Ep 133. Side Hustles, Lawn Care, and Kress Robots

Summary

Green Side Up – Ep. 133: Side Hustles, Lawn Care, and Kress Robots

Hosts: Jason Lee & Jordan Upcavage
Guest: Mike Garvey (Side Hustle Podcast)
Date: July 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jason Lee sits down with Mike Garvey, host of the Side Hustle Podcast and a multifaceted entrepreneur in the green industry. Recorded late at a Kress Equipment event in Orlando, they dive into the realities of building businesses alongside full-time jobs, embracing new tech like robotic mowers, marketing strategies, and the messy truths of scaling lawn care companies. The conversation blends firsthand stories from the trenches with insights into where the landscaping industry is headed.
(Jordan is on the road for this recording, but his presence is felt in the tales and camaraderie.)

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Mike Garvey’s Entrepreneurial Journey

[02:28] - [09:44]

• Background:

  • Full-time NJ State Trooper (18 years in).
  • Launched Coastal Fertilization & Weed Control in 2017 with partner Larry (longtime landscaper with 300+ mowing clients).
  • Chose fertilization/weed control after Larry’s advice—smart move as he could leverage Larry’s established client base.

• Business Growth:

  • Started with 10 customers, grown to 800+ with a lean staff (tech, admin, receptionist).
  • Focused only on fertilization, weed/mosquito/tick control, aeration, and overseeding.
  • Growth was gradual and deliberate, aiming for a sustainable business to segue into when retiring from police work.
  • Notable quote:

    "My schedule dictated that I could do that three days on, three days off...I always want to do something on the side."
    (Mike Garvey, 02:28)

• Service Model:

  • Runs mosquito and tick control as an add-on due to customer demand (uses steel mist blowers, basic products; market is crowded with franchises).
  • Cross-refers services with Larry’s mowing company for lead generation.

2. Side Hustles and the Challenge of Focus

[11:15] - [15:56]

• Jason’s Side Hustles:

  • Shares how Sky Frog Landscaping was first a side hustle that grew into his main gig, and how he recently founded Trash Panda Express (dumpster rental).
  • Emphasizes letting side hustles grow at their own pace instead of forcing profits too early.

• How Many Hustles Are Too Many?

  • Mike juggles multiple (Coastal, plus new North Jersey branch, and a Kress dealership for robotic equipment—all while raising young kids).
  • Points out benefit when ventures are interconnected, but cautions against spreading too thin.
  • Notable quote:

    "How many side hustles is too much—and how many things pull your attention from what your main focus should be?"
    (Mike Garvey, 12:36)

3. Marketing & Growth Strategies

[16:19] - [21:39]

• Neither operates with a strict, scheduled marketing plan—instead, it's a "full court press":
  • Truck wraps, yard signs, social media ads, big Google Business profiles, local Chamber of Commerce involvement.
  • Upsell aeration/overseeding directly to existing clients.
  • Synergy between Larry’s mowing company and Coastal’s services leads to significant cross-selling.
• Importance of defining team roles—Mike is “the admin guy,” Larry does sales and customer relationships.
• Notable quote:

  “He does what he’s good at, I do what I’m good at. It fits.”
  (Mike Garvey, 21:32)

4. Robotic Mowers and Battery-Powered Equipment (Kress Focus)

[21:47] - [44:14]

• Events & Connections:

  • Kress event in Orlando serves both contractors and dealers; Jason recaps the Landscape Rodeo event where they demoed Kress equipment (“backpack blower soccer”).
  • Mike discusses becoming a Kress dealer after being unable to find a local supplier—runs a mobile tool trailer model.

• Robotic Mowers:

  • Explosion of interest in robotic/autonomous units—“Voyager” is a highlighted product.
  • Applications for municipalities, colleges, large commercial clients, and even residential use.
  • Benefits: night mowing, silent operation, rain tolerance, continuous cut for always-fresh turf.
  • Changing expectations—colleges adopting robots may demand them in future bids, raising the bar for future competition.

• Demo Strategy:

  • Mike’s approach: place demo units at client properties (“Try it for a month!”) or even at the owner’s home.
  • Notable quote:

    "You could offer a robotic mowing program very easily...These are the benefits: cuts at night, it's quiet, always a fresh cut."
    (Mike Garvey, 34:37)

5. Regional Lawn and Plant Care Realities—North vs. South

[39:23] - [42:44]

• Florida lawns: grow rapidly in summer—some grasses by 6 inches a week.
• Extensive use of plant growth regulators for sports fields.
• Cultural shock for Northerners: Florida contractors prune 10–11 times per year, vs 3 times up North.
• Robo-mowers seen as a potential labor and operational game-changer, given constant growth and high maintenance frequency.

6. Podcast Community ‘Pod House’ and Networking Events

[44:14] - [54:42]

• Recounting origins and spirit of “Pod House”—off-the-clock podcasting get-togethers with industry leaders (Eric Triplet/The Pond Digger, Naylor Taliaferro, and others).
• Value: capturing unscripted, real conversations among business owners; content for the community.
• Highlights of networking: stories from trade events, organic brainstorming, and building lasting industry friendships.
  • Notable quote:

    "Let's get 10 of us at a dinner table with headsets on...We've already created four podcasts since we've been here."
    (Jason Lee, 49:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On partnering and scaling:

  "You already built a business...I work best in partnerships. I feel like...so that's what we did."
  (Mike Garvey, 03:06)

• On entrepreneurial mindset:

  "I want to set it up now and get the ball rolling...not be 48 and just starting a business."
  (Mike Garvey, 10:13)

• On the value of innovation:

  "Even if it’s just the quality of service for the customer—that’s enough of a buy-in for me. And then it starts making sense on the dollars."
  (Jason Lee, 35:56)

• On refocusing the business model:

  "If we can take the mowing aspect out of it...then we’re offering a better product to our customer."
  (Jason Lee, 42:04)

• On industry events:

  “It was the perfect venue...But now, as it grows, we might outgrow it.”
  (Jason Lee, 24:17)

• On regional weather:

  "This time of year, you walk out at five o'clock in the morning and get throat punched by the humidity."
  (Jason Lee, 52:33)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:28 – Mike Garvey’s career and launch of Coastal Fertilization & Weed Control
• 09:44 – Building the business: partnership structure, scaling, work/life balance
• 11:15 – Jason on making his side hustle a full-time job & spinning up Trash Panda Express
• 12:36 – Discussion: How many side hustles is too many?
• 16:19 – Fertilizer business marketing strategies (traditional and digital)
• 21:47 – Intro to the Kress event, equipment rodeo, and robotic mower movement
• 32:00 – Tech deep dive: Voyager autonomous mower, municipal/sports field applications
• 39:23 – Managing Florida’s rapid plant growth; plant growth regulators vs. mowing
• 44:14 – ‘Pod House’ explained: leveraging organic peer-to-peer content
• 49:37 – Networking with industry veterans at events
• 52:33 – Surviving Florida summers; realities of working through heat and humidity

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Episode Takeaways

• Leveraging Partnerships: Smart collaboration with established industry players accelerates business growth.
• Diversification is a Double-edged Sword: Multiple hustles offer security and learning, but require discipline and synergy to prevent burnout.
• Marketing = Full Court Press: No single tactic wins—layering efforts yields results.
• Tech Adoption: Early adoption of robotic mowers and battery power is becoming less of a “nice to have” and more crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
• Regional Realities Matter: Local climate and culture dictate business practices, from plant care to customer expectations.
• Community Value: Peer networking, events, and unscripted conversations (like Pod House) fuel innovation and camaraderie in the green industry.

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Final Thoughts

This episode gives an unvarnished look at the entrepreneurial grind in lawn care. With a mix of seasoned strategy and lighthearted banter, listeners gain actionable insight—and plenty of encouragement—to face the “weeds” and keep the green side up.

Transcript

[Jason Lee]

Welcome to Green side Up, the perfect podcast for small business entrepreneurs looking to cultivate success in the landscaping and tree care industry. Join Jason Lee, a seasoned landscaper, and Jordan Upkavage, a true tree whisperer, as they share their wealth of experience and insights to navigate the challenges of growing your business. Get ready to hear real life stories, practical solutions, and invaluable advice that will empower you to thrive amidst the chaos of entrepreneurship. And now, let's keep the Green side Up with your host, Jason Lee and Jordan Upkevage.

Welcome back to this week's episode of Green side Up Podcast. Jason Lee here with our friend Mike Garvey from side Hustle Podcast.

[Mike Garvey]

What's going on, man?

[Jason Lee]

How are you, man? We are.

[Mike Garvey]

This was a nice surprise.

[Jason Lee]

This is a great surprise because Jordan and I have been. We've been doing our homework late here recently. The past couple of weeks, day of.

[Mike Garvey]

That's okay.

[Jason Lee]

When our episodes come out and Mr. Producer does a great job of getting our info out there. But Jordan is currently driving to Tennessee. He is almost to the Macon home to Sweets, which my wife and I and our son stayed at on our trip to Tennessee a couple weeks ago.

[Mike Garvey]

Highly recommended.

[Jason Lee]

Instead of Jordan and I podcasting at 5am tomorrow, on Thursday, we are Wednesday evening in Orlando at a Crest Equipment event.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

And I'm very glad that you were here.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, I just came down here to see what was going on and. And it was a pleasant surprise.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah. So now we figured we might as well do some late night podcasting.

[Mike Garvey]

I love it.

[Jason Lee]

And get us a Green side up episode now.

[Mike Garvey]

Tomorrow morning, our homework is done.

[Jason Lee]

If I can get this to Mr. Producer before he wakes up in the

[Mike Garvey]

morning, then I think you'll be good. He.

[Jason Lee]

He.

[Mike Garvey]

He's an early riser. I think you'll have a. You'll have it in time.

[Jason Lee]

That's going to be my goal. So. But Mike, we've obviously, we've become trade show friends and podcast friends through Naylor and Podro and the Equip Expo. But before we talk about why we're both here in Orlando, I mean, give us a Reader's Digest version or we can dive into it. You do a multiple of things.

[Mike Garvey]

Too many. Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

So if you want to, if our listeners have not listened to the side Hustle podcast.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

You know, give us a rundown on you. We can.

[Mike Garvey]

For those of you that don't know me, I'm Mike Garvey. I'm from Tom's River, New Jersey. I'm A full time New Jersey state trooper. I'm in my 18th year, which is crazy to say. I'm 40 years old. I've been doing this since I was 22. And even actually before that a little bit. Got in the State Police in 2009 and then, you know, brought me to where I am now, 2017. I got into the lawn care industry, started a company in New Jersey for fertilization and weed control. And I always want to do something on the side. My schedule dictated that I could do that three days on, three days off. And so I, I found my. Through a mutual friend of mine, a mentor of mine, put me in contact with my now partner Larry, who I talked to about getting in the green industry, getting, starting a business. And he was a guy I knew in landscaping. And I said, larry, I want to get into lawn care because I want to retire and have something going already in the works. And, and I said, larry, what do you think? I want to cut lawns or want to do landscaping? And he's like, nah, I don't think you should do that. I think, you know, you should do fertilization, weed control. And I said, all right, well, I kind of want to cut lawns. And he's like, no, no. Like he, he. And Larry's been in it since 1997. He cuts 300 lawns a week. Pavers, retaining walls, mulch, stone, all that stuff. And it was a good conversation I had with him back in 2017. And you know, he said, I think you should do fertilization, weed control. And I'm like, okay, I didn't, wasn't thinking that. But I said, why don't you do it with me? Like, I work best in partnerships. I feel like. And I go, you already, you've been doing this since 1997. You've already built a business. You know what to avoid, you know what to. You know how to build a lawn care business. And you already have a 300 person customer bank that we could just tap into and say, hey, you guys know and trust me, instead of giving my fertilization, we control mosquito control everything away. Why don't we just say, hey, I partnered with this guy, Mike Garvey. We're starting a new business called Coastal Fertilization. We control separate from his business, which is Amazing Creations Landscaping. And, and that's what we did 2017. We started with 10 customers. And you know, bring it up. Fast forward to today. We're over 800 customers. We have a full time technician, full time office staff, full time receptionist, It's a pretty lean operation and we stickly, we mainly just stick with that stuff. With a seven step fertilization program, we do weed control because by us in the Jersey Shore, we have a lot of properties that are all stone. So we just keep the weeds off the stone with doing that. We do mosquito and tick control for the customers that want that. That and then aeration, overseeding and that's it. That's all we do. And we've grown it year after year and, and, and that's where, that's where that business is at now. So there's a lot to digest from, from that.

[Jason Lee]

So what do you guys do for. And I'll just dive in on the, yeah. On the detail. What do you guys do for mosquito and tick control?

[Mike Garvey]

Like as far as products or like it's a mist blower, steel mist blower with, mixed with bin and water.

[Jason Lee]

Using any other products. We use Proflex down here. It's a combination of, I don't know, some growth reg.

[Mike Garvey]

We don't do any, we don't need to. It seems like it doesn't, like it gets kind of pricey when we start adding that stuff. I, I think you guys are way worse.

[Jason Lee]

Like we got, we got Pterodex.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, we're, we're like many, you know, we're not that bad. Like we can stretch ours from, you know, if we're not there every 21 days it's okay. Like we could go to 30 days. You're not going to really notice much. And we, we saw back, you know, 2017, mosquito and tick control is already alive and well. I mean Mosquito Authority was already thriving. And one of our mutual friends, me and Larry had, he started Mosquito Authority in New Jersey and he was one of the first ones to bring it, bring it there. And we weren't really even thinking about doing it. It just, we didn't even want to do it. It just, people wanted it.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

So we were like, all right, yeah, we'll do it.

[Jason Lee]

It's makes it enjoyable. They're out there on the Jersey shore or wherever and.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

Finally, finally warm enough to have fun, right? Exactly.

[Mike Garvey]

Mosquitoes. But they also wanted one company to do it all, to do the weed control in the beds and the stones and stuff. Do the fertilizer and lawn and do the mosquito and they want to. Just one company that can handle all of those things and that's, you know, that's probably our smallest. You know, we have 115 accounts for that. But it's, it's good. It's good money too. It's really good. But I think the market is very flooded. A lot of people are doing it now.

[Jason Lee]

You guys have like Mosquito Joe franchise.

[Mike Garvey]

We have it all. We have Mosquito Jane, Mosquito Joe, Mosquito Bob, Mosquito Authority, Mosquito squad, mosquito, whatever. Like I don't even know. And it's just, it, we just added as an add on for us. It's like, hey, you know, I, I'd be nervous if that was my one and only.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

And I think that's where those companies were seeing. They were like, oh God, they gotta

[Jason Lee]

be feeling the stress pivot. Yeah. There's only so much you can do.

[Mike Garvey]

There's always so much you can do. And you saw mosquito Authority pivot to, you know, doing other exterior pest control and stuff like that. It's like, because they don't do lawns. So, you know. Yeah, keeping mosquitoes away is the best part of all of those things. Right. It's like you just have to keep mosquitoes away. You don't have to deal with, you know, fungus in the lawn in July and, and aeration over it. It's like, it's a no, you just have to keep the mosquitoes away. So it was pretty, you know, it's a, it's a good thing. But it was just an add on service for us. But um, but yeah, I mean we, we've grown year after year after year and you know, just really, just doing, you know, it started me and him doing everything.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Like, you know, I was the admin guy and then he was out giving the estimates and then me and him would get together or on my days off and we would just go do the lawns and we just built it up to, all right, we need a guy, you know, like, and that was my always my goal to be at my state police job and doing that. And I still, I still have seven years left. But to be able to make money while I'm making money in my full time job but not think about retirement in year 24, 25 and be like, oh, let me start a business when I'm, you know, 48 or whatever, set up and rolling. No, I want to set it up now and like get it, get the ball rolling. So that was my mindset behind it.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

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[Jason Lee]

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[Mike Garvey]

The concept is simple.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

More roots equals a healthier and more robust plant. This simple concept is exactly why both Jason and I have incorporated mitigro into our PhD programs. Deep Root applications on my end for mature or struggling trees, soil drenches, and spray applications for when Jason installs trees and installs new sod.

[Jason Lee]

Give Mitigro a shot for yourself. Their product is easy to apply and no special licenses are needed. Visit mytogrowpro.com to learn more. That's M I T O G-R-O-W P R O.com when I first heard the name of your podcast and started listening to it as a side hustle squad, I always love side hustles. Like, I'll chase every squirrel, anything shiny, like, let's do it. And so I had a realization, like, after I started Sky Frog, at some point, you know, I don't know, we were broke, no money, whatever point, we were in business. And it's just like, man, I just need to go. I just need to go get a side job and make some money.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

And then it's just like, my answer was always to go do a landscape side job. And it's like, oh, I made my side job side hustle. I made my side hustle my main job. It's like, I'm.

[Mike Garvey]

I need to pivot.

[Jason Lee]

I'm screwed. So, like a couple years ago, I started the dumpster. You know, I bought a Texas Pride roll off dumpster trailer. And like, now I got Trash Panda Express. And that's my dumpster. My dumpster.

[Mike Garvey]

That's really cool, though.

[Jason Lee]

So it's like, this is the newest side hustle. But then we work so much at Sky Frog that this is doing okay. Like, it's covering. It's.

[Mike Garvey]

Everything's good, pretty much paying for itself.

[Jason Lee]

Like, it's not a profit center yet, but it's like, all right, let's just let this roll and build. And as long as we're not having to dump money into it.

[Mike Garvey]

Exactly.

[Jason Lee]

Just keep it there. And then, you know, it'll. It'll build itself. Or when we really have time to focus on it and market.

[Mike Garvey]

And that's what I'm finding is like, you know, I did a podcast recently with, recently with Eric Triplet. It's like. And we were talking, we were like, how many Side hustle. How many things is how many side hustles is too much and how many things pull your attention from what your main focus should be or should you just lock in on one main thing? Because again, I have coastal fertilization weed control. And then in 2026 I started another branch of Coastal fertilization weed control of North Jersey. Um, so I started that and then on top of that I started as a Crest dealer in New Jersey Robotic outdoor power equipment distributors, also known as roped. So started two businesses in the same year while running my other business. While running, you know, while doing my full time real job. Correct. And, and a family and two children under 6 years old. But whatever. So. But you know, they all do tie into each other. It's not like it's like, oh, I'm building decks and then I'm also like doing embroidery and then I'm also, you know, doing whatever like they do tie into to each other. And I think especially with the, with where the Crest stuff came into into play was that we wanted the stuff, we wanted to use the products we believed in the battery powered equipment because that's where it's going, that's where the industry is going. But there's no dealer close to us. So there was a dealer an hour and 15 minutes north of us. Not going to be feasible. So what happened was we went to Cress and said, hey, we would like to be a dealer for you, but we want to be a mobile snap on tool trailer dealer. And they liked it, believe it or not. And they, you know, we have a location, we have a shop, we have not an actual brick and mortar harder store, but we have our. Where we can put the antenna on and everything. So that's kind of what we're, what I'm developing now in 2026 is, you know, growing this brand of outdoor power equipment, robotic outdoor power equipment, battery powered, and trying to build a little bit of a team around me. I brought on some friends and stuff like that. My buddy Ryan, who I grew up with, we've been the third grade together. He has a lot of corporate experience and working in New York and for some big, you know, Fortune 500 companies. But bringing him in to help me like communicate and to help like keep everything organized, almost be like the chief of staff of that. So like, and, and people are buying in, you know what I mean? It's like I, I'm not the smartest guy, but I think I can identify people that can thrive in the roles that they, if they want to Help if they want. They see the vision so that, so that's that. And then growing the inch. It's very small. It's like we have like 12 accounts or something like that. And that's all I wanted, 20 for the year. Like I don't want many more than that. I just want to get. I have a truck up north. I have a, you know, my, me and Larry are partners in that with another partner who's also a trooper and he's getting ready to retire and like, you know, he's a partner in that and you know, we're growing that and we'll see where it goes. I already built the business once, I should be able to duplicate it again. It's same customers.

[Jason Lee]

So what do you guys do for. On the fertilizer side of it? So my buddy, my buddy Arnie's got a weed man franchise. Like outside of Boston. Yeah, Worcester. Worcester. Anyway, I don't have a good Boston accent, but I know what you're trying

[Mike Garvey]

to say, but I don't know it.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah, but talking to him about like, about what they do for marketing, you know, obviously it's a franchise model and they get very, you know, they have a plan.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, they have like a 12 month

[Jason Lee]

plan but it's not like for what they do for door knocking and sales and all this stuff that's laid out. It's like, well we're doing something completely opposite down here. So I mean do you guys have like a marketing plan?

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, I mean it's been, it's been kind of like it's a. Not actual like this year for especially coming up on aeration and overseeding. Like I have it more like broken down as to what I, how I want to go about it. Again, upselling for me is going to my current customer base and saying okay look, we're doing aerations, oversee things. There's only a limited number of spots. You know, book, book now get on the schedule, pay your 50% deposit. Like let's go, let's like hone that in. And then the marketing plan though is it's a combination of things. We have, you know, pretty. Our logo is bright, our trucks are wrapped, our yard signs are big. Like they're colorful. You can really see like how many lawns we do on a street. We run Instagram ads, we run Facebook ads or a Google business profile that you know, just short of, you know, 180 reviews. So to say there's like, is there a specific marketing plan? No. Is it a combination of things that I Think work. Yes. You know what I mean? Like, I recently went to like, the chamber of Commerce, like, meeting and just like went. I've been a member for five years. I've never been to anything, but I still send my dues in. I'm like, you know what? Let me go to this. And I went to it and it was like, they're like, hey, Mike, you're here for the first time. Introduce yourself to these 50 people. And I'm like, sweet. This is what I got going on. If you need me, you know where to find me. And some guy's like, you're my. You do my law. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. Like, it's just a combination of like, it's not an actually broken down thing of like, okay, it's July 15th. We need to be doing this. But I think it's just like a combination of everything.

[Jason Lee]

Now our buddy Rob with Intrigue Media, he calls it the full court press. Yeah, like, you have to do it all.

[Mike Garvey]

You have to do it all on.

[Jason Lee]

On their world of digital marketing and things. They do Jordan and I both our website marketing and run our Google Ads and SEO and all that stuff. So, you know, they're doing full court press on their part. But then it's also, you know, we're pounding social media with Sky Frog. We've got a business development manager now. We're hitting apartment trade show associations. Like, we're covering all the bases. Yeah, I'm doing.

[Mike Garvey]

You're everywhere.

[Jason Lee]

I'm doing my networking of meeting whoever and chasing rabbits.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

You know, and connections. So.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, I'm sure too, like, oh, you know, commercial sites. You're like, oh, that looks over that. Like, what's up with there? Let me pop in there. Just whatever. Like, it's. It's everything. It's like all encompassing and you know, but I do coming up on the fall because we do get a good bump in the fall, especially in the northeast for okay people. Their lawn looks good, like garbage because they hired someone who's wasn't good. We'll be able to pick them up for the aeration and then we'll finish them out with like, you know, app 5, 6 and 7. And then we'll pick them up for the next. So it's like, it's a nice, like, influx like in that fall for us.

[Jason Lee]

So are you guys able to loop any of your fertilizer customers back into maintenance customers for Larry with Amazing.

[Mike Garvey]

Well, that's all. So. So that's what we're finding. So he goes on estimates all day long for anything. You know, he's running ads for Amazing Creations. And that's where we grew really fast, is that we're sister companies, essentially, where he goes on a cutting estimate for a residential lawn, and he's talking to the customer, talks them or whatever. And they're like, oh, you know. And he's like, hey, just. By the way, I also have another company for fertilization. We control mosquito control. And they're like, oh, my God, that's great. And then, so the one is feeding the other and the other one's feeding his, like, which is great. Like, I. Like, that's. That's why we grew so fast. And that's how I always want to, because. And we had our defined roles where he's very good at handling customers. He's very good at talking with them. He's meeting with them. Like, me. Like, I don't like people. I'm like, people call, complain. I'm like, just get rid of them. I don't. He's like. He's like, we would have no one if you. Like, you had to talk to them. Like, I know, but, like, sometimes I. He. He does what he's good at, I do what I'm good at. And it fits like that. But he's very good at, again, going on those estimates and the one company feeding the other. Like, it's very intertwined.

[Jason Lee]

That's awesome. And so with the Crest, obviously. So we're here in Orlando at a Crest event. I don't know if this is called a Summit.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

Dealer.

[Mike Garvey]

Summit.

[Jason Lee]

Dealer. Summit, yeah. So we are here in Orlando. I am here as a contractor and not a dealer, but we. So Crest came on board. We put on the Landscape Rodeo equipment event in January in St. Augustine, and it was a great success. We had a dandy of a time, and we raced lawnmowers and skid steers.

[Mike Garvey]

So awesome.

[Jason Lee]

We played backpack blower soccer, and we did the whole deal like, they all laid out as planned. You know, a few hectic moments here and there, just with logistics of. On day of. But anyway, Tony with Auto Lawn of Orlando, and Carlos, our Florida rep, who we were talking to earlier, you know, they came up and, hell, I didn't even have. Besides Tony showing me how to use the backpack blowers. I didn't even have time to talk to him. And he's over there with all of his lawnmowers and stuff. It's like, man, I really just want to go talk about robotic lawnmowers, you know? And it's like, I don't have time. But I did, I did get to use the, the backpack blowers and one of the other guys that's got a company down south, they were competing and the three on three backpack blower soccer

[Mike Garvey]

event, it's so awesome.

[Jason Lee]

Justin's like, at one point he said afterwards, he's like, man, he's like, he's like, that's. He's just like, I didn't even. He's like, I didn't even have mine on. He's like, I'm over there trying to blow the ball. He's like, and it's not going anywhere. So he's, I mean, he couldn't hear it obviously, because it's electric. He's like, I forgot to press the whatever lever.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh yeah, the button to turn on.

[Jason Lee]

He's over there trying to blow the ball.

[Mike Garvey]

There's like, you know, nothing's happening.

[Jason Lee]

They're getting their ass.

[Mike Garvey]

That's so awesome.

[Jason Lee]

They're getting their asses kicked by the other team. He's just like, it wasn't even on.

[Mike Garvey]

He's like, will there be a round two?

[Jason Lee]

I hope so. We're.

[Mike Garvey]

We are not second annual.

[Jason Lee]

We're trying to figure out the logistics of it. I don't think it's going to happen this January, but we're going to try by the landscape show, which we were talking about earlier, try to lay out a plan of where it's going to happen again. And I'm fine with because, I mean, it was a great first event. We had a good turnout, we got a good response from sponsors. So it was a success. But it's like from here we need to grow it, right? So it's like, I don't want to do it a second time, right? So it's like we wanted to grow and from where it's going to grow, I think that it's like we're almost probably going to grow. Outgrow the venue. The venue we were at is my friend Dan's in St. Augustine. Beautiful venue. So it's perfect. Like, beautiful venue, great VIP dinner. He has an actual rodeo arena where he has full.

[Mike Garvey]

Right where we can tear up everything.

[Jason Lee]

Full blown rodeos. It's like it was, it was the perfect venue. But it's like, okay, let's take a step back. When it grows from here, what are we going to do? Because I think it could be one of our initiatives. So, like I just. Last week we had an induction for our chapter for our local state organization. So I'm now our president. My business development manager, Aaron, she's our vice president for our chapter. Like we were going over, you know, fundraiser ideas. Yeah. And so it's just like, well, let's break the cycle of some of the. We've been doing community service projects that generate some revenue for the chapter. But then it's not, I don't know, it's kind of. It's not a good revenue producer.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, right.

[Jason Lee]

Okay. You're doing the good, but you're not. But then everybody has to put in all this effort into this. Good. And we only get a little return on it.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

So we should all. I mean, besides the, the charity part, it's just like, well, why don't we just all write a thousand dollar check to the chapter and just call it a day and save a Saturday.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jason Lee]

So it's this my mindset. Yeah. But we got some really good guys that have been doing awesome charity projects for years. And that's just the way my brain works. So we were talking about this. It's like, all right, well now we have a potential of having like an industry changing event like that can actually impact the industry. So we've got, we hit all our marks with, you know, we had like Pablo the black sheep.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

We had two or three other guys from here locally around here in Orlando. You know, they came up kind of owner operators and then we had some bigger companies. Sin obviously, of course I sent guys, but you know, we had some bigger companies send six, eight guys.

[Mike Garvey]

That's awesome.

[Jason Lee]

And then we had two FFA Florida or Farm Future Farmers of America. So we had two schools, high school, sending teams from.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh cool.

[Jason Lee]

From ffa.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

It was like life changing for them.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh God.

[Jason Lee]

Okay. We hit all our marks. So we're, we're introducing, you know, youth that are coming out of high school and majority of them don't want college.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

Or you got owner operators and small operations that are having fun. You know, we've got guys that are getting beat down in corporate sized companies that are coming and having fun. Yeah. We're covering all these all.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. It's a great thing and so I

[Jason Lee]

think it needs to happen again. But from this point, you know, like our chapter with our volunteer bandwidth, like we're kind of maxed out. Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

All right. Now we got to shop it across the state and hopefully partner with, you know, another chapter maybe or even bring it down. I don't like it here in Orlando. We're in Orlando right now, man. I don't like, I Don't like Orlando. I don't care for it.

[Mike Garvey]

I don't see it so far as I, I have no, I really know nothing about, like, the dynamics of Florida. I know the locations, but I don't know the demo. I, I, I don't know how to explain it. I don't know the inner work. Like, Orlando to Gainesville to Miami to.

[Jason Lee]

I come to Orlando and like, I don't even know. I don't even know where I'm at. I have no idea. It's like there's Orlando proper. You watch Kill Tony.

[Mike Garvey]

No, I know. I, I know who he is. Yes.

[Jason Lee]

There's a comedian Cam, Cam Patterson on there.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

And from Orlando. And this is somebody, like, made a comment to Cam that, you know, it's like, oh, yeah, Mickey Mouse. He's like, no, there's no Mickey Mouse. I'm from Orlando. He's like, you know, Disney's in Kissimmee. And I look at the map and it's like, it's significant. Yeah. Take 45 minutes to an hour to drive from where he's talking about where he's from in Kissimmee.

[Mike Garvey]

Right? Yeah. It's a whole.

[Jason Lee]

I just know whenever. World, whenever we come down here, we hit traffic and it's miserable. I mean, we come down here and go to Universal and it's fun for kids and. But, you know, whether we bring the rodeo here to Orlando or somewhere further south or set it up where it rotates, or we all come together as podcasters and we put it somewhere in Florida or somewhere else across the country, I don't care. But it's a good enough idea.

[Mike Garvey]

It is. Oh, totally.

[Jason Lee]

And was enough of a good time. I'm, I'm down to make it go

[Mike Garvey]

somewhere so it could bring it to equip.

[Jason Lee]

We could, we could bring it into a clip.

[Mike Garvey]

Not this year, but.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

You know, I don't know. Something, I don't know. There's something there. It's, it's, it's, it's.

[Jason Lee]

And I'd be, I'd be down. I don't know. It's, it's, it was a really good time, and we need to, we put enough effort into it, we need to try to duplicate it. And I told our, our group, our chapter, you know, even if we don't do it next year, I don't feel compelled to force it.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, it doesn't need to be.

[Jason Lee]

But if we can go ahead and lay out the groundwork, especially going into our landscape show, where a lot of Our sponsors was. Or. Or are, you know, lay them out. It's like, hey, in 2028.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

You know, January 2028, this is where. This is what we're thinking. We're going to have option A, B, C. And then I want to go back and to our sponsors and attendees, be like, hey, what do you think if we did this this way? Send out surveys? Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

What worked?

[Jason Lee]

If we, you know, what worked? What didn't work? If we, you know, change this to this type of scenario. What do you think?

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

Just cover. Cover all of our bases with questions. But no, it's a good time. And then we are. We were talking about the paintball gun earlier.

[Mike Garvey]

Yes.

[Jason Lee]

In the next 30 days, we're gonna have videos of Sky Frog. Like we're gonna do cowboy. Cowboys shooting off of a 52 inch stand on. I think we'll be the safest. I've got a Smith and Wesson MMP paintball gun that holds eight to nine rounds. And it's pretty, pretty accurate. I shot 100 PGP irrigation head on our. In our holding area from like, I don't know, like 10 yards. That's pretty good. Yeah, 10 yards. Third shot, like I fired one eye aim like, like we started shooting the Conex box just right, right, right. And it's like, hold on, let me see.

Hold on.

Let's bring it. All right, I'm aiming and I shot. But then it's like I could see the curvature of the.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[Jason Lee]

Of.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

Of the ball.

[Jason Lee]

Okay, so second shot is like. I'm close. Third shot. I hit it.

[Mike Garvey]

That's awesome.

[Jason Lee]

It's like, all right, we're gonna have some fun with this.

[Mike Garvey]

So, so now how did you end up here? So it's dealers and also contractors.

[Jason Lee]

So Tony with Autolon of Orlando was a sponsor at the landscape radio.

[Mike Garvey]

Okay.

[Jason Lee]

So that's Auto Lawn.

[Mike Garvey]

Orlando is their.

[Jason Lee]

Their dealership.

[Mike Garvey]

Their dealership of all things robotics.

[Jason Lee]

I believe he only does. I believe he's. I mean, he deals across multiple brands of equipment, but I believe he is only electric and robotic equipment.

[Mike Garvey]

Gotcha. Mainly in Orlando.

[Jason Lee]

Yes. And not to speak for Tony, but I'm pretty sure that he's. He's only. He doesn't do anything with powered equipment, but I think he services. I think it's kind of with anybody. He'll go anywhere.

[Mike Garvey]

Okay.

[Jason Lee]

But no, he got involved. They brought down the. The battery powered backpack blowers from Chris, and he had a display of handheld stuff and robo mowers, and they donated a robo mower for us to raffle off and.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh, wow. So that's awesome.

[Jason Lee]

Somebody in McClenney, Florida has a really, really nice, really nice robotic bumper. I think we went up there and installed it already. It's so. Yeah, so it's. So that's how we got tied in with Chris. Obviously. I've seen him at trade shows and up at Equip, but yeah, that's how we got. That's, that's how I'm here is through

[Mike Garvey]

Tony and Carlos and their presence at Equip has been like, you know, I remember it three years ago and then it got like more. It's increasing every single year. Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

So now it's, it's pretty. I can see the, I can see the dollars making sense. Whether it's the handheld equipment or we were talking about the, the Voyager self contained. I don't know, you're the dealer self contained zero turn robot.

[Mike Garvey]

Autonomous. Autonomous. Correct.

[Jason Lee]

You know, it's. I either call them Roombas 48.

[Mike Garvey]

This is the Voyager is the 40 inch autonomous, you know, mower that could cut for eight hours. Right. And then, you know, we're seeing a lot of stuff now too with the, with the smaller. I call them smaller robots, but they're really, you know, some of these robots, they're, they're, they look small, but you know, they can cut acres up to seven, some of them up to 20 acres of, of land in a, you know, 24 hour period. It's like incredible.

[Jason Lee]

So with the smaller robots. So Jordan's got a Husqvarna unit in his backyard in Tampa that we were talking about.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

We're cutting stadiums always at three quarters of an inch.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

But I think it has an 8 inch cutting swath.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

So like with the smaller units, do they have varying sizes of cutting swaths?

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, so I think the 200 models are a little bit wider, but yeah, like the smaller one, the similar, similar 8 inch cutting swath. But what we're seeing with some of the units is that they're. They're able to now especially for like the bigger sports fields and stuff, is that they can stripe like anywhere from roughly like 5ft, even bigger. So like the, the look is, is, is, is pretty wild. And I had a demo baseball field, high school baseball field. And I mean it, it made it. They don't do much as far as fertilizing and stuff like that, but just having that look made it like night and day. And I think what happens too is returning that clipping, that rear dish, rear discharge clipping you know, back into the lawn, into the turf. It's like you could see the difference. It's just natural nitrogen. But yeah, the, you know, so with, with us too it's like, you know, becoming a dealer is, it's interesting to figure out, you know, we have multiple customers. We don't just have a homeowner. We have a homeowner but then we have other landscapers. Then we have municipalities, school systems, colleges, cemeteries, you know, like what, you know. So it's very interesting learning that side of the business as to like okay, like okay, not everyone, you know, homeowners isn't a voyager customer, but the other landscaper is. But is the municipality one? Like I don't know, you know, like that's what we're all trying to, I want to. All this is coming very, this is all new to everyone. So I think it's, it's very interesting figuring out, you know, the direction it's going. And then also too for like landscapers, like hey, you could, you could offer robotic mowing program very easily and, and say hey, you know, these are the benefits of it. It cuts at night, it's quiet. If you work from home or you know, it's, you always have a fresh cut lawn every and stuff like that. So this, there's a whole, this, this whole world that we're learning.

[Jason Lee]

So I mean noise complaints are probably. Well with residential customers it's always. You were cranking up the backpack blower or lawnmower at 7am Right. That's pretty standard. And then with a lot of our commercial customers or HOAs, especially during Leaf season, I mean we're running our backpack blowers wide open for hours.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. 12 hours a day.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah. It's not, it's non stop.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

So you start. I look at it from the, I mean we've, and obviously said earlier we've debated lots of different ideas of how it can be beneficial. But even if it's just the, the quality of service for the customer. Yeah, that's enough of a buy in for me. And then it starts making sense on the dollars, it starts making sense on the labor efficiency. Running smaller trucks, running leaner operations. I mean it stacks up.

[Mike Garvey]

There's an all set and you do a lot of commercial work, right. To be able to go to an HOA or a car dealership or whatever and say hey, this separates me from my competition because I can do this at a quiet time and it's always going to look good. And I can cut at night, I can cut in the Rain I can cut in a storm. I can, you know, everything's, it's always going to be done. And, and then I think too, it's like, you know, we just installed some robots out of college for a company, Atlanta large landscape company that has that contract and it's almost like, is that college? It's a three year contract. They're in the first year of it and they're adapting this technology and adopting this technology. And my thing is, how is the college in three years from now going to be able to go to a different person and say oh yeah, you know what? Like, I feel like they're gonna be like, no, you have to have robotic mowing in these areas. And like the people that aren't haven't bought into it. How are you even going to be competitive to go after that contract? Like what are you gonna do, go buy 30 robotic lawnmowers and learn how to like figure it out? No, the college is going to go with the guy that can, who's been doing it for them and it's going to be reoccurring revenue every three year contract until someone can catch up to them. Right.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

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[Jason Lee]

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[Jason Lee]

Intrigue Media is fast tracking lead volume for both Skyfrog landscape and independent entry service. You should give them a try. For your business, visit intriguemedia.com if you want to make more money and crush your competitors online. That's intriguemedia.com now we've got, we've got some properties now that I'd like to definitely do some test runs on and then we've got some big contracts that like that we're bidding on that. It would be down here in Florida, man, it's, you know, our grasses, it does go dormant, semi dormant in the winter, but then right now it's, it's growing at I don't know, 4 inches a week. Grass grows 3 or 4 inches a week. Bahia grass will grow 6 inches a week. Zoysia grass is growing 2 to 3 inches.

[Mike Garvey]

Is it just thriving in the climate and the water? Like it just thrives in like once

[Jason Lee]

it starts raining, it's over.

[Mike Garvey]

It's. Oh yeah.

[Jason Lee]

And it's great for like the sports fields we were talking about earlier that I'm trying to grow back in.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

It's like, well, now it's starting to grow. But then it's like half the field now is like to the quality that it should be. Now I got to get the other half back. But it's like, okay, well now you've woken up and you're growing non stop. So now I need to mow you three times a week. Almost like I have to mow at least twice a week or I'm bailing hay. So it's like now I got. So now I got to spray them.

[Mike Garvey]

It sounds like you need, I'm telling

[Jason Lee]

you, you need a robotic mower because now I'm going to go back and I'm going to spray half the field with plant growth regulators. Right. On the turf grass. We were talking about shrubs earlier.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

When we were just go spray primo on the or trend pack or whatever. We get it from Rainbow Eco Science, but it shuts the turf down. So now I'm going to like, it just stops it from growing. It stops vertical growth for probably four to six weeks. Pushes lateral growth.

[Mike Garvey]

Like, wow.

[Jason Lee]

It's like a magic.

[Mike Garvey]

Magic, magic. Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

But then it's, but then it's like, okay, well that's great. Now I got to go. What do I do just so I don't have to cut twice a week? Like. Or you just have a robo mower that cuts every day and then.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. Every night.

[Jason Lee]

You don't worry.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. Or like it's a, it's a soccer field.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah. Multi use field.

[Mike Garvey]

Right. So it's like even. It's like, okay, you cut this, this side. You know what I mean?

[Jason Lee]

It's like, or at least every, even every other day would be.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, every other day it goes out for 12 hours and just does its thing. You know what I mean?

[Jason Lee]

But it's down here, man.

[Podcast Advertiser/Host]

It's.

[Jason Lee]

The whole world's different. You know, I got friends up north, I got friends in Boston and Michigan and they got companies and they're telling me how they, you know, it's like, oh, we're in our third pruning for the year. It's just like your third pruning. What are you talking about? We trim our bushes 10 to 11 times a year. It's like we're trimming plants.

[Mike Garvey]

That's incredible.

[Jason Lee]

It's like we could cut some of the plants we were looking at downstairs earlier. It's like you could cut them every week or every other week when they start growing. And then at some point you start trimming them and it's all. You're always trimming new growth. And like, there's a lot of landscapers that are just like, never let the plant harden off. And so then it's just, you're just trimming the new growth and the new growth is coming and new growth, new growth, new growth. Whereas if you let that harden off, then if you trim it, it'll at least calm down.

[Mike Garvey]

Calm down a little bit. Yes. No. Or you have people just trimming every week.

[Jason Lee]

Yes. Jumanji most time, people just trim every week.

[Mike Garvey]

But that's the thing. Some of these commercial account especially like hoas and stuff, like they have to be listed. Like the people are just like, like, like these mowers and everything is just going. Yeah. Like.

[Jason Lee]

And, and for me, if we can take the mowing aspect out of it, that's where it really comes in. Since that is your.

[Mike Garvey]

Because that's your lowest profit.

[Jason Lee]

It is. And we have, you know, we have a 90 day stretch probably from Memorial Day to Memorial Day to Labor Day is like our busiest season where stuff grows non stop. So weeds, weeds and beds are non stop. Every turf are non stop. The plants are growing non stop. The grass. So if we take the grass out of it and just have those guys focus on the rest of the stuff, then we're, then we're offering a better product to our customer. We should have a higher retention rate. And then the business model just works itself out. So we're, we're excited to be here and we'll definitely give a report back of whatever demonstrations tomorrow.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, I can, I'm looking forward to it. I mean, I have a Voyager. I took delivery on it a couple weeks ago. I need to. Coming at, looking at it from like the dealer perspective, it's like, okay, I need to get this thing out there because it's not doing me any good just like sitting at the shop. So a lot of stuff for me is like, okay, booking demos and like getting this stuff in people's hands. Like if you came to me and you wanted to look at it, like, I want to give it to you for like a month. Month and be like, does this fit in Your, like, you need to see it, use it, test it on different properties, and, like, hey, like, I want you to, like. Like, that's my thing is, like, even with the smaller robots, like, I'll go put a demo on somebody's yard for a month and be like, hey, is it working for you? Is it not? Like, especially, like the owners of the companies, like, you know what, let's start with the demo of the robot, like, at your house, so you could see it every day, so you could be the homeowner, in a sense, and see if you like it or not. And that's what I'm trying to figure out, you know, as to. As to what, you know, what the future holds with the. Just. The problem is that there is not just one customer that's like. It's a whole gamut of people. But we'll figure it out, you know?

[Jason Lee]

Yeah. All right, so before we wrap up, so you and I, we probably. Well, we met the first time in Atlanta at Naylor's first LCR Summit.

[Mike Garvey]

Yes.

[Jason Lee]

Briefly at the end of the night. And I remember it had to have been. You guys were leaving at like, 4 o'clock in the morning to catch a flight, you and Larry. And it was like 11:30, and Larry was still going. He disappeared. And then he came back and handed me a beer. And you're like, we have to. We have to leave the hotel. And like, four hours, and it's just like, I'm gonna be friends with these guys since we're gonna. We're gonna relive this moment again in the future.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, no doubt.

[Jason Lee]

So. And we've. We've participated in Nailer's Pod row at Sync Live with Angelique Rob.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

But then now you guys are doing pod house.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. So Eric Triplet and I, the pond digger back at Equip last year. We, Larry and I stay in the Airbnb every year. We have for the past three years. And we. Triplet came and stayed with us on the last night. And, like, we just had. We were just podcasting. It was going into, like, the night, and, you know, we got talking. I'm like, man, we need. We need, like, a pod house. Yeah, we have pod row. It's great during, like, the show hours. Right. But a lot of these conversations get missed. And so he's like, all right, let's go back to whatever. Or this room or this hallway or this foyer or whatever. And it's like, no, like, we need a pot house.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

So we had our first pot house at the construction Expo Conex in Vegas was that March now and it was fun. It was great. There was like me, Larry, Triplet, Naylor paycheck. It was cool. We had a nice little compound palm trees, pool. There was a little like beach pool house. Nailer hung out in there, you know, for the most part and we had a great time. And then Triplet, me, Triplet and his brother jt, we did another pod house. We went to sponsor games in San Antonio where you learn about a lot about like getting sponsorships for the podcast and stuff like that. Just the more. Yeah, yeah, it was very cool. Very different. Met a lot of different people there, like you know, people that YouTube people and all this stuff. So that was really cool. So that was Pot House 2. Now our third Pot House is next week at the Lawn Landscape Tech conference in Scottsdale and it's the same kind of group and then we're looking forward to Pot House in Louisville at a quip. So it's, it's fun and it's you know, just getting business owners together with like like minded problems and just like getting these conversations documented and hanging out and just creating content for people that to, to consume. So that's another. So another project of mine is Pothouse founder, you know, with, with Triplet and he's a great sharp dude. He's a sharp dude if you guys don't know him. Eric Triplett, the pond Digger, he has the deep end podcast and he's been in builds multi million dollar ponds in Southern California and beyond. And it's, it's a lot of fun. So looking forward to hanging out with those guys week and yeah, it's a lot of fun. We'll have Pod row as well and then kind of fold it into Pot House.

[Jason Lee]

So you guys actually getting a house or are you in an Airbnb?

[Mike Garvey]

Oh no, yeah, we have Airbnb in Scottsdale. It's like a eight bedroom place. Yeah, it's, it's nice pool. So we have a couple Airbnbs for that one in actually situated in one building. So the building that we, the Larry and I always stayed in, that's on like, I forget what level. It's only a two bedroom but then we also rented out like the penthouse and the other neighboring penthouse next to that one. So yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be cool and you know, talking with sponsors and stuff like that, see who wants to be involved in it and just creating more content for people to consume and just get conversations like this.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

You know, because we, we Miss this, right? Like you, you, you, you get the stuff like during the show and on Pod Row. But like let's get 10 of us at a dinner table with headsets on.

[Jason Lee]

And just like we've already created four podcasts since we've been here. We had dinner at a really nice steakhouse downstairs with Javier, Mr. 80 Year Old Cuban that's been running. I mean he runs an equipment dealership out of St. Augustine and this guy's got a lifetime of knowledge that would have been great on the podcast. I mean we could have had three.

[Mike Garvey]

We could have more. Yeah, yeah, just at dinner and. Yeah, like let's touch on that by the way. Like so we go to this networking, what, cocktail hour kind of thing, like meet and greet, reception. And we run to Javier, Javier's 80 year old Cuban guy who came here in 62, came here in 1962 from Cuba. And then he's a, seems like a sizable dealer in St. Augustine for Hustler Bad Boy Chris. Like he, he's a bunch of Burger kings.

[Jason Lee]

Something with arcade games.

[Mike Garvey]

Arcade games in China. He travels, he's well traveled all over South America and Asia and Europe. And we had a really cool. I feel like we have a lifelong friend.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah, we definitely made a friend tonight.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. 100. That was a lot of fun. That was a great dinner. And you know, I'm glad it was just, I'm really glad I read. Like it was really cool because I didn't know you were gonna be here. And then like this all just came to be because I could have went through three different ones. So there was one in California, one here, one in D.C. and just the California didn't work on my schedule at all. The DC one was kind of like, eh, I go to DC a lot and I'm like, I don't need to go. And then I was like, you know what I'll come down to? I'll come to Orlando in July. Yeah, seems right.

[Jason Lee]

That's a choice.

[Mike Garvey]

Hey, there were people on the plane, man, with their Disney shirts.

[Jason Lee]

Oh, buddy, it's people. The people that go to Disney in July.

[Mike Garvey]

That's a special breed.

[Jason Lee]

I feel so bad for them whether if they do it and they really love Disney that much, great. But I really feel bad. I don't think they know that. Don't know what they're getting into. No, we go to Disney and if we go, if we go, it's in January. Yes, February.

Right.

Like you know, for like a couple,

[Mike Garvey]

like a couple days.

[Jason Lee]

So hot here in Florida. Like I Mean, I wish that we could have like heat days for like you guys have snow days up north, right? Like last week between the week in June and the second week in July is the hottest time of year here. Like it's just the, the heat, the lack of clouds. Like we've been running 98 to 100 degrees like the past two weeks and then I'm looking at the 10 day forecast now we're getting into more afternoon thunderstorms and now it's going to rain a bunch.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Jason Lee]

But it's just like now it's all right, it's 88, it's 91.

[Mike Garvey]

When you walk into a building here, the air condition, the air conditioning hits you totally different. And it like brought me back to a time because like I said, my sister went to college in Orlando University, Central Florida. But like we were like coming down here and like looking at stuff and I'm like, man, like it, it's so hot here. But when you walk inside it's so good. Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

This time of year, like you walk out of the door at five o' clock in the morning and go to work and you get throat punched by the humidity punches you in the face. Oh, so my wife, my wife found. She's so. Yeah, she's like if we're not inside or in the pool, like we're not. Yeah. There's no being outside if you're not like in the water or like.

[Mike Garvey]

No, no, there's, it's not doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.

[Jason Lee]

And she also works at the university and doesn't have to work outside. So we just. Right. We just sweat work, you know.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh man. Well, this is fun. This is a real pleasant surprise. I'm, I'm disappointed we're not at the same time. Trainings tomorrow because I guess they separated the dealers from the contractors. That's all right.

[Jason Lee]

That's okay. Well, I appreciate you helping us crank out a last minute.

[Mike Garvey]

Hell yeah, anytime I can be. Be of assistance.

[Jason Lee]

And then we'll, we'll lay out, man, we need to keep betting around the idea of you guys coming down for the landscape show.

[Mike Garvey]

I like that. Yes, yes.

[Jason Lee]

The second or whatever, 19th through the 21st in August and man, we got. There's 7, 000 people roll through the trade show.

[Mike Garvey]

So that's not, that's, that's the real deal.

[Jason Lee]

It's no equip, but it's a, it's a legit. It's a legit.

[Mike Garvey]

Hey, if we can bring pod row and have pod house here, I would Love that. Yeah, I think we can make that happen. Yeah.

[Jason Lee]

And if nothing else, you know, if we all want to go squat in the back of Tony, when we were out equipped, we were just bouncing around, you know, just with our wheelie cart, and we did half. We did almost all our episodes out of the back of one of Tony Bass's super lawn trucks in the H and A section of it. You know, he's got really. Oh, yeah, he's got six trucks. You know, we're pretty good friends with Tony at this point. He's got six trucks in the equip portion. He's got three trucks outside. And then the HNA was a little bit slower, and it was close. Closer to intrigues booth.

[Mike Garvey]

And they just said, just come in the truck and just set up shop.

[Jason Lee]

We said, in the dump bed of the. It's like, hey, can we. If we go squat in your H and A booth, can we, like, set the dump bed day? It's like, oh, yeah. Get with so and so and just set it down and see how we pulled up some chairs.

[Mike Garvey]

And you guys have a great setup.

[Jason Lee]

Yeah, man, we just roll with. Yeah. Everything's in the cart and good to go. Good to go. But yeah. Well, let's bet around the idea for Orlando, and I'll try to put some pressure on FNGLA to give us some space.

[Mike Garvey]

All right, let's do it.

[Jason Lee]

Awesome. I appreciate it, Mike.

[Mike Garvey]

All right, thanks for having me on.

[Jason Lee]

As you continue your journey toward entrepreneurial success, let Jason and Jordan be your trusted companions on this uphill climb. Don't miss out on future episodes of the Green side Up podcast. Make sure to hit that follow button to stay updated. For more ways to connect with the guys, check out the podcast description. Thank you for tuning in. And remember, keep working hard so you can play even harder and keep the green side up.

[Mike Garvey]

Sam.