October 8, 2024 • 39 mins
Discover how virtual office support can revolutionize your home service business with insights from Shayna Shadowen, co-founder of My Office Help. She takes us through her personal journey, from managing a family electrical business to co-founding a company dedicated to virtual assistance. Learn how virtual services can alleviate the burden of daily tasks, allowing you to focus on growth. Shayna reveals how her team expertly handles everything from customer service to bookkeeping, ensuring business operations run smoothly and efficiently.
Unlock new business potential by leveraging your existing customer base, especially in industries like plumbing, HVAC, and septic services. Often overlooked, these valuable connections can transform into future opportunities when nurtured correctly. Shayna shares how her team utilizes bespoke software integrated with popular CRMs to become an extension of your business seamlessly. Understand the power of a customized onboarding process that ensures your virtual team fully understands and supports your unique operations, driving your business toward enhanced efficiency and success.
Celebrate the transformative impact women bring to the home service industry in roles traditionally dominated by men. Shayna highlights how empathy and nurturing qualities reshape company culture, creating inclusive, supportive environments. Explore stories of female leadership that foster family-like workplaces, encouraging women to seize opportunities and redefine success in this field. With discussions on shifting dynamics and untapped potential, particularly for women in trades, this episode inspires business owners to embrace diverse leadership and consider non-traditional career paths.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Ladies Kickin' Ass Podcast, where we
help you ignite your innerbadass and create the service
business of your dreams.
I'm your host, tanya Wilson,and together we'll dive into
inspiring stories and expertcoaching to set your journey on
fire.
Hey, badasses, welcome back tothe podcast.
(00:35):
Today we have a goodie, andit's just one that I know that
so many people that listen tothis podcast definitely need
some help with, and that is helpinside of the office, because
many people that come into thehome service industry just run
the phones, run the calls, dothis, do that.
They kind of pawn it off tosomebody.
There's no one that's reallydedicated to doing the phones,
the answering they're trying todo and wear all of the hats.
(00:58):
And today I have an incredibleguest for you that is going to
help maybe shed some light onwhy it's important that maybe if
you don't hire, even internally, there are other options
available for you and it's notjust shipping it off to a call
center overseas.
There's incredible people herethat are from the home service
industry that are more thanhappy to help you Today.
(01:19):
My guest name is Shaina and sheis the co-founder of my Office.
Help, shaina.
Thank you so much for being onthe podcast today.
Why don't you just give us alittle kickoff to today's
episode and let us know whatyour background is a little bit
and why you founded my OfficeHelp to provide the services
that you do within your companyand specifically for the home
(01:42):
service industry?
Where did you find that need?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thank you so much for allowing me to come on.
It was definitely exciting tobe able to get this invite and
super excited to be here, yeah,so I'll just back up a little
bit.
I was a third generation ownerof an electrical company.
It was my grandfather's, mymom's dad who started it in 1964
.
And we just took my mom and mydad took it over in 93.
And then my husband and I tookover, starting in 2004.
(02:12):
We started taking it from thatmom and pop shop, the Excel
spreadsheets, to actually havingQuickBooks and running things
through QuickBooks andmanipulating it, and then
eventually got a CRM.
We started with Housecall Proand that was in 2016.
In 2018, we were very vocal onFacebook helping other
contractors, helping otherelectricians, whatever home
(02:33):
service industry they were in,whether it was marketing or just
tech advice or whatever it maybe.
And in 2018, I had anotherelectrician that actually begged
me to run his office.
At the same time, I ran myoffice and I was very hesitant
at first how do I even do this?
But I decided to do it and acouple months later added on
(02:56):
another company and then justslowly, slowly, slowly grew from
there and now that is reallyall we do, so we can do anything
that can be done virtually.
My team can do it for you whenit comes to your office.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That is so incredible .
So you've got services likevirtual CSRs, customer service
representatives.
You've got virtual people thathelp with bookkeeping.
They can pull permits, they canorder supplies, like.
What else is on the list ofthings that your team can?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
do.
We can take care of yourmaintenance plans for you.
We can file the warranty workthat needs to be the warranty
paperwork that needs to go intonew systems that are put in HVA,
systems that are put in homes,or even file and warranty Like
if you work with warrantycompanies.
We do a lot of that as well.
Everything from the start tothe finish.
The email comes to us, we'recontacting the customer all the
(03:48):
way to the end where we're goingin and we're closing out that
job Literally.
If it can be done virtually, wecan do that.
I mean we've even had some it'snot virtual stuff where, for
instance, there are someindustries they do have to give
a lot of refunds.
Appliance industry is one ofthem have to give a lot of
refunds.
Appliance industry is one ofthem.
They've actually mailed uschecks before and they give us.
As long as they give meauthorization to mail the check,
they sign it.
(04:09):
We put the check in theenvelope for them.
We put it in the mailbox forthat refund for those customers.
And we've also had people sendus paperwork.
Like you know, you've orderedmaterials for a job.
You want to make sure that youtrack where exactly that exhaust
fan came from and which exhaustfan it was, and they mail it to
(04:31):
us, we scan it in and we fileit and to the appropriate place
on their CRM so that if theyever have a problem with that
exhaust fan they know exactlywhere to go for.
So there are other thingsthat's not really virtual, but
yet it is virtual that we canstill do.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, oh my gosh, there's so much support stuff.
If we were talking in a meetingyesterday, we're like, okay, so
we have this CSR and I own aseptic company, so we've got the
service side, we've got theinstall side and we're like kind
of have one person that doesboth of them, but they're
growing so fast.
We need attention to both sidesbecause of the permitting and
all the supply ordering andstuff on the construction side
(05:03):
versus the service side is justa lot of time investment thing.
So we're talking aboutsplitting and we're like but
then we need the organizer.
I was like I know that'sprobably just an office admin
position, but it sounds morebadass to call the organizer.
It's like a Marvel character orsomething.
But I'm like there's thatperson in between that's like
who's doing the paperwork, who'sfiling the receipts, who's
(05:24):
doing this?
You know like just all thoselittle odds and ends, things
that as an owner operator, lotsof times you're like, holy shit,
look at that file.
It is just getting fatter andfatter by the moment because you
haven't had time to get to it.
Those little things like that.
Are those little things likethat that hiring somebody
virtually may be a better optionthan hiring somebody in-house,
(05:46):
explain to us kind of thebenefits of hiring a virtual CSR
versus hiring someone that isactually working in your company
.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, so well.
One of the biggest is the costsavings, because it really
depends on how much dedicationthat you need.
But still, no matter how muchdedication, you need the cost
savings to be able to send itover to our team, which is 100%
US-based, to be able to do thosetasks for you, versus actually
having someone in-house.
(06:15):
And another thing I've seen,you know, someone hires someone
in-house.
They call in sick.
Who's answering the phones?
Now it's back on the ownerright here at my office help.
They get a dedicated CSR thatis there to help them with
whatever it may be, whether it'sjust checking jobs that are
done, because we do have somethat that's all we do for them
is just we're answering thephones and we're only checking
(06:38):
those jobs.
And we have other companies thatwe're ordering parts for.
But the way to set up so, forinstance, alexis orders parts
for Pete's and if Alexis callsin sick, she has a backup.
Heather, I think, is probablythe one that's getting in there
and Heather is still orderingthe parts even though Alexis
isn't here, because we'vecreated those processes and
never has to go back to theowner.
(06:59):
And then, besides that, theteam that's behind them, whether
it's four or five to six peoplebehind that person, or 10 to 12
, depending on the hours thatyou want.
They're there to support theactual phone calls coming in and
they're trained on how you wantit done.
You tell us if you want threehour windows or four hour
windows or no windows at all,and then we route the day before
(07:21):
.
You tell us what you want tohave done and we do it.
You were talking aboutsplitting your company.
You know we've got a roofingcompany that been with us for
four years now.
All we do is their sales calls.
Their sales calls come to usand we schedule their sales team
.
If it's anything else, if it'sactually scheduling the team
itself, the owner's wife andshe's got someone else in the
office they're handling thoseteams.
(07:43):
And so you know, even sometimessplitting your company up and
and doing it that way like itreally makes sense to to um to
come to us for those costsavings of being able just to to
handle it.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That way, absolutely so.
When you're talking about salescalls stuff too, I instantly
tap into like so many peopleforget that their existing
customer list is a goldmine, andespecially in something like
revolving like septic stuff,it's not like, oh, they're going
to call me again in six months,like they need me three years
(08:18):
from now.
People that have been inbusiness for a specific amount
of time regardless of whetherit's electrical, plumbing, hvac
just checking back in with aphone call from people saying,
hey, you know how is the systemworking for you?
Do you have any other issuesthat are going on there?
It's like out of sight, out ofmind situation that a team like
(08:40):
yours could provide someincredible sales support.
For many people think that'slike one of those hard ones that
when you hire people to callout to people, they're like you
know you really got to getsomebody that is confident in
what they're talking about andbeing able to do that.
How does your team support kindof that work, or does it?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So we do some.
We don't do a whole lot of that.
Um, most of our companies aresmaller, although we do have
larger companies, and most ofour larger companies, like, for
instance, the roofing company,they've got someone in house and
so that's a lot of the stuffthat they're doing.
But really, for us, when we dothat, we actually will pull, for
instance, um, we'll, we'll pulloff, I'll just say Ashley,
(09:26):
we'll pull Ashley off of theinbound phone calls.
We'll dedicate her to a company, we'll give her the list and
she'll just start rollingthrough.
And then we've got processes forher to keep track of who's
answered and who's not answeredand what the responses are, to
be able to get them back ontrack.
And I mean, it's really nodifferently.
Even the maintenance plans howmany times have you know the
(09:48):
companies out there?
We get maintenance plans andthen we forget to call them when
it's time to call them.
We're just we just, all of asudden the phones blow up, right
, we're just too busy answeringthe phones to even make those
outbound phone calls.
And that's the same process.
So you know, putting thosepeople on the phones that truly
already know your company, thathave been answering the phones
for your company that get itthat, and a lot of times we even
(10:11):
know the technicians that areout there too.
So that that also helps too,because we become family with
these companies and being ableto say, to go out there and take
care of them.
The way that the companies, theindividual companies, want to
be taken care of is our ultimategoal.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and that is something I've tried several
answering services in the pastand like helping with you know
some after hours stuff or samething like backup support, and
it's like if they don't get toknow the company, it can be very
difficult and sometimes causemore work for you to do that.
When you're onboardingcompanies to work with them, how
(10:48):
do you get to know theirbusinesses so that you can
provide the best support forthem?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yep, so we actually have a custom built software.
We've taken the last four yearsreally truly dedicated to with,
with, with, but with me comingfrom the industry, I know what,
for the most part, we need, butwe really truly built it based
off of what contractors need.
So we're connected currentlywith three CRMs.
(11:14):
So we're connected to HousecallPro, workiz and Jobber, and
what that means is, for instance, I use EJ's appliance a lot for
my demos because I'm in hissystem.
He's four hours from here and Iwill if I was to call EJ's.
It actually recognizes that I'min his Housecall Pro and it
pulls in my name and my addressright away so I can start that
(11:37):
first name basis without evenhaving to ask him how to spell
their name, even though we'vebeen doing work for them for 20
years.
It puts my address on theservice map and those service
maps are custom made and it'scustom made by the owners
themselves.
They can get in there andchange it every single day if
they wanted to change them everyday, and I've had some that
have done that.
You can do it by zones, you cando it by whichever way you want
(11:59):
.
The bottom piece is our intake.
So we go through and we ask youquestions.
So, for instance, with heatingand cooling, you tell us what
systems that you work on.
Do you work on boilers?
Do you work on geothermal?
And sometimes you have sometechnicians that will work on
geothermal and some that don't,and within our intake system we
(12:19):
completely lay out exactly whateach of those companies do, how
we need to schedule them, whattechnicians if there's certain
technicians that do certainthings and don't do certain
things everything is laid out toa T the first month there's
always going to be missingpieces and sometimes some
companies even two months,because there are some companies
(12:41):
with a lot of details.
They've been around for a long,long time and we just take that
and we start building it.
And we build it until we get itdown so that no matter, like
when people call in, like wedon't tell people, we're an
answering service that we canconfidently get in there and
just do their systems rollthrough their platform, the same
as if we were really sitting inthat same exact city that
(13:11):
they're sitting in, that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I'm just processing all the businesses I can think
of that I just want to connectyou with because there's so many
people that need that support.
So if, let's say, someone islistening to this podcast and
they're like that sounds good, Ineed to get a hold of them.
I need to have thisconversation.
What is it that the owner canprepare when discussing this
(13:39):
kind of service, like with acompany like yours, to make sure
that they get the most out ofit?
Because I know a lot ofcompanies are kind of like fly
by the seat of their pantssituation I got a notebook and a
pen and I'm writing while I'mtrying to drive and I'm trying
to do all these things.
What is the best thing for themto prepare in order to get the
(14:00):
most out of these services?
Because I think a lot of timesbusiness owners will sign up for
incredible services but theykind of don't play with them and
the expectation is high for theservice to deliver, but their
expectation for themselves toshow up is kind of like drops
out of the bottom of the floor.
So I always love to ask thisquestion, because a lot of times
it's kind of like am I preparedto be able to work with a
(14:23):
company like this.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
A lot of our owners just aren't prepared.
They have no clue.
You know, and I get all the wayfrom.
I've always done it myself.
I've always done everythingmyself.
I'm the one man truck.
I really am so overloaded Idon't even know how to start
with this right All the way tolike I've got every single
system and process built, like Ithis just take my book and run
using my book of processes, typeof thing.
(14:53):
And really I just at thebeginning of the call you, I
just fill them out, like whereare they?
Do they have a CRM?
And what can I do to help themget on a CRM?
Because we can't schedule onyour pen and paper and you know.
And then also, like I actuallyfeel like a lot of times it's
easier to talk to those thatreally don't know exactly what
(15:16):
they want because of the factthey don't, they don't, they
just don't know, they don't knowhow to hand it over.
And I show them like all yougot to do is just this and we'll
just do the rest.
Like just just let me handlethe rest, and so I.
There's no right or wronganswer for that, but just just
knowing that you need help,that's the biggest thing Getting
your mindset that you do needhelp.
(15:39):
Everybody needs help, so, andwe're here to help.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yes, oh, you touch on a big one there for me with the
mindset situation, because alot of times you have to get out
of your own damn way to getsome help.
You know a lot of people thatstart businesses are in that
because one they like to havethe autonomy of doing things on
their own and doing things theirown way and working with that.
(16:04):
But when you're working with acompany like this, there has to
be processes or else thingsaren't going to work the way
that you need them to, and inorder to scale your business,
you have got to have processesthat can be simple, rinse,
repeat, and someone else can dothem too.
So I can imagine that youprobably see a lot of growth for
(16:24):
companies that you end upworking with.
What does that look like?
Do you have some successstories you can tell us about?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, you know, and that's always my, that was
really truly my, my objectionwhenever my goal when I went
into this, like I want to growand that's we have our, our
system set up so that I can growwith these companies.
Um, we've had business ownersthat have gone through divorce
and they've had to step back andtake care of their family.
(16:51):
While they do that, and we'vejust been in here just running
the company, like running thetechnicians that were out in the
field while they were off doingwhat they need to do.
We have had owners with healthissues that have arisen and have
taken them out of the office,for there was one that it took
them out of the office for twomonths and like he was very,
(17:12):
very little interactions that wehave with him and we just, we
just kept on rolling, we justkept on taking care of of that
company and those, those arejust always my, those are my
favorites, like because we'reall about creating freedom for
the owners and that freedomlooks different for everybody,
but in these, like those twoinstances, those were freedom
(17:35):
that they didn't know that theywere going to need, but we were
there in that time that they didneed us, which just is just
exciting to even think about thefact that we were able to help
them.
We've seen companies that gofrom one technician up to five,
six technicians within a matterof a year like just being there
to support them and to help them.
(17:55):
I want to see companies grow, Iwant to see them flourish in
the service industry and, yeah,that's just where we've always
had our mindset of just tryingto help these owners that don't
know.
They don't know where to go,they don't know what to do, or
even still, they could hiresomeone to house, but, like you
(18:17):
said, you hire them to babysityour company, but yet, on the
other hand, a lot of times youend up having to babysit the CSR
and do you have the capacity todo that while also doing
everything else you got to dotoo?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
so oh, you make a very good point there, because
the more employees you bring inhouse, the more mini bosses you
have too.
We always make that as a joke.
I'm like I have 13 mini bosses.
Yeah, because it is that's awhole nother thing too.
When you bring on a team, that'sa whole nother level of
(18:52):
responsibility that you have,versus being able to hire
someone out for those positions,and then Shane is taking care
of your team for you, which isabsolutely incredible,
absolutely incredible.
What do you think?
I kind of want to shift gears alittle bit here and talk about
the what impact you see withwomen in the home service
(19:14):
industry.
I feel like and maybe it's justbecause I pay so much attention
to it now but as a kid growingup I grew up in Wyoming
Everybody in my family was inconstruction the men, the women,
were not in construction.
Like that was a very crazy thing, for like, if a woman would
have said like I'm going to owna septic company or an
(19:36):
electrical company or aconstruction company at all when
I was a kid, they'd have beenlike uh, is she serious?
Yeah, I mean that's just kindof like how I grew up with stuff
.
Is she serious?
Yeah, I mean that's just kindof like how I grew up with stuff
.
But the more that I just diveinto this and the more I become
acquainted with differentnetworking groups in the trades,
it is absolutely incrediblewhat women are doing in this,
(19:59):
and I know that the workforce ofhome service still only equals.
About four to five percent isactually women.
What do you think is uniquethat women bring to this
industry and why women shouldconsider working in this
industry?
What do you see happening here?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, you know one I've seen like because, like you
said, women in the industry isvery unusual, but the ones that
I have seen I think it has to dowith the being able to do have
sympathy and empathy that a lotof men don't have.
In our area we had a heatingair company that had a female
sales lady I don't know ifanybody in this area.
(20:40):
She's no longer doing it.
She actually moved out of thearea.
I don't know if anybody elsehas ever been able to top her
sales Like she was amazing andand it wasn't really about
selling, right, my husband'shuge on that Like he was not, he
didn't do sales when he was outin the field, he was an
educator and that's the way shereally truly took that approach.
Um, I just think that, althoughthere are some, some people
(21:05):
that do not think that womenshould be out in the in the
field, um and so you will getsome of that, but think that
women should be out in the field, and so you will get some of
that.
But for the most part, peoplelove to hear when it's a woman
coming out.
People love to know that womenare stepping up and realizing
they can be more than just thebread makers in the industry.
When you were saying that, likeI really thought back because
(21:25):
you were talking about you know,when we were a kid, women
didn't do this, but even when wetook over.
So we took over the business in2004.
We've been part of nationalorganizations and through each
of those national organizations,I was always Jason's wife,
jason's wife, jason's wife,jason's wife.
Well, with this now, like,we've been going to trade shows
(21:49):
and I had been to this one tradeshow, um, and then the next
year my husband went with me andhe was.
He came up laughing, he saidyou're no longer Jason's wife,
I'm Shana's husband, becausepeople were coming up and saying
so, you're Shana's husband.
So it's been a really neatseeing the change in the dynamic
and people acknowledging eventhat aspect that women can own
(22:12):
businesses and women can bestrong when they need to be
strong.
And women can do this withtheir husbands as support,
behind them or beside them.
It doesn't have to be only theman.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yes, oh my God, I love that story so much.
That's so awesome.
Thank you for sharing that.
I truly feel like there's ashift kind of happening, I think
for years that like we kind ofgrew up with like generational
companies like you were in, youknow, like grandpa owned it and
(22:51):
dad took it over and then itcame down to it and it's like
the sons didn't want it and I'vetalked to so many women that
the daughter stepped up and tookthis company over, which I
think is so incredibly cool too.
But also there's just so muchopportunity in women being able
to.
(23:11):
I didn't take over the septiccompany.
I got into this.
My ex-husband had learned aboutthis and when he said he wanted
to start a septic company, Iwas like, are you high?
Like I don't want to do that.
Like as a kid growing up, I waslike men, like that's not
something, I want to have apretty job.
I, growing up, I was like men,like that's not something, I
want to have a pretty job.
I don't want to do that.
Like it's so weird to me, butthe more you get into it and you
(23:32):
understand, like how you canplay such an incredible role.
I love what you say about likeempathy with things.
I really truly think that youcan tell a difference too with
women home service companies.
When there is a woman inleadership or ownership, the
culture of that business shiftsand it stands out and it's a lot
(23:56):
more prevalent and cared forthan what you see a lot of the
traditional male-ran companies.
And I have a great example ofthis.
There is a Facebook group it'scalled the Pumper Page and it's
a whole bunch of septic tankrancompanies and I have a great
example of this.
There is a Facebook group it'scalled the Pumper Page and it's
a whole bunch of septic tankpumping companies and it's
always every year, christmastime.
They always ask the questionwhat do you do for your
(24:18):
employees?
For like a Christmas bonus orlike Christmas incentive or
something like that.
Right, and it's so funnybecause the women will be like
we put together this party andwe give them Christmas bonuses.
That equals like a week oftheir salary and like it's all
this detail and just I lovethese posts every year.
And then the guys are like Igive them a shovel and a job.
(24:41):
You know, like this is liketheir respect facts thing.
And I was like and this is, thisis like broad generalization.
I'm not saying every mail-incompany is like this, but when
you go right in this threespecific groups around Christmas
time, you can always tell thedifference.
Or they're like do for likeemployee incentives, you know,
like, and the ladies are like oh, we have snacks and we have
(25:03):
drinks and there's maybe a beerin the fridge or something you
know and, and the guys are likeI buy them gloves.
You know just that thedifference between those two
things I think is reallyincredible, and I think women
really are those nurturers thatyou kind of bring, that you know
how we take care of ourfamilies and how we raise our
children and it's really how youraise a business and you really
(25:26):
do truly care about thosepeople.
You know, like, I never wantanybody to leave my company and
go to a different companysomewhere, because I know the
culture that we can provide hereis something you're not going
to find at any of ourcompetitors and I think that's a
really cool place to start at.
I think a lot of women feel likeI've got to be out in the field
actually doing the digging orwiring the house or doing these
(25:50):
things.
You can start this business,girl, and you can hire people to
do that.
I've never drove a septic truckin my entire life and I've
owned three septic companies in15 years, so like it's like you
can find the opportunity withstuff, and I think what we
really have to realize isthere's a huge opportunity in
home service right now.
I'm sure you probably hear that.
Do people tell you all the timethey have a hard time hiring
(26:12):
skilled or actually people thatwant to work come work in their
companies?
Is that something you hear alot about?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, 100%.
I mean wanting to work is, youknow, it can be anything from
using a shovel to even answeringthe phones, like let's just be
real here.
But yeah, 100%, like gettingpeople to actually work.
And I think at this point wherewe're at, like we can't be
(26:43):
saying only men can do it oronly women can answer the phones
, like we really truly have tobe open to who is willing to
actually work and who is willingto actually use that shovel and
get their hands dirty and andand just it, it's okay.
Like, if a man answers thephone, like sometimes we we got
(27:04):
some, some guys that answer thephones here and every once in a
while you get that the older manwho doesn't think you know, he
thinks he must be a technician,right, if he's answering the
phone.
I've had to run service callsbefore and I go out and people
are like what I'm?
Like it's okay, I'm the owner.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I know what I'm doing .
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I don't know what I'm doing.
I know how to sell, I don'tknow how to.
Last time I actually used apair of pliers on electrical.
I actually blew a hole in them,so I don't think he ever handed
me any pliers after that.
Actually, my husband's walkingpast right now and he heard me
say that he's shaking his head.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
No, but it's.
It's exactly what you'retalking about like there's so
much opportunity in the homeservice industry right now that
I just feel is so untapped.
There are so many businessesright now ladies too if you're
like, oh shit, I don't want tobootstrap that and start that
myself, but there's so manybusinesses right now that are
(28:06):
literally just going to diebecause somebody started them
and their kids have zerointerest in being part of this
and they can't really sell itbecause they're kind of the
business.
But if you know anything aboutprocesses and hiring and
building teams, you can go inand buy these businesses for
like super inexpensive and builda team within them and be
(28:29):
having a rolling business that'salready been in business for 40
years.
That just needed a littlezhuzhing to it.
That I think a lot of women canbring to these kind of dying
off older you know, baby boomerowned businesses, do you?
What's your opinion on that?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
well, we've actually been toying around with that
idea, so I agree with you aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Awesome.
I think it's a really coolopportunity and I think that
there's like this new littlewave of like, hey, it is
actually cool to kind of work inthe home service industry.
And I think, the more that wecontinue to talk about it and be
advocates about this stuff,like I'm huge with these kids
that are like, well, shit, Idon't want to go to college, I
(29:14):
don't know what I want to do, Idon't know but I kind of like
then do that, like there doesn'tneed to be this guilty
conscience because you don't goto a university somewhere, like
go work with somebody in a homeservice company and learn a
skill.
You don't even have to go tothe school unless it's required.
But, like my industry, we lovefreshies that come in here that
(29:35):
we can teach, that want to workand do stuff, and my pump truck
drivers easily can make over sixfigures a year if they come in
and they learn to educate theirway to a sale.
It's incredible what you can dowith stuff and the more we talk
about it, the more people perktheir ears up, like you mean I
don't have to be strapped withsix digit student loan debt.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, I think.
I think one of the things,though, that we are fighting
right now is there are so manyteachers that are pushing these
kids to go to college, even ifthey aren't made for college,
and so, instead of looking andthat might be why we're having a
little bit more of a drought inthe industry because they are
(30:17):
really truly pushing these kidsto go to college.
Like you can't graduate unlessyou fill out the FAFSA, even if
you're not planning on going tocollege, like they wouldn't.
My youngest just graduated highschool.
He could not graduate unless wefilled it out and had it 100%
complete for him, and so they'repushing these.
(30:38):
It is, and they're pushingthese kids to go to college
because obviously, that's theonly way to make a living right
Is to get a degree and to workwith a degree, and so I think
that's another thing that we'refighting, and it really truly is
about getting out there,getting the word out there, that
(30:59):
it doesn't matter if you'remale or female, it doesn't
matter if you have a degree.
If you're willing to work andto learn, you can make just as
much, if not more, than peoplewith six-year degrees.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yes, oh my gosh.
Yes, my daughter's a sophomorein high school and we just
recently had that littlesituation with her too.
They have a program here whereyou can attend a technology
college in high school and itcounts as high school credits,
but they can also graduatebasically certified in whatever
they're going to the techcollege for.
(31:34):
So my daughter wants to get hercosmetology license and she's
wanted to do this since she waslittle, little little.
She's got more makeup than Ulta, I feel like most days.
But it is one of those thingsthat is like she has a plan and
she wants to own her own salonand she wants to have her own
line of stuff.
And like she's got a plan, likehow many kids don't have no
(31:55):
idea what they want to do?
This girl's got a plan and whenwe went in and sat in with her
counselor, she's like well,you're not taking any foreign
language classes?
She's like um, I don't want totake foreign language.
Well, in order to go to auniversity in Arizona you know
ASU, u of A, you have to have atleast two years of foreign
(32:15):
language.
She's like but I'm not going todo that, I'm going to even to
get my cosmetology license.
She's like, yeah, but mostpeople definitely want to attend
college after that, so we'regoing to have to.
You could do it for summerschool.
Like totally running over, and Iwas just like, well, time out,
and I think more parents have tobe advocates for the kids in
this thing.
I was like this kid has abeautifully designed plan.
(32:37):
She's already been talking tome and her auntie about getting
investments to start a salonsomewhere.
She's been born in and raisedin a business atmosphere.
That's like the best educationyou could possibly get.
She's got a plan and you'retrying to derail business
atmosphere.
That's like the best educationyou could possibly get.
She's got a plan and you'retrying to derail her here.
Let's figure out how we cansupport her instead of trying to
(32:58):
steer her in a differentdirection.
If she chooses to do that later, I'm pretty sure they'll still
figure out a way to let her inafter not having two years of
Spanish or something.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Not like any of us can actually speak Spanish after
two years at high school.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Anyway, let's have the conversation Like where do
we get into these schools andreally educate people?
So if you're in the homeservice industry and you find an
opportunity to be able to dothis, so many kids need to hear
that there are other options outthere.
So thank you for having thisconversation with me.
It is so incredibly importantthat people understand there is
(33:34):
more than just this way of whateverybody's supposed to be
pointing towards.
I think having a lot of womenin the industry that have that
really close connection withtheir kids and kind of see the
stuff that's going on inside ofthere.
We have a responsibility tocontinue to keep talking about
this so that kids know thatthere's another option there.
(33:57):
We call them kids.
They are kids, they're 18.
But you know, at some pointthey still feel like you know
they're being ushered intosomething that they don't want
to do.
So, yeah, 100%.
So let's get these peoplemotivated and get going with
building some really awesomebusinesses.
It's not like homes are goingaway.
Home services is always goingto be needed, whether there's a
(34:20):
recession, a war, a anything.
Everybody needs to haveelectricity and a running toilet
.
So I'd say jobs.
Looks pretty awesome rightabout now on a running toilet.
So I'd say job security lookspretty awesome right about now.
Yeah, 100% so cool.
(34:41):
Well, shana, thank you so muchfor this conversation today and
thank you so much for sharingabout the services that you
offer.
Again, I can think of so manypeople that I'm going to shoot
you a follow up email afterwardsand make an intro and see if it
might actually be a fit for youguys to work together.
If somebody wants to find outmore information about my Office
Help or check you out on socialchannels, where can they find?
Speaker 2 (35:01):
you.
Well, we're all over the place.
So myofficehelpcom, and thenyou can actually get, click the
Get Started link to set up aDiscovery Zoom with me.
I'll go through our platform sothey can see it.
But we are on Facebook.
We're on TikTok.
We do a lot of TikTok videoswith our team, so make sure you
(35:22):
get in there and check those outand like those.
Instagram.
I think we're on Twitter too.
I don't know how to get on that, but it's there.
But yeah, we're on twitter too.
I don't know how to get on that, so, but it's there, um, but
yeah, we're, we're everywhere.
So if you look up my office,help, we are, we're just we're
out there.
So like us, uh, subscribe andum, then check us out and be
(35:45):
happy to to give you a go overconversation and go over you
know what options that isavailable for the size of team
that you have.
Whether you have people alreadyin the office or you don't, we
can, we can fit in with, withwherever you're at.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Excellent and they're on YouTube because I was
watching your YouTube before andyour husband has a podcast.
So there's all kinds ofinformation as far as business
stuff that you can learn fromthis team, and I think that's so
incredible.
Thank you for giving back topeople so that they can learn
more things.
There's just there's so manyresources out there in today's
(36:23):
world that it's like everybodyhas to want to help themselves
for stuff.
We can guide you to places, butyou still got to do the
implementation of things.
So there's my office office alot of great resources.
So, shana, at the end of everypodcast, I always ask everybody
this question because I find itfascinating how people relate to
(36:44):
the phrase.
So when you hear the phraseladies kicking ass, what does
that mean to you in your life?
Speaker 2 (36:52):
That just means to me that we're going out there and
we're just doing what we need todo to get things done.
We're plowing through and we'rejust going to come out in the
end and celebrate.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Oh see, that's a good one, and I think that's what a
lot of us forget to do.
We're very busy putting ourheads down and putting one foot
in front of the other andslaying dragons and whatever it
is that we do all day, but lotsof times we forget to stop and
celebrate all of the stuff we'veaccomplished too.
So it is very important that wecontinue to do that.
That's where you get thatmotivation and that
(37:27):
encouragement to go findsomething else to conquer.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
So it's really cool Very good, very, very good.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Well, thank you so much for your wisdom today.
I will post all of her linksand the website in the show
notes here and until next time,ladies, keep kicking ass.
Thanks for being part of theLadies Kickin' Ass community.
Cheers to all you badass womenout there.
Keep rocking your power,igniting your fire and making
(37:56):
waves in the service industry.
If you loved today's episode,please do me a quick favor.
Take a screenshot, post it andtag us at Ladies Kickin' Ass.
Be sure to include the link toyour favorite episode.
Your support in spreading theword means the world to us as we
aim to empower even more women.
Hit that subscribe button tostay tuned for more kick-ass
(38:17):
episodes.
And don't forget a five-starreview is the ultimate high five
.
Connect with us on social media.
All the links are in the shownotes.
Thank you for being part of ourtribe.
Now go kick some serious ass,lady.
Welcome to the Ladies Kickin' Ass Podcast, where we
help you ignite your innerbadass and create the service
business of your dreams.
I'm your host, tanya Wilson,and together we'll dive into
inspiring stories and expertcoaching to set your journey on
fire.
Hey, badasses, welcome back tothe podcast.
(00:35):
Today we have a goodie, andit's just one that I know that
so many people that listen tothis podcast definitely need
some help with, and that is helpinside of the office, because
many people that come into thehome service industry just run
the phones, run the calls, dothis, do that.
They kind of pawn it off tosomebody.
There's no one that's reallydedicated to doing the phones,
the answering they're trying todo and wear all of the hats.
(00:58):
And today I have an incredibleguest for you that is going to
help maybe shed some light onwhy it's important that maybe if
you don't hire, even internally, there are other options
available for you and it's notjust shipping it off to a call
center overseas.
There's incredible people herethat are from the home service
industry that are more thanhappy to help you Today.
(01:19):
My guest name is Shaina and sheis the co-founder of my Office.
Help, shaina.
Thank you so much for being onthe podcast today.
Why don't you just give us alittle kickoff to today's
episode and let us know whatyour background is a little bit
and why you founded my OfficeHelp to provide the services
that you do within your companyand specifically for the home
(01:42):
service industry?
Where did you find that need?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thank you so much for allowing me to come on.
It was definitely exciting tobe able to get this invite and
super excited to be here, yeah,so I'll just back up a little
bit.
I was a third generation ownerof an electrical company.
It was my grandfather's, mymom's dad who started it in 1964
.
And we just took my mom and mydad took it over in 93.
And then my husband and I tookover, starting in 2004.
(02:12):
We started taking it from thatmom and pop shop, the Excel
spreadsheets, to actually havingQuickBooks and running things
through QuickBooks andmanipulating it, and then
eventually got a CRM.
We started with Housecall Proand that was in 2016.
In 2018, we were very vocal onFacebook helping other
contractors, helping otherelectricians, whatever home
(02:33):
service industry they were in,whether it was marketing or just
tech advice or whatever it maybe.
And in 2018, I had anotherelectrician that actually begged
me to run his office.
At the same time, I ran myoffice and I was very hesitant
at first how do I even do this?
But I decided to do it and acouple months later added on
(02:56):
another company and then justslowly, slowly, slowly grew from
there and now that is reallyall we do, so we can do anything
that can be done virtually.
My team can do it for you whenit comes to your office.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That is so incredible .
So you've got services likevirtual CSRs, customer service
representatives.
You've got virtual people thathelp with bookkeeping.
They can pull permits, they canorder supplies, like.
What else is on the list ofthings that your team can?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
do.
We can take care of yourmaintenance plans for you.
We can file the warranty workthat needs to be the warranty
paperwork that needs to go intonew systems that are put in HVA,
systems that are put in homes,or even file and warranty Like
if you work with warrantycompanies.
We do a lot of that as well.
Everything from the start tothe finish.
The email comes to us, we'recontacting the customer all the
(03:48):
way to the end where we're goingin and we're closing out that
job Literally.
If it can be done virtually, wecan do that.
I mean we've even had some it'snot virtual stuff where, for
instance, there are someindustries they do have to give
a lot of refunds.
Appliance industry is one ofthem have to give a lot of
refunds.
Appliance industry is one ofthem.
They've actually mailed uschecks before and they give us.
As long as they give meauthorization to mail the check,
they sign it.
(04:09):
We put the check in theenvelope for them.
We put it in the mailbox forthat refund for those customers.
And we've also had people sendus paperwork.
Like you know, you've orderedmaterials for a job.
You want to make sure that youtrack where exactly that exhaust
fan came from and which exhaustfan it was, and they mail it to
(04:31):
us, we scan it in and we fileit and to the appropriate place
on their CRM so that if theyever have a problem with that
exhaust fan they know exactlywhere to go for.
So there are other thingsthat's not really virtual, but
yet it is virtual that we canstill do.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, oh my gosh, there's so much support stuff.
If we were talking in a meetingyesterday, we're like, okay, so
we have this CSR and I own aseptic company, so we've got the
service side, we've got theinstall side and we're like kind
of have one person that doesboth of them, but they're
growing so fast.
We need attention to both sidesbecause of the permitting and
all the supply ordering andstuff on the construction side
(05:03):
versus the service side is justa lot of time investment thing.
So we're talking aboutsplitting and we're like but
then we need the organizer.
I was like I know that'sprobably just an office admin
position, but it sounds morebadass to call the organizer.
It's like a Marvel character orsomething.
But I'm like there's thatperson in between that's like
who's doing the paperwork, who'sfiling the receipts, who's
(05:24):
doing this?
You know like just all thoselittle odds and ends, things
that as an owner operator, lotsof times you're like, holy shit,
look at that file.
It is just getting fatter andfatter by the moment because you
haven't had time to get to it.
Those little things like that.
Are those little things likethat that hiring somebody
virtually may be a better optionthan hiring somebody in-house,
(05:46):
explain to us kind of thebenefits of hiring a virtual CSR
versus hiring someone that isactually working in your company
.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, so well.
One of the biggest is the costsavings, because it really
depends on how much dedicationthat you need.
But still, no matter how muchdedication, you need the cost
savings to be able to send itover to our team, which is 100%
US-based, to be able to do thosetasks for you, versus actually
having someone in-house.
(06:15):
And another thing I've seen,you know, someone hires someone
in-house.
They call in sick.
Who's answering the phones?
Now it's back on the ownerright here at my office help.
They get a dedicated CSR thatis there to help them with
whatever it may be, whether it'sjust checking jobs that are
done, because we do have somethat that's all we do for them
is just we're answering thephones and we're only checking
(06:38):
those jobs.
And we have other companies thatwe're ordering parts for.
But the way to set up so, forinstance, alexis orders parts
for Pete's and if Alexis callsin sick, she has a backup.
Heather, I think, is probablythe one that's getting in there
and Heather is still orderingthe parts even though Alexis
isn't here, because we'vecreated those processes and
never has to go back to theowner.
(06:59):
And then, besides that, theteam that's behind them, whether
it's four or five to six peoplebehind that person, or 10 to 12
, depending on the hours thatyou want.
They're there to support theactual phone calls coming in and
they're trained on how you wantit done.
You tell us if you want threehour windows or four hour
windows or no windows at all,and then we route the day before
(07:21):
.
You tell us what you want tohave done and we do it.
You were talking aboutsplitting your company.
You know we've got a roofingcompany that been with us for
four years now.
All we do is their sales calls.
Their sales calls come to usand we schedule their sales team
.
If it's anything else, if it'sactually scheduling the team
itself, the owner's wife andshe's got someone else in the
office they're handling thoseteams.
(07:43):
And so you know, even sometimessplitting your company up and
and doing it that way like itreally makes sense to to um to
come to us for those costsavings of being able just to to
handle it.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
That way, absolutely so.
When you're talking about salescalls stuff too, I instantly
tap into like so many peopleforget that their existing
customer list is a goldmine, andespecially in something like
revolving like septic stuff,it's not like, oh, they're going
to call me again in six months,like they need me three years
(08:18):
from now.
People that have been inbusiness for a specific amount
of time regardless of whetherit's electrical, plumbing, hvac
just checking back in with aphone call from people saying,
hey, you know how is the systemworking for you?
Do you have any other issuesthat are going on there?
It's like out of sight, out ofmind situation that a team like
(08:40):
yours could provide someincredible sales support.
For many people think that'slike one of those hard ones that
when you hire people to callout to people, they're like you
know you really got to getsomebody that is confident in
what they're talking about andbeing able to do that.
How does your team support kindof that work, or does it?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
So we do some.
We don't do a whole lot of that.
Um, most of our companies aresmaller, although we do have
larger companies, and most ofour larger companies, like, for
instance, the roofing company,they've got someone in house and
so that's a lot of the stuffthat they're doing.
But really, for us, when we dothat, we actually will pull, for
instance, um, we'll, we'll pulloff, I'll just say Ashley,
(09:26):
we'll pull Ashley off of theinbound phone calls.
We'll dedicate her to a company, we'll give her the list and
she'll just start rollingthrough.
And then we've got processes forher to keep track of who's
answered and who's not answeredand what the responses are, to
be able to get them back ontrack.
And I mean, it's really nodifferently.
Even the maintenance plans howmany times have you know the
(09:48):
companies out there?
We get maintenance plans andthen we forget to call them when
it's time to call them.
We're just we just, all of asudden the phones blow up, right
, we're just too busy answeringthe phones to even make those
outbound phone calls.
And that's the same process.
So you know, putting thosepeople on the phones that truly
already know your company, thathave been answering the phones
for your company that get itthat, and a lot of times we even
(10:11):
know the technicians that areout there too.
So that that also helps too,because we become family with
these companies and being ableto say, to go out there and take
care of them.
The way that the companies, theindividual companies, want to
be taken care of is our ultimategoal.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and that is something I've tried several
answering services in the pastand like helping with you know
some after hours stuff or samething like backup support, and
it's like if they don't get toknow the company, it can be very
difficult and sometimes causemore work for you to do that.
When you're onboardingcompanies to work with them, how
(10:48):
do you get to know theirbusinesses so that you can
provide the best support forthem?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yep, so we actually have a custom built software.
We've taken the last four yearsreally truly dedicated to with,
with, with, but with me comingfrom the industry, I know what,
for the most part, we need, butwe really truly built it based
off of what contractors need.
So we're connected currentlywith three CRMs.
(11:14):
So we're connected to HousecallPro, workiz and Jobber, and
what that means is, for instance, I use EJ's appliance a lot for
my demos because I'm in hissystem.
He's four hours from here and Iwill if I was to call EJ's.
It actually recognizes that I'min his Housecall Pro and it
pulls in my name and my addressright away so I can start that
(11:37):
first name basis without evenhaving to ask him how to spell
their name, even though we'vebeen doing work for them for 20
years.
It puts my address on theservice map and those service
maps are custom made and it'scustom made by the owners
themselves.
They can get in there andchange it every single day if
they wanted to change them everyday, and I've had some that
have done that.
You can do it by zones, you cando it by whichever way you want
(11:59):
.
The bottom piece is our intake.
So we go through and we ask youquestions.
So, for instance, with heatingand cooling, you tell us what
systems that you work on.
Do you work on boilers?
Do you work on geothermal?
And sometimes you have sometechnicians that will work on
geothermal and some that don't,and within our intake system we
(12:19):
completely lay out exactly whateach of those companies do, how
we need to schedule them, whattechnicians if there's certain
technicians that do certainthings and don't do certain
things everything is laid out toa T the first month there's
always going to be missingpieces and sometimes some
companies even two months,because there are some companies
(12:41):
with a lot of details.
They've been around for a long,long time and we just take that
and we start building it.
And we build it until we get itdown so that no matter, like
when people call in, like wedon't tell people, we're an
answering service that we canconfidently get in there and
just do their systems rollthrough their platform, the same
as if we were really sitting inthat same exact city that
(13:11):
they're sitting in, that'sincredible.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I'm just processing all the businesses I can think
of that I just want to connectyou with because there's so many
people that need that support.
So if, let's say, someone islistening to this podcast and
they're like that sounds good, Ineed to get a hold of them.
I need to have thisconversation.
What is it that the owner canprepare when discussing this
(13:39):
kind of service, like with acompany like yours, to make sure
that they get the most out ofit?
Because I know a lot ofcompanies are kind of like fly
by the seat of their pantssituation I got a notebook and a
pen and I'm writing while I'mtrying to drive and I'm trying
to do all these things.
What is the best thing for themto prepare in order to get the
(14:00):
most out of these services?
Because I think a lot of timesbusiness owners will sign up for
incredible services but theykind of don't play with them and
the expectation is high for theservice to deliver, but their
expectation for themselves toshow up is kind of like drops
out of the bottom of the floor.
So I always love to ask thisquestion, because a lot of times
it's kind of like am I preparedto be able to work with a
(14:23):
company like this.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
A lot of our owners just aren't prepared.
They have no clue.
You know, and I get all the wayfrom.
I've always done it myself.
I've always done everythingmyself.
I'm the one man truck.
I really am so overloaded Idon't even know how to start
with this right All the way tolike I've got every single
system and process built, like Ithis just take my book and run
using my book of processes, typeof thing.
(14:53):
And really I just at thebeginning of the call you, I
just fill them out, like whereare they?
Do they have a CRM?
And what can I do to help themget on a CRM?
Because we can't schedule onyour pen and paper and you know.
And then also, like I actuallyfeel like a lot of times it's
easier to talk to those thatreally don't know exactly what
(15:16):
they want because of the factthey don't, they don't, they
just don't know, they don't knowhow to hand it over.
And I show them like all yougot to do is just this and we'll
just do the rest.
Like just just let me handlethe rest, and so I.
There's no right or wronganswer for that, but just just
knowing that you need help,that's the biggest thing Getting
your mindset that you do needhelp.
(15:39):
Everybody needs help, so, andwe're here to help.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Yes, oh, you touch on a big one there for me with the
mindset situation, because alot of times you have to get out
of your own damn way to getsome help.
You know a lot of people thatstart businesses are in that
because one they like to havethe autonomy of doing things on
their own and doing things theirown way and working with that.
(16:04):
But when you're working with acompany like this, there has to
be processes or else thingsaren't going to work the way
that you need them to, and inorder to scale your business,
you have got to have processesthat can be simple, rinse,
repeat, and someone else can dothem too.
So I can imagine that youprobably see a lot of growth for
(16:24):
companies that you end upworking with.
What does that look like?
Do you have some successstories you can tell us about?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Well, you know, and that's always my, that was
really truly my, my objectionwhenever my goal when I went
into this, like I want to growand that's we have our, our
system set up so that I can growwith these companies.
Um, we've had business ownersthat have gone through divorce
and they've had to step back andtake care of their family.
(16:51):
While they do that, and we'vejust been in here just running
the company, like running thetechnicians that were out in the
field while they were off doingwhat they need to do.
We have had owners with healthissues that have arisen and have
taken them out of the office,for there was one that it took
them out of the office for twomonths and like he was very,
(17:12):
very little interactions that wehave with him and we just, we
just kept on rolling, we justkept on taking care of of that
company and those, those arejust always my, those are my
favorites, like because we'reall about creating freedom for
the owners and that freedomlooks different for everybody,
but in these, like those twoinstances, those were freedom
(17:35):
that they didn't know that theywere going to need, but we were
there in that time that they didneed us, which just is just
exciting to even think about thefact that we were able to help
them.
We've seen companies that gofrom one technician up to five,
six technicians within a matterof a year like just being there
to support them and to help them.
(17:55):
I want to see companies grow, Iwant to see them flourish in
the service industry and, yeah,that's just where we've always
had our mindset of just tryingto help these owners that don't
know.
They don't know where to go,they don't know what to do, or
even still, they could hiresomeone to house, but, like you
(18:17):
said, you hire them to babysityour company, but yet, on the
other hand, a lot of times youend up having to babysit the CSR
and do you have the capacity todo that while also doing
everything else you got to dotoo?
Speaker 1 (18:31):
so oh, you make a very good point there, because
the more employees you bring inhouse, the more mini bosses you
have too.
We always make that as a joke.
I'm like I have 13 mini bosses.
Yeah, because it is that's awhole nother thing too.
When you bring on a team, that'sa whole nother level of
(18:52):
responsibility that you have,versus being able to hire
someone out for those positions,and then Shane is taking care
of your team for you, which isabsolutely incredible,
absolutely incredible.
What do you think?
I kind of want to shift gears alittle bit here and talk about
the what impact you see withwomen in the home service
(19:14):
industry.
I feel like and maybe it's justbecause I pay so much attention
to it now but as a kid growingup I grew up in Wyoming
Everybody in my family was inconstruction the men, the women,
were not in construction.
Like that was a very crazy thing, for like, if a woman would
have said like I'm going to owna septic company or an
(19:36):
electrical company or aconstruction company at all when
I was a kid, they'd have beenlike uh, is she serious?
Yeah, I mean that's just kindof like how I grew up with stuff
.
Is she serious?
Yeah, I mean that's just kindof like how I grew up with stuff
.
But the more that I just diveinto this and the more I become
acquainted with differentnetworking groups in the trades,
it is absolutely incrediblewhat women are doing in this,
(19:59):
and I know that the workforce ofhome service still only equals.
About four to five percent isactually women.
What do you think is uniquethat women bring to this
industry and why women shouldconsider working in this
industry?
What do you see happening here?
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Well, you know one I've seen like because, like you
said, women in the industry isvery unusual, but the ones that
I have seen I think it has to dowith the being able to do have
sympathy and empathy that a lotof men don't have.
In our area we had a heatingair company that had a female
sales lady I don't know ifanybody in this area.
(20:40):
She's no longer doing it.
She actually moved out of thearea.
I don't know if anybody elsehas ever been able to top her
sales Like she was amazing andand it wasn't really about
selling, right, my husband'shuge on that Like he was not, he
didn't do sales when he was outin the field, he was an
educator and that's the way shereally truly took that approach.
Um, I just think that, althoughthere are some, some people
(21:05):
that do not think that womenshould be out in the in the
field, um and so you will getsome of that, but think that
women should be out in the field, and so you will get some of
that.
But for the most part, peoplelove to hear when it's a woman
coming out.
People love to know that womenare stepping up and realizing
they can be more than just thebread makers in the industry.
When you were saying that, likeI really thought back because
(21:25):
you were talking about you know,when we were a kid, women
didn't do this, but even when wetook over.
So we took over the business in2004.
We've been part of nationalorganizations and through each
of those national organizations,I was always Jason's wife,
jason's wife, jason's wife,jason's wife.
Well, with this now, like,we've been going to trade shows
(21:49):
and I had been to this one tradeshow, um, and then the next
year my husband went with me andhe was.
He came up laughing, he saidyou're no longer Jason's wife,
I'm Shana's husband, becausepeople were coming up and saying
so, you're Shana's husband.
So it's been a really neatseeing the change in the dynamic
and people acknowledging eventhat aspect that women can own
(22:12):
businesses and women can bestrong when they need to be
strong.
And women can do this withtheir husbands as support,
behind them or beside them.
It doesn't have to be only theman.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yes, oh my God, I love that story so much.
That's so awesome.
Thank you for sharing that.
I truly feel like there's ashift kind of happening, I think
for years that like we kind ofgrew up with like generational
companies like you were in, youknow, like grandpa owned it and
(22:51):
dad took it over and then itcame down to it and it's like
the sons didn't want it and I'vetalked to so many women that
the daughter stepped up and tookthis company over, which I
think is so incredibly cool too.
But also there's just so muchopportunity in women being able
to.
(23:11):
I didn't take over the septiccompany.
I got into this.
My ex-husband had learned aboutthis and when he said he wanted
to start a septic company, Iwas like, are you high?
Like I don't want to do that.
Like as a kid growing up, I waslike men, like that's not
something, I want to have apretty job.
I, growing up, I was like men,like that's not something, I
want to have a pretty job.
I don't want to do that.
Like it's so weird to me, butthe more you get into it and you
(23:32):
understand, like how you canplay such an incredible role.
I love what you say about likeempathy with things.
I really truly think that youcan tell a difference too with
women home service companies.
When there is a woman inleadership or ownership, the
culture of that business shiftsand it stands out and it's a lot
(23:56):
more prevalent and cared forthan what you see a lot of the
traditional male-ran companies.
And I have a great example ofthis.
There is a Facebook group it'scalled the Pumper Page and it's
a whole bunch of septic tankrancompanies and I have a great
example of this.
There is a Facebook group it'scalled the Pumper Page and it's
a whole bunch of septic tankpumping companies and it's
always every year, christmastime.
They always ask the questionwhat do you do for your
(24:18):
employees?
For like a Christmas bonus orlike Christmas incentive or
something like that.
Right, and it's so funnybecause the women will be like
we put together this party andwe give them Christmas bonuses.
That equals like a week oftheir salary and like it's all
this detail and just I lovethese posts every year.
And then the guys are like Igive them a shovel and a job.
(24:41):
You know, like this is liketheir respect facts thing.
And I was like and this is, thisis like broad generalization.
I'm not saying every mail-incompany is like this, but when
you go right in this threespecific groups around Christmas
time, you can always tell thedifference.
Or they're like do for likeemployee incentives, you know,
like, and the ladies are like oh, we have snacks and we have
(25:03):
drinks and there's maybe a beerin the fridge or something you
know and, and the guys are likeI buy them gloves.
You know just that thedifference between those two
things I think is reallyincredible, and I think women
really are those nurturers thatyou kind of bring, that you know
how we take care of ourfamilies and how we raise our
children and it's really how youraise a business and you really
(25:26):
do truly care about thosepeople.
You know, like, I never wantanybody to leave my company and
go to a different companysomewhere, because I know the
culture that we can provide hereis something you're not going
to find at any of ourcompetitors and I think that's a
really cool place to start at.
I think a lot of women feel likeI've got to be out in the field
actually doing the digging orwiring the house or doing these
(25:50):
things.
You can start this business,girl, and you can hire people to
do that.
I've never drove a septic truckin my entire life and I've
owned three septic companies in15 years, so like it's like you
can find the opportunity withstuff, and I think what we
really have to realize isthere's a huge opportunity in
home service right now.
I'm sure you probably hear that.
Do people tell you all the timethey have a hard time hiring
(26:12):
skilled or actually people thatwant to work come work in their
companies?
Is that something you hear alot about?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, 100%.
I mean wanting to work is, youknow, it can be anything from
using a shovel to even answeringthe phones, like let's just be
real here.
But yeah, 100%, like gettingpeople to actually work.
And I think at this point wherewe're at, like we can't be
(26:43):
saying only men can do it oronly women can answer the phones
, like we really truly have tobe open to who is willing to
actually work and who is willingto actually use that shovel and
get their hands dirty and andand just it, it's okay.
Like, if a man answers thephone, like sometimes we we got
(27:04):
some, some guys that answer thephones here and every once in a
while you get that the older manwho doesn't think you know, he
thinks he must be a technician,right, if he's answering the
phone.
I've had to run service callsbefore and I go out and people
are like what I'm?
Like it's okay, I'm the owner.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
I know what I'm doing .
Speaker 2 (27:29):
I don't know what I'm doing.
I know how to sell, I don'tknow how to.
Last time I actually used apair of pliers on electrical.
I actually blew a hole in them,so I don't think he ever handed
me any pliers after that.
Actually, my husband's walkingpast right now and he heard me
say that he's shaking his head.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
No, but it's.
It's exactly what you'retalking about like there's so
much opportunity in the homeservice industry right now that
I just feel is so untapped.
There are so many businessesright now ladies too if you're
like, oh shit, I don't want tobootstrap that and start that
myself, but there's so manybusinesses right now that are
(28:06):
literally just going to diebecause somebody started them
and their kids have zerointerest in being part of this
and they can't really sell itbecause they're kind of the
business.
But if you know anything aboutprocesses and hiring and
building teams, you can go inand buy these businesses for
like super inexpensive and builda team within them and be
(28:29):
having a rolling business that'salready been in business for 40
years.
That just needed a littlezhuzhing to it.
That I think a lot of women canbring to these kind of dying
off older you know, baby boomerowned businesses, do you?
What's your opinion on that?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
well, we've actually been toying around with that
idea, so I agree with you aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Awesome.
I think it's a really coolopportunity and I think that
there's like this new littlewave of like, hey, it is
actually cool to kind of work inthe home service industry.
And I think, the more that wecontinue to talk about it and be
advocates about this stuff,like I'm huge with these kids
that are like, well, shit, Idon't want to go to college, I
(29:14):
don't know what I want to do, Idon't know but I kind of like
then do that, like there doesn'tneed to be this guilty
conscience because you don't goto a university somewhere, like
go work with somebody in a homeservice company and learn a
skill.
You don't even have to go tothe school unless it's required.
But, like my industry, we lovefreshies that come in here that
(29:35):
we can teach, that want to workand do stuff, and my pump truck
drivers easily can make over sixfigures a year if they come in
and they learn to educate theirway to a sale.
It's incredible what you can dowith stuff and the more we talk
about it, the more people perktheir ears up, like you mean I
don't have to be strapped withsix digit student loan debt.
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Yeah, I think.
I think one of the things,though, that we are fighting
right now is there are so manyteachers that are pushing these
kids to go to college, even ifthey aren't made for college,
and so, instead of looking andthat might be why we're having a
little bit more of a drought inthe industry because they are
(30:17):
really truly pushing these kidsto go to college.
Like you can't graduate unlessyou fill out the FAFSA, even if
you're not planning on going tocollege, like they wouldn't.
My youngest just graduated highschool.
He could not graduate unless wefilled it out and had it 100%
complete for him, and so they'repushing these.
(30:38):
It is, and they're pushingthese kids to go to college
because obviously, that's theonly way to make a living right
Is to get a degree and to workwith a degree, and so I think
that's another thing that we'refighting, and it really truly is
about getting out there,getting the word out there, that
(30:59):
it doesn't matter if you'remale or female, it doesn't
matter if you have a degree.
If you're willing to work andto learn, you can make just as
much, if not more, than peoplewith six-year degrees.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yes, oh my gosh.
Yes, my daughter's a sophomorein high school and we just
recently had that littlesituation with her too.
They have a program here whereyou can attend a technology
college in high school and itcounts as high school credits,
but they can also graduatebasically certified in whatever
they're going to the techcollege for.
(31:34):
So my daughter wants to get hercosmetology license and she's
wanted to do this since she waslittle, little little.
She's got more makeup than Ulta, I feel like most days.
But it is one of those thingsthat is like she has a plan and
she wants to own her own salonand she wants to have her own
line of stuff.
And like she's got a plan, likehow many kids don't have no
(31:55):
idea what they want to do?
This girl's got a plan and whenwe went in and sat in with her
counselor, she's like well,you're not taking any foreign
language classes?
She's like um, I don't want totake foreign language.
Well, in order to go to auniversity in Arizona you know
ASU, u of A, you have to have atleast two years of foreign
(32:15):
language.
She's like but I'm not going todo that, I'm going to even to
get my cosmetology license.
She's like, yeah, but mostpeople definitely want to attend
college after that, so we'regoing to have to.
You could do it for summerschool.
Like totally running over, and Iwas just like, well, time out,
and I think more parents have tobe advocates for the kids in
this thing.
I was like this kid has abeautifully designed plan.
(32:37):
She's already been talking tome and her auntie about getting
investments to start a salonsomewhere.
She's been born in and raisedin a business atmosphere.
That's like the best educationyou could possibly get.
She's got a plan and you'retrying to derail business
atmosphere.
That's like the best educationyou could possibly get.
She's got a plan and you'retrying to derail her here.
Let's figure out how we cansupport her instead of trying to
(32:58):
steer her in a differentdirection.
If she chooses to do that later, I'm pretty sure they'll still
figure out a way to let her inafter not having two years of
Spanish or something.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Not like any of us can actually speak Spanish after
two years at high school.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Anyway, let's have the conversation Like where do
we get into these schools andreally educate people?
So if you're in the homeservice industry and you find an
opportunity to be able to dothis, so many kids need to hear
that there are other options outthere.
So thank you for having thisconversation with me.
It is so incredibly importantthat people understand there is
(33:34):
more than just this way of whateverybody's supposed to be
pointing towards.
I think having a lot of womenin the industry that have that
really close connection withtheir kids and kind of see the
stuff that's going on inside ofthere.
We have a responsibility tocontinue to keep talking about
this so that kids know thatthere's another option there.
(33:57):
We call them kids.
They are kids, they're 18.
But you know, at some pointthey still feel like you know
they're being ushered intosomething that they don't want
to do.
So, yeah, 100%.
So let's get these peoplemotivated and get going with
building some really awesomebusinesses.
It's not like homes are goingaway.
Home services is always goingto be needed, whether there's a
(34:20):
recession, a war, a anything.
Everybody needs to haveelectricity and a running toilet
.
So I'd say jobs.
Looks pretty awesome rightabout now on a running toilet.
So I'd say job security lookspretty awesome right about now.
Yeah, 100% so cool.
(34:41):
Well, shana, thank you so muchfor this conversation today and
thank you so much for sharingabout the services that you
offer.
Again, I can think of so manypeople that I'm going to shoot
you a follow up email afterwardsand make an intro and see if it
might actually be a fit for youguys to work together.
If somebody wants to find outmore information about my Office
Help or check you out on socialchannels, where can they find?
Speaker 2 (35:01):
you.
Well, we're all over the place.
So myofficehelpcom, and thenyou can actually get, click the
Get Started link to set up aDiscovery Zoom with me.
I'll go through our platform sothey can see it.
But we are on Facebook.
We're on TikTok.
We do a lot of TikTok videoswith our team, so make sure you
(35:22):
get in there and check those outand like those.
Instagram.
I think we're on Twitter too.
I don't know how to get on that, but it's there.
But yeah, we're on twitter too.
I don't know how to get on that, so, but it's there, um, but
yeah, we're, we're everywhere.
So if you look up my office,help, we are, we're just we're
out there.
So like us, uh, subscribe andum, then check us out and be
(35:45):
happy to to give you a go overconversation and go over you
know what options that isavailable for the size of team
that you have.
Whether you have people alreadyin the office or you don't, we
can, we can fit in with, withwherever you're at.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Excellent and they're on YouTube because I was
watching your YouTube before andyour husband has a podcast.
So there's all kinds ofinformation as far as business
stuff that you can learn fromthis team, and I think that's so
incredible.
Thank you for giving back topeople so that they can learn
more things.
There's just there's so manyresources out there in today's
(36:23):
world that it's like everybodyhas to want to help themselves
for stuff.
We can guide you to places, butyou still got to do the
implementation of things.
So there's my office office alot of great resources.
So, shana, at the end of everypodcast, I always ask everybody
this question because I find itfascinating how people relate to
(36:44):
the phrase.
So when you hear the phraseladies kicking ass, what does
that mean to you in your life?
Speaker 2 (36:52):
That just means to me that we're going out there and
we're just doing what we need todo to get things done.
We're plowing through and we'rejust going to come out in the
end and celebrate.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Oh see, that's a good one, and I think that's what a
lot of us forget to do.
We're very busy putting ourheads down and putting one foot
in front of the other andslaying dragons and whatever it
is that we do all day, but lotsof times we forget to stop and
celebrate all of the stuff we'veaccomplished too.
So it is very important that wecontinue to do that.
That's where you get thatmotivation and that
(37:27):
encouragement to go findsomething else to conquer.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
So it's really cool Very good, very, very good.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Well, thank you so much for your wisdom today.
I will post all of her linksand the website in the show
notes here and until next time,ladies, keep kicking ass.
Thanks for being part of theLadies Kickin' Ass community.
Cheers to all you badass womenout there.
Keep rocking your power,igniting your fire and making
(37:56):
waves in the service industry.
If you loved today's episode,please do me a quick favor.
Take a screenshot, post it andtag us at Ladies Kickin' Ass.
Be sure to include the link toyour favorite episode.
Your support in spreading theword means the world to us as we
aim to empower even more women.
Hit that subscribe button tostay tuned for more kick-ass
(38:17):
episodes.
And don't forget a five-starreview is the ultimate high five
.
Connect with us on social media.
All the links are in the shownotes.
Thank you for being part of ourtribe.
Now go kick some serious ass,lady.
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