S2:E10 Daniel D'Souza Joins "Interviews with Dad's" Podcast from Seattle Washington

I was walking. All right, start that all over.

Yeah, well, my name—

start that all over. Yeah, start with your name, uh, marriage, uh, you know, kids, profession, all that jazz, so we get it on tape.

Yeah, Daniel D'Souza. I've been married 11 years, um, been with my wife for 16 years. We have 2 daughters, the ages 5 and 3, Quinn and Cleo, and, uh, we both own Stronghold Alarm Systems here in Seattle, Washington.

Cool. And how long you been doing alarms?

Uh, 13 years, and we started the company in July last year.

Married 11 years, 16. So you guys were high school sweethearts, met at Little Caesars, right?

Yeah, yeah, we met at Little Caesars.

How old were, uh, is Chloe and—

oh no, Quinn and Cleo.

I was close.

Yeah, no, you're good. Everybody says the same thing.

Quinn and Cleo. How'd you get— how'd you guys come up with those names?

Uh, we were just finding some non— not very common names because, uh, I was one of 4 Daniels in my class all through K through 12, and my wife Sarah was one of a couple Sarahs in every class she was growing up.

So yeah, I had the name Townsend, so I never I never ran into that problem. Yeah.

How long have you guys been doing the living in the RV?

We're about to hit, uh, I think we've already hit 11 months. So 11 months, okay, we're coming up on a year.

Yeah, that must have been a pretty nice change, or intimidating change.

Uh, it was a little intimidating, um, but it was also in the COVID is when we actually left, like while COVID was happening, you know, when we were doing that 2 weeks to flatten the curve, you know. Just 2 weeks and only 2 weeks. Yeah, that, uh, we left in the middle of that, so it was kind of like, it was a little bit of relief because it's either we're going to be stuck home doing or exploring the country. So yeah, we'd rather, we'd rather go out to the middle of nowhere and explore some woods.

Yeah, that's cool.

Yeah, so, uh, and who would have known it'd last this long? I mean, I, I was swearing up and down and be done by summer, and, uh, because we were supposed to go into Canada Yeah, here we are a year later.

Yeah, yeah, it's, uh, it's been rough.

It's— yeah, it's been interesting. Um, so, so, um, I didn't, I didn't look through our notes. So what were you— uh, by the way, we're recording now. It's saying live, but we're not actually live, so it's just a, it's just a record. So, uh, if you get to a point where you say something you don't want put out there, or, uh you know, there's an awkward pause or, you know, you stumble over your words or something, don't worry about it, we can edit it. It's not a big deal.

Yeah, sounds good.

Uh, so, uh, you reached out— I don't know how long you've been following or, or if there was a particular topic you wanted to cover.

Um, just, uh, I just been following actually a couple months, I think, you know. And then, uh, just, uh, I appreciate the positive affirmations you put out and the good energy. And, uh, the quotes are great, you know. They, they, uh, inspire me and they, they, uh, hit close to home, you know, where like what I'm trying to teach my kids and get the point across where I need my kids to know I love their mom, you know. I'm not just here because I got kids, but I want them to know what a healthy relationship is and make sure their expectations are reasonable, you know.

That's all— those are all good things. How old were you guys when you got married?

20— 22, 23.

Yeah, you guys dated a long time. Yeah, you said that, about 5 years. Yeah, 5 years. Okay, uh, your parents and her parents, are they— are they married or divorced?

Um, my, my parents are divorced and her parents are divorced.

Okay. Uh, how many remarriages?

Um, how many what?

How many remarriages?

Oh, my side, my dad remarried. Um, her mom remarried and her dad remarried.

Okay, but just once?

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Uh, did the divorces, you know, did they happen, um Uh, early ages or later ages?

Uh, for both. For me, when I was like 2, I believe. My wife, young around that age too.

Okay. Um, did you guys have siblings?

No. Yeah, I got an older brother, and, uh, she has 4 siblings, 2 sisters, brothers.

How much older was your brother?

3 years.

Okay. And, uh, and on your wife's side?

Um, I think her older sister's at least 8— 6 to 8 years older, then a like a 2 or 3-year older sister, 2-year older brother, and then a 2-year younger brother.

Okay, so, so I'm assuming with you guys, um, that, you know, the divorce probably didn't hit as hard for you guys because you guys just kind of grew up in a life where that was normal.

Yeah, it, it affected us. Yeah, down the road, not, not immediately. Maybe for my brother more because he was 3 years older, so he's kind of— he kind of had an idea what it was.

Yeah, sure. Well, yeah, I mean, upon reflection, of course. But I mean, so I was the same way. I was like 2 weeks old when, when it happened. Yeah. Um, so I, I knew nothing else. Um, you know, you just— I grew up in a house where, you know, that was the normal. Yeah. So I didn't have anything broken, uh, you know, broken apart later down the line. So I was just curious if it was similar with y'all. Yeah. But I know like my older sister had a harder time with it.

Yeah. And I think, I think most marriages have issues the first couple years after kids because it's just so hectic, you know, and in a It's hard for a lot of people to put their own feelings aside or needs aside temporarily because there's a new baby that's taking a lot of attention.

It's certainly a big stressor. That's for sure. Um, you know, it's a good, a good thing, but a stressor nonetheless.

Yeah. Yeah.

Uh, you know, and, you know, there's a lot of, um, studies that say, uh, you know, A, you're found, you know, the foundation of your relationship needs to be real strong. I mean, that's, you know, for anything, even if you don't have kids, but certainly to go through those more difficult times. Yeah. And then, and then honestly, being married for, you know, a couple of years before having kids is just really helpful because you get to know each other. Not only do you get to know each other, but the honeymoon phase kind of ends and, you know, and then you start to get really get to know each other a little bit better and like find the things that really irritate you about the other person.

Yeah.

Start to work through those without the stressor.

Yeah. Even just living with each other. You know, it helps, it helps because there's no, there's no downtime when you both are home.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, so that's one thing I've always heard, uh, that I think is actually pretty good advice, is, you know, take, take a— and the same thing with like, um, and it's hard to do in the military because a lot of guys in the military, uh, they sign up, they get married, they deploy, which is just— it's, it's it's almost a relationship killer. Yeah, but same thing with like big career changes or buying a house or anything like that. Like, just don't do anything, just like be married, enjoy it, get used to it. Yeah, get used to this new person that you have to, you know, think about and consider and get used to, um, you know, before you do anything big.

So yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a big, a big deal is just considering the other person's feelings also all the time.

Sure.

You know, because it all, they both affects you both all the time.

And that's why, you know, I often wonder what some people went into a relationship like, uh, you know, because I think like, right, for Ryan and I, it was, you know, we were high school sweethearts too. It was, um, you know, we were going into it with the, uh, intentions to build a life together, intentions for it to be a, you know, you know, there's going to be fights, there's going to be arguments, but, you know, we're in this for the long haul and divorce isn't an option and you know, we wanted to have kids, and, you know, we were both on the same page as far as, like, faith, and we were both, you know, knew where we stood with, like, financial things, and we just kind of— we kind of had the same vision for a life. And I just wonder if a lot of people go in with the same— with the same, you know, type of vision, or if they're just kind of jumping into it because they have these, you know, butterflies, or, you know, excitement about a person, or Or what?

Yeah, I— what I see is they jump into it just thinking that's the thing to do, you know, you date, then you get married, and they don't even look anything past that. And, um, with, with Sarah and I, we— I make it a point, even if we're frustrated, we just communicate the whole way through it, you know, because there's always some piece of information that's, that's missing, or I didn't mean to say something the way she received it, or vice versa, and then If we keep it to ourselves, it's never going to get fixed. And then you just have some resentment built up, built up.

Absolutely. Every relationship has it. But that's silence, when one person's frustrated and they don't voice it and they're just keeping it to themselves, aggravated. Um, and, and, you know, from a guy's perspective, um, you know, because I talk to a lot of guys about that, where it's, you know, it's almost them protecting because they don't want to blow up and, you know, attack their wife or just criticize them or So it's almost like a level of protecting against it, you know, I'll just deal with this myself and yeah, I'm unhappy about it, but I'm not gonna just rip this person apart, you know. Yes. Uh, and so they almost think of it as an act of kindness, um, you know, standing down instead of challenging.

Yeah, if it gets to that level, there's some other—

oh sure, I mean, stuff has been said already, you know, we try not to cross that line, you know, just, just, you know And I guess when it comes to going silent, you know, it's, it's usually 9 times out of 10 not a good thing.

Yeah, yeah.

But yeah, communication's always, always going to be key.

Is your wife from, uh, divorced parents too? No, no.

Well, uh, her dad divorced, um, but, uh, like, she never knew the other woman, and that was like a very brief thing. And honestly, she didn't even know till she was like 16. And like her mom referenced it somehow. So it's just like, I think they got married for the wrong reasons. After a year or two realized that was dumb. They never had any kids or anything and just went their separate ways. And then, uh, but yeah, her parents have, have, uh, are still together. And then yeah, my parents divorced when I was, you know, infant. I had an older sister and then they both remarried. And then, uh, my mom and stepdad are still married. Uh, they're going on like 26 or 27 years now, and they have a kid, so a half-brother. Um, and my dad remarried and they had a kid, my half-sister. But they divorced about the time I was in 9th grade, and my sister was probably 1st grade or so, maybe 2nd. Uh, so that was like really hard on her. Me, I just kind of— I was in 9th grade, it was a stepmom. I didn't live with him all the time anyway because I was jumping back and forth in custody. So, you know, in 9th grade you're more selfish anyway. So yeah, it didn't affect me too much as long as I could go play football and wrestle. That's all I really cared about. Yeah, yeah. That's it. My grandparents are all been married for 10 million years, uh, on my mom's side. Uh, on my dad's side, grandparents were, you know, I think, I think my grandma was married like 6 or 7 times, something crazy. Holy, uh, And then, uh, on her side, both grandparents were married for like 50 or 60 years, so they had really long— really. And they're all— I think they are— they're almost all, uh— she has one grandfather left, so they've all passed away since we got married. But so she definitely had examples there. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, so that was about it.

Yeah, that's cool. Uh, so are you still working or are you just—

no, we sold her— we sold our businesses in 2019, so we, you know, financially retired. Um, so we're, we're funding 100% that, all the travel and the, um, you know, if you want to call this a business, uh, you know, it's certainly going to be. That's our intent. Uh, we just don't— we just don't generate much income because we don't really sell anything. So yeah, we'd like to— we'd like to get to a point where we're doing live events and, uh, you know, maybe some books down the line and, yeah, uh, merchandise and things like that. But, uh, for now it's just about growing following and, and, you know, putting stuff out for free to reach as many people as possible. And that'll probably be the main, uh, main strategy.

Yeah, that has to be a lot of fun. It's actually—

yeah, it's actually really been fun. We were a little nervous about getting in, uh, you know, 5 people in 400 square feet, but Uh, you know, we, we've, we've really enjoyed it. It's been a marriage tester, certainly, at a few times, just because we never get a break from each other.

Yeah.

Uh, but it's, it's, uh, overall it's been fun. I mean, we just decided it was going to be a 2-year tour originally, and we just decided to extend it to a 3rd year, uh, because we're not gonna be able to see everything we wanted to see. So, so the 3rd year, we're going to jump up into the Northeast, um, at the beginning of the year, and then we're going to Alaska for the whole summer. And that'll be 2022. And then probably after that Alaska summer, we'll probably call it quits and just go back to regular living. Typical. We'll go back to our house. Yeah. You know, and maybe get another house. Susie wants another house. I don't know. Yeah, we'll see about that.

3 kids, big house.

Yeah. I mean, the house is fine for a family. Yeah, but I mean, we all lived in it before, uh, but she wants something like on the water because we're just very active. So she'd like to be able to, you know, especially with boys, you know, go on a boat all the time or fish or all the time or— yeah, she just likes the water. Um, so we'll see. Yeah, no guarantees on that. Maybe wait for the— if the real estate market crashes, maybe we'll jump on something. Yeah, where we're from I don't know how it is in Seattle, but where we're from, just, it's gangbusters.

It's just, yeah, there's no inventory.

Crazy.

There's no inventory. And it goes like, it goes like that. So the houses get multiple offers and then they're gone. And then they're like 30, 40% above asking and, or $40 grand. And it's just insane. And it's like 1,300 square foot house.

Yeah.

$400,000.

We're, we're dealing with that. So I just had to fly into Maryland and I'm flying back out to Palm Springs. Um, where my family is because we're trying to settle my grandmother's estate. And so we're dealing with that same thing. But Maryland, that area is a hot market too. It's the same thing. You put the house up and within 3 days you're going to have, you know, a dozen offers.

Yeah.

Take the best one.

Palm Springs must be nice right now. I used to do a lot of work at that Eisenhower Medical Center and it's great this time of year.

Yeah, the weather was nice. We went out to— we were in San Diego where the weather was nice and we went out to Joshua Tree to boondock. And, uh, you know, Joshua Tree was 70s while we were in San Diego, and then we get there and a heat wave comes in. It's like 100 degrees every day. And we were boondocking, so we weren't connected to anything. We're just out in the middle of nowhere. So that was a scorcher. Yeah. Then we rolled into Palm Springs, and, uh, then temperatures came down again. But my wife just told me yesterday it was 100 degrees, but the day before it was 75, you know.

So yeah, yeah, my wife and I grew up, grew up in San Diego.

It was really nice. I did like San Diego.

Yeah, we just moved to Washington 3 years ago.

Okay. I'm not a big fan of— see, the only thing I don't like about Cali— I love California's geography and like the lifestyle. Um, I hate, uh, the gas prices. Yeah, yeah, fuel is— fuel at home and in Maryland is like $3 a gallon for diesel, and it's like $4.50 and— you know, where we're going. Yeah, cost— that cost is just driving me crazy. Uh, yeah, and it just feels— it feels a little oppressive. It just feels like there's a lot of rules, like there's so many rules you can't even follow them all. And yeah, it's—

but there's a lot there that like those rules.

Yeah, and I get it, you have a lot of people there, so— and you know, when you get that many people in an area, there's bound to be a percentage that are just dumb. Yeah, so you got to state the obvious. Um, but Florida is a little bit more laid back in those, you know, and that's where I'm from, so yeah, I'm just used to a more laid-back approach of governing.

They seem to be doing, doing okay.

Yeah, they're doing good, better than most. Yeah, I think they're middle of the pack in COVID rates and they had the least restrictions. So yeah, I know they, you know, the, the— I forget the governor's name—

Ron DeSantis.

Yeah, I know he was getting— he was getting ripped for a while. Um, but yeah, I think it's playing out pretty decent. Yeah, we had all the spring breakers come down, so I think that spiked some rates.

But I think they rolled us back to like phase 2 or something like that.

But that's good. I got it. So I got a sister-in-law that lives out there in Seattle, uh, so we'll be spending a bunch of time up there and probably around August, right before— apparently you guys got— you guys got a lot of hiking, uh, within Valley couple hours of you.

Oh yeah, a lot less than that too. Yeah, we, we go to a little trail that's like has a river where the kids just throw rocks in it for an hour, play in the sand, and it's like 15 minutes from the house. But we live down in Graham, so like an hour out of Seattle.

Okay. Yeah, so you, so you moved 3 years ago to Seattle, um, and you started, uh, your own business 3 years ago. So did you buy an existing business?

No, I started— we started the business a year ago. So I moved up here, worked for a fire alarm company as a technician. And then my wife and I, we like to set stretch goals and reachable goals, and the stretch goals turn into reachable goals and just go from there. You know, I got a lot of people rooting for me and supporting me.

And, you know, So I, I was a small businessman, so, and I still am. Uh, I, I love that lifestyle. Yeah. Um, I love that everything's on my shoulders and that if it fails, it's my fault. If I screw up, it's my fault. If I lose a seat, it's my fault. Just everything. Yeah, everything is, everything is just on you. There's no one else to, to, um, to ask for help or to blame. Like, you can't blame employees because you hired them or you let them stay. I mean, yeah, you can't blame customers because you picked to work with them. Like, you just, you can't blame anybody but yourself for making every single which I love.

And people, and people ask me like, oh, how is it? And the only thing I could say is it's so much fun. Yeah, it's fun every day. It's fun, you know, sending out bids. I'm reading specs and they're just boring, but I'm reading them, you know, and sending out bids and, and, um, and then doing the work in the field. It's still, it's still fun, you know.

It's—

I'm still able to do it, you know.

And that's one of the things about, um you know, doing it yourself is, uh, you know, and even as you scale, um, you know, I had, I had to do a certain amount of office work, but anytime I wanted, I could just walk out of my office and go fix a machine or go jump on a repair and do stuff with my hands, which I also like to do. So, and for someone who's ADD like me, it was good to be able to bounce around and progress on all fronts.

Yeah.

But not be stuck doing one thing all the time.

Yeah, I just like it. I just, it's all like you said, it's all on you, it's all on me. And I can make it look as nice as I want it to look, and I don't really have any restrictions when it comes to what the customer wants.

So it took us, um, so I thought it would take me about a year and I think about $30,000 to start. So be about $30,000 and about a year before it became profitable. Yeah, and ended up taking about 3 years and a lot more than that. Yeah. So you're at the 1-year mark. So I assume, you know, you're at some level still struggling to get this thing on solid footing.

Yeah, it's been slow the last few months, but we have a couple of big camera projects coming in at the end of— in June, starting in June or July. So, but we're, we're able to pay everything every month somehow.

So it's working.

Yeah.

There came a point, and I was just looking at all of our tax return stuff, um, before we left because I was kind of clearing out the office. Uh, I mean, I mean, those years were so— that would have been like 2011, '12, '13, those areas, '14. And it was just— the numbers were just so insanely bad. Like, I, I don't know how we actually fed our family. It was just like— what kind of company was it? What's that?

What kind of company was it?

Uh, then it was just coffee distribution. So we had an OCS company, so we basically gave, you know, gave out equipment and sold coffee and all the stuff that goes with it. And, you know, when I originally started that business, it was, uh, just Tassimo machines. So yeah, which was like craft-owned. It was like a competitor Keurig, and that's all I was gonna do.

Yeah.

And then when we sold 10 years later, um, I still had a whole bunch of those machines brand new in boxes. It's just, you know, we ended up having to shift our whole business model because I was just wrong. Yeah. And we just did what was smarter and made more sense. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, there were years we were pulling down, I think, $11,000, $15,000, $18,000 for the year, like personally. I was like, I don't know how we survived. I really don't.

Yeah.

Because I'm a budgeter at heart, like very detailed. But those years, I just knew math wasn't adding up, so I kind of stopped. Yeah, it was wife at the grocery store with a calculator making sure, you know, everything, because we only have X.

So yeah, my wife's very disciplined when it comes to money.

That helps a lot. Yeah, but, uh, anyway, so all that to say, uh, yeah, I've been there in the first year, I've been there in a tough second year, I've been there in third year, and even when it's like do we just need to close down? Is it worth it anymore? Yeah. And then, you know, the ability to push through that. Yeah. And then we had just wild, wild success those last probably 6 or 7 years. Oh, that's great.

Yeah. But you sold it, right?

Yes. So we ended up— we added a couple more. We ended up doing vending and contracting of those services as well on a bigger scale. Uh, and then we sold all of them as a package in November of 2019. Um, there are 4 months of verifications which ended, I think, March 12th of 2020. And March 15th, 2020, Florida shut down. So I was like, it was the— probably the most world-class timing of any sale ever. Because not only that, before, before everything shut down, um, I don't know if you, you'll remember this, but everybody was hoarding. So, uh, yeah, so like a lot of our businesses were like distribution centers and factories. And so, I mean, those places were— we had one place, 800 employees, it was a grocery store, you know, distribution center. Yeah, they had hired in, in that last couple months, they had hired like 250 temp workers just because Grocery stores were just— yeah, they couldn't keep up with anything. Um, regular stores couldn't, you know, any factory that was blue collar was just— we had one that was in the paper business, they did all the paper machines across the country, and they were just, you know, everyone was stealing or running out of toilet paper and paper towels, and, uh, so everything there went gangbusters. And yeah, so, so not only did numbers skyrocket during our verifications, uh, yeah, but, um But then we, we ended verification right before things shut down. So it ended up being, you know, if I ever wrote a book, if I ever wrote a book on that, I'll just, you know, pretend like I knew everything was coming and I could predict the patterns in China of the virus and I knew exactly what was going to happen and the day it was going to happen. But yeah, maybe rewrite history a little bit.

Yeah, you can say the world's going to end on this day and then— yeah.

Um, there's been a lot of those guys. Um, I've never really done a lot of research on them. I've just heard them referenced. Uh, but a lot of doomsdayers where things have come and gone.

Uh, yeah, I think Al Gore—

I think Al Gore was one of them. There used to be a, uh, I think he did a speech where we had— he had— we had like 10 years left before, um, the ice caps were going to melt and the whole world was going to be flooded.

Yeah.

And like, I think— I think that time expired like 10 years ago. Yeah, they just changed.

Um, I, uh, I talked to some people about the Mayan calendar. They said the world— yeah, 2012. And I was like, well, how far do you want them to go with the calendar? Yeah, you know, they would have stopped when they went extinct.

Yeah, yeah, there's been a whole lot of, uh, and there's been some, um, scrupulous preachers out there always predicting the end of times, and, yeah, and they, they literally write books on it and profit from and then it doesn't happen, and you know, they just come out with a new book with a new time.

Yeah, we got daylight savings wrong. Yeah, actually gonna be 3 years from now. Yeah, they always move the goalpost.

That's funny. So how old are your kids?

Uh, Quinn is 5, and Quinn is, uh, Quinn is 5 and Cleo is 3, and they're both in, uh, preschool and pre-preschool.

So, so your wife and you work in the business together?

Yeah.

And, uh, home-based business?

Yep, right now.

Yeah. Gosh, you started it during COVID I'm just realizing that.

Yeah.

So you started the business during COVID and you started it, um, at a time where then they took all the kids out of school. Yeah. So how did that work for you guys?

Yeah, my wife was staying home with, with the kids ever since Quinn was born, so 5 years ago.

Okay.

Um, so that didn't change much, but we were trying to find Quinn, uh, preschool to get her ready for kindergarten. Um, and then they started shutting down, and then we found, um, the school that she's in now.

Uh, well, yeah, so I had a home office, um, when we first started, but it's just the kids don't quite understand that Daddy's— even though Dad's in the house Yeah, he's actually working. Like, they don't know how to tell the difference, so they just think that's there, let's go, you know, but, you know, go play with them. Um, yeah, they don't understand. No, no, he's at work. Yeah, even though he's in the same building, he's working. Yeah, we really, we really struggled with that of just, you know, I, I kind of need a little bit of isolation to get good work done because I'm ADD. Like, if you distract me, you know, I'm running off on 30 different tangents.

Yeah.

Um, And so that became a real struggle of, yeah, just, you know, kids interrupt because dad's there and they want to play.

Yeah, I would have to just go, and I'm leaving, and go in the garage and then, you know, paint some cameras or work on anything.

So it wasn't too bad for y'all?

Oh no, the alarm industry was an essential business, so It slowed down a little bit when people were trying to figure it out the first couple months, but it didn't get— okay, now, but it's hard right now because I can't just go knock on doors, try to drum up business or drop business cards off. You got to make appointments.

But I think it's coming in soon, so then I can start finding some new fresh business. Yeah, it really killed cold calling, didn't it? Yeah, gosh, I didn't even think about that.

So right now we're just working on new construction. Okay, still plenty of new construction.

Okay, uh, what are you doing for marketing? Are you like putting out postcards, things like that? Like the, you know, direct mail?

Yeah, just passing business cards out everywhere I can.

It's like, because they're like networking groups or anything like that working anymore.

There's some, there's some like low voltage groups on Facebook and contractors groups. But the company, you realize everything costs money. Website costs money, the business cards cost money, you know, getting the woman-owned minority-owned business certification costs money. It's a timely process. So we're just— hopefully we have the website up, uh, before the end of the year. Um, so I think that'll, that'll do a lot better as far as advertising online.

So do you not have a website now? No. You just throw up like a basic one. It shouldn't take a year to build. You could do one of those in a week.

Doesn't cost that much. I thought it cost— I thought it cost a decent amount.

Oh, jump on GoDaddy.

GoDaddy. Okay.

Yeah, I mean, it doesn't have to be your permanent one. You just throw up something. I mean, yeah, online is such a key to life. And even if it's— even if it's not, um, like SEO and, and all that kind of stuff perfect, it's at least a validation of who and what you are. Because if you can't be found online, it's kind of like Is this a scam? Who is this person? I mean, they don't even exist online in 2021, so it can create lots of doubt. But yeah, yeah, GoDaddy, Wix, any of those. It won't be a world-class website, but it'll be a website.

Yeah, yeah. Well, we'll check it out.

I just—

I'm so picky, you know, and— or what do you say, OCD?

But— and I think you— I think you should be 100%. But I think you should have something there that you don't like. It's better than nothing. Until you— while you're working on the one that you're OCD about. Yeah, yeah, do that, do that like today.

Yeah, I will.

How about, uh, like, are you doing the, uh, uh, socials? Are you doing Facebook, uh, Facebook page?

Yeah, uh, oh no, we don't have a social media yet.

Hey, get up, put a Facebook page up, huh? Again, it's all just validation. Put a Facebook page up for the business. It's all just validation. So when people, you know, look You know, they get your business card, they look you up, and it just kind of validates. They'll see pictures of you, they'll see that you live in Seattle, they'll see that you're, you know, you have a track history. They can see some pictures of some jobs you've done or the equipment you recommend, some hot tips here and there. And it just, it brings validation to the fact that you know what you're talking about, that you really exist in that town, you are a real person. Yeah. All right.

I mean, yeah, I don't even know why we haven't made a Facebook page yet. I have to talk to the boss.

You've got 10 million things to think about. Sometimes you just need someone to state the obvious.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't know why we haven't done that yet.

It's just especially the, especially the age group you go after, they're on Facebook. You know, TikTok isn't going to be your thing. Instagram's not going to be your thing. Um, YouTube probably isn't going to be your thing because that would take so much time to create the content. Yeah, but Facebook will be easy. You throw up some posts, you get some pictures, you, you know, you tie in your family to it, you tie in, uh, the loca— even if you're just talking about like a place you guys went. You know, to eat in Seattle, which I don't know if they're allowing people to eat. Um, you know, it just brings a more authenticity to, to who you are and that you're a real person. And, you know, we like to do business with people that we, we know and are real rather than, you know, a faceless corporation. Yeah, my thoughts, for whatever they're worth. I'm not, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I am.

Yeah, it's worth a lot because I don't know why we haven't made a Facebook page yet. That's funny.

Yeah, well, things you can have done by, uh, by the end of business today. Yeah, end of business being, of course, for a small business owner, sometime around midnight.

Yeah, most times.

Yeah, I mean, I will— I got a lot of work done in those when everyone else went to sleep. Yeah, um, you know, those, uh, 9 o'clock to midnight hours, or even waking up at like, you know, 3 o'clock in the morning, work until 6, like, that's when I would just plow through emails uninterrupted and just get a ton of work done.

Yeah, we, uh, yesterday I— or every day I get up at 5 and then, uh, hammer out bids or emails. And then last night went to work at 9 PM and then got home like a little before 2, and then got up at 5 and rinse and repeat.

It's a fun life. I mean, the grind, you know, I think no matter what, um, I think that type of grind is satisfying for a guy at some level in his soul. And reflecting back in 10 years, 20 years, when you're looking back on that, you're going to be supremely proud to be able to tell your kids and grandkids about that kind of effort you had to put in when the monetary gain wasn't necessarily showing on paper. Yeah. And even in the rare event that it fails for you, that you work as hard as you can, you make the best decisions, and it's just complete utter failure, and you know, you're bankrupt and people, you know, make fun of you. Yeah. You know, you still did everything possible. You don't— you just know you left nothing on the table. It just wasn't in the cards for you. Yeah. And I think living life like that, um, is much more satisfying, you know, when we're reflecting 20, 30 years down the line. Yeah. Than to never even step foot or try, or to do it half-ass, or to, you know, wonder if you had just worked a little harder or put in some more time or made some more sacrifices, if you could have pulled it off.

Yeah, yeah, it's, uh, it's so easy to point fingers or, or look from the inside out at people who actually try.

Oh, and so that, and that stuff for some reason just doesn't bother me at all. It's probably because I was a chubby redhead growing up, and so I just got made fun of regardless. And it just, yeah, yeah, if you want to make fun of someone for trying Go for it. Your opinion just— your opinion just doesn't matter to me.

Yeah, that's minuscule.

Oh, fun. All right, so, uh, uh, I guess from the parenting angle, is there anything you've been, uh, you know, just insanely proud of that you've done, or just, uh, embarrassed that you did, or trying to figure out?

Um, I mean, you're trying to figure out how to be a good parent every day. Every day they test you, you know, and they're at the age where they want— they're competing with each other. They're always racing, you know, and they, they don't care if they're in a parking lot, you know. So I'm just yelling all the time, and, uh, it's like I have to yell because if I don't yell and then they get hit by a car or something, I'm gonna feel awful. So, uh, but so our—

with that kind of stuff, our first kid was really just— he was almost OCD a little bit. Um, and we kind of trained him because it's your first kid, it's 2-on-1, it's a little bit easier to do. Yeah. But like, you know, if I hollered Levi, like, he froze in his tracks. But we were able to, um, you know, I mean, essentially train him like a dog, you know. Um, you know, when you get to the road, you stop, you look both ways, you listen, you know, the old school stuff we were taught.

Yeah.

Um, and he was just really good on it. And the second one was pretty good on it, but his brother always kind of controlled him. Yeah. Third one just runs. It's just We're working on it more now, but our life is so kind of carefree now, um, and we're always like— it's not the same neighborhood all the time. It's not like we stop at the same stop sign to get to the playground like it was with Levi. We're just— yeah, we're doing different things all the time.

Um, yeah, that repetitiveness.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's been a little bit more chaotic and harder to, um, create consistency for him.

Yeah.

Uh, but he's getting better. I mean, now he's getting— he's almost 5 years old now, so he's, he's getting better at it. Yeah, uh, but that one, yeah, he's just— he's a wild one. And just, you know, we just thought we were amazing parents with the first one. The second one kind of checked us a little bit. The third one, we're like, oh geez.

That's how we were with the first one. We were like, oh, this is easy.

Yeah, well, they're all different. They have different personalities. You have to— you have to, you know, bring a unique, uh, approach to, you know, each one. It just can't be, this is my way and it better work for all of them. You have to be able to be flexible and Yeah, if there was a manual, we'd all be great parents. Yeah, you know, well, there are manuals, you just have to learn how to decipher. It's all just—

it's all just— well, it's great.

It's, it's, it's constant gray areas, right? Yeah, it's constant. You know, you have to make— you have to be able to make decisions on the fly in the moment. Um, and that's where I'm big on, uh, you just have to know, you know, what 10, 15, 20 years down the line looks like. Like, what do you want your kid to be as an adult? Where do your values stand? Where's— where, you know, where do you stand with your integrity? Yeah, because if you can, if you can have those things down solid, you know what lines you won't cross, and you, and you know, uh, what you need to do in parenting to get to that adult you're trying to raise. Yeah, and you'll make decisions, decisions that are just much more sound. And achieving that goal versus you're just winging it and all of a sudden you look up and, you know, you've got an 18-year-old smoking meth.

One thing I try to hammer, hammer in is with myself is I, I make sure I'm present, and I also want to make sure I'm a positive influence, you know, because there's plenty of dads that are present but then they're just on their phone the whole time, or they're, they're not present present. You know, and especially this day and age, it's so easy to get distracted on your phone. So, um, that's what I—

and that's tough because, I mean, as you know, small business owners, we're just always on, we're always on call. Um, and you know, you just never know when that email from a, um, you know, a client that needs an immediate solution is coming through. And you, you know, you want to be attentive on that front too. But yeah, you know, certainly being more attentive to your kids is, uh It's good for the family. It's good for them in the long run.

Yeah, I— we actually found a more balance with the work-home life after starting the company, you know. Or yeah, before when I used to work for other companies, I would always get constant text messages or calls from other employees or co-workers that need help, and I would stop and help them. And then hour or two later on the phone, then I'll end up going out to the job site, you know, just to help. And it's just like I always put, always put work first. So now it's nice to put, uh, to make sure I make sure to make—

and there's going to be times you do have to do that. There are times you have to put work first because, you know, that does take care of the family. Um, it's just if you're, if you're looking back and it's all the time, yeah, then you know you made a mistake. But, you know, getting the business going, there's going to be times where you just have to go, yeah, uh, you just have to go full-blown work mode. And, you know, maybe kids don't see dad for a few days or because he's so zoned in Yeah, there were definitely stages, um, stages of our business where, shoot, the kids might not have even known they had a dad. Yeah, there'd be multiple weeks of me just, you know, because if I'm jumping on the truck making deliveries all day and then doing the office stuff at night, I mean, you know, on a truck all day, um, then placing orders, going through emails and doing all that stuff at night, um, so I was getting home after the kids go to sleep, leaving before they woke up. And that would go on for weeks until I could get someone hired and trained to alleviate one of those things. And, you know, that was just very real. And that was, you know, at the same time you're a small business owner. So, you know, they would be able to pop in sometimes and, you know, bring some pizza down to the office or bring dinner down to the office. And, you know, because they were free to run around and do whatever they wanted in the warehouse. But then I was at least seen. That's the freedom of a small business owner. Even when I was buried in business, you know, they could make appearances. And even though I'm working hard, you know. Yeah. So we've always liked that lifestyle. There were definitely times where I was all in on business because I had to be. It was for the business's survival and the survival of business was good for the family. But it wasn't like it would be a year at a time or 6 months at a time or even 3 months at a time. It'll just be kind of shorter segments of, yeah, okay, I really got to zone in here. And, uh, yeah, uh, but then there were other times where, you know, it's breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the family. So, yeah, you know, just, you know, I can go to work early, I can come back, have breakfast, hang out with everyone, we're laughing, you know, go back to work, get some stuff done, come back for lunch, same thing. Uh, because we homeschooled, so that was a lot more easier. And then, uh, you know, dinner, the same thing. And so sometimes the business was just almost running on autopilot, and then you're there a lot, uh, at home. Yeah, it ebbed and flowed with seasons.

Yeah, yeah, what's— summer's our busy season usually, so, um, it's gonna be a lot of pick them up from school, go down for a nap, and then I'll be working all afternoon and night, and then breakfast, rinse and repeat all over again every day. And, uh, it's, uh, it's all good. And the youngest one's having some trouble. She gets kind of sad going to sleep when I'm not there. Like last night, she got kind of sad because I had to go on it I had to be at a job site at 9, so we left like 8 o'clock.

In the morning or at night?

At night.

Okay, so what, overnight installs?

Yeah, um, just some fire alarm at a grocery store or a department store.

Okay, the big department stores.

And, um, they're just doing some remodeling, so I got to move some devices around.

And, and, uh, That's always fun.

Yeah, did it for a few hours, came home, you know, made a bunch of money. You get a lot more than that hourly, you know.

Are you hoping, uh, your kids join you in the business at some point?

Um, we were thinking if they want to do alarms, that'll be fun, but I'd like to do this for probably 10, at least 10 years. And then, uh, we would like to franchise a few, like, Little Caesars or pizza places or something like that. I think I'd rather have them working in the— in fast food or restaurants with us.

Okay, so you flipped my brain there a little bit. All right, so I was thinking you would want to franchise the alarm business, but no, you're saying like to open up some, uh, some pizza joints.

Yeah, I think Little Caesars was a lot of fun, you know, that's where my wife and I met and We got a lot of good work ethic, you know, and, uh, I think, I think that'll be better than going right into the alarm industry.

Is that something you attempted to do instead of alarms?

Um, well, we worked at Little Caesars in high school.

I was just curious, like, when you guys got the itch to start a business, did you, did you, uh, look into doing a franchise like Little Caesars, or you just go right to Okay, and you can listen to it at all.

Yeah, no, uh, doing it this way we can make a little more money, a bit more immediate— immediately.

Oh, that's always a good thing too.

Yeah, it is.

So aside from, uh, maybe listening and running around, are they giving you any other trouble?

Uh, no, they just, uh, they, they test, test me, you know, test my memory. Test my memory. And, uh, and then they're, they're starting to play those games like, oh, well, Mom said— Mom said yes, and then I said no.

And then, uh, and, uh, like dividing, kind of shut that stuff down real quick. Yeah, but there we made it a point, if you got caught, um, playing mom and dad against each other, you got in trouble. You got in trouble for playing mom and dad against each other.

Yeah.

Like when one says— when one gives you the answer, you don't go to the other trying to get a different answer, or you're going to get in huge trouble. Yeah, we— so we set the tone early and hard on that one. It hasn't been much of an issue since.

Yeah, no, they're, they, uh, they're just testing boundaries. And yeah, you know, we should—

and that's 100% normal. Yeah, yeah.

And it's a lot of fun. They're great. And, uh, and then, you know, I'm a girl dad, you know, dad of two girls. So, you know, I'm Do everything.

Paint. So I have all boys, which means we do a lot of outside stuff, a lot of like just boy and man things, camping, uh, hitting things with sticks, throwing rocks. But I've heard with girls, uh, I've always been told, um, listen and talk a lot. Like spend a lot of time just talking and listening because, you know, guys, we just sit down next to each other. Yeah, you know, and that's fine for us. We don't have to be engaged in a lot of in-depth conversation, as opposed to, uh, where girls, they don't get that same contentment. Um, they want a lot of conversation. And so that helps to have that from a father, because I mean, you've seen all the things— daddy issues are a real thing. So you don't want to— you don't want to raise your kids up—

I'm trying to make sure I do sports and everything with them, see if they like that, and then dance, and then we go out and we just You know, they pick up a lot. They hate spiders, but they'll go pick up a lot of bugs, and they're really curious. So whenever we go on hikes, it's just, it's just a blast.

That's good. Yeah, yeah. And that's, you know, people in Seattle seem to like hiking, at least the ones I know.

Yeah.

Uh, is that everybody?

Yeah, yeah. Because it, since it rains or it's gray a lot of the year, you know, when the sun comes out and the weather's good, everybody's out and everybody's happy, you know. But then during the winter and it gets kind of— it gets cold and it gets, uh, it gets rainy and it gets gray. It's just everyone's just trying to survive till the sun comes out. And, uh, then once the sun comes out, everybody's happy.

Do you guys do a lot of skiing?

No, no skiing.

You're an anti-skier? Do you have something against it?

Uh, kind of, kind of terrifying. You know, there's, there's no break. How do you stop?

Pizza slices slow down, french fries to go faster.

I don't know, I don't know.

So I've never skied West Coast mountains, but I've done East Coast mountains, uh, and I like it. I mean, it's a, it's a workout for your legs for sure. Yeah, but I've always liked it. But I'd like to try some, uh, some Rocky Mountains and some of the maybe Seattle and California.

Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure we'll go, we'll at least snowboard. I snowboarded a couple times as a kid growing up, but right now we're just trying to make sure we get as much wildlife in as possible, you know, because there's, like you said, there's plenty of trails and hiking and camping up here.

And honestly, it's just good quality family time when you're outdoors. I mean, it's— yeah, it hits a lot of things. It hits a lot of conversation points. It hits a lot of, uh educational points. It hits a lot of health stuff. So yeah, uh, you know, I'm always an advocate for outdoor activity.

Try to hike at least a couple times a month now since the weather is good.

Have you guys had any, uh, any real marriage testers yet?

The only thing that really tests the marriage is money, you know. But since we started the company, it's kind of like it's not— we're both on the same page, like, hey, it's going to take some time and we both just have to keep grinding.

But isn't that the thing, just being on the same page? I mean, it doesn't matter if you're, if you're broke or rich, just being on the same page of what's being spent and knowing what's coming in and what the goals are. Yeah, it just changes everything. Yeah.

And budgeting and making sure we're both on the same page with the budget.

And but other than that, it's just, uh, how was, uh, how was your year 7 or around that era? Statistically, year 7 and 25 are the most difficult in marriages.

Yeah, 7 was when we were kind of talking about having our first kid, and then we both just got really busy with careers and work. And then, uh, at year 10, we had our first kid. So I think, yeah, I don't know, I don't, I don't think we ever contemplated divorce or anything, but we, uh Definitely, they were very career-driven and just busy, you know. My wife was a— did wedding cakes for a while, then also did, uh, she was a hairstylist. So going to school for that, you know, or cosmetology, just keeps you really busy.

And, uh, and, uh, it's a real different— it's a real different animal when you're, uh, two people living together with goals versus, uh 2 people living together with a kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it really changes the dynamic.

Yeah, because the goal before you had kids was, oh, let's save up and remodel the backyard or the bathroom or something, you know. Uh, but then after you had— have the kid, it's all your attention goes to that and how to cultivate that relationship and that person. And, uh, and then trying to make sure you stay on the same page. Like a thing I tell everybody who's about to be a parent is, uh, the days are gonna blend together. You're not gonna know what day it is, how long it's been, just because the baby keeps you up all the time or whatnot. But just try to make sure you have some kind of physical contact with your wife every day. Hold hands, hug each other, like something. Because sometimes you go a day or 3 days without even hugging or kissing or anything, and you didn't even know it.

You mentioned cultivating a relationship with your kids. You know, that's one of the new struggles. But, you know, you just got to always remember, I think parents make— there's some parents that definitely make the mistake of like, now the kid is the most important thing in the relationship. And I just think it's super important to make sure, you know, mom and dad are the most important. Yeah. And because of that, it's good for the kids. Yeah. Yeah. Much better family environment when mom and dad are on the same page. Mom and dad care a ton about each other. Mom will do whatever it takes to save the marriage. Yeah, as opposed to everyone just focusing on the kid and making about the kid, because that's when the marriage is going to break up, the second, if not before the kid leaves the house. When the kid's gone, you just— you, you're two strangers that live together and just had a kid, you know. You're both now wanting different things in life.

Yeah, you stayed together just, just before the kid, you know.

And, uh, and, and divorces, uh, where they wait until the kids are older than 18, like the last kid leaves the house Yeah, uh, there's been a lot of studies on that stuff where it tears up, um, those kids' future relationships or even their current ones. I mean, there was a study, it was a, it was a, I think it was a politician or some sort where they got divorced after like 40 years, but then, um, so 40 years of marriage got divorced or something like that, maybe it was 30, but then their kids who are all full-grown adults in their 30s and 40s who've been married 10, 15, 20 years all of them were divorced. I think there's 3 kids. All of them were divorced within about 4 years after their parents divorced.

Yeah.

And I think it just— I think at some foundational level, it just, um, it crushes your reality because you just saw this thing you thought was perfect, and all of a sudden it was ended, and you just know it was all a ruse. Yeah, it just wrecks your perception of reality.

Yeah. Like, what's the point of working hard and trying to create this strong marriage if it's not going to work out anyways after 30 years. So then they just pull the plug early to keep going through that honeymoon phase with whoever they meet.

I'm sure there's a ton of variables there, but it's, you know, if you're just staving it off thinking it's going to be better and it's not going to affect kids when they're after 18— yeah, it's not. I think it's important to work on that relationship and try to make it work versus, uh, end up— because, you know, ending it at almost any age is gonna— is gonna have some, uh, some butterfly effects. Yeah, I'm realizing layover podcasts are maybe not the best idea. Oh, it's all good.

Yeah, I mean, that lady is talking a lot.

Yeah, well, it's so— it's— there's like 4 or 5 different gates here, so every time a gate's loading or anything, they're giving me announcements. Yeah, crushing the audio.

Yeah, I mean, it's a good icebreaker for me because I was really nervous. My wife was egging me on to do this. And then after I messaged you, then you messaged right back. And I was telling my wife, I go, I don't know if I can do it, you know. And she was egging me on to do it. Just— she goes, all you're doing—

I'll say probably about 70, maybe even 80% of the people who reach out to do a podcast will never do them. Oh, I've had them set up and scheduled, and then they just don't even show up on the, uh, on the screen. Yeah, so I'll like set time and I'll log on, I'll be waiting, and, uh, yeah, never even show up.

And even if you follow up after, they don't say anything?

I don't. I mean, they obviously had something go on, and I'm not gonna— I'm not gonna call them out and embarrass them or anything.

Just, you know, say, hey, sorry I missed you.

Yeah, it is what it is. They knew what time it was, they knew, you know, what was going down, so they just— they had some reason, whether it was stage fright or You know, maybe I did a post that they just didn't like. That happens quite often. My, my thing is, you know, I'm, you know, I'm my person. But if you like— no one's gonna like everything I post, there's no way. So you just pick out, pick out what you like, and the stuff you don't like, you can, you know, read and disagree with intellectually. And yeah, you know, I'm fine with that. We're not all going to have the exact same values and outlook on life, but yeah. But probably, you know, 80 to 90% of my content is applicable to most fathers. Yeah, it's good solid stuff. And then there's like 10, 20% that'll—

I think it's good, dude.

That's a— that I was baiting you for that. That's all I wanted to hear, just, yeah, you know.

Yeah, I know. I was, I was contemplating, I go, should I, should I kiss his ass?

But I was like, I don't know. No, call me out. I, I have more fun with the people disagreeing with me than I do, uh the people agreeing with me.

Joe Rogan says don't read the comments, dude.

Oh, I love the comments. No, okay, absolutely love them. Um, I love them when they disagree. Uh, I got attacked by a Russian moms group once. It was, it was, it was like the most exciting hour of my life. I was— because they put me up on some blog somewhere, and so there's this— I had like 50 Russian moms just jumping on a car Really? Yeah, it was. They only lasted like an hour, an hour and a half. That was when we were out in Colorado Springs back in, uh, I think October or something.

But, um, at least you're getting some fun in Russia.

Yeah, so, uh, Ukraine, I think specifically. Um, but I was so like, I so believe in everything I say that I'm willing to stand up for— yeah, I'm willing to stand up for it. And I can just— I have no problem telling you you're wrong and how you think. Yeah, and I'm— and yet I'm not yelling at you for how you think. So yes, I think it's, you know, whatever works for your family works. Yeah, here's some— here's some things I think are, uh, I think are important and can be beneficial to you.

It's fun.

Yeah, no, I always read— I read just about every comment. Sometimes if it gets really busy, it just— the way Instagram produces, um, the comments, like, it gets lost. So sometimes I can't see them all. Um, and sometimes, like, if there's a ton of comments on a post, um, it's like some of them just get hidden and I can't always find them because there's— or maybe people go back and delete them, um, and it just doesn't show me that. But sometimes I'll look for a particular one and I just can't find it. Um, and then sometimes I have a little bit of cell signal so I can, like, see the notification that I have a comment. Yeah. And then when I click into it, like, it doesn't even load because my cell data is so terrible wherever we are. Yeah, uh, you know, that happened a lot in Joshua Tree. We're just, you know, once we were like within the hills of Joshua Tree, yeah, no signal anywhere.

Did you think a Joshua Tree would look like a cactus?

Uh, you know, I'd actually been there before.

Oh, okay.

Once I flew out for a conference in LA and, uh, it was in Joshua Tree, so I'd seen Joshua Trees before. Oh, okay. Um, when I was, uh, in the store, the thing I wanted to see most, and I'm so excited I did, was Arizona's, uh, the saguaro cactus is like those cartoon style ones with like the arms, the tall ones. Yeah, those things are so cool and I've never seen them before. They get big too. Oh, they're huge. Yeah, yeah. So I was really excited to see those. Yeah, they get the— they only live about 180 years I think max, but they'll get massive. And they're— they get a lot more beat up than I would have expected. Like a lot of woodpeckers make homes in them and—

yeah, um, yeah.

Arms will rot off, things like that.

Yeah, we, we remember seeing that when we drove through. We're going to like a wedding in New Mexico or something, and we drove through Arizona.

This is a neat state. Yeah, those cactuses are cool.

Yeah, Flagstaff, Arizona was pretty, really pretty.

We're going out there, I think tomorrow I go down there.

Yeah, you wouldn't think it would have— they would have snow and stuff there, but so close to the I guess south of it was desert, and then you're going north, then you get snow and green tree— tall green trees. It's pretty— it's a pretty cool state, you know.

Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, I liked it. I liked Arizona. It was fun. We did time in Phoenix and Tucson. Yeah. And then we're going back and doing Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon over the next couple weeks.

That'll be fun.

Yep. All right, well, I'm gonna run because I think we're getting to be about 30 minutes out from loading. I want to grab a bite to eat and whatnot.

Yep, sounds good. I appreciate you taking the time.

All right, no, thanks for coming on.

Yeah, of course. You have a good day.

You as well.