Bucket Talk

Hailing from Niagara Falls, New York, Russel Joe is no stranger to the trades. As Russ says “it’s in the blood.” Growing up he worked alongside his father in the family plumbing business. Post high-school, however, Russ’s career took a completely different route.

In the 10 years after high school Russ covered everything from laying down conduit, to becoming a conductor for a railroad company, to even handling finances for an automotive dealer. In between all of that, he married, became a fathered, and divorced. 

Now in his late 20’s, fathering a young daughter, and living in Massachusetts, Russ set out to build his own business. With no connections and no prior business experience, taking the leap was no simple feat. Not only was he struggling to acquire customers, but bills were adding up and Russ was feeling the pressures of running a business. 

“I went from being hyped up, to this is real….I tell you that first year and a half, I didn’t sleep very well.”

Now in his mid 30’s Russ looks back on those times as a pivotal moment. With Quality Sewer serving a multitude of clients everywhere from Maine to Boston, Russ’s big take-away from this experience comes down to hustle. 

“I don’t want to be working all day...but sometimes you get stuck and you gotta get stuff done so we can have time to do things…”

For Russ, it's an important lesson, and something he wants any young person delving into the trades, but at the end of the day it’s key to success.

 “I'm 36, still considered a millennial, some of the younger generation, they just don’t have the go power..they show up late, they don’t call…:

While Russ’s career wasn’t certainly not a traditional path, he managed to carve a way for himself and connect to people all over the country while learning the ins and outs of business from finances to logistics and scaling growth. Tune into to hear how he went from 0 to hero and what he sees next up for Quality Sewer and Drain.

With his father a framer, Tim Uhler grew up understanding the industry. Not incredibly enthused to pursue higher education, he took a different route. Now, Tim spend his time working on some incredibly cool framing projects and has garnished a whopping 115k followers on instagram. In this episode of Trading Up, Tim sits down with Jeremy to discuss what he's learned in his years of experience from handling yourself professionally in any situation to the learning that occurs when you're first starting out.

Lucas Jablonski co-founded Lighthouse Woodworks with his childhood buddy, Daniel. What started out as a small operation, Lighthouse is a quickly growing woodworking company, who’s bread and butter is high-end home furnishings, mainly tables. 

For Lucas, woodworking runs in the family, growing up in Denver, Colorado with his father a cabinet maker, he was always surrounded by woodworking. As a kid, Lucas spent the majority of his summer working alongside his father. Throughout high school, he quickly learned how much money there was in this business, taking on large contracts that would really pay out for him and his buddies. 

By 18 however, the perils of being the assumed family business torch passing took their effect. Where Lucas was interested in a wide range of opportunities, his father was not keen on the idea of Lucas not taking over. Being pushed further away, and torn by the tension, Lucas set out traveling across the country. Picking up odd job after odd job before landing in New York. From there he was able to hone in his craftsman skills all while learning the ins and out of business. 

Soon Lucas found himself settling with what was looking like a long term gig, it wasn’t until that same job tried to lock him into what would’ve been a career ending contract, Lucas jumped into his dream of launching Lighthouse. 

From his early childhood years around woodwork, to the later span of his career, it’s clear why Lucas has found success as a master woodworker. His story, however, runs deeper than that. Tune in to hear how all the layers that made Lighouse what it is today came to be, and the insights Lucas brings to the table for young people looking to delve deeper into the trades.

Roy Scott hold an M.S. in Recreation Administration from Eastern Washington University. After holding a career as an engineer, he launched his hobby of axe restoration into a business. He currently owns and operates Vintage Axe Works out of Warsaw, Kentucky.  

If you Google “Is landscaping a seasonal job?” You’ll notice the first thing that pops up, reads like this: “The landscape industry is a seasonal business because there's a growing season when more maintenance is required to care for clients' properties. ... You're hired for the busy season to perform a job, then laid off”

While even those who have worked landscaping jobs may assume this as common knowledge, Mark Aquilino has spent enough years in the trenches to know that’s not necessarily true. 

The now 32 year old president of Outdoor Pride Landscaping Inc, Mark spent a majority of his formative years knee deep in the landscaping industry. His father, Outdoor Pride's former President, utilized his entrepreneurial skills to build the bones of what is now a $10 million plus a year business. “I got paid, when I was 12 years old, in Frostys at Wendys just to go in and help out. By the time Mark was 27, the need for advanced technology and robust finances needed to scale his business had outdated his fathers expertise and he looked to Mark to carry the torch. 

While it may seem easy to assume Mark's early success with the family business was a cakewalk, his story runs deeper than that.  Over the years since he’s taking the helm, Mark has worked tirelessly to build a structure that favors teamwork over strategy. “We are so driven and focused on our team members...I am a firm believer that culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Not only has Mark built a viable culture, but he’s done the unthinkable and transformed the stereotypical seasonal landscaping gig into a platform that is able to sustain over 70 employees year round.

Listen in to this riveting conversation as we hear about Mark's full background, how he quadrupled his family business, and why he thinks landscaping is a missed career opportunity.

Finding a passion for entrepreneurialism and the trades early in his life, John Thompson set out to build his passion into a livelihood. With the mindset to always take his endeavors to the next level, John has since accomplished much more. He currently owns and operates Thompson Family Plumbing with his wife Devynn Thompson out of Hesperia, California. When he is not booked with gigs there, he dedicates his time to Plumb God Media, a media company meant to highlight the success stories within his trade and indoctrinate the next generation of young workers through shared learning and experience.

As odd as it sounds, Church was what launched Andy’s career in landscaping. At 15, the owner of a landscaping business and fellow perish member offered Andy a saturday gig working some landscaping jobs.

 Based in Crown Point, Indiana, Andy continued his career in the trades post-high school, and a few years later he and his wife were at a crossroads. They could either try to buy the landscaping business he had worked at for years or start their own. To acquire the current business, it would require Andy to go into debt. While some take that risk, Andy wasn’t about to take that step. 

Learning personal finance from the likes of Dave Ramsey, Andy took on the challenge of building his business debt-free. A slow transition, it wasn’t another two years until Andy finally launched Mulder Maintenance and Services. His next challenge growing and scaling his business in a lean and efficient manner, a constant challenge in any industry let alone hardscaping. 

“I wanna go out there and do what I love, and do it not just to make the next payment….I’m not stressed to do the next job, I’m not going to do a cheaper job because I am too stressed to do the next job..”

To do this, Andy leverages heavy equipment. Close with the likes of Tom Gardocki, Andy has acquired a range of heavy equipment apt to carry the weight of his business.

 “It's a high risk..high reward, but it pays off...” Where human power can’t do the job, Andy’s carefully curated machinery can. This allows him to complete jobs efficiently without added manpower and apply the man power in the areas needed most.

Andy’s success hasn’t been completely self-guided, however. After reaching out to a competing landscaping company in hopes of attaining a trailer, he met with the owner and took a younger Andy under his wing.

“I didn't have much to base off of..I didn’t know about that stuff...I never went to college so I never really took those business courses…I started talking to this guy about numbers and bidding, and how to price correctly...so many things I missed out on….because of that I completely changed my business..”

It’s this experience that makes Andy much more than just any old business owner. Andy first caught the attention of Bucket Talk via instagram. There he’s collected a hefty following, indoctering anyone willing to learn with the knowledge they need to go out and do what they love each and every day. 

Tune in to learn more about Andy, the insights he brings to the table, and everything he is learning along the way. 

Through the guidance of high-school counselors, a young Sean Flottman found himself on a path to earn a degree in business management. Now a welder by trade, he discovered this career, as he describes: “by accident.”  While in school, he took on a temp position in a metal fabrication shop. While his position was in the grinding and polishing department, it was at that shop he met an early mentor.

“There was a guy in the shop..he was big into wheeling and building rock crawlers and stuff..and he kind of gave me the crash course on tig welding.”

Leaving school then working his way up through the ranks, Flottman soon realized not just the immense potential of this career path, but that it was something that he actually wanted to do. Even more incredible? He managed to master his craft in a tough environment with little resources. 

“It’s real hard getting a guy who hates his job, who's just getting through his day to show you anything…” 

While Flottman has spent the last 20 plus years working as a welder in the packaging and conveyor systems spector by day, it’s his craftsy side hustle that eventually put him on the map. 

“Tig welding art on weird stainless steel…I was just messing around at first, but people started to really like what I was doing.”

Shortly after creating an Instagram account, Flottman found himself gaining thousands of followers. Now he touts a monster reach and has become a staple in the trades community, but It’s not just Flottmans reach that caught our eye; He has continuously  demonstrated just how much opportunity lies within his trades, and is a firm believer that any young person today can capitalize on these resources.    

“20 years ago when I was learning..you were lucky if you could get a 45 second video. If a young guy or girl is out there..there is no excuse..if you’ve got the thirst for knowledge. On Instagram, once you get involved in the community..there are plenty of people who can help.”

Be sure to listen in on this electric episode, as we dig into how Sean got his start, what’s next, and where he sees the future of this trade. 

Tom Gardocki has been at the helm of some pretty heavy equipment since just 4 years old. His father, owner and operator of a now 45 year old hardscaping business, was quick to introduce his son to the trades. By 10, Tom already had the knowledge and experience to independently run the equipment on job sites. 

“I scared a ton of customers. My dad would literally..we would go into a new front lawn, and he would get all the equipment ready and he would leave..we had to put a 50 lb bag of seed behind me so I could reach the petals”

Spending countless summers working alongside the company foreman, Tom not only picked up a wealth of knowledge, but a deep love for running equipment. Hardscaping, however, was no easy feat. It’s laborious nature had taken a toll on his father over the years and Tom knew early on, long term, he did not want to carry the torch. Instead, he set his sites on Excavation which was able to combine his landscaping knowledge with his love for heavy machinery.

“I grew up in the family business so I knew hardscaping was hard work...I’d rather let the machines do the work”

Fast forward to 2010. Eager to show off his equipment skills, Tom created a YouTube account under the pseudonym “Dirt Ninja”. Not expecting much, he uploaded video after video all while learning the basics of the channel. It wasn’t until he posted a video of him stacking glass bottles with an excavator did things take a wild turn. The video was gaining 500,000 views a day and reached a level of virality some content creators can only dream of.

Now at 32, Tom’s is the co-owner of New Era Excavation out of Londonderry, NH and has a hand in a multitude of other businesses (including his parents), and While “Dirt Ninja”channel  has garnered a global following opening up doors he could have never imagined, Tom’s purpose behind the platform runs deeper than just creating a cool video. 

“My content is not just about me..it’s about what I’m doing. Not many 32 year olds have been running equipment since they were four..the main purpose of social media is making connections and helping promote and show off our business..”

From his early days in hardscaping to his current role as serial entrepreneur and social media guru, we've been blown by Tom's story. Be sure to listen as we dig into how the “Dirt Ninja'' came to be and what’s next for Tom Gardocki 

On this weeks episode of Bucket Talk, we sat down with Kyle Stumpenhorst, owner and operator of RR Buildings. RR (Rural Renovations) Buildings, is a post-frame construction build out of Franklin Grove, Illinois. While the companies day to days consist of building post-frames for a variety of different industries, if you're in the trades you have probably have heard of these guys. Since inception, Kyle has accrued quite the following on social media, boasting a Youtube subscriber following of 493k and an incredible Instagram following of about 323k. This is all thanks to Kyle's mission to show anyone interested in creating their own path in the trades, just how to go about it. 

Kyle Stumpenhorst  wasn't always a tradesman. Growing up, his father worked in IT with D.I.Y. projects as a side-hobby. When Kyle graduated at the top of his high school class, he pursued a degree in computer science positioning himself to follow a path much like his fathers. After graduation, Kyle took the route of most recent graduates and pursued a 9-5 office job. As Kyle mentions, "it literally took me less than a year to realize..I just didn't want to do that.." With a yearning to get out of the more white-collar career path, he left his job in the city to take on the remodeling of an old farmhouse him and his then fiancé were looking to buy. Having nothing else but his fathers limited DIY expertise and some DIY television shows, Kyle spent the next two years learning the art of remodeling from scratch. 

Tune in to hear how this former 9-5er not only took on a full time career in the trades, but capitalized on the massive opportunities and became an integral part of the community along the way.