The Huddle - Episode 213. Respect Is Earned Long Before You Are the Expert
In the trades, experience matters. But experience alone doesn't earn respect.
Long before someone knows your résumé, they notice how you carry yourself. They notice whether you show up on time, keep your word, ask thoughtful questions, own your mistakes, and treat people with respect. Those habits often leave a bigger impression than years of experience ever could.
In this episode of The Huddle, Paul, Daniel, and Jose explore what it really means to earn respect in the flooring industry. The conversation centers on the qualities that define great professionals at every stage of their career—from apprentices just entering the trade to seasoned installers and business owners. They discuss why humility and accountability are strengths, how mentorship accelerates growth, and why the best leaders never stop learning.
Respect isn't something that's handed to you after enough years in the business. It's built one job, one interaction, and one decision at a time.
Whether you're just getting started or have decades in the industry, this episode is a reminder that your reputation begins long before you're considered an expert.
⬇️ Don’t miss our sponsors who help make The Huddle possible:
🔧 ShagTools.com
Your go-to source for professional flooring tools, supplies, and accessories.
🛒 Use code HUDDLE10 for 10% off your first order!
👉 Shop ShagTools.com
🚀 Go Carrera
Build your profile, prove your skills, and connect with contractors—all in one place.
👉 Learn more at GoCarrera.com
🛠️ Stubbi Tools by Preferred Flooring
Installer-designed tools that work as hard as you do.
👉 Check out Stubbi Tools
NAFCT
NAFCT is a leading provider of flooring solutions, offering top-quality training, certifications, and support to elevate the industry.
👉 Learn more: https://www.nafct.com
🔹 Divergent Adhesives
Innovative adhesive solutions crafted for performance and reliability in the flooring industry.
👉 Check them out: https://www.divergentadhesives.com
🔗 Meet all our sponsors & partners: https://thehuddle.team/sponsors
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? Welcome back to the huddle, the number one flooring podcast in the
world on the planet in the United States. We actually do have some international listeners. So, we're here
every week to help you guys gain forward progress in your career. Simply put, we're here to help you win. For all our
new viewers, welcome to the team. What's up, fellas?
What's going on, bro? Well, I um tried to sneak in a little
last minute snack and I'm still trying to finish that up
real quick here. What were you eating? Kind of threw me off.
I'm not because I know what you and your brother are going to say if I tell you what I'm eating.
Let's just say this is a Come on, brother. only a PG-13 show.
Oh. Oh, yeah. [laughter] Just there just only been a couple slip ups where we're where might have uh
Yeah. ventured outside that that plus 16 or that R rating.
All right. Well, welcome everybody. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Glad you're here. [clears throat] Want to uh you know chat with the boys,
see how the week's been going, and jump into a quick topic. But before we do
that, I want to say thank you to the NFCT and Divergent Adhesives.
Uh they are today's show sponsor and um you know, if you are looking for
training, you're looking to increase your skill, uh the NFCT is running a
muck, they got all kinds of training coming up. Um Daniel completed one maybe
a couple months ago or a month ago for Flash Cove Heat Weld. There are some others coming up. They also uh have
their new training portal uh I believe it is live uh their training hub and
that will get you automatic BTI ranking from any of the courses that you attend
including the online course that you have to take for example for the floor prep uh certification
training um there's an online piece and then you pick after you've completed
that and past it and you can pick uh from several different uh upcoming I
know one is in Dallas in September I believe. Um I'm going to start sh we're
going to start sharing those dates. I'll start getting those dates up. I know they got one coming up over in
Calhoun too I believe. And it's like uh I think Andy's doing the modular resilient and then you have this one
tagged on to the end too. So you can get two certifications at the same time.
Yep. So, NFC has done a lot of really great stuff trying to keep the cost down and the travel uh affordable uh to keep
the time frame that you have to be there hands-on. Uh so, they have a few at least on the
um on the floor prep side, they have a few um they have a lot of trainings coming
up, but you take the online portion first. you pass that and then you pick whichever one of the uh inpersons and I
believe those are just and like Daniel just said sometimes they'll tack them on to the backside of
another training trying to keep that cost down keep your skills up that is the the way of the NFCT also want to uh
mention divergent adhesives and make sure that you know if you guys are
looking for one of them adhesives that are going to pull you out of a you know one them tight schedules, you need a
really good adhesive for moisture situations. They they also have uh a one
coat moisture mitigation system that's really good. And um so I
encourage you guys to click that QR code, go over to the Virgin Adhesives website, connect with them, find your
local distributor. If you don't have one, buy direct. I mean, you got to do what you got to do. get that good
adhesive. All right. Well, again, thanks to our sponsors. Thanks for everybody who's already joining us today.
We got a kind of a, you know, we we like to come up with these topics that are a
little bit, you know, it's not always about flooring. It just always goes right back to [laughter] to flooring.
But, uh, today's topic is respect is earned long before you're the expert. I
think that kind of stands with the skilled trades in general, but it also kind of goes across life. So, what do
you guys think about uh the topic? I forget which one of us came up with that one, but uh it's one of ours.
What you got to say about the topic, guys? Open it up. Who knows? Um the I'll just go ahead and start the
just the whole topic in itself. You're right. It doesn't necessarily have to just be flooring related, right? It's uh
and I just had a conversation about this with uh with the crew yesterday. So I yesterday I I I went to the one of our
projects and I was on site. We have um we have a communication issue with
leadership right now, right? Leadership isn't communicating very well with the crews which is causing a lot of push
back and and it's I didn't go there with intentions of just running the day. I
just went there and just seen and needed and I filled in the voids. Um, and we talked about everything and
we had that conversation where I didn't ask for people to view me as a
leader. It was kind of bestowed upon me and it was only it was only gifted to me because of work ethic and how much I
involved myself in whatever we were doing. Um, believe it or not, I'm not
that shy, but I and I voice my opinion, right? But I'm also um I'm also one of
the first ones to to go ahead and dive in elbow deep into a bucket full of [ __ ] if that's what it requires, right? And
I'm not afraid to do that. I know that there's soap and water and I could clean myself up.
So that conversation was had and and I come to the realization that maybe
delivery of uh of of delegating tasks was not
optimal. um and maybe could be approached a different way and that's where
that uh respect thing right was given right like you got to continue
what is respect like what what when we say that what what is it
recognition right is is recognition that uh someone's thought process or
someone's process period um might be of value to anyone and
everyone around them regardless of how how
small their um contribution might be to the situation. So that's like one one
variation of respect to me, right? You put me on the spot, brother. I don't have I don't have a dictionary in front of me.
Well, I uh you know, I I thought that a good spot spot to uh to
start would be really understanding because one of the things that I've always found fascinating with people
um is the the type of person that's like,
you best respect me or you're gonna respect me. So, is it
you know, is this a forced thing? Like, you know, you're going to force me to
respect you? Because when people say it like that, it's like, okay, I'm going to fear you into respect or I'm going to
force you into respect. Man, that's um and so that's always come to mind that
that ain't respect, is it? That's fear. That's like doing something because you're going to be
uh you're you're punished if you don't. Uh, loyalty is another one of those words that I hear
thrown around that's like I I've had some meetings that really call to
question people's [clears throat] understanding of loyalty when they talk about their crews and such and and
they'll say, you know, we have loyal crews, but we don't want them to, you know, be able to have uh the ability to
find other places to work. I'm like, well, that's not loyalty, is it? That's well that's not I mean loyalty kind of
kind of indicates that uh that you have options. Um, so anyway,
respect as a definition, um, maybe not the, you know, clinical
definition is just what I was curious of your guys's understanding of when you
want, we we all say we want respect, right? Like that's a kind of a natural
human thing to say that, but what does it mean when you say you want the respect? Well, I think um I think uh
starting out like the control is you there's a level of respect that everyone has for one another right away, right?
Until someone till someone uh continuously does something wrong or
does something you don't like or maybe you don't like the way someone's nose looks and you just don't respect them because of that. I don't know. But
[laughter] uh it's a it's a mutual thing between me and someone else. I respect everyone until I
feel disrespected. Um, right. That's That's all I'm saying. What does it mean when you when you respect other
people? What does it mean? It just means that they haven't done anything to upset me yet. I don't know.
Um, well, I I was just thinking, and I'm not trying to put you on the spot or whatever. I I I your brother sitting
over there. He's the reason you're put on the spot because he could have jumped in. [laughter] I could have, but I'm still
He's listening. I'm still doing things over here. still lot still still getting us connected. Well, here let's start over. You said
something about it's something that's uh you know best give me respect, right? Like I I get respect is commanded uh by
some to some extent, right? Some people just walk in and they just have a vibe
or or about them where respect is commanded or you might not have met someone and you've heard of them so you
respect what you've heard. Um, I would say
I don't ever like demand respect. Shut up. Is that Daniel in there? I don't
ever demand No, that was that was our backend magic worker. Ashen says that
if [laughter] I don't I don't really ever care if someone likes me or respects me, right?
Just um just be respectful. You don't have to respect me in a hole, but just
be respectful. And then that's So that that'd be like being considerate, right? Yeah. Be Yeah. Be considerate. Yeah.
Consider that I am always considering the fact that someone is better than me at everything that I do. Someone out
there knows more than I know. Someone out there can get more done. Someone out there is working harder than I am. And I
never judge anybody uh by by the items I
don't know. That's respect. Well, the the to me, you know, respect um
it it being considerate to somebody or having somebody be considerate to you, I think,
is what we expect from our interactions with people until they're not
considerate and then we're not considerate. But respect, you know, they say it's earned. So
correct if respect is earned then it's it's something that we desire as humans uh at
least most people that re s p right um
that respect that is somebody giving a high regard to
your opinions to your to your uh
possibly in a lot in some cases an in an authoritative ative manner or authority
but not always you can respect people who you are their leader right like so
it doesn't require authority but um at least this is my kind of thought about
it is that you're given a high regard to their opinions you have a high regard uh
to to their capabilities and that also bleeds to trust so to me uh respect has
an element of trust and [clears throat] a lot of us, you know, I think we give a certain amount of trust to anybody we
meet. That's why we're not like in fight mode when you first meet somebody like is he going to stab me or punch me or
whatever. Like you're not in fight mode when you first meet somebody. You're giving them the benefit of the doubt
that uh that you can trust them to some extent and then respect is earned
through proving that trust correctly. proving that continuously earned, right? So, you're proving that they that
somebody can trust you. And that's my definition of of respect. And that's why
it always cracks me up when you best respect me. Well, if it's earned through trust, which is essentially what I'm
saying, I'm not sure that that's, you know, the Webster definition of it. Um,
but it's to me it's earned through um through building trust, proving that I
can trust you, when you talk about like co-workers and stuff that's it makes a lot of sense,
right? And then the issues always stem from, you know, work ethic and stuff like that, right? I trust you, but then
I'm now I'm working with you and you don't have the same work work ethic. So this this level of respect and trust
starts going down and it's like
come on guys like things things can be built up too. Yeah.
Like you it's always um so like just looking at it like I've never gone into
a room for like for a meeting and seen like a CEO or a COO come in and just
think that they demand respect. They're always like the most down to earth people come up, shake your hand, ask you
questions. It was never this is who I am, right? But then on the flip side, you see those videos on social media and
where it's like um do you know who my husband is or do you know who
who I person that I know is I I know the owner, right? I know the owner here. It's like
that old well that that that plays right to it. I mean
where you know building up of trust is the the respect and and that's where you
said that CEOs like and COOs of big companies they want to build trust
that's like good companies online and such the whole purpose to be there is to
build some trust with your people with your customers with your users with your whatever when you're building that you
want to do that that's a That's like one of the CEO's most important things is to
build that trust. And if you build that trust, then
they know that leads to respect. At least that's my hypothesis.
No, it is. Oh, go ahead. [snorts]
Kendall says, "Anyone who knows Jose and Daniel of Preferred Floring should be respecting these two brothers and
Crystal as well because these people are all in for us as a Floring nation." I
like it. Flooring. Yeah, we we appreciate that, brother. But, you know, they don't need they don't need to respect us. They don't
Yeah, they do. I don't I don't know where you're you're like, I don't need respect, Bull, man. I mean, I I think I
I think I know you well enough to challenge you on that that like you you
you're a knowledgeable guy. You're a trustworthy guy. Everything that I've
ever every interaction I've had with you guys over the years, and it's been several now, it's not like we just met
last week, you know, or last month, um is built on that trust and that
respect. And I think that you uh you desire respect. You you can um and it's
good to desire respect is what I'm saying because to get there to really get true respect, at least in my
definition of it, means that you're building trust. Well, you can't say building trust is a bad thing, is it?
Right. So there's not much bad can come out of it if it's done in that way. It's
this old hood idea of respect like you best respect me that's no you you best
fear me or you best do you know who I am you know put me up on a higher pedestal than you
say whenever somebody says that or if that's that's what they're the the um the image
that they're they're giving off I just probably look at Daniel be like they gonna learn today [laughter]
I'm really good at dropping the oneliner jabs in there that cut pretty deep. So, and and I don't at that point if they're
trying to demand it, I could care less if if if they
Do you think that if they demand it that that they either A don't understand it
or B don't want to put in the work that it takes to get it for real?
Um, a combination of both or, you know, maybe something's happened along the way
that where they didn't get the recognition they felt that they deserved over and over. So now that they're in a
position to where they have the proof and they have a track record, they kind of want it based on that. But unless
unless everybody knows exactly who they are, what they've done, nobody's it's
hard to just com or demand it like that. Like
I I don't know how else to explain that. Well, it's just like um if you think of sports like uh like basketball or what
have you, uh one of the most wellrespected uh people in sports was Michael Jordan.
He wasn't liked by everybody though. A lot of his teammates talked about how much they disliked him. In fact, so it's
not even about being liked, right? because he would force them like force
people to practice when they did not want to force them to be the very best
that they could be and they respected him for that. They they understood he was coming from a place that he was
putting in the work. He wasn't just telling them to do something then not showing up to practice. he was there.
You know, he's famous for his his uh practice regiment. Um, I got to
interview and sit down for several hours with his um with his personal coach and
the the amount of work ethic that him and Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant, all
three um displayed created this command for
respect that they didn't have to command. It was the presence you're talking about. that comes from
it was the work they were putting in, right? That stuff that you don't see.
And I've listened to um Tim Grover, his name, by the way,
some of the interviews, right? And they're like, "Yeah, you can go and practice for two hours a day just like everyone else and you can be okay,
right? It's what are you doing outside of those two hours that you're required to be there?" And you know, this is them
talking to to high school kids, right? And it's like what are you doing with the rest of your time other than those
two hours of you being there? Th that's the work that you put in that no one else sees that makes I mean it makes
yourself command the respect without even trying. Right. It's like I don't and I think it's like um people ask me,
they're like or asking me or telling me what uh someone thinks of me and it's like I
honestly don't care what anyone thinks of me, which makes it that much better
because I don't know since I don't care. People just look to me a certain way, I think.
But I'm I'm sure that's how they are, too. It's they they don't care what people think about them. All they're doing is doing what they have to do in
order to uh be the best they can. Yeah. Yeah. When your when your um when
your talk aligns with your actions, I think that grows respect faster than
anything. So, if you say, you know, if if they're saying talking about working hard, but they're not working hard or
uh, you know, putting in the extra time to to learn their their skill, whatever
that is, whether it's basketball, football, flooring, electrical, whatever, it doesn't really matter.
[clears throat] your your words matching with your actions I think is something that uh
builds respect a lot because that shows people that they can trust you right if
your words don't align with your actions then people automatically start to distrust you and that's where people may
not respect you again I don't care much that people
like me or not that's not my concern my but I do desire respect. I mean, I I
things I want to be trusted. I want to be trustworthy. [laughter] I want I want people to uh believe in me and and
believe in my my hypotheses and my thoughts and follow the huddle.
I think Andy Williams put it best when he told me when we were I think we were at dinner one day or something. He was
like, "It's no one. It's not my business what anyone thinks of me." Yeah, that's really good.
That's to sum it all up. That's accurate. Yeah. So Chad uh bookie says also what
leads to respect is time. He walks into job sites with lawyers, architects, dealers, installers, and they just
constantly throwing questions at him, right? But he lets his reports do the talking. And I've I mean, I'm sure all
of us have been on that side where it's like I've been in there where I want to
ask questions, too, but I know I'm not going to get the answers, so I just refrain. But I've also been on the other
side where I'm seeing everyone asking the questions and they're just like,
I don't know, man. You got to be a certain type of person to be an inspector because you do have to walk through there and just give them
something but nothing at the same time. Yeah. And and onctor thing,
you know what I'm saying? on the inspector thing. It's it's uh that that
lines up dramatically. The inspectors that I do not um respect at all are the
ones who will come out and say one thing and then their report says an absolute opposite thing. Um the good inspectors
to me keep quiet. You know, tell them what you're seeing, but make no judgment and let their
report do the talking as Chad said. And as Kevin says, Kevin Keith says, "Don't
talk about it, be about it." Well, yeah. Yeah. Um,
I couldn't uh I could not agree more, but uh if you are going to talk about
it, please do be about it. [laughter]
Uh Kendall says, "You don't get any recognition recognition unless you prove
yourself." Guess what? You, Daniel, and Crystal have done all of that. So, if
there's other people that don't like how you guys think I do things, maybe
do things uh well, too bad. You guys are the best at what you do. You know what
what that is is, you know, we talk about you guys talk about being preferred
flooring. how you came up with the name was because you're preferred because you're better than than other installers
and provably so and uh you know doing it just as much as
you talk about it is is the whole key that's again I just believe that it's
it's a trust thing and when you say something if you do it as well then you
know that's where that's where trust is built and respect is built and then we
talked you know, the rest of the the topic is about before you're an expert. And um I think
that that kind of leans to [clears throat] the fact that just because you're an expert doesn't mean
you get respect. Like just because you're uh the best at something also
does not mean you're going to have respect because you can still be uh you know full of you know what. And I think
that's where people uh people, you know, fall out of uh respect for you.
Yeah. It it doesn't um what is it? You can do a million things right as to one thing you do wrong that everybody uh
dwells on or everybody remembers. Um and that's where I was earlier in the conversation. We were talking about
um gaining or earning the respect, right? And it is and like I'm not even joking you guys. This was a conversation
we just had on job site yesterday, like fully organic conversation. And
uh I was telling our guy Mike, I was like, respect is the thing that's earned, right? Like I I and it starts
with trust. I trust you to do certain things. I trust him to do certain things. And if I delegate tasks, I trust
that you guys are going to do those tasks and follow through and you're going to do them well and to the standards that are required. And he's
like, "Yeah." And I was like, that's got to be continuous. It's not like, oh, I
trust you now. I automatically trust you all the time. Or I I don't trust you now. I will never trust you again. It's
or or you give someone else or you give someone else that task the next time and they're like, "Oh, I guess
that's not me anymore." And it's all uh Yeah. Essentially getting buttth hurt at
things that you shouldn't be getting but like the way I did it. You're like, "No, I love the way you do it." But what did
I used to say? Uh um when I was coaching the adults, I was like, "Dude, because I'm coaching adults, right?" I said,
"I'm going to I got to sit you. I'm going to put so and so in there." Like, "Oh, really?" Like, I got to give them a
chance to suck, too. Like, you know, come on now. You can't be the only one in there failing, right? And um and
that's that's just it. It's people trust me to make decisions, you
know, whether it's at work in the field or or on uh in the field as at work in
the field at home. There's there's a level of trust and and
I've only had to say it from my heart a couple times in my life.
Like, come on, you got Please trust me on this. I've only had to say that a couple times. He he said that to me when
uh we started to prefer flooring. [laughter] I did. And I did. And I said that to to my wife when I took money out of our
wedding fund, right? Like was like, "Do you trust me?" She's like, you know?
Yeah. Well, then trust me. Then trust me. Like come on. Just I don't even say that. All I like when
me and Tanya talk about stuff, I always say, "Who you going to believe? Me or you?" [laughter]
Um, but you know, it just goes to to, you know, I got a lot of examples of of
where where I earn somebody's trust and and I do my best not to ever get rid of that. Like, you know, I Daniel, trust
me, I earned that. I don't ever want to do anything to to lose that, right? Like
that's just because my word my word is important to me. And that's the trust thing. And then
that's the respect thing and it all it all lines up like dominoes, right? It could come crashing down or you can keep
setting them up and setting them up. The longer you build the trust, right? You know, maybe the more dominoes you have,
maybe the harder it is or the longer it takes for all of them to fall. But at the same time, it's you're building that
with with everybody around you. Got a theme going here.
You're only as good as the last job you did. And then Chad said you're only good as your last
inspection or your last your last report.
So yeah, well I I uh I tend to agree with that, but I also, you know, we all mess
up or have a bad job or don't do the absolute perfect job we could have on uh
on occasion. I think that uh also being there like
that that you are that they are they can trust that you are going to be there to
uh take care of the issue. come and you know care about their problem like um
you know not not running from issues or uh mistakes but owning them and uh you
know doing your best to to do the right thing. I think that builds respect as
well. Uh now most of this is saying you're only as good as I you know that
is definitely the the bottom line is people are going to remember the last project you did for them uh or your last
comment um your last kind of your last email last whatever that
interaction is right and then like that says that you have to envision the completed project play it
in your head each scenario you know, then execute. When you think this way, most of the time it pans out well,
right? And you're talking, we're talking um you know, your your last project. And
when you plan like that and then start executing, that's the thing. It's when you do start hitting these uh I don't
know, roadblocks, bumps in the road, right? Speed bumps. It's all about how
are you going to just move on to that next thing. Get that taken care of so you can give them a finished product at
the end. It's never, oh, that cut is gonna pass, right?
Yeah. I hate that uh that term. Uh live it for the punch list.
Oh my goodness. And and it's not it's taking care of everything before it gets to that point.
It's looking at something and knowing, okay, this is not right. I'm going to take care of this right now. Because and
I like to to tell the guys it's like if you see it, do something, right? And I'm
like I'm pretty sure we talked about this before, but I'm notorious. This guy's notorious for it'll be 4:30. It's
the end of the day and I'm doing my walk through and it's like this ain't right. This ain't right. Bring the tools back
in. Dude, I can't change that part of me.
Yesterday, you know, when I was on the job site, I didn't I lose track of time and I did tell the guys, "Hey, you have
to remind me of what time it was." You know, we had our Monday meeting. It was extended. We got there a little bit late. And in my head, it was lunchtime.
It was 12:00, but on the clock, it said 2 p.m. It said 2 p.m. And I'm like, "Let's glue this
and glue." And everybody looked at me like I was crazy. And then as they started gluing, I looked at the time and I was like,
I got to take a little bit off, dial it back a little bit, and say, you know what, you're right. It's later than I
thought. Let's snap a line, right? We'll call it a day out here. Let's hit this milestone.
Um, and I did do that to the beginning of the day. I was like, glue it all up. We got
it three hours. Watch. And it was like three and a half. I was pretty close, right? I'm a little rusty. Haven't been
installing every day for a while. Um, but we started hitting all that and and
then they that trust, right? I haven't been in the field in in a minute and to work
with the crews, they trusted me right away. They were they were remembering what I used to do and who I used to be
on the installs and they trusted me from from what I've proven to them in the past.
Somebody lost their trust by gluing up the rest of that area, I'll be honest. So, I almost lost you, bud.
Well, I don't know if you'd lose their trust. You may lose the lose lose their
u their uh their respect for a minute. Motivation.
Motivation. [laughter] Yeah. But somebody said something in the comments about uh can you be a is anyone
an expert or something of that nature? Yeah, that was Kendall. Yeah, I think there are. So, is is anyone actually an expert at
anything? I'm sure most people will say no. They think that they know better when we walk into a job site, but I
there there are experts is what you're getting at, right? Paul, you you can go ahead. Yeah. No, I was just saying that I I
believe there are experts. That doesn't mean that they are uh you know,
irrefutable or that they can't be wrong. That would be the the misuse of the word
expert and misuse of the idea of being an expert. An expert is more of a in my
opinion more of a listener, more of a learner than a braggadocious I'm the
expert here. Um, right. Most of the time th the the true experts that I like, man,
I thought I was good, but this dude, you know, at whatever, um, they're they're
they're consummate learners. They're not out there like, well, I'm the expert. Now, once in a while, you have to I
mean, I got into a conversation. We're dealing with an issue on an exterior tile uh installation, little
effervescence issue. Um, but uh I get with the with the uh with the contractor
and he's like, "Well, we we called we called our expert." And I said, "Well, who's that?" He gave me the name and I
was like, "Okay, well, what what what what makes them an expert as an expert?"
Well, we worked with him for many years. And I'm like, "Oh, you've worked with me for 25, so am I an expert in your
opinion?" Well, yeah, but we just needed another expert. Okay. So, like you're
you're you know, here you're kind of beating around the bush here. You you
accidentally called somebody an expert that may just be a good tile uh owner,
tile company owner, who by the way is no longer in business. So, if they're no
longer in business, um maybe they retired, what have you. But the the point being is we're still in this day
in day out. Uh dealing with the new installation methods, new requirements
for for whether it's exterior tile or cleing or these things that you got to
do on a large tile install. Um having the right thin sets and the right grouts
and the things like that. But still uh there's a possibility
uh that um you know somebody doesn't want to hear your that you're an expert
because they don't like what you're saying, you know, right. Right. They don't agree with it, right? It doesn't favor them or or
doesn't bode well for the result they want. Well, that's not so Yes. I I guess
that's a little bit of a rabbit hole, but the bottom line is No. And and you're right. Right. Because that I think that goes back to the
respect thing because you look at these experts and then you respect them
because you see them and then they come at you and when you do have questions for them,
they don't just say, "Oh, no, that's not it." It's they they listen and then they process and then they come back with an
answer that is tailored to your question. And sometimes, you know, you you give them something and
they're not they they're always learning, right?
Like you said, so it's they're they're never like brushing you off. It's he might have to something to say that I
would have never thought about before and then they just soak all that information in. I also like the guys that will just tell
you I, you know, I don't know the answer to that, but I'm going to check into it. I'm gonna get with uh you know my my
folks or I'm gonna do this or that or the other. I'm gonna find the answer out for you. Uh those are to me like true
experts. Like yes expert an expert doesn't have to regurgitate or
give you an answer right away, right? But a true expert will know how to find an answer for you regardless if it's in
their toolbox or somebody else's. they'll they'll find a way to get you the information you need. Um, and
there's another way of looking at it, I guess. Um, and go ahead with Rollins's
comment there, Daniel. Yeah. Rollins says that Paul hit the nail on the head. He always says the lion doesn't have to tell you
he's a lion. You just know. Yeah, that's a great one.
You do just know. I do like that. So Kendall says he's he's correct on or
we were correct on what he was asking. Um sure they mean be an expert on sub stuff, but a lot of times it's just BS,
right? And I think that's where the respect comes in too, right? To to if
you know some stuff and then you're talking to someone that says that they do and you're like this is not even
close to what you should be talking about. So you you end up losing respect for them right away.
Yeah. And I'm also not saying that everybody who claims to be an expert is an expert.
So, you're definitely going to come across people who claim to be experts at things that are are not, and that is
where you lose respect for them, right? And so, in Kindle's uh scenario, yeah, there's there's guys that will say
they're an expert. They talk out the side of their neck, you know,
puke puke a bunch of BS and you know they're you know you can't trust them
and you know you you you at that point that's where respect is lost. I I uh
there's a I think it's Senica or uh one of those old uh philosophers that said
um and and I I like the saying it kind of applies but it's like uh when you're
coming into a scenario he would ask are you seeking for understanding or just to
prove your point like are you seeking validation or understanding? And I think that's how it goes and that's something
to always remember I think and that's where somebody who's good at what they do uh they want to seek understanding of
the scenario. They want to seek understanding of if it's a doctor, a
good doctor wants to seek they are seeking understanding of what your
body's going through, right? Not just have a predisposed
uh kind of uh uh diagnosis and then try to prove themselves right. That's not a
good doctor, right? And we know those uh where you're like, "Yeah, I went to this doctor and told me I had uh you know,
XYZ and gave me this and shued me out of out the out the door." And then I went
to a specialist to a true expert in the field and they did all these tests and ran all these things to really
understand what my body was telling them. And uh I have XYZ and uh they gave
me the right treatment and I I feel a thousand times better. I've heard that story from multiple people, you know,
that type of a story. So, I've lived that story, brother. Yeah. Well, I got a buddy who, God bless
him, has been through so much medical misdiagnosis.
Uh, his name's Kirk, uh, Martin. Really good, really good dude. Um but you know
he has he had been misdiagnosed with all these different things and then he when
he finally was found out about it it was I wouldn't say too late but he had a
heart attack and um and uh then they were able to identify
what was wrong with his ticker and and all that and he's he's getting better now. But you know the the truth is is uh
that's where that that Senica I think it's Senica that said it. Do you seek validation or understanding?
I think what it sounds like is that all this stuff is based on science
because you're always seeking something, right? and you're looking for that answer whether or not
you have to be open to uh to change maybe based on truth.
Yeah. I mean sci science um because there's just not a scientific uh you know
application for everything. You got people's emotions and different stuff that come involved. Probably as if
you're referring to a doctor, you're probably, you know, even way way right
with that comment. U that's bad bad bad English. Way right. Uh but you're
probably correct in that from a doctor's perspective. But when you start talking about the trades, there's so many
variables within what we do particularly in flooring that uh that's where
inspectors I I think and installers have to really try to understand the
scenario. What happened? That's I've been in um had inspectors uh do work for
me and when they ask the questions that are like, well, what was sight
conditions? Uh how how was it when was the contractor really pushing you guys?
Like they seem to already understand the pressure and the the realworld
application that we have to go through as installers and contractors.
Those are my favorite inspectors. The ones who already kind of understand the business. They're not just coming in
looking for where's the where I Where can I point to that says it's your
fault? Yeah, it's I know there was How much pressure was put put on you
to get this done? Rollins says uh he he always says when
he's the smartest in the room, he's in the wrong room. When you stop learning,
your mind starts dying. And I mean, I look at Rin as an expert and
you know he I've looked at him as an expert since I before I met him, right? But then we started talking about
classes and stuff and I asked him if he was going to come and take one of my classes and he was like, "Yeah, I'll come take one of your classes. I'm sure
I can learn a lot." That dude just loves learning, man. We all love so good.
We all love learning. That's why we're here right now. You know what I mean? Because some of the best lessons learned
are are when you're helping someone else learn, when you're sharing information,
you can have those aha moments. And I love it. I love learning. I love getting my hands dirty. I like being a part of
the process all the time on everything that I do. just
we're going back to um all almost the the entire thread talks
about like being about it and that's what you're talking about is like being about that learning really uh investing
your you know your time and and effort and um
money in many cases to becoming better. no expert became an expert by not doing
that. I'll tell you that that 100%. Another another thing that that uh kind
of stood out in this conversation is
that it's the we all agree that it's never demanded like the really good
ones. I think Rollin comes to mind. He never just tells me how good he is. He
brags more on his uh education and his love of learning every time I'm around
him. That more so than he does his ability to get something done. And then
he almost always projects like the goodness on people that helped him get done on his
jobs. And that's another clear sign of somebody who's a lot better than they're
letting off like like that.
And that was the first time I when I first met Rand too. Like we just started walking and talking and and we were just talking about situations. Like I'll be
honest like I didn't know who he was. I went with Daniel. I didn't know who anybody was. I just I went as Daniel's
brother right to the person of that event. And um we walked and talked with many
people. But R and we we we had a very long conversation on on what we've
experienced and and scenarios and we didn't brag about anything. We just kind of talked like, "Hey, what'd you do on
this?" Or, "Have you ever had this happen to you?" And he's like, "Yeah, this is what I did." I was like, "Oh yeah, man. I should have thought about
that." And what about you? Oh, I've done this. And he's like, "Oh, I should have thought about," you know, and we just bounced ideas off of each other. Um, and
you know, at the end of the trip, once once someone presented his accolades,
right? Um, and it was like he could have just totally ignored my conversation and
ignored me as we were walking and I was asking questions that, you know, might have been a little redundant. He could
have just ignored all of that, but he didn't. So, for that, Mr. Rollin, you earned my respect, right?
maybe even just reinforced it because you already had it before. I mean, you're you're talking about the topic to
a tea. You already had respect for him before you found out that he was an expert. And um it just reinforced it
all, you know. Yeah. And and and and just just the thought that someone who
has extensive knowledge like that was entertaining conversation about scenarios with me was fantastic.
Yeah. Loved it. All right, guys. Well, we're coming up at the end of the podcast. I want to
thank everybody for joining us today. Thank you for all the comments and uh
back and forth there. If we didn't get to somebody, apologize. Uh as you know, we are kind of a fireside chat style
podcast. Um we just kind of three guys. I mean, this this is literally the same
conversation we have when we're together just hanging out, eating. Uh you know
what's that place in Vegas, Daniel? Denton, dude. [laughter]
Uh I just I was just there uh on Saturday. Oh, was it? Friday.
Yeah. See, this is that bragging part, right, that we talked about. [laughter]
Whatever, dude. Another mention of our sponsors. Want to thank uh NACT and Divergent Adhesives
for sponsoring this episode. Uh, make sure when you think about training and
getting your certifications, particularly when it's around resilient flooring and floor prep and stuff, uh,
that you check out the NASCT divergent adhesives. Hey, what more can we say?
You guys know, uh, Sunny, or if you don't, you should get to know Sunny and,
uh, talk about somebody that, you know, has integrity and and tries to put the
best product out. That's it right there. And you can uh put your trust in into
Divergent Adhesives. Also, just mention Pro Installer Magazine. You want to stay up to date on the newest uh installation
methods, newest uh news around install um practices, techniques, that kind of
stuff. Pro Installer does a really good job. Go check out the magazine. I believe it's pretty much online. And of
course, trade tap and the verified skill in uh trade index. Verified skill index.
That was a that was a close one. It almost uh was called verified skill index. Um you want to check out the
verified trade index, get your ranking, get more uh more of the work that you
want and uh you know, check out trade tap trade-tap.com.
Well guys, thanks uh as usual for such a intriguing conversation. Goes up hills
and down down valleys and and we explored parts of the topic and thanks
to all of the comments and and all your guys's insights. Uh
we should start picking out number one comment of the day. And maybe I'm really biased. Uh, but you know, a line doesn't
have to I was going to say pretty dang good. [laughter] That is the one that I would pick as
well. Jorge said pops came out on the front cover, I believe, this month.
That's pretty cool. All right, guys. Thanks everybody for
joining us and we will catch you guys next week. catches on all of the uh you
know if you if you are watching us live we really appreciate that but also if you are watching this on YouTube or one
of the podcast platforms please give us a like a subscribe follow whatever uh
let's blow this thing up together we appreciate you guys and if you have any topics don't forget to send them to us.
Peace out. Thank you everyone. See you guys.
