Darren Huffer (00:00.846)
Okay.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:02.187)
So we're recording. I'm going to do the intro.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:07.435)
Thank you.
Enmanuel Tejada (00:13.899)
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Digital Toolbox Podcast. My name is Emmanuel Tahara. I own a digital marketing agency called Landscape Maverick. Today my guest is Darren Huford. How do I say Darren? Huford. Boom, let's go Darren, introduce yourself, man. Let's go, let's do it.
Darren Huffer (00:27.085)
Puffer? Like, puffer puffer, yeah.
Darren Huffer (00:34.285)
My name is Darren aka the beard landscaping cowboy been landscaping for roughly 25 years something that started out with mowing lawns and it's just Escalated into just landscaping only so
Enmanuel Tejada (00:51.595)
Man, landscaping only, so we'll talk about all that too, man, but I gotta ask you something very important there, and what does it mean when you post on your bio, it says, landscaper and OKC who is addicted to music, dancing, and positivity. Tell me all about that.
Darren Huffer (01:06.892)
I mean, music's my drug of choice. Live music especially, going to concerts, and that's the one thing outside of family that really, really like, it's like my one vice. Like I just look forward to every chance I get to go. And then obviously dancing, I mean, two -stepping or just dancing to music in general, which obviously ties into positivity. I mean, you can't dance if you don't have a good time and be positive, but.
Enmanuel Tejada (01:34.443)
That's true.
Darren Huffer (01:35.114)
The positivity part of it. I'm super super big on mental health Just being positive stay positive. I mean Anybody that owns a business, I mean you really really hit some rock bottoms and just some really hard times and you really really have to start looking for the silver lining and everything and just trying to be positive to anything everything that happens to you, but not only that but try to
reach out and pull others up that are struggling.
Enmanuel Tejada (02:07.051)
100 % agree with you, especially on the entrepreneur side of things. Yeah, man, because it's all on you at the end of the day And I kind of and we're gonna head on each one of those topics individually So let's start with the music there and so like what type of music do you listen to? I know you're a big country guy. I love that hat you got on right now But like what specifically type of music do you like?
Darren Huffer (02:24.969)
and right now my number one would be Charles Whistley Godwin. I just got to see him last week. So if you don't listen to him, definitely check him out. from there, I mean, everybody's favorite is Zach Brian. I really, really don't like pop country. So I steer clear of Morgan Wallen and all the, you know, music pro, you know, pop country stuff. yeah, I mean, from Paul Cawthon to the oldies, the greats, the Allman Brothers, Smarshit Tucker band. I mean, you can't.
without throwing out Johnny Cash, Willie Whalen, Hank Williams, Dwight Yoakam. I really listen to it all. Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:05.867)
You're throwing out some real OGs, man. I like it. I'm actually, believe it or not, and a lot of people in the audience may not believe it, I actually like country music. I do, I have a very taste. Sometimes I'll get so bored of regular pop music, I'm like, all right, I want to listen to some country. I want to put on some Toby Keith or I'll put on some George Street, you know? And I like those guys. I like those a lot. Sometimes I get, would you consider Florida, Georgia line pop country or even like just regular pop?
Darren Huffer (03:34.63)
yeah, they're the ones that kind of revolutionized the bro country.
Enmanuel Tejada (03:38.123)
I'm sorry.
Yeah, yeah, those guys, they are the ones that originally put me on. Funny story, I was actually, I think I was like 12 years old. I was playing, I think I had like a PlayStation playing games as a kid. I had like an online girlfriend and she was from Tennessee and she would like tell me to put on these songs. And that's how I got introduced to Florida Georgia Line. Just a quick story and then.
Darren Huffer (04:03.015)
guys.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:08.779)
Yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:14.411)
Yes, that is true. And then I have Justin Waller to thank for putting me on to Toby Keefe and George Shreve.
Darren Huffer (04:22.63)
Yep, yeah, legends.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:24.107)
Yup, yup, yup.
And then, man, so let's touch on dancing. So what do you dance? Do you dance any type of music? I know you got the cowboy boots on and we'll talk about that too, but what type of music do you dance to?
Darren Huffer (04:39.909)
I mean, it's got to be a good two -stepping beat, but I mean, try to go out at least once a month to any country bar and just take my old lady two -stepping. But it can even be just dancing around the house with my little girl whenever a song comes on. She really likes learning the dances to Beyonce's Texas Hold There's another one that's new that's kind of like that one. I try to learn the songs with her as a daddy daughter.
Enmanuel Tejada (04:57.131)
Hahaha.
Darren Huffer (05:09.253)
just time together because she's 10 and she does cheer and dance and she just loves loves loves dancing as well so we try to dance together.
Enmanuel Tejada (05:16.939)
She got that from you probably, man.
That's awesome. And then let's also touch on the positivity. You said you're into a lot of mental health, a lot of self -improvement. So can we talk a little bit about that, your routines, your habits around that?
Darren Huffer (05:34.115)
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm 41 and I didn't start a healing journey until about three years ago. And I never thought I really suffered from trauma because I always thought trauma was physical or sexual, which I never suffered from. Mine was emotional or lack thereof. My dad was an alcoholic. We have a family history of alcoholism and, you know, he was the greatest man. I mean, I put him up there with John Wayne, like he's just a man's man.
And I mean, I got really, really good traits from like my hard work ethic, you know, just being a gentleman to women, just, you know, just being a man. But as I slowly was getting older and older from 13, 18, he slowly started like, you know, just vanishing. So I never really got that, you know, every boy needs a father to really, really, you know, bring them up and show them how to be a man.
And so I didn't really have him and then my mom was, you know, dealing with all that. And so you never really learn how to.
Express your emotions, control your emotions and all that. And so I'm going to start that healing journey. It just really opened my eyes of what all men, especially really in the blue collar industry, like, you know, go through, we're just, we're working our butts off, breaking her back, you know, 60, 70 hours a week. And all men want to do is be appreciated and validated for what they're doing. I mean, and a lot of times we.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:04.779)
Right.
Darren Huffer (07:07.169)
We turned to the bottle, we turned to drugs, we turned all these things to fill a hole inside of us. And it wasn't until I started doing counseling, personal counseling, that it really like opened my eyes and I really reduced my drinking to the point where I almost don't drink at all. And just from that, I just, I see others coming up behind me or even companies that are bigger than me that are failing and falling because they fall to the addictions. And I just, I try to be their supportive.
No, Hey, like you don't need to like, you need to turn to something positive. Whether it's dancing, meditation, counseling, just something that is a positive instead of a negative.
Enmanuel Tejada (07:51.723)
Yeah, I'm a big proponent of that there. And I agree 1000 % with you, especially in the blue collar world. That's a big thing. Like where I'm from here in New Jersey, like I see it all the time, like got some Mexican guys and they're amazing people. They're hard workers, you know, Mexicans, all types of Hispanics, people from different countries. And they just come and drink together. And I would imagine it's because a lot of their loved ones are still back home and they're here alone and...
They go to work, they come home, they go to work, come home, and this kind of space, like you mentioned, that's just not filled. So if there's somebody like that, I mean, what's the first step that you would recommend for somebody to get better from that? What type of, would you recommend, start getting into working out, or what activities do you think?
Darren Huffer (08:39.71)
I would definitely, I mean working out, it's probably, probably having a really hard rough day. I mean, I used to come home and I'd, I need a, I need a drink, I need a beer and I would go pop it. I mean, I didn't drink, you know, a 12 pack or 18 pack or anything, but I'd have two or three and it was like becoming almost every day where I just, I would need it to help wind myself down. But when I started, I bought a home gym and I really started like hammering down on working out. And that has been the best thing by far that is like really, really.
helped with my stress levels decreasing.
Enmanuel Tejada (09:11.531)
Wow. Wow, that must be a great feeling, right? Because I myself, I hardly drink. I drink when I go out with the boys, for example, but right now I'm in the middle of 75 hard, which includes no alcohol. So I haven't drank in like over a month and a half. And to me, it's nothing. But I can imagine what it probably feels like to come home and want that. You know, just like, you need it. Like, it's like your body's calling you to open up the fridge, you know, get a couple of, you know.
maybe a six pack out of the fridge and sit on the couch. And man, what's that like? I mean, do you, how do you, does it help you relax? Or do you think it's a placebo or what do you think?
Darren Huffer (09:49.724)
Yeah, it really just gets all that, I mean, negative energy and stress out of you. I mean, you work out and it just releases all those oxytocins and, you know, good, like, I'm pretty sure it's oxytocin. I'd have to look it up again, but it just releases all those good things inside of you that just reduces your stress levels. I mean, there's nothing like either whether it's running or throwing weights around, but it's just, you're going to get all your stress level out.
Enmanuel Tejada (10:02.635)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is.
Darren Huffer (10:18.651)
And especially, I mean, anybody that not only owns a company, but works in landscaping, really any trade, I mean, there's not one day that you're just going to have a perfect day. Nothing goes wrong every day. There's a fire to put out. There's a grenade thrown on your schedule. Trucks are going down. Machines are going down. Flat tires. Just, it's every day there's something to deal with.
Enmanuel Tejada (10:45.483)
Yeah, for sure for sure and especially as an owner and let's talk a little bit about that They're actually so so you own tender lamp tender lawn care So can you tell me a little bit more about that about your company? How many guys you guys are? What you guys specialize in?
Darren Huffer (11:03.546)
Yeah, so I started when I was 15 years old, just pushing a lawnmower up and down the street. And just like any lawn company that starts, you know, you have three yards, then you have six yards, then it's 12, and you just keep doubling, doubling, doubling until, you know, you're so hungry for work. And you finally hit a point where you're like, crap, like I've got too much work. So over the course of 25 years, I added weed control.
Enmanuel Tejada (11:24.939)
You
Darren Huffer (11:30.33)
But finally got busier and busier with just landscaping, which is my passion, where I was able to get rid of lawn mowing and weed control altogether, where I just landscape only. I did get to the point where I had, you know, six crews, two lawn mowing crews, two weed control crews and two landscaping crews. And I realized I was spreading myself too thin and quality was just, you know, going downhill. So I pulled back and now I'm just too.
landscaping crews, two crews of three, and I've got a shop manager that kind of helps keep things in order, supply runs. So just a total of seven guys, I went down from about 18 to seven and making more money now and my stress level is a lot less too. So moral of the story is, bigger is not always better.
Enmanuel Tejada (12:16.139)
Wow, for you.
Whoa, you made more money by tightening up the crew.
Tell us a little bit about that. How does one go about doing that and why is it that you are able to make more money now with less people?
Darren Huffer (12:35.769)
I mean, when you've got that many coals in the fire, you're constantly fixing things. You've got things going wrong. But when you focus on one thing and you do that one thing, great. You know, you become more efficient at it. You're just... When you focus on one thing, I guess you just really...
You're not spreading yourself too thin because I mean, it was just, we weren't really making as much money as we should on like certain mowing or weed control. Now, not to say that you can't make money in those, but if you're going to do it, you've got to just pick one. I mean, just pick weed control and just go all out with that and really become efficient at it where you're running this smooth, well -greased, well -oiled machine. Whereas when you've got those all three different things, I mean, you're just...
You're going all over the place and you're just, you're making mistakes and that mistakes cost you money. And when you just really, really simplify and do one thing, you just, you'd be surprised at how much more money you can make when you're, I mean, like I said, running efficiently and your quality controls up. You don't have upset customers. I mean, it's just, it's the way to, it's the way to go. Stay small, stay happy.
Enmanuel Tejada (13:56.267)
Stay small, stay happy. And also just to clarify too, for myself and the audience, when you say that your passion is landscaping, what do you include in that, right? Because I know sometimes there's confusion. I know a lot of lawn care guys would consider landscaping to be, you know, putting down mulch, putting down flower beds, or would you consider that more lawn care?
Darren Huffer (14:16.884)
So lawn care, I consider lawn care as mowing, maybe trimming bushes, just your general maintenance, pulling weeds. Landscaping is just big trees, just full on, whether it's a blank canvas starting from nothing to building a landscape or coming in and completely redoing a landscape. But just, I mean, you see all my trees and bushes behind me, but I've basically got a personal nursery.
Enmanuel Tejada (14:45.259)
is that what you have?
Darren Huffer (14:46.771)
Yeah, anything, anything plants just, yeah. Firebed borders, firebed installs. And now we still do trimming bushes, you know, maintenance. We'll do monthly maintenance for customers, but our biggest thing is just coming in and doing a really, really big job. Both crews, we come in and just bring in loads of soil, bring all the plants in. We're doing the drainage, we're doing the irrigation. Just one stop shop for, you know, from start to finish turnkey landscape.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:14.539)
Man, that is awesome. I don't think I've actually heard of that just yet. So you have your own nursery, four trees, plants, and how do you keep those alive? I mean, do you just grow as many as you can or?
Darren Huffer (15:25.939)
So actually we just we purchase from the directly from the growers. We basically skip over the middleman, the retail nursery. So instead of running down the street to the local nursery and paying full price, I'm buying a wholesale sitting on it until we need it for a job. But what the best part of that is, like I said, talk about earlier, being an efficient is we can grab everything we need to from my shop and go instead of.
Enmanuel Tejada (15:43.787)
Thank you.
Darren Huffer (15:56.018)
wasting an hour or two each day trying to pick up all the product from, you know, plants from the nursery, rock from the rock store, mulch, whatever it is. I've got pallets of mulch. I've got pallets of rock. I've got everything that we possibly need here ordered in bulk, which also doubles the profit you make per job.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:17.579)
Sneaky man there and I gotta give it to you So how does that work then it so So you pretty much cut out the middle man being like either the nursery or the rock supplier or the most supplier You cut everybody out. Really you just go straight to the supplier
Darren Huffer (16:19.601)
Thank you.
Darren Huffer (16:37.106)
Mm -hmm.
Enmanuel Tejada (16:38.973)
Wow. So does that mean that you're forced to buy an excess bulk like a huge amount of mulch or freeze or rot?
Darren Huffer (16:45.266)
Yeah, there's typically a minimum of like anywhere from three to five thousand. But, you know, it took it took a few years to get to that point where I was only ordering like once or twice a year where now we're ordering. We've got just constant rotation of once a month of just, you know, fresh stuff coming in. And I honestly, I can hardly keep stuff in stock. It's just as soon as it's coming in, it's going out and I'm already having to make a new order. Yeah. So I'm going to try and figure out like a inventory.
Enmanuel Tejada (17:03.979)
Really.
Darren Huffer (17:14.353)
system or we can maybe start scanning that it'll like keep track better and like where it'll automatically like order or something because about once a month we have to come in and really really like do an inventory count which takes time and
Enmanuel Tejada (17:29.771)
Man, that's awesome though. That's the first time that I hear of that. Like you have your own nursery, you're cutting out the middleman. Is that something that you would recommend for other guys? I mean, but then again, though, a lot of people don't really have a shop that big, right? A lot of guys just have a couple of trucks and they may have it in a yard, but they may not have enough space to be able to put trees and mulch and rock plus the dirt too, to be like the soil, to be able to plant those plants that you have, right?
Darren Huffer (17:57.771)
yeah, it's definitely been a, I mean, a lot of people, you know, see what I've, you know, what I haven't built in them. Like, you know, Rome wasn't built in one night. I mean, it's just, it's taken a year after year of just slowly, slowly getting to where I'm 25 years later. You know, I've got three shops. I stumbled upon a blessing of God's land, 10 acres where I've got room to store all of this. Whereas like you said, a lot of companies, you know, they've only got, you know, you have to
Enmanuel Tejada (18:06.795)
Thank you.
Darren Huffer (18:26.19)
store their truck and trailers and their equipment. So, I mean, the ultimate goal for anyone should be to, instead of leasing, because I think if I leased this setup I have, I mean, it would run me probably close to eight or $9 ,000 a month. And that's just money in my pocket. Whereas if I was renting a commercial lease property of doing something like this, I mean, that's roughly $100 ,000 a year that I'm keeping in my pocket.
Enmanuel Tejada (18:55.275)
Right. And then I don't know if it appreciates in value over time or not. Cause there's no property there, is there?
Darren Huffer (19:01.39)
yeah. I mean, I think I purchased this 10 acres for $80 ,000 and put the shops on it. I mean, I probably put my finger on it that it's roughly worth $600 ,000 about 12 or 15 years later.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:16.331)
600 ,000. He said you bought it for 8 ,000. 80 ,000. Okay. Gotcha. And when you bought that, can you walk us through that actually? That's quite interesting. So you bought the 10 acres. How many acres is it? 10 acres. And do you pay, I'm sure it's paid off by now. Right.
Darren Huffer (19:19.084)
$80 ,000.
Darren Huffer (19:29.581)
Ten acres.
Darren Huffer (19:36.365)
yeah, everything that I purchase is paid in full and except for one truck. But everything else I pay, yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (19:45.291)
Wow, man, congrats there and holy crap, that's awesome. And with land, when you buy land, do you still pay property tax on that too?
Darren Huffer (19:52.959)
Yeah, and it's just the value of the property. I want to say, I mean, I think here it's maybe gone up to about 1200 a year.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:02.187)
Gotcha. And that's pennies on. Yeah, that's, that's not, man. And you get to have 10 acres. Wow. That's, that's, that's incredible. And, and my next question is going to be, so when you, let's say that you, when you first started cutting out the middle man, when it comes to plants, right? Where do you just plant those? Do you have the right type of soil there to be able to just plant those right into the ground? Not too complicated.
Darren Huffer (20:08.82)
10 acres of God's country.
Darren Huffer (20:30.668)
We basically built a little area and we brought in good soil. We've staged them in rows and then we bring in composted soil to just bury them until we're ready to use them, to pull them out. And then we've run irrigation where it's automated. Where it just waters once every two or three days. We'll increase in the summer when it's hotter, but where we don't have to do anything.
Enmanuel Tejada (20:55.787)
man you guys, you guys are living the life there. Man that is cool.
Darren Huffer (21:00.684)
Automate everything you possibly can.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:05.291)
Man, that is awesome. That is awesome. Just having that there. Like imagine, can you, man, I'm sure a lot of the landscapers that are listening to this are resonating with this record. That's a big deal. Like instead of you having to leave a job site to go all the side of town, you just go right back to your shop and you just, poof, pick up a couple of plants, throw them in the truck on your way back. You don't have to pay anybody, no transaction fee, nothing like that. You just pick it up and go.
Wow, that is awesome, man. That is awesome. And you're...
Darren Huffer (21:37.77)
that saves time. Instead of being able to do one job a day, you're able to squeeze in an extra job because you're saving an hour or two hours a day. You're just increasing efficiency and just making more money each day.
Enmanuel Tejada (21:52.811)
Literally Man that is awesome. And how do you guys how do you guys stay organized? Right? Cuz you said you have I believe you said you have seven guys and And how do you guys all stay in sync and communication are you guys using some sort of CRM or do you guys do a daily meeting or how does that look?
Darren Huffer (22:12.296)
Typically, I make a pre -schedule on Sundays. I know what's going to happen throughout the week. I give them a list each morning of what to addresses, but what to load up for each job. A lot of times, my shop manager, I've already got given him the job list for the upcoming landscape and he'll actually stage it. So he'll put in the piles out here and then label it like, whether it's the last name or the address. That way, when they get here, they can just...
load it up and go. Shop manager has been definitely key. I mean, without him, I mean, he really frees me up because if there's, I typically am running around giving consults and then I do the designs and I do the estimates. So he is really like my supply runner. You know, if we are short of plant and we don't have it, he'll run to the nursery, get it, or if we need.
irrigation part. He just kind of runs around for me, but his main job is staying here at the shop and just keeping everything organized. I mean, anybody that does any trade, you're working and things are getting thrown back in the truck or the trailer and, you know, misplaced. So he comes in every morning, checks all the trucks, the shovels are supposed to have, all the tools are supposed to have.
He'll every Monday go through and check all the fluids, check the filters and everything, make sure everything's got oil, you know, everything's breezed and ready to go. So.
Enmanuel Tejada (23:43.947)
That is awesome right there. I love, I love that role right there. And I was just actually talking to Mike. I think you might know him. He owns a Creekside outdoor living over in Ohio. They do a lot of hardscaping mostly. And he was saying that he has a guy that has a similar role, right? He is like that person's role in the shop is to keep all the mowers oiled, you know, keep everything running smooth, make sure that all the trucks have enough tire in the air. I mean, have enough air in the tires.
all those little things that we may overlook, that person's taken care of. So I can imagine that saves a lot of time, a lot of headache in the future as well.
Enmanuel Tejada (24:24.395)
And at what point would you recommend somebody to fulfill that role or put somebody into that role? Because of course, if you do it too early, it probably wouldn't make a lot of sense, right?
Darren Huffer (24:34.661)
Yeah, I mean, it's just you get to a point where you're extending yourself too far, spreading yourself too thin. So you should recognize and know whenever you get to that point where you're like, okay, I need to hire someone else to help, you know, stand on top of this. You know, I used to run the cruise and it got to the point where I was like, okay, I, you know, I need a supervisor to manage like a foreman for each truck or whatever. So you'll...
You get to the point where you know that you need another hand. But the biggest thing is knowing when you need to level out and stop growing. Because you get too big for your britches and that's when you really start, one, losing your mind, but you lose money. I know too many friends that are in the businesses that have just, you let the...
the business to own you instead of you owning the business and then lose your marriage, you lose your family, you lose your mind, you even lose your life. I mean, I've heard stories of people, you know, just the stress getting too much for them that they've ended their life.
Enmanuel Tejada (25:46.955)
Wow. Yeah, that's, that's, that's unfortunate. And that's definitely something that, that should be addressed, man. Yeah, that's, that's a good point. And when, when, let me ask you a question there, because now you're, you're at a point now where you are, would you consider yourself to be successful at the point that you are right now?
Darren Huffer (26:08.162)
100%. But I don't gauge success as most people do with like a money aspect. I gauge success as your happiness, your family. I mean, I've always made it a vow that I will not miss anything of my daughters, big or small. Work will never come before that. So, I mean, yes, I am successful in what I've accomplished with my company and where I'm at with it, but I think I'm more successful with what I've accomplished.
with my personal life and my family and just where I'm at.
Enmanuel Tejada (26:43.627)
I see what you mean. Yeah. And even if it's, even if it's something big or small, I respect that. Yeah. The fact that, you know, yeah, your daughter comes first. Doesn't matter what you need to do to make it happen. You'll be there. So I like that.
Darren Huffer (26:55.549)
You really got to... When I was a smaller company coming up, I'd look at all these big companies that had five, six trailers or more and I was just like, man, I can't wait to get big like that. I want to be big like that. And I was always counting how much money I was making each day and then each week I was adding it up and I was just like, man, if I can make this much money. And it really just comes down to finding the level of money that you want to make that you're...
good with. I mean, some people, it could be working nonstop seven days a week, making all the money they can so they're driving the biggest, baddest, nicest, newest cars, the biggest house, you know, vents of clothes and watches, all that. But for me, that wasn't it. So I scaled back and I found that level of work and income that I was happy with.
Enmanuel Tejada (27:47.115)
Yeah, for sure. And it's like, it makes a lot of sense too, because if you're not into all, into buying all these flashy things or all these materialistic things, then, then what's the point of you even working to make the money when you could take the extra time and put it into your family or into something that you enjoy, like more dancing.
Darren Huffer (28:05.982)
Yep, 100%.
Enmanuel Tejada (28:08.907)
Yeah, that's interesting. That's very interesting. And you know what? So let me ask you a question also. This is kind of a random one, but it just came to me because we just kind of on the same topic. So when we look at somebody like Warren Buffett, right? I believe he's 90 something years old, something around there. And he's been investing now. I don't know if he's in his eighties or what, but I know he's been investing over 70 years. So somebody like that, that has so much wealth.
But he's not very materialistic at all. In fact, I've heard that he still uses used cars and stuff like that. What do you think about somebody like that? What's your opinion? Like, is it a waste of time? What do you think?
Darren Huffer (28:46.236)
No, not necessarily. I mean, because I think with him, I mean, you said like he's not driving these huge fancy cars and I know he donates a lot to charities and good causes. So I mean, a lot of that if you're able to get the mindset to get big like that, I mean, you're providing jobs for so many families and people that are, you know, rely on you for. So you're providing a lot for people. So it's just for me and my.
My mental health stress level, like I just, I have always just lived up to the stay simple, stay happy. whereas, I mean, some people can, you know, Amazon owner, you know, Mark Zuckerberg, all these people, they can handle it and get big like that. I just, I really, I've never had the Zara drive to, but more props to them. we'll be able to do that.
Enmanuel Tejada (29:42.443)
Yeah, yeah for sure and and also a good point is that because I just thought about it also it's like yeah those that even though Warren Buffett doesn't spend that much money or even though he doesn't Do all these flashy things I mean he the ones that earn the most are also the ones that give the most right because they have the most to give so so I like that fact to that even though he's not putting it into himself
He's doing it into bigger causes, right, for cancer or children that are in need. A fun fact, random fact that I heard about him too, is that he's only going to leave, I think he said he's only going to leave like a million dollars for each of his kids. And then the rest would go to charity or something like that around those numbers, which I thought was pretty interesting.
Darren Huffer (30:21.595)
Mm -hmm.
Darren Huffer (30:28.247)
yeah, yeah, same thing with my, I've only got one daughter and I mean, we, we take care of her. I mean, she's, we were awarded for good grades this night, but just like my dad did with me, I mean, she's going to work and we're not going to give her handouts. We're not going to buy her a brand new car when she turned 16. She's going to earn it. It will be one of those, you know, I'll match you dollar for dollar, whatever you working, right? You save up, we'll match it dollar for dollar and we'll help you buy your first car.
Enmanuel Tejada (30:54.987)
Man, that is beautiful right there. That is beautiful. And that's, that's, that's a good topic for us to cover, man, being a parent and, and leading by example. So your daughter was, your daughter is 10 years old. So, how old were you when you had your daughter, your first daughter?
Darren Huffer (31:11.834)
So I was right at 30 years old.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:14.731)
30 years old and did it kind of catch you by surprise or were you like, were you guys prepared and everything or?
Darren Huffer (31:22.553)
We were definitely planning we were trying for it, but nothing will ever prepare you for Becoming a parent but it is the hands -down best thing that will ever happen to you I don't know if you've got any but man like it until you're Well, I can tell you I can tell you all day how awesome and how much your life will change like your life will actually begin the day you have a child But until you're a part of the club it it doesn't
Enmanuel Tejada (31:35.851)
No, I don't have any kids yet, but tell me about it though.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:49.579)
Thanks.
Darren Huffer (31:49.689)
until you have that kid and once you do you'll understand when you're part of the club.
Enmanuel Tejada (31:57.579)
And a lot of people say that, yeah, it's probably one of those things that you really can't, you can't really know what it's like until it actually happens.
So that's awesome. But I love the discipline aspect that you're coming at it from, cause that's how I want to be as well. Like of course I'm, I mean, I'm 24 and I'm for certain going to be a, that's, I want to be a millionaire before I have any kids and I want to be able to provide a great life for them. But I do not want them to be spoiled. I do not want them to be.
Expecting handouts like you said, I that's that would be a nightmare that would be I don't want that to happen like I want them to grow up and be disciplined Yes, have a good life, but still know how to work hard how to be a good person without the money
Darren Huffer (32:49.303)
Yep, what's wrong with our society is all these kids are being given everything and they don't have to work or earn anything.
Enmanuel Tejada (32:59.211)
That is spot on right there. And Darren, so tell us a little bit more about your cowboy boot addiction.
Darren Huffer (33:11.478)
So yeah, I started collecting about 10 years ago. It's typically vintage boots only. And just anything from snakes are my favorite, but I mean, I've got, you know, your typical rattlesnakes, but Cobra skin, Python, all the way to your lizards, which, you know, Tehu lizard, crocodile, alligator, even stingray shark.
elephant, giraffe, I mean there's just all these exotics which I will tell you they're not poaching these animals, they're recycling. I mean it's just like Native Americans would use every part of the bison. If an animal dies at the zoo or an animal dies, I mean it's, you're trying to reuse anything and everything you can from it. But yeah, I'm up to about 70 pairs of cowboy boots now.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:02.507)
70 pairs, seven zero.
Darren Huffer (34:04.821)
Yep, 70.
Enmanuel Tejada (34:07.563)
So that means 140 individual shoes or cowboy boots I should say. And let me ask you then, what do you store these boots, man?
Darren Huffer (34:10.357)
Yeah, pretty much a knickerhead for cowboy boots.
Right now, I've kind of taken up two ponds that's in our house. We have a spare bedroom in there and there, but we're eventually going to build a pool house behind our pool that I would like to do some sort of cool display for them. Because a lot of, some of them are like such collector items. I've got some bicentennial Justins that there's only so many made that you really like, I wear them every, so it's usually like once a year, once every two years, but.
stuff like that that I would really like to put up on display and just not touch because some of these boots will be worth quite a bit in another 30, 40, 50 years and they're already 30, 40, 50 years old.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:03.243)
Whoa, so when were these boots made?
Darren Huffer (35:06.58)
I mean most of my boots, like I said, I love vintage. So there's anywhere from 70s to 80s.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:14.987)
So some of these precede you.
Darren Huffer (35:17.36)
yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:19.563)
Wow. So I would imagine that, so you, I think you said you bought your first pair at 16. So I'm imagining that you probably got a decent pair around 20 that were, that were pretty old. So man, I'm just trying to picture that. So you're, let's say you're 20 years old and you buy a cowboy boot that's 20 years old as well. Like, like that boot was made the year you were born.
Darren Huffer (35:43.988)
Yep. yeah.
Enmanuel Tejada (35:46.027)
man and are these like i'm sure they were used all right like there's no way they were just in a box somewhere
Darren Huffer (35:50.064)
Yeah, they're actually better when you buy them vintage and used because they're already broken in and they're like real nice and they just fit. Whereas if you buy a new boot, they hurt your feet for a good month until they're broken in and the leather softens up. So they're ready to go for it. And I mean, I'm buying, I'm buying like, you know, 800, even thousand dollar boots, new.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:10.699)
Wow. And what's the guys from buying a cowboy boot?
Darren Huffer (36:19.124)
I'm buying them used from people that realize, I don't wear these. And I'm not paying more than $100 on average to $200 at most for these $1 ,000 boots.
Enmanuel Tejada (36:39.755)
And you said you've got a couple that are like super like rare, like giraffe skin or something like that.
Darren Huffer (36:45.908)
Yep, sea turtle, which are pre -banned now. Like I said, again, nobody gets upset. I mean, these are animals that were deceased and they are just repurposing anything they can. But you can't buy some of them anymore. Like rhino skin, I've got one pair that are really hard to find. Whale. And then like the sea turtle, I mean, certain stuff is pre -banned now because they, you know, as society got bigger.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:07.627)
Well, what the?
Darren Huffer (37:14.196)
I mean, people were poaching and doing that type of stuff. So they just, you know, made it where it was no matter what illegal. So you can't even even the, you know, a rhino or a sea turtle dies in the zoo. They're not even letting you make boots out of them anymore. Just to make sure poaching doesn't occur.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:32.939)
wow, so what does pre -bed mean that like if somebody sees you with a rhino Buddha and you're getting trouble by the police or what?
Darren Huffer (37:38.74)
Well, they're pre -banned so they're actually stamped and everything. They were made before the ban, so you're okay to have them.
Enmanuel Tejada (37:51.403)
that's what that's, that's what that means. Pre -ban. But, but so that means that like right now you can't buy that anymore because it's banned to do.
Darren Huffer (38:01.3)
Yep, no longer able to this way. You got to search and search and search the eBay and Etsy and Poshmark wherever else you can search. And like I said, it's taken me well over 10 years to get my collection.
Enmanuel Tejada (38:18.379)
Man that is awesome, and it's funny actually random story I I built a website for a local leather repair company here, and I was there doing taking some pictures for them for the website and
Somebody brought a sword in that needed to be repaired. The handle was made out of stingray. And I was like, what? But isn't that stuff super silky like their skin? I was so confused as to how they can make leather out of that.
Darren Huffer (38:52.98)
Yeah, actually my stingray boots are my hardest, like, hardest, like they don't give at all boots. So I don't know what they do, but I guess whenever they, whatever they do to make the boot, it hardens so hard that it's like, I mean, it's, it's solid.
Enmanuel Tejada (39:14.411)
That's pretty amazing. That's amazing how they can make all these things out of leather. Man, that is interesting. But man, so you know what they're in? Can you give us some advice? So what advice would you give to, let's say a younger company, a land keeper. He wants to get to the point where you are, where he has, he's cutting out the middle man. He has his own plans, own moat, own rocks, everything in bulk, but he's just a one -man crew. How can he scale?
Darren Huffer (39:44.088)
I mean, if you're just one man crew, I mean, just do what you can that you enjoy. I mean, really, they say, you know, choose a job that you love and you'll never work another day in your life. So just make sure that whatever you're doing, you love it. If you're doing it by yourself, I mean, make sure that you enjoy doing it. If you don't, then keep working at it until you can leave that and go to something else you do. I mean, I was...
Waiting tables. As I image a lake, I'd wait tables in the evenings and I'd mow during the day until I got busy enough where I didn't have to wait tables anymore. Because I mean, I'm sure even in everybody, it's every waiting tables. I mean, it's just, that's a hell of a high stress job dealing with some customers. We got to where I could mow, just mow. And then finally got to the point where I got rid of mowing because I hated mowing too. I just...
I liked it better than the waiting tables, but it was too routine or too redundant for me. I love the creativity and landscaping of it. It's almost an art. I've got a blank canvas and I'm painting with my shovel. So it's just finding what you truly love and doing that every day. You want to work another day in your life.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:05.195)
Love it, love it, love it. And then what would you say if it's somebody that has a four man crew and he's thinking that he wants to add on another 10 employees within the next two years? What would you say to somebody like that?
Darren Huffer (41:21.94)
The biggest thing is slow and steady sales. I've seen too many people go big too fast. I've just always been a firm believer in just slow and steady sales. You'll get to where you're going. Make a goal of adding one or two guys a year for the next five years and adding a truck every year or two. Just take it nice and slow like Usher.
Enmanuel Tejada (41:52.499)
Hahaha
Man, that is awesome. And Darren, so if the audience wanted to get in contact with you, whether it's to ask you a question about where to get their first cowboy boots or who the best supplier is, or just some advice, mental health, where can they reach you?
Darren Huffer (42:13.268)
Really Instagram would be the best way. My at the bearded landscaping cowboy handle.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:22.443)
Gotcha. Well guys, there you guys have it. If you guys have any questions on cowboy boots or mental health or just landscaping advice, if Darren is open to it, you guys can reach out to him. And this guy's an awesome person. He's looking at him. I mean, this guy's living the dream. He's got a 10 acre lot. He's got his own trees, his own mulch. This guy's living the life. So.
Anything that he can do for you guys, definitely reach out to him. Anything that I can do for you guys, reach out to me. And Darren, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Digital Toolbox. Man, do you have any closing thoughts out for the audience?
Darren Huffer (42:53.588)
That's it, thank you for having me.
Enmanuel Tejada (42:56.651)
Boom, let's do it there. Thank you so much, my friend, audience. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one. Peace.
Darren Huffer (43:02.9)
Y 'all have a good one.