Built to Work: Episode 16: Brett Ekart - United Metals Recycling
- Marissa Watkins
- Mar 18
- 34 min read
00:00-42:23]
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 Welcome to another Built To Work podcast I am here today with Brett Eckhardt the man the myth the legend Brett thanks for being here with me today dude I was about to say you're the man the myth the legend
[00:00-42:23]
I've been enjoying the podcast man Actually sitting down with people that actually do the thing You know they're out there doing the work and so I sit at My ass sits at a desk any more than- you know I used to so Yeah you know Thank you for doing what you guys do No absolutely Listen I think at the end of the day we both know that we've
[00:00-42:23]
we've become keyboard warriors
[00:00-42:23]
desk jockeys and
[00:00-42:23]
a lot of the guys out there doing the real work out there s- sweating getting it dirty and
[00:00-42:23]
Yeah we're just glad to have them on our team Yeah It takes a team man It takes a team of It's like a f- It's like we were just talking about football and talking about sports Like I mean you gotta have the players you gotta have the trainers you gotta have the coaches you gotta have the GM you gotta have the- You know Yeah I mean it it takes all that to make like a football team And maintenance work and w- doing what we're doing ain't no different No No it's not It's it's amazing when you really look at like how much you need on your team like from a corporate and just just throughout the whole company to actually execute their work right I mean start thinking okay you got the back office people you know accounting HR payroll all that sort of jazz You got people out there getting work you got people out there executing the work just from an operations and sales de- And then you've got the actual people doing the work out in the field right Whether it's you know cutting the scrap picking driving a truck you know weighing people in and out Like whatever it is there's a lot of people out there doing a lot You know one thing I've really you know
[00:00-42:23]
tried to impress upon people now and w- we're gonna we're gonna talk about at the Scrap Expo in a couple weeks is there's so many quality third-party companies out there right now that you can use to do things And it really is the it's the growth hack that people are looking for when they're trying to scale a business
[00:00-42:23]
Even in like e- in in Not necessarily in busy times because I think that's when everybody's trying to do it but when you're trying to scale a business in more challenging markets like today if you can not be fully committed to a piece of equipment not be fully committed to an accountant you know 365 days a year not be fully committed to a torch crew or to a labor crew and just say "Hey like I think I'm gonna need this position for a month or 2 or five," and go out there and look for that Like go look for a fractional marketing company a fractional CFO and say "Yeah I don't want to spend you know 10 20 grand you know for a
[00:00-42:23]
full-time marketing person but I you know I can spend X amount and get what I need for my business to grow and flex into that position maybe some day or maybe not." You know Yeah But it allows you that growth It's like that middle stage-
[00:00-42:23]
you know going from like single A double A triple A the majors right It's like you gotta s- take those steps You don't just go straight to the majors I think you gotta like find those hacks and
[00:00-42:23]
I- I just It's something I've been kinda trying to tell people you know You don't have to go all the way from A to Z Like there's a lot of letters in between that you can go you can go to and No Ab- I know that's what you guys have done for us No absolutely It it's been great A- and actually vice versa as well And know we see that sometimes people are just like they need the fractional steps but then too it's like they're they're larger right They've got a thous- you know couple hundred employees or they got tons of yards and they're like "Listen this portion is just giving me trouble." So then they outsource just that portion and say "Hey-" Yeah " this is your problem now." Right And I feel like you're talking about like finding those third-party vendors Like we're a huge proponent of it right We're actually really really lean on our office side but we third party out to an accounting firm right They handle all of our you know all of our invoicing all of our books all the reporting all of our taxes okay Then we we-
[00:00-42:23]
third party to a PEO and that PEO handles all of our payroll all of our benefits administration onboarding employees that sort of thing right Okay Then we sub out to Recycled Media for a lot of our marketing help right Like you guys you guys help all of our marketing-
[00:00-42:23]
website all that sort of stuff So like we're a big proponent of that internally and it's allowed us to scale But the nice thing with it is is that as you scale if you go to a vendor that it's their specialty a third-party contractor they've got so much more capacity for doing whatever scope of work it is that if you grow and you need more demand from them it's no big deal for them to help you out Right Like- Yeah our PEO's got a hundred people on staff so it's like "Oh if we add 50 more people," it doesn't tax them or they can just throw another body onto our account Same with the accountant Yeah They've got like s- 50 60 people on their firm So boom You know it's easy for them No totally Yeah it's it's C- 'cause when you're dealing with somebody they the scale's that their specialty-
[00:00-42:23]
you know Like that's what you're looking for And I think that's where like e-I don't know where you know you plan to go with this podcast but you know my my biggest my biggest thing is you know like trying to encourage people to grow to bet on themselves like-
[00:00-42:23]
to to really you know not be afraid to take that next step But if you are somewhat nervous about hiring that guy or that gal or there is things you can do out there to like test test the role out-
[00:00-42:23]
test the position out and say like "Do I really need that Do I like I think I need it Will I use that you know asset that person that piece of equipment that whatever-" Yeah " at at the rate I think I will Will it really bring the value to my business that I think it will?" And you know I think that there's there's a lot of options out that for nowadays compared to you know what what used to be 20 years ago
[00:00-42:23]
And that's where technology is gonna squeeze the gap- Yeah on this deal It's gonna it's gonna t- take the small guy and allow him to compete with the medium-sized business right Yeah The the big guys are always going to have some inherent value you know Usually it's finance if they finance well they've got great locations they've been around a long time you know multiple facilities to draw from so if one's not really doing well this one's crushing it They can kind of you know you know you know move resources around But I think where the real advantage is gonna be that small guy that can take that's that's strategic in how they operate their business-
[00:00-42:23]
can really now compete with that medium-sized company that you that has had built into having a full-time CFO CFO a full-time C marketing person a full-time this And if those guys don't move quick and adjust like they're gonna you're gonna be having you're gonna have Now you're competing with the big guy and the small guy So you got to be really good-
[00:00-42:23]
to operate in the middle 'cause you you the technology's coming Yeah it is It is
[00:00-42:23]
yeah having having that is a benefit to like leverage and it's huge It's huge So
[00:00-42:23]
I I didn't really know where we were going to go with this today other than "Hey I just want to talk to you Brett." But but you brought something up Absolutely Like "Hey you love to encourage people to grow to get better." Like that's that's a passion of yours We can see it in the way that you you know you live your life you post on social media Like tell me more about that Like why is that such a passion for you and and what are you doing to help facilitate that You know I started small Like I grew up in a small small family business you know and I and I know like like I I was I always knew I was going to be do something within the scrap business right I always knew that But I also knew I had more to give than just be in the scrap business right So like other like other businesses in- intrigued me you know our you know our construction you know
[00:00-42:23]
pipe sales business is intriguing to me Was intriguing to me very early The you know just looking for opportunities to do other things And so I knew that the only way I was going to be able to do that was to kind of get the ship right on the scrap side and then allow that to kind of give me the bandwidth or the you know the cash flow resources to look to really push some of the other stuff I was-
[00:00-42:23]
interested in But I think my passion comes from just knowing having been there and done that like what it took to get there and it really just takes you know someone to keep encouraging you 'Cause motivation comes and it goes but if you always got someone there that's trying to help you and guide you and like push you I feel like there's like a lot of inherent value It's like a good coach Like both you and I played played sports right-
[00:00-42:23]
growing up and we pla- both played at the collegiate level You played
[00:00-42:23]
like
[00:00-42:23]
D1 and and I played D3 And I don't know that there's a lot of difference
[00:00-42:23]
in the coaching It's all intense It's still a job Like you know-
[00:00-42:23]
you got guys that are pushing you at that level And once you've been pushed at that level like you've been really you know just pushed to your breaking point you then look back and you realize like some of those were some of my best days Like- 100% I'm with all my buddies like those 2 days that were just fucking miserable and you thought you were gonna die but you look back now and you're like "Man what I wouldn't give to be in that locker room for like a week." 'Cause those are like some of the most fun times So I I kind of remember that So then I think about like work and I remember like then we go through these painful growth spurts or these painful time periods where something bad happens and we got to dig our way through it And then when I look back on 'em I'm like "Man those were some of the like most fun times with my guys that are like that we're all friends and we all work together." Yeah And so it's like so I want to create more of that right Yeah So it's like I can't do it on the I'm not athletic enough to do it anymore so it's like now I'm like I'm chasing that adrenaline that teamwork that fight that you know double-day grind mentality Yeah Like I'm chasing that every day at work And and it's only because I'm only chasing it 'cause I can look back on the on my college and my high school days and remember how fun it was Yeah And so that's where I think it comes from if I'm being honest It's it's that Yeah No that's true There's 2 things that that made me think first off camp like college football camp r- was the best I mean everybody's like- Yeah "Oh it must've been awful." It's like no it was either 2adays with football or it was lifting and then practice And all I had to do was learn football lift weights eat food and sleep Like that was my entire life Like there was nothing There was 2 weeks of just that and it was- Yeah it it was awesome
[00:00-42:23]
Yeah it's And you got guys I mean it's People around you are getting hurt Yeah People around you are like they showed up to summer They they came back for summer and they look like they put on 20 pounds and they look like they're in great shape like they came to play
[00:00-42:23]
So it's like you have you have guys that took the summer off it looks like and gained 20 pounds of fat and didn't do shit Yeah And it's like you get to see the work that you put in a- and then you get to see like a- as a collective group like what you can be achieved And it's like it's just so many life lessons that come from that And and I I feel like I'm still chasing that every day with you know I got we now have like our own team of of guys and gals here It's like I'm still just chasing that win you know That double-day grind And 'cause those are the best those are the best times like you said No those were And I'm really fortunate in that my business partner Adam him and I played together We were both on the line together We both came into school the same year same recruiting class so we've known each other now Well actually it's
[00:00-42:23]
20 years this month is how long we've known each other And so I'm really fortunate It's like I still got one of my teammates with me that I get to do this with And having gone through those highs and lows playing sports it's like there are some days here where we are just getting kicked in the nuts And you know you're like or it's a season right And you're like "Oh man Like I don't know how we're gonna pull out from this or how this is gonna get better." Yeah But it's like we've gone through these obstacles together before We've overcome these challenges so just keep pushing just keep pushing just keep pushing And then it's like okay we we finally got through right Like we did what we needed to break through Yeah Well it goes I s- I So it's so funny you say that So Tom Neal is a
[00:00-42:23]
a guy that I played college ball with We both
[00:00-42:23]
are Idaho kids from different parts of the state
[00:00-42:23]
We both ended up
[00:00-42:23]
at Eastern as true freshmen together both played middle linebacker And
[00:00-42:23]
we we would Our dorm room was right next to each other so he was 309 and I was 308 or something like that Right And so we became you know best friends in college And
[00:00-42:23]
long story short like h- you know after I was I was k- kind of recruiting him like th- through college like "Hey I got I'm gonna go home I'm gonna go to work family business Like I gotta go figure it out." And I said "You should really come," like and then he ended up meeting a girl and getting married and
[00:00-42:23]
and then a couple years later ended up saying like "Is this job still available?" I was like "Yeah man," I'm like "Come back." And he did he ended up coming back and he still to this day
[00:00-42:23]
w- he works with us and he handles all of our HR all of our insurance all you know plus a bunch of other stuff
[00:00-42:23]
and but it's so awesome to have guys like that that you've been in the trenches with like literally- Yeah in the you know in the middle of a shit sandwich- Yeah and you're like "Oh man." And you can look back on some of those stories and the crazy times you had but and it reminds you of like yeah Like this is hard That was hard But we survived and we're still here and we just kinda you know got through it Yeah
[00:00-42:23]
so that's funny you say that 'cause I'm in that similar- Yeah position Yeah No Adam's Adam's awesome Quick football story if I can take a side
[00:00-42:23]
Yeah let's do it So it was just practice There was one defensive lineman that nobody really liked always running his mouth and I typically didn't face him but I'd switch sides for that practice 'cause I think that g- that guy was hurt It was like my junior year My hand slipped up in the play I knocked his helmet off on accident and
[00:00-42:23]
Uh-huh he took that as a personal affront so he started punching at me like hitting my face mask but I'm I'm fully geared up face mask mouthpiece I'm like- Yeah "Okay it's whatever." So I He didn't have a face mask on so I returned the favor And
[00:00-42:23]
Yeah he really started going after me And I'll tell you what the first person that was in there to like knock him off of me- and then start going after him was Adam And - you know I was like "Dude what happened?" Then Adam had a face mask on and his helmet on and he hit Adam so then Adam starts going after him and he's like "That's my boy."
[00:00-42:23]
I love it Yeah so I was like "That guy's got my back." And then yeah I was a bouncer in college too so eh you know all- So was I yeah definitely all great linemen should be but there was you know definitely points where I had to clean some people out You know clean out the bar a little bit and you know- Yeah Adam would be there as a as a patron and I'd look around and- he's he's just standing there behind me like this like making sure somebody's buddies didn't cut at you and hit me in the back of the head or something like that Yeah I was like "Yeah." Like he's y- you know we got each other's backs there as linemen so it's
[00:00-42:23]
it's it's really good Yeah it's part of the it's part of like the camaraderie- Yeah like the teamwork right And I think thatI think you're
[00:00-42:23]
some of your best I mean there's so many leadership styles right Like some want to lead from the front They're alphas They wanna be the guy and and they want you to know they're the guy right And there's other guys like that played team s- sports to understand how that works and like kind of the dynamics of it and they kinda wanna lead with like a team-first attitude And I'm not saying one way is better than the other I just know which way I'm the most comfortable with right
[00:00-42:23]
'Cause that's where I came from So you know that's that's what I like to do And and so going back to like I'm an encourager Like I I that's why I like coaching and whatever else Like I like to encourage people push themselves a little farther than maybe they thought they were capable of right And I think that's maybe more of a coaching-type mentality of like "Hey," like "You're you're you're capable of building that business You just gotta be willing to take the risk." Yeah "Like you're but you're fully capable just like I was fully capable." I just needed kind of some people to nudge me along or help me do it so I you know feel felt confident I could go buy that building or do this and fix it 'cause I had enough good people around me that I I knew we could get it done And so I think that's why I'm that way is because I know that it's worked for me And so I'm like "Hey," I guess I'm evangelical when it comes to that part of it is like "Hey go," like "Go do Go go I'm telling you you you know you might make some mistakes but you're not gonna you know they're not gonna take your birthday away." That's true That's true No I love that I love that you're an encourager
[00:00-42:23]
when I would look at that for me I'd say I'm you know I do I do want to encourage my team as well but I'm I feel like I'm I'm a builder Like I want to I want to to build something I want to build a system I want to build a process I want to build a team so that we can build a business And
[00:00-42:23]
you know sometimes you're surrounded by great teammates that can help you build and execute that And
[00:00-42:23]
you know sometimes the challenge is leading them right right How do you correctly lead somebody And you know you might not might not always know but you got to figure out how do you how do you coach them up How do you how do you encourage them so you're not just breaking them down and beating them all the time Because- Yeah you and I were talking we both coached as well as
[00:00-42:23]
played and if you just hammer on somebody the whole time you're just gonna break their spirit and you're not gonna get anything out of them Yeah somebody just turned me on to this book and they're like "I can't believe you haven't read that."
[00:00-42:23]
but it was it's called
[00:00-42:23]
How to Win Friends and Influence People- Wow and it's like by Andrew Carnegie I can't believe you haven't read that And so I've been No And and people are like "How can you how can you have not read that book?" And I was like "Well I didn't even know," it's like it was written in like 1939 or- Yeah something Like it was written a long time ago right Way back And so I've been reading it part of doing like my s- the my latest round of 75 Hard And I was like and I love it Like there's a lot of just like you know I'm So now I've my boys they're always trying to I got a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old My 15-year-old I bring down here and I have him work in the recycling center
[00:00-42:23]
and it's really good for him And then my 12-year-old like he's about that age where now I can start bringing him down here maybe this next summer-
[00:00-42:23]
'cause he'll be in 6 he's in 6th grade now Yeah So I kind of want him to be around 7thish grade before I put him with the general public Yeah You know d- handling cans and doing whatever So long story short he's like always wanting to find ways to make money and do this and I was like "I'm gonna pay you to read this book," right And he's like "How much?" And I said "I don't know yet." I said "But when I'm done with it I'm gonna pay you you know a buck a page or 50 cents a page or something." I don't know
[00:00-42:23]
I said "But you gotta read it write a report You can't ChatGPT the fucking CliffsNotes version." Like "You gotta like read the book You gotta underline it figure out like what makes sense," because there's so many good just life lessons and like how to treat people and how to deal with people in it
[00:00-42:23]
I've really enjoyed it I'm surprised I've that I haven't discovered it up until now But I I've now I've just been telling everybody I'm like "You gotta read this book You gotta read this book." And people are like "Oh I read that book long time ago." Yeah re-read it I'm like "Well read it again." Like yeah it's good It's really good so Yeah No that that's that's a good one It's it's a classic I probably do need to re-read it It's been a long time I I do a lot of Audible so I don't always- Yeah get the physical book But like I'm driving you know I know you drive around a lot I've got like a 30 35 minute drive you know in and out of the office every day so I'm always Audible or you know go exercise on the bike or when I'm lifting weights or something like that It's like just put on a book and go No no p- books and podcasts are like my- Yeah my jam Like I really I'll I'll listen to books I'll listen to podcasts A lot of podcasts
[00:00-42:23]
just 'cause there's a lot of good information out there and it kinda I'm not committed to like a 15-hour book Yeah You know
[00:00-42:23]
but on my walks lately is when I've been listening to books
[00:00-42:23]
Just because it's like got to kill an hour like all right Yeah
[00:00-42:23]
so I've been listening to Illusions of it's like the history of vaccines like where vaccines came from and- Oh Dissolving Illusions Dissolving Illusions that's exactly what it is Yeah ******* once Yeah Yeah I li- I would listen to that
[00:00-42:23]
Aaron Rodgers podcast on Joe Rogan and he was talking about it And that's where I picked it up and I wrote it down when he was talking about it I was "Oh I'm going to listen to that book one of these days." And what an interesting dude it's- Dude Oh it's kind of make I don't know I don't know whether to be mad or sad or like like I'm like this is another one I tell people I'm like "Go read it." Like it's worth listening to where this shit comes from you know It's it's worth a listen No don't get me going down that rabbit hole or people are definitely gonna definitely gonna I won't do that to you But I just I do say go go make your own opinion Right Like I'm a big big proponent of do the research- make your like it like it goes back to even leadership There's a lot of ways to lead I'm not saying which way is the best I'm saying which way works for me might not work for you or vice versa But I also think there's a lot of like ways to think about things And I think you should go do your own research before you just buy into what Joe what Joe Blow says And if maybe you go look at what you know Johnny says and Joe says and Bill says and then then then you now can make an informed opinion about you know how you want to you know live your life or how you want to think about things Yeah no I I think you're you're spot on with a lot of that There's there's so many people out there that are scared to continue to learn and educate They just take what they hear at face value So
[00:00-42:23]
when you talk about leadership
[00:00-42:23]
leadership styles you know one that I I try to emulate I don't know that I always do it well but's definitely a goal is servant leadership right That's a very biblical-
[00:00-42:23]
leadership style And- Yeah there's there's so much
[00:00-42:23]
benefit to that so much that can be gained from leading in that in that way that you know people will you know will execute while you're taking care of other people You're showing them you care and then they'll reciprocate with with that loyalty So what's your definition when you say servant leadership Like describe when you when you think about it like what does that mean to you Well I mean so first you know servant leadership you know from what I've learned is based on Jesus in the Bible and the way that and the way that he led
[00:00-42:23]
So you know that is you know putting others ahead of yourself and taking care of them
[00:00-42:23]
and so if I'm going to put it in like a business context I'm going to say okay I'm the boss The people that work below me are effectively my customers right So how can I take care of my customers below me How can I serve them so that they can succeed and do well Because if I-
[00:00-42:23]
can take care of them and they can succeed they can then interface with our customers our actual customers and d- do the same thing because if if my internal customers which is my team have everything that they need to succeed then there's nothing inhibiting them from being able to serve our customers to the highest level possible Makes sense You know when we bought this company people were like "Hey this is a real struggle This communication is a struggle," right Like here's a it's a small one but it was like hey our supply orders right Like if we need to get new torches new PPE like like there is a breakdown on something like it's it'll take 30 days just to get it from like "Hey we need this" to it's getting ordered right And so I'm like okay- Yeah I hear my team's having a problem my own internal team I built a system to now where it goes from order submitted like the guy that like says internally "Hey I need this order" to order placed is less than 48 hours Okay Right Yeah The guy out in the field is not the guy ordering it He's saying "Hey I'm see this problem." I'll send it back to the office for them to order the supplies So it's simple as that right I'm I'm serving my internal customer I'm getting with them what they need I'm making them feel important And I think your job or your role evolves as your company you know grows right Yeah And I think when you're at the very beginning you're it's I tell people you're very hands-on with all the things that you do You're you know you can operate the crane the material handler you can drive the loader Some users I never had got my CDL but as soon as you you got to drive the truck
[00:00-42:23]
And there's just a lot of different things but as you grow and as you you know as you grow more roles in your business you grow more avenues of growth and different different positions that are needed to keep keep growing You know I've always said like and it's I think it probably falls in line with servant leadership is I my really my role is I always say I'm the chief obstacle remover Like my goal is just to get sit out of your way so you can do your job better right Like what do you need You need a better quicker material handler You need you know another one so you can have one guy doing this You need this much more space You need So it's like then you got to decide like A what you can afford what makes sense what you can kind of you know finagle here or do there or maybe this person isn't right for that role and I'm going to you know give you some help from here But it's like your job like you you become like you're just out there trying to clear the way
[00:00-42:23]
Like I don't necessarily do the task anymore I'm just saying what do you need to be successful And I'll tell you what kind of- what version of that I can do for you right I can maybe like do this or I can do this or there's nothing I can do right now my hands are tied Yeah ButI always feel like there n- that's your job anymore es- as a builder is you're just trying to remove people's obstacles And then the other job is to see the vision like 5 years from today 3 years from today one year from today where you're trying to get to so you can kind of give people the direction to go Say "This is where I'm trying to get to Now what do you need to get there And then I'm gonna get start getting clearing the brush." Yeah No you're you're absolutely right It's
[00:00-42:23]
it's interesting to to look at that Talking about that business growth right Yeah you used to be able to go out there and you were operating the the crane material handlers the whatever equipment you guys have out there And when I had my last business it was a startup It was from 0 right So I could do it all right I was out there and I was- Yeah you know it was property management right I was out there walking properties I was taking photos for listings I was going to court for evictions I or I was I was out there like putting moving people in and doing all that sort of stuff Well as it progresses you get more and more removed from some of those daily activities What's been interesting- Yeah for me is buying this company into this industry right Like I never grew up running a torch right I didn't start this- Yeah company from zero and have to be out there doing the torching and kitting out the PPE for the first you know number of employees and stuff like that So it's been kind of interesting coming in and being like "Okay so this is what we're doing This is what we need Okay how can I continue to grow and support you guys even though I haven't done that," right And maybe when you've started one of your businesses or added a service line on you're like "Hey you don't have a your CDL," right You're like- Yeah "I understand what trucks do and how they're valuable- Yeah "and how we can leverage them for money I can't help you 'cause you blew a water pump," right Like "I can't- Yeah really got to change it on the side of the road I can I can call a tow truck," right Yeah Yeah 100% So And you can kind of develop some sort of like a I don't know how
[00:00-42:23]
what the best word for it but like almost like an imposter syndrome right Yeah Where like I've never had a CDL Like I can drive a truck
[00:00-42:23]
But I I've never driven one like delivered a load or anything like that And I'm not a great mechanic so I can't fix a water pump or a tranny or you know a wheel seal or whatever I'm sure it could be taught but I just- Yeah I've never done it
[00:00-42:23]
so you are kind of like when you when you don't know the ins and outs of it then it goes like you probably have to lean more into your server servant leadership or you have to lear- learn lean more into your obstacle remover
[00:00-42:23]
leadership style and say "Okay like I don't know the battle you're fighting I need you to better explain to me the battle you're fighting so I can do what I know how to do you know which is fli- you know flex vendor relationships
[00:00-42:23]
whatever else I need to do to kind of get you in a position where you" Because you but but it takes it takes a little more like humbling and I think it's a little more like you got to take your ego you know way back or no- make it nonexistent because you just don't know what the truck driver knows right Yeah You may know the business aspects of it you know for to to run a trucking company you know like
[00:00-42:23]
say I do But I don't know what it's like to drive a truck you know Yeah Just like w- in your standpoint you know I can see where you kind of had to like almost humble yourself get yourself back to a point of like "Okay I don't know what it's like to run a cutting torch all day," you know But I know that's a hard job I know that a lot of people need that job They need that in their yard So what can I do to find guys that can do that and then support them so then I can build the business on the back side of it right Yeah Absolutely And so I could see that being a challenge I mean a challenging piece But it's probably like a great 'Cause I feel like if you can do that if you can build this business that you g- that you and your partner have bought and you're building to this day then it kind of gives you it's like doing something really hard in life Like once you've done it you're like "Oh I could do that." You've do- once you do that it probably opens up your like Down the road if y- if you end up deciding you want to do something different like you kind of pivoted from property management to this it like makes you like gives you a level of confidence that not a lot of people are gonna have Because you'll be like "Yeah I know exactly what it's going to take to learn something from scratch- Yeah make it work and build it," you know And that's a skill that I don't think a lot of people have Yeah It's it's
[00:00-42:23]
yeah It's definitely something where you have to be good at overcoming obstacles and that persistence and you know I'll tell you it took us a year to really feel comfortable talking about our business right Like we bought it and then we- Yeah two and a half months later we're going to consumer nights with people like "What do you do?" And I'm like "We do stuff in scrapyards." Right Right Like you know and it's like that was- Yeah yeah It's like "Okay yeah we do
[00:00-42:23]
we do torturing we do labor." "Okay," and then they ask us a few questions they kind of go on And now it's like okay now you ask me "Hey wuh Colin what do you do?" All right "We own a scrap services company and really what we do at the end of the day is we solve your problems in scrapyards that you're having," right Like "We're not-" Yeah " we're not just a labor provider," right "We're not just a a temp service labor provider We're we're more than that," right "We're you know we we recruit specialized people specialized knowledge specialized skills under your yard," right "And what does that mean?" "What does that look like?" And I could go on and on and it's not just like "Yeah we do we do labor," 'cause then it's like "Oh." Yeah "You're not ." So so it just you know it's understanding Like it took us a year at least to really feel confident in understanding what we did as a business and get our minds wrapped around it and then to start pursuing growth within the business But yeah now it's like okay I totally changed industries right first off I didn't know anything about property management I started that business from 0 so I at least learned it on the way up right I wasn't born into real estate I just started buying it Yeah I started buying real estate and I was like "This will solve my own problem 'cause then I'll be able to hire someone to manage my properties which I'm tired of doing." Boom it blew up- Yeah a very large property management company So then I got this one So it's like okay maybe this company is just gets up and running and we've got all these CEOs and COOs and stuff and it's like "Man let's go buy another company," a totally different unrelated industry right Like- bottled water I don't know But it's like okay now I can go over there and I can I can learn this industry as well So I'm not I'm not scared to to jump into this So you got to give yourself credit for that That's not like an easy you know mo- I don't know that a lot of people would be willing to do that Like and then I think you know that's why I I encourage people to do things is like you don't really know what you're capable of if you just but if you if you're willing to try and you're willing to check your ego at the door and you're willing to learn-
[00:00-42:23]
there's a lot of things you can do I mean to build a property management company from from scratch right And to to to do this I mean you got to give yourself and your partner some credit and say "Yeah I mean we're pretty capable people," you know "We run a pretty capable business," which I say the reason that that's important is when you're dealing with other business owners like the ih that's why I'm like I've always been one like even with you I'm like "Tell your story," like tell- Yeah Because I think the importance of that is you're telling people like "I may not know what your problem is but I'm gonna figure it out 'cause I figure out I my my specialty and our company's specialty is we figure problems out-" Yeah " and then we don't know about and we solve it and we figure out how to make it work," right Yeah And I think that's like your super power like that's your strength is you know how to take something you don't know a lot about and figure it out right Yeah And as a business like if that's the value you're providing is say I walk into your your shredder and you need pickers and I don't know what they're picking and I don't know that job I mean you do now- Yeah but at the beginning you didn't right Yeah And say "That's what that's what you need I'll figure out how to get the people to to do that and we'll do it," right And that's what you're really looking for with a business partner or business relationship you know I I mean
[00:00-42:23]
maybe not partners on the financial sense but you're partners 'cause you're doing business together and you're just looking for someone that's willing to go down the road with you and help you solve the problem 'Cause that's all we are as business owners we're just problem solvers We're just trying to solve problems every day and make them the least painful as possible and create the most opportunity throughout the process Yeah And so if you got a vendor or someone you're doing business with that that aligns with you that that's good at that like you're gonna win Ab- You're gonna find ways to win together Absolutely Yeah and it's great when those relationships can happen as well One other thing that I like to encourage you
[00:00-42:23]
thinking about growing your team is is how can your team internally help grow the company right Like we recently hired somebody on our team
[00:00-42:23]
Ryan Nulty used to be the
[00:00-42:23]
safety outreach guy for
[00:00-42:23]
for Reema Isry and- Okay he's from Indy and that's where we're headquartered and he knew someone on our in our company they've been friends and he said "Hey," like "this position's not going to exist anymore." Like "What can we do?" It's like "Hey Ryan come on to our team." So now he's our safety director right And it's like- Yeah " this is great," but then he had this idea He's like "Well hey I could offer you know safety consulting training for equipment 'cause I've done that at other companies" 'cause he used to do that when he worked in yards right He grew up in a bunch of yards that you probably know around the Indianapolis area
[00:00-42:23]
Indiana area
[00:00-42:23]
So now we've we secured our first con- contract doing that for another company right We're doing daily train- Yeah like day rate training right He's gonna go out there for 2 days he's gonna train them on
[00:00-42:23]
pieces of equipment and do safety orientations for them right So it's like there we go We solved a problem for another company but we encouraged one of our teammates Like "Hey if you've got an idea you can make some money We'll take care of you you take care of us." So Yeah Well and it brings and it and it allows them some flexibility in like their day-to-day activities too right Yeah It allows them to bring some more value to the table for the business
[00:00-42:23]
'Cause eh I mean we we our our one of one of our
[00:00-42:23]
pipe sales guys that helped me build that pipe business his his name is Joe Ross and and Joe Ross is damn good at what he does And Joe Ross has always lived by the mentality is if you make the boss more money then you'll make more money He's like "You want to" I mean "If you got a good one if you got a good boss-" Yeah you got a good owner if you make him more money you'll make more money And and he's and so he's like "I'm just out here selling pipe bombs." I was like I mean He's like And now he's a salesman and he's good at his job but he's like And he's and he's done really well for himself right Because I recognize he has the ability
[00:00-42:23]
to do his job really well and he's made us money And I'd like to think he's made money But there's it's no different if you give the guys on your team the opportunity to do more and to make the business more valuable then if you're an owner worth your weight in salt you're gonna take care of those guys right Yeah And it allows them some flexibility in like their day-to-day and their position and and and not the same old you know Groundhog Day every single day But it goes back to like what I think like your guys' superpower is is you're solving problems right And you're doing it in a way that allows people to flex into those positions And as a business owner I know like we're big enough now that Tom the guy I was telling you that I put the cultural with-
[00:00-42:23]
he does a lot of our safety meetings He directs them he coordinates them Because if if you're you know OSHA and you know like what you what your requirements are
[00:00-42:23]
even from an insurance standpoint Like "Hey we need to address these concerns We need to make sure that our guys are trained on PPE and
[00:00-42:23]
you know electrical," whatever it is like whatever your business is But you gotta have all the safety I's dotted and T's crossed and whatever else Yeah So if you can third party that you know it's no different than getting an outside company to do your VIN DOT inspections right- Yeah for your equipment Say "Yeah I wanna get these all done I don't my shop guys are busy I don't wanna take away their time you know from from working on a piece of equipment I need I'll just get somebody else to do the inspections." I think the third party you know safety training because it allows them A ) it keeps you you're investing in your people- Yep trying to keep them safe But B ) you're also checking those you know those boxes for your insurance company for the for your
[00:00-42:23]
your government What what would it be It depends on OSHA or- Yeah Everybody's got different DEQ over here for us Right
[00:00-42:23]
DEQ of Idaho So you're also checking those boxes as well and not dedicating somebody's time every day to doing that Yep Which maybe only amounts to 10 hours a week- Yep you know or 20 and then they're doing whatever else with their 20 So Yeah exactly No it it it allows for everybody to grow That's great I
[00:00-42:23]
that's the first time I've heard of that
[00:00-42:23]
Yeah Well it's something new we came up with From you guys yeah Yeah he's like "I'll go in and I'll train them and I'll do And I'll have a group of 6 people I'll do half a day on a skid steer half a day on a material handler for that group Next day I'll do it with another group of guys." Right 'Cause you can only take so many people at a time But you know it's it's 2 days worth of well of work We're benefiting our customer because that's something they don't have to worry about doing taking their safety guy's or their trainer's time Just say "Just call Premier they'll do it." You know it might be a once a month thing but you know if we can build that to where we've got 5 customers that need that once a month that that starts to add up And you know he's created a new business line Yeah And like you've said
[00:00-42:23]
he thinks if he makes the boss more money well he'll make more money So Yeah Well and I
[00:00-42:23]
the other thing I like about that too is guys get tired of hearing
[00:00-42:23]
each other's voices right
[00:00-42:23]
Or the same guy gives the same safety meeting And it's it's if you and maybe you do give the other 4 meetings a month right Or three and you bring in somebody once a month to just give you a different outlook or a different take "Or I've seen this in these yards over here and you guys should you know take a look at this and and pay attention to this." Right I think there's value in in that that component of it too It's just a new a new voice in the room that maybe knows some things that you hadn't that hadn't been brought up before Or it it comes from a different landscape a different perspective that kind of gives you sh- sheds a little light on something right Yeah And so everybody can learn from that Yeah No that's that's very true So well Brett I wanna I wanna wrap this up I don't wanna be
[00:00-42:23]
cognizant of your time
[00:00-42:23]
any last parting thoughts Any motivation for us as we go out to to conquer the world and bring other people along for the ride Yeah I I I really like your style man You're a problem solver and I think that the it's it's a learned trait too Like it's it's people are capable of of doing what you're what you're doing as far as learning something new and building from that right And I and I I got a lot of respect from you for that But I also think that people are more capable than they than they give themselves credit for in a lot of things right So like take the risk Like go try Like the- America needs more fucking builders We need more doers We need less people waiting for the government to give them something and people that are willing to go get it 'Cause there's a reason why so many people are still trying to immigrate to this country and it's because it's still the fucking best place to build things Absolutely Like and it's still the most opportunity You're never gonna go anywhere else in this world that's got more opportunity that stares ev- all of us in the face every single day And it's almost like the kid who has Christmas once a week Like you don't appreciate it right Until you leave and then you're like "Oh man." Like "That was nice," you know Yeah So you there's a reason why people are trying to come here is because the opportunity's out there So if you're not taking advantage of it that's on you Yeah Like that's I mean I I don't feel sorry for you But the ones that are out there like I'm just here to encourage you and and and appreciate you know your efforts So Yeah No that's great That's inspiring So I appreciate it Brett I feel like we need to put
[00:00-42:23]
an American flag and some bald eagle screeches like right when you're done Dude I was sh- when you come here when you come back to Idaho wait 'til you see our our podcast room I put a big American flag a bald eagle- Nice an F16 jet Like I got it all man Scrap in the background Love it I had a local guy come in and like paint a mural and it's dude it's awesome That's great It's awesome You'll appreciate it All right Well hey I appreciate your time today Brett All right man Have a good one Likewise Appreciate you sir
Comments