Lessons Learned: A Post- PE Breakdown 2.5 Years Later

Summary

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Podcast Summary: To The Point - Home Services Podcast

Episode: Lessons Learned: A Post-PE Breakdown 2.5 Years Later
Date: September 23, 2025
Host(s): Chris Yano, Chad Peterman
Guest: Jason Bueller, GM of Bueller Air Conditioning (Legacy Service Partners, Jacksonville, FL)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the real-world aftermath of a private equity (PE) acquisition in the home services industry. Chris and Chad sit down with their friend and repeat guest, Jason Bueller. Two and a half years after selling Bueller Air Conditioning to Legacy Service Partners, Jason reflects on his journey—covering operational shifts, personal highs and lows, leadership transformation, and advice for others contemplating a similar path.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Growth & PE Acquisition

• Bueller's Growth Story:

  • Bueller AC grew from $3M to $18M in four years (previously discussed on episode 187).
  • In 2021, the company was acquired by Legacy Service Partners; Jason remained as GM, rolling significant equity into the platform.
  • As of this episode, Bueller expects to finish 2025 at $24–25M revenue, maintaining ~20% EBITDA.
  • Jason continues as GM and now helps mentor neighboring Legacy brands.

  "This year we should finish somewhere between 24 and 25 million annual revenue. And year to date, we are at about 20% EBITDA, which is... extremely proud of that."
  — Jason Bueller, [10:44]

2. The Post-Deal Emotional Rollercoaster

• From High to Hard Landing:

  • Jason described the months post-deal as an “emotional high,” but recognized the inevitable “landing” as reality reasserted itself amid operational pressures and market headwinds.
  • The end of 2023 was a tough period across the industry; Jason felt responsible for team and partner expectations, especially during a challenging tuck-in acquisition.

  "I remember thinking like, man, I'm just riding so high...I hope that when I come down... it's not like a blunt landing. But it felt a little bit that way."
  — Jason Bueller, [15:05]

• Self-Imposed Pressure:

  • The weight Jason felt was largely self-driven, not imposed by Legacy.
  • He learned the importance of long-term vision and trusting the process—resisting the urge to be discouraged by short-term setbacks.

  "Tough times don't last, but tough people do. I needed to have better vision...the long term vision, even with that acquisition, has been fine. But in the short term, I struggled."
  — Jason Bueller, [17:49]

3. Evolving Roles & Leadership Lessons

• Navigating Leadership Change:

  • Leadership departures are inevitable as companies scale; Jason shared candidly about the personal toll and the need for continual evolution.
  • New team members have stepped up, and the company hasn't "missed a beat."

  "Everybody always wants to say, oh, it's just business. It's just business. It's not though, when you bet so hard on yourself and the team..."
  — Jason Bueller, [27:18]

• Staying Engaged as a Leader:

  • Jason realized that disengagement led to organizational drift. Returning as a hands-on GM reenergized both him and the business, especially in recruiting and process oversight.
  • Emphasized the importance of engaging the front line and being present in daily operations.

  "When you're not engaged, it's a problem...I'm involved in a lot of the processes that I probably missed a lot...I became very remotivated to get where I needed to go."
  — Jason Bueller, [31:40]

4. The Realities of PE Partnership

• Benefits of the Platform:

  • Access to other fast-moving, innovative brands accelerated Bueller’s adoption of technology and best practices—e.g., AI answering services, marketing strategies, and vendor relationships.
  • Having peers to call on for quick answers or advice has been invaluable.

  "There's just a lot of technology that I was probably slower to adapt...I probably would not have done [radio branding] on my own...So that was an example. There’s been a lot of benefit there and a lot of confidence..."
  — Jason Bueller, [22:09]

• Maintaining Culture Amid Growth:

  • The culture at Bueller was preserved by proactively setting expectations with Legacy and consistently earning trust through good results and transparency.
  • The company’s “secret sauce” (brand, pay plans, products, culture) remained largely unchanged post-acquisition.

  "We were pretty upfront about the things that were important to us before we ever did a deal with them, and they've really allowed us to do that."
  — Jason Bueller, [24:11]

5. Deal Structure & Retrospective Advice

• Would He Change Anything?

  • Early on, Jason considered taking more cash upfront, but in hindsight, wishes he'd taken more risk (more equity in the second "bite").
  • He has no regrets staying engaged for the long haul.

  "If I could do it over again, I may have bet a little harder on myself because I'm that confident that we're getting where we're trying to go."
  — Jason Bueller, [41:10]

• What Should Owners NOT Compromise On?

  • Know yourself: either be sure you want to fully exit, or pick a partner and structure that lets you stay fully engaged. Don’t compromise on your need for purpose and engagement.
  • Ensure you're protected if things radically change (“be okay with it all falling apart”).

  "Make sure you're following the instincts that are best for you and your family... Make sure the platform itself is something that you want to be a part of."
  — Jason Bueller, [49:53, 53:18]

• Chris’ PSAs:

  • Partners (or their key people) can change—structure your deal to protect yourself no matter what happens.
  • Be ready for the reality that you may need to “fight” for your business and team even after a deal.

  "Be okay with it completely falling apart and... you’ve negotiated the right deal that allows you to do whatever you need to next..."
  — Chris Yano, [52:11]

6. Tactics for Scaling & Staying Connected

• Hands-On Tactics That Work:

  • Involvement in daily/weekly meetings with all departments.
  • Direct participation in recruiting and interviewing, resulting in better hiring outcomes.
  • Holding the line on successful processes (e.g., keeping project manager follow-ups).
  • Town halls and regular frontline communication (inspired by other leading operators).

  "I started going back to every service meeting, trying to be a part of every install meeting, every sales meeting... being present... has been really refreshing."
  — Jason Bueller, [34:04]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Getting Through Difficult Times:

  "Tough times don't last, but tough people do."
  — Jason Bueller, [17:49]

• On Private Equity and Control:

  "I'm not here because I have to be here...I'm here because I want to be here. And I didn’t do a private equity deal to sell out. I did it to scale and grow."
  — Chris Yano, [42:45]

• On Leadership Engagement:

  “When you’re not engaged, it’s a problem.”
  — Advice from Jason’s older brother, [31:40]

• On What Not to Compromise When Selling:

  "Make sure you’re following the instincts that are best for you and your family."
  — Jason Bueller, [49:53]

• The “Memory Dividend” Philosophy:

  "Everybody’s worried about their financial dividend...but in life you really need to chase the memory dividend. The memory dividend is taking advantage of the moment and going and doing the things and sharing them with the people that you love..."
  — Jason Bueller, [55:31]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|---------| | 10:44 | Jason shares current company status (24–25M revenue, 20% EBITDA) | | 15:05 | Post-acquisition high, reality sets in, emotional and business challenges | | 17:49 | Lessons learned from tough times & importance of vision | | 22:09 | Tech, marketing, and peer learning accelerated by PE platform | | 24:11 | How culture and autonomy were maintained post-sale | | 27:18 | Handling leadership changes; it’s personal, not ‘just business’ | | 31:40 | Pivotal moment returning to day-to-day leadership; impact on recruiting and morale | | 41:10 | Reflections on deal structure – would have rolled more equity | | 49:53 | Advice: Don’t compromise on engagement/purpose when selling | | 55:31 | Explanation of “memory dividends” and its importance | | 57:08–59:00| Lighter moments: sharing the origin and impact of the “memory dividend” concept |

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Closing Reflections

Jason’s journey shows that:

• Success after PE isn’t automatic—it’s based on engagement, adaptability, and vision.
• Partners and platforms can make or break your happiness post-sale—choose carefully and know what you want.
• Scaling doesn’t mean letting go of involvement; sometimes diving back in is exactly what the business and leader needs.
• Beyond financial wins, prioritize experiences, relationships, and “memory dividends.”

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Final Words

"Surround yourself with the dreamers, the doers, the believers, the people who believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself."
— Jason Bueller, [61:40]

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Zero days.
— (Jason’s signoff, [62:09])

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For anyone considering a sale or partnership, this episode provides hard-earned perspective on both the business mechanics and the emotional journey—in true "get to the point" fashion.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to to the Point Home Services, the podcast where real contractors share real strategies. We cut through the noise and get straight to the point with the contractors that are working in the field right now. If you run a home services business and want to lead, better, grow faster and stay sharp, you're in the right place. Now, before we get started, I need you to do one thing. Only 30% of our listeners are following the show. So stop what you're doing, hit follow.

[B]

And let's get to the point. This is to the Point a Rhino experience voted one of the top home services, marketing and operations podcasts. Cutting through the bullshit and getting to the point.

[A]

What's up, everybody?

[B]

It's your boy Chris on the home.

[A]

To the Point Home Services podcast along.

[B]

With my homie Chad ep in the place to be. Chad. What's up, buddy?

[C]

Nothing much. Just hanging in there. A lot of travel this month. Saw each other last week. Get to see each other next week.

[B]

I know.

[C]

Exciting.

[B]

I know. God, you're so lucky. So lucky. It is. That's. Hey, listen, that is what makes all the travels enjoyable is I get to hang out with you guys a few weeks and then, you know, and I'm okay with being back home and not traveling.

[C]

It does indeed. I'm sure me and my guests would attest, or our guests would attest that the east coast trips are just a touch better than and traveling out West.

[B]

I would disagree. You know, it's quite nice, you know, flying 35 minutes up to Las Vegas for home service freedom, which was a blast. Great event.

[C]

Yep. We were in Orlando. We were in Orlando like four times last year. So I guess last year was the year for east coast.

[B]

Yeah, I, I, I'm grateful for the west coast travel, especially because I started traveling a bunch of places again. And it's just, you know, I feel like they really listened to me when I was asking, you know. Well, I'm excited to have our friend on the podcast. He's been on here a few times. One of my good buddies, Mr. Jason Bueller. Stay cooler with Bueller, dude. JB welcome back to the podcast, buddy.

[D]

Thank you for having me.

[B]

All the way in from Jacksonville, got his lovely, beautiful bride sitting in studio today. Hot shout out to Charlie. Hey, listen, the last time you were, or actually I was reminiscing because you actually came on, you've been on the podcast a couple times before. First one was one that you and I did live. I guess this was year, maybe a year and a half ago or maybe two years ago.

[D]

This was in September 2021 was this.

[B]

Holy shit.

[D]

Get your facts together.

[B]

Jesus. That was. Oh, yeah, that was true. At True Grit. At True Grit. You know how many episodes we've done so far? Like, it's been a long time, dude. That was episode 90. And then we did a follow up here in this studio with the episode 187, which was your 3 to 18 million and 4 year the Bueller legacy. Yeah. Which by the way, well, hell of a journey since then.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is exactly what we're going to cover is, man, how is Bueller going today? What's your ride been like since your post acquisition? Because you've had quite the journey. I'm excited to talk through it because, as you know, Chad and I and some of the guys talked about is we think there's another big wave coming, you know, and we think that 2026 is going to be a great year. And so those listening who are even considering it, like we should. They should hear what your journey is and like, what you. What you've been through and also current day and then your kind of view on. On the future, too. But first, I want to talk just a couple quick things before I get to Chad's favorite part, and that is, you know, football season has started. We were talking a little bit about this last night, and, you know, Travis Hunter is, you know, a Jaguar, which Jason is a Jaguars fan, and it was excited to see him go there. And I. I mean, listen, we're not gonna. I'm not gonna let you cheer too much because all I did was beat the Carolina Panthers in week one.

[D]

So a win is a win.

[B]

No hooting and hollering. But, you know, my Cardinals got to win over the Saints, so, like, same.

[D]

We're on to Cincinnati.

[B]

Cincinnati. So you could reasonably be. Reasonably be 2 and O to start, maybe.

[D]

We're not gonna call anything yet.

[B]

Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't either. But I did tune into the Jaguars game just to watch Travis Hunter play.

[D]

So that's what we were all hoping for.

[A]

Colts had a great week. Had a great week.

[C]

One they did. I don't think we scored. We scored 34 points. I don't think they scored 34 points, maybe combined last year. So hell of a. Hell of a start out of the gate.

[D]

Daniel Jones looked good.

[C]

Yeah, he set, like, some kind of record. He scored, like, every time he touched the ball. Like, they didn't punt it. He scored like seven times in a row or something crazy.

[B]

Oh, boy.

[A]

Football's back.

[B]

I love.

[C]

Literally makes just it just makes life better. It's wild.

[D]

I agree.

[B]

Well, when you're winning. Yes, when you're winning.

[C]

I mean, even not like I sat around all Saturday and just watching a bunch of college kids run around and play football is like, it's just perfect.

[B]

You know, we're coming off of watching week one of. Of college football too, when. I mean, we're talking. Since Jason's a. I'm sorry, everybody else is going to puke. An Ohio State Buckeyes fan wearing a stupid ass shirt in the studio.

[D]

All we do is win, win no matter what.

[B]

Ohio State.

[C]

Except. Except against Michigan.

[D]

Oh, come on, Chad.

[B]

He was.

[C]

We looked like. We didn't look very good Saturday, so I thought we figured out the forward pass in week one, not so much in week two. So not holding our bre.

[B]

Yeah, fair enough. Well, anyway, I do. I agree because I'm excited. Football. Football's back. This is just a good time of year right now. We're going to the holiday season. We got all the good fun stuff coming up. Like, this is just, you know, we have a couple of these trade shows we get to go to and get to see everybody. So just a fun time of year. But it's always better whenever I have a good friend in the studio, you know, and getting to talk about. Well, he got. Listen, he got to hang out in the. In the bar last night a little bit with us, you know, in that bar at the Yano household. And. And Jason was happy at this time staying in the casita that the switch worked.

[D]

Chad, I also experienced what you did.

[B]

Did you?

[D]

I slept with the light on a couple years ago.

[C]

I did. I did. Not the last time it was fixed, but the time before that I was like, I can't figure this out and I don't have enough. I'm not going back yet.

[D]

I was trying anything. I finally put like a pillow over my face and tried to go to sleep and not die.

[B]

Well, listen, you know, I read the review box, you know, the notes that you guys left, and I made the correction. So you gotta accommodate. Gotta accommodate. Okay. So I want to. I want to. You know, I don't want to let Chad down, Jason. So I'm going to share a few dad jokes if you don't mind. And if you do mind, I'm doing it anyway.

[D]

Let's do it.

[B]

Okay. And then we're going to jump into real quick. We'll kind of let everybody know where the business is at today because you've seen some pretty good growth and you've been through quite the experience, and I want to go walk through all that with you, and hopefully you'll be as open as you can with me. I understand there's probably a few things you can't talk through, but the more open, the better, so I'll just keep pushing.

[D]

All right?

[B]

Okay, dad jokes. Chad, you ready?

[C]

Let's do it.

[B]

Okay. You see the excitement on his face? So I. I felt like I pushed the envelope a little bit on this one because we've kind of teased a little bit. Yeah. Just felt like this was the right episode to do it. Okay. And by the way, if you know the answer to this, spit it out. Don't be afraid to act like you. If you know the answer, just say it. Okay? It's nothing to be ashamed about. Did you hear about the constipated mathematician?

[D]

No, you.

[B]

Have you not heard about the constipated mathematician? Chad, you.

[C]

No, no, doesn't ring a bell.

[B]

He worked it out with the pencil. That was a potty joke. Okay. Jason gave me that one. Okay. They only get better. They only get better from here. You ready? What do you call a cheap circumcision?

[D]

I'm scared of this one.

[B]

A ripoff. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, rip off Chad. How are we doing so far?

[C]

Well, the bar is not very high, so let this last one go.

[B]

Okay. How can you spot a blind man at a nude beach? It's not hard. There's three others on this list that might have got me canceled, so I'm glad I picked this three. Chad, I really. I appreciate you and Jason getting together and sending me those jokes to read on air, so thank you, guys. Okay. Hey, listen, by the way, home service freedom. I have, like, multiple people coming up to me and talking to me about the dad jokes being, like, a favorite dude. So we can't stop doing it. Like, we're only getting better at it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

So. And Garen came up. Gary Gilmore came up and talked to me about his submitted. He was very proud that we read those on air, so. Okay, Jason, you ready? Jump into this. I don't want to just assume that everybody knows who. What? Getting cooler with Bueller is all right. Jason is down in Jacksonville. Actually, a couple different. Like what you call North East Florida, Jacksonville, St. Augustine. Okay, that's what he said. But you've also experienced some good growth here recently. Down the market, too. And you've, you know, you've been you. I forget what the name of the business was before you changed it. It was some air source.

[D]

America.

[B]

That's what it was. Didn't embrace the last name Bueller, but did finally and, you know, and has grown a fantastic brand down in that market. And so much so that private equity loved it and wanted a part of Jason. And Jason said, you know, I'm going to do this private equity thing, and, and that's what I want to get into, is that you're two and a half years post your. Your acquisition, your. Your deal with Legacy, and. And that's what I want to walk through. So maybe just share right out the gate. For those who didn't catch that, I said 3 to 18 million in four years for the previous podcast where you guys are at, you know, today in size of the businesses today. And then I'll start working my way back through some of the. Like, some of the journey.

[D]

Sure. So this year we should finish somewhere between 24 and 25 million annual revenue. And year to date, we are at about 20% EBITDA, which is. I'm extremely proud of that.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, good. And your position today is like, what. So what are you doing?

[D]

I am the general manager today.

[B]

You're the gm?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

What are you doing? Anything to help some of the other brands at Legacy as well?

[D]

A little bit. I've kind of earned their trust over the last couple of years with just making a few good decisions and being a consistent member of the team, and I have had a chance to just kind of assist with a couple of the brands near my marketplace, and I've went and made a few visits and, you know, just. Just try and share the things that have worked well for us.

[B]

Yeah. Would you think the. As you went and, like, saw some of these other brands and there's some great brands in there, some super sharp people. Have you noticed, like, since the, you know, since your deal that was done, that you're kind of like, oh, because whenever I first did ours, I didn't quite know, like, where I fit in. Like, I didn't know if I almost had. I took me like a year to even understand. Like, did I even belong? You know, was I smart enough? And did you. Have you learned now through this time, like, oh, I could have really scaled this thing without doing this. Like, I am smarter than I thought I was. Like, did you learn any. I went through that. Did you go through that stuff?

[D]

It's easy to look back and think, oh, should I waited a little longer? Should I have done this? Should I have done that? You know, I had a few of those thoughts, but at the end of the day, I try not to question, you know, what I've done or where I've been. It's all gone pretty well. I'm blessed and highly favored.

[A]

Okay, so let's just walk through this.

[B]

Journey a little bit. You know, you're post acquisition, right? You're just. I think you and I were in Austin at the Legacy Service Partners. Like, I guess it was like their.

[D]

Annual event in April of 23.

[B]

All the brands were there and I had multiple clients there. You were there since. And that was Earl. That was like, that was like real early. That was like the beginning, the very beginning. Maybe like walk us through what these last, you know, few years of. I'm not and you don't need to get detailed, but just kind of walk me through like, hey man, you know, this first year was, you know, I was. Here's kind of where I was in the second year, like. And then I want to drill into. I really want to talk about when. When you came to rhino x in 2024, you won the Charge Award. You won the Charge Award. God dang.

[D]

I'm here to help him.

[C]

Thank God.

[B]

2023, you won the Charge Award. That's what it was. In 2024. You came back, but you weren't the same Jason Bueller. And I recognized it.

[D]

I was off my game a little.

[B]

You were off a little bit. You weren't even the same guy. And I could tell that your whole entire energy was different.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[D]

Yeah. So in April 2023, there was a lot of buildup that got to that point where we did the deal. And I was so proud of everything that we'd accomplished. And I can remember going through that whole year, you know, from April all the way, even when I came to you to see the podcast in August of 23. And I remember thinking like, man, I'm just riding so high. Like this is such an emotional high. Just being so proud of everything that we had done. And I remember feeling concerned, like I got to land this plane at some point and I hope that I don't land too hard. I hope that when I come down that it's not like a blunt landing. But it felt a little bit that way. And I don't think that it was anybody's fault. I think I just, you know, I came back to reality and that, that fourth quarter, that year was kind of a difficult quarter. If you guys all remember September of 23, October, November, December, those were some tough times for Home Services. There was a lot of people that were feeling the pain and I guess I just didn't want to let anybody down. You know, I didn't want to. I didn't want to feel like my business was going backwards or anything was going wrong. I didn't want to let down the legacy team or Rob or any of those people. A lot of respect for them. Didn't want to feel like it was going backwards. There was a lot of pressure. I think right at that time I was in the middle of doing a tuck in acquisition and it wasn't going the way I thought it was going to go. I was thinking it was going to be easy, but anytime you're trying to merge two teams together, two cultures together, that was a lot more difficult than I thought. And I remember flying out to Rhino to see you thinking, man, I'm not my best self right now. But I just needed to get through it. Sometimes in life you just gotta. You just gotta keep going. And I had to work through some stuff and get back to who I wanted to be. And fortunately I came out of that time period and I've had some really good times since then. So I realized that I was a little off at that time, but I'm really good now.

[C]

Yeah, we were talking about this. I think last week is like, you know, I think so many people are hesitant and I think we've all been there, right? When things aren't going good, it's not like you want to go out and.

[D]

Hey, you know what?

[C]

I'd really like to share with you how terrible things are going right now, but I think looking back upon it, we all kind of understand that if you embrace that part of the journey, it's what brought you here to today. So I guess if you look back is like, when you look back upon that time, what was, like maybe something that you learned from, you know, And I think it can help listeners everywhere that, you know, maybe are going through a tough time right now or maybe went through one and they're trying to get back on the, you know, on the horse. Like, what are some of the things that you may have taken away from that tough time that have, you know, made you better now?

[D]

You know, tough times don't last, but tough people do. And I remember thinking, you know, that I just had to get through what I was going through. And I was thinking, so short term, because the pressure starts to get big, you know, when you have other partners involved, the pressure starts to get big like you don't want to. In the past, if we had a bad month, we just shook it off. Now it's like, you have a bad month, it's, there's, there's more eyes on it, you have a bad quarter, there's a lot of eyes on it. And we weren't necessarily having any bad times. I just hold myself to such a high standard that when things are not flowing and going the way that I want to, it was affecting me. So I can reflect on that and say that I needed to have better vision, I needed to have a better long term vision, because the long term vision, even with that acquisition, has been fine. But in the short term, I struggled. And, you know, anytime you mesh a lot of people together and you got two different teams, it is difficult. Like, I know you've been through it, Chris. So looking back, I just needed to trust the process. I needed to trust myself and my instincts, because my instincts are normally really good. It's only, you know, when you start questioning yourself that you kind of beat yourself up.

[B]

Yeah, I, you know, it is crazy because, Because I know you so well, and when I, I could, when I could tell you were off, I just kind of took it as like, oh, man, he seems really stressed out. Like, he seems like he gets. Your energy level was like through the roof. And what's interesting, you and I kind of went through our processes at the same time so we could share that. But then, you know, for us to kind of reconnect, to see you Kind of back on one, you know, is it was cool.

[D]

And I need to clarify that legacy didn't put pressure on me. It was the pressure that I was putting on myself 100%. And I think that's why they, you know, chose to want to do business with somebody like me is because I don't put the kickstand out. I'm always pushing all the time. And at that point, I was pushing myself, and I wasn't getting the result that I wanted. And fortunately, they're really, you know, have always been patient, you know, with me. So I want to make sure that I clarify that there wasn't somebody whipping me. It was just the person in the mirror that was whipping me.

[B]

That's oftentimes what. What it is. Sometimes, you know, like, you just. People forget to look in the mirror and be like, oh. But I also think that that's kind of where my question was whenever I saying, like, how. How were you looking at yourself in the. In the bigger picture of all that, you know, like. And were you valuing yourself the way they were valuing you? And maybe probably not, because we're still trying, like, Stack rank ourselves versus the other, you know, founders that are part of these organizations that are maybe bigger businesses than yours or healthier business than yours. So now you kind of found your footing, like, okay. Like, yeah, you know, I got this.

[D]

Yeah. And I often say that you can't compare every single business, especially in a platform, because they're competing in different markets and they have different, you know, setups. Often I'm looking to Brian Enders at HL Bowman and everything that he's been able to accomplish. He's probably one of the most impressive stories in the country over the last few years. Not everybody's been able to have the kind of explosive growth that he has. And I don't try and compare myself to him, but I'm trying to get the same result, you know, that he's getting. So I guess, you know, maybe that's what was part of the problem, is I'm looking around saying, well, some of these other guys are performing, and I'm not right now. What am I doing wrong?

[B]

Well, you're hitting 20%, so I'd say you're.

[D]

Well, things are okay now.

[C]

Jason, I've heard people, you know, I think there's, you know, this kind of overarching thing about private equity, things are going to change, so on and so forth, but I feel like I've heard more people lately talk about, like, the energy that they felt Once, like, you had the support behind you, you got a lot of smart people in your corner. Like, this thing's going to really roll. Like, you know, obviously went through a little bit of a tough time, kind of a lull. Now you're kind of back, ready to roll. Like, what, what are the. Like, what are the one or two things that, like, you would say that, like, being partnered with Legacy has afforded you that maybe you may have got. You may have figured it out by. On your own, but like, that they've allowed you to, like, accelerate. Like, oh, shoot, I didn't know the answer to this problem. I called one person. Boom, answer. Let's roll. We'll go. We'll go solve the next problem.

[B]

Oh, this is going to be good. We just were talking about this, so it's.

[D]

That's a really great question. There's just a lot of technology that I was probably slower to adapt. For example, when it comes to advertising, I look to guys like Brian, Kelly, Harvey, some of these other people that are really good. Brian was doing business with wizard of Ads and doing a large radio campaign. I probably would not have done that on my own. I wouldn't have ponied up that kind of money to start a branding campaign, nor had the faith that it was going to work for the amount of time that it takes to do that. So that was an example. Working with me and Chris Torbay, the legendary writer for the wizard of Ads, that's been a huge plus. Then also implementing things like CHIRP campaigns, going to the AI answering services. I'm able to see other brands that are doing it and implementing it very well. And it takes some of that fear of the unknown away because it's like, well, they're doing it right down the road. Let's go. There's been a lot of benefit there and a lot of confidence just knowing that there's support there, there's somebody to help you. We have marketing people to help us. We have technology people that can help us. So I've had a very good experience overall. I'm not going to sit here and act like it's all been all rainbows the whole time. That's not realistic. But overwhelmingly, we've had a very good experience.

[B]

So I want to ask this. I'm going to just kind of jump around a little bit. How did you, like, in this process? How did you balance, you know, the, your, Your sponsors expectation, Legacy's expectations for growth and ebitda, but still mainly because you guys, you guys have a fantastic culture at Bueller like, it was great culture. I mean, you'd send me videos and stuff, and you gave, you know, what, the office, your office manager or a car or something like that. Like, I mean, just great culture. So it's different when you're kind of getting pushed a little bit, you know, to drive, and it is an investment. So, like, how did you. How did you balance all those expectations, you know, and it not, like, blow up culture in the business?

[D]

Well, right from the beginning, I knew what I was doing with partnering with them because I was, you know, rolling a lot of equity of my own into the business so that I could stay in the. In the front position. And had I wanted to go a different route, I could have, but I chose not to. So there was just, I don't know, there was. There was definitely a sense of earning their trust. And as we continue to make good decisions and make good recommendations for, not only for ourselves, but for some of the other acquisitions that they made, like with Sunshine, you know, when you, when you make the right call and you earn people's trust, they allow you to keep doing, you know, what you're good at. And I think that that's what happened with us. We were pretty upfront about the things that were important to us before we ever did a deal with them, and they've really allowed us to do that. Now, on the flip side of that, I think that if we'd not earned their trust, if we had not made good decisions, maybe there would have been more pushback on some of the stuff that we like to do. But we don't do anything much different than what we did before. We were able to keep the business very similar. Pay plans are very similar. The brands that we sell are very similar. The things that we do as a culture are very similar. And if they're working, then why would you change it, you know?

[B]

Yeah. If the business was failing, they might not have listened to you as much.

[D]

They probably wouldn't have.

[B]

But you actually said something key in there, too, that you, you know, you, you. You negotiated the deal in a way that positioned you to still have equity in this thing and to continue to lead it. And, you know, and. But now it's all. Now it's on you because you're just basically betting, bet take some chips off the table. What you're betting on yourself.

[D]

I mean, they were betting on me, I was betting on them. This was mutual. And I knew that I was going to have to evolve in my position as a leader because the same staff that brings you you know, from 0 to 15 million, they're either going to evolve or you're going to have to bring some new people on to get you from 15 to 30 or 40 or wherever you're trying to go. So I knew what I was signing up for.

[B]

Well, that's a good segue because I want to ask this question and we've talked about this in this podcast before. I did the podcast with Anna one time. I can't remember if I would not even guess a year. You probably know it better than me at this when the hell it was. But we did one and we were talking about on this journey, you know, people follow you up the mountain and they can only see from their position on the mountain, like so some people of the top of the mountain might see more things. Well, we'll see more things than people at the bottom. So understand the decision making because of their view. But on the journey, not everybody comes with you, no matter how hard you try to pull them up the mountain.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Or you have some, some like changes and things like that and you experience some of that. I've experienced some of that is, you know, as things are kind of progressing and changing, you know, you have some leadership changes that happen internal business and now you have, you as the main leader, have to adjust to make sure that everybody's good to go. Like, you know, we've lost leaders right. In our deal, like in our merger and that sucks. How did you, I know that you had happened with you as well, like how did you manage, how did you manage that process? Like you personally. But then, you know, for the team, like kind of walk me through what that was like and then, and then what's after that. Right. Because it ended up working out.

[D]

Everybody always wants to say, oh, it's just business. It's just business. It's not though, when you, when you bet so hard on yourself and the team that you've put together, it becomes a little bit personal and you always think, well, I've got this great vision, everybody should, you know, follow along with this. I think I have everyone's best interest in mind. But we have had some people that have exited and leave and it can't help but hurt your feelings because you think, oh man, I did all this because I wanted to keep us all together. But you know, when one door opens or when one door closes, another one opens. And we've had somebody that stepped into a really good role at Bueller that was ready for that role and we've really not missed a beat. Things have gone extremely well. And, you know, that's part of evolving as a leader is showing that you can do it again and that you can take it to another level. And I think that's the beauty of this business is that from the time I've been 18 years old, I've had to learn different roles all along the way. And I'm going to turn 46 next month. And I'm still getting to evolve as a leader within my own business now, and I'm getting a small chance to go and try and help make a positive impact with a few other companies within the platform. And I think that's the beauty of the platform as well. You know, you got. Rob has had to continue to evolve as the CEO. Pat, our cfo, has had to evolve. They've got really good people on the team, and watching them grow has been pretty fun for me as well. We've all got to get better if we're going to go where we're trying to go.

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[B]

Got it. Okay, so I didn't make sure Chad was gonna say something. Sorry, buddy. Chad usually kind of gives me the yeah. And he gives me the yeah. I know he's about to. He's about to speak. It's like that. So real quick, then. So was there a, you know, in this little wave, right, like, we kind of blew through about two years there. Is there, like, a moment in that thing when. In this process when something, like, started to click and you're like, oh, okay, like, I can be without this and I'm fine, or, oh, I learned this, and I'm fine. And you kind of alluded to with these other brands, you get to hear what they're doing, but you also kind of get to see now the behind the curtains of what they're doing to see how it's actually, like, what the end result is of these things. So you have now, like, a team. You have a team of other leaders who, you know, can help work through any of these situations. But for you, was there just a moment in this whole thing when it clicked and you're like, oh, okay. Like, the moment when you said, okay, I'm done kind of with this. You know, I looked in the mirror and I'm like, you know, Jason, you got this. Was there something that clicked for you that you. That. Or a moment in this thing that clicked for you when you're like, I got this shit. Let's go ahead and take this thing to the moon.

[D]

I would say a few months back when we had some leadership leave, I can remember my older brother telling me, he said, jason, one of the biggest things that you've got to make sure that you do in your life is you got to stay engaged. When you're not engaged, it's a problem. And, you know, we had some people leave, and I jumped right back into the general manager position, and I have really thrived, like, personally from that. And I would say that that was a moment where it was like, if this thing's gonna get where I need it to go, it's gonna be because I'm involved on a daily basis. And I got back involved in the interview process. When we go to interview employees now, I can remember the past couple of years, we'd get good candidates to come in, and then they would choose not to do, you know, business with us or not, you know, come onto our team. And I would think, how did this happen? Like, we've got the best culture, we got the best team, we got the best pay plans. That's not happening anymore. When they come in now, they're getting closed. They're coming on our team, and for all the right reasons, because we're a team of winners, and we know exactly where we're Gonna go. And we've had that happen a few times recently where I'm involved in a lot of the processes that I probably missed a lot. I didn't know how much I missed it until I came back to it. And I would say just a few months ago, I became very remotivated to get where I needed to go.

[C]

Jason, I think we're on a topic right now where I think listeners can learn a lot. You've been able to scale a business, and I think as we scale, sometimes as leaders, you lose sight because you put other people in charge, you empower them to go make decisions and so on and so forth. And so I think it's unique and also really awesome that you stepped right back in. You mentioned recruiting as being one of those things of, like, what? I mean, I've done the same thing. Like, hold on a second. They came here and we did not hire them. How is this possible? What are maybe some of the other things that, as you dove back in, that you've realized that for someone who's continuing to scale and continuing to think like, oh, you know the famous saying, oh, now I get to work on the business, not in the business. But I always think it's important to dive back into the business. It's kind of that, you know, expect what you inspect, you know, make sure that you have your eye on the ball. What are maybe some of those other things that you saw that maybe weren't, like, terribly wrong, but you were like, oh, shoot, we can make this a whole lot better. Now that I can see it from kind of the ground level, I can.

[D]

Give you a great example. I was listening a few months ago when you guys had Sami Ayub on here, and I remember listening to that, and him being a part of every meeting in the morning and him being a part of, you know, recruiting people. And I thought, why in the world am I not doing this? Sammy's business is bigger than mine. Like, why am I not doing this? So I started going back to every service meeting, trying to be a part of every install meeting, every sales meeting, not every office meeting, but being present in at least one meeting per month and being really invigorated to be in touch with all those employees again. And every single day starts the same way for me. I go to the gym in the morning, I come to the office at 7:15, and I go dab up all the people that I know and like. And fortunately, I know them all, which is awesome. And I get to go say hi to the installers. In the morning, the service techs that are coming by. And that for me, has been really refreshing, just reengaging in the people side of the business, because I really feed off of that energy. And I do believe that I feed good energy back to those same people.

[C]

Yeah, no, that's awesome. And we had. We did something similar about. That's almost been a year ago where we realized that, like, you know, as we scale, like the frontline, individual contributors, like, lose their voice because there's so many layers of management. It's like, you know, they're complaining about things, it gets to their manager. And the manager's like, well, someone else told me to do this. So it is what it is. And it's like, oh, my God. But what we started doing was we do a town hall with our coo. He does it first Friday of every month. Every field professional is on a zoom call. And it's basically like, here's the state of the business. Here are all the things we're working on. They're allowed to submit feedback or submit questions before the thing, so we can go answer those when we're in there. And it is amazing how many things it has headed off at a pass because there were so much just. It wasn't their fault. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't even their manager's fault. It was just more so like they had made up that they had heard that this change happened. They didn't know why it happened. They, you know, they knew it was different and they just have all these questions. But then when we get somebody who can just say, no, we actually are doing that because of this. Oh, okay, well, that makes sense. That's not a problem anymore. Moving on to the next one. Okay, yeah, okay, that makes sense. And so on and so forth. And I think it's so important what you just said is, you know, even though your business scales and there's layers of management in between, the more that you can push down through to the, to the front line, I think the better off you're going to be. Because communication is like, in these businesses and probably every business, I don't know, I've only worked in two different trades. But the, the. It's like a giant game of telephone. You know, I pass this to somebody, by the time it gets to the installer, he thinks that he's getting paid this. And we're like, hold on a second. That's not what we came up with. It's just crazy. So I commend you for doing that and I'm going to guess that your organization, seeing the fruits of that, you know, hard work and determination to make sure that you're connected with everybody on your team.

[D]

Yeah, that's exactly right Chad. And just recently a month or two ago, I was in a sales meeting and it came to my attention that somebody had changed my sales process that had been very, very successful and I got really offended by it. And one of the things that, that they changed is for many, many years every time we sold a job we have a project manager that goes out and sells a job and the process is A to Z. He's going to sell the job, he's going to make sure that the installers know exactly what's going on with that job or the install manager who's ever going to handle it. And then we like to send that project manager back within a week to make sure that everything went properly, to close that job out, to make sure it's going to pass inspection, all this thing. So I come in and I found out that somebody had made the decision that we didn't need to run follow ups anymore. And I was so upset about it and then it made me really dive into like, well, what else are we not doing that I set up a couple of years ago that was so successful, so little things like that we've been fine tuning over the last several months and I've just, I've been, I don't know, it's made me really happy to get back in there and say oh no, no, no, we're going to go back and it's cooler when you do it Bueller's way.

[B]

I see what you did there.

[D]

You see what I did there?

[B]

Yeah, I will say that, you know, I think, I mean you guys know that, you know, the last four months, you know, Anna and I have jumped back into, I mean really be the day to day leaders of this business and, and I learned that I almost got too disconnected like where I was, I knew, I knew so much about everything in this business and even the market and being hands off you. And then jumping back into it I learned like how disconnected I am from all the inner workings of our business. And what has changed? It's been a year, right? I had a year, basically a year and a half break and they put me in roles where I'm focused on things where I used to know like everything in the business and used to hear people ask Gary Vee on how he stays like so sharp in running Vaynermedia with you know, 1500 people and he said he still knows, you know, a little bit about every role. I mean, every position in the business or whatever, that, you know, whatever the department is in his company. So. But he has to actively work on it. I didn't do that, like, you know, so I wasn't paying attention on all the things that the SEO team is doing or all the things that the PPC team was doing or design or whatever, until you have to jump back into it and start to make sure, you know what the hell you're talking about, to be a good leader of people. And though it's not my role, I'm not over operations. I still have to go out in the public and talk about it. I have to understand the market. So, like, jumping back in for me has been like drinking from a fire hose. I'm not gonna say it's not been hard because it has been hard. But I'm not gonna let myself get away from it again. Right. Cause I was like, oh, you know, I can do this. I don't need, you know, it's okay to let other people, like, you know, to build these departments and things like that. I don't have to do every little detail, but I really need to know, like, I need to know the major things. And I felt myself getting disconnected from that. And. And it also allows you to stay more connected to, you know, to your team. You always felt like I was a little bit disconnected. And it's hard to stay connected when you got 240 some odd people or whatever it is, you know. So if I'm not working directly with you, I'm going to shift gears for a second. Okay, sure. I want to talk about. For those that are listening, you know, who are hearing you go through your journey and are encouraged, you know, by knowing that the market is. We believe that 2026 is going to be a great market. And again, it's going to be great for private equity. Great for some of these guys who want to partner with private equity. Maybe let's just talk about a couple, Throw a couple deal structure questions at you. Just answer them. How, okay, do you. And this is the one I love asking anybody. And we haven't done a podcast around private equity partnerships in a while. But would you have negotiated different terms in your deal? Like, now that you kind of know what you did, like whether it be earnouts or equity rollover control, whatever it is, is there anything that you would have maybe negotiated differently in the deal structure with knowing what you know today.

[D]

So early in the process? I Can remember thinking, oh, maybe I should have taken a little bit more up front and a little bit less roll so it would feel like less pressure. But that has shifted over time now. You know, some guys have, have rolled a little bit more and you know, if I could do it all over again, I maybe would have taken a little bit less up front and had a little bit bigger bite on the second round because I know inevitably the second round is going to come. Like this platform has been very successful. You know, I don't like to question myself too much on it, but you know, if I could do it over again, I may have, I may have bet a little harder on myself because I'm that confident that we're getting where we're trying to go.

[B]

Yeah, so. So you bet on a little bit of the longer term game.

[D]

Yeah, I think I would.

[B]

Did you think you were going to be staying in it for a longer term though at the time? Like did you think, hey, I thought.

[D]

For sure I'd be in it five plus years and I'm very confident now that I'll, you know, even if I'm able to realize some of that investment that I rolled, I'm not just going to walk away from the team, you know, like it's my life, you know, And I think that a lot of people get scared of doing a deal because they think, oh, you know, I just can't quit on my life or I can't give up my identity. There are a lot of different structures out there where you don't have to do that and you can stay a part of it, you know, as long as you're going to give the same effort that you did before. Yeah, I know that there's a lot of different ways that you can do it. I studied this a lot before I did it. Obviously we talked about that the last time. But overall I think I made a good choice and I don't think I would change much.

[B]

Yeah, I will say, you know this. I'm not here because I have to be here because I don't have to be here. I'm here because I want to be here. And I didn't do a private equity deal to sell out. I did to scale and grow. But I learned a lot. Yeah, two year stint on what I would have done and what I would not have done because I didn't quite understand some of the changes that could happen. Actually, I probably did. Just didn't think about it, you know, but now I'm like, I gotta, you know, founds 10 she's in fifth grade. Like, what am I gonna do? I can't retire. I can't wait. It's not go anywhere. And I keep saying, oh, I'm done at 50. The reality is, like, at 50, she's still calling me in high school, so I still gotta keep going.

[C]

Fallon needs a full time chauffeur for sure. She's gonna need one.

[B]

Yeah, we're aware. Trust me. When I came home, when I came home from the gym yesterday, Jason and Charlie are in there just talking to Fallon. They're in the house just talking to Fallon. Like what conversation these guys are having. And she just hung with us.

[D]

Yeah, she did. She's an amazing 10 year old.

[C]

They break the, they broke the mold on that one. There is no doubt she's a little Minnie Anna.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely going to be your, your most challenging.

[B]

Yeah, you can say, yeah, just call like we see it. That's why Chad loves her so much. I think he loves that she challenges us so much and he doesn't have to deal with it.

[C]

We were there last week and I'm sitting next to Anna. She's like, well, Fallon called me while Chris was speaking on stage. Wanted to let me know that the teacher may be sending an email home about her behavior in class. Like, oh my God, what. What is. What has transpired here?

[B]

That tracks, right? Yeah, that tracks. Jeez. I mean, it's good for your. It's a great challenge. You know, it's a good challenge to make sure that you. Your. It's a good mental fortitude game having her as a child. Okay, so one more quick question. Just maybe, maybe not so much around deal structure, but kind of in that same wheelhouse. Is. Is there, is in this process, was there an example of something that maybe you would have done differently if you were still independent versus being in the private equity world when you had all that freedom and no pressure to do whatever you wanted, what would it be?

[D]

You know, I'm gonna go back to what I kind of said before is like, I don't think I would have been as aggressive with some of the moves that I've made. I think I would have been a little more conservative. I'm just conservative. A little bit conservative by nature. I can't think of any one thing that jumps out that I would have said, oh, I would have done it this way had these guys not been here, this partnership not been there. I think that there's more examples of things that I learned faster because I had the partnership and all the people that I could draw upon for the knowledge. I don't have a. I don't have anything good for him.

[B]

Were you doing like. Were you doing like shop tours and stuff like that, pre, like, pre private equity?

[D]

Not exactly, no. I went to events. You know, I'd saw Tommy Shop, which is obviously garage door shop, but I'd done events and I'd networked with a few people, but I had not done a full scale shop tour. Well, outside of, I guess, Hiller. We did the. Do the Hiller tour, which that was, you know, quite a bit bigger than what we were.

[B]

But it was still.

[D]

Yeah, it was still a really cool thing to do. I never made it to the Peterman place, but I would have been. That would have been a good one to see as well.

[B]

Still opportunity.

[C]

October 2nd, we've got another one coming up and then we'll probably hang it up for the rest of the year and then we'll start back up again next year.

[D]

Nice.

[B]

There's your opportunity to go to Brothers.

[C]

October is a nice time to come. I'd skip the winter and maybe come the spring.

[D]

Well, I grew up in Dayton, Ohio. Chad.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know all about it.

[D]

We call it the gray matter. We call it the gray matter. It's. Yeah, avoid it from November through April.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Gray matter.

[D]

Oh, it takes me back, you know.

[B]

I do know. Um, okay, so we'll slip in this last one. And this is more of like advice from you to those that are listening. Um, and then we're gonna shift to my last question, which is gonna be my favorite question.

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What should contractors, in your opinion and from your experience, not compromise on when selling the business?

[D]

That's a really good question. Fortunately, I took a lot of time, you know, to think about what I wanted to do. And I listened to, you know, a lot of podcasts and stuff like that on other people. And I can remember, I can remember Ken Goodrich saying, you can only go to the gym and pick your kids up from school for so long before you're going to get really bored again and want to be back in the business. And that really resonated with me. And I remember thinking again, like what My brother told me I need to be engaged, I need to be doing something. So if I'm a contractor out there, I would make sure that I'm either a 100% good with selling the business and not being a part of it anymore, or making sure I'm doing business with somebody that I can stay essentially a marriage with and still be happy and keep my sanity. You know, essentially that's the route that I chose because I wanted to be engaged. And that was something I didn't want to compromise. I didn't want to compromise my. I stayed in it for a few reasons because much like you, I, I don't necessarily have to financially work anymore. But I want to show up for my team and I want to show up for my customers and I kind of want to show up for myself. I want to show up for my family. And I know I'm the best version of myself when I'm engaged. I'm the best version of myself when I'm, when I'm pushing, you know, and I wouldn't compromise that. If you think you're going to be miserable selling it and throwing the sack of cash over your shoulder and walking away, be careful what you're getting yourself into. Just do the homework and then probably follow your instincts. Because there was a time when I first did it. Like I said, when I landed that plane and I came down, I started to question myself a little bit. Well, maybe I should have done this or maybe I should have done that. But ultimately, now it's two, two and a half years later. And I'm really glad with the decision that I made because I made it for all the right reasons. I followed my instincts and I would, I would give that same advice to anybody. Make sure you're following the instincts that are best for you and your family.

[B]

Yeah. And you're a faith based guy too, so you also kind of followed, you know, followed that.

[D]

Yeah. Every time I used to get upset and start questioning like, oh, man, this is a lot of pressure. Why did I do this? I felt like, well, who am I to question God? You know, this was the Lord's plan for me. I should be really happy and feel really blessed that this is my life. And that always snaps me right back into reality.

[B]

You get to be in this position.

[D]

I get to be in this position.

[B]

This position. Yeah. That's pretty cool. I will share this live on air. Okay. You guys have heard it, but I'm gonna share it anyway. And this is my, my advice also, having been through a few years of a private equity partnership, is, I would say, be okay with it completely falling apart and you know, that you're financially okay and you've negotiated the right deal that allows you to do whatever you need to do next to take care of yourself. Because you just don't know. You can pick the right partner, but the partner within the group can change.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, I had a CEO change in mind. And we bet on the CEO.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and, and talk about disruptor. And that immediately switch switched from, you know, for me, from somebody who I respected and was led by to someone that I had needed to earn my respect. And that was a major shift. And so at that moment I was like, thank God I'm a fighter, you know, And I just, I'm going to figure it out and try to figure out how to keep going and. But then you start to carry this, like, guilt. I chose this, I chose this for, for my, for my team.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So my, my, I guess my PSA there is. When you're thinking about finding the right partner, be also, also be thinking about that potential partner can change. Right. The people within that that you respect can change. So make sure the platform in itself is something that, you know, that you want to be a part of.

[D]

And that's something I'm really grateful for because I've heard stories of, you know, other contractors that weren't happy with the decision that they made or maybe their, their stock or whatever didn't, didn't do what they thought it was going to do. And I've been very, you know, grateful and fortunate to be a part of something that has been very successful and looks like it's got a really good Runway to be. Continue to be successful for a long time.

[B]

I'm happy for you, man. Chad, do you have anything else before I move on to my last question?

[C]

I don't ask your last question and then I can kind of send my closing comments before you do the thing at the end.

[B]

Perfect. Actually, I might have Jason help me. He's been a long time listener, first time caller. Jesus. You know, I'd like to think that over these last few years that I've brought the best out of Chad Peterman. I think we see, you know, a, you know, a more definitely likes to, you know, sing a little bit more, you know, last week at home service freedom. I even saw some, some dancing at Florida a few times.

[C]

Gotta have a sling on my arm. Got my elbow all up in a tizzy.

[B]

Unsolicited. He did some dancing. Okay. So we're seeing, you know, a little bit of change in Chad. And, and you know, Chad's not afraid to go and he goes, you know, goes on, goes on trips, does his thing. He makes memories. And one thing that, that Jason Bueller taught me at our Arrowhead Lakes house, you remember this? We talked about something called memory dividends. Yeah. And you. And you found that in the book. Which book?

[D]

The book was Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. Amazing book.

[B]

Memory dividends. So real quick, I want you to talk about to the listeners. This is important, so if you ever seen me post hashtag memory dividends or some of my friends, like even, you know, got Charlie doing it Kelly, doing it. Just explain what memory dividends are, because you've been making a lot of them. Yeah, right. And I want our listeners to do the same thing.

[D]

So in life, everybody always talks about, you know, there's. There's three things that you're. You're. You're trying to do. You're trying to chase a good financial goal. You're trying to utilize the health that you have and the time that you have. Well, everybody's worried about their financial dividend, you know, and what that's going to be. But in life, you really need to chase the memory dividend. The memory dividend is taking advantage of the moment and going and doing the things and sharing them with the people that you love and then turning around when that, you know, when that trip is over, when you're. When you're concluding and turn around saying, you know what? That was another perfect. That was a memory dividend. And I'm so fortunate to have learned that. I think back in 2020, and I've spent a lot of time taking good trips and sharing that same philosophy with other people so that they will realize we only have so much time, we only have so much health. And if you've made enough money to go chase down some of those things, you should spend time chasing those memory dividends because they're so much better than financial dividends. When you're old and you're tired and you're. Whatever place you're at that you're going to be resting and thinking about it, you're not going to think about, you know, oh, shit, I made a little bit more money in my 30s or 40s. You're going to be thinking about the memories and the times and the love that you shared with the people that you care about. So that's, to me, a memory dividend. This trip right now is a memory dividend. I took my wife to Phoenix, got to come out here, spend a couple of nights with the Yanos in studio. I'm in studio.

[B]

This is great.

[D]

This is a memory dividend. All three of my experiences doing these podcasts have been memory dividends. But in life, I've been so blessed to get to share so many of them with my friends and family that I care so much about.

[B]

Yeah, and you started something. Because I've shared it everywhere. I share with everybody. So anybody's heard me say that came from Jason Bueller, and we were creating a memory dividend the night that you told me.

[D]

Yes, we were.

[B]

Yes, we were. I've got some video on My phone somewhere.

[D]

Yeah, you were talking about your ambidextrous. You remember? That in itself is a memory dividend. I'll let you share if you want or if you don't. It's fine.

[B]

So. Oh, boy. You know what? Okay, let's.

[D]

Maybe Chad. Maybe Chad doesn't want to hear it.

[B]

Yeah. God, that's a hard one. I don't know that I could.

[D]

I don't think you can.

[B]

Yeah, I don't think I can share that one on air, but off air I can. But that was a memory dividend. I'll have forever. That's right. Um, what he's alluding to is I can use both hands.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Equally.

[B]

They just came up with a different name for it. Um, yeah. So it's been, you know, like. It's just. What I always love is that through your experience, too, whenever you guys are out, because you love to. You're on your boat and you guys go out in the ocean, you guys do all the fun stuff and you have a good time. And I can always tell you have a good time because you'll send me a video of you guys having a good time.

[D]

Yeah. Guilty.

[B]

Yeah. And I love it because I'm like, damn, I'm jealous. I wish I was there creating some memory dividends with him.

[D]

The last one was good. When I sent you the Pimp Juice.

[B]

Video, it was real good. In the limo, he was. That was pretty good. Hey, speaking of which, a memory dividend. I haven't been in a limo and forever, but when we were in Vegas, we took. We. We flew back with Tommy and Bri, and they said, we're going to take a limo to the airport. I'm like, oh, what? And so they. His assistant booked us this huge, like, lifted dually limo that. To take us like, four minutes across the street to the airport.

[C]

Airport's literally 10 minutes away.

[B]

It's like, okay, I've been in limo forever, but we had the best four minutes in that limo going over there.

[D]

You remember forever?

[B]

I remember it forever. Well, listen, dude, I'm. I mean, Chad, I'll let you. You, you know, close out here in a minute, but it's. I just love having you in here. I always love having you, having you around, you know, and, you know, you're welcome my house anytime. Really appreciate them and in here anytime. I feel everyone just want to come and hang out a rhino. But it's always just, you know, I'm glad to have you in here, and it feels good. I say this in the most in the nicest way. I'm glad to have you back.

[D]

Well, thank you.

[B]

The Jason, the Jason Bueller that I know who's, you know, just a, you know, high energy guy like you. I could see that that's back and, And I'm grateful. So. And I hope that this morning, that this is a good memory dividend for you, that your stomach was as disrupted as mine was from our Mexican dinner last night.

[D]

Didn't bother me.

[B]

That hot sauce God nearly destroyed me.

[C]

You didn't take him to the. You didn't take him to the bearded barber.

[B]

That's tonight, buddy. That's tonight. All right, we're going tonight.

[C]

Make sure you wear a collar. You got a collar on, you're good. Got held up there one time for that, for that transgression, apparently.

[B]

Transgression. All right, Chad, close us up, buddy.

[C]

No, I think it was great having you on, Jason. I appreciate sharing your story. I think that if there's anything that anybody can learn, you know, private equity has so many, you know, good stories, bad stories. I don't know about them. They seem weird. Are they going to disrupt the industry, all of this stuff? And I think, to me, what you shared today was, hey, I went into this with all the right intentions. I studied, I did it. I fell into kind of a rough spot. I bounced back. And I think that that just shows that people like yourself, I mean, with any relationship, it's what you bring to the table, your willingness to, you know what? I'm going to persevere. I need to be at my best. All of this. And I think for so many listeners, it's like, so often we're blaming all the external stuff, all of the. It's not my fault. It's got to be somebody else's. It's not my fault. It's got to be the weather's fault. It's got to be this. It's got to be that. It's like, you know what, Being able to stand up and say, hey, I'm not at my best, but I need to be at my best for my family, my company, my people. All of this stuff, I think, is just a huge lesson, a huge takeaway for me of like, hey, those times when you're not feeling so great, like, it's on you. Like, what are you bringing to the table? What are you going to do to. To make the situation better? So I appreciate you sharing your story. Always great to connect. Hopefully I'll see you maybe next. Next week, maybe.

[D]

No, no, I don't believe so.

[B]

No, Panther.

[D]

I'll see you soon.

[C]

Oh, yeah, we'll see you soon.

[D]

You just reminded me of a quote that I love. It's surround yourself with the dreamers, the doers, the believers, the people who believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself. That's guys like Cristiano and Chad Peterman.

[B]

Oh, thanks, buddy.

[C]

Appreciate it.

[B]

My man made me warm and fuzzy inside. Thank you so much. Listen, I think it's only appropriate that you close out this podcast. Do you think you can handle closing out this podcast? It only takes one statement.

[D]

Yeah, I can do this.

[B]

Bring it home, J.V. no.

[D]

Zero days.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Welcome to to the Point Home Services, the podcast where real contractors share real strategies. We cut through the noise and get straight to the point with the contractors that are working in the field right now. If you run a home services business and want to lead, better grow faster and stay sharp, you're in the right place. Now, before we get started, I need you to do one thing. Only 30% of our listeners are following the show. So stop what you're doing, hit follow, and let's get to the point.