From a Plumber’s Apprentice to Account Management: Leadership and Growth in the HVAC Industry with Jeremy Melton

This is it is straight straight straight out of Crumpton with your host, Greg Crumpton. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of straight out at Crumpton. Coming at you, today, solo. My co host is not with us. So, I'm going to wing this the best I can, but after doing a hundred or so of these, I feel like I've got a good rhythm. And today, I've got a really special guest, young man that I've known for a a little while now, but, through osmosis, we know each other for a long time. So today with us is, Jeremy Milton, Jeremy is the senior account manager with H. B. H. Mechanical, a service logic company located in Covington, Georgia. Jeremy. Welcome to the program, my friend. Thanks, Greg. Glad to be here. You know, It's it's odd how we wound up here today in my mind because, And I've gotta go here right off the bat, and then we'll come back to you. But I'm so excited to have you because you and I share a very special person in our life, mister Joe, Burch who we have both worked with. We worked alongside. We've taken abuse from him. We've done it all. And Jeff is our mutual friend, and that's how you and I got connected. So, so happy for that connection and so happy to have you. But before we get going, I always like to, I steal this line from my buddy, Mitch Joel, up in Canada. And he says when he starts his podcast, who are you and what do you do? So I present that to you. Okay. Alright. So, Jeremy Milton, as you've said, it's who I am, a simple guy. I do work for HVH Mechanical Partners, as a as an account manager. I've been with them for, since April of twenty twenty one. I dot I sell work for those guys and, you know, help them operate, everything that I have controller power to operate. I try to help to do what I can for. The company as a whole. So I wear several hats there. Along with managing the sales account. So, prior to that, I guess I've I've been in the industry for for Well, this year will be twenty years. Right? And that's that's probably not long for a lot of folks, but it's, yeah, it's all I know. And so I started in two thousand four. I graduated from Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia. And, didn't know really what I wanted to do. And I had a guy that that that worked for a local contractor in Atlanta. He was a plumber. And, it's funny I was actually dating his daughter at the time, and so it got in that way. But, he and I, we had a good relationship. And I went to work for him and, worked for him for a couple of years, and then I transferred over to the service department where I worked for Jeff Birch. As you've talked about, So Jeff had me from, a a little kid, really. You know, I was just a boy. In two thousand six, I think he's when I went to work for Jeff. And, I worked for Jeff for right at, eight years or so, and then I moved around in the company. It was a big company that I was working for. And so I moved around and and worked in several different departments. I was I was curious and, wanted to do a lot of different things. And so I I was given the opportunity to, run some new construction work I was given the opportunity, man, Jeff and I, Jeff and I, man, he was with me all seventeen years at that company, all the way up till he retired, I guess it would've been he would've been sixteen years, that he was a mentor of mine. No matter where I was at or who I was working for, Jeff was always there, and today is still there for me to call. So he means a lot to me, for sure, He's been a mentor of mine, my wife, my whole adult life. So anyway, I've I'd I worked for that company for seventeen years. In and around doing different things and experiencing different work, different leaders worked with a lot of good people. I was actually just thinking about this earlier, and I started making a list of all the people that I had worked with and worked for. All these years. And so that I could attribute, any what you may call success that I've had could be attributed to to all these people in some way. And, and and Jeff would would would would certainly carry that torch. So Anyway, twenty, twenty years in the trade. I did a lot of different stuff. I ran a shop for a little while. So I got to see the fabrication world. And which is kinda what landed me at HVH to begin with. HVH is a growing business in Atlanta. Where we, you know, the the the the owners, cofounders had had called on me for several years. And wanted to meet to join up with him and help him grow a business. And I finally jumped in, through some events that took place in my life led me to to my decision to jump in with them. But I jumped in with those guys and planted my feet and helped them what build what they build today. So anyway, that's kinda me in a nutshell. I've got three kids and a wife. A beautiful family, that, you know, I tell everybody I'm I'm far better than I deserve to be, so blessed beyond measure. But that's me in a nutshell. Well, that's quite a journey, Jeremy, and what what we say is we out kicked our coverage is how we wound up in in such good spots of life. So I I totally share that. So you the the company that you worked for also worked for my dad also worked for. I've got an uncle that works there. I've got a nephew who works there. It's just like It's a machine for producing high quality HVAC professionals, in my opinion. They're they've been around since I wanna I think it's nineteen forty six or so, been around forever, know what they're doing, and and just really, help the trade, especially in the southeast, by by building some really good, skills but mostly, some really good people. So it's it's not surprising to me that you came out of that culture. Although it's a different culture than what you and I are immersed in, you know, now, you being at HVH and even me at at service logic as the owners of HPH. But the cool thing about it is we you and I get the hangout and When you were telling your story, about how you got to move around and and do different things at at, the company, I I also had that same desire, but the company when I was there, we weren't large enough to get to do that. So I wound up going to other companies, same union, same local union, to experience controls, to experience chillers, I never did new construction. Other than the funny story of my dad, convincing me I didn't wanna be a pipe fitter. And he put me at the IBM tower, one Atlantic Center now. It's what it's called. In the winter, setting sleeves, So, that's how he broke me of wanting to be a fitter. And I I totally went along with his plan after that cold winter down there. But, Yeah. Buddy Kendall Potts was running that job. And I don't know if you know Kendall, but he was a he was a mess to work with. But, anyway, I think that that is the road to success for a lot of people is being able to look at their their skills and be able to grow those skills by getting out and seeing what's adjacent. You know, what is it what does it look like to run a fab shop And then to sell maintenance, you know, when you have been able to do a lot of those different things, excuse me, but the core denominator to that to me, as a people. And you said you've got a list right there in front of you, people that have been, influential in your life and have helped you along the way. And maybe some people on there that you learn what not to do, you know, those can be just as important of, of lessons learned. So tell me what an account manager does at HVH. I know you do a little bit of everything, but put on that account management hat. And how how does So I think what I'm trying to get at in the question is how do you interact with people? And what do you do for your people slash your customers that you're trying to help? Well, so, an account manager, I believe, account managers manage accounts. Right? So that sounds simple. But there's it's it's it's a pretty It sounds about simpler data. It sounds much simpler than it is. There's a lot that goes into it. Greg, and I, you know, of course, I tell everybody if I can do it, anybody can do But, but the the the fact is and I was thinking about that too, you know, what I do every day, the reason I get up is for people. Yeah. And I like to work with people, and so, all along the way, and I and I'm chasing rabbits for just a minute, but all along the way in my career, the one thing that stayed centralized was my desire to serve people. And so, for for for whatever reason, I believe it's I believe it is, you know, endowed by god, our creator, that you know, you have gifts and abilities that you can use and, you know, god places us all here to do something. And so he's put it in me to serve people in in any level. And so as an account manager, the way I the way I use my gift, I believe, you know, Obviously, there's a goal. We we don't just do HVAC. I mean, HVAC is a big part of what we do. But the people part is the part that I like. And, you know, I can be honest and say that my technical knowledge is not near what it, what what my peers may be But, you know, emotional intelligence and all that stuff that I feel like I I think I have does prove to be an asset in my role. And so I go around and, I meet customers that have a need They need a HVAC magnets where they need a piece of equipment replaced, chiller or Kugelan Tower or whatever. And then, obviously, I assess their needs and, I provide the resources through HVH. And local seventy two, the the good people of Atlanta, Georgia, to to get their needs met. And so And then, of course, you know, all along the way, you make peers and relationships with vendors. So, you know, there's a lot of a lot of other things that go along with, just maintaining relationships. And so, relationship management is a big deal, and, it's a big part of what we do as an account manager. I mean, you know, granted we we manage the account. We we we we we check invoices and we, we maintain margins and we We bid jobs. We quote jobs. We I mean, you know, there's a a host of things that we do. But all in all, at the end of the day, it's a bad relationship. And managing those relationships both from the customer level and external customers and internal customers. And so we have to we have to sell the job, do the job, pull the job, sell the job, do the job, and then we have to on the back end, we have to make sure that everybody internally is whole and healthy and, that our guys are trained. And so there's just a lot of variables that go into what I would say an account manager does. In order to do it with? Well, the the, I've often you know, when I was when I was younger, I used the technical skills were probably half of the job and, you know, the rest of the stuff, even at a at a technician behind a windshield, you had to be good technically, and then there was other stuff to do, you know, paperwork and all that mess. The technicians don't like to do. But as I've gotten older, I I really believe that technical skills are probably twenty five percent thirty maybe. With the balance being communication based themes, seventy percent communication, whether that's written, oral, nonverbal, all that human stuff. You know, the machines are easy. They don't ever swabble or show up you know, they're they just do what they're supposed to do. They make cold water, make cold air, hot air, whatever they're supposed to do. But, the the skill and and you mentioned several things from EQ to making sure your people are happy and healthy and whole To me, that's the money. You know, that's just the sweet spot because, you know, I I used to teach our sales of ages HBC one zero one because they needed to know the basics of air conditioning in order to sell maintenance, in my opinion. But what those ladies brought to the table was the ability to read a room, reach situations, understand the the the flow of the conversation, when to bring in a heavy technical person, when when to keep it light, you know, they just had a a really good knock for that, that it all comes down to that exchange of, the human side of it. And I I'm just I don't know if I'm getting softer. I said softer. I've always been pretty soft probably, but, I I just love that part of it and the relationship part. And I've had, a really good couple of weeks I've connected with some folks that I hadn't seen in a while and talked to people in a while. And, it's just really rewarding when you look back on, like, what you were talking about with Jeff and seventeen years with him. And you go through a lot of stuff together, you know, and that stuff is what makes the relationships work. And I'm just I'm proud that you have that and have had that, in your career. So you also wear other hats, whether that be thinking about training, thinking about safety. I know a a lot of the little things that you do. I'm curious When you go out and you meet a new customer, what do you feel like you connect on the best? Whether it be a lady or a guy or what what's your When when you feel it click, what is it typically around? Like, is it talking shop, or is it helping them understand, you know, what all you can help with or how how does that flow? What when do you have that moment of, okay, worth clicking. Typically and I'm thinking of I'm trying to think of a scenario so could tell a story. Everybody likes a story. But I typically click obviously, you click when you have something in common with people, Yeah. You know, in my background, I was the installer, even when I was working for Jeff, I mean, I I When I first started working for Jeff, I did a little bit of plumbing. Of course, I was came in as a plumber. And and if you can believe that, I I was a plumber. But I I was a tenant plumber before when I was doing new installs and construction work, and then I went into service plumbing, and I figured out, man, This right here just is not for me. And I had a mentor named Kyle Jacobs, which he passed away in two thousand twelve, I believe, as a young man. But, you know, he was my mentor for my first few years with Jeff, and he was a pipe fitter, by trade. So he he convinced me to to be a pipe fitter. Okay. He he he said, man, you don't wanna do that. And I didn't. I wanted to weld. So I've started welding. And, anyway, so I was a welder installer. And Kyle passed away, and he was a near and dear friend of mine. I think he was thirty thirty thirty three years old. Yes. Terrible, brain cancer. And, anyways, he he was a mentor in one I love and, of course, owed a great debt of gratitude to, on because he he pushed me out of I told you earlier I was a kid when I started. He pushed me out of being a kid, and he pushed me to do better. And, of course, he died, and I actually spoke at his funeral, but that that was a turning point for me when when he left, and I was like, man, I gotta get my stuff together. And, anyway, you know, he had died, and I just didn't know what to think. And so as a young man, I lost him, and I lost terrific people in my life, that we don't have to get into all that. But for the years, all they've called lost my dad was really the what people always say, what, man, what what fuels your fire and dude, people leaving the earth? So, anyway, we won't get into that yet. But Kyle was a big mentor of mine, and, He led me to be a pipe fitter. So I became a pipe fitter, and I was obviously an installer. Well, Jeff, along the way, he said, hey, man, I want you to do some technician stuff. So I got some gauges, and I I, you know, started all my apprentice training at that company that I was with, which was they had they had a great training regimen. Right? And a great culture. And so thanks thanks to them for that. But I started training my apprenticeship training and and Jeff was real big on training it. So I did a little bit of everything, and I learned about service, and I was working on lieberts, and doing doing dabbling in it. But, anyways, I say all that to say the main my main thing was was retrofitting equipment. Right? So big shutdown type stuff where, you know, we've shut Pete Street straight down to change out the cooling towers. And I'll never forget Kai when Kyle was still alive, and he was healthy. Man, so I was his apprentice, right? That's a third year, second, third year apprentice. But I was a hard worker getting there, get it, and we work long hours. You know, I hit Jeff's, hours list for a couple of years in a row. We just worked a lot. Know, changing out all that equipment. And so but I remember Kyle set me up. He was the foreman, and, he had just become a foreman himself, not long before. And I remember we did a big crane lift and man, he had been grooming me out and mentoring me up and coaching me And he said, Hey, I want you to run the ground crew. And I thought, man, you want me to run the ground. There was ten guys on the job, and I get to be in charge. And so he set me down on the ground and, you know, anyway, that was my first taste of leadership. And so I began to thrive in that world. Right? So, I started to click with me there. Like, man, this really good. I I can be in charge of these folks, and I can I can be a part of something bigger? And so Kyle initially gave that to me. I went through, you know, the next ten years running those jobs and doing that stuff and growing in my leadership to where I ended up having my own jobs to run. And when Kyle passed away, I had to fill his shoes, you know? And then I said, well, I'm not really ready for this. I don't think I'm capable, so I want some training. And so I went to that company CEO, and I said, Hey, I I want I wanna do more. And I wanna do bigger and better stuff, and I wanna be in charge of a bunch of stuff. And they said, well, you need to go run some structure jobs. You need to learn how to kinda cool stuff. And I said, well, put me in. You know? So I accepted the challenge, and I went into, different departments and moved around. And and so anyways, I say all of that to say. I really thrived and worked where where I could be a part of planning the stuff and and and doing the big shutdowns. I ended up going back to work for Jeff, and I did five or six helicopter whips in my career, which were the real mission critical type. Like, get on your toes. This is important. We have to make this happen. And that's where I thrived. At least I think. So if you ask me where I thrived, I think that's where I thrived. I was real big on planning. And execution and not failing to put together a team. And so I realized how important leadership was and all of that. And so I became a student of leadership. You know, you about you and I have discussed some of that where I started reading books because I wanted to learn how to get better at doing what I was doing. And so when it, you know, these helicopter lifts and these big crane lifts, these critical lift jobs that I was doing, there was very, narrow margin for error. And so that to me was where I where I thrived. And so to today when, you know, you as you grow in your career and you change what you do, you can typically go back and find that one thing that that that you were good at, that that you've gotten better at. And so anytime I walk into a facility now and there's a mission critical, anything, it it I'm drawn to that. And so, it could be a, a helicopter lift, a crane lift, or or just, you know, data center work. Or whatever. Wherever the the, the odds are that the risk is high. I I tend to thrive in that area. And so that's where I would I would say that's where I that's when I turn on. You know, there's there's nothing more magical about a big lift or a helicopter job or overnight shutdown, and you gotta be running at eight o'clock the next morning. I I freaking love that, you know, to this day. I do. I I really do. I'm I mean, we will have a lift going on in Chicago. And I'm, like, on the phone with the with project manager. Like, dude, send me some pictures, you know. And he's, like, why are you not in the bed? Because, you know, it's, like, It's Chicago. We got this. But I just I mean, I love that environment. My my my thought is that people that have your skills, people that have your drive and your passion always develop And we talk about this a good bit on the show here. It is the ability to exchange trust with the customer. And, You know, I'm a I sent you a book on, Gidimer's book on Trust. And there's other books. Obviously, I plug him when I can because I'm trying to getting the bommie lunch one day to get a mirror of your listening, but It it's just a matter. Once you once you had change that. Things just click. You know, it's like you feel like that you're doing all you could do for them. And they basically hand you the keys to the kingdom and say, I'm all in with you, brother, because if you screw this up, It's just like me screwing it up. So you have that that mutual, fear and motivation, you know, because those two things tend to go together, when you don't wanna screw something up, you you have the, you know, you don't have to let it dominate your thought, but having a little dose of, oh, my gosh, we can't screw this up. It's healthy. As as you're explaining to ten people on the ground crew, This is what we gotta do, and we gotta be out of here. We gotta street permit closure and all that crap that that it took months to build. Comes down to a two hour window. And, you know, I I'd I'd just I'd get that. I'll love it. But I really do think it's about trust. And, you know, I what the first time I really talked to you and met you, I I sensed that. You know, you were the kind of person that I would wanna go to battle with. And I think your customer sensed that, you know, if you're, walking upright and living a good life, I think people know that. They can they can tell it. They can see the, tenacity that you bring. They see the detail, you know, the the work you put in before the meeting so that you can make the meeting productive instead of rehashing the twelve emails that you didn't read until you got there. You walked in blind. So I love that stuff. No. It's good. And planning is all part of it. You know? And but but you're right about trust. That's foundational. In a customer relationship. And, I mean, you know, I tell everybody that that's ever worked with me, you know, obviously, in my career, I've been a manager. I wasn't always a a account manager or sales guy. I was I've been a manager of people, And and now too, I still have some guys that and some folks that report to me in the organization now. And so trust is is paramount in the way that I operate. In fact, I've I've people that I've told, look, you you can do a lot of things But if you lie to me, you know, you can't work. I can't work with people that I can't trust. And so you can do just about anything, but if you break trust, That's that's where we're gonna dance. So and customers, I tell the same thing. They can trust me with their very lives. And I take it very seriously. I I read a book one time called Extreme ownership, but Jocko Wilink. I don't know if you've read that, but I read a lot of books. I'm a bookworm, but that book was really good, echo everything I've ever known about any level of ownership But, I mean, obviously, Jeff taught we we we taught ownership at at the previous contractor in But ownership's a big deal, and I do have that very, very much. I I take it personal, sometimes too personal. My work And my customers know that they can trust me and that at the end of the day, if it all goes awry, I'm gonna be standing in the building when it happens. No matter what. And so they know that. They pick up on it. And I think they do. You know, if you interviewed some of our customers, I would hope that they would say that very thing, you know, that the germ is gonna be here. So I suspect they do. People like to go to peep people like to go to battle with people that they know are going to be there when the poop gets them the fan. You know? You're not gonna run from it. Alright. And, you know, Jeff, worked under my dad for so long. And my dad, you know, he also carried that ownership in ality, although he wasn't an equity owner at the company. His mission, you wouldn't know you would not have know he wasn't an owner. The way he carried his business, of the company on his shoulders. And and I think Jeff had some of that experience, you know, with with dad. And, you know, Jeff's dad was a policeman. So, you know, God knows. He he got his dad and my dad. Ain't a there's no tell him why he's crazy. That's that's what I can tell you. So what is what is it like for you to go to work, for HVH, which at the time, you went there. It was relatively small, but growing rapidly company versus working for a company with over a thousand people. How does that how did you make that shift in in you know, used to ordering a truck was nothing. You just called a guy and you got a truck. You know, extension two one two two, and, wow, you had a truck. Now when you need a truck as a smaller company, when you went there, it's a different process or or outfitting a whatever. How did you make that adjustment from going from seeing more money wasted in a day than y'all made in a month? That's good. That's a good, good analogy. It it was very, very tough. You know, it was new. And so, man, I love to build stuff. Right? So always loved to build stuff. Build, you know, it used to I used to build pipe. And so the company is no different. When I joined up, I think, and, don't hold me to this. I, I think there was about fifteen technicians maybe something like that and, a couple plumbers and, a pipe fitter I believe. And so, you know, they they they had their ebbs and flows, but I joined up, and it was very different. You know, both from the management level and from the structure of the organization. Yeah. But I think you know, I got in with with both feet. And so I and I go back to that time, you know, I I kinda jumped over there when my father my dad died in August of twenty twenty. And, shortly thereafter, I I was really You know, and I'm I'm kinda chasing rabbits again, but I I We we chase them. I think it's important. Yeah. I think it's important to say that, I realized how short life could be, you know, when I lost my debt. And so it takes me back to even some scripture, and I'm not gonna coil that now, but where it says life is a vapor. Yeah. You know? And so anyways, I jumped in to to so I decided that life was too short And I wanted to do something different. And there was a lot of other things. I mean, we had COVID and we had there was a lot of things going on in twenty twenty. Right? So we don't wanna reopen all that stuff, but So, I was really wanting to kinda turn a new, a new leaf and do something different. And so it's just a timing thing. And I jumped in with Craig Kevin and Tracy. And I said, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna do this whatever we gotta do to to make it happen. And so I had some serious tenacity because of what the potential was. And I knew that if I dug in and worked hard, as I had always done, that that we could build something You know? And so, being a part of that build, and even now, I mean, we're still building, you know, but being a part of that was what led me to to jump in. And then, of course, there's so many things that goes with that, and challenges you know, but I was always one that wanted challenges. And so, that's just what I took on. Now along the way, the structure changed. Obviously, we, you know, we worked through all that stuff. Right. But there was a lot of difference. In the way we operate it. And, you know, there was a lot of freedom that came too. Right? But I believe that with freedom comes responsibility. Absolutely. So, you know, people people don't really understand or they don't really think about freedom in the some of the ways you should look at freedom because if you have a lot of freedom, then you have a lot of responsibility. And so, really, you don't have freedom. So anyways All that comes with maturity as well, you know, you have to to understand freedom, you have to understand what screwing off is, and then you have to understand what not screwing off is. And as you're growing in your career, you know, everybody screwed off at some point, and you either like that feeling or you don't. And people who like to work and wanna be productive and have a conscience about, you know, taking care of the company, you don't like those days. You know, you gotta feel like You know, when when I was a part of local seventy two, the creed was eight hours pay for eight hours work. And I never, you know, a day that you didn't get to really work. Like, you had to do something other than be productive. I never liked that. I really didn't. And You know, I think everybody is young people. They go through this, and they they they start to figure out their and and, really, I think it's a conscious, your conscious of how you feel Or for me, I'll speak for me, Ollie. But, you know, a lot of people struggle when they go from a large company to a small company or they make the jump from a small company into a large company. And it is so freaking different. You know? I left that company and went to work at Max Sarah. And as you know, Max is part of our our, umbrella of companies, but I was, like, employee number four, you know? I go from a company. We were, I don't know, seven hundred people at one time about when I left, and I go to a company of, you know, four. And you're talking about responsibility, you know, when people are you really understand what people's livelihood is at their whole when you're helping make their payroll in a literal sense. And, it's such a, an opportunity to grow mentally and and and to mature, it took me forever to get matured to a point to where I could think straight, probably most guys, thirty years old, I think, about when most men can start to think, without a without a pacifier in their brain, but, that's interesting how how you adapted to that. And the timing of your father passing and, you know, that resonates with me because my dad died early and He and I had some plans that, you know, I I didn't get to execute because of that untimely death. But that, like it did for you, was a moment to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, you know, and start something else. And That's how that's how we figure out what we're going to be, you know. Yeah. So I never wanted to have I never wanted to look back when I was fifty years old and say, what if? You know, that's always been something that, I've I've thought about. And when Connie and I would sit around and talk about starting a company or what have you, I never wanted to look at her and say, you know, we should have tried that. We should have went into business with ourselves and and took that leap of faith and so you do. You know, whether it's some business or making a big career move. So I love that story of yours. That's that's inspiring if nothing else. Yeah. So what what is, oh, your horizon, Jeremy. When when you think about outside of work, outside of home, everything combined. What do you what do you aspire to do when you hang your cowboy hat up on that on that hat rack at night saying, you know what? I feel like I've made my dent. I feel good about what I've done. What what what are some of those things without exposing your dirty laundry. What you what what are some of the things that motivate you and you'd like to be able to say I got that box checked. It feels good. I would say, you know, to get back, you know, so part of what fuels me, we talked about the people, you know, the the I I I desire to, to at the end of the day, I desire to, give opportunity to people. Right? So do my part in, changing someone's life for the better and some capacity in everything that I do. And so, I mean, you know, what what that's kinda what makes me tick. I I I wanna see people grow around me. And and that's in everything that I do. I wanna see my kids grow. It'd be, positive contributors to society. I wanna see, apprentices is at at at HVH grow. I wanna say apprentices grow at Local seventy two. I mean, I want to do my part in society in the world to have given everything that I could do to make everyone's life around me better. And so you know, and and that's not just some philosophical thing I make up. I mean, that's literally what makes me tick every single day. And so when when when I see, you know, I take people that have not been given the opportunities And and and and I can be a part to help them attain opportunity to become something a better version of themselves That's what I wanna do. And so that's that's let's leave your ship as a whole. And so I to study in and by the way, the reason I do all It's because I was given the same opportunity. And you heard me allude to, Kyle and Jeff and You know, again, this whole list of people. I mean, there's there's there's thirty people that I've roved down over the past twenty years. That have made me who I am both both bosses, peers, and even people that work for me. I'll tell a quick story because we all like stories. But I had a a guy that was working for me on a job one time. I'm not gonna name any names, but just a quick story. I was the general foreman on the job. Okay. And I was a big job. There was forty people working on the job, and I was the GF, you know. So, Long story short, I had went out one of the crews that was five or six guys in the crew, and this was a life changing story for me, but I went out there. There was five or six guys, and they were They weren't really doing anything and they were doing and thought what they were doing was the wrong thing. They were supposed to be working on something else, but they weren't. And so I ran over there. You know, hey, guys. What are y'all doing? And the crew's like, well, we're we're running this pipe. And I said, well, you're not, you're not working on the right pipe that we're That's the chill water. We're supposed to be working on the condenser water. Okay? So let's let's stop that and let's go over here. Anyway, they moved and went to work. And so I'm I kinda hung in there. The foreman that was of that crew foreman that was there was no nowhere to be found. And so anyways, he comes back. I don't know where he was, went to the bathroom where he comes back, and these guys are moving their stuff. And he's like, hey, bro, what are you doing? And that's the one I'm getting these guys all the right thing. He said, come on here for just a minute. So he takes me outside and he looks me in the eye and he says, Jerry. You can talk to them by anything in the world. You can talk to them about baseball, football, basketball, whatever you wanna talk to them about, but you don't talk to them about this this job. And if you do, you don't need me here. And I thought, what? I'm the I'm the general floor on this job. You know, you what are you talking about? He said, no. I work for you. They work for me. And, ma'am, learn something that day, and I don't even know why I'm telling you the story, but learn something that day. Use the chain of command you know, and used the the structure that's in place. And, man, everything is better. You know? And so I went through the rest of my career acknowledging the fact that, hey, I have to be a leader, and I have to empower other leaders to lead. And so you know, in in in order for all this to work. And if I don't empower others to lead, if I leave Fortland, then I I just stripped them of their very pride and every resource that they have. Right? So I just take their tool belt off and I don't even need the guy. And so, anyway, again, small lesson learned, but I learned lessons in in and stuff like that from both subordinates and and, you know, again, bosses, peers, and people that work for me. And so you take all that stuff and you you you put it in in in the hopper and you mix it up and you spit it out. But at the end of the day, I I wanna see everyone succeed around me and people that didn't have opportunity, I wanna create opportunity for them. And so Now what they do with that opportunity is up to them. And then I even go even further and say that I can help them see to seize the opportunity. Mhmm. No. A lot of times people will, they just don't look for the opportunity. You know, they just they're caught up in the day to day. And so I take pride in the fact that I can pull back and say, Hey, this is an opportunity for you, and I can paint a picture for them to understand and give them some vision. For their own life. And for and how that how does that come back and paint the picture for the company as a whole? You know, or or whatever I'm doing, my family, or or the company. But at the end of the day, I just wanted to to help people move the needle in their life to become a better version of themselves. And it all works out. That reciprocates. I love that because, you know, I I think that life so people like me and you, we don't have MBAs by any accredited university. But we get MBAs one nugget at the time just like that foreman teaching you that day. We don't get a semester of learning. We get micro burst of learning mostly couched in humility because we screwed up is how we learned something. Yep. And I would take my MBA hell, I probably got a doctorate and screw up, because I've screwed up more than the average bear. But To me, that is real life learning. You know, you're you're getting it right there, at the store. So I'll I'll love that story. I'm curious. Why why were they working on the chilled water instead of the peninsula? What did you ever find out? You know, I I I was trying to while I was telling that story, I was trying to remember, wanna say it was probably something that I screwed up, to be honest with you. That job was a bit of a mess, and I, again, I won't go into details, but It was one of the hardest jobs that, that company that I was working with had ever done, and I was on the front lines. I started in the ditch. With two apprentices running forty two inch ductile iron. And I ended up finishing out the job. We worked more hours that year. It was brutal, but I also attribute that job to to who I am today. Because it was such a challenge, and we worked fourteen, sixteen, seventeen hour days. I mean, I and I'm not kidding, shifts and night shifts. And it was a brutal brutal job full of of of a a a a variety of people very colorful people to say the least. And and it but it was something that at at twenty five years old, Thanks about how old I was. It was main, main, main. And so it you know, on the other coming out on the other side, it was brutal. And I hated it, but on the other side, I realized what I had just learned through what you talked about screwing up. Yeah. And so the the the the the odds are that they were working on the chill water because I didn't order the material for a condenser. Okay? Or or whatever the reason was. There was a reason. There was a reason. And that foreman knew the reason, and I didn't Yeah. And I just I just knew that they were not doing the right thing. And so he and I, man, we we kinda squared off about it, and then I was like, you know what? Fine. Take it. Run with it. And he turned out that was when we first met. He turned out to be one of the the the biggest assets on my team. And we had a mutual respect for one another. Damn. And, he was a great guy. Anyway, he taught me a lot. Along with me and just everybody around is if if you're just willing to learn and, My coach just recently had several coaches. My coach just recently said, reminded me to be curious And I know I've listened to some of your podcasts, and I've heard some people echo that too. Being curious. In truly curious, right, so So not just yeah. I'm curious. It's kinda like being humble. Yeah. I'm I'm humble. Well, are you really? Humble. But are you really curious? Because being really curious and really humble would be a state of being Okay? Not to have something that you aspire for, but it rather rather it's actually a state of beak. And look, man, if If you're in this trade, if you're on a planet Earth, you have a sin nature. And so You're not always curious, and you're not always humble. In fact, more times than not, you're full of pride. Right? And so if you aspire to, defeat pride and be humble, and, you know, you can't attain that stuff, but it is consistent. Work. He must be intentional every single day about pursuing humility and curiosity. And if not, man, this world will eat you up, spit you out. And that's just the way it is. And so, you know, at the end of the day, you can't change, the world around you if you can't change yourself. And so I try to to keep myself in check. Keep my ego in check, and therefore I can help others. But, you know, it's all part of it. Well, that, I mean, I I think we could stop right there because that's some pretty solid advice right there, brother. So I'm curious on that. What were y'all building? I don't wanna name the project, but what was it pharmaceutical or manufacturer? It was pharmaceutical. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. So Well, Jeremy, man, I I feel like we could talk another hour. Because you you have certainly brought to light a lot of really good, metal nuggets for me you know, when I think about some of the I'm I I think because we share the DNA of having worked there together, there's so many things that have popped and lit up in my mind while you're talking about these things. In particular, that job was one that kind of, you know, was foundational for your change. I remember mine. It happened while I worked there. It was out of town, and it was ugly. But, you do it, you know, and and, you know, you you're having a peb rally in the science room at two thirty AM in the morning, for me, is what it was, was rally in the troops for one more push Yeah. Yeah. I felt like, like, we were on the goal line, and we had, no time on the clock. And, you know, you gotta You gotta get everybody moving in the same direction. But, you know, it's kinda like when you hear a team that says, oh, we lost that game in the last twenty seconds, or we we ruined our championship season? No. You didn't. That was the culmination of your season. Everything didn't happen right then. You didn't lose the season championship in the last game because you had sixteen or twenty four or whatever games before that. To solidify your place. And it's the same way with coaching on a job site. You have to have that foundational support already well in play before the poop gets in the fan. That's just the By the time it's in the fan, that should just be a way of a a a, like, a normal thing to go do is clean up. Because you've been training for that day. And you don't have to have this emergency all hands on deck because that's what you've been building towards, I love your stories, man. I love I love your story and your stories. But more so, I'm glad that we finally get the work together. That's what I really like. So I guess we shall cut a bow on this I really do appreciate you taking time, taking away from your lunch, to sit here and have a conversation and really do appreciate it. Appreciate your insight and your and your curiosity and your humility. Yeah, man. Well, it's important. And, You know, everyone would serve themselves well, and if they'll work on that, be me, me, I am the the king leader of I need some help in those areas. So, you know, hopefully whatever whatever we extracted today will help someone in the near future. So Well, I hope so. And, for all of you out there listening, thank you for taking time with us. Is is always good when we get to talk to people like Jeremy, people who are committed to getting better, who wanna do better, and they wanna give it, give it away. I think that's a special special gift. So if you wanna hear more fun stuff. Go to great crumpton dot com. There's a a rovette wheel. You can click on, podcast and listen to these podcasts, or you can go to market scale, and hear straight out of Crumpton or Apple or Spotify or just about anywhere. That you'd like to go get your podcast, you can find us. But, for Jeremy Milton, I'm Greg Crumpton. I appreciate your time and look forward to catching up with you on the Dutch one. Thank you, Greg.