Floor Academy - Helping flooring, tile and stone contractors own an asset Kyle Hedin - Speaker, Mastermind Facilitator, Writer, Content Creator, Business Therapist, and Contractor

Where do you find employees? How do you recruit? How do you retain them? All great questions that are consistently asked. Most of the time we are finding guys and gals from current employees, online posts, or the fact that the neighbor kid needs some work. This works to a point but it doesn’t help us grow a mainstream presence or grow a larger reach for our industry.

Jim Tsigos of Tsigos Construction in Delran, NJ has been in construction for 24 years. No stranger to hiring people, he has had the same struggles as all of us. He has however, found a way to give back to the industry that provides for himself, his wife and two kids. Jim regularly volunteers at the local vocational school and other places to educate those around him. This knowledge is pulled from being a master carpenter, certified tile installer, and more. Giving back to his industry has been the most fulfilling thing Jim has done and produced the most fruit.

Listen in to this weeks episode of the Floor Academy Podcast to learn how you can give back to your community to improve your industry.

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Traditionally in the trades, boys will follow in their father’s footsteps and pick up the family business. This is a timeless tale. Only in modern society has it begun to change where kids run off with their own ideas of what they want to become and accomplish. It’s not so bad overall, but how can we create the next generation of flooring professionals while still giving freedom of choice?

Dennis DiCarlo has built up a strong retail business and is now looking to expand it. Slowly but surely his kids have grown up and he was able to provide for them beyond basic needs included college educations. Life wasn’t always easy for Jackson and Chesney DiCarlo though, as they grew up knowing that if they wanted to make some money, there was always work to be done around the flooring store. They still needed to earn their own way. The store was never forced on them and they were allowed to explore other opportunities to be individuals. Now, after graduating college and experiencing adult life, both have opted to take up a part of the flooring business that their father continues to build beyond just retail sales.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy Podcast to hear how two young people are excited for their futures that they chose, how their upbringing helped them come full circle back to what helped support them, and what we can do to help encourage our own kids towards a path of success within the flooring industry.

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Starting a business is rough. Just because you know how to do something does not mean you know how to sell it. From there is only gets more complicated as you have to learn how to market yourself, what to charge, how to manage a schedule, and so much more. Everyone is told there is no money in construction unless you go out on your own and yet no one is telling you how to do it. 

Natalie Hall, owns and operates Artistry in Tile in Hudson, WI. From the age of 12 she studied under her father to learn the trade. At 16 she spent five yeas in a restaurant learning all different positions before moving on to managing a gym cafe, then management at UPS and finally Target. She got her inner creative on by doing cake baking at decorating at a restaurant after her management stints. Finally she arrived back at the trades and wanting to take it seriously. It was no longer a way to drum up some extra cash on the weekends. The work is rewarding but managing the day to day has become overwhelming. Natalie is not unlike many new business owners I speak with.

Listen in to this week’s episode of the Floor Academy podcast as we discuss ways for her to better manage her time, get her company known, and not experience such extreme ups and downs.
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What’s the difference between being a painter, welder, plumber, framer, flooring installer, tile setter, or stone mason? What’s the difference between the country you live in compared to others around the world? Do you really think that your individual location, clientele opportunities, education opportunities and other conditions have that big of an effect on what you can accomplish?

Tom Cockerill is the co-owner of Cockerill & Co with his wife Sarah. They own and operate and hardwood sand and finish business in Darlington, England. Realizing the industry was suffering from more than a lack of technical skill and admittedly not being the best businessman himself, Tom went searching for answers and also started the UK Flooring Podcast. Learning from bankruptcy, he is now teaching other businesses how to be profitable, implement systems and processes, and mentoring the next generation of successful flooring companies.

This week on the Floor Academy podcast, Tom and I will discuss how even though our countries are far apart, we are not so different after all. Developed nation or not, we all seem to have very similar issues that need to be dealt with and we will be discussing where we all need to step up to help solve these issues.

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How much is too much? The pricing debate is proposed again. What should you be charging to complete your projects? Ken Ballin made a post about a bid for a $2500 backsplash and part of Facebook lost their minds. Listen in as we discuss why it is priced the way it is and how you need to price your work.
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How do you deal with pushy clients? How do you handle them controlling the project, materials, schedule, etc? Are you not the professional? What happens when trust is lost or not established? Sometimes you just have to fire your client and there is nothing wrong with that. Contracts have natural breaking points in them for a reason and it is ok to use them.

Sarah Thelen came up as a finish carpenter before moving into doing remodels under her company S. Thelen Construction in 2017. She is also CTI #1848 as of December 2022. Her experience in a male dominated industry led her to make sure her clients were comfortable with not only the work being done but herself as well. Her passion for bringing crazy ideas to life has helped build her brand while allowing her house the  knowledge of technical specifications to make the end results successful.

Recently, Sarah found herself on a project with a repeat client that was constantly deferring to the designer. This situation strained her relationship with the homeowners. Laying out the situation led to making compromises she was not happy with and ultimately she had to make the decision to fire the client instead of continuing to work in an environment where she was not appreciated for what she was bring to the table.

This week on Floor Academy, Sarah and I discuss why we need to fire clients, what makes it hard, what the rewards of doing so are, and how this can help you actually grow your business.

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