Q & A Episode 63 - From Imposter Syndrome to Profit: Alumni Share Real Lessons from the Contractor Coalition Summit

Oct 15

Episode #63 | Q&A with Mark D. Williams | Alumni Share Real Lessons from the Contractor Coalition Summit

On this Q&A episode of The Curious Builder Podcast, Mark Williams sits down with alumni from the Contractor Coalition Summit—Brad Robinson, Danielle and Michael Gutelli, and Jared Miller—to talk about how the summit totally changed the game for their businesses and personal lives. They swap stories about learning from top builders, building real friendships, leveling up with new business strategies like pre-construction agreements, and even discovering the magic of setting boundaries. If you’ve ever wondered if investing in industry events is worth it, their stories say “absolutely!”

About The Curious Builder

The host of the Curious Builder Posdast is Mark D. Williams, the founder of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes Inc. They are an award-winning Twin Cities-based home builder, creating quality custom homes and remodels — one-of-a-kind dream homes of all styles and scopes. Whether you’re looking to reimagine your current space or start fresh with a new construction, we build homes that reflect how you live your everyday life.

Support the Show:

Mark D. Williams 00:04
I kudos to them to really be the first ones and say, like, this is how it's done. You just share everything. And what is there to hide? I remember Brad saying, like, there was four or five builders from Phoenix, his competitors that were in the room. He's like, I'm sharing my contract with them, my sworn construction statement, literally everything. I didn't know if I was going to go home and just get roasted or not. And the answer is no. That's kind of the whole vibe of the whole thing today.

Mark D. Williams 00:33
Ian the curious builder podcast. We've got four amazing past alumni from the contractor coalition. Rather than you hearing me talk about it, we're going to hear here's some alumni. So we've got Brad Robinson out of Atlanta, Georgia. We've got Jared out of Utah. We've got Danielle and Mike out of Michigan. So without further ado, here is some alumni from the contractor coalition Summit. Welcome to curious builder Podcast. I'm Mark Williams, your host. Today, I have a special episode here. We have got four returning alumni from the contractor coalition Summit, and I wanted to take this time we are with the time this airs. We're about three weeks away from Chicago coalition Summit. Chicago is November 7 through the 10th, and we're doing a series of having passed people on and just telling you straight from the builders mouths, what did they learn? Why did they go? How they implement it into their business? And why should you consider whether it's not, whether it's this contractor coalition or the next one next spring? Why you need to go? So why don't we do quick round of introductions? Michael and Dee, why don't you guys start first?

Danielle Gutelli 01:38
Hello, everybody. We are so excited to be here. My name is Danielle gutelli,

Michael Gutielli 01:43
and I'm Michael gutelli. We're the co founders and operators of Clark and Aldean residential design build firm in Plymouth, Michigan. What else

Danielle Gutelli 01:49
you want us to tell them? Mark, that's it. That's

Mark D. Williams 01:52
working out. Let's go around the horn. First, Jared, why don't you go next?

Jared Miller 01:55
All right, Jared Miller with Dennis Miller homes here in southern Utah. And second, generational builder with my dad. So been in it for my dad was part of it 45 years ago, and now it's my brother and I to carry on the torch and to take it to new heights.

Brad Robinson 02:09
So Levitt, I am Brad Robinson down in Atlanta, Georgia, with Bradford Custom Homes, custom home design build firm operating in Atlanta, Charleston and Highlands, North Carolina. I am not a generational builder, but I love business, and so I love this subject matter we've chosen to be in which is building.

Mark D. Williams 02:34
So you guys have each gone to different ones. We'll start with Michael and D. They're OG with me. We both. We all met the first time in Nashville three and a half years ago, and then you guys went to Huntington Beach as well. Everyone is going to get a chance to basically give at least one, if not two, examples of something they like. I want to know. First, like, why did you go to contractor coalition? And then two, what have you learned there that you applied to your business, and how has it helped improve you on your journey? Made you more money or just made you a better operator? Cool.

Danielle Gutelli 03:08
Okay, so we'll go first, the first coalition that we went to, we went because of Morgan, she's one of our absolute dear friends, and basically reached out to Michael and I, informing us what it was and what she was getting her feet into. And so she was the number one hole into why we went to Nashville from that summit, I feel like Michael and I left there beyond overwhelmed and excited at the same time and our business completely changed the way we operated. From we were self performing everything that we were doing, to when we came back from Nashville, we made this drastic change of subcontracting out most of our work. And then the second one,

Michael Gutielli 04:00
yeah, I think the second one, too, was understanding markup and margin transparently. I mean, when we went to Nashville, we were by far the smallest fish in the pond, and had a bit of imposter syndrome when we were there. Kind of like, what are we doing here? There's, there are some major heavy hitters here, which I think is the best thing as a builder and a business owner, you can do is surround yourself with everyone who's smarter than you. Just don't, don't just listen, but actually hear what people are saying. Don't be the loudest voice in the room. Be the most silent, and just absorb and take it all in. But for us, it was that markup and margin. I mean, we were, we were drastically under bidding our projects, and come to find out, we're in the negative, big time, and those shifts that we made, just from the understanding our markup and margin perspective, and switching how we are estimating out our jobs, we ended up with a 3x revenue within a year of making that change, which is huge for us. Had we not made that change, honestly, I don't know if we. Would be in business today. So it was, it was that impactful.

Mark D. Williams 05:03
I mean, I was there with you, and mine was exactly the same. I remember looking around like, Stacey Ekman, you know, an incredible operator up in Seattle. You know, now he's leading the whole air Kirkland for the West Coast. And, you know, I knew, you know, he's like a brad Robinson, honestly, Brad's an amazing operator. He's got five businesses. And you look around like, man, these guys are some operators. What am I doing here? But I mean, you knew this. I was sitting in the front row asking a lot of questions, way before the curious builder was born. He was already there. But, and unlike you, I didn't sit silently. I was definitely talking a lot. I had so many questions, but mine is the same one I did the episode last week about margin markup, that difference alone. Oh, my word. It's hard to go back and look for me. It was an 18 year career at that point. Now it's 21 and you look back and you're like, how many millions of dollars Did I leave on the table? Because I simply just didn't know that. And that's a simple thing, most, maybe 90% of the people listening to this podcast, maybe know the difference, but I didn't. You didn't. I think there's probably more that don't than we realize. And so the whole point is not being embarrassed about what you don't know. It's, are you willing to make the change with what you do know? And that's powerful, 1,000% on that for sure. Jared, what do you got? Buddy? Actually,

Jared Miller 06:09
was gonna lead into that, but because it was already talked about, you know, I kind of came in differently. I had followed Nick and Brad for many years on social media, just kind of fanboying like, man, they do some crazy things, amazing lives, that type of thing. And I think there was like, a week away, and it was like, hey, we need to fill these last few spots. And I was talking to my dad brother, I'm like, I'm going, like, it was kind of like a lasting commitment knowing, like, I don't know what I'm going to do, I'm going to get something out of it. I really don't know much about it. But, like, those are amazing people that have great portfolios, and we want to get there eventually. So, you know, let's just go with no real high expectations. And so originally, when I went there, I was thinking like, I'm going to meet some of my, you know, heroes type of thing. And you always hear you never want to meet your heroes because you get disappointed. And for me, it was the complete opposite, like when I sat in the room with these people, like they became so human, where it wasn't like they were living these perfect businesses and perfect lives, it was like it became sharing of businesses, of their failures, their struggles, and it just became so real. Of like, no what made them great, into where they were at, where their systems, their processes, they're able to overcome and fine retune and like that gave me so much hope. Of like, hey, like, this isn't as far as you know, the mark isn't as far as it is, as much as it is with the ability to set the right systems. And so I was blown away with that aspect. But having that and the networking internally with the different people that it brings right so when you bring those heavy hitters, the people that come in there, you realize, like the other people that they bring on, are just amazing people in the country. And so obviously you get time to talk to the people are hosting it, but sitting at dinner and different things like that, you're able to network with these people. And I've been to business, you know, seminars I've been into that. I've been to like personal development, where it's like all these type of different retreats for men and stuff like that. But it was the first time that I've seen both collide into one setting. And so I got business aspects, but I also got like, personal aspects, of like personal growth, and where before is, like, Alright, I got a grind, grind, grind. And one of the biggest takeaways coming back was like, finding the balance between life and business, and believe it or not, if, like, putting more boundaries, of like not texting my not texting my clients, and setting harder boundaries, of like, stop dates and like, Hey, I'm going to leave to go, actually, to my daughter's, you know, volleyball games and stuff like that. Where before I'm like, I just got to work, work and doing that flip I've now, my production has gone up. My joy has gone up. Like all these other things have happened, just because I've set these boundaries, and seeing that from a personal example was one of the biggest things. And then obviously, pre construction agreements, something we never did. We immediately made the change, and we've already got three of them. We've gotten more money than we thought. And you know, my dad thought we were crazy, because it was like, you're gonna just be a consultant. And like, like, he was just not was sold on. It was always like, there's no way that people are gonna do that. And like, for like, 10,000 bucks, just to be like, I'm gonna sit in a room with the architect and tell you what I know. And immediately we got the first one, and now we got the second one. Now it's like, why would we not do this? So that was just huge, and also made us focus on not going after just anyone, but, you know, pre qualifying them, which is huge for us from a time development aspect.

Mark D. Williams 09:15
I mean, that's super helpful. And I think we're all nodding and smiling because we can all relate to it. Everyone's at different points to their journey. And I spoke about it, you know, last week on the same episode, one of my biggest takeaway was that I was doing a pre construction agreement. But Nick pointed out the flaw. I used to credit the client for it once we got the job. And Nick, you know, he's so straight east coast, you know, straight to business. He's like, why are you doing free work? No one, no wonder everyone loves you. You do free work. Like, Sign me up. I'll do it too. And it was like, sometimes it just takes someone to sort of, I get, I'm not very good impersonator of Nick, you know, he's just, I get such a kick out of him, but like, he was right, and I've done it now for three years. I've only had one client ever push back, and that's a negotiation. Now, at least you know what you're doing with it, and now you can use it as a tool. It's. People. I think sometimes people listen to this and they're like, Well, what about this? Or what about that? Nobody's saying like, these are hard and fast rules. You can only build this way. It just but if 90% of it now is you can charge for it like even your dad. Your dad is has been doing this for decades, and he It wasn't even on his radar that this was even possible. Think of how many, think of how many design retainers he could have had in his career. You're talking hundreds and hundreds of 1000s of dollars. Yeah, if not,

Jared Miller 10:26
okay, I'll do it, but we can give them the Italy towards the bill job. Like, no, this is completely different fees. Like, okay, I'll let you try it once, and if it happens, great, but I don't think it will. And I was like, so it's just took it literally the next opportunity, it puts incline. Well,

Mark D. Williams 10:43
we got to get, we got, I told you this before, whether Chicago or the next one, we got to get your brother and dad to

Jared Miller 10:47
come to, oh, they're coming. We're going to come in the springtime, so a little too early, but, yeah,

Mark D. Williams 10:52
you're gonna love it. I mean, you and here's this, you've only, you're Omaha. That's only four months ago from this podcast recording. You've already made those changes. I think that was super helpful, you know, to hear and I remember, you know, every morning we go running, mainly it was just me and you on day two, because everyone else abandoned us. But we, you and I talk, Well, we certainly talk a little bit about business. Most of our communication now is, you love to hike in Ian, you know, we did our first curious builder boot camp, Brad was there, Mike was there, and so we were, I wish we had known that Jared we I was texting Jared while we were at boot camp, and because that was, like, a month before I met him, and he's like, Oh, had I known that you guys were in Ian, that's my backyard, I would have gone. He sent me this sweet picture. I'll text it to the group when we're done talking. You know, he was up this weekend with some killer views in the canyons where we were. So anyway, it's not always about business, but you know, it is, and the fact that you've set boundaries in your life, that I remember you and I talking about them we were running. And you know, to hear that you're already doing that is super cool,

Jared Miller 11:47
yeah. But even, like, before, like, I wouldn't even, like, I would stand and eat lunch and just keep working. But now I'm like, I'm now do walks during lunch and phone calls and like, I'm like, I don't have time to take a pause in the day. I gotta grind, grind, grind. And I'm like, nope. Like, even halfway through the day, I'm like, I'm taking a pause. I'm going to go walk for 45 minutes, get my sunshine reset. And, like, my productivity. It sounds so simple, but it is simple. Yeah, it is that simple. But when you actually get to talk to people like, Hey, this is the type of life I live in, like, that's what I want, you're telling me that that's all you have to do. And when you just make these micro changes, it compounds so fast, like you said, four months. And I'm like, Man, I wish I wish I would have done this earlier, but it's

Danielle Gutelli 12:24
crazy. What I really love that you said in your whole dialog was that, like you here, you thought you were meeting your heroes, but the reality was that it humanized them, and you realize like they're not like these idols. They're just human beings that share their real, raw, authentic self to you, and you realize how relatable they are. They just put in the hustle, they put in the work, but they also are building a lifestyle that they want to live, and they're sharing with you the secret sauce of how they are creating that lifestyle. Yeah,

Jared Miller 12:58
and I was also so shocked of how vulnerable, not only but even the people that were there, like, it got really intimate. Of, like, this is the life I'm going through. Some people going, like, Ian, the moment of hardship, of, like, from divorce and like, how I'm struggling with my business to like, other people, like, Hey, I've been there, and it was just like, man. Like, where do you get this type of inner circle of people? Like, the quality of people that it brings is alone, like, yeah, like Nick and all of them bring their A game, but the people that you sit along your tables like that alone is the value of price of admission, for sure. One

Mark D. Williams 13:30
of the things that we're going to do is, you can guess whose idea this was, but is we're going to do an opening night for icebreaker. In the past, we've had Mark la Liberte, and he's awesome. He's actually going to do an actual speaking segment within the class structure. We're going to do an open mic eight minutes share your most difficult moment of building anything you want. It won't be recorded. I was just having breakfast with some architects, and we were talking about some really difficult client interactions, and it's like, it's important to talk about that stuff with other business owners, because we all have it. And it becomes, obviously, in hindsight, you know, when you're going through it, it seems through it, it's usually not quite as funny, but hindsight, it's, how is it not hilarious? Like, if you can't laugh at how, like, oh man, you gotta for me, I have to use humor to sort of diffuse the time bomb that's inside your brain. And so it's super cool to kind of go through that as if on cue. Brad, why don't you go next?

Brad Robinson 14:21
Yeah, I feel like, you know, you guys are are talking about the quality of the the people that are leading the contractor coalition Summit, and that's what initially drew me towards the group, transparently, right? As a person who's been in business since I was 19 years old, and have, you know, led companies to, you know, let's be transparent. You know, millions of dollars, it's been, it's been a great run and exited those businesses. I knew that if I was going to continue to grow and develop in this newer chapter of my journey and building, that I was going to need to be a. Around those type of people.

Mark D. Williams 15:07
This episode is brought to you by Pella windows and doors. I've used Pella for 21 years as the exclusive window company on every one of my builds. When people ask me who I trust for windows and doors, it's Pella every time, their craftsmanship, their innovation, the top tier service, make them a no brainer for any custom home builder or designer who demand the best, whether you're designing something bold or building something with timeless elegance, Pella has you covered. They're also the only window company that has a lifetime warranty on all of their windows. I've gotten to know all their people at Pella corporate, as well as locally. Here at Pella Northland, I'm proud to call them our partners and our friends. Visit pella.com to learn more and connect with your local reps. Today for more information, you can also listen to episode one, where I interview the Pella Northland founders, as well as episode 109 where we talk all about their latest innovation with the study set window. This episode is brought to you by adaptive. If you're still chasing checks and juggling spreadsheets, it's time to upgrade. Adaptive is revolutionizing how builders get paid with AI powered bill pay, automated draws, one click payments and built in Lean waivers, Faster Payments, fewer headaches and total visibility. Adaptive takes care of the back end chaos so you can focus on what you do best building. We've used adaptive for two and a half years, and trust them to keep our projects moving and payments flowing. Learn more at Adaptive dot build and simplify the Pay Process today. For more information, you can also listen to episode 10 and episode 15.

Brad Robinson 16:35
I actually found the contractor coalition summit, I think right after you guys were in Nashville, and my first opportunity to engage with a group was in Las Vegas for just a mixer meetup. And from that moment in having met, I think I met you mark at that I remember talking. I spent a tremendous amount of time just, you know, I met Mike Weaver there. I spent a lot of great time with Brad and and, yeah, just like, just like you Jared, I, you know, had admired Nick and Brad's work from afar and seeing what the quality that was there, I knew that that was aspirational for me. And so my first, my first trip to the contractor coalition summit was just this past Omaha, and this summer in Omaha, and I had very high expectations coming in. I treated it very seriously. I have very direct in what I wanted to get out of it. And I think, like you, spending more time with these folks allowed for me to realize, you know, just like you said, they're going through things in life. They're just people. You kind of do idolize some some of them, and in a way, but what I had realized is, is that through multiple interactions, I felt like we've been through some of these conversations. I've had offline conversations with some of the hosts, and they know my business a bit better than what I even realized. And so we're there's reference points in the conversation, when I'm communicating, and so a lot of the things that I'm building and developing, you know, and I look at myself as a as a process oriented portfolio builder, right? Like very rigid in in the processes and the systems that I create, you know, I knew that my plan for growth would incorporate things like mergers and acquisitions and bringing in the best talent that the markets that I serve have to offer. And I've been able, in the past four months, to come back from that feeling very invigorated and having, having brought in one of the best builders to run my construction operations, and then now having gone through a successful merger and bringing in someone to run. You know, as Director of Operations for my organization, I felt empowered to come back and do that. It gave me a lot of confidence to be able to navigate those challenging conversations and to also build and develop a plan for 2026, and beyond that. It just, it blows my hair back. But I have extreme confidence because of the the people and the network that I'm within, that I know that I have a good sounding board to communicate back on. These people have become, you know, they all, you guys love to use this. And I'm just going to go ahead and say it, but I mean, Your vibe attracts your tribe. These people are hungry. They are motivated. They want to be doing their very best work. They're in the prime of their lives. They are not willing to deal with mediocrity, and neither am I. So I come back to the very first point that I started with here. It's about values alignment. Everyone within this group, everything that they are about, it is in direct alignment with what I am trying to accomplish and do.

Mark D. Williams 19:50
No, that's well said, Very well said I was thinking about, you know, the relationships we've talked a lot about, and I think Brad probably highlighted it the most in his thing, because you were. Sure. I love that people are coming at different points. You have people that don't even don't know what a pre con is, that you have people that are have sold and exited businesses like yourself. But it's kind of interesting that regardless of where you are, regardless of how high your business acumen is, there's still so many levels and layers to what we can learn. And I, I think there's no bad actors, the chemistry of the of the collective, because it doesn't, if you think you know it all, you're not going. And so the people that go are, you know, the growth mindset. They're the, you know, they want to be a better version of themselves, or learn or support. You know, we have someone in our local the curious builder collective, which is in cities, we have one guy, he's retired. He just sold his company. He still comes to our curious builder collectives because he's so impressed with the next generation. This didn't exist. He's in his late 60s, I'm guessing. And he just said, you know, this didn't exist when I was a young builder. I wish it did. And he said, I want to be there as a resource. So you find that people that are different points in their career that want to give back, you know, you look at like Marc la Liberte, an incredible building science expert. Owns construction instruction. He speaks at each one of these, right? Brad built his personal house. He's just an incredible but he travels all over the country without the world. And he's like, there's nothing quite like this. And so it's really cool. And even though Harry Jarrett said, you know, you meld the personal and the professional kind of together, and you get something new out of it. It's just two worlds sort of collide. Maybe I'll get just to keep this episode not an hour, because our Thursdays are usually 20 minutes, maybe every because we could talk for a couple hours. Easy peasy. Could you maybe go around if someone was sitting on the fence, what is something that you would tell them about why they should come or in Danielle and Michael's standpoint, you guys have been to multiple as alumni. Brad's coming back here in 30 days as well. And Brad, you might actually be our first attendee turn sponsor. You know you will be, if not this one, you will be at the next one. So like, how cool is that? We'll tease about that at a later date. That's just a little teaser out there right now. But as you go around like maybe just share one thing that would sort of get somebody off the fence. Well, I

Michael Gutielli 22:09
think the biggest thing, and Brad hit on it a little bit I want to expound, is the relationship aspect. So yes, when we went to the first one, we were good friends with Morgan. We had certainly known of Brad and Nick. Those were the three hosts at the time, and it's grown, but we've since become really close with all of them. Mark, we met you at both but more so intimately at Huntington Beach. We've become close friends. Brad, we connected over Instagram, but through this relationship circle. I mean, the first time Brad and the two of us met was in Las Vegas, we decided to rent a Hummer and go for what seemed like a six hour hike in Red Rock, but we had amazing dialog the entire hike. It was the first time we ever met, but we were all connected through the circle that started that coalition. And I think as owner operators, we get so stuck in localization and so focused on our local network and what we're doing locally, that we forget that this industry is really, really small. I come from a different background in marketing and advertising, which also is a massive industry that's really small. Your network can grow substantially, and you have to go, if you're going to coalition Summit, which you should, you have to go into with an open mind and understanding that you were there to learn, but you're also there to add value. If you go and you're trying to cherry pick relationships, you're trying to cherry pick information. Everyone smells it, they see it, that relationship will not continue. The only reason why we have strong relationships with our inner circle in this industry, which is it's it's tight knit, is because we're there. No matter what you pick up the phone, send a text and hit us up, we're there. We'll call you right back like we will jump. Doesn't matter if it's personal life, if it's branding, if it's a contract question, if you just need to blow off steam, like we're all here for each other, and your worth is as much as your as your network. And we truly believe that, and that's that's a huge thing coming out of coalition.

Danielle Gutelli 24:13
I'm gonna piggyback with you off of the relationship aspect of it, being a female in the industry and knowing there are far and few of us in the industry, the amount of female connections that I made from coalition that then has expanded from there, has just been this incredible resource of allowing not only me to be vulnerable in the aspect of like, what My struggles are, or how to fit into a room where I may not be typically seen, but also to be at the coalition and have the respect of everybody in the room and everybody wanting to grow and learn together. It just was an experience that is unlike. Like any other, where everybody truly is seen for who they are and valued for their own personal experiences, and then just gives you this absolutely wonderful opportunity to meet meet other people that have also gone through similar struggles and celebrations of life like you are to know that you're like not standing alone in what you're doing.

Brad Robinson 25:23
I you know, I think if you're on the fence and you're like me, and because that's all I can speak to and you are in a phase of your career, along your journey where you are, you have Extreme Ownership. You're incredibly focused on what it is you're doing, and maybe you are okay with being at an imbalance. You are going to find people at this event who are just like you. And it doesn't matter if you're sitting at the edge of the pool with a drink in your hand, you're talking shop, you're you're you're solving problems together, and when you're here, when you know when you're there having those conversations, it they're so similar and how someone handles a problem as opposed to how you handle it, and getting to see that you know how their mind works and how they navigated those problems, it just had so much value, because we all have the same problems. All of us do. We're Ian one, one experience or another in this business. We've all experienced a bad client. We've all experienced a challenging lot. We've all experienced litigation in this business and what that does to you. We've all experienced growth and scaling issues. We all experience marketing struggles and challenges and being authentic. We all experience all of that. Every one of those conversations that I just mentioned happened at the last CCS. And I don't know about you, but that's like 10 things. Yeah, each one of those are far more than $1,000 conversation. Let me just put it to you that way. So we had a couple zeros behind it, at least exactly right. Every person that I met was a value because they're they're in their own right, in the same phase, and maybe, maybe not everyone is, but you'll quickly identify who they are and who they aren't. But I would tell you that 99.99% of the people that I spent time with at any level, they're hungry and they're out there to learn something, to solve a problem in their business.

Mark D. Williams 27:25
I think that the biggest takeaway is, like, investing in yourself. Yes, you know, it's because, right, it's, I think if you there's cost, but then there's investment. I think most people would say, like, Oh, if I invested in something, you expect a return. Well, how do you quantify this kind of return? It's, it's not it's so high it's hardly even believable. And so part of the reason to have you guys on and share your testimonies is just so people can hear it, because, if nothing else, they can hear the authenticity. You know, authenticity in your voice and in your story. Jared, what do you before? I'll let you kind of give

Jared Miller 27:57
your head. But the one thing that I would add for me was confidence, and I know you can't quantify that, but for me, that was the biggest shift, right? So, like, obviously, there's systems and there's process and procedures that you're implementing, and there's a money value to it. I kind of went a little heavy on the personal side and the personal development. But like, when you get to sit around people and you feel like you have a tribe that has your back and is pouring into you. Like, how can you not go into sales meetings and just like, kind of have your shoulders up high and like, I got this, like, I I have the tools I have. I've worked through this, I've talked to the right people. I know what it takes to get to this next point and to level up. And for me and my brother, where we're trying to take the vision of this company, like, it's harder to start. For us, it would be easier to start a new business than to change the image of a 45 year veteran in a town, right? Because it's like, well, we know what Dennis Miller homes is. Like, no, that's the old Dennis Miller homes. This is the new. And that's really hard to do, to change that type of brand. But when you come in with confidence and just to show like, I can compete with anyone in my market, like, that's one of the biggest takeaways that I got with that my dad and my brother saw, they're like, Okay, that's contagious just from you being there, and you've shared our notes, and we've had multiple meetings and gone over that, like, we're so excited for the springtime to just be like, Okay, now our whole team's here. Like, I can only imagine what like all of our teams there, and then after a year of implementing that, what that, what that fosters up and that, what value brings to that,

Mark D. Williams 29:20
I interviewed. I don't know if you guys saw it, but I well, you know, at least Brad and Jared do I interviewed, I think, like 40 some people while I was at the last coalition. So for like, 10 to 15 minute interviews, it was a lot, and it was pretty great. Actually, Doug, from motif media, was like, thank you. I don't have to do this, and so I but I interviewed Doug, and I interviewed everyone. I interviewed, I probably interviewed the people. Even brought your water in. But anyway, I interviewed Doug, and I said, Doug, you've been at, he's been at every single coalition, except for Austin. He had a personal conflict where he couldn't be I said, from your point of view, you're sitting behind the camera. You're interviewing. You're watching. He's a quieter guy, right? So he's sitting in the back. Back, and he said exactly what you said, Jared. He said people's confidence was the biggest change that he observed, both on camera and off camera, in the room and in the networking was just watching people's confidence, which is super cool. And I think, you know, I interviewed Brad Levitt as well, and he said a very similar thing. He said, how cool is it? Now, when I go to the international builder show and I look at a panel, and 90% of the people on the panel are alumni of the contractor coalition Summit, like, how wild is that? And from his point of view, he's like, you know, they kudos to them, right? The three of them basically said, like, Hey, we're going to share everything. Now it seems like that's normal. Like, I don't even know how to talk anymore without doing it and so but like, you know, kudos to them to really be the first ones, you know, kind of through the glass ceiling and say, like, this is how it's done. You just share everything, and what is there to hide? I remember Brad saying, like, there was four or five builders from Phoenix, his competitors that were in the room. He's like, I'm sharing my contract with them, my sworn construction statement. Like, literally everything. He's like, I didn't know if I didn't know if I was gonna go home and just get roasted or not. And the answer is no, because it's the whole idea, like, if we're not, you know, if we're not living what we're preaching, if we're not going out of abundance versus scarcity. And he talks about that all the time. And so anyway, that's, that's kind of the whole vibe of the whole thing,

Michael Gutielli 31:16
collaboration over competition.

Mark D. Williams 31:19
Well, every day. I appreciate you guys coming on. Thanks for sharing your stories, and hopefully the audience found this helpful. And I know Brad, I'll see you in a couple of weeks, Jared to see you in the spring. I'm not sure I'm gonna see you. You do.

Michael Gutielli 31:31
We might sneak to Chicago for Ali's tour. We'll see, oh yeah, that dumping ground. So we'll see. I think the boys are off school that Thursday and Friday before, so Okay, maybe we'll make an appearance. And

Mark D. Williams 31:42
I like it. Come to open night, you got to do the open mic night. Heck, bring your kids. Have them do open mic for

Michael Gutielli 31:50
love it. That's it. That's him all day. I

Mark D. Williams 31:52
want to hear Ziggy on

Danielle Gutelli 31:53
a mic. Ziggy keeps asking me when he's going to be on your podcast with your daughter, by the way, because

Michael Gutielli 31:58
remember, Lewin was out

Mark D. Williams 31:59
for two weeks. Well, it's funny, we did that. So for the audience, we actually did a recording maybe a year ago. I had Tinker sleep's kids, my daughter, a few others. I was trying to see if it was like, other than, obviously, as a dad, it was super cool to hear your kids. But I'm not sure how much value there was for business owners of america for that interview, other than it was, like, super sweet. So some of it was good, some of it was what you would expect. We'll have to come up with another idea of how to how to make sure.

Michael Gutielli 32:24
One last thing I want to hit on, just a piece of advice, go in if you're going to coalition, when you go in with serious intention, don't go there to play. Don't go there to just hang out and booze up and have good dinners like be all in. That's involved in it, certainly, but be all in in every single aspect. Block your time so you're not getting interrupted by your team or your clients, like you have to be all in for the three or four days that you're there. Invest the time, because if you don't, you will not get all the value out of it. And that's it.

Mark D. Williams 32:55
Yeah, that's well said. Thanks again for coming on, and that's all for today. Thanks for today. Thanks for coming into the curious builder podcast. For those that have been listening to curious builder podcast, you know how much I love the contractor coalition Summit. It's been the single biggest force multiplier in my business over 21 years. We're excited to announce again that we're coming back to Chicago November 7 through the 10th. All the details can be found at the contractor coalition summit.com and under the promo code for a $2,500 discount, type in curious builder we'll see in Chicago. Thanks for tuning in the curious builder podcast. If you like this episode, do us a favor. Share it with three other business owners. The best way that we can spread what we're doing is by word of mouth, and with your help, we can continue to help other curious builders expand their business. Please share it with your friends. Like and review online and thanks again for tuning in.