March 28, 2025 • 52 mins
What happens when a one-handed tile expert with a powerful redemption story joins forces with a shed industry leader during a natural disaster? Something extraordinary.
Jeremy Barker introduces himself as "the Billy Graham of tile," but his journey goes far deeper than his professional expertise. After losing his left hand at 23 in a tragic chop saw accident, Jeremy faced a choice: surrender to limitation or embrace a new path forward. Choosing the latter, he built a reputation as a premier educator and advocate in the tile industry, creating the Carolina Tile Posse and partnering with his wife in their company Bathmatic Custom Tile and Shower.
But Jeremy's most profound battle wasn't with physical disability—it was with addiction. For over a decade, crystal meth controlled his life, keeping him from being present for his family despite maintaining financial stability. His October 2020 sobriety marked a turning point that would eventually position him perfectly for disaster relief work.
When devastating floods hit their region, Jeremy and Sam found themselves drawn together by a shared conviction: everyone deserves help, regardless of their past or present circumstances. Their partnership has delivered over 600 emergency shelters to storm victims, often facing criticism from those who question whether people with troubled histories "deserve" assistance.
The conversation takes us to Carson's Farm, where Jeremy established a base for building emergency housing, starting with modest goals before connecting with Sam's operation. Together, they've not only provided shelter but have confronted abuse, sex trafficking, and the exploitation that often follows disasters. Their work has virtually eliminated homelessness in communities where they've focused their efforts.
This episode challenges listeners to reconsider who deserves second chances and reminds us that those who have experienced profound struggles often become the most effective advocates for others in crisis. Can someone with a troubled past become an instrument of hope? Jeremy and Sam answer with a resounding yes.
Tune in next week for the conclusion of this powerful two-part conversation about redemption, purpose, and the transformative power of compassion in disaster's wake.
For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sam (00:09):
All right guys.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Shed Geek podcast,
Friday fun day, Samb assadorstyle, with your host, Sam Byler
.
And man, I am so excited andhonored to be here tonight.
Seems like I say that everyweek because I get great guests.
It's just everybody that I getto talk to I get excited about
(00:29):
it.
We've had some people on herethat we didn't know who they
were, we didn't know what theirservice was or what they were
doing.
But I'm here to tell you guysthat tonight I have a new friend
on here.
He's not been around us reallong, but I want to tell you
something.
This dude has wiggled his wayinside my head and heart faster
(00:51):
than anybody I've ever seenbefore.
Jeremy Barker, how in the worldare you doing tonight?
Jeremy (00:57):
I'm good, Sam.
Thanks for having me.
I'm blessed to be here.
Sam (01:02):
So, we were just talking a little bit ago and I said, man,
I got to get this thing kickedoff because you're already going
into stuff.
I want to hear that.
I want people to hear aboutwhat we're doing here.
So, just as just as part of anintroductory, you are very
similar to what I am in the shedindustry, in the tile industry.
You travel a lot, you're wellknown, you got some good
(01:24):
products out there.
Your wife's involved with you.
Just give me a brief rundown ofwhat you do.
Jeremy (01:32):
Well, they call me the Billy Graham of tile here in the
South and I went into the tileindustry about 10, 12 years ago
and then I got heavy involved ineducation and then I got an
opportunity to sit on boards ofdirectors with manufacturers and
being ambassadors formanufacturers of different
(01:52):
products to build tile showersand waterproofing and all that
good stuff.
And, uh, as you can see in thisbackground, this is my brand,
Illuminiche.
This is a patented productshower niche with LED lighting
system, and I'm a partner inthis business and one of the
original founders of it, and Itraveled 46 cities last year
(02:15):
spreading the word and kind of,you know, training and
advocating for the industry andpeople to learn the trade and do
it the right way and to have anindustry that's involved.
Advocating for the industry andpeople to learn the trade and
do it the right way.
And to have an industry that'sinvolved.
So, I created what you call theCarolina Tile Posse, which is a
group of network of installersand there's many groups in the
(02:37):
tile industry, but this groupstands out because all we
advocate for is helping eachother out and education.
And I basically do like whatyou do in the shed industry.
So, when I met you, I was likethis guy does exactly like what
I do, but with sheds how muchcooler.
And then I got you know.
Well, we'll get back to that.
(02:57):
But I got my wife involved in ityears ago and I've got cleaned
up and turned my life around anduh had to fire all my help
because they weren't good.
You know supporters of mysobriety, you know.
So, I got to get rid of allthem guys and I told my wife she
was going to come to work withme.
And uh, bathmatic is my companyBathmatic Custom Tile and
(03:19):
Shower and uh, luminesce is oneof my brands and uh, uh, I got
her involved and now she'sinvolved in the industry, going
to trade shows with me, has herown podcast for women in tile
and all that good stuff.
She won a rock star award andwoman crafts woman of the year.
Uh, we're going April down toOrlando to cover and tile show
(03:41):
for that ceremony, but, uh, butbasically, yeah, I'm just, you
know, an advocate for education.
I set tile, I sell the productsto do it.
Uh, I can hook you up withcontractors anywhere in the
United States.
I know that.
I got a database of contractorsand I'm a designer, a plumber,
a craftsman, a stone mason, allthose things by trade.
(04:02):
So that got me into theindustry.
But I just admire what you guyshave built here.
I don't want to dive deep intoit yet, but what I've seen with
your industry is it's made me goback and tell my buddies and
colleagues hey, we need to stepit up.
You don't realize how farbehind we are compared to these
(04:23):
guys.
These guys, they just sellsheds and barns and chicken
coops and they deliver them andit's cool.
You know, I mean they're and,uh, it's, it's touched my heart
to see how you guys cometogether, you know, and uh, it's
that.
You know, I've had JohnnyStolfus here with me last week
and he believes that I'm gonnabe in the shed industry.
(04:44):
You know, he thinks, he thinksthat I'm gonna be done in the
tile industry, uh, and I'm gonnabe merging over to a new
industry.
So, he, you know, he told me alot of things, you know, about
what he thought we was doing andit brought, you know, it
brought a heartfelt sense to me,you know.
And what better guy to havethan Sam Byler with me?
(05:06):
So you know, I'm like, well, wedelivered a lot of sheds up
here, you know, and I'm lookingat the sheds and the way that
they're built and you knowdifferent concepts and things
and I'm looking, you know, I'man innovator, I like the design
and uh, you know, I like, I liketo cultivate something that
could help the industry, if Iwant to contribute to whatever
(05:30):
I'm involved in.
Sam (05:31):
Yep.
Jeremy (05:32):
But that's just a little bit about me, but I'm blessed
to be here.
Sam (05:36):
I thank God every day that I met you Sam.
Yeah, tell me just a little bitabout your Tools in Schools
program.
Jeremy (05:43):
Well Put Tools was, uh, was developed in in 2022, uh, by
a good friend of mine, RayTerry, and uh, we also have a
radio show called about yourhouse on fox sports radio
Saturday mornings.
I'm a co-host there, so, uh,I've been out of it.
(06:03):
I've done one show since thestorm.
Sam (06:07):
And since the storm, nothing counts right now.
Jeremy (06:11):
I know.
But you know I got into thatwith Ray and Ray had this good
vision.
He's like you know, the tradesare lost.
You're a tradesman, you're anadvocate for safety.
He's like you lost your limb toa power saw accident.
He's like you need to beinvolved.
So, I got to thinking how Icould incorporate myself into it
(06:32):
.
So, we develop, put tools inschools to go into local high
schools to basically go in infront of a career day where
they're pushing college, college, college, military, more
military, and you'll getlifeguards and the medical stuff
that comes through there.
(06:52):
But the trades are very small.
The trucking industry is biggerthan the trades oh yeah and
we've seen that, like you know,Bowman and these freight
companies, Swift drivers.
That's where they get themSwift drivers at.
They come from the recruitings.
(07:12):
They recruit them kids and thenthey take them off.
But when them kids go to thatcareer day they see the trades
and when they come through thatdoor and I've got a plumbing
company, an electrical company,a brick company and then our
tile company and you know allthese different cool things and
we got all of our tools outthere.
That's where Put Tools inSchools was kind of born,
(07:36):
because when we come in theydon't go to talk to the college
people.
They want to play with drillsand hammers and cut and lay
bricks and glue together, wirestuff up.
I gotta have the led lights outthere with the low voltage,
showing them the, the, you knowthe circuitry and all that and
how our drivers and everythingwork.
Uh and it, it took off.
(07:59):
So, uh, we go into about, uh,about 25 to 35 high schools and
middle schools and do careerdays and we do apprenticeship
programs as well.
And Jennifer, she is part of,she Built this City.
It's a foundation for women andgirls, young girls.
(08:22):
It's getting into the trades.
That let women know that theyare a value in the trades.
So I just kind of fell rightinto that.
You know, letting women scoreand snap and cut tile and play
with my tools.
I've been doing it all my life,you know I want them to learn,
so you know that's how we gotinvolved in that put tools in
schools.
But it's a great movement andI've been slacked off on it.
(08:44):
But you know, next year isgoing to be huge for us.
Uh, just try to do that and alsowork with uh, veterans,
amputees and recovering addicts.
Um, I've been counseling withpeople for years and helping
people and I fought my waythrough an amputation and
through addiction to come outthe other side and still have a
(09:05):
positive attitude.
And uh, God keeps putting me in, in the, in there to fight and
fight and for to be able torelate to other people is the
mission, you know.
So now I work with the stormvictims.
You know we're fightingdepression and suicide and all
up here.
And uh, you know it's just likeevery day, the Lord, he'll
(09:26):
challenge me, he'll challenge mewith something just about like
what I messaged you with theother earlier.
You know what I mean and shejust had to go, you know.
But anyway, not to ramble on.
I believe that what we're doingis what we're led to be doing
and it's our purpose and we'veworked our whole lives.
(09:47):
What is this small sacrifice totake off of work and to do this
?
And I just admire you for it,Sam.
Sam (09:55):
Yeah, I definitely feel like I have found a.
I used to use the word kindredspirit.
I don't know if you grew up, ifyou ever read Anne of Green
Gables or a lot of our listenerswould have read those, those
books growing up.
And Anne of Green Gables shetalks about kindred spirits.
Like when you find a kindredspirit, we know what they are.
But you're a kindred warrior,amen, we're.
(10:19):
We.
We're out here battling and youare a kindred warrior.
You're willing to step up,you're willing to do something
about it?
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Sam (12:13):
I just got one more thing about tools for school.
So, some people don't get towatch us on YouTube on here.
They just listen to us asthey're going through their day,
and if they're on the phonecall in line, we have a call in
line too, so they can't see whatyou're talking about.
As far as being an amputee, butyou're missing.
You're missing an arm.
Well, not an arm, you alwaysneed an arm, it's just a hand
(12:37):
missing.
Jeremy (12:39):
I was 23 years old and I had a chop saw accident
building bathrooms.
Years old and I had a chop sawaccident building bathrooms.
Uh and uh, I basically got myjacket caught into a, uh, a 12
inch compound slider.
Miter saw and uh, I was cuttinga small return for a piece of
crown molding and it was aboutthree, four o'clock in the
morning when I ought to havebeen in bed and uh, you know got
(13:02):
my jacket caught in there anduh one thing led to the next.
Uh, I went through three or foursurgeries.
They couldn't save it, they hadto cut it all the way off.
I went immediately back to work.
I was doing storm drainage workand irrigation work and I was
running my butt.
My skid steer and the joystickspulled this open and, uh, my
bone was exposed and lost moreblood and had to get it stitched
(13:26):
up.
And I've got prosthetics andstuff and I'm just, I'm better
off.
I'll use prosthetic when I'mthreading a sewing machine or
when I'm holding the punch toput a rifle together.
That's it that's all I neededbefore, but uh, but yeah, you
know, I lost my left hand at 23years old.
I'm 24 years old and I'm 38years old now, so you know it's
(13:50):
been a hard recovery.
But what don't kill you, makeyou stronger.
Sam (13:54):
Thank you, it sure does, and you handle it very well.
We joke with you a lot about it.
I'm glad we're able to you takeit very well.
We're constantly asking you ifyou need a hand.
But, dude, you have learned sowell how to I don't want to say
get along with it, you'velearned how to succeed with it.
(14:16):
There's a difference.
Some people learn how to getalong with what they've got
going on.
They adjust and they getthrough life.
You are not one bit happy doingthat.
You succeed at what you'redoing, like Aaron and I.
You know, Aaron, to see you runa track hole, you know, and you
(14:37):
just move that little handlearound like it ain't nothing
even to it.
It's great.
Jeremy (14:43):
It saved my life.
It saved my life, Sam.
It made me a better man.
It really did, I wouldn't bewho I am today without the
struggle.
Sam (14:53):
And I'm thankful.
Yeah, you mentioned addictions.
What do you know aboutaddictions?
Jeremy (15:02):
Well, I spent about 10, 12 years in active addiction
crystal meth.
Uh, I smoked a lot of meth anduh run wild for many, many years
.
I never was at without anything, my family never suffered,
nobody suffered, except for mywife not having me in the bed
beside her, and I run the roadsand, uh, that's how I got into
(15:25):
tile work.
You know what I mean because Iused to work for Darden.
I used to take care of all thelonghorns and cheddars.
If you beat a longhorn andcheddars, more likely I plumbed
the place.
Oh wow, Wow.
I worked the night shifts and Iwould run 7, 10, 15 days on the
road and they knew they waslike.
They said you get Crashmaticout there, he'll run the road
(15:47):
for you.
They said he'll go from one jobto the next job.
I like to drive and I stayed onthe road all the time and
Jennifer's really the only onethat really had a had a real
issue with it.
But all many years, or years,it just, you know, it took me
down a spiral, fightingdepression and uh, supplying
(16:09):
that with the drugs and uh, thealcohol and um it, it pushed me
to a place in my life where Iwasn't healthy, uh, I wasn't the
man that I should be.
And God delivered me in 2020and October 15th, not by my own
(16:30):
will, but you know it was.
It was a hard landing.
I've just, I've been clean eversince and I've been committed
to doing the best I can formyself, but not only myself, but
to show others to be a beaconof light.
Sam (16:45):
You know, oh, man, you not only myself, but to show others
to be a beacon of light.
You know, oh man, you have Mosttimes.
You know, I don't even want toask people about you know their
past or their addictions orwhatever, but you have succeeded
so well at it that I want, Iwant people to know we're going
to get into this later and we'regoing to talk about hope.
(17:05):
It's just a given.
You and I can't sit down andhave a conversation without
talking about hope.
And this, to me, is just atremendous message of hope to
people out there who havefriends, who have sons,
daughters, brothers, sisters,aunts, uncles, cousins.
There is hope for crystal methpeople Because, dude, I hear it
(17:28):
every day, every day.
I hear it on social media, Ihear it in phone calls to me.
You know it's ironic that Istarted this whole storm
disaster thing, fightingdepression and suicide, and look
who I got.
You show up and I hear thisevery day that those people are
beyond help.
You cannot help somebody who'son crystal meth.
(17:50):
You can't help somebody that'saddicted to the wrong kind of
drugs.
You can help other people.
They'll talk about that, butthey pretty much just wag their
head sadly and they're likethere's no hope for them.
And I'm the ever optimistic guywhen it comes to giving people
hope and where they're at inlife.
Um, I can be a pessimist aboutsome other stuff.
That's fine, but you, you are aliving, breathing, fantastic
(18:16):
example of somebody that can getpast it yeah well, I mean it
took me a long time, Sam.
Jeremy (18:24):
It was a struggle.
I got a buddy to tell you.
He said he picked me up 102times and I always asked him I
said why you keep helping me?
He said because if I do it 102and I quit and you never get
better.
It was all in vain yeah, if Idid 103 times and you turned out
(18:45):
the way you turned out.
It was all worth okay, uh, it'spowerful real.
That set real with me
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Sam (19:58):
people used to beg me.
Jeremy (19:59):
They begged me.
Man, I passed my statute oflimitations now, but I wore
U-Haul out back in the day.
I wore U-Haul out, I'd set upshop, I'd work six months out of
the year and actually go and dotile work, do plumbing work and
run jobs and do things like I'msupposed to do the rest of the
time.
I said no, no, no, we're goingto go play with U-Haul again.
(20:22):
We're going to run a milliondollars through U-Haul.
You know what I mean, and we doit.
I mean I'd sell motor swaps andbeds and truck parts.
I mean I'm a scrap man from wayback.
I turn wrenches, I can wirestuff, plumb stuff.
I can do it all about like youare.
(20:43):
I ain't never built no stretchtrucks, though that fascinated
me.
But I've got LS swap vehicles.
I've done diesel swap stuff.
I'm a 12-valve guru and an LSguru.
Sam (20:59):
I love them all.
Jeremy (21:03):
I just turned my life around at a point in time where
my kids, they needed me.
And once I turned my lifearound and I started building
bathmatic and Jennifer got onthere with me and I become this
wonderful guy in the tileindustry and people was like, oh
, look at the one hand cup man,this guy builds bathrooms with
his wife.
And I started getting that Irealized God showed me how far
(21:23):
he brought me and that give mesomething in my spirit where I
said, well, if I'm out here nowand I'm doing this good and
everybody's gonna see my faceI'm gonna be real good at,
because I've never been therebefore.
I never had that.
Sam (21:40):
Word.
Jeremy (21:41):
Yeah, I had that hope.
So, it's like if I can turn oneperson's idea of their self
around while I'm here in thesemountains, like I've already
have, I've got a lady come to metoday.
She's like Jeremy, I've got twoand a half months.
She said I was 11 years old thelast time I was sober.
(22:05):
She's 40 years old.
She'll be three months sober inthe next few weeks and I told
her what that meant to me.
She's down there living in oneof our sheds you know where
she's at but almost three monthsand I'm like man, like man Lord
, why me?
(22:25):
I come to the back of thiscabin every night, I asked her.
I said why me, Lord?
Why me?
I got oh, I got buddies thattell me hey, you need to calm it
down.
They're gonna put you on thenews before it's over with and
everybody's gonna see you.
I said well, it's all right,I'm past statute of limitation,
I said.
I said I'm at the point of timein life where I want everybody
(22:47):
to know because they can seewhat Jesus will do for you and
what hope will do for you.
You know, and I'm raggedly andrough as anybody.
You know, a couple hours ago,before I sent you that message,
I was looking for gas andmatches and wrote and stuff.
I didn't know what I was goingto do.
I had to pray for 30 minutes.
You saved me when you sent thatmessage you sent me.
(23:08):
He's got the law on his side.
You know, I did.
I mean, I hate to touch on that, but I'm going to go ahead and
touch on it.
20-year-old girl we give her ashed.
She's pregnant Two weeks aftershe gets her shed.
She gives birth to the baby.
She brings the baby home, putthe bassinet in the shed.
I never in my life would everimagine it to see that I've seen
(23:34):
it and I took her everythingand put it over there.
And uh, when I got that, thatmessage today that she's having
to relocate her shed, so I needa hauler to come back in there.
And I've already got.
It costs 600 plus dollars toget the electrical connected, to
buy material and all thattrenching to run that line, that
(23:54):
mclean and them done, and uh,here it is.
God's still telling me just toreplace the shed, replace the
electrical, replace everything.
Because I'm too vulnerable to goover there and get involved
with this guy, because I don'tknow what I'll do to him Now.
You know a 20 year old girl.
He's a 50 something year oldman.
She's got a three week old babyin there.
(24:16):
He comes in there and sexuallyabuses Yep.
Now she's got to move the shedoff the property.
Sam (24:22):
Yeah.
Jeremy (24:23):
Her mother called me.
She's ashamed to call Yep.
I don't know what to do exceptfor beg a shed hauler.
Yeah, beg a shed hauler to comeand help us again.
Go in there, cut the wire, pullit out.
He said we got, you know, 72hours to move it.
So, what's the hope of getting?
A 72-hour hauler in here.
Sam (24:44):
No, no, no.
If he said we can get it, thenwe'll get it.
It's just when I said he's gotthe law on his side, I meant
that we have to get him to agreeto let us move the shed.
But if he's verbally done that,we'll get the shed, don't worry
about it.
Jeremy (24:58):
Well, he's done that, he'll let us get the shed.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's the factof the good Lord keeping me
humble not to go over there andget the shed and then punish the
feller.
But I don't live like that nomore.
You know what I mean I know, um.
Sam (25:12):
We had another conversation earlier this week not we, as in
you and I, me and another guy,um and I told him.
I said I can't mention his namebecause some people on here
will know who I'm talking about,but I told him.
I said you're not going to dome any good in jail.
That's.
The only reason I'm not in jailright now is because I won't do
(25:32):
anybody any good in jail.
Because there's a couple peopleup there I'm pretty much I feel
the same way you do about.
It's crazy, one of the catches.
I'm getting ahead of our storyhere, but it doesn't matter
because we, we don't care, butone of the things to us putting
all these sheds out there,especially the ones where people
(25:53):
were renting in apartments, incampers, whatever, and they did
not own property.
When we set that shed onsomebody else's property, 99 of
the law says that's his shed hisproperty.
Jeremy (26:08):
Now his property comes off that trailer.
Sam (26:10):
Yep, the minute it comes off that trailer.
That's why I tell guys in theshed industry all the time do
not drop that shed unless you'vegot all your ducks in line,
that you know exactly what'sgoing on.
It's the same way when we gopick them up back up again on
their rto.
You know retrievals or whatever.
Get that shed on the trailerand then you've got some ability
(26:31):
.
Um, because as long as it's ontheir property, nine, nine
percent of the time the law ison their side.
I don't care if you're right orwrong, it doesn't matter,
that's just the way it works.
We'll handle that.
If that's the case, it justshows us the desperation of
these people.
You know what this hurts.
(26:53):
I was going to make a post thisafternoon based on a text
message I got today that Iprobably could go back through
my phone and I know I can comeup with a dozen.
I could probably come up withtwo dozen text messages where I
have storm victims that are inabusive relationships.
(27:16):
Just because a storm hits doesnot mean that abuse stops.
Jeremy (27:26):
And I've had a lady today that said there is a case
worker that's involved with somesociety around here and what
she specializes in is sextrafficking post-disaster.
Sam (27:43):
Wow, post-disaster.
Jeremy (27:46):
Post-disaster sex trafficking therapy.
Sam (27:50):
That's when it's vulnerable .
I can see that.
Jeremy (27:56):
This girl that we're talking about here she was in a
bad spot with that little babyand not having a place to put
her shed.
She lived down here at D&D bythe trailer park.
They got washed out.
That was another big topic ofour meeting.
Today I come to get educated onwho it is that owns it.
The old man died before thestorm.
(28:17):
He left the property to hisautistic son that's his only
source of income and heforfeited his disability for
autism so he could have thatproperty and be able to reap the
benefits.
The rent and all of it's gone,and now, because he's, nobody
(28:40):
wants to help him.
Sam (28:42):
You're kidding.
Jeremy (28:44):
And then Buncombe County is pushing him about the road
in and out of there, yeah, wherehe's going to put the road and
he has no money, and they'rebasically going to force him out
of there, force the property tohave nothing and he'll have to
sell.
Sam (29:03):
Well, he'd raise the whole thing like six feet up, wouldn't
he?
Jeremy (29:07):
yeah, yeah well that's another thing that they spoke
about is all the flood plainsand what they're saying about
changing yeah, they're changingall that and just like what the
preacher up here went through,uh, with his lot up, I mean,
there's just a lot going on andyou know all that meeting with
this new group is something else.
(29:28):
They're wanting to bring in allkinds of resources Tim Burleson
and I was there, and NickHeitschall, the guy from Camp
Unity, he's involved in it andthey're all wanting to come down
here to Bernardsville and noneof them have no idea what
they're wanting to do or whatthey can do or how they can do
it.
And then they all find outthey're like, well, here's
(29:49):
Jeremy, he's already gotinfrastructure, he's got
everything.
I was like I didn't do all this, God did it.
I said, but we got it and, uh,this is what we got to have and
what we got to do.
And, uh, they're interested inhelping.
But I don't.
I don't pay attention to nobodysaying that until they show up
(30:10):
I hate.
Sam (30:11):
um, I get accused.
I get accused of being rude.
Um, I've had quite a few peopletell me that even my facebook
posts they're rude.
Um, because of I mean, we'regetting to be to where we're
like some of the victims in thefact that we're like, yeah, well
, once you show up I'll actuallydo something.
You know, I've got victims thatwe show up with their shed and
(30:32):
they just they're like I can'tbelieve you actually showed up.
I had a dozen people tell methey were bringing me stuff,
bringing me stuff.
Tiffany, her 17-year-olddaughter, actually left the
property when Marlon was on theway out there with the shed
because she did not want to seeher mama heartbroken again when
nobody showed up.
That's crazy, but we see it.
(30:57):
We see it every day,everybody's looking down, down,
except for us.
And then I get messages all thetime, you know, from
well-meaning other.
You know other people up therethat are working hard and
they're like here, call this guyand I'm like, I'm not calling
him.
He can show up and show me whathe's going to do and I'm
getting to be as bad as some ofthe.
(31:17):
I call them victims.
I don't like to call them that.
They're survivors becausethey're going through it.
I hate using the term victimsas much as you know.
I hate when people are on theinside from being locked up from
something.
I don't call them prisoners.
They're still people.
They're my people, my churchpeople.
Most of my best church peopleare on the inside.
(31:40):
They're human beings just likeeverybody else, and that's the
way we got to look at these.
The difference is inBarnardsville, a small area of
Micahsville, we're working, andOld Fort Nebo, we're dealing
with people that are poor andthey were poor.
They made poor decisions.
They've had poor life choiceslong before the storm came.
(32:03):
That doesn't make anydifference and we got into it.
Today A driver called me up andsays hey, I'm here, you know,
to give these people their shedand the neighbor's yelling and
screaming at me and I end uphaving to talk to the neighbor
down, you know, and it's likeyou know, and then another
neighbor shows up and it's likeno, I don't care, you know, you
(32:24):
don't, you don't understandthose people you know and these
are legit storm victims, youknow that lost everything down
in old Ford on the river.
Um, they might've not had muchand they might've been
struggling in life, it doesn'tmatter.
Um, and then you move them to aproperty where somebody's like
hey, you know what, I got 10acres out here.
(32:44):
If you want to put a shed outhere until you figure out where
you're going or what you'redoing in life, you go right
ahead.
Well, it upsets the neighbors,I don't care, um, and I tell
them, guys, I'm like look, we'redoing the best we can.
If you need something, I wouldhelp you.
That that's right, you would.
And I'm like, yeah, it's not mychoice.
(33:05):
Who I help?
If you need help, I'm here tohelp, and it totally kind of
takes the fire out of them.
(33:30):
You.
Jeremy (33:52):
I stood up in there and talked tonight and then another
local pastor stood up across theroom and he said you see Jeremy
over there.
He said that man has fixedhomelessness in our community
Him and Sam.
They've not only fixed thecommunity as people that needed
a shelter or a place to stay,but they've cured homelessness.
(34:14):
Have you noticed?
There isn't anybody in tentsanywhere around here?
No more.
And I was amen.
Sam (34:20):
Yeah.
Jeremy (34:21):
I said, hey, and I've been persecuted by half the
people in that room that said,why are you helping them?
They were drug addicts, theywere poor before the storm.
And then Tim looks at me andgrins because he's one of the
guys that said it in thebeginning.
Well, you shouldn't help them.
(34:41):
They're drug addicts.
They were poor before the storm.
I was like Tim.
I'm an old drug addict too.
I was just like them.
Sam (34:50):
What I don't understand what better way we can have to
give someone.
I did an episode with a guythat's just as popular in the
shed industry as I am, RichardMiller.
You haven't had the opportunityto meet him yet.
You will you stick around longenough.
He's a real close friend ofmine.
Richard did an episode with mea couple of weeks ago.
(35:12):
It ended up being a two partepisode, which this one probably
will do.
What you're doing is you'regiving people hope and I'm like
would you who, who better tohelp and give hope to?
Now?
I'm not.
I'm not.
I'm not a uh, what's the wordI'm looking for.
I'm not a respecter of people.
I'll get if, if, if amillionaire got hit by his house
(35:33):
and he needs a place to staywarm for a while, I'll give him
a shed.
I don't care.
But it doesn't mean that I'mnot going to give the guy that's
been struggling his whole lifeand has been living on the
corner down there and everythinghe owned, including his 67 car
that had all the serial numbers,everything matched numbers on
it went down the river.
That's all the man owned.
(35:53):
I'm still going to give him ashed.
I cannot ask for a betteropportunity to minister to
somebody than somebody that's inthat position.
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Jeremy (37:48):
I've gotten to where I had a lady call me from what is
it?
Nam, N-A-M or whatever, theother day and she said well,
well, I don't understand whyyou're still working in buncombe
county.
I believe you and Sam arewasting your time in buncombe
county because there's no needfor sheds down there.
She said what's?
She said who's in charge ofyour vetting department?
Who vets your stuff?
(38:09):
I said can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
I'm going over a mountain, I'mlosing you.
Click.
I've done it to donors.
I had a guy that donated $1,000a month, pledging $1,000 a month
since the beginning of thestorm.
He called me up and he sent metwo pictures of where I was
talking about earlier the girldown there.
He said if these are the kindof places you're going to put
(38:30):
sheds, somebody in Barnersvillesent me these pictures, said
these are local drug addicts anduh, prostitution, uh houses
across the street.
If you're going to help themkind of people, I'm not going to
give you a thousand dollars, nomore.
I said how many months did yousend me a thousand dollars?
Would you like me to send youyour money back?
Yeah, I said, but don't send meno more money.
I said I'm gonna stroke you acheck from Mathematic and pay
(38:54):
your money back.
And he's like no, that's notthe point.
But I'm telling you that I'mnot going to support you and I'm
going to tell other people notto support you because you're
out here helping the people thatdon't need help.
I said that's fine.
If that's the people that'swanting to help me, I don't need
your help.
You know, what I mean.
Sam (39:11):
I don't need it.
Jeremy (39:16):
I, I don't need it.
I just got to where I hang upon them, called rude.
Well, they told me.
They said we'd much rather dealwith Sam.
I said well.
Sam (39:23):
Oh, that's the best joke I've ever heard.
I felt honored.
Jeremy (39:28):
I felt honored.
I'm like Sam's good, I'm likeif I can outdo him.
Sam (39:34):
I want this episode to go down as the what do you call it?
The pendant of my episodes.
I need an episode sponsored byBathematics that proves that.
Oh, because everybody listeningon there is like man, man, you
(39:55):
don't know that guy.
Very good, that guy will putyou in your place in a heartbeat
, that's it I mean, and I, youknow it is like you know since
the beginning.
Jeremy (40:05):
you know I think the little bit of strife that we do
get is minute to the amount ofhope that we do deliver and the
good and the positive that comesout.
And I don't even let it faze meI used to let it bother me what
the people in the communitysaid, because I've dove deep
into this community.
You know, being on the farmhere and trying to put things
(40:27):
together, you know, and livingfrom Mr.
David Carson's perspective, youknow, with this farm and
everything that he's done for me, I try to look through his eyes
and his vision and I just hopeand pray to God that I don't get
75 years old and get all mylife and everything in order and
nothing take it away like ithas his yes, I couldn't imagine
(40:48):
you know let's talk about that alittle bit, because you
bringing that up brings us up tothe fact of where you were when
you first ran into ourorganization.
Sam (40:58):
You didn't run into me for a while, no, you randomly showed
up on one of my haulers videosand I'm like who is this cat and
what does he think?
What does he think he's doing?
Jeremy (41:13):
Well, it's a funny thing .
I wanted to get to that.
Uh, you know I've done thechainsaw work.
I spent the first couple daysrunning, you know, ground ops
for operation helo and, uh, youknow, being a gi joe and a
ground op guy, I was out my sideby side, my rifle and my
(41:35):
satellite phone and my nightvision and infrared and all that
and I'm out there searching.
But I was, you know, rebukedfrom the cajun navy, uh, because
they said I was vigilant.
Uh, we found the remains of aof a girl's foot and they wanted
to go over face or TikTok live.
They were going to go, TikToklive.
(41:56):
They were joking and they'relike, if I had a foot, I wonder
where the rest of her is.
And I basically lost it andwent off on them, knocked their
phones out of their hands, gotin a fight with two second recon
, third recon soldiers,operation Afghanistan heroes,
you know, decorated war medalhonored heroes.
(42:17):
I'm out there swinging atwo-by-four around like a ninja
turtle, like a what In a fight?
So, you know, they tried toattack me, they tried to team up
on me.
So, you know, and I wasoutnumbered so I had to do what
I had to do and I got run out ofPensacola and I had some
(42:38):
buddies that come up here toback me up.
They were ex-combat guys aswell.
They come over here and westarted doing chainsaw work.
We met Tim Burleson.
Well, and then when I met TimBurleson, I met Alan Bowles, the
man that owns the truckingcompany here with the rock
equipment he's like listen.
(42:59):
He said, uh, leave all youbuddies right here.
I got to take you down the road.
I want to show you somethinghe's like.
I got you a place where you setyou up a base camp and, uh, he
brought us down here and heintroduced me to Mr.
Carson wow at that point intime.
He's like you don't work for tim, no more.
He's like you work for me.
He's like you need anything inthis community.
He's like I'll give it to you.
He said nobody want to admit it, but I'm the mayor of this town
(43:22):
.
He said he'll say there'snothing, move around here
without me knowing it.
And after a while I figured outhe's definitely got more money
than anybody.
So, he'd become a good friendof mine and he introduced me to
Mr.
Carson and that first day I had22 guys with me.
We had 16 trucks, 16 trailers,16 machines and bobcats and
(43:46):
everybody had a side-by-side anda piece of heavy equipment.
Yep, and we'd come in here andwe was working with Tim going up
and down the creeks, helpingAlan and Tim out in the creeks.
You know, and I'd done that forseveral weeks and I worked up
back and forth, you know, greenMountain, red Hill, went into
Swannanoa and everything anddone all that.
(44:07):
Well, after I tore my trailerand my truck and you know you
got, you know, your whole rigstore up.
You get all your equipment towedoff the side of the mountain.
I got in my side-by-side, Irode into Barnardsville, went
down there and ate me ahamburger at D&D and I didn't
talk to nobody because they waslike, well, what's wrong with
you?
I was like I got a $40,000trailer tore into pieces and a
(44:31):
truck that won't shift gears orgo nowhere.
I said I'm just going to gohome.
I think this is done and I wenthome and I come back.
I went home on a Sunday nightand I sat there.
By Monday night I was down atthe airport renting a truck and
(44:52):
I said I'm going back up there,so I took off back up here.
Then I got back up here.
I had some off-grid jobs.
It was way up on a mountain.
I got power back established andgot them water back established
fixed a couple wells and stuffand I was running out of money
and I said I pulled up back uphere to the farm and, Mr.
(45:13):
David Carson, he said where youbeen at.
He said he said I thought youdone quit.
He said we need to build sometiny houses.
He said I got this woman backhere in my camper.
He said I ain't even paid forthis camper yet.
He said the man, just let metake it to look at it to see if
I wanted it.
He parked it here and he saidnow I got this woman living in
(45:34):
it with her son and he's like wegot to get her out of there.
And uh, he said, now I got thiswoman living in it with her son
and uh, he's like we got to gether out of there.
And uh, he said and then myother neighbor over here is
living in her minivan out backand I, he's like we got to build
some houses.
And I said, well, when you wantto start?
And he said, whenever you canget some people together, I'm
like, well, I ain't got nopeople.
Everybody, everybody, I'm bymyself this week.
(45:54):
And uh, I said I'm going to buylumber, I'll start building one
.
So, me and the farmer's son, Caland Redbeard.
We got out here and we builtthe first two decks and we
didn't have no idea how to buildthis shed.
I didn't build them, nothinglike we build them now.
You know what I mean.
You seen them.
You seen me while.
I was doing it and I got in deepand I had no idea how I was
(46:19):
going to deliver the sheds.
I had only the money that thechurch had given me and what was
left my personal money.
I was like I can build 10 sheds.
I can build 10 sheds and I cango home.
I can feel satisfied.
Tim kept telling me hey, youneed to talk to Sam.
Uh, and what was the lady'sname?
(46:41):
That was uh, she had a funnyname.
Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's likeyou need to call her.
I was like I ain't got time tocall neither one of them.
People, I'm busy working.
I'm out here working and uh, wewas just grinding, you know.
And he showed up one day and hesaid Tim told me, he said
(47:03):
you're going to see somethingtoday that's going to change
your perspective on this wholething.
And Amos and Alvin Lineker.
Sam (47:08):
Yep.
Jeremy (47:10):
Obviously Amos and Alvin .
Everybody knows who they are,the rad dudes, best of the best.
I loved them from the day I metthem.
Uh, they showed up with thatload I think they had.
they had eight on the big semiand then they had they had three
on the on the pickup truck anduh, they had you know their
(47:30):
English or white guy driver,American, whatever you know
regular, and they were bothriding.
I'm like, who are these Amishguys?
And I was just fascinated aboutit.
And they're like you work forSam, you work for Sam.
I'm like, no, I don't even knowSam.
I'm like I'm just here at thisfarm, this farmer, let me use
this farm.
I'm building sheds back hereand then they come back there
(47:52):
and they get a kick out of it.
I'm trying to build sheds.
You know what I mean.
And uh, I was like I made avideo about it.
I was like at the point in time, I was like I gotta start
showing people what's going onup here, so I made a video and
then, uh, it was about a coupledays later.
You showed up, yeah and um,everything's history after that.
(48:12):
I mean, it was like God sentyou.
Everybody says you're an angel,Sam, but I, I, I believe that
you're.
You're more than an angel, youknow, I mean a disciple, you
know.
I mean, uh, because you broughtme right in and, uh, we, uh, we
were meant to work together.
(48:33):
I didn't know that, I didn'tknow what I was going to do, but
when you told me that you wasgoing to do 100,.
I was like well, I got to domore than 10.
And then here we are, peopleask me all the time Mr.
Carl tells everybody we'll beat a restaurant, they'll say
you're them guys that build atank down.
Yep, we're going.
Our goal is 1,000.
(48:54):
We're going to build a thousand.
I'm like Mr.
Carl, you gotta stop tellingeverybody that uh you know, I I
don't even count, no more.
You know, I think it's over 600.
I told everybody tonight I waslike I'm sure we broke 600 I got
.
Sam (49:10):
I got a rolling number going in my head.
Yet that kind of keeps meonline a little bit and every
once in a while I'll back up andcheck it based off of that.
So, I kind of know where I'm at.
But it's like uh, at this atthis point it's, it's not a well
.
It's never been about thenumber.
The hundred to start with wasto make the basic, and it wasn't
(49:33):
even a hundred.
It was 50 donated sheds and wewere going to raise enough money
to build 50.
So it was 50-50 to get to 100.
And we had the 100 donatedsheds within 24 hours done 24
hours is all.
It took really Four hours to get100 donated sheds.
(49:56):
Verbally Took about three weeks, three and a half weeks to get
them all brought in and to getthem delivered and set up.
But we did 100 the first monthand it's been crazy ever since.
It's just been oh, look at that, you fixed it.
Jeremy (50:09):
I figured I'd do it.
I love looking at my niches,but I didn't want to look at
them.
You know what I?
Sam (50:15):
mean You're at carson's farm in the cabin yep, I'm here
in the cabin.
Jeremy (50:22):
This is the cabin.
This is Mr.
David Carson's cabin.
He built this when he come backfrom up Maryland when he
finally decided to settle here,where he the farm he grew up on,
he built this cabin.
And these beams that's in theceiling here and these cleats
that are on the wall there theyare from tobacco barn where he
(50:44):
used to hang tobacco as a boy.
Yeah, so when he tore thattobacco barn down, he brought
these posts over here and builtthis cabin and the wood stove
and everything.
It's just real cowboy stuffover here, you know, uh it's a
it's a little strange.
Sam (51:01):
You're actually across the river from the farm the river
that hammered and you'd have togo through the river because the
bridge hasn't been rebuilt yetexactly, the bridge is blowed
out.
Jeremy (51:14):
So, I drive through the river in that rental truck and
them new fords.
They don't have grease fitting.
So, I done washed all thegrease out of this one.
I've been driving for a month.
I keep going back to rent moretrucks and they're like you,
better keep that truck.
We're gonna have to give you anexpedition or a suburban this
week, I'm like.
So, I keep the old six-cylinderford out here, the power boost,
(51:37):
but it is, uh, about two and ahalf foot deep right now.
It comes up on the runningboards.
You ain't gonna.
It's not on the tires, it's onthe running boards.
Uh and uh, I basically tear thefront air dams off all these
rental trucks and before I takethem back I have to unbolt them
so they don't know they werethere and, uh, I'll turn them in
(51:59):
.
But besides the point, thiscreek house was saved.
The water come up about 15 footaway from the front porch out
here.
Uh, I'll show you one day.
The water just stopped.
But if the water would have ranup about another 10, 15 foot,
it would have flooded his houseout.
Sam (52:18):
Wow, Thank you all for listening to today's episode.
This was part one of a two-partepisode, so be sure to listen
next week to finish today'spodcast
All right guys.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Shed Geek podcast,
Friday fun day, Samb assadorstyle, with your host, Sam Byler
.
And man, I am so excited andhonored to be here tonight.
Seems like I say that everyweek because I get great guests.
It's just everybody that I getto talk to I get excited about
(00:29):
it.
We've had some people on herethat we didn't know who they
were, we didn't know what theirservice was or what they were
doing.
But I'm here to tell you guysthat tonight I have a new friend
on here.
He's not been around us reallong, but I want to tell you
something.
This dude has wiggled his wayinside my head and heart faster
(00:51):
than anybody I've ever seenbefore.
Jeremy Barker, how in the worldare you doing tonight?
Jeremy (00:57):
I'm good, Sam.
Thanks for having me.
I'm blessed to be here.
Sam (01:02):
So, we were just talking a little bit ago and I said, man,
I got to get this thing kickedoff because you're already going
into stuff.
I want to hear that.
I want people to hear aboutwhat we're doing here.
So, just as just as part of anintroductory, you are very
similar to what I am in the shedindustry, in the tile industry.
You travel a lot, you're wellknown, you got some good
(01:24):
products out there.
Your wife's involved with you.
Just give me a brief rundown ofwhat you do.
Jeremy (01:32):
Well, they call me the Billy Graham of tile here in the
South and I went into the tileindustry about 10, 12 years ago
and then I got heavy involved ineducation and then I got an
opportunity to sit on boards ofdirectors with manufacturers and
being ambassadors formanufacturers of different
(01:52):
products to build tile showersand waterproofing and all that
good stuff.
And, uh, as you can see in thisbackground, this is my brand,
Illuminiche.
This is a patented productshower niche with LED lighting
system, and I'm a partner inthis business and one of the
original founders of it, and Itraveled 46 cities last year
(02:15):
spreading the word and kind of,you know, training and
advocating for the industry andpeople to learn the trade and do
it the right way and to have anindustry that's involved.
Advocating for the industry andpeople to learn the trade and
do it the right way.
And to have an industry that'sinvolved.
So, I created what you call theCarolina Tile Posse, which is a
group of network of installersand there's many groups in the
(02:37):
tile industry, but this groupstands out because all we
advocate for is helping eachother out and education.
And I basically do like whatyou do in the shed industry.
So, when I met you, I was likethis guy does exactly like what
I do, but with sheds how muchcooler.
And then I got you know.
Well, we'll get back to that.
(02:57):
But I got my wife involved in ityears ago and I've got cleaned
up and turned my life around anduh had to fire all my help
because they weren't good.
You know supporters of mysobriety, you know.
So, I got to get rid of allthem guys and I told my wife she
was going to come to work withme.
And uh, bathmatic is my companyBathmatic Custom Tile and
(03:19):
Shower and uh, luminesce is oneof my brands and uh, uh, I got
her involved and now she'sinvolved in the industry, going
to trade shows with me, has herown podcast for women in tile
and all that good stuff.
She won a rock star award andwoman crafts woman of the year.
Uh, we're going April down toOrlando to cover and tile show
(03:41):
for that ceremony, but, uh, butbasically, yeah, I'm just, you
know, an advocate for education.
I set tile, I sell the productsto do it.
Uh, I can hook you up withcontractors anywhere in the
United States.
I know that.
I got a database of contractorsand I'm a designer, a plumber,
a craftsman, a stone mason, allthose things by trade.
(04:02):
So that got me into theindustry.
But I just admire what you guyshave built here.
I don't want to dive deep intoit yet, but what I've seen with
your industry is it's made me goback and tell my buddies and
colleagues hey, we need to stepit up.
You don't realize how farbehind we are compared to these
(04:23):
guys.
These guys, they just sellsheds and barns and chicken
coops and they deliver them andit's cool.
You know, I mean they're and,uh, it's, it's touched my heart
to see how you guys cometogether, you know, and uh, it's
that.
You know, I've had JohnnyStolfus here with me last week
and he believes that I'm gonnabe in the shed industry.
(04:44):
You know, he thinks, he thinksthat I'm gonna be done in the
tile industry, uh, and I'm gonnabe merging over to a new
industry.
So, he, you know, he told me alot of things, you know, about
what he thought we was doing andit brought, you know, it
brought a heartfelt sense to me,you know.
And what better guy to havethan Sam Byler with me?
(05:06):
So you know, I'm like, well, wedelivered a lot of sheds up
here, you know, and I'm lookingat the sheds and the way that
they're built and you knowdifferent concepts and things
and I'm looking, you know, I'man innovator, I like the design
and uh, you know, I like, I liketo cultivate something that
could help the industry, if Iwant to contribute to whatever
(05:30):
I'm involved in.
Sam (05:31):
Yep.
Jeremy (05:32):
But that's just a little bit about me, but I'm blessed
to be here.
Sam (05:36):
I thank God every day that I met you Sam.
Yeah, tell me just a little bitabout your Tools in Schools
program.
Jeremy (05:43):
Well Put Tools was, uh, was developed in in 2022, uh, by
a good friend of mine, RayTerry, and uh, we also have a
radio show called about yourhouse on fox sports radio
Saturday mornings.
I'm a co-host there, so, uh,I've been out of it.
(06:03):
I've done one show since thestorm.
Sam (06:07):
And since the storm, nothing counts right now.
Jeremy (06:11):
I know.
But you know I got into thatwith Ray and Ray had this good
vision.
He's like you know, the tradesare lost.
You're a tradesman, you're anadvocate for safety.
He's like you lost your limb toa power saw accident.
He's like you need to beinvolved.
So, I got to thinking how Icould incorporate myself into it
(06:32):
.
So, we develop, put tools inschools to go into local high
schools to basically go in infront of a career day where
they're pushing college, college, college, military, more
military, and you'll getlifeguards and the medical stuff
that comes through there.
(06:52):
But the trades are very small.
The trucking industry is biggerthan the trades oh yeah and
we've seen that, like you know,Bowman and these freight
companies, Swift drivers.
That's where they get themSwift drivers at.
They come from the recruitings.
(07:12):
They recruit them kids and thenthey take them off.
But when them kids go to thatcareer day they see the trades
and when they come through thatdoor and I've got a plumbing
company, an electrical company,a brick company and then our
tile company and you know allthese different cool things and
we got all of our tools outthere.
That's where Put Tools inSchools was kind of born,
(07:36):
because when we come in theydon't go to talk to the college
people.
They want to play with drillsand hammers and cut and lay
bricks and glue together, wirestuff up.
I gotta have the led lights outthere with the low voltage,
showing them the, the, you knowthe circuitry and all that and
how our drivers and everythingwork.
Uh and it, it took off.
(07:59):
So, uh, we go into about, uh,about 25 to 35 high schools and
middle schools and do careerdays and we do apprenticeship
programs as well.
And Jennifer, she is part of,she Built this City.
It's a foundation for women andgirls, young girls.
(08:22):
It's getting into the trades.
That let women know that theyare a value in the trades.
So I just kind of fell rightinto that.
You know, letting women scoreand snap and cut tile and play
with my tools.
I've been doing it all my life,you know I want them to learn,
so you know that's how we gotinvolved in that put tools in
schools.
But it's a great movement andI've been slacked off on it.
(08:44):
But you know, next year isgoing to be huge for us.
Uh, just try to do that and alsowork with uh, veterans,
amputees and recovering addicts.
Um, I've been counseling withpeople for years and helping
people and I fought my waythrough an amputation and
through addiction to come outthe other side and still have a
(09:05):
positive attitude.
And uh, God keeps putting me in, in the, in there to fight and
fight and for to be able torelate to other people is the
mission, you know.
So now I work with the stormvictims.
You know we're fightingdepression and suicide and all
up here.
And uh, you know it's just likeevery day, the Lord, he'll
(09:26):
challenge me, he'll challenge mewith something just about like
what I messaged you with theother earlier.
You know what I mean and shejust had to go, you know.
But anyway, not to ramble on.
I believe that what we're doingis what we're led to be doing
and it's our purpose and we'veworked our whole lives.
(09:47):
What is this small sacrifice totake off of work and to do this
?
And I just admire you for it,Sam.
Sam (09:55):
Yeah, I definitely feel like I have found a.
I used to use the word kindredspirit.
I don't know if you grew up, ifyou ever read Anne of Green
Gables or a lot of our listenerswould have read those, those
books growing up.
And Anne of Green Gables shetalks about kindred spirits.
Like when you find a kindredspirit, we know what they are.
But you're a kindred warrior,amen, we're.
(10:19):
We.
We're out here battling and youare a kindred warrior.
You're willing to step up,you're willing to do something
about it?
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Sam (12:13):
I just got one more thing about tools for school.
So, some people don't get towatch us on YouTube on here.
They just listen to us asthey're going through their day,
and if they're on the phonecall in line, we have a call in
line too, so they can't see whatyou're talking about.
As far as being an amputee, butyou're missing.
You're missing an arm.
Well, not an arm, you alwaysneed an arm, it's just a hand
(12:37):
missing.
Jeremy (12:39):
I was 23 years old and I had a chop saw accident
building bathrooms.
Years old and I had a chop sawaccident building bathrooms.
Uh and uh, I basically got myjacket caught into a, uh, a 12
inch compound slider.
Miter saw and uh, I was cuttinga small return for a piece of
crown molding and it was aboutthree, four o'clock in the
morning when I ought to havebeen in bed and uh, you know got
(13:02):
my jacket caught in there anduh one thing led to the next.
Uh, I went through three or foursurgeries.
They couldn't save it, they hadto cut it all the way off.
I went immediately back to work.
I was doing storm drainage workand irrigation work and I was
running my butt.
My skid steer and the joystickspulled this open and, uh, my
bone was exposed and lost moreblood and had to get it stitched
(13:26):
up.
And I've got prosthetics andstuff and I'm just, I'm better
off.
I'll use prosthetic when I'mthreading a sewing machine or
when I'm holding the punch toput a rifle together.
That's it that's all I neededbefore, but uh, but yeah, you
know, I lost my left hand at 23years old.
I'm 24 years old and I'm 38years old now, so you know it's
(13:50):
been a hard recovery.
But what don't kill you, makeyou stronger.
Sam (13:54):
Thank you, it sure does, and you handle it very well.
We joke with you a lot about it.
I'm glad we're able to you takeit very well.
We're constantly asking you ifyou need a hand.
But, dude, you have learned sowell how to I don't want to say
get along with it, you'velearned how to succeed with it.
(14:16):
There's a difference.
Some people learn how to getalong with what they've got
going on.
They adjust and they getthrough life.
You are not one bit happy doingthat.
You succeed at what you'redoing, like Aaron and I.
You know, Aaron, to see you runa track hole, you know, and you
(14:37):
just move that little handlearound like it ain't nothing
even to it.
It's great.
Jeremy (14:43):
It saved my life.
It saved my life, Sam.
It made me a better man.
It really did, I wouldn't bewho I am today without the
struggle.
Sam (14:53):
And I'm thankful.
Yeah, you mentioned addictions.
What do you know aboutaddictions?
Jeremy (15:02):
Well, I spent about 10, 12 years in active addiction
crystal meth.
Uh, I smoked a lot of meth anduh run wild for many, many years
.
I never was at without anything, my family never suffered,
nobody suffered, except for mywife not having me in the bed
beside her, and I run the roadsand, uh, that's how I got into
(15:25):
tile work.
You know what I mean because Iused to work for Darden.
I used to take care of all thelonghorns and cheddars.
If you beat a longhorn andcheddars, more likely I plumbed
the place.
Oh wow, Wow.
I worked the night shifts and Iwould run 7, 10, 15 days on the
road and they knew they waslike.
They said you get Crashmaticout there, he'll run the road
(15:47):
for you.
They said he'll go from one jobto the next job.
I like to drive and I stayed onthe road all the time and
Jennifer's really the only onethat really had a had a real
issue with it.
But all many years, or years,it just, you know, it took me
down a spiral, fightingdepression and uh, supplying
(16:09):
that with the drugs and uh, thealcohol and um it, it pushed me
to a place in my life where Iwasn't healthy, uh, I wasn't the
man that I should be.
And God delivered me in 2020and October 15th, not by my own
(16:30):
will, but you know it was.
It was a hard landing.
I've just, I've been clean eversince and I've been committed
to doing the best I can formyself, but not only myself, but
to show others to be a beaconof light.
Sam (16:45):
You know, oh, man, you not only myself, but to show others
to be a beacon of light.
You know, oh man, you have Mosttimes.
You know, I don't even want toask people about you know their
past or their addictions orwhatever, but you have succeeded
so well at it that I want, Iwant people to know we're going
to get into this later and we'regoing to talk about hope.
(17:05):
It's just a given.
You and I can't sit down andhave a conversation without
talking about hope.
And this, to me, is just atremendous message of hope to
people out there who havefriends, who have sons,
daughters, brothers, sisters,aunts, uncles, cousins.
There is hope for crystal methpeople Because, dude, I hear it
(17:28):
every day, every day.
I hear it on social media, Ihear it in phone calls to me.
You know it's ironic that Istarted this whole storm
disaster thing, fightingdepression and suicide, and look
who I got.
You show up and I hear thisevery day that those people are
beyond help.
You cannot help somebody who'son crystal meth.
(17:50):
You can't help somebody that'saddicted to the wrong kind of
drugs.
You can help other people.
They'll talk about that, butthey pretty much just wag their
head sadly and they're likethere's no hope for them.
And I'm the ever optimistic guywhen it comes to giving people
hope and where they're at inlife.
Um, I can be a pessimist aboutsome other stuff.
That's fine, but you, you are aliving, breathing, fantastic
(18:16):
example of somebody that can getpast it yeah well, I mean it
took me a long time, Sam.
Jeremy (18:24):
It was a struggle.
I got a buddy to tell you.
He said he picked me up 102times and I always asked him I
said why you keep helping me?
He said because if I do it 102and I quit and you never get
better.
It was all in vain yeah, if Idid 103 times and you turned out
(18:45):
the way you turned out.
It was all worth okay, uh, it'spowerful real.
That set real with me
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(19:36):
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That thing was awesome.
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Man, yeah, there's nothing likea little diesel donkey to make
my day go so much better
Sam (19:58):
people used to beg me.
Jeremy (19:59):
They begged me.
Man, I passed my statute oflimitations now, but I wore
U-Haul out back in the day.
I wore U-Haul out, I'd set upshop, I'd work six months out of
the year and actually go and dotile work, do plumbing work and
run jobs and do things like I'msupposed to do the rest of the
time.
I said no, no, no, we're goingto go play with U-Haul again.
(20:22):
We're going to run a milliondollars through U-Haul.
You know what I mean, and we doit.
I mean I'd sell motor swaps andbeds and truck parts.
I mean I'm a scrap man from wayback.
I turn wrenches, I can wirestuff, plumb stuff.
I can do it all about like youare.
(20:43):
I ain't never built no stretchtrucks, though that fascinated
me.
But I've got LS swap vehicles.
I've done diesel swap stuff.
I'm a 12-valve guru and an LSguru.
Sam (20:59):
I love them all.
Jeremy (21:03):
I just turned my life around at a point in time where
my kids, they needed me.
And once I turned my lifearound and I started building
bathmatic and Jennifer got onthere with me and I become this
wonderful guy in the tileindustry and people was like, oh
, look at the one hand cup man,this guy builds bathrooms with
his wife.
And I started getting that Irealized God showed me how far
(21:23):
he brought me and that give mesomething in my spirit where I
said, well, if I'm out here nowand I'm doing this good and
everybody's gonna see my faceI'm gonna be real good at,
because I've never been therebefore.
I never had that.
Sam (21:40):
Word.
Jeremy (21:41):
Yeah, I had that hope.
So, it's like if I can turn oneperson's idea of their self
around while I'm here in thesemountains, like I've already
have, I've got a lady come to metoday.
She's like Jeremy, I've got twoand a half months.
She said I was 11 years old thelast time I was sober.
(22:05):
She's 40 years old.
She'll be three months sober inthe next few weeks and I told
her what that meant to me.
She's down there living in oneof our sheds you know where
she's at but almost three monthsand I'm like man, like man Lord
, why me?
(22:25):
I come to the back of thiscabin every night, I asked her.
I said why me, Lord?
Why me?
I got oh, I got buddies thattell me hey, you need to calm it
down.
They're gonna put you on thenews before it's over with and
everybody's gonna see you.
I said well, it's all right,I'm past statute of limitation,
I said.
I said I'm at the point of timein life where I want everybody
(22:47):
to know because they can seewhat Jesus will do for you and
what hope will do for you.
You know, and I'm raggedly andrough as anybody.
You know, a couple hours ago,before I sent you that message,
I was looking for gas andmatches and wrote and stuff.
I didn't know what I was goingto do.
I had to pray for 30 minutes.
You saved me when you sent thatmessage you sent me.
(23:08):
He's got the law on his side.
You know, I did.
I mean, I hate to touch on that, but I'm going to go ahead and
touch on it.
20-year-old girl we give her ashed.
She's pregnant Two weeks aftershe gets her shed.
She gives birth to the baby.
She brings the baby home, putthe bassinet in the shed.
I never in my life would everimagine it to see that I've seen
(23:34):
it and I took her everythingand put it over there.
And uh, when I got that, thatmessage today that she's having
to relocate her shed, so I needa hauler to come back in there.
And I've already got.
It costs 600 plus dollars toget the electrical connected, to
buy material and all thattrenching to run that line, that
(23:54):
mclean and them done, and uh,here it is.
God's still telling me just toreplace the shed, replace the
electrical, replace everything.
Because I'm too vulnerable to goover there and get involved
with this guy, because I don'tknow what I'll do to him Now.
You know a 20 year old girl.
He's a 50 something year oldman.
She's got a three week old babyin there.
(24:16):
He comes in there and sexuallyabuses Yep.
Now she's got to move the shedoff the property.
Sam (24:22):
Yeah.
Jeremy (24:23):
Her mother called me.
She's ashamed to call Yep.
I don't know what to do exceptfor beg a shed hauler.
Yeah, beg a shed hauler to comeand help us again.
Go in there, cut the wire, pullit out.
He said we got, you know, 72hours to move it.
So, what's the hope of getting?
A 72-hour hauler in here.
Sam (24:44):
No, no, no.
If he said we can get it, thenwe'll get it.
It's just when I said he's gotthe law on his side, I meant
that we have to get him to agreeto let us move the shed.
But if he's verbally done that,we'll get the shed, don't worry
about it.
Jeremy (24:58):
Well, he's done that, he'll let us get the shed.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's the factof the good Lord keeping me
humble not to go over there andget the shed and then punish the
feller.
But I don't live like that nomore.
You know what I mean I know, um.
Sam (25:12):
We had another conversation earlier this week not we, as in
you and I, me and another guy,um and I told him.
I said I can't mention his namebecause some people on here
will know who I'm talking about,but I told him.
I said you're not going to dome any good in jail.
That's.
The only reason I'm not in jailright now is because I won't do
(25:32):
anybody any good in jail.
Because there's a couple peopleup there I'm pretty much I feel
the same way you do about.
It's crazy, one of the catches.
I'm getting ahead of our storyhere, but it doesn't matter
because we, we don't care, butone of the things to us putting
all these sheds out there,especially the ones where people
(25:53):
were renting in apartments, incampers, whatever, and they did
not own property.
When we set that shed onsomebody else's property, 99 of
the law says that's his shed hisproperty.
Jeremy (26:08):
Now his property comes off that trailer.
Sam (26:10):
Yep, the minute it comes off that trailer.
That's why I tell guys in theshed industry all the time do
not drop that shed unless you'vegot all your ducks in line,
that you know exactly what'sgoing on.
It's the same way when we gopick them up back up again on
their rto.
You know retrievals or whatever.
Get that shed on the trailerand then you've got some ability
(26:31):
.
Um, because as long as it's ontheir property, nine, nine
percent of the time the law ison their side.
I don't care if you're right orwrong, it doesn't matter,
that's just the way it works.
We'll handle that.
If that's the case, it justshows us the desperation of
these people.
You know what this hurts.
(26:53):
I was going to make a post thisafternoon based on a text
message I got today that Iprobably could go back through
my phone and I know I can comeup with a dozen.
I could probably come up withtwo dozen text messages where I
have storm victims that are inabusive relationships.
(27:16):
Just because a storm hits doesnot mean that abuse stops.
Jeremy (27:26):
And I've had a lady today that said there is a case
worker that's involved with somesociety around here and what
she specializes in is sextrafficking post-disaster.
Sam (27:43):
Wow, post-disaster.
Jeremy (27:46):
Post-disaster sex trafficking therapy.
Sam (27:50):
That's when it's vulnerable .
I can see that.
Jeremy (27:56):
This girl that we're talking about here she was in a
bad spot with that little babyand not having a place to put
her shed.
She lived down here at D&D bythe trailer park.
They got washed out.
That was another big topic ofour meeting.
Today I come to get educated onwho it is that owns it.
The old man died before thestorm.
(28:17):
He left the property to hisautistic son that's his only
source of income and heforfeited his disability for
autism so he could have thatproperty and be able to reap the
benefits.
The rent and all of it's gone,and now, because he's, nobody
(28:40):
wants to help him.
Sam (28:42):
You're kidding.
Jeremy (28:44):
And then Buncombe County is pushing him about the road
in and out of there, yeah, wherehe's going to put the road and
he has no money, and they'rebasically going to force him out
of there, force the property tohave nothing and he'll have to
sell.
Sam (29:03):
Well, he'd raise the whole thing like six feet up, wouldn't
he?
Jeremy (29:07):
yeah, yeah well that's another thing that they spoke
about is all the flood plainsand what they're saying about
changing yeah, they're changingall that and just like what the
preacher up here went through,uh, with his lot up, I mean,
there's just a lot going on andyou know all that meeting with
this new group is something else.
(29:28):
They're wanting to bring in allkinds of resources Tim Burleson
and I was there, and NickHeitschall, the guy from Camp
Unity, he's involved in it andthey're all wanting to come down
here to Bernardsville and noneof them have no idea what
they're wanting to do or whatthey can do or how they can do
it.
And then they all find outthey're like, well, here's
(29:49):
Jeremy, he's already gotinfrastructure, he's got
everything.
I was like I didn't do all this, God did it.
I said, but we got it and, uh,this is what we got to have and
what we got to do.
And, uh, they're interested inhelping.
But I don't.
I don't pay attention to nobodysaying that until they show up
(30:10):
I hate.
Sam (30:11):
um, I get accused.
I get accused of being rude.
Um, I've had quite a few peopletell me that even my facebook
posts they're rude.
Um, because of I mean, we'regetting to be to where we're
like some of the victims in thefact that we're like, yeah, well
, once you show up I'll actuallydo something.
You know, I've got victims thatwe show up with their shed and
(30:32):
they just they're like I can'tbelieve you actually showed up.
I had a dozen people tell methey were bringing me stuff,
bringing me stuff.
Tiffany, her 17-year-olddaughter, actually left the
property when Marlon was on theway out there with the shed
because she did not want to seeher mama heartbroken again when
nobody showed up.
That's crazy, but we see it.
(30:57):
We see it every day,everybody's looking down, down,
except for us.
And then I get messages all thetime, you know, from
well-meaning other.
You know other people up therethat are working hard and
they're like here, call this guyand I'm like, I'm not calling
him.
He can show up and show me whathe's going to do and I'm
getting to be as bad as some ofthe.
(31:17):
I call them victims.
I don't like to call them that.
They're survivors becausethey're going through it.
I hate using the term victimsas much as you know.
I hate when people are on theinside from being locked up from
something.
I don't call them prisoners.
They're still people.
They're my people, my churchpeople.
Most of my best church peopleare on the inside.
(31:40):
They're human beings just likeeverybody else, and that's the
way we got to look at these.
The difference is inBarnardsville, a small area of
Micahsville, we're working, andOld Fort Nebo, we're dealing
with people that are poor andthey were poor.
They made poor decisions.
They've had poor life choiceslong before the storm came.
(32:03):
That doesn't make anydifference and we got into it.
Today A driver called me up andsays hey, I'm here, you know,
to give these people their shedand the neighbor's yelling and
screaming at me and I end uphaving to talk to the neighbor
down, you know, and it's likeyou know, and then another
neighbor shows up and it's likeno, I don't care, you know, you
(32:24):
don't, you don't understandthose people you know and these
are legit storm victims, youknow that lost everything down
in old Ford on the river.
Um, they might've not had muchand they might've been
struggling in life, it doesn'tmatter.
Um, and then you move them to aproperty where somebody's like
hey, you know what, I got 10acres out here.
(32:44):
If you want to put a shed outhere until you figure out where
you're going or what you'redoing in life, you go right
ahead.
Well, it upsets the neighbors,I don't care, um, and I tell
them, guys, I'm like look, we'redoing the best we can.
If you need something, I wouldhelp you.
That that's right, you would.
And I'm like, yeah, it's not mychoice.
(33:05):
Who I help?
If you need help, I'm here tohelp, and it totally kind of
takes the fire out of them.
(33:30):
You.
Jeremy (33:52):
I stood up in there and talked tonight and then another
local pastor stood up across theroom and he said you see Jeremy
over there.
He said that man has fixedhomelessness in our community
Him and Sam.
They've not only fixed thecommunity as people that needed
a shelter or a place to stay,but they've cured homelessness.
(34:14):
Have you noticed?
There isn't anybody in tentsanywhere around here?
No more.
And I was amen.
Sam (34:20):
Yeah.
Jeremy (34:21):
I said, hey, and I've been persecuted by half the
people in that room that said,why are you helping them?
They were drug addicts, theywere poor before the storm.
And then Tim looks at me andgrins because he's one of the
guys that said it in thebeginning.
Well, you shouldn't help them.
(34:41):
They're drug addicts.
They were poor before the storm.
I was like Tim.
I'm an old drug addict too.
I was just like them.
Sam (34:50):
What I don't understand what better way we can have to
give someone.
I did an episode with a guythat's just as popular in the
shed industry as I am, RichardMiller.
You haven't had the opportunityto meet him yet.
You will you stick around longenough.
He's a real close friend ofmine.
Richard did an episode with mea couple of weeks ago.
(35:12):
It ended up being a two partepisode, which this one probably
will do.
What you're doing is you'regiving people hope and I'm like
would you who, who better tohelp and give hope to?
Now?
I'm not.
I'm not.
I'm not a uh, what's the wordI'm looking for.
I'm not a respecter of people.
I'll get if, if, if amillionaire got hit by his house
(35:33):
and he needs a place to staywarm for a while, I'll give him
a shed.
I don't care.
But it doesn't mean that I'mnot going to give the guy that's
been struggling his whole lifeand has been living on the
corner down there and everythinghe owned, including his 67 car
that had all the serial numbers,everything matched numbers on
it went down the river.
That's all the man owned.
(35:53):
I'm still going to give him ashed.
I cannot ask for a betteropportunity to minister to
somebody than somebody that's inthat position.
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Jeremy (37:48):
I've gotten to where I had a lady call me from what is
it?
Nam, N-A-M or whatever, theother day and she said well,
well, I don't understand whyyou're still working in buncombe
county.
I believe you and Sam arewasting your time in buncombe
county because there's no needfor sheds down there.
She said what's?
She said who's in charge ofyour vetting department?
Who vets your stuff?
(38:09):
I said can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
I'm going over a mountain, I'mlosing you.
Click.
I've done it to donors.
I had a guy that donated $1,000a month, pledging $1,000 a month
since the beginning of thestorm.
He called me up and he sent metwo pictures of where I was
talking about earlier the girldown there.
He said if these are the kindof places you're going to put
(38:30):
sheds, somebody in Barnersvillesent me these pictures, said
these are local drug addicts anduh, prostitution, uh houses
across the street.
If you're going to help themkind of people, I'm not going to
give you a thousand dollars, nomore.
I said how many months did yousend me a thousand dollars?
Would you like me to send youyour money back?
Yeah, I said, but don't send meno more money.
I said I'm gonna stroke you acheck from Mathematic and pay
(38:54):
your money back.
And he's like no, that's notthe point.
But I'm telling you that I'mnot going to support you and I'm
going to tell other people notto support you because you're
out here helping the people thatdon't need help.
I said that's fine.
If that's the people that'swanting to help me, I don't need
your help.
You know, what I mean.
Sam (39:11):
I don't need it.
Jeremy (39:16):
I, I don't need it.
I just got to where I hang upon them, called rude.
Well, they told me.
They said we'd much rather dealwith Sam.
I said well.
Sam (39:23):
Oh, that's the best joke I've ever heard.
I felt honored.
Jeremy (39:28):
I felt honored.
I'm like Sam's good, I'm likeif I can outdo him.
Sam (39:34):
I want this episode to go down as the what do you call it?
The pendant of my episodes.
I need an episode sponsored byBathematics that proves that.
Oh, because everybody listeningon there is like man, man, you
(39:55):
don't know that guy.
Very good, that guy will putyou in your place in a heartbeat
, that's it I mean, and I, youknow it is like you know since
the beginning.
Jeremy (40:05):
you know I think the little bit of strife that we do
get is minute to the amount ofhope that we do deliver and the
good and the positive that comesout.
And I don't even let it faze meI used to let it bother me what
the people in the communitysaid, because I've dove deep
into this community.
You know, being on the farmhere and trying to put things
(40:27):
together, you know, and livingfrom Mr.
David Carson's perspective, youknow, with this farm and
everything that he's done for me, I try to look through his eyes
and his vision and I just hopeand pray to God that I don't get
75 years old and get all mylife and everything in order and
nothing take it away like ithas his yes, I couldn't imagine
(40:48):
you know let's talk about that alittle bit, because you
bringing that up brings us up tothe fact of where you were when
you first ran into ourorganization.
Sam (40:58):
You didn't run into me for a while, no, you randomly showed
up on one of my haulers videosand I'm like who is this cat and
what does he think?
What does he think he's doing?
Jeremy (41:13):
Well, it's a funny thing .
I wanted to get to that.
Uh, you know I've done thechainsaw work.
I spent the first couple daysrunning, you know, ground ops
for operation helo and, uh, youknow, being a gi joe and a
ground op guy, I was out my sideby side, my rifle and my
(41:35):
satellite phone and my nightvision and infrared and all that
and I'm out there searching.
But I was, you know, rebukedfrom the cajun navy, uh, because
they said I was vigilant.
Uh, we found the remains of aof a girl's foot and they wanted
to go over face or TikTok live.
They were going to go, TikToklive.
(41:56):
They were joking and they'relike, if I had a foot, I wonder
where the rest of her is.
And I basically lost it andwent off on them, knocked their
phones out of their hands, gotin a fight with two second recon
, third recon soldiers,operation Afghanistan heroes,
you know, decorated war medalhonored heroes.
(42:17):
I'm out there swinging atwo-by-four around like a ninja
turtle, like a what In a fight?
So, you know, they tried toattack me, they tried to team up
on me.
So, you know, and I wasoutnumbered so I had to do what
I had to do and I got run out ofPensacola and I had some
(42:38):
buddies that come up here toback me up.
They were ex-combat guys aswell.
They come over here and westarted doing chainsaw work.
We met Tim Burleson.
Well, and then when I met TimBurleson, I met Alan Bowles, the
man that owns the truckingcompany here with the rock
equipment he's like listen.
(42:59):
He said, uh, leave all youbuddies right here.
I got to take you down the road.
I want to show you somethinghe's like.
I got you a place where you setyou up a base camp and, uh, he
brought us down here and heintroduced me to Mr.
Carson wow at that point intime.
He's like you don't work for tim, no more.
He's like you work for me.
He's like you need anything inthis community.
He's like I'll give it to you.
He said nobody want to admit it, but I'm the mayor of this town
(43:22):
.
He said he'll say there'snothing, move around here
without me knowing it.
And after a while I figured outhe's definitely got more money
than anybody.
So, he'd become a good friendof mine and he introduced me to
Mr.
Carson and that first day I had22 guys with me.
We had 16 trucks, 16 trailers,16 machines and bobcats and
(43:46):
everybody had a side-by-side anda piece of heavy equipment.
Yep, and we'd come in here andwe was working with Tim going up
and down the creeks, helpingAlan and Tim out in the creeks.
You know, and I'd done that forseveral weeks and I worked up
back and forth, you know, greenMountain, red Hill, went into
Swannanoa and everything anddone all that.
(44:07):
Well, after I tore my trailerand my truck and you know you
got, you know, your whole rigstore up.
You get all your equipment towedoff the side of the mountain.
I got in my side-by-side, Irode into Barnardsville, went
down there and ate me ahamburger at D&D and I didn't
talk to nobody because they waslike, well, what's wrong with
you?
I was like I got a $40,000trailer tore into pieces and a
(44:31):
truck that won't shift gears orgo nowhere.
I said I'm just going to gohome.
I think this is done and I wenthome and I come back.
I went home on a Sunday nightand I sat there.
By Monday night I was down atthe airport renting a truck and
(44:52):
I said I'm going back up there,so I took off back up here.
Then I got back up here.
I had some off-grid jobs.
It was way up on a mountain.
I got power back established andgot them water back established
fixed a couple wells and stuffand I was running out of money
and I said I pulled up back uphere to the farm and, Mr.
(45:13):
David Carson, he said where youbeen at.
He said he said I thought youdone quit.
He said we need to build sometiny houses.
He said I got this woman backhere in my camper.
He said I ain't even paid forthis camper yet.
He said the man, just let metake it to look at it to see if
I wanted it.
He parked it here and he saidnow I got this woman living in
(45:34):
it with her son and he's like wegot to get her out of there.
And uh, he said, now I got thiswoman living in it with her son
and uh, he's like we got to gether out of there.
And uh, he said and then myother neighbor over here is
living in her minivan out backand I, he's like we got to build
some houses.
And I said, well, when you wantto start?
And he said, whenever you canget some people together, I'm
like, well, I ain't got nopeople.
Everybody, everybody, I'm bymyself this week.
(45:54):
And uh, I said I'm going to buylumber, I'll start building one
.
So, me and the farmer's son, Caland Redbeard.
We got out here and we builtthe first two decks and we
didn't have no idea how to buildthis shed.
I didn't build them, nothinglike we build them now.
You know what I mean.
You seen them.
You seen me while.
I was doing it and I got in deepand I had no idea how I was
(46:19):
going to deliver the sheds.
I had only the money that thechurch had given me and what was
left my personal money.
I was like I can build 10 sheds.
I can build 10 sheds and I cango home.
I can feel satisfied.
Tim kept telling me hey, youneed to talk to Sam.
Uh, and what was the lady'sname?
(46:41):
That was uh, she had a funnyname.
Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's likeyou need to call her.
I was like I ain't got time tocall neither one of them.
People, I'm busy working.
I'm out here working and uh, wewas just grinding, you know.
And he showed up one day and hesaid Tim told me, he said
(47:03):
you're going to see somethingtoday that's going to change
your perspective on this wholething.
And Amos and Alvin Lineker.
Sam (47:08):
Yep.
Jeremy (47:10):
Obviously Amos and Alvin .
Everybody knows who they are,the rad dudes, best of the best.
I loved them from the day I metthem.
Uh, they showed up with thatload I think they had.
they had eight on the big semiand then they had they had three
on the on the pickup truck anduh, they had you know their
(47:30):
English or white guy driver,American, whatever you know
regular, and they were bothriding.
I'm like, who are these Amishguys?
And I was just fascinated aboutit.
And they're like you work forSam, you work for Sam.
I'm like, no, I don't even knowSam.
I'm like I'm just here at thisfarm, this farmer, let me use
this farm.
I'm building sheds back hereand then they come back there
(47:52):
and they get a kick out of it.
I'm trying to build sheds.
You know what I mean.
And uh, I was like I made avideo about it.
I was like at the point in time, I was like I gotta start
showing people what's going onup here, so I made a video and
then, uh, it was about a coupledays later.
You showed up, yeah and um,everything's history after that.
(48:12):
I mean, it was like God sentyou.
Everybody says you're an angel,Sam, but I, I, I believe that
you're.
You're more than an angel, youknow, I mean a disciple, you
know.
I mean, uh, because you broughtme right in and, uh, we, uh, we
were meant to work together.
(48:33):
I didn't know that, I didn'tknow what I was going to do, but
when you told me that you wasgoing to do 100,.
I was like well, I got to domore than 10.
And then here we are, peopleask me all the time Mr.
Carl tells everybody we'll beat a restaurant, they'll say
you're them guys that build atank down.
Yep, we're going.
Our goal is 1,000.
(48:54):
We're going to build a thousand.
I'm like Mr.
Carl, you gotta stop tellingeverybody that uh you know, I I
don't even count, no more.
You know, I think it's over 600.
I told everybody tonight I waslike I'm sure we broke 600 I got
.
Sam (49:10):
I got a rolling number going in my head.
Yet that kind of keeps meonline a little bit and every
once in a while I'll back up andcheck it based off of that.
So, I kind of know where I'm at.
But it's like uh, at this atthis point it's, it's not a well
.
It's never been about thenumber.
The hundred to start with wasto make the basic, and it wasn't
(49:33):
even a hundred.
It was 50 donated sheds and wewere going to raise enough money
to build 50.
So it was 50-50 to get to 100.
And we had the 100 donatedsheds within 24 hours done 24
hours is all.
It took really Four hours to get100 donated sheds.
(49:56):
Verbally Took about three weeks, three and a half weeks to get
them all brought in and to getthem delivered and set up.
But we did 100 the first monthand it's been crazy ever since.
It's just been oh, look at that, you fixed it.
Jeremy (50:09):
I figured I'd do it.
I love looking at my niches,but I didn't want to look at
them.
You know what I?
Sam (50:15):
mean You're at carson's farm in the cabin yep, I'm here
in the cabin.
Jeremy (50:22):
This is the cabin.
This is Mr.
David Carson's cabin.
He built this when he come backfrom up Maryland when he
finally decided to settle here,where he the farm he grew up on,
he built this cabin.
And these beams that's in theceiling here and these cleats
that are on the wall there theyare from tobacco barn where he
(50:44):
used to hang tobacco as a boy.
Yeah, so when he tore thattobacco barn down, he brought
these posts over here and builtthis cabin and the wood stove
and everything.
It's just real cowboy stuffover here, you know, uh it's a
it's a little strange.
Sam (51:01):
You're actually across the river from the farm the river
that hammered and you'd have togo through the river because the
bridge hasn't been rebuilt yetexactly, the bridge is blowed
out.
Jeremy (51:14):
So, I drive through the river in that rental truck and
them new fords.
They don't have grease fitting.
So, I done washed all thegrease out of this one.
I've been driving for a month.
I keep going back to rent moretrucks and they're like you,
better keep that truck.
We're gonna have to give you anexpedition or a suburban this
week, I'm like.
So, I keep the old six-cylinderford out here, the power boost,
(51:37):
but it is, uh, about two and ahalf foot deep right now.
It comes up on the runningboards.
You ain't gonna.
It's not on the tires, it's onthe running boards.
Uh and uh, I basically tear thefront air dams off all these
rental trucks and before I takethem back I have to unbolt them
so they don't know they werethere and, uh, I'll turn them in
(51:59):
.
But besides the point, thiscreek house was saved.
The water come up about 15 footaway from the front porch out
here.
Uh, I'll show you one day.
The water just stopped.
But if the water would have ranup about another 10, 15 foot,
it would have flooded his houseout.
Sam (52:18):
Wow, Thank you all for listening to today's episode.
This was part one of a two-partepisode, so be sure to listen
next week to finish today'spodcast
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