December 30, 2024 • 53 mins
What if your childhood dreams could shape your adult realities? Brian Hess, a dynamic entrepreneur and CEO of The Pavement Group, joins us to share his compelling journey from his roots in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he was nurtured by a steelworker father and a devoted homemaker mother. As a child dreaming of owning a bank, Brian's unyielding entrepreneurial spirit led him from the University of Pittsburgh to the world of paving, despite not completing his degree. His transformation from a Verizon salesman to a notable figure in the business realm is a testament to the power of determination, community, and the invaluable lessons from a hardworking upbringing.
Throughout our conversation, Brian peels back the layers of entrepreneurship, shedding light on pivotal decisions like leaving a secure job to venture into the unknown of the paving industry. He reveals how his journey, marked by strategic risk-taking and leveraging marketing and technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in substantial company growth while others faltered. Brian’s story underscores the importance of belief, sacrifice, and resilience, illustrating how these factors, paired with spousal support and a commitment to top-notch customer service, can turn dreams into reality even in volatile times.
Join us as we explore the significance of building strong relationships and fostering team unity, drawing lessons from Pittsburgh’s iconic sports culture. Brian shares insights from mentors like John Wooden and John Maxwell, emphasizing the importance of leadership and personal growth. We wrap up with a reflection on the City of Champions' spirit and Brian’s cherished family roots, highlighting how personal connections and community pride continue to inspire his journey. This episode is a celebration of perseverance and the enduring impact of family, sports, and mentorship in achieving entrepreneurial success.
Brian Hess
@RealBrianHess
https://thepavementgroup.com/
https://topcontractorschool.com/
https://1teammedia.com/
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!
www.holdmycutter.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to another edition of Hold my Cutter.
We're coming your way here.
Burned by Rocky Patel, just afew blocks down the road from
PNC Park, greg Brown, michaelMcHenry and our special special
guest, brian Hess, and now Fort.
You're going to have to tell mewhy he chose the Rocky Patel
LB1.
I know you've got nicknames,but this, of course, named for
the codes used in the factoriesduring the creation of the cigar
(00:27):
Medium-bodied smoke rolled inHonduras from a tobacco blend
that includes Ligero, a mix offillers from Condega and Esteli,
nicaragua, and, of course,grown on Rocky Patel's farms.
Why would Brian Hess choose theLB1?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You know, there's a bearded man back in the back
that said it's got a woodsyfeature.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And Hess he went out and got this.
He went to Nicaragua, got this,brought it back, and I mean all
the tones we taste.
It was his idea, it's histhought.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And he also puts it in his hair product.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I mean, you can't just wake up and have that
beautiful hair.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That hair product is the LB1 hair product Exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Notice the number one .
Yes, it's always about numberone, because that's number one
right there.
It's beautiful, brian.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Hess is the CEO of the Pavement Group, a commercial
paving company, and the topcontractor school.
But he's much, much more thanthat Entrepreneur, a
motivational speaker.
He's produced now some 850podcasts the Brian Hess Show.
Daily podcasts every day, everymorning, five days a week,
(01:28):
covering topics from sales tomarketing, to leadership, faith
and family.
I think the University ofPittsburgh product will get into
that.
Started in the business worldas a Verizon salesman and now
look where he is, a mentor,working in the paving industry.
Brian, thanks so much for beingwith us.
Your story is absolutelyincredible.
I'm pumped.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I can't wait.
I'm pumped.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's an honor to be here with you guys, and so we
likely as we always do this, andlikely we would start at the
beginning.
You grow up, you're a yinzer,he's a yalzer, but you're a
yinzer.
And where did it all begin?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
So Uniontown, Pennsylvania, man, I'm the son
of a steel worker and my momstayed at home.
So traditional American family.
My parents have been marriedfor over 50 years.
That's beautiful and yeah, man.
So I saw her hard work frontand center every day of my life,
and so thanks to my mom and dadfor the sacrifices that they
made and I tell people this allthe time it's like the least you
(02:27):
can do when your parents, youknow, give you an opportunity by
hardworking people, provideopportunities for kids and you
know I'm just working hard everyday to make sure I don't waste
it you know.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Well, okay, you grew up, you go to, you go to school,
but did you?
What did you want to be as ayoungster?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, I can tell you, I never imagined I'd own an
asphalt and concrete company.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That wasn't on the list of dreams.
You don't wake up at five andnot want to be an astronaut.
You're like.
You know what I want?
To be an asphalt.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, if you would have asked me anytime that I was
a kid, I probably would havesaid baseball player, but I
always had an entrepreneurialspirit.
And so when I was five yearsold, my parents would tell you
this story that my dad and mygrandfather were down in a ditch
digging a ditch.
And my grandfather looked upand said hey, man, make sure you
(03:16):
work hard so you don't end updoing something like this for
the rest of your life.
They wanted it better for you.
And I said oh, pappy, I'm notgoing to dig ditches, I'm going
to work at the bank.
And he goes oh, pappy, I'm notgoing to dig ditches, I'm going
to work at the bank.
And he goes oh, what do youwant to do?
You want to be a teller?
And I said no, man, I'm goingto own the bank.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
So when.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was five years old and what that equates to as an
adult.
I think we had a lot of greatconversation before this started
.
I think you either have thatfire to create and innovate and
you see the world differentlythan everybody else, like you
know.
Everybody that always told melike you know, grow up, get a
good job, make sure it hashealth insurance, a 401k, and
(03:52):
you know, get a house, raise afamily.
I always thought, like you know, there's parts of that that
sound great, but there's partsof that that sound really boring
to me.
You feel locked in, right.
You feel like you're in a cage,right, and so, for me,
entrepreneurship and buildingbusinesses bringing people
together, it was a path tofreedom.
You know and I always say youknow, freedom is relative,
(04:13):
because a lot of people get intoentrepreneurship and they don't
know the path, and so they'researching for freedom, but what
they end up with is a biggercage.
They get a little bit offreedom, but they're still in
that cage.
And so for me, you know, partof the mentorship passion that I
have is to unlock that forpeople so that they, you know,
they have the freedom that theypursued while they wanted to
(04:33):
sacrifice so much to get inbusiness for themselves in the
first place.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, but so so you're going through school,
you're going to I'm going to owna bank, pap, pap, okay, but you
still got to go through theschooling and so on.
And so now you're a toddler,you go to Uniontown, high School
, laurel Highlands, high School,laurel Highlands, okay.
And then you went to Pitt.
I did To study what.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I went to Pitt, johnstown, and I started in
computer science and with aminor in business and I never
finished at Pitt.
So I have a lot of friendsstill at Pitt but I never
finished.
I went out into the businessworld and figured it out on my
own, starting with Verizon.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Was that your first?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
job?
Yes, started in retail atVerizon, worked my way up into
outside sales there.
What made?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
you leave?
What made me leave school?
Yeah, like you're.
What, two, three years in, I'mguessing, Yep, what made you
leave?
And I have a kid I'm mentoringright now and he's debating on
that and I'm like, well, have abig reason why.
If you're going to do this,make sure that you're not going
to look back and like, man, I'man idiot.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Well, I think it's.
It's, you know, what do youneed?
So for me, it was like I knew Iwas going to be in business.
Um, you know I'm sitting inclassrooms, so you know I was
looking at it and I'm like, youknow, I don't know that, like
all this stuff I'm reading inbusiness.
You know, I could read it inbooks, I could study it on my
(05:50):
own.
You know, do I really need thispiece of paper?
And I'm, you know, I'm takingout loans to go to school, and
so I'm like do I want to gofurther in debt or do I want to
conversation with my parents andmy parents advised me against
it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
That'll be a recurring theme by the way as we
get into business Parents'advice.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
My dad will tell you these jokes when, eventually,
you meet my dad.
But yeah, he's told me not todo many of the things that ended
up working out.
And so, yeah, I had thatconversation.
I said, you know what?
I could always go back if Idecide that I need it.
But I'm going to take thisopportunity because I had a job
offer for a pretty significantamount of money and I thought,
you know, I'm going to go dothis and if it doesn't work then
(06:32):
I can always go back and learnsomething.
But that was the decision thatI make.
That's not an endorsement foreverybody else to do it, but
I've got a young man working forme now that's 25 years old.
I've got a young man workingfor me now that's 25 years old,
been with me since he was 18.
And he did the same exact thing.
He called me one day and saidyou know, I'm thinking about
whether or not I should be hereor not and I need your advice.
(06:54):
And I said you're not gettingmy endorsement having your mom
call me and tell me that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I'm the reason you left school right Good.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
But he ended up leaving school and obviously his
parents are super proud of him.
Very successful guy who's beenwith us and he's now our
director of national sales.
At 25 years old Wow, Killingthe game and doing a great job
Married, bought a home, moved toPittsburgh from Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So he's getting all the dreams, just not locked in.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, he's not in the cage Not locked in and it's not
for everybody.
I would give different peopledifferent advice, like some
people should stay in school andfinish, and others you know
they're built to be free.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I love it.
How many years at Verizon?
Seven years, yeah.
And did you say you were downin Florida at one point when
this whole thing happened?
Yes, that changed your life.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You know how it goes with Pittsburgh, right?
People either have to pass awayor retire for you to get a spot
here, because the market growthwill never drive that.
And so I started looking at doI relocate?
That's probably the only optionthat I have, and so I put my
name in the hat and I had acouple interviews in different
parts of the country.
California was way too far andway too expensive.
(08:02):
Yes, so I decided on MiamiFlorida.
So I had an office in Boca andan office in Miami and, yeah,
just started off down thererunning a sales team that sold
to small and medium businesses,and from that our number one
target was constructioncompanies, and so the very first
appointment that I went on inMiami Florida was with a
(08:24):
construction company owner fromPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And at the end of that meeting.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
He said, kid, you should quit your job and come
work for me.
And I was thinking like dude,I'm in a pretty bad neighborhood
here at this constructioncompany and I'm, you know, I got
an office overlooking the Miamiairport.
This sounds like a bad deal tobe, but he invited me to his
house for dinner that night.
As I was driving to his house,I'm like man, this looks a lot
different.
Coral Gables, florida thehouses kept getting bigger and
(08:53):
nicer One year to the day.
Later, after that, I ended upgetting to know this guy pretty
well and trusting him enough toleave my corporate job.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
It took you a year to gain that confidence and trust
to leave.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, I went out to dinner with him and his wife a
bunch of times with my wife andyou know, got to know them
really well and, you know,trusted enough to make that
switch.
And you know, for me it was likeI thought if I could get out of
the corporate setting and intolike more of a small business
place where you know I alwaystell people like you can get a
little closer to the checkbookright, like your talents would
(09:28):
mean more to a small businessthan they would to a corporation
, and so if you have that, likeyou know, top couple percent
performance in a corporation,you're going to be exponentially
more valuable to a smallbusiness, just kind of how it
works.
So that was my thinking.
I got in more valuable to asmall business, just kind of how
it works.
So that was my thinking.
I got in, learned the industryand found this, you know, kind
(09:53):
of lean for myself in providinga high level of customer service
and construction wasn't anormal thing, and so that's I
wanted to solve the biggestproblems that clients had when
it came to you know how theymanage their parking lots and
roads and things like that, andI'm a technology guy working at
Verizon for all those years, andso I took the seven years of
experience solving companyproblems, construction, company
problems with technology andjumped out on my own and the
(10:15):
rest is history.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So you pulled them forward a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, I was struggling to pull that company
forward.
It was 40 years old and it waskind of you know, set in its
ways bigger company, harder tomove and so I felt like the best
path for me was going to be tostart something and innovate the
industry the way that I thoughtit should be.
Oh, I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
What do you think, brian, that this guy who ends up
hiring you?
What is it that he saw in you?
Because you've said this acouple of times about some of
these young kids the 25-year-oldthat you hired when he was 18.
What is it that this person sawin you that said I want this
guy on my team, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I think it's sales ability, sales and sales
leadership that's the lifebloodof any company.
Right, there's a lot of movingpieces that it takes to make a
company successful, but withoutsales, what do you got right?
And so for him, that was thefirst questions he was asking is
how do you guys sell at Verizon, how do you prospect, how do
you find the right clients?
(11:09):
How do you, you know, createthose funnels that allow you to
be successful?
And as I started having thoseconversations with him, he
literally said to me at dinnerone night, like listen, it was
like nine months into ourrelationship he said you name
the amount of money you want tomake.
I just want you to come workfor me.
And I'm like dude, I've beenwaiting to hear that.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Imagine if they told you like make up your own
contract.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So again, nine months later, he's asking you this you
find yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Now you're back in Pittsburgh, yeah Right.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
So eventually left that company and when I had the
vision to create this company, Inever wanted to create it
anywhere but in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
You know, this is how long brought you back.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, this is, this is home man, and you know I'm
proud to build a company herethat you know employs people and
has a great culture.
And to me, our company is thedefinition.
The payment group is like thedefinition of Pittsburgh, like
we've taken something old andinnovated it, made it new.
We have blue-collar work, ethic, advanced technology, but never
(12:16):
losing that old-school feel ofshaking people's hands.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, you can use both right, that's it, that's
awesome, that's it.
How long, brian, were you downthere working for him thinking,
though?
When did you really startthinking about it, even though
you didn't move for a while?
How long were you thinking Ican do this thinking about
Pittsburgh?
Was it always going on in yourmind?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
At first I had a block man because I was like I'm
not an equipment guy, I'venever been in the field, I don't
know how to do the work, I'venever been on machines, and so
and I was like, man, that's aton of capital, it's millions of
dollars in capital to be ableto, you know, invest in that
kind of business.
And the model doesn't reallywork, like you know, it's not
really scalable quickly.
And so for me having customersthat asked, hey, can you get
(12:58):
this job done for me across thecountry, and I'm like, well, how
are we going to do that?
We can't get the equipmentthere.
Well, we just need you to dothe job.
And so you know, putting goodcontractors together that could
complete that job and then beingthe brains behind that to
manage it all and make sure itwas all done correctly and in a
most efficient fashion.
Because you know, if you'repaving a retail store, last
(13:20):
thing they want is for you tonegatively impact their revenue.
So it takes customer experienceand kind of a concierge type
service to be able to do thatand so you were in retail to
start yep, so you had that.
You knew how to do it, yeah, soI just took all the experience
that I had in my life and godput me in the right situation to
be able to use it all at onceso what?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
what made you?
Bet on yourself I, becausethat's not easy.
My wife- Great answer.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
My wife is a true story, that's called brownie
points.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Shout out to my wife because you know I had the
opportunity.
I was kind of in a situationwhere I had to make a decision,
but I had three kids and my wifestayed at home to raise the
kids and you know there's a lotof fear.
Traditional family, yeah A lotof fear in that and so you know
I'm like I always did wellfinancially working for other
(14:11):
people and so like to pull thatplug and have no safety net.
Yeah, and my wife was like youknow, I believe in you and you
need to believe in yourself,like you need to go do this.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
And that leveled you up, didn't it?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, it was kind of like you know what do you say?
Like no.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I'm too weak to go do it.
Sorry, honey, you believe in me.
I just don't believe myself.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, it's really not an option, and so I was like
you know what?
I'm going to figure this out.
And you know, I started out ofmy own house.
So my People always ask me likeyou know, how did you stay
motivated?
The first couple of years?
I'm like there was three littlefaces against the glass every
day that reminded me of what Ineeded to do, you know.
And so, 16 hours a day, six,seven days a week for a couple
(14:56):
of years.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
That's what it takes.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, that's what it takes, man, and it's funny.
I'm a huge sports fan ingeneral, but a huge Pittsburgh
sports fan.
A huge sports fan in general,but a huge pittsburgh sports fan
.
I couldn't have told you thescore of a pirates, steelers or
penguins game from 2018 to 2021,probably wow and uh.
But now, uh, our logos are upon the boards, right, and so
(15:17):
that's that sacrifice, yeah,pays off if you just, you know,
handle it right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So what was covet like then?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
uh, the scariest thing I've ever been through.
So you know we were about atwo-year-old company at that
time, yeah, we started March28th of 2018.
And so we had been, just, youknow, fortunate.
Sometimes luck is in the cards,I think I always say, you know,
the harder your work, theluckier you get.
But we had two clients that hadcontracted us to do a
(15:47):
significant amount of work.
That was pretty good margin,and so we had completed that
work literally almost by the endof February.
We had about 95% of itcompleted, and that capital is
what allowed us to reinvest inthe company when everybody else
was canceling their marketingcontracts and pulling back in
marketing.
Every book I'd ever read, byevery business mentor that I
(16:11):
never met, but I read theirbooks said you know, when
everybody else is pulling back,have the courage to jump in.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And that is that had to be terrifying.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, and so you know .
I literally said to my wife,like she goes, well, what are
you going to do if it doesn'twork?
And I said, well, the next dayI'll get a new tax ID number and
start over.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh man.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
But this is.
You know, everybody's in thesame situation.
It's COVID and you got to gowith your instincts.
And my instincts were attackright.
You know, I've always been abetter offensive player than
defensive player.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I mean, it's never fun to be on your heels anyways,
no.
Yeah, so I'd rather you know soyou pushed in, so you doubled
down on marketing the brand,everything else.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
We built the technology.
That year, we doubled down onthe technology investment that
has made us into the company weare today.
We have unique technology thatnobody else has in our industry
that helps our clients managetheir portfolio properties, and
that all happened in 2020.
Clients manage their portfolioproperties and that all happened
in 2020.
And so, while everybody elsewas, you know, suffering and
(17:16):
revenue declines, we doubled ourrevenue and kept going.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, isn't that incredible.
So how great was COVID.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, it was scary but great, and I'll tell you
this.
The other thing that stands outyou know, I've heard some great
stories.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
coming back to COVID, some, some guys I've met in the
baseball industry literallyjumped ship like comparative to
where they were.
They were like, oh, I'm justgoing to jump in.
They landed on their feet andnow assistant GM, gms guys that
never played, you knowprofessional baseball because
they just kept saying yes.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
They had the courage, yep.
So you know, one of the thingsthat we did during COVID and I
think this is a great lesson forthe viewers you know we had a.
We had a call every day at nineo'clock Zoom calls because our
team's all across the countryand many days, man, we didn't
have anything business relatedto talk about because there was
nothing going on, right, we, youknow, everything was shut down,
we couldn't pay parking lots,we couldn't have crews out.
(18:07):
There was really nothing totalk about.
We talked about our families,our fears, our frustrations.
You know it was.
Communication is key, right, andso you know that bonded that
team together to a point that,like, we went through COVID
together and you know, and, andyou know, north Carolina,
florida, pennsylvania, wisconsin, minnesota, like all over the
(18:29):
country, but we all, we all weregoing through similar things
and, uh, that allowed us to, youknow, get outside of business
and more connected as humanbeings.
And you know, businesses arenothing but a collection of, you
know, talented human beingssolving problems for people, and
the more more frequently youcan solve those problems and the
faster you solve them, the moremoney gets exchanged and, uh,
(18:51):
that's really how simplebusiness is and I think a lot of
times people overcomplicate it.
They, you know they, worry toomuch about the zeros and ones
and not about, you know, thepeople and you know.
So for us, whatever it was thatput it inside of us to you know
, have that call every day atnine o'clock.
I still to this day say likethose nine o'clock calls built
our company.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That's incredible.
It's a human element.
It's the best analytic outthere.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Which is interesting because, do you see, you're
still a sports fan.
I know you guys are connectedto the.
I know you see your Steelerstuff and Penguins.
Do you feel like that elementis also part of sports success
as well?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Absolutely.
I mean, you know, when you,when you you play on great teams
, what's?
What's the combination?
The combination that works isalways respect in the, in the
clubhouse or in the locker room,mutual respect, looking to your
right and to your left.
And no, and I just said tosomebody yesterday, like you
know, there's people in businessthat you meet that you would go
in a foxhole and take a bulletfor it, and then there's people
that you look at and say I'm notsure that guy would take a
(19:54):
bullet for me, and so that's abad place to be.
Yeah, and so you know, for me,that's how I choose.
You know, the people that wealign with is like relationships
are everything.
And you can have the mostadvanced technology, you could
do the best marketing, you couldbe the best sales company.
Do the best marketing, you canbe the best sales company, but
if you don't look people in theeye, shake their hand and
deliver on what you promise, onas a person, the rest of it
(20:17):
isn't going to work.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
So we talk a lot.
Going back to the sportsanalogy, since you build culture
so well, the roots right.
That guy comes up to you.
You know you're an up and comer, you're obviously very hungry,
entrepreneurial spirit, but hesays, what's it going to take?
There's something inside thathuman nature of you that says,
dude, I feel wanted, I feelneeded, and I think there's a
(20:42):
loyalty that never goes away.
With times like that, right,like you probably didn't want to
leave, it's probably likebreaking up with a girlfriend in
high school, right, it's really, really tough.
And that's what I seedifference Like when Sid signs
back, when Malkin's there, thoseguys are so deep-rooted that
even when their career is overwith they're going to feel a tie
back.
And I think that's the biggestthing.
(21:04):
I see a lot of times it's likewhen I walk over to the
clubhouse right now, comparativeto other teams I play for, all
the lockers are empty over there.
Every other team I've everplayed for the lockers aren't
empty.
The guys that are there havelockers that are full and they
kind of roped them off when theyhad big corporate events or
whatever.
But it reminded you like, oh,there's a root and it's deep and
it's getting deeper and deeper,and I hear that through and
(21:26):
through everything you're saying.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, that's what it is, man Like you know people
should love where they come toevery day, you know, and, uh,
they should be energized and,you know, be better people
because of who they spend timewith.
And you know, I always say,like, you don't hire employees,
you hire the whole person.
And you know, you hire theirchallenges, uh, their children,
their spouses, their, you know,whatever that is.
(21:49):
And if you, as a business owner, if you're not prepared to work
through that stuff with people,you're not really meant to be a
business owner, because there'sa lot of responsibility that
comes with that.
There's also a lot of pride,man, the number of people in our
company that have bought thefirst home in their entire
family history we just had God,that's got to feel good right.
(22:10):
It's amazing, it's the bestfeeling on those days that are
really tough.
We just had a couple that worksfor us.
They bought a home a few yearsago and they just paid it off.
And so you know those things.
You know that's money's neverthe motivator man, it's what
people do with the money thatmakes the story, that makes it
work, the money that makes thestory that makes it work.
(22:30):
And so you know when youunderstand that it's like you
know, don't try to motivatesomebody with a boat if their
father has a boat yard, it's notgoing to motivate them.
Right?
And so you got to understandthe DNA of the person.
I think that's the biggestthing in sports.
Right, it's like you know youcan bring in the best players,
but if they don't mesh together,there's not camaraderie, and
(22:51):
that's a big piece of leadership.
You know, coaching is theability to make people fit
together and also to recognizewhen they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
And so you know if you have Be willing to pull that
plug.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Exactly, a clubhouse divided is never going to win a
championship, and the same istrue in business.
And you've got to force thoseconversations, you've got to sit
down with people, you've got toteach them.
People avoid conflict right,and you know there's a quote
that I say conflict delayed isconflict multiplied.
So if you've got something thatis bothering you with somebody
else and you don't talk about it, or somebody doesn't, you know,
(23:25):
make that happen, it's justgoing to keep festering and
festering until you know itcomes out in all different ways.
It comes out in slumps and insports it comes out in arguments
in a locker room or a clubhouse.
It comes out in all differentways.
And so in a business, thatability to cut through the
normal human element of, like,frustrations and
(23:46):
misunderstandings andmiscommunication.
Or you know people who justdon't understand each other,
people that are raisedcompletely differently, like if
you're raised by.
You know my parents,50-something years, married.
I have a different trust levelthan somebody who's been bounced
around, you know, went to 12different schools in their
(24:07):
career, lived in five differentcities.
You know those people have adifferent dynamic and makeup and
so if we can't cater to that,then that person's either not
going to be successful or theyshouldn't be on our team.
But in my experience, if youlisten, you inquire, you find
out about the person.
There's always more alike aboutus than there is different, and
so it's really about listening,understanding and then finding
(24:31):
that path that can give thosepeople individually what they
want and collectively, you know,if you can get in a leadership
position.
This is an old Zig Ziglar quote.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
If you can help enough people get what they want
you'll never have to worryabout getting what you want.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Exactly, Exactly and going back to like your
day-to-day dynamic.
How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I was just going to say I was wondering, through all
this, how do you keep tabs?
You've got a gigantic force,You've got to trust so many
people underneath you that thenwill delegate right.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah, it's a lot.
I mean, in our umbrella we'vegot three companies, I've got
five kids.
It's a lot, I mean we've got.
You know, in our umbrella we'vegot three companies, I've got
five kids.
You know it's a lot to juggle.
And so, personally andprofessionally, you know what I
say there's a lot more hours ina day than you think there is.
And you know, I rememberseveral years ago thinking to
myself like man, I'm really busyand I would laugh at that guy
today like you know at how busyI thought I was.
(25:28):
And so I always make the analogy.
It's kind of like juggling.
Like if you were going to tryto learn how to juggle, you
wouldn't start with seven balls,you'd start with two.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Figure that out the little kid in me.
Probably would you know what Imean.
You wouldn't be successful, butyou'd try.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
And so you know as you get going it gets a little
bit easier, and then you know asthe business scales.
The one thing that I'mchallenged with right now is
because of this type of stuffhanging out with you guys.
The more influential you seem,the more far away you seem from
your people, and so you've gotto try harder to have those
(26:04):
conversations, to sit down atpeople's desks and ask them how
they're doing, and the firstthing people say to you, if I
sit down at somebody's desk andsay how are you doing, they'll
tell me about the numbers.
I'm like I'm not asking abouthow the business is doing.
I can read that on a chart.
I need to know how you're doing.
How's your family, how are yourchildren?
How are you feeling in thisseason?
(26:25):
Because in construction it'sbusy, it's not busy.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And not busy affects some people busy affects some
people.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Some people thrive being busy.
Some people don't do very wellnot being busy.
Yeah, like you.
If I'm not busy, brother, youlike I'm gonna raise my wife get
out of here.
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, and sowe're all three like that, it's,
it's that idea of you know,understanding people is the key
to any amount of success andbusiness.
(26:53):
Sports it doesn't matter whatyou're doing.
And when you get those peopletogether that have that believe
in the vision and they believethat the vehicle they're in is
going to make that visionpossible, they're going to buy
in.
And so you know what you see insports is, if a player if
they're there's probably playersthat care more about money than
(27:16):
championships well, if a player, if all they want in their
career, all they wanted sincethey were a little boy or little
girl, is to win a championship,they better feel like they can
win one on that team.
And so for me, for my people,it's like what do you want?
Do you want to win achampionship?
Do you want to make a lot ofmoney?
And you can finesse thatregardless of what people's
(27:36):
goals are.
But all of those goalscollectively of those 50 people
that work for us, that is, ithas to fit inside of the vision
that we have for the company,and if it doesn't, they'll leave
.
And we've had two people in sixand a half years quit our
company.
And we've probably asked maybe10 to leave Outside of that.
(27:57):
Everybody's the same.
So we have arguably no turnover.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Once again, it goes back to humans, right?
You're never going to beperfect.
If it looks like nobody's everleft and nobody really has,
there's something probably wronggoing on behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
We've lost zero customers six and a half years,
and so I believe that that's ourability to cut through,
communicate, embrace, conflictyou know all of those things
that make our team great.
Who goes to you and says how areyou feeling?
I've got advisors for that.
My wife, you know.
(28:29):
I was just talking to a guybefore we started here.
You know, my pastor at mychurch, shout out to Pastor John
.
He was a visionary enough tosee that.
You know, business owners,entrepreneurs, high-level people
needed to be together.
So he created a small group atour church of people that from
the outside you would say likeoh well, those people, you know
(28:52):
they don't have any problems.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
They got it made Right, but there's a reality to
everybody's life.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yeah, dude let me tell you you sit in a room full
of people that people thinkdon't have any problems and
listen to their problems.
You feel a lot better,understanding that, like most of
the things you deal with,they're going through too, and
you know there's differentdynamics.
Some things are going to beworse for people and some things
are going to be easier, but atthe end of the day, it's our
ability to suffer well that, inmy opinion, defines your life.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Everybody has a different cross to bear.
We know that, brian, who didyou?
You mentioned Zig Ziglar.
He got me through some toughtimes many, many years ago.
The late Zig Ziglar but who didyou idolize might be too strong
, someone you emulated as youwere growing up and then
(29:41):
becoming this businessman.
Maybe you still do.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yeah, so John Maxwell is probably my greatest
influence and he was a mentee ofJohn Wooden, the great John
Wood.
Uh, so I start.
I actually found john maxwellreading john wooden's books.
Wow, and so uh you know similarstory.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Those those.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You know what I learned from those two men?
Uh was, it's a lot easier thanyou think it is.
It's the simple things you know.
I'll never forget reading thestory of, you know, john Wooden,
every year champion, you know,national championships, year
after year after year at UCLA,and the first thing he did every
year was teach people how toput their socks on and tie their
shoes properly.
And uh, you know.
(30:23):
So to me it's don'tovercomplicate it.
Be a good person, uh, operatewith values and principles.
And uh, now you know, I've hadthe opportunity.
I got to watch the Steelersgame with John Maxwell here in
the stadium.
Last game that Tom Brady playedhere in Pittsburgh Most
out-of-body experience I've everhad in my life, really.
You know, read his books for 20years, right?
(30:47):
And you know, when I met him hesaid you know, these people
have told me that you've read alot of my books.
I said, yeah, I think I've read70-something.
And he goes oh my, I didn'tknow I wrote that many books and
yeah.
But I got to watch the Steelersgame with him, I had dinner
with him at the Capitol Grilldown here, you know, again,
(31:08):
pastor Nuzzo helped set that up,wow.
And then I had him speak at oneof our top contractor school
events and, uh, those are thethings that you know be to be
able to give back that way.
So in january we have jordanpeterson coming to one of our no
, no wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
January 10th to the 12th oh, hold on time out now.
Anybody in st pete?
Yeah, you want to come.
Are you kidding me?
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
yeah, like I went through some really tough times
in the last, I'm writing it downnow, probably on the edge of
all the way out of it, but liketrauma that I had to deal with,
didn't realize that was there,dude got me through it yeah, you
can meet him in person have youseen him?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
in person I have this year when he came to ppg Paints
I had to work.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I tried to take the night off and I just couldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
I bought half the front row for our team, did you
really?
And then we did the meet andgreet.
After and prior to that, me andmy wife, one of my mentors and
his wife flew out to Montana anddid the VIP meet and greet.
You don't get a lot of timewith them there, but in this
case, meet and greet.
You don't get a lot of timewith them there.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
But yeah, in this case and I'm one of those guys,
probably similar to you is likeI'm not gonna take the time, I
just want to be around yeah, Iprobably won't say a word.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I just want to listen so yeah, he's, he's speaking
for 60 minutes.
I get to interview him for 30minutes and he's gonna do a meet
and greet for 30 minutes, sothat is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
So you're bringing them down there.
Yeah, there's the company.
Yeah, you know set.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Brothers, did we just become best friends?
Go away.
Nighthawk, that's so cool.
John Wood and Maxwell andJordan Peterson Three guys I
really like.
Are you guys familiar with?
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Ed Milet.
I am familiar with that so hespoke at our event last year,
wow.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
So that's been our lineup over the last few years.
He shoots a straight.
Yes, yeah, wow, those arereally cool people.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
So then you got into this and you got into
motivational speaking right yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I mean, it obviously comes natural.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
One he's got the hair .
I know he's got the hair for it, right he's got the.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Someone has a presence about him and as soon
as I met, you looked me in theeye, we shook hands and like
dude, this guy's a leader.
You could feel that.
Not often do I say that.
I'd say that very, very lightlyin life and I really do feel
like when you meet someone thatyou can tell they have that
presence.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
You're one of those people.
Thank you, brother.
Yeah, that means a lot.
In the beginning I had adifferent goal for that.
I wanted to meet a lot ofpeople and that was a great way
to do it, and so I didn'tconsider myself a motivational
speaker necessarily as much asan educator like trying to share
what I've learned in my life,and so that made it easier.
Talking about what you alreadyknow is pretty easy.
(33:38):
That's why I always tell peoplethat are afraid to get in front
of people.
It's like if you're talkingabout what you know right.
Like you know, if I starttalking to this guy, about, like
you know, construction or brainsurgery, but it might get
uncomfortable.
But yeah, if we're talking aboutbaseball or business or
motivation, things like that.
It's like right in yourwheelhouse.
And so, yeah, I startedspeaking to you know groups to
network and meet new people and,you know, share what I knew.
(34:01):
And then, as that evolved, nowI just do it in the places that
I really want to be to give backto the places.
So, actually, right before thatevent, there's a company called
Veteran Service Brands and sothere are franchises in our
space.
So they do garage floors, epoxyfloors, line striping, they
paint fields, football fields,baseball fields, and so I'll go
(34:25):
speak to that group because it'sveterans and we'll do anything
for, you know, veterans.
And so we have, you know, kindof two lanes of charity, well,
three lanes really of charitythat we do through the company
veterans, anything for kids andthen anything that our employees
can get behind.
So if they've got a connectionto a non-profit, so I'll do it
for you know, the veteransgroups now, um, but I try to do
(34:48):
it.
You know a lot less than I usedto, cause there's a lot going
on in my world, but let me.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Let me go back to education.
Um, talk about that.
I've heard you say growtheducation a couple of different
times, even before we got on.
How much do you emphasize thatwithin your company?
Because you said you have anevent where you're obviously
educating your employees.
Talk about that a little bit,because I think a lot of people
get stuck in the realm and stopeducating, stop growing,
(35:13):
especially as you move up theladder, which that, in my
opinion, is probably the numberone thing you need to constantly
be able to do.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Yeah, I mean outside of payroll.
It's our single biggestinvestment to bring mentorship
to our people, to me, to thecompany, and one of our company
values is constantself-improvement.
Because who you are this year,I always say I'm 45 years old
now.
Hopefully the 46-year-oldversion of me doesn't look
anything like this.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Except for here.
Yeah, if it does, I hope Idon't lose that.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I'm not going to lose that.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
But, you know, hopefully it looks nothing like
this, hopefully I'mexponentially better and
unrecognizable as a person, andthat's my goal for everybody and
you know, to be better mothers,better fathers, better sons,
daughters, and not just inbusiness, because I believe if
you fix all that stuff, you knowthe business results are easy.
You know, if you get somebodythat shows up every day, locked
in, committed, has a clearvision of what they're trying to
(36:07):
accomplish, you know you justgot to create a platform for
them to be able to be successful, and we have that, so that
part's easy.
But education is everything,man.
When you stop learning, I don'tknow what you do.
I've never experienced that,but you know, I've seen people,
people have you get back in theditch?
No, it seems to me that Iactually interviewed the family
(36:30):
that invented the asphalt paver,the Lee family.
They're right outside ofCharlotte, north Carolina.
I interviewed the son of BR Leeand Mike Lee.
I said the company has beensold several times.
I'm sure Mike's doing okayfinancially, but he goes to work
every day.
And he said as long as myfamily's name is on the side of
(36:52):
that building, I want to be herebecause I don't want to fade
away.
And so to me that's what comesto mind.
If you stop learning, you knowwhat are you doing Like I just I
don't know what else to doother than keep moving, keep
meeting people, and to me, atthe end of my life, when I look
back, it'll be the relationships, the things that I learned, the
(37:12):
things that I was able to passon to other people that build a
great legacy.
And so you know, I'm trying tonever waste a day.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Well, you don't.
You got the.
How'd the podcasting start?
What made you start doing that?
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah, I want to know about the podcasting and media
group that you created, becausethat's really cool.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Yeah, so when we started the company, obviously,
you know, marketing to a countryis a lot harder than marketing
to a city.
So the traditional, you know,paving contractor would be
marketing in the city ofPittsburgh and trying to expand
past that.
But that wasn't our approach.
We were, you know, trying to dobusiness all over the country.
There's that.
(37:49):
But that wasn't our approach.
We were, you know, trying to dobusiness all over the country.
There's no amount of marketingdollars that would reach reach
the whole country.
There's no amount of.
Was this your vision?
Yes, yeah and uh bold prettybold.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, pretty bold, and so well educated, well
informed, because obviously alittle bit ahead of the game
yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
And so, uh, there was a guy that told me, like you
know, best way to reach peopleacross the country is social
media.
And I'm like you know, man, Idon't.
I don't want my family to be onthere, my kids, like you know,
there's creepers out there.
All that I told myself, allthose stories that everybody
else tells themselves.
And then I said like I don'tthink there's going to be any
other option other than for meto be present on social media,
(38:21):
show the work that we're doing,go live on the job sites that
we're doing, all those kinds ofthings.
And so that push from that guyis really what started it all.
And the other thing I thoughtwas you know who the heck wants
to listen to a construction guyon a podcast?
And what I didn't realize andthis is a great lesson for
anybody that's watching thiswhoever you are, there's a
(38:44):
million of you out there.
There's a million people thatdidn't finish college, that had
big dreams when they were a kid,that had kids, that was stuck
in the corporate handcuffs, thatcouldn't get out of a job.
That's me.
And so, hopefully, through thispodcast, my goal was, hopefully
I can give a few of thosepeople the courage to do what I
(39:05):
did and, you know, take the leapand know that.
You know you're not going to die.
You don't have to go bankruptIf you do.
It's not the end of the world,right?
But like all of those thingsthat scare people, I did.
I spoke in front of a group ata conference called Grow your
Business, for God's Sake, andthe whole room was like all they
(39:27):
asked me about was like how doI leave my corporate job?
You know I've got insurance andI've got 401k.
And my message to them wassimple it's like if a 401k and
health insurance is going tostop you from your dream, it's
really not a dream Well said.
Because if you're, willing tolet those things stand in your
way, you don't have what ittakes.
But if you're willing to letthose things stand in your way,
you don't have what it takes.
But if you're willing to riskthat, if you're willing to take
(39:51):
the chance on yourself and beton yourself regardless of those
circumstances, you're probablygoing to make it, because you
can't wake up every day, workhard, do all the right things
and get the wrong result.
So it's just a matter ofwithstanding whatever
circumstances come in front ofyou.
And you know I said this issomebody getting on the elevator
going up to the office thismorning.
(40:12):
I said, dude, it's impossibleto beat the people that don't
quit.
If you don't quit, how cansomebody beat you?
Yep, persistence always wins.
Yeah, and until I'm donebreathing man, I don't have
quitting envy.
I just don't know how to dothat and I've never been a good
loser.
Show me a kid that's a soreloser and I'll show you somebody
(40:34):
that'll probably be reallysuccessful.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yes, People that hate to lose and don't want to hear
about it Almost more importantthan enjoying winning.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
It's like you've got to hate to lose.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
We talk about outside forces a lot he and I, brian
from all aspects that peoplemaybe not intentionally, but it
almost feels like they're tryingto.
My buddy, steve Blass, ourbuddy Steve Blass, always says
don't let them take the fightout of you.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Don't let anybody take the fight out of you.
That sounds like somebody saidthat to me last year.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Yeah, and it's so true though Somebody said that
to me last year.
Yeah, and it's so true, thoughyou know, don't, because then
they win.
Don't let those outside forceswin.
They can't beat you.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Something happened today with my 10-year-old son.
He was put in circumstancesthat were not great and he
showed up and delivered, eventhough I was like man.
I don't know how this is goingto go and I text my wife and
said, like that's what thatkid's made of.
That had to be an incrediblemoment, because he showed up
regardless of the circumstancesand delivered not as prepared as
(41:33):
he would have liked to be, notin the best circumstances.
You know things outside andyeah, that's what it's all about
.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Did you advise him beforehand?
Talk to him nonstop aboutmindset.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
But this particular moment.
Or was this already ingrained?
Speaker 2 (41:48):
The best situations usually come when the
circumstance around you aren'tvery good and it's just showing
up and saying well, it's got toget done, I've got to do it, and
a 10-year-old doing that.
I mean, papa had to be like ohyeah.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
That's my boy right there.
One of my favorite Ed Miletquotes is the greatest lessons
in life are often more caughtthan taught.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
So it's not about what you tell them.
It's about and I hope this isthe case that my wife and I set
an example for him of notquitting and standing up.
To whatever circumstancesyou're given, you stand up, put
your shoulders back and dealwith it, and when you see that
over and over again, it'straining.
(42:30):
It's training without having tosay a word, and so it is a
great feeling to watch your kidsbe able to persevere, and
especially for him, because he'skind of the quieter one of the
group and for him to be able todeliver like that is pretty cool
how many kids uh five whoa,what ages 12, 10, 7, 4 and 11?
(42:51):
months, 11 months wow yeah,oldest and youngest are girls
and the three boys wow, man, youget the basketball team going.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, uh, the the though thatyou started to get the word out
essentially right, yep, and fivedays a week.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Was it.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Also when you figured I'm going to do this five days
a week, I'm going to commit toit.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Yeah, how did that evolve?
Because I think people getconfused about social media,
like more is more honestly,because you don't know who's
looking, but you obviouslyprobably didn't start out five
days a week.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
No, I did, yes, you did.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
You really are a night hawk.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
I really love this.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Okay, so you start out five days a week, which 100%
, is the right way to go, andyou just kept going.
Yeah, you don't see a lot oflove at first right.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
Nope, you just got to keep putting it out there.
I researched it for a long timeand I said, man, there's a lot
of people doing podcasts everyweek.
I don't know anybody.
I don't know anybody that'sdoing it five days a week.
And so my thought was if Icould start early in the morning
, and so my team is also acrossthe country.
So I thought, man, this is agreat way for me to mentor my
(43:57):
team and also deliver a message.
And so, first thing in themorning I started out at either
seven or 7.30 am so I could getit out of the way before the
workday started.
And so, yeah, for 30 minutesevery morning.
At first it was just me talkinginto a camera on a webcam and
did that for hundreds ofepisodes, and then probably
(44:19):
around like episode 400 or 500,.
We built the studio and nowI've got different members of
the team and people that come inand lots of people from
pittsburgh to come in and sit inthe seat.
So you guys, are you got toreturn the favor?
Speaker 1 (44:31):
oh yeah, get rid of us, and uh yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
So that that's how it started but I really thought
like if I'm going to build, youknow, a following, it's going to
have to be done differently.
If I'm trying to reach thewhole country, I've got to
outwork everybody else.
And so one day a week.
I just thought like that'sgoing to take a lot longer than
five days a week.
So let's get it.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Yes, all right, let's talk because we tie in
Pittsburgh.
People, western Pennsylvaniahold my cutter.
A lot of baseball, but sports,your most memorable sports
moment that you watched andmaybe it was on TV, maybe it was
on a device, or when you saw-something in person that you'll
(45:16):
never forget.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Well, I watched the Pens win the Stanley Cup In
person yeah, in person, so thatwas a big one.
I'll go all three sports.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Okay, yeah, yeah, that's fine, I like it.
The Quato game is unforgettable, were you at that one
Unforgettable Were you thereyeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
That proves that Pittsburgh sports are different.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Oh yeah, yeah, and Ryan Clark hitting Willis
McGahee to win the AFCchampionship game was probably
one of the best, mostexhilarating moments as a fan
that I've ever experienced and Ihappen to be sitting around a
lot of Ravens fans, so it wasextra special.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
And that also brings it to a moment, too.
That's a moment that you'llnever forget.
That's exhilarating.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I just went to my first Steelers game last week a
Ravens game.
Because, same thing, I put myhead down and felt like you know
, I needed to figure some thingsout, and then came up for air.
I'm like I've never been to aSteelers game.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
And I went and I sat 500.
I wanted to do it Yenzer style.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know whatI mean and I absolutely loved
it and it turns out, just becamea lieutenant colonel 20 years.
Uh, he's on the podcast.
Chad sang the national anthem,so just oh perfect crushed it.
He is a better rendition andI'm going to try to get him to a
pnc.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
He does a country style oh, he just said I can't
do it in uniform like that wow,and I was like I respect that.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
That's wild but I'll never, like that's ingrained in
me, like I feel like, oh my god,I think I, I think I have an
obsession, this, this is kind oflike an addictive drug oh, dude
, you know what I love.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Like you know, one of one of my goals is you know,
I'm a huge fan of pittsburgh man, I just love this city you know
he said one of his goals.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
I can't wait to hear.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
I'm so proud of this city, and so one of my goals is
you know, I go to the berkshirehathaway shareholder meeting in
omaha, and so you, you go thereand you've got people from all
over the world that come to seeWarren and Charlie, right, yeah,
well, now Warren, uh Buffett.
And so and I it hit me when Iwas in Omaha I'm like, dude, we
need to bring people toPittsburgh.
Like we need to have events inthis city, like you know, the
(47:18):
NFL drafts coming.
But, dude, we can, you know, wecan create events here that
bring people from around thecountry.
But, dude, we can create eventshere that bring people from
around the country.
And every time I bring peoplehere and you reminded me of it,
like I take people to Steelersgames and they say, like, dude,
my stadium's not like this.
Right, the fans in my city,they're not like this.
I was at the Giants Mondaynight game and I talked to so
(47:42):
many Giants fans and saidMetLife Stadium is a dump
compared to this place.
There's no energy, there's noexcitement.
This is unbelievable.
And so for me, my goal is tobring as many people to this
city and introduce them to theculture of the city of
Pittsburgh, the people of thecity of Pittsburgh as we
possibly can, and I got a lot ofstuff I'll share with you guys
(48:04):
when we get off the air here.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
I don't know if you need a puppy dog in that I'm in,
let's do it.
Speaker 3 (48:08):
Let's do it, yeah, I love that.
Yeah, because everybody comeshere and says the same thing.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I know I can't believe it.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
Oh, it's not a smoky old steel town.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Like no dude, but you still have that ground-level
foundation of that blue-collarhard-working steelworker or
ditch-digger, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
Best people in the world.
Best people in the world.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Don't convince me.
I believe it with all my heart.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
Brian referenced Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire
Hathaway Home Services.
Our girl Eric.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Katz, wow, what a tie-in, askerikatzcom.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
You didn't even know Best realtor, ask
A-R-A-H-K-A-T-Zcom.
Askarakatzcom.
Hurrah, she's tremendous, she'sthe best, and we're with the
best here in Brian Hess talkingabout just what a career, what a
life, and trying to get as manypeople as you can to come to
Pittsburgh in this town.
(49:01):
How about the pride people haveof Pittsburgh?
Isn't it incredible?
Speaker 3 (49:05):
It's just so wild.
I always say God blessPittsburgh giving us the same
colors in all the sports teamsand giving this city an identity
they could get behind LastFriday night.
So we had the stage AE, we hadcurtain call with all the 70
Steelers, we celebrated the 50thanniversary of Super Bowl IX,
and so Friday night I got tohave dinner with all those
legends and you know, I got tohave a conversation with Mel
(49:28):
Blunt and I was born in 1979, soI wasn't here for any of those
Super Bowl wins.
But I said like I've readenough history and I've studied
enough to know that those guysgave this city hope when it
needed it the most.
You know when everything wasgoing the wrong direction.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Explain that a little bit more, for you know y'all's
over here.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Yeah, like you know, the steel mills are declining,
closing all over the place.
You know unemployment's rising.
You know, one of the reasonswhy you see Steelers fans,
pirates fans all over thecountry is because so many
people were displaced fromPittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
They left Pittsburgh.
They live in other citiesBecause they had to to get a job
.
They travel well, but theyreally don't.
They live well, they live outall over the place.
Pittsburghers 17 millionSteelers fans nationwide.
Speaker 3 (50:16):
But they've never forgotten where they came from
17 million yeah.
And so you know, in that era andwhen you talk to those guys
I've been blessed to talk, johnKolb is a good friend, rocky
Blyer I've spent some time withand interviewed on the podcast,
got to spend some time with MelBlunt you talk to those guys.
(50:41):
They really took a pride ofbeing what this city was, which
was hard work, hard nose.
They took on the identity ofthe fan base and so that gave
these men and women you knowthat were down on their luck,
hope man when they needed.
And the same thing happens withall of our sports.
It's, like you know, sports area big deal here because
pittsburgh is built like that.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
It's different well, I'm old enough to have been
around in 1979 and just to yourpoint.
Yeah, I know it's hard tobelieve, it's hard but, uh, when
, when the city and the regionwas down on its luck, and when
the steelers and the pirates wonthe championship the very same
year.
And back then there was no, youknow, no websites, no social
media, no, nothing.
It relied on newspapers andmagazines, and one particular
(51:20):
national magazine startedannouncing the city of the year,
the city of champions, andpittsburgh was named the the
city of the year, the city ofchampions, and Pittsburgh was
named the best city in thecountry because of the Pirates
and the Steelers winning thechampionship together.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
It's going to happen again.
I think it's going to happenagain, I got a feeling.
Yeah, my wife brought this tomy attention recently.
We were in Nashville before wemoved here, so just below
nashville spent a lot of timethere.
Um, everything that isnashville there's starting to
see like lights open up of like,oh my gosh, this is what
(51:55):
happened in nashville, like theairport and you can see that the
big boom is coming.
But I think it's going to bedifferent because it is
pittsburgh.
It's going to bepittsburgh-esque, right?
I think it's going to bedifferent because it is
Pittsburgh, it's going to bePittsburgh-esque, right?
I think it's going to be basedaround the Steelers, the
Penguins and the Pirates and belike man.
This is the 70s all over again.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
We just want to be part of it, right?
Yeah, that's exactly right.
And that's Pittsburgh andthat's Brian Hess, that's
Uniontown roots, but are yourfamily still there?
Speaker 2 (52:25):
Your parents still in Uniontown, same house I grew up
in.
Come on so you get back therethey wouldn't, want it any other
way would they?
Speaker 3 (52:29):
The house my parents live in the shell of that house
was put up June 12, 1979, theday I was born.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Get out of here.
They're still there.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
They're still there.
I've tried.
There's no question I've gotfive kids.
I need Grandma and Papi closeright?
Yeah, they didn't take the bait.
They didn't take the bait, ohwow.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Brian thanks a million for being with us.
Thank you, brother.
This is just absolutely a treat.
Cheers Brian Hess.
An honor and a privilege to behere with you guys.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
A champion Watched you guys on TV listened to you
and it's an honor to be here,thank you.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
It's an audience of five.
So, thank you, we keep growing,brian.
We're going to do it like you.
We're going to grow ouraudience.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yes, Absolutely Live shows man, let's go.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Yeah, hold my cutter.
Welcome to another edition of Hold my Cutter.
We're coming your way here.
Burned by Rocky Patel, just afew blocks down the road from
PNC Park, greg Brown, michaelMcHenry and our special special
guest, brian Hess, and now Fort.
You're going to have to tell mewhy he chose the Rocky Patel
LB1.
I know you've got nicknames,but this, of course, named for
the codes used in the factoriesduring the creation of the cigar
(00:27):
Medium-bodied smoke rolled inHonduras from a tobacco blend
that includes Ligero, a mix offillers from Condega and Esteli,
nicaragua, and, of course,grown on Rocky Patel's farms.
Why would Brian Hess choose theLB1?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You know, there's a bearded man back in the back
that said it's got a woodsyfeature.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And Hess he went out and got this.
He went to Nicaragua, got this,brought it back, and I mean all
the tones we taste.
It was his idea, it's histhought.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And he also puts it in his hair product.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I mean, you can't just wake up and have that
beautiful hair.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That hair product is the LB1 hair product Exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Notice the number one .
Yes, it's always about numberone, because that's number one
right there.
It's beautiful, brian.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Hess is the CEO of the Pavement Group, a commercial
paving company, and the topcontractor school.
But he's much, much more thanthat Entrepreneur, a
motivational speaker.
He's produced now some 850podcasts the Brian Hess Show.
Daily podcasts every day, everymorning, five days a week,
(01:28):
covering topics from sales tomarketing, to leadership, faith
and family.
I think the University ofPittsburgh product will get into
that.
Started in the business worldas a Verizon salesman and now
look where he is, a mentor,working in the paving industry.
Brian, thanks so much for beingwith us.
Your story is absolutelyincredible.
I'm pumped.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I can't wait.
I'm pumped.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's an honor to be here with you guys, and so we
likely as we always do this, andlikely we would start at the
beginning.
You grow up, you're a yinzer,he's a yalzer, but you're a
yinzer.
And where did it all begin?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
So Uniontown, Pennsylvania, man, I'm the son
of a steel worker and my momstayed at home.
So traditional American family.
My parents have been marriedfor over 50 years.
That's beautiful and yeah, man.
So I saw her hard work frontand center every day of my life,
and so thanks to my mom and dadfor the sacrifices that they
made and I tell people this allthe time it's like the least you
(02:27):
can do when your parents, youknow, give you an opportunity by
hardworking people, provideopportunities for kids and you
know I'm just working hard everyday to make sure I don't waste
it you know.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Well, okay, you grew up, you go to, you go to school,
but did you?
What did you want to be as ayoungster?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Well, I can tell you, I never imagined I'd own an
asphalt and concrete company.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
That wasn't on the list of dreams.
You don't wake up at five andnot want to be an astronaut.
You're like.
You know what I want?
To be an asphalt.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, if you would have asked me anytime that I was
a kid, I probably would havesaid baseball player, but I
always had an entrepreneurialspirit.
And so when I was five yearsold, my parents would tell you
this story that my dad and mygrandfather were down in a ditch
digging a ditch.
And my grandfather looked upand said hey, man, make sure you
(03:16):
work hard so you don't end updoing something like this for
the rest of your life.
They wanted it better for you.
And I said oh, pappy, I'm notgoing to dig ditches, I'm going
to work at the bank.
And he goes oh, pappy, I'm notgoing to dig ditches, I'm going
to work at the bank.
And he goes oh, what do youwant to do?
You want to be a teller?
And I said no, man, I'm goingto own the bank.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
So when.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was five years old and what that equates to as an
adult.
I think we had a lot of greatconversation before this started
.
I think you either have thatfire to create and innovate and
you see the world differentlythan everybody else, like you
know.
Everybody that always told melike you know, grow up, get a
good job, make sure it hashealth insurance, a 401k, and
(03:52):
you know, get a house, raise afamily.
I always thought, like you know, there's parts of that that
sound great, but there's partsof that that sound really boring
to me.
You feel locked in, right.
You feel like you're in a cage,right, and so, for me,
entrepreneurship and buildingbusinesses bringing people
together, it was a path tofreedom.
You know and I always say youknow, freedom is relative,
(04:13):
because a lot of people get intoentrepreneurship and they don't
know the path, and so they'researching for freedom, but what
they end up with is a biggercage.
They get a little bit offreedom, but they're still in
that cage.
And so for me, you know, partof the mentorship passion that I
have is to unlock that forpeople so that they, you know,
they have the freedom that theypursued while they wanted to
(04:33):
sacrifice so much to get inbusiness for themselves in the
first place.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, but so so you're going through school,
you're going to I'm going to owna bank, pap, pap, okay, but you
still got to go through theschooling and so on.
And so now you're a toddler,you go to Uniontown, high School
, laurel Highlands, high School,laurel Highlands, okay.
And then you went to Pitt.
I did To study what.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
I went to Pitt, johnstown, and I started in
computer science and with aminor in business and I never
finished at Pitt.
So I have a lot of friendsstill at Pitt but I never
finished.
I went out into the businessworld and figured it out on my
own, starting with Verizon.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Was that your first?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
job?
Yes, started in retail atVerizon, worked my way up into
outside sales there.
What made?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
you leave?
What made me leave school?
Yeah, like you're.
What, two, three years in, I'mguessing, Yep, what made you
leave?
And I have a kid I'm mentoringright now and he's debating on
that and I'm like, well, have abig reason why.
If you're going to do this,make sure that you're not going
to look back and like, man, I'man idiot.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Well, I think it's.
It's, you know, what do youneed?
So for me, it was like I knew Iwas going to be in business.
Um, you know I'm sitting inclassrooms, so you know I was
looking at it and I'm like, youknow, I don't know that, like
all this stuff I'm reading inbusiness.
You know, I could read it inbooks, I could study it on my
(05:50):
own.
You know, do I really need thispiece of paper?
And I'm, you know, I'm takingout loans to go to school, and
so I'm like do I want to gofurther in debt or do I want to
conversation with my parents andmy parents advised me against
it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
That'll be a recurring theme by the way as we
get into business Parents'advice.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
My dad will tell you these jokes when, eventually,
you meet my dad.
But yeah, he's told me not todo many of the things that ended
up working out.
And so, yeah, I had thatconversation.
I said, you know what?
I could always go back if Idecide that I need it.
But I'm going to take thisopportunity because I had a job
offer for a pretty significantamount of money and I thought,
you know, I'm going to go dothis and if it doesn't work then
(06:32):
I can always go back and learnsomething.
But that was the decision thatI make.
That's not an endorsement foreverybody else to do it, but
I've got a young man working forme now that's 25 years old.
I've got a young man workingfor me now that's 25 years old,
been with me since he was 18.
And he did the same exact thing.
He called me one day and saidyou know, I'm thinking about
whether or not I should be hereor not and I need your advice.
(06:54):
And I said you're not gettingmy endorsement having your mom
call me and tell me that.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I'm the reason you left school right Good.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
But he ended up leaving school and obviously his
parents are super proud of him.
Very successful guy who's beenwith us and he's now our
director of national sales.
At 25 years old Wow, Killingthe game and doing a great job
Married, bought a home, moved toPittsburgh from Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So he's getting all the dreams, just not locked in.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, he's not in the cage Not locked in and it's not
for everybody.
I would give different peopledifferent advice, like some
people should stay in school andfinish, and others you know
they're built to be free.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Yeah, I love it.
How many years at Verizon?
Seven years, yeah.
And did you say you were downin Florida at one point when
this whole thing happened?
Yes, that changed your life.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
You know how it goes with Pittsburgh, right?
People either have to pass awayor retire for you to get a spot
here, because the market growthwill never drive that.
And so I started looking at doI relocate?
That's probably the only optionthat I have, and so I put my
name in the hat and I had acouple interviews in different
parts of the country.
California was way too far andway too expensive.
(08:02):
Yes, so I decided on MiamiFlorida.
So I had an office in Boca andan office in Miami and, yeah,
just started off down thererunning a sales team that sold
to small and medium businesses,and from that our number one
target was constructioncompanies, and so the very first
appointment that I went on inMiami Florida was with a
(08:24):
construction company owner fromPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And at the end of that meeting.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
He said, kid, you should quit your job and come
work for me.
And I was thinking like dude,I'm in a pretty bad neighborhood
here at this constructioncompany and I'm, you know, I got
an office overlooking the Miamiairport.
This sounds like a bad deal tobe, but he invited me to his
house for dinner that night.
As I was driving to his house,I'm like man, this looks a lot
different.
Coral Gables, florida thehouses kept getting bigger and
(08:53):
nicer One year to the day.
Later, after that, I ended upgetting to know this guy pretty
well and trusting him enough toleave my corporate job.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
It took you a year to gain that confidence and trust
to leave.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, I went out to dinner with him and his wife a
bunch of times with my wife andyou know, got to know them
really well and, you know,trusted enough to make that
switch.
And you know, for me it was likeI thought if I could get out of
the corporate setting and intolike more of a small business
place where you know I alwaystell people like you can get a
little closer to the checkbookright, like your talents would
(09:28):
mean more to a small businessthan they would to a corporation
, and so if you have that, likeyou know, top couple percent
performance in a corporation,you're going to be exponentially
more valuable to a smallbusiness, just kind of how it
works.
So that was my thinking.
I got in more valuable to asmall business, just kind of how
it works.
So that was my thinking.
I got in, learned the industryand found this, you know, kind
(09:53):
of lean for myself in providinga high level of customer service
and construction wasn't anormal thing, and so that's I
wanted to solve the biggestproblems that clients had when
it came to you know how theymanage their parking lots and
roads and things like that, andI'm a technology guy working at
Verizon for all those years, andso I took the seven years of
experience solving companyproblems, construction, company
problems with technology andjumped out on my own and the
(10:15):
rest is history.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
So you pulled them forward a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, I was struggling to pull that company
forward.
It was 40 years old and it waskind of you know, set in its
ways bigger company, harder tomove and so I felt like the best
path for me was going to be tostart something and innovate the
industry the way that I thoughtit should be.
Oh, I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
What do you think, brian, that this guy who ends up
hiring you?
What is it that he saw in you?
Because you've said this acouple of times about some of
these young kids the 25-year-oldthat you hired when he was 18.
What is it that this person sawin you that said I want this
guy on my team, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I think it's sales ability, sales and sales
leadership that's the lifebloodof any company.
Right, there's a lot of movingpieces that it takes to make a
company successful, but withoutsales, what do you got right?
And so for him, that was thefirst questions he was asking is
how do you guys sell at Verizon, how do you prospect, how do
you find the right clients?
(11:09):
How do you, you know, createthose funnels that allow you to
be successful?
And as I started having thoseconversations with him, he
literally said to me at dinnerone night, like listen, it was
like nine months into ourrelationship he said you name
the amount of money you want tomake.
I just want you to come workfor me.
And I'm like dude, I've beenwaiting to hear that.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Imagine if they told you like make up your own
contract.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
So again, nine months later, he's asking you this you
find yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Now you're back in Pittsburgh, yeah Right.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
So eventually left that company and when I had the
vision to create this company, Inever wanted to create it
anywhere but in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
You know, this is how long brought you back.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, this is, this is home man, and you know I'm
proud to build a company herethat you know employs people and
has a great culture.
And to me, our company is thedefinition.
The payment group is like thedefinition of Pittsburgh, like
we've taken something old andinnovated it, made it new.
We have blue-collar work, ethic, advanced technology, but never
(12:16):
losing that old-school feel ofshaking people's hands.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah, you can use both right, that's it, that's
awesome, that's it.
How long, brian, were you downthere working for him thinking,
though?
When did you really startthinking about it, even though
you didn't move for a while?
How long were you thinking Ican do this thinking about
Pittsburgh?
Was it always going on in yourmind?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
At first I had a block man because I was like I'm
not an equipment guy, I'venever been in the field, I don't
know how to do the work, I'venever been on machines, and so
and I was like, man, that's aton of capital, it's millions of
dollars in capital to be ableto, you know, invest in that
kind of business.
And the model doesn't reallywork, like you know, it's not
really scalable quickly.
And so for me having customersthat asked, hey, can you get
(12:58):
this job done for me across thecountry, and I'm like, well, how
are we going to do that?
We can't get the equipmentthere.
Well, we just need you to dothe job.
And so you know, putting goodcontractors together that could
complete that job and then beingthe brains behind that to
manage it all and make sure itwas all done correctly and in a
most efficient fashion.
Because you know, if you'repaving a retail store, last
(13:20):
thing they want is for you tonegatively impact their revenue.
So it takes customer experienceand kind of a concierge type
service to be able to do thatand so you were in retail to
start yep, so you had that.
You knew how to do it, yeah, soI just took all the experience
that I had in my life and godput me in the right situation to
be able to use it all at onceso what?
Speaker 2 (13:40):
what made you?
Bet on yourself I, becausethat's not easy.
My wife- Great answer.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
My wife is a true story, that's called brownie
points.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Shout out to my wife because you know I had the
opportunity.
I was kind of in a situationwhere I had to make a decision,
but I had three kids and my wifestayed at home to raise the
kids and you know there's a lotof fear.
Traditional family, yeah A lotof fear in that and so you know
I'm like I always did wellfinancially working for other
(14:11):
people and so like to pull thatplug and have no safety net.
Yeah, and my wife was like youknow, I believe in you and you
need to believe in yourself,like you need to go do this.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
And that leveled you up, didn't it?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yeah, it was kind of like you know what do you say?
Like no.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I'm too weak to go do it.
Sorry, honey, you believe in me.
I just don't believe myself.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, it's really not an option, and so I was like
you know what?
I'm going to figure this out.
And you know, I started out ofmy own house.
So my People always ask me likeyou know, how did you stay
motivated?
The first couple of years?
I'm like there was three littlefaces against the glass every
day that reminded me of what Ineeded to do, you know.
And so, 16 hours a day, six,seven days a week for a couple
(14:56):
of years.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
That's what it takes.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, that's what it takes, man, and it's funny.
I'm a huge sports fan ingeneral, but a huge Pittsburgh
sports fan.
A huge sports fan in general,but a huge pittsburgh sports fan
.
I couldn't have told you thescore of a pirates, steelers or
penguins game from 2018 to 2021,probably wow and uh.
But now, uh, our logos are upon the boards, right, and so
(15:17):
that's that sacrifice, yeah,pays off if you just, you know,
handle it right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So what was covet like then?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
uh, the scariest thing I've ever been through.
So you know we were about atwo-year-old company at that
time, yeah, we started March28th of 2018.
And so we had been, just, youknow, fortunate.
Sometimes luck is in the cards,I think I always say, you know,
the harder your work, theluckier you get.
But we had two clients that hadcontracted us to do a
(15:47):
significant amount of work.
That was pretty good margin,and so we had completed that
work literally almost by the endof February.
We had about 95% of itcompleted, and that capital is
what allowed us to reinvest inthe company when everybody else
was canceling their marketingcontracts and pulling back in
marketing.
Every book I'd ever read, byevery business mentor that I
(16:11):
never met, but I read theirbooks said you know, when
everybody else is pulling back,have the courage to jump in.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
And that is that had to be terrifying.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, and so you know .
I literally said to my wife,like she goes, well, what are
you going to do if it doesn'twork?
And I said, well, the next dayI'll get a new tax ID number and
start over.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Oh man.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
But this is.
You know, everybody's in thesame situation.
It's COVID and you got to gowith your instincts.
And my instincts were attackright.
You know, I've always been abetter offensive player than
defensive player.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I mean, it's never fun to be on your heels anyways,
no.
Yeah, so I'd rather you know soyou pushed in, so you doubled
down on marketing the brand,everything else.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
We built the technology.
That year, we doubled down onthe technology investment that
has made us into the company weare today.
We have unique technology thatnobody else has in our industry
that helps our clients managetheir portfolio properties, and
that all happened in 2020.
Clients manage their portfolioproperties and that all happened
in 2020.
And so, while everybody elsewas, you know, suffering and
(17:16):
revenue declines, we doubled ourrevenue and kept going.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, isn't that incredible.
So how great was COVID.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Yeah, it was scary but great, and I'll tell you
this.
The other thing that stands outyou know, I've heard some great
stories.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
coming back to COVID, some, some guys I've met in the
baseball industry literallyjumped ship like comparative to
where they were.
They were like, oh, I'm justgoing to jump in.
They landed on their feet andnow assistant GM, gms guys that
never played, you knowprofessional baseball because
they just kept saying yes.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
They had the courage, yep.
So you know, one of the thingsthat we did during COVID and I
think this is a great lesson forthe viewers you know we had a.
We had a call every day at nineo'clock Zoom calls because our
team's all across the countryand many days, man, we didn't
have anything business relatedto talk about because there was
nothing going on, right, we, youknow, everything was shut down,
we couldn't pay parking lots,we couldn't have crews out.
(18:07):
There was really nothing totalk about.
We talked about our families,our fears, our frustrations.
You know it was.
Communication is key, right, andso you know that bonded that
team together to a point that,like, we went through COVID
together and you know, and, andyou know, north Carolina,
florida, pennsylvania, wisconsin, minnesota, like all over the
(18:29):
country, but we all, we all weregoing through similar things
and, uh, that allowed us to, youknow, get outside of business
and more connected as humanbeings.
And you know, businesses arenothing but a collection of, you
know, talented human beingssolving problems for people, and
the more more frequently youcan solve those problems and the
faster you solve them, the moremoney gets exchanged and, uh,
(18:51):
that's really how simplebusiness is and I think a lot of
times people overcomplicate it.
They, you know they, worry toomuch about the zeros and ones
and not about, you know, thepeople and you know.
So for us, whatever it was thatput it inside of us to you know
, have that call every day atnine o'clock.
I still to this day say likethose nine o'clock calls built
our company.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
That's incredible.
It's a human element.
It's the best analytic outthere.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Which is interesting because, do you see, you're
still a sports fan.
I know you guys are connectedto the.
I know you see your Steelerstuff and Penguins.
Do you feel like that elementis also part of sports success
as well?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Absolutely.
I mean, you know, when you,when you you play on great teams
, what's?
What's the combination?
The combination that works isalways respect in the, in the
clubhouse or in the locker room,mutual respect, looking to your
right and to your left.
And no, and I just said tosomebody yesterday, like you
know, there's people in businessthat you meet that you would go
in a foxhole and take a bulletfor it, and then there's people
that you look at and say I'm notsure that guy would take a
(19:54):
bullet for me, and so that's abad place to be.
Yeah, and so you know, for me,that's how I choose.
You know, the people that wealign with is like relationships
are everything.
And you can have the mostadvanced technology, you could
do the best marketing, you couldbe the best sales company.
Do the best marketing, you canbe the best sales company, but
if you don't look people in theeye, shake their hand and
deliver on what you promise, onas a person, the rest of it
(20:17):
isn't going to work.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
So we talk a lot.
Going back to the sportsanalogy, since you build culture
so well, the roots right.
That guy comes up to you.
You know you're an up and comer, you're obviously very hungry,
entrepreneurial spirit, but hesays, what's it going to take?
There's something inside thathuman nature of you that says,
dude, I feel wanted, I feelneeded, and I think there's a
(20:42):
loyalty that never goes away.
With times like that, right,like you probably didn't want to
leave, it's probably likebreaking up with a girlfriend in
high school, right, it's really, really tough.
And that's what I seedifference Like when Sid signs
back, when Malkin's there, thoseguys are so deep-rooted that
even when their career is overwith they're going to feel a tie
back.
And I think that's the biggestthing.
(21:04):
I see a lot of times it's likewhen I walk over to the
clubhouse right now, comparativeto other teams I play for, all
the lockers are empty over there.
Every other team I've everplayed for the lockers aren't
empty.
The guys that are there havelockers that are full and they
kind of roped them off when theyhad big corporate events or
whatever.
But it reminded you like, oh,there's a root and it's deep and
it's getting deeper and deeper,and I hear that through and
(21:26):
through everything you're saying.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, that's what it is, man Like you know people
should love where they come toevery day, you know, and, uh,
they should be energized and,you know, be better people
because of who they spend timewith.
And you know, I always say,like, you don't hire employees,
you hire the whole person.
And you know, you hire theirchallenges, uh, their children,
their spouses, their, you know,whatever that is.
(21:49):
And if you, as a business owner, if you're not prepared to work
through that stuff with people,you're not really meant to be a
business owner, because there'sa lot of responsibility that
comes with that.
There's also a lot of pride,man, the number of people in our
company that have bought thefirst home in their entire
family history we just had God,that's got to feel good right.
(22:10):
It's amazing, it's the bestfeeling on those days that are
really tough.
We just had a couple that worksfor us.
They bought a home a few yearsago and they just paid it off.
And so you know those things.
You know that's money's neverthe motivator man, it's what
people do with the money thatmakes the story, that makes it
work, the money that makes thestory that makes it work.
(22:30):
And so you know when youunderstand that it's like you
know, don't try to motivatesomebody with a boat if their
father has a boat yard, it's notgoing to motivate them.
Right?
And so you got to understandthe DNA of the person.
I think that's the biggestthing in sports.
Right, it's like you know youcan bring in the best players,
but if they don't mesh together,there's not camaraderie, and
(22:51):
that's a big piece of leadership.
You know, coaching is theability to make people fit
together and also to recognizewhen they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
And so you know if you have Be willing to pull that
plug.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Exactly, a clubhouse divided is never going to win a
championship, and the same istrue in business.
And you've got to force thoseconversations, you've got to sit
down with people, you've got toteach them.
People avoid conflict right,and you know there's a quote
that I say conflict delayed isconflict multiplied.
So if you've got something thatis bothering you with somebody
else and you don't talk about it, or somebody doesn't, you know,
(23:25):
make that happen, it's justgoing to keep festering and
festering until you know itcomes out in all different ways.
It comes out in slumps and insports it comes out in arguments
in a locker room or a clubhouse.
It comes out in all differentways.
And so in a business, thatability to cut through the
normal human element of, like,frustrations and
(23:46):
misunderstandings andmiscommunication.
Or you know people who justdon't understand each other,
people that are raisedcompletely differently, like if
you're raised by.
You know my parents,50-something years, married.
I have a different trust levelthan somebody who's been bounced
around, you know, went to 12different schools in their
(24:07):
career, lived in five differentcities.
You know those people have adifferent dynamic and makeup and
so if we can't cater to that,then that person's either not
going to be successful or theyshouldn't be on our team.
But in my experience, if youlisten, you inquire, you find
out about the person.
There's always more alike aboutus than there is different, and
so it's really about listening,understanding and then finding
(24:31):
that path that can give thosepeople individually what they
want and collectively, you know,if you can get in a leadership
position.
This is an old Zig Ziglar quote.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
If you can help enough people get what they want
you'll never have to worryabout getting what you want.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Exactly, Exactly and going back to like your
day-to-day dynamic.
How do you do that?
Speaker 1 (24:56):
I was just going to say I was wondering, through all
this, how do you keep tabs?
You've got a gigantic force,You've got to trust so many
people underneath you that thenwill delegate right.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Yeah, it's a lot.
I mean, in our umbrella we'vegot three companies, I've got
five kids.
It's a lot, I mean we've got.
You know, in our umbrella we'vegot three companies, I've got
five kids.
You know it's a lot to juggle.
And so, personally andprofessionally, you know what I
say there's a lot more hours ina day than you think there is.
And you know, I rememberseveral years ago thinking to
myself like man, I'm really busyand I would laugh at that guy
today like you know at how busyI thought I was.
(25:28):
And so I always make the analogy.
It's kind of like juggling.
Like if you were going to tryto learn how to juggle, you
wouldn't start with seven balls,you'd start with two.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Figure that out the little kid in me.
Probably would you know what Imean.
You wouldn't be successful, butyou'd try.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
And so you know as you get going it gets a little
bit easier, and then you know asthe business scales.
The one thing that I'mchallenged with right now is
because of this type of stuffhanging out with you guys.
The more influential you seem,the more far away you seem from
your people, and so you've gotto try harder to have those
(26:04):
conversations, to sit down atpeople's desks and ask them how
they're doing, and the firstthing people say to you, if I
sit down at somebody's desk andsay how are you doing, they'll
tell me about the numbers.
I'm like I'm not asking abouthow the business is doing.
I can read that on a chart.
I need to know how you're doing.
How's your family, how are yourchildren?
How are you feeling in thisseason?
(26:25):
Because in construction it'sbusy, it's not busy.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And not busy affects some people busy affects some
people.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Some people thrive being busy.
Some people don't do very wellnot being busy.
Yeah, like you.
If I'm not busy, brother, youlike I'm gonna raise my wife get
out of here.
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, and sowe're all three like that, it's,
it's that idea of you know,understanding people is the key
to any amount of success andbusiness.
(26:53):
Sports it doesn't matter whatyou're doing.
And when you get those peopletogether that have that believe
in the vision and they believethat the vehicle they're in is
going to make that visionpossible, they're going to buy
in.
And so you know what you see insports is, if a player if
they're there's probably playersthat care more about money than
(27:16):
championships well, if a player, if all they want in their
career, all they wanted sincethey were a little boy or little
girl, is to win a championship,they better feel like they can
win one on that team.
And so for me, for my people,it's like what do you want?
Do you want to win achampionship?
Do you want to make a lot ofmoney?
And you can finesse thatregardless of what people's
(27:36):
goals are.
But all of those goalscollectively of those 50 people
that work for us, that is, ithas to fit inside of the vision
that we have for the company,and if it doesn't, they'll leave
.
And we've had two people in sixand a half years quit our
company.
And we've probably asked maybe10 to leave Outside of that.
(27:57):
Everybody's the same.
So we have arguably no turnover.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Once again, it goes back to humans, right?
You're never going to beperfect.
If it looks like nobody's everleft and nobody really has,
there's something probably wronggoing on behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
We've lost zero customers six and a half years,
and so I believe that that's ourability to cut through,
communicate, embrace, conflictyou know all of those things
that make our team great.
Who goes to you and says how areyou feeling?
I've got advisors for that.
My wife, you know.
(28:29):
I was just talking to a guybefore we started here.
You know, my pastor at mychurch, shout out to Pastor John
.
He was a visionary enough tosee that.
You know, business owners,entrepreneurs, high-level people
needed to be together.
So he created a small group atour church of people that from
the outside you would say likeoh well, those people, you know
(28:52):
they don't have any problems.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
They got it made Right, but there's a reality to
everybody's life.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yeah, dude let me tell you you sit in a room full
of people that people thinkdon't have any problems and
listen to their problems.
You feel a lot better,understanding that, like most of
the things you deal with,they're going through too, and
you know there's differentdynamics.
Some things are going to beworse for people and some things
are going to be easier, but atthe end of the day, it's our
ability to suffer well that, inmy opinion, defines your life.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Everybody has a different cross to bear.
We know that, brian, who didyou?
You mentioned Zig Ziglar.
He got me through some toughtimes many, many years ago.
The late Zig Ziglar but who didyou idolize might be too strong
, someone you emulated as youwere growing up and then
(29:41):
becoming this businessman.
Maybe you still do.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
Yeah, so John Maxwell is probably my greatest
influence and he was a mentee ofJohn Wooden, the great John
Wood.
Uh, so I start.
I actually found john maxwellreading john wooden's books.
Wow, and so uh you know similarstory.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Those those.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You know what I learned from those two men?
Uh was, it's a lot easier thanyou think it is.
It's the simple things you know.
I'll never forget reading thestory of, you know, john Wooden,
every year champion, you know,national championships, year
after year after year at UCLA,and the first thing he did every
year was teach people how toput their socks on and tie their
shoes properly.
And uh, you know.
(30:23):
So to me it's don'tovercomplicate it.
Be a good person, uh, operatewith values and principles.
And uh, now you know, I've hadthe opportunity.
I got to watch the Steelersgame with John Maxwell here in
the stadium.
Last game that Tom Brady playedhere in Pittsburgh Most
out-of-body experience I've everhad in my life, really.
You know, read his books for 20years, right?
(30:47):
And you know, when I met him hesaid you know, these people
have told me that you've read alot of my books.
I said, yeah, I think I've read70-something.
And he goes oh my, I didn'tknow I wrote that many books and
yeah.
But I got to watch the Steelersgame with him, I had dinner
with him at the Capitol Grilldown here, you know, again,
(31:08):
pastor Nuzzo helped set that up,wow.
And then I had him speak at oneof our top contractor school
events and, uh, those are thethings that you know be to be
able to give back that way.
So in january we have jordanpeterson coming to one of our no
, no wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
January 10th to the 12th oh, hold on time out now.
Anybody in st pete?
Yeah, you want to come.
Are you kidding me?
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
yeah, like I went through some really tough times
in the last, I'm writing it downnow, probably on the edge of
all the way out of it, but liketrauma that I had to deal with,
didn't realize that was there,dude got me through it yeah, you
can meet him in person have youseen him?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
in person I have this year when he came to ppg Paints
I had to work.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
I tried to take the night off and I just couldn't.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
I bought half the front row for our team, did you
really?
And then we did the meet andgreet.
After and prior to that, me andmy wife, one of my mentors and
his wife flew out to Montana anddid the VIP meet and greet.
You don't get a lot of timewith them there, but in this
case, meet and greet.
You don't get a lot of timewith them there.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
But yeah, in this case and I'm one of those guys,
probably similar to you is likeI'm not gonna take the time, I
just want to be around yeah, Iprobably won't say a word.
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I just want to listen so yeah, he's, he's speaking
for 60 minutes.
I get to interview him for 30minutes and he's gonna do a meet
and greet for 30 minutes, sothat is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
So you're bringing them down there.
Yeah, there's the company.
Yeah, you know set.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Brothers, did we just become best friends?
Go away.
Nighthawk, that's so cool.
John Wood and Maxwell andJordan Peterson Three guys I
really like.
Are you guys familiar with?
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Ed Milet.
I am familiar with that so hespoke at our event last year,
wow.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
So that's been our lineup over the last few years.
He shoots a straight.
Yes, yeah, wow, those arereally cool people.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
So then you got into this and you got into
motivational speaking right yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I mean, it obviously comes natural.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
One he's got the hair .
I know he's got the hair for it, right he's got the.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Someone has a presence about him and as soon
as I met, you looked me in theeye, we shook hands and like
dude, this guy's a leader.
You could feel that.
Not often do I say that.
I'd say that very, very lightlyin life and I really do feel
like when you meet someone thatyou can tell they have that
presence.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
You're one of those people.
Thank you, brother.
Yeah, that means a lot.
In the beginning I had adifferent goal for that.
I wanted to meet a lot ofpeople and that was a great way
to do it, and so I didn'tconsider myself a motivational
speaker necessarily as much asan educator like trying to share
what I've learned in my life,and so that made it easier.
Talking about what you alreadyknow is pretty easy.
(33:38):
That's why I always tell peoplethat are afraid to get in front
of people.
It's like if you're talkingabout what you know right.
Like you know, if I starttalking to this guy, about, like
you know, construction or brainsurgery, but it might get
uncomfortable.
But yeah, if we're talking aboutbaseball or business or
motivation, things like that.
It's like right in yourwheelhouse.
And so, yeah, I startedspeaking to you know groups to
network and meet new people and,you know, share what I knew.
(34:01):
And then, as that evolved, nowI just do it in the places that
I really want to be to give backto the places.
So, actually, right before thatevent, there's a company called
Veteran Service Brands and sothere are franchises in our
space.
So they do garage floors, epoxyfloors, line striping, they
paint fields, football fields,baseball fields, and so I'll go
(34:25):
speak to that group because it'sveterans and we'll do anything
for, you know, veterans.
And so we have, you know, kindof two lanes of charity, well,
three lanes really of charitythat we do through the company
veterans, anything for kids andthen anything that our employees
can get behind.
So if they've got a connectionto a non-profit, so I'll do it
for you know, the veteransgroups now, um, but I try to do
(34:48):
it.
You know a lot less than I usedto, cause there's a lot going
on in my world, but let me.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Let me go back to education.
Um, talk about that.
I've heard you say growtheducation a couple of different
times, even before we got on.
How much do you emphasize thatwithin your company?
Because you said you have anevent where you're obviously
educating your employees.
Talk about that a little bit,because I think a lot of people
get stuck in the realm and stopeducating, stop growing,
(35:13):
especially as you move up theladder, which that, in my
opinion, is probably the numberone thing you need to constantly
be able to do.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
Yeah, I mean outside of payroll.
It's our single biggestinvestment to bring mentorship
to our people, to me, to thecompany, and one of our company
values is constantself-improvement.
Because who you are this year,I always say I'm 45 years old
now.
Hopefully the 46-year-oldversion of me doesn't look
anything like this.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Except for here.
Yeah, if it does, I hope Idon't lose that.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
I'm not going to lose that.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
But, you know, hopefully it looks nothing like
this, hopefully I'mexponentially better and
unrecognizable as a person, andthat's my goal for everybody and
you know, to be better mothers,better fathers, better sons,
daughters, and not just inbusiness, because I believe if
you fix all that stuff, you knowthe business results are easy.
You know, if you get somebodythat shows up every day, locked
in, committed, has a clearvision of what they're trying to
(36:07):
accomplish, you know you justgot to create a platform for
them to be able to be successful, and we have that, so that
part's easy.
But education is everything,man.
When you stop learning, I don'tknow what you do.
I've never experienced that,but you know, I've seen people,
people have you get back in theditch?
No, it seems to me that Iactually interviewed the family
(36:30):
that invented the asphalt paver,the Lee family.
They're right outside ofCharlotte, north Carolina.
I interviewed the son of BR Leeand Mike Lee.
I said the company has beensold several times.
I'm sure Mike's doing okayfinancially, but he goes to work
every day.
And he said as long as myfamily's name is on the side of
(36:52):
that building, I want to be herebecause I don't want to fade
away.
And so to me that's what comesto mind.
If you stop learning, you knowwhat are you doing Like I just I
don't know what else to doother than keep moving, keep
meeting people, and to me, atthe end of my life, when I look
back, it'll be the relationships, the things that I learned, the
(37:12):
things that I was able to passon to other people that build a
great legacy.
And so you know, I'm trying tonever waste a day.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Well, you don't.
You got the.
How'd the podcasting start?
What made you start doing that?
Speaker 2 (37:22):
Yeah, I want to know about the podcasting and media
group that you created, becausethat's really cool.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Yeah, so when we started the company, obviously,
you know, marketing to a countryis a lot harder than marketing
to a city.
So the traditional, you know,paving contractor would be
marketing in the city ofPittsburgh and trying to expand
past that.
But that wasn't our approach.
We were, you know, trying to dobusiness all over the country.
There's that.
(37:49):
But that wasn't our approach.
We were, you know, trying to dobusiness all over the country.
There's no amount of marketingdollars that would reach reach
the whole country.
There's no amount of.
Was this your vision?
Yes, yeah and uh bold prettybold.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, pretty bold, and so well educated, well
informed, because obviously alittle bit ahead of the game
yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
And so, uh, there was a guy that told me, like you
know, best way to reach peopleacross the country is social
media.
And I'm like you know, man, Idon't.
I don't want my family to be onthere, my kids, like you know,
there's creepers out there.
All that I told myself, allthose stories that everybody
else tells themselves.
And then I said like I don'tthink there's going to be any
other option other than for meto be present on social media,
(38:21):
show the work that we're doing,go live on the job sites that
we're doing, all those kinds ofthings.
And so that push from that guyis really what started it all.
And the other thing I thoughtwas you know who the heck wants
to listen to a construction guyon a podcast?
And what I didn't realize andthis is a great lesson for
anybody that's watching thiswhoever you are, there's a
(38:44):
million of you out there.
There's a million people thatdidn't finish college, that had
big dreams when they were a kid,that had kids, that was stuck
in the corporate handcuffs, thatcouldn't get out of a job.
That's me.
And so, hopefully, through thispodcast, my goal was, hopefully
I can give a few of thosepeople the courage to do what I
(39:05):
did and, you know, take the leapand know that.
You know you're not going to die.
You don't have to go bankruptIf you do.
It's not the end of the world,right?
But like all of those thingsthat scare people, I did.
I spoke in front of a group ata conference called Grow your
Business, for God's Sake, andthe whole room was like all they
(39:27):
asked me about was like how doI leave my corporate job?
You know I've got insurance andI've got 401k.
And my message to them wassimple it's like if a 401k and
health insurance is going tostop you from your dream, it's
really not a dream Well said.
Because if you're, willing tolet those things stand in your
way, you don't have what ittakes.
But if you're willing to letthose things stand in your way,
you don't have what it takes.
But if you're willing to riskthat, if you're willing to take
(39:51):
the chance on yourself and beton yourself regardless of those
circumstances, you're probablygoing to make it, because you
can't wake up every day, workhard, do all the right things
and get the wrong result.
So it's just a matter ofwithstanding whatever
circumstances come in front ofyou.
And you know I said this issomebody getting on the elevator
going up to the office thismorning.
(40:12):
I said, dude, it's impossibleto beat the people that don't
quit.
If you don't quit, how cansomebody beat you?
Yep, persistence always wins.
Yeah, and until I'm donebreathing man, I don't have
quitting envy.
I just don't know how to dothat and I've never been a good
loser.
Show me a kid that's a soreloser and I'll show you somebody
(40:34):
that'll probably be reallysuccessful.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yes, People that hate to lose and don't want to hear
about it Almost more importantthan enjoying winning.
Speaker 3 (40:42):
It's like you've got to hate to lose.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
We talk about outside forces a lot he and I, brian
from all aspects that peoplemaybe not intentionally, but it
almost feels like they're tryingto.
My buddy, steve Blass, ourbuddy Steve Blass, always says
don't let them take the fightout of you.
Speaker 2 (41:00):
Don't let anybody take the fight out of you.
That sounds like somebody saidthat to me last year.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Yeah, and it's so true though Somebody said that
to me last year.
Yeah, and it's so true, thoughyou know, don't, because then
they win.
Don't let those outside forceswin.
They can't beat you.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Something happened today with my 10-year-old son.
He was put in circumstancesthat were not great and he
showed up and delivered, eventhough I was like man.
I don't know how this is goingto go and I text my wife and
said, like that's what thatkid's made of.
That had to be an incrediblemoment, because he showed up
regardless of the circumstancesand delivered not as prepared as
(41:33):
he would have liked to be, notin the best circumstances.
You know things outside andyeah, that's what it's all about
.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
Did you advise him beforehand?
Talk to him nonstop aboutmindset.
Speaker 3 (41:44):
But this particular moment.
Or was this already ingrained?
Speaker 2 (41:48):
The best situations usually come when the
circumstance around you aren'tvery good and it's just showing
up and saying well, it's got toget done, I've got to do it, and
a 10-year-old doing that.
I mean, papa had to be like ohyeah.
Speaker 3 (42:00):
That's my boy right there.
One of my favorite Ed Miletquotes is the greatest lessons
in life are often more caughtthan taught.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
That's excellent.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
So it's not about what you tell them.
It's about and I hope this isthe case that my wife and I set
an example for him of notquitting and standing up.
To whatever circumstancesyou're given, you stand up, put
your shoulders back and dealwith it, and when you see that
over and over again, it'straining.
(42:30):
It's training without having tosay a word, and so it is a
great feeling to watch your kidsbe able to persevere, and
especially for him, because he'skind of the quieter one of the
group and for him to be able todeliver like that is pretty cool
how many kids uh five whoa,what ages 12, 10, 7, 4 and 11?
(42:51):
months, 11 months wow yeah,oldest and youngest are girls
and the three boys wow, man, youget the basketball team going.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, uh, the the though thatyou started to get the word out
essentially right, yep, and fivedays a week.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Was it.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Also when you figured I'm going to do this five days
a week, I'm going to commit toit.
Speaker 2 (43:13):
Yeah, how did that evolve?
Because I think people getconfused about social media,
like more is more honestly,because you don't know who's
looking, but you obviouslyprobably didn't start out five
days a week.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
No, I did, yes, you did.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
You really are a night hawk.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
I really love this.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Okay, so you start out five days a week, which 100%
, is the right way to go, andyou just kept going.
Yeah, you don't see a lot oflove at first right.
Speaker 3 (43:36):
Nope, you just got to keep putting it out there.
I researched it for a long timeand I said, man, there's a lot
of people doing podcasts everyweek.
I don't know anybody.
I don't know anybody that'sdoing it five days a week.
And so my thought was if Icould start early in the morning
, and so my team is also acrossthe country.
So I thought, man, this is agreat way for me to mentor my
(43:57):
team and also deliver a message.
And so, first thing in themorning I started out at either
seven or 7.30 am so I could getit out of the way before the
workday started.
And so, yeah, for 30 minutesevery morning.
At first it was just me talkinginto a camera on a webcam and
did that for hundreds ofepisodes, and then probably
(44:19):
around like episode 400 or 500,.
We built the studio and nowI've got different members of
the team and people that come inand lots of people from
pittsburgh to come in and sit inthe seat.
So you guys, are you got toreturn the favor?
Speaker 1 (44:31):
oh yeah, get rid of us, and uh yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:32):
So that that's how it started but I really thought
like if I'm going to build, youknow, a following, it's going to
have to be done differently.
If I'm trying to reach thewhole country, I've got to
outwork everybody else.
And so one day a week.
I just thought like that'sgoing to take a lot longer than
five days a week.
So let's get it.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
Yes, all right, let's talk because we tie in
Pittsburgh.
People, western Pennsylvaniahold my cutter.
A lot of baseball, but sports,your most memorable sports
moment that you watched andmaybe it was on TV, maybe it was
on a device, or when you saw-something in person that you'll
(45:16):
never forget.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Well, I watched the Pens win the Stanley Cup In
person yeah, in person, so thatwas a big one.
I'll go all three sports.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Okay, yeah, yeah, that's fine, I like it.
The Quato game is unforgettable, were you at that one
Unforgettable Were you thereyeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
That proves that Pittsburgh sports are different.
Speaker 3 (45:36):
Oh yeah, yeah, and Ryan Clark hitting Willis
McGahee to win the AFCchampionship game was probably
one of the best, mostexhilarating moments as a fan
that I've ever experienced and Ihappen to be sitting around a
lot of Ravens fans, so it wasextra special.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
And that also brings it to a moment, too.
That's a moment that you'llnever forget.
That's exhilarating.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I just went to my first Steelers game last week a
Ravens game.
Because, same thing, I put myhead down and felt like you know
, I needed to figure some thingsout, and then came up for air.
I'm like I've never been to aSteelers game.
Speaker 1 (46:11):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
And I went and I sat 500.
I wanted to do it Yenzer style.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know whatI mean and I absolutely loved
it and it turns out, just becamea lieutenant colonel 20 years.
Uh, he's on the podcast.
Chad sang the national anthem,so just oh perfect crushed it.
He is a better rendition andI'm going to try to get him to a
pnc.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
He does a country style oh, he just said I can't
do it in uniform like that wow,and I was like I respect that.
Speaker 2 (46:36):
That's wild but I'll never, like that's ingrained in
me, like I feel like, oh my god,I think I, I think I have an
obsession, this, this is kind oflike an addictive drug oh, dude
, you know what I love.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
Like you know, one of one of my goals is you know,
I'm a huge fan of pittsburgh man, I just love this city you know
he said one of his goals.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
I can't wait to hear.
Speaker 3 (46:55):
I'm so proud of this city, and so one of my goals is
you know, I go to the berkshirehathaway shareholder meeting in
omaha, and so you, you go thereand you've got people from all
over the world that come to seeWarren and Charlie, right, yeah,
well, now Warren, uh Buffett.
And so and I it hit me when Iwas in Omaha I'm like, dude, we
need to bring people toPittsburgh.
Like we need to have events inthis city, like you know, the
(47:18):
NFL drafts coming.
But, dude, we can, you know, wecan create events here that
bring people from around thecountry.
But, dude, we can create eventshere that bring people from
around the country.
And every time I bring peoplehere and you reminded me of it,
like I take people to Steelersgames and they say, like, dude,
my stadium's not like this.
Right, the fans in my city,they're not like this.
I was at the Giants Mondaynight game and I talked to so
(47:42):
many Giants fans and saidMetLife Stadium is a dump
compared to this place.
There's no energy, there's noexcitement.
This is unbelievable.
And so for me, my goal is tobring as many people to this
city and introduce them to theculture of the city of
Pittsburgh, the people of thecity of Pittsburgh as we
possibly can, and I got a lot ofstuff I'll share with you guys
(48:04):
when we get off the air here.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
I don't know if you need a puppy dog in that I'm in,
let's do it.
Speaker 3 (48:08):
Let's do it, yeah, I love that.
Yeah, because everybody comeshere and says the same thing.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I know I can't believe it.
Speaker 3 (48:14):
Oh, it's not a smoky old steel town.
Speaker 2 (48:19):
Like no dude, but you still have that ground-level
foundation of that blue-collarhard-working steelworker or
ditch-digger, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
Best people in the world.
Best people in the world.
Speaker 2 (48:31):
Don't convince me.
I believe it with all my heart.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
Brian referenced Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire
Hathaway Home Services.
Our girl Eric.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Katz, wow, what a tie-in, askerikatzcom.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
You didn't even know Best realtor, ask
A-R-A-H-K-A-T-Zcom.
Askarakatzcom.
Hurrah, she's tremendous, she'sthe best, and we're with the
best here in Brian Hess talkingabout just what a career, what a
life, and trying to get as manypeople as you can to come to
Pittsburgh in this town.
(49:01):
How about the pride people haveof Pittsburgh?
Isn't it incredible?
Speaker 3 (49:05):
It's just so wild.
I always say God blessPittsburgh giving us the same
colors in all the sports teamsand giving this city an identity
they could get behind LastFriday night.
So we had the stage AE, we hadcurtain call with all the 70
Steelers, we celebrated the 50thanniversary of Super Bowl IX,
and so Friday night I got tohave dinner with all those
legends and you know, I got tohave a conversation with Mel
(49:28):
Blunt and I was born in 1979, soI wasn't here for any of those
Super Bowl wins.
But I said like I've readenough history and I've studied
enough to know that those guysgave this city hope when it
needed it the most.
You know when everything wasgoing the wrong direction.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
Explain that a little bit more, for you know y'all's
over here.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Yeah, like you know, the steel mills are declining,
closing all over the place.
You know unemployment's rising.
You know, one of the reasonswhy you see Steelers fans,
pirates fans all over thecountry is because so many
people were displaced fromPittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (50:05):
They left Pittsburgh.
They live in other citiesBecause they had to to get a job
.
They travel well, but theyreally don't.
They live well, they live outall over the place.
Pittsburghers 17 millionSteelers fans nationwide.
Speaker 3 (50:16):
But they've never forgotten where they came from
17 million yeah.
And so you know, in that era andwhen you talk to those guys
I've been blessed to talk, johnKolb is a good friend, rocky
Blyer I've spent some time withand interviewed on the podcast,
got to spend some time with MelBlunt you talk to those guys.
(50:41):
They really took a pride ofbeing what this city was, which
was hard work, hard nose.
They took on the identity ofthe fan base and so that gave
these men and women you knowthat were down on their luck,
hope man when they needed.
And the same thing happens withall of our sports.
It's, like you know, sports area big deal here because
pittsburgh is built like that.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
It's different well, I'm old enough to have been
around in 1979 and just to yourpoint.
Yeah, I know it's hard tobelieve, it's hard but, uh, when
, when the city and the regionwas down on its luck, and when
the steelers and the pirates wonthe championship the very same
year.
And back then there was no, youknow, no websites, no social
media, no, nothing.
It relied on newspapers andmagazines, and one particular
(51:20):
national magazine startedannouncing the city of the year,
the city of champions, andpittsburgh was named the the
city of the year, the city ofchampions, and Pittsburgh was
named the best city in thecountry because of the Pirates
and the Steelers winning thechampionship together.
Speaker 2 (51:35):
It's going to happen again.
I think it's going to happenagain, I got a feeling.
Yeah, my wife brought this tomy attention recently.
We were in Nashville before wemoved here, so just below
nashville spent a lot of timethere.
Um, everything that isnashville there's starting to
see like lights open up of like,oh my gosh, this is what
(51:55):
happened in nashville, like theairport and you can see that the
big boom is coming.
But I think it's going to bedifferent because it is
pittsburgh.
It's going to bepittsburgh-esque, right?
I think it's going to bedifferent because it is
Pittsburgh, it's going to bePittsburgh-esque, right?
I think it's going to be basedaround the Steelers, the
Penguins and the Pirates and belike man.
This is the 70s all over again.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
We just want to be part of it, right?
Yeah, that's exactly right.
And that's Pittsburgh andthat's Brian Hess, that's
Uniontown roots, but are yourfamily still there?
Speaker 2 (52:25):
Your parents still in Uniontown, same house I grew up
in.
Come on so you get back therethey wouldn't, want it any other
way would they?
Speaker 3 (52:29):
The house my parents live in the shell of that house
was put up June 12, 1979, theday I was born.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
Get out of here.
They're still there.
Speaker 3 (52:37):
They're still there.
I've tried.
There's no question I've gotfive kids.
I need Grandma and Papi closeright?
Yeah, they didn't take the bait.
They didn't take the bait, ohwow.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
Brian thanks a million for being with us.
Thank you, brother.
This is just absolutely a treat.
Cheers Brian Hess.
An honor and a privilege to behere with you guys.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
A champion Watched you guys on TV listened to you
and it's an honor to be here,thank you.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
It's an audience of five.
So, thank you, we keep growing,brian.
We're going to do it like you.
We're going to grow ouraudience.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
Yes, Absolutely Live shows man, let's go.
Speaker 1 (53:07):
Yeah, hold my cutter.
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