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.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: And I think that's why it's important that we're educating people on windows and doors, because to the average person, it just looks like a window and door. Like, they all look the same. So for us to highlight the benefits and features is huge. And we steer them towards either PGT or mi, you know, mostly because we trust the product and we want what's best for our clients. So.
[00:00:37] Speaker C: All right, so good morning. We are here on the Clear Impact Podcast and I'm joined by two very special people today. Mika and Brian Kleinschmidt. Welcome.
[00:00:47] Speaker D: Yay.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Thanks for having us. Clear Impact. I like the name of the show.
[00:00:50] Speaker D: I love that. Yeah, thank you.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: Well, there's a little bit of a double entendre with that. Right?
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: So clear, obviously, windows, doors, Glass Impact.
Right. Because we are the leaders of the impact industry as far as PGT goes. But also we are an education podcast, and so we want things to be clear and we wanna make an impact out in the industry and with our customers and with homeowners.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: So it's got all kinds of interesting meaning behind that.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Mika, we're going back to school today.
[00:01:20] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. I love that.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Miter Brands University. Here we go.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: That's it. That's it. You got it.
So I've watched a few of the episodes. I'm not a huge HGTV person, but I watched a few and now I'm remodeling a house. And so I'm like, now I'm in it. Right. But I am curious about your background. Like, how did you guys end up in this space?
[00:01:41] Speaker D: Yeah. I mean.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Oh, man. Where do we start?
[00:01:42] Speaker D: We definitely, you know, I would say the clearest and most impactful answer for that.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Oh, nice, Mika.
[00:01:49] Speaker D: I mean, we ran a couple of fitness franchises before we got into real estate, but we actually started out as more on the investor side, where we were finding vacant land and we would partner with the contractor, build a spec house, and then sell it on the back end. We did that three or four times, and we really discovered that we loved, like, the new construction, the design aspect and starting from a blank canvas and this empty lot and then creating this beautiful home on there. So I think that's kind of what got us started in this career field.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Yeah. And there was nobody on HGTV that was doing a show that focused from the ground up construction. It was all, like, Renovations or flips. So a connection I had way back in college. She was a producer at a production company and said, hey, there might be a show idea. Would you guys be interested? And we're like, I guess, yeah. So we just kind of went for it. We shot like a sizzle reel on our cell phone, believe it or not.
[00:02:42] Speaker C: Right.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: And then submitted that and then it turned into a pilot episode and we just wrapped filming season six of our show. So it's crazy how it all kind of happened.
[00:02:51] Speaker C: That's amazing.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker C: So I have a personal friend of mine who was one of the original HGTV people, Sherry Hiller.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: So I don't know.
[00:03:00] Speaker D: Oh, I know her. Well, I haven't met her, but I definitely.
[00:03:03] Speaker C: Sherry and Matt.
[00:03:04] Speaker D: I met Matt.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: We met Matt. We did a home show with him and he was kind of like our mc.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: How do you know them?
[00:03:12] Speaker C: We go to church together. And so I've known her and her husband for a long time. And.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, so she lives down here.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: They're in Sarasota.
[00:03:18] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:03:18] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Because Matt lived in. I think it was Cleveland.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Yeah. They migrated from Ohio, so they're here full time now. And she's still working as an interior designer. And I tried to get her on the docket for my house and she was too busy.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: And so she's an og. Oh, yeah, she is an OG of hgtv.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Uh, hu.
Very cool.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: She paved the way for us, so we thank her.
[00:03:37] Speaker C: Yeah, she's an amazing woman. Very creative, very artistic. So anyway, you guys have been partners with PGT for a little bit. Why did you guys decide to start working with us?
[00:03:46] Speaker D: Oh, man. Well, first of all, we were already using PGT products in almost all the houses.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:51] Speaker D: So it was a no brainer. I think a lot of times when we're designing homes, especially in Florida, you want to capitalize. Like what I look at is an empty lot, but I look at the views. I look at, like, how the lighting is, what the surrounding area looks like. So I think really is something you think about in the very beginning of the design phases.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, we love pgt. We love the fact that they're built right here, not just in the U.S. but in Florida, in our backyard.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: I think it took us like 45 minutes to get here today. Just straight down 75. So we love supporting a local company that makes a great impact. Pardon the pun, but yeah, like Mika said, we were already using PGT and MI in most of our builds, so it was just a natural fit.
[00:04:29] Speaker C: And so you mentioned the natural light. What difference does natural light make in, like, how a space feels?
[00:04:35] Speaker D: Definitely. So I think when you're looking at wherever the home is positioned, natural light obviously can make it feel a little bit bigger, brighter. You also wanna make sure, like, what are you looking at through that natural light? Right. Do you have a neighbor right there? Is there a huge tree? So there's so many aspects that we kind of take. I mean, windows are really kind of like, it's almost making the surrounding, like, artwork. Right. It's our view in the home.
So we really feel like natural light just makes you happy. Yeah. I was gonna say, I definitely would never, like, wanna work in an office space that had, like, no windows. I would just feel trapped in.
Be there.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: You mean like this podcast studio? Like, there's no natural light? Well, we're bringing the energy.
[00:05:16] Speaker D: We do have a beautiful, beautiful. Like, you have a view.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: I can see the parking lot, just barely.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: That's why you took that chair.
No, like Mika said, like, natural light. It does give great energy into a house. If people like house plants, which Mika just got a house plant for her birthday.
[00:05:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: So we're going to try to keep that alive with some natural light, hopefully. But, yeah, you want to be strategic on where the natural light is. So we plan that from the beginning of where these windows are going to go. It's funny, we just met with one of our clients who hasn't even broken ground on their house, and they're already trying to figure out what they want their views to be, where they want their windows to be, that kind of thing already.
So, I mean, planned way in advance.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that makes total sense. Are there any specific window styles that you prefer, one over the other?
[00:06:00] Speaker A: I will say arches are making a huge comeback, not just in the architecture of the house, but also in the windows. We're starting to see more of that.
And also black frame windows are definitely still pretty popular.
[00:06:12] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:06:12] Speaker D: Yeah, I love casement windows. I actually like storefront. Like just the open, like, picture frame. Picture frame. I think that's actually what the clients are leaning towards because we've seen that example even in the interior of a home. Like, if you want to have a home office and create kind of like this storefront picture, kind of like this. Yeah, yeah. So on the outside and the inside of the home. But anything that's going to provide a view in the right application. Right. Because those are not like, going to provide that much privacy. So you guys to strategically place them.
[00:06:41] Speaker C: Sure. Yeah. No, that makes Sense. Well, I love that I have arches in my house.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: There you go. Was it from back in the day or is it planned?
[00:06:49] Speaker C: 1994.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: It's back.
[00:06:51] Speaker C: It's back.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: You just have to wait a little longer.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: I love them. I love them. So I'm very excited we're replacing everything.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Trends always come full circle.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Or in this case, I guess it'd be half circle.
[00:07:01] Speaker D: Right.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: If it's just an arch.
[00:07:02] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:07:03] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: Is he like this all the time?
[00:07:04] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:07:05] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:07:05] Speaker D: 100%, yeah.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: Does your face hurt from laughing all day?
[00:07:08] Speaker D: I've heard most of the jokes, but sometimes he'll get me with a new one.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: You've never heard that one. That was a new one.
[00:07:12] Speaker D: That was pretty witty, you know, pretty good.
[00:07:14] Speaker C: Quick, quick response. That's amazing. So what is like a go to product on the PGT line that you are like, they have to have this.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: I would say impact for sure. Not just because the name of this podcast, because the weather that we are surrounded by here in Florida, but not just the weather. I mean, also security, sound energy efficiency. I mean, I could keep on going. The reasons why we suggest impact, even if you're not in a high wind area, we still suggest impact to all of our clients.
[00:07:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:43] Speaker D: It might cost a little bit more up front, but you're not dealing with having to put shutters up during hurricane season.
Peace of mind. And actually, I think you save a little on your homeowner's insurance. So it's like it does pay off if you're going to be in the home for several years. I would say definitely. Yeah.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: That's our old house. We had just regular windows and every time a storm came through, I had to get out there and put the vinyl shutters on a two story. On a two story. It took me forever. And a lot of times the storm just kind of veered off and went in another direction. So I spent all that time and effort and then you got to take it down or you get lazy and don't take it down for a while.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: So I don't know, like Miki said, it's just a peace of mind when a storm does roll through that you can sit in your house, enjoy the view of the storm. Cause they're beautiful.
[00:08:23] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: And just, you know, be calm.
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: And just watch it pass and you
[00:08:27] Speaker C: don't have to worry about being home.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Like, there's so many people that are seasonal residents. Or even if you're not fully seasonal, you can still, you know, hey, I'm escaping to the mountains somewhere in July.
Well, then you gotta keep an eye on things and like, oh, I'm gonna go the other way and get home in time or hope that your neighbor comes through and will put your shutters up.
So it's just a big hassle. So. Yeah, absolutely. Impact, for sure.
So here's a question. You guys do a lot of renos as well as new builds, so how does updating windows and doors transform a space?
[00:09:00] Speaker D: Oh, man. Well, we just did that. A close friend of mine, they've been in their house since, gosh, the 1980s and had the original windows, original sliders. So talk about, like, not energy efficient and paper thin. So not only, you know, from a design aspect, it's a great opportunity to maybe have a better aesthetic, maybe change out the finish, make it feel more modern. A lot of the older windows, too, I've noticed, have a lot of the colonial style, like gridding, which in my opinion, it kind of blocks the view. It's dated.
So it's like, let's open that up a little bit, make it more clean and nice, sleeker finish.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: And I will say they've already reported back to us that they're saving on their energy bill already. And they live close to the airport. And they used to be woken up by airplanes. Now they don't hear them at all.
[00:09:46] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: So they're sleeping better as well. And they're sleeping better because they don't have a huge power bill anymore. But overall, I mean, that was. We actually did a photo shoot for you guys there, and we got a ton of great before and after photos of that project. They did all new windows and all new sliders.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: We are sharing our expertise around all topics relating to the window and door industry. Whether you are a customer selling our products or a homeowner doing research, the Clear Impact podcast provides helpful content that makes an impact. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts.
[00:10:20] Speaker C: Yeah, the sliders are amazing.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker C: Especially as we get into some of the better glass technologies where it weigh as much. Yes, that's coming nice and smooth.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: We might need to update ours because ours is still quite the workout to open. But that's one of our favorite things when we're designing a space is how to open up the back of the house for that indoor outdoor living that people expect in Florida.
[00:10:41] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: You know, whether you pocket behind the wall or you do, you know, accordion glass, there's many ways to get it open. But it's important to do that yeah, for sure.
[00:10:50] Speaker C: So what fun projects do you guys have coming up?
[00:10:51] Speaker A: We have many, but one of my favorites is right in our backyard in Orlando. It's called HGTV Smart Home. What it is, it's a competition, so the HGTV viewers can watch it, enter a contest for a chance to win the house. It's valued at $1.3 million, plus you get $100,000 cash. But I think one of the favorite features of that house is this PGT glass we put in the movie theater. So it's privacy glass.
[00:11:15] Speaker C: The click. Yeah.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Click the switch. You can basically turn it, you know, full privacy, turn it back on, you know, look outside again. But it's got all the bells and whistles. This HGTV Smart Home does. And it was really fun to not only host the show, but also design the house.
[00:11:28] Speaker D: Definitely. I mean, we can't enter to win, but everybody else can.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: I think that I wish we were eligible.
[00:11:33] Speaker D: I want to say that premieres on April 24th. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. We're already in April. Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Starring some PGT glass.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: Nice. Yeah. But it's in Orlando.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: I know. Not too far, though.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: I mean, not knocking Orlando. It's just a little bit longer of a drive to the beach and, you
[00:11:48] Speaker D: know, this is true. This is true.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: You should see the backyard.
[00:11:50] Speaker D: I was going to say, though, we kind of cruise. Created your own beach experience. So. Yeah. Beautiful pool area, cabana, outdoor kitchen. All the things you probably wouldn't have to go to the beaches.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: It almost feels like you're on vacation when you're at this house.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: Okay. All right. I like that resort style living. Oh, it really is nice. As a Florida homeowner, what should the priority be when choosing doors and windows, do you think?
[00:12:11] Speaker D: I think, you know, well, from a designer aspect, I'm like, I just want the house to be pretty. But honestly, you do have to think about some of those aspects. Like Brian was mentioning, energy efficiency. And then where you're located, like, are you in a wind zone? Are you near the water? Things like that. That'll come into play. Environmental aspects, but then maintenance, too. I'm like, if I have a brand new house, I don't want to be worried about, like, the upkeep of certain things. Like, I want it to be kind of low maintenance living.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Functionality is key when you're designing a house. Like Mickey said, it's got to look good, but it also has to work for the family.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: And work for everything else in your life. Like we mentioned earlier, the safety, peace of mind your energy efficiency with your bills. So, yeah, it's super important. I mean, these windows are structurally part of the house, especially with some of these, you know, sliders we were talking about. It's basically a wide open hole in the back of your house that you have to figure out. So, yeah, PGT has great products and that's why we count on them to come through for us.
[00:13:07] Speaker D: Yeah. And when you're selecting them, you know, I'll be honest, we don't really open our windows in our home. We really want the access to the backyard. So that's where you have your slider. But like, I've even seen the slider type windows. If you're going to have an outdoor kitchen where people kind of have that open opening to where the kitchen, you can like pass through.
Pass through. Those are kind of nice. Yeah, so those are like the nice little features that if you're going to design the house from the ground up, think about, like, am I going to need to open this? Like, if. How often? Like, make sure it's the right product for the space.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Like Mika said earlier, you know, strategically figuring out where you want the windows. So if you have a bedroom that faces your neighbors, maybe some transom windows up top to still let the light in, but, you know, keep the neighbors out. So we think about all of that on the. On the front end way in the beginning, in the design phase. Basically, it's like we're designing the house around the windows and doors, which is the way it should be. Right?
[00:13:58] Speaker D: That's right. I mean, that is a structural part of it. And then just to add onto that, think about like. Cause window treatments aren't inexpensive either. So you think about, am I gonna have to put some kind of privacy treatment on here? Cause when we did that to our house, I mean, it was thousands of dollars to kind of create those shutters and like the nicer ones. So, yeah, just kind of thinking about how are you gonna dress up that window too?
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Right. Well, and if you do privacy glass, like so, for example, like a master bath that faces the street, instead of having a shutter that covers all of that natural light, put some privacy glass in that window and then you don't need the shutter.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:14:36] Speaker C: And you don't need to pay for the shutter. And you still get the privacy, but you also get a lot of that light coming in.
[00:14:42] Speaker D: I will say that's so true. Because almost in every like main suite bathroom with a standalone tub, there's a window right in front of the tub. And I'M like, are you giving a free show to the neighbors? Or like, what are we doing to make sure that you get the light? But not like, you know.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: So we talked earlier that arches are making a comeback. You're in the glass business.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Is glass block ever gonna make a comeback?
[00:15:05] Speaker D: Ooh.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: I wanna know right now, here on the Clear Impact podcast.
[00:15:11] Speaker C: If I were a gambling person, I would say no.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Shoot.
[00:15:15] Speaker D: I think the only application of that being used as an interior design, like maybe if you have a speakeasy space in your room or like a bar area, maybe somehow there where you can have fun with some lighting in the back area.
[00:15:30] Speaker C: I was gonna say maybe some light behind it, but not like in your
[00:15:34] Speaker A: master bath like my parents house was.
[00:15:36] Speaker D: Oh, man.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: We actually demoed a house this past season, and we saved some of the glass block and we turned them into really cool planters for, like, succulent plants. Oh, those turned out. We drilled holes in it.
[00:15:46] Speaker D: Yeah, we upcycled them.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah, we upcycled. We put soil in it and. And some nice succulents. So maybe that's how they're gonna make their comeback.
[00:15:52] Speaker C: Yeah, in bits and pieces.
[00:15:54] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:15:55] Speaker C: I'm not a designer, so I don't really know, but I can't imagine.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: No.
[00:15:59] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: What am I gonna do with all the glass block in our garage then? I don't know that I've been stockpiling.
[00:16:04] Speaker D: We'll figure it out.
[00:16:05] Speaker C: You know, you could put it in, like, a bar area, like some kind of game room, entertainment room, something like that, where it is more of a conversational piece so that you can all just talk about how glad you are that that isn't in style anymore.
[00:16:19] Speaker D: We can make a sculpture of ourselves, put it in the front yard, some
[00:16:22] Speaker A: nice light, like a Lego sculpture.
I know that's gonna fly.
[00:16:25] Speaker C: Okay, now. So now you're talking about Lego stuff. That is huge. And so if you could figure out a way to tie it into Legos, now you're onto something.
[00:16:33] Speaker D: Boom. There you go.
[00:16:34] Speaker C: I like it.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Now we're talking.
[00:16:36] Speaker C: All right, so here's a challenge for you. Uh, oh, this is not from me. This is from our marketing team.
[00:16:40] Speaker D: Oh, boy. Get ready.
[00:16:42] Speaker C: You can handle it. How would you describe your design approach in one sentence?
[00:16:47] Speaker D: Ooh, shoot. One sentence.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: I would say Brian and Mika's design approach is functionality with a capital F U, N. Because we have fun no matter what. And that was a long run on sentence period.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: That was perfect. That was a perfect sentence.
[00:17:04] Speaker D: Oh, man. Yeah, I think it's more like. I don't even know if I can top that, Brian, because.
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Does that mean I won?
[00:17:11] Speaker D: I do think that we really take the design approach of functionality.
But also, I can't think of a fun pun for clients, but I like to make sure that they're in the driver's seat during design and we're there supporting. So designing with that level of team effort.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: We're co piloting.
[00:17:29] Speaker D: Co piloting.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: I almost say co parenting.
[00:17:31] Speaker D: Co piloting. Co piloting through the design. And sometimes there's therapy sessions needed.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Period.
[00:17:37] Speaker D: Period.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: You have to hold their hand through it. Right. Because they don't know. Like, we don't know what we want. Show us.
Like, give us a picture to look at. I don't know. There's too many choices out there.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:47] Speaker C: Like cabinetry, Knobs. Are you kidding?
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: There's bajillions of them.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: Mika filmed a scene at a local cabinet shop for knobs, and there were thousands of choices.
[00:17:57] Speaker C: Thousands.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: And they all start looking the same.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Oh, completely.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that's why it's important that we're educating people on windows and doors. Because to the average person, it just looks like a window and door. Like, they all look the same. So for us to highlight the benefits and features is huge. And we steer them towards either PGT or mi, you know, mostly because we trust the product and we want what's best for our clients.
[00:18:17] Speaker C: Yeah, no, for sure. And it's the least sexy of the things, right? I mean, not anymore. Not anymore.
[00:18:23] Speaker A: Yeah. There's some good stuff now, but, like,
[00:18:24] Speaker C: you know, you think about tile and you think about countertops and you think about flooring and you think about light fixtures and you think about all those things and they're like windows and doors. Like, wait, what?
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Like, it's important, though.
[00:18:35] Speaker C: It is important. The functionality. Absolutely. And I loved what you said about the fun. So I think that's it. Do you have any questions for me?
[00:18:42] Speaker D: We had some fun, didn't we? So what do you foresee being in the industry and you might have some insight before the general public knows about products that are up and coming, like, in the next five or 10 years.
[00:18:53] Speaker C: We have been working on and off for the last few years around solar technology.
[00:18:59] Speaker D: Oh, nice.
[00:19:00] Speaker C: For windows and doors, there's actually a specific name for it. It's called photovoltaic glass. So if you think about, like, a solar panel on your roof that's harnessing all of that energy, having that be clear enough to be used as a window.
[00:19:14] Speaker A: Love that. Very smart.
[00:19:16] Speaker C: And so we've been playing around with different partners and different glass companies to try to get that going. I don't know where we stand in that today, but that was something that we were toying with a couple of
[00:19:26] Speaker A: years ago that needs to be in the future. Hgtv Smart home.
[00:19:29] Speaker C: Smart. Smart.
[00:19:29] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. Absolutely.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: Nobody likes the look of regular solar panel panels on their.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: No, absolutely not.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: Because it's dangerous. If a storm comes, those things could go flying off, and insurance doesn't cover those when they start flying. So if it was part of the glass, I mean, yes, in residential, but I could see it in commercial spaces. Like an office building.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: Could you imagine a whole office building? The windows powering the building?
[00:19:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:50] Speaker D: Oh, man.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Wild to think about.
[00:19:51] Speaker C: Yeah. No, it would be amazing. And it really provides some nice things for, like, off the grid living. You know, if you wanted to have an RV that's powered with the, you know, I don't know, there's a lot of different possibilities with that.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:20:04] Speaker C: But, yeah, they had one installed over at Ilab and they were charging power tools from it.
[00:20:08] Speaker D: Dude, that's great.
[00:20:09] Speaker C: And then, I don't know, I think the company went under. And so we're waiting for another company to take that on.
[00:20:15] Speaker D: It'll happen.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: So we've taken a tour of the whole facility here, which is amazing. But, yeah, we got to experience Ilab and some of the stuff they're thinking about and talking about over there. They're dreaming big.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: And making it happen, too.
[00:20:26] Speaker C: And they have the permission to do so.
[00:20:27] Speaker D: Right.
[00:20:28] Speaker C: So, like, yeah, we want to be profitable and we want to make sure that every idea is a good idea, but sometimes you have to have a couple of bad ideas first. And so they do have some really ingenious people over there that are just. I'm like, wait, what? How did you think of that?
[00:20:41] Speaker D: Well, if they ever need anybody to pilot any of these new products, we don't live far from here. We'll drive up, we'll pick it up, let you know if it works. The residential field, we'll be the guinea pigs. Absolutely.
[00:20:50] Speaker C: I'm sure they will love to hear that.
[00:20:51] Speaker D: Sign me up.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: All right. Well, I am so thrilled that you guys made time to come down and chat with me. Absolutely. Thank you for sharing your insight. I love the approach. It obviously reflects in your show because they are fun, they are entertaining, but you guys are just genuine, down to earth and happy.
[00:21:09] Speaker A: April Fool's Day is this whole podcast a trick.
[00:21:13] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: Is this microphone going to spray water at me?
[00:21:16] Speaker C: No.
No.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Well, hey, hopefully we were clear and impactful today.
[00:21:21] Speaker C: Oh, yes, very much so.
[00:21:22] Speaker D: Thanks for having us.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Thanks, guys.
[00:21:24] Speaker B: All right.
[00:21:24] Speaker C: Bye.
[00:21:25] Speaker D: Bye.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: The Clear Impact Podcast is brought to you by Mitre Brands University. We are a part of Mitre Brands, a family of leading window and door
[00:21:35] Speaker C: brands, united by our passion for quality
[00:21:37] Speaker B: 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.
Miter Brands University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed, informed consumer of window and door products.
