1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Soften your senses. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,040 Ways to become a better speaker, listener and follower. 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,800 This episode brought to you by Delmarva Veteran Builders. 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:21,680 Learn more at DelmarvaVeteranBuilders.com. 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,200 All right everyone, thank you so much for joining Did You Know? 6 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,640 The ESCO HVAC Podcast. 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:31,280 So we spent a lot of time talking about the shortage of labor in our industry and we also 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:36,480 talk about how wonderful of an experience it is to be in the trades and actually do 9 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,160 things with your hands and to make a difference in the world that we live in. 10 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:44,080 So we're going to take a slightly different twist on this and we're going to spend some 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,300 time with Chris Eccleston and Jenny Schroen. 12 00:00:46,300 --> 00:00:47,300 How are you folks today? 13 00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:48,300 Doing great. 14 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:49,300 Thanks for having us. 15 00:00:49,300 --> 00:00:55,400 Oh, this is such an honor for us because it expands what we think of for education in 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,120 the HVAC and refrigeration industry and just the trades in general. 17 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,240 So we want to spend some time talking about your book, Grit Leads to Greatness. 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,920 It's a children's book that is now available to the industry and I was turned on to do 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,400 it by some fellow podcasters and I stopped for a minute and went, man, we talk about 20 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:18,680 this all the time how as an entire industry, as a group of industries, the trades, we don't 21 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:24,680 do a good enough job marketing what we do to hands that like to work on stuff at young 22 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:25,680 ages. 23 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:26,680 Right. 24 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,680 I mean, I think back about our own experiences. 25 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,320 You know, I always tell someone if you like working on bicycles, you're going to make 26 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:37,840 a dandy HVAC technician, but it could also be if you like working on bicycles, you could 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,160 be a dandy electrician. 28 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,080 You could be a dandy construction person. 29 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,080 Do you like working with wood blocks? 30 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,040 You like working with Legos and you know, any person that can check that box can have 31 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:49,840 a successful career doing that. 32 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,240 And they go, wait a minute. 33 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,800 I mean, I can have a successful career tearing things apart and fixing things. 34 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:56,800 Yeah. 35 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:57,800 Right. 36 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:58,800 Make a mess. 37 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,000 Make a mess before you make it look pretty. 38 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Absolutely. 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:08,520 So let's talk a little bit about your adventure in this because this is really a cool combination. 40 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:13,400 This is not just, you know, let's spend some time talking about what we need to have in 41 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:14,400 the industry. 42 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,200 We're talking about two professionals that come from not just the contracting side, but 43 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,800 also from the content development side that got together and went, you know, if we do 44 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,260 this together, we can paint a really cool picture. 45 00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:29,840 So tell us how this picture started and learn a little bit more about grit and greatness. 46 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:30,840 Sure. 47 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:31,840 Well, thanks. 48 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:32,840 I'll go ahead and go first. 49 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,220 I'm a general contractor. 50 00:02:35,220 --> 00:02:37,200 Our company is called Delmarva Veteran Builders. 51 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,080 And for the listeners out there, that's Delaware, Maryland, Virginia. 52 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,920 We're a peninsula about two hours east of Washington, DC. 53 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:46,600 We've been in business for about 10 years. 54 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,480 We're a commercial general contractor. 55 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:51,360 So we do a little bit of everything. 56 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,440 We're a small, small business, have about 20 folks on the team. 57 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:02,880 And a few years ago, we just kind of saw that the workforce issue was changing. 58 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:03,880 It was aging. 59 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:08,440 I kind of started to wake up to the realization, man, like in five years, this is going to 60 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,280 be a really, really tough, hard time finding folks to just do the work. 61 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:17,080 So I kind of saw it as it was going to be affecting our business. 62 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:23,360 And then it was going to affect our subcontractors who probably weren't really thinking about 63 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,360 that. 64 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:25,360 Not preparing that far ahead. 65 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:26,360 No. 66 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,960 And so I said, man, we've really got to do something about this. 67 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,320 And I'm not really sure what it was at the time, but we started sitting in rooms and 68 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,800 brainstorming. 69 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:40,640 And so that's kind of how we ended up with the idea of a children's book. 70 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:47,320 So it's been a fun ride, and we've learned a lot, met a lot of great people. 71 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,120 We're talking to contractors now all over the country. 72 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,280 We've talked to some folks up in Canada and Guam. 73 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,000 So it's starting to trickle out. 74 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:56,400 Starting to spread out a little bit. 75 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:57,400 Yeah. 76 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:02,720 And I mean, it's interesting because we're hearing the same message that it's not just 77 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:04,960 a United States issue. 78 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:10,600 It kind of seems to be international so far from what we've been hearing. 79 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:11,800 That's very true. 80 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,700 We see the same thing. 81 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:21,240 So about five years ago, Jenny came to work with us and hired Jenny to rebrand the company 82 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:26,120 to really look at making us kind of unique and different in the marketplace and just 83 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,320 kind of putting ourselves out there. 84 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:29,320 So Jenny. 85 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:30,320 Yeah. 86 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:31,320 I'll jump in a little bit. 87 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:32,320 Yeah. 88 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:33,320 So you heard from Chris. 89 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:34,480 He's in the construction business. 90 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,760 He's been doing this for a decade or two decades at this point. 91 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:39,760 We'll go with a decade. 92 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:40,760 Okay. 93 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:41,760 All right. 94 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:42,760 A decade safe. 95 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:43,760 Yeah. 96 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:44,760 Yeah. 97 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:46,280 So I've always been a creative growing up. 98 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:48,440 I'm a graphic designer by trade. 99 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:53,360 I lived in Florida and moved all over the US over time, but I ended up moving from California 100 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,360 and married a widower who had four kids. 101 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,640 And I moved to Salisbury, Maryland where we are now. 102 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,920 And I never had heard of this place, but love conquers all. 103 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:05,960 And I moved here and kind of just started a new life and just trying to get my bearings 104 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:06,960 here. 105 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:07,960 But it was really cool. 106 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:12,400 I got through friends and they eventually invited me to come work at what we call DVB, 107 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:13,620 but Delmarva Veteran Builders. 108 00:05:13,620 --> 00:05:19,200 So like Chris said, Chris already had, he's really into marketing. 109 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:24,560 He's really into just thinking outside the box, like we'll say over and over again probably. 110 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,000 But I kind of understood his ideas. 111 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:29,800 I really like to look at things differently. 112 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,000 So we started this whole rebrand thing. 113 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:34,800 This kind of started in 2019. 114 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:40,820 For me, as I sit here in the office and I hear a lot of our project managers, our superintendents 115 00:05:40,820 --> 00:05:46,960 are going in and out, I'm always hearing about all the challenges that happen and the problem 116 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,360 solving that happens every single day. 117 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:56,160 And I'm sitting here amazed at how things can go wrong and how we have to fix it all 118 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:57,160 the time. 119 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,840 And it's stuff that can be completely out of your control. 120 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:01,560 You have a million moving parts. 121 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,080 And it's like, man, this is not for the faint of heart for sure. 122 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,800 But it's also, like I said, super rewarding to see the things you put all of your hard 123 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,800 work into actually come to fruition. 124 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:17,900 And they're buildings that people need and use for decades. 125 00:06:17,900 --> 00:06:19,200 So I thought that was really cool. 126 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,480 And I really wanted to try to present our company in a way that's more about our people. 127 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,600 Chris has always been, it's all about the people that work here. 128 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,220 And obviously that's super important. 129 00:06:28,220 --> 00:06:32,200 So I was looking through different words, ways to describe who we are and the word grit 130 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:33,200 kept coming up. 131 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:34,600 And obviously we're a veteran based company. 132 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:35,600 Chris is a Navy veteran. 133 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:36,600 Awesome. 134 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:37,600 Congratulations, Chris. 135 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:38,600 Thank you. 136 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,280 Yeah, very, very, thank you for your service, Chris. 137 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:45,360 Obviously very proud of, I wish I were a veteran, but I really love to honor that service mindset. 138 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:51,400 So we did a rebrand and I ended up coming up with a tagline for the company. 139 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:52,880 It was called grit leads to greatness. 140 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,480 And that kind of came from thinking about more of a battle cry of not just like in construction, 141 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,360 but what can our company kind of present to the world? 142 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,280 What can we kind of encourage people to think about as they go through life? 143 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:10,360 And so we believe grit is obviously, you can use that in your everyday life. 144 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,320 People can use it regardless if you're in the construction industry, but it's something 145 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,400 that makes you, it can make you great by going through the challenges and obstacles. 146 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:25,520 And Chris has always been a real fan of stoicism and he's had me read books and I really got 147 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:26,520 into it as well. 148 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,360 And I really liked a lot of the, just a lot of the stories were about how people look 149 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:35,680 at challenges and challenges are not something to run away from, but to like see how you 150 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,240 can use it to better your life. 151 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,440 Embrace and develop yourself. 152 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:41,440 Right. 153 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,320 So we did an ad campaign. 154 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:49,520 We used all of our different employees and we made them look heroic and we used them. 155 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:50,520 We used them. 156 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:56,400 The example of World War II, how not only military, but civilians came together in the 157 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,440 U S and we all worked together, men, women, children. 158 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:05,000 And we really, it was something like we were challenged against something evil force and 159 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,760 we were able to do something incredible and it was really inspiring. 160 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,800 And so I love history like Chris does as well. 161 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:18,120 So we did these really cool World War II propaganda style posters and it became a success in our 162 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,920 community and then people really understood what we were saying. 163 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:27,540 So that was kind of the beginning of where we get to talk about the book. 164 00:08:27,540 --> 00:08:32,800 You know, the thing that I love about this is the way that you build that and you compare 165 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,840 that because we have to use history to be able to evaluate the future. 166 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:37,840 Right. 167 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:38,840 Yeah. 168 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,600 I mean, huge history fanatic myself, especially World War II. 169 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:49,520 And so if we look at history in general and we see repeats of trends, you know, we can 170 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:56,200 see that when, when we start promoting hard work and determination and exactly that grit 171 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:00,520 in what can come out of grit, that greatness that can come out of it, we've kind of set 172 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,600 that on the sideline for a couple of generations. 173 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:04,600 Right. 174 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:05,600 You're right. 175 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:11,840 And it was that time period where as a nation, as a world, we do things together and we have 176 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:13,640 greatness out of that. 177 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,600 And so we had that technological development for a couple of generations. 178 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:23,040 And then that labor, that mechanical contribution fell to the wayside. 179 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,160 A lot of our trade programs got removed from the schools. 180 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:34,120 A lot of that ambition to do something for the world with your hands has escaped where 181 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:35,120 we are. 182 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:40,680 And I do believe, and I promote this on almost every show, that we are in a transitional 183 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:41,680 period. 184 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,000 I call this like the evolution of education in our industry, that we are now approaching 185 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:51,040 a period where the world will have to come together to make changes. 186 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,580 Whether we are a proponent or against global warming, it's real and it's making changes 187 00:09:56,580 --> 00:09:58,260 in everyone's life. 188 00:09:58,260 --> 00:10:00,040 How do we combat that together? 189 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,960 How do we make a change for the world? 190 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,320 Not just for global warming, but just for advancements in technology and structure and 191 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:08,600 infrastructure and development. 192 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,020 If you don't have those mechanical skills and if you don't have those construction 193 00:10:12,020 --> 00:10:16,640 skills and those building skills and electrical skills, mechanical skills and plumbing skills, 194 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:17,960 we're not going to go anywhere. 195 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:24,160 So as a country and as a world, it's crucial for us to reestablish who we are and what 196 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,960 we can do with our hands. 197 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,280 Technology is in a shift. 198 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,520 We're all seeing things that are changing technology. 199 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:32,520 AI. 200 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,800 We're using artificial intelligence to replace people's jobs. 201 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,120 Well, what do those people do? 202 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,360 Well, have they ever thought about putting their hands to use and actually making a difference 203 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:44,360 in the world? 204 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,440 That's where this book comes into play. 205 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:52,120 So let's talk about some of those principles that you put into this book and how they grow 206 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,920 on these young children as they move into adults. 207 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:59,440 One thing that was really important to me was to make construction heroic in the eyes 208 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:00,560 of children. 209 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:03,260 And so I think that was one thing that was really important to us. 210 00:11:03,260 --> 00:11:09,960 So that's why we went with magical characters that are kind of fantastical in nature and 211 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:15,880 kind of superhero like Jenny and I are both nerds, like Lord of the Rings, comics, all 212 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:16,880 that kind of stuff. 213 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:18,520 So that's kind of powerful characters. 214 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:19,840 Yeah, powerful characters. 215 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:25,320 So we wanted to create powerful characters because one of the things I see with the industry 216 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,640 is kids love construction. 217 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,400 It's really more of a parent and an educator issue. 218 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:32,400 Yeah. 219 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,800 And so and the more I've gone down this rabbit hole with this book and learning about this 220 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:42,960 issue, I really believe it's an education campaign to parents and educators. 221 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:49,200 I think the reason why educators don't talk about our industry is because they don't know 222 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:50,200 about it. 223 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:56,760 Most of the educators in the world, or at least in the United States, they spend their 224 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,880 adolescent, youth years in education. 225 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,980 Then they go to college to learn about education. 226 00:12:03,980 --> 00:12:07,280 And then they go back into the school system to teach education. 227 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:11,440 So unless they have a personal connection, they don't really have any exposure to our 228 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:12,440 industry. 229 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:13,440 That's exactly right. 230 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,720 They don't have any knowledge to speak on it. 231 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,320 To compare to, sure. 232 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,540 And so I think that's kind of one of the things. 233 00:12:21,540 --> 00:12:27,260 And then coupled with that, we as a construction industry or industries, we haven't done a 234 00:12:27,260 --> 00:12:28,760 good job of promoting ourselves. 235 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:34,080 If we're not out on the front waving the flag about how awesome we are, nobody else is going 236 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,080 to do it. 237 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:36,080 Nobody knows. 238 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:37,080 Yeah. 239 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:38,560 Lawyers and attorneys get that kind of recognition through movies. 240 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:43,120 And people see all like, there's kind of this evidence of like, oh, he's an attorney or 241 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,560 she's a doctor. 242 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:51,360 She makes money and all these things that get glorified and they don't, those are just 243 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:52,360 not, it doesn't really get that. 244 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:53,360 There's so many different aspects. 245 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,240 It doesn't get that recognition. 246 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:01,960 And I think people try to, there's just no, I don't think necessarily everybody's against 247 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:02,960 it. 248 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,280 It just doesn't get as much of that forward front thought. 249 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:13,600 And so kind of going back to history, if you look at the foundation of society, these characters 250 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,600 that everybody still knows their names today, they were artisans. 251 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,960 They were trades folks. 252 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,240 And they were the upper section of the society. 253 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,160 I mean, the Ninja Turtles are named after them. 254 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,080 So another nerd part. 255 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:32,080 Right. 256 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,680 But so I think that's another thing is we want part of these character developments is 257 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:45,200 we wanted to have that kind of artisan flavor and that heritage of this means of doing something 258 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:52,840 and providing value and this like nobility and necessary to society and having kind of 259 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:54,360 that piece of it. 260 00:13:54,360 --> 00:14:00,360 So I think those were kind of where we started to go and how we storyboarded this and kind 261 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:01,360 of like that. 262 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:02,360 Yeah. 263 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:06,680 So when we were kind of trying to think of the concepts, there's the typical construction 264 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:12,360 books, how something made or just visit to a construction site, which are kids like those 265 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:13,360 books. 266 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,440 And obviously, our mantra is always trying to be different. 267 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:22,000 So we kind of the big thing was this whole labor shortage, this workforce crisis that 268 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,320 we keep hearing about, you know, we're like, what are some things that we could solve or 269 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,800 at least attempt to solve with a book? 270 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,080 What can we teach the world? 271 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:38,560 What can be set straight that has gone off the rails for lack of better words? 272 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,480 But yeah, so I mean, we just started thinking about like, yeah, this whole heroic thing, 273 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:48,440 like construction really is something that kids as we wanted to reinforce it to kids, 274 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:49,440 like to remind them. 275 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,240 So as they age and they get older and they read this book, they'll remember that construction 276 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:54,640 matters and it's important. 277 00:14:54,640 --> 00:15:00,440 And so, you know, so that's where we took the idea of the idea came from the tagline 278 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,200 or at least greatness. 279 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,200 The idea was like, first off was like, what if greatness were a place that kids could 280 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:07,200 find? 281 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:08,840 So that was like what set what set the tone? 282 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:09,840 It was attainable. 283 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:10,840 Yeah. 284 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,760 And so it's like, OK, well, if you were on a path to greatness, what would what would 285 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,040 that look like? 286 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:21,080 And so and as we were thinking about that, the obstacles and about stoicism, all these 287 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:26,000 different things about how obstacles actually shape your life became kind of part of the 288 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,000 story. 289 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,200 So we're like, OK, if you're going to find greatness or you're on your way to there, 290 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,440 you're going to run into obstacles because the obstacles shape you and make you better. 291 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:39,720 So OK, what if those obstacles were were traits that we obviously had kids as our protagonists, 292 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,900 but what if these kids met obstacles along the way, which happened to be the trades, 293 00:15:43,900 --> 00:15:45,640 but the trades, they learn things. 294 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,960 They don't realize it because when you're going through like, you know, a crisis or 295 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:54,560 an obstacle in your own life, you don't realize how it's shaping you until you kind of look 296 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,200 back and you look back at it. 297 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:58,200 Reflection. 298 00:15:58,200 --> 00:15:59,200 Yeah. 299 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,200 And you recognize it. 300 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:01,200 Yeah. 301 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,600 So the kids, you know, being kids like anybody else, they'll run into these obstacles. 302 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:03,600 They're kind of frustrated. 303 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,840 You know, they don't they want to keep going there. 304 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:06,840 They have a goal in mind. 305 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,320 But, you know, they meet these characters. 306 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,960 They learn something and it builds as they go. 307 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,560 And then at the end, they kind of have this realization that what they learned along the 308 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,320 way actually, actually brought them to greatness. 309 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,200 The journey was was what made them who they were. 310 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,720 So yeah, so that was kind of the beginning of that story. 311 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:26,720 Yeah. 312 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:33,280 And the context is it's in this imaginary city where the world is crumbling because 313 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,080 people have forgotten how to build, how to fix things. 314 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:37,080 Yeah. 315 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:45,560 And so these two kids decide to go on an adventure and and then they to save the world. 316 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:50,720 And at the end, the two kids, you know, they go through a series of five. 317 00:16:50,720 --> 00:17:01,480 We put five trades in the book, carpentry, masonry, electrical, plumbing and welding, 318 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:02,480 like steelworking. 319 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:03,920 They have to build a bridge. 320 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:13,920 And all of these characters are magical, heroic, and they each have, you know, really things 321 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:18,040 from the trades that we put into the book and into each character. 322 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,360 We met with a lot of our subcontractors when we were in character development. 323 00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:28,800 How can we make this, you know, more authentic and real to the job site? 324 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:35,000 So Copper, the plumber, she they have this magical like water slide world or whatever, 325 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,800 and they have to end up fixing like this high, high pressure water line that's been damaged. 326 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:45,160 So the kids are working with Copper, the plumber, and she's got this huge wrench on her back 327 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,000 like a like a brave hard sword. 328 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Right. 329 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,080 That's kind of the flavor of the characters that we did. 330 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:55,480 But at the end, these kids are saving are saving the world. 331 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,740 And all these trade magical trade characters show up to help. 332 00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:03,760 And this is like this transformation of kind of what you were talking about, where we're 333 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:08,400 at right now, a pivot point in the country or in the world where we're going to have 334 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:13,320 to come together and recognize the construction trades do add value. 335 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,980 You can have a meaningful life. 336 00:18:15,980 --> 00:18:18,080 You can give back to the world. 337 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,600 Yeah, you can serve your community. 338 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:28,600 Yes, you can create change in your own community and serve other people and have have nobility 339 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,640 and necessary impact to to to your own local community. 340 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,560 And I think that's kind of the flavor that we wanted to create with the book. 341 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:38,640 I love that. 342 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,840 So let's take the pick on two characters. 343 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,120 I know we have two primary characters and we have some sub characters. 344 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:47,320 So Jenny, who is your favorite character in the book and why? 345 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:48,320 Yeah. 346 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:49,320 Yeah, I know. 347 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:50,320 That's a tough one. 348 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,280 But they're like, you know, part of my life. 349 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,160 You know, two and a half years of writing it. 350 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,600 And really, it was cool to see it come to it's come to life in the illustrations. 351 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,040 Like I've been picturing these in my mind. 352 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:07,560 So I mean, two characters, one one I like, it's kind of personal. 353 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:08,560 It's her name's Rowan. 354 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,240 She's a snowman, snowman is a gnome that lives in the snow. 355 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,160 And this is a side story that my son and I kind of helped write together for one of his 356 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,040 school projects long ago. 357 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:25,200 And I'd been to Iceland and saw all these different like talk about fairies and trolls 358 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:26,200 that live there. 359 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,480 And so it kind of it kind of inspired the story. 360 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,200 But Rowan is this, you know, this little small character. 361 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,120 But they're in the in the book. 362 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,400 I kind of like how she responds to social. 363 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:44,760 The kids are in this in this magical kind of winter wonderland. 364 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,920 But there's a terrible snowstorm in the middle of night and the snowmen are all building 365 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,400 their master carpenters and they're building a lodge academy. 366 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,640 It's like a big school for the kids. 367 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,080 And the snowstorm, they call it snowstorm of the century comes and just destroys the 368 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,960 like the construction site overnight. 369 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:05,160 And in the morning, the snomes all kind of get up, but they're like they're upset, but 370 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,080 they get up and they start to rebuild in the morning. 371 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:12,760 Like they all come out as a crew and the kids stay in there and they see the they see the 372 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:14,800 community coming together to rebuild. 373 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,560 And the kids decide they're like, we're tall, we can help we can help get the heights of 374 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,080 the structure back to where he works. 375 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:22,160 They're so small. 376 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,680 So they could have gone on to greatness, but they realized like they they want to stay 377 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:26,680 and help the kids. 378 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,440 And they kind of like that. 379 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,480 They just see the the community come together. 380 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,840 So to me, that was something that I really, I really liked. 381 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:39,400 And I think with her with Rowan being a woman, you know, trying to get more women involved 382 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:40,400 in construction. 383 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,440 I really like that part. 384 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,720 And I don't and I don't believe it's just women can solve this. 385 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,240 I just want it to be normal that women and men work together on a job site. 386 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:51,240 Right. 387 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:55,160 You know, it's kind of like it shouldn't be strange that there's a woman out there anymore. 388 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:56,960 You know, this needs to go away. 389 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,040 And like I said, they're not going to solve it all. 390 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:04,600 But we need it to be this this cohesive feeling of, you know, everybody welcoming and deciding 391 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:05,600 that. 392 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,840 Yeah, like everyone has a piece of the puzzle. 393 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:08,840 Right. 394 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,080 And so just the contributions in that I think that's something super important. 395 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,080 And I like that. 396 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:14,680 And I just I just want that welcoming environment. 397 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,880 Like we need that for everybody, not just women, but for anybody new into the industry. 398 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,800 Those are things that I just think it's so strange when it's not that it's that there's 399 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:23,200 some places that it's not like that. 400 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,480 And it really there's a lot of improvements and change. 401 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,280 And I think it's going to get even better. 402 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:28,960 But so you said two characters. 403 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,080 I don't feel like it went off on just one character. 404 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:32,080 Oh, that's great. 405 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:33,360 Even if she shared your favorite one. 406 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:34,360 That's wonderful. 407 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:35,360 Yeah. 408 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:36,360 Yeah. 409 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:37,360 So Rowan, I go with her. 410 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:38,640 And Chris, how about you? 411 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:40,760 I'm going to go with Mason the Mason. 412 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,680 So he was the first character. 413 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:54,640 Number one, he's a master Mason and he's but he's he's a eight foot tall stone ogre. 414 00:21:54,640 --> 00:22:00,280 And so he's got intricate carvings all over his arms that he's done. 415 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,760 He's also a sculptor and he's not your traditional ogre. 416 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:04,760 He's very smart. 417 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,120 He's very kind of funny. 418 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:14,720 But he's also like ancient and wise and he teaches the kids how to to build a retaining 419 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,000 wall out of masonry. 420 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,480 They're like cutting back the mountainside so they can't continue on their path to greatness. 421 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:21,480 It's blocked. 422 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,520 So he's working with the kids and he kind of knows that this is all happening to begin 423 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:26,520 with. 424 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:34,840 And so I liked him so much and convinced Jenny she had to kind of drag her along on this 425 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:35,840 one. 426 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:42,480 I went to Hollywood and had Mason the Mason and Copper the Plumber actually produce their 427 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:43,880 live action characters. 428 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,760 They've been in front of like two thousand kids. 429 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:55,280 And yes, a contractor calling like I was calling up in like New York around Broadway and then 430 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:56,280 out in Hollywood. 431 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,360 And they're like, you want to do what now? 432 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:00,800 And I was like, yeah, this is what I want to do. 433 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,280 I want to make these characters. 434 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,240 And so that's been it's been a lot of fun. 435 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,840 Mason's been probably the most, you know, interactive character. 436 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,400 I guess the kids have super tall. 437 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:16,400 Yeah, yeah. 438 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,280 His his boots are huge. 439 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,040 So the kids Chris has worn the costume. 440 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,040 Yeah. 441 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,240 All actors put it on. 442 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,120 It gets very hot inside of that thing. 443 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:31,560 And at one point I was kind of guiding him. 444 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,240 And I could hear like someone's like, I think Mason needs your help. 445 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:36,560 And it's Chris inside the costume. 446 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,320 And he's like, I'm about to pass out. 447 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,320 I was like, what if he passes out in the suit? 448 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,560 Super character down on the ground. 449 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:48,560 You know? 450 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:49,560 Yeah. 451 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:55,040 Well, we've taken taking these characters to some of these construction conferences. 452 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,000 Yeah, we we typically get three reactions. 453 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,160 One, this is like the coolest thing I've ever seen. 454 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:01,160 I can imagine. 455 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,200 And number two, what what what is that? 456 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,360 I don't even know what that is. 457 00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:05,880 What are you doing? 458 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:07,760 But not too many. 459 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,720 But we've had a couple of detractors. 460 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,000 Oh, you're a Turkish Turkish show or something like that. 461 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,720 But I mean, it's a way to get attention. 462 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:22,400 And I knew I knew we were on to something when we were down in Florida at a convention 463 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,680 and we had the actor come walking out. 464 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,600 And these kids that weren't a part of the construction convention at all ran up. 465 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:30,600 Were gathering. 466 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,840 They were running up and they wanted to meet them and wanted to hug them and all that kind 467 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:34,840 of stuff. 468 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:35,840 And I was like, yes. 469 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:36,840 Yeah. 470 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:37,840 OK, you know, we got it. 471 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:38,840 Yeah. 472 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,200 So now how do we get that on scale and get them out? 473 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:44,200 Let's talk about that. 474 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:50,000 So Chris, Jenny, for all of those that are listening to the podcast, want to learn more 475 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,560 about the book and wanting to find the book. 476 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:54,280 Where should they go? 477 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:55,320 Yeah. 478 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,280 So we have our website. 479 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,120 That leads to greatness dot com, pretty easy to find on there. 480 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:02,120 You can buy books. 481 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:06,480 We have individual books for sale and they also have classroom bundles, we call it. 482 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,240 So you can go there to find the book. 483 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:11,280 You can also find it on Amazon. 484 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,280 Just type in the book title and it should it should be there. 485 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:20,440 So we're hoping to maybe go through a few different other educational avenues as well 486 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,480 in the next in the coming months. 487 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,280 So but at this point, there's two places where you can find the book. 488 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:30,880 And I got to tell you, one of the things that I'm really excited about and was kind of the 489 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:36,000 probably the most shocking for us and I think the reason why we've gotten so, so passionate 490 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:41,360 about this is we did a local reading event and this was really kind of a test audience. 491 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:42,360 This was in March. 492 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:47,120 It was Read Across America Day or week and we were in, I don't know, five schools and 493 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:50,400 let's just call it like 60 classrooms. 494 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:56,260 So we had 50 companies step up and buy these classroom bundles and they all they all went 495 00:25:56,260 --> 00:26:00,440 into the classroom and we went from second grade to fifth grade. 496 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,720 Third grade seems to be like the sweet spot. 497 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:03,720 Sweet spot. 498 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:04,720 Sure. 499 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,040 And and I got to tell you, like, you know, being in the construction and around the trades 500 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,760 for a couple of decades, we're a tough crowd. 501 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,600 We don't get super excited about a lot of stuff. 502 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:21,160 But that day watching the men and women being in the classroom, the pride for our industry 503 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,440 on display was so moving. 504 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,520 I've never I've never seen anything like it. 505 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,440 It was unbelievable. 506 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:35,360 And I think coming out of that, I said, wow, we have got to get more people in our industry 507 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:39,920 to see exactly what this is because kids were interested. 508 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:45,840 They were excited, the men and women, the tradesmen and women were just you. 509 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:50,240 I mean, they were beaming with pride about what they do for a living. 510 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:54,760 And like, they really felt like they're you know, what they did mattered. 511 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,520 And so that experience was just so, so moving. 512 00:26:58,520 --> 00:26:59,800 And we were not expecting that. 513 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,760 We were really focused on how the kids were going to respond to it. 514 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,960 And when we saw that, I was like, OK, man, we're game on. 515 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,740 We got to get we got to get as many contractors in the classrooms. 516 00:27:11,740 --> 00:27:16,600 And so what we've done now is we've gone to trade associations and said, OK, this is this 517 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,760 is what we got to do. 518 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,680 We got to get your members in the classroom. 519 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:22,680 Right. 520 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:27,160 And the reason why we say this, there's there's a couple of reasons. 521 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:32,360 One, you're you're introducing the trades in a positive, positive light. 522 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:33,360 Right. 523 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:35,480 It's a heroic journey. 524 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:41,560 Two, you're you're creating you're activating our existing workforce. 525 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,320 We all sit here and talk about it. 526 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,280 We've talked about it for 20 years. 527 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,900 Well now here's a solution. 528 00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:50,400 Go into the classroom and get excited. 529 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:51,400 Right. 530 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:55,980 And feel what it feels like to have to have third graders look up to you and look up to 531 00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:58,640 what you do for a living and talk about it. 532 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,940 I mean, we had our storefront guy getting in the connection details on curtain walls 533 00:28:02,940 --> 00:28:04,440 for over an hour and a half. 534 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:05,440 Kids loved it. 535 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,120 They didn't want to believe. 536 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,160 And then I think third. 537 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:16,160 So so that's a legacy opportunity for our existing workforce to pass the torch. 538 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,560 That's exactly what it is. 539 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,720 And so to me, when I kind of saw that, I'm like, we have a competitive advantage. 540 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,040 That's something that needs to be talked about. 541 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,360 We have an opportunity to to pass the torch. 542 00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:33,040 I mean, not other no other industry is facing a workforce crisis like we are. 543 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:40,120 I mean, wow, to to activate the the nine million plus people in the trades and get them to 544 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:45,960 pass the torch and and and and share with somebody else about what they do for the living, 545 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:50,560 that how how what it means and how they can be involved and how it can change their lives 546 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,600 and and not just theirs and and others like that. 547 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,080 That's a huge that's a huge message that needs to get out and people need to respond to, 548 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:00,080 I think. 549 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,080 So absolutely. 550 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:02,080 And that's kind of what we've been doing. 551 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:09,400 And we have reading events happening now in in October and March all across America. 552 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,680 And we're talking I don't know if I would say hundreds of contractors, but we're getting 553 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:14,680 there. 554 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:15,680 Right. 555 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:16,680 Reading to thousands of kids. 556 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:21,160 And and so Jenny and I are kind of say, OK, well, next step is we got to get a lesson 557 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,600 plan for teachers associated with the trades. 558 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:30,680 We got to get a family introductory guide to to take home to mom and dad. 559 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:31,680 Right. 560 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,080 And so people that are losing jobs now. 561 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,080 Sure. 562 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,520 And going to well, they can come into the trades. 563 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:45,480 So this is like a real starting to become like a real inspirational, like active recruiting 564 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,960 kind of campaign that we can start to build off of and build a real national. 565 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,600 Yeah, that's why it's like getting the book to take home with the kids taking the book 566 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:56,720 home and keeping it. 567 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,740 That's been a really fun, fun thing to see because the kids feel like it's it's Christmas. 568 00:30:00,740 --> 00:30:02,520 They get their own copy. 569 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,880 And we found out there's many kids that, you know, different economical backgrounds, like 570 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,880 they don't even have books in their own home. 571 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,720 So a book that you get to take home with you. 572 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,840 And it's not only talk about the shows that you can make a difference in the world. 573 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:15,840 Right. 574 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,160 It's talking about grit and how to like do that. 575 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,520 So that was one thing like we're not only teaching about construction, but we're also 576 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:25,040 bringing an example of a character trait that you can that you can live by. 577 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,240 You know, you can use grit in your everyday life. 578 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:28,320 So it's kind of nice. 579 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,920 It's kind of a nice in with schools as well, because it's not only about construction, 580 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,100 it's also about those things. 581 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:37,840 So we was kind of on purpose to kind of, you know, allow that more, not just like, oh, 582 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:38,840 it's not just about that. 583 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:40,580 It's about a broader idea. 584 00:30:40,580 --> 00:30:42,080 So teachers like that. 585 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:43,080 Yeah, absolutely. 586 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,080 All right. 587 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:45,560 I love it. 588 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:50,120 Well, Chris Eccleston, Jenny Schroen, we thank you so much for joining us today. 589 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,680 And the book is Grit Leads to Greatness. 590 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,840 We encourage everyone to check it out. 591 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,040 And I look forward to seeing you all hopefully at a conference in the near future. 592 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,360 And we can get out there and promote the book as well. 593 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:01,800 So you guys have a wonderful day. 594 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:02,800 We appreciate you being on the show. 595 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:03,800 All right. 596 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:04,800 Thanks, Clifton. 597 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:05,800 Thanks for having us. 598 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:28,800 We appreciate it.