WEBVTT 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:08.980 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:15.140 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. Good 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.739 day. I'm Jim Fosson. I'm the Officer of the Deck 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:21.179 today here on Veterans Radio and thanks for joining 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:24.010 us. We've got some interesting stories for you. 00:00:24.329 --> 00:00:26.190 We always want to remind you, you can find more 00:00:26.190 --> 00:00:29.609 about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site or 00:00:29.609 --> 00:00:32.810 at the web, veteransradio .org, where we're on 00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:35.990 the web 24 -7. You can find a lot of our podcasts 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:39.369 there as well. We post new ones every Tuesday, 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:43.829 so you can get a new story, a new interview, 00:00:43.990 --> 00:00:46.799 something you didn't know before by going to 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.700 VeteransRadio .org. And before we get started, 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:53.159 we want to thank our sponsors. First up, we want 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:55.899 to thank National Veteran Business Development 00:00:55.899 --> 00:01:02.600 Council, NVBDC .org. It was established to certify 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:05.359 both service -disabled and veteran -owned businesses. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:07.560 You'll find out how they can help your business 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:13.420 by going to NVBDC .org. We want to thank Legal 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:17.359 Help for Veterans. Legal Help for Veterans fights 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.219 for veterans disability rights all across the 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:26.519 nation. You can reach them at 800 -693 -4800 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:32.579 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans .com. And 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:36.700 finally, PuroClean. PuroClean is the paramedics 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.079 of property damage. It provides water damage 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.500 remediation, flood water removal, fire and smoke 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:46.200 damage remediation, mold removal, biohazard cleanup. 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:51.480 It also has a focus on veteran franchisees. You 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:54.400 can learn more about them by going to puroclean 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:59.099 .com. Veterans Radio is spotlighting puroclean 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:02.280 franchisees. I'm Jim Fossone, one of the veteran 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.700 radio hosts. PuroClean is a leader in property 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:08.560 emergency services helping families and businesses 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:11.580 overcome the devastating setbacks caused by water, 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.840 fire, mold, and other conditions resulting in 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.580 property damage. These are independently owned 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.719 franchisees who do whatever it takes to respond, 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:23.960 restore, and rescue properties all in their own 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:26.879 communities. PuroClean, known as the paramedics 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:30.930 of property damage. provides water damage remediation, 00:02:31.270 --> 00:02:34.449 flood water removal, fire and smoke damage remediation, 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:38.090 mold removal, and biohazard cleanup to commercial 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:42.229 and residential customers. Today, we're going 00:02:42.229 --> 00:02:45.830 to talk to a father and son team that own a couple 00:02:45.830 --> 00:02:50.569 of PiroClean franchisees. Let's start, Steve 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:54.050 Feldman, welcome to Veterans Radio. Thank you, 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:58.319 Jim, I'm glad to be here. And Adam Feldman, welcome 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.819 to Veterans Radio. We're catching you while you're 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:04.719 driving away from a job. Yep, thanks Jim. I appreciate 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:07.939 you having us. Well, it's a great opportunity 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:10.699 to talk to a couple of veterans who are now in 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:14.639 this business as a father and son team. Steve 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.300 retired as a brigadier general from the U .S. 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:19.379 Army Reserves. He's got an interesting history 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:22.800 we'll get to. Adam spent, I believe, nine years 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.479 in the U .S. Army National Guard. You guys have 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:32.740 a franchise in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Who first 00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:36.000 came up with this crazy idea of, hey, let's have 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.360 a family business in this area of property damage 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:45.479 remediation? Yeah, that would be me, Jim. Yeah, 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.240 the son comes up with the crazy idea. How'd you 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.120 talk your dad into it? Uh, so we, my dad and 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.800 I, we started a properties company about five 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.060 years ago. Um, we bought warehouses and lease 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:01.379 them out and then I own a moving company and 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:06.020 we had, uh, in 2020 we had an inland hurricane 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:10.620 in Iowa. It's called a derecho. So it's like, 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.719 basically it was like 80 plus mile, mile per 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.439 hour winds for over an hour and took out about 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:22.300 70 % of our trees in Cedar Rapids. Anyways, during 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:24.540 that time, my moving company, we started getting 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:28.439 a bunch of calls from restoration companies needing 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:32.339 general labor. And that's kind of how the ball 00:04:32.339 --> 00:04:37.740 got rolling from there. So, you know, a lot of 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:39.959 times businesses respond to the need, right? 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.120 Here was a need. You needed a business to respond. 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:47.870 Steve or Adam, who did the due diligence and 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:52.410 how to just settle on PuroClean? Well, my moving 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:56.689 company, we went down to Hurricane Ian in 2022. 00:04:57.709 --> 00:05:01.310 And one of my managers at the time had a friend 00:05:01.310 --> 00:05:04.769 that started a PuroClean in Chicago, a suburb 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:08.649 of Chicago. And that's kind of how we got interested 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:10.889 in it and saw their trucks all over Florida. 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:15.050 really like the name, really like the logo, the 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:18.949 paramedics, the property damage was awesome as 00:05:18.949 --> 00:05:22.310 like their slogan. So we just, you know, started 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:25.670 called their corporate and kind of just got the 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:27.709 ball rolling from there. And one of the things 00:05:27.709 --> 00:05:30.110 I would point out to our veteran radio listeners 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:33.660 is that Puro Clean, which you can find at puroclean 00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:37.399 .com, has a veteran's discount for the franchise 00:05:37.399 --> 00:05:40.199 fee, the initial fee, and something like one 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:43.699 in seven owners are veterans. So did you guys 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:46.680 find it a veteran -friendly company to work with? 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:54.879 Yes, absolutely. As you went through this, you 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.160 both had military careers, you said you have 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:01.220 a moving company, we had some property issues, 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:06.819 but you didn't have any expertise in remediation. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.720 How did Puro Clean Corporate educate you in that 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:19.029 regards? We, you know, got the ball rolling with 00:06:19.029 --> 00:06:22.990 Puro Clean Corporate. We had, I think it was 00:06:22.990 --> 00:06:25.509 what, Dad, a week and a half, two weeks? Two 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:29.430 weeks. Of initial, like, basically end processing, 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:32.370 going through all the administrative side of 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:36.170 things. And then we actually had a water training 00:06:36.170 --> 00:06:40.689 class for a week at Puro Clean Corporate headquarters. 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:43.029 So they took us through, you know, hey, this 00:06:43.029 --> 00:06:44.970 house flooded. These are the steps you have to 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:50.069 take to get it dried out. all the moisture readings, 00:06:50.209 --> 00:06:53.370 everything that it takes to get a trucker dried 00:06:53.370 --> 00:06:58.250 out. So they really set you up for success if 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:01.949 you are trying to, if you don't know a lot about 00:07:01.949 --> 00:07:05.029 the industry. Right, I mean you gotta get educated 00:07:05.029 --> 00:07:08.050 somehow and then gain the experience. Now this 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:11.310 is a silly question because I just learned what 00:07:11.310 --> 00:07:15.889 you closed on today in West Des Moines, Iowa. 00:07:16.699 --> 00:07:20.060 But would you recommend PuraClean to other veterans 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:23.519 who are thinking about, hey, maybe that's a business 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:31.600 area I ought to explore? Oh, yeah, 100%. As it 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.480 goes on and you get more successful and more 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.079 successful, you help out people and there's a 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.579 lot of money to be made in this industry. Well, 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:43.060 I say it's a silly question for Adam and Steve 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:45.740 Feldman because I just learned before we started 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:49.360 talking that you started your second franchise, 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.540 Pura Clean franchise. Today, you started the 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:59.060 one in Cedar Rapids in 2022, but here in 2025, 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.459 you're now moving forward with the second location 00:08:02.459 --> 00:08:06.399 in West Des Moines. Again, Tell us kind of what 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:14.920 generated that, Adam. So we started out, my dad 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.899 and I are from Cedar Rapids. So obviously we 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:22.060 knew a lot of people here and had a decent amount 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:24.540 of connections. And then Des Moines is the capital 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:28.899 of Iowa. And that was one of our goals when we 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:30.819 initially bought Cedar Rapids, we want another 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:35.980 location. It's just, we worked hard in Cedar 00:08:35.980 --> 00:08:41.919 Rapids, and yeah, finally secured West Des Moines. 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.940 Well, it's a great example of how the business 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:51.320 can grow with a pure clean franchise. But let 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:56.960 me move to another topic, if you will. Steve, 00:08:57.100 --> 00:09:00.059 as a guy who spent, I didn't add up all the years, 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.700 but I don't know, 30, 40 years, 35 years, in 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:07.519 the military, give us a little rundown of what 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.440 your career was like. Well, when I graduated 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.820 from high school, I joined the Marine Corps in 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:19.120 1973. The draft had just ended, and they followed 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:23.279 off your military, started January 1st. February, 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.360 I enlisted in the Marine Corps and then went 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:32.080 to boot camp. as soon as I graduated and spent 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.559 four years active duty in the Marine Corps. And 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:38.860 then I joined the Marine Corps Reserve at the 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:42.899 time. The Marine Corps Reserve was really short 00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:45.759 on personnel, so if you had been a sergeant for 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:48.080 a year, they promoted you to staff sergeant. 00:09:48.820 --> 00:09:51.200 So I made staff sergeant in the Marine Corps, 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.440 and the funny thing is I was going to college 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.350 at the same time. And I had a company commander 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.669 tell me to either make up my mind. I was either 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:02.450 a Marine or a student. So I went to the Iowa 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:05.789 National Guard. Oh, boy. Yeah. Yeah. And they 00:10:05.789 --> 00:10:08.129 said, yeah, we'll we'll take you as a student. 00:10:08.950 --> 00:10:12.669 So then I because of my Marine Corps experience 00:10:12.669 --> 00:10:17.889 and and leadership capabilities, they persuaded 00:10:17.889 --> 00:10:20.649 me to go to Austin Kennedy School, which I did 00:10:20.649 --> 00:10:24.190 in eighty four, eighty three, eighty four and 00:10:24.190 --> 00:10:28.279 graduated as a second lieutenant. and then, you 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.440 know, worked my way up up through company command, 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:34.820 battalion command, staff, jobs, and just selected 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:41.840 for the National War College for years of study 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:46.419 to make general. Then I got promoted to Colonel 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:49.559 while I was, shortly after I graduated from the 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:52.559 War College, and then went to the Army Reserve 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:57.720 and on the reserve I was the brigade commander 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:02.840 and the chief of staff for the unit in Korea 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:10.059 and then got deployed to Afghanistan and from 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:13.259 Afghanistan came back to Rock Island and then 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:17.639 to Haiti after the earthquake where I was the 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:19.620 commanding general for Army Material Command 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:25.980 forward and then went to Then I was put in charge 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:30.100 of a program called Log Cap, which I had 64 ,000 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.740 civilian contractors that provided all the base 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:36.639 support, life support for soldiers overseas in 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.980 combat zones. And then my last job was getting 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:44.000 everything, I was assigned to wait and getting 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.679 everything out of Iraq back to the States or 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:51.269 to Afghanistan or deposed or destroyed. Well, 00:11:51.269 --> 00:11:53.830 again, we talked offline a little bit about a 00:11:53.830 --> 00:11:57.149 fascinating, never kind of a straight line career, 00:11:57.330 --> 00:12:00.730 but a wonderful career. Adam, as you're seeing 00:12:00.730 --> 00:12:04.990 all this develop and you spend time in the Army 00:12:04.990 --> 00:12:09.850 National Guard, at what point did you think... 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.460 Oh yeah, going into business with my dad's a 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:15.639 really good idea. Man, I can hear fathers and 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.220 sons just screaming at each other at the moment 00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:22.440 over the radio. It's funny, it's funny you say 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.679 that because it's, yeah, we, we, you know, we, 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.460 we work through it. We work through it, but yeah, 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:33.720 we, you know, once, once my dad retired and you 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:35.759 know, he was down in Florida, he gets, he likes 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.940 staying busy, busy. He doesn't like a lot of 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:41.440 downtime. One of my dad's quotes to me is he'll 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:46.259 die working. Nothing wrong with that. Nope, nope. 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:49.259 He works harder than, you know, my 18 year old 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:53.539 technicians sometimes, or most times. But no, 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.940 we started a properties company and started growing 00:12:56.940 --> 00:13:00.720 that and then, you know, kind of worked well. 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.539 And then when I had the brilliant idea of, you 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:06.340 know, buying a Puro Clean franchise, he was all 00:13:06.340 --> 00:13:10.129 about it. All about it. Because you've both had 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:16.629 independent businesses, maybe in different fields, 00:13:16.830 --> 00:13:19.009 not in the remediation field like PuraClean. 00:13:20.309 --> 00:13:24.669 Can you react a little bit, Adam, to what's the 00:13:24.669 --> 00:13:28.529 difference between being an independent business 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:33.580 owner and being a PuraClean franchisee? Yeah 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:36.120 with with Puro clean they really set us up for 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:38.759 success with the processes that they already 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:43.519 have in place You come in they Basically, you 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:47.080 know, they built our website all our Google Facebook 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:51.779 Instagram all our social medias One of the biggest 00:13:51.779 --> 00:13:54.860 things we got out of this was when you buy a 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.720 pure clean franchise you get put into their insurance 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.070 network So as long as you're in the network, 00:14:01.289 --> 00:14:03.769 you get jobs sent to you from insurance carriers. 00:14:04.370 --> 00:14:07.690 That was a big selling point for us. And then 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:11.789 just all the staff they have at corporate are 00:14:11.789 --> 00:14:14.129 wonderful to work with. Any questions we ever 00:14:14.129 --> 00:14:16.450 have, they're very helpful. Point us in the right 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:23.009 direction. to the franchise these owners if you 00:14:23.009 --> 00:14:27.129 have questions because most people don't really 00:14:27.129 --> 00:14:31.750 have a firm idea what what's going to entail 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:34.110 and what's it going to take but you know I had 00:14:34.110 --> 00:14:36.830 a background after I got out of the military 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:40.110 and retired from the police permit I I started 00:14:40.110 --> 00:14:44.250 flipping houses so I knew how to do demolition 00:14:44.250 --> 00:14:48.389 how to do reconstruction electrical plumbing 00:14:48.389 --> 00:14:52.149 and all that stuff. So that really helped as 00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:56.309 well when we made the decision to go into this 00:14:56.309 --> 00:15:00.470 business. So how much of the business that you 00:15:00.470 --> 00:15:04.230 do currently, and Adam maybe you can answer this, 00:15:04.750 --> 00:15:10.710 is because of all of those contacts you had organically 00:15:10.710 --> 00:15:13.190 developed in the other businesses, whether it 00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:15.830 was the moving company, the flipping the houses, 00:15:17.050 --> 00:15:21.129 versus now the business really comes in because 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:26.210 of the remediation services and the brand name 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:30.710 and, as you say, the insurance network. Is it 00:15:30.710 --> 00:15:32.970 more one than the other? What's the transition 00:15:32.970 --> 00:15:39.230 like? Yeah, I would probably say 85 % is from 00:15:39.230 --> 00:15:44.889 Puro Clean and 15 % is from just people we know. 00:15:45.210 --> 00:15:49.909 and things like that. So just you know with all 00:15:49.909 --> 00:15:52.570 the insurance network that they have and then 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:55.470 you know everything they provide for support 00:15:55.470 --> 00:16:01.570 is great. I assume that's what makes you comfortable 00:16:01.570 --> 00:16:04.669 saying we're going to go over to Des Moines and 00:16:04.669 --> 00:16:08.330 replicate our success because we know we have 00:16:08.330 --> 00:16:11.629 this pure clean support of work that will show 00:16:11.629 --> 00:16:15.169 up. Yep, absolutely. Yeah we're excited. We don't 00:16:15.169 --> 00:16:16.590 know where we're going to open up number three 00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:19.549 at yet. Oh look at you already counting number 00:16:19.549 --> 00:16:23.450 three. Is this is this breaking news Steve as 00:16:23.450 --> 00:16:27.070 he's just letting us know and you know there's 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:31.269 another one in the near future. Well you know 00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:34.649 Pearl Clean makes it awful advantageous to us 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:38.620 as veterans you know. They give us a huge discount 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:41.960 on the first franchise. We got a huge discount 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:48.539 on the second franchise. So they really reward 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:53.639 their veterans, veteran owners. So if I were 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.120 going to do this all over again, I would definitely 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.299 choose Pearl Clean. You know, this is a labor 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:04.309 -intensive business, right? You are dealing with 00:17:04.309 --> 00:17:10.450 important health issues from mold, biohazard, 00:17:11.130 --> 00:17:16.509 and smoke damage. Where's your workforce coming 00:17:16.509 --> 00:17:20.430 from? Do you have a workforce that, as business 00:17:20.430 --> 00:17:24.289 grows, that can grow with it? Yep, absolutely. 00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:31.410 We have currently four technicians that are WRT. 00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:37.049 water trained, mold trained. And then what helps 00:17:37.049 --> 00:17:40.130 us a lot is if we get some large commercial projects 00:17:40.130 --> 00:17:43.930 or large homes anywhere from, you know, water 00:17:43.930 --> 00:17:50.049 damage, fire, mold, we pull a lot of some of 00:17:50.049 --> 00:17:52.329 my, most of my movers from my moving company 00:17:52.329 --> 00:17:55.089 over and they have experience with demolition 00:17:55.089 --> 00:17:58.470 and setting equipment up, containment up. So 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.329 we're We're lucky when it comes to that. We don't 00:18:01.329 --> 00:18:03.849 have to hire too much temp labor. You've got 00:18:03.849 --> 00:18:06.930 flexibility in the labor force. But you mentioned 00:18:06.930 --> 00:18:10.609 both commercial and residential customers for 00:18:10.609 --> 00:18:15.849 your PuroClean franchise, but maybe broaden this 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:19.549 out to typical. Is PuroClean primarily working 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:21.950 in the residential space or is it commercial? 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:27.769 What's the mix? You know, in our area, we're 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:33.920 probably Probably 75 % residential and 25 % commercial, 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:38.400 I would say. My dad, he secured a decent amount 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:41.700 of commercial carpet cleaning to kind of get 00:18:41.700 --> 00:18:46.259 our foot in the door. And that's been helpful 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:48.660 with us getting commercial water damage, fire 00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:52.559 damage, things like that. It's about building 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.500 relationships with people in the community. That's 00:18:56.500 --> 00:19:01.210 where you get word of mouth and and you know 00:19:01.210 --> 00:19:03.430 if you do a good job and and you do a little 00:19:03.430 --> 00:19:07.269 extra for Adam always tells people I wonder what 00:19:07.269 --> 00:19:10.990 dad did for free today for people because you 00:19:10.990 --> 00:19:14.910 know oh yeah you know I like I like helping people 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:17.630 so you know I went into a house one time and 00:19:17.630 --> 00:19:21.670 the gal whose dryer door was the wrong way you 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:24.210 know and I says do you like that she goes no 00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:26.230 I hate it I said you want me to turn it around 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:28.750 for you So I turned her door around and she, 00:19:28.990 --> 00:19:32.269 you know, but I, I like to do things for people 00:19:32.269 --> 00:19:35.710 for free and, and just to, you know, it's a good 00:19:35.710 --> 00:19:38.910 thing to do. Well, as you say, it builds relationships. 00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:40.990 She's talking about that with all her neighbors, 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:44.750 believe me. And, and even though that's non ROI, 00:19:44.970 --> 00:19:48.309 no return on investment, and it probably drives 00:19:48.309 --> 00:19:54.759 Adam crazy. Believe me, I've got a retired Brigadier 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:56.839 General who does the same thing all the time. 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:01.359 There is a return on that kind of investment 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:04.539 back into the community, isn't there, Adam? Oh 00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:08.140 yeah, absolutely. I think one of the things - 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:11.079 My dad was trimming branches for a lady out back, 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:14.059 but he told me, he's like, he's like, Adam, this 00:20:14.059 --> 00:20:19.950 isn't Piro Clean, I'm doing it on my own. Tell 00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:22.849 them, get off the ladder. I don't want you up 00:20:22.849 --> 00:20:27.609 on that ladder or so. As other veterans are looking 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:30.089 at this and saying, well I don't know if I've 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:34.450 got the skill set and I don't know what in my 00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:37.509 military background necessarily gives me that 00:20:37.509 --> 00:20:42.069 skill set to be a Pura Clean Franchise. Can you 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:44.730 react to that concern that I think a lot of people 00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:48.990 probably have and have to get over? How do you 00:20:48.990 --> 00:20:52.269 get through that concern about, do I have the 00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:56.190 skill set to do this? You know, the great thing 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:58.970 about, you know, our first, when we first found 00:20:58.970 --> 00:21:02.690 out about Puro Clean, they hooked me up with 00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:05.569 a bunch of different owners. So people have been 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:09.890 in the industry for a year, people, new franchises, 00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:12.589 new franchises that have been in for six months, 00:21:12.990 --> 00:21:14.329 all the way up to people have been doing this 00:21:14.329 --> 00:21:18.279 for 10 years. So I got to talk to them a lot, 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.319 you know, during the initial process and seeing 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:26.000 if it was a right fit for us. We went and shadowed 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.940 for a couple days at a PuroClean before we decided 00:21:28.940 --> 00:21:33.740 to buy. And then, you know, once we did, the 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:36.579 great thing about PuroClean is the culture is, 00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:39.660 you know, work together. So a lot of these other 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:44.430 restoration companies, it's very cutthroat. and 00:21:44.430 --> 00:21:47.970 Puro Clean, the cultures work together. And it 00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:51.210 has been. So any questions we ever have, we can 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:54.309 call an owner out of Chicago or an owner out 00:21:54.309 --> 00:21:57.069 of St. Louis and pick their brain and see if 00:21:57.069 --> 00:22:00.170 they can offer any solutions to a problem we're 00:22:00.170 --> 00:22:03.049 having. So I think that's probably the best thing. 00:22:03.109 --> 00:22:05.210 If you don't know a lot about the industry, you 00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:09.009 can learn it. You definitely can learn it. And 00:22:09.009 --> 00:22:11.579 with military background of this plan and and 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:15.599 all that. You're set up for success. Well, I 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.880 really do appreciate the time that Steve and 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:23.039 Adam Feldman have given us here on Veterans Radio 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:26.019 to talk about being pure, clean franchisees. 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:29.099 As I mentioned earlier, they got their first 00:22:29.099 --> 00:22:34.079 one in 2022 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They're now 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.680 opening a second one in West Des Moines, Iowa. 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.079 Guys, I really appreciate the time and wish you 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.380 nothing but success on this second endeavor. 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:46.519 And I look forward to hearing about the third 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.960 one, Adam. Yep. Yep. Thanks, Jim. Thank you, 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.400 Jim. I appreciate the time. And I want to thank 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.619 everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. 00:22:56.740 --> 00:23:00.039 I am Jim Fossone. It's been a pleasure to be 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:02.859 your host. I'm a veterans disability lawyer at 00:23:02.859 --> 00:23:05.299 Legal Help for Veterans. And you can reach us 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:11.559 at 800. 693 -4800 or legalhelpforveterans .com 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.539 on the web. You can follow Veterans Radio on 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:17.559 Facebook and listen to its podcasts and Internet 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:22.160 radio shows by visiting us at veteransradio .org. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:26.119 That's veteransradio .org. We again want to thank 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:29.180 our national sponsors, the National Veterans 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:34.640 Business Development Council, nvbdc .org, Legal 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:38.039 Help for Veterans, A Veterans Disability Law 00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:43.140 Firm with a national practice before the VA can 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:46.819 help you on your claims and your appeals. It 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:50.160 can be reached at legalhelpforveterans .com or 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:57.500 1 -800 -693 -4800. And PuroClean, a leader in 00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:01.319 property emergency services. It's the paramedics 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:05.109 of property damage. providing water damage remediation, 00:24:05.410 --> 00:24:08.950 flood water removal, fire and smoke damage remediation, 00:24:09.390 --> 00:24:13.190 mold and biohazard cleanups. You can reach them 00:24:13.190 --> 00:24:20.890 at pureclean .com or 800 -775 -7876. We also 00:24:20.890 --> 00:24:23.809 want to thank our local sponsors. This would 00:24:23.809 --> 00:24:29.650 include the Charles S. Kettles chapter of the 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:32.430 Vietnam Veterans of America. That's chapter 310. 00:24:33.870 --> 00:24:38.190 VFW Graf O 'Hara Post 423, the American Legion 00:24:38.190 --> 00:24:42.049 Erwin Preskin Post 46 in Ann Arbor as well, the 00:24:42.049 --> 00:24:44.890 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, and certainly 00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:47.990 the National Vietnam Veterans of America Association. 00:24:48.670 --> 00:24:51.309 You can be a sponsor by going to veteransradio 00:24:51.309 --> 00:24:55.710 .org, clicking on the About Us in our sponsors, 00:24:55.829 --> 00:24:58.809 and help us out. Keep this program alive for... 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:03.579 the 21 and 22 years. Keep us going for another 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:04.779 20. Thank you.