Nov. 12, 2025

S3 EP06 The Electrician Who Would Not Quit (Even Where 99% Would) with Andy Keil

S3 EP06 The Electrician Who Would Not Quit (Even Where 99% Would) with Andy Keil
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Season 3

In this episode of the Million Dollar Electrician Podcast, we sit down with Andy Keil, founder of Keil Electric who rebuilt his business from the ground up after losing everything.

This episode is the raw, faith-filled story of an electrician who built again when there was nothing left to build with. From crawling under houses with a pen and paper to landing $3M fiber contracts, Andy’s story is proof that grit, faith, and quiet resilience still win.

If you're an electrician stuck in burnout, running low-ticket chaos, or questioning if you're cut out for business, this story is for you!

💡 What You’ll Learn:
How Andy rebuilt through life battles.
Why pricing isn’t just about money, it’s about belief
How to lead your team even when you’re broken
The underdog strategy that landed a $3M city job

⚡️Featured Guest:
Andy Keil, Founder, Keil Electric
Faith-driven electrical contractor built on integrity, quality, and a commitment to serve others with excellence in every wire they pull.
🌐 Website: https://keilelectric.com
📧 Email: andy@keilelectric.com

🔗 Resources:
⚡️Take your electrical service business to the next level!
Join the SLE Pro App Community!


⚡️Open Circuit Service Loop. (Trial Link)
The Starting Point for Serious Growth.

⚡️Podcast Powered by Duromax Generators.
Making turnkey power solutions easy.
📧 Email: jesse@duromaxpower.com
🌐 Website: www.duromaxpower.com
📞 Call: 909-490-5789

⚡️Jump into the Million Dollar Electrician Community and connect with real business-minded sparkies! 


⚡️If you are an electrician looking for trade-specific business training in pricing, options, sales, attraction, and marketing strategies, then our Loop Method is your answer!

⚡️Learn how to serve and earn at the highest level. Contact us, we’d love to help!

#ElectricianPodcast #MillionDollarElectrician #ElectricalBusiness #ServiceLoopElectrical #AndyKyle #KeilElectric #FaithAndBusiness #ElectricianLife #TradesBusiness #BlueCollarMindset #BusinessResilience

00:00 - Mindset: Failure Is Not An Option

00:25 - Welcome And Guest Introduction

02:47 - From Military To First Electrical Break

05:16 - Early Business Lessons And The Hotel Pivot

09:10 - 2009 Launch, Downsizing, And Hustle Marketing

13:05 - Parking Lot Niching And Growth To 16 Techs

17:04 - Bidding Big: City Parks And Fiber Optic Leap

21:10 - Why Service Beats Projects For Profit

26:24 - California To Texas: Remote Ops And Closure

30:14 - Rebuilding In Texas And Unshakable Resolve

33:34 - Loss, Miracles, And A Year On The Road

39:00 - Finding Faith And Mason’s Vision Restored

43:40 - New Love, New Partners, New Company

47:10 - Switching To Residential Service Strategy

50:40 - Pricing Belief And Team Buy-In

55:10 - Record Months And The Power Of Partnership

59:20 - Structure, Roles, And Protecting Partnerships

01:02:10 - Expansion Plans And Multi-Trade Debates

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.560
You know, I don't think about it and I get questions like that all the time.

00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:04.879
Failure just isn't in my mindset.

00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.640
Failure means not being able to feed my family, not being able to pay our bills.

00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:10.000
That's literally not an option.

00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:16.960
I could either look at it as a very stressful thing and say, oh my gosh, if I don't do this, like bad, bad things are gonna happen, or I can say, dude, you just wait.

00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:19.600
Just give us a couple more days, like we're gonna fucking knock it out of the park.

00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.039
We're gonna just like it's gonna work.

00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:21.920
Like it has to work.

00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:22.320
You know?

00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:24.000
We've already done this before.

00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.679
There's no reason it wouldn't work again.

00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:37.679
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Million Dollar Electrician Podcast, where we help home service pros like you supercharge your business and ark up those sales.

00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:39.119
I'm Joseph Wacani.

00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:40.960
Guys, my co-host, Clayton Meyer.

00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:45.679
We're here to share the secrets that help electricians sell over a million dollars on a single service.

00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.479
Now it's time for sales.

00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:50.960
It's time for sale.

00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:56.320
It's time to become a million-dollar electricist.

00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:06.239
Welcome back, guys, to another great episode of the Million Dollar Electrician, joined by my co-host, Joseph Lucani.

00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.120
But also, we have another special guest today.

00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:15.840
This one's uh quite a deep topic, uh, a bit of a sensitive story, but also really empowering.

00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.640
And I know it's going to touch so many people and help so many.

00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:23.359
So I want to welcome a warm welcome to you, Andy Kyle, for coming to the show today.

00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:24.400
Welcome, brother.

00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.000
Thanks for having me.

00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:27.200
Yeah, man.

00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:31.120
By the way, how's it going over in California today?

00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.640
Uh, California's awesome.

00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:33.760
The weather's good.

00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.400
Uh, business is nonstop.

00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.719
So awesome.

00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:39.680
Good to hear it.

00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.159
So, guys, I'll give you a little bit of background on Andy, what we're getting into today.

00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:58.719
Uh, we recently uh had a guest on Forrest, who's been working with a lot of the SLE Pro app uh members, doing some marketing stuff, Forrest with top line growth, and he's actually partner with Andy in Kyle Electric.

00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:05.519
And together they've been building a really strong foundation to a great company in that area in California.

00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:07.840
But it's not Andy's first kick at this.

00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.400
Uh, you've had a few iterations of businesses before, learned a ton.

00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.360
This is your first partnership business, I think, Andy.

00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:16.000
Is that right?

00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:17.039
Correct.

00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:17.919
Awesome.

00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:27.199
And so we're gonna go through a ton of uh what Andy's learned through the process of uh having very little sales at times, uh a lot of challenges at times.

00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.479
And I believe you were over in Texas, even at one point.

00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:40.240
And so, Andy, we're gonna get to go through that whole story with you today and learn everything we can about what makes Kyle Electric great today and what makes you such a great operator.

00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.560
As uh all I've heard is great feedback on how good you're doing there, man.

00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:45.919
Cool.

00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:46.960
Awesome.

00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.199
So tell us a bit about your background and why electrical in the first place, brother.

00:02:51.759 --> 00:03:04.400
Um well, I was in the military, not anything related to electrical, but as soon as I got out, I got my feet into the construction side of the world.

00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:12.080
Um and I was actually just a helper on a construction site, sweeping, you know, like the lowest job ever you can get.

00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:20.879
Um and there was this old timer electrician, he was probably in his late 50s, early 60s, who was trying to pull wire by himself because his helper wasn't there.

00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:21.919
He's just cussing.

00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.199
He's just like really mad because he's pulling in some pretty big wire.

00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:27.759
And he asked me if I can help him for a minute.

00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.919
So I went over there and helped him pull in the wire.

00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.719
Didn't know what I was doing, I was just following what he was asking.

00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:37.360
And then my boss came over and said, you know, what the heck are you doing?

00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:39.680
I'm not paying you to work with the subcontractor.

00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.319
And then he fired me right there on the spot.

00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:43.439
Yikes.

00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:45.840
So the electrician I was helping hired me.

00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:50.240
I just stayed there, kept working, and I worked with him for about four more years.

00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:55.840
And uh that was the beginning of you know, my experience turning into an electrician.

00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.719
That is gotta be the fastest turnover ever.

00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.560
Literally, like, you're fired.

00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:01.280
You're hired.

00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:02.000
All right, great.

00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.879
It's like, all right, hi, you're staying on the same job site.

00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.360
Yeah, I went from like a minimum wage to a few bucks more, so I was stoked, you know.

00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:10.800
Best firewing ever.

00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:18.959
The guy who fires you has to continue working or seeing you on site because uh you just continued right right there with the other guy.

00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:19.759
Yeah, he did.

00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:21.199
He was actually really cool about it.

00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:25.519
You know, he was like, it was like, you know, you got lucky, you moved into a you know a better position.

00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.600
So he was he wasn't a jerk about it.

00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:28.720
He was nice.

00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:29.759
Okay.

00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.040
So you never looked back.

00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.439
How long did you work for that uh that electrician for?

00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.160
Um, I did four years and then he retired.

00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:41.279
Um, he wanted me to take over the business so that he could collect some cash.

00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.519
And I did that for a little bit.

00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.160
Um, I would say about a year and a half.

00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.240
I didn't know anything about business.

00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.879
I didn't know I knew zero.

00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.639
Um so it didn't last that long.

00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:01.120
And then uh I ended up working for a project that we did.

00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.680
We did a project out in uh Newport Beach, California, where we built uh a hotel.

00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:12.879
And I knew every part of the electrical system for the hotel, so then the hotel hired me to be their electrical engineer.

00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:14.720
Oh, interesting.

00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:29.519
So I did that for about two and a half years, and I got really bored because it was just sitting at a desk and meeting after meeting about budgets, and I learned a little bit about business and financing through that.

00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.639
And at the same time, I was doing sidework.

00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:43.199
So on the weekends, I would be making two or three thousand bucks a weekend, and I was just making, you know, decent money at the hotel.

00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:52.399
So my wife said one day, she's like, What if you did electrical every day and took the weekend off so you can have some time with your family?

00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:00.240
And that was pretty much the pivot point where I decided to get my license and see what I can pull off.

00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:04.000
So that's uh yeah, that's a timeout moment.

00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:09.839
I was gonna say, most of our wives aren't the ones dreaming of us starting our own companies.

00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.120
That's been my experience.

00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:15.600
But I guess if your weekends were taken, that would be a treat for her and the fam, hey.

00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:23.759
Yeah, she was stoked because I was just making basic money, you know, nine to five job, and I was making more money in two days than I was in a whole week.

00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:33.600
So she was pretty inspired by you mentioned military, so that happened before the electrical trade.

00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:34.240
Is that right?

00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:43.040
Yeah, right out of high school, I joined the army and um they showed me a video of stuff blowing up, and I thought that looked cool, so I signed up for that.

00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:47.839
It was uh field artillery and then uh we moved to upstate New York.

00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.120
And I think that's where you're from, Joe.

00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.120
Yeah, I was gonna say, where in upstate New York?

00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:54.319
Like, where were you?

00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:57.519
Uh it was a town called Watertown.

00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:58.399
It was Fort Drum.

00:06:58.800 --> 00:06:59.839
Okay, so you're north.

00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:01.600
Just north of Syracuse, yeah.

00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.040
And then you're north north.

00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:05.199
You are north north, yes.

00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:05.519
Yeah.

00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:06.720
I'm gonna pause you.

00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:07.040
Andy.

00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:07.439
Sure.

00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:09.360
Andy, you just turned sideways.

00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.439
Maybe your iPad.

00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.800
I didn't do anything to it.

00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.439
I could just send it like this though, it'll be fine.

00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:17.920
Yeah.

00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.720
I've never seen that happen before, other than like the auto.

00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.680
Everything else on my screen is straight.

00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.360
It's just my it is, eh?

00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:28.800
Is it an Apple product?

00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:30.240
Because there's something you can do.

00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.439
Um if you go to your go to your main home screen, right?

00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.000
Yeah, there's a button right here, it looks like a lock.

00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:37.680
It's called the screen lock.

00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:43.199
If you unlock it, turn it the right way, it'll move, and then lock it, it should reposition it.

00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:47.040
There you go.

00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.800
Yeah, and then keep it in the lock position now, and you should be okay.

00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.240
The first I've ever troubleshooted anything electronics.

00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:57.759
Yeah, I locked it down.

00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:58.240
Okay.

00:07:58.480 --> 00:07:59.519
That is true.

00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:03.920
That was weird.

00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.120
I didn't touch the iPad.

00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:06.079
I don't know why the screen changed.

00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:06.720
Yeah, weird.

00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:11.120
Alright, all right.

00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:11.839
Well, that's okay.

00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:17.439
Uh Toad just uh troubleshooted something technologically, and that's not his strong suit.

00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:21.040
So this was great, great demo of what's possible.

00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:27.839
Yeah, but I mean, as far as being north, I mean like Syracuse is pretty much as north as it gets.

00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.079
You're pretty close to Plattsburgh at that point, then, right?

00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:37.440
I don't know the name of that town.

00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:38.480
I know that if we wanted to get it.

00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:39.279
Yep, that's so yeah.

00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:41.600
Yeah, so you're as north-north as it gets.

00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:43.519
I'm about seven hours south of you.

00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:45.039
Newark's a big place.

00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:46.159
It's a big place.

00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:48.399
As long as you're going up, it's big.

00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:49.279
Okay.

00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:51.039
Yeah.

00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:51.679
I know.

00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:53.120
Same here.

00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:53.759
I mean, Calgary.

00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:55.200
They're like, oh, you live in the city.

00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:56.639
It's like, no, I'm hours north of the city.

00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:57.600
I've never been there.

00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:57.919
Oh.

00:08:58.320 --> 00:08:59.600
Well, that was my experience too.

00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.279
When I flew, I flew to Toronto and drove south to to Joseph.

00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:04.639
And I just didn't realize.

00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.480
I mean, that drive was like a whole day.

00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:08.639
That was that was significant.

00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:09.840
And I said the same thing.

00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:11.440
Like, how close to the city are you?

00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:11.759
Yeah.

00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:13.440
And Joe was like, I hate the city.

00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:14.399
I don't go to the city.

00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:15.039
We're like, what?

00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.080
We're not going to the city?

00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:16.879
What do you what?

00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:17.360
No.

00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:18.879
You throw throw an odd.

00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:19.519
Yeah.

00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:22.639
You throw an autistic person in the city, and you've got a bad day.

00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.240
Too many crowds, too many bright lights, too many tall things, unfamiliar.

00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:27.039
Not about it.

00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.080
Not about it.

00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:32.159
Yeah.

00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:33.519
Yeah, fair enough.

00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.519
Okay, so you did the New York State thing, uh, the the Army thing.

00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.840
I get it that you said four years.

00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:53.279
I did three years, um and it was uh about time to to get out, and my wife said no more.

00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:54.879
We were from California.

00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:01.519
We went from beach weather on year to freezing more than half the year.

00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:01.919
Yeah.

00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:05.039
And humidity is so New York weather is not for us.

00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:06.240
It is not.

00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:07.120
It's not even for us.

00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:08.559
So we got out, yeah.

00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.639
Uh where two next, Andy.

00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:13.919
We're not the next.

00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:27.440
Um got out and I realized that my military service wasn't really a qualifying factor for anything.

00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.360
You know, I applied to a bunch of jobs.

00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:33.279
Unless I wanted to go on like law enforcement or border patrol, which I didn't.

00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:38.000
Um my resume just said I didn't have to kill people and blow things up.

00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:43.039
So it didn't really give me any trade skills then.

00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:52.240
No, I mean you're just a soldier, really, unless you go into a special skill set.

00:10:52.320 --> 00:11:00.399
Like they have electricians and construction type uh jobs in the military, but you know, the one I chose was.

00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:02.080
Thanks for filling that gap for me.

00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:12.879
So when you got into electrical, I know this started with just pulling a piece of wire and then you know, everything you said before, but at some point did you realize like this is what you actually want to do with your life?

00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.879
Or is it just kind of one foot in front of the other, all of a sudden years have passed?

00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:36.720
Um, you know, I got in um and I was in, I think on my 25th birthday, I think I was about two or three years in, and I started thinking about my life and my future and you know what my retirement might look like.

00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:40.159
And I knew it took four years to get a journeyman's license.

00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:47.440
So I said, you know, if I stick with this, by the time I'm 30, I should be qualified to be making more money.

00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:52.240
And at that time, getting a journeyman's license to me was you're in a higher pay bracket.

00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.759
You know, I wasn't thinking of a career or a business at that point.

00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.080
It's just more money.

00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:03.600
Um, so I like I said, I did that with the the same guy who brought me in.

00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.440
And um, you know, that was my goal.

00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:13.120
I'm gonna work this until I'm retired and just be an electrician and work for a really good company, which was this guy.

00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.559
But then he came to me one day and said, Hey man, I'm gonna retire.

00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:24.159
So you could either find another job, or if you want to try it, you can just continue with what I built and see what happens.

00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.080
So I said, Well, I don't want to find another job.

00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.799
So let's see how this works out.

00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:36.080
And um, yeah, so I did that.

00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.559
Like I said, I did that for a couple years.

00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.600
Um I was the only guy running it, so I didn't know how to get calls or leads.

00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:47.279
It was really if they knew about the company prior, they would call.

00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:54.639
And then uh work just got slow, and I took the job with the hotel for a customer that we were there for about a year.

00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:02.320
And uh, like I said, I did that, and side gigs on the weekend kind of turned into hey, maybe you should do it during the week.

00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:13.519
And then that turned into I don't really know how I'm running a business or like what are taxes, and it was uh trial by trial until I figure it out type of moment.

00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:23.039
So yeah, 2009 we officially really oh nine of all years, like in the height of the collapse?

00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:24.720
That's intense.

00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:25.600
Yeah.

00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:26.480
Yep.

00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:33.440
Well, see the thing was I was too young, I didn't look at politics or watch news.

00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:35.200
Like, I didn't know there was a collapse.

00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:43.840
I'm more of a uh self-create, if I want it it'll happen type of mindset.

00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.879
So, you know, I didn't know the world was breaking.

00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:51.279
I didn't know everybody was losing their you know, finances and jobs.

00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:52.000
All right.

00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.840
Hey, we're gonna start a business and it's gonna be awesome.

00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:57.759
And we just went for it.

00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.360
Um it was slow at the beginning.

00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.519
Like I said, uh, we had to I had to sell our house.

00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.480
You know, we sat down and we said, you know, we can't afford the house.

00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.440
We can't do this because you're only making X amount of dollars.

00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:17.679
But we didn't want to give up on it, so we uh sold the house, moved into a one bedroom.

00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.120
What was the plan?

00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.799
Can you take me back to that?

00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:22.960
And that's a big sacrifice.

00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.679
And we hear people do this before.

00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.679
I've made big sacrifices myself, but it's not about me today.

00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:34.320
What was the plan when you knew, hey, we can't do the house, we're going in on the business.

00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:42.320
Was there any like upgrade to how you were approaching the business at that time, or was it just more of the optimism pushing you through that?

00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.720
Just there was a ton of optimism.

00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:53.039
Um, at that time, I started getting into uh networking groups.

00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:57.759
I joined the Chamber of Commerce, I started hanging out with other business owners.

00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:03.200
Um, we did have to look at our finances and what our bills looked like, and they were upside down.

00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:14.720
But the optimism and the forward future thinking of what it could become um outweighed what our current situation was.

00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:23.200
So we decided what is it gonna take, how much money do we need to survive if we downgraded?

00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.840
And it was a lot much smaller footprint.

00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:30.480
So we said, let's do that so we can pursue our future.

00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:32.720
And um, I mean, we sold the house so far.

00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:36.320
It was probably gone instantaneously until we put the house for sale.

00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:38.879
Yep, and I realized it was really scary.

00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.799
It was gone in three days.

00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.320
Yeah, yep.

00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:51.039
Yeah, yeah, we we bought the house for much more than we sold it for, and I didn't know that.

00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:54.159
And at the time, like we kind of didn't care.

00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:03.679
We were just kind of thinking, you know, one day we're gonna have this corporate building and 500 trucks and all these really awesome dudes, and you know, we'll laugh at this sale, you know.

00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:13.600
Um and we did that, uh, it was uh yeah, it was around 2009 that um we downgraded and then the business just started picking up.

00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:18.720
You know, we started I I never marketed in a sense that like Forrest does.

00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:28.240
Forrest is a high-level guy, you know, we marketed on like Facebook or I don't even think I don't even think we used Facebook back then.

00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:34.960
Um, but you know, went on Yelp and some form of Google or whatever they had back then, but most of it was word of mouth.

00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:40.399
Like I would go to tons of networking groups uh throughout the city and uh just met people.

00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.480
I did door knocking by myself.

00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.360
I would go out and just pass out cards.

00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:49.440
I would throw cards in every place where you know you go to a coffee shop, you throw your card in there.

00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:55.919
I I just I blasted our logo and our cards anywhere I can find a spot to throw it.

00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.279
And and then uh when and when I wasn't doing that, I was making phone calls.

00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.919
I was calling property management companies and hotels.

00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.839
Actually, one of our one of our biggest clients was the hotel that I left to start the company.

00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.440
They're super supportive.

00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.680
Uh, we made a lot of money doing that.

00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:20.400
Um, question I have for you, because I don't know if everyone really appreciated, but have you ever gone back years later and found your card was still on one of those plaques?

00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:31.039
The reason why I say that is uh we actually did something very, very similar where we literally would get like laminated pieces of paper and we'd tape it to different offices and shops and coffee shops.

00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:35.119
And there was one we found like five, six years later that the guy just forgot about and never took down.

00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.319
We're like, Oh, can we take this?

00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.200
Like, we're take it.

00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:41.200
So, like, did you ever have that kind of experience where you're like, oh wait, I remember this business card?

00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:41.839
It's still here.

00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:42.559
Awesome.

00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:56.799
Uh no, I mean, there's been a few times we would like places that we would regular like coffee shops or like old mom and pop cafes where we'd see our cards still pinned to the cork board.

00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.440
Um but yeah, that was cool.

00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:14.319
Uh another big thing that I did was um, and I don't even know where I got the idea, but I would drive around at night looking at parking facilities and like parking lots of like stores, and then I would see parking lot lights out.

00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:20.559
And then I would look for the vacant unit that was there, and it said, if you want to rent this place, call this property management company.

00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:29.440
So I would take photos, I would count how many lights were out, and then I would call those guys the next day and say, Hey, you guys have some lights out, I can fix those for you.

00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:35.119
And then that led us into a door where we started doing all of their maintenance for a lot of those companies.

00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.319
Um and by the by by that time, we started getting a lot of parking lot lighting projects.

00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.880
Uh, I invested into a bucket truck.

00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:51.359
Um, and then I started hiring guys because I hired a guy to go out and like just look at parking lots.

00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.960
And then I mean we we just kind of did this over and over again.

00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:10.640
And uh, like I said, we just evolved, we started building Chase Banks and Chase Bank did a big takeover back in those days where they started taking so we got in with those guys and then uh putting out contracts, and then uh yeah, we just kind of grew from there.

00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:21.039
I don't know if it was luck or what Andy just talked about is an example of niching down and just finding a specific service and committing to get your foot in the door.

00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.000
And I bet you it didn't stop at parking lot lights.

00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:27.359
Those same people probably hired you for more stuff too.

00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.119
Would you agree with that, Andy?

00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:41.359
Yeah, I think the parking lot light was just the foot in the door, and then they were happy with our services and our prices that they started calling us for everything.

00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:50.799
From there, it led into uh going into an empty unit and getting it all fixed up and checking the power, and then that led into hey, something's not working.

00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:51.599
Can you come out here?

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.359
You're the guy that we call for everything.

00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:56.000
Um and then they would refer us to other companies.

00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:59.119
So, how big did this company get for you guys?

00:19:59.440 --> 00:19:59.920
You know.

00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.039
I had 16 guys at the first Chielectric.

00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:12.079
Um, most of us were just we did everything, technicians.

00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:24.000
Uh, we had one guy that did um like cat six phone type stuff because it wasn't something I knew, but we got a job one day and they said, Hey, we need to do this, this, and then we need to do the low voltage.

00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.079
And I said, Of course I could do that.

00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:27.759
And I didn't know anything about it.

00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.519
So I went and I hired a guy and like, hey, do you know anything about this stuff?

00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:32.559
He's like, Yeah, it's what I do.

00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.680
I'm like, dude, you're hired.

00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.079
So we started offering that.

00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:48.240
Um, that actually led into a big job for uh there's a there's a city out here called Westminster, and one of the property companies was redoing all the city parks.

00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.640
Uh, it was a prevailing wage job.

00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:53.200
And they said, Hey, you do a lot of work for my buddy.

00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:54.799
He was over here at this other company.

00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:57.680
Like, how do you feel about redoing all of our city parks?

00:20:57.759 --> 00:20:59.759
And I was like, Yeah, sounds easy.

00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:04.319
And he's like, Part of it is to be running, uh, he's like, there's like 17 miles of fiber optic.

00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:05.680
Can you do fiber optic?

00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.079
And I said, Yes.

00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:17.519
So he said, Cool, I want you to come down and meet our guys uh at the city and talk to some of the the uh engineers and you know, let's just kind of talk about the project.

00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.720
So uh they wanted to meet the next day.

00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.240
So I knew they were gonna talk about fiber optic because it was the biggest ticket on their thing.

00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:30.240
So on the way there driving, before you could, you weren't allowed to hold your phone while you're driving.

00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:36.240
I was watching YouTube videos on how fiber optic is spliced, what type of tools you need.

00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:41.920
Uh, you know, I pretty much enough to, I guess, BS my way into the meeting.

00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:47.519
So they started talking about, I was like, yeah, you need this type of tool, you know, you need like a dark room, and you know, like we can get it done.

00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:50.640
You know, it's not something that we do all the time, but I have a team that can do it.

00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.440
So they're like, cool.

00:21:52.079 --> 00:22:02.720
I put in my bid, I think it was around three million dollars for the electrical package for seven 17 city parks plus the fiber optic package.

00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:05.680
Um and we got the job.

00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.359
We were on that job for about a year and a half.

00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:12.480
You know, but it's so cool that you're you're willing to take because the way I see it is that's like risk management.

00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.000
You knew there was a huge reward if you managed to get in.

00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:21.359
And if you didn't, well, you might just still be unemployed or where you're stuck where you were.

00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:26.160
But you took a gambling said, I can do the thing, and I'm willing to learn the thing before you could test me on it.

00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.119
That's that takes some stones, man.

00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.400
Like, good for you.

00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:32.240
Right.

00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:45.440
I just figured worst case scenarios I didn't get the job, or I did get the job and I failed miserably, maybe go bankrupt or sued.

00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.359
But I thought, why not?

00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.640
Let's give it a shot.

00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.640
Um, but it worked out.

00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:52.720
I didn't really make as much money as I bid.

00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:53.599
I thought I would make more.

00:22:53.680 --> 00:23:00.720
I ended up paying a lot more extra money for people to do the professional thing that I said I could do, but we didn't lose money.

00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:06.559
Um, in fact, that led into more city jobs and uh more referrals to other companies.

00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:16.559
And soon after that, we were building apartments and when you look back at that now, you guys do mostly residential service today, right?

00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:20.799
Do you miss that hotel, the bigger project stuff?

00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.559
Do you ever get the itch to go back to fiber optics?

00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.880
Uh where do you feel about that today?

00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:37.839
Um you know, it took me actually meeting Forrest kind of shifted me.

00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:42.480
You know, I always looked at the job and the and the dollar amount that we bid it for, and I think, oh, cool.

00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.160
This is how much it's gonna take to do the job.

00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:46.160
This is how much we should have when we're left over.

00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:49.680
I would look at that a lot and get really excited.

00:23:49.920 --> 00:24:00.160
Um and then I look back at it now and you know how much time and effort it took to do those massive jobs and stress and headache and time away from the family.

00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:06.480
The final product isn't as appealing as when you see it in the beginning on a piece of paper.

00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:11.599
Um and now we do like I like to compare an ADU.

00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:19.200
It's like we can go build an I'll bid an ADU from time to time and we'll bid it for$35,000,$45,000, a small ADU.

00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:25.119
And it takes months because you're waiting on all the other trades to do their part, and you come in and you come in in phases.

00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:28.960
You know, by the time it's all said and done, you probably walked away with like$8,000.

00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:36.079
I could go install the generator now and charge like$25,000,$30,000.

00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.160
It takes two or three days.

00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:45.440
And like I can I could 100% see what our profit margin is gonna be at before we even start the job.

00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.039
Like it's it's the same price projects.

00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:54.640
One is significantly easier, and one is, you know, just keeping the guys busy.

00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:59.519
So switching over to service and repair has just kind of been a big eye opener.

00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:02.400
Um just a lot more work into it.

00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:10.160
You know, you gotta hustle a little bit more because your customer comes and goes, you know, in a day or two, and you gotta repeat the customer or find more customers.

00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:12.480
So you're not sitting on the project for a long time.

00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:17.599
But I think that was my experience too, with a lot of projects in the background.

00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:44.319
It always seemed the best time that we celebrated projects was just like you said, when we were awarded them, when it was still just projection before all the change management and all the battles on site and all the schedule conflicts and problems along the way, and the people getting sick and every problem in between, let alone fighting for your pay, 60, 90 days out at the end of it, you know, bankroll and all that.

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.160
Gosh, I just don't miss it.

00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:46.960
Yeah.

00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:51.279
Oh gosh.

00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:53.440
Okay, so how long did you do this for, Andy?

00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:56.319
How how long did that version of Kyle Electric go for?

00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:12.880
Um, I think in around 2016, when me and my wife decided to start building kids, um, we had one and uh we were still in California.

00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:16.240
I think when she turned around one, we decided to make more.

00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.240
But we didn't want to have kids in California.

00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:26.319
There was just a lot of rules and regulations and how they want to tell you how to raise your children.

00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:29.680
So we decided to exit to Texas.

00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:37.200
Um and I had a really good superintendent and a co uh manager in California.

00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:40.559
So I said, you know, you and we were in the middle of an apartment building.

00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:44.480
I was like, I'm gonna let you and the team run this, I'm gonna run it remotely.

00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:47.200
You know, most of my days were in the office, anyways.

00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.759
Uh I said, I'll be in Texas.

00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:51.200
We're gonna be doing cool stuff.

00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:55.839
And uh you guys continue to do this and you know, see how that goes.

00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:00.960
Uh when we got to Texas, um, it worked, California was running really well.

00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:02.559
Like it was basically funding, you know.

00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:06.160
We bought a house, we lived there, it was it was funding all of our bills.

00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:09.279
Like I wasn't even working, you know, anywhere else.

00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:13.440
Um, but then it started to crumble because I wasn't there.

00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:18.640
I wasn't there to keep the morale up and keep the community, you know, going and motivated.

00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:21.680
It just slowly started to dwindle.

00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:41.599
Um so I saw this coming and I decided to get my master license in Texas, and then we opened up a second location in Texas so that I can try to alleviate some of the income pains, you know, to help support California and then grow that company.

00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.200
And then about a year later, uh, we closed the company.

00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:46.960
Yeah, what were some of the signs you saw?

00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:54.880
And how long did it take before you saw those signs that you really knew this was going somewhere you couldn't control?

00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:04.880
It was giving a lot of power to the employees.

00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:09.279
You know, they had the credit cards, they were able to go in and out of the supply houses.

00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:14.960
You know, I kind of just let them make the decisions based on the jobs.

00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:20.640
You know, we had like 16 guys, so it was kind of hard to monitor what was going in and out.

00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:31.440
Um the checks and balances kind of left, you know, before I could just roll up on a job site and check things out, see how things are going, and uh see what their attitudes are like.

00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:42.640
And it wasn't there anymore, so they kind of did their own thing when a little rogue wasn't finishing jobs, or or they would just tell me in the meetings like everything's going really well when it wasn't, you know.

00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:48.480
They didn't tell me that when they were running the trench or they hit the main water line at a project and it flooded.

00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.680
You know, I just I found out when I saw the bill.

00:28:51.920 --> 00:29:03.440
Um just little things like that that I wasn't able to have a full grasp on and regulate on, you know, because the boss is in another state, like what's he gonna do?

00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:10.559
So before it got completely wrecked, uh when dad's away, the children will play.

00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:15.440
Okay, where does winding it down look like?

00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.160
How did you handle that, if you don't mind me asking?

00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:37.039
Um we were on this apartment job, I think it was gonna be our last project, and I I told my main guy, like, hey, this is gonna be our last project, you know, and then you can do other stuff that's you know smaller.

00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:45.119
Um and then basically the word got around that we were gonna close up, so everybody started to scatter.

00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:51.119
So I had to hire in a subcontracting company to finish up the last little parts of this project.

00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:57.920
Uh but yeah, winding it down is really just trying to make sure all of our bills were paid and the suppliers were settled.

00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:10.160
Um, you know, we ended up Spending more money closing it down than keeping it afloat because there's just a bunch of legal documents and paperwork and stuff to just kind of finish up.

00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.319
Like the phone, is it still ringing?

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.119
Is there still people trying to get you to do work?

00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:20.480
What do you do with yeah?

00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:31.519
Um, I got with one of my other friends that had an electric contractor uh company, and uh I just told them, you know, our customers would call and they say they want to see us, they need it, you know, they need work.

00:30:31.599 --> 00:30:42.240
And I was like, hey, we we've shifted our to uh Texas, so I'm gonna refer you over to one of our really good uh company friends that you know super solid company.

00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:43.359
So we would just start friends.

00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:45.519
Which is good for them.

00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:46.799
They kind of blew up because of that.

00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:48.799
They got a lot of extra customers.

00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:51.759
Yeah, yeah, we're still friends now.

00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:52.720
We we chat a lot.

00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:57.519
Um but uh yeah, the window was was rough.

00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:02.480
Um, and it was around the same time I was starting to get the Texas company up and going.

00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:09.279
So there was a transition of, hey, I think we made a mistake and we're probably gonna be poor and it's not gonna work out.

00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:12.000
But you know, me and my wife are like, hey, we did it once.

00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:14.000
How hard could it be like?

00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:18.000
So I just followed the same pattern that we did over there in the beginning.

00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:21.119
I started doing in Texas, and like it.

00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.799
Yeah, I did the parking alliance, I called the property man.

00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:26.319
I I literally did every single thing.

00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:36.160
I joined all the the groups, and I mean it it almost I gotta stop you for a second because is there a way we can just bottle your enthusiasm and sell it?

00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:37.759
Because that's just top tier.

00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:38.880
Hey, we we already failed once.

00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:39.599
Let's just try this.

00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:40.480
We're fine, we'll do it again.

00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:41.680
How hard could it be?

00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.319
That's amazing level of resilience.

00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:52.319
Like, you know, you're saying it's so nonchalant, but yeah, like do you give yourself credit for having almost this unshakable resolve for to succeed?

00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:54.720
Like, this is the real superpower here.

00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.799
You just did not believe you could fail.

00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:58.640
And as a result, you didn't fail.

00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:02.079
You actually like succeeded beyond our your wildest dreams.

00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:03.759
Like, how do you feel about this?

00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:06.480
I don't think about it.

00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.799
You know, I don't think about it, and I get questions like that all the time.

00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:18.319
Um failure just isn't in my my mindset.

00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:23.599
I mean, failure means not being able to feed my family, not being able to pay our bills.

00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:25.920
Like, that's literally not an option.

00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:35.359
So I could either look at it as a very stressful thing and say, oh my gosh, if I don't do this, like bad, bad things are gonna happen, or I can say, dude, you just wait.

00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.319
Just give us a couple more days, like we're gonna fucking knock it out of the park.

00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:40.480
We're gonna just like it's it's gonna work.

00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:42.160
Like it has to work, you know.

00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.400
Yeah, we've already done this before.

00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:46.480
There's no reason that wouldn't work again.

00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.599
You should be proud.

00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:49.119
You genuinely should be proud.

00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:51.359
I mean, that's you have my respect.

00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:58.480
If for nothing else than that, I mean you have tons of my respect regardless, but you've earned it even then some more for this one particular thing.

00:32:58.559 --> 00:32:59.119
It's amazing.

00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:01.599
Really, really impressed.

00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:03.920
So what happens next, man?

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.640
I know it's not uh I'll raise the sunshine beyond this.

00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:08.319
Maybe this is your biggest challenge.

00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:09.920
We're just getting into now.

00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:13.920
Uh your biggest challenge.

00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:19.119
Um, well, we ran Kyle Electric out in Texas.

00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:20.640
It was a second location.

00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:30.319
Um, we ended up having to close Kyle Electric or at least the brand down because there was a lot of conflict with the California Chioelectric.

00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:36.720
There was, you know, people online were thinking it was the same company, and they were calling so like we ended up switching.

00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:39.759
I rebranded to another company called Live Oak Electric.

00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:44.319
Um, and uh it was actually pretty easy to switch.

00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:46.480
You just call every customer and say we rebranded.

00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:48.079
Um that wasn't a problem.

00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:52.960
And we did that for about I don't know, three or four years.

00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:55.279
And uh super successful.

00:33:55.519 --> 00:33:59.680
Every, you know, service related, service and repair.

00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:04.240
Um, we did a couple ADUs, a couple house builds, you know, each year.

00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:13.840
Um, but it was mostly service and repair at that time because that's when I started ginking the shift of like, hey, this is actually a little bit easier, similar amount of money.

00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:16.320
Um, so we got into that space.

00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:23.199
And then around 2000, uh, we were having our third child.

00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:24.800
My wife was pregnant.

00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.239
Like, we're super healthy.

00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:31.599
Like uh anyway, she she had like a little like a bump on her toe.

00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:33.679
We thought it was like a cyst or something.

00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:39.280
So the um she said, you know, after the baby's born, I'll just go to the dermatologist and we'll we'll get it removed.

00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:47.760
So, you know, super successful home birth, uh child, uh he was born, beautiful baby boy.

00:34:47.920 --> 00:34:55.679
And then uh, you know, she went to the dermatologist to get it removed, and they were looking at it and they said, This isn't, we don't know what this is.

00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:04.079
So they took a sample and sent it in, and about a week later we found out that she had stage four melanoma cancer.

00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:12.559
And at the time we were like, there's no way, like we're the healthiest people that we know.

00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.880
You know, we don't eat garbage and you know, we live in a brand new house, you know.

00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:24.960
Um but then they said, you know, she she only has like three months to live, you know, like it's everywhere.

00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:26.400
Like we can't even stop it.

00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:28.000
It's it's it's so aggressive.

00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:30.719
So we were like, what can we do?

00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:39.039
And they said, you could do chemo and radiation, and you know, that's kind of it, you know, start settling your your affairs and say goodbye to people.

00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:42.880
And like it was kind of an unacceptable answer for us.

00:35:43.039 --> 00:35:50.480
So um we just did a lot of research and there was a lot of things that we can do outside the country.

00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:53.360
So we I started we started going everywhere.

00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:59.519
I went to Mexico, I was flying back and forth to Russia to pick up viruses to come back to the state to the injector.

00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:09.840
And we actually got it from a stage four spread all over her body to like a very, very, very small like size of a nickel tumor in her liver.

00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:14.880
And we're like, told you Western medicine, you guys suck.

00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:17.039
Like, there's ways to cure things.

00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:28.880
So um the cancer doctor said, you know, it's so small, like we can just hit it with like a little bit of so tiny bit of radiation and make it go away, and you guys will be done.

00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:30.320
And like we were really hesitant.

00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:34.880
We're like, you know, we've done this so far without any of the you know crazy stuff.

00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:41.199
But somehow we got talked, we I got I don't know if we got talked into it or we just we were battling it for like a year, you know.

00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:45.360
We went from a four-month death sentence to, you know, not a death sentence.

00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:47.760
So uh we decided to do that.

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:59.280
Um they did this little microscopic laser on it, and then uh it like it did something where it just was this small and it blast all over her body, and then and she died in five days.

00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:12.159
So that time, like curing her and battling that took took me away from the company for about I mean almost a year.

00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:14.000
Like the guys were just running on their own.

00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:18.800
Like I was always out of the country doing crazy stuff with my wife trying to just get her better.

00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:24.079
But uh when that happened, I was like I was like, I'm not coming back.

00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:34.239
Um and I had three little kids, so I had uh the newborn and I think it was three, three-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter.

00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:45.440
And uh, you know, before my wife died, she said, uh, you know, because we worked so hard building the company, like we never took a vacation, we never we didn't do anything, we just focus on the business.

00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:50.800
She said, you know, if I die, I want you to take the kids on a vacation.

00:37:51.920 --> 00:38:03.039
So uh after she passed, I bought a giant dually truck and a fifth wheel, and I threw all the kids in there, and we traveled for almost a year all over the states.

00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:10.960
Uh we just did a lot of healing, you know, in uh like forests and national parks, and it was uh it was really good.

00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:21.360
Um one thing I found out maybe a few months after my son was born was that he was born blind and deaf.

00:38:22.639 --> 00:38:26.000
We didn't know because he couldn't talk and he didn't like verbalize.

00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:29.840
Uh so like that was a devastating thing for us.

00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:33.119
Um but anyways, we started traveling.

00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:41.039
Uh a really good friend of mine in San Diego said, Hey, come visit us, you know, while you're traveling when you can't come through here and just hang out.

00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:46.800
So we we got to San Diego, and um he's a big church guy.

00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:48.320
I never did anything like that.

00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:52.639
I didn't even know what any of that stuff was, but uh he said, Hey, we're going to church tonight.

00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:53.199
I think you should come.

00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:54.719
And I guess it'll be good for you guys.

00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:58.239
And I was like, No, we'll just wait here, you know, until you guys get back.

00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:01.679
Um, he's like, No, you're gonna come to church, you know, you need this.

00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:05.760
So we went to church and it was great for us.

00:39:06.159 --> 00:39:09.119
Um, I was exposed to stuff I didn't know existed.

00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.559
And then we ended up staying about three months, and we went to church every Wednesday and Sunday.

00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:15.360
It was great.

00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:17.519
My kids went to the kids' church.

00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:23.679
Uh, all the kids' church people knew my blind and deaf son because he was the only guy that was blind and deaf.

00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:28.719
Um, and uh I finally said, you know, we gotta keep traveling.

00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:31.360
Like, we're not done going on our healing journey.

00:39:31.599 --> 00:39:36.320
So everybody in the church came out, they prayed over us, they said, you know, safe travels, it was good to see you.

00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:44.079
And we left San Diego and we got up to uh uh one of the national parks, Yosemite.

00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:53.599
And uh so we're sitting there, me and the kids sitting there in the RV, and my blind son is he's like holding, I don't know, I think it's like a Lego or something.

00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.039
Normally he just holds it and looks just like looking, you know, anywhere.

00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:02.639
But he was like focusing on what was in his hand, and I was like, what is that?

00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:04.400
Like, are you looking at that?

00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:06.000
That's weird because it's not possible.

00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:11.760
He doesn't have optic nerves, he literally doesn't have the the cord that goes from the eyeball to the brain.

00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:13.280
So he's doing this.

00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:21.119
So I took it out of his hand and I held it in my hand, and he grabbed it out of my hand and held it back in his face and was doing this again.

00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:27.679
We did this for like an hour, and I'm crying, and I'm like, dude, you could see.

00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:30.719
So I I called my buddy who brought me to church in San Diego.

00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:33.440
I was like, dude, Mason can see.

00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:36.320
And the only thing he ever said was like, dude, God is good.

00:40:36.400 --> 00:40:38.239
Don't you remember we prayed for you?

00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:41.280
Dude, I just hung up because I didn't even know how to respond to that.

00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:53.280
Um, and then uh I found out a couple weeks later that he could hear because he was like walking towards like some stairs, and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, and he stopped and he turned around and looked at me.

00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:54.639
And I started doing this too.

00:40:54.719 --> 00:40:59.920
I'm like, he's like looking at every ears of sound, so I'm like that.

00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:04.559
Around that time, I was like, when I was like, dude, God is real.

00:41:05.119 --> 00:41:07.920
I think I'm gonna buy into all this Christian stuff.

00:41:08.159 --> 00:41:11.760
Um and uh I mean I kind of left it at that.

00:41:11.840 --> 00:41:27.119
I didn't really do much after that, but uh we were in South Dakota, and one of the girls from the church called and she's like, hey, just wanted to check in on you, and uh, you know, heard Mason could see.

00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:44.800
And I was like, Yeah, so we talked and we talked a long time, like we started talking every day, and then uh we kind of fell in love over the phone, and she's like, Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you came down this year for Thanksgiving uh or Christmas and hang out with us?

00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:47.920
So I was like, dude, we live in an RV, we could do whatever we want.

00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:53.760
So we just came down back down to San Diego and um we never left.

00:41:54.159 --> 00:42:06.320
I ended up marrying her about less than a year, and uh she'd been single with her two daughters for I don't know, eight years, and you know, her kids are awesome and our kids are awesome.

00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:24.880
Now we have five kids together, and like we're ridiculously in love, and uh we started, you know, my my my guys in Texas were like, dude, if you're not coming back, you should definitely start another company where you're at so that we can have more exposure.

00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:32.400
So around that time I started another company, and it was about the time I met Forrest.

00:42:32.960 --> 00:42:35.599
And we have another partner named Jaron who goes to our church.

00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:39.360
That's how I met everybody through the church, again, bringing in fruit.

00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:48.239
Um, and uh Forrest and Jaron were gonna buy a company out in Florida, and I said, Hey, we know your master license, you know, get your license in Florida.

00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:49.599
We have a big opportunity out there.

00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:59.760
I said, So, okay, so I got my license in Florida, and we were getting ready to move, and like I think the last couple weeks before the deal was closed, uh, they canceled.

00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:00.880
I don't know what happened.

00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:02.960
We just ended up not doing that deal.

00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:06.480
So I told Forrest, like, dude, I already have everything here.

00:43:06.559 --> 00:43:09.039
Let's start, let's start a company here.

00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:12.159
And then that's how Carelectric was born.

00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:29.280
And we've been doing first off, speechless and uh just you know, like I said before, absolute the most miraculous and and just the most chicken skin I've ever had listening to a story, and and my condolences.

00:43:29.599 --> 00:43:31.519
Um it's just speaking for myself.

00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:39.280
What a difficult, difficult series of events that you've gone through to get to this point.

00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:44.079
But to Joe's credit earlier, even before you guys, Joe's never heard this story before.

00:43:44.239 --> 00:43:53.440
I had a bit of a sneak peek, but um, you know, to what Joe said before, just your ability to stay focused uh and stay forward.

00:43:53.679 --> 00:44:03.599
And um I I can say, you know, I share one thing with you, and it's that I had a pretty dark time once upon a time, and and being a dad is what kept me moving forward.

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:12.960
And I man, uh the only question I have before before Joe uh definitely probably has something to say, but is how is Mason now?

00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:22.559
He is your normal five-year-old punk kid.

00:44:22.960 --> 00:44:33.039
He's uh he's he's a little delayed in his development because he couldn't see or hear for like the first year, year and a half of his life.

00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:35.920
So um, but no, he's great.

00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:44.719
I mean, he's like a master at puzzles and he builds Legos, like he's just like what a normal little kid would be doing, so which is amazing.

00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:47.599
He does have some slight vision impairment.

00:44:48.079 --> 00:44:49.440
He doesn't have an optic nerve.

00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:59.280
Um like but he could see, and that's no the doctors don't know.

00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:03.280
They think, oh, maybe it's slightly developing.

00:45:03.440 --> 00:45:12.079
We're actually supposed to get a brain scan on him uh here in the next couple months to kind of see like what that looks like, but last brain scan, it was non-existent.

00:45:12.800 --> 00:45:19.440
They said they don't understand how he could see, they're like they they compare it, like it's like being born without an arm, but still being able to pick up a cup of coffee.

00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:21.280
Like, it's not possible.

00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:23.280
So I don't know.

00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:24.480
To be honest, I don't know.

00:45:24.639 --> 00:45:32.480
The last one was he doesn't have optic nerves and now he can see and I'm still trying to process how to explain and communicate the feelings attached to it.

00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:34.880
I mean, first and foremost, thanks be to God.

00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:36.559
Like goes just goes without saying.

00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:38.239
There's literally no argument there.

00:45:38.400 --> 00:45:44.320
The things that are possible through faith and through belief in the highest of powers is proven.

00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:46.000
It's completely proven.

00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:56.079
It's just amazing when you hear such a real and tangible example that came from such a place of struggle and ended up becoming one of the best blessings.

00:45:56.320 --> 00:46:00.800
You know, that which was meant to hit you could never miss you, and that which was meant to miss you could never hit you.

00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:07.280
It's just amazing to see where your path is lying and how much how much blessings is in your path ahead of you.

00:46:07.519 --> 00:46:14.079
You know, your unstoppable resilience, the optimism, the resilience to never quit.

00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:18.719
And then regardless of the hand you've been dealt, you turn it into a flush every time.

00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:19.920
Thanks be to God.

00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:21.039
That's really all I can say.

00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:28.480
Joe, I know that uh you actually you got a class, I guess, in a few minutes.

00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:30.639
So that's okay, man.

00:46:30.719 --> 00:46:35.760
Uh, you can drop, but uh Andy, are you able to stay on for another 15 just to finish up?

00:46:36.400 --> 00:46:36.800
Yeah.

00:46:37.039 --> 00:46:45.199
If I do have to drop, which I'm gonna head out in the next minute or so, I just want to say, if nothing else, Andy, it is the highest of pleasures getting the opportunity to hear your story.

00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:50.400
There are some things that people are willing to say in front of a crowd, and there are some things people keep to themselves.

00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:58.880
And I feel like this is a story that more people need to hear because you don't hear about wins like this outside of movies.

00:46:59.199 --> 00:47:00.880
They exist, don't get me wrong.

00:47:01.199 --> 00:47:18.239
But the level of depth that this went and where you ended up on the other side of it, and the lessons you've learned and the lives you've touched and impacted along the way, it's almost like throwing a rock into a river, and we're just trying to count the ripples, but they're countless and they just keep going in every direction.

00:47:18.480 --> 00:47:19.599
It's truly amazing.

00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:22.960
And I'm I'm honored to have the opportunity to have heard your story directly from you.

00:47:25.519 --> 00:47:26.239
Truly welcome.

00:47:26.559 --> 00:47:27.599
I'll leave at this point.

00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:32.960
I do have to run, but I want to say if nothing else, maybe continue to be blessed with peace and mercy and guidance.

00:47:33.119 --> 00:47:37.440
I mean, it's phenomenal what you've done, and I wish the Almighty continues blessing you in that way.

00:47:38.960 --> 00:47:40.400
Thanks, my pleasure.

00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:41.760
Clay, nothing but love, brother.

00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:42.639
Cheers, man.

00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:43.199
Talk to you.

00:47:43.599 --> 00:47:43.920
Thanks, man.

00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:44.880
You too.

00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:46.800
Holy cow.

00:47:47.119 --> 00:47:47.440
Okay.

00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:51.119
We've got Kyle Electric.

00:47:51.360 --> 00:47:55.199
You're starting over with Forrest now and Jaron on your team.

00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:57.199
Start picking up.

00:47:57.679 --> 00:48:00.320
I think this is around the time that uh we came together.

00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:01.119
Correct.

00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:07.679
Uh, one of our Yoder clan, had uh introduced us to Jaron, I believe, first.

00:48:10.639 --> 00:48:11.280
Yeah, yeah.

00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:13.119
Yeah, yeah.

00:48:13.199 --> 00:48:15.199
The they're good friends with Vincent.

00:48:15.360 --> 00:48:22.800
And uh uh they said, hey, there's these service flute guys, they give a class, they'll teach you how to be even cooler than you are now.

00:48:23.360 --> 00:48:28.880
Um, you know, we were just starting, so we're like, hey, anything helps, you know, let's figure out what our rate should be.

00:48:29.039 --> 00:48:32.960
Let's figure out, you know, how to calculate stuff and talk to people.

00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:36.480
Um and uh yeah, that's how we met.

00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:38.320
We went in the class, it was great.

00:48:38.480 --> 00:48:42.159
Uh actually changed the direction on how we started growing.

00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:46.400
Um and then we just kept growing.

00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:48.000
Like we're we're still growing right now.

00:48:48.159 --> 00:48:49.039
We have our struggles.

00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:54.000
I mean, like any other company, I'm sure, but you know, at least we have a target, you know, and it can't be a good idea.

00:48:54.159 --> 00:48:57.360
So when you first started in residential service at this point, adapt.

00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:02.320
I mean, I get there was a ton of weight, but also sounds like some new energy for you.

00:49:02.400 --> 00:49:04.320
You were excited to go again, right?

00:49:06.079 --> 00:49:06.639
Yeah.

00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:10.719
So you did you know at that point it was going to be residential service?

00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:14.400
Because you're kind of talking to Forest then uh at this time.

00:49:16.880 --> 00:49:17.199
Okay.

00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:20.800
Um, we were going back and forth.

00:49:21.039 --> 00:49:31.280
I've been into, you know, I'll do anything that is electrical, you know, build houses, you know, anything that was electrical, I would say yes to.

00:49:31.599 --> 00:49:37.280
You know, I got a really big robust bidding software, so I can take blueprints and bid them out easily.

00:49:37.440 --> 00:49:39.280
So I'm used to doing all those things.

00:49:39.440 --> 00:49:47.280
And then um the the goal was to be service and residential uh repair.

00:49:47.840 --> 00:49:56.320
Um so I struggle with that a little bit because you know we were waiting for leads to come in, and I had a handful of big projects I could bid.

00:49:56.400 --> 00:49:58.320
So I'm like, you know, what do I do?

00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:01.840
I don't want to just say no to these guys because I could see the money there.

00:50:02.480 --> 00:50:04.960
Um, and we're just kind of waiting to grow this side.

00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:10.960
So uh we did both, and we're still kind of doing both, but we're being a little more selective.

00:50:11.119 --> 00:50:18.480
Um, but by far, uh service and repair residential is nice is the direction that we're when you first started out.

00:50:18.559 --> 00:50:23.119
I think Forrest mentioned you guys were, you know, obviously it was an early kind of a restart.

00:50:23.199 --> 00:50:30.480
You're doing like eight, 10k months maybe at first, and then you got together and and started seeing some upticks, right?

00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:38.400
Yeah, when we first started, it was really sad.

00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:43.119
Like three, maybe five grand uh a month.

00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:54.320
Um yeah, and then force force got in and started dialing all the marketing and and advertising in, and then uh calls just started coming in like nonstop.

00:50:54.559 --> 00:51:02.480
And it got to the point where I was like, I can't be in the field this much and come back into the office and try to do Boston.

00:51:02.880 --> 00:51:03.599
Did you have a challenge?

00:51:03.679 --> 00:51:05.280
I know you mentioned the pricing.

00:51:05.519 --> 00:51:12.079
It's probably different, the service pricing, than what you're used to in projects and what your rate was.

00:51:12.159 --> 00:51:17.920
Did you have a challenge with that difference at all in actually you know offering that to people at that rate?

00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:20.159
Or was that a challenge for you at all?

00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:31.119
Um well, project rate is much, much lower than you know, service and repair.

00:51:31.360 --> 00:51:52.400
Uh the biggest challenge, like when we met you guys, was you know, what we were charging per hour is probably like any other newcoming and electrician, was you know, real basic, you know, 150 bucks an hour, you know, you know, and and I was really mostly thinking of it from a customer's perspective, you know, that's a lot of money to change this plug.

00:51:52.639 --> 00:52:10.480
Um, and then when we got to learning about what it took to run a business and not only run it, but like grow it and plan for future growth and checks, you know, that number was more than doubled, you know, once we ran it through your calculator.

00:52:10.880 --> 00:52:19.360
So the challenge there was presenting that number to the customer, knowing that the majority of our time before that was a much, much lower rate.

00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:23.199
So it took a minute to believe in it.

00:52:23.519 --> 00:52:31.360
You know, going there and showing this large number and not believing in it, or or if I was thinking it was too high, it was always a failed sale.

00:52:31.679 --> 00:52:33.760
You know, because they could see it, they could feel it.

00:52:33.840 --> 00:52:38.639
You know, I was I was vibrating, you know, a disbelief of my own number.

00:52:38.880 --> 00:52:49.199
Um it was it wasn't until I said, you know, this is what it has to be if we want to project growth and become amazing, like it has to be this number.

00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:56.000
Um once we flipped that switch, it was as if we never raised our prices.

00:52:56.159 --> 00:52:59.039
You know, the customer just said yes, you know, you know.

00:52:59.360 --> 00:52:59.679
Good.

00:53:00.079 --> 00:53:04.960
Have you had guys now because you've been through a few, you've got a good little crew going now.

00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:08.320
Have you had guys that have had troubles getting on board with that?

00:53:11.360 --> 00:53:12.400
More than half.

00:53:12.559 --> 00:53:12.880
Okay.

00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:19.519
Do you have a preferred way that you're dealing with it or helping them get over that and find confidence like you did?

00:53:24.159 --> 00:53:26.400
Yeah, you know, I'm like really transparent.

00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:34.480
You know, we say, hey, this is what it costs to get in a lead, this is what it costs to send you out in a truck, you know, maintenance the truck, the insurances and everything.

00:53:34.559 --> 00:53:37.760
Like that alone puts us at this number.

00:53:38.400 --> 00:53:41.199
So they can see that and they're like, oh, okay, I get it.

00:53:41.360 --> 00:53:48.639
And then I say, hey, if you want to make more money or you have growth or get a raise in the future, we have to charge this much money.

00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:57.920
Like we have to be not only making a profit, but setting up the future for future profitability and to get more support in your guys.

00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:05.199
So when they see that aspect of it, it's easier for them to take it and run with it.

00:54:05.360 --> 00:54:11.360
You know, a new guy coming in that we just hire and we say, hey, our alley rate is$456 an hour.

00:54:11.519 --> 00:54:14.000
They're like, holy crap, dude, nobody's gonna buy.

00:54:14.159 --> 00:54:19.440
And like you got to change their mindset because when they're out there selling, like they think it's too high.

00:54:19.599 --> 00:54:20.239
Yeah.

00:54:20.639 --> 00:54:22.480
Yeah, and it depends on your local area.

00:54:22.639 --> 00:54:27.360
I mean, we've seen people upwards of over$650 an hour, even.

00:54:27.840 --> 00:54:28.880
But you know what?

00:54:29.039 --> 00:54:36.159
Those are the companies running all Mercedes-Benz sprinter vans, the full wraps from Kick Charge, right?

00:54:36.239 --> 00:54:42.400
Like, if you want that premium brand and everything, all the nuts, like that's just what it takes.

00:54:42.639 --> 00:54:44.559
It's not cheap to do that.

00:54:44.800 --> 00:54:46.480
But look how attractive it is.

00:54:46.719 --> 00:54:53.760
It gets so many people on board and builds confidence, and people see you, and you become this community figure with this killer brand.

00:54:53.840 --> 00:54:56.400
So I've seen that work just the same.

00:54:56.559 --> 00:54:59.199
Um, yeah, it makes perfect sense what you're saying, man.

00:54:59.280 --> 00:55:06.239
What what would you say is like your biggest, your record month now to come from that three, five, eight, 10k months?

00:55:11.599 --> 00:55:16.719
Um, you know, it's a question for Forrest, um, but I believe we did.

00:55:18.239 --> 00:55:24.159
I probably messed this up, but I believe we did uh almost a hundred this last month.

00:55:24.559 --> 00:55:25.039
That's right.

00:55:25.280 --> 00:55:26.400
Or I could be way off.

00:55:26.559 --> 00:55:28.639
I I lean on him a lot for the finances.

00:55:28.719 --> 00:55:31.199
I just yeah, leads leads me to the next questions anyway.

00:55:31.840 --> 00:55:39.360
So I think he mentioned you guys had a record 165, and you kind of float around that hundred or just over at this point.

00:55:41.679 --> 00:55:47.599
That said, a lot of people kind of second guess the whole partnership thing.

00:55:47.679 --> 00:55:51.280
Or I've had them say to me, I mean, I've got partners too, obviously.

00:55:51.360 --> 00:55:57.199
Uh, and Joseph, uh, first and foremost, uh, the fastest sinking ship is a partnership.

00:55:57.280 --> 00:55:58.639
Have you ever heard that?

00:55:59.599 --> 00:56:05.519
What are your thoughts on that phrase and and uh how are you feeling about the partnership that you're in today?

00:56:10.159 --> 00:56:20.480
Um, I would say about that phrase, it really depends on your partner and what your guys' alliance is and you know who's doing what and how do you stick to those positions.

00:56:20.719 --> 00:56:27.760
Um in my case, having Forrest and Jarren has been a complete game changer.

00:56:28.320 --> 00:56:35.119
You know, Forrest brings stuff to my world that I never even knew about or heard about.

00:56:35.199 --> 00:56:41.519
And when I hear it, I'm like, I'm like in just complete awe of like what he knows and what he does.

00:56:41.840 --> 00:56:48.639
And in our partnership, he says he's gonna do certain things, like it always happens, you know.

00:56:48.880 --> 00:56:57.039
Like it's gotten to the point where I look to him for guidance in a lot of these areas, and he leans on me for guidance in areas that he's not familiar with.

00:56:57.199 --> 00:57:06.000
So he has a lot of structure and just ways to go about certain things that just go perfectly hand in hand with how I do it.

00:57:06.079 --> 00:57:07.920
So the partnership is amazing.

00:57:08.079 --> 00:57:12.960
I mean, I wish I met Forest 10 years ago, although he probably would have been 15.

00:57:13.360 --> 00:57:15.519
There's the age uh giveaway.

00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:17.119
But that's what I was gonna ask.

00:57:17.360 --> 00:57:29.760
Because you've had versions of Kyle Electric and uh I can't remember the name you said of the other one, but you've had these different versions, these iterations, and at those times you had your wife, but not other business partners, right?

00:57:30.639 --> 00:57:31.119
Correct.

00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:38.400
So if you had the choice of doing this one way or the other, sounds like by what you just said, you would go with the partner again.

00:57:43.440 --> 00:57:47.840
I would, you know, I mean, like I said, it has to be the right person.

00:57:47.920 --> 00:57:55.840
You know, they have to be able to bring something to the table that the other guy either can't do or doesn't know how to do or doesn't have the time.

00:57:56.480 --> 00:58:07.599
But you really got to be able to come in together, you know, like he handles everything in this lane, and I handle everything in this lane, and they're going in the same direction.

00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:10.559
And without them both going, like you would be half lost.

00:58:10.719 --> 00:58:15.440
I mean, it's just it's a really beautiful relationship that we have.

00:58:15.599 --> 00:58:40.239
You know, I've I've heard stories of other guys with partners, and you know, somebody's not pulling their weight or not being transparent, and then and then you just start building feelings that you don't want to have, and you know, they end, or but um I'd say getting a partner, you want to go in and just lay everything on the table, like this is what I'm gonna do, this is what you're gonna do, and this is how we're gonna get to our goal, and you know, hold each other accountable.

00:58:40.400 --> 00:58:42.320
Yep, you know, absolutely keep that closed.

00:58:42.639 --> 00:58:50.000
I've been asked a few times too, what's the the key points you would you'd have to check off in a partnership.

00:58:50.159 --> 00:58:52.480
And I know for Joe and I, it was a couple things.

00:58:52.559 --> 00:58:58.079
I recognized right away that I'm more the generalist, the bigger vision high-in-the-sky guy.

00:58:58.159 --> 00:59:07.440
He's definitely more the specialist, knows every single nut and bolt that puts this thing together when it comes to a process, as you know as well, right?

00:59:07.599 --> 00:59:14.480
Every question also has the why we ask it in in every part of the process, and and that's all there because of him.

00:59:14.639 --> 00:59:20.800
And because I think we have very little overlap, we just do very different things for our business.

00:59:21.039 --> 00:59:36.239
And at the end of the day, I feel like what you said, uh, I agree with is that where people tend to share skill sets too, and they have more overlap on the things they're meant to do, it tends to be more arguments about those things as well.

00:59:36.639 --> 00:59:41.360
And and yeah, the ethics of not going through and doing what you said you were gonna do.

00:59:42.079 --> 00:59:44.559
Um, you ever heard that expression?

00:59:44.639 --> 00:59:48.800
Uh great great fences make great neighbors.

00:59:50.559 --> 00:59:51.119
Yeah.

00:59:51.360 --> 00:59:56.400
And then there's another one uh good contracts make good friends.

00:59:58.480 --> 00:59:59.840
Yeah, yeah, just kind of in.

01:00:00.159 --> 01:00:01.119
Interesting way to look at it.

01:00:01.199 --> 01:00:07.760
It's it's that whole ideology, though, of like, okay, is a prenuptial agreement really something to be upset about?

01:00:07.920 --> 01:00:14.559
And and one of the things that was important for us in our partnership, I know, was planning what does a divorce look like?

01:00:15.440 --> 01:00:16.480
What are our duties?

01:00:16.639 --> 01:00:16.880
Yes.

01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:18.480
What is all the stuff we're committing to?

01:00:18.639 --> 01:00:18.880
Yes.

01:00:18.960 --> 01:00:23.840
But also, hey, if we do separate for unknown reasons, what does that look like?

01:00:23.920 --> 01:00:26.559
So we don't have to worry about it or fight about it then.

01:00:27.039 --> 01:00:30.159
That was like really cool and easy to do.

01:00:30.320 --> 01:00:30.960
Yeah.

01:00:31.280 --> 01:00:32.320
It's good to know.

01:00:32.559 --> 01:00:33.440
Yeah, for sure.

01:00:33.599 --> 01:00:35.920
So what's the goal for Kyle Electric, Andy?

01:00:36.079 --> 01:00:37.440
How big is this going, do you think?

01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:38.800
Where where do you see it?

01:00:43.519 --> 01:00:47.039
Um, well, we just opened up a second location in Austin, Texas.

01:00:47.840 --> 01:01:08.960
Um I would like to just keep growing and get bigger and more profitable, and maybe if it makes sense at some point, either sell it and do this again because it's fun, or just keep it going and you know, have a nice income every month.

01:01:09.199 --> 01:01:11.119
So I'm I'm pretty flexible.

01:01:11.360 --> 01:01:17.519
Uh we've had talks about bringing in other trades to kind of have a multi-trade company.

01:01:17.679 --> 01:01:21.280
Um, I'm not I don't know enough to be a fan yet.

01:01:21.440 --> 01:01:23.039
I get the idea and the concept.

01:01:23.119 --> 01:01:25.679
Uh I know that a lot of big companies are doing that.

01:01:25.920 --> 01:01:31.760
I'm just I'm just so much more focused in this one trade, it's hard for me to think in that ways.

01:01:31.920 --> 01:01:36.159
But uh our other partner, Jaron, is a very, very big believer in that.

01:01:36.239 --> 01:01:44.079
So and like Forrest, Jaron is a professional in that world, so I just trust him and his word.

01:01:44.159 --> 01:01:47.840
And so, you know, when we get there, we'll know.

01:01:48.079 --> 01:01:50.559
Until then, I you know, I'm happy building a business.

01:01:50.639 --> 01:01:52.880
You know, one day I'd like to retire and just play.

01:01:53.280 --> 01:01:53.840
Me too, man.

01:01:54.000 --> 01:01:55.360
I also don't know if I'm the type of person that's like.

01:01:55.519 --> 01:01:57.360
So it sounds like you're sleeping better at night.

01:01:57.440 --> 01:02:03.519
Uh, partnership is is all good stuff for you guys, and you've got tons of positive stuff in the future.

01:02:03.679 --> 01:02:10.639
I do want to thank you for sharing all the vulnerable stuff today, and I want to ask you one last hard question if I could.

01:02:12.159 --> 01:02:12.800
All right.

01:02:13.679 --> 01:02:22.719
Say one of your kids decides that they're gonna do similar to what you've done and start a business, start an electrical business specifically.

01:02:22.880 --> 01:02:26.960
Maybe it's Mason continues to be a miracle, follows in your footsteps.

01:02:27.199 --> 01:02:31.440
What three pieces of advice do you think are like your top?

01:02:31.920 --> 01:02:37.920
I gotta get this to him so that he doesn't do some of the things I did or so that he does better than I did.

01:02:38.079 --> 01:02:42.960
Do you have a few ideas that could help others who uh or or maybe look into his path?

01:02:45.840 --> 01:02:46.079
Yeah.

01:02:47.519 --> 01:02:58.880
Yeah, I mean, if we're talking electrical specific, I would say first and foremost, he needs to get into a good company that can teach him how to be a good electrician, maybe a good trade school.

01:02:59.360 --> 01:03:04.559
Because without the knowledge of doing electrical, like you'd be a really sorry business guy in that trade.

01:03:04.719 --> 01:03:12.320
But uh second would be, you know, I put in all the the work to find out what works and what doesn't work.

01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:20.320
So I would immediately get him into a position of saying, like, this is how you're gonna get the work, this is how we're gonna figure out what your pricing is.

01:03:20.719 --> 01:03:31.199
Um, you know, probably get somebody like Forrest or Forrest to say, hey, we have another guy that's gonna do something, but yeah, you know, going through all the trial and errors, like you just know it works.

01:03:31.360 --> 01:03:37.840
Just like when I repeated the company and how I got customers in the video, like, you know, we've we've developed a shortcut.

01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:45.840
Like you guys have developed a shortcut to go from starter company to million-dollar service van, you know.

01:03:46.639 --> 01:03:47.679
I appreciate the confidence.

01:03:47.840 --> 01:03:51.840
I know we didn't have it when we were first coming up, wasn't so readily available.

01:03:51.920 --> 01:03:58.719
We couldn't necessarily just throw on YouTube and learn how to build a multi-million dollar uh electrical brand.

01:03:58.880 --> 01:04:01.039
So yeah, it's a different time, man.

01:04:01.119 --> 01:04:01.920
I appreciate that.

01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:03.840
You've been an awesome guest, Andy.

01:04:03.920 --> 01:04:05.920
Thank you so much for sharing your story.

01:04:06.079 --> 01:04:08.159
And a quick shameless plug for me, guys.

01:04:08.239 --> 01:04:11.280
We've got a ton more great interviews coming in this season.

01:04:11.440 --> 01:04:22.960
As I mentioned last time, you can join the SLE Pro app at electricserviceapp.com, and you can come in there and set yourself up and join a community.

01:04:23.119 --> 01:04:34.159
In fact, we'll put a uh trial link below so that you can use a coupon even to get into what we call the open circuit, where Joe and I do uh live QA session every week.

01:04:34.320 --> 01:04:51.119
You've got academy access to the basics that uh Andy mentioned today about learning your pricing and what Dorian mentioned last time, even the basic process of the loop method to help you guys out there, as well as hundreds of other electricians doing it too and uh doing it right and building this thing strong.

01:04:51.199 --> 01:04:53.280
It's so much easier when you're in the community.

01:04:53.360 --> 01:04:58.559
So come join us, and we'll see you guys again in there and next time here on the podcast.

01:04:58.719 --> 01:05:00.239
Cheers to your success.