Eric Tilghman welcome to the podcast how are you this morning I'm good Molly how are you I'm doing well I was saying to
you as we were getting oursel kind of set up that I think you are the very first in-person client that's in the
podcast Studio I was hoping to break some records today you certain if if someone else beat you to it and I'm not remembering I really apologize but I
yeah I don't I don't think so super glad to have you here thank you for being game to podcast yeah I'm I'm grateful
for the experience I'm flattered for the opportunity and I'm hoping to bring some value to everybody you absolutely will I
know that before we jump in for our listeners who don't know you can you tell us you know who you are what you do and where you're from uh yeah so my name
is Eric Tilghman I'm the CEO of Tilghman Builders we're based out of Hatboro Pennsylvania not far from the Nolan not
far at all yep and I I met the Nolan uh because I I actually did Brian's Edition
back in 2020 and then a few years later we started working with you guys love it
it's good stuff we're happy to have you guys and um you know your whole team a part of a part of the summit member group group let's talk a little bit
about your journey to becoming CEO of Tillman Builders what did that path look
like for you well it was it was messy and it was difficult back in 2016 uh I I
was a a lead Carpenter up until 2020 but in 2016 I had an interesting thing happen to me I was uh I was a lead
Carpenter in the field and my guys kind of circled around me one day and they had a intervention and told me that I
was a terrible leader W and I know you didn't know this was coming no this is gold yeah and they they complained about
me micromanaging and this and that and just being a little too rough with them which I was in hindsight looking back
but at first there was a lot of resistance and I I blamed it on them and you know it was a lot of like you know I'm the only one that can make a great
cut you know sort of like mental I don't know head trash kind of you know a little bit of ego maybe too absolutely
you know and it was just poor leadership really I mean you know you have to you have to trust your team but you also have to lead them and it's uh I didn't
learn much about leadership you know you you you become a carpenter then you become you know one of the better
carpenters and then you become the leader but nobody teaches you how to lead and that's the position that I found myself in back in 2016 and so
basically the journey that I that I took to where I am today is I eventually accepted what they said as being true
and I started learning about things on YouTube like I started learning about you know waking up early and um thinking
positively and Leadership business self-discipline Law of Attraction and things like that and I totally got
hooked again like I said started waking up at 4:00 a.m. W right do you still do that I do oh God so you've been up for
hours at this point then I've been up since four basically a full day yeah yeah it's great um and so uh anyhow you
know I started uh really getting into this type of YouTube content I I'd never seen it in my life I I never really
applied myself before this so here I was kind of like right around 30 years old starting to you know finally kind of
find some some purpose and um and I got hooked I got hooked on purpose personal development the content and I listened
every day for years and I still do today and then in 2017 you know I had learned enough and I got very excited about what
I was learning with like positivity and just seeing the world through a different lens and how I affect the
world and you know I got a little itchy I wanted to do something difficult I actually left the job site one day and I
went home to clean my garage I just needed to kind of like unwind uh and I actually called my parents who were my
bosses at the time and I told them I'm not fulfilled I'm bored I want to do something hard and I'm thinking about
quitting wow yeah so um what was their reaction to that it was an hourlong conversation they were blown away but
they also understood I mean they they had seen some changes in me that year or so it set in pretty quickly and you know
through talking I mean I wonder maybe you know quit the company start flipping houses or start my own company you know
being the boss's son your whole life I I kind of wanted something with my name on it you know so it was at that point that
it was really uh really difficult over the course of that conversation they basically said hey why don't you take
this new found energy that you have and put it into the family business I don't know why I didn't think to do that to
begin with but maybe was you didn't want to step on their toes I mean you this is this was their company this wasn't yours
you also it's also maybe a you had some ego but not overbearing enough where you thought like you had the right to make
changes to their business right exactly and and you know I felt so far away from
being able to make any real change in the company you know I was in the field I was swinging a hammer I'd been doing that my whole life and you know there
was really no clear path forward anyway as a result of that conversation I kind of spent the next two years Paving that
way you know I I just kept learning just every day I would just have this this YouTube content playing in my one
headphone just all day constantly I learned a lot and and I'm glad that I went through that time it kind of kept
me going it kept me excited about the future it was still unclear but you know there was there was one quote that
really stuck with me uh it was a quote from Inky Johnson and the quote was honor the sacrifices that others have
made for you and that actually became one of my wise for a long time you know
still is to this day you know I talk to Bob and you know we look at the the company and the way that it is and you
know I'm filled with energy and I and I love making changes in the company and you know what it really really boils down to is that you know that's where I
started and and I think that's still good bit of my why it gives you good perspective too and like the role that
you have now because you've you've been in the field you you've done you've seen kind of all all parts of the business I
have to wonder the the that pivotal moment in 2016 you know when you got that that intervention one are there
anybody is anybody still with the company now that was a part of that intervention yeah and do you think about
from now to then and like have they ever said to you like you've come so far Eric no you guys give them some Kudos you
know it's all good yeah you know it's all good the relationship changed and and I feel it you know I feel the love
and they feel the love and it's all good it takes you know a lot of Courage on your team's part to be to be able to you
know confront you in a respectful way and say listen this is not working it also takes a lot of Courage on your end
to actually listen to it and not to deflect and there was Pro there may have been like you know some moments where
you wanted to do that but ultimately you you took what they had to say and you you you worked it yeah and you know to
be perfectly honest it was right around the same time that I was having similar issues in my marriage you know I was I I
just kind of slid I slid into kind of this rough version of myself and and I I had no intention of being that way but I
also wasn't really I was just flying through life you know I was waking up just barely on time and just flying to
work and then dealing with the problems in an unhealthy way and then and then coming home and being grumpy and then
repeating that you know and in construction there's a lot of that and so I kind of just adopted that mentality
you know for a while it's interesting how you know it impacts all parts of your life it's not just at work you're also like you said you feel it at home
too there's also something you you said you know turning 30 is when you felt like you started to gain that that purpose I feel like I know a lot of
folks in that position I feel like when I turned 2930 that's when I was like oh and now I know what I'm doing now I I
can recognize my strengths and now I've got a little bit more of the the right path I'm going down I think that's kind
of part of growing up right your 20s are like there for you to learn to mess up redirect yeah 30s is where you get a
little bit more serious but 20 that's I feel like that's what the 20s are for yeah well it certainly was for me some
people have it figured out a lot earlier than that um not all of us are are so lucky in that capacity but yeah
interesting that that kind of resonates so um you know to kind of continue the journey in 2020 I got into marathons I
met Brian Nolan you know so uh we got hired uh by Brian and Agnes in 2020 and
you know Brian came into my life at a at a really fun time because I had continued on this path I had learned a
whole lot I was still waking up super early and I had trained for a couple of marathons I was training for one at the
time during his project Brian's a runner your whole family are Runners many of us yes yeah and um you know we connected on
that and we connected on a lot of the same type of people that I was listening to on YouTube so he was able to speak my language and you know Brian's energy is
infectious and so I kind of looked up to him and I thought he was a neat guy anyhow it's a shame what happened cuz uh
it was actually on Brian's job that I finally made my way from the field and now into the office so because of covid
there were many backlogs and and delayed items and construction materials and so I said to Bob is my father I said hey
somebody ought to be managing these things I mean this could become a real mess for us if if we're not tracking
these materials and ordering them ahead of time and things like that and so it was at that time that he was like well why don't you come in and and be that
guy and and it was at that point that I just took off you know I just see you
Brian and then Bri but then yeah then your career you mean to where you are now took off from there when did you
officially become CEO of the business that was in towards the end of 2023 so for a while I was operations manager
then uh we promoted one of our lead Carpenters to operations manager I became more of like like a COO was my
title okay yeah and then I I slowly had like less and less responsibilities and took on the CEO role there's
shareholders ship things in our company where where Bob's Bob's majority shareholder you know there's no question
I'm I'm all in on the business and so it just was the right thing to do for for him and for me and for the company you
know and so that was a great change and I'm really grateful for that and uh so you know just to kind of finish painting
the picture from 2020 uh we we we had about 10 employees I'd say in 2020 and
now we have about 30 in 2025 wow so it's been great things are growing things are growing I'm grateful and now you're
almost 2 years you know into this new role and I feel like you feel like you've got your feet on the ground as a
CEO yeah it was hard at first because you know at first being an operations manager you don't have to keep yourself
busy there's things flying at you all day probably too many it was intense and uh I got good at it I got good at kind
of deflecting it and staying calm and you know not taking it home but then it changed and I I I felt like I less value
in the company for a period of time and so I had to kind of wrestle with that for probably about eight months I just
you know I had this nagging feeling in my gut and that's that's what it was what's my role Here Am what am I
supposed to be doing yeah and and it's funny because now uh and Bob was doing sales at the time now I'm doing all of
the sales and Bob is you know doing like a CFO role so he's he's just in the finances all day every day and he came
to me and said hey man when you took on the the role of CEO did you go through this thing that I'm going through and
I'm like yeah cuz you that's something brand new yeah and you're so accustomed to knowing what your value is and what
you're doing and who's responsible for you know coming to you for things asking you questions yeah it's a you put on a
totally different hat that hat looks very different it it does I'm enjoying it so it's very clear since you've made
that pivot you know that that mindset switch you've become pretty goal oriented you're pretty driven driven
person was there any part of that like earlier on in your life and then something happened and then you got back
to it or like before 2016 after 2016 like you the goal you're now a gold
oriented person it changed overnight changed overnight it changed overnight yeah it was that conversation I had with my guys a conversation I had with my
wife and then the next day I woke up at 4:00 and just started and I told my wife and you know my guys at the time I said
I'm going to start making a change and you're never going to see the old guy again and you know that's I uh held up
my end of the bargain yeah that I mean that that's I think the crucial point because a lot of people can you know say
that they want to do those things did you have an accountability partner or was it your team and your wife that you felt like were holding you accountable
uh well you know in the beginning they didn't believe me right I mean you know it's it's like only time will tell and
so it was uh it was just a lonely process it was those those early mornings were dark and lonely and they
probably still are at 4:00 a.m. they're still pretty dark they're still dark and lonely but but they're not sad they were
sad for me at the beginning but you know I mean it was a catalyst for reaching my potential and still not quite there but
you know I I I love my life and I'm I'm really grateful all that I went through you that's awesome I appreciate you sharing that I feel like I mean you've
got pretty vulnerable there and I think that's but that's how you get real about situations in life like you can't talk
about the messy stuff then like no one's going to believe the good stuff yeah at the end of the day exactly and and you
know my hope with this podcast is you know just to if we could just reach one listener that has a similar situation or
or a similar background you know maybe that one that's not great or you know or not even uh or not awful like my my
parents loved me growing up I have you know I had a great childhood but you know I just kind of found myself in a spot and then needed to make a change I
made the change and in a different place good dear well let's talk about that that place now you Colin shared with me
you mentioned this I the ideal day concept can you explain to me what that
means yeah so it's become it's become a bit of an obsession uh and I'm sure
there's let's unpack that I've met I've met a few guys through you know Nolan uh that I'm I'm sure are right right there
with me but you know once you start you really don't stop and basically the ideal day to me I mean it's it's a
loaded question you know every day is not the same and every day is not perfect you know we'll probably be
getting into like morning routines here and things like that but you know I just want to be honest and uh and and up
front so that I don't discourage anybody I am not a robot and I do not hit it perfectly every day you know cuz I
that's good to know when when I started learning about this uh it seemed to me like who these guys they're just like
robotic and they can just outperform everybody they don't miss a minute you know and once I really got into it I
mean you know you do you you go on vacation you you have jetl whatever it may be it's okay you know sleep through
your morning routine if you need to you know sometimes you got to take that personal day to kind of that mental you
know mental health Daya re to reset so what does your ideal day look like so my
ideal day it's changed over the years uh back in 2017 you know when I was in the
field and and all the way up till 2022 when I was still operations manager basically the it all starts in the
morning and that that's really what it was it was basically like win the morning win the day and so you know back
in those days it was basically I would I would wake up and as quickly as possible do things that I didn't want to do you
know it created a confidence that I was lacking at the time and it just really set the tone for my day you know the
problems that came at me later in the day were not nearly as difficult as the first one I faced of the day which was
go out at 5:00 a.m. and go for a run in the dark that one's really hard it's really hard yeah yeah so so back then it
was um you know it was a for and wake up again I was struggling with like anger and poor leadership and just I don't
know like negativity kind of and so someone once told me like first few minutes of waking go into your bathroom
and smile in the mirror and that's what I did and I I I did that for a couple years I would start my day and just a
big old smile in the mirror and that changed things is it like a fake it till you make it like I'm going to make
myself happy here oh and now I am feeling so endorphins a little bit Yeah and and you know it stretches out your
face muscles and gets you ready to smile throughout the day you know we need that those of us that clench our draw our
Jaws overnight yeah exactly yeah and and you know I would come downstairs I have
the iPad ready I'd have some content on there with you know whether it be affirmations or gratitude or something
you know to pop in my headphones and you know just to keep the negative thoughts away because back then that was my
default just go right to all the things that went wrong yesterday and they're going to probably happen again today and
you know that whole song dance and then eventually I got into meditation and stretching and journaling and then you
know you know running and and and lifting is always been a part of the morning routine but then when I made the
shift to to CEO in 23 my responsibilities changed my work changed
I'm a pretty creative guy I would say I'm similar to Brian I kind of like uh jump without a shoot you know and uh and
I like that I like being that way but the you know the intention had to change and it wasn't until I went away with our
peer group you know Colin and those guys we were in we were in Washington oh yeah last year it was great and I it was
perfectly timed I needed it cuz I was going through this transition and wasn't sure what was the problem you know I
think really the goal for my morning routine Now is really just to stay calm
stay relaxed downregulate my nervous system you know stress is always just an inch away for me I mean I can grab on to
worry at any moment and so I'm constantly trying to stiff arm that I feel that that's a battle for that's a
battle it could be really terrible you know anyway I uh you know so I wake up at 4 I never snooze for anybody out
there that that snoozes guilty snoozing is terrible for your health actually it
it it messes up your your sleep so bad that extra 30 or 15 minutes whatever you're getting it crushes you so anybody
that's out there remember that tomorrow yeah yeah yeah I'm telling you and I can feel it you know I'm I only learned this
stuff and then tried it that's all but then as soon as I wake up I slam 16 ounces of salt water to get hydrated
than another 16 ounces of Clean Water anybody also that is a cheat code big
time better than coffee really better than coffee yeah I drink coffee right after that like soon after that but it
immediately like hydrates your cells it it just you can feel the difference IM how much salt to water what's the ratio
there so they make those element packets lmnt they sell them on Amazon those are good so you just throw that packet in a
bottle of water or what I prefer more than that is Baja gold salt it's like a fil with minerals and I mix that with
lemon and a pine glass of water it's yummy takes some preparation yeah um so then after I crushed the salt water and
the regular water I have a little room off of my my master bedroom that is only for meditation and and my wife likes to
do yoga in there so I go in there I put on a sleep mask I got a big fuzzy robe I lay on the floor and I meditate do you
not fall asleep I don't yeah the salt water helps okay yeah it's still really early in the morning I be like just put
myself back to bed right yeah well actually I have fallen as sleep before and and sometimes you know like again
like I'm not a robot so sometimes my weaknesses will creep back in and I'll say uh you know today I'll just meditate
in bed like and that's always a bad move plus I don't hit the snooze so there's
no secondary alarm when that happens right that's what danger sets in yeah yeah yeah and then right after I
meditate for you know 20 or 30 minutes I'll I'll stretch and you know kind of give thanks and and you know express my
gratitude in my mind I usually put my forehead on the floor and yeah just spend five 10 minutes stretching then I
move downstairs hit up the coffee machine I'll either journal or read or sometimes both you know depending on
what I what I have going on but the whole purpose is I just want to start my day with me in control selfishly it is
at that time it's all about me but my reasons are actually all about others and you know we'll talk about that I'm
sure you know later on but you know things that I gratitude or journal in the morning are gratitude my intentions
for the day sometimes I'll just Ponder like Life meanings you know things that I'm just trying to like figure out or
I'll connect the dots like I wonder you know I wonder if the universe or God you know put this my way because of this and
I'm so glad I went through that because that prepared me for this and I just kind of like sort things out you give perspective which is important yeah it's
really helped me and then you know I'll also explore my faith you know in in my journal which has changed so much over
the years you know too many of my my dreams have come true for me not to pay attention to that you know and so at
this point I do and then uh usually around 5:00 a.m. I'm done all that stuff and then I'll start doing some creative
work on the the computer cool yeah I try to stay out of my email I try to you know stay out of any you know mundane
tasks I I I do like sound mundane but like checklists and like you know things to improve the business you know I cuz
all the all the stuff that flies at you every day it's going to be there when I get to the office lately it's just going
to be there yeah I find email actually to be really distracting it takes me away from that Focus time when I'm
trying to work on a project and a couple Marine was also saying that too you know she's like I've tried to close my email
for like an hour and so I just so I can work on things and I have I have to I have to close the tab cuz I will immediately pivot back and go to answer
something that's not necessarily does not need to be answered in that next 10 minutes but it's very distracting yeah
by the end of the day and we all catch ourselves you know we'll have a day where we forget you know and I couldn't
agree more and you know by the end of the day you're like what did I even do you know did I just do what everybody
else wanted me to do yeah and that exactly what happened you know and it happens you know I'm sure it happened to
me this week know but but then the goal is the next day you you set your intentions and you don't do it that day
and you really the goal here is let me see how many good days in a row I can have you know and and if it's four out
of five work days that you're crush it and you're happy and you feel good well then that's a that's a win that's a win
you know so yeah a couple other things that I I I'd love to uh mention is um you know so uh well well actually the
morning routine is not done so right so so now we're into some creative work right that takes me to 6:45 and then I
jump in a night ice bath immediately after that I have an ice bath in my garage I'm in there for 3 to 10 minutes
42° you know I'll play some affirmations or sometimes I'll open the garage door and just be silent and then brief family
time while the kids are up they eat breakfast 7:30 hit the gym uh 9:00 a.m. usually in the sauna some more
meditation and then 10:00 a.m. I am at the office until about 5:00 p.m. and to
your point earlier about email I'm really into like blocking time so I I got away from to-do lists I really uh
I've got a lot of track with just setting up my calendar with all the things that I'm going to do you know and
I and I I sprinkle in there all those creative things that I enjoy most maybe I'll have like a few like things that I
don't really love doing and so I'll intentionally put some some things in between those things just to kind of gas
me back up you know so that I'm not just running on running down to empty I I try
to do that um what I what I still struggle with and I've said this before in the podcast is um respecting my
calendar so like I I will block time to do things and then other things will will AR R and I'm like I can just move
that 2hour block for that project to tomorrow once you move it once oh it's so easy to move again it just becomes
this this ends up on Saturday morning cor correct exactly or Sunday you know Sunday night you're like I this was due
tomorrow so it's it's it's really great that you've you've found a way to really respect and live by kind of calendaring
yeah and I only found that just recently and I I brought it up to my team and uh a few of the the guys in the office uh
now do the same thing you know and so and then you know after after work uh I
I I like and again I don't do it all the time but but my ideal day is a silent drive home I got 12 minutes on the way
home you know just complete silence and all I think about is or all I try to think about is just my kids and my wife
you know how am I going to show up what what's the first thing I say when I walk in the door you know what are they going to be like towards me when I walk in the
door and I just try to get some intention you know behind my identity shift that's about to happen you know
that's huge a question I had for you is how you know how you balance this this ideal day with the demands you know that
that that needs to fulfill yourself so you can fulfill others but there's a balance to that with both you know running a very large construction
business and also you know having time for your family you've got three kids three kids three kids yes I mean and you
know a partner who also wants your attention and support that's a that's a lot to balance yeah it it is and you
know I believe that um without the morning routine I would not be able to do it yeah you know I kind of have said
to people in the past if you if you want more time in your day start by spending three hours by yourself in the morning
you know and I it's it's it just I I got so so many results from this that like I
can't see it any other way you know and I personally I don't know how anybody goes through life without spending that
that time on themselves in the morning that's really what it what it is for is it's for others it's it's so that so
that by the end of my workday I'm not totally drained you know where my family is just getting the leftovers you know
because in business you know we it so bad and we try so hard and it you know with all the technology we're just
required to go faster and faster right you know it's easy to just kind of like be you know splat by the end of the day
yeah you know this is what I got left this is this is the rest of me you know to your your kids and and you know they
want they want energy they want they want energetic dad coming through the door you know the it's finally light out
longer and there's time to play in the backyard and they want you out there with them I mean it's but you got to have the energy to show up for that and
the mindset frankly yeah yeah definitely so you know I mean even on vacation and weekends I I I don't always hit it but
the alarm is always set it is always set always set for 4 even on a Saturday or Sunday morning yeah yeah usually usually
unless we have like a fun night or something but is something else yeah and you know it's just like why would I not
gift my family with the same effort you know so that that's the thought what time do you typically go to bed to wake
up at 4:00 a.m. 9:05 9:05 yeah I mean where the kids go to bed the same time
as us which is nice cuz we get to spend a little more time with them uh so 9:00 everybody's tucked in and then my wife
likes watching true crime in bed it's you know TV is not good for you in the in the room but it doesn't bother me one
bit as long as it's true crime I think my my body has like gotten used to this
there's something about us like women in our 30s who like True Crime I don't know why it's a weird thing it zonks me right
out so by 9:05 I'm totally out I I never get to see how the show ends ever and so
yeah yeah 9 9:00 905 so you're you're getting a decent amount of sleep then to restart your day at 4 yeah seven hours
something like that do you ever get any Flack from your wife about the 4 a.m. alarm uh no I'm I'm pretty good about getting right up that's good you've
mastered the silent yeah and it it started because I didn't want to you know make her upset so I would like
hurry up and and get up and the other thing with the with the alarm is I put it across the room if it was next to my
bed which it was for years forget it I mean I'm too sleepy in the morning I I'll I'll just not even remember
shutting it off yeah so that's where I should probably start yeah let's let's talk about bridging all of this you know
how you structure yourself and your your ideal day and kind of your goal- driven you know mindset to the company and the
company culture um how has this shaped for you in your in your mindset how has
this shaped company culture atment since maybe you know be 2020 or 2023 uh well
the leadership changed you know I mean uh I wasn't showing up great and now I I
feel like I am certainly room to improve but you know generally I'm pretty calm you know my guys have never seen me yell
except maybe some of those stragglers from before the the intervention yeah back in the day used to that's right you
know and I'm I'm pretty predictable I'm uplifting you know I think that that that's important for an organization you
know somebody has to be you know like you and Brian were talking about the other day you know like the soul of the
company I'm just gonna say that yeah yeah you know I I I hate to say that that's me but I I certainly contribute
and uh that's important to me and that's you know that really drives me I you know I I I want to be um as good as I
can for my guys you know and um you know the other thing is I'm I'm passionate about this way of life and so I talk
about it openly with my guys and you know I hope that they um you know discover their own their own sort of
Direction in life just like I have what are your methods of communication is it during meetings during one-on ones with
you know with managers it's probably most just in passing I mean we have Team
meetings once a month uh the whole team comes in for 2 hours I I have their ears uh we never talk about construction or
carpentry ever cool so we'll talk more about this kind of stuff I I always fit
this in uh we have like a personal growth club uh where I'm basically sharing content about this type of stuff
thinking positively Law of Attraction things like that things that guys wouldn't normally discover on their own
you know guys in construction and so you know um I spent a little time on that you know you guys had a thing on
unreasonable Hospitality the other day uh that that was um that's another thing that we we talk about in these meetings
but really it's in passing you know it's it's when somebody has a problem and you're you're in the middle of something and you can tell on their face that they
need your attention and you you just it's up to you as a strong leader to drop everything when you see it
necessary and give them everything you have yeah that's huge yeah that that person then feels like they they exist
in your world yeah they matter that's right and remembering you know their their wife name and their children and
their ages you know and it's hard the more people you you have on your team but you know I think that you know it's
like Follow the Leader you know it really is and so then others start to do the same thing and and then eventually
the whole organization treats each other a whole lot different I love that does any of this align with like the Tillman
company values or did you have you changed any values in the last you know 5 10 years as a result well we didn't
have any values uh really we we hadn't established any values um till we met all you guys oh that's fun yeah didn't
even know that and uh Andrew uh was our was our coach back in the day and he he was uh hey guys you got to pick values
and so we were working off a list and it was hard and weren't sure which ones to pick and you know and then one they all
seem great at different points in time yeah we would love to just choose all of them but um you know at one of our team
meetings uh our Three core values just kind of flew out of my mouth and they felt right so you know our core values
they're easy to get all get across to the guy cuz really they're like family values they're my values you know I live
my life with honesty accountability and kindness and you know that's just it so it's it's not hard I don't ever have to
fake it I never I get to just you know when you take this transparent approach in business you just get to show up and
be you you know there's no real preparation needed you know authenticity is is pretty amazing yeah and then you
know I mean the we talk about the vision a lot too you know and that's a fun one for me because all that meditation and
stuff in the morning that's what I'm spending a lot of my time thinking about you know I'll spend a little time on my
family and stuff and I'll I'll express my gratitude but I love visualizing the future of the company I I just enjoy it
I I had to do it back in 2017 when I was still out in the field and this was all just a dream you know but at least for
like 25 minutes a day I could like drift into outer space and like live this
alternative life you know and so then throughout the day it just it felt so real it felt so close and you know and
so now when I deliver the vision to the guys it's very simple I I don't have to prepare for it I just start I just start
talking cuz I already lived it hundreds of times in my life in my in my head and often times the guys are in those
Visions cuz I don't know strangers right I only know their faces so you know if we're going to expand and open up you
know more of a sales department um I I'll just pick guys from the team that seem to have potential and I'll put
their faces in those spots and so then I I think you communicate that to them like certain people like as part of the
vision like I I see you in this role and I asked that more so from like a uh wow
they he sees me kind of growing with this company and kind of developing
myself better yeah I think one-on-one you know is to if I'm gonna if I'm going to really tell a guy hey man I see you
you're you're special here you you you know you got operations manager written all over you right that's a that's one
conversation but something I do in front of the team is I just I just genu gen uh generally tell them like like we're
special you know we have something different we're we're going places you're coming with me you know keep growing because the company's growing
and I'm going to need to look back and pull someone up I mean that is the theme of our business promoting from within I
love that and um yeah it gets them excited and um and and but then you know you have to follow through with that
which we have time and time again I mean we grew from 10 to 30 and you know we have uh promoted so many so many people
I mean we pulled guys from the field they're now estimators um things like that so yeah delivering the vision is
fun for me I I really enjoy it what are some aspects of your company culture
that that you're most proud of probably well well certainly just the culture as a whole I really like the personal
growth Club that's cool I've I haven't heard of that before yeah we it you know admittedly I've I've fizzled the last
few months as I've been dabbling with sales it's just taking a little bit more time than I was expecting but before
that I would share content with the guys twice a week so I would send them like a long form podcast on Friday hoping that
they would you know listen to it as they're doing their lawn over the weekend or something and then I would
send them like a little short hype video or something on Monday morning you know or be like some super soft like you know
everything is always working out for me everything you know like just to you know I just want to expose these guys to
you know what's out there you know because it saved my life and it changed my life and I think part of my mission I
mean I like building houses and you know I like I I I'm I'm proud of what we do but what I really love doing is helping
people I really love that um I I like helping clients I like giving them an amazing service but I also really like
watching guys change and grow and there there been a there's one guy just recently I mean he he went through
something very challenging and uh he had gotten completely off the rails and we had to let him go and then he got better
and we brought him back and he fell in love with the personal growth club and started listening to everything I sent
him now he's sending me stuff and he just bought his own his own house which
was a I mean he totally switched his life around yeah you know that's really really cool does the personal growth
Club ever do they ever get together in person so it's been around for like a year uh we got together once and put
together vision boards you know at the start of the year and then we we had some accountability coaches with with the different things but there there's
definitely room for improvement with that but it's not going anywhere I mean it's it's sticking around definitely I
love it how kind of Shifting I mean there's the culture of the business and and you know developing your people but when it comes to your clients and you
just kind of you know you hit on that a little bit of what you are really proud of is you know the the impact that you
make on people's lives and trying to transforming you know their home how do you take all of you know what's
happening in your business and kind of your personal philosophy how does that translate into the customer experience
you know I wake up thinking about them you know I I really care I don't know why I don't know what makes me this way
but I genuinely I want them to be so impressed you know I want want them to
CU they're nervous you know they're nervous at the beginning of their remodel they're inviting some stranger men into their home you know maybe the
the husband works in an office and the wife stays home whatever it may be there's a lot to be like kind of unsure
about and I just want that to all be perfect for them yeah you know and um
because what it is that you're doing is disrupting their normal routine absolutely and so it's how can we maybe minimize like the disruption is going to
be there but how do we minimize that in in every form yeah yeah not don't you know don't park don't park them in you
know that they take the kids to the school at 8:00 a.m. you know those little tiny frustrations can really add
up over the course of 2 months six months the the amount of time that we're in someone's home and so yeah that's
that's a big one I just I want it to be I want it to be perfect you know I want them to kind of Wonder like how did how
did they do this how did they create such a wonderful business how did they get 30 guys who are rough and tough and
strong and young often times to be so sensitive and yeah attentive and stuff
like that I'm in love with the thought of that well it and I think you know the
way that that happens is because you have leadership who expresses that and
speaks to emotion and speaks to vulnerability and like you said you know about maybe 20 minutes ago you you set
the example as the leader like it's guys it's okay to talk about how we're feeling it's okay to talk about where we
need to improve upon it's okay to be emotional about things in our life like that's human exactly totally and in our
industry and you I think anybody listening to this this podcast you know we're in a rough industry I mean these
guys they were not they're not expecting me to talk like this you know and if it wasn't for my gentle mornings where I'm
doing these types of things I would never have had the certainty to deliver that type of message yeah you know so
much progress I mean it's it's would would 2016 Eric recognize himself now uh
no no I had no Direction yeah all right let's kind of just shift on maybe just
some advice that you kind of give to folks who you know are listening here especially maybe in the business owners
who are you know I feel feel the challenges kind of punching them every day you know one inch from stress I mean
we we always say business is messy you know expect problems for breakfast so this is your way to combat it but if
this is something so foreign to them what are some little baby steps that can get them to be more intentional about
their day well I think it all starts with getting good sleep you know get good sleep wake up early you know I
again I I think that um if I had to give advice I I would say and and you really wanted to try some and then monitor the
results uh start spending 3 hours or so on yourself before before you let the world in the world's going to be there
and it's going to you're armoring up time you are armoring up for sure absolutely you know you're you're
priming yourself it's not only so that you can be your best version for the people that you affect that day you know
whether it's the you know the cashier at the at the food store or or your family or or your employees you know but it's
also just to fend off stress and just to prepare for all of that that's bound to
come it always comes you know so also exercising diet I mean I can't say it enough I just I I think that mixing
business with exercise is just wonderful they're they're very parallel you know
you'll you'll get some aches and pains and then you have to figure it out you know and then and then you fix that but then this side hurts and you got to
figure that it's it's so similar to business and it's just this slow chipping away and it can be a
frustrating chipping away you know so yeah I I love uh working out and and think it's helped my business and then
the last thing I would probably suggest to anybody who's who's unfamiliar is mixing spirituality with business you
know I spend a lot of time thinking you know alone in those mornings and and um you know kind of looking for answers and
and then they kind of come to you and like Law of Attraction and and you know if if if you believe in God you know he
will answer your prayers and I found spirituality organically I never I didn't grow up this way at all I just
think that there's something there you know I really do like you'll think about a client and then all of a sudden
they'll pop up and say they you know I was just thinking about them that's weird that's right and it's not by
accident and and I just I I just feel that way I just feel like there's a universal energy you know we're we're
all we're all affecting each other and um I think it's it's there so yeah I mean how you show up into a room is
going to impact how I respond correct yeah I mean in its in its simplest form
very much very much like that what is um actually before I ask that question I'm just curious about the meditation
component do you have any specific structure that you use or do you f do you listen to something specific that
helps guide to guide you so back in 2017 I I downloaded YouTube and sub became a
subscriber or whatever you call it up you know I pay for it okay um and that's so that I can turn my phone off put it
in my pocket and still listen to it on my headphones and no commercials yeah so that's what I do I I I go through
YouTube I have many playlists I have one for medit one for morning one for Faith I have one for PGC the personal growth
Club so one for our leadership meetings and so in the morning I I usually already know which one I'm going to pop
on I pop on a guided meditation sometimes it's Joe dispenza he's incredible uh he'll take you into like
another dimension but then I also like like a nice soft like female's voice you
know and and and that's nice too yeah Joe dispenza Joe dispenza check him out yeah I will I will all right what is
just kind of bring us home here you know on this road of being gold driven and continuous Improvement what's one area
that you still feel like you're working to improve upon being kind to myself good one yeah I'm always chasing the
next thing you know and um Colin knows this and so does the whole gang that was with us in Washington uh I opened up
about this and they were very helpful the goals goals are great chasing that next thing is can become painful you
know because as soon as it happens it's gone you know I think for me uh just cutting myself some slack you know if I
if I have an off morning don't beat myself up you know I'm good it's all good we're human so that that's one
thing and then just kind of balancing My Two Worlds I think this would resonate with most being a a a driven CEO who you
know is just thinking about business constantly it is my hobby you know it's what I enjoy I like to lift weights and
I like to be the CEO of a construction company yeah I I enjoy it and so that's kind of my fun time and then balancing
that with being a funloving dad and husband you know it's tough to turn it off you know we always say separate
business from your family life you know I I wrestle with that concept because it's it's really all just me you know
it's just just my existence it's all one my business is only you're integrated and you there's no way you're going to
unintegrated it so it's how you it's how you balance within your within your day and I think that's why you you were
talking about the 12 minutes of silence and you're preparing yourself for that kind of next part of your day that is
family focused that's the integration is youve moved from one to the other intentionally yeah and identity sh are
are huge another just something somebody could do if they're trying to make some sort of progress in any direction
identity shifts so when I'm at the gym I I actually pretend have a good imagination and I can pretend that I'm
like a total athlete like you know I mean I'm 37 I I didn't go to play sports in college you know but I just I pretend
you know I pretend that I am like an Olympic Olympic lifter or if I'm running I pretend like I I have the best running
form you know that's my identity when I'm there I don't play on my phone I don't don't look on my email I am in the
gym 100% And then when I'm at work I'm that and then when I'm at home I'm that you know I have these these shifts
throughout the day and they help that's that's really interesting I love it I mean it it helps to have a creative
imagination to do that but we all could probably tap into that a little bit a little bit more yeah sure Eric what's
the Legacy that you hope to leave oh wasn't expecting that one the the Legacy I hope to leave you know like I said I
grew up a boss's son I want to I want to take what my dad started I want to turn it into something really really really
wonderful and big you know I want to affect as many lives as I possibly can employees and clients I want to change
the construction industry standard I want to do so through kindness and honesty and I you know I want my dad to
be proud of me and I want my family to be proud of me I want to affect people in a positive way it's a pretty great
legacy that's one that you could certainly be proud of I think you're very much on the way if not already doing it you're you're you're creating
that very actively Eric this was super fun I really appreciate you bringing us into your world kind of sharing your you
know what what got you here the messiness in between the vulnerability it's huge so thank you thank you for
having me you will be back all right thank you you passed the test thank you see you m