Guillermo Avila: Starting his own Business & Project Rescues | EP 36

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Thank you all for tuning into
the Carolina Business Leaders

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Podcast where we share the
stories of local business

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leaders and impact makers who
are community focused and deeply

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rooted in the Carolinas.
Today's guest is Guillermo

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Avila.
Is it Avila?

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Correct Avila Avila, but that's.
Good.

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All right.
CEO and Chief Project Consultant

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of 365 Digital Technologies, a
Greenville based consultancy

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specializing in project
management, business analytics,

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technical recruitment and custom
software solutions.

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So, Guillermo, thank you so much
for joining.

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Me, yeah.
Appreciate you having me on.

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So you started initially as a
developer way.

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Way back, yeah.
I mean, yet you're talking back

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to 93.
So that's that's a long time

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ago.
Is this what kind of languages

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were is this like?
Yeah, you're talking old school.

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Like, you know, nobody even
touches that stuff anymore.

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Like old, old school.
And I just, I was like, this is

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not for me, you know, and ended
up going from there to like

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starting like the infrastructure
side, you know, so going like

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network admin over the years got
to CIO and I decided to

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transition from there to
consulting with some of the

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partner channel on Microsoft
side.

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So were you like a computer
science major in school or?

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No, man, just like everybody
else, you major in something

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that you never do, right.
So my my roommate would give me

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a hard time because I was a
communications major and he's

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like, did you learn all the tech
stuff?

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I just came easy.
I mean, it just was really easy.

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I should have done that as my
major, but instead I was a

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communications major and he
would goof on me.

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He's like, oh, so you're going
to make a living just like

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talking to people like, you
know, and I'm like, all right,

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take it easy.
But yeah, I mean, I started off

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with the Comm major and then
just went straight into now I

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did some other things before
getting in the in the tech

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realm.
We I had kind of a worldview

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that I wanted to try to change
the world.

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So I became a a social worker in
Chicago and that was that was

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horrible.
That was really short lived.

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I'm sure that day-to-day it was
pretty.

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Difficult.
It was really bad.

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It was really, really hard.
And so from there, just decided,

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let's make the leap into doing
tech.

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If you're running a small to mid
sized business, you know there's

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simply not enough hours in a day
to take care of all your

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business needs.
From managing health insurance

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to payroll, procurement,
advertising, you're going to

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need some help to get that
initial momentum going.

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That's why I would partner with
Questco.

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They take care of all the behind
the scenes administrative and HR

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work, letting you focus on what
truly matters, which is running

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your business.
That's QUESTCO.

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Questco.
Visit questco.net or call your

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local Questco representative,
Thomas Owens at 864-477-0843 to

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get started today.
Yeah, yeah.

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Originally.
OK, so you knew what you were

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getting into then I guess at
this?

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Well, you know, I, I thought I
did as far as with, with the

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social work stuff, but then the
tech world just was it, it's way

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more conducive to what, what I
wanted to do.

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Gotcha.
OK.

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So now you've started your own
business, I guess it was, you

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said six years ago.
Yeah, we started six years in

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May, so we just celebrated our
anniversary.

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And a lot of that was just my,
my wife pushed me into just

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saying, you know, I would
complain a lot about what I was

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seeing in some of the consulting
firms I was working in.

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And she's like, why don't we
just take what you want to do

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and launch it?
We have some savings.

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And I'm like, you know, I'm
scared to death because this is

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a leap of faith, right?
You know?

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And so six years ago we decided
if we can land an account, I'll

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leave the consulting firm I'm
with and we'll start this.

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So we landed floor as our.
That's a big account.

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That was a big account.
So we landed at our first one

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with Floor and we decided that
was going to be what launched

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the company.
Nice.

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So you you had some customers I
guess lined up or floor as you

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would say?
Floor was the first one.

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Then you took the leap of all
right, we got this.

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We we have something to work
with.

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Yeah, you know, but it it came
at like you couldn't start a

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company almost at the worst time
because we got floor that.

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Was right for 2020.
Exactly.

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So Floor ends up having
financial problems, so they're

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starting to sell off properties
and our project goes on hold.

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But luckily we were able to get
a really nice account in DC with

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a with a bio company up there.
And it saw us through all of the

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COVID time where we were able to
do everything remotely.

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And so it was just my wife and I
just kind of figuring this out

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as we went along.
And then now we're sitting at

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between employees and
contractors, we'd probably float

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between 10 to 15 people at a
given time.

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So we've got a pretty good sized
crew, good, good number of

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clients, so.
So how did you find the DC

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client that's obviously not
really close to here, but

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perfect timing, was it a lot of
advertising was a lot of just

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connections you already had?
Connections.

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That's been the weird thing with
our company.

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We have done outside of what we
do on LinkedIn with the maybe

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when we do podcasts or if we do
any, we do a lot of writing of

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articles, things like that.
We have done no advertising.

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So I mean, that's kind of crazy.
I mean, we've, we've done this

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whole thing and we had, it's all
been word of mouth.

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That client ended up having.
It was someone I knew.

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It was a rescue project where
the the the program was over by

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probably a couple $1,000,000.
They brought us in to come fix

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it and we have been there.
It's a tough initial project.

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Oh, yeah, yeah.
But it's, it's almost what we

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do.
The majority of all our projects

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are all rescue.
So it, it, we kind of figured

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out that we there's this niche
in that.

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It's not something we prefer,
but it seems like this is kind

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of what's happened is we, we
initially try to come in at the

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beginning of projects and say,
listen, let us go ahead and

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manage everything for you guys.
We'll we'll run this thing and

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typically what happens is
someone makes a decision that

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they want to do it on their own.
And it's almost become same

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story, different town kind of
thing for us where 910 eleven

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months later, we get a phone
call from the same client that

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we were talking to before and
they said, listen, like

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everything's broken loose.
Can you guys come in?

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But you know, we're now we have
to restate like this is this is

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no longer an implementation.
This isn't right, right.

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This is different.
Our approach is different.

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You know, it's, it's, it's very
different and tackling how

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rescue projects work.
So that's been like 80% of our

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business are doing rescues out
there.

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But again, we prefer to do it
from the beginning.

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But usually what happens is
someone makes a financial

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decision that they can make it
on their own, they can do it on

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their own.
And tech projects can get pretty

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complex.
And you know, that's where

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things get off the rails, when
you don't know if the vendor's

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taking advantage of you are
they, you know, the smoke and

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mirrors what what's happening
and.

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And the foundation's so
important.

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I mean, coming from a tech
background, we work with code,

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we work with a lot of this like
back end infrastructure.

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And if your foundation is poor
and you're coming in for a

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rescue, I mean, that's a mess.
It's quite a task on your.

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Hands it is, you know, and
especially when if the client

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doesn't have tech savvy people
on their team that was doing

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that deployment, they take
everybody at their word.

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So I mean, you could appreciate
this as a developer and Unite

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could have a lot of fun with
this is, you know, I we get to,

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you know, the client gets a
statement of work from

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developers saying this is going
to take 200 hours, 300 hours.

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And then I come in and I'm
sitting down with you.

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I'm like, come on, is it really
going to take $200?

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And you're like, Oh yeah, yeah,
I mean, problems going to happen

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and you and I start negotiating.
Like really, what are we going

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to do?
And that's the difference is

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like the clients don't they just
take some of the vendors at

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their word.
And so these things get just

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huge in terms of how big these
projects get and the the pricing

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of it.
And then when they get out of

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control, how do we rein this
back in?

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So that's we're typically where
we start to come in to to bring

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that back in.
I.

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Mean it's a serious issue with
people under quoting, thinking

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they can do things in less
amount of time or like less

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resources.
Oh yeah, yeah.

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And then it's like I, it's like
it it pops out.

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It's attractive to the people
that are paying the money

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because they can do this for
half the price.

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But it's a problem.
They really can't do it A lot of

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the times it's an issue with
that.

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But I guess going back to you
and your role, what does the

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typical day look like as the CEO
of your company?

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So it's the goal is to
transition a lot of what I'm

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doing day-to-day, hopefully by
the end of next year, because

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right now I'm still pretty much
in the weeds, which is hard when

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you've been doing projects for a
long time.

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It's hard to just say I'm going
to be a focus CEO, you know

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which, which is, you know,
exactly.

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So like, if you talk to my wife,
she's like looking at next year,

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like no more of this, right?
Because it, there does come a

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time when I've got to start just
meeting with clients, meeting

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with guys like yourself, getting
in the community and starting to

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promote the company so I can
keep my other, my other

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consultants busy because it's
hard to consult and you're

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trying to get new business and
sometimes you're being pulled in

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seven different directions.
So the timetable for for me is

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probably getting out of the
project management side by

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December of next year, letting
my team run those projects,

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continue to train some of the
newer PMS well.

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Also, we've got some new things
that we started here recently

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that I want to start pushing.
So we started organizational

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change management as a new
service for us.

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And that's been huge for us
because we found it just

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complements what we're doing in
the rescues.

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So we've got someone who can be
a champion of the people to work

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with my group who's like, this
is a disaster.

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How do we get the the community
back to believe that the project

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is still viable?
So the OCM side has been huge

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for us.
Is that simply like software

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that you're setting up or
installing?

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Yeah, typically we're coming in
for large ERP implementations

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and and so a lot of our focus
though we're agnostic, a lot of

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the things we get pulled into is
Dynamics 365 and we're doing

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like the granddaddy, like F&O,
like the the major one that

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competes against Oracle, SAP,
like all those guys.

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I used to work for Infor which
has.

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Oh yeah, yeah, they could.
That's yeah with.

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Them, they have a big enterprise
asset management tool, Yeah.

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So that's cool here.
That's what your company focuses

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on a lot.
We have a lot of focus on that

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enterprise level projects and
then what we've seen happen

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which was unexpected is we'll do
these rescues, they go live on a

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project and then the clients
will want to keep us to run some

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of their enterprise level stuff
and they'll just say, listen, we

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kind of know our strengths.
We're able to do like some of

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the small to mid sized projects,
but how about your group just

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handle like the really big scale
stuff and and so we've been

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really fortunate that we still
get to stay with some of the

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clients whose ERP we finish just
to do other projects.

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Yes.
Well, going back to you, one big

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part of the podcast is being
community focused and being, I

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guess have your business here in
Greenville not being from here.

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What drew you to this community?
So when my wife and I got

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married, we had to make a
decision, like, someday when

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we're going to have kids, where
do we want them to live?

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And my wife is from here.
So that was easy.

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It was like, yeah, yeah.
Staying in Chicago, where I hate

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the cold weather.
Or do we go down South?

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I mean that was a no brainer.
You're probably the third or

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00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:23,840
fourth person I've talked to
that's coming here from Chicago

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00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,440
on the podcast.
It's like pretty common.

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It's, it's cold, man.
I mean, it's funny because we'll

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have some friends who are like,
no, no, you need to Boo back.

234
00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,480
You know, you get used to, you
don't get used to cold weather.

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At least I can't.
So we I've been down here now

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for 20.
Oh no, no, 303132 years,

237
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something like that.
So it's been a long time.

238
00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:46,680
And you were working with, was
it floor before that?

239
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Floor was our first client that
we got, but before that I I was

240
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with a lot of national companies
on the consulting side.

241
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So when you stepped out from
your previous rules, I guess you

242
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talked about the first contract
that you landed, but at what

243
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,720
point were you like, hey, we can
definitely do this business?

244
00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:08,640
Was that the moment when you
landed the first contract or

245
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you're like, hey, we we the kind
of the confidence booster you

246
00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,400
needed to do it?
Yeah, When we landed floor, we

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were like, wow, this is real.
Like now we got to figure out

248
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how to make this work.
But I guess how much planning

249
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,480
went into it before you landed
that first contract?

250
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,560
Well, we think a lot of planning
went in, but, you know, in

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reality we were just winging it,
you know, because there was no

252
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one coming alongside us as
mentors.

253
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Because, you know, I'm doing the
consulting side.

254
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My wife is trying to figure out,
okay, we've got contracts, we've

255
00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,240
we've got HR type thing, even
though it's just the both of us,

256
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,040
we've got to figure out, you
know, how are we going to get

257
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paid?
We need an attorney.

258
00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,040
And there's all this framework
that goes into it, right.

259
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And you're kind of leaning,
yeah, yeah, you're leaning on

260
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hopefully some people who can
kind of help you out.

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But for the most part, we're
just kind of figuring it out as

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we went along.
But then as we got more and more

263
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savvy and we're connecting with
more people from the community,

264
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which is why like for us, the
Chamber was a big move.

265
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And for my wife doing the, the
Goldman Sachs program was big.

266
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Because now we had like
mentorship from like really

267
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savvy business folks that it was
great to hear from them that we

268
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,600
were kind of head of the curb in
terms of what some of those

269
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other small businesses were
doing.

270
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:16,920
And then that chamber, that's
not the Greenville chamber that

271
00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:18,520
you were talking about.
Oh, it is.

272
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,520
I thought it was the NBA.
You talked about the minority

273
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business.
Yeah.

274
00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,120
It's done through the chamber.
OK, got you.

275
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So they're connected.
Nice.

276
00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,320
So they I guess supplied a lot
of mentorships they did to

277
00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:30,640
connect with other people and
kind of, I don't know, hear

278
00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,040
different ideas and what not
through that.

279
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,760
Yeah.
And they connect you with other

280
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business folks in the community
who who've been there and done

281
00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:39,840
that and they give you a lot of
coaching.

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And I was kind of unique in the
consulting platform if we're for

283
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what I do, because it's kind of
it's a niche to be able to do

284
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,400
like a project rescue type
business.

285
00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,520
But they connected me with a
with a great mentor, and the

286
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,520
people in the program are just
incredible in in terms of how

287
00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,600
they're trying to help small
businesses succeed.

288
00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,560
Nice, cool.
Looking back over the past six

289
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,840
years, now that it's been, what
would you say has been the most

290
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,880
difficult part of starting your
own business?

291
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,800
I think so.
This is funny because we would

292
00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,120
make jokes about this when our
MBA class would meet.

293
00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,400
Is there's this perception when
you own your own business.

294
00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,560
This is what people have told.
Like my wife and I, we always

295
00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:18,160
roll our eyes.
They're like, oh, it's great.

296
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,320
You own your own business.
You got like, you can take off

297
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,680
whatever time you want.
And it's like, that doesn't

298
00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,920
really work that way.
You know, it's like if we take

299
00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,840
off time, we don't get paid, you
know, we, we have to work and

300
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:30,280
build the central.
Gear.

301
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,880
Keeping them exactly, exactly.
So it's like this misperception

302
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,800
that like you can take all this
time off, you guys can relax,

303
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,000
just let the business run.
It's like, no, it doesn't really

304
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,880
work that way, you know, and I
think that's one of the things

305
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,360
that we learned as like that's
been tough is it requires a ton

306
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,440
of time if you're going to be
good at it and if you're going

307
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,360
to succeed, it's not something
that's eight to five.

308
00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,560
I mean, it's just not going to
work that way if you're going to

309
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,120
get out of it what you put into
it.

310
00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,600
And so my hours are are
typically way long and even my

311
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,760
wife will tell you like I'm just
like a machine in terms of just

312
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,160
how I begin my day and how I end
my day.

313
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,320
But you, you got to, I mean, if
we're trying to make this thing

314
00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,720
big, I think we need to, to be
really proactive in doing it,

315
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,960
which requires a lot of time.
And I think that's part of what

316
00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,280
we learned is just if we're
going to make this thing huge,

317
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,520
we got to be dead.
Like we got to be full in with

318
00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,920
this thing which are just
requires a lot of time.

319
00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,400
What are some of those like
daily practices or habits that

320
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:34,840
you've implemented?
I think for sure I, I, I'm

321
00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:39,640
trying to be way better in, in
just catching up with a lot of

322
00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,840
the new philosophies, a lot of
the new business philosophies

323
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,240
that are out there and trying to
just read a lot more about

324
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,600
things I can incorporate into
the business.

325
00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,880
That's something I'm, I'm, I'm
trying hard to do.

326
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,640
It's it's, it's tough because
it's just a time issue and you

327
00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:55,200
know, it's just.
Like everything's a time issue.

328
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,040
It is, it is, you know, it's,
it's what's great is like the

329
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,240
more clients we get, it's, it's
great.

330
00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,960
But then it requires more of my
time, which is part of what, but

331
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,840
you know, I'm trying to get to
where I don't have to do the the

332
00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,040
consulting side.
I've got people I can lean on.

333
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,520
I trust them to do it.
And now it's more advisory that

334
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,440
I can supply to my clients.
Would you say that you're every

335
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,040
client that comes in or you
having a chance to meet with

336
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:19,240
them?
Like will they get to meet

337
00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:20,240
Guillermo?
They do.

338
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,600
Yeah, yeah, we, we usually end
up having some long talks

339
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,520
because you got to imagine like
by the time some of the folks

340
00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:30,000
come to me, they've already lost
a couple $1,000,000, you know,

341
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,040
so you.
Didn't you say it's about 80%

342
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,800
that it's rescues?
Of our businesses yeah, yeah it

343
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:38,840
is and and it's you know you're
not talking pennies I mean these

344
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,400
guys are coming in and they
they're may be a year past their

345
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:47,520
deployment date they're a
million 2 million in the hole

346
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,280
and now I've got to come in and
figure out how do I make this

347
00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,680
make sense again and do.
You have to make the numbers

348
00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,200
make sense, like financially as
well.

349
00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,640
Well, it depends on the CFO,
because you know, I'll, I had

350
00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,080
one Cfoi said, listen, I'm going
to, I'm going to try, I'm going

351
00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,119
to try to make sure that when I
create the new master plan that

352
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,319
it sticks within the budget that
you want.

353
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:10,839
And he looked at me and he said
it doesn't even matter.

354
00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,359
The budget's blown, you know,
and he was honest.

355
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,200
He's like, there is no budget.
I need you to tell me what it's

356
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,760
going to take for us to get back
on track because the number we

357
00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,599
had, it's been exceeded 3 times,
you know, so he'll look at me

358
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,240
and say don't even think budget.
I need you to tell me what it's

359
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:26,760
going to cost.
Just the rest.

360
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,080
They they can decide whether
it's worth rescuing or not at

361
00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,080
that.
Point that's.

362
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:31,800
The best approach to take I
would imagine.

363
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:33,800
Exactly.
Certain points, you've got to

364
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,840
scrap it.
I mean, if you've wasted so many

365
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,480
and it's going to cost so much
more to give back.

366
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,120
And that's a tough part.
We, the, I did one rescue where

367
00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:45,960
we had to replace the vendor and
vendor wasn't happy, but we had

368
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:47,240
to.
I mean, it was just, it wasn't

369
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,720
bad.
So we went in, replace the

370
00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,440
vendor and we almost did a
rediscovery to reimplement the

371
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,880
solution because there was no
way to rescue it, you know?

372
00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,000
And so I had to go in there and
just listen.

373
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,040
If we keep going with the same
vendor like this is never going

374
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,080
to work.
Yeah, they're just.

375
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,680
They're not the tool needed.
Yeah, it just, there's a culture

376
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,000
fit too that people forget.
When you hire a vendor, do they

377
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,480
fit the kind of culture that we
have as a company and that some

378
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,240
just are not a good?
This was a horrible match.

379
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,760
So yeah, a lot of situations we
come into are pretty volatile

380
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,400
that way.
What would you say that your

381
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,360
culture is like at 365?
And how do you define the

382
00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:25,400
culture as ACEO?
Well.

383
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,760
It's kind of funny because my
wife and I were just talking

384
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,960
about this because it's not
something we, we purposefully

385
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:35,040
set out to do, but almost
everyone who works for us are

386
00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,880
like, we're, we're a family, but
it's like we can't really set

387
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,960
out to make a family because
like, it's like we already have

388
00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,480
a family, you know, So it's
like, but I think part of that

389
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,480
is, you know, we, we do care for
everybody who works for us.

390
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:53,160
And so if anyone has any kind of
ailments, if there's a, if

391
00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,520
there's a birth, if there's a
celebration like that, we all

392
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,320
want to do it communally, but we
even do something that I didn't

393
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,360
think would be odd, but
apparently it is pretty odd.

394
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,640
It's like we celebrate.
We've had this happen.

395
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,000
I don't know, three times I
think where my clients have

396
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,480
said, I really like your
consultant.

397
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,400
Can we hire them?
And we're like, you know, it's

398
00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,600
a, it's a huge compliment
because that's our consultant.

399
00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,560
And those few times we, we
talked with our consultant,

400
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,720
they're like, you know, I
wouldn't mind, but I don't want

401
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,560
to upset you.
And so we'll like, we'll, we'll

402
00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,680
negotiate something for the, for
our, for our, our consultant to

403
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,240
work for the end user.
And we celebrate that because

404
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,520
for us, we had someone in our
team that was such a rock star

405
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,680
that our client wanted them.
So instead of being upset about

406
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,360
it, we, we celebrate it because
that's really cool, man.

407
00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:45,560
That's someone that we hired and
has got such competency, our

408
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,440
client and it didn't go around
our back, you know, they went

409
00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,440
straight to us.
And it has happened a few times,

410
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,080
which is, and actually it
happened here kind of recently

411
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,280
where we were being asked for
like, you know, the client was

412
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,760
asking if they could have like
some of my people, I'm like, I

413
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,960
still have to run a business
like, you know, so, you know, I

414
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,560
appreciate that, but I, I simply
can't give you everybody.

415
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,040
That's difficult to kind of
manage right there.

416
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:08,680
It is kind of a weird
conversation.

417
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,400
You don't want your company to
shrink it, right?

418
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,000
Exactly.
Because it takes a lot of time

419
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,760
for us to train people up to a
certain level.

420
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,680
Yes, yeah, you're losing that
investment.

421
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,400
So that's so you don't ever have
easy tasks, I would imagine when

422
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,080
you're at the CEO position.
Yeah, yeah, challenges.

423
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,640
It's kind of a weird discussion,
but it's cool that we we did

424
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,400
have a few folks that that were
on our team and, and they're in

425
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,520
the way that my wife and I look
at it is like we don't want to

426
00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,800
keep you from advancing in your
career.

427
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,160
So if we can be part of that
success, then that's awesome.

428
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,840
We've had folks who just like in
any other job, they started with

429
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,320
us, they moved on, but we're not
angry about it.

430
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,880
Like it's like, it's really cool
to see how when you go on

431
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,600
LinkedIn and you see the
positions that they're, it's

432
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,280
like, yeah, we kind of bridge
that.

433
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,360
That's kind of neat that we were
part of that story.

434
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,920
So your company, it's pretty
unique for a small company, I

435
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,240
would imagine to also sponsor
scholarships for different

436
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,120
students or I guess those in the
community.

437
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,480
Can you tell me about the the
the Julia, Julia and Guillermo

438
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,080
about V less scholarship?
Yeah, same after my folks, my,

439
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:10,880
my dad passed away a number of
years ago and my mom is, we're

440
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,920
retired now.
And we thought we would honor

441
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:14,800
them with what they pushed me
to.

442
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,840
And part of that was the
scholarship is really a

443
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:24,160
reflection of my dad coming over
from Mexico as a young teenage

444
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:28,760
guy.
My mom and he just just blue

445
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,480
collar worked really hard and
they really wanted the best for

446
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,120
us.
And so school was a huge, huge

447
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:39,120
thing for them.
So really big, really big.

448
00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:41,880
So I was the first one to go to
college.

449
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,800
And, you know, I remember when
my, my parents drove on the

450
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,000
campus, I went to Grace College
in Indiana.

451
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:48,720
It's just a, it's a beautiful
campus.

452
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,280
And they drove onto the campus
and my dad was just like, this

453
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,520
is a huge lawn, you know, like
in my dad's mind, he's already

454
00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,400
thinking like, somebody has to
mow this thing, right?

455
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,400
You know, I'm like, dad, this is
college campus, you know, and,

456
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,680
and it was, it's pretty neat
just to see like their reaction

457
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,600
to, to me going to college.
And so we did this scholarship

458
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,680
to honor them.
But like really specifically

459
00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:16,320
when we, when we partnered with
Hispanic alliance, I get it.

460
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,960
I remember, you know, I would be
that first generation from from

461
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,560
my dad, you know, that is trying
to figure things out.

462
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,560
There was no one back when I
went to school like some of the

463
00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,400
programs that are around that
there was no one to tell us

464
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,080
about scholarships or how the
admission process work.

465
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,080
Like I figured it out by myself.
Good for you, you know, because.

466
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,640
A lot of kids, they have that
same scenario where they no one

467
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,760
tells them they just exactly
don't when it's really

468
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,840
unfortunate.
Exactly, You know, especially

469
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,760
like student loans, I OK, you
know, it's not signing your life

470
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:50,040
away and you know, it's like,
OK, but that scholarship became

471
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,640
important for us because we
wanted to focus in on, on those

472
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,320
second generate, those first
generation kids, second

473
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,320
generation kids that are coming
out of families that have come

474
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:03,040
over from Latin America and
they're just trying to have a

475
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,200
better life.
And so our scholarship has

476
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:06,800
started.
This is the second year that

477
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,160
we've done it.
It's really cool when we get to

478
00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,960
see the pictures of the of the
kids that get that scholarship

479
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,960
and we're hoping that as our
company continues to grow, we'll

480
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,880
be able to just grow that
program and just do more

481
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,200
scholarships.
So is it like in the states or

482
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,480
is it community or is it just
kind of like a national, anyone

483
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,560
can apply for it kind of thing?
It would be the upstate of South

484
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:28,520
Carolina.
Yeah.

485
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,600
So Hispanic Alliance does a bang
out job.

486
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,160
They they ask me like, you know,
how much day do you want?

487
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,600
You want to.
I'm like, I trust you guys.

488
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,040
They have a phenomenal program
where these students come in.

489
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,760
They do provide mentorship and
they do a ton of things that

490
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,960
just get them to really focus on
what school and their potential

491
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,800
career could look like.
And so I'm like, I want to

492
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,560
partner with these guys.
So a couple of years ago we met

493
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,680
with them, We started the
scholarship and we let them do

494
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,800
the selection.
We trust them and it's great

495
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,280
just to see these students like
we've got four that I've gone

496
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,360
through now.
You know, it's like our

497
00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:07,840
scholarships help propel these
guys into a college and

498
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,120
university, which is really
neat.

499
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,080
Why do you think that your
parents emphasize school so much

500
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,000
and education?
I think my mom would have been

501
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:16,840
the most verbal.
She would have just been like, I

502
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,560
don't want you guys to have it
as hard as we have had it.

503
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,880
My dad would have just been I
just want you to have it easier.

504
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,760
He, he was a man of very few
words.

505
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,680
He, he, he worked AI don't know
a time when he ever didn't work

506
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,720
2 jobs.
He was always working 2 jobs and

507
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,880
so he he worked his tail off.
And I think when he looked at

508
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,880
the opportunity I had, he's
simply looking back saying, I

509
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,120
don't, I don't want you to have
to do this.

510
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,720
Where my mom would have been
more vocal to say like, if you

511
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,960
can do this and you do it the
right way, you know, Sky's the

512
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:49,560
limit.
And, you know, it's kind of the

513
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,520
American dream when when
everyone comes over here.

514
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,400
I mean, this is what, you know,
we look at in terms of, you know

515
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,040
what, when my dad came over from
Mexico, it's like that American

516
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:01,000
dream and you're like, this is
all yours, you know, but you got

517
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,160
to work hard to.
It yeah.

518
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,960
And it's really cool that as a
kid you had that mentorship

519
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,080
because the American Dream, I
would say, is more available to

520
00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:11,360
the kids that have a lot of time
ahead of them that have the

521
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:15,040
option to make right decisions
and and maybe get an education

522
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,760
if that's in their path.
So yeah, it's really cool that

523
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:20,200
just the American dreams kind of
realized through you.

524
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:21,480
So I'm sure your parents would
be proud of that.

525
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,280
It's pretty cool.
It's pretty neat I think.

526
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:24,640
Partner in business now as well,
yeah.

527
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,400
Exactly.
I think that's one thing that's

528
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,520
that's crazy when my wife and I
were looking back at like, OK,

529
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,240
so this is we have 6 kids and
like, yeah, it's a lot.

530
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,480
It's kind of funny every time we
say we have 6 kids, like takes

531
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:38,840
the oxygen right out of the
room.

532
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,440
But we've got six kids.
I know exactly.

533
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,560
And you know, all of them are.
I think we've got, we've got one

534
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:51,040
who is the last one is a junior
in college and our, our number

535
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,480
five son just graduated from
university South Florida.

536
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:58,120
And we've got for the most part,
all the kids probably for the

537
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,440
next couple of years are all
going to have their undergrads.

538
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:05,280
And we're looking at this like
this is a legacy that between my

539
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,720
wife's family and our family.
That's huge to think especially

540
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,840
for my mom and dad is like, they
just wanted me to go to school.

541
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,040
But because of what they push
now, all of their grandchildren

542
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,960
are going to graduate with their
undergrads, so it's really neat.

543
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,360
Generational difference just
because they were making the

544
00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:25,760
right decisions and because you
were making the right decisions

545
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,720
as well, so.
Yeah, it's pretty huge.

546
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:29,440
It's really huge.
You love to hear stories like

547
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,200
that so.
You know, if they make my life

548
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,720
into a story, I'm thinking it
would, it would be obvious that

549
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,480
someone like a Brad Pitt would
play me.

550
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,760
You know, I mean, that would
make the most sense.

551
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,040
He's not Hispanic, but it would
make sense that he could

552
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,680
probably play me, I think.
Yeah, you know, because I think

553
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:44,640
it is really neat.
I mean, my parents have a have

554
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,240
an incredible story and we
wanted to honor them with that

555
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,840
scholarship fund.
And, and the first time I, I

556
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,280
told my mom we were going to do
that.

557
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,200
I mean, she, she got really
emotional because it's, it's

558
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,600
when you start to think back of
all the hardships that you went

559
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,520
through to get your, your kids
to a certain point, especially

560
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,480
for how hard it was for them to
even try to support me through

561
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,440
school.
That's, that's a lot.

562
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:13,760
And my a ton.
There was one I remember my dad

563
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,200
worked, he had a job that he
worked from like 8:00 to 2:00 in

564
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,320
the morning after he, and it was
crazy.

565
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,800
He was cleaning the facilities
of this one manufacturing

566
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,000
facility in Chicago.
And I can't remember if I was

567
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,120
home for a weekend or something
like that.

568
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:32,960
My dad said, I'm all right, I'm
going to go.

569
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,640
And I went with him and I'm
like, let's see if I can get you

570
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,880
home sooner tonight.
So I just helped him wax the

571
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,560
floors and do all that stuff.
And you know, I'm looking at

572
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,040
this and I'm like, his part time
job is what he's doing to help

573
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:51,560
support me.
And I mean, it's to me it, it

574
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,320
really puts things in
perspective that my dad believes

575
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,400
so much in it that he's doing
this other job.

576
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,880
He's not getting a whole lot of
sleep, but he doesn't complain

577
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,800
to anybody either, you know, So
he never held it over my head,

578
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,000
like, come on, better do this or
better do this thing.

579
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,640
And he was always, he was always
very quiet about it.

580
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,240
Just, you know, so that's the
kind of stuff when I remember

581
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,720
that that like this scholarship,
when my wife and I talked about

582
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,480
putting it together, it just, it
meant that we were going to help

583
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,840
some students out there get
through their first year of

584
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,040
school and that was huge for us.
Yeah, especially for, I mean the

585
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,800
right kids and that it could be
generational, set the right

586
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,480
trajectory on that.
Absolutely.

587
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:31,760
Really cool, do you think any of
your kids will go into tech?

588
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,360
Yeah, Yeah, I think so.
I mean, we, we've had, we've had

589
00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:41,680
a couple who who, you know,
talked about and it's great when

590
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,120
they, when they plot this stuff
around my wife and I were like,

591
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,520
you know, they're like, hey,
someday, like we could run this

592
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,600
business.
And you know, hey, you know,

593
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:50,880
it's like they don't even ask
us.

594
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,520
They're just already plotting,
taking over the company someday,

595
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,120
right, All right, all right.
But I think it's pretty cool to

596
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,440
see that like what we built is
something that has a has a great

597
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,200
foundation and it can last.
It could be for us a

598
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,680
generational thing that we look
at as a legacy, you know, And so

599
00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:10,680
I think that's pretty neat.
And even for some of the other

600
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,320
kids who who didn't decide to
maybe follow the route of

601
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,600
project management or on the OCM
side, I mean, they're doing

602
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,480
great things.
Tech is just this the kind of

603
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,520
work that I do is just really
hard.

604
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,440
You know you have to have a
really thick skin when we have.

605
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:27,360
To have just the passion for it
too.

606
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,440
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Because believe me, when you're

607
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,880
walking and I and I tell folks
who are brand new, like when we

608
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:39,240
just hired a new project manager
and I said during the interview

609
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,120
process, I'm like, this is not
one of those things.

610
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,200
When you think rescue, they're
like, oh, so thankful.

611
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,600
It's like when you walk in, it's
not good, you know, people don't

612
00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,600
like you, you know, and it's not
because we've done anything

613
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:52,600
wrong.
It's just that they had to get

614
00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,320
to a point where we had to be
brought in, you know, so people

615
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,160
are not happy, you know, with a
lot of happy people.

616
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,360
Exactly.
So we we're like very clear with

617
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,080
people we hire like you got to
have a thick skin because.

618
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,680
They might take it out on you.
They do and they do.

619
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,480
And it takes them a while to
realize we're on your side.

620
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,760
But when we walk in here until
some of these meetings, it's

621
00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:13,880
it's friction and you can feel
it.

622
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,440
I.
Mean, you know, never.

623
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:16,960
They could be on the hot seat,
you know.

624
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:19,360
Well, and that's the thing, a
lot of the C level folks,

625
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,440
especially if you've got someone
in a, in a family business

626
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,400
that's not even, you know,
publicly traded, this is family

627
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:27,040
money now.
Yeah.

628
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,240
You know, so you haven't just
lost the company to $3,000,000.

629
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,960
The family has said you've taken
2 or $3,000,000 from us.

630
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,400
You know, so now it's a whole
different conversation with

631
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:40,040
who's going to pay the price for
this thing.

632
00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,440
And you know, so I've got to
talk sense in a lot of these

633
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,360
guys of not don't react.
You know, let's let's think

634
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,320
through this.
It may not.

635
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,360
It may be a combination of
everybody's fault.

636
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,560
So yeah, those are a lot of
situations we find ourselves in.

637
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,840
So with the rise of AI, are you
guys using AI at all in your

638
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,120
company or are people asking
about it?

639
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:05,120
They're asking and we're using.
So it's kind of funny because

640
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,920
it's like, I think most people
think it's, it's kind of clever,

641
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,120
like, oh, we could put family
pictures in and we can come out

642
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:12,800
looking like The Simpsons, like,
wow.

643
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,000
I was like, yeah, I can do a
whole lot more than that, you

644
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,600
know.
So like one of the things that

645
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,520
we've been doing and actually
we, we've got a client that we

646
00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,720
started kicking this off with
this week, which is to me, it's

647
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,600
like this shows the power of AI
is like when we do a lot of our,

648
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,960
of our implementations, we have
to do what we call test cases.

649
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,440
So a user sits in front of the
computer and it shows them line

650
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,440
by line to do the steps of how
to get into an application, how

651
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:41,840
to do something in the GL.
And it's just step by step

652
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,400
instructions.
It just takes a lot of time to

653
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,360
write those step by steps.
So what we started doing is

654
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,640
feeding in some of the manuals
that Microsoft had on the

655
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,960
platform into the into the AI
agent that I created.

656
00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,360
And then what Copilot is doing
is saying, oh, well, based on

657
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,240
the instructions of what the,
you know, the manuals and

658
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:05,320
everything are saying, we're
going to break down the steps

659
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:06,880
for you.
I like that.

660
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,800
It to me, it's like huge savings
and huge amount of time that we

661
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,400
save.
So we're starting to use it a

662
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,760
lot on the PM side, especially
for scheduling, being able to

663
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,000
track a lot of the projects are
going to be handled by AI.

664
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,920
So we're starting to use the
tools a lot more and then we we

665
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,440
have started collaborating with
some offshore resources to start

666
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:30,480
writing some applications that
we think could be complementary

667
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:35,120
to what we do and even added in
to like manufacturing software.

668
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,200
So we're starting to see some
pretty cool stuff.

669
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,240
No, I think AI is so cool,
there's so many different use

670
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,560
cases for it.
I use it for the podcast for

671
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,800
tons of stuff, whether it's like
finding the best clips to post

672
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:46,480
or just like happen with some
edits.

673
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,200
And so there's just like a ton
of different use cases for that.

674
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,720
I feel like every company can
find some way to help it with

675
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,840
their processes.
It's just finding the right way

676
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,880
to do it.
And also I've seen if you're

677
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,640
like training like AI, some of
those like AIML tools that can

678
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,160
be like really expensive too.
So it's kind of like how, how

679
00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,600
much we want to pay to get some
of these things into our, our,

680
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,480
to our workflow.
So I guess you'd probably get a

681
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,840
lot of give and take of people
asking about that of like how,

682
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,160
how can we implement AI or how
can we improve our systems as a

683
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:16,440
consultant?
Yeah.

684
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,360
What are some of the common
misconceptions people might have

685
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:20,640
when it comes to tech
consulting?

686
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,320
Yeah.
I think when we're interviewing

687
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:28,680
people, I think especially in
the line of work that we're in,

688
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:33,400
I think when you hear rescues,
we're, you know, joking around

689
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,200
about this a little while ago.
I think some people who are

690
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,800
interviewing with us think like
this is going to be glorious.

691
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,040
This is amazing.
Like you are going to be doing

692
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,760
some amazing stuff.
I mean, it is never a dull day.

693
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,040
We, we met with one person today
that we were, we were chatting

694
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,840
about, you know, possibility of
joining the company on the OCM

695
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,840
side.
And we, we said like there is

696
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,240
never a dull day.
It is different every day.

697
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,160
And so if you, if you're looking
for something that's not mundane

698
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,400
and routine, like that's us.
And in the tech side, it's

699
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,920
always going to be changing.
Technology's always changing.

700
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:08,280
People change, the processes
change, but it's, but again,

701
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,360
that the difficult part is
you're dealing with people, you

702
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,480
know.
And so that's the part of the

703
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,679
consulting that makes it hard.
You're dealing with people's

704
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:19,920
feelings, emotions are high and
the technology doesn't always

705
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,440
cooperate, you know?
Exactly, exactly.

706
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,239
So it, it, that's part of I
think is level setting with

707
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:32,159
people that what we're doing is,
is really people driven and it's

708
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:35,800
also technology driven.
But set your expectations

709
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,960
realistically that it is high
pressure and it's, it's

710
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:42,120
definitely not an 8 to 5 gig.
You know, and especially if now

711
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,440
we're officially going to be
doing consulting on a global

712
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,679
basis, we have to be sensitive
to where the time zones are.

713
00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:53,679
So it definitely, I think when
we, when we bring folks in, we

714
00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:55,840
level set man, like technology
is awesome.

715
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,240
It's exciting.
You'll be doing some great

716
00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,720
things.
It's going to be hard and it's

717
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,440
going to be very stressful.
I want to dive into your

718
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,920
successes, but then also some of
the challenges.

719
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:05,920
Sure.
So before we get to the

720
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,120
challenges, though, is there a
cool like success story where

721
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,600
you turn something around for
someone, maybe down millions,

722
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,440
and you're able to get them back
on their feet?

723
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:14,880
Luckily all of our stories are
that way.

724
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,600
So, so I don't know that we've
had an implementation or a

725
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,080
rescue that we've done that went
badly.

726
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,800
We really go into the rescues,
we generally level set and we're

727
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:30,120
able to get them out the door.
Now it might be a year, but we

728
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,880
we get there.
So we've been very, very

729
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,480
fortunate in that we've been
able to do all of the projects

730
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,160
we've had, the rescues have all
worked.

731
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:40,440
So and that's part.
Yeah, yeah.

732
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,800
I mean, and I and not only does
it work, but like I said before,

733
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,080
they they keep us around and and
I think part of that is building

734
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:52,280
A level of trust.
I'm not out to gouge you on

735
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,080
pricing.
I think that we, because we're a

736
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:59,200
smaller firm, we, we set our
pricing in a, in a way that's

737
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,280
not going to handicap anyone.
And so I think that what we've

738
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,400
done there is just win
credibility and how we do our

739
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:08,040
pricing, how we, how we count
our hours, we're just making

740
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,520
sure that people understand like
we are not trying to take

741
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,400
advantage of you and we're
honest about that.

742
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,280
And I think part of that is one
of us a lot of credibility with

743
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,080
our clients.
Was initially setting your

744
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:18,680
pricing when you were first
getting started?

745
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:20,480
Was that a challenge?
Huge.

746
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,800
My coach would tell me like
from, from the chamber program,

747
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,120
he's like, they're too low.
And I'm like too low.

748
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,520
But like, yeah.
And it's funny because we were

749
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,640
just watching the episode of The
Office when Michael Scott

750
00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,640
sitting down with the bank guy,
he's like, you going out of

751
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,080
business.
He's like, your prices are too

752
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,960
low.
And, and Michael Scott says the

753
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:43,640
prices are what's keeping us in
business.

754
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:45,600
And the bank guy says, no,
they're actually putting you out

755
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:48,200
of business.
You got to be, you got to be

756
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,640
confident in your pricing.
And, and it's funny because I

757
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,920
didn't think it would be this
way, but your prices could be

758
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:57,200
low enough where even a client
would look at this going like

759
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:02,120
this is like really low, like
you're, you're lower than anyone

760
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,760
else.
There is so you would think the

761
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:09,600
more I pay the better quality I.
Get exactly so we, we had to

762
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:13,920
regroup and say what's fair, but
what shows the level of quality

763
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,920
that we're bringing into the
engagements.

764
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,200
And so I think we're at A at a
healthy place now.

765
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,760
We're in the beginning, it was
like we just need work like, you

766
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:24,880
know, but at the same time
exactly and at the same time,

767
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,000
we're hurting ourselves because
we're we're too low.

768
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:32,560
And so there's a value behind
the consulting, the advice, the

769
00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:34,880
advisement, all that has a price
to it.

770
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,240
Don't undercut yourself.
I'd imagine that takes a while

771
00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,520
to calibrate when you're first
starting out getting that

772
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:40,880
initial prices.
I can't.

773
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,400
I don't see that being an easy
task.

774
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:46,240
It wasn't an easy task for me.
Now it it came to my wife a lot

775
00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,400
sooner than it came to me where
she's like, listen, I think we

776
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,040
need to change the pricing and
I'm just like, we just need

777
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:52,440
people.
We need, you know, or, you know,

778
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:56,040
we need more clients and, and,
and because I think when you're,

779
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:58,920
when you're running a business,
you, you go into kind of a panic

780
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,120
that you're not going to have
enough business to keep people

781
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:03,840
busy.
But at the same time, I think

782
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,200
what my wife was saying is like,
listen, people are going to

783
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,920
bring us on because we have a
very special set of skills.

784
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:14,160
And so let's let's match our
pricing to that skill set and

785
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:15,320
now you.
Have a great track record.

786
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:16,120
Yeah, we do.
Yeah.

787
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,240
So you haven't had a single one
that you failed when when it

788
00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,880
comes to rescues, has there been
any that you've thought may

789
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,280
maybe, maybe we might not be
able to complete this?

790
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:24,680
Like, has everybody ever been
doubt?

791
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,040
You know, there, there's some
engagements where where we just

792
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,080
know it's it's probably not a
good fit for us and but.

793
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,840
You can tell that early on.
Yeah, I think when when we get

794
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,240
into an engagement and we can
like sense the culture, like

795
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:40,280
they're not going to change.
And this, this might not be a

796
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,200
good fit for us.
But once we're fully in,

797
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,040
typically they go pretty well,
especially once they start to

798
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,480
trust our team.
As an engineer myself, there's

799
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,640
been instances where I've always
thought I can figure stuff out

800
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,840
and given enough time.
But I've also thought, you know,

801
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,320
I don't know if I'm going to
figure this out by the time I

802
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:56,880
need to.
And that that doubt has

803
00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,960
definitely crept in before and
it gets, it adds a little

804
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,240
stress.
So that's good that you've been

805
00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,080
able to see that at an early
stage, I should say.

806
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,560
Well, I think that's, you know,
for the other question that you

807
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,720
had, I mean, I think that's the
probably the big lessons learned

808
00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,280
for us was the pricing.
You know, we were trying to

809
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,880
price to a point where we
thought it was a good, healthy,

810
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,760
respectable, you know, we're
going to get business in the

811
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,240
door.
But when you're working a ton of

812
00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:24,720
hours and that rate is so low
that now it's not justifying all

813
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:28,360
the consulting efforts you're
doing it, it helps you realize,

814
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,200
yeah, we got to we got to reset
on this a bit.

815
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:32,920
Nice.
So where do you think that you

816
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,520
learned a lot of your leadership
traits before you jumped into?

817
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:39,160
I'm sure as you started your
business you learned a lot along

818
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:43,000
the way, but beforehand, were
there any mentors that maybe you

819
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,560
tried to model yourself after?
Yeah, I mean, I think I've got

820
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,520
I'm I'm lucky that I've had a
lot of great guys in my life

821
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:54,560
growing up.
I had a great mentor, Lance

822
00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,840
Rubringer out of.
Now he's in a pastor out in

823
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,400
Michigan and he used to be a
cop.

824
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:02,920
So I think it's awesome.
It's like, OK, And he and it's

825
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,920
funny because even now I'm in my
I'm in my 50s and when I talk to

826
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,280
him, I'm still like, I have a
healthy intimidation of him,

827
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:10,160
right?
Because it's still like, this is

828
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,600
Lance, like when I was a
teenager, like he.

829
00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,120
He was a tough dude, you know,
but he, he gave me really good

830
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,480
sound advice that's carried all
through life and helped me keep

831
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,280
my, I used to have a lot of
anger problems in when I was a

832
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,400
teenager and he helped me learn
how to balance that.

833
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,200
And then just through business,
being able to have some great

834
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:31,880
like C level folks who I've been
able to lean in on.

835
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:37,040
And probably one of the biggest
lessons learned is just, there's

836
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,080
nothing wrong with being the
quietest guy in the room.

837
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:43,080
It's sometimes that's OK and
just listening to all the

838
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,680
chatter happening when you're
walking into a situation because

839
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:49,360
it what happens is when you when
you do speak, everyone wants to

840
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:51,920
hear what you have to say and
it's just taking in like

841
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,840
everyone is so angry right now.
Let's kind of hear their chatter

842
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,520
and then let's jump in and see
if we can make this thing make.

843
00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:01,800
Sense so you met that mentor at
a young age as a teenager Yeah,

844
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:03,160
that's really cool.
Yeah.

845
00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:05,320
How did you meet him through?
I guess you said he was a pastor

846
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:06,560
through the church or?
He was.

847
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,440
He wasn't a pastor then.
He was still a cop back then.

848
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:11,520
Yeah.
And then he and I just connected

849
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:13,560
and we just hung out all the
time.

850
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,800
And this is back in the day.
I mean, it sounds like it's so

851
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:19,280
old.
I guess I am, I mean, when, when

852
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,920
you had that, back then we were
when you had to want to buy

853
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,680
software, like we had to go from
Chicago up to Michigan, you

854
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,760
know, because like there was the
only one Egghead store, you

855
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:30,840
know, and that I think it was
Egghead Studio or something like

856
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:32,320
that.
You know, so we had to go from

857
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,360
Illinois up to Michigan.
He'd call and say, hey, you want

858
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:35,200
to take a ride?
And they're like.

859
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:36,880
Sure.
And go buy some software, yeah.

860
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:38,800
Exactly.
We're buying some software and,

861
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,000
and it's funny because back then
the, you know, if you're going

862
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:45,600
to load up software into a
Commodore 64, you know, it's

863
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:48,880
like 64 diskettes, you know, so
it's, you're just sitting there,

864
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:50,680
you're waiting, you know, the
next diskette.

865
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:53,720
I mean, and we would just hang
out and do stuff like that.

866
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:58,240
But a lot of it, it was when I
think back on it, that drive up

867
00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:02,480
to Michigan would be a three
hour discussion about stuff.

868
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:06,560
At a young age like that, such a
like formational age, that's so

869
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,000
awesome.
Yeah, he's he's Yeah.

870
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:10,640
I don't even know what to say
about Lance.

871
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:14,400
He's he's definitely like a
second dad and he's when my kids

872
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,320
got, I got a couple of my kids
got to meet him and they were

873
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:22,560
just, it was funny.
After they met him, my third

874
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,920
oldest got a chance to meet him
and she's like, you got guys are

875
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:27,920
so much the same.
Like it's weird.

876
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,000
She's like, you talk the same,
you have the same mannerisms.

877
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,120
And I'm like, and it's crazy
because I haven't seen him in

878
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:35,240
forever.
But that's still like, it's part

879
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:38,640
of that DNA where it's like, I
still have my hand motions like

880
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:42,360
him and I guess I do some like
facial things that he does.

881
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,120
So yeah, I mean, it's kind of
cool.

882
00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:45,040
Nice.
What?

883
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,280
Legacy, Are you hoping to leave
here in the Upstate?

884
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,160
You have the scholarship funds.
You're obviously making an

885
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,960
impact here.
Well, I mean, I think especially

886
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:56,840
through Hispanic Alliance, I, I
hope that the legacy we leave is

887
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:03,400
that we're supporting a whole
new generation of young Latin

888
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,400
kids who are just trying to
change the direction of the life

889
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:09,720
that they have.
You know, they're just trying to

890
00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:12,480
make things better, you know,
and, and it's difficult.

891
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:16,040
I mean, this is, this is one of
those conversations where I

892
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,400
think especially in light of
kind of the culture that we're

893
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,000
in right now, these are tough
conversations when we're talking

894
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,520
about immigrants and, and Latin
Americans and all the

895
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:28,760
conversations, it's very loaded.
But it's something that my wife

896
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,520
and I are convicted about and
we're unapologetic about it.

897
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:33,920
And we're, we're looking at,
we're saying these are good

898
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:38,800
families and, and these kids are
the product of, of mom and dads

899
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:42,360
who are just saying we're just
trying to get the American

900
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:44,520
dream.
And we want our kids to feel

901
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:46,920
that.
And we feel like our scholarship

902
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:49,120
helps springboard them to be
able to do.

903
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,520
That What advice would you give
to some of these kids,

904
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:53,840
especially in the Hispanic
heritage?

905
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:57,360
You know, I think there's been a
conversation my wife and I have

906
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,400
had of like what we could, what
we could do to even speak better

907
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,520
into that, because I think part
of part of what is not really

908
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:10,800
well communicated into some
especially families from Latin

909
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,720
America is when you start school
is man to debt.

910
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:19,240
And that's the big one that I
would love to and, and Hispanic

911
00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:20,920
Alliance and I have talked a bit
about that.

912
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:23,400
Like what could we do to just
educate?

913
00:44:23,720 --> 00:44:26,120
You know, I don't want to see
these kids coming out with 90

914
00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:29,960
grand in debt, but that's the
reality because sometimes you

915
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:33,000
just don't know better.
And, and I think the education

916
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:37,400
would be a big piece of that.
And for me, just knowing that we

917
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,120
can educate, we've got a
scholarship and just continuing

918
00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:44,200
to maybe inspire other minority
owned businesses that want to,

919
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:46,960
they're just trying to to start
something and see where they can

920
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:48,360
go with it.
And that's something that my

921
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:49,880
wife are pretty convicted about.
Nice.

922
00:44:50,240 --> 00:44:51,520
That's cool.
That's good for you guys.

923
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,240
Let's whenever you started your
company, obviously six years

924
00:44:55,240 --> 00:44:58,480
ago, what advice would you give
to that version of you knowing

925
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:00,720
six years has gone by and the
lessons you've learned?

926
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:06,160
Oh man, if Elaine and I are
sitting back with us back then

927
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:11,240
that Elaine would be telling
past Elaine, please get your

928
00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:15,960
husband to raise his prices.
Should just be reinforcing.

929
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:19,320
Like, yes, your pricing needs to
go up, but I think part of it

930
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:25,200
would be probably tapping into
our network much sooner.

931
00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:28,360
You know, I think when you start
a businessman, you're just

932
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:31,800
trying to survive and you're
hoping you continue to get in

933
00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:34,120
more business.
But when it's just a two person

934
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:37,680
shop, it's just my wife and I
and we're trying to struggle

935
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:40,800
like with questions of when do
we hire somebody?

936
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:42,520
Like do we have enough work to
hire?

937
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,360
Like we've got to pay somebody.
Even if the work is like you

938
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:49,080
have all these things that you
you really reflect on and it and

939
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:53,600
it's agonizing because we've got
employees and if I don't get new

940
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:55,360
work.
Yeah.

941
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:59,480
So those are all things that
we're just talking about, you

942
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:02,360
know, back then and trying to
figure things out.

943
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:05,160
But what we're doing is I think
if we could go back in time is

944
00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:08,760
just say take it, it's OK, take
it slow.

945
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:12,240
But here are the resources you
should be reaching out to and to

946
00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:15,320
help you along because there's
some great resources with with

947
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:18,600
especially the chamber and they
can connect you in with great

948
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,440
coaches.
And we think the world of those

949
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:23,520
guys nice.
Well, we'll end it here.

950
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:25,920
I think we're getting close to
time, but what is the one thing

951
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:27,880
you hope listeners take out of
your story today?

952
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:30,840
Well, I hope that you guys, you
know, if there's anyone who's

953
00:46:30,840 --> 00:46:34,480
listening that's maybe even
looking at starting a business,

954
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:39,120
like do it, be brave, just do
it, Just just be brave.

955
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,120
Reach out to some free resources
that like the chamber has, start

956
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:45,920
looking at mentorships because
there are all you have to do is

957
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:47,960
ask.
I think that's the fear of small

958
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:49,640
business owners.
We have is like no one's going

959
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,200
to want to mentor us.
You'd be surprised how many

960
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:55,160
people you can go up to business
leaders and just say, I'm just

961
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:58,360
starting a small business.
Could we have coffee sometime?

962
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:03,440
You know, just be brave.
And I think for our business is

963
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:07,920
just, you know, we, we do
project rescues, we do CIO

964
00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,880
advisory.
And if there's a need out there,

965
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:12,680
we'd love to be able to chat
with somebody about it.

966
00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:14,800
Thank you so much for sharing
your story with us.

967
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:15,720
Appreciate it.
Thank you.