John Shevlin

Eric Girouard  0:00  

This is bucket talk weekly podcast where people who work in the trades and construction that aren't just trying to survive, but have the ambition and desire to thrive. The opportunity to trade and construction is absolutely ridiculous right now. So if you're hungry, it's time to eat. We discussed what it takes to rise from the bottom to the top with people who are well on their way, and roll up their sleeves every single day.

Jeremy Perkins  0:29  

This is Jeremy and Eric here with bucket talk powered by Brian, on this episode of bucket talk, I got my brother in law that's coming on with us. His name is John Shevlin, and owns a company called Chevron construction. But before we get into all that, Eric, what's been going on?

Eric Girouard  0:44  

Actually, it's one of the first times in the past three years and starting grunt where it took some scheduled time off was able to take Thursday and Friday off last week, obviously rolling into the weekend. So nice four days stretch and take both my little guys my five year old and almost two year old up to New Hampshire with my wife. And it was good to kind of unplug a little bit not fully unplugged, but be in a different environment. Do some fishing with the little guy off the back of the truck on the side of a lake go to a place called Santos village and give them a ton ice cream and do a bunch of stuff. So it's a good change of pace for what I've been into for the past few years. Have you Jeremy.

Jeremy Perkins  1:22  

Last night, all the grass in the pasture is getting a little long. So I went out there and I was mowing with the Kubota. And it doesn't matter how many years you've been operating. It's still one of those things that you got to pay attention. I actually slid off our bank into our drainage ditch and I had the Kubota pretty much on its side kick me right off the tractor and took me a little little bit of time I didn't even have to chain it and pull it out. I was thinking tow truck or piece of excavation equipment, but I was able to maneuver it and drive it out. My father laughing at me. But ya know, everything's good up here on the farm.

Eric Girouard  1:59  

Nice to hear nice to All right, let's dig in.

Jeremy Perkins  2:05  

All right, we're here with my brother in law, John Shevlin of Shevlin construction. John, welcome. Pleasure. Thank you guys. Awesome. Awesome. So, dude, I've heard your story about a fucking million times. But I'm willing to unleash you on the world. And definitely let people hear your story. It's super unique and definitely resonate with a lot of people. But just kind of want to go back to where you came from. How you got your start. And just as far back as you want to go, John,

Eric Girouard  2:33  

I haven't heard the story yet ever. Jeremy passed? Well,

Unknown Speaker  2:38  

you're in for a fucking phenomenal ride. That's what you're in for. Because that's what it is. And it's a journey. I first moved here in 1997. Just touring 15 years old, I moved to Queens, New York, from Ireland when my own from Ireland. Correct. As I said, 1997 with my brother, who's Bernard, by the way, who's a great guy, Finnish guy. That's all he's ever done. His whole career is finished work. And long story short, I was the baby of 10. So when I moved here, he taught me to trade. So I did finish on framing for probably five years, I believe in Queens, New York. I moved into Massachusetts, about 2000 in 2000. And I took the trade of course from there to here. Loved it, great trade. And then of course, went to school here in Esau metal where we're from. And I brought it from there, opened up my own company, which we are right now about a year ago. And here

Eric Girouard  3:53  

we are, those are big transitions. So tell us a little bit about some of the big ones like

Jeremy Perkins  4:02  

Yeah, tell us about queens. So you came over here from Ireland, you know, obviously you and your brother were down in the city. What was some of the work you were doing? What were some of the conditions like

Unknown Speaker  4:11  

the work that we were doing in Queens was we were building we weren't going any higher than five storeys, so we would do was all wood framing. Everyone was wood frame. And so we would go from ground up it was nothing was higher than five. We did do something taller, which was I believe the tallest I did was about 20 stories, but that was all of course concrete out our shell and then it was all metal framing from there. So that's what we did for those years that I was there for.

Jeremy Perkins  4:43  

Yeah. What was the scene like you guys were just working and partying or was it just

Unknown Speaker  4:49  

working? We just worked in party. That's what contractors do, man. We all have. We all have our own things right contractors. As far as me like as far as trainers and on fitness guys. You know we like our beer. And then of course you got the sheet rockers they love their that's how it is. You know that's that's we all have our own little thing you know, painters are the thing they love their weed that's just how it is she rocker shit in buckets. We don't We shouldn't have basements they should in buckets. That's our that's a trade you know?

Jeremy Perkins  5:26  

Yeah. So anything anything cool down there it was it just it was just learning the trade kind of

Unknown Speaker  5:31  

100% it was learning to trade I came here to young, very young age, I was thrown into it never went to school until I came up to East DOM metal area. But I never went to school. So I did. I was just thrown into it, which was great. And it was the best experience I've ever had in my entire life. Because now that's my living. That's what I now support my family with my home. Is this loving. It sucked at the time because you're a little bitch. You do what's told to do, right? That's the trade, you know? So you dig a hole or you go pick up fucking garbage or you go pick up cow shit. That's the bottom. Yeah. Now you see yourself work from that all the way up to what you have now. It's such a dream. That's the dream and that's America. It's such a beautiful dream.

Jeremy Perkins  6:22  

Yeah. Alright, so you now go up. 91 all the way up to Massachusetts. Are you working for other companies? You're working for your brother? Are you working on your own? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  6:30  

so no, I started off come all the way up here. And I actually, believe it or not, I went to East Longmeadow high school for the first time. I've never went to school in my entire life. That was the first time I've ever went to school. I ever in my entire

Jeremy Perkins  6:46  

life. I actually went to school with John we played football together. It was no it was. I never thought that he'd be the one that married my sister. But it was funny. We were in a couple of same classes. He was a great ahead of me. But he was like, what what do you like four years older than me? He's like four foot tall.

Unknown Speaker  7:04  

Do you know I was a freshman in high school at 22. No, I'm joking. Yeah, no, um, a few grades all that I knew. Yes. And that was my first time ever stepping foot in school ever in my entire life. We were made to work. That's what back in the generation. I'm not going to say, you know, my country. That's what you do. Because, you know, it's a generation. You know, that's that's what you know. Yeah. Yeah. So when I moved up here, my brother Matt, very nice lady, and they got married. And they said, Hey, Johnny, Listen, the only way you can survive in kind of this town that we're in, you have to go to school and get a diploma. You know, and I'm like, school. What? What the fuck is that? So whatever. I did it. Yeah. So I did high school, I graduated. And then I worked for a company, which was called decam builders, which were awesome. Great guys. Irish guy, Mike Donovan. And I framed houses for them for all boy almost nine years. I was with those guys. Yeah. And you know, it's the same thing. You know, it's the same thing over and over and over again, framing is awesome. Love it. Love framing. But you know, I wanted something different. Sucks in the wintertime. The wintertime sucks, of course. I mean, you're in New England. And all you think the weather right? The weatherman lies the best job in the world. So, you know, they say hey, it's gonna be just an inch of snow and you wake up and it's fucking four feet. And now I got to get up shoulder my own fucking driveway and then I got to go to a home and shovel that home because we have to work the next day. You don't shovel you don't work. That's the way life that's the way of framing. So framing framing is a tough gig. So more time, it's a box. You frame a home, there's no roof. What's inside that box complete heat. It takes a different mindset to do something like that. And it's awesome. Great trade.

Jeremy Perkins  9:02  

You went from Donovan's and then you started doing fire calls right?

Unknown Speaker  9:05  

So I was with them for a long time. They kind of like slowed down they went out of business. And then I worked for a company called Die vo construction and I was with them for probably about five to seven years that was in around that five or seven years. Same thing frame and finish work. And I took over there yes their fire calls which is called so if there was a fire or the house you would get called out at any time those amount of hours during the day or at night and you would go out you would board up all their windows the doors obviously make an access door for the firefighters to come in and out. So I did that for quite a while. Yeah, it was it was close to probably three years before I left I did that to actually a phenomenal for trades that are out there that are small businesses. Who whoever listens to this honestly that is a unbelievable trade to get in. To start your business from ground up, obviously, you're getting paid from insurance companies, which is kind of hard because insurance companies are difficult to get paid from. But it is a great trade for a small business to get into, to build your reputation because you go out there. And again, you have to work. Whenever they call you, you leave. So you bought up all the windows, whatever that firefighters damage on a roof, you got to talk and do your thing. And then you got to leave them an access door. So it's if it's a plywood door would lock, you give them the combination so they can walk in and out. So yeah, that's actually a big thing in our trade. And people don't realize it, but it's huge.

Jeremy Perkins  10:42  

Especially in Springfield. Specially for house. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  10:45  

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we got we got a lot of fires in Springfield. Especially winter, people like that love winter, because, you know, hey, that's how you make your money.

Eric Girouard  10:58  

In Springfield, is it? I can't pay my mortgage let's towards this place and get the insurance money? Or is it more the houses are old? And they government fellow?

Unknown Speaker  11:06  

Well, no, it's not. It's not that they can afford aids. It's more of, you know, it's like anywhere, you know, you have assisted living, you know, like people who need that extra help. And, you know, it's people who are spending state money, basically, who are paying, you know, Section eight, which is fine, you know, you got all of that has people who live in these homes that they don't own home. So there's a lot of careless, it's careless work, you know, is it you know, if I leave my home and I see a candle, I'm gonna blow it out. If I leave a home, and it's not mine, I'm just walking out the door. Yeah, that's a good point. Right? So that's how these accidents happen. And it's not not being them being careless. They, you know, it's just not that they don't care. It's just not being aware. These things happen. And it's and it's, it's huge. Around this area. It's monstrous. And that, like I said, small businesses, they make a lot of money off of that.

Eric Girouard  12:02  

Yeah. So

Jeremy Perkins  12:03  

after that, you you decided to go out on your own, or is there

Unknown Speaker  12:08  

no, I went to, so I was with them guys for quite a while. And then I joined local 108, which is the union. So as with those guys, for about four years, I was with those guys. So I did a lot of framing for what the company was called century drywall. And they are based out of Worcester, Boston area. And my fourth project I work with those was the six buildings that you might, we built six buildings for UMass were all dormitories. So I was with them for five or six years has been around now. Yeah. So then after that, then I left.

Jeremy Perkins  12:47  

Why did you leave the union?

Unknown Speaker  12:49  

It's not for me. So I started off at residential. If you start off a residential residential, from commercial union, and when I say commercial union, through different things, because because I do commercial now as I own my own business, but I'm not union. So union has a lot of rules and regulations, which is fine, not what you buy into. Right. So that being said, like they have, you know, whatever, I'm not a smoker, but you can smoke on the job site are, you know, you have to go by safety rules, which is great. You know, you have to wear your hardhat glasses, safety vest, you know, steel toed boots, all of that, which is awesome. That's a good safety thing. But it's all about politics. It's not for me, I'm not that type of guy. I like to go out there, do my own thing. And even my guys who work for me, I want them to be comfortable. I don't want them to have to be walking on shelves every time they're on my job.

Jeremy Perkins  13:51  

You guys got laid off a few times to write you had to deal with long Yeah, and

Unknown Speaker  13:55  

that's the other thing. And that's called the to call us the bar code or sit the bench. That's you, you always have a nickname. And if you're good at what you do, you're always going to have work. Luckily, I always had work. But a lot of my friends that I met in the union, they sat the bench you like you said you're a bar coder and number you get called when you get called. Yeah. So they pick the next guy that's better than that guy. Yeah, that's when you get called so unit stuff. I'm not saying it's about great benefits, you know, they're a good it's a good group, good group of guys. You know, it's all It stretches from everything landscape and framing, you know, goes from all of that. It's awesome, but it's just not for me. It's not my it's not my deal.

Jeremy Perkins  14:41  

So you left the local and then you move to what was the next stop and John's journey.

Unknown Speaker  14:47  

So I left local and I went to my last company before I opened up this which was called cornerstone and I was with them for almost seven, little under seven years. So Cornerstone construction, we did a lot of state work, which I loved. It wasn't union, it was non union, but it was all rate work, which, you know, you make really good money, you know, you're in that 65 to $80 an hour range. So we did a lot of schools. It wasn't huge projects, it was more like, like, we went to a lot of schools and did vestibules, especially now, like all of these, you know, obviously, shootings that are going on in school. So we would do these vestibules, where you would have to walk in and it's basically a security room. Oh, really, that's what we did. We built security rooms around. So you would come up a set of stairs to go to the school, but you would walk into this huge vestibule that we would build. And it was completely security. So it was all bulletproof glass up against, you know, for talk to their secretary or whoever was there. You have a security guard. So we built those for six years, as when I was with them. So it was all security rooms, basically, we do for the schools, and we would do a lot more, you know, post office, same thing. We would do a lot of security rooms like that for post offices. Wow. In the back. So if they ever got robbed or if something ever happened, they could run into that security room in the back. And it was all like bulletproof. Everything was there were secure. So that's what I did with those guys for five or six years.

Eric Girouard  16:32  

is crazy. I understand schools, like a post office like someone's come and steal a mail like steal to God did mail like,

Unknown Speaker  16:39  

right, right. But like Eric, like you were saying, like you don't have much cash. Yeah, I never realized that. You know, how much cash as birthday cards are? Know how much stuff goes through a post office? Oh, yeah. I never realized because I always said, as I said, when I first started with my boss, you know, I, you know, and I became the lead guy, one of the lead guys for that company. And he would send me these things. I'm like, Why the hell are we building these things to frickin post office? You know, he told me he said, John, do you understand how many gift cards protrude out place? You know how much cash goes through that one post office for a birthday? Or a graduation party? That's a good air all high seat. Exactly. So you know, people in even me myself as a carpenter. You don't realize that until you actually do it. And it's like, holy shit. You're freaking right. Yeah, that's crazy. It's

Eric Girouard  17:39  

like a mini bank. Almost.

Unknown Speaker  17:41  

Any bank with cash? Yeah. Like we always joke around like a lot of people. I don't know if it's good to say but a lot of people always say the guasa like these big bank trucks. I try to take them over. Do you understand how much money is probably in a post office truck?

Eric Girouard  17:59  

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Unknown Speaker  18:02  

That's why we built these things. Why

Eric Girouard  18:05  

we're having this slow spur here. Bronx talks next week.

Unknown Speaker  18:11  

Right. Right. So yeah, that was actually my last journey before now. I have my own business. Got it.

Jeremy Perkins  18:21  

So tell us a little bit about that. It was

Unknown Speaker  18:24  

last year that I did a lot of travel. That's the thing when I worked for cornerstone, a great company. Great boss, love the guy. I talked to him all the time. Awesome guy. I just got tired. I traveled to our area was New Haven to Boston. You know, that was our area. So we did. We did a lot of travel, tons of travel. I did that for six years. And it just it were down on me. So I just didn't want to do it anymore.

Jeremy Perkins  18:51  

You got two young ones and travel was just yeah, yes.

Unknown Speaker  18:55  

Yes. I'm not getting home. But I did. I did a lot of side work to make that extra money. Even though I made good money. It's still not good enough. My wife, of course, Jeremy Sister, you know, she, she stayed home took care of my kids. So for me to send her to work. I was losing money, believe it or not, I would pick up extra side work after work. So I wasn't getting home, I'd leave at 435 o'clock in the morning. I wasn't getting home till 910 o'clock at night. I did that for six years with this company. And I just couldn't do it no more. So my kids are getting older. Like Jeremy said, they're getting older and missing out in their sports. And I they would ask me all the time and that's that's it kills me. It's a tough trade. Our trades are tough no matter what you want. It's a tough trade. So I said to hell with it. So me and Brian of course talk and I said fuck it. Let's give it a let's give it a golf. So we've been a business now almost 10 months, and I'm booked out on next February. Wow. You know, so it's awesome. People always say to me are Are you nervous? If you know the market tanks, if you're good at what you do, and that's me, you guys selling your product, or anybody else out there in this trade, if you're good at what you do, you'll always be busy. Yeah, you'll always be busy. Oh, yeah, always be loyal to your product. If you're in I always tell my guys, if you're not loyal to the job that you do and the job that the product that you're putting in, you're never going to survive in this business. Yeah, however, I'm not any business, you have to be loyal to the product that you're given to people. And if you are, you will always be busy.

Eric Girouard  20:42  

Nice. Always have that. I love that. I love that. So you always be

Unknown Speaker  20:46  

busy. I am loyal to the job that I do to every people's homes, every commercial building that I do. A lot of people will say, Oh, it's commercial building, just go and do it. I treat them no different if it's my own home, because I'm loyal to it. And I'm going to give you the best product that I can give you. There you go. It's very simple. And that's why I always say to people, I will never be slow because I am very good at what I do. I don't care.

Eric Girouard  21:16  

No, I love that. I love that. We've seen that actually here, the new office and thing.

Unknown Speaker  21:22  

Right. And you learn as you grow, right? I mean, I've been in this business a long time. I've seen a lot of shysters. I've seen a lot of good guys. The good guys that I've learned from and learn straight from they were loyal people, and they are very successful to this day. Yeah, a lot of them. And me, you guys, new businesses like me, you guys and Tanner business that I know if you're loyal, you are going to be very successful.

Eric Girouard  21:48  

Very, yeah. So obviously, 10 months into the new company, you guys are booked out pretty much indefinitely and probably continuing. What's the thing that you and your wife lose sleep over? Like, what's your biggest challenge right now? Is it keeping up with the pace? Is it is it labor is it

Unknown Speaker  22:06  

it's a few things so help? Huge, no one did not trade. And I don't know why. So in our area, I don't know about Boston area or you know, other states, but it definitely in the Springfield Western Mass area, you know, we do not have the help, we don't have kids. When I say kids, kids are like 2122 coming up and joining our trade, we don't have it. And I actually have talked to a lot of my buddies who are still in the union to this day, there are lifers, they'll never leave the same thing. They don't see kids coming up and join the union. So it's a dying trade. Big time, big time guy in trade, it's very hard to find a good guy, reliable on time, what a vehicle on has some sort of knowledge, you don't find that no more. It's dying. It's killing us. And it's sad, because when I grew up, if you weren't forced your your last, that's just that, if you are now forced your last good luck, buddy. You know, if you're not showing up at five o'clock in the morning to get on that job site, and you don't even know the guy you didn't even call them. I remember those days, you would just show up, you'd find a job site, you'd see help on it, you get their job site starts at seven, your day or 530 in the morning, because you want to be forced because if you're not your last, you're out, you're gone.

Jeremy Perkins  23:39  

Times have changed since you've come up ah,

Unknown Speaker  23:42  

and times have changed. Now this is what we're dealing with. And I'm not saying you know, kids aren't trying, but they're definitely not trying in our trade. 100% we've called Jeremy sister, my wife. She's called many trade schools in our area. And every teacher that she's talked to said, we don't have anybody, everybody's going for it or landscaping or mechanic, which is fine. But as a carpenter in our world, is it's completely dying. It's hard. All the

Jeremy Perkins  24:16  

good guys are working. Interesting. Interesting. So that's the number one thing your face and what about being a new business owner is like I

Unknown Speaker  24:25  

said, I love doing commercial work. I love residential too. I love commercial work because it's straightforward. You have a print, you're given that print, you do your thing. And I guarantee you there's a lot of guys if they listen to this, and there's a lot of guys out there they're gonna agree with me because it's commercial is is very, it's just like I said, straightforward. You have that print, you do what they ask if there's a problem. You go to whoever's in charge or you talk to the architect and say how much is that? gonna cost. You tell him the cost? Fix it, let's do it. Residential, whole different ballgame. That's a such a tough, tough business to be in as a residential. And the toughest part is customer and your money. You're always chasing money in residential constantly. It's a battle. You constantly Chase.

Eric Girouard  25:25  

No, absolutely no, we've seen that actually. Our new offices we've actually seen we've had commercial people do some work, we've got a residential people. The work coming out of the commercial folks was not up to our center, we actually had the residential side do some commercial work, because the quality was actually much higher. Yeah, honestly. Yes, yeah.

Unknown Speaker  25:45  

100%. Like I said, I've been in this trade of 25 years. Okay. I love both. But I love commercial that little bit more like you said, Eric, it's, it's, the quality we give is much better, because we know you, you don't have to chase we don't like to chase, if you want us there are more there. And we do your job. And you're very happy. And this has happened to me many, many times in residential, and you're extremely happy. And then three days later, I call you for my check. And they say, Oh, I'll get it to you by the end of the week. I haven't heard from them in three weeks. You're constantly chasing your money, the commercial work. They don't have a choice. It's the actual law, they have to pay you within 90 days. I don't have to chase it. I know what's going to come within that 90 day period.

Jeremy Perkins  26:34  

John, I got a question for you. If you were a new guy getting into the trade, what is the number one thing the number one brand, the number one tool? What is the number one thing you tell them to either save up and buy or show up to the jobsite with?

Unknown Speaker  26:51  

Well, if you're a nitrate every trade is different. Of course, sheet rockers, carpenters landscape, every trade is different. So they ask for different things. My trade as a carpenter, number one thing is when we say do you have your belt? Well, we asked for a belt, you asked for a tool belt, what's inside that tool belt? Easy. You have your tool belt, you got your hammer, you got a square course a pencil or snips. What else you have, you have a tape measuring tape there, your number one things you have to have. If you don't have those, then you're going to fail the very first day, you're going to walk around with with like a headless chicken. That's what you're going to do, because you have nothing

Jeremy Perkins  27:39  

to Well, first of

Unknown Speaker  27:41  

all, that's You took the words right out of my mouth, Jeremy, that's that's another. I came from Ireland. I know how to read both metric. And American, right? American is the only one who does the system. I have two kids right now that don't even know how to read the measuring tape. And there are Americans that shows you what they're being fucking taught, which is absolutely garbage. Nothing. They're not being taught. So you're telling me that you don't know your fractions? is the easiest frickin thing. Count your lines. It's very simple. Right? And that's fractions and angles, man. But even the angles, whatever you don't know, all we want you to do if I yell out to you, hey, I'm on top of a roof. And I have an angle roof. I caught up roof and I yell to you, listen, this plywood right here I Want Is You know 67 and three eighths. You better know where to hell that three eighths line is if I get that thing wrong, you know to story Hi. I'm going to be pissed about work that way. Right here Yeah. I can understand if somebody came from some different part of the country, even Canada then or even on our system, or, you know, wherever we anywhere in Europe. I get it. You're in centimeters. You're uh, you know, it's the whole different system. Like, holy shit. You're a kid from this con. That's what we're dealing with right now. It's tough. It's very, very hard and it's a dying trade.

Eric Girouard  29:11  

All right, so this has been awesome hearing all the one that transition to America. The journey to kind of where you are now still early on, but super excited to hear it but when you are able to unplug and unwind from a new business which is only 10 months old, 11 months old, probably never what do you like forget your wife or Jeremy sister for a minute she might be in that picture she might not well what's the one thing that you like to do to unwind and completely disconnect from the business that you now run?

Unknown Speaker  29:47  

So what would I like to do after work? He doesn't know what the fuck it that's the fucking problem. There is no after work for me. because that's the problem. I'm actually started I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm standing at a customer's driveway right now having this conversation. I'm not gonna lie. I don't I don't wind. There is a windy Time is money if I'm not if I'm sitting, I'm losing money. Listen, my old man always told me. He said, John, the only way you're going to rest is when you're dead. He said, Saturday, Sunday, that's a fucking excuse to take off of work. It's just another day. That's what he always told me in my life. Saturday Sunday's an excuse to take off of work. And that's why I never take vacation. My old man was a hardcore. I'll tell you a quick, quick story. You guys could take it from there, whatever you want to do with it. But I'll never forget it. Eric. Right. Like I said, I went to what I never went to school in Ireland. We never I never stepped foot in school. So my father was a nasty Mason. He was unbelievable. He did pretty much any brick work in our area where I used to live in Ireland. Yeah. So my house to this particular job that we were doing was eight miles. Okay, from my house to this job that we were doing emails. I'll never forget. I was. I was five or six. I was in around there. I forget where I was five or six. We walked. So it's me. My dad on my four other brothers. Okay, four or five other brothers. One of them was a lazy shit. I forget if he never even came with us. I don't know. I don't remember. But we walked through story. We walked those eight miles. So I used to carry the two bags with all the travels and stuff inside it. My older brothers carried the heavier stuff. One of my brothers carried the cement mixer, stuff like that. You get to the job. Now I'm a tender say six years old. Okay. I'm a tender to these guys. This is a god honest truth. Next time you meet my brothers. Eric. When they come you ask them this story. No lie. Yeah. So you know the stages that they set up for buildings, the scaffold, we were at least six stages high. Easy, six stages high. The stairways up. They're very short. We didn't have lifts. We had nothing back then. So I'm the cement mixer. I made all the cement. I made all the mortar for the guys for the brick my brothers and my dad. So

Unknown Speaker  32:34  

metal ripe old age is six years old.

Unknown Speaker  32:37  

I'm six a normal line man, I'm sick. This is how long I've been doing it. That's what I'm saying. You don't find people like me and other people out there who've done it just like me. You don't find people like that no more. So I mixed I mixed the mortar. I put up you know I'm six years old. So I put it about half a bucket into it. I fill it up halfway. So I climb up all the way up get onto the stage and I give my brother my brother Brother Brother all the way down. And I go to my dad and I knock out the rest into his pan. I didn't even get halfway around to walk away. He said to me Hey, get the fuck over here. I go What's up daddy? And he goes Hey, God give you two arms to fall fucking buckets next time dad serious and I go Yes Dad No problem ever since then. I was a man

Jeremy Perkins  33:36  

and you seen the size of the fucking

Eric Girouard  33:39  

it seems like ever since then.

Unknown Speaker  33:41  

That was a man down fucking guy even though how harsh and how harsh those words were? God gave you two arms to four fucking buckets next time that's that's the difference. You'd go to jail nowadays for that?

Eric Girouard  33:57  

Yeah. Oh yeah. Especially in the US the

Unknown Speaker  34:01  

difference man you know we were different breeds over now we're different would we drink and smile? That's what we do. We drink smile and work that's what we do over now. different breeds just

Jeremy Perkins  34:13  

for our audience to know John is the largest individual out of all of his brothers so I guess the youngest one had to carry yeah

Unknown Speaker  34:20  

that's no no no no, I'm the largest because I had to carry the fucking buckets up the stages SON OF A BITCH it's okay for the audience out there. My youngest my oldest brother is five oxy all my brothers are 5582596 Tree 350 pounds. They're five nine at fucking 180 pounds. They got the easy shit. They go day under they always say what are you a postman? I go no, you guys work me like a fucking animal. Different The younger brother gets shafted all the time.

Jeremy Perkins  35:07  

John, this is this was friggin awesome. And I don't even know what to say this is this is i That's one of our,

Eric Girouard  35:16  

one of our best. Yeah, eye opening for sure. Especially from another country. Yeah. And in the US, I think

Jeremy Perkins  35:21  

100% But I thank you for coming on the podcast and I look forward to actually doing another one with you. Because I'm sure there's a little bit more stories that we want to hear.

Unknown Speaker  35:31  

It takes a lot for you to do this. You know, I'm not that type of guy. I'm a worker. Eric, I told Jeremy This is not my style, but I'm doing it for you guys. I love you guys. Your product is fucking awesome. And that's why I'm doing it. I want to of course see you guys even get bigger and bigger and bigger like anybody else. And I'm excited for you guys. You guys are awesome. You're good dude, your products. Great. I'm excited. I'm very excited for you guys. You guys are doing an awesome job out there.

Jeremy Perkins  36:00  

Awesome. Thanks, John. This was this was awesome.