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Stay Modern With Murray
Welcome to the Stay Modern with Murray Podcast, your go-to source for the latest trends and insider tips in the homebuilding industry. Each episode, we delve into the dynamic realms of design and construction, providing valuable insights that can elevate your understanding and approach to building and renovating homes.
But we don’t stop there! We go beyond mere construction topics to engage with influential figures such as business owners, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. These conversations highlight the experiences and expertise of those who are making significant impacts in their respective fields. Here, you will discover not only innovative ideas and practices within homebuilding but also inspirational stories that showcase leadership and creativity in action.
Whether you're a homeowner, a potential builder, or simply interested in the housing industry, our podcast will offer a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Join us as we explore the intersection of home construction and the vibrant discussions that can help shape the future of your projects. Tune in to enrich your understanding and spark new ideas in homebuilding, design, and business leadership!
Please tune in to hear from industry experts, non-profits, and local business leaders shaping our world. Visit our website at www.murraycustomhomes.com/podcast for more information and to catch the latest episodes. Subscribe today and stay modern with Murray!
Stay Modern With Murray
Navigating Industry Challenges and Building the Future
Discover the Home Builders Association of Lincoln (HBAL) pivotal role in shaping the home building industry with our special guests, Jeremy Montgomery, HBAL president-elect, and Michaela Schwarton, Executive Director. Learn how HBAL supports its members with advocacy, education, and community engagement and why a unified voice is vital amidst government regulations and market challenges. Michaela and Jeremy share their insights on strengthening relationships with local government to tackle industry issues, making homeownership more accessible for everyone.
We explore the resilience and adaptability of the home building industry, particularly through the trials of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hear about inspiring community initiatives like the CARE Foundation and the toy-building project with Lincoln Police Union Charities. Our guests delve into their personal stories of overcoming recruitment challenges, adapting to remote work, and the satisfaction of giving back to the community. Join us to look at how the industry has faced adversity with strength and a commitment to positive change.
Matthew Taylor and our guests explore the current state of the construction industry, highlighting trends in housing permits and the ongoing need for affordable housing. They also discuss the importance of hands-on skills in construction and why schools should focus on technical sciences. Michaela and Jeremy reflect on their career paths, emphasizing the value of networking, leadership, and community involvement. We wrap up with advice to our younger selves, underscoring the power of perseverance, financial wisdom, and the importance of building meaningful relationships in your journey to success.
Welcome to another episode of Stay Modern with Murray, brought to you by Murray Custom Homes, where we build your dream home together. Now sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride with your host, matt.
Speaker 2:Murray, thank you for joining us on this episode of Stay Modern with Murray. I am your host for the day, matthew Taylor pinch hitting for Matt Murray. Today we are in the Murray studio speaking with the Home Builders Association of Lincoln, president-elect Jeremy Montgomery and Executive Vice President Michaela Schwarton. Did I say that right, michaela? You sure did, nailed it.
Speaker 3:I'm liking these sound effects.
Speaker 2:It makes us sound cooler than we are, that's for sure. Thank you for taking the time to join us today, guys. It is truly an honor and I'm excited to learn more about HBAL. What I know is helping out with the Home and Garden Show last year, the Spring Parade of Homes last year and then the Fall Parade of Homes this year. Can you tell us a little bit about you guys, personally and professionally? Mikayla, let's start with you.
Speaker 4:Sure, I am the executive director for the Home Builders Association. I am from Lincoln. I have worked for the association for 26 years. I've been the director for nine. I've got a couple of kids 26 years, man.
Speaker 2:That's longer than any relationship I've ever been in, that's for sure. What about you, jeremy? Tell us a little bit about you, man.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm the business development manager for Stephenson Smith Construction because I have to have a day job. I am the president-elect for the Home Builders Association of Lincoln, like you just said, and that is a, you know, a volunteer position. So you know my day job keeps me pretty busy at Stevens and Smith and you know we do a lot of concrete work, foundations, flat work, floor coatings, that type of stuff, and I've been pretty heavily involved with the Home Builders Association, I would say since about 2017, 2018. And it's been beneficial for me personally and professionally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, Steven Z Smith, I've done a lot of work with them before. I was with Murray as well, when I was with the county with the engineering department, when I was with TJ Osborne, when we did underground utilities. You guys helped us out with some roadways out there too. So all right. Well, for everybody that's wondering, HBAL, Home Builders Association, why don't you guys take the lead on this? Tell us a little bit more. Besides, like the spring parade and the home garden show, what exactly does HBAL do?
Speaker 4:Well, those are the public events. We also have a tour of remodeled homes. That's another public event that general people tend to know us for those events. That's their name in front of the public. Internally, we support our members. We promote building, offer these events to get their name out in front of people. We have networking events for our members. We host two golf tournaments, a sporting clay shoot, a chili cook-off, yeah, a holiday party. We have our installation ceremony and our award ceremony in January where Jeremy will become our president. Then, you know, just support the building community. Then, you know, just support the building community. We keep a finger on the state legislature, the city council, anything we see coming down through regulation that could affect impact housing in any way. We are, we're watching that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would like to add to that. You know we're more of a single voice for the industry. You know you've heard the saying before it's strength in numbers and I've seen it firsthand. You know, through government affairs and advocacy type projects where you might see an energy code come through and that energy code may not be a safety issue but it may be more of an energy issue. And does everybody need that installed or those certain regulations or codes installed in their house? Because it all adds to the cost.
Speaker 3:And you know I think a lot of things with the home building industry we look to keep those costs low to make homes affordable, and so I think a lot of times when we talk about codes and stuff we're looked at as the no group a lot of the times.
Speaker 3:But you know we do like to advocate for the home building industry and really on behalf of home buyers. You know we want people to get into homes. You know that's the American dream, and so I think the biggest thing with the Home Builders Association is really just being kind of that single voice. But, as Michaela said, all those events, you know the networking opportunities that you have as being a member is extremely beneficial as well and just educational and professional development with the Lunch and Learns, and I think we just had one on fall protection, things like that. So I mean you get what you get out of it. You know you can pay your membership dues and be a member of the Home Builders Association or you can be really active with those dues and get something out of it, you know so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think what it really kind of boils down to is, you're right, having one single unit with a voice that can be for the builders, that can be for the homeowners, that can be for the buyers and that can be for the homeowners, that can be for the buyers and the clients, and knowing the ins and outs of those zoning and those regulations. When I worked for Lancaster County Engineering, it was almost like I walked in and I was reading hieroglyphics at first Decode this regulation, that and I'm just like, all right, slow it down, back up, let's really dig into this. And that's kind of what you guys are doing for everybody that's involved with the building process. You guys are deciphering those messages, turning it from hieroglyphics into English or Spanish or whatever language they speak.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think you know really it's about building relationships with the people that make those decisions, with the city, with the counties and you know we have a great relationship with like building the safety. We meet with them quarterly and we discuss issues that we have and and I think they take those those issues seriously and they do something with them if they can, and you know it's very beneficial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shout out to my guy Terry Cathy, down there at building and safety, haven't heard from you in a while. That's my guy used to work daily with him. So again, can you guys explain what the Lincoln Home Builders Care Foundation is?
Speaker 4:Yeah, that is our 501c3 nonprofit arm of the Home Builders Association of Lincoln. It was started in 2009. We have given out over $377,000 to local charities, nonprofits, disaster relief Recently this we were just talking here with Shannon we helped out several years ago in some small communities. We helped Omaha this spring after the tornado went through Omaha and scholarships to high school students, college students who are going into or are pursuing their career in construction related industries. We support the high schools in their STS classes, provide them materials, equipment if they have those needs we host. So the foundation fundraisers are our golf tournaments, our sporting clay shoot. Those provide the funds that we are able to distribute out through the requests and and different avenues that we have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I'd like to also add you know, a lot of times we just gave like was it? Last year? We gave Southeast high school. It was about $2,500 in materials for their construction class. They were getting a little low on drywall and roofing materials and wood and lumber and all that stuff, and so we got a list from them and I think Waverly High School was the year before that. I mean. So if we get the requests of schools that are in need, we will, you know, try to support that through that care foundation. I think the majority of that money actually goes to scholarships.
Speaker 4:Yes, Scholarships in the high school support. We give about about 10 to $15,000 every year in scholarships there are high school. The application goes out in January.
Speaker 2:We award the scholarships in April at our tribute to youth, so it's a great way for the students that know they're nonprofit organization as well, and a lot of what I don't think people understand is the money it still costs to play the games, it still costs to build those houses, it still costs to go out and do these tournaments and the fundraising that goes into that.
Speaker 2:That's, that's the heart and soul, I think, as a parent group, and the people like yourselves that are going out and helping raise the money for the future. You know, leaders in our community. At the end of the day, I get so fed up with people hearing people talk about well, it's your generation or this generation and this. Well, what are you guys doing to help? You know, I mean, we can't just expect these kids or, you know, I guess, young adults to go out and have that right set of mind frame to go in and do something positive in the community, unless they're helped, guided and mentored and and have that you know leader that's backing them and it kind of. I had no idea that H ball had anything to do with with high schools in our community. So, you know, hats off to you guys.
Speaker 3:You know, listen, I I say this a lot at Stevens and Smith and if you want to be the leaders of the industry, you have got to give back to your community. It's as simple as that. And you know, having the CARE Foundation and you know, with the money that they're raising, the efforts that they're doing, giving back to the community, you can clearly say that the Home Building Association is a leader of the industry because of what they do for the community, for the building community specifically. You know. But you know all of our members are based in Lincoln and around Lancaster County and you heard Michaela say we gave money to. You know Omaha, you know that's not even our region, but you know it's nice to be able to have the funds to do that and help people that need help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it takes a village. I mean we kind of started this podcast by talking about one unit and it being bigger than just us in this room. Right, like when you start leading a life that's thinking beyond yourself and just your family and thinking about others and their kids and their families, it really, really expands. You know who you are as a person and it helps the soul a little bit too. You know you can sleep better at night knowing that you are helping.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I call that a food for the soul. Love, that yeah, food for the soul, volunteering your time for it to help others, man, it's just such a good feeling, such a good feeling.
Speaker 4:Speaking of volunteering, I forgot. Our next big project for the foundation is we do a. We build wooden toys. We haven't done it since 2019. Covid kind of shut us down, but we're getting it back rolling again. This year we build 70 wooden toys It'll be November 9th this year at Lincoln Northeast High School and these toys are given to the Lincoln Police Union Charities and then officers give these toys directly to families that they encounter during the holidays who may not have a gift. This was something that was started back in 1988. We've given out over 2,000 toys and I don't remember the dollar amount. It's a significant dollar amount to the Lincoln Place Union Charities for this project. Man, it's a really important one and it's great. We've got a lot of members that they've got kids now that are in their 30s that say, hey, I grew up doing this project and how awesome it is that you know now they have little kids. They're like great, I'm going to bring my kids to this event. It's incredible.
Speaker 3:We had a gentleman in the board meeting yesterday that was a recipient of one of those toys when he was a kid. Was it Roger, not Roger who was sitting? Oh, I can't remember his name, but he said he was a part of that as as he was a kid, you know. So, yeah, you know to. To be able to remember things like that and you know, to have that kind of a testimony, you know, 20, 30 years later, is amazing.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you're leaving an impact on people and then their, their children and their children's children. It's a it's re, it's one of those positive cycles and circles. We we hear so much about negativity and and anymore, especially online. Right and and that's something that I think it's that's not talked about enough is social media and the internet. That's not going anywhere. Right, that is part of our life and it's going to be part of our kid's life and our grandkids life, and we need to do something positive with that message. Just to kind of like this, you know, getting a message out with the tools that we have at our at our disposal. So, um, I want kind of one. You guys were talking about COVID a little bit. I want to talk about that now that we're I don't want to say, past it, don't want to jinx anything, but what was working in the industry? We'll start with you, jeremy. What was working in the industry during COVID, like for Stevens and Smith or for you yourself personally.
Speaker 3:Oh man, it was. You know, finding help. I know, right before COVID, you know we were. We were still looking for help, had a lot of ads out for skilled craftsmen and but when COVID hit, you know, a lot of people were working from home, staying at home, didn't want to get out. It was really tough to recruit.
Speaker 3:I would say in 2020, 2021. And then the 2022 was some of the most challenging times for HR, you know, trying to adapt and overcome to how you get in group meetings anymore. You know, trying to adapt and overcome to how you get in group meetings anymore. So, ironically, right before COVID hit, we installed some microphones in the ceilings and some video screens and so we were actually got pretty lucky, because trying to get some of those after 2020 was pretty tough that year. But yeah, it was just, you know, trying to adapt in a different environment of trying to find new help and different ways of getting help and keeping people safe. That was a challenge too. Nobody knew what the heck was going on and you hear about people sharing chips Like what you were sharing a bag of chips.
Speaker 2:Are you?
Speaker 3:insane? Yeah, my goodness, what are you doing? Are you crazy? Are you nuts? Now we kind of look back and laugh but and thankfully so. But yeah, those are some challenging, challenging times for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what about you, michaela? What was the one thing that you can remember taking away from the challenges during COVID?
Speaker 4:So you know, for home builders we're event based. A lot of our stuff is events, be it a public event or a member event, and we were fortunate that we had our Home and Garden Show in February, because everything shut down in March and if our event would have been a month later, we would not have had our Home and Garden Show. But it really impacted our Spring Parade of Homes and I remember working with my staff on how do we still have this event. I mean, we had a great number of houses in the parade. I think there was about 50 entries maybe that spring and it was trying to figure out okay, can we have these houses open, how do we do it? And then working with the health department to come up with, okay, what are the rules so we can have these homes open, so the builders can still showcase their product.
Speaker 4:And we had conversations with our board and our exec committee about how do we best support our members and, you know, reaching out to make sure everybody was doing all right and that their business was still, you know, was there any needs that people had?
Speaker 4:Well, come to find out. Gosh, so many people started investing in their homes and looking to purchase new homes and that you know the worry wasn't there for the builders, but just navigating how we, like Jeremy said, how do we get together and have these events? And you know we have certain. You know there's rules. We have to follow our bylaws. You know how many times we have to meet as a board of directors and to meet those bylaws when we get together. And, like Jeremy said, we remodeled our office in night, late, 19, early 2020, and it finished and we have a a larger boardroom that allowed us to meet and spread our chairs out and set them single rows and so, gosh, people could get in there and still listen and not, you know, have your social distance. So that was a that was a big challenge for us to still host our events and do it safely and you know that was probably the biggest thing. We figured it out.
Speaker 2:You always do adapt on the fly, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, if you think about building materials, the shortages and challenges of getting that at the time. You know, um, and the cost of some of those building materials, um, you know getting the imports and you know I can remember a picture of the map of all those barges just waiting at docks and just nuts, you know totally forgot about.
Speaker 2:I I'm pretty sure I still got sheets of OSB sitting on the ocean somewhere on a boat man. That that, that you're right, jeremy, that that was probably the one thing I'll take away from that that I'll never forget is those visuals of those of the boats and the docks just sitting empty and and having all of our materials sitting on a coast somewhere just waiting to dock it's insane.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we had um. One of the biggest scares we had at our company was um foundation wall ties. You know you don't think about that being as important as it is, but there was a real scare there of you know. So we kind of did everything we can reach out to every resource we had and bought every wall form we possibly could, and I'm sure, just like everyone else. But you know just little things like that. You know, without wall ties we're not pouring walls Right. So, yeah, just different challenges.
Speaker 2:So do you guys I mean off topic completely the the back-to-back hurricanes and what it seems like back-to-back weeks down in Florida. Man, I, I can't imagine. We, we take a every November, my family and I. That's what we do. We, that's our tradition. We go down after Thanksgiving and we go down to Anna Marie Island down in Florida or Tampa Bay, just depending on you know what's available for that weekend. And now I don't think we're going to be able to do any of that stuff for the next couple of weeks, or at least in that area. You guys had talked about the tornadoes out and that hit Omaha. Can you kind of elaborate on that a little bit on, on what exactly you guys did to help out our neighboring community in Omaha out there?
Speaker 4:for us it was. It was the financial support that we were able to provide to their, their disaster response team. Um, I know that omaha has association as well and they kind of mobilized and had members on the ground, you know, out there helping clean up. Um, here in lincoln we didn't have there was no direct response to it like manpower. Yeah, a lot of financial support, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think that goes a long way. You know, like you guys said, you didn't have to right. I mean, we're a Lincoln-based foundation and to be able to step out of I guess you know what you know in the Lancaster County region to go out and help the neighboring community, it speaks volumes to what you guys do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we just know the membership would have, you know, do the right thing you know. So that's what we did.
Speaker 2:Um so to kind of piggyback off of the whole COVID thing, I'm locked in at what I call my COVID rate for my home, my interest rate, and I know I would make a killing if I was able to go and sell the house at the percentage that I purchased at. But finding something now in today's market, can you guys kind of talk about what you're seeing as far as the current building market goes in our communities?
Speaker 3:Well, I brought with me some building permit statistics, building permit statistics and this is something that, when I get the newsletter from the Home Builders Association, I flip it all the way to the back and I start analyzing on percent increases and decreases. But you know, I actually got some good news. You know, through the month of August is what these stats are showing. You know, right now, on single family, we're looking at about 327 permits and that's about a 17% increase to last year in August at this time. I would say townhomes is a 54% increase, with 254 permits, and then multifamilies at 635, which is actually a 20% decrease. But we just had a boom in multifamily over the last 20 or last few years. So you know, 20% decrease is a decrease from a huge number. So don't let that fool you. You know, but from our, from our highest permit years, single families were in 2021, we had 927 permits for the year, and so that's what I kind of compare it on and it doesn't look like we're going to be too. You know, we'll probably be about 30% less, you know, if these numbers stayed true to that.
Speaker 3:On the single family, and I think what we're hurting the most is where we see the affordable homes. You know we're trying to figure out ways to develop land to build more houses so that we can have more affordable homes for those people graduating college and wanting to start a family. You know, and you can't believe the impact the economic impact of just one home would do to your community, you know, and the taxes that you get, the city that gets for every home and but you know things are starting to look a little bit up, although I would say, you know, on the affordable side we're still trying to figure that out. You know there's still a lot of building going on relative to what interest rates are and what you might think are, but it's a lot of the bigger homes you know that are being built. So that's kind of what I have. I don't know if Kayla's got anything to add to that or not.
Speaker 4:No, that's what we tend to watch is the the permit numbers and see where they're, where they are compared year to year, and um, it's like Jeremy said, we've had a huge, huge number of multifamily. Um, it was I. I was just looking at some numbers the other day. Uh, to share with the with another association and um, for 21, 22, 23, 23, there were 7679 permits issued, um residential permits, but 4886 of them were multi-family oh, wow 975 townhomes, 1818 single family um and you.
Speaker 3:I think you'd see that that's a trend that you would see when you don't have affordable housing. You're going to see the multifamily boom, and just in one year you had a high of 2,200 permits and I think it was 2,022 for multifamily. And so that's where you start to see the effects of the COVID the higher interest rates, higher material costs, all that stuff start to take effect and people started capitalizing on just building multifamily, something that people could afford, and I think some people would debate that even today. You know apartments aren't cheap either, you know, but much more affordable when you start talking about them.
Speaker 2:You're just getting something temporary to. You can afford a house. Yeah, I mean, any more rent in an apartment is just as much as, uh, our house payment, you know, and that's kind of crazy. To minus property taxes, yeah, if we're going just off of your mortgage, yes, yep, yep, um, that that's something that I we were talking about high schools and and the trades, and I wish I would have spent more time back when I was in high school on on taking the time to learn how to use my hands, on learn how to build things, you know.
Speaker 3:I get in front of a lot of high school kids and that's one thing I always say even if you're not pursuing a career in construction, learn how to read a tape measured, learn how to use a skill saw, learn how to, you know, plumb a column and build a deck and pour a patio and do things on your own, because you don't, you know, be able to replace your own toilet or a sink or something. It's simple skills. But just learn how to do stuff like that and build with your hands and be a little bit more self-sufficient versus, you know, having to hire someone to do it. So you know, those skills are things that people can't take from you. You know and you know.
Speaker 3:I just think it's something that they should probably push a little bit more, and I do think that public schools and private schools are getting a lot more shop classes back online. I think we've seen a trend 10 years ago of, you know, more academia type classes and not much shop class Right, but we're seeing a big boom in skilled and technical sciences. We have a great relationship with Lincoln Public Schools and their skilled and technical sciences. We actually have a meeting coming up in October where all SDS teachers come into the home builders and we talk about the things that we can provide, whether it's materials and bringing in professional speakers to talk about careers in construction. And yeah, it's important that we get to the young ones and discuss what we have to offer.
Speaker 3:For sure, even if they're not going to get into the industry it's changing that mindset of you can't be successful in construction because we all know that's not true. Oh right, so I think parents and teachers and counselors don't understand what we have to offer. They've never done it. They don't know that pride it takes to build something with your hands and to stand back and look at it and say I helped build that. They don't know the camaraderie of a construction crew if you get on a good one.
Speaker 2:Right, yep, yep.
Speaker 3:You know there's just a lot of things, a lot of benefits that you know after being in this industry for 30 years, that you know I can bring to the table and tell these the future of our workforce, of the benefits that we have and some of the challenges as well. You know it's great to work outside most of the time.
Speaker 2:Most of the time, yeah, yeah, especially in Nebraska.
Speaker 3:You get in the wintertime it gets things slow down a little bit. So you got to do things a little bit different financially and save a little bit to get you through some cold months. So, yeah, we try to encourage young youth to swing a hammer, use a tape, measure things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, reading a tape measure was probably one of the. I mean, it seems so simple now, right, but looking back, like I remember all the roads I feel like led me to where I am now. I went from installing underground utilities with TJ Osborne doing water, main storm sewer, sanitary sewer being 24 feet underground to five feet underground. And I remember Terry looking me dead in the eye and saying it's not rocket science, you just make the water go from here to here, you know. And he's like I will teach you the ways to get to where you need to be.
Speaker 2:Went from there to working for the Nebraska Department of Transportation helped building their documents, warranty deeds, vouchers, stuff like that. Went from there to buying right away. Went from buying right away and having those crucial conversations on we're taking your ground, acquiring your ground. That was fun. Oh my gosh, I have stories and stories and stories of get off of my property and I'm like, yeah, but you know the threat of condemnation and eminent domain, it's going to happen Like, help me, help you, here, you know.
Speaker 2:And then from there to doing what I do now and it's almost. It's almost the most rewarding thing I've ever done, because I have seen the downside of having to split people's houses in half and put in a highway or a culvert here and and now, making dreams come true, essentially helping dreams come true. So you're right, though, going back to the whole education part of this conversation, there is there, that's knowledge that can never be taken from you and that is invaluable resources. Being able to know how, like you said, have the know-how and a little bit of want to, would go a very long way in this line of work.
Speaker 3:I have always said, you know, the thing that makes someone succeed in construction is those soft skills. You know, knowing how to finish concrete and how to set up a wall. I mean those things that can be taught relatively easy. What's not taught relatively easy is being a team player and being reliable and being responsible. And you know just showing up every day. You know you want to earn respect and you want to have that camaraderie. You know, get to be a team member and show up every day. You know you don't show up.
Speaker 3:It puts a lot of extra effort on the rest of the crew and I don't think they realize. You know the importance of showing up, but you know, once you show up and you're a team player, man, you climb that corporate ladder like crazy, I think, and I've seen it many times. You know. But the ones that show up a little bit late, they're still on their Snapchat and talking to their girlfriends and they're five minutes late, which doesn't seem like a big deal, you know, but five minutes turns into 10 and then it makes their job a little bit harder and those are the ones that probably don't succeed, you know. But uh, hard work, um, responsible, uh, individuals, they seem to succeed pretty well in construction, no matter what they do.
Speaker 2:That team atmosphere. You know. I need to know that you're going to show up. I need to know that you can do your job. I need to know that I can rely on you. If something comes up in my life, it's being on time isn't good enough in my opinion. You know you got to be early and you, if you need to stay late, you need to stay late. It's I'm very, very big on that. Speaking of that, what is some advice, michaela? Let's start with you. What's some advice you would give somebody that's new to this industry?
Speaker 4:You know, I I think involvement with home builders is important. Um, you know, I'd advocate for that membership. Get involved, um, the more, the more people you meet, the bigger your network becomes. Um, starting to make those connections with people makes it easier for you when somebody thinks, hey, I need somebody to come pour my foundation. If they know Jeremy, they're going to reach out to Jeremy and say, hey, can Stevens and Smith take this job on? So it's a great place to get involved, to take part in our events. Meet the members. I think that's very important. Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 3:Yeah, as she was answering that, I think I would answer this a little bit different depending on who I was talking to. You know, if I'm talking to somebody new in the industry, that's 18 years old, just starting the industry, I would give them all the advice I just talked about. You know, show up every day and be on time and be responsible and be reliable and, and you know, things will pan out. You're talking to somebody that's going to be a home builder. I would say, yeah, the networking, get involved with the associations, support organizations that support what you're doing. Those are the types of advice I would give. And then, you know, back to somebody that's new, work hard.
Speaker 3:You know, when I get in front of these high school kids, one of the things that I always talk about is success and what that actually means. Um, it doesn't mean money, even though that's what they they think. It's big cars and big homes, and you know those are nice, those are really nice things. Um, but happiness, I know I know a lot of people that have a lot of money that aren't happy. You know, and you know you want to do something that you enjoy doing every day. You know, and I just had a group of kids with me and the one kid said he wants, he loves and wants, wants to play games all the time.
Speaker 3:You know I said, well, okay, let's step back. Maybe it's computer software or something that you know do something in that line of work that's going to get you up every day. You know, because if you're sitting on that edge of the bed and you just thinking of ways to not to go to work, you know you have a job. You know you don't have a career. You know, once you have a career, that's something that you enjoy doing and you don't. You don't really have to hit snooze 20 times to get out of bed. You're up and you're, you're excited to take on the day, you know. So I think I think my answer to that would be a little bit different depending on who I'm talking to. But you know, hard work has a lot to do with success. You know failing has to do with success and knowing that you can overcome those challenges as well, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have a saying that I that anybody I'm talking to I either win or I learn. You know, I'm either going to be dominant in what I'm doing or I'm going to learn from my mistakes, and without failing along the way, I would never be where I am today. I want to have the family that I have today, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I made a big mistake. When I graduated college with a four-year degree, I thought I needed to know everything. And I could remember working out at Duncan Aviation on one of their new hangars, and, you know, a plumber or electrician would come to me with a question and I thought to myself you know, a plumber, electrician would come to me with a question and I thought to myself, you know, I'd give him an answer and I'd go back and I'd find the answer was wrong, you know. And so I had to go back and tell him what the correct answer was, Instead of saying you know what, I don't know because I didn't. You know, I'll find out the answers. You know, and so I think too, you know, the young ones think that they need to know everything, especially with some education, but you don't. Wisdom comes with time, you know and experience, and so you don't need to know everything, but you have to have the know-how to find the answers.
Speaker 2:I think I respect people more if I hear them say you know, I don't know that, but I'm going to go find something that does.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I've learned that over the years and so I can look back at my younger self. Going man, I messed up there. I just I thought I was a know-it-all, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, and that's some people stay. I still, still do know it all. That's going to get you in a hole really fast if you're constantly chasing your tail and having to go and fix what you messed up there. That's for sure. Michaela, with with Jeremy coming on as the president-elect and all this changing now, what does that look like in your role? What does that change for you, if anything?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know it really doesn't change a whole lot. To be honest. You know we have a different president every year. It's great to get somebody new in that role. They have a different perspective on things, but they are. Everybody that's elected to this position is always so great to work with. You know it. It's really pretty seamless. Jeremy's got some awesome ideas that he's already started to share with me on things he wants to consider doing. You know his work with the careers in construction is it's been fantastic for the last several years, so I just always look forward to working with somebody new. I mean, I already talk with him a lot.
Speaker 3:Her challenges are managing different personalities, I think every year.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm a pretty easygoing guy. But even though Stephen Smith is considered a builder member, I'm not really a home builder and so when coming up through these roles, I was really nervous on becoming president. I just felt like I was outside of my, my, my skill level and. But you know, everybody around me is very supportive, they have the knowledge and again it goes back to you know what. I don't know the answers to this, but I got people that do so. Let me go find that out. And, and I think for her it's just managing. You know different personalities and and and different schedules. You know, I think every president has different roles in their own company and some are a little bit more flexible than others, and she figures out how to manage it and her staff makes it very, very easy. Anything we do, they really have the resources to make it easy for us.
Speaker 2:What's the most exciting part of that for you? Like coming up now? I mean, you've been a part of the organization, you've been a part of the foundation. What excites you the most about this new venture that you're on man?
Speaker 3:Leading. You know, I think to me and going back to me being nervous about being the president of the Home Builders Association there's been a lot of very, very smart, intelligent, driven people in that position, and so that's a little intimidating for me, but I think the thing I can do the best is really just lead and lead through example, and that's something that I've probably been learning about the last 10 years of my life. I wish I would have learned that a little earlier in my life about, you know, just studying leadership and servant leadership and and what that all means, and um, but um, I I think I'm going to do the best I can and, uh, hopefully my leadership skills will pull through and and uh, hopefully, make a difference over the next year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I can tell already, just based off this conversation alone, the two of you make an incredible team already. I mean just knowing you already kind of know what each other are going to say next. And you know and we don't really prep for any of these podcasts, for anybody that's listening, at least the ones that I'm pinch hitting for I tend to go off script quite a bit and that doesn't make for the best conversations, but what I hear throughout this entire thing is teamwork, communication and strong leadership skills is what it takes.
Speaker 3:You need it to run an association like the Home Builders Association in Lincoln. You need good leadership, and I think you know, as we start to choose our leadership through our board of directors, we start to think about that like who's going to come on the board of directors that can actually step into a role of a president, you know, not just somebody that can show up to meetings, but who can lead us, and so those are the discussions that we've been having over the last few months of you know, who's going to be our slate for next year and who's going to be the leaders, who's going to be the president in four years from now?
Speaker 2:no-transcript. I know what's coming next for HBAL as far as the next event, because me and my family are going to go out to the pumpkin patch and visit with you guys and hang out in a couple or next week actually. But what can you tell our audience about what's coming next for H-Ball?
Speaker 3:as far as the community goes, I was hoping you were saying I was going to put some plugs in here for some of the events that we have, but we're just finishing up our parade of homes. I think it ends on the 13th Sunday, so we're just wrapping that up. She brought up the Santa cop and we're really Denny Van Horn and Dan Locke are really trying to get. They went over a hundred volunteers for this. Yeah, again, going through the COVID, we've lost some numbers and volunteers for this and the impact that it makes and we're trying to get back up to those pre-COVID volunteer numbers. So Santa cop will be coming up on November 9th. It starts at 8 o'clock at Lincoln Northeast High School. Again, I think we'll be done around noon, so it's just a half a day of your time that can be kids. I think we're going to have Santa Claus there. It's a very family-friendly event and, again, giving to kids and making these boxes, knowing it's going to go to somebody, makes you feel real good and you don't have to be.
Speaker 4:I mean, we need some skill there, but we have jobs for all levels. I mean yeah even things for the kids to do I'm in for that one.
Speaker 3:Count me in for that one we've got the sporting clay shoot october 18th at oak creek sporting club and if you have not been to oak creek sporting club, man, it is awesome. It is one of the best sporting clay um um trails I've seen ever, and that well, I've only been to three, but that I've heard. This is nice and I I believe it. Uh, we've got family night at roca berry farm. It is sold out, can't wait. Yeah, that'll be a good one.
Speaker 3:And h ball 101. This is for anyone listening who is not a member of the Home Builders Association but you work in the industry. This would be a great event to show up. It's a lunch and learn, so we provide lunch and it's really about how to maximize your membership and what you'll learn that day is all the different events that we do for our members, and so it's just a little HBAL 101, and that is on October 24th. So it's just in a little HBAL 101, and that is on October 24th. You can get on the HBAL website, h-b-a-l, and look at all of our events coming up and register through an email.
Speaker 2:Pretty easy. Yeah, we're almost coming up on an hour already, which is crazy to think about how fast these podcasts go. That's nuts. I personally want to thank you guys. I've got one last question for you that that is personally my favorite.
Speaker 2:But with talking about H ball and everything that you guys do in the community, it's been, it's had a huge impact on my life, not just me but my family. I mean, it's not the the big events that my family gets out of it, it's all the little things that you guys do for the kiddos. Man. It's without you guys like we wouldn't have carved out time to go to the pumpkin patch. We wouldn't have carved out time to go do these things. The home and garden show was probably the most fun I've had all year long and it obviously we were working right.
Speaker 2:But like it goes back to what you said, I don't sit on the corner of my bed and go oh my God, we go again. No, I get to go work with the Murray fam. I get to go work with people like Stevenson Smith. It's an incredible community we have in Lincoln and Lancaster County that people come together to make things happen, and so thank you both for what you guys do in the community it's. It doesn't go unnoticed, at least in the Murray offices here. So appreciate that. Yep, you guys are incredible man. Um, michaela, let's discuss what advice you would give to your younger self. I know it says teenage self, but let's go back even further. If you could go back and have a conversation with young Michaela, what is something that you would talk to yourself about?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know. Listen to Jeremy. He talked about you know learning things. You know that you don't know everything. I mean what 19 year old younger I mean doesn't think they know everything? I mean you don't. And I think back and I go gosh, I learned so much. I mean I was. I was 20 years old when I started the association, wow, so now everybody knows how old I am Well you're 23 or 24, right yeah?
Speaker 4:Right, you know, and so what I thought I knew then compared to everything I've learned now through the years I've been at the association has been great, and how big the picture is. I remember things that would happen. Gosh, you know this was a big deal. No, it wasn't. And so you know. I try to tell my kids that you know that'd be the thing you know, kind of writing off what Jeremy said, that you don't. You have so much to learn.
Speaker 2:What about you, Jeremy?
Speaker 3:You know, as Michaela was talking, I was kind of thinking to myself, you know, reminiscent of what I looked like when I was a teenager and the things I was doing. You know, for one, financially, I would think I would. I would try to save a little bit more at a younger age. You know, since I started saving for retirement in my midlife, you know, I've seen that money grow and I keep thinking to myself God, if I would have done what my parents told me at 20, you know, just be such a big difference. You know the time value of money is important. Just be such a big difference. You know the time value of money is important.
Speaker 3:So you know a little bit about saving money financially and saving for retirement a little bit earlier would be one advice for me. The other one would be to volunteer. We talked about that a lot, you know. Food for the soul and stuff, and I could imagine how good that would feel at a younger age even, you know, and kind of the character it builds. Giving others and being a servant leader at a young age would have been great. You know, I didn't start getting into that until I was probably in my late thirties, you know, and then starting to realize of what an impact that makes and how good it makes you feel.
Speaker 2:Um, I would have done a lot more of that, as as a younger self, For me and I don't think I've I've ever answered this with any guests that I've been a part of, but I think this podcast alone has helped me realize just keep going. I mean, the world's not going to stop because you're having a bad day. Nobody cares outside of your little circle that Matthew Taylor isn't feeling the best today, right? No, you got to keep grinding. You got to keep going, keep networking, keep networking, keep meeting different people, keep putting yourself out there, because what you will remember are those relationships, are those conversations.
Speaker 2:Nobody cares what you wore on tuesday. If you wore the same thing on friday in high school, the, the biggest thing in my life at that point was massive, right, but looking back on, it was such a new thing in life. I keep grinding. Anybody that's listening? I know my son and daughter listen, you know and hopefully this podcast, as this podcast grows, we reach younger, more up and coming leaders of our community. But keep grinding, keep going, keep pushing forward, keep meeting new people, keep putting yourself out there, because at the end of the day, those are the things that are going to take you as far as you can possibly dream of. It's not you know. Oh, I got to have a bachelor's degree. No, no, you don't. I mean it might help, you know, saying I have a piece of paper that says, hey, I'm smarter than you. That's fine, that's, that's all good, it's. It's the networking, it's the friendships, it's the, the conversations that you're having along the way. That's my goal, or that's my building relationships.
Speaker 3:Yes, you know, everybody thinks, um, construction is hammers and nails, but it's not. It's about people and, uh, you know, meeting people and building relationships. And and it's not about the materials that we build and the skills. It's about relationships. And you know, now that I've been in this industry for over 30 years, I can testify to that. And so don't burn bridges, be kind, those types of things. It gets you a long way.
Speaker 2:And show up, and show up early. Yeah, work hard. Jeremy, michaela, I can't thank you guys enough, man, and congrats on the new venture and good luck, man. We're here for you here at Murray. If there's anything we can ever do, let us know. The volunteering stuff I'm big on, so I'll be there, definitely for the Santa cop, is that right? Yep, santa cop, I'm there for that one. Awesome. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Stay Modern with Murray podcast. I appreciate everyone's support, looking forward to seeing you guys next week.
Speaker 1:If you have questions or topics you'd like us to discuss, you can email them to info at murraycustomhomescom. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe to Stay Modern with Murray on Apple and Spotify, or check back on our website and social media regularly for the latest episodes.
