The Huddle - Episode 141 -Becoming one of the greats- installer highlight

Inside the Craft: Conversations with Go Carrera’s 5-Hammer Installers

Today, we're highlighting some truly exceptional guests — Go Carrera's prestigious 5-Hammer installers. These elite craftsmen represent the highest standard in the flooring industry.

Join us as we sit down with Jimmy Salisbury, Roland Thompson, Jerry McNeight, and Allen Lewis to hear their stories, lessons learned, and what it takes to reach the top of their trade. From the challenges they've overcome to the advice they’d give the next generation, this episode is packed with wisdom, inspiration, and real talk from some of the best in the business.

Whether you're just starting out or have years under your belt, you won't want to miss this conversation with the best of the best.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The value of continuous training and certification, how diversifying your skills can open more opportunities, why mentorship and community matter, and how treating flooring as both a craft and a business can take your career to the next level.

Stay Connected & Join the Conversation!

The Huddle Podcast is where the flooring industry comes together to connect, learn, and thrive! Recognized as the #1 podcast in the flooring community, we provide an unmatched platform for professionals to discuss everything from installation techniques to industry trends.

At The Huddle, we’re all about driving Forward Progress—empowering seasoned installers, contractors, and flooring enthusiasts to grow, innovate, and lead in their craft. Whether you’re looking for real conversations, actionable insights, or inspiration to take your career to the next level, The Huddle is your home for real discussions that matter.

Want to be a guest on The Huddle? Email forwardprogress@thehuddle.team

We want to send a special shoutout to our sponsors!

FloorCloud
FloorCloud revolutionizes jobsite management with its cutting-edge platform, allowing contractors to remotely monitor ambient conditions like temperature and humidity in real-time. Paired with rugged sensors and instant mobile alerts, their technology ensures installations meet manufacturer specifications, reducing liability and enhancing quality control. Learn more at https://floorcloud.com

Go Carrera
Create your FREE Installer profile at https://gocarrera.com and become part of the future of the industry TODAY!
GET TRAINED! Find a list of training dates here: https://gocarrera.com/resources/training/

Preferred Flooring
Preferred Flooring proudly introduces Stubbi Flooring Tools—designed by installers for installers. Stubbi tools are crafted for precision, durability, and ease of use, helping flooring professionals tackle any project with confidence. Explore the full Stubbi line at https://preferredflooringmi.com/stubbi

Please visit our new website! https://thehuddle.team

what is up guys welcome back to the Huddle your

week Hey Hey Oh Mr upside down Roy you

can't hoop that way we're your weekly Playbook helping you gain forward progress in your

flooring career we are here to help you guys win to our new viewers welcome to the

team today is a very special episode with as always Mr Daniel and Jose

Gonzalez preferred flooring out of Grand Rapids Michigan we got Jimmy Salsbury Roland

Thompson Allan Roy hoop daddy Lewis and should be joining is Jerry

mcnight as well and today's podcast is about

becoming great at the craft um which is very fitting because we got

you know four of the greats joining us today um

how's it going fellas everybody that I talked to previously as we got on was like dude I'm

swamped yeah that's crazy the craziest how about you you

jumped on last are saying they're not you know it's it's busy you know um

got stuff lined out some some nice size uh uh Main Main Street commercial jobs

and that stuff going and and so yeah I can't complain good deal I know Allen's

busy he pulled over on the side of the highway or a road anyway to to join us

today and Jimmy just got through saying man he's swamped as a he's busier in a one armed man in an

ass kicking competition or onelegged man ass kicking competition it's busy it's

busy sweet well I was going to give Jerry a few minutes to join in let some of our

viewers uh continue to join in but you know we can always talk about the

weather but we're always going to end up on flooring on this podcast you know how that goes so what's the uh what's the

status of everybody's you know 2025 so far and on looking you may be busy right

now we've established that but how's how's 2025 treating you so far and and

what's the Outlook well January January was was typical

January uh there was room for for more um February you pick picked up uh to

where it's running hard into March um but you know in the floring industry

what you do in December is what you install in January and so the last part of December

is when it slowed down so the beginning of January was on the downside you know

about what it was part of last year so it wasn't nothing surprising but uh but

a lot of people are movement of course we're in an area where a lot of people are losing their jobs

too yeah that's tough where tell us where you're at rolling again tell

everybody well I'm 45 uh miles from DC and 46 miles from Baltimore so we have a

lot of people that work in government jobs that that M from

here so so we have a lot of people that you know uh we had uh we had three three

customers that had scheduled measurements that backed off when they lost their

job yeah that's tough that that is

tough how about you Jimmy H H how's this year going so far yeah I mean my guys

never sat home all year even through January um obviously it wasn't as busy as the end of the year last year but man

things have already I mean we're at full like I'm already looking like man I got to get some like Crews to sub out to or

something because it's it's getting nuts like and I just I mean every time I look at my computer I've got like five

estimates and like it's I can't keep caught up and which is good I'm not complaining about that things are things

are are really busy right now I I don't know what the outlook on all the terrorists and all that like kick in

like what that outlook's going to look like later on in the year but right now and I don't maybe that's part of it like like people want the flooring now before

you know prices raise um but we'll see how it goes I had a letter from sh came

out I got it right behind me 177% wow yeah see I'm afraid that's what's G to happen and maybe at the end

of the year we're going to feel it but we'll see right now it's crazy that's

pretty heavy on their residential the their residential lvp lines are getting

hit Imports Allan you've been busy since uh beginning of the year and how's your

year looking yes sir I've been busy I've I've ventured out a little bit and

expanded what we do I've uh started doing the full bathroom remodel since we set tile and do the major parts of the

bathroom where I've got a contact and um just building up my reputation in

cabinets and um the uh countertops and just facilitating those and getting other contractors in to U touch part

other parts of the bathroom basically so that's kept us real busy through January and February and um we just we're still

doing all of our floor and work I'm really pushing my guys to um venture out

and not lean on me so much and let me be more in and out and more of the technical kind of guy to to troubleshoot

and to kind of guide them and and send them the right direction with what we're doing so that's kind of what I I've been

rolling through and trying to train my guys up a little bit better love

it can we try to get you to flip your camera 360 see if that works I don't

know what's going on one more turn one more there it there we go we

upside down we got you up we got your right side up

I I wonder he got his his screen locked do you have your screen locked I don't n

he's in good shape now at least you look good if you look upside down to you you look great to us all right we're going

to kick this thing off check it out the the purpose of this podcast was to uh

this particular episode was to kind of get in the minds of you guys and uh

every single week if you watch podcast we talk about training we talk about Excellence we talk about pushing

yourself um a lot of you guys know what that's like we want to get a little bit

of background on you and um you know let the audience hear hear what it takes to become one of the

greats because make no mistake about it there's very few people that have

reached where you guys are at so uh got to give a special shout out to Allan who

just won uh the installation competition in Las Vegas that was

freaking freaking awesome had the had the opportunity to um interview him

while we were there and get to know him a little bit how's your son doing real quick he's good he got a soccer game

tonight nice we got kid duty going from football to football huh man football to

football all right Rand you've been on before uh give us a a quick uh you know

background on you and H how you got to where you're at I I assume that uh

how first off how long have you been a uh A store owner well I opened up the store in the

beginning of 2018 um so so what that's seven years

going to my eth now uh so eight years uh for having the

having the location where you know I I I'm full pledge selling and installing

and and everything else so you know it's been good you've been installing since uh give us

your background when did you start installing and and and uh the

real tell us when you what what drove you to start of course

185 uh tell us when you started um getting training and

such your camera's off by the way I hope you didn't fall

down need a Life Alert actually turn turn the camera back on

and press the light button come you guys all come back on and I don't my camera says it's on so anyway it must be the

Wi-Fi in here I don't know anyway uh I can still talk without being seeing but

um now I see it says Facebook or something trying to come on oh don't

know anyway I started 1972 buttons brother uh October uh got into it really

entally uh I was going to be a carpenter I took four years of uh shop class and

and Woodwork and I was going to build houses and uh went out as a labor and of

course at that time trades were a big thing were big thing then back then and

um came out of a house with some 4x10 on my shoulder stepped in a Hole uh snap my

ankle and they said ah we don't need you we got a guy here to take your place so I needed a job

there was in a company looking for a a trainee and I got into it and and

uh y been doing it ever since so that that's what got me into

the trade um of course Jeremy said that you Minister and that I'm on my knees

more than he is so uh he told me it was not the same so

anyway uh but then I've been doing it um you know and I uh grew up with the

you know jumped into me that whatever you do you do right and you do it the best you can and um whether it's sports

or whether whatever you take on and that was my dad's way he raised us and uh so

uh every time even back then there weren't many trainings it was Armstrong and and things like that uh but it

wasn't much but when there was one I went to it so as the more trainings came

out and the more things I could go to I went to them and I guess what made me

really think about it really a lot was my oldest daughter who was uh one day

looking at the the different things that I wouldn't done she said Dad she you don't know this is your college this is

this is something that that you can reach far for just like I did you going

to college he said this is your college and I never really looked at it that way you know I looked at it I was well thank

goodness for your daughter but she said this this can sit there and when people look at this they know you care and what

you do and and and how you do it she says by what you go learn and what you go to

strive to do so yeah that drummed into me to even want to do more and want to

learn more and want to want to reach the highest I could in what I do uh all right you'll never hear me say I'm the

best can you hear us know everything um all I can say is I'm going to keep

trying to be I don't think he can hear us hey Rand can you hear

us you guys don't hear me do you yeah we can hear you but but we're talk we was

trying to make sure that you can hear us as well uh if you can hear there you are hey look at that he's back if if you can

hear us just tell me uh one thing when was when was the first uh how long were

you in in the industry before you got your first went to your first

training oh all right we'll let him go you're up at least 100 years before he

got his first yeah they they said he installed The Flintstones floring that's

pretty good well that that explains why he's having a little bit of technical difficulties with the

technology yeah Allan when did you get going how'd you get in floring and when did you get

your first your first training or certification uh I got into it with my

dad whenever I was a little boy so I've always been on the job and helped him and uh we just we pretty much

ever since I was old enough to go but I guess we could officially call it since I've been out of high school I got one

of my first trainings R1 C1 and whenever I was 18 17 18 years

old um competed in one of the early World Floor Covering Association competitions in the regional for carpet

whenever I was 18 um and just kind of kept clicking on with them every since

then um been trying to uh collect them all up for the go Carrera deal and man I

looked at a list of them that I kind of collected over the years and didn't realize there was so many so we just

every time there's a training we try to go to them and just further our knowledge a little bit better every time

well I think the result kind of speak for themselves you you are uh did you get another uh install of the Year

through through um ceramic tile was

it yeah in I gotta remove him sorry I had to remove him he he'll

jump back on I won the ceramic installer of the year in

2019 that's pretty cool so you've got ceramic and you did was it resilient or

carpet on this last one I kind of forget carpet on this last one okay are you

going to do the resilient get the trifecta uh I think they're doing wood this year and I've signed up for the one

one in Dalton so yeah look at that oh man that is pretty fre trying to do the

tri I think I may be one of the only ones ever won two of them so well you're definitely or not in a

small class I don't know that stack to be honest Triple Crown huh triple Crow

right I mean it just goes along with what we do you know you can't you can't just install one type of floor and make

a living over here where we're at you know you have to do everything what was that say that again a little bit louder

for the installers in the back of the room holy smokes so so you can't just install one type of floor and over here

where we live at you have to do everything to stay busy and that's that's one of the reasons why we're so

busy hey keep ring off until yeah yeah can um Can Ashley you

call Rin yeah it's pretty clear that where where you're at you're is the population

what's population where you're at ah shoot I don't know there's a bunch of people around here yeah I think

probably hours south of Atlanta okay well I think that that's kind of the way it is in most areas you

you've got to be uh kind of Diversified going from several

products I started in carpet and then ended up in in sheet vinyl and that kind of thing but got to be able to do M

multiple products you miss a kitchen of sheet vinyl the other day and I was like man I

kind of miss this it's a challenge right every time it's a challenge and when you step away

and come back you gotta that's right make sure gotta make sure like okay we got one shot one shot we got a 30 drop

and I'm trying to train this guy to hold these corners and do these things I'm like man I kind of miss it a little

bit yeah all right Jimmy you're up dude when did you get going and uh well got you

into floring and then you know when did you get your first C uh certification or

training Jimmy's froze we are having Jimmy can you hear us this is a rough

start all right Allan you're still up we can just keep bragging on you and your

oh man I'm not much on bragging well that's why we get to brag on you I can tell you one thing you had

one hell of a box in in Las Vegas H you know that was those things are not easy

to do and you know what I'm saying it's it's one of them one of them

um one of them things with the pressure on and the uh people watching and all

that stuff yeah and you're still able able to perform when I was talking to all you guys there that was one of the X

factors yeah the timing man you don't have time to do some of the things that you normally would do on a job you don't

have time to you don't have time to do everything you should do on there yeah you just

have to make the best of what you got just like you would on a job yep well turned out looking great

talking hey Jimmy are you back he's working on it rollin's

back do are you still having technical difficulties we should have done a

little seminar ahead of time they got all these offices but they

all I need is a van and a phone man

good point it's crazy it's crazy the guy in the van is has got the technology part down better than the guys in the

office at home yeah boy that's a clean ass van too yeah man we gotta keep it

clean around here yeah that's one of the things I you know you you mentioned go career earlier

but I I think that one of the ways that installers get really good is you know

you get out there you get some experience like you did with your dad and you're working way and as soon as you can get that first training and that

first certification and then you go and apply that knowledge out in the field

and then you you kind of start to yearn for it that's what I found from being on the board at

CFI uh The Advisory Board is that a lot of the guys that that go get all their

certifications and and are reaching the heights at CFI

um it's that first training that that that hook them and it's like once you go

out and you realize you didn't of course you got going pretty early but once you get out uh and uh figure out you don't

know everything I tell the story often of a of a crew I sent just to go get their R1 C1 and they've been working for

our flooring company for uh for us as a sub for a long time um after that

training they were like dude I didn't realize how much stuff I didn't really know you know yeah

so I see that as a Big Driver it's a little bit different for me because my daddy he he said you got to do it this

way and we we did it that way but when we went to the trainings we realized he was right well that's good you really are

right and that and you never argued with him again after that n you just do what

he says do and go on about it well it's what it's uh so your dad

was in flooring as well or was he more General no Daddy was in floring he's he

was in floring since he was 16 wow he's been in it a long time he he got the

he's been doing it well for a long time he's he's good at what he does it's I've

been blessed to be able to work under him man he's I mean I call him every day for something I got going on that's

amazes man yeah it's it's amazing uh at what point the through the career did

you realize that your your pops really knows what he's doing and besides this little story you just said about I

should listen to him but like there's got to be that recognition during your installation when you're learning

that comparing him side by side to another installer you're just like man this dude really doesn't know his work

that was that real early because he always pushed us to do do good work he

whenever we was old enough or they had these little competitions he was in these competitions also so we was

actually trying to go and compete against him but you know you realized hey you know iron sharpens iron around

here and daddy didn't really cut you much slight you you did you did good and you made sure your work was on point so

it was real early man he he's always he's always pushed us to do really good

work and patient he's patient yeah that that that's a sign of

a really uh was he Union trained how how did he get his

knowledge no he he learned from a local guy here and he he's pretty much was self-taught before we done any of the

CFI stuff and then as CFI came along he added to his tool belt as we say you

know he man he was already doing really good work before he went to CFI and started getting the trainings

you know he was already a top tier go-to guy in our area and uh he just added to

what he already knew and it's just been exponential for all the years so we got

I got on a little faster track with him than uh than them than he did so I'm I

don't have one the sorry my guys asking me questions no

worries so you fast you fast-tracked it with some some additional training that was

available he probably didn't have that's right so I I'm I'm trying to catch him he's he still has that little artsy side

to him that's uh put you put you to shame lots of times with some of the things that he does but uh he's he's got

the mind for it he's he's he's top tier for sure I'm I'm lucky to be able to be a son for sure dude that's cool Jimmy

are you back can you hear us okay I'm back I don't know what happened had a call come in and then everything froze

up it comes in it does that so yeah I'm back

awesome all right Jimmy so tell us how you got into flooring um and then how long you've

been doing it and and when how long after you started how long did it

take you to get your first training or your first uh your first uh certification okay so I started in 93 so

it' be 32 years of Summer um straight out of high school I had a job uh moving

down here yeah I'm old man but uh I I moved from Michigan to uh just North of

Indianapolis and uh um I was I came as a helper I had a job before I even moved here and so I really just kind of fell

into it um I went from 425 an hour to six bucks and man I thought man I was R

in the D I was rolling in it but I didn't realize you know with taxes and all that I really didn't make that much

money but uh I mean it's it's been a blessing um I I got lucky I got on with

the crew uh one of the high-end stor was here in Indianapolis um we did a lot of

Colts and Pacers players I mean just tie and stuff and then through the training um caran put on a training and that's

how I got uh in the know of CFI because Jim Walker was doing the training for kand um and so from that on I I took it

on myself um to get certified uh went up to Tony buckheart uh he's he's actually

done all of my CFI certifications uh it's crazy really um Tony's Tony's the

man um and uh so even up to my masters we went up to last fall um and uh did

did that but uh um I think I did about 10 years uh before I got my first one and then once like like you said once

you do your first one you get hooked and you realize how much you don't know and going then I did the nfic and realized

doing Wilton we were doing it all wrong you know I I I don't even want to go back and look at those jobs

now or or we just got lucky we got lucky every time I don't know but there's

there's definitely art to it um uh I just did a a landing in flatweave and we

had to deconstruct it put it all back together I wouldn't know how to do any of that if I hadn't got the training um

so uh it's just it's just been a blessing I mean it's just catapult in my career uh I can I can say no to to

retail now like just people like if you don't want to pay it I don't have to do it um but I know what it takes to do I

know what it takes to do it right and if you want it done right you know I'm your man if you don't you know that's fine

there's somebody out there that's going to install it cheaper it might not be right but they'll do it and so I I just

my my desk is just full of books you can like carpet books um I'm always wanting to learn you know you sound like a nerd

right now bro I'm just gonna put I do man I am a nerd I was I was talking to I was talking to somebody yesterday I was

like I'm aonna nerd out on you for a second and but like I mean that's what I I mean and Jerry mcnight that a lot too

I look at Jerry M Knight you know he's got his Advanced commercial and he's got his Masters in nfic I was like I want

those I don't I want to I want to I don't want someone to have more than I have and you know that always something

to strive for um so yeah yeah Jerry's uh

he was the first recognized five Hammer guy on the on the network

and I started talking dude once I started talking to him and he doesn't live too far from me I was pretty pretty

amazed to how not only how much work he does yeah but also how he's able to fit

all the stuff in the trainings like just for the audience because we talk about it a lot and there's a lot of people who

will comment like the time or the money or something to hold back dude Jerry

makes bank and and and he stays busy as much

as he wants to the the the key that I want the audience to understand is that

once you get really really good like these guys you get to demand a price you

get to not have to do any of that work you don't want to do and and you demand a certain uh ticket number you know and

it it helps you um to be able to afford to do whatever you want and if you if

you love making money you should love getting trained and and expanding into other floorings like Allan was just

talking about you know not just doing I know plenty of people who specialize and do just fine but also expanding your

knowledge base because at some point you reach The Pinacle a carpet and you got that next thing you can go jump and do

right so Rollin are you back with this for real I don't know oh my well you are

just don't touch a thing because you're looking nothing last time you probably got a phone

call I got those I did get those but it was a you know it doesn't it doesn't

ring uh but it does show across so yeah I did get a couple of those so they might have been messing with it I don't

know probably we got you back that's good we were just talking about how uh

you know if if people would realize some of the installers that we've and we run

probably about 70 Crews or so subcontractors and the number

one pro you know problem with them or problem that they bring up about training is always time and money and

we've always tried to explain to them that you know you some of them may be

able to do lvt and we try to get them to like learn how to do not only do lvt

better but also go go take a sheet vonnel class you know we try to encourage them to to to expand their

knowledge so they can make more money and and be more versatile and dude it's

it's that it's expanding it's um believing in yourself and giving

yourself a chance to become a floor nerd like Kevin's calling as all yeah 100%

yeah yeah Kevin's the nerd Kevin is a nerd but he's a cool nerd he's a fishing

nerd too he'll text me I watch he'll this just goes to show in the

conversation just goes to show that it doesn't matter uh what line of work you're in you got to you got to be all

in right like if you're if you're doing something to make a living and you find a career somewhere um you should

continue education in that it it'll help help you progress and I think uh just because we're flooring guys and and it's

what we chose to do or it's what chose us is you got to get good at your craft and and it's a very common theme for

everyone that that that we're fortunate enough to to have in our lives uh uh you gentlemen uh included is you see the

common theme of the what you guys are currently getting out of your career is because of what you put in it yeah

that's that's the key yeah the comment about about Jerry mcnight is you know he

gets paid it's it's a compliment when individuals companies Seek You for their

projects versus you're out there hunting for the work it's a compliment it's it's a testament to what you've achieved and

accomplished so kudos to all you gentlemen out there who are putting in all the hours and and getting better at your

craft yeah but I guess the the main point there is it doesn't cost you money at the end of the day it makes you it it

just makes you so so much better that you're you're going to make more money because of it and then you can expand

into other stuff heck Allen's over there doing full bathroom remodels you know and and he's probably so much I I would

guess uh and I may be putting some words in your mouth here Alan so uh jump in but my guess is you you because of all

that though you also know who to go to for the highest quality in your

tops because you are a quality guy because you know what that looks like you're able to also know the other

quality people and be able to do something like what you're doing that's right the best thing that

you can do is you can set it up for success for the other guys and I can set

my showers or my walls or my things up very well for the cabinet guys you know

the the sheetrock work and stuff like that you just set it all up for for the next guy even better yeah and you know

what quality to look for especially shoot rock guy you know what you gotta go over all that kind of stuff yeah so

that's my ploy to the oh

poor I was I was about to do the same thing when we

hear yeah it sure is I did not we just

watch we watched you move Rin he said I didn't move you're on you're on camera bro we

caught you I didn't move yeah so um what drives you to

continue on after you're making good money you're you're you're pretty well respected you got you know maybe you're

R1 C1 R2 C2 or some very uh variation of

that with the other training entities uh you know we're kind of training agnostic

we just want everybody to go get trained I don't you know I'm partial to CFI but at the same time I just I don't care

where you get trained go go get trained and when CFI is in your neighborhood go

get trained and uh but what pushed you once you got to that level where you

kind of had a what we would call a level three person on in go Carrera which is

you know that's right before Master uh we we look at it like one is proficient

two is experiened three is expert four is master and five you're just

bragging and that's how that's how we uh uh look at the hammer rating so once you

got to that three level where you're you're really an expert or at that point what kept you what kept driving you to

uh you know continue on your education in

particular I mean for myself um I mean I was I was in sports a lot like basketball was my game and I want to be

the best you know that's that's my drive you know once I once I did my R2 C2 I

knew I wanted to do the Masters but I knew I had to hando so then when I saw nfic come up I was like I got to do that

to do my masters and I can't believe how much I learned from nfic not just the hands s but man so much more but you

know I just I just wanted to be the best like I I you know like Jared mcnight man I I want to get what he has now that I

heard that he's got more I want that now you know that's just that's that's my

drive at some point the the training and the education classes and the certifications become a part of your

personality too right like you just you might feel like you know a lot right but

you're like there there's something I'm missing I'm missing something and then go there you figure it out and yeah um

I'm a firm believer you could take the same class 10 times and learn 10 new things every single time I just firmly

believe that that is the case yeah yeah I've heard Dave Garden say all

the time in the classes I've taken like he learned stuff from the students you know as he train as he's training you

know there's everybody's got something to bring to the table and if you're just open-minded to that you can learn so

much well Daniel and I were fortunate enough to to take nfic class with you

guys that's right that's right um of course uh you know we always trying to do way too I was trying to do way too

much at one point in there but yeah TR try to balance emails and phone calls and do five tasks at the same time

didn't really work out for my for my my first attempt at the Double sck I was like dang that's all right you fixed it

it's good hey how'd it look how'd it look hey it's good man hey and that's awesome because I mean carpet's not your

your your main flooring but that's awesome to see you learning you know what I mean like that's that's what it's

all about yeah unfortunately carpet and and resilient is uh unproficient in both

yeah I yeah that was a that that was a you know

what I do got add that that was funny because when somebody he was like hey who's is this and I was like yeah who did that who put their tape like I'm

looking around I was looking around like who did who did that and I was like oh my God is that mine that's mine yeah

yeah we all smelt it before we saw it man like when you burnt that tape we knew and and Dirk Dirk looked at he was

like hoser I never would have thought in a million years that I'd see you mess something like that up I'm like I'm

gonna fix it I'm gonna fix it I'll fix it he did yeah he did yeah Dave Dave says good points

Jimmy on the you know when students come in and you learn from them I think when you're doing those certifications in

particular you're get not certification but trainings that are more Hands-On in

particular you you start to see people's little um uh uh tricks I know that

Daniel we did a podcast one time when he was he was actually um instructing a

training and he was like man these guys are like and he commented on the same

exact thing they got these little tricks that they're showing and you know he he teaches uh she vinyl heat welding flash

coing all that stuff and and uh that's the that's the area I love myself and so

those tricks those little things that make your day go just a little bit easier um how how cool is it you get to

actually pick that up and it's not even part of the training well I tell them I tell them I'm gonna steal it and and

tell everybody I thought of it well Daniel told me Daniel told me

you can't Pat an idea bro oh yeah you

can so um I want to keep the ball rolling rolling welcome back I hope you

get to stay with us for the remaining few minutes here but um you know if you

were to go back one of the the questions got asked to me once and I I thought was

interesting thought was if you were to go back and talk to yourself and Jimmy

or uh sorry Allan you might be like keep you you're you're on the right path boy

but if you go back and talk to yourself as a younger man what would you what would you have said um in regards to

where your career's at now and where you where you you know any advice you'd give

your 18 20 year old self because we have a lot of new guys

coming in the industry yeah don't look like you can see me again but if you can hear me put

your hand up we can hear you yeah we're good we can hear you okay all right all

right well you ain't going to win any you're not gonna win any technology yep go for it I don't know

what's going on we can hear you you know what can't hear none of you I love it I

love it put your hand up if you can see me hear me all right I'm going talk but and if

you don't can't hear me anymore put it down anyway I would tell myself one

to uh go to do a business class uh learn learn that into the

aspect also uh because that's where when I first started I didn't do and it took

me a while to learn that not not only do you have to know it but you got you got to know how to run it to run a business

so that's the thing I I probably would tell myself is that you know just

because you know how to put something in and and and know how to install or or do a job doesn't mean you know how to run

the business to do that job correctly so that's what I tell

myself love it how about you Jimmy yeah that that's awesome I love that that

that's a great idea business class like um you know even now like I just read a

book buy back your time like talking just it's a great book man so much

that's awesome love that sorry thanks I was getting trying

to do the same thing all right can can you hear me yep go ahead all right but anyway I just I

love that like the business side of it and I just said that um at the last convention they asked for ideas I was

like man we need to do some business classes or like get someone in here not just on installing but like give these

guys ideas like how to run their business better uh time management um finances uh you know that's you know

that's what I'm getting into now um learning that side of it because there's a lot there's you you get the flooring down but then you got all that to deal

with too um but like start sooner too like I was 10 years in before I never

even heard of CFI until you know I heard that the went to the car stand and Jim Walker brought up CFI um in that car

stand class and like you know push that like sooner uh get these people like

these kids coming out of high school um get into a trade school and and get them into learning and and CER getting

certifications um you know I I'll just I'm in E for 10 years before I I kind of

like started it you know um learning the School of Hard Knocks you know doing things the wrong way and you know so

that that that'd be my advice to these young kids coming

out that's uh that's a good one for sure getting started early business classes

uh getting a little bit of you know Financial um I just say a little bit of

financial management knowledge you don't even have to be a business man to to really get it you know what I mean to

understand how to run uh your your finances as an installer so yeah good

one how about you Allan uh I'd be along the same lines as everybody else so just just maybe

starting early is a good thing because you don't get uh going on the bad habits and things surround yourself with really

good people U just like get you a mentor like Jimmy has with Jerry you know just

get somebody that you really kind of look up to and you're trying to reach that goal it's kind of like what he was

talking about what what you drive what drives yourself to be better you know you gotta compete you know so you

compete with yourself and compete with those around you so that that's kind of what drives us and just like everybody

else you know get you a good accountant and you know do the things that you're supposed to do yeah that's good getting a mentor is

what I got out of that the most you know get somebody that you can look up to your dad for you you know andow I mean

that's what obviously was a great start um in your career

Kevin uh you know he said take take care of one's body and health and I thought

that was a good one too you know I I spent the first few years beating the crap out of my body I just I was young I

didn't think about it and before I knew it I was 22 and laid up in a chiropractor you know office trying to

get things fixed and put back into place because I didn't take care of myself so

all those are are excellent um excellent thoughts as you're getting into flooring

um I think you got the it's a vast

opportunity there's plenty of different disciplin to get into and plenty of different roads it takes you once you

get trained um and and and really the one I and it kind of encompasses some of

them but the one that I uh always think about is getting involved in the industry whether that's with CFI like

getting involved with and that's kind of getting a mentor getting somebody I was just Welling at it you know I I went and

got trained because I landed a bid that required me to learn that flooring so I'd go get go get that thing you know um

Le less that's how it goes that's very it was just less romantic and less um uh

I wish I would have been more like you guys so what about you

Daniel uh he's like wait I didn't know I was going to be asked this question the

whole the whole business thing right that that what Jimmy said really resounded because we have had a couple

people in here these past couple weeks looking for work and they still don't have any like

bookkeeping or anything they just end up they're like the stores we work for they

give us a work order and then they just pay us we don't keep track of

anything that's not the way to be especially when you're talking about running a

business you have to start regardless of how small or big you are is running your

business like a business instead of just a job you're not just working to collect

that paycheck at the end of the month you're working to build and it doesn't matter how big or small you are you have

to know where you're winning and where you're losing in order to move forward yeah I'd like to add to that

that's knowing also knowing your worth that was another one that I thought of is like after I started getting good I

was still I was the guy that was keeping labor prices down if I'm honest cuz I

was still installing at cheap rates and I had gotten trained and then I was

still installing sheet vinyl at the same price that I was beforeand and I didn't

take any of that and leverage it to to to know my worth and really charge

better until you know couple people got in my ear and was like Hey dude man you know you should be charging this and I

was like oh you know so that's also you get that from getting involved in the

industry or having a mentor those those types of things would uh would have probably helped me off with that

but all right [Laughter]

Rin all right Jose what about you last one then we're gonna close this podcast

out well it's a well first I just got to Echo everything that everyone else has already said I mean that goes without

without saying and and and you have to start from somewhere but

having a better Foundation to start the business aspect on is huge um but if if

I were going to add something to that I would say um I shouldn't have taken my youth and

my health for granted when I was younger and treated myself and others around me a lot better I've been more cognizant of

the repercussions of treating it more like a competition versus a career I

took a lot of that for granted um and putting uh putting Health First

probably would add to to all that that would be like the the the glue it keeps

everything else together on the business aspect and the installation and the education like you got to find time for

you in there um yeah no falling out the back of semis and carrying something

that I should never be carrying up steps just to say y I'm stronger than you

today yeah yeah that's uh I was glad Kevin brought that up that's a that's a

key key thing take care of your body you know get you some Pro KN and and uh

learn how to do it right it's a big part of that so get trained early I want to thank Our Guest today Mr ro ro ro Rollin

and then Jimmy Allan and Daniel and Jose thanks

guys for always being uh being here help to keep laughing every time he popped up brother every time he popped up I just

was going to be a problem uh yeah I hope I hope the audience gets that you know training

doesn't cost you money it's an investment we talk about that on the podcast pretty often is that training

you should look at is not spending money but investing um you you know difference

between going to the grocery store and spending the money or or gambling even and spending the money versus going and

investing your money in a um in a meaning F way that's going to give you a

return wherever you think that place is yourself is definitely that place so

investing in yourself and training and making sure that you set yourself up for Success man so I want to thank you guys

again for coming on I know we had one short and Rolland was in and out but uh

we finished strong and uh I hope that everybody on the podcast especially any

new people watching this like really listen listen to These Guys these are some of the the best installers in the

industry the topic was becoming a a great installer and uh these guys are

certainly great so look forward to seeing Allen and Jimmy and future competitions and you guys keep keep

rocking and rolling stay on don't hang up at the end stay on please it's on my schedule this

year we'll see all right let's get her done all right guys so if you if you like the

podcast give us a like subscribe you know give us a comment get involved uh

the easiest way you can get involved is in the industry is jump on the Huddle and talk to some of these guys um a lot

of them are willing to chat with you offline anytime you need a question you'll you'll make connections on here

so get on and get involved we will see everybody next Tuesday same time 3 o'clock

Central and uh I just say four o'clock Michigan time [Laughter]

all right guys well we certainly appreciate you guys joining us