July 31, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of Now That’s IT, Aaron Betts shares his remarkable journey—from launching his first MSP in 2005 and losing it all during the financial crisis, to taking a corporate detour, burning out, and ultimately returning to lead Intelesys as President.
Aaron opens up about the hard-earned lessons of entrepreneurship, the shift from break/fix to managed services, and how a life-altering health scare reshaped his leadership style. He shares how he's rebuilding company culture, redefining success, and guiding his MSP toward a $10M vision—all while empowering his team to think bigger.
Whether you’re navigating burnout, scaling operations, or preparing your next generation of leaders, this conversation is packed with insight, inspiration, and practical takeaways for MSP owners, COOs, and IT leaders.
🔑 In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Aaron recovered from early MSP failure and found purpose in a second chance
- What it takes to shift from project-based work to a true managed services model
- The role of culture, leadership, and team empowerment in long-term growth
- Why stepping back can lead to stronger, more intentional leadership
- How to manage personal burnout without giving up on the MSP industry
'Now that's it: Stories of MSP Success,' dives into the journeys of some of the trailblazers in our industry to find out how they used their passion for technology to help turn Managed Services into the thriving sector it is today.
Every episode is packed with the valuable insights, practical strategies, and inspiring anecdotes that lead our guests to the transformative moment when they knew….. Now, that's it.
This podcast provides educational information about issues that may be relevant to information technology service providers.
Nothing in the podcast should be construed as any recommendation or endorsement by N-able, or as legal or any other advice.
The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.
Views and opinions expressed by N-able employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the view of N-able or its officers and directors.
The podcast may also contain forward-looking statements regarding future product plans, functionality, or development efforts that should not be interpreted as a commitment from N-able related to any deliverables or timeframe.
All content is based on information available at the time of recording, and N-able has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One, two, three, four I don't know how to say this.
I used to really obsess aboutwork and I would take it home
and it would eat at me, and nowit's just always present.
Things are always kind ofcooking in the back of my mind,
but it doesn't bother me.
It's exciting, actually,because I'm thinking about where
could we go, what new verticalscould we look at?
(00:21):
What processes could we makebetter?
Welcome to Now, that's it.
Stories of MSP Success, where wedive into the journeys of some
of the trailblazers in ourindustry to find out how they
used their passion fortechnology to help turn managed
services into the thrivingsector it is today.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Mr Aaron Betts, president of Intellisys, welcome
to the Now that's it podcast.
Thank you, excited to have youhere today, aaron.
We've got to know each otherover the last year or so and
what I find really veryinteresting about your story is
and I didn't know this about youis you started an MSP early on
2005.
(00:59):
What motivated you to startthat MSP back in 2005?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well, believe it not, it was my partner.
He was entrepreneurial and Iwas the corporate kind of IT guy
and he called me and said, hey,we could do some really great
things here together.
And man, that was like thescariest moment of my life when
I left corporate America to tryto build, to build an MSP out of
(01:25):
the gate.
It started out really well,didn't turn out so well yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So financial crisis hits right and 90% of your
clients were mortgage in themortgage industry mortgage
companies, lenders, yeah, youname it what was that time like
for you, Aaron?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It was gut-wrenching.
We lost 30,000 MRR in like 60days.
We made sure our techs werepaid.
I went 45 days without apaycheck, Wow.
And I finally had to say guys,I got things I got to take care
of.
I can't do this anymore.
I just couldn't sustain.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, so what were those next steps you mentioned?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
you left, so I went back to corporate America.
I actually created a job for acompany.
They had outsourced IT and Idisplaced them.
I came in and said, look, I canmanage all of this for you,
placed them.
I came in and said, look, I canmanage all of this for you.
And I did that for what?
About eight years, I guess,until actually a sales
representative of Intellisyssold me a Shortel phone system
(02:34):
Back in the day.
Intellisys did a lot ofdifferent things than MSP and
when I was ready to leave thatcompany I was actually having
lunch with that same sales repbecause we were expanding and I
said I'm done and he goes well,why don't you come be an
engineer for us?
So I interviewed with thepresident at the time, Rick
(02:54):
Balzer, and he actually talkedto me about you know kind of
mentoring, techs and being amanager and whatnot.
But when I, when I interviewedat the company, they were like
oh no, you're going to be afield engineer.
And I was like, wait what?
But I wanted out so bad that Iwent ahead and took the job and
(03:21):
I did installations, I didengineering, I did you know help
, desk work and level two andthree escalations for a couple
of years.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Talk about Intellisys in those early days or when you
joined.
What was Intellisys doing atthe time?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
When I joined, we had moved into the VoIP world.
We were selling Shortel.
We made a concerted effort tofocus on municipalities and
public sector.
So education, municipalities,local government and we were
killing it.
We were doing really well.
After a few years I took ashort sabbatical for myself and
(03:59):
then, when I decided I needed tofind full-time employment again
, shortly after Rick actuallyasked me to come back as the
chief operating officer so you,let's talk a little bit about
that time.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You took your sabbatical, so you mentioned you
experienced some burnout.
I did and you wanted to takesome time off and you actually
you went into photography backin 2014.
I did.
How did this break sort ofimpact your professional and
your personal life?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Personally, it was what I needed absolutely.
I just had a chance to kind ofreflect where, where had I been?
Where was I now?
Gave me the opportunity to becreative.
I am a creative person but Idon't always get to do that in
the engineering world and I alsolearned some hard lessons about
(04:51):
running a business or buildinga business again.
When I did my MSP, I was thetechnical side.
Now I was everything, and itwas really interesting because
it really took the fun, the loveof photography out of the
(05:13):
scenario for me.
I found that I'm much more of alet's find a shot and set it up
and make sure it's right andget it, than run and gun a
wedding or, you know, deal withfamilies and things like that.
It was a real shock to me thatthat creativity kind of waned a
(05:34):
little bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So talk about you.
You make the right choice.
You step away.
You're doing somethingcompletely different than you've
been doing your entire life.
You have a chance to sort ofreset reset your mind.
What was going through yourmind, though?
That sort of brought you backinto the, towards Intellisys,
like what?
What were you thinking about?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was financial.
We had four kids going tocollege that year.
We're a blended family and haveseven children and you know
that IT paycheck was okay.
So I was actually looking for asales engineering job.
I thought, you know, that'ssomething I think I could do
really well.
I understand product, Iunderstand how to explain
(06:15):
product and I'm fairlypersonable, I think.
So I thought, you know, thatcould really be a good avenue
for me.
And so I was actually talkingto Rick at lunch just to see if
he could open some avenue for me.
And so I was actually talkingto Rick at lunch just to see if
he could open some doors for me.
And that's when he said, well,would you consider?
And I thought, oh, hadn't neverthought about that, and decided
(06:35):
to take the plunge.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What was different about Intellisys the second time
when you came back?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
That's a really good question.
The second time I put a lotmore focus and I worked with
Rick a lot on culture.
There were some real challengesin the early days of Intellis,
as I felt, with just how peopleenjoyed or didn't enjoy their
jobs, and so it was really aboutcreating an environment that we
(07:05):
wanted to work in and that weenjoyed coming to work in, and I
think we've built a really goodteam over the years.
I was also in charge of theservice department and at first
it was just, you know, makingsure help desk was running, and
then it expanded a little bit,and then it expanded a little
bit and finally I was basicallyrunning everything except for
(07:27):
sales and payroll.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Wow.
So you're focused on culture,which obviously is very
important, not only for thebusiness, but for you personally
, right, you want to work with agroup of folks that want to be
there and want to really enjoybeing around each other.
But you also helped with anoperational shift, right?
This was about the time whenyou guys were traditionally a
(07:49):
project break, fix time andmaterial company and you made
this shift towards managedservices.
What were you thinking?
Why did you want to do that?
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That was kind of actually one of the thoughts I
had when I met with Rick and wetalked about this position, just
because I remember seeing thepotential that we had when it
was just me and my buddy as likekind of trunk slammers, right,
and we actually built to likefive techs and whatnot in a very
short period of time.
(08:17):
So I really thought that a lotof our clients would come to us
because we've done the VoIPphones hey, can you help us with
a VLAN, hey, can you help us?
We're having network troubleand we got, we understood it,
you know, and so it just seemedlike a natural transition.
But our focus was stillmunicipalities and that is a
(08:38):
very challenging vertical forMSP.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
For sure.
So what was that transition,like Aaron, from VoIP to MSP?
I mean you're thinkingdifferently about how you're
very much more proactive, right.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yes, we had to build processes, we had to make a
shift in the thinking of thetechs, which was very
challenging.
It was a lot of kind ofreviewing tickets after the fact
, like hey, you know, weprobably shouldn't have billed
for this or hey, we probablyshould have billed for this, and
(09:13):
really getting everybody onboard to kind of that forward
thinking, right the proactiveengagements and creating those
processes that were going tohelp the clients.
Call us less and not more.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
So the last two years has been really, really
interesting for you as well.
A lot of change right.
You experienced a health issueand then Rick, your founder,
came to you and said I'mthinking about retiring.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So in 2023, we had a blizzard in California if you
can believe that, yeah and wegot seven feet of snow with
three to four or five days,something like that, and we just
couldn't dig out and thestreets they couldn't keep up,
and so we were trapped in thehouse for 10 days and had a
(10:03):
feeling that the roof was goingto collapse.
Right, it was really kind ofscary and I got to a point where
I couldn't sleep.
Anyway, long story short, myson and I shoveled snow off the
roof for two days straight andthree days later I had a heart
attack.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And and it was scary, I bet, but it really puts
things into focus.
It really gave me kind of afocus of enjoying everything I
do, right, Making sure thatyou're making the most of every
moment.
And so when Rick came to me andsaid that he was thinking, I
(10:44):
thought he was joking.
Yeah, but I think part of whatdid that is I had always told my
wife at Intellisys, because Idon't always enjoy IT work, and
she'd say why do you keepworking there?
I'd say, you know what I'mlearning, and as long as I'm
learning, it's a goodenvironment for me.
And so I went to Rick and I saidyou know, I kind of feel like
(11:07):
I'm tapped out, I'm topped out.
And he goes well, are you readyfor this chair?
And I just kind of laughed.
I said, well, yeah, I mean, Ibasically run everything anyway.
That's a joke, right.
And he said well, good, becauseI'm going to retire.
I just thought that's notpossible.
You've built this company,you've run it for 30 years,
(11:27):
there's no way you could retire.
But sure enough, we started atransition.
Took us about nine months toreally kind of put everything in
place and August 1st of lastyear I took over as president.
That's great Congratulations.
Thank you, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So this has to be.
This is a big change, right?
You have a major health event.
You sort of have a rebirth of.
This is what's important to meevery single day.
You know your family, allthat's important and then you're
given this opportunity, whichis good on one hand, because
you're tapped out.
You sort of can't grow anymorein the role that you're in, but
(12:03):
it's a lot more responsibility.
So I'm sure you're thinkingabout all these things, aaron
health and happiness and allthat stuff.
What ultimately made you decidethis is the right decision for
me to take over?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I talked a lot with my wife and, I don't know, it
was kind of the same thing thatdrove me, I think, to leave
corporate America.
The first time is that here'san opportunity and I'm a firm
believer in, you know, when adoor closes, a window opens.
And this was just anopportunity, I think, for me to
say I deserved my MSP, Ideserved what we built, and it
(12:42):
wasn't our fault that the worldcollapsed on us.
Um, and and really show that um, I have the skills and the
desire and the love of the teamand the love of the company to
take us to a new level.
And it was, I think, reallythat drive to say I want to
double us in size and I think wecan do it that that ultimately,
(13:07):
you know, made that decisionyou obviously been an
entrepreneur, a business owner,before.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
This isn't your first time running MSP, but in tell
us this was a little differentbeast right so you're taking
over something that's a bit moremature, a bit more evolved, a
bit more established.
So there's a little bit of atransition period.
As you meant, talk a little bitabout how Rick helped you sort
of mentor through thattransition, what that was like.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, he's been really great and, to his credit,
he has been hands off, but heis there.
When, you know, in the earlydays there were a few
conversations of, yeah, I don'tthink this was the right choice,
you need to come back, andpartly in jest, but you know,
(13:52):
there was that fear of it's allon my shoulders and when that
settles in, it's a very humblingexperience to know that I don't
just have a family that'sresponsible for me I have 11,
but he, he's always been there.
And now the role is, you know,advice.
(14:14):
Sometimes I get a if I were inyour shoes, which is a little
bit stronger advice, but most ofthe time it's.
You know, hey, let's take theblinders off, let's make sure
you're seeing all the angles,and then you make your decision.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
He ultimately had belief in you, because what
Intellisys is today is becauseof you, right, you had taken
Intellisys from this VoIPcompany and turned it into a
true managed service providerover the last couple of years,
and so you've built this team.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Yeah, I guess it's hard for me to take credit
because we worked very closelytogether throughout all those
years, but yeah, I mean,ultimately we we built a very
strong name in SouthernCalifornia for MSP, um and, for
you know, for VoIP.
You know this was Rick's baby.
There was no way he was goingto turn it over to just anybody.
So that you know, that was verycomforting to me to know that
(15:09):
the belief was there andobviously the support and the
backing was there as well.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
So talk a little bit about your role as a leader.
You obviously were running sortof the operations side.
You had the techs underneathyou.
We talked a little bit offlineabout the questions you get from
techs, about you know, whatshould I do here?
How do I support this?
But as you move into this newrole, how has your leadership
style had to change?
(15:34):
Are you still in the weeds withthe techs?
Have you been able to step awayand focus on the business?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
What's that been like ?
That's been a reallyinteresting development for me.
I'm a very easygoing person.
Rick often told me I'm too nice, and so two things have
happened.
One I've had to put on thatpresident hat right, and I've
had to learn to hold peopleaccountable in a way that I
probably hadn't before, becauseI don't have a choice that I
(16:04):
probably hadn't before because Idon't have a choice.
And at the same time I'vereally tried to empower the team
to take ownership and makedecisions and then come to me
with their decision and ifthey're really unsure, we'll
decide together.
But I wanna know what you thinkwe should do, because I really
believe that if you give peoplethe tools as Rick did for me,
right If you give people thetools as Rick did for me, right
(16:25):
if you give people the tools andlet them make choices, they're
they're going to make the rightchoice most of the time.
And as long as you've got, youknow, your, your guard rails,
you'll be fine talk a little bitabout your, your change in
perspective.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You know business perspective, life perspective,
over the over over the lastseveral years, you've had more
ups and downs than I think theaverage business owner has ever
had.
So talk a little bit aboutwhere your sort of perspective
is now and how that's changed.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, you know the first few months was just all
about survival.
We had a fire that almostburned the mountain down and you
know you're few months was justall about survival.
We had a fire that almostburned the mountain down, and
you know you're trying to takeon a new role and you're trying
to think am I going to have ahouse to go back to?
So it's really taught me tocompartmentalize.
When I'm at work, it's 100%work, and when I leave, it's
(17:20):
time to turn off if I can.
And for the most part I think Ido okay there.
But at the same time I used toreally I don't know how to say
this I used to really obsessabout work and I would take it
home and eat at me, and now it'smore.
It's just always present.
Things are always kind ofcooking in the back of my mind,
(17:43):
but it doesn't bother me.
It's exciting, actually,because I'm thinking about where
could we go, what new verticalscould we look at, what
processes could we make better?
Because ultimately, the betterthe company runs, the easier my
life gets, so to speak.
But I've started to put people.
That, I think, is really goingto help drive the team and drive
(18:08):
the company.
We're looking at building a newsales funnel, which I'm really
excited about.
So, yeah, it's really aboutputting people in the right seat
on the bus.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
So, aaron, interesting, we may have to
start a book club, stephen and I, because you're not our first
published author that we've everhad on the podcast.
Well, I'm not published yet.
All right, talk a little bitabout your novel that you're
working on right now.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Okay, I'm actually working on two.
Okay, I have one that's in theediting phase right now.
It's a young adult portalfantasy.
So think, like I don't know,narnia meets Dungeons and
Dragons Awesome.
And I'm currently working on anurban sci-fi novel and you know
it's interesting.
I've learned a lot from thewriting process, and part of
(18:57):
that is you have to be okay forcriticism.
You have to be okay to havesomething that you've put your
heart and soul in ripped toshreds, in the knowledge that
what is going to come out on theback end is going to make it
better, and I've tried to applythat always in my work as well.
You know we get constructivefeedback and it's not always
(19:20):
pleasant, but knowing that theend result is going to be better
.
So, yeah, I'm excited.
That's my kind of my, you know,outside of work hobby and
hopefully someday I'll havesomething for you guys to read.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Can't wait and maybe it'll be a Netflix series or a
video game, I'd be okay withthat.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Awesome, very good.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
So talk to us about what's next for Intellisys.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
That's a good question.
We're going to build, like Isaid, the sales funnel.
We're probably going to look ata few new verticals and really
lean into operational efficiency.
I absolutely love thesebusiness transformation
conferences.
I get so much out of them andthere are actionable things that
we go back with to really focuson the business.
(20:08):
And you know, we're currently,as a company, between three and
5 million and I want to see usat 10 million.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
So I love to ask this question to every single one of
the guests that comes on thepodcast.
Aaron, when did you know?
Now that's it now that's it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
That's a tough one.
So back back when my first wifewas was pregnant with our first
child, I was working at a datacenter at night releasing ibm
mainframe jobs, and all theseguys that were in the offices
had these microsoft books ontheir desk mcSE stuff and I read
through one of them and I waslike this makes sense and it was
kind of I think.
Then when I said, yeah, I coulddo this and I could probably
(21:00):
make some money at it andsupport my family and I've
always loved computers.
So it was kind of like neverlook back.
That's great.
I never went to school, meaningI don't have a degree.
It's always been the school ofhard knocks for me.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
But here I am, aaron.
It's been a real pleasure.
I'm so happy that I've gottento meet you and get to know you
over the last couple of years.
I love your optimism, yourpersonality.
I can tell that you've beenthrough some things in your life
, but I can't tell it from theway you interact with each other
(21:38):
.
I mean, you're an amazing guy.
Well, thanks, I wish you thevery best of luck.
I wish Intellisys the very bestof luck and thanks for being
here.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, thank you, appreciate it.
One, two, three, four I don't know how to say this.
I used to really obsess aboutwork and I would take it home
and it would eat at me, and nowit's just always present.
Things are always kind ofcooking in the back of my mind,
but it doesn't bother me.
It's exciting, actually,because I'm thinking about where
could we go, what new verticalscould we look at?
(00:21):
What processes could we makebetter?
Welcome to Now, that's it.
Stories of MSP Success, where wedive into the journeys of some
of the trailblazers in ourindustry to find out how they
used their passion fortechnology to help turn managed
services into the thrivingsector it is today.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Mr Aaron Betts, president of Intellisys, welcome
to the Now that's it podcast.
Thank you, excited to have youhere today, aaron.
We've got to know each otherover the last year or so and
what I find really veryinteresting about your story is
and I didn't know this about youis you started an MSP early on
2005.
(00:59):
What motivated you to startthat MSP back in 2005?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well, believe it not, it was my partner.
He was entrepreneurial and Iwas the corporate kind of IT guy
and he called me and said, hey,we could do some really great
things here together.
And man, that was like thescariest moment of my life when
I left corporate America to tryto build, to build an MSP out of
(01:25):
the gate.
It started out really well,didn't turn out so well yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So financial crisis hits right and 90% of your
clients were mortgage in themortgage industry mortgage
companies, lenders, yeah, youname it what was that time like
for you, Aaron?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
It was gut-wrenching.
We lost 30,000 MRR in like 60days.
We made sure our techs werepaid.
I went 45 days without apaycheck, Wow.
And I finally had to say guys,I got things I got to take care
of.
I can't do this anymore.
I just couldn't sustain.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, so what were those next steps you mentioned?
Speaker 1 (02:10):
you left, so I went back to corporate America.
I actually created a job for acompany.
They had outsourced IT and Idisplaced them.
I came in and said, look, I canmanage all of this for you,
placed them.
I came in and said, look, I canmanage all of this for you.
And I did that for what?
About eight years, I guess,until actually a sales
representative of Intellisyssold me a Shortel phone system
(02:34):
Back in the day.
Intellisys did a lot ofdifferent things than MSP and
when I was ready to leave thatcompany I was actually having
lunch with that same sales repbecause we were expanding and I
said I'm done and he goes well,why don't you come be an
engineer for us?
So I interviewed with thepresident at the time, Rick
(02:54):
Balzer, and he actually talkedto me about you know kind of
mentoring, techs and being amanager and whatnot.
But when I, when I interviewedat the company, they were like
oh no, you're going to be afield engineer.
And I was like, wait what?
But I wanted out so bad that Iwent ahead and took the job and
(03:21):
I did installations, I didengineering, I did you know help
, desk work and level two andthree escalations for a couple
of years.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Talk about Intellisys in those early days or when you
joined.
What was Intellisys doing atthe time?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
When I joined, we had moved into the VoIP world.
We were selling Shortel.
We made a concerted effort tofocus on municipalities and
public sector.
So education, municipalities,local government and we were
killing it.
We were doing really well.
After a few years I took ashort sabbatical for myself and
(03:59):
then, when I decided I needed tofind full-time employment again
, shortly after Rick actuallyasked me to come back as the
chief operating officer so you,let's talk a little bit about
that time.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You took your sabbatical, so you mentioned you
experienced some burnout.
I did and you wanted to takesome time off and you actually
you went into photography backin 2014.
I did.
How did this break sort ofimpact your professional and
your personal life?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Personally, it was what I needed absolutely.
I just had a chance to kind ofreflect where, where had I been?
Where was I now?
Gave me the opportunity to becreative.
I am a creative person but Idon't always get to do that in
the engineering world and I alsolearned some hard lessons about
(04:51):
running a business or buildinga business again.
When I did my MSP, I was thetechnical side.
Now I was everything, and itwas really interesting because
it really took the fun, the loveof photography out of the
(05:13):
scenario for me.
I found that I'm much more of alet's find a shot and set it up
and make sure it's right andget it, than run and gun a
wedding or, you know, deal withfamilies and things like that.
It was a real shock to me thatthat creativity kind of waned a
(05:34):
little bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So talk about you.
You make the right choice.
You step away.
You're doing somethingcompletely different than you've
been doing your entire life.
You have a chance to sort ofreset reset your mind.
What was going through yourmind, though?
That sort of brought you backinto the, towards Intellisys,
like what?
What were you thinking about?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It was financial.
We had four kids going tocollege that year.
We're a blended family and haveseven children and you know
that IT paycheck was okay.
So I was actually looking for asales engineering job.
I thought, you know, that'ssomething I think I could do
really well.
I understand product, Iunderstand how to explain
(06:15):
product and I'm fairlypersonable, I think.
So I thought, you know, thatcould really be a good avenue
for me.
And so I was actually talkingto Rick at lunch just to see if
he could open some avenue for me.
And so I was actually talkingto Rick at lunch just to see if
he could open some doors for me.
And that's when he said, well,would you consider?
And I thought, oh, hadn't neverthought about that, and decided
(06:35):
to take the plunge.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
What was different about Intellisys the second time
when you came back?
Speaker 1 (06:41):
That's a really good question.
The second time I put a lotmore focus and I worked with
Rick a lot on culture.
There were some real challengesin the early days of Intellis,
as I felt, with just how peopleenjoyed or didn't enjoy their
jobs, and so it was really aboutcreating an environment that we
(07:05):
wanted to work in and that weenjoyed coming to work in, and I
think we've built a really goodteam over the years.
I was also in charge of theservice department and at first
it was just, you know, makingsure help desk was running, and
then it expanded a little bit,and then it expanded a little
bit and finally I was basicallyrunning everything except for
(07:27):
sales and payroll.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Wow.
So you're focused on culture,which obviously is very
important, not only for thebusiness, but for you personally
, right, you want to work with agroup of folks that want to be
there and want to really enjoybeing around each other.
But you also helped with anoperational shift, right?
This was about the time whenyou guys were traditionally a
(07:49):
project break, fix time andmaterial company and you made
this shift towards managedservices.
What were you thinking?
Why did you want to do that?
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That was kind of actually one of the thoughts I
had when I met with Rick and wetalked about this position, just
because I remember seeing thepotential that we had when it
was just me and my buddy as likekind of trunk slammers, right,
and we actually built to likefive techs and whatnot in a very
short period of time.
(08:17):
So I really thought that a lotof our clients would come to us
because we've done the VoIPphones hey, can you help us with
a VLAN, hey, can you help us?
We're having network troubleand we got, we understood it,
you know, and so it just seemedlike a natural transition.
But our focus was stillmunicipalities and that is a
(08:38):
very challenging vertical forMSP.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
For sure.
So what was that transition,like Aaron, from VoIP to MSP?
I mean you're thinkingdifferently about how you're
very much more proactive, right.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Yes, we had to build processes, we had to make a
shift in the thinking of thetechs, which was very
challenging.
It was a lot of kind ofreviewing tickets after the fact
, like hey, you know, weprobably shouldn't have billed
for this or hey, we probablyshould have billed for this, and
(09:13):
really getting everybody onboard to kind of that forward
thinking, right the proactiveengagements and creating those
processes that were going tohelp the clients.
Call us less and not more.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
So the last two years has been really, really
interesting for you as well.
A lot of change right.
You experienced a health issueand then Rick, your founder,
came to you and said I'mthinking about retiring.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So in 2023, we had a blizzard in California if you
can believe that, yeah and wegot seven feet of snow with
three to four or five days,something like that, and we just
couldn't dig out and thestreets they couldn't keep up,
and so we were trapped in thehouse for 10 days and had a
(10:03):
feeling that the roof was goingto collapse.
Right, it was really kind ofscary and I got to a point where
I couldn't sleep.
Anyway, long story short, myson and I shoveled snow off the
roof for two days straight andthree days later I had a heart
attack.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
And and it was scary, I bet, but it really puts
things into focus.
It really gave me kind of afocus of enjoying everything I
do, right, Making sure thatyou're making the most of every
moment.
And so when Rick came to me andsaid that he was thinking, I
(10:44):
thought he was joking.
Yeah, but I think part of whatdid that is I had always told my
wife at Intellisys, because Idon't always enjoy IT work, and
she'd say why do you keepworking there?
I'd say, you know what I'mlearning, and as long as I'm
learning, it's a goodenvironment for me.
And so I went to Rick and I saidyou know, I kind of feel like
(11:07):
I'm tapped out, I'm topped out.
And he goes well, are you readyfor this chair?
And I just kind of laughed.
I said, well, yeah, I mean, Ibasically run everything anyway.
That's a joke, right.
And he said well, good, becauseI'm going to retire.
I just thought that's notpossible.
You've built this company,you've run it for 30 years,
(11:27):
there's no way you could retire.
But sure enough, we started atransition.
Took us about nine months toreally kind of put everything in
place and August 1st of lastyear I took over as president.
That's great Congratulations.
Thank you, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
So this has to be.
This is a big change, right?
You have a major health event.
You sort of have a rebirth of.
This is what's important to meevery single day.
You know your family, allthat's important and then you're
given this opportunity, whichis good on one hand, because
you're tapped out.
You sort of can't grow anymorein the role that you're in, but
(12:03):
it's a lot more responsibility.
So I'm sure you're thinkingabout all these things, aaron
health and happiness and allthat stuff.
What ultimately made you decidethis is the right decision for
me to take over?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I talked a lot with my wife and, I don't know, it
was kind of the same thing thatdrove me, I think, to leave
corporate America.
The first time is that here'san opportunity and I'm a firm
believer in, you know, when adoor closes, a window opens.
And this was just anopportunity, I think, for me to
say I deserved my MSP, Ideserved what we built, and it
(12:42):
wasn't our fault that the worldcollapsed on us.
Um, and and really show that um, I have the skills and the
desire and the love of the teamand the love of the company to
take us to a new level.
And it was, I think, reallythat drive to say I want to
double us in size and I think wecan do it that that ultimately,
(13:07):
you know, made that decisionyou obviously been an
entrepreneur, a business owner,before.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
This isn't your first time running MSP, but in tell
us this was a little differentbeast right so you're taking
over something that's a bit moremature, a bit more evolved, a
bit more established.
So there's a little bit of atransition period.
As you meant, talk a little bitabout how Rick helped you sort
of mentor through thattransition, what that was like.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, he's been really great and, to his credit,
he has been hands off, but heis there.
When, you know, in the earlydays there were a few
conversations of, yeah, I don'tthink this was the right choice,
you need to come back, andpartly in jest, but you know,
(13:52):
there was that fear of it's allon my shoulders and when that
settles in, it's a very humblingexperience to know that I don't
just have a family that'sresponsible for me I have 11,
but he, he's always been there.
And now the role is, you know,advice.
(14:14):
Sometimes I get a if I were inyour shoes, which is a little
bit stronger advice, but most ofthe time it's.
You know, hey, let's take theblinders off, let's make sure
you're seeing all the angles,and then you make your decision.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
He ultimately had belief in you, because what
Intellisys is today is becauseof you, right, you had taken
Intellisys from this VoIPcompany and turned it into a
true managed service providerover the last couple of years,
and so you've built this team.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Yeah, I guess it's hard for me to take credit
because we worked very closelytogether throughout all those
years, but yeah, I mean,ultimately we we built a very
strong name in SouthernCalifornia for MSP, um and, for
you know, for VoIP.
You know this was Rick's baby.
There was no way he was goingto turn it over to just anybody.
So that you know, that was verycomforting to me to know that
(15:09):
the belief was there andobviously the support and the
backing was there as well.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
So talk a little bit about your role as a leader.
You obviously were running sortof the operations side.
You had the techs underneathyou.
We talked a little bit offlineabout the questions you get from
techs, about you know, whatshould I do here?
How do I support this?
But as you move into this newrole, how has your leadership
style had to change?
(15:34):
Are you still in the weeds withthe techs?
Have you been able to step awayand focus on the business?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
What's that been like ?
That's been a reallyinteresting development for me.
I'm a very easygoing person.
Rick often told me I'm too nice, and so two things have
happened.
One I've had to put on thatpresident hat right, and I've
had to learn to hold peopleaccountable in a way that I
probably hadn't before, becauseI don't have a choice that I
(16:04):
probably hadn't before because Idon't have a choice.
And at the same time I'vereally tried to empower the team
to take ownership and makedecisions and then come to me
with their decision and ifthey're really unsure, we'll
decide together.
But I wanna know what you thinkwe should do, because I really
believe that if you give peoplethe tools as Rick did for me,
right If you give people thetools as Rick did for me, right
(16:25):
if you give people the tools andlet them make choices, they're
they're going to make the rightchoice most of the time.
And as long as you've got, youknow, your, your guard rails,
you'll be fine talk a little bitabout your, your change in
perspective.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You know business perspective, life perspective,
over the over over the lastseveral years, you've had more
ups and downs than I think theaverage business owner has ever
had.
So talk a little bit aboutwhere your sort of perspective
is now and how that's changed.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, you know the first few months was just all
about survival.
We had a fire that almostburned the mountain down and you
know you're few months was justall about survival.
We had a fire that almostburned the mountain down, and
you know you're trying to takeon a new role and you're trying
to think am I going to have ahouse to go back to?
So it's really taught me tocompartmentalize.
When I'm at work, it's 100%work, and when I leave, it's
(17:20):
time to turn off if I can.
And for the most part I think Ido okay there.
But at the same time I used toreally I don't know how to say
this I used to really obsessabout work and I would take it
home and eat at me, and now it'smore.
It's just always present.
Things are always kind ofcooking in the back of my mind,
(17:43):
but it doesn't bother me.
It's exciting, actually,because I'm thinking about where
could we go, what new verticalscould we look at, what
processes could we make better?
Because ultimately, the betterthe company runs, the easier my
life gets, so to speak.
But I've started to put people.
That, I think, is really goingto help drive the team and drive
(18:08):
the company.
We're looking at building a newsales funnel, which I'm really
excited about.
So, yeah, it's really aboutputting people in the right seat
on the bus.
That's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
So, aaron, interesting, we may have to
start a book club, stephen and I, because you're not our first
published author that we've everhad on the podcast.
Well, I'm not published yet.
All right, talk a little bitabout your novel that you're
working on right now.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Okay, I'm actually working on two.
Okay, I have one that's in theediting phase right now.
It's a young adult portalfantasy.
So think, like I don't know,narnia meets Dungeons and
Dragons Awesome.
And I'm currently working on anurban sci-fi novel and you know
it's interesting.
I've learned a lot from thewriting process, and part of
(18:57):
that is you have to be okay forcriticism.
You have to be okay to havesomething that you've put your
heart and soul in ripped toshreds, in the knowledge that
what is going to come out on theback end is going to make it
better, and I've tried to applythat always in my work as well.
You know we get constructivefeedback and it's not always
(19:20):
pleasant, but knowing that theend result is going to be better
.
So, yeah, I'm excited.
That's my kind of my, you know,outside of work hobby and
hopefully someday I'll havesomething for you guys to read.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Can't wait and maybe it'll be a Netflix series or a
video game, I'd be okay withthat.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Awesome, very good.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
So talk to us about what's next for Intellisys.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
That's a good question.
We're going to build, like Isaid, the sales funnel.
We're probably going to look ata few new verticals and really
lean into operational efficiency.
I absolutely love thesebusiness transformation
conferences.
I get so much out of them andthere are actionable things that
we go back with to really focuson the business.
(20:08):
And you know, we're currently,as a company, between three and
5 million and I want to see usat 10 million.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
So I love to ask this question to every single one of
the guests that comes on thepodcast.
Aaron, when did you know?
Now that's it now that's it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
That's a tough one.
So back back when my first wifewas was pregnant with our first
child, I was working at a datacenter at night releasing ibm
mainframe jobs, and all theseguys that were in the offices
had these microsoft books ontheir desk mcSE stuff and I read
through one of them and I waslike this makes sense and it was
kind of I think.
Then when I said, yeah, I coulddo this and I could probably
(21:00):
make some money at it andsupport my family and I've
always loved computers.
So it was kind of like neverlook back.
That's great.
I never went to school, meaningI don't have a degree.
It's always been the school ofhard knocks for me.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
But here I am, aaron.
It's been a real pleasure.
I'm so happy that I've gottento meet you and get to know you
over the last couple of years.
I love your optimism, yourpersonality.
I can tell that you've beenthrough some things in your life
, but I can't tell it from theway you interact with each other
(21:38):
.
I mean, you're an amazing guy.
Well, thanks, I wish you thevery best of luck.
I wish Intellisys the very bestof luck and thanks for being
here.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, thank you, appreciate it.
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