WEBVTT

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to the Lawn Hustle podcast where we help legitimize

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the green industry one conversation at a time.

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I am your host Andy Wilson from Professional

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Lawn Maintenance. We have 17 years in the green

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industry. Today's episode is one I'm really excited

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about because we're talking to a OG in the industry

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and We're gonna go back in time and then we're

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gonna go forward The green industry has changed

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dramatically over the last 30 years from handwritten

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estimates paper route sheets to GPS tracking

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CRM software battery -powered equipment. Today's

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landscape looks nothing like it did decades ago.

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To help us unpack this evolution, I've invited

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someone who has been in the changes firsthand,

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and I am excited to have my friend, Johnny Moe.

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Thank you for joining the Lawn Hustle. Thanks,

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Andy. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it Johnny's

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from Newcastle, Pennsylvania Yes, sir, and I

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am from Newcastle, Indiana We are we are happy

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to have him tonight and Johnny tell us this story

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how you come across the lawn hustle podcast Well

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again, thank you for having me on Andy so I cut

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a six acre cemetery and At the time that I was

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cutting it. I had been going through being solo

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you think about a lot as you're out there and

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I was going through one of those moments of just

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burnout basically and it's happened about three

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or four times in 30 years and I was just going

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through burnout and I just was looking for something

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to Remotivate me to to get my mind back on track

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to get me thinking the right way again And it

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just seemed like it was endless problem after

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endless problem. It was raining too much I couldn't

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get the work done and it just seemed like it

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was forever. So I was sitting in the cemetery

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and I said, you know what? I'm gonna listen to

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a podcast now. I wasn't very big into the podcast

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I listened to a few here and there and so I as

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a Christian man, I was like God lead me to something

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that would just Get my juices back on so I turned

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turned it on and I heard your voice and I was

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like, well, this is different and The episode

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I believe was the episode that the title was

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something like, how did it go? It was something

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like, what do you do when you don't feel like

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going to work? It was something of that nature.

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What do you do when you don't feel like doing

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what you do? I listened to an episode and I was

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like, I really like that. And so now here's the

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key part, because I prayed, I said, God, lead

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me across a podcast that would help. And the

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first time I felt like that was When I first

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got on YouTube, I was watching Greg Chisholm

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and Geek the Freak and he was going through his

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day. And I remember I went to bed really early

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that day. I was having a very rough time with

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the business, just being burnt out. And I watched

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his video where he pulled up to a random house,

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Andy, and he jumped out and he edged it. And

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he only edged one side of the sidewalk. I was

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cracking up. And then I started watching them

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and then I started getting into it and it brought

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back the passion of it. And same thing happened

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when I started listening to you, but something

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that caught my mind because I prayed is that

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you said you were from Newcastle, Indiana. I'm

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from Newcastle, Pennsylvania. And I really don't

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do a lot of podcasts anymore. I've been on all

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the big ones. Paul Jameson, I've been on Brian's.

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I've been on a lot of them and I just haven't

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done one in a while, but I found something interesting.

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Is I have I have another job besides this one.

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I'm a girls basketball head coach And you sent

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me a link to to do this podcast the name of my

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team Is riverside and you sent me the app to

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get onto is is called riverside. I started cracking

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up So this must be a this must be a god -ordained

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little talk here, but I wanted to thank you and

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encourage you i've heard your story about your

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voice and I've listened, I think I've listened

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to all of them, but 12. I think I checked today.

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I think I've listened to all years, but 12. And

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you're one I usually tune into. I tune into a

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few now, but you're usually one I tune into.

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So thank you for your time and your commitment

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to the green industry. Cause I'm going to tell

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you something, Andy, there's a lot of guys out

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there who are burnt out and they just want to

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laugh again. They just want to. You know what

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it takes to build a business and it sometimes

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you just need to rehear it again and just like

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oh yeah, that brings back your passion and you

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know after about 26 years in the business next

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year would be 30 I rebranded my whole business.

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I Completely I dumped almost all my mowing and

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I turned into a fertilizing company and a lot

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of that had to do with the podcast just I was

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getting older and the mowing just Just didn't

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see what I wanted to see from it I mean I had

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a lot of accounts a lot of great accounts, but

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I cut about 15 lawns now and I Hundreds and hundreds

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and hundreds of fertilizing accounts. So we completely

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changed from where we were at to where we are

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right now Well as we were talking on the phone

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last week, I Told you I don't believe things

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happen by accident I believe that things happen

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for a purpose. There's a reason behind it. So

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our paths have crossed for a reason. And I can't

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wait to figure it all out and develop a friendship.

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Are you going to equip this year? I have not

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been to equip. I've really had no desire. I was

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going to be a part of the original group. Back

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then it was Greg Chisholm Keith Kelphis lawn

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care rookie just came onto the scene and Geek

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the Freak Dirt Monkey and at the time there was

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another guy He was up in Minnesota, I believe

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he was another one I think he does just What's

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he do now I think I haven't seen a video lately,

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but I think he just does overgrown lawns now

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And so, yeah, there was about four or five of

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us. I was going to go to that, and I just didn't.

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And I've never had a desire to go, but I might

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go this year for the first time. Well, if you

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go, we've got to connect. Yeah, absolutely. Maybe

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go to lunch or to dinner or something, making

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a connection and meet in person. It would be

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an honor of mine. So you said you've been in

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the industry next year be 30 years How did you

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get your start in the industry? Well back in

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1996 I believe I was 21 and I Didn't do well

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in college that semester They sent me a letter

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said I needed to take a semester off to figure

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out what I wanted to do with my life So basically,

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I failed out of college. And when I went back

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home, I worked – I knew I had to get a job, so

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I worked construction during the day. I was a

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bartender at night. And what happened was there

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was a guy who came in who was a landscape – owner

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of a landscape business. He came in every day

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at 3 .30, and so he would always talk about how

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much he paid his foreman, and I say, listen.

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I'll come work for you if you're going to pay

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that much. Back then in 96, it was $25 ,000 a

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year, and I was thinking, oh, I just hit the

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jackpot. I don't need to go back to college.

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Well, during my first year with him, what happened

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was I ended up – I was cutting grass and I passed

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out, and it was about July. And what I found

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out through that process is I had some heart

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issues and – That's when I turned my life over

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to the Lord. I was set to go in for an operation

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after about a month of testing. And I said, hey,

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listen, God, if you get me through this, I'll

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serve you all the days of my life. So what happened

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was I was in the operating room and they were

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about to put me down, give me the good stuff.

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And I heard the Lord's voice said, remember what

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you promised me. When I woke up, I was back in

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the I was back in the recovery room and Dr. Kaymendi

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goes, listen, man, I don't know. I apologize

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because the original test, Andy, showed that

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I had a blocked left side of my heart wasn't

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receiving blood. And that's why I was passing

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out. Every test showed it. It wasn't like just

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one test. It was echocardio. It was the stress

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test. Every test showed that the left side of

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my heart wasn't receiving the blood. It was receiving

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it out, but it wasn't receiving it back in properly,

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and that's why I was passing out. I had about

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four episodes of me passing out. The doctor came

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in and said, John, I don't know what's going

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on. All I can tell you is your heart's like a

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brand new baby. Your arteries are clear. Everything's

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fine. Go live your life, man. And from that day

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to this day, I've served God. So during that

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time, I became the foreman of the mowing crew,

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and I kept all the books. Now, back then, we

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didn't have these fancy computers and phones.

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We did everything with a notebook. So I would

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put the date, what we did on the property. and

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the amount. Well, I ran a three -man crew, and

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none of them, they all hated to weed -whack.

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And I'm like, you're crazy. Weed -whacking is

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easy. I get done first. So I would get done weed

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-whacking and wait to blow off the lawns. Well,

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one day I started going through the numbers,

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and I figured, I was like, wait a minute. I could

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do this myself. So I started a million business.

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At the same time, My boss was getting out of

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the mowing business because he started a fertilizing

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business. Well, I became the foreman of that

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whole side. And for six years, I cut grass on

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the side and I ran his fertilizing business until

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finally when I got married to no one, I started

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Johnny's – at the time, it was Johnny's Mowing

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in 1997. I made about $400 my first year. I made

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$811 my second. From 1998 on, it just – it kept

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growing and growing and growing until finally

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in 2001 I said, hey, I'm making more money on

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the side than I am with you. And so that's when

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I finally walked away. But I was already legit.

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I had all the equipment. I had the truck, the

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trailer, the zero turns at the time. And so then

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I just fully went on my own in 01. That you would

00:12:53.080 --> 00:12:59.259
be in this 30 years later Well, I didn't have

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a plan B Andy so I was hoping so Looking back

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30 years. I didn't know I'd feel this way Yeah,

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I wish I would have knew some things back then

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like don't jump off your truck. Yeah Don't don't

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get on cement with your knees But I didn't have

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a plan B it had to work because I didn't finish

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college And I had nothing else. I had no – I

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was raised in the projects as a poor kid on the

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south side of Newcastle, and there was just –

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there was nothing for us here. All the mills

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had left. Every great job, this place became

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– they called it a distressed town, and it's

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just an older town now. It's a retirement town.

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Kids that leave here, these school systems here,

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they generally don't come back here anymore.

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So you're looking at a very – you know, poverty

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filled town. And so there was nothing here. And

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so for the business to take off the way it did,

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I tell everyone I'm solo and proud. I had one

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stretch for three years where I had two trucks

00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:09.379
and two crews going. And I got out of that quick

00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:14.340
after my foreman did what he did and my other

00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:17.399
foreman left. Shortly after that, I gave away

00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:20.559
$60 ,000 worth of work a year, and I've been

00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.779
solo and proud, and I'm proud of it, buddy. I

00:14:22.779 --> 00:14:25.940
get up every day, 4, 15 in the morning. I go

00:14:25.940 --> 00:14:28.220
to the gym, and then we start our day. I mean,

00:14:28.379 --> 00:14:31.120
I love it. For all those people out there who

00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:34.100
say you can't do it solo, this is 30 years, my

00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:37.360
friend, 30 years. And I take a vacation every

00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.840
single year, one week at the beach. That's awesome.

00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:46.110
You've got to take some time. for yourself you

00:14:46.110 --> 00:14:49.990
talked about burnout earlier you will burn out

00:14:49.990 --> 00:14:54.509
quick if you don't take some time away from the

00:14:54.509 --> 00:14:58.250
business very quick spend some time with your

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family the ones that love you the ones that you

00:15:01.590 --> 00:15:07.029
love and just relax and have a good time this

00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:12.110
time last year we were on a cruise ship we cruised

00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:15.889
to Nova Scotia And it was the greatest trip we

00:15:15.889 --> 00:15:21.710
had such a great time So we enjoy that So in

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your first year or first couple of years, what

00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:28.570
would you say was some of your biggest? challenges

00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:34.649
I Apologize Andy you were frozen right now and

00:15:34.649 --> 00:15:37.129
I heard about every other word you say I'm at

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full power here I don't know like I don't see

00:15:40.309 --> 00:15:42.529
you like you're frozen. So I don't know if i'm

00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:46.929
frozen on your end. I apologize Okay, you're

00:15:46.929 --> 00:15:54.269
not on my end And i'm not on my end I can barely

00:15:54.269 --> 00:16:00.470
hear you. Um So I think I didn't catch the question

00:16:00.470 --> 00:16:03.690
I think you were asking What was your biggest

00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:06.929
challenges? During the first couple of years

00:16:06.929 --> 00:16:11.460
of business My first few years because of where

00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:15.299
I was raised at I would have to say Andy it was

00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:21.240
getting the equipment The right equipment to

00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:26.340
do the job properly I Think that was my biggest

00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:28.799
challenge the financing getting the money up

00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:34.580
enough. I was newly married and trying to Navigate

00:16:34.580 --> 00:16:37.870
the finances to get the equipment What I ended

00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:41.750
up doing is we got married and I got $7 ,000

00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:46.049
for our wedding. And so I asked my wife, I said,

00:16:46.309 --> 00:16:48.230
you know, can I buy this equipment with this

00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:50.490
money? And obviously that was going to leave

00:16:50.490 --> 00:16:55.190
us dead broke. And she said, yeah. And, you know,

00:16:55.190 --> 00:16:57.029
now she's allowed to go shopping and do whatever

00:16:57.029 --> 00:16:59.269
she wants because she gave up all the money then.

00:16:59.830 --> 00:17:01.889
But yeah, Andy, I think the financing to get

00:17:01.889 --> 00:17:05.180
the equipment, to get the jobs done right. um

00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.799
and to grow it because without the proper amount

00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:11.440
of equipment or the proper equipment you're not

00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.539
going to grow it to where you want i mean obviously

00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:15.859
you can grab a push mower and a broom which i

00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:19.380
did and you know you could sweep the sidewalks

00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:22.119
and do all that but to grow it to get to where

00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:24.660
you need to go to and to get into the neighbors

00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:28.299
neighborhoods that you need to get into um you

00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:31.079
really need to have a little bit bigger of equipment

00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:35.650
and Unless you have a system where, you know,

00:17:36.230 --> 00:17:39.769
it says I'm reconnecting. Are you there? Yes.

00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:45.369
Oh, good. Good. So I think the first because

00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.769
I worked for the company, I was working during

00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:51.230
the day. I worked seven to three. So when customers

00:17:51.230 --> 00:17:52.569
would come out and say, hey, do you know anyone

00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:58.470
at Moe's Grass? I do. Yeah. So. Those first few

00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.390
years in probably the third year when I really

00:18:01.390 --> 00:18:18.789
started to pick up some of the nicer lawns I

00:18:18.789 --> 00:18:30.099
Lost you i'm back Sorry, I don't know what happened

00:18:30.099 --> 00:18:39.680
there Okay good, yes So to finish off, you know,

00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:42.660
I was push mowing and I didn't have enough equipment.

00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:46.140
I didn't have the right truck So that was I was

00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:49.539
using a Ford Ranger and I was putting the the

00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:53.829
I bought I bought my boss's toro pro line two

00:18:53.829 --> 00:18:56.869
-cycle Suzuki engine that's definitely changed

00:18:56.869 --> 00:18:59.150
and I used to put it in the back of my truck

00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:03.230
and I would go cut grass from 3 30 till 9 o 'clock

00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:06.490
every night until I was able to get my first

00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:09.930
walk behind mower and then eventually once zero

00:19:09.930 --> 00:19:12.250
turns finally came out because they weren't out

00:19:12.250 --> 00:19:16.460
at the time x mark was Was just coming out and

00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:19.539
coming on the scene back in 98 is when they really

00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:22.539
started to get popular and used to see them I

00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:27.200
think I got a toro zero turning about 99 I got

00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.359
a I got a belt drive walk behind it was my first

00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:32.480
and that's what we used back then was belt drive

00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:36.299
walk behind Everyone had them. I still have an

00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:41.099
old belt drive walk behind It sets in the shop,

00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:45.589
I think it's just a reminder of What I used to

00:19:45.589 --> 00:19:49.170
have to go through so yes, I don't want to get

00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:52.029
rid of it because I enjoy Every now and then

00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:54.170
just firing up and mowing around the shop with

00:19:54.170 --> 00:20:04.150
it a little bit but What are Your feelings on

00:20:04.150 --> 00:20:11.150
The industry where it is today versus where it

00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:16.079
was when you started That's a great question

00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:17.920
because everything was so different then. It

00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:22.519
was pen and paper. It was walk behinds. It was

00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:27.779
the blowers were so, they weren't powerful at

00:20:27.779 --> 00:20:31.500
all. It was just so much different. I think once

00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:35.180
the zero turn came out, it revolutionized the

00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:37.539
industry. And then obviously stand ons are now

00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:41.799
very popular. Back then a product called Great

00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:44.980
Dane, Came out. It was the first standard and

00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:48.759
then right followed it it didn't didn't do very

00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:52.440
well, but I would say one of the biggest things

00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:57.279
that I've noticed from then till now and This

00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:01.799
made a biggest impact in my my life for business

00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:07.680
is the the power of the backpack blower Because

00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.460
back then when you did leaves Andy You usually

00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:13.819
use two little handhelds or as a rake and tarp

00:21:13.819 --> 00:21:17.180
and it took forever. If you really had money,

00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:20.460
you'd get yourself a little wonder and you'd

00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:22.099
get them out in the yard and have those little

00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:24.140
wonders blown to wherever you needed to blow

00:21:24.140 --> 00:21:29.099
them to. But the backpacks, how powerful they

00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:33.579
got. A Red Max and an Echo is just as powerful

00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:36.609
as an eight horsepower little wonder. And a lot

00:21:36.609 --> 00:21:37.890
of people probably don't even know what a little

00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:40.369
wonder is now because these backpacks are so

00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:42.349
powerful You don't even know what a little wonder

00:21:42.349 --> 00:21:45.190
is anymore But every person had those and I'd

00:21:45.190 --> 00:21:47.710
say that was the biggest impact because then

00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:51.950
you can blow out beds and get these leaves Done

00:21:51.950 --> 00:21:55.210
quickly. That's some of the changes and the power

00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:58.809
My first walk behind mower had a 13 horsepower

00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:01.630
coal on it You know, they're making these things

00:22:01.630 --> 00:22:05.319
with 40 horsepower now. I mean You can sling

00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:08.099
some grass now. I mean, you can really get up

00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:11.740
and get going. That's changed a lot. My first

00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:15.279
zero turn had a 20 horsepower Kohler on it. And

00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.359
it cut grass. It did what it needed to do. But

00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:24.960
now, 40 horsepower, 37 horsepower. And when it

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.920
comes to fertilizing, I was the old school way.

00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:31.420
I learned the old school way. You pushed a lawn

00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:34.019
first. Then you grabbed a hose out of a van.

00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:36.390
And then you sprayed the lawn, so you had to

00:22:36.390 --> 00:22:38.650
do both. Well, when the permagreen came out,

00:22:39.190 --> 00:22:43.450
it changed everything. So now I can ride. So

00:22:43.450 --> 00:22:47.069
I think if you got one in 1999, now you can ride

00:22:47.069 --> 00:22:49.309
everything. And for all those years, for four

00:22:49.309 --> 00:22:52.150
or five years, I was walking acres and acres

00:22:52.150 --> 00:22:54.670
and acres every day. And then that permagreen

00:22:54.670 --> 00:22:58.690
came out. And now you have zero turns. You have,

00:22:58.950 --> 00:23:03.089
obviously, CRMs now that's changed the business.

00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:07.109
Um, there's a lot that has changed. Obviously

00:23:07.109 --> 00:23:11.130
we have battery operated, uh, equipment. Um,

00:23:11.130 --> 00:23:14.049
I'm not a fan. I do like the blowers. If you

00:23:14.049 --> 00:23:16.589
have enough batteries, the blowers are fine.

00:23:17.069 --> 00:23:20.210
Um, the hedge trimmers are good. They last long,

00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:22.170
but they're not powerful enough. You can't zip

00:23:22.170 --> 00:23:25.589
a bush quickly. Um, I went to all battery one

00:23:25.589 --> 00:23:27.730
year. I thought I'd get slick and I went all

00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:33.930
battery one year. It lasted two weeks. I just

00:23:33.930 --> 00:23:35.990
I went and bought Milwaukee everything but what

00:23:35.990 --> 00:23:39.190
I was having trouble with Andy was I Couldn't

00:23:39.190 --> 00:23:42.029
tell okay this property. I had three bars on

00:23:42.029 --> 00:23:45.049
there Can I make it and the batteries are this

00:23:45.049 --> 00:23:47.210
big so I can't just shove one of those in my

00:23:47.210 --> 00:23:52.190
pocket So after about three walk of shames I

00:23:52.190 --> 00:23:56.130
was done with battery except for I do I do have

00:23:56.130 --> 00:23:58.630
extended hedge trimmers that I use battery operated

00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:03.329
and I still I do have a Milwaukee the newer blower

00:24:03.329 --> 00:24:05.950
to blow off driveways with the fertilizer and

00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:08.750
I have a lot of Milwaukee batteries so and I

00:24:08.750 --> 00:24:11.589
got I honestly think today for whatever reason

00:24:11.589 --> 00:24:15.130
if it's if it's steel echo red max for whatever

00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:18.450
reason that those little handheld blowers they

00:24:18.450 --> 00:24:21.190
cannot take the heat and they don't want to start

00:24:21.190 --> 00:24:23.789
so they're almost useless and the power of the

00:24:23.789 --> 00:24:28.130
handheld is more than the handheld blowers now

00:24:28.130 --> 00:24:30.269
so I don't even own a handheld blower anymore

00:24:30.269 --> 00:24:33.869
it's all battery operated. So that's changed.

00:24:34.529 --> 00:24:36.890
I do believe battery operated is the future.

00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:42.009
They've got to come a long way. To me, they're

00:24:42.009 --> 00:24:44.650
probably still five years away from me looking

00:24:44.650 --> 00:24:49.109
at them ever again. Man, I agree with you completely

00:24:49.109 --> 00:24:55.190
on battery powered equipment. I've got some different

00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:59.450
companies have sent me some hedge trimmers, blowers,

00:24:59.589 --> 00:25:02.779
trimmers. wanted me to make some content with

00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:09.980
them. And we did. But my issue, like you said,

00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:13.700
is the battery life. I think it's got to improve.

00:25:14.859 --> 00:25:19.059
And the cost of the equipment, that cost needs

00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:23.200
to come down a whole lot. Because it's just outrageously

00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.359
high. To go out and purchase a bunch of battery

00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.640
powered equipment When you can buy gasoline powered

00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:33.940
equipment, you know at a fraction of the cost

00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:39.500
of the battery powered stuff so I agree completely

00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:47.619
we connected with a a Brand at equip last year

00:25:47.619 --> 00:25:52.119
and they ended up sending me a trimmer a hedge

00:25:52.119 --> 00:25:58.940
trimmer and a blower. And the batteries on those

00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:02.940
pieces of equipment seem to last longer than

00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:05.839
with some other brands that I have. I don't want

00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:11.200
to call any brand out on air, but I just feel

00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:14.940
like the battery powered has got to improve the

00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.140
life of the battery and the initial cost has

00:26:18.140 --> 00:26:23.559
to come way down. For me to go all in Yeah, I

00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:26.319
mean I I'm not so much into the mowing as much

00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:30.640
as I used to be I do like the EF eyes. I like

00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:33.480
the gas savings. I like the power a little bit

00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.359
more stability but as far as gas powered versus

00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:41.420
battery I Think I think it's pretty far. I'm

00:26:41.420 --> 00:26:45.160
just in my it's pretty far off still and I do

00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:48.420
think though I think our business is gonna be

00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:51.920
negatively impacted. And I do feel bad for these

00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:57.779
guys, these younger guys. I think in the next

00:26:57.779 --> 00:27:00.000
five years, we're gonna start losing some commercial

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.660
accounts and we're gonna start losing some high

00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:09.299
-end residentials to the robot mower has gotten

00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:12.779
pretty advanced. And I was able to demo one here

00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:17.359
recently. All you do is a remote control, and

00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:20.819
you go around your property, and once you go

00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:22.779
around your property, you just control it by

00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.940
remote control, and now it maps the property

00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:28.660
because you went around. That's it. There's no

00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:31.720
line bearing anymore, and this thing will go

00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:34.460
up, turn around, come back up, and now they're

00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:46.269
starting to stripe. yearly mowing said I'm going

00:27:46.269 --> 00:27:51.470
to buy two of those and I think the cost was

00:27:51.470 --> 00:27:54.970
$1 ,300 apiece. So they got $2 ,600 bucks in

00:27:54.970 --> 00:27:58.630
it and they've been mowing and it looks great

00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:02.670
and it's sufficient. I do think that's going

00:28:02.670 --> 00:28:05.549
to be a problem especially as the technology

00:28:05.549 --> 00:28:09.269
gets even more precise to where it was a pain

00:28:09.269 --> 00:28:12.160
in the butt to go dig a little Little line and

00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.740
put it in your lawn and map it out. But now you're

00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:17.099
just GPS in it You're just rolling this little

00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:19.980
thing around your lawn showing it where its boundaries

00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:23.880
are and then you download that to their app and

00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:26.819
it Memorizes it and it just goes out most I think

00:28:26.819 --> 00:28:28.680
that's gonna be a problem for the mowing industry

00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:31.539
and we're gonna have to figure out What we're

00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:34.480
going to do is I think that's going to I'm not

00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.019
gonna say it's gonna eliminate us But I think

00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:40.140
it's gonna take some some revenue from us, the

00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:43.539
pie. And I think that's going to be a problem,

00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:46.220
especially the younger generation as they get,

00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:49.559
as they get older, the kids that are graduating

00:28:49.559 --> 00:28:53.359
now, they're more sophisticated. And I think

00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:55.460
that they would be likely to go into the store

00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:57.500
and buy one of those things and set it up and

00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:00.759
do it. And I think that's going to hurt the industry

00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:08.500
five, definitely in 10 years for sure. Like I

00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:10.839
said, one of the OGs when it comes to content

00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:17.359
creation on YouTube, tell us how social media

00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:23.559
has changed our industry. Well, I'm going to

00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:30.460
talk about YouTube. The podcasting is a little

00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:32.140
bit new. I'd say it got really popular over the

00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:34.559
last five years, but before that it was YouTube.

00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:38.569
And what happened was... YouTube separated into

00:29:38.569 --> 00:29:40.450
all these different communities. If you're a

00:29:40.450 --> 00:29:43.930
photographer, if you're a lawn guy, if you were

00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:46.269
a doctor, if you were a lawyer, there's all these

00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:50.710
communities on there and what I found, at least

00:29:50.710 --> 00:29:54.710
for me, especially being a solo guy and going

00:29:54.710 --> 00:29:57.650
through the grind every single day, you get up,

00:29:57.970 --> 00:30:00.210
you rinse and repeat every week, especially when

00:30:00.210 --> 00:30:03.519
you have a recurring service. You're at the same

00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:08.640
property. You know where every hole is. You can

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.839
do it in your sleep. You can almost do it in

00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:14.559
your sleep. Well, when burnout happens, and you're

00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:21.759
by yourself, and what I felt that YouTube did,

00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:27.380
social media did, is it gave us – Hey, that person's

00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:29.440
going through the same thing I did. You know

00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.160
what, Andy? You were talking about something

00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:33.599
I just went through the other day. And it was

00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:35.000
just, you know what I mean? It's just one of

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.359
those things you felt good about yourself. What

00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:41.440
I really liked about it at first, it has definitely

00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.380
changed now. What I liked about it at first was

00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:47.099
not only the camaraderie, like, hey, keep the

00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:49.180
freaks going through it, man. It's rained three

00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:51.880
days. Now he's got 14 properties he's got to

00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:54.680
cut today, or else he can't go to his daughter's

00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.579
recital tomorrow. My daughter's got a softball

00:30:57.579 --> 00:30:59.900
game, or she's got basketball practice. How can

00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:02.160
I fit this in? Because this is real life now.

00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.819
We're talking about real life here, and I love

00:31:04.819 --> 00:31:08.500
that aspect about it. But what it did for us,

00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.319
Andy, is it gave us a voice. It gave us a voice

00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:18.700
to Toro, Exmark, Echo. Hey, I don't like this

00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:22.279
product. This product did not work good. It gave

00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:25.140
us a voice. And then somewhere along the way,

00:31:25.259 --> 00:31:28.440
we sold our voice. We sold our voice for a free

00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:31.759
backpack. We sold our voice for a little bit

00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:35.940
of money in the bank. For the first time, they

00:31:35.940 --> 00:31:38.259
couldn't just shove products down our throat

00:31:38.259 --> 00:31:44.759
and say, you know what? I remember this. Ferris

00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:52.079
Moller's bought Snapper Pro in Simplicity. They

00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:55.039
just redesigned their deck, and it was faulty.

00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:59.019
And I had bought it. And because I was able to

00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:02.299
go on social media and go on forums and talk

00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:05.819
about these things in public, it made them reach

00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:09.559
out to me. It made them work. I helped design

00:32:09.559 --> 00:32:13.480
that deck. And the blower, the blower for the

00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:16.400
bagging system, I helped redesign that for them.

00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:19.539
I would test it, call them up. This is what I

00:32:19.539 --> 00:32:25.250
found. The deck they released was just – it had

00:32:25.250 --> 00:32:28.250
a baffle that was in the wrong place, and so

00:32:28.250 --> 00:32:31.349
they eventually exchanged that baffle for – like

00:32:31.349 --> 00:32:34.970
they made it rounded in that area that they were

00:32:34.970 --> 00:32:37.430
having trouble with because it was causing a

00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:40.470
swirl in the grass, and it wasn't cutting and

00:32:40.470 --> 00:32:43.970
discharging properly. But before social media,

00:32:44.690 --> 00:32:46.109
do you think that they would have ever called

00:32:46.109 --> 00:32:49.009
me? They would have not they would just say hey

00:32:49.009 --> 00:32:51.069
this dealers having trouble with this guy. Oh,

00:32:51.089 --> 00:32:53.450
well because at first here's what I here's what

00:32:53.450 --> 00:32:56.829
they told me candy They told me, you know what?

00:32:56.829 --> 00:32:58.650
We're trying to make a deck to go all over the

00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:00.390
world with all the different grass types And

00:33:00.390 --> 00:33:02.369
right now just your grass type. It just doesn't

00:33:02.369 --> 00:33:04.690
work very well, but down south that works great

00:33:04.690 --> 00:33:08.089
Well, I just spent ten thousand dollars on this

00:33:08.089 --> 00:33:10.970
mower. What a depth. They can't cut nothing And

00:33:10.970 --> 00:33:13.670
then when I bought the bagger for it, it couldn't

00:33:13.670 --> 00:33:16.380
bag. It was leaving a little strip It was leaving

00:33:16.380 --> 00:33:18.579
a little street wasn't bagging it and I was taking

00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:21.440
pictures and I just didn't feel like I was being

00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:24.859
heard So I went to social media andy And they

00:33:24.859 --> 00:33:27.880
had to listen Because people were listening to

00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:30.579
me and it was going to affect their sales So

00:33:30.579 --> 00:33:33.019
it's a two -way street if I say ferris mowers

00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:35.660
is the best mower on the market. Hey johnny moe

00:33:35.660 --> 00:33:38.759
said ferris I'm i'm gonna look at ferris, but

00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:41.599
if I say that there's a problem They're also

00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:43.460
going to look at, hey, I don't know about that.

00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:47.160
We gave up that prop. We gave up that right when

00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:50.519
we started taking free stuff, when we started

00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:53.559
giving them and signing their contracts. I remember

00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:55.299
I was working with a company. I'm not going to

00:33:55.299 --> 00:33:58.720
say it's a huge company. I had them all reaching

00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.900
out to me at one point, Andy. It was a huge company.

00:34:02.059 --> 00:34:05.099
It was a two -cycle equipment. There's only three,

00:34:05.099 --> 00:34:08.900
so you can guess which one. Three that we all

00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:11.820
use. Steel Echo and Red Max were the biggest

00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:16.320
ones. So one of them reached out, and I had to

00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:21.500
have a lawyer for the contract. They wanted my

00:34:21.500 --> 00:34:25.880
content, and it was their content now. If I made

00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:28.800
a video, any time I did a video, I had to put

00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:32.260
a watermark right there of their product in every

00:34:32.260 --> 00:34:36.530
single video and – They wanted my content so

00:34:36.530 --> 00:34:38.510
I would give them my content and they could keep

00:34:38.510 --> 00:34:41.889
it up to a hundred days and decide whether or

00:34:41.889 --> 00:34:46.769
not they could keep it. So I was working hand

00:34:46.769 --> 00:34:49.889
-in -hand with a very large mowing company, huge.

00:34:51.489 --> 00:34:54.309
They sent me a product. They said before you

00:34:54.309 --> 00:34:57.469
post anything, please let me know. So I gave

00:34:57.469 --> 00:35:00.070
them a report on the mower. I said I would jump

00:35:00.070 --> 00:35:03.500
the mower. It needs totally redesigned. And it

00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:07.400
was right around the advent of the 30 -inch mowers.

00:35:08.460 --> 00:35:10.219
Toro had come out with that 30 -inch mower and

00:35:10.219 --> 00:35:12.320
took the market. Well, other companies were trying

00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.719
to do it. Well, this was such a bad design. I

00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:16.260
said it's never going to work. You're never going

00:35:16.260 --> 00:35:18.099
to sell it. You're going to put it out there,

00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:20.400
and people are going to see it, and at first

00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:21.719
they're going to get excited, and then when they

00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:26.079
use it – and they ended my relationship. They

00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:28.519
after that after I said I would jump this but

00:35:28.519 --> 00:35:30.840
because they had so much money into the design

00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:33.380
of it It need to be totally redesigned. The mowers

00:35:33.380 --> 00:35:35.719
barely heard of today It doesn't sell it sits

00:35:35.719 --> 00:35:38.440
on the floor because it didn't have the attachments

00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:41.500
and I told them that the attachment they ended

00:35:41.500 --> 00:35:44.539
our Five -year relationship. I had a five -year

00:35:44.539 --> 00:35:47.679
relationship and I was selling their zero turns

00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:50.539
More than dealers were just because of what I

00:35:50.539 --> 00:35:54.300
would say about them That's what's changed and

00:35:54.300 --> 00:35:57.829
I think When you lose your voice, I think that's

00:35:57.829 --> 00:35:59.590
a hard – and I'm not saying you get on here and

00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:03.849
you bash, but I think that when Exmark came out,

00:36:04.170 --> 00:36:06.510
was the best deck in the industry at the time,

00:36:06.670 --> 00:36:09.389
they decided that they wanted to try a Triton

00:36:09.389 --> 00:36:12.769
deck. They called it the Triton deck. They didn't

00:36:12.769 --> 00:36:15.369
listen to anybody. They forced it down everyone's

00:36:15.369 --> 00:36:17.610
throat and said, you know what? Exmark is king.

00:36:18.309 --> 00:36:20.889
Well, about two years later, they had to get

00:36:20.889 --> 00:36:23.130
rid of it because of social media. They brought

00:36:23.130 --> 00:36:26.219
back the ultracut. that's the voice I think that

00:36:26.219 --> 00:36:27.920
we need to have because sometimes there was a

00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:31.800
season there where Echo was number one for a

00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:33.980
lot of years and then steel came and blew them

00:36:33.980 --> 00:36:36.519
right out of the water and Echo's now made a

00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:39.039
strong comeback but because Echo wasn't listening

00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:42.659
to us they got blown out of the water by steel

00:36:42.659 --> 00:36:44.880
and now they've made a strong comeback it's a

00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:48.159
great product great lineup but I think that's

00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:50.219
the power of social media the community aspect

00:36:50.219 --> 00:36:53.809
of it of us being able What you're going through,

00:36:53.809 --> 00:36:56.150
what I'm going through is something similar.

00:36:57.230 --> 00:37:00.210
And the struggles, not just the fancy equipment,

00:37:00.469 --> 00:37:04.090
not just the, hey, life is great. I'm making

00:37:04.090 --> 00:37:06.050
millions of dollars. No, you're not. You're not

00:37:06.050 --> 00:37:08.190
making millions of dollars. You're not going

00:37:08.190 --> 00:37:11.510
to do it. You know what I mean? That was the

00:37:11.510 --> 00:37:13.090
thing that kind of turned me off a little bit,

00:37:13.170 --> 00:37:17.949
was the contracts. It was... Life is great. If

00:37:17.949 --> 00:37:19.989
you just cut grass, I've been doing it for 30

00:37:19.989 --> 00:37:24.010
years There are weeks and months where this business

00:37:24.010 --> 00:37:29.170
is tough on you mentally and physically with

00:37:29.170 --> 00:37:33.909
that physically part People overlook that Yeah,

00:37:33.969 --> 00:37:37.869
and then their bodies start breaking down Yes,

00:37:38.150 --> 00:37:42.929
and Then there's doctors appointments and yes

00:37:42.929 --> 00:37:48.719
surgeries. Yes rehabilitation and therapies and

00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:54.380
I just think that we need to learn to take care

00:37:54.380 --> 00:37:59.019
of ourselves as much as we try to take care of

00:37:59.019 --> 00:38:03.219
our business because if we don't we're not going

00:38:03.219 --> 00:38:05.800
to be able to take care of the business if your

00:38:05.800 --> 00:38:10.760
body breaks down. So what do you do to keep yourself

00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:17.610
healthy and fit? I think, no, I haven't always

00:38:17.610 --> 00:38:20.030
been great at this. When I was young, I could

00:38:20.030 --> 00:38:23.889
work sun up to sun down, run circles around everybody.

00:38:23.969 --> 00:38:26.750
That's how I felt. As I got older, my knees,

00:38:27.190 --> 00:38:30.469
I need two new knees. As we speak right now,

00:38:30.750 --> 00:38:35.130
I need two new knees. I've had shoulder issues.

00:38:36.090 --> 00:38:39.670
I've worked with heart monitors on before. I've

00:38:39.670 --> 00:38:44.219
broke a rib. I think the biggest thing is getting

00:38:44.219 --> 00:38:48.860
up early, going to bed early, very early, and

00:38:48.860 --> 00:38:51.739
getting up early, keeping yourself in the gym,

00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.280
which it doesn't make sense, and then getting

00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:59.039
a hobby like hiking, doing something that's completely

00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:01.519
different than what you're doing. I coach girls'

00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:05.659
basketball. I call it. And then when I drive

00:39:05.659 --> 00:39:07.860
down to the gym and I work the girls out, we

00:39:07.860 --> 00:39:12.809
go to games, and I coach. That has really worked

00:39:12.809 --> 00:39:16.789
for me, going to the gym, hiking, getting away

00:39:16.789 --> 00:39:20.349
from the business, just totally – it's done.

00:39:20.789 --> 00:39:23.489
I'm not going to answer the phone. I'm not going

00:39:23.489 --> 00:39:25.590
to look on the computer. I'm not going to look

00:39:25.590 --> 00:39:28.449
at scheduling. But when I get up in the morning

00:39:28.449 --> 00:39:30.869
and the first thing I do four days a week is

00:39:30.869 --> 00:39:34.570
I go to the gym. I do a routine, and I try to

00:39:34.570 --> 00:39:38.250
get about 15 ,000 steps a day. And I think those

00:39:38.250 --> 00:39:40.050
are the key, keeping your body moving, which

00:39:40.050 --> 00:39:42.750
is pretty easy to do when you're working outside.

00:39:43.369 --> 00:39:46.769
But if you don't get 15 ,000 steps, 12 to 15

00:39:46.769 --> 00:39:48.889
,000, make sure you do. If you're riding on a

00:39:48.889 --> 00:39:51.590
motor all day, get off and just take a lap. Just

00:39:51.590 --> 00:39:59.889
take a lap and clear your head. Get out of the

00:39:59.889 --> 00:40:03.210
rush, rush, rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. If

00:40:03.210 --> 00:40:05.730
you're constantly rushing, you've got too much

00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.460
work. and you need to dial that back or get someone

00:40:09.460 --> 00:40:12.400
to help you get it done because that will hurt

00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:16.920
you more than anything else. The constant stress.

00:40:17.260 --> 00:40:19.980
will break your body down so quick and so fast.

00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:22.679
And it's that rush, rush, rush. I call it the

00:40:22.679 --> 00:40:24.579
spring rush trap where you're just constantly

00:40:24.579 --> 00:40:26.400
going, going, going, going, going, going, going.

00:40:26.860 --> 00:40:28.679
And then all of a sudden, you're like, I can't

00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:32.159
move. What's wrong? My shoulders are sore. My

00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:35.239
back sore. It's that constant beating in your

00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:37.719
mind. You can't even enjoy the job you're on

00:40:37.719 --> 00:40:42.179
because you're two jobs down the road. And so

00:40:42.179 --> 00:40:47.699
I really tried to listen to some podcasts. I

00:40:47.699 --> 00:40:52.239
listen to a lot of books. I'm a big reader. And

00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:55.980
so I try to keep my mind filled with the proper

00:40:55.980 --> 00:40:59.860
thing. What you put in will come out. So if you

00:40:59.860 --> 00:41:02.679
put junk in, junk's coming out. So if you're

00:41:02.679 --> 00:41:04.920
going to come home and sit on the couch and watch

00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:07.360
Netflix all night, well, Netflix is going to

00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:09.519
come out. You're never going to be truly successful

00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:12.400
until you start monitoring what comes in and

00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:14.929
not just food. But what also goes out there are

00:41:14.929 --> 00:41:17.550
some guys that are very successful their mouths

00:41:17.550 --> 00:41:20.829
are so foul I don't even listen to them. I don't

00:41:20.829 --> 00:41:23.389
care how successful you are. I'm not impressed.

00:41:23.389 --> 00:41:26.849
I'm not impressed at all F this f that mother.

00:41:27.050 --> 00:41:29.869
I'm like, what are you trying to do? I don't

00:41:29.869 --> 00:41:32.449
care if you're a multi -millionaire, right? I

00:41:32.449 --> 00:41:35.389
had one over time if you can't control your tongue,

00:41:35.409 --> 00:41:37.610
you can't control your life That's right. That

00:41:37.610 --> 00:41:41.329
is the truth. I had one as a guest on my show

00:41:41.329 --> 00:41:47.179
I never published the episode. Wow. Because every

00:41:47.179 --> 00:41:55.019
other word was F this, F that. And I don't talk

00:41:55.019 --> 00:41:58.679
like that. And I don't want that on my podcast.

00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:02.199
It really makes them look foolish. If you want

00:42:02.199 --> 00:42:05.800
to know the truth. Maybe it's my opinion, but

00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:07.480
I feel like it's the truth. It makes them look

00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:12.420
foolish when they talk like that. I agree. I

00:42:12.420 --> 00:42:14.599
think one of the things too about social media,

00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:19.019
Andy – and I'm going to specifically talk about

00:42:19.019 --> 00:42:22.920
your podcast in particular. The advent of the

00:42:22.920 --> 00:42:25.880
podcast and YouTube has substantially helped

00:42:25.880 --> 00:42:28.940
people grow their businesses a lot faster. It

00:42:28.940 --> 00:42:31.159
cuts all the learning curve out. When I came

00:42:31.159 --> 00:42:34.079
up, I had to go through all the garbage because

00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:37.460
no guys talk to each other. Now, you can grow

00:42:37.460 --> 00:42:39.739
your business so quick and so fast by listening

00:42:39.739 --> 00:42:43.099
to certain podcasts. by listening, by watching

00:42:43.099 --> 00:42:46.119
videos, and you can grow your business. You can

00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:48.820
find out the information so quick now. That was

00:42:48.820 --> 00:42:50.980
not available back then. Back then, the internet

00:42:50.980 --> 00:42:53.460
had just came out. It was dial -up. It was AOL,

00:42:55.619 --> 00:42:59.659
and only colleges really have it, 96, 97, 98

00:42:59.659 --> 00:43:04.019
when AOL started. Back then, we didn't have phones.

00:43:04.659 --> 00:43:07.219
start out with little flip phones, and then you

00:43:07.219 --> 00:43:09.519
can get on the internet in the 2000s with these

00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:11.619
flip phones, and then obviously this phone came

00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:15.480
out. That's changed a lot. The technology has

00:43:15.480 --> 00:43:17.699
changed, and it wasn't available. When I was

00:43:17.699 --> 00:43:20.900
in high school, Andy, I had to go to the library

00:43:20.900 --> 00:43:22.940
and get in the psychopedias to write a book,

00:43:23.079 --> 00:43:26.119
to write a paper. Well, right now, I can get

00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:30.239
on AI right now and tell them the topic, and

00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:34.909
the paper is done. I had to literally go – pull

00:43:34.909 --> 00:43:38.469
out, say I was writing a paper on wolves, read

00:43:38.469 --> 00:43:41.190
the encyclopedia about wolves, cite it, learn

00:43:41.190 --> 00:43:43.710
everything I could, then write the paper. You're

00:43:43.710 --> 00:43:45.849
talking about two seconds now, two seconds I

00:43:45.849 --> 00:43:49.289
can write a paper. So to say what's really changed

00:43:49.289 --> 00:43:53.909
is technology and social media, especially podcasting

00:43:53.909 --> 00:43:57.210
such as yourself, giving out information like

00:43:57.210 --> 00:44:01.429
you do. That has just totally changed the industry.

00:44:02.030 --> 00:44:04.989
There's guys right now that I've helped get in

00:44:04.989 --> 00:44:09.730
business. I'll give them lawns and they're further

00:44:09.730 --> 00:44:13.670
ahead two years in business than what I was 10

00:44:13.670 --> 00:44:16.710
years in business. They surpassed me. It took

00:44:16.710 --> 00:44:20.530
me 10 years to get to that $100 ,000 mark. They've

00:44:20.530 --> 00:44:24.489
done it in two years, like lickety -split. I'm

00:44:24.489 --> 00:44:29.230
like, wow, that's changed. Well, in 30 years

00:44:29.230 --> 00:44:36.150
in the industry, What keeps you motivated and

00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:41.610
what are you so excited about when it comes to

00:44:41.610 --> 00:44:50.150
the industry? Well, what keeps me motivated is

00:44:50.150 --> 00:44:53.550
I love the industry. I don't have to go to work,

00:44:53.829 --> 00:44:57.230
Andy. I get to go to work. There you go. I don't

00:44:57.230 --> 00:45:02.219
roll out of bed. I get out of bed. I'm excited

00:45:02.219 --> 00:45:04.800
to get out of bed. I'm excited that a little

00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:08.079
poor kid from Newcastle, Pennsylvania Could get

00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:10.920
a business and do what he's done with no education

00:45:10.920 --> 00:45:15.039
Obviously God had the most amount to God be the

00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:18.820
glory. Yes, and but I'm telling you what man

00:45:18.820 --> 00:45:22.440
this industry with no education You can get out

00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:25.739
there and you can go do it. You can you can do

00:45:25.739 --> 00:45:29.219
it You can do it. And I'm excited every day because

00:45:29.219 --> 00:45:34.159
I'm 52. I can't wait till I'm 62. And I'm still

00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:37.219
going to do this. I get to do this. John, when

00:45:37.219 --> 00:45:38.679
are you going to retire? I don't know when I

00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:43.320
want to. I don't have to. I get to do this. I've

00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:45.800
transformed the business. And that's the greatest

00:45:45.800 --> 00:45:48.780
thing about us living in America is that we can

00:45:48.780 --> 00:45:52.159
decide. I was sitting on a beach about four or

00:45:52.159 --> 00:45:55.800
five years ago. And I was meditating. The waves

00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:59.039
are coming in. And I said, you know what? I'm

00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:01.099
changing my business. I'm changing my colors.

00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:03.719
I'm changing everything. And we were walking

00:46:03.719 --> 00:46:06.639
on the boardwalk, and I saw this sweatshirt,

00:46:07.019 --> 00:46:10.360
and it had pink and yellow on it. I said, that's

00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:14.039
my new colors. Everyone thought I was not standing.

00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:16.900
And I said, I'm going to show you. I'm going

00:46:16.900 --> 00:46:19.119
to change it. I'm not going to be Johnny's mowing

00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:21.440
anymore. I'm going to be Johnny's lawns, and

00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:23.980
I'm going to be the biggest fertilizing company

00:46:23.980 --> 00:46:28.699
in this area. And since then, I probably had

00:46:28.699 --> 00:46:32.239
about 20 to start out with. And about two years

00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:35.480
later, in one year, I grew 147 accounts in one

00:46:35.480 --> 00:46:39.039
year. And now it's just growing, growing, growing.

00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:43.659
And now I'd say, so in the morning, how I do

00:46:43.659 --> 00:46:47.239
it? When I go out at 7 I start fertilizing until

00:46:47.239 --> 00:46:51.139
about I'd say about 11 or 12 and Then the little

00:46:51.139 --> 00:46:53.159
bit of mowing that I have left like this couple

00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:55.480
cemeteries I do I'll go do those for the rest

00:46:55.480 --> 00:46:58.179
of the day or you know, or I'll call quits and

00:46:58.179 --> 00:47:00.079
come home You know, it's just it's a much different

00:47:00.079 --> 00:47:02.260
life But you can you can make that choice and

00:47:02.260 --> 00:47:04.860
this industry allows you to do that and I think

00:47:04.860 --> 00:47:08.099
it's the best industry but I would say the biggest

00:47:08.099 --> 00:47:11.980
thing is when God calls you to do something and

00:47:11.980 --> 00:47:15.579
Then you go do it. It's not really work. It is

00:47:15.579 --> 00:47:19.260
work. But I get to go to work. I don't have to

00:47:19.260 --> 00:47:21.960
I don't roll out of bed. I just I'm up. And you

00:47:21.960 --> 00:47:23.940
can my family knows it too. Because I'm crazy

00:47:23.940 --> 00:47:27.559
in the morning. I scream I scream and I'll say

00:47:27.559 --> 00:47:31.079
today's a great day to have a good day. Let's

00:47:31.079 --> 00:47:37.219
go. Let's go. That's awesome. Where do you see

00:47:37.219 --> 00:47:47.059
the industry in the next five to 10 years? Well,

00:47:47.059 --> 00:47:49.559
Andy as you know, you've probably seen you're

00:47:49.559 --> 00:47:55.099
older than I am I Tell everything things change

00:47:55.099 --> 00:47:58.900
Life changes we had a place here. It was called

00:47:58.900 --> 00:48:02.559
Rockwell International and They swore that Rockwell

00:48:02.559 --> 00:48:04.420
International. It was a steel mill that would

00:48:04.420 --> 00:48:07.500
never go anywhere. I remember the day they closed

00:48:07.500 --> 00:48:11.579
the doors and No one could believe it. It shut

00:48:11.579 --> 00:48:16.090
our town down I remember there was a company

00:48:16.090 --> 00:48:18.449
called Bell Atlantic. It was a phone company.

00:48:19.489 --> 00:48:22.869
They're not around anymore, Andy. I used to pick

00:48:22.869 --> 00:48:26.289
up a phone and we would dial it this way. Most

00:48:26.289 --> 00:48:27.869
people don't even have phones in their house

00:48:27.869 --> 00:48:31.489
now. They're cell phones. We can go down the

00:48:31.489 --> 00:48:34.590
line. We used to have record players. Then we

00:48:34.590 --> 00:48:37.670
had eight tracks. Then we had cassette tapes.

00:48:37.730 --> 00:48:40.269
Then we had CDs. Now no one has those anymore.

00:48:40.690 --> 00:48:45.530
They have... MP3s or iPods or phones. Now we

00:48:45.530 --> 00:48:51.010
stream our music. I say all that to say this.

00:48:52.150 --> 00:48:54.929
I think if we don't keep up with the times, we'll

00:48:54.929 --> 00:48:59.409
be wiped up. And I hate to say that. The fertilizing

00:48:59.409 --> 00:49:03.050
side of it, I think it'll be over -mandated by

00:49:03.050 --> 00:49:05.210
the government. I think they're going to take

00:49:05.210 --> 00:49:10.190
out big chemicals. You already see certain people

00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:12.280
I was listening to turf nerds a couple weeks

00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:14.900
ago. They said Saginaw, Michigan has already

00:49:14.900 --> 00:49:17.820
started. You can't run gas powered equipment

00:49:17.820 --> 00:49:22.800
or leaf blowers from April to September. Right.

00:49:23.480 --> 00:49:26.699
Well, I mean, Andy, I mean, that that's pretty

00:49:26.699 --> 00:49:29.739
rough. You know, California has already started

00:49:29.739 --> 00:49:33.340
their, you know, can't use gas powered equipment.

00:49:33.559 --> 00:49:39.210
And I don't know if you look at a Toro Toro grandstand

00:49:39.210 --> 00:49:42.409
electric that's 30 grand. I Don't know about

00:49:42.409 --> 00:49:45.630
you, but you gotta cut a lot of 50 $70 lawns

00:49:45.630 --> 00:49:48.829
to pay off that thing and can it work all day?

00:49:49.130 --> 00:49:52.469
Yeah Can it go a full eight hours and what if

00:49:52.469 --> 00:49:54.550
you forget to charge it the next day where it

00:49:54.550 --> 00:49:57.489
didn't charge overnight? Or we had a power outage

00:49:57.489 --> 00:50:00.210
or all these things. I think they're gonna really

00:50:00.210 --> 00:50:04.110
impact the business I think the electric movement

00:50:04.110 --> 00:50:07.829
is going to hurt us pretty big. Places like Delaware,

00:50:08.289 --> 00:50:11.429
where they've already banned fertilization because

00:50:11.429 --> 00:50:15.949
of the ducks and canals and stuff, I think we're

00:50:15.949 --> 00:50:20.510
in for a little bit of hurting. And if we don't

00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:24.949
get pretty creative and start thinking about

00:50:24.949 --> 00:50:27.210
what this industry really looks like, we will

00:50:27.210 --> 00:50:30.420
be blockbuster video. When I was a kid, we went

00:50:30.420 --> 00:50:32.480
to Blockbuster Video. You'd rent them on Friday

00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:35.239
night. As long as you rewound the tape, you were

00:50:35.239 --> 00:50:39.980
good. You put it back. Most of the people are

00:50:39.980 --> 00:50:41.559
listening to us right now. They have no idea

00:50:41.559 --> 00:50:45.460
when I say rewind the tape. That's right. I remember

00:50:45.460 --> 00:50:49.619
those days. Watched videos all weekend. Yeah.

00:50:50.219 --> 00:50:54.119
It's gone. And I think it's a great industry.

00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:59.820
I think private equity, you know, buying out

00:50:59.820 --> 00:51:03.000
these companies lets us know that this is a great

00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:07.880
industry. But the overregulation of it and the

00:51:07.880 --> 00:51:10.679
forcing of different things could hurt us. And

00:51:10.679 --> 00:51:28.880
with new technology, it might hurt us. One morning

00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:31.599
I was standing outside drinking a cup of coffee.

00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:36.400
It was a beautiful morning and I saw a truck

00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:41.059
pull up and Three guys jumped out one grabbed

00:51:41.059 --> 00:51:44.119
a trimmer one grabbed a set of hedge trimmers

00:51:44.119 --> 00:51:47.500
One jumped on a mower and they start mowing the

00:51:47.500 --> 00:51:50.739
property right across the street. I Watched those

00:51:50.739 --> 00:51:55.210
three guys mow trim the hedge Blow everything

00:51:55.210 --> 00:51:59.809
off trim everything in about 15 20 minutes When

00:51:59.809 --> 00:52:03.250
they were done, I walked across the street introduced

00:52:03.250 --> 00:52:06.889
myself to him But there was something I noticed

00:52:06.889 --> 00:52:10.449
they were using gas -powered equipment still

00:52:10.449 --> 00:52:14.650
So I asked him I said I thought you guys Were

00:52:14.650 --> 00:52:18.489
mandated you can't use gas power. He looked at

00:52:18.489 --> 00:52:22.949
me and he said they will have to catch me first

00:52:23.639 --> 00:52:27.000
He said, if they're not standing right here,

00:52:27.219 --> 00:52:30.599
I'm using my gas powered equipment. He said,

00:52:30.599 --> 00:52:33.480
I'm not a fan of battery powered. And he said,

00:52:33.619 --> 00:52:36.420
what we said earlier, the batteries don't last.

00:52:37.840 --> 00:52:41.920
And it's just not the same. So I thought that

00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:45.320
was funny. He's not sold out on battery powered,

00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:49.099
but the government in California is trying to

00:52:49.099 --> 00:52:55.900
force him to use the battery stuff. So, you know,

00:52:56.219 --> 00:52:58.960
I think we're all heading there and it's in a

00:52:58.960 --> 00:53:02.699
few states now. But usually what happens throughout

00:53:02.699 --> 00:53:05.920
the United States either starts in California

00:53:05.920 --> 00:53:10.820
or in New York and it migrates to central Indiana

00:53:10.820 --> 00:53:16.980
or to Newcastle, Pennsylvania. You know, so we're

00:53:16.980 --> 00:53:19.539
heading that direction. But I don't want to be

00:53:19.539 --> 00:53:25.159
so close minded about it. that I'm not willing

00:53:25.159 --> 00:53:30.460
to try. Because I feel like our industry is growing.

00:53:33.599 --> 00:53:37.119
From 17 years ago when I started, I didn't feel

00:53:37.119 --> 00:53:41.960
the camaraderie among other lawn care businesses

00:53:41.960 --> 00:53:46.880
that I feel today. All the businesses in my town,

00:53:46.920 --> 00:53:50.099
I don't look at them as competitors. They're

00:53:50.099 --> 00:53:55.690
my friends. On a rain day, we'll get together

00:53:55.690 --> 00:53:59.329
and go to a park's restaurant and eat breakfast

00:53:59.329 --> 00:54:02.349
and talk about what are you doing to grow your

00:54:02.349 --> 00:54:05.329
business or how are you handling this situation

00:54:05.329 --> 00:54:09.269
or that situation. And we just are constantly

00:54:09.269 --> 00:54:12.750
helping each other grow. Iron sharpeneth iron.

00:54:13.650 --> 00:54:16.230
And so they're not competitors. They're friends

00:54:16.230 --> 00:54:21.039
in business. Absolutely. And I feel that camaraderie

00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:24.679
in our industry, but I also feel like if you're

00:54:24.679 --> 00:54:27.699
not willing to go with the industry, it'll run

00:54:27.699 --> 00:54:33.059
over you. And you will get left behind. So let

00:54:33.059 --> 00:54:36.780
me ask you this, and I know we're a little long

00:54:36.780 --> 00:54:41.239
on our 45 minutes, but I appreciate you opening

00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:45.579
up and talking to me. What concerns you about

00:54:45.579 --> 00:54:55.150
the future? The future? Yes. In the industry?

00:54:55.610 --> 00:54:58.769
You're talking about the industry? Yes. The government

00:54:58.769 --> 00:55:01.650
involvement in our business concerns me the most

00:55:01.650 --> 00:55:04.110
because I think the industry will regulate itself.

00:55:04.349 --> 00:55:06.989
I think that we're smart enough to do it. I think

00:55:06.989 --> 00:55:11.889
the government mandating electric stuff, you

00:55:11.889 --> 00:55:15.469
know, for instance, you say you're from Newcastle,

00:55:15.469 --> 00:55:19.019
Indiana. if you woke up and your state legislation

00:55:19.019 --> 00:55:23.960
said, hey, Andy, no more leaf blowers. You have

00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:26.059
to blow all your leaves and you have to rake

00:55:26.059 --> 00:55:28.579
them and tarp them. And you got to do you got

00:55:28.579 --> 00:55:31.139
to go back to the old school way. And, you know,

00:55:31.300 --> 00:55:36.679
electric blowers. And I truly believe after 30

00:55:36.679 --> 00:55:39.159
years and seeing how powerful the equipment is,

00:55:39.320 --> 00:55:41.400
it would be really hard for me to go to a blower

00:55:41.400 --> 00:55:44.190
that can't blow leaves anymore. Right. Or all

00:55:44.190 --> 00:55:48.829
of that. I think government mandation into the

00:55:48.829 --> 00:55:54.150
fertilizing especially, I think that hurts. I

00:55:54.150 --> 00:55:57.789
think that hurts businesses. The tariffs hurt

00:55:57.789 --> 00:56:03.130
me in the fertilizing. The Iran War hurt me because

00:56:03.130 --> 00:56:05.349
we got our nitrogen from there. So I got a big

00:56:05.349 --> 00:56:09.289
spike. And in my pricing. So those things hurt.

00:56:09.309 --> 00:56:12.510
So when government gets involved, obviously gas

00:56:12.510 --> 00:56:15.690
prices because of government involvement. And

00:56:15.690 --> 00:56:19.730
I think that's what's going to – it's what concerns

00:56:19.730 --> 00:56:25.349
me the most on how much we are dependent upon

00:56:25.349 --> 00:56:31.989
someone like Iran or someone like Russia. When

00:56:31.989 --> 00:56:35.630
that war started in Russia, we were getting potash.

00:56:35.769 --> 00:56:39.230
from there, and that stopped, and then we had

00:56:39.230 --> 00:56:41.650
to go get it from Canada. So Canada ramped up

00:56:41.650 --> 00:56:44.630
the potash, which is potassium, that we put in

00:56:44.630 --> 00:56:47.349
our fertilizer. Well, the prices jumped through

00:56:47.349 --> 00:56:49.650
the roof right there real quick. It started to

00:56:49.650 --> 00:56:52.090
come back down. Well, then we tariffed Canada.

00:56:52.530 --> 00:56:55.190
Well, guess what? Prices went back up. I think

00:56:55.190 --> 00:56:58.789
those kind of things will hurt the industry,

00:56:59.889 --> 00:57:04.750
not knowing your prices. I think really hurts

00:57:04.750 --> 00:57:07.969
not knowing your numbers to a point of being

00:57:07.969 --> 00:57:10.630
able to withstand these kinds of things that

00:57:10.630 --> 00:57:14.190
we have no control over. I think the education

00:57:14.190 --> 00:57:16.250
is getting better, especially from podcasting.

00:57:16.329 --> 00:57:19.530
But in the industry, to me, government involvement

00:57:19.530 --> 00:57:25.769
in small business is to me going to be the biggest

00:57:25.769 --> 00:57:28.130
thing and especially pushing of the electric

00:57:28.130 --> 00:57:31.230
stuff if it's not ready. Like we're not ready

00:57:31.230 --> 00:57:35.110
power grid wise. We're not ready for any of that

00:57:35.110 --> 00:57:37.309
stuff yet, and I think the infrastructure needs

00:57:37.309 --> 00:57:39.570
to be there, but they're pushing pretty hard

00:57:39.570 --> 00:57:44.570
and I can see like you said California obviously

00:57:44.570 --> 00:57:47.809
New York's a big one And then it starts to infiltrate

00:57:47.809 --> 00:57:50.010
different areas and then it becomes more and

00:57:50.010 --> 00:57:53.230
more popular Especially as the as the population

00:57:53.230 --> 00:57:56.769
gets a little older listening to an echo 90 10

00:57:56.769 --> 00:57:59.170
They don't want to hear it. Yeah, it's just man.

00:57:59.170 --> 00:58:02.469
It's so loud. Yeah, and then that's how that

00:58:02.469 --> 00:58:06.440
starts it's and then they you know so legislation

00:58:06.440 --> 00:58:09.519
making sure that we're involved in the voting

00:58:09.519 --> 00:58:12.360
process locally not just the president of the

00:58:12.360 --> 00:58:15.260
united states but locally who's your state representative

00:58:15.260 --> 00:58:18.019
get to know them call them you know because they're

00:58:18.019 --> 00:58:19.920
they're going to vote on these things and they're

00:58:19.920 --> 00:58:21.840
going to negatively impact you or positively

00:58:21.840 --> 00:58:25.480
impact you however you look so to me the future

00:58:25.480 --> 00:58:30.219
you know from 30 years ago was unbelievably bright

00:58:30.809 --> 00:58:33.389
And now as I've gotten older, I see how these

00:58:33.389 --> 00:58:36.769
things have played out. I think certain the robotics

00:58:36.769 --> 00:58:40.809
concern me. That's a big thing that I see. And

00:58:40.809 --> 00:58:43.190
knowing some of the makers of the robotics and

00:58:43.190 --> 00:58:46.250
what they're trying to do. And I'm like, that's

00:58:46.250 --> 00:58:48.170
that's a concern, you know, when it comes to

00:58:48.170 --> 00:58:52.409
golf courses, the labor issues, robotics could

00:58:52.409 --> 00:58:56.530
be a major problem for us in the future. And

00:58:56.530 --> 00:58:59.579
let's re figure out, like you said, to incorporate

00:58:59.579 --> 00:59:05.239
ourselves into that. Well, I have seen that government

00:59:05.239 --> 00:59:09.699
involvement locally here. We cut down a little

00:59:09.699 --> 00:59:14.039
small tree for a lady and we were taking the

00:59:14.039 --> 00:59:18.539
brush to the dump. When we pull up to the weigh

00:59:18.539 --> 00:59:21.980
station, the guy inside said, I can't take that.

00:59:22.960 --> 00:59:26.380
I said, you take it all the time. He said, there's

00:59:26.380 --> 00:59:29.539
a new government regulation. state of Indiana.

00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:34.320
It has to be cut in three foot sections and it

00:59:34.320 --> 00:59:41.539
has to be bound before we can take it. Used to

00:59:41.539 --> 00:59:44.099
we used to pull in and just throw it out of the

00:59:44.099 --> 00:59:47.559
trailer and there it is and we'd be on our way.

00:59:48.219 --> 00:59:50.980
So now they're wanting to make you cut it in

00:59:50.980 --> 00:59:55.659
three foot sections and bind it together in a

00:59:55.659 --> 01:00:02.769
bundle. The time that they're stealing from you

01:00:02.769 --> 01:00:06.949
is unbelievable. Yes. So I think you're right

01:00:06.949 --> 01:00:09.409
on the government involvement. I think that's

01:00:09.409 --> 01:00:14.170
going to be a big issue with the green industry.

01:00:15.250 --> 01:00:17.329
And also, to be honest, and one more thing there,

01:00:17.409 --> 01:00:20.820
Andy. private equity buying up a lot of the business,

01:00:20.820 --> 01:00:23.380
I think that's going to hurt in the end. I think

01:00:23.380 --> 01:00:25.500
that'll hurt. It's good for the person getting

01:00:25.500 --> 01:00:28.500
bought out, but I think with them owning a large

01:00:28.500 --> 01:00:30.920
part of our industry is not always a good thing.

01:00:31.940 --> 01:00:35.300
Let's do some rapid fire questions here real

01:00:35.300 --> 01:00:40.400
quick. I'll do the best I can. Favorite mower

01:00:40.400 --> 01:00:48.800
you've ever owned? Mower? Yes. Toro Toro 3000

01:00:48.800 --> 01:00:53.739
Series 25 EFI. What is the most reliable piece

01:00:53.739 --> 01:01:00.440
of equipment you've ever owned? Toro 3000 Series

01:01:00.440 --> 01:01:07.380
25 EFI. What has been your greatest success in

01:01:07.380 --> 01:01:15.119
business? Rebranding, switching, switching everything

01:01:15.119 --> 01:01:20.329
over and doubling doubling the gross revenue

01:01:20.329 --> 01:01:23.849
of my business. What is one myth about the green

01:01:23.849 --> 01:01:29.309
industry you would like to bust? I'm sorry, you've

01:01:29.309 --> 01:01:34.610
got an echo. What's one myth in the green industry

01:01:34.610 --> 01:01:40.469
that you would like to bust? That you have to

01:01:40.469 --> 01:01:43.909
be a big business you have to scale You can be

01:01:43.909 --> 01:01:47.010
solo and proud. I'm solo and proud 30 years my

01:01:47.010 --> 01:01:50.530
friend 30 years never missed a vacation What

01:01:50.530 --> 01:02:01.210
legacy? Do you hope to leave behind? That's a

01:02:01.210 --> 01:02:06.500
great question Well, the Bible says you leave

01:02:06.500 --> 01:02:10.679
an inheritance to your children's children and

01:02:10.679 --> 01:02:13.659
My goal for the last five years is to impact

01:02:13.659 --> 01:02:16.460
my grandkids. They're not here yet, but they're

01:02:16.460 --> 01:02:20.880
on my mind. I want to be known through generations

01:02:20.880 --> 01:02:26.460
that Restopped the poverty aspect. I've been

01:02:26.460 --> 01:02:31.769
married 25 years and my dad And my mom were both

01:02:31.769 --> 01:02:34.090
multi -marriage. My dad was married three times.

01:02:34.429 --> 01:02:37.829
My mom was married twice. And so breaking that

01:02:37.829 --> 01:02:41.510
generational curse is the biggest thing for me.

01:02:42.010 --> 01:02:45.949
What I want to be known for is I want them to

01:02:45.949 --> 01:02:50.170
know grandpa. I want them not to just know me.

01:02:50.349 --> 01:02:53.050
but I want them to be able to physically feel

01:02:53.050 --> 01:02:57.030
me even when I'm gone financially and the legacy

01:02:57.030 --> 01:02:59.750
that was left. Because my ceiling, I truly believe

01:02:59.750 --> 01:03:03.829
my ceiling is my kid's floor and they don't have

01:03:03.829 --> 01:03:06.670
to start an investment here. So that's my legacy.

01:03:06.730 --> 01:03:08.829
I want to leave an inheritance to my children's

01:03:08.829 --> 01:03:14.469
children. That's great. Reminds me when my daughter

01:03:14.469 --> 01:03:19.320
was real little. I heard some commotion coming

01:03:19.320 --> 01:03:22.860
from her bedroom. So I got up and I walked and

01:03:22.860 --> 01:03:27.539
I peeked in her room and she had my cowboy boots

01:03:27.539 --> 01:03:34.159
on. She was probably maybe one, one and a half.

01:03:35.159 --> 01:03:39.239
And she was dripping and falling and knocking

01:03:39.239 --> 01:03:42.579
over things in her bedroom because she had my

01:03:42.579 --> 01:03:47.000
big old cowboy boots on. But the thought came

01:03:47.000 --> 01:03:50.139
to my mind and I stood there in her bedroom door

01:03:50.139 --> 01:03:54.059
with tears rolling down my cheeks And I prayed

01:03:54.059 --> 01:03:58.719
standing there and I said God Don't ever let

01:03:58.719 --> 01:04:04.380
me walk in those boots into places or into situations

01:04:04.380 --> 01:04:09.219
Where I would become an embarrassment for my

01:04:09.219 --> 01:04:13.880
little girl And that's exactly what you're saying

01:04:13.880 --> 01:04:21.150
leaving that Good name. Yes, sir. My daughter's

01:04:21.150 --> 01:04:23.570
got me this. It says we want to follow in daddy's

01:04:23.570 --> 01:04:27.309
footsteps. That's it. That's the most important

01:04:27.309 --> 01:04:31.210
part right there. That's the truth. Well, thank

01:04:31.210 --> 01:04:35.210
you. I appreciate you being on the show. And

01:04:35.210 --> 01:04:40.849
one final question. Could you give a piece of

01:04:40.849 --> 01:04:45.670
advice? to someone that might just be entering

01:04:45.670 --> 01:04:52.389
into the industry today that would help them

01:04:52.389 --> 01:04:58.789
find success a little sooner. So there's a lot

01:04:58.789 --> 01:05:02.329
to unpack there. Obviously, the go -to answer

01:05:02.329 --> 01:05:05.750
would be to know your numbers. But to be honest

01:05:05.750 --> 01:05:09.670
with you, if I had to tell you the truth, The

01:05:09.670 --> 01:05:11.710
one thing that I would say to you is don't you

01:05:11.710 --> 01:05:14.989
dare quit. Don't you dare give up. On your hardest

01:05:14.989 --> 01:05:17.289
days, I want you to remember this. While you're

01:05:17.289 --> 01:05:19.389
on your mower, you could be in tears, you could

01:05:19.389 --> 01:05:21.449
be crying, and you don't know how you're going

01:05:21.449 --> 01:05:23.389
to make it. But I promise you, if you get up

01:05:23.389 --> 01:05:25.289
tomorrow morning and you continue to get out

01:05:25.289 --> 01:05:28.489
there and you keep pounding the pavement, eventually,

01:05:29.150 --> 01:05:31.670
this thing is going to turn around for you. So

01:05:31.670 --> 01:05:33.989
my biggest thing would be don't you dare quit.

01:05:34.550 --> 01:05:37.570
If you have a dream to build this business, don't

01:05:37.570 --> 01:05:40.659
you quit. You know Everyone's gonna look at you

01:05:40.659 --> 01:05:42.719
like you're crazy. Like you're stupid. Like what

01:05:42.719 --> 01:05:45.119
are you doing? I left a great paying job at the

01:05:45.119 --> 01:05:48.320
time I was making $17 an hour back in the 90s

01:05:48.320 --> 01:05:50.400
running a company. That was great money back

01:05:50.400 --> 01:05:53.639
then. Yes, and They thought I was absolutely

01:05:53.639 --> 01:05:56.079
insane my in -laws thought I was insane. My parents

01:05:56.079 --> 01:06:00.000
thought I was insane and I tell you what? That

01:06:00.000 --> 01:06:02.380
guy has since sold his business. I would have

01:06:02.380 --> 01:06:05.179
been out of a job Andy if I wouldn't have done

01:06:05.179 --> 01:06:09.659
what I've done and and Please if I can impart

01:06:09.659 --> 01:06:13.699
anything, it's not all peaches and cream But

01:06:13.699 --> 01:06:16.739
I'm telling you it's worth it There are great

01:06:16.739 --> 01:06:19.539
days in this business, but it's hard when it

01:06:19.539 --> 01:06:22.320
when your best account You screwed up your best

01:06:22.320 --> 01:06:24.519
account and you got a knock on that door and

01:06:24.519 --> 01:06:26.980
you got to tell them and they're very upset with

01:06:26.980 --> 01:06:29.019
you They want to drop you it's gonna hurt your

01:06:29.019 --> 01:06:31.300
feelings But you get up the next day and you

01:06:31.300 --> 01:06:34.139
do the best you can don't quit and that would

01:06:34.139 --> 01:06:37.920
be my best Advice because there's been many times

01:06:37.920 --> 01:06:40.460
in 30 years right man. Did I do the right thing?

01:06:41.019 --> 01:06:44.360
Should I stayed in this you know and But you

01:06:44.360 --> 01:06:46.699
don't quit you get up every day you rinse and

01:06:46.699 --> 01:06:48.960
repeat you rinse and repeat and you rinse and

01:06:48.960 --> 01:06:52.920
repeat And you keep doing that you will see I

01:06:52.920 --> 01:06:55.519
think around that five -year mark once you get

01:06:55.519 --> 01:06:57.699
above that five -year mark is where you start

01:06:57.699 --> 01:07:03.380
to oh oh oh And things really start, but it's

01:07:03.380 --> 01:07:05.679
so hard to get to that that five -year mark But

01:07:05.679 --> 01:07:07.260
if you quit, you're definitely not going to get

01:07:07.260 --> 01:07:11.099
there. Well, my friend, I thank you for being

01:07:11.099 --> 01:07:14.380
on the show tonight. You've given our listeners

01:07:14.380 --> 01:07:21.119
a lot of advice where we have been, where we

01:07:21.119 --> 01:07:25.219
are heading, where we are now. So I appreciate

01:07:25.219 --> 01:07:29.539
that. And I just want to say I appreciate you

01:07:29.539 --> 01:07:32.239
reaching out to me and making the connection.

01:07:33.300 --> 01:07:39.030
You sent me an email. No, a text message a while

01:07:39.030 --> 01:07:42.909
back said you enjoyed the podcast. That meant

01:07:42.909 --> 01:07:46.769
so much to me. It encouraged me because at that

01:07:46.769 --> 01:07:51.309
point I was wondering, you know, is this really

01:07:51.309 --> 01:07:55.730
what I should be doing? But that text message

01:07:55.730 --> 01:08:00.789
and others let me know that something that is

01:08:00.789 --> 01:08:04.489
being said on this podcast is being a strength

01:08:04.489 --> 01:08:07.710
or an encouragement to someone. So I appreciate

01:08:07.710 --> 01:08:10.389
you making the connection. I appreciate you being

01:08:10.389 --> 01:08:14.250
a guest on our show. And if you enjoyed this

01:08:14.250 --> 01:08:17.369
episode, share it with another lawn care professional.

01:08:18.430 --> 01:08:22.470
And remember, we're not just mowing grass. We're

01:08:22.470 --> 01:08:27.189
building businesses. We're building lives. We're

01:08:27.189 --> 01:08:31.670
creating opportunities and helping legitimize.

01:08:31.979 --> 01:08:36.619
the green industry. Until next time, keep hustling.

01:08:37.180 --> 01:08:38.359
We'll see you on the next one.