October 9, 2025 • 38 mins
Faour Glass is revolutionizing the hurricane glass industry with its SLIMPACT system that provides maximum views with minimal metal framing while meeting Florida's stringent building codes. Three generations of glaziers share how they've created innovative products through design assistance, partnerships, and a philosophy that views failure as just another opportunity to learn.
• SLIMPACT was invented in 2012 to solve the problem of large glass panels with less visible metal for hurricane-prone areas
• The system requires only top and bottom channels with just 3/8-inch silicone joints between panels
• Design assist is emphasized to help architects maintain their design intent while meeting code requirements
• Third-generation glazier Adam Valdez brings marketing skills to complement technical expertise
• 3D modeling and printing are used to test designs before production
• Family legacy is central to the company, with multiple generations working together
• Relationship-building with suppliers and customers drives innovation
• The team focuses on being solution providers rather than just product suppliers
• Hurricane-resistant pivot doors complement the SLIMPACT wall systems
• The goal is to make the glass "invisible" so it showcases the view rather than the product
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What are the challenges that some of your
customers are facing this yearthat you see?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
They want big openings performance.
They want to keep their designintent.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
We try to emphasize on design assist.
Every time you test something,you learn something, yeah, and
you apply that.
Failure is not a failure, no,you always learn something new.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah, and I'm sure you're learning and testing and
failing and winning all at thesame time, which is kind of the
funnest thing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
You know, I always tell everyone we work for the
people, they don't work for us.
So at Rhino and at SlimPact wehave just great people that we
work for.
That really is what makes ourcompanies amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
You're not just thinking about the commodities.
You're not just thinking abouthow do we get this to be, you
know, glass that works.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
You're thinking about it from an artistry and
innovation perspective, theamount of things that we're able
to put together in ourdifferent systems and the things
that we're able to see cometogether in different projects
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys
invent next.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast, the playbook for
building unmistakable brandsthat grow, lead and last in the
built world.
I'm Stephanie Couch, thefounder of Grit Blueprint, and
I'm a lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(01:21):
I help others win here, and nowmy team and 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
(01:42):
advantage that lasts.
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
I am here on site in Tampa,florida, today with my friends
at Fowler Glass.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And I just did a tour of your shop and you guys have
some amazing 20-foot glassoutside I was super impressed by
.
Not only are you doing SlimPack, which is your amazing line
for Hurricane, but you're alsoreally bringing beauty to the
industry.
So tell me a little bit aboutyou, who you are and what you do
here.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Related to this, I design most of the products for
Slim Pack.
Myself and Angelo Rivera.
We invented SlimPak 2012,.
It was the first test that wedeveloped our product and it's
been good ever since.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
What actually inspired you to create this?
Was it a problem you weretrying to solve, Sure?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
the market, the hurricane market, especially
here in Florida we have.
There's certain wind pressuresthat we have to meet in
different conditions thatrequire a stronger glass and the
the customers itself.
They want larger panels withless metal.
So that's how that, that's howour sleep bag came about.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, it's interesting because you don't
really think about it when yousee a building if you're not in
the glass industry.
Everybody in the glass industrydoes see it first thing, but
it's it's obscuring usually abeautiful view of the ocean or
something else the city skyline.
So it is really cool that youguys have found a way to do this
with a very small margin.
So tell me a little bit moreabout the product and exactly
(03:28):
what the difference is betweenSlimPak and what you see on the
market every day.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Well, slimpak requires really no metal at all,
only the top and bottomchannels.
We try to to emphasize on thetop and bottom channel being the
smallest as possible in orderto capture that inside the
finishes.
So you have that complete viewthrough the glass and it's one
of the unique things thecustomers love it.
(03:53):
Between the two panels, merelyjust a 3 eighths of an inch
silicone joint.
That is very minimal.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And you're not only doing it with the glass panels,
but you also have a pivot door.
So tell me about the pivot door.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
The pivot door came about roughly about eight years
ago.
We started working on thatprocess.
It just finishes the product.
We had the wall.
Now we needed an entry door toenhance the products, and so we
came out with a slim-pack panicand a slim-pack framless door to
(04:26):
help, you know, finish theenvelope of the building.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and it does have that clean, sleek look.
You can walk right in and theyare heavy, so they are sturdy,
and you've worked with otherpartners to make sure that the
hardware can hold what you'reactually putting in it, right?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Correct.
We worked with the partners tomake sure that their hardware
was going to be able to withholdthe high pressures that we have
here in Florida.
Yeah, and also there has to bea slim look to the hardware as
well.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I want to know a little bit more about your
customers.
We all have problems ascustomers that we face that we
would love our vendors to fixfor us.
What are the challenges thatsome of your customers are
facing this year that you see?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know, some of the challenges is we try to
emphasize on design assist.
That allows the opportunity tobe up front before the actual
design of the building and helpmitigate some of those issues
that they're facing.
And if they bring us in aheadof our you know they're just
(05:30):
finalizing the design we canprovide different ideas of fresh
designs that will help theirintent.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, because sometimes we see things drawn
that aren't possible or verytough to actually make in real
life.
So I love that you're gettinginvolved on the front end to
help.
So you're working directly witharchitects and engineers.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
We are working directly with the architects
ahead of this.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And what do you think the architects think about your
product?
What do you hear in the marketwhen they talk about SlimPact?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
They love it, and that also gives us an
opportunity to think ahead and,with the new testing, bring some
of their ideas into the marketas well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Tell me a little bit about yourtime.
Have you been to GlassBuild?
Have you done any of thetraining with NGA?
What's your impact with that?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
GlassBuild brings an opportunity to have all the
exhibitors all in one locationand it provides just a lot of
resources, especially throughthe forums that you guys have.
It just gave us a good risk.
It's a good resource for us,yeah, and also to meet the
colleagues of the business allinto one place.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
That's what I really enjoy yeah, and this year it's
actually close in Orlando, so Iknow you're probably planning to
attend, absolutely.
What is one of the things thatyou're most excited about, about
GlassBuild 2025?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I haven't looked at what the new trends have been,
but just to see new products andnew ideas that we can bring to
our clients.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Well, tell me a little bit about the automation
that you're putting into thebusiness here, and how
automation is influencing yourproduct design.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, through a series of tools that we have,
especially the 3D modeling,we're allowed to do a design and
being able to see that designin real life.
And then also, what we do is wetake that design and do a 3d
printing of that design in orderto prove the theory way ahead
(07:32):
of the time, before we actuallygo into production yeah, that's
super cool.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
And when you're doing the 3d printing, you're
printing.
What are you printing on that?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
we're printing profiles.
We're actually printing,printing real life view of what
you're actually going to get inthe product.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Do you send that to the architect or the engineer?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Sometimes we have Okay, yeah, that's very cool,
just to get their ideas.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, the automation piece is interesting.
Are you guys using any kind ofother technology that you think
is really cool out in the shop?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, our people are our technology sometimes yes.
I agree Tremendous amount.
I spent a lot of time in thefield Through that.
That's to us as one of the mostpowerful tools that we have.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, how many people do you have here?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Here itself.
We're about 35 people in thiscompany.
We have other sister companies.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, so we just went and saw your other sister
company.
We're going to talk about that.
You guys have a whole facilityhere in Tampa.
It's beautiful and lots ofamazing glass on display in your
actual facility, so I loveseeing you guys use your actual
product to make your officebeautiful.
Thank you, that's great.
Well, what have you learnedfrom any recent product launches
that you guys have had here?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
We're on a lot.
You know, I just finished amodifier.
I just finished a book a lot.
You know, I just finished abook.
It's called Leadership Geniusby Elon Musk and it's about
testing and it's about thedifferent challenges he had.
So every time you testsomething, you learn something.
Yeah, and you apply thatFailure is not a failure, no,
(09:00):
you always learn something new.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I agree.
I think that companies a lot ofthe greats.
Elon obviously is a brilliantline for engineering.
He has this thing he does.
That's really interesting wherehe goes to each.
He used to go to one facility,whether it was a different
company or not.
One week, one facility and hewould fix one big problem.
Would fix one big problem.
And if you think about themagnitude of how much that could
(09:26):
do if you were singularlyfocused on fixing one big
problem every week and you'realso a genius that can do it in
one week I don't usually getsuccess that quickly, but the
amount of movement forward ishuge and the time being brought
up to where you can do thingsfaster it's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, he's definitely brilliant.
He doesn't think it's a failure, he just thinks it's an
opportunity.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah Well, I'm sure you guys have had failures here
where you made the product youthought it was going to work,
you thought it was going to begreat.
You tested, it didn't work.
But probably your end productis better because of those
failures to get to where youneeded to go to have the end
product.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
If it wouldn't be for failure, we wouldn't have the
great product that we have today.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I love that.
One thing that I actually heardtoday is that your son, Adam,
is also here as an employee.
Tell me a little bit about him.
And now you're third-generationglass industry professionals.
That's super cool.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yes, he's always been fascinated about glass as well.
He went to FSU for marketing.
He gave that a try a little bit.
He had a couple jobs, but thenhe really his passion was just,
he wasn't fulfilling his passion.
Yeah, and he's always beenaround me and our business, so
(10:42):
he decided to join us here atFlowers.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And what is he doing today?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
He's designing, drafting a design, taking all
the parts and pieces that ittakes to build the product.
Yeah, and put it on an expresssheet so he can, they can
purchase the.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Which is really kind of where you started right.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
What is your favorite thing about being in glass
industry?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, I've been since I was just a child, I mean,
since I was 12 years old.
I was around glass, yeah.
So that's all I know.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
How did you get into it?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
My father.
My father owned a small glasscompany here in Tampa.
Very cool, and that was when Ifirst got introduced to glass.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
And what was your first job with him?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Just sanding glass and cutting glass and you name
it.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yeah that's awesome and you have a legacy.
Now, how many years have youbeen in the industry?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Well, I've been a follower for 37 years.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Wow, that's super cool.
Yeah, there's not a lot ofpeople I meet that are like you,
that have done probably everyjob.
You've been in every role, butyou also invented this
incredible technology.
So congratulations on such agreat career.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
And.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I know there's a lot more to come.
And thank you so much forjoining me on Behind the Build,
appreciate it.
Thank you for joining me today.
Tell me a little bit about you,who you are and what you do
here at Rhino Glass.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
My name is Ralph Cruz .
I've been at Rhino Glass for 12years.
I actually completed my 12years this month, in August.
Right now, I'm working ondeveloping our internal Nexus
team, which is our kind ofbeginning of developing a
scalable team for ourpre-construction operations,
going from design, procurementand manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Tell me a little bit about what your vision is for
that, for the Nexus team.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
So my vision for the Nexus team is that we would
develop all of our what would beinternal right now to the team
in terms of communicationspolicies, standards, processes,
in a way that, as the companygrows, we'd be able to develop a
team that would be responsiblefor design, responsible for
procurement, responsible formanufacturing and programming,
(12:47):
and being able to do that in away where we minimize the usual
growing pains that we see incompanies that want to scale and
grow and finding these issuesnow so that we can put ourselves
on a fast trajectory in thefuture.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
That's super smart.
Actually, I'm reading a bookright now about scaling
businesses and I think one ofthe things that people do is
they they unfortunately don'ttake action quick enough and
then they think they have to getit perfect, which is not
possible.
Anyone that's scaled a businessknows that's only a dream that
someone writes down in a journalwhen they start.
But I think it's great that youguys are thinking the process
(13:24):
is ahead and you have thisvision and you're, I'm sure,
going to make it happen in quickorder.
What does that look like in2026, 2027 for your customer
experience?
How does that help yourcustomers have a better
experience when they work withyou?
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Right so many times, I would say, from even being a
customer from our vendors andbeing customers.
When you go out, you go to arestaurant, you understand that
sometimes when you encounterbumps, you encounter things that
are running behind, late, poorquality.
There's more there than justthe person that you're talking
to.
There's usually processes thathaven't been set up, there's
breakdowns in management andcommunication internally.
(13:58):
So really being able to setthese things up ahead of time as
we grow, as we reach newcustomers, larger, larger
customers allows us to servethem in a better way.
We can do that by having bettermargins, not worrying about,
you know, if our margins aregoing to be good on a project
because we're workingefficiently and productively
(14:20):
that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Tell me how you got started in the glass industry.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
I really got started.
I was actually a danceinstructor, so I was teaching
salsa, Okay, and at the time Imet I didn't see that coming.
You didn't see that coming.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I'm not going to lie that's amazing, yeah, and now I
kind of want to see the salsadancing.
Speaker 6 (14:39):
Oh well.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't want to get off track here, but now I'm very
intrigued, okay.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
So at the time Wyatt and his wife at the time came
and they were at the studio andthey wanted private lessons.
And over the course of a fewdifferent lessons I got to
talking with him and he said Icould use someone like you at my
company and I sent him myresume and about eight months
went by.
I didn't hear back and finallyemailed me back.
And here I am today.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
That's amazing.
Are you still salsa-ing also?
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I am not.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, that's so sad I mean, that's an amazing layering
of skills.
I think that's one of thethings I love about people you
never know what they're going tosay, their background is, but
that type of thing, I'm sure,actually helps you.
You're teaching people how todo something, and now you're
leading a team that you You'reteaching people how to do
something, and now you'releading a team that you're going
(15:29):
to be teaching how to do thingswhich are processes, which is
really what dancing is.
So it's kind of cool how lifetakes us down these paths.
You don't really know how thatwould correlate in your
day-to-day job.
Right, I feel like it does.
I'm a musical person and so Ising, and I think it helps me a
lot with my day-to-day lifebecause of that also and when
making Instagram videos.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I think the creativityside of things really helps and
being able to apply it indifferent areas of your life
yeah.
So having that side teaching,thinking through nuances of how
to help people, trying to findthe linchpins of problems that
they're having have been reallyhelpful.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well, since you've been in the industry, what are
some of your favorite thingsabout the glass and glazing
industry?
Speaker 6 (16:10):
I think I've always been involved on the challenges
of the engineering side, soreally making the architect's
vision happen.
It's not always possible, justsort of the way a system is
tested on paper, and so there'sa lot of fun things that we can
do to really bring out thatvision, bring systems on top of
systems and really seeing thatcome to life when the building's
(16:33):
completed.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So do you have a favorite project recently that
you think is like really cool,that you would like to highlight
?
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Yeah, so you were just looking at it recently and
only because it had so manydifferent elements to it it's a
really neat looking element waswe did it for coca-cola it's
project, bessie, and there wasjust a really neat looking
curtain wall where we hungperforated panels and sunshades
on that curtain wall.
And there was also we did onefor the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement, which was a areally cool, um, like a sunburst
(17:06):
curtain wall.
It was very large.
We pre pre-fabricated thatwhole thing, we hung it in, and
so that was really fun on thetechnical side to try to figure
out how to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, so much problem solving, because you've got a
lot of things to think about inthis when you're thinking about
these products.
I know you mentioned, and someof the other team mentioned
earlier, that you're gettinginvolved really early and I
think that's such a competitiveadvantage for you guys but also
for your customers that you'rehelping them solve the problems
before they happen, before thedrawings are drawn, all of those
(17:37):
things.
Tell me a little bit about thatportion of your business.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's really about getting in one, getting
into the drawings, getting intothe structural drawings,
architectural drawings as soonas possible and trying to
highlight the areas that aregoing to be challenging for us
to be able to meet their vision.
So it comes down to reviewingthat, writing the RFIs, having
those discussions with thegeneral contractor and the
(18:02):
architect up front so that it'sas painless as possible, moving
forward.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, and you guys are obviously doing that very
well in a tough zone withhurricanes and all the other
heat and things that are inFlorida, so you got to really be
on your game to win here forsure.
There's more than justalligators to watch out for in
Florida.
Well, I'm excited to see youthis year at Glass Build in
Orlando in November.
(18:27):
We spoke a little bit.
I know you've been at the NGAfor years.
Tell me a little bit about yourexperience with the National
Glass Association and whatyou've done through the years
with them.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Yeah, so most of my experience with the National
Glass Association has beenthrough Glass Build and also the
BEC conference.
I was able to go to Glass Buildthis past year and that was a
great time to see a lot of theproducts that are out there as
well as companies that are beingable to provide different
services that could reallybenefit us.
And the BEC conference went tonot the year before but the one
(19:02):
in Las Vegas previously and thatwas a great time just to hear
about from other professionalsto be able to network, and they
had a lot of really interestinginformation regarding the
industry that I found to bereally helpful.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I'm curious how you guys train here at Rhino Glass,
because I know you're bringingin, I'm sure, new talent.
Tell me a little bit about yourtraining process.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
So a lot of our training right now is one-on-one
.
It really revolves around morecoaching than we have a formal
training program.
Our training right now isone-on-one it really revolves
around more coaching than wehave a formal training program.
So we really work with ourleads, our superintendents, to
have those coaching moments andto take that time apart so that
we can train people correctly.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Okay, well, what are you most excited about for
Orlando?
Glass Build?
Speaker 6 (19:47):
One is that we're very close this time Orlando,
glassfield.
One is that we're very closethis time, yeah, and but just
being able to see what's new,what's up and coming, especially
a lot of the new products thatare being being developed, and
seeing how those can help ussucceed in the future.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, it's a great event.
I'm excited there's going to besome really cool things
happening this year and, likeyou said, only three hours away
from home, so if someone is inthe area, hopefully they'll come
check it out, because it'sgoing to be a great show.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me today and I'm excited
to hopefully see you salsa inthe future, maybe at Glass Build
.
So bring your dancing shoes.
I really appreciate your timeAll right.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I'm excited to have a third generation glazer here,
but you're not just a thirdgeneration, but you actually are
here in Fowler Glass workingwith your dad, who we just spoke
with a minute ago.
Tell me about you and tell meabout your story.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, I'm Adam Valdez , I work with Rhino Glass and
yeah, I'm a third generationglazer.
My grandfather he was in theglazing business and that's
clearly how my dad started aswell.
My dad's been with Fowler glassfor 30 years and I've been on
and off working with Fowr andnow with Rhino for, I would say,
about six, six or seven years.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So what do you love about the glass industry?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I love how adaptive it is.
I mean, I come in here everysingle day and things are
constantly changing.
There's new systems that I'mconstantly working with and
every time I think that I'mgoing to be working on something
.
That's the same.
It never is, but that's sort ofthe fun in it.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah, and I'm sure you're learning and testing and
failing and winning all at thesame time, which is kind of the
funnest thing.
You went to school at FSU, so Iwon't hold that against you
because I'm a Georgia Bulldog,but I know you have a marketing
degree, but I think thatprobably makes you really
actually better at what you'redoing.
Tell me how you use the skillsthat you learned in school in
(21:33):
your day-to-day job here.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yeah, 100%.
Essentially, business in theglazing industry right.
Talking with differentcontractors, talking with
different vendors, getting tounderstand those relationships
and building upon thoserelationships right Something we
use at Rhino a lot our systemsis like Conair and YKK building
upon those relationships andunderstanding sort of how we can
best utilize thoserelationships to get what we can
(21:54):
use for our customers and ourproducts.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, and Jason was telling me earlier that you know
you do have a lot ofpartnerships throughout the
industry.
Like you couldn't do what youdo without their products, and
I'm sure, vice versa, thatthey're selling more product
because of your product.
How does SlimPak and then RhinoGlass?
How are you guys seeing yourcustomers win because of those
collaborations?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yeah, the partnerships with Conair and
with YKK.
They constantly have differentproducts that they're constantly
utilizing and coming out withas well, and they have people
that are coming in and tellingus a little bit about what their
products are utilizing and howwe can utilize those products.
So being able for them to comein and understand and help us
understand how we can thenutilize those products in those
(22:35):
different formats, it really cansort of see the collaboration
as well.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
What is it like working with your dad?
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Working with him is super fun.
I will say that, number one,I've learned so much from him
from a technical point, but alsofrom how to be a glazer.
Right, there's a lot of thingsthat you him from a technical
point, but also from how to be aglazer.
Right, there's a lot of thingsthat you learn from a
technicality piece, but thenalso from more of a fabrication
standpoint.
That are two very differentmindsets, two very different
hats.
Right.
And he sort of started in adifferent area, right, have it
(23:03):
be glazing, then moreengineering, then more R&D.
So there's a lot more steppingstones to his career and for me,
being able to sort of start atthe bottom, how he did, and sort
of work my way up there, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, and he's actually one of the inventors of
this SlimPak product, and sothat's pretty darn cool.
I actually told him when I methim.
It's not every day you meet atrue inventor.
It's something that kind of isa lost art, I think, but it has
been innovative in this.
Hurricane glass is crazy howsmall it is, because you don't
(23:34):
have all this amazing, you knowwork.
Whatever you're doing, you'relooking at either a beach,
you're looking at a city view,you're looking at a beautiful
marsh.
You don't want to see all thatmetal, so your product is
helping that not be the case,and I think it's amazing that
your dad invented that.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yeah, 100%.
I think he's being able to seeexactly what you want to see
whenever you're looking at apiece of glass, right?
Not just all that metal thatyou're talking about.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
so Well, you're young in your career.
What excites you the most aboutthe next five years in your
career in glazing, I think?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
honestly, from what I've been able to see in the
glass industry in the last fiveyears, from what the products
and what's been able to come outnow, like I'm saying, is that
adaptability, the amount ofthings that we're able to put
together like Ralph was sayingin our different systems, and
the things that we're able tosee come together in different
projects, is amazing.
So the fact that we're able tocombine those different projects
(24:26):
and different products togetheris just awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys
invent next.
Yeah Well thank you so much forjoining me, Adam.
I'm excited to meet you andyour dad and all the Fowler and
Rhinoglass team today.
So thank you for your time.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well, anthony, thank you for joining us today.
We are here in Fowler Glass inTampa Florida and we are going
to be talking about some of thecool products that I just got to
see in your shop.
And I want you to start by justtell me a little bit about you
who you are, how long you'vebeen here, second generation in
the glass industry, which seemsto be a trend here, a lot of
(25:01):
legacy people.
But tell me a little bit aboutyou.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
So I'm Anthony, as you said, been in the glazing
industry for about 20 years,Before that working in drafting
and design for about five years.
Started here at Fowler abouttwo years ago, worked in
drafting and design for a longtime, went to school for it for
a bit and developing teams thatdo the same and focusing on
engineering and calculations.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, you are in the science of making sure it's
right, which we talked about alot when we were touring the
plant about how little marginfor error your product has with
the slim packed product.
So tell me about that, becauseyou guys got to get it right,
because it's so small that youcan actually have margin.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Right, in the construction industry there's a
lot of tolerances and with glassthere's not a lot of tolerances
.
So we often have to make up forthat in our design and really
be intentional about what we'redrawing, what we're submitting,
what we're getting approved, andgo through those tolerances.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, and you're working with architects who are
building very large buildings.
One of the trends that we'vebeen hearing about a lot in the
industry and you're seeing inyour products is everything
needs to be as big as it can bethe widest, tallest glass with
the least amount of obstruction.
How are you handling thatchallenge, Because it continues
to expand.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yeah, I think, keeping up with the code
requirements, making sure thatwe're remaining cutting edge,
seeing what we can do, payingattention to glass composition
in general and manufacturingprocedures, and trying to stay
right on the cutting edge ofwhat we can do.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
The hurricanes here are getting a lot more frequent,
it seems.
I lived in Florida for a yearand we had three hurricanes.
My first year that I lived inOrlando it was a wild year,
scary for a Georgia mountaingirl who had never ridden
through a hurricane before, butit's something that people see a
lot, but they still want thatbeautiful view of the ocean, of
(26:55):
the city skyline, on the huge um, on whatever huge impact you
have.
You're Tampa, you're in Miami,you're in Orlando.
What are you seeing with thetrends from these architects?
They're building pivot doors,which you're you have a product
for.
Is there anything that you'reseeing more of right now that
you think is going to be reallycool with SlimPact?
Speaker 5 (27:16):
I think really in SlimPact in general, I like
having an entire glass wallright.
We had a project in SarasotaBay that was 24 foot wide, 11
foot tall, and standing in thatbedroom and you feel like you're
on Sarasota Bay but you stillhave that safety of being inside
behind the glass that's producttested.
I think that's really neat,that getting bigger and bigger
(27:38):
and still being impact rated andhurricane resistant.
I think that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, and it's really art that you're framing.
Jason and I were talking aboutit earlier outside.
You're not just thinking aboutthe commodities, really art that
you're framing.
Jason and I were talking aboutit earlier outside.
You're not just thinking aboutthe commodities.
You're not just thinking abouthow do we get this to be.
You know glass that works.
You're thinking about it froman artistry and innovation
perspective and that's what yourproduct really is, which is
beautiful around these amazingsceneries that you're showcasing
(28:07):
.
Tell me about a project thatyou loved that you guys have
done in the last year or two.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
Well, I think that one at Sarasota Bay.
Currently that's my favoriteproject because it's almost
where we're invisible.
So the environment that we'rein is what we're trying to
showcase.
So we're trying to not be thecenterpiece.
We're trying to make thecenterpiece visible right,
whether that's a storefront orwhether that's a beach view or
anything along those lines.
We're trying to get out of theway.
(28:33):
That's really what it is.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, that's super innovative for a glass company
to be able to do something withsuch small metal.
I mean, you guys, I'm lookingat it right here it's very much.
Your eye does not get drawn tothat and I think, aesthetically
you don't really realize howmuch your eye does capture a big
metal piece until you see oneversus the other and you realize
, wow, this is really a lotbetter, so the product is
(28:57):
beautiful.
Tell me a little bit aboutyou've been in the industry a
long time.
What has your experience beenwith the national glass
association?
Speaker 5 (29:04):
national glass fishing is great.
I love having glass magazine.
That's incredible.
We can nerd out on glass andhave some sort of community and
then, um, my glass class isreally good as well.
I've used that over the yearsto just kind of introduce people
to glass manufacturing ingeneral, so it's a good overview
.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, and you said you were grooming teams and
helping teams do things, so I'mguessing you're using that for
your next generation of leaders.
Yeah, yeah, what about GlassBuild?
Are you going this year?
Speaker 5 (29:31):
We plan to.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
And what is your favorite memory from Glass Build
?
Have you gone in years past?
Speaker 5 (29:36):
I think just meeting other people in the glass
industry and being able to talkin terms where we don't have to
explain glass from a customerlevel and really get, like I
said, nerd out on glass.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah yeah.
There is a lot of technicalstuff in this industry and if
you are with your people youdon't even have to.
You kind of already know allthe inner workings for sure.
Well, we'll be in OrlandoNovember 4th through the 6th for
Glass Build.
I'm excited to see you thereand I'm looking forward to
hopefully seeing some picturesof that Sarasota Bay project,
because it sounds you've sold itto me now, so I can't wait to
(30:07):
hopefully see that and see yourhandiwork.
So thank you for joining me onthe show.
Awesome Sounds great, thank you.
I am here in person in Tampa,florida today with Bo Whitfield.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me, andyou are an amazing member of the
team here, but you're actuallyon the Rhinoglass side of things
, so tell me a little bit aboutyou and who you are, what you do
(30:28):
here.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
So I'm the VP at Rhino Glass I've been there for
15 years was one of the firstemployees.
I run day-to-day ops andoversee production for both
facilities.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Okay, tell me a little bit about what exactly
you're doing at Rhino Glass,because obviously they're
fabricating right across the wayat Fowler and you're doing a
little something different.
So tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So we do commercial glazing.
That's it, A lot ofinstitutional upper
institutional work, municipalitywork.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
You're really in touch with the operations side.
I went and walked your facilityearlier.
You've got teams of peopledoing things and you've got a
whole office full of people.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour day to day for you, Like,
what are you doing every dayfrom?
You know, from sunup to sundownin the glass industry?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Oh man, my days could be spread out between Tampa and
Tallahassee, or all day in theoffice or sitting in meetings
all day.
So the typical day is get inearly, get started, make sure
everyone is supported the waythey need to be supported, and
then start my day from there,whether it be working with
customers or reviewing upcomingprojects or checking in on
(31:40):
projects and also helping withproduction at the same time,
just make sure everything'sflowing seamlessly.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah, and you've been in the industry a long time, so
I'm imagining you've hadmultiple jobs, multiple things
you've done.
How did you get started?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So I'm a second generation glazer.
I started 21 years ago, okay,working for my dad.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That's cool, and is he from Tampa as well?
Speaker 2 (32:03):
No, we were born and raised in central Oklahoma.
Oh, in Okie, okay.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And what part.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Norman.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Okay.
So, I love Oklahoma, actuallyOne of my favorite places to go.
I have spent a lot of timethere.
I have not ever met a glazerfrom Oklahoma, so you're the
first, I think.
But tell me about a little bitgrowing up with your dad being
in the business and how thatinspired you to do what you're
doing now.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah.
So growing up he, my dad,started in the field, just like
I did.
You know a lot of Saturdaymornings in a glass shop
building frames just you knowcutting table.
Building frames, just you knowcutting table, it's just just
like similar to some otherpeople here.
Just kind of where I cut myteeth was being a young boy and
and working young, you know,sweeping the shop floor did you
(32:50):
ever consider anything elseother than the glazing industry?
I was a carpenter for two years.
Yeah, I had my own customkitchen cabinet business and I
gave that up really quick.
It just wasn't for me, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Well, I think once something like this gets in your
blood and also you get good atit, it's hard to want to do
anything else.
It really does bring you in.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It really sucks you in.
The uniqueness of what we do isintriguing.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
What is your favorite thing about working here?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
The people I think working.
You know I always tell aboutworking here, the people I think
working.
You know I always tell everyonewe work for the people.
They don't work for us.
So at Rhino and at SlimPact wehave just great people that we
work for and that really is whatmakes our companies amazing.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
I love it.
You guys do a ton of stuff withimpact glass and impact rated
market.
What do you see that's trending?
What are your customers askingfor in the impact rated market?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So big.
You know, they want bigopenings, they want performance,
they want to keep their designintent at whatever cost to a
point so that the big trend nowis how can we support that,
while understanding their budgetconstraints and the design
(34:06):
intent?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's always fun when everyone wants the most
expensive crazy thing, but on abudget.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yeah, good stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I always like to say you can have fast, you can have
cheap, or you can have excellentquality, you can have two.
So you choose, and usually theywant all three.
Well, how are you actuallydifferentiating yourselves in
the market?
What actually sets you apart?
Speaker 2 (34:27):
So we try to be solution solvers early on.
So what set us apart is whetherwe have a decent shot of
getting a project or not.
We still help.
So we get a lot of calls fromarchitects and GCs on projects
that we may or may not even havea decent shot of getting a
project or not.
We still help.
So we get a lot of calls fromarchitects and GCs on projects
that we may or may not even havea shot at.
That we help support them on.
So that's really helped usthroughout the years is having
(34:50):
those relationships.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, I believe that customer experience is the
absolute most important thing inbusiness, and doing something
like what you just described,where you probably won't get
that order but you're stillhelping them and you're making
their life easier, reducingfriction in their business I
believe that's how you havesomething that's so unmistakable
in the market for years,decades to come.
(35:13):
So it's cool that you guys aredoing that, and I'm sure, when
the product does fit, that theycall and they order from you
because of what you're doing onthose other jobs too, right?
Yes, ma'am, what are the thingsthat you would say are some of
the moments that keep you up atnight?
I mean, I lay in bed a lot andthink about certain things that
are plaguing our industry or mybusiness.
(35:33):
What keeps you up at night?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
So just always ensuring that we have the right
people in the right place at theright time is constantly on my
mind.
You know what's next, what dowe need to be in front of?
You know what's a potentialunforeseen that could be
creeping around the corner?
So there's.
That is probably the one thingthat stays hot on my mind all
(35:55):
the time is where's everybody at?
Where are we going?
Where are we at in the stage ofthe project?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
So it's making sure everyone's in the right spot at
the right time you are a part ofthis amazing team which is a
member of the nga, the nationalglass association.
Tell me a little bit about anykind of impact that they've had
on you oh man.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
So my first experience with glass build was
probably like six or seven yearsago in Atlanta.
It was amazing, I think theexecutives forum is always great
and then we tend to go to mostof the BEC conferences that we
can attend, just depending onlogistics and kind of where
(36:35):
everything's at, and it's reallycreated some great people in
the industry that we can lean on.
That we've been able to youknow industry friends and stuff
like that.
So that's been great justhaving those people across the
United States that we can reachout to and connect with and
compare things.
I mean there's so many greatpeople that are in the NGA great
(36:57):
resources.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Yeah, I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions
that sometimes you don't evenknow you have that maybe get
answered by that committee, ofhaving people that are doing the
same thing on the other side ofthe country.
Yeah, and you guys are reallygoing to be close to Glass Build
this year.
So only about what?
Three hours away in Orlando andit's coming up fast, november
4th through the 6th, are yougoing to be in attendance?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Oh yeah, we're taking the whole office staff, so all
of our PMs, the people whosupport the PMs, and some of our
leadership in the field.
So it's great for us becausewe're always traveling to these
other areas and you have thoselocal glazing subs that are
there, and so it's good for usbecause now we can showcase some
of our work.
I mean, it just so happens thatright there in that little,
just so close to where it'sbeing held, we have three or
four projects that we'vecompleted and you know it'll be
fun, to just kind of show it off.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, I can't wait.
Hopefully, maybe, while we'rethere, you can, we can, we can
go see one of those projects.
That would be really cool.
Well, thank you, so doing forthe glass industry and glazing
and keeping the legacy alivewith the second generation, and
for the amazing tour today.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint
podcast.
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.
(38:26):
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
What are the challenges that some of your
customers are facing this yearthat you see?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
They want big openings performance.
They want to keep their designintent.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
We try to emphasize on design assist.
Every time you test something,you learn something, yeah, and
you apply that.
Failure is not a failure, no,you always learn something new.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah, and I'm sure you're learning and testing and
failing and winning all at thesame time, which is kind of the
funnest thing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
You know, I always tell everyone we work for the
people, they don't work for us.
So at Rhino and at SlimPact wehave just great people that we
work for.
That really is what makes ourcompanies amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
You're not just thinking about the commodities.
You're not just thinking abouthow do we get this to be, you
know, glass that works.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
You're thinking about it from an artistry and
innovation perspective, theamount of things that we're able
to put together in ourdifferent systems and the things
that we're able to see cometogether in different projects
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys
invent next.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast, the playbook for
building unmistakable brandsthat grow, lead and last in the
built world.
I'm Stephanie Couch, thefounder of Grit Blueprint, and
I'm a lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
(01:21):
I help others win here, and nowmy team and 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
(01:42):
advantage that lasts.
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
I am here on site in Tampa,florida, today with my friends
at Fowler Glass.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And I just did a tour of your shop and you guys have
some amazing 20-foot glassoutside I was super impressed by
.
Not only are you doing SlimPack, which is your amazing line
for Hurricane, but you're alsoreally bringing beauty to the
industry.
So tell me a little bit aboutyou, who you are and what you do
here.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Related to this, I design most of the products for
Slim Pack.
Myself and Angelo Rivera.
We invented SlimPak 2012,.
It was the first test that wedeveloped our product and it's
been good ever since.
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
What actually inspired you to create this?
Was it a problem you weretrying to solve, Sure?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
the market, the hurricane market, especially
here in Florida we have.
There's certain wind pressuresthat we have to meet in
different conditions thatrequire a stronger glass and the
the customers itself.
They want larger panels withless metal.
So that's how that, that's howour sleep bag came about.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, it's interesting because you don't
really think about it when yousee a building if you're not in
the glass industry.
Everybody in the glass industrydoes see it first thing, but
it's it's obscuring usually abeautiful view of the ocean or
something else the city skyline.
So it is really cool that youguys have found a way to do this
with a very small margin.
So tell me a little bit moreabout the product and exactly
(03:28):
what the difference is betweenSlimPak and what you see on the
market every day.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
Well, slimpak requires really no metal at all,
only the top and bottomchannels.
We try to to emphasize on thetop and bottom channel being the
smallest as possible in orderto capture that inside the
finishes.
So you have that complete viewthrough the glass and it's one
of the unique things thecustomers love it.
(03:53):
Between the two panels, merelyjust a 3 eighths of an inch
silicone joint.
That is very minimal.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And you're not only doing it with the glass panels,
but you also have a pivot door.
So tell me about the pivot door.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
The pivot door came about roughly about eight years
ago.
We started working on thatprocess.
It just finishes the product.
We had the wall.
Now we needed an entry door toenhance the products, and so we
came out with a slim-pack panicand a slim-pack framless door to
(04:26):
help, you know, finish theenvelope of the building.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and it does have that clean, sleek look.
You can walk right in and theyare heavy, so they are sturdy,
and you've worked with otherpartners to make sure that the
hardware can hold what you'reactually putting in it, right?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Correct.
We worked with the partners tomake sure that their hardware
was going to be able to withholdthe high pressures that we have
here in Florida.
Yeah, and also there has to bea slim look to the hardware as
well.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I want to know a little bit more about your
customers.
We all have problems ascustomers that we face that we
would love our vendors to fixfor us.
What are the challenges thatsome of your customers are
facing this year that you see?
Speaker 3 (05:07):
You know, some of the challenges is we try to
emphasize on design assist.
That allows the opportunity tobe up front before the actual
design of the building and helpmitigate some of those issues
that they're facing.
And if they bring us in aheadof our you know they're just
(05:30):
finalizing the design we canprovide different ideas of fresh
designs that will help theirintent.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, because sometimes we see things drawn
that aren't possible or verytough to actually make in real
life.
So I love that you're gettinginvolved on the front end to
help.
So you're working directly witharchitects and engineers.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
We are working directly with the architects
ahead of this.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And what do you think the architects think about your
product?
What do you hear in the marketwhen they talk about SlimPact?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
They love it, and that also gives us an
opportunity to think ahead and,with the new testing, bring some
of their ideas into the marketas well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Tell me a little bit about yourtime.
Have you been to GlassBuild?
Have you done any of thetraining with NGA?
What's your impact with that?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
GlassBuild brings an opportunity to have all the
exhibitors all in one locationand it provides just a lot of
resources, especially throughthe forums that you guys have.
It just gave us a good risk.
It's a good resource for us,yeah, and also to meet the
colleagues of the business allinto one place.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
That's what I really enjoy yeah, and this year it's
actually close in Orlando, so Iknow you're probably planning to
attend, absolutely.
What is one of the things thatyou're most excited about, about
GlassBuild 2025?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I haven't looked at what the new trends have been,
but just to see new products andnew ideas that we can bring to
our clients.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Well, tell me a little bit about the automation
that you're putting into thebusiness here, and how
automation is influencing yourproduct design.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, through a series of tools that we have,
especially the 3D modeling,we're allowed to do a design and
being able to see that designin real life.
And then also, what we do is wetake that design and do a 3d
printing of that design in orderto prove the theory way ahead
(07:32):
of the time, before we actuallygo into production yeah, that's
super cool.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
And when you're doing the 3d printing, you're
printing.
What are you printing on that?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
we're printing profiles.
We're actually printing,printing real life view of what
you're actually going to get inthe product.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Do you send that to the architect or the engineer?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Sometimes we have Okay, yeah, that's very cool,
just to get their ideas.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, the automation piece is interesting.
Are you guys using any kind ofother technology that you think
is really cool out in the shop?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Well, our people are our technology sometimes yes.
I agree Tremendous amount.
I spent a lot of time in thefield Through that.
That's to us as one of the mostpowerful tools that we have.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, how many people do you have here?
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Here itself.
We're about 35 people in thiscompany.
We have other sister companies.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, so we just went and saw your other sister
company.
We're going to talk about that.
You guys have a whole facilityhere in Tampa.
It's beautiful and lots ofamazing glass on display in your
actual facility, so I loveseeing you guys use your actual
product to make your officebeautiful.
Thank you, that's great.
Well, what have you learnedfrom any recent product launches
that you guys have had here?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
We're on a lot.
You know, I just finished amodifier.
I just finished a book a lot.
You know, I just finished abook.
It's called Leadership Geniusby Elon Musk and it's about
testing and it's about thedifferent challenges he had.
So every time you testsomething, you learn something.
Yeah, and you apply thatFailure is not a failure, no,
(09:00):
you always learn something new.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I agree.
I think that companies a lot ofthe greats.
Elon obviously is a brilliantline for engineering.
He has this thing he does.
That's really interesting wherehe goes to each.
He used to go to one facility,whether it was a different
company or not.
One week, one facility and hewould fix one big problem.
Would fix one big problem.
And if you think about themagnitude of how much that could
(09:26):
do if you were singularlyfocused on fixing one big
problem every week and you'realso a genius that can do it in
one week I don't usually getsuccess that quickly, but the
amount of movement forward ishuge and the time being brought
up to where you can do thingsfaster it's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, he's definitely brilliant.
He doesn't think it's a failure, he just thinks it's an
opportunity.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah Well, I'm sure you guys have had failures here
where you made the product youthought it was going to work,
you thought it was going to begreat.
You tested, it didn't work.
But probably your end productis better because of those
failures to get to where youneeded to go to have the end
product.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
If it wouldn't be for failure, we wouldn't have the
great product that we have today.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I love that.
One thing that I actually heardtoday is that your son, Adam,
is also here as an employee.
Tell me a little bit about him.
And now you're third-generationglass industry professionals.
That's super cool.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yes, he's always been fascinated about glass as well.
He went to FSU for marketing.
He gave that a try a little bit.
He had a couple jobs, but thenhe really his passion was just,
he wasn't fulfilling his passion.
Yeah, and he's always beenaround me and our business, so
(10:42):
he decided to join us here atFlowers.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And what is he doing today?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
He's designing, drafting a design, taking all
the parts and pieces that ittakes to build the product.
Yeah, and put it on an expresssheet so he can, they can
purchase the.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Which is really kind of where you started right.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
What is your favorite thing about being in glass
industry?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, I've been since I was just a child, I mean,
since I was 12 years old.
I was around glass, yeah.
So that's all I know.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
How did you get into it?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
My father.
My father owned a small glasscompany here in Tampa.
Very cool, and that was when Ifirst got introduced to glass.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
And what was your first job with him?
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Just sanding glass and cutting glass and you name
it.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yeah that's awesome and you have a legacy.
Now, how many years have youbeen in the industry?
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Well, I've been a follower for 37 years.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Wow, that's super cool.
Yeah, there's not a lot ofpeople I meet that are like you,
that have done probably everyjob.
You've been in every role, butyou also invented this
incredible technology.
So congratulations on such agreat career.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
And.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
I know there's a lot more to come.
And thank you so much forjoining me on Behind the Build,
appreciate it.
Thank you for joining me today.
Tell me a little bit about you,who you are and what you do
here at Rhino Glass.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
My name is Ralph Cruz .
I've been at Rhino Glass for 12years.
I actually completed my 12years this month, in August.
Right now, I'm working ondeveloping our internal Nexus
team, which is our kind ofbeginning of developing a
scalable team for ourpre-construction operations,
going from design, procurementand manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Tell me a little bit about what your vision is for
that, for the Nexus team.
Speaker 6 (12:25):
So my vision for the Nexus team is that we would
develop all of our what would beinternal right now to the team
in terms of communicationspolicies, standards, processes,
in a way that, as the companygrows, we'd be able to develop a
team that would be responsiblefor design, responsible for
procurement, responsible formanufacturing and programming,
(12:47):
and being able to do that in away where we minimize the usual
growing pains that we see incompanies that want to scale and
grow and finding these issuesnow so that we can put ourselves
on a fast trajectory in thefuture.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
That's super smart.
Actually, I'm reading a bookright now about scaling
businesses and I think one ofthe things that people do is
they they unfortunately don'ttake action quick enough and
then they think they have to getit perfect, which is not
possible.
Anyone that's scaled a businessknows that's only a dream that
someone writes down in a journalwhen they start.
But I think it's great that youguys are thinking the process
(13:24):
is ahead and you have thisvision and you're, I'm sure,
going to make it happen in quickorder.
What does that look like in2026, 2027 for your customer
experience?
How does that help yourcustomers have a better
experience when they work withyou?
Speaker 6 (13:38):
Right so many times, I would say, from even being a
customer from our vendors andbeing customers.
When you go out, you go to arestaurant, you understand that
sometimes when you encounterbumps, you encounter things that
are running behind, late, poorquality.
There's more there than justthe person that you're talking
to.
There's usually processes thathaven't been set up, there's
breakdowns in management andcommunication internally.
(13:58):
So really being able to setthese things up ahead of time as
we grow, as we reach newcustomers, larger, larger
customers allows us to servethem in a better way.
We can do that by having bettermargins, not worrying about,
you know, if our margins aregoing to be good on a project
because we're workingefficiently and productively
(14:20):
that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Tell me how you got started in the glass industry.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
I really got started.
I was actually a danceinstructor, so I was teaching
salsa, Okay, and at the time Imet I didn't see that coming.
You didn't see that coming.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I'm not going to lie that's amazing, yeah, and now I
kind of want to see the salsadancing.
Speaker 6 (14:39):
Oh well.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I don't want to get off track here, but now I'm very
intrigued, okay.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
So at the time Wyatt and his wife at the time came
and they were at the studio andthey wanted private lessons.
And over the course of a fewdifferent lessons I got to
talking with him and he said Icould use someone like you at my
company and I sent him myresume and about eight months
went by.
I didn't hear back and finallyemailed me back.
And here I am today.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
That's amazing.
Are you still salsa-ing also?
Speaker 6 (15:07):
I am not.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
No, that's so sad I mean, that's an amazing layering
of skills.
I think that's one of thethings I love about people you
never know what they're going tosay, their background is, but
that type of thing, I'm sure,actually helps you.
You're teaching people how todo something, and now you're
leading a team that you You'reteaching people how to do
something, and now you'releading a team that you're going
(15:29):
to be teaching how to do thingswhich are processes, which is
really what dancing is.
So it's kind of cool how lifetakes us down these paths.
You don't really know how thatwould correlate in your
day-to-day job.
Right, I feel like it does.
I'm a musical person and so Ising, and I think it helps me a
lot with my day-to-day lifebecause of that also and when
making Instagram videos.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I think the creativityside of things really helps and
being able to apply it indifferent areas of your life
yeah.
So having that side teaching,thinking through nuances of how
to help people, trying to findthe linchpins of problems that
they're having have been reallyhelpful.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Well, since you've been in the industry, what are
some of your favorite thingsabout the glass and glazing
industry?
Speaker 6 (16:10):
I think I've always been involved on the challenges
of the engineering side, soreally making the architect's
vision happen.
It's not always possible, justsort of the way a system is
tested on paper, and so there'sa lot of fun things that we can
do to really bring out thatvision, bring systems on top of
systems and really seeing thatcome to life when the building's
(16:33):
completed.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So do you have a favorite project recently that
you think is like really cool,that you would like to highlight
?
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Yeah, so you were just looking at it recently and
only because it had so manydifferent elements to it it's a
really neat looking element waswe did it for coca-cola it's
project, bessie, and there wasjust a really neat looking
curtain wall where we hungperforated panels and sunshades
on that curtain wall.
And there was also we did onefor the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement, which was a areally cool, um, like a sunburst
(17:06):
curtain wall.
It was very large.
We pre pre-fabricated thatwhole thing, we hung it in, and
so that was really fun on thetechnical side to try to figure
out how to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah, so much problem solving, because you've got a
lot of things to think about inthis when you're thinking about
these products.
I know you mentioned, and someof the other team mentioned
earlier, that you're gettinginvolved really early and I
think that's such a competitiveadvantage for you guys but also
for your customers that you'rehelping them solve the problems
before they happen, before thedrawings are drawn, all of those
(17:37):
things.
Tell me a little bit about thatportion of your business.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Yeah, so it's really about getting in one, getting
into the drawings, getting intothe structural drawings,
architectural drawings as soonas possible and trying to
highlight the areas that aregoing to be challenging for us
to be able to meet their vision.
So it comes down to reviewingthat, writing the RFIs, having
those discussions with thegeneral contractor and the
(18:02):
architect up front so that it'sas painless as possible, moving
forward.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Yeah, and you guys are obviously doing that very
well in a tough zone withhurricanes and all the other
heat and things that are inFlorida, so you got to really be
on your game to win here forsure.
There's more than justalligators to watch out for in
Florida.
Well, I'm excited to see youthis year at Glass Build in
Orlando in November.
(18:27):
We spoke a little bit.
I know you've been at the NGAfor years.
Tell me a little bit about yourexperience with the National
Glass Association and whatyou've done through the years
with them.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
Yeah, so most of my experience with the National
Glass Association has beenthrough Glass Build and also the
BEC conference.
I was able to go to Glass Buildthis past year and that was a
great time to see a lot of theproducts that are out there as
well as companies that are beingable to provide different
services that could reallybenefit us.
And the BEC conference went tonot the year before but the one
(19:02):
in Las Vegas previously and thatwas a great time just to hear
about from other professionalsto be able to network, and they
had a lot of really interestinginformation regarding the
industry that I found to bereally helpful.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I'm curious how you guys train here at Rhino Glass,
because I know you're bringingin, I'm sure, new talent.
Tell me a little bit about yourtraining process.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
So a lot of our training right now is one-on-one
.
It really revolves around morecoaching than we have a formal
training program.
Our training right now isone-on-one it really revolves
around more coaching than wehave a formal training program.
So we really work with ourleads, our superintendents, to
have those coaching moments andto take that time apart so that
we can train people correctly.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Okay, well, what are you most excited about for
Orlando?
Glass Build?
Speaker 6 (19:47):
One is that we're very close this time Orlando,
glassfield.
One is that we're very closethis time, yeah, and but just
being able to see what's new,what's up and coming, especially
a lot of the new products thatare being being developed, and
seeing how those can help ussucceed in the future.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, it's a great event.
I'm excited there's going to besome really cool things
happening this year and, likeyou said, only three hours away
from home, so if someone is inthe area, hopefully they'll come
check it out, because it'sgoing to be a great show.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me today and I'm excited
to hopefully see you salsa inthe future, maybe at Glass Build
.
So bring your dancing shoes.
I really appreciate your timeAll right.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I'm excited to have a third generation glazer here,
but you're not just a thirdgeneration, but you actually are
here in Fowler Glass workingwith your dad, who we just spoke
with a minute ago.
Tell me about you and tell meabout your story.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
Yeah, I'm Adam Valdez , I work with Rhino Glass and
yeah, I'm a third generationglazer.
My grandfather he was in theglazing business and that's
clearly how my dad started aswell.
My dad's been with Fowler glassfor 30 years and I've been on
and off working with Fowr andnow with Rhino for, I would say,
about six, six or seven years.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So what do you love about the glass industry?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
I love how adaptive it is.
I mean, I come in here everysingle day and things are
constantly changing.
There's new systems that I'mconstantly working with and
every time I think that I'mgoing to be working on something
.
That's the same.
It never is, but that's sort ofthe fun in it.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah, and I'm sure you're learning and testing and
failing and winning all at thesame time, which is kind of the
funnest thing.
You went to school at FSU, so Iwon't hold that against you
because I'm a Georgia Bulldog,but I know you have a marketing
degree, but I think thatprobably makes you really
actually better at what you'redoing.
Tell me how you use the skillsthat you learned in school in
(21:33):
your day-to-day job here.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yeah, 100%.
Essentially, business in theglazing industry right.
Talking with differentcontractors, talking with
different vendors, getting tounderstand those relationships
and building upon thoserelationships right Something we
use at Rhino a lot our systemsis like Conair and YKK building
upon those relationships andunderstanding sort of how we can
best utilize thoserelationships to get what we can
(21:54):
use for our customers and ourproducts.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, and Jason was telling me earlier that you know
you do have a lot ofpartnerships throughout the
industry.
Like you couldn't do what youdo without their products, and
I'm sure, vice versa, thatthey're selling more product
because of your product.
How does SlimPak and then RhinoGlass?
How are you guys seeing yourcustomers win because of those
collaborations?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yeah, the partnerships with Conair and
with YKK.
They constantly have differentproducts that they're constantly
utilizing and coming out withas well, and they have people
that are coming in and tellingus a little bit about what their
products are utilizing and howwe can utilize those products.
So being able for them to comein and understand and help us
understand how we can thenutilize those products in those
(22:35):
different formats, it really cansort of see the collaboration
as well.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
What is it like working with your dad?
Speaker 4 (22:41):
Working with him is super fun.
I will say that, number one,I've learned so much from him
from a technical point, but alsofrom how to be a glazer.
Right, there's a lot of thingsthat you him from a technical
point, but also from how to be aglazer.
Right, there's a lot of thingsthat you learn from a
technicality piece, but thenalso from more of a fabrication
standpoint.
That are two very differentmindsets, two very different
hats.
Right.
And he sort of started in adifferent area, right, have it
(23:03):
be glazing, then moreengineering, then more R&D.
So there's a lot more steppingstones to his career and for me,
being able to sort of start atthe bottom, how he did, and sort
of work my way up there, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, and he's actually one of the inventors of
this SlimPak product, and sothat's pretty darn cool.
I actually told him when I methim.
It's not every day you meet atrue inventor.
It's something that kind of isa lost art, I think, but it has
been innovative in this.
Hurricane glass is crazy howsmall it is, because you don't
(23:34):
have all this amazing, you knowwork.
Whatever you're doing, you'relooking at either a beach,
you're looking at a city view,you're looking at a beautiful
marsh.
You don't want to see all thatmetal, so your product is
helping that not be the case,and I think it's amazing that
your dad invented that.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Yeah, 100%.
I think he's being able to seeexactly what you want to see
whenever you're looking at apiece of glass, right?
Not just all that metal thatyou're talking about.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
so Well, you're young in your career.
What excites you the most aboutthe next five years in your
career in glazing, I think?
Speaker 4 (24:05):
honestly, from what I've been able to see in the
glass industry in the last fiveyears, from what the products
and what's been able to come outnow, like I'm saying, is that
adaptability, the amount ofthings that we're able to put
together like Ralph was sayingin our different systems, and
the things that we're able tosee come together in different
projects, is amazing.
So the fact that we're able tocombine those different projects
(24:26):
and different products togetheris just awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys
invent next.
Yeah Well thank you so much forjoining me, Adam.
I'm excited to meet you andyour dad and all the Fowler and
Rhinoglass team today.
So thank you for your time.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Well, anthony, thank you for joining us today.
We are here in Fowler Glass inTampa Florida and we are going
to be talking about some of thecool products that I just got to
see in your shop.
And I want you to start by justtell me a little bit about you
who you are, how long you'vebeen here, second generation in
the glass industry, which seemsto be a trend here, a lot of
(25:01):
legacy people.
But tell me a little bit aboutyou.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
So I'm Anthony, as you said, been in the glazing
industry for about 20 years,Before that working in drafting
and design for about five years.
Started here at Fowler abouttwo years ago, worked in
drafting and design for a longtime, went to school for it for
a bit and developing teams thatdo the same and focusing on
engineering and calculations.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Yeah, you are in the science of making sure it's
right, which we talked about alot when we were touring the
plant about how little marginfor error your product has with
the slim packed product.
So tell me about that, becauseyou guys got to get it right,
because it's so small that youcan actually have margin.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Right, in the construction industry there's a
lot of tolerances and with glassthere's not a lot of tolerances
.
So we often have to make up forthat in our design and really
be intentional about what we'redrawing, what we're submitting,
what we're getting approved, andgo through those tolerances.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, and you're working with architects who are
building very large buildings.
One of the trends that we'vebeen hearing about a lot in the
industry and you're seeing inyour products is everything
needs to be as big as it can bethe widest, tallest glass with
the least amount of obstruction.
How are you handling thatchallenge, Because it continues
to expand.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yeah, I think, keeping up with the code
requirements, making sure thatwe're remaining cutting edge,
seeing what we can do, payingattention to glass composition
in general and manufacturingprocedures, and trying to stay
right on the cutting edge ofwhat we can do.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
The hurricanes here are getting a lot more frequent,
it seems.
I lived in Florida for a yearand we had three hurricanes.
My first year that I lived inOrlando it was a wild year,
scary for a Georgia mountaingirl who had never ridden
through a hurricane before, butit's something that people see a
lot, but they still want thatbeautiful view of the ocean, of
(26:55):
the city skyline, on the huge um, on whatever huge impact you
have.
You're Tampa, you're in Miami,you're in Orlando.
What are you seeing with thetrends from these architects?
They're building pivot doors,which you're you have a product
for.
Is there anything that you'reseeing more of right now that
you think is going to be reallycool with SlimPact?
Speaker 5 (27:16):
I think really in SlimPact in general, I like
having an entire glass wallright.
We had a project in SarasotaBay that was 24 foot wide, 11
foot tall, and standing in thatbedroom and you feel like you're
on Sarasota Bay but you stillhave that safety of being inside
behind the glass that's producttested.
I think that's really neat,that getting bigger and bigger
(27:38):
and still being impact rated andhurricane resistant.
I think that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, and it's really art that you're framing.
Jason and I were talking aboutit earlier outside.
You're not just thinking aboutthe commodities, really art that
you're framing.
Jason and I were talking aboutit earlier outside.
You're not just thinking aboutthe commodities.
You're not just thinking abouthow do we get this to be.
You know glass that works.
You're thinking about it froman artistry and innovation
perspective and that's what yourproduct really is, which is
beautiful around these amazingsceneries that you're showcasing
(28:07):
.
Tell me about a project thatyou loved that you guys have
done in the last year or two.
Speaker 5 (28:12):
Well, I think that one at Sarasota Bay.
Currently that's my favoriteproject because it's almost
where we're invisible.
So the environment that we'rein is what we're trying to
showcase.
So we're trying to not be thecenterpiece.
We're trying to make thecenterpiece visible right,
whether that's a storefront orwhether that's a beach view or
anything along those lines.
We're trying to get out of theway.
(28:33):
That's really what it is.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, that's super innovative for a glass company
to be able to do something withsuch small metal.
I mean, you guys, I'm lookingat it right here it's very much.
Your eye does not get drawn tothat and I think, aesthetically
you don't really realize howmuch your eye does capture a big
metal piece until you see oneversus the other and you realize
, wow, this is really a lotbetter, so the product is
(28:57):
beautiful.
Tell me a little bit aboutyou've been in the industry a
long time.
What has your experience beenwith the national glass
association?
Speaker 5 (29:04):
national glass fishing is great.
I love having glass magazine.
That's incredible.
We can nerd out on glass andhave some sort of community and
then, um, my glass class isreally good as well.
I've used that over the yearsto just kind of introduce people
to glass manufacturing ingeneral, so it's a good overview
.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, and you said you were grooming teams and
helping teams do things, so I'mguessing you're using that for
your next generation of leaders.
Yeah, yeah, what about GlassBuild?
Are you going this year?
Speaker 5 (29:31):
We plan to.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
And what is your favorite memory from Glass Build
?
Have you gone in years past?
Speaker 5 (29:36):
I think just meeting other people in the glass
industry and being able to talkin terms where we don't have to
explain glass from a customerlevel and really get, like I
said, nerd out on glass.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Yeah yeah.
There is a lot of technicalstuff in this industry and if
you are with your people youdon't even have to.
You kind of already know allthe inner workings for sure.
Well, we'll be in OrlandoNovember 4th through the 6th for
Glass Build.
I'm excited to see you thereand I'm looking forward to
hopefully seeing some picturesof that Sarasota Bay project,
because it sounds you've sold itto me now, so I can't wait to
(30:07):
hopefully see that and see yourhandiwork.
So thank you for joining me onthe show.
Awesome Sounds great, thank you.
I am here in person in Tampa,florida today with Bo Whitfield.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for joining me, andyou are an amazing member of the
team here, but you're actuallyon the Rhinoglass side of things
, so tell me a little bit aboutyou and who you are, what you do
(30:28):
here.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
So I'm the VP at Rhino Glass I've been there for
15 years was one of the firstemployees.
I run day-to-day ops andoversee production for both
facilities.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Okay, tell me a little bit about what exactly
you're doing at Rhino Glass,because obviously they're
fabricating right across the wayat Fowler and you're doing a
little something different.
So tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
So we do commercial glazing.
That's it, A lot ofinstitutional upper
institutional work, municipalitywork.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
You're really in touch with the operations side.
I went and walked your facilityearlier.
You've got teams of peopledoing things and you've got a
whole office full of people.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour day to day for you, Like,
what are you doing every dayfrom?
You know, from sunup to sundownin the glass industry?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Oh man, my days could be spread out between Tampa and
Tallahassee, or all day in theoffice or sitting in meetings
all day.
So the typical day is get inearly, get started, make sure
everyone is supported the waythey need to be supported, and
then start my day from there,whether it be working with
customers or reviewing upcomingprojects or checking in on
(31:40):
projects and also helping withproduction at the same time,
just make sure everything'sflowing seamlessly.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah, and you've been in the industry a long time, so
I'm imagining you've hadmultiple jobs, multiple things
you've done.
How did you get started?
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So I'm a second generation glazer.
I started 21 years ago, okay,working for my dad.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
That's cool, and is he from Tampa as well?
Speaker 2 (32:03):
No, we were born and raised in central Oklahoma.
Oh, in Okie, okay.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
And what part.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Norman.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Okay.
So, I love Oklahoma, actuallyOne of my favorite places to go.
I have spent a lot of timethere.
I have not ever met a glazerfrom Oklahoma, so you're the
first, I think.
But tell me about a little bitgrowing up with your dad being
in the business and how thatinspired you to do what you're
doing now.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah.
So growing up he, my dad,started in the field, just like
I did.
You know a lot of Saturdaymornings in a glass shop
building frames just you knowcutting table.
Building frames, just you knowcutting table, it's just just
like similar to some otherpeople here.
Just kind of where I cut myteeth was being a young boy and
and working young, you know,sweeping the shop floor did you
(32:50):
ever consider anything elseother than the glazing industry?
I was a carpenter for two years.
Yeah, I had my own customkitchen cabinet business and I
gave that up really quick.
It just wasn't for me, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Well, I think once something like this gets in your
blood and also you get good atit, it's hard to want to do
anything else.
It really does bring you in.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
It really sucks you in.
The uniqueness of what we do isintriguing.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
What is your favorite thing about working here?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
The people I think working.
You know I always tell aboutworking here, the people I think
working.
You know I always tell everyonewe work for the people.
They don't work for us.
So at Rhino and at SlimPact wehave just great people that we
work for and that really is whatmakes our companies amazing.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
I love it.
You guys do a ton of stuff withimpact glass and impact rated
market.
What do you see that's trending?
What are your customers askingfor in the impact rated market?
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So big.
You know, they want bigopenings, they want performance,
they want to keep their designintent at whatever cost to a
point so that the big trend nowis how can we support that,
while understanding their budgetconstraints and the design
(34:06):
intent?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's always fun when everyone wants the most
expensive crazy thing, but on abudget.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yeah, good stuff.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I always like to say you can have fast, you can have
cheap, or you can have excellentquality, you can have two.
So you choose, and usually theywant all three.
Well, how are you actuallydifferentiating yourselves in
the market?
What actually sets you apart?
Speaker 2 (34:27):
So we try to be solution solvers early on.
So what set us apart is whetherwe have a decent shot of
getting a project or not.
We still help.
So we get a lot of calls fromarchitects and GCs on projects
that we may or may not even havea decent shot of getting a
project or not.
We still help.
So we get a lot of calls fromarchitects and GCs on projects
that we may or may not even havea shot at.
That we help support them on.
So that's really helped usthroughout the years is having
(34:50):
those relationships.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Yeah, I believe that customer experience is the
absolute most important thing inbusiness, and doing something
like what you just described,where you probably won't get
that order but you're stillhelping them and you're making
their life easier, reducingfriction in their business I
believe that's how you havesomething that's so unmistakable
in the market for years,decades to come.
(35:13):
So it's cool that you guys aredoing that, and I'm sure, when
the product does fit, that theycall and they order from you
because of what you're doing onthose other jobs too, right?
Yes, ma'am, what are the thingsthat you would say are some of
the moments that keep you up atnight?
I mean, I lay in bed a lot andthink about certain things that
are plaguing our industry or mybusiness.
(35:33):
What keeps you up at night?
Speaker 2 (35:35):
So just always ensuring that we have the right
people in the right place at theright time is constantly on my
mind.
You know what's next, what dowe need to be in front of?
You know what's a potentialunforeseen that could be
creeping around the corner?
So there's.
That is probably the one thingthat stays hot on my mind all
(35:55):
the time is where's everybody at?
Where are we going?
Where are we at in the stage ofthe project?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
So it's making sure everyone's in the right spot at
the right time you are a part ofthis amazing team which is a
member of the nga, the nationalglass association.
Tell me a little bit about anykind of impact that they've had
on you oh man.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
So my first experience with glass build was
probably like six or seven yearsago in Atlanta.
It was amazing, I think theexecutives forum is always great
and then we tend to go to mostof the BEC conferences that we
can attend, just depending onlogistics and kind of where
(36:35):
everything's at, and it's reallycreated some great people in
the industry that we can lean on.
That we've been able to youknow industry friends and stuff
like that.
So that's been great justhaving those people across the
United States that we can reachout to and connect with and
compare things.
I mean there's so many greatpeople that are in the NGA great
(36:57):
resources.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Yeah, I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions
that sometimes you don't evenknow you have that maybe get
answered by that committee, ofhaving people that are doing the
same thing on the other side ofthe country.
Yeah, and you guys are reallygoing to be close to Glass Build
this year.
So only about what?
Three hours away in Orlando andit's coming up fast, november
4th through the 6th, are yougoing to be in attendance?
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Oh yeah, we're taking the whole office staff, so all
of our PMs, the people whosupport the PMs, and some of our
leadership in the field.
So it's great for us becausewe're always traveling to these
other areas and you have thoselocal glazing subs that are
there, and so it's good for usbecause now we can showcase some
of our work.
I mean, it just so happens thatright there in that little,
just so close to where it'sbeing held, we have three or
four projects that we'vecompleted and you know it'll be
fun, to just kind of show it off.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
Yeah, I can't wait.
Hopefully, maybe, while we'rethere, you can, we can, we can
go see one of those projects.
That would be really cool.
Well, thank you, so doing forthe glass industry and glazing
and keeping the legacy alivewith the second generation, and
for the amazing tour today.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint
podcast.
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.
(38:26):
Until next time, stayunmistakable.
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