Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast brought to you by Mitre Brands University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Conner and I am your host.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and we are recording today. Today in Orlando, we are at the Doubletree doing a little training for Central Florida folks. I have convinced Kyle Bryan to sit down at this table and record with me. So welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: All right, thank you, Sher. I'm glad to be here.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Yeah, thanks for letting me twist your arm a little bit. So actually you and I had a phone conversation not too long ago because I was trying to track down Kelly.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Who is your wife, because y' all.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Went on the ETP trip and we wanted to have a conversation about that. So super fun that you're here and we actually get to have our own podcast.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: Yeah, that was awesome. I was really happy that you were going to be here and actually, you know, meet you in person. It was a great conversation that we did have on the phone. And I'm glad that you hooked up with Kelly to get that info from her because it was a fantastic trip on, you know, the ETP was just phenomenal.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: So tell us a little bit about like your company, your location, what your business focuses on and what's your role in the company.
[00:01:22] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, our company is Florida Windows and Doors with the S, because there is a Florida window and door that we always get confused with. We have the S in our name with the windows and doors. So my mother and father in law are the owners of the company and they've had the business for about 25 years now. And Kelly, my wife, she's been with the company now for going on around nine years and I'm coming up on about four years now. My previous work experience was completely different from the window and door construction industry. So I kind of just jumped in head first. And it's been a learning experience. Every day you kind of learn something new, but it's been fun. It's been great. It's obviously you can know it's a family business from that. So our headquarters are located in Pompano Beach, Florida. So we're a little south of here in the Orlando area. And we also have offices in Fort Myers and Venice on the west coast. So we have three different offices that we run out of. The Pompano location on the east coast is our largest of the three. I would say we do about 50% of the business on the east coast. And then the other, the Fort Myers at Venice office do about 25 and 25, so the other 50% split between them.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:27] Speaker C: We do the majority of our business is new construction with our corporate builders that we work with. The retrofit market is something that kind of just comes to us when it happens mainly through like friends and family or contact with a builder or something that wants kind of a one off project. So the majority of our business is new construction with our corporate builders.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Awesome. And so what is your role in the company?
[00:02:47] Speaker C: So I am the general manager of production and sales.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:50] Speaker C: So I head up working with Corey Whaley who's our close contact, our corporate builder rep with Mitre and then also Tony Perumal and your staff. They're phenomenal. They're always gives, give us, you know, the support that we need to meet our builders request. So I work hand in hand with them and then getting bids and proposals to our builders when new projects come up, actively working with them on their pricing. There's always kind of negotiations that go back and forth. They're always kind of trying to get the best price out there. So there's always that aspect of it. So a good portion of my time is just keeping those relationships mainly with the purchasing departments without, you know, through our builder kind of portfolio. And then in the operations of our company, I head up all of kind of what we them as production, which is kind of the first install of our homes. You know, the, when we're going out there when it's the shell of the house and we are the, you know, the first finished product in the house, putting those windows in. So I head up that portion of our operation on the east coast and Kelly and I both kind of share roles, they cross over. We have our own independent service department within our company as well.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:54] Speaker C: That handles the finishing touches, the screen and punch outs, all the QA QI walks with the new homeowners and all that. And I kind of get involved with that here and there as well. And then we have 30,000 foot warehouse that we, you know, have a full warehouse staff that we have to make sure on top of everything. And so I'm actively involved with them on a day to day basis just making sure all of our product is actively inventoried and staged and ready for our installers to pick up every morning. So that's a big part of our day to day kind of operation, making sure that we have everything ready to go, you know, so that we turn out on average like a month, I would say just within our office on the, on the east coast. We Do I would say roughly around 150 homes a month. Wow. Yeah. So, you know.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Okay, that's Holland.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: Yeah, we do a good portion and so we're always keeping busy and making sure that we are on top of our builder schedules, you know, because they haven't really slowed down too much with the. Some of the economic or the market or sales. They're still building out their pretty actively, so.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Right. That's amazing. I know. I've been hearing that they're just going to keep building whether or not they have a contract on it or not, they're going to have it ready to go. So. Yeah. Wow, that's amazing.
[00:05:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: Sounds like you're busy.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: It is. It is a good thing.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: Okay, so you have given up two full days now or will be two full days by the time this is over today to come to a training event and to bring some of your folks with you. And I don't want to keep us too long because we have another session coming up. What has been maybe one or two key takeaways that you've gotten so far?
[00:05:26] Speaker C: Kind of just what we were talking about leading up to this is just the questions and the interactions with the audience, with us being within the training and Patrick and Francisco and yourself. I think that's when the best knowledge is shared. Obviously you guys present and give phenomenal information. The one piece that really was great to hear this morning was about the watermark on the PGT windows with having the sales order on. I did not know that and none of my field managers knew it either. And we're like, wow, that's really good. Great information to know. And actually as soon as I found that out, I text Kelly, I said, did you know that the SO numbers in the watermark? And she said, no, that's awesome. So just little bits and pieces like that. That type of information is phenomenal to pick up. So that's a great example of just. And then just throughout yesterday and this morning, it's always. Whether you're a seasoned vet in the industry or you're new, it's always great to kind of get a refresh on certain things. And yeah, it's been great.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, you and I have been in it for about the same amount of time. I had a four year mark in January where I completed four years at PGT but had no experience in the industry prior to coming in onto the education team for, you know, of all places to land. Like, oh boy, I guess I have my work cut out for me here learning all this. So I have a lot of empathy for people that are new and just trying to wrap your head around all of the different things that there are to know. We were having a great conversation about safety glass and laminated glass. So, you know, I'm like, oh, I know that one, I know that one.
[00:06:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: But, yeah, you know, there's a lot of knowledge out there that may or may not be accurate.
[00:06:56] Speaker C: It is. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge. And I always, every time this is the second or third in person training that I've attended with Patrick.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:04] Speaker C: And every time I see him, my memory is jogged because literally when I first started in the business, just like you said, you're kind of just coming in brand new. My father in law sat me down in front of the computer, put on PGT University and I watched, I think, every video between Patrick and Jim and everybody else for about a month.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: And I actually did so many of the tutorials and credits and everything that my name got put into some raffle and I won a huge, like, gift card and cooler and.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: Oh, fun.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: Our sales rep came to our office and videotaped giving me the prizes.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a learning contest a couple years ago.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: I won that. I was one of the winners.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Nice, nice job.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Well done.
[00:07:41] Speaker C: But it is great that you guys put out that information because it's so valuable. It does help people in our situations learn and get accustomed to the industry. So it's. It's very valuable. Thank you.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: Nice. Well, we appreciate your time. Thank you for sitting down and chatting with me and we'll get back in there so they can get started, right?
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Sure. Yeah. It was great talking to you. Thank you.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Yes, you too, Kyle. Thank you.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: The Clear Impact podcast is brought to you by Miter Brands University. We are a part of Miter Brands, a family of leading window and door brands united by our passion for quality and relentless pursuit of 100%. At Mitre Brands, our common purpose is to deliver value by manufacturing the finest products, services and customer experience every day, everywhere. Our window and door brands deliver regionalized expertise, products and services, all backed by a national company.
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