Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / From Woodworking to Elevators | Gerry Adams

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From Woodworking to Elevators | Gerry Adams · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: In in this job and in this industry and every job I've been in, I really try to learn what it is I'm dealing with.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know as much about the product as I can.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: I've always been known in every sales job that I've had, every every management job that I've had.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, being an engineer, I guess, helps, but I've always been known as a very technical person, you know, not just widgets to me, but I really want to get in and understand what is this product, right?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: What makes it valuable, um, how is it different and similar to other things that are out there in the market.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: I I've always tried to very early on, every job I've had, I find the products and immerse myself in the products.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I would say I think it's helped me.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Learn what it is you're talking about.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can look at numbers, and I'm, you know, I'm a data gibbon person.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Helps me in a general management role, but it doesn't, you know, help you avoid getting your hands dirty, basically, and saying, hey, what exactly is this product?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Why is it not working?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast brought to you by the All Red Group.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: I'm your host, Matt Allred.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: When talent is mission critical, call the All Red Group.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service, you need the All Red Group on your side.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Your priority is our priority.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: Call now.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: 404-890-0445.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: In this interview, I sit down with Jerry Adams as he shares his multifaceted career journey from mechanical engineering and chemical sales into the elevator industry.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: Jerry delves into his experiences managing business operations and sales in the elevator sector, highlighting the challenges of transitioning mid-career, the importance of hands-on learning, and the need for high-quality training.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: Jerry emphasizes the value of technical knowledge to create success.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: He encourages newcomers to ask questions and immerse themselves in their work.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: Jerry, welcome to the show.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: Hey Matt, appreciate it.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Good to be here.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: You bet, and I'm glad to have you.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's always a pleasure, and uh I I definitely enjoy these conversations.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for for participating today.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so I just wanted to start with tell me tell me something exciting you're working on right now.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, as I mentioned, I I started a YouTube channel about a year ago.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm working on my next episode of the YouTube channel.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm making a pencil post bed out of cherry.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I was down in the shop actually tapering the legs.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Came up put on a nice shirt for this interview.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm down like I've already glued up the blanks and whatnot, not to get all into it, but I'm tapering the uh the legs now on my surface planer.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that's my next episode I'm working on is uh how to make a pencil post.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: So you're you're not only building furniture, you're recording it, you're sharing it with the world, you're you're teaching others.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what do you what do you call your channel?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Woodworking with Jerry.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's on YouTube.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like at Woodworking with Jerry.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh yeah, about uh about 1,500 subscribers now.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: About 58 videos out there.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something working on it.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: So you mentioned to me that that you had a furniture business years ago.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like before you got in the elevator industry, you were you were kind of doing handcrafted furniture, right?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh I started I I opened a business.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was like I don't know, 2006 or so, something like that.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: I started it.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So as I mentioned, that's how kind how I got into the industry.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: I my business wasn't around long enough to survive the the the economic downturn of 2008.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But that was a tough one.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I had a business making custom furniture cabinets and helping folks like remodel their homes and whatnot.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I kind of like do crown molding and finishing, trim, trim carpentry, that kind of thing.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: I mean you're you're you're a pretty multifaceted man, right?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: To to do you know, elevator industry and and building your own furniture and your your two YouTube channel.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so so tell me about your early career.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: What what did you do back in college?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about that for a minute.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I have a MA degree, went to Purdue University.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, grew up in Indiana, so I got a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, I started out in the chemical business.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: They had uh an interviewing kind of trade show type of thing on campus called the Industrial Roundtable.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And a company named Bluehard came on on campus, um, they're now BASF and gave me a job offer out in New Jersey.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I grew up in a small town in Indiana, Anderson, so I was anxious to get out.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: And they hired me into uh their environmental engineering group, but I went on into their chemical business.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I spent time helping them design catalyst systems for for utility plants, and then I went on into the sales side selling specialty chemicals and minerals for paints, plastics, and that kind of thing.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: So that was yeah, that's a little bit different than than mechanical engineering, but I guess hey, if you can do the engineering core work, you can you can learn it all, right?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: In engineering school, I had some trepidations about that early in my career, but the biggest thing professors was were would tell me in school is that we're teaching you how to think.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's basically what I what I would apply from that.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: Well, in the way, you know, I the way life changes, technology changes, I mean you you gotta constantly be thinking, learning, growing, or or you're gonna fall behind no matter what you've studied.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: You're constantly doing that.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, one thing about mechanical engineering is that you kind of we used to joke in school, uh as an ME, I can do any engineering job, but if you're uh uh aeronautical or electrical, you can't do my job.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: This sort of you know, school thing back and forth.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like civil engineers are much more focused and electrical and aeronautical and and uh you know, chemical and whatnot.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: The mechanicals, they kind of go over.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: You cover it all.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_03: You you're kind of the generalist engineer, right?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly, exactly.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: So so that that helped out, definitely.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: Well what are some of your crazy stories from working in the uh chemical industry?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: Because I I can't imagine I mean that's that's an interesting in industry.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've not been in it, but yeah, I mean, you know, again, uh out in California I sold specialty chemicals um for paints, plastics, highway markings, and whatnot.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And in the sales role, every now and then, not not very often, thank God, but every now and then customers would return some of the chemicals to my house.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: I worked on my house.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I recall one time I got some yellow, like lead-based paint that was used for road markings back in my home.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: So now I'm figuring, what do I do with this?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: I tried to say don't return it here, it's in it back to the plant, but I don't know why they did that.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes they do that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that was, you know, that was didn't happen very often, but that was crazy.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: I open the door, I see this stuff, I know what it is right at right away, and now I what do I do with it?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Well, yeah, yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I I don't know all the rules around that, but I know that there are trucks with special placards that say, hey, we are licensed to carry this stuff, and you probably didn't have that on your car.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, no, not at all.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you want to.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I can't go to the post office, and our plant, you know, is in in Ohio, so it's like, okay, now what do I do?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I called my boss and uh we kind of worked something out basically, but couldn't just throw it in the trash can.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's yeah.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's fascinating.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: So how long did you spend in chemicals before you kind of transitioned in your career?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was in overall, I'd say about I don't know, maybe twelve, fourteen years, because after I left Inglehard, I went to work for Sun Chemical.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that that was uh mostly printing ink at the time.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And um so yeah, I spent several years at Sun.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: I left actually a sales role in uh California with Inglehard and took on a general management role with Sun Chemical in the Boston area, running their northeast operation.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I just graduated from business school out in California and I got a great opportunity with a different company, so I I decided to leave and well I went to came here to Illinois the first time in in like uh '98 for a year of training.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then moved me to Boston after that to run their ink operation in Boston.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: Gotcha.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: So how long in in Chemical?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: Sounds like two chemical companies in a row and and Yeah, exactly.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: That was about, like I said, I it's about nine and a half years at uh Englehard and probably about um four years at Sun Chemical, I think it was, something like that.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: So how did you end up getting involved with the elevator folks?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, that's a little bit of a departure.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like I said, I had my um furniture business.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um what when I was with Sun Chemical, we had a major shakeup basically.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: I lost a national account that I had.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: I got promoted to the national account manager there, so I was running RR Donnelly's business.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: And R.R.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: Donnelly, we know, is kind of no longer a business.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're a big newsprint company.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So at the time when that business went south, my team was let go.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I had started woodworking.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: I actually spent some time at Home Depot uh as a store manager.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I really wanted at that time, I was really starting to really get into woodworking and enjoying woodworking and building and that kind of thing.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I had a small business on the side, I did furniture shows and and whatnot.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I had the opportunity just to cut loose from uh the regular nine to five and start my own thing, and I went for it.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I had a lot of business.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was starting to get to the point where I was I was working, had so much going on, I couldn't had to make a choice, basically.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Not even you're gonna do one or the other, and I really love woodworking, still do.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I decided to uh start a company, Custom Wood Accents, it's my company, and went for it to start building, like I said, help people either flip houses, did some trim carpentry, but most of my business was furniture and cabinets.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, right before, I don't know, I guess it was early 2008, business humming along.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm about to think about hiring somebody, maybe in 2007, I can't recall when it was.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, business was going great, and all of a sudden things started going south, and I started having orders being canceled.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people saying, hey, you know, I'm sorry, I was gonna buy this, I can't, and I understand.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, you know, I I was down to like two projects.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: I had one house I was working on, making like a vanity and whatnot, and someone else doing like crown molding, and that was all the work I had.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: No new, no new stuff coming in, right?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing else coming in.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, okay, that this isn't gonna work.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I look on I looked on monster.com and found uh a job opening at Schindler.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, it was Adam's elevator.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know it was Schindler for this job as business unit manager, so I thought, why not?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and applied and I got it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: Life is gonna throw you curves, right?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: And it sounds like you you've been around a few of those, right?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, exactly.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I was pleasantly surprised.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I when I interviewed, I wasn't sure I I had never worked in the elevator industry before, so I knew nothing about elevators other than you know, riding on them or escalators.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: So kind of a funny thing, you know, I was interviewing and I was still working and trying to get these jobs done.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I recall one, uh I'd gone through a couple of interviews, and I I I was up all night making a bunch of cabinets for this for this job.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: My living room was full of cabinets.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I worked all night and I had an interview at Adams the next morning.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I I I I I get done working, and I didn't really sleep.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: I I take a shower.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna drink some coffee, whatever.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm because I'm I'm half thinking, I'm not gonna get this job.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about elevators, but my my interview interviews are going well.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I get in my truck and I drive to Niles and I halfway there I realize it's all have my my work signs on magnetic signs on my truck that say custom ones.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I stop at a Walmart parking lot, I take the signs off of my truck, put them in the back, and I run in and got the interview and uh had the interview, the second one or whatever it was, right, and got home and got a call and I got the job, and I was like, wow.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, you know, when can you start?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I have one more job I got to finish up.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I got the work done and started right after my birthday in 2008.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: So awesome.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: What's the difficult most difficult thing about joining the elevator industry mid-career?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, obviously you'd had a great career, you had you'd managed a lot of people and done a lot of things, but to step into this industry not knowing anything and and say, okay, hit the ground running, it's like, whoa, what was that like?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: It you know, it's it's it's a challenge, but you know, one thing I would say is I I put the time in to learn.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: I knew one of the things, one of the things I've I've worked in, you know, I've had a few different roles in my life, and and the way I, you know, everyone learns differently.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: And when I get into a job, the best way for me to learn is to be thrown in.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Sink or swim.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Training is good and it's very, very important and you know, critical for for a lot of jobs.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: But at some point, you got to start doing the work.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: I I I learned by doing.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so that's what I did.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I and actually, you know, one kind of like challenge happened early on in my career here.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was hired at Adams to be business unit manager of the operation.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And about a year or two, or maybe three years after I was hired, Schindler decided to close the facility in Illinois and move to Ohio.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: And my manager at the time decided not to make the move with the business.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So he came back.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: He was the manager of Adams.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: He hired me to replace him and he went on to Schindler, the Schindler side.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: But when he didn't move to Ohio, he ended up coming back to Adams.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So my business unit management role became more of a sales management type role.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And as you can imagine, I was a little upset about that in the beginning.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I took it as a opportunity to kind of jump in and like, okay, so I'm gonna get out and meet customers and and learn the business, learn the products.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I would say that even though, you know, it was a little bit upsetting in the beginning, it worked out to my advantage because by the time I took over the job again as general manager for the business, I had spent several years meeting customers, selling the product, I uh getting an education on the products I was, you know, managing that I would not have gotten had I stayed in a senior level man senior level management type job from the beginning.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because when I came in as a business manager, you know, again, I didn't know much about the products.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to, you know, manage the business, the marketing, the technical support, and all that.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, some limited manufacturing, having no real knowledge of the product.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a major challenge.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: So when I had to get out and start selling the product and meeting with customers and going to shows and joining elevator associations and talking about the products and whatnot, that forced me to learn the products at a level that I would not have done had I been just been the manager from the from day one.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: For sure, for sure.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it sounds like it would have been a challenge to I guess be as successful, you know, the second time around, you were a lot more successful because you had a lot more tools and a lot more time.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that first, you know, that first go, if you'd have just stayed there, it probably would have been a lot more painful all the way through.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh yeah, it was uh and I was definitely thrown in.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I recall when I started, um, and I told my manager the same thing.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: I said, We had training and orientation and whatnot, but I said, you know, I I learned by doing.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So you say, here's your office, filing cabinets, go at it.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Go do.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so whenever I start a job at that, my first few days at work are long days for a few weeks.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: We just trying to try to absorb everything and and how do I categorize this information?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what information is is important, you know, what's you know, urgent, not important, that whole thing, and then what crises do I have right now?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, how do I behave in such a way that allows myself to grow and not be a totally different person in six months?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be inconsistent in your leadership, but you start out and you don't know anything, you know how do you manage that?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: So again, that's the first few years of that, but you know, it worked out after I got into focus more on sales and like I said, getting out and learning the products, meeting people and whatnot.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I went back to that, I had I had a base of knowledge that really helped me be successful.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you had been successful in sales, so it's just a matter of kind of learning a different business model, some different widgets.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, exactly.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: So that that worked out.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: How to talk to customers and and even if you don't know the solution, hey, I can understand something's wrong.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: Let's fix it.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: Right, I might need to ask somebody.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I know who to ask, I have resources, I know where in the company to go for help.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know you know you meet people that way.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not in the corporate situation all the time, kind of just looking at numbers, but getting out and meeting people and then going to different plants and things like that, you meet your support network inside the company that that's gonna help you solve customer problems out in the field.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that worked out actually.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's cool.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_03: One one thing I like about what you're saying is is learn by doing.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: You said that a couple times, and and what I'm taking away from that is is kind of this attitude that that I'm just gonna throw myself in there, I'm gonna take the responsibility, I'm gonna put it on my shoulders, I'm not pointing my fingers at anybody else, I'm not waiting for anybody to show up and deliver something on my desk.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: I've got to get out and really, and you said it, kind of immerse myself in this business where I won't even know what questions to ask, and I won't even know.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: I recall, you know, I was early on, there was one product that we sold called Life Jacket.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was a safety, hydraulic safety device, and I had to sell it.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And all I'd ever done was read the manual on how to install it.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: I said, This is not gonna work.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I got a hold of a company and I, you know, was in a position to say, hey, I'll give you a really good deal on this if you let me just come out and just watch your guys put it in.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: I just I'm not gonna sit, I'm not gonna help you.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: I can't.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to sit here and watch your guys from beginning out of the box to testing it, put it in.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I did that.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I drove south side of Chicago every day for like a couple of weeks or a week or so.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I just sat there and absorbed.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that was such an eye-opener from me, from reading the manual.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: And now I talk about I go to shows, I can like, okay, I I've seen this thing go in, even just you know, once is not enough.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: But I would then go to other jobs where they're having issues.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's go to let's go to the elevator, let's just go check it out, not sit in your office and tell them what's going on.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go look at the unit and see how it's working or not working.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I would take pictures.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I made a I made videos.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: I won product that we sold, um, it was a landing system that I was trying to develop with another company, and they allowed me to come in with my phone, and I just like took a bunch of videos and I narrated and put in notes.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I said for training, but for me to remind myself six months from now what I saw, and I just would like really go around taking a bunch of pictures of videos on my iPhone because just you know it again.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: I learned by I'm a vi visual type person, right?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and and as I as I say, learning by doing is is a good thing.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: It works for me.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, reading about it's great, but I gotta do it.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_03: I I'm the same way, right?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: Gotta get as close to my hands on it.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like you said, I I I can't touch it.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not a licensed mechanic, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: But gotta get as close as possible and and smell the oil and and ask all kinds of questions.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm sure you peppered them with questions, right?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: Is they're putting you together.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what is that?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Why does why do you have to right exactly?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And things don't work out.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's like what's what happened?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And okay, oh, you don't read about these things, you know, and you see, oh, how'd you fix this?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and again, it's those experiences that help you.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, your common sense and whatnot.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And being mechanically inclined, you know, helps.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: I can kind of look at things and say, okay, that that makes sense.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: I know why you're doing that.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it helps you put the puzzles together when I go out and then talk about it with somebody else.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I my mind is not just recalling what I read, right?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm recalling what I saw.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: You saw.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: So if if we could whittle that down to one thing, what would you say you would attribute your success to the most?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: I would say perhaps that.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I really in in this job and in this industry and every job I've been in, I really try to learn what it is that I'm dealing with.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know as much about the product as I can.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've always been known in every sales job that I've had, every every management job that I've had.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, being an engineer, I guess, helps, but I've always been known as a very technical person.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, not just widgets to me, but I really want to get in and understand what is this product, right?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: What makes it valuable, um, how is it different and similar to other things that are out there in the market.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I've always tried to very early on, every job I've had, I find the products and immerse myself in the products.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I would say I think it's helped me.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Learn what it is you're talking about.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can look at numbers, and I'm, you know, I I'm a I'm a data-given person.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: I I like that.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Helps me in a general management role, but it doesn't, you know, help you avoid getting your hands dirty, basically, and saying, hey, what what exactly is this product?
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Why is it not working?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: Rumbers don't always speak to your customer, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: I mean you could you could quote statistics all day long, but if if you don't have enough knowledge with okay, this the difference between this product and this product is, you know, and be able to really articulate what what the difference is, and then you know, they can kind of decide from there.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that goes for knowing your competitors' products as well.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Not being negative or whatever to understand your shortcomings.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can help you in your development efforts to know this is where I'm weak in this product.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or at least it it it could be a real weakness or perceived weakness on the part of the customer, but understanding that will help you address it.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: There may be reasons why they want to choose the other person's thing, but but that might build some credibility that you know what in this particular thing, then maybe maybe the product is better than ours.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: But you run into that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're not always going to have work for the company with the best products.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's just it's just the way it is on every level.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that that helps you in in you know valuing your product, selling it, pricing it, marketing it.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so yeah, learning the products, the facts, the myths, how your customers view it, your company, all those things are very important.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, at the end of the day, they may they may choose your product not because it of the product, but but because of you, because they trust you absolutely and the way you've treated them.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: So absolutely, absolutely.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Very good.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Reputation is important.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: So um a couple questions as we kind of wrap up.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: One one is what is the what are some of the biggest challenges that the elevator industry faces from your perspective?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, you know, training, um, trained personnel.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know it's not the same on on the the side of the business I spent most of my time or all of my time on parts.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: As you know, mentioned earlier, you know, as this equipment gets more advanced, not only will the industry need, you know, better trained mechanics to support the the equipment, but parts companies will need better talent, better trained talent to support the the mechanics in in that field.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say training.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um again, it goes back to you know, formal training, the training that an individual um you know takes upon themselves when they they enter in into a business to get their hands dirty, so to speak.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say that's probably the biggest challenge facing the industry, I think, is training and talent.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Making getting the right people with the right knowledge in the right positions.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's the you know, the the eternal challenge, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: And especially as as some of the great, you know, knowledge is is retiring out and new talent's coming in.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh I don't see that one going away anytime soon, but I would love to know if you have any advice, any thoughts.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: What's one thing you'd like to see more of in that regard?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I would say a big thing that companies could do is cross-training.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I've seen this in different industries that I worked in in different roles.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: When you come into an organization, you know, and you're looking at your talent pool and the challenges that your business has.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've had many times where I I I've had this these this these people in these positions, and with some conversation, open-mindedness, I say, you know, that person would be really good in this job, much better in this job.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: And with some training and encouragement and coaching, I've had great success doing that and always welcoming in new talent.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even if, you know, they're not a hundred percent on day one, if they're coachable and they have the basics, I mean, you can do a lot with someone who wants to do a lot.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_03: Very true.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: And and I would say that's something for any company.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you have an organization right now looking at your talent pool, look at your whole talent pool.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Just because someone is in this job over there right now, you know, it obviously the job is, you know, certifications and whatnot, you gotta think about that.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, don't think that they couldn't do just as good a job in a different area.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And even having people in a certain area, cross-trading, I think, is very important.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that that deepens your bench, it it strengthens your team, um, because people within the organization get a better understanding of what other folks are doing.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's not that those people over there are screwing things up, they understand, you know, what if other people are doing.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, you you can you can get you can develop some strong talent you didn't know you already have in that way.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, going to schools and whatnot, getting getting people who are young in the technical field.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's happening, I think, some now with internships and things like that.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of schools out there, I'm sure.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I never thought about the elevator industry ever.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean that never they never came on campus that I think of.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was, you know, back in the day when I was there, it's a lot of defense.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, companies were coming on campus on Purdue's campus and whatnot.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: But you can go to colleges and say, hey, have you ever thought about a job in the elevator industry?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And even like a person with, you know, coming out with a you know, at Purdue we had a mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology degrees.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: You have technology degrees in engineering.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how it is now, but I can certainly see someone, you know, going to a school like that and saying, hey, you want would you like to come or intern or whatever?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm not sure how it would work from a union standpoint, but basically start as a mechanic or some type of role like technical role and then move over into something else.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, getting someone early in their career, because I mean that's something I I know that I would have dove at had I had been the person that I am to learn at that level, that's something I would have like jumped at, you know, early on in my career to learn and then use that knowledge to go on in the organization.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, that's that's a no-brainer.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something I would do as a as a company right now.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Look at look at young talent you could bring in and train like that.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: So the the last question I ask, and maybe you've maybe you've touched this a little bit, but what advice would you give to those who are maybe brand new or maybe they're coming like you, they're coming mid-career?
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_03: What would you say to them?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're again learn as much as you can.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, learn as much as you can.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's no such thing as a dumb question.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, ask a bunch of questions.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, make a fool of yourself early.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you come in mid end mid-mid career like like I did, or even early on, yeah, ask a lot of questions and learn.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid to ask a question that you think is a dumb question, because I guarantee you others have the same question but aren't asking.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_03: Well, and if you ask it early on, right?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, this is a legitimate question.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: If you ask it after five or ten years, it's like, are you kidding me?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing, exactly.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Make a fool out of yourself early.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, because if you if you wait five or so years to ask a question that you should have asked five years prior, then they will get the funny look.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, okay, what else don't you know?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_03: So don't be afraid to ask questions, what I'm hearing.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Don't be afraid to ask questions.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: Learn as much as you can.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Jerry, thank you.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: This has been a lot of fun.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: I uh appreciate you being with me today.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Likewise.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Likewise, I appreciate it.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Matt.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Good talking to you.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, good luck with your furniture business.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a great, great place for you.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: Going back to work.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: Please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_03: Please like and subscribe.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: And until next time, stay safe.