Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Growing and Competing as an Independent Elevator Business | Kendra Glenn

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Growing and Competing as an Independent Elevator Business | Kendra Glenn · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the most critical things is being organized and being willing to listen to everybody you talk to and not scared to pick up the phone.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when I first started out, I did have, you know, my father and my brother to go to and get insight from, but they also had their own work to do out in the field every day.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just picking up the phone and calling people.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I was able to learn knowledge through my family, but also the resources we have of if I needed something, I would just pick up and call the vendor and start asking questions.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: I would pick up and call the steel manufacturer and start asking questions about I beams and H-beams and C channels.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you should never be scared to pick up the phone.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry, to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today our guest is Kendra Glenn, managing partner of BTS Elevator Packages.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Kendra grew up in the industry but wasn't sure she wanted to be part of the family business.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: After graduating from college and working in hospitality for a few years, Kendra realized she wasn't being challenged or being fulfilled.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Kendra decided to join the family business, GTech Elevator, and after a few years, she helped create BTS.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Kendra has found the challenge she was looking for and is thriving in the elevator industry.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Kendra, welcome to the show.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Matt.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me today.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm excited to be able to talk to you.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was great to meet you and Reno at the NAC conference, and then to be able to kind of circle back and do this interview.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I've been looking forward to it.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Same here.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to dig in and teach you a little bit about me and my background as well as our family's business.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that being said, tell me a little bit how you got started in the elevator industry.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm third generation.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Our my father, Dominic Glenn, worked with his father as a stereotypical back-in-the-day elevator was very father and son.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And my brother joined the business as well in 2010.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I went to college for hotel and restaurant management at Penn State.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I had this dream of working in hospitality and a very service-driven industry.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: And at that time, I always knew a little bit about elevators, but I didn't realize the different career paths there were within the elevator industry.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I graduated college and I was a food and beverage director in Boston at a Marriott for about a year.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And one of my very close mentors there told me I need to do something more challenging because she felt, as I felt, I wasn't being challenged in my day-to-day career.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something I always wanted to do.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I was thinking and scratching my head of, hey, what other industries can I take my service knowledge and put it to use?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I reached out to my father and we were talking and I was like, Dad, I really want to come, you know, join the family business and work in the office, and I'll do whatever you need me to do because I know the interpersonal skills, but I don't know the operation end of the elevator path.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: So at that point, he said, sure, come on in.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I started out with the maintenance division and the department of buildings.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Been there ever since then, huh?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And pretty much from that, you know, different things changed and happened.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I learned the DOB and then um estimating and purchasing.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get back to college for just a second.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it sounds like in in one sense, I mean, you grew up in the business, it's right there, and yet I'm gonna go somewhere else, right?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You're kind of chasing this dream.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And um what was it about?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, sounds like you you kind of hit your dream, and it's like, okay, this isn't exactly what I wanted.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: That how so there is multiple things, you know, when you're in hospitality or food and beverage, you know, it's it's a 24-7 business, nice weekends, holidays.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: It never stops.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: At least at that point, I wanted to find something that one I can max out eventually financially, because hospitality, if you do some research on it, there's really not as much opportunity for you, even at directors' levels and general manager levels.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that was one of the aspects of hey, I want this certain quality of life, and this career path is never going to give it to me.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I did love the um interactions with customers and meeting different people and networking and seeing where everybody was from.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the transition part that was very easy for me.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I always looked at it as because people questioned me, hey, you went to school for hotel and restaurant management.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: But hotel and restaurant management is very similar to business.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I learned food costs and beverage costs, which is the same as material cost.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And payroll is payroll anywhere you go.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it was very, yeah, it was very interchangeable for me.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So um was there some fear that that, hey, if I get into elevator, it's it's gonna be, it's not gonna be what I want.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be, it's not gonna at first I was nervous because I wanted to make sure like I learned my role and was I want it to be a benefit to the company and not hurt the company in any way because I didn't really know much about elevators.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: But anybody who's learned about like the maintenance and the department of buildings, there's a lot of resources out there to go and kind of learn and understand different things and how to move between the department of buildings as well as you know, your maintenance contracts and dispatching.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: So you you joined essentially the the company that your your dad and brother had already been working, right?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: G Tech?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Correct, G Tech, yep.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit about GTEch.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: How did that come about?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you said your dad worked with his dad, and and I'm sure there's all kinds of history there to Yeah, it's a a pretty deep hole of history.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: But but I'm curious about how G Tech got started.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So my brother Brock Len went to college at Penn State for electrical engineering.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And pretty much when he came out, him and my father, Dominic, were, you know, they both love elevators.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: We all love elevators.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: And at that time, it's when Kone came out with the MRLs.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And as an independent company, we you couldn't really compete in the MRL market here in New York City.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So they went to a company called HM Tech out of South Korea, which we have a partnership with and helped engineer our MRL package.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that was back, I would say, like 2007, 2008.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: We brought everything here, everything got certified and approved here.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: So GTEch.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So GTEch was kind of the the independent answer to the MRL.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is that what you're saying?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, at that point, pretty much GTEch went to HM and we started doing the MRL package.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the vision of GTEch was always to eventually sell equipment.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how we opened up BTS in 2019.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: But first, we wanted to install enough units and have enough of a track record that, hey, this package works, it's good material and it's efficient to install.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And with all the knowledge from all the generations, we've been able to do certain things to help cut down labor costs and really help make it a user-friendly installation.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it is um for for yeah, for new installation, right?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a it's not a mod package.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you also sell mod packages though?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, through BTS, we can do new installation and mod packages.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And right now I am working on producing a hydraulic package, but we do pretty much machine roomless, overhead traction, and mod packages right now through BTS.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and like you say, to an independent market, right?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: You're that's who you're selling for.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: So with BTS, one of the big avenues is and what I've learned through GTEch is project management.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I did most of GTEC's project management.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've been in elevators nine and a half years at this point.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: So for nine years, I've done project management, sales, and and purchasing.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: So now I've taken kind of what I've learned there, built some training manuals, and I use that flow of work and I put that into the BTS packages.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So you said you started BTS what, four years ago?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of as the as kind of the arm of uh of GTEC, yep, a sister company.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so with GTEch, we tested all these MRL systems.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we do not sell anything with BTS that we've never installed and we've never tested ourselves.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Cool, cool.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, and it sounds like GTEch, do you guys also do service repair, all the the standards?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, pretty much GTEch.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: We uh do mostly new installations and then maintain the equipment we've installed.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: What what are some of the biggest challenges of running?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean, I I understand I have a limited understanding of of the industry overall because I don't, you know, I'm not working in it, but I mean, just just selling in the independent uh market sounds like a a pretty unique place to to be.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And what are some of those challenges that that you've had to overcome or are overcoming as you're you know building BTS in particular?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the major challenges is talking about a little bit of the history of BTS and how it formed, like we just did, because people see BTS.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, you've been in since 2019.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, where was it before that?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: But before that, my father's been in the industry like 45-ish years now.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And my brother's been in, you know, we grew up at 16.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: He was going in the city with my dad with his working papers and working.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so he has about 15 years or so, maybe a little bit more in the business too.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the largest challenge for BTS right now is getting our name out there, talking to people, letting them know, hey, we are your one-stop shop.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we come and do field surveys, we can make equipment fit in existing shafts and we can customize a package.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's not really a cookie cutter package.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, my understanding it is, is that for new installation, a lot of independents don't do it because it's it's a challenge to compete on cost.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: How do you address that?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, with some of the things I said earlier, we change certain things in our package to try to shorten the lead time uh on or sorry, the installation time.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we do different things to help, you know, um, the mechanics, we try to shave like 20% off of your labor install after you've installed a couple of packages.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we do have sure there's a learning curve, right?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: You can't just you know the first time is gonna take longer.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, it does for me anytime I right.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: The first couple of times, you know, expect not to really save that.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: But then after that, you get into a rhythm of installing the same equipment.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: We pretty much use as long as the speed and capacity, everything is the same, the same equipment on every job.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that's uh one of the costways.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: The other costway is for some of these smaller independent companies who don't necessarily have an office to run all of these jobs through of the project management end.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: We do that service for you.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: We supply job books.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we we we get on calls with architects, we get on calls with engineers if we're requested to.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: We can be as involved as you want us to or as not involved.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: It it's really that's big.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's that's a huge resource uh that you guys are providing just because yeah, a lot of companies don't have those, but that's that's so important.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so we've we've done a lot of mod jobs through BTS where um I and my father have flown out to multiple states now and measured and then come back and do all the engineering and the drawings to fit into you know some old shafts.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's pretty yeah, yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So as you look back, you know, on your on your previous uh hospitality career, any regrets?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, do you ever wish, man, I wish I'd have stayed, you know, doing that?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, I think the servicing uh client or guests, it really transferred over very seamlessly.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um working in food and beverage is fun, but also working here has been fun because I've been in so many different avenues.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many networking events.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: I talk to people all day, every day, whether it's a customer, uh, vendors, colleagues, and it's really nice.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the elevator industry is large, but at the end of the day, it's really not that large.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody kind of knows everybody.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of a lot of times it's the it's the same people, which is cool because then you get to develop relationships and friendships and right build, yeah, build a community.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: So so no regrets looking back.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and it sounds like uh have have you been challenged, I guess?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you said, hey, food and food and beverage just wasn't challenging me enough.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is is this challenging you enough?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel this is challenging because I look at it as every building is different, whether it's a different shaft size, different height, different equipment, um, different problems arise.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: The Mason forgot to do something, this guy forgot to do something, and we're always problem solving.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I I like that challenge.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the BTS side, I really enjoy the challenge of going out there and meeting people and networking and getting them to understand our product and what it can do for them and just gain more relationships that way.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um so what um what do you feel like is is most important in in the work you do and even you know, um I guess to somebody who's who's maybe new newer to the industry, what's what's the most critical thing that you have to do?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the most critical things is being organized and being willing to listen to everybody you talk to and not scared to pick up the phone.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when I first started out, I did have, you know, my father and my brother to go to and get insight from, but they also had their own work to do out in the field every day.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just picking up the phone and calling people.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I was able to learn knowledge through my family, but also the resources we have of if I needed something, I would just pick up and call the vendor and start asking questions.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: I would pick up and call the steel manufacturer and start asking questions about I beams and H beams and C channels.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you should never be scared to pick up the phone and ask.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, was it difficult at times to, I mean, especially if you don't know, I mean, I would feel a little uh, I don't know, a little intimidated, you know, asking about iBeams, partly because I probably don't know a thing about them, right?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when I would call, I would say, hey, I'm gonna ask you some questions, but I don't know if I'm asking the right questions.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: But this is what I need, and this is what I think I need to ask, but I'm not sure.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that conversation would just keep going.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're across the street where offices from a steel manufacturer, and I will go there and bring drawings and say, hey, if it's something I don't know or fully understand, teach me, right?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: I will bring it and I will use that resources.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: He's been in the business 50 years, he knows something.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: So sure, I will go and pick his brain and just put that knowledge in my little note section.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then next time that question comes up, hopefully I don't have to do it again.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I think if I touch back on the challenging, I think every day I feel like I'm challenged by something different.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I I can only imagine, and especially as you, I mean, you're obviously building a business, right?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't step into it and I mean BTS didn't exist, so you've had to kind of create this this separate entity and and figure out okay, how do we now sell and market this?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's it's uh you know, we don't go to the market the same way as GTEC does.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: GTEC, like you say, I think you told me before um that it was kind of its own test tower, right?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: You were kind of trying out the the concept, and now it's like, okay, it's time to to go to market.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what you've done with BTS.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Luckily, with you know, BTS and my father being around for so long, he does know a lot of people in the industry.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, that's how GTEch, a lot of relationships were developed off of that.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's we have some customers that he's been working for for 30, 40 years, and then we have some newer customers with relationships my brother or myself have built.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: And with BTS, it's kind of the same thing we go, we give a little bit of background.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: People seem to be very intrigued because my father has been in the business so long.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I try to pick his knowledge, or if I hear him say certain things, I go and learn those things and try to go and generate more sales that way too and network.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious, um, you know, as far as the uh just your well, what I'm trying to get at is I talked to a gentleman just like a week ago and he was from one of the majors, and he was saying, hey, the you know, the forecast for the next year is is kind of smaller for new um, and I don't know if you have the same forecast or numbers, but what kind of growth and reception have you seen for your niche of the business?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: So um last year on the BETS side was our largest year to date, and I plan on continuing to grow that and continue to get out there.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, different cities, luckily with that business, we can go nationwide.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: We're working on a few international things as well.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: So luckily with that business, we're not kept to just the northeast or you know, the tri-state area.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: So forecasting-wise, I plan on slowly in increasing that every year.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And with hopefully my goal by the end of this year is to have a hydro package, is we would hit a lot more clients that way and being able to offer that as a package.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: And on the GTEch side, we we've developed such great relationships with people that you know, I I see a small dip, but I don't see that large of a dip.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I think, you know, if you're willing to get out there and work hard and nurture those relationships, but also go try to make new relationships, you know, you should be able to stay on the same pace you're at.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and and I mean, obviously you have a very different cost structure than than some of these other companies.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, if you can keep a competitive cost structure, then you know, yeah, you should be able to continue to just just grow.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and it sounds like there's there's room in the market for that.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the the more shows we go to and the more people I talk to, uh, I'm learning there's a lot of different avenues we we could go and a lot of different things we could do with the right products.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, and it sounds like yeah, you're getting ready to to launch a mod or uh sorry, a uh a hydro package at some point.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and maybe it's tempting to to get off the path and oh, let's let's chase this rabbit trail and this rabbit trail because there's so much opportunity.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: How do you how do you kind of keep your focus pointed straight ahead?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think you have to weigh the pros and cons of every opportunity you can get and go from there.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we know the MRL package and the traction package is something we have pretty down and our partner in South Korea HM has pretty down.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: So now we're comfortable to say, hey, let's put this hydro package together and get this down before we go to the next step.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, that's smart.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: When do you have a guess as to when that'll come out, or is that just beginning?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: The hydro package I'm trying to have out for ECNY.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: July and April.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's fast.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's it's been something that we've been in the works for for about a year, year and a half.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: So now I think the more um research I've done and we've done at shows and stuff, I think a lot of our customers would appreciate having a hydro.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're working on some other things that I don't want to discuss just.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's fine.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: We'll say that.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I think yeah, the in the next year or two years for BTS, we'll we'll offer uh a pretty nice package of different packages you could get.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um what what would you say is kind of your vision over the next maybe five, 10 years?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: What where would you see all this going?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: So with BTS, we plan to continue just growing and giving the independence and the mom and pop shops throughout the country a chance to compete and get some you know projects of new installations or larger mod projects and just continue growing that and increasing our sales and becoming a a strong manufacturer of elevator packages and with GTEch, you know, just continuing nurturing our relationships and keeping it going.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what um what would you say is I don't know, maybe what maybe one of the biggest challenges you have.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds like you just kind of hit the ground running and just kind of took it all in.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: But what was what was the hardest thing for you to really change your career or you know, from from hospitality to elevator?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think one of my largest challenges was so I took like one architecture class in high school, and I I don't even think anything else into the drawing aspect.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I think early on was learning and understanding architectural drawings and structural drawings and being able to really review those and go through them, um, electrical drawings, reviewing those, and just really learning more of the elevator side of things, of you know, how it all goes together, how it works with each other, both mechanically and electrically.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's one of the challenges that I feel like if you asked me nine years ago, I would have said I know nothing.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: But now I think I know a decent amount, but I'm by no means to where I hope to be in knowing more of the mechanical and the electrical side because I don't really get the opportunity to go in the field as much as I would like, you know, and really put my hands on things so it could really click.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Every time I do, I go for like an hour or two here or there.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So there's certain aspects that have really clicked.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that just, you know, the biggest challenge for me was really getting everything visually in my head.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: What was most beneficial to actually get that in your head?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Was it being in the field?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I enjoyed like if I go work with my father or my brother for a couple hours, I feel like I learned years worth of knowledge in in you know, four or five hours.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're both great teachers, both full of knowledge.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I just try to be a sponge and kind of soak that up.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I like going out in the field once in a while.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: One, it it shows people when I'm talking to them, hey, I do know, you know, the basics and a little more than the basics.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that for me is how I'm trying to overcome that challenge.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and it sounds like just being there, being able to see it, you know, um it's it makes a big difference because, you know, if you're just a riding passenger, all you see is the inside of a box.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows what's pulling, pushing.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I have no concept, but I remember the first time I I saw it was like a model, right?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the the shivs and the the ropes and and the weights, and I was like, oh, so so really if it if it failed, it would go up, not down, right?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: That was like this yeah, you know, light bulb going off.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I didn't know.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I think most people don't know until they're in this industry.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like my friends think I'm crazy.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: If I get in an elevator, I'm leaning on the wall, I'm looking at it, I'm I'm trying to figure out, you know, is it a hydro, is it a traction, who installed it, what type of fixtures it has.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: And people don't realize this whole world that goes on behind the four walls.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right, exactly.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's uh it's it's a world, it's a it's a community, it's in in some ways a family of of elevator professionals, you know, making it making it happen.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: And and yeah, most people just take it for granted.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one thing I do love about this industry is it could be cutthroat with one another, you know, we're all competing for the same business, but at the end of the day, I feel like most of the people I've met, if not all of them, they're very passionate about what they do.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: They want to train, teach, give you any knowledge you could imagine.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a big family.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: You go to conventions and they may be your biggest competitor, but you're still saying, Hey, how are you?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: How's the kids?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: How's life?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's really cool because um I feel like in not all professions you get that.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, very true, very true.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just speaking from personal experience, having worked in other industries and coming to this one, it was it was night and day, you know.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: One one company in particular, we were just kind of taught uh, you know, the culture was you just we just hated the the competitor, right?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: They were they were the bad guys, right?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: And there was no uh no love loss between the two.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I elevators, yeah, like you say, it's it's not not that way.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's different.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's different than you know, most professions um out there.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: I just because it is one big family.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say happy family, but sometimes it may not be happy.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: But for the most part, you know, everybody is here to help each other and help each other grow and become successful.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: So let's um let's end with a question about, you know, kind of back to your career and and what would you say to somebody who, you know, maybe they're maybe they're look, you know, a little bit like you.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're graduating, they want to go into to hospitality or or uh they're they're kind of looking at yeah, I don't know, just just a different uh pieces of of business.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: What advice would you would you give to them?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: I would give um pretty much if you're willing to put hard work in, this is a great industry because what you put in here, you definitely get out.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: You could definitely grow.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many different career paths here.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: You could be in sales, you could be in marketing, you could be HR, you could be in warehouse purchasing, so many different career paths.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: And most companies give you the opportunity to kind of figure out where you want to fit in or where are you going to be successful as an individual.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not such a direct route, I feel like.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you say, hey, I'm gonna go work in the elevator industry, there's many streets you can go down at the end of the day to be in the part of the elevators.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's different than most professions.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's great advice.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I do just looking at your career, like you've you've gone down kind of almost every path, and so you've gained such a broad knowledge that you know that then you can you can turn around and and use that so many different ways to you know to build your business, to market, to you, you probably do a little bit of a little bit of everything in a given day or week.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I and I think that's what I enjoy most.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not just here all day crunching numbers or here all day reviewing drawings.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm in the operation of the business and I'm hands involved.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I like my day being split up and I like being able to learn and look at different things because yes, you know, I've I've been working with my father and brother now for almost 10 years, nine and a half years or so.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: But there's still so much more to learn.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: We all have so much to learn every day.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really do enjoy that.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Kendra, thank you so much for your being with me here today.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Matt, for having me.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I appreciate it as well.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish you the best as you continue to build your business.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds good.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Please subscribe, and until next time, stay safe.