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Impact Development Management Podcast
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Impact Development Management Podcast
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The speaker is excited about starting a podcast called Impact. They discuss the possibilities and direction the podcast could take, including interviewing people in the industry. They also talk about the background of Impact and how it was formed. The speaker mentions the importance of creating a positive work culture and how they enjoy working at Impact. They talk about the clients they choose to work with and their recent success in bringing in new clients. The speaker shares their experience of wanting to buy the company in 2009 and the amusing reaction of the company's owner. So, let's jump in. I like it. Take one. First podcast for Impact. This is awesome. You know how excited I've been about this? This is like, last night was like Christmas Eve for me. Honestly, because you start like thinking about what are we going to talk about, who's going to listen, what is it going to be, all that kind of good stuff. But here. I mean, yeah, it can really go any direction, which is amazing, and I mean, the opportunities are endless. It's fun. And we get to talk about experience because we're old, right? Yeah. Definitely, yeah. I think you can tell by the gray hair between you and myself. Probably me more gray hair than you, so. Well, I'm losing mine, so. I'll take the gray over the loss. But yeah, no, this is exciting. I mean, I think it's going to be good, at least in this podcast, to get everybody a little background about Impact and our background and kind of where we're thinking this thing may go. But I mean, that's the thing. We don't have to take a certain direction. I mean, it could morph into anything, but I think the cool part is going to be interviewing different people in the industry. There's nobody in the industry that I know of doing anything like this, so I think it's a great opportunity for others to learn about the Southeast, development management, what we do, what everybody does in the industry, their stories, you know? Yeah. It's kind of fun to talk to people about it, too, because you're like, hey, we're doing an Impact podcast, and they're like, what are you guys doing? What are you going to talk about? And I'm like, I don't know. Yeah. That's kind of the fun part about this, right? Great question. I know everybody in the office is like, what are y'all going to do with this? I'm like, we're not exactly sure, but it's going to be fun, and we're going to figure it out. You're going to find out. Yeah, yeah. So I think, you know, starting off, I think it would be good to get a little background about Impact and what you really were thinking when you decided that you were going to form Impact and take it over from Darden Construction. Yeah, no, it was a wild ride. You know, I joined Bill Darden back in 2008 and had a stint with him for two years. And I remember back then going, you know, I always kind of knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn't know how to do it. And truth be told, I actually made Bill an offer in 2009 to buy the company. And it was two different partners. I don't want to talk about that one. Oh, really? One of them was Derek Owen. And we talked about it. Didn't know this. Yeah, it was a true story. I remember sitting in one of our friends' garage and we're putting together a business plan. If I look at that business plan today, I'm like, what a failure. That was the worst thing ever. Like, we had no idea what we were doing. We had no idea how to put together fees. We had literally no idea. I mean, I probably can find a picture of the whiteboard that we had about it. But that was the first time, and I could just remember that feeling of, man, I would love to start a company, and I'd love to start a company more, not just because I want to be a boss or a CEO, just be a part of something that others want to be a part of. Every time I look around, even when I walk in the office today, it's always still weird for me when I see people in here and how many people are here and all that kind of stuff. Well, you have done an amazing job making an amazing culture, which is very hard to do. I appreciate that. And that has been probably one of my favorite things about Impact, and I think, Vanessa, you could say the same thing. I mean, we were talking about it at lunch the other day. It's just like, we actually like coming to work. Like, who really likes coming to work and coming into the office? It's like, everybody has fun, everybody works hard, and we all are just pushing to do our best and give our clients the best value for their money. And that's awesome, but it's even more awesome when you're having fun doing it, and you're having fun working with who you're working with. I mean, that makes it all better. Yeah, no, and that is the vision, right, is have a place and a culture in somewhere that people wanna go to. I mean, there was parts of my career I didn't have that, and I can remember earning for that, right? I mean, Vanessa, I don't know if she's ever told you this story, she turned me down the first time I made her offer. I was like, what? Yeah. Oh, yeah. With women in my life, that's not a surprise, right? I'm used to getting turned down by women, so no big deal, but yeah, she was like, she was like, no, I think I kinda wanna do my own thing, and I've heard that from people before, and the hardest part is like, I'd be a hypocrite to tell her no, right, to start your own thing. Yeah. But you called back. I did, I did. And as my sister told me, I like to be chased. So that's all it took. Literally just had this conversation with my wife and daughter, you know, my wife's just like, you know, women just like to chase. Yeah. They like to be chased, and the boys like the chase. Yeah. I tracked her down, but no, I mean, I told her, I said, look, there's endless opportunity here, like, I mean, especially for her, who's basically a department of one. Yeah. You know, I knew that, you know, this company needs her vision, needs her drive, it needs all those things, and just getting to know her the little I already knew her, and through the interview process, I was like, I promise you, I think you're gonna like it here. I don't wanna tell you this any other way. Yeah. And really, you know, I was at Carter for 10 years before I came here, love everybody there, actually having lunch with a bunch of them today, but like, I just was wanting something different, and, you know, you and I working together 18 years ago at Novera Group, you know, won our friendship, and just something was different about Impact, and it just, you know, it was the culture, it was everybody I met, it was just something that drew me here, and, you know, it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, and so it's been awesome, and, you know, I talk it up to everybody in the industry, because like, look, I loved Carter, I had an awesome stint there, everybody's great, but like, this just feels like home to me. Yeah, it's great. Carter felt like home, this feels like home too, but it's been, it's just been an awesome ride so far. We've only been here a year, but it seems like it's been longer, we've been super busy, and that's also exciting that we're starting to continue to bring in more new clients, and, you know, we're just, we're crushing it. Yeah, I think the fun part about it too is like, you know, we brought in a new client this week, but not just bringing in clients, we're bringing in clients that we wanna work with. That's right. I mean, this group that we brought in now is just like, god, this is fun, we're like, before they even hired us, they're texting us and emailing us about the Georgia game, right, it's just like, wow, this is cool. Well, and, you know, that's the luxury too, we don't have to work with everybody. Correct. And, yeah, you're gonna, we're gonna make the right decisions to work with people who we wanna work with and that we mesh, you know. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, we turned down two potentials this week, just because it just didn't feel like the right timing, the right fit, and all that kind of stuff, and that's what it's really about is, you know, I think we're blessed and fortunate to be in that position now, because that wasn't always the case. Yeah. It was like, if the phone rang, we've gotta pick it up and we've gotta go figure it out, and now we're in this position, just four short years later, that we can be in a position to where it's like, we gotta pick and choose the right thing for the company. Yeah, that's right. Let's jump back into, kind of, you and your desire to buy. Yeah, I'm curious what Bill's reaction was in 2009 when you approached him. So. It certainly planted a seed for him to remember that there was an interest there, but he had to be at least a little bit amused. It was the worst delivery of all time. This is so bad, right? So I'm, I guess, 2009, I was 30 years old, and, you know, these two guys and I came together and we're putting together this business plan, and I'm sure we'll jump into this later, but I'm a two Enneagram, which, you know, we're a little shy, we're a little reserved, it's hard for us to come out of the shell, which you are as well, right? I'm a two. Yeah, and so there's things that are hard for us, right? And Bill, and I'm sure we'll get into Bill, Bill's an interesting guy, he's a tough guy, but he's fair, right? And we put together this plan, and at the time I was doing this job in Texas, and I had to fly to Texas every week. Every Monday and Tuesday I flew to Texas. And so we had this plan, got done with it on a Sunday, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna give it to him on Monday. And I can remember I was sweating. Like, this would have come out of nowhere for Bill, right? There was no prep for this or anything like that. And so finally, I'm getting ready to head to the airport, and I think I'm gonna talk to him about it. And I was like, all right, I'm ready, I'm prepped. Well, for some reason he wasn't in the office. And so I had this letter and this package put together, and I'm so scared, I put it on his desk and I left. I didn't even talk to him about it. And so like, I'm on my way to the airport, and I'm like, I'm like looking at my phone, when is he gonna call, when is he gonna call? And sure enough, he calls, and he's just like, what on earth is this package on my desk? And I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't even know what to say. I'm apologizing for putting it on his desk, I'm so nervous about it. And he's just like, in the right way, Bill did his thing, where he's just like, you don't even know what you're doing. Like, you don't even know what you're saying, you don't know what you're doing, which is heartbreaking, because we spent tens of hours on this package to give to him. And then he's just like, let's just table this, this is not the right time. And it was 2009, too, I mean, the economy was horrible, right, so he was like, just table, but I think to answer the question, that kind of opened the door for us in a weird way to have a conversation, right? And so, you know, Bill and I parted ways back in 2010, and then I joined CompetitorVars Icon 2011 to 14, and then went back to Darden Company in 2014, and when I went back, it was, hey Bill, if I'm coming here and we're doing this, I want an end result, right? I mean, and that time, I thought my end result was actually closer than 2018, I thought there was gonna be a transition during the stadium, we were working on Mercedes-Benz Stadium at that time, and it was just like an everyday thing that I was like, I know I wanna do this, and at the time, we had 10 people, like, Darden Company was, you know, as big as it's ever been, by twofold, right? I mean, Bill never had five employees, it was 10 employees, and I always wanted this thing, right, but we were so focused on Mercedes-Benz Stadium, we never had time, you know, we finished, Bill wrapped up, he went on vacation to Vegas for a couple weeks, and he came back, and he confronted me and said, it's time, because, you know, I went away, and I think it's time to make this transition, how are we gonna do that? And that was, truthfully, it was in 2000, it still was 2017, and we closed and bought the company November 1st of 2018, so it was a year of not the most fun time, it was hard, it was, we didn't have any work, luckily, we got contracted with the Falcons to continue to stay on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for closeout and transition, some upgrades and stuff like that, but it was, there was some long nights, you know, and I thought about it, and I remember Bill asking me, he's like, you're doing this by yourself, and there was a point where I had told people that, you know, Bill and I are having this conversation, and then I remember sitting in my office one day, which office is it? We were in trailers, so, nothing bougie. Hey, in this industry, everybody's worked in a trailer in some way, many times for me, so. That's right, but I remember sitting in my office, and sure enough, to their credit, Matt and Kyle came in my office and said, hey, we know you're buying the company, we wanna be a part of it, and it was like, okay, well that's cool, right, first and foremost, because I was already scared like crazy to do it, and now I've got these two other guys that proactively came and said, we wanna be a part of it, we don't know how, we don't know what it looks like, and that kinda started the conversation. So, we got, you know, like I said, it took a long time, and it was some hard conversations, and Kyle and I talk about it plenty of times, I'll never forget, but there was a time when Kyle called me on a weekend and said, I'm out. Said, I'm done, I don't wanna do this anymore, I'm gonna start looking for a job, and I remember him and Matt having a conversation, Matt started to say, maybe I'm out as well, so it got some nerve-wracking times. I remember Matt even saying, I don't wanna be in the marketplace out there looking for a job at the same time Kyle is. So, that was, Kyle and I actually told that story last night. What do you think was the residing fear? I mean, aside from the investment, but were you thinking about going in cold and not having the work? Were you thinking about, what was going on in your mind that was making you hesitate? Yeah, I think a couple of things. One was, Bill always said, I don't wanna run a company, even though I run a company. So, I love Bill, I don't mean to say anything bad about him, but he never really ran it like a company at the end of the day, and he was open and honest about that. So, I never really had that kind of mentorship when it was coming to running a company. And truthfully, the scariest part was we had no income, and I was in a position in my life to have no income. And so, all of that recipe coming together, going, man, I don't know if I can do this, because I don't know that, what am I gonna do about just feeding my family? Two young kids, how is that gonna play into this? So, those were the two biggest things, was I didn't feel like I had the greatest path of what it would look like. And then, money, didn't have that either. And so, what was crazy about it was, I don't mind sharing some of the little bit of details, but just the initial down payment that we gave Bill was $150,000, and believe me, at that time, it was like, I don't know where I'm coming at with $150,000. That's a lot of money, right? And so, when you have no money, you have no means of income. That was my first time going out and trying to find an investor, and luckily I did. And that was a little scary to try and figure out what that looked like as well. So, all those were kind of the recipe. Then it was like, well, I've seen other people in the industry, as we all have, that do business development. Like, how am I gonna switch from operational execution-focused person to, we've gotta go out and find work, right? And there was a lot of doors that we knocked on that were open that we lost. We couldn't figure out when we competed. We were losing every single time we competed. There was nothing. And so, finally, the Falcons called and said, we've got a little additional work up here in Fiery Branch. We've got some work we need to do at the stadium. And then we had this massive project called this 2,500 square foot cycling studio that was gonna pay us a whopping four grand a month. And it was like, jackpot! Yeah, money! We got exactly what our business plan was, was work outside of Arthur Blank. So, those who don't know the background of Darden & Company, really was founded by Bill Darden back in 99, and it was started with his relationship with Arthur Blank and doing real estate development for Arthur Blank. And then we did some projects outside of that, but that was the hand that fed us. It still is today, to be honest with you. But that was the vision of it, was to get outside of just Arthur Blank and grow the company outside of that. That's pretty awesome. And what's awesome, and I think that we see with so many of our clients, new or old, is just the relationship aspect. So, like, Arthur Blank, we're still working with him, and it just seems like once we get in with a team, that we're literally just part of the team, and we just continue that relationship. And it didn't, half the time, morphs into new work. So, it's just, yeah, we're always doing business development, but a lot of times, it's word of mouth that just continues to grow us. Yeah, I mentioned this earlier, we were talking about Rob Taylor, who, to me, is an icon in this industry, who started the Atlanta office for Brasfield & Gorey. He said some quotes last night, and he was talking about, he was giving stories about working and starting the company in Atlanta. And, you know, just in Rob Taylor fashion, left with a couple of quotes, and he had four of them. I wrote them all down, of course, because I'm a big quote person. But one of them really was, you know, so many people in our industry always worry about results. And he goes, I've just worked my whole life to build relationships that produce results. And I was just like, oh, man. That one just, that was one of those ones that gravitated towards me, because, you know, I always say this to people, is like, build your own brand. Like, I love that people are identifying with Impact and stuff like that. But also, I can talk to people, and they're like, oh, Kendall Golightly's a great guy. And I love that. I mean, I know that sounds weird as a business owner and a president of a company, but like, everyone here is just building their own brand. And I love watching them evolve. I mean, Caleb is a perfect example, a guy that came here and knew nothing about the industry. And just watching him and people saying the name Caleb, oh yeah, he works at Impact? I mean, that, to me, is just awesome to watch. Yeah, it's amazing to see some of our younger talent just jump into the industry and absolutely crush it. It's wild. I mean, these people just don't realize sometimes how good they are, how smart they are. And that's why, like, you know, a lot of times, you know, we've lost proposals, and we've kind of debriefed and talked about it, because I'm the one pushing, like, push the project manager out there. They're gonna shine and all that kind of stuff. And you kind of come back and we're like, well, we're losing, we're not putting people out there with experience, right? But I'm like, they're smart. They can do it. You know, it's like, you just watch some of these younger folks, and you're like, I mean, they're, if I could just sit back and get out of the way, they're more than capable of doing it. Oh, 100%. I also think, you know, a lot of times, it's they need to meet these clients. Like, they need to, like, talk to them. I mean, you can look at a resume or look at a proposal or whatever. You get a very small glimpse of what you're really getting. You really need to meet these people and see exactly who they are and what they can do, I mean. Well, and that's what's interesting to see, is that when we meet with clients, we don't have to compete. There isn't, we don't have to provide proposals and then go to interview. Once they meet our team, it's. Sells itself. A lot of time, it's in the bag. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's really nice. It is, and that's a testament not to just meet to everybody in the company. Again, that's always, like, the best part of it. I mean, we were talking the other day. I was just like, once you meet Kendall, I mean, he's good. You know, again, we talked about this potential client that we have that we landed this week, and, you know, Kendall happened to be in Charleston, met with him, and he's just like, and Kendall being Kendall, he's like, let's just go grab beers. Like, it wasn't like this forced sales-y thing. I'm taking you out to get beers to hire us. It was just like, we're just gonna build a relationship. If the work comes, that's great. Yeah, and here's the deal. It may not come at that moment, but if those relationships continue to build over time, and then later down the road, you're getting a phone call, right? We're ready. We got another project. But I think that's a testament to the culture here, because it bleeds over, and you can see that everybody's just really relaxed, enjoying their time together, and it's people that you wanna be friends with. That's right. You know, it was funny. Like, you rewind back, like, two years ago when we started doing reviews, and I remember, I guess it was two years ago, and I'm sitting down and doing this. This is what I was doing, everybody's reviewing, I'm reading it, and like, everybody had business development on there. It was every single person. Literally, it was right in business and development. So, the first part is like, do people think I'm not doing my job or considering bringing in opportunities? Oh, my God. Like, I was like, at this moment, and that's probably about being a two, right? Where you're just like, insecure about it, and you're just like, oh, my God. Overthinking it. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, I literally had to feel like I had to flip it and say, what you're doing on a day-to-day basis is business development. Because you're building relationships, you're executing work. Like, I do feel like, you know, one of the things, and I know we'll hopefully get into this later in the podcast when we're talking about impact and what makes us different, right? Because we're always trying to find that secret sauce and talk about that secret sauce and what makes us different. And then, what we were just talking about is like, you wish the interview process could be a little bit longer, right? Just like, hey, you know, you get us in this stuffy, one-hour, you know, awkward moment and we're trying to overthink it like, well, what are our competitors doing? What are our competitors doing? It's like, when we're just us, I feel like that is the magic recipe. And that's a hard thing for you, especially as director of marketing, to say, well, Jason, how do I capture that? I can't just like, hey, just trust us. We don't know it. We're ourselves. We're us. Just hire us because we're us, right? Come on. Everybody's doing it. Yeah, absolutely. So, I think that's a great segue into what is it that you envision impact to be? Yeah, that's a very... And has it transformed since you bought the company? Yeah, I think, yes. I think the short answer is yes. And, you know, look, there's not for nothing, but we went through a lot of tough times, right? I mean, it really is. I mean, it's cliche, but it is hard to figure it out. Again, right when, you know, Bill not doing, like, this is not exactly the company I wanna have. I don't wanna have employees and we decided we wanna have employees. And, you know, when Matt and Kyle and I wrote the business plan, I remember putting together the financial model and our goal was, you know, at the time we're three people, right? And our goal was in five years to be 16 people. Like, that was the goal. It's like, oh my God, can you imagine having 13 other people around the office? What does that look like? What do we do with 13 people? How do we feed 13 people, right? And so, like, you go through this thing where it's just like, you know, I had a lot of good mentors in my life and I really leveraged those relationships. You know, Connor McNally is one of them and it was just like, how do you do this? And, you know, what's crazy is, like, the magic recipe is you be you, right? I mean, that's it, right? I mean, you bring in, you meet good people. Like, we've met, right? I knew your husband before you, but I love Jason. Jason's a great dude, right? So it's like, well, I'm sure he married a good woman, right? You know, Kendall and I were fortunate to know each other. You know, like you said, I mean, God, what was it? 2006 is when we met, so a long, long time ago, even though we're not old, right? We're not old. Four or six? I started in 04. I started in six. I think you started before I did. And so, like, you know, you think about all those things as far as, you know, getting back to your question is what's the vision of the company? And what's weird is I feel like we're in it in some regard. And, you know, people a lot of times just continue to say, well, how many people is it gonna be? And I'm always like, I don't know. You know, I mean, it's weird to already be in this position of 40 plus. You know, part of it is, is like, I don't wanna lose that small company feel, right? And some days, there are some days where I'm looking around and I'm like, oh my God, I hadn't talked to so and so for like my month. And that's weird for me, right? It's just like, that's not really, you know, I don't like that part of it. But I also know that, like, you start to get comfortable with where you're growing, but I still feel that intimate feeling. And that's a testament to everybody else. Like, I'm not in the office a lot, but like, I know, especially you two are carrying on the company culture. So you kind of get comfortable in that. So long-term vision, I think we're in it a little bit, but it's just to continue to be the best. And the second, we take it for granted. What was it, Kirby Smart had an awesome quote the other day before the national championship, and now I'm forgetting it. But it was something about being complacent and how bad that can be for them as a football team, right? And he's teaching these young kids not to be complacent. I know you won the national championship last year, but everybody forgot about that. We're in the now, and go win it again, right? And so I think we've always gotta challenge ourselves not to be complacent, not take for granted. Because the other side of culture that I have learned is why it's top of mind every day, and you gotta figure it out, and gotta figure it out, and you gotta grow it, you gotta harness it. It's the most fragile thing that we have. That's right. And if that thing is broken, we've got a massive problem on our hand, right? So I think it's just continue to try and do what we do, try and be the best. I love the diversification, as you know, of the company. And those are the times when healthcare's a little bit down, I get nervous. When education's down, I get nervous, because we are very sports, multifamily, hospitality heavy. And I wanna make sure that at the end of the day, diversification is top of mind. And also, as you know, lately, I've tried to make sure and ensure, and this does not, I don't mean this to sound egotistical, but I also want the company not to be so Jason-reliant. And not that it is only Jason-reliant, I just mean like, if for some reason I were to get sick and go away, I want this to be what it is, and continue to go way beyond me as well. What do you think 2009 Jason would think? Oh my gosh. 2009 Jason, he wasn't really comfortable, you know what I mean? He was not really comfortable. He thought he knew what he wanted to do, because again, there was that entrepreneur spirit, and I definitely want, but he's probably glad that that didn't happen. He had some growing up to do, some lessons to learn. He did, he did. Well, the success of Impact should make that 2009 Jason pretty proud. I mean, you've come an amazing long way to get this company to where it is. And I mean, again, the industry knows Impact. And yeah, it's because of you and everybody here. I appreciate that. It is because of everybody here, and that's the constant thing you have to remind them of. This is not about one person. This is about, and I know this is, some of the stuff, you know, I always get worried about being the cliche person and saying cliche things, but it truly, deep down, really is about everybody else, right? Yeah, and I mean, we're continuing to grow. I mean, we've got new folks starting this week, and we're expanding the office. I mean, there's awesome stuff happening. There is. And now we have a podcast. And now we have a podcast, which is like, you know, that speaks to my heart, right? I mean, literally, I tell people all the time, and I've said it in many of the staff meetings, is like, I forgot, I couldn't even tell you what the radio stations are. These days, I'm lost. I listen to podcasts all the time. I did, and you know, there's so many good ones out there. The plethora of information that is out in podcasts these days, and you said it earlier, is I literally have done research, is going, what's out there in the commercial real estate industry that is like this? There are things out there that I've listened to that are similar and stuff like that, but I think, I also think we have a chance to do something different with inside this podcast, because I think our vision of this is two-fold, right? To be some internal training and continuing education on that, and then it's external, right? That's right. Talking to clients and industry leaders and bringing them in and just, I think people, giving people some icons inside the industry, a platform to come in here and just talk, because a lot of people don't even want to talk about themselves, but I think we can steward that and bring it out of them. Oh, 100%, I mean, think about all of the successful people in our industry and just getting a glimpse into their story and learning how they started and now are succeeding in the industry. I mean, who wouldn't want to listen to that if you're in the industry? I mean, I'm fascinated with hearing people's stories, and so I think that's a great opportunity for us to do that with a lot of amazing people. Well, and, you know, the story about 2009, making that offer, that's not something that you'd necessarily put in marketing material. That's not something, What? That's not something that you're gonna talk about outwardly with a lot of people, but I think that that's an important component because the desire was there, and you planted the seed with Bill, and you kind of put your foot, maybe one toe in the water, and you realize, whoa, this is a lot bigger and a lot more complicated than I thought it was, and so the next time it came back around, I would assume you were a little bit more prepared and you felt better about the opportunity. Big time, yeah, I did do a podcast a couple months back with Chaz Wolf, and one of the things he asked me, he did a good job of prepping me with all these questions, and I remember I had the questions, I was like, okay, this is what I'm gonna say when he says this, and he's like, all right, I'm gonna throw you a curveball, and I'm like, ah, I'm not ready for this curveball, I'm not ready for this curveball, and he said, you know, if you could go back in time and talk to Jason Hughes of the past, what would you say? And I said, the first thing that came to my mind was be patient, and I think that's what 2009, Jason, was like, I'm gonna be an entrepreneur. I didn't really know how to do it, I didn't put together a plan, I didn't talk to mentors, right? I mean, I think people need mentors, right? And I think that was the advantage of this. Next time was, it was a slower burn, and I went to talk to other business owners inside the industry and outside the industry to figure out what does it look like, what am I in for, what am I doing, and as much as they can tell you, it's still not the same until you actually do it. But you know, that was, it was that be patient thing, and I'm glad he asked that question because that would be my response to it. I was like, going back in time and thinking about 2009, Jason's like, be patient, and it's a hard thing to do. I mean, that's one of the things about hiring great people, you know, because they all are, I'm a project manager, I wanna be a director, I'm a director, I wanna be a senior director, and you're just, you're constantly like, it's so hard to go, be patient because it will come, because I was that person, right? I wanted to get promoted every single year. That's all I wanted to do. Every year I'm gonna work my butt off and I'm gonna get promoted, right? And that's just not the reality, unfortunately. Well, those are the stories you hear. You hear the stories of success. You don't hear the stories about the failures, the regrets, the false starts, and all of the attempts that it took to get to this big success point. Yes. But those are the building blocks. That's how you get there. I know, and what's weird is like, you know, there's a bunch of young people out here that never knew me as an employee, and I have to feel like I have to remind them. That's right. I was an employee for 19 years. I get it. I know exactly what you're thinking. I know exactly what you're doing. I know all the things that's going through your brain. I promise you I know it. And they're like, sure, Mr. President. Yeah, right? I'm like, no, I promise. Yeah, I think, you know, you have to believe in yourself, too, you know, and that's something that a lot of times mentors remind you of, hey, you're awesome at this. Like, you know, you crushed it at this. Like, you just, you have to learn to believe in yourself, and that also helps bring you, you know, your attitude up and bring your morale up and like really thinking, hey, I can do this. You're gonna make mistakes. I mean, everybody out here, you know, the younger group, I'm like, hey, I don't know everything. Right. I ask questions all the time. I learn every day, and I want you to feel comfortable coming to me and saying, hey, I don't know how to do this. I don't know this, and I need your help. Guess what? Guess what that's gonna do? You're gonna grow, and you're gonna be more successful. There's power in mistakes. Yeah, totally. 100%, well said, too. Yeah, you just talked about, like, asking questions and stuff like that. I was telling a story last night. So I was an intern at Braswell & Gores, where I started, right, way back in 1999, which people listening are going, I think I was born in, like, Cleo said it the other day. She was like, I was born in 97. I was like, okay. And now we're old again. And now we're old again, right? We're back to being old. But Keith Johnson, who's now one of the co-CEOs of Braswell & Gore, I remember sitting there as an intern, and we were telling Rob Taylor stories, and I sat outside his office, Rob Taylor's office, and Keith Johnson's office. I mean, how fortunate was I at that young age to be around those kind of icons in the industry. Rob Taylor used to walk out, no shoes on, walk around the office and all that kind of stuff. I'm like, man, that guy's cool as hell. And so Keith, I remember him sitting there. You can't do that? Yeah, exactly. I take my shoes off, you know, and run around here. I can remember, like, sitting there with a set of plans. And I remember, I was, good thing is my dad taught me to be very humble, like, and ask questions and stuff like that. It's like, you're an intern. Nobody expects you to know anything. Like, stop, right, just be you, right? I remember Keith sitting there with me, and he's like, all right. And you remember, I was a real estate development major, so I wasn't a construction major, which is typical, right? So when you're a construction major, you get some background in estimating and all that stuff. Ours was more development process and all that kind of stuff. And so I'm sitting there, and he's like, all right, well, make sure when you're doing this takeoff, make sure you do this. Oh, yeah, and make sure you count all the soffits. And I'm just like. I just remember, like, looking up at him, and he goes, do you know what a soffit is? I was like, I don't know what a soffit is. It was so embarrassing to me, because I was like, I feel like that's like, even beyond 101, that's just like, human nature should know what a soffit is. Inside of a building, I was like, I don't know what a soffit is. And he puts his arm around me, he's like, it's gonna be okay. Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah, I went from running art galleries to jumping into real estate development and construction, so I knew very little. Yeah, I was self-taught the majority of what I know. And that was all coming from asking questions. Yeah. How did you make that jump? Yeah, I didn't wanna be poor for the rest of my life. So I always had a huge passion for the arts, and still have tons of friends in the art industry, but just really was in a serious relationship, and was ready to make a leap into doing something that I thought I could support a family with. And that's really when I got into it. I got an opportunity to work at No Bear Group, and got to build their walkthrough and home acceptance program. And it just morphed from there, and just continued to grow. I mean, we had a, No Bear Group was just an insane time. Oh, man, what a machine. I mean, and Jim Borders absolutely crushed it, and continues to crush it. The people that have come out of that company, and where they are today, is just a testament of what really happened in a very short period of time. You think we can get Jim on here? Oh, yeah, 100%. Wouldn't that be awesome? Yeah, no, I think we could do it. Is KG not like the most interesting man? Every time you talk to KG, it's like, you get this background, I was in the arts, he's just like, it's amazing to me. Every time I sit down with KG, I want more. He's just one of those people you want more info out of. It's definitely not a typical path in my life. Yeah, yeah. But an awesome one. Yeah, and that's how I've just learned so many different aspects of business and life in general. From running art galleries, to doing high-rise condos, to then developing a resort in Cabo San Lucas, to the economy crashing and being the senior project manager on the BP oil spill, then jumping back into the construction industry and working at Carter for 10 years, and now I'm here. I mean, it's definitely been a fun ride. Who would have thought that I would be working with BP and supplying all the safety personnel and environmental samplers for one of the worst disasters in the Gulf? But it's just, you never know where God's going to direct you and the opportunities that are going to be presented to you. And you just got to believe in yourself. Did I know anything about safety and environmental sampling before I went there? No. But guess what? Three weeks later, I was teaching safety classes. I mean, we recruited 1,300 people between myself and Ben Dybold, one of my colleagues there. We recruited 1,300 people in three weeks. That's crazy. And then was head over 62 sites from Texas to Florida. First three months, we were working like 120-hour weeks. So literally, we were getting like two hours of sleep. And that really didn't even happen half the time. It was just crazy. It was a crazy time. But that just goes to show you, like, hard work, you got to do what you got to do. I guess one of my things, and I'm fortunate enough to have interviewed already a lot of interns for probably the summer internship program here last year. And you talk to people you get introduced to. And one thing I tell them, especially at their age, is there is no substitute for hard work. And I translate it into that doesn't always mean it's got to be 120 hours a week. Yeah, no, it doesn't. It's just working hard when you're working. That's right. And I give a lot of props to my dad. I mean, he was an icon in this industry. And he was on the electrical side of the business. But he taught me so much. And a lot of it, he didn't even know he was teaching me. Like, going back to the brand thing, people always said, oh, you're Mike Hughes' son. They never really said what company he worked for. You know, we worked for three in 45 years. But they just said that about him. And I think he taught me that. And I think one of the things he and my mom taught me was you're never going to be the smartest guy in the room. Right? You better have some hard work in you. And so, exactly. Thanks, mom and dad. Love you. But it's true, right? I mean, I still, again, Jody and Kyle and I were talking about this last night. And I said, it's just always one of those things for me. It's like, you know, I'm probably not going to be the smartest person in the room. But I will pride myself on working as hard as I can possibly work. Again, that doesn't always translate into being the smartest person in the room. Right? I mean, I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. I'm not going to be the smartest person in the room. Adult babysitters. Adult babysitters, right? It's always funny when you hear somebody come back in and is like, oh, my architect, oh, my contractor's just not doing what they're supposed to do. And I'm like, that's OK. If they were all perfect, we might not even have a job. That's right. So you kind of remind people of that at the same time. Yeah, I was having that same conversation yesterday. If it was so easy, everybody would be doing it. 100%. 100%. Well. Is this what happens in episode one? They look at each other and kind of go, what? This is when you hit the pause button. How long have we been talking? Almost an hour. Oh, my gosh. Pretty solid, right? For take one, we just rolled right through that. I mean, and this will become so much easier every one of these we do. And we already have a great dynamic of who's talking when. But it really will, it'll just become second nature. And it's like you just kind of almost look at one another. And it's just like, oh, it's my turn. This is just, it's fun, right? And so that's just kind of the cool part about it is fun. And then also, obviously, there's going to be a big educational aspect of this. But again, we talked about internal and external. And I'm excited to bring other people into this, right? And start getting them in here. And I've talked to a couple of others. Hey, you finished this project. We want to bring you in. I was already talking to Sol's. I was like, all right, dude, you're going to be coming up. And he's like, what are you talking about? I was like, we're jumping into the first podcast. And I was like, I think you and Cleo need to be up to bat at the Falcons training facility if we could work our way in there. I mean. Again, though, it's a testament to the culture, right? Because when we were talking, this came to fruition in lieu of a how-to manual. Because we were like, that's no fun. Let's do a manual. Let's just talk. Let's talk. We can bring people in. You can tell your stories. We can all laugh and have a good time. Yeah, I'm sorry, new hire. Let's pull out the manual. What does the manual say? I don't know. I think people are so tired in college of reading and doing all that kind of stuff to give them something different where they can do it. And they can do it at their leisure. I mean, think about if we had some more, like Mike Lopez is a perfect example where he's driving back to Savannah. Think if he had three or four episodes on the way back to listen, and especially listen to us cut up. Hopefully, it would get him more excited than he already is, right, of going like, look at these guys and gals are just cutting up. That's what this company's all about, cutting up. Yeah, basically. In between working hours. Exactly, so good to have that in there. Yeah, I mean, I'm just excited because if you think about all the contacts that we have collectively, who we could bring in here is amazing. Man, I mean, we just mentioned Jim Borders. I ran into Lamar Wakefield last night. I mean, yeah, you're right, man. You go down that list of people that we've just met through the industry. And again, I think that they might be a little at first going like, who's going to listen to this? It's like, relax. We're not in here, nobody's going to give away the magic recipe at the end of the day. People just want to hear from the icons in the industry. I mean, Atlanta, I'm blessed because this is a big hub, right? The Tommy Holders of the world and the Rob Taylors, the Lamar Wakefields of dance. I mean, I could go on and on about the list of people that are icons that have transformed Atlanta, the Southeast, and all that kind of stuff. A lot of them are here in Atlanta. The Bill Dardens. The Bill Dardens, bring in William E. Darden Jr. Yeah, we can get Joe Rogan on here. Yeah, Joe Rogan on here, right? Absolutely, Ed Millett, Ed Millett's my favorite. Yeah, I'd love to one day just somehow He's awesome. Yeah, I just, the possibilities are endless. I think we're going to have fun doing this. And it's going to be educational, that's all. And we're going to laugh and have fun. And I'm sure some of these will probably get into some more serious topics, too. Absolutely. We're going to talk about hunting some, right? Well, we have to, if I'm in the room, basically. Yeah, I was telling Vanessa, we've had probably 15 people all collectively over the last morning, afternoon. 31 deer in three sits. What? Yeah. What? All going to serve the Venison Project, our nonprofit, and feed the ministries in downtown Atlanta and the homeless there. So pretty awesome. I mean, for me, whether it's at work, friends, or people I don't know, it's just about giving back. Like that's, if I want to be known when I'm gone, I want everybody to say, Kendall cared about doing stuff for other people. Didn't I tell you he was the greatest? I mean, seriously, that is him. That's Kendall, that is KG, that is the epitome of him. There's always something. Think about what he just unpacked in like 15 seconds. It's just like, I'm doing something, killing deer, but at the same time, I'm giving back to people. It's just like, oh my god, that's KG right there. Well, yeah. I mean, we were last night trying to figure out how to take pictures, because you don't want it to look like it's just a gigantic massacre. But it is. It is, for good cause. And when you have like 15 deer stacked up, you've got to be tasteful. And so, of course, just like anybody would look at that picture and be like, oh my god, these guys are killers. These guys have problems. But then you're like, all this is going to feed the homeless. I mean, and so many of the ministries and homeless shelters across the United States have problems getting protein. So they've got a lot of canned goods and all that kind of stuff, but it's like getting protein is expensive, and it's not easy to get. I mean, shoot, go to the grocery store right now, and how much does a steak cost, or chicken, or whatever else? And it's just like, people can realize that, hey, I can support my family and or others by going and harvesting my own meat. And that's also managing a deer herd that is needing managing. That's why the month of January is basically an extended season for archery season in metro counties of Atlanta, because there's so many deer. So we just put a big dent in it. For a good cause. Yeah, for a good cause. But yeah, for me, just giving back in any way, shape, or form. And it's like when we have new hires that come in, it's like, I want to be your friend. I want to be your colleague, and I want you to know that I'm here for you in any way, shape, or form. I don't want people just to always talk work. People always are going through a struggle in their life that you may or may not know. And so I know that we all want to work hard. We all want to be successful, but there's a lot more about life than just work. And that's one thing that I think Impact has totally gotten right, is that live-work balance. And that's why our culture is what it is. You've got to force people to say live-work, right? Because a lot of people say work-live. And I always constantly correct people, because it should be, you should live. Going back to what you said earlier, again, listening to Rob Taylor last night talk about his career and stuff like that, and I'm glad you said what you said, which is, when I'm gone, I want people to say this about me. I think about it all the time, because I'll never forget going to my great-uncle's funeral on this. I was probably, I don't know, 25 years old or something like that. And my uncle was up there doing eulogy, and he was talking about my uncle. And he went through all the things he did in his life. I just remember sitting there going, I have done nothing. Oh my gosh, he served in every war. I mean, it was just like all the things that he had done in his life. And then he went into, he was a college baseball coach, and he went into all this. And I remember finally looking around the room and going, these are a lot of these people that I didn't know who they were, were just former players. Like, look how many people's lives he impacted. Some of them got up and talked, and it was like, oh my god. And then Rob Taylor last night talking about his career. And he's sitting there going from Truist Park, the Brave Stadium, to the Georgia Aquarium. He starts talking about all these projects and how they landed him, all that kind of stuff. I'm going, oh my god, what have I done? Oh my god, it's great. But I mean, it is. It's those self-reflecting moments where you're sitting there and thinking about it, going, well, when I'm gone, or when I hang it up, whatever it is, right, what do I want my legacy to be? And that's one of the things, going back to the vision of Impact, is that it's a hard balance to do, which is we worked on Atlanta Mission, and we were a sponsor of Construction Ready Program, which I'm a big believer in, and stuff like that. I mean, this is like, we can do so much more than out of the gate, we were always known for. We did the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and we're still associated with that, which is great. But I constantly remind, Arthur's vision, I was very fortunate to sit in the very first meeting where Arthur says, I want to build a stadium. And his comment was, if we don't improve the west side of Atlanta, the stadium failed. And it was a very impactful statement of, you know, this monster that we're about to tackle being the Mercedes-Benz Stadium is this iconic, first of its kind, retractable, blah, blah, blah, blah. But his vision was, improve the west side, and developing west side works, and all that kind of stuff. And again, going back to putting that into our company culture, it's like, we've got to give back. You do a great job of it, you know, Atlanta Police Foundation, which we're jumping into now, as well. I mean, it's just like, we've got to have more of those opportunities inside the company, because I do want others, everyone in here, to understand it's not about building the next stadium. Yeah, I mean, the more we can impact the community by doing whatever we can is going to make a difference. And that's exactly what I know we strive to do, is to make a difference. And yeah, we've got some great opportunities for this year for really doing a lot of cool community stuff. And we're just going to keep progressing that program, and see what it morphs into. Well, I mean, in not so many words, we just did our company overview. We did? Yeah. You got some content? These are all of the things that we talk about in our overview, about who we are, and who we'd like to be, and people's community results. Those are the clinchers. And you know, a lot of companies have these core values that they post, and they include, and this is what we're about, but they're not really about that. And I like that we really embody all of those values, and we make it a goal. In our core ops meetings on Monday, the very first thing that we talk about is philanthropy and culture. Absolutely. Because it's important, right? Because you lose those things, and you get away from the meeting. People like Kendall coming in here, and he's been a big, on both sides, both from the culture side and the philanthropic side, is just stewarding that, right? And it's so hard. People talk about it, to your point. The hardest thing is to execute it. And I think that's really what we do well, right? I mean, I think that's what we do well professionally. I think that's what we do well, is we come to it in these Monday morning meetings, is like, okay, that's a great conversation. How are we going to execute it, right? And I think one of those things I keep saying, and I wish I can come up with a buzz saying for us too, is somebody said something, and they were talking about cliche things, and I was like, I feel like one of the things we do best is execute the cliche. I feel like we don't just take it for granted, it's like, oh, boom, it's this. We've got to execute that. I mean, it's so good to talk about it and hear so many people like, we're this, we're this. It's like, oh, that's great, but you've got to do it. Yeah, that's right. And that's the big thing, is jumping in and just doing it. I know we talked about the podcast two months ago, a month ago, and it's just like, hey, look at us now. Yeah, we're doing it. We've got headsets on. We're getting recorded. We could get a Nike sponsorship. Oh, man, now you're speaking my language right now. Probably so. Do we need to pause right now for the Nike break? Yeah. That's how that works. And now from our sponsor, Nike. A word from our sponsor, yeah. You just made me think of something, because we're talking about doing this all day, get everybody in a room, impact, whatever, retreat training, whatever we call the thing at the end of the day, but one thing that would be good for you is, we're going to have an hour on marketing, right? I'd love for you to go, this is what was created in 2018 or 19, and this is what we're creating today. Because I think people forget about that, right? Because we are where we are, and you and I talk about this all the time, we're all trying to challenge it and make it better, and that's great. When I do feel like we, every proposal, and we challenge it, right? We challenge it, and I looked at the one for Gallery School yesterday, and I was like, this is awesome, like, look at the content, look at where it's growing, and testament to you, first and foremost, but I love that, and I think if we always, if we forget where we came from, then we'll lose it, right? Another one of those things where, like, we shouldn't let, you know, trying to think of some of the newer hours, and Maggie's, and people like that, if they don't see what Darden & Company, because they might not even know that the company's name was actually Darden & Company, right, if they don't see the content, and what was created, and what we thought was great back in 2019, and see the evolution of it, I don't think they might appreciate what we've gone through as a company, everybody here, not Jason, but everybody has gone through to get to that point to where we are now, to where we're getting, where we kind of started, which is, people are starting to recognize Impact, and that's awesome, that's what I want, and that's one of the reasons, first and foremost, you know, maybe one day we'll talk about how we came up with Impact, the actual name. Yeah, I definitely want to jump into that at some point, because, yeah, I'm interested to hear that story. Yeah, I mean, I'll say, first and foremost, I was adamant my name was not gonna be on the company, because that was like, that just, I don't, Hughes and Co. Yeah, exactly, no, Howard Hughes. You know, do planes or something? I definitely didn't want my name on it, that was the first and foremost side of it, but no, I'm excited to talk about that, because that was a long ride, I mean, it took us years. Oh, yeah, I can only imagine, because it is tough, you know, trying to establish a brand. Big time. Right. And that's what it was about, that really was what it was about, and, you know, I guess, we'll get into it on another episode, because I could ramble on about the whole process for a long time. Yeah, well, let's see what, I think, man, I think we, whew, yeah, we're over an hour. Booyah, take one. We got a lot to talk about. Yeah, I mean. That's awesome. That's the thing, it's like, once you get in here, it's just literally like you're catching up with friends about something, and it's just like, hey, we're at lunch, and we're sitting here talking. Yeah. It's gonna be fun, you know, hopefully, one time, we're listening to episode 100, and we go back and listen to episode one, just like we're talking about the evolution of this. Yeah, we're like, oh my God. Yeah. Or mid-conversation with a new hire, you can just recommend, I recommend you go listen to podcast 15. Yeah, right. That would be weird. Yeah. Instead of the handbook. Yeah, please don't do that. But it's there, if you wanna. Yeah. You got options. Yeah, this is awesome. Will it be? For some people, not for me. Definitely not for me. I won't crack page one. Me either. Yeah, good. All right. Awesome. Hooray. It's a wrap. That was awesome. I really enjoyed it. First, I'm gonna end it with thank you, and thank you, but thank you both. Yeah. This has been awesome, and I appreciate you guys helping execute, right, because that's what it's all about. Yeah. Well, we'll continue with the fun. The cliche. Execute the cliche. Bam. Awesome, and we out.
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