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Grow People First, Then Profit Follows, with Ryan Ducker · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: So welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: My name is Cliff McCray.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm filling in for Bill Gillilan with your local business training and coaching firm, Action Coat Business Growth Partners.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to have Mr.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan Ducker with Ducker Land Management on as the focus for our Epic Entrepreneurs podcast today.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, Ryan, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and your company and what primary products or services you offer the community.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate this opportunity.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Ryan Ducker.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the CEO of Ducker Land Management.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're based out of uh Hendersonville, North Carolina.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: We service uh all of Western North Carolina.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um we uh basically try to make everyone's outdoor dreams a reality.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um one, uh we also uh repair and rebuild uh Western North Carolina post-Helene.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we do a lot of uh you know complete slope repairs, uh landslides.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: We build a lot of retaining walls, uh, we do a lot of concrete work.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then when it comes to outdoor living, uh we do uh brick pavers, patios, you know, flagstone, custom concrete, like exposed concrete, you know, boulder walls, um, anything that someone has a dream of doing outside on their land or their property, we try to make it happen for them.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we generally work in areas that are hard and tough to get to.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it is mountainous where we work here in the Appalachian Mountains.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I grew up here, I grew up in Mills River.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: So uh uh myself and uh and our entire team, uh, most everybody's familiar with mountainous properties and uh we're willing to attack those uh hard to get to areas and uh really try to make some uh beautiful creations uh for some outdoor living uh for for a lot of our clients.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect, perfect.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so yeah, if you had to start your your your business from square one tomorrow, let's let's let's just say hypothetically you had to start from square one in your business uh tomorrow or tomorrow, what would you do differently?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: If I had to start it all over again tomorrow, um man, there would be a lot of things I probably would do differently.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I probably would be a little more patient in some areas.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think I would focus more on hiring the correct team members.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um there are three main characteristics that we're that we look for when hiring team members, uh, employees, um, and that is that they are hungry, they're humble, and smart.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're looking for someone who is hungry, who wants to have a good job, wants to have a good career, um, they want to progress in life, um, not just financially, uh, but you know, spiritually, uh with their craft or with their skill.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're hungry to grow in all areas.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Be a better husband, be a better father.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, those are the people we're looking for that are hungry.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we also want them to be humble.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we don't want somebody to be a pushover, but we also want them to be, we definitely want them to be uh uh to be humble.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um they need to be able to take um correction, they need to be able to be willing to learn.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then also we're looking for someone who's smart.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not talking about street smart, or I mean, excuse me, uh book smarts.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking for someone with street smarts, um, someone who can um handle our day-to-day operations and be smart enough to make uh you know educated guesses or educated decisions, uh, also someone who's smart enough to know if they don't know the answer to ask questions.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're looking for those three qualities.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I would say for sure, if I had to do it over again, I would focus more on getting the right people in the right place.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: I would focus more uh on making sure there's clear job descriptions, clear expectations, and hire specifically for those positions uh based on the hungry, humble, smart um uh plan.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I would definitely do that different.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I would I would take my time to hire the right people.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would uh definitely financially on the financial end, I would have I would try if I had to do ever again, I would try to be as smart as I possibly could with the finances.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, uh try to not overextend the finances.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh I would try to um invest, you know, something that's more logical.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um when my when I first started 25 years ago, you know, um, you know, as young and you know, dumb to the the fact of, you know, hey, you go out and get a bunch of brand new equipment and you got to pay a bunch of payments, sometimes it's really hard to outrun those payments um based on um based on your revenue generation.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um I probably would have uh rented more.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I probably would have took taken my time on that aspect.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh but uh I think if I would have done that, I would have been further along than I am today for sure.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and the big thing is is teamwork, is creating a a team that is just um that is next to none, the the best.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would have strived to have had a great team.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: The team that we have now, um, I would have tried strived to have had that when I was younger, um, because everything rises and falls on leadership.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And if your leadership in your company doesn't is not hungry, humble, and smart, uh, does not fit your culture, uh, they don't reflect who you are as a person.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um if if you don't focus on that, then you're you're you're doomed for failure and you're doomed for for a lot of uh heartaches and headaches uh and financial turmoil for sure.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um but those two things I would definitely would have done.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I love it.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great answer.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what have your biggest learnings been as an owner and employer since you've started your business?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I can't say enough about um culture.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, the culture of your business uh is pretty much one of the biggest building blocks for a successful business.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um number one, you know, um for me is to be um is is to have our teammates, my team, reflect what I feel inside, what my passion, my mission, my vision, my values for the company.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see them reflect that and and and and hold each other to and would definitely hold each other to a high standard.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um I want to hold ourselves to a high extremely high standard um in today's economy.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um that will definitely get you ahead and um you know focusing on on your team and focusing on the people in your team, you know, that's that's everything.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um for sure.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's a um that's a major focal point.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um more than revenue generation.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: You could go out and get all the the work in the world, you could be a great salesman and you can sign some contracts.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh people may like you as the the uh estimator or the salesman.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but when it comes to actually landing the job, and then you introduce the people that you're working for, um you introduce them to your team.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And if your team doesn't match who you are and doesn't, and your culture is just is is is terrible and nobody wants to work together, you know, there's sabotage, there's gossip, there's anger, there's deceit, and all those things, you know.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: When there's all that, then people really you know start raising an eyebrow and then they're like, you know, I don't know if I trust this person, I trust the guy that sold me the job, but this team just doesn't really match.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: So having a culture um that has a clear mission, clear vision, clear values, um, that's that's that's very, very important.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's important for us, and it's it's I label that um as one of our biggest successful marks for us today.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's taken a long time to get to this point and a lot of failures, tons of failures.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: I have made all kinds of mistakes.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I I gotta I paid for my education, you know, uh it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it wasn't from a it wasn't from a college, it was from lots of mistakes.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, uh and trying to apply, you know, and you know, Arnold Arnold Palmer said in when he was interviewed in a golf digest magazine one time, he said the the interviewers asked him, he said, what makes you a great golfer?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: What makes a great golfer, not a good golfer, but a great golfer?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And he said this he said, it's not how well you hit your good shots, it's how well you recover from your bad shots.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's what makes a great golfer, and I think that it goes hand in hand with business.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you're gonna be successful in business, it's how strong are you gonna be and how are you going to recover from your stacks?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh I'm a part of a group called C 12 group.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's Christ-based, it's a Christian-based organization.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I learned it's it's a group with a lot of other um uh business owners and CEOs in in Western North Carolina.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and uh we talk about having a buffalo culture.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that basically means you know, we should lead like a buffalo.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you know much about buffalo, not many people do.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but buffalo, when there's a storm that comes uh out, they don't run away from the storm, they run to the storm as a herd, and they protect themselves inside the eye of the storm.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's they're not afraid, they're not they're not a fearful uh animal.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, we try to reflect that same culture in ducker land management is to uh to be able to lead like buffalo.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to run away from the problems, we don't want to make a one problem worse by a terrible culture, we want to run into the storm and face it head on and handle it right when it happens.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and not push, you know, think you, you know, some of my other mistakes now that I'm thinking about all the many I've made was a question prior was um, you know, uh one of my biggest mistakes was I if there was a problem I knew that was coming uh or could see that there was an issue, I would put it off and then you know, think like, well, maybe it'll correct itself.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is stupid, a stupid way of thinking.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to learn that the hard way.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: When you have an issue arise in your in your in your business, uh especially for us, I handle it immediately.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean immediately.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: The person, the people that are involved in the situation, get them in a room, get them together, sit down at a table, sit down in a car, and handle that situation absolutely as fast as you can.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Don't let that situation fester um because it will only get worse.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope I answered the question.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, that was great.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of chase uh some rabbits sometimes, so I'll catch that rabbit eventually.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: But no, that was great.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: That was great.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so what are some common misconceptions about running a business and how do you address them?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one for sure um is it's easy.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, people think that when you're a CEO of a of a business that uh you've arrived and you know it's just uh rainbows and unicorns.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's that's never the case.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we were all created to work, I believe, and um we were here for a reason.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, a lot of people think that you know you work your way to the top, whatever the top might be, quote unquote.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: And once you get there, once you arrive, then it's just easy peasy.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to worry about anything.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: You you don't have to lead anymore.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: You got other people that lead for you, and you just kind of sit back and go fishing.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's not the case.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you still have to be um, you still have to be in the wheelhouse.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I I I tell it to our team like this you know, this business is a lot like a ship, and there's a wheelhouse.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: You got the captain, you got the crew, and everybody has a position.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, me being the CEO, um, we our uh CO of uh chief operation operating officer of the uh of our business, you know, I let him grab the steering wheel and steer the ship a lot.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I'll our business manager, I let her steer the ship in her area a lot.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I stay in the wheelhouse.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: If the ship ever starts to tip over and try to fall or or there's major problems and the crew needs direction and they need somebody to ask questions to or help, I'll grab the steering wheel and I'll and I'll try to write the ship the best I can or show them how to write write the ship the best I can.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that being said, one of the hardest mis or one of the biggest misconceptions is is just that you know it's it's easy, uh, but but it's definitely not for sure.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh, you know, another thing is is um, you know, people uh another misconception is for for a CEO is you you think that people just want to work for you just for how much you're gonna pay them uh based on salary.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um but the reality is um people don't know how much you care until you show them how much you care.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: And as a as a business owner, um you it's important to uh invest in your people and care for your people.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, people will stay inside of your business as your business is growing and they'll deal with the salary that they have, you know, current currently have if they know they're in a good situation.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: The culture is good, they know that people around them have their back and that people love them, uh, may not like them all the time, but they do love them and um that they're gonna be there for them.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: They have a boss and a and a and a and an owner that knows that they're gonna be there for them um and is uh uh is gonna be there no matter what.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you know that's a huge misconception is you know, if I I if I tell any other leader or young leader, if I was gonna tell a young leader what are some misconceptions, don't think you can just pay somebody some big amount of money and all your problems are gonna go away.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or you're just gonna throw it all in them because you know that doesn't mean anything.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that could that could cause you, that could sink your your ship quickly.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because nobody cares for your business like the owner cares, uh, the person who's created it.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like a mother and a child, you know, um, or a father and a son.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's the same thing, you know.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: If you've helped create it, um from ground up, uh you're gonna care for that business like nobody else, uh more than an employee will.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: But but the goal is is to create leaders that are inside your business that feel like that business is theirs too.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and where and give them the leadership and give them the authority to make some hard decisions and make some tough calls that affects everybody.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and once they feel that and they they hold the weight of that, um, they'll realize that, you know, hey, you know, the CEO, the owner, you know, does trust me.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that those are some misconceptions for sure.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that that that you can just um buy your way into freedom.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: That just that that that's that's that's a big no-no.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: Big big misconception for sure.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of them.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can talk for hours on it.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: No, you're good.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: You're good.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: No, that was wonderful.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so what have you attributed?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you kind of went over this a little bit earlier, you know, other than the culture and hiring the right people.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: What other things have you attributed to your growth so far?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I don't I'm not sure where this podcast lands, and I'm not sure where um you guys uh where you are, but uh, you know, I'm just gonna you ask me to be on here, so I'm gonna be honest.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the number one uh contributing factor for us being successful, that's your question, right?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um is Jesus Christ, um, is making Christ the center of our business and letting God uh uh take control of this business.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, there's a lot of times I'm uh you know, I'm by no means a good person.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not at all.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a terrible person.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh the only thing good inside of me is is is Jesus Christ.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I give him the reason we're successful is because of that and that alone.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he could he's he can make us great or he can he can take it all away.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever, I'm good with it.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just here to be a servant, um, you know, and to so uh I say that to also say uh that we one of my goals as a CEO is to not for Ducker land management to not be a business where the employees grow the business, but the business grows the employees.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know it's it's probably not you know, if if you're asking, you know, how can we make more money and things like that?
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, there's there's ways to do that.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: But more importantly, how can you grow your people?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um how can I make these how can I get them to be a stronger father, a stronger mother?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: How can they be a stronger uh brother?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: How sister, how can they be a stronger employee?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: What are we doing to help see them grow?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: I I love to see our um these new hires come in as an unskilled tradesman.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: When you get hired at Ducker Land Management, at the bottom of the barrel, you're called an unskilled tradesman.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And as you work your way up, your next step will be a skilled tradesman.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I love to see these guys come in that are young and they're unskilled.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Man, they don't even know how to crank a leaf floor or run a chainsaw or cut a paper, you know, or trial concrete.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they don't have to.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: I love to see them go from unskilled to skilled when they make that leap.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then, man, when they they they they see these big machines that we have, these big excavators and bulldozers and trucks and things like that.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, man, you know, I'll never be able to run something like that.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or they get real intimidated, and within six months, you see them become year or a year, you see them become an operator.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just see the the pride, you know, that just fills their heart and their mind and their their soul.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: That man, that is just the greatest thing in the world.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so um it's important for us to grow the people.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm more happy to see um our um our team grow.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: It makes me more happy to see them grow than it does to see a large bank account.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, God's we're we're blessed.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we've we've made some money for sure.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: We've we've we've done really well.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it but it I can't take all the credit for that.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a team effort, 100%.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um the team has done a fantastic job.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And without them, you know, we would we would have nothing, nothing.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: And my pride and joy in this business is is the people, for sure.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that that's our success is is the people.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll tell that till the day I die.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, uh show me your people and I'll show you your future, you know.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it's very important to to continue to work hard at growing your people.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's an extremely extremely powerful answer.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be honest with you.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for your honesty, though.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's that's awesome.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um so next question, how do you balance your personal life with the demands of running a business?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: I don't.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: You don't I don't.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um I uh you know, um my our C12 group, they challenge me every month.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have what's called a balance wheel, and that's a great question you asked.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and inside that balance wheel is is many things, but but one of those is is your family and your quality time with your family and your business.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and so I'm not good at it.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um I try every day.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's very tempting to be inside this office in this conference room, uh, inside this shop, inside the business.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's very tempting to do it 24-7.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but also, you know, my job is as I'm I'm a I'm a husband and I'm a father, um, more importantly.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I need to, you know, consistently and constantly, you know, grow my family and be with my family.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say the the biggest help that I've had is monthly checkups.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um to any other CEO out there or you know um PM, whatever you might, whatever your you're if you're up there in the in the in the high rankings of your business, I would say every single month, ask yourself, sit down, ask yourself, how much time have I spent with my family and how much time have I spent in this business?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you need to spend as much possible time with your family as as possible.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: If not, your family will know.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes every month, when it comes to my balance will, when I rate myself one to ten, one being the worst, ten being the best.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'll let my wife answer that and say, hey, when it comes to quality time between me and you or us and our family, where would you rate me this month?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, a four.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: You haven't been around.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, this coming month, I'm gonna on my schedule, I'm gonna schedule time to be with just you guys, spend time with you guys, and work hard and make it a priority.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Be intentional, be very intentional in in in making time for my family.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not intentional to make time for your family, man, there are so many C CEOs out there that just absolutely get they get swallowed up in their business and they get divorced.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the kids don't know who they are, they haven't seen baseball games, football games, whatever it might be, whatever the kids' sports are, the kids don't know, you know.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, um, my belief is at the end of this lifetime, and 50 years from now, people don't care how much money you've made or how successful you've been in business when it comes in terms of money.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: What matters is what you instill in people and what you instill in your children and what you instill in your wife.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to retire with your wife, you better invest in her right now and constantly invest in her because whenever it comes to quote unquote retirement, which who knows if we all of us will actually get to retire, but when it comes to retirement, um, if you want your wife to be around, you better make time for her now.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you don't, she's not gonna be there.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I you know I can BS at all you want, but um, but the truth of the matter is I've seen it happen, I'm sure you have too.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: It happens all the time.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: You'll find some she'll find somebody that'll give her the time.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, 100%.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say the biggest um the biggest help is monthly reviews.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Just one rate yourself one to ten, you know, ten being the best, one being the worst, you know, how much time have you spent, like actual quality time with your wife, and how much quality time have you spent with your family?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because family and your your spouse, it's it's two separate things.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you you have to spend more time with your spouse than you need to spend with with your whole family, um, you know, because at the end of the day, your kids are gonna grow up and they're gonna get out of here.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's the goal.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and um then you're then you're there with your wife.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, if you don't know her, man, it's gonna be a hard road.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I agree, I agree.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: I love that, I love that.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, what words of advice would you offer to other business owners who are looking to grow?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, my biggest words of advice, you know, um would be number one, um understand that there's a higher power out there, there's a higher being, and um uh he wants he wants nothing but the best for you, and he wants to see your business grow.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: Man, you know, just you know, to be to be to make an impact on the world and to be godly, uh, you know, it you don't have to go out and witness and be a preacher or anything.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: You could just take your business and and man just smile at somebody.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Who can argue with that?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Shake somebody's hand, give them a hug, but it could be a customer and say, hey, you know, hope you're having a great day today.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you'll be surprised how those things help.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but you know, my biggest advice is to uh is to uh yourself as a CEO, be a servant as a CEO, uh, be a leader, be a strong leader, bleed like a buffalo.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, you can be afraid.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, man, there's there's most days I'm scared to death, and I don't know what I'm doing sometimes.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have a damn clue, but I do know that I'm gonna get up and try.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna say, God, I I I can't sit in the CEO seat today.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know the answers.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what I'm doing right now.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is way over my head, but I know you do.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I would ask you if you can you you handle this situation today, and I'm gonna be your I'm gonna be your servant.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Be there for your employees, care for your employees.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any, if you have any, if you have any employees that do not meet your culture of your business, I don't know what your business is.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where those of you who are listening, I don't I don't know where your business stands.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know the culture of your business.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I will say if you have employees that don't match the culture of your business, then they're then they're they're the bad apple.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and I think you should talk to them about it first, uh, give them a chance to change.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: And if they don't, they need to be uh they need to be taken off the team.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you need to work hard at hiring the right people in.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um don't wait around for that bad apple to become a new fresh fruit, because most of the time it won't happen.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's important to get rid of it and focus so hard on your hiring um and make sure that you're living out being hungry, humble, and smart.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a CEO that loses his cool, loses his temper or her, um, then you know, stop that.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh, you know, be calm, be courageous.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, just because you can pitch a big fit and cuss everybody out, threaten everybody in the business, just because you can do it doesn't mean that's the right thing to do.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it takes more of a man and more of a woman to stop, be calm, think through the decision, pray about the decision, make the right call um the best you can.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then once you make that decision, follow through with that decision and and continue to um to grow your people.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and when you do those things, it's successful, and I'm not talking about money generation.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're very successful because I've seen so many men and women uh in this in Ducker land management grow.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: And just, you know, there's a guy um who I've known his for years, I mean, since he was very young, um, teenage years.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um I could be getting the dates off.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: But anyways, I've known him for a long time.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he came in, he did uh he knew nothing about this business.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he knew nothing about how to operate, uh uh he knew uh nothing about you know.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Building walls and concrete, and he knew a little bit, not a lot.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: And now he is a is he is our head foreman.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um I trust him with my life.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um I trust him to lead a bunch of other crew members.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's a he's a great operator now.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's a great great driver.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um he is on heck of a concrete.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: He's also uh heck of a wall builder and a paper, you know, paper installer.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's he's fantastic.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's and and our company has financially benefited, but it's also personally benefited from his growth because he's brought in other people uh on his team and also he's helped train and grow them, and he's currently doing it to this day.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's just one of many of our guys that you know, I'm just so proud of him.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I would say don't focus on the money, focus on the people because the people is what matters.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, post Halene, there's been in what we do, there's been a ton of work that's come out of it.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's not always going to be there.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the companies that have good, strong employees, team members, uh, and you have a family group versus just people that work together to make money, when the economy slows down, because it will, it always does.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever you go through a low point, those businesses that don't have a good culture, um, they will crumble and fall and disintegrate and they'll disperse.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, protect your culture, protect your people.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: The money will come.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's important to uh to to protect your people and see your people grow.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect, perfect.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: So what's the next big thing for Dr.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: Land Management?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, well, we are um we have our goal this year was to uh develop um a crew specifically for uh large jobs, um which would be jobs basically that would be large-scale landslides, large-scale walls, um, you know, things that are are large commercial, um, and we wanted to have a crew specifically just to knock out those large jobs.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're almost there.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe in the next four or five months uh we'll be to the point where we'll have um that crew that that uh we'll just type all the large jobs.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're looking forward to that.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um we've we've our a lot of our media, a lot of our publicity um has um really been geared towards the the larger jobs.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we naturally have um a lot of uh people that are coming uh that come back for you know outdoor living spaces, um, which which is kind of our bread and butter, but we're really trying to grow into the you know into the large scale uh jobs um and have a crew specifically for that.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we're pretty close to that.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we're looking forward to that um as we grow.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's you know, you know, like I say, we're almost there.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's important for us.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're working hard on our um, you know, on our team also.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we're trying to uh really uh define our team uh a little bit better.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, uh when it comes to our organizational chart.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm excited to see those those things happen.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um we we're excited to give back.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we we we give a percentage of our um profit um you know sponsorships, all kinds of different things.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're excited to see that grow this coming year and and really try to help some people out as as much as possible.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so I mean the best is yet to come.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't even we've just started in my book.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like we've just started to really hit a big stride.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: And uh um just look forward to the future for sure.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect, perfect.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: And lastly, what's the best way for someone to find you or get a hold of you?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh for us it would be uh, you know, our website, and that's another thing we're working on with our website.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like it's we're currently working with our media director right now on um, you know, clarifying exactly what we do.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: It more it looks more like a landscape company.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're a plant plants, you know, spread mulch, mow grass company.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're a hardscape um, you know, uh landslide, large retaining wall, concrete, you know, type of a of a company.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we're trying to make our our website match that.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: But you can go to uh duckerlandco.com is our website, duckerlandco.com.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you can also call us at 828-329-6359.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can go to WLOS Um and our local uh news station um and our information's that people could could uh find us and follow us.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um so Better Business Bureau.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a few places.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if they want to give us a call, they can give us a we do have a Facebook.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're currently working on that.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um we to be honest, it's not great right now.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's better than it was.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um we are working on trying to make that more of a priority and uh be more intentional with um with that.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: But we do have a Facebook.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's sparse right now for sure.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's a lot of and it looks like you know we just do one job a month if you look on Facebook if that.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just it just doesn't match our media yet.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: So but we are working on that.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's uh man in 2025 keeping up with the with the market in the media, that's uh people you know that's their business is is um uh is uh seeing uh um you know their their media grow.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's very important.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: If if you once you as a business owner can get to the point where you can really invest a lot in your media, that's very important today because if you're in a if you're in a a position like us, we have a lot of people that are competition.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um there are very few one or two that are as large as us that do things on our scale.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um but they there is still a lot of competition.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's it's it's a tough market.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're looking at market, um, it's very tough out there.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it's geofencing is something that we've gonna start doing a lot more of that.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the wave of of the future for sure.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not sure if you know what geofencing is, but um I'm sure you guys probably do.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: But it's where you zone a certain zone on the map, um, you know, a certain area um, you know, that you want to work in, let's say like Black Mountain or whatever, and you just you invest a lot of your time and your finances for your media in that one zone.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you basically fence off that area.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: So the people that are in that area when they are looking on Facebook, when they're looking on Netflix, when they're on TV, when they're uh you know, picking mail out of their mailbox.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, your company is just weekly in there.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that help that helps a lot too.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: So media is uh for sure a a few uh is a huge importance for sure.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: But anyways, you can uh you can go to duckerlandco.com or give us a call, eight two eight three two nine six three five.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: All right, perfect, fantastic.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so thank you so much for being part of the community and all you're doing.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: We certainly wish you continued success.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh thank you very much.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed it.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is awesome.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: All right, thank you, sir.
• 39:11
  unknown: Uh