The EZ Bath Revolution: Transforming the Shed Industry

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shed Geek (00:07):
Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed
Geek podcast, a long, long timeanticipated guest here, who I've
had the pleasure to meet withon at least a couple of
different occasions, but today'sa very, very cool occasion to
talk about his time in sheds,his life in sheds.

(00:29):
He's a lifer, just like I am.
I feel like we're justcompletely in it at this point,
whereas there's no escape, itseems like, from the shed world,
and he's got a very cool newproduct that he's launching that
we want to talk about.
So, without further ado, Luke,do you just want to introduce
yourself and a little bit aboutwho you are and how you know the

(00:52):
shed industry?
Start me off somewhere.

Luke Miller (00:55):
There you go.
Yeah, so I'm Luke Miller.
I live out here in WesternMontana.
I grew up in Central Michigan.
My grandfather, Yost Miller,would have started building
sheds back in 1983, 1984.
And then, of course, my dad didsheds, I do sheds, all my
brothers do sheds.
Yeah, there was nine of us kidsand I think every one of them

(01:17):
is involved in sheds other thanmaybe the one he's a, or my
sister is, her husband is abutcher, but otherwise everyone
is involved in sheds.
And so, man, it's been a long,it's been a long family history
of doing sheds.
And it's at the place now,Shannon, where I can't, I can't
drive past the shed lot, I can'tdrive past the shop.

(01:38):
I mean, it's, it's, you know,that's where I'm at, you know,
and I just, I love meeting thepeople, I love looking at the
products, I love seeing the newideas.
There's all kinds of reallycool ideas out here.
Right now.
I feel like the shed industryhas really changed and, talking
to my uncles and my dad and thenme and my brothers, it's really

(01:59):
interesting watching thetrajectory of the sheds, whether
it was you know the size of thesheds going back to 1984 when
my grandpa started buildingsheds.
I mean we're talking eight byeight, eight by 12, you know 10
by 16 was so big it was almost,you know it almost made the
budget.
So you know my Amish friendswill get that one.

(02:21):
But you know that that was a bigshed back then and um, you know
, you didn't, you didn't movesheds very far and um, it was
just, it was a local thing, itwas small.
Um, I don't think my grandpaever built more than 200 sheds,
maybe 200 sheds in the last year.
So, he started in 83, 84, 384.

(02:41):
In 1997 he was delivering ashed over by Grand Rapids, if
you go south on 131.
I'm trying to think which roadit was.
No, it was 94, it was on 94,just over by Grand Rapids.
They had a flat tire whilehauling a shed and he was parked
beside the road changing thetire and he, a semi driver, fell

(03:06):
asleep and swerved over and hithim and um tragically passed
away, him and his driver.
So, he was Amish at the time.
So, my um, my grandfather, wasbetween the trailer and the
truck and there was no viewing.
It was it was, it was bad, youknow.
So, I always say my grandpa, umdied while doing sheds.
So that's how, that's how deepmy, my history goes that's some.

Shed Geek (03:28):
That's some deep roots.
I didn't know that about.
I didn't know that story aboutyour grandfather.
I'm so sorry to to hear thatwow, he was a.

He was an Amish pastor.
He, um, he was very, quitefamous in the in the Amish world
at the time he wrote.
He wrote the back page of thepathway publishers.
If you've ever heard of likefamily life, young companion um,
I think it was mostly the youngcompanion.
He would write, you know,almost every month, every month.
He'd have an article in there.
He was widely known as an Amishpastor and, um, it was a pretty

(04:00):
big blow in the Amish communitywhen he passed away, for sure.

Shed Geek (04:03):
I'm sure, excuse me I'm sure, and you said central
Michigan is where you guys wereand so this would have been near
Grand Rapids.
Wow.

So, my, my grandpa lived in Clare Michigan that's
where the old traditional shopis still at Miller woodworking
there right there in ClareMichigan and then my dad started
building over in Hale, Michigan, which there's still a small
Amish community over there, andthe shop's still going over
there.
Actually, it was the last timeI was over there, which was

(04:35):
about five years ago, and thenlater we moved to McBain and
started Mid-Michigan Barneswhich is now owned by what is
his name.
Miller owns that now Met himonce or twice, but it's been a
while.

Shed Geek (04:50):
Can't imagine it's a Miller, just so common.
And you know I've been byMichigan was part of my
territory years ago when I wasworking more I guess, an RTO rep
, and I loved Michigan first ofall, like got a chance to go up
and I remember some of the smallcommunities that I was in or

(05:12):
near some that maybe not eventhe name might not be recognized
, necessarily right away from alot of folks, but like small
communities like Standish Idon't know if you know where
standish is uh, it's sort ofthat central eastern Michigan
north of like Saginaw, uh, but.
I love going up into that area.

(05:32):
I went all the way up to thevery top there's this is
terrible.
Please forgive me, but there'sa shed manufacturer small shed
manufacturer right at the top ofthe of the lp.
Um, probably about 60 mileseast of Mackinac and um, I
really wanted to go over thebridge.
I wanted to go see the islandwhile I was up there and it was

(05:54):
just the wrong timing.
I couldn't and I guess it movedforward about two years and me
and my wife was able to go upthere and go see the island, go
across the bridge.
We didn't get to spend much timein the upper peninsula and
upper folks.
I would love to come see youguys, interview you, because
that's all the more reason forme to go see this beautiful
landscape that God's made inMichigan.

(06:15):
So, feel free, reach out, calltext and give me a reason to
come up there, because I want tobe there.
But on that trip, we got tohang out for a little bit, so
that was kind of cool.
I got to see you while we werethere.

Were you up in Mayo .
At the time Was it MayoNorthwood Storage, I believe.

Shed Geek (06:36):
I think we were going to try to get there.
We ended up going by and seeingJoe BC Barnes, joe Bontrager,
Seth Derby and then Henry Didsome coffee time with them, got
to interview with Jeff Hebnerand went to Cadillac.
I love Cadillac, I don't knowwhy.

(06:57):
I just really enjoy being thereand got to do some interviews
there and then eat dinner withlike a dinner with a whole bunch
of shed haulers a lot of shedguys and shed haulers I mean you
kind of Co-co come together onthat, like we co-opted that to
get about 20 or 30 people thereand I thought that was the most
awesome thing because I got tomeet people that just like those

(07:20):
are the podcasts.
I like to say, Luke, thatthey're the best podcasts on
earth that will never berecorded and that's why I always
encourage people get togetherfor dinners, get together for
lunches, go to these Shed events, sales events, marketing events
, manufacturing events, expos,whatever they are.
Whenever you go, do that.
They really do give back.

(07:41):
You won't leave empty withthose, because those are those
are the best moments to connectwith people.

So yeah, that was a great evening.
It's a ton of fun.

Shed Geek (07:50):
I enjoyed it.
Yeah, I really enjoyed it.

Yeah, that was at her Aduras, which actually
closed since then, which was theonly good restaurant in
Cadillac.
So now there's no goodrestaurant in Cadillac that I
know of that I know of.

Shed Geek (08:05):
Let's see, I don't know what it is about, Cadillac,
I love the, I love the, thelake there, um, there's just
some really cool views fromdifferent sides that you come in
and there's, there's, there's afew cool places.
This is something I've learnedabout myself is like, when we
get a chance to get out andtravel, uh, we've slowed down a
little bit since the grand babyhas come along, of course, but
uh, when we get a chance to dothat, there's certain places
that just feel like home awayfrom home and it's going to be,

(08:28):
you know this.
These might be weird comments,uh, I guess to some people, but,
like Cadillac always felt thatway to me whenever I was in
Michigan.
Um, there is a, a, a place inKentucky, um, and of course, if
I'm on the podcast, my, my mindwould just go blank all of a
sudden.
But south of West Union, Ohio,it's the first city when you get

(08:50):
into Kentucky and you cross thebridge and for some reason, my
mind decided I need to be oldtoday.
But they're just places youtravel that you kind of feel
like.
You know very much feels likehome away from home and I
appreciate those.
Central New York, I loveCentral New York.
I love the Finger Lakes areaand going across there it always

(09:11):
feels amazing when I'm there.
I've been surprised how muchI've enjoyed traveling up north
Because you know, everybodyalways talks about moving south,
but I've enjoyed some of themore northern states.

You just haven't been there middle of the winter.
That's the only problem.

Shed Geek (09:29):
I purposefully chased the weather, so I chased the
sun.

Don't go to Michigan middle of the summer or
middle of the winter.
You will not enjoy it.
That's a good point.
When that wind starts blowingup there on the northern end of
Lake Superior and it blows allthe way across Superior, across
the Mackinac Straits, and startshitting Cadillac, it gets cold,
real cold.
Cadillac's not as fun.
Then you're saying it is not.

(09:56):
It is not.
Yeah.
So, I grew up east of, or wemoved to, McBain, which is east
of Cadillac about 20 minutesmaybe.
So, I grew up right in thatarea and it's beautiful during
the summer, just gorgeous.
But during the winter the windstarts blowing, it gets cold,
and then every about 10 years orso Lake Superior will freeze
over.
And when Lake Superior and LakeMichigan freeze over it's so
cold there is no other.
I mean it's straight off theArctic right there.

Shed Geek (10:18):
Yeah, that's a good point.
All the more reason why I'll goin the summertime and not the
wintertime.

Yeah, go up to Pier Marquette and Painted Rocks
area during the spring, probablyabout late May, when all those
little waterfalls are.
There's like a ton of littlewaterfalls up there and they're
just gushing and like theflowers are all blooming, and
then do the sunset cruise out onLake Superior there by the
Painted Rocks.
It will be a memory like it's,an unbelievable memory.
You will never forget it.

Shed Geek (10:47):
Hey, we're going to have to make it happen now.
I definitely I appreciate thatwe're wanting to try to get to
Minnesota, Iowa, North and SouthDakota a little bit here this
spring, early summer.
So, any folks that are in thoseareas, that area, those areas
building sheds, hauling sheds,selling sheds, feel free to

(11:08):
reach out info at shedgeek.
com.
Uh, you know, call me, text me,email me, get on the website,
fill out a form.
We'll get in touch and we wouldorganize something.
I would I want to make sure toinclude everybody on the show
and we want to be able to hitall the states at some point.

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Shed Geek (12:34):
So, let's move on.
Luke, after you, you were bornthere.
We've had all the fun, we knowall the things.
What did you do?
Your grandpa, you know,tragically passed.
You sort of have followed inhis footsteps and going into the
shed life.
So, what did sort of like theshed life have for you?
How to lay it out for me?
How did you get to where youare today?

Yeah, so after my dad married he was doing sheds
for a couple of years and hewent, started farming and
there's no money in farmingobviously milking cows doesn't
pay the bills.
So in 2000 we bought a placeover McBain.
2001 we moved over so he wentto McBain lumber, bought enough
lumber for two, eight by twelvesin 2000, so this would have

(13:21):
been 2002, and that was when midMichigan barns was born and I
remember very that day very well, um, the lumber truck showing
up with the lumber and build outon the uh, out on the grass,
and I guess, I don't know, itmight run in the family, because
that's what I did when Istarted bitter at sheds.
I bought lumber and startedbuilding out on the grass till I
got my shop built.

(13:41):
But, uh, that was in 2002.
And I would say about 2008,.
I would have been in eighthgrade.
In eighth grade, after I camehome from school, I always went
out and worked and then, once Igot out of eighth grade, I was
an Amish boy, but, as you know,you only go eight grades.
And so, I went to dad and Isaid, dad, I'd really like to

(14:02):
get more education.
Would you be open to me tryingto figure out a way to get go to
high school.
And uh, dad got super angry.
And uh, the next, uh, the nextafternoon he took me into Home
Depot and bought me a new nailbag and all the tools and said,
all right, go work and forgetabout school.
So that's, that's all theschooling I got.
But, uh, I love my dad, but hedidn't have much for more

(14:25):
education, that's for sure.
He was one of those guys thatafter eight grades, let's get
you a nail belt and a hammer andsome tools and let's go start
working the shop.
So I would have been probably14 at that time.
And then at 16, a couple stuffhappened and my brother, David,
who's just older than me, hemoved out of the shop and into

(14:45):
the David, who's just older thanme, he moved down to.
He moved out of the shop andinto the office there to sell
sheds.
He would have been probably 17at that time and I'd have been
like 16.
And my dad made me shop for,told me all right, you're
responsible to get these shedsbuilt.
And I was 16 at the time and wehad at one point there,
probably when I was right thatstage.
A little later, I had, uh, 13people working for me, and I was

(15:08):
16, 17 years old and was theshop foreman, so that's kind of
I kind of got baptized by firein that area.
But my dad told me, my dad toldme said David's gonna sell the
sheds and you're gonna buildthem.
So that's, uh, that's, that'show that went.
And then when I was 19, I went,started teaching school at the
Amish School.
Obviously, I have a stronginclination toward academics and

(15:31):
I really wanted to go back toschool.
I never was able to do that andthen when I had the opportunity
to go teach school, that was abig thing.
So, I lost two years there inthe shade industry by teaching
school.
I loved teaching school.
It was one of the best times ofmy life, for sure.
A little Amish school andthere's two of us teachers you
know these young kids and tryingto impress them the, uh, the,
the love of learning, for sureit was.

(15:51):
That was that was awesome man,I, I.

Shed Geek (15:54):
This is what I love about doing podcasts and why I
constantly encourage people.
You just never know what you'regoing to uncover, uh, as you
start down a conversation withpeople, and what other people
like enjoy about listening isthese very things.
You know, my son got us a bookfor Christmas.
I'm super proud of him forthinking this way, but it's

(16:17):
called Dad, I Want to Know yourStory, and there's a hundred
pages and it's just questionsabout my life.
You know where I was born.
You know favorite memories,things like that as a child and
I'm filling it out right now, uh, to give to him an excellent
Christmas present for me becauseit warmed my heart.
But I got to a part abouteducation, and you know I wrote

(16:39):
in there just recently, you know.
I said, you know educationwasn't something talked about in
our family very much like wewere.
We were.
We were blue dog Democrats,Reagan Democrats, hardworking.
You know you work hard.
You know this is what Iremember from growing up in the
80s.
Right, you work hard and lifeis yours.

(16:59):
And you know, join a union andthey'll take care of you and you
.
You know, stick together.
You know the rich man's alwayssticking it to us.
You know it was.
Oh yeah, you know this was kindof like the language that we
grew up under.
We didn't grow up under.
You know, go get, you know,educated better yourself.
My dad was one of 16, you know.

(17:22):
Know, from a very brokenmarriage.
There was a divorce and adivorce and they had both had
four and then they had eighttogether.
My mom was one of nine, soyou'll appreciate that, being
one of nine, she was the onlygirl and she was next to the
youngest.
But 10th grade education, orninth grade, I think, for my mom
, sixth grade for my dad, andthen he had to guess what he had

(17:43):
to.
You know quit working, chopwood, that was.
You know.
His dad said, you know, boyswould come over and they'd be
like, hey, can you know they goplay basketball or something.
He'd be like, no, get out ofhere.
These boys got work to do.
You know, that's just, that'sjust the life they live.
So, my dad kind of knew thatlife for us too.
And it was like work hard, workhard, don't worry about school,

(18:03):
don't worry about getting moreeducated.
And because of that, you know,I barely got through high school
.
Luke and I went back to collegewhen I was 28, and I realized I
love learning, you know, and Istill love learning to this day.
I mean, it's amazing.

Yeah, I've always loved learning.
Learning has always been justit's such a.
Yeah, I've always lovedlearning.
Learning has been always beenjust it's, it's such a driving
passion of mine.
It's.
You know, I can, I can have aneducated conversation about so
many different things when itcomes to learning, just because
I love reading.
I love, you know, I love justopening an encyclopedia and
start reading.
It's, it's, it's amazing whatyou can learn.

(18:42):
Of course, now encyclopediasare pretty much extinct, so now
it's all wikipedia, you know.
But and who knows how accuratewikipedia is?
Of course you know, but uh, yougo, you start with that for
sure yeah, so so.

Shed Geek (18:56):
So let's see.
So you, you mentioned bitterroot, so was that after working,
you know, seeing mid Michiganget started, all of that thing?
Did you just jump straight intothat, or how did that come
together?
What was the story in betweenthere?

Yeah, and so we moved to Montana and I just got
a job at a construction crew at$25 an hour and it's hard to
raise a family at $25 an hour sowe finally scraped enough money
together to to buy enoughlumber for three sheds and I
built them out underneath thatmaple tree and built the sheds
out there and put them out infront of the road, put a sign on

(19:33):
them.
I was Amish at the time so Ididn't have any Facebook or
nothing.
So, an older lady that, uh theroad, she put them on Facebook
marketplace and started tryingto push him on Facebook
marketplace.
She sold a couple and then kindof think how that all happened.
She sold a couple and then Imet a gentleman that that helped

(19:54):
me set up my website, and so wegot the website set up and all
that, and then in 2000 we movedhere.
In 2017 I started in the fall of18summer of 19,.
My boss at the constructioncrew told me he said you're not
investing in my crew anymore.
Go build sheds.
And he did it with love and itwas the best advice I ever got.

(20:14):
So, he kind of half kicked meoff the construction crew, not
fired me, but he was like justget off.
You're not invested hereanymore.
Your passion is with your sheds.
And you're not invested hereanymore.
Your passion is with your sheds.
And you know, I was coming homefrom construction working four
or five hours after I came homeand next morning was time to
climb out of bed.
There was no.
There was no get up and go inthe morning, for sure.
You know cause crawling aroundin pole barns and houses all day

(20:35):
setting trusses and then cominghome working four hours
building sheds just it's, it's alot, and my body pretty much
broke down during that timeframe.

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And then.
So, we had our shop built atthat point and 2020 hit and
COVID hit and I was right on theright, right where I needed to
be for sure, and just sold a lotof sheds in 2020, 2021, for
sure, and COVID, covid, really.
You know that that whole pushwas awesome.
Unfortunately, it was.
Also.
I definitely grew faster than Ishould have during that time

(22:13):
frame, and if there's any youngman listening to this podcast
that wants to talk about whatit's like to not be able to pay
the bills and to really strugglefinancially, don't be afraid to
reach out to me.
I'd love to listen to yourstory and I don't have a lot of
advice.
I'm just going to listen andsay I'm sorry for you because

(22:35):
it's tough.
During that time and during 2020, I sold.
During that summer I probablysold probably 60, 70 sheds and
we were booked out three monthsand then in early August, lumber
prices just absolutely spikedand I did not have enough lumber
on storage to cover all thesheds I'd sold.
So, the last 30 sheds I'd lostmy tail on because lumber just
doubled and I didn't have enoughlumber to cover it, and that's

(22:59):
something that I definitelylearned a lot from.
But when you're young and dumband you're a good salesman, you
sell sheds and you think salesfix all the problems.
And it does, Shannon.
Sales fix a lot of problems butit does not fix all the
problems.
And so, but those were sometough times, but it was also

(23:19):
some good times.
I mean, we sold a lot of sheds,and Bitterly Sheds was very
successful, for sure, you know,at the end of the day it was
very successful.
But, uh, I also know what it'slike to to really struggle
financially and did not know howto pay the bills.
And you know, you got a lot of.

Shed Geek (23:35):
You got a lot of assets, you got a lot of profit,
but the cashflow is killing youbecause the in the shed
industry, cash flow isdefinitely the number one killer
of shed businesses, you knowyou know, there's been so many
shows I can think back onalready now over 300 of these
that we've done and a couple ofthem where we've really talked

(23:57):
about you know what it's like toknow your numbers, have your
systems and processes that youknow.
When we, when we discuss, youknow, I w I would say that we're
sometimes I feel like we'redoing a consultation without,
without actually putting a titleon it.
You know, but, but I definitelywouldn't consider us a well

(24:17):
thought out consultative company, cause that's not, it's not
really what we do.
We do it by default.
We don't really do itintentionally.
We do it because we want tohelp.
Right, and I meet so manypeople in the industry and I've
met so many people who talkabout just different stories
Some your stories about that,their experience, and some about
their.
What they offer is a solutionto that and trying to make some

(24:41):
sense of everything in between.
There, you know systems andprocesses.
Whenever we're talking withpeople about trying to increase
their sales or boost their sales, either through some kind of
like direct sales or marketingor whatever it is, I'm like, hey
, you do understand, everyaction has a reaction, right, if
you grow your business fromfive to seven million or five to

(25:02):
eight million this year.
Think about you know the amountof growth that is and think
about all the other things thataffects both negatively and
positively.
Right now you can order, maybein more bulk lumber you can
order and get a better price,but you're also going to have a
place to store that.
Maybe you don't have a place tostore that.
Who's going to store it?
Whenever it gets there, who'sgoing to move it from here to
there?
Are you going to be able toincrease the efficiency of your

(25:24):
manufacturing?
Because if you grow in 3million in sales, who's billing
those?
Who's hauling those?
Do you have the trucks to takecare of those?
You know, I mean, it almostbecomes a consultative
conversation again, withoutmeaning to.
It's by default.
It's like hey, this is astatement you know I would write
down for anybody who thinksthat anything I have to say is

(25:47):
worth a nickel.
Everybody prepares for failure.
Think about that.
Everyone prepares for failure.
Hardly anyone prepares forsuccess.
And what I mean is, like you'reeven told at least we were from
a young childhood, like you gotto have something to fall back
on, like these were words thatwere embedded in our head as

(26:09):
children.
Yeah, but then you need to havesomething to fall back on.
It was always like prepare forthe failure so that if it
happens, you, you, you're notcaught off guard.
But what I've been mostsurprised at is the people who
have had success and then didn'tknow what to do with it or what
direction to go with it,because you're just used to the

(26:29):
um.
So.
So, listening to your storythere without knowing all the
details, it's it kind of fits.
It's not as much as bitter rootsounds like it was failing
because of the troubles you werehaving.
It was having so much successyou didn't know where do I go
with this and how do I createsystems and processes.
And I'm young and I haven'tbeen through this yet.

(26:50):
I need a mentor, someone toguide me.
Does that sound accurate?

Absolutely.
And it was just all these sales, all this cash coming in,
everything looks good.
Then it's like, oh well, let'sdo more of this.
It's almost impossible for ayoung guy, ambitious like me and
just a driven salesman, to sayno to a sale.

(27:16):
I really should have said no,not necessarily no, but just
said we're not going to increaseour production.
I kept on hiring people andhiring people.
We went from our first employee, um, in 2020 to having 13
employees by 2022 and um.

(27:37):
You know, we just kept addingemployees and put a bigger shop
up and selling more sheds andputting more sheds out, which,
which I mean it's all fine andgood, but it also brings a lot
of struggles, for sure, for sure.
And then the—and again.
You know, when I look back overmy life, I've made a lot of
mistakes, but in 2017, when wemoved to Montana, we moved to

(28:00):
like this super aggressive Amishchurch to Montana.
We moved to this superaggressive Amish church.
They had this thing that whenyou join, you had to promise if
you ever leave their church, youwill move out of the area.
You will no longer remain inthe area.
We moved out here from Michiganand we made that promise.
I'm telling this story becauseI have a point for here.
I made that promise and Ireally regretted that promise.

(28:24):
Since then.
We chose to move on from there.
Um, we and so when we left theAmish church, we knew we had to
move out the area, and that wasin 2021.
And so, I reached out to SamByler from a mutual friend, and
was like um, you know, I'm gonnahave to have to sell Bitter
Root Sheds because we have tomove out of the area.

(28:45):
And now a lot of people weretelling me well, you know,
that's a dumb promise.
You never had to make thatpromise.
It's America.
You can do whatever you want.
But I felt like I couldn't livewith myself if I didn't keep my
promise.
It was a promise I made.
I knew what I was making, thepromise.

(29:06):
And they came in and made me anoffer and purchased Bitterroot
Sheds.
We were going to move out ofthe area because that's the
promise we had made.
Well, funny enough, about right.
As the closing came in, justbefore closing, I found out all
the Amish were going to move outof the area and the whole
church was going to disband.
So, I was like well, no, Idon't have to move out of the

(29:27):
area because they moved out.
But I already made thecommitment and signed the
agreement with Coleman Brothersto sell Bitterroot Sheds.
So that's why I sold BitterrootSheds, one of the main reasons
why I sold Bitterroot Sheds, andso that's why I don't own
Bitterroot Sheds anymore.
And you know, it's a promise Imade and I made and I.
You know, it's one of thosethings that if you make a
promise, keep the promise.
You know at the time.

(29:51):
And do I regret sellingBitterroot Sheds?
Do I wish I would never had tosell Bitterroot Sheds?
Absolutely.
I regret it every day.
The backside is I feel goodthat I sold Bitterroot Sheds
because I kept my promise.

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Shed Geek (31:52):
Well, I kind of remember that time and you know
it seemed like you.
You know you had plenty ofopportunity, though at the, you
know, the same time, I mean Ithink you were doing some stuff
in Indiana, doing some stuff inMichigan, and we've at least me
and you've connected at least acouple of different points

(32:13):
throughout the years, andcertainly I always admire
reading your thoughts, like manyothers in this industry, you
know, as they share things onsocial media and stuff like that
.
So, I hate to admit thatcertain people grab my attention
more, maybe, than others.
Don't offense to anybody whoyou know I suspect not everybody

(32:34):
listens to every single podcastepisode, so trust me, it's not
as though I'm naive, to thatright.

So, I don't get them all done myself, Shannon,
I'm sorry, but I totally get it.

Shed Geek (32:45):
I always tell people I've got favorite podcasters I
listen to and I don't even getto all of their shows and I love
to listen to.
You know some of these folks,but you know life is such that
it's that way and we don't putit out there to try and get
everybody we, we put it outthere and you know life does its
thing.
So, when you can listen andhopefully, uh, you, you, you

(33:05):
listen to the right ones.
If nothing else.
So, but, um, yeah, I love thatwe've connected on that.
So now, um, you know, would yousay that you've just jumped
into this different alleyaltogether, this new direction,
but still shed relatable.

No, I'll never get out of sheds all my days.
I'll be 80 years old somedayand still be doing something in
the shed industry.

Shed Geek (33:36):
I mean you'll be talking about it on a front
porch in Montana.
How about that?

Hey, sounds good to me, sounds really good to me.
So just to back up, you know,like I was saying earlier, you
know when my grandpa startedback in the 80s, an 8x16 shed
was big.
We didn't even do white loadsat the time, 10 wides were
unheard of.
And then you know my dad's era.
You know a 12x24 was big.
And then you know my dad's era.
You know a 12 by 24 was big.
So you know, until from about19,.

(34:03):
I say about 95, you know my dadwould have started building.
You know the bigger shedsstarted coming in a little bit
more.
You know 12 by 20 startedcoming in, the 12 by 24.
And then about 2008, 2009, wedid our first 12 by 32 and that
was a big shed.
And then we did a 14 by 32.
And that was like how do youdare drive that thing down the
road?
You know type of scenario.

(34:23):
You know, and we might've been,you know, a little later than
some of the East Coast people,so they probably got in the
bigger sheds a little quickerthan we did.
But and then inveterate sheds.
You know, come 2015, we startedseeing.
I started at Bitterly Sheds.
I learned pretty quickly thatpeople out here they want their
16x32s and 16x40s and evenbigger.

(34:44):
Now there's a couple companiesout here that are doing bigger
than 16x40s, especially if yougo down to Texas.
They're doing 18x64s and stufflike that.
You're like that's a lot totake down the road.
I admire those drivers a lot.
I mean, I take 16 by 40 throughMissoula every now and then and
I think that's bad and they'retaking these big ones right

(35:08):
through big towns and I'm likeyou guys are just nuts.
But that's kind of thedirection the shed industry is
going and at the same time,especially since COVID there's
been.
So during COVID a lot ofcompanies myself included grew a
lot and since then I've seen alot of companies that are kind
of trying to diversify a littlebit and a lot of them are going

(35:29):
to the tiny home, you know,cabin, auxiliary dwelling type
of stuff, and we got in that aswell.
So, toward the tail end therewe did a couple auxiliary
dwellings and stuff and Ilearned really quickly the
pitfalls of doing auxiliarydwellings and that is cash flow.
Cash flow and then dealing withsubcontractors is a big thing.

(35:52):
So, after I sold BitterrootSheds I was talking to an old
gentleman who's been in the shedindustry forever.
We started talking about it andI started brainstorming and,
man, it's been, it's been ajourney.
But now we're doing the EZ Bath,which is basically a fully
encapsulated bathroom pod.
The way I tell people to thinkabout it, think of it as a
bathroom that comes on a palleta full, a full bathroom,
including the hot, the hot waterheater and everything.

(36:14):
It all comes on a pallet.
You set it inside your shed,anchor it to the floor and you
have a bathroom done.
And we say it takes about 20minutes for the average guy to
set it in the shed and put theanchor and screw it down to the
floor and you're and you've gota fully, fully encapsulated
bathroom right in your shed.
And so, they're um, right nowthey're mostly going into the
like the cabins, but we've gotsome tiny homes coming in, some

(36:36):
tiny home manufacturers.
We've got a guy that's doingpark models.
He's you know we're talkingwith him about to put him into
his park models and you know hehas it.
He has, he has everything setup.
But, like he was telling me,he's like all the subcontractors
coming.
Subcontractors are coming inand they're doing their thing.
You know you have your plumbercoming in doing his rough and
you have electrician comingdoing your rough end and then
you, then they all have to comeback two or three times and it's

(36:59):
really hurting his, hisworkflow.

Shed Geek (37:02):
And so we're talking about to him, about doing the
putting the EZ Bath right intohis uh, right into what he's
doing, right there so you mighthave to walk me through this a
little bit, because I like tothink that I've got some
construction knowledge of youknow have spent a small amount
of time building homes.
I actually built my first shedever at our first home.

(37:25):
I did it all by myself, justbased off my home construction
learning, and it's still theretoday, so that's a good sign.
It hasn't blown away.
No, it's still there 23 yearslater.
So, I'm you know, every time Idrive by I'm kind of proud of
that.
This is long before I evenactually got into the shed
industry and at that time Ithink, let's see, my brother

(37:47):
bought one.
So, he would have bought onefrom Cook Sheds, which is I've
talked about this before on thepodcast several times in
Southern Illinois.
I think they started in 86 andthey were just kind of notorious
for sheds, at least in our area.
You know, I felt like that wasthe biggest name and the biggest
brand and my brother bought his, ended up selling it to my

(38:08):
father-in-law.
There's a really good shedhauling story there, if you ever
want to hear it sometime, whichincludes uh using hydraulic
jacks to get it up in the air,four wheelers to drag it down
and uh moving it on the top ofan angle iron 6x12 utility bed
trailer with a, with a um, witha hd pickup, 14 miles, with the
tires pancaking the whole timeand a tractor.

(38:32):
Oh, it got really intense.
So we were, we were your 200dollar or 250 guy before they
ever existed, but we only did itone time.
And uh, but.
But I built my own and you know, um so.
So, when I think of like EZBath, I think, well, walk me
through the process.
You have to have an open wall,I'm assuming.

(38:53):
Uh, in order to put this in, isthat?
Is that accurate?

Yeah, so the way, the way most people are doing it
, and there's a couple ofdifferent ways to do it Most
people they built their walls,all their walls, on top of their
floor and so they'll set up theback wall, the back gable,
first.
That's the way most shedbuilders are setting up their
walls, the back gable, then theyset up the two side gables and
then usually they slide thefront gable off the wall or they
build it off to the side.

(39:19):
I see a lot of people buildthem off to the side on the
floor or you know whatever.
And then so you just grab yourforklift You've got to have
extendable forks, you've got tohave, you know, at least
six-foot forks and so grab theforklift, pick it up and just
set it right on top of the floorof your shed.
And then, if you want to movearound inside your building and

(39:44):
get it and it's just like movinga pallet around at that point
and just move wherever you wantit, and then there's four
brackets that come with it youcan screw that right, right down
to the floor.
Right, right, you need to hit achoice when you screw that down
.

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Shed Geek (41:31):
I'm assuming because I know I've seen them, so I'm
not assuming at this point.
But you've got some YouTubevideos that kind of talk a
little bit about that.
Maybe we can put a link in, ifpossible, or something like that
, but where people can go andfind out more information, I'm
assuming.

Yeah, so you can go to my website, myezbath.
com, or you can check me out onYouTube.
My YouTube handle is Amish Lite, so there's a couple.
That's my type of humor, youknow.
It's Amish Lite, so just lookfor me under Amish Light, and
there's a bunch of YouTubevideos on there as well, and

(42:10):
there's a lot more coming out,so don't, if you don't find what
you want, just ask for it.
I'll do a YouTube video and putit out there for you so walk me
through this a little bit.

Shed Geek (42:20):
I'll ask questions that I'm going to try to play
customer here.
Or you know your customer notbeing the end user of the actual
bath and the cabin, but theindustry right, the industry
that you want to be able to sellthese units to you got a hot

(42:41):
water heater.
So, like, how does this work?
I'm assuming it's an electrictankless, but maybe not.

Yeah, so you can either get electric or the gas.
We offer both.
Okay.
So electric or gas, they'reboth Rene, and so the electric
is a 240, five and a halfgallons per minute.
So, it's more water than you'llever use.
You know, you can open multiplefaucets at the same time, which
is what I have in my house, andI was like that's something
super important to me as anon-demand hot water heater.
Um, yeah, so.

(43:09):
So, there's a little utilitycloset in the back and there is
a the hot water heaters backthere.
So, um, when you purchase this,you'll set it into the
manufacturer, will set it intothe building, and it takes them
about 20 minutes to hook it up.
And then the customer, afterthey receive the building and
it's all set up, they have tohook it up to their existing
utilities.
So, there will be five basichookups.

(43:31):
So, you have the cold watercoming in and then you have the
sewer going out.
So, there's one four-inch sewerline going out.
Everything's connected.
So, you've got a vanity.
You've got a tub or a shower,depending which model you get,
and a toilet, and it's allhooked up into one four inch
line in the back.
So, there's a access door youcan just hook it right up there

(43:52):
and then you have the electricum.
It takes a 240 um, trying tothink.
It depends on how far you'recoming, but most my electrician
is telling me mostly three-gaugewire, two or three-gauge wire,
and so it takes a little moreelectricity if you have the
on-demand hot water heaterelectric on-demand hot water
heater, whereas if you have gasthen it doesn't take nearly as
much electricity.
And yeah, so there's a 100-ampbreaker box in the back that the

(44:19):
electric gets run into, andthen you have the exhaust vent.
So you've got your fan thateverybody has to have, and then
you have your drain vent, so allthe drain lines have to be
vented per code.
So you've got five easy hookups, stuff that as a I'm going to
do it yourself for a little bit,but I can do it in probably

(44:39):
three, four hours, depending onhow far I'm going with it.
If I have to run the drain lineup ways it takes a bit more
than that, but three, four hours.
So that's why our tagline isbathroom in a day, we say any
half-competent DIYer canpurchase one of these EZ Baths

(45:00):
and have it set up in a day.

Shed Geek (45:02):
Well, and it could probably eventually turn into
upsells for manufacturers whoreally want to.
You know, either take that onor subcontract that out.
To some extent, you know, maybethere's a small residual amount
that they can earn off of that.
But more than anything is yousaid something that was key
earlier.
You said you know the shedindustry seems to be moving more
towards these large sheds andit seems like people are wanting

(45:22):
more off grid or moreaffordable housing, just because
you know the days of old justdon't seem to be America.
I don't know if they're comingback in terms of like you know
how we live financially, butthere seems to be a little bit
more attempt at least to equally, equally distribute wealth

(45:44):
among most people to where theaverage person is falling,
falling behind.
And we're going to get toopolitical here, aren't we?
But we're, we're almost falling.

I was going to say that's that old Democrat coming
out there.

Shed Geek (46:00):
Hey, listen, I'm not saying I, I love you.
You're an old blue collarDemocrat.
I was going to say that's thatold Democrat coming out there?
Hey, listen, I'm not saying Ilove you.

You're an old blue-collar Democrat.
I'm telling you I love it.
Actually, that's where mynatural inclination is as well,
so I totally hear you.

Shed Geek (46:13):
Well, I'm not saying that I'm a fan of the
redistribution of wealth theinfamous Obama line of the
redistribution of wealth, theinfamous, you know, Obama line.
I would say I'm more inclinedto want to see people have their
basic health care needs met,right.
So, you know what I mean.
I'm probably somewhere inbetween.
I'm somewhere in between.

(46:33):
I like to consider myself acentrist on many things, but I
find that I'm not always once itcomes down to it.
But my thought behind this islike people are looking for
homes, right, like you know,maybe they can't afford what a
typical American home costs now,your average American home and
they're looking for alternatives.

(46:55):
And it's been my experience,Luke, and I'm curious about
yours and even others around.
The industry is just howwelcome that is among
municipalities, especially themore larger the cities.
Obviously, I don't like that,typically Right.
But you're more rural areasthat don't fall under HOA, but
we all still fall under, likethese, these IBCs, these

(47:15):
international building codes andthings that are necessary.
But you've kind of addressedall of that with this and people
are or at least I think youhave and people are always
looking for something finishedout in a shed anymore, doesn't?

it seem that way.
Yeah for sure.
And so what happens is a lot ofpeople come in and they don't
have much money, so they buy ashed, a cabin, on either rent to
owner or cash, cash, and theypurchase and they're going to
finish this thing out.
They're all fired up about it.
Man, I'm going to make thisthing gorgeous.
I'm going to do this.
I'm going to do that.
Give it a give it a year.
You go back and you either repoit or you move it, because they

(47:52):
sold it and then they you knowthere's a couple, couple pieces
she rock nailed up and someelectric lines put in, and
that's it you know, they, they,they got the, the building and
they set it up and they're allfired up about it and they get
out there with their, with theirtools, and they got their
hammer and they got their youknow their, their cobalt drill,
you know that barely works.
Or their black and decker drillthat barely works.

(48:14):
I mean, sorry I do, old guys,but anyways and uh, and .
They get out there and it'soverwhelming, it just it
completely overwhelms them,especially the bathrooms.
The bathrooms are the big one,you know, because you got to do
drain, you got to do theelectric and you got to do the
shower and you got to do thevanity and it's just, it's

(48:34):
overwhelming.
Now a fair amount of them dofigure it out eventually, or
they end up hiring people to doit.
But yeah, I don't know, I meanI was, I think probably half of
the shells I've sold never got,never got moved into by the
original purchaser.
Yeah, it's so overwhelming.

Shed Geek (48:53):
You're exactly right about.
You know, I used to spend a lotof time.
A matter of fact, I had guys inin our sales office.
It was like are you, are youtrying to talk them out of
buying it?
Are you trying to talk theminto buying it?
And I was like, well, I'mtrying to avoid problems as best
I can down the road and while Iwhile I don't you know want to
spend people's money for them, Iwant to educate them as best as

(49:15):
possible.
And if you're really trying tohelp them, you can tell exactly
what you said in most cases, youknow, with just a few questions
, whenever somebody would comein and be like do you really
understand what this is going tolike, what kind of project this
is going to be?
And I can remember onespecifically, a couple that came
in and you know, 16 by 60, oneof the biggest sheds we ever

(49:37):
sold.
You know big one.
Oh yeah, custom front door.
It looked really nice, had acouple dormers, tall roof, sold
it and this husband and wife dida tremendous job.
They did an excellent jobwiring it.

(49:59):
You could tell they either doneit professionally or had it
done professionally.
She found out she had cancer,um, and six months in they had
to give it up, um.
So, we got it back on our lotand, uh, I really felt.
I really felt bad for her cause, you know, you could tell it
was.
It wasn't just like we can'tpay for it, it was like a real

(50:20):
situation and I wish I'd havefollowed up with them closer.
But it comes back.
We have somebody else come in.
They want to buy it and I justknow enough to ask enough
questions to feel like I knewthat they weren't.
These new buyers just were noteducated enough on what it was

(50:40):
going to take to do this process.
They saw some of the stuff thathad been done and thought, well
, we can just take it from here.
But I began to ask questions.
Look, I even had some leftoverlike bat insulation from a
project and once the shed gotdelivered I took like two rolls
over to him and said, hey,here's a small contribution, but
here you go, really appreciateit.
I could just tell, and I kindof wanted to get their, their

(51:02):
mindset around it.
And I guess it was a year laterthat the driver you know went
out and, as exactly as you said,I had to go pick it up and they
were very combative.
You know the communication fellbetween them and the RTO
provider over that course ofthat year and of course the guy
pulls a gun on the driverwhenever he comes out.

(51:22):
Finally, to come again.
Man, like you have this andyou're like I'm trying to avoid
every single bit of theseproblems with good education,
good communication, and I wasjust stuck.
I felt I felt very stuckbecause you know, they almost
got really aggressive towards mewhenever I didn't want to
proceed with the sale.

(51:42):
I felt I was profiling themperhaps and at some point I had
to say, okay, let's move on here, you got the money, here's your
shed.
But then, you know, I tried toavoid the situation you felt
like was playing out, just be,you know, because they didn't
really have it.

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Shed Geek (53:23):
It's Thank you maybe this is the way to solve that,
right.
You just have this bath all inone where you make it more

(53:48):
financially turnkey for them.
That's it.

What I found is a lot of people, they need to win.
You know, a lot of us get stuckon stuff and sometimes we just
need a win.
And the bathroom EZ Bath podreally it gives you that win
that you're looking for.
So, you get the cabin.
It's overwhelming, but you'vegot the bathroom done.
So, you know, okay.
So, we got the bathroom done.

(54:12):
Now let's figure out what are wegoing to do first.
Well, let's run the vent, let'srun the vent out, let's run the
vent out, let's run the coldwater in.
I mean, that's stuff that isreally simple to do.
I mean, it's anybody can runpacks nowadays with these, um,
the, the, the new packs, whereyou just slide them in and they
just click together.
It's so easy.
You don't need any specialtools.
It's so, so straightforward.

(54:32):
Um, anybody can do them, andthey start building up wins and
I feel like that, really, thatmomentum is really key.
I mean, um, whether it's yourkids, whether it's yourself, in
life, building wins is a hugething.
So, I'm a bit of a I'm notcompletely sold on him, but I'm
a bit of a Dave Ramsey guy, andif you look at Dave Ramsey, he's
like put $1,000 in savings andit's like $1,000 doesn't cover

(54:56):
anything, no, but it's a win.
You need a win, and then youneed a win, and then you need a
win, and then you need a win.
And I feel like the EZ Bathdoes that to a certain extent.
It gives you a win, you know,it gives you that win, it gets
you started, it gives you aplace to start at for sure,
instead of just a big blankpiece of canvas.

Shed Geek (55:18):
So, what will your process be?
Your buyers are going to beshed manufacturers, tiny home
manufacturers, cabinmanufacturers those are going to
be your customers.
You know the end customer willuse the product, so we can talk
about the two-sided marketplacethere.
But to reach your customers,what is sort of your approach?
What's your message to them?
What are things that you wouldlike to say to them in this
early exploration?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's something that, as a
shed manufacturer, you ought tothink about is do you want to
move into the, into the moremove-in ready buildings, the
more tiny homes?
Whether you take it all the wayand you have a, you have a, you
have a completely move-in readybuilding, or whether that's you
want to offer some level offinish out?
For example, I'm I did a pollon the shed sales professionals

(56:02):
Facebook group recently and itseemed like a lot of people are
offering some level of finishout, whether it's just an
electric package, whether it'selectric and insulation, or
maybe do electric insulation andsome type of interior covering.
Well, this gives you that nextlevel.
So, if you're already offering,say, insulation and electrical,

(56:22):
this will mesh with youperfectly and get you into that
next stage.
If you're doing interior finish, um, this will, this will take
you into the position whereyou're a fully finished tiny
home and um, and that's the key,you know, is if you, if you're
ready to go on the next level,you're ready to move on and
differentiate, you know make itto get it you have

(56:45):
differentiating a unique sellingproposition from you and your
competition.
I think the EZ Bath is a verysimple, very easy.
It doesn't really require verymany man hours to do and it
really offers a huge step up andthe profit margins are really
good on it.
I have a really good programwhen it comes to purchasing
wholesale or, if you want to doit, on commission basis.

(57:06):
There's great profit margins onthem.
Your, your salesman will loveit.
I mean you take a take a$15,000 sale and make it a
$30,000 sale without that big ofan upsell and without extra man
hours on your end.

Shed Geek (57:20):
really they, yeah, they they're, they're really
easy upsell for sure.
I'm a, I'm a huge fan ofcreativity.
You, you, you may know that ifyou listen very often.
And I, I can't be a big enoughadvocate for creativity.
Because what is the one thingthat we all say in the shed,

(57:41):
industry, right, is we sellquality.
We try to sell quality product,you know, at the right price,
at a fair price.
And I question, you know I'mgoing to, I'm going to there
again, be an advocate for changeor resistance to change here.
So, bear with me a little biton that.

(58:02):
But why do you think that?
At least my opinion is, andmaybe you agree with it or not
but the industry doesn't alwaysnecessarily embrace change in
any capacity, whether it's newproducts.
Lot to do with us beingconservative in nature, right?

(58:23):
So, I've went from, you know,democratic Party now to being
Republican, right, or I guessyou would say somewhere in
between those lines now.
So, to draw the parallel withthe political discourse we've
had, you know Republicans areknown as what?
The party of no, right, becausethey're conservative.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
They don't want to change anything right.

Shed Geek (58:44):
Republicans are known as what?
The party of no right Becausethey're conservative, they don't
want to change anything right.
And a conservative nature isthat that you typically want to
stay with what you've got, toconserve what you have.
But change is also inevitable,it's necessary and creativity
gives us that right.
It gives us better medicines tocare for our body.
It gives us like we're living,breathing souls right, you know,

(59:05):
that's the way God's revenge isto be.
And we're getting deep here onpolitical, religious, how they
tie into EZ Bath.
So, I want to kind of I want tobring it back in a little bit.
I mean, I guess my thought isit seems like I'm a big fan of
other products.
You know some that advertisewith us.
I always push those productsand sometimes it seems like the

(59:28):
industry has a little bit ofdifficulty embracing new
products.
What's your message?
So that we can help break thatmold with EZ Bath, so that
people just embrace thisnaturally, because I embrace it.
I think it's awesome.
I love what you're doing, youknow.

Yeah, I mean, you're completely correct when
it comes to being slow to change, and I think a lot of that goes
back to the Anabaptist.
By far the biggest demographicin the shed industry is the
Anabaptist people, whether it'sAmish or Mennonite or you know
there's a thousand differentvariations of that now, and the

(01:00:04):
Amish had this thing, and Ithink the Mennonites have as
well.
It's a no until we say yes typeof thing.
The automatic response to anyquestion is no until we say yes,
and it really has served themwell for sure.
But I guess I kind of take itthis way is you know, it's okay
to be slow to change, butsometimes you do need to change

(01:00:25):
in a very, very methodical, verythoughtful way.
Um, I don't, you know, I don'twant to sell these EZ Bath pods
to somebody that's not going tobe able to incorporate them into
their business model, like Idon't want to sell them, just to
sell them.
I mean, kind of back what youwere saying about the cabins,
you know, um, I want to workwith manufacturers who actually
where this incorporates them andtakes them to where they want

(01:00:46):
to go.
You know there's and I'm goingto drop a name here but Tough
Sheds would never.
You know, this would not be aproduct that would match with
their business model, right, itjust wouldn't, because they're
out there, they're sheds,they're a huge company and to
change quickly would be a poordecision on their part, I
believe.
Now would I love to work withthem, absolutely.

(01:01:07):
I mean, who wouldn't want tohave a huge account?
Right?
But I don't believe it would bebeneficial to them.
So, I think I want to find theright people, the people who
actually do want to move on andtake the sheds to new heights.
Right now, the shed industry isdominated by there's a lot of
these big mega companies.
You know, you've got OldHickory, Graceland, Dirksen, I

(01:01:31):
mean I'm missing a whole bunchof names when I'm saying these
names, but it's dominated bythem.
But there's a nice nicheunderneath that, the people that
build 200 to 600 sheds a year,and that's kind of the niche
that I'm targeting.
I'm targeting the smaller onesas well, but that little niche
right there are people that youdon't really have quite the

(01:01:54):
buying power that these megacompanies have.
You know, you're paying more,that middle price when it comes
to lumber and stuff, and so andthere's one more thing that's
really happening in the shedindustry and that's the race to
the bottom.
Right now, out here in Montana,it's a race to the bottom.
Now everybody's running a 10,15, 20, I see 30, 40% discounts
on their sheds, and it's a raceto the bottom.

(01:02:15):
Be the cheapest, and the thoughtis that, being the cheapest,
you can get more sales.
But my thing is, are you reallyout there to make the
customer's lives better?
If that is, your goal is tomake the customer's lives better
.
Yes, price is one of the thingsthat makes the customer's lives
better.
Quality is one of the thingsthat makes the customer's lives
better.

(01:02:39):
But to really make thecustomer's lives better and to
actually improve their lives andto fix the problem they're
facing it, definitely you knowyou need to listen to them and
you need to be open to newthoughts and new concepts and
then say, okay, I'm trying to.
If you, it's a mindset shiftgoing from I'm going to sell
every single building I can.
I'll even lie a little bit, saya little white lies and maybe
omit some things in order tosell a building.

(01:03:00):
So I've been in, I've walkedinto sales lots where the
salesman is saying, oh yeah, youcan finish this thing out for,
you know 800 bucks, or you know2000 bucks, or you know even
5,000 bucks.
Well, that's a lot.
You cannot finish out a cabinunless you're getting free stuff

(01:03:23):
.
You know free, free, whetherit's free labor or free
materials.
You cannot finish out a cabinfor $5,000.
And if you really want tolisten to your customers and
give them the best experience,like we were talking earlier,
Shannon, I believe the EZ Bathreally is a tool that people
ought to consider.

Shed Geek (01:03:34):
I embrace it.
Naturally, I love new ideasthat come to the forefront.
I won't steal your thunder here.
I don't want to mention a wholebunch of them, but just real
quick.
I mean, they're advertisers ofus.
We always support them, likethe Solar Blaster fans, the Zula
system that Ares has created, Imean and I'm not saying these

(01:03:55):
are perfect for everybody, justto be clear.
But, man, look into thesethings because, like you know,
there's guys like you who arecreating and now you're taking
this to like this whole newlevel.
Right, you know they'reproviding sunlight, they're
providing solar fans and thingslike that that move the air man.
That bathroom is definitely oneof those things.

(01:04:17):
That's like it's primaryfunctionality.
Whenever it comes to somebodywho's wanting to finish this
thing out, whether they'repaying cash for it or however
they're doing it, they have tohire somebody to come in here
and finish this out.
And I would imagine you'vealready looked at price points.
Versus being able to order thiswholesale, put it in all as one

(01:04:38):
unit, versus hiring that laborout, it's much more cost
effective.

Luke Miller (01:04:43):
Yeah, I mean that's a great point.
Now I'm going to say go back tothe whole thing about the
better, the better fans and thefan bands and stuff.
I always, or I've been thinkingof down this line.
All the all the new productsthat have come into the shed
world were a better mouse trap.
It was just a better mouse trap.
I'm introducing a bear trapinto a better mouse trap world.

(01:05:04):
That's a good point.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
It's.
It's actually the first trulynew product in the shed industry
that I can think of in like along since, probably since the
mule Like that's a good point.
It doesn't exist.

Shed Geek (01:05:21):
You have you have first movers advantage and,
trust me, it won't last long inthe shed industry.
I hope it doesn't.
Sometimes that's a good thingbecause that means people
embrace it and the product's agood idea, right?
People ask me.
They're like what are you goingto do if somebody starts a
podcast?
I was like good, Good, you knowwhat I mean.
Good, Go for it.

I'll be at the Shed Expo.
It's in Grand Rapids this year,right, it'll be in.

Shed Geek (01:05:48):
Knoxville this year.
It'll be back in Knoxville 2025.

For some reason I was thinking they were going to
bring it back to Grand Rapidsone more time but okay, I'm
wrong.

Shed Geek (01:05:57):
Probably 20,.
I'm thinking maybe what?
2026 maybe, but this year, yeah, we just got to be in Knoxville
.

Okay, yeah, so I'll be, I'll be there and I'm
hoping there'll be four or fiveother companies there with the
same product.
That's where I'm at, you know.
If it, if it isn't, if the, ifI'm the only guy there, I'm
going to think I messed up on mycommunication somewhere.
But, um, but back to the pricepoint thing.
Um, so my products and theirMSRP.
The manufacturer suggests areal deal.
Price is between $13,000 and$18,000, depending on which

(01:06:28):
products you want.
If you want the really fancydeluxe ones, you know, and with
the with the so, so you caneither get the basic one, the
classic, which has the vanity,toilet and shower, the Supreme,
which has the toilet, then ithas an actual bathtub and a
vanity and then has a hot washer, dryer, hookup.

(01:06:49):
And if you, and if you all takethe supreme and match it out,
it's 18 000.
That's the suggested retailprice.
Um, I did some quotes looking ata lot of things here in Montana
which I don't know how thatgoes across the entire nation.
They plan on minimum $20,000.
If you're building a house,your subcontractor or your

(01:07:12):
general contractor will tell youto plan $40,000 per bathroom
and a master bathroom to go morelike $60,000 to $70,000.
That's what they tell peopleout here.
So MSRP between $ and 18,000 isa very price advantageous.
That's a really good pricepoint, I believe, and that's the
MSRP.
We offer wholesale pricing andthen commission-based structures

(01:07:35):
, which you know.
So, there's an excellent profitfor the salesman and the
installer there for sure.

Shed Geek (01:07:42):
Man, I feel like this is like your next adventure.
This is like your nextbreakthrough.
I feel, even talking to youabout it initially before we had
this conversation, that youwere passionate about it and I
wish I could find a way to youknow, bring that passion to this
episode, and I hope we have.
We're almost at a point nowwhere, Luke, we're either going

(01:08:02):
to have to keep talking and makea part two to this episode, or
we either going to have to keeptalking and make a part two to
this episode or we're going tohave to cut it off here pretty
soon.
But you're just such an easyconversation to have and you're
welcome here anytime.
I definitely enjoy talking toyou any chance we get together.
I wholeheartedly embrace this.
I certainly hope that theindustry does too.

(01:08:23):
I certainly hope that theindustry does too, because you

(01:08:49):
know, at the end of the day, thecustomer drives the innovation,
typically the mindset for thecreators.
You know R&D guy, You're alsothe shed hauler.
You might be the shed seller,you might even be the chief
trash taker outer.
You do all of it.
But especially for thesecompanies that are larger
companies that are looking for athird-party option, they buy
products all the time you buyyour lumber somewhere, your
metal somewhere and any othercomponents that go into the
sheds, and we're just seeing ademand for this more and more

(01:09:11):
and more, and I completelyembrace it.
If people want to know how toget a hold of you, where's the
best place to reach out to you?
How can we be a resource tohelp you?
You?

how can we be a resource to help you?
Yeah, so my website is myezbath.
com, myezbath.
com.
My email is Luke (L-U-K-E)@myezbath.
com, or find me on Facebook, andthen you can also give me a
call.
If you're a young entrepreneur,if you're a young shed builder
and you just want to chat, justgive me a call.
My phone number is 406-370-3601.

(01:09:47):
406-370-3601.
Don't be afraid to give me acall.
Man, what a Unless you're ascammer.

Shed Geek (01:09:56):
What an easy conversation to have.
I always enjoy talking to you.
I also always enjoy talking toyour brother, David.
It's fun when we get togetherand have a chance to chat.
I got to visit his lot inIrvington.
What a beautiful lot, one ofthe best looking shed lots I've
ever seen.
When you pull up and see itfrom the road, it's just
gorgeous you want a lot ofinformation about the shedding

(01:10:18):
industry?

talk to David.
He's uh, he's uh.
He's probably one of the bestshed salesmen I've ever met I, I
just enjoy talking to him, youand him both.

Shed Geek (01:10:27):
Maybe we can get you guys both on here one of these
days, or something like that,and get some stories from the
days of old or something.

The thing about David is David has never sold a
shed in his life, but he soldhimself a couple thousand times
yeah.
That's the big differencethousand times.

Shed Geek (01:10:47):
Yeah, you know that's the big difference.
We went out to eat lunch and Ithink we stayed longer than uh
he probably cared to because heprobably had work to do, but I
felt like it was fun justsitting there talking to him.
So we, I felt like we talkedfor a couple hours and, uh, I do
enjoy it.
My favorite thing about theshed industry is that, you know,
uh, products and all that stuffdo tend to come second place
products and services to thepeople.

(01:11:08):
I do really appreciate thepeople.
It just means it means a lot tome to be able to continue to do
something that we love and ifwe can help you or your company
in some way, well, we love thattoo.
I feel like it.
What goes around comes aroundright, and that's not just a bad
thing, that's a good thing.
So, yeah, any other thing thatyou want to share, any questions

(01:11:31):
you have to ask me, since I dothis with everyone else.
Any questions you want to askme podcasting, sheds, just
anything, life in general,anything that you're just
curious about, in fulltransparency.
I don't mind answering becauseI'm recorded here where I have
to be vulnerable, so ask if youdon't, okay, but I like to, I

(01:11:54):
like to keep up my transparency.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know that I have a lot of
questions for you.
I just I appreciate what you'redoing in the shed industry.
Thanks for the all the shoutouts you're giving to the
different people bringing commonknowledge together.
The pursuit of knowledge isprobably one of the most pure
and one of the most virtuousdesires there is in the world.
If you look at my life and thethings I've done, my life has

(01:12:20):
always been a pursuit ofknowledge, because in knowledge
there's power for sure.
My mom says I'm too smart formy own britches, so there's
always that.
But uh, there's a.
There's there that.
I appreciate you bringing thatpursuit.
Um, and here's the one thing Iwant to throw out there yet and
there's a bit of a plug, but uh,the EZ Bath is just the

(01:12:42):
beginning.
We're just the beginning.
I've got like so many new, newproducts that we'll be bringing
out here in the next five years,so just don't touch the dial.
There'll be a lot of more stuffcoming out.

Shed Geek (01:12:55):
I love to hear it.
Like you know, God is creative.
You know, first thing we findout about his nature is he's
creative.
In the beginning.
God created and we're made inhis image, so we're made to be
creative.
So, I love any creative mind, Ilove just collaborating with
them, sharing ideas and thoughts.
Sometimes business happens,sometimes it doesn't, but I'm
always a fan of being like ohdude, that's awesome, tell me

(01:13:17):
about it.
I, you know me and you.
We live, eat, sleep, breathe,sheds.
It's just kind of like what wedo at this point and I
appreciate your kind words Ilove helping people and
sometimes helping people means Iget to help myself.
You know what I mean.
And so, you know we want tokeep just being a resource, try

(01:13:38):
to be a light to the industry,help where we can.
You know we.
We know that we competesometimes in some areas, but you
know we're very unique, Luke,in that we even invite our
competitors on the podcast, weinvite our competitors to the
table, we even invite them toadvertise, because you know
we're for you, we're not againstyou.
We know that we want to win, wewant to do good in business,

(01:14:01):
but that doesn't mean that wewant to dominate and shut people
out and things like that,because, after all, they're
brothers and sisters in Christ.
So, like we know, we're notgoing to win them all right, but
we certainly love talking toall of them and hearing their
story, and that means you too.
If you're listening today, feelfree to reach out.
Whether it's Steel Kings onMonday, whether it's myself on

(01:14:23):
Wednesday or Sam Byler on Friday, we love talking to you guys.
We love having conversations,and I believe that communication
is that key that links us alltogether, because you get
education through thatcommunication, and that's why
our tagline, Luke, over here atShed Geek Podcast, is education
through entertainment.
You know, we love to have funlaugh, joke and cut up, but we

(01:14:45):
love to be able to talk withpeople.
Hey, listen, I'm a fan ofprayer and I feel like it's been
a long time since I've prayedon the podcast.
Sometimes I get so caught up orwe get long-winded.
We have these longconversations that we forget to
acknowledge and honor God in ourprocess, and that's one area
where I love this industry andyour heart as well too that you
are a Christian and you are loudabout that, and I think that we

(01:15:08):
need more of that in today'sworld.

It's a dangerous industry.
We need God's hand over it, forsure.

Shed Geek (01:15:16):
Yeah, if you don't mind, we'll pray.
Lord, thank you for this day.
Thank you for the opportunityto speak with Luke this day.
Thank you for the opportunityto speak with Luke, such a such
a just, a kind soul, a visionaryand someone who's trying to

(01:15:36):
bring a product to market in theindustry that he loves.
I'd ask that you just bless hisendeavor and open up doors that
couldn't have otherwise beenopen other than without having
your, your touch and your handon that.
Ask that you'd continue tobless this industry.
We love it.
We absolutely love being ableto meet people, not only in it,

(01:15:56):
but those who come to our lots,those who are followers, that we
get to go and deliver sheds totheir house and witness to them
in even some small way.
Ask that you would justcontinue to provide us with
those opportunities.
Give us wisdom, give usdiscernment and all that we're
doing continue to be a light aswe walk.
God, just as we can point allthings and all gifts that we've

(01:16:18):
been given towards you, thecreator of all and the giver of
all, and we thank you, weabsolutely thank you for your
son uh, for sending him, uh, uh,to atone for our sins, and, um,
we just can't say thank youenough today, Lord, in Jesus
name Amen.

Amen.

Shed Geek (01:16:38):
Luke, appreciate you being on the show.
It's been a good one for sure.
Thank you, hey.

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