Blue Collar Nation

Do you have staffing issues? Yup, we all do. Al Levi to the rescue! Al has come out with his S3: Signature Staffing System and Eric and Larry sit down with Al to discuss all things staffing, systems, and business. Al is always one of most popular guests on the Blue Collar Nation podcast and this episode may be his best appearance yet. If you are interested in Al's staffing system, Al has exte...

Ken Rusk is a blue collar guy. Ken started working digging ditches in high school and never looked back. In fact, now Ken owns 4 construction related businesses and has created a life for himself that many with white collar careers could only dream of.  Eric and Larry sat down with Ken to discuss how he did it, some stories from his time in the trades, and why young people should consider entering...

We meet up with Ron Holt of Pink Zebra Moving this week. Eric was on Ron's podcast a few years ago as a guest and now Ron is joining Larry and Eric to talk about his newest franchise business.  Ron built up a maid service franchise and sold it prior to starting Pink Zebra. Sensing room for improvement in the moving industry, Ron has now started Pink Zebra and in the process of building it int...

Gregg Taylor has been finding talent for some of the largest names in the restoration industry for many years. We sit down with Gregg this episode to talk about the state of finding great people to build our companies with and how to attract and keep them. This is a must listen for anyone working hard at talent acquisition in their company. TITLE SPONSOR: SUPER TECH UNIVERSITY This episode is brou...

Jason Earle joins Eric and Larry for a second time on the show. Jason, one of the best guests to ever grace the Blue Collar Nation Podcast, is always both entertaining and informative. A big thinker with an amazing backstory, Jason is passionate about the health of home owners and how his products can help them identify  mold in their homes and businesses. Give this one a listening as Jason drops...

Jeff Dudan is a true entrepreneur. Jeff started a painting business to help fund his college expenses and never looked back. Moving on to the Disaster Restoration space, Jeff built and then franchised Advanta-Clean. Now moving into Homefront Brands, the home services franchising space, Jeff told Eric and Larry his amazing life story and then what to look for to start or buy a franchise model busin...

We are having a special episode this week to talk about the upcoming Experience Trade Show in Las Vegas Sept 6-10. Eric and Larry will be having an interactive booth (#128) where they will be teaching a myriad of subjects in classes each day. Come to the show and say hello to the lads.  TITLE SPONSOR: Super Tech University Dramatically improve your team's performance with a system of short da...

This week we have Jonathan Maynard from Red Door Pro Wash and the HUGE Convention on the show. We talk about a wide array of topics from starting your service business, how to add services in different verticals to service your same client base, and of course the HUGE convention. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode is brought to you by Super Tech University .  Don't lose money in...

Larry is out this week so Eric took this opportunity to talk a little about his past and his frustrations as a high schooler who wanted to go to vocational school but was dissuaded from doing so. We are at a tipping point in the trades and it is imperative for us to find ways to make our jobs more desirable for the next generation. We need to find ways to help parents understand the upsides of the...

We had Peter Lyons on the show for a 3rd time to talk to us about this creation-The Restoration Golf League. We talk about creating an industry community and how golfing with yours peers can help everyone in the industry-even if they are competitors. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode it brought to you by Super Tech University .  Don't lose money in the field because your servic...

Tom Gissler, President of  Restoration 1 brought the heat on this episode of the Blue Collar Nation Podcast. Tom was entertaining and educational as he dove deep on his extensive experience in not only business, but life as well. Tom had a very unconventional childhood that seems to have shaped a world view that sets him apart from the herd and really has him thinking non-conventionally. Tom had s...

This week the Blue Collar Nation Podcast is doing a LIVE episode from the Kent State University campus at the Violand Executive Summit. Eric and Larry are long time proponents of professional training and education. Violand Management Training had a huge affect on Eric and Larry's career in the restoration industry. From Eric and his Admin team using Violand's job costing system to make...

Robert More is an IICRC Certified Triple Master, which is no easy task in the restoration industry. We wanted to have Robert on as he is a SUPER TECH. Robert has worked his way up over the years to now move into a management role, but he takes us along on his journey as he worked his way up the ladder. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode it brought to you by Super Tech University .  D...

We were able to talk to different influencers at the Alacrity ACCESS Conference that were very entertaining and had a lot of great information to offer.   We spoke with: Jodi Cambell from Homee , Tony Triola from Verisk Analitics , Joyce Gabriel from LandAll Restoration , Shaun Quinn from Zoleman Restoration , Jerry Lawrenc from the Tape Guys . These are some great people you will get a lot of val...

Josh Turley is a 3rd generation business owner at RTA Fleet Management Software in the trucking industry. Josh had a post about how to pick and create good team members on social media and we know we needed to have him on the show to elaborate. This was an amazing conversation with a very thoughtful and intentional person. This is a very important lesson to hear for every business owner. TITLE SPO...

Eric and Larry give a breakdown about what is going on at Super Tech U and Eric shows why soft skills training is so important when he had an HVAC contractor do a bid at his house recently. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode it brought to you by Super Tech University .  Don't lose money in the field because your service techs are not great at sales, customer service, and communi...

The Blue Collar Nation podcast comes to you live this week from the Access Conference in Orlando, Florida to bring you an expert panel on employee attraction and retention. With Chuck Violand , Michelle Blevins , Lisa Lavender , and Leighton Healy on the panel, it was a real eye opening experience as to what home services companies need to do to make sure they have the talent they need to compete...

Everyone that listens to the show with any regularity knows that Larry and Eric are HUGE fans of referral marketing. In fact, referral marketing was Larry's full time job at Shamrock Cleaning and Restoration.  Larry is often known as the "Pineapple Man" for his penchant for delivering pineapples to referral clients every month. Eric and Larry go deep on how to do referral marketing...

Indoor air quality is a topic few contractors like to think about, but it affects all of us. If you are the client, you want to make sure you are safe in your home. If you are the contractor, you want to limit any potential liability. We sat down for a great chat with Doug Hoffman and Lance Eisen of NORMI to learn what we all need to know and how to get the proper training to make sure our indoor...

Meet Brandon Reece and Chris Nordyke from Floodlight Consulting and Head, Heart and Boots Podcast . Brandon and Chris are in many ways a mirror image of Eric and Larry and share an amazing business partnership. In this episode, the boys go deep on the many issues faced by entrepreneurs and how to manage living on the razors edge of being a business owner. This show was chock full of knowledge bomb...

Jim Prom, long time General Contractor and Soft Wash guru, Spray Away SoftWash , visited the show this week to talk about an often misunderstood art and science, estimating. To insure you are making enough money to grow a thriving business, any company has to have a good handle on proper estimating techniques. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode it brought to you by Super Tech Univers...

Today Eric and Larry had on Rich Malachy of the Fedd Group and Malachy Parts and Service . Rich's passion for building a better industry for those you service restaurant equipment came through loud and clear on this episode. Rich and the guys talk about creating "Gold Collar" technicians, fighting off the big boys as private equity money creates behemoth companies to compete with, a...

 In this episode Eric and Larry sit down with business coach Santiago Arango of Phenomenal Products to talk about what makes for a good coach and also a good student. We all know coaches in our respective industries whom take clients from "zero to hero" with their input. Some companies and owners thrive under the guidance of a coach, while others always seem to flounder. What separates t...

We had our good friend Larry Cooper on the show this week to talk about all the nasty stuff we never like to think about, but need to as home service professionals. We also talk about the upcoming Experience trade show in Cincinnati April 6-8, 2022. TITLE SPONSOR: MORNING TECH MEETING This episode it brought to you by www.morningtechmeeting.com .  Don't lose money in the field because your se...

All of us in the home services dream of one day locking down 7 figure contracts with multi-national corporations. The problem is most companies don't even know where to begin when trying to find out how to get these contracts. Today Eric and Larry have on Chris Allen. Chris has been a purchasing agent for services for many years at several worldwide corporations. Listen to Chris as he lays ou...