Leadership Lounge with Jack Tester
Celebrating The Wins, With Chris DiCampli
Jack talks with Chris DiCampli, who — together with his brother- and father-in-law — purchased a company and grew it from $300,000 to $10 million in five years. DiCampli attributes their success to a focus on the growth-oriented processes presented by Nexstar’s business coaches. He also talks about the support he gets from other Nexstar members.
Jack talks with Chris DiCampli, who — together with his brother- and father-in-law — purchased a company and grew it from $300,000 to $10 million in five years. DiCampli attributes their success to a focus on the growth-oriented processes presented by Nexstar’s business coaches. He also talks about the support he gets from other Nexstar members.
Hi, this Jack test and welcome to another episode of leadership lounge. I'm in Saint Paul, Minnesota. And across the desk from me is Krista camp Lee. How are you doing, Chris? Doing pretty good. Jack, how about yourself? Good man. I'm doing great. And it's fun because tell us why you're in town. So I am here for the my second business planning workshop. Very good. And you brought your team in town here. Yes. Very good. And your, and you just finished up day two of that and you've graciously allowed to come up here, but you along with your brother-in-law Kyle Geiger owned preferred home services and South Carolina. Tell us about the business. Give us a snapshot of what the business looks like today. Sure. Yeah. So Kyle Geiger is my brother-in-law and together with David Geiger, my father-in-law, we started preferred home services five and a half years ago. But to fast forward to today, um, we're doing very well. Um, we've, we set out to enter a market and grow a company and I believe we've done a good job of that. We could be a snapshot of the business right now just to describe it. How big is it? So we have, uh, about 70 employees. Oh. And we will finish the year at about 10 point$5 million. Revelations plumbing and heating and air conditioning thing. You bought this, this was, this wasn't a$10 million company when you bought it was it? No, it was not. Tell us how big it was and you bought five minutes years. Five and a half years ago. So we entered the Charleston market and balls, bought a small company,
Speaker 2:um, that was doing approximately$600,000 in revenue. But about half of that was commercial work and, and, uh, vendor managed stuff that really what you and I might not consider to be our, our core revenue. So$600,000 for employees, uh, on day one is what it was.
Speaker 1:Well, well done man. This is a good story and I want you to tell it a little bit here. So, so this is interesting because, uh, you're from Philadelphia, aren't you? Or I know Kyle is Wilmington, Delaware, right outside of Philadelphia. Okay. So naturally. Why Charleston? So
Speaker 2:that's a good question. The, the easiest way to say it is the Palm trees and the weather and the nice people where you wanted to live. Yes, it's where I wanted to live, but it really goes back to childhood. Um, when I was a a kid about seven, eight years old, my mother, uh, relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. That's where her family was. So for those following years, summertime, Christmas time, uh, we would spend a lot of time there. In fact, I almost moved there for school later and I ended up, didn't come college time. Um, I was kind of influenced by that time there to go back to school there. So I, I went to and graduated from the university of South Carolina.
Speaker 1:Okay. And is that what we met you met your future wife?
Speaker 2:No, that is not where I met my future wife. I actually met my future and current now wife in, uh, in Delaware at a beach and Delaware, Dewey beach, Delaware, um, this, the may as I was leaving to go to college. So pretty bad timing for a, that was, you know, upping and leaving, going away to do the college thing.
Speaker 1:Got it, got it. And that, uh, and then, so, so you graduated college, what was your degree? It was probably in some kind of construction services or something cause you are now in the service business, right?
Speaker 2:You would think, but, uh, I'm actually a numbers guy. Right. So I started in the accounting trade. Okay. You know, I went into college kind of undecided, but you know, I took a couple introductory classes, had a great professor early on in the accounting and uh, so I, I started going up the accounting trade later, had to take some complimentary finance courses and really like those. So I ended up double majoring in accounting and finance.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you got an accounting and finance degrees, South Carolina, you're from Wilmington. When did you decide to enter this industry? This would be the[inaudible]
Speaker 2:spring approximately of of 2013.
Speaker 1:Dean. Okay. I know when Y all right, so N Y.
Speaker 2:So, uh, as I just kind of stated, I met my now wife as I was leaving for college. Right. So bad timing because here I was going away to college and onto the next chapter, see what life holds after that. And uh, but the truth of the matter is we liked each other, right. So, sure. So we kept in contact. Uh, she moved closer to never in the same city during college. She was in Charlotte for a couple of years in Spartanburg for a couple of years. Um, so moral of the story is that we had stayed together through the college time for him. We really liked each other. So, um, as I got to know her and her family, I started hanging around with our family and her, her dad again, who I mentioned is Dave Geiger, who's been in the business for a while. Sure. It was really unique because, you know, at this point in the game, say 2006, seven timeframe, um, you know, Dave was running the successful home service company and he has a tremendous story. But, um, but he never went to college. Right. He was your traditional plumber and got in a truck and started his company. So when I was the boyfriend hanging out, you know, I think casual conversation of, Oh you go to college. And, but it really was fantastic for me for a couple things, which was, you know, what I was learning in textbook accounting, finance or, or whatever else he was interested in. Yeah. What are you learning in college? W what is that account of course, like what does that finance course like? And, and I was able to balance kind of textbook data off of real life data. In fact, I did a couple internships at his company though, summer. So I like to say that, that, you know, those conversations really spurred the whole, what do you want to be when you grow up? Okay. Very cool. And um, that was certainly one of the first steps into ultimately what's taken place. So what year did you graduate? 2010
Speaker 1:all right, so you started this and what was it? 13
Speaker 2:so 13 was when the idea really came to fruition, right? And then 14 is when we went into business.
Speaker 1:So, how did you, did you, when you were going to get into business, did you consider going into the, what would be the family business at that or did they not make
Speaker 2:sense? Well, so after college was a pretty unique time, I, I, um, at the time it was, it was a big, uh, new idea for us, but we were welcoming our first baby. Okay. Right. So, believe it or not, you know, I graduated in may and my graduation gift was now my oldest daughter in June. So that kind of changed perspectives, um, because, you know, it was time to get serious with life, go get a big boy job, you're going to graduate college. So that's really what I did. That was, that was my focus and the college professors and the resources there, they do a good job of preparing you for, you know, the, the next chapter. So, um, especially now having a child on the way, it got pretty serious. So what I did was after college I went and got a bank or a bank job, um, in commercial lending, which is a really good fit for what I had just studied. Sure. I'm also a unique time because this was 2010 and banks were still having some issues and believe it or not, the bank that I did go to work for ultimately got bought by another one. So pretty cool process. And that's, I say that, I mean obviously there was jobs affected, but it was, it was interesting to see kind of those transactions. Um, so at that point, to answer your question, no, it wasn't that I was going to go become, um, you know, a, a service technician or a plumber and certainly at that point and say, Oh, I'm, I'm going to be a manager or anything. I was kind of focused on, uh, I'm starting this family. I have this college education and the college debt to go along with it. So what is it that I can do and figure out from there. Okay. All right. So, um, somehow along the way you decided to, to get into business. Do you remember that decision point? Yeah. So, you know, I think we all get the question early on, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? Right. I think that's happens in kindergarten and some people have the painted and other people's don't, don't. Um, and, and the sad truth is that I really didn't have a distinct way even going into college, let alone here, by the way, Chris. Well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so, so it's not like I had this one. I was going to be, you know, a, a, a medical doctor or a lawyer. You know, I liked the idea of business, but I wasn't specific on it. So I came here. So I had the, uh, in the back of my mind, some sort of entrepreneurial background of, um, you know, what, what could be possible. So ultimately to fast forward, um, now a couple of years back in Delaware, after college and working at a bank, um, we actually tagged along for a spring breaks. And my wife is the oldest of four kids in her family and the two younger sisters are seven, eight years younger. So they were still in high school and taking a spring break trip to Charleston, South Carolina. So at that time, um, my wife and myself and our daughter, we went along and it was March. I'll, I'll, I will never forget that trip. It was March, which is unique because in South Carolina in March, the weather's turning right and the leaves are starting to get on the trees and the, and you can take the long sleeves off and you can sit outside. And, um, but in Delaware it's still, you know, very cold and sometimes snowing and bear. So right off the rip, it's kind of like, wow, it's a breath of fresh air and oxygen. It's like, wow, look at this place. And to make matters even more attractive in that time is, Charleston has a couple of big events throughout the year, one of which is, it's called the Charleston bridge run. But it's a big, uh, Charleston has this kind of iconic bridge that, that links two of the towns. Um, and it happened to be that weekend and brings it like 40,000 race participants in each year so that the downtown part is flooded a of just fun and events and activity. So, so there was a lot of really good energy that was going on. Just the atmosphere was, was great. And believe it or not, you know, it was something as simple as, um, you know, sitting on King street having a beer and, and the idea Dave said, you know, I think we should get into business here. And, and I was like, man, that, let's, that sounds cool. Let's do that. Okay. And that's how it started. That was the infancy. Yes. So you just started looking for something to buy then. Yeah. So it's you and Kyle. Right? Right. So Kyle, um, all the while and certain, he is 100% part of this journey as well. You know, he, he's me being accounting and finance would, he has been, is, has been fortunate enough to grow up around the trades. Right. So he's the technical guy, the license holder, and he was all part of the plan as well. Yeah. The, the group of you are sitting there, that's, that's for sure. Yeah. So, um, yeah, I said, well, you know, do we start from scratch? Do we look into a business? And, uh, Hey Chris, you're the, you're the, uh, you're the business guy. You know how to use the Google, you know, go see what you can find online, see if there's any businesses. And so it, it really was something that just started and it got a little bit more serious and a little bit more serious and a little bit more serious. So, um, found one, and this was probably three months or so afterwards and we, we took a flight down there, Kyle, Dave and I, we went to go see it. Um, older shop and much older style business, you know, uh, filing cabinets, customer index, you know, the, the, the owner of the company was just aged and moving out, but didn't really have a customer base or one that we felt really confident in and just didn't really see the idea. So kind of struck out there, but kind of kept looking. So next thing you know, um, it was about September, August, September of that year, um, we took a second trip, saw another business that was for sale. So I took a second trip, went down and, and the conversation following that meeting changed and said, wow, you know, we see some opportunity here. So, um, at that point, you know, we, uh, we had that conversation and ultimately made, you know, a life changing decision together, which is do we want to do this? And, and, and we, we've said yes. So it was great. You know, luckily having Dave in our side of the corner, you know, he, he knew that we had a lot to learn. Kyle and I, he knew that we had a lot of work to do. They didn't have a name for you to have Beavis and Butthead. That I don't remember. Please go ahead. He's got a lot of names. Yeah. But we actually were able to, when we said, okay, we're going to make an offer on this business, we've made it part of the deal where we're going to buy it, but we need some time to prepare it. Right? So we bought ourselves approximately six months and um, to prepare. So that was approximately September. We closed[inaudible] six months March and really effective that day. Here's where it gets interesting. Um, after that was all said and done, I was a still a bank employee at that point. And when we made that commitment, I had turned my resignation into the bank. And, uh, so on a Friday I was at the bank wearing a suit. And on Monday morning or the following week I was in an installed truck. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Welcome to the world. I, it was, uh, it was enlightening.
Speaker 1:What, tell me, let's, let's talk about this, cause this is fun. So you had an idea of what this would like and clearly you had mentors in your life and you know, your business partner Kyle was experienced in the trade. You know, what was the biggest shock to you that first, let's say six months, you know, going from, you know, white collar position, college kid.
Speaker 2:Yeah. What was it? Tell me what, what was the hardest thing for you? Eh, it was, it, it's highly technical, right? So, so maybe because that was different, but as involved as it was, you know, when I would observe, you know, the installers brazing with a torch, I, you know, that was, that was, wow, that's impressive. You know, I hope they know what they're doing kind of thing. And then, you know, when they would open systems up and see all the wires going everywhere to the, to the, to the circuit boards and, and how that all configured. But, but what was really impressive was the confidence that they displayed in it. So I guess I kind of gave me a little bit of calm, but John, does it take you to be comfortable around that or are you? Um, so I know the best way I like to say is I know enough to be dangerous about heating and air conditioning. Okay. I was fortunate enough because during those six months of, of preparation time, I did ride along with installation. I'd rode along, we service, um, and I was able to take kind of a, a crash course about four to six week training course with heating and air conditioning, which, which was good. I mean broke it down to the basics of electricity and, and science and learn the refrigeration cycle. Um, then I took a sales course and ultimately once we got into business, my, my first job as far as being in the field was doing heating and air conditioning. You ever sold anything in your life to this point? I worked at a restaurant, so you know, I also sold appetizer. So you know, if you got nachos, I would offer you guacamole for 75 cents card. Right. My close rate was not great. Yeah. So you, you were a salesperson. How would you wake up one morning and
Speaker 1:gregarious guy, you've got bright eyes, you know, you seem like you'd be okay at that. If I had profiled somebody, I would say at Christmas
Speaker 2:assessable, I bet you where we at it. I got there, I got there. Um, at first I wasn't well of course, but um, but yeah, I eventually got there. I had some additional mentors in that business. Um, John Cameron, unfortunately no longer with us, but man, what a guy and how much he taught me and taught, you know, he was, he told it bluntly and honestly, and I had to open my ears to listen what he was saying because um, you know, my performance just wasn't great and it was up to me at that point to do that. So ultimately, I mean I still love heating and air conditioning sales. I feel confident with it. It is a passion of mine.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that way I asked you what was kind of the, the most challenge, anything else that was challenging? That was, um, maybe a little, I'll reverse the question. You know, you, in your mind, you had what it would be like and then you started as the owner. Now a partner, I should say, in this business, what was easier than you imagined it would be or it was anything?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah,
Speaker 2:what was easier?
Speaker 1:You know, what, what did, what did you create a story around that? This is going to be a really a real bear cat. And as it turns out, it was hard, but you know, we got through it a little easier. And I thought I would.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well what comes to mind there is going back to the sales, right? Because prior to not selling, I was thinking, how the heck am I going to do this and go into someone's house and they tell you you're going to be the sales guy. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was the plan. It was a unique time. So listen to this cause so, so we had four people and Kyle and I were two of those four people. And we had a plumber who came to the business in the end, a CSR in the office. So we had no calls cause this business really wasn't driving a lot of HPAC. They were a little bit more plumbing. Um, but we, we sent out a mailer, Kyle was our technician, so he would go run a tune up, he would set a lead, I would go run it and I would sell it and then together him and I would go back and do the installation.
Speaker 1:Okay. True story. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's true. How long do you operate that way? Not very long.
Speaker 2:Well that's, yeah, that didn't last very long, so we got some help after that, but that was the first couple months for sure. Yeah. Just cause you had to, right. Had to, I certainly wasn't a capable second technician supporting Kyle, so that was very evident and uh, so we needed to get him some help and me focus on the other stuff.
Speaker 1:That's cool. That's cool. So to give me the, the idea of, of kind of the trajectory of this business. So after a year you bought a, a four person company doing$600,000, I think you said, of which half of it you probably walked away from after buying it. That's correct. What was the business like in a year?
Speaker 2:So in our first, uh, we closed on the business in, on st Patrick's day of 2014. Right. So kind of an iconic day. Um, so we had about three quarters of a year remaining in 2014. And what we did in that year was$750,000. Okay. And then when we rolled a calendar, you know, from March to March, we did, um, surpass$1 million. Right. So that was, that was a big, that's a big deal. Big deal for us. Um, and year two, um, we did one point$5 million, one 1 million in the first year of 1.5 in the second year, third year we did 2.5. The fourth year we did a 4.6. Fifth year we did$8 million. And then this year, like I said, we'll do about a 10 and a half to$11 million. So let's talk about that. That, that, that trajectory is good growth the whole time, you know, from 300 to a million, from a million to 1,000,005, uh, 4 million, five to two and a half, is that something? Right. But then it kind of like really got big[inaudible] quick dial, 2 million a year, and then 4 million year. What happened in those years? Why did that, what happened there man? Well, well done by the way it Kyle, if you're listening. Well done. Yeah. And Kyle and Dave, well done. Obviously Kyle is a big part of it. Um, but it was hustle. It was hustle out. That's not descriptive. What does that mean? There's a lot of stuff, but I mean, I, so to give a shout out, we did join next door in, in 2015. Um, and we started interacting with our business coach coaches, I should say. So we started focusing really on some processes. Okay. Um, things like three day call boards and things, um, like sales leads and sales coaching and just the quality of technicians. So it was, it was really just a, an energy. We were, we were growth oriented. Um, all right. We, we wanted to grow, right. We had Dave who was really instilling this growth, keep going and keep going, keep going higher. This next person by this truck kind of thing. And he, I didn't kind of fan into flame behind you. He did. He, he was whipping the chain. Yeah. Okay. Right. But, but then you had the support, right. It wasn't out there flailing away, you know, so he had his encouragement and obviously ideas. And then he had his model for sure. Yeah. As an example. And then you had your next, our support. But still the, the, you know, a lot of people have people tell them to grow, grow, grow, and a lot of people have next door. But it's so, it's just the hustle. It's, it's, it's the hustle, the hard work, the willingness to do the hard work and the ultimate desire to win. What did you find with yourself, Chris, that you had to change the most? Cause there's Chris said$1 million in sales and what you did every day and how you thought and how you acted and what you did. And there's Chris at 8 million in sales. Describe the Chris. That's different. They're definitely related to the people, right? What does that mean? So what that means is at$1 million, the team was probably 10 to 12 people. Um, and, and that's a lot of people for a new business owner, right. With a payroll that's growing and, and uh, and you're a young kid to, no offense, but you're not very old now. I was 20, 27 years old at the time. Right. And you said you'd probably the youngest guy in the business, right. And one of them costs to actually two years younger than me. So I've already, I've always had that going for him. But yeah, him and I were two baby face guys getting into business. But you know what, what I've really grown, what I've really learned and what's the between curse at 1 million and curse at 8 million I would say is the, the uh, the need to rely and trust on people and how you can really interact with them and, and to work together to work together. Um, break down the barrier of I'm the owner and you're the employee. It's not that you're on the same team and you have the same mission, um, you know, show each other that you're in it to win it together, do the hard things. Um, providing courage meant sometimes having to do the hard things, like putting the other people before yourself. But ultimately it's been those type of skills that I think, uh, you know, of leading the team, trying to be the best leader I can be. That's, that's, that's been the biggest change.
Speaker 1:Hmm. How'd you develop that or just come to you?
Speaker 2:A lot of things. I mean, I've been exposed to a lot of people, a lot of things. You know, I, I tell folks all the time when I try to explain what next star is to people who are outside of the business, um, you know, there's coaches and there's trainings and their systems and it's specifically for the plumbing and HVC and electrical industry. The name might not say that, but, but the peer portion of that has been so instrumental to me. K, so it's more than just the coaches and trainers. You met some folks, I've met a lot of folks. I made some tremendous friends and, and having the ability to call those guys or shoot them a text to say, how do you handle this on service Titan? How do you handle this when you want to get more calls? I'm a technician came to me today and said this, how much you handle this. It, I, I've learned a tremendous amount from, from friends and peers.
Speaker 1:Well, what I've seen with you, Chris is, is, um, when you come to events, you're not a wallflower. You don't sit near looking at your phone, you're out mixing it up. You know, you're engaged, you know, you make friends. Uh, it appears naturally and easily. But, um, but for those folks listening who, who might not have that skillset, I see the benefit of it. Right? Cause you've got this network now, even though you already had the ultimate men and you're father-in-law, right? It's still, you have others, other folks[inaudible]
Speaker 2:right. Well, I, I also quickly realized that, uh, you know, early on when we were a$1 million business and they were a much, much larger business, that some of the things that we were facing or that I was facing at that time, even though he may have faced it, you know, the business was just, it was not apples to apples. Right? So it was awesome to see other companies at our revenue level, our staffing level. Um, and that was more direct of what was going on in my life and their life and we could relate.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Well that's pretty cool. That's, that's a good journey. Yeah. What's, what's, what do you think, um, you know, if you had to think now of recently this year, tell me something. So now we've got this business that's even larger. What's, what's changed in the last year with you folks? I'm talking about you or the business. What's evolved? What have you learned now that you're North of 10 million?
Speaker 2:Um, well, um,
Speaker 1:think about the last year
Speaker 2:I've learned a lot. Every day is a learning lesson. Um, I've really learned, actually this year's super meeting was a great reminder for me. And I'm not sure if you've got this feedback from other people, but this one in my opinion was a little bit different. Okay. Um, and in a good way and a good way. You tell them we won that. Jim Collins. Yeah. The one with Jim Collins. Right. And because my, my interpretation of some of the past ones are our motivational and we can do this and let's focus on, on, on doing this and team. And this one was a really good kind of, um, reminder of get yourself together, right. And focus on your core activities. Right. In fact, you had that, you know, cool video in the beginning and I was like, yeah, yeah that's me and I want to do that. Um, but I ruined it. Yeah. I took a lot from it, you know, which is, which is uh, focus on the core stuff. Things like calls ran and conversion rates and average tickets.
Speaker 1:So, but, but you know that that didn't change your year cause that was only a month ago. No, but what you're saying is that reinforced what you had been doing and maybe you are starting to potentially drift. Is that what I'm hearing?
Speaker 2:That's what I am saying. Yeah. Is that as the business grows, you know, more people add it, you know, more trucks, more calls, all kinds of stuff and it's easy to get distracted. So it was a good reminder.
Speaker 1:It is easy. It is, he's in it. And I tell you as you start to, and I'm going to jump in here for a minute, I should just as Frank would say, as you delegate and decentralize authority, you know your day changes in what used to be real busy getting the calls, the board set up in the morning and you know, getting the guys out the door and all of a sudden people are doing that on your behalf and you're saying, geez, I don't have to do that anymore like I did and then it's tempting 12 I don't have to do that and the business runs fine. Maybe I just want to show up in the morning first thing and then I won't show up in the morning. First thing had cheese, everything went just fine. You know, maybe I can do that every day now maybe I'll start working on my golf game. Right. And you start to drift. Does that make sense? That does. And you start to get less engaged in the business. It doesn't mean you have to be a slave to it. It just means that that Y your activities change what they, what they don't change to is doing nothing. They just changed to other high impact things that only you can do in that business. Is that what you're saying? Um, yeah. I'm editorializing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you put it a lot more thoroughly. Oh, I didn't inaccurately, but yes, essentially. Yeah. And the good news is it's not that I run sales leads anymore yet. Sometimes I do, but no, mostly not. No. I have a team and they're awesome. Um, but yeah, it's easy to see that which you're right, there is a little bit of a risk there that you can, you can get complacent and say, Oh, well, you know, I'll just come in a little bit later or whatever else. But I think it's also too important, um, to remind myself and anybody out there that that's also something that should be celebrated. Especially coming from five and a half years ago when there was four of us and Kyle and I've wore every hat. So I do get a lot of pride and excitement when I do see, um, installs being loaded up in the morning and heading out for the day and the, the, the sales coming through and five-star online reviews from our customers and, and happy people. Um, that's, it's, I, I, I'm reminding myself of that, but you're absolutely right. If I, if I have or do take my eye off the ball at this point, I could see that things could go South quickly and then the super meeting was a good reminder of that.
Speaker 1:That's so cool. That's so cool. Well, well done, man. Well done. You know, so what's next?
Speaker 2:Well, I have about 746 to dues from my business planning workshop. Gresham was, was really thorough with me. Yep. Um, but what's next is, um, is exciting I think. So we're, we're gonna make a couple changes where, um, I'm going to take a more operational approach to the business. Okay. You personally, me personally, so I'm currently, and the focus point of this year has been, uh, really on our HVC sales department. We have, you know, I'm sure like in many other businesses, the install and the sales portion is a big, big percent. Yeah. So, uh, being that it was kind of the way that I got into the business and it was my passion, you know, that was my team and a develop some people. But, um, I, I really see an opportunity to, uh, to improve some operational stuff. Okay. And actually this might even help answer your prior question is what did I learn over the year? Um, last year was our first year at the business planning workshop. One of our biggest takeaways was to getting, um, you know, service line managers in place for the first time, right. So plumbing manager, HVC service manager, install manager,[inaudible]. Um, and we did that. We did that early on. We did it in January. And, and I have to admit that I think we were a little naive by thinking, okay, managers are in place and life is great now. Okay. Um, and that's certainly not to say anything about the team that we have because they are a fantastic, yeah. But I do believe that just like all of us, right? We all need some coaching and guidance along the way. So that's where I'm really excited about and that's what my focus, I believe is going to be for for 2020, at least, is taking more an operational approach, um, and bringing light to, to the core functions of our business that are gonna make us successful.
Speaker 1:Man, that sounds good. That sounds good. Well done man. Well done. And just, just a, you know, we're gonna wrap this up here and I appreciate you coming in, but you know, just a great story. Five and a half years to go from 300,000 and North of 10 million bucks and to do it from a, uh, near Greenfield and from a guy that wasn't of the trade with a partner who was for sure and a lot of folks behind them that gave them some support, but you had to do the work. You know, everybody else, there's a difference, right? Does it Nexstars and adviser, you're father-in-law's an advisor. I know he was probably a pretty heavy adviser, but you, you and Kyle and the team down there had to put your shoulder into it and actually make it come to life and make it work and, and get people to want to work for you. Right. So, well done man. Thank you. You got to feel good. It does feel good. Um, it feels very good and I'm actually trying to remind myself and our team more that we should celebrate the wins. It's easy to, to, to not see them, but uh, but thank you. And even your recognition there is a good reminder that we have come a long way. We have achieved a lot. So even though we always have the next goal and the next business planning workshop and the next thing to get to, we should, we should smile and appreciate along the way that we, yeah, we've done good. You gotta step, stop the car every now and then look back. Say wow. Come a long way. Yeah. Right. It feel good about that. Have a little celebration. I know you're pretty good at celebrating. Oh, Chris. So yeah. Yes, yes, I can do eight. When you, when the Eagles were speaking of which now folks don't know this is a, it's October 9th, 2019 and the Eagles this weekend or are coming into the twin cities. Right. So not the only people come Philadelphia today it's Philadelphia Eagles. Go and play the Vikings. I think the Vikings will win. Do you remember, do you remember the last time that the Eagles were here in town? Jack? They've won. They won. Yeah, I do remember the one super bowl. That's right. They were here for the super bowl. I do remember. So a wish your Eagles. Well I think the Vikings will when I'm calling my shot right now. 24 14 Vikings win 24 14. I like a 27 20 Eagles. All right, well we'll see who is Nostradamus here who isn't and uh, I'll bet you something. Full golf line for that though. All right, sounds like a plan. Thank you very much. You so much for being here. We sure appreciate you and your team at preferred. Well done. You well done Kyle. Well done team. Excellent work. Thank you. All right, and thank you all for listening. This very interesting addition of leadership lounge. If you had a super meeting and you see a guy named Christie campy, go say hi. He's got a lot to offer. I'm sure. Appreciate your time. We'll talk to you soon.