In this episode, Jay Barrett from Barrett Pressure Washing shares his journey in the industry and how his grandfather's principles influenced his approach to the business.

Jay trained extensively in lift safety, chemical safety and chemical interactions to apply best practices and safe operations in pressure washing jobs which he believes sets him apart from his competition.

He discusses that he doesn't start a job unless he knows exactly how it's going to work out, a lesson imparted by his grandfather. Jay also mentions the importance of kindness as a mantra for both business and personal life.

00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Jay Barrett

00:18 Learning Business from Grandfather

00:47 Starting Barrett Pressure Washing

01:13 Getting into the Pressure Washing Business

02:14 Differentiating from Other Pressure Washers

03:39 Lessons from Grandfather

05:03 Grandfather's Influence and Legacy

06:42 High Standards and Quality Control

07:46 Applying Grandfather's Lessons in Business

08:37 Grandfather's Gift of Wisdom

10:26 Working with Family in Business

10:46 Overcoming Challenges in Family Business

12:40 Grandfather's Impact on Business Approach

16:28 Competitive Advantage in the Industry

18:43 Importance of Research and Preparation

23:55 Contact Information and Closing Remarks

You can reach Jay and learn more at https://barrettpressurewashing.com or call 888-658-WASH

John and Connie Kuder: Today, we are

celebrating Jay Barrett and by proxy, his

grandfather, of Barrett Pressure Washing.

Hi, Jay.

How are you doing?

Hello.

I'm doing well.

How are you?

John and Connie Kuder:

Welcome to the party.

Yeah!.

Thank you.

John and Connie Kuder: So, this is

a little bit unusual for our podcast

because we're normally interviewing two

family members and, uh, but when we had

a, a, chat, everything you learned about

running a business and, and the quality

in business, I believe was, you know, that

you had learned from your grandfather.

when you were younger.

And so I thought, wow,

let's talk about that.

Let's see what, um.

what, you learned about it from

your grandmother and we could share.

So, , first, I don't want to

like get things out of order, but

whatever, your current business

is Barrett Pressure Washing

It is

Barrett Pressure Washing

John and Connie Kuder: In St.

Petersburg, Florida, right?

Yes, I cover Pinellas

County, Hillsborough County,

Manatee County, Southern Pasco.

John and Connie Kuder: But you

didn't start in Florida, did you?

I did not.

I am from Maine.

I am a Mainer.

John and Connie Kuder: And so how did you

get into the pressure washing business?

So, uh, pressure washing

and exterior cleaning was something

that a former employer, I was an

operations manager for a very large

commercial facility management company,

And without going into huge detail,

pressure washing and exterior cleaning

and maintenance of commercial buildings

was one of the services that we offer.

So, in order for me as the operations

manager and to instruct other managers

and employees on the best operations

and how to do it safely, those kinds

of things, uh, did extensive training,

uh, in, lift safety, chemical safety,

chemical interactions, those types

of things, uh, in order to, best to

instruct those employees on safe practices

and how best to do those cleanings.

So that's how I got started.

John and Connie Kuder: Okay.

So that's a whole different level

than, the person that's, mounts a

pressure washing pump on their, on

their truck and, goes to the pool

store and buy some chlorine and sets

themselves up in business, right?

I mean, it's way different.

It is.

I have a much different background

than a lot of people in my industry.

I find that.

Lots of guys in my industry, uh,

started pressure washing because they

maybe didn't want to have a full time

job or maybe they do it on the side.

It's their side hustle.

They do it on weekends, you

know, something like that.

Uh, I come from a very, um, uh, I

guess professional background where,

you know, I've had the certifications,

done certification classes, and,

uh, I really enjoyed The, the work.

So, you know, backing up a bit as the

operations manager wasn't supposed to be

doing labor, but found myself doing lots

of labor when we had these large scale

pressure washing jobs going up on the

lifts, you know, with the harnesses and

being, uh, toggled into the, to the lift

and having these big 30 foot extension

lawns that we were using to clean.

I mean, it was just so much fun for me.

John and Connie Kuder:

Boys and their toys.

That's all I can think of..

Right, right.

John and Connie Kuder: Okay.

So now your grandfather.

I know you said you learned a lot,

earlier days from your grandfather.

How does that kind of connect

back to what you learned from your

grandfather and what did you learn?

Tell me about your granddad

and your relationship with him.

Well, so, I

mean, about my grandfather, my

grandfather was a Navy veteran.

You know, he was, uh, in World War

II, very, very, you know, my memories

of him, very, very meticulous man,

very organized, and I mean, like,

over the top obsessive organized.

And I have this clock here, right there,

and I, you know, I can tell you the

date that my grandfather got that clock.

Do you know why?

Because he wrote it on

the back of the clock.

Not only that, but there's also

dates on that clock of every time

he changed the battery since 1986.

When he got the clock.

So, he was, you know, one of those

people who journaled every day about the

weather, you know, the news of the time.

Uh, you know, not personal

journaling at all.

It was very much structured of

what the weather was, what was

going on, those types of things.

Maybe his to do list of

the day, things like that.

So he was a very, very organized person.

And, he taught me, first and foremost,

how to have a very, strong work ethic.

And how to do things to perfection.

So my, , some of my earlier memories of

him was, or working for him was mowing

his lawn and after I was done mowing

his lawn, he would go around with a

yardstick and actually measure different

points of the yard to make sure that I

had not missed any parts of the lawn.

When I would do snow removal for him,

he would go around and inspect to make

sure that every little inch of asphalt

had been uncovered and scraped down

so there was no possibility of ice

forming on any part of that asphalt.

So he was, it was very overbearing, but

at this, you know, and I kind of resented

it when I was young, but You know, fast

forwarding to now, I have that in me to

do a job to literal perfection, where I

am not satisfied until the job is perfect.

And it kind of suits what I do for

work because in a lot of trades

there are kind of gray areas,

but in cleaning there's no gray.

Something's either dirty or it's clean.

And it's either, you know,

all clean or it's not clean.

So that's one example of something that

he definitely taught me in business.

John and Connie Kuder: Nice.

Nice.

So really high standards, quality

control and high standards.

Very, very high standards.

Yes.

John and Connie Kuder: Did you find

that that was, um, very supportive of

when, when you got into the facilities

management and you were doing these

certifications and, and, you know,

and getting that, you know, much more

professional training in, in those,

uh, you know, operating all that

equipment, the chemicals and everything.

Did that background really serve you?

Oh, absolutely.

So, I mean, as another example, um,

as he was getting older, you know, his

hands weren't working quite as well.

He had really, really bad

arthritis in his fingers.

And he, uh, also sold used cars as

a, you know, kind of a side hustle.

And.

Wasn't able to actually do the work.

So would have, you know, would sit back in

his chair and have me, you know, doing the

operations on the, on the car and fixing

the cars, but, you know, telling me why.

Things went in a certain order like you

have to remove this piece before you

can get to this piece And you know, it's

very important that you know, you don't

you know Go over here and and mess with

this part because you know You're gonna

open up a whole can of worms that you

so, you know things like that, which

yes really served me in especially

in management where you're trying to

convey order of operations and systems

to employees and and conveying the

importance of those and explaining, you

know, why these things are important.

So yeah, I mean, absolutely.

And again, another thing that I really

resented when I was young, and I

was like, Oh man, this guy's a jerk.

But you know, he was really

teaching me something.

And A lot of people

laugh at this story too.

So when I was, when I graduated

from high school, lots of my family

were giving me gifts and money and,

you know, just a real celebration.

And my, my grandfather gave me

this card and in it was written

10 keys to a successful life.

And it was I get a little, you

know, choked up when I think about

it, but it was, keeping your

credit good and when to pay your

bills and , just things like that.

And then at the bottom it was

always take care of your mother.

And, you know, it's just, it was a

really, it's one thing that, and I

don't have the card anymore because, um,

unfortunately I lost it in the fire, but

it, it's something that I still remember

all of those things that were in there

and, you know, wish that I would have

maybe taken it more into consideration

when I graduated from high school, not,

you know, when I was in my 30s and 40s.

John and Connie Kuder: No

18-year-old understands anything.

So it sounds like it was very, it

sounds like it was very important

yes.

Yes.

John and Connie Kuder: That he that

he conveyed to you, you know, that

he shared with you what he felt was

most valuable, which wasn't cash.

Or a gift.

It was the gift of his wisdom of what

he had learned, you know, here's here's

what's going to make your life better.

Yes, absolutely.

John and Connie Kuder: And you probably

don't remember any of the other gifts.

I don't I

well, no, that's not true.

I got a sony stereo that

John and Connie Kuder: That was

pretty awesome, but still that the

one thing went into your heart.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

John and Connie Kuder: We want to stick

with our theme of family business.

So in working with your grandfather,

what are some things that you

learned about working with family?

You know, What what was it?

What were the strengths of,

of, working with family rather

than just having a boss?

And were there any challenges

that you remember, you know,

dealing with and overcoming?

Well, yeah, I mean,

so working with him, there was, as

opposed to a boss, there was a lot more

fostering, you know, going on, you know,

a lot more, uh, a lot more attention,

you know, I got, you know, really good

instruction and really was there to

help me every step of the way, you know,

and As far as challenges go, I mean,

it was me being a young, young kid and

him being an old man and very stubborn

and stuck in his ways and he wasn't,

uh, he didn't have abusive language or

anything like that, but he, very stern.

You know, when you weren't doing things

right, that very stern voice would come

out, , you're not, this isn't right, this

isn't the way you're supposed to do this.

It wasn't, you know, like a boss might do

where, , you tried and that's great, but

, here's the way we'd like to see it done.

No, it was, "No, you're

not doing that right.

You got to do it right or

you can't do it anymore."

So, , and that was a big challenge.

John and Connie Kuder: Okay.

Yeah.

So that's kind of typical family

stuff , where a lot of times

we dispense with the niceties.

uh, we don't show our family members

necessarily the same courtesy

that we would show, a non family

member, an employee or employer.

Obviously if you talk to a boss like that,

you'd probably get fired pretty quick.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

John and Connie Kuder: Very cool.

The other thing that you brought

up was that the two generations,

you know, a lot of people that

work together in family businesses,

they're just one generation apart.

It's, a daughter and father,

father, son, that kind of thing.

So that that generation skip

is a little bit wider age gap.

And so, , you brought that up.

Um, so.

any any other thoughts about, it?

Yeah.

So it was, , him coming from, and I think

a lot of it had to do with his military

background, you know, very, very rigid,

very, very, very, um, no room for error,

you know, there are certain steps that

need to be taken to accomplish whatever

it is, even if it was mowing the lawn.

There was a, there was a class

involved in me mowing the lawn.

It wasn't just, here's the mower.

It was, you know, you got to know

where the cotter pins are and how to

change the blades and how to change the

oil and how to change the pull cord.

And, you know, you got to know

about the machine before you

can even push the thing, right?

So it was.

It was, uh, you know, a total knowledge

of everything that you could possibly

need to know in order to cut a blade of

grass and cut them all evenly, right?

So, and me, I've always

been, , kind of aloof, right?

You know, I'm, uh, I'm very laid back

and very easygoing and, I'm into that

type of lifestyle and I'm not, my

personality isn't built like that, but him

instilling that in me makes it possible

for me to be like that in business.

So I can separate, my personality from

who I need to be and what I need to do

in order to run a successful business

and in order to, you know, be able to

manage employees like I used to, and,

you know, be able to, uh, effectively

convey instruction and things like that.

So, but the.

It didn't come without its battles, right?

I wasn't always the happy, you know,

Okay, Grandpa, you know, that wasn't me.

You know, I would fight it.

I would fight it, and he would get mad,

and you know, there would be, you know,

a little silence there, and you know,

but then it would come back together.

As far as the generation gap, I think

that was probably the biggest, and

the military background, you know.

I think that really affected his The way

that he was with, with life in general.

John and Connie Kuder: Well, and when

was he roughly, when was he born?

Do you remember?

In the twenties.

So yeah, he was,

John and Connie Kuder: okay, so he

had lived through some hard times.

Oh yeah.

John and Connie Kuder: And plus, war

time and uh, that was no small thing.

And so, yeah, I think that that

gave people an edge, that, us

baby boomers , and beyond,

I count myself as a baby boomer, you

know, that that were born after World

War II, um, haven't just haven't

lived through, haven't experienced.

So, um, to add to that,

you know, I think now that I have

my own business and the only person

that I'm accountable to is myself

and, you know, I don't have a boss

and I don't have employees yet.

Um, it's, it's given me that, you know,

somebody said to me, a peer of mine,

uh, who is getting out of this business.

Uh, and I've been talking to him

about acquiring his customer base

and, you know, in talking with him

and I've worked with him a little bit.

And he's an, he's also

an older, uh, gentleman.

He's in his sixties now.

And what he said to me was, you know,

I feel like you're above this industry.

And I kind of was like, well, and I

think what he meant was, is that I have.

So much knowledge of, you know, practices

and, and chemicals, and chemical

interactions, and, you know, how to, what

chemical neutralizes another chemical,

and how do they interact, and how do they

interact when they're put on a particular

surface, whether it be metal, or wood, or

concrete, or plastic, You know, because

they all interact differently and what's

best for each application and, and, you

know, a lot of these guys are calling,

um, cleaning chemicals by their brand

names, where I am talking about, you know,

what they're, what they're composed of.

And I really think that it doesn't

put me above the industry, but it

puts me above my competition for sure.

Like, straight up, that's my biggest

competitive advantage is that I have that

that knack for just, and it's not a knack.

It's, well, if I could show you

my notebook the other day, because

people always ask me, you know, well,

what do you know about chemistry?

You know, so I started writing in my

notebook and I just, you know, started

with a chemical, oxalic acid, and I just

started writing things that I know about.

You know, and that's my geek out, right?

Like SDS sheets is my geek out,

you know, I know how to read them.

I know how to, you know, interpret them.

I know how to find, I know how to

find lies, you know, where chemical

manufacturers will say, well, this is

biodegradable and I can go and look

at the SDS sheet and I say, Oh, well,

it says right here that you can't,

you shouldn't put it down a drain.

And I've, and I've called

vendors out on this before.

It's, it's, you know,

just part of what I do.

So when you talk about, you know, what do

you bring to the table as far as, um, you

know, your industry, that is by far, and

I, and I learned that from my grandfather,

you know, you don't do, you don't push the

mower until you know how to fix it, until

you know how it runs, until you know,

you know, how to cut a blade of grass.

And, and that's the same

way with pressure washing.

I do not do a job unless I 100

percent know from start to finish

exactly how it's going to work out.

And I will get on the computer or open

a book and I will research exactly

what I need to do, if I don't know

already, what I need to do from start to

finish to make sure that when I'm done,

that that job is absolutely perfect.

And he taught me that.

John and Connie Kuder: That's awesome.

Yeah.

John and Connie Kuder: Yeah, I'm,

confident that that is, is your, you

know, professional differentiator

for sure within the industry.

and that, that kind of knowledge

I think is very uncommon uh, to,

to have that level, the depth the,

depth and the, the breadth and

the certifications to go with it.

We have had in our previous,

uh, homeownership, our

(house), um, pressure washed.

and it wasn't pretty.

Uh, so one of my, one

of my things is I take pictures.

I take pictures of damage whenever

I'm walking or driving somewhere

and I see a driveway that's damaged.

I'll, I'll snap a picture of it.

And you know, there, it's very widespread.

And, and I, and I think, well, if

you take, um, a driveway, a paver

driveway, for instance, and a normal

on average paver driveway to install

is anywhere from $50 - $80,000.

So why, why then would you take that

$50 - $80,000 investment and spend

it on, you know, the maintenance on

somebody who doesn't have any sort of

background in the industry, doesn't have

the knowledge of the chemicals that he's

using, or how it's going to interact

with your particular, , environment?

Uh, is using chemicals that are dangerous

to not only the applicator, the person

who's using these chemicals, but to

everything around it, only to pay a

few hundred dollars less when you're

talking about an $80,000 driveway.

Why would you spend, $150 for somebody

to clean it and seal it when you could

hire somebody who you know will do a

good job, who will own it until it's

done, and pay a little extra money?

I mean, it's, uh, it's a no brainer for

me, and trying to convey that out into

the world has been my biggest challenge.

John and Connie Kuder: Sure,

Sure, Yeah, I understand.

Because it's, it's that, um, well, it's

just overcoming the general ignorance.

I mean, most of us, I think in, in,

you know, in almost any, um, service

and a lot of products that we buy we

don't buy them that often and we don't

we really don't know how to buy them.

You know, what I mean, how do I go, how

do I buy a professional service and,

how do I compare one against another?

That's, I think that's a challenge service

providers to, to deal with and overcome

and the ones that can do it and convey,

communicate that successfully, uh, you

know, I think are going to dominate.

So kudos to you for continuing to do that.

And, and to follow in your

grandfather's footsteps.

that's that's quite amazing.

Yeah.

Is there anything, um, so one of the

questions we like to answer, anything

about, and, and, you know, feel free

to, but anything about family business

that you know, now that you wish you'd

known when you started, I know you're,

you're right now a solopreneur, but,

um, yeah, I'm trying to think how to

pivot that, like, I know you were a kid

when you worked with your grandfather.

What is there, is there

anything there anything?

you know now, uh, that, you know,

if, if you had been a little

older or or if you guys were, you

know, one generation apart vs.

two that you could, you could, draw

more from what he, his example?

Um, I mean it, so if

we take the, you know, being in

business for myself aspect away from

it, it would've been to, if I could

have done something differently.

It would have been to really solidify

my work history earlier in my life.

Um, and been more responsible with,

you know, my employment and things

like that, you know, before I had

the, the operations manager job, I

was, you know, all over the place.

I would do this for a while and quit,

do this for a while and quit and

never really took that responsibility.

And, um, so I guess if I had something

to learn, um, you know, just that I

would have done that differently and, you

know, maybe I would be someplace else.

And, but, you know, I'm very content

on where I am now and looking forward

to this year and my business growing.

John and Connie Kuder: Well, so,

um, how, where can people, how can

people, get ahold of you if they're,

if they're looking for your services,

pressure washing, uh, that protects

the environment and gets it done right?

So, uh, my website

is barrettpressurewashing.

com.

John and Connie Kuder: That's

Barrett with two R's, two T's, right?

Barrett

with two R's and two T's.

And my phone number is 888

658 WASH, which is 9274.

John and Connie Kuder: Awesome.

Cool.

And

I'll just, uh, in case somebody when

somebody goes to your website and they,

uh, see your little, um, video, audio

commercial, um, I wanted to,

you know, mention that I know

that you sang, sang that so that

you're the voice in your Jingle,

that's what it

was.

I am.

John and Connie Kuder: He's,

multi- talented, guys yeah.

You are.

You've been so much fun to learn about.

We've enjoyed your friendship.

Talented.

Look at that.

John and Connie Kuder: Who knew?

All right.

That's right.

Any last thoughts or words of

wisdom before we wrap this up?

I mean, so, you know,

my mantra lately has just been No

matter what just be kind to people,

you know And uh, it helps in business.

It helps in personal life.

It helps in everything Uh, it helps

when you go into the grocery store

and somebody wants to cut you in line,

you know, just be kind to people.

John and Connie Kuder: Well, you don't

know what stress they're going under also.

Great advice.

Yeah, very true.

Very true and be kind

to the earth Be kind to the earth.

John and Connie Kuder: There you go

yeah without it.

There are no more issues

John and Connie Kuder: Right

Jay, thank you so much

for spending this time

with us.

We appreciate it.

And, uh, we look forward to

it's always

fun with you guys.

John and Connie Kuder: Thanks

Look forward to seeing you again soon.

All right.

John and Connie Kuder: Bye.

Take care.

Thank you.