Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Since 1961, Court's plumbing has offered friendly, reliable service to residences all over Bergen County, New Jersey.
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We are a fourth generation family-owned business, unnotched in customer satisfaction and professionalism while working in your home.
We are the hydronic heating and water filtration specialists, with a workmanship guarantee to put you at ease so you can rest comfortably.
We offer financing for those big projects that catch you off guard, and we have a network of excellent contractors in all fields for any project you wish to tackle.
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Call our responsive office team and we'll dispatch a handsome and educated technician to lay the smackdown on all your plumbing issues.
You can also find us at courtsplumbing.com, search us on Google, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, T-Talk, and YouTube.
Like, subscribe, and share please.
(01:27):
The first half I get at the second half when we do the intermission, I lose it for some reason.
Here we are, Thanksgiving. Your favorite holiday.
My favorite holiday. The only fun fact that I have about the holiday is that most people thought it started with America and the Pilgrims and the Indians getting together, but it was a holiday that predated that way before probably in the 1500s.
(01:53):
Why don't you give a little rundown?
In your radio voice.
Thanksgiving was a thing before the Pilgrims came here.
It's also celebrated in a lot of countries. It's a religious thing.
Thanksgiving, gratitude, it's important to the Christian faith, I would say.
(02:15):
I love this holiday too. I don't know why there's something about it.
Food.
I mean, that may be true. It's not the food though. It's the atmosphere. It's the time of year. It's the weather. It's the leaves. It's a whole bunch of stuff.
Family.
You're not obligated to buy presents for people?
Family, which is, you know, well, yeah, that's huge.
(02:39):
This time, not having to buy presents for people. It's crazy.
Well, we're living in crazy times.
She's already come to me with her list of things that she wants for Christmas and she's not cheap.
She, her mother's an expensive woman.
All right. So she passed that trade on to her daughter.
I'm going to tell you something you're going to have to watch out for because she's at that age, that transition age, 10, 11, 12.
(03:05):
When you're getting up to that age, you want just toys and stupid things that you can find at Toys R Us.
And then when you get past that age, you want tech.
No, she wants, she wants all of it. She wants toys. She wants tech. She wants makeup. She wants Gucci.
Yeah. She wants Gucci. Gucci what?
Gucci, whatever. Belts, you know, just go to Chinatown in the city, pick up some moochie.
(03:27):
She knows the difference. She's sitting there scratching the belt leather like this is not real.
I know you got this from Chinatown.
I know where she got those skills is from her mother.
Yeah.
Food, family, Brown Friday. Didn't you bring that up last week?
Brown Friday you look at.
I brought that up last week and I think I brought it up last year during our last Thanksgiving podcast, but it's the busiest day for plumbers.
(03:49):
The busiest day in the country for plumbers because.
Packed houses.
Packed houses and no, it's not just because of the poop. It's because everybody like all the food, like people who throw their food waste down the drains, which clogs up way more than.
The homes are overloaded with people.
Yeah.
And like general because we get Thanksgiving calls all the time. It's not just clock sewers. It's no, no, yeah. Leaky valves, you know, you know what I mean?
(04:15):
Yeah. And people get into a panic.
Yes.
Before Thanksgiving too, people get into a panic or just the holidays because they're like, if this doesn't work, I can't have people over.
It's like you have four other toilets in the house. You don't need the.
That's not the worst thing in the world.
We get those calls all the time. So someone will call Nancy. She's like, I need you guys over here right now.
I said, my toilet won't flush. And they have like nine toilets.
(04:37):
I know my grandfather, my grandfather who grew up in Romania.
They had a common stall outside of the building.
So you would have outdoors.
You would have to go out of the building, go to the common stall. And it's not like you flush in a toilet.
It's a pit that you pee and poop in.
So, yeah, be thankful that you have.
(04:59):
That's great.
That was thankful.
That was this whole country a hundred years ago.
Outhouses, pooping in pits.
It's crazy. The technological advances in the last 100 years.
Modern plumbing is probably the greatest of those advancements. And you can thank the Romans for that.
Yes, you can.
The Romans invented a lot. And you know what's crazy about the Romans? The things they built is still standing.
(05:24):
After all these years.
Anyway, Thanksgiving folks. Great time of year. We're happy to be doing this.
We're over a year doing the show, which is impressive.
Very impressive.
What was the stat you gave me about podcasts that don't last?
I think it's about 80, 70 or 80 percent of podcasts don't go past the first like 10 episodes.
(05:46):
We're well past that.
Yeah.
So what was our success?
But it's just about.
What are you guys sharing?
Well, I think I've said this before. Joe Rogan didn't become successful for a few years into his podcast.
It took him 10 years.
Yeah.
And he was on TV already.
And he was on TV already.
So we're screwed. There's no hope for this show.
There's no hope.
It's just, it's, I guess the key to it, just like the key to everything, it's corny, but it's perseverance.
(06:11):
Just keep doing it.
As long as you keep doing it, even if it's not the best, just keep doing it because you're going to get better.
So.
I enjoy it.
I do.
Even if we don't really have many viewers.
This is male therapy.
Exactly. That's what you say all the time.
This is male therapy because we don't go and talk about our feelings. We just spill it on camera.
And we make fun of each other.
Well, that's all day long.
(06:32):
Yeah.
That's the therapy.
Folks, we have, so we had, we had this guy on.
I'm going to say this guy for now because I'm going to hold the identity for a second.
We had this guy on the third episode.
Was he only the third?
Well, the first one where we had a first guest.
Yeah.
We had this guy on for our first guest episode when we were just doing audio.
(06:55):
This guy.
Yeah.
Is that, is that like, is that rude to say this guy?
This guy that just owns the company.
Yeah.
We have Anki Pauly over here on Plum Bumps podcast for now that we have the video going.
Oh, by the way, I didn't forget that.
That, that one over there is your camera.
So if you want to make like the course from the office size, make it at that camera.
(07:17):
The courts are good looking people now.
Try to be.
I mean, I actually don't try anything.
It just happens.
Just happens.
Yeah.
They're both doing their hair before they got on camera.
Is it going to be okay?
You know why?
Because I was all, my hair looked like a mess today.
I didn't want to go on.
The past couple of episodes, I just jumped on after work.
It's fine.
Nobody's looking at your hair.
(07:38):
All right.
Well, let's stop bringing it up.
Anyway.
Yeah.
I was on a zoom call today and I looked in the, my zoom camera.
It's, it's like, I'm like a silver fox.
It's like, it's like, what's with the gray hair?
It's like, they need hair clover men.
No, no, no.
Is that no, no, no, men is not hair clover men.
I have a, yeah.
So you were on, we did audio.
We started this audio and I remember I pitched this podcast to you and I was like, yeah,
(08:01):
me and Max are talking about doing a podcast.
He shat on it right away.
It was like, I thought it was a great idea.
What do you out of your minds?
No, I don't think.
Who wants to hear two plumbers talk about?
I don't think you, I don't think you really understood what we're trying to do.
Neither did we, but we, we gave it a shot and I sent you the first episode and you said
you drove around just to finish it.
Yeah.
Because you were like kind of intrigued at what we're talking about.
(08:23):
Yeah.
And here we are over a year later.
He's very supportive.
Very, very supportive.
Listen, I always like a good idea that eventually takes off and just like anything, it takes
some time.
Still waiting.
Yeah.
Listen, how you, the amount of interest I've talked to people about and anybody I talked
about, you know, I say, listen, I got to get on my nephew's podcast because if you want
exposure for your company or your business, get on this podcast because there's no podcast
(08:46):
like this.
They don't, there's no podcast out there telling you how to run a business, how to be an entrepreneur
or how to, you know, how to go out there and, you know, be your own boss.
They're not giving you candid insider information.
Yeah.
You know, you take, you take other podcasts.
I'm not going to mention names, but they're just interviewing the person.
(09:06):
Right.
Just to see what they do in their lives.
You know.
Well, I've, before we started doing this, I was trolling other like blue collar podcasts
and stuff and they're just like, and we put this here and this is how we do the roof and
this is how, and it's like, that's not interesting to people.
Yeah.
I mean, what about it like this?
When you watch those home improvement type shows and they show you how to do things,
(09:27):
it's popular, but you don't remember that person.
Right.
You're not like turning on the TV because it's that guy.
Like you like that guy.
I mean, some might feel like the property brothers or something or.
No, I go, I'll take this old house.
I'll watch the same episode about 20 times.
Yeah.
And then my wife's like, didn't you already see that?
I'm like, yeah, yeah, but you understand the way he cut this?
I want to make sure I can copy that on a job.
(09:47):
Right.
And I pulled a lot of stuff off of it.
You know, I think I was telling you the other day about Mike Rowe, who now took an interest
into kids instead of going to college, start going to trade schools because there's 11
million deficit of kids trying to get that.
There's no trades coming up.
11 million people out of the workforce.
You know, I'm like the, I'm like the old school right now.
(10:09):
You guys like the young school and you're like, middle, middle young or middle.
You're like, I'm the middle age.
We're still on middle age.
Yeah.
I'm going to back.
Listen, I'm the back nine.
I'm the back hole.
You know, we're still buying our tickets.
To bring guys up is something that has to be done.
And I think that he, and that he has an idea and that's what I'm saying.
(10:31):
Podcast like this, if you ever see it, he would be, I think we'd be excited about it
because this is about owning businesses, being an entrepreneur and learning how to, how to
do a trade.
And that's, that's huge.
Well, I'm also going to say this, especially about courts plumbing.
And I'm not here to fluff you guys, but it's very important for younger people.
Like we're going to talk about, but younger people to find a company that has the patience
(10:54):
and the ability to work with somebody who's green.
You know, somebody like me who did, I didn't know anything about plumbing.
I didn't want to get into plumbing.
I wanted to get into electrical, but I wanted to work.
And once I got into it, you, both of you were very, very helpful.
And I think that's hard to find with the older guys trying to hire younger guys.
(11:15):
And I think it's the TERS people.
From actually getting into this field too.
Yeah.
I mean, listen, most companies, when you, I mean, you left us for a little bit, you
went to work for another company and you got your chops busted relentlessly.
Yeah.
It was a different type of, um, different type of environment that there's a hardness.
Yeah.
(11:35):
I wasn't such a fan of, I like here because one, it's, it's a small company, but two,
it's like, it's a ball busting type company.
But again, you're always willing to help.
You don't mind mistakes happen.
And you guys, not that you don't mind when I make mistakes.
Yeah, we do mind.
But yeah, I know, but it's like, it's, you're there, you're there to help and you're there
(11:56):
to teach too, which is very difficult to find.
Yeah.
And a lot of times are, a lot of times I think is that the owners were just guys in the field
and like, well, I can run a business now.
And then they get out there, they have no business sense and they just get there and
they don't want to charge.
Well, that's an epidemic.
It is an epidemic, but it's, but, but then they get angry because they, they see a vision
that they don't share with the team that this is where I want to go.
(12:19):
You know, I think you, you try to sell everybody how we want to be.
It gets frustrating because nothing goes down the right path.
You like, got an idea, let's do it.
And the next thing you know, you're going to get kicked in the shins because your idea
is it takes a lot of work to get to it.
I, well, I think in general, small business owners, entrepreneurs, there's a lot of discouragement
(12:42):
in a whole bunch of different aspects as you're trying to grow, as you're trying to build,
you have to, you have to learn and train yourself to not get run down by the constant
discouragement where you can't survive as a, as a small business owner.
You can't just do it because it's disappointment after disappointment.
(13:03):
Yeah, but discouragement comes from not tying yourself into the biggest thing, I think being
in your own business and the biggest problem I see is the pride that these owners don't
want to say, let me stop for a minute.
Let me go talk to this guy.
This guy, I flew around all over the United States going out of my own pocket, just seeing
(13:25):
other companies, what they do.
And I seen multimillion dollar companies out at George Brazil, out of California, Maurice
Mayo out of California.
Then I went to Indiana and I just dropped in these guys.
I said, listen, I'm in town.
You might have come and look at your company.
Like, yeah, whoever, whatever.
I went there and they were like, yeah, this is what we do.
This is what we do.
And I have a vision of, and that's what I was telling you to go take a weekend and go find
(13:45):
a company that you say, listen, I'm in your area.
Can I just stop in, take your camper?
Go find a successful company.
Exactly.
You know, and just see what they do out of the state.
And all of a sudden you find a successful company that's going to be sticking your head
and then that vision will never go away.
Yeah.
The problem is that most of the guys here, their biggest success is themselves.
So they have no vision of, oh, look what I've done.
(14:09):
You know, I mean, a lot of guys are having a show here.
I see what they did.
Like Pete Garag-Gugos with Van Gogh.
Pete is very successful, you know.
And I always watched how Pete ran things.
Pete's effortlessly successful.
Well, he makes it look that way.
I guess.
There's plenty of times we've talked.
He just wanted to like take a bomb to everything and start over again, you know.
(14:30):
But he's been doing it for so long, but he has that patience of, okay, broke.
Let me work on it and we'll move from there.
You know, and that's the thing that when you go work for another company, you get like,
oh, these guys are much better than me.
And no, they're not.
They're not.
I mean, I just go look at the supply house.
Just look at the guy next to you.
You know, he looks like a bum.
(14:50):
Let me take that back.
You're hoping these guys win because-
No, leave it there on the table.
Exactly.
You're right.
You're hoping these guys are successful because their success makes you successful.
You know, I find problems, you know, the more the problem side of it is the franchise
you know, they're the companies that they're, they have a pattern.
They don't want everybody competing.
(15:11):
You know, you got that.
You got the power companies and stuff like that to come out.
You can't follow that pattern because you don't have the money.
No.
You know, but you, you look at smaller plumbers who are successful.
You know, I talk to our group, Mike Medalli, who owned, he used to own Waterworks.
I followed him for years.
And to this day, we're still close friends as far as, you know, show me what to do, what
(15:33):
not to do.
He called me up, you know, has ideas and he says, Paul, try this, try that.
So it's plugging yourself into somebody and not having pride saying, eh, I don't need
that.
Right.
You always got to say, I need everything.
It's the willingness to take risks, which this company, Quartz is willing to do.
I mean, I think we're one of the only companies around that has the systems in place that
(15:56):
we do, you know, using online-
A company our size, I would say so.
We are size online programming, which the two of you got together and, and built something
that's that most small companies just don't, they just don't have.
It's time consuming.
It's time consuming, but it's also a risk.
People are like you said, people live in their box, especially in this field in these trades,
(16:19):
they live in the box and they say, okay, I'm going to go to work.
I'm going to write up a paper receipt.
I'm going to have this.
I'm going to take a yellow pages out in the ad.
But like you convinced him, let's outside the box.
This risky, it costs money, but that's what it is to run a business.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
You're going to watch the most unassuming guys.
You're like, he'll never be successful.
You know, I have plenty of friends who run businesses that are just, you know, you don't,
(16:42):
you don't want to hang around them after hours because whatever.
But as business men, they're smart.
You know, they get the job done.
And then, you know, you're like, well, how does, what does he know that I don't know?
Why is he successful?
Is he taking more risks than I am and, you know, and just like you said, you, you were
talking the other day just about how to talk to customers and what's the best way to have
(17:05):
them understand what you're trying to do.
And it does take going online.
It does take going to classes.
It does take, you know, getting a hold of programs that they could better, they're going to
make you better.
Absolutely.
There's plenty of guys out there that are happy with going to plumbing school, getting
their license and changing toilet valves, billing the customer out, doing a sink replacement,
(17:29):
billing the customer out.
I think, and what you were saying before that there's like, you look at a lot of these companies
that aren't really evolving with the business.
The biggest reason is there's such a gap between the old timers and the guys coming up because
the average age of a plumber now today is like 52, 53, 10, 15 years ago, it was 40.
(17:57):
And now you have these new guys coming up who grew up on tech.
They know how to utilize social media.
The old guys don't want to learn that.
They don't even want to bother.
But on top of it, just take a football team, for example.
If you're a kid in college and you look at the NFL, you're saying, wow, look at these
guys.
These guys are unbelievable.
You have something to see.
You can't see your competition because he has a nice looking truck.
(18:18):
I saw another company the other night, beautiful box truck.
I'm like, man, I know we have great equipment.
So I looked at his truck and I was jealous.
Like, well, I like what he's doing.
I know this company, his company started when my father started and he still has his company
out there.
But it's just like this area.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm not going to mention names, but I know I'll tell you about them later.
But you know, it's just like a college kid wanting to get an NFL.
(18:42):
He sees what he can be.
He sees the fact that he can go out there if he tries hard.
You know, I see my own son, you know, he's in high school.
He wants to be in the NFL.
He says it.
I'm an Mason.
I was there.
Yeah.
Oh, no, everyone.
I wanted to play here.
I mean, you have the size to do it.
I died.
Yeah.
But, you know, and I try and I take him out to practice and he starts catching one hand.
(19:03):
I go, you do that.
I'm not going to throw the ball to you.
Yeah.
Well, everyone else did.
I'm like, no, you don't.
You guys learned the basics.
But these guys have college guys or high school guys.
They see the NFL.
They want to be that person.
In our industry, we don't have that.
We don't have something you want to see and say, I want my company to be like that.
That's why I say, go travel the country and find companies similar to your size, not your
(19:24):
size bigger, you know, and see what they do.
And you want to be blown away.
You're blown away.
You look at a company that's where you want to be.
So it builds a vision.
You know, you build a vision for yourself.
You find a state where you want to go.
Virginia, take a trailer.
Hey, I'm going to be down here.
You mind if I stop and talk to you about business?
Good business owners will sit down and say, absolutely.
(19:46):
There's not one person I called that said, no, I'm good.
I can't.
I can't help you out.
I mean, you have to start looking for those companies now because there's huge companies
that a lot of plumbers look up and they say, why?
I wish I was like that.
Like the franchise companies, the gold medals, the AJ Perry's who are huge with all these
trucks.
But you know what we hear from customers?
They come in, they do their procedure.
(20:08):
They make, they almost gouge the customer where they're not getting return business.
So they're, they're banking on a volume of new customers to get in there, make their
money and maybe they'll get a couple calls back, but then moving on.
That's franchise company.
That's franchise companies.
I'm not talking about franchise companies.
Of course.
(20:29):
That's what I'm saying.
You need to actually look for these companies that have our mindset but are growing.
Look for a truck that look for a company that's 10 trucks.
Right.
You know, see in the yellow page is easy.
You saw what a page is.
See the guy show his trucks.
He would show, I got 10 trucks out there.
You know, and you, and you can go to any, you can go to any online thing and find companies
out there and you go, you just call them up and say, Hey, listen, let me come out.
(20:51):
Do you mind?
I'm going to be in your area.
Yeah.
You might have a stop for, you know, try to get it on a Thursday or Friday, you know,
so you can see how it really won.
I went to Indiana or St. Louis just flew in and the guy's like, yeah, yeah, my business.
I run up, there's a main road that goes up and down St. Louis.
He goes, I go, listen, I'm going to be there.
I was going to be there.
I just like, I got them singing these do out there.
(21:12):
You might have stopped in on Friday and take a ride with one of you guys.
And he's like, yeah, absolutely.
Come on in.
I took a ride.
Oh yeah.
I went on a ride with a guy and I was doing the help with the plumbing inside the house.
I said, don't pay me.
Just, just have me go for a ride.
I just want to learn about your business.
And if they're a good owner, they'll say, yeah, come on in.
Yeah.
But that's a different, that's, that's a completely different type of mentality that like I'll,
(21:34):
I'll be honest, I'll say that I didn't even have an idea like that in my head to take
a trip somewhere.
You, you built something.
Cause I remember him talking about how when you guys were first starting, when you worked
and you had what four or five trucks, you had what 10 guys working for you.
It took a couple of years.
Yeah.
It took a couple of years.
(21:54):
It wasn't that many of us.
You also had this grow, build mentality, which is again, it's a risk taking mentality.
And then obviously a weight, you know, listen, that was a nineties.
That one, the economy was still going good.
People want to grow big.
You know, we've gotten beaten up for the past 15 years.
And businesses right now, you know, when you drive down route forward 17, you see store
(22:15):
fronts that are closed.
I'd never saw that.
Exactly.
Until the 2000s.
Yeah.
That was true.
Yeah.
Never saw a store front close.
What do you guys, what do you guys think kept courts around for so long versus other companies?
God.
Yes.
God.
But I'm going to say this.
The local aspect of courts, I go back to the fact that I drive the truck everywhere.
(22:40):
Everybody always asked about Paul courts.
Everybody asked about the, I mean, the older customers asked about your, your father, his
grandfather.
And I think that's what people are losing that also gold medal, Benjamin Franklin, those
big companies don't necessarily offer is that you're from this town that we do most of our
work in.
Everybody wants to see the owner's face.
One of the courts is face.
(23:02):
It's a courts company.
It's not like you have courts plumbing and heating and you have Joe Schmoe working for
you.
Not that that's so bad, but you guys are showing up to people's homes and people love to see
that.
Yeah.
You're getting a courts.
People love to shop local.
That's why shop local is becoming so huge.
Well, yeah.
And that's the whole thing.
And that's, you know, and that's the way you have to capture it and hold onto it.
(23:23):
You know, and it's, you know, there's a lot of programs you can watch that become the
greatest market in the world, whatever, but, you know, we're lucky because it is a family
business.
How many family businesses are now left that was around my father when it was around?
I would say we're one of them.
Brighton back.
Oh, it's a bunch of guys.
(23:47):
Wicker shine, you know, you know, there's probably maybe 15, 15, 20 plumbers really that
were the original ones.
But these, you know, these are guys that are all friends of mine still today.
I call and say, Hey, can you help us out?
Because that lasted.
Oh, yeah.
You're saying that lasted?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, a lot of them just went out.
You know, they're just because the last person, you know, there was a guy called Big
(24:10):
Ed was a plumber and he was at a two mile.
There's people that still talk about that guy.
Big Ed was the funniest guy.
And my father and I got him got along great.
Big truck and it said Big Ed's plumbing.
You know, and he was, but the thing back then is that all the old time plumbers would drive
to the supply house and that would be like their first day meeting, right?
(24:33):
Sit around having coffees, don't want to do what you guys doing today.
And there was really nobody screwing everybody over.
There was like, well, I'm going over here.
I'm going over here.
And then they, and then they would then go on their jobs and they'd be all friends.
Yeah.
You know, and then came the, I gotta be number one guy comes in and he just like screws everybody
over.
You know, I mean, I went to, I went to a.
When I went to the licensee school, there was a kid in there and I'm not going to mention
(24:56):
his name.
He's like, if you called another plumber, we both, we both got screwed.
You know, it's like, oh, and put that on a truck.
You know, and I was like, and I said, I'm always apparently still in business.
So let's try it.
No, if it, no, no, if you, if you called another plumber, we both lost money is what he said
(25:18):
on there.
Something like that was, it was, it was arrogant.
Yeah.
He's like an arrogant kid and if he probably sees the podcast, I'll know who he is.
You know, not that I really, you know, I mean, I don't know where he is today.
Confidus.
Yeah.
He'll find, he'll find us, but I just thought.
At one, six months.
Yeah.
I just thought that, okay.
So if that works for you, then fine.
You know, but you're going to have to build your business on that type of rep.
(25:39):
That you are like, you're not looking out for your friends.
Listen, I'm, I think, how many guys have I introduced you in our industry that I can call it at a
drop of a dime, Wickersheim, you know, Woody's, all these guys I can call and say, Hey, you
know, just give, give Scott a call, give Rob a call, you know, because we knew that there's
(26:00):
plenty of work in the area.
Yes.
Build your business with friendship.
Yep.
And grow from there.
I mean, yeah.
I mean, Pascac Valley Plumbers Association.
I mean, all those guys that we all know each other.
Right.
You know, there's too much work around here to be like offended if somebody, you know,
there's, there's no point in being defensive of your customers, all this stuff.
(26:23):
There's way too much work for that.
It's stupid and it ostracizes you from the rest of the plumbers in the industry.
I mean, I mean, this, this, in the next couple of episodes, we have like three local plumbers
who are supposed to be our competitors that are coming on here.
Yeah, they should be.
And we're just going to come on here and BS and talk about, you know,
Listen, I'm good friends with Keith Hammer.
His father was my father's drain guy when he started out with, you know, these guys
(26:45):
are all still around that the kids now took over and we're all still friends.
Like we know that, you know, I think the hardest thing is us trying to find qualified workers,
people who come into our industry and say, Hey, this is what I want to do for a living
because you're right.
You go to the guy when you left and you like, like, I don't want to live here.
And I don't want to say anything bad about them because they were good.
(27:09):
No, no, they were good.
I like them.
I like their son.
I still talk to their son and stuff, but it just, it wasn't the same environment, I guess,
that I wanted to be in that courts kind of, right?
You know, that courts kind of builds.
So, yeah, it's, listen, this is not it.
I keep telling him, this is not easy.
No, I mean, my father was doing it since 1961.
(27:32):
I was even born yet, you know, and he was his father would did something.
And then he had take over and it was just, you know, and I watched when I was a little
kid, my father's office was in the middle of the house and he had this big answering
service.
It was like the size of like this was in the sixties you're talking about.
He's seventies.
Yeah.
(27:52):
So every day in that like dining room, there was between our kitchen because I remember
the old, old setup of that house.
Yeah, yeah, it was all open.
Yeah.
So it was, it's open now, but it was, it was a weird open.
Like there was, we're surprised the house.
Yeah, that house never made any sense until recently.
Yeah.
And he, he had this thing and just, I just had that mindset back then when I, when I
(28:14):
saw my father was struggling that there was this big box and there was a little arrow
on it that said, it said, it said, it went all the way up to like 20.
And every time you got a call, the arrow went up and he would come home and look at the box
and there was a zero, no calls.
So and he for a couple of weeks and there's one time I saw him go over to the phone, lift
(28:36):
it up to see if it was working.
Yeah.
You know, and that's terrifying.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
And seven kids, there were seven of us.
Yeah.
You know, and I was sitting there and I was like, I'm praying.
I'm like, oh man, we just had some work.
See that's, that's why when people complain, I think about the economy doing well or doing
poor.
Yes, it matters.
It makes a huge difference.
(28:56):
But as long as you're good at business, as long as you know your business, I think you'll
always survive.
And I think that's a part of the reason why courts survive.
Well, know your numbers.
Know your numbers.
Yeah.
And I, and another friend of ours in Burgenfield, his drain company, this guy never touched
a drain.
He was such a smart guy, knew his numbers.
(29:19):
A lot of good plumbers came out of his business.
He ended up selling his business for a couple of million, went down to Florida, did it again.
He never, he never touched a tool.
And there's a lot of guys like that.
Yeah.
You know, I see guys like that.
Yeah.
You know, the problem is that we're still caught up in the mentality that, oh, we got to work
to make the money.
And to make that step and the risk is you got to rely on your numbers because if you
(29:43):
don't believe your numbers, you're not going to make those marks.
How many times we talk about it, it's like, well, should we hire this person?
Should we do this?
Well, they get so.
I mean, you were a risk.
You know, yeah.
And I think that how long, how long did you guys say going back to the hiring younger
guys?
How long did you say that it takes for a new hire to become profitable?
(30:05):
Oh, more than a year.
15 years.
How long has Max been here?
You're almost halfway there.
By the way, six more years in the year after.
When are you going to make some money?
Well, you'll see.
You'll listen.
You'll know right away if a person is profitable.
Well, it generally takes a year to make that money back.
Exactly.
Well, I mean, somebody who's again, this, this show, what we've started with is that
(30:30):
is getting younger people, even if you're not qualified to get into this, to get into
the trades.
So somebody who wants to come in, how long did you say it?
Even if you're not qualified, it takes about a year, maybe a year to a year and a half
till you can start earning the money back from the training.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it's when Philip came in.
Just hemorrhaging money.
(30:50):
No, that is true.
We've been sitting there and he came up to me goes, I want to learn plumbing.
I'm like, I don't know where I'm like, all right.
So I don't know if I'm going to for him or not.
Wrong.
I'm going to tell the story.
He's told me that he never wanted to get into it.
I never want to do it.
Let's do this real quick.
Let's do this.
Let's let's take a quick, quick break.
(31:11):
Are you sure you want to take a break before this?
I want to do.
I want to recoup.
Let's take a quick break and then we're going to pick it up right here.
Okay.
Because this is exactly what I want to get into.
The transition from, because we talked about the transition from grandpa to you.
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.
I want to touch base on the transition from you to me and I want to tell the story.
(31:34):
I remember every detail about it.
Let's get into the courts family history.
All right.
All right.
Well, thanks for joining us folks.
We'll see you.
This place is going to be a mess.
All right, folks, stick with us.
We'll be right back.
All right, folks, stick with us and stay still.
(32:01):
Wait for it, folks.
All right.
See you later.
Enjoy your party.
Levittas,
guys welcome back to plumbums
(32:45):
podcast the blue collar tradesmanship we talk about small business
entrepreneurship the every man's podcast is max likes to say the special
Thanksgiving episode superimpose a turkey yeah I can do whatever you want
I'm talented when it comes to this stuff we're here with my uncle Paul quartz the
guy who I inherited the business from what seven years ago yeah eight years ago
(33:10):
eight almost gone a ninth how does it feel she's yeah that's I can't believe
it's been that long yeah good it's flying I should not think about it feels
that long yeah but no your beard was not gray when I got here it wasn't no the
beard has absolutely I will give you that okay but that's the only one you get
that's a freebie so we tell Thanksgiving stories no before we before we went on
(33:33):
break he's itching to tell Thanksgiving course stories go ahead tell it before we
went on break we were talking about how I came up and I remember was your 50th
birthday party I was working at the pool company I was in like my eighth year
over there ninth year yeah and you had that big birthday party at whatever
(33:54):
event that was my whole family was there and you and you come up to it was a
per that's right it was a per wherever and you come up to me you go what the
heck are you doing building pools I got a business with your name on it you come
in you learn the business it's ready for you to go and to be honest I never
even thought about it yeah because I remember growing up with grandpa and he
(34:17):
used to take us out all of us all the boys one of we turn 10 me David Michael
Daniel even took out everybody out and I used to go out I liked going out with
grandpa but I'm like I'm never gonna be a plumber never gonna do it tell your
father well yeah and then I was the soft hands he's not gonna write that one
(34:40):
I'm gonna redeem my dad right now because we talk to the lie down I'm sorry I'm sorry
I'm gonna read you my father and I'll redeem him he helped me out yes yeah he
was my he was my right hand man what other brother came in and did that none
of our right no no no no no no your father was he helped me out so many times
one of how many brothers though five five well five brothers four sisters no
(35:03):
four yeah five five boys two girls yeah yeah but no Steve your father was
without him no one got through a lot of stuff well he needed the money to yeah
I remember growing up so you can take those little underhanded digs well I
grew up with the money didn't want to work with you it was no he did he was
always happy it's like I'll help you out yeah yeah no he was always he was always
good mostly was one of the few courses that stuck around the area Joe went out
(35:26):
to California yeah he was exactly but you know anytime I need to help you when
I had my construction business he was like we were up till sometimes overnight
sparkling walls doing sheet rock like he would stay with me the whole night and
just like you know I mean I remember we were doing boilers late well that one
house yeah overnight just done yeah sometimes it's got to be done but I
(35:48):
remember at your birthday party your 50th birthday party 5 0 you come up to me
and you say what are you doing building pools and I never thought about it and
then it took a year for me to actually make a change but because I was making a
lot of money the pool place it was a tough it was tough to it was tough to
(36:08):
take that step back and learn a whole industry that is I mean at this point I
like I can't imagine doing anything else as frustrated as I get and as many years
of my life I shave off every day yeah yeah but I'll never forget that that was
the first time that like you put it in my mind and then I came in because we have
a huge how long after that though about a year took about a year took a year
(36:30):
about a year because I he he put that in my head and then I started talking to my
old boss and saying listen I'm actually thinking of changing industries oh no
you don't yeah oh no you don't let me just offer you more money so he did yeah
and I stuck it out for a couple more months and it just wasn't working out
and this is why when you asked what kept you guys in business for so long we
(36:53):
don't talk about religion and stuff a lot on this podcast but I'm telling you
God has had his hand in this business from day one yeah it was when you look
back and you break down certain situations it's not even a question okay
we have we were supposed to be dead in the waters how many times oh 200 times
(37:15):
yeah especially with last week well maybe tomorrow I can see the bills there's
no mention the job I pretty much lost everything we had homes we put my
what my wife and I bought rental properties together 2008 wiped us out so
bad that we had a house lost to winter properties and the blues in my house had
(37:39):
to go rent the house to the guy right now who bought my previous home so that's
right yeah so then so the he's a good friend of mine so still that's like
humility so yeah very everybody's a good friend of course yeah Paul is a good
friend on that you can't go anywhere around here so he ended by he ended by
(38:01):
my so what happened was 2008 Patty and I were just selling off everything and we
ended up at that point we were in River Edge what year did you get married 2004
oh man so four years into the marriage she's like what did I do no choice did I
make no she was like listen I'm gonna tell you right right now if she was gonna
leave me she would left me 20 years ago so she's she's a great girl she had her
(38:24):
chance to get out she's sticking around now she has no choice no she's been very
strong with everything she's she's that she's I can't thank her enough the stuff
this stuff plus this stuff she puts up with me but yeah we were 2008 hit and
and it was like we were sitting there like well we gotta get rid of this house
and get rid of this and everyone's like why tell us sorry I'm like cuz I'm not
(38:46):
embarrassed to buy it I want people to see that the fact we came back right
yeah we lasted we lasted in fact we came back from my chair in the same yeah we
came we came back it's like this so we came back from that and we were able to
buy another house we were able to get back on her feet you know my daughter's
going to college again now it's like yeah like if you don't watch yourself in
(39:07):
that moment where you're like a story it is and it's like you sit there you're
like oh I'm never gonna work be mad at me I'm like you know and I tell that's
why I tell everyone it's like you know it just just wait till tomorrow because
something's gonna change it's gonna change it's hard to keep that mindset when
you're in it though listen I'm gonna be open with our audience right now I'm an
(39:28):
emotional wreck half the time okay you like can vouch you are I take because I
have expectations of how things should go I I say like when I look at the
numbers you all do I know but I like this is I want this to grow like this is
(39:49):
our family business you know what I mean and I'm the one that's in charge of it
now there's a lot of pressure that I actually probably assume that know that
most people don't put on me but I assume it for myself and I've had every type of
job in the book I've done every type of industry and here I am now there's a lot
(40:10):
of pressure that I put on myself for it and so I take everything to heart when
it's the slay you say it all the time you say what's a slinky effect it's a
roller coaster don't worry about it we're gonna get up we're gonna get down
we're gonna get down when we're down I have a hard time seeing the tree incline
yeah that is the tree yeah listen and that's the difference of being a great
(40:31):
owner and being a person who just does you know puts in a lot of owls every day
well I think that's also the experience that you bring to the table that helps
kind of calm him and kind of I guess that your experience helps with him
seeing that you're you're moving on the right path yeah perfect story is I so
(40:53):
what happened was we moved we used to be in the basement of our house in River
Edge and then we took everyone moved out of house and so I said I hate being the
basement let's take our office to the second floor so we had all the bedrooms
up there we made a muller it was a great little setup yeah so I had my own
office my mom had her office my father just floated around and there was another
bedroom there that was turned into like a a tech room you know and every morning
(41:16):
my father we get up and I was sitting my desk and I'd be like dad you don't
understand we're going to the stuff he's like he goes it'll be all right
relax and I'm like you don't understand and he's like he started laughing at me
and he started like he goes what I go we laugh at he goes it'll be all right
trust me he goes I've been through worse you know and he goes you'll
understand one day and and it was not one time it was probably 30 times yeah
(41:41):
well you've absorbed his role with me like I took it I've taken your role of
freaking out at the time like how are we gonna make do this oh yeah I used to
freak out and now you laughing me all the time I do because it pisses me off so
much I see what happens like well you know it's like when we took like the
first boiler job at the barns is you were crying okay it wasn't shedding tears
(42:04):
but I was like I can't do this yeah there's I cannot do this there's no one
doing I was laughing and you were laughing in my face and I walked out I had a
cigarette I'm like you know what but where am I supposed to go well yeah I
got no place like Richard gear in that office a gentleman yeah exactly
I got no place to go I mean literally that was the first year was it was a
(42:30):
culture shock for me yeah of course you know because my whole life they're gonna
we're gonna open up to the audience oh what we're getting emotional no we're not
getting emotional yeah
intermission or the audio just turns off and the two you start fully back around
(42:54):
it's dark the zooms in slowly let me tell you about my life no there's it's
it's just been back and listen I've had I did the math once I've had 34 different
jobs even maybe even more than that just experience yeah that's a lot of
experience so I mean just going back and forth like just wavering literally like
like a like a dead fish in a river sometimes yeah and I'm at a point in my
(43:19):
life where I'm like listen I'm in my almost to my mid 40s here I gotta settle
on something so I take the roller coaster the downs the declines to
commercial very very like I'm gonna come out with this and I I pray about this all
the time like I don't put trust in God when I should be and grandpa and you you
(43:39):
tell me all the time grandpa had no problem doing that now yeah no problem
you know like I said he's laughing me across the desk he's like you're crying
me I'm like you don't understand I'm trying to build a thing he's like seven
children you had seven children it's like no but it and and he developed
(44:00):
something in my head you know he liked the fact that when I when I took over he
was so happy because he saw the drive I wanted to build a company yeah I wanted
to build a 20 trucks on the road stuff like that but you know our business is
gonna be only as big as we allow it to be you know it's there to do it you know
it's it's waiting for us to become let's say we had 20 trucks on a road night
(44:22):
now do you think we can handle it mentally no me yeah do you think I can
handle it mentally I don't know I mean I don't think so handle half a truck but
I'm saying if you put five trucks on a road and you shoot that as your goal
five trucks doing 350,000 a year five trucks yes yes of course I actually yes
I did yeah five trucks at $350,000 a year what is that number 1.6 million
(44:46):
is it that much yeah three six nine twelve okay little under I mean it's
1.4 4 million whatever it is but you do that at a 20% net profit right you're
putting on your own you're paying out bonuses you're paying paychecks you're
putting money in the bank you're putting you know yeah what do you put in
(45:09):
away eighty ninety thousand a hundred thousand dollars a year for a rainy day
for a rainy day here's what I think a lot of companies and a lot of plumbers
who are especially coming up and even actually the old-timers because I talked
to the old-timers and you know what the old-timer I'm talking about I'm pointing
to next door there is here's all time no next door the shop next door yeah I
(45:30):
would consider him an old-timer well he has the mentality of an old-timer he's
younger than me not much yeah he's not much older than you yeah he's around
there okay all right there is for some reason blue collar guys and tradesmen
he should be on his own basis that's why they there's there's like and the public
(45:52):
looks at us a certain way like oh you're you work with your hands you work with
like my sewer line it's almost like you're lower on the cast system and I
feel that there is actually right now a blue collar revolution especially since
COVID because we realize that we're not expendable we're essential and we make
(46:13):
the world go around so I actually as much as COVID sucked and it like through
a wrench and a lot of small businesses it woke a lot of people up yeah yeah
because we now realize who makes the world go around and there is a huge
blue collar revolution because we we deserve fair pay we deserve to live in
(46:36):
the area where we work we deserve to be able to comfortably send our kids to
college or do this or you know take a vacation once a year and but the old I
gotta tell you story on that one let me finish this one thought a lot of the
old-timers will work and they'll work and they'll work and they'll work and
they'll do a toilet valve for a hundred dollars and go in and out of it and it's
(46:58):
like listen we need to change the mentality through the whole industry and
say we deserve pay that reflects what we do for the first society I think the
difference I think that's what you're talking about though is I think the new
generation starting with you actually is switching up this mentality of a plumber
(47:21):
just being a plumber just being a good plumber you have to be not only a good
plumber but a good businessman yeah which is I think the thing that you're
trying to change up with the systems that you're putting in place and what
your value is never lose your value yeah you can survive as a good plumber and
doing the good plumber things but you're just survived you just put him down I
(47:42):
think he's it you know he's he's good I just think that you know he broke away
and he was he's happy where he is who oh yeah the next yeah don't say that
he's his pot he knows we talk about a lot of time okay I've been trying to get
him on yeah I like he's a good man you know but but back that story as far as
(48:03):
like it's the expectation of a blue-collar thought to a white-collar
thought right so I was doing a job a bunch of years ago in Oradell and I'm
sitting there and I charge a lady and she's like my husband doesn't even make
that much money I'm like what do you mean your husband doesn't make he's a lawyer
he's in charge that much I go well maybe she's changed his job and she was like
oh that's so rude why you talk to him like I go what do you think I do for a
(48:25):
living I go I'm here to save your house from freezing right I go I'm not taking
anybody to court I'm here to save you free right do you want heat or no and I
wasn't being a jerk I was like I was like take it back like don't talk to me that
way yeah you know but people feel because you're blue-collar and you this
you're that you're not smart yeah some of the smartest guys I know are blue-collar
guys some of the smartest guys like you mentioned before yeah get into blue-collar
(48:48):
fields without even being a blue collar worker yeah because there is good money
to be made and I think those people the want the business guys who not
necessarily never touched a wrench but are not really out in the field they
understand the importance of this work yeah I actually want to I did I actually
want to stay on this topic for a little bit because I think it needs it warrants
(49:10):
a lot of discussion and you know that I had a hard time adopting my worth as a
plumber servicing Bergen County yeah I had a hard time how do we charge this
lady that much I mean are you serious we're gonna charge it took me a while
and then I got to a point where cuz you know the numbers that's why well yeah
that's a huge thing not knowing the numbers we know the numbers to survive
(49:34):
see the lady who has the whole lawyer husband he doesn't have the overhead we
have well if he has an office he does but office if he does but I actually did
the numbers versus lawyer versus plumber yeah the he doesn't have the high
insurance that we have he doesn't have the truck the gas the truck insurance the
(49:54):
new truck payment like what did you explain to me what is it to just turn
the key in and the truck and start your day yeah hundred thousand dollars yeah
I mean I'm just to turn the key on in the morning and she explained to me it's
like almost a hundred fifty dollars just to turn the key on in the morning absolutely
when you when I think it's there it does nothing I mean it would just yeah and
you have people don't you nowadays if you're gonna be a successful plumber and
(50:18):
not just not just a not just a guy who's just getting by if you're actually
gonna build your company and have employees that that you can trust that
the customer can trust that are clean that are engaging the customer that are
gonna do a good job for you you have to pay for that yeah you also have to create
which this company does and I've noticed it over the past few years what you guys
(50:41):
have built up that value system so when you guys show up when we show up to
somebody's house and you started it we show up in nice collared shirts clean
clean trucks nice logo you know we put booties on in people's homes if you show
up charging you know high rates but you come in and I've seen people do this
(51:03):
ripped sweatpants yeah you know a baggy baggy sweatshirt that's not your
competition you know your competition is the franchise companies but some people
will have that competition you know but they're easy to beat because they're so
big you know I explained to people that when you have a company that big it's
like turning the ship yes and you're and every move you have to do is so slow
(51:25):
we're small we're like a speedboat we can come in come out make some decisions
move in cut back we need to build if we need to you know and that's that's a
huge thing if you as a business owner understand that you know and look at
and don't get blown away about his big picture of all my bills I would I would
hang myself if I looked everybody I'm like I'm not gonna pay this well that's
(51:46):
where I think you get credit for kind of the transition between you and him and
allowing him to do a lot of these outside the box ideas that you may not
necessarily be familiar with yeah you weren't so familiar with that's a lot of
fun yeah it does actually okay I do I will tell I have no problem being open
(52:09):
and honest with our audience okay you know how the courts is are yeah we learn
the hard way it doesn't matter who came before us like Jesus could come before us
and say this is how you do it no this is not how you do it I got a we have to
learn the hard way every single courts and that wants 3000 exactly it's true
(52:33):
and like when I look back I get frustrated of the lessons that I've
learned up to this point and I said why I just why they just because it's lazy
and when it comes down as I'm not saying you're I'm just saying it comes down to
laziness because it takes a lot of strength to think out of the box it
takes a lot of strength to say you know what I did this before let me try
(52:53):
something different that means you gotta go research and you gotta go over and
figure out what you gotta do to do the same thing over and over it's not you're
dumb it's just lazy and I've done that for years I was like I'm like I got the
same results I guess that's the thing it's just it's just like it's gonna change
if I do it this way and it's not listen right now what we're doing is we're on
(53:15):
track we're on track it's weird it's just a matter of things hitting the same
time well everyone's in the boat we are right yeah exactly everyone's waiting
for it to hit I mean you're right now okay we got a new president but your
your economy is still yeah it's lingering trillions in debt that that is
going to still trigger inflation that has to be whittled down somehow and until
(53:36):
that inflation goes away you're not gonna be able to people like me like
okay here I got a thousand dollars right you're a few more confident buying now
but you know we're kind of held back on things you know as far as people spending
money oh a hundred percent yeah because we're we have over the past year I would
say two years we have made the transition not so much going to we're going
(53:57):
to a house I'm gonna be a plumber we're gonna fix this we're actually making a
transition to sales yeah and that is a big change it's almost a culture shock
for people around here you know what I mean yeah because we're in we're
implementing new procedures and things that we do in the field that most
customers aren't familiar with we do the flat rate option sheet we give you six
(54:19):
options and I tell people all the time I say listen I'm coming in here and I'm
doing this option sheet for you and I'm giving you options on what you want to
do for your home because I know that you don't want to see me for years yeah
nobody wants to see a plumber so that's what we're building our business on we're
gonna give you we're gonna take care of all this stuff in one shot you're gonna
(54:41):
be covered for years and you don't have to worry about it's not like PSE and G's
worry-free where they cover this but they don't cover that and they will maybe
touch this part but they don't touch that part we're coming in there we're
saying listen here's a flat rate to take care of everything I see you don't have
to see me for years you're covered and if you have a problem within that warranty
(55:02):
period you don't have to worry about anything and it's a transition period
with a lot of people around here because they're not accustomed to that well
plus you as an owner you're confident that a lot of people don't want to take
that step as it as other owners are like you know I'm fine just right when I am
here yes it's a big step to do changes like that to go from your basic drive
(55:22):
around on one truck or a box truck and have your truck loaded up and stuff and
all of a sudden going to house and ladies like can you just fix my flapper yeah
well I'm not doing you justice by just fixing that because I'll be back next
week we're gonna take care of you right now and I guess what after that you're
gonna keep coming back as you so we took care of the first time right and that's
that comes to that comes in quality it's no I was gonna say it's I think it's
(55:44):
that mixture of your experience with his like new era type of new era type of
blue collar tradesmen business owning yeah it's you've seen it all you know
what works and what doesn't work but you're still willing to let the new
things you've given me a lot of play well you have because if you don't you
(56:05):
won't learn now it's a dumb thing I think my Conroy who owns numbers cruncher
said the worst thing he goes don't let somebody build a business off your
credit you know and he well he said he said because he knows about you he goes
don't let your nephew make mistakes that's gonna cost you money and oh too
late oh no but I understand what he was saying we're not there you know I'm
(56:33):
we're not there you know well sometimes you are but I'm sick but we're not you
know if you were sitting there and bleeding this every day and saying and I
look at the books I'm like oh we just can't pay this bill it says it's not
that it's we I I know the threshold of this business I know at what point we
can say yes or no this is not like a private school district where they get
(56:54):
or public school district where they get tons of money taxpayer money boom boom
boom you're loading up yeah you know we gotta we gotta go hunt every day for us
to eat that's it and if you look at the numbers for the past five years we're
because of the economy the way it was we pretty much stayed even right which is a
plus there's companies right now that are not here anymore you know I look at
(57:16):
the numbers all the time when we look at the end of your numbers we're pretty
much even if we did the same we did last year at this point we're fine with that
people like well you should be grown this is not a growth economy exactly
hundred twenty thousand dollars rejected in October for jobs there was twelve
thousand jobs created the government really yeah where'd you hear that I'm
(57:37):
sorry let me take it back it was a hundred twenty million hundred twenty
thousand hundred twenty million I'm not sure out of that number the government
said we we're gonna create a hundred twenty in in October these are numbers
I follow we ended up creating twelve million or twelve thousand one of the two
I'm not sure so way news we're the way under with jobs that you can't turn around
say people like there's not other plumbers out there hiring right now because
(58:00):
they're not ready for the economy right now is really stalled yeah but but
because of the people telling you oh we're you're fine I just went to the
grocery stores today now I measure my food within two barrels or buckets and
I bring them in because I want to bring bags I hate bags right so I put I put
them in it's three hundred twenty five dollars insane weekly I used to pay that
(58:21):
same stuff for 175 eggs yeah hundred seventy five dollars yeah and it's like
it was like oh it's the same really go get gas three twenty five three well it's
going down well it's going down because it's politically sometimes but right but
but well before any presidential election gas goes down of course it does
yeah it always does no matter who's running yeah and I tell and just to make
this clear we have Trump's book on our case we have Hillary's book we have
(58:45):
Obama's book so try to figure out where we're coming from okay you can't but I
will pay this okay no matter what you think about the guy when he got elected
in 2016 the day he got elected it was like the floodgates open we're gonna win
so big yes yes I'm gonna win you're gonna be tired and he went in and I'm not
(59:10):
even advocating for the guy right now I'm just telling you facts like I remember
the day he got the what the day he was announced as president like yeah the
floodgates open now we're at a point where people have been through three
and a half four years of just regression yeah so there's there may be a turning
point you see it right now there's a lot of stuff that's already changing on the
(59:31):
on the horizon there's a lot of stuff that's coming our way and again I'm
making this political I'm just saying let's talk about real facts you know and
you're right when you when you got elected again and you whoever if you
vote of Harris we don't give a crap there is a change already in people were
exhausted they were beat up and they're like okay let's just try something
different right if it goes wrong we'll go back to the old school well I think
(59:52):
the focus of this particular topic should be it doesn't matter politics does
affect business for sure but it shouldn't matter who's in office for you to
run your business correctly and I think that's what yeah we've done for the past
you know seven years that I've been here you have to know how to there's there's
good times there's bad times doesn't matter who what when where why you've
(01:00:16):
dealt with oh wait you survived yeah we've dealt with COVID done better you
know it's it's it's it's about surviving yeah and then in the good times
thriving but you have to run your business I'm telling you I owe a was
something that we never saw like we nobody did nobody's and you said just to
interject when you did the first audio episode you said 2008 happened and it
(01:00:41):
was like the light switch got clicked off oh yeah it was for everybody for
everybody it doesn't matter what industry you're in how many it was done
super wealthy they'll always be fine they made even even like the mediocre
wealthy the upper class like it hit everybody oh yeah there was nothing you
can do yeah I know it was horrible but but again look what happened we were
(01:01:03):
still here you know I mean we bought another truck we bought another truck you
know it's like we're expanding we're we're looking to bring people on now we
got a lot of compliments on that truck actually yeah it's beautiful truck we
got a lot of compliments and I love working out of that truck yeah and so
listen found that and found that you did you find that or I found it you found it
(01:01:24):
you found it max found it yeah did you find that I did yeah max found that truck
I went that was that in Pennsylvania we drove and like this is big it was I
we look at the right truck is this thing's really hot it was oh no that's
a good if I anything in between yeah there's nothing hackney's not making
anything right now actually you know what's a year yeah it took a year well
this was also right but COVID changed a lot of things bad I went to Westwood and
(01:01:50):
so they're old rider trucks yeah you know and they were you got the one with
a big thing on top right grandma's attic and then you have the smaller ones that
which you have to go that route we probably could make that work to be
honest but here's the thing you got to paint the whole thing white I'm not I'm
not right now they painted buddy are white yeah they take all the names off
them right now well listen we got we were we're interviewing people right now we
(01:02:12):
may actually pick up another guy so we may be in the market of another truck
which is huge 10 grand 80,000 miles 10 grand yeah 10 that's it 12 grand for
80 yeah but these trucks have 80 90,000 highway miles that's nothing yeah these
things last do these things last forever what these he's the car box trucks yeah
no the rider trucks that they sell the moving truck if you get 10 years what
(01:02:34):
engine it depends what what true but if you but if you get five or seven years
out of that truck for 10,000 or 12,000 it's worth it I told you you can be
about this truck why I said this truck instead of the other one that we have is
because it's it's a tried-and-true engine and transmission type truck they'll
last forever it had super low miles yeah but dude I will never go transit again
(01:02:57):
courts is done with transit yeah really oh I hate it I hate it I hate it look cool
they look great they look cool they're just to work out of it there's no
storage there's the box truck is the way to go yeah it's a rolling shop no you
roll up you're ready to go you have the table that pulls out you can we're done
(01:03:18):
with transit I may I'm making the executive especially with like the new
truck I think and the newer trucks in general is that everybody wants fancy
they want the new tech they want you know Bluetooth they want you know power
windows when I told you about that truck I said it's got roll-up windows and I
remember you guys are like you sure you want roll windows I said it's one less
(01:03:40):
thing one less problem that you even have to do listen if you and if you
drive to the Hacksack River
wow you know everything is simple simplicity is actually yeah well what
if you drive the ocean that thing will probably float with all the air in the
truck I tell you one thing it hits every tree branch growing down like this
(01:04:03):
I don't want to hear that but you know what it it like it's a derb it can take
it that's what I'm saying like I get out every tree branch we were driving down
today we were driving down we had to do a job together today I'm driving down it
felt like we were under attack from Hamas and I get out I parked the truck I'm
like holy crap and I look and there's nothing I'm like holy this truck is like
(01:04:26):
yeah all right next question
you know let's do this we're at we're at the long mark again we're gonna take
one more break all right we'll come back with you guys before we think we go to
break I do want to say this one thing the next several episodes are sponsored by
a phenomenal contractor we have you guys heard him he was on this episode last
(01:04:49):
week jigsaw PMR jigsaw pmr.com they are our remediation company mold fire
water and why do I always lose the fourth one mold fire water what is the
fourth one you're the only one that clues me in they do everything all right
this guy is the most responsive contractor we have jigsaw PMR is great
(01:05:11):
huh flooding what it would flood he's there are remediation guy okay yeah yeah
yeah no I know that great guy who we talking about I'm just jigsaw I know
I'm just trying to get a fourth fourth one the fourth is the wood water fire you
cannot air this the way you're whatever what you're bothering care care
(01:05:32):
he'll do with asbestos yeah he will show up to you if you guys have any issue in
your house leak behind the shower wall toilet leaking at the flange going into
the floor he'll show up with the tools he has every high-tech device to make
sure that your house is completely rid of any dangerous mold any damage and
stuff like that check them out jigsaw PMR.com very organized very organized
(01:05:55):
very clean very organized unlike this introduction to jigsaw you know what
check them out online and also follow their social media journey on Instagram
and Facebook you got a great social media guy but folks stick with us we'll be
right back
(01:06:19):
call courts plumbing and heating top rated plumbers in North Jersey for over
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Facebook give us a call at 201-425-4855 jigsaw PMR restoring peace of mind. Welcome back to a
(01:07:24):
special Thanksgiving episode of Plum Bumps podcast the blue collar trades
show where we talk about small business and entrepreneurship in these crazy
times of 2024 the every man's podcast and it really has become that the every
man's podcast. I feel like we need to get you a clipboard. What? Oh it just feels a little bit
unprofessional to just have yourself a piece of paper there. A clipboard would be too intrusive on the camera? No it makes you look good.
(01:07:48):
That's a good point. That's a thousand papers I was like folks thanks for joining us again we want to remind you that this show is
sponsored by jigsaw PMR jigsaw PMR.com are your local out of Oradell cleanup
company for mold remediation flood fire all that stuff check them out but we also
(01:08:13):
want to extend the invite for anyone who's in a special industry anyone who
owns a business locally to the Bergen County area we are always looking for
people to come on the show that are in some kind of strange industry interesting
industry or if you're small business owner or entrepreneur we'd love to have
you guys on the show if you get if you're interested you're gonna go to
(01:08:35):
courtsplumme.com you're gonna click the the podcast link up at the top right
corner and go down and fill out be a guest application you'll press it right
here you're gonna put it right here I think I can make that work all right
and we'll get it in post make it work no folks any type of industry any local
(01:08:55):
business owner will have you on it's a lot of fun will push your business so if
you're interested fill out that application we'll get you on it's a ton of
fun it's very relaxed and you basically have a two-hour commercial to just plug
your business but all right so where did we leave off here
unki Paul unki pooh yeah you know say hi to court see man say hi to don't forget
(01:09:20):
to say hi to all how's Paul doing we can't drive down the road even still
it's been eight years I can't we can't drive down the road without someone like
honking waving anywhere we go everybody's house is Paul is Paul still with
you guys listen in cars in less here that's what I said he's not with us
(01:09:41):
anymore he died and gave me the business it's mine now oh you're here he's just
taxi dermis we can use his license number oh my gosh that is so funny that
course here he's a carpet in the living room in front of the fireplace no
(01:10:02):
the everywhere we go you cannot we you can't avoid it hey court see see of course
and you know what I find I listened to Nikki's friends come in and call him the
same thing it's so funny tradition listen they were calling your aunts and
uncles that night yeah that was our name in high school it wasn't it wasn't
anything but yeah yeah the number no one went by the first name so we have a
(01:10:23):
massive family yeah our families huge pretty big most of them when I was
growing up they all lived in this area so Christmas Thanksgiving was just a
packed house just beyond packed just people pouring out the door and on top
of our massive family grandma grandpa used to always invite like a bonds in
yeah so it was just constant people in and out I never thought that I would be
(01:10:50):
the one to just to step up to step up and like take over the business you know
what I mean yeah but and not to get like mushier anything but there's I love you
dad I never thought that like there's that I would that I would be the one I'm
(01:11:11):
so for those of you don't know in the courts family there's like 16 different
there's 16 grandchildren and then a countless great grandchildren I'm the
firstborn yeah which which which I believe then the next couple of years I
think a lot of them will start coming to the business which I would love yeah I
mean we have a lot of young guys in our family that they need to they had to
(01:11:34):
even have the personality you know yeah yeah but there has been definitely when
so we'd like to talk about the transition from old school to new school
good yeah just get your shit in order for
(01:11:59):
all right go ahead go ahead like I tell like it is that still falling because
it is all right it's a total everyone who comes on the podcast don't leave it
all fake yeah this is all fake I'm hovering in like a squat position so I
don't put weight on this chair right now but out of the whole family you know it
I was the one that came up and took over the business and stuff and there's I
(01:12:24):
don't even know where I'm going with this but the thing is that I thought I
had I would have other people take over the company or I just thought once I die
you know then the business over and the fact that you came in you were the last
resort let's be honest he tried to sell it and he was drinking one night and he
(01:12:50):
was like the nightmare you run to that's a great Thanksgiving movie
yeah that's like Rachel have you ever seen playing strange on a
real yeah that is all right so the Thanksgiving story I want to get out
(01:13:12):
the whole night was yeah get that out senior football at Riverdale our last
game we're playing Demers so the parents had to come out walk us out in the to the
50 yard line so at the end zone so as my mom dad came down we walked us out I
think was 30 seconds and my parents were in the car going home like they didn't
say for the game like they're like they showed up for 30 seconds on the left yeah no they
(01:13:35):
they walked me out to the center of the field it's like yeah we gotta go home
because my mom's got a cook and blah blah blah I'm like okay so I played it
not actually they probably saved her first quarter but after that they were
gone they had to go home and cook and like sports back then was not as it is
today right like you miss ten minutes of a practice of a kid your bad parent yeah
yeah so I was like whatever I don't care you show would bother me was the most
(01:13:57):
was when I got home everybody was around the table and they started in
turkey they started Thanksgiving dinner before I walk like a you what you guys
started without me I was at a football game we should have been at it's like
all my brothers is like shut up they were yelling at me like my fall like
threw me a plate is like you know it was I was like sitting there like the
(01:14:18):
football player coming joining us your day is the Thanksgiving day but oh my
god that is so funny I so we and we touch based on like when you did the
audio episode yeah everyone lived you when I was growing up everyone did live
close by yeah our whole family's huge but everyone was here growing up yeah
(01:14:41):
those promise yes your memories will never fade for me yeah never and even
Uncle Mike used to drive up his kids and yep his four kids would come up and they
would spend Christmas and Thanksgiving and there's like a nostalgia that I
definitely miss of that well and there was a new Milford yeah she was so well
everyone was around yeah everyone was around you know what I mean so there's
(01:15:04):
you and I are the last people in New Jersey I know yeah we really are like
the last ones hanging out yeah I don't know how much longer we could but he's
not doing a good enough job at keeping courses no well we'll be we'll be here
for a while yeah but there's there's just there's nothing like growing up in a
huge family and I'm good we've had our problems over the years we did course
(01:15:28):
family oh we've had our problems so listen we've had the huge family we have
fights we have arguments people take sides we do this but I wouldn't trade it
for anything no because that made you grow like absolutely they don't experience
what we have because they're constantly on their phones they don't see what's
going on the real world no like we grew up like I think the first time I ever
(01:15:49):
got a phone was in like the late 90s or your middle 90s what a cell phone yeah
it was like a flip phone yeah yeah yeah there was no there was no it was you can
call your friend from like the bar you're like hey I'm not the right as I
watch come on by like we would when we were younger growing up like we would
we would have an idea where people were right and then we just show up exactly
everything yeah yeah so it was like it was like what was that telecommunication
(01:16:12):
yeah I think my friends are at this house yep we show up and everyone be there
or you make one phone call to one person and we get out yeah but yeah today
today I feel bad it's a totally different world so sense of community a
local aspect yeah that's what that's what also I think makes River Edge different
from a lot of towns still because like in this town I still see kids riding
bikes and it's something you don't see that that often let's anywhere you know
(01:16:36):
River Edge is that small town I tell people all the time I'm from a big
family we're dysfunctional we have a history we have a lot of problems in and
out but that's where we all developed our sense of humor our like attitude our
quick wit and we have so we talked about this on an episode pretty close to when
(01:17:01):
we went because Max Max is basically part of the family now so we talked about
an on-bus so close to when we did the cousins family reunion and we're all
spread around the country right now one that we couldn't air because everybody
was just going we gave the mic to all the courses and it was just once a year I
kind of took the reins on this but we have a ton of cousins in the family
(01:17:21):
we're all over the country now so I try to do once a year family reunion and we've
been apart from each other for years but it's so funny when we all get together
but there is such similarities like there's just like this quartz thread that
passes through our family it doesn't matter where you grew up or whatever yeah it's
so funny to me you know I mean and I love that about the huge family you have a
(01:17:45):
huge family every time I don't I mean I we have a huge adopted family yeah Max
has a huge adopted family there's an aspect of that where it teaches you
sass humor how to come back quick how to basically survive yeah with your words
you know what I mean yeah and I wouldn't trade that for the world as as
(01:18:07):
dysfunctional as we are I think that does very well for business too well it
does because you know grown up in our house you know with seven kids you know
it's like my father would come home as a plumber you know my mom be like you
gotta do you watch because when your father gets home like yeah whatever it's
like all of a sudden you hear my father's truck pulling the driver and was
like it was Scottish I was hiding the bed my father walk in and was like it was
(01:18:31):
like a church it was like quiet like no one was around spotless and my mom be
like in the corner like this and all sudden if he was mad he would he wouldn't
have to do anything you just walk up the stairs boom you can tell where this
footsteps oh yeah yeah it was they were they were size 14 and they were slow
like it wasn't like boom boom boom boom boom boom so he's walking up the stairs with a purpose
(01:18:56):
it's like every second you were you were like oh no it was like it was like what
it was waiting for Frankenstein to walk through your room and you're the belt
was off because you heard a jingling right right you heard the jingling it was
like it was like a who was it it was like a you know a guard like coming down
with the keys and it's like he was gonna beat you with that you know and you
(01:19:17):
threw your brother in front of you just so wasn't my brother Pete I was like okay
let's say hi to dad yeah it was but that was us growing up so it made us tough
listen exactly that builds character yeah yeah there's not that you have your
kid today you're like you're gonna jail I have we so we have a I'm on social
media but it's all for the business so I scroll I scroll through social media I
(01:19:39):
see this stuff and this whole thing about gentle parenting and stuff and it's
just like are you doesn't listen I'm gonna tell you it does not work you raise
scut your children grow up to be scumbags let's put that out there right
now I don't think I don't think they I don't think they grow up to be that no
no they do I don't think they grow up to be that I just think that you know the
(01:20:00):
parents they because of what's happened the world today they're forced to treat
their kid that way yeah and they you know the older parents that are in their
state or younger parents in the 30s they never live wait like like you know we
would I would go out at 8 o'clock in the morning and wouldn't come home till 9
o'clock at night and my parents had no idea where it was yeah I told Nicky
(01:20:23):
had to go get a haircut tonight on the other side of town and it was dark and
I'm like don't take your place somebody I'm like I was like what happened to me
you know but it's like the different mentality that's happening so I just
called him he's like he's home I'm like how'd you know me goes I walked I'm like
okay good what would your dad say what would your dad say if you ask him to
take you if you if you ask him to take you for across town I walked to
(01:20:47):
Riverdale every day well every day my school I have to get up and drive my
kids or my son now because Abby's in college I have to drive them every day
to school and there's a congo line of cars get in there oh yeah it's a
nightmare there and I drive away I'm like okay this is I got sucked into it
and everyone sucked into you can't right you can't get away from do you think
(01:21:08):
that mentality is is what's making it difficult to find good younger guys in
the field yeah because we in high school we were we were on our own like we were
in high school we were like we went out and bought our own cars and did our own
thing you know our girlfriends we our parents never saw our girlfriends you
(01:21:29):
know our parents never came to anything yeah you know it was like 21 years
younger than you yeah and it was basically the same thing with my
generation yeah much up until like 2002 yeah yeah you know it there was there was
a steady consistency of that and now it's just totally different yeah my father
came to to my wrestling matches and one I won well not the one I've been we won
(01:21:54):
that day we won the match wrestled I know you wrestled yeah 188 really ever
says you know you wrestle I'm like I had no idea yeah I'm wrestling Riverdale
for I started out with me Jim Burns Joe Bava that's a great sport you said one
you won and one was the other one was that you won one and the other one you
know actually I was so what happened was that I went to a private school for one
(01:22:16):
year up in Ramsey Ramsey I don't know this it was Grace Baptist had a school
for oh yeah yeah this AC that my parents said you got to go to so I was
frustrated no sports your uncle Mike work he was one of our teachers so was
he really yeah so he started a soccer team for us and it was great because
that's the only sport I got it was soccer team basketball so we play other
(01:22:39):
Christian academies and then one day we decided to play like a public high
school we got really obliterated it was like why am I here so I was the only
athlete on the team trying to have other athletes there's a couple guys that were
good you know so I was very frustrated because I was like I should be in high
school playing there so that one year I was away I came back to Riverdale and
(01:23:01):
the coach is like you're never gonna touch a football field again I was playing
the first game you know because I'm like yeah you know I can tell me what I'm
gonna do right and then the basketball coach he goes a lunch come out and play
basketball he goes your six whatever and I'm like all right I lasted three weeks
because I couldn't stand the guys in a team I go there's a position open
wrestling let me go back to wrestling because that's what I did and that I
(01:23:23):
was because that's what all my friends were so yeah I wrestled I won I think
was six seven matches that's you know or we had 12 he know 12 matches so max
played professional soccer did you know that yeah you told me yeah yeah it's not
it's not all it's cracked up to me but like that's
(01:23:45):
New Jersey Bears for football it was like it's not all it's cracked up but it's
I think what sports do is I'm not anti sports I'm very pro sports for younger
people for kids it keeps you out of trouble it builds character it teaches
(01:24:06):
you a lot of lessons but I think at a certain age kind of like how we were
talking to your cousin Mason Mason Mason yeah we were talking to Mason it's
it's got it builds a lot of character it gives a lot of good values but I think
that nowadays a lot of young people look up to athletes as almost gods yeah and
(01:24:28):
terrible everybody thinks that they can get there and you don't understand it
doesn't even matter how good you are you have to get so lucky yeah I mean if you
look at the NFL it's the 1% of the 1% that make it there even worse than that
it's that's our worst than that yeah George so there's a friend of mine George
McGovern he was a chaplain for the Yankees the Giants very good friend of
mine so he took me to Giants Stadium Giants training camp so he allowed me
(01:24:54):
to come into the building now if you get into that building that you means
you're supposed to be there so back then the Giants just a year after he won the
Super Bowl so I'm sitting there and there was a big meeting it was called
Chapel so there's a big meeting inside the meeting room so I'm sitting there
and Justin Tuck was leading the chapel now Justin Chuck was a defensive end for
(01:25:15):
Giants unbelievable so sit next to me was Eli Manning like next to me and he's
like hey what are you doing here like a young which I love George he's
unbelievable and then you know and he gets up and all of a sudden he goes you
want to help me pass out these pamphlets everyone like yeah so I'm passing out
these all I knew all the players but being that I was in there with George
(01:25:36):
McGovern it was like you're supposed to be there yeah and then coach Coughlin
comes up he's like do I know you I'm like shut up are you serious oh yeah this
is this is something experience I had how long ago was this probably listen Eli's
how many years out oh that's gotta be eight nine years nine years ago that's
(01:25:57):
amazing oh yeah so I'm so cool I'm sitting there and I'm with all these guys
but the funniest thing was with Eli Manning he's sitting there he goes can
you help me pass this stuff out I'm like I go you're Eli Manning like you're
supposed to be throwing them from the back row hey he wouldn't even remember
me yeah yeah like I was like I remember him more than he remembers me yeah but
all like you know all the best players are there and it was like but they were
(01:26:20):
like oh you know George yeah yeah with George they were shaking my hands like
thanks for coming when I hugged me I'm like okay that's so cool yeah so it was
like it was a funny thing but you know the what's the story about the experience
well I was I think what we're getting at is that especially in this field I think
the athletics holds a lot of water to bring it over into this field and I
(01:26:41):
think a lot of younger guys that are good athletes but not the best of the best
I do think that they they're one of their better routes is to end up here and I
think they take a lot of athletics this way because I'm not saying that people
who are athletic are not college material yeah but I think that they're more
(01:27:03):
they're driven in different ways yeah I would agree that the trades are a good
field for well it is and if you get into exactly you're right if you teach them
how to do it and I told someone one day I said you can teach anybody how to do
plumbing right teach anybody and like what do you mean I'm like I go well I
don't know how you use my hands you can teach anybody teach anybody that's what
(01:27:26):
I'm saying if you come to be totally green within a year you're gonna know what
you're doing I prefer to hire someone green yeah because you can you know
exactly yeah you can mold them they're more they're they're most likely a
younger more younger person good habits exactly yeah I prefer a more green
person like when you first came in
God shows apart oh my god let's talk about let's talk about bringing in max
(01:27:53):
because honestly when we brought in max I wasn't fully confident that we could
handle that no I was doing it because you said he's a buddy of mine let's train
him like I would let's do it I was a year in you know you had left pretty
quickly and kind of threw me to the wolves you still coached me on the phone
but I was a year in a little over a year and it got to the point where I was
(01:28:17):
where we were actually kind of growing a little bit I remember I remember I
remember when you told me like the day you decided to actually keep me I
remember what you said I love you one no no no one day one day because I guess
you had hired before I guess you'd worked with other people before or
(01:28:40):
something yeah but you you said when you left the back truck door open yes he left
the back truck door open I called you that night kinder come back and no there
was a pipe rolling around in the back of the truck and it was his first day
there was a pipe there was like a steel like maybe like a 36 inch steel pipe
rolling around in the back of the truck we pulled it to a light he gets out of
(01:29:03):
the truck his first day opens the back and he and he puts it in so won't roll
around and I go oh my god this is the guy you want yeah it was it blew my mind
because I've had to interview and hire guys at the pool company that was that
before and even just that initiative well it's attention to detail right and
that's why I tell him all the time it's like unless you're attentive to detail
(01:29:25):
I tell the guys I work with right now attentive to detail nobody understands
that because it's such a foreign word yeah like attention to detail they're
like what does that mean it's like whatever you do make sure you understand
what you're doing because if you don't you have to repeat it 34 40 times I
think it's also the willingness to work and to learn which I think kind of goes
(01:29:48):
to your what you're doing now yeah because you kind of switched I don't
want to say you switched fields I completely switch field okay which I
want to get into in one second when you switch fields but you took the work
ethic that you have and you just applied it someplace else so you can do
anything as long as you have a good work ethic what was okay what was the
(01:30:10):
transference because you did completely switch fields what the field you're
right now you're you're a you know you're a local government director
Billings and grounds for public school yeah so how did you take what you knew
here and the truth and and transfer that to a whole new industry the first job I
buddy of mine was a principal to high school and goes listen I know you're on
(01:30:33):
your own company but this might be a position you might want to take it's in
the public sector it's good money it's the sad thing I go and I'm like well I
have a company and that was a time like listen either I give Philip the chance
to do this or I'm gonna be here for the next 20 years and I said you know I was
like I got let's go what do you got you know it's like I'm gonna throw the ball
(01:30:54):
out there see what happens same thing my father did to me he was done I'm like
good go go fit if it floated and it made it it made it you know I was already I
already landed on the beach I'm like okay I'm good if it makes it makes it
we'll just pay it off in the next couple years and that wasn't that lackluster
but I was like he was at a time where he needed to do his own thing
Philip is the type of guy that if you hover over too much he's not gonna grow
(01:31:19):
if you let him if you if you give him a chance to grow he'll grow the opportunity
came at the right time and I was thrown to a world that I didn't know about it
was unions it was yeah you you have to follow this rule right I had people
telling me you can't do this I'm like okay which I gotta be honest I don't
(01:31:40):
know how you made that change well it was because I didn't listen to anybody and
I said my the one guy who hired me goes this is not like the private sector it's
a different world I go yeah but my mindset is about pushing people up
making people successful so if I take the guys who are working with me and I
make them become me and I want them to get my job and you understand anything
(01:32:05):
you do you want that person become to replace you yes because if you don't
you're dead in the water yes if you sit there like I'm the best of the best
great that's great but look at any sport football players NASCAR anything like
that they have to have somebody else come up through the line to replace them
so anybody I train I said I want them to know everything I know because if they
do I'm gonna not live forever but I want success to happen to this district yeah
(01:32:28):
so I treated everybody and it was back to the basic skills I was blessed because
I know a lot about construction I know about plumbing I study a lot about it so
my knowledge on that was good but even was better that I went when I went to
visit businesses as a private company I would learn from other owners that were
good owners and they were like give that guy a chance give him a chance give him
(01:32:51):
a chance you know so it was about giving people a chance so I just took that
talent whatever I'd hear and I brought it over to private to the public sector
you can sense when someone deserves or is worth taking a risk oh yeah there's no
doubt yeah right away you know if you have to kind of evaluate it and say all
right well we'll bring you in for a couple days you know and you don't know
(01:33:11):
like you will immediately know when that person has potential yeah yeah you know
what I mean and what sucks is it's that's hard to find nowadays well it's
not that you have the patience to wait for it actually yeah patience to wait for
and patience to wait for because you know you don't you don't make I keep
(01:33:33):
thinking about the sports is you don't make you know every team's not making
every play on the present the time yeah it's that one little oh he got he caught
that passage to win the game by three yeah or seven whatever it's those little
explosions that happen the willingness to do the work and the willingness to
fail and the willingness to even like what you did you you told me like you
(01:33:54):
didn't know much about going into the public sector but you're willing to say
to take that jump and to take that leap and with all the experience that you
learned which young guys should look at all the experience that you learn in the
trades yeah it doesn't matter even if you don't stay in the trades it will take
you so many other places so my thing was what's the worst thing I have me I'll go
back to be on plumber right yeah you know it's not because I don't give a crap
(01:34:15):
but it's like but I'm gonna give these guys such a better value than what they
have now because I know people in that industry they're horrible because they
hire within yeah so you have a guy it's like hiring a plumber who worked for
years and now you want him to run your company I go that's a horrible recipe to
for success I don't care if you're in a non-profit organization like that you
(01:34:36):
can't you got to bring something from the outside who has some great ideas I'm
gonna build it on this and you have to the people that are given to you you
have to deal with them and say what can I do let me find little pieces of things
I can find out that's gonna make them successful to help me out right and make
them great so we went to this job so I switched districts and I found out that
(01:35:00):
the guys who worked for me directly now they were doing everybody was doing
everything so it was like a hornet's nest so this guy was doing the grounds guy
was doing Brailleans just too many cooks in the kitchen no no no it was
everybody was doing everything it's like okay Phil make pancakes today you make
eggs and then Jack Jack I go stop so I took everyone individual I said what do
(01:35:22):
you do one guy's like oh I cut lawns I go so why are you inside fixing a locker
mm-hmm well that's what we do I'm like no no no you're gonna do nothing but
grounds yeah who does that with you this guy doesn't you two are ground my
grounds guys don't come inside for anything come for a glass water that's
it that's all you do you may have water you may have water but you must ask first
(01:35:46):
knock on the door no and they're the happiest guys world and I took two of
the guys I said what do you do and they're like well this is it this is the
guy who does this this guy I go you know to work together mm-hmm you know and then
what do you do well I do this that's all you're gonna do I don't want you do
anything else then I have two other guys you're gonna do this and once you
(01:36:07):
broke that down and I made them that position right it allowed them to grow
yeah now they have confidence right do you think how do you think the plumbing
field because that's a managerial position yeah that's how do you think the
plumbing taught you to be good at that or do you think it's no tell me
everything it told me that the what it taught me was that give everybody a shot
(01:36:30):
at it give everybody a shot to do plumbing because I'm not so caught up in
your knowledge of how to do plumbing I don't give a crap but you know I'll teach
you yeah I'll teach a monkey how to do plumbing I want to know that if you can
grow with me if you're gonna grow with me I'm with that right I want I want you
have confidence that you're gonna go to that truck you're gonna find that part
(01:36:50):
you're gonna learn that part it's an attitude that you look for in people
because my next question for you was let's say you didn't let's say you
changed this industry and you were still here and you were you were hiring
people what are you what would you be looking for in new employees new
apprentices somebody who applies what is something in that person that you're
(01:37:12):
looking for well I look for somebody who just because you want to be a plumber
you know I mean that's do you want to be in the industry I mean I'm just doing
this to get by and I just want I don't then listen then you want to do this so
that's first off like they haven't even have desired you want to do this I mean
the second thing is like do you have desire to win and it's not plumbing it
has nothing do you have desire to win in life going back to that I think to do
(01:37:35):
with plumb no has absolutely nothing to do and I tell and when we go to the
supply house I talk to these guys all the time it has nothing to do with plumbing
do these guys have the spark to sell to to relate to customers to to talk to
customers on a level where they can know they won't huh I mean some do some don't
(01:37:55):
well yeah but that's what you're looking for with a new guy yeah yeah not does not
if he's just mechanically inclined cuz you're right you can teach anyone that
yeah but I've taken guys who are like introverts and they're like I don't know
if I can talk to this within a year they were like this is great I'm talking I'm
talking to everybody I can do this you know it's everyone's every individuals
you gotta take everyone you gotta take as an individual project you know and yeah
(01:38:21):
like I said it's not about you know what was it was that movie I can't remember
he goes I think it was with I can't remember but he was like I can teach
somebody had to do a trombone playing ever whatever and it's I'm the gun
off track there but it's not about the industry itself because you can learn how
to do anything I was selling insurance one year for three years I never got
(01:38:45):
I'm selling sure it was horrible but I was there's nothing I learned I did with
my brother Pete and I really like laugh but now I look back with the funniest
stories from that but we learned how to be professionals right I also think
going back to you mentioned Mike Robe before he always said don't find what
you're passionate about just do what you're doing with passion yeah like yeah
(01:39:06):
as long as you are willing to give the effort yeah towards something that's
what you're looking for you're not looking for somebody who's necessarily
like you said mechanically inclined or a great plumber because you can teach that
to somebody but you can only teach that to somebody if they're willing yeah but
there's nobody out there that there this is why I grew my whole life to do
(01:39:27):
this there's maybe a right quarter percent of the courts the courts no no
nobody loves there what they're doing for life there I work with lawyers and
architects and stuff these guys are miserable yeah and they did like it's
just we want to do like why I like to be on a sailboat out I you there's no way
you're sit there like I am the having the best time in my life
unfortunately that people the way industry or life is right now that people
(01:39:51):
work because they have it they have to work you know and it was like you know
do what you enjoy and you'll do it for the rest of your life listen I love
working my hands I love develop but what I like to do 20 other things yeah I
have the money to do it right yeah I just but if you're doing something I say
make it the best you can and that's why I go back to attention to detail yeah you
(01:40:15):
know do this stuff that's gonna make you like you when you bring we bring people
in we tell them we're booties we do this we do this you know you you know that's
why I tell you guys every day make sure you take 10 minutes clean the truck out
do this you know attention to detail wins in the end because in the end you're
gonna turn around say wow look what I develop and then you're gonna hear people
who say your company runs well yeah you know and that's what it comes down to
(01:40:36):
snowball effect yeah yeah exactly so and that's what happens I gotta say I mean
listen we're really getting down to we've we spent a lot of time this is
probably been one of my favorite episodes we've ever recorded had a blast all
right I do I had I think anytime quartz yeah quartz get together family members
or whatever it's listen max has been to several different like family functions
(01:40:59):
so he's aware of how we function and how we how we communicate and all this
group of people and he's still coming around which I just blows my mind still
here I mean the economy is bad I have no choice
listen you've been a bit plus to our company you know and and I what I keep
telling you I said you're it's not our company it's not my company it's our
(01:41:20):
company yeah you know and that's how I treat that's how I treat everybody it's
not me it's everybody I'm here socialist mentality
solidified your place in but guys thanks for joining us I had a blast I
always you know nobody knows you know what before we go let me just say this I
(01:41:40):
think the courts has have plenty of problems of our own all right as a
family we have plenty of problems we have our issues are but one thing I will
say because I've had a lot of friends throughout the years that come and hang
out of family functions they say I've never had so much fun yeah with a group
of people the thing about the courts is is we know how to have fun bus chops
(01:42:04):
this again great great parents a great uncle yeah we're out of our minds you
know there's just there's something that draws people to our emotional abuse dude
honestly it's like that's an aspect to it too but like as much as I you know
complain or like say ah my big family we're still fighting we're we're fighting
(01:42:26):
in over stupid stuff I'm proud to be from the family I'm from yeah you know what
I mean as dysfunctional as we are I'm proud to be a courts I'm proud to be the
nephew that I don't think we're dysfunction dysfunction I think you're
absolutely dysfunctional no this you trust me there's plenty of people out there
the same way let's like two or three kids in a family that are crazy and every
every family knows well I got a crazy sister brother it's everybody it's just
(01:42:50):
the way we act you know it just it is what it is you know a dysfunctional is
everybody that is true if I find a perfect family that's that's creepy yeah
you don't want to go in the house it's a dry toast family like from no you're
gonna have the basement like in a box yeah seriously you know like arms cut off
legs I mean yeah that's what they do they always take it to the darkest places
(01:43:11):
they always go to the dark he talks about taxidermy himself early on in the
show now we got people bodies and basements let me say this one thing
remember when grandpa died when your dad when your dad passed away we had the
funeral over here yeah right over here at Bogart yeah right cross street and he
passed away and there was a line down the street yeah we didn't even know all
(01:43:35):
right he like my grandfather my grandfather like just interacted with
so many different people when he passed away there was a line down the road and
our family got together the whole family caught up and it was like almost a
joyous occasion celebrating his life well we knew he was in heaven so exactly
he knew he went to head he loved the Lord he loved he loved God he loved Jesus
(01:43:58):
he would preach to everyone about Christ but when we were doing that funeral we
were laughing and joking and telling stories and people were like I can't
believe why would you laugh at a funeral why would you laugh at this funeral
like are you kidding like we're we're Richard yeah should do like an in
loving memory of Richard courts on the end of this episode I will do that
(01:44:20):
absolutely but people don't like a lot of people it's tough for them to
understand what we're coming from but this is how we this is how we know I
had friends come up they had to that was the best funeral I'm really was like
that was the best funeral I had the best time what do you know exactly what do
you mean best wedding crashers when they move into funerals and he's just like
(01:44:41):
we all had a great time at courts funeral like we were laughing you want to go
party for a course fuel all right my father would never put up at like he's
like no wow yeah people wait for courts to die but I'm proud to be from this
family as frustrated as I get I'm proud to like carry the torch almost you know
(01:45:06):
so you have no choice I really don't I mean I'm the only one left in New Jersey
so but Nicky's coming up I you know what he's got it's it's time for him to get
on the podcast now he's like yeah that'll change like that as kids and
(01:45:28):
then you reach a certain point but Paul thanks for so much for coming on this
was an absolute blast yeah there's a lot of good content in this episode max
thanks for putting up this family I seriously can't believe you're still
working for this company but guys thanks for joining us just want to remind
(01:45:51):
you if you're interested in being on this put on this show we're always
looking for local business owners small small business entrepreneurs anyone
locally will bring you on we'll talk we'll have a blast again go to
courts plumbing comm click click the podcast logo and you're gonna scroll
down and click the be a guest application send that in we'll get you on
(01:46:11):
again this these episodes excuse me are brought to you by jigsaw pmr jigsaw
pmr.com out of or down New Jersey mold fire remediation huh fire fire fire
fire he does mold fire there's a fourth one I can't remember I can't remember
whatever go to his website he'll tell you but these episodes are brought to you
(01:46:31):
by him great company efficient super super responsive and folks as always
these episodes are also brought to you by our company courts plumbing and
heating been in business in 19 since 1961 family owned we are due general
service we do like commercial we take care of heating water filtration is huge
but guys thanks for joining please subscribe share the videos share the
(01:46:55):
reels we really appreciate it and we will see you here next time
(01:47:26):
oh
you
you
Since 1961, Court's plumbing has offered friendly, reliable service to residences all over Bergen County, New Jersey.
(00:09):
We are a fourth generation family-owned business, unnotched in customer satisfaction and professionalism while working in your home.
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(00:37):
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Like, subscribe, and share please.
(01:27):
The first half I get at the second half when we do the intermission, I lose it for some reason.
Here we are, Thanksgiving. Your favorite holiday.
My favorite holiday. The only fun fact that I have about the holiday is that most people thought it started with America and the Pilgrims and the Indians getting together, but it was a holiday that predated that way before probably in the 1500s.
(01:53):
Why don't you give a little rundown?
In your radio voice.
Thanksgiving was a thing before the Pilgrims came here.
It's also celebrated in a lot of countries. It's a religious thing.
Thanksgiving, gratitude, it's important to the Christian faith, I would say.
(02:15):
I love this holiday too. I don't know why there's something about it.
Food.
I mean, that may be true. It's not the food though. It's the atmosphere. It's the time of year. It's the weather. It's the leaves. It's a whole bunch of stuff.
Family.
You're not obligated to buy presents for people?
Family, which is, you know, well, yeah, that's huge.
(02:39):
This time, not having to buy presents for people. It's crazy.
Well, we're living in crazy times.
She's already come to me with her list of things that she wants for Christmas and she's not cheap.
She, her mother's an expensive woman.
All right. So she passed that trade on to her daughter.
I'm going to tell you something you're going to have to watch out for because she's at that age, that transition age, 10, 11, 12.
(03:05):
When you're getting up to that age, you want just toys and stupid things that you can find at Toys R Us.
And then when you get past that age, you want tech.
No, she wants, she wants all of it. She wants toys. She wants tech. She wants makeup. She wants Gucci.
Yeah. She wants Gucci. Gucci what?
Gucci, whatever. Belts, you know, just go to Chinatown in the city, pick up some moochie.
(03:27):
She knows the difference. She's sitting there scratching the belt leather like this is not real.
I know you got this from Chinatown.
I know where she got those skills is from her mother.
Yeah.
Food, family, Brown Friday. Didn't you bring that up last week?
Brown Friday you look at.
I brought that up last week and I think I brought it up last year during our last Thanksgiving podcast, but it's the busiest day for plumbers.
(03:49):
The busiest day in the country for plumbers because.
Packed houses.
Packed houses and no, it's not just because of the poop. It's because everybody like all the food, like people who throw their food waste down the drains, which clogs up way more than.
The homes are overloaded with people.
Yeah.
And like general because we get Thanksgiving calls all the time. It's not just clock sewers. It's no, no, yeah. Leaky valves, you know, you know what I mean?
(04:15):
Yeah. And people get into a panic.
Yes.
Before Thanksgiving too, people get into a panic or just the holidays because they're like, if this doesn't work, I can't have people over.
It's like you have four other toilets in the house. You don't need the.
That's not the worst thing in the world.
We get those calls all the time. So someone will call Nancy. She's like, I need you guys over here right now.
I said, my toilet won't flush. And they have like nine toilets.
(04:37):
I know my grandfather, my grandfather who grew up in Romania.
They had a common stall outside of the building.
So you would have outdoors.
You would have to go out of the building, go to the common stall. And it's not like you flush in a toilet.
It's a pit that you pee and poop in.
So, yeah, be thankful that you have.
(04:59):
That's great.
That was thankful.
That was this whole country a hundred years ago.
Outhouses, pooping in pits.
It's crazy. The technological advances in the last 100 years.
Modern plumbing is probably the greatest of those advancements. And you can thank the Romans for that.
Yes, you can.
The Romans invented a lot. And you know what's crazy about the Romans? The things they built is still standing.
(05:24):
After all these years.
Anyway, Thanksgiving folks. Great time of year. We're happy to be doing this.
We're over a year doing the show, which is impressive.
Very impressive.
What was the stat you gave me about podcasts that don't last?
I think it's about 80, 70 or 80 percent of podcasts don't go past the first like 10 episodes.
(05:46):
We're well past that.
Yeah.
So what was our success?
But it's just about.
What are you guys sharing?
Well, I think I've said this before. Joe Rogan didn't become successful for a few years into his podcast.
It took him 10 years.
Yeah.
And he was on TV already.
And he was on TV already.
So we're screwed. There's no hope for this show.
There's no hope.
It's just, it's, I guess the key to it, just like the key to everything, it's corny, but it's perseverance.
(06:11):
Just keep doing it.
As long as you keep doing it, even if it's not the best, just keep doing it because you're going to get better.
So.
I enjoy it.
I do.
Even if we don't really have many viewers.
This is male therapy.
Exactly. That's what you say all the time.
This is male therapy because we don't go and talk about our feelings. We just spill it on camera.
And we make fun of each other.
Well, that's all day long.
(06:32):
Yeah.
That's the therapy.
Folks, we have, so we had, we had this guy on.
I'm going to say this guy for now because I'm going to hold the identity for a second.
We had this guy on the third episode.
Was he only the third?
Well, the first one where we had a first guest.
Yeah.
We had this guy on for our first guest episode when we were just doing audio.
(06:55):
This guy.
Yeah.
Is that, is that like, is that rude to say this guy?
This guy that just owns the company.
Yeah.
We have Anki Pauly over here on Plum Bumps podcast for now that we have the video going.
Oh, by the way, I didn't forget that.
That, that one over there is your camera.
So if you want to make like the course from the office size, make it at that camera.
(07:17):
The courts are good looking people now.
Try to be.
I mean, I actually don't try anything.
It just happens.
Just happens.
Yeah.
They're both doing their hair before they got on camera.
Is it going to be okay?
You know why?
Because I was all, my hair looked like a mess today.
I didn't want to go on.
The past couple of episodes, I just jumped on after work.
It's fine.
Nobody's looking at your hair.
(07:38):
All right.
Well, let's stop bringing it up.
Anyway.
Yeah.
I was on a zoom call today and I looked in the, my zoom camera.
It's, it's like, I'm like a silver fox.
It's like, it's like, what's with the gray hair?
It's like, they need hair clover men.
No, no, no.
Is that no, no, no, men is not hair clover men.
I have a, yeah.
So you were on, we did audio.
We started this audio and I remember I pitched this podcast to you and I was like, yeah,
(08:01):
me and Max are talking about doing a podcast.
He shat on it right away.
It was like, I thought it was a great idea.
What do you out of your minds?
No, I don't think.
Who wants to hear two plumbers talk about?
I don't think you, I don't think you really understood what we're trying to do.
Neither did we, but we, we gave it a shot and I sent you the first episode and you said
you drove around just to finish it.
Yeah.
Because you were like kind of intrigued at what we're talking about.
(08:23):
Yeah.
And here we are over a year later.
He's very supportive.
Very, very supportive.
Listen, I always like a good idea that eventually takes off and just like anything, it takes
some time.
Still waiting.
Yeah.
Listen, how you, the amount of interest I've talked to people about and anybody I talked
about, you know, I say, listen, I got to get on my nephew's podcast because if you want
exposure for your company or your business, get on this podcast because there's no podcast
(08:46):
like this.
They don't, there's no podcast out there telling you how to run a business, how to be an entrepreneur
or how to, you know, how to go out there and, you know, be your own boss.
They're not giving you candid insider information.
Yeah.
You know, you take, you take other podcasts.
I'm not going to mention names, but they're just interviewing the person.
(09:06):
Right.
Just to see what they do in their lives.
You know.
Well, I've, before we started doing this, I was trolling other like blue collar podcasts
and stuff and they're just like, and we put this here and this is how we do the roof and
this is how, and it's like, that's not interesting to people.
Yeah.
I mean, what about it like this?
When you watch those home improvement type shows and they show you how to do things,
(09:27):
it's popular, but you don't remember that person.
Right.
You're not like turning on the TV because it's that guy.
Like you like that guy.
I mean, some might feel like the property brothers or something or.
No, I go, I'll take this old house.
I'll watch the same episode about 20 times.
Yeah.
And then my wife's like, didn't you already see that?
I'm like, yeah, yeah, but you understand the way he cut this?
I want to make sure I can copy that on a job.
(09:47):
Right.
And I pulled a lot of stuff off of it.
You know, I think I was telling you the other day about Mike Rowe, who now took an interest
into kids instead of going to college, start going to trade schools because there's 11
million deficit of kids trying to get that.
There's no trades coming up.
11 million people out of the workforce.
You know, I'm like the, I'm like the old school right now.
(10:09):
You guys like the young school and you're like, middle, middle young or middle.
You're like, I'm the middle age.
We're still on middle age.
Yeah.
I'm going to back.
Listen, I'm the back nine.
I'm the back hole.
You know, we're still buying our tickets.
To bring guys up is something that has to be done.
And I think that he, and that he has an idea and that's what I'm saying.
(10:31):
Podcast like this, if you ever see it, he would be, I think we'd be excited about it
because this is about owning businesses, being an entrepreneur and learning how to, how to
do a trade.
And that's, that's huge.
Well, I'm also going to say this, especially about courts plumbing.
And I'm not here to fluff you guys, but it's very important for younger people.
Like we're going to talk about, but younger people to find a company that has the patience
(10:54):
and the ability to work with somebody who's green.
You know, somebody like me who did, I didn't know anything about plumbing.
I didn't want to get into plumbing.
I wanted to get into electrical, but I wanted to work.
And once I got into it, you, both of you were very, very helpful.
And I think that's hard to find with the older guys trying to hire younger guys.
(11:15):
And I think it's the TERS people.
From actually getting into this field too.
Yeah.
I mean, listen, most companies, when you, I mean, you left us for a little bit, you
went to work for another company and you got your chops busted relentlessly.
Yeah.
It was a different type of, um, different type of environment that there's a hardness.
Yeah.
(11:35):
I wasn't such a fan of, I like here because one, it's, it's a small company, but two,
it's like, it's a ball busting type company.
But again, you're always willing to help.
You don't mind mistakes happen.
And you guys, not that you don't mind when I make mistakes.
Yeah, we do mind.
But yeah, I know, but it's like, it's, you're there, you're there to help and you're there
(11:56):
to teach too, which is very difficult to find.
Yeah.
And a lot of times are, a lot of times I think is that the owners were just guys in the field
and like, well, I can run a business now.
And then they get out there, they have no business sense and they just get there and
they don't want to charge.
Well, that's an epidemic.
It is an epidemic, but it's, but, but then they get angry because they, they see a vision
that they don't share with the team that this is where I want to go.
(12:19):
You know, I think you, you try to sell everybody how we want to be.
It gets frustrating because nothing goes down the right path.
You like, got an idea, let's do it.
And the next thing you know, you're going to get kicked in the shins because your idea
is it takes a lot of work to get to it.
I, well, I think in general, small business owners, entrepreneurs, there's a lot of discouragement
(12:42):
in a whole bunch of different aspects as you're trying to grow, as you're trying to build,
you have to, you have to learn and train yourself to not get run down by the constant
discouragement where you can't survive as a, as a small business owner.
You can't just do it because it's disappointment after disappointment.
(13:03):
Yeah, but discouragement comes from not tying yourself into the biggest thing, I think being
in your own business and the biggest problem I see is the pride that these owners don't
want to say, let me stop for a minute.
Let me go talk to this guy.
This guy, I flew around all over the United States going out of my own pocket, just seeing
(13:25):
other companies, what they do.
And I seen multimillion dollar companies out at George Brazil, out of California, Maurice
Mayo out of California.
Then I went to Indiana and I just dropped in these guys.
I said, listen, I'm in town.
You might have come and look at your company.
Like, yeah, whoever, whatever.
I went there and they were like, yeah, this is what we do.
This is what we do.
And I have a vision of, and that's what I was telling you to go take a weekend and go find
(13:45):
a company that you say, listen, I'm in your area.
Can I just stop in, take your camper?
Go find a successful company.
Exactly.
You know, and just see what they do out of the state.
And all of a sudden you find a successful company that's going to be sticking your head
and then that vision will never go away.
Yeah.
The problem is that most of the guys here, their biggest success is themselves.
So they have no vision of, oh, look what I've done.
(14:09):
You know, I mean, a lot of guys are having a show here.
I see what they did.
Like Pete Garag-Gugos with Van Gogh.
Pete is very successful, you know.
And I always watched how Pete ran things.
Pete's effortlessly successful.
Well, he makes it look that way.
I guess.
There's plenty of times we've talked.
He just wanted to like take a bomb to everything and start over again, you know.
(14:30):
But he's been doing it for so long, but he has that patience of, okay, broke.
Let me work on it and we'll move from there.
You know, and that's the thing that when you go work for another company, you get like,
oh, these guys are much better than me.
And no, they're not.
They're not.
I mean, I just go look at the supply house.
Just look at the guy next to you.
You know, he looks like a bum.
(14:50):
Let me take that back.
You're hoping these guys win because-
No, leave it there on the table.
Exactly.
You're right.
You're hoping these guys are successful because their success makes you successful.
You know, I find problems, you know, the more the problem side of it is the franchise
you know, they're the companies that they're, they have a pattern.
They don't want everybody competing.
(15:11):
You know, you got that.
You got the power companies and stuff like that to come out.
You can't follow that pattern because you don't have the money.
No.
You know, but you, you look at smaller plumbers who are successful.
You know, I talk to our group, Mike Medalli, who owned, he used to own Waterworks.
I followed him for years.
And to this day, we're still close friends as far as, you know, show me what to do, what
(15:33):
not to do.
He called me up, you know, has ideas and he says, Paul, try this, try that.
So it's plugging yourself into somebody and not having pride saying, eh, I don't need
that.
Right.
You always got to say, I need everything.
It's the willingness to take risks, which this company, Quartz is willing to do.
I mean, I think we're one of the only companies around that has the systems in place that
(15:56):
we do, you know, using online-
A company our size, I would say so.
We are size online programming, which the two of you got together and, and built something
that's that most small companies just don't, they just don't have.
It's time consuming.
It's time consuming, but it's also a risk.
People are like you said, people live in their box, especially in this field in these trades,
(16:19):
they live in the box and they say, okay, I'm going to go to work.
I'm going to write up a paper receipt.
I'm going to have this.
I'm going to take a yellow pages out in the ad.
But like you convinced him, let's outside the box.
This risky, it costs money, but that's what it is to run a business.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
You're going to watch the most unassuming guys.
You're like, he'll never be successful.
You know, I have plenty of friends who run businesses that are just, you know, you don't,
(16:42):
you don't want to hang around them after hours because whatever.
But as business men, they're smart.
You know, they get the job done.
And then, you know, you're like, well, how does, what does he know that I don't know?
Why is he successful?
Is he taking more risks than I am and, you know, and just like you said, you, you were
talking the other day just about how to talk to customers and what's the best way to have
(17:05):
them understand what you're trying to do.
And it does take going online.
It does take going to classes.
It does take, you know, getting a hold of programs that they could better, they're going to
make you better.
Absolutely.
There's plenty of guys out there that are happy with going to plumbing school, getting
their license and changing toilet valves, billing the customer out, doing a sink replacement,
(17:29):
billing the customer out.
I think, and what you were saying before that there's like, you look at a lot of these companies
that aren't really evolving with the business.
The biggest reason is there's such a gap between the old timers and the guys coming up because
the average age of a plumber now today is like 52, 53, 10, 15 years ago, it was 40.
(17:57):
And now you have these new guys coming up who grew up on tech.
They know how to utilize social media.
The old guys don't want to learn that.
They don't even want to bother.
But on top of it, just take a football team, for example.
If you're a kid in college and you look at the NFL, you're saying, wow, look at these
guys.
These guys are unbelievable.
You have something to see.
You can't see your competition because he has a nice looking truck.
(18:18):
I saw another company the other night, beautiful box truck.
I'm like, man, I know we have great equipment.
So I looked at his truck and I was jealous.
Like, well, I like what he's doing.
I know this company, his company started when my father started and he still has his company
out there.
But it's just like this area.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm not going to mention names, but I know I'll tell you about them later.
But you know, it's just like a college kid wanting to get an NFL.
(18:42):
He sees what he can be.
He sees the fact that he can go out there if he tries hard.
You know, I see my own son, you know, he's in high school.
He wants to be in the NFL.
He says it.
I'm an Mason.
I was there.
Yeah.
Oh, no, everyone.
I wanted to play here.
I mean, you have the size to do it.
I died.
Yeah.
But, you know, and I try and I take him out to practice and he starts catching one hand.
(19:03):
I go, you do that.
I'm not going to throw the ball to you.
Yeah.
Well, everyone else did.
I'm like, no, you don't.
You guys learned the basics.
But these guys have college guys or high school guys.
They see the NFL.
They want to be that person.
In our industry, we don't have that.
We don't have something you want to see and say, I want my company to be like that.
That's why I say, go travel the country and find companies similar to your size, not your
(19:24):
size bigger, you know, and see what they do.
And you want to be blown away.
You're blown away.
You look at a company that's where you want to be.
So it builds a vision.
You know, you build a vision for yourself.
You find a state where you want to go.
Virginia, take a trailer.
Hey, I'm going to be down here.
You mind if I stop and talk to you about business?
Good business owners will sit down and say, absolutely.
(19:46):
There's not one person I called that said, no, I'm good.
I can't.
I can't help you out.
I mean, you have to start looking for those companies now because there's huge companies
that a lot of plumbers look up and they say, why?
I wish I was like that.
Like the franchise companies, the gold medals, the AJ Perry's who are huge with all these
trucks.
But you know what we hear from customers?
They come in, they do their procedure.
(20:08):
They make, they almost gouge the customer where they're not getting return business.
So they're, they're banking on a volume of new customers to get in there, make their
money and maybe they'll get a couple calls back, but then moving on.
That's franchise company.
That's franchise companies.
I'm not talking about franchise companies.
Of course.
(20:29):
That's what I'm saying.
You need to actually look for these companies that have our mindset but are growing.
Look for a truck that look for a company that's 10 trucks.
Right.
You know, see in the yellow page is easy.
You saw what a page is.
See the guy show his trucks.
He would show, I got 10 trucks out there.
You know, and you, and you can go to any, you can go to any online thing and find companies
out there and you go, you just call them up and say, Hey, listen, let me come out.
(20:51):
Do you mind?
I'm going to be in your area.
Yeah.
You might have a stop for, you know, try to get it on a Thursday or Friday, you know,
so you can see how it really won.
I went to Indiana or St. Louis just flew in and the guy's like, yeah, yeah, my business.
I run up, there's a main road that goes up and down St. Louis.
He goes, I go, listen, I'm going to be there.
I was going to be there.
I just like, I got them singing these do out there.
(21:12):
You might have stopped in on Friday and take a ride with one of you guys.
And he's like, yeah, absolutely.
Come on in.
I took a ride.
Oh yeah.
I went on a ride with a guy and I was doing the help with the plumbing inside the house.
I said, don't pay me.
Just, just have me go for a ride.
I just want to learn about your business.
And if they're a good owner, they'll say, yeah, come on in.
Yeah.
But that's a different, that's, that's a completely different type of mentality that like I'll,
(21:34):
I'll be honest, I'll say that I didn't even have an idea like that in my head to take
a trip somewhere.
You, you built something.
Cause I remember him talking about how when you guys were first starting, when you worked
and you had what four or five trucks, you had what 10 guys working for you.
It took a couple of years.
Yeah.
It took a couple of years.
(21:54):
It wasn't that many of us.
You also had this grow, build mentality, which is again, it's a risk taking mentality.
And then obviously a weight, you know, listen, that was a nineties.
That one, the economy was still going good.
People want to grow big.
You know, we've gotten beaten up for the past 15 years.
And businesses right now, you know, when you drive down route forward 17, you see store
(22:15):
fronts that are closed.
I'd never saw that.
Exactly.
Until the 2000s.
Yeah.
That was true.
Yeah.
Never saw a store front close.
What do you guys, what do you guys think kept courts around for so long versus other companies?
God.
Yes.
God.
But I'm going to say this.
The local aspect of courts, I go back to the fact that I drive the truck everywhere.
(22:40):
Everybody always asked about Paul courts.
Everybody asked about the, I mean, the older customers asked about your, your father, his
grandfather.
And I think that's what people are losing that also gold medal, Benjamin Franklin, those
big companies don't necessarily offer is that you're from this town that we do most of our
work in.
Everybody wants to see the owner's face.
One of the courts is face.
(23:02):
It's a courts company.
It's not like you have courts plumbing and heating and you have Joe Schmoe working for
you.
Not that that's so bad, but you guys are showing up to people's homes and people love to see
that.
Yeah.
You're getting a courts.
People love to shop local.
That's why shop local is becoming so huge.
Well, yeah.
And that's the whole thing.
And that's, you know, and that's the way you have to capture it and hold onto it.
(23:23):
You know, and it's, you know, there's a lot of programs you can watch that become the
greatest market in the world, whatever, but, you know, we're lucky because it is a family
business.
How many family businesses are now left that was around my father when it was around?
I would say we're one of them.
Brighton back.
Oh, it's a bunch of guys.
(23:47):
Wicker shine, you know, you know, there's probably maybe 15, 15, 20 plumbers really that
were the original ones.
But these, you know, these are guys that are all friends of mine still today.
I call and say, Hey, can you help us out?
Because that lasted.
Oh, yeah.
You're saying that lasted?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, a lot of them just went out.
You know, they're just because the last person, you know, there was a guy called Big
(24:10):
Ed was a plumber and he was at a two mile.
There's people that still talk about that guy.
Big Ed was the funniest guy.
And my father and I got him got along great.
Big truck and it said Big Ed's plumbing.
You know, and he was, but the thing back then is that all the old time plumbers would drive
to the supply house and that would be like their first day meeting, right?
(24:33):
Sit around having coffees, don't want to do what you guys doing today.
And there was really nobody screwing everybody over.
There was like, well, I'm going over here.
I'm going over here.
And then they, and then they would then go on their jobs and they'd be all friends.
Yeah.
You know, and then came the, I gotta be number one guy comes in and he just like screws everybody
over.
You know, I mean, I went to, I went to a.
When I went to the licensee school, there was a kid in there and I'm not going to mention
(24:56):
his name.
He's like, if you called another plumber, we both, we both got screwed.
You know, it's like, oh, and put that on a truck.
You know, and I was like, and I said, I'm always apparently still in business.
So let's try it.
No, if it, no, no, if you, if you called another plumber, we both lost money is what he said
(25:18):
on there.
Something like that was, it was, it was arrogant.
Yeah.
He's like an arrogant kid and if he probably sees the podcast, I'll know who he is.
You know, not that I really, you know, I mean, I don't know where he is today.
Confidus.
Yeah.
He'll find, he'll find us, but I just thought.
At one, six months.
Yeah.
I just thought that, okay.
So if that works for you, then fine.
You know, but you're going to have to build your business on that type of rep.
(25:39):
That you are like, you're not looking out for your friends.
Listen, I'm, I think, how many guys have I introduced you in our industry that I can call it at a
drop of a dime, Wickersheim, you know, Woody's, all these guys I can call and say, Hey, you
know, just give, give Scott a call, give Rob a call, you know, because we knew that there's
(26:00):
plenty of work in the area.
Yes.
Build your business with friendship.
Yep.
And grow from there.
I mean, yeah.
I mean, Pascac Valley Plumbers Association.
I mean, all those guys that we all know each other.
Right.
You know, there's too much work around here to be like offended if somebody, you know,
there's, there's no point in being defensive of your customers, all this stuff.
(26:23):
There's way too much work for that.
It's stupid and it ostracizes you from the rest of the plumbers in the industry.
I mean, I mean, this, this, in the next couple of episodes, we have like three local plumbers
who are supposed to be our competitors that are coming on here.
Yeah, they should be.
And we're just going to come on here and BS and talk about, you know,
Listen, I'm good friends with Keith Hammer.
His father was my father's drain guy when he started out with, you know, these guys
(26:45):
are all still around that the kids now took over and we're all still friends.
Like we know that, you know, I think the hardest thing is us trying to find qualified workers,
people who come into our industry and say, Hey, this is what I want to do for a living
because you're right.
You go to the guy when you left and you like, like, I don't want to live here.
And I don't want to say anything bad about them because they were good.
(27:09):
No, no, they were good.
I like them.
I like their son.
I still talk to their son and stuff, but it just, it wasn't the same environment, I guess,
that I wanted to be in that courts kind of, right?
You know, that courts kind of builds.
So, yeah, it's, listen, this is not it.
I keep telling him, this is not easy.
No, I mean, my father was doing it since 1961.
(27:32):
I was even born yet, you know, and he was his father would did something.
And then he had take over and it was just, you know, and I watched when I was a little
kid, my father's office was in the middle of the house and he had this big answering
service.
It was like the size of like this was in the sixties you're talking about.
He's seventies.
Yeah.
(27:52):
So every day in that like dining room, there was between our kitchen because I remember
the old, old setup of that house.
Yeah, yeah, it was all open.
Yeah.
So it was, it's open now, but it was, it was a weird open.
Like there was, we're surprised the house.
Yeah, that house never made any sense until recently.
Yeah.
And he, he had this thing and just, I just had that mindset back then when I, when I
(28:14):
saw my father was struggling that there was this big box and there was a little arrow
on it that said, it said, it said, it went all the way up to like 20.
And every time you got a call, the arrow went up and he would come home and look at the box
and there was a zero, no calls.
So and he for a couple of weeks and there's one time I saw him go over to the phone, lift
(28:36):
it up to see if it was working.
Yeah.
You know, and that's terrifying.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
And seven kids, there were seven of us.
Yeah.
You know, and I was sitting there and I was like, I'm praying.
I'm like, oh man, we just had some work.
See that's, that's why when people complain, I think about the economy doing well or doing
poor.
Yes, it matters.
It makes a huge difference.
(28:56):
But as long as you're good at business, as long as you know your business, I think you'll
always survive.
And I think that's a part of the reason why courts survive.
Well, know your numbers.
Know your numbers.
Yeah.
And I, and another friend of ours in Burgenfield, his drain company, this guy never touched
a drain.
He was such a smart guy, knew his numbers.
(29:19):
A lot of good plumbers came out of his business.
He ended up selling his business for a couple of million, went down to Florida, did it again.
He never, he never touched a tool.
And there's a lot of guys like that.
Yeah.
You know, I see guys like that.
Yeah.
You know, the problem is that we're still caught up in the mentality that, oh, we got to work
to make the money.
And to make that step and the risk is you got to rely on your numbers because if you
(29:43):
don't believe your numbers, you're not going to make those marks.
How many times we talk about it, it's like, well, should we hire this person?
Should we do this?
Well, they get so.
I mean, you were a risk.
You know, yeah.
And I think that how long, how long did you guys say going back to the hiring younger
guys?
How long did you say that it takes for a new hire to become profitable?
(30:05):
Oh, more than a year.
15 years.
How long has Max been here?
You're almost halfway there.
By the way, six more years in the year after.
When are you going to make some money?
Well, you'll see.
You'll listen.
You'll know right away if a person is profitable.
Well, it generally takes a year to make that money back.
Exactly.
Well, I mean, somebody who's again, this, this show, what we've started with is that
(30:30):
is getting younger people, even if you're not qualified to get into this, to get into
the trades.
So somebody who wants to come in, how long did you say it?
Even if you're not qualified, it takes about a year, maybe a year to a year and a half
till you can start earning the money back from the training.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, it's when Philip came in.
Just hemorrhaging money.
(30:50):
No, that is true.
We've been sitting there and he came up to me goes, I want to learn plumbing.
I'm like, I don't know where I'm like, all right.
So I don't know if I'm going to for him or not.
Wrong.
I'm going to tell the story.
He's told me that he never wanted to get into it.
I never want to do it.
Let's do this real quick.
Let's do this.
Let's let's take a quick, quick break.
(31:11):
Are you sure you want to take a break before this?
I want to do.
I want to recoup.
Let's take a quick break and then we're going to pick it up right here.
Okay.
Because this is exactly what I want to get into.
The transition from, because we talked about the transition from grandpa to you.
Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.
I want to touch base on the transition from you to me and I want to tell the story.
(31:34):
I remember every detail about it.
Let's get into the courts family history.
All right.
All right.
Well, thanks for joining us folks.
We'll see you.
This place is going to be a mess.
All right, folks, stick with us.
We'll be right back.
All right, folks, stick with us and stay still.
(32:01):
Wait for it, folks.
All right.
See you later.
Enjoy your party.
Levittas,
guys welcome back to plumbums
(32:45):
podcast the blue collar tradesmanship we talk about small business
entrepreneurship the every man's podcast is max likes to say the special
Thanksgiving episode superimpose a turkey yeah I can do whatever you want
I'm talented when it comes to this stuff we're here with my uncle Paul quartz the
guy who I inherited the business from what seven years ago yeah eight years ago
(33:10):
eight almost gone a ninth how does it feel she's yeah that's I can't believe
it's been that long yeah good it's flying I should not think about it feels
that long yeah but no your beard was not gray when I got here it wasn't no the
beard has absolutely I will give you that okay but that's the only one you get
that's a freebie so we tell Thanksgiving stories no before we before we went on
(33:33):
break he's itching to tell Thanksgiving course stories go ahead tell it before we
went on break we were talking about how I came up and I remember was your 50th
birthday party I was working at the pool company I was in like my eighth year
over there ninth year yeah and you had that big birthday party at whatever
(33:54):
event that was my whole family was there and you and you come up to it was a
per that's right it was a per wherever and you come up to me you go what the
heck are you doing building pools I got a business with your name on it you come
in you learn the business it's ready for you to go and to be honest I never
even thought about it yeah because I remember growing up with grandpa and he
(34:17):
used to take us out all of us all the boys one of we turn 10 me David Michael
Daniel even took out everybody out and I used to go out I liked going out with
grandpa but I'm like I'm never gonna be a plumber never gonna do it tell your
father well yeah and then I was the soft hands he's not gonna write that one
(34:40):
I'm gonna redeem my dad right now because we talk to the lie down I'm sorry I'm sorry
I'm gonna read you my father and I'll redeem him he helped me out yes yeah he
was my he was my right hand man what other brother came in and did that none
of our right no no no no no no your father was he helped me out so many times
one of how many brothers though five five well five brothers four sisters no
(35:03):
four yeah five five boys two girls yeah yeah but no Steve your father was
without him no one got through a lot of stuff well he needed the money to yeah
I remember growing up so you can take those little underhanded digs well I
grew up with the money didn't want to work with you it was no he did he was
always happy it's like I'll help you out yeah yeah no he was always he was always
good mostly was one of the few courses that stuck around the area Joe went out
(35:26):
to California yeah he was exactly but you know anytime I need to help you when
I had my construction business he was like we were up till sometimes overnight
sparkling walls doing sheet rock like he would stay with me the whole night and
just like you know I mean I remember we were doing boilers late well that one
house yeah overnight just done yeah sometimes it's got to be done but I
(35:48):
remember at your birthday party your 50th birthday party 5 0 you come up to me
and you say what are you doing building pools and I never thought about it and
then it took a year for me to actually make a change but because I was making a
lot of money the pool place it was a tough it was tough to it was tough to
(36:08):
take that step back and learn a whole industry that is I mean at this point I
like I can't imagine doing anything else as frustrated as I get and as many years
of my life I shave off every day yeah yeah but I'll never forget that that was
the first time that like you put it in my mind and then I came in because we have
a huge how long after that though about a year took about a year took a year
(36:30):
about a year because I he he put that in my head and then I started talking to my
old boss and saying listen I'm actually thinking of changing industries oh no
you don't yeah oh no you don't let me just offer you more money so he did yeah
and I stuck it out for a couple more months and it just wasn't working out
and this is why when you asked what kept you guys in business for so long we
(36:53):
don't talk about religion and stuff a lot on this podcast but I'm telling you
God has had his hand in this business from day one yeah it was when you look
back and you break down certain situations it's not even a question okay
we have we were supposed to be dead in the waters how many times oh 200 times
(37:15):
yeah especially with last week well maybe tomorrow I can see the bills there's
no mention the job I pretty much lost everything we had homes we put my
what my wife and I bought rental properties together 2008 wiped us out so
bad that we had a house lost to winter properties and the blues in my house had
(37:39):
to go rent the house to the guy right now who bought my previous home so that's
right yeah so then so the he's a good friend of mine so still that's like
humility so yeah very everybody's a good friend of course yeah Paul is a good
friend on that you can't go anywhere around here so he ended by he ended by
(38:01):
my so what happened was 2008 Patty and I were just selling off everything and we
ended up at that point we were in River Edge what year did you get married 2004
oh man so four years into the marriage she's like what did I do no choice did I
make no she was like listen I'm gonna tell you right right now if she was gonna
leave me she would left me 20 years ago so she's she's a great girl she had her
(38:24):
chance to get out she's sticking around now she has no choice no she's been very
strong with everything she's she's that she's I can't thank her enough the stuff
this stuff plus this stuff she puts up with me but yeah we were 2008 hit and
and it was like we were sitting there like well we gotta get rid of this house
and get rid of this and everyone's like why tell us sorry I'm like cuz I'm not
(38:46):
embarrassed to buy it I want people to see that the fact we came back right
yeah we lasted we lasted in fact we came back from my chair in the same yeah we
came we came back it's like this so we came back from that and we were able to
buy another house we were able to get back on her feet you know my daughter's
going to college again now it's like yeah like if you don't watch yourself in
(39:07):
that moment where you're like a story it is and it's like you sit there you're
like oh I'm never gonna work be mad at me I'm like you know and I tell that's
why I tell everyone it's like you know it just just wait till tomorrow because
something's gonna change it's gonna change it's hard to keep that mindset when
you're in it though listen I'm gonna be open with our audience right now I'm an
(39:28):
emotional wreck half the time okay you like can vouch you are I take because I
have expectations of how things should go I I say like when I look at the
numbers you all do I know but I like this is I want this to grow like this is
(39:49):
our family business you know what I mean and I'm the one that's in charge of it
now there's a lot of pressure that I actually probably assume that know that
most people don't put on me but I assume it for myself and I've had every type of
job in the book I've done every type of industry and here I am now there's a lot
(40:10):
of pressure that I put on myself for it and so I take everything to heart when
it's the slay you say it all the time you say what's a slinky effect it's a
roller coaster don't worry about it we're gonna get up we're gonna get down
we're gonna get down when we're down I have a hard time seeing the tree incline
yeah that is the tree yeah listen and that's the difference of being a great
(40:31):
owner and being a person who just does you know puts in a lot of owls every day
well I think that's also the experience that you bring to the table that helps
kind of calm him and kind of I guess that your experience helps with him
seeing that you're you're moving on the right path yeah perfect story is I so
(40:53):
what happened was we moved we used to be in the basement of our house in River
Edge and then we took everyone moved out of house and so I said I hate being the
basement let's take our office to the second floor so we had all the bedrooms
up there we made a muller it was a great little setup yeah so I had my own
office my mom had her office my father just floated around and there was another
bedroom there that was turned into like a a tech room you know and every morning
(41:16):
my father we get up and I was sitting my desk and I'd be like dad you don't
understand we're going to the stuff he's like he goes it'll be all right
relax and I'm like you don't understand and he's like he started laughing at me
and he started like he goes what I go we laugh at he goes it'll be all right
trust me he goes I've been through worse you know and he goes you'll
understand one day and and it was not one time it was probably 30 times yeah
(41:41):
well you've absorbed his role with me like I took it I've taken your role of
freaking out at the time like how are we gonna make do this oh yeah I used to
freak out and now you laughing me all the time I do because it pisses me off so
much I see what happens like well you know it's like when we took like the
first boiler job at the barns is you were crying okay it wasn't shedding tears
(42:04):
but I was like I can't do this yeah there's I cannot do this there's no one
doing I was laughing and you were laughing in my face and I walked out I had a
cigarette I'm like you know what but where am I supposed to go well yeah I
got no place like Richard gear in that office a gentleman yeah exactly
I got no place to go I mean literally that was the first year was it was a
(42:30):
culture shock for me yeah of course you know because my whole life they're gonna
we're gonna open up to the audience oh what we're getting emotional no we're not
getting emotional yeah
intermission or the audio just turns off and the two you start fully back around
(42:54):
it's dark the zooms in slowly let me tell you about my life no there's it's
it's just been back and listen I've had I did the math once I've had 34 different
jobs even maybe even more than that just experience yeah that's a lot of
experience so I mean just going back and forth like just wavering literally like
like a like a dead fish in a river sometimes yeah and I'm at a point in my
(43:19):
life where I'm like listen I'm in my almost to my mid 40s here I gotta settle
on something so I take the roller coaster the downs the declines to
commercial very very like I'm gonna come out with this and I I pray about this all
the time like I don't put trust in God when I should be and grandpa and you you
(43:39):
tell me all the time grandpa had no problem doing that now yeah no problem
you know like I said he's laughing me across the desk he's like you're crying
me I'm like you don't understand I'm trying to build a thing he's like seven
children you had seven children it's like no but it and and he developed
(44:00):
something in my head you know he liked the fact that when I when I took over he
was so happy because he saw the drive I wanted to build a company yeah I wanted
to build a 20 trucks on the road stuff like that but you know our business is
gonna be only as big as we allow it to be you know it's there to do it you know
it's it's waiting for us to become let's say we had 20 trucks on a road night
(44:22):
now do you think we can handle it mentally no me yeah do you think I can
handle it mentally I don't know I mean I don't think so handle half a truck but
I'm saying if you put five trucks on a road and you shoot that as your goal
five trucks doing 350,000 a year five trucks yes yes of course I actually yes
I did yeah five trucks at $350,000 a year what is that number 1.6 million
(44:46):
is it that much yeah three six nine twelve okay little under I mean it's
1.4 4 million whatever it is but you do that at a 20% net profit right you're
putting on your own you're paying out bonuses you're paying paychecks you're
putting money in the bank you're putting you know yeah what do you put in
(45:09):
away eighty ninety thousand a hundred thousand dollars a year for a rainy day
for a rainy day here's what I think a lot of companies and a lot of plumbers
who are especially coming up and even actually the old-timers because I talked
to the old-timers and you know what the old-timer I'm talking about I'm pointing
to next door there is here's all time no next door the shop next door yeah I
(45:30):
would consider him an old-timer well he has the mentality of an old-timer he's
younger than me not much yeah he's not much older than you yeah he's around
there okay all right there is for some reason blue collar guys and tradesmen
he should be on his own basis that's why they there's there's like and the public
(45:52):
looks at us a certain way like oh you're you work with your hands you work with
like my sewer line it's almost like you're lower on the cast system and I
feel that there is actually right now a blue collar revolution especially since
COVID because we realize that we're not expendable we're essential and we make
(46:13):
the world go around so I actually as much as COVID sucked and it like through
a wrench and a lot of small businesses it woke a lot of people up yeah yeah
because we now realize who makes the world go around and there is a huge
blue collar revolution because we we deserve fair pay we deserve to live in
(46:36):
the area where we work we deserve to be able to comfortably send our kids to
college or do this or you know take a vacation once a year and but the old I
gotta tell you story on that one let me finish this one thought a lot of the
old-timers will work and they'll work and they'll work and they'll work and
they'll do a toilet valve for a hundred dollars and go in and out of it and it's
(46:58):
like listen we need to change the mentality through the whole industry and
say we deserve pay that reflects what we do for the first society I think the
difference I think that's what you're talking about though is I think the new
generation starting with you actually is switching up this mentality of a plumber
(47:21):
just being a plumber just being a good plumber you have to be not only a good
plumber but a good businessman yeah which is I think the thing that you're
trying to change up with the systems that you're putting in place and what
your value is never lose your value yeah you can survive as a good plumber and
doing the good plumber things but you're just survived you just put him down I
(47:42):
think he's it you know he's he's good I just think that you know he broke away
and he was he's happy where he is who oh yeah the next yeah don't say that
he's his pot he knows we talk about a lot of time okay I've been trying to get
him on yeah I like he's a good man you know but but back that story as far as
(48:03):
like it's the expectation of a blue-collar thought to a white-collar
thought right so I was doing a job a bunch of years ago in Oradell and I'm
sitting there and I charge a lady and she's like my husband doesn't even make
that much money I'm like what do you mean your husband doesn't make he's a lawyer
he's in charge that much I go well maybe she's changed his job and she was like
oh that's so rude why you talk to him like I go what do you think I do for a
(48:25):
living I go I'm here to save your house from freezing right I go I'm not taking
anybody to court I'm here to save you free right do you want heat or no and I
wasn't being a jerk I was like I was like take it back like don't talk to me that
way yeah you know but people feel because you're blue-collar and you this
you're that you're not smart yeah some of the smartest guys I know are blue-collar
guys some of the smartest guys like you mentioned before yeah get into blue-collar
(48:48):
fields without even being a blue collar worker yeah because there is good money
to be made and I think those people the want the business guys who not
necessarily never touched a wrench but are not really out in the field they
understand the importance of this work yeah I actually want to I did I actually
want to stay on this topic for a little bit because I think it needs it warrants
(49:10):
a lot of discussion and you know that I had a hard time adopting my worth as a
plumber servicing Bergen County yeah I had a hard time how do we charge this
lady that much I mean are you serious we're gonna charge it took me a while
and then I got to a point where cuz you know the numbers that's why well yeah
that's a huge thing not knowing the numbers we know the numbers to survive
(49:34):
see the lady who has the whole lawyer husband he doesn't have the overhead we
have well if he has an office he does but office if he does but I actually did
the numbers versus lawyer versus plumber yeah the he doesn't have the high
insurance that we have he doesn't have the truck the gas the truck insurance the
(49:54):
new truck payment like what did you explain to me what is it to just turn
the key in and the truck and start your day yeah hundred thousand dollars yeah
I mean I'm just to turn the key on in the morning and she explained to me it's
like almost a hundred fifty dollars just to turn the key on in the morning absolutely
when you when I think it's there it does nothing I mean it would just yeah and
you have people don't you nowadays if you're gonna be a successful plumber and
(50:18):
not just not just a not just a guy who's just getting by if you're actually
gonna build your company and have employees that that you can trust that
the customer can trust that are clean that are engaging the customer that are
gonna do a good job for you you have to pay for that yeah you also have to create
which this company does and I've noticed it over the past few years what you guys
(50:41):
have built up that value system so when you guys show up when we show up to
somebody's house and you started it we show up in nice collared shirts clean
clean trucks nice logo you know we put booties on in people's homes if you show
up charging you know high rates but you come in and I've seen people do this
(51:03):
ripped sweatpants yeah you know a baggy baggy sweatshirt that's not your
competition you know your competition is the franchise companies but some people
will have that competition you know but they're easy to beat because they're so
big you know I explained to people that when you have a company that big it's
like turning the ship yes and you're and every move you have to do is so slow
(51:25):
we're small we're like a speedboat we can come in come out make some decisions
move in cut back we need to build if we need to you know and that's that's a
huge thing if you as a business owner understand that you know and look at
and don't get blown away about his big picture of all my bills I would I would
hang myself if I looked everybody I'm like I'm not gonna pay this well that's
(51:46):
where I think you get credit for kind of the transition between you and him and
allowing him to do a lot of these outside the box ideas that you may not
necessarily be familiar with yeah you weren't so familiar with that's a lot of
fun yeah it does actually okay I do I will tell I have no problem being open
(52:09):
and honest with our audience okay you know how the courts is are yeah we learn
the hard way it doesn't matter who came before us like Jesus could come before us
and say this is how you do it no this is not how you do it I got a we have to
learn the hard way every single courts and that wants 3000 exactly it's true
(52:33):
and like when I look back I get frustrated of the lessons that I've
learned up to this point and I said why I just why they just because it's lazy
and when it comes down as I'm not saying you're I'm just saying it comes down to
laziness because it takes a lot of strength to think out of the box it
takes a lot of strength to say you know what I did this before let me try
(52:53):
something different that means you gotta go research and you gotta go over and
figure out what you gotta do to do the same thing over and over it's not you're
dumb it's just lazy and I've done that for years I was like I'm like I got the
same results I guess that's the thing it's just it's just like it's gonna change
if I do it this way and it's not listen right now what we're doing is we're on
(53:15):
track we're on track it's weird it's just a matter of things hitting the same
time well everyone's in the boat we are right yeah exactly everyone's waiting
for it to hit I mean you're right now okay we got a new president but your
your economy is still yeah it's lingering trillions in debt that that is
going to still trigger inflation that has to be whittled down somehow and until
(53:36):
that inflation goes away you're not gonna be able to people like me like
okay here I got a thousand dollars right you're a few more confident buying now
but you know we're kind of held back on things you know as far as people spending
money oh a hundred percent yeah because we're we have over the past year I would
say two years we have made the transition not so much going to we're going
(53:57):
to a house I'm gonna be a plumber we're gonna fix this we're actually making a
transition to sales yeah and that is a big change it's almost a culture shock
for people around here you know what I mean yeah because we're in we're
implementing new procedures and things that we do in the field that most
customers aren't familiar with we do the flat rate option sheet we give you six
(54:19):
options and I tell people all the time I say listen I'm coming in here and I'm
doing this option sheet for you and I'm giving you options on what you want to
do for your home because I know that you don't want to see me for years yeah
nobody wants to see a plumber so that's what we're building our business on we're
gonna give you we're gonna take care of all this stuff in one shot you're gonna
(54:41):
be covered for years and you don't have to worry about it's not like PSE and G's
worry-free where they cover this but they don't cover that and they will maybe
touch this part but they don't touch that part we're coming in there we're
saying listen here's a flat rate to take care of everything I see you don't have
to see me for years you're covered and if you have a problem within that warranty
(55:02):
period you don't have to worry about anything and it's a transition period
with a lot of people around here because they're not accustomed to that well
plus you as an owner you're confident that a lot of people don't want to take
that step as it as other owners are like you know I'm fine just right when I am
here yes it's a big step to do changes like that to go from your basic drive
(55:22):
around on one truck or a box truck and have your truck loaded up and stuff and
all of a sudden going to house and ladies like can you just fix my flapper yeah
well I'm not doing you justice by just fixing that because I'll be back next
week we're gonna take care of you right now and I guess what after that you're
gonna keep coming back as you so we took care of the first time right and that's
that comes to that comes in quality it's no I was gonna say it's I think it's
(55:44):
that mixture of your experience with his like new era type of new era type of
blue collar tradesmen business owning yeah it's you've seen it all you know
what works and what doesn't work but you're still willing to let the new
things you've given me a lot of play well you have because if you don't you
(56:05):
won't learn now it's a dumb thing I think my Conroy who owns numbers cruncher
said the worst thing he goes don't let somebody build a business off your
credit you know and he well he said he said because he knows about you he goes
don't let your nephew make mistakes that's gonna cost you money and oh too
late oh no but I understand what he was saying we're not there you know I'm
(56:33):
we're not there you know well sometimes you are but I'm sick but we're not you
know if you were sitting there and bleeding this every day and saying and I
look at the books I'm like oh we just can't pay this bill it says it's not
that it's we I I know the threshold of this business I know at what point we
can say yes or no this is not like a private school district where they get
(56:54):
or public school district where they get tons of money taxpayer money boom boom
boom you're loading up yeah you know we gotta we gotta go hunt every day for us
to eat that's it and if you look at the numbers for the past five years we're
because of the economy the way it was we pretty much stayed even right which is a
plus there's companies right now that are not here anymore you know I look at
(57:16):
the numbers all the time when we look at the end of your numbers we're pretty
much even if we did the same we did last year at this point we're fine with that
people like well you should be grown this is not a growth economy exactly
hundred twenty thousand dollars rejected in October for jobs there was twelve
thousand jobs created the government really yeah where'd you hear that I'm
(57:37):
sorry let me take it back it was a hundred twenty million hundred twenty
thousand hundred twenty million I'm not sure out of that number the government
said we we're gonna create a hundred twenty in in October these are numbers
I follow we ended up creating twelve million or twelve thousand one of the two
I'm not sure so way news we're the way under with jobs that you can't turn around
say people like there's not other plumbers out there hiring right now because
(58:00):
they're not ready for the economy right now is really stalled yeah but but
because of the people telling you oh we're you're fine I just went to the
grocery stores today now I measure my food within two barrels or buckets and
I bring them in because I want to bring bags I hate bags right so I put I put
them in it's three hundred twenty five dollars insane weekly I used to pay that
(58:21):
same stuff for 175 eggs yeah hundred seventy five dollars yeah and it's like
it was like oh it's the same really go get gas three twenty five three well it's
going down well it's going down because it's politically sometimes but right but
but well before any presidential election gas goes down of course it does
yeah it always does no matter who's running yeah and I tell and just to make
this clear we have Trump's book on our case we have Hillary's book we have
(58:45):
Obama's book so try to figure out where we're coming from okay you can't but I
will pay this okay no matter what you think about the guy when he got elected
in 2016 the day he got elected it was like the floodgates open we're gonna win
so big yes yes I'm gonna win you're gonna be tired and he went in and I'm not
(59:10):
even advocating for the guy right now I'm just telling you facts like I remember
the day he got the what the day he was announced as president like yeah the
floodgates open now we're at a point where people have been through three
and a half four years of just regression yeah so there's there may be a turning
point you see it right now there's a lot of stuff that's already changing on the
(59:31):
on the horizon there's a lot of stuff that's coming our way and again I'm
making this political I'm just saying let's talk about real facts you know and
you're right when you when you got elected again and you whoever if you
vote of Harris we don't give a crap there is a change already in people were
exhausted they were beat up and they're like okay let's just try something
different right if it goes wrong we'll go back to the old school well I think
(59:52):
the focus of this particular topic should be it doesn't matter politics does
affect business for sure but it shouldn't matter who's in office for you to
run your business correctly and I think that's what yeah we've done for the past
you know seven years that I've been here you have to know how to there's there's
good times there's bad times doesn't matter who what when where why you've
(01:00:16):
dealt with oh wait you survived yeah we've dealt with COVID done better you
know it's it's it's it's about surviving yeah and then in the good times
thriving but you have to run your business I'm telling you I owe a was
something that we never saw like we nobody did nobody's and you said just to
interject when you did the first audio episode you said 2008 happened and it
(01:00:41):
was like the light switch got clicked off oh yeah it was for everybody for
everybody it doesn't matter what industry you're in how many it was done
super wealthy they'll always be fine they made even even like the mediocre
wealthy the upper class like it hit everybody oh yeah there was nothing you
can do yeah I know it was horrible but but again look what happened we were
(01:01:03):
still here you know I mean we bought another truck we bought another truck you
know it's like we're expanding we're we're looking to bring people on now we
got a lot of compliments on that truck actually yeah it's beautiful truck we
got a lot of compliments and I love working out of that truck yeah and so
listen found that and found that you did you find that or I found it you found it
(01:01:24):
you found it max found it yeah did you find that I did yeah max found that truck
I went that was that in Pennsylvania we drove and like this is big it was I
we look at the right truck is this thing's really hot it was oh no that's
a good if I anything in between yeah there's nothing hackney's not making
anything right now actually you know what's a year yeah it took a year well
this was also right but COVID changed a lot of things bad I went to Westwood and
(01:01:50):
so they're old rider trucks yeah you know and they were you got the one with
a big thing on top right grandma's attic and then you have the smaller ones that
which you have to go that route we probably could make that work to be
honest but here's the thing you got to paint the whole thing white I'm not I'm
not right now they painted buddy are white yeah they take all the names off
them right now well listen we got we were we're interviewing people right now we
(01:02:12):
may actually pick up another guy so we may be in the market of another truck
which is huge 10 grand 80,000 miles 10 grand yeah 10 that's it 12 grand for
80 yeah but these trucks have 80 90,000 highway miles that's nothing yeah these
things last do these things last forever what these he's the car box trucks yeah
no the rider trucks that they sell the moving truck if you get 10 years what
(01:02:34):
engine it depends what what true but if you but if you get five or seven years
out of that truck for 10,000 or 12,000 it's worth it I told you you can be
about this truck why I said this truck instead of the other one that we have is
because it's it's a tried-and-true engine and transmission type truck they'll
last forever it had super low miles yeah but dude I will never go transit again
(01:02:57):
courts is done with transit yeah really oh I hate it I hate it I hate it look cool
they look great they look cool they're just to work out of it there's no
storage there's the box truck is the way to go yeah it's a rolling shop no you
roll up you're ready to go you have the table that pulls out you can we're done
(01:03:18):
with transit I may I'm making the executive especially with like the new
truck I think and the newer trucks in general is that everybody wants fancy
they want the new tech they want you know Bluetooth they want you know power
windows when I told you about that truck I said it's got roll-up windows and I
remember you guys are like you sure you want roll windows I said it's one less
(01:03:40):
thing one less problem that you even have to do listen if you and if you
drive to the Hacksack River
wow you know everything is simple simplicity is actually yeah well what
if you drive the ocean that thing will probably float with all the air in the
truck I tell you one thing it hits every tree branch growing down like this
(01:04:03):
I don't want to hear that but you know what it it like it's a derb it can take
it that's what I'm saying like I get out every tree branch we were driving down
today we were driving down we had to do a job together today I'm driving down it
felt like we were under attack from Hamas and I get out I parked the truck I'm
like holy crap and I look and there's nothing I'm like holy this truck is like
(01:04:26):
yeah all right next question
you know let's do this we're at we're at the long mark again we're gonna take
one more break all right we'll come back with you guys before we think we go to
break I do want to say this one thing the next several episodes are sponsored by
a phenomenal contractor we have you guys heard him he was on this episode last
(01:04:49):
week jigsaw PMR jigsaw pmr.com they are our remediation company mold fire
water and why do I always lose the fourth one mold fire water what is the
fourth one you're the only one that clues me in they do everything all right
this guy is the most responsive contractor we have jigsaw PMR is great
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huh flooding what it would flood he's there are remediation guy okay yeah yeah
yeah no I know that great guy who we talking about I'm just jigsaw I know
I'm just trying to get a fourth fourth one the fourth is the wood water fire you
cannot air this the way you're whatever what you're bothering care care
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he'll do with asbestos yeah he will show up to you if you guys have any issue in
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the floor he'll show up with the tools he has every high-tech device to make
sure that your house is completely rid of any dangerous mold any damage and
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Facebook give us a call at 201-425-4855 jigsaw PMR restoring peace of mind. Welcome back to a
(01:07:24):
special Thanksgiving episode of Plum Bumps podcast the blue collar trades
show where we talk about small business and entrepreneurship in these crazy
times of 2024 the every man's podcast and it really has become that the every
man's podcast. I feel like we need to get you a clipboard. What? Oh it just feels a little bit
unprofessional to just have yourself a piece of paper there. A clipboard would be too intrusive on the camera? No it makes you look good.
(01:07:48):
That's a good point. That's a thousand papers I was like folks thanks for joining us again we want to remind you that this show is
sponsored by jigsaw PMR jigsaw PMR.com are your local out of Oradell cleanup
company for mold remediation flood fire all that stuff check them out but we also
(01:08:13):
want to extend the invite for anyone who's in a special industry anyone who
owns a business locally to the Bergen County area we are always looking for
people to come on the show that are in some kind of strange industry interesting
industry or if you're small business owner or entrepreneur we'd love to have
you guys on the show if you get if you're interested you're gonna go to
(01:08:35):
courtsplumme.com you're gonna click the the podcast link up at the top right
corner and go down and fill out be a guest application you'll press it right
here you're gonna put it right here I think I can make that work all right
and we'll get it in post make it work no folks any type of industry any local
(01:08:55):
business owner will have you on it's a lot of fun will push your business so if
you're interested fill out that application we'll get you on it's a ton of
fun it's very relaxed and you basically have a two-hour commercial to just plug
your business but all right so where did we leave off here
unki Paul unki pooh yeah you know say hi to court see man say hi to don't forget
(01:09:20):
to say hi to all how's Paul doing we can't drive down the road even still
it's been eight years I can't we can't drive down the road without someone like
honking waving anywhere we go everybody's house is Paul is Paul still with
you guys listen in cars in less here that's what I said he's not with us
(01:09:41):
anymore he died and gave me the business it's mine now oh you're here he's just
taxi dermis we can use his license number oh my gosh that is so funny that
course here he's a carpet in the living room in front of the fireplace no
(01:10:02):
the everywhere we go you cannot we you can't avoid it hey court see see of course
and you know what I find I listened to Nikki's friends come in and call him the
same thing it's so funny tradition listen they were calling your aunts and
uncles that night yeah that was our name in high school it wasn't it wasn't
anything but yeah yeah the number no one went by the first name so we have a
(01:10:23):
massive family yeah our families huge pretty big most of them when I was
growing up they all lived in this area so Christmas Thanksgiving was just a
packed house just beyond packed just people pouring out the door and on top
of our massive family grandma grandpa used to always invite like a bonds in
yeah so it was just constant people in and out I never thought that I would be
(01:10:50):
the one to just to step up to step up and like take over the business you know
what I mean yeah but and not to get like mushier anything but there's I love you
dad I never thought that like there's that I would that I would be the one I'm
(01:11:11):
so for those of you don't know in the courts family there's like 16 different
there's 16 grandchildren and then a countless great grandchildren I'm the
firstborn yeah which which which I believe then the next couple of years I
think a lot of them will start coming to the business which I would love yeah I
mean we have a lot of young guys in our family that they need to they had to
(01:11:34):
even have the personality you know yeah yeah but there has been definitely when
so we'd like to talk about the transition from old school to new school
good yeah just get your shit in order for
(01:11:59):
all right go ahead go ahead like I tell like it is that still falling because
it is all right it's a total everyone who comes on the podcast don't leave it
all fake yeah this is all fake I'm hovering in like a squat position so I
don't put weight on this chair right now but out of the whole family you know it
I was the one that came up and took over the business and stuff and there's I
(01:12:24):
don't even know where I'm going with this but the thing is that I thought I
had I would have other people take over the company or I just thought once I die
you know then the business over and the fact that you came in you were the last
resort let's be honest he tried to sell it and he was drinking one night and he
(01:12:50):
was like the nightmare you run to that's a great Thanksgiving movie
yeah that's like Rachel have you ever seen playing strange on a
real yeah that is all right so the Thanksgiving story I want to get out
(01:13:12):
the whole night was yeah get that out senior football at Riverdale our last
game we're playing Demers so the parents had to come out walk us out in the to the
50 yard line so at the end zone so as my mom dad came down we walked us out I
think was 30 seconds and my parents were in the car going home like they didn't
say for the game like they're like they showed up for 30 seconds on the left yeah no they
(01:13:35):
they walked me out to the center of the field it's like yeah we gotta go home
because my mom's got a cook and blah blah blah I'm like okay so I played it
not actually they probably saved her first quarter but after that they were
gone they had to go home and cook and like sports back then was not as it is
today right like you miss ten minutes of a practice of a kid your bad parent yeah
yeah so I was like whatever I don't care you show would bother me was the most
(01:13:57):
was when I got home everybody was around the table and they started in
turkey they started Thanksgiving dinner before I walk like a you what you guys
started without me I was at a football game we should have been at it's like
all my brothers is like shut up they were yelling at me like my fall like
threw me a plate is like you know it was I was like sitting there like the
(01:14:18):
football player coming joining us your day is the Thanksgiving day but oh my
god that is so funny I so we and we touch based on like when you did the
audio episode yeah everyone lived you when I was growing up everyone did live
close by yeah our whole family's huge but everyone was here growing up yeah
(01:14:41):
those promise yes your memories will never fade for me yeah never and even
Uncle Mike used to drive up his kids and yep his four kids would come up and they
would spend Christmas and Thanksgiving and there's like a nostalgia that I
definitely miss of that well and there was a new Milford yeah she was so well
everyone was around yeah everyone was around you know what I mean so there's
(01:15:04):
you and I are the last people in New Jersey I know yeah we really are like
the last ones hanging out yeah I don't know how much longer we could but he's
not doing a good enough job at keeping courses no well we'll be we'll be here
for a while yeah but there's there's just there's nothing like growing up in a
huge family and I'm good we've had our problems over the years we did course
(01:15:28):
family oh we've had our problems so listen we've had the huge family we have
fights we have arguments people take sides we do this but I wouldn't trade it
for anything no because that made you grow like absolutely they don't experience
what we have because they're constantly on their phones they don't see what's
going on the real world no like we grew up like I think the first time I ever
(01:15:49):
got a phone was in like the late 90s or your middle 90s what a cell phone yeah
it was like a flip phone yeah yeah yeah there was no there was no it was you can
call your friend from like the bar you're like hey I'm not the right as I
watch come on by like we would when we were younger growing up like we would
we would have an idea where people were right and then we just show up exactly
everything yeah yeah so it was like it was like what was that telecommunication
(01:16:12):
yeah I think my friends are at this house yep we show up and everyone be there
or you make one phone call to one person and we get out yeah but yeah today
today I feel bad it's a totally different world so sense of community a
local aspect yeah that's what that's what also I think makes River Edge different
from a lot of towns still because like in this town I still see kids riding
bikes and it's something you don't see that that often let's anywhere you know
(01:16:36):
River Edge is that small town I tell people all the time I'm from a big
family we're dysfunctional we have a history we have a lot of problems in and
out but that's where we all developed our sense of humor our like attitude our
quick wit and we have so we talked about this on an episode pretty close to when
(01:17:01):
we went because Max Max is basically part of the family now so we talked about
an on-bus so close to when we did the cousins family reunion and we're all
spread around the country right now one that we couldn't air because everybody
was just going we gave the mic to all the courses and it was just once a year I
kind of took the reins on this but we have a ton of cousins in the family
(01:17:21):
we're all over the country now so I try to do once a year family reunion and we've
been apart from each other for years but it's so funny when we all get together
but there is such similarities like there's just like this quartz thread that
passes through our family it doesn't matter where you grew up or whatever yeah it's
so funny to me you know I mean and I love that about the huge family you have a
(01:17:45):
huge family every time I don't I mean I we have a huge adopted family yeah Max
has a huge adopted family there's an aspect of that where it teaches you
sass humor how to come back quick how to basically survive yeah with your words
you know what I mean yeah and I wouldn't trade that for the world as as
(01:18:07):
dysfunctional as we are I think that does very well for business too well it
does because you know grown up in our house you know with seven kids you know
it's like my father would come home as a plumber you know my mom be like you
gotta do you watch because when your father gets home like yeah whatever it's
like all of a sudden you hear my father's truck pulling the driver and was
like it was Scottish I was hiding the bed my father walk in and was like it was
(01:18:31):
like a church it was like quiet like no one was around spotless and my mom be
like in the corner like this and all sudden if he was mad he would he wouldn't
have to do anything you just walk up the stairs boom you can tell where this
footsteps oh yeah yeah it was they were they were size 14 and they were slow
like it wasn't like boom boom boom boom boom boom so he's walking up the stairs with a purpose
(01:18:56):
it's like every second you were you were like oh no it was like it was like what
it was waiting for Frankenstein to walk through your room and you're the belt
was off because you heard a jingling right right you heard the jingling it was
like it was like a who was it it was like a you know a guard like coming down
with the keys and it's like he was gonna beat you with that you know and you
(01:19:17):
threw your brother in front of you just so wasn't my brother Pete I was like okay
let's say hi to dad yeah it was but that was us growing up so it made us tough
listen exactly that builds character yeah yeah there's not that you have your
kid today you're like you're gonna jail I have we so we have a I'm on social
media but it's all for the business so I scroll I scroll through social media I
(01:19:39):
see this stuff and this whole thing about gentle parenting and stuff and it's
just like are you doesn't listen I'm gonna tell you it does not work you raise
scut your children grow up to be scumbags let's put that out there right
now I don't think I don't think they I don't think they grow up to be that no
no they do I don't think they grow up to be that I just think that you know the
(01:20:00):
parents they because of what's happened the world today they're forced to treat
their kid that way yeah and they you know the older parents that are in their
state or younger parents in the 30s they never live wait like like you know we
would I would go out at 8 o'clock in the morning and wouldn't come home till 9
o'clock at night and my parents had no idea where it was yeah I told Nicky
(01:20:23):
had to go get a haircut tonight on the other side of town and it was dark and
I'm like don't take your place somebody I'm like I was like what happened to me
you know but it's like the different mentality that's happening so I just
called him he's like he's home I'm like how'd you know me goes I walked I'm like
okay good what would your dad say what would your dad say if you ask him to
take you if you if you ask him to take you for across town I walked to
(01:20:47):
Riverdale every day well every day my school I have to get up and drive my
kids or my son now because Abby's in college I have to drive them every day
to school and there's a congo line of cars get in there oh yeah it's a
nightmare there and I drive away I'm like okay this is I got sucked into it
and everyone sucked into you can't right you can't get away from do you think
(01:21:08):
that mentality is is what's making it difficult to find good younger guys in
the field yeah because we in high school we were we were on our own like we were
in high school we were like we went out and bought our own cars and did our own
thing you know our girlfriends we our parents never saw our girlfriends you
(01:21:29):
know our parents never came to anything yeah you know it was like 21 years
younger than you yeah and it was basically the same thing with my
generation yeah much up until like 2002 yeah yeah you know it there was there was
a steady consistency of that and now it's just totally different yeah my father
came to to my wrestling matches and one I won well not the one I've been we won
(01:21:54):
that day we won the match wrestled I know you wrestled yeah 188 really ever
says you know you wrestle I'm like I had no idea yeah I'm wrestling Riverdale
for I started out with me Jim Burns Joe Bava that's a great sport you said one
you won and one was the other one was that you won one and the other one you
know actually I was so what happened was that I went to a private school for one
(01:22:16):
year up in Ramsey Ramsey I don't know this it was Grace Baptist had a school
for oh yeah yeah this AC that my parents said you got to go to so I was
frustrated no sports your uncle Mike work he was one of our teachers so was
he really yeah so he started a soccer team for us and it was great because
that's the only sport I got it was soccer team basketball so we play other
(01:22:39):
Christian academies and then one day we decided to play like a public high
school we got really obliterated it was like why am I here so I was the only
athlete on the team trying to have other athletes there's a couple guys that were
good you know so I was very frustrated because I was like I should be in high
school playing there so that one year I was away I came back to Riverdale and
(01:23:01):
the coach is like you're never gonna touch a football field again I was playing
the first game you know because I'm like yeah you know I can tell me what I'm
gonna do right and then the basketball coach he goes a lunch come out and play
basketball he goes your six whatever and I'm like all right I lasted three weeks
because I couldn't stand the guys in a team I go there's a position open
wrestling let me go back to wrestling because that's what I did and that I
(01:23:23):
was because that's what all my friends were so yeah I wrestled I won I think
was six seven matches that's you know or we had 12 he know 12 matches so max
played professional soccer did you know that yeah you told me yeah yeah it's not
it's not all it's cracked up to me but like that's
(01:23:45):
New Jersey Bears for football it was like it's not all it's cracked up but it's
I think what sports do is I'm not anti sports I'm very pro sports for younger
people for kids it keeps you out of trouble it builds character it teaches
(01:24:06):
you a lot of lessons but I think at a certain age kind of like how we were
talking to your cousin Mason Mason Mason yeah we were talking to Mason it's
it's got it builds a lot of character it gives a lot of good values but I think
that nowadays a lot of young people look up to athletes as almost gods yeah and
(01:24:28):
terrible everybody thinks that they can get there and you don't understand it
doesn't even matter how good you are you have to get so lucky yeah I mean if you
look at the NFL it's the 1% of the 1% that make it there even worse than that
it's that's our worst than that yeah George so there's a friend of mine George
McGovern he was a chaplain for the Yankees the Giants very good friend of
mine so he took me to Giants Stadium Giants training camp so he allowed me
(01:24:54):
to come into the building now if you get into that building that you means
you're supposed to be there so back then the Giants just a year after he won the
Super Bowl so I'm sitting there and there was a big meeting it was called
Chapel so there's a big meeting inside the meeting room so I'm sitting there
and Justin Tuck was leading the chapel now Justin Chuck was a defensive end for
(01:25:15):
Giants unbelievable so sit next to me was Eli Manning like next to me and he's
like hey what are you doing here like a young which I love George he's
unbelievable and then you know and he gets up and all of a sudden he goes you
want to help me pass out these pamphlets everyone like yeah so I'm passing out
these all I knew all the players but being that I was in there with George
(01:25:36):
McGovern it was like you're supposed to be there yeah and then coach Coughlin
comes up he's like do I know you I'm like shut up are you serious oh yeah this
is this is something experience I had how long ago was this probably listen Eli's
how many years out oh that's gotta be eight nine years nine years ago that's
(01:25:57):
amazing oh yeah so I'm so cool I'm sitting there and I'm with all these guys
but the funniest thing was with Eli Manning he's sitting there he goes can
you help me pass this stuff out I'm like I go you're Eli Manning like you're
supposed to be throwing them from the back row hey he wouldn't even remember
me yeah yeah like I was like I remember him more than he remembers me yeah but
all like you know all the best players are there and it was like but they were
(01:26:20):
like oh you know George yeah yeah with George they were shaking my hands like
thanks for coming when I hugged me I'm like okay that's so cool yeah so it was
like it was a funny thing but you know the what's the story about the experience
well I was I think what we're getting at is that especially in this field I think
the athletics holds a lot of water to bring it over into this field and I
(01:26:41):
think a lot of younger guys that are good athletes but not the best of the best
I do think that they they're one of their better routes is to end up here and I
think they take a lot of athletics this way because I'm not saying that people
who are athletic are not college material yeah but I think that they're more
(01:27:03):
they're driven in different ways yeah I would agree that the trades are a good
field for well it is and if you get into exactly you're right if you teach them
how to do it and I told someone one day I said you can teach anybody how to do
plumbing right teach anybody and like what do you mean I'm like I go well I
don't know how you use my hands you can teach anybody teach anybody that's what
(01:27:26):
I'm saying if you come to be totally green within a year you're gonna know what
you're doing I prefer to hire someone green yeah because you can you know
exactly yeah you can mold them they're more they're they're most likely a
younger more younger person good habits exactly yeah I prefer a more green
person like when you first came in
God shows apart oh my god let's talk about let's talk about bringing in max
(01:27:53):
because honestly when we brought in max I wasn't fully confident that we could
handle that no I was doing it because you said he's a buddy of mine let's train
him like I would let's do it I was a year in you know you had left pretty
quickly and kind of threw me to the wolves you still coached me on the phone
but I was a year in a little over a year and it got to the point where I was
(01:28:17):
where we were actually kind of growing a little bit I remember I remember I
remember when you told me like the day you decided to actually keep me I
remember what you said I love you one no no no one day one day because I guess
you had hired before I guess you'd worked with other people before or
(01:28:40):
something yeah but you you said when you left the back truck door open yes he left
the back truck door open I called you that night kinder come back and no there
was a pipe rolling around in the back of the truck and it was his first day
there was a pipe there was like a steel like maybe like a 36 inch steel pipe
rolling around in the back of the truck we pulled it to a light he gets out of
(01:29:03):
the truck his first day opens the back and he and he puts it in so won't roll
around and I go oh my god this is the guy you want yeah it was it blew my mind
because I've had to interview and hire guys at the pool company that was that
before and even just that initiative well it's attention to detail right and
that's why I tell him all the time it's like unless you're attentive to detail
(01:29:25):
I tell the guys I work with right now attentive to detail nobody understands
that because it's such a foreign word yeah like attention to detail they're
like what does that mean it's like whatever you do make sure you understand
what you're doing because if you don't you have to repeat it 34 40 times I
think it's also the willingness to work and to learn which I think kind of goes
(01:29:48):
to your what you're doing now yeah because you kind of switched I don't
want to say you switched fields I completely switch field okay which I
want to get into in one second when you switch fields but you took the work
ethic that you have and you just applied it someplace else so you can do
anything as long as you have a good work ethic what was okay what was the
(01:30:10):
transference because you did completely switch fields what the field you're
right now you're you're a you know you're a local government director
Billings and grounds for public school yeah so how did you take what you knew
here and the truth and and transfer that to a whole new industry the first job I
buddy of mine was a principal to high school and goes listen I know you're on
(01:30:33):
your own company but this might be a position you might want to take it's in
the public sector it's good money it's the sad thing I go and I'm like well I
have a company and that was a time like listen either I give Philip the chance
to do this or I'm gonna be here for the next 20 years and I said you know I was
like I got let's go what do you got you know it's like I'm gonna throw the ball
(01:30:54):
out there see what happens same thing my father did to me he was done I'm like
good go go fit if it floated and it made it it made it you know I was already I
already landed on the beach I'm like okay I'm good if it makes it makes it
we'll just pay it off in the next couple years and that wasn't that lackluster
but I was like he was at a time where he needed to do his own thing
Philip is the type of guy that if you hover over too much he's not gonna grow
(01:31:19):
if you let him if you if you give him a chance to grow he'll grow the opportunity
came at the right time and I was thrown to a world that I didn't know about it
was unions it was yeah you you have to follow this rule right I had people
telling me you can't do this I'm like okay which I gotta be honest I don't
(01:31:40):
know how you made that change well it was because I didn't listen to anybody and
I said my the one guy who hired me goes this is not like the private sector it's
a different world I go yeah but my mindset is about pushing people up
making people successful so if I take the guys who are working with me and I
make them become me and I want them to get my job and you understand anything
(01:32:05):
you do you want that person become to replace you yes because if you don't
you're dead in the water yes if you sit there like I'm the best of the best
great that's great but look at any sport football players NASCAR anything like
that they have to have somebody else come up through the line to replace them
so anybody I train I said I want them to know everything I know because if they
do I'm gonna not live forever but I want success to happen to this district yeah
(01:32:28):
so I treated everybody and it was back to the basic skills I was blessed because
I know a lot about construction I know about plumbing I study a lot about it so
my knowledge on that was good but even was better that I went when I went to
visit businesses as a private company I would learn from other owners that were
good owners and they were like give that guy a chance give him a chance give him
(01:32:51):
a chance you know so it was about giving people a chance so I just took that
talent whatever I'd hear and I brought it over to private to the public sector
you can sense when someone deserves or is worth taking a risk oh yeah there's no
doubt yeah right away you know if you have to kind of evaluate it and say all
right well we'll bring you in for a couple days you know and you don't know
(01:33:11):
like you will immediately know when that person has potential yeah yeah you know
what I mean and what sucks is it's that's hard to find nowadays well it's
not that you have the patience to wait for it actually yeah patience to wait for
and patience to wait for because you know you don't you don't make I keep
(01:33:33):
thinking about the sports is you don't make you know every team's not making
every play on the present the time yeah it's that one little oh he got he caught
that passage to win the game by three yeah or seven whatever it's those little
explosions that happen the willingness to do the work and the willingness to
fail and the willingness to even like what you did you you told me like you
(01:33:54):
didn't know much about going into the public sector but you're willing to say
to take that jump and to take that leap and with all the experience that you
learned which young guys should look at all the experience that you learn in the
trades yeah it doesn't matter even if you don't stay in the trades it will take
you so many other places so my thing was what's the worst thing I have me I'll go
back to be on plumber right yeah you know it's not because I don't give a crap
(01:34:15):
but it's like but I'm gonna give these guys such a better value than what they
have now because I know people in that industry they're horrible because they
hire within yeah so you have a guy it's like hiring a plumber who worked for
years and now you want him to run your company I go that's a horrible recipe to
for success I don't care if you're in a non-profit organization like that you
(01:34:36):
can't you got to bring something from the outside who has some great ideas I'm
gonna build it on this and you have to the people that are given to you you
have to deal with them and say what can I do let me find little pieces of things
I can find out that's gonna make them successful to help me out right and make
them great so we went to this job so I switched districts and I found out that
(01:35:00):
the guys who worked for me directly now they were doing everybody was doing
everything so it was like a hornet's nest so this guy was doing the grounds guy
was doing Brailleans just too many cooks in the kitchen no no no it was
everybody was doing everything it's like okay Phil make pancakes today you make
eggs and then Jack Jack I go stop so I took everyone individual I said what do
(01:35:22):
you do one guy's like oh I cut lawns I go so why are you inside fixing a locker
mm-hmm well that's what we do I'm like no no no you're gonna do nothing but
grounds yeah who does that with you this guy doesn't you two are ground my
grounds guys don't come inside for anything come for a glass water that's
it that's all you do you may have water you may have water but you must ask first
(01:35:46):
knock on the door no and they're the happiest guys world and I took two of
the guys I said what do you do and they're like well this is it this is the
guy who does this this guy I go you know to work together mm-hmm you know and then
what do you do well I do this that's all you're gonna do I don't want you do
anything else then I have two other guys you're gonna do this and once you
(01:36:07):
broke that down and I made them that position right it allowed them to grow
yeah now they have confidence right do you think how do you think the plumbing
field because that's a managerial position yeah that's how do you think the
plumbing taught you to be good at that or do you think it's no tell me
everything it told me that the what it taught me was that give everybody a shot
(01:36:30):
at it give everybody a shot to do plumbing because I'm not so caught up in
your knowledge of how to do plumbing I don't give a crap but you know I'll teach
you yeah I'll teach a monkey how to do plumbing I want to know that if you can
grow with me if you're gonna grow with me I'm with that right I want I want you
have confidence that you're gonna go to that truck you're gonna find that part
(01:36:50):
you're gonna learn that part it's an attitude that you look for in people
because my next question for you was let's say you didn't let's say you
changed this industry and you were still here and you were you were hiring
people what are you what would you be looking for in new employees new
apprentices somebody who applies what is something in that person that you're
(01:37:12):
looking for well I look for somebody who just because you want to be a plumber
you know I mean that's do you want to be in the industry I mean I'm just doing
this to get by and I just want I don't then listen then you want to do this so
that's first off like they haven't even have desired you want to do this I mean
the second thing is like do you have desire to win and it's not plumbing it
has nothing do you have desire to win in life going back to that I think to do
(01:37:35):
with plumb no has absolutely nothing to do and I tell and when we go to the
supply house I talk to these guys all the time it has nothing to do with plumbing
do these guys have the spark to sell to to relate to customers to to talk to
customers on a level where they can know they won't huh I mean some do some don't
(01:37:55):
well yeah but that's what you're looking for with a new guy yeah yeah not does not
if he's just mechanically inclined cuz you're right you can teach anyone that
yeah but I've taken guys who are like introverts and they're like I don't know
if I can talk to this within a year they were like this is great I'm talking I'm
talking to everybody I can do this you know it's everyone's every individuals
you gotta take everyone you gotta take as an individual project you know and yeah
(01:38:21):
like I said it's not about you know what was it was that movie I can't remember
he goes I think it was with I can't remember but he was like I can teach
somebody had to do a trombone playing ever whatever and it's I'm the gun
off track there but it's not about the industry itself because you can learn how
to do anything I was selling insurance one year for three years I never got
(01:38:45):
I'm selling sure it was horrible but I was there's nothing I learned I did with
my brother Pete and I really like laugh but now I look back with the funniest
stories from that but we learned how to be professionals right I also think
going back to you mentioned Mike Robe before he always said don't find what
you're passionate about just do what you're doing with passion yeah like yeah
(01:39:06):
as long as you are willing to give the effort yeah towards something that's
what you're looking for you're not looking for somebody who's necessarily
like you said mechanically inclined or a great plumber because you can teach that
to somebody but you can only teach that to somebody if they're willing yeah but
there's nobody out there that there this is why I grew my whole life to do
(01:39:27):
this there's maybe a right quarter percent of the courts the courts no no
nobody loves there what they're doing for life there I work with lawyers and
architects and stuff these guys are miserable yeah and they did like it's
just we want to do like why I like to be on a sailboat out I you there's no way
you're sit there like I am the having the best time in my life
unfortunately that people the way industry or life is right now that people
(01:39:51):
work because they have it they have to work you know and it was like you know
do what you enjoy and you'll do it for the rest of your life listen I love
working my hands I love develop but what I like to do 20 other things yeah I
have the money to do it right yeah I just but if you're doing something I say
make it the best you can and that's why I go back to attention to detail yeah you
(01:40:15):
know do this stuff that's gonna make you like you when you bring we bring people
in we tell them we're booties we do this we do this you know you you know that's
why I tell you guys every day make sure you take 10 minutes clean the truck out
do this you know attention to detail wins in the end because in the end you're
gonna turn around say wow look what I develop and then you're gonna hear people
who say your company runs well yeah you know and that's what it comes down to
(01:40:36):
snowball effect yeah yeah exactly so and that's what happens I gotta say I mean
listen we're really getting down to we've we spent a lot of time this is
probably been one of my favorite episodes we've ever recorded had a blast all
right I do I had I think anytime quartz yeah quartz get together family members
or whatever it's listen max has been to several different like family functions
(01:40:59):
so he's aware of how we function and how we how we communicate and all this
group of people and he's still coming around which I just blows my mind still
here I mean the economy is bad I have no choice
listen you've been a bit plus to our company you know and and I what I keep
telling you I said you're it's not our company it's not my company it's our
(01:41:20):
company yeah you know and that's how I treat that's how I treat everybody it's
not me it's everybody I'm here socialist mentality
solidified your place in but guys thanks for joining us I had a blast I
always you know nobody knows you know what before we go let me just say this I
(01:41:40):
think the courts has have plenty of problems of our own all right as a
family we have plenty of problems we have our issues are but one thing I will
say because I've had a lot of friends throughout the years that come and hang
out of family functions they say I've never had so much fun yeah with a group
of people the thing about the courts is is we know how to have fun bus chops
(01:42:04):
this again great great parents a great uncle yeah we're out of our minds you
know there's just there's something that draws people to our emotional abuse dude
honestly it's like that's an aspect to it too but like as much as I you know
complain or like say ah my big family we're still fighting we're we're fighting
(01:42:26):
in over stupid stuff I'm proud to be from the family I'm from yeah you know what
I mean as dysfunctional as we are I'm proud to be a courts I'm proud to be the
nephew that I don't think we're dysfunction dysfunction I think you're
absolutely dysfunctional no this you trust me there's plenty of people out there
the same way let's like two or three kids in a family that are crazy and every
every family knows well I got a crazy sister brother it's everybody it's just
(01:42:50):
the way we act you know it just it is what it is you know a dysfunctional is
everybody that is true if I find a perfect family that's that's creepy yeah
you don't want to go in the house it's a dry toast family like from no you're
gonna have the basement like in a box yeah seriously you know like arms cut off
legs I mean yeah that's what they do they always take it to the darkest places
(01:43:11):
they always go to the dark he talks about taxidermy himself early on in the
show now we got people bodies and basements let me say this one thing
remember when grandpa died when your dad when your dad passed away we had the
funeral over here yeah right over here at Bogart yeah right cross street and he
passed away and there was a line down the street yeah we didn't even know all
(01:43:35):
right he like my grandfather my grandfather like just interacted with
so many different people when he passed away there was a line down the road and
our family got together the whole family caught up and it was like almost a
joyous occasion celebrating his life well we knew he was in heaven so exactly
he knew he went to head he loved the Lord he loved he loved God he loved Jesus
(01:43:58):
he would preach to everyone about Christ but when we were doing that funeral we
were laughing and joking and telling stories and people were like I can't
believe why would you laugh at a funeral why would you laugh at this funeral
like are you kidding like we're we're Richard yeah should do like an in
loving memory of Richard courts on the end of this episode I will do that
(01:44:20):
absolutely but people don't like a lot of people it's tough for them to
understand what we're coming from but this is how we this is how we know I
had friends come up they had to that was the best funeral I'm really was like
that was the best funeral I had the best time what do you know exactly what do
you mean best wedding crashers when they move into funerals and he's just like
(01:44:41):
we all had a great time at courts funeral like we were laughing you want to go
party for a course fuel all right my father would never put up at like he's
like no wow yeah people wait for courts to die but I'm proud to be from this
family as frustrated as I get I'm proud to like carry the torch almost you know
(01:45:06):
so you have no choice I really don't I mean I'm the only one left in New Jersey
so but Nicky's coming up I you know what he's got it's it's time for him to get
on the podcast now he's like yeah that'll change like that as kids and
(01:45:28):
then you reach a certain point but Paul thanks for so much for coming on this
was an absolute blast yeah there's a lot of good content in this episode max
thanks for putting up this family I seriously can't believe you're still
working for this company but guys thanks for joining us just want to remind
(01:45:51):
you if you're interested in being on this put on this show we're always
looking for local business owners small small business entrepreneurs anyone
locally will bring you on we'll talk we'll have a blast again go to
courts plumbing comm click click the podcast logo and you're gonna scroll
down and click the be a guest application send that in we'll get you on
(01:46:11):
again this these episodes excuse me are brought to you by jigsaw pmr jigsaw
pmr.com out of or down New Jersey mold fire remediation huh fire fire fire
fire he does mold fire there's a fourth one I can't remember I can't remember
whatever go to his website he'll tell you but these episodes are brought to you
(01:46:31):
by him great company efficient super super responsive and folks as always
these episodes are also brought to you by our company courts plumbing and
heating been in business in 19 since 1961 family owned we are due general
service we do like commercial we take care of heating water filtration is huge
but guys thanks for joining please subscribe share the videos share the
(01:46:55):
reels we really appreciate it and we will see you here next time
(01:47:26):
oh
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