March 5, 2024 • 41 mins
In honor of Women in Construction Week, we're thrilled to present a special episode of The Builder Upper Show featuring a remarkable women leader in construction, Gloria Marie Fuentes!
A third-generation entrepreneur with over a decade of real estate experience, Gloria is not just a builder but a trailblazer. Founder of GloJoy Co, she's actively shaping the legacy of her company and contributing to positive change in the construction sector.
In this episode, Gloria shares her incredible journey in the construction industry, breaking away from the corporate world to make her mark. As a tech enthusiast at heart, Gloria dives into the power of technology in construction. She reveals how she's leveraging software solutions to automate workflows and revolutionize operations at GloJoy.
From breaking barriers to redefining industry standards, Gloria's insights are sure to empower and inspire!
A third-generation entrepreneur with over a decade of real estate experience, Gloria is not just a builder but a trailblazer. Founder of GloJoy Co, she's actively shaping the legacy of her company and contributing to positive change in the construction sector.
In this episode, Gloria shares her incredible journey in the construction industry, breaking away from the corporate world to make her mark. As a tech enthusiast at heart, Gloria dives into the power of technology in construction. She reveals how she's leveraging software solutions to automate workflows and revolutionize operations at GloJoy.
From breaking barriers to redefining industry standards, Gloria's insights are sure to empower and inspire!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the special edition for Womenin Construction, Episode six. If you're
new, Amlu your host of TheBuilder Upper Show, a podcast where we
talk about everything in construction and trades. I would like to introduce our co
host, Meghan, a former constructionowner. I'll be dropping off and I
hope you all enjoy the show.I would like to welcome our guest,
(00:28):
Gloria Marie Fuentes, owner of glowJoy, a commercial and residential construction company.
Gloria, how are you today?I'm awesome. How are you,
Meghan? I'm doing great. Thankyou so much for asking. Tell me
a little bit about your story.What inspired you to be an owner?
Well, it just kind of happened. If I have to be honest,
(00:53):
I did not end up dreaming upa construction company or as a little girl
thinking I was going to be anowner of any type of company, or
have any dreams or aspirations of beingan entrepreneur. It just happened organically,
I think, and spiritually. Youknow, it's perhaps what God wanted for
(01:19):
me. So I'm going with theflow now instead of fighting, as I
have most of my life to havethat perfect life, perfect career and check
every box that society said. Ihad to check because because I love that,
I love that, I have tosay that I share the same and
(01:42):
that I am just going with theflow in whatever God has and just wherever
that leads you. Sometimes you neverknow, but to be open to new
experiences and to follow that, Ithink is amazing. So that's a wonderful
story. I thank you so muchfor being open to sharing that. I
guess then I would ask you,when did you actually get into construction?
Yeah, so that's actually a greatquestion, and the answer is is I've
(02:07):
always been in construction. My familycomes from the oil and gas I guess
field. And you know, whileI have no idea what their actual roles
were, they wore those jumpsuits,you know, the coveralls, and they
were greasy. And my grandmother taughtme all sorts of tricks with lysol to
(02:30):
get stains out of clothes the cabinetsand yeahs and glue and adhesive whatever.
Right, And so you know,my father we grew up in Aruba,
and I saw my uncle also buildhouses on other islands that we grew up
(02:53):
on, and they were the housesand still are some that our family.
So you know, I think I'vebeen in and around construction my whole life,
from the supply side business the blinds. I think most people who have
heard me talk on other podcasts oreven on my own show, know that,
(03:15):
you know, our family has owneda business on the supply side of
construction with window treatments, blinds,you know, alls, and you know,
screen doors and things that you needin the Caribbean, which where from.
That's awesome. So you know,construction's been a part of my life
(03:38):
for ever. And now fast forwardto having my own construction business. I've
had this business officially for a coupleof years actually, and it started part
time in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, while I still had a full time
job, and I was actually juststarting with real estate and small multi family
(04:03):
buildings and then just kind of scaledfrom there and it started with my own
projects and or projects within my network, and you know, just kind of
has evolved. I was actually inTexas at the time I relocated to New
York and have been in New Yorkfor a handful of years doing this full
(04:26):
time. Now that's awesome, allright, good for you, and good
for you for I guess just seeingthat window opening and kind of climbing through
it. That's awesome to be ableto have a full time business, cut
job really and then still be ableto get something off the ground. So
good for you. I guess thenthat would be what gets you excited about
(04:46):
the work that you do, isit's kind of just been something you've been
in your whole life. You alreadyhad a passion for it. Yeah,
So I think all of the rolesthat I've always had have kind of led
up to this, right. Youknow, we're talking about what path you
know, God has for us alittle bit earlier, and so whether we
(05:09):
fought the journey along the way andwhere we landed was used to propel us
to where we needed to be,or whether that was part of the plan
all along? Who cares right?Right, Like, that's semantics. I
get it to get there, right, as long as you get there,
(05:30):
as long as you get there.The fact is is that every single role
that I've had to date has reallyled to UH boots on the ground training
Yes, Yeah, to be themost amazing construction management company that we could
possibly be. Because we have abackground in finance, we have a background
(05:54):
in real estate development, real estateinvesting, fixing flipping, whether it's fixing
and flipping a two family or fixinga flipping flipping you know, two hundred
units. Honestly, guys, it'sthe same thing. And I could talk
to an investor about that. Yougot to make a scope of worklist and
we got to work it out.We've got to have a budget, and
we have to have a timeline anda schedule. And yes, it's the
(06:17):
same thing from a construction management point, and yes there's a lot more to
do and a lot more things thatwe have to check, a lot more
insurance and whatever that's involved, butultimately, the construction process is the same.
And so you know, having theability to speak with different different languages
(06:40):
with my investors, my clientele,and or the businesses that we serve because
we do a lot of work inthe retail space is really really helpful.
I love that. So then thatwill leave me to my next question,
and it's definitely in your opinion.What are some of the unique time contributions
that your company specifically brings to theconstruction industry. Wow, okay, that's
(07:09):
a I know you mentioned a littlebit about like the different languages you speak,
and I mean that's actually a firstfor me in interviewing somebody where you
know, you said, we aretalking in different languages or whatever to the
people that we serve or the companiesthat we serve. So I'm actually a
little bit intrigued to hear a littlebit more about what makes your company truly
(07:30):
unique. So first and foremost,I think that, like you said,
this is in my opinion, andit's what sets us apart from other companies
or maybe other companies doing things verysimilar to us that I don't know about.
So you know, I'm not sayingthat we're the only people out here
doing things this way, and Iwill start with that disclaimer, right because
(07:55):
shout out to everybody else doing itwith you exactly. So, yeah,
we have learned to embrace technology asa part of our business. In fact,
technology plays a huge role in howwe run our business, in how
(08:16):
we view analytics, in how wemake decisions, even down to how I
estimate projects. Okay, so youknow, I know that the construction industry
has been doing things a certain wayfor a really long time, and there's
a lot of people that pride themselvesin that, and woho, kudos to
(08:37):
you. And we have some ofthose people on our team, and I
think a marriage of how we've beendoing things you know, forever okay,
and things that have worked and youknow, we know work and serve the
industry well need to stick around,and then bringing in fresh ideas and technology
(09:00):
to help, you know, propelthe industry to you know, a whole
new level and help catapult us toa place where we're not sitting here complaining
about jobs that we can't fill,Like why don't we just figure out how
to leverage technology so that we can, with the same amount of people we
already have in the construction industry,you know, be able to make do
(09:24):
with what we got. You know, maybe maybe we need to be a
little bit more open minded as anindustry. So it's something that I speak
about often. And when I talkabout technology, I'm talking about software,
y'all. Like I'm not even talkingabout a robot, a robot out in
the field, okay, because we'renot there yet. Although some really cool
(09:48):
machines and stuff that will you know, spray and skin coat drywall, and
you know that dust is disgusting andit is we don't need. We don't
need he means breathing any of thatstuff in. I run a drywall crew
and a painting crew, and youknow, I'm constantly thinking of ways of
how do we keep our employees healthy, right, and buy employees I mean
(10:13):
me right, subcontractors, you know, admins, you know, anybody,
the people who are driving the materialsto and from site. It doesn't have
to necessarily be people that are withinmy company. That's why we called it
glow Joy Companies because the companies arereally all the other companies that we work
(10:39):
with that okay, they're the tradepartners as some of the other Primes have
adopted as a phrase, and youknow, truly making them a partner within
our business because they get to stillrock their brand, but work with us
and collaborate with us to get projectsdone. I love that. And the
(11:03):
middle of your answer there honestly perfectlysegued into my next question of how do
you prioritize safety and create a positivework environment for your employees? And then
I guess I can add the companiesaround you. Yeah, so that is
actually I think priority number one forme and one of the main reasons why
(11:24):
I wanted to have a construction managementcompany of my own and really be able
to run my own job sites,the way that I wanted to run the
job sites. You know, it'sa part of what inspired having a business
in the first place. Traditionally,people out in the field are not very
(11:48):
clean. They will do dumbsh toget the job done, okay, and
it comes from top bottom. Okay. So now going to talk about the
project managers, which is us,right and the people at the top,
who are you know, barking rightputting these people to do this dumb ish
(12:11):
okay. So everybody plays a rolein safety, including the client, the
people in the office, the projectmanagers, the suppliers with the delays,
delivery drivers with their bs excuses aboutyou know, a tire that went out
for the sixth time this week,when really you're just lazy and you don't
(12:31):
want to come out or whatever.Right, everybody has their stuff, and
so I say that to say that, you know, collaboration is the key
to safety. Communication is the keyto safety, and understanding what is happening
with the field, the middle officeand everybody around is how we keep job
(12:54):
sites safe. Okay. For us, nobody on our side can come on
our site without insurance because they're alltrade partners and subcontractors, So that's number
one. I feel like if peoplecarry their own insurance, then you know,
they hold a better sense of responsibilitybecause they have to pay for that
(13:15):
right with the insurance. We alsohave OSHA certified tradesmen and women. That
is a requirement by the State ofNew York. That's not something that we
came up with, but really it'sa mandate by the state. So everybody
on our job sites has their requiredOSHA training because that's what New York said,
(13:35):
and we don't cut corners, right. And then the other thing is
just having a good well laid outweekly plan or task plan, daily task
plan for the workers out in thefield is key because that way we understand,
okay, well, if we havetwo people scheduled in this area,
(13:58):
you know today, maybe it's notgreat to have the electrician and the plumber
work in the same space on thesame day, right, you know,
one's going to be on a ladderup here and the other one's going to
be right beneath him, you know, doing something else, depending on how
the job is. So maybe weneed to like move some things around from
a safety perspective, right, Butif people don't think that way, or
(14:22):
they don't map out their projects thatway, then how are they going to
know? And then you've got projectmanagement or the office barking on, well
why didn't this get done? Youknow? And then the super is out
in the field, like, well, Gloria said this had to be checked
off, you know, in theproject management software by Thursday. But meanwhile
(14:43):
Gloria hasn't been out in the fieldfor three weeks and doesn't know what the
field conditions are like. So safetyis everybody's job. And that's effectively what
I'm trying to say in this superlong winded response. No, I love
it. I think that was anamazing response. That comes down to organization
and prioritizing, and you did verywell to explain that for me. I
(15:05):
would love to know too. Ifthere is anything that you do know today
that maybe you didn't know when youstarted, that you wish you would have
everything answer that question. Literally,everything I know today I wish I knew
when I first started, which iswhy I go out of my way to
(15:28):
try to help support and encourage asmany people as possible when they come at
me with questions. Right truly inspiredby a group of young kids that won
you know, the International Builder Show. I just came from there out in
Las Vegas award for you know,the custom home that they had built,
and I forgot what award they want, but who cares? They want it
(15:54):
when they want it. And theiryoung college kids out of all the kids
in the entire country that competed,that won this award, and they were
super excited about doing construction and beinga part of the construction industry. And
that's all I cared about because therewas like fifteen of them. So that's
(16:14):
awesome. It's becoming generation we needthat it was going to take over,
right who was going to take overexactly? So for me, you know
when young minds or other young entrepreneurs, because I find myself a young entrepreneur
or quote unquote just moving out ofthis startup phase. You know, with
(16:36):
my company, you're still very muchwithin a startup phase and kind of transitioning
out of that. I tell themI'm an open book and they can reach
out to me with anything. Soa few things that I think are really
key would be to implement software asearly as possible and don't be cheap,
(16:57):
because implementing that from the get gowill actually save you money, and more
importantly, it will save you timeon training when you do decide to bring
people on board. One of thebiggest issues that folks have with technology and
software is the implementation process. Thenyou have people in an office who have
(17:21):
been doing things for a really longtime, whether it's in construction, banking,
which is another industry where I've implementedsoftware, or real estate whatever,
it's really hard to get people toadopt something new, okay, and it
takes time. So you will geta lot of resistance from some folks,
(17:42):
if not a lot of the folks, depending on the company culture, and
then it creates tension and people thensometimes don't even like their job because they're
like, oh, I have tolearn this new thing. So if you
implement software early in the business,regardless of what it costs, knowing the
(18:03):
value will actually save you a lotof money in the end. Yeah.
Look like a construction project, right, If you don't have a full scope
of work or a full set ofplants at the very very beginning of the
project and you're trying to design thingsalong the way, it's going to cost
delays, it's going to cost andlabor it might cost in doing things two
or three times. So do itnow, like rip the band aid,
(18:29):
like just you know, just doit, and just do it exactly.
So that's one, and then theother thing is higher, faster. You
know, I thought I needed todo everything myself to save money, or
that it was just easier from aquality assurance space. And you know,
while I love to be the personthat's out on the tools or out in
(18:51):
the field even with the tablet,checking things off as a construction man,
maybe that's not the best role forme as a business owner. And I
needed to accept that and let itgo. And also understanding that as you
make more money, you do hatea new tax bracket and it sucks.
(19:11):
It sucks. Got to eat itbecause otherwise, you know, you're just
stuck in this list. And soyou know, just just do it,
just do it, just rip theband aid off. In those things,
and I think those are the threethings that really resonate the most with me.
(19:33):
I love that What are some ofthe challenges then that you have faced
and how did you get through it? I mean, any small answer to
that one right coming up? AndI've ever actually faced challenges, No,
of course, you know, sochallenges I faced, I think one of
(19:53):
the biggest ones is cash flow.You know, construction. We don't like
to talk abo about money, butit's the big elephant in the room,
and access to capital. Access tomoney and capital is really, really,
really important for construction, you knowcompanies, And so we chose construction management
(20:15):
versus self performing because that means that, you know, the cash flow of
having to meet payroll, you know, every Friday is or every other friday,
or however people you know do theirpayrolls is not as I don't have
that pressure, right like paying myselfand my subs or vendors. And they're
(20:41):
on a net thirty, and wecan have conversations about whether the client decided
to pay their bill or the prime, you know, because some people work
for a prime and you know wedo too, they'll say net thirty,
it'll be sixty seventy eighty ninety daysfor a mom and pop company that can
make or break you. During thepandemic, we saw a lot of companies
(21:03):
closing down because they didn't have themoney to meet payroll and they wanted to
keep their workers but they couldn't.And you know, some of those people
then turned around and started their ownbusinesses and good for them, you know,
and some just went out of business, and so cash flow, you
know, we have not been immuneto that and we do well, right,
(21:29):
But in the very very early days, I mean, there were days
where I would like stay up atnight being like, oh man, I
really hope that checks in the mailtomorrow, or like, I guess I'm
going to have to like do this, this and this myself so I can
like, you know, pay Billyto stay afloat and blah blah blah.
(21:53):
And I get like tears in myeyes talking about this, because these are
real things. These are real problemsthat small companies have, and so I'm
very grateful that I don't have thatproblem anymore, you know. Uh,
And hiring a coach really on isanother thing that I think, you know,
(22:15):
people don't talk about so understanding thatit's okay for you not to know
everything about business or accounting or bookkeeping, you know, and or how to
estimate jobs. And I think itreally boils down to that, you know,
we weren't we weren't billing enough forour incredible services, and I just
I didn't even know that, soright, right, you know, had
(22:38):
I been billing enough and not underunderestimating jobs or undercutting myself because I thought
I needed to get my foot inthe door, or because that's what somebody
told me I had to do aswoman minority, whatever I did, And
so now we do charge what weneed to be charging, and so we
(23:02):
don't have these problems. But justbeing okay with not knowing what you don't
know and learning along the way,for sure. So that's probably was one
of the biggest lessons I had tolearn. Insurance is another thing, you
know, setting enough money aside onyour jobs for insurance and knowing how much
(23:23):
of a percentage you need to markup on jobs to you know, cover
your insurance for jobs and making surethat you have all the right insurance and
then some you know, yes,yeah, is really really really important and
you know, we have no lostruns, thank god, and knock on
(23:45):
wood, never will because try tokeep safe job sites and communication, but
really important to make sure that youare insured up. Yes, no,
I love that, and your compassionfor those who might still potentially be in
the situations that you've already found yourway out of is very refreshing. So
(24:07):
I do love your insight on that. A fun question though, is how
do you actually have fun with yourconstruction crew? Okay, so no,
well, music is everything? Yes, oh my gosh, yes, yeah,
so music is everything. So youknow, for me, I grew
(24:27):
up dancing. I grew up ina family where on Saturdays and Sundays we'd
play really loud music while we didthe chores around the house, and you
know, took dance breaks occasionally,and or you know, just stopped to
enjoy a song. So I thinkhaving that ability to allow people to enjoy
(24:52):
whatever music they want to listen toon the job site. You know,
if there's multiple people, go aheadand pop your headphones in. I know
there are some job sites that don'tallow headphones on the job site, and
I think that that's perfectly fair dependingon the job, depending on the role
and what safety rules are in place, especially if you're out in the field,
(25:15):
right you're on ten foot scaffold,fair enough, But for certain roles
it's okay for people to plug inheadphones listen to their music, or listen
to a podcast or audiobook, etc. So, yeah, music is really
important, and so I think thatthat's how we have fun on our job
(25:36):
sites is by enjoying good music.But I would have to agree bad appreciation
for it. Yeah, I wouldagree. I am a mother of two
and I do the same thing.We have a system and I crank up
the music loud, especially during shortdays, and several dance breaks end up
with the three of us jumping upon the couch and just going a little
(25:56):
nutty. And it's always been fun. And I've definitely incorporate that just even
in the virtual aspect myself, myboss, we have music playing all the
time for our whole sales team oranybody to enjoy in the company, whether
it's executives or co founders doesn't matter. So definitely something I promote is music.
So I love that. So youdid speak a little bit about the
(26:19):
recruiting aspect and making hiring easier.I guess I would love to know how
do you recruit new workers today andare you still finding it kind of challenging?
Yes and yes, so yes toboth. And I'll start with the
first part of your question, whichis always be recruiting. Okay, So,
(26:45):
if I'm at a coffee shop andI see a young person who has
or somebody who maybe it looks likethey've been transitioning careers or a mom that's
just coming back to work, maybepart time, is not always young folks
that were recruiting into the industry.I will just talk to them and learn
(27:07):
what they're passionate about. And anybodythat I see doing any type of trade
work, I'm always curious as tohow they got into that trade or how
they got into that job. Andtalk a little bit about construction and how
much money we can make in construction. And I think money talks, and
so it talks about much some time, but it definitely talks. I think
(27:30):
money talks. And you know,we are in an age right now where
the cost of living is expensive.So for a single mom who is working
at a retail shop who maybe doesn'tappreciate her because it's a big corporate company
and isn't yeah enough, maybe ajob at a construction company is better with
(27:52):
a seven am to three pm flexibleschedule or two pm schedule, you know.
Or maybe for somebody like myself whowent to corporate because that's what I
thought I had to do and wastold to do to only later find out
that I much rather be out inthe field than doing things in construction and
(28:14):
going to trade shows and whatever.Up your skills right exactly, So always
be in recruiting mode and also lookat local community programs that you could partner
with and or collaborate with to helphire people from your local community to work
(28:38):
with you. So for us,we work with a lot of subcontractors,
you know, other painters, otherdrywallers, flooring companies, you know,
framers, windows, suppliers, whatever. So we're always looking for opportunities to
meet new folks within our community thatown business is and or provide opportunities for
(29:03):
those folks to collaborate with us onprojects and see where it goes. The
more people we can work with,the more projects we can take. Yep,
that's exactly right. That's exactly right. Awesome. And then I know
you were speaking about technology as well, and you gave just a little bit
of insight on that. Do youmind kind of diving just a little bit
(29:23):
deeper. I don't know how muchof it you covered on how you're leveraging
technology in your business today. No, this is a great question. And
okay, you know I try notto geek out when I'm talking about technology.
We have a whole Florida geek outas much as you want right now,
that's all you Yeah, yeah,but you know, we leverage technology
(29:45):
in that we are able to takemore jobs because we use technology for everything.
So we have a project management softwarethat we use and that we have
been using for I think a littlebit over a year now, but we
had other project management softwares before then, and or project management systems before then.
(30:08):
That's why, you know, Ijust say use technology, whatever that
means to you. But you know, I got really sick and tired of
having to comb through emails for RFIsokay, to email or text message to
the architect or engineer for the latestset of plants okay, and all the
(30:30):
I see your pain, all thepains that people have in a construction project
when we're trying to get things doneand move the needle quickly. So having
come from a background in real estateas well as banking, where we utilize
ERP systems, you know, torun the business. Because we're talking about
(30:52):
large corporations with you know, thousandsof people, not hundreds, not you
know, twenty or ten or fivelike us, right, they're using these
systems. So when I was thinkingof I want to be a big company
without being a big company, andhow can I do that. Trying to
(31:14):
find a good ERP type system withinthe construction industry was really important to me.
Yes, and unfortunately it doesn't existstill, and we've found one that's
pretty close and has some awesome integrations, and so we're sticking with that one.
And you know, also using othersolutions for you know, HR or
(31:38):
for bookkeeping or you know, otherthings that are not within this platform.
And I'm being really careful to belike brand agnostic here. You're doing amazing,
yeah, doing really good. Butyou know, we we kignize that
(32:00):
it saves us so much time ifwe can upload a set of plans to
a piece of software that's going tohelp us measure out the linear footage or
the area or square footage of ayou know project, versus taking the plans,
sending them to print, you know, highlighting everything, bubbling it up,
(32:22):
checking the scales, or doing iton a TV or computer. Right,
Like that's just I mean, it'sgreat because we need to learn and
know how to do it this way. But there's programs that do this stuff
for us now, guys, yes, you know, and we're using a
program where our our software, theone that we use, like people will
log in to any of our website, our link and bio whatever, and
(32:47):
it says, you know, tellus about your construction project. It's a
quick questionnaire and that loops straight intoour CRM. That then creates a lead
that then gets assigned to somebody thatthen follows up with the person, sets
up an appointment, sets up acall, Everything is logged within the system.
We put in notes, Well mightyou know, pitch the deal to
(33:10):
somebody else because they're the expert insaid niche. And you know, maybe
this person that answered the lead isn'tit doesn't have the experience to handle this
account, you know. So.And I say that because I'm thinking like
a big company, because I wantto eventually grow this to a much larger
(33:32):
company where we do have a fullsalesforce that can do that. But yeah,
there's two of us or three ofus looking at leads, depending on
what it is. If it's atech lead, it goes to one person
because we have the glow Joy technologiesand smart building science and reculing of data
centers and things like that. Andthen we have just the general construction and
(33:54):
we've got residential and commercial. Soif it's residential, it goes to one
person it's commerce, it goes tosomebody else and that's typically me, and
you know that's how we divide upthe leads, right, But people get
taken care of once we send outan estimate. We do it within the
project management system. If they sign, it automatically converts it to a job.
(34:17):
All those communications are now in here. We don't have to go for
the contract or all the photos orwhatever else. So everything is already in
and then now yeah, now wecan start to set up a schedule.
We can start to set up youknow, selections for any finishes or any
submittals that are required for the project, even if that selection means hiring a
(34:44):
subcontractor right, right, we canlike start with the pre construction phase and
move that project along all the waythrough the end, including all the bookkeeping
and everything that is involved with theproject because it all integrates so nicely with
quick but which is what pretty mucheverybody uses these days in construction for now
(35:06):
until other platforms have started to comeout, right, so there, and
there's other integrations that are available,so I think that also partnering with the
software companies, a lot of themare smaller Silicon Valley companies. They're also
mom and pops and they recognize thatthe construction industry needs this stuff. Maybe
(35:29):
they maybe they don't know what theydon't know about the field. And so
this is how we can all worktogether to you know, make these solutions
better. And folks in the constructionindustry need to understand, or folks in
general need to understand that no constructionproject management or any software is going to
(35:51):
be perfect, okay, and yeah, and just like no construction project is
going to be perfect. So communication, communication, communication. Don't just throw
a piece of software away because itdoesn't have everything perfect. Talk to people
who create the software, or youraccount managers. Hopefully your your software comes
(36:14):
with an account manager hopefully right,and yeah, somebody that you can communicate
with on a regular basis, soyou know, for us, it's down
to like two pieces of software.Yeah, and one is for project management
and one is for operations of theactual business itself, okay, and managing
(36:34):
our money. And for us,we're grateful that they integrate together so we
have everything in one place. Makesthings so much easier, so much easier.
We still use email, I stilluse regular old dinosaur file. I
love it, I love it.We still use text messages and WhatsApp,
so you know, we do alittle bit of everything. But there really
(37:00):
has allowed me to grow the businessin a way where not everybody needs to
be in New York. So Idoes stay New York pricing for everything,
everything, everything, you know.And also it allows me to have streamline
processes where I don't need as manypeople sitting in an office like ten or
(37:22):
fifteen people to do yeah, withthree to four people, right right,
No, that and it gives youthe opportunity to have more of a balance,
right correct, So yeah, No, I love that. I love
that. You've been amazing. Beforewe wrap up, though, I do
have one final question, and thatis just really more of a shout out.
You've given so many good insights,and you've even spoken to the industry
(37:45):
as a whole with you know,tips and just kind of what to do
what not to do is But Ithink I would love to know if you
have like something inspiration or just anythingthat you would like to tell any entrepreneur
who would want to join the constructionindustry if you could just leave them with
like a star thing, what wouldwhat would it be? What would you
(38:06):
say, just start, just startthat start and find your tribe along the
way, and where you started maynot be where you end up in the
end. You know, I startedin the residential space thinking I was going
(38:28):
to be you know, fixing andflipping and investing and doing my own things
because I have such a passion forreal estate, and then later found out
that really I need to be workingwith businesses. I am a business owner
through and through and helping business ownersand retail owners propel to grow multiple locations.
(38:51):
Right, So a lot of thebusinesses that we're working with will start
with one location or already have multiplelocations, and they grow with low joy.
And you know, that's really whatwe want to do. We want
to grow with other small businesses,and we help other small businesses grow.
So, you know, as females, we have a tendency to want to
(39:15):
make sure that we check every boxon a job, job description, or
you know, have everything figured outbefore we start, whereas the male mind,
and this is hr reports out there. I'm not making this stuff up,
guys. You can look up theanalytics and it is true a male
(39:39):
sees that they meet about sixty orseventy percent of the qualifications. I don't
know what it is in a jobdescription, they'll just apply for it and
they're confident that they'll figure out therest along the way. So we all
need to have that mindset. Ilove that that mindset. We all need
(40:00):
to just go for it and figureit out along the way and the lessons
will again help us just get better. And yeah, so that's that's my
last tidbit to any entrepreneur. Anyindustry doesn't have to just be construction.
It could be launching a product,it could be you know, joining the
construction industry, transitioning to the constructionindustry. It could be trucking, it
(40:24):
could be farming, it could beanything. Just just do it, Just
do it, Just do it.I love that. No, that was
great. So then where can peoplefind your business? We are at glowjoy
dot co on all platforms and that'sg l o joy dot co on all
(40:47):
platforms, and that also happens tobe our website url. So pretty easy.
Perfect. Well, thank you Gloriaso much for being a guest on
the show. Please everyone like,subscribe, comment and share the Builder Upper
show with anyone in the construction industryand we will see you next time.
(41:15):
If you're a construction contractor and wouldlike to appear as a guest on our
podcast. Write us an email.It's Lou at lumberfi dot com.
Welcome to the special edition for Womenin Construction, Episode six. If you're
new, Amlu your host of TheBuilder Upper Show, a podcast where we
talk about everything in construction and trades. I would like to introduce our co
host, Meghan, a former constructionowner. I'll be dropping off and I
hope you all enjoy the show.I would like to welcome our guest,
(00:28):
Gloria Marie Fuentes, owner of glowJoy, a commercial and residential construction company.
Gloria, how are you today?I'm awesome. How are you,
Meghan? I'm doing great. Thankyou so much for asking. Tell me
a little bit about your story.What inspired you to be an owner?
Well, it just kind of happened. If I have to be honest,
(00:53):
I did not end up dreaming upa construction company or as a little girl
thinking I was going to be anowner of any type of company, or
have any dreams or aspirations of beingan entrepreneur. It just happened organically,
I think, and spiritually. Youknow, it's perhaps what God wanted for
(01:19):
me. So I'm going with theflow now instead of fighting, as I
have most of my life to havethat perfect life, perfect career and check
every box that society said. Ihad to check because because I love that,
I love that, I have tosay that I share the same and
(01:42):
that I am just going with theflow in whatever God has and just wherever
that leads you. Sometimes you neverknow, but to be open to new
experiences and to follow that, Ithink is amazing. So that's a wonderful
story. I thank you so muchfor being open to sharing that. I
guess then I would ask you,when did you actually get into construction?
Yeah, so that's actually a greatquestion, and the answer is is I've
(02:07):
always been in construction. My familycomes from the oil and gas I guess
field. And you know, whileI have no idea what their actual roles
were, they wore those jumpsuits,you know, the coveralls, and they
were greasy. And my grandmother taughtme all sorts of tricks with lysol to
(02:30):
get stains out of clothes the cabinetsand yeahs and glue and adhesive whatever.
Right, And so you know,my father we grew up in Aruba,
and I saw my uncle also buildhouses on other islands that we grew up
(02:53):
on, and they were the housesand still are some that our family.
So you know, I think I'vebeen in and around construction my whole life,
from the supply side business the blinds. I think most people who have
heard me talk on other podcasts oreven on my own show, know that,
(03:15):
you know, our family has owneda business on the supply side of
construction with window treatments, blinds,you know, alls, and you know,
screen doors and things that you needin the Caribbean, which where from.
That's awesome. So you know,construction's been a part of my life
(03:38):
for ever. And now fast forwardto having my own construction business. I've
had this business officially for a coupleof years actually, and it started part
time in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, while I still had a full time
job, and I was actually juststarting with real estate and small multi family
(04:03):
buildings and then just kind of scaledfrom there and it started with my own
projects and or projects within my network, and you know, just kind of
has evolved. I was actually inTexas at the time I relocated to New
York and have been in New Yorkfor a handful of years doing this full
(04:26):
time. Now that's awesome, allright, good for you, and good
for you for I guess just seeingthat window opening and kind of climbing through
it. That's awesome to be ableto have a full time business, cut
job really and then still be ableto get something off the ground. So
good for you. I guess thenthat would be what gets you excited about
(04:46):
the work that you do, isit's kind of just been something you've been
in your whole life. You alreadyhad a passion for it. Yeah,
So I think all of the rolesthat I've always had have kind of led
up to this, right. Youknow, we're talking about what path you
know, God has for us alittle bit earlier, and so whether we
(05:09):
fought the journey along the way andwhere we landed was used to propel us
to where we needed to be,or whether that was part of the plan
all along? Who cares right?Right, Like, that's semantics. I
get it to get there, right, as long as you get there,
(05:30):
as long as you get there.The fact is is that every single role
that I've had to date has reallyled to UH boots on the ground training
Yes, Yeah, to be themost amazing construction management company that we could
possibly be. Because we have abackground in finance, we have a background
(05:54):
in real estate development, real estateinvesting, fixing flipping, whether it's fixing
and flipping a two family or fixinga flipping flipping you know, two hundred
units. Honestly, guys, it'sthe same thing. And I could talk
to an investor about that. Yougot to make a scope of worklist and
we got to work it out.We've got to have a budget, and
we have to have a timeline anda schedule. And yes, it's the
(06:17):
same thing from a construction management point, and yes there's a lot more to
do and a lot more things thatwe have to check, a lot more
insurance and whatever that's involved, butultimately, the construction process is the same.
And so you know, having theability to speak with different different languages
(06:40):
with my investors, my clientele,and or the businesses that we serve because
we do a lot of work inthe retail space is really really helpful.
I love that. So then thatwill leave me to my next question,
and it's definitely in your opinion.What are some of the unique time contributions
that your company specifically brings to theconstruction industry. Wow, okay, that's
(07:09):
a I know you mentioned a littlebit about like the different languages you speak,
and I mean that's actually a firstfor me in interviewing somebody where you
know, you said, we aretalking in different languages or whatever to the
people that we serve or the companiesthat we serve. So I'm actually a
little bit intrigued to hear a littlebit more about what makes your company truly
(07:30):
unique. So first and foremost,I think that, like you said,
this is in my opinion, andit's what sets us apart from other companies
or maybe other companies doing things verysimilar to us that I don't know about.
So you know, I'm not sayingthat we're the only people out here
doing things this way, and Iwill start with that disclaimer, right because
(07:55):
shout out to everybody else doing itwith you exactly. So, yeah,
we have learned to embrace technology asa part of our business. In fact,
technology plays a huge role in howwe run our business, in how
(08:16):
we view analytics, in how wemake decisions, even down to how I
estimate projects. Okay, so youknow, I know that the construction industry
has been doing things a certain wayfor a really long time, and there's
a lot of people that pride themselvesin that, and woho, kudos to
(08:37):
you. And we have some ofthose people on our team, and I
think a marriage of how we've beendoing things you know, forever okay,
and things that have worked and youknow, we know work and serve the
industry well need to stick around,and then bringing in fresh ideas and technology
(09:00):
to help, you know, propelthe industry to you know, a whole
new level and help catapult us toa place where we're not sitting here complaining
about jobs that we can't fill,Like why don't we just figure out how
to leverage technology so that we can, with the same amount of people we
already have in the construction industry,you know, be able to make do
(09:24):
with what we got. You know, maybe maybe we need to be a
little bit more open minded as anindustry. So it's something that I speak
about often. And when I talkabout technology, I'm talking about software,
y'all. Like I'm not even talkingabout a robot, a robot out in
the field, okay, because we'renot there yet. Although some really cool
(09:48):
machines and stuff that will you know, spray and skin coat drywall, and
you know that dust is disgusting andit is we don't need. We don't
need he means breathing any of thatstuff in. I run a drywall crew
and a painting crew, and youknow, I'm constantly thinking of ways of
how do we keep our employees healthy, right, and buy employees I mean
(10:13):
me right, subcontractors, you know, admins, you know, anybody,
the people who are driving the materialsto and from site. It doesn't have
to necessarily be people that are withinmy company. That's why we called it
glow Joy Companies because the companies arereally all the other companies that we work
(10:39):
with that okay, they're the tradepartners as some of the other Primes have
adopted as a phrase, and youknow, truly making them a partner within
our business because they get to stillrock their brand, but work with us
and collaborate with us to get projectsdone. I love that. And the
(11:03):
middle of your answer there honestly perfectlysegued into my next question of how do
you prioritize safety and create a positivework environment for your employees? And then
I guess I can add the companiesaround you. Yeah, so that is
actually I think priority number one forme and one of the main reasons why
(11:24):
I wanted to have a construction managementcompany of my own and really be able
to run my own job sites,the way that I wanted to run the
job sites. You know, it'sa part of what inspired having a business
in the first place. Traditionally,people out in the field are not very
(11:48):
clean. They will do dumbsh toget the job done, okay, and
it comes from top bottom. Okay. So now going to talk about the
project managers, which is us,right and the people at the top,
who are you know, barking rightputting these people to do this dumb ish
(12:11):
okay. So everybody plays a rolein safety, including the client, the
people in the office, the projectmanagers, the suppliers with the delays,
delivery drivers with their bs excuses aboutyou know, a tire that went out
for the sixth time this week,when really you're just lazy and you don't
(12:31):
want to come out or whatever.Right, everybody has their stuff, and
so I say that to say that, you know, collaboration is the key
to safety. Communication is the keyto safety, and understanding what is happening
with the field, the middle officeand everybody around is how we keep job
(12:54):
sites safe. Okay. For us, nobody on our side can come on
our site without insurance because they're alltrade partners and subcontractors, So that's number
one. I feel like if peoplecarry their own insurance, then you know,
they hold a better sense of responsibilitybecause they have to pay for that
(13:15):
right with the insurance. We alsohave OSHA certified tradesmen and women. That
is a requirement by the State ofNew York. That's not something that we
came up with, but really it'sa mandate by the state. So everybody
on our job sites has their requiredOSHA training because that's what New York said,
(13:35):
and we don't cut corners, right. And then the other thing is
just having a good well laid outweekly plan or task plan, daily task
plan for the workers out in thefield is key because that way we understand,
okay, well, if we havetwo people scheduled in this area,
(13:58):
you know today, maybe it's notgreat to have the electrician and the plumber
work in the same space on thesame day, right, you know,
one's going to be on a ladderup here and the other one's going to
be right beneath him, you know, doing something else, depending on how
the job is. So maybe weneed to like move some things around from
a safety perspective, right, Butif people don't think that way, or
(14:22):
they don't map out their projects thatway, then how are they going to
know? And then you've got projectmanagement or the office barking on, well
why didn't this get done? Youknow? And then the super is out
in the field, like, well, Gloria said this had to be checked
off, you know, in theproject management software by Thursday. But meanwhile
(14:43):
Gloria hasn't been out in the fieldfor three weeks and doesn't know what the
field conditions are like. So safetyis everybody's job. And that's effectively what
I'm trying to say in this superlong winded response. No, I love
it. I think that was anamazing response. That comes down to organization
and prioritizing, and you did verywell to explain that for me. I
(15:05):
would love to know too. Ifthere is anything that you do know today
that maybe you didn't know when youstarted, that you wish you would have
everything answer that question. Literally,everything I know today I wish I knew
when I first started, which iswhy I go out of my way to
(15:28):
try to help support and encourage asmany people as possible when they come at
me with questions. Right truly inspiredby a group of young kids that won
you know, the International Builder Show. I just came from there out in
Las Vegas award for you know,the custom home that they had built,
and I forgot what award they want, but who cares? They want it
(15:54):
when they want it. And theiryoung college kids out of all the kids
in the entire country that competed,that won this award, and they were
super excited about doing construction and beinga part of the construction industry. And
that's all I cared about because therewas like fifteen of them. So that's
(16:14):
awesome. It's becoming generation we needthat it was going to take over,
right who was going to take overexactly? So for me, you know
when young minds or other young entrepreneurs, because I find myself a young entrepreneur
or quote unquote just moving out ofthis startup phase. You know, with
(16:36):
my company, you're still very muchwithin a startup phase and kind of transitioning
out of that. I tell themI'm an open book and they can reach
out to me with anything. Soa few things that I think are really
key would be to implement software asearly as possible and don't be cheap,
(16:57):
because implementing that from the get gowill actually save you money, and more
importantly, it will save you timeon training when you do decide to bring
people on board. One of thebiggest issues that folks have with technology and
software is the implementation process. Thenyou have people in an office who have
(17:21):
been doing things for a really longtime, whether it's in construction, banking,
which is another industry where I've implementedsoftware, or real estate whatever,
it's really hard to get people toadopt something new, okay, and it
takes time. So you will geta lot of resistance from some folks,
(17:42):
if not a lot of the folks, depending on the company culture, and
then it creates tension and people thensometimes don't even like their job because they're
like, oh, I have tolearn this new thing. So if you
implement software early in the business,regardless of what it costs, knowing the
(18:03):
value will actually save you a lotof money in the end. Yeah.
Look like a construction project, right, If you don't have a full scope
of work or a full set ofplants at the very very beginning of the
project and you're trying to design thingsalong the way, it's going to cost
delays, it's going to cost andlabor it might cost in doing things two
or three times. So do itnow, like rip the band aid,
(18:29):
like just you know, just doit, and just do it exactly.
So that's one, and then theother thing is higher, faster. You
know, I thought I needed todo everything myself to save money, or
that it was just easier from aquality assurance space. And you know,
while I love to be the personthat's out on the tools or out in
(18:51):
the field even with the tablet,checking things off as a construction man,
maybe that's not the best role forme as a business owner. And I
needed to accept that and let itgo. And also understanding that as you
make more money, you do hatea new tax bracket and it sucks.
(19:11):
It sucks. Got to eat itbecause otherwise, you know, you're just
stuck in this list. And soyou know, just just do it,
just do it, just rip theband aid off. In those things,
and I think those are the threethings that really resonate the most with me.
(19:33):
I love that What are some ofthe challenges then that you have faced
and how did you get through it? I mean, any small answer to
that one right coming up? AndI've ever actually faced challenges, No,
of course, you know, sochallenges I faced, I think one of
(19:53):
the biggest ones is cash flow.You know, construction. We don't like
to talk abo about money, butit's the big elephant in the room,
and access to capital. Access tomoney and capital is really, really,
really important for construction, you knowcompanies, And so we chose construction management
(20:15):
versus self performing because that means that, you know, the cash flow of
having to meet payroll, you know, every Friday is or every other friday,
or however people you know do theirpayrolls is not as I don't have
that pressure, right like paying myselfand my subs or vendors. And they're
(20:41):
on a net thirty, and wecan have conversations about whether the client decided
to pay their bill or the prime, you know, because some people work
for a prime and you know wedo too, they'll say net thirty,
it'll be sixty seventy eighty ninety daysfor a mom and pop company that can
make or break you. During thepandemic, we saw a lot of companies
(21:03):
closing down because they didn't have themoney to meet payroll and they wanted to
keep their workers but they couldn't.And you know, some of those people
then turned around and started their ownbusinesses and good for them, you know,
and some just went out of business, and so cash flow, you
know, we have not been immuneto that and we do well, right,
(21:29):
But in the very very early days, I mean, there were days
where I would like stay up atnight being like, oh man, I
really hope that checks in the mailtomorrow, or like, I guess I'm
going to have to like do this, this and this myself so I can
like, you know, pay Billyto stay afloat and blah blah blah.
(21:53):
And I get like tears in myeyes talking about this, because these are
real things. These are real problemsthat small companies have, and so I'm
very grateful that I don't have thatproblem anymore, you know. Uh,
And hiring a coach really on isanother thing that I think, you know,
(22:15):
people don't talk about so understanding thatit's okay for you not to know
everything about business or accounting or bookkeeping, you know, and or how to
estimate jobs. And I think itreally boils down to that, you know,
we weren't we weren't billing enough forour incredible services, and I just
I didn't even know that, soright, right, you know, had
(22:38):
I been billing enough and not underunderestimating jobs or undercutting myself because I thought
I needed to get my foot inthe door, or because that's what somebody
told me I had to do aswoman minority, whatever I did, And
so now we do charge what weneed to be charging, and so we
(23:02):
don't have these problems. But justbeing okay with not knowing what you don't
know and learning along the way,for sure. So that's probably was one
of the biggest lessons I had tolearn. Insurance is another thing, you
know, setting enough money aside onyour jobs for insurance and knowing how much
(23:23):
of a percentage you need to markup on jobs to you know, cover
your insurance for jobs and making surethat you have all the right insurance and
then some you know, yes,yeah, is really really really important and
you know, we have no lostruns, thank god, and knock on
(23:45):
wood, never will because try tokeep safe job sites and communication, but
really important to make sure that youare insured up. Yes, no,
I love that, and your compassionfor those who might still potentially be in
the situations that you've already found yourway out of is very refreshing. So
(24:07):
I do love your insight on that. A fun question though, is how
do you actually have fun with yourconstruction crew? Okay, so no,
well, music is everything? Yes, oh my gosh, yes, yeah,
so music is everything. So youknow, for me, I grew
(24:27):
up dancing. I grew up ina family where on Saturdays and Sundays we'd
play really loud music while we didthe chores around the house, and you
know, took dance breaks occasionally,and or you know, just stopped to
enjoy a song. So I thinkhaving that ability to allow people to enjoy
(24:52):
whatever music they want to listen toon the job site. You know,
if there's multiple people, go aheadand pop your headphones in. I know
there are some job sites that don'tallow headphones on the job site, and
I think that that's perfectly fair dependingon the job, depending on the role
and what safety rules are in place, especially if you're out in the field,
(25:15):
right you're on ten foot scaffold,fair enough, But for certain roles
it's okay for people to plug inheadphones listen to their music, or listen
to a podcast or audiobook, etc. So, yeah, music is really
important, and so I think thatthat's how we have fun on our job
(25:36):
sites is by enjoying good music.But I would have to agree bad appreciation
for it. Yeah, I wouldagree. I am a mother of two
and I do the same thing.We have a system and I crank up
the music loud, especially during shortdays, and several dance breaks end up
with the three of us jumping upon the couch and just going a little
(25:56):
nutty. And it's always been fun. And I've definitely incorporate that just even
in the virtual aspect myself, myboss, we have music playing all the
time for our whole sales team oranybody to enjoy in the company, whether
it's executives or co founders doesn't matter. So definitely something I promote is music.
So I love that. So youdid speak a little bit about the
(26:19):
recruiting aspect and making hiring easier.I guess I would love to know how
do you recruit new workers today andare you still finding it kind of challenging?
Yes and yes, so yes toboth. And I'll start with the
first part of your question, whichis always be recruiting. Okay, So,
(26:45):
if I'm at a coffee shop andI see a young person who has
or somebody who maybe it looks likethey've been transitioning careers or a mom that's
just coming back to work, maybepart time, is not always young folks
that were recruiting into the industry.I will just talk to them and learn
(27:07):
what they're passionate about. And anybodythat I see doing any type of trade
work, I'm always curious as tohow they got into that trade or how
they got into that job. Andtalk a little bit about construction and how
much money we can make in construction. And I think money talks, and
so it talks about much some time, but it definitely talks. I think
(27:30):
money talks. And you know,we are in an age right now where
the cost of living is expensive.So for a single mom who is working
at a retail shop who maybe doesn'tappreciate her because it's a big corporate company
and isn't yeah enough, maybe ajob at a construction company is better with
(27:52):
a seven am to three pm flexibleschedule or two pm schedule, you know.
Or maybe for somebody like myself whowent to corporate because that's what I
thought I had to do and wastold to do to only later find out
that I much rather be out inthe field than doing things in construction and
(28:14):
going to trade shows and whatever.Up your skills right exactly, So always
be in recruiting mode and also lookat local community programs that you could partner
with and or collaborate with to helphire people from your local community to work
(28:38):
with you. So for us,we work with a lot of subcontractors,
you know, other painters, otherdrywallers, flooring companies, you know,
framers, windows, suppliers, whatever. So we're always looking for opportunities to
meet new folks within our community thatown business is and or provide opportunities for
(29:03):
those folks to collaborate with us onprojects and see where it goes. The
more people we can work with,the more projects we can take. Yep,
that's exactly right. That's exactly right. Awesome. And then I know
you were speaking about technology as well, and you gave just a little bit
of insight on that. Do youmind kind of diving just a little bit
(29:23):
deeper. I don't know how muchof it you covered on how you're leveraging
technology in your business today. No, this is a great question. And
okay, you know I try notto geek out when I'm talking about technology.
We have a whole Florida geek outas much as you want right now,
that's all you Yeah, yeah,but you know, we leverage technology
(29:45):
in that we are able to takemore jobs because we use technology for everything.
So we have a project management softwarethat we use and that we have
been using for I think a littlebit over a year now, but we
had other project management softwares before then, and or project management systems before then.
(30:08):
That's why, you know, Ijust say use technology, whatever that
means to you. But you know, I got really sick and tired of
having to comb through emails for RFIsokay, to email or text message to
the architect or engineer for the latestset of plants okay, and all the
(30:30):
I see your pain, all thepains that people have in a construction project
when we're trying to get things doneand move the needle quickly. So having
come from a background in real estateas well as banking, where we utilize
ERP systems, you know, torun the business. Because we're talking about
(30:52):
large corporations with you know, thousandsof people, not hundreds, not you
know, twenty or ten or fivelike us, right, they're using these
systems. So when I was thinkingof I want to be a big company
without being a big company, andhow can I do that. Trying to
(31:14):
find a good ERP type system withinthe construction industry was really important to me.
Yes, and unfortunately it doesn't existstill, and we've found one that's
pretty close and has some awesome integrations, and so we're sticking with that one.
And you know, also using othersolutions for you know, HR or
(31:38):
for bookkeeping or you know, otherthings that are not within this platform.
And I'm being really careful to belike brand agnostic here. You're doing amazing,
yeah, doing really good. Butyou know, we we kignize that
(32:00):
it saves us so much time ifwe can upload a set of plans to
a piece of software that's going tohelp us measure out the linear footage or
the area or square footage of ayou know project, versus taking the plans,
sending them to print, you know, highlighting everything, bubbling it up,
(32:22):
checking the scales, or doing iton a TV or computer. Right,
Like that's just I mean, it'sgreat because we need to learn and
know how to do it this way. But there's programs that do this stuff
for us now, guys, yes, you know, and we're using a
program where our our software, theone that we use, like people will
log in to any of our website, our link and bio whatever, and
(32:47):
it says, you know, tellus about your construction project. It's a
quick questionnaire and that loops straight intoour CRM. That then creates a lead
that then gets assigned to somebody thatthen follows up with the person, sets
up an appointment, sets up acall, Everything is logged within the system.
We put in notes, Well mightyou know, pitch the deal to
(33:10):
somebody else because they're the expert insaid niche. And you know, maybe
this person that answered the lead isn'tit doesn't have the experience to handle this
account, you know. So.And I say that because I'm thinking like
a big company, because I wantto eventually grow this to a much larger
(33:32):
company where we do have a fullsalesforce that can do that. But yeah,
there's two of us or three ofus looking at leads, depending on
what it is. If it's atech lead, it goes to one person
because we have the glow Joy technologiesand smart building science and reculing of data
centers and things like that. Andthen we have just the general construction and
(33:54):
we've got residential and commercial. Soif it's residential, it goes to one
person it's commerce, it goes tosomebody else and that's typically me, and
you know that's how we divide upthe leads, right, But people get
taken care of once we send outan estimate. We do it within the
project management system. If they sign, it automatically converts it to a job.
(34:17):
All those communications are now in here. We don't have to go for
the contract or all the photos orwhatever else. So everything is already in
and then now yeah, now wecan start to set up a schedule.
We can start to set up youknow, selections for any finishes or any
submittals that are required for the project, even if that selection means hiring a
(34:44):
subcontractor right, right, we canlike start with the pre construction phase and
move that project along all the waythrough the end, including all the bookkeeping
and everything that is involved with theproject because it all integrates so nicely with
quick but which is what pretty mucheverybody uses these days in construction for now
(35:06):
until other platforms have started to comeout, right, so there, and
there's other integrations that are available,so I think that also partnering with the
software companies, a lot of themare smaller Silicon Valley companies. They're also
mom and pops and they recognize thatthe construction industry needs this stuff. Maybe
(35:29):
they maybe they don't know what theydon't know about the field. And so
this is how we can all worktogether to you know, make these solutions
better. And folks in the constructionindustry need to understand, or folks in
general need to understand that no constructionproject management or any software is going to
(35:51):
be perfect, okay, and yeah, and just like no construction project is
going to be perfect. So communication, communication, communication. Don't just throw
a piece of software away because itdoesn't have everything perfect. Talk to people
who create the software, or youraccount managers. Hopefully your your software comes
(36:14):
with an account manager hopefully right,and yeah, somebody that you can communicate
with on a regular basis, soyou know, for us, it's down
to like two pieces of software.Yeah, and one is for project management
and one is for operations of theactual business itself, okay, and managing
(36:34):
our money. And for us,we're grateful that they integrate together so we
have everything in one place. Makesthings so much easier, so much easier.
We still use email, I stilluse regular old dinosaur file. I
love it, I love it.We still use text messages and WhatsApp,
so you know, we do alittle bit of everything. But there really
(37:00):
has allowed me to grow the businessin a way where not everybody needs to
be in New York. So Idoes stay New York pricing for everything,
everything, everything, you know.And also it allows me to have streamline
processes where I don't need as manypeople sitting in an office like ten or
(37:22):
fifteen people to do yeah, withthree to four people, right right,
No, that and it gives youthe opportunity to have more of a balance,
right correct, So yeah, No, I love that. I love
that. You've been amazing. Beforewe wrap up, though, I do
have one final question, and thatis just really more of a shout out.
You've given so many good insights,and you've even spoken to the industry
(37:45):
as a whole with you know,tips and just kind of what to do
what not to do is But Ithink I would love to know if you
have like something inspiration or just anythingthat you would like to tell any entrepreneur
who would want to join the constructionindustry if you could just leave them with
like a star thing, what wouldwhat would it be? What would you
(38:06):
say, just start, just startthat start and find your tribe along the
way, and where you started maynot be where you end up in the
end. You know, I startedin the residential space thinking I was going
(38:28):
to be you know, fixing andflipping and investing and doing my own things
because I have such a passion forreal estate, and then later found out
that really I need to be workingwith businesses. I am a business owner
through and through and helping business ownersand retail owners propel to grow multiple locations.
(38:51):
Right, So a lot of thebusinesses that we're working with will start
with one location or already have multiplelocations, and they grow with low joy.
And you know, that's really whatwe want to do. We want
to grow with other small businesses,and we help other small businesses grow.
So, you know, as females, we have a tendency to want to
(39:15):
make sure that we check every boxon a job, job description, or
you know, have everything figured outbefore we start, whereas the male mind,
and this is hr reports out there. I'm not making this stuff up,
guys. You can look up theanalytics and it is true a male
(39:39):
sees that they meet about sixty orseventy percent of the qualifications. I don't
know what it is in a jobdescription, they'll just apply for it and
they're confident that they'll figure out therest along the way. So we all
need to have that mindset. Ilove that that mindset. We all need
(40:00):
to just go for it and figureit out along the way and the lessons
will again help us just get better. And yeah, so that's that's my
last tidbit to any entrepreneur. Anyindustry doesn't have to just be construction.
It could be launching a product,it could be you know, joining the
construction industry, transitioning to the constructionindustry. It could be trucking, it
(40:24):
could be farming, it could beanything. Just just do it, Just
do it, Just do it.I love that. No, that was
great. So then where can peoplefind your business? We are at glowjoy
dot co on all platforms and that'sg l o joy dot co on all
(40:47):
platforms, and that also happens tobe our website url. So pretty easy.
Perfect. Well, thank you Gloriaso much for being a guest on
the show. Please everyone like,subscribe, comment and share the Builder Upper
show with anyone in the construction industryand we will see you next time.
(41:15):
If you're a construction contractor and wouldlike to appear as a guest on our
podcast. Write us an email.It's Lou at lumberfi dot com.
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