1st Media Consulting Group, Inc. Podcast
Welcome to the Business Chronicles, where we dive deep into the stories behind the businesses that shape our communities. We bring you conversations with inspiring entrepreneurs who share their journeys, challenges, and the unique value they bring to their customers.
In this podcast, we explore the passion and vision behind successful businesses, uncovering the secrets to their success and learning about the innovative products and services they offer. Whether you're a fellow entrepreneur looking for insights or simply curious about the businesses in your area, this podcast is your go-to source for inspiration and practical advice.
So, sit back, relax, and join us as we explore the dynamic world of business, one story at a time."
1st Media Consulting Group, Inc. Podcast
From Army Service to Construction Success: Mark Johnson's Journey with M Paul General Contractors LLC
Can a military background provide a strong foundation for a thriving career in construction management? Join us as we sit down with Mark Johnson, partner and Chief Operating Officer at M Paul General Contractors LLC, who shares his journey from serving in the Army to leading a dynamic construction firm. You'll hear how Mark's team-oriented skills seamlessly transitioned into his role in construction management. Discover the wide array of services his company offers, from design-build to project management, and how their client-first approach ensures every project is a success. Mark also dives into the critical role of acting as an owner's representative, guiding clients through the complexities of construction with transparency and integrity.
What does it take to rebuild a business team after a leadership hiatus? In our conversation, Mark opens up about the challenges and triumphs of revitalizing M Paul General Contractors alongside his partner Paul Goddard. Learn about their complete team reorganization in early 2023 and the importance of staying connected to their core mission. Mark shares invaluable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the power of passion and purpose in sustaining a business. He also encourages listeners to connect with M Paul General Contractors on LinkedIn and Instagram for more insights and updates. Don’t miss this episode packed with actionable tips and inspiring stories from the front lines of construction management.
Welcome to the First Media Consulting Podcast, the Business Chronicles, where we dive deep into the stories of successful business owners. Here's your host, Didi and Nicholas. Thanks for joining today. Let's talk.
Speaker 2:Welcome everyone, welcome back. We're so excited to introduce to you Mark Johnson. He's the owner of M Paul General Contractors LLC. How you doing, mark?
Speaker 3:I'm doing well, thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:I do want to make one correction I'm not the owner but I'm a partner in the business and the chief operating officer well, thanks for making that correction Because, like I say, I speak to a lot of different business owners and partners and things of that nature. So this is all good. So let's dive into it, because the whole purpose of this show is to kind of bring a different perspective to our listeners about what you do for the business, how you go about, you know, addressing success in your business and also giving pointers for those that are aspiring entrepreneurs and wanting, those that are wanting to be business owners or are business owners, how you can really take that and give some ideas and some feedback for our listeners when it comes to that. So let's go ahead and dive into a little bit about your background.
Speaker 3:Sure, If we talk about a little bit about our business, my personal background like yourself, I'm a military veteran. I've had a career in the Army.
Speaker 2:Thank you for your service.
Speaker 3:Thank you as well, it was my honor and pleasure to serve. It really was 18 and a half years in the Army and, you know, after retirement you know we're still young, we don't realize it. At the time, I mean, we spent this career and they call it retirement. I was in my early 40s and got into commercial contracting and general contracting at that time construction management and found to be a really good fit for me personally.
Speaker 3:I'm a team person by nature and the Army was an extended locker room. For me it was another, you know, just a giant team.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I like how you say that because it is a team when you know you're in the military. Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And I found that to be the case in construction management. I started out in the field and was running construction projects and I had to build a team, I had to build rapport, I had to build camaraderie, I had to motivate. I had to do all the same things I was doing in the military for all those years. So it was pretty seamless for me as a transition.
Speaker 2:Well, you know that is inspiring for you to say that, and I always say there's no I in team. I've used that a couple of times already and I'm sure you're familiar with that phrase as well Going into learning about your business. Can you give us a little bit of insight? I know you do anything from design, build to lean construction to project management, as well as pre construction and value engineering. Can you explain maybe a couple of those?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure. So you know we, the company was founded, you know we were basically were owners reps and consultants and we we've taken that Aspect of it. When owners rep who doesn't know what that is that would take a person that is wanting to build a construction project, build a project, build a business for themselves, and they need somebody to help navigate the permitting, the contracting, the pre-construction part, the design part, people have a dream and they have big, bright eyes. Then, you know, getting into the minutia of what it takes to actually get that business off the ground, they need assistance. So that's kind of how the company was founded and we've taken that concept and, you know, brought it forward into the general contracting world where we really want to partner with our clients.
Speaker 3:We don't, you know we want to team up with them, assist them through the process of design, build close out, and then, you know, we want to be there with them throughout the lifetime of their business. You know we, we're not a service company. You know we don't provide services, but we want to be a resource. You know, two, three years down the road, something comes up.
Speaker 3:We wanted to call us hey, and let me help you navigate through something else. You're going through with your building, or with your process, with where you're at. So, um, you know, that's. That's a little bit about who we are, what we do. Uh, 22 people on our team, uh, at the moment you know. So we're, I think, considered a small, mid-sized commercial contractor.
Speaker 2:Well, that's great, and you know it's interesting. You say that You're actually holding your clients' hands as they walk through all these different steps, correct?
Speaker 3:That is correct. That's exactly what we're doing. You know we communicate we we communicate with them throughout the entire process and during construction. You know, I think one of the most important pieces of it is that owner and owner weekly owner meeting. You know where you meet on site and they can actually physically put their eyes and see things coming up. And that's where all the questions arrive, that's when they're like why are we doing?
Speaker 3:this and why are you doing that and that? Why does that look like that? And you know we can answer those questions along the way and they're involved, they're invested and they're part of the process the whole way through.
Speaker 2:And I know you've been serving Central Florida for over 25 years and kudos to you for you know staying consistent in your vision, in your mission, and I think that's that's very powerful. Um, you know from hearing what you're saying and and how you're you're taking those steps to continue to move in the right direction. So let's talk a little bit about success, if you will. What, what's the secret to your success?
Speaker 3:You know, I think, being authentic. You know, I think you know for me.
Speaker 3:One thing that stuck out for me in my life early along was transparency and honesty and being impeccable with your work, know, I think, uh, there's a book uh that I read years ago, uh, written by miguel ruiz, called the four agreements, and the very first agreement of the four agreements is being impeccable with your work. So if you say you're going to do something, you do it, and and it's just the opposite way as well, if you can't do something you need to be honest about that say I, I can't do that, I won't be able to set expectations. You know you, you set an expectation for somebody. Meet that expectation. Now you've developed some trust and you've started to build a relationship, and that's what the key to a business being open for 25 years you don't do it on your own. I mean, this is, this is all about relationships that we lean into from 20 years ago.
Speaker 3:People you know we still have relationships with I get.
Speaker 2:I get so excited because when I hear the word set expectations in business, you know that's the key to success. As long as you, you and your client are on the same page, everybody knows what the end result is going to be correct, correct.
Speaker 3:Exactly, and you know so there's no disappointment. I mean, that's the worst thing to do. Is you know, over promise, under deliver Right? That's the Zig Ziglar. No, no, you know the Carnegie nono don't over-promise, under-deliver right. And so that's where I really feel like I've and for me it comes kind of organically. You know, I just do what you say you're going to do and you'll end up on the right side of it. The truth never needs to be defended.
Speaker 2:It stands right there on its own. You know, I like that. The truth never needs to be defended. It stands right there on its own. I like that. The truth never needs to be defended. Well, rolling into that, let's talk about some of the trends that are happening in your industry. Is there anything you want to share that you're noticing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know, obviously we came out of this thing called COVID you may have heard of it.
Speaker 3:It hit the world and things really changed. We were fortunate enough in Florida to be able to continue to work and build and keep businesses open. The rest of the country and the rest of the world wasn't necessarily so fortunate. But one thing I've noticed coming out of it. You know the, the, the lead times and cost increases have leveled out. You know the costs aren't going now they, but they're not at this rapid, you know, up and right trend. Uh, right they're.
Speaker 3:they're kind of leveled out. But office space I see you know office is slow to make a comeback after COVID, as far as you know, building out basic business office space, you know the medical side is always, always good.
Speaker 3:We're fortunate enough to be connected into that realm as well and we do quite a bit of medical office space and dental projects and and that that seems to be steady. But if there's you know there's any trend we see we just haven't seen a big, a big rebound of people actually returning to the office once this started happening, what we're doing right now, you know, this became a little bit more, I think, acceptable.
Speaker 3:And then, you know, the work from home model became more prevalent, and so now those office spaces are slowly starting to be, you know, reorganized. Reorganized, if you will, repositioned into something different, but wow, that's.
Speaker 2:That's some good information that you're providing our listeners, mark. Let's talk about a few challenges. Every business has challenges. What about yours, that's interesting you say that.
Speaker 3:So our organization, as you mentioned, has been around for quite some time and in 2020, 2021, my business partner and I, for various reasons, we stepped away from the company. We both had different things and the company was left in the hands of some people that were trusted hands of some people that were trusted and, uh, that didn't go well. Uh, it went. Uh, it went very poorly actually. And uh, then you know, the end of 2022, uh, my partner, paul goddard, gave me a call and you know, said, listen, I I gotta get back in there and I need your help. I was like, let's go.
Speaker 3:You know, didn't knew we were getting into something, didn't know quite what that challenge was going to be. So we went through, you know, between the beginning of 2023, we basically went through a complete reorganization. There's no one currently here that was there then. Now we were able to bring back some team members that we had worked. You know, if you hear the word reorganization in your company, buckle up because it's quite an experience. But building a new team, putting a new team together, has been one of the biggest challenges and most rewarding experiences of my career. Military and post-military Right we put together, in my opinion, the best team that Paul's ever had, and you know I don't put us up to go with anybody in the city.
Speaker 2:And I think that is a success story unlike any other. You know, when you mentioned the word reorganization, right, and you guys didn't see the negatives. You did what? When you mentioned the word reorganization, right and you guys didn't see the negatives. You did what you needed to do, you took a turn in the right direction. You came back, you reunited, you brought your team back, those that were, you know, the right fit and you pressed forward. So kudos to you for that. Let's talk about, uh, you know, as we wrap up here, any advice for those that are trying to be aspiring entrepreneurs or or business owners, um, that you can give, that you would like to share from your experience yeah I think, you know, I think sometimes you gotta, you gotta go back to the very beginning of why you're gonna, you've got to start with why.
Speaker 1:Simon.
Speaker 3:Sinek wrote that book. I think it's one of the most important business books out there, along with that one that I recently read by Phil Knight Shoe Dog. I highly recommend that book. Why are you going to be an entrepreneur? Why are you going into business? You know what is it that you do? That is it's like I would think. If I'm going to start a bakery it's because I love baking. You know sweet cakes and just put smiles on people's faces, right. But then you can get lost in the business piece of it right of the accounting, piece of the of all of it.
Speaker 3:You know the overhead the, the rent the, the whole deal of it and you get in, the baking part of it gets lost at times. I would, I would encourage people because I've had to do it and definitely during that reorganization period was why do we do what we do? Because I love the fact that the beginning of the project and taking a client through that process and presenting a building to them that they, that they love and it's their dream and I also like to be able to drive around all over central florida I, I had a piece in that. I, I had a part to play in that building, that structure, that that school, that that office, that medical office. It's healing people. So, uh, don't ever forget your why. You know, start, stick with that Very well said, man.
Speaker 2:That is so awesome. Good feedback for our listeners. Let's go ahead and wrap up, and can you provide our listeners with your phone number as well as your website?
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah. So you can get a hold of us. Best to get a hold of me, you know, by cell phone. 407-607-9692 is my cell. We're at wwwmpaulgccom, but I will encourage folks to follow us. You can find us on LinkedIn. You can find us on Instagram as well. We're pretty active on both platforms. We put out a couple of posts a week, a process of progress, and then you know some personal stuff about the team as well, so you can reach out to us that way.
Speaker 2:Well, mark, thank you so much, you know, for being part of this podcast and so excited to learn your journey to where you're at today, and congratulations for all the success that you have, and we wish you much more in the future. Thank you very much, sir, I do appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 3:I really do. Thank you, you're very welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you for tuning in to First Media Consulting.
Speaker 1:Podcast. You're very welcome.