Leadership Lessons & Our CREW Culture

Audio Transcript

Hey there. Welcome to another episode of Your Concrete Success podcast. This is Danny Barrera with my co-host and partner, literal partner, my wife. It's an honor to have you here about it one more time. Welcome aboard. Welcome to another episode. How's your day going? Thanks. My day is going great. I'm super excited to be here. Record a new episode. Our last couple episodes, I've, I've got a lot of good feedback. Everybody's loved them and I'm super excited to record a new one today. Beautiful. What do you got for us today?

Right? Today's gonna be a fun episode because we're gonna be talking about um our biggest leadership lessons that we've learned in concrete marketing crew. But the fun part is that we're going to give a sneak, a sneak peek into our actual concrete marketing crew culture. So that's exciting. I love it. I love it. So today we're not talking about marketing, we're talking about the team and what drives the business, right? It is an interesting thing because you start uh going after at least I'll talk for myself here when we start a concrete marketing care is like, hey, we just want to make a living, right?

We would, we want to serve our needs. And as we started growing and scaling the company, we realize the real game is not in getting more clients or increasing our retainer model. Uh Every month is not just serving clients at the highest possible levels. Really, the individuals that can make it happen for us, our, our crew, concrete marketing crew and we've changed our entire vision mission values, our core values not because we have changed our core values as individual. We actually integrate them so that we can get people to buy in to where we're going, how we're serving the industry.

And I really uh think about this, I love concrete. I love decorative concrete. I love concrete coatings. If we're going to get lethal marketers, individuals who are, they can go out and work on e-commerce brands, they can go out and work, work elsewhere. Why would they come and work at a company that solely focuses in marketing, the concrete and executive concrete industry? So that's been the biggest challenges over the year. Um And uh I'm glad that we're talking about this episode and I want to dedicate this episode to all of our crew members, past present and the future.

Uh We appreciate you so much. Every single one of you has helped us get to where we are and uh for helping us prepared for where we're going. Yes, I'm, I agree. All right. So let's start off with our first question. And this one's kind of interesting because it might seem like it doesn't fit, but it definitely that fits into our culture. And we've been asked this question before um by some of our employees. So why do you Danny Barrera bring faith and God into our business?

First and foremost, we're not one dimensional individuals. Um And you know, going back to the people component, there's a spiritual aspect to all of us that we can try to run away from, hide from it. Uh There's a spiritual truth and look, here's the bottom line. We are very inclusive as an organization, whether it's Muslim religion, individuals that read the, or the Bible or the Torah. Uh You know, I, I believe that there is a higher power really that gives us uh this amazing life and this opportunity to create an impact.

And we're on this journey of growth and expansion. And if we're only growing in the monetary aspect or in client base or getting people, you know, we've found that individuals get burned out, they start having problems at home, you know, their, their health starts falling apart and we will look at it. Hey, let's talk about God for a moment here. Let's sit on a moment of prayer together and everything starts changing. There's a different power that comes through that I wish I could tell you that, hey, it's, it's Danny Barrera's prayer or it's Maddy's prayer.

No, it's a higher power that comes through. And look, we pray for our clients. We pray, pray for our employees. We pray for our software. We pray, we pray for our crm. God, help us, help us get this thing dialed in. Help us our rank, our clients rankings, crush it. And we've seen God's hand move, time and time and time again. And I will not shy away from it and it's made some uh past employees uncomfortable for the fact that I am very vocal in every Monday huddle.

Uh I don't shy away from it because God is my source. Uh And I am here because of His grace and his salvation for myself. And I, I want everyone to experience that peace, love and redemption because when you do, you're just unstoppable, you stop down in yourself. And uh when you go into business and you go into war in business, look, everything else is more manageable. Everything else is like, ok, God, we got this. So um and the second thing is like, look, it makes our lives a lot easier too. Right?

There's uh imagine running a business with your partner. How many uh people have you heard? Oh, I could never run a business with my partner. Never in a million years. But um having this one component that unifies us and unites us. I think a lot of times when we've had our differences, it, it's also helping us strengthen our relationship and what our Children get to see. Uh, to me is I'm, I'm planting seeds in my Children. I don't care how young they are. And for me that is critical is a cornerstone.

And, uh, yeah. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's also, I've, we've had clients that have had surgery or been sick or what not and have actually reached out to us and said, hey, do you mind saying a prayer for me? I'm gonna have some surgery like, and you know, I think that that's, we're not, I'm not saying you have to like in the same Monday huddle that we, you're talking about like, you know, God and faith. We're also having like a, a non religious meditation. So it's almost like we, we, we, we are very inclusive of everything, but definitely God is, is very important to us.

And, and like you said, before I launch any ad, I always like pray over that ad and it makes the difference and I don't know it, it, I, I always do. It makes the greatest difference. Yes. And if you need prayer, uh we're open for you, send us a message. This doesn't have to be about business like seriously legitimately. Um This is something II I also like to give uh Bent Mickelson from concrete, the core magazine, a man of God, another individual who's opened up a ton of doors for us uh in the industry and introduce us to the industry and we've uh gotten to spend some time with him last couple of world of concrete.

Um, and there's an incredible community of Christians and believers in the decorative concrete space. And, uh for me, you know, I'm not going to shy away or ever, ever, ever, um, feel ashamed of, you know, professing my belief. Um And I'm not here to impose it on anyone, but I'm here to share it and look, this is uh I, I think we are, are living testimonies and how we carry ourselves, etcetera. And that makes an incredible impact for people and, and in people. Yeah. And I think it's a very genuine thing and it also contributes to the culture of, of our company because you're just very genuine.

So speaking about culture, um that's one of the things I wanna talk about today. What is culture, what is culture and why is it so important in a business? I love it. I love it. Uh One more thing I'd like to wrap up on. The last one is um there's a fine line of, I feel like some individuals use the name of God, God in vain and faith in vain where you might be quoting by Bible verses left and right and on the other side, you find yourself as a hypocrite going down and you know, the same individuals doing this, you know, it's, this is what gives a bad reputation.

Uh And there are so many individuals that have been hurt by the church have been hurt by, hey, you know, I was molested as a child going to church and this is not what we're talking about here. I just wanna make that very clear because at some point or another, like someone has been hurt and it's always come down to the individuals that have hurt you. And this is where we get to show God's grace in this specific phase. And uh you know, that, that, that bleeds into this whole component of what, what is the culture?

How do we build the culture is something that I started looking into about three years ago, three or four years ago where we're, we're constantly burning our tires. Me and Maddie and we're, we're like, hey, how do we get people to buy into what we're doing? How do we get uh our, our company members motivated to come in and show up and do the best that they can. How do we get them inspired to be their, their best selves? Uh And what I learned through this process is a combination of training coaches, etcetera that have helped us in this journey.

And I wanna commend them for this. But um really there are key three key things that come up here and I've written them down. One of them is to create a culture. You need number one, your values, what are your core values? You're gonna need some sort of core values, the values that you drive yourself and do business and it's not just about coming up with a couple of cute words, uh, that you see and that you can plaster on the wall. No, no, it's actually something that's meaningful that you can carry and it transcends.

Um, just what, what it reads. The next one is the code. The code is, how do you operate? It's like the ethos, take it, take it as the ethos as you operate. And I'll show you some of the codes here that we have a concrete market crew, which is what I leverage and that helps me facilitate uh this Monday huddle. So there's a piece of the Monday hurdles that, you know, this is uh more so of sharing how we can uh grow and empower our individuals to perform and be their, their best selves.

Um And I always borrow from one of the ethos that's also tied in right into the values. And then the last one is the philosophy. So you have the, the values, core values, you have the code, your living code as well as the philosophy of um of how do you uh how do you as a company in our organization as a team? How do you see the world and how do you stand out in the marketplace? This goes beyond the brand and the logo, this is actually living it and being it.

Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that. I agree with that. It's, it's something that, you know, you, you have to do, like, for us, it's been, it's been very important for us to, like, be able to have our employees buy in and love an industry as much as we do. Like, that's, that's, you know, that's, that's important, that's important to everything, to the results of our clients, to the way that we grow. Because if they don't love what, what we're marketing, then how can you know, they market it the right way.

You know what I'm saying? You have to really love it and, and, and creating that spark in them has been something that we've, we've progressed as we've, as we've been in this industry and it's actually something that I'm very proud of today when I see like my graphics team like really love um putting together a video that talks about the process of coating a floor. Like that's, there's nothing cooler than that, there's nothing cooler than that. And look, here's the bottom line. It's all of that ties in and they are the ones that participate and help us create the culture.

Like, yes, yes, we can mastermind and speak about these things. OK? What is our crew values, right? We had the core values which uh we have a client, amazing client lances. We're gonna have him talk about how to create core values in your company and organization in a way that is meaningful that was uh one of the big pivot points in our, in our company is like, oh wow, the way he explained it and then he explained it to his crews and then he explained it to us.

It's marketing partners. L and after that, we went back to the drawing board and say, hey, what are our core values again? Like are we even like, like if we ask any one of our team members, do they even know it? And that became a, a definite moment for us and for our team and we started making it exciting, like they get to participate in helping us create this into a way that is embedded right into uh their belief system as well. So uh we went from having core values to our crew values, concrete marketing, crew, crew values.

Um And our core values are commitment. We're committed to being the best version of ourselves first for ourselves so that we, we can be the best version of ourselves for the rest of the world. You see, we don't put ourselves last. We actually as individuals, we're committed to being the best version of ourselves first for ourselves. So if we're, if I'm a father, I'm gonna be showing up as a, as an elite father. If I'm a husband, I'm gonna be showing up as the best husband and partner.

If I'm an employee, I'm gonna be showing up as the best employee I can be. If I'm a graphic designer, I'm gonna be showing up. So we believe that as a multi, multi dimension individual, you have your body, you have your being your spiritual connection, you have your relationships and then you have the business, the career component. You're not just in one dimension, I'm not here uh having employees just be part of concrete marketing crew so that you can work on our clients accounts. Now, that's not what it's about.

It's what is the impact that you get to generate and create as a byproduct of a graphic or a byproduct of a, an article that ranks for our clients or as a byproduct of our clients Google listings showing up as number one. There is a massive, we are empowering over 210 2100 individuals as of now as the right as of this video. This is how many lives our crew, our crew, not Danny Barrera, not Mattie Barrera. Our crew gets to impact and you see when we talk, when we talk about our, our crew values, I mean, it takes a different form we get excited about uh right now they're printing t-shirts, crush the standards because you know, you got the standards be the standard.

But what if there's be the standards and there's crush the standards? What if we, why? Because you know what you guys got so bored about beating your own ads and it's like, ok, Maddie, like we keep doing, you know, we keep crushing it with this video ads. Well, now we said let's crush the Sanders, let's crush what we did and do it better, right? So that, that's, that's the true values, right? Um And then the code, the ethos, it's a different form. Uh And then the philosophy, different form.

I don't know if you have any other questions regarding this. Well, I just wanna bring it back to your Lance. What you were talking about Lance and his and his core values of his team. I can vouch for how much his team loves working for, for him. Um And only by the pictures that he sends us, like even our team members have noticed how much and how unified he he and his team is because of his, his way that he shows them core value. So that's very interesting.

All right. So I have a question now. Uh why do most business owners stay small? Oh, that's, that's an easy one. It's because this is hard work. What you've signed up for is not to be an installer. You, you have signed up to be in the most uncertain in most uncertainty uh in your life where the results are completely up to you and when it comes time for you to pull the trigger and make an investment and this is where here's the bottom line we are here to guide you.

Help me better help make better business decisions. That's the bottom line. So at some point in time, if you're a business owner, you've gotten ripped off, taken advantage of. And this is why we're putting all this content, all this effort. You know, we're investing in putting content that brings slight and awareness and empowers you because we are sick and tired of seeing so many business owners who work so hard, get ripped off. But there's a sense of responsibility that comes from it. Like recently, we had an employee who was a leader in our organization stepped down from her role and you know, we appreciate for all of her contribution.

However, there's so many lessons which we call them expensive lessons, which will see them. You can look at it as an expense as like, wow, man, we just got burned or we, we put so much, so much faith on this individual or we could look at the amount of time that individual was here contributing and look at it as an expense. But to us, we, we, we've learned like, hey, this is part of the learning lesson. This is how much it costs us for us to learn this lesson.

And it's been the same over and over and over again and every time we get better. So being able to reframe problems into opportunities, being able to reframe. Hey, I just got ripped off from this marketing agency. Well, you should know how to ask better questions next time, right? Turn that into the positive you see, because most people that stay small, they stay in the same mindset expecting different results. So your mindset has to change and you must be willing to die, the old self must die in order for a new version to be born.

There's no way around it. This is why for us, the, the constant growth and expansion is a never ending journey. And are we perfect in the process? No, no, no. I'm not sitting here as a clown with uh you know, the makeup and I give this example to my team guys, I'm not a clown. You want a clown? Someone that puts this pretty face here promises you the world and all this trying to get you excited. And then at the end of the day, you don't know who that person is or I can show up as the most authentic realist version of myself.

And here's what I'm gonna share in the process. I'm gonna give you 100% of who I am now. I'm not gonna hide. So when you stay small, there's a conversation that you have to ask yourself. Are you happy with where you are like legitimately? Are you happy with the results with your body, with your relationships with how you're showing up with your Children with your bank account? Are you happy or unhappy? And at some point in time, you have to align yourself with better people. You have to align yourself with individuals that can help you get to that next level.

Like there's no way around it, no way around it. This is why faith is so important for us. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, that's good because there's a lot of darkness that we have to face insecurities. The other thing is like one of my mentors, Garrett J White talks about, hey, you can be saved but still live like a slave. And what it means is we can receive God's redemption for our lives. But ultimately, are we accepting it? Are we forgiving ourselves for our mess ups for the mistakes that we made for?

Or are we gonna take that and hear his voice and say, hey, this is actually a lesson for you. So stays mall is a choice. And as we're heading to 2024 2025 my friend, I'm gonna call you into action. This is not the time to play small. This is not the time to play it safe. What you're about to see unleash into the marketplace. It's gonna be some of the hardest seasons of your lifetime as a business owner, plain and simple. This is why we're not just doubling down.

We're four, folding it down into concrete marketing crew to help our clients. We could be doing other things like quite literally. But this is why I'm so passionate and I hope that if you're listening to this, you're finding some value, give us some feedback let us know, share this podcast if you're finding it helpful. Why? Because it wasn't until I had someone in my corner. Tell me these realities that I started realizing. Wow, like when the Bible says, be transformed by the renewing of the mind, what does that really mean?

And how does that apply to me? So, an old self must die, old belief system. Current must perish for a new one to be born. Learn more lessons, guess what? There's another level, learn more lessons here. There's another level it never ends. And yeah, this is it learning. You're right. It's a constant evolution of learning. Like you never, you can't just stay where you are. You got to keep moving, growing, learning expanding. If you just want to stay where you are and you're comfortable, that's why you're going to stay small.

But if you really want to grow, you just got to keep getting uncomfortable and growing and expanding and moving and, and changing. And that's a very interesting lesson because I tend to be the type of person that, well, that's kind of hard. But I've learned that when you grow, it's, it's just, it's hard but it's, it's very good and very rewarding. So that's, that's good. That's good stuff. All right, Danny, speaking of which, what have been some of our biggest struggles as we've grown? Oh, biggest struggle by far is, that's been quite a few.

Oh, my gosh. Where, where do we start. I know. Oh, thank you, God for all the struggles because if we weren't for them, we wouldn't be here. But, uh I mean, there's been a series of struggle but when it comes to um in this topic of culture, uh vision, mission values and if you have that graphic, if you could pull it up here, I would love to share with you uh what's come out of all the struggles, you know, first and foremost our identity as a company.

If you scroll down into who we are, hey, you know, we've redefined the way our company culture looks like because there was a point in time where we were just hiring just to fulfill services and that was not making an impact. No one was happy at the end of the day. I mean, people were working, they were getting paid, but ultimately, they, they, they didn't feel like they were part of something bigger than themselves. So who we are in creating the identity of concrete marketing crew. We, a team of digital marketing experts specializing in serving the concrete, concrete uh industry throughout uh in contractors throughout the United States.

And if you scroll down, it's what do we do? Hey, we help concrete concrete contractors get more leads, book more estimates and sell more projects with our digital marketing solutions and services. You see what we do here, this 11 paragraph right here. There was a point in time where we were trying to be all things to all of our clients and stretching and going above and beyond. And we've simplified our, our offering for not just scaling purposes but for fulfillment and consistency of our services so that we could provide a five star experience.

Like there was a point in time that what we do was so blur out that people like uh our, our clients were like, oh, hey, I need this other graphics for this and I need this and that and I need this and that. And we would be like, hey, social media, can you post on our social media channels? And we'd be like, yes sir, yes, ma'am. And uh you know, we do it. So there was a point in time where um we were all things to all clients.

And then as we started growing, we realized that's not a path for scaling and let's just define what the, what we're the best at and what we're committed to being the best at. If you go to the next one, we talk about our mission and industry impact like this was not defined if you came to us three years ago, this was not as defined, hey, we're on in a mission to profit, profitably enhance the lives of 500 Concord coding, executive concrete contractor by helping them get more leads, book more estimates and sell more floors resulting in more time freedom profits.

By 2025 I'm proud to say that we're on track to hitting these targets. I'm very proud. Is it a walk in the park? Absolutely not. But guess what? We have a clear target of where we're going. We did not have this as clear as, as it is. And the next one is the vivid vision. How do we see this realized, uh in, in the world? And this is the way it's realized. It's December 103st, 2025. We're ending the single best year of our company history and the company is riding a major high.

We have just had a positive workplace impact and focus with serving 500 clients. 50 virtual team member, 500 positive reviews are collected and I can tell you that 500 that's a stretch for us right now. We're about about, we're about 25 right now. Uh And if you're a client of concrete marketing crew, uh it would mean the world Maddie's birthday is coming up. It would, it would be like it would mean a lot more to her than ever if you take time to give us your feedback. But uh uh we, we do appreciate you for entrusting us with your business, but the reviews piece is probably what we're most off track with.

Um and uh we're working very hard to earn those five star reviews genuine, legitimate and, and truth be told like I could go and buy uh five star reviews online. I know who sells them like the whole thing, but we don't do it that way. Um We keep it 100% real. Um And then the last one right here, if you scroll down is our crew values. I talked about the crew values. Um, there was no value system. Uh, that was very clear. You see, now, every one of our single crew members takes ownership and they're committed, they're responsible when they're showing up.

There's a sense of excellence. Hey, how do we define excellence? Well, we aim for personal professional by pushing the boundaries through meticulous quality control. Like you see that one specific paragraph, we, we go over it and over it and over it and everyone buys into it because you know what they actually do, take pride in what they do and they're very meticulous about what they do last, but not least is defining what world class means. So a lot of times um and this has been one of the biggest lessons for me.

Its language is how to communicate. The biggest opportunity, opportunity, biggest struggle is how do I communicate English is my second language. You know, how do I make every single word matter? And we've prayed over all these things and you know, I've asked God, hey, give me guidance in how to better lead our team and how to integrate. There was a time in point in place and thank you for sharing that slide. Uh There was a point in time in our company where, you know, uh we were almost like, hey, we're not gonna talk about God or, you know, we're not, we're never gonna bring that up.

And it got to a point where God had a treatment with me. And uh it was the same year that my father went with the Lord. Um that was about four years ago. My father went with the Lord. It was also the same year that my ex wife disappeared from my children's lives and both of those things combined. And I had a decision to make at that point in time, I was here as an immigrant and I, I did not have the legal status to go and fly back out to El Salvador to see my dad.

I wanted to see him for one last time and I hold his hand and give him a hug and tell him how much I love him. Um You know, and that was the point in time where it was a, a real um encounter with God and God's love for my life. It was the real point in time where I probably gained £30.35 pounds uh in, in like three months, you know, and um I was, I was so disconnected from my Children. I was so disconnected from you from Maddie.

I had prioritized my business so much that I was so disconnected from the world trying to avoid the pain and it wasn't until I, I went right down to the pit, right down to the darkest place in my life where I encountered God in God's love and I received it. And that's a moment in time where I started realizing I'm playing this game the wrong way. Like the business is actually supposed to serve my family so that we can serve God. Like I'm not serving God if I'm not showing up in my children's lives.

And this is the moment in time where this reinvention. Can you talk a little bit about that because you experienced it from a different angle. We were at Bell Parkland and it was, it was a time where, you know, a complete shift. Yeah. Yeah. No, definitely. It was a time. It was a complete shift and time when you um really started to focus on um yourself and your growth and your improvement and you know, it, it was a little bit hard, but like you say, it was like a pit.

But whenever like, you know, you're in that ali like that, there's always going to be a breakthrough at the end. So, you know, at the end of the day I look forward now and I see that process and I only see like where we are now. Um But because like, you're so you're so you're always so focused on just bettering yourself. And as a wife, I could tell you that I don't necessarily get stuck in that valley, but I much more relish in like where you are now and where we are now.

So I guess I'm giving you the perspective of a wife of a business owner, which is also very important because a lot of our, our business owner, concrete coding business owners, they have wives too. And of course, you know, we see the end product not so much, you know, that, that value so long as we see that growth and that, that decision to move to a better place, I think that there's a lot of value in that. And, and you know, so some of the biggest lessons I learned is quite literally surrender.

You know, there, there's so many times where we think we know better and we don't, we simply don't, we simply don't. So and and surrendering to the, the sense of like, hey, look, there's so much more for me and if I'm holding on to this specific level of my life right now, which I think I know it all. I'm stopping myself and my family from receiving God's blessings and quite literally, and sometimes it is the same thing with advertising. It's like, hey, I don't wanna spend more money in advertising.

Guess what you holding this right here is not helping you get any more farther ahead. So the biggest lessons have come from, from those places and, and what I've just shared right now about our mission industry, impact that came from like not knowing the direction where we're headed. Ok. We're growing sure we're, you know, we have the SEO the number one SEO program and all of a sudden, we're so stressed out of our minds and team members, like we didn't even understand each other and we're pushing and pushing and breaking each other um down and like, hey, what, what are we doing here specifically?

So every single slide that you just went through here and thank you Christian for bringing that up. Um It was very uh very intentional about gaining clarity and direction and purpose in the marketplace and that um that has been the, the rebirth and growth of concrete marketing crew. Um You know, and, and again, this episode is dedicated to all of our concrete marketing crew members for being with us, uh for calling this your home and your environment for growth, past, present and future. And thank you so much for the opportunity.

It's an honor to serve you. It's an honor to be your leader and uh I'm really stoked about the future here because we're growing and uh we're attracting more people and, and this is, it can't happen without all of you. Yeah, that's good stuff, right? I have one more question for you. Go for it. How have we been able to unify our team and get them to buy into the vision of our company? Beautiful. So the first thing is defining what that vision looks like. And you know, that's what we just shared here is our industry impact our vivid vision and making that absolutely clear and defining what that looks like and how it it it is defined for every single role.

So um for those of you that are interested, hey, Danny. So what, what would be the next step? Uh There are different business models, different business trainings, but E OS the E Os system, literally the word E OS system. Uh entrepreneurial operating system is one of the simplest and most straightforward models where you get to break down. What is your vision look like? 10 year, three year, one year and then quarterly and making that achievable because one of the biggest problems I've had in the past was given this big ass vision.

And how are we gonna get there, Maddie? OK. Well, through a system like E Os, you have the ability to turn them into targets and achievable measurable goals and then divide them up. How does that look like per department? How does that look like per leaders? How does a crew member and their team continue to grow time and time again? For, for us, how does our seo team keep growing? How do we empower our people and know exactly what are gonna be the rocks or the improvement key points that we're gonna be measuring quarter after quarter.

So when we make every individual part of that process and we tell them, this is where we're going, team, this is where we're going. All right, let's break it down. This is what we need to achieve by the end of the year. Let's look at that how that applies to us. OK. Well, if we need to do this many content rewrites, what can we possibly do team in order to have less uh go backs or less uh rewrites or less QC done? and then we define what those targets are and make them part of the process.

This puts people in a place of accountability. So it's gonna help you weed out those do that, do not buy in part of the whole E OS model is getting people that get it, want it and have the capacity slash capabilities to do it. So do they get what they're doing? Do they want it? You see a lot of people want to work with you, but do they truly get right down to the point where they're literally able to follow up what the high or standards of excellence look like for you?

So there's a standard of excellence that we do expect for um our Facebook ads team. You know, there are, there have been individuals that have not lasted a concrete marketing crew because of the lack of transparency, the lack of like, you know, having conversations, some of them have left negative reviews in the past, you know, in job portals. I'm like, OK, Well, you know, there was no transparency and I get it and they didn't get it and he doesn't serve them nor does it serve you as the business owner.

So he never served us having someone who couldn't get it. And there was a season where man, we were just trying to have her. Do we use, do we use written sops? Do we use videos? We ended up doing all of them. Uh Do you remember? Right. So there's that piece getting people that get it, wanna have the capacity to do it, give them a clear vision and my palace that is gonna lay. And then second thing is stop that for me, it was the the point where I stopped putting myself first and then put them first and, and why do I say that is because I took so much pride in saying we're the number one is your company in, in, in the industry.

We're this and that and I became the biggest bottleneck. And that's, that's been probably the most crucial lesson for me has been how do I remove myself, Atari, empower people and give them this vision and then empower the leaders within the company. So they feel proud about what they're doing. And as soon as we determine who's a leader or who's got those specific skill sets, invite them for an opportunity to grow. Um And lastly, it's giving them this um ascension ladder. And if you're a business owner, I want you to Google this term called the employee S curve.

Employee s Curve. Every employee has it in the beginning there, there's gonna be a season where, uh, they're pretty much gonna be learning the model, the business model. But, uh, there's gonna be a point where they hit that excellence or they hit the ceiling and if you're not able to provide another next level opportunity for them, guess what if you don't provide that opportunity for them and they feel, feel bored and they're like, hey, I maxed out here, I did the best I could. They're gonna look for another place to go and work at and it happens to every employer out there.

And that's the biggest challenge with getting a players or rock stars, et cetera is how do you attract them? But how do you retain them? How do you give them that next level? So that's been part of our constant going back to the drawing board. How do we create that next level for our employees? Um And that's how we, we get them to buy in the swag is, it's also helpful, but that's, you know, that that comes and goes. Uh We've had the sabbaticals, which is the time off every eight weeks, they get a week off um flexibility, virtual team environment, a fun, positive workplace where they get to grow in multiple areas of their lives and um you know, positivity.

It's, it's a big deal. Um Anything else you you'd like to share? No, I just wanna, I wanna just ask you a quick question. Like all of this information has been very, very valuable, super valuable when, when you're a business owner. But I want you to give me some like real examples of how a one crew small concrete coating business can apply some of this to their current um company so that they can grow a little bit more. Oh, I love it. I love it too. If you're at one, that is the best place where you can be at.

If you're at one, that means you start with where you are. What is the crystal clear vision that you, that you have for your business? And I get it, it doesn't make sense when you're grinding floors, when you're on your knees and you're doing, you just want to make a living. But eventually when you realize, hey, I gotta hire a helper or I'm having a hard time getting help or I'm having a hard time, Danny. I got the truck wraps but no one wants to come and work for us.

Like what does that tell me? Well, that it has a lot more to do with the, the, the leader of the company. And how are you treating the individuals? Are you providing them an opportunity that is desirable? Do they wanna be around you or are you just gonna boss them around? Unfortunately, we're not back in the uh 19 eighties where quite literally employers had a different mindset about how to treat employees almost like you were, you know, quite literally, you could be right there with, uh what do you call the whip?

A whip? And you could command them. Hey, go and uh grind that floor right now. I was about the car right now, but uh and, and they would go down and like, no, nowadays there's so much opportunity um available, there are so many competitors uh that will want to have a top talent. And the question is with that in mind, what kind of character, how are you showing up as an individual? Are you inspiring them? Are you gonna be the kind of boss that's gonna be detrimental for their mental health?

And look, here's the bottom line in the trades people are looking for, hope they're looking for a positive place that they can work on and you get to decide what kind of culture you get to create a culture that's gonna serve you, your family and the vision of the company and you start with yourself. Hey, how do I want this to be? And you start with the presentation? OK. How do I want this to look like the first step? I don't have any sop I don't have any training.

Well, how would I start thinking about how do I train that next hire and start asking questions to specific support groups? In how to build that training? Is it gonna be a video, is it gonna be hands on and start thinking about what that needs to look like for you? What kind of projects you need to take them into? So that's where that getting them into the first step and then the vision as far as the vision get to know your people. Like the first question is like, hey, where do you see yourself in three years?

Like quite literally, hey, so you know, what kind of car are you driving? Yeah. What kind of car do you like? Just get to know them? Slow down, slow down your world. I get it. You need to make money, you need to go and do floors. But you know, the one thing I've learned as a leader, you gotta slow down tremendously sometimes by 90% to get to hear where your employees are at and help them and create a path for them so that they can accomplish their goals and dreams.

We have one of our longest employees, marketing crew. Uh He's my right hand person. This individual is about to be an investor, about to be an investor of a multi property. I mean, he's looking at properties right now. He's like he actually left the company and came back and now that he's back, you know, he's got a different mindset. It's like, OK, game, it's game time. Um And for others, it's like, hey, I'm buying a house for others. It's like paying off college and we're helping them in all these different modalities and it's our responsibility to do that.

So it doesn't matter. Just start with the one. Ok? Look for opportunities. Look for people that you can help and guide along the way. And I'm gonna tell you this, no one likes to work for a shitty boss like they're only gonna last for so long. So if you have this negative mindset about people don't last, maybe you should look at in the mirror with all due respect and put your pride aside and ask yourself, do I really want to build a business or do I wanna just keep installing floors?

Because if you only want to install floors, cool. Go for it, man. Go to the Facebook groups and then buddy up with someone else and go and install floors. Forget about the idea of building a business because the business is going to rely on people, especially in the traits. So that answer your question. Yeah, that did answer my question. Actually, I have no other questions for today. I just want to tell you, I really enjoy this episode very much. I thought the content was super, super clever.

And I think my favorite thing about this, this episode is it's kind of like a glimpse into what our coaching calls are going to be in the um coming up that we talked about in the last episode. So I'm super excited to see how much um we're gonna actually how much more we can dive deep into on a personal basis. Uh Moving forward with our clients uh in our, our coaching on our client. What is, what is it called? Like a concrete success lab? So I concrete coding success lab.

That's right. I'm excited. OK. We talk about culture, we talk about team. I wanna have you consider this? I, I could have come up with the names. Actually, I had different names for, for the group. And what did I do to get the bind? I let my team decide and they casted a vote and they decided and then we moved on and guess what, how do they feel when they see this thing thriving and succeeding? And they see people being put into the system every single time they got to be part of that.

So create those opportunities for your team and reward them as you're growing. Reward them as you as you're having wins, reward them. We celebrate our team members as much as possible. We have a win slack channel. Uh But uh if you thought this was good, this is nothing. This is probably 10% of what you will get in the coaching calls. I create an experience for you where it's you, your business, you get what you need to receive and look if there is a place in time where again you need or you need help and like something's not working out, feel free to reach out at concrete marketing crew dot com.

Visit our website, send us a message. Uh It would be uh great to pray for you. Uh But wishing you all of you an amazing rest of your week. And again, if you have not yet entered the raffle for this amazing $100 million leads book by Alex Orsi. It's a great book. It's a great book. Uh There are a, an incredible level of concepts here. Some of them which will need a further explanation how to integrate and implement into cracker coding business. However, that's what the coaching calls are gonna be about is how do you integrate some of these ideas and strategies.

Uh But anyways, if you want to have a chance, make sure you subscribe. Uh go to youtube, leave a comment in the video right here, share this video and we'll see you in the next one until the next time, Danny Barrera Concrete Market and Crew.