February 18, 2025 • 58 mins
What does it take to leave behind everything you’ve ever known and build something entirely new? Ezra Smucker’s journey from growing up Amish to becoming a successful entrepreneur is a story of courage and transformation. Raised in an Amish community, Ezra stepped into the unknown during Rumspringa, trading tradition for entrepreneurship. By 17, he was running his own business, navigating construction, real estate, and the challenges of building a life outside the only world he had known.
Now, Ezra is building more than just a business—he’s restoring communities through real estate, proving that bold decisions and perseverance can reshape an entire neighborhood.
In this episode, he shares the mindset shifts, faith, and relentless work ethic that fueled his journey—from restoring homes in Harrisburg to creating lasting change in his community. We talk about what it takes to succeed without a formal education, the power of perseverance, and the unexpected lessons from his Amish upbringing that still shape him today.
In this episode, Ezra shares:
- What it was like growing up in an Amish community and the values that shaped him
- The challenges of leaving behind his family and way of life
- How Rumspringa influenced his decision to step away from tradition
- Starting and growing a business in construction and real estate with no formal education
- His passion for restoring distressed properties and revitalizing neighborhoods
- Navigating family relationships and changing community ties after leaving
- Learning to embrace joy, fun, and personal freedom after years of strict traditions
If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend! Leaving a review and subscribing helps more people discover the show.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Growing up Amish definitely helped me with my
work ethic.
If I wouldn't have grew upAmish, I would probably say I
would not be where I'm at today.
I probably wouldn't have abusiness.
Most likely not, becausethroughout the process of
starting a business there's manya times you want to give up.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey friends, welcome to the Ones who Dared podcast,
where stories of courage areelevated.
I'm your host, Becca, and everyother week you'll hear
interviews from inspiring people.
My hope is that you will leaveencouraged.
I'm so glad you're here, EzraSmucker.
(00:45):
Welcome to the One City HourPodcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thank you, it's a pleasure being here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right, so we're going to dig into all things
Amish what it was like for youto grow up in the Amish
community, the process ofleaving and essentially how that
was and what you're up to today.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah for sure.
So I grew up Amish and I leftthe Amish when I was 17,.
As you probably know, You'vemaybe heard my story before, I'm
not sure, but yeah.
So when I left I had othersiblings that had already left
the Amish, so it was a littleeasier for me, and I have three
(01:23):
other siblings that had left theAmish and so my parents were
kind of like used to it and alsowe weren't my parents weren't
as like plain Amish or like asconservative as some Amish, so
like it was a lot easier for usbecause I had like an iPod when
I was like 15.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Really.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
And we had Wi-Fi at the house, stuff like that.
So it's like there's thingslike.
There's like a different, likeI mean, I heard other stories
from you know, Mary and Jake'sstories are probably a lot
different in some ways, becausethey grew up in Lancaster and I
grew up in Millersburg.
But we had Wi-Fi, we had abusiness, I had you, you know,
(02:10):
an ipod.
My parents didn't really knowabout it, but I had cousins that
weren't amish and so likethat's how I was able to get
that, and so it's just like weweren't as plain, but you know
it was a lot easier to leave.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So when you say plain , can you describe that
definition?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I would say more like plain, maybe more stricter like
with stricter rules, and wouldnot allow certain things.
For example, the business wehad.
They probably wouldn't havebeen allowed to have Wi-Fi.
We had an outlet in the house,we had electricity, but just one
(02:43):
outlet.
But then over the years we hadlike an outlet in the house, we
had electricity, but just likeone outlet.
But then over the years we keptadding more and then, like now,
my whole family isn't Amishanymore, including, like all my
brothers and sisters, all mynieces and nephews, my parents
and then my grandma, on bothsides are still Amish.
But on my mom's side, likethere's only one Amish family
(03:09):
left out of like seven siblingsthat she had.
And then my dad's side, there'slike maybe five or six that are
Amish and like two or threethat left.
So like our family is like youknow, no family is no longer
Amish whatsoever, but I stillhave grandparents that are and
(03:30):
some uncles and aunts.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I see that you have a mustache, and is that something
that was really prohibited?
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
It's not normal for them to have mustaches.
I don't think I mean they wouldhave beards, but I don't know.
I mean I just I like mymustache and I wanted to grow
one, and not that you know, Ijust yeah.
So I think it's not normal forthe Amish to have mustaches, but
beards is common once you'remarried.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So what was it like for you to grow up?
Like if you go back to yourchildhood, what was your
experience like as an Amish andyou say your family wasn't plain
Amish, so your experience wasprobably a little bit different
than some.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, definitely.
Well, I grew up on a farm andmy mom had a business a garden
center, greenhouse and then wehad a produce stand where we
sold produce along the road.
And then we had a produce standwhere we sold produce along the
road and as a kid we would getup early in the morning and go
to work and we would worknonstop all the time.
(04:34):
How early?
Usually I would have to get upat like 5.30.
And then go to the barn dochores.
I'd help milk the cows, helpfeed the calves and feed all the
cows and all the animals andthen school would start at 7.15,
so I had to go into the houseand get ready at 6.45 and eat
(04:58):
breakfast and get ready and beout the door by 7.
And then we would go to schooland we'd get home around three
o'clock in the afternoon andthen we'd go back out to the
barn do chores and then we wouldcome in and eat dinner and then
go back out and do chores againtill like eight o'clock at
night wow and then from there wewould just like we would work
(05:21):
and then go in, maybe play agame or two or do like a bedtime
snack and then go to bed.
But all my life was just likework, work, like all summer long
.
If we had nothing to do.
We were supposed to go out andlike weed, whack the fence rows
to make sure they're clean, andalways do something or mow the
grass or do this.
But we had like again we grewup we had a nursery or a garden
(05:43):
center and we had a producestand and we would like plant
like acres of peppers, plantacres of tomatoes, acres of
watermelons.
We had to pick watermelon too.
In the summer we were likepicking watermelon peppers and
we had pumpkin patch, mom patch,like all the, all the things
that keep us busy.
(06:03):
So we were always working.
So that's why I, like you knowtoday how I kind of got to where
I'm at, and also like I thinkit was great to always be
working, but still, I mean I Iwouldn't really want to want my
kids to work that much as achild, because we really never
did any fun things Like we would.
We really didn't take vacationsgrowing up as a child, but
(06:27):
until after most of the peopleleft the Amish.
Then we started to do vacationsas a family.
Other than that, we would justwork and would maybe take one
day trip to Knoebel's AmusementPark.
That was paid for.
They would get us tickets.
The company where we sent ourmilk Land O'L was like they
(06:48):
would get us tickets.
Um the, the company where wesent our milk land lakes.
They would give us tickets.
So we would do like one fun day, but we still do all the chores
.
We have to be back to do thechores again in the evening, so
on that same day that you wentto the park.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That is wild, so so it's like leisure free time.
Recreation is not encouraged inthe Amish community.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I guess not really.
I mean not, I think it's backthen not so much, but probably
now it's a little more different, I would say Because I think as
the time goes on, as like yearspass and decades go by, like
families shift and adapt todifferent cultures or different
ways of doing life, and so Iwould say people now more so
(07:31):
probably would take morevacations or not.
Every Amish person is a farmer.
I grew up on a farm and somepeople were in construction, so
their lifestyle was a littledifferent.
Versus a farmer's lifestyle,you can really not do much.
You've got to always be aroundthe farm, so that's probably why
it was like that.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
But yeah, and what age did you transition out of
being an Amish?
Speaker 1 (07:59):
So I left the Amish when I was 17.
So I got in trouble with thelaw, but it was very minor, so I
did Romspringa.
You did yeah from 16 to 17.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And then I got in trouble with the law very minor,
but I was underage, drinkingand my parents had to come pick
me up.
I was out of state and that waswhen I was like, okay, I don't
want to do what I'm doing.
But most of my life growing upI always told myself I wouldn't
be Amish.
When I grew up, so I don't know.
(08:37):
I mean, because I had cousinsand aunts and uncles that
weren't Amish, I kind of couldsee there was a way out.
But also my parents.
We weren't as conservative orplain, we were more liberal in a
sense.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So yeah, so you just felt like you knew that's not
something that you wanted to bewith the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I knew that I wouldn't stay in the Amish the
rest of my life.
I didn't know how, but I justknew I would eventually be out
of it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
So I want to go back to the Rumpfspringer.
That's a very fun topic foroutsiders, so your parents
actually allowed you to havethat experience.
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Speaker 1 (10:04):
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Yeah, I mean, I think allteenagers have that experience
Once you turn 16, you get to doRumspringa and it can look
different.
I think a lot of people hearwhat it sounds like through
Amish Mafia or differentscenarios like that, but
(10:25):
everyone has the opportunity todo rumspringa and there's
different groups and differentlike more like planar groups,
where you don't really drive acar, where you don't you know,
you don't.
They probably don't party, butmaybe they do, I don't know.
But we partied and did like.
But that I mean if I wasn't aparty I wouldn't have probably
(10:46):
ended up finding the Lord earlyon and probably wouldn't have
left the Amish right awayDepends, because I think a lot
of it, like once I got introuble with the law, a lot of
that, like my interest shifted.
I was like I don't want to bewith the people I'm with anymore
.
I want to be around better,influential people and I don't
(11:10):
want to go down the path of sin.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
So your parents actually gave you the freedom to
experience that?
Yes, and then Rumpfspringerends when you're how old?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Until you get married ends when you're how old, until
you get married.
Usually, usually whenever youget married, I mean, some people
will do rumspringa for a longtime, but it depends, like it
kind of is up for up to thatperson, because I know some
people would be doing rumspringafor 10-15 years, but once
(11:47):
you're married it's over.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and so when you left at 17, were your parents
still Amish at that time?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yes, my parents were still Amish.
They were fine with it.
I left the Amish, I still livedat home, but I never joined the
church.
So it was pretty easy for me toleave.
They were fine with it.
Like I left the Amish, I stilllived at home, but I never
joined the church Okay.
So like it was pretty easy forme to leave, I just pretty much
quit hanging out with the peopleI hung out with, Didn't go to a
youth group or rumspringanymore, and I like I just
(12:19):
changed the way I dressed and Istill lived at home, Still did
everything Like pretty much.
I still had the same job, livedat home and parked my car out
front, but my parents, likenormally Amish people, wouldn't
allow you to park your car outfront.
But my parents, again, weren'tas like strict, so it was fine.
Like when my brothers first leftthe Amish and they were the
(12:41):
first ones to leave they had topark their car way behind the
barn and had to walk to it.
Wow.
So they kind of paved the wayfor me.
It was a lot easier for me andso I didn't have to go through
all that and my parents were alot more upset with them than
they were with me.
But again my parents, they wereokay with it after a while
(13:06):
because they had spent four orfive years trying to deal with
my brothers leaving.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it?
With the younger siblings,usually you don't have the same
restrictions as the oldersiblings.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
The older ones definitely had it harder and the
younger ones had it easier.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, so did they react a lot, were they a lot
more disappointed and it was areally big deal when your older
siblings left.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It was a little bit more of a bigger deal, yeah, but
they still weren't too upsetand only one of my sisters I
think two of my sisters hadjoined the church and none of my
brothers had joined the churchand none of my brothers ever
joined the church.
So it's a little different whenyou join the church versus when
(13:50):
you're not.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah, then you become obligated to the rules and you
have to get out or getexcommunicated and all that.
So you have to go through theexcommunication process then.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
No, because I never joined the church.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And was that intentional for you because you
knew you weren't wanting toparticipate in the Amish
lifestyle?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
No, usually you don't .
So the men in the Amishcommunity didn't join the church
until later on in life or getbaptized with the church later
on in life.
But the women would getbaptized early on.
So the women would get baptizedat 16, 17, or 18.
The men would wait until 21, 16, 17, or 18.
(14:26):
The men would wait to like 21,22, 23, depending on, because
once you got baptized or joineda church you couldn't drive a
vehicle anymore.
And usually like it's weird, thewomen weren't allowed to drive,
but the men were in Romspringa.
I don't know why, but the womenwouldn't get their driver's
license, but the men would.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, what are some other kind of odd rules or rules
that are different?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
from your experience.
I mean they have like a lot oflike.
One of the biggest rules, likeI think is like strange is you
can drive a tractor on the road,but you can't drive the tractor
in the field to use it toharvest crops.
You've got to use horses butyou can use the tractor as
transportation on the road.
That doesn't make any sense.
(15:12):
But you can have an electricscooter, but you can't have an
electric car.
Make that make sense.
You can have solar panels, butyou can't have electric in your
house straight from the grid,like straight from the, the
power lines.
But you can have solar panelsand have outlets in your house
and that's fine.
Like that doesn't either makesense to me so is that what your
(15:34):
parents had?
solar panels, without we had onesolar panel but it was hooked
up to the.
That was like.
Then it was like connected tothe grid anyway, to the power,
like Like.
But the solar panel barely didanything but it was like we had
on the roof.
So they thought, oh, that's howthey had electric.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, so why did you decide that this was not
something that you wanted to bepart of the rest of your life?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Well, I knew there was more to life than like
staying in an Amish community orstaying Amish Like I don't
think if you're Amish you don'tget to experience what living
life is all about really.
I mean, I think there's likeonce you, like are saved and
once you're like you have arelationship with the Lord,
(16:17):
there's freedom to do a lot Like, yes, you can make mistakes and
do wrong things, but like asfar as traveling or getting to
experience different things ordifferent cultures, in life like
amish people don't really getto experience different.
They don't really, I would saythey don't get to experience the
fullness in life, but they'realways like.
Some people are tied down bybondage or, you know, by fear or
(16:43):
whatever it is, or what peoplelike am Amish people think what
people think about them a lotLike well we can't do this
because then you know thisperson's going to think this and
they're going to think we're aterrible family.
But so it's like I wanted toleave because I wanted to
experience different things andI also around that time when I
(17:06):
left, I got saved and I knew Ididn't want to be in the Amish
church.
My first encounter with theLord was I went to Threshold
Church with my sister.
Never really went to a churchlike that before, none of the
national church.
So I went to Threshold andthat's where I experienced the
(17:28):
love of God, and more so, justthrough the people, how they
expressed and how they showedlove.
It was like.
Jesus' love.
And then from there, I went toLife Center and, like, every
Sunday I would go to Life Center.
From that point on, that wasprobably like in 20 in this, in
(17:50):
the, in January of 2018, andthen I went to Life Center and
then I kept going to Life Centerand then in May of 2018, I got
baptized at Life Center and thenfrom and then from there, I
decided to do YWAM Youth With AMission.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And I signed up for that.
And then I went to Australiaand went to Papua New Guinea and
Sri Lanka, all after like eightmonths of leaving the Amish.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So I got to travel around the world and experience
different cultures, and so thatwas like that was all.
That was amazing to like gothrough that period of time,
just like to get out ofeverything I ever knew.
And I only knew one person overthere in Australia that I went
(18:41):
to the YWAM base, that I went toand everyone else was new to me
, and so I made new friends andhad a lot of healing and learned
like grow in the Lord, grow inmy relationship with the Lord
and understand what living isall about and why we are here.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, so that was such probably an eye-opening
experience for you.
For sure, coming from a closedgroup to traveling, and then I'm
sure people who traveled withyou or part of the group were
from all over the place.
It just is like a broad rangeof experiences put together and
then exposure to such a newworld.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yeah, for sure I made friends.
I have friends in theNetherlands and Fiji put
together.
And then exposure to such a newworld yeah for sure I made
friends.
I have friends in theNetherlands and Fiji.
I haven't talked to them in awhile but we still stay
connected here and there.
I made some friends fromLancaster County that I didn't
know before, and people fromTexas and just all over the
world.
You know Florida, canada.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So yeah, yeah, and so right now you run a business
Equitable Builds and you're aninvestor in real estate.
You do a lot of that, so canyou dig into?
What does your life look likenow?
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah.
So when I got back from my DTS,I wasn't really sure what I was
going to do and I wasn't reallysure how I can serve the Lord.
I wanted to follow my callingbut when I got back I felt like
(20:19):
I was called into business.
So I started working as asubcontractor, with no real name
or business name or doingbusiness name, and that was in
2019.
In the summer of 2019, I wasonly working like four days a
week because when I got back Ididn't really want to.
(20:42):
I all my life I just worked,worked, worked and I was like
I'm just going to work four daysa week and like Wednesday is my
day off and I'm going to go tothe city of Harrisburg and just
hang out.
So every like every week,wednesday, I would work Monday,
tuesday, wednesday, I had off.
Thursday, friday, I'd workSaturday, sunday at off and then
(21:02):
I would go to the city.
I'd go around, exploredifferent coffee shops,
different shops, and then Iwould look at the real estate
and look at the city and look atkind of like that's kind of
where I eventually was like okay, I want to start a business in
construction and I want to doreal estate, because over that
period of time I was listeningto a lot of books, podcasts,
(21:26):
bigger pockets, and so I startedmy business at Quittable Builds
in I think it was like the fallof 2019, but I started.
I started the LLC to be activefor 1-1-2020, just to be easier
(21:47):
for tax purposes.
And then from there I bought myfirst house and I added value.
So we bought it was distressedproperty and we added value and
then we refinanced and then didanother house, bought another
house and then COVID happenedand then it was a little
interesting, but I was able tomake things work and I was able
(22:12):
to do work for other clients.
I didn't sell a house untilJune or July of 2020.
And so it was a little toughgetting started.
But through COVID, people keptcoming to us and wanting
projects done, and so it justslowly built.
(22:33):
I had slowly clients come to meand we slowly started the brand
.
And now I think you need toestablish a brand.
I think it's important, if youwant to have a business or you
know really any product orbusiness or anything, that you
should brand it well, and sobecause I think it draws
(22:55):
attention to your service oryour product and makes people
want to buy that service orproduct.
Yeah, and how old were you whenyou purchased your first home
product?
And makes people want to buythat service or product.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yeah, and how old were you when you purchased your
first home?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I was 19.
So I bought it in December 30thof 2019.
So I was 19 years old.
And then I ended up refinancingit like two months later and
did a cash out refi.
And that was my first propertyI bought.
And I bought it with no moneydown because I just got back
(23:28):
from YWAM and I didn't have anymoney saved up.
So I bought it with no moneydown and was able to do a cash
out refi for like five thousanddollars.
So like that helped me out aswell, because I did that and I
was able to refi it right beforeCOVID happened.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So and then COVID happened and yeah, Wow, and now
you have how many doors.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Right now I have probably about 11 doors.
I sold maybe like six or sevenin the past, like year so and
then, but I did have like I'vehad 17 or 18.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Then I sold a sold off a few, and are these
currently used as a short rental?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
No, they're all long-term.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Long-term.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I did have one short-term but I sold that
property, so they're alllong-term rentals.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
And so where did you originate the name Equitable
Builds?
Where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
So when I was trying to figure out what I want to
name my business, I was like,well, I don't want to use a
generic name that everyone useslike their last name, and then
whatever you do so equitable.
I was like, well, I want to befair, I want to be just, and so
I was like, well, what is a wordthat kind of has multiple
(24:40):
meanings?
And so I came up with equitable.
And then builds came from oneof the YouTube channels that I
was watching a lot of.
It's called the Build Shub,matt Rissinger, from Texas.
He does these amazing buildsand beautiful new construction
(25:01):
homes, and so I was inspired bya show and I said I named uh,
equity.
I put builds behind that arebehind equitable because of that
.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
So what does your business do?
I know you, you flip homesyourself and invest in real
estate, but this is a wholeseparate thing.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, so we offer our services to other clients as
well.
We don't just do work forourselves, but we do kitchen
remodels, bathroom remodels.
We'll do basement finishes.
We generally like to work withinvestors and provide value to
their investment so they can getthe most return on their
(25:43):
investment.
We'll help landlords havedistressed properties and update
their properties so they canget top dollar rents or get the
most value out of their property.
So that's normally what we tryto focus on.
But we do offer our service toother clients.
But a lot of our clients rightnow have been out-of-state
(26:06):
investors or investors that havean everyday job and don't have
any time or effort and theydon't want to put effort into
picking out fixtures, pickingout the finishes.
So we do that.
But we also do projects forother clients where we're like
recently we replaced all thewindows in someone's house
basement finish.
Wow, you know we had decks,build decks.
(26:28):
We did big additions in thepast.
We built garages in the past.
We also like we built a park inHarrisburg for the city once.
So we do a lot of differenttypes of projects but it really
depends on who's on our team andhow many people we have and
what we're capable of handlingso yeah, and you mentioned
(26:50):
before that you have a vision totransform harrisburg yes can
you speak on that, like wheredid that come from and what?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
why?
Is that one of your whys?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
so during 2020 and 2021, I did a lot of projects in
the city and it kind of startedall because I started spending
some time in the city back in2019.
And as I was buying distressedhouses and adding value and
selling them, a lot of theneighbors were like I was adding
(27:20):
value to the neighbor's housesby fixing up the worst house in
the block, yeah, and so I wastransforming houses and we were
transforming houses and then theneighbors were like, well, you
should buy this house and buythis house and fix this house up
and do this and do this.
And I'm like, well, I can onlydo so much.
But then I was like, over aperiod period of time, it's just
(27:41):
like it grew on me and like Ihave a passion to see like
distressed homes or like really,it would be nice to see the
city like flirt, like the cityof Harrisburg, flourish and be
like, have a lot of um shops andcoffee shops, retail, uh like,
and nice streets to walk downand a lot of like things to do
(28:04):
for the residents yeah and butit's like there's so much, like
there's so much distressed homes, so many people living in
poverty, and it's like but thenpeople are like, well, you're
adding value to homes and you'reincreasing the rents, you're
increasing everything, and allyou're doing is like driving out
the people that can't affordany, like can't afford to start
with, um, but kind of where itcame from, is just like being
(28:29):
surrounded by a lot ofdistressed like homes and, uh,
run down neighborhoods.
That's kind of where that allcame from.
Is like, well, I want to seetransformation happen.
So how can I do that?
Well, I can purchase adistressed home, fix it up and
(28:53):
make it livable so that you cando one house at a time and do
one block at a time.
But it's a lot harder than it'spretty hard to do a bunch of
houses at a time.
Or a bunch of houses on oneblock.
So that's kind of how I waslike I want to renovate and
restore homes throughout thecity and that's kind of our
tagline at Equitable is we arerenovating and restoring homes
(29:16):
in our city.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
That's a pretty awesome mission to be on?
Yeah, because it is.
I mean when you take something,that's a pretty awesome mission
to be on?
Yeah, because it is.
It's I mean when, when you have, when you take something that's
ugly or that's not used to itspotential and you make it into
something that is flourishing it, it kind of can create that
ripple effect and it sounds likethat's what you're creating in
harrisburg, which is pretty coolyeah, yeah, and it's a lot
(29:40):
harder than than I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
It's very hard and sometimes I want to give.
And it's a lot harder than thanI mean it's.
It's very hard and sometimes Iwant to give up because there's
a lot of politics that go withit as well.
Anytime you're transforming,like homes in the city, you know
there's a lot of politics thatgo on with that.
It's like with codes and withpeople, don't?
Some people don't want to seechange happen because it's been
like that for so long.
(30:02):
So it's hard and it's difficultand it's a mission that can
last a long time and it won'thappen in one year.
It won't happen in two years.
It can happen in 10 years.
But it'll take a long time untilyou actually see transformation
(30:22):
.
Until you see a transformedcity, you can start seeing
transformation one house at atime, but there's a lot of homes
in the city, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Do you feel like you growing up Amish, do you feel
like that gave you the hard work, ethic and what are some values
that you feel like thattransferred over into your
adulthood?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
For sure.
I mean I would definitelygrowing up Amish definitely
helped me with my work ethic.
If I wouldn't have grew upAmish, I would probably say I
would not be where I'm at today.
I probably wouldn't have abusiness.
Most likely not, becausethroughout the process of
starting a business there's manya times you want to give up.
(31:09):
There's times you work like whenI first started I was working
from six to 10 or six to nine,you know, every day except for
Saturday and Sunday, and youknow not just that.
Then you have financial stressand there's a lot of other
things that come along withrunning a business, and there's
(31:29):
so many times I wanted to giveup.
But I mean I really was likegiving up was not really an
option because all my life Iworked really hard and I could.
So I was like I'm just going towork really hard and push my
way through every scenario,every problem and never take no
for an answer.
So it's pretty much just likeFor sure growing up Amish has
(31:53):
helped me out.
If I wouldn't have had enoughcourage or drive to keep going,
I would have probably started it, but I might have just gave up.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, I mean, running a business is not for the faint
of heart, right.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
It's not no.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It looks a lot more essentially appealing than
people think.
It's easy and anybody can run abusiness.
It's not that big of a deal.
But for people who are in it,you know, there's days that it
just feels like can you keepgoing?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
There's a couple different sides of business.
One's doing the work and one'smanaging people and one's
managing your clients, makingsure you have good service or
products.
So there's a lot of differentsides of businesses or of the
business that you have to be apart of.
When you're starting it out,you have to almost wear all the
(32:48):
hats, so it just causes somestuff.
You don't know what you'redoing.
You've never done it, so it'sall a learning experience and
you're trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Yeah, I mean, and you started pretty young in your
business, yeah, and you justcontinued to evolve and grow,
right, it wasn't something thatwas taught to you, you just kind
of learned as you went.
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So, yeah, I mean, I went to eighth grade education,
that was it.
No high school, a degree, nodiploma.
And I well, I started workingthe construction field when I
was like 14, so early on, and Iwas like the mud boy, so we
would just go around and youknow, take the take, pick up
(33:32):
this, clean up this, grab thisfor this person, take this over
there to that person.
But then when I was 15, 16,when I was 17, I got promoted to
a foreman and then I got introuble with the law and then I
decided to go to YWAM.
(33:53):
So I left pretty much rightafter that.
But I grew up on the farm andthen I started my construction
career off pretty early on, soby the time I left.
I'm a quick learner, so I had adecent amount of experience on
that side.
But I've never ran a businessbefore in my life when I first
(34:15):
started out.
So anything to do, I could dothe work, but anything to the
system in the business, or theway to manage people, or the way
to talk to people, or the wayto sell a product or anything to
run the business, I did notknow and everything was a
learning curve.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, and what was the hardest part for you out of
that?
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Honestly, I don't really know what the hardest
part was.
I mean, there was well, I guessmaybe it's like running
probably the hardest part ismanaging people.
But from when I started it, Ididn't have any people working
for me.
But I would say, like, as timewent on, it was like I was
hiring people and managingpeople and that was the hardest
(35:03):
part, especially as a youngperson, and you're managing
people that are older than youmost times.
So it made it pretty hard anddifficult for me Because I was
also like I was still prettyhard and difficult for me
because I was also like I wasstill pretty young and timid and
didn't really know.
You know, I probably got takenadvantage of a little bit, but
you know, at least I was able toget out of those situations and
(35:25):
come out stronger.
But it's like you have to.
It's tough when you start offyoung.
Yeah, because you're still like, especially growing up Amish
and you had very minimalexperience in the real world and
so, yeah, it was definitelyinteresting.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah, I mean, and working with people is always a
challenge, right, the hiring,the firing, and when you are
young we were also really youngin our business compared to our
competitors and sometimes youjust feel like people don't take
you as seriously because ofyour age and you also, if you
look young and you are young,it's like it's just there's that
level of the age differencethat people may not have the
(36:08):
same respect for you as you'reolder and more experienced.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, for sure yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
I mean, I think too, managing people is always the
hardest part because you'redealing with hiring and firing
people, and if you don't knowinitially how to hire the right
people, then you have tounfortunately let those people
go because if they're not theright fit and for us, I mean,
that was a process that took awhile to also- teach yourself.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah, I'd say that's the hardest thing about actually
running a business, but there'salso different sides of
businesses.
Like I was saying, if you'regoing to be the owner-operator
and do everything, you can dothat, but you're not going to
scale a business that way.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah, yeah, you can't do everything yourself.
Yeah, Absolutely.
I wanted to touch on some ofthese Amish rules too and just
see if there's any myths on someof these.
So with the Amish, they saythat you are not allowed to, you
can't really use photography.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
They can't take pictures of people, can't take
pictures of the Amish?
No, normally not.
They don't want, they don'treally want their well, back in
the day they didn't want to,they didn't want their pictures
taken.
But now people are a littlemore like, okay with it Because
I mean, we're're in a differentcentury almost, and so they've
(37:40):
been okay with it.
But it also depends on whichcommunity you live in If you're
more of a plainer community ormore conservative or more
liberal community.
We didn't care when ourpictures got taken.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, you're like hey , hey, let me pose here I mean I
wish, I wish I'd have a picture.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I wish I have more pictures of our, my childhood,
but that's one thing we don'thave.
I mean we have very few.
I might have like a handful ofphotos, or two handfuls of
photos of myself between zeroand 13.
Of myself between zero and 13.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So no one has a camera at home?
You wouldn't get photographed?
Where would you get thosepictures?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Usually for us because we had two businesses.
A lot of people, like theEnglish people, came to our
business and bought stuff andthey would usually connect with
my parents and sometimes theywould come over and hang out
with us and they would offer totake pictures or something like
that.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's usually how that happened.
That's interesting.
And then the buggies.
They have to be black.
Why do they have to be black?
Speaker 1 (38:47):
I do not know.
I only drove a buggy until Iwas like 16.
And then I got my license.
And I don't even know why theAmish have certain rules.
I have no idea Some of thosethings.
I'm like why did I do this?
It doesn't make any sense, andyet I did it for 16 years of my
(39:08):
life.
But I was also a kid.
But there's people that areAmish and they have no idea why
they do certain things.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
And they don't think to question it.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Yeah, just like.
Well, we did it for so manyyears and my grandparents did it
, so why would you question it?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Like I don't know.
So why I mean, or maybe not whyis it true that you are not
allowed to have musicalinstruments?
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Not.
No, I wouldn't say that you canhave musical instruments like
guitars.
It's more common now, butprobably like 30 years ago or 25
years ago it was not as common,but I think it's more common
now so is it true that the amishdon't pay taxes?
Speaker 2 (39:52):
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Speaker 1 (40:31):
That is not true.
So they almost pay double tax,really, yeah, from what I know.
So they send their kids totheir own private school
basically, they have to pay taxto that school.
They also have to pay schooltaxes to the regular schools.
So there's two school taxesthey have to pay and they have
(40:56):
to pay all the other taxes aswell.
Now the only one that you canget out of is social security,
but you have to like that.
I can't really discuss becausethat's kind of off limits.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
I gotcha.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I don't know who's listening to this one we'll
leave that alone.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
When an Amish child is born, are they registered in
the system, like do they have asocial security number?
Speaker 1 (41:22):
well where I grew up.
Yes, all the amish have socialsecurity numbers, birth
certificates, everything, yeahokay then, so do they pay taxes
for the roads.
Yeah, they pay the township tax, the state tax, everything.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
So yeah, I mean real estate tax, which would cut
towards repairs on the roads andstuff like that.
Yes, and would you say theAmish people are fairly well off
financially.
Amish people are fairly welloff financially, or where would
you?
Because there's some peoplethat have this perception that
the Amish are really wealthy andsomething completely opposite.
So I just want to clear that up.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
The Amish are well off because they work hard and
they don't ever take a well,they don't really take a break
and they just like they're overthe top when it comes to like
their work.
They just like work, work, work, save, save, save.
Barely spend any money, packlunches for work, barely ever go
out to eat.
When I was growing up, weprobably went out to eat maybe
(42:29):
20 times a year.
That would be twice a month ormaybe once a month, and the
Amish barely go out to eat.
Well, maybe it's different now,but when I was growing up
that's how it was.
So they save money, they save,save, save and they work hard.
(42:50):
And so a lot of the Amish arepretty well off because they're
very frugal with their money andthey don't just spend it on
anything.
I don't know how it is nowadays, but when I was growing up we
didn't have Amazon.
I mean, I guess Amazon wasn'treally a thing either, but I
don't even know if they wouldhave Amazon now.
(43:10):
I don't know how often they buystuff on Amazon, but I would
say they're well off, and mostof them in certain communities,
and that's because they're smartwith their money.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Yeah, and do they own a lot of real estate property
as well, a lot of the farms.
Speaker 1 (43:30):
They'll always buy the farms that they live on or
the houses.
It's very rare for them to berenting stuff.
So yeah, they're they're.
Usually they own a lot of realestate.
Um, most times, you know, theyinvest their money into real
estate as well, so they don't.
I don't really know too manypeople.
Well, when I was growing up, Ireally didn't.
(43:51):
I never heard of the stockmarket when I was growing up or
like crypto, which I guesscrypto wasn't really a thing
either.
But I never heard of the stockmarket when I was growing up or
crypto, which I guess cryptowasn't really a thing either.
But I never heard of the stockmarket growing up.
And so, growing up, I don'tthink the Amish really were
dabbling in stock market andstuff like that, but I could be
wrong.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Are they now?
Speaker 1 (44:10):
I think they are more so now than they were back 20
years ago.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah, so essentially, the financial status of an
Amish compared to an averageAmerican, which is more in debt.
They spend more than they makethe average American, right yeah
, statistically Spend more thanthey make.
They take vacations yeah, theyoverspend on Christmas time with
money they don't have on creditcard debt, right yeah.
And versus, the Amish are nottaking the vacations, they
(44:39):
aren't spending, they aren'ttreating themselves to luxuries
or exactly, um, all those things.
So they and what are theyreally saving for, honestly?
Speaker 1 (44:49):
I don't know.
I mean usually, you know, Ithink it.
What I've seen in the past is alot of the older people, as
they pass off or die, they'repassing on their inheritance to
their kids.
But I also don't know how wellthey structure that, for when
(45:09):
they die, your inheritance taxis tremendous nowadays and so I
don't know how they structurethat.
But usually they pass theirfarms and stuff down to their
kids and it seems like the moregenerations, the wealthier the
kids get.
And the kids don't just likewhen they take an inheritance,
they don't spend that money orsplurge.
(45:29):
They might buy investments ormight buy another house, but
they're usually wise with theirmoney.
They're not buying luxury cars,watches, jewelry, bags.
They don't even go out to eat.
Really they don't buy elaborateChristmas gifts.
So I don't know what they'resaving their money for and
(45:51):
honestly, I think it's importantto enjoy life and I could save
save all my life and not get toexperience certain things in
life.
And why did you work so hardand why did you save all that
money?
Yes, to pass it on, but you'vegot to put a lot of trust in the
kids or great-grandkids orwhatever to steward that money
(46:17):
well, or you've got to have theright lawyers and trust funds
and all the things in place tomake sure it gets used well.
But I still think it'simportant to take the vacation
If you can afford it.
Buy elaborate gifts If you canafford it.
It elaborate gifts if you canafford it.
(46:37):
It's like get to enjoy life alittle bit, get to enjoy the
luxuries that life has to offer.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
And are you enjoying your life now, Ezra?
I definitely am yes, that'sgood to hear.
So you're not just working,you're also taking time off,
taking time to enjoy yourselves.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean I do a lot of fun thingsand I think the past two years
I made it more of a habit to dofun things.
So I did a week's snowboardingtrip to Wyoming recently, before
Christmas, and I think it'simportant to, like I enjoy
(47:15):
snowboarding and do things youenjoy and get out and about and
hang out with friends, creatememories, make memories with
friends, because you know Icould die tomorrow and or in two
years.
And why did I save all thatmoney?
For I don't have kids, you know.
So like it goes back to myparents and like you know, so
why not enjoy life while you can?
Speaker 2 (47:36):
absolutely so.
You mentioned that none of yoursiblings are Amish, right, yeah
, and your parents are no longerAmish, just your grandparents
correct and um.
So are you in touch with a lotof ex-Amish people now?
Do you have a community, or doyou tend to kind of have a
mixture of friends and peoplethat you're associated with?
Speaker 1 (47:56):
or in community with um, I don't really I'm not
really in touch with many amishpeople at this point, but it's
like when, like.
So you can always tell whensomeone grew up amish almost
almost, not quite, but andespecially by their last name.
(48:18):
If, for example, if someonewould come up to me, they'd
introduce themselves to me andI'd be like, what's your last
name?
And they would say Stolfus orLap or King, I'd be like, oh so
you grew up Amish.
That's normally some genericAmish last names, but really I
(48:40):
haven't talked to an Amishperson in quite some time.
But also it's weird or funny how, like I can go to the market at
Broad Street Market or like inHarrisburg or West Shore Farmers
Market, and the Amish peoplehave stands there and they'll be
like, did you grow up Amish?
Bish doon, shmokha?
Like, are you a smoker?
Like they can see it in my faceand they just, I don't know,
(49:05):
they kind of know, I don't know,they kind of can tell when you
grew up Amish or like, if you'relike, I guess, if your last
name or your family waswell-known in the area.
So it's interesting that Amishpeople that I've never met, they
would ask me if I grew up Amish.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Yeah, that is interesting.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
And then they're like oh, we know your parents, your
grandparents, and they're likewho are your parents?
And so things like that.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
Yeah, that's pretty interesting.
Is there anything else you wantto add for people to kind of
know about the Amish communitythat I haven't touched on?
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Not necessarily.
I mean everything is prettyaccurate.
I mean there's stuff out therethat isn't like Amish mafia and
there's certain things thataren't accurate.
But I think it's important ifpeople are curious is to ask
questions to other people.
If you see an Amish personwalking down the street, ask
them a question.
The worst they're going to sayis no.
And I get asked.
(50:06):
Every time someone finds out Igrew up Amish.
They are curious and everyonewants to know was it really true
like this?
And they always.
You know because you hearthings.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Yeah.
So do you think they would bereceptive, like an Amish person
in the street, to being asked aquestion, or are they more?
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Some of them would enjoy it.
Some of them would be likewouldn't answer your question.
Some of them would gladly takean interview with you, you know,
if you'd be walking down thestreet and you would, you know,
gladly take an interview withyou If you'd be walking down the
street and you would want tointerview somebody.
Some of them might be like, no,put it out, but some of them
would love the attention.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Yeah, that's really interesting, and what would you
say is the bravest thing thatEzra's ever done.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
Probably starting my business at 19 years old with no
experience, no finance degree,no business degree, no, nothing,
no degree whatsoever, with nomoney, starting a business and
growing it from nothing to whatit is now.
(51:16):
On a brand, I would say, that'syou know.
I see the brand and I see thetrucks go down the road.
It brings me joy, like I seethat and I'm like, oh, I started
that when I was 19.
And you know, everything waslike, I would say, the name, the
logo, the brand was allinspired by God and like you
know it, and he did it throughme, and so I see that and I'm
(51:42):
like it's like wow.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
What would you say is the?
Speaker 1 (51:47):
best advice that someone gave you that, I would
say, is surround yourself withpeople that have accomplished a
lot of amazing things.
So you know how they say youbecome the top five people you
spend the most time with.
So I think that has been themost valuable.
(52:09):
I don't know if someone told methis or if I heard it on a
podcast, or if I read it in abook or where I heard it, but I
think a lot of people say this,but you become the top five
people you spend the most timewith.
Surround yourself with peoplethat are achieving a lot in life
or are very successful, and Ithink that will take you a long
(52:31):
way just by surrounding yourselfwith people like that.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean I'veinterviewed so many different
people you a long way just justby surrounding yourself with
people like that?
Speaker 2 (52:35):
yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I've interviewed somany different people and they a
lot of the people who aresuccessful, um say the same
thing that's the fastest way toget to where you want to go is
to be around the people who arealready there.
Right, exactly, and it's likeyou can.
You can read a book, you canlearn about stuff, but when you
get around people who are whereyou're going or where you're
(52:55):
striving to be, that canexpedite your process so much
quicker.
And you never want to be themost successful, the smartest
person in the room, because itjust means you're probably in
the wrong room.
Then you know you're notlearning if, if you capped out,
yeah, of of your circle.
So I love that and I think thatyou have a bright future ahead
of you.
I feel like like you're justgetting started.
You know you're still in yourtwenties, right?
Speaker 1 (53:18):
Yeah, I'm 24.
Speaker 2 (53:19):
Wow, okay, that's amazing.
And what would you say arethree pivotal books that you
read that were transformativefor you?
Speaker 1 (53:27):
So my number one book would have been Rich Dad, poor
Dad, because that was like bookwould have been Rich Dad, poor
Dad, because that was really thefirst book I probably read when
I first started my business andthat concept I remember clear
as day.
I was working on the roof, Iwas listening to an audiobook.
(53:48):
While I was on the roof workingdoing a roof job, it was like
100 degrees outside and we wereon this 8-12 pitch roof, so it's
kind of a steep roof.
And I was like 100 degreesoutside and we were on this 8-12
pitch roof, so it's kind of asteep roof, and I was roofing
away and I was listening to thisbook and I'm like how can I
implement this book in my liferight now?
Speaker 2 (54:05):
And I was like well.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
I'm out here working my butt off.
And so that was one Rich Dad,poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki,
and then the other one is theCompound Effect by Darren Hardy.
That was a really good book aswell.
And then the other one is Isyour Thinking Keeping you Poor?
By Douglas Kruger.
(54:25):
I think it is.
So those are my top three booksthat probably had a lot to do
with kind of, I guess, giving meinsight on business and just
affecting my mind or having mymind shift or my mind changed
(54:48):
into the compound effect andrich dad, poor dad, between.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
So yeah, yeah, those are great books.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
And what are you currently excited about?
What is in the future thatyou're looking forward to
working towards?
Speaker 1 (55:03):
Right now.
I mean there's a lot of.
You know, every day is a goodday, Every day is an exciting
day and I love what I do and Iwouldn't want to trade it for
anything.
Really, I don't think, I mean II even if I would be like, if I
could retire and be like I'mjust gonna sit on the beach all
day, I would get bored and tiredand I would probably do
something.
(55:23):
Um.
So, with that being said, Ithink it's just, you know the, I
love the process of life andthat's what I'm like, that's
exciting.
So, like you know, there'sdifferent steps in.
You know, hopefully one day Ihave kids and so, like I look
forward to that and, you know,just creating memories with
(55:45):
other people.
And so yeah, I'd say, it's justjust as long as you enjoy what
you do, like you know, like, ifyou have maybe goals or things
you look forward to, but youknow life can change so quickly,
though, and so I think you knowI could have an idea of what I
want, what I want to do in 10years, or you know.
(56:05):
So I think it's just enjoyingthe moment.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Being present enjoying the process?
Speaker 1 (56:11):
Yeah, for sure enjoying the process.
Speaker 2 (56:13):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I think.
Also, retiring is somethingthat statistically has been
proven that when people retirethey tend to die a lot quicker
shortly after their retirement,because you lose your sense of
purpose and meaning.
And if the work that you'vebeen doing has given you a sense
of purpose, meaning joy, areason to get up in the morning,
when you lose that, people tendto just stop growing, they're
(56:34):
stale and their health declines.
So it's really interesting.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
I will say there's days in business that you're
like this day does suck or this.
You don't look forward to thisor this, but there's always
something.
There's always a bright side tothat.
One is you're going to grow inyour character.
You're going to learn something.
If it's challenging or if it'slike I don't like this, figure
out how I can outsource this orhave someone else do this that
(57:01):
you don't enjoy.
But yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (57:05):
I love what Brittany Turner said.
She's also an investor, she wasin the podcast, she's got an
island on Virgin Islands anddoes retreats there, and she
said that an obstacle is anopportunity for expansion.
So anytime you face a challenge, just look at it as this is
giving you an opportunity toexpand, Expand your worldview,
(57:27):
expand, grow you in certainareas, like you said.
So it's like, if we look at itlike that, we don't look at a
challenge as like man.
This sucks.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
Yeah, for sure.
No, I mean the challenge willwill develop or give you it will
give you you know, build yourcharacter and you'll learn a lot
and it'll be worth it at theend absolutely, and we also
learn most from our failuresthan we do from successes.
Speaker 2 (57:51):
So exactly well, ezra , thank you so much for being in
the podcast.
It's an honor to hear yourstory and I'm sure it's going to
encourage people, and thank youso much for your time.
Speaker 1 (58:01):
You're welcome, Sveka .
Thank you for having meAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (58:04):
Thank you for listening to the Once we Dare
podcast.
It is an honor to share theseencouraging stories with you.
If you enjoy the show, I wouldlove for you to tell your
friends.
Leave us a reviewer rating andsubscribe to wherever you listen
to podcasts, because this helpsothers discover the show.
(58:24):
You can find me on my website,speckhopoffcom.
Growing up Amish definitely helped me with my
work ethic.
If I wouldn't have grew upAmish, I would probably say I
would not be where I'm at today.
I probably wouldn't have abusiness.
Most likely not, becausethroughout the process of
starting a business there's manya times you want to give up.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey friends, welcome to the Ones who Dared podcast,
where stories of courage areelevated.
I'm your host, Becca, and everyother week you'll hear
interviews from inspiring people.
My hope is that you will leaveencouraged.
I'm so glad you're here, EzraSmucker.
(00:45):
Welcome to the One City HourPodcast.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Thank you, it's a pleasure being here.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
All right, so we're going to dig into all things
Amish what it was like for youto grow up in the Amish
community, the process ofleaving and essentially how that
was and what you're up to today.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah for sure.
So I grew up Amish and I leftthe Amish when I was 17,.
As you probably know, You'vemaybe heard my story before, I'm
not sure, but yeah.
So when I left I had othersiblings that had already left
the Amish, so it was a littleeasier for me, and I have three
(01:23):
other siblings that had left theAmish and so my parents were
kind of like used to it and alsowe weren't my parents weren't
as like plain Amish or like asconservative as some Amish, so
like it was a lot easier for usbecause I had like an iPod when
I was like 15.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Really.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
And we had Wi-Fi at the house, stuff like that.
So it's like there's thingslike.
There's like a different, likeI mean, I heard other stories
from you know, Mary and Jake'sstories are probably a lot
different in some ways, becausethey grew up in Lancaster and I
grew up in Millersburg.
But we had Wi-Fi, we had abusiness, I had you, you know,
(02:10):
an ipod.
My parents didn't really knowabout it, but I had cousins that
weren't amish and so likethat's how I was able to get
that, and so it's just like weweren't as plain, but you know
it was a lot easier to leave.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
So when you say plain , can you describe that
definition?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I would say more like plain, maybe more stricter like
with stricter rules, and wouldnot allow certain things.
For example, the business wehad.
They probably wouldn't havebeen allowed to have Wi-Fi.
We had an outlet in the house,we had electricity, but just one
(02:43):
outlet.
But then over the years we hadlike an outlet in the house, we
had electricity, but just likeone outlet.
But then over the years we keptadding more and then, like now,
my whole family isn't Amishanymore, including, like all my
brothers and sisters, all mynieces and nephews, my parents
and then my grandma, on bothsides are still Amish.
But on my mom's side, likethere's only one Amish family
(03:09):
left out of like seven siblingsthat she had.
And then my dad's side, there'slike maybe five or six that are
Amish and like two or threethat left.
So like our family is like youknow, no family is no longer
Amish whatsoever, but I stillhave grandparents that are and
(03:30):
some uncles and aunts.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I see that you have a mustache, and is that something
that was really prohibited?
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (03:39):
It's not normal for them to have mustaches.
I don't think I mean they wouldhave beards, but I don't know.
I mean I just I like mymustache and I wanted to grow
one, and not that you know, Ijust yeah.
So I think it's not normal forthe Amish to have mustaches, but
beards is common once you'remarried.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
So what was it like for you to grow up?
Like if you go back to yourchildhood, what was your
experience like as an Amish andyou say your family wasn't plain
Amish, so your experience wasprobably a little bit different
than some.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, definitely.
Well, I grew up on a farm andmy mom had a business a garden
center, greenhouse and then wehad a produce stand where we
sold produce along the road.
And then we had a produce standwhere we sold produce along the
road and as a kid we would getup early in the morning and go
to work and we would worknonstop all the time.
(04:34):
How early?
Usually I would have to get upat like 5.30.
And then go to the barn dochores.
I'd help milk the cows, helpfeed the calves and feed all the
cows and all the animals andthen school would start at 7.15,
so I had to go into the houseand get ready at 6.45 and eat
(04:58):
breakfast and get ready and beout the door by 7.
And then we would go to schooland we'd get home around three
o'clock in the afternoon andthen we'd go back out to the
barn do chores and then we wouldcome in and eat dinner and then
go back out and do chores againtill like eight o'clock at
night wow and then from there wewould just like we would work
(05:21):
and then go in, maybe play agame or two or do like a bedtime
snack and then go to bed.
But all my life was just likework, work, like all summer long
.
If we had nothing to do.
We were supposed to go out andlike weed, whack the fence rows
to make sure they're clean, andalways do something or mow the
grass or do this.
But we had like again we grewup we had a nursery or a garden
(05:43):
center and we had a producestand and we would like plant
like acres of peppers, plantacres of tomatoes, acres of
watermelons.
We had to pick watermelon too.
In the summer we were likepicking watermelon peppers and
we had pumpkin patch, mom patch,like all the, all the things
that keep us busy.
(06:03):
So we were always working.
So that's why I, like you knowtoday how I kind of got to where
I'm at, and also like I thinkit was great to always be
working, but still, I mean I Iwouldn't really want to want my
kids to work that much as achild, because we really never
did any fun things Like we would.
We really didn't take vacationsgrowing up as a child, but
(06:27):
until after most of the peopleleft the Amish.
Then we started to do vacationsas a family.
Other than that, we would justwork and would maybe take one
day trip to Knoebel's AmusementPark.
That was paid for.
They would get us tickets.
The company where we sent ourmilk Land O'L was like they
(06:48):
would get us tickets.
Um the, the company where wesent our milk land lakes.
They would give us tickets.
So we would do like one fun day, but we still do all the chores
.
We have to be back to do thechores again in the evening, so
on that same day that you wentto the park.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
That is wild, so so it's like leisure free time.
Recreation is not encouraged inthe Amish community.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I guess not really.
I mean not, I think it's backthen not so much, but probably
now it's a little more different, I would say Because I think as
the time goes on, as like yearspass and decades go by, like
families shift and adapt todifferent cultures or different
ways of doing life, and so Iwould say people now more so
(07:31):
probably would take morevacations or not.
Every Amish person is a farmer.
I grew up on a farm and somepeople were in construction, so
their lifestyle was a littledifferent.
Versus a farmer's lifestyle,you can really not do much.
You've got to always be aroundthe farm, so that's probably why
it was like that.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
But yeah, and what age did you transition out of
being an Amish?
Speaker 1 (07:59):
So I left the Amish when I was 17.
So I got in trouble with thelaw, but it was very minor, so I
did Romspringa.
You did yeah from 16 to 17.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
And then I got in trouble with the law very minor,
but I was underage, drinkingand my parents had to come pick
me up.
I was out of state and that waswhen I was like, okay, I don't
want to do what I'm doing.
But most of my life growing upI always told myself I wouldn't
be Amish.
When I grew up, so I don't know.
(08:37):
I mean, because I had cousinsand aunts and uncles that
weren't Amish, I kind of couldsee there was a way out.
But also my parents.
We weren't as conservative orplain, we were more liberal in a
sense.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So yeah, so you just felt like you knew that's not
something that you wanted to bewith the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, I knew that I wouldn't stay in the Amish the
rest of my life.
I didn't know how, but I justknew I would eventually be out
of it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
So I want to go back to the Rumpfspringer.
That's a very fun topic foroutsiders, so your parents
actually allowed you to havethat experience.
Is that right At the Once aYear podcast?
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(09:38):
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(10:01):
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Speaker 1 (10:04):
Slash Pennsylvania To learn more or to give go to
MidwestFoodBankorg slashPennsylvania.
Yeah, I mean, I think allteenagers have that experience
Once you turn 16, you get to doRumspringa and it can look
different.
I think a lot of people hearwhat it sounds like through
Amish Mafia or differentscenarios like that, but
(10:25):
everyone has the opportunity todo rumspringa and there's
different groups and differentlike more like planar groups,
where you don't really drive acar, where you don't you know,
you don't.
They probably don't party, butmaybe they do, I don't know.
But we partied and did like.
But that I mean if I wasn't aparty I wouldn't have probably
(10:46):
ended up finding the Lord earlyon and probably wouldn't have
left the Amish right awayDepends, because I think a lot
of it, like once I got introuble with the law, a lot of
that, like my interest shifted.
I was like I don't want to bewith the people I'm with anymore
.
I want to be around better,influential people and I don't
(11:10):
want to go down the path of sin.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
So your parents actually gave you the freedom to
experience that?
Yes, and then Rumpfspringerends when you're how old?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Until you get married ends when you're how old, until
you get married.
Usually, usually whenever youget married, I mean, some people
will do rumspringa for a longtime, but it depends, like it
kind of is up for up to thatperson, because I know some
people would be doing rumspringafor 10-15 years, but once
(11:47):
you're married it's over.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Yeah, and so when you left at 17, were your parents
still Amish at that time?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yes, my parents were still Amish.
They were fine with it.
I left the Amish, I still livedat home, but I never joined the
church.
So it was pretty easy for me toleave.
They were fine with it.
Like I left the Amish, I stilllived at home, but I never
joined the church Okay.
So like it was pretty easy forme to leave, I just pretty much
quit hanging out with the peopleI hung out with, Didn't go to a
youth group or rumspringanymore, and I like I just
(12:19):
changed the way I dressed and Istill lived at home, Still did
everything Like pretty much.
I still had the same job, livedat home and parked my car out
front, but my parents, likenormally Amish people, wouldn't
allow you to park your car outfront.
But my parents, again, weren'tas like strict, so it was fine.
Like when my brothers first leftthe Amish and they were the
(12:41):
first ones to leave they had topark their car way behind the
barn and had to walk to it.
Wow.
So they kind of paved the wayfor me.
It was a lot easier for me andso I didn't have to go through
all that and my parents were alot more upset with them than
they were with me.
But again my parents, they wereokay with it after a while
(13:06):
because they had spent four orfive years trying to deal with
my brothers leaving.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it?
With the younger siblings,usually you don't have the same
restrictions as the oldersiblings.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
The older ones definitely had it harder and the
younger ones had it easier.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, so did they react a lot, were they a lot
more disappointed and it was areally big deal when your older
siblings left.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It was a little bit more of a bigger deal, yeah, but
they still weren't too upsetand only one of my sisters I
think two of my sisters hadjoined the church and none of my
brothers had joined the churchand none of my brothers ever
joined the church.
So it's a little different whenyou join the church versus when
(13:50):
you're not.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Yeah, then you become obligated to the rules and you
have to get out or getexcommunicated and all that.
So you have to go through theexcommunication process then.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
No, because I never joined the church.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And was that intentional for you because you
knew you weren't wanting toparticipate in the Amish
lifestyle?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
No, usually you don't .
So the men in the Amishcommunity didn't join the church
until later on in life or getbaptized with the church later
on in life.
But the women would getbaptized early on.
So the women would get baptizedat 16, 17, or 18.
The men would wait until 21, 16, 17, or 18.
(14:26):
The men would wait to like 21,22, 23, depending on, because
once you got baptized or joineda church you couldn't drive a
vehicle anymore.
And usually like it's weird, thewomen weren't allowed to drive,
but the men were in Romspringa.
I don't know why, but the womenwouldn't get their driver's
license, but the men would.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, what are some other kind of odd rules or rules
that are different?
Speaker 1 (14:52):
from your experience.
I mean they have like a lot oflike.
One of the biggest rules, likeI think is like strange is you
can drive a tractor on the road,but you can't drive the tractor
in the field to use it toharvest crops.
You've got to use horses butyou can use the tractor as
transportation on the road.
That doesn't make any sense.
(15:12):
But you can have an electricscooter, but you can't have an
electric car.
Make that make sense.
You can have solar panels, butyou can't have electric in your
house straight from the grid,like straight from the, the
power lines.
But you can have solar panelsand have outlets in your house
and that's fine.
Like that doesn't either makesense to me so is that what your
(15:34):
parents had?
solar panels, without we had onesolar panel but it was hooked
up to the.
That was like.
Then it was like connected tothe grid anyway, to the power,
like Like.
But the solar panel barely didanything but it was like we had
on the roof.
So they thought, oh, that's howthey had electric.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, so why did you decide that this was not
something that you wanted to bepart of the rest of your life?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Well, I knew there was more to life than like
staying in an Amish community orstaying Amish Like I don't
think if you're Amish you don'tget to experience what living
life is all about really.
I mean, I think there's likeonce you, like are saved and
once you're like you have arelationship with the Lord,
(16:17):
there's freedom to do a lot Like, yes, you can make mistakes and
do wrong things, but like asfar as traveling or getting to
experience different things ordifferent cultures, in life like
amish people don't really getto experience different.
They don't really, I would saythey don't get to experience the
fullness in life, but they'realways like.
Some people are tied down bybondage or, you know, by fear or
(16:43):
whatever it is, or what peoplelike am Amish people think what
people think about them a lotLike well we can't do this
because then you know thisperson's going to think this and
they're going to think we're aterrible family.
But so it's like I wanted toleave because I wanted to
experience different things andI also around that time when I
(17:06):
left, I got saved and I knew Ididn't want to be in the Amish
church.
My first encounter with theLord was I went to Threshold
Church with my sister.
Never really went to a churchlike that before, none of the
national church.
So I went to Threshold andthat's where I experienced the
(17:28):
love of God, and more so, justthrough the people, how they
expressed and how they showedlove.
It was like.
Jesus' love.
And then from there, I went toLife Center and, like, every
Sunday I would go to Life Center.
From that point on, that wasprobably like in 20 in this, in
(17:50):
the, in January of 2018, andthen I went to Life Center and
then I kept going to Life Centerand then in May of 2018, I got
baptized at Life Center and thenfrom and then from there, I
decided to do YWAM Youth With AMission.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And I signed up for that.
And then I went to Australiaand went to Papua New Guinea and
Sri Lanka, all after like eightmonths of leaving the Amish.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So I got to travel around the world and experience
different cultures, and so thatwas like that was all.
That was amazing to like gothrough that period of time,
just like to get out ofeverything I ever knew.
And I only knew one person overthere in Australia that I went
(18:41):
to the YWAM base, that I went toand everyone else was new to me
, and so I made new friends andhad a lot of healing and learned
like grow in the Lord, grow inmy relationship with the Lord
and understand what living isall about and why we are here.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, so that was such probably an eye-opening
experience for you.
For sure, coming from a closedgroup to traveling, and then I'm
sure people who traveled withyou or part of the group were
from all over the place.
It just is like a broad rangeof experiences put together and
then exposure to such a newworld.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Yeah, for sure I made friends.
I have friends in theNetherlands and Fiji put
together.
And then exposure to such a newworld yeah for sure I made
friends.
I have friends in theNetherlands and Fiji.
I haven't talked to them in awhile but we still stay
connected here and there.
I made some friends fromLancaster County that I didn't
know before, and people fromTexas and just all over the
world.
You know Florida, canada.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So yeah, yeah, and so right now you run a business
Equitable Builds and you're aninvestor in real estate.
You do a lot of that, so canyou dig into?
What does your life look likenow?
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah.
So when I got back from my DTS,I wasn't really sure what I was
going to do and I wasn't reallysure how I can serve the Lord.
I wanted to follow my callingbut when I got back I felt like
(20:19):
I was called into business.
So I started working as asubcontractor, with no real name
or business name or doingbusiness name, and that was in
2019.
In the summer of 2019, I wasonly working like four days a
week because when I got back Ididn't really want to.
(20:42):
I all my life I just worked,worked, worked and I was like
I'm just going to work four daysa week and like Wednesday is my
day off and I'm going to go tothe city of Harrisburg and just
hang out.
So every like every week,wednesday, I would work Monday,
tuesday, wednesday, I had off.
Thursday, friday, I'd workSaturday, sunday at off and then
(21:02):
I would go to the city.
I'd go around, exploredifferent coffee shops,
different shops, and then Iwould look at the real estate
and look at the city and look atkind of like that's kind of
where I eventually was like okay, I want to start a business in
construction and I want to doreal estate, because over that
period of time I was listeningto a lot of books, podcasts,
(21:26):
bigger pockets, and so I startedmy business at Quittable Builds
in I think it was like the fallof 2019, but I started.
I started the LLC to be activefor 1-1-2020, just to be easier
(21:47):
for tax purposes.
And then from there I bought myfirst house and I added value.
So we bought it was distressedproperty and we added value and
then we refinanced and then didanother house, bought another
house and then COVID happenedand then it was a little
interesting, but I was able tomake things work and I was able
(22:12):
to do work for other clients.
I didn't sell a house untilJune or July of 2020.
And so it was a little toughgetting started.
But through COVID, people keptcoming to us and wanting
projects done, and so it justslowly built.
(22:33):
I had slowly clients come to meand we slowly started the brand
.
And now I think you need toestablish a brand.
I think it's important, if youwant to have a business or you
know really any product orbusiness or anything, that you
should brand it well, and sobecause I think it draws
(22:55):
attention to your service oryour product and makes people
want to buy that service orproduct.
Yeah, and how old were you whenyou purchased your first home
product?
And makes people want to buythat service or product.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Yeah, and how old were you when you purchased your
first home?
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I was 19.
So I bought it in December 30thof 2019.
So I was 19 years old.
And then I ended up refinancingit like two months later and
did a cash out refi.
And that was my first propertyI bought.
And I bought it with no moneydown because I just got back
(23:28):
from YWAM and I didn't have anymoney saved up.
So I bought it with no moneydown and was able to do a cash
out refi for like five thousanddollars.
So like that helped me out aswell, because I did that and I
was able to refi it right beforeCOVID happened.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So and then COVID happened and yeah, Wow, and now
you have how many doors.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Right now I have probably about 11 doors.
I sold maybe like six or sevenin the past, like year so and
then, but I did have like I'vehad 17 or 18.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Then I sold a sold off a few, and are these
currently used as a short rental?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
No, they're all long-term.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Long-term.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I did have one short-term but I sold that
property, so they're alllong-term rentals.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
And so where did you originate the name Equitable
Builds?
Where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
So when I was trying to figure out what I want to
name my business, I was like,well, I don't want to use a
generic name that everyone useslike their last name, and then
whatever you do so equitable.
I was like, well, I want to befair, I want to be just, and so
I was like, well, what is a wordthat kind of has multiple
(24:40):
meanings?
And so I came up with equitable.
And then builds came from oneof the YouTube channels that I
was watching a lot of.
It's called the Build Shub,matt Rissinger, from Texas.
He does these amazing buildsand beautiful new construction
(25:01):
homes, and so I was inspired bya show and I said I named uh,
equity.
I put builds behind that arebehind equitable because of that
.
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
So what does your business do?
I know you, you flip homesyourself and invest in real
estate, but this is a wholeseparate thing.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, so we offer our services to other clients as
well.
We don't just do work forourselves, but we do kitchen
remodels, bathroom remodels.
We'll do basement finishes.
We generally like to work withinvestors and provide value to
their investment so they can getthe most return on their
(25:43):
investment.
We'll help landlords havedistressed properties and update
their properties so they canget top dollar rents or get the
most value out of their property.
So that's normally what we tryto focus on.
But we do offer our service toother clients.
But a lot of our clients rightnow have been out-of-state
(26:06):
investors or investors that havean everyday job and don't have
any time or effort and theydon't want to put effort into
picking out fixtures, pickingout the finishes.
So we do that.
But we also do projects forother clients where we're like
recently we replaced all thewindows in someone's house
basement finish.
Wow, you know we had decks,build decks.
(26:28):
We did big additions in thepast.
We built garages in the past.
We also like we built a park inHarrisburg for the city once.
So we do a lot of differenttypes of projects but it really
depends on who's on our team andhow many people we have and
what we're capable of handlingso yeah, and you mentioned
(26:50):
before that you have a vision totransform harrisburg yes can
you speak on that, like wheredid that come from and what?
Speaker 2 (26:56):
why?
Is that one of your whys?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
so during 2020 and 2021, I did a lot of projects in
the city and it kind of startedall because I started spending
some time in the city back in2019.
And as I was buying distressedhouses and adding value and
selling them, a lot of theneighbors were like I was adding
(27:20):
value to the neighbor's housesby fixing up the worst house in
the block, yeah, and so I wastransforming houses and we were
transforming houses and then theneighbors were like, well, you
should buy this house and buythis house and fix this house up
and do this and do this.
And I'm like, well, I can onlydo so much.
But then I was like, over aperiod period of time, it's just
(27:41):
like it grew on me and like Ihave a passion to see like
distressed homes or like really,it would be nice to see the
city like flirt, like the cityof Harrisburg, flourish and be
like, have a lot of um shops andcoffee shops, retail, uh like,
and nice streets to walk downand a lot of like things to do
(28:04):
for the residents yeah and butit's like there's so much, like
there's so much distressed homes, so many people living in
poverty, and it's like but thenpeople are like, well, you're
adding value to homes and you'reincreasing the rents, you're
increasing everything, and allyou're doing is like driving out
the people that can't affordany, like can't afford to start
with, um, but kind of where itcame from, is just like being
(28:29):
surrounded by a lot ofdistressed like homes and, uh,
run down neighborhoods.
That's kind of where that allcame from.
Is like, well, I want to seetransformation happen.
So how can I do that?
Well, I can purchase adistressed home, fix it up and
(28:53):
make it livable so that you cando one house at a time and do
one block at a time.
But it's a lot harder than it'spretty hard to do a bunch of
houses at a time.
Or a bunch of houses on oneblock.
So that's kind of how I waslike I want to renovate and
restore homes throughout thecity and that's kind of our
tagline at Equitable is we arerenovating and restoring homes
(29:16):
in our city.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
That's a pretty awesome mission to be on?
Yeah, because it is.
I mean when you take something,that's a pretty awesome mission
to be on?
Yeah, because it is.
It's I mean when, when you have, when you take something that's
ugly or that's not used to itspotential and you make it into
something that is flourishing it, it kind of can create that
ripple effect and it sounds likethat's what you're creating in
harrisburg, which is pretty coolyeah, yeah, and it's a lot
(29:40):
harder than than I mean.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
It's very hard and sometimes I want to give.
And it's a lot harder than thanI mean it's.
It's very hard and sometimes Iwant to give up because there's
a lot of politics that go withit as well.
Anytime you're transforming,like homes in the city, you know
there's a lot of politics thatgo on with that.
It's like with codes and withpeople, don't?
Some people don't want to seechange happen because it's been
like that for so long.
(30:02):
So it's hard and it's difficultand it's a mission that can
last a long time and it won'thappen in one year.
It won't happen in two years.
It can happen in 10 years.
But it'll take a long time untilyou actually see transformation
(30:22):
.
Until you see a transformedcity, you can start seeing
transformation one house at atime, but there's a lot of homes
in the city, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Do you feel like you growing up Amish, do you feel
like that gave you the hard work, ethic and what are some values
that you feel like thattransferred over into your
adulthood?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
For sure.
I mean I would definitelygrowing up Amish definitely
helped me with my work ethic.
If I wouldn't have grew upAmish, I would probably say I
would not be where I'm at today.
I probably wouldn't have abusiness.
Most likely not, becausethroughout the process of
starting a business there's manya times you want to give up.
(31:09):
There's times you work like whenI first started I was working
from six to 10 or six to nine,you know, every day except for
Saturday and Sunday, and youknow not just that.
Then you have financial stressand there's a lot of other
things that come along withrunning a business, and there's
(31:29):
so many times I wanted to giveup.
But I mean I really was likegiving up was not really an
option because all my life Iworked really hard and I could.
So I was like I'm just going towork really hard and push my
way through every scenario,every problem and never take no
for an answer.
So it's pretty much just likeFor sure growing up Amish has
(31:53):
helped me out.
If I wouldn't have had enoughcourage or drive to keep going,
I would have probably started it, but I might have just gave up.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, I mean, running a business is not for the faint
of heart, right.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
It's not no.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
It looks a lot more essentially appealing than
people think.
It's easy and anybody can run abusiness.
It's not that big of a deal.
But for people who are in it,you know, there's days that it
just feels like can you keepgoing?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
There's a couple different sides of business.
One's doing the work and one'smanaging people and one's
managing your clients, makingsure you have good service or
products.
So there's a lot of differentsides of businesses or of the
business that you have to be apart of.
When you're starting it out,you have to almost wear all the
(32:48):
hats, so it just causes somestuff.
You don't know what you'redoing.
You've never done it, so it'sall a learning experience and
you're trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Yeah, I mean, and you started pretty young in your
business, yeah, and you justcontinued to evolve and grow,
right, it wasn't something thatwas taught to you, you just kind
of learned as you went.
Is that correct?
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So, yeah, I mean, I went to eighth grade education,
that was it.
No high school, a degree, nodiploma.
And I well, I started workingthe construction field when I
was like 14, so early on, and Iwas like the mud boy, so we
would just go around and youknow, take the take, pick up
(33:32):
this, clean up this, grab thisfor this person, take this over
there to that person.
But then when I was 15, 16,when I was 17, I got promoted to
a foreman and then I got introuble with the law and then I
decided to go to YWAM.
(33:53):
So I left pretty much rightafter that.
But I grew up on the farm andthen I started my construction
career off pretty early on, soby the time I left.
I'm a quick learner, so I had adecent amount of experience on
that side.
But I've never ran a businessbefore in my life when I first
(34:15):
started out.
So anything to do, I could dothe work, but anything to the
system in the business, or theway to manage people, or the way
to talk to people, or the wayto sell a product or anything to
run the business, I did notknow and everything was a
learning curve.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, and what was the hardest part for you out of
that?
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Honestly, I don't really know what the hardest
part was.
I mean, there was well, I guessmaybe it's like running
probably the hardest part ismanaging people.
But from when I started it, Ididn't have any people working
for me.
But I would say, like, as timewent on, it was like I was
hiring people and managingpeople and that was the hardest
(35:03):
part, especially as a youngperson, and you're managing
people that are older than youmost times.
So it made it pretty hard anddifficult for me Because I was
also like I was still prettyhard and difficult for me
because I was also like I wasstill pretty young and timid and
didn't really know.
You know, I probably got takenadvantage of a little bit, but
you know, at least I was able toget out of those situations and
(35:25):
come out stronger.
But it's like you have to.
It's tough when you start offyoung.
Yeah, because you're still like, especially growing up Amish
and you had very minimalexperience in the real world and
so, yeah, it was definitelyinteresting.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah, I mean, and working with people is always a
challenge, right, the hiring,the firing, and when you are
young we were also really youngin our business compared to our
competitors and sometimes youjust feel like people don't take
you as seriously because ofyour age and you also, if you
look young and you are young,it's like it's just there's that
level of the age differencethat people may not have the
(36:08):
same respect for you as you'reolder and more experienced.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, for sure yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
I mean, I think too, managing people is always the
hardest part because you'redealing with hiring and firing
people, and if you don't knowinitially how to hire the right
people, then you have tounfortunately let those people
go because if they're not theright fit and for us, I mean,
that was a process that took awhile to also- teach yourself.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Yeah, I'd say that's the hardest thing about actually
running a business, but there'salso different sides of
businesses.
Like I was saying, if you'regoing to be the owner-operator
and do everything, you can dothat, but you're not going to
scale a business that way.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah, yeah, you can't do everything yourself.
Yeah, Absolutely.
I wanted to touch on some ofthese Amish rules too and just
see if there's any myths on someof these.
So with the Amish, they saythat you are not allowed to, you
can't really use photography.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
They can't take pictures of people, can't take
pictures of the Amish?
No, normally not.
They don't want, they don'treally want their well, back in
the day they didn't want to,they didn't want their pictures
taken.
But now people are a littlemore like, okay with it Because
I mean, we're're in a differentcentury almost, and so they've
(37:40):
been okay with it.
But it also depends on whichcommunity you live in If you're
more of a plainer community ormore conservative or more
liberal community.
We didn't care when ourpictures got taken.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Yeah, you're like hey , hey, let me pose here I mean I
wish, I wish I'd have a picture.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I wish I have more pictures of our, my childhood,
but that's one thing we don'thave.
I mean we have very few.
I might have like a handful ofphotos, or two handfuls of
photos of myself between zeroand 13.
Of myself between zero and 13.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So no one has a camera at home?
You wouldn't get photographed?
Where would you get thosepictures?
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Usually for us because we had two businesses.
A lot of people, like theEnglish people, came to our
business and bought stuff andthey would usually connect with
my parents and sometimes theywould come over and hang out
with us and they would offer totake pictures or something like
that.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
That's usually how that happened.
That's interesting.
And then the buggies.
They have to be black.
Why do they have to be black?
Speaker 1 (38:47):
I do not know.
I only drove a buggy until Iwas like 16.
And then I got my license.
And I don't even know why theAmish have certain rules.
I have no idea Some of thosethings.
I'm like why did I do this?
It doesn't make any sense, andyet I did it for 16 years of my
(39:08):
life.
But I was also a kid.
But there's people that areAmish and they have no idea why
they do certain things.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
And they don't think to question it.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Yeah, just like.
Well, we did it for so manyyears and my grandparents did it
, so why would you question it?
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Like I don't know.
So why I mean, or maybe not whyis it true that you are not
allowed to have musicalinstruments?
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Not.
No, I wouldn't say that you canhave musical instruments like
guitars.
It's more common now, butprobably like 30 years ago or 25
years ago it was not as common,but I think it's more common
now so is it true that the amishdon't pay taxes?
Speaker 2 (39:52):
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Speaker 1 (40:31):
That is not true.
So they almost pay double tax,really, yeah, from what I know.
So they send their kids totheir own private school
basically, they have to pay taxto that school.
They also have to pay schooltaxes to the regular schools.
So there's two school taxesthey have to pay and they have
(40:56):
to pay all the other taxes aswell.
Now the only one that you canget out of is social security,
but you have to like that.
I can't really discuss becausethat's kind of off limits.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
I gotcha.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I don't know who's listening to this one we'll
leave that alone.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
When an Amish child is born, are they registered in
the system, like do they have asocial security number?
Speaker 1 (41:22):
well where I grew up.
Yes, all the amish have socialsecurity numbers, birth
certificates, everything, yeahokay then, so do they pay taxes
for the roads.
Yeah, they pay the township tax, the state tax, everything.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
So yeah, I mean real estate tax, which would cut
towards repairs on the roads andstuff like that.
Yes, and would you say theAmish people are fairly well off
financially.
Amish people are fairly welloff financially, or where would
you?
Because there's some peoplethat have this perception that
the Amish are really wealthy andsomething completely opposite.
So I just want to clear that up.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
The Amish are well off because they work hard and
they don't ever take a well,they don't really take a break
and they just like they're overthe top when it comes to like
their work.
They just like work, work, work, save, save, save.
Barely spend any money, packlunches for work, barely ever go
out to eat.
When I was growing up, weprobably went out to eat maybe
(42:29):
20 times a year.
That would be twice a month ormaybe once a month, and the
Amish barely go out to eat.
Well, maybe it's different now,but when I was growing up
that's how it was.
So they save money, they save,save, save and they work hard.
(42:50):
And so a lot of the Amish arepretty well off because they're
very frugal with their money andthey don't just spend it on
anything.
I don't know how it is nowadays, but when I was growing up we
didn't have Amazon.
I mean, I guess Amazon wasn'treally a thing either, but I
don't even know if they wouldhave Amazon now.
(43:10):
I don't know how often they buystuff on Amazon, but I would
say they're well off, and mostof them in certain communities,
and that's because they're smartwith their money.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
Yeah, and do they own a lot of real estate property
as well, a lot of the farms.
Speaker 1 (43:30):
They'll always buy the farms that they live on or
the houses.
It's very rare for them to berenting stuff.
So yeah, they're they're.
Usually they own a lot of realestate.
Um, most times, you know, theyinvest their money into real
estate as well, so they don't.
I don't really know too manypeople.
Well, when I was growing up, Ireally didn't.
(43:51):
I never heard of the stockmarket when I was growing up or
like crypto, which I guesscrypto wasn't really a thing
either.
But I never heard of the stockmarket when I was growing up or
crypto, which I guess cryptowasn't really a thing either.
But I never heard of the stockmarket growing up.
And so, growing up, I don'tthink the Amish really were
dabbling in stock market andstuff like that, but I could be
wrong.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Are they now?
Speaker 1 (44:10):
I think they are more so now than they were back 20
years ago.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah, so essentially, the financial status of an
Amish compared to an averageAmerican, which is more in debt.
They spend more than they makethe average American, right yeah
, statistically Spend more thanthey make.
They take vacations yeah, theyoverspend on Christmas time with
money they don't have on creditcard debt, right yeah.
And versus, the Amish are nottaking the vacations, they
(44:39):
aren't spending, they aren'ttreating themselves to luxuries
or exactly, um, all those things.
So they and what are theyreally saving for, honestly?
Speaker 1 (44:49):
I don't know.
I mean usually, you know, Ithink it.
What I've seen in the past is alot of the older people, as
they pass off or die, they'repassing on their inheritance to
their kids.
But I also don't know how wellthey structure that, for when
(45:09):
they die, your inheritance taxis tremendous nowadays and so I
don't know how they structurethat.
But usually they pass theirfarms and stuff down to their
kids and it seems like the moregenerations, the wealthier the
kids get.
And the kids don't just likewhen they take an inheritance,
they don't spend that money orsplurge.
(45:29):
They might buy investments ormight buy another house, but
they're usually wise with theirmoney.
They're not buying luxury cars,watches, jewelry, bags.
They don't even go out to eat.
Really they don't buy elaborateChristmas gifts.
So I don't know what they'resaving their money for and
(45:51):
honestly, I think it's importantto enjoy life and I could save
save all my life and not get toexperience certain things in
life.
And why did you work so hardand why did you save all that
money?
Yes, to pass it on, but you'vegot to put a lot of trust in the
kids or great-grandkids orwhatever to steward that money
(46:17):
well, or you've got to have theright lawyers and trust funds
and all the things in place tomake sure it gets used well.
But I still think it'simportant to take the vacation
If you can afford it.
Buy elaborate gifts If you canafford it.
It elaborate gifts if you canafford it.
(46:37):
It's like get to enjoy life alittle bit, get to enjoy the
luxuries that life has to offer.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
And are you enjoying your life now, Ezra?
I definitely am yes, that'sgood to hear.
So you're not just working,you're also taking time off,
taking time to enjoy yourselves.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean I do a lot of fun thingsand I think the past two years
I made it more of a habit to dofun things.
So I did a week's snowboardingtrip to Wyoming recently, before
Christmas, and I think it'simportant to, like I enjoy
(47:15):
snowboarding and do things youenjoy and get out and about and
hang out with friends, creatememories, make memories with
friends, because you know Icould die tomorrow and or in two
years.
And why did I save all thatmoney?
For I don't have kids, you know.
So like it goes back to myparents and like you know, so
why not enjoy life while you can?
Speaker 2 (47:36):
absolutely so.
You mentioned that none of yoursiblings are Amish, right, yeah
, and your parents are no longerAmish, just your grandparents
correct and um.
So are you in touch with a lotof ex-Amish people now?
Do you have a community, or doyou tend to kind of have a
mixture of friends and peoplethat you're associated with?
Speaker 1 (47:56):
or in community with um, I don't really I'm not
really in touch with many amishpeople at this point, but it's
like when, like.
So you can always tell whensomeone grew up amish almost
almost, not quite, but andespecially by their last name.
(48:18):
If, for example, if someonewould come up to me, they'd
introduce themselves to me andI'd be like, what's your last
name?
And they would say Stolfus orLap or King, I'd be like, oh so
you grew up Amish.
That's normally some genericAmish last names, but really I
(48:40):
haven't talked to an Amishperson in quite some time.
But also it's weird or funny how, like I can go to the market at
Broad Street Market or like inHarrisburg or West Shore Farmers
Market, and the Amish peoplehave stands there and they'll be
like, did you grow up Amish?
Bish doon, shmokha?
Like, are you a smoker?
Like they can see it in my faceand they just, I don't know,
(49:05):
they kind of know, I don't know,they kind of can tell when you
grew up Amish or like, if you'relike, I guess, if your last
name or your family waswell-known in the area.
So it's interesting that Amishpeople that I've never met, they
would ask me if I grew up Amish.
Speaker 2 (49:24):
Yeah, that is interesting.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
And then they're like oh, we know your parents, your
grandparents, and they're likewho are your parents?
And so things like that.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
Yeah, that's pretty interesting.
Is there anything else you wantto add for people to kind of
know about the Amish communitythat I haven't touched on?
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Not necessarily.
I mean everything is prettyaccurate.
I mean there's stuff out therethat isn't like Amish mafia and
there's certain things thataren't accurate.
But I think it's important ifpeople are curious is to ask
questions to other people.
If you see an Amish personwalking down the street, ask
them a question.
The worst they're going to sayis no.
And I get asked.
(50:06):
Every time someone finds out Igrew up Amish.
They are curious and everyonewants to know was it really true
like this?
And they always.
You know because you hearthings.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Yeah.
So do you think they would bereceptive, like an Amish person
in the street, to being asked aquestion, or are they more?
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Some of them would enjoy it.
Some of them would be likewouldn't answer your question.
Some of them would gladly takean interview with you, you know,
if you'd be walking down thestreet and you would, you know,
gladly take an interview withyou If you'd be walking down the
street and you would want tointerview somebody.
Some of them might be like, no,put it out, but some of them
would love the attention.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Yeah, that's really interesting, and what would you
say is the bravest thing thatEzra's ever done.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
Probably starting my business at 19 years old with no
experience, no finance degree,no business degree, no, nothing,
no degree whatsoever, with nomoney, starting a business and
growing it from nothing to whatit is now.
(51:16):
On a brand, I would say, that'syou know.
I see the brand and I see thetrucks go down the road.
It brings me joy, like I seethat and I'm like, oh, I started
that when I was 19.
And you know, everything waslike, I would say, the name, the
logo, the brand was allinspired by God and like you
know it, and he did it throughme, and so I see that and I'm
(51:42):
like it's like wow.
Speaker 2 (51:46):
What would you say is the?
Speaker 1 (51:47):
best advice that someone gave you that, I would
say, is surround yourself withpeople that have accomplished a
lot of amazing things.
So you know how they say youbecome the top five people you
spend the most time with.
So I think that has been themost valuable.
(52:09):
I don't know if someone told methis or if I heard it on a
podcast, or if I read it in abook or where I heard it, but I
think a lot of people say this,but you become the top five
people you spend the most timewith.
Surround yourself with peoplethat are achieving a lot in life
or are very successful, and Ithink that will take you a long
(52:31):
way just by surrounding yourselfwith people like that.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean I'veinterviewed so many different
people you a long way just justby surrounding yourself with
people like that?
Speaker 2 (52:35):
yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I've interviewed somany different people and they a
lot of the people who aresuccessful, um say the same
thing that's the fastest way toget to where you want to go is
to be around the people who arealready there.
Right, exactly, and it's likeyou can.
You can read a book, you canlearn about stuff, but when you
get around people who are whereyou're going or where you're
(52:55):
striving to be, that canexpedite your process so much
quicker.
And you never want to be themost successful, the smartest
person in the room, because itjust means you're probably in
the wrong room.
Then you know you're notlearning if, if you capped out,
yeah, of of your circle.
So I love that and I think thatyou have a bright future ahead
of you.
I feel like like you're justgetting started.
You know you're still in yourtwenties, right?
Speaker 1 (53:18):
Yeah, I'm 24.
Speaker 2 (53:19):
Wow, okay, that's amazing.
And what would you say arethree pivotal books that you
read that were transformativefor you?
Speaker 1 (53:27):
So my number one book would have been Rich Dad, poor
Dad, because that was like bookwould have been Rich Dad, poor
Dad, because that was really thefirst book I probably read when
I first started my business andthat concept I remember clear
as day.
I was working on the roof, Iwas listening to an audiobook.
(53:48):
While I was on the roof workingdoing a roof job, it was like
100 degrees outside and we wereon this 8-12 pitch roof, so it's
kind of a steep roof.
And I was like 100 degreesoutside and we were on this 8-12
pitch roof, so it's kind of asteep roof, and I was roofing
away and I was listening to thisbook and I'm like how can I
implement this book in my liferight now?
Speaker 2 (54:05):
And I was like well.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
I'm out here working my butt off.
And so that was one Rich Dad,poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki,
and then the other one is theCompound Effect by Darren Hardy.
That was a really good book aswell.
And then the other one is Isyour Thinking Keeping you Poor?
By Douglas Kruger.
(54:25):
I think it is.
So those are my top three booksthat probably had a lot to do
with kind of, I guess, giving meinsight on business and just
affecting my mind or having mymind shift or my mind changed
(54:48):
into the compound effect andrich dad, poor dad, between.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
So yeah, yeah, those are great books.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
And what are you currently excited about?
What is in the future thatyou're looking forward to
working towards?
Speaker 1 (55:03):
Right now.
I mean there's a lot of.
You know, every day is a goodday, Every day is an exciting
day and I love what I do and Iwouldn't want to trade it for
anything.
Really, I don't think, I mean II even if I would be like, if I
could retire and be like I'mjust gonna sit on the beach all
day, I would get bored and tiredand I would probably do
something.
(55:23):
Um.
So, with that being said, Ithink it's just, you know the, I
love the process of life andthat's what I'm like, that's
exciting.
So, like you know, there'sdifferent steps in.
You know, hopefully one day Ihave kids and so, like I look
forward to that and, you know,just creating memories with
(55:45):
other people.
And so yeah, I'd say, it's justjust as long as you enjoy what
you do, like you know, like, ifyou have maybe goals or things
you look forward to, but youknow life can change so quickly,
though, and so I think you knowI could have an idea of what I
want, what I want to do in 10years, or you know.
(56:05):
So I think it's just enjoyingthe moment.
Speaker 2 (56:10):
Being present enjoying the process?
Speaker 1 (56:11):
Yeah, for sure enjoying the process.
Speaker 2 (56:13):
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I think.
Also, retiring is somethingthat statistically has been
proven that when people retirethey tend to die a lot quicker
shortly after their retirement,because you lose your sense of
purpose and meaning.
And if the work that you'vebeen doing has given you a sense
of purpose, meaning joy, areason to get up in the morning,
when you lose that, people tendto just stop growing, they're
(56:34):
stale and their health declines.
So it's really interesting.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
I will say there's days in business that you're
like this day does suck or this.
You don't look forward to thisor this, but there's always
something.
There's always a bright side tothat.
One is you're going to grow inyour character.
You're going to learn something.
If it's challenging or if it'slike I don't like this, figure
out how I can outsource this orhave someone else do this that
(57:01):
you don't enjoy.
But yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (57:05):
I love what Brittany Turner said.
She's also an investor, she wasin the podcast, she's got an
island on Virgin Islands anddoes retreats there, and she
said that an obstacle is anopportunity for expansion.
So anytime you face a challenge, just look at it as this is
giving you an opportunity toexpand, Expand your worldview,
(57:27):
expand, grow you in certainareas, like you said.
So it's like, if we look at itlike that, we don't look at a
challenge as like man.
This sucks.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
Yeah, for sure.
No, I mean the challenge willwill develop or give you it will
give you you know, build yourcharacter and you'll learn a lot
and it'll be worth it at theend absolutely, and we also
learn most from our failuresthan we do from successes.
Speaker 2 (57:51):
So exactly well, ezra , thank you so much for being in
the podcast.
It's an honor to hear yourstory and I'm sure it's going to
encourage people, and thank youso much for your time.
Speaker 1 (58:01):
You're welcome, Sveka .
Thank you for having meAppreciate it.
Speaker 2 (58:04):
Thank you for listening to the Once we Dare
podcast.
It is an honor to share theseencouraging stories with you.
If you enjoy the show, I wouldlove for you to tell your
friends.
Leave us a reviewer rating andsubscribe to wherever you listen
to podcasts, because this helpsothers discover the show.
(58:24):
You can find me on my website,speckhopoffcom.
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