Built to Work: Episode 1 - Jeronimo Hernandez Perez | Premier Scrap Services

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev_8MqiEV8c

00:00-18:52] 

Welcome to Built To Work the podcast that gets its hands dirty dives into the grid and uncovers the heart of what makes the blue-collar world tick I'm Colin your host and I'm sitting down with the people who keep our world running From those tackling the tough jobs no one else dares to do to the HR professionals working overtime to find the labor force we desperately need Whether you're in the trenches or behind the scenes this podcast is for anyone who values hard work determination and stories that build the backbone of our workforce So grab your gloves your coffee or your clipboard It's time to get to work All right Today I'm sitting here with Jeronimo He is one of our awesome employees We are here in Peru Indiana 

[00:00-18:52] 

on part of a tour I'm doing here to get a chat with as many of our employees as possible and so I'm traveling around And 

[00:00-18:52] 

so I'm driving over Ohio Indiana and some other locations getting to chat with them So Jeronimo very nice to meet you Thank you so much 

[00:00-18:52] 

for all you do for Premier Thank you 

[00:00-18:52] 

and in an effort to get to know you a little bit kind of introduce you know what you do 

[00:00-18:52] 

first just tell us a little bit about you Jeronimo the person and- 

[00:00-18:52] 

and- and who you are outside of the work environment Okay first of all thank you very much for lending me this opportunity to be part of your company and 

[00:00-18:52] 

and make this interview with you 

[00:00-18:52] 

I feel excited Awesome 

[00:00-18:52] 

that 

[00:00-18:52] 

knowing you and meeting you here- 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yeah because it's the first time doing the kind of interview like this It is amazing Awesome 

[00:00-18:52] 

well 

[00:00-18:52] 

this is a long story my background- Yeah is a long story But in my country because in my country I used to teach 

[00:00-18:52] 

Okay different fields and subjects like 

[00:00-18:52] 

literature and English at the same time Okay Both languages Oh yeah yeah Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

it- it's something amazing 

[00:00-18:52] 

share different experience 

[00:00-18:52] 

with different kind of people young people adult people children Yeah Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

I got the spirit working with different 

[00:00-18:52] 

people as I'm saying And 

[00:00-18:52] 

I can say it's like 

[00:00-18:52] 

leadership- 

[00:00-18:52] 

you know 

[00:00-18:52] 

because if I am a leader I can handle different 

[00:00-18:52] 

I can say temperament Uh-huh Yeah you know And 

[00:00-18:52] 

it's amazing Where I can 

[00:00-18:52] 

use computer Uh-huh I got some experience working on the computers and trying to or type fast 

[00:00-18:52] 

I have some skill about it And that's 

[00:00-18:52] 

helped me a lot- Yeah in-- when I was teaching in my country Okay And 

[00:00-18:52] 

right now I have around 3 year working in Metal X in MEX 

[00:00-18:52] 

And 

[00:00-18:52] 

it's a great experience 

[00:00-18:52] 

It's a great experience Okay Because 

[00:00-18:52] 

I'm learning I feel that I am learning new experience and that's amazing for me Yeah That now I can 

[00:00-18:52] 

drive the forklift Okay 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah I feel very awesome now Yeah driving awesome Driving the forklift is The job is easier now 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yeah At the beginning is 

[00:00-18:52] 

pretty difficult but right now it's- Yeah It's good Yeah So you came into working for Premier with a completely different set of skills right Yes And so being a teacher 

[00:00-18:52] 

versus obviously you know working in a melt facility now you've had experience around furnaces around heavy things hot cold You've driven equipment So that's just a whole new set of skills you've had to learn 

[00:00-18:52] 

I'm also new to the metals and the scrap industry 

[00:00-18:52] 

so I really understand and- and can empathize with you It's like hey there's a lot to learn- Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

about this industry- Yeah Exactly 

[00:00-18:52] 

but it's really it's a really cool industry Exactly Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

you know it's cool to see how things are made to have that tactile Being able to do more than just sit on a computer I've spent a lot of my career sitting on a computer- Right That's it and just doing emails Yeah yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

but it's really nice to be able to see how the how the things are made so 

[00:00-18:52] 

where are you from originally 

[00:00-18:52] 

I'm from Nicaragua From Nicaragua That's my home country Okay gotcha Yeah Gotcha I'm I came here 

[00:00-18:52] 

to the US 

[00:00-18:52] 

2022 Okay Yeah Okay That's awesome 

[00:00-18:52] 

so from Nicaragua originally 

[00:00-18:52] 

I'm sure there's a lot of things that you miss about home Right Yeah Absolutely 

[00:00-18:52] 

the food the culture the people- Everything The not having winters in Northern Indiana Yeah Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

had you seen snow before you moved up here No No So what was that like Last year was my first time That was your first time seeing snow Yeah Exactly What did you think of that Mm Was no good for me because you know Yeah and come from a country where the weather is totally different Uh-huh And 

[00:00-18:52] 

just it's warm 

[00:00-18:52] 

It's winter And 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah we can I can say it's a tropical weather Yeah And sometime cold sometime But not too cold like this Not cold like this no Yeah Nothing No Yeah no this is- No This is a hard weather to be- Exactly I'm from the Midwest just a few hours away and 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah it's cold it's hot but it's not like 

[00:00-18:52] 

not tropical at all so Mm Yeah No beaches no jungles around here Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

is there any any foods that you miss from home Exactly We- we- we used to eat rice and beans 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yeah is the most common food in my country the typical food Yeah Yeah I miss everything as as I am saying you and and tell you because you know this culture is totally different- 

[00:00-18:52] 

different in comparison with my culture Yeah Yeah And 

[00:00-18:52] 

I could describe all the food that we that we eat- Yeah my country but it's too much That's too much Yeah You don't find a whole lot of 

[00:00-18:52] 

Nicar- Nicaraguan restaurants 

[00:00-18:52] 

around Indiana or Indianapolis 

[00:00-18:52] 

a lot more Mexican restaurants Have you 

[00:00-18:52] 

have you been enjoying the Mexican food at all 

[00:00-18:52] 

In Mexico 

[00:00-18:52] 

no here 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah Have you been enjoying that at all Yeah Yeah Okay Closer to home Sometimes yeah Yeah exactly There is one close to the house Okay Yeah Yeah My 

[00:00-18:52] 

my son his favorite food for a number of years has just been rice and beans Rice and beans Rice and beans That was always his- Really favorite food I was like- I was like 

[00:00-18:52] 

I think you're raised in the wrong place or something." Oh wow Yeah So that was just- that was always our funny joke with him so 

[00:00-18:52] 

so you've been working 

[00:00-18:52] 

in in an aluminum melt facility- 

[00:00-18:52] 

driving the forklift 

[00:00-18:52] 

was that kinda your first time being around that heavy industrial work You know the heavy the 

[00:00-18:52] 

the big furnaces and the big equipment was that your first time working around those type of- that type of environment 

[00:00-18:52] 

you mean how was the first time Yeah Was when you started working here 

[00:00-18:52] 

for Premier your first time around- Yes It's- those big- that big equipment Yeah It was my first time Yeah I didn't even know 

[00:00-18:52] 

the the forklift 

[00:00-18:52] 

I only I only ha- had been checked the forklift on papers on 

[00:00-18:52] 

you know TV Uh-huh But never in physic- Yeah yeah Yeah The machine yeah Totally different I know my first time going through that facility I wa- I was impressed and 

[00:00-18:52] 

just what was your first time getting near that furnace when it was so hot I mean it's well over 1,000 degrees Super hot Rea- Super hot yeah That's 

[00:00-18:52] 

I don't wanna be near that No 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah Terrible at the beginning It was- 

[00:00-18:52] 

completely 

[00:00-18:52] 

difficult- Yeah for everybody for everyone who worked there 

[00:00-18:52] 

And you know in my case I have never- I have never worked- I have never been working in a a furnace like like that one Yeah Yeah Yeah It's it's big and it's hot Exactly Yeah And so you also help move the the ingots and the sows The ingots are the- Sows yeah Yeah Ingots are the smaller ones The- Big sows are are the bigger ones Are bigger Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

and you were saying those weigh how much Around 1,350 or it depends 

[00:00-18:52] 

Some of them 1,400 Okay So 13 to 1400 pounds Yeah Yeah And so you're moving those around with the forklift You're stacking them They're still pretty hot when you're moving them aren't they 

[00:00-18:52] 

Or do they- have they started to cool down It's much better now Uh-huh Yeah It's 

[00:00-18:52] 

I can say it's it's cooler than the beginning Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

because we you know 

[00:00-18:52] 

when I start working started working- 

[00:00-18:52] 

it was very hard because I didn't know how to drive the forklift- Yeah how to weigh these out The other people who were working there 

[00:00-18:52] 

were doing the activities And 

[00:00-18:52] 

I had to to do the the hard task the hardest part 

[00:00-18:52] 

You know and 

[00:00-18:52] 

lifting things and putting the pans- 

[00:00-18:52] 

and 

[00:00-18:52] 

sweeping 

[00:00-18:52] 

And only receiving commands from the boss "Hey Jeronimo go here go there clean there 

[00:00-18:52] 

pick up those one." 

[00:00-18:52] 

It means 

[00:00-18:52] 

whatever thing yeah Yeah So you started you started doing that that cleaning and you kind of worked your way up with more responsibilities- Exactly as as you've gone on Yeah Okay 

[00:00-18:52] 

was it slow The process was slow 

[00:00-18:52] 

But little by little I was learning the process 

[00:00-18:52] 

what was the real tasks that I had to do 

[00:00-18:52] 

And I was taking my responsibility From the beginning I took the responsibility 

[00:00-18:52] 

as a leader I was trying to 

[00:00-18:52] 

leader leading the the guys- Yeah who don't speak Spanish English sorry Yeah They don't speak English 

[00:00-18:52] 

And 

[00:00-18:52] 

at the beginning it was very difficult 

[00:00-18:52] 

Even for me because 

[00:00-18:52] 

my English was in academy English n- not in the high level you know Yeah Conversing li- like this conversation was to- was tough for me Okay Yeah So right now- So- I can understand 

[00:00-18:52] 

I can say most of everything Yeah yeah Well that that academic I know the words versus actually using it versus the practical side of it com- completely different right Absolutely Yeah I can I know this much Spanish just enough academic so I- I can survive but not enough to have- No no a conversation like this so No Yeah Well we're glad that that you're part of the team and you are fluent in both languages 

[00:00-18:52] 

and and that's great that you've been able to work your way up 

[00:00-18:52] 

so as you look forward you know is there 

[00:00-18:52] 

is there more opportunities that you're hoping to get 

[00:00-18:52] 

within Premier at this current facility Is there opportunities for you there that you're looking for 

[00:00-18:52] 

you mean here in the- 

[00:00-18:52] 

in Metalex 

[00:00-18:52] 

I'm not sure Last year was better 

[00:00-18:52] 

But right now it's a little lower- 

[00:00-18:52] 

than last year Oh it's just it's slow Yeah Yeah it's low now Yeah B- because 

[00:00-18:52] 

some furnace are down- 

[00:00-18:52] 

one is working the other is down Yeah And 

[00:00-18:52] 

we don't have the same activities that as at the beginning Yeah Well I can tell you that across all the metal markets 

[00:00-18:52] 

from what we've seen and and talking to our other customers 

[00:00-18:52] 

the metals market the scrap industry is a little slow right now But that's just part of the the nature of 

[00:00-18:52] 

of the scrap and the metals industry of the commodities They go up they go down just kind of like the stock market does So 

[00:00-18:52] 

you know we're hoping that 

[00:00-18:52] 

this upcoming in 2025 is a is an up year for everybody Yeah So- Okay 

[00:00-18:52] 

what we're hearing from some of the people that we trust is that that 25 is looking to be a better year but- 

[00:00-18:52] 

we'll see what happens so Yeah hopefully We're hoping that it goes up so 

[00:00-18:52] 

wonderful Well 

[00:00-18:52] 

I don't know that I have much else for you What questions do you have for me 

[00:00-18:52] 

Ask me anything You got me captive Okay And 

[00:00-18:52] 

well first of all 

[00:00-18:52] 

saying telling you 

[00:00-18:52] 

excited to to know you here or have this interview 

[00:00-18:52] 

And 

[00:00-18:52] 

I don't know exactly what is the real objective the interview- 

[00:00-18:52] 

if it's just for posting on Facebook or- 

[00:00-18:52] 

yeah or or something more It's it's it's a little bit of both It's I want to get to know some of our employees that I have it because we're new to the company and 

[00:00-18:52] 

there is the the social media part of it But there's also you know we want to to get to know 0 our company right We know that you have a really good relationship with- Oh like Jozell Okay And and and Paula I don't know if you've spoken with Paula yet 

[00:00-18:52] 

but we want I want to get to know some of our field guys as well some of our- That's good the people that work for us 

[00:00-18:52] 

So that when I'm having conversations with Jozell- Yes and they "Oh hey Jeronimo said this." I'm like "Oh yes Jeronimo." Yeah what does what does what does what does Jeronimo need How can we take care of Jeronimo today So 

[00:00-18:52] 

no you know we're I just want to be able to to get to know some of our employees 

[00:00-18:52] 

because the last company that I had 

[00:00-18:52] 

I built it from 0 Yeah So I knew every single employee But when we came into Premier 

[00:00-18:52] 

there was a lot of employees all over multiple states- Exactly and I didn't I didn't know any I know the ones in the office but I don't know the ones out in the field So I want to get that opportunity to meet some of them in the field 

[00:00-18:52] 

because as we're looking at growing the company you know we're gonna need people that we can continue to have grow with us Perfect 

[00:00-18:52] 

you know And when Jozell says "Hey-" Exactly whoever is is good first I I trust Jozell but I want to also get the opportunity to meet some of those people Yeah exactly So I think it's a great a great company Thank you Yeah It's a great company and 

[00:00-18:52] 

most of us are grateful for belong to the company- 

[00:00-18:52] 

and work for the company you know 

[00:00-18:52] 

because we we need a job 

[00:00-18:52] 

We need work We need to increase our experience Yeah We need to do more for your company and doing our best 

[00:00-18:52] 

That's something 

[00:00-18:52] 

amazing- 

[00:00-18:52] 

to know that we are doing our best and that we are working for your company and it's something that I can describe in a a great attitude 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yeah As a as a human we have some weakness and 

[00:00-18:52] 

strong but in my case my I I think my weakness is is to say yes- 

[00:00-18:52] 

to everything or everybody or something I consider is good.And someone ask me "Hey hey Geronimo you can I can do this?" 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yes you can You can I I think it's my my wit- my witness Oh yeah just say yes to everything Yeah yes- Yeah yes to everything Yeah And 

[00:00-18:52] 

sometime you know the stress is part of the the the witness as well 

[00:00-18:52] 

But I consider I am strong as well Yeah 

[00:00-18:52] 

because I'm I'm used to work working under pressure 

[00:00-18:52] 

Yeah working under pressure and do my best- Yeah at the same time Yeah Well we appreciate that and- Yeah you know I can understand that you know wanting to do the best for the company and I I very much appreciate all of you guys that that put in the effort for the company Like that means a lot to us 

[00:00-18:52] 

we feel pressure as well to make sure that make sure that our company is gonna continue to be able to support you guys right We wanna make sure- Absolutely that there's continued opportunities for for our teammates our employees because we don't wanna just hang them out to dry right Like it's it's Because we understand that the people that work for us like they're working to support their families Exactly Right I'm working to support my family You're working to support yours And there's- Absolutely there's there's the That's what we're all aligned on is- Yeah we've got We Let's build something that we can all take care of our families and know that we've got that stability there That's right Yeah So no I I I love hearing that and it's something that we feel pressure as owners of of companies the people that are- Yeah in the office It's like hey we gotta make sure that there's still opportunities for these people as as we move along So- Exactly we're gonna continue to you know search out those opportunities for everybody so that we can continue to provide for them and provide for their families Yeah That's amazing 

[00:00-18:52] 

part of the company that you are em- 

[00:00-18:52] 

employing different kind of people without 

[00:00-18:52] 

distinction I can say color skin color- 

[00:00-18:52] 

short tall Yeah Yeah I'm definitely on the tall side though so Yeah Yeah That's good No we you know everybody has brought value to our team and we're very appreciative of that so 

[00:00-18:52] 

well Geronimo I thank you so very much for your time It was great getting to know you 

[00:00-18:52] 

Thank you 

[00:00-18:52] 

thanks for driving out here on a Sunday afternoon for us Yeah my pleasure talking to you toni- today And 

[00:00-18:52] 

I th- I think it 

[00:00-18:52] 

it is not the the last one No I sure- We can keep in touch I sure hope not No I'll be I'll be back out here again and and we'll catch up again so Perfect All right Thank you very much Thank you