1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,500 Tales from the trenches, stories forged in the fires of experience. 2 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:12,320 This episode brought to you by ServiceLogic. 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,420 Scale your business while preserving your brand legacy and autonomy with ServiceLogic. 4 00:00:17,420 --> 00:00:24,460 Learn more at ServiceLogic.com. 5 00:00:24,460 --> 00:00:31,120 All right, everyone, thank you for joining us on Did You Know? The Esco HVAC Podcast. 6 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,000 We are hanging out with the Greg Crumpton, straight out of Crumpton. 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,000 How are you, my friend? 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,880 Man, I am doing so good. 9 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:41,280 I'm proud to be here. 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,240 This is a, I love this event. 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:49,120 I love coming to Vegas and I'm not a gambler, but because I've been a contractor for four 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:50,120 years. 13 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:51,120 You like to run out. 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:52,120 That's a good point too. 15 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,600 I love it. Glad to be here. 16 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,080 Appreciate you putting all this together. 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,080 Absolutely. 18 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,520 You know, we've got to meet over the last year or so, got to know each other fairly 19 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:01,520 well. 20 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,360 I absolutely adore you and what you do in this industry and you represent so many things 21 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:10,760 that people don't actually know about our industry. 22 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:17,720 And so I wanted to spend some time really talking to students, to technicians, even 23 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:24,520 our educators about the importance of recognizing what paths are in this industry. 24 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,080 Because unfortunately, so many people see H-Vac and so many parents when their students 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,320 come home and go, hey, I think I want to join the H-Vac program, they go, oh, okay. 26 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:35,320 Yeah. 27 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:36,320 Okay. 28 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:38,800 So you're going to work on furnaces and air conditioners your whole life. 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,160 And that's a noble job. 30 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,420 It's good work and there's some decent money in there. 31 00:01:44,420 --> 00:01:46,320 Have you thought about these other options? 32 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:47,320 Yes. 33 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:52,760 Well, Clifton, that topic is near and dear to me because I've never, you know, and to 34 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:59,600 your point, every piece of our industry is important, but I've made a career and I've 35 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,920 never crawled under a house and I've never been in an attic for pay. 36 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,200 Now, I've done plenty of my own. 37 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:11,000 But when people hear H-Vac, they have this mental stigma. 38 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:17,160 They're driven to this thought process of what you just described. 39 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:24,760 Under the umbrella of H-Vac, there's commercial office building, there's retail, there's restaurants, 40 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,000 there's data centers, there's airflow, there's controls. 41 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,200 There's such a wide variety of disciplines that you can go into. 42 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:41,080 And you know, when I was going through the apprenticeship program, we weren't taught 43 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,040 that there were many different routes to go. 44 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,440 You just kind of meandered through and found your little niche, but there are a tremendous 45 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,640 amount of opportunities outside the residential world. 46 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:54,360 Yes, yes, absolutely. 47 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,420 I know even for myself, like when I got into the industry, you know, I had married into 48 00:02:57,420 --> 00:03:00,180 a small family business and I was the little guy. 49 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:04,920 So I was the crawl space and attic guy, but not for very long because we did commercial 50 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:06,160 refrigeration. 51 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,040 So in a very short period of time, I was introduced into commercial refrigeration and I went, 52 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,480 oh, I didn't know that I didn't know you guys did this stuff too. 53 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,260 And it just went on and on and on. 54 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:20,700 You know, I think about my last, the last three weeks, I've been to three different 55 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:24,760 trade shows in two different countries and three different cities. 56 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,720 And I have seen my friends and I've got friends that do residential. 57 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:37,080 I've got friends that do commercial refrigeration, data center only, controls and integration, 58 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:44,720 airflow analysis, and all of these are under the umbrella, but we all do different things. 59 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:52,280 And I think that what that does is provides individuals who learn differently or think 60 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:57,720 differently or have different creative abilities to kind of figure out which one of those verticals 61 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,200 best suits them. 62 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:00,200 Yeah. 63 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:01,200 It's really rewarding. 64 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:02,860 Yeah, absolutely. 65 00:04:02,860 --> 00:04:11,800 So let's talk a little bit about your experiences and the path that you have now went and all 66 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:18,520 the steps along the way, just so we get a clear idea of what can happen when you enter 67 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:23,360 into this industry and you have the drive and you're hungry. 68 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:28,200 This is my 42nd year of working full time in the industry. 69 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,560 And so I'm like 52 or so years old. 70 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,800 So I started out sweeping in the pipe shop. 71 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:43,840 I worked for a mechanical contractor and as a pre-apprentice, meaning I had not started 72 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:50,560 to school, I worked in the warehouse and swept the pipe shop a lot, loaded ductwork. 73 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,560 Then I started the four-year apprenticeship journey and I learned theory and I learned 74 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,360 operations. 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:02,480 But this is where you kind of talk about the different verticals. 76 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:08,920 As I was going through these educational steps, I started figuring out what I really enjoyed 77 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:09,920 doing. 78 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:17,560 So excuse me, I went through a lot of different steps and I learned that I really like working 79 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,120 for independent contractors because I worked for OEM. 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,440 I worked for York back when they were York. 81 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,160 I worked for a small mom and pop shop, worked for a controls company. 82 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,800 And I figured out I like to work for an independent mechanical contractor. 83 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:39,520 So eventually working through all these various positions at that contractor, I bought in 84 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:47,960 as an equity owner, a very, very small fraction, but it gave me the juice to keep really big. 85 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,680 So I went back to school and I learned accounting because you don't learn that in mechanical 86 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:53,680 school. 87 00:05:53,680 --> 00:06:01,360 I worked on things that we now call EQ, like reading people and understanding how to communicate, 88 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:07,340 public speaking, and all the things that go into running a successful business and having 89 00:06:07,340 --> 00:06:09,560 a successful career. 90 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:14,360 Then eventually started my own company with my wife in 1999. 91 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:21,600 We ran that company successfully for 15 years, sold it to ServiceLogic, where I currently 92 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:26,720 reside, and man, we've just had a ball. 93 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:33,880 But it's such a great industry because again, throughout the 42 years, I've done freaking 94 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:34,880 40 different things. 95 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,960 Yeah, yeah, all these different stages. 96 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:37,960 Absolutely, absolutely. 97 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:38,960 Yeah. 98 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,160 And we don't think about all those different stages. 99 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:42,160 You don't. 100 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,880 And especially the young folks and to your point, the parents who are helping their children 101 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:53,240 make adult decisions before our brains are developed because we keep growing. 102 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,400 Our brains keep growing until we're 28 or 30. 103 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,280 And yet at 18, we're trying to decide what we're going to do for a freaking career. 104 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,120 Yeah, for the rest of your life. 105 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:09,920 So I think having more awareness and just education brought around what does that mean? 106 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:15,240 What does HVAC mean other than being an acronym for the four words? 107 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,120 What are the opportunities? 108 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,360 No, for sure. 109 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:20,360 It wasn't until later. 110 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,800 It's so funny you mention that because I was in probably my late 20s before I started realizing 111 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,280 that you know what, I can push myself and I can actually do more. 112 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:29,280 Absolutely. 113 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,880 You know, we don't, I don't think it's kind of like you don't know what you don't know. 114 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:35,400 Yeah, I don't think it's completely. 115 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,580 When you start a new job, you know, you get this first day of orientation and they dump 116 00:07:39,580 --> 00:07:41,240 all this data on you. 117 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,880 You remember a tenth of it. 118 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:43,880 Yeah. 119 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:49,120 And then after we came back in 90 days after you've had some power or time in the field 120 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,360 or time on the job to understand what questions to ask. 121 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,680 Same way with our early development of our careers. 122 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,000 We don't know yet what to ask. 123 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:04,800 So if we can help educate more people that are in the guiding and the decision helping 124 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:11,440 mode, we can maybe strengthen our, our, our pool of talent. 125 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:12,440 Yeah, absolutely. 126 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:17,120 And, and you know, show those showcase those avenues just a little bit. 127 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:22,840 I can remember I was, I was actually in my late 20s and I was looking at my field and 128 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,720 going, you know, there's some, there's a variety of different avenues out here. 129 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:27,840 Wonder where else I could go with that. 130 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:32,520 And so I started looking for some of those career paths within our industry and I realized, 131 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,320 okay, so I've got a, I've got a strong refrigeration service. 132 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:41,020 I have a strong residential light commercial air conditioning. 133 00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:47,960 I have a okay installation, but I don't really have electrical, but I would like to move 134 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:54,540 into maybe some more commercial grocery store, but building automations. 135 00:08:54,540 --> 00:08:59,600 And so when I started looking around, I had to investigate myself and then I realized, 136 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:04,640 oh, well, if I want to get into automations, I just, I need to be better in electrical. 137 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:05,640 Right. 138 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:06,640 Right. 139 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,880 So I went back to night school and up getting a master electrician license. 140 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,360 And then the first company that I contacted about getting into building automations that 141 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:17,360 combined. 142 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,800 So I was still working on refrigeration, still working on HVAC, but now I was introducing 143 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,040 computers and technology into it so that I can monitor buildings. 144 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,760 And so I was getting into energy efficiency structures. 145 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,000 The very, very first company and contractor that I contacted and told them that, you know, 146 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,680 I just acquired my electrical side to add onto my refrigeration and HVAC, immediately 147 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:39,760 it was like, come on, let's go. 148 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:40,760 This is the path. 149 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:41,760 And I'm like, I didn't know what this path was. 150 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:43,760 I had to find it. 151 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:44,760 Yeah. 152 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:50,480 And some of that's good because it kind of, it keeps you fresh and you use the word earlier, 153 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:51,480 hungry. 154 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:57,520 And I love that word because, you know, we think of hungry being like on the offensive, 155 00:09:57,520 --> 00:09:59,760 you're looking for opportunities. 156 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,440 And that's what you do when you're young and fresh and you know, you've got more to offer. 157 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,880 You're out there with your eyes and ears open, like I could do this if I just figured out 158 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:09,880 how to. 159 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:10,880 How? 160 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:11,880 Yeah. 161 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:12,880 And you got in. 162 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:17,760 Generation Z, which is what we're appealing to most of these instructors here at the education 163 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,220 conference. 164 00:10:20,220 --> 00:10:22,400 They want a career path. 165 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:23,400 They want to know. 166 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,000 They don't want to be told you show up at Monday and you work your butt off and you 167 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,000 shut up. 168 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,000 Yeah. 169 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,000 And that's not successful. 170 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:38,080 So we have to make sure that we, we have a literal map of how they go from day one to 171 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,920 however long you can entertain people. 172 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:47,000 But there are multiple, multiple steps that they can grow into as people and as technicians 173 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,120 and or as owners and or as whatever. 174 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:51,120 Yeah. 175 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:52,120 Wherever they end up. 176 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:53,120 Absolutely. 177 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,200 And you know, the interesting thing about that, the more I learn about Gen Z, I keep 178 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:57,880 saying this to people. 179 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,760 I kind of want to be a Gen Z because they have opportunities. 180 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,040 It's not like this is all new. 181 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:10,000 I mean, if we think about it, the structure that works well for Gen Z actually probably 182 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:11,960 works very well for all of us. 183 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:12,960 Absolutely. 184 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:19,760 And I think we finally got to the point to where we realize it's okay to be understanding 185 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,320 is okay to listen to somebody that's got a single mom who can't show up at eight. 186 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,440 She'll be there every day at eight. 187 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:28,440 Absolutely. 188 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:37,680 You know, those kind of human issues, we've kind of taken off our masculinity core or 189 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:39,680 our shell, whatever you want to call it. 190 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:44,600 And we've come to be in realistic people that are dealing with realistic people with real 191 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:45,600 world deals. 192 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:46,600 Yeah. 193 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:48,560 And you got to figure out how to accommodate. 194 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:50,280 You can't just say shut up anymore. 195 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:51,280 Yeah. 196 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:52,760 You got to say, okay, I hear you. 197 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:54,360 Let's figure out how to do it together. 198 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:55,360 Yeah. 199 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:56,360 Isn't that interesting? 200 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:57,360 I have an idea. 201 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,360 We should have thought about that. 202 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:01,360 That's crazy. 203 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,200 We're at this point finally. 204 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,400 You know, you mentioned you want to be a Gen Zer. 205 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:11,160 I want to be a young technician because I walk in this trade floor. 206 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,840 Oh my gosh, isn't it exciting? 207 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:16,560 I tell the story all the time. 208 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:22,480 I worked for my dad for a long time when you had to borrow a phone to call the office or 209 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,280 you had to go to a payphone. 210 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:25,280 Absolutely. 211 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,040 My dad was notorious. 212 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,360 He gave you a list of 10 questions. 213 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,640 And if you couldn't answer those 10 questions when you called him, he would hang up to you. 214 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:39,160 And so what that did, you know, we weren't smart enough to know, but we would get to 215 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,280 the answer before we got to it. 216 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,080 And not need a question. 217 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:48,000 And so thank goodness he taught us a little bit of critical thinking within that process. 218 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:55,240 But the tools that we used were so rudimentary compared to what is hanging out here at the 219 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:56,240 door behind us. 220 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:57,240 Absolutely. 221 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:58,240 And I'm jealous. 222 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,240 I am. 223 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:00,240 I am. 224 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,240 Well, talking about that phone, right? 225 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:02,240 I completely get it. 226 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:03,240 You know, I had Nextail. 227 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,160 A big part of my time is career, right? 228 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:16,880 And I had Conduit Tech on my show last week and talking about two young ladies that understand 229 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:22,960 technology and understand struggles in our industry and decided to look at tools that 230 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:28,560 we already have in our arsenal and see what they could do to improve our efficiency. 231 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:37,640 And so they were using the LiDAR detector inside of iPhone Pros and iPad Pros that built 232 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:45,100 a low calculation software that will analyze an entire home in less than 15 minutes using 233 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:51,520 a 3D animated controller and model built off from the LiDAR sensor inside of the phone. 234 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:52,520 Wow. 235 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:53,520 Are you kidding me? 236 00:13:53,520 --> 00:14:01,400 I'm still struggling with the fact that I didn't invent the Ziploc cereal bag. 237 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:02,760 Oh my goodness. 238 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:03,760 Think about it. 239 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:04,760 I know. 240 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:05,760 That was a missing piece. 241 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,240 But no, I love the youth. 242 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:13,840 I love the fact that we have so many smart young people. 243 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:20,600 You know, every generation is like this young generation, you know, they're whatever. 244 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,520 We were that generation for us. 245 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:29,240 And I remember, you know, the old salty dogs I worked with, you know, giving me a rasha 246 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,760 crop because I had a mullet. 247 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:32,240 But hey, mullets are back. 248 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:33,240 They're back again. 249 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:34,240 So, yeah. 250 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,200 But I mean, it's just a cycle. 251 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:43,160 But if you cut it all away, our industry is chocked with such good people and people that 252 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,640 are more than willing to give back. 253 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,160 There are absolutely people in our industry that withhold information. 254 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:52,160 They're scared. 255 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:53,160 They live in that. 256 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:54,240 The old style job security. 257 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:58,560 They live in the scarcity mentality, but they're retiring. 258 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:04,120 So what we've got is an incoming group of just stellar kids. 259 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,820 And I say that affectionately, that want to do well. 260 00:15:07,820 --> 00:15:08,840 They want to grow. 261 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:09,840 They want to learn. 262 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:10,840 Make a difference. 263 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:11,840 They want to. 264 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,120 They want to be able to ask questions. 265 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:20,360 And you know, all these folks here that are learning how to go teach, if you're going 266 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,960 to teach, you better know your stuff, especially with Google, because you will get. 267 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:26,960 Don't know. 268 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,880 Before you get out of the classroom. 269 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:35,960 So I love the fact that that we continue to sharpen skills of our instructors every year 270 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:41,440 by coming here, offering new stuff, refreshing older ideas. 271 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:49,120 And you know, I was in a class this morning with Ty teaching the invisible. 272 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:54,640 And you know, it's about it's about. 273 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,880 Non tactile things is that is that human connection, it's that creativity, it's that taking care 274 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:01,880 of each other. 275 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:03,840 And those are my words, not his. 276 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,320 But that was the theme. 277 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,560 And I just love the fact we're there, you know, finally. 278 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:14,640 I do too, I feel like we're at a new place in our industry. 279 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,160 Yes, we have technology transitions. 280 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,680 Yes, we have refrigerant transitions. 281 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:27,240 Yes, the digital technology is escalating at a pace that we can't really comprehend. 282 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:34,040 But at the same time, we have never had the presence of people with the open mindedness 283 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:41,280 and the willingness to reevaluate themselves and to do whatever it takes to advance forward. 284 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,800 And it's it's beautiful. 285 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:48,360 You know, I was talking with Jeff Blood, so this morning from Dyk and about training 286 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,920 and what people want and what people need. 287 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,840 And a lot of those things are in parallel. 288 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:59,200 We just don't know it yet because we don't take time to talk to our technicians and say, 289 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:00,200 what do you need? 290 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:04,440 We think we know what they need all the time because we're so smart. 291 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,480 But having that two way conversation, what are you interested in? 292 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,900 What do you excel at when you're on the job? 293 00:17:10,900 --> 00:17:12,800 What feels good? 294 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,160 And let's get let's go that direction. 295 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,200 Because if you don't like to work on big package units, cool, man, no big deal. 296 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:20,200 We got plenty of people. 297 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:21,200 Lots of other stuff. 298 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:22,200 Absolutely. 299 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:28,040 So I think having those kind of conversations, understanding the breadth of opportunity. 300 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:33,160 You know, I preach on LinkedIn a lot about opportunities for kids. 301 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,520 I'm not talking to the kids because they're not on LinkedIn. 302 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:38,280 I'm talking to the parents. 303 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:40,480 I'm talking to the co-workers of parents. 304 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:44,560 I'm talking to that lady you go to church with that has a kid but doesn't know what 305 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,080 he wants to do or if he wants to do. 306 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:48,640 And that's who my target is. 307 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:50,200 I mean, I love a kid. 308 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,040 I walk up, put my arm around him. 309 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:57,480 In fact, Saturday, I've got lunch with a young man who is a senior in high school interested 310 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,160 in going to trade school in HVAC. 311 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:01,640 So I'm having lunch with him. 312 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,320 But I don't talk to him on LinkedIn. 313 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:06,360 I talk to his dad who I'm connected with on LinkedIn. 314 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:07,920 People who influence him. 315 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:08,920 Absolutely. 316 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:13,200 And you know, there's a plethora of people talking to the youth. 317 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:14,200 Yeah. 318 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,040 And I do what I can. 319 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,300 But I know what my target is. 320 00:18:18,300 --> 00:18:19,920 And I've had success with that. 321 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,640 It's just a longer play. 322 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,600 I love that. 323 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,240 All right. 324 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:26,240 So much going on. 325 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,000 We could talk for four hours. 326 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,120 We should do this more. 327 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:31,640 We talk about your attire. 328 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:32,640 Yeah, absolutely. 329 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,600 Oh, those that can't see us. 330 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:37,440 So I like to make a statement when I go places. 331 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:38,440 I like to have fun. 332 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:39,900 I like to blend fun and education. 333 00:18:39,900 --> 00:18:41,980 So yeah, where's Waldo today? 334 00:18:41,980 --> 00:18:49,000 So I'm sitting here looking at Clifton in his getup and he is looking very sporty. 335 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,640 So good for you, my man. 336 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:52,640 Be proud. 337 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:53,640 Represent. 338 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:54,640 Represent. 339 00:18:54,640 --> 00:19:00,640 But I really do appreciate what you're doing with this podcast hub that you have here. 340 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:06,240 And if you look at the names who are coming, who have come before me and who will be after 341 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,440 me in the rotation, what a wide variety of people. 342 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,960 You know, there's students signed up, there's instructors signed up. 343 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:14,960 And you've actually. 344 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:15,960 I love it. 345 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:16,960 Absolutely. 346 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:23,800 And thanks for all the sponsors who are here representing and sponsoring what you guys are 347 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:24,800 pulling together. 348 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,100 You can't do it without good sponsorship. 349 00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:36,600 When I look around the ballroom or the expo hall, it's just amazing that the support that 350 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,440 we see in business, I get it. 351 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,760 Klein Tools is here because they need to sell tools. 352 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,980 They need to sell tools to people who are working on equipment. 353 00:19:46,980 --> 00:19:49,080 So it's a natural business thing. 354 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,040 But when you talk to the gentlemen behind the tables, they're passionate about what 355 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,040 they're doing. 356 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:55,040 Very passionate. 357 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:56,040 This is not just business. 358 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:57,040 Yeah, this is us. 359 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,640 I really appreciate that piece. 360 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:03,680 Bring the training, show what you do, then bring the training and share the experiences. 361 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:09,880 And you know, I'll I know we're getting close on time to what I would like to do for everybody 362 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:17,120 is that if you're in the skilled trades, pick, find somebody, one or two youngsters, put 363 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,000 your arm around them and help them over the over the hump. 364 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,560 And that'll be different for people. 365 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:29,840 Some mentoring requires daily love, some weekly, some a pat on the fanny every once in a while, 366 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:30,840 good or bad. 367 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:31,840 Yeah. 368 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,500 But figure out what that relationship can be with a with somebody who is up and coming 369 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:41,640 and help them because we've got to to increase our talent pool. 370 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:46,320 We've got to increase the awareness that there's great opportunities. 371 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:51,600 So encourage you to talk it up and just grab somebody and hug them. 372 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:52,600 That's right. 373 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:53,600 Absolutely. 374 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,600 Well, we wouldn't have said that 20 years ago, would we? 375 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,840 Well, you and I might have another problem. 376 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,120 My friend, Greg Crumpton. 377 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:04,120 My pleasure. 378 00:21:04,120 --> 00:21:05,120 I enjoyed it. 379 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:06,120 All right. 380 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:17,760 Thanks.