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Chase - Boilermaker/Grave Digger/Vault Maker
57 Plays2 months ago
This interview is the most unique I've done to date. Theres those jobs that you don't even know exist and our guest today found himself running a successful franchise in a rather unique line of work; Burial vaults. Join Chase and I as we go thru his early days a a boilermaker, and then landing in a very unique and vital service we will all need at some point.
If you find the interviews helpful an/or entertaining and would like to support the show, you can do so HERE. Thanks!
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction to the Jobs Podcast
00:00:21
The Jobs Podcast
Hey folks, you're listening to the jobs podcast. I am your host, Tim Hendricks. Today we have a rather unique interview. We've got chase with chase with us. He started as a boiler maker and he shifted gears into a really unique company. And I'm not going to spoil the surprise. I'm going to let him tell you what it is, but welcome chase. Thanks for joining me on the jobs podcast.
00:00:40
Chase
Hey, thanks, Tim.
00:00:42
The Jobs Podcast
So let's go ahead and dive right in like we
Chase's Background and Career Shift
00:00:44
The Jobs Podcast
always do. Start with your childhood story. Give us a little history of Chase, where you were born, family, all that good stuff.
00:00:52
Chase
So I was i was born in Will Springs, Missouri. Just a farm kid, country kid, born and raised right here in the heart of the Ozarks, you know.
00:01:02
Chase
oh Went to school at Will Springs, K-12. Was just a homeboy, you know, so to speak. Just an 80s baby, kind of kind of your same country lifestyle kid, you know. Had had a great family life growing up, you know. We was involved in church my whole life and just kind of had that whole that whole good family atmosphere all the way through.
00:01:31
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:01:33
The Jobs Podcast
Where, where did you shift gears? You went to college then I assume, or did you do the trade school or kind of how was your education started after you went through the obligatory high school and all that stuff?
00:01:45
Chase
So kind of, you know, kind of growing up, I mean, was I was big into football and and that was the way of life, you know, where we grew up.
00:01:50
The Jobs Podcast
Oh. Hmm.
00:01:52
Chase
And, you know, i wanted to go I wanted to pursue that and go play college ball. And I blew my knee out and and kind of got scared, you know, essentially, so to speak, and kind of just changed change directions.
00:01:58
The Jobs Podcast
oh
00:02:05
Chase
As I say, yeah
The Boilermaker Trade Explained
00:02:06
Chase
God always has a bigger plan than we do, but kind of changed directions, went to a trade school, Ozark Technical Community College at Springfield, lived with my best friend and and his wife which i've called her my sister our our whole life but we kind of had that trio uh lifestyle growing going through college and it was rather fun know kind of went from there and then essentially just kind of uh kind of petered out on college phased out however you want to say it and
00:02:19
The Jobs Podcast
you
00:02:36
Chase
I had an opportunity to get in the, the Boilermaker trade, which is a unique trade in itself, you know, and, and I was based out of Kansas city, you know, union side. and you know, the cool thing about a Boilermaker is, you know, it's the only trade in the world, that is built from the top down, meaning, you know, the structure is built and then the boiler is suspended off of hangers off the top.
00:02:59
Chase
And so as it heats up, it grows. And that's kind of unique trade in itself.
00:03:02
The Jobs Podcast
and
00:03:05
Chase
But, uh,
00:03:05
The Jobs Podcast
i've I've heard a lot of people that talk about being a Boilermaker and i understand in general what it is, but for those listening, can you elaborate on where do Boilermakers typically work?
00:03:06
Chase
yeah
00:03:18
The Jobs Podcast
What type of work do they typically do? Is there, I mean, is there one line of work that everybody kind of does or how do you work your way up the hierarchy of the Boilermaker career?
00:03:30
Chase
So the, but the bowl makers, I mean, there's, there's several fields of bowl makers. I was in the coal-fired industry, so power plants. i mean Essentially, when you when you hear the name power plants, and that comes with a lot of terms of different trade, union trades.
00:03:45
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
00:03:45
Chase
know You have pipe fitters, millwrights, carpenters, iron workers, boilermakers. There's a lot of those trades that have to come together to make those jobs work.
00:03:57
Chase
work so to speak.
00:03:58
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
00:03:59
Chase
but you know, you then you have yeah nuclear power plants and you have, trash burners like they have in Hawaii and stuff like that. And, and then of course, you know, you have your refineries to refine your oil.
00:04:10
Chase
that's all boiler work. you know anything that essentially has a working boiler, uh, for the power plant side, is generally speaking of, of boilermaker work.
00:04:11
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:04:22
Chase
it's It's a dirty job. It's a good job. It's a good group of guys. You know, I really enjoyed the work, but it was the it was the travel. You know, it's as I've joked and as I've gotten older, as I've joked about it, I've said, you know, it's more of of a single man, young man's career job. You know, when you get married and get serious and have kids. and There's guys that I know that's made a career out of it, made it work really well.
00:04:45
Chase
i just wasn't one of those guys. I couldn't couldn't manage, you know, being away from my family like that all the time.
00:04:50
The Jobs Podcast
Do they typically have a, I mean, it might depend on the job, but what types of stretches are you gone? Is it two weeks, four weeks? Do they have a kind of like a rotating time off time on kind of thing?
00:05:03
Chase
So a lot of their stuff kind of, they call it turnarounds, you know, but so during peak peak energy seasons, you know, they don't want to shut power plants down at all because they're, of course they're meeting demand on power, but you know, in the off season, they'll shut them down.
00:05:06
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:05:16
Chase
A lot of times it was, it was around eight weeks on a bigger outage or turnaround. they'd shut the the power plant down and, and a group of boil makers and iron workers. i mean, you'd have several groups come in and they would shut it down and you would go in and,
00:05:30
Chase
and and so essentially most of the time he was gone six to eight weeks, you know and then when you moved up, into the foreman and, uh, you pushing work and stuff like that, you'd, you'd come in a little sooner, you know, two weeks beforehand and they leave two weeks after hand. And sometimes that eight weeks turned into 12 weeks. And, know, average a lot of that work is seven days a week, was at the time, you know, i mean, course then then I got in on the new construction jobs and,
00:05:57
Chase
And that was five days a week and clean work, you know, nothing, nothing dirty and nasty as bad, you know.
00:06:02
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:06:04
Chase
But nonetheless, it was a, it was a great career jumpstart, you know.
00:06:04
The Jobs Podcast
What.
00:06:08
The Jobs Podcast
You're doing, am I correct in that you're doing a lot of welding when you're working as a Boilermaker? Is that the is that the OK, that's the bulk of your.
00:06:12
Chase
Very much so. Yeah. Yeah. So it, of course, you know, I grew up and kind of back to to how I grew up here. My dad was a bridge builder for 43 years and retired.
00:06:22
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:06:24
Chase
And so I grew up in the construction industry, dirt work and and bridge work. And so I've been around cranes and and heavy equipment all my life. And I've been obsessed with it my entire life. And So, you know, when when I got into the Boilmakers, I got in what they call a high rigger, you know, which is one of the guys that does a lot of your rigging for to get your tube panels and stuff like that in place. And you get to go do the fun work. You know, you get to you get to figure out how to rig something upright and properly and put it in place without...
00:07:01
Chase
you know, killing people. And of course, you got to have good operators to to work on your side too, you know, but
00:07:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:09
The Jobs Podcast
What is the education like? You said you went to OTC and did you, do they have a program for Boilermakers or...
00:07:17
Chase
No, no. So, so essentially, no, I went to, i kind of started off when I actually went to college, kind of had a few different venues I was going to go, you know, one kind of being a construction management degree.
00:07:31
Chase
You know, I tossed along, you know, i was kind of one of those kids that I wanted to go to college, but I really wanted to go to college, play football. And then after,
00:07:40
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:07:40
Chase
after that kind of fizzled out, just went to college to continue my education, so to speak. And course my best friend, and I'm going to mention, I'm going name drop him here a little bit, you know, Tommy Shaw, he's a stud and he's, he's, we, we grew up together and he was dead set on being a firefighter from day one, you know, and we was junior firefighters at Will Springs together.
00:07:50
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:58
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:08:01
Chase
And, uh, Really enjoyed it as well. And he had a different passion that you just can't, you either have or you don't have. But, you know, and I kind of thought I might want to pursue that too. And and again, just one of those things I kind of fizzled out on because I just didn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life.
00:08:20
Chase
And so kind of went a different direction, you know, but, you know, just a little shorter, have them I might agree, but that's okay. You know, life had other plans and and it's worked out really good for for me and my family.
00:08:30
Chase
And we've kind of went, we've made around a run at it, you know, kind of went where god where I tell people, we kind of went where God told us to go.
00:08:35
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:08:41
The Jobs Podcast
How what's what's the start? So you've decided you're going to be a Boilermaker. Where do you apply for that? How do you get the training for that?
00:08:51
The Jobs Podcast
did Do they do a lot of on the job training or is there certifications that you have to get like for, is it just welding school or walk me through how that kind of played out?
00:08:59
Chase
So, yeah, a lot guys, there's a few ways.
00:09:01
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:09:02
Chase
so So me, myself, I didn't have to go through welding school. i was I was fortunate coming out of the recession time in 2007, 2008 era, somewhere in there, that in that time frame.
00:09:11
The Jobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:09:14
Chase
Coming back out of it, of course, there was a lot of boiler work. New builds was going on, a lot of construction. And in that generational gap had really hit hard at that point. And so, you know, with with going with the union side, you know, I went to local 83 out of Kansas City, applied, and basically they had at that time a pre-apprenticeship program.
00:09:38
Chase
Um, do you have experience? No, I didn't have experience. You know, it's kind of give them the rundown of, of kind of my backstory there. And so they put me to work on a pre-apprenticeship program. And then I worked up until I got available to, to join the apprenticeship program.
00:09:53
Chase
And they do kind of, they do their own trade program, you know, and you do four years of it and there's X amount, 6,000 hours or was at the time. you had to work under this apprenticeship program and you move up in sections and, you know they cut your pay.
00:10:04
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Okay.
00:10:06
Chase
And I mean, you have to stay on tasks to, to get more money, of course, you know? And so, I mean, it it makes you work hard for them too. And it's not per company. It's just per company.
00:10:20
Chase
your apprenticeship and you might work for numerous companies or you might have a company you really like and they really like you and they'll use you all the time.
00:10:22
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
00:10:26
Chase
That happens too. but you know what, just, and then some of the guys, they go to, to like a welding school, a good welding Institute. They'll get a welding degree and, you know, and and a lot of them guys will have connections with either the boil makers or pipeline.
00:10:40
Chase
And
Importance of Trades and Education
00:10:41
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:10:41
Chase
there's a lot of different venues for, for the weld trade.
00:10:45
Chase
Some of them guys, you know, they end up just coming right in and going right to work in the Boilermakers. And some of them will go through the apprenticeship as well. Just because you can wail don't mean you have to do all the work, you know.
00:10:54
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:10:55
Chase
And there's a lot more appreciation from the older generation when you go through an apprenticeship program. they you know they They say you're doing it the right way, you know.
00:11:04
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:11:05
Chase
And it's just kind of going through. The best way I can explain it to a lot of people is it's that greenhorn phase. You know, you got to you know, I remember when I got in the FFA my freshman in high school, you know, we had to do the green hand, you know, use the young buck, you know. And it comes with a lot of tasks and training and exercises and just a lot of repetitive motion. But you got to do it right or, you know, you can kill yourself or a lot of other guys around you real fast, you know.
00:11:35
The Jobs Podcast
You're kind of earning your stripes when you're going through that.
00:11:37
Chase
very much so, you know, and then, and then when you top out, you become a journeyman, Boilermaker, you know, and that's, that's the end goal for a lot of guys.
00:11:38
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:11:44
Chase
And, you know, that's again, kind of doing it the right way. And, and that's, you know, that's something that nobody can ever take away from me. You know, I went through the apprenticeship, I got the journeyman Boilermaker card.
00:11:54
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:11:55
Chase
you know, I withdrew all that when I, when I kind of moved on to my next phase of life, but, you know, that, uh, that's something I'm proud of. You know, I enjoyed the work. I still, I have a lot of good friends that, uh,
00:12:07
Chase
that still work in that industry. Some's retired, and some still work and some run big work. And I've had a few of my buddies still call, you ready come work yet? you know and No, you know i miss the work and I miss you, but now I'm not coming back.
00:12:21
Chase
you know
00:12:21
The Jobs Podcast
yeah what What kind of, if someone starts in on the Boilermaker career, can you give me some ballpark as far as what the pay? You always hear that Boilermakers can make good money.
00:12:35
The Jobs Podcast
I think that comes with a price when you were talking about being gone from your family. If you do have a family and you know you have to travel quite a bit, but is is the flip side of that that you you're paid pretty well?
00:12:46
Chase
you You know, you're going to make, if you're not scared of traveling and you're not scared of work, you know, and my philosophy was if I was out of town, wasn't with my family, I wanted to work. So, you know, I was that guy.
00:12:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:12:58
Chase
You're offering seven days a week, 12 hour days.
00:12:58
The Jobs Podcast
Right. Mm-hmm.
00:13:01
Chase
I'm in. I'm going to do because out of town anyway.
00:13:02
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:13:04
Chase
Let's make the money, you know. And yeah, the Boilermakers, you know, that's that's one thing that I will say that they'll give you a jump start on it. You know, it's really good pay. You're going to work for it.
00:13:15
Chase
You know, you're going your body's going to suffer some. You know, you're going to get in some tight holes. You're going to get in some dirty work. You're going get some dirty places. You're going be 200 foot in the air sometimes, you know. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's also very rewarding, you know, and it has a very good pension.
00:13:32
Chase
It has annuity and a pension program.
00:13:34
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:13:37
Chase
It, you know, that's something that that's something else, you know, since I worked, I got my, I'm vested in the Boilermakers. And since I worked long enough to get vested, you know, I've got a retirement program through them. So that was kind of something, you know, that helped too.
00:13:50
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:13:51
Chase
Um, you know, the guys coming in, you know, I mean, you can make, you can be that, that guy that makes $50,000 a year in the bowl makers and has some insurance, or you can be that guy that makes, you know, $150,000 a year and, and has some really good insurance.
00:14:05
Chase
You know, the insurance is based on hours worked and stuff.
00:14:06
The Jobs Podcast
right.
00:14:10
Chase
again, that I've been out long enough now that may be different some now, but, you know I'm proud of that trade. and i mean and it's It's based basically on how much you want to work and how much you want to travel.
00:14:21
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
00:14:22
Chase
you know You can you could make $1,000 a week. You can make $3,000 a week. you know
00:14:29
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:14:31
Chase
and you know If you want to hit outage to outage to outage and go back to back to back and and stay gone and work, yeah I think them guys are out there that knock down $200,000 year. i mean i'm I'm sure there's you know, I've known a lot of guys that they getting where they had to buy new stuff all the time, you know, I mean, like they kept stuff paid for, you know, and I had a different goal, if you know, and I mean, and if you know somebody that's kind of the loophole, if you know somebody that's in the trade, that knows a business agent or or somebody well at the union hall that can get your foot in the door, you know, I mean,
00:14:54
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Sure.
00:14:58
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:15:14
Chase
you know, one of the things that, that, I kind of wish they did a little more of, and but and maybe they do, maybe I've been out of pocket enough on it, but reaching out to, uh, boil makers and having come to, to, uh, like your, your, your ag classes and stuff like that, talking to these guys and, you know, cause I mean, not everybody needs a college degree. And I, and I say that, you know, we need working class Americans too.
00:15:38
Chase
And,
00:15:39
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Right.
00:15:40
Chase
You know, and I'm, you know, not to upset people or nothing like that. Education is great, but, you know, a trade education is just as important, you know, to to the to the way of our life.
00:15:51
Chase
And I mean, every time, you know, i kind of, I'm kind of very humbled by the fact that every time I turn a light switch, you know, I know where that energy that power comes from because I was on the other end of it for for some time.
00:15:59
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:16:02
Chase
And I get to understand that, you know, it takes a unique group of individuals, just like with other trades. You know, I mean, it's just as important.
00:16:12
The Jobs Podcast
i I can really relate to that. I've been out in the fire engine when the storms come through, the ice storms, the tornadoes, high winds, whatever. And then you see those guys, there's no power.
00:16:24
The Jobs Podcast
You see those guys up in that bucket. And they're touching those power lines, which I would never do that. You couldn't pay me to do that. But that's where your electricity comes from. Those guys are working to keep your lights on, to keep your heat or your air conditioning on.
00:16:37
The Jobs Podcast
Sometimes we forget that, you know, there's industry behind what allows our lives to continue and be relatively comfortable in the United States anyway.
00:16:46
Chase
Very much so. You know, I mean, there's, you know, there's, I've said for a long time, you know, uh, your, your, your service linemen, your electrical linemen, your firefighters, your police force, all those industries are superb to, you know, they don't get paid enough for what they do.
00:16:47
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:05
Chase
You know, they, you know, i mean, all them guys literally put their lives lives on the line on a daily basis. I feel like, and they're not appreciated well enough, you know,
00:17:16
Chase
Like say, I've got some really good friends. It's some really good dang firefighters, you know, and my hat's off to them all the time, you know, just very humbling to know, you know, once, once you kind of step away and kind of just remove yourself from the picture to think about what makes the world go around, you know, it's kind of unique.
00:17:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm hmm. I was reading an article article here recently it was talking about the next group of millionaires are going to be HVAC folks and plumbers. And having paid some of those guys, I believe it because, you know, people are going to cut a lot of things when the money gets tight, but they're not going to cut their plumbing.
00:17:43
Chase
You know, I,
00:17:52
The Jobs Podcast
You got to have working toilets and drains and you got to have HVAC and they're going to pay for that.
00:17:57
Chase
those luxuries. Yeah.
00:17:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:17:58
Chase
Yeah. You know, we've, we've kind of crippled ourselves, but we don't know how to live without them, you know?
00:18:02
The Jobs Podcast
I know.
00:18:03
Chase
So
00:18:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. you're. so you're you're through the Boilermaker, you've decided that you're going to change careers or how did the leaving the Boilermaker career and moving on to your next one play out?
Transition to Family Life and Entrepreneurship
00:18:19
Chase
so that's, that's definitely where I got, I've got to say a very humbling experience. My daughter come along in 2010. My wife and I got married, you know, a lovely lady.
00:18:32
Chase
Of course, today is my anniversary anyway, by the way.
00:18:35
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, happy anniversary.
00:18:35
Chase
i didnt Thank you. And yeah, we my daughter come along in 2010. And, you know, I knew when she came that so that I was going to be wanting to be home, you know, because in that industry, you're going to miss a lot.
00:18:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:18:53
Chase
we tried, I, you know, I had a lot of buddies at the co-op. I thought I could get a job at the co-op, try I was that guy called every Monday morning.
00:19:04
Chase
just, I've done a lot of things that, of course I had based my lifestyle a little, our our lifestyle a little bit differently because of the, you know, we was used to making good money and,
00:19:17
Chase
course you know you got to make good money to to when you have those habits you know and anyway so you know tried to find a comfortable mediocre place to go with and tried and tried a few true a few different venues and just nothing nothing seemed to work you know and and this is where i gotta to say I go back to to just doing things on God's time instead of mine and and it's you know I can kind of laugh about it now and
00:19:21
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:19:45
Chase
I remember i was working in Lacey, Kansas, and and I tell people, if you've ever been to Lacey, Kansas, you've experienced the coldest place on earth.
00:19:54
The Jobs Podcast
Well, there's nothing to stop the wind, is there?
00:19:55
Chase
It's like, oh, it's cold. Yes, that's exactly right. We was out there. went out there the week of Thanksgiving, and I worked through, I got laid off out there on Valentine's Day.
00:20:08
Chase
So I was there essentially the the hard part of winter in Lacey in Kansas, you know, and we had a big outage going on out there and and my wife and daughter come and see me.
00:20:11
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:20:19
Chase
And while I was there, my daughter got a double ear infection and, you know, we we took her to the hospital and, you know, we're we're new parents and we didn't know what to do and nothing was working, you know, just the whole, the whole nine yards. And when they had to leave that next Monday,
00:20:38
Chase
it absolutely ripped my heart out, you know, and just watching my wife and my baby girl leave and knowing I could do nothing for her, you know? And, so I knew then that, that if in any way possible, I was going to come home, you know, that was, that was at that point that become my new goal, you know?
00:20:46
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:20:57
Chase
And, and, know, we prayed diligently about it and we, we was pretty adamant about it and we tried a lot of different options and, and, expressed lot of other people, you know, and I had a few job offers and just nothing, uh, nothing seemed to fit the bill, so to speak. And, and so, you know, I kind of got back to thinking of what grow up doing, you know, what, what, what have I always had a passion for what I've always done that I enjoyed doing, you know? And, and so being my brother and I being the only two sons, uh, my, my, my parents, our parents, and we both,
00:21:36
Chase
My dad, our dad gave us the the a trade as, you know, a trade skill of dirt work and concrete work growing up as a bridge builder son. And, you know, he he gave us that, you know, and he gave us work ethic in that and that.
00:21:50
Chase
And so my my venue become, you know, can't find what I want to do. So why don't I just do what I want to do? And, uh, I said, and I will say this first and foremost, without the help of God, it wasn't possible. And, uh, he kind of paved the way and things happened that I can't explain, you know, honestly, bought a piece of equipment. It was real easy.
00:22:14
Chase
it just, it actually just literally fell in the lap.
00:22:15
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:22:19
Chase
I bought a little dump truck, you know, kind of just went to work for myself and I knew people, you know, Growing up and in the the small rural area that we did, and didn't have any problem. you know Yes, we made some sacrifices, and yes, there it wasn't just easy.
00:22:35
Chase
but it just you know But I knew going forward that wasn't that wasn't where the end was. you know That wasn't where we was going to be.
00:22:44
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:22:45
Chase
that was a stepping stone that was getting me home, you know, you know, and I'll, I'll be the first to to tell everybody and I'm not bashful about it.
00:22:48
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:22:52
Chase
My wife made lots of sacrifices, when I come home to work, you know, and I'm grateful for her for that. You know, i mean, it was a, it was a total life adjustment.
00:23:02
Chase
You know she had raised our daughter for four and a half years by herself in a lot of ways without me being here because of work. And of course I come home and, and I'm,
00:23:28
The Jobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:23:33
Chase
future.
00:23:34
Chase
and I kind of had a plan for that, you know, kind of going forward. enjoy dirt work. I don't, I don't do it anymore. My brother, my brother's been working for himself for, uh, gosh, about 20 years now.
00:23:47
Chase
you know, he went full flex dirt work and, and, uh, he, you know, we just kind of went back to what we knew. And, and so kind of going forward, you I done, I worked dirt work full time by myself. And I had a couple of guys come and go. And, we've done some, some big projects, stuff like that. But, uh,
00:24:06
Chase
we pursued another venue for, for quite some time.
00:24:12
Chase
And,
00:24:12
The Jobs Podcast
What, uh, when you say dirt work, I want to dig into that just a little bit. No pun intended there.
00:24:19
Chase
and okay. Okay. Yeah.
00:24:21
The Jobs Podcast
are you talking about skid steers, excavators, backhoes, that kind of a thing?
00:24:25
Chase
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:26
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:24:26
Chase
I mean, we done, we really, I really started out more so just residential work, safety systems, uh, you know crawl spaces, basements, uh,
00:24:32
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Oh, sure.
00:24:36
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:24:37
Chase
know, some gravel haul and, you know driveway work, stuff like that. know, and then of course with the knowledge and, of how to lay out stuff and and doing stuff such as that, we, we, we dove into a little bit deeper stuff. you know, we've done some church project and we've done some, some big parking lots and, uh, done some big pads and some commercial pads and stuff like that. I mean, we kind of arranged all over the place and,
00:25:03
Chase
Of course, I had an uncle that was was big in the area.
00:25:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:25:07
Chase
He had done back you know just basically a backhoe business forever. Then I've got quite a bit of my family. They've kind of all been in dirt work, your general excavation and site prepping and stuff like that.
00:25:21
Chase
Of course, with that, kind of comes territorial too. you know i mean, when you start doing... when you when you start doing working at your name out there and and building clientele, you know, of course you want to keep it.
00:25:32
Chase
You want to, you, so, I mean, it's based on how well you perform, you know, of course, I mean, yes, when you do that.
00:25:36
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:25:54
Chase
too.
00:25:57
Chase
And, you know, and urge that that'll see to me when you're in that business, that'll see kind of how well you're driven.
00:26:07
Chase
Cause it's, you know, you've got to maintain your stuff. You, you, know you gotta, you kind got do it all. And, and if you don't, of course, you're not going to have anything to operate, you know, and, and then comes with the, the other side, you kind of got to have some, some good public relations, you know, and be able talk to people.
00:26:12
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:25
Chase
You got to be able to, uh, kind sell yourself, you know, so to speak, you know, and, and sometimes you got to take a butt chin and, and just, just cause you wasn't, you know, you just didn't do it.
00:26:28
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:26:36
Chase
You didn't, might've done it right in your own mind, but may not have done how the homeowner, the, or the owner wanted you to do it, you know, and, and that's really hard to just take it and go on, you know, I'll do it better, you know, mean, and, and you do that, you know, you just kind of learned over, overcome and adapt to that environment.
00:26:54
The Jobs Podcast
thick skin you got to have that in your in business pretty much in any business I think but
00:26:54
Chase
Yeah.
00:26:57
Chase
absolutely Absolutely. You know, and that's, that's, you know, I think, I think there again, I think some people are born with that.
00:27:04
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:27:05
Chase
And I think, I think some of them have to learn it the hard way and I'm probably one of them that had to learn it the hard way, you know,
00:27:10
The Jobs Podcast
Well, you know not to get on my soapbox, but I think fathers are a big... It's fathers have taken a beating in my adult life as far as just their value in raising young people.
00:27:25
The Jobs Podcast
And father is going to shoot straight with you or they should. And a lot of times they're not going to coddle you or they shouldn't anyway.
00:27:29
Chase
yeah
00:27:32
The Jobs Podcast
They're going to tell you what you need to hear because they care about your success in the future. And I'm not doing my child any favors by sugarcoating stuff.
00:27:41
Chase
absolutely
00:27:41
The Jobs Podcast
and And so if a father will kind of hammer on you a couple of times when you're younger and go, hey, you need to remain humble and work hard. You talked about the maintenance of your equipment and things.
00:27:54
The Jobs Podcast
A lot of people just think, well, every kid loves to sit there and, and you know, basically run a tank like a skid steer, the controls. I mean, the first time I drove a fire engine, you couldn't get the smile off my face.
00:28:05
The Jobs Podcast
Because I think a lot of guys just like that kind of stuff. But that's the flashy stuff. The greasing of the zerks, the changing of the oil, the maintenance, the you know all that kind of stuff is the boring stuff that costs money, but that's what keeps the business running.
00:28:21
Chase
absolutely. like You know, it and I mean, and I, I stress with people, you know you kind of, you got to treat a business like that. Kind of like you do in life, you know, I mean, you got to do the behind the scenes things to make it work when everybody's watching.
00:28:36
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:28:39
The Jobs Podcast
You mentioned your reputation, the people skills and the marketing. Some of the guys I know, they never advertise and they have more work than they know what to do with because their reputation is this guy does quality work and it just gets around and then you're busy all the time.
00:28:49
Chase
yeah yeah i learned real early that you know you can do all the advertising in the world and and people might you know they might wear your t-shirt you they might wear your hat
00:29:01
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:29:06
Chase
You know, even like, especially if you've got a good branded logo or something like that. But that don't mean they'll use you, you know?
00:29:13
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:29:14
Chase
And, and so, i mean, you know, i kind of one of the, and I'm to screw this up probably because I'm doing it off the, kind off seat of my pants. But, you know, you get, you get one person to say kind of ill things of you you or your business that you've done them wrong.
00:29:30
Chase
It'll affect 10 people.
00:29:32
The Jobs Podcast
Yes.
00:29:32
Chase
you know, and it may take 10 people that says you've done good work to affect one person. And that's just the way of life, you know, unfortunately. But, you know, you kind of got to live by that motto. You know mean? You got to, and yes, I know you can't please everybody.
00:29:46
Chase
And, and I get frustrated and say, I don't, I don't want to please it, you know, but at end of the day, I really do. want I want to know that I've done the best of my ability to do whatever I'm doing at the time, you know, and, and I want,
00:30:00
Chase
not necessarily people to think proudly of me, but I want, I want people to be appreciative of the service we provided, you know, more so than anything, you know, just, that's kind of the the end end result or end game, you know, to me, in a lot of ways of, of, of business, you know, cause I
00:30:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:30:17
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. You're I mean, you are an entrepreneur. You run your own business.
00:30:23
Chase
think.
00:30:24
The Jobs Podcast
Let's go down a little bit of a rabbit hole. What advice if you have someone that comes to you and said, Hey, I want to do what you're doing right now, which we'll get into the details of that in just a second, but I want to run my own business.
00:30:26
Chase
Yeah. Okay.
00:30:36
The Jobs Podcast
What, what are the hot spots that you would give them advice wise right from the get go?
00:30:43
Chase
Oh, man. You know, the first thing right off top my head is you know, you're going to have have ethic, period.
00:30:50
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:51
Chase
but You know, that that has to come first. And then right right next to that, you got to have drive, you know. You got to stay motivated when...
00:31:03
Chase
when nothing else works, you know, and, you know, without those two things, I think you kind of set yourself up for failure right out of the gate.
00:31:05
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:31:12
Chase
I mean, and then educate yourself, you know, whatever you're doing, whatever you're going to, whatever you're, you're jumping into investing in or, or buying or starting from ground up or or starting from zero.
00:31:26
Chase
hey You've got to educate. You've got to know that business is good or anybody else.
00:31:31
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:31:32
Chase
and And by that, you got to know what the customer wants. You got to know what you're supplying. You got to know how to execute it. You know, mean, there's just so many different venues of, of knowing what you're doing.
00:31:47
Chase
you know, and by educate yourself, that may mean taking some online courses that may mean going to a, an expo and and setting in some classes, you know,
00:31:58
Chase
that's To me, that's what separates you in business. you know You get these businesses, and and don't misunderstand me, by the way, i'm gonna say this because I think somebody could take it wrong, but you get these businesses that are generational businesses, and yes, I know there's some some of them guys, they work hard, and they I won't use the word inherit. They buy them out, however.
00:32:21
Chase
But you've got to remember they have an established name.
00:32:24
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
00:32:24
Chase
When you're starting one from the ground up, or buying one that you had zero ties to, you're behind the eight ball real fast.
00:32:34
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:32:34
Chase
Cause sometimes you don't know what you're buying and, and kind of getting into where, you know I've kind of set myself up here to, to kind of divulge where we're at now, you know, i because my wife and I had done that very much.
00:32:37
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:32:48
Chase
So and in 2019, but you know, that would be kind of the three big points that I would, I would set out to, to somebody, you know, know what you're, you're buying, know the business or, or what you're starting, you know, and confident, you know, I would, I would end with confidence on that.
00:33:06
Chase
You got to be confident in what you're doing because people will see if you're not confident and you don't feel confident about yourself, how can they feel confident with you?
00:33:14
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:33:15
Chase
You know, and, that to me, that's, that's some of the big ones. I mean, there's a lot of things, that I think go along with that. and I think there's a lot of, lot of, a lot better people out there that could educate some people on, uh, on better points than I can give. But my daughter, I'll share this story real quick. My daughter should be mad at me for telling this. That's okay.
00:33:38
The Jobs Podcast
That's good.
00:33:38
Chase
She entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship class and in high school. And she, uh,
00:33:45
Chase
she learned a lot. mean, she, she, she really did, but she come home one day and, and my wife and I were, was all sitting together and she said, I don't, I don't know why I need this class. And my wife said, well, why not? You know, she said, well, you guys are business owners. You guys know everything about how to run a business. I can learn from you guys. And I turned at her and I looked, looked at her and I said, sis, let me tell you something right now.
00:34:07
Chase
If we do it, you should probably do it the opposite way. That'd be the right way. You know, just, uh,
00:34:14
Chase
You know, sometimes you just... And and I get 100% where she's coming from on that, you know, just being raised around it. I mean, this kid is... she's along beside us on all the decisions, where you know, I mean, she's just with us all the time on anything we do.
00:34:28
Chase
So she understands a lot, you know, and she sees a lot, I guess I should say, and not necessarily that she understands, but it, uh, kind of, kind of funny though, to you know, to see if a 14 year old, yeah she's, yeah, my parents, you you know, yeah, no, we don't have figured out either.
00:34:33
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:34:46
Chase
You know, we're just, we're just doing it one day at a time. It's like everybody else.
00:34:50
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:34:50
Chase
Yeah.
The Burial Vault Business
00:34:51
The Jobs Podcast
Well, let's go ahead and and rip the curtain open here and tell us exactly what you do now, because it's I've never heard of this before. And it's it's really interesting. and We'll do a dive into it.
00:35:04
Chase
It's a, it's a very unique business, you know? so, you know, when I said, I mentioned before that, you know, dirt work, excavation wasn't, you know, wasn't everything.
00:35:15
Chase
Wasn't where I wanted to end everything.
00:35:16
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:35:18
Chase
I had a pursued dream, I guess would be, uh, to go back so to some sort of excavation and concrete work. Again, it's what I was kind of born into was raised up around.
00:35:33
Chase
So I pursued a precast plant where we live and everybody's probably saying, yeah, I know what precast is.
00:35:42
Chase
I've seen a lot of that, but the business we pursued was not only a precast plant, but it was a burial vault company, which is extremely, i'll use I'll use the word lucrative business.
00:35:49
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:35:56
Chase
You know, you don't ever, you the business we're in now, we're kind of to be, uh, never seen, I guess is kind of the term I would use. you know, i would, uh, the best way, the easiest way i can describe it to people that has seen any, any of the work that we do is when you go to a funeral, you know, uh, when you, when you go to a funeral at the, at the cemetery, you'll see the tent and chairs and set up and maybe the burial vault and the chairs that you set in the grass and stuff like that.
00:36:06
The Jobs Podcast
okay
00:36:26
Chase
That's all the work of a burial vault company.
00:36:28
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:29
Chase
that is essentially subsidy to the, to the funeral homes. And we work exclusively for the funeral homes and, you know, and that, that gets on a whole nother, personal level with families and grieving family. You know, I mean, there's a, there's a lot that goes into that as, as well as being, we try to be perfect and, and doing that because it's very personal business, you know?
00:36:53
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:36:54
Chase
so, you know, I kind of got back into, uh, we we bought it we did We bought an established business. It established in 1969 right here locally and in West Plains.
00:37:06
Chase
Been around forever. I grew up about a half mile from this business and i didn't even know what it was to be honest. you know I didn't know the complete you know the description of what this this business did.
00:37:23
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:37:24
Chase
and it was kind of learning as we went, you know, I had, uh, the guys kind of had to show me some things, cause I had studied and done, I had done just like I was talking about while ago.
00:37:35
Chase
had, uh, tried to educate myself as well as I could. of course, and I will say, i will back up say this, this is another big thing. If you're you're pursuing some sort of business career of entrepreneurship, if you're married, man, your spouse has to be a hundred percent on board with you or that you're just setting yourself up for some big failures too.
00:37:51
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:37:55
Chase
I'm a dreamer. My wife knows I'm a dreamer. And that is the cool thing about her.
00:37:58
The Jobs Podcast
Thank you.
00:38:00
Chase
she has been one to stand right beside me and and say, okay, you know, let's do this. You you're, if you're dead set on it, let's do it. And she's been my rock, you know, when that goes in, and this was one of those, she, she didn't really know.
00:38:16
Chase
there was kind of some stipulations, I couldn't go up there during the business hours to look at the the business, just do some, some other things, but, you know, so I had to, had to find time, make time, do it.
00:38:29
Chase
And of course that, that brings its own complications and stuff.
00:38:30
The Jobs Podcast
Thank
00:38:32
Chase
And, uh, so again, we really didn't know what we was buying, but as we moved forward and and we got it, you know, we found a diamond in the rough, so to speak. I've met some really good other barrier vault company owners,
00:38:46
Chase
you know, they're quite a ways away from us. But we, you know, become friends with them and they've they've showed me tricks and and tricks of the trade, you know, as as as people say, different ways of doing things. and And it's a very, very unique business. Again, it's very personal.
00:39:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:06
Chase
And, know, that's that's the one thing that I strive to all our employees now is when you do a funeral service, I want you to do it as you're doing it for your mom or your dad.
00:39:17
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:39:18
Chase
And, that's, that's very important to us. You know, want that family to feel like they was taken care of by family, you know?
00:39:29
The Jobs Podcast
You said a minute ago that you have to be perfect when you do that and you're dealing with people that are emotionally fragile. It's probably one of, if not the worst day of their life and anything that goes wrong, it's, uh, what's the word? It's their emotions are just on their sleeves. And so you don't have the luxury of them kind of letting things go and you really have to, plus you would want to, I don't want you to remember that one negative thing that happened on this day.
00:40:03
The Jobs Podcast
You have enough going on and, and you have to just get it right every time.
00:40:05
Chase
Absolutely.
00:40:09
Chase
You know, and I, and I tell people, this is kind of my little trick, I guess, that I've kind of learned to, to, uh, adapt to this environment with, if people don't remember the service we done, we've done our job because, you know, nothing stood out.
00:40:09
The Jobs Podcast
But.
00:40:21
The Jobs Podcast
Oh yeah. Right.
00:40:26
Chase
And like you just said, you know, they're, they're mourning and it's a, it's a dreadful day, you know?
00:40:30
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:40:33
Chase
If they don't remember it, then that means they was able to grieve. You know they was able to to close that off, you know, and they're in and that kind of, you know, I'm no.
00:40:43
Chase
you know, I'm not getting into no. deep psychological warfare on your own brains and stuff like, you know, I'm just in generally speaking, you know, like we.
00:40:51
The Jobs Podcast
sure
00:40:51
Chase
So one of the services we provide is, you know, if you buy a burial vault, we're a Doric franchise, D-O-R-I-C, I'll spell it right minute.
00:41:05
Chase
But, you know, we were're we're a franchise company. I mean, we're not, we're independently owned. I don't know how to say that right. But we we offer a franchise burial vault system service.
00:41:11
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:16
Chase
And, uh, So one of the, one of the, barrel vaults is, uh, you know of course our con they're calling their, their plastic on the center and then they have plastic liner and then we pour concrete around them.
00:41:27
Chase
We finish them that way. And some are textured more than others. And, but I mean, we offer, we paint them, you know, for kind of to be little personal. And I mean, we paint, essentially any color you can think of. If I can get the paint, I'll paint it.
00:41:42
Chase
And, uh, I get humored and I, and I say that lightly, but I get humored by, uh, talking to families. I know personally after a funeral or so, and and you can ask them, you know, what color was that vault?
00:41:57
Chase
I don't know. You know, and and and it makes me feel good. And I, and you know, I say that very, very lighthearted, but that means we've done our job, you know, that they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
00:42:10
Chase
So everything went as a plan, you know, you know, of course, absolutely.
00:42:13
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, you weren't a distraction.
00:42:16
Chase
You know, and if, and I tell people, you know, um, know,
00:42:16
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:42:20
Chase
When families request that we lower in front of the family, a alone a lot of times we do all that stuff. We put your loved one in the ground after everybody leaves majority of the time.
00:42:30
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:42:30
Chase
If a family requests that we we do it in front of them, and we do, and we I say it's Murphy's Law. If it can, it will. you know That's usually when something goes wrong, and it just it doesn't a lot of times, but When it does, it's usually in front of the family, you know, and you'll get, the grave might cave off or, you know, you'll have to take the the vault back out of the hole and get a backhoe back up there and and clean it.
00:42:54
The Jobs Podcast
and Oh my goodness.
00:42:54
Chase
out You know stuff happens.
00:42:56
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:42:58
Chase
And, you know, we we take extra care and we do, and i you know, I've got a few cemeteries that we go to that I know the caretaker is going to stay and watch us bury. and And we've become really good friends with a lot of them, you know, because,
00:43:12
Chase
they've been done wrong some point in time and there's a reason why, you know, and, uh, you know, I, I've got a few that I just go get a shovel off the truck and give to one of them. Cause I know he wants to put the first shovel of dirt on the grave.
00:43:24
Chase
You know, that's just his thing. you know, you kind of learn to, to the people that you work for even in that industry and, and you treat them a little different, you know, you, again, you know, it's, it's,
00:43:26
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:37
Chase
it's really hitting more off them PR skills, in a different way because you don't know how people are emotionally. and
00:43:45
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:43:46
Chase
and and you've got to adapt to that on the fly, really, you know? and I've got, you know, I've got a, we are blessed with a really good group of guys that are very caring.
00:43:56
Chase
uh, you know, the hardest part about our business, and I'm not bashful to tell about it at all is, you know, I, I have a hard time bearing babies, you know, and that's, and again, like you can relate to this as as far as firefighters, you know, I know that's one of the big ones for firefighters too.
00:44:07
The Jobs Podcast
Oh yeah. Yeah.
00:44:15
Chase
you know, it's, it's hard, it's hard to put a baby the ground, you know, that's just not the way the world was intended.
00:44:20
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
00:44:21
Chase
And, and you know, I just, it hurts, you know, and it hurts me and don't even have to know the family or know them. and you know, I've got a couple of guys that are really over the top when it comes to, to doing those kinds of funerals and they, they really do a really good, really good job for the families and they, they make it very personal for them, you know, and it's hard enough, you know, and, and, uh, you know, and it's kind of like you said, I had never heard anybody talk about a burial vault company before.
00:44:46
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:44:54
Chase
And, uh, had some family that actually worked up there and was kind of just, you know, whether they talked about it or you didn't, didn't ask about it. Cause you know, you just, it's not something you see every day. And, uh, of course now, you know, anytime I go somewhere, I'm looking at cemeteries on the side of the road, you know, just to see how hard it'd be to get into that one.
00:45:05
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:45:14
Chase
You know, but you find yourself doing things that you do, you know?
00:45:15
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:45:17
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:45:18
Chase
And, uh, but no, uh, nonetheless, nonetheless, um, pursued this business for, uh, right at two years before we got it done, kind of back to that God's timing thing, you know, and it it it just kind of unique how worked out.
00:45:37
Chase
We had done some some really big dirt work jobs and it all hit just kind of accordingly. We got those finished up and we was able to move forward in the purchase of this business. And, you know, my wife is the, I tell i joke and tell everybody,
00:45:56
Chase
she's the, she's the boss. Cause she's the bookkeeper, you know, and and and the guys will all tell the same thing, you know?
00:45:59
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:46:01
Chase
And, and, uh, she says, well, you know, kind of make you the face. Cause you know, I'm a people person and I talk to people and I like people and, I'm a social butterfly, so to speak.
00:46:12
Chase
And she, uh, and I tell her everybody though, the difference being she's a whole lot better to look at. And you know, she'd be a better face for the company than I am. But, uh,
00:46:22
The Jobs Podcast
We'll put her on the billboards, but you talk to the people then.
00:46:23
Chase
That's right. That's right.
00:46:24
The Jobs Podcast
There you go.
00:46:25
Chase
Absolutely. But, you know, on the other side, we, you know, we do, we manufacture, you know, septic tanks and we do storm shelters and we do cattle guards or no, I'm sorry. We don't do cattle guards. We do, uh, uh, feed bunks and parking curbs and cattle waters and stuff like that. We, we do a, we do a wide range of things.
00:46:47
Chase
you know, and that was, course, you know, the, uh, Perseverance would be another thing I would say, kind of going forward. We bought this business in 2019, in January of 19. And so we you know we had a full year of back-to-back of COVID, hard COVID.
00:47:06
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:47:07
Chase
And it was he was mind-blowing on that business. you know just so we was you know i had I had to hit the ground with my feet running. and I had to learn on the fly how to do a lot of things, and and and we we done well. I mean, we we done,
00:47:29
Chase
we set some record numbers as far as as funerals go, and I you know and i hate to to talk, you know, it it is a business, yes, but, and I tell people, I tell, my one-liner joke has always been, know, we own a dying business, you know, and yeah It's kind of dark and twisted.
00:47:48
The Jobs Podcast
You got to have humor.
00:47:48
Chase
Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:49
The Jobs Podcast
You got to have humor in it. It's unfortunately death is just a part of a life and you cannot escape it.
00:47:51
Chase
Go
00:47:56
The Jobs Podcast
But when you have people that are doing it in an empathetic and sympathetic, sensitive way for the family and for the person that's passed away, that's really the only, I mean, that's all you can really ask for.
00:48:09
Chase
ahead. yeah you know and
00:48:10
The Jobs Podcast
I had it. Go ahead.
00:48:12
Chase
go ahead
00:48:13
The Jobs Podcast
Well, I had a question a minute ago, you were talking about the different things that you, that you make with concrete, the septic tanks and whatnot.
00:48:20
Chase
yeah
00:48:22
The Jobs Podcast
the logistics of that, do you have, is, is it just forms that you have where you have a regular delivery of cement or do you make it on site or how does that, how does the creation of those different products that you make, how does that go?
00:48:40
Chase
so i'm gonna back up just a minute off that and kind of i'm gonna go backwards to go forwards if that makes sense and i think it will in just a second but
00:48:43
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:48:47
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Yeah.
00:48:49
Chase
So when we bought the business, we had an earthworm shop, 16 foot in the back walls in the ground, and it come with full functioning miniature batch plant.
00:49:02
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:49:02
Chase
So we batched in-house. We, we done everything. i mean, everything was right there, you know, on, on site. We made all our own burial vaults. We made concrete boxes.
00:49:15
Chase
We've done all our own septics. You know, i mean, we don't buy anything. i do, I do now buy some pre-made parking curb forms and then we pour them full of concrete and then we sell them as a whole.
00:49:27
Chase
But yeah,
00:49:30
Chase
everything's made there you know i mean we're a manufacturing facility so to speak a lot of ways two years down the road you know we went to 22 in january of 22 january 25th friend mine deputy sheriff he's now our actually how county of sheriff matt roberts he called me late late one night and giving me the the detrimental news that no business owner wants to hear our business was on fire and we lost everything other than our service trucks
00:50:02
The Jobs Podcast
Oh. Hmm.
00:50:10
Chase
and it was uh it was very hard you know of course my wife had COVID at the time and it was just, you know, and of course it's them things that gets instilled in your brain. You'll never forget, you know, it was 17 degrees at night and it was cold. And, of course, you know, I get up there and I'm trying to fight fire with the firefighters and kind of going back to a little bit of my onsite training. And I'm watching everything I've invested in you know, that we have invested in go up in flames and,
00:50:45
Chase
it was very hard to overcome. You know, of course I come home and I'm distraught. You know, we got families that depend on a fake paycheck, you know, just in my life said, Hey, where's, where's my godly husband that, you know, where's the guy that always says God will take care of us, you know? And, and, and it took my wife kind of slapped me upside the head. Yeah.
00:51:06
The Jobs Podcast
They're good like that, aren't they?
00:51:07
Chase
yeah You know what mean? I think they, i think they wait for those opportunities, you know,
00:51:11
The Jobs Podcast
I think so too. Yeah, but i don't want to ruin your anniversary. So let's go down that road.
00:51:17
Chase
But, yeah you know, and I mean, like, we kind of went back to the course and, you know, kind so, so there i can kind of tie it all back together. Now, uh, I got to utilize a little bit of everything I've ever done, in life. I kind of got to put it all together.
00:51:34
Chase
course, my brother came, and I had some really, really good close friends that showed up the next day. What can we do? You know, well guys, I can't do nothing, you know? And, uh, a couple of weeks went by and we built, uh,
00:51:46
Chase
We built a rather large pad because our our facility didn't have a really good level spot to build another shop, but we made one.
00:51:55
Chase
Another good friend of mine owns a welding shop. He ordered all our steel. We built a new shop. Of course, you know, i got to use my boilermaking experience. Yeah.
00:52:06
Chase
and I, and I called some oil makers in some friends and some family. we welded all that thing up and, and we done it all in house. and then I had some guys come and do the tin work stuff for us. But of course, you know, I'll be just, it's kind of unique when you, when you get a couple of years down the road and you're able to turn around and look at it and think, man, you know, there's really no explanation of how all that come to come together and how that all actually worked.
00:52:31
Chase
You know and you, you got kind of in my, in my two cents, I just kind of got humbled by it and said, thank you, Lord, you know, because I know where it come from and kind of made the right steps along the way to to get here, you know.
00:52:41
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:52:45
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:52:47
Chase
and
00:52:47
The Jobs Podcast
It's times like that when you know who your friends are, they come out of the woodwork to help you out.
00:52:47
Chase
and
00:52:50
Chase
Oh, man, you know, and and and I mean, you know, and there's, and i'll and I'll kind of share, there's different kinds of friends, you know, you like in business, you'll have business friends.
00:52:51
The Jobs Podcast
That's yeah.
00:53:02
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:53:03
Chase
And, you know, business friends are just as needed as family friends, you know.
00:53:10
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:53:11
Chase
You know, it was it was terrible. it was hard on us, you know, I because we was just coming out of COVID. That's our time of year. We try to inventory everything up for winter. So we had a lot of inventory we lost.
00:53:25
Chase
There was just lots and lots of different dynamics that that hit us, you know. and friends and family. Man, we had lot of businesses, a lot of close friends. I mean we just had...
00:53:39
Chase
all kinds of outpouring love and support, you know, and and people that didn't even, you know, didn't, didn't know how to do anything to help us or what can we do to help, you know, and just offering help that they didn't even, you know, didn't even know.
00:53:53
Chase
And that's just kind of makes you feel good about where you're from. you know, and and kind of makes you feel good about what you do.
00:53:57
The Jobs Podcast
Right.
00:54:02
Chase
Cause you know, I feel like at the end of the day, and we must mean something, you know, yeah't i don't feel like you'd have the support you have.
00:54:10
The Jobs Podcast
right
00:54:12
Chase
But, you know, we kind of, we overstepped that hurdle and we've kind of moved forward. So so now, kind of back to your question there, yeah, we had we had a batch plant in-house. the The concrete company here, they sold us a ready mix truck. So we bought bought a ready mix truck and we go get our own concrete now down at town.
00:54:31
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:54:32
Chase
ah ah dad You know, I just call them and let them know how much mud we need and we go get it. and I mean, so kind of the same way we're kind of set on their schedule a little bit now, but, you know, I'm still using my own means to go get it, so to speak. And, it works, it works both ways. You know, it works well.
00:54:51
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
00:54:51
The Jobs Podcast
Are the vaults, the but is that the bulk of your business and the septic stuff is just kind of a supplemental deal or are you kind of varied in everything?
00:54:51
Chase
you know, you,
00:55:03
Chase
So we kind of, you know, when we bought the business, it was, I'm going to use the terms of about 80% burial vault, 20% precast.
00:55:12
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:55:12
Chase
That was kind of the the way the business was structured, so to speak.
00:55:12
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:55:16
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
00:55:18
Chase
And we've we've about changed that to sixty- forty maybe. that's That's given some rounded numbers, of course.
00:55:24
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Mm-hmm.
00:55:28
Chase
you know we're You know, I kind of strive to get it to 50-50. I really like precast. I like, I like, I like concrete work. I like the challenge of it.
00:55:39
Chase
I like the being able to manipulate it. You know, of course I've got some good guys, good friends that are, they're actually in outside concrete work. You know, you're the, the pour your basement walls and flats and and your, kind your, all your concrete for your house and business or whatever.
00:55:56
Chase
course I talked to them on pretty regular basis, you know, and they're, they're, they're kind of complaining this time of year. Cause I can't work, you know, and I say, buy one that's in a shop, you know, you can work every day, you know? And so we've we've kind of joked around back and forth there, but you know, it never ends for us, you know, the, there's always something to pour or something that, you know, something to make. And, but yeah, I mean, so the, the dynamic of our business is first and foremost is the, the burial of all side.
00:56:24
Chase
i mean, that's, You know because you don't you don't know when you're going to get funerals. That's the that's the hard part about this business. And that's the hard part about manning. You have a manpower for this business.
00:56:37
Chase
There's a lot of overtime. There's a lot of unexpected Saturdays, unexpected Sundays.
00:56:42
The Jobs Podcast
I hadn't thought about that. you're What type of notice do you get? you You're kind of maybe not at the whim of the the funeral homes, but you probably don't get a lot of notice about when you're ready to be used, so to speak.
00:56:59
Chase
Yeah, I mean, so it's it's kind of back and forth there. I mean, we'll get anywhere from three days notice to very rarely do we get anything less than 24-hour notice.
00:57:15
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
00:57:16
Chase
But it does happen.
00:57:16
The Jobs Podcast
wow.
00:57:17
Chase
I mean, we've we've gotten calls at 9 o'clock in the morning for a 12 o'clock funeral, you know, or you're kind of scrounging around to make things happen. You know, we service a hundredm mile radius.
00:57:28
The Jobs Podcast
oh wow okay
00:57:29
Chase
I'm assuming from, from West Plains, you know, we go, you know, we go to Houston, Missouri, Wynonna, Somersville, Poplar Bluff.
00:57:39
Chase
We, we go to not real regular, but we do go to Poplar Bluff, Donovan, uh, Melbourne, Batesville, Arkansas. I mean, we, we make a big circle and, you know, I get guys stretched out that are 150 miles apart at times, you know, and, and, uh,
00:57:56
Chase
that's the one thing you dread one of calls and says they had a blowout or something, you know, you, you just, you jump in the truck, take spares, well, you know, you just go do it and, it's kind of overcome it one day at a time, you know, but so, i mean, you know, and yeah we always have to have barrel bolts on the ready, you know, you know, cause you, you get the extreme circumstances where, um, where,
00:57:59
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, yeah. yeah
00:58:18
Chase
the family may want to do like a a direct burial where they don't want to have any embalming and stuff like that. You know, Missouri law and Arkansas law states that, you know, you've only got so many hours to do that.
00:58:28
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, okay.
00:58:29
Chase
and So, i mean, you're, you're limited there and there's, and there's things on that. That's just, it's kind of hard, you know, it makes it difficult and it, but, you know, you you kind of learn,
00:58:41
Chase
overcome it you know and that's the other thing you know you people sometimes will see the obituaries and look at them stuff like that and and kind of goes in one ear out the other and then when you're in the business you know like we'll get a Saturday we may have you know seven eight funerals on the board for Saturday and so you're kind of running around ragged and I can remember early on we first get it you know and you get two or three a day, you're looking at that, oh yeah, we can handle that, and you, you know, then you get seven, eight, nine a day, and you think, well, how are you going to do that, you know not you know, five of them same time, you know, you just kind of, and I used to freak out, and jump up and down, and and get all flustered, and as I've matured, and, and kind of gathered the reins a little tighter, and a little better, and kind of,
00:59:19
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:59:34
Chase
adapted to my environment. I just kind of
Leadership and Industry Challenges
00:59:36
Chase
look at it. I'm going to figure this out. You know, we may have to drop some vaults off, set them over the whole new stuff. You know, you you just go, you figure out a way to go make, make it work.
00:59:45
The Jobs Podcast
How many people do you have working for you now? I mean, I know you've probably grown, but with with those kind of numbers, you probably have a pretty decent crew.
00:59:56
Chase
So there's, there's, there's seven of us, uh, counting myself, uh, eight counting my wife,
00:59:59
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
01:00:04
The Jobs Podcast
OK.
01:00:04
Chase
there's six of us full time. I mean, all the time.
01:00:07
The Jobs Podcast
okay
01:00:07
Chase
then I've got, I've got a, a guy that comes and helps on the weekends. He, he worked for me for quite a while. he helps on the weekends and and he'll take some PTO and help us during the week. We get real busy.
01:00:20
Chase
uh, he went, uh, he had an opportunity to go work for a city, you know, had a city job and I told him, I said, dude, you're, you're, uh, you're kind of foolish not to, you know, they got better benefits and and better things like that.
01:00:33
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:00:34
Chase
And, but he, he still comes and and helps and all the guys like him and stuff like that. So he's kind of a a huge help when he comes. Cause you don't, you don't have to worry about him. He knows how to do everything.
01:00:45
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. I... I'm going go off on just a little side note here. When you pour that vault, are they reinforced with steel?
01:00:57
The Jobs Podcast
And is there a standard size for a vault? Because I know some caskets, depending on if it's unfortunately a child or or a young person versus an adult,
01:01:07
The Jobs Podcast
Some people are larger than others. I didn't know if there was an industry standard, so to speak, or does it depend depend on the graveyard, how much room they have? How does that all kind of play out?
01:01:19
Chase
So yeah, kind of a a few things. there I mean, so of course, you know, we have the cremations, you know, and so, I mean, we'll dig it we'll dig a cremation hole too and do those.
01:01:30
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, okay.
01:01:33
Chase
But standard, you know, like they're standard, we we do a regular size vault and then we do an oversized vault. And then for, you know, for Children and stuff like that, we still use regular size vault for.
01:01:50
Chase
but And then below that, you know when you get back into the babies and stuff like that, we have a a different line that we carry. kind They're all-in-one casket vault combo.
01:02:04
The Jobs Podcast
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
01:02:05
Chase
And you know a lot of the funeral homes will supply those, but we we we get them too, and and I do supply some of the funeral homes with those. that's kind of the, you know, of course that just, and I, and I've told, uh, our rep a few times, I said, I, I wish that this side of the business would go out of, out of business.
01:02:22
Chase
And she said, well, why is that? And I said, cause I hate burying babies, you know, just, it goes back to the, the need of them.
01:02:27
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:02:29
Chase
I just wish we didn't have a need for them.
01:02:31
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:02:31
Chase
But, know, and then of course, like when we did graves, you know, we standard, a standard grave, you know, it's not, not six foot, you know, everybody thinks they're six foot deep, but, we dig, we dig most of our graves around 54 to 56 inches deep.
01:02:49
The Jobs Podcast
Really?
01:02:49
Chase
Uh, yeah, that's just kind of the, uh, from all the, the other helpful grave deers that I've, I've run across the, that's kind of the common average number, so to speak.
01:03:01
The Jobs Podcast
Where did the six foot come from? Is that, is that in the olden days when they were just in a pine box kind of thing or?
01:03:06
Chase
I think so, you know, and, and I mean, there's, as I've learned being in some of these older cemeteries, uh, I think six foot was a misconception to a lot of people.
01:03:17
Chase
You know, there's a lot of graves that are, are not, uh, 40 inches deep. There's a lot of graves, you know, but you know, when you had, when you had to hand dig them, you know,
01:03:25
The Jobs Podcast
My goodness.
01:03:30
The Jobs Podcast
Well, sure.
01:03:32
Chase
Of course, they had and the the stories we get is, you know, they they hand dug them. They had a kind of like a digging party. the A whole bunch of men would go out and shovels and picks and they'd take turns digging, you know. And and I think of it now like, you know, it would it would take us a week to dig a grave by hand, you know.
01:03:53
The Jobs Podcast
Especially in Missouri or yeah, go to Nebraska and you can dig a six foot hole in an hour and a half, but yeah.
01:03:55
Chase
Yeah, you know.
01:03:59
Chase
Absolutely.
01:04:00
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:04:00
Chase
Absolutely. One of our other reps, you know, he's from Florida and he had a bear vault company down there. And he said, when I first moved up here, he said, I thought you guys was crazy.
01:04:10
Chase
And he said, we, he said, we had a little tractor we used to fill graves with. He said, we done every dug everything by hand because it was all sand, you know, said, of course you did, you know,
01:04:18
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:04:21
Chase
Yeah. And yeah so, I mean, you know, there's, there's some different sizes and of course, you know, we carry different lines of vaults and, uh, you know, we get into a, double line or a triple line and, and, you know, and I mean, we even carry like a stainless steel vault and I mean, they're beautiful, but, uh, I'll be honest, you know, they're, they're kind of overkill for, for the purpose, you know, and, uh,
01:04:45
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. what What is the thickness of the concrete wall on a vault? What are the typical dimensions?
01:04:53
Chase
So like, uh, our outside measurements, you know, we're like, uh, uh, 96 inches long, 36 inches wide. We're right at three foot wide.
01:05:06
Chase
concrete's about two and a half inches thick all way around the lid. The lid's about five and a half inches thick. they're a little bit top heavy, you know, and, so they're, they're right at,
01:05:15
The Jobs Podcast
What do they typically weigh?
01:05:24
Chase
they're let me back up on that they're just a little bit over a half a yard of concrete so they're they're around 2500 pounds to 3 000 pounds and and you know when we when we go to the cemetery majority of the time we unload them off the side of the truck with a you know we use a vault dolly now there's other companies they'll use a
01:05:34
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, wow. OK.
01:05:49
Chase
a vault buggy or there's different things that you can use to to transport the vaults and stuff. But, you know we use a a dolly off side of the truck and we, we've got some long ramp boards and we ramp, you know, we drive them down the side of the truck and over to the hole.
01:06:03
Chase
And, uh, people look at us all the time.
01:06:04
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:06:06
Chase
Like how, how do you move that much? Well, you know, and it's just, you're using power tools. I mean, essentially, you know, but I had a guy tell me early on, he was an old timer from another vault company that,
01:06:12
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:06:19
Chase
You know, there's there's everything you need to get the job done on that truck. And if you can't do it, because you're not trying, you know. And as time goes on, I kind of wonder if sometimes this next generation, they they may not have the capabilities of doing it on their own.
01:06:35
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:06:38
The Jobs Podcast
What you, so you show up, do you dig the hole or does the graveyard or the funeral or whoever manages the property, do they dig the hole? You do everything.
01:06:46
Chase
So we we do both. I mean, I don't dig, you know, I dig here locally.
01:06:49
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:06:53
Chase
There's a couple of cemeteries that I'm the only one that can dig at, but and you know, of course that's, and then we've got grave diggers that we know that service other parts of our area that we go to.
01:06:57
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
01:07:04
Chase
And of course, you know, we do everything to make their life as easy as possible. We stick around, help them fill the grave and make them look good.
01:07:09
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:07:12
Chase
You know, cause I mean, at the end of the day, We're not doing this for you know our company. We're not doing it for the grave day. We're not doing it for the funeral home. We're doing it for that family. You know, I mean, really, to be honest about it.
01:07:21
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:07:25
Chase
And, you know we want it to look as good as we can. And, you know, this time of year with snow on the ground, but, you know, like last week when it was so muddy and nasty and wet, it's hard. It's hard on us.
01:07:38
Chase
It's nasty. It's wet.
01:07:39
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:07:39
Chase
You know, make tracks everywhere you go.
01:07:39
The Jobs Podcast
geez. Yeah.
01:07:41
Chase
you take a backhoe cemetery. You got a ply board in, ply board out.
01:07:44
The Jobs Podcast
oh geez yeah
01:07:45
Chase
You break plywood and you still make a mess. You can't make the the mound on the grave look good. and There's just a lot of things that yeah and then we we always try to go back before Memorial Day and try to dress everything up and make it look good.
01:07:59
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, do they, when you've dug a hole and then you've put the, everything in the hole that's supposed to go in there in it, you covered it up, you have the mound. Do you put grass seed in there to, to have it quickly come back to be not just dirt?
01:08:15
Chase
No, generally we don't.
01:08:17
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:08:17
Chase
you know and That's kind of the other thing.
01:08:18
The Jobs Podcast
right.
01:08:19
Chase
Most of the cemeteries locally anymore have either got Bermuda grass or Zoysia grass in the cemeteries now.
01:08:26
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, spreads pretty quick then.
01:08:28
Chase
Yeah, and I mean, and honestly, within a summer, one you know usually one summer, the grave will be settled and and grass will be you know getting back. It may not be real thick, but usually by two years, you can't really tell there's a grave there other than a headstone.
01:08:45
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:08:47
Chase
but, uh, you know, I've had, I've had a couple of families, you know, call and ask about putting grass seed and stuff down. But you know, the problem is when you fill the grave, it's going to settle.
01:08:59
The Jobs Podcast
sure
01:09:00
Chase
And sometimes, sometimes the ground is just funny. Sometimes it takes more dirt and sometimes it takes less dirt. you just don't really know how much you need, you know, and, And so that's one of the things that we always try to do is when we go back, we try to rake all the rocks off the top and get them out, you know, and take them back to the dirt pile and stuff like that. Try to make it look more presentable when we go back after it's had a little chance to settle.
01:09:25
Chase
And of course, then by the next time we go back, there's usually something going on where they've had, you know, some some grass growing back over to it by then or, you know, something like that.
01:09:36
The Jobs Podcast
Does your line of work when you're working with funeral homes and whatnot, are there any kind of special licenses or certifications that you have to either get or maintain to do this line of work? Or, i mean, I know you have your your business license and and certain permits for just dirt work and whatnot, equipment and everything.
01:09:59
The Jobs Podcast
But do you have anything specific to the funeral home industry or the burial industry?
01:10:05
Chase
So, yeah, there's there's a few things there, you know, like us with our franchise. You know, we had to have a franchise agreement.
01:10:15
Chase
So we've got that. You know, that's how we were able to carry the Doric Vault Line, their product.
01:10:17
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:10:21
The Jobs Podcast
and okay
01:10:23
Chase
And then, you know, you've got to the National Barrier Vault Association. It's not required, but it's it's highly required.
01:10:35
Chase
it's it's It's highly advisable. You know, it's it's a good thing to have. I mean, they're kind of kind in your back pocket. They kind of help represent you a little bit. and and Other than that, really, i mean, yes and no on some things.
01:10:51
Chase
You know, depending on, like, you know, like the state of Missouri, each state's just a little bit different. But, you know, you've got, you're supposed to have a funeral director with a director's license to be present.
01:11:03
Chase
until you put the body in the ground.
01:11:06
The Jobs Podcast
Okay.
01:11:07
Chase
There's just kind of some some some different things. You know, we get calls all the time about wanting us to bury somebody and they don't want to go through the funeral home, you know, and i just don't do it.
01:11:22
Chase
you know and You know, I would love to work for the general public in that aspect, but the same hand, it's not really, really good business to get into, you know, as far as
01:11:35
Chase
you could get yourself in trouble real fast.
01:11:38
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:11:38
Chase
You know, you could... Because what proof do you have? You know, i mean there's just more documentation you'd have to keep and stuff like that. and course, I mean, wiki we keep files on every everybody we bury stuff like that. I mean, we've we're pretty...
01:11:56
The Jobs Podcast
Buy the book.
01:11:57
Chase
Pretty much, yeah. I mean, you know, there's there's not much that we...
01:11:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:12:00
Chase
and I don't know how you would, you know, I just, we don't, cause you never know, you know, I mean, that's kind of the the funny thing. You just never know. I mean, we've had to go move some people and that's a, that's a whole nother job in itself. And I don't like that at all.
01:12:19
Chase
I just, that bothers me. I'll just be honest, you know, you know, I've kind of got,
01:12:23
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. I would, I would really wonder if somebody called me and said, can you help me bury a body? I mean, that would, that, you know, I mean, you could, there's a lot of jokes there, but in all seriousness, if someone just said, I don't want to do a funeral home or anything, I just want to bury a body.
01:12:31
Chase
Yeah.
01:12:39
The Jobs Podcast
There's, you're going to get questions. That's red flags, but yeah.
01:12:41
Chase
Oh, absolutely. You know, I mean, we've had a few, I'm going to say extreme circumstances where we buried, a spouse with just the husband, but we've had the, the corner there and we had a funeral director there, you know, I mean,
01:13:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:13:13
Chase
that.
01:13:16
Chase
you know, but the other side of that being, you know, you have a, you build, you build a reputation with the funeral homes you service.
01:13:24
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:13:24
Chase
And, you know, i don't, at the end of the day, I don't ever want them to think that I'm trying to do their business too. Cause I'm not, you know, I want them to really, absolutely.
01:13:31
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Kind of staying in your lane.
01:13:36
Chase
Absolutely.
01:13:36
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:13:36
Chase
I want them to re rely on me and I will rely on them, you know, and, and I will, I will be in their corner anytime they need me. You know, that's, you know,
01:13:46
The Jobs Podcast
If someone wanted to you know maybe follow in in your in your footsteps, and whether it would be doing this type of thing and franchising somewhere else in the United States, or if they wanted to do dirt work or something in in the same kind of lane that you're currently in,
01:14:06
The Jobs Podcast
What types of soft skills do you find are really advantageous to be successful?
01:14:14
Chase
oh man um man
01:14:16
Chase
one uh probably off the top my head i would say you're gonna have to have some some background of knowledge of what you're doing you know does that mean you got to have 20 years experience no that's not what i'm saying um saying
01:14:27
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:14:34
Chase
You know, that's kind of like me, to be honest, you know, I grew up and I poured a lot of concrete growing up. But, you know precast is different. You know, it truly is. And it kind of back to your question, I don't know that I ever answered it fully for you.
01:14:50
Chase
Most of our stuff is, yeah, is in actual pre-made forms.
01:14:54
The Jobs Podcast
and Okay.
01:14:55
Chase
So, i mean, it's, you know, it's getting it ready, putting formal oil in it, you know, then pouring it. You know, a business such as ours, a lot of the burial vault companies are are just that.
01:15:12
Chase
Majority of them don't have precast side too. We're kind of unique. Well, there's there's a couple of us that I know real close that are unique like that.
01:15:25
Chase
But, you know, at these annual meetings and stuff, you meet these other guys. They're just... they just provide funeral services, you know, or just manufacture vaults and send them to another warehouse or, you know, I mean, they're just, you know, we've kind of dipped into more of the, uh, the, uh, the concrete world, I guess.
01:15:36
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:15:46
Chase
but to have some knowledge of what, you know, you kind of got to know what kind of batch you need. You got to know,
01:15:56
Chase
you gotta to have an angle, you know, of some sort. yeah, some of that can be learned on the fly. some of it can be,
01:16:08
Chase
real fast on the job training. of, you know, some of it could be, you know, a couple of weeks beforehand before you, you, you do something. I mean, but a lot of that's going to go back to a little bit of knowing what you're doing.
01:16:21
Chase
little PR and, you know, that it course and in another angle that I would urge anybody to get into, it would be if that's something that you might pursue find, to find somebody, you know, that a lot of these businesses like ours are, I won't use the term generational, but they're, they're getting into that timeframe where they're, they're ready, you know, uh, they're,
01:16:55
Chase
They're the end of the baby the baby boomer era. mean,
01:16:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:17:00
Chase
i mean there's another company 100 miles south of us. Him and I are a year apart in age, and he bought his uncle out. and But him and I both got count boots on the ground, kind of, so to speak. And him and I are a lot alike in a lot of ways. and But you know anybody we deal with, him and I are the two youngest in this business.
01:17:24
Chase
And so, i mean, there's the there's fixing, you know, i feel like it's kind of coming with the rest of the trade world. They're fixing to be a big age gap in, in what the next generational owners are going to be.
01:17:38
The Jobs Podcast
I've seen a lot of articles just over the last few years about it's coming where the guys that have all the experience and that know what they're doing, they're either moving on to teaching or they're just leaving the workforce and retiring. And there's, you can look at it as a huge problem, or you can also look at it as a huge opportunity if you're willing to get in there.
01:18:04
The Jobs Podcast
Folks, i I have found when I talk to people about being on this podcast, you find a lot of older folks that are more than happy to share their knowledge and experience with folks because they want to help you be successful.
01:18:19
The Jobs Podcast
They're leaving. They're more than happy to share all that they've learned if you're willing to listen.
01:18:25
Chase
Yeah. And I, you know, i found that a lot in the boilermakers, you know, and and kind of one thing I left out that I, that I just kind of feel the need now to, to, to share is, you know, my, my grandfather was, uh, was a local tin iron worker and he retired out of the iron workers and, and he went back to work for the boilermakers. And, and so, I mean, I had some uncles and, and stuff like that in the union as well. And that's kind of the angle.
01:18:51
Chase
I didn't necessarily use that, it helped, but You know, a lot of them old timers that I call now knew my grandpa. And it was unique to be, you know, two generations younger and to hear them telling stories of my grandpa when he was my age, you know, and telling things of him because you he's gone.
01:18:59
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:19:13
Chase
You know, he's he he passed away. 2011. And so, I mean, he's been gone some time now and, uh, know, was kind of, it's kind of good to, walk down kind of the same path, you know, to, to to see how that, that all happened, but, you know, to, uh, but then the old time or so, I mean, they had so much skill and knowledge that somebody taught them, you know, and they was, you know, a lot of them, lot of them,
01:19:41
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:19:45
Chase
my, our generation called them guys, uh, you know, this kind of old, old grouches, old butts and stuff like that. But he, you know, most of them just was kind of hardened that way. You know, it wasn't because that's really what they were. That's just kind of how they got brought up and attack kind of who they become because it had to be.
01:20:04
Chase
But, you know, if you showed some initiative and, and, didn't make them work as hard because they was older and they would show you tricks. Hey, pup, you know, or whatever. like They'd show you different things. And man, that's a lot easier, you know, and kind of just like you said, they was more than willing if you was willing to put the work in.
01:20:23
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, if you're teachable. That's one thing that I hear a lot of older folks comment on the younger generations is you got to check your ego at the door and come in willing to learn. It's fine if you know things, but there's a lot you don't know, and you might find a lot of people that have forgotten more than you already know.
01:20:41
Chase
Absolutely.
01:20:42
The Jobs Podcast
So, you know, be willing to to learn and be teachable, and you can probably learn a lot.
01:20:48
Chase
I mean, there, there's a lot of truth to that and, you know, and that's, you know, it's, it's one thing to be, sure of yourself, but there, you know, and then, then you cross the line when you're arrogant, you know,
01:21:01
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:21:06
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah, confident but not arrogant.
01:21:07
Chase
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I mean, there is there is so much truth to that, you know, and and I jokingly say a lot of times I kind of walk the line on both of those.
01:21:08
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:21:19
Chase
But and it's not because i'm I'm not better than anybody by no means. But I have found that you're a better leader when you're confident in what you're leading your guys to do.
01:21:31
Chase
And, you know, and of course, when I, when I started getting a little bit further up the chain and the boilermakers and and pushing some work, that was the first thing that I really, really made sure I did is you can't ask your guys to do something you're not willing to do first.
01:21:49
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:21:49
Chase
And I apply that in this business as well. You know, mean, if there's something that needs to be done, if we got to get down in the mud, I'll grab a shovel and I'll be the first one down there.
01:22:01
Chase
you know, a good leader leads by example, you know, and by no means am I saying I'm the best leader or a good leader, you know, I just get up every day and I try, in and, you know, and i'm I'm sure I've got my own faults, and and I've got plenty of them, you know, but we get up, we try every day, and and we try to make it successful and too stubborn not to be, you know,
01:22:12
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:22:29
The Jobs Podcast
What, when you keep getting up and you keep trying, there is the reality that sometimes no matter how much you try, you're going to fail. What is your advice on how to deal with failure?
01:22:42
Chase
So my two cents on failure is has been a kind of a hard knot lesson that I myself have learned. but Because with any with with with any success comes failure first.
01:22:58
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
01:23:00
Chase
And you know i've i've learned I don't like it and it doesn't mean like it, but I've learned that failure is just another lesson.
01:23:10
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:23:11
Chase
and And, and if you're truly sincere about giving it hundred percent effort or as, or as we was raised, it was 110%. You had to give a little bit more than just a hundred, you know, but, um, and you gave it your all and yet you didn't succeed.
01:23:22
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:23:30
Chase
It's not always a loss. You know, and it's kind looking at that glass half full or half empty, you know. Now, I get called negative Nancy a lot. And, you know, and I look at the the opposite side of things.
01:23:40
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:23:42
Chase
in But in in life in general, I only fail when I quit.
01:23:50
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:23:51
Chase
And that's, that's kind of my mindset, you know, doesn't mean I'm right, but I'll, you know, if, if, if I didn't succeed first, it doesn't mean it's completely over, you know,
01:24:07
Chase
and that's, you know, and i use the term and I'll use it lightly, but stubbornness, you know, I think stubbornness is a good trait. And as far as that goes, you know, now, now you can be too stubborn.
01:24:19
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:24:21
Chase
sometimes I'd rather run my head through a wall and, you know, just, just to say I can. but, you know, if, if, um, if,
01:24:31
Chase
Again, you know, and I and try to remind myself that daily, really do. Failure doesn't mean that you failed. And that's, I think that becomes a misconception to a lot of people. Well, well it didn't work.
01:24:45
Chase
Well, okay. Well, why didn't it work? You know, I mean, break it down and see what the reasoning was and see what yeah you, if you, if you break things down and find an isolated number of problems,
01:25:00
Chase
fix those and try it again. you know You know, it's kind of learning to adapt to your environment
01:25:02
The Jobs Podcast
Sure.
01:25:08
Chase
in in a good way, you know, not a bad way, in a good way.
01:25:15
Chase
But, you know, I truly believe that in a lot of cases, failure is just another lesson.
01:25:22
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:25:22
Chase
And yeah,
01:25:23
The Jobs Podcast
I've used the acronym on here before. It's fail is just first attempt in learning. And
01:25:29
Chase
that's it.
01:25:29
The Jobs Podcast
I think my dad was the one that told me that I don't think he came up with it necessarily, but it was some good advice. tenacity can really take you a long way and it's good to be driven.
01:25:42
The Jobs Podcast
The older I've gotten, I, I like to think anyway, maybe I'm fooling myself, but I like to think I'm getting a little bit better about stopping and realizing, okay, I don't have to go through the wall. Maybe there's a way to go around it. You know, you work smarter, not harder kind of a thing.
01:25:58
The Jobs Podcast
you get tired of failing. And so you get better at stopping and analyzing it more to figure out the best route to go around it.
01:26:05
Chase
I think there's a lot of truth to that, you know.
Reflections on the Burial Industry and Personal Growth
01:26:08
Chase
and you When you say in that, an older gravedear, he's been digging graves for 36 years for us down in Arkansas, and good friend of mine.
01:26:18
Chase
He's kind of got a really cool story, too, in himself. he He played college basketball, and he's 6'5". He played with Scottie Pippen.
01:26:26
The Jobs Podcast
Oh, wow.
01:26:26
Chase
and yeah he's got he's he's just he knows some people, and it's just another day on the basketball court for him, you know, just to – going to college to be a, to be a basketball coach. That's what he went to college for. Anyway, long and short, he's a grave digger and a really good one at that. But him and I got to, to discussing one day in a cemetery, just hanging out, waiting on a funeral to get over. we was talking about life in general, you know, and, and he shared with me something and I've kind of, I've thought a lot about it as I'm approaching 40, you know,
01:26:58
Chase
But, you know, he said when you're 16, 16 to 20 years old, he know, you see a trailer, you just, you put your hand on the deck. You just jump up on a trailer, get what needs to be got and jump off the trailer. He said, you know, from that 21 to 30, 35 year old, he said, you you might put a hand up there and kind of hop up on the trailer.
01:27:19
Chase
And then, you know when you get over that 35 year old mark, you might put your butt up on the trailer and kind of spin around. And then he said, then when you get smart, when you get in your, up to your fifties, he said, you put the ramp down, you walk up the ramp, get what needs to be getting. got
01:27:34
The Jobs Podcast
I'm a little bit – I relate to that more than I'd like to admit. So that that is spot on. And you know what? I picked up on something just a second ago. What's really unique about your job, and I've said this about the fire service, is that you have these experiences that unless you're in that line of work – nobody can really relate to some of the things that you will see in those little mental snapshots in your mind.
01:28:00
The Jobs Podcast
But you were just talking about how you're standing in a graveyard having a conversation with a guy who played with Scottie Pippen. I mean, that you can't really, that's just not in the brochure. You know what i mean?
01:28:11
The Jobs Podcast
And those are the types of things that make your, this line of work so unique. And you just can't really explain explain what it's like to people.
01:28:20
Chase
and Exactly. You know, i mean, and and truly, you never know what tomorrow's going to bring.
01:28:28
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:28:28
Chase
You know, you you you never know who's going to show up.
01:28:28
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:28:30
Chase
You know, and I don't say that for fame, you know, to sit to see somebody famous or nothing like that. but Or what kind of story is going to be told, you know, and that's what the guys come back to the shop all the time talking about.
01:28:42
Chase
you know World War II guys, and and and they've told a story about what they've done or create, you know what I mean? And my hat's off to military, man. That's yeah you, you talking about getting me jerking my heartstrings, you know, I mean, we've got our freedom because of them guys.
01:28:59
Chase
And, you know what I mean?
01:28:59
The Jobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:29:02
Chase
That's like when we get, and and this is really a pointless, pointless little story, but I just always think about the guys that come, they come from the, uh, Oh, shoot, they do the the military honors, you know, on the cemeteries, and they come do a 21-gun salute.
01:29:18
Chase
And, I mean, these guys are all old, retired.
01:29:19
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:29:23
Chase
You know, they go the the they drive an old VFW van down. and And, I mean, shoot, these guys, you know, they don't have nothing better to do, so to speak. And I had one of our new guys with me. It's been a couple years ago now.
01:29:37
Chase
And they got out of the van and I mean, they're, you know they've all got hearing aids in and two of them's got canes and they're, I mean, they're broke down old men, you know. in he said, my gosh, look them old men. I said, man, I said, here's here's what I see.
01:29:52
Chase
I said, I see some 21 year old BAs. And I think everybody knows what that term is, but that signed up to go the military and fight for this country.
01:30:00
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:30:04
Chase
And I said, we're seeing the after effects.
01:30:07
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:30:07
Chase
you know, not, not what, you know, and I said, I try to look at them guys at who they were and and how they, you know, and what they've done. And, uh, and man, they get, you know, and that's just one of them things. It's kind of like sitting in an old coffee shop when them guys get to, you know, they'll get to the cemetery hour, hour and a half early and they'll get to joking around and telling stories. and And if you care about history at all, you better listen because they're going to tell us something that's interesting, you know,
01:30:31
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Yeah. yeah
01:30:35
Chase
And, you know, and and I've kind of learned as as I've been in this business a few years now that you may not take every but every bit of it with a grain of salt, but some of it, you know, you do. But, man, stuff like that just, and of course then, course, then you get the preachers that talk about the the guys that try to set the world on fire for for Christ and stuff like that, you know, and it just,
01:31:00
Chase
Again, you never know what kind of kind of story or something that's going to be shared the next time at a funeral or at the cemetery. and and And it's a very humbling and thankful experience that we're right here in the middle of it.
01:31:13
Chase
you know Not that I'm somebody at all, but I get to listen to that.
01:31:17
The Jobs Podcast
you Well, yeah, and that is really unique because you can think of anybody that runs through your mind, any famous person, an athlete, a movie star, a musician, some social media, whatever, anybody that you can think of that you would hold up in high regard or is really famous or wealthy or whatever.
01:31:39
The Jobs Podcast
They are someone in your line of work is going to encounter them at some point or another. There's one thing that we can never escape and that's death. And, and you're going to be able, so it kind of puts it all in perspective and kind of makes you prioritize things a little bit better.
01:31:49
Chase
Absolutely.
01:31:57
Chase
yeah Yeah, and I mean, that's that's the the the most humbling saying that I, there's, I can't say saying, maybe a phrase or meme or however you want to say it now.
01:32:09
The Jobs Podcast
Hmm.
01:32:10
Chase
You know, and coming from someone that digs graves, you know, I don't care how much money you got in your bank account. I don't care how little money you got in your bank account.
01:32:21
The Jobs Podcast
Yep. Sure.
01:32:21
Chase
when, when I do, I, when we dig a grave and and provide a funeral, it's the same, you know, and I, I don't, I don't, I don't treat you differently on status.
01:32:27
The Jobs Podcast
chair
01:32:31
Chase
and i don't treat you differently. If you've got 300 people there 10, you know, you was just important to somebody as you was the next one, you know, and I just, uh, uh, I've learned that everybody's had, everybody has a story.
01:32:47
Chase
Some may not be real pleasant,
01:32:50
The Jobs Podcast
Sure. Yep.
01:32:52
Chase
and some you may not want to hear some, you may want to sit and you want, want to hear more of, you know, but, in this line of business, you get to hear the good and the bad and the ugly, you know, just to kind of bank the trio up there.
01:33:07
Chase
but like you said, yeah, I mean, all, all roads in, you know, and, and unfortunately it's just the way of the world.
01:33:11
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:33:14
Chase
And, uh,
01:33:16
The Jobs Podcast
Well, I will say this. After talking with you about this line of work that I really didn't know anything about, I really am glad that there are people like you that are out there that make that final moment as, say, special.
01:33:34
The Jobs Podcast
And the kindness that I'm getting from you is something that would be conveyed to the family, that empathy, that respect, that honor.
01:33:46
The Jobs Podcast
that you're giving the most famous person down to somebody that nobody knew.
01:33:52
Chase
yeah
01:33:52
The Jobs Podcast
That's really and the ultimate kindness that you can do and the respect that you can provide. So I tip my hat to you on that. And I i really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today about such a unique career. It's really a very interesting story.
01:34:10
Chase
absolutely i have enjoyed it you know i don't you don't get to uh in this business you don't get to share this much you know and i don't I don't know if it's kind of frown. I don't know. I just, we, it's not something that gets shared a whole lot.
01:34:23
Chase
And, it's kind of cool to tell the story of, of this business, you know, in, in, in a couple ways, you know, it kind of opens up a little bit, a lot of perspective on what the business is, you know, and two, yeah, the humbleness, you know, I just, uh,
01:34:28
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:34:44
Chase
i just you know At the end of the day, i say this to a lot of people.
01:34:49
Chase
I loved my time bullet making.
01:34:54
Chase
you know i did, and and I miss the work, and I miss the guys, and I miss that atmosphere.
01:35:00
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:35:02
Chase
But i you know as much as I loved it, i really love providing a personal service better.
01:35:10
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:35:11
Chase
And it's, and I know I've used the term a hundred times. going use it again. You know, it's just the humbling experience to, to be a part of something like that, you know, and, and again, I know it's not always good or pleasant or or perfect.
01:35:30
Chase
But when you, when you hit it, you know, 10 out of 10,
01:35:33
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:35:33
Chase
and you and you score perfect, and you see, and the family comes, and they really thank you for the service you provided, and and everything, and of course, this funeral home is included in all that, and it just really makes you feel good that you provided something for some closure, and and it's it's a unique feeling, you know, and and and again, the the the best word I know to describe it is just is humbling, you know, because
01:35:53
The Jobs Podcast
yeah
01:36:04
Chase
It goes back to people loving people. you know and And we need more of that.
01:36:07
The Jobs Podcast
Yeah. Well, there's so many jobs and that's kind of the premise behind this podcast is there's a million jobs and there's people out there doing it that you don't even really know. Sometimes we we don't realize that that's even a job. That's a thing.
01:36:21
The Jobs Podcast
And someone might gravitate towards that because they want to be of service to others or they want to help others.
01:36:21
Chase
Yeah.
01:36:28
The Jobs Podcast
And there's a million different ways that you can help people because there's so many different stages of life. And what you deal with is the final stage. it's It's a difficult one, but we have people like you out there doing that. So I tip my hat to you.
01:36:44
The Jobs Podcast
I'll probably need your services. Hopefully it's years down the road, but we all will at some point. And I'm glad that people like you with your mindset are out there doing it.
01:36:53
Chase
Well, I appreciate it. You know, not and I really am humbled by your dedication and drive to to get out and find, you know, get on the boots, you know, and and find people that like this, you know, and to reach the outreach. You know, I've enjoyed listening to your podcast and and everything you're bringing to the table. And I mean, it's it's it's unique and it's cool. And I mean, it's it's a different, and I know you've said this even, but, you know, it's a different type of podcast. I mean, you're bringing people you're bringing different aspects to light, you know, that people can hear about. And that's, that's, that's unique in itself.
01:37:31
The Jobs Podcast
Well, thanks. I appreciate that. Thanks for your time today, Chase. I really do appreciate it. it This was a fascinating conversation. I really enjoyed myself.
01:37:40
Chase
Tim, thank you. Thanks for having me. I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed sharing and and hope all is well, man.
01:37:47
The Jobs Podcast
All right. Thanks a lot.
01:37:48
Chase
Thank you.