Welcome to Close it now, the podcast that's revolutionizing the H Vac and home improvement trades industries.

Get ready to dive deep into the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

We're turning up the heat on industry standards and cooling down misconceptions.

And we're not just talking about fixing vents and adjusting thermostats.

It's about the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement.

We're the driving force, inspiring top performers who crave excellence not only in their professional endeavors, but also in fitness, nutrition, relationships, and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

This is Close it now, where excellence meets excitement.

Let's get to work now.

Your host, Sam Wakefield.

Well, all right.

Welcome back.

I am excited to have this guest on today.

This is not your traditional typical guest.

I am starting a cool series because this gentleman called me up one day and said, hey, I've got this idea.

You need to hear it, and it's a great idea.

So we'll get into what that is here in a minute.

But so what I wanted to do for everybody, I realized that for a long, long time, most of the guests that I have on the show are pretty much, they either have achieved some level of greatness or they have the big company or all these things.

But I realized that for a lot of you listening that, you know, it's a whole lot different in hearing a perspective of, you know, say, somebody who is a 5, 6, 7 million dollar a year salesperson to look backwards and say, okay, when you started, what was your mindset?

What were you thinking then?

Somebody who's in the trenches in that moment of the real time of what's happening.

So we wanted to start something a little bit different.

And for everybody that's listening, I would love to start interviewing more people in the field.

So if you think that you would like to be on the podcast, reach out to me, shoot me a message.

If you know somebody who would be a good guest, introduce me to them.

Maybe somebody who is everywhere from somebody who just began, somebody who's struggling along the way, somebody who, you know, just whoever you know in any of the trades, home services.

And I want to break out of just strictly H Vac a little bit.

Who do you know that's a plumber, an electrician?

Let's, let's really all of everyone can benefit from different perspectives.

That's how we learn, that's how we grow.

So that's kind of what we're starting to not just Kind of no room for words of uncertainty.

Uncertainty.

So scratch that.

We're not kind of.

That is what we're starting today.

So I have to walk the walk of what I teach.

So today I'm excited to have this guest on this gentleman.

He is not native born from the United States.

You will hear that here in just a minute.

And I'm really excited to have him on because he brings a really cool perspective that a lot of us don't always get.

So I'll give the super.

The super quick intro.

I'll let him introduce himself a little more.

But he was a carpenter for 25 years and then happened to find the H vac industry.

And then actually in that, he's in our industry for less than a year now.

And so this is a fun story.

And so I'm so happy to introduce my friend, Mr.

Brian O'Boyle from.

From.

Direct from Ireland on the show today.

And so he's my guest.

So thanks for being on the show, man.

Not a problem.

Not a problem, Sam.

Glad you flew me in.

Yes, sir.

So.

So let's start with that.

Actually, before we do, let's do a what's in your cup?

Section of this show because I.

I concocted something special for you.

So I'm curious.

I saw your drink with you.

What.

What is in your cup today?

Well, Sam, you're probably gonna not.

You're probably gonna not like it.

It's okay.

Oh, no, the C4 energy drink.

That's.

Yeah.

Killing your guts inside.

If we're not dead already.

It's all good.

It's all good.

So what I made for you, I.

The other day, if everybody listened a couple episodes back, I made some.

Actually gave Mr.

O'Boyle here a shout out and had made some Irish breakfast tea that was hot in my cup.

For all of you on YouTube.

Make sure you like and subscribe.

You can actually see what's happening here.

Well, today I made the same thing, but I turned.

I Texasized it and turned it into an iced Irish breakfast tea.

So don't hate.

But I iced it.

I do not hit.

I did not hit that at all.

What temperature is it in Texas right now?

It's hot today.

My wife just took the dogs for a walk and they all came back sweating.

So I think we're probably pushing 90 degrees at the 86 right now.

So it's on its way up.

That's why it's east.

Good stuff.

I'm cool with that.

All right, well, let's.

Let's take a collective drink here before we, before we get going.

So grab your C4.

I've got my iris T.

I have it in here.

It will go three, two, one.

Slantia.

Slantia.

Well, all right, so give everybody a quick.

The quick highlight reel.

You know, tell.

Tell us your journey.

How, you know, how did you get started?

I'd love to hear one.

How you got started being a Carpenter at 21.

And then how in the world did you get to, you know, to the United.

What brought you to the United States?

And then also, you know, tell us about your carpenter journey here and then turn that corner.

How did you go from carpenter to H Vac Expert.

All right, well, expert could be a little bit of a.

Well, everyone is an expert in progress, right?

Always.

You always learn every day.

So.

Hello, folks, my name is Brian O'Ball and if you break down the first initials, you get Bob.

So I go by Bob as well.

And by the end of the show, I might be Notorious Bob.

You never know.

Notorious Bob.

He's on the show.

Oh, yeah.

So I, I left school whenever I was 16.

That's the high school age to leave school in Ireland.

You had two choices.

You go to university or you go and you walk and join the trades line.

All my friends growing up, they were either plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, and I took a carpentry line.

I've always been involved with carpentry, watching my dad do it.

So I had calluses on my hands before my license.

Sure.

So it kind of passed down from your.

From your father, then passed down and just.

We grew up in a little blue collar town.

And I mean, it's the town itself now.

If you go back to it, 21 years later is.

It's, it's getting up there to be white collar.

Nice.

Tell everybody the name of your town.

I'm curious.

All right.

As Porkland Pork Glen on.

I want, I want to make sure I say it right.

But so again, it's out in the rural.

The city boys call us port glam one.

Just begotten good times.

There was about 1800 people in my time.

Whenever.

Whenever I left.

Sure.

That number has probably tripled in 21 years.

Right on.

There was 40 people in my high school.

Whenever I finished it in my grades or I call it class, whatever.

So yeah, I took a.

I took a carpentry route, went to trade school for it.

Done.

Three years of.

Two days of class, three days out in the field, meet some interesting old carpenters.

I tell you, whenever you grew up in Ireland, and they're stuck on Their ways.

But I tell you what, they do.

Beautiful work, no doubt.

So I probably was about two years into it before I was like, oh, I wonder where's Levena?

Said, I'll go do this room here myself and baseboard real quick because I don't want him seeing me do it because I'll be like, oh, did he do it right?

Right.

But I knew.

I spent two years with him watching it.

I was holding him.

I was watching every trick the man could teach me.

And he loved being a teacher.

It's a great mentorship.

Awesome mentorship.

We were over here.

Whenever I come over here in 04, the biggest difference I noticed was you guys used routers to do the door hinges.

I was used to doing it with natural hammer and chisel by hand.

By hand.

And making it nice and clean, even down to the fact we're bringing it back again to Levinis.

Levinis Cassidy is his name.

He looks like Santa Claus.

He showed me how to do.

To sharpen a chisel like.

Like that's where the.

That's what the apprenticeship really is.

Here's how you sharpen your chisel.

You sharpen your chisel first, then I'll give you a door.

And it would normally be the door that was taken off.

So I.

Yeah, it was.

Funny story, the.

The company I worked for over there, they had two, four men on the team I was assigned to.

So I bounced between, like, the bigger towns, like, whenever they needed me because I was pretty handy.

I was a good carpenter knife or ey for detail.

But I started out in the trenches doing shutter work for concrete.

And we would have done them for anywhere from silo.

Silo pits to foundations of houses, and then work.

Work my way up.

And I was 21 when I left Ireland.

Well, what brought you to the.

What brought you to the States?

I'm curious about this journey.

All right, well, so I'm about 19 and a half, 20 years of.

Of age, and Guy Seamus McPeak, one of the four men, he goes, my brother's coming back from Philadelphia.

I go, I didn't know you had a brother in Philadelphia.

And I.

He's like, yeah, he had a carpentry business over there for years.

And he's like, him and the wife is moving back and they're going to raise their family.

They're going to start having children over here, like, all right.

So his brother's name was Liam.

So a couple of months later, I meet Liam and I stick out my hand and he goes, how's it going, young fella he goes, I'm Hatchett.

And I goes, that's a funny name for a carpenter.

A hatchet.

Right, a hatchet.

He didn't have a brother named Butcher, but Patchett, me and him got on like, no.

He was 10 years older than me.

I was 21.

He was about mid-30s.

Sure.

Great guy.

He didn't.

He didn't give a damn.

And he's like, yeah.

First day I met him, he's like, yeah, can't wait to get back to Ireland, raise me family.

About six months later, Hatchett looks up me dead in the eye and he goes, I'm moving back to Philadelphia because they can't take us.

Because every job you pull into, they always start with the house in Ireland, they don't start with the road.

And it's all nice and clean.

And you're working in a clean environment.

You're wearing Wellingtons, welly boots for about the first two months of any job over there.

Because they.

Or at least they used to anyway.

So Hatchet moves back, he goes, young fella, he says, if you want a job in America, anytime, you call me, I'm moving back next month.

And I go, did I smell or what had you so ever?

That was that.

I goes, be careful what you wish.

About a year later, because I knew you had to be 21 to drink in the States.

Oh, okay.

That was the limiting factor then.

That was the limiting factor.

Well, so way to like check the box on the stereotype here for us, Brian.

Yeah, And I had all this made up in my head, and I'm like, oh, shit, I haven't even told mom yet, right?

I haven't booked tickets yet.

But at that stage, it was just a journey in my head.

Sure, it was a dream.

I grew up watching Pamela Anderson and Baywatch.

That's what.

Same, bro, same.

That's what I thought America was.

I heard of Philly, but I thought, all right, well, still America.

So they've got beaches.

Oh, absolutely.

Papa Anderson, Baywatch.

Right at.

Right in Philadelphia.

And then.

Oh, well, funny story, actually.

Seen David Hasselhoff Belfast.

He was doing a pantomime.

He's a God.

He's a friggin God over there.

Oh, no doubt.

But anyway, I'm getting off track.

Where was it?

You get to the States.

Get to the States and swing the hammer for another 20 years.

But halfway through, I started my own business and everything's going all right, you know, like.

And I didn't advertise.

It was all word of mouth.

And why I stopped, it was I couldn't.

I couldn't get help.

The help that I needed.

I couldn't.

I couldn't go up to homeowner and look at them dead in the eye.

If I was to, like, say, oh, well, I have a guy here in the morning that could do without.

Just wasn't possible, like.

Sure.

So you're capped by your own efforts, Cap.

By my own.

I tell you what.

I was capped by Levenis caste because he taught me so well in my ways that I couldn't give it up.

I was like, there's no way I can leave a man here.

Sure.

Like this level of perfection, that it had to be done this way.

Correct.

So, Levanas, if you're listening, thank you.

It's a good thing.

But also sometimes in business like this, perfectionist trap, right?

That's a perfectionist thing.

Especially whenever you're sharpening your own chisel and then you don't see chisels coming out here on the side of a door.

A chisel over here is used for a side of a brick.

But all good, though, the side.

I shut down the doors of the business.

I was thinking union to do union carpentry.

I'm just doodling through.

Indeed.

And then I see these two boyos here, Ryan and Gareth from Dream Team have posted selling technician H Vac.

I goes, I wonder what that is.

I was genuinely curious.

I was like, I wonder what that is.

Sure.

And I called Gareth.

And he goes, yo, how's it going, big stuff?

I go, it's not too bad.

Gareth.

I goes, I see your advertising for a selling tech for H Vac.

I goes, what's that?

He goes, can I call you back?

So he calls me back an hour later, conference call, him and Ryan.

Ryan.

Ryan is the other partner, okay?

He's the other cartoon you see on the biker in there.

And they're like, yo, lad, how's it going?

I go, it's not too bad at this stage.

I hadn't a clue what they were calling me back for.

Like, were they calling me back to explain this job, what it is?

And sure.

No clue what's happening here.

Hadn't a notion, Sam.

And they're like, yeah, yet no hitchhike tech.

I goes, well, I know that.

I seen the selling side of it.

I seen the one half of it.

I goes, I'm no salesman either, but I can talk.

And they're like, well, you didn't make it for the sell and take position.

We've created a new position for you.

I goes, what's that?

And he goes, you're going to be our first comfort advisor.

Right on.

So I'm like, what's that like?

I goes, okay, yeah, I'm in.

But what is that?

And they explained that.

I goes, all right, boys, no problem.

That's how clueless I was about the hitch fact side of things.

Love it.

So that was what, let's remind.

That was what, nine months ago?

That was the 11th of June.

June, yeah.

Ten months ago, almost exactly.

This is April 10th on date of recording right here.

Yes, sir.

Wow.

Okay, so tell us about your.

About your journey, starting out.

What was it like when you very.

So part of what I was wanting to accomplish in this episode, especially for everybody listening, I really wanted to get a really fresh take on somebody that knew nothing about heating and air and within the first year to talk through some of the things, some of the struggles that you've had, some of the things you've overcome, some of the mindset changes that you've had along the way and what's helped that way.

Because I know there's a lot of people listening that are in the same place or maybe just after it, maybe not even quite to the place that you are.

So I'd love to really dive in on some of this stuff and see if we can really help them in this journey as well.

So when you first started, what was your say, first week, like, week, two weeks?

What were you thinking?

What were your big fears, anxieties?

What were you excited about?

Well, if I can be honest here, the week before I started, because they were getting ready for me.

The week before I started, Garth sends me over this email and he goes, there's a link there.

And he sent over the password to get into it and everything.

It's some H vac training.

So I opened the link and it's some guy called some wet failed.

Close it now.

And so I'm like, all right.

And I'm not joking.

I was sitting next June.

So, like, I'm sitting out outside in the patio or the deck, and I've got the iPad on and I'm writing down notes and it's the tooth.

The two philosophies and all that.

I want full circle in less than a year here for me.

Sam.

I'm writing down about the two philosophies from Sam Wakefield.

Who the hell is this guy?

You know?

Yeah, I don't.

I mean, who is that guy?

That's what I thought at the time, you know?

Oh, he's got a podcast, and only.

He seems that I could camp on that for a second.

I'm curious because.

So for everybody.

Listen, Brian, I have not had this conversation, so this is new to me as well.

What two philosophies are you referencing?

And I'm curious because.

And what were they?

And why did they really stick out in your mind so so much from the beginning there?

Well, I can show you this.

And this is a index card.

And.

Gorgeous.

I actually wrote the two fills because I have add, so I have to learn things in a way that goes to the brain quicker.

Now, bear in mind, as I'm learning about the two phils or the two philosophies, I still have no idea what a heat pump is.

Sure.

I didn't even know it was a thing at this point.

So I'm like, all right, I'll just fault.

Like, I'll follow Gareth's lead alert, whatever.

Like Garth, successful guy.

And if he's, you know, if he's laying down.

If he's laying down the papers, I'm gonna.

I'm going to pick them up and just follow the lead.

So, yeah, the.

The benefit lens and the permission lens.

Am I correct?

You.

Sorry.

And you got the intro there with the company and the personal and your agenda, script discovery.

Yeah, yeah.

So, like, honestly, apart from.

So you could say, apart from Ryan and Gareth, you were the third person.

You're the third person that stepped into my H Vac world.

Sure.

Okay.

So.

So you've got those.

The benefit lens and the permission stack.

So you've got those philosophies down.

And then what was it like getting into.

So how long was it before you started running appointments by yourself?

Maybe that's a really question here.

Excellent question.

Because Ryan and Gareth pretty much made up a job for me overnight, and the office didn't know.

I show up and they didn't really know what to do with me.

Sure.

On top of me not having a bloody clue what I was supposed to be doing.

So it was like.

Huh.

Like there was a bit of figuring out.

Yeah.

And it was all good.

Like, I would prefer we all learn together rather than look at this, look at this guy.

But I found.

I found it toughest with the text because it was like, who's this guy?

And after a while, because I'm a carpenter by nature, I was out in the trucks with them and the crawl spaces with them to learn about this metal square thing that pushes air.

Sure.

Yeah.

And of course, that's the best way to learn, is just go out and do the work with them.

Right.

Size and percent Absolutely.

Show them that you're not the guy that sits in one of these chairs and that you're happy to get into the crawl space with them.

Now the good thing about that is I may not have known what the actual machine was, but I could see if Phillips had.

And I had his bag.

Like, I could see he was like, oh, I need a Phillips head back to Le Venice.

I'm like, already empty his bag.

I'm going, I'm handing him the screwdriver.

You need that?

I knew what type of screwdriver he did.

Yeah, I mean, you were mechanical, so at least there wasn't that skill to overcome.

I didn't know what happened once he popped that door off.

Yeah, no doubt.

So, I mean, so I got a little bit hands on and then there was calls come in and there was a manager, he's not with us anymore.

And like, he was, he was really good, knew all the technical.

I could have called him from anywhere in the world.

And he goes, yeah, you need a one and a half ton for that.

Or like, you know, like, oh, that's definitely a five ton.

And I'm like, that was the first time I heard ton, you know, like, I didn't know if he was talking about weight or like I was like, oh, is that what we need?

Yeah, I thought that.

So how long was it before.

Real quick.

Oh, oh my gosh, that's great.

What would you say to the guys?

So this has always been something that has been really important to me is in fact, I had this conversation with the owner earlier.

You know, there's a whole group of trainers in our industry that, you know, will only hire people from outside the industry that have zero knowledge of anything that has to do with H Vac from for sales.

And I've been a big advocate that that is the wrong way to go about it.

Yes, we can have good skills, but we can't stay there.

It's fine to come into our industry not knowing anything, but not stay there.

But they're all about keeping them as dumb as possible and so they can just sell things without having the so called bad habits.

But I've always been an advocate that we should know what the heck we're doing so we can help people better, because we can come up with better solutions if we have better technical skills.

So what would you say to somebody who's, you know, maybe they started, you know, what's the best way for, you know, they're in, they're doing sales now.

What's the best way for them to get that.

That good experience.

Best way.

Hop in the barn with a technician.

That is the best way.

And you don't even, like, don't get into the van with him.

If you're gonna be like, oh, there's a piece of dust.

I don't want that in my shoes.

Sure, hop into the van with him.

Don't annoy him.

Don't annoy him.

You don't have to kill him with questions.

Observe, observe.

Be there with them.

Just get into it.

I mean, I thought, honestly, I.

Like, my first call, like, I was like, I grew up in a house in Ireland.

We didn't get radiators in the house until it was like, I was probably 11 years of age.

We were just.

We were born in coal and turf.

And that was her hot water.

That was her heat on blankets.

Come, what, 1990 or whatever.

There was a tank in the backyard.

There was a hot press upstairs in the bathroom closet.

But that's all I knew it was.

It was a hot press.

I mean, there's a thing in the closet that's hot, like a cylinder.

First call I was on by myself.

Like, I goes, where.

Where's your.

Where's your furnace at?

Confidently, like, not walking into the house.

Like, walking around towards the backyard.

And they're like, huh, I'm an empath.

And I'm a wee bit.

I'm a wee bit.

Oh, Jesus.

The words leave them in a intuitive.

I could tell.

I could tell right then and there.

Whenever, like, they were like, I didn't hear footsteps behind me.

So what in the world is this guy thinking?

So I.

I turned right around and I goes, had you?

But.

So that's what I would recommend for anybody that's looking to go into it.

Now, judging on your relationship with that technician, you.

You'll know if you can ask him questions or not, or whether you need.

Well, or you need to go into another van the next morning and find a friendlier one.

Right.

You know, like, you'll figure it out yourself.

So what I'm hearing from you is take some.

Take some initiative.

Like, take responsibility for your own education.

The installers, the technicians, they're the ones that make it happen every goddamn day.

Yeah.

So why wouldn't you start there?

Sure.

Yeah, 100%.

I don't.

I had a brief break in between.

Like, whenever I finished the carpentry business, I was like.

I applied to a few jobs online and on the.

Because I have no degrees or qualifications outside carpentry.

So I was like, you know what?

Let me Try basement waterproofing.

So I had no idea what I got myself into.

The owner of that company was just a terrible human being.

Oh, no.

Oh, he was story for another day.

But I goes, I tell you what.

And I knew nothing about seals at this point.

I just know how to be a decent human being.

And I'm not going to look anybody in the eye and promise them something that they're not going to get.

I goes, I tell you what to do.

Because he had subs doing his work.

All he was was a guy running his basement waterproofing business out of his three bedroom house.

Oh, gotcha.

And I goes, chuck in a truck of basement waterproofing, in other words.

Right, right.

And honestly, all things happen for a reason.

I believe.

So.

Like, I mean, I think H Vac found me.

I.

I think there's a reason that I was put on this path.

There was a reason that I went to this chop in a truck and waterproofing company, but.

So we had three different subcontractors and I'm like, all right, let me spend a day with each one of them and I'll.

I'll be able to tell you if I can sell for you or not.

Again, I didn't know nothing about basement waterproofing.

And I didn't know how to sell out in the trenches with the lads and two of the subcontractors.

Just terrible.

The shortcuts taken and the prices this guy was charging.

Homeowners, nightmare.

I went out with Juan and the crew and there's a little suburb outside Philly here, it's called Norristown.

And Juan, he's about our age, but he's like the godfather of Norristown.

He's a Mexican guy.

And Juan is in the hole with them and he's digging and he's showing me.

And one can't speak much English, but I don't know what it is.

He understands that you got an Irish guy and a Mexican standing at the side of a house and we're eight foot down into the ground in this trench.

Haven't a clue what each other's saying, but we do, we understand each other.

You can understand work ethic, understand that.

We'Re on the same page, the same energy.

I says, joe, I'll sell for you only if one does my jobs.

And that was my first really experience in sales.

As I said before, in carpentry, it was word of mouth.

My customers were typically on a waiting list, but I believed in one on the boys.

And then that's why I left the basement Waterproofing sales is because I promised customers that what I thought I was selling.

And that was Juan and the crew.

Right.

Because they were going to get it done.

Right.

But once the other two, two subcontractors hopped in, I didn't know about it at the start.

I goes, Joe, that wasn't detailed.

Sure.

And I, I walked away from him and here I am.

And so bringing us back to your.

On your journey, you're learning, you spent some time with the technicians and with the crews.

And so you're in your houses, you're an addict, you're learning the H Vac trade.

So what was the, what was your.

Tell us about your first few experiences in the house doing sales for H Vac.

Oh, it was nerve wracking.

I was like, I was pulling up in a little dream team car and I was like, honestly, it would be easier if I just drove away from the house right now because I didn't really know what I was talking about.

But the thing was I knew, I knew I could get like, I'm not, I'm going to walk and to the house and I'm not going to, I'm not going to spend you lies about something.

They were well aware I hadn't a clue what the hell I was doing.

Sure.

Because I told them that, look, I was straight up with them.

I was like, look, I haven't really a clue what I'm looking at here.

I can get, I can get the pictures, I can get the measurements.

And I showed them the little diagram and stuff of the stuff that.

And like in the comfort survey.

All right, all right.

It's 21 by 21.

And then it's like, you know, for an AC call and like I goes, I was a carpenter before.

Like, there's some sense in there.

I didn't just come out of McDonald's.

Sure.

So they go and I think they, I think they resigned it with the trust aspect.

So they're like, all right.

And I think that's really only how I've sold the jobs last year was because they trusted me as an individual and how much trust I like, the guys have, they stand by their work.

They are a customer focused company.

And like I noticed that in the first week.

Like, I'm like, these guys are top notch taking care of the customers and that's how it should be.

Yeah.

So like, so like, even though I didn't have the knowledge of the H Vac side or I hadn't a clue if a heat pump belonged in a.

Swimming pool or it Says pump.

Right?

Yeah.

I still instilled the belief in the customer because I believed in the two lads.

I mean, I knew them 20 years before that.

Sure.

So you believed in the company.

You really stood by the company.

Then beyond that, just really being transparent, honest with everybody.

And.

Yeah, you use the.

The right word, which is trust.

Yes.

I mean, that's the.

I mean, everybody.

If.

If everybody does.

If.

If you don't know everybody listening when.

At the end of the day, that's what everything comes down to.

If they trust you, that's all that really matters.

That is at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

Because, I mean, yesterday I was out McCall, and it was my second touch back with the lady.

And I'm looking at her and she's at the kitchen table, and now she's about 70 years of age.

And I don't know what it was.

I was like, sitting there looking at her and I'm like, she.

If.

If my mom and my.

My granny could, like, farm into, like, see him head here.

That is what I'm looking at.

Like, it was spooky.

And like, I am.

I would never.

I would never sell.

Like, I'm not that guy.

I'm not gonna push that wee woman into a seal or whatever.

And I have it set up with her.

She's going to talk to her sons today.

They're going to come around and they're going to go over the estimate again.

And, like, I'm not going to sit down and do a one call.

Like, that's my mother.

And I would never.

This is my lane.

I would never do anything to anybody that I wouldn't do.

My own family or my mother love this so much.

This is selling with heart.

This is integrity.

Exactly.

And, like, it sucks that some people do that, but it's the world we live in, you know?

It is.

So we are.

So we're 10 months into your journey now.

Give us a feel for.

Of what your numbers have looked like.

You know what.

What have you done so far?

10, 10 months.

What do you say?

10 months?

Yeah.

10 months from April, June to April.

I am at, like, I sold one today.

So I was at.

I was at 436,000.

So then.

Plus I sold one for 13,900 today.

Nice.

Congrats.

So we're getting up there.

Okay.

I had set a goal for me.

Just because I'm a pain in my own ass.

I'm the worst pain in my ass ever.

I'm like, I'm gonna do this.

I want.

I'M gonna get a million this year.

The year's not over yet.

I still haven't a clue what I'm doing, but that doesn't change the goal.

True, true.

What has been the biggest thing that has.

Because clearly you've been on just like a crash course in this industry and obviously there's been a lot of struggles and learning moments along the way.

What has helped you to keep the tenacity and the consistent, persistent discipline to continue to move forward along the way and not just be like, ah, scrap it.

I'm going back to carpentry.

Honestly, Sam, I think it's because I grew up blue collar at sat.

Nick.

I didn't grow up or nothing.

Yeah.

Just.

I never gave up on the fight.

I am the underdog and I shout for all the underdogs out there, too.

You're the guy that's sitting in the truck right now thinking that, hey, I was thinking about H vac, but I don't know nothing about it.

Hop on board.

If I can survive 10 months in it, you can too.

Sure.

I love this.

As I said, I truly believe it was a calling.

I love it.

So what is it that you.

What are some of the maybe top two or three things that you like the best about what you're able to do now?

Best thing I love is that it's an emergency situation.

I love helping people, but I love to, you know, I love more than helping people is to help them right there and then.

So, like Cartendry, if I was going out for an estimate again, no sales training involved, it was just like, oh, we've seen your work.

And we were thinking about doing this, that and the other in about a year and a half.

And I'm like, well, what's the point in me being out here today?

You're going to do the work in a year and a half.

Whoop dee doo for you.

Yeah, exactly.

Nothing's even going to be the same by then.

Exactly.

But if I can help somebody get a furnace installed next day whenever it's freezing outside.

Massive difference in the satisfaction you walk away from.

Yeah, Just that fulfillment of being able to help people immediately.

Thousand percent.

Yeah.

I love that so much.

What else?

So what about the.

So let's talk about the actual role for a minute.

What is it about being a project manager within the industry that you.

A couple things that you like.

And here's what's something you don't like too.

Let's see.

I'm not a project manager.

I'm a comfort advisor.

Comfort Advice.

What are some of the things that I like, don't like?

Yeah.

So what do you like about the.

Role to help them?

I don't care what house is, where it's at, if it's rich, middle, or poor.

I walk in there and my number one aim is to help that person.

Yeah.

If I possibly can.

Sure.

I was out with Jack and we were slow.

We had like phenomenal weather here in Philly.

February, March.

And there were just.

There's no calls coming in for the conference advisors.

So I was riding around with Jack and Aiden and this one call I was on with Jack.

That's one of your technicians.

One of the technicians, yeah.

Okay.

So we get this call and it's like in a row home.

And it's like, just come and use the basement door.

So we all.

Jack's like this tall and he's up brute.

He played football.

Like, I thought Jack almost took off the screen door in the bike.

I'm like, we are out there, Wally.

And Jack's a big, hilarious.

Yeah, I'm fine.

And Jack just walks on and.

Because the door was open and here's.

Here's a guy laying in the basement and it's like one of them, like military cot beds.

And he gets himself up and he puts himself into the wheelchair.

And a gentleman is what he was.

Nothing short of it.

You could tell that he didn't have any money, but his heat wasn't working.

And right away I thought, that guy's a Vietnam vet.

I don't know what it was, what movie that.

My head, my ADD Brian went to and I just seen the car.

I knew it was a military cut.

And next thing he starts talking about Nam.

I love this guy.

He.

He needed a $600 fix in his unit.

And he said, I only have $100 to my name till the end of the month.

He says, look, Jack, I goes, we're doing this job.

Jack's like, yeah, we are.

Even if it had to come out of our own pocket.

And we called Gareth and Ryan, let him know what was going on.

And they're like, get that man.

Sort it out.

Nice.

Yeah, that is.

That job was.

That's why I'm on it.

Yeah.

To get to truly serve people in a way that we can't otherwise serve.

Like he has served.

Yeah.

That's beautiful.

There's a.

I heard a story earlier.

I'm going to have him on the show.

But one of my coaching clients, he.

Today he got to punch a ticket.

His company, they give all of their comfort Advisors, one golden ticket a year.

When you come across situations that truly need help.

Yes, punch that ticket and we'll do the right thing.

So I'll have him on.

We'll unpack that one and talk about it.

But, man, I love those stories.

And of course, at the same time, you know, a lot of people, a lot of the owners that are, you know, if they don't have this abundance mindset and they function from this mentality, oh, we're going to lose money.

You know, it's like, well, no, you're not.

We're not giving away every single job.

But what we can do is just tell the story forward of how we help people and not to, you know, wave the banner and say, oh, this, look at us.

This is what we do.

But to.

Not to impress people, but to impress upon them that, you know, this.

We function from heart and this is how we care for people.

And so when you become, say, with the Dream Team, when you.

When you join this Dream Team family, when you become one of our clients, what happens?

This is how we take care of our own.

So, yeah, you can go with the big company and, you know, all the things, or you can become part of this family knowing that we're always going to be there to take care of you.

And I mean, everybody asks me all the time, oh, how do you handle objections?

I'm like, just be honest, like this, have this conversation, tell this story and say, that's how we take care of people.

Yeah.

And see, as soon as you're not honest, I don't care if you're a homeowner, you're a stranger sitting beside each other at a restaurant.

You can smell it a mile away.

Yeah, you can, because you're sincere or you're not, you actually want to help or you're just, you know, commission breath.

Commission breath, for sure.

This is such a perfect time and for everybody, listen, I had no idea where this conversation was going to go today, but I love that we have gone here because it's perfect timing.

Also because, I mean, as you know, Brian, we're in the middle, or not even in the middle yet.

I started this series on, you know, the energy of the appointment.

You know, where does the energy shift happen, how our energy introduces ourselves before we even show up.

And leading with, you know, honesty, integrity.

We're going to do an episode on ethics and how to develop an ethics statement and all of these types of things that nobody knows about, nobody talks about.

And so important, so important it is.

It's a way to Lead.

So we are so right now we're at 10 months in and what are you.

So what is the one thing that you would say, anybody that's out there in their first year, what are one or two things that you would advice that you would go back and give to yourself when you first started, you know, if you could do differently or learn faster or, or you know, just what are a couple of pieces of, of wisdom for.

For yourself 10 months ago and for the others.

I will make myself look I'll be the full here so you don't have to.

Guys, never ever do a swap out heat pump with an AC only.

Yes.

Can confirm.

I've made that mistake before too.

We got a call in like late November, say hey, Mrs.

Such and such called there and she's not getting heat.

And I goes, well she shouldn't.

That's an ac.

Only I didn't know it was a heat pump.

And that was a whole big thing.

I owned it.

These boys owned it.

They're like, no problem, we'll be out tomorrow morning.

Took an AC unit, replaced it and did whatever they had to do inside.

That was it.

Didn't upcharge them because they're getting a heat pump.

That was my mistake.

Sure I have.

And here's what I would also say.

Don't be afraid to learn by your mistakes.

Best lessons I ever learned in life.

Whether it be carpentry.

Done about a bartending before too.

Carpentry, bartending and this business.

Don't.

If you make a mistake, guess what?

You'll never forget it.

I'll never forget that I installed AC for somebody who needed a heat pump.

Yeah.

You'll never make that mistake again, that's for sure.

Never.

And I mean I sold it.

I, I think I sold it in August.

I'm like, we're, I'm tottering along, you know, and I'm trying to like, don't really have a clue what I'm doing.

The office hasn't a clue what I'm doing.

We're just all making it work.

And then we got a phone call from Mrs.

Such and Such and somebody's like, why did you not sell our heat pump?

Yeah.

So you're months down the road before you even anybody even realized it.

I, I thought the box outside like, I was like, that's A.C.

only A.C.

units do that.

Didn't know about reverse involves and all.

That stuff, but you do now.

I do know.

Love it.

So looking forward across this next little bit.

Well, first of all, you and Gareth are going to come to the Relentless in Boston.

Relentless.

The ultimate sales transformation.

Y'all are coming to the event.

Yeah.

So I know you're looking forward to that.

What are one or two things that you're most.

That you want to get out of the event?

Out of the event.

Here's the thing.

Much like H Vac or H vac or H Crack, as I call it, because crack is in Ireland.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with this.

We spell it C R A, I C.

Crack in Ireland does not mean what it means out here.

Crack means, like, if I was to say, sam, what's the crack?

And you would.

That you would.

Your ears and brain would hear that as, what's up, man?

Okay.

That's funny.

For years I've said, hey, what's cracking?

So it's probably a variation on that.

That was carried forward.

There you go.

That was the ancestors before us.

No, I was.

I.

Where was I going with that?

I was going so much like, I didn't have a clue what the H Vac wars was bringing in for me.

I've listened to you, though.

I'm excited to see what you've got going on in Boston.

I love the fact that you're going into this mindset stuff because it resonates for me.

I'm.

I'll take mindset and the subconscious level stuff over a sleazy seals course any day.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, I don't know, somehow I gravitate it towards you like that moth around the light bulb.

Didn't know who you were.

Whenever Gareth came out to me that day or sent me that email, and I open it up, there's a link to close it now.

And here's Sam Wakefield, and I'm watching him on my pad in the deck.

I'm like, oh, the two fills.

I must write the two fills down because I'll remember that that's two philosophies.

Just be calling it two fills.

Love it.

So once you.

So from the event, what do you want to accomplish?

How do you think that that will help you in your journey?

Let's ask it that way.

Here's the thing.

I know that I heard on the Facebook group that you said that there's going to be role plays and stuff like that.

That's my worst fear.

And I think why role play is my worst fear is because at the end of the day, no matter what my conscious mind thinks that my conscious mind's thinking that, all right, we're going to pretend he's the homeowner subconscious mind is.

No, we're not.

No, we're not.

No, no, we're not.

We can't.

It's difficult for me to like, you know what I mean?

Because I operate from a place, from the heart.

And I was down at the certain path event there in September and it was a two day course for the comfort advisors.

Now I have no problem talking to anybody.

I'm not shy.

I mean, you know that I reached out to you from out of the blue and you're probably, who the f is this guy?

And here we are.

But the thing that scared me most was the role play.

First of all, I didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

So I was only in it for about three months at that stage.

I also haven't a clue.

I have plenty of questions down there, but I say I don't want to put up a hand here in case I look stupid.

I'm glad that you brought up the roleplay thing because I'd love to talk about that for a second.

You know, a lot of place I don't believe in role play the same way that most people do, you know, and I had a.

So I recorded another episode with Doug Wyatt yesterday that's actually get a release tomorrow.

So.

Which is incredible.

It was total fire.

We got another hour and 40 minutes together that you're going to love.

So for everybody listening, go back and listen to this episode because it'll be out before this one drops.

But we're on the same page.

I don't believe that you should hand somebody a script and say, okay, take two minutes and learn this.

And now we're going to practice it.

Because that's not a real world type of scenario.

And because it's a big event like that where there's a lot of people in the room, you don't get much value from turning to your neighbor and going back and forth with somebody who also doesn't know how to deliver the script.

Exactly.

There's no impact.

There's no feeling behind the words.

Right.

So the one of the things that is going to be different, and this is something I want to make sure to mention that on this podcast for everybody, if you're considering coming to the event and you're maybe apprehensive because of the role play, because I know our industry, there's not.

Not that many people are big fans of it.

So we're not going to make you go up in front of the.

In front of everybody and, you know, have this face off with one of with me trainers and put you on a video and to be able to graduate and get your certificate and all of that.

What we are going to do, yes, there's some scripting that I, you know, that I've written.

More importantly, I'm going to break down the meaning behind the script and teach people how to.

So we'll be, we'll be working on, you know, why it's written the way it is.

I'm going to demonstrate it.

We're going to, you know, me, Doug Wyatt, Scott Bell, Christian Moore, Jonathan Neves, the people there that are going to be training, we're going to demonstrate it and then we're going to have a question and answer session.

So then you can say, hey, why did you handle, why did you answer it like this?

Why did you say this when you did?

So we can.

Because the whole goal is not the words, it's the meaning behind the words.

And I love this topic so much because I think our industry forever has only stayed surface level and they've missed the whole point of roleplay.

Yeah, they forgot a feeling.

Yeah, exactly.

It's what's behind it.

Right.

Just like when objections come.

That's the reason I always say it's like you don't need just one canned response to these words because.

Right.

Whatever they're saying is never the real meaning behind, you know, why they have a so called objection.

It's the ability to see through that and ask more questions in a way that uncovers the truth so you can have a heart to heart conversation.

And that's the difference in how to handle objections.

And then, you know, without conflict in a way that shows that you truly care.

So I'm glad that you mentioned that.

So one, don't be anxious.

That's not how we do it.

We're going to show people how to role play.

And once we give you the tools, then what will happen is we'll say, okay, now as you go back to your company, here's the plan and here's how you're going to practice this in your environment so that you'll get the best value from it.

Right.

I mean, it's like, again, it's like, and you talk about it a lot.

It's like the transference of the energy.

Now if I'm, if I'm in a room where I was like, like you can feel the energy.

If you're not Fabian, like you can feel it.

And then you put two boys together and they're trying to be like, oh, I'm gonna get him and he's thinking the same thing.

The energy's off there.

And that's what.

Like, maybe it works well with other people.

I don't know.

But I, I just can't deal with that.

I'm like, nah, because now I'm.

And it's back here.

It's the subconscious.

No, you're.

You're so right.

It's the cells.

Is that transfer of transference of energy.

I heard a.

There was a guy in my years ago, I did solar for several years.

I, you know, I put up 100, 100 solar projects across the country.

And in a couple of years there.

So anybody that knows solar, there's some numbers people.

But there was a guy in my company and he said this one time, and real early on in the podcast, I recorded an episode about this.

He said, if they ain't vibing, they ain't buying.

They gotta, they gotta be vibing with you.

You know, you've got to get on the same vibrational state with them.

Talk about that a lot.

You know, it's, it's.

It's like, what does that really mean?

You know, Exactly.

It's like.

Because you feel it.

You feel the vibration of people, and it's just like me and you, if some guy was coming in here and they're like, oh, well, you need to get this sighting done today.

And you're like, well, you're an energy person.

You're like, nah, f you, dude.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And that's the reason I say so often, one, that your energy introduces yourself before you ever knock on the door, but also when we work.

So just like you, you're making sales out there knowing nothing about heating and air.

People don't expect us to know all of the answers.

They just expect us to be able to get them in a reasonable amount of time.

So if they know you have resources to be able to answer the questions, you're open and honest and truthful and say, listen, I'm.

I'm really, I'm truly here to serve you best.

If I don't have the answer, I'll tell you.

But I can get it.

Yes, but people want to do business with people that are worth doing business with.

And the whole point, that's why, I mean, that's why I end every episode with, you know, what is it I say would be someone worth buying from?

Right, Exactly.

Like, that's what it all boils down to.

Like, I'll trust you.

Like, I'll trust you.

Like, hey, Sam, you know what?

I know you haven't a clue about XYZ if you're looking me dead and I and send.

But I know a guy that does.

Yeah.

And I'll get back to you on this.

I'm going to believe because me and you talk.

Yeah.

I'm going to believe that you're going to do my job to the best of your possible ability.

You got goes back to the way you said what you said when we started.

That word, that one word.

Trust.

Exactly.

Yep.

Absolutely.

Well, man, it has been good hanging out today.

We better land this plane.

So what we're doing here too, everybody.

So Brian and Gareth from Dream Team, they're coming to the event.

We're going to pull them aside and have, you know, talk to him for a few minutes.

I'm going to have my videographer there.

So we're going to get a cool little interview of what your experience is like at the event and then we're going to give you two, three, four weeks, maybe a month or so after the event and we're going to do this again and get your mindset and your experience, what it's been like in the field after the event and talk about your results and talk about your experiences there as well.

And so I'm excited about part two, which will happen here in another.

I guess that'd be a couple months from now.

Yeah.

Ship it.

Well, there may be something that will be shipping up the Boston in between times.

I'm sure that.

I'm sure the listeners will have something to hear.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

So I'll let you just train in the.

The next episode.

You can train some of the things that you learned from the event too.

I can't wait to attend it some.

And I love Boston.

I love Boston.

It's such a great city.

I love it.

So for everybody, my.

My theme song for this next month is Shipping up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphy's, which is.

I'm a big fan of theirs anyway.

But so if you never heard it, go look up that song.

Well, Brian, it's been great to have you on.

I appreciate what you're doing and thanks for being so vulnerable with us today.

That is just as important, the power of vulnerability.

There's a plug for a book if anybody.

Great book.

It will probably go in the Close it now book club, which I'm about to start back up.

The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown.

If you've never read it, highly recommend.

So everybody out there, go pick up that book and give it a shot because it is so incredible because it's the power of being transparent.

The power of being.

When we're vulnerable, they'll be vulnerable with us and there's nothing more.

If our world and our society had more of that, we wouldn't be fighting some of the incredibly ridiculous things that are happening in the climate of our, you know, of our government right now and our society.

You know, people just opened up and were themselves without this mask in front of it.

So I'm working on some things on the side that when, when they come out, everybody, it's going to be pretty fun stuff.

So.

But man, thanks for being here.

Any last, any parting words before we sign off?

If you are the guy that was me 10 months ago sitting behind that steering wheel and you're like, you know what?

I really want to go be a comfort advisor and having a clue.

Start with heat pumps, don't start with the AC unit.

Just do it.

Just bloody do it.

I mean, make mistakes, get into it.

It's a great business.

And who knows, you might find people like Sam and I'll see you all, and I'll see you all up in Boston.

Word.

So to get your ticket for Boston and go to closeitnowbootcamp.com they are the tickets.

The bogo price is happening.

So basically tickets are half price now.

So go to closeitnowbootcamp.com I wanted to make it as accessible to as many people as can get there.

But because I did that, the tickets are going fast.

So you better grab your spot before they sell out because, yeah, we got 60 people in the space and that's it.

You the looking at the trainers, literally you would each one of us, if you had us out to your location, is, you know, tens of thousands of dollars to get us to your location.

Every single one of the trainers that are going to be on stage.

So when you get all of us in such a tight space like that and the ability to ask the questions and Q and A and to get the that level of information, it's an insane value.

We're literally talking about massive, massive, massive value.

So this doesn't happen very often in our industry to get actual top level people in the same space to get in front of them to learn from.

So I just can't stress it enough.

If you don't come to this, you're going to watch your peers double their incomes this year and you'll be wondering why you didn't go and why you didn't pay the ticket.

So that is, I implore you, that's a good word for this.

Come on up to Boston, folks.

Yep.

Come hang out with Brian and me.

We'll.

We'll lift a cup of tea or.

Yes, we will.

Maybe, maybe a Guinness.

So.

Oh, yeah.

All right, everybody, you know what we do.

Thanks for listening.

Go get your ticket.

Closeitnowbootcamp.com and until next time, go be someone worth buying from.

You've been listening to the Close it now podcast.

Our passion is to dive headfirst into the transformative movement that's reshaping the very foundation of H Vac and home improvement and at the same time covering fitness, nutrition, relationships and personal growth, proving that we can indeed have it all.

We hope you've enjoyed the show.

If you did, make sure to like, rate and review.

We'll be back soon, but in the meantime, find the website@closeitnow.net find us on Instagram, herealcloseitnow and on Facebook closeitnow.

See you next time.

Sa.