Matt Marin

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. This episode, we have our friend Matt Marin. But before we jump in, Eric, what's been going on?

Eric Girouard  0:38  

Awesome, awesome. We're rockin and rollin here getting ready to head into the Black Friday, Cyber Monday stretch, which is absolutely nuts. Things are on fire all over the place. But a lot of good we got a lot of inventory. So it's been good. Exciting this morning, woke up to a nice picture of we actually put our first billboard up up the street from the brand office in the Bronx garage in North Redding, which is the hometown of the business. And it kind of ties a lot of things together. You know, it's where Brian does. It's where I live and on the billboard is featured our Marin and our ring boot. And today's podcast is with Matt Marin, who is one of my childhood buddies from my hometown in Bristol. So excited to dig in. What about you, Jeremy,

Jeremy Perkins  1:19  

just looking forward to the future. Bucket talk is going to take it to the next level, come 2023 We're going to you're going to be able to see our lovely faces during the podcast. So working through all the kinks with video aspect of bucket talk, and really toying around with some ideas of building out the podcast booth. I passed by, like millions and millions of pallets on my way to drop my kids off at school. So, you know, thinking about how I can incorporate some pallet wood in there. Just stuff that we find in you know, on construction sites or whatever. But yeah, I've been playing with the artistic design process in my head. But other than that, Eric, let's kick this thing off. All right.

Eric Girouard  2:00  

All right. And for those of you guys listening, is it thank you for listening to our podcast with Matt Maron. You can use code Bristol 10 for a purchase of 60 hours or more for Brent, you'll save $10 again code Bristol 10 VRI s t o l 10. All right, let's dig in.

Jeremy Perkins  2:19  

All right, this is the season finale of bucket talk. And we have the one and only Matt Marin. Not only is Matt Marin, a near and dear friend of ours, but he's also that's who we named them Marin boot after. So we're gonna dive into a day in the life of Matt Marin and get to know a little bit of history on him. Matt, thanks for being on the podcast.

Matt Marin  2:41  

What's up, guys? Thanks for having me on.

Jeremy Perkins  2:43  

Hell yeah, this Yeah, it's been a long time coming in too long,

Matt Marin  2:46  

too long.

Jeremy Perkins  2:47  

So obviously, the man boot is named after you, you and Eric go back to childhood days. But for those that don't know it, I'd love to hear how Matt Maron got into the trades. What do you do on a daily basis and kind of go back as far as you want?

Matt Marin  3:04  

You know, it started at a young age. I mean, I always had a paper route. I always had some kind of job going on. And then, you know, in the later my career, I always played ice hockey. And my dreams were always to be a professional hockey player. That was always my goal. And then I was playing junior hockey around, you know, 18 years old. And all my friends started going off to college, right? And I'm like, alright, well, I got this hockey thing going for me, this is my gig. And, you know, I got to the point where I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm not going pro. Right. So, but now I'm getting a little late in my life, like, I got to figure something else out. And so one of the guys that I played hockey with his dad owned a drywall company, and I jumped on with him. I didn't know too much about the drywall trade. I did odd jobs. You know, growing up, my best friend's grandfather owned a construction company, but I really didn't get into it too hard. It wasn't until I was like 1819, where I realized that I gotta do something here. So I got in and started shoot rocking houses. Here, there. I was, I was making minimum wage probably 1015 bucks an hour max. I was still young, you know, 1920. And one of the guys that I was working with, he goes, we're out of here, we're gonna join the union. And I'm saying myself what union? I don't know what the I'm like, What's the union? You know, and he goes, it's this, you know, the carpenters union. They have all these unions. And I'm like, alright, well, what's the what's so good about it? And he goes, Well, they have great benefits. They have, you know, health, they have a new with the pensions and all that stuff and great wages, and I'm like, Oh, I'm here. I'm 20 years old. I really don't know what I want to do with my life at the moment. And I'm like, alright, well, that's all sounds good to me. I met and what do I sign up? You know, I learned early on it wasn't really like you don't just go sign up. You know? Luckily, my father grew up with a business agent at the time. So he kind of got me in and out. I got in right when I was 20. And kind of the rest is history here. I am still with it today. You know, when I first got in, I was 20 years old. The first job this guy puts me on, it's like, it's a 12 hours a day, seven day a week job. And at 20 years old, that's the last thing you want to do, right? It's like, I'm good, man. Like, I remember like texting him one day, and I'm like, Hey, you got anything like maybe seven or three or something like this, like 4am to 4pm is not really, I'm not cut out for this, you know? And he was like, Oh, just stick with it. Trust me. And I'm like, whatever. Dude. That was kind of the best thing I ever did. That kind of taught me like, this. Is it like you're in it for the long haul? This is your trade. This is what you're gonna do. I stuck with it. And ever since then, man, it's created what I have now.

Jeremy Perkins  5:49  

Did it sink in? Like, I mean, obviously, you're young, you're jumping into the Union, you got a connection, which it sounds like from previous podcasts. That's kind of the leg up to get you into the trades, whether you're or get you into the union is whether you you got to Uncle a father, it doesn't matter. Some you got to know somebody to get into the Union. But did it sink in at that time that like, holy shit, I'm part of something or kind of later on down the road, you're like, oh, shit, dude. I can't believe I'm here. I'm in the union. You know, I'm pretty set up when it comes to pension, annuity, all that stuff.

Matt Marin  6:24  

So, you know, when I was working non union like prior to that, I did start learning a few things about the drywall trade. I was doing production work piece work, they call it so it's like you get paid by the sheet. So I was cheap rocking houses. And I was fast paced, like I was just like, alright, balls to the wall, go out, go in go hard to home. And so that kind of carried on into the Union stuff. Like, you know, the hours were kind of crazy. But I was a hard worker. So it kind of kicked in right away. Like, my foreman noticed that right off the RIP, like, alright, we got this apprentice kid. You know, they're paying me 60% On a scale. And this kids, I'll work in some of the journeyman. So right away, I kind of knew I had like a leg up, like I'm here to work, it's getting recognized off the RIP. And you know, when those paychecks coming in, when you're working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, you know, you're getting time and a half, you get double time. You know, it's the most money I ever made. So I'm like, You know what, maybe this is the real deal, you know? Yeah, so it didn't, it didn't kind of kick in right away.

Jeremy Perkins  7:28  

For some of our listeners out there, this actually, a lot of people don't know that. But 60% on the scale. What does that mean to the layman?

Matt Marin  7:35  

Sure. So a lot of times when like a newer say a carpenter comes in, they register as an apprentice, you're an apprentice carpenter. And basically what that is, they'll start you at right now. It's 45%. So you make 45% of a journeyman wage. So you'll get 45% of their wage. And actually, until you hit the annuity, I think you got to reach like, 60% everything that journeyman would make you make 45% in that I was fortunate to come in at 60% because I had the previous experience, you know, sheetrock in houses or whatever came in at 60%, I had the annuity already going, you know, the health benefits started after a year. So, yeah, in layman's terms, that's really what it is your percentages, just kind of ride the wave of the journeyman wage

Eric Girouard  8:19  

interested in so apprentice, you're in that setup, and then you go from apprentice to journeyman.

Matt Marin  8:26  

Correct? So yeah, you have to work like, I think it's 2000 hours every 2000 hours, you get like a 5% jump, you'll start at like 45%, you work 2000 hours, which is I think it's a year, it's about a year, you'll get jump up to 50%. And then so on and so forth. You reach like I think it's 85%. And then from 85, you go straight to 100.

Jeremy Perkins  8:46  

Do this is like trade finance. Yeah.

Eric Girouard  8:51  

And do they do all unions work this way? Or is this maybe just the one you're in? Or you might not even know, because you've only been in one? You know,

Matt Marin  8:57  

I believe they're all similar. I mean, they're all similar, but some of them are based on licenses and stuff like that, like, you know, you need a plumbing license and electrical license and all that stuff. So I wonder I want to say some of that stuff might be based off of licenses. So

Eric Girouard  9:09  

yeah, yeah. Okay.

Jeremy Perkins  9:11  

This is good stuff. You're in what you need now.

Matt Marin  9:14  

So I'm in the carpenters union local 326. Since out of Connecticut.

Jeremy Perkins  9:18  

What is that all encompassing. So is that just steel framing? wood frame? You know, does that include the drywall or sheet rockers or? Or is

Matt Marin  9:28  

the carpenters union basically entails it's like metal framing, it's drywall acoustical ceilings. Yeah, there's doors and hardware. It does finish millwork. That kind of entails a lot of the stuff that we do.

Jeremy Perkins  9:42  

Awesome. So how many guys are in your hall?

Matt Marin  9:45  

There's about 2000 right now. So there used to be three unions in Connecticut. And we just recently combined we're actually linking up it's almost like a northeast kind of joint venture. Now. Boston's got the big scale, you know, obviously do big work up there. And actually, the company I work for now does a ton of work in Boston. I think we're starting to share some of those benefits. You know, Connecticut was a little behind on our days here. But we're starting to catch up a little bit here. So is that

Jeremy Perkins  10:14  

kind of the deal? Like you want to hook up with like a big city, like being a subsidy or, you know, a town area? Do you guys get paid better when you're when you're closer to like Boston? Or Hartford or New York?

Matt Marin  10:27  

Yes, exactly. So the different unions have different rates, right. So if you're working right in downtown Boston, you're getting top dollar. And if you're outside of the city, it's a little bit less Rhode Island's a different array. Depending on where you go, you're gonna get paid a little bit different. It all depends on where you're working.

Jeremy Perkins  10:44  

So that's the game live outside the city. Get right in the city, and, and you'll make bank.

Matt Marin  10:51  

And there you go. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it, right.

Oh, yeah. There's a lot of people. There's a lot of people that do it. I mean, but you know, the travel, getting into the city and getting out of the city, you know, and paying for parking. You know, there's pros and cons to it. You know, I got guys that live in Rhode Island that traveled to Boston. And yeah, the money is good. But the travel, the travel home is even worse, you know? Yeah. But yeah, it's all part of the game. And you got to go where the work is to, you know, so yeah, well, I

Jeremy Perkins  11:23  

mean, time is money, time traveling and all that stuff. You got to figure you could do a side job, pick up that extra work, like, is the risk reward factor, like there? You know what I mean?

Matt Marin  11:33  

Right, you got to factor that in for sure. So yeah, no, I mean, luckily, since I've been a union man, things have gone phenomenal. Like I said, I was with that one company as an apprentice. I did basically my four year apprenticeship with those guys. And then I had a little falling out with one of the forms in there. It just kind of didn't work out. And the guy that got me in the union, I hadn't talked to him. And for years, like I had no reason to talk to him. He got me my job. And I did my job. And that was it. Like, I didn't need him production, you know? Yeah. And so, four years are up. And my apprenticeship is up. And like I said, I had a little falling out. And I went down the union hall, and I went to see the business agent, the business agent usually puts you to work. Now you can solicit your own work. But the business agent will also put you on a list, they'll put you to work depending on where you are on the list. So I happen to be down at the union hall, talking to my business agent, and he received a phone call. And this guy, his name is Dan Mills, he called them and said, Hey, I'm looking for a drywall guy. I happen to meet the right spot at the right time. And he's like, I got a drywall guy right in front of me. He's like, alright, you want to start Monday. I'm like I'm in. So I go there Monday. And I'm fairly new. Like, I just finished my apprenticeship, right? I'm still kind of leaning on a lead guy to kind of help me, you know. So I start Monday with this guy where she rock and he wants me to shoot rock ceilings. I'm looking at this guy. He's an older guy. Now mind you, I'm still young. I'm only early 20s, you know? And I'm like, Alright, man, where do you want to start? Like you telling me what to do kind of, you know, just, you know, and he's there. I have no idea. And I'm like, Oh, God, this ain't good. You know, I'm like, firsthand with this new company. Like, I gotta figure out what to do here. So I just kind of took the ball roll with it. And actually, we did very well. And, you know, I kind of made a name for myself right away with this company at sentry, drywall man, I've been with them ever since. And, you know, every year, I've kind of moved up a little bit. And it's been great, man, they do a ton of work in Boston, we're probably the biggest drywall company in the Northeast. I mean, I really feel like everything happens for a reason. And me just kind of being in that room when that phone call came through. Man, I really, I really think that happened for a reason.

Jeremy Perkins  13:45  

So is that your day to day now is still hanging sheets, are you? Are you overseeing a crew? Like what's that?

Matt Marin  13:53  

Yeah. So I started off, you know, hanging drywall, you know, hanging ceilings, whatever. And then I got promoted up to like a sub foreman. So there's a general foreman who kind of runs the entire job. And then I was promoted to a subform. And that kind of oversees, like a certain section oversees a small amount of guys. So I did that again for a couple of years. And then from there, they gave me my own job. So I started running my own work as a foreman, and against the kind of same thing just kind of moved my way up the ladder, and recently been promoted to where I am now and there's no official title on it, but I'll call it like an assistant superintendent or superintendent, whatever you want to call it. I started overseeing the Connecticut jobs. That's where I am now. It's, it's kind of where I've always wanted to be and where I always saw myself. And then now that I'm here, it's like, now I want to be the best version of myself. You know, I'm still learning every day. One of the biggest challenges is just there's so many different personalities that I deal with every day. You know, we have Connecticut right now. It's anywhere between you know, 50 to a 100 guys, so just learning everybody's personality and you know, somebody could be having a bad day someday and you don't know it, you know? So it's just, it's every day just dealing with people and managing the guys. You know, that's kind of where I'm at now overseeing the project. So

Jeremy Perkins  15:14  

that was gonna be one of my one of my questions is like, what's like the number one like bullshit item that you deal with every day? Is it like, Hey, boss, I'm sick. I can't make it in. You're like, Dude, this is like your sixth time being like, hung over. Like, I know what's up. You know what I mean? Or is it? Yeah. Or is

Eric Girouard  15:31  

it coming from the guy who called out today?

Jeremy Perkins  15:33  

Yo, I was on. I was on my man.

Matt Marin  15:40  

You must have been triggered treat and last night. Got too much candy for you?

Jeremy Perkins  15:45  

Yeah, that's it. That's it.

Eric Girouard  15:47  

Like everyone in the company do about except for your boss. But that's all right.

Matt Marin  15:52  

On the calendar. So it's funny Jeremy, like when I first got promoted as a foreman, right? Yeah. And I've always wanted to move up the ladder. So I got promoted as a foreman. And when I got there, I'm like, I was still young again. I was a young foreman, right? So there's guys working for me that are twice my age. I realized real quick. That Respect is earned not given because I was a gunslinger. I like that quote,

Eric Girouard  16:22  

Jeremy, say that thing down, bro.

Jeremy Perkins  16:23  

A bear trap. I'm writing it down right now, boss.

Matt Marin  16:28  

So it wasn't a field, right? I was probably the hardest worker on that job. Like, every day, I knew going in there. No one's gonna outwork me, I'm a monster, nobody's gonna stop me. And that was just my mentality. Like, I would just like, go, go, go, go, go. FetLife is fast forward, hurry up, you know, we do a production job, right? So if I hang five sheets a day, now, I'm not making anybody any money. I gotta hang 40 sheets a day, right? So my mentality was just let's make as much money as we can for this company. So we can all keep working. So when I became a foreman, I quickly realized not everybody thinks like me. And I realized that real quick, like, and that's okay, I'm gonna say I'm really not that normal. Like, not everybody thinks like me, I'm like, when I saw somebody on their cell phone, I'm like, getting people on their cell phones, like haha, like, how would we get worked on your on your cell phone? Like, I was just a madman, right, my first job, I was just a madman. And it took me you know, real quick to realize, like, not everybody's like me, I'm actually not normal. Like, I gotta chill out a little bit. And earn the respect of the guys. You know, that was my biggest thing. Let's, let's earn the respect of the guys. So I learned that real quick, that I'm not the normal one per se. You know, everybody's got different personalities, and you just have to learn them.

Jeremy Perkins  17:47  

That's a great perspective is the fact that when when I asked you like, what is the number one problem that you're dealing with nowadays, you looked at yourself and was like, hey, you know, I gotta tone it down. I'm from the old school, and the old school doesn't fly much anymore. You know, there's dealing with bullshit at home and blah, blah, blah. Like, if I get on this guy for being on a cell phone he might be dealing with? Who knows? I mean, today, my daughter chipped her tooth. So, you know, I had to pick up the phone and talk with the school nurse. You know, the old school is like, what the fuck are you doing on your phone? Exactly. You're like, I just, I just needed to deal with it. So that's actually a good perspective is, you know, as a manager, as a foreman, as you know, Superintendent, you got to constantly check yourself.

Matt Marin  18:34  

100% Yeah. Yeah, and I'm still learning that every day, you know, it's a fine line to like, you know, you want to be the boss, you are the boss. But you're also these guys are out here working for you. Right, so you gotta appreciate what they're doing for you. You know? Yeah, so that's the way that I see it, man. Like, these guys are out there hustling for me? You know, they've given me an honest day's work, then I gotta get that full respect, man, you know?

Eric Girouard  19:02  

Yep. So dude, um, you know, especially with Jeremy. Just getting

Matt Marin  19:09  

that's gotta be tough. I'm tough. But now dude,

Eric Girouard  19:11  

that's, that's the reality of it is it's been that way. And when I was younger, my career, you know, I was in my early 20s, like, I was working, you know, around the clock. You know, I always like to have fun and party, but like my buddies were going out and I was like, No, I gotta crank I gotta work and you become a robot. And then the problem is, is 99% of people aren't wired that way. And if you expect them to live like that, they're gonna fucking hate you. They're not gonna want to work with you. They're gonna be a lot of people have different aspirations and what they want to do and and you got to understand like, even right now with Brent, like I'm seven days a week I'm like, I can't expect that from anyone because I put the most energy and time into this thing right? So like course we expect everyone to work hard and they're passionate and people love the business but like, for me to set that expectation for everyone on the team of you. gotta be willing to to work into the wee hours of the morning you'd burn people out, they end up leaving and quitting. It's just unrealistic expectation.

Jeremy Perkins  20:06  

And to shed light on that. I mean, I don't think I've ever shared this story. But I had an awesome party at my house. You know, I invited all the guys from the shop when I was there, and my wife came up to me at the end, and she's like, Dude, I didn't realize you were an asshole. And I go, Well, what do you mean? And she said, like, one of the guys that works for you came up and said, like Jeremy's awesome outside of work, but he's really tough to deal with, you know, inside of work. And I realized that, like, I was so driven by numbers by how many cars we get done by whatever, that that's kind of I ran the shop with an iron fist. And sometimes you lose sight of like, what other people have going on in their life, whether they're having, you know, a struggle, or, or whatever, and it's just, it's numbers. It's like, I'm working this hard, you should be working this hard. And that's not the case. And that was kind of an eye opener for me. And, you know, I've always lived my life now, knowing that somebody out there is thinking that I'm pushing too hard.

Matt Marin  21:08  

So I'm gonna take that one step further. And it's like, similar. You know, Kate's, like, I've always lived life and fast forward, like everything I do as as fast as I can. Like, that's just kind of my mentality. Like I said, we're production work. Like, the more we work, the faster we work, the more that we get paid. So that's been my whole lifestyle. I've taken that into my home life. I've taken it everywhere. Everything I do is as fast as I possibly can. And it took the pandemic me to realize that's really not right, that's wrong. I was at home for a month, I came and went at my own pace. And it just completely opened up my eyes. Because prior to that, I didn't do vacations. I worked. Every Saturday, I worked any Sunday that was available. I worked any overtime that was available. No vacation, I worked the year straight. And like, I didn't take the sick days, I didn't do any of that stuff. It was nonstop. Go Go Go, go, go, go go. And then when the pandemic hit, and I had a little time off, I'm like, Man, I'm like, This is what life's really all about. It's being with your family, enjoying your life. Yeah, you got to make money. Like, there's things outside of money, there's things outside of work, and you got to enjoy that as well. So that really opened my eyes right there man to slow down a second. And really see what's going on ain't just about making that money. Money is a big part of it, but it's seeing it all.

Jeremy Perkins  22:31  

Yeah, and everybody's priorities are different. Like when I took that criticism, chewed on it, and then and then was like, Alright, I need to embrace the fact that maybe everybody doesn't see me in the best light. So then I started to talk to a few people. And I realized that like, hey, this dude over here, all he wants to do is go hiking, you know, outside of work, he wants to work that nine to five, he wants to grind it out and do it. But here, here I am going like, do you stay, you know, from five to eight, you get that overtime? Like, you build that up, you're gonna have a nice nest egg. He's like, I don't give a shit about that. Like, I'm a minimalist, and I'm like, What do you mean a minimalist? is like, I just want a tiny home, I don't want a family. I don't want a wife. And I'm like, shit. Like, you know, my ex. And my projection on, on what I think somebody's life should be like, was completely skewed. Right? Because, yeah, completely different idea on what he wants to do in life.

Matt Marin  23:29  

And that goes back to my point before like, I I got 100 guys that work under me. That's 100 different personalities, that's 100 different perspectives on life. Like, I gotta learn all those, you know, understand them, I understand. I gotta understand them as well. Yeah, you

Eric Girouard  23:42  

got it. I mean, that's the key is, you got some guys that want your job. And it's okay, you want my job, you got to do what I did. And if you're not willing to do it, you probably aren't going to get it just fine. Then you got two people that are like, I don't want your job. I should just I want to keep doing what I'm doing. support my family by how you know, like, which is fine, too. All right, you're on a different track. You know, it's when you have those mismatches where someone's like, yeah, I want your job, but I don't want to like work that overtime. Or it's like, Dude, you're playing the wrong game.

Matt Marin  24:14  

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  24:20  

So going back to your your days in high school and stuff like that. What would you tell a younger person coming up? That you know, now that you wish you knew then, you know, it almost seems like you kind of stumbled into it? You you had that view of playing hockey and, and going pro and all that stuff? But if you didn't have that vision, like what would you tell somebody?

Matt Marin  24:42  

Yeah. So I mean, Eric can kind of test this, you know, like, I would tell a lot of my younger self like, Listen, if you're not gonna go to school, cut it, don't worry about it. Like, that was kind of like one of the things I was worried about, like all my friends, were going to school and I'm sitting here like, I'm like, One of the only ones not going and it had me shook, I ain't gonna lie to you like I was I'm like, What am I going to really do? So I would tell myself like, man, don't worry about it. Right Keep doing your thing. And also like when you get into those that trade, it might not make sense right away to do those Saturdays to do that overtime to do the Sundays. That might not make sense. But it will in the long run.

Eric Girouard  25:26  

And not to mention you got it and you start making money young like had it not been some you liked it worked out for you. But if you didn't, you would have had no debt you would have had made a bunch of dough. And then you could have decide, alright, maybe now I want to go back to school because I hate sheetrocking. And this union sucks or whatever. And but at least you like the fact that later on once you got to dial in, for sure.

Jeremy Perkins  25:46  

Yeah. I mean, that's actually a good, that's a good segue into another question is, you know, have you had anybody bounce out of union life or trade life and almost had a success story like, hey, you know, this isn't what I want to do. But now that I have a focus now that I know what I want to do, do you know anybody out there that has made that switch? And and kind of moved on to something different?

Matt Marin  26:11  

Ah, not necessarily. No, yeah. You know, there's a few guys that kind of branched off and kind of did their own thing, you know, but I always find them coming back to the Union, the carpenters union, you know, it just always seems that way. Like, it seems easy on the outside, let me go make some money doing this myself. But at the end of the day, you spent a lot of time chasing money, too. So yeah. What about the guy? What about a century drywall?

Eric Girouard  26:39  

How does that work? Because you guys are your own company, but you're within the union? Like, how does that interact and all that work?

Matt Marin  26:45  

That's that's a pretty good question. So yeah, so essentially, drywall is a union contractor. Right. So we'll hire union employees, which are, you know, from the carpenters union, from the laborers Union from the tapers Union, we all we hire all union employees. Go to essentially, there's what you call a company guy, right? So when you're kind of a company guy, the central drama will try to keep you busy as for as long as you put your work in the union. But you basically work for century drywall, it's kind of one of them things, you know, Yep, yeah. So I'll try to stick in those people that bounce around, they don't. And they don't really care about a century drywall, they'll, they'll work for a century drywall for eight months. And then they'll say, Alright, I'm gonna go try to work for this guy over here. He's five minutes closer to home, and then they'll bounce around from company to company. And some guys do that. But I've always been pretty loyal towards like, Alright, these guys are paying me. They're putting food on the table for me, I'm gonna make them money, they're gonna make me money. So I kind of stuck with them, you know, and just kept going with these guys. And we take care of each other. You know, I tried to make them money. And they keep me going. So yeah, yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  27:56  

I mean, I've seen that in my trade. You know, guys bounce around, they'll they'll spend a, you know, a year or two at a shop, and then they'll go look somewhere else for $1 or two more raise. But sounds like you're in it for the long haul?

Matt Marin  28:12  

Definitely, yeah. No, I, I see myself sticking with these guys, as long as I possibly can. I mean, they've been great to me. Yeah, I can't say anything bad about them. I mean, they're a great company to work for they take care of their guys. Nothing's gone wrong in the last 12 years, knock on wood. So I plan to keep it going as long as I can, you know?

Jeremy Perkins  28:36  

Hell yeah. Are you where you want to be? Or is there another level? I know, this is a tough question. But where's Matt Marin look at himself and go, shit, this is where I want to be? Or are you where you want to be?

Matt Marin  28:52  

I mean, yeah, it's kind of a loaded question. Like, I feel like this is probably right where I want to be, right. I mean, this is where I've always kind of wanted to get to, and I'm here. And now it's just kind of finding the best version of myself. Like I said, I still I'm still learning every day that I'm only 36 years old. You know, I've been in the carpenters Union now, 16 years, but there's always something new. Everything's always changing. You know, a lot of the stuffs now is going digital. You know, there's no more paper blueprints, you know, you see these monster blueprints. So everything's digital saw, you know, that's one leg up that I have. I'm almost like a tech guy, you know, on these job sites, a lot of the older crowd they they have someone with the iPads, let's just say. So that gives me a little leg up. But yeah, I just I enjoy what I do right now and I want to stick with it. We did hire a guy recently. That's starting to pick up more work in Connecticut. So you know, sky's the limit for Connecticut if we can pick up some more work and pick up some more jobs who knows what'll happen

Jeremy Perkins  29:57  

from there, but that is an interesting point too. Because I saw it in my trade, you know, guys naturally got phased out because tech wasn't, wasn't their strong suit. So you know, people that came in that they had a natural affinity for just like streaming stuff or Wi Fi, or Bluetooth, or, or this that. And the other thing, like, I still had to coach guys on, hey, you know what, this is how you connect to our Wi Fi and they're like, no shit. It was like, man,

Matt Marin  30:26  

it's crazy. Yeah, it's great. So when I got in, like, you know, you're using a plumbob, which is like a string with a string away on it. And now it's everything's a laser, you know, everything's lasers and remotes, and, you know, iPads and apps. And, you know, everything's digital, you know, and that kind of gave me a leg up on it. Like I had, I was still part of the younger crew, and I kind of knew the tech stuff. So when the iPads came out, I was like, I already know, this thing went at the back of my hand, you know, let me see that thing. You know. So that definitely gave me an advantage. You know, for sure.

Jeremy Perkins  30:59  

Awesome. Awesome. What is one of the biggest things you're facing right now? Is it family is at work? What is one of the biggest challenges you're facing?

Matt Marin  31:08  

You know what? I wouldn't say, you know, that's a it's a loaded, loaded question. Um,

Jeremy Perkins  31:15  

I'm hitting you with the hard ones.

Matt Marin  31:17  

I know, I know, my biggest challenges right now, I guess, is balancing work in the home life, you know, there always seems to be something going wrong at home. It's like inevitable, you know, it's like, All right, we just put a new roof on, but hey, there's a flood in the basement or something. It's like you can't win at the house, you know, so there's always a challenge there. But that's inevitable, man. The house has never finished, you know, there's always something to do. So, works work. So we know we gotta go to work. So I almost don't consider that a challenge. You know?

Jeremy Perkins  31:49  

Yeah. No, I mean, it's once you've done it, you've done it for 16 years. It's it's not autopilot, but it's what you know. And then,

Matt Marin  31:57  

yeah, you know what, my biggest challenge right now is juggling on the kids birthday parties. I gotta go to every weekend. You know which one you're gonna go to, you know? You're gonna go to a three year old birthday at the bowling alley. Are you gonna go to the house party over here with the booze? I'm gonna probably take the booze, you know? That's my biggest challenge right now.

Jeremy Perkins  32:19  

I usually ask this question. This is a little bit more lighthearted. But how does Matt Maron unplug? You know, I got a little I got a little insight into it. It's usually thrown bags. But you know, how does Matt Marin unwind after the workday?

Matt Marin  32:34  

So it kind of used to be the cornhole game, right. I used to be a monster on the boards, but since that kind of fizzled out, I've taken up the bourbon game a little bit more, you know. So it's kind of a it's kind of a split between the bourbon and the cornhole to be honest with you.

Jeremy Perkins  32:51  

That's a fire t shirt right there. Bourbon and bags, baby.

Matt Marin  32:55  

I like it. I like it. Hey, the three B's though. A Bronco, bourbon and bags.

Eric Girouard  33:02  

Right? That's right. All right,

Matt Marin  33:03  

are a little more, though. So

Eric Girouard  33:06  

while we're here. So let's go back to I mean, we haven't hit the most important thing, which is the boot that we've been known for. Worldwide moment for us Don's your last name? For sure. How does it feel man knows there's over I think 100,000 pairs out there floating around the country. You bumped into him, I think on job sites and people, you know said stuff. Well,

Matt Marin  33:33  

you know, to break right into it, man. You know, I really can't thank Eric enough for even including me in this. You know, it's been awesome. It's been awesome, man. I mean, what you've given us I mean, it just incredible man. You know, even even the NASCAR race, you know, every little thing, man. I greatly appreciate all of it, man. It's been great. Just just being able to brag about the brunch brand and what it means. It's just man, I'm loving it, dude, I really am. So I appreciate

Eric Girouard  34:04  

it. I think back to when we were working on that boot. You know, I won't name names because we're not trying to tear others down to build theirs up. But you are wearing a brand for many years that were a lot of good things about him. But that was like, Alright, what's the problem with Okay, long break in time, got to wear him out on the weekend just to get into a, you know, for to her shirt or expensive, like, you know, a bunch of shit. And we went out and tried to solve all those exact things. And it feels like we hit a lot of a lot of the shit that you and I talked about early on.

Matt Marin  34:35  

And you knocked it out of the park for sure. You know, and, you know, it's easy for me to say that now, right? It's named after me, right? It's my boys brand, like, but it's the truth at the end of the day, you know, and I tell everybody the same thing. I'm like, I take it off. I'm like you want to try try it on right now. Man like it's the real deal. You don't I mean, like, like, in a like, well, it's only a you know, 135 bucks. Yeah. Okay, that's still the real deal. Get you know so

Eric Girouard  35:01  

you can buy three of those for the price of some of the others and start over brand new with no breaking.

Matt Marin  35:06  

Right and you know it a lot of people are skeptical at first right? It's a new brand it's a new product they've been I've been them in the same boot forever right so I got my two bosses right Ryan Simon's Mike first of all, they were loggers for 20 plus years loggers right. And I got them into some errands. And they have not taken them off since let's put it that way. Not only were they diehard logger guys, they were diehard with this particular brand I won't mention again but yeah diehard with that brand, diehard on the logger, and then since the Maron they put them on they haven't taken them off. Let's just put it that way. So

Eric Girouard  35:45  

I'm in I'm right now I'm in I'm in a new prototype that we're working on and, and can't complain now. It's crazy. It's crazy to see that thing take off. It's a we got what five versions of it now. More on the way and I mean, Jeremy sorry, you're probably over there crying, you

Jeremy Perkins  36:02  

know? Don't, don't don't I was I was actually gonna give you a plug. I was I was always gonna say you got something up your sleeve with it with the new marrons. But here you are talking about the Perkins boot.

Eric Girouard  36:12  

Yeah, we got something, we got something new come in. And then in New Year, we won't we won't reveal it yet. But something that should change should change the game in a major way. So forward

Jeremy Perkins  36:23  

to and to piggyback on Matt It's, it's been amazing. Same to jump in and be a part of the company and and kind of reiterate some of the stuff that we've literally been dealing with for years. And so, you know, we're proud to be named boo holders, but it's been fun. Oh,

Matt Marin  36:45  

this dude did not forget where he came from what's right. I mean, I mean, dude, I was painting fences with this guy and some ladies yard like, you know, as a kid like, Yeah, this guy

Eric Girouard  36:55  

had jobs we were taking odd jobs and shit.

Jeremy Perkins  36:59  

I'll paint you cuz he always out paint.

Eric Girouard  37:01  

We had we had a rough experience that time around, but we won't talk about it.

Matt Marin  37:06  

I don't know how much painting got done to be honest, what you

Eric Girouard  37:10  

covered, the grass was covered and a lot of

Matt Marin  37:14  

we had a good time doing it, for sure.

Eric Girouard  37:17  

Had a good time. That's for sure. That old lady actually, many years after that was funny. I was when we were like 16 or something. 17 That lady was really old when I was in, you know, like, my 20s, early 2223 That old lady every summer would still call me Hey, can you come paint my face. I'm like, I live in Boston now. Like,

Matt Marin  37:36  

move up the ladder a little bit. I own a company now.

Eric Girouard  37:41  

She was she was sweet. She was free. I was like, I wish I could like I just

Jeremy Perkins  37:47  

asked her what the rate was. And you were back down there debating that fence I would have

Eric Girouard  37:51  

Yes, she I think we actually did do well on that one. But it's a blast. It's a it's been a blast. And now it's now the stories are always good sharing with folks, especially as they're thinking the union stuff, it's super helpful to understand, you know, the benefits of union non union the differences, all that stuff. So this is this is

Matt Marin  38:16  

for sure. You know, when I first got in, I heard both sides of the fence that guys were telling me man, you're not kind of like this. You know, there's a lot of talk going on. And this that and the other thing you're gonna want to stay out of the Union. And then other guys were telling me oh, what's the best, you know? And I'm like, in between, I'm like, Well, you know what? I'm like, for that money. And for the benefits. I got to try it. You know what I mean? So yeah, I went I went for it. And yeah, man, I highly recommend it to, to anybody for sure.

Jeremy Perkins  38:46  

That's awesome. That's awesome. You know, and I've heard I've heard the same stuff. So you know, it's always good to hear both sides of the fence and kind of make your own path, carve out your own journey and and figure out what's best for you. For sure. Well, Matt, it was unbelievable having you on here it was. I've been looking forward to this podcast for five seasons now. So you know, always check chat with and get down it.

Matt Marin  39:17  

Appreciate you guys having me on man. I'm looking forward to one. This cornhole coming up, though. I don't know if we announced that yet. What's going on there?

Eric Girouard  39:25  

Yeah, by the time this airs, it'll be announced. Yeah. You helped us figure out this world a little bit.

Matt Marin  39:31  

Yeah, so the American cornhole league man, there's some sharp shooters out there the best in the world, and brought work whereas jumping on with a few of them as a sponsor, so yep. There's some big events going on around the country. We're hoping to hit up a few along the way, I hope. Oh, yeah.

Eric Girouard  39:47  

We're gonna talk about that right after this. Actually, we've been to nail down the exact plans but now we're, yeah, we're super pumped to get into the sport meeting a bunch of good guys. Guys that actually work in the trade during the day and throw it night through on weekends so it kind of fits into in the whole brand and like anything like NASCAR like bull riding we test into in our first year and learn the lay of the land. Go to the events. Hopefully Jeremy doesn't get me sick again like he's done before and then and then we doubled down the following year and if it's something that fits with us and it make a big splash, so we're super pumped.

Matt Marin  40:21  

Yeah, definitely. Man. I I run Central Connecticut cornhole on the side there so right. I'm definitely going to be putting this out to the squad man. shooters, you know?

Eric Girouard  40:32  

Yeah. So we'll play we'll plug yourself or if folks have questions for you on social about the union, all that stuff and then same thing Central Connecticut cornhole? Now this has been awesome. We appreciate it.

Matt Marin  40:45  

Appreciate you guys having me on man.

Jeremy Perkins  40:47  

Hell yeah, man. And remember to use the code Bristol 10 for $10 off your next purchase of $60 or more at Brown workwear.com