← The Deep End with Eric Triplett
The Deep End with Eric Triplett
S2-E47: A Look Inside The Machine - With Employee Jacob Orduno
02:15:02
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- [00:03]
Jacob Orduno
Welcome to the Deep End with Eric Triplett, the pond digger and inventor of
- [00:09]
Eric Triplett
Helix Life Support Pond Filtration.
- [00:12]
Jacob Orduno
For over three decades, Eric and his team have been in the field designing, building and protecting breathtaking aquatic ecosystems that reconnect people with nature right in their own backyards.
- [00:25]
Eric Triplett
Ponds, koi, craftsmanship, culture, business.
- [00:29]
Jacob Orduno
This is where we dive deep into building a wild, wildly successful brand rooted in nature. Let's dig in.
- [00:43]
Eric Triplett
What's up? Welcome to the Deep End.
- [00:45]
Narrator/Host
This one is deep. This is a Look Inside the Machine with Jacob orduno. He's a 20 year old apprentice on my team and he's had a chance to be very close to me in some tricky situations where I'm in a vehicle and trying to make big deals and things of that nature. And he, he's different than most. Okay. He, he's that person who's always paying attention. He's like, it seems like he's just processing things differently than most people that would ride shotgun with me in a vehicle. And I wanted to take the opportunity to interview with him and look inside the machine and, and when I do posts like this, we've done probably six of them where basically we're talking to an employee shooting straight what, what's their opinion of, of what it looks like to be working for the pond digger and, and you know, the antics that we do and all those things of that nature. So it's always cool because we always have the opportunity to go back years later and listen to this post, this podcast and, and hear what years ago, right? So some of the Look Inside the Machine moments that we've had, the team member might not be with us anymore, but we're still friends and they still come by and we still talk about it. And so it's always a chance to reflect back on things. So the Look Inside the Machine, while it's fun for the audience to kind of listen to what it's like and let's be real, there's certain, there's certain members of my team that people have a larger affinity for. Like, you know, we go to a client's house and they'll get a message. They'll be like, oh, I just love
- [02:40]
Eric Triplett
Josh, he's so much fun.
- [02:41]
Narrator/Host
And someone else will say something about
- [02:43]
Eric Triplett
Jacob that that guy's, you know, really good at what he does.
- [02:46]
Narrator/Host
And so like, you know, it's, it's interesting how people, like I said, have more of an affinity for one employee over the other. So when I do a Look Inside the Machine, it's cool because you might get a really deep dive into one of our team members that, that you seem to have a bond with, if that makes sense. So here's the tricky thing. So this is a long podcast. It's a couple hours and we're out of town. We had worked really hard out there. And so by the end of the night, you know, after a few adult beverages, you know, by the time this, this two hour podcast was getting closer to the end, you'll. You'll hear, you'll. You can get the sense that I've had a little bit too much to drink, let's just put it that way. And so when I listened to the end of it, I thought, wow, this is painful. Maybe I should just cut this part out. Maybe I should not even post this podcast. But the truth be told is a look inside the machine is very real and raw. You're going to get it just how it is. And the real moment for me here is I want to be able to go back and listen to this with Jacob many years from now, and we can laugh about how much I had had to drink towards the end. But, like, you're getting these. These raw emotions to come out. And I probably talked too much. I should the floor more to Jacob. But it's really interesting because there's a specific point in here that I know Jacob and I will go back to. And if I just deleted it because I was embarrassed and I didn't want to be vulnerable, then we wouldn't have this to reflect back upon because there's something really special in the future for Jacob. I have no doubt about that. So if you get to the end and you hear it, you can laugh at it with me. But I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jacob Orduno.
- [04:39]
Eric Triplett
Jacob, what's up, my man? Welcome to the show.
- [04:42]
Jacob Orduno
Nothing much. Thank you for having me.
- [04:44]
Eric Triplett
Dude, listen, my wife was infatuated with you when she first met you. And she's like, you gotta talk to this kid. There's something special about him. He's got an old soul. Like, I think you're gonna find something. I think you're gonna like him. I don't think I've ever told you this. And so this is a look inside the machine. So this is like behind the. The umbrella of the pond digger.
- [05:12]
Jacob Orduno
All right.
- [05:12]
Eric Triplett
Oh, the ponding. Or everyone thinks it's rainbows and unicorns and everyone, like, everyone needs to know it's. We're grinding and it's hardcore behind the scenes. But she told me there's something special about this kid, I want you to meet him. And I'm just curious how you feel about that. If, If. If you heard that you're an old soul and my wife wanted me to meet you, like, what does that mean to you?
- [05:33]
Jacob Orduno
That means a lot. I've gotten that a few times beforehand in my life. People always tell me I got an old soul just because of how I act and how I carry myself. And that's just really proud to hear about that coming from you and Leslie, especially giving me a good opportunity from when I first began.
- [05:51]
Eric Triplett
So you're 19, right?
- [05:52]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, I just turned 20.
- [05:54]
Eric Triplett
Oh, shit. Sorry, bro. Sorry, bro.
- [05:56]
Jacob Orduno
But yeah, I joined the pawn Vickers when I was halfway through 18. So I've had a lot of development years over here in the shortest amount of time.
- [06:06]
Eric Triplett
Okay, so tell me this. You said that you've heard that a couple times. Did you know my wife knew that about you? That she. That was a description of you? Did you know that my wife said that about you?
- [06:18]
Jacob Orduno
I did not know that she said that about me. But I do get the impression sometimes, and throughout my whole life, people have always told me that I have. That I've had an old soul.
- [06:28]
Eric Triplett
Tell me about that. Who, like, who. Where. Where else have you heard that? Because this, this is not. It's not normal.
- [06:33]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, so I've really heard it from older people, from older generations. When I was a little kid, I've grown up with my dad and his family, my mother, her family. And it's just a lot of older Chicanos. We like to keep an old soul and old culture. We have our classic cars, we listen to our oldie music.
- [06:53]
Eric Triplett
Okay.
- [06:54]
Jacob Orduno
So it's really just how I grew up and how I was raised. And so when I get people day to day, they see how I dress, how I talk, how constructive I am with what I say. And it ranges from librarians seeing a young kid like me walk in to do some homework and learn some history, to most of my teachers in school just telling me everything about it.
- [07:18]
Eric Triplett
Teachers told you you were an old soul?
- [07:20]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, I've had a lot of new teachers and older teachers just tell me the same thing, that they don't really see people like me anymore, especially in their classroom.
- [07:32]
Eric Triplett
Okay, that's interesting. That. That's. That's cool perspective. It's awesome that you've heard that before. The first time you heard it, how did it make you feel? Is that this is bad or is this good or what? Like, because. Because it could be good or bad. Like it's good or evil.
- [07:46]
Jacob Orduno
It made me feel good about it just because I'm more in tune with history too, especially with American history and world history. And I've always looked through the past with rose colored glasses, thinking that something from a previous age is just better, just because you hear all the good things and less of the bad things. So I've always carried that in, like a good omen to have an old soul.
- [08:11]
Eric Triplett
So my wife and I, we. We had a thought that maybe you were raised by a grandfather, so you're like an older. Like an older generation. Is that the case or is that not really?
- [08:23]
Jacob Orduno
Through my whole life, my mom and my dad, they been together since they were 13.
- [08:28]
Eric Triplett
Really?
- [08:29]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [08:29]
Eric Triplett
So Chos. God damn.
- [08:31]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [08:32]
Eric Triplett
That's sick. That's so sweet.
- [08:33]
Jacob Orduno
My whole life is.
- [08:34]
Eric Triplett
That's amazing. Cuz, you know, if you go back, if you go back, if you think about history, you go way back. Like kings were 15 years old. Like, so 13's like. Like that's normal. Like they're already having kids and stuff.
- [08:46]
Narrator/Host
Like.
- [08:46]
Eric Triplett
Like. Like that's. That. That is old soul. That. That's great. So 13 years old. Okay.
- [08:51]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. My parents, my grandparents, they've been in my life, in the house, out the house. But it was mainly just my mom and my dad just carrying on their own legacy through me so I could spread that through my own way. And I just plucked the feathers of the bird and stuck it in my hair and wore that out. So it was mainly my parents. The rest of my family played a little bit of a part of who I am, but generally it's mostly my dad and then my mom come along since my dad's a man and he taught me how to be a man.
- [09:26]
Eric Triplett
Okay, this is interesting. I'm trying to figure out timeline and age and things of that nature. So you're 20. How old is your dad?
- [09:34]
Jacob Orduno
My dad's late 40s, as well as my mom. They're both the same age, so around 47, 48 years old.
- [09:43]
Eric Triplett
How many brothers and sisters?
- [09:45]
Jacob Orduno
I have an older sister and one younger brother.
- [09:48]
Eric Triplett
Only three in the family.
- [09:49]
Jacob Orduno
Yes. And I'm the.
- [09:50]
Eric Triplett
Why the hell do you want to have seven or eight babies? Tell me about this because this is important. Like when you told me that you're like, I want to have. I want to have five, six, seven babies. I was like, wow, this is. This is. That's. How do I want to say this? Most of your generation, they're selfish, though. It's about me. I don't want babies. I want to have to like, deal with the. I want to have to pay for them. So it's like really humbling. Old soul. It's an old soul vibe of you, you know, like, you wouldn't have that many kids. Like, why? Tell me about the theory behind this.
- [10:29]
Jacob Orduno
One of the biggest things about having so much kids is my last name. My last name is Ordunio or Orduno, whichever one floats anybody's boat.
- [10:40]
Eric Triplett
Orduno, that all day long is such
- [10:43]
Jacob Orduno
a special and unique name that outside of my dad and my little brother, I don't have anybody in my family that's living that has that last name. No uncles, no cousins, no nobody. So I feel like I need to take that and continue that name and make it known in history for something good in this world and to really expand upon that. It's just something to be proud of, something unique to me and almost only me. And I've always dreamed about having a big family just to carry on my legacy, carry on my culture, who I am, what made me, and pass that on to my sons and my daughters in the future with a loving wife. Since my parents have been together since they were younger than me, and they stuck it more, more than 30 years together and they're still going strong. It really shows me and gives me an inspiration to do the same.
- [11:40]
Eric Triplett
So it'd be amazing if they're like, you know, they're that old, old couple that creates the old soul lineage. If they're like, we've been married for 60, 70 years, you know, like, you don't see that that often. And it's a real special when you see it. So do you feel like there's pressure? And I want to be real careful about the way I say this to you because you might be impressionable and I'm not. I'm not trying to lean you in one, one way or the other. I just want you to like, be thoughtful about this. But like, you're 20 right now. Mom and dad had seven years on you where they like made that connection. And like we fell in love with each other and we're going to create something special together. Like, do you feel pressure? Like you, you feel like behind the eight ball, like, I gotta find this woman now. I got to lock it in and start having babies. Like, like, what does that mean to you and your decision making skills moving forward?
- [12:38]
Jacob Orduno
So what that means to me is I'm not so much in a rush to find the right woman per se, as you can't really rush anything in life that is going to last you the rest of your life. You got to wait for that opportunity and that uniqueness to come in. Whenever it comes in and plays it out at that moment in time. You can't just hatch an egg and then want the chicken to produce more eggs. You gotta let it grow, let it flourish, see if it lasts long enough to produce its own eggs. And so there's no rush to having kids with me. There's no rush to getting married, but that's the direction I always look forward to. Because you won't find something if you're not looking for it, even if it's right in front of you.
- [13:25]
Eric Triplett
It's interesting that you say that because I have two different thought processes here. Like, so, you know, the Kentucky Derby just happened and there was a horse called Golden Tempo. He was in last place until, like, the final turn and the homeboy turned it on and just, he won the race and, like, blew everyone away. And like, I don't know if you followed it, but he, he came from last place and he, he made it to first place. And the second place guy that he passed was his brother on a different horse. And it was like his trainer was a female trainer. The first time a female trainer had ever won the Kentucky Derby, like, it was like, it was a big deal. And so the reason I'm telling you that, that. And you might not have a care in the world about that, the reason I say that is because sometimes to be a little bit paced back and like, trotting and running the race and running the game, you like, you know what you want, you want that finish line, you want that big win, and you're a little behind the eight ball, but you just got to be like, you got to stay focused on, like, I'm a winner. I'm going to make it happen. I'm going to find the person. It's going to happen. And then all of a sudden, like, dude, I got goosebumps telling you about this. All of a sudden it' the racing. And like, you hit the finish line and blow everyone's mind. So, you know, and maybe, maybe when you're 80, you're only like, hey, we only made it 60 years together as my loving wife, you know, I found this woman, we had these babies and built a legacy. And someone else made it to 62, 64, 65 years. Good for you. That was great. But like, like, I don't want you to feel, I want you to pace yourself, to be like, is this the right one? What turn am I in in my life, am I. The first turn, the second turn, the third turn. And I don't want you to like, be like, it's got to be 60, 70, 40, 30 years. Like, what is that number? Right? I don't know. It's a fun little. It's a fun little, like sports kind of.
- [15:37]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [15:38]
Eric Triplett
Deal to it.
- [15:39]
Jacob Orduno
You don't really know which turn you're at until you see the finish line. Once you see the finish line, once you hit that turn, that's when you know, send all you got and go grab a line.
- [15:51]
Eric Triplett
Well, you know what? I want to talk about that because. Because there's going to be many multiple finish lines in your life. You're 20, I'm approaching 60. Right. So you're going to run a lot of races in your life, and there's going to be times where you're like, you're like training and you're like getting the thing, you know, you're like. And there's gonna be like a race, like, you're gonna have a lot of races in your life. So, like, I don't want you to be like, I'm 68 years old. The finish line, let's go. Like, you're gonna have a lot of those. You're gonna have a lot of those grinding ass races. And so, like, imagine the Triple Crown, which is. It's the Kentucky Derby, it's the Preakness, and then it's the Belmont Stakes, these three amazing races. And like, only a horse that's in, it's like two to three year range can do it. Horse that six can't do it, or sets one can't do it. That horse has to be in. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but there's only a prime in the life that a horse can win a Triple Crown, right? But there's those races that lead up to the fact that they can. They can even enter the. The any of those races. Like, they have to be badass enough to even make it to the Kentucky Derby and then to get a chance to go to the Preakness. And so, like, so you have a lot of races in your life.
- [17:12]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [17:13]
Eric Triplett
So as a human, we think of the finish line is finite. Like, this is the end. And I don't want you to think that way. I want to, like, throw that out there to the world. Like, you're going to have these moments where, like, this is my finish line next month, next year, in three years, in five years, in 10 years. Like, you should be Grinding at that. And you're still going to be 30. You're gonna be 30, bro, at 10 years from now. And you still have, you know, 50 to go.
- [17:42]
Jacob Orduno
So much to go.
- [17:43]
Eric Triplett
You know what I mean? So there's gonna be a lot of these big moment, momentous moments. Like, you have a lot of finish lines, bro.
- [17:50]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, yeah.
- [17:53]
Eric Triplett
Let me. Let me spin something. I wanna. Today, something hit me really important. And as we're working together with some of our team members on a project out of town, working with another crew. And this is your first journey out of town with us. And so when we do A Look Inside the Machine, I take a member of our team that we can be vulnerable and you can praise me, you can tell me I'm a piece of shit. I don't care. You made me mad. A look Inside the machine is what it looks like behind working with the pond digger. And so something hit me really important today, and I really wanted to make it a topic of discussion is expectations. Okay.
- [18:42]
Jacob Orduno
Okay.
- [18:43]
Eric Triplett
And so before I talk, we talk about the expectations of tonight or this weekend or the week that we're working at currently in Las Vegas. I want to go back in time. I know it's hard for you to imagine because you're only 20 years old. It wasn't that far to go back. You know what I mean?
- [19:01]
Advertisement Voice
But
- [19:05]
Eric Triplett
I remember you interviewed for us, and my wife was like, my wife saw something special about you, and she was right. But she's like, you didn't talk to this guy. And you worked at New York Pizzeria. You worked at a pizza place, and you were looking for something different in life. You wanted more out of life, and you were 18 years old, right?
- [19:23]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [19:24]
Eric Triplett
So take us back to that and talk to me about what your expectations were about. I got my first job at the pizza place. And then you had this expectation of what that would be like. And then you had this expectation of, like, where I need to be. And I had this big vision and like. And so, like, kind of walk me through that process and remember, like, the thought is about expectations.
- [19:47]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. So it was my sophomore year of high school. I look around at everybody, a lot of fortunate people, a lot of unfortunate people my age. And I really take notice of all of that. And I'm just right smack in the middle. And I feel like I've always needed more in life, that I've always needed to accomplish more in life. So I would set my expectations to myself at a higher grade than maybe other people at my age would be. And so, sophomore year of high school, everybody has rides, everybody has cars, a lot of friends to go with them, a lot of places to be. And I was kind of stuck locally in my city. So sophomore year, I started looking for a job, and I was able to catch one right at the end. So during summer, after my job hunt, I landed a location at a pizzeria in my city. And so my expectations were I needed to look my best, present myself the best for the interview, speak well, speak right. And so during my interview, I held my own expectations high. I talked really firm, had a firm handshake.
- [20:59]
Eric Triplett
This is at the pizza place.
- [21:00]
Jacob Orduno
This is at the pizza place. I did my best. And so. During the whole interview, the current boss of me and my previous boss at the pizza place, they both had, like, a drive to be better. And that just put the reflection on everybody around them. And so my pizza place boss, when I was younger, he hired me on the spot. He said he liked the way I presented myself, how I spoke, the way I dressed, the way I was. And so he wanted to give me a chance. And so right at that moment, I knew that I got to this stage in my life, getting my first job on my own with very little help from anybody. If I could accomplish that at my age, with my resources, then I could do a lot more. So then I set more expectations for myself at work. And when I would go to work, it would be after school, too. So my junior and my senior year, it was either school and then work or just work or just school. So no days off. So for over a year, I would shine my boots daily after I come home from school, shower, get my clothes ready for school and work, and just have that on repeat. My expectations were to keep my grades high and to keep my ethic at work at a proper rate so I wouldn't fall behind in any category. And throughout the year and a half that I went to school and worked a job, I knew that I could do a lot more later on once school stopped taking my time. So nearing the end of my senior year, I turned 18. And so I really thought to myself that I've met my expectations at the moment. I've been at this good opportunity for a while, but I'm 18 now. I need to set my expectations higher and start looking for another job that would offer more opportunity. And so after I graduated, I was looking around and I was wondering what I would like my future to be. Now, I've always had expectations of having a family and lots of kids and being well off to myself. But I needed to find a stepping stone to help me meet that. And one of my dreams in life is to own a ranch, no matter how big or how small it would be. That's one of my expectations of myself. And the Pond Digger Ranch was hiring for a ranch hand. I'm freshly out of school, I have transportation. It wasn't too far. And so I thought to myself, let me give this a chance. Maybe I won't even like life on a ranch, but you never know until you try. So I did deviate from my expectations of doing my best. And I did the interview applications kind of wrong. I only did the written part instead of the whole two steps, which was a written and a video part. So I did my written interview and I went to the ranch in person to try and get an in person one. And I didn't complete it. So I didn't hold my expectations high enough to complete both of the application processes. But after they were both complete, I got called in and just like my first job at the pizza place, I came in with my Pendleton, my Levi's, my boots shined, my clothes creased, and my hair slicked back. Really nervous as this is something I've never done, but I've always wanted more. So I did my best, had my expectations of my dressing, how I spoke, and how I reacted to everything. So leading up to that moment of being hired, those were my expectations.
- [25:03]
Eric Triplett
So did you see an ad in the paper or how did you find out? How did you know that the Pondago Ranch was hiring?
- [25:09]
Jacob Orduno
I did not see no advertisement, but because I wasn't looking specifically, I was online, using Indeed or LinkedIn, one of those two things, and I saw a ranch hand. And since that's one of my dreams in life is to own a ranch. That intrigued my interest and I did my research. I saw what you guys did on the construction aspect, and then I saw what you guys did at the ranch aspect with animal rehabilitation. And so that really sparked my interest because these are live people doing real things and making real changes. And so I went to pursue that. So it was out of my own curiosity after being able to find an opportunity that led me to find out about the Pawn Digger Ranch.
- [25:59]
Eric Triplett
Okay, fair, fair. So an interesting note I want to put out there to the podcast world or whatever. Is that. Who I was when you met me and who I am today? I'm really the same person. I really am. But my vision and my dreams and my goals have changed since the day I met you, to the day I'M sitting in front of you right now. Okay. And so with that being said, you know, I have my big dreams and expectations of what I want to do and all that, what have you,
- [26:46]
Jacob Orduno
but,
- [26:46]
Eric Triplett
like, you've seen a transformation in me, and I'd like to talk about that at some point in the conversation tonight.
- [26:51]
Jacob Orduno
Most definitely.
- [26:52]
Eric Triplett
Who. Who I was when you met me, who I am today, but. Which is. I'm always, like, I'm always leveling up, trying to figure it out. But, like, it's like, it's. What vehicle am I taking, what ship am I jumping on, what vessel, what vehicle am I moving forward to, like, accomplish my dreams and goals and expectations and the people around me? Like, so it's changed since you came on. So I love that. I love the talk about how, like, you're stepping outside of your comfort zone, you're nervous, and you're making. You're flipping pizza. You know, you're. You're a kid, you're a junior in high school flipping pizza, trying to make money to go, you know, maybe get a whip and go find some, you know, like, you're trying to figure it out, right? Like, you're. You're a kid, bro.
- [27:41]
Israel
You know what I mean?
- [27:42]
Eric Triplett
But. But. But you had this old soul, and you're like, I don't want to just get a girl and, like, one night stand. Like, I'm looking for something deeper. Like, my dad met his. My mom when she was 13. Like, how can I do that? Right? That's the old soul personality that's so special about you. And so go back to you. Come to the ranch and who I was at the time. You. You talked to my wife first, and then she sent you away. How did you feel? And then they called you back, like, hey, you got to come back for a second interview. How did that make you feel? Tell us about that process.
- [28:22]
Jacob Orduno
Okay. So when I arrived to the ranch, I'm all dressed up. I'm rehearsing my own lines. I'm forgetting my lines. But it's all new to me, and I need to advance on it and take my chance and my opportunity. I go to the office. I almost walked to your guys's house because I didn't see the office sign because I was so nervous, and I was contemplating on knocking on the front door. But at the same time, this is a ranch, and I'm a stranger. I look out of place.
- [28:54]
Eric Triplett
You don't want to get shot.
- [28:55]
Jacob Orduno
My head was all over the place, and my eyes were looking for bullets. But last second that's expectations.
- [29:05]
Eric Triplett
I expect if I go knock on that door, I'm gonna get shot. Yeah. That's what the podcast is about tonight. It's about you and. And the behind the machine, look inside the machine. But, like, it's about expectations.
- [29:16]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. So my expectations were all over the place.
- [29:24]
Israel
Yeah.
- [29:25]
Jacob Orduno
Went to the office, I knocked on the door. No response for maybe 30 seconds. I'm like, okay, let me knock one more time. I didn't even know if you guys were open or not. I was so nervous, I forgot to check what time you guys closed. And right when I was about to turn away and start walking back, the door opens and a lovely lady stepped out. Though it wasn't your wife, it was Kathy Jo. She's just, hey, what's going on? Are you looking for anything? I'm like, yeah, I'm looking to speak to somebody about the hiring process here. And she's like, oh, did you already apply? I'm like, yeah, I did the written application. And then she told me, did you finish the video too? And I said, no, I just did the application and then just drove straight here. And she told me to do the video application and then maybe we'll give a call back.
- [30:25]
Eric Triplett
Okay, okay. Okay. I like this. This is good.
- [30:27]
Jacob Orduno
So my expectations of myself was, okay, I've already made an impression, but I already messed up by doing unfinished work. So I'm expected to finish the video and then hopefully I'll get a call back, I go home, I get ready again, I reevaluate myself, and I'm just straight nervous. I'm shaking. It's just so much worse for me doing a video interview than an in person interview for some reason. And so I got through the video interview. Surprisingly, I did it completely. You can sell how nervous and shaky I was in the video, but I still did it. And then the next morning at 7:59am, I wake up. No alarm clock, no nothing. Just 7:59am and I'm just sitting there in bed. And then 8:00 clock hits a phone call right that second, like out of nowhere, like the stars aligned for that. And I expected it to be them answered asap. I never answered phone numbers that I don't know. I answered it asap and it was with the pond digger saying that I have an interview and I expected it to be sometime the following week or in a few days, but they said that they could do it that morning. So I ran out my bed, I went and started creasing up my Levi's, my white shirt my Pendleton, it's 90 degrees out and I'm wearing a woolen flannel outside. And then drove straight out there. Woke up my dad, dad, we need to go right now. Went up there, and I'm walking back the same road. I'm not going towards the house this time. I'm going towards the office. And I expected myself to be twice as better as I was last time. Showing up unannounced, not knowing where to go and not knowing who to talk to. And I walked to the office. I shake Kathy Jo's hand, and then Eric and Leslie come out and we go to one of the tables to do an interview. And I didn't know what I was expecting at that moment. So many things were moving through my head.
- [32:51]
Eric Triplett
Okay, this is cool. That's cool. So. But you anticipated more out of your life. You're like. You knew. You knew, like, Pete's flipping peas was just a stepping stone to where you were going, right?
- [33:04]
Jacob Orduno
Most definitely.
- [33:06]
Eric Triplett
Okay. I had so many questions they ask and, like, so many visions of the future with you. That's really cool. So tell me about the interview process. Because. Because the way I interviewed you was me a year and a half.
- [33:27]
Jacob Orduno
Year and a half.
- [33:28]
Eric Triplett
So the way I interviewed people a year and a half ago is way different. Way different than the way I interview people today. Like, I have one question that eliminates 90% of the people that I talk to. Yeah. That I. Close the door immediately. One question. Close the door or, like, step on in. So I didn't. I didn't know any better with you. So, you know, my expectations was like, let's talk about my expectations. I needed. I need to. I need to support my wife and that certain division of our business with my wife. And for whatever reason, she already talked to you. Maybe. I don't know why she knew you. She was like, I want you to talk to this guy. Because usually, like, people gotta go through a couple of, you know, they gotta go through a couple steps to get to me to, like, interview, right?
- [34:16]
Jacob Orduno
Yep.
- [34:17]
Eric Triplett
And so, like, I had a feeling they had already talked to you a couple times, and then it was coming to me, and I had to make a decision. But maybe I'm wrong.
- [34:26]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, I had.
- [34:28]
Eric Triplett
Yeah. He's like, yeah, you're wrong. Yeah, you're wrong, fool. You're wrong.
- [34:34]
Jacob Orduno
I didn't speak to anybody beforehand at all until the time I knocked on the office door and I talked to Kathy Joe briefly. So there was no foreknowledge about me.
- [34:49]
Eric Triplett
Okay, fair enough. Tell me more about this, this interview process that you experienced.
- [34:54]
Jacob Orduno
So what I could remember through being all nervous and shaky and forgetting everything, it was a pretty solid and straightforward interview. One of the main questions were how did I find out about you guys? And another question is why did I choose here? And that's where my answer sparked. One of the main reasons why I chose to apply to that place to be a ranch hand at your guys ranch is because like I said before, my dream is to own a ranch. But I also want to know the experience of something before I dedicate my whole life to it. Because I might not even be suited or fit to live a life like that. And so it was something new, something completely out of my safe space. I've been raised in the city, in the ghetto. I've never ridden a horse, I've never been to a ranch. But something about the countryside of life has always stuck out to me. And when I want something in life, I do everything I can to get it. And this is one of those things I wanted to get. So after answering that question, the questions deviated more towards that aspect of answering questions and getting questioned by. So my follow up questions were, what are my favorite guns? What kind of music do? I did?
- [36:22]
Eric Triplett
I asked you what your favorite gun was?
- [36:23]
Jacob Orduno
Oh yeah, you did.
- [36:24]
Eric Triplett
Oh shit.
- [36:26]
Jacob Orduno
And with no forehand, with no knowledge beforehand.
- [36:29]
Eric Triplett
That sounds like me.
- [36:33]
Jacob Orduno
And nothing spoken about that beforehand either. But I was a gun nerd.
- [36:39]
Eric Triplett
You did not expect that.
- [36:40]
Jacob Orduno
I didn't expect it, but I know lots of guns. That's what really shook me. But then I started naming out the classics. M16 an M1911 Cole, M240B light machine gun. Just something simple.
- [37:01]
Eric Triplett
God damn.
- [37:02]
Jacob Orduno
That was a spark that lit inside of me.
- [37:05]
Eric Triplett
So. So you didn't expect that.
- [37:07]
Jacob Orduno
Completely unexpected.
- [37:08]
Eric Triplett
But how did it make you feel?
- [37:09]
Jacob Orduno
Like at that moment, like it made me feel comfortable. Like you guys were real people instead of just a robotic person. Yeah, like I'm talking to an actual person, not just a corporate company.
- [37:23]
Eric Triplett
Did I ask you what your favorite cuss word was?
- [37:25]
Jacob Orduno
You did, you did.
- [37:27]
Eric Triplett
I did. Okay. Okay. Well, what's your favorite cuss word?
- [37:30]
Jacob Orduno
My favorite cuss word was.
- [37:36]
Eric Triplett
Well, you know that, that a moment like that is to be like, hey, we're real people. You know, we go through real stuff. We're, we, we want, we want a corporate vibe because we want to like, we want to build and grow and we want, we want to, we want to build together. We want you to. We want, we want to grow. We want you to grow with us. And so we have to have that corporate kind of vibe. But we also want to be like, what the is your favorite cuss word? You know, like we, we want to be like. And they're like, oh, he says bad words like, yeah. So you didn't expect that completely unexpected. But that moment, you're like, oh, okay, yeah. And you're like, were you like, wait, is this a trick question? Should I answer him or should I, like, be proper?
- [38:19]
Jacob Orduno
I feel like it was a double sided question. Half, not really a trick, but just to see how I would respond to that. Because you could always tell when somebody lies, when somebody gives you some bullshit just to be shown on a pedestal that's not really there. And so when I was asked that question, it hit me like, oh, fuck. But at the same time, I'm not going to lie and be something I'm not. I'm going to give a straight answer. And if that answer leads me to going to the next step or turning around, then so be it. But that question really did throw me off. But then I got all excited because I knew that these people were some people that I could be around.
- [39:03]
Israel
Okay,
- [39:06]
Eric Triplett
that's good. That's good. I can appreciate that. So moving forward, we didn't hire you on the spot, right? Did we?
- [39:15]
Jacob Orduno
I had a little trial the fall, the weekend of. So that was like Tuesday or Thursday or Tuesday. It was Monday to Tuesday, like in the beginning of the week. And I was given a little trial for that weekend. So that Saturday and Sunday to work and see how things go.
- [39:34]
Eric Triplett
Okay, this is important. So this is not uncommon. So a lot of times when I'm, when I hire someone, I'll be like, I don't know if I'm going to like you. You don't know if you're like me. Let's figure out how this might work. Like, can we, can we work for a weekend or two? Or sometimes like, hey, I like you, I like your vibe. Go 30 days and see if we like each other like that. And at the end, 30 days, let's have a conversation. And like, you can either say like, I'm an and this or. Or like, this is not really what I'm gonna do with my life. I don't like this. Or I'd be like, you know, you don't work out. Like we can have a conversation, right?
- [40:12]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [40:14]
Eric Triplett
So I try and create that vibe. Or at least I did and you do a couple years ago. Today I'm like, I'm more laser focused today. Like today, if you want to interview with me, I'm like, I know what I want. I know I'm going. I know what my team members expect. Like, expectations are really defined. They're defined, they're sharp. I don't want to be like, I don't know. I'm not trying to be an. I'm like, they're sharp. They're like, I know exactly where I'm going. If you like this path, like, come on in with us. If you're, like, questionable, like, then. Then you don't need to be here. Let's go in the path and, like, let's hit the target. So when I hired you, I was a little bit more like, yeah, I. I think I know people. I like old soul, kind people. That's probably what vibed me with you. And this could be off, off, off topic, off the moment, but Chicano, you got. You got nice creases on your Levi's. Your shit's tight. Like, in fact, when I was packing my bags for this weekend, I knew you were coming with me. I had some wrinkled clothes and I was like, man, I think there's an expectation that, like, Jacob's gonna be like, why is your not tight? Like. And I felt like. I felt like you would hold me accountable. I really did. Like, the pants I wore today, like, they're cool pants, but they, like, they showed wrinkles. And I was like, man, this is not going to look good to Jacob. But, like, I packed at midnight. You know what I mean?
- [41:51]
Narrator/Host
Like, let's go.
- [41:52]
Eric Triplett
So I think you make me a better person from me understanding what your expectations are. So I guess the point I'm landing on is when you came on with us, you didn't know what to expect, right?
- [42:11]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. No, Nothing to expect in a new line of work in a completely different type of lifestyle.
- [42:21]
Eric Triplett
So tell us about that. Like, so we gave you a little trial process because, in fact, I had a. I had the new. The newest, new hire that we had. I'm like, we're gonna try 30 days. We'll see how it goes. And the guy before him, I was like, we're gonna try 30 days and see how it goes. And I hired. I let him go in two weeks. I'm like, this is not going to work. I already know I'm really laser focused. So it's really interesting because I want to. I want to know. You're flipping pizzas. We saw something in you with the creased lines in your jeans, your shined up shoes, your nice handshake. And your eye contact like, this guy's serious. We feel the old soul. We felt that about you. You're flipping pizzas and you're like, I'll shovel manure or whatever it takes. I want a ranch one day. So you went, you literally went from flipping pizza and spinning dough in the air and taking care of customers and throwing pepperoni on cheese to shoveling horseshit. Help us understand what that even looks like and why some people are, you know, like, people like you went, you're shoveling horse manure. Like, why is that?
- [43:33]
Jacob Orduno
Okay, so one way to look at it is, is there's two sets of stairs in life. On one set, there's small steps that you could slowly walk up comfortably and easily. And you'll get to the top of the stairs at some point. You don't know how long it'll take. You can't see the finish line up there, but gradually by each little step, you'll make it up there. And then on the other side of a staircase, it's these big blocky, rough blocks that are all different shapes and sizes, but you can see the finish line there. You'll know what it will take and how much of it is going to take from you to get to it. So flipping the pizzas is like the staircase on the left with the little stairs. If you flip pizzas, you start getting used to it and then you can move on to making the dough and then becoming the cashier and then becoming a manager. Slowly by slowly, you could walk up those little stair steps and start gradually getting up there towards the finish line. Now, you don't know where that finish line is at because one day a virus might shut down the country or the next day your boss could pass away and nobody's there to take over the business. Or another day you just get fired because something happens. And on the other side is starting on the very bottom step. That's a big boulder that you need to climb up with all of your strength. That's lower than the step that you started from on the left staircase. But you can see the finish line. So I went from a nice, clean, air conditioned atmosphere with good smelling food and seeing lots of people to shoveling horse manure in the hot sun. That's all dusty, but I could see the finish line there. So I stepped down from my few steps at the pizzeria place and I started from the bottom trying to climb up the big rough step, doing all those things. And one of the big things about me too is that I have asthma and I have allergies. And at the time. Right now, I'm 20 years old. I'm 5 6, and I'm 115 pounds. So I'm very light, but I'm very strong. So I'm out in the heat with asthma and allergies, allergic to everything. I could barely breathe. But I'm still pulling my weight at the ranch and doing all that work because I could see the finish line there. What I want in life is my own ranch. But I need to see how that life is first. So that was my way of climbing one of the big steps on the right staircase.
- [46:31]
Eric Triplett
You still want your own ranch?
- [46:32]
Jacob Orduno
One day, I want it even more nice.
- [46:36]
Eric Triplett
Okay, cool. So one of the things we do is we like to. We like to give a lot of autonomy to people. Like, this is what we expect. This is what the. This is what the finish line looks like. Help us get there. This is the path we want to take. And you didn't never. You never pulled a trailer before, right?
- [46:58]
Jacob Orduno
No, I have not.
- [46:59]
Eric Triplett
So we're like, get on the gator, put the manure in this trailer, drive it up to here and use a spreader and, like, you know, back it up into the spot, like.
- [47:11]
Israel
Yeah, it sounds pretty cool.
- [47:13]
Eric Triplett
Yeah.
- [47:13]
Israel
Yeah. I can say something.
- [47:18]
Eric Triplett
What do you got, Israel?
- [47:19]
Israel
I came from warehouse job inside all the time, doing the same over and over. I got a call for the. From Pondinger. Kenzie Joe called me.
- [47:34]
Eric Triplett
She called you?
- [47:35]
Israel
And my daughter answered, and she was like, hey, this is Animal. How can I help you? My daughter said that, you know, so I kind of. That was kind of like a hint. Later on in life, I realized that this is Animal. How can I help you?
- [47:51]
Eric Triplett
You know, my daughter.
- [47:52]
Israel
My daughter said that she's Animal seven, you know, and Cassie Joe, I tried talking to K. Jo. She's like, hey, can I. Can you come in for an interview? Yeah. So I went for interview, met Eric. He gave me a few questions, like, hey, this is what we do. Beautiful, beautiful advertisements of waterfalls on the ranch. I didn't expect that. I'm. I'm a nature guy. You know what I mean? So I was like, yeah, I can do that. If I can make that, I. It will.
- [48:30]
Eric Triplett
Yeah.
- [48:31]
Israel
Yeah.
- [48:31]
Jacob Orduno
You know what I mean?
- [48:32]
Israel
Like, and he gave me the opportunity to do that, and I appreciate that.
- [48:41]
Jacob Orduno
Let's go.
- [48:41]
Israel
I appreciate that, boss.
- [48:42]
Eric Triplett
Yeah. Yeah, let's go.
- [48:44]
Israel
And I came from a warehouse job. No sunshine at all. You know, I mean, nothing. And I come to a Pawnigger. I get daylight all the time. Even sometimes more than I want. Okay.
- [49:00]
Eric Triplett
But that's just what it is.
- [49:02]
Israel
That's what I signed up for, you know, and I was lucky enough to get hard back. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Again.
- [49:11]
Eric Triplett
Yeah, yeah.
- [49:13]
Israel
But hey, I'm glad to be back.
- [49:17]
Eric Triplett
Hey, it's Triplett here.
- [49:18]
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- [50:54]
Eric Triplett
Jacob, I want to dig deep into expectations because I feel like this is the main topic. It's cool to get to know you, but I think the topic of expectations is like the important factor. Right? So first of all, you went from kid in high school to getting like a real job like outside of like flipping pizzas. And I commend you for that, going to that. But like what are your, what were your expectations? Like I'm gonna get a job and this is what I expect to happen in my life. And like I don't want this to be like. The fact that entitlement, like I expect you to do this, I'm gonna do that for you and you're gonna do this for me. Like I wanna, I'm curious if you had this entitlement factor to you at all or you're like, I expect I'm going To work this much for this long, to get to this. Because today, in today's age, not old soul people, like, that's why we hired you, because we had this feeling about this old soul in you. The new soul kids, like, they're like, oh, I expect I'm going to work for five minutes and you're going to give me a raise. Like, right?
- [52:12]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [52:12]
Eric Triplett
So I'm really curious about what your expectations were from going to flipping pizzas as a student in high school to like, wow, I'm moving into adulthood and I have a real job.
- [52:26]
Jacob Orduno
So my expectations of myself is that I always got to keep moving forward and keep moving up. When I got the job for the ranch hand at your ranch, my expectations of myself was to learn as much as I could. I wasn't really too focused on the amount of money I was making because I feel like knowledge and experience.
- [52:47]
Eric Triplett
But we matched what you were making
- [52:49]
Jacob Orduno
as a. Yeah, I made more working at the ranch.
- [52:54]
Eric Triplett
Yeah.
- [52:54]
Jacob Orduno
But I expected myself to get knowledge and get experience of what life on a ranch would be.
- [53:04]
Eric Triplett
It met your expectations, right?
- [53:06]
Jacob Orduno
It met my expectations, yes. Cool. My other expectations throughout my life at that moment was how do I build something upon this? Because there's only so much you could do and so much you could learn before you hit a holding point financially and knowledge wise. After a year of being a ranch hand, you know a lot. How to care for animals, how to care for buildings, how to build many things, how to solve problems. But after you do that repetitively, there's really no learning left to do because you've already retained all of that knowledge through time and experience. And so my expectations were to figure out how to move up in the pond. Digger. And so that's when I would start asking questions about other positions and maybe if I could do multiple just so I could expand my knowledge and get more information on what I could make for my own future and my own expectation of having a family and a ranch soon in my later years in life.
- [54:19]
Eric Triplett
Okay, so we gave you a lot of autonomy really, really quick.
- [54:23]
Jacob Orduno
Yes.
- [54:23]
Eric Triplett
Because that's the way we move. Because things are happening too fast.
- [54:27]
Jacob Orduno
Right.
- [54:28]
Eric Triplett
It's like, you handle this and, and we're going to give you capacity and, and autonomy. Like, handle this. Get it done. Share with me something. It's gonna be fun. Share with me something that we gave you the leash. Like, hey, run with this. Sometimes my wife will give you a leash that I don't, I don't agree with sometimes because she's trying to take stuff off my plate. But I do have this bigger vision, and maybe I don't explain it well enough, but, like, sometimes my wife will. Like, we need to get this done, even though my husband might have a different vision. Like, so, like, I. I'm. I'm being transparent about that. It's part of my core values. And, like, you're running with something, and you have an expectation, and then I come in potentially and say, like, this is not what I want. And so you have an expectation, and I come in and kind of crush your. Like, you have this vision. Like, I'm crushing it. I'm doing exactly what they want. And I come in like, what the are you doing? Like, this is not. No, it. Stop everything right now. Like, yeah, you have a moment that you can share with us.
- [55:42]
Jacob Orduno
I've had a few. I've had a few, though I can't clearly remember them all completely. We'd have to get back to that later on in this podcast.
- [55:56]
Eric Triplett
Okay, okay. But.
- [56:00]
Narrator/Host
But.
- [56:01]
Eric Triplett
But tell me how that makes you feel. Like. Like there's experiences. You can't say, oh, it was the Chicken Hut. Like, maybe that I was. On April 27 and 2024, this happened. Like, Well, I don't even know specifics. Yeah, but what is. How does it make you feel? Like. Like, I feel like I'm crushing it. And then they come in and they. I expect that I'm crushing it, and they're going to, like, give me pats on the back and dab me up
- [56:25]
Jacob Orduno
and go, like, I see.
- [56:26]
Eric Triplett
Let me give you a bunch of money because you fucking were great. And then I'm like, what the. It's going on around here?
- [56:32]
Jacob Orduno
Like, so there has been moments where I'm crushing it. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm doing so good right now. They're going to be so proud. I feel like I'm fulfilling the expectations of today, and then it's completely opposite. I was doing it the wrong way. Nobody caught me in time because I already completed it. But that doesn't make me feel bad in a negative way.
- [56:59]
Eric Triplett
Wait, wait. Is that because of some. Because of my delivery?
- [57:04]
Jacob Orduno
I don't feel bad when my expectations and delivery is different from. From yours. Because I get to see it from your perspective, in your eyes, the way you deliver. You're like, this isn't what we wanted or needed. Let's get it done right. We got to redo it. And I'm like, okay, I see where you're coming from. I'm not upset about that, because now I know now I know what your expectations.
- [57:30]
Eric Triplett
Is it because I delivered it and because, like, my wife and I. I want to be clear. I'm being totally transparent. We have a lot of moving parts, a lot of, like, glass balls and chainsaws that we're juggling, and my wife might want to make a move that she feels important, and she might, like, push in a direction without. With my. Without my, like, engineering part, let's say. Let's just say that. And so she might try and move in a direction of like, hey, I need to. I need to make an adjustment. And so that might upset me. And so, like, I have to, like, hold myself to not make her upset because I still have sex with this woman. You know what I mean? Like, like, we like each other and,
- [58:18]
Israel
like, she's the one that matters.
- [58:19]
Eric Triplett
I gotta pick my battles. You know what I mean? Like, and then. And then also, like, I don't wanna. I can. I can look where you have in this old soul mentality, and you're like, I know what the vision is, and I'm going to get it done. However, the vision hasn't been explained to you properly because maybe my wife and I aren't, like, aligned in the. In the delivery of it. And. But. But this is like. Like today, we're a lot. We're a lot closer than we were a year and a half ago when you started. So, like, I feel like we can deliver the. The vision a lot more clear and precise than we were 18 months ago when you started. So you. You caught us at this really interesting pivot in our. In our life, and I want to talk about that too.
- [59:12]
Jacob Orduno
Okay. I would say that the way you deliver things plays a crucial role, as when something goes unplanned or not to your liking or desire, you're not just like, what the. Why'd you do this? This is some piece of. Sometimes, no, very, very rarely. But when something bad happens or something goes wrong, you're not like a. What the. You dumbass. Go over there. You're like, okay, this is up. This is why. How are we gonna fix it? You go into problem solving mode. And that also explains to me what your expectations are and the reasoning behind everything, behind the scenes of everything else that nobody sees.
- [60:02]
Eric Triplett
Totally our fault. I mean. I mean, I really want to be clear on this. Like, back. Backpedal. Eight. Not. Not even eight. Like, it's May right now. It's five months. Backpedal six months to who we are today. Like, can we talk about who I was six months Ago who I am today.
- [60:27]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, we can. Six months ago, I would say that you were in a. The same. Not the same, but you're in a winning state of mind. But you're more contempt with things as of right now, as of May 2026, you're more like, okay, how do we grow? How do we get better? We're more focused on growing instead of staying in the same place. So six months ago, when something bad happened, it'd be like, okay, let's fix it and let's move on to the next thing, and then let's go find something else to get going again. But nowadays it's f. We up, we need to fix it. How do we make it better so this doesn't happen again? And how do we make something else better?
- [61:22]
Eric Triplett
Okay, fair. I want to get even more granular on this. I want to really dive into something deeper. I hope it's okay with you, because I'm not even at this. I don't have a timeline. But you told me, like, hey, I got a homie that needs a job. I think you'll like him. We have a lot of same values, and I think you'll like him. And I was like, okay, send him in and we'll talk to him. And we hired him. And. And this not. This is not a. This is learning experience.
- [62:05]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [62:05]
Eric Triplett
Like, we can say his name if you want to. I don't give a. But, like, homie comes in, we hire him because. Because. Not because we, like, we vet. We like, vetted him through you. You're like, hey, I vet this guy. And we liked him. We hired him. Okay. And I don't know how long he was here. You can correct me if you know exactly.
- [62:31]
Jacob Orduno
I would say around a little less than five months.
- [62:36]
Eric Triplett
I was going to say six months. Yeah, he was here for six months. And he was fine. He wasn't amazing. He didn't light the world up. He wasn't you, but he was. He was. He was a good worker. He was head on straight. And then he meets a girl. Girl has a father. Father's like, come work at our shop. I'll pay you four more dollars an hour. I'm like. He comes to me, he's like, hey, I got a. I got a job offer. I'm gonna make four more dollars an hour than you. He's 20 years old. I'm like, bro, knock yourself out. It's great.
- [63:16]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [63:16]
Eric Triplett
If you want to be in a warehouse all day driving a forklift, you know, listen to your girlfriend's dad. Knock yourself out. Like, like, let's think about expectations of that. What are your expectations? Like I wasn't mad at all. I wasn't mad at you, I wasn't mad at him. I just accepted that and like, okay, what's our next move to move forward on our business? So I'm just being transparent with you because transparency is one of my core values of my business today. Of our business.
- [63:49]
Jacob Orduno
Yep.
- [63:49]
Eric Triplett
Cuz it's not my business with, without you, I, I don't even have a business.
- [63:53]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [63:54]
Eric Triplett
Okay. I can make some money and I can make customers happy. But like I don't have an empire. I don't have something big. So without people, I'm nothing. But
- [64:10]
Advertisement Voice
I,
- [64:12]
Eric Triplett
I thought I might lose you when, when he was leaving. I'm making four more dollars an hour because like as a 20 year old kid to go from 18, 19, $20 an hour to $24 an hour, that's a big jump.
- [64:29]
Jacob Orduno
It's a very big jump.
- [64:31]
Eric Triplett
It's a, it's a big jump. And I'm not mad, I'm not mad at you know the guy that sounds like starts with I. Oh get it boy, get it. Get him. Like, yeah, I don't mean to name his name. I'm just having fun. I'm not, I'm not mad at him because he, he was going to make four more dollars an hour for someone else. But like the old soul personality is like I wanna, I wanna mentor under someone even if I make less money for a while to like to see how that, that inside look, look behind the machine works. Like I'm gonna get behind the machine. He's like, he's like, I'm gonna make four more dollars an hour tomorrow and I'm gonna work behind, I'm gonna work underneath the dad of the girl that I in the car that he doesn't know I'm his daughter. And, and like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, like I took her up to the flats and I. His daughter, but he don't know it, you know, like it's funny, right? So when, when I had this expectation. Let's get, let's get back to the expectation. Like I expect I'm gonna lose, I'm gonna lose Jacob because he's gonna make two or three more dollars an hour somewhere else and he's gonna find more value in that than the value of writing our line, writing our values, writing our vision. And I was wrong. I was, I was 100% wrong,
- [66:08]
Israel
but
- [66:08]
Eric Triplett
I was 100% right. Because when we Hired you. We were like, this guy's an old soul and he sees something, like, deeper, and he wants to be more aligned and he wants to, like, ride the line. He wants to ride the lightning, bro. Like, that's what we. That's why we hired you. And even though I was like, fuck, we're going to lose him because his homie's leaving, I was wrong.
- [66:32]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, you were wrong in that aspect, but there's no blame towards that. Me and him, we helped each other. We graduated high school from each other. We've helped build each other up. We've given each other opportunities to be better financially, mentally and physically. We're really tight. We're really close.
- [66:56]
Eric Triplett
Still to this day.
- [66:57]
Jacob Orduno
Still to this day. It doesn't matter how long it's been. How's he doing, how far? He's doing really well right now.
- [67:03]
Eric Triplett
I wanted. I wanted to do good. Yeah, I want him to win so bad.
- [67:07]
Jacob Orduno
One of the things that happened that was really pivotal is when he got the job offer, he was debating on taking it or not. And me working at the pond Digger, I wouldn't say I went against the pond Digger, and I'm not saying I went for him or against my friend, but I told him to take the job offer because it sounded like it aligned with something that he would enjoy more. Though he worked pretty well, he wasn't the brightest star out the sky.
- [67:40]
Eric Triplett
He is. He want a ranch when he grows up.
- [67:42]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, we have different values. We have different expectations of we want. He felt like he'd have more fun and enjoy doing forklifts, wrapping pallets, receiving stuff, shipping stuff out, meeting people, coming and going, and then being closer to family. Those expectations are differently aligned with mine is I want to build something. I want to be able to make something of my own and have a legacy, not just through my family, but through my line of work.
- [68:21]
Eric Triplett
It's hard to do on a forklift.
- [68:23]
Jacob Orduno
It's hard to do on a forklift. Though it may be doable. I just see a different light to it. But both of our expectations is to make more money, to have more time for ourselves and our family. But we felt like we're expected somewhere else as we are both raised differently. Different cultures, different sides of a generation and different ways of viewing things. Our expectation is to make money, but in different aspects and different lines of work. Now, I was offered a job to make a pretty good amount of money, more than what I was making at the time working for the Pond digger, but I didn't take that offer because I felt like it didn't align with me and who I am as a person, that I wouldn't reach my expectations of myself the way I want to. Even if it was the staircase on the left, that. Smaller and easier steps that I could just run up, I wanted to stay on my path on the right side of the staircase and keep moving, rough block by rough block, because I could see that finish line and where I need to go.
- [69:37]
Eric Triplett
This is exactly where I want to be with you right now. This is exactly where I want to be. So when you're. When. When Isaiah. Let's just be real.
- [69:51]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [69:52]
Eric Triplett
I love Isaiah. I want. I want him to win. I really wanted to win. When Isaiah went somewhere else, his. His. Like, his heart and soul was like, I don't really care about ranches and horses and, like, I don't care what that looks like. And acreage. Maybe he's a, you know, buy a beautiful home in a track home.
- [70:14]
Israel
Yeah.
- [70:14]
Jacob Orduno
Nice cars.
- [70:16]
Eric Triplett
Yeah. And raised three babies, and, like, maybe that's. Yeah, that's where he wants to land. Like, that's different than your expectations of life. And his. Like, that's cool. Like, I don't care.
- [70:25]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [70:26]
Eric Triplett
So when he left, I was. I was like, as a business owner, I'm just being transparent. I was like, you saw me play pool with you tonight.
- [70:35]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [70:36]
Eric Triplett
I showed you strategy.
- [70:37]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [70:38]
Eric Triplett
Checkers versus chess.
- [70:40]
Jacob Orduno
And, like, looking deeper into.
- [70:43]
Eric Triplett
Yeah. And remember, the obvious choice was not the choice I went with, and I won.
- [70:47]
Jacob Orduno
Yep.
- [70:48]
Eric Triplett
You remember that?
- [70:48]
Jacob Orduno
Yes, I do.
- [70:49]
Eric Triplett
Okay. So that was. That was a really important. That's important factor. So it's really interesting how, you know, he went. He went this direction because it was easy. It was an easy choice for you. It's not so easy because you want a ranch. You want, you know, maybe the acreage and the lifestyle and, like, you want that. Right. So that anchored you a little bit tighter, but it was easier for you to be like, hey, I can make more money. Like, I like. And. And the economy's rough. It's hard. We're California. Like, they tax us to breathe. God damn. Yeah, you newsome. God damn. Chad Bianco. Let's go. So, you know, like, I wrestle. I have to. I have to, like, show you the potential enough to hold you back, but to let the reins go, enough to go. To allow you to leave if it's necessary to make 3, 4 more dollars an hour to run a forklift inside
- [72:00]
Jacob Orduno
a, you know, warehouse.
- [72:03]
Eric Triplett
A warehouse that's grinding you all day long. Like, you know, what I mean like, I have to like, God, I hold you tight enough because I, I think there's a lot of potential. You run with me and help me grow my business and help me grow you to let you go. Like, so talk to me about that.
- [72:22]
Jacob Orduno
So I feel like one of the things that you have that very few people in this age, especially business owners have is that love and personality for what you're doing and how you want to bring everybody with you to the top. You're not just making something for your own. You want to make something that you could provide for people close to you. And that's something that I really expect and that I really admire. You're the type of person to build a whole community on your plot of land instead of just one really big house is you want other people to thrive and flourish with you instead of looking down on everybody. That's something that holds me greatly because if somebody like you can win and have the choice to bring somebody up with you, to win with you, even if that means that you don't gain as much as other people would by doing it themselves, that's something that really holds me tight because that's the type of person that I am too. And I feel like that aligns with me more and that gives me the expectation that if I can move up along this company with you, that you'll move up my life along with this company and you. And so we both could provide for each other and make each other grow and give this company an opportunity to grow for other people as well. So that's one of the big things that hold me with the reins, but give me enough leverage to make my own decision as I do have choices that would make more sense financially, especially at my age and the amount of opportunities that I have. But I feel like this is one of the opportunities that people rarely get ever in life. So that's my say on that.
- [74:30]
Eric Triplett
This moment right here is. Maybe a little self serving because I, I feel like I'm in a prime and I feel like I'm in a, a real movement to grow. And I also feel like I'm in a real movement to teach. And you know, I'm, I'm not a company that has 150 employees that you don't meet them, you know, you don't even talk to the owner. Yeah, I'm in this one unique spot where I'm like moments away from having, having a staff that interviews new people that I never even meet for 5, 6, 7, 12 months a year more you know, I don't even know who's working for me. I'm really close to that level. But also I'm like, still at the level where, like, I gotta talk to the new guy. I got an interview. And so I feel like you're at that interesting point. I don't know if it's why, by design from God above or on accident. And maybe you see it. I don't know why you see it. Because you're an old soul. Like, you know, you need to land. And so maybe you, you were offered 3, 4, 5, fucking $10 an hour more to work for someone else than me. Like, I don't know. But like, you, you decided to ride the lightning with us. And it's really interesting to me. And I want to, I want to pause because let's, let's pick it, let's pick a time frame. Right now we're in May, May last year. You're like, maybe Isaiah, in the past six or 12 months was, was gonna go work for someone else at a warehouse pushing pallets. Pushing pallets, yeah. What's, what's fun about that? Like, when we, when we do cry when we're done.
- [76:36]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [76:36]
Eric Triplett
Men cry when we're done building waterfalls. And like.
- [76:40]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [76:40]
Eric Triplett
People are moved by touching people's lives. So there's a moment where you're like, I can go make more money by like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ride this train. Which is not normal. It's admirable. At the same point, like, there's there a moment, like, from like pick six months past and six months to now to I've changed a lot in that past 12 months. Not 12 months exactly. I can literally say the end of February.
- [77:17]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, it was around end of February.
- [77:20]
Eric Triplett
And we're in, in the end of May. Like, I've come in harder. Have, like, what were your expectations? You're like, I didn't expect this. Were you like, okay, he showed up, like, tell me how that felt.
- [77:36]
Jacob Orduno
So my expectations of you throughout the future of the pond, Digger, is that you're going to continue to grow. You're going to continue to be on it, on top of everything, and that you'll be more tighter and stricter with the programs that you're running here. So my expectations were that you're going to grow, get stricter, but you did it in a quality way. It was sort of not an overnight, but more of a build up from the way that you were changing the machine. You're switching out the gears of how we do Certain things of how we run processes. Just a gradual change, but a major change day by day, week by week. Not through your own, but through everybody putting in their input towards everything. What was your question?
- [78:43]
Eric Triplett
So I, like, I went from. We had a once a week meeting, like, every Tuesday. We'd meet in the morning, and all the team members would get there. And then I immediately, like, threw that to the wind. We're meeting every day.
- [79:00]
Jacob Orduno
Yep.
- [79:01]
Eric Triplett
So you went from, like, flipping pizza. You probably never had a team meeting. No, you know what I mean? And then, like, all of a sudden, every Tuesday, we meet in the morning for half an hour, 49 minutes, and we talk about. We air out. And then a year later, we change the meeting style up to be like, boom, all team meeting every day, 15 minutes. What are we winning? What's our targets? How close are we to target? How far are we away? What do we got to do to get there? Like, like. Yeah, you've witnessed the whole thing.
- [79:35]
Jacob Orduno
I've witnessed a lot of changes in a short time.
- [79:37]
Eric Triplett
So, like, you didn't expect that?
- [79:39]
Jacob Orduno
No, not in the way that it happened, but I expected the growth and changes. But the way you grew and the way you changed was tremendous. Like an unexpected expected trait because it
- [80:00]
Eric Triplett
went from Isaiah leaving, and you're like, should I leave too? Like, don't bullshit me. Like, tell me straight the up. When Isaiah left, you're like, okay, maybe I should leave or ask for more money or whatever I should do, because what am I? How. What's my future look like? Have I learned enough from these guys to know what a ranch style looks like? And is this. Is this what my life's gonna look like 20 years from now with four kids? Like, you know what I mean?
- [80:29]
Jacob Orduno
Like, yeah.
- [80:30]
Eric Triplett
So this is really important because you had the. You had The. The knowledge and the. The foresight and the vision to be like, pause or move.
- [80:45]
Jacob Orduno
So I'll tell you one of the crucial moments that happened when he got the job offer. It was me and Isaiah, and we were. He's six feet something. So we're six feet down a hole, digging in straight rock in Retro Cucamonga, barely any dirt. Straight rock and hand tool. Patrick Kill Patrick. The toughest job I've ever done. We're down in the hole, we're dirty, our hands are stressed, our arms are vibrating, we're frustrated, and we're just talking to each other about the job offer. He told me that the email came in, he has the offer, that he's thinking about taking it, and then he's telling me that I'm able to get in as well. And we both could be making a big amount of money compared to what we're making down in that hole. Hitting rocks at 6am and I thought about it. I'm like, there's not really much room to grow over there. Yeah, you're going to get started off high, which is good, especially for our age in this economy. But that's something that I couldn't align myself with. I'm more of a. Take it slow. Let me read the room real quick before I make a decision. Let me weigh my, weigh my options in. And he's the same apple in a different batch. He's seeing how much he's making now that's more connected to family. He's able to make a lot more money than he was making. So it wasn't a wrong decision for him to take that route as it was a smarter route. But that route for me wasn't what I felt like I needed to do. I felt like I needed to make changes to people's lives small and big, but I needed to make change. I needed to see my results happen in real time. And so I thought about it. But I was pretty set on staying anyways as I was on the crew and I was on the ranch. So I was going back and forth, back and forth. I was becoming more knowledgeable and had more experience in more branches of the same tree. Even though it was one of the hardest jobs that we've done, even till this day, almost a year later, I felt like I needed to ride the lightning and see how everything goes because I could see a future in this, something that I would enjoy. So though it was a smarter decision financially, it wasn't an aligned decision with me emotionally and mentally.
- [83:42]
Eric Triplett
It's a long term play and that's what's important.
- [83:45]
Israel
So
- [83:48]
Eric Triplett
I'm so thankful that you had that old soul. And you're like, I don't want to push pallets for six, seven years and decide who the fuck I am. I've had a couple moments with you in the truck alone. A couple that I remember distinctively were like, I had to be on the phone for like, like we, we drove for a couple hours together and I was on the phone the whole time yelling, pissing, screaming, fighting, you know, and then I talked to you like, hey, bear with me. That's what I got to do. It's my life, you know, and, and I want, I don't want to compare myself to like Bezos or Joe Job, you Know, Steve Jobs and whatever, like, but like Gary Vaynerchuk or any of those big names. Like, people fight to be close to them to see what they do. And like, I'm not anywhere close to those, the caliber of those guys, but like, I'm certainly a higher caliber. Like, Isaiah's pushing pallets in a warehouse. He's never going to have a chance to get close to the owner to figure out what it takes to move pallets all days long. Like to have 22 guys pushing pallets all day long, you know? And while Isaiah might be like, hey, I make $28 an hour pushing pallets. And you know, like, that's cool, you know, as a 20 year old kid, but somehow I don't, I don't know, I don't know how. It's old soul. You're like, I'll make four bucks an hour less than you, but I'm, I'm like riding in the truck with someone who's pushing to make changes, to make changes in 15 people's lives dramatically. You know, like, your boss is just like, you're a fucking forklift driver. I don't even know your name. I don't, I don't know your birthday. I don't give a about you. You know, and, and for our company, I'm like, look, I want to know everyone's birthday. I want to have one on ones with them. I want to know, like, what's important them in, in, in five years in their life. Like, do they want to have kids or they want to not have kids? They want to travel to Europe. Do they have kids now? And they want to send their kids to private school. Like, I want to know what that looks like. And while four more dollars an hour might sound unbelievable, you know, I get new rims on my whip in two months because I make so much more money, but I don't have that deep connection and learning. Like, it's really special that you kind of witness that. And my goal, my target is for you to make six figures in the fastest amount of time as possible to where you surpass him. You're like, in that, in the, that race in the Kentucky Derby, like right now, we're in the first leg and he like jumped off to make four more dollars an hour and you're still like fighting.
- [87:20]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [87:20]
Eric Triplett
You know, bleeding and making a little bit less. And you haven't hit the first turn yet. You hit the first turn, you make more than him. He's like, wait a minute, wait, wait a minute. I'm pushing Pallets, and I just knocked my girl up, and I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life. You're like, I'm gonna get a ranch. You know, you're like. You're in the. You're, like, rounding the corner, right? That. That's how I look at that. And I'm good either way. If a guy leaves me because he thinks it's more important for him to make $4amile an hour or whatever, that's cool. So the expectations of life, like, you have a bigger expectation than maybe he is. He might be watching Instagram and be like, I expect to drive a fancy car in this amount of time. Our expectations are different. Our perception is all different. And so,
- [88:17]
Jacob Orduno
yeah, each individual person has an individual set mind on what their success is. Me, I'm fine with a nice ranch, a little small house, even with my classic Chevrolet cars.
- [88:35]
Eric Triplett
Let's go.
- [88:37]
Jacob Orduno
And a couple horses. That's all I need for somebody like my good friend Isaiah, a nice house in Northern California with some nice cars.
- [88:46]
Eric Triplett
You moved to Northern California?
- [88:48]
Jacob Orduno
Isaiah would. Okay, I want to stay in SoCal. That's where I was born and raised. That's where I want to stay. But I want to ranch with my lowriders. He wants a nice house with his nice cars and his motorcycles.
- [89:05]
Eric Triplett
I hope he gets it.
- [89:07]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah, I want.
- [89:08]
Eric Triplett
I want them to. I really do. And. And here's the expectation moment. Like, I don't expect everyone who comes to my ecosystem to, like, hit home run. Sometimes members that come through us are. Are just stepping stones. I feel like. I feel like today I'm more focused on, like, exactly where I need to land and exactly the people that need to align with me to go there. And you've already kind of similar. Like. Like, you've kind of explained. You've seen the transition. Like, I know who needs to be on our team. Now today, when I hired you, I didn't know. It's all gut. His old personality, old soul. That nice Chris is not. Handshake, nice, handshake nice, like, looks in my eyes. I hired you for that. But today I'm more, like, lined in with where I need to go. The beautiful thing is, like, you still. You're still aligned with exactly who I need, who I want, and who I'm gonna grow with. My target now is my expectations. The whole. The whole topic's expectations.
- [90:37]
Jacob Orduno
Yep.
- [90:39]
Eric Triplett
My expectations is of myself, is to create an organization so strong, so vibrant, so vibe, you know, so flourishing that would inspire you to never want to leave Us. Almost be afraid to leave us. That. That's. That's my heart. Like, that's my. That's my personality. I'll. I'll create a vision so big that you'll be afraid to leave us. That's my personality. But other personality types want to be like, I'm going to create a vision so big that you. Like, you would never want to leave us because you love us so much. Like. And you're the same personality type as I am. So, like, you. You feel me? But, like, I want to go so hard. You'd be like, if I leave him, I might fall so far that I. I might miss the stars that I can align with. I'm gonna. I'm gonna grind with this guy. And that. That's my vision today. Than I was in December, November, October last year. You witnessed this, my man. October. I'm a different person than I was in February. Definitely February this year.
- [91:54]
Jacob Orduno
That was a drastic change. October, October, the company was in a little. It was in a light shade under an umbrella. The sun's all around, but we were just there. I was just cruising, taking a deep breath, taking a cruising back.
- [92:13]
Eric Triplett
I'd take a foot off the pedal and just cruise. I just need to figure out who I am right now.
- [92:18]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. And I also reflected on the guys on the crew, the ladies in the office. Like, everybody took a step back, took a breath, and just reevaluated what they're doing, who they are, and what we all could become.
- [92:43]
Eric Triplett
Valor's a badass. Valor's my dude. Get him, boy. Get him. Go ahead.
- [92:53]
Jacob Orduno
That was a very pivotal moment, and I would say the health of our company.
- [92:58]
Eric Triplett
Do you. Do you. Do you really remember it?
- [93:00]
Jacob Orduno
I remember it. I paid attention to all the things that were going on.
- [93:04]
Eric Triplett
You're pretty intuitive. A lot of guys probably didn't notice it.
- [93:09]
Jacob Orduno
Everybody. Not everybody. I won't speak for anybody else, but the average person would have just saw it as an easy week, an easy month. Collect a couple paychecks, maybe some overtime, but somebody that's more intuitive, that looks deeper into everything. When seen how we weren't really doing anything with our company at that moment, how we just took a step back. We weren't really focused on winning. We were just contempt at the moment. Sort of like just sitting down and relaxing and seeing where we really need to be, but not as intense as we usually are. What I saw was that the company was going through something very important, something that may have been the first time to go through something like this in the history of the company. But at that moment, I was only there for six months, but I noticed a drastic change in the feeling and emotion that was going on at the time.
- [94:16]
Eric Triplett
Give me an example of like something that, that you realize. Like, like what, what, what was it? What was the moment that you're like, oh, this is different.
- [94:24]
Jacob Orduno
So Erics are really tense and hyper focused personality. When there's a goal, when there's something to grab, when there's a way to win. He's intense about it. Not in a bad way. In one of the most positive ways. How do we get it? What do we do? How do we do it? When do we do it? And then when do we start and how do we win it? But at this time, he was more laid back. He wasn't so focused on winning. He wasn't so intense. He was more calm and passive and more just taking in everything. So that was one of the big changes. He became more calm.
- [95:11]
Eric Triplett
And you noticed that.
- [95:12]
Jacob Orduno
I noticed that not many did. Very few guys that I was working with at the same place noticed that, but I did.
- [95:21]
Eric Triplett
How did that make you feel? Let's speak here.
- [95:24]
Jacob Orduno
That made me feel like this company isn't a company. This company is more of an emotional mentality. This company could only grow if we grow, and it could only be positive or we're positive. This company moves through everybody together, not just one person running the machine.
- [95:53]
Eric Triplett
But if I was running the machine and I pulled back, the whole company pulled back.
- [95:59]
Jacob Orduno
Yes.
- [96:01]
Eric Triplett
So January, I only. I want to be clear. I want to. I want to set some timelines. Mid February is when I made some distinctive changes. So in January, were you like, thinking about leaving?
- [96:24]
Jacob Orduno
I was weighing my options to see if there would be another opportunity that would greatly surpass what I was going through here at the moment. But I wasn't really actively looking to leave, just looking at what my options could be.
- [96:40]
Eric Triplett
But emotionally you were like.
- [96:42]
Jacob Orduno
Emotionally I was, where should I go?
- [96:44]
Eric Triplett
Where can I be? What's my acceptance zone? You fucking were thinking about leaving me in January, you motherfucker.
- [96:54]
Jacob Orduno
Not directly leaving, just covering my tracks, just in case I need to run back.
- [97:01]
Eric Triplett
Good, good.
- [97:03]
Jacob Orduno
Because nothing's certain in this life.
- [97:06]
Eric Triplett
Can you remember back to a moment where you're like, something just happened and I'm, I'm. I'm re. Energized.
- [97:16]
Jacob Orduno
I could remember. I don't remember which conference it was or even if it was a conference at that, but you went on a trip somewhere, and when you came back from that trip, you were completely different than what you were at the moment of October. Like you really thought about things, thought things through and you had a clear image. Like beforehand you were so smoked out and foggy that you couldn't think straight. And that when you came back from that trip, everything started clicking together.
- [97:55]
Eric Triplett
How'd that make you feel?
- [97:57]
Jacob Orduno
That made me feel like this is a company that could really go somewhere.
- [98:04]
Eric Triplett
Did it? So this is about expectations like you were before that moment. Your expectations were dropping and when I came back, your expectations lifted. I want to focus on that pivot point.
- [98:21]
Jacob Orduno
I would say that, that my expectations go up and down with the executions that I see. So if there's less executions of success and less executions of growth, then my expectations will reflect off of that and my expectations would be lower. So at that moment in October, my expectations, my expectations were dropping. So I started viewing my options just in case I would need to go somewhere else so my own life could be on track. But I still held on and still paid attention to everything just to see how this would go. But once you came back from that trip, things started growing, we started executing more things, things started changing. And so my expectations rose higher.
- [99:14]
Eric Triplett
Hey, it's Triplett here. Let's be real.
- [99:16]
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Eric Triplett
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- [100:24]
Eric Triplett
Now back to the show. I don't know if it's your old soul or if it's fate or whatever you want to call it. Hand of God luck. You've made. You've made some decisions to like, hold the line to where you're at for the potential to learn and grow. Do you think that was intentional of you? Like, really intentional? Or was it at this point in hindsight, 2020, is it accidental to where you're at today?
- [101:06]
Jacob Orduno
I will confidently say that it is not accidental. I will say that much of it is luck through the opportunities and the time frames that I was given those opportunities. But mainly all of that was sheerly through me. My pure dedication and my pure expectation of myself and my own future and what I want to bring for myself and my family. It's just my pure dedication that has led me to this. I have missed out on plenty of opportunities that would have made more sense financially and maybe even emotionally. But I just have a really good feeling that I could really grow and that I wouldn't be in a position where I am right now anywhere else, especially with how young I am. So I will confidently say that that is mostly my own doing and luck drawn in with it.
- [102:13]
Eric Triplett
Okay, so let's. Let's fast forward to right to. To right now or Airbnb Las Vegas, Nevada. We're out here as a team. Your first trip out of state with us. Yeah, we're out of town with us, really working with another contractor.
- [102:36]
Narrator/Host
And
- [102:40]
Eric Triplett
we're playing pool tonight. We usually have, like, there's a pool, a swimming pool or some kind of arcade video games, you know, pickleball, pinball, like, whatever. So I guess the point I'm trying to get at is there was a moment where tonight we're playing pool and there's a moment like. Like, I'm old, you're young. Let's get. I am gray. You're not. Like, do the math. I don't give a how you trans Translate it. You're 20. I'm approaching 60. Do the math. And I said, should I help you a little bit or not?
- [103:38]
Jacob Orduno
You.
- [103:39]
Eric Triplett
You felt like, kind of confident. I'm like you. You were like, I don't necessarily want help, but I don't. I wouldn't oppose to it. So I like me reading the room, my emotional intelligence, like, okay, okay, cool. I'm not gonna go to straight tutorial mode, but I might show them a couple tips. Yeah, okay. So I started to teach you a couple things, like, real subtle. But there was a moment tonight. There was a clear absolute. This is the step you should take next. And I paused for a second and I decided to share with you. This is not the right move, even though you might think this is the. From this point to that point is the right move. And while everyone might think that's the best move to make. I think we should go this way. And this is the reason why. Because if we go this way, this would happen. This would happen. And we come back and circle back to the right. Move the way you're thinking. And it was like a kind of a chess move, and it was. It was kind of a fun moment. And this is. This is. This is the part of the podcast or the conversation. I was like, if you could be next to the person that you want to emulate, the person has everything you want. And believe me, I. I want way more than I want. Although, like, if you land exactly my shoes exactly there, you'd be like, this is sick. Like, I'm thinking farther along, but at one point, I was exactly where you're at. Trying to be where I'm at now. I'm trying to get to the next level. The point that someone like Isaiah doesn't realize. And I like Isaiah a lot. I'll write a letter of recommendation from tomorrow. But he took the $4 an hour. You didn't. I'm gonna stay close to the pocket. Like, you're riding in my vehicle. You're riding in my shotgun while I'm making. Making, like, these heavy decisions on how I acquire my ranch. Like, you're not gonna get that pushing pallets in a warehouse.
- [106:13]
Jacob Orduno
Exactly.
- [106:14]
Eric Triplett
You know what I mean? Like, and, like, Isaiah is doing good for his family, and he's, like, gonna get, like, new rims on his thing and get a new bike and, like, he might get a house or, like, he's not closer to having the ranch. Like, the target of his dream. The target of more tire. Like, a better bike or a better. That's not. That's not enough. The target of. I want 20 acres. I want a ranch. I want this many animals. I want this many people working for me. I want this to be barns and, to me, greenhouses. Like, that target's different than, like, I want a nice whip. And you have to. You have the. The mindset to, like, pause and get that right. So, wow. I'm not Jeff Bezos. Steve Jobs. A whole lot farther along than a lot of the people. Down, down, lower than me, and I'm grinding my balls off. And for you to be, like, sitting next to me in my shotgun while I'm yelling at a vendor, while I'm yelling at a customer, while I'm courting a customer, while I'm pleading with an employee, training an employee, and hanging up the phone and being, like, exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally, like, how can I get within how can I get past the next 60 minutes and you're sitting right next to me. There's a. There's an amount of value that is literally immeasurable to achieve that. What you might want to achieve or you might be like, this is so hard. I don't want to even touch this. I'll go. I'll go push pallets to be happy. How does that make you feel?
- [108:23]
Jacob Orduno
I feel like what you're saying right now with all of that is completely right. Every time I'm in your vicinity, I'm always paying attention. When you're near other people, I pay attention to your body language, to the words you say, from the tone you say it, and just little intricate things that everyday people wouldn't see and wouldn't be able to tell. Because the everyday people don't have what I want to have, and the everyday people don't do what I'm striving to do, and they don't want the knowledge and the experience that I crave for to help get me next to the next step in life. And so when I'm with you and you're on the phone calls I'm analyzing, I'm trying as hard as you're trying, but in a different way. Instead of you doing the thinking and then the talking to the customer, I'm doing the listening and I'm doing the thinking, and I'm thinking again of how the customer would be feeling with you talking to them.
- [109:36]
Eric Triplett
How do you feel about. Because 18 months ago, you. You've been. You've been here a year and a half, right?
- [109:44]
Jacob Orduno
I think so, yes.
- [109:45]
Eric Triplett
So it's only been six months where I went from. I'll. I'll pour money into me. I'll, like, I'll spend thousands of dollars a year into me. How do I become better? Oh, okay. I'll. I'll spend $15,000 for a course and a training and a coaching so I can be a better person to make more money. February was when I decided, I want you to know. I. I don't know if I said this out loud. I spent six figures to pour into my team like I've been. I've been pouring into myself for decades. Yeah, I'll spend five grand, two grand, 100, you know, you know, 1300, 10 grand, $15,000. I. I spent a lot of money on myself to become better.
- [110:48]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [110:49]
Eric Triplett
But in February, the, The lever all the way, I was like, I want to put all this money into my team. I'll spend 350amonth on 15 people. You know, it's one thing like, okay, Jacob, you're my right hand guy. I'll spend 350amonth. Like, that's not enough. Jacob, you're great. I love you. You're amazing. That's cool. But like everybody, we all need to become aligned. We know we all need to be inspired. We all need to be disciplined. And we don't only be like,
- [111:32]
Advertisement Voice
hold
- [111:32]
Eric Triplett
accountable to each other. And we know it'll be a transparency.
- [111:36]
Jacob Orduno
Like we all need each other and
- [111:38]
Eric Triplett
we all need to be results oriented and aligned. Like, we all need to be like on the same page. Like, there was a moment where that happened in February, March, and you witnessed it. And not many people can say that in the future. This future is all like, it's this way or nothing. Yeah, but you witnessed that happened. And so you, you watched me go from spending money on me, me, me. I'll get better, I'll get better. I'll be able to help people. I'll be able to make the machine work better, to be like, wait, this is not working. I'm gonna put all my money into my people. You watched it happen.
- [112:20]
Jacob Orduno
I watched it happen.
- [112:21]
Eric Triplett
And so I wanted, I want like lining on the expectation aspect of the conversation. Were you on your way out and then were you like, oh, wait, I
- [112:36]
Jacob Orduno
need to go all in my expectations before that. And at the time of all that money being poured into the team, I was all the way in. Ever Since October of 25, after I saw a big change in a positive way, that's when I knew that I was going to be all in. And at the time when you spent all that money for the whole team, I was in the office running schedules and logistics and learning the ways around the company and how the company works and manages. And so that was the perfect time for me to know how much dedication, time, money and effort you were putting in for the team. Because I was reading the numbers, I was going through the books, I was looking through the schedules and I was really understanding everything. There was just so much transparency with all of that that I was able to gain more.
- [113:40]
Eric Triplett
Were you surprised by anything there?
- [113:43]
Jacob Orduno
I wasn't surprised by the fact that you're putting your all in for your whole team. I was just surprised by the fact that this was actually happening in front of my eyes because lots of people will say stuff like that. Yeah, like at my home team, on, I'll get them going, we'll all be on the same page. But it never goes into fruition. But this was just Execution at its finest, which is very rare.
- [114:13]
Eric Triplett
Have your expectations changed from the company from early this year till now? Like, what's there a point where, like, hey, maybe I'll go find something else? Like, we're a stepping stone, I believe. I want to be transparent with you right now because it's part of our core value. Yeah, I could be it. I could be a stepping stone. Like, our company could be a stepping stone to you, to something greater than who you are, who you are now, and that'd be okay with me. But my. My inner. My inner competitiveness is like, I need to create something so massive, so amazing, so awesome, the culture so dynamic and magnetic that you don't want to leave and you make enough money to raise 72 kids. I don't know. I don't know. You want a 14? Like, 12 kids, 11, like, somewhere around that.
- [115:21]
Narrator/Host
Like, it's.
- [115:21]
Eric Triplett
It's in my heart. I'm a competitor. Like, I want to. I want to win you at pool. I want to win you at the. On the stove. I want to make a better meal than you could ever imagine. Like, I'm going to cook for you. I want to serve you something. You'd be like, how did this guy do this? I could never do this. He kicks my ass. Like, I want to win you. I want to. I want to be the best. I want to. I want to be competitive. So with that mindset, I want to create an environment that's so competitive and dynamic and energizing that you want to be there, but you're constantly striving to become better, whether you outgrow us or not. That's what I'm trying to do.
- [116:08]
Jacob Orduno
So.
- [116:11]
Eric Triplett
Yeah.
- [116:12]
Jacob Orduno
Well, my expectations from the beginning of this year to right now have grown tremendously. As the beginning of this year, we were at an increase in what we need to do and knowing what we need to do to make things happen. But that training and that connection with the whole crew really increased everything. Previously, I wouldn't hold you and the whole team to a higher expectation just because the executions at the time weren't as grand and great as they are now. Before all that money that was put back into the crew and all the people in the company, it was more moderate, like, just day by day. Maybe next week we could do better. But right now, with all the time money and dedication and transparency and positive competitiveness that we've had with the team, my expectations at a higher level for everybody here.
- [117:29]
Eric Triplett
So you. You're. You're not, like, having begun in a couple Months. No, you're like, where could we be in a couple years?
- [117:36]
Jacob Orduno
Exactly. That's exactly where I'm at.
- [117:38]
Eric Triplett
Right?
- [117:39]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [117:40]
Eric Triplett
Like I can make 3, 3 more dollars an hour pushing pallets on a forklift to be like, I, I want to be real clear. I, I feel like there is a value to the right person to be sitting on my shotgun with me when I'm, when I'm arguing with the vendor. There's a value to a certain amount of people then like Isaiah pushing pallets. For him to sit next to me is like, probably not, not as important.
- [118:13]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. Holding a phone and falling asleep.
- [118:18]
Eric Triplett
Yeah, I think, I think you're a, you're an interesting person. That old soul kind of person sitting next to me. I almost like when I'm, when I'm, when I'm arguing with someone, I want to go on speaker so you can hear the dynamics of it.
- [118:34]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [118:35]
Eric Triplett
See, you're like, oh, I hear the tone, are the inflection. I hear that, I hear the line. And I, I want you, I want you to learn that not only to have the potential to be your own person, but more so to be like my right hand pocket guy to fight for me in the same fashion.
- [119:02]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. You know, I understand that.
- [119:05]
Eric Triplett
Cool. What are your expectations of the future tomorrow?
- [119:10]
Jacob Orduno
My expectation, My expectations of tomorrow is to complete the last day in Vegas that we have fully on our job site and what we are as a crew over here. And by incompletion, I'm talking about really soaking in everything. This work trip to Las Vegas has played a crucial role into the mindset of the crew as we weren't so isolated with our own selves like we usually are on our job sites. Since we're in this job site, we get to see how other crews around and the other dynamics of job sites when it's not just us and our little crew with whom we got used to. And so this was a really big eye opener to us and ourselves.
- [120:12]
Eric Triplett
Tell me this. So. This is your first trip out of state with us or literally out of town.
- [120:24]
Advertisement Voice
And
- [120:26]
Eric Triplett
I want to know what your expectations were because this has been part of our ALTI meeting. So when you started with us, like we would meet once a week and now we meet Monday through Friday. We meet all team meeting daily. 15 minutes. Let's rock and roll. Instead of once a week for an hour. And we couldn't complain and gripe, how can we be better? Like all team meeting is a very specific target. And you, you, you've gone from the once a Week to the daily. I'm curious. No holds barred. You can, you can talk.
- [121:15]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [121:16]
Eric Triplett
Like, only two people listen to the podcast. It's not like anyone listens. You came up, you came out of state and we're supposed to work on a project. You had some expectations and where do we land?
- [121:29]
Jacob Orduno
So my expectations on coming out to this project were pretty big. I was in under the assumption that the job site would be a lot bigger than what it really was. And by bigger, I'm talking about the complexity and the amount of time and effort that would be needed to get the job completed. But my expectations were not met. It was a smaller, a lot simpler pond and I was expecting hard work, lots of he on a tight schedule. But those expectations weren't met. It was a lot more calm and mellow and in the shade and not as hard work as we thought.
- [122:21]
Eric Triplett
How did that make you feel about the way you normally perform?
- [122:27]
Jacob Orduno
So that makes me feel like we're at such a high standard for ourselves right now that when we get put on simpler jobs, that's less complicated, less competitive, that's something that we don't have to work as hard to. It makes me feel like we have high standards for ourselves and for us to not expect less of our own selves, but to expect more of ourselves to become better, just because this is something out of our comfort zone. And so I feel like this trip out to Vegas on a nice toned down job, a lot more simple and calm would actually raise the expectation bar for the crew and themselves to really recognize how good we are and how much we could become better.
- [123:21]
Eric Triplett
So I, I see you as a guy that. An employee that is like, I'll figure it out. I'll do it. I'll meet, I'll, I'll make happen. And I've always pushed you on this. Like, not like, not a bad way. Like, you're always like, I'll do more than I think is possible. I'm like, why the do you think you could do that? And then I'll challenge you, like, come back and I'll train you and teach you. And I've always felt like you've been receptive to it.
- [124:04]
Narrator/Host
Not.
- [124:05]
Eric Triplett
And not like, push back. Like, don't tell me I'm badass. You've always been like that also, like, how can I be better? I'm 20 years old. I don't really know you have a ranch. Like, like, I feel like I, I feel like you're open to critique, you know, like constructive, conscious, you know, like, I feel like, you're, like, open to it. So. This project, I. I found a couple moments with you. I was like, let me train you on this. I could have just been like, whatever, get it done. I don't care. I was like, this is why we do it, and this is the. The technique and the strategy and. And why we do it. So when you are in position to see someone beneath you as their apprentice and you're the journeyman, like, you can. You can. You can judge them and critique them and. And help them, give them constructive criticism to move forward and be better themselves and not only, like, make sure our job's done right, you know, I had a couple cool moments with you tomorrow this morning, like. Like today. And I didn't feel like you were like, whatever. And that's an important factor for me because if. If you're like, whatever, whatever, like, you don't need to be with me anymore. But, like, you're as close to the pocket of me that anyone can be, and I don't think you take it for granted, and I don't think you abuse it. So I allow it. And I don't want to sound that. I don't want to sound like, oh, I allow you to be next to me. But it's a really critical balance between, like, the apprentice and the journeyman or master. I'm not calling me myself a master because I got a lot to learn, but, like, I know what I know, and I can help you learn. So there was a couple fun moments for me today that I wanted you. I wanted to share with you, and I didn't feel like you were pushing back on me. Otherwise, I would be like, this guy. Yeah, I gotta find another number. I gotta find another princess.
- [126:46]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah. I feel like the way you execute things when you teach is a very not unique way, but a way that many people don't do. When you see something that I'm doing that isn't doing, isn't being done properly or can be done a better way, you don't just push back, shut it down, show me, and then let me go on my own. But it's more like a. Okay, hold on. Stop. Slow down. What are you doing? Why? Okay, now let me tell you where I'm coming in from this perspective. And then you show me your way, and you're explaining it as you show it. That way I could soak in that knowledge and know the reasonings behind that. That way I could think about it in my head, start to finish, and know the complexities of it and know the reasonings for that. That way when it's my turn to teach somebody, I could teach them thoroughly and they could do it right and correctly and just be able to pass on the knowledge strictly because you pass on the knowledge in a proper way to me.
- [128:01]
Eric Triplett
First, let's get something straight. I'll share with you my expectations. My expectation of you moving forward, Jacob, specifically you, me and you, is that you will continue to be open minded and willing to learn and to be open to constructive criticism from like, it's interesting because if we were a 50 million, 50 million dollar business tomorrow, like I would have us, I wouldn't have this kind of time with you. We wouldn't be in Las Vegas hanging out. I'm making Brussels sprouts and asparagus for dinner. Like on the stuff. Like, I wouldn't be making chicken for you. Like, that's not going to happen when we're 50 million. Yeah, you're going to be the leader that night. You're going to be leader somewhere else, Israel, in Arizona, and Jacob's going to be in, you know, San Diego, Reno or wherever, you know, Las Vegas. So the interesting part is that you're that close to me is like, I'm trying to figure this out and, and I'm investing deeply into our company. So, yeah, I mean, A lot of people take that for granted. And you're the old soul and you're going to be like, I'm going to learn as much as I can. And here's, here's the true, true fact with you. Look you dead in the eye. I will either elevate so strongly and I'll elevate at such a level that, that inspires you so deeply that you're gonna roll with us, or I will peter out, go like, oh, whatever, I'm cool today. And you'll get discouraged and you'll go somewhere else and you might push pallets for $4 extra an hour until you figure out who you are to get to where you want to be. That's the fucking real deal. Because I know Jacob Arduno is going to have a ranch someday. 40 acres, five babies or seven babies and a beautiful wife and, you know, a beautiful life that is a legacy in its making. And I either have to create such an umbrella that allows you to be there with me and me to be your biggest advocate and like, we're out of town together and I'm making you dinner. Then you're like, what the, how did this, you know, how did this chicken and asparagus and Brussels sprouts with sliced. Like, how, like, you know what I mean?
- [131:36]
Jacob Orduno
Yeah.
- [131:37]
Eric Triplett
You're gonna be like, am I gonna be there with him, or am I with somewhere else? Because I know you have a big vision of who you want to be before you close a chapter in your life.
- [131:51]
Narrator/Host
It's.
- [131:52]
Eric Triplett
It's such a challenge for me to do that. And tonight, playing pool, I asked you if you needed help. You're like, I think I got to figure it out. And I. I was like, I don't think he does. I'm gonna offer. I wasn't. I didn't. Try me overbearing. Like, you don't know what you're talking about. You're 20. You don't know about shooting pool. You paid five times. Let me taste you. Like, I. I found. I found. I tried to find a position where I could teach you a little bit, like, why I'm shooting, who I am. I felt like I, I, I felt tonight was fun shooting.
- [132:32]
Jacob Orduno
It was real fun.
- [132:33]
Eric Triplett
It was a chess game, like, shooting pools on. Just shooting the queue and chalking your stick and shooting the cues. It was like, where's the ball gonna land? What's the next step after that? Next step. If you make that, what's the next. Like, I try to share that with you, and you won't get that pushing pallets ever. Isaiah will never, ever, ever find that moment. And so I'm honored to. To be able to share that with you. And I'm really, like, tickled the fact that you're, like, open to learning from that.
- [133:20]
Jacob Orduno
And I'm honored as well to have such an opportunity to be with a man like you and being so close to somebody like you for life in general and for position in this company that we're in.
- [133:37]
Narrator/Host
Okay. Okay. If you're still here, you can. You can shoot me a text and tell me how ridiculous I was towards the end. But clearly, I want to say this. Jacob was out of town, 20 years old. You could tell his voice was still calm and straight and sober all the way through the phone call. And I think I had had a few beers and a couple of whiskey and cokes. And so by the time we were done, I. I was definitely tipsy. I will tell you this, though. I will tell you this. I did have a headache in the morning, but I was still on the job site at 6am ready to throw down and get crazy, because that's what we do regardless of everything. So I know Jacob and I are going to go back and listen to this one day, and get a good laugh out of it, so. And I know. I feel like I know he's going to have this moment where he'll go back and listen to it and have a moment to where he's like, this is cool. This is where the beginning of things happened. And he's just got a really cool head on his shoulder. So, anyway, that's it. Look inside the machine, real raw and vulnerable.