Latest / Behind The Village Podcast / Building Trust in The Construction Industry | Jordan & Kirsten O’Coin

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Building Trust in The Construction Industry | Jordan & Kirsten O’Coin · Behind The Village Podcast

0:00
Yeah, I was trying to figure out a way. Like,
0:01
JK is like, just kidding. So I was like, that's
0:04
not good. Can't do that. And then Kirsten was
0:08
born in May and I was born in July. And I was
0:10
like, oh, fifth and seven. And then I said it
0:14
and I was kind of like, for some reason, it kind
0:16
of has like that. Like, I think for some reason,
0:19
I think I said like Fifth Avenue in my mind and
0:21
I called you and I was like, what do you think
0:22
of fifth and seven? And you're like, I don't
0:25
know what you're talking about. And I was like,
0:26
for our business. You're listening to the Behind
0:28
the Village podcast. Our guests today are Jordan
0:32
and Kirsten from Fifth and Seven Custom Contracting.
0:37
Jordan and Kirsten, thank you guys for actually
0:40
coming and being part of the podcast, right?
0:43
You guys are the owners, if I'm saying it correctly,
0:48
but you guys are the owners of Fifth and Seven
0:49
Custom Contracting, right? That's right. Awesome.
0:53
Thank you for having us. We're excited. Yeah.
0:56
So why don't we start by you guys kind of telling
0:59
us a little bit about, you know, yourselves.
1:02
So Jordan and I met in high school, actually.
1:05
And then we started dating during high school
1:08
and then both went to school in different spots
1:12
in Ontario. And then we're from the area, but
1:16
we moved to Hamilton for about seven years. And
1:19
Jordan worked in the construction industry the
1:22
entire time after he was finished schooling.
1:24
And I started my teaching career. Since then,
1:28
I've kind of backed off a little bit from teaching
1:30
with the business. It's getting kind of busy
1:33
and to manage both. And then two toddlers is
1:36
a little bit tricky. But we lived in Hamilton.
1:39
And our journey kind of started because we bought
1:43
our very first home. It was about 900 square
1:46
feet. And we decided to do a renovation to it.
1:49
And we loved it. We kind of continued to do that.
1:55
So we kept buying and flipping our own personal
1:57
homes just for fun and to make money for ourselves.
2:00
And we realized that we really loved flipping
2:03
homes and renovating them. And we worked really
2:06
well together doing that. And so the time came
2:10
where we decided we wanted to move home to try
2:12
to start our family. And so we came home. Jordan
2:16
worked with my stepdad for a year, who's also
2:19
a builder. And then we decided to. kind of dive
2:23
right in beginning of covid and start our own
2:27
business that's always fun beginning of covid
2:29
yeah yeah yeah we didn't see it coming but it
2:33
actually worked out really well everyone i thought
2:35
everyone thought that the market was going to
2:38
be slow and you know people weren't going to
2:41
be able to work and it was the opposite i mean
2:44
for our industry for our industry yeah the construction
2:46
industry yes the prices were up but um i mean
2:52
within a month or two of not only starting our
2:56
own projects, but we booked out for upwards of
3:00
a year with everybody else's projects. And then,
3:02
yeah, we've just kept that pace ever since. And
3:06
I mean, we work really hard at it, but it's been,
3:09
it's been a really good, good start. I think
3:11
we're in year five. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's
3:14
been. Okay, cool. Yeah. Cause that's what I was
3:16
going to ask is like, when did, when did, you
3:18
know, fifth and seven actually get started? Was
3:20
it? Yeah. Five years ago. Yeah. That's cool.
3:22
Yeah. Roughly five years ago. Cause we were pregnant
3:27
with our first son at the time too. So it was
3:29
everything at once. Yeah. Just adding on. That's
3:32
great. Through that, you know, we succeeded.
3:37
So we thought, okay, we can really make a go
3:39
of this. And we started building a house. We
3:43
bought a house. and Romera, Tanship, and basically
3:48
took it right down to the foundation and built
3:52
a completely brand new house on top of it, essentially.
3:55
And that was our first foray into building from
3:59
the ground up by ourselves completely. And it
4:02
went really, really well. And we loved the whole
4:05
process and continued to do that. And then we
4:08
started building for other people and renovations
4:11
tucked in there. And it's been fun. It's been...
4:14
very busy but it's been fun and we like we like
4:18
doing it together so yeah you guys have i guess
4:22
complementary skill sets that make it because
4:24
i know for some people especially like you know
4:26
partners or spouses you know it's just like it'll
4:29
break them it doesn't bring them together to
4:32
build businesses so i was just curious how like
4:35
is is that what kind of makes it work for you
4:38
too i think so oh definitely i mean i don't have
4:43
I have an eye for how it's built and the process
4:46
that it takes. More than an eye, I guess. And
4:49
the ability to actually do it. But Kirsten has
4:53
such a good eye for design and just the details
4:57
that I don't even know how many times a day I
5:00
call her and be like, hey, I'm just looking at
5:01
this and we're about to start framing this or,
5:04
you know, what's your end goal? What's your thoughts
5:08
on that? Yeah, she just has a great way of making
5:11
it clear, which sounds crazy that she's not even
5:14
there and she can clarify it for me. But I'm
5:17
looking at it on the structural side or the process
5:19
of putting it together. And she has an idea of
5:21
what she wants it to look like at the end. And
5:23
yeah, most of the time she's right. Yeah, I mean,
5:28
Jordan has all the formal training in terms of
5:32
background in construction. He has a degree in
5:34
architectural technology. So he's got all of
5:40
the educational background for that. Whereas
5:44
me for design, it's been more of something that
5:46
I've just kind of taken up as like a hobby and
5:49
it's grown into something more, which is really
5:52
cool because I never really saw myself going
5:55
down that route. But I've enjoyed it a lot. And
5:58
yeah, I think the two skill sets match really
6:01
well together. And then I sort of take on the
6:05
administrative role as well. to keep the business
6:09
in the back and going so in the early days though
6:12
there were definitely some times where especially
6:14
on like our first couple projects where you're
6:17
you're not doing it as a business you're doing
6:19
it as yourself right and you know 11 o 'clock
6:22
at night and i'm like finishing something and
6:25
she'll come downstairs and you know it's i'd
6:28
really like if we could maybe move this over
6:30
like a couple inches and that's when you're like
6:37
Sure. But you know, that's one of those things
6:41
that, you know, I don't know, a lot of people
6:44
have in the back of their head that you can't,
6:47
I don't know, like, I don't, I think it's a kind
6:49
of normal thing. But a lot of people have in
6:51
the back of their head that they can't work with
6:52
spouses, because, you know, the stressors that
6:55
you put on, you know, in business, right, deadlines,
6:59
or all these kinds of things, but just kind of
7:01
pile on, and then you at some point you have
7:04
to break and you have to go back up and you know
7:06
make dinner or help with the kids but you still
7:09
you you were just talking about something that
7:12
you couldn't agree on right yeah absolutely it's
7:15
one of it's one of those things yeah no i agree
7:19
with that completely but i i for us it's never
7:22
really been too much of an issue like obviously
7:25
there's been times where we've butted heads on
7:26
decision making about some certain project aspects
7:29
but for the most part we agree on almost everything
7:33
and especially like if it comes to anything structural
7:36
or anything he takes the lead on that anything
7:39
design wise he lets me take the lead on that
7:42
so we kind of balance each other out that way
7:44
where we're not butting heads over the same issues
7:47
really so it's it works well and Yeah, it translates
7:51
okay in the home area too. I'm curious about
7:54
kind of the flow of how it works because I believe
7:56
June did some research on your website and you
8:00
kind of talk about right from initial planning
8:02
stages of a build through to, you know, obviously
8:05
completion. How does that work? In general, I
8:11
guess, how does that work with your clients?
8:12
Yeah, and for your business, do you do something
8:15
that, I don't know, other people don't do? I'm
8:16
not sure if all construction companies or all
8:19
contracting companies do what you do, which is
8:22
right from the start all the way to the finish,
8:25
right? Not everyone wants to do that early stage
8:28
because it is very tedious, whether you're dealing
8:31
with a township or a building department or planners
8:35
or conservation authorities. Some people just
8:39
want to generally be that contractor where you
8:42
tell me when you're ready and we'll build it.
8:44
But that's a big hurdle for a lot of people who,
8:48
especially if you want a custom home built, that
8:51
early stage, just the pricing, the budgeting,
8:54
getting even to being permit ready is difficult.
8:59
And it can take, honestly, it can take over a
9:03
year sometimes of just... dealing with these
9:06
townships or engineers or whatever whatever specifics
9:11
your project entail but we do it because it helps
9:15
yeah i think the project roll the way we want
9:18
it to yeah i think it takes a lot of the pressure
9:20
off of the clients too because a lot of clients
9:23
come to us saying we want to build a house but
9:25
we have no idea where to start and of course
9:28
they would right i mean it's a very difficult
9:30
process there's a lot of different steps involved
9:32
and a lot of steps that they wouldn't even know
9:34
that they have to go through all the hoops and
9:37
so i think kind of what sets us apart from other
9:39
builders that maybe offer the same services that
9:43
we do is that we're a very small builder it's
9:46
jordan and i and then we have a couple employees
9:49
under fifth and seven and then we have our traits
9:51
that we work with but it's not we're not this
9:54
huge builder working on you know 10 to 20 homes
9:57
a year i mean we take on anywhere from two to
10:00
three maybe four homes but generally no more
10:04
than three in a given year so that we can really
10:09
focus on all of those details and make sure that
10:14
we're not skipping any steps and that we can
10:16
have these personal relationships with our clients
10:18
that they feel comfortable and if they have questions
10:21
they don't come to you know some administrator
10:24
who then talks to the general contractor who
10:26
then talks to this person like they just come
10:28
directly to us so i think that's a big part of
10:31
what sets us apart from other builders for sure
10:36
yeah and i and i yeah i totally see that because
10:40
you know We work in a similar in a similar way.
10:43
You and me are involved in a lot of the projects
10:45
and a lot of the businesses that we that we do,
10:47
including, you know, the villager and this and
10:50
the podcast. And it's one of those things that
10:52
you just kind of get used to the fact that you
10:54
end up building relationships with people right
10:57
in businesses, at least nowadays, is I want to
11:00
know that somebody is going to take care of me,
11:02
but somebody that I can trust. Right. And trust
11:05
develops by feeling that this is not just someone
11:09
that is. gonna be there for like a couple months
11:13
and then just gonna leave but it's someone that
11:15
i can always talk to as someone that i can always
11:18
ask questions someone that i feel like i know
11:19
right absolutely yeah i think that's the big
11:23
draw to starting our business back in aurelia
11:26
too i mean we could have potentially done this
11:29
in hamilton but it didn't have the same draw
11:31
to us because we are from this community we grew
11:34
up here both of us individually and together
11:36
and we love aurelia in the area and we really
11:42
thrive on making those relationships in the community
11:45
and i think since we've started our business
11:47
you especially have really dove right into it
11:50
and made a lot of community ties and that's a
11:54
nice feeling to know that you know we're a part
11:56
of this community and we're giving back in ways
11:59
so super cool yeah i wanted to ask about the
12:06
name fifth and seven because i think it's super
12:08
cool and i know we chatted about it on the phone
12:10
but i think it's a how did you arrive at that
12:13
name it took a lot of thinking but that one was
12:17
all jordan you want to i spend a lot of time
12:19
in my truck listening to podcasts and just driving
12:26
and thinking and i'm on the phone all the time
12:28
and i was driving to one of our projects i think
12:32
and you know you're all actually i guess it wouldn't
12:35
be one of our projects it was our house we were
12:37
building at the time yeah prior to starting and
12:39
you know i'm thinking you know old coin contracting
12:42
uh just wordy my my mom happened to be a business
12:46
owner in town and everyone knows that last name
12:48
in that industry and i didn't really want i wanted
12:51
a separation from that and um then you know her
12:56
parents are builders so we couldn't really go
12:59
down that sort of name route and Yeah, I was
13:03
trying to figure out a way like JK is like just
13:06
kidding. So I was like, that's not good. And
13:10
then Kirsten was born in May and I was born in
13:12
July. And I was like, oh, fifth and seven. And
13:16
then I said it and I was kind of like, for some
13:18
reason, it kind of has like that. Like, I think
13:21
for some reason, I think I said like Fifth Avenue
13:23
in my mind and I called you and I was like, what
13:25
do you think of fifth and seven? And you're like,
13:27
I don't know what you're talking about. And I
13:28
was like, for our business. Yeah. And then we
13:31
had to get contracting in there somehow, but
13:33
we liked the idea of doing custom homes. Yeah.
13:36
So then we put custom in and then now when I
13:38
spell it out to people and I'm trying to say
13:40
my email and stuff, I'm like, you know, I think
13:43
I made this a little too long, but we do like,
13:46
we just basically say fifth and seventh. Yeah.
13:47
But I would say 99 % of people that come up to
13:50
us say, we love your business name. Like it,
13:53
what does it mean? Tell us about it. And that's.
13:55
you know, a really good thing because it's not
13:57
just old coin contracting. Like you see that
14:00
on the side of a truck and you're not going to
14:02
look twice, but something like fifth and seven,
14:04
we're hoping, you know, people see that and start
14:07
recognizing it. It's, it's Jordan and I, right.
14:09
It's giving that right off of the business name
14:11
that it's two people, family run business that
14:14
are working to build homes for people in the
14:17
community. So I like that. I think it's a good
14:20
one. It's pretty awesome. I did have this question.
14:24
What is your service area? Because, you know,
14:27
contracting, I'm assuming it could be really
14:30
anywhere. I don't actually know. But what's your
14:33
service area? I mean, we like to stick within
14:38
about an hour from Coldwater, basically. Aurelia,
14:41
Muskoka, Collingwood. Yeah. We'll go out past
14:45
Brecken, that area. But every time I go to Barrie
14:49
to get something, I'm just like, oh, this is
14:51
too busy for me. So I try to go to Barrie. Yeah.
14:54
Totally get it. Yeah. Do you have a favorite?
14:57
Not a favorite home because, you know, they're
14:59
custom, so they're all different. But is there
15:00
maybe a stage or a phase that you love? You probably
15:07
do. Yeah. My favorite would probably be the initial
15:12
stage of designing and meeting with the clients
15:15
and seeing what kind of home they're looking
15:18
for. And we'll take their ideas and come together
15:21
with like a little Pinterest board. with inspiration
15:24
and then we'll take that to our designer who
15:26
will do the renderings for us i love just breaking
15:29
ground honestly um footings foundation and starting
15:33
framing because those steps are so uh happens
15:37
quickly yeah they're so big like you know the
15:39
clients won't they'll come by one day you know
15:41
we break ground hey come see the the holes open
15:43
right you know and they they get excited and
15:47
then they may not come back for four weeks and
15:49
then first floor walls are up and they go wow
15:52
like it's so much bigger or that's always that
15:55
always tricks people too when they walk through
15:56
their home at framing stage or smaller yeah and
16:00
everyone thinks that the space feels very small
16:02
at framing stage for some reason and because
16:05
i think it's because you can't get a sense of
16:06
the room size because you're looking through
16:08
these void in the walls and then as soon as we
16:10
dry well everyone walks in and they get a sense
16:12
of space and yeah it's always you can always
16:16
see it i swear every customer we have who comes
16:18
through once the walls are boarded wow it's so
16:21
much bigger and something you know i get that
16:24
comment every time so i i just personally like
16:26
the breaking ground part though yeah that's exciting
16:30
what what questions do you think someone should
16:32
be asking or to find someone that is actually
16:35
uh you know trustworthy right and they're both
16:39
thinking the same thing so if you're if you're
16:41
doing a full build you need to have a license
16:43
to build in ontario you need a terriot license
16:45
if you're just looking for a contractor You want
16:48
their insurance and you want their WSIB. Because
16:51
if they're not even willing to take those two
16:53
basic things, then they're definitely not trying
16:56
to be above board. For sure. Right. And I mean,
17:00
then honestly, a reference. If you call somebody
17:04
and say, hey, can I talk to one of your previous
17:07
customers or a contract? Like, you know, we have
17:10
a list of trades that's, I don't know, 10 to
17:13
15 long who we've used. Since the day we opened
17:17
our doors, I've been to high school with some
17:19
of these guys who are now business owners, too.
17:22
Say, hey, you know, we're looking at Jordan to
17:24
do our addition. What do you think? And they'd
17:27
probably say, yeah, sure, great. I would say
17:29
the number one thing, though, if you're looking
17:30
to have a custom home or just a home built is
17:34
to ask, do you have Tarion? Do you have Tarion
17:37
warranty? Because a lot of people in this area,
17:41
too. are builders and they do not have Tarion
17:45
warranty. And a lot of people don't know that
17:46
that's a question that they should ask. And so,
17:49
you know, they go through the whole process.
17:50
They have a home built. There's some sort of
17:53
issue. They somehow learn about Tarion. So they
17:55
call Tarion up and say, we have an issue with
17:58
our builder. And Tarion says, we have no record
18:02
of this house, this builder. So then it's like
18:05
a whole legal process and everything. But we
18:08
actually just had a couple come to us with that.
18:10
exact issue where they started with a builder
18:13
who did not have tarion um and they started the
18:17
initial stages of the foundation found out that
18:20
he did not have tarion and they pulled back and
18:23
then came to us about it so that was uh unfortunately
18:28
that's a common issue but i would say if that's
18:32
one thing people take away from this podcast
18:34
is check to make sure that your builder if you're
18:37
doing a full build from the ground up has tarion
18:39
Yeah, it's really important. And for people that
18:42
maybe don't know what it is, I know there's a
18:44
lot that goes into Tarion, but what is maybe
18:47
like a quick explanation of what that is? Basically,
18:53
it's a license that you have to obtain through,
18:56
you can call it schooling. It's up, I believe,
19:00
10 to 12 courses you have to take. Huge financial.
19:07
background check on the builder to make sure
19:09
they can afford the fees that are associated
19:11
with it, the insurance liabilities you need to
19:14
carry. And then we, as the builder, are responsible
19:17
for that home for seven years on different varying
19:20
levels year by year. But up to two years, I mean,
19:24
if you have an issue with your home, we're coming
19:27
back. And we're not going to say you owe us the
19:31
bill. I mean, we're on the hook because we stand
19:33
behind our work. And that's one of the problems
19:37
I think you get with these, you know, fly -by
19:40
-night contractors or people who maybe only want
19:43
to do one part of a build. That's why we like
19:45
to do the whole thing. And we really want to
19:47
pick our trades because we've had that conversation
19:50
with them. Hey, guys, you know, if there's an
19:53
issue with that generator or the hot water tank
19:55
in a year, it's on you. And, you know, stand
19:59
behind your work. Don't put something that's
20:00
not quality in the home because, you know, we
20:03
build with the Terrier license and you've got
20:04
to pull deer in too. And that's where you get
20:08
the quality at the end of the day. Most people
20:10
feel very reassured to know that Tarion is a
20:13
thing because who's looking out for the best
20:16
interests of the homeowner, right? It's Tarion
20:18
that's doing that. And so, yeah, before we sign
20:24
a contract, we have to apply for basically a
20:27
license to build this home. And then we have
20:29
to put up a large chunk of money up in front
20:33
of... signing any contracts and then you we don't
20:38
get that back for up to three years so it really
20:43
puts us on the hook too to make sure you know
20:46
that we're doing what we're saying we're going
20:48
to be doing and i think people feel a little
20:51
bit more reassured when they hear that yeah yeah
20:55
that makes a lot of sense and yeah that would
20:57
totally you know uh kind of make someone feel
21:00
better that at least like more likely you are
21:03
going to stand by your product, right? But the
21:06
industry is filled with, you know, tight deadlines
21:09
and, you know, budgets that you need to keep
21:12
up with. How do you, how are you able to kind
21:15
of work and maneuver through that, especially
21:18
with a custom build, which I feel like the sky
21:22
is the limit, really. You could do any number
21:24
of things with a custom build because you're
21:26
starting from zero, right? So how do you kind
21:29
of... work within, you know, all those deadlines.
21:36
Yeah, it's true. Just saying this guy's woman,
21:38
it's funny. A lot of people contact us and say,
21:40
we want to build a house. How much is it going
21:41
to cost? And we're like, okay, there's a lot
21:43
of variables there that we need to talk about.
21:46
We can't just throw out a number. But we started
21:50
off with a pretty extensive quote that takes
21:54
us, I would say, you know, up to a month or more
21:59
to. get together for each client based off of
22:02
a questionnaire that we'll give them or we'll,
22:05
you know, FaceTime, Zoom, meet in person, whatever
22:07
that is to see exactly what they want, what kind
22:11
of finishes they want. And then based off of
22:12
all of those, our quotes are roughly four to
22:17
six pages long. I would say maybe more, depending
22:21
on what they want with a breakdown of each item.
22:25
that really details exactly what it is that they're
22:28
paying for and how much they're going to be paying
22:30
for that item. That's where a lot of time too,
22:32
we spend a lot of hours in those early days,
22:38
weeks, months, whatever it is of the process,
22:40
because without a decent design drawing, I can't
22:43
give you an accurate price at all. So we need
22:47
that design process to be as tight as possible.
22:50
How has the industry been changing, right, as
22:53
you kind of have gone through? And how is it
22:55
changing right now, right, that you guys have
22:59
to deal with? Like, for example, the tariffs.
23:02
It's a roller coaster. It's a roller coaster.
23:05
Yeah, we had a lot of interest prior to Trump's
23:12
administration and ready to go for spring. And
23:17
then once he started talking about tariffs. We
23:20
had three projects go, OK, we're not so sure
23:23
about this right now because they didn't know
23:24
how it was going to affect. Right. A lot of our
23:27
clients tend to be retirees or close to retirees.
23:31
And so, you know, money is in stock markets,
23:34
et cetera. And they get a little bit nervous,
23:37
understandably so. Right. And so we've had to
23:42
sort of manage that a little bit. But, you know,
23:44
when we lose one bid. Another one comes along.
23:47
So it's worked out for us so far, but we definitely
23:50
have to roll with the punches a little bit because,
23:52
I mean, you know, these tariffs are affecting
23:54
all kinds of different industries, not just the
23:56
construction industry. Well, not just tariffs,
23:59
too. The real estate market has something that
24:02
we've, I mean, we watch all the time because
24:04
it's something that we both personally like.
24:06
But a lot of our clients, for example, have,
24:09
you know, maybe they have a house in the city.
24:12
And they're selling it and they want to retire
24:13
to their cottage. But they need to renovate that
24:15
cottage. It's been in their family for 30 something
24:18
years. And they'll come to us and say, let's
24:21
do a design. Let's get this ready. And then they'll
24:25
say, well, we're sitting waiting because our
24:27
money's tied in our home in Toronto. And that
24:30
thing's selling. So we get to that spot and we're
24:34
sitting right at the start line. And we're just
24:36
sort of idling and waiting and waiting. And this
24:38
real estate market has been unlike anything.
24:42
we've experienced and we are younger but it's
24:45
so slow right now and it's it's definitely affecting
24:47
some customers what does the future kind of look
24:50
like for fifth and seven what is it that your
24:52
uh your goals are your plans are it's a big list
24:54
honestly a little bit more growth i like maybe
25:03
i don't even know if i want the company to double
25:05
maybe double but no more i don't want a massive
25:10
company where i'm just i spend enough time on
25:13
the phone i don't want to only be on the phone
25:17
all day you know what i mean and like if the
25:19
business gets a little bit bigger then i'm happy
25:23
but if we keep on the pace that we're at and
25:25
and have some steady growth um then that'd be
25:28
amazing but i think enough that we can handle
25:31
with you know the two of us leading it we don't
25:34
necessarily want to get so big where you know
25:38
We're not, we don't have our fingers in every,
25:41
every single project, you know, that I think
25:44
is the charm to our business is that we are so
25:46
heavily involved in each one. So we wouldn't
25:50
want that to change for sure, but definitely.
25:52
I always want an onsite presence. Like that's,
25:55
that's just, I love that. Like when I wake up
25:59
in the morning and I mean, first coffee, but
26:02
after that, I want to get to the job. Like I
26:06
love getting to the job site. Even if I don't
26:10
put on a tool belt that day, but I just something
26:13
about it. But more often than not, you're not.
26:15
Honestly, it's like five, four and a half days
26:17
a week. I'm not wearing it anymore, but I love
26:20
the chance to put it on. Maybe my guys don't
26:22
like when I put it on, but yeah, I just, if the
26:28
business grew enough still to the point where
26:30
I could be on site every day, whether it's one
26:32
or two different sites, but, and you can be.
26:35
at site when you need to be um but i just don't
26:38
want it to get too big i think our biggest priority
26:40
is our family and we acknowledge that that also
26:45
might be the priority of our staff too so yeah
26:48
you know overtime hours is very rare for us i
26:51
mean if we don't work weekends no don't work
26:54
weekends and um you know we really we really
26:59
prioritize family and and I think that won't
27:02
ever change. So we want to, we want to keep it
27:06
like that and keep it a family business. You
27:09
know, we really appreciate the people that work
27:11
for us and that we work with. And we'd like to,
27:15
to keep it status quo for the most part, I would
27:17
say. Yeah. That's an amazing, I guess, thought
27:24
process to have, because I feel like we are of
27:26
that same manner. Like we're like, The common
27:30
theme in business was always, you know, in the
27:33
old, in the olden days, I guess, was like, you
27:35
just keep growing, you build this massive business,
27:38
you create this whole entire thing. But I think
27:40
a lot of it is now changing to just, there's
27:43
an enough there. Like there's a place where you
27:46
are, you can be happy and you can be fulfilled
27:49
and you can get, you know, you may not know exactly
27:52
where it is, but it's not, it's not just growth
27:54
at all costs. right uh it's it's growth with
27:57
purpose growth with intention right yeah to serve
28:00
something that you believe in yeah one of the
28:03
main reasons we started our own business was
28:05
so that we could have that work family balance
28:07
you know and when our kids get older and they
28:10
have basketball practices or games we want to
28:13
be able to go to those and not have to ask a
28:15
boss if we can take off time or whatever and
28:17
that has definitely paid off in spades just to
28:22
know that that's the route we're headed down
28:24
and you know if we want to take off on Wednesday
28:27
because we want to go do something as a family
28:29
together we can rearrange our schedules to do
28:32
that and that's that's the best part I think
28:35
about owning our business it comes with a whole
28:36
other set of challenges and it's probably the
28:38
hardest thing in the world it's it's easier to
28:41
just clock in and out at the end of the day and
28:42
not think anything else but this was really important
28:46
for us and this is how we saw a way to do that
28:48
there's a lot of eight o 'clocks at nights where
28:50
we're Oh, we're still sitting at the counter,
28:53
you know, pricing projects or quoting or typing
28:57
up proposals. And it's like, where, you know,
29:00
why don't we have office hours? But every hour
29:04
is an office hour for us because we've, you know,
29:07
we just put the kids to bed and it's like, we've
29:08
got like two hours before we, we really need
29:10
to be in bed because we're going to be up in
29:12
eight hours and do it all over again. So let's,
29:14
let's capitalize on these two hours. But like
29:16
you said, it gives us a Wednesday off when we
29:19
need to or whatever. That's truly worth it. Yeah.
29:24
Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. Love it. So for
29:28
people that are interested in, you know, potentially
29:31
hiring you for your services and stuff like that,
29:35
what's your website or your social media? Where
29:37
can they contact you? Yeah. So our website is
29:40
fifthandseven .com. The number five, T -H -A
29:45
-N -D and seven right now, S -E -V -E -N .com.
29:50
And then Instagram is the same at 5th and 7th.
29:54
And on our website, there's a contact page where
29:56
they can fill out their information about what
29:59
they're looking for. And they can check off whether
30:01
they want us to call them or email them back.
30:04
And we're usually within 24 hours, we get back
30:06
to people. Amazing. Yeah. Is there anything else
30:10
then that we wanted to talk about that we may
30:13
not have gotten around to? I don't think so.
30:16
Yeah, this was really fun. Thank you guys very
30:18
much for joining our podcast. Thanks for having
30:22
us. Thank you for listening to the entire episode.
30:26
All the links and info you heard in this conversation
30:28
will be featured in the show notes on our website,
30:30
villagermagazine .ca slash podcast. If you enjoyed
30:34
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30:39
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30:41
and I'll see you next time.