Ep 131 - "Core Collective 2024"

0:00 Well, my dude, you know, this isn't an HHB show per se. No. And I think it's only fair to our audience that we're a media partner for this upcoming conference. Right? That's fair to say. That is fair to say. We're a media partner. We're friends of four. Yeah. Yeah. Those of you who aren't familiar with CORE, listen to this episode, right? Use some of your drive time to take this in. Don't dismiss it because this is a whatever, whatever. It's about the Collective by CORE. It's an upcoming conference in Austin. We were chatting with Diane and Beth about it before we started the show. You and I have heard many times before we ever got involved with CORE, that CORE is the event to go to. And subsequently, we've heard about another industry event that people also love to go to.

0:44 And what's the common thread? When people go to conferences, one, you're obviously going for the training. It's like good content. Some conferences have better content than others. From my perspective, you're going for the location, which is Austin, Texas, which is actually my first time last year being in Austin. We stayed over with our wives. We're going to stay over with our wives again. It's a rad place to extend and just build a vacation into it. The food... First of all, Core does an awesome job with their catering. I remember all of their food in the hotel at the event is very high quality. The parties are off the hook.

1:26 Core is kind of known for their creative team. They're really cutting edge, I think, within our industry in terms of their graphic design. And that shows through in everything. The way the event's laid out. Hospitality. Hospitality in general is awesome. Yep. And so it's one of those things. Bring your spouse. If you're able to, bring some of your leadership team. Bring your whole leadership team. We ran into a number of companies that they bring their whole leadership team. It's a great chance to socialize with your team. Yeah. It's a great chance to network. So anyways, we get into it with Diane and Beth. They're two key executive figures that put this event together. That's right. And we dive into the breakouts that you and I are going to be doing at the event. I'm excited about.

2:07 I just can't wait to go. It's fun. Yeah. It's one we look forward to. It's July. It's Austin. 35 days. Yeah. It's going to be bitching. Now, we mentioned it in the show, but it is really important that if you are going to go, and chances are some of you have already been thinking about, should I sign up for this? Should I do it? Do you have to be a member? We get into all of that. But truly, it's at the JW Marriott. You want to stay there. It's not one that you get a... You get a quality in four blocks away. No, no, no, no. Do your best to stay at the JW. So don't wait and wait until the last minute. And if Chris is already sold going to the event to you, HHB 100. Use that when you register and you'll save a hundred bucks. On each of your tickets.

2:47 Yeah. On each of your tickets. Yeah. So I mean, imagine just do HHB 100 and that covers maybe some food and drink for one of the evenings. Okay. Okay. Enough. Let's get it. There we go. Wow. How many of you have listened to the Head, Heart, and Boots podcast? I can't tell you that react how much that means to us. Welcome back to the Head, Heart, and Boots podcast. I'm Chris. And I'm Brandon. Join us as we wrestle with what it takes to transform ourselves and the businesses we lead. This new camera angle makes my arms look smaller than yours. I'm noticing that and I really appreciate it. I thought you did that on purpose. No, I don't. I didn't. And I am not happy with it. Hey, y'all. Thanks so much for listening to the show.

3:27 Hey, if you're not already following, please do so. And ultimately share, right? The coolest currency that we have in terms of supporting this is share it with a friend, share it with somebody, a colleague, a peer, one of your downline team members. Let them be able to take advantage of the information you're already leveraging in your favor. And finally, guys, if you hear a show that really moves you, that really moves the needle, will you please leave us a review? Those five-star reviews help Right on. And listen, if you're trying to grow your business, you might consider checking out Floodlight's Business Opportunity Audit. It's free. We provide it at no charge. It's actually what we use to assess new clients as they come in.

4:08 It's a 110-point assessment for your business. And we've now decided to give access to the general public for it. So go and take our business opportunity audit at floodlightgrp.com. It's going to help you identify the biggest gaps and opportunities in your business right now. And at the end, it'll assign you a health score to let you know exactly where your business stands right now. So go check it out, floodlightgrp.com forward slash audit and take the BOA. It's a great way to get a pulse on your business. Well, you two, welcome back to the show. Thank you, thank you for having us. This is going to be kind of different, right? This isn't a normal HHB show. This is more like four people having a really fun conversation about an event that is right around the corner that's been badass in the past.

4:54 And I'm assuming it will continue to be badass. And that this year... That is the plan. That's definitely the plan. Of course. Of course. All right. Well, let's dig in. What in the heck is going to be happening at The Collective this year? Let's start big picture and then we can start kind of drawn down into the details and getting into the nitty gritty. Well, you start with the fun stuff and then get into the business part of it. How about that? That way we just kick it off, fresh, fun, have a good time. One of our... I guess it was by popular demand, actually, is why we chose it, was Pickleball. So we're going to have a pre-event this year. So it's actually... prior to the event, so the night, Sunday, the 7th at four, that we're going to do a pickleball.

5:36 So apparently this is a new craze. I know in Austin, you see it everywhere. I think the place that we even have rented out is on a garage, rooftop garage. Oh, wow. Austin Pickle Ranch. So is this like tourney style? Like we're all going to sign up and then man or woman stand? We fully expect the headbands, the shorts, the coming fully in your pickleball. The dresser, the visors. Yeah, sweat armbands, you know, all the things. So to speak to that, you don't have to have pickleball experience or you can be an expert. What we're doing is we are having Austin Pickle Ranch help us facilitate this tournament. So it like kind of puts people where they should be.

6:17 But it will be a lot of fun. We have a good many people signing up. So we're really excited about that. But it's going to be one of those things, if you end up being able to get here and can show up, we're basically show up out there at 3.30, 3.45, and we're going to play pickleball. So we're real excited about it. I think it'll just kind of add a new element to it. So this is all Sunday? Yeah. it's on sunday sunday four o'clock so it'll start at four but there won't be an end time because we don't know how long it's going to take for me to beat everybody and get the trophy so well and i've never been there but since it's on the rooftop a rooftop garage to buy a pickleball outfit and come to the show that is true that is true any excuse to buy a new outfit but one of the other things is because of the location.

7:03 I'm excited to see if the balls go flying over the rooftop. We can probably sign that out without you having a nice outfit. Well, no. That's just a bonus. I love how that was tied to a mandatory outfit purchase. You know what? I get it. It's a little loose connection for me, but I can understand how you got there. You can't come not and not fit the theme. Come on. You know what's better than that? Yeah. We're all about a theme all week. So be ready. That's kind of open. That will lead. That segue is actually perfectly into the next events is our nighttime parties. You know, we do all our business during the day and kind of end out the nights with some parties.

7:43 So this year, instead of just doing our pool party or main pool party, we're doing two themed parties. So the first night on Monday night, we're actually going to be doing our neon party in the trade show. So in the trade show hall. So getting to meet with all of our vendors, seeing their demos, you know, kind of gamifying it a little bit. So you have to play some games while you're in there, kind of connect with some of our vendors. But it's all neon themed. And, you know, we made a joke that earlier we were showing the boards, the inspo boards that we'll be pushing out this week. And we may or may not... have started immediately singing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. We definitely did that. And we sang the entire song. And one of the girls in the room was like, oh, it reminds me of the 90s.

8:26 And we're like, 80s. But we're older, like 80s. But we're like... But there's that transition, you know, from 80s to 90s where there's that neon theme, all the good stuff. And like I said, Fresh Prince of Yellow was definitely 90s. So there was that. And then the pool party, the pool festival, it's going to be like a rooftop rave. So if you think... Beyond Wonderland. It's an EDM festival that they have every year. And so we kind of had a play on that a little bit. So this year, last year was more almost like Coachella vibes. This year is more like ravey vibes. So super excited about that. So yeah, we have two themed parties.

9:07 And to throw into that, so one of the, one of our thoughts on that and building that, we really want to bring a little more life into the exhibit hall and focus for our vendors and our exhibitors. So that night, there's going to be a lot of... in the exhibit hall with our lighting kind of the way we set up the vibe in the room obviously we said neon we have people that you know really enjoy like like diane already mentioned working on their outfits for the show we like to theme it out so we have inspo boards going out this friday with all these options for if you want to wear a neon suit by all means wear a neon suit however if you're someone that does not want to give a lot of thought to that We have an attendee t-shirt that's going to be neon focused that you can just throw on the t-shirt and join the party.

9:49 So it's not, it doesn't have to be stressful. But the people that really love to go all in, please, by all means, go all in. But we'll have a DJ, the music, all the things that we do to make it fun. So that'll be our exhibitor party on the first night. And then again, she said, we are, we're not going across the street. We are going upstairs to the rooftop, but we're super excited because we got the whole pool deck. So it's massive. Yeah. There may or may not be an 18-foot inflatable bunny on those phones. Maybe I'm not supposed to tell that. Oh, yeah. I don't think so. Can you, like, void that out? Just kidding. It's okay. But there will be, you know how we kind of pull out all the stops, and there will be some surprise entertainment, things like that, DJ, all the things.

10:33 But it's going to have some fun surprises, fun themes for you. So we're really excited about that. We will have our tattooer back from last year. Oh, yeah. It was full the entire time. And a lot of people said they got their first tattoo at the collective. So we were pretty proud of that. So, yeah, I think that's exciting. Exciting, I should say. So, yeah, we have all of those going on. We do, again, have yoga this year. So they'll be back for sure then slinging. For sure. Yes. They had a great time and we're super excited about coming back. So yeah. I know we jumped in full frenzy into the fun part, but I'm like, I got to connect thoughts to why.

11:13 Right? So for those of you that heard this first part so far, and it just sounds like you've signed up to go to a rave or whatever, I want... Look, it is probably some of the best networking time actually takes... It really is. So it is super fun. And please, by all means, let us back up and talk about the value of that. We have come out of a meeting where we were talking about these aspects, which is why this is what first came out. Because we're finalizing a lot of the planning on those items. But... If I can move into the content, that would be a good place to go so that all these owners who are sending their wonderful employees know that they're going to leave and be better employees after they leave. Absolutely.

11:53 Because of the in-depth time. They're creating. So we are excited. I think that we've kind of mentioned this out in the industry, but one thing we are doing very different this year is... is in the past we have had call for presentations, a lot of breakout submissions have been selective, but we've had 30 different options, you know, 25 to 30 different options. So we decided to take a different approach this year and we really had a more extensive process of application and of analyzing kind of what would make sense. And we wanted to really narrow that down. So how that's gonna look is everybody is gonna have five opportunities to go to 60 minute breakout sessions. So we have five 60 minute breakout sessions.

12:35 What that means is every attendee will choose five of the 12 breakout sessions that are offered. So there are only 12. There are no, you got 12 really high quality in-depth session. Two of those being the world famous Chris Nordyke and Brandon. So if y'all want to share a little bit about your breakouts, but we have really great speakers coming in. Katie Harris, she's going to do some marketing. Marcy Richardson's going to be focusing on HR. Josh with the All-End is going to have some great new content he's going to have. So we're really excited. But it will, like I said, be only 12 different sessions that people can choose from.

13:18 So we're really hoping to push people kind of into fill those rooms and have kind of a little more in-depth in those sessions. So we're really excited about that. And that was some of the feedback that you guys had gotten. You guys worked so hard to develop a really rich list of opportunities. We almost over-opportunity people, right? That little analysis paralysis kind of kicked in. Absolutely. Absolutely. Definitely. Just, you know, you just want to give so much good out there. You just want to put it all out there. And sometimes you realize quality is more important than that. And not that it wasn't good quality. It's just there's not enough time for everybody to soak it all in. So we really want to focus in and just make that easier for everybody to make those good selections on what will be relevant to what they're dealing with in their business and in their own growth at this time.

14:04 I think so. I was kind of tongue in cheek about the fun part. But you know what? I think what's cool about this is this is a good excuse for us to unplug. Like get out, get away from the business. It's not like, I'll be honest, like to travel around the nation just to go to training. There's a reality that it's still a bit of a grind. So I think having to, you know, let your hair down, have a good time with peers, be able to network, but really have like a twofer, right? Get a lot of education, a lot of good exposure and have a lot of freaking fun. We had a ton of fun last year. Well, and the reality is, and we always say this, and we know this, and even based on what you guys shared last year in Akina, this is where relationships are built. I mean, these are the experiences.

14:45 It's not, it's in the breakout sessions, but it's at the nighttime experiences together. It's in the trade show hall. It's the presence, it's the community that's been built in this industry is at these events. You know, I mean, there's so many great people in the industry, and this is where we have the opportunities to have these shared experiences. And we really enjoy, as you can probably tell, we really enjoy creating these experiences for people to come together, which really leads me into our keynote, which is one of the things I'm so, so pumped about. And actually, you guys, I believe, were the ones that introduced Clint Pulver last year. And we just couldn't make it happen last year. But we were really held on tight, hoping that we could make it happen this year.

15:26 And When I tell you we are so excited, I have shared that Mr. Jensen video with so many people. It's unreal. But we are going to have a 90-minute interactive keynote session. And we're going to have drumsticks in everybody's hands and have the whole shebang. I told Diane, and I need to quit saying this, but I had a 30-minute call with Clint the other day. And I got off the call, and I was like, I'm freaking changing the world. I'm running for president. I am this, we are doing this. Y'all are so excited and so inspired. I actually am not a politics fan, so I'm definitely not doing that. But I was super inspired just after being on even a short call with him about just all the things I'd already known, but just his energy and sharing how he wanted to bring this experience to life for us.

16:10 And so for listeners who may not know, Clint is somebody that his story is really about how one moment and one person lives. can make such a profound impact on the trajectory of your life. And just knowing that we have that power within us to inspire someone's life in such a powerful way. And so his story is that, but he's really going to bring it into culture and employee experience. And there is no way that anybody is going to leave that and not feel just incredibly... empowered. And to me, that's huge because when people feel like they can make a difference, they're good. That's when they make a difference. If they don't feel like they can, they're not going to, that's not where they're headed. But I'm super excited about that.

16:51 And then of course, in addition to him, we'll have our round tables and our carrier conversations and AI main stage with Garrett Gray or Logic. He's going to bring some AI information. which we're always interested in kind of where that's at and where it's headed and the impact that it'll have on all of us in our industry. So, and then Layton with KnowHow will also have a little, he's going to give a quick state of the industry update, which will be good. So, we're pumped. We're ready. We're not ready. We need our 35 days. But we're excited. Yes. Excited. Very excited. So Chris, you... I mean, I think the beginning of the Clint Pulver connection was actually... Was it you and I at the Orla event?

17:33 Yeah, it was. Yeah. At which event? It was like an Orla event. This was years ago. This was back when Brandon and I were operating in the field. A lot of our commercial clients were in the hotel space. Yeah. It's not... And so we were actually a major sponsor at the Oregon Restaurant Lodging Association conference. And so we showed up to this event and Clint was the main keynote and we participated in the... We shouldn't give too much away. No, you can't. Right, right, right. People can Google and stuff, but it was an incredibly powerful and fun experience. And I think this speaks to one of the things that I think Brandon and I and the rest of the Floodlight team really appreciate about CORE and why we'd love to be involved is... There's the practical elements of business that are really important, right?

18:16 The skill building on some of the business fundamentals. But then there's this culture piece, right? Of what sort of energy, what sort of personality, what kinds of companies are we trying to build, right? And I think what we like so much about Clint is he brings the data, the supporting data, and sort of the fundamentals of what are these critical behaviors and what are the observations and research and all this stuff saying that. about how to build culture. And then he's got this really incredible kind of emotional component that I think helps give you a visual of what does it look like to lead in today's environment in such a way that people want to follow and people want to be a part, right?

18:57 And it's really cool. Some of the interviews and some of the stories and anecdotes that he brings into the from his research and his work with major, major companies all over the place. It's just, it's really cool. And it's so core. Like his message is so core-like and that I think it hits on that component of, yeah, sure, the nuts and bolts are important. We've got breakout sessions about various aspects of the business. But I think that's what I appreciate about core is just you guys tend to major a little bit more on sort of the values stuff that we're bringing to our business. Absolutely. Right. Absolutely. The relationship. Yeah, the relationship. Yeah, the relationship. Yeah. And I think all of us see that trend that that's becoming more of a leadership behavior that's required today.

19:40 Right. It's how do we connect with that part of the people that we're bringing on our team? And what do our people expect from us now? It's different, right, than it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago. Well, and I think Clint, I mean, we won't get spun out on him too long. Actually, that reminds me, it's time to get him back on here. But, you know, that's why we really connected with him just in terms of where he was going professionally is he's really a big preacher about this accountability in context to connection and relationships. And we just fundamentally, that's like in complete alignment with what we want to be focused on and dedicated to. And so, and then we're not going to give anything away. But I will guarantee you, you've never experienced a keynote like he will be providing.

20:20 This is not a slide deck driven conversation. Yeah, right. It's just... It's going to put it there. Yeah, you're... And he's 10x'd it since we've seen it. We've talked to him at length about it. And it's... I'm psyched to participate in what he's going to do now. So I can't wait. I was gonna say, have you seen him since then? No. So this will be since then. How many years ago was that? Oh, geez. Pushing six years ago, probably five, six. Oh, wow. Seven. Oh, awesome. Well, that'll be fun to hear your perspective on how it... Yeah, it was way early. Oh, 100%. Yeah. I think we all laughed kind of about even like how long ago that was for him. Yeah. In terms of... I mean, he's a true gangster.

21:01 out. Hey, one thing that's worth saying, where a conference is located is a pretty big factor in terms of just the overall experience of it. And of course, there's conferences all over the United States. Many of them move. And I got to be honest, this is one of those conferences we always get excited about. So Brandon and I are bringing our spouses again for the second year in a row. We're going to extend our trip a little bit and turn this into a little bit of a vacation because it's awesome. Why not? Yeah. Yeah, so that part is fun. And for those owners and people that have the ability to take a couple extra days after the conference, it's a rad place to do it if you haven't spent much time in Austin. The Tex-Mex, the barbecue, Terry Blacks, all the things.

21:43 Always go straight to the food. That's it. We got the best food. Terry. I'm hoping we can check out a comedy club too. Cause Austin's becoming kind of comedy central, but the venue is awesome. The JW Marriott, awesome venue, great hotel gym. And for those of you that like to stay fit, it's a really great gym and it's always full. I mean, it's, it's full. It's huge. And there's a lot of attendees last year. I was really impressed. I was like, Oh, Hey, nice, nice work. Liftify.com forward slash bloodlight. You've heard Brandon and I talk a bunch of times about the importance of Google reviews. Maybe you even heard our episode with Zach Garrett, the CEO and founder.

22:24 Recency, consistency, two of the most important things when it comes to maximizing the benefit from your Google reviews. Why not use an outside partner? Liftify is targeting 20 to 25% conversion, right? So if you do a thousand jobs a year, you ought to be adding right now, 200 to 250 reviews a year, every single year. If you're not doing that, you owe it to yourself to get a free demo from liftify.com. See their system, see how it works, see how affordable it is. I promise you, you'll thank us. Liftify.com forward slash bloodlight. Thank you. You know, we spend a lot of money and a lot of attention trying to get that first call. And one of the things that we do once it happens is sometimes we leave it to chance, right?

23:06 Who picks up the phone? How do they respond? How do they walk that client into a relationship with us? Well, one of the benefits of partnering with a team like AnswerForce.com is we can systemize that. We can make it more consistent. We can also have backup for when our teams need that help, right? Somebody goes on vacation. Somebody's out sick. We get a storm surge, we get cat event. All sorts of things can have an impact on how we receive that client. But the most important thing is they need to know that they've chosen the right team. And so answerforce.com can support you, be a bolt-on partner to help you consistently produce an awesome onboarding experience with that first call with your client. So answerforce.com forward slash answerforce.

23:48 blood light. Sounds great. CNR Magazine, we're friends with all the folks at CNR. Michelle and her team, they do a great job of keeping their ear to the ground and reporting all the important information from our industry. Right? You want to stay up on all the M&A activity and what the latest best practices are for selling your company successfully. Right? She's got that. Great articles about all the four quadrants of our business. Right? CNR is constantly pushing out great material and leveraging great writers and subject matter experts in our industry. Right? It is the water cooler of our industry. So if you're not subscribed, go to cnrmagazine.com. Follow them on LinkedIn. Follow Michelle on LinkedIn. Trust us. If you're trying to stay on top of everything happening in the industry, your best destination is cnrmagazine.com.

24:33 You guys, many of you have already heard about actionable insights and the training and the technical expertise that they bring to the industry. But how many of you are already leveraging the actionable insights profile for Xactimate? That's the game changer. It's essentially an AI tool that's walking alongside of you as you write your estimate, bringing things to your attention that should be added, that could be considered. All of them items that increase our profitability, increase the effectiveness and the consistency of that scope. And it can do anything from helping a new team member assimilate some estimating best practices. And it also helps the grizzled vets add back that few percent that we've just forgot over time.

25:17 So actionable insights, get insights.org forward slash floodlight and take a look at what the actionable insights exactimate profile could be doing for you and your team. Do you want to talk a little bit about the breakout that you're doing? Yeah, sure. I'll jump in it. So mine, we really want to kind of dive into the operational space, the leadership space. And one of the things we were just actually making jokes recently, it seems like when you start to land on a bit of a theme, then inevitably, it's like every other conversation with a team or a group that it's like this topic comes up. So I'm actually getting really excited about it. But it's a real opportunity, I think, for us as a group in the room to focus our attention in terms of leadership, like where we should be devoting our energies.

26:01 And I think one of the things that we see as owners and key leaders is there's a million things vying for our time. There's always fires to put out. And we struggle to create solutions that solve problems. And we just inevitably hang in this firefighting place. So my intent for the content that we're going to cover is I want to discuss some actual things that we can be doing as key leaders to remove that chaos, to begin focusing our attention on the right places, creating solutions instead of firefighting so that the effort that we put forth is sustainable. So I'm not going to go into any more of maybe the deliverables on it. But that's the space that we're going to hang. Obviously, people are seeing stuff getting sent out on the socials.

26:44 So I know LinkedIn posts have been coming out where you guys are highlighting the different speakers and the content. So anyways, I'm hopeful that somebody will be in the room with me and that I won't be talking... But I think if you're in that place as a business owner, as a key leader, where you've got a bit of a gap between what you want your business to do and what it's actually doing, I think it would be well worth your time to come hang out with me. I think you'll walk away with some stuff that you can put into practice that will change that. So you can have some fun and walk away and with hopefully enough energy to put some stuff into practice. And I think it would be super viable. Yeah, just a little bit more on that. I think we often refer to some of what you're going to break down for folks is the leader's standard work.

27:25 I think all of us have read the books by John Maxwell and Jim Collins and some of these business writers that talk about leadership. And they're all very, very good. But I think sometimes, in particular, our industry, sometimes it's hard to connect the dots as what does that look like? on a day-to-day basis in a restoration company. It kind of stays in the headspace of, great idea, we should do that. That sounds great. But then the implementation or the reality of it. Yeah, that's right. Now what? That's right. And so I think you do a great job of connecting those dots for folks. Like how do we apply some of those best practices and things that we sort of inherently know about leadership and management into the life of a restoration company owner, department manager, etc.

28:06 So it is going to be a really good one. So I'm going to be building on, I think, what is becoming much more of an industry focus, which is how do we effectively sell commercial right? You know, there's obviously if you're part of a franchise system or you're part of one of the large enterprise restorers, they have national account teams that are selling for you into the commercial space. But I think everybody is trying to figure out how do I sell commercial locally in my own markets, in the towns and cities that we operate in directly. And it's a big black box for most restorers, even the bigger restorers we talk to. And so... We're going to be talking about specifically how do we leverage an emergency readiness or response plan as the leading product that we sell or the service that we sell prior to a damage event, right?

28:57 How do we use that as tip of the spear in a very specific process? You know, the industry, and we've talked about this many times before, right? The industry, I think, got started in kind of a good old boys and girls network of relationships. And then from that, we started gifting, right? Doing the baseball tickets and bourbon, right? And then it turned into agent office visits with a State Farm PSP program and a lot of the other carrier programs at the agent office. And that got us into the candy and smiles routine. And I think everybody around the nation is starting to see diminishing returns from those practices, right? And COVID, I think, put the death nail in a lot of those. Oh, yeah.

29:37 100%. And so now it's like, okay, how can our team have a systematic standardized approach to how we're going to sell and connect with commercial clients? And that's what we're going to dig into in this breakout. So I think it's going to be great. It's going to be very actionable, just like the operations material brand is going to get into. It's something that people can immediately implement when they get to their operations. Which I love that you just shared all that and kind of done it. validated exactly the point of what we're trying to do. We want breakouts. Everything you guys just said brings so much value to the restorer. It brings so much value to their business. It has you thinking about things from a different perspective. Like you do. We get caught in the grind of the day-to-day.

30:19 We don't address things. We don't work on things proactively. And so like what you guys both just explained in your breakouts are things that from our perspective are different. incredibly valuable to restorers and to people in their businesses, which is why it all comes together with what we're trying to create is that value and actionable. Like you said, that's huge. Anybody can give a good talk. How are you? Well, not anybody, but they're not anybody. But, you know, people can give a good talk. But what what can people leave with? They go, this really changes the way we operate.

30:59 This changes the outcome. It changes the way we do it. And you guys are two people that have shown that. in what you're doing in the industry and in the content that you're putting out, which is why we are excited you guys will be there as partners and deliver breakouts that are valuable. So thank you. And I'd just like to add to that too, Chris. I think you've hit the nail on the head a little bit there about what we used to do versus what we do today. And we've noticed that just as core bringing in our own prospects for membership and things like that. We we talk to them about that, you know, that a lot of businesses, even the bigger ones, they have forgotten how to sell their business. They've forgotten that human connection, that human touch.

31:40 A lot of them are reliant on programs, program work. So they forget how to actually sell their business. And if they mess up one time, some of these programs will cut them off like that. And if they're reliant on that, then what are they going to do? You know, they no longer know how to sell their business anymore. So I think that's going to be something that's very valuable. I had the opportunity to have you speak at our Sales and Marketing Summit on sales. It's a members-only event that you got to speak to. there and also kind of teach and build a help our members build a plan that we got great feedback from. And everyone was just like, wow, that was really cool to be able to have someone kind of help us maybe where we felt like we were going in the right route.

32:21 But by having him kind of show us a little bit more. we were able to really kind of hone in that sales plan, you know, that roadmap for our business. So I think, like I said, you hit the nail on the head and, you know, we talk a lot about connection. And, you know, I think that's a big part of what Core is, is connecting, connecting the dots, connecting people, connecting resources, you know, making sure when we are bringing this content, choosing this content, that it is connecting with, you know, our restorers, getting even our restorers connected with our carriers at our event. You know, that's not something you see at any other event is we actually go, hey, our carriers now are saying we want to do these Q&As with your restorers. We want them to know what we're looking for and we want them to be able to ask us questions the same way so we can help each other work together if we're going to be working together in this capacity.

33:11 So I think that, again, that is part of what CORE is. And I think that's something we're very proud of. And I think another difference is, you know, back to also culture, whatever we have, whether it's a vendor or a contractor or a carrier or any kind of outside speaker, we were talking about this earlier, that they can come in and any core member is going to greet them the same way they would greet a family member. Hey, it's great to see you. Even if you've never met them. Great to see you. And none of us are prompted to do that. We're not told, hey, you've got to do this. You've got to say this. This is just how we hire. You know, this is this is part of our core values is being part of a collective. And it just happens to be, you know, it became our name for our festival now first.

33:53 And then it wound up being part of our core values. I think that speaks. A little bit to the whole connection piece is that we are a collective. That's always been something we live and breathe as a company is having all that connection and just helping, helping each other out, helping support each other instead of trying to keep each other down or live in competition. And just the hospitality aspect of that. Just we enjoy being hospitable. You know, it's part of kind of who we are. Well, I think it's interesting too. And this is something that I actually learned from being exposed to some of our clients is in the early days, like when I was operating, I did not... I was not a person that placed a high value on these events. Like I obviously... Right, sure. I didn't. Absolutely.

34:33 Absolutely. And it felt like I was always too busy to participate. I didn't... It's like, okay, yeah, I could get some training. I had a million excuses why I could just devalue the opportunity. And it's interesting. Some of the most successful clients that we work with in terms of scaling and developing their businesses, if you look at them, there is actually a very common theme. And that theme is that they participate. And when they get there, they network their asses off. And I think we look at it as a restorer and I go, well, there's nobody I'm selling to per se at these events. And they've approached it from, yeah, but these networked relationships can enhance the way I operate as a restorer.

35:16 They can give me insight often that I don't have myself because they might be two or three steps in front of me, right? I think it provides us as restores the opportunity to mentor someone else. I think there's a reality that it feels good When you share information and you're not stuck in this world of, oh gosh, I do restoration so different that if I talk about it, someone will overtake my business. Guys, the gear is all the same shit. Let's be honest about what we're doing, right? But it feels good. We had a conversation earlier about the scarcity versus abundance of mentality of that. We got to hoard it and not share it with anybody else or... we can all be lift each other up.

35:58 It's the whole prize by lifting others and being open to there's enough for everyone. Like let's do this in a better way together versus trying to protect what's ours. Right. And I think this really is a way for you to see your fellow restorers. Like that was the other thing is I felt so isolated. I just was so disconnected from everybody. And then you don't get a lot of, integration or interaction in your own market, which I get it. Like, you know, nobody wants to drink coffee with their competitor per se. But man, to know that I could leave my state and start rubbing elbows with a bunch of successful people, they're not impeding on my market space. And if anything, when storms hit, I have a bros-ish, you know, a certain crime that I can lean on and be like, Hey, let's do some business together.

36:45 So I do think that's another theme in our culture now is just the power of community and how much we need it. You know, we can have tended to be somewhat isolated, like you mentioned. And there's so much power in just having community. People need it. Like you need it. And when you have a healthy community of people that you do the same things with, you learn so much. I mean, there's so much I learned. I'm not a restorer. I just learned from listening to the people that are there. I can imagine how impactful it is to learn from each other. Yeah. I wanted to ask you a question that maybe some of the listeners are thinking to themselves. Does somebody need to be a member of CORE to be able to attend the collective?

37:28 No, this is open to the industry. So like I said, we connect everyone. We even have other franchises that want to come and see us. We have some that are on our affiliate program that do amazing work for us, that we've built good relationships with that we know we can call on. So no, it's anyone in the industry, whether it's an insurance carrier or a company. whether it's another contractor, another vendor that maybe says, hey, I just want to see the show before I commit to a booth. I want to see what this whole thing is about that everybody keeps talking about. And nine times out of 10, they're buying a booth by the end of the show because they're like, we want to be part of this. You know, we see what the value is. We see what you're bringing to the table.

38:09 We want to we want to be a part of it. So anybody can come. You just register. at thecollectivebycorp.com. Yeah, do it again. So let's hit that and let's slam down some dates. And then just one more for us, the venue location, right? Let's just cover all of that. And then obviously point them towards the website to go get their butts signed up. Where are they going? Let's throw out really quickly that there's a discount code for anybody listening to your podcast, HHB100.com. We'll get $100 off per ticket. And it is www.thecollectivebycourt.com. It is at the JW Marriott in downtown Austin, July 8th through the 10th. But if you want to play some pickleball, come on July the 7th.

38:52 We definitely want you to join. Go buy your outfit. Come all ready. We'll be there waiting for you. Whatever you want. Please show up with headbands and your shorts. Please. That would be the best. That could be a good program for you guys, right? You know what's cracking me up right now is in the back of my head, I know that as soon as I tell my wife that pickleball is happening, like if travel plans wouldn't have allowed it, we're probably changing flights because she talks about pickleball more than anybody I know. Please bring your wife. And will she want an outfit? Can I encourage that? Please, please bring your wife to pickleball.

39:33 I would be like, connect with Diane. She's already got a lead on an outfit. I do. I'll give her the link. I'll let her know. I'll be like, here you go. I love it. This is awesome, guys. Well, I know we're looking forward to it. We get psyched this time of year when we start thinking about the collective as it approaches. And so we approach the show with this nervous excitement. We get nervous about the fact that if we're going to be taking up people's time, we want to provide as much value as we can shove into that exposure and that opportunity as possible. We take that seriously and we just get amped to come have a lot of fun. Not only do we get to see you guys, obviously, we have a great relationship with the core team. But man, for us, it's like this is the time that we do hours and hours of virtual visits with all these partners and friends all over the industry.

40:18 And this is our time to rub elbows, see each other face to face, give hugs, catch up and be like, oh, you are a real person. So we're jazzed. We're excited. I hope if you haven't registered yet, guys, this is... Move your schedule around and just come. It'll be a lot of fun. You're going to enjoy it. Now we know too, we got HHB 100. So we're going to throw that out. We'll throw that in the show notes as well. I have two quick little quips too, right before. Also, one thing we didn't mention is we are doing this year a women's networking breakfast. So it will be the breakfast at regular time breakfast, just in a different room. I myself got into restoration back in 2004 in marketing and restoration for contractors. So I know where we've come from, where we've grown to.

40:59 So it's just a time that we can support and empower our other women in restoration. We'll also have our carriers there, you know, things like that. So something to kind of keep mindful of. And if you haven't already booked your room... book your room because the block, the hotel deadline for our block ends to lock in those rates as June 14th. So next Friday, next Friday. So we'll also want to do that. So even if you'll want to be there, yeah, you'll want to be there. Yeah. Be at the JW. If you can. Absolutely. Yes. I'm glad you said that. Cause it is, sometimes people don't recognize like, wow, Our event is so immersive in like, you know, start to finish. And part of the experience is being there with everyone.

41:41 So if you're considering not staying on site, I would recommend that you really think twice about that and go ahead and get your room booked. Because like she said, there could potentially be availability after the 14th, but we can't guarantee anyone in the core block. after the 14th. So please, please go ahead and reserve those rooms. And the link for that is on the website as well. Yes. Awesome. Yeah. Well, you guys, I know you got plenty of things to do between now and 35 days. So we'll let you go and we'll obviously be seeing you guys here very quickly. And I want a shirt this year. Okay. All right. Oh, yeah. I was jealous of hers last year. She was jealous of mine.

42:21 And thanks for joining us from outer space. This is the first time we've had a recording with anyone in space. I told y'all that it literally, it looks like stars. It might be our computer. Maybe it is. Yeah. It might be your monitor. It might be because it looks like galaxy. It's like galaxy-ish. Yeah. It's less galaxy in real life. Yeah. It's probably more like... I love it and I felt kind of important that we were with astronauts today. That's right. We're coming to you from the future. I love it. I love it. Thanks. Thank you guys so much for having us. See y'all soon.

43:01 All right, everybody. Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of Head, Heart, and Boots. And if you're enjoying the show, but you love this episode, please hit follow, formerly known as subscribe, write us a review, or share this episode with a friend. Share it on LinkedIn, share it via text, whatever. It all helps. Thanks for listening.