Increasing Efficiency through Construction Tech with Aaron Henderson

Episode 96 • 26th July 2023 • Construction Disruption • Isaiah Industries

Intro/Outro:

Welcome to the Construction Disruption podcast, where we uncover the future of design, building, and remodeling.

Todd Miller:

I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, a manufacturer of specialty metal roofing and other building materials. Today, my co-host on the show is Ethan Young. How are you doing today, Ethan?

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:27

I'm doing good today, Todd. How about you?

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:29

You. You know, I got to confess, I've had kind of a tough week.

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:33

I'm sorry to hear it.

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:34

Yeah, my wife found out I was cheating on her after she found a bunch of letters I had hidden away.

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:41

Okay.

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:42

She's never going to play Scrabble with me again.

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:44

Jeez.

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:44

Okay. Okay, so, another one.

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:49

That's good, yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:50

You get two for the price of one today.

Ethan Young:

: 00:00:52

Sweet, sweet. Okay.

Todd Miller:

: 00:00:56

I was in an antique store the other day. I don't go to those very often, but back in the corner, there was this this huge wardrobe. And there was this guy back there just furiously working. He was stuffing a lion and a witch and the wardrobe. And I said, What are you doing? He said, What are you up to? He said, Just move along, buddy. It's Narnia business.

Ethan Young:

: 00:01:20

Oh, my gosh, That is terrible.

Todd Miller:

: 00:01:24

Okay. Hey, you know, maybe we should just move on with the story. So, actually, I do have something I want to share with us, so on a bit more of an industry note. Yesterday, I attended a webinar that was part of a series put out by Qualified Remodeler magazine. And I'll tell you, these are fantastic. I think they do them either twice a year, maybe quarterly, and they feature John Burns Research and Consulting. Now, by the time this show airs, I know that this webinar is going to be available on YouTube. And what we'll do is we will try to remember and put it in the show notes, but we also will have a link to the webinar as soon as it's up on our Construction Disruption LinkedIn page. So I encourage everybody check out our Construction Disruption LinkedIn page and subscribe to that because we're always bringing additional information there as well. And I encourage anyone, if you're involved in remodeling or really any type of construction, you ought to check out what these folks at John Burns Research and Consulting are saying. Ethan, you probably remember one of our guests almost a couple of years ago, hard to believe, was a gentleman by the name of Eric Finnegan, who works for John Burns. And great show. Great guest. I need to make a note and have him back some time. But he led most of the webinar yesterday. And there was so much great information and I just want to add a few, share a few details here. And what Eric really researches for John Burns is the residential remodeling industry, and he just always has great insight. So here are a few of the high-level takeaways I kind of got from the webinar yesterday I'd like to share. So it was interesting. He said that interest in and contracts for major, I mean like large-scale, high-end home improvement projects are really slowing down for 2023. And I'd have to say that we're hearing that from some of the contractors we talk with as well. And what he said was that a lot of the remodeling projects that will be wrapping out, you know, finished out through the rest of 2023 will be smaller projects, typically more non-discretionary projects. I mean, like replacement projects, things that you got to get done when you got to get them done, which certainly roofing can be a part of that. But on the other hand, what he was saying about, you know, maybe not a lot of high-end projects does make you wonder a little bit about higher-end metal roofs and things that were involved. And another thing he shared was that remodeling projects are going to be done less by people who have moved into new homes. And that was something that we saw a lot during COVID, 2021, 2022, as a lot of folks were buying new homes and then immediately doing remodeling of them. And he said there's going to be less of that. And instead a lot of the remodeling projects will be by people who are just staying in place in their existing home and, you know, maybe upgrading or like I said, maybe just doing those maintenance replacement product things that need to be done every once in a while. Now, the thing he still pointed out, though, was that, you know, even with home values coming down a little bit here recently, there's still more equity held out there by homeowners than we have ever seen before. In fact, he put a figure up that just kind of blew my mind. He said the average home equity held by a homeowner is over $300,000, which just kind of blew my mind because I'm thinking that's more than the value of my house. So but, you know, when you think about some of these markets, Southern California and so forth, where home values are a million, million and a half, two million is is kind of the norm, kind of makes sense that some of those equity numbers have really climbed along with home values going up. But so despite him saying, Hey, the end of 2023 may be a little soft for remodeling, he then wrapped up and then was extremely optimistic about 2024 and beyond. And, you know, he's not quite sure exactly when this will kick in in 2024, but he says that that's going to start one of the strongest home improvement booms we have ever seen. Again, he's got lots of details. We'll start sharing as soon as this webinar is up public and free on YouTube. But some of the geographic areas, he said, would be really strong kind of surprised me. He pointed to the Pacific Northwest as being a real strong remodeling area coming up. He also mentioned the South Central, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, surrounding states, and he mentioned our own Midwest. One of the softer areas was the Northeast New England states, which the last few years has been one of the stronger areas for home improvement. So that kind of surprised me. He also noted that the available federal tax credits that just came out this year are going to help drive demand for energy efficient home improvements. And he sees those as having an impact on the overall home improvement market. Here's another thing he said that I thought was kind of interesting. I know I'm just blabbering on, guys, but he said that there's going to be more of a trend toward home improvement projects where the homeowner will hire a professional, but then they will also maybe do part of the project alongside the professional. So an example, you may hire somebody to build a new room, but maybe you do the painting or maybe you even do the drywall finishing. And I thought that was really interesting when you think about it, it kind of makes a lot of sense for the contractor because they're dealing with labor shortages. So if they can take some of those easier tasks and pass them off to the homeowner, homeowner saves money has that satisfaction of being involved. I thought that was really interesting. So anyway, I thought it was good stuff. So again, check it out on our Construction Disruption LinkedIn page. We'll post theirs as soon as this full webinar's up on YouTube. But I encourage everybody who's interested in this. Check out Qualified Remodeler magazine. On their website you can sign up to get their newsletter, which will keep you informed of these webinars when they come available. So did I say enough? Can I take a nap now? Wouldn't be bad deal. I do want to share, we are doing our challenge words, so both Ethan and I and also our guest have an extra special word given to them by one of the others that they are challenged to work into the conversation here today. So listen for those and at the end, we'll tell you what our words were and whether we were successful. We're always successful, we're winners. Anyway, so, today what we really want to look at is the importance and the how of improving efficiencies for contractors. And so we want to dig in to what disruptive and new technologies are available to help efficiencies and also what benefits contractors can enjoy by, you know, living into these efficiencies. And so to that end, our guest today is Aaron Henderson of STACK Construction Technologies. Aaron, welcome to Construction Disruption.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:09:33

Yeah, thanks for having me. Happy to be here.

Ethan Young:

: 00:09:35

Yeah, absolutely.

Todd Miller:

: 00:09:35

We're looking forward to a good conversation. Thank you. So I want to jump right in. We're going to come back and talk a little bit more about you too, but can you give us an overview to start of what STACK does?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:09:50

Yeah, absolutely. So STACK, we're obviously STACK Construction Technologies, we've been around for about ten years in our really core business. Where we really started was with take off and estimating, so the whole pre-construction phase of a construction project. More recently, actually in the last couple of years, we've acquired a couple of products that have taken us into the actual execution of projects as well. So actually managing projects out in the field. So we're really working toward kind of this end-to-end solution where a contractor can start with their estimate, get to a budget, and then be able to push all that information that they're gathering during pre-construction out to the field to be able to manage projects more efficiently. So kind of that holistic sort of solution for our contractor.

Todd Miller:

: 00:10:35

What brought you to STACK? I mean, what's your background and how did you end up where you are today?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:10:41

Kind of unique probably, I guess, to a lot of people in the industry. So I actually came out of college with a construction management degree and a business management degree and really never, never realized that the two would actually crossover. I definitely realize going through that process, I'm more of a business guy probably than I am a construction guy. But I became really, really passionate about construction through that and I was really fortunate. After school, I was connected with one of the few consulting firms that actually focused on the trades, and so I spent the better part of a decade working on strategic consulting and operational efficiency for contractors across the country. So we're with architects, engineers, contractors from, you know, five, ten person shops, clear up to a lot of the top ten contractors across the country. It's kind of interesting that a lot of the same issues that I saw with some of the small contractors, the exact same ones we saw with the largest. But really, really passionate kind of about that back end, business side of construction. And so, you know, through that whole thing, I realized that technology is a place that we can bring a lot of efficiency. And so about five years ago, I was introduced to a technology company and came over to the technology side. And then more recently here with STACK, I'm just trying to see how we can leverage technology to help contractors to be as efficient as we can and and be successful.

Todd Miller:

: 00:12:10

So do you find that, you know, oftentimes these efficiencies can, or I should say lack of efficiencies, can make or break it for contractors on projects? Is that kind of what your experience was, you know, in your previous life as you kind of watched others?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:12:28

For sure. Yeah. I mean, we see we've got a lot of people that, you know, I hear a lot of, you know, that's always the way we've done things, you know, here and those kinds of things. And so we have a lot of like incredibly brilliant people. And so and we put a lot on their backs. But what we start to realize is when everybody's doing stuff kind of their own way, that can only be so efficient. And so as we can kind of start to standardize things and find ways to help scale organizations. Now, you know, that's what we're really looking for and trying to try to figure out how we can replicate kind of the best of the best now time and time again.

Todd Miller:

: 00:13:01

Good stuff.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:13:02

Yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:13:03

Well, tell us a little bit about, you know, who your typical users or customers are at STACK. I mean, what, is your typical client, you know, one of the larger firms or smaller? How many total users do you have out there? I'm just kind of curious.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:13:19

Yeah, So we've got a really good user base, primarily US-focused, but I just read a report the other day that we've actually got users across about 32 different countries, I guess internationally as well. So it's kind of cool. Yeah, but a really, really heavy focus in the States. We primarily focus on the trade contractor, which is a little unique. There's a lot of software out there that is focused for years on general contractors, but we're really focused to the sub trades. We tend to be what we call trade agnostic. So we work across a lot of different trades. So everything from roofing contractors to, you know, interiors, folks that are doing drywall and painting and those kinds of things. Concrete is a really big trade for us as well. And a typical contractor can be everything from a small residential, you know, maybe a couple of people, clear up to we have one of the largest roofing contractors in the entire country that's leveraging STACK to do their projects as well.

Todd Miller:

: 00:14:16

Very interesting. So what's involved when someone starts, I mean, what is their ramp up time before they've, you know, learned the program and they're able to use it and they've, you know, set it up however it needs to be set up for them? What's that look like?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:14:32

Yeah. So it's you know, it's interesting because a lot of the contractors that come to us, we have a lot that are using some kind of a technology already, especially like on the take off and estimating side. But there's there's a lot of folks out there that are still kind of doing things by hand. And so they still might be doing things paper and pen and those kinds of things. And I had a really interesting case probably about a year ago. We had a big fire protection contractor out of the Chicago area, and it was really cool as we tried to mimic the things that people are used to doing as close as we, you know, kind of by hand as we can in the digital world. And so it was really cool. What we actually did with this group was we had them, one of their best estimates, who was used to doing everything by hand. And we literally watched his exact workflow of how he laid out the plan and how he went and he drew and he took things off and he, you know, did all of the estimating that way. And then we really we took that and we mimicked that exactly in kind of a digital environment within STACK and it was really cool to see them light up. And this guy is a pretty seasoned individual who'd been doing it his way, you know, for probably 40 years. I think he was getting pretty close to retirement and it was really cool to kind of see him light up and see like, Hey, when I when I draw that line with my highlighter to to take off that line or whatever, you know, he was doing the exact same thing. He's just using a mouse and a keyboard instead of the way he's doing it. So we spent a lot of time with what we call a user experience, and it just is understanding how we can make the software easy to use as we can for the people who are out there doing it. I mean, there's a lot of people in construction who didn't grow up with computers or like using computers. That's why we got into construction. And so we want to make the experiences as easy as we can. So we do that. And, you know, we have a lot of folks that are able to get into STACK and really start using it day one. And we've got trainers and people that work will work with you, but we've even got like kind of a free trial environment where people can log in and we have a lot of folks to get in and they're able to, you know, start doing some simple take offs and estimates almost right away, which is pretty cool.

Todd Miller:

: 00:16:38

Wow.

Ethan Young:

: 00:16:38

That's really cool that you brought that up because I think that's one of the questions we always like to ask when we interview people about technologies because we know sometimes people can be hesitant with trying new technologies and stuff. So when it's smooth like that, that makes a big difference. And yeah, I think that's really cool, you guys, you know, try and get it perfect right to how they do it.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:16:57

So yeah, we're as close as we can. I mean, we don't always, you know, we don't, we're not always. Yeah, but we, we try to get as close as we can. And like I said, it's really cool. I mean, the young people coming into the industry are really kind of demanding more technology. You see that a lot too, is, you know, they don't, somebody that's 20, 30 years old doesn't want to come in and see a software that looks like it was made in the 80s. So they're really, they're asking for it. And then, you know, we've got a lot of folks who are a little more seasoned and just trying to make it as easy for them as well. It's been pretty cool.

Todd Miller:

: 00:17:30

Very interesting. Well, I want to switch and talk a little bit more specifically about supply chain. And I think supply chain is interesting because it's a phrase that many of us didn't even use before 2020 or 2021. You know, purchasing was just kind of a routine thing that happened and didn't require all kinds of hand wringing and gnashing of teeth. How does STACK help companies with supply chain issues, and do you have any specific success stories you could even share with us?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:18:05

Yeah, definitely. Well, I mean, I think first things first is the exactly what you said Todd, we didn't talk about, you know, as important as procurement is and getting the right materials, the right time and all that kind of stuff. You know, as long as I've been around construction, it just wasn't a term we talked about. It just generally were there and we did, you know, have all the problems that we're facing with it today. So some of the things that we're doing is, one, it's an area that we focus a lot of time and attention to. As much as we can to get things right in the pre-construction phase of a project and get the right team lined up and get the right materials lined up, we obviously want to try to help to do that. So some of the biggest things that we do at STACK is, number one, as you're kind of creating your assignment, you're actually getting your building materials so you can actually see every single sheet of sheetrock or, you know, square of roofing. Everything that you've got that you're going to use for that project. And then from there we tried to make it as easy as we can to get that out to, you know, your suppliers and vendors to start to get quotes back as fast and efficient as we can. But some of the biggest stuff is we're actually able to collect some of our data and start to see sort of our backlog of projects that we have upcoming. And it really gives our contractors the ability to start to say, Hey, look, this is this is the volume of project that we see kind of coming our way and it does a couple of things. One, it helps them to start to procure the material as early as they can. But two, it also kind of gives them an opportunity to start to negotiate a little bit more, maybe sometimes with suppliers when they say, Hey, we've got, you know, not just this one project that we want pricing for, but we've got maybe these 10, 15, 20 projects, or if it's a larger contract, maybe across multiple regions, you know, they had some additional kind of bargaining power that way, too. So I think just trying to forecast as much as we can of what's coming and when and then being able to try to start to procure material as early as we can in that process is where we're really trying to help folks.

Todd Miller:

: 00:20:05

Well, that makes a lot of sense. I know that, you know, we as a manufacturer, one of the things that we found ourselves doing a lot during the height of the supply chain issues and, you know, fortunately we're not we're not having huge issues with it today. But I know some some segments still are. But one of the things we started doing was asking our customers, Hey, you know, yeah, a project coming up. Tell us as soon as you signed that contract, you know what you need and you know what it might be. And it wasn't horribly unusual for them to do that previously, but typically it was just like, Yeah, I've got a job this color about this many squares. And, you know, then suddenly we're asking, Look, I need to know how many pieces to start or how many hip caps, how many ridge caps, how many pieces of valley. And yeah, the funny thing is many of them, and some of them did do it with the help of technology, but many of them are still doing that. And I think ultimately it's making them a more streamlined, more efficient company because of that practice, even though maybe in our case they wouldn't have to still be doing it that way.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:21:14

Yeah, well, you know, that's another thing that we do, especially on the pre-construction side, is, is as you're kind of doing your take off, STACK, not only will get your quantity of whatever material measuring, but we have what we call assemblies that are built in as well. And assemblies will pull all the different materials or, you know, if you're measuring a ridge, it's going to tell you everything you need along with it. And I think the other thing that does is sometimes we, there's parts and pieces of a project we may kind of forget until it's too late or until we're actually out there on site. And so it's another one of those things where it's taught us, Hey, you know, don't forget to include this in your estimate, in your bid and just making sure that you're getting all that early. The other thing, too, I think, is a really big opportunity for the industry as a whole and some of where we're headed and things that we're looking at a little bit are because we are a cloud-based product and there's a lot of different interconnectivity that we can have between builders and supplier contractors and suppliers and manufacturers. And the more we can kind of start to connect these things early so that like you said, from the minute you know that we've actually secured that contract, you know, and if you can start to see that maybe across different regions and things like that, it probably helps you guys as a manufacturer. You know, we see a lot happening maybe in the Southeast and we need to make sure that we get material to that area. So I think the more connected we can be between contractors, the suppliers, and the manufacturers, I think there's a really big efficiency to be had there that that's happening across a lot of other industries, maybe a little bit faster than what's happening in construction right now. But I definitely see us kind of moving in that direction, which is a good thing.

Todd Miller:

: 00:22:50

Sure makes a lot of sense. So how about, you know, big topic all the time in construction is the labor shortage. How does STACK help companies, you know, find their way through the skilled labor shortage?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:23:06

Yeah, I think just try trying to leverage technology as much as we can to get as much done with the limited resources that we have. So, you know, if we can give that average contractor, you know, just some extra. You know, almost be like that administrative person kind of behind the scenes for them. That just lets us do a little bit more, maybe with a little bit less. So we're definitely, you know, trying to help make everybody as efficient as we possibly can. The other side of it, too, is, is we're really trying to leverage technology to show people who, you know, especially young folks who may be early in their career decisions, try to decide where to go. You know, a lot of times we have kind of a a different view of construction, but we sort of look at technology and the office jobs and the different positions that there actually are in construction are really trying to encourage more people to come into the construction industry as well. And I think as is, we can be more innovative and we can start to find, you know, different opportunities. I think it just makes construction maybe more appealing to more people, which is a good thing, too.

Todd Miller:

: 00:24:15

Well, I really like that and really hadn't even thought about that. But you're absolutely right. The more we can make our industry something that younger folks say, Hey, there may be a place for me in that.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:24:25

You bet.

Todd Miller:

: 00:24:27

That's what we really need, no doubt about it.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:24:29

Well, one of the one of the funniest things, I think, is, you know, I've talked to people about this all the time is, you know, it's funny, as kids, we grew up, you know, playing with Tonka trucks and toys and everybody's wearing contractor uniforms as a kid. Somewhere along the way, maybe it loses its luster. And, you know, it's just something that we got to keep people interested in. It's a cool industry, it's a fun industry and just kind of keep people excited about it.

Todd Miller:

: 00:24:57

A couple episodes ago, we had Jared Ribble on. He's with National Roofing Contractors Association and talked a lot about this whole topic. But, you know, one of the things that they're doing over there is the development of the PRO Certification program, just to kind of raise, you know, the status of people who enter these trades.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:25:18

Absolutely.

Todd Miller:

: 00:25:19

And, you know, one of the things I love what you're doing, because any time I can enter a trade and also get trained in technology and some software program and be able to have that carry with me throughout my career, that's a real plus. So it's good stuff.

Ethan Young:

: 00:25:36

It's really valuable.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:25:37

Yeah, absolutely. There's a lot that we're doing. I mean, it's, you know, safety and all these different things. And I think we really need to give contractors the credit that they deserve. I think sometimes those certifications and those types of things are things that can be pretty beneficial.

Todd Miller:

: 00:25:51

Yeah, I love it because, you know, well, one of the things we talked about with Jared was, you know, I think roofing in particular, people think is just kind of a putrid career or something they don't want to enter, but yet, you know, how can we elevate that? And as Jared kept saying, yeah, You go out and stand in the rain and tell me that roofing isn't important. It was a good point.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:26:15

That's exactly right. That's pretty good.

Todd Miller:

: 00:26:18

Well, how about, you know, some of the things we've seen the last few years with price fluctuations? How can STACK help companies deal with that? You know, fluctuations that may occur both ways. For a while, it seemed like everything was going up. You know, now a few things are coming down. Most things are staying pretty stable, but.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:26:40

Yeah, it's definitely, I know it does feel like it's leveling off maybe a little bit, but it's still more fluctuation. And we've, you know, historically used to.

Todd Miller:

: 00:26:50

Absolutely.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:26:50

So, you know, I think for us that some of the biggest stuff is just making sure, again, that we're getting the right materials for the job early on, that we're getting those, that we're negotiating early with our suppliers. And then hopefully we're getting some decent terms on those as well. On other points, kind of through some of those fluctuations, where suppliers, maybe we're only guaranteeing pricing for, you know, days and weeks when we were used to months. So, you know, making sure that we're getting the right quote early on and and then hopefully negotiating well and have some good relationships with our suppliers and manufacturers.

Todd Miller:

: 00:27:30

Well, are there any other areas of technology that you see impacting construction in coming years? I mean, things coming down the pike or maybe key things that contractors, subcontractors, the trades should be watching for and paying attention to in regards to technology?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:27:48

Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot around just kind of the standard operational-type things. A lot of what we're doing, you know, at STACK and a lot of the other softwares and things that are out there from project management that's making those kinds of things, of course. But now I think you can't hardly talk today about technology and construction or anywhere without talking about A.I. and some of the things that are happening. So, you know, some some really, really cool opportunities with that. I think, you know, I've heard multiple people ask me, you know, is A.I. going to replace me and, you know, do these different things? I like to tell everybody. I mean, it's interesting where it might go. I think A.I. to me today is a tool, right? It's just something, it's like a calculator. Maybe, you know, you know, back in the day. A.I. is this tool and I don't think A.I.'s necessarily replacing any of us today. I think people who are willing to leverage A.I. might replace us if we're not willing to. So I think we have to look at it as a tool. There is some really, really cool stuff happening with it, though. I mean, you know, and, and the other thing I like to think is that, if A.I. can do some of the more repetitive things, it frees me up to do the things that I can really focus my time and attention to that maybe have a bigger impact than just simple data entry and some of that. So I see A.I., I think some of the things that are happening with prefabrication are really cool. It feels like there's a really big opportunity with prefab, so some cool stuff there. I think the cloud in general, just everybody kind of moving to the cloud, especially post-COVID, teams are moving a little bit more remote, things like that. So just cloud collaboration, being able to work with people maybe across different areas and things has been a really big deal. We still, especially on the pre-construction side, see a decent amount of on prem software, which I think on prem software like loading something with a CD or something like into some kind of archaic when I'm used to my Netflix and Google and Amazon and stuff. But we still, in the trades, we still see it a good bit. So, you know, I think we are quickly, especially post-COVID, starting to see a lot of that move, you know be more cloud-based, collaborative, and those kinds of things too. So yeah, there's a ton of really cool stuff, some stuff with like drones and those kinds of things for, you know, especially in roofing. I'm sure you guys are seeing it.

Ethan Young:

: 00:30:01

Yeah, for sure.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:30:02

Doing aerial images and being able to get estimates and quotes from aerial images and that kind of thing. We're seeing people use drones for safety and inspections and a lot of different stuff there as well. So yeah, it's it's a fun time and I feel like we've been maybe a little slower than some industries to adopt technology, but but I feel like we're really starting to ramp up. So it's a good time to be in construction tech.

Todd Miller:

: 00:30:25

Absolutely. You know, I hadn't really thought about that before, but, you know, all of a sudden the pandemic hit and, you know, all of us were forced to learn Zoom and different platforms like that. And, you know, I do think that there was a fear that somehow that hurt communication or hurt collaboration. But I think you're spot on. I think it helps collaboration because it has allowed us and opened our worlds up to now where we can work with people very naturally who are states away or even countries away. And so lots of exciting stuff happening out there, I agree.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:31:01

It really is. And I, you know, it's, I think the thing I've been seeing most just about kind of the remote work and that kind of thing is there's a lot of people calling it maybe like this failed experiment or these sort of things. I think we're still learning. I think we're still really early in this space and in this idea. And I think, you know, STACK's a great example. I mean, we have a really strong concentration of folks at our headquarters in Cincinnati, but we've got some of the best talent in the world that's out there in some of our remote offices and remote individuals. So, you know, just finding sometimes the diamond in the rough, finding those people that we maybe wouldn't have found otherwise or some of the best talent that may not even be close to one of our offices that we're able to leverage. We see it a lot in estimating where we maybe have a really strong estimating group in this region of the country who's able to help out and train and work with people in different areas and things like that. So, yeah, I think it's something that's maturing. I think we're learning to manage better remote. You know, I think people will talk about maybe some lost creativity and some of the loss of the osmosis that happens in an office. But I think as we learn to leverage technologies more, we may be able to find ways to actually get more creative and be able to do better knowledge transport for remotely. So I'm kind of excited to see where that all goes.

Todd Miller:

: 00:32:23

Well, good stuff. You certainly paint a picture that's very forward-thinking and optimistic and exciting. I agree with you. So any advice you have out there for our listeners who maybe are newer to careers in design or construction, you know, what are some ways you would recommend or practices you recommend for them that would really help to ensure their success in, you know, this really hugely vibrant industry we're part of?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:32:53

You know, I think some of the some of the biggest stuff I see right now and I've really started hearing great conversation around this, but there's this idea of kind of embracing change. I think, you know, I've again, I kind of started with, you know, we hear a lot in construction of like that's the way we've always done things around here, that old-school kind of way of thinking. And I think some of that maybe may come from kind of we tend to be a male-centric, kind of male-dominated industry as a whole, you know, And I think as guys, a lot of times failure is kind of this thing that we like, we don't want to fail. We're kind of like raised to not fail and to be strong and all these things. And I think there's this element of learning that that failure is kind of part of the process. And any time that you're changing and evolving, there's going to be an element of failure. And I think there's this idea of of learning to try to fail fast, fail forward, move quickly. But I think for for people coming up in the industry, some of the strongest construction leaders that I see right now, they're willing to try new things. They're willing to kind of go outside the box. And I think I think some of the people maybe that aren't willing to be a little bit more innovative will start to fall behind faster and faster. So I would just encourage everybody just to be looking for new opportunities. It doesn't mean you have to jump on every single one, but at least just be, you know, open-minded to it and it's going to have more of a growth mindset as opposed to kind of that old static mindset maybe that we've always had.

Todd Miller:

: 00:34:19

Love it. Very good.

Ethan Young:

: 00:34:20

Yeah, that's some great advice.

Todd Miller:

: 00:34:21

Well, this has been great, Aaron, thank you so much. We really are close to wrapping up what we call the business end of things. Is there anything we haven't covered today that you want to be sure to include or share with our audience?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:34:34

No, I mean, you know, I guess maybe just kind of riding on that change component. You know, I'm a really big advocate for for technology and what it can do for companies. So if there's anything I can do for the listeners out there or anything we can be doing, we're here. Happy to kind of look at where things are at and see if there's any way we can help. So if people are looking for advice or need anything at all, happy to help any way that we can.

Todd Miller:

: 00:34:57

Well, that's great. I'm going to ask you for it again, but why don't you go ahead and give us your contact information?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:35:02

Yeah, you bet. So anybody is more than welcome to reach out to me. So our website is STACKct, like construction technology.com. My email is ahenderson@stackct.com and please feel comfortable reaching out and emailing any time. I'm happy to help out wherever I can.

Todd Miller:

: 00:35:21

Great. Well, before we do close out, I have to ask you if you'd like to participate in something we call rapid fire. So these are seven questions, some might be a little serious, some are little silly. All you have to do is give a quick answer to each, whatever comes to mind. Or a long answer, we don't care.

Ethan Young:

: 00:35:40

Yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:35:42

Are you feeling up to the challenge of Rapid Fire today, Aaron?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:35:46

Let's go Todd, I'm in.

Todd Miller:

: 00:35:49

Well, we will alternate. You want to ask the first question, Ethan?

Ethan Young:

: 00:35:52

Yeah, I could start. Question one. So what's a product that you've purchased recently that's been kind of a disruptor for you, kind of like a where is this been all my life kind of thing? Do you have something like that?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:36:05

Yeah, this is kind of, I don't know if it's like, totally, like, revolutionary, but this is the thing, the new thing that I'm really into. So I've always been a gas-powered tool person.

Ethan Young:

: 00:36:16

Yeah, okay.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:36:18

I've recently gotten really on board and, not to give props to any one brand, but really got on board with the DEWALT, like all the yard tools that are all electric. And I got to say, I've been absolutely blown away by how far they've come. As a guy who was like always mixing gas and doing all that stuff, really, really impressed by the battery-powered tools. So that would be my game-changer, I guess for me at least.

Todd Miller:

: 00:36:45

That's interesting because I remember when I first became a homeowner, I was buying some of those electric battery-powered things and man, they just didn't last well at all. And so that was always frustrating with them, but yet I didn't like lugging around the gas-powered and having to mix gas and oil and all that stuff.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:37:04

Yeah, I got to tell you. Oh, sorry Ethan.

Ethan Young:

: 00:37:06

Oh, no.I was gonna say, you remind me of my stepdad recently just got like an electric riding mower, which is kind of crazy to me to think about. In the same vein, I don't know. It runs great, it's super quick, you know, It does great. But I would have never thought, you know, that would have been what we would have done.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:37:23

Back in the day, it seemed like if it was battery-powered, it was kinda throwaway. And it's, I think the first thing I got was was the electric blower. And now I've got a garage full of battery-powered stuff. So it's kind of cool.

Todd Miller:

: 00:37:36

Good stuff. Well, question number two, this is a little more serious, even than that. What would you ultimately like to be remembered for?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:37:45

Yeah, I think, I guess kind of maybe the Steve Jobs thing of just sort of making a dent. But I think, you know, just for me, you know, it's kind of unique that I got into the construction trade the way that I did. And for me, it's it's just hopefully having an impact on the industry. I would love to think that that, you know, after me, you know, maybe construction's a little bit better just because of something I did, or one of the companies I worked with did. So I think just having an impact.

Todd Miller:

: 00:38:13

No doubt you are and will continue to. That's good stuff.

Ethan Young:

: 00:38:17

Alrighty, question three. Would you rather have the ability to see ten minutes into the future or ten years into the future?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:38:24

That's concerning. Wow, let's see. It starts to make me think of all the A.I. conversation, all the crazy stuff that's going on. That's kind of fun. I, I want to go ten years, man.

Ethan Young:

: 00:38:39

Yeah, okay. Yeah.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:38:40

I'm a strategy guy, so the further out I can see, I can maybe back into what I do in the next ten minutes or next little bit if I can see a little further out, I'm going to go ten years.

Ethan Young:

: 00:38:51

Yeah, I like it, okay.

Todd Miller:

: 00:38:52

I like that answer. We asked someone else and they said ten minutes, didn't they, Ethan? Am I right on that?

Ethan Young:

: 00:38:58

I think they did, yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:38:59

Yeah, which kind of surprised me because I, I would definitely be the bigger picture ten years. But yet when they explain their reasoning for ten minutes, it kind of made sense to me too.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:39:08

I could kinda see it, like you're just always like one step ahead, right? I can see that.

Todd Miller:

: 00:39:12

You'd do really well at the lottery, I guess, so.

Ethan Young:

: 00:39:17

Yeah.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:39:18

I was thinking kind of the Back to the Future, Todd, where he, like goes and gets the Sports Almanac from the future. That's what I'm doing with the ten years, so.

Todd Miller:

: 00:39:25

Yeah, right. Okay, next question. And I think it's my turn. What is your favorite meal?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:39:33

And I'm kind of, I'm a little basic, I'm a steak and potatoes guy. So whether it's a good steak restaurant or it's just off the grill here, steak and potatoes, can't beat it.

Todd Miller:

: 00:39:44

Cool.

Ethan Young:

: 00:39:46

Alrighty. Do you have a bucket list vacation?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:39:49

You know, one of the big ones I've always wanted to do is, I've been able to do a decent amount of international travel, but Greece has always been up there. I think the whole, you know, the Greek islands and all that kind of thing, it's always been. Yeah, yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:40:02

Very good.

Ethan Young:

: 00:40:03

Yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:40:04

Next to last question, if you were a professional wrestler, what would be your walk out song?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:40:11

Oh man. Oh jeez.

Todd Miller:

: 00:40:17

I think Ethan came up with that question a while back.

Ethan Young:

: 00:40:20

Yeah, I found that one somewhere and I was like, That's a cool question. I like that.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:40:26

That is a tough one, man.

Ethan Young:

: 00:40:26

It is.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:40:26

I'm going to go with something like, it's going to be something like really tough if you're a wrestler? So I can't think of anything specific. I'll say it's like some, some Eminem, like that, some really tough, kind of gangster-type deal.

Todd Miller:

: 00:40:38

Makes sense.

Ethan Young:

: 00:40:39

Alright, last question. Are you blessed with any hidden talents?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:40:44

So I've got some odd, this is a little embarrassing to share, but I've got some odd circus-level talents. So I am a really good juggler. I can actually juggle really, really well.

Ethan Young:

: 00:40:59

Very cool.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:41:00

I don't share that with a lot of people, but. Now I've got the whole, all the listeners now know all about it.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:06

Yeah, they got you now.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:09

That is admirable. Cool stuff, I like that.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:41:11

I don't know about that, Todd.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:13

So this has been great. Well and I'm also, so we have to look at our challenge words. I think we were all successful.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:22

Yeah.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:23

Ethan, you got yours in there right at the last minute.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:25

Oh, I did.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:41:27

That was incredible.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:28

Yeah. My word was blessed, so I snuck it in right there at the end.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:32

The funny thing is, I came this close to flipping those last two questions.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:38

That would have been, ooh, I would have had to get creative then.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:42

I don't know why. I just was like, Oh I think I want to switch questions. Well, partly because the wrestling question was your question. I felt bad asking it.

Ethan Young:

: 00:41:49

Fair enough, fair enough.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:51

Oh, gosh, Aaron, your word was?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:41:55

Diamond.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:56

Which you worked in.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:41:58

Diamond in the rough.

Todd Miller:

: 00:41:59

I didn't even notice that, you did it so well. Until, Oh yes, he did. And the word that I had, which Aaron gave me, was putrid. So I got that putrid in there somehow.

Ethan Young:

: 00:42:12

Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, okay.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:42:15

Putrid, yeah, that was tough. You did a nice job, and worked it right in.

Todd Miller:

: 00:42:19

Well, it's been a great episode. I'm sure our listeners have enjoyed it. So one more time for folks who want to get in touch with you or to learn more about STACK Construction Technologies. How can they best do that?

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:42:32

Aaron Henderson, ahenderson@stackct.com, I'm here however I can help.

Todd Miller:

: 00:42:40

And just stackct.com, sounds good. Well, it's just been great, Aaron. Thank you very much.

Aaron Henderson:

: 00:42:46

Absolutely, thank you, guys.

Ethan Young:

: 00:42:48

Absolutely.

Todd Miller:

: 00:42:48

And I want to thank our audience for tuning into this episode of Construction Disruption with special guest Aaron Henderson of STACK Construction Technologies. Again, look for his contact information also in the show notes. And we encourage you to please watch for future episodes of our show. We're always blessed with great guests, just like Aaron. Don't forget to leave a review, please, on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. We appreciate those. Until the next time we're together though, keep on challenging, keep on disrupting, doing all you can to make things better and to find better ways of doing things. And don't forget to have a positive impact on everyone you encounter. Make them smile, encourage them, powerful yet simple things that we can all do. So God bless and take care. This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode of Construction Disruption.

Todd Miller:

: 00:43:42

Intro/Outro: This podcast is produced by Isaiah Industries, a manufacturer of specialty metal roofing and other building products.

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