The Path to Meaningful Change with JD Ploetz

Summary

The Home Service Expert Podcast: Episode Summary

Episode Title: The Path to Meaningful Change with JD Ploetz
Release Date: March 14, 2025
Host: Tommy Mello
Guest: JD Ploetz, Manager at A1 Garage Door Service and Author of Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Home Service Expert Podcast, host Tommy Mello sits down with JD Ploetz, a seasoned manager at A1 Garage Door Service since 2016 and author of the impactful book Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes. Drawing from his four decades of experience, JD shares invaluable insights on personal accountability, employee development, financial literacy, and the transformative power of change within the home service industry.

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Early Career and Transition to Management

JD begins by recounting his journey from a technician to a managerial role within A1 Garage Door Service. Starting in Tucson in 2016, he highlights the initial challenges of operating without a dedicated shop and managing a small team of technicians.

JD Ploetz [00:00]: "You have to educate yourself. That's part of what I write about, is that it's okay as long as you understand nothing changes when nothing changes."

Tommy and JD discuss the competitive landscape, emphasizing the importance of leadership in evolving markets.

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Employee Development and Hiring Practices

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on JD’s approach to hiring and developing technicians. He emphasizes the difficulty in selecting the right candidates and the importance of personal accountability over mere technical skills.

JD Ploetz [07:14]: "If you could do one magical thing, I would make my picker the best in the world. Meaning that I could interview and pick the best guys, the ones that are really going to make it."

JD shares successful stories of team members like Anthony Tay and Angelo, who exemplify resilience and dedication, respectively. He underscores that success isn't solely about sales but also about the personal growth and stability of his team members.

JD Ploetz [15:03]: "There is a difference between failure and quitting. Failing is fine. You have to fail to get better. But when you quit, that's when everything."

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Financial Literacy and Personal Accountability

One of the core themes of the episode is the importance of financial literacy among employees. JD discusses how personal financial struggles can impact job performance and overall company health.

JD Ploetz [09:19]: "I've been there and done that too. Right? For four decades, I didn't try to help myself. You know, it took me that long to reach out for help."

Both JD and Tommy highlight real-life examples where lack of financial discipline led to significant personal and professional issues. JD’s book aims to bridge this gap by providing actionable steps for financial management, emphasizing that "nothing changes when nothing changes."

Tommy Mello [29:37]: "I think the problem is people live above their means. When they start making six figures, they overspend. It’s not a production problem, it’s a spending problem."

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Implementing Change and Accountability

The discussion delves into strategies for fostering accountability within teams. JD explains his methods for identifying and addressing negative behaviors early on to prevent them from affecting the entire team.

JD Ploetz [20:26]: "Negativity and disrespect for their peers is one of the first red flags that I look for."

Tommy shares his experiences with accountability measures, such as public performance tracking and the psychological impact of holding employees accountable.

Tommy Mello [25:29]: "Nothing changes if nothing changes. But your technicians, they need financial literacy and personal discipline."

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Use of AI and Technology in Management

JD and Tommy explore the role of artificial intelligence and technological tools in optimizing business operations and personal productivity. JD mentions using AI for generating content for his wife’s coloring books and managing KPIs.

JD Ploetz [44:12]: "I use ChatGPT to help me generate pictures of my idea for coloring books... I use it for emails too."

Tommy discusses his own ventures into AI, including training AI to emulate his knowledge for legacy purposes and improving team interactions.

Tommy Mello [42:40]: "We're training my AI literally. It's my face. It talks to you. It's loaded up all the podcast."

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Promoting JD’s Book: Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes

Throughout the episode, JD promotes his book, which is designed to help individuals and teams implement meaningful changes in their personal and professional lives. The book is divided into two parts: personal development and actionable business strategies.

JD Ploetz [40:31]: "The first part of the book is about personal steps you need to take to make that change happen. The second part is actionable items like time management, money management, and effective communication."

Tommy encourages listeners to purchase the book as a tool for building a high-performing team and fostering a culture of accountability and growth.

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Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In closing, JD emphasizes the importance of continuous personal development and the willingness to embrace change for long-term success.

JD Ploetz [62:23]: "I just want to keep moving forward. I don't know what's next, but I'm just going to keep moving forward."

Tommy echoes this sentiment, highlighting the necessity of adaptability and growth within the dynamic home service industry.

Tommy Mello [63:11]: "It's the universal blueprint for meaningful change and long-term success."

The episode concludes with a mutual appreciation between JD and Tommy, underscoring the collaborative effort required to build and sustain a successful business.

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Key Takeaways:

1. Personal Accountability: Change begins with individual responsibility and the willingness to seek help and educate oneself.
2. Financial Literacy: Understanding and managing personal finances is crucial for both personal stability and professional performance.
3. Effective Hiring: Selecting the right team members who align with company values and demonstrate resilience leads to sustained success.
4. Implementing Accountability: Early identification and management of negative behaviors prevent broader team disruptions.
5. Leveraging Technology: AI tools can enhance productivity and support business operations, contributing to growth and efficiency.
6. Continuous Growth: Embracing change and fostering a culture of continuous personal and professional development are essential for long-term success.

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Notable Quotes:

• JD Ploetz [00:00]: "Nothing changes when nothing changes."
• Tommy Mello [29:37]: "It's not a production problem, it’s a spending problem."
• JD Ploetz [15:03]: "There is a difference between failure and quitting."
• JD Ploetz [44:12]: "I use ChatGPT to help me generate pictures of my idea for coloring books."
• Tommy Mello [63:11]: "It's the universal blueprint for meaningful change and long-term success."

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For more insights and actionable strategies on building a successful home service business, be sure to listen to the full episode and check out JD Ploetz’s book, Nothing Changes When Nothing Changes.

Transcript

[JD Plots]

You have to educate yourself. That's part of what I write about, is that it's okay as long as you understand nothing changes when nothing changes. You also have to understand that unless you change your thinking, you change the information you have between your ears, you've got to educate yourself about whatever it is that you're trying to change. Ignorance is bliss. You don't educate yourself. You don't know. You don't ask for help. You don't make yourself accountable. The change will never happen. I guarantee that. Because I've been there and done that too. Right? For four decades. I didn't try to help myself.

[Tommy Mello]

Welcome to the Home Service Expert, where each week Tommy chats with world class entrepreneurs and experts in various fields like marketing, sales, hiring, and leadership to find out what's really behind their success in business. Now your host, the home service millionaire, Tommy Mello. Before we get started, I wanted to share two important things with you. First, I want you to implement what you learned today. To do that, you'll have to take a lot of notes. But I also want you to fully concentrate on the interview. So I asked the team to take notes for you. Just text notes N O t e s to 888-526-1299. That's 888-526-1299. And you'll receive a link to download the notes from today's episode. Also, if you haven't got your copy of my newest book, elevate, please go check it out. I'll share with you how I attracted and developed a winning team that helped me build a $200 million company in 22 states. Just go to elevateandwin.com podcast to get your copy. Now let's go back into the interview. All right. Welcome back to the Home Service Expert. Today I got a good buddy of mine, JD plots. He's been with me at A1 since 2016.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

And started out as a technician. Used to work for the bad guys. Yeah, the green team. I'm not gonna even name them. But a great competitor. Actually, they weren't great in Phoenix. That's why the guy got kicked out of the franchise. But it's weird. In a franchise, there could be great ones and they're gonna be really, really bad ones.

[JD Plots]

And it was very evident with that particular company who were the good ones and who were the bad ones.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, I mean, we've learned a lot from some of those guys. You know, they've got some good owners, but that's like any other franchise. So you Just wrote a book. I've got. I wrote the forward to it. Nothing changes when nothing changes. And this book came out last month. It's a bigger book. How long did it take you to put this together?

[JD Plots]

From beginning to end. It didn't start out as a book, but from beginning to end, about 18 months, I'm going to say. 18 months, yeah. When I first started putting things together for my technicians, that's how it started was I was trying to put actionable items together for them because I'm trying to always try to make my team better. So my girlfriend and I were trying to figure out how can we help them aside from work and you know, all the KPIs. Well, what can we do to help them be better? So we put a list together, about 15 or 20 things. Time management, money management, just things they could do. Very simply put, very simple instructions to just take a step forward instead of taking a step back. And that's how it started was me putting things together for my technicians.

[Tommy Mello]

When you managed Tucson, you managed to go over kind of the last eight, nine years here at A1 like where you came in, what you started managing, some of the problems with some of the technicians. How many guys have you hired? How many people have you have. You know, whether you've terminated them or they've quit. I'm just curious about all the numbers. I mean, it's been. Been a while here. Tucson, by the way, was. I started Phenix in 2007, added Tucson by 2010. It was our second market. It's one of our bigger markets.

[JD Plots]

Well, not today, but it was big.

[Tommy Mello]

It's still considering population.

[JD Plots]

I mean, Denver's blown by us, Vegas is blown by us, but Tucson is Tucson. Well, when I started I was a technician. I came over from that other company. The interview process was me sitting down in a room with you and Rob and going, can you do this? I said yes and said, okay, here's your track. It was a long time ago, but I had the experience. Started out in a truck in Tucson. Back then we didn't even have a shop. We. I don't know if you remember, but parts were brought down to a dirt lot in Tucson because we didn't even have a shop in Tucson. So we would meet somebody. That's how small we were. There were three technicians, including me, me, David Parks, and I forget the other kid's name, Brad.

[Tommy Mello]

Brad hired Dave.

[JD Plots]

That's right, Brad. And then Joe Cassidy was. Joe Cassidy was out because he got injured or something. So there's Actually, four of us.

[Tommy Mello]

So when we started Tucson, I went to Goodwill. I remember going to Goodwill and buying like $20 desks and the most ridiculous chairs. I mean, back then it was like bootstrap, man.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah.

[JD Plots]

Well, I think you had a shop before I showed up, and then something happened and you guys had to close it.

[Tommy Mello]

I don't know. Yeah, probably.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. But anyway, so I ran jobs. I was a technician. I wasn't a manager. And then you could see that there was a need for a manager. So I do remember I kept pestering you and I kept pestering a couple other people that, hey, if it's probably Adam. Yeah, Adam. If it. If it's not me, and I really didn't need it to be me, but we need a manager in Tucson because, like the wild West. I'm not saying bad things were happening, but just everybody did whatever they wanted to do. And luckily, the four or five of us that were there, we're pretty good at what we did. So the money kept generating. But I mean, someone with no experience would have never. It would have been bad.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, but. Well, that's what's going on right now. In certain markets, there's no leadership, and we're working on that. You know, it's hard to run. You. You do it. You run Albuquerque. It's hard when there's no boots on the ground. You can't have real one on ones face to face.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to Mike in Albuquerque. Real quick, shout out to Mike. He is. He is wonderful. Yeah, he's doing a really good job. So then I slowly moved into the management position. Just because you guys weren't sure or whatever, but I started doing the. Started doing the deposit, and then I started doing a little bit of this. And I come up to meetings about twice a month at Phoenix, talked to you and Adam to see what we were doing. And then finally. I don't remember when it was, but finally I was named a manager. And then the next difficult step was getting me out of the field. Because it's difficult when you're in the field and then you have to sit behind a desk. Adam used to call me and yell at me and tell me that you have to be more office centric. You can't be going out and fixing everybody's problems. You need me concentrating on this. Concentrate on that. But eventually we got there, you know, then you. Then everything changed with the structure. And then there was area management. And I remember the day I got the call, somebody said, we're going to give you Albuquerque to manage. And I was scared. I had no idea how I was going to do that because really we weren't doing a whole bunch of that yet. We didn't have any examples, but it all worked out. Luckily, when that did happen, I did have a few guys in Albuquerque that kind of stepped up for boots on the ground, that knew the business, they knew they were good technician because that's what scared me. Is it? I wouldn't have somebody there that can fix the problems.

[Tommy Mello]

And how many guys are in Albuquerque now?

[JD Plots]

12, I think.

[Tommy Mello]

And what do you got in Tucson?

[JD Plots]

28. 28 to 30, depending on what day of the week it is. I mean, not because they're coming and going, but it's just I have a few apprentices now that are hired to do maintenance tech work. Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

So you got installers. You get the right things going on.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. So I mean, and then. And then they do come and go.

[Tommy Mello]

By the way, unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast is when a growing company hiring 30 to 40 techs a month, some guys get in the truck and they realize this isn't for me because we don't get a lot of people with garage door experience.

[JD Plots]

No, we don't. Well, personally, I don't want somebody with garage door experience.

[Tommy Mello]

I mean, very rarely, if they came from the right company and they got a good attitude, especially if they moved, those are good guys. But when they jump around from job to job to job, they think it's a problem with every company they work for, they never look in the mirror.

[JD Plots]

Exactly. Exactly. It's a me thing, not a them thing. And they don't get that. If I could do one magical thing, I would make my picker the best in the world. Meaning that I could interview and do things and pick the best guys, the ones that are really going to make it.

[Tommy Mello]

If you knew that one skill, that one skill, Billionaire.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

If you could identify the people that'll get stuff done that will actually enjoy their work. I read this thing, jd, and I want you to finish your story. But it said you work eight hours to have fun for two hours. You work 10 hours to enjoy one hour. And it just, it was this Instagram post. It had all this stuff and my comment, you know what I wrote? It was a Facebook, actually, I wrote, then enjoy your work. If you don't hate work, if you actually have a good time at work, then it's like you're acting like you're washing dish the whole time. By the way, I didn't mind washing Dishes. It wasn't like this hard, ridiculous job. But what if you enjoyed your work? Then it wouldn't feel like you're always hating life. But. So you came in, you became a manager, you took over Albuquerque, you had Tucson, and you had a lot of guys that came to you, like the guys that come to me still. I had a guy come to me recently going through a nasty divorce here in Phoenix. You got, you know, custody battles, you got alimony. Then you got guys that just can't seem to save a penny, that are bringing in 150 grand. And they buy new trucks, they buy their Harley, they'll go buy a Can Am. They have no retirement account, they're in their 30s. And you're wondering, where's the money? Where did the money go?

[JD Plots]

Right? Where's the money? Well, I was that person when I started. I mean, it took me 40 plus years to be able to manage money. And the opportunity I got here allowed me to surround myself with the right people to help me with the money portion. You know, I, you know, when I, when I first started with that other company, it was managed by a gentleman in Seattle, and I was making $760 a week. And I'll tell you what, I thought the sky in heaven had opened up. I was a single dad with three kids, and then I surrounded myself when I moved to a one with people that could help me with the money. Adam was actually, I went to him more than once. Even though we didn't get along the greatest. I actually went to him more than once to ask him about budgeting and things like that. And he really, really helped me out.

[Tommy Mello]

He's really smart with that.

[JD Plots]

Very, very, very smart, very disciplined. But back to your point of. They come to me, and they do come to me with personal problems, with money problems. That's when I know I'm doing my job correctly, at least in some scope, because they feel comfortable enough to come to me. And I can't tell you how many people I pointed in the right direction for legal advice, for monetary advice, for kid advice. That's the other big one. Some of these guys have young kids with a family, they can't save any money, and they have all these questions, how did you do this? How did you do that? How did you afford diapers and formula and all this and still make your wife happy? I mean, they bring all sorts of things to me. And that's honestly one of the barometers I use to, you know, our numbers fluctuate in, quote, the business, you know, the KPIs fluctuate in the business, but I know I'm doing a good job. When they trust me enough to come talk to me about that, you know, that's where I feel. And that's why this book happened, was to help them change, starting in their personal life, because you can apply some of the stuff in this book to your business life. But it was more to get their personal life straightened out first, because then.

[Tommy Mello]

The business life, it goes a lot better. You know, they say happy wife, happy life, but it's really happy home.

[JD Plots]

Right?

[Tommy Mello]

Happy.

[JD Plots]

Happy you're successful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely happy. So.

[Tommy Mello]

So cool. So you. It sounds like, you know, we have a morning Mojo call. We have a Thursday meeting every week. You're interviewing a lot of people. What would you say? You know, this is a real question of mine. You got guys like Dave Parks that have been there a long time.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

Solid producer. I know you've had to tame him a little bit, but he kind of just does his own thing. Yeah, he does, but he just. You depend on him. He's been here, what, 10 years longer than me. Yeah. So he's been here a long time. So you got those guys that are just. They're gonna do their thing. They're gonna be pretty good. He's a pretty good producer.

[JD Plots]

I don't know.

[Tommy Mello]

Has he got goals to hit Pinnacle?

[JD Plots]

No, he does. He. For whatever reason, and I don't know all the particulars, but he really didn't shoot for Pinnacle. I don't even know if he signed the paper, honestly, because he's. Because, David, if we're using him as a case, he is a very, very rare case. First of all, he's been in this business for that many years. He's always been successful. He has struggled with some personal issues that he's gotten to the other side of then, and that allows him to go on autopilot kind of now. He reaches out to me occasionally for help. But just what you said, he's a top producer that is very, very steady. And that's. But it's been time that. It's been time that's allowed him to do that. And him dealing with his own stuff.

[Tommy Mello]

I don't know why, he just pushes a little harder. He just not bought into the goal setting, writing things down. And. And that's another thing. So you got guys. What makes, you know, with it. So we train guys in the market for a month, they come to Phoenix for a month, they get back. They. We do a little bit of polishing. And where is it that. When do you find out? Because obviously, you don't hire them unless you think they'll succeed. I mean, there was a time where we all hired people that we thought we could save. We were gonna, like, fix people, and we were gonna, like. We were doing, like, a good deed, by God by hiring this person that was an extra addict and, like, really, like, homeless or whatever. We're like. We're gonna save their lives.

[JD Plots]

Exactly.

[Tommy Mello]

And every one of us have done it. That I'm like, okay, we're stopping playing savior. So when is it that you know someone's gonna be an excellent.

[JD Plots]

That is a really tough question, because I have to use my two Pinnacle guys as my examples here. Okay. I have two technicians going to Pinnacle, and I have an installer going to Pinnacle.

[Tommy Mello]

Yep.

[JD Plots]

My youngest technician is going to Pinnacle, and my oldest technician is going to Pinnacle.

[Tommy Mello]

Oh, that's interesting.

[JD Plots]

No, it's very interesting. And Anthony Tay, whom I love to death, he. And he doesn't mind me telling the story because he'll personally tell the story. He was. He was that close to being let go. He was an absolute disaster when he started, but he helped me understand what to look for in somebody. He never gave up. He truly wanted to be better. And he came to me, if not every day, every other day. What can I do to be better? What are my numbers? Did I get any callbacks and that. And he. He made that paradigm shift himself in his own head again. Going back to the book, nothing changes when nothing changes. He knew he had to change something, and he came to me for help to make those changes. But the key here is he never gave up. He would fail, but he never quit. Okay, that's another huge point in that book. There is that there's a difference between failure and quitting. Failing is fine. You have to fail to get better. But when you quit, that's when everything. And that's what a lot of guys do now. So that's Anthony. I mean, he just wouldn't give up. Now, there are similarities. And the Angelo, my youngest technician, came out of the gate swinging. I mean, he swung for the fences, and he. And he hit a lot of balls out of the park.

[Tommy Mello]

Yep.

[JD Plots]

His thing. And he'll tell you this. I brought him into my op when. When I knew that he was capable of following our direction, because that's all you have to do is do what we ask you to do in the order we ask you to do it in. Don't think about it, just do it. And you get results right and have the customer's best interest at heart. If you do that, you'll be extremely successful. And he did just that. No baggage. Didn't think twice about it. Wasn't selling out of his own pocket.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, Bone pocket.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. He just went and did. He did two, three knocks. He made sure everything on the door was shown. I mean, he just did it by the book. His thing was that he's 21, or was 20 at the time, or 21 anyway. He's only maybe 22 now, that I had to keep him humble because it was real quick. When he saw what he was capable of, his head swelled up and he could barely make it through the door. And he's walking around cocky. And I brought him in my office more than once. More than once. And I just wanted him to do one thing. I didn't ask him to change anything. I told him, be humble. Make sure you stay humble. And he asked why? And I told him, well, first of all, you're going to think you're all that in a bag of chips, which to a certain extent, you are. But when you start overthinking what you are compared to what you're capable of doing, that's when everything goes downhill. And I've seen it over and over and over. I've seen guys that are really good at this job not stay humble, and then they work themselves right out of the job, either because they don't listen anymore because they're that good, or they make. They're so toxic to the rest of the guys with, well, I'm better than you are and all that, and it'll just drag a market into the mud. And he did. And I get goosebumps saying it. He did exactly what I asked him to do. He stayed humble the whole time. I'm not saying there weren't bumps in the road, but for the most part, he was a. I hate to use the word perfect, but he was as close to perfect as we can get. A technician that we hired, trained, put into the field and. And now has had longevity. I mean, he hit Pinnacle his second year.

[Tommy Mello]

Well, you know, I've got a couple guys that are going to go on Pinnacle this year that they're in certain markets and they call me up. They're like, these guys don't think Pinnacle's possible, but yet we have more guys going than ever before. There's like 50. So, like, what is it that these guys walk in and say, that's not possible? Like, what do you think this defeat before they Even get started, they've already given up. And by the way, Pinnacle is a trip where they get some access to equity and they get. It's a fun trip to Mexico. It's like it's going to be a game changer for a lot of people. It's like a very prestigious thing for the listeners, but go ahead.

[JD Plots]

Well, it all has to do with the baggage that they're carrying around. Book number two, which will be out at some point, is called the beginner's mind. And that's exactly. Okay. Okay. Using Angelo for an example again, Angelo, because he is so young, which I always thought that worked against us in this business, but I have rethought that entire thing now is that he didn't have all the life experience. Life experience and everything where everything that happened in the garage, he would compare it to something negative in his life and then he wouldn't either pursue it or do what we asked him to do because he knew better. He had a beginner's mind in the garage door business.

[Tommy Mello]

Excuse me, you know, preconceived notions or anything.

[JD Plots]

Exactly. And that's what, you know, people from other businesses, from other sales things come in. Other sales business, other home service business. See, the way we do it, we do it so differently that they're just used to that and they're. And they think themselves there's no way this can work. It is so different. And they don't allow themselves. They don't open their mind enough, which sounds a little crazy, but they don't allow themselves the luxury of just plain dumb and doing what we ask them to do. They just overthink everything. I mean, I have the youngest guy and the oldest guy, all of them. I mean, both of them with less than five years experience going to Pentagon. One of them one year. One of them, I think two and a half, three years. So I have the two extremes in age, if you want. Well, a lot of guys say, well, I'm too old to do it. I can't work that hard. I can't spend that time in the garage. Anthony pushed himself like you wouldn't believe. And he's not the healthiest. Okay, I shouldn't say healthy, but he's not the youngest. He's not a spring chicken anymore. You know, it is all negative thoughts that they have put into their head. And I as a manager can change some of those thoughts, but I can't read your mind. You know, I can read your numbers and I can bring you into my office and say, hey, I think this is going on. I think possibly this is what we need to do to change that. But if they're not willing to even listen to it, to be open to it, then I'm just talking to myself.

[Tommy Mello]

At what point do you decide what's the, the straw that breaks the camel's back that you're like. Because I always say, if there's, if there's a will, I'll find a way, right? If they want to meet me 50, 50, even 60, 40, I'll do the 60. I'd even be 70, 30. But when it, when, when a relationship becomes. They don't care about the relationship, there's no respect, self respect and mutual respect. That's when you start to wonder, even if you are a producer, like, you know, you're not part of the team, you're not pulling your weight, you don't show up to meetings, you're actually bringing everybody else down. Like Dave, I always say this about, like, a lot of the people I'm like, like me and you don't talk a ton. I'm not. I never call you up and bitch, right? But I don't call you up and say, man, that's like, when I call you, we smile, we. We catch up and we laugh.

[JD Plots]

Right?

[Tommy Mello]

But what point do you decide? No bueno. I gotta make some moves here.

[JD Plots]

Okay. It isn't so much I decide, but it's. But it's the few red flags that pop up. We all have group chats through now, teams. Which is great, by the way. Thank you for the use of that. Because doing group chats, otherwise negativity in a group chat is the first red flag, or me being told someone is being negative by somebody else. You know, a little bit of hearsay. But I just don't go from the first piece of hearsay. If I hear that, then I start asking, guys, is this person saying, doing this? But that's a big red flag is negativity. Now you can turn that around if you get on it quickly, because that's just like a cancer. It grows very, very, very quickly. And I know you've seen it here. It can go from one guy to another guy to another guy in the span of a week. And then all of a sudden you have three people that are just negative and dragging everybody down. So I guess to answer your question, is it negativity and disrespect for their peers is one of the first red flags that I look for in the beginning that is going to drag that person down or drag somebody else down as far as the final straw. Like, I mean, if you're talking about letting somebody go.

[Tommy Mello]

You feel like they self eliminate. Because I was talking to Dan in Michigan and he goes, most of my guys self eliminate. He's like, I don't really have to do much. I know. Because when he's talking to Luke, who's our CEO, or even Brian Davenport, they'll be like, when are you going to let this guy go? He's like, I don't spend any time with the bottom 20% because they kind of fall off anyway.

[JD Plots]

Right. And, and that.

[Tommy Mello]

And do you think that's the right mentality? Do you think just let that. Do you think that they should be there long enough to quit or do you think you should get in front of it before. And I guess it's circumstance circumstantial.

[JD Plots]

We had a circumstantial and we aren't the company we were six years ago. So there's legalities and everything else you have to think of.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah.

[JD Plots]

You know.

[Tommy Mello]

I will say this. When I, when I partnered, when I talked to Cortek about this, you know, our legal team was a lot more. I said, I think it's bullshit. And I told. I called Doug with Cortez, I think it's really crappy that we got to do like six performance improvement plans. We'll fire a top guy like this. If they don't show up to a meeting, we're like gone.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

But we're like, we're going to hold on to people that are actually losing us money, that don't allow us to pay our bills, that will close our doors if they were, you know, unfortunately, like, we've got obligations and bills we need to meet.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

Rents and service titan and, you know, all kinds of stuff. And he says no. He goes, well, we'll deal with the lawsuits. You fire them, you get rid of anybody not pulling their weight. Meaning in effect, it should not be hard. We work. I'm glad we work in right. To will. Like, look, my job is never. I don't enjoy firing people. Unless you lie. Cheater still, then it's easy. But why? If we know this person's gotta go, what advantage? Like I'm telling you right now, get rid of them. I mean, just after this meeting, like, you cut them as long as you wholeheartedly in your heart believe they're not right. Don't wait.

[JD Plots]

Okay, well, no, and that's. And that's. And I know that you've actually said that, you know, at the manager meeting you said something very similar to that, but from the HR side. And I'll back HR up on this. We do have to have some sort of documentation. Not the big long drawn out.

[Tommy Mello]

I don't think anybody should be getting let go that doesn't see it coming. So, yeah, there should be something. But I don't think you just wake up one day and be like, this person's got to go. I think it's probably been a couple months. So hopefully, if you're thinking correctly, I know. You just don't wake up and be like, man, this guy's gone.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, well, Dan is correct. I mean, the last few people that I've lost or that we parted ways, however you want to say, in Tucson, were they. Everything was lined up to do what we were going to do. And all of a sudden you get a phone call. I'm just going to come give you my keys this morning. J.D. okay. Okay. And that happened twice in the last six months.

[Tommy Mello]

You knew if you were in the bottom percent.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

And you just said, hey, you pack up your stuff and say, look, this was fair. Like I had a chance to work harder to get above the bottom 20% because new people coming in is a good thing. Fresh blood. Anyways, I know we're going off here.

[JD Plots]

This is something pretty important though, because when you on the Thursday meeting or Luke or somebody talks about that bottom 10 and 20%, there is a noticeable improvement in KPIs and metrics in technicians across the board. At least in my markets it is. You can actually write the day, you can put an X on the day you guys talked about it. Give yourself a week. And anybody that was, you know, trending down all of a sudden is trending up. And I don't think it's fear. Well, some of it might be fear, but I think some of it is that they know that you care enough to tell them that because a lot of companies won't say.

[Tommy Mello]

A lot of them don't even give the numbers.

[JD Plots]

Right. Exactly. So I just want to let you know, because that popped in my head, that when you guys discuss those sorts of things on the Thursday meeting, on the Bring the Fire meeting, it really has an effect on your markets.

[Tommy Mello]

Well, you know, what's interesting is back in the day, and you remember these days, back over on University, I used to have people write down, we'd make a smiley face and in black you'd go write your numbers in your KPIs. And then in red I'd write an unhappy face and I'd give The markers to each person because I knew it was only like. And Phoenix, there was only like 20 guys.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. Public shaming works.

[Tommy Mello]

And it was kind of shaming. And I said all the losers come up and write their numbers. And I don't. But, but by the way, I didn't mean you're a loser as your character. It just meant you lost this week.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

You didn't hit the goal. So Steve Siraj, you know really well, he always tells me when you said that, and I took the red marker and he was walking really slow. I remember this day. And he puts, and he just kind of fills it out real quick, sits back down, he goes, never again was I going to be on that side. Something to be said about just accountability and pushing people and saying, look, how does it feel to be in the bottom five of this company?

[JD Plots]

Right. And then you're going to have a person that says like either they're going to quit. Right.

[Tommy Mello]

Or they're going to get better.

[JD Plots]

Exactly.

[Tommy Mello]

And I want to get that out of them quicker.

[JD Plots]

Exactly.

[Tommy Mello]

Like, listen, if this is not working, let me know. But if you want help, tell me, I'll get you the right ride alongs. We can send you back to Phoenix. We got so many opportunities. You stick with me for 30 minutes before Thursday meeting. We'll work through this together. But let's figure this out today.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

Because I'll tell you this, I wouldn't be able to go home and look at my wife, look at my kids if I was in your position. Because I know you're better than this. That's what I would say.

[JD Plots]

Well, a lot of daddies don't talk to their girlfriends or their wives about their position. As I found out. Lisa, my girlfriend, when we have the holiday party.

[Tommy Mello]

Yep.

[JD Plots]

She actually speaks longer than I do because she's talking to the wives and the girlfriends. And I'm telling you what, talk about a game changer for improvement. When the, when the wives and girlfriends knew how important and what these guys did, how the money worked a little bit. She didn't go into details. But I'll tell you what, having that camaraderie between the families and we don't do a great job of it in Tucson, we're trying to do better. But I can tell you what, that when she spoke directly to the wives and girlfriends and families during the holiday party, we again, I kind of watched everybody's faces and I took note. And I'll be darned if some of these guys numbers didn't start improving.

[Tommy Mello]

It's it's, you know, I think who, who does this the best. Eric park says once Leslie started caring, he did over a million dollars in doors this year. I mean, he's the number one guy that we have in door sales. And he said, without my wife talking to me about my day and going through it with me. And I'm telling you, the more successful people I talk to, they bring their wife and kids into it. Like their kids ask them at the dinner table, how did today go? And of course dad asks, how did your day go? You know, there's like. But they actually care about each other's day. They're pushing each other. Like Leslie's, like, we're going to Pinnacle. Like, when you have somebody, like, what's it going to take? Do you got to pick up a six day? Do you got to go do the ride along with this person? What is it going to take for you to win when you have that person supporting you? A lot of people don't have that, but a lot of people do have it, but they just never asked them or brought them into it.

[JD Plots]

And that's for the guys that don't have anybody. I have an installer or two now. I have some technicians that don't have family in town. I try to call them. I've taken them out of my side by side. Lisa has offered, at the holiday party, she offered to all of them, if you need help with money, and I know a few of them do, we offered our services to help them get a budget in place. Anything we can do to help them improve their personal life just a little bit will pay out tenfold in business, you know, but having that support at home is so important if, if you have the people to support you, and if not, I tell them, you can come talk to me anytime. I mean, I'll, I'll be that support as much as I can. And Lisa's again, which is amazing to me, as she's even offered to do that with them, with the money. So having some sort of support behind you is definitely a game changer.

[Tommy Mello]

I think, I think, I think the problem is people, and you know this. I think they live above their means. When they start making six figures, it's like, you know, I've always said this, JD, if you can't save money at 40,000, you can't save money at 100,000, you can't save Money at 200,000. Everybody thinks it's a production problem, I need to make more money. It's not. It's a spending problem.

[JD Plots]

It's exactly. It's a spending problem. It is not a production problem.

[Tommy Mello]

I had a technician. I'm not going to say his name, but he was paying 1200 bucks a month for rent. Between him and his wife, they were bringing in over 250 grand, and he had no money, nothing. I said, wait a minute, twelve hundred dollars a month? That's a. It's fifteen grand a year. So that leaves you with $235,000. I know there's some taxes, and you got a kid and you got some stuff, but what's going on? You don't even own a house. Like, what. What. Where's the money? You know, here's the problem is they don't want to write it down. They don't want to keep track. It's almost like it's embarrassing to them. But if they just would get started. Now, we have a guy, Jad, you know, that works for us. He went and got his body fat last week, 27%. It's considered obese. He's not a. He's skinny. He's ready to change because he knows the facts. The body fat, Dex, is the best, most accurate thing. When you do this, you got to look at yourself and deal with the facts. I think when you go to the doctor. My dad hates going to the doctor because you might have something, but you could prevent. You could fix it, right?

[JD Plots]

But you don't want to know. You don't want to know.

[Tommy Mello]

Most people don't want to know.

[JD Plots]

I know, and I've been there, done that.

[Tommy Mello]

And it's like, the truth kills, but then you can make change, but you got to know exactly where you're at. We call it the known financial position. That's what Alan Rohr taught me. The known financial position. And when you got that, it's like you could. You could work miracles. You could get rid of the. You got to have a plan. You got to be realistic. And it might take a year, it might take two years.

[JD Plots]

And it's a reaching out.

[Tommy Mello]

But it took the decade to get you in that position.

[JD Plots]

Right? And it's the reaching out for help that's the most difficult thing. I mean, that's. Again, you're doing really good. Segueing into the book here is that nothing changes when nothing changes that. You know, people say that different versions of it, and everybody just kind of listens to it. Oh, yeah, yeah. But when you really think about it, let's just take money, for example. If I'm. If I don't have any money, Today because I'm spending all this money, then I have to change something in order to fix that, you know, and in order to change.

[Tommy Mello]

Feeling stuck.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. You have to educate yourself. That's part of what I write about, is that it's okay as long as you understand nothing changes when nothing changes. You also have to understand that unless you change your thinking, you change the information you have between your ears, you've got to educate yourself about whatever it is that you're trying to change. Ignorance is bliss. You don't educate yourself. You don't know. You don't ask for help. You don't make yourself accountable. The change will never happen. I guarantee that. Because I've been there and done that too. Right. For four decades, I didn't try to help myself. You know, it took me that long to reach out for help. But once you make yourself accountable, once you understand that you have to educate yourself a little bit about whatever it is that you're trying to change and talk to another human being about it, you can do anything. I mean, you can absolutely do anything.

[Tommy Mello]

Hey, hope you're loving today's episode. There's someone you need to know. Someone who played a huge role in how I built my $220 million home service business. His name is Al Levy, and he's the mastermind behind seven Power contractor. He's helped hundreds of home service owners, including me, scale with more profit and less stress. Now he's retired. No consulting, no events. Except for Freedom 2025. Al's planning to make a rare appearance to hang out, and if time allows, host a meet and greet with attendees. This might be your only chance to meet the legend in person and pick his brain for a few minutes. Grab your ticket now and lock in our early bird bonus package worth over $5,000, plus VIP tickets are 20% off. Don't miss this rare opportunity. Go to freed now. That's freedomevent.com all right, back to the episode. I agree, man. And, you know, it's so crazy that you see guys, you know, randomly, Brandon Colby and Mike Price stopped at my house just randomly the other day. Mike Price, his fob stopped working to start the car. So it had. They had to pick it up and take it to the dealer to get reprogrammed. So they were riding together, they had a job by my house, so they stopped by and, you know, Colby did darn near $2 million. Pretty good. Pretty good year for him. And little. Little shy of 2 million. And I mean, that's. That's a large Amount. These guys are performance pay. So the more they sell and obviously there's a scorecard, there's other things that weigh into that. But I mean, it's a crazy amount of money. But you know, he's got what, four cars, he's got a house, he's got, you know, he's got a Can Am. He's got, you know, these guys act like, man, things are tight. He's paying for his mom's car, his mom's rent. Yeah, when you're doing that. And he parties a little bit so you know, he'll pick up the bar tab. So. Yeah, I mean, look, that's what's interesting. You know, I lived in the apartment for four years. I don't really need these material possessions to feel like it's nice to go out on the Can Am. But dude, I know how much you could get. You could rent them for how much I go out, right? Like there's nothing important to me about, like I need to have these material possessions. Like they're great in the beginning. You love it, you love your new car, you love this. But I've never been like, man, this is what makes my life better. Because you get into this debt and what's worse is when you just can't sleep because you can't make ends meet, right?

[JD Plots]

And I, well again, I only know me and what I've been through and I've watched you do your thing. And for those of you that don't believe him, that's. I can attest to the fact that you had, you had no wonder desire for material things when you were building this business, which I found amazing because back then, just that short time ago, I was short sighted and thought, man, if I had that money, I'd be doing this, I'd be doing that and I'd be doing this. It took me a few years and now where I'm at, I understand completely what you were doing, believe me. But it took me, like I said, 40 years to get to where I could just save something. I hope Brandon, if I give Brandon one piece of advice, is take 5% and put it away. Just take 5% and put it away. 10% is better, 15%, even better than that.

[Tommy Mello]

You just gotta start somewhere.

[JD Plots]

You've got to get in the habit. You've got to change that one thing of just take it, put it away and forget it ever exists. That's why I'm so happy with the 401k. I mean, I'm up to like 30 grand in my 401k already.

[Tommy Mello]

I wonder if there's anything I could set up where certain people would give me. I'd insure it. I put it in an account that I gotta sign off and I died. But they'd have to come to me to get it out and just something to like. Because, look, look, I could afford to cover everybody's in a way of like an insurance, but put it into some type of trust or some type of tax shelter, like.

[JD Plots]

Well, that's what the 401k is, right?

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, 401k. Roth IRA. There's a lot of different things that do it, but it's like, yeah, 30 grand is great, but think about this. And I'm not sitting here saying, look at me, I care less. But when I was 16, my cousin, red Corvette, it was an 87, nothing special. We got in his car at Gilbert, at my uncle's house, and he was listening to Don't Speak, no doubt on the CD player. I was 16, so this was 1999. And he said, how much money do you make a month? And at that time, I was a lifeguard and I was busing tables. And I don't remember what I said, but he goes, how much have you put away into your Roth? I said, what's a roth? He goes, Ira account. Because you don't have one. I know, I'm 16. He goes, I don't care how old you are, let's go start you one right now. So we drove over, I don't know where, we went to the bank or whatever. We got one set up and I wrote on their $50 I wanted to put out per check. He goes, no, no, no, do 300. I'm 16.

[JD Plots]

Wow.

[Tommy Mello]

I had to pick up extra shifts. I had to like, dude, it was like a lot for me to put 300, but I put 300, you know, there will be next year in that account over $2 million tax free. And I haven't been able to put into that since I was 29. So think about that. When I was 29, I was seven years into the business. That was 2014, right before you started. I couldn't put any more money in. So that's compound interest each year is crazy, that last decade. So the more you get in there, obviously, you know, the idea is pay off your house. That's probably going to be your number one asset because that thing will keep going up, like, as inflation happens, real estate keeps up with it.

[JD Plots]

We did, we did that a few months ago. We, we wrote the last check.

[Tommy Mello]

You Wrote the last check.

[JD Plots]

The last check. We had a mortgage burning party. It was fun.

[Tommy Mello]

Oh, dude, I think you told me that. That's incredible. A lot of people are paying off their houses, Dan Far. I love that because, you know, I like people that are in charge that actually take good financial decisions, they make good financial decisions that people could look up to you to say, listen, that guy had enough discipline and perseverance to pay off his house. And the next thing is buy another rental. But that's the thing, is don't buy something for yourself, a vacation house, buy a rental.

[JD Plots]

You have to understand, I think from what you just told me, you're a very rare case. There are very few 16 year olds. Now, I. One of my kids has a Roth IRA and my stepson has a Roth IRA and they're 18, 16. But you're a very rare case. Most people don't aren't that.

[Tommy Mello]

I got lucky that he told me to do that.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

And I respected him.

[JD Plots]

And see, there you go. That's the thing. If, if anybody that you didn't respect told you that, you probably parents or.

[Tommy Mello]

My sister, anybody else, I respect the shit out of this guy. So I said, all right, I'm going to do it.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

And I look at this annuity. It was a. I took this class when I was 19 called finite. Finite Math. And in the back there was all these tables and they had these annuities. Compound interest. Yeah. So it was like I go, and I go, 40 years. I'm only gonna be 56. At the time. I would have been 59. 59 and a half. When you start pulling 40 years of compound interest, that last five years is like bang, bang, boom. Every year. You left it in. Now if I leave it until I'm 80, because I won't need it. I mean, look, at the end of the day, I don't want to start like enjoying my life at 80, but there's good things that have happened since then. But, like, that's tax free. And that's what I want everybody to understand that's listening. Like our jobs, if you take one thing, buy the book. Nothing changes if nothing changes. But your technicians, they need financial literacy. They need to learn a little bit about discipline. I don't care about leadership. I don't care about motivation. I care about personal discipline. And what I've learned is I cannot discipline you. I cannot tell you to wake up. You've got to actually.

[JD Plots]

Exactly.

[Tommy Mello]

Build that, that, that strength, that muscle up yourself.

[JD Plots]

Exactly. And that's just another good Segue. Thank you, Tommy. The whole second half or the part two of this book? The first part, just so everybody knows.

[Tommy Mello]

Is this story about. You've been through some shit.

[JD Plots]

A story about me and because I'm not famous, you know, a lot of these. A lot of these. Well, I hate the phrase self help, but we'll call it that. Self help. Books are done by people, and no offense intended here, by people that have already made it. They have a lot of money, they're successful and all that. And that's. And for some people, that is a hard leap to make to buy now, some people do it just fine, but it's a hard leap to go from here to up there. That's why I thought it would be a good idea that I'm not bad off. I'm not super wealthy either. I will be. There's no doubt in my mind. I'm going to be able to make.

[Tommy Mello]

It the right moves.

[JD Plots]

I'm going to be able to retire comfortably. So that's what the whole first part of the book is, letting you know that these are the steps you need to do that when you want to make that change. These are the steps that you can follow. It's not the only way, but you can follow the ones that I followed to make that change happen. But the whole second part of the book is actionable items. It isn't me babbling on again. Lisa and I did the research. It's how to have better time management. It's how to manage your money. Very easy, simple steps. It's how to advance your career, how to talk to your boss to get a raise. All these little things that you can do to advance yourself just a little bit. Just a little bit. Just to make. Just to show you that you can actually make change happen. So again, and that's. That's why I did the book, is that it's. I think everybody can benefit from it. Whether you're in Tommy's shoes, my shoes, or the guy that's on the corner shoes. There's something in there that can help you take a step forward. There's something in there, I guarantee it.

[Tommy Mello]

Have you done the Audible yet?

[JD Plots]

What?

[Tommy Mello]

Have you read the Audible?

[JD Plots]

Have I read.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah. For audible? Yeah.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, I actually have it, but I'm just.

[Tommy Mello]

What is it out?

[JD Plots]

Yeah, but I didn't do it. It's done by AI, which. So there's a. So there's a few quirks. But. But because the second half is all actionable items, I'm. That you would want to Refer back to a lot. What I'm going to do is along with the audible is I'm going to have part two on a very slim pamphlet that you can get and I'll make sure that everybody gets one if they get the audible one. Once it's available. I have to make it. Yeah. But anyway, yes, answer your question. Yes, it is out. It is.

[Tommy Mello]

AI is. We're training my. That's one other thing I got to make a note of. We're training my AI literally. It's my face. It talks to you. It's loaded up all the podcast and I've got a way to train it actually to the next level, which I think is important. One day, you know, one day I'm going to die. All of us are. I'm pretty sure that. And I think it's cool to have a legacy that if I load it up and, and I record enough stuff over the next 20 years, it kind of. It's not me, but it's a remnants of me and it should leave that around for the next. You know, hopefully I have kids and you know, there's something left for them to kind of. It's not the same at all, but at least it's like, hey, dad, what would you do in this situation? I don't know. It's a. I don't know if it'll help them or not. It's a weird thing, but I thought about when my dad passes or my mom. It's gonna be the worst day of my life. But also to just. I still know they're gone.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. There's a lot of regrets I have when my parents passed away that I, that I wasn't. I don't wanna. I was, I was in the throes of my addition, especially when my mother passed away. And I do have regrets that I didn't sit down with her and get more written down and you know, remember, I mean, I mean what you're doing is great. You know, this is my legacy kind of from like my great grandkids and stuff. You know, they wanna know a little something about me. They have that. They have coloring books, you know. But yeah, I'm big into AI. I don't use it for the super duper important stuff. But I'll tell you what, I would be lost without it now on a daily basis.

[Tommy Mello]

What do you use AI for? Give me a run through.

[JD Plots]

I ask it questions like when something pops in my head that I need.

[Tommy Mello]

To know about the. What is it?

[JD Plots]

Chat GPT. Well, yeah, I have Conversations. But right now. And I'll do a quick plug. My pug, Miss Ruby, she does coloring books. So she actually has them up on Amazon for sale now. I use the AI to help me generate pictures of my idea for coloring books. I also have it help me come up with subject matter for some of her children's books that she's writing. I use it. Emails are great, you know, when I like if I'm writing.

[Tommy Mello]

So chatgpt is what you use?

[JD Plots]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

That's the only one you use?

[JD Plots]

No, no, no, I use. I use midjourney for pictures. I also just started using Gemini for Google for generating phrases and pictures as well. But yeah, ChatGPT is my go to. I even have my own. I did a ChatGPT because you can construct your own GPT. You can give it instructions. So I have a couple of those that are mine that I use for specific things so I don't have to go through the whole rigmarole of telling it what I want. All the details, I just give already knows the details and have saved them.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah.

[JD Plots]

Like if I tell the one GPT to, let's just say draw an apple. Okay. If you just plug that in there and draw a red apple. Well, this GPT is set up for coloring book pages. Lines, just black and white lines. So when I type apple in there, it types me a perfect black and white line drawing of an apple. It doesn't do the color. I don't have to tell him not to do color and do all that stuff.

[Tommy Mello]

That's great.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, I like that. Oh no, I love AI.

[Tommy Mello]

There is, there is so many great tools out there. It's like, look, you know, I've taken a lot of school, university, I've done a lot. I got an MBA. I took 60 credits of prerequisites for dental, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, organic chemistry. It's been a long time, but I wish it was more practical. Just no fluff. Like this is an AI course you're going to take. It's not. It's for advanced learners to go from zero to hero. And I wish like even like all the apps on your phone, like, I just wish there was like, maybe if somebody's listening to this and you listen to this podcast, DM me if you know a place that offers really well put together courses that are not 20 hours, I don't need an accreditation. I want to do it for myself. If I took a course a week.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

And I actually like used it. I don't want to take courses to Something I don't want to use, I'll use it too.

[JD Plots]

Because all my learning on AI is it's taken a lot of time. And I mean, I'm.

[Tommy Mello]

You know, Maybe there's a YouTube channel that does that.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, maybe. I started using AI for our KPIs. I actually have a chat GPT that I can use for one on ones. I should show that to you.

[Tommy Mello]

Oh, I love to see that. Yeah, no, it's. It's great. So when. When my buddy Aaron Gaynor loaded up his, it said, renegotiate with your vendors. Because this is like. It literally said all this stuff and it's mine starting to get to know me. Mine is like, if you want to talk to Blackstone and KKR and like, this is what the. Some of the things they'd be interested in. It's like, it's personalized, which is incredible. So what do you. You know, you talk a lot about accountability. You see, that's the first thing, and that's been a big buzzword at A one for the last couple years. And I know Luke gets really frustrated when he hears managers say, you gotta be more accountable because what does that exactly mean to you? Because it's just been a really big word for us. Accountability. Accountability. You gotta stay accountable. What does that even mean?

[JD Plots]

Okay, so last year and weaving. I think he said it in one of the bring the Fire meetings last. Last year was the year of accountability. Okay. I think that was given throughout the company. Accountability. I had to take it a step further. And actually, on the last mojo that I did, I've been off a couple days was I told all my guys, this is the year of personal accountability. Not just accountability in general. Not just following the rules and doing this and doing that, but personal accountability. And I told them, it is the year of personal accountability. Meaning in your personal life and in your business life. Yes, you have to follow the rules we just had. I can't believe people are making such a big deal out of this uniform thing.

[Tommy Mello]

What do you mean? What is happening?

[JD Plots]

And for those of you who don't know, we've always had our black shirts that we wear, and I'm not wearing it because I'm on PTO today. So that's why I'm not wearing my shirt, because I have to keep things separated.

[Tommy Mello]

But, yeah, we said, listen, we're gonna have certain color jeans and shorts.

[JD Plots]

I've been telling them.

[Tommy Mello]

And shoes.

[JD Plots]

This is coming, guys. This is coming. Just wear clean, dark shoes.

[Tommy Mello]

Like, really, really crappy. The cowboy boots and ripped up pants and like. And I was stains everywhere.

[JD Plots]

Yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

Look, we're not doing a normal. You don't. We're not doing like, you got to wear long sleeve with patches all over and full booties on your feet.

[JD Plots]

You know, you asked me a little while ago what I thought the red flags were. You know, that's actually one of them. That when a guy shows up and he cannot take personal accountability or care about his hygiene and his looks is a huge red flag. I don't know anybody that's successful in our business that looks that way.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, that's in with stained pants.

[JD Plots]

They're wearing the same pants every day. They wear them for a week because they think they're saving money on Washington. I mean, you're. You're losing the garage. Oh, yeah. And they smell. I've had, I've had. Had that conversation more than once in the last eight years with guys. And it's that. That's probably the toughest one. It's easier to fire somebody than tell them they stink.

[Tommy Mello]

I, you know, I'm just. That's not hard for me. I mean, I understand how that could be tough. But it's like, dude, like literally, like sometimes either you smell like clone too much, you're covering something up, or look, he just. You don't smell. You're not pleasant.

[JD Plots]

But I think the uniform thing that you guys have given to all of US is absolutely 100% a fabulous thing, the right thing. And I think you're going to see the numbers move a little more just because of it.

[Tommy Mello]

And I'm going to get into this for myself. Zero profanity. As far as I would love to.

[JD Plots]

Try to do that.

[Tommy Mello]

You know, it's not that hard because when I talk to, you know, my niece and nephews, I don't ever. I'm not a big customer. But when I'm either sometimes on this, you know, not the stage, but when I'm talking to, you know, bring the fire meetings also been an effort here or there, but there's nothing that, like there was nothing great about that. It was not like it made. It made the meeting better, but someone might have got offended. So not usually our guys. But overall I was doing this to. I was talking like 40 companies at one point and there was a couple women and the guy that was having. He goes, that was the best meeting I've ever attended except for the two F words.

[JD Plots]

He's like, I would support that 100%. I'll be 100% behind you doing that. That is a good thing.

[Tommy Mello]

So accountability, personal accountability. I believe there's this thing called the law of the lid. I know that there is John Maxwell. And you'll only grow as your lid grows. So the more you learn, the more you're. And you start growing this lid. So now I've told the guys like Luke and Brian and. And our whole team over here, Adrian is like, look, you guys are going to need consultants. I'm going to need to get you. You guys are going to need to learn more. You're going to. Going to read the books I tell you to read. We're going to have a book club. Because what's important to me is that they continue to grow or otherwise I'm going to outgrow them because I'm reading, I'm doing like, I'm podcasting, I'm going to visit shops, like. And I've never been like, I don't want that for you guys. I never said that. No, I've always invited them. So now I'm starting to get way more into, like, let's do more group activities. Let's get more involved. Because that's the evolution and this is the way to make. It's good for the community, it's good for the people. It's good. Everyone needs a helping hand. A lot of people try to do this all on their own, and that's.

[JD Plots]

A red flag barometer right there, too. The guys that are the technicians that when I have things that we do together and they don't want to show up. I'm not saying I'm going to fire you if you don't come or do stuff with us, but it definitely makes me take notice when people don't want to learn something new, when they don't want to do a ride along or they take a ride along for granted just to take the money. That's another one of those red flags that you were talking about. Again, not a fireable offense by any scope of the imagination, but it. And it should.

[Tommy Mello]

A lot of times they say, I can't afford it.

[JD Plots]

Right. But I think you should take notice to the people that don't want to do the things which I'm sure you probably already do.

[Tommy Mello]

That's interesting. So you've been through a lot. I mean, you've been through some drug addictions, some alcoholism. You got caught in a country that you almost got in big trouble for something that didn't happen, but it was almost like a rape case that you could have gone to prison for a long, long time. Probably a decade. You would have been in jail or something.

[JD Plots]

Oh, God, I would still be there, I'm sure. I mean.

[Tommy Mello]

So all that's in the book. So you've been through the ringer and that's.

[JD Plots]

And that's just the parts I can talk about. Yeah, I mean, you've heard some of my other stories. Mike Bailey's heard my stories, you know.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah.

[JD Plots]

I mean, everybody says you need to put those in a book and that might happen someday.

[Tommy Mello]

But.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, I've been. Not toot my own horn, but I've been through some shit. Yes, I have.

[Tommy Mello]

It's. But doesn't care makes you stronger. I guess. So. Yeah. There's a lot of good information. First half of the book, Nothing changes. Nothing Changes is about you. And then the next one's practical things that you could do or your technicians or your people that you work with. That makes sense. Can you go through a few of those? So time management.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, time management. Money. Money management. How to communicate more effectively. That's another big one. And there's just. And there's just some very. And there's just some very simple things to do. And a lot of it's mindfulness, especially when it's. The communication part is being think before you talk. Okay. Everybody says it, but if you actually do it, your level of communication with people you don't know and also people that you do know gets better. You just have to slow down a little bit. Like, I'm really bad at it. Okay. Because of the ADD and the adhd, whichever one I have that day, I don't always slow down, But I learned to do that when I did radio for years. Years. Because you had to stop. I had a lot of things written down, too. I can't see that good anymore. So I can't really write it down that far, but I can do it from memory. And then the other big one that's in there is actually that I've got the most compliments on, is the very simple time management stuff. And it uses practical things. And it isn't just being polite and being on time. There's apps you can use, there's exercises you can do, just very simple things that you can change today. You don't have to go buy something. You don't have to do this. All of the stuff, 99% of it that's in there, once you read it, you can actually put it into action and start doing it right now. Today. There's no. The only thing stopping you is you. The only thing stopping you Is you.

[Tommy Mello]

What does this book sell for on Amazon?

[JD Plots]

I have no idea. I actually have a publisher working with me on this one, so I'm not even allowed to give them away. I had to pull teeth to get these two for you. Oh yeah.

[Tommy Mello]

You know, if you got it published. Yeah. So you didn't self publish?

[JD Plots]

Well, no, I didn't self publish, but he only has it for a year. And the reason I had a publisher help me is the only part of this that I was really hung up on. I had everything written, everything was ready to go. But formatting the book correctly to get it on Amazon so it looked good. I. I struggled with it and struggled with it and couldn't do it. So that's why I hired Kevin to do it. And it's a super nice guy. He's a local guy. I think we actually advertise with them now. He has a thing in Oro Valley does. But anyway, so yeah, this, this is self published, but he's just, he's just running it for me right now. Just. Yeah, for that reason.

[Tommy Mello]

But all right.

[JD Plots]

But I think it's 14, 15 bucks.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, I don't know. Well, you should. Yeah, my assistant did that. So you, you guys should check out the book. Nothing changes. Nothing Changes. JD Plots P L O E T Z Closing thoughts here number I asked the same few questions here. So somebody wants to get a hold of you, J.D. what. What's the best way they can.

[JD Plots]

I have, I have a couple emails out there that's probably the best way to reach me. One of them is, well, actually you can just go to the website NC cwnc.com nothing changes when nothingchanges.com and all my information there if you want to.

[Tommy Mello]

Get a hold of me and is there any books that you've ever read that really changed the way you think about life? Maybe business is there like.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, I talk about it quite a bit every time we bring it up. The five dysfunctions of a teacher think it's five. That one really hit me between the eyes because when I was reading it we were right in the middle of siloed of pre being bought into and all that stuff. And the stories they were talking about about the lack of communication just hit so far home with us. And we have gotten better at it for sure as a company. But that's always going to be a struggle, I think for anybody growing as fast as we are. So anyway, that's the one that really switched my.

[Tommy Mello]

Patrick Lecioni is his name that wrote that book and he also wrote the ideal team player. He also wrote Meetings Suck. He's great books.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. One Minute Manager was also a good one. That gives you a lot of quick things to think about. Again, actionable items you can use right away. You don't have to do a bunch of research, don't have to write a bunch of shit down. You can just have right at it, right then and there. If you're willing to make that change. Because that's where it all starts. If nothing else, Nothing's gonna change if you don't decide you wanna take that step in your own mind and actually do it.

[Tommy Mello]

You know how many times I've told you, J.D. and I've told the company that don't get comfortable. Things are gonna look different in a month. Things are gonna look like. I've learned to love change. You know, it's not fun to change payroll systems or go from QuickBooks to Intact, but I was looking forward to it. I don't like. I'm like, dude, it's time to get on the most elite of the elite softwares. It's time to do. Service Titan was tough. And that shit that was. That was darn near a year when you were working, because we were on.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, you were on that other one before Service Titan.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, no, we were on a bunch of them, but that one was called Aptora.

[JD Plots]

Okay.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah. And then there's a couple before that, so. Yeah. Listen, I think you're right, though, man. I think that you got to be comfortable with the idea of making quick and effective change. And a lot of people just. They get stuck. It's so hard because their habits need to change. Yeah, That's a great book. 7 Habits of Highly Successful People is your habits need to start to change if you want to change. And you got to realize your Achilles heels. Some people it's social media. Some people it's tv. Some people it's Netflix. Some people, it could be alcohol. But whatever those are, you got to figure out how to change that portion to sub a different habitat and ask for help.

[JD Plots]

For God's sakes, people, you don't have to do it by yourself. There's nobody listening. I would hope to this. That doesn't have somebody they could reach out to for help. And I'm not talking about horrible, dire things. I'm talking about just very simple things that you need help with. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I tell my technicians that all the time. That's why I think we're as good as we are, is because my guys have gotten used to reaching out for help. Yeah, Just, it's, you know, how do you.

[Tommy Mello]

How do you build that? How do you get people comfortable? Well, what do you got to do to make that happen?

[JD Plots]

Well, first thing you have to do is make. Is you have to make yourself available to them. I think as a manager, which I didn't do for years, I'm being honest, I was not that available. But once I started making myself available.

[Tommy Mello]

How do you make yourself available? What does that even mean?

[JD Plots]

You have to just do it. You have to start.

[Tommy Mello]

I mean, you tell them, these are going to be my hours. Do you text them and say, let's have a chat. What's the first thing you do to start that?

[JD Plots]

Well, first of all, respond when they text. Right, right. You're going to be available. I don't give them certain hours, but I tell them that if I can pick up the phone, I will pick up the phone. That that's the way that I do it. Just because my day is so crazy and then with grandkids and all the other stuff that. That if I can, I will pick up the phone. If it is really important, make sure you shoot me a text right afterwards. And I think I would say almost 100% of my guys, well, would tell you today that I've made myself more accessible in the last year than I did the last couple years. So then once you show that example that you will help, there's a couple core guys you asked to maybe start picking up the phone a little bit more, and I've done that, and they've done that. For me, as far as getting over the fear of calling somebody for help, that's something you just have to get over. You have to do it. It's just like anything else. You just have to pick up the.

[Tommy Mello]

Phone and you got to do the work. I mean, but getting started is half the battle. I mean, I will say, like I always say, getting to the gym is the hardest part. Once you're there, you're going to do the work. So any final thoughts, brother?

[JD Plots]

Well, yes and no. I mean, just. And again, I didn't want this whole thing to turn. Turn to a book promo, but I guess it really is just. I just want everybody to know that I did this. I didn't do this. I did this for my technician. That's what where it's done. That was my why for this book. Because I know that's a big thing. The why was to help them. It wasn't for me to make money and do all that stuff.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah. You're not going to make any money. I hate to tell you, but books don't make money. You get your name out there, people start, you know, it'll help in the long run. It's your calling card. Like, you got to figure out after this year how to buy books for a few bucks. Instead of giving away business cards, you're going to give away your book. You're going to send them out to people. Start doing some podcasts here and there. This is a good start.

[JD Plots]

And. And then I guess closing thoughts. Just. Thank you.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah. I appreciate you, man. You just wouldn't happen.

[JD Plots]

Coloring books wouldn't happen. There's. I wouldn't have my. I mean, there's so much that A1. And it isn't just you, it's everybody that works behind the scenes.

[Tommy Mello]

It takes. It takes a village.

[JD Plots]

Yeah. To make a one as successful for all the individuals as it is. It takes a lot of people. I'm just. I've never been given that opportunity. I have been given it. And I'm just going to keep moving forward. I don't know what's next, but I'm just going to keep moving forward.

[Tommy Mello]

That's my job. Is the vision of this company is, look, we're gonna make history. It's gonna be. It's still. I always say this, but it's still so small compared. You would think at this size. Like, man, this is. Like, things are changing, though. Like, my position is changing. Like, I'm no longer involved in the projects. Like, now I gotta really have this trust. And I wrote down, become the best interviewer on the planet. Hire the best people. Like, that's what got. It's gotta happen. For my vision to maintain the way it's going is you've noticed the people that have come in are just the elite of the elite. Luke's been growing dramatically from a few years ago. There's a lot of people that have decided I'm going to grow alongside of this company. And if now we're going to continue, it doesn't mean that. Doesn't mean they're not on the bus. Means they might have to get on a different seat.

[JD Plots]

Right.

[Tommy Mello]

But you're the man, brother. You're doing great. And by the way, Tucson is a massive market. When I say markets, I go Phoenix, Tucson, Vegas, then we're Houston, Milwaukee, and Detroit. Those are our mammoth markets.

[JD Plots]

Well, yeah, well, there's quite a few that have passed us in personnel. The thing is that Tucson's never going to grow exponentially like Vegas and Denver. It just doesn't have the population. It physically can't do it either, honestly. So, I mean, but we're going to keep doing what we're doing. I mean, our budget. We just got our budget. I think we're a couple million over from last year that we have to do. Yeah, totally doable. Not even worried about it. 151. That was a hell of a project.

[Tommy Mello]

151.

[JD Plots]

Yeah, that was Project 151. The one where you just blurted the numbers out that we're going to do 151 million.

[Tommy Mello]

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, no. Well, but I.

[JD Plots]

But I made it.

[Tommy Mello]

Yeah, no, no, there's. Forget about. I'm switching 2025. It's all like, 2024 was like, how much profit can we do? So we really, really got the bottom line dialed in, renegotiated with a couple of vendors. Massive opportunity. 2025. I just wrote a long email that I'm 100%. Let's get the revenue growth back to where it needs to be, because 2026. Prepping for 2026. And then I just think, like, people are. I'll close with this. People overestimate what they could do in a year and underestimate what they could do in five. We are a type of Americans. We. We tap our feet when we go to the microwave or, like, we make popcorn. We're like. We're just very impatient and. Whereas, like, you look at, like, other cultures, they're so patient. So, like, we gotta slow down and. And enjoy the process. Enjoy playing the game. Because, dude, otherwise you wake up and it's like, you. You're always waiting for this destination, and when it comes, it's like, not what you thought it was gonna be. It's like, this isn't this. You kind of. It's a few weeks of fun, and then you're like, I'm losing purpose. That's why a lot of people, when they sell their business, they're very depressed. Like, they. They lost their baby. They have no meaning. Like, they go in and they like, what do I do now? And I never want that to happen. I'm not like, I will never, like, be like, what do I do with my life today? But thank you, my brother. I'm very fortunate to have you on the team. You. All the guys look up to you. You run a great market, several markets. So keep up the great work, everybody. Buy this book. Nothing changes when nothing changes.

[JD Plots]

Just remember, nothing changes when nothing changes.

[Tommy Mello]

It's the. The universal blueprint for meaningful change and long term success.

[JD Plots]

Yep, that's exactly what it is.

[Tommy Mello]

All right my brother. Thank you.

[JD Plots]

Thank you.

[Tommy Mello]

All right, thanks everybody. Hey there. Thanks for tuning into the podcast today. Before I let you go, I want to let everybody know that Elevate is out and ready to buy. I can share with you how I attracted a winning team of over 700 employees in over 20 states. The insights in this book are powerful and can be applied to any business or organization. It's a real game changer for anyone looking to build and develop a high performing team like over here at A1 garage door service. So if you want to learn the secrets that help me transfer my team from stealing the toilet paper to a group of 700 plus employees rowing in the same direction, head over to elevateandwin.com podcast and grab a copy of the book. Thanks again for listening and we'll catch up with you next time on the podcast.