Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Podcast Ep 17 - Built on Relationships - Greg Looney, CEO of Inherent Commercial

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Elevate Podcast Ep 17 - Built on Relationships - Greg Looney, CEO of Inherent Commercial · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:10
  Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
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  by Braden. This is your front row seat
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  to the stories of local leaders, both
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  nonprofit and for-profit who are shaping
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  our community. Every episode brings you
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  leadership insights, lessons from
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  challenges, and practical strategies you
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  can use today. And yes, we'll keep it
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  real and have some fun along the way. If
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  you're ready to elevate your leadership,
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  hit subscribe and follow us on LinkedIn
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  for updates and behind the scenes
• 0:39
  content. Now, let's dive in. Hey
• 0:42
  everybody, Jason here with another
• 0:44
  episode of Elevate Powered by Brain. I'm
• 0:46
  excited for this one. And so Greg and I
• 0:48
  have known each other for quite some
• 0:49
  time and I've gotten a chance to share
• 0:52
  about kids and family and business and
• 0:55
  just background and all those kind of
• 0:57
  things. I know the story is going to be
• 0:58
  great but welcome to the show Greg.
• 1:00
  >> Thanks for having me Jason. So maybe
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  just a quick bit about who you are and
• 1:03
  where you are at right now and then
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  we'll get to that part of the story a
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  little later. Uh Greg Looney, I'm you
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  know born and raised here in Indiana.
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  Um, specifically on the uh south side of
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  Indianapolis is where I uh was uh born
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  and uh lived uh up until my adult life
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  when I moved north to Fisers. Gotcha.
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  And um went to Ronali High School,
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  graduated there, went to Purdue for
• 1:29
  construction management. And so let's
• 1:31
  slow that down, please. So Sasai Boy
• 1:33
  goes goes to Roni. What what does high
• 1:36
  school look like for you? Are you are
• 1:39
  you in sports? Are you studying? Are you
• 1:41
  in the band? What? Yeah. What did you
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  doing there?
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  >> Um, so I I grew up playing all the
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  sports as a lot of young uh males do and
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  and was in involved in all those. Um,
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  really never had the passion though to
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  continue on to to continue to uh do the
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  sports in high school. I did uh uh join
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  the track team for a couple years. Um,
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  but mostly was focusing on work and uh
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  you know friendships and all that. So,
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  um, you know, started my career working
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  at, you know, 15 at at a Subway, uh,
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  sandwich shop. That's where I was,
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  that's where I was going to go first.
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  So, started started focusing on work.
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  >> So, Subway is where you get started.
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  You're a a sandwich artist. That's what
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  they call price. So, you're a sandwich
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  artist. Yeah. And going to high school
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  earning money.
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  >> Yes. Right. So, that first couple of
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  paychecks, what was what were you
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  buying? What were you doing back in
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  those days? Um, you know, I think it was
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  like anything else is you're probably
• 2:37
  spending most of your food on going to
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  the or most of your money on food and
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  going to the movies and hanging out with
• 2:43
  friends and doing all that. So, probably
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  not the wisest, you know, things to
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  spend my money or but taught taught a
• 2:50
  good work ethic of of, you know, earning
• 2:52
  money and getting to the point where,
• 2:54
  you know, hopefully getting a car a year
• 2:56
  later and having expenses for that and
• 2:59
  uh
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  >> Oh, yeah. So, so you were 15. Yeah.
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  Right. Started there. So, not driving
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  you.
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  >> Yes. And so if if we're talking about
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  high school, getting a car when you're
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  60, what was your first car?
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  >> Uh my first car was a uh 1994 Pontiac
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  Grand Dam,
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  >> right? Okay. Two or four-door? Twodoor.
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  >> Okay. At 5-speed, so I had to learn how
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  to drive a uh a manual transmission car,
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  which is still You're one of the rare
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  folks who ride that. Exactly. And it's
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  like riding a bike. You never forget.
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  Yeah. So, um, so yeah, that I had that
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  until I, uh, blew a hole in the
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  transmission and, you know, figure it
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  out and, uh, get another another set of
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  wheels to get me around. So,
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  >> Okay. All right. So, Grand Dam two door.
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  Yep. Stick shift. So, you were cool.
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  >> Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I thought I was
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  right. Yeah. I don't know that I would
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  label me as cool, but
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  >> Gotcha. All right. So, working at
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  Subway, did you work through Subway kind
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  of all the way through high school?
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  Yeah, I um I I ended up um transitioning
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  from Subway to uh was working at a
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  clothing store in the mall in the winter
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  time and then in the summertime kind
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  when weather was nice, I was doing
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  landscaping and okay uh and grass
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  cutting on a crew I get for a friend's
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  dad and um you know that was uh a little
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  bit of the best of both worlds, right?
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  So, I was not out in the elements uh
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  during the nasty months, but uh taught
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  me a good hard work ethic and uh you
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  know, no knew that I didn't want to go
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  into the the clothing uh store.
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  >> Hey, basketball. Didn't didn't want to
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  go on the clothing day.
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  >> Yes. Yeah. Nice on a day like today.
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  >> Exactly. You know, the last week it's
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  been negative here in Indianapolis.
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  >> So, clothing. So, as you're going
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  through high school, you're working,
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  doing clothing, start to work outside a
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  little bit, and you're going to go to do
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  what's next, right? So, is college next
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  for you? And yeah, where do you go? And
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  what was what were you going to plan to
• 4:42
  study?
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  >> So, I was always uh bound and determined
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  to go to uh study architecture. And so,
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  I thought uh early on in my high school
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  career, there's a u a drafting program
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  at Ronali that is taught by an architect
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  and he had been doing it for 40 plus
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  years. And so, I always had that that
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  desire. or I liked the designing of
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  buildings and the technical side of
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  that. Um what that led me to is I did a
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  uh internship I should say or a little
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  um emerging course for two weeks in
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  between my junior year of high school
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  and senior year of high school.
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  >> Oh, really? Up at Ball State in their uh
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  college of architecture and uh planning
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  and they they host students there that
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  are interested in the architecture field
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  but to get them there to show them what
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  it's like for two weeks. Oh, wow. I love
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  that program. I still was, you know,
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  dead said that like I'm going to
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  architecture school, had applied there.
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  I had gotten accepted and then um some
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  friends started talking about
• 5:44
  construction management at Purdue and I
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  was like, hm, that's interesting and
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  that's intriguing. I never even
• 5:50
  considered that. Uh and really didn't
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  even know it was an optional, you know,
• 5:54
  degree to get. Oh, really? Okay. So, I I
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  pivoted and uh went and visited Purdue
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  and I said that's that's what I'm doing.
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  That was more my speed. No. Um the
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  architecture school and nothing against
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  it, but it's very um heavy on the art
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  side and creative side or I was more
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  like I want to call straight lines. I
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  want to draw, you know, floor plans and
• 6:15
  yeah, design these buildings, but you
• 6:17
  got to, you know, learn to, you know,
• 6:19
  crawl before you walk, walk before you
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  run. Yeah. Yeah. And so they work you
• 6:23
  through more of the art side of it then
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  to get the creativity flowing versus
• 6:26
  the, you know, drawing straight lines of
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  the building.
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  >> Okay. And so uh and and one was a 4 plus
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  two at the time. So four years of
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  undergrad, two years of grad school and
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  then uh that was architecture. And then
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  on the construction side, construction
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  was a four-year degree. And so I wanted
• 6:42
  to take my shortest route. Yeah. I loved
• 6:44
  college. Uh but it was time to time to
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  go after four.
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  >> Okay. All right. So when you when you
• 6:49
  were doing intentionally done architect,
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  was that Ball State?
• 6:52
  >> Yeah, Ball State. Sorry. Okay. So that
• 6:53
  could have been at Ball State, but you
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  decided to go to Purdue. Yes. So you
• 6:56
  head up to Purdue during those four
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  years. You know a lot of folks I've
• 7:00
  talked to they've done some internships.
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  They've done some different things. So
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  talk to me a little bit about that
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  program that Purdue and how did you
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  progress amongst your four years? Yeah.
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  So um they do a really good job. Uh it's
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  one of the top programs in the nation
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  and the one thing that they require is
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  800 hours of on the job internship
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  throughout your your four years there.
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  >> Okay. It's easily achievable in two
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  summers. Um but they give you the four
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  years to give that in. Um they host a
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  job fair that has 100 plus companies
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  that come just for the construction
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  program. So it is a incredible job fair.
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  And at that point I had met a company
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  that's based here in Fisers uh as a
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  freshman, you know, really didn't know
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  anything about anything. Yeah.
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  >> And especially construction because at
• 7:46
  that point you're not even in um any
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  construction classes. It's all your
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  prerequisites, your maths, your allure.
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  Yeah.
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  >> And so, um, but what that did is it
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  really opened my eyes when I did get the
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  internship. Uh, so that's what brought
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  me to Fisers. Uh, I was still living on
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  the south side, okay, during the summer,
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  but I was driving up to Fisers and, uh,
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  that really kind of set the trajectory
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  for the rest of leading up to where I'm
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  at today. Um, to intern there. And I did
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  three summers at the same company. So,
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  >> Oh, no kidding. So, the same place, I'm
• 8:19
  going back. So, each summer I was doing
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  something different. which gave me a you
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  know little bit of different viewpoint
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  on each facet of the business. So um I
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  attribute you know really that into
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  solidifying my desire and my love for
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  construction. Okay.
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  >> Um and then you know as as I am
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  everybody's a different learner. Some
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  people learn best by books some people
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  learn best by doing and hands-on.
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  Uh the internship in my opinion I got
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  the most out of it because I got to
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  actually practice what I was learning at
• 8:52
  schools. Oh yeah the application of what
• 8:55
  you've been learning. Okay. So go
• 8:56
  through the motions go through the you
• 8:58
  know understanding of yeah the book says
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  it should be like this but this is
• 9:02
  reality right this is how things flow.
• 9:04
  This is sure when conflict happens when
• 9:07
  you know those uh those things come up
• 9:09
  this is how you deal with it. So um so
• 9:11
  that was a great uh opportunity there.
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  um you know they boasted um a 100%
• 9:17
  placement rate out of the constructor
• 9:20
  program for the 15 prior years I was
• 9:22
  there uh unfortunately I came out of
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  Purdue in 2009 and there was a few
• 9:28
  things going on in the Bay remember
• 9:30
  those day and uh that that 08 09 so I
• 9:33
  was a little nervous I'd put all my eggs
• 9:35
  in one basket and um fortunately because
• 9:38
  I had done that and they knew what they
• 9:40
  were getting um I was able to uh start
• 9:43
  full-time with them after my studies
• 9:45
  were done in Peru.
• 9:46
  >> Oh, that's cool. So, um, while a lot of
• 9:48
  people were struggling to find job and I
• 9:50
  don't remember what the exact percentage
• 9:51
  of placement was, but it had dropped
• 9:53
  like, you know, over 50%
• 9:55
  >> Oh, wow.
• 9:55
  >> of of placement just because companies
• 9:57
  weren't hiring in the great recession.
• 10:00
  So,
• 10:01
  >> when you were near and they bring those
• 10:03
  100 companies,
• 10:04
  >> were they all from Indiana or they
• 10:06
  >> No, in the United States. they're from
• 10:07
  the United States companies that um in
• 10:10
  fact when it was kind of ironic that I
• 10:13
  wasn't even uh interested on a lot of
• 10:15
  the other companies I nap I I gravitated
• 10:17
  towards the company that I ended up
• 10:19
  going with but then the other company I
• 10:21
  was looking at was in California okay
• 10:23
  and they were very much into all
• 10:25
  healthcare construction and so I started
• 10:27
  to get a little nervous because I really
• 10:29
  didn't want to leave the state however
• 10:31
  when I started looking at it and going
• 10:32
  oh no they may there may not be a job
• 10:34
  for me when I had to graduate I started
• 10:37
  really doubling down on and talking with
• 10:39
  others and and so it could have been
• 10:41
  very different. Yeah. Script could have
• 10:42
  gone that I went to California and I was
• 10:44
  in Yeah. you know San Diego.
• 10:46
  >> Yeah. It's just interesting. So the
• 10:48
  reason I answer the question was you
• 10:50
  know coming out of school did you know
• 10:51
  you wanted to come back here to
• 10:52
  Indianapolis?
• 10:53
  >> Yeah. So I am um I've always when I grew
• 10:56
  up um you know very tight-knit with our
• 10:58
  family. Uh my mom's one of seven, dad's
• 11:01
  one of eight. Uh most everybody is still
• 11:04
  in the Indiana area. Oh, so people have
• 11:07
  have, you know, moved out um to other
• 11:10
  other states, other cities. Um but very
• 11:13
  tight-knit growing up. So I was very
• 11:15
  close with a lot of my cousins. Um and
• 11:17
  there's like 41st cousins that I've got.
• 11:19
  So I I I knew yet I ultimately wanted to
• 11:22
  be back were family. It's um just
• 11:24
  because you know uh there's there's
• 11:27
  problems in any family, but when you
• 11:28
  have that many people, you can lean on
• 11:30
  each other and and really help each
• 11:31
  other out.
• 11:32
  >> Yeah, that's that's terrific. That's the
• 11:33
  reason why I asked that question was cuz
• 11:34
  you know usually at that point you got a
• 11:36
  choice. You could decide to go somewhere
• 11:38
  else, try something new or a different
• 11:40
  state but come back home. All right. So
• 11:42
  you come back home, you work three
• 11:44
  summers at the same place. You find your
• 11:47
  first job. You're working here in
• 11:48
  Fisers. What are you doing? What's that
• 11:51
  first role look like? And and tell me a
• 11:53
  little bit more about that.
• 11:54
  >> So um so it's a general contractor uh
• 11:57
  construction management firm. Yeah. And
• 11:59
  so there's several different facets you
• 12:01
  can go. You could go the field route to
• 12:02
  be more a superintendent role. Um you
• 12:05
  can go into pre-construction on the
• 12:07
  estimating side or you can go into more
• 12:08
  of the operations or project management
• 12:10
  side.
• 12:11
  >> I decid I've uh naturally I think in had
• 12:15
  so consciously decided I liked the
• 12:17
  project management side the best. Okay.
• 12:19
  Uh even though I had gotten multiple
• 12:21
  opportunities uh because you got to do
• 12:24
  kind of something in each of those areas
• 12:26
  right the three years what you
• 12:27
  gravitated more towards the PM to
• 12:29
  manage. Yep. Okay. And so I liked the
• 12:31
  aspect of of coordinating, you know, 35
• 12:35
  to 40 subcontractors in conjunction with
• 12:37
  our superintendent who's out on the
• 12:39
  field, but then juggling all that with
• 12:42
  two and three projects at a time. And
• 12:44
  that's what I really liked because
• 12:45
  that's how what fits my personality the
• 12:47
  best. So can you juggle too? I mean, you
• 12:50
  wish, but that's a lot. Yeah. Stop. You
• 12:52
  talk about multiple projects and you're
• 12:55
  just you're just coming out of school.
• 12:56
  >> Yeah. Right. But you're you're you're
• 12:59
  ready to jump in and say I want two
• 13:01
  three projects and and you said managing
• 13:03
  30 to 40.
• 13:04
  >> Yeah. You know so so and I should I
• 13:06
  should back up a little bit because even
• 13:08
  in the project management then you then
• 13:10
  you also break that down into a few
• 13:12
  additional uh you know layers into
• 13:15
  project engineer of assistant project
• 13:17
  manager project manager senior project
• 13:19
  manager. So there is also a workup to
• 13:22
  doing that. So I didn't I right out of
• 13:24
  school saying you know I'm I'm running
• 13:26
  you know this job right out of the gate
• 13:28
  >> yeah right 20 you on you're on the team
• 13:31
  you're on the team you're learning from
• 13:33
  the people that are the senior project
• 13:35
  managers or project managers and are the
• 13:37
  ones mentoring throughout that process
• 13:40
  and so um now while it was 2009 and a
• 13:44
  lot of jobs were starting to um either
• 13:47
  be put on pause be canled may not ever
• 13:49
  happen um I think that also helped for
• 13:53
  my career because we still had a decent
• 13:56
  amount of work and we still had jobs
• 13:58
  that needed to be done. Okay. And so I
• 14:01
  accelerated I think my career because I
• 14:03
  had to jump into situations that I
• 14:06
  probably would not in a normal market. I
• 14:08
  would have not gotten that experience so
• 14:09
  quick. Yeah. So that helped give me that
• 14:12
  trajectory and and unfortunately you
• 14:14
  know you you learn in school all the
• 14:16
  time. And the professors were always
• 14:17
  saying, "Hey, you're worth two to three,
• 14:18
  I'm sorry, you are being overpaid two to
• 14:20
  three times what you actually know when
• 14:23
  you graduate."
• 14:24
  >> Yeah.
• 14:24
  >> And companies, you're not making the
• 14:25
  company any money because you're in your
• 14:27
  marketing process. You're you're
• 14:28
  starting to learn how to support, you're
• 14:30
  learning how to be part of the team. And
• 14:33
  and until you can then spread your wings
• 14:35
  and fly on your own as a project manager
• 14:38
  running a project, you're not really
• 14:40
  making money for the company yet. And
• 14:42
  so, um, so that was an interesting, you
• 14:45
  know, setup because, um, like I said, it
• 14:48
  accelerated things that I was doing
• 14:50
  sooner
• 14:51
  >> and it helped that I had already been
• 14:53
  around there for 3 years. So, they do
• 14:54
  me, yeah, I do them. And it just helped
• 14:56
  us, you know, get to it much faster.
• 14:58
  >> Yeah. Ultimately, the decision to stay
• 15:01
  in in the same place for 3 years worked
• 15:03
  out for you, right? Because, like you
• 15:05
  said, they knew you, you knew them,
• 15:07
  understood the culture a little bit
• 15:08
  better, right? All that type of stuff.
• 15:10
  >> Absolutely. So what does the what does
• 15:12
  your time look like there? You start,
• 15:15
  you know, kind of in a junior role. How
• 15:17
  do you how do you progress, you know,
• 15:19
  and ultimately where does that take you
• 15:20
  in that role?
• 15:21
  >> Yeah. So um when I left, I was there
• 15:24
  about 6 and 1/2 years full-time and um I
• 15:28
  had started out as an assistant project
• 15:30
  manager and um I think within the next
• 15:33
  uh year, year and a half, I made it to a
• 15:36
  project manager role and then ultimately
• 15:38
  went up to a senior project management
• 15:40
  role. So the difference there is, you
• 15:42
  know, you start as you go from an
• 15:44
  assistant to project management. Um they
• 15:47
  uh asked for you to run maybe some
• 15:50
  smaller projects that were, you know, a
• 15:52
  lot more uh within reach um small
• 15:55
  buildout, commercial buildout of a
• 15:57
  retail store or something of that
• 15:59
  nature. And then I was still also
• 16:01
  dabbling in, you know, heavy healthcare.
• 16:04
  So we were doing um hospital additions,
• 16:06
  renovations. Oh yeah. control of that
• 16:08
  which is like the, you know, much more
• 16:10
  difficult, much more stringent. You're
• 16:13
  dealing with people's lives in a
• 16:14
  hospital versus, you know, a retail
• 16:16
  center that you're pretty much worried
• 16:18
  about, you know, egress and and ADA and
• 16:20
  and that's about it and you are good to
• 16:22
  go to life safety of airborne particles
• 16:26
  of dust in the air and and all that. So,
• 16:28
  two completely different extremes.
• 16:30
  However, that kept me well-rounded
• 16:32
  because what it seemed like through my
• 16:34
  career, some people would get pigeon
• 16:35
  holed into, hey, you are this type of
• 16:38
  work, you're in this type of work, and I
• 16:40
  always had like a little bit of
• 16:41
  everything going on. So, I had some
• 16:42
  buildouts going on that I was running
• 16:44
  and then I was also part of a larger
• 16:46
  team on larger hospitals. Okay. And um
• 16:50
  and so I I liked that because I got to
• 16:52
  see multifacet multi multifaceted
• 16:54
  approach and uh apply some of those
• 16:58
  things back and forth could help me be
• 17:00
  better.
• 17:00
  >> Sounds so and a half years full-time,
• 17:03
  three years almost 10 years you spent
• 17:05
  with this organization. Great
• 17:07
  opportunity um around the city to be
• 17:10
  able to manage projects. Clearly you're
• 17:12
  liking the project management portion of
• 17:15
  of your career, right? So after that 6
• 17:18
  and 1/2 years full-time, what happens
• 17:20
  next? Where do you go?
• 17:21
  >> Um, so I always had a a desire and and I
• 17:24
  don't know where it necessarily um you
• 17:27
  know where it started at, but I always
• 17:29
  had a desire to go out and start my own
• 17:32
  company, plant my own flag. Okay.
• 17:34
  >> Um, you know, growing up, I was always
• 17:36
  trying to figure out, you know, I was
• 17:38
  more gravitating toward, hey, I'm going
• 17:40
  to go work. I I like things. I, you
• 17:43
  know, at that time it was like, I need
• 17:44
  to work to get money to get things.
• 17:46
  Okay. And so, um, it was it was one of
• 17:50
  those out of a desire to, um, to put my
• 17:54
  own spin on it, right? You know, so I
• 17:56
  appreciate everything. I still have a
• 17:58
  great affinity for the company I worked
• 18:00
  fully. Yeah. Yeah. And and feel like I
• 18:02
  learned a ton from them to help apply to
• 18:05
  later on in life. But I always wanted to
• 18:07
  see, you know, what would it look like
• 18:09
  to go out and spin up my own company,
• 18:12
  right? Um, and so, you know, it wasn't I
• 18:14
  thought I was a lifer at the company I
• 18:16
  was at, right? So, it was a it was a
• 18:18
  very nerve-wracking decision. Um, I at
• 18:21
  that point was married or still Yeah.
• 18:23
  married. Uh, but I had gotten married
• 18:26
  and um don't know how I did it, but I
• 18:28
  convinced my wife that it was the thing
• 18:30
  to do to to leave. And uh so re
• 18:34
  reasonably newly wed.
• 18:36
  >> Yeah.
• 18:36
  >> Had been somewhere for total 10 years.
• 18:38
  Yes. Six and a half years full-time.
• 18:40
  Good job. could be a lifer.
• 18:42
  >> Yep.
• 18:42
  >> Hey honey, I'm thinking about hanging
• 18:43
  around my own shingle and starting from
• 18:44
  zero.
• 18:45
  >> Yep.
• 18:45
  >> How's the conversation?
• 18:47
  >> Um, at first I think it was a little bit
• 18:49
  of shock. Just because you get
• 18:51
  comfortable. Um,
• 18:53
  >> and but the the magical thing was is we
• 18:56
  did not have kids yet.
• 18:57
  >> So, so it was just the two of us. We're
• 19:00
  both working. Um, we both have, you
• 19:02
  know, good careers going. Um, we
• 19:04
  admitted Purdue and so we were both our
• 19:07
  degrees were at work. You know, we were
• 19:08
  we got doing the thing. and we thought
• 19:10
  we were, you know, living high on it.
• 19:12
  So,
• 19:13
  >> well, but again, also, you mentioned you
• 19:14
  don't have kids at that point. I know
• 19:16
  you got kids now, so we'll get to that
• 19:18
  part of the story as well. But if you're
• 19:19
  going to start something, it was
• 19:21
  probably the time to do it, right? This
• 19:22
  is the right time. We had we had the
• 19:25
  ability to take a calculated risk and
• 19:27
  and bet on, you know, bet on myself. And
• 19:31
  um and so so that ultimately that
• 19:34
  conversation morphed into there was
• 19:36
  another company out of Louisville,
• 19:37
  Kentucky um that had had gotten hooked
• 19:40
  up with and they were it was right
• 19:43
  place, right time from what they were
• 19:45
  looking for and um and so instead of
• 19:48
  going and and starting my own company at
• 19:51
  that exact time when I left the original
• 19:54
  company, I um decided to go that route
• 19:57
  to help in their construction
• 19:58
  department. They're a senior living
• 20:00
  development company. Okay. Construction
• 20:02
  allows
• 20:03
  and they were looking to expand from not
• 20:06
  only Louisville um but also have some
• 20:09
  presence in Indianapolis. And so it was
• 20:11
  a really nice setup to go in work
• 20:14
  remotely for them and a and an office
• 20:16
  here in Indie and and help them grow
• 20:18
  their construction. Okay. Um that lasted
• 20:21
  right about at a year um because I could
• 20:24
  not shake the desire to get out plant my
• 20:28
  own. Yeah. you know, so already it was
• 20:30
  in there.
• 20:30
  >> It was in there. And I'm very much like
• 20:32
  once it's once it's in, that's that's
• 20:34
  what I'm doing. And so, um, you know, I
• 20:37
  left at, uh, almost a year to the day
• 20:41
  and at that point, um, had fired up the
• 20:43
  company and and never looked back. So,
• 20:46
  all right. So, all right. You go a year
• 20:48
  working with some folks, decide that
• 20:50
  it's it's time to really go plant your
• 20:53
  own flag. Is it just you? Are you a solo
• 20:56
  paneer? Do you do you take on a partner
• 20:58
  and that decision you know as you're
• 21:01
  starting your organization what's going
• 21:02
  through your mind and how do you
• 21:04
  actually get started? Um well uh looking
• 21:07
  back at it I had no idea what I was
• 21:09
  doing and and it was just like well
• 21:12
  we'll we'll pull the plug and see what
• 21:14
  happens you know and it was a I I trust
• 21:16
  in myself to go and network with people
• 21:18
  to um get you know small little
• 21:21
  vestibule renovation jobs and people
• 21:24
  that I had worked with um you know
• 21:26
  created relationships with which in my
• 21:28
  opinion is the pinnacle of of everything
• 21:30
  right you got have the relationships and
• 21:32
  so you know I did I did some stuff at
• 21:35
  people's personal residence, you know,
• 21:37
  filling in hot tubs and doing, you know,
• 21:40
  renovations on their their uh vestibule
• 21:43
  and um building out a a sports workout
• 21:46
  facility. Okay. And some of that, but it
• 21:48
  was all pretty low dollar. But I
• 21:49
  thought, man, I'm I'm killing it. I'm
• 21:51
  getting some jobs, doing all that. Yep.
• 21:53
  >> Um, and in the meantime, I had uh had
• 21:57
  had reconnected with somebody I had
• 21:59
  known from the past and uh he's a real
• 22:02
  estate developer here in town and he was
• 22:06
  getting uh through the entitlement
• 22:08
  process on a building in downtown
• 22:10
  Indianapolis uh which is the Tinker
• 22:12
  House building. Yeah. 16th in Lewis,
• 22:15
  16th in the Monon. Cool build. Yeah.
• 22:17
  It's got coffee shop and wedding
• 22:19
  facility and a distillery and you know
• 22:21
  so it was a and some office in it. So um
• 22:24
  you know while there were some small
• 22:26
  little buildouts I always credit the the
• 22:28
  Tinker House development as really the
• 22:29
  first major project to do after a flag.
• 22:33
  So um I had partnered up at that time uh
• 22:36
  with that developer and um and you know
• 22:40
  successfully turned that project over
• 22:42
  and that was really a catalyst in that
• 22:44
  16th and Monon area. Sure. is that you
• 22:47
  know there was that this particular
• 22:49
  building had six foot tall weeds
• 22:51
  surrounding the building.
• 22:53
  >> Seriously? So yeah, when you came in
• 22:54
  this that's what it looked like. Six
• 22:56
  foot tall weeds around the building.
• 22:58
  Yeah.
• 22:58
  >> No utilities to it. No parking lot, no
• 23:01
  nothing. There's a gravel and you know
• 23:03
  Yeah. So um so to see what it's
• 23:05
  transformed into and then now the
• 23:07
  surrounding area is even you know
• 23:09
  beautiful area and it's it's great to
• 23:11
  see all the investment people have put
• 23:12
  in it.
• 23:13
  >> That's cool. Yeah. So um so yeah had we
• 23:16
  were partnered up and um up until so
• 23:19
  that was 2016
• 23:22
  and then in 2019
• 23:25
  um we we went our separate ways in that
• 23:28
  partnership and I continued doing
• 23:30
  construction which is how that is my
• 23:32
  passion that's my bread and butter and
• 23:35
  um there was just too much confusion I
• 23:37
  think on on what are you guys are you a
• 23:39
  developer you a contractor and I'm a
• 23:41
  contractor through and through as as you
• 23:43
  are That's assuming love did. Yep. Yeah.
• 23:45
  And so at that point I had rebranded
• 23:47
  that company to what is now inherent
• 23:49
  commercial set which brings us to
• 23:51
  current day.
• 23:52
  >> Yes. So so 2019 is when inherent really
• 23:55
  get started.
• 23:55
  >> Correct.
• 23:56
  >> All right. So talk to me a little bit
• 23:57
  about inherent uh what you guys are
• 24:00
  doing you know those types of things.
• 24:02
  You mentioned Tinker House being you
• 24:04
  know the landmark if you will back in
• 24:06
  2016 you get started. So maybe some
• 24:08
  landmark projects you worked on here
• 24:09
  recently too but more about inherent.
• 24:12
  Yeah. So, Inherent was really born out
• 24:14
  of the idea that um you know, we are um
• 24:18
  you know, solely focused on
• 24:19
  construction. So, that was our chance to
• 24:21
  rebrand, show everyone. I still had some
• 24:23
  employees that carried over with me from
• 24:26
  the original entity.
• 24:28
  And um it was just giving everybody that
• 24:31
  fresh start of, hey, we are a commercial
• 24:33
  construction firm. If you need
• 24:35
  construction and want someone who is
• 24:37
  solely dedicated on that, we're not your
• 24:39
  competition. Yep. We're not your, you
• 24:42
  know, hey, we're going to develop this
• 24:43
  with you. We want to just build the job.
• 24:45
  >> Yeah. It's not confusing. It's not
• 24:47
  confusing. And and therefore clients, it
• 24:50
  was feedback from clients of like, hey,
• 24:52
  I just don't know what you guys are like
• 24:53
  what you're doing, but I don't know how
• 24:55
  you fit in what I'm doing. And you know,
• 24:57
  am I worried that you're competing with
• 24:59
  me and you're going to find some things
• 25:01
  out by working with me? And so it was
• 25:03
  just a little cloudy, right? And so um
• 25:06
  so in in inherent we were about five
• 25:09
  people when that changeover happened.
• 25:11
  Okay.
• 25:12
  >> Uh today we're 35 people and um really
• 25:16
  we we uh in the last year uh I'd say we
• 25:20
  went from 20 up to the 35 with OAS last
• 25:23
  year. So we've continued to see uh
• 25:26
  exponential growth. Yep. And uh I credit
• 25:29
  that to the the people on our team that
• 25:32
  we've been able to assimilate here. Y
• 25:34
  and um while we don't, you know, we have
• 25:38
  no ego to feed to be the biggest out
• 25:40
  there. Um we don't, you know, if if
• 25:42
  you're doing more to just say we did
• 25:44
  more on topline, but your bottom line's
• 25:46
  not growing. What point is there to
• 25:48
  grow?
• 25:48
  >> Yeah. Right. And so I don't ever want to
• 25:51
  be in that situation where we have to
• 25:52
  just take projects just to take them to
• 25:55
  feed the pipeline when we may not make
• 25:58
  any money on them or it's not worth it.
• 26:00
  >> Yeah. Right.
• 26:01
  >> And so um so we're just solely focused
• 26:04
  on you know our our tagline is built on
• 26:06
  relationships.
• 26:08
  >> It is the pinnacle of what we do. So we
• 26:10
  are out there forming relationships
• 26:12
  across the city across the Midwest. Yep.
• 26:14
  and we are wanting to be the best we can
• 26:18
  be. Now, does that mean we make don't
• 26:20
  make mistakes? Absolutely not.
• 26:22
  >> Right. Yeah.
• 26:22
  >> Every day we make mistakes. Sure. We all
• 26:24
  It's how do we recover from them? How do
• 26:26
  we communicate them better? And um make
• 26:30
  sure that our clients feel like at the
• 26:31
  end of the project, they're like, "Hey,
• 26:33
  we had some problems, but you guys stood
• 26:35
  behind it. You got it done, and it's a
• 26:37
  beautiful product." Yeah. We always
• 26:38
  forget when you're in the in the mida um
• 26:43
  everything is the world is crumbling
• 26:45
  right but then when you get it done and
• 26:47
  the people that are the end users of the
• 26:48
  building they have no idea about all the
• 26:50
  hangings and shrubs and and everything
• 26:52
  else getting there and so that is where
• 26:55
  at the end of the day I always like ask
• 26:57
  a client how is the end user liking it y
• 26:59
  >> and and when you get that they love it
• 27:02
  they think it's beautiful they think
• 27:04
  it's you know whatever now we can't take
• 27:05
  credit for the design or the the beauty
• 27:07
  of But we could take the responsibility
• 27:10
  for the quality and that we stand behind
• 27:12
  it.
• 27:12
  >> Well, at the end of the day, you're
• 27:13
  taking blueprints and all those thoughts
• 27:16
  and bringing it to life. Yeah.
• 27:18
  >> Right. And that end user now comes in
• 27:20
  and sees that finished project. That's
• 27:21
  what you guys have been doing.
• 27:23
  >> You mentioned your tagline was built on
• 27:26
  relationships.
• 27:27
  >> Love it, by the way. And so your
• 27:30
  organization now 35 people servicing
• 27:32
  clients around Indianapolis, all over
• 27:35
  the state of Indiana. How far are you
• 27:36
  traveling?
• 27:36
  >> Yeah. So, so we've only done we've not
• 27:39
  worked out of state yet. Now, in the
• 27:40
  previous life, we had a bunch of us had
• 27:43
  worked uh with other companies out of
• 27:45
  state. So, that's not something we're
• 27:46
  we're not familiar with. Y um but I
• 27:49
  really made a concerted effort to really
• 27:52
  hone in and serve the clients here in
• 27:54
  greater Indianapolis and in the greater
• 27:57
  Indiana. So, we'll touch all the
• 27:59
  borders. there's some pockets that we
• 28:01
  are, you know, they're more
• 28:02
  predominantly a a union town and we're a
• 28:05
  non-union open shop company, right? So,
• 28:08
  there's there's some areas that you'll
• 28:09
  stay like, hey, we'll stay out of this,
• 28:11
  but yes, there's just limits to it. Um,
• 28:14
  but really our focus is on Midwest. So,
• 28:17
  we we've we've worked in the Indie area.
• 28:20
  Um, we've got stuff currently in Teroot,
• 28:24
  a couple in Columbus, Indiana, uh,
• 28:26
  Caramel, Shelbyville, uh, and Fisers.
• 28:30
  There's several of them around. Sure.
• 28:32
  So, we've got stuff scattered
• 28:33
  throughout. Um, our next push is we've
• 28:35
  got clients that are existing clients
• 28:38
  we're building for here locally and
• 28:39
  we're looking to expand and go out of
• 28:42
  state. Gotcha.
• 28:42
  >> Um, now that that move is probably
• 28:44
  something, you know, surrounding us. So,
• 28:48
  Ohio, Kentucky, maybe Tennessee, some um
• 28:51
  southern Illinois. So, some of that
• 28:53
  nature Yeah. of of location.
• 28:55
  >> So, because you worked with the clients,
• 28:57
  they know how to operate with you. They
• 28:59
  know what they're going to get in the
• 29:00
  end. They want you to come. So, they're
• 29:01
  kind of dragging you
• 29:02
  >> correct in different places. Okay. So
• 29:05
  before we get a little bit to talk about
• 29:07
  community
• 29:08
  and the community signed obviously I
• 29:11
  want to talk a little bit about your
• 29:12
  organization also because if you're
• 29:14
  built on relationships you must be doing
• 29:16
  some things in the community but before
• 29:18
  we get there landmark project projects
• 29:21
  from 2019 to today. What are some of the
• 29:24
  fun ones that people might know you guys
• 29:25
  have worked on? Um, well, of course I
• 29:27
  mentioned and this was back in 16, but
• 29:29
  you know, Tinker House. Yep. Awesome.
• 29:31
  It's got Provider Coffee in it. Uh,
• 29:33
  Hotel Tango Distillery was in the
• 29:35
  bottom. They've I think since moved on
• 29:37
  to a different location. Um, the Tinker
• 29:40
  House event center on the second floor
• 29:41
  and then Black Inc. I group on the third
• 29:44
  floor. Um, and so that really was a nice
• 29:47
  feather in the cap. Um, one project that
• 29:49
  I stared at or one building I stared at
• 29:51
  was uh what is known as the Pulk Stables
• 29:54
  project, which is right next to Tinker
• 29:56
  House.
• 29:56
  >> Yeah.
• 29:57
  >> And it was owned at the time by the
• 30:00
  Indianapolis public school system. And
• 30:02
  basically it was a um one of many of the
• 30:05
  buildings that they owned around the
• 30:06
  city that were predominantly um storage
• 30:09
  units. And so, you know, you got this
• 30:12
  phenomenal 115y old building, brick, you
• 30:15
  know, multi-wife brick construction, old
• 30:18
  timber inside, and it was being used to
• 30:21
  store extra items from schools and, you
• 30:24
  know, very underutilized.
• 30:26
  >> Yeah.
• 30:26
  >> And so, um, you know, a handful of years
• 30:29
  later, um, it came full circle to the
• 30:34
  developer that was controlling that
• 30:36
  entity. it had gotten back to us and we
• 30:39
  latched on and uh re re uh reinvigorated
• 30:44
  that building. Okay. Renovated it,
• 30:46
  added, you know, unfortunately a third
• 30:48
  of it was was so far gone there was no
• 30:50
  saving it. Um but that ultimately became
• 30:53
  the uh co-hatch uh pulk stables.
• 30:57
  >> And so um it was a labor of love uh from
• 31:00
  our team just it was a it was a grind.
• 31:03
  you know, we weren't going to to the
• 31:05
  local lumber store and picking up two
• 31:06
  by, you know, material to to renovate
• 31:09
  that. The the developers wanted to keep
• 31:11
  it period correct. So, we were sourcing
• 31:14
  native, you know, Indiana timber also to
• 31:17
  replace beams and columns and and keep
• 31:20
  it as period correct as we could. Yeah.
• 31:22
  Um, you know, while that building is not
• 31:23
  on a historical registry, you know, it's
• 31:26
  definitely a big part of the city in
• 31:28
  that in that area. Yeah. So, that one
• 31:31
  was uh a lot of fun to be involved in.
• 31:34
  And um we hosted our our Christmas party
• 31:36
  there last year. So, it's fun to be able
• 31:38
  to go utilize a building that we have
• 31:40
  hand in in doing.
• 31:42
  >> Yeah. Um so, really proud of that. And
• 31:45
  then um we did a um multif family
• 31:48
  project at uh in Broadripple and it was
• 31:52
  the Redline Flats right next to
• 31:54
  >> Oh, yeah. hit area of their their
• 31:56
  headquarters and um so we were given an
• 31:59
  opportunity and you know what we had
• 32:01
  done um had a heavy past in senior
• 32:04
  living but hadn't really gotten into the
• 32:06
  you know necessarily the multif family
• 32:08
  and that was kind of a catalyst for us
• 32:10
  to that was our second multif family
• 32:12
  project.
• 32:13
  >> It was uh underground parking garage,
• 32:15
  one-story podium and then four stories
• 32:18
  of wood construction on top of it.
• 32:20
  >> Yeah.
• 32:20
  >> All while we were building 30 ft away
• 32:22
  from my former employer. Um, so we were
• 32:25
  working two GC's on one building pad and
• 32:27
  and having to coordinate all the way
• 32:29
  through. Um, that was a fun project and
• 32:31
  that was really a catalyst for kicking
• 32:33
  off what we do now, which is uh we
• 32:36
  haven't forgotten the smaller projects.
• 32:37
  We still do plenty of those, but the
• 32:40
  ones that people see are the
• 32:41
  multifamilies. We have a lot of multif
• 32:43
  family construction going on um with the
• 32:46
  housing need continuing to be, you know,
• 32:49
  through the roof. Yeah, of course. Um,
• 32:50
  so, uh, currently we've got about 1,260
• 32:53
  units that are under construction all
• 32:55
  here in Indiana.
• 32:58
  >> Yeah, it's it's so cool to hear the
• 32:59
  story and the growth over the years.
• 33:02
  Let's talk a little bit of community.
• 33:03
  So, if you
• 33:06
  based on your story and kind of the way
• 33:07
  that you're growing and communicating
• 33:09
  with people in the community to build
• 33:12
  the business, what's community mean to
• 33:14
  you guys at Inherent, how how do you
• 33:16
  build that community? You've got people
• 33:18
  working at job sites. What are some of
• 33:20
  the things you focus on when you talk
• 33:22
  about building community?
• 33:23
  >> Yeah. So, that that's an interesting
• 33:24
  question because there's like there's
• 33:26
  multifaceted to that as well where we've
• 33:28
  got community internally. Yep. Um we
• 33:30
  have we've got to create a culture that
• 33:33
  that as we attract our our team, right?
• 33:36
  Our team members. Um you know, we people
• 33:39
  say the bad eword of employees and and
• 33:42
  we look at everybody as a team member.
• 33:44
  We're no different than a a football
• 33:46
  team out there. you know, it's it's
• 33:48
  everybody collectively and we do, you
• 33:51
  know, roughly as good as our weakest
• 33:52
  link. So, if if uh you we help to bring
• 33:55
  everybody up in our own internal
• 33:57
  community and then as such that bleeds
• 34:00
  out into the greater community, which
• 34:01
  then we look at our clients, uh the
• 34:04
  communities we serve. Um you know, these
• 34:06
  are people that that we also live around
• 34:08
  and and you know, they're in the
• 34:11
  community that we're that we're in as
• 34:12
  well. Um,
• 34:15
  not only that, in the line of work that
• 34:17
  we're in, we're building homes for
• 34:18
  people.
• 34:19
  >> I mean, these are multif family
• 34:21
  apartment communities, mixed use, and
• 34:24
  there may be some businesses in there,
• 34:25
  but at the end of the day, when somebody
• 34:27
  leaves work and they're coming home to a
• 34:29
  community we built.
• 34:30
  >> Yeah.
• 34:30
  >> We don't want it to be something that
• 34:32
  they're like, "Ah, my place is falling
• 34:34
  apart and my, you know, whatever." So,
• 34:36
  we take pride in that. Yeah. Right. and
• 34:38
  in helping someone, you know, that may
• 34:40
  be their first time they've ever left
• 34:42
  the house and now they're in an
• 34:43
  apartment. Yeah. Or, you know, whatever
• 34:45
  that situation may be. So, we're we're
• 34:48
  not only um you know, helping to improve
• 34:51
  their lives. Um it's it's something that
• 34:54
  is very important to us that, you know,
• 34:56
  if I lived here, would I want it to look
• 34:58
  like this?
• 34:59
  >> Right. And that's what we continue to
• 35:00
  preach with our team is is extreme
• 35:02
  ownership in that and and being
• 35:05
  detailed, making sure that um you know
• 35:08
  done means done.
• 35:09
  >> It's not like done, but I have six more
• 35:11
  things that I have to do. Yeah, it's
• 35:13
  done. Put your period on it and and be
• 35:15
  done. So, you know, it the way you
• 35:17
  answered that question was was really
• 35:19
  good and it got me thinking a little bit
• 35:21
  about the three different areas you
• 35:22
  talked about. You've got your employees,
• 35:25
  you've got your your your team members
• 35:26
  team members, right? I love that. Good
• 35:29
  correction. So, my team members is like
• 35:31
  football team. Yep. You have your
• 35:33
  community in which you're serving,
• 35:34
  right? And you have your clients. Well,
• 35:36
  one of the things you mentioned was
• 35:37
  you're building somebody's home. Yeah.
• 35:39
  This is where they're going to come in.
• 35:40
  They're going to hang their their coat
• 35:42
  up. It's where they're going to spend
• 35:43
  their time a lot of times when they're
• 35:44
  not at work and taking pride and making
• 35:47
  sure that the job that you've done is to
• 35:50
  leave that unit that in that environment
• 35:52
  in a way that you'd like to have.
• 35:53
  >> Absolutely. And so, very cool to hear
• 35:55
  you talk about community. you know, here
• 35:57
  locally and and continuing to grow also
• 36:00
  from going from five or six people in
• 36:02
  2019 to 35 today would it with growth
• 36:06
  plans going past that.
• 36:07
  >> Yeah. Absolutely. So, good to hear the
• 36:09
  growth of the organization. I want to
• 36:11
  talk a little bit about technology,
• 36:14
  right? So, tech is everywhere.
• 36:16
  Everybody's talking about AI and all
• 36:18
  these different things. And we get a
• 36:20
  chance, you know, here on this
• 36:21
  particular podcast to talk to businesses
• 36:24
  for-profit, nonprofit, from all over,
• 36:27
  right? And so it's neat to hear how
• 36:29
  technology is helping maybe augment some
• 36:32
  areas or some things you see in your
• 36:35
  environment, some changes you think
• 36:36
  might come in the future. So I'm just
• 36:38
  curious when you think about technology
• 36:40
  in your business, are you leveraging
• 36:42
  some today or there's some things you're
• 36:44
  looking about doing or thinking about
• 36:45
  doing in the future? But just a little
• 36:47
  bit of tech with what's going on? Yeah,
• 36:49
  absolutely. Um I've always been a
• 36:51
  believer that uh you know, of course I
• 36:53
  was given the opportunity uh early on
• 36:56
  where um as an intern I was learning how
• 36:59
  to do things more the manual way. I'm
• 37:01
  sure sure people that came before me
• 37:02
  were going, "Oh my gosh, you guys had it
• 37:04
  so easy." You know, it just keeps
• 37:06
  getting, you know, down the line. Um but
• 37:08
  we were we were printing off, oh my
• 37:10
  goodness, so many things. Um you know,
• 37:13
  everything was hard copy. It was set of
• 37:15
  copies of things. It was, you know, I
• 37:17
  send seven copies of binders to someone
• 37:20
  and they keep one and send the other six
• 37:22
  on and and that, you know, so on and so
• 37:23
  forth. Yeah.
• 37:24
  >> And so really what I had seen the
• 37:27
  transition the the uh adoption in this
• 37:30
  this construction industry is that the
• 37:33
  um we realized like hey wait a minute
• 37:35
  there might be a better way to do this
• 37:37
  so that we don't have to kill all these
• 37:38
  truths and ship paper and binder fall
• 37:41
  around to each other when it could be
• 37:43
  centralized on a platform. Yeah.
• 37:45
  Obviously, I'm not the the the creator
• 37:47
  of that, but we adopted that quickly and
• 37:50
  um so we uh we invested in Procore,
• 37:53
  which is one of the um I would say
• 37:56
  upper, you know, most recognized
• 37:59
  software for construction companies
• 38:01
  utilize uh any anywhere from
• 38:03
  pre-construction, bid invites, bid
• 38:05
  tabulation, um any of our project
• 38:08
  management functions we need to do that
• 38:10
  coordinates with plans and RFIs and
• 38:13
  submittals and all of that. Yeah. Um, so
• 38:16
  we've we've levered that and it's
• 38:17
  extremely expensive uh software.
• 38:20
  However, it is it's worth its weight in
• 38:22
  gold just because it it keeps everybody
• 38:25
  cohesive. Everybody's got the most
• 38:26
  up-to-date drawings at their fingertips.
• 38:28
  What I see on my computer is the same as
• 38:30
  what I see on my phone or my iPad. Um,
• 38:33
  so we're well armed when it comes to
• 38:34
  that. The other evolution of that now is
• 38:38
  how can we lever the different, you
• 38:40
  know, buzzwords of of AI. Everybody's
• 38:43
  talking AI, AI this, AI that. And um
• 38:46
  well, you can't go and replace someone
• 38:49
  swinging a hammer or putting together a
• 38:52
  steel member on a job site or building a
• 38:54
  block wall. I mean, some things are
• 38:57
  being developed and some things
• 38:58
  naturally like there's going to be
• 38:59
  assistance from, you know, some sort of
• 39:03
  artificial intelligence, whatever. Um,
• 39:07
  but it is getting to the point where it
• 39:09
  can help us on a management when you go
• 39:12
  look at a project that's 300 drawings.
• 39:15
  Yeah. 300 sheets and then you've got a
• 39:18
  specification manual sitting next to it
• 39:20
  that's 800 sheets. Yeah. How do we
• 39:22
  effectively and and efficiently get
• 39:25
  through all of that information in a
• 39:28
  digestible format? Sure. Right. And so,
• 39:31
  uh, we're constantly trying to look at
• 39:33
  and stay on the edge of, you know, hey,
• 39:36
  this is coming these programs. Now, we
• 39:38
  can't be, um, you can't always just jump
• 39:41
  to the next thing, right? So, we always
• 39:43
  try to say, hey, no idea is a bad idea,
• 39:45
  but we may not adopt it or we may modify
• 39:48
  it in some way or use what we, you know,
• 39:50
  because we don't want to change that for
• 39:52
  our team members all the time. Um, some
• 39:54
  of it's changing so fast and so quickly
• 39:57
  like you just can't Yeah. If you tried
• 39:58
  to do that, like I'd be doing nothing
• 40:00
  but implementing new stuff all the time.
• 40:02
  Yeah. Um and so what we really want to
• 40:04
  do is is focus it on where can we it's
• 40:08
  not going to replace people, but how can
• 40:10
  it bolster what they're doing? How can I
• 40:12
  make them even better? Because the human
• 40:15
  error is, oh, I I skimmed over this and
• 40:18
  I didn't read that. Well, AI is reading
• 40:21
  it and AI is compiling it out. Is it to
• 40:24
  the point yet where it's foolproof? No.
• 40:27
  So, I always caution everybody that,
• 40:29
  hey, just because it spits something
• 40:31
  out, you still have to do fact check.
• 40:33
  You still have to dress it up.
• 40:34
  >> Yeah. Uh, and so we're adopting that.
• 40:37
  Um, you know, we we do um a lot of uh
• 40:41
  drone work on our projects because
• 40:43
  they're massive sites. So, you have
• 40:45
  stuff that's 10, 15, 30 acres. Um, it's
• 40:48
  hard to really grasp that from the
• 40:50
  ground level. Um so we utilize a company
• 40:54
  um that is coming in they fly their
• 40:57
  drone and put it into a program called
• 41:00
  drone deploy. Okay. And then in drone
• 41:02
  deploy then we have mapping ability. So
• 41:04
  we can look at you know here was the
• 41:06
  initial grade. Here's where we're at
• 41:07
  now. Compare those. Tell me how much
• 41:10
  dirt has moved. How many tens of
• 41:12
  thousands of cubic yards? Wow. What is
• 41:14
  this pile that is sitting of dirt in the
• 41:17
  corner of our job? How many how many
• 41:18
  thousands cubic yards of dirt are
• 41:20
  sitting there? Yeah. Well, it's hard to
• 41:21
  just look at a pile and say, "Yeah,
• 41:23
  that's nasty." But if you break it down
• 41:25
  into a a virtual model that has data
• 41:27
  points and can compare all that, well,
• 41:29
  we've got 17,000 cubic yards sitting
• 41:32
  over here in this pile and, you know,
• 41:34
  give or take a few yards, right? But by
• 41:36
  and large, it's telling us information
• 41:38
  that otherwise be you'd be calling a
• 41:41
  surveying crew out and have them go
• 41:42
  shoot different coins and then, you
• 41:44
  know, do a big calculation and now it
• 41:46
  could be. So we so we're utilizing that
• 41:48
  stuff and then they have that's the
• 41:51
  drone deploy aerial and then they have
• 41:53
  drone deploy ground. So if we walk into
• 41:56
  a space and we're going to look at a
• 41:57
  renovation of of this office here and
• 42:00
  you go do the walkthrough and you invite
• 42:02
  some people like subcontractors, maybe
• 42:04
  not everybody can make it to the
• 42:05
  physical walkthrough. So, we go and we
• 42:07
  use uh a 360 camera in conjunction with
• 42:10
  the drone deploy ground software. Yeah.
• 42:12
  And in two seconds, you can snap the 360
• 42:16
  photo in each room and you can do it
• 42:18
  that way. You can do like a walk and
• 42:20
  just walk and it'll capture your walk.
• 42:22
  And so then when you get back behind
• 42:24
  your computer and you say, "Hey, what
• 42:26
  what was I looking at? I forget what was
• 42:28
  there." You can pull up that room. You
• 42:29
  can pan it around, go up, down, look
• 42:31
  around, you know, all just like you were
• 42:33
  there just like we were, right? Yeah.
• 42:34
  >> So then we can also utilize that if
• 42:36
  somebody didn't make it to the
• 42:37
  walkthrough, we can send it to them and
• 42:39
  say, "Hey, here's here's your virtual
• 42:41
  walkthrough."
• 42:42
  >> Y
• 42:43
  >> So um so that's just a couple ways that
• 42:45
  we're trying to to harness that and
• 42:47
  always looking for more.
• 42:48
  >> Yeah. There always will be new
• 42:50
  technology. It's it's really interesting
• 42:52
  to hear though just how you've evolved
• 42:54
  from 2019 till today where it's going to
• 42:56
  go.
• 42:58
  Nobody really knows exactly where
• 43:00
  that'll end up being, but sounds like
• 43:01
  you've embraced a lot of those things
• 43:03
  already and and looking for the next
• 43:05
  thing when it comes to tech. Uh so very
• 43:07
  interesting. So before we get to a
• 43:09
  little bit of fun and those types of
• 43:10
  things, I know you're a family guy. So
• 43:12
  you I mentioned when you started your
• 43:14
  company was just you and your wife. Yep.
• 43:16
  And so but now you've got a couple of
• 43:18
  kids.
• 43:18
  >> Yeah, we got two kids, two boys. Okay.
• 43:21
  Um they are uh about to be seven and
• 43:24
  nine. Okay. So we got our hands full
• 43:26
  with with that being in first and third
• 43:28
  grade. Yeah. Um and you know it's really
• 43:32
  fun that you know when I was growing up
• 43:35
  um you know I remember tagging along
• 43:37
  with my dad to do things and all that
• 43:39
  and now I have that with my boys. So,
• 43:41
  the weekend rolls around and and you
• 43:44
  know, we've got some things to do, but
• 43:45
  then I'm like, "Hey, let's go stop by a
• 43:46
  job site." Because I don't necessarily
• 43:49
  always have the time during the week
• 43:51
  >> because I'm pulled into a bunch of
• 43:52
  meetings to go and just walk a job
• 43:55
  without rushing through it. And so, um,
• 43:58
  you know, it's really fun because then
• 44:00
  they're going, "What's this? What's
• 44:01
  that? What's it?" You know, and and so,
• 44:03
  you know, it's pretty cool to see that.
• 44:05
  And then when they come around the
• 44:06
  office and they know the team members
• 44:09
  and and and all that, it's it's come
• 44:11
  full circle. It's so so much fun.
• 44:13
  >> It's just always it's always cool to
• 44:15
  hear how you're incorporating, you know,
• 44:17
  your kiddos in into the work space and
• 44:19
  getting them an opportunity to get
• 44:21
  excited. Oh, dad's doing that.
• 44:22
  >> And then and then also, you know, to
• 44:24
  bring the family aspect to it. So, um so
• 44:27
  my wife, she um CPA by trade. I was
• 44:32
  working for a local firm here and um
• 44:35
  fantastic company and um you know but we
• 44:38
  got to the point where um you know we
• 44:41
  had the kids the business is getting
• 44:43
  bigger um there's a need for the
• 44:45
  financial aspect of it the the
• 44:48
  accounting finance side yeah so
• 44:50
  shinjilunked uh about 5 years ago and
• 44:53
  came over to the company uh which of
• 44:55
  course was a little nerve-wracking and
• 44:57
  people still ask me today like how is it
• 44:59
  working with your wife And um I think I
• 45:03
  would and she would also say that it's
• 45:05
  actually been better for us because
• 45:06
  we're rowing in the same boat versus us
• 45:08
  both trying to row separate boats,
• 45:10
  trying to, you know, achieve career
• 45:12
  goals and all of that. So I credit her a
• 45:14
  lot because, you know, her goal in life
• 45:16
  was never to start uh or be a main
• 45:20
  player of a construction firm. Yep.
• 45:22
  >> Um and so uh but she's been able to
• 45:24
  bring her skill set. Uh still a licensed
• 45:27
  CPA, keeps all that licensing up and
• 45:29
  Yeah. And so we're able to lever uh on
• 45:32
  that a lot. And then uh but we still use
• 45:34
  her old firm for our you know end of
• 45:36
  year review and all of that stuff. So
• 45:38
  it's kind of fun full circle moment.
• 45:40
  Yeah. Of course. And so it's truly a
• 45:42
  family company.
• 45:42
  >> It truly truly is. Yeah. And it doesn't.
• 45:44
  >> Yeah. Absolutely. We don't ride together
• 45:45
  to the office but uh but we're together
• 45:48
  all the time. We're we're you know
• 45:50
  working on a common goal.
• 45:52
  >> Oh sure. Of you know doing this for our
• 45:54
  family. It's good to hear truly a family
• 45:56
  business. Right. and how you're building
• 45:59
  the culture. It's great to b pull that
• 46:01
  back full circle to talk about their
• 46:03
  family, their significant others, those
• 46:05
  types of things. And and I'm assuming
• 46:07
  it's because you realize that your
• 46:09
  wife's in charge because clearly you
• 46:10
  have to have a boss. Somebody has to be
• 46:12
  running the show. Everybody's got a
• 46:13
  boss. Everybody's got boss. And so that
• 46:15
  that's clearly good to hear. Yeah. And
• 46:18
  so, you know, it's just as we finish up
• 46:19
  a little bit, let's talk about fun.
• 46:21
  Yeah.
• 46:21
  >> Right. So, seven and nineyear-old boys.
• 46:24
  What does fun look like for the family?
• 46:26
  And then maybe like if it's just you and
• 46:27
  your wife, what's fun for you guys?
• 46:29
  >> Yeah, absolutely. So, um, for the
• 46:31
  family, you know, it's, uh, the boys so
• 46:34
  far, um, have not been, uh, they didn't
• 46:36
  beline the, you know, sports. Um, uh, I
• 46:40
  think the older they get, the more
• 46:42
  they're showing interest in it. Um, but
• 46:44
  like my oldest is is nervous to play in
• 46:46
  front of people. So, he loves soccer,
• 46:47
  plays it all the time, always out
• 46:49
  kicking the ball, soccer this, soccer
• 46:51
  that, but he doesn't want to play on a
• 46:53
  team because he doesn't like being in
• 46:54
  front of people. So, we're just trying
• 46:55
  to embrace that of, you know, hey, what
• 46:57
  can you do to still fulfill this um and
• 47:00
  feel fulfilled at that um and being that
• 47:03
  you're only nine, so things will come,
• 47:05
  you'll figure it out. Sure. Um he's also
• 47:07
  doing music lessons, so he does drum
• 47:09
  lessons every every week. And um so
• 47:12
  that's extremely loud when Yelli is at
• 47:14
  the house, but yeah. Um he's getting
• 47:15
  pretty good, so it's really fun to watch
• 47:17
  that. and as long as they have something
• 47:19
  to do to challenge themselves. Uh my
• 47:22
  youngest is is starting to get into the
• 47:23
  sports um with he played soccer and then
• 47:26
  now he's starting to he wants to play
• 47:28
  baseball so this is going to be his
• 47:29
  first year of baseball. Okay.
• 47:31
  >> And so uh so that'll be interesting cuz
• 47:33
  it's probably one of my least favorite
• 47:35
  sports but we're going to support him
• 47:36
  because that's what he wants to do.
• 47:38
  >> Sure. Um and so so that's fun uh from
• 47:41
  that aspect. And then of course you know
• 47:43
  we we kind of eat, breathe and sleep
• 47:46
  work, right? So, um, we we try to make
• 47:49
  it fun as well so that that kids aren't
• 47:52
  just always like, "Oh, it's always
• 47:53
  work." It's always, but like some of the
• 47:55
  fun is is they're like begging me to go
• 47:57
  to a job site. Yeah. Want to go see it?
• 47:59
  Sure. Hey, remember that job site that
• 48:01
  had X, Y, and Z? Like, let's go look at
• 48:03
  it, you know? And so, we'll run around
• 48:04
  and do that on the weekend. And that's a
• 48:06
  lot of fun. Plus, it gives mom some some
• 48:08
  time to be to get our head cleared and
• 48:11
  all that. Um if it is uh and and we've
• 48:15
  started including our kids in this, but
• 48:16
  if if it's fun for my wife and I um it's
• 48:20
  a lot of music. We like concerts. Um so
• 48:22
  of course we hit up a lot of concerts
• 48:24
  here in the local indie area and then uh
• 48:26
  it seems like once a year or twice a
• 48:28
  year we travel different places to go
• 48:30
  see concerts. So what kind of music?
• 48:32
  What's what's the fail? Um so we're big
• 48:33
  day Matthews fans so we go and travel
• 48:36
  for some of that. Traveled of course a
• 48:37
  lot more before kids. um that that has
• 48:40
  changed, but um uh we're making a big
• 48:43
  trek uh out to Washington this year uh
• 48:46
  to the gorge that they play on Labor
• 48:48
  Day. Three days in a row out there. So,
• 48:50
  we're doing that. Um but then, you know,
• 48:52
  last year I think we saw Counted Crows
• 48:54
  at at White River, whatever that is now.
• 48:57
  Yay. Yeah. Right. Downtown and
• 48:58
  Everweise. Everwise, there we go. Um and
• 49:02
  uh and then we took and we took both
• 49:04
  boys to that. Um, and just this uh
• 49:07
  couple weeks ago, my wife said to my
• 49:09
  nine-year-old like, "What do you want to
• 49:10
  do this summer?" And he's like, "Go to
• 49:12
  Dave Matthew shows." So, I was like,
• 49:13
  "Yeah, just says we've we've we've done
• 49:15
  something right." And he went to his
• 49:17
  first show last year with us. Um, and so
• 49:19
  that would to his first Dave Matthew
• 49:21
  show. And so, that was that was pretty
• 49:23
  cool just to kind of come full circle.
• 49:25
  Uh, the young one didn't want to go with
• 49:27
  us and and so um so that was a lot of
• 49:30
  fun. And then um you know we like to
• 49:32
  travel too so we'll we'll head down to
• 49:34
  Florida a few times in the year and um
• 49:37
  and so we're trying to branch out from
• 49:38
  that as well. Not always going to the
• 49:40
  same spot. So yeah starting to look at
• 49:41
  Michigan and some other places that you
• 49:44
  know are readily available.
• 49:45
  >> So yeah. Yeah. Good for you. It's hard
• 49:47
  to have hobbies when you're you know
• 49:48
  running a business and and you know that
• 49:51
  takes precedence but we have to remember
• 49:52
  to to also still have fun. Yeah. And
• 49:55
  live our life too.
• 49:55
  >> Yeah. The same thing you tell your
• 49:57
  teammates you know take care of your
• 49:58
  family. You've got to care of your
• 49:59
  family too. Y obviously your family's 35
• 50:03
  individuals, right? And and so you're
• 50:05
  taking care of a lot of families. Greg,
• 50:07
  thank you. Yeah.
• 50:08
  >> Excellent story, great business. Thanks
• 50:10
  for your story. I appreciate you being
• 50:11
  on with me.
• 50:12
  >> Absolutely. Thanks for having me. This
• 50:13
  fun.