September 23, 2025 • 26 mins
Jack Redden, Director of Architectural Sales for ES Windows, shares how vertical integration and hurricane-resistant engineering have positioned the company as a leader in the glass industry. With 30 years of experience and a passion for the business, Jack explains how ES fabricates their own glass and extrudes their aluminum to deliver consistent quality products that withstand Florida's extreme weather conditions.
• ES Windows stands out through vertical integration, controlling their supply chain from glass fabrication to aluminum extrusion
• Hurricane impact testing involves shooting 2x4s from air cannons and cycling products through 4,500 positive and negative pressure swings
• Market diversification has been key to growth, expanding from high-rise condos to residential, education, and healthcare projects
• Conducting over 200 architectural lunch and learns has helped build brand awareness in new markets
• Product innovation continues to push boundaries with glass panels now reaching 18-20 feet tall
• GlassBuild 2025 in Orlando will showcase ES Windows' latest products including their new Structural Glass System
• The company recently announced a record-setting backlog of $1.2 billion in projects
Join us at GlassBuild 2025, November 4-6 in Orlando, Florida, where the glass industry will gather to showcase products, provide training, and offer networking opportunities.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jack Redden (00:00):
I have the best job in the company.
I'm like a kid in a candy shopso many design options, so many
different products.
It's something I'm verypassionate about.
Stefanie Couch (00:06):
It's always amazing to me the human
ingenuity of figuring out how tocontinue to grow and expand the
limits of these products.
10 to 15 years ago, there's noway we could consider that we
would have an 18-foot tall glasspanel.
But here we are in 2025 andthis is what you're showing at
Glassfield.
Jack Redden (00:24):
You make a great point and what makes us unique
versus a lot of our competitorsis our vertical integration.
We like to say we're our ownsupply chain and we deliver that
product at a very competitiveprice point.
Stefanie Couch (00:34):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint podcast, the
playbook for buildingunmistakable brands that grow,
lead and last in the built world.
I'm Stefanie Couch, the founderof Grit Blueprint, and I'm a
lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(00:55):
I help others win here.
The truth is, you can be thebest option in your space and
still lose to someone else whosimply shows up better and more
consistently Each week.
On the Grit Blueprint, I'mgoing to show you how to stand
out, earn trust and turn yourbrand into a competitive
(01:16):
advantage that lasts.
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
We are here today on site inMiami, Florida, and I'm here at
ES.
We are in person with JackRedden Behind The Build is
(01:36):
happening live.
We are showcasing your amazingshowroom here behind us.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me today.
Jack Redden (01:42):
Thanks for having me.
I'm looking forward to this.
Thank you.
Stefanie Couch (01:44):
Yeah, and you are actually the sales leader
here in Florida, so tell me alittle bit about you.
You've been in the industry along time.
You're a pro on the sales sidefor commercial and residential
products.
Tell me about Jack and whatyou're doing here at ES.
Jack Redden (01:59):
So my name is Jack Redden.
I'm the director ofarchitectural sales for ES
Windows.
I've been in the industry 30years, which is a polite way of
saying I'm getting old.
I've been with ES now aboutthree years.
I'm based in Orlando, but I docover the entire state of
(02:20):
Florida in a businessdevelopment capacity for ES and
all of our lovely brands that wehave here.
So, on a personal note, outsideof working hard, I like to play
hard with my family and power,watch Netflix and travel and all
that kind of fun stuff.
Stefanie Couch (02:26):
Well, you were telling us earlier you actually
have four daughters.
Jack Redden (02:30):
I do.
The baby is soon to be 12, andmy oldest one is 28 and living
in Boston.
Stefanie Couch (02:35):
Well, my dad had three daughters.
I can't imagine adding a fourth.
You're quite outnumbered.
And you even have a female dog.
Jack Redden (02:42):
I do Our little Shih Tzu, who's five, going on
six.
She's the apple of my wife'seye.
My wife has said many times ifwe're in a boat we're all
getting pushed out.
She's saving the.
Stefanie Couch (02:53):
Shih Tzu, I can understand that it's me and five
females, basically.
Well, that's amazing, and youare here in Florida doing a lot
of cool stuff with ES.
Tell me a little bit more aboutES and what they are offering
in their product line.
Jack Redden (03:08):
Well, the nice thing about ES Windows is just
the breadth of the productoffering.
You mentioned commercial andresidential.
We play in both of those arenasquite robustly.
Kind of what makes us uniqueversus a lot of our competitors
is our vertical integration.
So by that I mean, if you lookat the primary components of
commercial aluminum windows, youhave glass and aluminum.
(03:31):
We're vertically integrated,meaning that we actually
fabricate all of our own glassin-house and we actually extrude
our own aluminum and paint themwith fluoropolymer finishes up
to a 20-year warranty.
So we like to say we're our ownsupply chain, and that's crucial
to our customers because itreally allows us to keep our
lead times incredibly consistent.
It also allows us to implementsome pretty aggressive quality
(03:55):
control mechanisms to ensurethat that product that we're
getting out into the field is ofpristine quality.
And then, most important forour designers and construction
clientele and for their client,the developers, is we deliver
that product at a verycompetitive price point.
So just a lot of differentproduct options.
I have the best job in thecompany.
I'm like a kid in a candy shopso many design options, so many
(04:16):
different products and just theability to go out there and
promote them to design andconstruction professionals is
something I'm very'm verypassionate about.
Stefanie Couch (04:25):
Yeah, and you guys have a beautiful showroom
here.
You have some showrooms inother places in Florida as well,
and you have one in Charleston,south Carolina.
Jack Redden (04:33):
We're getting close to your neck of the woods up
there.
Stefanie Couch (04:35):
Yeah, for sure, and that is really a hurricane
zone.
So is Florida, obviously.
Talk to me a little bit aboutyour hurricane and impact
products.
Jack Redden (04:43):
Yeah, well, that's kind of where we cut our teeth.
Initially, I mean, es wassynonymous with Impact windows.
So going back maybe 15 years,it was primarily high-rise
condos in Miami with justridiculous design pressure
requirements, structural windload requirements.
So that's kind of where ES kindof cut their teeth and then
it's kind of trickled.
We've really diversified ourportfolio more into residential
(05:04):
over the last 10 to 15 years, soit's more of a balanced
portfolio.
But we are first and foremostan impact company.
We have over 100 Miami-Dadeproduct approvals and Florida
product approvals, tested tosome of the highest wind zones
on the planet, quite frankly.
So there's a lot of engineering, a lot of testing, a lot of
blood, sweat and tears that goeson kind of behind the scenes to
(05:26):
get these products out into themarket, to pass these rigorous
codes.
Stefanie Couch (05:29):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about that,
because everyone in the US isnot aware of how strenuous the
testing is for things like thishurricane rating in Florida.
Those that are in Florida it'ssecond nature, but when I moved
to Florida for a year andstarted selling products down
here, it was really eye-openingto me.
You have block wallconstruction, which is different
than a lot of places in the US,and you also have a lot of
(05:51):
high-rises and a lot of bigbuildings that are right on the
coast.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe testing process that you
guys go through.
How does that work?
What are the regiments that yougo through to get these
products to market?
Jack Redden (06:05):
Fantastic question.
Yeah, the Florida market iskind of unique in the United
States.
I mean, it really kind of allchanged when Andrew came through
in 92, and it really stimulatedwhat we now know as the Florida
Building Code.
So part of the testingrequirements for South Florida
what we call the high velocityhurricane zone is we're
literally shooting two by foursout of air cannons at these
products, which is impacting theglass.
(06:26):
We're cycling it through 4,500positive, 4,500 negative
pressures swings, so thesewindows and doors are literally
breathing out in and out likeiron lungs, these large panels.
Stefanie Couch (06:36):
It's impressive, to say the least, that our
design engineers can developproducts to withstand two by
fours getting shot out of aircannons yeah, and for those that
have never experienced that inreal life, it is one of the
funnest things to see, becauseyou don't realize how fast
that's coming out and that'sreally what a hurricane is like.
(06:57):
I've seen in a few differentplaces and it is really fun.
They haven't let me fire thecannon yet, so if you guys are,
I would be very intrigued bythat.
Jack Redden (07:06):
I'll tell you what.
We'll make a deal If you comedown.
We'll do like a David Letterman, Remember he used to do
different things, so we'll shootwatermelons.
We'll do some other stuffbesides, two by four.
We'll have some fun with it.
Stefanie Couch (07:15):
I'm pretty sure that I can probably make that
happen.
That sounds like a large spanof different customer bases.
You have a challenging markethere in Florida with the
hurricanes and all the weatherstuff you deal with.
How are you solving challenges?
Jack Redden (07:32):
for glazers and people out in the field that are
putting in this product.
Florida's a unique market, aswe've said.
I mean we were kind offortunate after COVID.
I mean COVID was a tragedy butthe market itself became very,
very white hot.
Everybody was moving to Floridaand builders could not keep
homes on an inventory quickenough, they couldn't build them
quick enough.
Projects were being boughtsight unseen.
So it was really a seller'smarket.
(07:53):
That has changed a little bitover the last couple of years,
where the market has kind ofstabilized that a little bit,
and it's what I would call moreof a stable market, you know,
not necessarily a buyer's marketor a seller's market, kind of
in the middle.
I think the challenge with ourglazing subs and our dealer base
is that, depending on whatmarket sectors they cover and
what segments they deal in,there has been a bit of a
(08:15):
slowdown.
So what I'm trying to encouragethem to do to really mitigate
any negative impacts of havingall of your eggs in one basket,
so to speak, is to kind offollow suit and do what EF did
15 years ago.
We were high-rise condos, thatwas pretty much it.
Over the last 15 years we'vediversified into residential,
into education projects, intohealthcare projects.
(08:36):
We've moved out of SouthFlorida into different
geographies so I'm encouragingour dealers to not put all their
eggs in one basket.
So if they're tied to just newconstruction home builders, well
guess what?
Those permits are down 11% thisyear.
If that's where all your eggsare, potentially if you're
riding the market, you'll bedown 11%.
So trying to get them to maybejerk out into some R&R project
(08:57):
work or maybe into some lightcommercial work and really just
diversify their portfolio tomitigate any one sector or
segment kind of drying up onthem.
Stefanie Couch (09:05):
Yeah, it sounds like you're pretty involved in
trying to help them grow theirbusiness.
Tell me a little bit more abouthow you do that.
Are you doing trainings?
How are you helping them tosell more product?
Jack Redden (09:19):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of training.
I think the better you know aproduct, the more professionally
you can represent it out intothe marketplace.
So what we're looking to do iscreate folks that are what I
call ES ambassadors, and thatgoes for whether it's a dealer
that's selling our product.
They certainly need to know thefeatures and benefits and the
YES pitch, if you will, but italso goes for architects who are
designing and specifyingproducts.
(09:40):
I like to draw a parallel anddistinction between brand
awareness versus brand loyalty.
Here in South Florida we haveboth.
Everybody knows ES and folksare loyal to ES.
As you trickle kind of northand certainly out of Florida,
the branding recognitiondissipates a bit.
What I'm working is in centralFlorida and north Florida is to
(10:01):
really grow that brandingrecognition and kind of what
follows that is that brandloyalty.
So we're having some goodsuccess.
We're really growing into newmarkets.
Like I said, central Floridahas not been a historically
strong market for us.
We've closed several bigprojects this year, so our
development efforts are working.
It really goes down to training.
So we like to train our dealers, make sure they're up to speed
(10:25):
on the latest and greatest fromES.
We also like to do a lot ofwhat we call lunch and learns
with architects.
It's a big push that I've beenmaking since I've joined ES.
So over the last three yearsI've had the pleasure of
presenting over 200architectural lunch and learns
for over 3,000 attendees.
These are basically CEUs,meaning that architects get
continued credit for this, butwe also obviously feather in
(10:47):
some nice what's new with EStype of thing.
So these have been receivedvery, very well.
A lot of architects in CentralFlorida and different areas.
I'll give you an example.
I was just at an architect inOrlando on Tuesday for a Lunch
and Learn 16 architects.
I always like to poll theaudience.
Who here has heard of ES.
I'm at Ziskevich in Miami with16 architects All 16 hands go up
(11:10):
.
Everybody in Miami knows 16architects all 16 hands go up.
Everybody in Miami knows us.
In Orlando, one hand out of 16went up.
So there's certainlyopportunities in different
markets to expand our brandpresence and grow that brand
awareness and brand loyalty.
So that's what I'm reallyexcited about is getting into
these different markets thatdon't know ES as well, and I
think teaching through Lunch andLearns whether it's at an
(11:31):
architect's office or with adealer training I'm all about
education.
I think education is a crucialpart of how you grow your brand
in a market, regardless of youraudience.
Stefanie Couch (11:39):
Yeah, that's a great point.
I love the branding initiative.
As a person who focuses onvisibility and helps people in
our industry do that, I don'tthink historically our industry
has done a great job of that atall.
I think branding and some ofthe things that are front facing
with B2C or direct to consumerpeople do a good job, but
especially around architects andpeople that more B2B presence
(12:00):
we do a lackluster job of that.
So I love that you're reallygoing head on at that and trying
to 15 lunch and learns a monthor something like that is what
you said you're doing.
That's an amazing pace.
What would you say to youngpeople coming into the industry
that maybe aren't sure how todevelop business, that are
coming in with the trainings?
Is there a resource, somethinglike a National Glass
(12:21):
Association, that you use ortell people that are glazers,
people like that that don't knowhow to sell these products?
Is there a way that you tellpeople to learn more to grow
their business?
Jack Redden (12:32):
There's a lot of different resources out there If
you're looking for targets togo.
I mean, the AA has been a greatresource for networking.
I'm always a fan of, wheneveryou're with an audience, ask
them who they're working with.
So if I'm with a developer, Iask them you know who's your top
five designers that you workwith?
If I'm with an architect, whoare the top five developers you
work with?
You can build your network kindof that way.
(12:54):
As far as actual trainingresources go, I mean there's a
wealth of information availableonline ES our website even has
some incredible trainingresources available Just a lot
of technical information anddata Specific to glazing subs.
I know there's somecertifications.
I myself have what they call aCSI CDT, so I'm a construction
document technologist, which isjust a fancy way of saying I
(13:22):
know how to navigate around thedifferent phases of a project
lifecycle, through schematicdesign, through design
development, through finaldesign and CDs, et cetera.
So I think that's a hugecredential that not a lot of
folks getting into industry aretaking advantage of.
I think it really does help youunderstand the different phases
of a product lifecycle and kindof how you can support those in
different ways.
So there's things as amanufacturer that we can be
(13:43):
doing in the conception phase,that if you don't know what's
typical of that, thesefeasibility studies, know what's
typical of that, thesefeasibility studies.
You can provide a lot of valueadd services to architects that
are just looking for high levelROM budgets just to see if a
product's even feasible for adeveloper before they invest a
lot of time and energy designingsomething that might not pencil
.
Stefanie Couch (14:01):
Yeah, that's a really great point because I
think a lot of times that weworry about the very last stage
of the project so much andwhether or not it's going to
look good and all that.
But it's figuring out how doyou help them from start to
finish, even pre-construction,pre-drawings that moment where
it's a yes or a no based on hey,this is 50% higher than what we
have spec for budget here.
(14:22):
It's not even a conversationfor this product line, but maybe
there is another applicationand another product that could
fit.
That's a huge resource forpeople.
If you're providing that, it'sawesome.
Jack Redden (14:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I always like to say engage usas early as possible.
I'd rather find out in SDschematic design that we're,
like you said, 50% over thebudget than waiting until you're
at 100% CDs, when redesignscost more money.
And, to your point, if we dodetermine that we are over the
budget early on, there's a lotof things that we can bring to
the table as far as valueengineering ideas, and you'd be
(14:55):
amazed um, maybe their panelizedwindow wall if they shrink it
just two inches.
This way, we can go from a, anSGP interlayer, to a PVB
interlayer and save ten dollarsa square foot yeah some of these
projects are 50, 60, 000 squarefeet.
I mean, that's, that's a small,that's not a small amount of
money that you're saving, so wecan do these value engineering
exercises and maybe approximate95% of the design intent but
(15:18):
maybe shave 20% off the budgetand make the project pencil.
So we love to add thoseservices throughout the process.
Stefanie Couch (15:24):
That's excellent .
Well, I want to shift a littlebit.
We are both members of theNational Glass Association and
woo, let's go.
We have a really exciting yearcoming this year because it is
right in your hometown GlassBuild 2025, november 4th through
the 6th in Orlando, florida.
So tell me how excited you arefor Glass Build.
Jack Redden (15:46):
Extremely excited.
We get excited every year Mepersonally this year, as you
alluded to, orlando is myhometown, so the greatest city
in Florida.
Personally, this year, as youalluded to, orlando's my
hometown, so the greatest cityin Florida.
Not that I'm biased which I ambut it's kind of cool to have it
in my hometown.
I think it's a great venue.
It's a great location.
Obviously it's central in thestate of Florida, so we're going
to get a big draw from all fourcorners of the state to Orlando
(16:07):
, obviously a big focus onFlorida products, impact rated
products and I think we're goingto get a lot of out-of-state
and potentially internationaltravel as well.
Orlando's got a lot going forit.
Maybe you've heard of DisneyWorld and Universal Studios and
Epic Universe now, so I'mhopeful that we'll get a lot of
out-of-state and internationalfolks coming down just to enjoy
(16:27):
the Orlando experience but alsopartake in Glass Build.
So it's a fantastic opportunityfor us, obviously to showcase
our latest and greatest products.
We have some amazing newproducts that we're going to be
launching at Glass Build, so themarketing team has put together
an amazing booth.
I saw the renders.
I couldn't be more excited.
The fact that it's in Orlandois just a bonus for me.
Stefanie Couch (16:50):
I can't wait to come see it.
Tell me a little bit about whatyou're expanding upon.
I don't want you to give awayany secrets, but what will you
be showing at Glass Build thatyou can share with me early?
Jack Redden (16:59):
Sure, yeah, no real corporate secrets, nothing like
I don't have to do a men inblack with a pen and make you
forget about it.
So it's heavily skewed towardsour commercial product offering.
We have a lot of residentialproducts in our lovely showroom
here, but glass build is reallyfocused more on commercial stuff
.
So we'll be showcasing some ofour curtain wall systems, some
of our window wall systems.
Some of the trends we're seeingcommercially as well as
(17:24):
residentially is everybody wantslarger glass panel sizes.
So you're gonna be seeing stuffthat's 20 foot tall glass
panels, just stuff like that.
Our newest product that we'relaunching there is called our
SGS, our structural glass system.
So we're gonna show some glassfin products with that line.
I think that one is about 18feet tall.
So you're gonna walk in andyou're gonna see a lot of very,
(17:45):
very big, big window wall andcurtain wall panels and
structural glass panels.
Just a lot of sizingcapabilities and very narrow
profiles.
Or, in the case of our SDSstuff, no aluminum at all.
So just maximum transparency,just inviting all this beautiful
Florida sunshine into yourstructures that we live and work
in.
And, just as an example, whenyou're walking through the
(18:05):
showroom, we have some productin here.
That's 12 foot tall.
Just imagine almost double thatin height.
Stefanie Couch (18:10):
It's always amazing to me the human
ingenuity of figuring out how tocontinue to grow and expand the
limits of these products,because I think 10 to 15 years
ago what we are doing now, itwasn't just impossible, it was
unfathomable.
There's no way we couldconsider that we would have an
18 foot tall glass panel.
That doesn't even make sense tomost people.
(18:33):
But here we are in 2025 andthis is what you're showing at
GlassBuild.
So congratulations to all theseengineers who really make that
happen and push the limits ofphysics every single day.
Jack Redden (18:44):
Amazing team.
Yeah, you make a great point.
When I got into this industry30 years ago, back in the
mid-90s just look at slidingglass doors it was eight foot
tall.
Then it kind of went to 10 foottall.
Now it's 12 foot tall.
Maybe 40 years from now it'llbe 20 foot tall sliding glass
doors, who knows?
At some point it's got to stop.
But it really is a feat ofengineering.
(19:06):
It's amazing what our designengineers do to create these
products, not only at thesesizes but to meet the ridiculous
hurricane codes that we havehere at those sizes with narrow
or no aluminum profiles.
It's just, it's mind boggling.
Stefanie Couch (19:18):
So it definitely needs to be pointed out as a
bullet point.
We're not just doing this inthe industry with the size, but
with hurricane rated impactglass that can withstand a two
before getting shot at it at youknow, a few hundred miles an
hour.
So it's really crazy how thisworks, and kudos again to the
industry for continuing to push.
I do want to ask you againanother question about NGA and
(19:41):
National Glass Association.
You've been in this industry along time.
You've seen a lot of things.
What does an organization likethe NGA bring to our industry
that's helpful for you and thenext generation?
Jack Redden (19:54):
I think there's a lot of educational tools and I
think just the ability toGlassworld's a great example.
I'm a big fan of trade shows.
I think any time you can get anaudience of potential project
influencers together to launchnew products, it's just, it's
invaluable.
I mean it's priceless theexposure that you can get.
So I mean I'm not sure how manyfolks will become through
Atlanta, but I'm sure it's goingto be north of a thousand, two
(20:16):
thousand.
Who knows, maybe you know whatthe data is.
Stefanie Couch (20:18):
It's a lot.
I think last year was over8,000 people at Glassville,
(20:48):
no-transcript speaking, andyou're helping the next
generation of glazers to sellmore products and be better
glazers and in the market.
What excites you the most?
Coming into 2025, going into2026?
What are you the most excitedabout?
Jack Redden (21:08):
specific to work, or we're talking poker, world
Series of Poker.
No, I'm joking.
I'm excited about a lot movinginto the back half of 2025 and
into 2026.
We mentioned some of the newproducts, but I guess, if I had
to put it into a single word,what I'm excited about is just
expansion, and by expansion froma product standpoint, we
(21:30):
continue to expand our portfolioof products and options.
From a networking standpoint,we continue to bring on new
dealers, we continue to networkwith new developers, architects,
gc builders, so we're justexpanding our network as well.
And, at the end of the day,it's all about expanding market
share.
And that's really.
(21:50):
We've done an incredible jobover the last 15 years of
diversifying that portfolio andgetting into new markets that we
wouldn't even have thoughtabout 15 years ago.
We're doing condo renovationsin Naples, we're doing new
construction hotels in Orlando,we're doing hospitals in the
Panhandle.
We're doing all these differentsectors new construction, retro
.
It's a very healthy portfolio.
(22:11):
So I guess I'm just reallyexcited that ES is so healthy
right now.
It's just a stable company,financially stable, and just an
incredible backlog.
We just had a record-settingbacklog announced at our
earnings call of $1.2 billion inprojects.
So that speaks volumes for what2026 and beyond looks like for
us.
So it's a healthy pipeline ofopportunities and I think it's
(22:35):
not by coincidence that you knowthat's on the heels of us doing
all this developmental effortswith developers, gcs and
architects and all these lunchand learns.
It's really helped to buildthat very robust pipeline.
Stefanie Couch (22:46):
That's amazing.
$1.2 billion, that's impressive.
Well, speaking of money andwinnings, let's talk about a
little fun fact about you.
You actually are a world-classWorld Series of Poker Texas
Hold'em player.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Jack Redden (23:03):
Yeah, it's funny and thank you for bringing that
up.
Yeah, it's one of my passionsoutside of work is?
You know, one of my hobbies isgoing to the World Series of
Poker every year with my bestbuddies and my brother.
So this is five years in a rownow that we've went out there.
So I've cashed in eightdifferent events over those five
years.
So I will blame my grandmother,who was actually a bad
(23:25):
influence on me in my childhood.
So I used to play penny pokerwith her and my uncles.
She was an old Italian mother,but uh and um, I used to let her
win until I became a littledevious as a teenager.
Then I started taking her moneyand she.
She got mad and stopped playingwith me, but um, so she kind of.
I've been playing poker since Iwas, before I could read,
honestly, so, uh, I've alwayshad a passion for poker.
(23:45):
The World Series of Poker isjust something I look forward to
every year.
Typically, my wife and kidswill go out with me.
They spend time shopping andhaving fun and doing their thing
, and daddy's at the poker tablefor 12 hours a day trying to
win the million dollars.
So we haven't hit the milliondollar one yet, but we've had
some deep caches and deep runs.
So we'll see what 2026 holds.
Stefanie Couch (24:04):
That's incredible.
And when is the 2026 event?
Jack Redden (24:07):
It's a six-week series, so it usually starts
right after Memorial Day,through like mid-July.
So I usually go out there for aweek or two.
Stefanie Couch (24:14):
That's super cool and I can tell you you did
surprise me with the.
Where did you learn and getinspired to be a poker player?
With your grandmother?
So that's, I didn't see thatone coming, so that was always a
lovely surprise to learn thatshe's the one that taught you.
But if you win the milliondollars, it'll be in her honor,
so she'll be smiling down proudfor you 100% yes.
(24:36):
All the luck right.
That's amazing.
Well, thank you for sharingthat with me.
It's always fun to see.
You know we work a lot and weall have these amazing
professional careers, butthere's so much more your
daughters, your wife, your shihtzu that your wife loves more
than maybe you and the kids andyour Netflix and poker playing.
We all have so much amazingthings in the stories of who we
(24:57):
actually are beyond the windowsand the doors, even though we
love them so much.
So thank you for sharing thatwith me.
Jack Redden (25:03):
My pleasure and I really appreciate you taking the
time to come and look at ourshowroom and looking for the
glass build.
Stefanie Couch (25:09):
Absolutely, we will see you in Orlando, right
in your backyard, and if youaren't planning to come to Glass
Build, you cannot miss thisevent.
November 4th through the 6th inOrlando, florida, and we are
going to have products, people,training, all the networking and
the industry here in one placein Orlando, florida, so don't
miss it.
Thank you for listening to theGrit Blueprint podcast.
(25:31):
If this episode helped youthink a little differently about
how to show up, share it withsomeone in your building world
who needs it.
If you're ready to turnvisibility into growth, then
head to gritblueprintcom tolearn more and book a call to
talk to us about your growthstrategy.
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
I have the best job in the company.
I'm like a kid in a candy shopso many design options, so many
different products.
It's something I'm verypassionate about.
Stefanie Couch (00:06):
It's always amazing to me the human
ingenuity of figuring out how tocontinue to grow and expand the
limits of these products.
10 to 15 years ago, there's noway we could consider that we
would have an 18-foot tall glasspanel.
But here we are in 2025 andthis is what you're showing at
Glassfield.
Jack Redden (00:24):
You make a great point and what makes us unique
versus a lot of our competitorsis our vertical integration.
We like to say we're our ownsupply chain and we deliver that
product at a very competitiveprice point.
Stefanie Couch (00:34):
Welcome to the Grit Blueprint podcast, the
playbook for buildingunmistakable brands that grow,
lead and last in the built world.
I'm Stefanie Couch, the founderof Grit Blueprint, and I'm a
lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(00:55):
I help others win here.
The truth is, you can be thebest option in your space and
still lose to someone else whosimply shows up better and more
consistently Each week.
On the Grit Blueprint, I'mgoing to show you how to stand
out, earn trust and turn yourbrand into a competitive
(01:16):
advantage that lasts.
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
We are here today on site inMiami, Florida, and I'm here at
ES.
We are in person with JackRedden Behind The Build is
(01:36):
happening live.
We are showcasing your amazingshowroom here behind us.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me today.
Jack Redden (01:42):
Thanks for having me.
I'm looking forward to this.
Thank you.
Stefanie Couch (01:44):
Yeah, and you are actually the sales leader
here in Florida, so tell me alittle bit about you.
You've been in the industry along time.
You're a pro on the sales sidefor commercial and residential
products.
Tell me about Jack and whatyou're doing here at ES.
Jack Redden (01:59):
So my name is Jack Redden.
I'm the director ofarchitectural sales for ES
Windows.
I've been in the industry 30years, which is a polite way of
saying I'm getting old.
I've been with ES now aboutthree years.
I'm based in Orlando, but I docover the entire state of
(02:20):
Florida in a businessdevelopment capacity for ES and
all of our lovely brands that wehave here.
So, on a personal note, outsideof working hard, I like to play
hard with my family and power,watch Netflix and travel and all
that kind of fun stuff.
Stefanie Couch (02:26):
Well, you were telling us earlier you actually
have four daughters.
Jack Redden (02:30):
I do.
The baby is soon to be 12, andmy oldest one is 28 and living
in Boston.
Stefanie Couch (02:35):
Well, my dad had three daughters.
I can't imagine adding a fourth.
You're quite outnumbered.
And you even have a female dog.
Jack Redden (02:42):
I do Our little Shih Tzu, who's five, going on
six.
She's the apple of my wife'seye.
My wife has said many times ifwe're in a boat we're all
getting pushed out.
She's saving the.
Stefanie Couch (02:53):
Shih Tzu, I can understand that it's me and five
females, basically.
Well, that's amazing, and youare here in Florida doing a lot
of cool stuff with ES.
Tell me a little bit more aboutES and what they are offering
in their product line.
Jack Redden (03:08):
Well, the nice thing about ES Windows is just
the breadth of the productoffering.
You mentioned commercial andresidential.
We play in both of those arenasquite robustly.
Kind of what makes us uniqueversus a lot of our competitors
is our vertical integration.
So by that I mean, if you lookat the primary components of
commercial aluminum windows, youhave glass and aluminum.
(03:31):
We're vertically integrated,meaning that we actually
fabricate all of our own glassin-house and we actually extrude
our own aluminum and paint themwith fluoropolymer finishes up
to a 20-year warranty.
So we like to say we're our ownsupply chain, and that's crucial
to our customers because itreally allows us to keep our
lead times incredibly consistent.
It also allows us to implementsome pretty aggressive quality
(03:55):
control mechanisms to ensurethat that product that we're
getting out into the field is ofpristine quality.
And then, most important forour designers and construction
clientele and for their client,the developers, is we deliver
that product at a verycompetitive price point.
So just a lot of differentproduct options.
I have the best job in thecompany.
I'm like a kid in a candy shopso many design options, so many
(04:16):
different products and just theability to go out there and
promote them to design andconstruction professionals is
something I'm very'm verypassionate about.
Stefanie Couch (04:25):
Yeah, and you guys have a beautiful showroom
here.
You have some showrooms inother places in Florida as well,
and you have one in Charleston,south Carolina.
Jack Redden (04:33):
We're getting close to your neck of the woods up
there.
Stefanie Couch (04:35):
Yeah, for sure, and that is really a hurricane
zone.
So is Florida, obviously.
Talk to me a little bit aboutyour hurricane and impact
products.
Jack Redden (04:43):
Yeah, well, that's kind of where we cut our teeth.
Initially, I mean, es wassynonymous with Impact windows.
So going back maybe 15 years,it was primarily high-rise
condos in Miami with justridiculous design pressure
requirements, structural windload requirements.
So that's kind of where ES kindof cut their teeth and then
it's kind of trickled.
We've really diversified ourportfolio more into residential
(05:04):
over the last 10 to 15 years, soit's more of a balanced
portfolio.
But we are first and foremostan impact company.
We have over 100 Miami-Dadeproduct approvals and Florida
product approvals, tested tosome of the highest wind zones
on the planet, quite frankly.
So there's a lot of engineering, a lot of testing, a lot of
blood, sweat and tears that goeson kind of behind the scenes to
(05:26):
get these products out into themarket, to pass these rigorous
codes.
Stefanie Couch (05:29):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about that,
because everyone in the US isnot aware of how strenuous the
testing is for things like thishurricane rating in Florida.
Those that are in Florida it'ssecond nature, but when I moved
to Florida for a year andstarted selling products down
here, it was really eye-openingto me.
You have block wallconstruction, which is different
than a lot of places in the US,and you also have a lot of
(05:51):
high-rises and a lot of bigbuildings that are right on the
coast.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe testing process that you
guys go through.
How does that work?
What are the regiments that yougo through to get these
products to market?
Jack Redden (06:05):
Fantastic question.
Yeah, the Florida market iskind of unique in the United
States.
I mean, it really kind of allchanged when Andrew came through
in 92, and it really stimulatedwhat we now know as the Florida
Building Code.
So part of the testingrequirements for South Florida
what we call the high velocityhurricane zone is we're
literally shooting two by foursout of air cannons at these
products, which is impacting theglass.
(06:26):
We're cycling it through 4,500positive, 4,500 negative
pressures swings, so thesewindows and doors are literally
breathing out in and out likeiron lungs, these large panels.
Stefanie Couch (06:36):
It's impressive, to say the least, that our
design engineers can developproducts to withstand two by
fours getting shot out of aircannons yeah, and for those that
have never experienced that inreal life, it is one of the
funnest things to see, becauseyou don't realize how fast
that's coming out and that'sreally what a hurricane is like.
(06:57):
I've seen in a few differentplaces and it is really fun.
They haven't let me fire thecannon yet, so if you guys are,
I would be very intrigued bythat.
Jack Redden (07:06):
I'll tell you what.
We'll make a deal If you comedown.
We'll do like a David Letterman, Remember he used to do
different things, so we'll shootwatermelons.
We'll do some other stuffbesides, two by four.
We'll have some fun with it.
Stefanie Couch (07:15):
I'm pretty sure that I can probably make that
happen.
That sounds like a large spanof different customer bases.
You have a challenging markethere in Florida with the
hurricanes and all the weatherstuff you deal with.
How are you solving challenges?
Jack Redden (07:32):
for glazers and people out in the field that are
putting in this product.
Florida's a unique market, aswe've said.
I mean we were kind offortunate after COVID.
I mean COVID was a tragedy butthe market itself became very,
very white hot.
Everybody was moving to Floridaand builders could not keep
homes on an inventory quickenough, they couldn't build them
quick enough.
Projects were being boughtsight unseen.
So it was really a seller'smarket.
(07:53):
That has changed a little bitover the last couple of years,
where the market has kind ofstabilized that a little bit,
and it's what I would call moreof a stable market, you know,
not necessarily a buyer's marketor a seller's market, kind of
in the middle.
I think the challenge with ourglazing subs and our dealer base
is that, depending on whatmarket sectors they cover and
what segments they deal in,there has been a bit of a
(08:15):
slowdown.
So what I'm trying to encouragethem to do to really mitigate
any negative impacts of havingall of your eggs in one basket,
so to speak, is to kind offollow suit and do what EF did
15 years ago.
We were high-rise condos, thatwas pretty much it.
Over the last 15 years we'vediversified into residential,
into education projects, intohealthcare projects.
(08:36):
We've moved out of SouthFlorida into different
geographies so I'm encouragingour dealers to not put all their
eggs in one basket.
So if they're tied to just newconstruction home builders, well
guess what?
Those permits are down 11% thisyear.
If that's where all your eggsare, potentially if you're
riding the market, you'll bedown 11%.
So trying to get them to maybejerk out into some R&R project
(08:57):
work or maybe into some lightcommercial work and really just
diversify their portfolio tomitigate any one sector or
segment kind of drying up onthem.
Stefanie Couch (09:05):
Yeah, it sounds like you're pretty involved in
trying to help them grow theirbusiness.
Tell me a little bit more abouthow you do that.
Are you doing trainings?
How are you helping them tosell more product?
Jack Redden (09:19):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of training.
I think the better you know aproduct, the more professionally
you can represent it out intothe marketplace.
So what we're looking to do iscreate folks that are what I
call ES ambassadors, and thatgoes for whether it's a dealer
that's selling our product.
They certainly need to know thefeatures and benefits and the
YES pitch, if you will, but italso goes for architects who are
designing and specifyingproducts.
(09:40):
I like to draw a parallel anddistinction between brand
awareness versus brand loyalty.
Here in South Florida we haveboth.
Everybody knows ES and folksare loyal to ES.
As you trickle kind of northand certainly out of Florida,
the branding recognitiondissipates a bit.
What I'm working is in centralFlorida and north Florida is to
(10:01):
really grow that brandingrecognition and kind of what
follows that is that brandloyalty.
So we're having some goodsuccess.
We're really growing into newmarkets.
Like I said, central Floridahas not been a historically
strong market for us.
We've closed several bigprojects this year, so our
development efforts are working.
It really goes down to training.
So we like to train our dealers, make sure they're up to speed
(10:25):
on the latest and greatest fromES.
We also like to do a lot ofwhat we call lunch and learns
with architects.
It's a big push that I've beenmaking since I've joined ES.
So over the last three yearsI've had the pleasure of
presenting over 200architectural lunch and learns
for over 3,000 attendees.
These are basically CEUs,meaning that architects get
continued credit for this, butwe also obviously feather in
(10:47):
some nice what's new with EStype of thing.
So these have been receivedvery, very well.
A lot of architects in CentralFlorida and different areas.
I'll give you an example.
I was just at an architect inOrlando on Tuesday for a Lunch
and Learn 16 architects.
I always like to poll theaudience.
Who here has heard of ES.
I'm at Ziskevich in Miami with16 architects All 16 hands go up
(11:10):
.
Everybody in Miami knows 16architects all 16 hands go up.
Everybody in Miami knows us.
In Orlando, one hand out of 16went up.
So there's certainlyopportunities in different
markets to expand our brandpresence and grow that brand
awareness and brand loyalty.
So that's what I'm reallyexcited about is getting into
these different markets thatdon't know ES as well, and I
think teaching through Lunch andLearns whether it's at an
(11:31):
architect's office or with adealer training I'm all about
education.
I think education is a crucialpart of how you grow your brand
in a market, regardless of youraudience.
Stefanie Couch (11:39):
Yeah, that's a great point.
I love the branding initiative.
As a person who focuses onvisibility and helps people in
our industry do that, I don'tthink historically our industry
has done a great job of that atall.
I think branding and some ofthe things that are front facing
with B2C or direct to consumerpeople do a good job, but
especially around architects andpeople that more B2B presence
(12:00):
we do a lackluster job of that.
So I love that you're reallygoing head on at that and trying
to 15 lunch and learns a monthor something like that is what
you said you're doing.
That's an amazing pace.
What would you say to youngpeople coming into the industry
that maybe aren't sure how todevelop business, that are
coming in with the trainings?
Is there a resource, somethinglike a National Glass
(12:21):
Association, that you use ortell people that are glazers,
people like that that don't knowhow to sell these products?
Is there a way that you tellpeople to learn more to grow
their business?
Jack Redden (12:32):
There's a lot of different resources out there If
you're looking for targets togo.
I mean, the AA has been a greatresource for networking.
I'm always a fan of, wheneveryou're with an audience, ask
them who they're working with.
So if I'm with a developer, Iask them you know who's your top
five designers that you workwith?
If I'm with an architect, whoare the top five developers you
work with?
You can build your network kindof that way.
(12:54):
As far as actual trainingresources go, I mean there's a
wealth of information availableonline ES our website even has
some incredible trainingresources available Just a lot
of technical information anddata Specific to glazing subs.
I know there's somecertifications.
I myself have what they call aCSI CDT, so I'm a construction
document technologist, which isjust a fancy way of saying I
(13:22):
know how to navigate around thedifferent phases of a project
lifecycle, through schematicdesign, through design
development, through finaldesign and CDs, et cetera.
So I think that's a hugecredential that not a lot of
folks getting into industry aretaking advantage of.
I think it really does help youunderstand the different phases
of a product lifecycle and kindof how you can support those in
different ways.
So there's things as amanufacturer that we can be
(13:43):
doing in the conception phase,that if you don't know what's
typical of that, thesefeasibility studies, know what's
typical of that, thesefeasibility studies.
You can provide a lot of valueadd services to architects that
are just looking for high levelROM budgets just to see if a
product's even feasible for adeveloper before they invest a
lot of time and energy designingsomething that might not pencil
.
Stefanie Couch (14:01):
Yeah, that's a really great point because I
think a lot of times that weworry about the very last stage
of the project so much andwhether or not it's going to
look good and all that.
But it's figuring out how doyou help them from start to
finish, even pre-construction,pre-drawings that moment where
it's a yes or a no based on hey,this is 50% higher than what we
have spec for budget here.
(14:22):
It's not even a conversationfor this product line, but maybe
there is another applicationand another product that could
fit.
That's a huge resource forpeople.
If you're providing that, it'sawesome.
Jack Redden (14:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
I always like to say engage usas early as possible.
I'd rather find out in SDschematic design that we're,
like you said, 50% over thebudget than waiting until you're
at 100% CDs, when redesignscost more money.
And, to your point, if we dodetermine that we are over the
budget early on, there's a lotof things that we can bring to
the table as far as valueengineering ideas, and you'd be
(14:55):
amazed um, maybe their panelizedwindow wall if they shrink it
just two inches.
This way, we can go from a, anSGP interlayer, to a PVB
interlayer and save ten dollarsa square foot yeah some of these
projects are 50, 60, 000 squarefeet.
I mean, that's, that's a small,that's not a small amount of
money that you're saving, so wecan do these value engineering
exercises and maybe approximate95% of the design intent but
(15:18):
maybe shave 20% off the budgetand make the project pencil.
So we love to add thoseservices throughout the process.
Stefanie Couch (15:24):
That's excellent .
Well, I want to shift a littlebit.
We are both members of theNational Glass Association and
woo, let's go.
We have a really exciting yearcoming this year because it is
right in your hometown GlassBuild 2025, november 4th through
the 6th in Orlando, florida.
So tell me how excited you arefor Glass Build.
Jack Redden (15:46):
Extremely excited.
We get excited every year Mepersonally this year, as you
alluded to, orlando is myhometown, so the greatest city
in Florida.
Personally, this year, as youalluded to, orlando's my
hometown, so the greatest cityin Florida.
Not that I'm biased which I ambut it's kind of cool to have it
in my hometown.
I think it's a great venue.
It's a great location.
Obviously it's central in thestate of Florida, so we're going
to get a big draw from all fourcorners of the state to Orlando
(16:07):
, obviously a big focus onFlorida products, impact rated
products and I think we're goingto get a lot of out-of-state
and potentially internationaltravel as well.
Orlando's got a lot going forit.
Maybe you've heard of DisneyWorld and Universal Studios and
Epic Universe now, so I'mhopeful that we'll get a lot of
out-of-state and internationalfolks coming down just to enjoy
(16:27):
the Orlando experience but alsopartake in Glass Build.
So it's a fantastic opportunityfor us, obviously to showcase
our latest and greatest products.
We have some amazing newproducts that we're going to be
launching at Glass Build, so themarketing team has put together
an amazing booth.
I saw the renders.
I couldn't be more excited.
The fact that it's in Orlandois just a bonus for me.
Stefanie Couch (16:50):
I can't wait to come see it.
Tell me a little bit about whatyou're expanding upon.
I don't want you to give awayany secrets, but what will you
be showing at Glass Build thatyou can share with me early?
Jack Redden (16:59):
Sure, yeah, no real corporate secrets, nothing like
I don't have to do a men inblack with a pen and make you
forget about it.
So it's heavily skewed towardsour commercial product offering.
We have a lot of residentialproducts in our lovely showroom
here, but glass build is reallyfocused more on commercial stuff
.
So we'll be showcasing some ofour curtain wall systems, some
of our window wall systems.
Some of the trends we're seeingcommercially as well as
(17:24):
residentially is everybody wantslarger glass panel sizes.
So you're gonna be seeing stuffthat's 20 foot tall glass
panels, just stuff like that.
Our newest product that we'relaunching there is called our
SGS, our structural glass system.
So we're gonna show some glassfin products with that line.
I think that one is about 18feet tall.
So you're gonna walk in andyou're gonna see a lot of very,
(17:45):
very big, big window wall andcurtain wall panels and
structural glass panels.
Just a lot of sizingcapabilities and very narrow
profiles.
Or, in the case of our SDSstuff, no aluminum at all.
So just maximum transparency,just inviting all this beautiful
Florida sunshine into yourstructures that we live and work
in.
And, just as an example, whenyou're walking through the
(18:05):
showroom, we have some productin here.
That's 12 foot tall.
Just imagine almost double thatin height.
Stefanie Couch (18:10):
It's always amazing to me the human
ingenuity of figuring out how tocontinue to grow and expand the
limits of these products,because I think 10 to 15 years
ago what we are doing now, itwasn't just impossible, it was
unfathomable.
There's no way we couldconsider that we would have an
18 foot tall glass panel.
That doesn't even make sense tomost people.
(18:33):
But here we are in 2025 andthis is what you're showing at
GlassBuild.
So congratulations to all theseengineers who really make that
happen and push the limits ofphysics every single day.
Jack Redden (18:44):
Amazing team.
Yeah, you make a great point.
When I got into this industry30 years ago, back in the
mid-90s just look at slidingglass doors it was eight foot
tall.
Then it kind of went to 10 foottall.
Now it's 12 foot tall.
Maybe 40 years from now it'llbe 20 foot tall sliding glass
doors, who knows?
At some point it's got to stop.
But it really is a feat ofengineering.
(19:06):
It's amazing what our designengineers do to create these
products, not only at thesesizes but to meet the ridiculous
hurricane codes that we havehere at those sizes with narrow
or no aluminum profiles.
It's just, it's mind boggling.
Stefanie Couch (19:18):
So it definitely needs to be pointed out as a
bullet point.
We're not just doing this inthe industry with the size, but
with hurricane rated impactglass that can withstand a two
before getting shot at it at youknow, a few hundred miles an
hour.
So it's really crazy how thisworks, and kudos again to the
industry for continuing to push.
I do want to ask you againanother question about NGA and
(19:41):
National Glass Association.
You've been in this industry along time.
You've seen a lot of things.
What does an organization likethe NGA bring to our industry
that's helpful for you and thenext generation?
Jack Redden (19:54):
I think there's a lot of educational tools and I
think just the ability toGlassworld's a great example.
I'm a big fan of trade shows.
I think any time you can get anaudience of potential project
influencers together to launchnew products, it's just, it's
invaluable.
I mean it's priceless theexposure that you can get.
So I mean I'm not sure how manyfolks will become through
Atlanta, but I'm sure it's goingto be north of a thousand, two
(20:16):
thousand.
Who knows, maybe you know whatthe data is.
Stefanie Couch (20:18):
It's a lot.
I think last year was over8,000 people at Glassville,
(20:48):
no-transcript speaking, andyou're helping the next
generation of glazers to sellmore products and be better
glazers and in the market.
What excites you the most?
Coming into 2025, going into2026?
What are you the most excitedabout?
Jack Redden (21:08):
specific to work, or we're talking poker, world
Series of Poker.
No, I'm joking.
I'm excited about a lot movinginto the back half of 2025 and
into 2026.
We mentioned some of the newproducts, but I guess, if I had
to put it into a single word,what I'm excited about is just
expansion, and by expansion froma product standpoint, we
(21:30):
continue to expand our portfolioof products and options.
From a networking standpoint,we continue to bring on new
dealers, we continue to networkwith new developers, architects,
gc builders, so we're justexpanding our network as well.
And, at the end of the day,it's all about expanding market
share.
And that's really.
(21:50):
We've done an incredible jobover the last 15 years of
diversifying that portfolio andgetting into new markets that we
wouldn't even have thoughtabout 15 years ago.
We're doing condo renovationsin Naples, we're doing new
construction hotels in Orlando,we're doing hospitals in the
Panhandle.
We're doing all these differentsectors new construction, retro
.
It's a very healthy portfolio.
(22:11):
So I guess I'm just reallyexcited that ES is so healthy
right now.
It's just a stable company,financially stable, and just an
incredible backlog.
We just had a record-settingbacklog announced at our
earnings call of $1.2 billion inprojects.
So that speaks volumes for what2026 and beyond looks like for
us.
So it's a healthy pipeline ofopportunities and I think it's
(22:35):
not by coincidence that you knowthat's on the heels of us doing
all this developmental effortswith developers, gcs and
architects and all these lunchand learns.
It's really helped to buildthat very robust pipeline.
Stefanie Couch (22:46):
That's amazing.
$1.2 billion, that's impressive.
Well, speaking of money andwinnings, let's talk about a
little fun fact about you.
You actually are a world-classWorld Series of Poker Texas
Hold'em player.
Tell me a little bit about that.
Jack Redden (23:03):
Yeah, it's funny and thank you for bringing that
up.
Yeah, it's one of my passionsoutside of work is?
You know, one of my hobbies isgoing to the World Series of
Poker every year with my bestbuddies and my brother.
So this is five years in a rownow that we've went out there.
So I've cashed in eightdifferent events over those five
years.
So I will blame my grandmother,who was actually a bad
(23:25):
influence on me in my childhood.
So I used to play penny pokerwith her and my uncles.
She was an old Italian mother,but uh and um, I used to let her
win until I became a littledevious as a teenager.
Then I started taking her moneyand she.
She got mad and stopped playingwith me, but um, so she kind of.
I've been playing poker since Iwas, before I could read,
honestly, so, uh, I've alwayshad a passion for poker.
(23:45):
The World Series of Poker isjust something I look forward to
every year.
Typically, my wife and kidswill go out with me.
They spend time shopping andhaving fun and doing their thing
, and daddy's at the poker tablefor 12 hours a day trying to
win the million dollars.
So we haven't hit the milliondollar one yet, but we've had
some deep caches and deep runs.
So we'll see what 2026 holds.
Stefanie Couch (24:04):
That's incredible.
And when is the 2026 event?
Jack Redden (24:07):
It's a six-week series, so it usually starts
right after Memorial Day,through like mid-July.
So I usually go out there for aweek or two.
Stefanie Couch (24:14):
That's super cool and I can tell you you did
surprise me with the.
Where did you learn and getinspired to be a poker player?
With your grandmother?
So that's, I didn't see thatone coming, so that was always a
lovely surprise to learn thatshe's the one that taught you.
But if you win the milliondollars, it'll be in her honor,
so she'll be smiling down proudfor you 100% yes.
(24:36):
All the luck right.
That's amazing.
Well, thank you for sharingthat with me.
It's always fun to see.
You know we work a lot and weall have these amazing
professional careers, butthere's so much more your
daughters, your wife, your shihtzu that your wife loves more
than maybe you and the kids andyour Netflix and poker playing.
We all have so much amazingthings in the stories of who we
(24:57):
actually are beyond the windowsand the doors, even though we
love them so much.
So thank you for sharing thatwith me.
Jack Redden (25:03):
My pleasure and I really appreciate you taking the
time to come and look at ourshowroom and looking for the
glass build.
Stefanie Couch (25:09):
Absolutely, we will see you in Orlando, right
in your backyard, and if youaren't planning to come to Glass
Build, you cannot miss thisevent.
November 4th through the 6th inOrlando, florida, and we are
going to have products, people,training, all the networking and
the industry here in one placein Orlando, florida, so don't
miss it.
Thank you for listening to theGrit Blueprint podcast.
(25:31):
If this episode helped youthink a little differently about
how to show up, share it withsomeone in your building world
who needs it.
If you're ready to turnvisibility into growth, then
head to gritblueprintcom tolearn more and book a call to
talk to us about your growthstrategy.
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
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