Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Building an Elevator Company from Scratch: Acquisitions & Growth | Jeremy Metzger, Part 2

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Building an Elevator Company from Scratch: Acquisitions & Growth | Jeremy Metzger, Part 2 · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's definitely hard.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_03: There's no doubt about that.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_03: I think, you know, be be ready to work, you know, harder than you ever have before and be prepared for that level of commitment that comes with it.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think, you know, when I look at these these individuals that we're we're talking to about purchasing their companies, the the the blood and sweat and tears that have gone into building their business is just so admirable to me to be able to see knowing what they put into this to get themselves to where they are.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's also very gratifying to be part of that that moment where it pays off for them, you know, and they and they see the financial benefit of actually what they built turns into something else uh than just, hey, this is my job for the last X number of years.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: To inform and children, building upon the foundation of those founders, to inspire the next generation of electricity.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is part two.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So for the for the second half of the interview, uh let's talk a little bit about your business and um Axiom Elevator, your CEO, correct?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: What was it that that kind of sent you on that path that to say, hey, I want to I want to create something new?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I think uh it really came down to uh I've done I did the kind of OEM for 20 plus years with both Koney and Otis.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh loved my time there, had a great experience with both.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: Some of the best people uh I've ever got to meet are people I've got to work with with both those companies.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, saw that aspect of of elevator companies.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I had the opportunity to be uh chief operating officer at uh at at the time was called Oracle Elevator.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um they've now since changed their name, I think, to Elevated Services, and um uh saw the independent side of the business for a couple of years, really got my hands you know dirty getting involved in the day-to-day of that business and and running a multi-branch independent company.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, some similarities for sure to the OEMs, but also uh some other changes, some other things that were a little bit different.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: And so all positive learning experiences for me.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um they were a non-union company, so it gave me an opportunity to work with both the union and non-union side of the trade.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: So uh a lot of again, got a good learning.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so ultimately I just sat down and said, you know, I I I like the they were uh they were also privately owned or public uh private equity owned business.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I I got some experience there and got to understand what that was was about.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_03: So uh sat down with uh one of your recent interviewees, uh Ed Stahowiak, who is an individual that I had the the pleasure of working with for quite a few years at Otis in a number of different roles.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I said, you know, let's let's figure out what this looks like.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I think we could do this, I think we could do this as as well or better than maybe some others out there.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um we know a lot of the goods and we know some of the bads that different we've seen over the years with different companies, and and how can we take uh our ideas and our ways to a different level and uh and build something that we're proud of and build a very strong platform for our customers and make sure that we you know keep that as our emphasis.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: So um so really kind of put together a plan.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh again, with my time uh working in private equity, I had an opportunity to meet quite a few different private equity groups over the years and uh really just kind of did a reach out campaign to say here's what we're looking to do.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we'd we'd love to talk to you about it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: If you have any interest, we'd love to talk to you.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: We were very pleasantly surprised with the with the uh amount of interest uh I think from the elevator industry.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the the industry itself I think is very desirable for a lot of the private equity groups.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's you know, reoccurring revenue of maintenance, it's a pretty uh protected business, as I just said, with with the economy going up and down.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: You still have a lot of regulations that require uh work to be done and some type of elevator work to always be taking place.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so I had a number of meetings uh with with a quite a few different uh groups and ultimately settled on uh working with uh with a company called Gage Capital out of Dallas, Texas.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: And great group of people, really loved their vision for for the company and what we wanted to do.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they've totally agreed with our direction and what we were looking to do, and really had uh had had kind of the right uh setup for for us and to help us grow the business and and and be be partners with us on how we were gonna do that.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: So uh we were very lucky to to find them and be able to work with them.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: And uh again, it's been it's been about a year to hard to believe that it's been about a year since we've started, but uh it's been a great start.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you've acquired what is it, five companies at this point?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: Five so we've we've fully acquired four at this point.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um we've acquired two in Florida and two in Arizona.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: So we've kind of got uh coastal coastal operations right now, uh, but have every expectation to kind of continue at that same that same pace.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we did that in about nine months where we had those those acquisitions.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, a lot of it comes to the market.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: What what companies are out there and interested in in looking for a partner.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we're not looking to uh we we we call it we we it's definitely a partnership for us.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: Like we we want founder back companies and we want companies that uh we'd love for the founders to stick around and continue to work with us because uh we feel and we've found that that's one of the best advantages of doing this is to keep their expertise and knowledge involved.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh so we ask them to stay on and partner again with us.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they can they're allowed to invest in the platform and be part of the overall larger business that we're building.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um and uh, you know, it's it's it's kind of now where we say where where are the right places for us to be?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: What are the right locations that we want to be in, and you know, what what type of companies are out there that that are looking for support and help and the things that we can come to offer them to to help them grow their business as well.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So a minute ago you talked about kind of bringing you know what we know, bringing our you know, the things we've learned to you know to this uh you know the the the industry as it were as a as a new player.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious what what do you see as kind of the value you're creating with Axiom that that may what what's the niche, that spot where maybe maybe it's not being served, or maybe not in the way that you and Ed see as as uh needs to be.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think um the customer side of this business, and I've talked a lot about that already, but uh we we I think at some point we've lost a little bit of focus, the industry lost a little bit of focus on on what we're here to do and what we're about.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, uh not going to point any fingers at any other companies out there, but I think in general, you know, we've seen a lot of companies go to you know less maintenance visits, uh, maybe trying to use technology to to help with the service-related business and and um you know help them help help the customer maybe with less shutdowns is part of their desire and be able to diagnose issues before they become big problems.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: And again, in those situations where they're able to do that, that's terrific.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it also in some cases has come at a lack of attention to the customer and a lack of maybe hands-on visits to the equipment and to the customer themselves.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, one thing that we're we're very adamant about is you know to give our customers the level of service that they anticipate.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, we let customers decide.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: Do you want monthly visits?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Do you want quarterly visits?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: How do you want your business structured?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: How would you like it?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, we we you know, surprisingly, not very surprisingly, but they like monthly visits.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: They like people to show up, they like to see their technicians.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so um a lot of our business is structured around that so that uh the customer gets what they want, you know, and we're not dictating to them what we feel is best for them.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: They they can choose that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and trying to do the things that we talked about earlier, the the phone callbacks and the very close touches.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: You know, our our our sales structure is set up so that we have people full-time dedicated to calling people back and making sure that they know you know that somebody's there to discuss their things, while we also have others who are dedicated to business development and actually being out to count executives who can actually be out talking to customers about the products and really trying to develop a program so that we don't lose sight of our customers' needs.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and again, I think a little bit of this is is is what others would say too.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: So it's really about implementation and process and and making sure that you execute what you say.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's all about the executive days.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I like I like the thought of the letting the customer choose, you know, do they want you there every month, every other month, every six months, every year?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I I think some of the rub that I hear, and I'm not uh you know working in the field, so I uh all I do is hear.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking to a lot of people that that you know, if a customer is expecting every month, but uh you know, we're only gonna go there uh once or twice a year, that's a that's a huge uh miss on expectations.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But if somebody can sign up for and you know, maybe they maybe pay extra because they want more frequent touches.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: But but just being upfront about okay, here's what we said we're gonna do and and here's uh here's what we're gonna, you know, here's the agreement and just doing it.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no uh yeah, just the the confusion about well, they said regular systematic, but I don't see any I don't see how and what is systematic, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: I think ultimately, you know, is it every month, is it every other month, is it uh two times a year, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's the challenge is that in some cases, I think certain elevators have been determined that they don't need service very much and they only need someone to come a couple times a year, which very well may be true with you know the newest equipment, computer-based software, and it it it runs pretty well and they don't necessarily need a lot of hands-on.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: But if the customer expects you to be there every month and you're not showing up, that's that's a big problem.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so having those upfront conversations, being very open, and I think you know, being their elevator expert, which we discussed, but you know, I I I tell tell people, I tell my reps, go out there and say, look, if they've got a brand new elevator, let's not charge them X per month.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: Let's tell them, hey, you don't need me here every month.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_03: A quarter's fine, and and you should not have to pay the same amount for that.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: So let's let's figure out how that works.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: And so we we try to do all those different things to to make sure the customer understands that they're what they're getting and an upfront company that's gonna put their needs first.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and you know, it's not necessarily a differentiator in the sense of yeah, everybody probably says they do that, everyone probably tries to do that.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think, like I said, it's about executing and actually having your customers understand that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, like like you said earlier about calling people back, right?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: If they know they're cared about, if they know that they're they're important enough that that you're gonna, you know, take the time to explain things and they're not I think one of the big misses I see is just that a gap in communication.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm assuming X and you're assuming Y, and there's this gap between the two, I'm making up all kinds of stories in my head about why you you're not showing up and and it's not uh not that I think I'm being cared about, it's it's quite the opposite usually.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously you bought existing branches, companies, but but really the the overall corporate structure you had to you had to create.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: We did.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh uh you know, starting out with a great group, um, you know, starting out with uh you know Ed Ed Stahawiak as my COO and uh Rick Morris as a CFO, uh all both people who have great uh great background in in in in the elevator industry.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, we we now have uh Brad Simmons, who came on just a little bit later, as our our chief people officer.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and then we've been very, very lucky to uh be able to add Doug Hebner as our uh West Coast uh vice president, who has 25, 26 plus years in the industry, and uh Mike Ramandanes uh as our East Coast vice president, who again has hold has held many, many high-level positions within uh Schindler and Otis and uh worked with Mia Kone as well.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: So um so we've had you know we've got a great kind of uh a management team in place right now, um, been able to surround ourselves with really good people to be successful, lots of experience.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then when you build, I think when you're looking at this this lots of acquisitions and really combining this business together, you know, we wanted to really make sure that we were able to utilize this this knowledge that we were that we were ultimately paying for.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, too, I felt like too often when you when you purchased a company uh and then acquired and be you know tried to merge them into the business, they still say stayed very secluded.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: So we've been doing things to really try to bring the branches together so that they can work with each other, introducing them with each other, making sure that we know kind of the key people in each office who who's very good at what type of equipment to be able to troubleshoot.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um you know, we've added some technical support resources at the national level so that uh so that if our if our supervisors or technicians in the field have questions, they have people to call that are you know very, very knowledgeable in a number of different types of equipment so that uh so they have a another layer of support.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um so all those, I think, things have tied to battling the change management issues you always have anytime you you would uh bring a new way or a new kind of idea to to a new company, right?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: So most of the companies that that uh all the companies that we're acquiring were you know, they're privately held companies who have been running the business for X number of years and have done it a certain way.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: And in many cases, we're not trying to change those those ways, but we're trying to put together uh processes and plans in place to help them grow and to help them manage it maybe a little bit differently and and hopefully a little bit better than they had before.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: And that way uh you know they can be more successful, you know.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And in some of our operations, we've you know quadrupled the number of teams doing modernization work and we've grown the maintenance base, been able to help grow the maintenance base significantly.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: And we're putting the systems in place, the back house systems, because a lot of the independent companies out there, you know, some are using some form of uh an ERP um to do maybe electronic time and do that type of thing.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're we're we're trying to bring in a system that can help them do all those types of things, uh, help them on the finance side and take off the burden of anybody who owns their own business knows that hey, you know, the the financial stuff kills me, the HR stuff kills me.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like this is the stuff I really I don't like to do, but I know I have to do to run my own business.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: Well, if you can come partner with us, you know, our but let us help support that with your back, our back of house business that we have.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: And now let's let you guys go out and do what you really should be doing is you know, talking to customers, selling some some should be fixing elevators, some should be selling elevators, you know.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: And this is what a lot of the uh the owners really want to do is you know, put me back into what I really like to do and take off all the the business stuff that I don't necessarily want to have to be sitting in an office all day.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and that's what we try to bring to the table, give them that opportunity.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's um, I mean that is something that I I hear from from business owners that you know you especially if you're if you're pretty hands-on, you're you're out in the field, you're you're helping, you're doing your coaching, you're selling, and then yeah, you got eight more hours of work up time on midnight or whatever, just to get your billing and your collections and you know, renew your insurance, or you know, what are all those things that are that need to get done?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: What um what do you love most about kind of running running your own firm, you know, being in charge?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: You know, uh I would say, you know, this this first year has been obviously extremely hectic and lots of different things, lots of balls in the air at every given time.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um again, you know, the support I have with my team is is amazing.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so that is what really keeps us going.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think us building uh you know the relationships we've built over our careers has led to um you know a camaraderie we have within within the business that is is unique for um any startup company.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not you know, while we're a quote unquote startup with with a year under our belt, we've got uh people here that I've worked with you know for 20 plus years.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_03: And sure, and so uh we we we kind of know how each other thinks, and that helps out quite a bit.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: I I love the the aspect of getting out and talking to other business owners, successful business owners who you know are are looking for that next phase of their of their career and their life, you know, having uh some type of of uh you know equity event to help them and and maybe secure their their families and their business and where they're at in life for for however many uh years ahead, if not generations ahead in some cases, and then still be able to participate in in helping us grow our business and and putting it to the next to the next level.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's been that's been really an amazing part of this role.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so you know, day to day, you know, I'm I'm I can do things that I did in year one of my career, uh, or I'm doing things that I've never done before because you know, I always had somebody at Otis who did that for me, or uh, you know, somebody else who did those things for you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: And now uh running your own business, it's much more like we're we're gonna do it all.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_03: We're we're we're touching on everything.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, a lot of times people look at a newer business and say, well, you know, that's so much smaller than what than what I'm used to.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_03: And and that's very true when it comes to the big, the big four and and the business they run.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: But I can promise you, uh, you know, I you're gonna do things at a smaller business that you've never done before because you just didn't have to.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_03: And you're gonna learn so much more through that process, uh, that that it really is is a great kind of career development role to be able to do those types of things.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so I know I got to see that a lot at at uh at Oracle when I was the COO, and certainly seeing even more of that now here, uh you know, and and coming up with the different different ways and different things that we can do.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: What what would you say is your your vision for Axiom?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is it you're you're most hoping to accomplish in you know five, 10, 20, whatever years?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, and and and it's it's funny because I think you know, people think private equity, well, it's you know, a couple years and they just want to flip the company and sell.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that that that certainly has some aspect of truth when it comes to any time uh you're building through private equity.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think the private equity firms have a have a time frame and have a plan in place that they want to build the business and they want to build a strong business and a business that is is uh profitable and and obviously gains value.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's that's what we do.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I I kind of came into this with a different mentality.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_03: I want to build a company that I'm proud of, that we're doing it the right way.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: We're bringing maybe a uh a fresh approach back to the elevator industry of how to do things.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: And and while uh there's no promises as you go forward with uh with how things are going to turn out, you know, I I have every thought that, you know, when when it's time for Gage to say, hey, we're we're ready to move on, um, you know, we can find another partner to continue to do this with and continue to grow.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: I I would love to be able to stay on and continue to be part of this business, not just with Gage, but with at least one and maybe two other uh private equity firms or whomever decides to come in at some point and have interest in being partners with us and growing the business.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: So um, so it's it's a longer-term play for me.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: I know again, with with most of the people on my management staff, they don't have any intentions of of going anywhere in you know the next couple years.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh we have every hope to continue to grow this.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_03: And so as we do partner up with other with other companies, you know, we we tell them flat out, like, hey, we're we're not going anywhere.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: At least we don't want to go anywhere.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's not our plan.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we hope you're the same.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we hope you want to stick with us as well.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: What what would you say to somebody who's and and and I talked to a lot of a lot of people who uh you know they have dreams, aspirations of hey, I want to want to build my own at some point.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And and I also talk to others who are like, wow, this is hard, right?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: If I'd have known maybe I wouldn't have done this.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: What what advice would you give?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: others who were thinking about starting their own company.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well it's definitely hard.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_03: There's no doubt about that.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think you know be be ready to work, you know, harder than you ever have before and and be prepared for that level of commitment that comes with it.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_03: I think um you know when I look at these these individuals that we're we're talking to about purchasing their companies, the the the the the blood and sweat and tears that have gone into building their business is is just so admirable to me to be able to see knowing what they put into this to get themselves to where they are.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's also very gratifying to be part of that that moment where it pays off for them.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: You know and they and they see the financial benefit of of actually what they built turns into something else uh than just hey this is my job for the last X number of years.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I I it it's really been it's really been a great process.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I think anybody looking at hey this might be something I want to do in the future um you know I think you keep in mind that you know with that hard work with that time with that dedication you know does there is there is a light at the end of the tunnel although it may be 10 15 20 years.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: It could be much sooner if that's what your plan is and what you want to do.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: We've talked a lot of smaller companies have been doing it for three or four years and are just saying hey I you know I'd still rather like a partner right now.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: So um so there are there are those opportunities for those individuals when they when they're ready to do those things.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: But um you know I I think back to when I was you know just starting out in the career and maybe at five or 10 years experience, you know, would I have done something like this back then and um you know if I had the financial backing and the support of doing that I mean I you know I kick myself for not doing it.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: At the same time it's a lot of risk and and you know with risk comes reward.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I think you've got to be that type of individual who uh if you're if you're able to assign that into your head or you're in a place of life that that's that's comfortable for you then you know I I wish you all the luck.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's it's a great opportunity for anybody to do it.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: But just be ready to kind of be ready for anything and uh and just know there's probably uh there's probably somewhere you land in this industry no matter what happens.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's one of the positive things is uh Matt I'm sure you can help a few people find another role somewhere down the road if they if they need one uh but but you know it is it is always there to kind of have a backstop for you.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah yeah yeah thank you.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we're we're about out of time I guess the the last question I just want to ask is um you know what maybe words of wisdom or or what what would you share with uh just kind of the you know other business owners or maybe the even the stakeholders in the industry overall um that uh maybe you feel something you're feeling passionate about.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well uh you know we talked a lot about um safety today I mean I think there's there's one of those things that we always will want to make the forefront of anything we discuss is is staying safe and being you know being prepared for what's out there so we always need to need to be part of that.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: I think the the industry that we have here is special it's it it really allows a lot of people to have uh a very very solid terrific life uh work very hard and have great rewards at the end meet terrific people um be part of some of these associations that are out there so that you can get out and meet more people because um you know that there's nothing better than going to you know an AEC meeting or or and and getting to see people you haven't seen for 15 20 years and again it's just amazing how you bump into these people over and over again over the years.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_03: So uh definitely partake in those types of of situations when they pop up and uh and yeah just be a steward to our business because I think ultimately um you know we all you know represent uh this industry we want to make sure that uh we do it well and and we we promote it to others and we we protect it make sure that we're uh you know we're not allowing different things to come in and and change who who we are what we are as a business uh so uh always you know participating whenever you can to be a to be an advocate is is important so uh I guess that's that's where I'm at in my in my life my career when it comes to these things very very proud to be in this industry and certainly uh you know very grateful for everything it's provided to us.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome thank you Jeremy I I appreciate you being on with me today.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's uh a lot of fun to get to know you a little bit better and talk about your your career your business and which of the best as you as you keep building it.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for what you're doing and again great to spend some time with you today.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Bye bye thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the All Red Group a leader in elevator industry recruiting you can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net or please subscribe and until next time