Leadership Lounge with Jack Tester
A Father's Tough Love, With Wyatt Tucker
Jack’s guest is Wyatt Tucker, the first male of his family to graduate from college. The two talk about how Wyatt, fresh out of school, jumped in to help his father run the business. The process included being fired from the company before he ultimately returned to transition as the new company owner.
Jack’s guest is Wyatt Tucker, the first male of his family to graduate from college. The two talk about how Wyatt, fresh out of school, jumped in to help his father run the business. The process included being fired from the company before he ultimately returned to transition as the new company owner.
Hi, this is Jack tester and welcome to another episode of leadership lounge. I always tell you where I am and I'm in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and I'll tell you that today is the first snowfall of the year. So I drove in today on snowy roads. It's November 6th I believe, and sitting across from me is a guy that doesn't know much about snowy roads, white Tucker from parks, heating and cooling and North Carolina. How are you doing? Why? Hey, Jack and Morgan, how are you today? Thanks for coming in. Yeah, a little bit of snow on the ground today where you walk through the Skyway to get here though. So no, I went outside and we don't get much snow in North Carolina, so I enjoy it. I didn't, I didn't eat any snow, but I definitely was take a snow angel via. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to, I may. I took pictures from my wife it to my kids this morning. They're like, what's that dad? It's pretty cool. You know, it's funny, folks that come in from out of town, especially Southern kids, when they see snow outside, they'll sit and look at the window just like the school kid. Like, Oh look at that. But that's true. No, we had a snow, a little snowfall two days ago and this guy in from Florida my age and he looked at like a little kid. I got to go outside and stand in it and I said, go ahead. It looks ridiculous to me, but I guess it's all what you're used to. Yeah, that's true. But Hey, thanks for coming in. What brings you to town? Uh, here for the BPW. It's a business plan workshop. All right, so getting your business plan written for 2020. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Well you've got an interesting story and I, and I saw you on the, the attendee list and I said, you know what, I'm going to have you come in and talk because you have recently, are you the second or the third generation? Second generation. Right. And so you've actually done the transition from the, your father started the business. No, no, no. He bought her from mr bud parks in 2000. Okay. And then he ended up until, uh, in the last year. And then we finalize a lengthy and fun buy out. Uh, okay. This year. All right. So now is is your, what's your father's name? Tommy. Tommy? Yeah. Is he still involved? No. No, he's not. Okay. He's fully retired. Okay. Um, he's doing a little bit, uh, he was a state Senator[inaudible] for eight years. And so he kinda, um, big old turn. Nothing political going on in North Carolina? No, not at all. Not at all. So, uh, but he's helping with, uh, doing some consultant work and helping out, uh, some nonprofit stuff up there and probably got it. Well, that's interesting. So I want to talk about this. So let's, and, and, and we've talked about this very briefly. I don't know where this is going to go, but we just said, look, in a transition, there's things you learn in a transition. There's emotions you feel, there's things you look back on and say, wow, that was really cool. And there's things you look back on and go, Oh boy, I wish I could have avoided that. So we're going to go there. Okay. Is that all right? Yeah. Yeah. So when did you come into parks? So I came in in a fall of Oh seven. Okay. What we'll do then? I was a 22. All right. No, excuse me. No, no, no, I was, yeah, 23 actually college kid. Yeah, college kid. I was the five-year guy. So it was I by the way. Yeah. Yeah. So that's true. And I was the first male Tucker to graduate from college. So that was kind of my interview process or whatever to get in the business with that did so did you come right out of college? Right into parks? I did. No kidding. Well you agreed to do that or did you take something fun like yeah, I was a turfgrass management major. Um, okay. Which is natural for heating and air conditioning guy. True. Very true. So I thought that, uh, you know, after, cause I played baseball in my life, I played baseball in college and everything else. I thought it'd be awesome to be a groundskeeper. Sure. At some major league ballpark one day. And Carl, yeah. I was the guy who reads, keep Carl from Scotty show. Yeah, yeah. Name for, you know, we wanted to do that for uh, you know, that was my goal or vision do that either golf course or baseball field. But, uh, I think at that time and fall of, Oh seven dad had his biggest year ever and I was six and then, cause they were primarily new construction, which I know is a Nexstar cuss word around here. We'll get to that in a little bit. Um, so we did it. He did that, uh, in Oh six, Oh seven started at last, a, a counter to kind of need some help and transition in that. But the main focus for me, why he wanted me in there was his parks had primarily been a new construction business since 1973, but before dead body, he was a factory rep for ICP and one of his biggest customers was Dewey Morris Jenkins. Yeah. And so dad going and calling on them and having a relationship with Dewey and everything else. He saw the replacement side of it. And that was what he kind of visioned me saying, Hey, why, look, I've made a good living doing new construction, but I'm going to give you an opportunity to take zero change outs, zero service calls, you know, outside of a warranty here and there after the first year warranty with the builder, never call us again. Right. That was kind of the philosophy back then. Hope to true. True. And saying, Hey, you know, here you go. Yeah. So you came in with no business experience and dad said, I want you to basically start a new department.[inaudible] yeah. In 2007. Yeah. And so he, uh, you know, being a great communicator said, Hey, here you go. This is a good communicator, isn't it? No, no. Well not one mission, right. He is a politician. He likes to talk. But, um, so sent me to, you know, Sandler Institute to, uh, learn sales and everything else. And I had worked on the, during the summertime between like baseball, everything else. I'd work in the summertime and help him start out washing trucks and doing things like that and, uh, really saw that side of taking care of the customer and doing things that, you know, that was where I wanted to focus in. Were you okay with that? Makes you excited about this opportunity? Yes, I was. Okay. So keep going. Yes. So went through, went through that. Obviously the recession came and we went from 130, I think employees down to 29. Um, one way very remarkable that my dad was able to take, you know, totally all new construction, getting paid builder 60, 90 days, lose all that work, lose all those employees and didn't have to shut the doors. And he, um, you know, didn't take a paycheck for two years, but he was able to, you know, stay in the recession and everything else to get through that, which I, I still to this day thinks quite amazing. No one him and knowing his personality, um, for him to do that. During that though, um, did you take a paycheck during their sex? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I had to head to all right. Uh, but during, during that whole process, he and I kind of butted heads. I didn't kind of see the big picture. I was really wanting to grow our department or division and didn't see it. And so we, uh, he told me to get out. He, he fired me in December of Oh nine. Um, and I said yes. So I went on down to Wilmington, North Carolina thinking I was the man, had my state license, everything else and I was just going to open up a shop at the beach. How old are you then? So that would be, I don't know, 25 26. Okay. You knew it. Oh man. Had had everything. So to charge true cash, my 401k ran like a, I think maybe two or three service calls, you would say moved to Wilmington. Yeah. For six months. Right. Ran two calls in six months. Something like that. You just party or what? Yeah, I did actually partied and lived on the beach and just kinda didn't take life serious. I had a, you know, thought about getting, you know, Duke going and working for somebody else or going back to school or doing something like that, but 401k just kind of lived on it. Yeah. Yeah. So that was a, a lot of fun. But then so turn, flip side, January, 2010 I was down there for about a few months here. Give her their cake. Why remember all that? But uh, dad said, Hey, I'm going to run for state Senate. I need you to come back. So you fired you. Yup. And then, and then brought me back cause he had a couple other guys come in and try and run the department and everything else and they really didn't do a good job. So why didn't you hear I'm better how you this, we'll call it, I'll call it a sabbatical, you know, whatever you want to call it when you're down there in the beach drinking beer. And that, my, uh, you know, my, my poop does stink, right. That I'm not, I'm not that awesome and that I don't have it all right. Uh, it was very humbling experience and learned that, uh, you know, business is difficult and it's really hard to get something off the ground. So I really admired that. You know, parks always had done about 10 or 12 million new construction. You could get it to that like, wow, that was, um, that's an accomplishment. And then, you know, on the, on the flip side of that is that I had a better opportunity of getting something the ground inside parks instead of outside of parks. Right. So what led you, if I can ask, what led you to, to walk away the first time or not, or to be asked to walk away. What was the, what was the dynamic? What was the riff? I'm just gonna say it and you could say it's none of your business Jack. Yeah, no, it, it, it is, uh, my dad and our, a lot of like, okay. And sometimes that can be is great, but it's also bad too. So we were really butting heads and um, you know, we had at that time a lot of like, what does that mean? Because opposites attract and then, yeah, let you know, he, I thought that, you know, my poop didn't stick and I was awesome and dad thought that, Hey, you know what, I've given my son an opportunity, he's not really doing it well. He's kinda, you know, just coming to work everyday going home and you know, he's taking, he's taking it for granted I think. Title. Yeah. A lot of entitlement. Yeah. Good point. You might've thought that about you and upon reflection, was there some yeah, I think there was. Okay. I think there was, I was, you know, pretty much immature and I could see, I see his side looking back on it and um, but we were just clashing and didn't get along and fought all the time. And he just kinda said, hang on one little father son thing too, right? Yeah. My dad and I had a father. Yeah, I remember. And for call. Yeah. That's tough. Very, very tough. Very tough. So came back, you know, tail between my legs and what did it start, if I can ask you, you are a little humbled, a little more appreciative of what you had at parks, maybe realizing that this was a unique opportunity that you had. How would your dad evolved? We mean your absence. What did, was he a different person or did he approach things differently or was he, or do you just kind of warm to the way he did things? I think internally he did, but he never vocally said what did you, what did you internally for think? Well, he, the, the department kind of that I was started and everything that's kind of fell to the wayside a little bit after you left. Right, right. Okay. And they'd had two or three sales guys and, and he was, he was having to take all these angry phone calls from customers and anything else. And so he never told me this, but I think he also kind of appreciated me coming back. Yeah. Well, you know, I, I would think that, you know, your family and maybe there's a higher, there could have been a higher degree of commitment, even in your own unique way as a young man. Right. Versus an employee. Right, true. Well, and it could be as simple as, as he's tired of my mom complaining that I wasn't working there. And he said, son, come back and tell your mom, you know, well, shut up and leave me alone about it. You know? I do think it could be some of that too. Mom was in your corner. Oh yeah. She wanted you back home. Oh yeah. Yeah. She, she did, she did the payroll every single week for 18 years manually. Okay. Pretty, pretty impressive. So she's in a business then she knows what's going on. Right. Yep. Very cool. Very good. So you came back in a 10, 10 and then what happened after you came back? Well, I knew I had, this was my last shot. My dad will give you a second chance, but he didn't give you a third. So I really had to take it kind of serious. And and do those things. So, uh, eventually got married, we started growing in the business, uh, was attending Lennox events at that time. That was kind of only what we knew about. Fast forward a little bit, uh, met will and Shannon during that whole process, the plantains from w Fayetteville, Fayetteville golf tournament today? I think. I think so. Yeah. I think so. Anyways. Good folks. Yeah. Great. Folks did that and then we were at somewhere somehow and they said, Hey, you know why? Um, we think you should look at, you know, joining Nexstar yeah. Um, cause you want to grow and everything else. And dad was kinda gone. So he's, he's in Raleigh from Monday til Friday. Senator. Correct. And very hard to get ahold of and doing things and kinda needed some processes. You running the whole business at this time? No, I wasn't on the service side, correct? Correct. Okay. Let me ask you a question. You said, I want to delve into this a little bit further. So you said you came back and you said this was my second chance. And with Tommy, my father, there's no third chance. I knew I had to kind of get it. What, so what, what behaviorally did you do different, if anything? Or just describe the different why at round two versus round one, you know, think before you speak, I think. Okay. Right. And actually respect him as a business owner, not just dad, can you challenge every single thing or you are challenging every single thing as a father before kind of being rebellious and thinking, I, you know, right, right. Had it all figured out. So, you know, coming back and being humble, doing that, I really started to respect him and listen and just do what he tells me to do. And I finally had lies in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And move on. Kind of grow up. That's cool man. That's so good. I, that's a great story. And I met your father, he's a great guy, you know, and uh, but I understand the dynamic, right. And it's so easy to, to say, Hey, business is business and family's family and boy, I can't imagine. Yeah, I, you know, but I like that old school mentality of that too. You know, I think that some owners are, some dads are, they see Rose colored glasses, they're their children. Yeah. And, and are kind of don't take things as reality. They're right. And know that they're going to face the hard facts. Right. And Ambien in him being an IC ICP rep and being in contractor stuff, he had seen some second, third generations. And so he, he needed to give me that tough love. Right. So that I, you know, cause that was as big as fear and we'll, we'll get to that later about the transition to doing that was, is, you know, just being a mess up, you know, um, he didn't want me to be and that, I think that was what he thought that choice was at the, and we moved on. Cool. All right, well thank you for sharing that. That's very cool. And that's a great message in there, but we'll keep going. Cause I want to, you had mentioned, so you have, you bumped into will and Shanna Blanton at a Lennox event and they were talking up next door. So you looked into it, you joined. Yes. Right? Yes. So let's give people a snapshot today. What year was that? That was 2013. Okay, so that was six years ago. Yeah. So describe a parks today, then we'll go back to the transition so people kind of know where you are today and then we'll go back to kind of when your transition to business. Sure. Today we're about 16, 16 and a half million. Okay. Uh, about 60, 40 still new construction and then 40% replacement. Okay. Um, I'll HAC all these facts. I'll answer that in your market is it says Indian trail. Charlotte. Charlotte market. Okay. Right outside. Got it. Yeah. So in that great market. Yeah. So we, but we've kind of stayed at between 10 and 12 million new construction penalty accounts. And then we just kind of, you know, the, the remainder has been the service replacement and everything else. So about exceed 60, 40%. So 6 million, 7 million of service replacement restaurant, residential new construction. Correct. Got it. So when did you decide, how did you, when did you and your dad tar start talking about transition?
Speaker 2:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:that's a good question. I think, uh, probably 2017. So you came back in 10 and you just were a foot soldier, correct? You weren't, did, did you own any of the business? I didn't own any of the businesses, kind of a sales guy. Okay. Uh, I was a comfort advisor. I'll use showing the income statement where, you know, our, our controller, that was one big fundamental piece and Nexstar saved us was we had a really, really overbearing controller time and I really, what I thought he wanted was to, you know, eventually when this, well my dad was gonna get out to buy it from him. Okay. Go ahead. His eyes on the business. Right. So he kind of kept everything very, very close. So never got to see any of that stuff. He kind of resent you. Yeah, he did. I think so. And looking back, you know, uh, my would knee, right? I mean if, if we met today, maybe different. Yeah. But, um, he, you know, old tapes as my dad would say, I think our controller had some old tapes and prior tapes. Yeah. Like, you know, old tapes, meaning it's hard for him when I made a mistake or did something to look back. Is this, you know, the, the immature Wyatt tapes in his head of what you are like the Wilmington beach Wyatt, correct. At 19 year old. Why or why not? The slightly more discerning 28 year old. Why it's true that yes. Got it. All right. Okay. All right. So you are a sales guy selling replacements kind of cause I'm managing that department. Right. You're trying to do it all slowly grown it. Is that fair? So in 2017, what happened? Who came to who? Well, dad, um, he, he was ready to get out. Yeah. And um, we were really[inaudible] ask, how old is your father at this point? My dad's seven years old at this point. Um, and, you know, count back with math and dates. I'll, I'll let you help me with that. But uh, you know, he, he was really saying I'm in protection mode and why you're in grow mode. Got it. And that's kinda mentally hit, went there. Yeah. Why wouldn't you? It's true. Yeah. It's not, it's not. Yeah, I get it. Right. So, uh, that started it. And um, he came to you with that, with that frame of reference. Yes, he did. Yes he did. And, and, and therefore, so finish that sentence. Um, I'm in protection mode. You're in growth mode. Therefore what? Therefore, you know, if you want to buy me out or you want to, do you want to take over all the shares and do that? I need to see a business plan. I'm not sure why it in a structured deal that I'm okay with uncomfortable with. Okay. So he, he, he just said you need to do that, right? Very black and white old school. Did he, did he help you with it or did you have to come to him with a fully baked plan? I had to come to him with a fully baked plan. He was always that way. Hey, presented to him and then let him make a decision. How did you create it? Uh, just relationships and people that I've met their next door. Okay. So you, you crafted a business plan. Of course you're here writing a business plan. So you're correct and now you know, I do this, this routine, but things would come in. Yes. And then you had to figure out how to pay. He obviously didn't gift it to you. Right. So you had to pay for it. Yes I did. So he had some funding sources for that. Yeah. Had the cash in your 401k again? No, no, I hadn't talked to a, had talked to a bank. So you know, I think that through that, getting that business plan, I learned a lot. Right. You know, I basically learn, you know, I had to get over the fact that Hey, I'm paying for my inheritance. You know, I felt like I thought there's an entitled mindset that it's very, it was very easy to go there. Sure. And you know, I had to learn that, why you need to make this business profitable enough cause you don't have that kind of money in your 401k or savings account to buy the business. So take the, take the profit and what you learned and what you've[inaudible] all the stuff through the next star. Look at it as, Hey, to get a bank to sign on a note to help you get your dad out and do those things. You take that hard work in that profit that you made is this is for you to buy it out instead of, you know, the entitlement of saying, Hey dad, I got you to this point. Right. Why can't you just give it to me? You know what I'm saying? I do. I do. I do. That's an, of course in theory, I'm, I, this is a terrible thing, but I'm going to say it. So you, you pay your, your father for it and you know, parish authority passes. I'm assuming you're still on air. You still get it, right? Yeah. A little bit later, you know, a little bit later. And of course there's other siblings involved in it. I don't know how that works, but yeah, we won't go there. This podcast. No, for sure. Well, we all have that, right? That's what a,
Speaker 3:yeah, it's all we all got that. No comment. No comment. It's all good. So you had to, to, to put together a plan. So you, you did, you wrote a business plan. So had you, did you know anything about new construction at this point?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so looking at that data, it's 16 we, he made a very good decision, in my opinion. He kind of fired the controller and did his typical, Hey, you know, I listen to you and your mom. You don't have to deal with it. I'm going to Raleigh. He didn't technically say that, but that's what he did. So I had to really get in and dig in and learn the business and thank goodness that I had become the business. Plenty of workshops. I had to research the next star or we wouldn't be in existence today. You had to learn that business, correct? Correct. So by 2017 talking with a bank and and talking with, you know how I prepare and do all this next door got me there to be able to understand that. Okay, well of course, next door. Does it recommend you run a new construction business? They do not. They do not. That's another podcast. Sure. Yeah. When we learned from that experience, we'll come back here five or six years. Yes sir.
Speaker 3:Anyway, it's all good. Um, no, uh, so, so you, you wrote a plan, got some funding, sat down with dad and said, here it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that was a 2017[inaudible]. Well, we still had 2018 in the bile didn't happen until 2019. What happened? 2018 cold feet. My mom, you know, this was our identity. Like I said, she 18 years and every mom's involved to correct this is, this is her identity, her life, she'd been doing it for every week for it. Correct. Is she saw when my dad bought Mr. Parks out in 2000 she saw what it did to him and just the parks. Yes. He had nowhere to go. Well, no, my dad, like, you know, the stress of having the debt, running a business, everything goes to your father. Right, right. And so her being a mother, you know, seeing that, you know, I, I paid a substantially more amount of money than my dad did. And you know, my wife doesn't work in the business. Uh, she was very concerned and didn't understand quite why my dad was doing this this way. And that was a lot of who she was trying to challenge your dad or you? I think both. I think both. Cause dad didn't have a, he didn't have a plan after if this happened, you know, I kind of said no, no, no, no. Um, well may have eventually been, but it wasn't at that time. Yeah. And they're very black and white people and I, and they knew, I think deep down in their heart that wants this happen, that they were going to have to be out. And so my mom had a little bit of that. Oh wow. Cause she's seven years younger. My dad, this is her identity. She's not going to be able to go get a job anywhere else. So she had to deal with that. But also she was concerned about her son with the stress and the pressure and everything going to buy out. And then my dad, um, you know, now what, he's retired from the Senate, he's, he's gonna sell his business. You can only Burt on so many times, you know, in certain parts of the year. What do you do now? So all of that, there was a lot of family dysfunction and dynamics in 2018. Yeah. Um, what, did you just need to sit on things? Did you just did it like, I'm going to sit and think about this. Did you keep talking or did you just give each other space? There was times where we talked and where we didn't, you know, my dad did promote me to general manager to which, so that kind of shut me up for a little bit, you know, cause I was still pushing. I'm a let's get it done. Let's, let's, you know, while the iron is hot, um, time kills all deals. True. I heard that from somebody. Yes. Tom Swift told me that once, that that's a pretty cool statement is drills. If you'll wait to take long enough time, you can kill anything. Right. And, and so we had a, uh, all onsite Gresham came in one night we went to dinner. Okay. And you know how Gresham is? Sure. Russian Mars, one of our business coaches. Yes. And he kind of pushed my parents and saying, Hey, what would it take for you to trust why it, uh, to, to, you know, buy the business and you do these things. Cause that was my dad and mom's biggest fear was trust. Well, not the trust that I wouldn't screw it up. Did the seller, they were there. They, they're worried that it, it'd be you wouldn't make it right. Yeah, I get that. But they never had an answer with Gresham on what it, what needed to happen. Detail for them to be okay to, to, to make it happen. Uh, so that, that was very eye opening for them. It's interesting though, the bank was paying you, paying your father. Yes. Right. So he wasn't holding a note. No, no. Well, he had the first original deal. He has a, uh, small promissory note at the end. Right. Not the whole thing. I have the bad days. Um, and so the, the part of it was, is my mom, you know, she was like, Hey, why don't you just pay your dad a certain amount of money for the rest of his life and be done with it and get the bank out of Israel? And so dad said, you know, Hey, okay, but if he screws it up, then I don't, this is, this is my retirement, this is this all I got. And so he, he was not going to do that deal and he stuck to his guns lap to right. Yeah. Right. And so he didn't, he didn't want to do that. Yeah. I don't blame him. Yeah. That can be a challenge. So what, what so Gresham's pushing and what would it take? And there was no answers. So then therefore what happened? So I finally just had to take the reality and somebody told me one time said, Hey, why people buy businesses every day? You know, you're scared about the money. I kind of had gotten down on myself about it. The deal is kind of stalled. How am I going to do this? A little bit in Thailand came in like, man, why am I paying for my inheritance? All of those internal things going ahead. But somebody said, Hey, why look every people buy businesses every day? Why can't today be yours? Yeah. Wow. You know, some that's simple. So we got over that and, and went to the, uh, did all the hard work to get everything together for the bank and dad and I, we had, uh, two meetings and we did it in a public place about talking about the price and how it would lay out and what it would do. You mentioned public places that's significant. For what reason? So that we didn't, you know, no shouting, yelling like, no, just, yeah. Yeah. Okay. You know, kept a business. That's good. That's good. Personal reflection. There'll be better meet at a restaurant here where everybody knows us so that we don't get in touch. Right, right. Yeah. Somebody else can call nine one one if they had to, but no, my money's sent Tommy. Yeah. Yeah. So, so we got, we got to the agreement. I had talked to people that were, that were helping me out with it and said, Hey, the, I think that's a reasonable price. Yeah. I think the request of your dad is fair. So then the bank, you know, we had draw up all that for them, had attorneys and blah, blah, blah, and uh, you know, got it done. What did w when was it done? Do you remember the day? The whole a hundred percent shares transfer. Everything else was June, July 1st of 20, 19 2019 this year. I, you feel that day broke? I bet, right? What do you mean? Oh, broke? I mean broke like I don't have any money. Yeah, well that and like, okay, now what? Like, Oh, like the dog chasing the bus and finally caught the bus. Oh no, no, I do with it. Right. Like my dad kind of like, when we got up and we walked out, I think we're kind of led down, you know, a little bit like, this is it, you know, there was no like, you know, big song and dance. There was no, you know, we was a little melancholy. For your father, maybe[inaudible] I bet. Yes. Yes, it was. I can see it. Yeah. And he, uh, you know, he, we had a month or two prior, once we knew everything was approved and it was just kinda, you know, paperwork, blah, blah, blah. We had a breakfast for him, for employees and I was kind of an emotional time, you know. Um, so we had already done that, but when we signed it and got everything finalized, it was a little melancholy, you know, cause he's still my dad.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. So the, you know, I have to imagine, you know, in that moment that there's gotta be so many different emotions from pride to maybe regret on some level or, you know, just confusion. Yeah. You know, you probably, you get, it's not one word. You know, like he'd go hunting, you shoot a deer. Like I feel great man. Right. That's awesome, man. But this has gotta be so complex on both sides of this thing that you sometimes probably didn't know what to say. That's true. Right? Like I feel five things. He's feeling five things. So there's, what the heck. You talk about nice day out, huh? Geez. When did it, so did, did the, uh, how long did it take you when you started in the business on July 2nd now going forward? Did it feel, or is it yet natural?
Speaker 1:Is it yeah, yeah, 2019 you know, they kind of had moved away, you know, from January cause we agreed to a price in January. And so he kinda was, was out there was a possibility here running for that congressional seat there that, you know, district nine thing that, that whole, all that stuff. So the gerrymandering going on down there, I never really got into politics but that, so that was a big deal. Um, and so they were out and that kind of was a transition, you know, then we had to deal with my mom and she got real, real sick and so we kind of went to the deal through the deal and we had switched payrolls and so we did a lot of dynamics. So June 2nd wasn't like, okay, like now what? Like what am I going to do? Where it's like, we got a peer group coming up in October, dad, see I gotta get back to work, you know,
Speaker 3:so it did, it did it. So he was, he really wasn't in the business that much. So he was kinda, there was a Wyatt show at that point and some people were uh, orientating with you and no one was going to Tommy behind your back chatting about stuff you are, you are really running the show. Correct. Right. So there wasn't a, didn't go like that. Right, right.
Speaker 1:Well thinking on that, if there was a, I just briefly want to speak on this. My dad came to the, you know the, your event in December. The pheasant, huh? Yeah. My president. Yeah. And not to get emotional, but we were sitting in Sioux falls, South Dakota, six o'clock on a Sunday morning and he said, son, I'm proud of you. And that was one of the few times that he had said that or done that. And the reason it was is he knew the peers that I associated with through next star. And he had met everybody on that hunt. Correct. And he knew I was with good guy that would take care of me and helped me. And so that was a, that was a proud moment in my house
Speaker 3:that well that makes me feel good that we had a great time and Tommy sure enjoyed himself. He did, you know, and, and uh, you know, he told me something that hunt this. He said, I'm sitting back watching all this go on and watching your dogs work and watching everybody hunt. And I just, that's what I just like to do. So I can just see him just probably just sitting back, not he, he was talking about doing a pheasant hunt and he was kind of on a high point just kind of watching the action. But, um, I guess what I'm saying is he was doing the same thing on a broader sense with you as a son, integrating with smart, high quality business owners and seeing you engaged in conversations that he probably never thought you'd have. And that, that dump kid in Wilmington who's right, you know, having a beer on the beach, you know, that kind of stuff. And all of a sudden, here's this mature young man. Correct. You know, hang out with good folks.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Cause he didn't go to many events or do anything. So it all[inaudible]. Yeah. Right. So that was good. That was a big deal for us. I bet.
Speaker 3:So that was a, that was what they call it. Corner Turner. Huh? Well that's, that's so cool. That's so cool. Well this has been a fascinating journey, a fascinating story. And uh, how's the business doing? Business is
Speaker 1:doing good. Um, timing's everything. So 2019 for me has been wild ride and don't have time to get into all that. But I think the other thing that held my parents to the fire about getting the deal done and everything else was we had, we had a peer group and I had asked our formal peer, correct. Correct. And I had recruited a lot of people and some people told me, you know, maybe why this isn't the best time to do it, but I'm not that way. Like, Hey, if we committed, we're on the sheet, we're going to do it. Yeah. Um, did that help? That did help it. It was the perfect timing for me. Yeah. Cause you're starting a new, a new chapter.
Speaker 3:Sure. Right. Right. And you again, you get some incredible people coming in there. Yes. Eyes on the business, you know, to give you some advice and counsel for free. A lot of work. But you know,
Speaker 1:so anybody listened to this out there, you know, as brutal as it may sound and everything about what happens at a peer group. You know, I got the two bottles of lube sent to me. That's some funny stories about all that unusual for you. Yeah. A little bit, a little bit. Uh, but uh, you know, sign up. Yeah. It's a great thing. And people do care and there's no secret sauce or anything. Just do what they tell you to do and it, it all works out. So, um, I owe a lot to the organization next door and I had a lot of the people that came. Yeah. Um, and, and just everybody shortly after that followed up with me, made sure I was okay. Um, I kinda, it was my awesome time of, you know, people were looking at me and next door now is as an owner before the son of the son of the boss. And I felt like this was my hazing event of, you know, transitioning from, Oh, you're just general manager. Why it's a, you know, you kinda joined the boys, now you, you own your own business. I think there's nobody said there's a sense of respect, but I felt like there is now, cause I can, I can come to the table the same as, you know, all the other guys that I associate with and that was a hazing process. But you know, now, now I feel like I'm in and just going to do what they tell me to do. I've heard about it
Speaker 3:four different rites of passage on this conversation, which is so cool. We go from this entitled kid to a good steward of a company and an employee and getting through that and then having your dad say he's proud of you and then having your peers walk through and kind of make that transition. And that journey is fascinating. Well done, man. Thank you. Well done. What a great story. Yes, I will do this again. Okay. Because your story is still being written and it's a darn good one. And congratulations to the Tucker family too. For those folks who might listen to this on not every business successfully transitions and it takes a lot effort from first, second, third, and all those folks. I know it's not easy. And uh, we, we discovered in 35 minutes what took a lifetime to accomplish. Right? And more to tell. So I thank you. Thank you, Jack. All right. And thank you all for listening. It's very interesting. Episode leadership lounges, Jack tester with Mr. Wyatt Tucker, and we will catch you next time. Thanks so much.