Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Cutting Edge Install Podcast brought to you by Omni Cubed, where innovation meets installation and everything in between. I'm your host, Merv Campbell, and it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us.
What's this podcast all about? Well, it's about celebrating the pros, and we have got a pro with us today.
Nathan has been.
I've known Nathan for a couple of years now. We've interacted at shows, we have mutual friends, and he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to thin material, or porcelain, whatever we might want to call it. Throughout this podcast, we're going to dive into some background about him, how he came to be where he is today, and kind of everything in between. So whether you're on the job, whether you're on the road, or you're just looking to stay sharp, you are in the right place. Place. So let's get cracking. Nathan, it's good to have you here.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for having me.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Yeah, not a problem. Let's get started then.
How did you first get involved with porcelain? What led you to find the porcelain slab company and a little bit of your history?
[00:01:10] Speaker B: I think it partially comes from my childhood of being abused quite a bit.
No, that's. Jokes aside, Jokes aside, good childhood, can't complain.
But no, just, you know, porcelain. We had a very, very small niche granite shop in a kind of a depressed county in North Carolina. But we were doing three, four backsplashes of regular tile a week. So our tile vendor said, hey, we just bought the rights to this product. We have no idea what it can be used for, but we know you like to find creative, unique things, so why don't you fly up to Tennessee and learn about it? So we were the first shop in North Carolina to go and get trained in 2014.
Worked with Stone Peak. And then it was. I was the only guy there that was not a tile installer. I had never touched thinset a day in my life. I was a salesperson. I owned my own little business.
And I came away saying, this is the future.
So at that point, it was trying to figure out, okay, how do we implement this? How do we figure it out? There was no guidelines. There was no rule books. There was basically kind of this raw teaching class that we went to for two days. But coming back, it was just learning through very, very expensive failures.
And again, it's 2014. I mean, this was, I would estimate, like the first 1% of people out there that were wanting to touch this stuff. So it was Very early on in the process.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: You kind of talk about 2014 is that when you kind of realize that like this material would be the future or has that kind of. That was the growing period and then it kind of shifted more later on.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: No, I mean, just in the moment of me being at that class, seeing what it was, seeing the fact that you could come up with any image possible, that they could print the same image over and over and over and over again. And I mean that's, that's the number one complaint you get with homeowners when you're dealing with granite and that one magical piece that they fell in love with, that you slab smithed or that you vein matched perfectly, it cracks.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Well then what are you doing? You're scrambling to find another piece of material. So I saw that standpoint, like it was just practical in the sense of being able to deliver it. But then it was the problem of, well, how do you deliver it? How do you even get it cut through your shop? How do you assemble a good looking edge? And that's where the discovery and lack of knowledge was, was so crucial. Just trying to figure out those problems, the correct methodology to bring it, bring it home to a client.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Yes.
Awesome.
So you are a pro at what you do and sometimes not on Tuesdays.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: No, it is not on Tuesdays.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: No, not, not on Tuesdays. Okay, well then make sure you hire them on a Monday. But if you don't know him, go follow him on Instagram. You'll see some of the work that this guy does.
It's phenomenal.
Just the craftsmanship that these guys have is like, it blows your mind what they can do to a kind of pretty boring looking room and make it look pretty amazing by the end of it.
But what are, like, you do this a lot. You do it every day. What are the biggest challenges you see when it comes to working with this material?
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Besides homeowners getting in the way?
No, I mean, sure. I mean, I mean it's true. Like, like there's one right now that it was the homeowner that got in the way and made decisions that made the end product not look as good as it was supposed to. And even though we advised don't do this, don't do that, you know, this isn't going to look great. This is your mock up. Do you approve it or not? I mean, even though we did those things, you still get the homeowner that at the end of the day was like, ah, this isn't what I thought it was. So we still have those battles, but in general, I think just the ability to, to create clean looking projects, it just feels like, you know, if, if you're not going at a snail's pace, which nobody's willing to pay you for a snail's pace, you're going to have, you're, you're going to have hurdles, you going to have things that you've got to problem solve in the moment and in turn not.
I see so many times and I've talked to a lot of installers that they're just getting into working with porcelain, but they don't bother to plan out and invest in the right tools. And it's those moments that really make you struggle.
And I mean, I was talking to my apprentice here on the job we were at last week that how did I do seams in Texas without a seam setter? Like, it just, it boggles my mind that I went so long without having the right tool. But it was because the bosses at the time didn't want to go and invest proper. So I guess just that knowing that with granite you can really just bang it and you can figure out a lot of stuff, but with porcelain, it's just not as forgiving. You need the specific tools for the specific scenarios.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So you talk about tooling there.
How do you think that the industry is adapting for, like. Cause it's getting bigger. Everything in this world is getting bigger. Stone's getting bigger, tiles getting bigger, glass is getting bigger. You name it. The homeowner, the contractor wants as big a piece as possible.
How is the industry adapting? Like, how are you adapting? How is it, say your apprentice who's never worked with this material, how does he adapt?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you're right on the money because the largest porcelain slab that I've seen right now is well over 130 inches long. It's over 72 inches tall.
And now I'm looking at two vans that we have in our fleet that are only a year and a half paid off and some of this material is not going to fit in them.
So we had trouble actually just the other week just picking up the new jumbo size decton slabs and they barely were able to get through our doorway of the van. So yes, size is definitely going to be something now that we're having to rethink as we're expanding and growing and what do we do for equipment.
So that's definitely going to be a consideration. But with this material, especially as we are doing wall applications or floor applications, being able to rotate, shift and handle the material correctly and have it be reliably held.
That has been something that we've had to figure out methodologies. And thankfully, my apprentice that's been with me now, coming up on two years, he understands the movements, so it's not as vocalized anymore.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: Whereas those first few months, it was like, okay, we're gonna spin it this way. And then sure enough, I hear the king and we lose a corner and we have to recut.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: You're like, yeah.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Yep, yep. So those are those expensive $800. You just learned your lesson, I hope, scenarios.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: But hopefully, hopefully you've learned your lesson. Absolutely.
Obviously, you are the professional at what you do, but there's like, we keep hearing there's so many, like, stone guys who are trying to use this material, and they get.
They get annoyed very quickly, and they just go, you know, what I want nothing to do with is a very niche market.
Is there a gap between, in your eyes, like stone guys and proper tile guys using this material?
And if so, how do we bridge it? Because you're working crazy amount of hours every single day, which is fine. That puts bread and butter on your table. But it's not sustainable, perhaps. And if this keeps gaining momentum, like, what bit of advice would you give, say, a stone guy who's thinking about it?
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's.
That has been the big drawback in August. I know for me Personally, it was 27 out of 28 days I worked just to stay on top of what was coming in.
So it was our best month ever. But that's because I pretty much worked a free week.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: So, but I guess let's start at the fundamental part of that question that there is in those Venn diagrams where there's the overlapping circles. We've got the tile guy because they know how to prep a shower. They know how to prep a surface so that it's flat. You've got the granite guy that knows how to handle large size pieces. And if it's 12 mil or 2 centimeter, they know how to properly cut and transport.
And then we have the glass guys that bring their skill set, which is handling those very fragile materials in tight spaces.
And smack dab in the middle is the porcelain slab installer learning from all those three traits.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Exactly. Okay.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And I mean, that was probably for me personally, on a professional side, the most rewarding skill set to learn was, was the basics and fundamentals of tile understanding what the TCNA handbook really says, going out there and qualifying as a certified tile installer getting as many certificates in the tile industry as possible for the different brands of showers. Like you know, I got Weedon, Schluter, you know, all these brands that are out there wanting to promote education.
If there are any granite shops that are thinking about going into porcelain hardcore, I do strongly recommend that they join the National Tile Contractors Association. So that gives you, that gives you free education as a member for your employees, videos, instructions. Plus there's vouchers for them to get freebies and free inventory. So like there's, there's resources there to get over those early hurdles.
Yes, and, and that's where so much of that early education came from for me.
Yeah, it's where a lot of the manufacturers of the materials, that's where they've gone to get some feedback and input. But I think with, with then the second half of your question of where, where the industry is going, we do need to have specialists, we do need to have crews inside of every granite shop that is familiar that understands the process.
And I strongly encourage shop owners that you don't have to train everybody but.
[00:11:38] Speaker A: You at least need to have a.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Two man team that you can rely on. You know, give them that carrot, give them that little, that little, little feather for their captain. They are the porcelain guy in your shop. And that way you can start to exponentially grow off of that, that knowledge base. Just encourage them not to keep the knowledge but to learn and then share.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Give it away. Yeah, no, you talk about the ntca.
I actually went and did one of their training days at Florin Decor in Roseville and I cannot emphasize how awesome a course it is.
It's very basic, it kind of gets your feet wet.
But talk about like peaking interest and like going, I want to learn more of this. This is like really, really interesting.
It was very, very cool.
We did a wall, we did a floor and then we did like a shower install as well.
And the teachers are phenomenal. They are really, really good.
A wealth of knowledge and just, they're willing to just give it away to, to whoever wants to listen. But I think that's the point of you have to be willing to learn.
And a lot of people nowadays don't wanna learn.
You are an anomaly to everything that's going on out there where you're learning and constantly learning and learning. Some people are like, nah, not for me. But we have got to learn.
It's so, so important. Every day should be a school day. That's what I've always been told.
But anyways, moving on. So, so it's a skill set for the man himself. But the man needs tools to be able to do his job, to be able to produce these wonderful floors, walls, bathrooms, outside cladding, whatever else.
What tools do you recommend? Like, a serious installer needs to have. There's probably kind of a basic overtone.
So if anyone is kind of thinking of dabbling, like, what should they look for? Where should they go?
Who should they talk to?
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So the fundamentals that I really do stress, if somebody's working with material that's 8 millimeter or thinner, is that you definitely are going to need to invest in a solid, reliable table.
I've gone through four different tables in my, what, 11 years of working with this stuff.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: And we really have enjoyed working with the Omni table, just because it's strong, it's rigid, it doesn't get a lot of movement as you're putting slabs on there, on and off, on and off. Like, we have one right now that we were using as a cut table from another brand, and after just one slab, it already had shifted and moved, and we had now a bow that caused the corner to blow out as we were cutting through it.
So having a solid table, I think is imperative of anybody.
Then you do need to have a good score and snap system, which there's plenty out there.
Every brand, though, is going to have its drawback. It's going to have its weak spot, as it were, that it's great at this, but it's bad at that.
So there's just some. A lot of cons and a lot of pros, I guess, to the different brands that are out there. Sigma, Monolith, Raymondi, like, you name the brand that potentially is a drawback.
A good cutter, a good table.
And then if you're just getting started, I do recommend to guys to have a good lifter rack system.
And I do think definitely having one that's an automatic versus a manual cup is far better because you've got so much on your mind. How are we going to spin it? How are we going to move it? And if that cup comes loose and you're not paying attention, you just cost yourself a thousand bucks, so.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: But those. Those three things, I think, are the good starter because you just. Otherwise, you know, you're just getting used to the. To the manipulation, to the handling.
You know, it's. It's. The learning curve is quite steep here and it's expensive.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Yeah. So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's not like. It's not like the old 12 by 24 tile. You could just lift it by your hand and slap it down and be like, yeah, it's done. And absolutely not. This stuff is so dangerous. It's like unreal. It's like a lance. It will literally cut you and you won't even know.
And all it takes is one wrong move or the equipment to feel like you're talking about manual versus automatic. Like that cup. If that thing falls down and it begins to shatter, it's like it's run run time. Cause you do not want to be in that thorough affair of what that is installs. Okay?
We've all been to people's homes and we've looked at things and went, who on earth did that? Who did you actually pay to fit that? Cause it's horrible.
You've seen that what separates the like of yourself who is a professional and doing it and somebody who just, who just gets the job done. Like what is the mentality behind what you do?
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Oh, you know, it's an interesting topic because my. A former employer of mine is going through the latter side of your comment there that they went nationally as low as they could to be able to get volume and then try to get the big builders and you know, they went volume versus the custom side. And I had a good conversation with a friend of mine out of Atlanta, Sean Gordy, same topic, you know, what are you after? And he basically and I are in agreement that the folks that are going at the volume as low as you can, as cheap as you can, they're not going to be around for very long.
And this is the moment where there is so few qualified installers. Why give it away?
You know, when I started my own business once again, two and a half years ago, you know, we had to get the grease rolling. So we did go with a more aggressive price point, but we had to reestablish the knowledge base and the quality. And thankfully now we're back at a price point that is making it real easy to grow and expand.
But that's the big drawback with stone shops is that they don't understand that pricing structure and being able to get to a price point that the customer can take it and you can also sell it. Like I hope this is coming across correctly. Right. You gotta have that sweet spot where your numbers are covered, the oopsie daisies are covered when there's a mistake that happens and then the client is actually able to afford it.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
I think people tend to forget that the like of yourself.
You have a family to take care of. You have bread and butter to put on the table.
And a lot of times, sadly, it's the installer or the like of yourself who they want to cut as low as they possibly can.
But if the shoe was on the other foot, I guarantee you they'd be shouting a lot more than I know you guys do. Because you guys are. You're honest. You're up. You're like. What you see is what you get.
There are some shady guys out there that are just. They're destroying everything where they're undercutting so much just to look like they are the guy. But really their work is not very good.
Their customer service after is horrid. Once they do the job, it's like, I'm done. I don't want to ever see that customer again when it's not. That's not how we're supposed to treat people and look after. So, yeah, like anyone listening to this, when you get a good installer who does a good job, pay what it's worth.
I know we're all in the business of haggling, and we always want the best price, but sometimes you get what you pay for.
You really do. And if a guy has a little bit more money, I guarantee you that you will have very little to zero issues with anything that's installed. Go for a cheapo guy.
I'd say give it two to three months and you'll probably be calling him, saying, oh, my wife was wearing a high heel and she went through the tile. Oh, I wonder why that is. Because there's an air pocket in there, bozo, that you didn't vibrate out. Come on.
Oh, man. I've been a couple of installs of.
Sorry.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: I'm just going to say, like, I know we're not the best. There are some guys around the country that. That I know are far better than what my. My team is capable of. But, you know, I'm going back in two weeks to a client we installed a year and a half ago. He has two small chips. We're going to fix them. No. No extra cost. No problem there. Yeah. And then we're. We're going to be able to knock out a small pantry that he's now added.
So, you know, it's one of those things that. Yes. Have we screwed the pooch on some jobs?
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: But that's also why we've gone back and we've replaced the whole shower once just because it didn't meet my threshold of where it needed to be.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: It's. It's just the part there, though, that you can't afford to do those things if you don't price it out correctly up front.
And you'll make on the aggregate. You know, you're a soccer fan, I'm a soccer fan. The aggregate is what we're after.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, the good old soccer. It's actually football, but that's okay. We'll call it soccer on this podcast at America.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:21:29] Speaker A: What do you think, in your honest.
What do you think, in your honest opinion is like holding people back from delving into this material?
[00:21:42] Speaker B: I think as a former GM of a large shop, I think it's definitely the fear of falling behind on schedules because they don't price the job correctly based off of what their shop needs.
Then in turn, they can't adjust when that slows down their production. So, case in point, this large outfit that I was managing, we were doing anywhere from 20 to 30 kitchens a day, depending on size. But when we had decton come through, it slowed us down by a third, sometimes 40%. We were slowed down, but there wasn't an increase in the profit margin of the material. So, of course, our numbers get thrown for a loop when our overall square footage drops that much. So if you're not accounting for some of those variables in your shop, the effects that it has, then you're not going to be able to want to do it day in, day out. But then you do go to other shops that have mastered that ability, and they've figured out the mentality, and they've figured out the process, and they're making great dollars off of what would be a negative to other folks.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: Yeah, totally. Yeah, it's.
Oh, some people are. The other. It's. You just got to take. Sometimes you got to take a step back and have a bigger look at something.
And it's. It's the mentality of fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast. And there's never a. You got to stop sometimes and like, one, smell the roses if you've made an accomplishment. But two, take a look at the bigger picture.
And sometimes it's all about the bottom right hand corner.
And yes, that should grow.
But sometimes, even with this material, it takes a while to get there. There's gotta be patience and a little bit of long suffering and all these things, but education.
So you are a trainer. You obviously have an apprentice on with you.
It seems to be a big part of your mission. I've seen reels and videos and photographs of you training people and doing courses. And even in other countries heading places to be able to train people.
What would you say is important to train specifically on porcelain versus say like traditional stone?
[00:24:07] Speaker B: Well, so it comes down I think in that question just to what's the person or company's background?
Because I don't think most granite shops have ever learned how to flatten a wall. And that's something that we did at a all SAP fibers event that we showed folks how to flatten a wall quickly and efficiently. And it, yes, it was good response to that.
When you get with tile folks, they generally already have an idea of how to do that. So it's not as important a step to go over.
But the fundamentals, if you're a stone shop, understanding troweling and proper mixing techniques and thinset, why it has to be a unidirectional trowel for the tile folks coming in, just being able to understand the handling and the communication that you need on a two man team, as the average tile guy usually is just solo, but when that is combined with the second or third person on site, they got to learn that communication factor.
But that's just when we're talking about wall applications and floors, when it comes just to even countertops for stone shops understanding how that tile slab is going to react on their machinery.
You know, the analogy that we jokingly have used for many years now has been that, you know, well, I mean Merv, as your viewers or listeners know, like you and I both have the same problem. We're very handsome guys. We had the ladies swooning for us in our teenage years.
And that's where with these slabs, the slabs are very much like ex girlfriends. You just sometimes you don't know what they're going to do. And so learning those ins and outs of this lab will behave this way, that slab will behave that way. The different brands and how they're going to react to the machinery, the RPMs, the cut speeds, yes, that does take time to learn.
But the goal here is to avoid repeating the pitfall. But even when we have something that goes wrong, we do it like the military. We do a post mission briefing like what went right, what went wrong and then how do we make it so that doesn't happen again?
[00:26:11] Speaker A: Yeah, totally. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, that's, it's very true. Not the handsome part, but everything else. But you know, we'll take compliments when we get them. Then again we'll see.
So last, I think it was last month you said you worked like basically every day Barn one Which is, dude, take care of yourself. We need you to stick around, please. We need your expertise.
But when you're not on the job site, you're not educating with the beard. Yeah. I did see a couple of pictures and I was like, yeah, dude.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it had grown out a little bit.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: That was pretty legit.
Yeah. Your wife was like, get that shaved off, please.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: Yeah, the PPE didn't work very well.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Like, no, I wouldn't think so. Not with that mask thing you have to wear. I was like, man, how does that work? That's a bit hot. Oh, you poor guy.
When you're not on the job site, when you're not training people and taking phone calls and doing podcasts and all the rest, what recharges Nathan? What gets his batteries going again?
How do you unplug and how are you going to sustain this for the future?
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Well, you know, there's an end goal that we have just for this year that is right on the fringe of being achievable at this moment. Like, that's part of what was so nice about having the August that we had is that I needed that extra revenue, I needed that extra profit. And sure enough, that's what the month gave me. And we're right there at being able to do what we need to do. And there's a lot of things that I'm not at liberty to say what's in the plans, but it will help the industry, it will help people that want to get into it.
But we are knowing that those are the things that I've got in the works that will make my life a little bit easier once we achieve them.
That's been the whole mindset. But obviously I've got a very supportive family. They understand that this was something that was a driving factor. And although they questioned the decision early on, they've seen the huge change that the market has had in the 11 years that we've been dabbling with this.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, it's.
[00:28:28] Speaker B: It's been nice for my whole entire family to actually see these positive progressions and that we are still maintaining and growing and that we've got these things that are happening behind the scenes. So that's been really, really rewarding.
But definitely, you know, that awesome little bit of Sunday, the little bit of time that I get to be at home instead of being on the road. Yeah, those are definitely the moments that I get to enjoy.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: So, yeah, awesome. Yeah, that's.
Yeah, we will.
Family is. Is so important.
I'm about to embark on a two week trip to trade shows and various things. And knowing that I have a wife who's very supportive and children who will look forward to see dad come home is something that puts wind in my sails. And just, you know, when you're gone away from home, it's hard work.
It's a lot of talking to people and knowing that there's a loving family at home waiting for you is like, okay, I can get through this. There is an end and it will be fine, and they will be there waiting for me. So I think as a.
As a husband and as a father, I think that's vitally important to have a really good base at home and a good structure that you look forward to getting home.
It's rare in these days that those things happen. So we gotta promote it and say, hey, if there's any young lads out here, go get married, find yourself a good wife and provide and take care. And that's what we do.
Yeah, I mean, kind of sort of wrapping this up a little bit.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
I was just going to say too, like, last year we spent six and a half months in hotels.
So when I was doing the breakdown of those numbers here a few weeks ago, it was close to $50,000 between fuel, hotels and food. And that was for a two and three man team. So, you know, not having to be on the road that much this year has definitely shown itself on the P and L. Yep. And as well as in the family time.
But that also shows to anybody that's curious, that's me having to drive four hours, six hours and one job last year was eight and a half hours away. There are projects in your neck of the woods. You just have to know how to look for them.
[00:30:50] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly.
Let's ask that question. So how would you go look for it?
Is there a network system to help? Is it basically word of mouth?
Is it references from people?
How would you go look for work in your area?
[00:31:08] Speaker B: Well, that's awfully personal there, Merv. I'm gonna have to keep some of that to myself.
But no, I mean, no, I mean, there is such a demand right now by the manufacturers and by the suppliers of these materials that they've got millions of dollars out there sitting around with nobody to install it.
There's actually a factory that I know of that they've stopped all production because they don't have any more space in the warehouse. How do they get rid of what they've already produced? They just need people willing to work and figure this out.
And at that point, things can happen.
So as long as you're able to go to your local suppliers, the ones that you have good relationships with, or even the ones that you want to foster a new closeness to just be open, hey, we want to get into this. We want to learn it. What can you do to support us? What education can you point us to so that we are a good resource for you as the vendor?
And by. Just. By doing that, you can usually get slowly but surely some references, some leads.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that's in doing these podcasts. One theme that's been very apparent is communication. Like, good, open, honest communication.
And not only in the. In the tile industry, but stone and glass.
A number of people like eye contact.
A physical handshake means an awful lot.
We've gone away from the days of having that interaction. It's all email or even worse, it's a text message you get now.
When you have that personal relationship with someone, it goes a long, long way.
So anyone listening here, you have to put the effort in if you're gonna sit and wait and think, okay, I'm going to just put a Facebook post out there, and all the work's going to come my way. I hate to disappoint you, but you'll be waiting a long time.
You've got to go look for it, and you've got to have a personality and be a good listener and provide what the customer needs. Sometimes that can be very infuriating because you're like, they shouldn't do it this way.
You give them the information and then see where it goes. But, yeah, no, that's helpful. So kind of last question, Nathan.
If the Porcelain Slab company had a motto or a tagline that sums up your mission, what would it be?
[00:33:40] Speaker B: All right, so the first one's a joke. I'm tempted to put it on our rear bumper, the vans, but we like them big.
But that one's more of just joking. All jokes aside, but okay, what is our motto? So that's actually good, because that's something that we've been trying to really boil it all down to simple. But I guess experience makes.
No, that doesn't. That's not. Oh, man, you really caught me on this one.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Well, that's maybe a good one for you to take away pondering, and then, boom, we can highlight it some other time.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: That's it. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Because that's just when I'm dealing with my clients. I mean, they just understand that there's this wealth of. Of experience through failure that we're then able to apply to their projects to make it go smoothly. So we're not buying as many backup slabs as others will just because we understand some of those ins and outs. But, yeah, I think that might be just it. That through experience comes.
Comes a positive outcome.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
Not the most cliche, but yeah, hey, it's a start. You've got to start somewhere, and then you can. You can make it better. You can make it better.
Got to mix the control, dude. See, there you go.
You're on the road. That's one of your taglines.
If someone wanted to avail themselves of your skill set. So maybe we have a customer who wants to have some large tile work done. How do they get in contact with you?
How do people follow you? How do they know about you? Where can we find you? On the World Wide Web.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So on most of I don't do TikTok, but Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, it's porcelain panel Pro. That'll be my personal kind of social media handle as well as the Porcelain Slab company would be the actual official company information.
We've got, you know, some of the smaller consumables that we sell on our websites that we've been able to help with distributing here in the US but that will be growing and expanding over the next few months.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Good.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: But just from an education standpoint, even they're helping out, consulting, teaching guys out in the field. We definitely do that as well. So whatever we can help, we will.
[00:36:09] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it's awesome. And it's really cool to see from a distance the effort that you're putting into this industry.
It's been noted by some people, like, there's you, and there's maybe one or two other guys who are very passionate, who are very good teachers, and a lot of people are looking up to you. So, guys, go look up all the information.
For me, one of the greatest tools was YouTube. I went on there. I've watched pretty much all of his videos. So that's why his ratings are through the roof, because they've been watched multiple times. But they are a wealth of knowledge. So, like, tooling just.
It's just really good. So do yourself a favor, if you're listening or watching, go on there, watch it.
Hook up with this guy, get trained by him, and let's take this to the next level.
The wave is coming. This stuff is being produced more, and we need professionals to install it. And this man, in my opinion, I don't really know very many other, but in my opinion, this guy, he's number one in my book. So hey, take it for what it's worth.
But that's it for the podcast today.
Nathan, thank you for all your input, for all your answers. I really appreciate you taking time out of what is a very busy schedule.
It's a wrap. This is the Cutting Edge installs. If you've enjoyed it, be sure to follow us, subscribe, leave a quick review, share it with your crew.
If you want to find any information about Omni Cubed, you can go on our website, omnicubed.com Nathan talked about a table. We have some other tools on there to help tile guys, stone guys, glass, whoever you may be. And until the next time you hear my dulcet tones or see, as Nathan said, my handsome face, stay safe everyone, and cheerio. Take care. Bye.
