October 16, 2023 • 22 mins
How often do you hear about a small-town guy making it big? Well, my friend Rob Sanders is one such inspiring figure! From wrestling for the Huskers to becoming a brand ambassador for Murray, Rob's journey is proof of what discipline and determination can achieve. We delve into his experiences of weight-cutting in college wrestling, a demanding process that requires both physical and mental strength. Rob's insights on how his father's past experiences shaped his approach to wrestling are particularly enlightening.
Shifting gears, we explore Rob's professional life, marked by a robust work culture at Murray. Rob found his calling and has skillfully used his coaching background to foster relationships with subcontractors and customers. Rob's expertise extends beyond sales, as he takes the extra step to provide referrals to clients, ensuring they find the right service provider, highlighting the crucial role networking plays in his profession.
Our chat offers a fascinating look into how he manages his time and adapts to new surroundings, a crucial skill in our ever-changing world. So, tune in for an engaging and insightful conversation with Rob Sanders, and perhaps pick up a few life lessons along the way!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Murray Minute Edition, a series in the
Stay Modern with Murray podcast, where we dive into custom home
building, roofing and homeinspection topics with one of
the members of our team.
Sit back and enjoy the ridewith your host, Matthew Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on the
second episode ever of the StayModern with Murray, a Murray
Minute Edition.
I am joined today with my guy,rob Sanders.
Rob, how are you?
Sir?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Doing great sir.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey, who are you and what do you do?
Let's party today?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
That is a loaded question because I grew up in
Utah, came here to wrestle atthe university.
That's where I met Matt Murrayand stayed in contact with him
for shoot 10 years until Istarted working here.
But my parents grew up inSouthern California, so kind of
have a hippie growing up alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So Cal baby, you grew up with that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yep, they grew up in Southern California, didn't want
to raise kids there, and sothey moved to Utah where it's a
lot safer to raise kids.
My dad taught on an Indianreservation for 35 years and I
had all kinds of differentfriends from different walks of
life, and it really helped mewhen I moved here to Lincoln
from a town of 4,000 to 250,000.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
The craziest thing about Lincoln right is it's the
biggest, smallest town I've evertraveled through, been a part
of, lived in.
To me it's home and it's alwaysgoing to be home.
I think you and I talkedoff-mic a little bit about this.
You go and travel these placesand then you come home and it's
got that all right.
Deep breath, we're back toreality.
It's not for everybody, butit's for people like us right
(01:44):
Now.
You moved off to Utah and thenyou started wrestling right.
We talked about that a littlebit, but what brought you to
Utah outside of the family move?
Did they have roots tied downthere?
Did you have family from there?
What brought you to the familythere?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, so my dad he wrestled at Southern Utah
University and so he got throughcollege, all that, and he and
my mom actually got marriedbefore we moved to Utah.
So I was born in the Utah area,gotcha, and then we moved here
for school and wrestling.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, so you met Matt through the university, right.
We kind of joked around aboutit a little bit.
I said, man, I can't believeyou guys aren't in the same
weight class.
And you're like, well, have youever seen us before?
Now, with that, how did thatfriendship kind of develop?
It just one of those lockerroom things.
Or let's talk a little bit ofMatt before Matt Murray, right.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, we were the same weight class and I was a
red shirt most college wrestlersred shirt their first year.
Because if you're 18 years oldtrying to basically fight
another guy who's 22 years oldand he's got four years of
training weightlifting a fewmore years after puberty under
his belt, he beat the tar out ofme that whole year.
(02:58):
But the really cool thing aboutit is at the same time he
brought me under his wing andreally showed me different
techniques that were going tomake me get better, which in
turn got him better.
I always had the work ethic andI fought tooth and nail for
everything in every practice.
I know when he was getting downto weight towards the end of
(03:21):
the week, I didn't go with himas much, because when you're
getting close to weight and hecut a lot of weight you don't
really want to wrestle with guysthat fight the whole time.
So that made me feel good thathe didn't want to smoke that
close to competition.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Man do.
Cutting weight.
That's so crazy to me and it'sa completely off topic of where
we're heading with thisdirection and I love all of it.
But cutting weight, man, that'sdiscipline to its core.
I mean you're hungry all thetime and you got to battle the
mental state of it.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe cutting weight and how you
(03:55):
went about that.
Well, how did you do it?
I mean just completely workingout.
Was it zero food?
Did you have to watch yourintake Back in the college days?
How'd you go through it?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
What helped me was my dad wrestled in college.
He had years where well, mostlyhis high school years he did
not cut weight correctly, woreplastics to every single
practice, tried not to drinkwater at night.
So through his mistakes and hiserrors, he said if you're going
to cut any weight at all,you're going to do it right,
(04:26):
You're going to exercise, goingto eat right, You're going to do
every single thing right.
And then we can talk aboutlittle things after that.
But moving on to college, I didit as right as I could.
One year, when I dropped down aweight class, I went vegetarian
for about six months justbecause I had to lose some
(04:48):
muscle, Because the guy that Icouldn't beat was Jordan
Burroughs, who he hadn't won anational title at that time.
But after he took my spot hewon two national titles and then
a lot of world and Olympictitles since then.
But yeah, I wanted to be in thelineup.
I didn't want to be anon-starter.
(05:09):
So I started in May, right asschool ended, really watching my
diet and really took the wholesummer to start getting my
weight down.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Bro, is that a year round thing?
I mean, there is no off dayswhen you are literally that's
everything.
You don't make that weightclass and you're done.
I mean you're not talking abouthigh school where it's like,
okay, everybody gets to play.
Here's what I'm saying and it'snot like that.
But in a sense, you're there,you're on the roster in high
school.
When you get to college, man,you're playing with money,
You're playing with yourscholarship, and I want to dig
(05:45):
into that a little bit too.
Before we get into the realestate factor of this, you and I
spoke about how you kind of gotlooked at by Nebraska.
I mean, you were sending offlike VHS tapes, correct?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yes, this is 2004, where I don't remember if DVDs
were a thing, and if we did, youhad to burn them and it was a
big, long process.
So, yeah, I sent my VHS tape tothe coaches in Nebraska and a
couple other schools and theywere one of a few that got back
to me and I just started talkingto one of their coaches and
(06:16):
everything fit.
I knew Matt Murray, who he wasbecause he had just got second
at the national tournament thatyear as I was a senior and I
knew that he had one year leftand the weight class above him.
Same situation Guy was anall-American, he was going to be
a senior.
My thought process was I'mgoing to get the trash kicked
out of me while I read shirt andbe ready to hopefully step into
(06:38):
a starting spot at either oneof those weight classes.
I was still growing, I love tolift weights and I ended up
getting big enough for theweight class above Matt.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't think enough goes into the history of the
employees here, and that's kindof why Shannon and I talked
about the Murray Minute.
It's kind of getting to knowthe people who you're going to
be working with, and these areour people, we're their family.
Once they walk through the door, they should know a little bit
about the people that they'reworking with, just like we all
do.
Going in.
(07:09):
Now let's fast forward here.
How did you become an employeeof Murray?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah.
So my brother Paul, he used towork here, he wrestled in
college also, and he moved backto Lincoln after a few years in
Utah and he was looking forsomething a little different and
was doing some manual labor,kind of grunt work, here at
Murray.
And he did that for a couple ofmonths and then moved into
(07:37):
inside sales on the custom homeside and he said to me said hey,
this is a great opportunity toget paid for your work ethic and
get paid for your performance alittle better than just a
straight salary job.
And I knew what Matt was aboutand I'd been following his
company over the past few yearsand just decided to make the
(07:59):
jump.
But culture was a big thing andit was nice having my brother
Paul already on the inside so hecould tell me pros and cons,
really what's going on.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Dude, I'm just adding it all together.
I had no idea Paul was your bro, your brother, yeah, no idea.
And we got the pod guide, ourproducer, in the background,
even laughing at me.
Now, wow, matthew, way to go.
Small details, right.
What I like about you, man, andwhat I like about working with
you, and why I would steeranybody that's on the market to
either Jonah or Murray or you,is the fact that you're on site.
(08:33):
You want to be there with usthroughout the process, and it's
not just so you have picturesfor social media.
You're legitimately askingquestions.
You're asking why in the house,and even though you probably
know the answer, you want toknow everybody's different way
of doing it.
And now, that being said, whenyou're going into this stuff
with the real estate and thebuilds and the custom homes too,
(08:54):
let's take our spec house rightnow, sierra Madre, for example.
Somebody walks through the doorand they want to talk to you.
Now, where are you going to go?
Because right now, it's justframing guts, right?
I mean, there's not a lot goingon at the house outside of the
subcontractors doing their thing.
They walk in and they say, hey,I want to go.
Look at Sierra Madre.
Do you take them on site, dothey're to the construction site
(09:16):
, or how do you go about yourday?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Yeah, I start by asking a bunch of questions and
just kind of see what they'relooking for.
If they really need to see itSome people, if they know that
it's just in construction,they'll want to know what it
looks like.
So then we can pull up ourrenderings and give them an idea
what it looks like or show thempictures of homes that we've
(09:38):
built in Southwest VillageHeights, that neighborhood, of a
very similar floor plan andvery similar finishes so they
get that feel.
Some people can be visual thatway looking at it and some
people need to experience it andwalk in the home.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Got you.
So, speaking of all the finedetails and everything, you're
kind of a hybrid employee, Iwould say right of Murray and of
the real estate world.
So what is your title and whatis a day in the life of Rob
consist of?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Brand ambassador, outside sales really just
drumming up business andbuilding relationships.
That's the easiest way to sumit up.
So when I do ride-alongs withyou, I not only figure out how
you work with people so I canmarket you, but also learn from
you, and whether that's in mybusiness or whether I apply that
(10:33):
to my coaching duties that I'mvery fortunate to have.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, so you were a wrestler at UNL and now you are
coaching at Westland.
Is that correct?
Correct?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Vision Three School here in Lincoln I'm an assistant
coach.
The head coach does most of thework.
I show up for practice and helpwith recruiting when I can, but
always having a constantconversation with the head coach
about the program, where we'vebeen, where we're at right now
and then where we're going inthe future.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Man, it all kind of ties together.
Honest to God, that is so crazyto think, because I'm always
listening to what you're sayingand when we're on the
walk-arounds and ride-alongs andyou're constantly saying things
like man, you're coaching thisplace up.
Real nice, and to me it is twoof the same things.
And during my interview withMegan and Matt that's, I kind of
hit on that a lot.
(11:24):
I was like I'm a coach at heartand what I wanna do is help
people.
I'm gonna help young people,I'm gonna help the youth, I
wanna help people with theirdream homes, and it sounds like
that you brought a lot of thatpersonal life into the career as
well, right?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, I really try to and wanted to give you a quick
shout out.
The first thing I noticed whenI saw you interact and heard you
interact with oursubcontractors on a job site is
just how much you appreciatethem and thank them for what
they're doing, see if they needanything and that's just
something that I need to do moreof as a coach but also just
(11:59):
whether it's the realtors wework with insurance agents who
refer roofs to us is see if theyneed anything else.
And a quick example is a couplemonths ago an insurance agent
just texted me asking if I had areferral for someone that does
tree removal for one of theirelderly clients that needed some
help, and so luckily I hadsomebody.
(12:21):
That works as pretty good.
They work with budgets reallywell.
They do a great job but not ahigh cost.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
It's so awesome.
Yesterday I went home and I wastrying to clean out my age fact
unit because I do it for ourclients here at work, right, and
I'm like, well, why am I notdoing this at home?
Open it up, clean it up, put itback together and I'm getting
in a blinking green light.
Six months ago, I don't knowwho to call for that.
I'm getting charged for thatphone call and I'm getting
charged an outrageous price, manit's.
(12:53):
We use the word culture a lotin this building alone.
I mean, especially on thispodcast in the first two
episodes and anything that Matttalks about.
He's talking about the culture,the culture here, man, it is
straight family and you walkthrough the door.
You're a family member.
You're an employee.
You're a family member.
You are encouraged to bringyour family to work so they can
(13:13):
meet the people that you'respending your time with.
What's home life like for you,rob?
Wow, you got kids.
You got a wife, I know, but letthe people know.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah, every day's different.
Kind of going back to thequestion you asked later.
What's a day in the life?
Some days it's up at 4 amknocking out emails and getting
them scheduled to be sent duringoffice hours or whenever that
is.
Some days it's waking up atfive and lifting weights.
Some days it's sleeping inuntil my kids wake us up.
(13:42):
I, the night before, I reallytry and write down, whether it's
in an email Draft, orphysically write it down.
Write down my to-do list forthe next day, prioritize it.
I have to get this done.
What's urgent?
What could come up, even justlike knowing which of my clients
(14:05):
are getting the roofs put onthat that day or that week?
Yeah, so I can be ready toAnswer any questions that they
have.
Yeah, that's from there.
It's driving kids to schoolthree days a week, picking them
up a couple days a week.
My grandparents and my wife'sparents live in town.
All four of them are retired sothey help with child care a lot
(14:28):
.
But it's really trying to be asefficient as possible While
having fun.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Dude.
Okay, let's talk about thehaving fun thing.
I know this pirate that keepsshowing up to all my job sites.
Man, there's this pirate thatwalks through the doors and he
gives it.
He has the best introductionfor every single person in this
office.
Right, let's hit on the socialmedia factor.
Let's hit on the networkingfactor.
Doing this job in 2023 is mucheasier than what it would have
(14:56):
been when you were in college,man, because you're talking
about recording things on VHStapes.
You're talking.
Half of the people listeningright now have probably never
seen a VHS tape.
I mean, honestly, anythingbelow my Whatever.
The millennial factor ofwhatever that age is right, 30
to 34, whatever pre or post thatlike they had to physically
(15:17):
show up to people's doors likeyou were a door-to-door salesman
.
If you tried to do what you'redoing right now, back in the day
, you would literally be foottraffic.
How, how do you get your nameout and Do you have advice for
somebody that's coming into thiscareer path of a real estate
agent or brand ambassador?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I would say it's a combination of both.
So you, you should try and havea social media presence, and
I'm not as good as I should beabout being consistent.
I have a lot of ideas andsometimes I'll spend way too
long working on my pirate accentinstead of just being more
consistent, posting videos,whether it's educational,
(15:59):
entertainment wise.
I Just need to be moreconsistent, but you also have to
.
You have to physically show up.
Some of the Some of my favoriteinsurance agents to work with
who refer roofs to us regularly.
I just randomly walked intotheir office, giving example
American family agent LindyMathis, and I walked into her
(16:21):
office and and she goes, who?
the heck are you?
And I said I'm Rob, I'm withMurray roofing.
You know I was trying to belike, don't hurt me, yeah, she
goes.
Well, I just fired my roofer.
He treated one of my clients sopoorly that he's out of here.
And then I said what?
I was joking.
I said, oh, lindy, I wouldnever treat your clients poorly.
And she said I like you, rob,sit down.
Oh, an hour later, talk to her.
(16:43):
We'll talk to her for an hourand then I think we're one of
very few roofers that that sherefers.
But I've dropped off birthdaycards and balloons at her house
during COVID when she was Notable to go out, just because
she's got got her uncle and thensome other elderly family
(17:04):
members.
But just doing little thingslike that to Like get to know
somebody.
And once you know somebody, youcare about them and your brain
just goes and thinks, oh, thiswould be good for them, oh,
their birthdays coming up, so.
But then also she, she likes alot of my posts when I do the
(17:24):
silly pirate videos or theleprechaun videos.
So Relationships sometimesthey're just on social media,
sometimes just in person, butwhen you can mix it all it it's
a great combo.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love when those two worlds collide.
I honestly do.
It's so.
It's so such a breath of freshair like the human factor, that
that human connection that wemissed through all of 2021,
whatever you know, that wholeCOVID days.
The biggest thing that waslacking and I think for, like
our kids, is age right is thatconnection, that eye to eye,
(17:59):
that knowing what the Below yournose looks like, right, because
every no one what your smilelooks like, I should say to me
that being a human, that'sthat's kind of what you do so
well is just connecting withpeople, so that that brand
ambassador, the networking,whatever that job title is for
you that day, just know that youdo a great job at it.
Man, I'm proud to to say thatout, that I work with you and I
(18:21):
tell everybody that I know thattoo, it's, it's, it's, it truly
is man, knowing where I workedand what I did for you know, a
decade it there.
That connection wasn't there, it, it.
Let's just be real.
You know that's why, and he's,we had the culture fit interview
.
That's what I knew.
I was like, okay, he wants tobe sure you know before he just
(18:44):
brings anybody on, so how canpeople get a hold of you.
Where can they contact you?
And, and, and, and.
What do you got coming up?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yep.
So my cell number is 402 3103361.
Call or text anytime.
On Instagram, my handle is RobSanders real estate.
On Facebook, my business pageis Rob Sanders, nebraska Realty.
That's the brokerage I'm withand, and on Twitter I'm on.
(19:14):
I'm at Husker grappler.
Started that in 2009, rightafter I graduated, and I've been
at like 1900 followers for manseems like a year, slowly
creeping up to 2000.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Let's get this guy over the hill.
What are we doing, folks?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I Forgot what else was.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
What I got coming up.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, we are working.
We started a town home in theRidge.
Gonna be listing that here inthe next week or so I don't know
the exact Close, close date onthat but definitely sometime in
the spring of 2024 and then,hopefully in the next month or
two, got a home coming up inDavy, nebraska that I'm going to
(19:55):
list and a few other thingsthat are in the pipeline.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yep, and then 5, 9, 2 , 9.
Southwest Sierra Madre thepirate was just out there that
you've got a new.
You got a new video up as ofthis will be released next
Friday.
So last week you had that videoup and I tell you what, man,
that that was comical.
I loved every second of it, man, I really did.
And you're not just working onMurray homes, right?
I mean Nebraska realty, yousaid, is where, where your other
(20:20):
hybrid branch with maybe isthat correct?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Correct.
So the nice thing is, whenyou're in real estate you can
help people buy, sell and build.
And there's a few realtors thattold me Year or two years ago
You're already in with thebuilder, get your license.
You're dumb if you don't,because the hardest part is
getting in with the builder.
So I just, when enough smartpeople tell me something, I
(20:46):
eventually figure it out and doit.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, I mean, why not seeing?
That's the game?
Going back to the code, I willget you out of here, I promise.
But going back to the coachingfactor, man, I've always said if
a coach tells you they know itall, they have it all figured
out.
If a boss tells you they knowit all, they have it all figured
out there.
That's not somebody I want tolearn from, bro.
I want to constantly bechanging, I want to constantly
be evolving, I want toconstantly be learning, I want
(21:10):
to, I want to open up my network.
Bigger and bigger and bigger,right, bigger than baseball,
something you see me say all thetime.
That means life, that's being abetter student, better athlete,
a better friend, a betterbrother, a better sister, better
employee.
Like that's what bigger thanbaseball is for me, man, and you
hit it on the head, man, you,you.
You are perfect for what you do, my friend and I appreciate all
(21:30):
your time and thank you forstopping by today.
Member.
To stop by 1631 Cushman Drive,sweet number two, and talk to
Matt, megan, jonah and now Rob.
Anytime today, tomorrow, giveRob a call, hit them up on
social media, rob.
Thank you for being here today,brother.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Thanks, man.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of stay
modern with Murray, the MurrayMinute edition.
If you have topics you wouldlike us to discuss, please email
us at info at Murray customhomes dot com or Message us at
Murray custom homes dot com.
Welcome to the Murray Minute Edition, a series in the
Stay Modern with Murray podcast, where we dive into custom home
building, roofing and homeinspection topics with one of
the members of our team.
Sit back and enjoy the ridewith your host, Matthew Taylor.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on the
second episode ever of the StayModern with Murray, a Murray
Minute Edition.
I am joined today with my guy,rob Sanders.
Rob, how are you?
Sir?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Doing great sir.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey, who are you and what do you do?
Let's party today?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
That is a loaded question because I grew up in
Utah, came here to wrestle atthe university.
That's where I met Matt Murrayand stayed in contact with him
for shoot 10 years until Istarted working here.
But my parents grew up inSouthern California, so kind of
have a hippie growing up alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So Cal baby, you grew up with that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yep, they grew up in Southern California, didn't want
to raise kids there, and sothey moved to Utah where it's a
lot safer to raise kids.
My dad taught on an Indianreservation for 35 years and I
had all kinds of differentfriends from different walks of
life, and it really helped mewhen I moved here to Lincoln
from a town of 4,000 to 250,000.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
The craziest thing about Lincoln right is it's the
biggest, smallest town I've evertraveled through, been a part
of, lived in.
To me it's home and it's alwaysgoing to be home.
I think you and I talkedoff-mic a little bit about this.
You go and travel these placesand then you come home and it's
got that all right.
Deep breath, we're back toreality.
It's not for everybody, butit's for people like us right
(01:44):
Now.
You moved off to Utah and thenyou started wrestling right.
We talked about that a littlebit, but what brought you to
Utah outside of the family move?
Did they have roots tied downthere?
Did you have family from there?
What brought you to the familythere?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Yeah, so my dad he wrestled at Southern Utah
University and so he got throughcollege, all that, and he and
my mom actually got marriedbefore we moved to Utah.
So I was born in the Utah area,gotcha, and then we moved here
for school and wrestling.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, so you met Matt through the university, right.
We kind of joked around aboutit a little bit.
I said, man, I can't believeyou guys aren't in the same
weight class.
And you're like, well, have youever seen us before?
Now, with that, how did thatfriendship kind of develop?
It just one of those lockerroom things.
Or let's talk a little bit ofMatt before Matt Murray, right.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, we were the same weight class and I was a
red shirt most college wrestlersred shirt their first year.
Because if you're 18 years oldtrying to basically fight
another guy who's 22 years oldand he's got four years of
training weightlifting a fewmore years after puberty under
his belt, he beat the tar out ofme that whole year.
(02:58):
But the really cool thing aboutit is at the same time he
brought me under his wing andreally showed me different
techniques that were going tomake me get better, which in
turn got him better.
I always had the work ethic andI fought tooth and nail for
everything in every practice.
I know when he was getting downto weight towards the end of
(03:21):
the week, I didn't go with himas much, because when you're
getting close to weight and hecut a lot of weight you don't
really want to wrestle with guysthat fight the whole time.
So that made me feel good thathe didn't want to smoke that
close to competition.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Man do.
Cutting weight.
That's so crazy to me and it'sa completely off topic of where
we're heading with thisdirection and I love all of it.
But cutting weight, man, that'sdiscipline to its core.
I mean you're hungry all thetime and you got to battle the
mental state of it.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe cutting weight and how you
(03:55):
went about that.
Well, how did you do it?
I mean just completely workingout.
Was it zero food?
Did you have to watch yourintake Back in the college days?
How'd you go through it?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
What helped me was my dad wrestled in college.
He had years where well, mostlyhis high school years he did
not cut weight correctly, woreplastics to every single
practice, tried not to drinkwater at night.
So through his mistakes and hiserrors, he said if you're going
to cut any weight at all,you're going to do it right,
(04:26):
You're going to exercise, goingto eat right, You're going to do
every single thing right.
And then we can talk aboutlittle things after that.
But moving on to college, I didit as right as I could.
One year, when I dropped down aweight class, I went vegetarian
for about six months justbecause I had to lose some
(04:48):
muscle, Because the guy that Icouldn't beat was Jordan
Burroughs, who he hadn't won anational title at that time.
But after he took my spot hewon two national titles and then
a lot of world and Olympictitles since then.
But yeah, I wanted to be in thelineup.
I didn't want to be anon-starter.
(05:09):
So I started in May, right asschool ended, really watching my
diet and really took the wholesummer to start getting my
weight down.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Bro, is that a year round thing?
I mean, there is no off dayswhen you are literally that's
everything.
You don't make that weightclass and you're done.
I mean you're not talking abouthigh school where it's like,
okay, everybody gets to play.
Here's what I'm saying and it'snot like that.
But in a sense, you're there,you're on the roster in high
school.
When you get to college, man,you're playing with money,
You're playing with yourscholarship, and I want to dig
(05:45):
into that a little bit too.
Before we get into the realestate factor of this, you and I
spoke about how you kind of gotlooked at by Nebraska.
I mean, you were sending offlike VHS tapes, correct?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yes, this is 2004, where I don't remember if DVDs
were a thing, and if we did, youhad to burn them and it was a
big, long process.
So, yeah, I sent my VHS tape tothe coaches in Nebraska and a
couple other schools and theywere one of a few that got back
to me and I just started talkingto one of their coaches and
(06:16):
everything fit.
I knew Matt Murray, who he wasbecause he had just got second
at the national tournament thatyear as I was a senior and I
knew that he had one year leftand the weight class above him.
Same situation Guy was anall-American, he was going to be
a senior.
My thought process was I'mgoing to get the trash kicked
out of me while I read shirt andbe ready to hopefully step into
(06:38):
a starting spot at either oneof those weight classes.
I was still growing, I love tolift weights and I ended up
getting big enough for theweight class above Matt.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't think enough goes into the history of the
employees here, and that's kindof why Shannon and I talked
about the Murray Minute.
It's kind of getting to knowthe people who you're going to
be working with, and these areour people, we're their family.
Once they walk through the door, they should know a little bit
about the people that they'reworking with, just like we all
do.
Going in.
(07:09):
Now let's fast forward here.
How did you become an employeeof Murray?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah.
So my brother Paul, he used towork here, he wrestled in
college also, and he moved backto Lincoln after a few years in
Utah and he was looking forsomething a little different and
was doing some manual labor,kind of grunt work, here at
Murray.
And he did that for a couple ofmonths and then moved into
(07:37):
inside sales on the custom homeside and he said to me said hey,
this is a great opportunity toget paid for your work ethic and
get paid for your performance alittle better than just a
straight salary job.
And I knew what Matt was aboutand I'd been following his
company over the past few yearsand just decided to make the
(07:59):
jump.
But culture was a big thing andit was nice having my brother
Paul already on the inside so hecould tell me pros and cons,
really what's going on.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Dude, I'm just adding it all together.
I had no idea Paul was your bro, your brother, yeah, no idea.
And we got the pod guide, ourproducer, in the background,
even laughing at me.
Now, wow, matthew, way to go.
Small details, right.
What I like about you, man, andwhat I like about working with
you, and why I would steeranybody that's on the market to
either Jonah or Murray or you,is the fact that you're on site.
(08:33):
You want to be there with usthroughout the process, and it's
not just so you have picturesfor social media.
You're legitimately askingquestions.
You're asking why in the house,and even though you probably
know the answer, you want toknow everybody's different way
of doing it.
And now, that being said, whenyou're going into this stuff
with the real estate and thebuilds and the custom homes too,
(08:54):
let's take our spec house rightnow, sierra Madre, for example.
Somebody walks through the doorand they want to talk to you.
Now, where are you going to go?
Because right now, it's justframing guts, right?
I mean, there's not a lot goingon at the house outside of the
subcontractors doing their thing.
They walk in and they say, hey,I want to go.
Look at Sierra Madre.
Do you take them on site, dothey're to the construction site
(09:16):
, or how do you go about yourday?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Yeah, I start by asking a bunch of questions and
just kind of see what they'relooking for.
If they really need to see itSome people, if they know that
it's just in construction,they'll want to know what it
looks like.
So then we can pull up ourrenderings and give them an idea
what it looks like or show thempictures of homes that we've
(09:38):
built in Southwest VillageHeights, that neighborhood, of a
very similar floor plan andvery similar finishes so they
get that feel.
Some people can be visual thatway looking at it and some
people need to experience it andwalk in the home.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Got you.
So, speaking of all the finedetails and everything, you're
kind of a hybrid employee, Iwould say right of Murray and of
the real estate world.
So what is your title and whatis a day in the life of Rob
consist of?
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Brand ambassador, outside sales really just
drumming up business andbuilding relationships.
That's the easiest way to sumit up.
So when I do ride-alongs withyou, I not only figure out how
you work with people so I canmarket you, but also learn from
you, and whether that's in mybusiness or whether I apply that
(10:33):
to my coaching duties that I'mvery fortunate to have.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah, so you were a wrestler at UNL and now you are
coaching at Westland.
Is that correct?
Correct?
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Vision Three School here in Lincoln I'm an assistant
coach.
The head coach does most of thework.
I show up for practice and helpwith recruiting when I can, but
always having a constantconversation with the head coach
about the program, where we'vebeen, where we're at right now
and then where we're going inthe future.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Man, it all kind of ties together.
Honest to God, that is so crazyto think, because I'm always
listening to what you're sayingand when we're on the
walk-arounds and ride-alongs andyou're constantly saying things
like man, you're coaching thisplace up.
Real nice, and to me it is twoof the same things.
And during my interview withMegan and Matt that's, I kind of
hit on that a lot.
(11:24):
I was like I'm a coach at heartand what I wanna do is help
people.
I'm gonna help young people,I'm gonna help the youth, I
wanna help people with theirdream homes, and it sounds like
that you brought a lot of thatpersonal life into the career as
well, right?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, I really try to and wanted to give you a quick
shout out.
The first thing I noticed whenI saw you interact and heard you
interact with oursubcontractors on a job site is
just how much you appreciatethem and thank them for what
they're doing, see if they needanything and that's just
something that I need to do moreof as a coach but also just
(11:59):
whether it's the realtors wework with insurance agents who
refer roofs to us is see if theyneed anything else.
And a quick example is a couplemonths ago an insurance agent
just texted me asking if I had areferral for someone that does
tree removal for one of theirelderly clients that needed some
help, and so luckily I hadsomebody.
(12:21):
That works as pretty good.
They work with budgets reallywell.
They do a great job but not ahigh cost.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
It's so awesome.
Yesterday I went home and I wastrying to clean out my age fact
unit because I do it for ourclients here at work, right, and
I'm like, well, why am I notdoing this at home?
Open it up, clean it up, put itback together and I'm getting
in a blinking green light.
Six months ago, I don't knowwho to call for that.
I'm getting charged for thatphone call and I'm getting
charged an outrageous price, manit's.
(12:53):
We use the word culture a lotin this building alone.
I mean, especially on thispodcast in the first two
episodes and anything that Matttalks about.
He's talking about the culture,the culture here, man, it is
straight family and you walkthrough the door.
You're a family member.
You're an employee.
You're a family member.
You are encouraged to bringyour family to work so they can
(13:13):
meet the people that you'respending your time with.
What's home life like for you,rob?
Wow, you got kids.
You got a wife, I know, but letthe people know.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah, every day's different.
Kind of going back to thequestion you asked later.
What's a day in the life?
Some days it's up at 4 amknocking out emails and getting
them scheduled to be sent duringoffice hours or whenever that
is.
Some days it's waking up atfive and lifting weights.
Some days it's sleeping inuntil my kids wake us up.
(13:42):
I, the night before, I reallytry and write down, whether it's
in an email Draft, orphysically write it down.
Write down my to-do list forthe next day, prioritize it.
I have to get this done.
What's urgent?
What could come up, even justlike knowing which of my clients
(14:05):
are getting the roofs put onthat that day or that week?
Yeah, so I can be ready toAnswer any questions that they
have.
Yeah, that's from there.
It's driving kids to schoolthree days a week, picking them
up a couple days a week.
My grandparents and my wife'sparents live in town.
All four of them are retired sothey help with child care a lot
(14:28):
.
But it's really trying to be asefficient as possible While
having fun.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Dude.
Okay, let's talk about thehaving fun thing.
I know this pirate that keepsshowing up to all my job sites.
Man, there's this pirate thatwalks through the doors and he
gives it.
He has the best introductionfor every single person in this
office.
Right, let's hit on the socialmedia factor.
Let's hit on the networkingfactor.
Doing this job in 2023 is mucheasier than what it would have
(14:56):
been when you were in college,man, because you're talking
about recording things on VHStapes.
You're talking.
Half of the people listeningright now have probably never
seen a VHS tape.
I mean, honestly, anythingbelow my Whatever.
The millennial factor ofwhatever that age is right, 30
to 34, whatever pre or post thatlike they had to physically
(15:17):
show up to people's doors likeyou were a door-to-door salesman
.
If you tried to do what you'redoing right now, back in the day
, you would literally be foottraffic.
How, how do you get your nameout and Do you have advice for
somebody that's coming into thiscareer path of a real estate
agent or brand ambassador?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I would say it's a combination of both.
So you, you should try and havea social media presence, and
I'm not as good as I should beabout being consistent.
I have a lot of ideas andsometimes I'll spend way too
long working on my pirate accentinstead of just being more
consistent, posting videos,whether it's educational,
(15:59):
entertainment wise.
I Just need to be moreconsistent, but you also have to
.
You have to physically show up.
Some of the Some of my favoriteinsurance agents to work with
who refer roofs to us regularly.
I just randomly walked intotheir office, giving example
American family agent LindyMathis, and I walked into her
(16:21):
office and and she goes, who?
the heck are you?
And I said I'm Rob, I'm withMurray roofing.
You know I was trying to belike, don't hurt me, yeah, she
goes.
Well, I just fired my roofer.
He treated one of my clients sopoorly that he's out of here.
And then I said what?
I was joking.
I said, oh, lindy, I wouldnever treat your clients poorly.
And she said I like you, rob,sit down.
Oh, an hour later, talk to her.
(16:43):
We'll talk to her for an hourand then I think we're one of
very few roofers that that sherefers.
But I've dropped off birthdaycards and balloons at her house
during COVID when she was Notable to go out, just because
she's got got her uncle and thensome other elderly family
(17:04):
members.
But just doing little thingslike that to Like get to know
somebody.
And once you know somebody, youcare about them and your brain
just goes and thinks, oh, thiswould be good for them, oh,
their birthdays coming up, so.
But then also she, she likes alot of my posts when I do the
(17:24):
silly pirate videos or theleprechaun videos.
So Relationships sometimesthey're just on social media,
sometimes just in person, butwhen you can mix it all it it's
a great combo.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love when those two worlds collide.
I honestly do.
It's so.
It's so such a breath of freshair like the human factor, that
that human connection that wemissed through all of 2021,
whatever you know, that wholeCOVID days.
The biggest thing that waslacking and I think for, like
our kids, is age right is thatconnection, that eye to eye,
(17:59):
that knowing what the Below yournose looks like, right, because
every no one what your smilelooks like, I should say to me
that being a human, that'sthat's kind of what you do so
well is just connecting withpeople, so that that brand
ambassador, the networking,whatever that job title is for
you that day, just know that youdo a great job at it.
Man, I'm proud to to say thatout, that I work with you and I
(18:21):
tell everybody that I know thattoo, it's, it's, it's, it truly
is man, knowing where I workedand what I did for you know, a
decade it there.
That connection wasn't there, it, it.
Let's just be real.
You know that's why, and he's,we had the culture fit interview
.
That's what I knew.
I was like, okay, he wants tobe sure you know before he just
(18:44):
brings anybody on, so how canpeople get a hold of you.
Where can they contact you?
And, and, and, and.
What do you got coming up?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yep.
So my cell number is 402 3103361.
Call or text anytime.
On Instagram, my handle is RobSanders real estate.
On Facebook, my business pageis Rob Sanders, nebraska Realty.
That's the brokerage I'm withand, and on Twitter I'm on.
(19:14):
I'm at Husker grappler.
Started that in 2009, rightafter I graduated, and I've been
at like 1900 followers for manseems like a year, slowly
creeping up to 2000.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Let's get this guy over the hill.
What are we doing, folks?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
I Forgot what else was.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
What I got coming up.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, we are working.
We started a town home in theRidge.
Gonna be listing that here inthe next week or so I don't know
the exact Close, close date onthat but definitely sometime in
the spring of 2024 and then,hopefully in the next month or
two, got a home coming up inDavy, nebraska that I'm going to
(19:55):
list and a few other thingsthat are in the pipeline.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yep, and then 5, 9, 2 , 9.
Southwest Sierra Madre thepirate was just out there that
you've got a new.
You got a new video up as ofthis will be released next
Friday.
So last week you had that videoup and I tell you what, man,
that that was comical.
I loved every second of it, man, I really did.
And you're not just working onMurray homes, right?
I mean Nebraska realty, yousaid, is where, where your other
(20:20):
hybrid branch with maybe isthat correct?
Speaker 3 (20:23):
Correct.
So the nice thing is, whenyou're in real estate you can
help people buy, sell and build.
And there's a few realtors thattold me Year or two years ago
You're already in with thebuilder, get your license.
You're dumb if you don't,because the hardest part is
getting in with the builder.
So I just, when enough smartpeople tell me something, I
(20:46):
eventually figure it out and doit.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, I mean, why not seeing?
That's the game?
Going back to the code, I willget you out of here, I promise.
But going back to the coachingfactor, man, I've always said if
a coach tells you they know itall, they have it all figured
out.
If a boss tells you they knowit all, they have it all figured
out there.
That's not somebody I want tolearn from, bro.
I want to constantly bechanging, I want to constantly
be evolving, I want toconstantly be learning, I want
(21:10):
to, I want to open up my network.
Bigger and bigger and bigger,right, bigger than baseball,
something you see me say all thetime.
That means life, that's being abetter student, better athlete,
a better friend, a betterbrother, a better sister, better
employee.
Like that's what bigger thanbaseball is for me, man, and you
hit it on the head, man, you,you.
You are perfect for what you do, my friend and I appreciate all
(21:30):
your time and thank you forstopping by today.
Member.
To stop by 1631 Cushman Drive,sweet number two, and talk to
Matt, megan, jonah and now Rob.
Anytime today, tomorrow, giveRob a call, hit them up on
social media, rob.
Thank you for being here today,brother.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Thanks, man.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of stay
modern with Murray, the MurrayMinute edition.
If you have topics you wouldlike us to discuss, please email
us at info at Murray customhomes dot com or Message us at
Murray custom homes dot com.
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