Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / From Elevator Field Tech to Director | Chuck Tyler, Part 1
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I had the safety meeting the other week, and it's to me it's very easy.
- 0:03SPEAKER_02: I've had enough experiences in my career where, you know, safety is a it's a mindset, it's a belief, and it's also our responsibility, right?
- 0:12SPEAKER_02: We owe it to our families, we owe it to our our coworkers' families.
- 0:16SPEAKER_02: And I think um, you know, one of the things I love about my situation now is I work at a small company.
- 0:21SPEAKER_02: So, you know, the the safety is is we can talk about it as a as a as a family, not as you know, kind of a top-down uh initiative.
- 0:30SPEAKER_02: So um, and and I think that that that that transition happened even at the at the bigger companies that I worked at, you know, they started really talking about you know safety as uh, you know, it's the reason is we want to make sure that you get home to your family every day.
- 0:45SPEAKER_02: And I think that resonates with people a little bit more that, you know, then do it or else you're gonna get sent home for uh, you know, for the rest of the day, right?
- 0:52SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
- 0:58SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Matt Allred.
- 1:00SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
- 1:16SPEAKER_00: Today our guest is Chuck Tyler, Director of Operations and Business Development with Phoenix Modular Elevator.
- 1:22SPEAKER_00: Chuck started his career in the field at age 18, and with a family history in the trade, every meal he has ever eaten has been provided by the elevator industry.
- 1:31SPEAKER_00: Chuck loves what he does, and he's excited to be growing in a new niche of the industry.
- 1:36SPEAKER_00: This is part one.
- 1:39SPEAKER_00: Chuck, welcome to the show.
- 1:41SPEAKER_02: Matt, thanks for having me.
- 1:43SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
- 1:44SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
- 1:44SPEAKER_00: I always enjoy talking to you.
- 1:46SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm excited to get to know you a little bit better today.
- 1:50SPEAKER_00: So um appreciate you being here.
- 1:52SPEAKER_00: Uh, and let's just let's just start from the beginning, Chuck.
- 1:54SPEAKER_00: How did you get involved in the elevator industry?
- 1:58SPEAKER_02: So um I think I shared with this you with you earlier in a conversation, every meal I've ever eaten came from this industry.
- 2:05SPEAKER_02: So my pops uh came home from Vietnam and was lucky enough to fall into the elevator as a part-time job until something better came along.
- 2:13SPEAKER_02: And he retired from the industry uh some 50 years later.
- 2:17SPEAKER_02: Um, a storage adjuster for Dover and Tyson, and um, you know, got me and um uncles and nephews and my daughter and a lot of us in the trade.
- 2:29SPEAKER_02: So I kind of have always wanted to be an elevator man when I was a kid.
- 2:32SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, my my heroes were all my dad's buddies who seemed to could do anything, you know, they were elevator guys.
- 2:38SPEAKER_02: So when I was uh 11 years old, my dad decided he was gonna build a log cabin um and do it himself, you know, by a kit.
- 2:47SPEAKER_02: And uh so every weekend it was him and a bunch of elevator guys from all over Florida that would come over and help him build that house.
- 2:54SPEAKER_02: And so I was exposed to the uh you know square within an eighth of an inch and you know, plumb within within a gnat's butt um from the very beginning.
- 3:05SPEAKER_02: So kind of always wanted to be in the elevator business and uh you know just naturally went into it when I got out of high school.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: Yeah, never even never even thought of anything else, it sounds like.
- 3:15SPEAKER_02: No, it was it was there was never any other, never any other option.
- 3:18SPEAKER_02: It's what I kind of was destined to be, I think.
- 3:21SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 3:22SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
- 3:22SPEAKER_00: So when you uh got out of high school, did you immediately join the union or what what role did you find yourself in?
- 3:29SPEAKER_02: So um my dad made me get a job working, you know, so prove myself before he would let me get into the industry.
- 3:35SPEAKER_02: Um, so I had to go work in a construction job as a laborer for six months for a buddy of his, prove I could show up every day in that.
- 3:42SPEAKER_02: Um, and then he um brought me in.
- 3:44SPEAKER_02: Um, my dad at the time was uh superintendent for Arizona Elevator out in Phoenix, and uh he hired me on and um I got my my opportunity to start in the in in the industry in the field.
- 3:56SPEAKER_02: Um worked there for got my six months in and so easier not to work for your dad.
- 4:02SPEAKER_02: I I transferred over to Otis and worked for a gentleman by the name of Dick Anger, and uh, you know, that that was the start of my career there working as a work under high-rise buildings in Phoenix.
- 4:12SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 4:12SPEAKER_00: So was it was it everything you hoped it would be as, you know, as like an 11-year-old going, hey, this is what I want to be?
- 4:18SPEAKER_00: Or or did you kind of have this realization or or wake up that, oh my gosh, man, maybe I should have been an astronaut after all, you know?
- 4:27SPEAKER_02: Well, um, I I never considered an astronaut, but I think it was everything.
- 4:31SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, some of the things I that they were frustrating, right?
- 4:35SPEAKER_02: Back when I got in, it was, you know, you had a lot of old school mechanics, and you know, the helpers only got to see what they, you know, what they let you see.
- 4:42SPEAKER_02: And um, so the beginning I worked on a couple big jobs, and you know, that was quite frustrating, didn't quite understand it.
- 4:49SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, so as my career moved along, I tried not to be one of those guys.
- 4:54SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, but yeah, it's uh it was always it was always what I expected.
- 5:00SPEAKER_02: It was I've I've been given so many opportunities.
- 5:02SPEAKER_02: Again, I you know, I've worked started out working in the field with my hands, with my tools.
- 5:07SPEAKER_02: Um my family grew and you know, we decided that we wanted to to to move, and we were able to reach out and find an opportunity within the elevator industry with Dover Elevator.
- 5:19SPEAKER_02: They helped move us and we moved to a a different place and you know started uh you know, started our family growing that way.
- 5:27SPEAKER_02: And it was it was really a good situation.
- 5:29SPEAKER_02: And then um a few years later, uh I got an opportunity to to go into the office as a superintendent, uh small, you know, just a really small operation, and and I really just loved that.
- 5:41SPEAKER_02: I loved the opportunity to to do the setup and support and you know take the the little bit of knowledge that I'd gained over the six or seven years I worked in the field and and and get the job set up right for the mechanics that were gonna go do them.
- 5:55SPEAKER_02: And you know, I found a lot of uh a lot of passion for that.
- 5:58SPEAKER_02: So being a superintendent was a was a was so much fun and and a great opportunity.
- 6:02SPEAKER_02: And I was able to do that for a few years.
- 6:05SPEAKER_02: So that's awesome.
- 6:06SPEAKER_00: That's how how long did you actually spend in the field before moving to the office?
- 6:10SPEAKER_02: So about six and a half years I worked uh uh with the tools.
- 6:14SPEAKER_02: Um, like I said, I started in Phoenix and we moved to Jackson, Mississippi.
- 6:19SPEAKER_02: So my first my first four years, I I worked as a a helper for you know some really great mechanics on high-rise work.
- 6:27SPEAKER_02: And so that was my goal was to be a foreman on high rise.
- 6:30SPEAKER_02: Well, moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and there wasn't a lot of high rises.
- 6:34SPEAKER_02: It was just a lot of hydros, a lot of traveling city to city.
- 6:38SPEAKER_02: And um, so that kind of gave me the okay, if I'm not going to be able to run big work, well, I can run a small office, and that'd be like running a big, big job.
- 6:47SPEAKER_02: So uh that's kind of you know how I worked my way into the office.
- 6:51SPEAKER_00: Looking back, who are some of the, I mean you mentioned uh a name or two, what you know, some of the some of the biggest mentors for you that you felt like really pulled you along or maybe believed in you, you know, maybe even more than you believed in yourself at the time.
- 7:05SPEAKER_00: Anybody like that?
- 7:07SPEAKER_02: So the number one uh my number one hero in life is my dad.
- 7:10SPEAKER_02: Um he's no longer with us, but uh some kids worship Michael Jordan, I worshiped my pops.
- 7:16SPEAKER_02: Um so he was he was my number one, um, you know, and and I always worked with my dad, even even when I was in the field, I worked with him as his helper, or he would come and adjust behind me.
- 7:27SPEAKER_02: So, you know, the the the pressure of having your dad follow me and judge your work and then have that discussion at the dinner table after work, too, right?
- 7:36SPEAKER_02: Um, so that was he was my number one, but so many people.
- 7:40SPEAKER_02: I mean, early on in my career, there's a guy by the name of Greg Rustad who is just retired out in Las Vegas.
- 7:48SPEAKER_02: He's been in the industry forever, and um Jim Allen, Stan Snook, um, you know, Phil Gable.
- 7:55SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's so many people early on that gave me opportunities, Bob Doyen.
- 7:59SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, I I mentioned uh I meant mentioned Rick from or Richard from uh Otis.
- 8:05SPEAKER_02: He was the superintendent there, and he was just, you know, such a great guy.
- 8:09SPEAKER_02: Came to my wedding and you know, encouraged me to next time I missed a, you know, I was late, I was gonna have to pay the price for it now that I was a grown-up married man.
- 8:17SPEAKER_02: Um, so you know, and then I moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and I got to work with um Robert Mason.
- 8:25SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, he was a legend in the old Dover organization.
- 8:29SPEAKER_02: So um that was that was awesome.
- 8:31SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 8:31SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
- 8:32SPEAKER_00: What what were some of the early lessons that you felt like uh really helped you maybe focus more or just kind of understand that, hey, this is this is what's critical here.
- 8:42SPEAKER_00: Do you anything like that?
- 8:43SPEAKER_02: That well, again, I think um, you know, early on when I was a kid, I learned that you know, close wasn't close enough.
- 8:50SPEAKER_02: You know, the the elevator guys always say close is only you know it's only good in horseshoe and hang grenades, right?
- 8:56SPEAKER_02: Elevator business is exact.
- 8:58SPEAKER_02: So I I came into the industry with that.
- 9:01SPEAKER_02: I think what um I think what really the eye-opening was, you know, when safety started to become a a real play.
- 9:08SPEAKER_02: I got in the I got in the field in like 88, 80, 80, 88 area.
- 9:13SPEAKER_02: And it was shortly after that when, you know, Otis and the majors really started to push safety and you know think differently and and and then that transition over time over the next 10, 15, 20 years, you know, that I think that was probably one of the biggest um biggest things I could point to that that I would say, you know, I've seen a change in the industry.
- 9:36SPEAKER_02: I I don't know that was the question, but yeah.
- 9:39SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of the stories I've heard from the old, you know, I guess people who've been there longer is uh yeah, safety wasn't wasn't maybe prized and valued as much as uh I I would almost almost say heroics from some of the stories I've heard of of just some some crazy stuff that went on.
- 9:55SPEAKER_02: Um heroics and lack of fear.
- 9:57SPEAKER_02: There, you know, lack of fear definitely that's an elevator guy gets used to heights, right?
- 10:01SPEAKER_02: You work in them all the time.
- 10:02SPEAKER_02: So um I I think it becomes a little less um, yeah, causes less anxiety when you're used to something.
- 10:12SPEAKER_02: So I remember we had a job once that the um that the elevators were built, the shanty was on this like P2, and the guys would come in at the lobby and slide down the ropes to the to the car top and then jump out onto the floor where the shanty was at.
- 10:28SPEAKER_02: Um, so again, some crazy things.
- 10:31SPEAKER_02: But I I I just think from the biggest lesson I learned early on, I would work with some young mechanics, and and it was uh, you know, start of the day, hurry up and get to your work spot and start working, and then realize, oh, we forgot this tool or we forgot that part.
- 10:49SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then I got an opportunity to work with one of my dad's best buddies, um, Jim Cochrane.
- 10:54SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, he would take 20, 15 or 20 minutes in the shanty in the morning getting everything together, making a plan, making sure he knew exactly what we were going to accomplish that day.
- 11:06SPEAKER_02: We would get all of our tools together and then we would walk our way to the machine room.
- 11:10SPEAKER_02: But when we got there, we never had to leave again.
- 11:13SPEAKER_02: So I guess the biggest lesson I learned was, you know, plan your work and work your plan, right?
- 11:18SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
- 11:19SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's I mean, that's super valuable, right?
- 11:21SPEAKER_00: Because your your time is, you know, you can't get it back.
- 11:24SPEAKER_00: And so if you're walking back and forth to your to your truck or wherever you got to go and you don't have your your stuff together, you've just wasted half the day because of a lack of of a plan.
- 11:35SPEAKER_00: Right.
- 11:36SPEAKER_02: So that's where I that's kind of, I guess maybe where I started to really think about efficiency.
- 11:40SPEAKER_02: And then once I got into the office, um, you know, I was I I mentioned I was in Jackson and then moved to Birmingham, Alabama, large hydro markets, and I had some great mechanics.
- 11:50SPEAKER_02: I mean, some amazing guys that were fantastic.
- 11:53SPEAKER_02: And uh and our leadership at the time were really looking for, you know, installation processes, and we really pushed to, you know, improve the product to help with the installation times and so on.
- 12:06SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that that efficiency kind of carried through um, you know, from the from my early days, you know, my time in the field and then into the office.
- 12:13SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, always looking at, you know, how you can be most effective, most efficient.
- 12:18SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
- 12:19SPEAKER_00: Let's talk for just a minute.
- 12:20SPEAKER_00: You mentioned uh kind of the shift to safety, um, you know, that safety mentality.
- 12:25SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm I'm curious what kind of reception, I mean, I'm assuming there was some pushback, right?
- 12:30SPEAKER_00: Some of these guys who kind of prided themselves on being fearless is like safety.
- 12:35SPEAKER_00: That's stupid.
- 12:36SPEAKER_00: We don't need that.
- 12:38SPEAKER_02: I would definitely say that early on in the um in the transition from the old world to the new world, if you will, safety was something that, you know, it was a struggle.
- 12:50SPEAKER_02: Um, I had a friend of mine, Gary Lobangood, was the safety guy, you know, came out of the field, was a superintendent, then went into safety.
- 12:58SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I remember having many conversations with him when he would come in town and do safety audits and so on and so forth.
- 13:04SPEAKER_02: Um I I think the transition has been, you know, at first it was the company was pushing it, you know, you got to do things things a certain way because they felt it was safer, you know.
- 13:15SPEAKER_02: But but as time moved on, I think the guys took ownership of it and and really um and and really started to to take it on.
- 13:24SPEAKER_02: And and you notice it more with the younger guys.
- 13:26SPEAKER_02: I I use gloves as a prime example.
- 13:29SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, a lot of the older guys, you know, I can't put this together with gloves on, but the young guys that never knew anything different, right?
- 13:36SPEAKER_02: They they they never had a problem with it.
- 13:38SPEAKER_02: Same with safety glasses.
- 13:40SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I remember early on, you know, we asked the guys to wear safety glasses when they were doing things where they needed to wear safety glasses.
- 13:47SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, they, you know, the guys still didn't wear the safety glasses when they needed to.
- 13:52SPEAKER_02: So then the the rule became with the big companies, you gotta wear them all the time, right?
- 13:57SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, uh the pendulum swung too far, maybe.
- 14:02SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
- 14:03SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's uh anytime you in my experience that you're you're trying to change culture or drive new behaviors, or you know, there's gonna be some resistance.
- 14:10SPEAKER_00: But uh that's that's definitely one of those areas where uh I think as you know, as people look back, it's like, yeah, I'm I'm glad that we're uh taking safety serious, you know, more than more than we used to.
- 14:22SPEAKER_02: It's uh I I think you know safety now is we we yeah, I had a safety meeting the other week, and it's to me it's very easy.
- 14:31SPEAKER_02: I've had enough experiences in my career where you know safety is a it's a mindset, it's a belief, and it's also our responsibility, right?
- 14:40SPEAKER_02: We owe it to our families, we owe it to our our coworkers' families.
- 14:44SPEAKER_02: And I think um, you know, one of the things I love about my situation now is I work at a small company.
- 14:50SPEAKER_02: So, you know, the the safety is is we can talk about it as a as a as a family, not as you know, kind of a top-down uh initiative.
- 14:59SPEAKER_02: So um and I think that that that that transition happened even at the at the bigger companies that I worked at, you know, they started really talking about you know safety as uh, you know, it's the reason is we want to make sure that you get home to your family every day.
- 15:13SPEAKER_02: And I think that resonates with people a little bit more that, you know, then do it or else you're gonna get sent home for uh, you know, for the rest of the day, right?
- 15:20SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
- 15:20SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, it it is a dangerous occupation, right?
- 15:23SPEAKER_00: And so I'm sure everybody probably knows somebody that they wish had been a little bit safer.
- 15:28SPEAKER_00: And that that hits home, hits hard.
- 15:30SPEAKER_02: For sure.
- 15:31SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
- 15:32SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
- 15:33SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I um had a situation.
- 15:35SPEAKER_02: We we had a uh right after I left Charlotte, North Carolina, my father was still there, a lot of good friends of mine.
- 15:40SPEAKER_02: We had a fatality on a project um with a brand new young helper, and you know, it was it was a horrendous situation.
- 15:47SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, the last thing we ever want is to have a have an accident or or a you know fatality.
- 15:54SPEAKER_00: So yep, understood.
- 15:57SPEAKER_00: So as you as you look kind of at the future and maybe where we're at as a as an industry, um what uh what advice would you give?
- 16:06SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh, you know, if you were to kind of speak to the entire industry, what what would you say?
- 16:13SPEAKER_02: So I would say my my biggest advice, I think, you know, I'm I've been around for a few minutes now, and uh my biggest advice would be um if you don't enjoy what you're doing, find something else to do.
- 16:25SPEAKER_02: This industry is plenty big enough.
- 16:27SPEAKER_02: There's so many different avenues that you can follow.
- 16:31SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I I and I mentioned this to you before, I think in one of our conversations, you know, I I I kind of worked my way up into a position of, you know, I was a vice president of of a of a department for for the New York region.
- 16:45SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't, I I lost my passion because I I won't say I lost my passion, I lost the fun of what I did.
- 16:53SPEAKER_02: I I I loved going out and working with the customers and and being a part of the team with the guys in the field and and all that stuff.
- 17:01SPEAKER_02: So sometimes I think that you know you got to find your lane and stay with it.
- 17:07SPEAKER_02: Um the the big companies, if you work hard and you're successful, they love to give you another opportunity, but those opportunities aren't always what they're made out to be, right?
- 17:17SPEAKER_02: Um you know, part of uh part of being able to really be successful is develop yourself in a market and um, you know, develop contacts.
- 17:26SPEAKER_02: And so if you're constantly moving every time the company needs you to, um, you know, that can negatively affect your personal career.
- 17:34SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, my advice to people is um if you don't feel good with something or or you don't feel like it's taking you to a place that feels good to you, find somewhere else.
- 17:44SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, there's there's so many awesome opportunities within the elevator industry.
- 17:49SPEAKER_02: Um it's not like you have to change, change it, change industries.
- 17:53SPEAKER_02: You just have to look for another uh another opportunity within the same industry.
- 17:57SPEAKER_00: Sure, or even or even create your own.
- 17:59SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's uh or create your own.
- 18:01SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 18:01SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
- 18:02SPEAKER_00: Yeah, fairly common that somebody will be climbing a corporate ladder, only realize the ladder's on the the wrong wall.
- 18:08SPEAKER_00: That's not what I wanted.
- 18:09SPEAKER_00: Or to your point, you know, I've I'm so far away from the field, which is what I love, I need to, I need to do something where I can actually be back, you know, closer or or you know, kind of experience the the thrill of of being in that space because once you get into some of those jobs, you're just kind of removed from what you love.
- 18:27SPEAKER_02: Well, my again, my you know, one of my passions is efficiency, looking at things and seeing how you can do it more more quicker, faster, more effectively, you know, better the whole nine yards.
- 18:39SPEAKER_02: So when you get to a level where you're no longer running the day-to-day, you're just running people, you lose that ability to to to feed yourself.
- 18:48SPEAKER_02: So I think um yeah, yeah, that's that's the advice I would give is you know, just find something you really like, and and sometimes it's best just to uh develop yourself within that instead of trying to take the next step.
- 19:01SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
- 19:02SPEAKER_00: So uh last question I'll ask you um is you know, if you were if you were talking to uh somebody who's maybe they're brand new, um, you know, versus somebody who's maybe been in here and they've already climbed the long wrong ladder and kind of figured out where they need to be.
- 19:17SPEAKER_00: Um maybe somebody who's brand new to the industry, what would you say to them?
- 19:25SPEAKER_02: I would tell them that um brand new to the industry.
- 19:31SPEAKER_02: I would tell them to keep their mouth closed and their ears open and listen and learn.
- 19:35SPEAKER_02: Um there's there's so many people within this industry that are willing to share their wall the the wealth of knowledge.
- 19:42SPEAKER_02: Um all you've got to do is listen.
- 19:45SPEAKER_02: You don't have to be you you don't have to have all the answers.
- 19:48SPEAKER_02: Just just go listen and um build your network, participate in in industry events, the NAEC, um, you know, your your your your local uh safety association, elevator safety association, whatever it is, network, get to know people outside of your own company.
- 20:08SPEAKER_02: Don't don't think that just because your company is the one you work for, they're the only good ones.
- 20:13SPEAKER_02: Network outside, they're not the enemy, they're just like us.
- 20:16SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that would be that would be it.
- 20:19SPEAKER_00: Awesome, awesome.
- 20:20SPEAKER_00: So, Chuck, thank you for taking this time.
- 20:23SPEAKER_00: Um, in our next uh section uh or next episode, if you will, we're gonna we're gonna look a little bit closer at what you're doing right now with Phoenix Modular.
- 20:31SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to get into that.
- 20:33SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate you being here.
- 20:34SPEAKER_02: Looking forward to it.
- 20:35SPEAKER_02: For sure, for sure, Matt.
- 20:37SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
- 20:37SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
- 20:38SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
- 20:45SPEAKER_00: Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
- 20:53SPEAKER_00: Please like and subscribe.
- 20:55SPEAKER_00: And until next time, stay safe.