Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Well, good day everyone, and welcome to the Cutting Edge Install Podcast brought to you by Omni Cubed, where innovation meets installation and literally everything in between. I am your host, Merv Campbell, and it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us.
This podcast, what's it all about? Well, it's about celebrating pros, installers, experts, game changers and those who have quite literally astonishing stories to tell. We're going to dive into those, we're going to share, we're going to have fun, and through all, we're going to keep it light hearted and keep you interested in what we're talking about. So whether you're on the job, whether you're on the road, or you're just looking to stay sharp, you have come to the right place. So let's get cracking. Billy, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast this morning.
For those of you who may not know you, tell us a bit about your story, some of your family's legacy in the glass industry and how did Britain Tilson Glass come to be what it is today?
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Well, I mean, as you can see written down there, I'm Billy Britt iii.
So I'm the third, third in line, third generation of that name and in our business as well. So my grandfather moved to the Asheville, North Carolina area when he was a teenager, you know, went into service for a while like a lot of guys back then did and then made his way back home following that, played a little bit of college football, those kind of things, but made his way back to Asheville and he actually worked for a company that some people in the southeast of our country probably have heard of, Pritchard Paint and Glass. It was a, like a chain of glass shops around the Southeast. And he cut his teeth there for a few years and decided that, you know, the entrepreneur drive was, was stronger than, than staying in a, you know, larger, larger business. So he purchased a local small shop that was located on River Road in Asheville in 1960.
So he and a friend of his, believe it or not, Tilson being the last name. So that's why the, the name.
Yep, yeah, yep. They, they went in together and decided to, you know, purchase a small business and, and grow for the area. So my, my grandfather was the glass guy who had some basic glass knowledge. The other gentleman was more just a local businessman.
So that's how I got running. And you know, we were in that same building, believe it or not, until the end of 2024. So.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: So, you know, three generations, you know, I think it was kind of the same story here in a lot of family businesses. I don't think my dad planned to go into the family business, but it just kind of works out that way.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: It sure does.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: You know, he. He went off to college, he played a little college football as well, and then ended up back at home, unfortunately. Lost both of his parents at a very young age.
My dad was in his mid-20s when he lost, you know, his mom and his dad, so.
And. And then likewise for me, coming along, no plans to go into the family business. You know, I'd seen it my whole life. I'm going in other directions.
Went off to college, did college baseball, you know, and that was kind of my direction was sports. And then, you know, the. The. The. The pull of family and the people you care about the most tends to bring us back, no matter what plans we may have.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So awesome.
Sort of in those early days as your dad's working there, and you're kind of. You're not fully at heading out to college yet, but you're there, you're growing up. No doubt you were there probably after school, weekends, helping, if you could. What was that like as a young person growing up? Was it like, did you find it tedious, boring? Was it exciting?
Because right now we have a real dearth of, like, young people coming into the industry.
And so, like, one of these podcasts that I like to talk to people about is like, how do we get talent? How do we keep talent? But initially, how do we, like, spark that interest? Is there anything at, like, a young age that did that for you?
[00:04:20] Speaker B: To be honest, Merv, at a young age, I was headed every direction but into the glass industry.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: You know, I had seen the struggle of running a trades business all through the 80s, 90s, and even the early 2000s.
And most of my time in the business was spent, you know, during spring breaks, summers, holidays.
If I wasn't doing something athletically or something with school, I was, you know, I was. I was working.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: And I saw the struggle my dad had for years. It was, you know, I say struggle. It was a business that very much supported our family, but it was not, you know, like a lot of trades businesses. It was not easy.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: And I don't. I wouldn't say that excited me.
So it was more the pull of family than it is. But you're right, you are seeing a stronger drive with the young demographic to the. To the trades.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: But it's still a grind. I don't think the trades will Ever not be a grind?
[00:05:23] Speaker A: No.
Yeah. No matter how much, you know, we embrace AI or, you know, robots or whatever, it's hard work and sweat and tears. It's what we were. It's, you know, it goes all the way back to when the world was created and the Lord said that we would have to work by the sweat of our brow. That's basically, we have to do that. And so that's, you know, as for young people, I think the more that we can tell them of those things actually, the easier it is and they're not surprised or shocked when it happens. You're like, listen, this is hard work. It's not easy. It just doesn't get handed into your hand, so. Well, that's awesome. So you went to college, the pull of family brought you back in. You're still there. What keeps you going? What are you passionate about after all these years?
What keeps you in the glass industry?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Well, I'll say this early on, even in the business, what pulled me back was I had an opportunity to coach in our local area.
A former coach of mine had asked me to come on and help. And honestly, that's what kept me here early on. It wasn't actually the glass business, it was the value I found in teaching others, working with young people, kind of giving back in that way.
And then I started to try and find that same feeling in our business.
It could be a little harder in, in a, in a construction business to change culture, you know, have that kind of, you know, that rah rah feeling where everybody's got each other's back. It's much easier in the athletic space.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: But I started to try to find that in, in our space and really dive into team, into culture. A lot of that for me was based on my faith that we're there for one another.
And it's more about that than it is the individual.
And that can be hard.
But that's what I tried to do and really energized me. As I've transitioned age wise in the business, what I've felt or what gave me energy has changed over the years.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: And I, and I've kind of, I've kind of tried to be open to that.
When you do something for a long time, it, you know, kind of ebbs and flows on what gets you excited. But what gets me up in the mornings now, you know, is family, is the, the opportunity of being given a day.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: You know, with our recent experience, every single day is, is Is a, is a welcome, is a gift. And that sounds cliche to say that, but when you look at it as like, you know, we went from doing minutes and hours, you know, to, you know, I get to, I get to have today and do something with it, that's really what motivates me currently.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: That's awesome. No, that's cool. Yeah. And like you said, as you get older, those things change. And even as believers, it also changed because we're called to, you know, whatever we do, we're to do it to the glory of God. And that's a daily occurrence. That's not, you know, tomorrow, a week away. It's what can we do right now? So that's pretty cool. So you kind of talked about, you know, some things happened, things, you know, obviously changed for you guys and a hurricane hit you guys pretty hard.
Can you talk a little bit about sort of the devastating impact it had on you, on your business, on the building?
I'm sure it was like, we have no idea, to be honest. And I'm not going to say, yeah, we can, you know, we know we have no idea what happened.
So if you want to just sort of tell us about that in your own words and then what was it like for you and your team sort of in the aftermath of that?
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's kind of hard to describe. You know, we live in an area. If you're not familiar with western North Carolina.
Most people, you know, don't know how high of an elevation we're at.
You know, we, we're not, we're not the Rockies by any means, but you know, we're sitting 2, 3, 4,000 square elevated elevation feet.
So thinking of storms coming through our area is not something we typically even concern ourselves with.
So when the, when the hurricane thing kind of started up, we were like, well, we were used to water. We were in a low lying area in Asheville, right against a river.
You know, a lot of people know the River Arts District of Asheville. We're more the commercial.
So we're right up against the river. I mean, the river was 10ft from the front of our building. So we would occasionally get water into the rear of our building, which, you know, dip down low. But fortunately we're in the glass world. So, you know, you can rinse and you're good.
So getting a little bit of water was not a big deal to us.
So, you know, kind of the lead up to it, we had been flooded before, but nowhere near at the capacity. So we were thinking of if this gets bad, we're going to get water into the lower portion of our building.
We kind of prep for that. We move some stuff up into a mezzanine where my office and a few other offices were.
The night before. I told people, I'll admit I was, it was one of those days where I didn't have the energy and I was, I was complaining about moving, you know, cabinets and stuff like that and important items up into our office. And I was like, this is just a waste of time.
And then come to find out the next morning that stuff we moved was under another, you know, give or take, 15ft of water.
You know, the, the following morning was, you know, we, we saw the flood waters. You know, we went down. The day it happened, we were in, we were in elevated areas trying to look down.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Couldn't see our building.
And at that point, it was just a prayer that, you know, the building survived so that, you know, we can, we can muck and we can push and we can clean, we can do those kind of things. And, and unfortunately, the next morning, my best friend is in our business and he's, you know, kind of my, my right hand guy.
He showed up at my house and had had somebody, you know, that had flown a drone in and seen the aftermath of everything.
And the first words he said to me were, it's gone.
So, you know, that was kind of a world changing moment. Yeah. For us. You know, it's been my entire life, literally.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: I was in that building running around as a kid, being told not to touch, not to bump. You know, those kind of things that I tell my kids now.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: And to describe it, I have a garden next to my house and I went out and just sat in the middle of my garden for a while and we all just sat there. Because you didn't really know what to do.
That moment was just at a loss for what was going to happen next.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: Yes.
Wow, that's tough, man, to see everything that even three generations have worked hard for just gone. But you're, we're in the garden. You know, you're, you're, you're sitting there, you're wondering, like, what happens next? What, like what, what kept you grounded? What kept you focused on rebuilding? Even when you're sitting there going, I don't know what's going to happen. Like the, the days and weeks after that.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Well, I mean, in the immediate, for those who are much more, much further away from the impact of this, there was no cell phone communication, no power, no gas, no Anything to access for about two or three weeks here.
So we had no power in my house for about a week and a half.
We were running generators, you know, trying to keep food cold as much as we could.
We ended up getting power back a little sooner than others. And luckily my house is elevated.
So we, at one point we had about 30 people either in our house or camping in our yard. You know, people that have been able to get into the area and try to help. Yeah, so it was very much, it wasn't so much business oriented in the initial as it was who's okay.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Who's not okay.
[00:13:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Our, our immediate community.
There were, there were folks who, you know, lost lives, lost family members.
So it was much more than what is the business going to do for the first. Probably two to four weeks. Yeah, it was really, you know, who, who needs us more than we need mothers?
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:17] Speaker B: So that's, that's where it started.
From there it moved into trying to get into, you know, down to where the business was really evaluating. Is anything, you know, savable? Yeah, to be honest with you, Merv, it went, you know, for the first two to three weeks that we were down there, we would search our rubble for anything we could find and then we would be asked to leave because the police in our area would find, I guess you can probably read between the lines, they would find things that would, they would then have to investigate and ask you to leave.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: So it was, it was very dark the first few weeks.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Yeah. So it was, it was greater than a glass business or any business in the area.
[00:14:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: And it went through that transition from that to, okay, is this doable business wise? Like I, I recall the conversation very clearly and I've mentioned it to anybody we've talked to. I sat down, I'd already talked to my dad and my dad, you know, my dad's a 70 plus year old dude. You know, it's grinded his whole life.
It was tough for him. It was tough for him. And really the discussion was between myself and my buddy Matt. That works for us.
You know, what direction is there a direction are we going to attempt this?
And his words to me were, I've not thought about doing anything else since this happened because we had to have real discussions over, you know, supporting our families and we. Or can't we? There's other people that are involved, what do we do? And those are the words he said to me. And honestly, Merv, I went, well, shit, I guess here we go, let's get going.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Is what we're gonna do. So let's sit down and let's make a list of things we gotta do.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Dude.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Let's contact the people we've got to contact. Let's see who's gonna step into this mud puddle with us. And it was more than a mud puddle. But who's gonna. Who's gonna be willing to be there with us?
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Totally.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: And then we'll. We'll take this hour, we'll take these minutes, and then we'll go to the next hour, and then we'll figure out the next hour.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: And that's what we did until those hours became days.
We were able to find other space to be in. You know, we went from 13,000 square feet down to our initial spot we were in was 1200 square feet.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: And it was literally just day to day. But to be very clear about it, this wasn't a me thing. If I didn't have the people around me, the team of guys that were like, you know, just let me know. You don't have to. I don't need to be paid. I don't need to be due. I don't need anything.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: No.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Just you tell me where to be and when to be there, and we'll figure this out.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: If I didn't have those people, and I say, guys, there was ladies involved as well.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: If I didn't have those people, this wouldn't have happened.
[00:16:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Because some days were much harder than others on that motivation to get up and try to do this.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: And without them, no chance this happens.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Totally. And that's where.
That's where, like society today sadly doesn't realize the.
The benefits and the need for true friendship.
And, you know, family at work, family at home, church family, if they're there, there's a lot of things that we need. And sadly, our society today is saying, no, just be by yourself. You'll be fine.
And that's where people start to lose their mind. And we see the craziness that's going on and it's.
Yeah, we need each other. It's like this.
Where I work at, we have a phenomenal team that if, like, for instance, if the bathroom gets clogged, not to get into too much detail, but if the bathroom gets clogged, it's like you'd say to someone, hey, can you take care of that? And they'd be like, sure, no problem. You know, that's not an issue. There's no job too small. Everyone's there for each other.
We've not went through what you've went through, like, total devastation.
But, like, you know, a year and a half ago, things are really tight and we reduced ours here and not one person left.
They all stuck in. They said, no, we're not going anywhere. We love this company. We're going to. We'll work through it. We'll figure stuff out. And everyone's still here today. And it's a testament to that team morale. And because people go, that's so corny. It's actually not. When the rubber hits the road, you need those people.
And you don't. You don't realize until these events, but it's also, you know, there's things dayto day that prepare you for it.
And that's where, like, the hard days, you truly see who your friends are and who's with you. And that's absolutely. Dude, that's. Yeah. That gives me, like, goosebumps thinking about you guys.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: That's.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Wow. But.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: Well, it's something. Merv. That I am by design, a bit of a loner. Like, I don't need a lot of interaction. But I have found that through this experience, that doesn't work.
And I know in my faith we are called to be with his people.
And fortunately for me, he. And I say he, God has given me the right people in my life.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: That can deal with my personality, can deal with the acquired taste that I can be, and also use their personalities and their skill sets to help us thrive.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: Being open to that is not a option. It's a need. It's a need.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: And that iron, sharpening iron, it's not, as I always say, it's not two wooden spins coming together. It's two pieces of metal and sparks fly. And that's the way it works. So it's like my personality and someone else's personality coming together and kapoo. But we get sharper through it. So that's awesome. Was there ever a moment during it all? Because, you know, your buddy come over and said, you know, let's get this done. But was there ever a moment when you were. Things were starting to progress that you thought, you know what? I think we're going to come back maybe even bigger and stronger than before.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's. I don't. I haven't.
I haven't even considered that really.
It was, you know, the initial was, what is this feasible? You know, and we had already found out if you're not. If you're not up and functioning pretty quickly, the world moves and Even for a company that's 60 plus years old, you're gonna, you're gonna disappear pretty quickly. So.
So, you know, we, I'll say this, we had an industry partner that, that was right there hand in hand with us. I don't know how many are familiar with HMI Glass, but we have worked with them for many years. We have a great relationship with them. I consider many of their top level folks friends of mine, not just business relationships.
And you know, they had to stick their neck out pretty far to help us in this situation. I mean, at the time of impact, you know, we had well into the six figures of glass sitting in our building that had already been deposited on and was ready to go for installation, and they stuck their neck out. And to be honest with you, I won't get deep into numbers, but, but business is a numbers game.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: The numbers always have to make sense. And we were able to repay the risk investment that that company made with us within about two months of the early part of this year.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Dude.
[00:21:48] Speaker B: You know, and we busted our butt. You know, we had guys that were, that, you know, took the risk to come back with us, not knowing, you know, how quickly.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:21:58] Speaker B: So, but you know, as, as the, the one who tries to make sure numbers make sense all the time.
You know, I could quickly see that we are still a viable business in our area. We are still the trusted place to go and those kind of things. So there wasn't an exact moment that I saw it, I never really doubted it. I didn't know at what volume or what scale we would build back to. I know at this point we're relative to where we were pre storm, we're much smaller, we're condensed quite a bit. We're in about a third of the space, but, but we're right back where we, where we were before. And we've been able to also, you know, like you said, grow a little bit. Even, even a business as old as ours, there's room for, for growing and cleaning up and doing things a little bit better than you did before. So.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: But no exact moment, man. It's just, it was just literally doing day by day by day by day and watching that compound and then being proud of the fact that in 2025, you know, this happened. Quarter four of 2024.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Everything that we wanted to do with our donations, our investing in our employees, those kind of things we were able to do in 2025.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: So I hit all those goals now. The, the scaling of the business and the true Growth and the percentage and all that, that wasn't on the agenda. The idea of 6 month and 12 month goals and 5 year goals.
[00:23:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:24] Speaker B: Out the window.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: You were like, yeah, let's just get till tomorrow.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: Just them away goals didn't matter every day. Like the 24 hours mattered totally. We just kept compounding 24 hours on 24 hours. And we've done that for a year. And it's really like that's what I speak to myself every day as a guy that was planning years ahead and we're going to have, you know, more locations.
God has different plans and his plans are the only plans.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: You know, so sometimes you have to learn that the hard way.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: You sometimes, sadly do. You sometimes do. Yep, absolutely. Man can plan, but God directs and that's how we live our days. And about your faith, obviously it played a huge role in your life and leadership at that point.
How did like as a fellow believer, it's like I know the answer, but others who listen don't. How did your faith get you through those hard days?
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Well, I've been hard headed person my entire life to a fault. It gets me in trouble sometimes.
But I came to know Jesus Christ when I was 11 years old.
And for some that seems very young, for some not so much. But from the time of being 11, I've never really faltered in my faith.
God has been right with me and every step that I've taken, he has blessed my life.
Are there hard things? Yes. But as you know, and as you mentioned before, before, this, this world is a place of toil. We are called to work.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: This is not what we are working for here. What we are working for comes after here. And I know that wholeheartedly. Yeah.
You know, the gospel to me is, is what keeps me grounded, keeps me going, is knowing that having a willingness to work here is, is what we are called to do. Yeah. You know, so, so yeah, it's, it's, it's a bit of how God, I think has built me. It's how my parents have built me.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:31] Speaker B: But it's a faith that I have been able to lean on my entire life. When things are difficult, when things are hard, and it never fails me. It may not go exactly the direction that I think it's going to go, but it's never failed me.
And that's mostly my testimony is it's an unfaltering faith in something greater than me. Because without that man, like I mentioned, I've told people before, I suck every day. I do.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: We all do.
[00:26:05] Speaker B: I am not the greatest dude in the world all the time. That is why I believe what I believe. Because otherwise, man, where would I be?
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: So it is through grace that I'm here. It's through grace that I've been given the life I've been given. It's through grace that we have been able to recover in the way we have.
So yeah, it's a strength that I lean on because I'm weak at times too. I like to.
And I'll say pride, Prado, pride is not the greatest trait to have. But I take pride in the fact that I know I fault and I struggle.
And that's why I believe what I believe. Because it is a non asking faith.
Believe and you will be given is the greatest gift that exists.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep. It's not by your works, it's all by Christ. And that's, that's the thing that people really struggle with. And that's where like you know, when trials and difficulties come, you have that, as the word says, you have that rock who is higher than I. And you can lean and stand upon that when difficult times come. And yeah. Are we perfect? Absolutely not.
Not by a long stretch, let me tell you. But there's one who was perfect and that's where we can have all of our hope and trust. And so no, that's such a, such an important thing that many people push off and laugh at and scoff and mock, but when you can wake up in the morning and cast your cares upon him because he cares for you, what a comfort and a joy that brings to many, even through those difficulties. So. No, that's awesome.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: Yeah. The word I would use, Merv, and I'm sorry to cut you off.
[00:27:53] Speaker A: No, no.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: You've been asked probably 100 times since all this stuff happened. You know, how are you?
[00:27:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: And, and peaceful is the word that I, I use.
And I have a, I have a few buddies, you know, that I meet with regularly, have lunch with that are fellow business owners, that kind of thing. And I've had several of them go, man, you're, you're in a better place than you were before this happened. And I say, yeah, I mean, I'll pump the brakes a little bit, totally.
But I am more at peace than I was beforehand. Sleep is better, my energy is better. My, my stress is down because God has again proven that he will provide in next to the worst thing I can imagine in my business life. It's the worst thing I can imagine.
And he's provided. So what do I have to worry about. Yeah. So now I'm not a guy who gets super excited and I try not to have heavy lows. I just try to live in the middle and peace as much as I can. And it's not an everyday thing, but even when I'm in our, in our space and there's a bad day, you know, something happens. It's glass. You know, things. Things happen, they break.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: It breaks, it shatters.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: Come on. Believe it or not, it breaks.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: I go, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna keep it right here. How do we, how do we figure this out, you know, and, and try to stay at that peaceful level. So I think peace is the word that I try to keep on the tip of my tongue because I hear it all the time. You know, I'm still hearing it a year plus later. Hey, how are you? Have you guys rebuilt? Have you done these things? And a lot of people just don't know.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: And I go, I'm good. I truly am good. I'm at peace with, with where we're at. And that was, you know, that's. That's an awesome place to be. I feel like.
[00:29:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's quite ironic that, you know, we celebrate Christmas and one of the names given was the prince of peace.
And people are. When you, when you hear stories like this, it just cements even all of that where it's like, you know, he. He gives us that perfect peace that otherwise we'd be tossed to and fro and we would be, we'd be shipwrecked. That's basically what it's like. But, oh, so refreshing to hear that. So good.
Kind of getting back then to sort of industry stuff. And how has it changed? Like you running around as a young whippersnapper told not to touch stuff, you know, probably slapped in the back of the hand. Get away from here, there and everywhere else, but from there to like even today and rebuilding. How has it changed and like, how have you evolved with it?
[00:30:29] Speaker B: Well, it's obviously made drastic changes.
The world of glass is, you know, from the time even I got in the business. So full time in the business was around 2007 and. But I've worked there, you know, I've got about 30 years in, give or take. But the world of, you know, glass alone, you know, we're not using as much non safety plate glass. That is, that is an obvious change.
The days of watching guys carry on massive mirrors, it doesn't really exist anymore. You know, the liability issues and the safety concerns and those kind of things.
You know, I've watched glass become a more polished industry and that's always been a hope of mine. It's been one of the frustrations of mine as well.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: And is I've heard numerous times over the years that glass guys or glazers are painters with a tape measure and no drag to the painting industry.
Those dudes are skilled too.
But I go, man, this is the one trade that is never hidden that I can think of. See everything, you see it all and you're paid to make it disappear.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: Which is why.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: You know, so the best guys create things that are visible but also invisible at the same time. So. So it's been a pet peeve. It's been a frustration of mine since I entered the industry of the, the disrespect in the glass trade in regards to the other trades and the architectural world and the design world. Yeah. When it is one of the key components of the final product of every project that's done.
So it's been a push of mine to try to develop a greater appreciation both in our, you know, in our small little, you know, peanut size building and company up into the industry itself.
What we do is pretty awesome.
It is, it is, it is. Creating something beautiful almost every day.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Truly, I try to express to my guys like, you will start your day with, with raw materials. And I say raw. Relatively raw.
[00:32:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: But by the end of the day, you've created multiple things that will live in a person's home, in a person's business for decades.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: That's something to take real pride in.
And I try to express that, but I also try to express it in.
And the idea of dealing with architects and design and your time matters and your knowledge matters and those kind of things. So I think there has been a shift to a lot of that as you get folks that are true artists. True.
I mean, you're getting more and more college educated people into our industry.
And not that a college education is take it or leave it at this point, but it does create a sense of, okay, I am going to truly own what I do and drive it to the next level. And I think there's been quite a bit of that on our end.
We were commercially dominant all through the 60s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s. And then I, as, you know, someone who likes design a little bit more, likes more of the polished stuff, I got in more of the heavy glass.
And that's been a big portion of what we do in A major shift in our business over the last 15, 15 or so years is creating those kind of those pieces of art, those showpieces every day.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: So that's awesome. Yeah, it's like I always tell people, and I had a couple of guests back, someone who was really into stained glass windows, and I said, you know, when you walk into an Ireland, where I'm from, if you walk into a church or a cathedral, what's the one thing you always go, whoa, how cool is that? I guarantee nine times out of 10, it's that stained glass window.
It's not the tile on the floor, it's not the whatever. It's the window and the light coming through. And you go, wow, how cool is that?
And it is.
It's a skill.
And it's like what you said, it has to be visible, yet invisible.
And to do that takes a lot of skill and craftsmanship and it has to last. Like in Ireland, if your windows leaked, you are in a lot of trouble because there's a heck of a lot of rain in California. If you don't keep the heat out, you're in equally amount of trouble. So it's like, well, what's the common denominator? It's the windows and it's like, that's where it's at. So, yeah, I think Glazers, designers, architectures need a lot more, I hate to say the word Prius, but a little bit more kudos and what they do than what they actually get.
And like, that's why these podcasts are happening for. It's promoting people who do a phenomenal job day after day, but maybe don't get the recognition. And I feel that's wrong.
Hence why people are on here. Because it's like, I tell people, like, look around, like, look for the glass to see it, because guaranteed it is invisible and you don't recognize it and you don't appreciate it. But stop, smell the roses, have a look and go, wow, that's pretty legit. And it will change.
[00:36:18] Speaker B: I'll be the weird guy that'll point it out and tell you all the things, and people stare at you and
[00:36:22] Speaker A: go, what is this problem?
Oh, yeah. Oh, we do that all the time right here too with stuff. But that's funny. You kind of talked about perhaps maybe a misconception. But is there any other sort of common things that people get wrong about the glass industry that you want to, you know, make get them to see straight in it?
[00:36:45] Speaker B: You know, it's, I guess, an understanding of how it functions that's one thing their everyday person doesn't quite understand.
You know, we live in the world, like I said, of safety precautions and a shift in the industry for protection, both for commercial applications, residential applications, those kind of things. It's a, it's a time business. It's a sensitivity business.
When I hire, I try to explain very clearly that we are, we're not dealing with sheetrock, wood, tile.
It's a sensitive product.
It is a show product.
So getting the customer base to understand that even though it's glass, and I find myself saying that all the time, it is glass.
You know, it does chip, it does scratch, it does break. Now, we try to minimize that, being professionals, but in a construction space, we're dealing with likely the most sensitive product that there is.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: You know, it's not like water. We're not containing it. Water is very sensitive, but it's about containing it. Correct. Ours is about moving it and keeping it in a space where there's a lot of movement going on around it, but also trying to keep it as safe as possible. So I don't know that it's a misconception as much as maybe just a misunderstanding of we're still dealing with glass. And, and it takes a lot of care. It takes a lot of following procedure and doing things the right way. Yeah. You could probably come up with a lot of deeper answers on, on misconceptions in the glass.
But, but yeah, that's one that comes up daily for us, is we, we work with glass, you know, so it is, it is the product that it is.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Yeah, totally.
You're in the Bendustry a little while now, pretty much all your life. You've had two generations before you, and so you have their sort of bandwidth and their knowledge. But what advice would you give to a young newbie whippersnapper who's just sort of getting started out in the glass trade?
Perhaps someone who maybe one day wants to run their own shop.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Well, I'll say this. You know, I learned from an old school dude, my dad, if I had to say, like, when you imagine a dad, I kind of won the dad lottery. You know, he's, he's, he's been there for everything. He's taught me everything.
He is a guy that will outwork anybody at 70 plus years old.
So I learned from him. I took a lot from him. I also have learned from others in the industry. I've tried to keep my ears and eyes open to people who are smarter than me.
And that is something that is not Done a lot in our industry, probably not a lot in the trades, from talking to friends of mine, is not being afraid to sit down and talk to somebody asking for their time, being willing to learn, trying not to be the smartest guy in the room is a really important thing. Because if somebody's done something well or not well, but especially if they've done something well, you need to go to them and not try to recreate the wheel.
Now, you can shape it, you can design it, you can create it, you can make it look like you want it to look.
But for the most part, especially in the trades, things have been done really well for a lot of years and people want to recreate the wheel. I think it's more about putting some really good paint on it and making it what you want it to be, more than it is.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: Not sure what's going on.
You there.
[00:40:32] Speaker A: Annie's back. Annie's back. There he is.
Oh, you're fine. Don't worry about it.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: The computer was hard.
[00:40:38] Speaker A: To me, it's like what you said at the beginning, technology, it's never a good thing.
[00:40:45] Speaker B: I do my best with it. I do my best with it, but I'll finish it up on what I was saying there. It's. It is like we mentioned earlier, this is a, the trades are a place that you have to be willing to put in the work. You need to know your product, you need to know installation, you need to know all those things and be willing to put the time in that it takes to do it. I don't think the glass industry itself is, you know, like you said, you're getting younger people in, but there's a lot of, like, let me buy and scale.
I, I think you have to know the business, you have to know the product really well and take the time that it, that it requires to be successful with that. It's not a quick turn and burn industry, and that's, that's coming from somebody who's been in a long time. So, yeah, take that with a grain of salt. But, but whenever a problem arises, I've likely dealt with it sometime in the last 20 years, so I can teach someone easier rather than going, oh, gosh, we don't know what to do. And we're dealing with a product that's not very forgiving. You know, what do you do now?
[00:41:49] Speaker A: So, yeah, no, it's funny because I think you're like the fifth or sixth person that has said, don't be the smartest guy in the room. And so it's Quite ironic that it's like, it keeps coming up, but it's so true.
But sadly, the young guys nowadays think they are and they know it all, and then suddenly there's a lot of breakages, there's issues, there's mistakes, and then they throw their hands up and say, huh, this isn't for me. Whereas a little bit of hum, a little bit of humbleness goes a long way for all of us.
I'm 42, even though people think I look 29. I got that this weekend. I was like, I'll take it.
[00:42:29] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: It's like, it's the lovely Irish quip that I have here. But it's like, at 42, I'm learning and growing. And we need to have that attitude of every day is a school day.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: Learn.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: And someone may come along and say, you are, as we would say in Ireland, a numpty. What are you doing? You're doing it the wrong way. This is a better way. And having that humble spirit of, oh, actually, maybe you're right. And just adapting, it's, oh, you might
[00:42:58] Speaker B: be refreshing the room. And who knows if you are still. Shut up. And that, that's the key.
And I see that in the world we're in today, with all the social media and the look at me, see me now. I mean, I have to do it as well. It's about eyes, it's about clicks, it's about views.
You know, we're sitting there talking on a podcast, you know, but, yeah, but a lot of it is about try to get in those rooms. And yet, even if you're, you know, 22 instead of 41 or 42, shut up and listen to the people around you. The old dudes have been doing it for a long time, and there's a reason they've been doing it successfully for a long time.
[00:43:40] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: Because we're going to be the old dudes, you know, soon.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:44] Speaker B: And so, Trey, let me try to keep you from making those mistakes. That's what I tell my young guys all the time. If you're unsure, ask and let's talk. Because I guarantee you I've had that screw up before. I guarantee I've done it once or twice or maybe more times, and I can guide from there, you know. So, yeah, shut up and listen is still a very good trait to have.
[00:44:07] Speaker A: It's a good trait to have. The Lord gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk.
So my dad always told me, you won the lottery with your dad. I won the lottery with mine. So, you know, we're both winners in this game.
You guys have been around for decades.
You know, obviously your faith's played a huge part. You know, you've rebuilt. But is there anything else that is kind of key to that longevity in your business?
[00:44:35] Speaker B: I would say, you know, at this point I don't, I don't get energy from designing shower doors or installing shower doors or doing a storefront or even the, you know, the really creative projects. That's not really where I pull my energy. It's more about the investing in our team, the marketing and the design aspect of our business. You know, we've, we've recently, I have post storm, post craziness.
We had, we, we started using Jeep gladiators. I don't know if you know what a Jeep gladiator is, but it's the Jeep of the truck bed on it.
We started using. Those are our sales vehicles because we're up in the mountains. Okay. We need four wheel drive.
So I started marketing those and we wrap them and they're, you know, they're very cool and, and it's been a really positive thing. We, we hear from people every single day that love them when they're driving around.
[00:45:28] Speaker A: So cool.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: I'm trying to find the fun parts of the business. You know, the marketing, the design.
You know, I, I really love designing our old showroom. I've been told it was one of the best showrooms in, in our kind of surrounding states. You know, it was awesome. That was something I love doing. I love creating space.
So it's really things around the business that I am continuing to invest in.
It's where I find my energy.
You know, I love shower doors. Don't get me wrong. We've been by the thousands over the years.
[00:46:01] Speaker A: Yep, totally.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: But I let my younger guys, you know, get their energy on that and then get their energy on selling a, you know, a multi shower project or you know, a new, a new biggest sale or a new largest install or stuff like that. I've done that at this point.
So it's really about how do I create branding? How do I create something that, that people recognize, we're recognized in our area. But you know, as we get back to relative norm, that may be something that we expand upon. And that's really where I find, I find my energy at this point is, is doing those kind of things as well as following up on the things that matter a lot to us, investing in our team, being able to donate to entities both locally and nationally that mean a lot to us.
I will say in 2025 we were able to donate almost $40,000 after all the help that we had been given in this last year. And that was a goal of mine. I didn't set a number goal because I didn't know what 2025 would hold,
[00:47:08] Speaker A: what it would be, but we were
[00:47:10] Speaker B: able to give in a way that I didn't, I didn't think we would be able to in the early part of the year. And I am very proud of that. That's a, that's a team oriented thing, but it's also community oriented and, and, and it's something that's very important to us. So. Yeah, so yeah, it's investing in those things that I think have the real return.
Yeah, business, business investment has roi. We all know that. At least we hope it does.
[00:47:37] Speaker A: Yep. Yeah, we hope so.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: But putting energy into the outlying things I think are just as important and sometimes more important.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Yeah, totally. No, that's awesome, dude. And then like the younger people you're talking there about, you know, giving them free rein to learn and to grow.
How do you, as a business owner, how do you approach that, like mentoring those younger people, investing in them and just setting them up for success?
[00:48:09] Speaker B: Well, it's, it's kind of a coaching position. Like I said, I'm, I'm a sports guy.
I've described myself as a, as a baseball player with a football mindset.
So I have always enjoyed investing in someone and then seeing the return on it.
I tell a story. I coached at our local high school and one of the years I coached, we want to state a championship. And before that game I had worked with one of our players on something we, he and I saw together. You know, as a 17 year old kid, I was working with him going, hey, I think this will happen. I think this will happen. If we work on this, we see this, this will happen. And in the state championship football game, that exact scenario happened. And I get chills every time I talk about getting chills right now.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:49:00] Speaker B: Like something we both imagined in our mind. And it's something that was a tide turning point in the game.
Something that this young man will remember for the rest of his life. And now he's not even, he's a grown adult with kids and everything.
But it was one of those things. And that's what I've tried to kind of remember when I'm teaching even in our business space is one trying to know that I care about someone.
And you can say that, but you have to show that.
So when I'm trying to teach our younger guys different things, they know that I'm coming from a place of I care about you. I want you to know this because I want you to be more successful.
Your success is our success.
So really, I think that's position one. And then I am not a good sugarcoater, so I tend to be pretty straightforward. Like, here, I'm gonna present it to you. I'm not coming from a place of, you know, you're terrible. You've got to fix this. It's more like, okay, what happened? How do we figure it out? How do we not repeat it? And we go from there. But I think it really has to come from a place of, you know, why do I care?
You know, I care about you. Let's. Let's, you know, let's try to figure this out together. So coaching is what I go back to on that. That's really where I find my foundation for trying to teach anybody anything is from, you know, the position of coaching them to be better, because a better player makes a better team, you know?
[00:50:27] Speaker A: Totally. Yep. And we're all. We're only as strong as our weakest link. And so you gotta. You gotta help all, but especially those who need a little bit more. And so. But you have to have eyes to see it. That's the key part. So many people just come in, do their thing, go home, and that's it. You gotta look up and look and see, like, who is. Who needs the help? Like, sometimes, you know, people have had a hard day, like, are you all right? Like, what's going on? How can we help in any way?
So everybody has difficulties and burdens, and, you know, the price of things are getting more. And nine times out of 10, it's financial burdens, like, how can we help you as a company or whatever. So. No, that's awesome. But is there any books, any podcasts, heck, any quotes or anything that's really stuck with you and kind of, kind of shaped your mindset even as you've gone through business and even life in general?
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Well, I. I embarrassingly say I'm not a big reader.
I am. I'm.
I get. I get bored. I feel like I need to be doing something else that's more productive. A lot of times when I.
Yeah. You know, so a lot of times I'm taking in videos. I'm taking. I did a lot of podcasts, but when I was driving, a lot more doing sales, but I don't do many of those anymore.
I would Say in the short term, I had someone, when I was talking to them after the experiences of last year, I had someone I was talking to and I was telling them, I'm really just trying to do 24 hours at a time. And their response to me was daily bread.
And that kind of hit home with me where it was like, we're not given more today than we need for today and being okay with that. And that's following being, you know, the last five years of my life, Merv, have been like, I've been in CEO groups and I've been meeting with people constantly and I've trying to be growing my personal relationships and my business relationships and really this big push, you know, pushing myself, pushing our business. How can we grow having these plans? You can't. A business can't survive without having a 6 month, 12 month, 60 month, you know, plan.
Yeah, that's where I've been for, I mean, just 100% for the last five years is, is that it went from, let's, let's figure out a way to be more successful in the business. Let's, let's grow and add good people. And then it's like, okay, how do I invest and grow the business? You know, working on the business, not in the business, while still working in the business.
[00:52:58] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:52:58] Speaker B: This last year has taken like it wiped the slate clean with that.
And I went, okay, today I'll have my daily bread and I'm gonna be okay with that.
And we have gone through 20, 25 and we have survived, we have maintained, and I would say at times we have thrived. And I don't have a, I don't have a six month plan. I don't, I'm not gonna tell you what's going to happen this summer.
Yeah.
And that goes against the grain of a lot of what you hear in business and trying to be a CEO and be an operator and be in those kind of things. Yeah, it very much is the, is the flip of the coin of that, but I'm okay with that. You know, I'm okay with looking at it a little bit differently and just taking my daily bread and then I'll figure out what comes tomorrow when it comes, you know, in life. I think I've always settled on that, you know, Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a. I would say it's a widely used verse.
It is not being the most original guy in the World. But it was. It was something that I wrote inside my ball cap from the time I was, you know, seven or eight years old going forward, because it was really about, I can accomplish all, and I have that faith in myself.
But it's really based in what God gives me, what he allows me, and what his path is.
Because anytime I thought, okay, this is what I'm doing. This is where I'm going.
This is what I see. It's always been like, no, let's turn the wheel a little bit and you're gonna go my way. And then I can look back and go, oh, that makes sense.
[00:54:47] Speaker A: Much better.
[00:54:48] Speaker B: It makes sense why you sent me that way. It may not have been on the scale, the grandeur that I thought, but I can look back and go, for kingdom benefit, Kingdom impact.
I see why you sent me that way.
[00:55:00] Speaker A: Absolutely. That's awesome.
Yeah, it's what we have a saying around here that you never see a U haul behind a hearse.
And so what are we? What are we? What are we working for?
It should be for his glory and his glory only.
And that helps shape and mold, even day to day, like how we talk to each other and how we deal with people. And, you know, the world at times can be a pretty rough and nasty place, but, you know, we're given the grace for today and tomorrow can worry about itself, we're told. And so let's knuckle down and get through by today. And to you, it's like the Lord is blessed.
I love the story of Eric Liddell. He's a Scottish runner who was supposed to run in the hundred meters, the trials run on the Lord's day. And he said no.
He said he couldn't do it.
And so he entered in the 400 meters, which wasn't a speciality.
And the story goes that on the starting block, there's an American walks over with a crumpled up piece of paper. And inside it said, him that honoreth me, I will honor.
And Eric Liddell had that piece of paper in his hand, as his custom was. When he was going down the finishing line, he put his head back and he won the gold medal, which wasn't his race. And he tested it all to the fact that God honored him because he honoured God. And that's. That's your story, what I see, you know, him that honoureth me, I will honour. And, you know, it's a testament to the goodness of God in your life. And it's just a pleasure to see from a distance.
We only as a company we only came across Billy, not that recently.
Nadia came like, you gotta read this. You gotta read this. It's so cool. Like the thing you put up on LinkedIn. And it just. Yeah, it just. It gave us chills. And we've gotten to know you a little bit better, A lot better more during this podcast and, Lord willing, a lot better more in the future.
So I really appreciate you being on here, being open and honest.
I just pray that the Lord continues to bless you there and your company and your family and your parents, everybody.
And yeah, it's been a pleasure, Billy.
[00:57:20] Speaker B: Absolutely, Merv. I appreciate that story. That's one I hadn't heard. So today I learned something.
[00:57:25] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:57:27] Speaker B: Like many Americans, I like to say, I have Scotch Irish heritage.
I don't have that wonderful accent, though. I don't. I don't have.
[00:57:34] Speaker A: No, it's okay. You could learn it. There's YouTube videos apparently where you could learn.
[00:57:41] Speaker B: I don't want to butcher it.
[00:57:42] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's fine. Most people do. And I just are like, oh, that was really good.
[00:57:46] Speaker B: Good job. Yeah, that's awesome. But I know, I know God sends us to the right people at the right time.
I know that he sent you guys our way. I'm not one to typically post in depth things.
I actually, I have. I have lots of buddies in the industry and, you know, I'll click on something they posted and it jumps down, you know, a page or so. I go, yeah, come on, I'm not reading that.
[00:58:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:08] Speaker B: But I felt pushed to kind of make a post personally. We've done some business stuff, but I wanted to make something more personal, and maybe this is the reason why. It brings people together. It brings strength together.
Really, you know, really appreciate you guys having me on. I've admired your products for, you know, several years, but never, you know, never thought of. We'll sit down and have a conversation one day.
[00:58:37] Speaker A: We'll have a conversation with these.
[00:58:40] Speaker B: But here we are.
[00:58:41] Speaker A: So here we are.
[00:58:42] Speaker B: Awesome. I look forward to getting to know you guys better. Hopefully if I can get out west or you guys come east, we can. We can spend some time.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:58:50] Speaker B: Some more personal time, getting to know one another and.
And maybe we can help each other on a business scale or a larger scale and going forward. Thank you so much.
[00:58:59] Speaker A: And just having someone who you can talk to is a big thing.
And I would say that to anyone who listens to this, find someone who you can have a pretty frank and open conversation with. It doesn't even have to be someone in the same industry, but we need that help sometimes from people who you're going, really? Yeah. You need it. And you need it more than you realize, so.
[00:59:27] Speaker B: And a lot of times you'll find somebody else who needs it, too. That's the thing.
[00:59:30] Speaker A: Exactly.
You never know.
[00:59:33] Speaker B: It's not just you. That person you meet with might need it just as much or more than you do. So find that peer. 100%, dude.
[00:59:41] Speaker A: Totally. Totally. Well, that's a wrap on this episode of the Cutting Edge Install. If you enjoyed it, follow subscribe, Leave a review if you're listening and you're going, I want to be a guest on that show.
Just send over a request. Not a problem. Keep an eye out. We share these episodes every other Thursday at 8:00am Pacific State Time. So watch out for that. If you want to know more about Omni Cubed, this wonderful company here that I work for, go on our website, omnicubed.com you'll see tools that are designed to help fabricators, installers, and pretty much everyone to keep people safe and to do their job more efficiently. Check it out. If you've got any questions, shoot me up on LinkedIn, whatever. And until the next time I see you, take care. God bless and cheerio.
