's supposed to be
done.
And I think if we could createa culture where coachability is
a priority, it would just thatwould be.
The most important thing to meis just coachability.
(12:31):
You don't have to know I canteach you what you need to know
how to fix something or how todo something, how you present
yourself, how you speak topeople.
Those are the things that youknow.
That coachability and justbeing accountable for yourself
is huge.
So the main thing for me wouldbe coachability.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, willingness to learn, willingness to take the
learning.
I mean it's such a greatprofession and you know the
truth is getting into it andlearning it is then it gives you
all kinds of options.
I mean you'll never not work.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
I mean there's there's, there's always, there's
always a job for you and youknow, if everything you know
went crazy and we had to move toEurope, I could find a job.
We had to move somewhere elseacross the globe.
I can find a job A hundredpercent, because it's a skill
that is just not taught as wellanymore and people aren't
(13:30):
looking for it because theydon't.
Quite frankly, a lot of themdon't want to work or work hard
in that kind of sense.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I mean, but you can make a great living.
Yeah, there's a lot of goodreasons to get into it, so
finding the people who want towork and a coach, but then
they're out there.
Those folks are out there, youknow and some of them may be
listening and it's a great place.
They can, yeah, you know, comedo your apprenticeship and then
(13:58):
move on.
If you want to start your ownbusiness, that's a great thing
too.
So, nothing, absolutely.
I had worked for a guy one time,and he's like Bill, you know.
I told him I was going to gointo business.
He said that's great, you know,when I was leaving, and he's
like that's great.
I'm always proud of people thatcome and work for us and then
want to, you know, start theirown business.
You know that's's uh, you know,but that's uh, that's, that's a
(14:23):
.
That's a great way.
So let's uh, epic, uh BE.
Epic stands is an, is anacronym.
The B stands for uh, bring theenergy, uh, and then the EPIC is
another uh, you know, education, planning, inspiration and
commitment.
So I want to get your, I wantto get like a quick thought from
you, like a sentence or two oneach one, just kind of a quick
(14:44):
fire round.
Would that be good?
Sure, all right.
So bring the energy.
What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Bring the energy.
My favorite thing that comes tomind with that is the
thermostat versus thethermometer.
If you're a thermometer, youjust kind of read the
temperature in the room and youknow you react accordingly.
You're very reactive.
Uh, thermostat, you set thetone, you set the temperature.
When you walk into the room,people know what you're about.
(15:11):
They, they gravitate towardsyou because they can feel that
energy.
And when you do that, I thinkyou can take control of of a lot
of your, your situation.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Man, I love that, love that.
Okay, how about education?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
What's your thoughts on education?
I think knowing being superfocused on what it is that
you're wanting to be educated on.
I think education as a whole isimperative to success, but
knowing what you want to beeducated on is also super
crucial.
I love that.
How about planning?
Educated on is also supercrucial.
(15:46):
I love that.
How about planning, Somethingthat's taken me a long time to
get better at, but equally ascrucial?
My favorite saying for that isa ship without a map is lost at
sea.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I love that.
I love that.
So what are your thoughts oninspiration, either finding it
or being an inspiration.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
I think that's something that you know.
They say a smart man looksaround, but a wise man looks
within.
So until you can find what thatis inside of you, it's really
going to be hard to look aroundyour surroundings to find the
inspiration aside from familyand things like that.
But you've got to find thatintrinsic motivation to want
(16:32):
more.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
I love that.
I love that.
And how about C?
What's your thoughts oncommitting and commitment?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Commitment, in my opinion, might be the most
important, because if you've gotthe plan, you've got the energy
, you've got everything else,but you can't commit to what it
is that you're trying to do,then I don't believe any of the
other ones really are going tobe that effective.
So you got to commit, you gotto find what you're wanting to
do and go for it.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Cool.
So what do you wish you hadknown or somebody had told you
before you went into business?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
It's not.
It's not going to all be fun,it's not going to all be great.
There's going to be some things.
There's going to be learningcurves, there's going to be some
pain.
That all comes along with it.
And you know, looking at it now, I'm thankful for those things.
But again I'm just such apositive, optimistic person.
(17:33):
I'm just like, yeah, this iseverything's going to be great,
it's going to be awesome.
And then here come the storms.
It's going to rain.
We don't know when, we don'tknow for how long, but it will
rain.
So being prepared for thosemoments is crucial.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Cool.
So what words of advice wouldyou have for other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Make a plan.
It may not go exactly to thatplan, but just make sure that
you know the direction you'reheading in and.
I'm a big believer of directionis way more important than
speed.
Know where you're going and youmight not get there in the time
that you thought, you mighttake a few detours, but I think
that you know the lessons in thejourney and the blessings in
the journey as well.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, I love that, love that.
So how can people get a hold ofyou?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
What's the best way for them, let's say, to get a
hold of you and your company?
Yeah, so text message by myphone number and Facebook email
(18:59):
no-transcript.
I've watched my parents do itfor years.
They've started to get intosome advertising, but a large
part of their business has beenword of mouth and they've
sustained that for over a decade.
So I believe the best businessis referral business.
I'm in multiple networkinggroups and B&Is and things like
that and I just the power ofhaving a referral from somebody
(19:22):
you know like and trust is farmore important to me than you
know running Angie's List ads.
Nothing against Angie's List oranything like that, but I just
find more value in thosecustomers.
So that would be my advice.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, really kind of depends on what kind of business
you want to build.
That's exactly that's exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, it depends on how fastyou know what, what, what your
scaling plans are.
At some point you will, youwill scale.
So that's it.
So um super cool, any um anyother last words of advice you'd
like to give people?
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Um, never, uh, never be afraid to dream too big love,
it love it, love it hey, thisis so cool.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
I really appreciate you being on here.
Thanks, thanks for it thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
I appreciate you having me.
It's an honor and until nexttime, all the best.
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