Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to another
episode of Stay Modern with
Murray, brought to you by MurrayCustom Homes, where we build
your dream home together.
Now sit back, buckle up andenjoy the ride with your host,
matt.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Murray, thank you for
joining us on this episode of
Stay Modern with Murray.
I am your host for the day,matthew Taylor pinch hitting for
Matt Murray.
Today we are in the Murraystudio speaking with the Home
Builders Association of Lincoln,president-elect Jeremy
Montgomery and Executive VicePresident Michaela Schwarton.
Did I say that right, michaela?
You sure did, nailed it.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm liking these
sound effects.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
It makes us sound
cooler than we are, that's for
sure.
Thank you for taking the timeto join us today, guys.
It is truly an honor and I'mexcited to learn more about HBAL
.
What I know is helping out withthe Home and Garden Show last
year, the Spring Parade of Homeslast year and then the Fall
Parade of Homes this year.
Can you tell us a little bitabout you guys, personally and
(01:01):
professionally?
Mikayla, let's start with you.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Sure, I am the
executive director for the Home
Builders Association.
I am from Lincoln.
I have worked for theassociation for 26 years.
I've been the director for nine.
I've got a couple of kids 26years, man.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's longer than
any relationship I've ever been
in, that's for sure.
What about you, jeremy?
Tell us a little bit about you,man.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Well, I'm the
business development manager for
Stephenson Smith Constructionbecause I have to have a day job
.
I am the president-elect forthe Home Builders Association of
Lincoln, like you just said,and that is a, you know, a
volunteer position.
So you know my day job keeps mepretty busy at Stevens and
Smith and you know we do a lotof concrete work, foundations,
(01:54):
flat work, floor coatings, thattype of stuff, and I've been
pretty heavily involved with theHome Builders Association, I
would say since about 2017, 2018.
And it's been beneficial for mepersonally and professionally.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, man, Steven Z
Smith, I've done a lot of work
with them before.
I was with Murray as well, whenI was with the county with the
engineering department, when Iwas with TJ Osborne, when we did
underground utilities.
You guys helped us out withsome roadways out there too.
So all right.
Well, for everybody that'swondering, HBAL, Home Builders
Association, why don't you guystake the lead on this?
(02:31):
Tell us a little bit more.
Besides, like the spring paradeand the home garden show, what
exactly does HBAL do?
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Well, those are the
public events.
We also have a tour ofremodeled homes.
That's another public eventthat general people tend to know
us for those events.
That's their name in front ofthe public.
Internally, we support ourmembers.
We promote building, offerthese events to get their name
(03:02):
out in front of people.
We have networking events forour members.
We host two golf tournaments, asporting clay shoot, a chili
cook-off, yeah, a holiday party.
We have our installationceremony and our award ceremony
in January where Jeremy willbecome our president.
Then, you know, just supportthe building community.
(03:24):
Then, you know, just supportthe building community.
We keep a finger on the statelegislature, the city council,
anything we see coming downthrough regulation that could
affect impact housing in any way.
We are, we're watching that.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I would like to
add to that.
You know we're more of a singlevoice for the industry.
You know you've heard thesaying before it's strength in
numbers and I've seen itfirsthand.
You know, through governmentaffairs and advocacy type
projects where you might see anenergy code come through and
(04:00):
that energy code may not be asafety issue but it may be more
of an energy issue.
And does everybody need thatinstalled or those certain
regulations or codes installedin their house?
Because it all adds to the cost.
And you know I think a lot ofthings with the home building
industry we look to keep thosecosts low to make homes
(04:22):
affordable, and so I think a lotof times when we talk about
codes and stuff we're looked atas the no group a lot of the
times.
But you know we do like toadvocate for the home building
industry and really on behalf ofhome buyers.
You know we want people to getinto homes.
You know that's the Americandream, and so I think the
biggest thing with the HomeBuilders Association is really
(04:43):
just being kind of that singlevoice.
But, as Michaela said, allthose events, you know the
networking opportunities thatyou have as being a member is
extremely beneficial as well andjust educational and
professional development withthe Lunch and Learns, and I
think we just had one on fallprotection, things like that.
So I mean you get what you getout of it.
(05:05):
You know you can pay yourmembership dues and be a member
of the Home Builders Associationor you can be really active
with those dues and getsomething out of it, you know so
.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, I think what it
really kind of boils down to is
, you're right, having onesingle unit with a voice that
can be for the builders, thatcan be for the homeowners, that
can be for the buyers and thatcan be for the homeowners, that
can be for the buyers and theclients, and knowing the ins and
outs of those zoning and thoseregulations.
When I worked for LancasterCounty Engineering, it was
almost like I walked in and Iwas reading hieroglyphics at
(05:35):
first Decode this regulation,that and I'm just like, all
right, slow it down, back up,let's really dig into this.
And that's kind of what youguys are doing for everybody
that's involved with thebuilding process.
You guys are deciphering thosemessages, turning it from
hieroglyphics into English orSpanish or whatever language
they speak.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, I think you
know really it's about building
relationships with the peoplethat make those decisions, with
the city, with the counties andyou know we have a great
relationship with like buildingthe safety.
We meet with them quarterly andwe discuss issues that we have
and and I think they take thosethose issues seriously and they
do something with them if theycan, and you know it's very
(06:11):
beneficial.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, shout out to my
guy Terry Cathy, down there at
building and safety, haven'theard from you in a while.
That's my guy used to workdaily with him.
So again, can you guys explainwhat the Lincoln Home Builders
Care Foundation is?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Yeah, that is our
501c3 nonprofit arm of the Home
Builders Association of Lincoln.
It was started in 2009.
We have given out over $377,000to local charities, nonprofits,
(06:48):
disaster relief Recently thiswe were just talking here with
Shannon we helped out severalyears ago in some small
communities.
We helped Omaha this springafter the tornado went through
Omaha and scholarships to highschool students, college
students who are going into orare pursuing their career in
(07:08):
construction related industries.
We support the high schools intheir STS classes, provide them
materials, equipment if theyhave those needs we host.
So the foundation fundraisersare our golf tournaments, our
sporting clay shoot.
Those provide the funds that weare able to distribute out
(07:32):
through the requests and anddifferent avenues that we have.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, and I'd like to
also add you know, a lot of
times we just gave like was it?
Last year?
We gave Southeast high school.
It was about $2,500 inmaterials for their construction
class.
They were getting a little lowon drywall and roofing materials
and wood and lumber and allthat stuff, and so we got a list
from them and I think WaverlyHigh School was the year before
(08:00):
that.
I mean.
So if we get the requests ofschools that are in need, we
will, you know, try to supportthat through that care
foundation.
I think the majority of thatmoney actually goes to
scholarships.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Yes, Scholarships in
the high school support.
We give about about 10 to$15,000 every year in
scholarships there are highschool.
The application goes out inJanuary.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
We award the
scholarships in April at our
tribute to youth, so it's agreat way for the students that
know they're nonprofitorganization as well, and a lot
(08:47):
of what I don't think peopleunderstand is the money it still
costs to play the games, itstill costs to build those
houses, it still costs to go outand do these tournaments and
the fundraising that goes intothat.
That's, that's the heart andsoul, I think, as a parent group
, and the people like yourselvesthat are going out and helping
raise the money for the future.
You know, leaders in ourcommunity.
(09:07):
At the end of the day, I get sofed up with people hearing
people talk about well, it'syour generation or this
generation and this.
Well, what are you guys doingto help?
You know, I mean, we can't justexpect these kids or, you know,
I guess, young adults to go outand have that right set of mind
frame to go in and do somethingpositive in the community,
unless they're helped, guidedand mentored and and have that
(09:31):
you know leader that's backingthem and it kind of.
I had no idea that H ball hadanything to do with with high
schools in our community.
So, you know, hats off to youguys.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
You know, listen, I I
say this a lot at Stevens and
Smith and if you want to be theleaders of the industry, you
have got to give back to yourcommunity.
It's as simple as that.
And you know, having the CAREFoundation and you know, with
the money that they're raising,the efforts that they're doing,
giving back to the community,you can clearly say that the
Home Building Association is aleader of the industry because
(10:00):
of what they do for thecommunity, for the building
community specifically.
You know.
But you know all of our membersare based in Lincoln and around
Lancaster County and you heardMichaela say we gave money to.
You know Omaha, you know that'snot even our region, but you
know it's nice to be able tohave the funds to do that and
help people that need help.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, it takes a
village.
I mean we kind of started thispodcast by talking about one
unit and it being bigger thanjust us in this room.
Right, like when you startleading a life that's thinking
beyond yourself and just yourfamily and thinking about others
and their kids and theirfamilies, it really, really
expands.
You know who you are as aperson and it helps the soul a
(10:42):
little bit too.
You know you can sleep betterat night knowing that you are
helping.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Yeah, I call that a
food for the soul.
Love, that yeah, food for thesoul, volunteering your time for
it to help others, man, it'sjust such a good feeling, such a
good feeling.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
Speaking of
volunteering, I forgot.
Our next big project for thefoundation is we do a.
We build wooden toys.
We haven't done it since 2019.
Covid kind of shut us down, butwe're getting it back rolling
again.
This year we build 70 woodentoys It'll be November 9th this
year at Lincoln Northeast HighSchool and these toys are given
to the Lincoln Police UnionCharities and then officers give
(11:18):
these toys directly to familiesthat they encounter during the
holidays who may not have a gift.
This was something that wasstarted back in 1988.
We've given out over 2,000 toysand I don't remember the dollar
amount.
It's a significant dollaramount to the Lincoln Place
Union Charities for this project.
Man, it's a really importantone and it's great.
(11:41):
We've got a lot of members thatthey've got kids now that are
in their 30s that say, hey, Igrew up doing this project and
how awesome it is that you knownow they have little kids.
They're like great, I'm goingto bring my kids to this event.
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
We had a gentleman in
the board meeting yesterday
that was a recipient of one ofthose toys when he was a kid.
Was it Roger, not Roger who wassitting?
Oh, I can't remember his name,but he said he was a part of
that as as he was a kid, youknow.
So, yeah, you know to.
To be able to remember thingslike that and you know, to have
that kind of a testimony, youknow, 20, 30 years later, is
(12:18):
amazing.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So yeah, you're
leaving an impact on people and
then their, their children andtheir children's children.
It's a it's re, it's one ofthose positive cycles and
circles.
We we hear so much aboutnegativity and and anymore,
especially online.
Right and and that's somethingthat I think it's that's not
talked about enough is socialmedia and the internet.
(12:39):
That's not going anywhere.
Right, that is part of our lifeand it's going to be part of
our kid's life and our grandkidslife, and we need to do
something positive with thatmessage.
Just to kind of like this, youknow, getting a message out with
the tools that we have at ourat our disposal.
So, um, I want kind of one.
You guys were talking aboutCOVID a little bit.
I want to talk about that nowthat we're I don't want to say,
(13:00):
past it, don't want to jinxanything, but what was working
in the industry?
We'll start with you, jeremy.
What was working in theindustry during COVID, like for
Stevens and Smith or for youyourself personally.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Oh man, it was.
You know, finding help.
I know, right before COVID, youknow we were.
We were still looking for help,had a lot of ads out for
skilled craftsmen and but whenCOVID hit, you know, a lot of
people were working from home,staying at home, didn't want to
get out.
It was really tough to recruit.
I would say in 2020, 2021.
(13:33):
And then the 2022 was some ofthe most challenging times for
HR, you know, trying to adaptand overcome to how you get in
group meetings anymore.
You know, trying to adapt andovercome to how you get in group
meetings anymore.
So, ironically, right beforeCOVID hit, we installed some
(13:54):
microphones in the ceilings andsome video screens and so we
were actually got pretty lucky,because trying to get some of
those after 2020 was prettytough that year.
But yeah, it was just, you know, trying to adapt in a different
environment of trying to findnew help and different ways of
getting help and keeping peoplesafe.
That was a challenge too.
Nobody knew what the heck wasgoing on and you hear about
(14:15):
people sharing chips Like whatyou were sharing a bag of chips.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Are you?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
insane?
Yeah, my goodness, what are youdoing?
Are you crazy?
Are you nuts?
Now we kind of look back andlaugh but and thankfully so.
But yeah, those are somechallenging, challenging times
for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, what about you,
michaela?
What was the one thing that youcan remember taking away from
the challenges during COVID?
Speaker 4 (14:37):
So you know, for home
builders we're event based.
A lot of our stuff is events,be it a public event or a member
event, and we were fortunatethat we had our Home and Garden
Show in February, becauseeverything shut down in March
and if our event would have beena month later, we would not
have had our Home and GardenShow.
(14:57):
But it really impacted ourSpring Parade of Homes and I
remember working with my staffon how do we still have this
event.
I mean, we had a great numberof houses in the parade.
I think there was about 50entries maybe that spring and it
was trying to figure out okay,can we have these houses open,
how do we do it?
And then working with thehealth department to come up
with, okay, what are the rulesso we can have these homes open,
(15:20):
so the builders can stillshowcase their product.
And we had conversations withour board and our exec committee
about how do we best supportour members and, you know,
reaching out to make sureeverybody was doing all right
and that their business wasstill, you know, was there any
needs that people had?
Well, come to find out.
Gosh, so many people startedinvesting in their homes and
looking to purchase new homesand that you know the worry
(15:43):
wasn't there for the builders,but just navigating how we, like
Jeremy said, how do we gettogether and have these events?
And you know we have certain.
You know there's rules.
We have to follow our bylaws.
You know how many times we haveto meet as a board of directors
and to meet those bylaws whenwe get together.
And, like Jeremy said, weremodeled our office in night,
(16:05):
late, 19, early 2020, and itfinished and we have a a larger
boardroom that allowed us tomeet and spread our chairs out
and set them single rows and so,gosh, people could get in there
and still listen and not, youknow, have your social distance.
So that was a that was a bigchallenge for us to still host
(16:25):
our events and do it safely andyou know that was probably the
biggest thing.
We figured it out.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
You always do adapt
on the fly, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
You know, if you
think about building materials,
the shortages and challenges ofgetting that at the time.
You know, um, and the cost ofsome of those building materials
, um, you know getting theimports and you know I can
remember a picture of the map ofall those barges just waiting
at docks and just nuts, you knowtotally forgot about.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I I'm pretty sure I
still got sheets of OSB sitting
on the ocean somewhere on a boatman.
That that, that you're right,jeremy, that that was probably
the one thing I'll take awayfrom that that I'll never forget
is those visuals of those ofthe boats and the docks just
sitting empty and and having allof our materials sitting on a
coast somewhere just waiting todock it's insane.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, we had um.
One of the biggest scares wehad at our company was um
foundation wall ties.
You know you don't think aboutthat being as important as it is
, but there was a real scarethere of you know.
So we kind of did everything wecan reach out to every resource
we had and bought every wallform we possibly could, and I'm
(17:39):
sure, just like everyone else.
But you know just little thingslike that.
You know, without wall tieswe're not pouring walls Right.
So, yeah, just differentchallenges.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
So do you guys I mean
off topic completely the the
back-to-back hurricanes and whatit seems like back-to-back
weeks down in Florida.
Man, I, I can't imagine.
We, we take a every November,my family and I.
That's what we do.
We, that's our tradition.
We go down after Thanksgivingand we go down to Anna Marie
Island down in Florida or TampaBay, just depending on you know
what's available for thatweekend.
(18:07):
And now I don't think we'regoing to be able to do any of
that stuff for the next coupleof weeks, or at least in that
area.
You guys had talked about thetornadoes out and that hit Omaha
.
Can you kind of elaborate onthat a little bit on, on what
exactly you guys did to help outour neighboring community in
Omaha out there?
Speaker 4 (18:29):
for us it was.
It was the financial supportthat we were able to provide to
their, their disaster responseteam.
Um, I know that omaha hasassociation as well and they
kind of mobilized and hadmembers on the ground, you know,
out there helping clean up.
Um, here in lincoln we didn'thave there was no direct
(18:52):
response to it like manpower.
Yeah, a lot of financialsupport, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
And I think that goes
a long way.
You know, like you guys said,you didn't have to right.
I mean, we're a Lincoln-basedfoundation and to be able to
step out of I guess you knowwhat you know in the Lancaster
County region to go out and helpthe neighboring community, it
speaks volumes to what you guysdo.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, we just know
the membership would have, you
know, do the right thing youknow.
So that's what we did.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Um so to kind of
piggyback off of the whole COVID
thing, I'm locked in at what Icall my COVID rate for my home,
my interest rate, and I know Iwould make a killing if I was
able to go and sell the house atthe percentage that I purchased
at.
But finding something now intoday's market, can you guys
kind of talk about what you'reseeing as far as the current
(19:41):
building market goes in ourcommunities?
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Well, I brought with
me some building permit
statistics, building permitstatistics and this is something
that, when I get the newsletterfrom the Home Builders
Association, I flip it all theway to the back and I start
analyzing on percent increasesand decreases.
But you know, I actually gotsome good news.
You know, through the month ofAugust is what these stats are
(20:04):
showing.
You know, right now, on singlefamily, we're looking at about
327 permits and that's about a17% increase to last year in
August at this time.
I would say townhomes is a 54%increase, with 254 permits, and
then multifamilies at 635, whichis actually a 20% decrease.
(20:26):
But we just had a boom inmultifamily over the last 20 or
last few years.
So you know, 20% decrease is adecrease from a huge number.
So don't let that fool you.
You know, but from our, fromour highest permit years, single
families were in 2021, we had927 permits for the year, and so
(20:47):
that's what I kind of compareit on and it doesn't look like
we're going to be too.
You know, we'll probably beabout 30% less, you know, if
these numbers stayed true tothat.
On the single family, and Ithink what we're hurting the
most is where we see theaffordable homes.
You know we're trying to figureout ways to develop land to
build more houses so that we canhave more affordable homes for
(21:09):
those people graduating collegeand wanting to start a family.
You know, and you can't believethe impact the economic impact
of just one home would do toyour community, you know, and
the taxes that you get, the citythat gets for every home and
but you know things are startingto look a little bit up,
although I would say, you know,on the affordable side we're
(21:29):
still trying to figure that out.
You know there's still a lot ofbuilding going on relative to
what interest rates are and whatyou might think are, but it's a
lot of the bigger homes youknow that are being built.
So that's kind of what I have.
I don't know if Kayla's gotanything to add to that or not.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
No, that's what we
tend to watch is the the permit
numbers and see where they're,where they are compared year to
year, and um, it's like Jeremysaid, we've had a huge, huge
number of multifamily.
Um, it was I.
I was just looking at somenumbers the other day.
Uh, to share with the withanother association and um, for
(22:08):
21, 22, 23, 23, there were 7679permits issued, um residential
permits, but 4886 of them weremulti-family oh, wow 975
townhomes, 1818 single family umand you.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
I think you'd see
that that's a trend that you
would see when you don't haveaffordable housing.
You're going to see themultifamily boom, and just in
one year you had a high of 2,200permits and I think it was
2,022 for multifamily.
And so that's where you startto see the effects of the COVID
the higher interest rates,higher material costs, all that
(22:53):
stuff start to take effect andpeople started capitalizing on
just building multifamily,something that people could
afford, and I think some peoplewould debate that even today.
You know apartments aren'tcheap either, you know, but much
more affordable when you starttalking about them.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
You're just getting
something temporary to.
You can afford a house.
Yeah, I mean, any more rent inan apartment is just as much as,
uh, our house payment, you know, and that's kind of crazy.
To minus property taxes, yeah,if we're going just off of your
mortgage, yes, yep, yep, um,that that's something that I we
were talking about high schoolsand and the trades, and I wish I
would have spent more time backwhen I was in high school on on
taking the time to learn how touse my hands, on learn how to
(23:34):
build things, you know.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
I get in front of a
lot of high school kids and
that's one thing I always sayeven if you're not pursuing a
career in construction, learnhow to read a tape measured,
learn how to use a skill saw,learn how to, you know, plumb a
column and build a deck and poura patio and do things on your
own, because you don't, you know, be able to replace your own
toilet or a sink or something.
It's simple skills.
But just learn how to do stufflike that and build with your
(23:59):
hands and be a little bit moreself-sufficient versus, you know
, having to hire someone to doit.
So you know, those skills arethings that people can't take
from you.
You know and you know.
I just think it's something thatthey should probably push a
little bit more, and I do thinkthat public schools and private
schools are getting a lot moreshop classes back online.
I think we've seen a trend 10years ago of, you know, more
(24:24):
academia type classes and notmuch shop class Right, but we're
seeing a big boom in skilledand technical sciences.
We have a great relationshipwith Lincoln Public Schools and
their skilled and technicalsciences.
We actually have a meetingcoming up in October where all
SDS teachers come into the homebuilders and we talk about the
things that we can provide,whether it's materials and
(24:47):
bringing in professionalspeakers to talk about careers
in construction.
And yeah, it's important thatwe get to the young ones and
discuss what we have to offer.
For sure, even if they're notgoing to get into the industry
it's changing that mindset ofyou can't be successful in
construction because we all knowthat's not true.
Oh right, so I think parentsand teachers and counselors
(25:11):
don't understand what we have tooffer.
They've never done it.
They don't know that pride ittakes to build something with
your hands and to stand back andlook at it and say I helped
build that.
They don't know the camaraderieof a construction crew if you
get on a good one.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Right, yep, yep.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
You know there's just
a lot of things, a lot of
benefits that you know afterbeing in this industry for 30
years, that you know I can bringto the table and tell these the
future of our workforce, of thebenefits that we have and some
of the challenges as well.
You know it's great to workoutside most of the time.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Most of the time,
yeah, yeah, especially in
Nebraska.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
You get in the
wintertime it gets things slow
down a little bit.
So you got to do things alittle bit different financially
and save a little bit to getyou through some cold months.
So, yeah, we try to encourageyoung youth to swing a hammer,
use a tape, measure things likethat.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Yeah, reading a tape
measure was probably one of the.
I mean, it seems so simple now,right, but looking back, like I
remember all the roads I feellike led me to where I am now.
I went from installingunderground utilities with TJ
Osborne doing water, main stormsewer, sanitary sewer being 24
feet underground to five feetunderground.
And I remember Terry looking medead in the eye and saying it's
(26:22):
not rocket science, you justmake the water go from here to
here, you know.
And he's like I will teach youthe ways to get to where you
need to be.
Went from there to working forthe Nebraska Department of
Transportation helped buildingtheir documents, warranty deeds,
vouchers, stuff like that.
Went from there to buying rightaway.
Went from buying right away andhaving those crucial
conversations on we're takingyour ground, acquiring your
(26:46):
ground.
That was fun.
Oh my gosh, I have stories andstories and stories of get off
of my property and I'm like,yeah, but you know the threat of
condemnation and eminent domain, it's going to happen Like,
help me, help you, here, youknow.
And then from there to doingwhat I do now and it's almost.
It's almost the most rewardingthing I've ever done, because I
(27:07):
have seen the downside of havingto split people's houses in
half and put in a highway or aculvert here and and now, making
dreams come true, essentiallyhelping dreams come true.
So you're right, though, goingback to the whole education part
of this conversation, there isthere, that's knowledge that can
never be taken from you andthat is invaluable resources.
(27:29):
Being able to know how, likeyou said, have the know-how and
a little bit of want to, wouldgo a very long way in this line
of work.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
I have always said,
you know, the thing that makes
someone succeed in constructionis those soft skills.
You know, knowing how to finishconcrete and how to set up a
wall.
I mean those things that can betaught relatively easy.
What's not taught relativelyeasy is being a team player and
being reliable and beingresponsible.
And you know just showing upevery day.
(27:58):
You know you want to earnrespect and you want to have
that camaraderie.
You know, get to be a teammember and show up every day.
You know you don't show up.
It puts a lot of extra effort onthe rest of the crew and I
don't think they realize.
You know the importance ofshowing up, but you know, once
you show up and you're a teamplayer, man, you climb that
corporate ladder like crazy, Ithink, and I've seen it many
(28:20):
times.
You know.
But the ones that show up alittle bit late, they're still
on their Snapchat and talking totheir girlfriends and they're
five minutes late, which doesn'tseem like a big deal, you know,
but five minutes turns into 10and then it makes their job a
little bit harder and those arethe ones that probably don't
succeed, you know.
But uh, hard work, um,responsible, uh, individuals,
(28:41):
they seem to succeed pretty wellin construction, no matter what
they do.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
That team atmosphere.
You know.
I need to know that you'regoing to show up.
I need to know that you can doyour job.
I need to know that I can relyon you.
If something comes up in mylife, it's being on time isn't
good enough in my opinion.
You know you got to be earlyand you, if you need to stay
late, you need to stay late.
It's I'm very, very big on that.
Speaking of that, what is someadvice, michaela?
(29:06):
Let's start with you.
What's some advice you wouldgive somebody that's new to this
industry?
Speaker 4 (29:11):
You know, I I think
involvement with home builders
is important.
Um, you know, I'd advocate forthat membership.
Get involved, um, the more, themore people you meet, the
bigger your network becomes.
Um, starting to make thoseconnections with people makes it
easier for you when somebodythinks, hey, I need somebody to
(29:33):
come pour my foundation.
If they know Jeremy, they'regoing to reach out to Jeremy and
say, hey, can Stevens and Smithtake this job on?
So it's a great place to getinvolved, to take part in our
events.
Meet the members.
I think that's very important.
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, as she was
answering that, I think I would
answer this a little bitdifferent depending on who I was
talking to.
You know, if I'm talking tosomebody new in the industry,
that's 18 years old, juststarting the industry, I would
give them all the advice I justtalked about.
You know, show up every day andbe on time and be responsible
and be reliable and, and youknow, things will pan out.
You're talking to somebodythat's going to be a home
(30:13):
builder.
I would say, yeah, thenetworking, get involved with
the associations, supportorganizations that support what
you're doing.
Those are the types of advice Iwould give.
And then, you know, back tosomebody that's new, work hard.
You know, when I get in front ofthese high school kids, one of
the things that I always talkabout is success and what that
actually means.
(30:33):
Um, it doesn't mean money, eventhough that's what they they
think.
It's big cars and big homes,and you know those are nice,
those are really nice things.
Um, but happiness, I know Iknow a lot of people that have a
lot of money that aren't happy.
You know, and you know you wantto do something that you enjoy
doing every day.
You know, and I just had agroup of kids with me and the
(30:54):
one kid said he wants, he lovesand wants, wants to play games
all the time.
You know I said, well, okay,let's step back.
Maybe it's computer software orsomething that you know do
something in that line of workthat's going to get you up every
day.
You know, because if you'resitting on that edge of the bed
and you just thinking of ways tonot to go to work, you know you
have a job.
You know you don't have acareer.
(31:14):
You know, once you have acareer, that's something that
you enjoy doing and you don't.
You don't really have to hitsnooze 20 times to get out of
bed.
You're up and you're, you'reexcited to take on the day, you
know.
So I think I think my answer tothat would be a little bit
different depending on who I'mtalking to.
But you know, hard work has alot to do with success.
You know failing has to do withsuccess and knowing that you
(31:36):
can overcome those challenges aswell, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Yeah, I have a saying
that I that anybody I'm talking
to I either win or I learn.
You know, I'm either going tobe dominant in what I'm doing or
I'm going to learn from mymistakes, and without failing
along the way, I would never bewhere I am today.
I want to have the family thatI have today, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Yeah, I made a big
mistake.
When I graduated college with afour-year degree, I thought I
needed to know everything.
And I could remember workingout at Duncan Aviation on one of
their new hangars, and, youknow, a plumber or electrician
would come to me with a questionand I thought to myself you
know, a plumber, electricianwould come to me with a question
and I thought to myself, youknow, I'd give him an answer and
I'd go back and I'd find theanswer was wrong, you know.
And so I had to go back andtell him what the correct answer
(32:20):
was, Instead of saying you knowwhat, I don't know because I
didn't.
You know, I'll find out theanswers.
You know, and so I think too,you know, the young ones think
that they need to knoweverything, especially with some
education, but you don't.
Wisdom comes with time, youknow and experience, and so you
don't need to know everything,but you have to have the
know-how to find the answers.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I think I respect
people more if I hear them say
you know, I don't know that, butI'm going to go find something
that does.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Yeah, and I've
learned that over the years and
so I can look back at my youngerself.
Going man, I messed up there.
I just I thought I was aknow-it-all, you know yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Yeah, no, and that's
some people stay.
I still, still do know it all.
That's going to get you in ahole really fast if you're
constantly chasing your tail andhaving to go and fix what you
messed up there.
That's for sure.
Michaela, with with Jeremycoming on as the president-elect
and all this changing now, whatdoes that look like in your
(33:12):
role?
What does that change for you,if anything?
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Yeah, you know it
really doesn't change a whole
lot.
To be honest.
You know we have a differentpresident every year.
It's great to get somebody newin that role.
They have a differentperspective on things, but they
are.
Everybody that's elected tothis position is always so great
to work with.
You know it.
(33:36):
It's really pretty seamless.
Jeremy's got some awesome ideasthat he's already started to
share with me on things he wantsto consider doing.
You know his work with thecareers in construction is it's
been fantastic for the lastseveral years, so I just always
look forward to working withsomebody new.
I mean, I already talk with hima lot.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Her challenges are
managing different personalities
, I think every year.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
I'm a pretty
easygoing guy.
But even though Stephen Smithis considered a builder member,
I'm not really a home builderand so when coming up through
these roles, I was reallynervous on becoming president.
I just felt like I was outsideof my, my, my skill level and.
But you know, everybody aroundme is very supportive, they have
(34:27):
the knowledge and again it goesback to you know what.
I don't know the answers tothis, but I got people that do
so.
Let me go find that out.
And, and I think for her it'sjust managing.
You know differentpersonalities and and and
different schedules.
You know, I think everypresident has different roles in
their own company and some area little bit more flexible than
others, and she figures out howto manage it and her staff makes
(34:50):
it very, very easy.
Anything we do, they reallyhave the resources to make it
easy for us.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
What's the most
exciting part of that for you?
Like coming up now?
I mean, you've been a part ofthe organization, you've been a
part of the foundation.
What excites you the most aboutthis new venture that you're on
man?
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Leading.
You know, I think to me andgoing back to me being nervous
about being the president of theHome Builders Association
there's been a lot of very, verysmart, intelligent, driven
people in that position, and sothat's a little intimidating for
me, but I think the thing I cando the best is really just lead
(35:33):
and lead through example, andthat's something that I've
probably been learning about thelast 10 years of my life.
I wish I would have learnedthat a little earlier in my life
about, you know, just studyingleadership and servant
leadership and and what that allmeans, and um, but um, I I
think I'm going to do the best Ican and, uh, hopefully my
(35:53):
leadership skills will pullthrough and and uh, hopefully,
make a difference over the nextyear.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, and I can tell
already, just based off this
conversation alone, the two ofyou make an incredible team
already.
I mean just knowing you alreadykind of know what each other
are going to say next.
And you know and we don'treally prep for any of these
podcasts, for anybody that'slistening, at least the ones
that I'm pinch hitting for Itend to go off script quite a
bit and that doesn't make forthe best conversations, but what
(36:19):
I hear throughout this entirething is teamwork, communication
and strong leadership skills iswhat it takes.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
You need it to run an
association like the Home
Builders Association in Lincoln.
You need good leadership, and Ithink you know, as we start to
choose our leadership throughour board of directors, we start
to think about that like who'sgoing to come on the board of
directors that can actually stepinto a role of a president, you
know, not just somebody thatcan show up to meetings, but who
can lead us, and so those arethe discussions that we've been
(36:48):
having over the last few monthsof you know, who's going to be
our slate for next year andwho's going to be the leaders,
who's going to be the presidentin four years from now?
Speaker 2 (37:10):
no-transcript.
I know what's coming next forHBAL as far as the next event,
because me and my family aregoing to go out to the pumpkin
patch and visit with you guysand hang out in a couple or next
week actually.
But what can you tell ouraudience about what's coming
next for H-Ball?
Speaker 3 (37:26):
as far as the
community goes, I was hoping you
were saying I was going to putsome plugs in here for some of
the events that we have, butwe're just finishing up our
parade of homes.
I think it ends on the 13thSunday, so we're just wrapping
that up.
She brought up the Santa copand we're really Denny Van Horn
and Dan Locke are really tryingto get.
They went over a hundredvolunteers for this.
(37:48):
Yeah, again, going through theCOVID, we've lost some numbers
and volunteers for this and theimpact that it makes and we're
trying to get back up to thosepre-COVID volunteer numbers.
So Santa cop will be coming upon November 9th.
It starts at 8 o'clock atLincoln Northeast High School.
Again, I think we'll be donearound noon, so it's just a half
a day of your time that can bekids.
(38:09):
I think we're going to haveSanta Claus there.
It's a very family-friendlyevent and, again, giving to kids
and making these boxes, knowingit's going to go to somebody,
makes you feel real good and youdon't have to be.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
I mean, we need some
skill there, but we have jobs
for all levels.
I mean yeah even things for thekids to do I'm in for that one.
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Count me in for that
one we've got the sporting clay
shoot october 18th at oak creeksporting club and if you have
not been to oak creek sportingclub, man, it is awesome.
It is one of the best sportingclay um um trails I've seen ever
, and that well, I've only beento three, but that I've heard.
This is nice and I I believe it.
Uh, we've got family night atroca berry farm.
(38:50):
It is sold out, can't wait.
Yeah, that'll be a good one.
And h ball 101.
This is for anyone listeningwho is not a member of the Home
Builders Association but youwork in the industry.
This would be a great event toshow up.
It's a lunch and learn, so weprovide lunch and it's really
about how to maximize yourmembership and what you'll learn
(39:11):
that day is all the differentevents that we do for our
members, and so it's just alittle HBAL 101, and that is on
October 24th.
So it's just in a little HBAL101, and that is on October 24th
.
You can get on the HBAL website, h-b-a-l, and look at all of
our events coming up andregister through an email.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
Pretty easy.
Yeah, we're almost coming up onan hour already, which is crazy
to think about how fast thesepodcasts go.
That's nuts.
I personally want to thank youguys.
I've got one last question foryou that that is personally my
favorite.
But with talking about H balland everything that you guys do
in the community, it's been,it's had a huge impact on my
(39:51):
life, not just me but my family.
I mean, it's not the the bigevents that my family gets out
of it, it's all the littlethings that you guys do for the
kiddos.
Man.
It's without you guys like wewouldn't have carved out time to
go to the pumpkin patch.
We wouldn't have carved outtime to go do these things.
The home and garden show wasprobably the most fun I've had
all year long and it obviouslywe were working right.
(40:12):
But like it goes back to whatyou said, I don't sit on the
corner of my bed and go oh myGod, we go again.
No, I get to go work with theMurray fam.
I get to go work with peoplelike Stevenson Smith.
It's an incredible community wehave in Lincoln and Lancaster
County that people come togetherto make things happen, and so
thank you both for what you guysdo in the community it's.
It doesn't go unnoticed, atleast in the Murray offices here
(40:33):
.
So appreciate that.
Yep, you guys are incredibleman.
Um, michaela, let's discusswhat advice you would give to
your younger self.
I know it says teenage self,but let's go back even further.
If you could go back and have aconversation with young
Michaela, what is something thatyou would talk to yourself
about?
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Yeah, you know.
Listen to Jeremy.
He talked about you knowlearning things.
You know that you don't knoweverything.
I mean what 19 year old youngerI mean doesn't think they know
everything?
I mean you don't.
And I think back and I go gosh,I learned so much.
I mean I was.
I was 20 years old when Istarted the association, wow, so
(41:11):
now everybody knows how old Iam Well you're 23 or 24, right
yeah?
Right, you know, and so what Ithought I knew then compared to
everything I've learned nowthrough the years I've been at
the association has been great,and how big the picture is.
I remember things that wouldhappen.
Gosh, you know this was a bigdeal.
(41:31):
No, it wasn't.
And so you know.
I try to tell my kids that youknow that'd be the thing you
know, kind of writing off whatJeremy said, that you don't.
You have so much to learn.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
What about you,
Jeremy?
Speaker 3 (41:46):
You know, as Michaela
was talking, I was kind of
thinking to myself, you know,reminiscent of what I looked
like when I was a teenager andthe things I was doing.
You know, for one, financially,I would think I would.
I would try to save a littlebit more at a younger age.
You know, since I startedsaving for retirement in my
midlife, you know, I've seenthat money grow and I keep
(42:09):
thinking to myself God, if Iwould have done what my parents
told me at 20, you know, just besuch a big difference.
You know the time value ofmoney is important.
Just be such a big difference.
You know the time value ofmoney is important.
So you know a little bit aboutsaving money financially and
saving for retirement a littlebit earlier would be one advice
for me.
The other one would be tovolunteer.
We talked about that a lot, youknow.
(42:32):
Food for the soul and stuff,and I could imagine how good
that would feel at a younger ageeven, you know, and kind of the
character it builds.
Giving others and being aservant leader at a young age
would have been great.
You know, I didn't startgetting into that until I was
probably in my late thirties,you know, and then starting to
realize of what an impact thatmakes and how good it makes you
(42:53):
feel.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Um, I would have done
a lot more of that, as as a
younger self, For me and I don'tthink I've I've ever answered
this with any guests that I'vebeen a part of, but I think this
podcast alone has helped merealize just keep going.
I mean, the world's not goingto stop because you're having a
bad day.
Nobody cares outside of yourlittle circle that Matthew
(43:15):
Taylor isn't feeling the besttoday, right?
No, you got to keep grinding.
You got to keep going, keepnetworking, keep networking,
keep meeting different people,keep putting yourself out there,
because what you will rememberare those relationships, are
those conversations.
Nobody cares what you wore ontuesday.
If you wore the same thing onfriday in high school, the, the
biggest thing in my life at thatpoint was massive, right, but
(43:37):
looking back on, it was such anew thing in life.
I keep grinding.
Anybody that's listening?
I know my son and daughterlisten, you know and hopefully
this podcast, as this podcastgrows, we reach younger, more up
and coming leaders of ourcommunity.
But keep grinding, keep going,keep pushing forward, keep
meeting new people, keep puttingyourself out there, because at
(43:59):
the end of the day, those arethe things that are going to
take you as far as you canpossibly dream of.
It's not you know.
Oh, I got to have a bachelor'sdegree.
No, no, you don't.
I mean it might help, you know,saying I have a piece of paper
that says, hey, I'm smarter thanyou.
That's fine, that's, that's allgood, it's.
It's the networking, it's thefriendships, it's the, the
conversations that you're havingalong the way.
(44:19):
That's my goal, or that's mybuilding relationships.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yes, you know,
everybody thinks, um,
construction is hammers andnails, but it's not.
It's about people and, uh, youknow, meeting people and
building relationships.
And and it's not about thematerials that we build and the
skills.
It's about relationships.
And you know, now that I'vebeen in this industry for over
30 years, I can testify to that.
And so don't burn bridges, bekind, those types of things.
(44:48):
It gets you a long way.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
And show up, and show
up early.
Yeah, work hard.
Jeremy, michaela, I can't thankyou guys enough, man, and
congrats on the new venture andgood luck, man.
We're here for you here atMurray.
If there's anything we can everdo, let us know.
The volunteering stuff I'm bigon, so I'll be there, definitely
for the Santa cop, is thatright?
Yep, santa cop, I'm there forthat one.
(45:10):
Awesome.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of Stay Modern with
Murray podcast.
I appreciate everyone's support, looking forward to seeing you
guys next week.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
If you have questions
or topics you'd like us to
discuss, you can email them toinfo at murraycustomhomescom.
If you liked this episode, besure to subscribe to Stay Modern
with Murray on Apple andSpotify, or check back on our
(45:39):
website and social mediaregularly for the latest
episodes.