Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Be Humble and Teachable in the Elevator Trade | Jordan Ryan

Transcript

Be Humble and Teachable in the Elevator Trade | Jordan Ryan · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna get into the trade, I would say humility is the key to success.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit more about that.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, uh just be teachable.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: You could be, and I know guys that are really good at their jobs, they they turn in jobs at a really good time and stuff, but these guys are also extremely humble.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: They are teachable because nobody's ever gonna know everything there is to know about an elevator or how things work because we're constantly coming out with new technology, new procedures and methods to do stuff.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: You you get to the point where you know how to do your job and do it well, don't get a big head about it because there's always gonna be, you know, Tom Dick or Harry down the road that can do it a lot better and knows a lot more than you do.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: You instead of seeing them as competition, it's learn from them.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, nine times out of ten, they'll share their knowledge with you, and you'll just better yourself as we go.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry, to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before, to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: When talent is mission critical, call the Allred Group.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: With industry expertise, top talent, and acceptable customer service.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: You need the all-red group on your side.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: Your priority is their power.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: Call now 404-550-404455.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: Discussing its experiences from the first day on the job to current project.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: He highlights the challenges faced during installation, the importance of safety, and the evolving technology in the field.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Jordan also emphasizes the significance of teamwork and camaraderie on job sites and offers valuable advice for those considering a career in the elevator trade.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey Matt, it's great to be here, man.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's exciting to uh to be able to talk to you again.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: I I appreciate it and uh I'm excited to have this conversation.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: So um I did want to start off just how did you find the Elevator Careers podcast?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's actually a little bit of a funny story, honestly.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm you know, I'm a mechanic, so I just kind of seek out that elevator-related content on on social media and everything.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the pages I follow uh just had a link to your podcast, and I was like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I, you know, hopped on over and you know, listened to you know, some of the episodes.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is really cool.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So cool.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean it it's it's nice to know that that you know somebody, I guess, put a put a link out there and you could follow it and and uh otherwise you wouldn't wouldn't have known.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and yeah, you reached out and here we are.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here we are.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, tell me something exciting that you are working on right now.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm currently doing a duplex setup in uh Lehigh, Utah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um where it's actually a big project.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's six elevators on this thing, and I know a lot of the the guys that work in like local one or uh you know the bigger cities, like, oh, it's only six, that's that's tiny, you know, or whatever.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, here it's a you know it's a pretty big project.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've got five of them installed right now.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: One of them is a just a single car, but the duplex we're working on, we're uh we're on cables, we're actually setting all of our entrances and stuff, getting ready, we're kind of getting towards the tail end of the job now.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's pretty exciting.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: And for somebody a little like me who's a little bit ignorant but but fascinated, the the duplex means like you got two cabs on top of each other.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Is that correct?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, so that's a uh Tyson corrupt does does those.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's a twin, that's what they call it.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: A duplex is just like two cars, you know, side by side each other.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I was using the wrong terminology because I honestly about a week ago I was riding uh the elevator in the Space Needle in Seattle, and there was you know one on top and one on bottom.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: And and so I was I was yeah, trying to think like, what do they call that?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I I did I thought it was duplex.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me a little bit about what you know your first day on the job was like.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, the first day that was uh that was definitely a day I'll never forget.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I had only been in the train for like literally 20 minutes.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I pulled up to uh a storage unit in uh South Jordan, Utah, and uh we were installing the hydraulic elevator.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was a three-stage jack twin post system, and it was like, I think memory serves it, it was four stops.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so we we went in, um, we were setting jacks and stuff that first day.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And my mechanic at the time, he was actually a temporary mechanic, he uh told me, okay, we're gonna drain the oil out uh out of the jacks.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was like, okay, so you know, we hooked a shutoff valve onto them and everything.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: We drained all the residual oil that they pack in there for shipping so that the piston doesn't rust.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if we drained it all out, it got to where it was just dropping every little bit once in a while, and so we shot it off, got the jacks all set, and then my mechanic, he's like, Okay, we're I want you to take the 10 steps and go cut the banding around the pistons.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So trying to be a good apprentice, do what I'm told, you know, I cut the banding.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Unbeknownst to me, and I learned this later on down the road, we should have built the oil line first.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we went to crack those VIX open to build the oil line, and just oil came flooding out of that, out of both jacks.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he's cussing up a storm.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm bringing in 55-gallon trash cans full of dirt just to sop all this up.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And at one point, he'd gotten so mad he like loosened off or tightened one of the VIX up, and he actually threw the the half-inch impact out of the hoist way and it shot right past my head and embedded in the sheetrock in the hall.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: I remember and I remember thinking to myself, I'm like, what in the Sam heck did I get myself into?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: First day, right?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So first day on the job.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, what is this?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, wow, how how did that resolve?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what was that like to to get to clean that up?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: I sound like you got you had some oily dirt you got to shovel.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, we actually had to leave um we we cleaned up all the the oil soaked dirt and stuff.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: We put more down, and he was kind of just, you know what, we're gonna leave this overnight just to you know make sure that all of it's absorbed and everything.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And he actually got after he calmed down, he's like, Look, I know it's your first day.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize for getting so worked up.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm under the gun right now from the company with you know, whatever circumstances that that was his.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, that actually made me feel a lot better uh at the end of the day because I remember sitting in my truck at lunchtime and I'm just like having almost a panic attack.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did I like?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is this really how every day is gonna be?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what am I doing here?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: You learn from that.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, obviously, hindsight you can chuckle, right?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Hindsight you can chuckle, but tell me some of the things you learned from that.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think what the the one thing that I learned is at least, you know, being uh in the apprentice, the probationary apprentice mindset is uh double check and make sure you actually heard your mechanic right.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're gonna see something that he doesn't.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: So speak up uh if like you're not entirely sure about the circumstance or the task at hand.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, granted, you know, again, I'll reiterate that I didn't really know anything about anything, but I mean that's something that you know should have been caught by him in in the forefront before we even did all this.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely a an avoidable incident.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess long story short, you know, just just make sure that everything is done in sequence.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh sure, for sure.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: And and I'm sure, you know, looking back.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that that situation can educate you.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_02: Not not educate, but uh you always remember, right?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: You you're never gonna forget it.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: So when you get your your helper and you're and you're doing something similar, I mean, that's always there as a schoolmaster in a way to say, hey, you know, you're never gonna do that, right?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's my point, is you're never gonna uh make that same mistake because you saw exactly what happened.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: So um I I'm glad you were safe.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it sounds like it was uh a little uh a little crazy at first, and and who knows, I'm sure there was some resolution, and and maybe you know, and maybe he uh he learned something from it too.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, or maybe he realized, yeah, this maybe this isn't for me, but what an interesting first day.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely was.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I will I will concur with that.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, walk us through a a typical install.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: What does a typical installed job look like?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and it varies from you know company to company, obviously, and whether you're installing a traction elevator versus a hydraulic work for Kone elevator, and uh we do traction installs, that's all we do.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So how we start the job is we'll pull on, we'll drop our gang boxes, you know, we'll unload the truck, we'll get all of our material staged, and then we'll actually go through the hoist way and do a survey.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: We'll go through and we'll figure out where uh the tightest floor is in case we need to push rails uh back into the hoist way a little bit more or and or whatever have you.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also figure out what the tightest spot is where our brackets are gonna sit.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we can either uh fudge the rails, you know, over a little bit to make more room on the back of the the combo bracket, the king side, or if we need to pull it towards that and make more room on the queen side, and just so we can shift the car side to side depending on where the tight spot is.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then after that, man, it's just uh we start with our starter rails, uh, three rounds of brackets, uh, four starter rails, the mains, and then the counterweights.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: After that, we put car switting in.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: We we uh throw in our our side styles, um, where our safeties are, um whether they have roller guides or slide guides, that's where those guys are mounted.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'll put the the uh safety plank in, which has all the the mechanisms and stuff to actuate the safeties when uh they do those tests when we're on contract speed and everything like that.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: After that, we put the platform in, we get the platform centered on the rails where it's supposed to go, and then we uh put our counterweight frames in the counterweight rails and we stack all our counterweight up.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then as soon as that's done, we cab.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we put all the walls in and uh put the roof on, finish cab panels and stuff if they have that design.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh after that, we'll get on top of the car, we'll put our crosshead on, we'll bolt that all to the side styles actually, and then we'll attach our temporary hoist.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it's our our window climber, our tire rack is uh the name of the hoist there.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, we we shoot up the hoist way and we we stack rails the whole way up.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then after rails are done, we'll put the motor in.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: I do MRLs, machine roomless elevators.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: So our motor is in the hoistway, and then our controller actually sits in the top entrance jam.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll get the motor installed, we'll get all of our um the dead end hitches where the rope shackles are gonna go, all of our we call it our overhead steel in, which is like um our locking bar plates to park the car in when they're servicing the governor or the motor.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'll actually set the top floor entrance next with the MRLs.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll get the the jam up, we'll get the sill on, and then we'll put the controller in.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then we'll actually start doing all the electrical after that.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll wire the motor in, we'll wire the transformer in, we'll make sure we have incoming power from the electricians and all that, and we'll power that guy up and we'll spin the motor after setting you know certain parameters and stuff in there.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that, we're we throw ropes.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So ours our system is we're we we under sling our cars.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of older um elevators are pitched and stuff from the top of the car up over the motor to the counterweight frame.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: The the way that we do it is uh we have uh two shivs underneath the car, and we'll uh essentially kind of lasso it for lack of a better term.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So all my ropes are on top of the car, and then I'll drive up to where it's comfortable for me to work and where our our formula is to park the counterweight frame beforehand and uh how far below the top landing my uh car's gonna sit, and then we'll take my the ropes out and we'll uh actually coil them in in a figure eight, either on top of the car or out on the landing, and then we'll take the dead end, we'll throw it over the motor down to the counterweight frame, and then we'll bring that the dead end back up after it goes through the counterweight frame, and then shackle them up on the other side.
• 13:56
  unknown: Okay.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then after that, we do entrances, we'll go through, we'll set all of our sills, all of our door tracks, all the uh the uh finished jams, and then we'll do doors, put all of our our hoistway doors on, and then uh it's all wiring essentially.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: After that, we'll pull all of our traveler wire to our car top box, we'll we'll pull the the safety switches and stuff that are on top of the car to there, we'll wire all those in, and then we'll wire all of the the hoistway interlocks and stuff in, we'll you know, pull push button wires, um lantern wires, um uh hoistway access, you know, you name it, it whatever's in the hoistway.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh after that, after all that's said and done, as well as like some little piddly stuff like uh toe kicks and you know stuff like that, we commission that car to run on the car top, and that's pretty much the end of our time there on the job.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then they call the adjusters in after that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: What and just curious, on on average, how what's what's the timeline the the for your process?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So they always give us um you know X amount of hours of whatever they've been.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Usually what I tell the contractors, which has been pretty true, uh, you know, minus you know, whatever issues and stuff we have.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Normally what I tell contractors is it takes about us a week per floor.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're doing an eight-stop elevator, which is what I'm on now, it's usually about eight weeks.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: But then you get like a front reverse car with uh with that.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, now you have to add time to that.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome, awesome.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Tell me about one of your most memorable or even challenging installs.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's kind of a two-part question there.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my most memorable, the one that I think I have had the most fun on, was uh a little five-stop single car in uh holiday, Utah.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's just south uh east of Salt Lake.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was a second-year apprentice, I believe.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we had a basement machine room.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: That job was just a lot of fun.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I worked really well with the mechanic.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: We were able to, you know, our personalities click pretty well, so we were able to have a lot of fun.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: We we goofed off while we you know worked, obviously.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it just you get those mechanics that you you click really well with them and it just makes the job just that much more fun.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because then you can just you know cut loose.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And my I I've always heard you know, you're not having fun at work, go home.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, cool.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: So that was that was the funnest.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: So but it but you said there's a two two part to that.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: So my challenge most challenging, I think, honestly, is this job side I'm working on here in Lehigh.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Just from the get-go, I feel like we were kind of set up to fail, not really on the our company side of it as much as the contractor.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't build my hoist weight a spec.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I had rear entrances where my rough opening was too small.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't get my um entrances in without having to have them cut concrete.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I had to have them chip the the counterweight wall out actually about an inch just to maintain my two-inch running clearance for my counterweights by code from level two all the way to seven.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: My hoistways were just too small in general, so instead of being straight, the back wall ended up diving in you know, a good inch, inch and a half.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so we had to have to go through and cut all the landing floors back wider as well to make sure all of our equipment fit.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, that's not just for the the first duplex we did, but it was also for the second duplex we did as well.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: When a contractor doesn't build your stuff to spec and then they throw a fit about it, it's like, look, dude, like I'm not a miracle worker.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean space to work in, right?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: They they've kind of constrained you, and it's like, no, you're gonna have to cut walls or or blow them up and start over or something.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I dreamt about that a little bit with this job, I won't lie, but that's here's the problem, here's how we're gonna fix it.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to screw you guys over or anything.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's like here's the problem, and I've got the solution.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and it's gotta be plum, right?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if if the wall's curving in, okay, we're gonna have to move this thing over, it's like obviously it's costing him money, but he's the one that screwed up in the first place.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't cause the problem, you're just there to show him his problem.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it sounds like you're in the middle of that one right now.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: So uh are there any other issues that have come up since those initial measurements or um thankfully, no.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we've had some minor issues with parts, and you know, some some things got sent out from the factory that were too big or, you know, whatever, but we've been able to kind of I don't want to say reverse engineer, but we've essentially been able to figure out how to make stuff work and uh or just completely replace those parts or you know, whatever have you.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: But uh other than that, the major issues and stuff, we we're actually sailing pretty smooth right now, thankfully.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you had to get a little creative, had had to make things work.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Hey everyone, thank you for listening.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: This is Matt with a brief message from our sponsor.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: The All Red Group has been recruiting elevator industry talent for over 14 years.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: If you are looking to grow your business and hire great people, contact the Allred Group at allredgroup.com.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's A-L-L-R-E-P, D-R-O-U-P.com.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: And talk with Matt and his team about how they can admit.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: And now, back to the show.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm curious, what what were some of the skills or tools or parts of the the trade that intimidated you at first?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Were there were there any any things like that?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, the only part really I was intimidated by tool-wise was uh the welder.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Before I got into the trade, I'd never I'd only welded once, and it was for a church youth group activity, and I didn't do a very good job at first, and and then it was all hot, and you know, I got a couple minor burns and stuff on my arm from the sparks and you know, whatever, and I was like, I don't like this.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: So when I found out we had to be welders and stuff, and I was like, oh crap, you know, but I I took initiative.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: I actually enrolled in a uh welding course during one of the slower um times for construction when there wasn't a lot of work.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: I essentially was taught how to weld.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I learned it, and um, I wouldn't say I'm a master at it by any means, but I can at least hold my own now, and it's not intimidating anymore.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I actually look forward to doing that now.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: I f I find it fun.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's it's kudos to you for for signing up, kind of diving in, leaning into what wasn't comfortable and just making a skill out of it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: Right now you can do it.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, who knows, maybe people even call you and say, hey, can you can you weld this for me?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: I have a friend that used to say that that that uh once you can once you're a really good welder, you get all kinds of friends that you didn't know you had, like, hey, can you fix my boat trailer?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, can you fix my kid's bike?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, can you that's so true, too.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It is.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And my father-in-law calls me up every once in a while.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Hey, uh, you want to bring your welder down?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and we'll fix the boat trailer, you know, whatever.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Been there, done that.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yep.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, how would you say the the trade has changed just in the seven years you've been in it?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: In new construction, you get to see all the new stuff that comes out.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Kone hasn't really changed all that much, at least here in Salt Lake City.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the one thing I have noticed, and I actually haven't even put one of these in yet, is uh destination dispatch.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what what that is is essentially you have a group or a bank of elevators, whether it's a duplex, a triplex, whatever have you.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, are either in a straight line or they face each other, whatever.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: It all goes, all the all the calls that you put into the car to go up to or down two floors go to a central hub, essentially this big old touch screen thing in the in the main lobby.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And whatever elevator is available at the time that's not you know in service, delivering people to other floors, it'll actually tell you, oh, hey, you're going to this floor, take elevator B2.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to walk over to that one, and it'll take you where you need to go.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think that's the craziest thing that uh is new.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I've experienced it before, and it it takes some getting used to, honestly, because uh, you know, you're I'm used to just walking up, hitting the push button, and you know, just taking it, taking the car that shows up.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it's and I I haven't, you know, I don't I don't, I guess, ride a lot of elevators just because I'm, you know, working, whatever, don't travel a whole lot.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I guess just getting used to a touch screen for the elevators is is new behavior for the entire riding public because it's like, okay, we're used to walking to the elevator, pushing the button, but if there's no button there and there's a screen, it's almost like, oh, what?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I guess I need to figure out how to how to drive these things.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually share a little bit of a personal experience with that.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I remember going to the uh one of the state buildings, I had to turn in some paperwork to get my mechanic license.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And uh the state building that we went to had a destination dispatch.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, where the Sam Hex the push button, man.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm looking all over the place.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I finally had to ask the security guard, how do we do this?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh, yeah, it's the one of the new fandangle things.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta go over to this little console here.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: So even as an elevator guy, you're probably embarrassed.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: You're like, Well, I should know how to operate this thing.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that thought definitely crossed my mind.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, that's embarrassing, especially in front of my wife and kid.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: So you haven't had experience uh actually installing that, but it you know it sounds like it's definitely you know changing, changing the industry, changing the, you know, making things more efficient is what it sounds like.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that is the goal uh for these, yes.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I I foresee us, you know, using a lot of it now uh in the near future, especially with uh these bigger projects and with the Olympics coming to Utah and everything here in the near, you know, in like 2035 or something like that.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of people with a lot of money that want efficiency.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: For sure, for sure.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: What do you wish more people understood about elevators, elevator installation?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's that's quite a bit of a list, Matt.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I won't lie.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think two things come to mind right out of the gate.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, um we can only do so much with what we're given, right?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned earlier that you know, my hoistways and and the one I'm working on is too tight.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, I can't just wave a magic wand and make your hoist wave straight.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, if there's part delays or you know, whatever have you, like a lot of guys, especially like in the service side of the industry, they they get harped on a lot by you know the customers and stuff.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, why isn't this up and running yet?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, look, these are these are very complex machines, very delicate equipment on a lot of these, and sometimes, you know, as much knowledge is shared between all of us, service guys and other mechanics and stuff, and the expertise that is shared, we sometimes can't fix everything in one shop.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, you know, we would one thing I wish that they would understand is you know, have patience with us.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're we're not trying to make your lives difficult.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're trying to get your stuff fixed and we're trying to get stuff installed correctly so that you can be transported where you need to go in a safe manner.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing is being just piggybacking off of that safe factor is what we do is extremely dangerous.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're around high voltage, um, we're around moving parts like the motor itself.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, easy to lose fingers, limbs, um electrical shock, you know, stuff like that.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's one of the more dangerous trades out there.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say it's the most dangerous, but um you know, one little one little screw up on our part, our apprentices part, can cost somebody their life.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and and and has, right?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it's uh and I I think put one of the risks of of um you know just just people not understanding is uh because because the the way the in industry is uh is structured, right?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: People don't see outside the cab, right?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: They they don't understand what you do.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact, you probably a lot of people that you know you tell them what what to do, and they're like, what?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Is that is that a thing?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I uh how do you get how do you get paid to do that?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: I don't get it.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: Aren't aren't elevators just born in the building and they just they just show up?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah, I've I've gotten that a few times too, yeah.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of those things that you know it's a really niche um niche industry, and you yeah, you tell people what you do, they're like, I didn't even really think about that before.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I never thought an elevator had to be built.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it just it just it shows up, just does its own thing.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: So uh tell me and I'm sure there's a lot of answers to this question, but what's the culture like on a job site?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: Is it more like a team, a family, something totally different, you know?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, uh, and I again it depends on who you work with, because I've worked with mechanics in the past that you know are all straight business.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: They're there to do the job and go go home and that's it.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't so it's very business-like, it's very um, I wouldn't say boring, but when you can't really um talk to your mechanic and like just get to know him on a more personal level and you know, have conversations and stuff while you're working, it it kind of can make for a long day.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, right now, the crews that are on my job right now, we're all pretty similar with personality.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we get to we get to have fun at work, we we joke, we laugh, we talk, and you know, we just we're able to have fun while we're while we're working.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess the essentially the the answer to that question is Matt, like it just depends on who you work with.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and what you create, yeah, right.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can to a point, right?
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_02: You can kind of decide what the what the culture is going to be.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: And somebody may not want to might not want to be part of that, but but it sounds like there's some real opportunities for camaraderie, right?
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: Whether they choose to have this this team, this this brotherhood, if you will, then you know that's up to the individual players.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: Very cool.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Jordan, we're uh we're getting close on our time.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted to end with this last question, which is uh if if someone is listening, thinking about maybe joining the trade, what advice would you give them?
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I mean, I got a little bit of a list with that one too, but um, I think there's two key points uh to that that I would I'd like to share with the you know the listeners out there.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's um if you're gonna get into the trade, I would say humility is the key to success.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit more about that.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, uh just be teachable.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like um, you could be, and I know guys that are really good at their jobs, they they turn in jobs at a really good time and stuff, but these guys are also extremely humble.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: They are teachable because nobody's ever gonna know everything there is to know about an elevator or how things work because we're constantly coming out with new technology, new procedures and methods to do stuff.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you get to the point where you know how to do your job and do it well, don't get a big head about it because there's always gonna be, you know, Tom Dick or Harry down the road that can do it a lot better and knows a lot more than you do.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And you instead of seeing them as competition, it's like, look, dude, learn from them because you know, nine times out of ten, they'll share their knowledge with you, and you'll just better yourself as we go.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and as soon as you learn it really well, technology is gonna change and you're gonna have to learn something totally new.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: So that probably keeps you humble because it's like, oh my gosh, this is uh this is something totally, totally new to me.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the second thing um that I want to end with here, uh, since we're running out of time, is what we do is is it ain't no cakewalk.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it is very hard work, but it is very rewarding.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the fact that we can go um to essentially an empty poistway at the beginning of a job and then by the end of it have a completely running elevator is still mind-boggling to me.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like you stand back at the end of the job and be like, I built that.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that in of itself is is kind of humbling to me too, because it's like I built that, I I contributed my talent, my skills, and we have a working product now.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: Sure, sure.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: You can probably drive up and down the freeway and point to the to the buildings that you know, that one and that one and that one.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've done that with my wife numerous times.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: She gets so annoyed, she's like, Oh, I've heard this before.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, I'm sorry, I take pride in my work.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh I think it's awesome.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think it uh makes a lot of sense, you know, just that you not only do you have a gratifying work that you enjoy, that you you know, that you can you can look and say, hey, I I made a difference.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I I brought my tools, my talents together, and you know, me and my team, we made something happen.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's I think that's what makes part of what makes the the industry uh awesome, you know, for for what it is, is just that you know people get to to really contribute, really make something happen and and make a big difference.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: It really is that rewarding very cool.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Jordan, thank you for being on the show with me.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate it.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's been a pleasure and I wish you the very best as you continue to safely build those elevators.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks, Matt.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the opportunity, man.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: Please visit our YouTube channel at ElevatorCareers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: Please like and subscribe.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: And until next time, stay safe.