September 9, 2025 • 27 mins
The search for qualified HVAC talent has contractors desperate for innovative solutions. In this eye-opening conversation, Crystal welcomes Flavia De La Fuente, founder of Field Pay, who's pioneering a revolutionary approach to compensation that's transforming how service businesses recruit, retain, and motivate their teams.
Flavia reveals how today's workforce expectations have fundamentally shifted thanks to the gig economy. When 30% of young adults already earn from side hustles with instant payouts, the traditional two-week pay cycle feels increasingly outdated. This disconnect creates a massive opportunity for contractors willing to embrace new compensation models.
The magic of instant pay lies in its psychological impact. Research shows that merely having access to immediate payment options creates an effect equivalent to a 19% wage increase—without actually increasing base compensation. By connecting desired behaviors (weekend shifts, emergency calls, successful sales) with instant financial rewards, contractors can drive productivity while giving employees greater financial control.
"The marshmallow test shows us that people value choice in when they receive rewards," Flavia explains. "Instant pay is like saying: you accomplished something valuable, here's your reward, use it whenever you want." This approach transforms how technicians view challenging shifts from obligations to opportunities.
Perhaps most compelling is how instant pay revolutionizes recruitment. By attaching immediate bonuses to referral milestones—when candidates apply, interview, get hired, and reach retention anniversaries—contractors effectively turn their entire team into an engaged recruiting force. This creates a powerful cycle where team members actively help maintain the quality culture they value.
For contractors facing labor shortages and increasing wage demands, Field Pay offers a strategic approach to compensation that aligns business objectives with employee motivation. Those who adapt faster with smarter pay systems will gain significant advantages in building capacity, delivering exceptional customer experiences, and fostering stronger company cultures.
Ready to transform how you motivate your team? Visit myfieldpay.com to join the waitlist and be among the first to leverage this game-changing approach to compensation in the trades.
If you enjoyed this chat From the Yellow Chair, consider joining our newsletter, "Let's Sip Some Lemonade," where you can receive exclusive interviews, our bank of helpful downloadables, and updates on upcoming content.
Please consider following and drop a review below if you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.
From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com
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We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Oh, what's up?
Lemonheads, welcome to anotherepisode of From the Yellow Chair
.
I'm Crystal and today y'alllisten when I talked to this
friend the first time, we werejust getting acquainted over
women in HVACR, just talking toeach other, and when she told me
(00:30):
what she was doing, I was like,girl, you got to get on my
podcast, because I love what weare going to talk about today,
which is so.
We are all looking for a uniqueway to stand out and hire new
talent and do some unique things, and y'all, she has such a cool
idea and a cool concept behinda product and an idea that us,
(00:52):
as contractors, we have beenstruggling with finding
something.
Y'all, this is it.
You're going to want to settlein.
You're going to want to putthose AirPods on high so you can
hear what we have to say.
But let's do it.
Let's sip some lemonade, okay,y'all in the virtual lemonade
stand today is Flavia De LaFuente.
(01:14):
Thank God I'm from East Texasand I can at least recognize
these names.
But I love her name and I loveher.
We only got to talk for about anhour a couple of weeks ago,
just getting acquainted.
She wanted to get more involvedwith women in HVACR.
We got introduced through amutual acquaintance and we just
started chatting and she said ohyeah, well, I'm actually
starting this company where yourteam members get paid when they
(01:38):
run extra, like work, extratime.
That's the gist of it.
And I was like hang on, pressthe brakes.
This is such a unique way toget new talent, so I'm so
excited to have you on the showtoday, flavia.
Before we jump into all thecool stuff you've got going on,
tell us a little bit about yourbackground.
Like why should anyone carewhat you have to say today?
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I just spent the past few years of my life working in
another skilled trade.
I worked with pool and spaservice professionals at a
company called Skimmer it's kindof like the service titan, but
for pool and spa and we grewthat company from just a few
pool and spa serviceprofessionals to now serving
(02:20):
over 6,000 pool and spacompanies across the country.
I got really hooked on services, on skilled trades, and just
was working with a lot of owners, helping them build their
businesses.
Obviously, our offering wassoftware and payments, but the
thing that really kept people upat night and that we spent time
(02:44):
talking about and workingthrough was talent and
recruiting great people andkeeping great people and
worrying about whether or notyou're giving your best guy and
these people that you're relyingon the treatment that you want
as a business owner who's tryingto grow and meet certain goals.
And one of the things that weworked on was we rolled out a
(03:09):
payments product so you couldinvoice your end customer.
But I spent a lot of timethinking about, honestly, the
power of pay and the power ofmoney as a thing we all need to
lead our lives, and thateventually took us down the path
of.
You know.
Your team is the company youbuild, and what better way than
(03:31):
to align the objectives of thebusiness with your team, than
making sure that pay is properlyutilized, and usually we just
think about paying people more.
But pay can come in differentshapes and forms and at
different times, and that'sreally what we're working on,
(03:55):
and what I'm excited to talkabout today is the new rules of
pay.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I love it.
I love it.
So I love that you come fromthe home service industry in a
in a sense of you understand thestruggle of getting qualified
labor and then keeping them.
So, um, as you know, I'm a bigculture advocate so, like I'm a
really big fan of man, you cankeep people.
Pay isn't everything, but payis definitely something.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Whether we like it or not.
Yes, yeah, pay is important.
So we can try to sugarcoat itand be like, oh, they don't just
stay for pay.
You're right, they don't juststay for pay, but pay is very
impactful when it comes to theconsiderations that all of these
technicians and listen, there'sa call right now.
There's a call to more people,to the industry, and so you, as
a contractor, you need to getinnovative.
You need to start thinkingoutside the box, outside the
(04:49):
realms of what you've alwaysheard and thought, and so I love
this idea of this is a way thatyou can use to recruit, you can
use to retain, and honestly,motivation.
So just because someone's notready to leave the company
doesn't mean they don't needanother motivation to sell some
extra products or work a fewextra time, and so every one of
us here would know what a goodopportunity you have when you
(05:11):
now have people lined up to takeextra shifts, lined up to work
on the weekends, and so I loveit.
But one thing that you did tellme is you know and we were
talking the other day is how payexpectations have changed.
Right, so you know.
A quick story I was here atLemon Seed.
You know we were getting readyto hire some people and you know
they're coming out of collegeand I say I make a joke all the
(05:31):
time like, still smells likepampers, right?
Still smell like a fresh box ofdiapers, you know, and they're
young and they're they'reexcited, but at the end of the
day, they don't know anything.
They know a lot of theory aboutmarketing or business or
finance or social media,whatever.
They know a lot of theory, butit's the application, right,
it's the actual utilization ofthe skills that they've learned
(05:53):
in a real environment.
But they come out guns blazinglike you know what I need to
make $150,000 a year with noexperience coming right out of
school, and so pay expectationshave definitely changed and,
honestly, skilled tradesmen nowknow what they're worth, and so
they come out pushing.
So you've got to figure out away to be an interesting, at
(06:18):
least approach to things.
So I love this.
One key point that you sent mewhen we were prepping is 30% of
young adults have earned moneyfrom side.
I call it side gigs, sidehustles, right?
So it's those little injectionsof quick cash, right?
Is that what you?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
said that's right.
And it's the whole experienceof like I want a thing, I want
to go on a trip, I need to paythe rent, and there's this whole
universe of platforms out therewhere you can pick up a hustle,
pick up a side gig, and it's areally frictionless experience
and you can get paid out really,really quickly.
(06:56):
So somebody is basically sayinghere's a thing, here's a
behavior that I want a taskaccomplished and really quickly.
Right behind it is the pay whenthat's done.
And part of this is, you know,everybody's got, you know, at
least two financial apps of somekind.
People are really comfortablewith the.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Venmo Uber Cash Apps.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right and like when you, when you use that stuff,
it's like, oh, this is so simple, this is so easy, I can just
send money around and they startto build in their head this
expectation of like, well, whydoesn't my employer pay me like
that Like of like well, whydoesn't my employer pay me like
that Like, why isn't it thateasy?
Why, why not?
(07:44):
Why shouldn't I get paid kindof just in time?
So even if, you know, noteverybody's going to do gig work
, but these experiences and kindof the larger ripple effects of
how big the gig economy is, ittrickles out and it just starts
to influence how people thinkabout how and when they're going
to get paid.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah.
So you're like, hey, work hard,sell some cool stuff, and then
in two weeks you're going to seethat $20.
Yeah, it gets lost in a lot ofthings when now this is a cool
opportunity for them to be likeman, I went and hustled.
So when you drive, you knowLyft or DoorDash or whatever
that pay is pretty instantaneous, right, pretty quick.
So if you're on it, like, let'ssay, you're getting ready to go
(08:23):
on a trip, and you're like man,I could go work these two
weekends, get the cash now getthe money.
There's just, it's just a coolway of thinking it.
But speed matters.
Like if anybody that'slistening to this is not very
much aware of the fact that themajority of people think that
instantaneous, everything shouldbe instantaneous.
You should answer your phoneAnytime I call, you should
(08:43):
respond to my message Anytime Itext and like're not just
competing with every othercompany now.
You've got to find somethingthat stands out about how
quickly you get paid.
But so I love the other idea,like when you were telling me
you were like man, I createdinstant pay because it felt like
(09:04):
a raise.
I think it feels like a raiseto the employees.
Well, you know, I was sittinghere like, oh my gosh, I love
this for our people.
So I don't just love it for meas the contractor, I love it for
my people, like this is a coolway.
Now, listen, we're not in chargeof their financial literacy.
Okay, so get out of theirpocketbook, get out of their
heads in a sense, and you canalways educate, but at the end
(09:25):
of the day, you don't understand, maybe, what they're going
through.
Maybe they're a young familyand they need some formula.
You don't know.
Maybe they just want to go eatat Papa John's, I don't know,
but it's not our place Right.
And at the end of the day, yourjob is to run a profitable
company that is supplyingresources and solutions for
homeowners, and so whateverkeeps your team motivated,
(09:46):
especially those of you thathave younger team members.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, and if you're, you're a business, you're trying
to grow, you're trying to getsome stuff done and I'll give
you the.
Have you ever heard of themarshmallow test, Crystal?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
No, but I'm so excited to hear it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Okay, who doesn't right?
So marshmallow test isbasically you put a marshmallow
in front of somebody on a tableand say, hey, if you wait 10
minutes I'll give you twomarshmallows, or you can just
eat that one marshmallow infront of you right now.
So we're thinking about pay,right, like, where's the
marshmallow?
I work today.
I get paid in a week, or or intwo weeks, or, you know,
(10:27):
commission runs, or once a month.
This is a little different.
This is like, hey, you justcompleted a task or you just,
you know, sold that repair.
Here's the marshmallow, you caneat it whenever you want.
You earned it.
Here it is, and you can wait aweek or you can eat it right now
.
It's none of my business, butyou earned it and you're talking
about this.
These are your employees andthey have their own needs.
(10:48):
Your interest as a businessowner is getting stuff done
right and this is aligning theirneeds with your needs.
And the dream here is whateverdesired behaviors you want from
your team.
Hey guys, I want clean trucks.
Hey guys, I want us to hit our24-7, 24-hour SLA for all of our
(11:13):
membership customers.
I want us to be available tothem over the weekend.
Everybody's got theseenhancements and targets to grow
the business, and usually thosewins are they come in a
different form for most of theemployee base.
But if you can wrap instant payaround a win, you win, they win
(11:38):
and your business moves forward.
So that's really what we'reinterested in building for all
these businesses.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I love it.
And you know they stay longerand they tend to pick up, you
know, just opportunities.
So, instead of looking at itlike dreading it, they start
looking at it as an opportunity.
It's an opportunity.
And again, like, yes, you'restill going to have maybe
there's some times that shiftsdon't get picked up.
But faster pay does drivebehavior, just like a raise, but
(12:07):
without that burden.
And it's self-owned, earned,I'm sorry, self-earned, so
you're not really investing.
Like well, I'll just pay youmore At the end of the day.
Like they can make more moneyif they hustle for it.
Right so.
But service, you know servicedepartments and businesses like
heating and air conditioning,pest control and things like
that.
We have tough demands, right so, like we're on call, we've got
(12:28):
emergency work, we've gotholiday work, we've got
seasonality we're busy, we'renot busy.
You know, we just ride thisroller coaster of seasonality
and it's all different for thedifferent trades.
But like, how could this typeof pay incentive be used to
actually activate those teamsduring those crunch times?
Like you know, is it just outof?
You know, hey, now's a goodopportunity.
(12:51):
Like what do you?
How do we deal with thetumultuousness that is our life?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, I'm, you know, having come from pool and spa,
very familiar with egregiousseasonality around services and
skilled trades.
And look, it's pretty simple,right, you have your team and
that's generally a fixed cost,right.
(13:17):
But opportunity is like thisand there's spikes in heat or in
weather that can drive a lot ofthe environmental factors
around whether or not the phonesare ringing or they're not.
And you know, for an averageand I come from pool and there's
(13:37):
a lot of recurring work, right,you're paying your monthly pool
bill and, as a lot of HVACbusinesses build out membership
base, you have this recurringwork.
Well, what's the lifetime valueof that customer and what are
you willing to do to make surethat they don't cancel on you or
leave that membership packagethat you won you upsold, and the
(14:03):
data suggests that there'sthousands of dollars of average
lifetime value in thesememberships.
If they call on a Friday andthey say, hey, no heat or sorry,
no cool, I need somebody, andyour team is not running
weekends and you're pushingstuff to Monday, is it worth
$100 bonus to send somebody outto save Cheryl on a Saturday so
(14:27):
she doesn't cancel hermembership?
If not, she's thinking toherself well, what am I paying
for?
So, as an owner, you want tothink about where are those
peaks and what are you willingto make available to your team
in those peaks to go win the day, and if not, you are deferring
(14:48):
stuff to the subsequent week.
You are running risk in termsof speed to fulfillment and you
know there's a lot of focus onspeed to lead today with voice
agents and picking up the phone.
But the second half of theequation is how quickly can you
actually get somebody out there?
(15:09):
And if you can say, hey guys,I'm going to attach an instant
pay incentive to thisopportunity in particular,
you're going to have a lot morehand raisers than you would
otherwise because they're goingto do the service call and they
can, at the end of the day, youknow, a hundred bucks to go to
Papa John's or whatever it isthey want to do.
(15:31):
That desired behavior wasfollowed really quickly by the
financial incentive and you knowone of the folks that we're
working with that we're buildingthis for, he's like I was, like
I'm just trying to teach myteams that you know making money
feels good and it's fun and atthe end of the day you can go
spend the money after you did areally hard thing and, uh, you
(15:51):
know these are really gruelingdays.
Um, you know, I know you'reeither spending time in an attic
or you're in an Arizona sun forsix, seven hours cleaning pools
.
And if you can feel at the endof the day and see that
spendable money in your pocket,things happen and you're
(16:17):
likelier to come in the next daythings happen and you're,
you're likelier to come in thenext day.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
So one of the things that I'llsay that really stuck with me is
you know, and I'm a culturequeen, I'm, I'm so hung up on
the culture because, at the endof the day, you're right People,
they have to choose to walkaway from their family or, let's
be honest, like those of youthat live in this nice idea of
four seasons of life, like Ihave in Texas, it's either hot
or less hot, but like they're,they're choosing to go work
instead of being on the lakewith their family, instead of
(16:47):
taking, you know, maybe being ata little league game or
something.
So this whole like it's a nicetrade when you can say, hey, I,
I did have to give this up, butI needed this money for this or
for that, like I don't know.
I just love the idea that whenyou align the pay with the
(17:08):
behaviors that you need the mostas the owner of, like you need
somebody that is incentivized towork those awkward times.
Because you're a servicebusiness, right, like you want
to be serving your people, howdo you serve your employees and
your community at the same time?
And it's incentivization, right?
I might've made that word upbut incentivizing them.
So I love this idea.
So, but let's talk real quick.
(17:28):
Let's talk about hiring.
So recruiting is one of thehardest parts of running a
service-based business, right?
So I know, and we've alluded toit a lot here.
But how does instant pay helphere?
Like, I have some ideas thatjump into my head, but you know,
like those quick, likereferrals, like hey, you sent me
somebody, I hired them.
Boom, here's a little bit ofcash.
(17:49):
What were your?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
No, that's, that's absolutely on the right path.
And the original you know theoriginal conception here is you
know I talked to a lot of folks.
The original you know theoriginal conception here is you
know, I talk to a lot of folksand I, you know, you're a
professional marketer, crystal,so you know all about funnels
and you ask people and if youthink about hiring as a funnel,
you can ask people, hey, wheredo you spend the most money on
(18:15):
hiring?
And they'll say, oh, linkedin,or maybe recruiters.
I'm like, okay, what's yourbest performing channel for
hiring?
And they'll say, oh, referrals.
So it's like, well, let's thinkabout what it looks like to
wrap referrals around instantpay.
(18:37):
And usually most people announceemployee referral programs to
their teams and then just kindof forget about it.
Right, it's tough to action.
But if you say, hey, guys,we're going to run a referral
bonus and if you send me a goodlead, we're willing to pay for
(18:57):
that nominal amount, right, like25 bucks, oh, this guy looks
really good.
If he actually shows up tointerview, I'll pay you 50 bucks
.
So you're kind of de-riskingyour hiring with these small
rewards.
You can actually think about howto weaponize your own team and
go recruit.
(19:17):
You know there's lots ofdifferent checkpoints that you
could target, of course, thebiggest one being hey signing
day and 90 days of retention, or180, like.
As soon as that event happens,you'll get paid out instantly.
So that is how we're thinkingabout.
You know there's a there's aperson moving through your
(19:42):
experience as an employer and ifyou can wrap instant pay around
these experiences, you canaccelerate their time or
accelerate and minimize theirtime in the funnel in different
stages, and there's always goingto be more buy-in when it comes
from referrals.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Oh, it's someone they trust.
Well, I have this whole thought.
Like we say this all the time,birds of a feather flock
together, right?
So if you were to look at yourentire team and identify the
people that you wish you couldreplicate and duplicate, right,
I wish I could have four.
You know, sarah's, or whateverright I wish I could have four.
You know, sarah's, or whateverright I wish I could have four.
John's right.
I love how he works.
He's dedicated, he fits ourculture.
(20:24):
So most likely, or more thanlikely, he is hanging out with
other people like himself orsimilar to himself.
So when you can incentivize themto talk about their company in
a way that is rewarding, so onething you could do is give them
that instant bonus.
Like hey, we hired them, youcould give them a small click
for just a referral.
(20:45):
You could give them a biggerbump if they actually get hired.
And then every year, on thatperson's anniversary, when hey,
you get a little extra bump,like we did this for a while,
like we were given a thousanddollars after someone got hired,
right, and then every year thatthat person stayed employed
with the company was a $500referral.
Now, listen, you got all of asudden when your buddy's like
(21:07):
man, I hate this job, I'mquitting.
You're like, hang on just aminute, what's going on?
How can I help you?
Right All of a sudden, andthose instant like hey, today is
his one year anniversary.
Boom, $500 hits their account.
They're like, heck, yeah Again.
All of y'all are begging fordifferent ways to recruit and
retain and we're giving it toy'all.
But people will be like, oh,the naysayers, that's expensive.
(21:29):
If $500, if a person stayingwith you year after year is not
worth 500 bucks, then you'redevaluing the power of a solid
team.
So absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
And you can run the math on, like what is the
lifetime value of a single hire?
Right?
Like how much, how much bottomline does a single hire generate
over the course of three years?
A good one, right?
And those are like, that's justmath.
And if, if, driving theacquisition of that lifetime
(22:01):
value, it has its ownefficiencies, right?
So you can either continue to,you know, spray the top of the
funnel with branding, and youknow, and Indeed, right, right
right Zip recruiters, all therecruiting softwares out there.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
You know you can definitely keep doing all of
that, but there's nothing that,to me, moves as efficiently and
quickly.
And listen, everybody wins.
Your own team member walkedaway with a little bit more
money and they gave you someonethat you were hopefully looking
for.
You know, speeding up rewardpayouts will definitely turn
your current team into your bestrecruiting channel.
(22:40):
Okay, so, speeding up rewardspayouts definitely turns your
current team into your bestrecruiting channel, but so this
is really what the heart of whyyou're building this tool that
you're building and this is whatreally attracted me is number
one.
Thank you for having themindset that helps contractors
be able to reward people andretain and recruit.
(23:01):
So thank you for thinkingoutside the box of that, and
this is what is like at theheart of what you're creating.
So tell us why you think you're.
This approach is very differentfor the trades right now.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's a different approach, but it is something
that is already making its wayout through the rest of the
world in other industries and Ijust see no reason why it
shouldn't be and couldn't beapplied to the trades.
You know, the research showsthat just having access not even
(23:33):
using it, just having access toinstant pay experiences drives
the same productivity as a 19%wage increase.
So without even increasingsomebody's wage, just having
access to instant pay makespeople feel financially more
well off, which is incrediblebut also makes a lot of sense.
(23:56):
You know we talked aboutmarshmallow test earlier.
You know, somebody puts amarshmallow in front of you and
you can have it right away, oryou can have two and five
minutes.
Instant pay is like hey, youaccomplished something, here's a
marshmallow, eat it wheneveryou want.
Of course, do what you want todo with it, right.
So that that's at the core ofwhat we're doing, and we really
(24:18):
believe that when you as abusiness want to drive growth
and everybody who's ever managedany kind of sales team knows
right like financial incentivesplus desired behavior, and the
closer you can bring thefinancial incentive to a desired
behavior, the more resultsyou're going to get and it
(24:42):
should be simple andunderstandable and receivable on
the same day, after you've hada hard day getting stuff done
for the business that you'rehelping build and that's you
know.
That's the real vision anddream behind what we're working
on at field pay love this, loveit.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So I really love that you guys are basically existing
just to help us grow, helpthese contractors grow, um
activating their team and beingso exciting.
So, hey, real quick.
So I know, field pay isn't even, is it not quite live yet?
Right, it's super's, superclose.
We're close.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
We're close, we are building it right now, which is
really exciting, and we'retalking to a lot of people about
what it should look like, whatit should feel like.
So if this is even remotelyinteresting to you, I would love
to chat.
I love to meet everybody.
If you are in Texas, definitelyreach out.
(25:37):
I love traveling around thestate and meeting people.
And if you're just interestedin driving growth for your
business, if you know andunderstand that your team,
ultimately, and the individualson your team are going to make
or break your business, andyou're looking for ways to
(25:57):
address your fixed cost andthese big spikes of opportunity
that's what we're trying to worktowards is these new rules
around how to scale and activateyour team to meet your goals.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it.
You've been amazing.
The product is amazing.
I cannot wait so.
But, guys, here's the bigpicture.
Right, the way you pray yourteam is no longer just about a
payroll clerk, it's no longerjust about working it into your
accounting and your P&L, like wegot to think outside the box
here.
So it's about culture, it'sabout retaining, it's about
recruitment, it's aboutmotivation and, most importantly
(26:34):
, it's about growth.
So a lot of you have big,audacious goals and you need
capacity to be able to do that,and this is one way that you can
address your capacity.
So businesses that adapt fasterwith smarter pay, will be able
to recruit and retain better.
They're going to be able tojust deliver a stronger customer
experience and an employeeculture experience.
(26:54):
So Flavia has done a great jobtoday.
It is awesome.
We really loved it.
I really encourage you to goover to myfieldpaycom, join her
wait list, connect with hersomehow to get on the front edge
of this product releasing.
If you need help gettingconnected, feel free to email us
over at Lemon Seed at hello atlemonseedmarketingcom.
I would love to talk to youabout your brand and your
(27:17):
strategy and your culture andtell you how you could really
also make field pay work for you.
So thanks for listening toanother episode of From the
Yellow Chair.
Hope you have a great day andwe will catch you next time.
Oh, what's up?
Lemonheads, welcome to anotherepisode of From the Yellow Chair
.
I'm Crystal and today y'alllisten when I talked to this
friend the first time, we werejust getting acquainted over
women in HVACR, just talking toeach other, and when she told me
(00:30):
what she was doing, I was like,girl, you got to get on my
podcast, because I love what weare going to talk about today,
which is so.
We are all looking for a uniqueway to stand out and hire new
talent and do some unique things, and y'all, she has such a cool
idea and a cool concept behinda product and an idea that us,
(00:52):
as contractors, we have beenstruggling with finding
something.
Y'all, this is it.
You're going to want to settlein.
You're going to want to putthose AirPods on high so you can
hear what we have to say.
But let's do it.
Let's sip some lemonade, okay,y'all in the virtual lemonade
stand today is Flavia De LaFuente.
(01:14):
Thank God I'm from East Texasand I can at least recognize
these names.
But I love her name and I loveher.
We only got to talk for about anhour a couple of weeks ago,
just getting acquainted.
She wanted to get more involvedwith women in HVACR.
We got introduced through amutual acquaintance and we just
started chatting and she said ohyeah, well, I'm actually
starting this company where yourteam members get paid when they
(01:38):
run extra, like work, extratime.
That's the gist of it.
And I was like hang on, pressthe brakes.
This is such a unique way toget new talent, so I'm so
excited to have you on the showtoday, flavia.
Before we jump into all thecool stuff you've got going on,
tell us a little bit about yourbackground.
Like why should anyone carewhat you have to say today?
Sure.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I just spent the past few years of my life working in
another skilled trade.
I worked with pool and spaservice professionals at a
company called Skimmer it's kindof like the service titan, but
for pool and spa and we grewthat company from just a few
pool and spa serviceprofessionals to now serving
(02:20):
over 6,000 pool and spacompanies across the country.
I got really hooked on services, on skilled trades, and just
was working with a lot of owners, helping them build their
businesses.
Obviously, our offering wassoftware and payments, but the
thing that really kept people upat night and that we spent time
(02:44):
talking about and workingthrough was talent and
recruiting great people andkeeping great people and
worrying about whether or notyou're giving your best guy and
these people that you're relyingon the treatment that you want
as a business owner who's tryingto grow and meet certain goals.
And one of the things that weworked on was we rolled out a
(03:09):
payments product so you couldinvoice your end customer.
But I spent a lot of timethinking about, honestly, the
power of pay and the power ofmoney as a thing we all need to
lead our lives, and thateventually took us down the path
of.
You know.
Your team is the company youbuild, and what better way than
(03:31):
to align the objectives of thebusiness with your team, than
making sure that pay is properlyutilized, and usually we just
think about paying people more.
But pay can come in differentshapes and forms and at
different times, and that'sreally what we're working on,
(03:55):
and what I'm excited to talkabout today is the new rules of
pay.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I love it.
I love it.
So I love that you come fromthe home service industry in a
in a sense of you understand thestruggle of getting qualified
labor and then keeping them.
So, um, as you know, I'm a bigculture advocate so, like I'm a
really big fan of man, you cankeep people.
Pay isn't everything, but payis definitely something.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Whether we like it or not.
Yes, yeah, pay is important.
So we can try to sugarcoat itand be like, oh, they don't just
stay for pay.
You're right, they don't juststay for pay, but pay is very
impactful when it comes to theconsiderations that all of these
technicians and listen, there'sa call right now.
There's a call to more people,to the industry, and so you, as
a contractor, you need to getinnovative.
You need to start thinkingoutside the box, outside the
(04:49):
realms of what you've alwaysheard and thought, and so I love
this idea of this is a way thatyou can use to recruit, you can
use to retain, and honestly,motivation.
So just because someone's notready to leave the company
doesn't mean they don't needanother motivation to sell some
extra products or work a fewextra time, and so every one of
us here would know what a goodopportunity you have when you
(05:11):
now have people lined up to takeextra shifts, lined up to work
on the weekends, and so I loveit.
But one thing that you did tellme is you know and we were
talking the other day is how payexpectations have changed.
Right, so you know.
A quick story I was here atLemon Seed.
You know we were getting readyto hire some people and you know
they're coming out of collegeand I say I make a joke all the
(05:31):
time like, still smells likepampers, right?
Still smell like a fresh box ofdiapers, you know, and they're
young and they're they'reexcited, but at the end of the
day, they don't know anything.
They know a lot of theory aboutmarketing or business or
finance or social media,whatever.
They know a lot of theory, butit's the application, right,
it's the actual utilization ofthe skills that they've learned
(05:53):
in a real environment.
But they come out guns blazinglike you know what I need to
make $150,000 a year with noexperience coming right out of
school, and so pay expectationshave definitely changed and,
honestly, skilled tradesmen nowknow what they're worth, and so
they come out pushing.
So you've got to figure out away to be an interesting, at
(06:18):
least approach to things.
So I love this.
One key point that you sent mewhen we were prepping is 30% of
young adults have earned moneyfrom side.
I call it side gigs, sidehustles, right?
So it's those little injectionsof quick cash, right?
Is that what you?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
said that's right.
And it's the whole experienceof like I want a thing, I want
to go on a trip, I need to paythe rent, and there's this whole
universe of platforms out therewhere you can pick up a hustle,
pick up a side gig, and it's areally frictionless experience
and you can get paid out really,really quickly.
(06:56):
So somebody is basically sayinghere's a thing, here's a
behavior that I want a taskaccomplished and really quickly.
Right behind it is the pay whenthat's done.
And part of this is, you know,everybody's got, you know, at
least two financial apps of somekind.
People are really comfortablewith the.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Venmo Uber Cash Apps.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right and like when you, when you use that stuff,
it's like, oh, this is so simple, this is so easy, I can just
send money around and they startto build in their head this
expectation of like, well, whydoesn't my employer pay me like
that Like of like well, whydoesn't my employer pay me like
that Like, why isn't it thateasy?
Why, why not?
(07:44):
Why shouldn't I get paid kindof just in time?
So even if, you know, noteverybody's going to do gig work
, but these experiences and kindof the larger ripple effects of
how big the gig economy is, ittrickles out and it just starts
to influence how people thinkabout how and when they're going
to get paid.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Yeah.
So you're like, hey, work hard,sell some cool stuff, and then
in two weeks you're going to seethat $20.
Yeah, it gets lost in a lot ofthings when now this is a cool
opportunity for them to be likeman, I went and hustled.
So when you drive, you knowLyft or DoorDash or whatever
that pay is pretty instantaneous, right, pretty quick.
So if you're on it, like, let'ssay, you're getting ready to go
(08:23):
on a trip, and you're like man,I could go work these two
weekends, get the cash now getthe money.
There's just, it's just a coolway of thinking it.
But speed matters.
Like if anybody that'slistening to this is not very
much aware of the fact that themajority of people think that
instantaneous, everything shouldbe instantaneous.
You should answer your phoneAnytime I call, you should
(08:43):
respond to my message Anytime Itext and like're not just
competing with every othercompany now.
You've got to find somethingthat stands out about how
quickly you get paid.
But so I love the other idea,like when you were telling me
you were like man, I createdinstant pay because it felt like
(09:04):
a raise.
I think it feels like a raiseto the employees.
Well, you know, I was sittinghere like, oh my gosh, I love
this for our people.
So I don't just love it for meas the contractor, I love it for
my people, like this is a coolway.
Now, listen, we're not in chargeof their financial literacy.
Okay, so get out of theirpocketbook, get out of their
heads in a sense, and you canalways educate, but at the end
(09:25):
of the day, you don't understand, maybe, what they're going
through.
Maybe they're a young familyand they need some formula.
You don't know.
Maybe they just want to go eatat Papa John's, I don't know,
but it's not our place Right.
And at the end of the day, yourjob is to run a profitable
company that is supplyingresources and solutions for
homeowners, and so whateverkeeps your team motivated,
(09:46):
especially those of you thathave younger team members.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, and if you're, you're a business, you're trying
to grow, you're trying to getsome stuff done and I'll give
you the.
Have you ever heard of themarshmallow test, Crystal?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
No, but I'm so excited to hear it.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Okay, who doesn't right?
So marshmallow test isbasically you put a marshmallow
in front of somebody on a tableand say, hey, if you wait 10
minutes I'll give you twomarshmallows, or you can just
eat that one marshmallow infront of you right now.
So we're thinking about pay,right, like, where's the
marshmallow?
I work today.
I get paid in a week, or or intwo weeks, or, you know,
(10:27):
commission runs, or once a month.
This is a little different.
This is like, hey, you justcompleted a task or you just,
you know, sold that repair.
Here's the marshmallow, you caneat it whenever you want.
You earned it.
Here it is, and you can wait aweek or you can eat it right now
.
It's none of my business, butyou earned it and you're talking
about this.
These are your employees andthey have their own needs.
(10:48):
Your interest as a businessowner is getting stuff done
right and this is aligning theirneeds with your needs.
And the dream here is whateverdesired behaviors you want from
your team.
Hey guys, I want clean trucks.
Hey guys, I want us to hit our24-7, 24-hour SLA for all of our
(11:13):
membership customers.
I want us to be available tothem over the weekend.
Everybody's got theseenhancements and targets to grow
the business, and usually thosewins are they come in a
different form for most of theemployee base.
But if you can wrap instant payaround a win, you win, they win
(11:38):
and your business moves forward.
So that's really what we'reinterested in building for all
these businesses.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
I love it.
And you know they stay longerand they tend to pick up, you
know, just opportunities.
So, instead of looking at itlike dreading it, they start
looking at it as an opportunity.
It's an opportunity.
And again, like, yes, you'restill going to have maybe
there's some times that shiftsdon't get picked up.
But faster pay does drivebehavior, just like a raise, but
(12:07):
without that burden.
And it's self-owned, earned,I'm sorry, self-earned, so
you're not really investing.
Like well, I'll just pay youmore At the end of the day.
Like they can make more moneyif they hustle for it.
Right so.
But service, you know servicedepartments and businesses like
heating and air conditioning,pest control and things like
that.
We have tough demands, right so, like we're on call, we've got
(12:28):
emergency work, we've gotholiday work, we've got
seasonality we're busy, we'renot busy.
You know, we just ride thisroller coaster of seasonality
and it's all different for thedifferent trades.
But like, how could this typeof pay incentive be used to
actually activate those teamsduring those crunch times?
Like you know, is it just outof?
You know, hey, now's a goodopportunity.
(12:51):
Like what do you?
How do we deal with thetumultuousness that is our life?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yeah, I'm, you know, having come from pool and spa,
very familiar with egregiousseasonality around services and
skilled trades.
And look, it's pretty simple,right, you have your team and
that's generally a fixed cost,right.
(13:17):
But opportunity is like thisand there's spikes in heat or in
weather that can drive a lot ofthe environmental factors
around whether or not the phonesare ringing or they're not.
And you know, for an averageand I come from pool and there's
(13:37):
a lot of recurring work, right,you're paying your monthly pool
bill and, as a lot of HVACbusinesses build out membership
base, you have this recurringwork.
Well, what's the lifetime valueof that customer and what are
you willing to do to make surethat they don't cancel on you or
leave that membership packagethat you won you upsold, and the
(14:03):
data suggests that there'sthousands of dollars of average
lifetime value in thesememberships.
If they call on a Friday andthey say, hey, no heat or sorry,
no cool, I need somebody, andyour team is not running
weekends and you're pushingstuff to Monday, is it worth
$100 bonus to send somebody outto save Cheryl on a Saturday so
(14:27):
she doesn't cancel hermembership?
If not, she's thinking toherself well, what am I paying
for?
So, as an owner, you want tothink about where are those
peaks and what are you willingto make available to your team
in those peaks to go win the day, and if not, you are deferring
(14:48):
stuff to the subsequent week.
You are running risk in termsof speed to fulfillment and you
know there's a lot of focus onspeed to lead today with voice
agents and picking up the phone.
But the second half of theequation is how quickly can you
actually get somebody out there?
(15:09):
And if you can say, hey guys,I'm going to attach an instant
pay incentive to thisopportunity in particular,
you're going to have a lot morehand raisers than you would
otherwise because they're goingto do the service call and they
can, at the end of the day, youknow, a hundred bucks to go to
Papa John's or whatever it isthey want to do.
(15:31):
That desired behavior wasfollowed really quickly by the
financial incentive and you knowone of the folks that we're
working with that we're buildingthis for, he's like I was, like
I'm just trying to teach myteams that you know making money
feels good and it's fun and atthe end of the day you can go
spend the money after you did areally hard thing and, uh, you
(15:51):
know these are really gruelingdays.
Um, you know, I know you'reeither spending time in an attic
or you're in an Arizona sun forsix, seven hours cleaning pools
.
And if you can feel at the endof the day and see that
spendable money in your pocket,things happen and you're
(16:17):
likelier to come in the next daythings happen and you're,
you're likelier to come in thenext day.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
So one of the things that I'llsay that really stuck with me is
you know, and I'm a culturequeen, I'm, I'm so hung up on
the culture because, at the endof the day, you're right People,
they have to choose to walkaway from their family or, let's
be honest, like those of youthat live in this nice idea of
four seasons of life, like Ihave in Texas, it's either hot
or less hot, but like they're,they're choosing to go work
instead of being on the lakewith their family, instead of
(16:47):
taking, you know, maybe being ata little league game or
something.
So this whole like it's a nicetrade when you can say, hey, I,
I did have to give this up, butI needed this money for this or
for that, like I don't know.
I just love the idea that whenyou align the pay with the
(17:08):
behaviors that you need the mostas the owner of, like you need
somebody that is incentivized towork those awkward times.
Because you're a servicebusiness, right, like you want
to be serving your people, howdo you serve your employees and
your community at the same time?
And it's incentivization, right?
I might've made that word upbut incentivizing them.
So I love this idea.
So, but let's talk real quick.
(17:28):
Let's talk about hiring.
So recruiting is one of thehardest parts of running a
service-based business, right?
So I know, and we've alluded toit a lot here.
But how does instant pay helphere?
Like, I have some ideas thatjump into my head, but you know,
like those quick, likereferrals, like hey, you sent me
somebody, I hired them.
Boom, here's a little bit ofcash.
(17:49):
What were your?
Speaker 2 (17:52):
No, that's, that's absolutely on the right path.
And the original you know theoriginal conception here is you
know I talked to a lot of folks.
The original you know theoriginal conception here is you
know, I talk to a lot of folksand I, you know, you're a
professional marketer, crystal,so you know all about funnels
and you ask people and if youthink about hiring as a funnel,
you can ask people, hey, wheredo you spend the most money on
(18:15):
hiring?
And they'll say, oh, linkedin,or maybe recruiters.
I'm like, okay, what's yourbest performing channel for
hiring?
And they'll say, oh, referrals.
So it's like, well, let's thinkabout what it looks like to
wrap referrals around instantpay.
(18:37):
And usually most people announceemployee referral programs to
their teams and then just kindof forget about it.
Right, it's tough to action.
But if you say, hey, guys,we're going to run a referral
bonus and if you send me a goodlead, we're willing to pay for
(18:57):
that nominal amount, right, like25 bucks, oh, this guy looks
really good.
If he actually shows up tointerview, I'll pay you 50 bucks
.
So you're kind of de-riskingyour hiring with these small
rewards.
You can actually think about howto weaponize your own team and
go recruit.
(19:17):
You know there's lots ofdifferent checkpoints that you
could target, of course, thebiggest one being hey signing
day and 90 days of retention, or180, like.
As soon as that event happens,you'll get paid out instantly.
So that is how we're thinkingabout.
You know there's a there's aperson moving through your
(19:42):
experience as an employer and ifyou can wrap instant pay around
these experiences, you canaccelerate their time or
accelerate and minimize theirtime in the funnel in different
stages, and there's always goingto be more buy-in when it comes
from referrals.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Oh, it's someone they trust.
Well, I have this whole thought.
Like we say this all the time,birds of a feather flock
together, right?
So if you were to look at yourentire team and identify the
people that you wish you couldreplicate and duplicate, right,
I wish I could have four.
You know, sarah's, or whateverright I wish I could have four.
You know, sarah's, or whateverright I wish I could have four.
John's right.
I love how he works.
He's dedicated, he fits ourculture.
(20:24):
So most likely, or more thanlikely, he is hanging out with
other people like himself orsimilar to himself.
So when you can incentivize themto talk about their company in
a way that is rewarding, so onething you could do is give them
that instant bonus.
Like hey, we hired them, youcould give them a small click
for just a referral.
(20:45):
You could give them a biggerbump if they actually get hired.
And then every year, on thatperson's anniversary, when hey,
you get a little extra bump,like we did this for a while,
like we were given a thousanddollars after someone got hired,
right, and then every year thatthat person stayed employed
with the company was a $500referral.
Now, listen, you got all of asudden when your buddy's like
(21:07):
man, I hate this job, I'mquitting.
You're like, hang on just aminute, what's going on?
How can I help you?
Right All of a sudden, andthose instant like hey, today is
his one year anniversary.
Boom, $500 hits their account.
They're like, heck, yeah Again.
All of y'all are begging fordifferent ways to recruit and
retain and we're giving it toy'all.
But people will be like, oh,the naysayers, that's expensive.
(21:29):
If $500, if a person stayingwith you year after year is not
worth 500 bucks, then you'redevaluing the power of a solid
team.
So absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
And you can run the math on, like what is the
lifetime value of a single hire?
Right?
Like how much, how much bottomline does a single hire generate
over the course of three years?
A good one, right?
And those are like, that's justmath.
And if, if, driving theacquisition of that lifetime
(22:01):
value, it has its ownefficiencies, right?
So you can either continue to,you know, spray the top of the
funnel with branding, and youknow, and Indeed, right, right
right Zip recruiters, all therecruiting softwares out there.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
You know you can definitely keep doing all of
that, but there's nothing that,to me, moves as efficiently and
quickly.
And listen, everybody wins.
Your own team member walkedaway with a little bit more
money and they gave you someonethat you were hopefully looking
for.
You know, speeding up rewardpayouts will definitely turn
your current team into your bestrecruiting channel.
(22:40):
Okay, so, speeding up rewardspayouts definitely turns your
current team into your bestrecruiting channel, but so this
is really what the heart of whyyou're building this tool that
you're building and this is whatreally attracted me is number
one.
Thank you for having themindset that helps contractors
be able to reward people andretain and recruit.
(23:01):
So thank you for thinkingoutside the box of that, and
this is what is like at theheart of what you're creating.
So tell us why you think you're.
This approach is very differentfor the trades right now.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's a different approach, but it is something
that is already making its wayout through the rest of the
world in other industries and Ijust see no reason why it
shouldn't be and couldn't beapplied to the trades.
You know, the research showsthat just having access not even
(23:33):
using it, just having access toinstant pay experiences drives
the same productivity as a 19%wage increase.
So without even increasingsomebody's wage, just having
access to instant pay makespeople feel financially more
well off, which is incrediblebut also makes a lot of sense.
(23:56):
You know we talked aboutmarshmallow test earlier.
You know, somebody puts amarshmallow in front of you and
you can have it right away, oryou can have two and five
minutes.
Instant pay is like hey, youaccomplished something, here's a
marshmallow, eat it wheneveryou want.
Of course, do what you want todo with it, right.
So that that's at the core ofwhat we're doing, and we really
(24:18):
believe that when you as abusiness want to drive growth
and everybody who's ever managedany kind of sales team knows
right like financial incentivesplus desired behavior, and the
closer you can bring thefinancial incentive to a desired
behavior, the more resultsyou're going to get and it
(24:42):
should be simple andunderstandable and receivable on
the same day, after you've hada hard day getting stuff done
for the business that you'rehelping build and that's you
know.
That's the real vision anddream behind what we're working
on at field pay love this, loveit.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So I really love that you guys are basically existing
just to help us grow, helpthese contractors grow, um
activating their team and beingso exciting.
So, hey, real quick.
So I know, field pay isn't even, is it not quite live yet?
Right, it's super's, superclose.
We're close.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
We're close, we are building it right now, which is
really exciting, and we'retalking to a lot of people about
what it should look like, whatit should feel like.
So if this is even remotelyinteresting to you, I would love
to chat.
I love to meet everybody.
If you are in Texas, definitelyreach out.
(25:37):
I love traveling around thestate and meeting people.
And if you're just interestedin driving growth for your
business, if you know andunderstand that your team,
ultimately, and the individualson your team are going to make
or break your business, andyou're looking for ways to
(25:57):
address your fixed cost andthese big spikes of opportunity
that's what we're trying to worktowards is these new rules
around how to scale and activateyour team to meet your goals.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Yeah, I love it.
I love it.
You've been amazing.
The product is amazing.
I cannot wait so.
But, guys, here's the bigpicture.
Right, the way you pray yourteam is no longer just about a
payroll clerk, it's no longerjust about working it into your
accounting and your P&L, like wegot to think outside the box
here.
So it's about culture, it'sabout retaining, it's about
recruitment, it's aboutmotivation and, most importantly
(26:34):
, it's about growth.
So a lot of you have big,audacious goals and you need
capacity to be able to do that,and this is one way that you can
address your capacity.
So businesses that adapt fasterwith smarter pay, will be able
to recruit and retain better.
They're going to be able tojust deliver a stronger customer
experience and an employeeculture experience.
(26:54):
So Flavia has done a great jobtoday.
It is awesome.
We really loved it.
I really encourage you to goover to myfieldpaycom, join her
wait list, connect with hersomehow to get on the front edge
of this product releasing.
If you need help gettingconnected, feel free to email us
over at Lemon Seed at hello atlemonseedmarketingcom.
I would love to talk to youabout your brand and your
(27:17):
strategy and your culture andtell you how you could really
also make field pay work for you.
So thanks for listening toanother episode of From the
Yellow Chair.
Hope you have a great day andwe will catch you next time.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.