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The Four Day Workweek That Starts With Cleaning A Van with Jesse Kellogg, Grinning Possum Wood Originals · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hey everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I am Cliff McCray with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work for local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Today I'm excited to be joined by Jesse Kellogg with Grinning Possum Wood Originals.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Jesse, how are you doing today?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing great, man.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm doing great.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to have you.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go ahead and jump right into things, get right into it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, what is Grinning Possum Wood Originals?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So Grinning Possum Wood Originals started out as a must for my family because I had recently quit a job, tried to get into construction, and the construction group I was trying to join decided that there it was a family business.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So they decided that I was just not very important, which I can relate kind of, but it was, I think, in in this way, it was God showing me that I just needed to start a business.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: It had been on my heart for a long time to begin this.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is about five years ago.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I was never confident enough to just step out and start something on my own, because that takes a lot of not only trust and knowing that I'll have the clientele to do so, but also I've never owned my own business before starting this one.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I was literally forced into doing so because they gave me zero hours after promising me 40.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I had quit my job, gave my two weeks to Publix that I was working at the time at.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then I waited around for the first week for getting any work.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, Well, we don't have anything for you.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then the second week comes around, and I'm like, I have to do something.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I have to make money.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I looked at my wife and we said, Well, let's just start this thing.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I started building small trinkets out of my shed just because I was thinking, well, if I can sell something, I can make some sort of money.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if I don't have a client right now, I need to make any any amount of money I can in order to help my family eat and keep our house, basically.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But very shortly after that, I already got one of the largest jobs in my first two years.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: One of the first jobs I ever had.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was a 56-foot roofed porch on a log cabin.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll I'll be honest, I had never built a porch in my life.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I had used power tools, I had done done things that is amongst those ideas, but I had never used my knowledge in that scale, right?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I built all that and I'll fast forward because there's probably intricacies we'll talk about later.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: But throughout that process, I got clientele after clientele by referral.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: I work almost exclusively off of referral because one thing I've noticed through that is not only can the client trust me more because their friends have trusted me, but I can trust the client more because their friends I have already worked for.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And usually the group of people that are good to work for all kind of are in the same flock, right?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so throughout that process, we began to grow.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was a self-employed for a while in a way, or I'm sorry, I was a sole proprietor for a while, and then we switched to a partnership.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Unbeknownst to me, that was the wrong move.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: In my mind, I thought, well, I can get be a partnership with my wife so that if anything happens to me, you know, she owns the business.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I didn't know that because she's my wife, she would get the business no matter what, pretty much, even if I was a sole proprietor.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I actually disbanded this the partnership, reopened as a sole proprietor again, and I decided to then pursue another business dynamic, but I won't talk about that one unless you you want me to a little bit later.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still doing Jeep's Wood Originals, but I am a lot more I'm a lot more picky about what I do.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mostly do large-scale high-end porch building.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: I do high-scale kitchen remodeling and bathroom remodeling, and then everything else I have tradesmen within my area that I basically act as a broker, which is the one-call crew portion of my secondary business.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and who are you as a person?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Who is Jesse Kellogg?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Jesse is a redeemed but still learning sinner that that I am I am in this process of just learning more about who God is and the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham and Isaac.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: And just recently I read this book called Delighting in the Trinity, and it taught me more about who God is than probably any book I've ever read, other than the Bible, of course.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so who I am is mostly who I am in Christ, because I know I am redeemed by Him.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: I still fail constantly, but I'm striving to know more about Him.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like I was saying about delighting in the Trinity, it's teaching me more about who God is and who the Father is, and that He created me out of love and not out of this power that we see in so many other beliefs.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in that it is humbling to know that I am even living and breathing.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a father of two children.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I have a four-year-old, almost four-year-old, and a 16-month-old, and a wonderful wife that I've been married to for seven years.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: We live in Tennessee, of course, but we love our community.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of try to be as involved with our community as we can throughout each week.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: We do monthly board game nights and try to serve and host as much as we can because that's part of, I think, what we've been called to do.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I found that community is one of those things that spurs me on to better things as well.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, it's not just me and my family, but it's me and all the friend and my family and all the families surrounding us, encouraging us to do things for the glory of the Lord.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I just enjoy, I just enjoy life.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I truly find joy in all things that I'm doing right now.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And even in the hard things, I find myself enjoying the refining process of learning how to grow through this challenging quote unquote life.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: But then you look around at people that have come before me and that are in other countries right now that are suffering in my menial small problems, like studding my toe on the corner of a counter, or my kid is absolutely footloose and took off all their clothes.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, this happened this morning.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: My child, I woke up at 3 a.m.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: at my littlest.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: She goes, Dada, or she's yelling from the other room, Mama, mama.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so I get up, I go into her room, she's sitting up in her bed, and she looks at me and goes, Dada, I had a dream.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: My sister's face was flat.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I go, What does that even mean?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so I console her, and it's just I I I think there's there's so much in life that people miss to have joy in.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I I really want more people to enjoy life.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's something I do daily, and uh I think it's can be achieved through uh the right knowledge.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and now let's get to your business a little bit.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, what would you say is something about running your business that people think is amazing, but you actually think it's complete BS when you hear it?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I I've enjoy running my business.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, people say, you know, you have the freedom to do whatever you want.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can always just take off time, you can move people around, you can, you know, name your price even.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: However, there is a dichotomy of responsibility that comes and self-discipline that comes with owning a business, because you can't just sleep in and take off every day.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to be very purposeful with every single moment you have in order to make it something worthwhile and something that actually provides for your family.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, as attractive as it is to own your own business and not have a quote unquote boss, it's probably equally or more challenging than being under someone's leadership because at least you have someone telling you this is what's next.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: When you are an owner, you have to tell yourself, this is what I must do in order to continue in the work that I have, and in order to propagate more work.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I would say that would be one of the major things.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: But on the flip side of that, it is true I get to take off when I want to, and I've been very blessed to be able to have larger jobs.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I'll just look at my wife and say, honey, I need to take a week off because it's been so overwhelming to do this daily work.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think that would be the major thing that I think people interpret maybe a little bit wrongly.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like it's true, but it's not.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like to an extent, but it's not.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what would you say was the exact moment where you realized, you know, this business could either really work or it could completely blow up in my face and I lose everything?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: But I started it.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I mean, really, I started it on a whim because I was forced to.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: So in that way, I feel like the whole beginning of the business, as it grew, I just had to rely and trust that that God would provide work.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And He He always has.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like ever since I started, there's not been a moment where I've said, well, next week we won't be able to eat.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or next week we can't really pay for everything we need.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: My little brother worked for me in the very beginning of my work when I started the business.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And there were weeks where I'd pay him and I'd have about$50 left in my bank account and be able to survive, and I'd have just enough.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So probably the first two years, it was this ebb and flow of trusting, getting jobs, having dry spells, and just having to rely on the unknown in a way.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: But it built a lot more faith and trust because of that.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it was all just easy and given to me, I don't think I would be quite the person I am today or the business I am today because I don't push it.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I don't rely on a hundred different ads online to get me work.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I just rely on people's words.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: And not that that works for every business.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you have some businesses like my a very good friend of mine, he owns a pressure washing business and he needs daily jobs that flip over very quickly.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so if he didn't have, you know, a hundred jobs lined up within the next few months, then he would be out of work.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, because of the scale of my jobs and and how long they take, it is it is much more freeing.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm in this a position where I'm very comfortable and very grateful that the times in the past have been very difficult because I can contrast that now to the blessing of having a little bit more peace financially.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it gives me the ability to have more freedom of time, which is which is one of the major goals I have within this business.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, I love that answer.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Jesse, what would you say is the most stressful moment you've ever had as a business owner?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like a, you know, how am I going to get through this type of moment?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, stressful moments for me are very different, maybe than than other people, but I get stressed out when people either doubt I am doing the the very best I can for them, or if I make a mistake and a customer gets upset at me in general.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: It has never, there's never been this huge thing where, you know, I've crashed three vehicles in one week and lost everything.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's more so been a struggle of will against having peace in the times where not everyone's happy about who what I've done and being able to then stretch my, what do you even call it?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Stretch my patience when people are not patient with me.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Be patient being patient back to people who maybe didn't show me much patience as I work for them.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because really truly, I'm working as unto the Lord, and everything that I do, I want to reflect that.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want people to ever doubt I am doing my very best for them.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it hurts my, I think, ego when people do doubt that, or they don't think I did a good enough job.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And there's been very few jobs that that has happened on.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll since they'll answer the question directly.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is probably the most pertinent one to the question.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: There was a job where I had sourced a uh shelving material from a salt, a local sawmill, and it was green.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the customer wanted a basically custom pantry uh out of this shelving.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about all the details, we jotted everything down, and then I told her we need to wait a few, I think over a month, for it to weather enough so that the large amount of shrinking happens in the wood before installing it on the wall.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I took it upon myself to put it in my own home and do climate control on it and humidity control, purchase some dehumidifiers and try my best to do just you know air dry the material.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so those were sitting in our bedroom on the far side of our bed for a while, and it was inconvenient, but it wasn't the worst.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the end of the that period of time for it to dry came to an end.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I could tell they were a little bit impatient at that point.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so I go into install them, I do exactly what they wanted me to do, and they said, well, I want it to be actually another few inches shorter, like the actual depth of the shelf they wanted to be shorter because they didn't like the bulkiness of what they decided, the dimension they decided on in it initially.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so I took all the cook shelving out, I trimmed it shorter, I reinstalled it, and then I said, I'm coming back tomorrow, I'll finish it up, I'll make it look better, and just let me know if there's anything else you might want on it when I when I do come back.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I get a long, long message the next day about all the little things that they don't like, and it wasn't even finished yet.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they didn't like some supports that were necessary, they didn't like this and that, and they didn't even know it was mounted with a XL Craig screw.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was mounted into those studs, and they thought that was an imperfection in the wood, and rather it was one of the design attributes to the actual structure of it.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they actually refused the wood altogether.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I took all the shelving out.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So after a month process of trying to get this thing to work for them, I walked away with nothing and I paid the sawmill and I got nothing from the client.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not that big of a deal, but it was frustrating.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: It believe me, I was like in tears about it because it was more, it was not so much the money, it wasn't that at all.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: It was the fact that I had given so much effort to something than to be to be turned on kind of deaf ears.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: And and but I also have this era of I understand clients want something specific, but I'd rather client say, Hey, I just don't like it.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Don't give me a weird excuse on why you don't want to keep it.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just say you don't like it, and I'll make it something that is better or different than for you.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'd much rather.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have you ever thought about quitting?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thought about quitting.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I had I've had a few thoughts about working under someone else or working with someone else, but I don't think I ever want to quit.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: This this job in particular allows me to have the freedom of time that I want.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I was kind of mentioning earlier.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Dan Sullivan has a lot to say on freedom of time, and I would really encourage anyone to read his books.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: But that is kind of my main goal is to have freedom of time so that I can serve my community more.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't do that by just quitting.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I have kind of going to probably die on this hill of working, not working the way I am right now.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: However, as I transfer into different forms of overseeing job sites, doing brokerage deals with other contractors in the area, and just picking the jobs that make me the most money for the time that I'm there, I think I'll be able to leverage my time better so that I can serve back to my community and do a lot more service to local orphans and widows because that's that's pretty much my main goal right now within the next five years.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be off for half of the year just serving the community.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now you in and you basically take more of an operational role, I guess, kind of with your with that six months that you'll be off.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: Is that kind of what you're saying?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or will you just completely remove yourself from the business and I guess it would be a good time to talk about one call crew because one call crew is what I have started.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is it is kind of in job oversight seeing because I'm going for my general contractor's license right now.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll have the ability to have subs under me on larger scale jobs.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: But something that is unique about the business I am I'm starting that separates it from other contractors is I'm not just taking a crew that is a set crew to do any job.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: I pick professionals that are licensed within their field and that do the very best job within their field in order to accomplish specific tasks and not having a large crew to do it.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of the whole idea of one call crew.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a set group of people, it is other business owners that have self-determined self-discipline and responsibility to show forth good work ethic because they are doing it under their business name, but I find the right clientele for them and then pair them together in order to accomplish their goal sets and also make me money passively because I don't have to do much more than find the right client and do the relationship part of that discovery because I love relationships.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I love discussing things with clients, I'd love solving problems and troubleshooting.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: I would rather, though, be serving with my skill set than always being on a job site.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that that portion of the business will probably be that six months off.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Six months on will probably still be GP's Road Originals building and doing things that I love doing there.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha, gotcha.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that makes sense.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Now, and this next question will be kind of hypothetical, but let's say if someone shadowed you for a full day or even a full week, what would you say would surprise them the most about how you operate your business?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think they'd be surprised by how I schedule my week.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: They so I've gone through iterations of different job scheduling, and I landed on this one that makes most sense to me for my dynamic, and it is I take Monday and I set it aside by beginning the day with working out with my family at the Y.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: We come home, I clean up my whole entire vehicle.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: That is my work vehicle.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I have a big work van with a bunch of pull-out drawers, and I pull out pretty much everything that is cluttered and reorganize it.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then I strive to improve one thing about my work vehicle so that I can be more efficient throughout the week.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: After that, I go through everything I'm going to be doing that week and make sure that I have all my materials and I have everything ordered so that I know I'm not shopping throughout the week.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's one huge time kill I noticed in the beginning of my business where I'd be at the store more than my job site.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to eliminate that.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've dedicated all of that effort to Monday.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: In the afternoon, I have a time slot that allows me to do either a work order or a few consultations.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I put all of my consultations to Mondays so that I'm also not sprinkling them throughout my work week.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then that gives me Tuesday through Friday to accomplish everything I need to for my specific job that I'm on that week.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: This has proven to me that a four-day work week is actually super efficient if you set yourself up the day before you start with an orderly and well-supplied workflow that accomplishes what you want instead of being chaotic and trying to strive to fill in every single second with something different like consultations and other shopping necessities.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Probably so.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because they'd be like, why aren't you working today?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why aren't we working today?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it's it's made me more efficient.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel that efficiency is everything within business, but also your time is super valuable.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if you can if you can pick when not to work, it actually makes your work days way more successful because you can rest on those days that you've chosen in order to relax.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I've I've protected Saturday to do my own work.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm remodeling a hundred-year-old house that I live in right now under an investor.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so that process is done mostly on Saturdays.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then Sundays, I take off of work altogether.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't talk about work.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: I try not to contact any clients at all.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we rest as a family, and it sets me up for the next week.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm actually learning a lot from you, you know, talking about this kind of stuff.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: So no, it's great.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're right, like four-day work week.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then somebody was talking about that too.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: I saw something.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was on it was Instagram or Facebook.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I forgot, but somebody was saying that, you know, what what time was it?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: It was like 10 a.m.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: to like 2 p.m.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: is when people are doing most of the work in their day.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then those other hours, you know, because a regular job is what, eight to five?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you're only doing work from 10, you're only doing real work from about nine o'clock to one to about lunchtime or 10 a.m.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: to 2 p.m.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then like the rest of the time, you're kind of just pretending you're working.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just it's just it's just annoying.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, why, why do I need to sit here for another couple hours when I could go home or I could be doing being with my family or doing something else and still get paid for my time because I'm not working right now.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Not actually, I'm just pretending to work.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree with that.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're really good at lying to ourselves, I think, as humans.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: We we we say that we're being efficient, but we're really fiddle farting on our phones or do doing something else that is not productive while we're at work.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that is a dichotomy of of or psychology of the mind is we can only do so much in a day, anyways.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: And why push ourselves to do the most and then exhaust ourselves in the beginning of the week?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't we just set ourselves up for success by having a more fluid and more achievable work week?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I agree.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Jesse, what would you say actually moves the needle most in your business right now?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I think it's mostly referrals, but I think because of the aim I have, it is going to be larger scale clients that I can actually not be on job site to accomplish their work that they want done.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: I say that because one call crew kind of thrives on that.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I make roughly 20% of a job site's revenue if it's done through one call crew.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And and with that said, if it's a$20,000 job or$10,000 job, I make two grand on it.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't have to lift a finger.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I that I think is what is going to push the needle further.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, for me, the bread and butter is large porches because they I'm very very good at them now.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I've been doing them since I started this business, but I've done them so much that I really know how to make a good porch now.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: I just built one that has a 22-foot span opening for a garage underneath it.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's bit made with pressure-treated LVL beams.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's something I can look at and say, I'm really proud of this, basically.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I can have it code inspected, and they don't say, Oh, you did it wrong.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, so it's it's a joy to do those things.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think between those two, those are the the goal is one call crew.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: What really helps me move along right now is large-scale porches.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you know, and and what would you say is one thing you're doing today that gives you kind of an unfair advantage against your competitors?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: I care too much.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean, this is this is not a competitive thing, but I really do I love clients so much and I love life so much in people that I will prioritize them.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that is not something people fail to notice.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: They notice it very much so.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever I work for anyone, I'm almost guaranteed to get referred to someone else.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so my unfair advantage really is something that is also sometimes harmful to me, which is I will lose money by taking care of people well, but it achieves something in the long term that not many other businesses might be able to achieve, which is customer retention to a fault and then customer multiplication from that retention, because they tell everyone else that they're they were very well taken care of.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the major things.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: And also I do I do a lot of double checking of myself.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I'm in a job site, even if the client doesn't want the code inspector to come in or something like that, I check codes.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: I do the research in order to make sure it is not only safe, but it is done right.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: And even if it's behind something and no one sees it, I still make sure it's done right.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: So my edge, I think, is is still in that realm of caring too much, quote unquote.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think it is too much.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's caring enough to show the client that they will be well taken care of.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, have you ever had to make a tough call, you know, like, you know, like letting a subcontractor go, or or maybe not doing a job, or maybe, you know, quitting a job halfway, you know, because it ended up being dangerous, or something of that nature that ended up being the right move long term.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was working for Clayton Holmes as a subcontractor, actually.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: I was under them as a sub.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a crew of guys at that point that were working under me, and they were basically all friends of mine, and they were all good people, and I loved all of them.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And there was this one guy, though, that could not show up.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: And one day, one day, he shows up, right?
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I leave him at a job site to paint.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: He's supposed to paint, I think.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Child girl.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I'm ready.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: So one day when he gets to a job site, and we tell him, okay, we need to paint this room and this room and this room.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you seven hours to do it.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go and do other jobs.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you back here in a bit.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so we leave, and seven hours later we come back.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: I look, and he's still painting the first wall.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason he was still painting the first wall is because he had not paint painted enough to know that the color of drying paint does not match dried paint.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so he was repainting where it had dried as it dried over and over again.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think he got two walls done in seven hours.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I looked at him and I said, Brother, I understand, like you were you just didn't understand how to paint, but just tell me that up front.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because I specifically asked, have you painted before?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know how to paint?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they said yes.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so, but the tough call I had to make after that is the toughest one I've ever made, probably.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it was, I told him because he wasn't showing up on time to job site or to my to my vehicle because I'd drive him to job sites and I'd wait around for him.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: But he did two no call, no call, no shows in the morning.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: He'd call after he woke up because he would stay up so late at night.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: And and then the when he did this it the second time, I looked at him, I said, I will only allow you to do this one more time and then you're fired, because otherwise, I am allowing you to not learn and grow.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm I'm I'm basically nurturing something that is not healthy for you if I allow you to continue in this pattern.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, he asked me one day, he said, Hey, some friends are coming into town.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Can I take off today?
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be back tomorrow.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah, for sure.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, do it.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I like flexibility in general, and I was glad that he was wanting to do something with his people, basically.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so the morning shows up after that.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: He had stayed up late, he didn't show up.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: He showed up at the end of the day just to say hi, basically.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I embraced him, I said, You are fired.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I cried with him actually because I hate that feeling of having to let someone go.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I knew it was going to be the best thing for them because they needed to have a hard lesson that their actions have consequences.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I in the end think it was the right choice.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: It just was hard to do.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you're not gonna see many bosses, you know, many people work with someone and have to fire him and cry with him there.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um doesn't happen very often.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I'm sure.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm sure you probably, you know, I'm I'm sure he probably landed on his feet, hopefully, you know.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's doing okay now.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still I'm still friends with him.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right, good, good.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, yeah, let's go ahead and do uh what's called the quick fire round.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: So how this works is I'm gonna give you one word, and I just want you to give me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business, and then kind of expand upon it with a couple of sentences after on why you chose that.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: First word of success.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: Determination.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think anything that we do in life has to be met with the ability to follow through.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: Failure.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: Learning.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think anytime I've failed, I have learned something from it, and I am not scared to fail anymore.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: I actually embrace it because I think that's where and I learn most.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: Burnout.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Every day.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was like being alive in general is a constant balance between rest and striving to do the more.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I I I don't embrace burnout, but I try to avoid it by resting when I need to.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Scaling.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think trust.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: Scaling in in general for me has looked like many different things, and I haven't landed on one yet, but I think it's going to be one call crew, and kind of just trusting in the process as I develop it.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: Never.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy the freedom of not having employees because part of ownership for me is the ability to take off time whenever I want to.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I've really enjoyed being able to do so.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if I had employees, I'd feel obligated to always be at work.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: Humility.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think any leader needs to lead with the example that Christ gave when he came to this world, and he was humble, but he was the God of the universe as well.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: And with that, I want to lead in that way.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Competition.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: Non-existent because I do things differently, and the competition, quote unquote, is usually my friends.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the last word is freedom.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: Christ.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: I find freedom in Christ.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's more the more most freedom that I think I anyone could ever receive is the knowledge that you get to be with the God of the universe forever and to eternity because of his sacrifice.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing that I did, but because of what he has done.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the freedom in that, knowing that it is not by my work, but what he has done is very freeing.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you getting to that quickfire round now.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now, where do you see your or where do you think your business, you know, gritting possum wood originals will be five years from now?
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it will be a secondary income.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: My goal is to have it to be 20% of my revenue and within five years, but it's going to be still a love passion of mine because I love what I do within it.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that it will ever be something I don't do because I really truly enjoy.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: It might look differently eventually.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: Initially, I wanted to build furniture and custom high-end furniture for people and do that for GP's Wood Originals, but it was not something I could see that could be an initial portion of my business because of all the upfront cost and the actual sales, there's something I I couldn't even like think about being achievable to make income.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think eventually when I have a workshop, a large workshop, uh and not a basement basically to work out of, I think I'll be able to chase that dream maybe a little bit more.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I want you to be as candid as you can for the answer for the next question.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, let's say a small business owner is listening to the podcast episode with you today, Jesse.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: And let's say they're just having a tough go with 2026, they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're almost halfway through the year now, and they're just not profitable yet throughout the year.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: What's a piece of advice you'd want them to hear from you today?
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think I would encourage them that kind of like I was talking about with failure, is sometimes we can feel like everything bad that could happen happens all in one week or all in one month.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of recognizing it as just the failure, try to find where you can grow.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it might just be not in your business, but in yourself.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: But you will become a better business owner by growing in patience or endurance or trust or self-control.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: And those attributes actually make you a better business owner than anything you can do practically.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, failure, if met with the ability to learn from it, is amazing for a business owner.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: So don't be discouraged when you fail.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, look for ways to grow as you fail so that you might become better in the long run.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then that also gives you the encouragement through that time of failure or through that time of hardship because you don't have to just hold on to the failure and the grief of the pain or the pain of having a hard time.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, you can strive and be excited about the ability to grow through a time of hardship.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: And on the other end of that, you'll just do better.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: So what's next for Grinning Possum Wood Originals?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: What should people be excited about coming up in the near future?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: One call crew.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can call one person in order to find any trade you could think of that is in a professional field, licensed and insured.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that ability to have the backing of my guarantee that they will do at exactly what you need them to do is a little bit freeing talking about freedom.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not always reliable.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard many stories within my line of work where people just have people either leave job sites randomly, take some money and run, or they don't do everything they they'd say and they say it's good enough and leave.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I stand behind every single project that's through one call crew and GP's Wood Originals, and I will never leave until the customer is completely satisfied.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: So look forward to maybe having me work for you, I guess then.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you and learn more about what you do?
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: I have a website.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh gpswoodoriginals.com.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can message me through there.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can book appointments, you can see some of the work I've done.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably the best way to get in contact with me.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can also call me or text me at do you want me to give me my my number or would you like that in the show notes?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, go ahead and give it over the air.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's 352-888-0098.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's a Florida number.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where I'm from.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I I claim Tennessee now because I think Florida is just way too hot and way too muggy.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I love Tennessee.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm actually from Tampa.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I oh, cool, dude.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: I know about those wild summers, seven, eight months of sunlight.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, that's terrible, man.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I lived in St.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: Pete for a while, and it's just the the concrete surrounding you with 90 degrees and the the hot burning sun with no ability to escape humidity.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're swimming through the air.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's really rough.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_01: And up here, you know, I mean, it's what, 48 degrees where I'm at?
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: What is up with this right now?
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's in the middle of May.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: I had a jacket on this morning.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's kind of cold.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, middle of May.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: And we're we're chilly up here.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, you can't beat it.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, my parents, you know, my parents still live in Tampa.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um they have a house, they have a big old Olympic-sized pool.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the best things they have.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_01: But but yeah, they're they're like, man, it's burning up.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have to get in the pool every day, otherwise we're going to faint.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're getting 95 plus every day already.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: They're already at that point.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_01: Gosh, I forgot to ask you something then.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, while we're up here actually chilling and you know, and cold a little bit, actually.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: The difference is wild when you you move a couple of mm a couple of states over.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're very big states, but yeah, it's just you know, it's not that many states over.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's not very far, no.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's far, but it's not.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's like it's not that bad of a drive, right?
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: You could drive it.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you could drive it though.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: I drove a lot early when I when I first moved up here, and then I decided after having kids, man, I just have to fly.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot stand being in the car that long.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: And usually we'll have to drive through the night so the kids sleep.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I just get so tired at the end of the drive.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's about 12 hours to get to where we usually go.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, 12 hours for me too.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, 12 hours for me too.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I just, man, yeah, you're saying the same way.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'd rather take the what is it, like an hour and a half flight?
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like an hour 20 minute flight rather than be in a car for 12 hours.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll take that every time.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: But but yeah, Jesse, man, thank you for coming on.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: Any other word, any other last words you want to give people before we go in and sign off for the just all glory and honor be to God.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and he is he is everything for me.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I I pray that through this that many might know him as well and know the freedom and peace that comes from him.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, agreed.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, Jesse, thank you again for coming on, and we appreciate everything you're doing, and we should continue to success with your business.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate it.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, have a good one.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thank you.