Lighting for Profits - Episode 196

Go behind the brilliance with Keith Rosser—father, grandfather, husband, and the powerhouse behind Landscape Lighting Pro. With over a decade of lighting up the outdoors and leading a passionate team of 15, Keith shares his journey of growth, grit, and glowing success. Now partnering with a national industry leader, he’s scaling new heights and spreading illumination nationwide. This is more than lighting—it’s legacy.

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Ryan Lee is the host of Lighting for Profits powered by Emory Allen

Welcome to Lighting for Profits.

All Light. All Light, all lie, powered by Emory Allen.

Here is your host, Ryan Lee.

All right, All Light. What is up? What is up? What is up? Hey, guys, I'm Ryan Lee, your host of Lighting for Profits powered by Emory Allen. So excited for today's show. I don't know if you guys know this, but we are still trending the number one landscape lighting show in Utah. That's cool. If you're looking to start or grow a landscape lighting business, you're definitely in the right place. We're here to educate, to motivate, to help you dominate. And today we got an awesome show, guys. We got Mr. Keith Rosser. Do you remember Keith? He's been on the show before and, we've gotten to know each other pretty well and he's making some big moves in business and, you know, life's not easy. We're going to talk about the ups, the downs, all the good stuff. But, Keith has been in the industry a long time and I always, always enjoy speaking with him. So surely you've got a lot to learn on this episode. And, I know I'm excited about it, so I hope you are as well. he's coming on in just a few minutes, so, thank you, guys. Thank you so much for your support. It's so crazy that, that I get to do this. Like it's, it's fun. Like it's, it's so fun. And we were up to 79 Apple reviews and a bunch on Spotify too, so that's pretty cool. So thank you guys so much for your support. If you're bored and you want to go, give me an Apple review. Five stars. We're only accepting five stars right now. M. That'd be, that'd be sweet. I'd appreciate that.

This week, we're putting on another Omni training for business owners

And, today, guys, before we have Keith on, I'm going to share with you, okay? I'm going to share with you the one thing that like 90, probably 99% of business owners think they need more of. But actually this thing is not going to solve their problems. Okay, I'm going to share that with you. but before I, before I do that, this week, in literally two days, we're putting on another Omni training. So we got the permanent lighting training at my house. this week, Jimmy Tompkins and Omni is coming into town again and we're doing some more permanent lighting on my back, like, ah, shop, outdoor living area, whatever you want to call it. so it's not Too late to get registered. if you want to, if you want to go, just send me a dm, send me a message and I'll get you the registration. But it's free. Jimmy is rich, so he doesn't charge for trainings. And what's cool is my mom is cooking again. So if you were, if you've ever been to an event where my mom's provided food, you know that even if the training is bad, you won't even remember because the food's so good. So she is providing a couple meals for us, which is always exciting. And so make sure you guys get registered. It's only in two days. It starts Thursday at noon. So you can actually come in Thursday morning. And then it ends Friday night after dark, about 9:30 after you've had a chance to mess with the lights and stuff like that. And then I'd be like, get out of here. But if you wanna stick around, we can hang out in hot tub and stuff. So, but speaking of my mom, I wanna share this story real quick. My mom was an accountant. And she worked at the same company for like 30 plus years. Okay. Which is crazy. Cause I've already had like so many different jobs and houses and moved and all this different stuff. And But she raised us three kids all on her own. And she taught me really like all those good attributes that you see about me. Like she taught me all those, all the bad ones. Probably my dad, but she taught me like the work ethic, like never give up. And just like I look back now as a parent and I'm like, damn. Like, she was a really good mom. Like you don't, you don't know as a kid, like, do I have a good mom or not? Like you feel like it is, but now I just have so much more appreciation because I got my own kids, I got my own life, right? And I definitely, I definitely would not be able to do what she did. I mean, she would come home, guys, and like she's still like in her work dress, you know, and like instantly start boiling water to cook potatoes and cutting potatoes and cook dinner every single night. We don't have enough money to eat out. Like she just cooked a meal every single night. And then she'd clean up dinner and then go to bed and sleep and then wake up and then go to work and then like the same thing over and over, over for like 30 plus years. Pretty incredible. And now I, I was usually decent with math like in school, but I don't know why, if it had anything to do with her being accountant or not, but I just didn't want to study finance. I didn't want to go into accounting. It seemed boring. I don't know if her job seemed boring to me. I'd go there every once in a while and hang out at her work. But, I couldn't figure out what I want to do with my life. So I didn't go into accounting. I didn't go into finance. I got a marketing degree. But looking back, I actually think that a degree in finance, a degree in finance would be super helpful for any business owner. and, you know, there's some things I learned along the way about finance and numbers and stuff like that, but I think I would have just learned so much faster had I been more familiar with accounting and finance.

Most business owners think they need more leads, but they don't

Okay, and the reason I bring this up is because I noticed that almost every single business owner has a lot of the same problems, and a lot of them revolve around money, right? And unfortunately, most business owners that have problems with money are in a little bit of denial. And, yes, I might be talking to you, but even if you are aware and you're like, you know what? I'm just not that good with numbers. You know, I'm just not a numbers guy. The one thing that you think is going to solve most of your problems is actually not going to solve your problem. So if I asked you today, and I'll ask you right now, like, what's the number one thing that you need more of in your business right now? What's the number one thing you need? What would help you the most right now, other than, like, a rich uncle with, like, a million dollars? Okay, but what's holding you back? Like, what could I help you with? What do you need the most help with? What would you say? And I'll tell you, because I asked this to almost everybody who reaches out to us. We ask this question. What's your number one obstacle? What's the number one thing you need help with? And the majority of businesses that I talk to respond overwhelmingly with the same response. And you probably. You might be thinking it right now. Depends on if I'm a good magician or not. But let's say it out loud together. Let's say it. Ready? One, two, three. I need more leads. maybe I. Maybe I was right. Maybe I was wrong in your head. But, that's what most people think they need more of. Most people think they need more leads, and I'm Here to tell you you don't need, need more leads. You don't need more leads. You need better pricing and a better sales process. Okay, you're working on the wrong variable here. And let me explain. So Inside Landscape Lighting Secrets. When I put this program together, I realized this early on. And it's because I went through the same trap, okay. I learned after a decade of experience I was doing things in the wrong order. And so Inside Landscape Lighting Secrets we have this proven formula for success. And although everybody wants more leads, I get that right? And that's like. But that's not where we start. Inside Landscape Lighting Secrets because it's not the thing that you need more of. You have a broken pricing system and you have a broken sales process. So why feed more leads through this broken, broken system, right?

Let's say your business is getting 10 leads per week

And so let me run, let me run through a scenario real quick so I can show you what I'm talking about. So let's say that right now your business is getting 10 leads per week. And when I say a lead, that's a phone call, a form fill, it's a lead. It doesn't mean you met with them, but it's just a lead, right? So let's say you get 10 leads, that converts to seven booked appointments. That means on your pre qualification, whatever, like you, you didn't, you got 10 leads, seven appointments, and you closed three of those. This is like an average lighting company today and you close three of those jobs and some of you are like, oh, I think I closed more than that. Well, the data doesn't lie. Numbers don't lie. So if you're not tracking this, start tracking it now and prove me wrong. Show me that you get 10 leads and, and, and 10 appointments and 10 sales, right? Like whatever your numbers are, they are, and you can run them through this scenario. But 10 leads, seven appointments, which means you close three deals. Let's say you're charging an average of $300 a light, which again is kind of an average lighting company today. And your average project is 25 lights. So that means that each of these projects are $7,500. You close three of them, that's 22,500 in top line revenue. Now from a profit standpoint, it's really hard to say because a lot of people don't know their numbers. They didn't go to finance school, they don't know their numbers. But let's just say I'm being generous and I say that you make a net profit margin of 15%. Now that could Be high. That could be low. Everyone's numbers are going to be different here, but chances are your number is probably not that high, because most businesses are not succeeding because they don't have enough money, they don't have a profit to reinvest into hiring more talent, into reinvesting into marketing and all these things. And so 15 is after you pay your overhead, after you pay everything, after you pay yourself, do you have 15% left in your business at the end of the year? And in most cases, the answer is no. But I'm going to be generous. I'm going to give that to you. So if you take 15% of $22,500, that's $3,375. Okay, 3,300 bucks. Now, I don't know about you, but I personally, I cannot survive on $3,300 a week. I can't survive on $333,300 a week, okay, If I'm going to still run a business. I mean, maybe if I'm, if I don't have to, like, pay to run a business, right? And I simplify my life and get rid of some kids or whatever, like, maybe I could get, like, I could run on $3,300 a week, right? But how are you going to grow? How are you going to be able to afford to hire your next team member? How are you going to be able to afford to invest in marketing? And heck, what if something goes wrong? Like, it's not that much money? Okay, so let's change some variables in this equation and show you what just changing your pricing and sales and not worrying about more leads will do to your bottom line. So number of leads stays the same. You get ten leads. but now you get ten leads, seven appointments. But let's figure out that we just figured out how to squeeze out one extra deal every week. Okay? So now you close four deals instead of three. And here's where it starts to get pretty interesting. So now you go from $22,500 to $30,000. Okay? Your. Your profit is. Let's just say we haven't changed our price yet. Still 15%. So now you go from $3,300 to $4,500. If you squeeze out one extra deal every week, that's an extra, what, 1200 bucks? Twelve hundred dollars a week. It may not sound substantial, but you times that by 50 weeks, now all of a sudden you're looking at 60 grand. What would you do with an extra 60 grand just by making this one small move in your process. And again, you're not focused on more leads yet because you haven't dialed in this, this part of your process. This is like filling a bucket, with water and it's got all these holes in the bottom. We're just trying to plug these holes in right now. Here's where the real magic happens. So yeah, okay, wow. You just help me make an extra twelve hundred dollars, sixty thousand. who cares? Like I can buy a boat with that. Who cares? Right? Well, this is where it gets fun. This is where the magic happens. So now we're gonna help you raise your price from $300 a light to $400 a light. And by the way, some of you could literally just do this. Most of you need to add some value. And there's some strategy here and scripts and process changes and stuff like that. But assuming that you implement some of these changes and you raise your price to that 400 a light. Now this is crazy. Same 25, same four jobs, same 25 light projects, which we could do another variable and teach you how to sell. 26 lights, 27 lights, 30 lights, 35 lights. Right, but we're not going to go there yet.

Just price increase is going to triple your profit dollars, right?

that's a whole nother, whole nother episode. if we keep it at 25 lights, times that by the 400 a light. Now you go from a 70, what is it, 7, 500 job to a $10,000 job. The same four jobs, you're making an extra $2,500 per job, which means you're making an extra $10,000 that week. Plus you're 4,500. So now you're at 10,450. Your profit margin goes from 15% to 26%. You notice this is, this is how percentages and numbers are weird. You only increased your percentage net by 10%. But you doubled and even tripled your profit dollars. Right? That's, that's what's crazy about these, these numbers, okay? Because you don't have to double your percentage of profit to double your pro to double your dollars profit. You just have to increase it a little bit. Just price increase is going to triple your profit dollars. That's how this game is won, you guys. It's a giant math equation. Dan Plato would love me right now. But seriously, this is how. Now you have extra money, you have extra wiggle room. So now you got an extra $7,000 a week that you can invest back into growth. So don't mess this up. This is the thing, like stop Saying, I need more leads, I need more leads. It's like, fix your pricing, fix, fix your sales. Then now that you've got this dialed in machine, then you can feed the machine with leads, and now you're printing money. That's how this game is won. Everyone else is focused on bringing in all these leads, right? And this is what makes it come together. So nail it, then scale it. That's what we're doing here. And a lot of people, you know, they reach out to marketing companies, they pay them to generate leads, and they get leads, and then they don't close the leads or they don't close them at the right price, and then they don't get a return, right? And so if you don't get a return on your investment, you don't renew at the marketing company, and then you don't have leads, and then this is why you're stuck in this cycle, right? But if you can maximize each opportunity and you get a $10,450 return, then of course it makes sense to continue with that marketing company. But if you're only making $3,300 and they want 2,000 of it, then, hell no, you can't afford that. So this is how the game is won. You need to focus on these variables is you're focused on the wrong thing. And I'm not saying there's not bad marketing companies out there, guys. Of course there is. Right. but you can't always blame the marketing company. If your pricing's off and you don't know how to close, you don't have a proven system, then doesn't matter how good the marketing company is going to be. And it's honestly one of the reasons I got out of the digital marketing space, because no matter how many good leads I got, people, if they didn't have the right pricing structure and they didn't have the right closing game, it didn't matter. Didn't matter how good the leads were. So the problem is not the lack of leads. The problem, unfortunately, is you. And you have a broken sales and pricing system. The good news is you can fix it. Like, first you got to be aware, you got to identify there's a problem, then now you can focus on fixing it. So until you fix it in the right order, marketing is not going to be the solution. So I want to encourage you guys to take action and go do the thing. Fix the things that you need to in your business. And it starts with pricing. It starts with sales.

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Tom Garber: Is that going to be on Apple or Spotify

Oh, hey, what's up? Tom Garber. Good to see you on here, man. And Juan, thank you. Thank you so much. He's going to shoot us over a review. Is that going to be on Apple or, Spotify? I don't know why I want Apple, because Apple, you can write something nice. I think that's why I like Apple. But Spotify is good too, whatever it is. Thanks, Juan. Appreciate you.

Ryan: Keith Rosser is super financially disciplined. Where did that come from

All right, guys, I think it's time. where's our guest intro music? There it is. Ready? Keith, welcome. Welcome to the show, Mr. Keith Rosser.

Well, thank you. Good to see you, Ryan. Good to be with you.

Hey, man, I always love hanging out with you and, it's always fun to have you on the show. Thanks for coming back.

Yeah, you bet.

Well, you know, we talk, ah, on a more regular basis than we used to, so that's always fun. But, it's, it's interesting because, you know, I was just kind of going off on finance and numbers and stuff like that, but I, I've met hundreds of lighting companies and you are in the top. I don't know, I didn't, I didn't think about this until I just started talking. So, I don't know, I would say top five, but maybe top one. Like, you are super financially disciplined. Where did that come from? Like, you are you really are you, you, you, you know, you know, like you're not going to run out of money. Like, you fig. You figured that out. Where did that come from?

where did that. Why am I always in the numbers?

Yeah, like, where did. Where did that financial discipline come from?

What is it your intro says? Is something in my childhood. I don't know. you know, I Guess I didn't. I haven't always been that way. you know, when I was my 20s and 30s, I, you know, it's like when my dad would tell me to do certain things, you just do the opposite. You know, you're like, well, I'll prove him wrong. And, you know, you think you're, you're wise and you're not. And, I, I, I think I went through some things, like maybe many have, where you're, you're living, you think you're living in your means and you're living large and, you know, you're making a big income, but you're making dumb decisions and acting like it's always going to be around. And you know, it's the old saying of, what was it, Albert Einstein, said, you know, what's. He was asked the question, what's the most powerful thing, in the universe? And he said, compounding interest. And then it leads to those who understand it and those who don't. And I would say that there was a time in my life I didn't understand that until it got brought to my attention and maybe a not so pleasant way. And I made a commitment I'd never be that guy again. Interesting. And I got into a cash mind. I got into a, zero interest mindset which set me free. And it took the handcuffs off. And I, you know, I've been living in that world for long enough that I really value, you know, cash is king. But, you know, given there's times we've had to take debts in our business when we were younger, trying making sure we use that leverage to get ahead. And I think there's the right way to do it and there's wrong ways to do it. and but now we try to our company and our lifestyles where we've got to, where we, you know, we focus on the, on the nugget, you know, our retirement and what that would look like, and trying to retire with both feet on the gas pedal instead of taking one off, put it on the brake. But I, I just, have tried to leverage things and do that in the right ways. I'll say.

Yeah, it's, it's just, I don't know, it's something that I look up to. I admire you. You've created a really nice business, a really nice life for yourself. And I just see so many people that are just like, I don't know, they're just living like day to day and they're complaining, I can't afford marketing, I can't afford this. And then they're on a really nice vacation. I'm like, well, you could afford that. I don't know. I don't know if it's credit cards, I don't know what it is. But, you know, I, I just think that maybe without even knowing it, you've like, set this standard of like, how to run a really good business because it's, it gives you that cash is king mentality. It gives you so much power as a business owner. It allows you to take risks. You know, if you have bank and you go and try this direct mail thing and it doesn't work, well, that sucked. It didn't work.

But yeah, you know, I don't look at it as risk as much as I look at it as calculation. You know, experience has taught you what, what it takes and what you know. It's a numbers game. And when you know your numbers and you know the statistics behind that, through experience, you can apply it and, and move forward with that. And, you know, I don't see it as risk. I see it as a necessity. You know, with, with marketing, all the things you need to do to stay, to stay in front of your, your clients and, and, but know your numbers. I mean, bottom line, if you don't know them, get to work, figure it out.

Yeah, well said. I like the, it's not risk, it's necessity. That's cool, right?

Aaron: Knowing your daily expense is very important in running your business

You can tell me in the modules that you, in your coaching program that, knowing your, daily expense, knowing your weekly, monthly, everything. Because, you know, when people are asking you, what should you price your product, what should your game be? Until you know all those other things, you have no idea what you should price. You know, you're just pricing, randomly, thinking, well, now I got to make it work instead of the other way around. Make it work for you. And, don't be afraid to do that. I think that's important. It's an important exercise to go through. And I really enjoyed when I did that with your program to realize, you know, I thought I had things right, and I didn't after, you know, 20 plus years of doing it. And I'm like, you know, wait a minute, I gotta look at this very differently.

Were the numbers higher than you were expecting? like, was it costing you more to run your business than you thought or what?

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think so. and when you're not doing it from the seat of your pants and you really understand it, it forces you to take steps that are necessary. You need to. You need to make those adjustments and know them and have our margin for Aaron, you know, not every day is sunny. So.

Right.

So you gotta look, you get, you know, you got to look at those averages and that. And you have to make changes and investments where needed to keep that trajectory going. Because you can't just maintain like this because inflation and everything else can eat you up, man.

So good.

One of the things that we talk about a lot is getting uncomfortable

Well, you. You brought up the fact that, like, you know, you did things for 20 years or whatever they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm trying. I'm really trying. One of the things that, you know, that we talk about a lot is just getting uncomfortable. And it's uncomfortable to try different ways and sit down and work on stuff that you don't really want to. Most of us just want to go meet with clients and talk about lights and nerd out on lights. You know, we don't really want to know our numbers. Like, we didn't get into this to know our numbers.

Greg Barkley: I fall back on traditional things that have worked well

what are some of the things that you've done, you know, in the last few years that we've known each other, whatever, that. That you'd maybe consider a change from what you were doing before or things that maybe felt uncomfortable. Maybe they still do, or maybe you've gotten used to them now.

You know, I think m. For me, I fall back on traditional things I've always done that have worked well. And it's. It's something where Tyler, my son, who's been working in our company for the last, I can't even say, 13, 14 years, you know, into high school, through college, out of college, till now. Ty's 32. And it's funny how, you know, I'm 57 and it's. It's. I don't feel 50. I still feel young at heart. I still feel like I can do whatever I want in life and do all the things yet I look in the mirror and go, wow. And I guess. I guess I am getting older. And I have to listen to Ty's youth and his. But also his wisdom, because the youth today, I say youth, you know, younger, younger, entrepreneurs in that today, I think are more prepared than you or I ever could have been, you know, when we were in our 20s, trying to find our way through it, because there's so much more information for them. There's your program and what. What that offers as a startup and a quick punch to get out the door and out the gate. The right way. I made so many mistakes along the way. But, but getting to your point with Ty, he's brought so many other perspectives to me through his life experience and through his professional experiences and with those that he coordinates with in his life. You know, digital, for example, is something that, that, you know, we all are aware of what social media and, or, just AI Today, it's just what a mind blow. I mean, nobody can even really fully comprehend what it is or where it's going and, maybe the pitfalls or the rewards and how it can help us. But, it's important that I think we really lean into those things and not be afraid of it. And maybe I'm the guy who's always afraid and most, most people out there aren't, but maybe we have a lot in common. That too. But it's, it's pushing my team and my people to sharpen their skills, get them comfortable, ask them to do things they're not comfortable doing. Well, space. Because, like, I'll give you a great example. Nina, our office manager, you know, she's got a lot of life experience, a lot of things that she's used to doing in the office and very knowledgeable at. But there's some new technologies that I think she's a little afraid, to even dive into. I think she was so scared that she wouldn't be able to do it. And recently in the last few weeks, she dove in and she was so excited and she just came to me with like, you know, oh my gosh, I can do this. This is incredible. And I didn't think that I could ever manage these steps and figure these things out. And she hasn't. It's opening new doors for our company. Things that, you know, I wasn't doing, but. But the people around me, I'm finding ways to get them involved in their doing. Anyway. I'm rambling, but that, that's, that's kind of where I'm going with it.

Yeah. I love it though. I mean, because human beings, we're creatures of comfort. Like it doesn't matter. Like we are all afraid of change is. It's like, well, if we figured out something that's working, even if it's not working well, it just has to work good enough. As long as we're not homeless, it's easier to just to keep doing what we're doing.

Right. It's like. It's like my golf swing. I think my swing looks very different than when I see a video of it and I Realized I'm a hack, but in my m. Mind, I'm Tiger woods on the tee box.

Yeah, I don't know if I've seen it. Is it a Charles Barkley esque?

Kind of. Pretty much.

You do a stall completely.

Yippee. Over the top. And. And. Yeah.

So anyway, Greg was chiming in. How do we. How do we get Greg or, how do we flash up there?

There he is.

How do we get Keith off the golf course? I don't know.

I don't know. You're never gonna get me off the golf course.

I think it's cool, though. Like, when I look at what you've created and the way you live your life and just all the stuff we're talking about, and I know it's not perfect. I'm gonna. I'm gonna get to the hard questions, screw, ups and stuff. But right now we're talking about the good things. like you like to golf and you like to work, and you. You figure that out. I feel like without knowing it, you asked yourself the question, what has to be true? It has to be true for Keith to have this lifestyle, to be these things and show up for his family and show up for his business and show up for his clients. what's that process been like? Like, have you always been able to do that? Or did that happen some at some point along your career where you're like, I'm gonna be more intentional about having fun.

You know? no, it hasn't always been like that. I. When I was younger, I was working literally 100 plus hours a week, every week. I was working 53 hours a week full time at the fire department. And every minute I wasn't there, I was working on my business. And, you know, I was working weekends at the fire department, getting home Monday morning, working at a. I worked a, 4896 schedule. So I was on two straight days for 48 hours and then 96 off, which sounded great. When I was young, I thought, what a great, what a great schedule to have, man. I get four days off and I can ride motorcycles, take the boat to the lake, do all the fun stuff, go skiing all winter. But the reality was life got expensive and I needed to bring in the, you know, the, the bacon. And, and I was working all the time, and I, I was, I wasn't there for a month. My family, I wasn't, you know, being the father and, or true to them or myself, really. And, you know, there's a piece of Light.

Ty says he learned how to balance his time after retiring from the fire department

There's a time I felt like I threw away way too much time. And I retired from the fire department 10, years. Yeah, 10 years ago this summer. And, when I did that, it's when I really started learning how to balance my time. And. And, there's a. There was that show, we used to watch way back with, anyway, Cheers. Not Cheers, not that far back, where, it was. They. They. It was a agency out of Hollywood. And, it was on hbo. And. And the guy says, you know, he was complaining because he had to work 50 hours a week. And to his boss, and his boss says, yeah, I remember my first part time job too. I was like. And that was reality. Like, you know, if you want to succeed, you got to work, you got to put in the time and the dedication. And that's true to some level, but, I was doing it the wrong way. And so what I think I learned from all that is, is slowing down, focusing and scheduling time for the important things in your life. And I think that, Entourage. Greg, it wasn't Madman Entourage.

Yeah, yeah, Ari, I've been trying to watch that. I've been watching it, but the problem is, like, my living room is like the center of the house, so all the kids can hear it and stuff. And it's.

Yeah, that's not good.

It's not. Not for kids, guys. So I'm like, I have to wait till the kids go to sleep and then I'm up super late. It's like, it's a hard show to watch with a family.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want to do that. So anyways, but I know. I think it's important you schedule number one. I learned how to say no and how to, It's okay to say no. Can't do that. and I've learned to schedule my time, you know, a better way. And I've had a lot of people in the industry tell me I'm nuts when it comes to this. I protect my nighttime. I don't go out at night. I don't do nighttime walkthroughs. But I send my team leads. I send my guys. They get rewarded commissions over time. There's ways they are. They're excited to go out and do that, and it educates them. They learn and they develop. And I'm not the one going out there and doing it. And so I do go out on. On particular jobs and particular clients that need me out there. I do. But,

$100,000 jobs and up. You're like, okay, I'll go, I just.

Finished an 85, 000 job. I didn't go.

Yeah, because it's not a hundred, you.

Know, I don't know it, but my guys know how to do it. They, their job is to build a relationship with the clients that the client doesn't feel that I'm not there.

Is this the, this the, is this Ty, the designer or the technician going out to do the walk?

Team leads.

Are they going out every single time?

No, no, only when necessary or requested.

Okay.

You know, we, we follow up with every client about, you know, everything that we're doing, installing, completing and all the above. But when they do request a nighttime, we certainly won't deny that we go out and our team leads, we train, we talk about what they're doing and what it's all about, what it entails. And they follow through with our client until they're thrilled with everything. Like I said, I do go out, maybe I'll say at the most 10, 10 nights a year, you know, where I need to. But in. Ty probably goes out 20 or 30, I would say at the most. But our guy maybe not even that much. 20 with Ty. but our team leads go out probably one out of every six, seven installs I would say.

And then do they get paid a bonus or do they get paid extra, like hourly or how do you figure that out?

They get overtime and we give them a minimum time so that, you know, if they got it out there for an hour and make it worth their while.

Okay.

Three hour minimum to go out and and then they they also get commission. So when they're there and they need, you know, they're talking about adding a light here, there, whatever the case, they get a 10% commission on that. So, so they're excited to go get it. I had one of my guys, last pay period, I think he took about $700 in commissions. And he's my top dog. And I would say he averages.

Probably 800 to 1100amonth in commission. And that motivates him.

That's from doing those walkthroughs and upselling lights, at the walkthrough.

Little everything. Yeah. Even upsells while they're installing or at night. Either way.

Learning to set boundaries in your business and your life is important

you're talking about being intentional with your time and you know, protecting like learning to say no. Like I ain't going out every night just because someone in the Lighting industry told me I had to, or whatever it is. Right. I can tell you a lot.

Of examples of learning to say no. here's one that comes up. Not as much as it used to. Like years back, it was almost like we just were conditioned to believe that. And the world's changing. Ourselves clients work a lot more remotely than they do in an office space. but you know, we work for surgeons, we work for lawyers, we work for people that gotta be in an office. So my point is Monday, we try to schedule our last consultations, no later than 3 o' clock because we have a life. We want to be home by five ourselves. Right? And I want to be home by 3. I want to be home last night I went, played nine holes at four with my wife. So to me that's important that my wife and I have time together. And so, what I'm getting at is when people say, hey, I don't get off work, I can't get home till 5:00, I gotta meet at 5:30 or 6, or on a Saturday morning or, you know, and we just won't do it. We just tell em we will, but we figure a way out to make that work. You know, it's really funny to me how many times we told someone that, you know, they're like, we just can't meet, it has to be a Saturday. And, and we tell them, well, we're happy to do so, but just be aware, we do, we charge a $250 consultation, fee for after hours, which will apply towards your project should you move forward. You know what every one of them says, all right, I can do next Tuesday. Friday, you're like, oh, okay, great, let's make that happen. it's just, I think it's learning to set boundaries in your business and your life, so that you don't miss, you don't miss the important things.

Isn't that crazy? Like for some reason you start a business and you think that you just have to not have boundaries and be, you know, yes sir, yes ma' am, and just do everything that everyone else wants. And then when you do learn that not only is setting the boundary, like, nice, it's actually the right thing. Like, there's just no reason why if you push back on someone, then they say, yeah, let's do Tuesday at 10. You're like, what? Like, I was gonna have to come there at Saturday and then you were gonna probably blow me off because you're probably on the golf course or whatever. Like, you just don't know what you don't know until you hear Keith on a podcast tell you it's okay to set some boundaries.

Yeah. I mean, there's exceptions to rules, but that's one I won't break. I just don't break it.

Not that one.

No. I don't.

How much of your business is reliant on word of mouth

Talk a little bit about your business and apologize to put you on the spot. So if you don't have these numbers right off hand. But how much of your business? You know, a lot of. A lot of people still brag today like a badge of honor. Like, yeah, you know, my business is all word of mouth. And I'm like, oh, okay. and there's like, are you word of mouth waiting on someone to refer you, like a client? Or, like, are you going after referral partners? Because, like, going after referral partners isn't technically advertising, but it's still not. Relying on word of mouth is still a strategy there.

How much of your business is repeat versus marketing versus word of mouth

how much of your business is like, repeat versus marketing versus the word of mouth, referral type type, Stuff like that.

So we break. We. I couldn't tell you how many, source codes we have in our CRM, but it's got to be around 30, 35 source codes. As far as how we break it down. and one of those is, you know, sure, a customer referral or a strategic partner referral or, word of mouth through, you know, my golf community is one. You know, that's word of mouth. But we break it down exactly to which country club or which where, how way or why, What? but I would say a third of our business is repeat customer, referral. If that's a self referral, they bought a new home, they moved, they built. Whether it's a neighbor referral, family referral, something like that. But at the same time, that, to me, is not word of mouth. That comes through continuous, drip campaigns, through email blasts, through social media, through, you know, there's a million ways that we keep in touch with those clients. We got to m. Make sure that we're at the front of mind and, whether. And that's just you telling our story and involving them in that story as much as possible. So I think for me, that's, you know, with. With our annual services and everything we do, we're always present with our clients, and if they move, we move with them. It's just how it is. you know, we've taken sound systems out. People are moving, and they're like, I Want my sound system, we're gonna go reinstall it for them or whatever, you know, so when they move, we move with them. But did that answer your thoughts?

I think it's well said, because I think the nice thing about once you. Once you can stay in business longer than five, 10, you know, 15 years, like, you've got that benefit of even if you didn't do social media, you're going to get some referral, you're going to get some word of mouth, but what you put is this massive wave of intention behind it. And even a direct mail postcard that's not intended for your existing client is intended for your existing client. You know, like, you think, oh, I'm just going to do this to get new leads. But then all of a sudden, when you go and look at those tracking numbers, someone called you and they're like, hey, we need maintenance. We got a light out. And they called the number on the direct mail postcard, and then you go and upsell them X number of lights or whatever it is. So I think that's the message that I've. That I want to get out, that I've seen you do very well, is it's this entire ecosystem of marketing, of branding, of telling your story. And it's not just for new business. It's to sustain that, repeat that referral, that word of mouth to keep coming in.

Yeah, I mean, I get it all the time. It's so funny. I'll ask clients, you know, new, perspective clients that we're consulting, with, and I ask every single one of them, how did you hear about us? You know, natural way of conversation to start, break the ice. And it's amazing to me how many times I'll hear so many different things. Like, you know, I can't remember how we heard about you. My husband set this up. But yeah, we see you in the neighborhood all the time. Or we've seen, we've seen your mailers, we've seen your trucks, we've seen your, you know, X, Y or Z. And it blows my mind because, I mean, being a landscape lighting company, you're not a household name, you know, you're not Coca Cola. And so. But, but people. Well, I've had people pull out things from, way back and say, well, that's. I've held onto this because I've had other projects we're working through. And, you know, we just finished our pool. We knew the whole time after we got our pool we were going to have your company out here to do our lighting because we've seen your, your work and man, we're just excited to get you on board and so, so conditioning that mind.

So many landscape lighting companies out there don't have an annual maintenance plan. They, they're just in it for the, you know, the five thousand dollar, the ten thousand dollar job, whatever. And then they're like, oh man, where do I get my next lead? Yeah, don't need another lead. You need to raise your price and close more deals. but maintenance, man, this is also another way to get that repeat business, to get the referrals and all those types of stuff.

How important has service plans been for your company

How important has service plans been for your company?

It's the foundation, the backbone of what we are and who we are. I can't honestly remember thinking back why we needed an annual service plan or service mindset from the very start. But I can tell you one of the things. In my previous company, I had a lawn fertilizing company that we sold a trugreen, way back. And, and one of the things I loved about that company was the residual. You know, you didn't just go in and do one thing and say, don't call us if you need us. We sold service programs and they were renewed, they were auto renewed. And, and that's, that was what got me in that mindset, I think along with Tim McKay. Tim, worked for his brother Jerry in Omaha way back. You know, we're talking 20, five years ago or more. And then he went to work with, nightscaping with Bill Laughlin. And that was my introduction into lighting was when Tim came out to meet with me and I wanted to know about fixtures. I said, I said, tim, I need to know fixturing man. I, I need a, I need an in grade fixture for this or that. And he's like, whoa, slow down. He's like, let's talk about light. He had this old bar, it was like a acrylic bar with light sockets in it and he had all these Mr. 16s lined up on it and he'd hit the button and they turn on differently and it shot shine him up on the wall in my living room. And, and, and he's teaching me beam spread and all this stuff. And it was like, oh wow, man. So we designed with a light. I thought it was a fixture thing. And so it was really cool right from the start. And then he's telling me about you got it. You know what? I think at that time I'd sold like One job. And, And so he's talking to me about service plans, and I'm like, okay, service plans. But yeah, I mean, service. So wait, let's talk about lines. And so anyway, it just got in my head. It got in my head from the word go, that service was so important. And it's funny because along, along the way, along this journey, I've had so many guys say way back, I don't hear it too much anymore because I don't associate with them anymore. But it was like, there's no money in service. No money at all. And I'm like, what do you mean there's no money in service? It's got it. They're like, you only make money when you're installed. And I was like, okay, I can see the point of that. And maybe it's because you weren't setting up your service to be an actual, standalone part of your company. Yeah, with service, you're having your techs go out and do it in between things. And so you're not efficient in anything. But when you have teams set up just for service, and that's all they do, including your office, and somebody managing the service, it's amazing how it can, it can really not just explode for you, but, but you have to really. And it's not why you're doing it. You're doing it because it's that relationship with your clients. They, they, they trust you, they know you. They. They want you to service their system. And, and they, you know, and that's, and that's the benefit of it is, is the reward of the profitability. It makes your company, company with it. Because it is a, big deal. Big deal.

Well, you've been doing it long enough time now too, where it just keeps building up. I mean, it's like this snowball going down the mountain. It's like, okay, maybe at first there is no money in it, but you start adding another client, another client, another client. Now it's like, dang, it's a good thing we got that service in April.

May. I mean, April and May is the time of year when for. For us, our location here that, every single day we add another automatic annual to our list. So, so we kind of call it a goofy thing. We have. And we have annual service and we have our automatic handles. Our automatic annuals are those who are just on our list indefinitely, until they tell us we're done, take us off the list. But we go out and we rarely. We very get. Get very few cancellations these stay on our list. We do one, two or three visits a year depending on their, their option. You know our gold platinum diamond packages and they, they they just, it's automated. We get it done and like you say we add like one a day for two months straight. at least one a day. We've had three, four a day calling in. Yeah. Put us on the program because we, we're digitally reaching out to them. We're constantly reminding of their service. We give them very simple one click options. It's not a form, it's not a. When they call us, we'll talk to them about it. It's right in front of them and email blasts and things we do to get right in front of them and it works nice.

The most challenging part of being a business owner is employee retention

Well, switch gears for a minute. We've talked about a lot of the good stuff that's happened and a lot of the fun stuff. But what's maybe on a, the most challenge. I was just going to ask you what's the most challenging thing that you faced as a business owner? What are some of the struggles that you faced?

Covid. That wasn't fun. I think, I think that and when I say Covid it wasn't, it wasn't the hardest part for whatever reason and it's no mystery is employee retention. Finding, finding people that really can focus and value their jobs and follow direction. We've had to really work through that and work hard at building strong teams and have retention with that. And I think we're doing much better today than we were a few years ago. I'm finding and hearing and sensing that's most businesses experiences but there's still a gap there with, with I think developing people the way they need to be.

Oh, what are you, are you recruiting differently? Are you interviewing differently? Are you training differently?

Yeah, you know I think, I think we're doing better in the, that we're having better longevity. We with our people, we're getting better people. And so when we only need to find one person, it's a lot easier to find that experience I think than if we're short three or four people. You know, we're just like man, we need, we need a body, we need somebody who can show up. And now it's well more than just showing up. We're looking for the right fit, the right culture, somebody with a, actually a decent background, not necessarily in our industry but in an industry that they've done well in and be able to Incentivize them to come join our team.

Ryan, this is your first year being in Lighting Legends

So you've been in Secrets, now for a couple years. This, this is your first year being in Lighting Legends. is there anything that surprised you about yourself, or is there anything that that program's really empowered you to do that you're like, okay, this. This is, This is. This is hard.

Yeah, I mean, you know what I. You know, what I love about it is, I feel like, hey, I've got a homework assignment. There's something I'm always working on and trying to perfect, and that if I don't do that, I'm not only disappointing you or other peers in our group, but I'm also disappointing myself. And, I see the value in hard work in going through those things. And even though I've been doing this a while, I've probably in the last two, three years, applied more principles and new understanding of my company than I have before that. You just kind of go through the motions, doing the same old things. and you know what it is, too, Ryan? It's not like is part of the Legends group, or others in Lighting Secrets. It's not like you're just hearing ideas where you're going, hey, I could try that. Or, wow, I never thought of that. It's more about finding your own answers and doing the hard work. You got to put in the hard work to, I think, understand and apply what you learn. And finding your answers and realizing your strengths that you can draw from and also discovering your weaknesses and where those are and how those can bite you in the ass and shoring those things up, building your foundation better.

I like that because, like, when we meet, I'll be like, oh, man, I've got this vision of Keith and what he should do with his company and how he's gonna do this and this. I'm like, wait, that's my vision. Like, that's, that's not Keith's answer. Keith's. Keith's answer is within. Like, you have to. You have to discover your own answer. And, it's kind of interesting because, like, on one side of it, I'm like, wait, Keith isn't. He's not fulfilling my vision. Why is he not doing X, Y, or Z or whatever? But it's like, yeah, he's doing his version of his vision, which is really the most important.

I, I. Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that, Ryan, because, you know, we're all different. We all, you know, not only are we all different as individual business owners, but. But I think we're. Our demographics are different everywhere. And, you know, I think that in America, we. We have a lot of very similar understanding, and I think our clients respond a lot in the same ways to. To our approaches. But, but I. What I mean is that like, you know, there's parts of this country that. That. That, lighting is far more important than, than others and, and communities that way. But what I'm getting at is, is I like when you and I have a discussion about some things we're working on and we can't. We don't have to agree, but. But collectively we find a better process and we find, the answers, and we may not find them right then. It may take some time, but we come back to them and we keep grinding on them. We find the solutions.

Yeah, well said. And, you know, I. Look, even in the last, you know, just the last few months, you've made big changes. You've got a new office, you got new warehouse space. you're making. You're making big moves. I'm like, that's. That's pretty dang good because, you know, six months ago, a year ago, those conversations were going a little bit different, I feel like. So you are. You are creating your vision and, and fulfilling what Keith wants to do?

Well, yeah, I mean, we. I never really wanted to, expand our company necessarily to new locations or new ventures. I. I wanted to perfect what I had. And, I have, you know, some mentors and a few examples in. In my professional career in the lighting industry that I've seen be able to do that in markets that. That in my opinion, my market has so much more opportunity and I wasn't reaching my potential. So that's what I really have focused on maybe the last, you know, six, seven years. And then as I've, experienced things in life, I've just gotten to where I kind of was like, you know, I don't need to go above and beyond and go further and deeper. I'm pretty happy in life, and I don't want to mess that up. And, then I had an opportunity a year ago, a gentleman approached me, from my community here, who is in, nearly 20 markets nationwide in the outdoor industry, who wanted to have us help him expand his horizons, into the outdoor lighting industry and partner with us to. To teach, train and build in all those locations, our processes, and be part of his company. And, we struck that deal, and here we are, a few weeks ago, we finally put a ring on it. And, we are now delving into that opportunity to be nationwide, in some of the best markets in the country. And so we got a lot of work to do ahead of us. But it's a work and it's work I'm doing from right here. I don't have to be in those locations to make that happen. So he's bringing his management teams and people to us. We're diligently working on building those structures. And, it's an exciting new road for me right now. At a time when I'm kind of getting bored, you know, I don't bored, but you know what I mean? It's kind of like, hey, you know, this is exciting. It's. It's rejuvenating for me to, to. To go down that path. And I'm pretty excited about it.

Yeah, dude, well, congrats. I've. I know I've told you that before, but like, that it's so exciting because you just mentioned one thing is like, if you stay doing one thing over and over and over, at some point, like, yes, you should. You should like, get really good at it and repeat it over to become that expert. But then you reach this point where you're like, I kind of mastered, like, I don't know how much further I can take this. Right? And so now you inject this new youthful idea, this youthful project. It just reinvigorates yourself and, and gives you, like, relights that passion to be like, oh, yeah, I do have a lot more left in me. It's just always just on this side of my brain or whatever, you know. So that's what's been kind of fun to see and talk with you and have these conversations.

I think we all need growth. Like, there is no such thing as coasting

It's like, oh, man, he. He gets fired up. He's. He's getting excited about this. And I think that that's, I think it's important. Like, we all need. We all need growth. Like, I feel like if we're not growing, we're dying. Like, there is no such thing as coasting. Coasting is losing. And, doesn't always mean, you know, oh, go do this nationwide thing. Most people are not in a position where I would recommend that. And I am all for like, you know, fire ready, aim type thing, but you've. You've. You've got a lot going for you. You've got a lot. You've got your. A great business. You've got a lot of things in place that are going to allow you to do this. So congrats and well done.

Well, thank you.

Ryan M. had a heart attack last November

what else do we cover? Everything. I feel like we have got everything on my list.

I think so. Oh, I'll just throw this out there, Ryan. I, You know, I don't know why I feel compelled to share, but I think a lot of the friends in our community here may be listening. M. Are aware, but, you know, I had a heart attack last November. And, it was crazy, right, because I felt like I was prime, like I was feeling great, had no, no physical issues that, That I was even aware of. And, but. But I, you know, and I was even taking better care of myself. I'd been losing weight, quit eating fast food. I was just working on m. Better dieting, better everything. And, anyway, I ended up having a heart attack. I had, two arteries with 90% blockage. And, it was scary a little bit. You know, Know, my wife was really, really scared. I felt like, hey, I got this. It's just another thing in life you deal with, man. Speed bump. No problem. I'm, going to be right back. And I was luckily. And, I mean, I had a heart attack on Tuesday. On Friday, I was in an airplane going on vacation and three stints. But it changes your entire perspective. Like, you know, whoa. Like, you know, now I'm on. I've had to change so many habits, so many things in my life to get my health a priority. And that causes you to take other steps and make other priorities. And it just, you know, I'm glad I, I'm still around. I'm glad I have a new, new lease on life. But, it. It. It's funny how you start getting to where you're like, yeah, you know, where am I going? And something like that just slaps you in the face and you're just like, man, I gotta get control. Take it back.

Well, I'm glad you shared it.

It.

It's, you know, our consequences in life, whether they're good or bad. There's usually not always. Sometimes they're instant. Like you jump off a cliff without a parachute, you die. Like, that's pretty instant consequence. But, like, most of the consequences, like your success, where you're sitting at right now, did not happen overnight. It literally took 20 years to get you to this point. The heart attack took you 57 years to get to that point. Right? Like, these things are. They. There's a delay. And so, like, whether, you're. If you're not working on your mental health, your, Your personal health, your spirituality, what, whatever you Know that you've been called. You need to work on. It's hard because you. You probably don't feel like you're like, okay, you ate a granola bar. I don't know. Are you supposed to eat granola bars? What are you supposed to do after a heart attack?

a lot of things. It doesn't.

It might not feel good right after. You might, like, okay, well, now I'm never gonna have a heart attack. Like, that's not true. But there's always a delay. So, like, it's. It's, you know, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is today. So I just want to, like, encourage everyone to, like, get started, like, get better. Better at your health. Get better at being a business owner. Get better at sales, pricing, whatever it is. Get better at, being a leader. Like, most of us are not where our future self is going to be. That's why it's called our future self. Right. So, there's just a huge delay in these things. And I'm sure had you known, like, hey, when I'm 57 on this date, I'm going to have a heart attack, well, then, yeah, you would probably made some changes to, like, delay it or minimize it or have it go away. But we don't know that. None of us do.

Well, it's an education. It's a quick education. Like, you think you understand things. You know, if firefighter. I was a paramedic for 25 years. And, you know, and until it happens to you, you know, you think you're, you're. You're, you know, indispensable, like, like, this won't happen to me, you know, because I'm not that guy who's 350 pounds and, you know, doing all these other things. But my insides were. And. And, you know, I learned a lot about genetics and how that's 90% of your. Your makeup. You know, there's things aren't in your control necessarily, but there's also a lot of things that are in your control and having to do. Do the right things and diving and the way I was living and more cardio and, you know, it's a great time to have a heart attack if you're gonna have one, because it's amazing today versus just a few years ago. You know, seriously, I. I mean, not so, not too long ago, they would have sent me home and said, you know, rest for six weeks and good luck, you know, and here's some nitro if you have a problem. Take this. Now that the medicine and technology to it is just truly amazing.

What are some habits or routines that you're more intentional about now

What are some.

What are some, habits or routines, Some things that you're more intentional now. I know the other day we were. Yeah, I was eating my Chick fil A or something. You were eating your salad.

Oh, yeah. Well, you know, you gotta. You gotta. They get your attention real quick. Your cardiologist, you know, gives it to you straight. a couple of habits. One for me was smoking cigars. No more. Done. Nicotine is, plaques. Number one enemy is nicotine, and that's what causes it, creates it. With your genetics, you have. And so, no. No more. No more shenanigans like that, with the boys on the golf course or. Or in the backyard or wherever I am. it's no, more red meat, except for maybe one steak a month kind of thing. I was eating fillets, like, you know, like Big Macs. It was like, you know, that was my go to every day. And it was like, no, you're not doing that anymore. And, so it's, Mediterranean diet. my meds, I might take. I take every day. Blood thinners and blood pressure and, you know, statins, all that stuff. But it's. It's just being smart. Smart decisions. Taking good care of it. So that's the. That's the trick.

Sarah: Having a heart attack changes your perspective on many things

So. Hey, Sarah.

Yeah. I appreciate you sharing. What's up, Sarah? all right. Well, no, that's cool, man. I've always appreciate our conversations. I appreciate you being vulnerable on here and talking about your business and your personal life and your health and. And all this stuff. There's just so many. So many good takeaways. I know I was already on, like, a personal health journey before your heart attack, but it changed my perspective, too. You know, I'm like, there's no way I would. I was surprised when you're like, yeah, I just had a heart attack. I'm like, what? Like, you're not old enough to have a heart attack. Seem healthy to me. I didn't know how much you smoke cigars, so maybe. Maybe I should have known.

But, hey, no one's more surprised than me, I can tell you that.

Yeah, exactly. But, yeah, you know, it changes your perspective for sure. So, you know, I'm on this kick right now of not just like, like, physical health, but really, I feel like if you can win the personal battle with health and mindset and all this stuff, like the business stuff. I'm not going to say it's easy because it's. Business is not. It's one of the hardest things ever, but it's a challenge that's winnable. And it's a much easier when you're in the right mindset, when you're in good health and all these things. And if you can win that personal struggle, then the business side becomes relatively easy at that point.

No doubt. You know, I think when you're focusing on the right things, though, when turbulence comes in your business, and it will, you know, there's always something you're trying to fix, fixed or gets broken or whatever it is, you have the time and the mindset to focus on it. You know, when you're running out of control, man, everything just seems to cave. It's like you just can't keep up and you're just. You're not focused on the right things.

Well, I'm glad that Keith is still here. I know your wife is, so thanks for, you know, hanging in there, buddy.

Ryan Miller says he had a heart attack Tuesday before Thanksgiving

And you got to go on that vacation literally like three days after. What'd your surgeon say? You told them you were going on vacation right after that?

Yeah, they wheeled me in and I says, before we put you under, do you have any questions? I said, yeah, just one. And this was Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I said, Friday, I'm getting on an airplane. He says, where are you going? I said, curacao. And he goes, that sounds really nice. He goes, well, I tell you what, I'm not gonna answer that question right now, but, when you wake up, I'll let you know. So I wake up, first thing he says is, you want the good news or the bad news? I said, the good news. He goes, you're gonna be going on your vacay, man. He goes, but you're going to carry your medications, your blood thinners with you every day on your body. You can't check them in. It's a life threatening emergency if you don't. And I said, well, what's the bad news? And he goes, oh, you got three stents, but we fixed you. You're fine. I was like, really? Okay.

Anyway, which that was a shocker because I talked to you before you went in for surgery and you were like. Or, you were like, I don't know, it might. It's like, might be like a heart attack or something. I'm fine, you know, like, I mean, my wife's gonna come get me just in case, but. And then all of a sudden you're like, yeah, dude, I had three stints.

Dude, my wife is gonna kill me because. And so is Nina, my office manager. So I'm sitting here in my office, and I knew I had an event that morning, but it went away. I was feeling fine, but I was like, I gotta go get checked. I can't just assume this was nothing. And, And I should have just immediately just probably called 911 when I had it, but I. You know, I'm too stupid. And, you know, being a paramedic firefighter, what do I know? I was just. I had too much to get done that day before Thanksgiving. World's crazy. I got too much to get done. Well, no, here's the. Here's the kicker. I said, I've got. I have a zoom call with, one of our secret members that I coaching call that I was engaged on. And I said, I'll go after the call. And my wife walked into the office, and she looks at me, and she. She gave me the look of death. She's like, you get your ass off that phone in the car right now. Are going to hospital. I'm like, but I feel fine. Anyway, yeah, I was an idiot.

Oh, my gosh. Dedication.

I was an idiot. I never even told, like. I know. I'm trying to remember who that call was with, too, that day. And I don't even think he knew. I don't think I ever told him.

Sorry. I had a heart attack. Can we reschedule? All right, well, thanks for coming on here, man. Really appreciate you, Keith. And, stay healthy out there, okay?

Hey, same Ryan. Doing great things in this world. Appreciate you. Yeah.

Ah, you're welcome. I appreciate you. Oh, where's this? What's going on? I was gonna play outro music. Oh, there it is. All right, guys, go do stuff. Keep moving forward. Be better than you were yesterday. Love y' all.