How to tackle your first six months as a new inspector

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Matt, the technical difficulties that we have endured just to record this episode, it's
been, I think it's been worth it.

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You ready to do it though?

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I'm ready to do it.

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It's been a nice 24 hour wait.

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Let's get it on.

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been your fault, but here we go.

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not taking all the blame for this.

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Just so that you know, I'm not taking all the blame for this.

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First of all, I blame you and I blame Eric for this whole Mac situation.

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That is the first thing.

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And we'll get into the rest later.

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This might be a whole podcast worth of arguing that we have to do about this, but.

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like Apple versus Windows stuff.

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Yeah.

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Hey, sound off at the comments.

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If you're an iPhone or an Android home inspector, there you go.

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Hey, that could actually be a good segue for, for new home inspectors.

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What phone do I use?

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Well, it all depends on what inspection software you want to use.

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And here to talk about new inspector stuff today, Matt, we got a good guest on show.

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Yes, we do.

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We have Ashley Flores from Horizon, Texas.

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that Horizon City?

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that what it is?

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Basically El Paso, correct?

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Yeah.

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Very cool.

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Now I'm excited to talk with you about how you got started in the industry and ah whether
or not you can see the horizon in Horizon City or if it's just a myth.

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ah But we're glad to have you on Ashley.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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I'm super excited.

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definitely us too.

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And we are going to kick things off with our usual drink of the day.

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But here's the thing guys, we've had a little bit of pushback.

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I guess there's some tea totalers, no offense.

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If there are people out there that don't drink it, this segment doesn't interest you.

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I'm going to try and start doing the thing in the show notes and descriptions where you
can kind of like click forward to the segment that you definitely want to hear.

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But the drink of the day is just our little way of plugging our sponsor Inspection Fuel
that's going to be coming up.

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When is it Matt?

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That is September 8 through the 10th in New Orleans.

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New Orleans.

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New Orleans?

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That's right.

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Yeah, but we're looking forward to it.

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That's going to be a lot of fun.

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So sign up at inspectionfuel.com slash register and Ashley because you're a guest on the
show, you're going to get a free free ticket to go.

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Awesome, thank you.

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I can't wait!

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definitely.

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So the way we do this drink of the day, we grab a little something to sit on.

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You know, my mom's calling.

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Should I answer that?

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I forgot to turn my ringer off.

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I?

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You think I should?

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I should probably call her back.

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I'll call her back.

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I'll call her

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her back.

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We could have her as a guest on the show.

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Matt's mom, welcome to the show.

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anyway, Matt, since your mom called, what would you tell your mom that you're drinking
right now?

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And was she the one who gave you your drinking problems?

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No, I'm kidding.

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That's another podcast.

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she would I would tell her I'm honest about my beverages with my family.

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I am but today if you're asking me what I'm drinking, I'd be happy to tell you I am.

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Yeah, I've been out of town for a bit.

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So I'm back right and so I'm back with a local drink here.

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This is made in Galveston.

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This is Galveston.

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I think it's Galveston Brewing Company.

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Tiki Wheat something I usually drink only when I'm in Galveston, but I found it here
locally and Cheers Tiki Wheat.

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Here's the take you eat Ashley.

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What are you sipping on for your inaugural drink of the day, ma'am?

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So I just have some moscato and then I throw like fruit or whatever I have like in there.

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It's perfect for summer.

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I love it.

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like a white sangria, almost.

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Pretty much, just a little bubbly, little sweet thing going on.

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Very cool, I dig it.

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And I am sipping on little Cooper family, some Texas whiskey that was given to me by the
one and only Matt Braiding.

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This is supposed to do that.

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Cheers to you, guys.

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Cheers.

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All right, so this is going to be an episode.

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too painful for whoever, you know, if they didn't have the ability to skip ahead.

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Should we go on for another minute or so about it?

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Just know, I think we should jump right into it.

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So Ashley, we're excited to have you on.

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Cause one of the things that we get asked often, um, is a four about new home inspectors.

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Where should they start?

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Um, how did they start to build a social media profile?

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What tools do they get in the tool bag?

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What training should they do?

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What organizations and coaching groups should they join?

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And you have gone through the wringer on all of these things.

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So,

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not only is it awesome to highlight a woman in the industry, but also one that's kind of
uh been through a lot of the paces that new inspectors are gonna be looking to go through

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as well.

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Thank you, yeah, I've been through it all.

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think I've been in every group and every coaching program.

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So I've definitely tried it all and keep learning more and more.

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uh

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brought you to the industry and what did you kind of do before and ah how long have you
been in business?

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Well, before I was staying with mom and I wanted to get back into doing something, but I
didn't know what.

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So I was just looking around and came across this and I was like, okay, I'm pretty good at
learning systems and I'm very detail oriented.

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And I just kind of stuck with it, looked into it I was like, I can do this.

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So I signed up for school, went to school, got all my licensing done and that was it.

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did you, where did you get your training for licensing?

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ATI?

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Nice, good stuff.

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I've heard really good things about them.

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I didn't mind through InterNACHI, but what was your experience with ATI?

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It was really good.

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And I did a couple years ago and I was like during more than a couple years ago, like
during COVID time.

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So a lot of it is online and a little

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have a local facility like you could take in-person classes if it was open?

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Oh, awesome.

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I know there's Florida, there's Texas, and they have one specific for each state because,
you know, Texas is hard.

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uh they break it down.

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I think your class is basically for your state and you learn that way.

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And it was very informative.

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They take you through everything and give you all the things to study and just learn from
the ground up.

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Now that's fantastic.

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But what made you, what drew you to home inspections in general?

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mean, were you familiar with it prior to that?

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Did you have any exposure to it or what was, what's kind of your story there?

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I didn't really have any prior experience with it at all.

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just kinda winged it, really.

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I was like okay I can totally do this.

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I do this.

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as you get licensed and everything as a new inspector out there in the El Paso area, like
how did you go about trying to get business?

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Was that what the training came in?

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Did they help you with that?

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Did I help you with that?

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How were you able to get to acquire business?

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Customer acquisition is very difficult for new inspectors that have their own business.

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That is probably one of the biggest hurdles.

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I think that's probably the reason why we have a lot of fallout.

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We got a lot of license numbers.

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Mm-hmm.

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lot less inspectors than that.

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So how did you go about getting business?

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So from schooling I went to, I did a little on my own, little try on air.

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It is very hard.

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It is very hard to stay motivated to keep going, especially when you're in a competitive
market and there's a lot of inspectors around.

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And our city is not huge, so people use who they use.

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um Then I joined IEB and they really filled in a lot of gaps.

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um So the gaps from

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school to actually starting your business, I'd be helped immensely.

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Giving you a little tips, big tips, yes.

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And they have, so they have like a full course, but then they have like all the live
things.

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I was like more of a lurker in the live ones because I'm just gonna like shine as new, but
so informative and it's so helpful.

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So helpful.

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assuming Mark walked you through the, if he was doing the class, his whole process of
setting up your five, three, one year plan for your business, as far as coming up with

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your business purpose and your vision statement and mission and all of that.

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How did that process play out for you?

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And what's kind of like the why behind your business?

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It really helps you, especially when you've been doing it a while, remember what you're
doing it for and get your focus clear on how you want to grow, how you want to build and

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why.

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know, like some people just want to home inspector, be a solo inspector and continue doing
that.

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Other people want to grow and build.

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So it's a good way to figure out what your goals are and where you want to go from there.

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And they have multiple courses on that.

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So when did you get licensed and how long have you been active inspecting?

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I think got licensed in 2023.

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I've really been active, probably like the last six months, really active.

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What's your workload look like?

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I just...

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Okay, that's good.

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That's really good.

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Yeah, for six months in that's really good.

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It's been steadily growing.

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Steadily growing.

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So as long as I'm growing, I'm good.

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So out there in that area, em I mean, I don't know what there is in terms of new
development.

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Because like you said, it's a small area.

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I know that there's some military bases out there.

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em Is there any business to be had on the military base?

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I I have heard those are some nightmare of homes.

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They're not in great shape.

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I don't know.

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mean, obviously, the military is probably not hiring anybody to go look at them.

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But I wonder if the people occupying them have the ability to bring in a private inspector
to take a look at them and see what kind of shape they're in.

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Because I've heard they can be pretty rough.

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Well we don't, yeah we have

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exactly what goes on in military housing but with the military being here there is a lot
of people buying and so it's constantly there's constantly people in and out which is good

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a lot of new construction a lot very much

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it's almost like El Paso is just kind of expanding outwards towards where you are.

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Basically,

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So and Horizon sits where from El Paso?

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Right outside, mean, it's, yes, maybe there's not, yeah, there's no, there's north, which
is New Mexico, but yeah, it's just, we're far, a little far out east and things are just

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expanding that way.

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Now, are you super locked in on kind of just building your book of business locally where
you are, or do you branch into El Paso?

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Do you go up into New Mexico?

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ah Like how wide of a net did you decide to cast when you were starting out?

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First starting out, I'm focused on opal cell.

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And then once I grow, once I get a little more steady, we can see where we'll go from
there.

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I definitely want to, but I need to focus on one area right now.

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And once I get that down.

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think that's a really good strategy, but that's also very interesting because like you
live in a border town.

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Like I am licensed in Texas, right?

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There's no reason for me to get licensed anywhere else.

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I imagine New Mexico also requires licensing and so you'd have to get licensed in a
separate state and be dual licensed to be able to do both of them.

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But I mean, that's the interesting part about being in a border town.

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The other interesting part is I'm certain that there are other state regulations and codes
that have, you know,

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That differ from one state to another that would be very interesting, but I imagine like
the the land is it's it's still desert So I mean the the type of construction out there is

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pretty much the same.

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It's all slab on grade and stuff, right?

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Yeah

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No, that's awesome.

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Yeah.

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The, gotta say like, and this isn't to be too much of a callback to, previous, uh, ride
along episodes, but the worst driving that I have ever experienced in my life, as far as

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weather goes.

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And listen, I grew up in Connecticut and lived 20 years in Virginia.

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have dealt with winters.

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I have driven in all kinds of snow.

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I have never driven in snow as bad as in West Texas.

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I

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I went from, I guess over near Carlsbad, New Mexico and drove through El Paso.

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But those unplowed Texas roads, when you have three to four inches of snow on it, I was
white knuckling it like I have never experienced in the Northeast.

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It was so bad.

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But, uh,

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it'll melt before you, you know, you'll still be worrying about it and then it'll be
melted.

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Right, then it's just God, yeah.

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No one's going anywhere if there's snow.

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uh

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I mean, it's okay.

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But have you experienced inspecting like in like Texas winter yet?

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Or what's that like?

232
00:13:23,684 --> 00:13:35,444
not winter and for the most part we don't really get snow we'll get flurries but we don't
really get snow like that if we didn't like everything's cancelled it's no no one's going

233
00:13:35,444 --> 00:13:42,556
out no one's doing anything um more we have like flash floods so it be the just rain
random

234
00:13:44,344 --> 00:13:50,042
We had that yesterday but other than that it's just hot and dry, windy.

235
00:13:50,452 --> 00:13:51,914
No, it's the desert, yeah.

236
00:13:51,914 --> 00:13:54,918
Well, I love that it waited to snow until I was driving.

237
00:13:54,918 --> 00:13:57,792
For this series, I was getting ready to film.

238
00:13:57,792 --> 00:14:02,448
was driving to Phoenix and yeah, it dumped just buckets of snow.

239
00:14:02,448 --> 00:14:05,893
Woke up with three inches on my RV that I had to drive.

240
00:14:05,893 --> 00:14:07,074
It was so bad.

241
00:14:07,235 --> 00:14:08,095
But...

242
00:14:08,292 --> 00:14:10,472
because it does not snow here.

243
00:14:10,704 --> 00:14:18,374
So, okay, what are some things that you do run into like trouble or not trouble wise, but
what are some of the most major deficiencies that you're finding on the homes that you're

244
00:14:18,374 --> 00:14:20,348
inspecting in that neck of the woods?

245
00:14:21,284 --> 00:14:25,628
a lot of exterior things like this morning because we had rain yesterday.

246
00:14:25,628 --> 00:14:38,079
uh Now it dries up pretty fast so there's not really puddles but it's still there so the
exterior wall I pushed on it and just like shhh at the bottom.

247
00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,082
All without puddles.

248
00:14:40,082 --> 00:14:42,221
Yes, everything pretty much

249
00:14:42,221 --> 00:14:49,915
imagine that like with it being like dry for a long time, like long periods and we don't,
it's not really a wet climate.

250
00:14:49,915 --> 00:15:00,601
And so like here, whenever they put stucco in, which I don't think they should use here,
but whenever they do put stucco out here in the Houston area, I mean, if it's done right,

251
00:15:00,601 --> 00:15:01,611
then it can be okay.

252
00:15:01,611 --> 00:15:06,364
But I mean, if it's not, and it usually isn't, um it can be very problematic.

253
00:15:06,364 --> 00:15:10,588
But out there where it's a very dry climate, I can see like them putting it up.

254
00:15:10,588 --> 00:15:16,504
and very haphazardly putting it up because they don't really have to worry about the
moisture, like not humidity.

255
00:15:16,504 --> 00:15:19,227
They don't have to worry about rain because this is not really a big thing.

256
00:15:19,227 --> 00:15:26,093
So then when it does happen, we probably have like stucco and contact with the ground and
all kinds of weird stuff.

257
00:15:26,294 --> 00:15:30,798
I can see that being the case because they just don't think they have to worry about it
until they have to worry.

258
00:15:31,005 --> 00:15:42,194
Right and then a lot of it is sand here so the grade moves a lot and then you have water
sitting next to the wall and it's not good.

259
00:15:42,214 --> 00:15:43,695
Very, very interesting.

260
00:15:43,774 --> 00:15:45,036
definitely not.

261
00:15:45,036 --> 00:15:53,817
Now, starting out as a new inspector, what are some of the biggest things in your first
six months that you've learned and what would be like, let's say your top five tips to

262
00:15:53,817 --> 00:15:57,722
other inspectors that are just starting out and trying to get their legs under them?

263
00:15:58,519 --> 00:16:02,442
I would say first you want to like make sure you get your processes down.

264
00:16:02,442 --> 00:16:09,808
uh It seems simple but when you're in it, I think it can be very overwhelming when you're
new.

265
00:16:09,808 --> 00:16:17,287
You know, your first couple inspections you're like, oh god, okay, I gotta, you know, you
know what to do but then you have to execute it.

266
00:16:17,287 --> 00:16:21,698
So it's about getting that down and getting into routine.

267
00:16:21,698 --> 00:16:26,302
And for me, what kind of throws me off sometimes is when...

268
00:16:26,710 --> 00:16:27,831
the client is there too.

269
00:16:27,831 --> 00:16:34,475
So they're asking questions and then you have to focus on remembering because it's not
ingrained in you yet.

270
00:16:34,635 --> 00:16:42,041
You have to remember your process while answering questions and entertaining and keeping
everyone happy.

271
00:16:42,041 --> 00:16:46,003
um That for me has been a little rough.

272
00:16:46,003 --> 00:16:48,265
then like staying motivated.

273
00:16:48,765 --> 00:16:55,830
Motivated is hard, I think, for being in your market and having ups and downs.

274
00:16:55,830 --> 00:16:58,841
Some weeks you have a lot and you're like, yes, this is it.

275
00:16:58,841 --> 00:17:00,512
This is great and everything's up.

276
00:17:00,512 --> 00:17:05,034
And then you're like, oh, I only got three or four inspections this week.

277
00:17:05,034 --> 00:17:05,975
Okay.

278
00:17:05,975 --> 00:17:12,237
So just keeping momentum and staying positive and keep trying everything.

279
00:17:12,668 --> 00:17:17,421
Yeah, it can really be feast or famine, especially in the beginning in terms of how
business comes in.

280
00:17:17,421 --> 00:17:25,556
I like that you talk about like with the client being there, like, of course, me and Brad
have differing opinions on that, but I won't go down that road because I do think like,

281
00:17:25,556 --> 00:17:34,481
especially in the beginning, like you said, I mean, look, even whenever I was starting
out, like I might know the answer, but it's not just like right here where I can pull it

282
00:17:34,481 --> 00:17:35,371
out right away.

283
00:17:35,371 --> 00:17:36,652
Sometimes I have to think about it.

284
00:17:36,652 --> 00:17:39,694
Sometimes I might want to look through a book, but you know what?

285
00:17:39,694 --> 00:17:40,474
Like

286
00:17:40,510 --> 00:17:43,370
I don't like the whole term fake it till you make it.

287
00:17:43,370 --> 00:17:51,170
But I mean, like it, and I think what we really have to understand, especially whenever
we're new inspectors and any anybody out there actually even seasoned inspectors, I was

288
00:17:51,170 --> 00:17:52,770
talking about this today.

289
00:17:52,950 --> 00:17:54,150
We don't know everything.

290
00:17:54,150 --> 00:17:57,750
And I think we need to as long as we know that we don't know everything.

291
00:17:57,750 --> 00:18:04,870
If we can present what we do know and what we and even what we don't know in a real
assertive way.

292
00:18:05,150 --> 00:18:09,838
And that's still difficult as a new inspector because like you want to

293
00:18:09,838 --> 00:18:11,059
You exude confidence.

294
00:18:11,059 --> 00:18:21,984
People are putting their confidence in you like you want to uh deliver that and and so
somehow you have to deliver that even when you're not exactly 100 % sure of yourself.

295
00:18:21,984 --> 00:18:27,076
uh It's challenging and but that's you know if you can get that down, you will grow.

296
00:18:28,369 --> 00:18:40,906
Yeah, I think it is a balance and you want to do the best and you want to Know everything
and I'm not I'm not afraid to be like I want to look that up for you Like I want to are

297
00:18:40,906 --> 00:18:42,897
that I'm giving you the proper information.

298
00:18:42,897 --> 00:18:44,678
I think it might be this

299
00:18:44,748 --> 00:18:47,166
But I'm gonna double check it for you and let you know.

300
00:18:47,166 --> 00:18:49,393
I think that's most important.

301
00:18:49,393 --> 00:18:51,025
ah

302
00:18:51,025 --> 00:18:52,016
a lot.

303
00:18:52,559 --> 00:18:59,234
Whenever I was new, would tell them, hey, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I
want to be certain before I tell you.

304
00:18:59,234 --> 00:19:00,506
So just let me look it up.

305
00:19:00,506 --> 00:19:01,678
I'll back to you.

306
00:19:02,056 --> 00:19:09,242
Ashley, I want to come back to your statement about staying motivated because Mark Hummel
had a great quote.

307
00:19:09,242 --> 00:19:10,603
He's the head of IEB.

308
00:19:10,603 --> 00:19:17,749
ah He said, basically, the most successful people are not the ones that are the most
excited always about what they're doing.

309
00:19:17,749 --> 00:19:22,333
It's the ones that are the most persistent, the ones that stick it out when it gets
boring, right?

310
00:19:22,333 --> 00:19:25,055
Or when it gets challenging or when you feel like giving up.

311
00:19:25,055 --> 00:19:31,900
So what are things that you do to stay motivated and to keep plugging along as you work
through your first year?

312
00:19:32,321 --> 00:19:34,582
I just keep going on days when I don't want to do it.

313
00:19:34,582 --> 00:19:35,882
I do it anyway.

314
00:19:36,963 --> 00:19:41,704
I mean like I don't have I just do it.

315
00:19:42,805 --> 00:19:44,116
My last video didn't do good.

316
00:19:44,116 --> 00:19:44,526
Okay.

317
00:19:44,526 --> 00:19:45,966
Well, let's make another one.

318
00:19:45,966 --> 00:19:47,267
Well, I'm getting a lot of calls.

319
00:19:47,267 --> 00:19:49,568
So I'm probably hiring Google this week.

320
00:19:49,568 --> 00:19:50,108
Awesome.

321
00:19:50,108 --> 00:19:51,968
The next week not so much.

322
00:19:52,109 --> 00:19:54,290
Okay, well, let's try and get some reviews.

323
00:19:54,290 --> 00:19:56,370
Let's try to figure it out.

324
00:19:57,151 --> 00:20:00,772
Just to constantly keep going constantly.

325
00:20:01,216 --> 00:20:06,236
different ways to improve, reach out to different realtors, whatever you have to do.

326
00:20:07,096 --> 00:20:12,476
I'll do whatever I'm here to grow and be here.

327
00:20:13,630 --> 00:20:14,498
No, definitely.

328
00:20:14,498 --> 00:20:15,645
roots stuff right there.

329
00:20:15,645 --> 00:20:18,508
Like if you get tired, just keep going.

330
00:20:20,307 --> 00:20:21,749
There's no other way.

331
00:20:21,750 --> 00:20:25,818
If you stop, if you stop then you're losing.

332
00:20:25,926 --> 00:20:27,671
And that's, you're right.

333
00:20:28,164 --> 00:20:33,814
No, and I've noticed that that your social media game is uh you're really doing a great
job plugging away with that too.

334
00:20:33,814 --> 00:20:36,992
So tell everybody first of all, where they can find you on social media.

335
00:20:36,992 --> 00:20:46,220
uh Anywhere Facebook IG tick tock I'm on closer actions

336
00:20:46,875 --> 00:20:48,176
Add closer look inspections.

337
00:20:48,176 --> 00:20:49,017
All right, fantastic.

338
00:20:49,017 --> 00:20:49,517
Yeah.

339
00:20:49,517 --> 00:20:52,209
Well guys, go give her a follow seriously because she's working her butt off.

340
00:20:52,209 --> 00:20:52,939
It's fantastic.

341
00:20:52,939 --> 00:20:55,221
It's been great seeing you rise up that way.

342
00:20:55,541 --> 00:20:56,202
Truly.

343
00:20:56,202 --> 00:21:04,992
Now I want to ask about some of the goal setting that you've done this year as you've been
kind of planning and building your processes and your system for your company.

344
00:21:04,992 --> 00:21:09,086
ah How did you go about the KPI process and what does that look like for you?

345
00:21:09,086 --> 00:21:12,800
What are some goals that you have closing out the second half of the year?

346
00:21:13,522 --> 00:21:17,337
My goals are to be more consistent with everything.

347
00:21:17,391 --> 00:21:20,985
I want to have a better set schedule and...

348
00:21:20,985 --> 00:21:27,281
you know, make more connections and just be a little more steady for right now.

349
00:21:27,281 --> 00:21:30,597
That's my goal right now.

350
00:21:30,597 --> 00:21:31,605
Yeah, yeah.

351
00:21:32,682 --> 00:21:33,349
What did you say?

352
00:21:33,349 --> 00:21:34,294
KPI?

353
00:21:35,023 --> 00:21:36,756
Yeah, key performance indicators.

354
00:21:36,756 --> 00:21:42,435
like, you never never like, okay, like, do you you don't have so for those of you that

355
00:21:42,706 --> 00:21:44,238
I just plow through everything.

356
00:21:44,238 --> 00:21:45,229
Okay.

357
00:21:45,591 --> 00:21:48,534
I just plow right through everything that is.

358
00:21:50,319 --> 00:21:52,102
That's the best way I can describe what I do.

359
00:21:52,102 --> 00:21:54,275
I don't have acronyms for what I do.

360
00:21:54,275 --> 00:21:55,805
It's plow through everything.

361
00:21:55,805 --> 00:21:59,626
so for those watching, if you don't have KPIs, those are key performance indicators.

362
00:21:59,626 --> 00:22:07,869
Those can be goals, numerical, tangible goals that you set that are kind of benchmarks
that you want to achieve in a certain period.

363
00:22:07,869 --> 00:22:08,449
Right?

364
00:22:08,449 --> 00:22:13,451
Say, so when I started out, uh I wanted to make six figures.

365
00:22:13,451 --> 00:22:21,553
I knew that my base, my base fee was going to be such and such an amount that meant that I
had to take the total that I wanted to earn.

366
00:22:21,753 --> 00:22:31,616
before taxes and then divide that by the average fee, the average inspection fee, which
would give me the number of inspections that I needed to do.

367
00:22:31,616 --> 00:22:39,679
And I could break that down by quarter, I could break that down by month, and then that
would kind of give me an idea as to what kind of numbers I need to be putting up or

368
00:22:39,679 --> 00:22:45,590
growing toward and progressing toward, ah which would kind of give me an indication of how
I was doing, right?

369
00:22:45,590 --> 00:22:47,890
And of course it all comes down to bottom line, but.

370
00:22:47,890 --> 00:22:51,776
It's something to think about in terms of if you really want to lock in on knowing your
numbers.

371
00:22:51,776 --> 00:22:57,325
But I mean, Matt, is there a system that you put in place for kind of reviewing things
like that as you've been growing at edge?

372
00:22:57,325 --> 00:22:58,466
plow through everything.

373
00:22:58,466 --> 00:23:03,407
No, mean, no, I mean, like, it's interesting to me to hear you say that.

374
00:23:03,407 --> 00:23:11,139
I mean, like, because to think of like, what potential I could unlock, you know, by having
some KPIs, you know, like, I don't know.

375
00:23:11,139 --> 00:23:12,409
No, I mean, not really.

376
00:23:12,409 --> 00:23:13,370
I mean, don't get me wrong.

377
00:23:13,370 --> 00:23:20,372
Like there have been times where I have set goals for myself more like on a much smaller
scale.

378
00:23:20,372 --> 00:23:24,833
Maybe it's a uh number that I wanted to get to in terms of revenue for a month or

379
00:23:24,833 --> 00:23:26,194
or a number of inspections.

380
00:23:26,194 --> 00:23:32,257
m But I mean, like I just know, I mean, for the longest time I was a single man operation.

381
00:23:32,257 --> 00:23:34,638
I didn't really know where the sky was.

382
00:23:34,638 --> 00:23:37,580
OK, I didn't know where the limit was.

383
00:23:37,580 --> 00:23:40,622
And so I just kept going.

384
00:23:40,622 --> 00:23:48,676
And, you know, once I started getting booked, I would raise my rates and then I would just
keep going and keep going and just literally plow through everything until all of sudden I

385
00:23:48,676 --> 00:23:50,970
found somebody that said, hey, I want to come work for you.

386
00:23:50,970 --> 00:23:52,368
And I was like, hey, I want you to come work for me.

387
00:23:52,368 --> 00:23:53,409
Let me figure that out, too.

388
00:23:53,409 --> 00:23:54,209
And then.

389
00:23:54,561 --> 00:23:56,661
next thing and now I got another guy, you know?

390
00:23:56,661 --> 00:24:00,941
And so like, I mean, I don't want to say I don't have a plan, but I don't really have a
plan.

391
00:24:01,093 --> 00:24:02,815
Yeah, you just been going for it, man.

392
00:24:02,815 --> 00:24:05,267
Yeah, I feel like but here's the funny thing, right?

393
00:24:05,267 --> 00:24:10,733
Like you have people that can sit here and nerd out about having a perfect business plan.

394
00:24:10,733 --> 00:24:17,109
And, you know, having like having it all down on paper, but there's no there's no drive to
execute and to follow through, right?

395
00:24:17,109 --> 00:24:20,542
Because I want you like I feel like it's good to put both together if you can.

396
00:24:20,542 --> 00:24:26,181
But the people that end up being the most successful are the ones that just keep freaking
going like you guys have been talking

397
00:24:26,181 --> 00:24:27,432
I mean, maybe, right?

398
00:24:27,432 --> 00:24:36,611
But I think like the natural order of business, like as I grow, if I get like another
inspector or something is to get somebody in my organization that has some KPIs, right?

399
00:24:36,611 --> 00:24:41,175
And they start figuring out how to adjust things to work towards those goals.

400
00:24:41,175 --> 00:24:50,974
So that way I can keep plowing through everything and they can just kind of keep me in the
rut, you know, in the little plow, whatever you call that, you know, they keep me, they

401
00:24:50,974 --> 00:24:52,095
keep me in line.

402
00:24:52,312 --> 00:24:54,443
not everybody's going to have your work ethic, right?

403
00:24:54,443 --> 00:25:01,146
They might be a good inspector, but they might not be willing to like, as I've run into
this, there's inspectors that just don't want to market, right?

404
00:25:01,146 --> 00:25:01,946
They want a company.

405
00:25:01,946 --> 00:25:10,370
They want to join a franchise that's going to do all of it for them, but they don't want
to actually, all they want to do is show up on the job site and do the job, but they don't

406
00:25:10,370 --> 00:25:12,111
necessarily know how to go get the job.

407
00:25:12,111 --> 00:25:13,681
You know how to do both.

408
00:25:13,681 --> 00:25:16,983
So it's like, you know, I feel like in, in

409
00:25:17,477 --> 00:25:26,909
you know, making a case for KPIs and really tracking and knowing your numbers that can
really make even more sense when you're having to focus on how well is this particular

410
00:25:26,909 --> 00:25:28,587
employee performing, right?

411
00:25:28,587 --> 00:25:36,071
Cause then you're kind of giving him benchmarks, especially if it's not somebody that's
naturally motivated, but yeah.

412
00:25:36,234 --> 00:25:37,055
can see that.

413
00:25:37,055 --> 00:25:38,097
I can see that.

414
00:25:38,097 --> 00:25:40,590
never thought about it in those terms, but I mean, it can be a motivator.

415
00:25:40,590 --> 00:25:41,471
I can see

416
00:25:46,466 --> 00:25:48,946
a lot of variables when you're starting out too.

417
00:25:48,946 --> 00:25:52,678
So sticking to an exact plan sounds good.

418
00:25:52,678 --> 00:26:03,298
But in the beginning when things are up and down and all over the place, it can be a
little discouraging to be like, well I wanted to be here and how do I get here?

419
00:26:04,038 --> 00:26:09,470
So I think it can be a little discouraging when you're starting out.

420
00:26:10,279 --> 00:26:11,073
Alright.

421
00:26:11,073 --> 00:26:14,435
100 % too, especially for the single person operation.

422
00:26:14,435 --> 00:26:17,017
um You need to be able to go with the flow.

423
00:26:17,017 --> 00:26:21,139
Like I say, it's feast or famine.

424
00:26:21,139 --> 00:26:26,241
And so if you get 10 inspections in a week, you can't think that every week is going to be
like that.

425
00:26:26,241 --> 00:26:30,724
um And you have to figure out ways to pivot and ways to work with what you've got.

426
00:26:30,724 --> 00:26:33,605
And I think you really have to uh adapt a lot.

427
00:26:33,605 --> 00:26:40,389
Sometimes that adaptation might be doing inspections that you aren't thrilled about doing.

428
00:26:40,389 --> 00:26:45,009
maybe a location that you're not thrilled about going to, or maybe a type of home that
you're like, I don't know.

429
00:26:45,009 --> 00:26:46,149
I really don't like doing that.

430
00:26:46,149 --> 00:26:53,549
These days I'm busy enough that I can say, nah, that's not the area I service or, or, you
know, I don't want to, I don't do that type of house or something like that.

431
00:26:53,549 --> 00:26:58,909
I could say those things, but as when I, when I was newer, it wasn't the case at all.

432
00:26:59,169 --> 00:26:59,764
Yeah.

433
00:26:59,764 --> 00:27:06,232
kind of setting a benchmark, right Ashley, where it's like this year's kind of going to
kind of be like, okay, we've got our systems in place.

434
00:27:06,232 --> 00:27:10,077
We've got a baseline uh for operation for one year.

435
00:27:10,077 --> 00:27:12,020
How do we beat that next year?

436
00:27:12,020 --> 00:27:16,907
You know, so it's, I feel like it's a, it's good to give yourself grace on that one too,
in a sense.

437
00:27:16,907 --> 00:27:17,471
So.

438
00:27:17,471 --> 00:27:28,020
I think a year is a good timeline to really a year even you know look at things how
they've grown what's worked what hasn't worked Go from there

439
00:27:28,345 --> 00:27:29,475
No, that's fantastic.

440
00:27:29,475 --> 00:27:32,117
ah Now year two is a fun one.

441
00:27:32,117 --> 00:27:39,090
ah It's where you kind of like can sit down at the end of the year, evaluate, but then you
start to see trends.

442
00:27:39,090 --> 00:27:42,121
And I feel like trends are very area specific sometimes.

443
00:27:42,121 --> 00:27:52,646
ah there's ebbs and flows in the real estate market, spring market, and most places that
have a winter is always going to be heavier than, you know, end of summer when, you know,

444
00:27:52,646 --> 00:27:55,237
back to school starts and then dead of winter.

445
00:27:55,259 --> 00:28:04,747
But then there's other places like Florida where it's just fairly kind of consistent and
things almost reverse when we've got snowbirds down here.

446
00:28:04,747 --> 00:28:14,554
kind of learning when the money comes in, when the money doesn't come in, how to adjust
for when to save, when to tighten the belt, things like that.

447
00:28:14,554 --> 00:28:18,838
I feel like year two is kind of a great uh place to be figuring out some of that.

448
00:28:18,838 --> 00:28:20,463
ah

449
00:28:20,463 --> 00:28:23,244
Let's talk tools though, if we can pivot to that.

450
00:28:24,085 --> 00:28:35,352
Some people will look to join a franchise because franchises will kind of pay the way for
the inspector to get in the door as far as providing them with tools starting out.

451
00:28:35,352 --> 00:28:39,595
But what were some things that you were kind of looking to add to your kit?

452
00:28:39,715 --> 00:28:46,689
And what have you gradually been building up tool wise over the past year as far as things
that you're using in the job site?

453
00:28:47,234 --> 00:28:54,334
I have all the basic tools and I love my camera so right now...

454
00:28:55,244 --> 00:28:56,739
No, you're gonna make fun of me.

455
00:28:56,739 --> 00:28:57,557
uh

456
00:28:57,557 --> 00:28:57,957
not.

457
00:28:57,957 --> 00:28:58,457
No I'm not.

458
00:28:58,457 --> 00:28:59,011
I just want to know.

459
00:28:59,011 --> 00:29:00,044
no wrong answer.

460
00:29:00,138 --> 00:29:02,201
No, I have the the FLIR.

461
00:29:02,201 --> 00:29:03,793
FLIR?

462
00:29:05,008 --> 00:29:06,348
I don't, I don't know.

463
00:29:06,348 --> 00:29:07,983
I don't know what joint it is.

464
00:29:07,983 --> 00:29:10,269
Well, now I am gonna make fun of you.

465
00:29:10,776 --> 00:29:12,025
Keep her sane.

466
00:29:12,938 --> 00:29:14,913
It's got a letter and a number on top of it.

467
00:29:14,913 --> 00:29:16,297
I'm curious.

468
00:29:16,297 --> 00:29:19,776
it look like a cell phone or is it like one that you hold like a...

469
00:29:19,776 --> 00:29:20,500
uh

470
00:29:20,500 --> 00:29:22,380
it's a handheld.

471
00:29:37,693 --> 00:29:40,585
It's I'll get there.

472
00:29:40,585 --> 00:29:41,416
I'll get there.

473
00:29:41,416 --> 00:29:44,187
uh

474
00:29:44,187 --> 00:29:48,629
I mean the fact that you're are carrying look any inspector out there is not carrying
thermal camera.

475
00:29:48,629 --> 00:29:49,390
I think it's crazy.

476
00:29:49,390 --> 00:29:55,793
um There is just way too much to be seen that that you know, we can we can bring to our
clients attention.

477
00:29:55,793 --> 00:30:04,599
So I mean the use the fact that you are using thermal in your reports is enough for me and
honestly, I would rather somebody use one of the ones that attaches to your phone than use

478
00:30:04,599 --> 00:30:05,079
nothing at all.

479
00:30:05,079 --> 00:30:06,012
So no, you're doing great.

480
00:30:06,012 --> 00:30:08,961
I was just curious because I like that stuff but go ahead.

481
00:30:10,187 --> 00:30:19,749
Other than that have just their basic tools, moisture meters, gas detectors, bladders, you
know, like don't really have anything fancy starting out super.

482
00:30:19,749 --> 00:30:26,203
I'm not, like trying not to ask you which ones you have of all of those things right now.

483
00:30:26,203 --> 00:30:29,134
I'm pushing it down, pushing it down.

484
00:30:30,155 --> 00:30:32,366
Phoenix, yeah, Phoenix is bomb.

485
00:30:32,366 --> 00:30:34,197
Well, yeah, what flashlight do you carry?

486
00:30:35,186 --> 00:30:37,118
I think it's a Phoenix.

487
00:30:37,351 --> 00:30:40,371
Dude, I freaking love it.

488
00:30:40,471 --> 00:30:45,971
Honestly, there's nothing more exciting to me than when like the newest Phoenix flashlight
comes out.

489
00:30:45,971 --> 00:30:54,611
It's like this is like 5 million lumens and I have to put my sunglasses on in the attic
because it's too bright on the highest setting, you know, like that's how you know it's a

490
00:30:54,611 --> 00:30:55,373
dang good flashlight.

491
00:30:55,373 --> 00:30:59,877
And I don't ever pay attention to the new ones because I found what I need and what I
like.

492
00:30:59,877 --> 00:31:01,077
And that's it.

493
00:31:01,978 --> 00:31:06,287
It's the E35R, think, is the one that I really do.

494
00:31:06,287 --> 00:31:07,722
I have one sitting around here.

495
00:31:07,803 --> 00:31:10,535
My gear is still in my truck because I literally just came home from work.

496
00:31:10,535 --> 00:31:12,827
But I swear I have one sitting around here somewhere.

497
00:31:13,728 --> 00:31:14,683
Maybe not.

498
00:31:14,683 --> 00:31:18,839
Probably over by that speaker that was screwing up the audio for a day and half.

499
00:31:18,839 --> 00:31:19,477
I got?

500
00:31:19,477 --> 00:31:23,979
I'm going to show you that speaker up close and personal next time I see you.

501
00:31:24,132 --> 00:31:25,773
It's perfect man.

502
00:31:26,204 --> 00:31:34,965
my gosh, so that's no it sounds great actually I mean it sounds like you've got your kit
pretty well built out but are you are you thinking about adding ancillaries in terms of?

503
00:31:34,965 --> 00:31:42,537
ah right on or sewer scoping even a thing that's done over and You're not gonna what?

504
00:31:42,537 --> 00:31:46,100
I haven't I haven't added that on yet.

505
00:31:46,100 --> 00:31:47,821
We'll see maybe next year.

506
00:31:47,821 --> 00:31:49,762
I know it is a thing here

507
00:31:49,762 --> 00:31:52,662
But also that's one things IEB taught me.

508
00:31:52,662 --> 00:31:57,722
was like focus on basics first.

509
00:31:57,842 --> 00:32:09,322
Get down because if you focus, if you're trying to get your regular services down and then
you have all these other products, your mind is going to be to everywhere.

510
00:32:09,602 --> 00:32:12,202
Especially when you sell to people.

511
00:32:12,682 --> 00:32:13,682
So.

512
00:32:14,738 --> 00:32:22,921
think that's a good, cause I mean like you're learning about everything, you know, when
you tackle something new, like wait until you, you're not learning so much anymore.

513
00:32:22,921 --> 00:32:23,872
I mean, we're always learning.

514
00:32:23,872 --> 00:32:31,405
Like I don't want to act like we're not, but, you know, uh a bit of the job gets routine,
you know, once you've done several hundred inspections and you're like, okay, this is,

515
00:32:31,405 --> 00:32:35,687
know, I've seen most of the things that I'm going to see in my area.

516
00:32:35,687 --> 00:32:40,529
uh And so, you know, let me think about tackling on some type of,

517
00:32:41,445 --> 00:32:46,165
you know, add on service or something, learning something new, think, but just give
yourself space to do that.

518
00:32:46,165 --> 00:32:57,885
Now I want to pivot back a little bit because we were talking about, you know, what like
gear you use in terms of like phone or tablet or, you know, Android, Apple, whatever.

519
00:32:57,885 --> 00:33:00,989
So what are you using to, to, to write your reports on?

520
00:33:02,669 --> 00:33:05,176
it and I don't like it.

521
00:33:05,389 --> 00:33:06,564
Oh man.

522
00:33:07,008 --> 00:33:08,931
feel like it's too clunky.

523
00:33:09,881 --> 00:33:12,302
Is it just too big to carry around or?

524
00:33:13,368 --> 00:33:15,401
It's it's good.

525
00:33:15,401 --> 00:33:16,392
It's too big.

526
00:33:16,392 --> 00:33:19,355
I'm not a fan

527
00:33:19,511 --> 00:33:21,362
Man, I mean, I would.

528
00:33:22,144 --> 00:33:23,185
That's the equivalent.

529
00:33:23,185 --> 00:33:24,966
Like what I'm carrying around.

530
00:33:25,187 --> 00:33:32,624
Like would be like the equivalent of like a fax machine, you know, like I mean, I mean,
it's just it's a it's a surface pro.

531
00:33:32,624 --> 00:33:33,745
I don't have that here with me either.

532
00:33:33,745 --> 00:33:34,476
It's in my truck.

533
00:33:34,476 --> 00:33:40,843
But but I mean, like, you know, it's bigger than an iPad um and it's really wild.

534
00:33:40,843 --> 00:33:43,605
But I think did you start out doing it on your phone?

535
00:33:44,306 --> 00:33:45,187
Yes.

536
00:33:45,187 --> 00:33:47,798
Yeah, no, I people do that.

537
00:33:47,838 --> 00:33:53,620
I am like the opposite of you in terms of like, I can't imagine walking around with such a
small device and doing it.

538
00:33:53,620 --> 00:34:03,793
But that's that's because I have been working on a large when I first started, I was
literally just using a digital camera, taking pictures, making notes and putting that

539
00:34:03,793 --> 00:34:05,943
stuff into a war later is terrible.

540
00:34:05,983 --> 00:34:11,745
Then I switched and started carrying around a bigger device and and I kind of building the
report on site.

541
00:34:12,101 --> 00:34:19,461
using the camera that was on the device anyway, and that's just how I've done it ever
since and the convenience I felt like I had with that.

542
00:34:19,461 --> 00:34:22,141
I don't even know if doing it on your phone was an option then.

543
00:34:22,141 --> 00:34:25,901
I mean, it probably was, but it wasn't very popular and it's never been with the software
that I use.

544
00:34:25,901 --> 00:34:32,741
So I've never really had that as an option, but I have demoed other stuff.

545
00:34:32,741 --> 00:34:35,721
I just can't imagine walking around with such a small device.

546
00:34:35,721 --> 00:34:40,106
Also, I'm admittedly, I have my phone in my hand all day, so I don't think.

547
00:34:40,106 --> 00:34:45,569
going to say that's funny for somebody that like has such a huge following from using his
phone.

548
00:34:45,569 --> 00:34:47,691
Yeah, yeah, but I don't want to work on it.

549
00:34:47,691 --> 00:34:49,213
I mean, not that kind of work anyway.

550
00:34:49,213 --> 00:34:53,687
Not it's just it doesn't it doesn't compute.

551
00:34:53,733 --> 00:34:54,545
Yeah.

552
00:34:54,545 --> 00:34:56,467
Ashley, let's talk processes as well.

553
00:34:56,467 --> 00:35:03,188
So uh when you were learning about the method of going through the home, what did you
adapt?

554
00:35:03,188 --> 00:35:04,441
What did you take?

555
00:35:04,441 --> 00:35:08,887
Who have you kind of learned from and what is your, what does your workflow look like now
during the inspection?

556
00:35:11,008 --> 00:35:12,729
I just basically do what they taught us.

557
00:35:12,729 --> 00:35:24,593
do here like first turn all systems on and then go inside room to room clockwise or
counterclockwise whatever you want to do.

558
00:35:24,593 --> 00:35:25,553
Top to bottom.

559
00:35:25,553 --> 00:35:34,756
uh That's what do to just keep it steady so you know you're hitting every room every every
piece.

560
00:35:35,781 --> 00:35:38,633
Yeah, I mean, I think I've talked about my process too.

561
00:35:38,633 --> 00:35:46,607
Like, uh I think that there are some things I feel like you need to do and it could be
geographically like that could change.

562
00:35:46,748 --> 00:35:54,952
But like as far as like here and what I do, I feel like as long as you have a process, I
think that's the most important thing.

563
00:35:54,952 --> 00:35:56,694
I mean, mine's out there.

564
00:35:56,694 --> 00:35:59,635
People can watch it and see what order I do things in.

565
00:36:00,196 --> 00:36:02,479
But the most important thing.

566
00:36:02,479 --> 00:36:05,011
thing I think about inspecting is having a process.

567
00:36:05,011 --> 00:36:12,469
If we just follow the same thing every single time, then that is going to position us to
miss a lot less.

568
00:36:12,469 --> 00:36:15,850
I'm not going to say not miss anything because none of us are superhuman, right?

569
00:36:15,850 --> 00:36:26,169
But it's going to just if we do the same thing every time, we are going to be catching or
not missing many things.

570
00:36:27,155 --> 00:36:27,387
I

571
00:36:27,387 --> 00:36:28,898
Now, definitely.

572
00:36:28,898 --> 00:36:36,274
Now, the other thing we got to talk about too, because we've talked about this uh at
InterNACHI conference, one of our best performing episodes.

573
00:36:36,274 --> 00:36:38,655
We were talking about inspection vehicles.

574
00:36:38,655 --> 00:36:40,216
And so we got to know, what do you drive?

575
00:36:40,216 --> 00:36:42,528
What are you driving from the job site from one place to the next?

576
00:36:42,528 --> 00:36:44,259
And there's no wrong answer here.

577
00:36:44,927 --> 00:36:48,239
ah I have a piano problem.

578
00:36:48,635 --> 00:36:50,215
There you go.

579
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:52,483
No, that's awesome.

580
00:36:52,706 --> 00:36:53,558
Which, which.

581
00:36:53,558 --> 00:36:55,894
I couldn't tell which direction that was going to go.

582
00:36:56,271 --> 00:37:01,806
fix so can get ladders, can get all my tools, it all works.

583
00:37:02,053 --> 00:37:10,092
Yep, we've talked to people that drive Chevy Sonics, that drive Ford Focus STs, trucks, ah
Mini Coopers.

584
00:37:10,233 --> 00:37:11,969
So what made you pick that?

585
00:37:11,969 --> 00:37:15,391
Did you already have it before starting or you got that specifically for the job?

586
00:37:15,391 --> 00:37:18,255
So it's just what I had to work with.

587
00:37:18,255 --> 00:37:21,088
So I'm working with it and it works.

588
00:37:21,189 --> 00:37:22,170
Yeah.

589
00:37:22,170 --> 00:37:27,595
I mean, I admittedly have, you know, considered it like after seeing inspectors to go
around with the hatchback.

590
00:37:27,595 --> 00:37:31,398
I I'm, I am a Texas boy.

591
00:37:31,398 --> 00:37:32,418
Okay.

592
00:37:32,599 --> 00:37:34,561
And like we drive trucks out here.

593
00:37:34,561 --> 00:37:38,624
I mean, it just, yeah, I know, I know.

594
00:37:38,624 --> 00:37:46,571
But, um, and, but I mean, like I was a truck driver well before this came in, you know,
like I drove trucks before I became an inspector.

595
00:37:46,571 --> 00:37:49,273
That's just how it's kind of always been.

596
00:37:49,317 --> 00:37:52,499
And so it was just, I didn't change it.

597
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,842
It's what I had, guess so, I guess it's what I had.

598
00:37:56,883 --> 00:38:01,076
But I do see the benefit in it, especially like gas mileage and things.

599
00:38:01,076 --> 00:38:02,131
I see the benefit in it.

600
00:38:02,131 --> 00:38:04,368
And admittedly, I will tell you this.

601
00:38:05,469 --> 00:38:08,471
Werner, everyone know the ladder company Werner?

602
00:38:08,691 --> 00:38:12,313
They were awesome enough to send me a telescoping ladder not too long ago.

603
00:38:12,437 --> 00:38:15,106
12 and a half foot, brand new uh thing for them.

604
00:38:15,106 --> 00:38:15,876
It's...

605
00:38:15,876 --> 00:38:17,227
uh

606
00:38:17,227 --> 00:38:18,978
Literally 30 pounds, which I don't know.

607
00:38:18,978 --> 00:38:20,139
Do you use a telescoping?

608
00:38:20,139 --> 00:38:21,780
Either one of you use a telescoping ladder?

609
00:38:21,780 --> 00:38:25,923
um I was using one before it was a 12 and a half foot as well.

610
00:38:25,923 --> 00:38:28,285
It was 20 pounds and that 10 pounds.

611
00:38:28,285 --> 00:38:35,020
I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it makes a big difference whenever you're carrying
the thing around with the heat or oftentimes like I'm carrying it up a ladder to get up on

612
00:38:35,020 --> 00:38:36,230
top of a roof.

613
00:38:36,431 --> 00:38:44,035
But um I will say that I have been going and I've been carrying a little giant ladder
since I started inspecting.

614
00:38:44,516 --> 00:38:46,057
And it's in the back of my truck.

615
00:38:46,361 --> 00:38:52,523
But that tailgate has been up and I've been going to the back seat to grab my Werner
telescoping ladder.

616
00:38:52,983 --> 00:38:54,263
I really do like it.

617
00:38:54,263 --> 00:38:59,825
It feels and it's much more stable than the other one that I had and and it operates a
whole lot better.

618
00:38:59,865 --> 00:39:02,505
And so I will say that like.

619
00:39:03,186 --> 00:39:10,608
I have had less of a need for a truck lately because I keep going for that ladder if I
can.

620
00:39:10,828 --> 00:39:11,328
It's gotta be.

621
00:39:11,328 --> 00:39:15,175
It's gotta be, you know, a situation where my little giant obviously goes like 22 feet.

622
00:39:15,175 --> 00:39:16,793
.

623
00:39:16,793 --> 00:39:16,993
half.

624
00:39:16,993 --> 00:39:20,713
So I mean, like if it'll reach it, I'm going to grabbing that thing.

625
00:39:20,713 --> 00:39:21,870
It's a lot easier to carry around.

626
00:39:21,870 --> 00:39:23,533
extended climb, man.

627
00:39:24,378 --> 00:39:25,218
Which one are

628
00:39:25,218 --> 00:39:30,224
but if I might check out that wonder if it's lighter because it does heavy so

629
00:39:30,224 --> 00:39:30,694
don't know.

630
00:39:30,694 --> 00:39:34,612
I don't know which one you're carrying, but I mean, check the check the weight on yours.

631
00:39:34,612 --> 00:39:35,794
What's that?

632
00:39:35,794 --> 00:39:36,115
Which one?

633
00:39:36,115 --> 00:39:39,037
of professional ones that everyone was like get this one.

634
00:39:39,037 --> 00:39:41,621
I'm like okay, so

635
00:39:41,689 --> 00:39:47,024
I've got a, the one I had before and I still have it is a, it's a Amazon special.

636
00:39:47,024 --> 00:39:49,777
It's made by some company called Yvonne or something.

637
00:39:49,777 --> 00:39:50,498
It was fine.

638
00:39:50,498 --> 00:39:52,000
It's been working for years.

639
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,062
There's nothing actually wrong with it at all.

640
00:39:54,062 --> 00:40:03,311
But I will say that the Werner just feels a lot sturdier and I feel better on it, which
I'm surprised by because I've never liked telescoping ladders for that reason.

641
00:40:03,311 --> 00:40:05,493
But this thing actually feels like a good ladder.

642
00:40:05,529 --> 00:40:12,891
But I mean, you know, it's heavy in comparison, but that's the only I mean, if you call it
a downfall, I mean, it's heavy, but it's probably heavier duty as well.

643
00:40:12,891 --> 00:40:14,452
why I like my extended climb.

644
00:40:14,452 --> 00:40:19,093
It's not overly heavy, but it still feels extremely secure when I'm on it.

645
00:40:19,093 --> 00:40:21,103
uh True story.

646
00:40:21,103 --> 00:40:28,414
So I had the 12 and a half foot extended climb originally in a previous married life.

647
00:40:28,414 --> 00:40:32,076
And my wife at the time, I went to Sherwin Williams, saw this and bought it.

648
00:40:32,076 --> 00:40:37,958
She looks at our bank statement and goes, so what did you buy at Sherwin Williams?

649
00:40:37,958 --> 00:40:40,549
And she's like, this was like 250 bucks.

650
00:40:40,549 --> 00:40:42,385
I said, it was this ladder.

651
00:40:42,385 --> 00:40:47,427
Cause I had a Werner folding ladder and I was like, you know, I let my brother borrow it
and I had this home inspection.

652
00:40:47,427 --> 00:40:51,429
So I just, you know, decided to pick up this new telescoping ladder.

653
00:40:51,429 --> 00:40:52,709
She goes, take it back.

654
00:40:52,709 --> 00:40:53,920
We don't need it.

655
00:40:53,920 --> 00:41:04,424
And so then a few days later, she goes, excuse me, babe, what's this other charge from
Sherwood Williams?

656
00:41:04,424 --> 00:41:08,626
And I was like, well, I did exactly what I told you I would do.

657
00:41:08,626 --> 00:41:12,127
I took the ladder back and then I got the bigger one.

658
00:41:15,743 --> 00:41:25,353
And then that wasn't why we got divorced but you know Yeah, right, right there might have
been might have been how the fight started though

659
00:41:25,413 --> 00:41:33,394
So if Werner is listening, these two fine home inspectors here would love to try out your
telescoping ladder, by the way.

660
00:41:33,394 --> 00:41:34,665
I think it's awesome.

661
00:41:34,757 --> 00:41:38,904
I think that would be a fantastic video that we should do is comparing different
telescoping ladders.

662
00:41:38,904 --> 00:41:39,563
That'd be pretty cool.

663
00:41:39,563 --> 00:41:40,619
uh

664
00:41:40,619 --> 00:41:41,178
them right now.

665
00:41:41,178 --> 00:41:43,413
One of them I got is garbage and one of is awesome.

666
00:41:47,570 --> 00:41:49,311
Oh my gosh, I love it.

667
00:41:49,311 --> 00:41:54,791
All right, Ashley, what is the for other inspectors that are trying to close out the year
strong?

668
00:41:54,851 --> 00:41:56,767
What's your biggest piece of advice to them?

669
00:42:16,069 --> 00:42:17,246
plow through.

670
00:42:17,607 --> 00:42:18,529
plow through.

671
00:42:18,529 --> 00:42:24,867
Oh man, that's perfect.

672
00:42:27,685 --> 00:42:29,656
mean, it really is that though.

673
00:42:29,656 --> 00:42:32,227
I mean, I don't think you can put it any other way.

674
00:42:32,227 --> 00:42:39,790
This is a tough business to gain traction in for the first couple of years as a single
inspector operation.

675
00:42:39,790 --> 00:42:48,093
If you're not working for a firm that can provide you with business, it is just tough to
get people to want to call you.

676
00:42:48,093 --> 00:42:51,555
You don't have a portfolio of work to show them.

677
00:42:51,555 --> 00:42:54,996
You don't have reviews to show them or a lot of them or whatever it is.

678
00:42:54,996 --> 00:42:57,393
um

679
00:42:57,393 --> 00:43:07,290
It even feels better whenever like you when silly little goals like once you've done like
200 inspections, like you can tell people like in all honesty, like I've done hundreds of

680
00:43:07,290 --> 00:43:09,391
inspections and that sounds good.

681
00:43:09,391 --> 00:43:15,936
You know, I mean it was it was just under 200 inspections yesterday, but it doesn't
matter.

682
00:43:15,936 --> 00:43:19,450
You know, you can see even hundreds of inspections like little goals like that.

683
00:43:19,450 --> 00:43:25,872
I feel like really get you where you need to be to just kind of keep plowing through like
setting little goals like that.

684
00:43:25,872 --> 00:43:27,393
um Is that

685
00:43:27,429 --> 00:43:31,469
Is that the TPI's or whatever?

686
00:43:32,569 --> 00:43:34,549
Is that TPI?

687
00:43:34,989 --> 00:43:36,809
I don't even remember what it stands for.

688
00:43:37,127 --> 00:43:38,768
That's it.

689
00:43:38,768 --> 00:43:40,209
toilet paper indicator.

690
00:43:40,209 --> 00:43:41,380
Key performance indicator.

691
00:43:41,380 --> 00:43:41,840
That's it.

692
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:42,411
Yep.

693
00:43:42,411 --> 00:43:43,171
That's it.

694
00:43:43,171 --> 00:43:44,112
You got it.

695
00:43:44,112 --> 00:43:44,893
I love it.

696
00:43:44,893 --> 00:43:46,944
Well, seriously, Ashley, this has been fantastic.

697
00:43:46,944 --> 00:43:48,275
We've loved having you on the show.

698
00:43:48,275 --> 00:43:53,717
Seriously looking forward hopefully to seeing you at inspection fuel if you can make it be
fantastic to see you there truly.

699
00:43:53,717 --> 00:43:58,877
before we close things out, there is something I'd like to say, because we got some
feedback.

700
00:43:59,717 --> 00:44:01,017
We did get some feedback.

701
00:44:01,017 --> 00:44:05,297
There have been a lot of people come in on the comments on the last episode, which was
great.

702
00:44:05,297 --> 00:44:09,097
It was the one where we talked to John Bolden about pecs, disclaimers, and all that stuff.

703
00:44:09,117 --> 00:44:10,877
And I'm not going to go into too much of any of that.

704
00:44:10,877 --> 00:44:12,937
We already did an episode on that, right?

705
00:44:12,937 --> 00:44:14,397
But somebody did reach out to me.

706
00:44:14,397 --> 00:44:18,377
They sent me an email, and we had a quick phone conversation about it.

707
00:44:18,377 --> 00:44:19,617
And so his name is Mickey.

708
00:44:19,617 --> 00:44:21,089
Thanks, Mickey, for reaching out.

709
00:44:21,089 --> 00:44:22,991
I really appreciate the support.

710
00:44:22,991 --> 00:44:25,113
It just lets us know people are paying attention.

711
00:44:25,113 --> 00:44:28,255
It doesn't matter whether you agree or you disagree.

712
00:44:28,336 --> 00:44:29,857
We like to hear it all.

713
00:44:29,857 --> 00:44:31,158
That's what we're here for.

714
00:44:31,158 --> 00:44:32,460
Not everyone's going to agree.

715
00:44:32,460 --> 00:44:34,401
If we all agree, it's going boring show.

716
00:44:35,173 --> 00:44:35,863
No, truly.

717
00:44:35,863 --> 00:44:39,185
And I love that he commented and actually freaking reached out to you.

718
00:44:39,185 --> 00:44:40,266
That was awesome.

719
00:44:40,266 --> 00:44:42,507
We've got a way that you guys can reach out to us.

720
00:44:42,507 --> 00:44:45,748
You can actually go we've got a website now for the for the show.

721
00:44:45,748 --> 00:44:48,049
It's called the ride along dot show.

722
00:44:48,050 --> 00:44:50,491
And if you go there, you can leave a voicemail.

723
00:44:50,491 --> 00:44:53,052
And so you can actually talk to us directly.

724
00:44:53,052 --> 00:44:55,413
If you've got thoughts, we want to hear them.

725
00:44:55,413 --> 00:44:59,405
And especially for new inspectors or people that are fresh out of kind of like

726
00:44:59,429 --> 00:45:02,561
man, I remember that first year of inspecting and how tough it was.

727
00:45:02,561 --> 00:45:11,638
ah If you, if anything that Ashley's been talking about today resonates with you, drop a
line in the comments, leave us a voicemail, give your best advice for home inspectors

728
00:45:11,638 --> 00:45:15,851
starting out what they need processes to put in place, things they need to be aware of.

729
00:45:15,851 --> 00:45:18,173
We'd love to hear all of it because we've all been there.

730
00:45:18,173 --> 00:45:21,135
And if there's anything that we want to be on the show, it's helpful to everybody.

731
00:45:21,135 --> 00:45:21,646
So

732
00:45:21,646 --> 00:45:23,535
right and sign up for the newsletter.

733
00:45:23,535 --> 00:45:25,457
Sign up for the newsletter as well.

734
00:45:25,457 --> 00:45:28,139
It's gonna be in the show notes down below.

735
00:45:28,139 --> 00:45:28,840
truly.

736
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:30,621
Ashley, thank you so much again for being here.

737
00:45:30,621 --> 00:45:31,712
This has been fantastic.

738
00:45:31,712 --> 00:45:33,303
We appreciate you big time.

739
00:45:33,584 --> 00:45:34,105
Definitely.

740
00:45:34,105 --> 00:45:36,867
Where can everybody follow you again?

741
00:45:39,451 --> 00:45:40,343
closer look inspections.

742
00:45:40,343 --> 00:45:41,436
Go look her up guys.

743
00:45:41,436 --> 00:45:42,077
Thanks so much.

744
00:45:42,077 --> 00:45:47,408
We'll see you right here next time on, the ride along.

745
00:45:47,408 --> 00:45:47,960
See you then.