Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Elevator Industry Leadership: Trust Your People | Mike Frangias

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Elevator Industry Leadership: Trust Your People | Mike Frangias · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned if you teach the younger generation or anyone, as soon as they come into your shop, this is what I expect.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: When you do a maintenance, step one, greet, greet the, you know, the director or whoever's at the building.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Step two, go here.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you lay it all out exactly how you want to do something, then you can expect them to do that job.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: But if you never tell them what you expect, how can you, you know, yell at a person, oh, you didn't do this?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you never told me to do this.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it falls back on you.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: And with anyone, millennials, anyone, as long as you explain nine times out of ten, those people are going to grab the ball and run with it.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 0:44
  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.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Today our guest is Michael Francis, CEO of the New York New Jersey Elevator Company.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Michael literally grew up in the industry with his father taking a month job at a very early age.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't like school, but he learned quickly while in the trade and came to love elevators.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Mike has worked for several different companies, both large and small, and has gained many insights over the years.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Mike believes that employees, even those in general, he trusts that if he tells them what do you expect, they will come through.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So Mike, welcome to the show.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um fan.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to you know these episodes in my truck ride home every day.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I I appreciate it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's a lot of fun for me to be able to interview people, uh, hear the different stories, and just just really feel the passion of the elevator industry.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's uh it's a remarkable industry in my experience.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's part of the reason I I love doing these so much.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um just love and learn uh I love learning how how each person kind of gets into their career and and then finds what they love.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me tell me your story.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: What what really brought you into the elevator industry?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, absolutely, like you said, I had defined what part of it I was good at and what part I fit in and love the best.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the last 10 years brought me to that.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: But uh in the beginning, it started out in the early 80s with uh basically my father.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't a good kid, or I wasn't even a bad kid.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was just a very energetic kid.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And when your father is uh six foot three, 280 pounds, long hair, and he has hands the size of baseball mitts, you you kind of quiet, be quiet, and and do whatever he tells you to do, and then that's it.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Not in a scary way, just in like uh you know, a confident way.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm secure.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have to worry about anything.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm with the big guy, and and his his presence kind of promoted that.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Just all positivity.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: He was a very respectful person, so hello to everyone, very, very polite.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh never gossiped, never would tell stories about this one or that one around the cooler, never talked bad about women or any other thing.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: He was just one of those people where I've never met a person like that ever, you know, even in this setting.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: So he started taking you to work early?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that what you're like as a child?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it started out because I wasn't great or very energetic.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: It would be go to work with your father, and it would be uh more than once a month, it would be a couple of times a month, and it would be all right, Mike isn't doing too good in in spelling this week, so my father would know that going into it and kind of stencil out the motor room with Westinghouse or Otis.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And and when I when I came in, he would make me paint it and learn Westinghouse, W E S, Otis, O T I S.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: And then the next week, if my numbers weren't good, he'd stencil out the machines and the controls and the selectors, number one car, number two car.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so I have five cars here.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: How much is that?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I he used to call Sesame Street, and I would would learn stuff that I wasn't interested in in a different way.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's probably a lot more intriguing as a kid to you know, just just such a different setting, right?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have 20 other classmates trying to distract you, throw aper paper airplanes at you, but but to have that one-on-one attention with your father, and then yeah, again, such a different setting.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, okay, what is this Westinghouse thing that I'm I'm looking at?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I love that that approach to homeschool, essentially.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: So once I, you know, it was all educational on that part, and then it was funny games, like there was little four foot overheads that I used to play in.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: We used to shut the elevator.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know what it was at that point, but I was learning grease that shivvy, give me a grease gun, oil that, tell me with oil.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: What is this?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is a governor.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of governor, like governor mayor, I didn't know, and he explained what it did.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of a guy with a monocle when he said governor.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know, but I started to put the pieces together early of what elevators were.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then in '96, '97, you know, I was still doing it up until my teens, and and even what I wasn't supposed to be.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was working, I was working in the industry.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then the strikes came around, and my father was out of work.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to work with my uncles in construction, did sheetrock during the day, plastered, you know, frame outs, and it was pretty good with that stuff.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then at nighttime, I would unload the Wendy's uh, you know, restaurants, the box stocks that used to come in.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: How old were you at the time?
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: 16, 16 to 18 is when I was doing it.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I became 18 and construction slowed down, I went back to my father and said, you know, I want to do anything.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care what it is.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to work, I want to make money.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'll do anything but plumbing.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like the smell.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And he goes, Would you want to come back to elevators?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I said, yeah, absolutely.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was actually waiting for him to suggest it, but like any good parent, he wasn't going to push it.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't going to say, This is what your job is.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: You need to make money this way.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he basically let me find myself and let me come back in and ask him the question.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So then we went to a company.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he was already working at Slade, and I I learned a lot from Slade.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: It started out like a lot of companies do 200 cars, everyone knows each other, 10 mechanics, a whole family, everyone's helping everyone, and it grew from there.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I did that for several years, learned my craft.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was a foreman, basically adjusting cars for mods, and then uh then I got hurt.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: My hands were kind of crushing the machine, and all, you know, six of them got ripped off.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, it's a lonely spot.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know if you're gonna work again, you don't know if you're gonna be in elevators.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And in six months after physical therapy, I I started I want to go back to elevators.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to be better than what I was before.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And when I got hurt, I probably got hurt because I was going a thousand miles an hour.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I was working 60 hours a week.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: I had three brand new cars.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: I had a pickup truck, I had a new car, and and like a blazer.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: This was the date car, this was the work car.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I was very ambitious in that part, but I needed to prove it to myself and to others that I could do the job again at that high level.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And once I reached a certain point, I decided, you know what, maybe let's try the best of the best, or what was perceived at that time to be the best, and uh, it was a nouveau elevator.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: And uh what I liked about Nouveau was they had the motto of we're gonna do whatever it takes to get this elevator running right away.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: If we have to put a crew here at night to do a mod, we'll put a crew here at night.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll worry about the money later.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: As long as you're willing to pay, we're gonna get your elevator running.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it was and I proved myself over there.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, overtime at night was you never went home.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that was a very, very educational period in my life.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then who who are some of your uh your biggest mentors?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, your father was was huge, you know, through coming you know, throughout, but uh who were some of the other big mentors that really made a big impact on you?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I had a lot of mentors, and I'll bring them up as I go through.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: In my early years was my father, uh, and then I met some more intern more mentors uh really after Nouveau and and Ford, and I'll bring along you know along the way, what when each each one taught me.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still mean mentors today.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but I left Nouveau over a car or something stupid and and went over to Slade again because that was my comfort, and my father was dying.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I I wanted to take care of that, and then when he died, I I kind of had to deal with the mortgages, the house, and everything like that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I just kind of put my nose down, did what I was supposed to do, worked, and then elevation was formed when Slade kind of went over to Schindler, and I didn't feel I'd fit in in that type of big corporate atmosphere.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I tried my hand at elevation for a couple years, and my mother passed away.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So after my mother passed away, that's when I hit another arc in my uh my career where what do I do now?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Do I even want to do elevators anymore?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, I I kind of clicked all the boxes I wanted to in elevators in New York City and these buildings, whatever else.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Do I want to go to Florida?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Do I want to go to Texas?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I had wiped out every cent I had from the union at that point.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I had no 401k pan, I had no annuities, I had everything because that all went to my mother's health care and whatever else.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I was really penniless and and kind of where what am I gonna do?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I was able or I was offered an opportunity to go around the country.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um when I rent the idea was for me to go and kind of teach certain companies how to work on certain equipment, and that kind of rolled into a consultant role of hey Mike, what do you think about this?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're having an issue with this, and I was very good with with kind of common sense stuff.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: I can sit there for a day or two, no one know that I was even there and pick up on you know the ethos of the company, what was going on.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Say, look, I I recommend this, or or you maybe you should do this.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And that kind of really pushed me to the next level of my career, where I came back to New York and and you know, I I was very lucky to uh witness a company uh in St.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Louis, Midwest, I think it was Midwest Elevator.
• 10:55
  unknown: Yep.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I was blown back by it.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: When I when I went there, it was a company with the waiting list of people, which was unheard of in New York.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Not only did they have a waiting list of people, these people were willing to take a pay cut.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: They they're talking about the mechanics in particular that they they were lining up to work for them, essentially.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when I was told that by the mechanics, I was like, really?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then they took me to the machine rooms.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Every machine room, every motor room was pristine.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, no dust at all, well maintained.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: They said, How do you guys keep up with this?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when a guy's on vacation or when he takes off, we step in to make sure the maintenance is done to keep it up at the same level that we want the same guy to take care of our stuff when we go on vacation.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: These guys went as far as what shocked me, they all ate lunch together.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But it wasn't even the fact that these elevator guys ate lunch together.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: All blue collars workers ate lunch together.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was a buffet style.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Every restaurant, every little place that we went to in St.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Louis, it was your HVAC guy, it was your alarm guy, it was your elevator guy, and they all knew each other from all the different trades.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they sit there and break bread.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, are we gonna do that fire alarm over at that job?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do the test over at that job.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone knew everyone.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was a very family type of atmosphere, which just just blew me back.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, if they these guys could do what they're doing here at this top level and be so well respected, I would like to see that in New York a little bit.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think that helped create that?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Was it the I mean, obviously the company played it into it.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it sounded like the culture, the community, there were a lot of pieces.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: What were the the key factors you would think?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: So the culture, absolutely, like I said, did play a big part of it, but ultimately it came down to the owner.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: You don't work someplace where you're not treated fairly.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And the owner respected everyone.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was respected because he wouldn't make you do anything he wouldn't do himself.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: If there was a cable job and the guys complaining about this, well, the owner would get in his truck and go do the cable job with them.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Even at the high level that they were.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't no one had egos, it was just this is how we do the job.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: If you're worried about doing this job, let me show you how to do it and let's get this done.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that that drawed a lot of respect from the guys.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: People that know what you're going through and can relate to it on a daily basis, even outside of the elevator industry, uh, you know, on a personal level.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, this guy's not dealing with family problems.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, let's try to help them in this way.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this guy can't afford whatever for his daughter.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let's try to pitch together in in a company holiday party where everyone donates money to this.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it was on that level where he knew about everyone's family, every mechanic, and that's the type of place where you really want to work.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the type of place I strive to develop in in New York and said, All right, these guys are doing here.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Let's try to build something.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I started 360 elevator, and I started picking up a lot of work and doing very well in the first year or two, and we were able to buy uh a small company in New Jersey statewide elevator.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Again, new to the business, I didn't know a lot of things.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm just coming into it, just running into hey, let me start an elevator company.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So when I bought statewide, they had a lot of government contracts that uh we were doing mods for, but in the contracts, you don't get paid until 90 days after the job.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: So you got to front all the material costs, you got to front all the labor, you gotta front everything.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that was one blow.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh my management company that I started 360 with kind of went bankrupt and went out of business.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I lost 150 cars.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I was back to the drawing board again.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: What do I do?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Do I try to continue what I'm doing and get rid of a few people?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Or what?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do I have to go out there and knock on doors?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, uh, I met a gentleman called Dan Wren, who would be another mentor in the next phase of my life, where you know, he came down from Boston.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: He was doing very well in Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And the Connecticut line is where a lot of companies struggle.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: I struggle going until he was struggling going past Connecticut into New York.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And he made several attempts, and he had a couple of clients in New York where, you know, we would take care of his elevators, and it was more of you know, the boots on the ground type of thing.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: You guys are here, your boots are on the ground, you're respected.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, maybe let's work out a deal.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I go to him and say, I have X amount of elevators, I have this many service vehicles, I have this much tools, here's my value, and trying to blow myself up.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Where he just took me, you know, on the street corner of Manhattan and said, I don't care.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care about any of that stuff.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: That that means nothing to me.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a number.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I want you and I want your team.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm investing in you, your talents, and your team's talents, and that's what I want to buy ultimately, not your contracts.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: I you can lose all of them tomorrow.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that kind of struck me, all right.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, this guy is is a people first type of guy.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's what my values align with his.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: As long as he trusts me and I trust him, we're gonna build a relationship.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we did.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said, he was a mentor on the fact where I learned a lot that he trusted a lot of people, he allowed you to make your mistakes.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: But the difference he and we made a lot of mistakes in the beginning.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we also he invested in talented people award.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: He brought in Danny DeAngelis, who helped me, who's a big name out there in the industry.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: He worked for every company you can imagine.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Brought in Jimmy Dean, he brought in you know, Francine, you brought in all these people that knew their craft and would allow them to make steak.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you you bid this job and we're losing 250,000 on it.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: You should have bid it more.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: Where are we gonna make up this money?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Come up with a plan to make it back up, and he would allow you to make that mistake as long as you corrected it.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And that stuck with me till today.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Recently I made a huge mistake, but I had to sit down and say, all right, how are we gonna recuperate that?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: So uh trusting your people goes far in any company, and that's what I learned from him.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we were able, my team and I, uh it wasn't me, it was a team atmosphere, you know, team work place where we started really bonding where the guys would come in, we need offices, they'd build them on a Saturday.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: No charge, they just do it.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: The service vehicles are down.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: This one needs brakes, this one needs an oil change.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: They come into the office, and as long as we supply the parts, they put them in the vans and got them running for Monday.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, so with that type of bonding, we were able to do a lot of jobs that might not be in a regular elevator scope of work.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: We did the Verizon Bridge for elevators, we did you know Cones, and the first one to put the big gearless Imperial motors in there.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: We redesigned the Kone cars to work with GAL.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: We did West Point, so we're really hitting our stride and clicking all the boxes and growing at at a fairly decent rate.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, COVID hit, and then we battled through that.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And once we came out of COVID, like a lot of companies now, uh, Eagle got offered 10 times their value.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, what do you do?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you own the company for 20 years, you can't, you're never gonna see this money again.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta do what you gotta do.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So they ultimately sold.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Wasn't mad at them.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: I was a little, you know, a little hurt that that what we built is going away, but that's just life.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I felt that Excel and and and three phase, the companies that bought them, were already in great position, they're already doing great work, and I didn't feel there was anything that I could offer to that.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: I was more of let me build it up, let me fix your problems, not you're already running, let me just be a guy in office helping you run it.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I spoke to a lot of companies.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: I spoke to Donna Champion and Champion again, already doing great work, they're already well established, they don't need someone like me, they're clicking every box that you can, and a bunch of other companies, and then Mark from AEG had just bought half a dozen companies in New York, and with those purchases, a lot of the owners uh retired or went their own ways.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And Mark was like, Uh, would you want to be a president of one of these companies and and try to take over where the owner left?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately I did, and it was uh it was one of the better decisions that I made because we kind of aligned with each other and I fell into what I do best.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: We were able to build up a company, get it going, being profitable, we show growth, and uh, you know, again, just business happens, and and they were going in a different direction, which was awesome, but I felt my job was done there and I should maybe do what I do best and build another company.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And my sister and a friend John had already done New York, New Jersey Elevator, and they were, you know, they had their own accounts from family and clients, but the maybe a dozen cars on service, but they had a mod job or two, and they were doing fine, but they were never going to get to that next level.
• 20:26
  unknown: Right.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: And they were in the union, so the costs were high.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I came aboard, and and a year later, you know, our plan was to get out of everyone's way.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't want to be with the big boys in New York City, we didn't want any problems with non-competes or anything like that.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Even though I didn't have anything signed, we just didn't want that, like Michaels coming into this area.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we did Westchester, Rockland County, uh, New Jersey, and I I spoke to you a week ago just to show you our growth.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: From the last time I spoke to you, we picked up 30 Chipars.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: So the cars are just coming in, and and that anyone can say that it it that really doesn't matter.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: What matters to me is the companies that can hold those cars.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: So two years from now, if I'm growing at a uh you know of a fairly healthy rate, that's a good sign that we're doing our job.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of companies pick up 100 elevators, but next year they might lose 100 elevators.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's really accurate.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think is kind of driving that.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: That uh sounds like there's a lot of movement with clients.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is it that they're looking for better service?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Is that they're looking for more attention?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say is that behind that?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Communication.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um 90% of the customers want someone to talk to.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want to shoot an email to get an email back, or they don't want a random estimate on their desk of just pay this and we'll make all your problems go away.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: They want someone they can call at nine o'clock at night, or even during business hours, and say, Hey, I'm concerned.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is what's going on with this elevator.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Can you help me?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Can you just help me or or make me Feel better that I know that you're doing what you said you do.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And as long as you talk to them and say, Yeah, no, we have a guy coming tomorrow.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is our plan.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: We have parts coming, we're going to take care of this and walk them through it.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: They feel part of the human connection, which your employee should feel as well.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that goes a long way.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Once one guy sees that you're communicating with him, you're doing right by him, there's no sales pitch, there's no nothing like that, and you do what you say, you don't lie to him.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: He tells the next person.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: When he tells the next person, therefore, advertising, you don't need to advertise.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the people in that circle that you want to reach are already being reached by the guy in the middle of it.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really what has helped us, especially in the northern part of New York and Jersey area, where it might not be the priority of other companies.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: So is that what's really driving your growth?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know if you're out there knocking doors selling, but but ultimately it sounds like it's coming down to can I call this guy and he'll respond and even do what he says?
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Every phone call I get starts with a frustrated person, just irate, angry, uh, whether it's at their own elevator company or whether they called four elevator companies and still have yet to hurt from any of them.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's it's a frustrating thing.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you own a home and your heat goes out in the winter time, you want your heater guy there to fix your heater.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing with elevators.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: I got three elevators or even one elevator down, and it carries an old lady upstairs.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: I want that elevator running.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so do I.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: So you want someone that's gonna say, we'll be there, or even if they can't be there that day, look, we're gonna be there on Monday, and here's why.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is that okay?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just that comfort knowing that someone's coming or someone's communicating with you, you know what's going on, leaps and bounds.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the you know, the bigger companies or more modern companies don't even want uh service calls called in anymore.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: They want them all emailed or they want them text so the dispatcher makes it easier to flow it out to whatever.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, a 70-year-old guy or an 80-year-old guy that owned this building for 20 years isn't gonna take out his phone or email to shoot over an email for a service call.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: He just wants to call up and say, Hey, could you come fix my elevator?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's really, you know, really what drew our growth to a point where I was nervous six months ago.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: We were at that that balance beam of, you know, we're a union shop, we're paying union scale, but we don't have the cars or the cash flow to compensate for that.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I was going to sell, met a couple of people, but ultimately, since the growth has been so so good, we're in a very good place today.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and that speaks a lot for I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's just the nature of where the industry is right now.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it sounds like it's a great thing for you, and certainly as you're as you're doing what people want, what they what they're asking for, it sounds like they're they're responding to that.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you you had mentioned some time ago that that as you were kind of in thinking about selling, you know, you'd call almost have to call every week and kind of change your price because you you're getting more and more business, which uh I think is uh Yeah, no, 100%.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that brings up, you know, one of the more recent mentors is Don from Champion.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I take his playbook and go buy it, you know, to a good degree.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And and Don was one of the people that was able to sit down with me and make me a a real reasonable offer.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I'd be bothered him every week.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Don, I just picked up 30 more LAS.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Can we adjust this?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Don, I picked up this, Don.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, Mike, calm down a little bit.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: How about you wait a couple months and see where we're at, let let things relax, and then we'll give you a real number.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I respected that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: If he didn't do that, I wouldn't be where I am right now.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just a matter of another person saying, just calm down.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna, you know, not even to say it's gonna be okay, but you meant it's gonna be okay.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Just let's see where it falls.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to make another decision six months from now, you're gonna be a better place for it, and and ultimately he'd be in a better place for it because we'd be, you know, selling a bigger company.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: But Don has also went as far as uh changing things that that happens when you do acquire a company compared to private equity.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he puts together teams of people that go out to the clients, and it's their job just to say have a hundred clients and and check in with them.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm I'm Bob from Champion Elevator.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: We just bought so-and-so elevator company.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything I can help you with?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything you need to be done?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, on the same point, bring them a cup of coffee the next month, and then the next point, you know, not really a sales aggravating role, but you bring an invoices.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have two or three invoices here.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't care about them, I just want to bring them with me so you're aware that these bills are here.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: How can I help you?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And that that really spoke to me because that really is the only way to make the customers that you're buying know who you are.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of private equity, they you know, they don't even know that they're sold until the third and third or fourth month where they're getting a bill from so-and-so elevator company.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So and that kind of you know doesn't put the customer in the best of moods.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Wait a minute.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I had this company, but um, this company no one said nothing, and you know, if you don't communicate, once again, they're kind of annoyed with you.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it was just especially when they have a problem, right?
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: When somebody something's going on, it's like who do who do I call?
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's got to be a hard spot to be in.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and there's a whole transition period where you know one company is still not technically sold yet, but they are kind of sold yet.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: So are you gonna fix my problems?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Or is this person gonna fix my problems?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: And if you mitigate that or if you help that, it it goes a long way in retainage.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, a lot of these companies have bought and bought and bought and maybe a thousand cars here, a thousand cars there, a thousand cars there, but where are they now?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, where are those cars?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: That shows how good a company really is.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: You've all has been excellent in there, champion's been excellent of retainage and growth.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Growth is the big key.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of companies that show don't show growth, but you know, are picking up a lot of cars.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have to kind of circle back.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: How how how should they fix it?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, whatever else, or at least from my opinion, that's how I see it.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and well, and obviously you you've worked at a lot of companies.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and even that period where you were traveling the country and consulting, it sounds like you've really got to see a lot of best practices and probably some not so great practices along the way and and decide which ones to keep, which ones not to keep.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I am curious, you know, what what are some of the biggest lessons if you could kind of distill them into you know some key points?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest lesson ultimately is uh you gotta treat people like people.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: You can't treat them like employee number 107.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: You have to have that that relationship, that bond with them.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it it starts from your office.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: If your office is distant from your people, your employees, then ultimately those employees feel distant and they'll feel part of your company.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: So just an example.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of offices now are are completely automated or going that way, where they'll send out automated service tickets directly to the employees, 6 a.m., and employees know where to go, what to do, answer those calls.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, they close out their tickets, they go home.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: So at what point did they communicate with the elevator company?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: At what point does Bob, the supervisor in the elevator company, know what's going on with him, or if he fixed this problem, or how he fixed this problem?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: And if the call comes in the next day, once again, it's just automated.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: It calls in again, calls in again, and there's no safety, there's no connection between him and the shop, and and the cup, and the employee basically is working like you know, his own little individual uh you know, consultant or private contractor, so to speak.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: In olden days, or not even that old, maybe 10-15 years ago, the mechanic would call up in the morning, talk to Donna or whoever the dispatcher is, Bob and Bob or Donna or Freddie would be like, Hey, how's your weekend?
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is everything all right?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, it was kind of quiet this weekend, or maybe it was kind of busy this weekend.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you got four calls in.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want me to call up George, and maybe George can help you as well, or maybe you two could team up and do it together?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, yeah, yeah, no, that sounds like a good idea.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: We'll do this.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, let Tony, the supervisor, know that this is our plan.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: So now Tony knows what's going on.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: The dispatcher knows what's going on, the office knows what's going on.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: The accountant, another room, just heard that you gave this call and that you're hanging to it.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: So she's ready to bill out the bill once you finish the call.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: So now everyone is in that ethos and everyone's communicating.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: And now you're part of it.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're part of an elevator company now.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Now that employee is proud to work with Joe Schmo elevator, and he's going to express that to his people.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: He's the forefront of your company in the face, and he's in a good mood because he's been comforted or or knows that someone else has his back, or it's a group effort, it's not just him on his own anymore.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some people like that, but in most cases, employees want to be part of something.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: So now he's a part of something, and he's building something, he's working to grow something and takes take pride in what he does.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the core things.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not rocket science, it's not a college spreadsheet, it's common sense.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Treat people the way you want people treated, use common sense, how how you know, think about the problems that you have and how to fix them, and how don't bring egos into the picture.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, just offer, hey, I maybe you should do it this way, or maybe this, and and people are gonna be receptive to that.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you come in and say, just do this, they're not gonna be receptive.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I learned a lot of that, and and not how to handle people, just just how to communicate or interact with people is a big part of my lessons uh coming from the Midwest, out of Europe.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, those are those are great.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: I I think uh I think what you're describing certainly as part of you know just modern culture in general, and certainly as you get bigger, companies get bigger and bigger and bigger, it's it's you do you do seem to lose a human element.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think sometimes even about, you know, not saying social media is a bad thing, but if if the only friends I have are the the the 250 friends I have on Facebook, then I then I don't really have any friends if I'm not really interacting.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: If I if I don't have somebody that I can talk to or go give them a hug when they're down, or you know, it's it's like you know, there's got to be a a human aspect.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I that's kind of what I hear you describing is just that that before right on.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great point.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Great point.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have 200 LinkedIn friends.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: How many are really your friends?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Do they know that you had a kid or whatever?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um and the other side of the fence that I've learned is is like I said, once you reach a certain point of elevators, it's very hard to control.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: You say 2,000 elevators, it's a lot, and when you have 100 employees and 2,000 cars, it's a lot to control.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why a lot of these companies peak at 2,000, 3,000 cars, and that's as far as they ever get.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: But if you put in good practices, if you if you trust your people and don't micromanage them, trust Bob to do Bob's job.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: And if Bob has a problem, your job is to help Bob fix that problem or support him or give him the tools to do his job.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: And once you put that that into place and into practice with people that you trust around you, your team all working together, you can have a million cars because you have all Bob that you trust, or Aura that you trust, or wherever, and you know, that goes a long way.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, one last thing is as far as stuff that I've learned, I've learned as far as the younger millennials or or people, you know, everyone talks negatively about them or whatever else, but I've learned if you teach the younger generation or anyone, as soon as they come into your shop, this is what I expect.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: When you do a maintenance, step one, greet, greet the you know, the director or whoever's at the building, step two, go here.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you lay it all out exactly how you want to do something, then you can expect them to do that job.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: But if you never tell them what you expect, how can you you know yell at a person, oh you didn't do this?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you never told me to do this.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it falls back on you.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: And with anyone, millennials, anyone, as long as you explain nine times out of ten, those people are gonna grab the ball and run with it.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: And once they reach a certain level of, oh, I know how to do this part of the job, I know to do my maintenance great, I need a little help with troubleshooting.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: You help them and educate them or put them with people that can help them grow to the next level, and then ultimately you get that unicorn, which is someone that does maintenance great and also can fix an elevator great.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the kind of mechanic that this industry really is is craving for, and and that's the type that you can actually create within your own office, your own company, as long as you do it right.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: So what I what I hear you saying is is you know, especially you meant you mentioned the millennials.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, I think there are differences from generation to generation, but I hear you say as long as you set proper expectations, you take the time to teach them, you you hear's what I expect from you every single time, then you know, they'll do it for the most part.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, as long as you explain this is what I expect from you, it's up to them to either say, Yeah, okay, this is what I can do, this is my job.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: I accept it and great and go, you know, or offer his own opinions.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: I have no problem with anyone telling me maybe we should do it this way.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_01: And the younger generation really does a good job at that compared to when I was starting.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: I dare not say anything to mechanic, I'd be quiet.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, did that help me?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did learn a little bit, but yeah, maybe I could have put some input to save a job two hours if I knew something.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: So all that's very valuable, but it's up to the individual.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even want to classify millennial or this one.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: They have their own traits and and tendencies, and we're all different, we're all coming with different generation, different stresses.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, if you say this is what I expect for you, this is the job, you show them what you want, and they pick up the ball and run with it, there's no problem.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, last question for you as we as we wrap up here, what um, I guess it's a two-part question, but what advice would you give uh first to to business, small business owners, um, you know, that are maybe just starting out, maybe it's a husband and wife team, whatever.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then also to the to new people in the industry, maybe just kids coming out of college and just starting out.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: What what advice would you give?
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really want uh mom and pop shops, quote unquote, to to do well or pick up because I'm at a point in my career where 10 years ago I can call up Bob Elevator and ask for help.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: You want to go half-season a bid with me that might be a little bit too big to me, or you want to support this, or I'm having problems with this.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of those mom and pop or independents are no longer around, they've all been purchased by private equity.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I encourage anyone that that isn't scared of hard work and uh can go through it, give it a year.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be a tough year, just like in any business.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have a lot of hardfalls.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you know, real business advice is I wouldn't go union the first year.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'd save up your money, build a war chest, uh, because you can have a huge expenses and insurance, and you don't need annuities and everything else from the union.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if you're a guy or or two partners and pick-up truck going around, you don't need to be a union right now.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: Pay your own wages, the money's gonna come.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you stick with it and uh be honest with your customers and be honest with your employees and don't lie to them, once you lie, you lose those relationships with your customers and your employees.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: As long as you stick to the rule of I'm coming to work every day to do the best job that I possibly can, you're gonna be fine.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna see in three, four years that everything's gonna pay off.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: But stick with it, be honest, talk to your customers and employees honestly, and you'll be fine.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: Everything else, you know, you could bring in a financial expert to go to your books and tell you what you're doing wrong, but just on basic practices, stick with those little items and you'll be just fine.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: For someone new, I always say, no matter what industry you're in, try to strive to do the best job that you possibly can.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's how you're gonna rise up the ladder.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you're in McDonald's or Wendy's and you're the fry guy, well, be the best fry guy that you can.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: Take pride in your work, clean up your station, wipe down the oil, salt your fries the right way.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing in elevators.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a maintenance helper, always be, it was a rule, but now I'm seeing it kind of decline.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: Always be trying to do something, trying to clean up a section, clean up your mechanics, tools.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: That you know, when uh a supervisor comes to the job and sees the helper having a cup of coffee on his phone, it doesn't translate visually well to him.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying be a slave driver, yes master, whatever.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm saying take pride in what you do.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you clean that pit, make sure it's clean.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, ask questions and don't be afraid to say, look, maybe this isn't for me, because it isn't for a lot of guys.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: But if you say those those you know words, this isn't for me, one, it takes a lot to say, but two, maybe there's an area in this industry that's so vast that you could fit in.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe your supervisor can say, well, maybe this isn't for you, but are you into code compliance?
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: Are you into uh drafting?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: What what really makes you happy?
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe we'll find a place for you.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: But if you don't say those words and you just are just nasty with it and walk out and give up, you you know, the door kind of closes and you're done.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is a a great group of people in this industry that are willing to help you with them with anything.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_01: So ask for it, kind of be humble, you'll do just fine.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right, Mike.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being here today.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your your time and your your words of advice, your words of wisdom.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate you having me.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, have a good one.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: You too.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Please subscribe, and until next time, stay safe.