Stuart Clark, owner of Paul Davis Restoration of Mobile and North Baldwin County, shares his background growing up in West Mobile, moving to New York, dropping out of high school to earn a GED, and briefly studying at Key West Community College before fighting forest fires in Oregon and joining the Marines.
He discusses his approach to succeeding across industries by focusing on systems, financials, and process.
Clark explains how a traumatic house fire and a poor restoration experience led him to start a restoration business built on technology-driven contents tracking, transparency, and proactive problem-solving. He also highlights adopting Traction/EOS, engaging in local industry groups and community networking.
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Transcript:
Stuart: My name's Stuart Clark. I am the owner of Paul Davis Restoration of Mobile and North Baldwin County.
Marcus: Yay.
Stuart: That's a mouthful, man. So- It, it's actually North Baldwin, Mobile North Baldwin Clark and Escambia County, but we shorten it down- Very cool ... keep it simple. Very
Marcus: cool. So, well, welcome to the podcast.
I'm glad to have you here. Um- Thank you.
Stuart: Glad to be here.
Marcus: Well, the, to get started, we
always wanna hear about the person that we're, you know, that we're talking to. So, you know, where'd you grow up? You know, give us some of the background. Where'd you go to school? Gotcha ... you know, that kind of thing.
Stuart: Grew up in West Mobile, off of Daws Road.
Uh, Daws Road and Leroy Stevens area. Uh, there's a big bend out there, and we had built a house over in, uh, Twin Lakes. Went to Baker Elementary and Middle School. Um, Murphy had a great AP program back in the day, and so my two older sisters both graduated from Murphy in their AP program. And then the ADD kid transferred over there as well and just couldn't- Thinking you were gonna do the same?
Yeah. Yeah. And then we moved to New York after my freshman year, and the whole thing just kinda flipped and changed, and all the sudden I was in New York saying, "Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Yes, sir. No, sir." Yeah, and
Marcus: they were going, "Who's this polite kid from the South?"
Stuart: Yes. That is exactly how it was. Yeah. Uh, and it was good and bad.
It made, it helped me get away with a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have because I was so polite and respectful- Yeah ... and they just weren't used to it. Well, you would never...
Marcus: Yeah, it's never be this good, you know? And- Yeah ... yeah, so. It was wild. Yeah. I, um, growing up in DC and coming here was also, you know, very- Culture shock
very much the sha- the same thing, so. But, uh, y- I mean, do you think of yourself, your, your sisters were AP students. Do you think of yourself as a good student, or were, how was your- I was a
Stuart: horrible student. Um- I was good at, at test grades and I was good at learning. Uh, I hated quarter projects, I hated homework, um, and I got to a point
Actually, I'm, I'm a high school dropout, uh, because I got to a point where I was just so frustrated with not understanding what benefit I was gonna get out of certain portions of high school- Yeah ... um, that I just got distracted. I was already thinking about what I wanted to do later. I wanted to be a marine biologist and, uh, so I ended up dropping out and getting my GED and going to college early- Wow
uh, because I just, I was so fed up with high school, and I was in one of the top 10 high schools in the nation when we moved to New York. Where'd you go? From Mobile. Manhasset High School. Okay. Yeah. Uh, it's on the North Shore of Long Island. Uh, everybody pretty much commutes to the city. Yeah. Um, bunch of lawyers, doctors, Wall Street.
Um, when I was getting out of the Marines, it was right around 9/11, and I was in New York the week prior to 9/11- Oof ... with, uh, my sisters and some of their friends that, um, owned Attitudes and Company, a hair salon here in Mobile, Cliff and Terry, who are like family to us, and, uh, they'd never been to New York and they've got pictures on 9/7/2011 with the World Trade Center in the background.
God bless you. But I was passing my resume to go work on Wall Street when I was getting out of the Marine Corps, and, uh, obviously that didn't happen. Yeah. 'Cause the next week, uh, shut Wall Street down, and a huge portion of my friends from Long Island just spread out across the country to different places.
Uh, we had a lot of friends lose a lot of family. Uh, it was crazy. It was a, it was a w- a very wild time.
Marcus: Well, this wasn't m- I mean, this wasn't intended, but, you know, like, to, just to commiserate with you, like, I was in DC at the time- Yeah ... and had friends in the Pentagon when, you know, all that was going down, and we lived out by Dulles Airport.
There was some concern about, you know, the jet that they didn't know where it was, that they were just gonna shoot that puppy down, and they, we knew that it was coming to DC and were concerned that it was gonna be shot down over the area as well, so.
Stuart: My mother flew out of New York, LaGuardia, that morning, cross-country.
She was a director of women's ministries for the Dutch Reformed denomination, the oldest Christian denomination in the nation, and, uh, we didn't hear from her for a hot minute. They landed her plane in Atlanta. Wow. And, uh, somebody had a little handheld battery-operated TV, and they were holding it up, and my mom said there were about 3 or 400 people in this one big area all trying...
And if you sneezed or coughed, everybody was giving you a, an, an eye, 'cause they were like, "Hey, we wanna hear what's going on here." It
Marcus: was a
Stuart: scary, yeah. Yeah. Uh, she said within a couple hours, every U-Haul, every car, every moped, every train ticket was sold. There was nothing available, and she was stuck for a couple days in Atlanta- Wow
trying to get here to Mobile to my sister's house.
Marcus: Um, like, l- not to be too abrupt, but going back to your schooling, though, I, you know, like, I, I feel like , I feel like, you know, you're describing some of my experiences too, in the sense that I don't think that schooling or the, currently, the schools know how to deal with ADD people.
Stuart: They never have, I don't think. Um- I mean, I
Marcus: remember, I remember standing in the hallway and having my teachers tell me that, "Oh, you're so smart, like, if you would just apply yourself." And I'm like, "Yeah, but you're not, like, you're not-" interesting. You know? Like, you're just not interesting. And, uh, like that's, I think that's hard for people to understand, is that the ADD mind is an incredible thing when it's something that you're interest- interested in, and if it's not something that you're interested in, then oh my gosh, you could be like- Yeah
you can be stuck in a really bad way. So-
Stuart: And we would need, like, three PE classes during the day just to get- Yeah ... the energy and the distraction, like, run out so that we can focus. I find that later in life I do better. Um, I schedule productivity periods throughout the day, and I may sit down for 10, 12-hour day.
Um, but I try to work in shifts. Yeah. So I'm, I'm at my computer, I'm focused on a task. I've got a couple of tasks that I've gotta knock out. When that's done- You get up ... I get up, I walk around, I go to the restroom. I'm the same way, man. I grab a Coke.
Marcus: I'll go do dishes. I'll do anything. Just, I can't sit there for that long.
It just drives me insane. The
Stuart: VA gave me hearing aids because of my hearing loss throughout my military service, and I find quite often what I do is I get out and I walk down to the cul-de-sac at the end of our street at the office and back, and I'll be walking on phone calls because that walking, uh, I guess helps my body focus on the phone call and being present in the phone call that I'm in, versus if I'm at my desk- Just sitting
and I'm on the phone, I'm messing with my notepad. I'm making a note about something. Looking at what's on the computer or something. I'm, I've got a TV on the wall that I normally have the weather on, and I'm, like, looking at the weather, or I'm going to Facebook- Yeah ... or something else that I'm interested in at work, and- I'm-
and it just kills my productivity. Yeah. So I will- I'm the same way. Yeah. Yeah. I gotta distract the body so the mind can focus.
Marcus: Yeah, but I think there's also something to that. I think that ADD people, I th- I don't know that we were originally intended to go into something that requires us to sit all day.
Stuart: Agreed.
Marcus: And, you know, looking back at it, I think I would have m- really excelled at something that was more manual. It's the reason why I enjoy woodworking so much. It's the reason why I spend, even at my r- ripe old age, you know, spend so much time, like, doing things. Yeah. Constructive things around the house, you know, um, building things.
Same. And, um, I just, I can't, you know? Like, I can't ... To sit is just, like ... Now granted, don't get me wrong. Like, I can be lazy with the best of them, and I love- Same ... I love doing it, but, like, there's, you know, I mean, there's just something in your mind. It's like, it's so much more, it's so much more, um ... It's like therapy, really, when you're using your hands and getting something done, and then you can take that thing and you can go Done.
Next.
Stuart: For me historically, it's always been fiberglass work. Uh, my dad and I, when I was a kid growing up, we would restore antique vehicles. Um, and that was, like, our outlet was fishing, boats, antique vehicles- Yeah ... and woodworking. And he had a ton of woodworking tools. My grandfather was into rockhounding.
Um, my grandmother's been married four times. Rockhounding. And, uh- What's rockhounding? Rockhounding, so, like, you're not old enough yet, but when you get another 20 years down the line- Okay. You're, there's stages to this apparently ... and you and the wife are like, "Let's buy an RV and go travel," you'll get out west and you'll realize that there's an entire, uh, ecosystem around rockhounding, and there's RV parks, and there's tours where you can go to different places, and you dig for geodes, and you dig for rocks- Okay.
Yeah, yeah ... that have different stuff. And- Interesting ... and my grandmother, uh- When her second husband passed away, her third husband was a fellow rock hounder that had lost his wife, and they would go on these trips together. Oh, cool. And they had met in that ecosystem, and then her fourth husband, uh, was also out of that whole ecosystem.
And so it was like, it's wild. Uh, and it's typically those people that, you know, my, my grandparents, they had lived in Michigan but also spent winters in Florida 'cause they had a house down there. And, uh, they would also travel in RV, but when they got too old, it just became fishing and- Yeah ... staying at the house in Michigan in the summer and Florida in the winter.
Uh, but there's a whole world around that stuff, and I've got tons of cool things left over from it. All right,
Marcus: folks. You see what happens when you get two ADD people together? I mean, we're covering everything. We're covering, like, rock geodes and, you know, like... But anyway, this is gonna be a fun conversation, so.
Now, you said that you went to Murphy. Yep. Did not-
Stuart: M-U-R-P-H-Y, Murphy, Murphy, Murphy,
Marcus: huh ... and then went to, uh, New York, did not graduate, got your GED. Mm-hmm. Went to college?
Stuart: Yep. Went to Key West Community College studying pre-marine biology technology. I couldn't go to a straight four-year university- Yeah ... with a, a GED, so I had to have a step foot in.
So my guidance counselor worked with me and my parents and was like, "Here's a plan. Get your D- GED and just go to college." Yeah. "Get rid of this high school thing that you don't like." Um, and so I did, and I went to Key West Community College for one semester. Uh, I highly don't recommend- I
Marcus: can only imagine why
sending a 17-year-old kid- Key West ... to Key West. Uh- Okay ... I figured out how to get into every bar. "Hey, I got a good idea for you, Mom and Dad. I wanna
Stuart: go to college in Key West." You know, there were places like Rick's and Rum Runners where you could go in before it was too late and order food and hang out and just never leave.
Yeah. And then when you left after they started taking door fees, you get your hand stamped on your way out, and nobody ID'd you coming back in. So I had a whole system figured out. Nice. It lasted almost one semester, and then, uh, went and fought forest fires out in Eastern Oregon, or Western Oregon and the, sorry, Eastern Oregon in the Blue Mountains for Grayback Forestry Service.
That was awesome, uh, for a season, and then I joined the Marines.
Marcus: Very cool. And you said that after the Marines, you intended, I mean, you intended on going to Wall Street. But I'm assuming that, does that not require a degree of some sort? No. It doesn't? Absolutely not. So you just gotta pass your Series 7 or whatever it is?
The, the
Stuart: most important thing to get a job on Wall Street is knowing somebody or being born into a family on Wall Street. Um, the likelihood of getting that job that you want, uh, comes to a couple of different things. Ivy League gets an interview- Of course ... of course, 'cause you're probably gonna know somebody in that- That your time at- Or get created, whether you do a fraternity or something
in, in the Ivy League school whose dad is on Wall Street. Um, a good buddy of mine, Brian, his in ... He had saved a kid at Jones Beach on the South Shore of Long Island from drowning, whose dad's address was 1 Wall Street, and gave him his card and said, "When you get older, call me." And that guy is ... Brian Sullivan, I love you, buddy.
He is- You're set. Let's just say ... the hardest working, most creative, just hustling all day long. Um, even in his professional career, he's still waiting tables at a restaurant Friday and Saturday night, 'cause he's making so much money, he just can't not. Yeah. Uh, he saved that business card, and he called that guy and was like, "Hey, you remember?"
And the guy's like, "Absolutely. Come on down." And that was his- Wow ... his, his interview on Wall Street. Um, but after 9/11, uh, you know, I have friends that, that moved to Arizona. Uh, one of my good buddies in high school, his dad was on one of the floors that was a direct impact from an airplane. Yeah. Um, and we know that was pretty innocent.
Uh- One, it, it was just so much confusion around 9/11. Yeah. I could talk for days about that one. Yeah.
Marcus: Uh, so after, after that, you, you mentioned Oregon. You, you know, bounced around. So how- Yep ... how did you end up- Fought forest
Stuart: fires in Oregon, then joined the Marines, got out of the Marines, went to work for Royal Caribbean- Okay
uh, managing IT teams on cruise ships. It was a blast. It was, uh ... I had completely shifted because of 9/11. Wall Street was no longer an option, and that was my only thing that I had, I had been laser focused on. Yeah. Uh, a member of my parents' church in New York where my dad was the preacher, uh, their son, uh, who's no longer with us and, and was just one of the best people ever, he worked at Royal Caribbean, and called and they said, "Hey, you need to call him and check this out."
And Royal Caribbean sent me on a cruise out of San Diego, California and went down to Ensenada and back. I had an all access pass. The IT manager there said hi, uh, in broken English and handed me my credentials and walked away, and I saw him for, like, another 20 minutes- ... and the rest of the time I had full access, and I was like, "This is great.
I'm gonna go do this." Yeah. So I got to live in Papenburg, Germany and build out the Brilliance of the Seas, which was the most technologically- Oh, wow ... advantaged ship- Yeah ... in the world. Got to sail out with it and cross the Atlantic with it and do all of Northern and Eastern Europe. It was awesome. It was a great time.
I got to see so much and work with the international community and, and just see so much of the world, which I also did in the Marines, but, you know, it's different when you're walking through Indonesia with a rifle versus- Yeah, for sure ... going to Germany to- ... check it out or Russia- Have some beer ... to check it out.
Yeah. You know? You know? So it was different.
Marcus: No, that's ... I mean, you've had an incredible history, or re- you know, your resume is all over the place to say the- It is ... to say the least. But I mean, how ... I guess my biggest question is how does one do that? How does one go from, you know, being a Marine, "Okay, I can't do Wall Street.
I'm gonna go do this other thing. I'm fighting fires, I'm ... " You know, like, because most people pick a lane and- And stick to it ... and they stay in it, but that's not er- terribly interesting for somebody with ADD.
Stuart: Interesting feedback that I've received over the years. I never go into a scenario with a preconceived notion because I don't know anything about it.
So when I went to Waffle House- Yeah ... uh, after ... And so I went to South Alabama. I get recruited by the Army. I join the local First of 131st Airborne Air Assault here out of West Mobile, uh, as a crew chief who is going to eventually, uh, fight for a slot for flight school, go to flight school, and be a Black Hawk pilot, which I ended up doing, and that was amazing.
Um-
Marcus: Incredible, man
Stuart: But what I found is, and what people told me was, because like at Waffle House, they've got the Waffle House way, and it's a book, and they've spent 60 years putting it together. I don't care what restaurant you've worked in, you don't have the collective experience- Mm ... of tens of thousands of employees over 60 years refining a process.
No. So I had bussed tables for, like, a couple months at a pizza joint in New York- Okay ... where my sister worked between college semesters, right? Yeah. And so that was the limit of my restaurant experience other than delivering pizza. And so I walked into Waffle House, and I just learned the book, and I did what was in the book, and it worked so well.
The next opportunity, uh, was a completely different lane, completely different industry, but I went into it the same thing. I know multi-unit management. I know leadership. I know how to get people motivated. I know how to do certain things that translate to any career. And I was in an interview in the finance world, because at one point I managed 50 locations for, uh, TMX Finance, uh, across the lower half of Alabama and Georgia.
And I was in an interview for the regional manager position there, and I'm in front of the CEO. And they said, "Why s- why study business development with a concentration in finance at South Alabama?" And I said, "Because I feel that if I know the numbers, and I know the P&L and the balance sheet, it doesn't matter what the widget is.
I can work my way from the financials outward- True ... and add value. I can see things that are anomalies. I can look for trends. I can compare budgets to actual numbers and then start to dig in and figure out where the breakdown is, and I have no preconceived notion as to what it is because of my previous experience, so I'm seeing it with a fresh set of eyes."
Hello?
Speaker 4: Hi, me
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Marcus: This is Christine, my wife. Hey. Nice
Stuart: to meet you. Nice to meet you. I'm Stuart. Hey. It's a pleasure to meet you. You told
Speaker 6: me to-
Stuart: We've chatted I did. We've chatted on social, and I haven't forgotten about you. I just haven't gotten to you. Ah, okay. But it's coming.
Marcus: Nice to meet you. Yeah,
Stuart: nice to meet you.
Thank you. I love you. Love you. Was kind of disappointed I didn't get a yellow hammer, but
Marcus: that's okay. I had no idea. That's funny. I had no idea. I knew as soon as the door opened, I knew what was going on, and I knew that- I had a feeling. I had a feeling. That's great.
Stuart: Um- So that's, that's why I feel like I've done extremely well in a bunch of different industries.
Marcus: Well, and what I was gonna say is that's the exact opposite of what most business owners do, right?
Most business owners, if you read, um, oh, gosh, what's the book that I'm... It's, it's over there. Um- Man, I can't believe I can't remember this book. But it's all about, you know, y- you're a person that knows how to make pies, and you go into pie making and, you know. But then there's all the things that, the administrative things that you have to do and stuff like that, that, you know what I mean?
Like, those are all unknowns for most people that go into business. Right. And so I've always, even, I mean, I've ... And I think I've said this plenty of times, like I've always felt like the numbers were something that, um, were kind of a mystery to me in business. And, you know, I've done what I can to, like get better at that.
Yeah. But the reality is, like, you know, I don't know 'em, I don't know books like somebody who's gone to college and studied books is gonna know books. Yeah. I've done what I can to, to bone up on it, but yeah, so I mean for those of you- And I didn't graduate from
Stuart: South. I dropped out of South because I won a slot I competed for, went through the board process, got my slot for warrant officer school and flight school at the end of my junior year.
And were like, "Peace out." And it was right after Katrina. There was a boat down. There was a tree down on my boat in the front yard at 116 Hillcrest. I remember where I was renting at the time, and power was out at the house, and I looked at my roommate, Philip English, and I said, "Peace out, guy." Yeah. "I'm going to flight school.
They got a slot open right now-" Yeah. "... and I'm going." Right. It was like four days after Katrina. I'm at Fort Rucker out near Dothan, Alabama, getting checked in and getting ready for flight school.
Marcus: Yeah, 'cause not many people get that opportunity.
Stuart: No. And I wanted it. Yeah. And I wanted it bad.
Marcus: Yeah.
Stuart: Yeah.
Marcus: Well, so how did y- how did you find your way back to Mobile?
Stuart: Um, my oldest sister, Sarah, owns Bay Gourmet in, in Crown Hall down here. Okay. Um, she had stayed and had kinda always been here, and- She's the rock. She's the rock that, that kept us in Mobile, um, literally, and ended up my middle sister, um, Jennifer Clark, she's a PhD doctor, works over at the Mitchell Cancer Center.
She came back with my nephew, Henry, who's an engineer over by, uh, the Brookley Airfield, uh, for a petrochemical company, uh, building valves and safety valves and stuff like that. And then now my parents have both retired and come back down, um, out of the ministry, and then converted over to the Presbyterian Church, and now they've been- Right
intern pastors kind of everywhere. Yeah. My mom's out at Providence Presbyterian now, out of, uh, Schillinger's and Cottage Hill, and just, we've all made it back down here now. Yeah, that's cool. And, uh, and this is home. Yeah. It always has been. It, people complain about Mobile for various different reasons, but in my experience, I've lived in California, I've lived in Oregon, I've lived in Florida, I've lived in New York, and I've lived in Mobile, Alabama, and I've traveled the world.
The culture, the combination of culture, food, the pace at which people move- Yeah ... this is the best combination of those things. It's not so high speed that you can't have hobbies and still keep up. Yeah. Uh, it's not so slow that you're like Eastern Oregon, where things just move, it is, you know- 80 years since I've been
people talk about being country and redneck here- No, this is- ... because they haven't been to the Midwest country- ... and seen the redneckery- Yeah. ... that goes on- Yeah ... in those areas. Yeah. I mean, it is a whole nother level of redneckery- Yeah ... in some other parts of the country. When you have
Marcus: to drive a couple of hours to get to the nearest Walmart.
Stuart: Correct.
Marcus: Yeah. No, I've been there. Yeah. Been there before. Yeah. Um, yeah, I just, uh, I, you know, growing up in DC, DC is not anyone's hometown.
Stuart: No,
Marcus: it is not. Right? Yeah. Anybody who's spending time there knows. DC's nobody's hometown, and so when I came here, it, it, it felt like... Now granted, it took me a while to get accepted, you know.
There is that down there. And there's still some that don't accept me. Yeah. But, but you know- It's,
Stuart: I feel like that's coming around though. I feel like that mentality has been changing over the last 15, 20 years.
Marcus: Yeah, I don't disagree. It, it feels like it's gotten a lot easier, and I think the, the secret to cracking that is just people wanna know that you're invested in the community and that you're not just, you know, a leech, you know- Yep
here. And so I mean, as, as, you know, I've gotten more and more heavily involved, you know, it's been, it's been easier. But you know, I just, uh, I love this area. I, I think you're right. I think, you know, the pace of living and the opportunity and, you know, the, the growth that we're seeing here and the, the growth that we're gonna continue seeing here- Mm-hmm
for, you know, quite some time are all very good indicators that, you know, we're probably in the right place at the right time. And the natural resources. Yeah. The outdoor
Stuart: availability here. Yeah. And there- I mean- I still hear people complain about it, but I'm like, there is so much outdoors availability around here that is free to the public- Yeah
that you can drown yourself in
Marcus: them. Let's just be real. If the world were to end tomorrow, at least we have fishing, and we have- And hunting ... hunting, and we have agriculture and stuff like that. Like- We've got all of it here ... if you were in DC, you'd be, uh, you'd be trying to get the hell out is what you- Fact
you would do, be doing. Yeah. So. '
Stuart: Cause you'd be the bullseye. Yeah. Where everybody's trying to target. 100%. Yeah. That's one,
Marcus: one of the reasons why I left too, so. I love
Stuart: DC though. I love vis- I get emotional when I visit DC. My family came, John and Priscilla Alden came over on the Mayflower, and so we've been here since the beginning.
Really? We've got family kind of spread out everywhere. But when I go to DC, I, I feel it more than I do anywhere else. Like, I don't feel the longevity of being here- Yeah ... and the connection to this country as much as I do at any time than when I'm walking around in DC. I
Marcus: get that. I mean, it is an extremely important-
Stuart: Way into mass And the history and the, the way that we've put together, you know, the walls with, you know, the, our, our lost veterans- Yeah
you know, from foreign wars- The Vietnam Memorial ... on the wall. You know, in different places. And the Vietnam Memorial, and all of that stuff, it just, um, it hits. Yeah. My family's been in, involved in every skirmish this country's ever had, including people deployed right now that- Man ... are, are helping our country, and it, it just, it, it- Yeah
I get a little teary-eyed and emotional every time I go to DC. Yeah. My wife kinda laughs at me about it, but- Yeah. Deep down, she likes the s- She's tougher than I am ...
Marcus: yeah, deep down she likes that she's got a softy, 'cause, you know, there's plenty of guys that wouldn't even recognize that there's some, something to be appreciated and, you know, kind of- Yeah
held onto here. And it's that feeling that, you know, that communicates that. I don't know. You know, DC's a great place to visit, you know, it's not a great place to- That's the ticket ... to live, right? It's
Stuart: like New York, New York at, at Times Square for New Year's or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You gotta do it once.
Yeah. You gotta go see it. Yeah. But then you're pretty good. Yeah.
Marcus: No. It's like, "Ah, you know, I've done that once. I don't need to do it again." Yeah. I don't need to go back to that. So, well, uh, what are you doing now? Tell us about Paul Davis now that we're, you know, 30 minutes in, so.
Stuart: So I, um, had, uh, before Paul Davis, I had worked for a local company, CNC Catastrophe and National Claims.
Mm-hmm. And they are an insurance adjusting company that is nationwide. And I had a house fire while I was there, and I'm thinking, "Hey, I'm in the industry. I got a leg up. I've got a great insurance policy. This is gonna be smooth sailing." Um, I hired one of the national brands that has a presence locally. I refuse to say the name of them, because I just don't feel it's professional, and a big challenge with what I do in this community is because of companies similar to that that have taken advantage or not communicated, um, and done wrong by the consumer base here in Mobile.
So I have a house fire, and, uh, it's 4:30 in the morning on a Sunday. Our oldest, Hawkins, is less than a year old, so my wife had just put him to bed, and she says, "Hey, the, uh, exhaust fan in the guest bath- bathroom at the end of the hallway is making a crazy noise." Um, I said, "All right, I'll check it out in the morning, no big deal."
And so she lays down, and my father-in-law had passed away the previous year, and we had talked my mother-in-law into selling her house and buying close to us, and so she had moved in with her cat- And 15 minutes or so later, the cat is doing laps in the hallway. And it's a pretty long hallway. It was a decent-sized house, and so it's making a ton of racket, and it just echoed like crazy.
So I'm like, "I got it." I get up, I go to the bedroom door and I open it. My mother-in-law's at the end of the hallway picking up the cat. So I get back to bed and say, "Hey, babe, Beth's got it." Um, and almost instantly Beth says, "Haley, I think y'all need to get up. I think the house is on fire." To which my wife says I went into Marine mode.
And so- Yeah ... I jump up and I go down the hallway, and the attic access is glowing orange- Oh, God ... in the rectangle around it. And having fought forest fires and understanding a bit about fire, I cracked it first, and then I opened, and it was flames from one end to the other. Uh, so told my wife to grab our oldest and get out with the dog.
My mother-in-law grabbed her cat. Cat shredded her arms up. Um, she walked back to grab some documents as the fire came through the ceiling in her room, so she burned her feet a little bit. I open up the stairs and grab my first fire extinguisher that my wife always made fun of me. You should all do this.
Put a fire extinguisher in your master bedroom. Um, my wife was like, "Why do we have a fire extinguisher on the dresser in the master bedroom?" And I said, "Because if there's ever a house fire, we're on a second floor. It's like a 20-foot drop out of the window to concrete. We're not doing that." Right. "But I can grab you, our son, wrap you in a blanket, and run out the door behind a fire extinguisher, and we're gonna live."
Right. "What condition we're in, I don't know, but I know that my will and want and drive is gonna get us out of the damn house." Right. And so I grabbed that fire extinguisher, and at the top of the steps when I opened it up, you could see the fan blades for the attic exhaust fan, which was what caused the fire.
And an interesting story about that, the, um, class action lawsuit against the company that made it lost. That fund was emptied and depleted before my house was built, which means an attic exhaust vent fan involved in a class action lawsuit-
Speaker 4: Wow ...
Stuart: that had like $100 million kitty of money had already been depleted before my house construction was completed.
So that came off a shelf after that happened and got installed at my house. Um, which is a common thing. I'll never have another wired-in attic exhaust vent fan. They'll always be independent, solar-powered, so I never have to worry about that going bad. Uh- Wow ... but from that point forward, uh, the misery happened.
Um- And it was just, I mean, it wa- it was such a horrible experience. Uh, from items be- being missing to house being left unlocked to somebody denying that they put a dumpster in the wet part of my yard that I had on my Ring camera that I'm telling this person I'm looking at it on the camera, and she's telling me- She's denying it
"We did not put it there. We told them not to put it there. I know they didn't put it there. I don't know what you're talking about." And I'm like, "It's there right now, and I've got a..." You know what I mean? It was just- Yeah. I didn't know that ... ridiculous things. Um, the company ... And it's important. Y- you know, clinical psychology will put a sudden and incidental loss that removes you from your home one level below losing a family member- Yeah
to death, and so that's pretty traumatic. And so a big thing is to get back to some semblance of normal, and the quickest way to do that is to go identify things in your house clothing-wise that can get cleaned to get back to you really quickly, and then you've got clothes, and you're not just living off of the T-shirt, shorts, and underwear that you bought at Walmart to get through the next week on your way to the hotel that you were hopefully able to drive through 'cause your keys didn't burn up.
Yeah. You know what I mean? So these are real- Yeah ... issues. And so they make this big conversation with me about bringing me clothes, and we're not bringing you linens and stuff that you can, you know, use and, and help. And now it's been two and a half, three weeks. It still hasn't shown up, and so I'm calling, and I'm like, "Hey, you know, we identified some boxes."
And they're like, "We're bringing them to you, and don't worry. We're not bringing any linens, and we're not bringing, you know, stuff that's, you know, covered in fire soot." And the first box I open when they get to our rental on Dauphin Island is a box of linens that are full of soot, 'cause they're from the room that caught fire, and they've got a dryer sheet on top of it.
I open the next box. It's shoes from the hanging rack on the backside of the door. And a minute ago, I mentioned my mother-in-law walked into her room to grab some stuff. That fire that came through came through right over that door, and all the ash that came down, this was one of those plastic things you hang- Yeah
on the back of the door, and you put all your shoes in it.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Stuart: Th- that was all collecting soot, right? And those were the shoes that were in the next box. And so now my wife and my mother-in-law are having PTSD because every box I open is making the whole rental property smell like our house fire that we're trying to deal with.
They forgot about my job for two weeks. They fired the first two managers on it. The third manager was, like, the best person on the face of the planet. You know who you are. And then they removed her from my job that same day. I have, at this point, taken over the forensic engineering brand owned by the same ownership that owns C&C, and I'm out in Houston, Texas, on a project with forensic engineers.
I come back two weeks later, nothing's happened to my house, and it's unlocked, and it's been completely forgotten about. And so I call, and I'm like, "What's going on?" And they're like, "Oh, my goodness. It went back into the queue when we had to move this particular person off of your job, and we never reassigned it.
We're sorry. We're gonna get somebody there today." Uh, the bill was 23,000-ish dollars, and, and that... It was a big house. It was pretty standard for that size of a loss. But when they deposited the check, they didn't account for it in their system, so they threatened liens on my house for six months after collecting and cashing the check.
They come to return everything to the house, and they finish the first load. And I said, "Okay. Hey, when's the next truck coming?" And they were like, "Next truck?" I said, "Yeah. The, the next truck with all the rest of the stuff." "Oh, sir, this is everything. It's in these boxes." And so I'm like, "There's big pieces of furniture missing.
There's, you know, all kinds of stuff missing." And, uh, three more of those instances before we got the majority of everything back. Um- Majority. Majority. There's still a handful of stuff that over time, uh... You have no idea all your possessions. How long have you lived in your house?
Marcus: Well, now, we're, we just moved in three years ago, but, you know- Three years is long enough
long enough. I mean, there's still a lot of y- There's stuff that you've
Stuart: bought that's still in the package with the sticker on it- Mm-hmm ... that you have forgotten about- Yeah ... that you don't remember until you're packing out from a fire. Right. And so there's things you remember over time that were missing.
Um, a- and the reality is I've got mugshots of some of the folks that were on my job that did other jobs and ended up being arrested for grand theft. And so the combination of all these things just made the experience horrible. So I've, I've moved on from the insurance adjusting world. I've got a business model.
I'm starting a business. Uh, my buddy at the time was running United Rentals for Baldwin County, super nice guy, Nick Costa-Rita, great local guy. Um, met him at University South Alabama in an accounting class. We're both looking at boats on our computer instead of paying attention to class. And he calls me, and he's like, "Man, with your background with C&C and your adjuster base," he's like, "There's this Paul Davis Restoration thing you should check out."
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Stuart: And so I go meet with those folks, and they've got a process and a system that prevents all the things that went wrong with my job I mean, to the point where, like, I, you know, I open a box that's, it's a large box, it's about this big. I pulled this much packing material out of it, and I've got pictures of all this stuff.
I documented everything to send to the state insurance commissioner and, um, send it to my insurance agent. And you know the Sam's Club dog biscuits?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Stuart: When you have a house fire, any box of anything that you had in your pantry that's been opened- Thrown away ... is trash. Yeah. There's, there is, you, the, the soot, the carcinogens in the air.
Yeah, it's toxic. You don't want it. Yeah. So in the restoration and the, the, the mitigation world, you don't pack out food. You throw away food I've been charged for a year and a half of storage for a big giant box that is this deep in packing paper that's bundled up, and there's a half-finished dog biscuit box from Sam's Club That's the only thing in that box.
I get to the next box and it's a couple half-finished boxes of cereal, the bin that holds our rice, the bin that holds this, the bin that holds that, and they're all still half full, half empty. And, and you see like the dry mold and the other stuff growing on it, and it was like all of our pantries got packed out into boxes.
We got billed for all of that stuff. And that, you know, is a, is a part of their challenge for that company to be able to handle all of this stuff just created more of a complication for them. I'm sure if they had fewer boxes it would have been easier, and if they'd followed the protocol would have been easier.
But they didn't. They wanted to boost a bill. Um, and that's the reason in this market so many people don't trust it. And so it was kinda like, um... And I don't force religion on anybody, I just tell my staff, uh, I'm not concerned with what it is that drives you to be a better person, whether it's your grandmother and the way that you were brought up, your parents, or God.
Uh, but for me it's God, and my family, and my upbringing, and that I don't wanna let people down. I'm a very empathetic person. Um, my heart hurts a lot, and that's a, you know, the, the downside to that. Um, but it was like God grabbed me by the collar and was like, "Guess what, Guy? This is why your life sucked for two years."
Um, and I mean, it was every step of the way there was another thing. Uh, when I pack out somebody's house, if I'm packing this room out, I take a picture of this guy. I create a room that says podcast room- Mm-hmm ... in our app. And then we've got a bunch of QR codes that get printed out. I, I form a box, I stick my QR code to that box.
I start packing. I'm gonna take this DGI case, I'm gonna take a picture of it, I'm gonna scan the QR code. Then I'm gonna wrap it properly. It's gonna go into that box. Now this is associated with this box, which is associated with this room. Right. Right? Yep. When I get to my warehouse I've got storage vaults that have QR codes that get reprinted for every customer.
And so there's a numeric system for the vaults, and I go in and when we're unpacking that box from the truck into the storage vault, we scan the QR code, we scan the QR code. And you call and say, "Hey. Man, I left my lucky toothbrush in the podcast room. Any way you can get it? I know you guys had five trillion boxes."
We go, "Sure, no problem. Give me an hour." Right. We open up the app. 'Cause I gotta have my lucky toothbrush. We go to the podcast room. We look for the picture of the lucky toothbrush. We confirm with you that this is- Yeah ... in fact, the lucky toothbrush. Now we know what box and what vault it's in, and we just go get it out.
And it takes about 45 minutes on average when something like that happens, and you come by the office and it'll be sitting at the front desk for you. Wow. No question about it. It's not a where is it- Mm ... or how do we find it? It is very crystal clear. Yeah. We pull up- Contents track. We go to that job, we go to that room, we scroll through the pictures, we know where your, your object is.
Marcus: So you're, you're uniquely qualified to answer this question, I think. Okay. And that's that having spent so much time... So I'm, I graduated from college in '96. Mm-hmm. I got my first tech job in '96 or '97, I think, and I've been in technology ever since, whether it was developing large scale systems for the DOD or- Mm
Department of State or building a website for some local realtor or something. You know what I mean? Like- Yeah. And the thing that always has, um- has been interesting to me is that the trades don't follow processes like IT does, and they also don't use technology in the same way that IT does. But I feel like that's changing, and I'm gonna tell you why.
Okay. I feel like it's changing because I watch Dave's Auto on YouTube.
Stuart: Okay. I'll have to check that one out.
Marcus: I'm, I'm partially joking, but I'm, I'm seeing this m- recurring theme, and I'm not... I'm joking, but I'm not joking. Okay. I am addicted to Dave's Auto on YouTube, and please don't judge me. All they do is engine replacements in large, uh, trucks.
So like, uh, uh, you know, not large trucks, but like full-sized trucks. And, you know, it's Dodge, it's GMC- ... it's, you know- Yeah ... whatever. Um, and I'm, I'm noticing that they're, when they find something, they're taking a picture and documenting it. When they put the scan tool in, they're taking a picture and documenting it.
When they find a screw unscrewed, they're taking a picture and documenting. Everything before they even get started as a way of showing like- Yeah ... no, like whereas before it used to just be, you know, you take your car to a mechanic, and they'd, they'd magically hand the keys back to you in an hour, and you'd assume that whatever had been requested- Yep
is now done. And I just, you know, like even when we were going through the build process for our house, no slight on the builder, 'cause he's no different than any of the other builders in the area, but I was like, "Man, how much better would communication be between all the different groups that are involved in making this large thing happen?"
Communication is
Speaker 5: so hard.
Marcus: If there was not a project management app that w- they were using where they could see these are all the things that need to be done- Yep ... and, you know, the homeowner can go in and say, "Well, here's, I'm gonna create a task list of my punch list items." Mm-hmm. You know, the sink in the g- guest room doesn't work.
You know what I mean? Like, whatever. There's a spot in the, you know, there's a hole in the wall in the living room or whatever, and, you know, it keeps everybody on the same page. Plus it, you know, like if you're a sub, then you can, you, you're in the system, you know, like, hey, the electricians got finished yesterday.
I'm a plumber. I gotta go back in and- Yeah ... finish all the things up, you know, the next day or something. I just, you know, I think it's really interesting that more trades aren't using technology in that way because it can be a huge game changer. You know, it's a professionalism thing. Hey, I need my lucky toothbrush.
Hand it over. Yeah. You've got all my stuff. Please don't make this even worse by holding it hostage. And that was the part for us. Right? I, no, I get it. We felt helpless. Yeah, you, what are you gonna do? We felt like we had
Stuart: no control over our process. Yeah. We had no communication. We had no control. We didn't know where our stuff- Yeah
somebody else had it. My wife's, uh, my father-in-law- Was big into woodworking, and when my wife was 13, the two of them built a jewelry box Oh, wow And it's about this big by this tall Please tell me that made it through the fire And on, on the last delivery- Yeah ... that came back to the house Oh, good After we had been told three times that there was nothing more Wow The last delivery, that showed up Yeah And l- you have no idea the relief, the elephant off of my back that it was that, that
'Cause I called that company. Yeah And I'm that guy, I take ownership of stuff like that. And then the guy that said that- I called that company ... you weren't gonna check the payment- It's on me ... until the morning Right? You know, like- You know? Yeah ... yeah, now are you feeling as, you know? Yeah, exactly. I mean, like, yeah, no, I get it.
But that's what, one of the things I loved about Paul Davis, um, when I was interviewing Paul Davis, because I think that's important. When you're making a big decision, you need to interview the family that you're marrying into, and your wife, and know everything about her. You need to interview the company you're going to work with, and people look at job placement or finding a career or finding a, a franchise that you wanna buy into as more of a who will accept me and, and how can I convince these people I'm good enough.
Yeah. I look at it the opposite and I say, "Is this an organization that's going to mirror my vision for the future, and that I can really align with?" And so I'm talking to a brand-new franchisee in San Diego, California, who's a former Marine, and when he got out of the Marines, he went into the VC world for 15 years.
And he was looking at what industries were recession-proof long term, what industries with technology were gonna do better and be more bolstered up and not more spread apart and, and knocked down. And he interviews the, the Paul Davis group, and they've got core values. We've got vision, mission. We've got 10 serving basics.
You know, one of those 10 serving basics is let your customer tell the story once. Everybody on your team doesn't need to know the story. They don't need to go ask somebody that just went through a traumatic experience to tell them about the story. No. The flip side of that is some customers want to tell.
Their way of dealing with the trauma is to continually say it- Yeah ... over and over again. So you gotta be willing to listen to it, but you don't need to ask for it, 'cause if they're the different kind of person and that trauma's gonna hurt- Right ... you don't want them to talk to you. You don't wanna be the trigger.
So there was the, the core values, the mission statement, the 10 serving basics, and then the technology. He's a tech guy, and he said, "You know, restoration isn't very tech savvy." Well, Paul Davis Restoration made a shift about eight years ago and stopped going and looking for contractors. So when I went through Owner School, one of my good buddies, Ty Nickleberry from Austin, Texas, he sold his chiropractic office- Mm
and went into this. Um, a guy in New Jersey, I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but he, uh, inherited a position as, uh, you know, one of the, um... He hold the first, second, third, fourth down flag on- Okay ... the Jets sideline. Yeah, yeah. Last one. Uh, he was an attorney for 38 years, sold his practice, bought the Paul Davis territory for his part of New Jersey.
Um- They're not contractors. They don't have insurance background. They don't have contractor background. What they have is a proven track record running systems- Yeah ... and processes and understanding and embracing technology. So what Paul Davis has done is said, "We need to find a blend." The people that have the experience and the know-how to do the work, that have contractor's licenses, but they also have other businesses that they've been successful in or leadership roles that they've been successful in, that will come in and embrace the science behind mold, water, fire, asbestos, lead-based paint, and the processes for how we engage with customers, accept claims, process through a claim to final payment, and close a job out.
Yeah. And that is, in my opinion, is the future of restoration because it takes away Chuck in a truck who doesn't... isn't really comfortable with a computer, and input somebody who's gonna put a process like ContentsTrack into place, and live and die by it because I'm not willing to let another homeowner go through what I went through.
Yeah, yeah. It's not gonna happen. You'll get frustrated with me. We're human.
Speaker 6: Right.
Stuart: We break stuff. We scratch stuff. We mess stuff up. We struggle with communication just like everybody else on the planet, but it's how we respond. Yeah. You know, our policy, if I break that, if my employee goes to pack this up and they break the hinge on the back of it- The difference maker for me is that my team knows my story very well 'cause they hear about it.
And when we screw up, they really hear about it. But my process and, and our flow is as soon as you realize it was broken or you scratched it or you dinged it or whatever you did, you take a picture, you send it to my MIT manager, Tomasina, or myself, or both, and we immediately get to work on a solution. Is it a repair?
Is it a replace? Is it a touch-up? What's the fix? Then we proactively go to the customer right then. As soon as we have all agreed that we have a good game plan, we go to the customer and we say, "Hey, I messed up your case. It's the hinge on the back. Um, you know, I, I didn't wanna have to buy you the whole new mic that comes with it, but we were able to find a case replacement.
Uh, it's gonna cost us $43. It'll be here in seven days. Does that work for you?" Yeah. And you say, "Yes, we're pulling the trigger," and we'll get you your new case replaced. Yeah. And then you're back to being whole, and you know you were taken care of. But if you find that when you unba- unpack the box- That's completely
Marcus: different, yeah
Stuart: then these jerks, they broke this and they didn't even tell me. They might not have realized. You know, yeah, try not to ever associate malice to something that could just be negligence- An accident ... or an accident. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And 90% of the time, nobody intended harm to you or, you know, the person didn't mean to hit you on the road.
The, you know, none of that. People aren't going through their day trying to ruin other people's days. There are some, but they're very few. It's, and you know, it's interesting. And, I try to live that way. I think
Marcus: you, you say that and, you know, like, just flippantly, like people aren't going through the... And I think if you really kind of like think about that, like You know, I'm, you know, if you're married, I'm married to this person.
Does this person have ill will towards me? No. No. More than likely they don't. They're just not, you know, you're not, uh, syncing as far as what, what you're thinking, or you're not communicating enough- Yeah ... or you're not telling them exactly what it is that you need from them or, you know, there's something.
It's always really about communication. Yeah. It's about finding the right words or the right way of saying what it is that, you know, how our expectations aren't being meet, or aren't being met. But I just think it's funny that, you know, we get so upset at times and we just assume that, you know ... And I, maybe it's just, you know, getting older and realizing, like, not everybody thinks the same way.
Mm. Not everybody has the same life experiences and looks at things- Nope ... the same way. Like, and so, you know, I, I try not to get too miffed, you know, when something like that happens because you don't know. Like, that could, person could be having a bad day, they could being in an emergency situation- Mm-hmm
or they could just be an asshole. If nothing else- Those are all
Stuart: options. Look at your life, look at your wife's life- Yeah ... look at your friends' lives. How many of them have time to spend during their day planning out a way to ruin yours? Yeah. None. They don't have any. None of them do. None. Right? No. And nobody's different.
N- No ... a- and everybody's got struggles, and everybody's struggling for time, and the only difference is how they go through life dealing with it and their perception of the people around them. Yeah. And some people just get so wrapped around the axle that, "People are out to get me." They're not. No. They're going through their life.
They might not care about you and yours, and that's why something happened. Right. But they're not actively trying to disrupt your life. And the few people that are, we know who those people are. Yeah. You know what I mean? Doesn't take long to figure out. No, I know who those
Marcus: people are. I've, I had some run-ins with them, you know?
Mm-hmm. And, and it's not, you know, when you run into those types of people, you better have your big boy pants on, 'cause it's usually, you know ... Mm-hmm. Yeah. Anyway. Um, all right. Let's ... I'm gonna get you back on track. I've, and I'm very much enjoying hearing the story. Uh, I can only imagine that the, that's solidified you in such a way that most people would not, you know, like, if you hadn't had that experience- My why is deep in here Yeah, your why is deep.
Yeah. And I'm not
Stuart: letting it go anywhere. Right. Uh, I can't.
Marcus: So what ... Is there a person, a book, or a resource that's changed the way you think about business? Ooh Wow. These are my questions, not AI. Yeah. That's a, that's a good one.
Stuart: Yeah. Um, right now the current book that I'm hoping is gonna change the way I look at business is Traction and the EOS system.
Uh, a good buddy- Yeah ... of mine with C2 Wealth Strategies locally, Joseph Turlington, invited me to event at the- Wes Coody is a good friend ... at The Container Yard over here, not the Innovation Portal. Innovation Portal, yeah. And, uh, great location, great setup. It was a great presentation. Fell in love with the process.
Been hearing about it. The top 10% of Paul Davis's are called the Lighthouse offices. 80% of them use the EOS process.
Marcus: Yeah. You very definitely should adopt it.
Stuart: Yeah. So I'm working on that. We're, uh- Yeah ... my operations manager, Jason, and I are both reading through it. Uh, he's ... I'm the visionary. He's the one that ropes me in.
My ADD won't let me remember the name of that position. Yeah. Uh, so currently that's the one. But I, I, I can't nail down an individual one. I, I'll say this. The Power of Positive Thinking, my dad gave me a hard copy of that book that was given to him, uh, way back in the day, and he's got notes throughout it.
And the last eight months or so, that's probably the one that's made the most impact on me now. Mm-hmm. Um, because I'm sharing that in our ob- our production meetings. Uh, I'll start off with something out of there that was highlighted by my dad that I feel like affects current times. Wow. And I'll talk about a project or something that we're working on and trying to accomplish, and how to apply that to it.
Um, so The Power of Positive Thinking is probably the one through the years that I keep coming back to. Um, but without a doubt the Bible, of course- Yeah ... above everything. You know, that's the no-brainer. Uh, but outside of that, probably The Power of Positive Thinking, uh, for the long term, and currently Traction.
Marcus: Yeah. It's amazing, they're finding now, they've done studies that, you know, whether you think positively or negatively, you're correct. Fact. Right? If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. Yeah, you're right. So, um, I mean, if you don't, if you haven't kind of really kind of ingrained that in your belief system, then you really should.
And, you know, if you're out there- Agreed ... listening, you really should. 'Cause, you know what I mean? Like, it's really easy to kind of look at things that are going on in the world and just think negatively about them, but if you can find the, the silver lining in that, there's opportunity to be made, and that's the difference between, you know, an entrepreneur and
Stuart: most folks.
And it's a change that happens now. Yeah. So when you find that positive piece and that positive outlook of it, the- Change in attitude that you've got happens instantly. It's not something you're working on over time and waiting for a result. Traction is one of those things. You work on it over time. Yeah.
A year and a half from now you're like, "Holy cow- It's making a difference ... things are going so much more smooth." At least that's what people say. Mm-hmm. It, but the Power of Positive Thinking, in changing your mindset, that's a now thing. That's a, I just reminded myself that I'm looking for the negative. I need to be looking for the positive because the positives find the solution and move progress forward, and the negatives find distractions and reverse progress.
Yeah. Instantly you're seeing a change
when you go this direction, and instantly you're doing exactly what you've been doing and going backwards when you're looking this way. Yeah. So I, that's probably in my opinion the most instant impact book. You know, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, that was a good one. You get little good snippets out of that one.
Yeah. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, that's another good one. But those are building habits over time, and great for you, but Power of Positive Thinking is now. He's
Marcus: pointing over his shoulder 'cause I have a library of books over there that we were talking about earlier. And, and we've matched.
Yeah. We both have the same collection of books and stuff. Yeah. So, you know, there's, um, yeah, there's definitely some, some winners in there. Uh, what are you building towards right now? What's the next chapter look like for you? Um,
Stuart: man, we're, we're working on, you know, we were talking about Waffle House earlier- Mm-hmm
'cause I spent some time there, and talking about getting your house in order. Um, we're revamping some of our systems, and processes, and workflows to- Out of
Marcus: Traction,
Stuart: because of Traction? Y- in big part. Well, that's why I was looking- Yeah ... for it. I didn't realize I needed Traction. Yeah. I was working on the same things that, that Traction is helping me do, and doing for me.
Um, so that's really what I'm focused on now, um, and our next evolution. So we outgrew our building. Uh, we've got, uh, about 5,000 square feet of a warehouse, and in eight months we had outgrown our warehouse. And so we signed a three-year lease. I love my landlord. I've got a great landlord. He's got a bunch of other properties, but I don't always wanna be in a position where I've got a landlord.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. I want a building that I can build the way that I want, and I can remodel the way that I want so the flows work with what we're doing. Right. Um, so at the same time we're doing the Traction process right now, we're long-term planning and looking for that right building, that right property.
I walked through one yesterday with, uh, a good person. And man, I tell you what, it's, it's interesting the little tidbits of information, and knowledge, and introductions you get in everything in life, including just walking through a building with a stranger. Right. Uh, we bought, we made a horrible decision.
I made a horrible decision in the beginning with the vehicles, service vehicles we purchased. Okay. Um, did a bunch of research on lowest cost per mile for service on, on a vehicle, and bought a bunch of- Vehicles. Vehicles. And, uh, I'm talking to him about it yesterday, and he's like, "Yeah, you know, we bought this brand new Dodge Promaster, high roof, long wheel base for $35,000 out the door."
And I'm like ... Did what? I said, "Did what?" And he's like, "Yeah, it was already modified for an office, it came with the manufacturer warranty, it was through a dealer, it had 30 miles. We could buy the extended warranties." He's constantly got deals like this. And, you know, and he puts me in touch with that guy.
Um, puts me in touch with an attorney who's real good at helping collect when people are not wanting to make- Yeah ... uh, their long past due payment, um, and things of that nature. And just, like, the conversations we started having- Yeah, yeah ... and mutual connections- ... and people that we knew and sharing resources, it was just awesome, you know?
And, and getting that out of just, you know, I called a number on the front of a building. Uh, spoke to a, a really nice lady for a couple of minutes. She's like, "I'll have my husband call you back." I'm in their property 30 minutes later walking through this big warehouse and it was just a cool experience.
Yeah. You know? And, and- Sometimes you
Marcus: just run into people that are, you know, connectors like that. You never know where you're gonna run into that person. Yeah, not at all. Yeah. All right. So I've got a few rapid fire questions for you, Gary. Let's do it. Are you ready for this? Let's
Stuart: do it. Take another sip of water.
Marcus: Okay. Ready? Mm-hmm. You need to warm up a little bit, so. What's your favorite type of music?
Stuart: Uh, that one's hard for me to lock down- ... 'cause I like- Next question ... all music. You ... No, just kidding. All right. What'd you say? I like all music. All music. Um, I've been going to concerts- It's all about the vibes. Yeah
from Grateful Dead to Nine Inch Nails in Madison Square Garden to Rusted Root, Phish, Widespread Panic, to country music. I'm a- Yeah ... classical music, I like it all.
Marcus: Yeah. I, I actually studied music in college for, um, for a while. And, uh- Nice ... so, you know, like, the other day, you know, I was making dinner and I had some, I think I had some, uh, Spanish flamenco guitar on YouTube or something like that, and Chrissy walked in, and she, "What is this?"
You know, like, but I, I just got really, you know ... My, my dad also being from Brazil, I have a lot of, uh, eclectic taste when it comes to music. But-
Stuart: I used to fall asleep to Slayer, Seasons in the Abyss, and Moons to that, but I've also went to the last four Grateful Dead concerts at Giant Stadium in New York.
There you go. So there's- Some- ... pretty big gap there ... some spread there. I've been to opera in Russia- Yeah ... and loved it. Um, and everything in between. Culture, man. Yeah.
Marcus: Yeah. I mean, life is, life is to be- Love reggae. You know, there was something, you know, about sucking the marrow of life, right? Yep. So. Yep.
What's your favorite type of food? Pizza. Favorite restaurant in Lower Alabama?
Stuart: Voyagers in Orange Beach is probably hands down, uh, the best restaurant in Lower Alabama for the last 20 years
Marcus: Okay. I've never been there. I'll have to give it a shot. You
Stuart: do.
Marcus: Okay. You do. Voyagers. It's steak night. Um, go. Okay.
Yeah. Favorite city outside of Mobile? Oh. You've lived a lot of places and been to a lot of places, so I can imagine this is more difficult than most.
Stuart: That one is
Marcus: tough. Uh, it may be Key West.
Speaker 2: Yeah,
Marcus: good reason. Yeah. Um, city you want to go to but have yet to visit?
Stuart: Um, I wanna do the entirety of the Med, 'cause I've missed that, so I- it's gotta be somewhere in the Mediterranean, probably, uh, Tenerife
Marcus: Okay. I, um, know nothing about that. That sounds, you know, it sounds- Canary Islands, Tenerife Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, what comes to mind when I say guilty pleasure? Pizza.
Morning person or night owl? Yes. Favorite movie or TV show? This is self-serving 'cause I'm just looking for stuff to
Stuart: watch. Um, working on Landman right now, if I can get my wife back into it. Uh, that's a pretty good one- Yeah ... uh, recently that we really enjoyed. And, um, what is that, uh, Kevin Costner, everybody loved it, Rip, um, horses.
Marcus: I think I know it. Uh-
Stuart: Montana. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I can never remember the name of it when people ask, but- And I didn't watch it either, so, um, I don't- It, that was a good one.
Marcus: Was
Stuart: it? It was a good one. It was a good one.
Marcus: See, mine, uh, you know, like I was telling somebody earlier, my favorite thing to do before I, right before I fall asleep, is I put YouTube on and I watch, uh, Family Feud.
I love Family Feud.
Stuart: I love, uh, Family Feud and I love the Celebrity Family Feud. Yeah, those are good. Probably the best. Yeah. Uh, 'cause they're just- But I j- I love
Marcus: it because I think there's some aspect of you're working your brain, right? Mm-hmm. You're guessing. You're trying to play along with it, you know, calling them idiots when they don't get, you know, get it right.
But, you know, it's just a very lighthearted way of doing it, you know? I agree. And I think, you know- And there's no drama. Yeah, there's no drama, you know, and I don't, you know- I hate drama ... I'm, I'm not real big on watching things that are gonna have a lot of, um, drama or, you know, killings or, you know, anything like that.
I just, before I go to sleep, I don't- Yeah ... I wanna have happy thoughts, right? So. I'm with you. Um, what's a skill that you have that would surprise people? And fly a helicopter That's pretty cool Yeah, that's pretty cool That's badass- Yeah ... really. I mean, like hats off. Do you still fly or no? I mean-
Stuart: No, and I, the, at the time that I left the National Guard, um, I was a CW2.
I was moving to New Orleans. I was taking over that market. It was a huge responsibility, and I had resigned out of this local National Guard unit. Uh, and I real- ... That's one ... There's very few things in life where I go, "I really wish I hadn't done that." Um, the girlfriend I had at the time, she had a daughter with neurological issues.
There was a lot of time in Pensacola at Women's and Children's. There was just a lot- No time ... at that time- Yeah, yeah ... going on, and I had to let it go. Uh, and, and I feel like I let my brothers down- Man ... if that makes any sense. Yeah, no, I get it, but I- In the military, it's big about the person to your left and right.
I get it. And you're a Marine too,
Marcus: so you know- Yeah ... I get how you guys are. Yeah. We, we are. But, you know. Bunch of crayon-eating fools- Yeah ... but, you
Stuart: know, we, we love each other. Yeah. And we look out for each other. And, um, if anything in my life where I feel like I let some folks down- Yeah ... it was probably there, because I'd love to still be there doing it.
Marcus: I get that, but I just ... You know, I mean, I also understand that, you know, it's a huge sacrifice that you've made already, and that at some point in time you have to pass that mantle on down to the next generation of people. So
Stuart: hard to think that way from these shoes, though. I, I get it, so. I mean, it just, it, it just is.
But I get it. You're right.
Marcus: Yeah. What are you most thankful for? And it's not a rapid fire.
Stuart: My family. My, my wife and my kids, without a doubt. Um, and anybody I offend on I-10 between Mobile and Gulf Shores, I apologize, but if it's, uh ... At the end of the day- Yeah ... uh, and I was telling somebody this the other day, uh, Rita with, Rita with Bryant Bank.
Um, I said, "I want my legacy, if a drunk driver were to come across the median tomorrow, I would want somebody to get up at my funeral and say, 'The thing I respected about Stuart the most is as soon as he clocked out, it was 100 miles an hour to those boys and his wife.'"
Marcus: Not literally, in case you're in the police force.
Not l- Not literally ... literally. Yeah. You
Stuart: know, that, that to me, um, people say y- you have no idea what's coming when you have kids and how it's gonna change you, and I didn't. Uh, hobbies, I love to fish. I used to blue water tournament fish with my buddy Chris Bazar and Grandeur Marine. Love those folks like family.
Um, I don't have ... I- I'd love to do it
Marcus: It comes back
Stuart: But I got a three-year-old and a six-year-old No, as somebody who's- And a j- and, and a business that's three years old. Yeah Like, that's a lot. And, and my wife has to do 90% of the heavy lifting, so I'm trying to get home every day before bedtime so that I can help with something.
Yeah Uh, 'cause she is got so much on her shoulders, and has for so long, uh, that my goal at the end of the day is to be that dad. And I heard somebody talk about Ryan Reynolds and, uh, and I think it was his wife talking about him coming home from filming Deadpool. And, like, he would get home still in costume with fake blood everywhere and fake- And she was like, "He'd come home, park the car, jump over the bushes, and run in the front door to his kids."
Yeah And I'm like, "That's, that's what I want my wife to say about me," is that she sees the excitement and the fulfillment in my eyes, and the peace and calming over my body- Yeah ... when I walk in that door and see her and my boys. Yeah. That is ... And River girl. I love you, River girl. That's my dog. She's, she's my OG.
She's been my ride or die for a long time.
Marcus: Oh, my gosh. Well, tell people where they can find
Stuart: you. Um, you know, mobile.pauldavis.com is our website. Um, you look us up on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. We're in all of those. Uh, I'm the president of the Mobile Claims Association locally, so if you're in the insurance world, second Tuesday of every month we're at Dave & Buster's.
Um, we've got guest speakers providing CE credits for folks, and helping promote that industry that I've been involved in for a long time and I really care about and love those people. Um, if there's somewhere that I can help other people promote their business, that's where you're gonna see me. I'm that guy that'll stand up in front of the crowd and say, "Hey, that's the banker that gave me my SBA loan."
Yeah. "Everybody use her 'cause she's- Yeah ... so much better than everybody else." Um, that's me. Yeah. Uh, so if there's a, a chamber event where I can yell out how good somebody else is, or, I'm big in B&I. I love B&I. If you're a small business owner and you don't do B&I ...
Marcus: Question it.
Stuart: Yeah ... you question yourself. Um, the ROI on $700 a year and one hour a week is insanity if you're in the right group.
Yeah. So those are the places you find me, and in and out of people's houses trying to help them get through their worst time.
Marcus: There you go. Well, I wanna thank you again for coming on the podcast. Wrap up, any final thoughts or comments?
Stuart: Uh, choose your company carefully. Yeah. Um, there's some good ones here.
I, uh, I recommended PoBoy911 yesterday, one of my competitors. Uh, Chazlyn, uh, Ramer, Jared Ramer's wife, and I used to work together in the finance world back in the day, and I just realized that we are both in the industry together, and we've come in behind them on jobs to do the rebuild where an, a carrier gave us that assignment versus them, and they do great work.
And so, uh, I'm even that guy. I feel like we do better together than we do in competition. 100%. And so, um, there's ... You're welcome, Jared. Uh, but I just, I, I love people, and I love people that are doing the right thing, even if they're my competition. So sometimes that hurts me, I'm sure. Uh, but in the long run I'm sure it won't do anything but help the entire community.
Yeah.
Marcus: No, that's amazing. Well, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a business owner and entrepreneur. It's been great talking with you. It's been
Stuart: wild. Yeah. It's been a wild journey. Yay. Thanks for having me.
