WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.679 So I was born and raised in the great state of Delaware, spent most 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.759 of my life there up through high school, and then I went to college 3 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.919 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then went to graduate 4 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.559 school at Northwestern University in Chicago. So we're going to talk a lot about 5 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.519 your company and over the last four years of service, first financial, but 6 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.079 I think to give context to our listeners, what was I like to find 7 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.879 out? You know, what you did out of school, what you were 8 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:29.399 interested in, and then you get that epiphany of an idea about starting your 9 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.000 company. And it's really hard to start a company, whether it's a small 10 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:36.439 or large business out there for our current entrepreneurs and CEOs that are listening and 11 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.600 also the future ones. So what was the plan right out of school? 12 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:43.119 Would you do? Yeah? So I spent most of my current Wall Street 13 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:47.000 as an investment banker and then later as a private equity investor. I actually 14 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:50.759 have a legal background. Have spent most of my career investing in and lending 15 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:55.399 money to distress businesses with the idea of helping them to improve the businesses and 16 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.600 eventually, you know, exit those You know what brought me to the home 17 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:02.119 services industry was In two thirteen, I led an investment where we bought the 18 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:07.599 second largest home services contracting platform in the country from one of the large HVAC 19 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:11.239 original equipment manufacturers. I spent about four years knee deep in that business helping 20 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:15.879 to turn it around. Successfully exited that business to a publicly traded company in 21 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.640 Canada. And in Canada, the market for home comfort's very different than the 22 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:25.040 United States. It's a very large percentage of population does not own their systems. 23 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:27.159 They actually rent them. When I say their systems, I'm referring to 24 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.640 HVAC and plumbing systems. And you know, given the change in consumer purchasing 25 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:37.400 behavior here in the United States towards subscription and subscription like services, I said, 26 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.120 you know, I think there's a big opportunity to help the industry, 27 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:45.000 the home comfort industry start selling what consumers really want, which is comfort as 28 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.040 opposed to large, expensive systems that they don't really care about. All Right, 29 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.319 So I love to hear stories like this. It's that idea, and 30 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.560 you've kind of started that about why you came up with the company, But 31 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:57.680 there's a lot that goes behind that. Once again, for our future leaders 32 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:01.719 and entrepreneurs and CEO. I've got a great idea. Here's what I'm going 33 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.920 to try and execute it. Let's go. And there's a lot behind that. 34 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.199 So tell us about the origin of kind of coming up with the idea, 35 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:12.800 starting it, what was execution light it's in those first few weeks and 36 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.000 months. Yeah, it's an interesting story. So you know, as I 37 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:20.719 mentioned, my experience in the home comfort space really paved the way from my 38 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:25.039 understanding of where there were some gaps in the current business models. And I 39 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:30.840 started, and I'll say this lightly, with a PowerPoint presentation in a spreadsheet. 40 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:35.159 I built a financial model PowerPoint presentation laying out the business, and I 41 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.080 went to New York and I talked to two investors. Now again my background 42 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:39.680 is from that world, so I think that made it a little bit easier. 43 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.639 I knew I was onto something when both of the first two investors I 44 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:46.199 talked to said, we'll give you the money to go build this business with 45 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.560 scratch. We you know, I spent six months negotiating, and then in 46 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.599 November twenty nineteen, we closed on our first call it incubation capital from a 47 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.800 firm in New York. And I remember I hired you know three people that 48 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:02.120 I had worked with in the past. We sat in a conference room here 49 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:05.719 in Bethesda, Maryland, and we looked at each other and said, we've 50 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:07.840 raised the money. Looks like we have to go build the business now. 51 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.240 And we literally started building from scratch. Someone took on the IT side of 52 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.759 it. I handled the legal, all the legal work. We hired a 53 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.599 head sales trainer who built the program out and over a course of six months 54 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.520 we built the infrastructure both from a technology and legal perspective. And in the 55 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:28.120 middle of COVID April twenty twenty, we originated our first premiere program, long 56 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:31.759 term Worry fore home Comfort program contract with a consumer in Oklahoma. Wow, 57 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.400 that's that's a great story. I love that. And right drink COVID too. 58 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:38.800 In the middle of COVID, not that we had planned that when we 59 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.000 raised them Mode Home course. Shortly after, yeah, three months after we 60 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.120 raised it, you know, the world fell part. Yeah, had a 61 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:47.000 lot of we pushed on and a lot of pivoting after that for a lot 62 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.919 of businesses out there, even though a lot of people worked remotely anyways to 63 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.400 start with. So I do want to talk a lot about the company, 64 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:55.719 and I'm always curious about names of companies because I know that's fun. Sometimes 65 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.759 you want to say who you are to your client out there and kind of 66 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:01.319 get people's attention. Can you tell us the origin story of the name of 67 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.560 the company. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. You know this the 68 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:08.120 industry, the home comfort industry. And when I again, when I say 69 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:13.240 home comfort refer mostly h VAC, plumbing, and electrical. The industry has 70 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.839 been selling you know, boxes and tanks to homeowners for decades. Right, 71 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:20.160 my system's broken, my house is hot, Well, here's a box. 72 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:25.519 This is going to help keep you cool. And then the genesis of service 73 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.000 first was consumers don't care about the boxes. They care about the service, 74 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:33.079 So let's give them service first, okay. And then the financial part of 75 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:38.279 part of it was built in there because you know, you know, in 76 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:44.120 the end, we are a financing company that finances a homeowner's you know, 77 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:48.959 acquisition of systems, but then we bundle it with a full array of services 78 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:53.680 to make that experience world class. I like that. That's very well thought 79 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:55.879 out and very cool. We're going to talk about those in a second, 80 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.319 but I did want to ask you about simply the mission statement. What is 81 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:01.560 that from the company. Yeah. So, the mission for the company is 82 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:09.480 to transform the way both contractors and consumers purchase home comfort in the United States 83 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:14.199 from a product based sale to a subscription like service. All right, anad, 84 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.040 let's do this. I want to give everybody kind of a thirty thousand 85 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:20.639 foot view of your company. If they've been listening and Service First Financials the 86 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:25.000 first time they've heard this. If you were to give them an overall view 87 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.000 of what you do and who you work with, what would that be? 88 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:30.839 Yeah? Sure, so Service for us as a financial, technology, innovation 89 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:39.160 and training company that's transforming the way homeowners stay comfortable in their homes. Through 90 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:46.600 our network of or national network of home services contractors, we provide a comprehensive, 91 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:53.759 worry free home comfort solution for homeowners in place of buying a new system. 92 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:59.480 Our Premiere program includes HVAC, tank and techlis, water heaters, water 93 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:03.480 fil train and purification, and standby generators. And for a low monthly payment, 94 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:09.759 homeowners can get access in use to a high efficiency home comfort system with 95 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:14.040 no cash out of pocket and none of the risks and burdens of product ownership. 96 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:15.959 If the system ever breaks, it's taking care of free of charge of 97 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.279 that homeowner. Our authorized contractors come out once or twice a year to perform 98 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.399 annual maintenance to ensure those systems are operating, get peak efficiency, keep utility 99 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:29.639 bills down, and the homeowners pay a low monthly payment and they know exactly 100 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:31.879 what to expect every single time of contractors in their home. All Right, 101 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:34.120 you've been around for a while, and I always like to talk to our 102 00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:39.360 leaders about sustainability and then growth because everybody's got a different opinion, depends on 103 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.240 if you're a small business, medium or large and what you do for a 104 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:45.120 living in who you work with. With all that said, tell me about 105 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.399 starting the business, being sustainable, then growing and are you within the DMV 106 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:53.560 and are you working domestically tell us the story. Yes, absolutely so. 107 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:58.240 Our business today's a national footprint. We're operating in about thirty three states across 108 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:00.959 the country. We did we worked the business here in the Washington, DC 109 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:05.000 area, so we have a little bit of a concentration around DC, Maryland 110 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:10.560 in Virginia. But it is a national footprint. And you know, we've 111 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:14.000 built this business to be a business that's going to be here not only tomorrow, 112 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:15.720 but five years from now and ten years from now, you know, 113 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.639 serving our customers and serving our contractors in a way that no other business in 114 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:24.600 this industry is doing today. You know, from a sustainability perspective, I'm 115 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:28.319 going to shift it a little bit to the environmental sustainability. We have a 116 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:31.279 big focus on, you know, helping to drive decarbonization in the home comfort 117 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:36.360 space. Okay, about forty percent of our portfolio today is an electrified heat 118 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:41.399 pumps, and as many people may know, there's a really big push today 119 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:46.439 towards electrifying home comfort and the homes by removing fossil fuel burning, applying SYS 120 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:50.160 from within the homes. So many a big portion of our portfolio, about 121 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:55.680 forty percent, is really promoting that and we're seeking to grow that segment of 122 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.480 our business going forward as well. Outstanding and aj I did want to ask 123 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.360 you a little bit about differentiating yourself. And I don't want to assume that 124 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.680 anybody out there does exactly what you do, but I'm sure there is competition. 125 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.000 So as you're pitching yourself, you're trying to sell the other clients, 126 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.680 you're starting to grow that business, how do you differentiate yourself from the other 127 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:18.360 competition out there? Yeah, you know, I think it's an interesting it's 128 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:20.319 an interesting question. We played a long game, okay, And what I 129 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:24.639 mean by that is, you know, this program is not for every consumer. 130 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.720 It's not for every contractor that wants to come onto the program. We 131 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.559 really seek to understand our customers and to figure out is now right time? 132 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.759 Is this program right for you? But most importantly, we differentiate ourselves by 133 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:41.080 the support we provide. I mentioned earlier that we're a financial, technology, 134 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.840 innovation and training company. Training is a huge portion of what we do. 135 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:50.000 Okay. This industry, both from a consumer perspective and a contractor perspective, 136 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:54.879 does not necessarily understand how a service based model for home comfort works at the 137 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:58.360 kitchen table, and so we do. When we onboard a new contractor, 138 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.279 we train them on site. We fly all over the country and train their 139 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:07.720 their personnel on how do you present this to a homeowner and decide whether this 140 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:11.080 is right for that homeowner or not? And how do you talk through the 141 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:16.000 value proposition of this versus other ways of acquiring home comfort? Well that's why 142 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.679 say training, yea, training is probably the biggest one that's absolutely fascinating, 143 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.080 And I guess that leads me to my next question, and once again I 144 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.080 don't want to make any assumptions, but when it comes to small, medium, 145 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.360 and large businesses that you do this training work with them, is it 146 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.039 all for grabs or do you like to center around a certain type of business. 147 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:37.000 Yeah, So we typically are authorized contracting network across the country. Is 148 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:43.039 typically represented by the biggest and best contractors in each geographic market. Okay, 149 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.399 And the reason for that is there's really a few things. One we believe 150 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.919 this type of program requires a level of sophistication and business understanding that typically not 151 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:58.159 always, but typically your mid to larger size you know, home services contractors 152 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:03.799 have your smaller ones tend not to have. Okay, Okay, that's the 153 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:07.559 first thing. But we do work all across the country, and we work 154 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.480 in even big markets in small markets, but we just tend to partner with 155 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:16.639 in whatever market it is a market leader within that market. Okay, got 156 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:18.399 it. Well, let's do this. I always like to get a great 157 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:22.200 story because you know, one of the things that entrepreneurs and CEOs and founders 158 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:26.559 like to share is something special that's happened. So I want to put a 159 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:28.000 pin in that just for a second. But let's have a good story just 160 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:31.200 a few minutes here, maybe with a client to somebody trained, there's something 161 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.080 special where you say, you know, that's why we get up in the 162 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:37.799 morning. We did pretty good here. But before that, your industry, 163 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:41.039 what kind of challenges are you working with right now? Yeah, you know, 164 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:45.279 it's interesting the home comfort industry over the last you know, called two 165 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.039 to three years since covid, has experienced outsized inflation on equipment costs, okay, 166 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:56.559 and so homeowners that maybe haven't replaced an HVAC system or water heater in 167 00:10:56.600 --> 00:11:03.279 the last five, ten, fifteen, twenty years are shocked when they see 168 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:07.600 the price of a new home comfort system okay. In a lot of ways. 169 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:15.000 Simply put, home comfort has surpassed and broken through an affordability threshold for 170 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:20.759 most Americans. And so that's where one of the biggest challenges and opportunities is 171 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:26.000 for our business, is that we're making it easier for homeowners to buy the 172 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.759 systems that they want, the high efficiency, sustainable systems that they want, 173 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.559 as opposed to what they think or they may believe they can afford. Okay, 174 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.639 Not only that, but then we're supporting that installation of that system with 175 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.480 all of the services that you need throughout the useful life of that system to 176 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.519 ensure that it's operating a peak efficiency to keep utility bills down. Makes sense. 177 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:48.759 I'm glad we talked about that. All right, let's do a little 178 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.399 story time here. I'm sure there's been a handful of great stories out there 179 00:11:52.440 --> 00:11:54.960 where he said, you know what, team, we knock that one onto 180 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:58.679 the park for the client to maybe with a training session or something special happen 181 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.080 with that client. Do you have a nice story for us that you'd like 182 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:05.840 to share. Yeah? Absolutely, you know, it's an interesting, interesting 183 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:09.320 question. One of the things I take a lot of pride in is that 184 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.759 we do things differently than most other similar companies in our industry. Okay, 185 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:16.279 I'll give you example. First, we go on site to train all of 186 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:22.159 our dealers. Most people don't do that in this industry today. Okay, 187 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.120 if you're a vendor, you send them a a zoom link, you do 188 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:28.120 some training over the phone, maybe you go on site once a quarter. 189 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:31.039 We're out there a lot helping our dealers be successful with this program. We 190 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:37.080 hear numerous times from our dealers that the level of preparation, the presentation, 191 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:43.240 and the content and quality of the content that was delivered is better than any 192 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.600 presentation that they've ever received from a vendor in their twenty thirty forty years in 193 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:52.559 the industry. And if that was only once we had heard that, I 194 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.000 wouldn't put a lot of stock into it. We hear that from very large, 195 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:01.159 very sophisticated contractors on a regular base this month after month, because we 196 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.000 focus on that aspect of our business, you know. I My takeaway from 197 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:11.000 that is a couple of things. Outstanding customer service, but also real time 198 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:16.200 in person training where that's you're also different engineering yourself from the other companies out 199 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.320 there, and that's kind of mean a lot to the people you're working with 200 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.240 and just the overall chatter about your company that you go that extra mile to 201 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:28.000 get people trained up properly in person, that's kind of the extraordinary and very 202 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.080 smart on your part too. Yeah, you know, it's it's it's a 203 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.799 double edged sword, right, because we do that. We have to be 204 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.440 selective on who we work with, sure, because it's just impossible for us 205 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.919 to be everywhere at every time and the other and if I may expenses too, 206 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.440 right, exactly, Yeah, we have to be selective because you know, 207 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.360 we can't. We can't spend that type of money and time, you 208 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.559 know, serving smaller opportunities. But the other side of that is when we 209 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:56.960 do work with somebody, the level of support and training and customer service, 210 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:01.960 as you mentioned, is really on that outstanding. Well, let's do this. 211 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.360 Let's wrap up our conversation with some final thoughts about you and as you're 212 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.600 about the company. And once again, if somebody is being introduced to Service 213 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:11.879 First Financial for the very first time, what takeaway would you like them to 214 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:15.600 go away with today? Yeah, you know, from a from a consumer 215 00:14:15.639 --> 00:14:20.039 perspective. You know, if a consumer is in the market or facing a 216 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:24.120 difficult situation with their home comfort, their HVAC, plumbing, or electrical and 217 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.679 they're looking for a convenient, worry free way to replace their systems, I'd 218 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:35.120 encourage them to go to www. Dot worryfreehome Comfort dot com and explore watch 219 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.720 the explainer video about our program and see if it's a good fit. If 220 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:39.679 it is, fill out the form and we'll have one of our authorized contractors 221 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:41.960 reach out, you know, to come out and give a quote for whatever 222 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.080 their needs may be. And for contractors, you know, I think it 223 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.799 really comes down to if you're an innovative contractor seeking to differentiate your business and 224 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:56.879 your local market, seeking to be forward thinking and serve your customers at a 225 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.639 differentiated level relative to the competition. Again www dot Worry freehome Comfort dot com. 226 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.279 Click on the contractor link learn a little bit about what our program can 227 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.000 do for you as a business and for you, you know, while you're 228 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.159 starving your customers. Outstanding And one last thing, Ina before we let you 229 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.559 go. I always like to ask our leaders about not only leadership but starting 230 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.720 a company. Now. We, as you can imagine, have a lot 231 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:20.639 of current CEOs and entrepreneurs that listen to this series, but also a lot 232 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.679 of future ones that love to get into whatever they're going to do for a 233 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.399 living. And I know that your perspective is your business, how you came 234 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.679 up with the idea, how you executed with your team, and how you're 235 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:35.360 sustaining it and growing it. With that said, any advice or young people 236 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:37.559 out there that are starting whatever kind of business they want to do, just 237 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.240 about moving forward in today's climate. Yeah, you know my view as a 238 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:52.159 founder and a CEO that is not a title of leadership or management. I'd 239 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.320 encourage anyone that's seeking to start something or lead an organization to be willing to 240 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:00.360 do every job within that organization at some point in their tenure. Okay, 241 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.519 there's not a single job with this, within this organization that I haven't done 242 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:10.440 myself so far. Okay, from the very beginning till now, I'm willing 243 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:15.240 to do whatever it takes, and we hired the types of individuals that are 244 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.440 willing to do whatever it takes to be successful. We always tell people that 245 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:22.120 what we're trying to do is change in industry. Changing an industry is hard. 246 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.519 You will run into walls. Okay. We want people who are willing 247 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:27.759 to go over it, through it, around it, under it, whatever 248 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:30.519 it takes to get past the obstacle and move on to the next challenge. 249 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.360 And so i'd encourage people that are listening to this, if you're a CEO 250 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:40.360 or a leader, do every job within the organization for some period of time 251 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.279 so that you understand what it takes to be successful. I'm so happy you 252 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:45.480 talked about that and you and I are on the same page. I've been 253 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:49.360 in my industry with TV radio sports for a long time, and I extinctively 254 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.200 made sure that I did everything behind the scenes before I got that big job 255 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.799 on the air that I wanted to do. My daughter is also in cinema, 256 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:00.200 television, arts and school right now, and I said, I know 257 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.519 you want to be a director or maybe a DP, but do the lighting, 258 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.119 do the blocking, do the audio, do all the things around. 259 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.519 So when you're a director someday you'll know what everybody else is doing. It'll 260 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.240 be an easier life for you, no doubt. Yeah, hey, listen, 261 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:15.160 this has been a lot of fun. I should talk to you. 262 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.480 You're obviously very passionate about your business in a short amount of time. The 263 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.640 growth is incredible. Nice to see a guy locally doing very well for what 264 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.480 you do. And we can't appreciate enough for your very busy schedule to join 265 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:30.960 us on CEOs of Shanel continued success. Yeah, thank you so much, 266 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:32.599 appreciate it.