Live @ EPIC 2024 with Travis and Renee Lucas
In the virtual Lemonade Stand, Crystal and Emily are on-location at EPIC 2024! They're joined by Travis and Renee Lucas from LCS Heating & Cooling, where they talk about revitalizing your business, the journey to making changes, and the advantages of networking for your company.
0:00 - Life of Rebranding and Rebuilding
10:04 - Business Rebranding and Networking Success
19:03 - Brand Launch Success Story
28:52 - Collaborative Creativity and Travels
If you enjoyed this chat From the Yellow Chair, consider joining our newsletter, "Let's Sip Some Lemonade," where you can receive exclusive interviews, our bank of helpful downloadables, and updates on upcoming content.
Please consider following and drop a review below if you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.
We’ll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
-
Speaker 1: 0:00
Alrighty, what's up Lemonheads, welcome back to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I'm Emily and I'm Crystal, and this week we are in the virtual lemonade stand, coming to you live from the EGIA EPIC 2024 conference, and we have some very special guests, some clients who've turned friends, and we can't wait to sit down and chat with them, absolutely and we are at Disneyland, so you can't help but be energetic and excited with all the branding that's around and all the loud noises that you hear around us today.
Speaker 3: 0:28
Yes, we are live.
Speaker 2: 0:29
We are live at a conference, but I am really excited for you guys to get to hear from this. I call them a little power couple in the industry. I think a lot of people don't even recognize how cool they are, what cool things they do. They're just going to talk about a life of rebranding, rebuilding and even just doing life together as husband and wife. So it's going to be a great episode. I can't wait for you guys to hear it. Let's sip some lemonade. Let's do it.
Speaker 1: 0:53
All right. So our very special guests are Travis and Renee Lucas, the owners and operators of LCS Heating and Cooling out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Speaker 2: 1:03
I think you're not cool if you don't call it Indy. I think you have to Indy, that is true.
Speaker 1: 1:05
That's the local term. It's true. You fly into the airport. It says welcome to Indy.
Speaker 3: 1:08
Yeah, I'm like we're not cool, we're not from there, because we call it the whole word Indianapolis, indiana, yeah.
Speaker 2: 1:21
So tell us a little. Know about you, Travis, but why should they listen to you? Well, let me tell you what.
Speaker 3: 1:26
We've been through so much rebuilding our business and we're still married.
Speaker 3: 1:30
So there you go, there you go, you made it, we've made it, we're doing something right, I think. So yeah, you know, I think part of it is there's so many husband and wife teams out there and there's so many and and you know, we were in business for 11 years when we decided to cut in half and start all over again, and so just to learn how to be on the same page about that and respect each other's ideas and the craziness that changes that we had and and being able to make it through that, absolutely so.
Speaker 2: 1:58
We have been working with Renee and Travis for several years now just on marketing. Hasn't it's? It's always been like, let's try this, let's try this. One thing that I think you guys, um, really appreciate is where you are now. So you kind of mentioned it. So tell us, like what happened that made you go uh-oh, we're fixing to start this thing over again, travis, like, can you tell us like what, what kind of happened?
Speaker 4: 2:20
well, I mean you can start by. For me was when you get to the point where you're crying in a van that something's got to change.
Speaker 1: 2:27
Yeah, that's true. You were crying or Renee was crying, or both.
Speaker 4: 2:31
I was crying, for sure.
Speaker 3: 2:34
Yeah, I think you know and that's true.
Speaker 4: 2:37
And that's a true story.
Speaker 3: 2:38
Yeah, that's true. He would spend time literally like crying in his van because he was so miserable and I had people that were starting to tell me that Travis was going to die early and that started to really get to me, obviously, and he looked terrible.
Speaker 4: 2:51
I mean, he looked great but he looked terrible, he had these huge bags under his eyes.
Speaker 3: 2:54
You're distressed.
Speaker 4: 2:57
Oh my gosh, when I come to the conclusion that you couldn't produce any more hours in the day and without the help from outside people, you thought you're just drowning.
Speaker 2: 3:09
So what was happening? Was it just like the people that you were working with? Was it financial things or all the above?
Speaker 4: 3:17
Everything above, when you don't know what you're doing in business and you're literally punching a clock to a certain degree, you don't know any different.
Speaker 3: 3:26
But the scary thing is is you don't realize, you don't know what you're doing. And so, for us, we never had any cashflow issues. So we didn't realize that we were literally operating at a zero to 2% net profit for all of these years. All we knew is we didn't really have anything to show for it. But I mean, we didn't have a lot of loans, we didn't have a lot of debt and paying ourselves. Well, so yeah, we're paying ourselves.
Speaker 4: 3:45
So it never feels bad, but it looks sometimes hold on paying ourselves well I mean, let's be honest, we were paying our bills, yeah, nothing extra kept our dog fed.
Speaker 3: 3:58
And that's how? Yeah, and that's how. We could only have one dog.
Speaker 3: 4:00
Yeah, that's how bad, it was yes yes, yeah, I think, but but when you don't know that, you don't know. That's what's scary, and I think that's what got us to our rough bottom was because we didn't know what to do. We didn't know what we were doing wrong, we didn't know how we could be working so hard and on the outside, everything looked good. I mean, we had a lot of five-star reviews, we had great customers, a lot of longtime customers. We were growing every year very, very small, but we were growing every year and so we we didn't understand why we felt so miserable like we did and why why Travis looked, you know, so run down that people were actually saying like you're running him into the ground, he's going to die early and so that when it probably wasn't the physical work, it was the mental exhaustion.
Speaker 4: 4:47
Yeah, yeah, I could handle the physical. I couldn't handle the mental because we didn't know what we were doing. So as far as a the business side of it, I had no clue. I had no clue what I was doing and neither of us had business background. But at the physicality part of their work, that wasn't the problem.
Speaker 2: 5:01
yeah and I think that's probably true for a lot of people that they I think there's a lot of contractors if they really self-reflected, they've been there or they are there, yeah, where, like things look okay, it doesn't feel okay, um, and like I, I will cry with a contractor because I'm like, I'm like I can, my heart just goes out to like you're looking out at these employees that you have and you're like I gotta make sure they can feed their families. I'm not gonna feed my dog so that I can feed, so they can feed. And then it's like, so what? What really triggered?
Speaker 1: 5:31
like we're starting over, or what made y'all realize that there's something wrong, that this isn't normal, this isn't the way that it should be.
Speaker 4: 5:38
Yeah, it was a well, it was probably the. The mix group was probably the first step oh, your aca, aca mix group. Yeah.
Speaker 3: 5:44
So we had a financial advisor in my BNI networking group that I happened to just start talking to one day, and most of my conversations at this at this time in my life ended in tears.
Speaker 3: 5:56
So, um, you know, I'm just doing everything wrong, but I didn't know what it was and I felt so helpless because I didn't know what to do. I just knew that something wasn't right with what we were doing. And I will say this we did not have a good team at this time. We had people who would show up when they wanted to show up.
Speaker 3: 6:16
We had employees, but not a team we had employees, yes, but I mean, there were some people I was like I don't even like you, like personally, yes, Like what are we doing? And then we're sending these people that we don't even personally like, as people, we don't like their character, we're sending them to homes to represent. Well it?
Speaker 2: 6:33
just doesn't feel that way. Like you know, emily and I talk about this too Like am I kind of held hostage. Oh, 100% by these, these people, and then, like I mean you can ask Emily, emily and I will look, we will look at each other. Like we refuse to, like we will kill ourselves to not be held hostage.
Speaker 4: 6:47
Yes, we will. We were held hostage.
Speaker 3: 6:49
Oh, 100%. And we have, because it's this fear of like I can't do anything more by myself and so if this person leaves, like there's no more for me to give. And so you do, you know, and you try to. I'll remember this one time it was a breaking point for me.
Speaker 3: 7:03
We were having a team meeting and I had an installer who challenged me in a way when I say challenged, like looked me in the eye and you could just see the kind of like middle finger, like kind of the middle finger, look at me. You know what I mean. And it was at that moment I was like I don't even think he likes women, like I think he's got, like there's a problem here, and I left, like I left, like I left and I took a walk around the block and that was a big moment for me. I'll never forget the look on his face and probably the look on mine, and neither one of us broke eye contact and I was like this is not good, yeah so, and Travis was just like where are you going? And I was like for a walk. And he finished the meeting, he wrapped everything up and got everybody out of there.
Speaker 2: 7:45
So you guys were like we're starting over. What did starting over really mean?
Speaker 1: 7:48
What was the first thing you did?
Speaker 4: 7:51
We met with a couple of the contractors rehab people and I showed them our numbers and I said we can't keep this up and they didn't want us to raise prices. So we had a hard conversation. Now, mind you, we weren't a change-out company, we were a rehab, new construction company. So now we've got that challenge of how do we get into that market.
Speaker 3: 8:15
Yeah, so there are two pieces to it, so that was a big one. And we started to learn about pricing from our mix group that we were in, because they looked at our financials and understand. I printed off our financials every month but I didn't really know how to read them and I definitely didn't know how to use them to make decisions in the business. So we were starting to learn this and that's where Travis decided to start with our install department and our pricing was way off and we realized we were doing every single job at break-even or less, pretty much.
Speaker 2: 8:49
And so we started there with the pricing side, and he headed that up, and then he and I both, which is scary like, hey, you need to raise your process you're like excuse me, yeah, oh well we literally straight up had people that were like no, we're not paying you anymore.
Speaker 3: 8:56
so then we were like you feel like you're held hostage by employees. We were held hostage by, by investors and the contractors we were working for too, because they were no, we're not paying you anymore, and we were scared to lose that work, because now how?
Speaker 2: 9:07
are we going to pay everybody Zero? A little bit more than zero.
Speaker 4: 9:10
And we knew when we made that decision it was going to be. It was three long years of getting up super early in the morning to start rebuilding pricing and figuring out how it worked.
Speaker 3: 9:21
Wow. So at this time too, like I mentioned BNI, I was networking and so I actually. I my career was in music therapy, and so I had left that field to join our business. But I I picked up a job at a health insurance agency and my hours were nine to four, so from from seven to eight, 30, four days a week. I went to a networking group in different areas of Indianapolis that we wanted to build our business in, and then I used my lunch hour to help him return some phone calls, and then I worked in the evenings, and then that's really how we started to build. Our residential business was through referral marketing, and that's it really got us out of where we were working. But I mean, it took time like it took a couple of years for us to start.
Speaker 1: 10:04
Some boots on the ground, yeah, those maximizing every single hour that you have, because if you were gonna wait on like an immediate success point, oh you would have quit yeah, 100 percent and also you have to.
Speaker 4: 10:16
One of the biggest problems was also me and the company, how my attitude was. You have to. You have to realize the biggest problem could be you. And if you don't, it won't work.
Speaker 3: 10:27
Well, and we we both had that. Um, I remember we did our first employee survey, so let me go back to the employees for a minute. So in this time we also sat down individually with everybody and we had kind of put on paper like, what do we love about being in business and having a business and what do we hate about it? And we took and then we were like, okay, what we hate about it, that's what has to change immediately, right, and so some of the things that we hated were our quality of work would be on point some days and off point some days. It would be, and we'd have like full crews and then nobody would be here. So attendance was one of the biggest things that we had tackled. And attitude. We literally had an installer that he would miss like every other Monday and he would say he said to me, when we met with him one-on-one, he said you can't, you can't get rid of me. I'm the best installer you have. And we said try me.
Speaker 1: 11:15
We said no-transcript other team members need to see like oh, they're serious now. Like they're not just saying empty threats. Or like this is the last time. This is the last time. Like sometimes they might be mediocre, but like, oh, they just let go of the best one yeah, like they ain't messing around, emily does a whole presentation on.
Speaker 4: 11:48
You deserve what you tolerate yes, you're right and it's so true, we were guilty of holding on.
Speaker 1: 11:53
You're tolerating that, yeah, so why should you get anything different?
Speaker 3: 11:56
yeah correct we went down. So in that time, over the over about a three month span, we went down. There was 12 of us and we went down to four and we started over and we had a plan for our customers because, I mean, we couldn't keep up with the workup we were doing about probably one and a half, 1.8 million in revenue at this time, and so we just told our customers like hey, we're rebuilding our team, we're rebuilding the company. You know it's going to. It might be a few days before we can get out. We didn't have a single person that gave us grief or didn't understand or didn't celebrate with us. I mean, the people were very supportive, but we were very upfront and honest.
Speaker 1: 12:29
They appreciate that honesty, they can relate, they can connect with you as humans, not just a company.
Speaker 2: 12:34
I hired Exactly, exactly, okay. So you restarted, got back going. Now this has been how long ago, several years ago.
Speaker 3: 12:43
Yeah, so this was so. 2016 is when we joined the Mix Group. 2017, we joined Service Nation Alliance and actually I went to boot camp by myself in July of 2017.
Speaker 2: 12:55
Boot camp, which is Service Nation's like launch party yes, you couldn't even go because you had to work.
Speaker 4: 13:00
Oh yeah, she told me she's like you're going to go.
Speaker 2: 13:12
And I'm like no, I'm not well and you have add, so you struggle. I just sit here and talk to you guys so go into this a whole business boot camp was not on your radar. No, you went by yourself. Tell me. You're probably going to be able to tell me who are two people in that same boot camp oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: 13:20
so charles was his name, he was out of cincinnati, okay, and that's actually the one person I remember. I've got people's faces.
Speaker 2: 13:28
But the point is, when you got there like you still walk away like oh my gosh, I know them. I went to boot camp.
Speaker 3: 13:33
Oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker 2: 13:33
Yes, and it's because, like you, you discover a lot about yourself and your business at SNA boot camp.
Speaker 3: 13:39
Yes, service, nation, service, roundtable, whatever people call it, there's one specific exercise and it was about how to set yourself apart, and you know it made you realize that everything that you think you do that makes you unique everybody else does too, right, and so it was a really eye-opening exercise, and that's one thing that we went back with is we've got to figure out what makes us different, why people would want to work with us, why people would want to grow with us, why people would want to hire us, and so we had to really work through all of that, and that's where we developed our core values, and then, a little later on the LCS way, and so we have our internal core values on what makes us unique, and then our external. What makes us unique is the LCS way, and that's really like from that single exercise.
Speaker 2: 14:23
Yeah, you learn a lot from boot camp and then, so that must have been like a little catalyst for you to come back. So, again, you've mentioned BNI, you mentioned ACA, mixed Groups and you mentioned Service Nation yes, so all of those things are networking, yes, and I have to say I feel like networking a lot of times is where, where, as people say they said it yesterday in one of the speeches like you know, you know where most deals and things are made. Is that a bar, at the bar, at the bar at a hotel, and it's because you go through these exercises, but then, like, sitting with other people and listening to them, like, how'd you solve that, How'd you do that? And not necessarily copying that, necessarily, but applying that to how you react, your personality, styles and things like that. So, okay, so fast forward. We start working together.
Speaker 2: 15:08
Um, lemon seed, we start learning. Renee actually did like back in the day, I would do these social media classes, um, just on my own, and Renee did one of them, and then, when lemon seed started up, she was like, hey, let's try this.
Speaker 3: 15:20
So, um, it's that was a great class by the way it was during covid, if I remember correctly it was like an online thing that you did? Yes, and it was so many groups, yeah, and so I and I, I really picked up a lot out of that. I was like man, this crystal girl, she's kind of smart what she's talking about.
Speaker 2: 15:36
We knew each other from service nation, yes, um. So again just networking groups, but fast forward to last year. We hey, we really think you should rebrand. You were like we've been thinking about rebranding. But refreshing the brand rebranding that's also another big step of faith.
Speaker 3: 15:51
Let me remind you that, Emily, like a couple years before, that was like I really want to rebrand you.
Speaker 1: 15:57
The first time I met Renee, I'm like hey, renee, nice to meet you. I really want to rebrand you.
Speaker 3: 16:01
I was like what are you talking about? We've got a very pretty logo. We are precious it's really cute we are, we are very precious.
Speaker 4: 16:06
I kept vetoing it. I'm like I don't want to spend the money.
Speaker 2: 16:09
Well that, and you have a whole wall painted in your office, oh yeah.
Speaker 4: 16:12
The truth.
Speaker 3: 16:13
Yes, yes, I mean, look on our van. So I felt like we had just done all that a few years before and we were like that's a lot of money to spend to do something, and I felt like we had a strong brand already, until the day when my sister was like hey, I thought I saw one of your vans coming down the road and it was a van of a like remediation company that literally had almost an identical logo to ours, and so you were like fine the sunshine and the snowflake.
Speaker 3: 16:42
Yes, I know, every I know, precious Emily, I know, I know.
Speaker 2: 16:47
Yes, it was designed, awesome, it was so we just were like, hey, this is what you should do, so you started that and it wasn't easy. Also to what? Y'all went through several rounds of like what is our identity?
Speaker 1: 16:59
You're emotionally.
Speaker 2: 17:05
It's very emotional. Yes, yes, yes. So what we went through like the, uh, the girl, we tried a girl and then we were like, uh, okay, this cute little white girl on the side of this van are guys. Are these guys gonna get in this van? Like you went through like this whole struggle of like what was the identity piece? But I think, more than anything it's.
Speaker 3: 17:19
It is a discovery it really is and I think so. Here's the thing is the idea behind healthy Elsie she's so cute. Well, the the idea behind her. We were, we, we truly identified with and we felt really good about it. And you know, travis Travis and myself and then some of our team members there are some different health struggles there and different things that we go through that lead to a very specific lifestyle, right, and so being in homes and we, you know, our tagline for years and years has been lasting comfort solutions, and it still is, and so that it really it really came together well with that. However, the visual of it is what I was like. It was like, yes, this little white girl with blue eyes and blonde hair, like she's super cute, but I was like man, I don't know that that really represents us. Well, you know what I mean, and that's what we struggled with. We liked it, we liked the idea of it, but we didn't feel like it was quite right for us.
Speaker 1: 18:18
Yeah, okay, and so that's where we went back to the drawing board. Again, it's a discovery process and sometimes you just have to see things on paper before you can really wrap your mind. Because Renee and I just verbally kind of talked out this healthy LC. They installed Dyken Fit, so that kind of goes with the healthy LC from LCS, and so we kind of got our minds wrapped around it before we saw anything. Then, once we actually saw, it is when more discovery even happened and stuff. So we went back to the drawing board and some kind of non-negotiables that they had was okay, we got to keep the name LCS, but we are really tied to our LCS way and lasting comfort solutions. So then we just kind of had to get creative. How can we incorporate these kind of non-negotiables and then get creative with it from after that?
Speaker 3: 19:03
And I will say Emily, you do such a great job of bringing that creativity out, because we started with words, and so I don't know if you remember this, but some of the words that you were like, give me some words that just. And so I was like I feel like we're innovative, I feel like we, we know our stuff, I feel like we're true experts in the field. And remember, that visual that kind of came out was like a bookworm and like you know what I mean, and it was just words that kind of started to develop and create like a there were really was no image at this time, it was just words.
Speaker 2: 19:34
And you were like okay, back to the drawing board, we go yeah, so yeah, when you, when you go through that, though, like because I stay on the contractor side, like my brain's like, oh lord, like you're gonna, you're gonna rewrap everything, repaint everything. And because I have immense amount of trust in our branding team, like our graphic design team, like they're gonna put out good content. Yes, it's just a matter of you buying into it. So what I loved the most is you kept it a secret oh yeah, so well.
Speaker 1: 19:59
And Renee was even like can you fly up to Indianapolis, to Indy, to come pitch this to my team, like I just want to make sure it's pitched right.
Speaker 2: 20:06
Well, so I go to a service Titan event and one of her team members are there and he's like, yeah, y'all did the rebrand, like what's it going to be? And I was like that's a weird question. So I was like, uh, so I text Renee and she's like do not.
Speaker 4: 20:24
Oh, he's a weasel.
Speaker 2: 20:27
But I was like oh, my goodness, and so I loved that. So y'all unveiled it to your team. And what was the?
Speaker 3: 20:33
response oh my gosh. So I think too, because we had built up this secrecy, there was this excitement about it, but also this like fear, a little bit of oh my God, like people were afraid we were going to change our name. Surprise, we sold. Oh my gosh. Okay, what's funny? In one of our, in our annual employee survey that we do, one of the comments was please don't sell. I know, and so you know that, and that was one of those things that pulled at our heartstrings for sure, because I was like okay, we're doing something right.
Speaker 2: 21:02
They want to be with us.
Speaker 3: 21:03
Yes, yeah, so we planned this whole launch and my account manager, ashley, she, was just incredible with all these ideas that we had. So we had just a couple of vans that were wrapped at this time. We had new uniforms, which was our biggest upfront expense, I would say. We had the vision for what our conference room will look like. It's painted, but the signage is not up yet. But then we also had this fun like fun drink that went along and it was a mocktail. It would have been way more fun to have it during happy hour.
Speaker 2: 21:34
But we all had to go to work. It was like 730 in the morning. I wish I could see his excitement.
Speaker 4: 21:38
Well, I had to squeeze I don't know in the ballpark of 50 lemons.
Speaker 2: 21:43
Yes for the drink, Making it fresh Lim. The limits are the best thing you've ever done. It was five bags it hurt.
Speaker 1: 21:50
Well, and I think one reason that your launch was so successful is you guys were bought in and those were the only two that mattered. You didn't have to get the opinion of all your other teams and showing them all the options. And hey, what do y'all think? Da-da-da, y'all were strategic in keeping it between you two, the decision makers. And then how do I really make it a bang with this launch and the way I sell it? Like, if I feel confident, hey, here's how this is going to take our company to the next level. Here's how it's going to benefit you. That's when they can then get behind it. You're not asking for their opinions of which mascot things like that.
Speaker 2: 22:19
Right, we talk about you guys, about that a lot.
Speaker 3: 22:22
Well, I tell you so in this past year we've really developed a management and a leadership team in our company, and so this is new for Travis and I, because it's not just he and I making decisions now. We're really turning to our managers and our leadership team, and so to have this one thing where they weren't a part of it, it kind of felt like it went against what we were trying to do. A little sneaky it did. But on the other hand, emily, you made a really a really good point. You said you get too many opinions in it and you'll never make a decision. Yeah, it just muddies the water. It does. And on something like this and Travis and I agree that on something like this that are branding this is something you've got to trust us on. You've got to trust us that we know our team, we know what we represent.
Speaker 2: 23:14
We know represent. We know what people would want to stand behind, and you have to trust us on it, and they did. Let me be honest about something all of the brands that we have put out, all there are lots of good brands. Really, the success of a brand launch relies on the owners, how they put it out there. So whether you have a pelican, a rocket, a duck, a baseball player, it doesn't even matter. It's all about, like, how you go to market with it. And so, like people overthink the brands, I'm like we they gave you five good options. All five of these are fantastic options.
Speaker 1: 23:38
Buy into one of them and go for it like hit the gas, don't halfway limp along.
Speaker 2: 23:43
The launch the concept of branding is what is successful.
Speaker 3: 23:47
Well, I think, even calling it like we called it the launch, and so it's not like we just called it like another meeting or a rebrand or refresh. I mean we were like it's launch day and so we had our photographer there, we had videographer there, like we had this whole thing and everybody knew they were all coming Right. So I loved it. Oh, so it was so much fun and we had so we did this little powerpoint of like LCS through the years and so we showed some things that people hadn't seen before, like our very first business card was like air quotes business business card.
Speaker 2: 24:21
Did you design it, travis?
Speaker 4: 24:22
yes me and uh me and a friend of mine from high school oh it was that?
Speaker 1: 24:26
no, it was at his house and oh okay, there was a lot of alcohol there there were some definitely drinks, though Not you.
Speaker 4: 24:32
No, he was sitting on the business card.
Speaker 3: 24:34
It looked like he was kind of sitting on a toilet with his helmet on and these ski goggles on. Wait, hold on now.
Speaker 2: 24:41
Hold on now when I say business card.
Speaker 3: 24:43
We didn't actually print any of these off. Like I said, it was not alcohol.
Speaker 4: 24:47
One made it to print and it's in Renee's office.
Speaker 3: 24:49
And it's like in a magnet on my file cabinet. It's hilarious. This is the best story, but it's LCS heating and cooling. But I can't say bad words. Yeah, can we say bad words Well we can try to beep it out, just go ahead with it, okay. It says like call us is what the business card said I mean.
Speaker 2: 25:06
But it's very truthful, it's very honest marketing.
Speaker 3: 25:15
So we actually showed that to our team.
Speaker 4: 25:16
Like guys, when you look back, they were cracking up. It was so much fun.
Speaker 3: 25:18
I mean, that was that was the early days, for sure. And then, you know, we, we showed like our van wraps through the years, and we showed those the things that have not changed, which true it's, it's our values and it's know that tagline and and our purpose that we work towards and all of those things. And so we talked about how this, the brand that we had before and I now I know to use the term brand very loosely, but it served us very well for that time but it doesn't represent us well anymore where?
Speaker 2: 25:42
you're going, yeah, where. So now it has this super cool rocket. It's so fun and you know, emily and I talk about this all the time and we've even had another conversation about braiding since then. But you know, when we talk about things like, we're always like. I feel like I should tell you this, but at the end of the day, you know whose company it is, not Crystal and Emily's. Yeah, best advice that we can give we try to give you, emily's team is going to give you these great options, but y'all bought into it, y'all launched it and your team's been excited. We're going to dress you up like a rocket.
Speaker 4: 26:16
Yes, 100%. The one thing I do love about it is on our sleeve we have the house rocket.
Speaker 3: 26:19
Yes, it looks really cool and on our sleeve. Before we'd always have a manufacturer name on, like our shirts and jackets.
Speaker 2: 26:26
So we're not in the business of building them A hundred percent, and that's the thing is.
Speaker 3: 26:30
I was like nowhere on any of our branding will you find a manufacturer name, and so it's us Like. You know what I mean. Like we are. Our clients are not coming to us because of the manufacturer that we carry right, it's because of who we are.
Speaker 2: 26:44
Don't make rules for your business around the outliers Is Don't make rules for your business around the outliers. Is there going to be someone that says I want a Linux system?
Speaker 3: 26:50
Yes, yes, absolutely, but that's the outliers.
Speaker 2: 26:51
Most people just want the service over the manufacturer, and the manufacturers, I think, are really coming around to learn that, like hey man, the more we can support these contractors, the more boxes we're going to move. Yes, with or without our logo on the side of their van yes. I think, they're coming around too. So I've been really proud of manufacturers and distributors for recognizing that.
Speaker 4: 27:08
It's come a long way.
Speaker 2: 27:09
Last question and we're going to wrap it up Travis, are you ready?
Speaker 4: 27:12
Yeah, fire away.
Speaker 2: 27:13
So what do you think is one thing that's imperative that you do to maintain a healthy balance of working together and living life together as husband and wife?
Speaker 4: 27:24
Knowing to truly stay in my lane.
Speaker 2: 27:26
Yes, which your lane is the technical side.
Speaker 4: 27:30
It's the technical side and she'll ask me for my opinion on I don't know marketing and I'd look at her and go. You know what you're doing. You don't need my input because my input.
Speaker 3: 27:40
No, lemonsy knows what they're doing, yeah.
Speaker 4: 27:43
It's truly the number one thing would be knowing where your limits are. One thing would be knowing where your limits are and also, though, having the ability to have flexibility when she does come to me. Something's in my lane, yeah, and I'm willing to say yes instead of just no, right out the gate.
Speaker 2: 28:01
Well, so, like sometimes we'll come up with crazy stuff, and she's like I have no idea. I'm going to have to ask Travis that Because we can't make this great cool offer if it doesn't make sense technically.
Speaker 4: 28:10
Well, yes, I think we had a picture of two outdoor units and something was different Back up.
Speaker 2: 28:16
I know I'm technical, but it does help because things sound good in theory Like this sounds good and then I have to have somebody technical be like, yeah, so this is cute. This is not a thing.
Speaker 4: 28:29
Yes, it's not a. Thing.
Speaker 2: 28:31
So we need to rework this. I'm like, well, it sounded so much better with the alliteration, so let's go back and fix it, or sometimes even with budget.
Speaker 3: 28:41
you know, I know our budget and I know all that stuff. When it comes to actual pricing, it's like, hey, we want to be able to offer this promo, but can we make this work? I need his opinion on that. I want his opinion on that.
Speaker 2: 28:49
Good, good, okay, then what about you?
Speaker 3: 28:52
You know, I think um respecting each other's ideas, which is something that I'm currently working on, is we just got to have a great session that um talked about. When you hear an idea instead of no because start with yes and, and it really. We actually did some role playingplaying activities in there and it was kind of fun to see what happens when you say yes and to an idea that maybe seems really out there or something.
Speaker 2: 29:16
Well, so I will say this as, growing up like um, I know this is going to shock everybody that knows me I was always talkative and I always, just like, wanted to be where the adults were. And so my eighth grade teacher I just remember this she was the first one to say, oh my gosh, you have such good ideas. And I was like what, oh my gosh, and my dad is just like me, Like he and I we're the same. Now my mom's just precious with my sister. Okay, so they're hugging on everybody and praying for you. My dad's over here, like let me play devil's advocate with everything. So I tend to do that.
Speaker 2: 29:47
But my eighth grade teacher, Miss Music, she was like Crystal, you have such good ideas, You're such a good writer, You're so creative. And like here I am like 42 years old, I'm like that really stuck with me because someone acknowledged that I had a good idea. And like I literally think about that. Like every time with my team, Like if they come up with an idea, I'm like, okay, this is a terrible idea. But like, what terrible idea? But like what? What is? Like some little nuggets that we can pull to read, Cause we want them to feel heard. So sometimes we'll say, hey, we're always going to hear you. We can't always say yes, but I want you to feel heard. It's very important.
Speaker 3: 30:17
When I think it's really that's part of what's taken our business to the next level, is because Travis and I you know we we could take it so far and do so much alone and then after that we've we've really learned the value of other people and other people's ideas and other people's implementation and other people's time and all of the things, and it's really helped us to see that to get to really accomplish the vision that we have, we have to have other people and we have to rely on other people, including each other, yeah, and I think some of the team members are shocked when we want their opinion.
Speaker 4: 30:52
It just validates them a little bit, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: 30:54
Okay, one last thing. What is the best place that y'all have traveled to? Because y'all love to travel.
Speaker 3: 30:59
Ooh, okay, we probably have.
Speaker 4: 31:02
This is so hard, are we talking?
Speaker 2: 31:04
You can choose your own. We value your opinion, because y'all are like hikers. Nature is like your jam right.
Speaker 4: 31:12
Yes, man, there's so many Probably anywhere in Utah or Arizona, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: 31:20
Utah is beautiful. Oh my gosh, the hiking there is just incredible.
Speaker 4: 31:23
But over in Europe it's just a different world. Over there you can't compare it to here.
Speaker 3: 31:28
I would say Iceland was probably one of our most unique. It was fun. One of my favorites was Eastern Europe. We went to Budapest and Bratislava and different places in Austria and hit the different Christmas markets and it snowed and we did an Olympic bobsledding. Oh so magical. Oh, it was so cool.
Speaker 4: 31:46
Well, and I left my tablet on the airplane in Hungary and I thought I was going to go to prison. Oh gosh, they were not happy with that.
Speaker 3: 31:55
Well, you know, in the airports and the train stations they only hire people that do not speak English. Everywhere else, people speak English, it seems like, except for there. So I will say that One thing that I'm going to add really quick on the husband and wife team yes, I will say that one thing that I'm going to add really quick on the husband and wife team yes, something that Travis is so good at and it makes me feel like a wife and not a business partner is at the end of the day. So many times I'll come in the house and he'll have like, a glass of wine poured, or he'll like he'll be making dinner, or he'll send me a text message and say, ok, wrap it up and come over to the house, like I've got a surprise.
Speaker 4: 32:29
No, it is Boone's Farm it is fine.
Speaker 2: 32:32
Mad Dog 2020.
Speaker 1: 32:33
It's fine, strawberry heel.
Speaker 4: 32:37
He's got a strawberry wine, playing actually on this.
Speaker 3: 32:40
But I think it's those little things that are just, they're really special and I think you know we've been married for a really long time and to still have those things that he thinks about just pour a glass of wine or something, it's just the romance.
Speaker 1: 32:55
The romance wins it back. Y'all complement each other in business and in life.
Speaker 4: 32:59
And it's June 30, 2001.
Speaker 1: 33:03
Oh wow, good job, travis. And I remember just a few months ago Renee won Woman of the Year, service World Woman of the Year, which is a huge accomplishment and honor and I'm so glad that they recognized you for that. But she got up there and said she's like you know, if it was up to Travis alone, we would be a charity and a bank and have no money. If it was up to me alone, we'd have no customers and no employees because I'd be too mean and too harsh.
Speaker 1: 33:26
So y'all have that balance and y'all make it work from every different side of business, because it's multifaceted and you guys complement each other very well. Well, we absolutely adore you guys.
Speaker 2: 33:36
Y'all know y'all are some of our favorites, if not our favorite, but we appreciate how long y'all have been with Lemon Seed and like y'all's trust and support, because we don't always get it right every time, but you guys have been very patient with us so like we were fresh little babies just starting out with lemon seed, we were a tiny little lemon tree.
Speaker 3: 33:50
We've grown together.
Speaker 2: 33:51
Yes, we really have, and so we have loved having you guys on here, so thank you so much. So, hey guys, thank you so much for listening to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. We would love to have you like us on social media, give us a review wherever you listen to podcasts and share if you think other people could really benefit from this episode. Thanks so much for listening. Bye.
