Shed Geek Podcast

From Sheds to Success: Navigating 15 Years in the Shed Industry

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 4 • Episode 83

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How do you transform a humble shed-building job into an illustrious 15-year career? Join us for this special Friday fun day episode of the Shed Geek podcast, broadcasting from Graceland headquarters in Western Kentucky. Host Sambassador is joined by industry veterans Wes Titus and Ashley Broom Hardison. Together, we explore the evolution of the shed industry, sharing personal anecdotes and professional milestones that have shaped our journeys. From my friendly rivalry with Graceland to the evolution of shed materials and styles, we uncover the stories that have defined our paths.

Get ready to be inspired as we recount the dynamic nature of Graceland operations and my journey from full-time student balancing shed building to senior vice president of operations. We delve into the nitty-gritty of finance, logistics, and overcoming daily challenges. Ashley shares her unique experiences entering the shed business through Cook, highlighting the diverse roles she has undertaken, from customer service to navigating company mergers. The conversation underscores the importance of personal connections and camaraderie within the industry, especially during our popular bash events which foster friendly competition and mutual support.

We also discuss the essence of building a strong work family in the shed hauling industry. Hear about memorable road trips, unexpected opportunities, and the joy of driving a truck. We reflect on the friendly rivalry between different truck brands, recounting humorous anecdotes, and look ahead to the future of the industry with optimism. This episode is packed with heartfelt stories, industry insights, and a celebration of the collaborative spirit that drives success in the shed community. Tune in for an engaging conversation that promises to leave you feeling connected and inspired.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

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To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.

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Sambassador:

All right guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast. This is Friday fun day version with Sambassador, your host, and I am honored today to be coming to you from Western Kentucky with. I'm at Graceland headquarters with Wes Titus and Ashley I want to call you Nicole, because that's what your Facebook says Ashley Broom Hardison.

Sambassador:

I heard you say that yesterday in the airport and I was like wait a minute. Oh, Nicole, that's probably not her last name.

Sambassador:

So, I've always called you Ashley.

Sambassador:

Nicole, because when we talk on Facebook, that's what always shows up. So, welcome you guys.

Ashley Hardison:

Thank you,

Wes Titus:

thank you.

Sambassador:

Good to have y'all here. It is so good to be here with you guys. Shannon's a little bit jealous. He's been after Graceland for a while to do an interview and I'm the one that snuck in and got it, so ha take that um, Shannon, actually, his shed journey started with Graceland.

Sambassador:

Um, he's talked about that numerous times and I think it's a pretty cool story. Last night when we were eating dinner, we were talking about, uh, prison ministry and stuff, and I think it was it Brad that brought up oh, yeah, you, you guys do some prison ministry stuff. I'm like, yeah, I know, that's the way Shannon knew about you guys. Um, so we have some history there. Um, part of my history with Graceland goes all the way back to when I first got back into sheds this last. So, I've been in sheds my whole life. Most people know that. You guys might not know that.

Sambassador:

Um, but when the housing industry crashed in 2008, I was building houses and, uh, I said, you know what, instead of having three hundred thousand dollar customers, it'd be kind of nice to go back to three thousand dollar customers. Um, those three thousand dollar customers are like seven thousand dollar, ten thousand dollar customers now. But anyway, my only competition in town was Graceland. Um, a good friend of mine, Marvin Coblentz, had opened up a shop there. Um, some of the guys that have been here long enough. They're like oh yeah, I remember that name you probably do I remember that.

Sambassador:

Yeah, you probably remember him now he's out west somewhere.

Sambassador:

He's still in the shed business, um, doing good, and his son out there with him shout out to them. But anyway, I I felt like that was kind of who I was competing against when I started there. Um, that was back when all of your sheds were t111 and we couldn't get y'all to paint a shed. So, I did. So, I said you know what? They're selling T-111 sheds, I'm going to do metal sheds. So, I sold metal sheds for about two years for a couple brands down there.

Sambassador:

Bennett and Robin were both big brands in our area and painted sheds hadn't really even become a thing yet. I mean, you did it occasionally. I actually even painted a couple Graceland sheds for guys. You know they're like hey, you know, would you paint a shed? Sure, I'll paint it. You know, always wonder if I go back and look at them. I wonder what they look like Painting T-111, you know that's got to be interesting. But the main reason that I like to talk about the history with Graceland is because when Jason did the first bash out in Montana, Graceland was the host. The guys out there had a manufacturing place going and I don't know who. I really don't know who Jason talked to. But you guys came on board and not only hosted it, but one of the sponsors of it and that's kind of where the whole Bash journey started was there at that place. And then you guys showed up in North Carolina. We had a good time there, didn't we? We did.

Ashley Hardison:

We did.

Sambassador:

So I'm going to let you all take it away a little bit. Basically, I want to know who you are, what you do. You can take turns or you can both walk on top of each other, it doesn't matter. And how did your journey end up to where you end up being at the bash, Ashley?

Ashley Hardison:

Oh goodness, all right. So where did I come from? I got my shed journey started with Cook, of course. You and I talked about that a couple days ago and I had taken a little bit of a hiatus from work and found a job listing on Indeed and applied for it. For customer service, I'm like, oh, that's great. Like I have a very heavy customer service background. I've been in hotel management, stuff like that. So, customer service I'm great at. I can handle customers on the phone. You know I got this, so I get there my first week at work at Cook. My trainer Megan, she's like, so, all right, we asked for pictures of buildings. And this is Woodrod and this is Deland Nation, and this is this. I'm like, hold the phone.

Ashley Hardison:

What have I done? What?

Sambassador:

kind of customer service are you in?

Ashley Hardison:

I'm like oh my gosh, I don't know what I'm doing. What did I get myself into here, you know? And it didn't take long. I settled in and really truly fell in love with just the repair department and then started working with Moves at Cook and working with Fleet, and then got to the sales side. So, I had a five-year career at Cook and then they were bought out by Leonard, and so I've been through a bout before whenever I worked in advertising. Many moons ago, Okay.

Ashley Hardison:

And so, I had a little bit of experience with mergers and they're not all bad. So, I'm not going to say that it was going to be a bad or anything, but I just didn't want to necessarily go through the transition again and not really knowing what that was going to lead into, knowing where I wanted to go with a career that I was absolutely in love with and didn't want to do anything else.

Ashley Hardison:

And so just so happened to Google portable buildings and, like in the area, had no idea. Graceland was in Western Kentucky. No clue. Had heard of them but had no clue. They were here and I think there was a listing on Indeed. It all starts with Indeed.

Sambassador:

Because I said we should get Indeed to sponsor me.

Ashley Hardison:

Yeah, so I applied on Indeed and Jennifer called me, I think the next day or two days later. Matter of fact, I applied to work for Melissa Sprouse. Oh, okay, yeah, customer service, and I actually interviewed with her first Matter of fact.

Wes Titus:

I applied to work for Melissa Sprouse Customer service.

Ashley Hardison:

I actually interviewed with her first.

Sambassador:

The Jennifer that I've got to know.

Ashley Hardison:

I interviewed for a sales support manager position first.

Sambassador:

That's not what you're doing no this is typical shed life.

Wes Titus:

We never do what we're supposed to do it always evolves into a little something else which is neat.

Ashley Hardison:

And I had experience in both. But I interviewed with Melissa first. But I had dual applied, so I applied for the dispatch position as well.

Sambassador:

Okay.

Ashley Hardison:

So interview with.

Sambassador:

Melissa, on a Monday you kind of ran through that fast oh sorry. You dual applied. Yeah, so I applied so you're not just ambitious enough to apply for a job.

Ashley Hardison:

You're going to apply for 10. I mean there.

Sambassador:

there's a, there's a nugget there. Um, sometimes I have guys that are like or guys, so when I use the term guys, it's like anybody people that are guys and gals that are.

Sambassador:

They're like, hey, you know, well, we talk about it, the economy that we're in right now. You know people, I hear people say they can't get a job and I'm like, well, have you tried it? You know, like, where are you looking? Did you try to do this? That I'm glad you brought up, indeed, because indeed is the thing that it's a thing now. I mean, you can go on, indeed, and you can find jobs and you can put your resume in, you get. But the key to what you said there that stuck out to me is you dual applied at the same place yes, that's, I did, that's.

Ashley Hardison:

Good anyway, carry on it just well, I mean the portable building business. It was like. So, I truly I loved what I did before I got into the dispatch and hauling side of things, before I ever crawled into a truck, before I had fallen in love with it. But then, once I got into the transportation side of things, my love just blossomed and at that point I knew I didn't want to do anything else.

Sambassador:

So, you actually like that side? You're not just doing it, no.

Ashley Hardison:

I genuinely love what I do. I don't work every day, because I love what. I do and I have for seven and a half years.

Sambassador:

What's the cliche statement? That if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.

Ashley Hardison:

I never work a day in my life. I love it.

Sambassador:

Just don't tell the person signing your check that you're not working. Yeah, there's a little thing about a budget that comes in kind of handy.

Ashley Hardison:

Mike might actually be kind of happy that I feel like I'm not working.

Ashley Hardison:

You stick out bills to pay.

Ashley Hardison:

So, you know that's true, that's true, so yeah, so I do apply. I'm a sales support manager and interviewed for that on a Monday, and then I had my interview in logistics on a Tuesday and, as a matter of fact, I told Carlos and Jen that I had applied with Melissa, that's amazing. And they said so. She's like so if you I can't remember how she brought it up, but essentially, it's like well, if you put yourself over here, and you put yourself over here, where would you be? And I said I wouldn't be over here or over here.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm the one who's right in the middle. I kind of do it all, so that's just that's what I'm about, and Carlos is like so would she like better.

Sambassador:

Yeah, of course. Yeah, like he's not going to take in the middle which, yeah?

Ashley Hardison:

And I was like honestly, I really like statistics. And so here we are and I'm a numbers person in a really weird way, Like I look for signs from God in everything that.

Ashley Hardison:

I do.

Ashley Hardison:

And so, it was like a week after I got hired here and I'm like we have the same po box as Cook. It's po box 642, because I was like brokenhearted that I was leaving Cook like. I'm not ever gonna love what I do and the family and the environment you know, I was just like.

Sambassador:

You know, there's a lesson coming here, so,

Ashley Hardison:

and so I got here and and I was like PO Box 642.

Ashley Hardison:

Huh, what are the odds?

Sambassador:

That's pretty good.

Ashley Hardison:

That's a God thing and then, yeah, grew into it and the culture and people. It's just a wonderful place to work. So, as far as you and I talking about future, I'm here, this is it, this is it, this is it.

Sambassador:

Yeah, it's been cool to me how many, how many of you guys getting to meet some of you, okay, so I run into Graceland guys here and there, um, I can't remember them. I mean it's I got so many people everywhere. I'm on overload the last while, but, um, most of the most of the people that I find are here, um, even talking with Greg he's here.

Ashley Hardison:

He's here.

Sambassador:

He's here present and he's here future. There's something to be said for leadership that creates buy-in. And I always you know we can talk about employee issues, structure issues, but we always say leadership it starts at the top and flows down and I've gathered that being here, that you guys actually like being here.

Wes Titus:

Oh yeah, Absolutely.

Sambassador:

Yeah, so we want to hear from him for a second.

Ashley Hardison:

Absolutely Take it away.

Wes Titus:

How do you?

Sambassador:

end up here.

Wes Titus:

Well, so the journey here to Graceland and in sheds in general. I got to talk to you just a little bit, but to expound upon it, I believe it's God led me here. It's when he opened doors. Here it's one of he opened doors. So, I moved to Western Kentucky from Florida in 2004. And so, I had gotten an associate's degree in architecture and construction and had moved up to Western Kentucky, had family up in this area.

Wes Titus:

A buddy of mine worked for Dirksen Portables over there in Hickory and there was an opening to come over there and work the yard and run a pilot truck in the mornings to go across and block off the Cairo Bridge there in Wycliffe.

Sambassador:

Just throw you to the wolves, right out of the gate.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, just make everybody's morning so great and happy.

Sambassador:

Anybody out there looking for a really good pilot car blocker.

Ashley Hardison:

I know where there's one that might need a brush up of course.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, that's been a few years ago. That's been a while 2004. 2005, I think, is when I started. I moved to western Kentucky in 2004.

Sambassador:

That's coming up on 20 years, that is isn't that? That's what I say almost years in in the shed industry, wow, and and I say give me 25 more. Oh, yeah, absolutely, I mean that's it, we're not going anywhere.

Wes Titus:

No, no, I can say we're. You know, sheds are in our blood so sorry I interrupted you, so you went to work for dunks and yeah, went, went to work over there where you know worked uh, you know, on loan trucks working in the yard running the pilot trucks over there. You know worked, you know on loan trucks working in the yard running the pilot trucks over there, and that worked into getting my own builder bay and so I built buildings for them for you know, about three years while I went to Murray.

Wes Titus:

State University, working on my degree in accounting, and so we were nearing graduation time and that was back in 2009. I was going to graduate in in December of 09 and so this is, you know, September, October. You know, here I am wondering okay, where's, where's it going to lead? You know now, and, uh, um, so I had was talking to the head of the accounting department over at Murray State and he knew of a couple, uh, couple Murray State alums that were working for an accounting firm in Paducah, and so he had called them and just set up a little meet and greet.

Wes Titus:

You know they weren't even really hiring at the time, but just you know they were Murray State alums. Here's a guy getting ready to graduate Murray State.

Wes Titus:

So, they you know they set up the meet and greet and so I went over to them and got to spend an afternoon over there and talk with them and everything and good time. But as far as I knew, that was it. Well, it turns out that accounting firm was actually the firm that prepared taxes and did bookkeeping work and things like that for Graceland. No way, and Graceland was looking for an accountant at the time to come on, and so that firm, that accounting firm, sent my resume over to Charlie Smith at the time. He was here he's been retired for a little while now but sent my resume over to him. I'm out there building buildings. One night I went to school full-time, worked full-time, you know.

Sambassador:

So, it's 8 o'clock at night, I'm out there building buildings. I was just thinking about this. So, you're still working at Dirksen building sheds. Yeah, I'm still building sheds.

Wes Titus:

Still going to Murray State, I hadn't graduated yet, and so it was, you know, eight o'clock in the evening. I'm out there, you know, putting the shed together, and my phone rings and it was Charlie from Graceland saying hey, I got your, your resume. I'd like you know we're, we're applying, we're interviewing accountants for a staff accountant position. Would you, would you want to come in for an interview? He says Graceland. I said sure, I'll come in. I said where are you? At Cunningham, Kentucky. I don't know where that is. I live in Cunningham.

Ashley Hardison:

No way, so this is back in 2009.

Wes Titus:

And lo and behold, I come in interview, accept an accounting position Started in November of 2009 here at Graceland. Didn't graduate Murray State until December, so Lord blessed and helped me get my first job before I even graduated Before you even graduated.

Wes Titus:

And then through time here, almost 15 years in I went from staff accountant, I worked as the controller corporate controller for Graceland for years and years. And then worked into I was working with special projects and development and things like that Then jumped into logistics director of logistics role for a couple years, yeah, the fun side, the dark side. The fun side.

Sambassador:

Yeah, the fun side, the fun side, the fun side. Yeah, the fun side, the fun side, the fiesta side, not the siesta.

Wes Titus:

No, yeah, definitely a fiesta, because it's always something new, that's a private

Sambassador:

lunch joke.

Ashley Hardison:

I say the dark side, because Mike always tells me that I'm absolutely out of my mind, crazy, because I love transportation logistics so much.

Sambassador:

Yeah, I get that.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm like well, you know, you have to be a little kooky to enjoy what we do yeah, every day is a new adventure, absolutely.

Wes Titus:

You're never going to face two days the same in logistics. So you got out of the dark side.

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Wes Titus:

Well, it led me into the position I'm at now, which is vice president of operations.

Ashley Hardison:

Okay.

Wes Titus:

And so, you know I've been on the finance side, I've built buildings, I've been in logistics, and so now I'm senior vice president of operations here at Graceland.

Sambassador:

Okay, and you know, like I said, 15 years in and no plans on stopping. So, tell me what a day in y'all's life looks like. You come in in the morning, you drink coffee. That's a good start.

Wes Titus:

Oh yeah, coffee gets you going yeah.

Sambassador:

So what? What do you? What does a VP of operations? What does that look like?

Wes Titus:

So, a lot of, a lot of the VP of operations is planning and strategizing and working with uh know from Greg the CEO, and Mike the COO to RSMs out in the field of where business is developing. Okay, you know, do we have? So, on the operations side, you know, what kind of driver support, what kind of, you know, manufacturing support and strategizing.

Wes Titus:

So, there's you know, on an average day there's different meetings to collaborate all that and make sure you know we have all that in line. Plus, we're working with the teams to, you know, resolve whatever comes up throughout the day. You know, like I say, there's always something new that might pop up, whether it's at a manufacturing facility or a driver company and of course, working with Ashley as director of transportation and just all the different, you know ones inside the operations side.

Sambassador:

So, you're, I basically look at the shed industry, you know, as there's a manufacturing, there's a sales and a hauling, and then we obviously have the rent to own and you know pickups on the other two sides. You're basically involved with all of that. Exactly Operations in any of it, whatever it takes. On all of that to pull together You're more on the pickup side Is that what I kind of gathered, yep, a little bit of both.

Ashley Hardison:

So, I work a lot with Wes and our other VPs, you know, as far as the transportation side, with independent partners, and if we have a need in any particular area, I'll do some recruiting and bring those guys over to Graceland and work with them and kind of establish with Graceland and then they go and work more with the field. But I'm also director of asset recovery, so we do have a corporate fleet team and that's yeah.

Sambassador:

So you applied for dual jobs and got dual jobs.

Ashley Hardison:

Yeah, just not the one you wanted, no you got the one you wanted.

Ashley Hardison:

Well, actually I love both of them. Yeah, it was whenever my movement here at Graceland was very swift, we'll call it Okay. I was hired as a dispatcher but was quickly promoted to corporate dispatch manager within like three weeks, Okay. And then it was a year later I suppose More of a lateral transition but was then moved into the independent recruiter type of talent acquisition and then less than a year later I was promoted to director. So three promotions within less than two years. But the more I got into independent and working with independent teams, because Cook was all corporate.

Sambassador:

Yeah, that's true. Yes, Cook has all their own drivers, which you guys are partially corporate.

Ashley Hardison:

Yes.

Sambassador:

I mean.

Ashley Hardison:

I guess we can get into that right now.

Sambassador:

I was going to get into it. Sooner or later, all of us haulers know that you guys have a corporate hauler side and you have an independent hauler side. Who does? Uh, who's the poor, unlucky person that gets to hold that together dealing with is? Is that you or is that?

Ashley Hardison:

uh, that's a combination of kind of like I guess, me and Chris and

Sambassador:

yeah, Chris, I called him Chad

Sambassador:

never going to forget me. I told y'all I'm terrible with names.

Ashley Hardison:

Hey, well, there's also a Brad. You got Chris and.

Sambassador:

Chad. Oh, I did, yeah, I put them together, I made Chad, oops.

Ashley Hardison:

So yeah, Chris and I, we do tag team that quite a bit as far as just the equipment piece Because.

Sambassador:

I'm here to tell you I've, um, I come, so I don't know. First of all, I refused to grow up, so I never did grow up anywhere. Um, but grandpa was a farmer and a carpenter and dad built houses and then they always told me that I wouldn't be happy unless I had a steering wheel. So, I ran off and got my trucking license, you know, and did trucking and then I'd build houses and then I'd go trucking again and build houses and Sheds was always somewhere involved. But I know how hard it is to have owner operators, have independent drivers and have company drivers.

Sambassador:

You guys do it all at once.

Ashley Hardison:

We know there's a delicate balance, and that's something you know again from cook. That was, that was all corporate up until the time I left, and they were starting to kind of dabble in having independent contractors. At that point, um, Daniel Massey and Chris could reach a name too.

Ashley Hardison:

That had come oh, yeah, yeah, yeah so we worked with them a little bit right before I left. But it was kind of then where I saw the the need for both, you know, and when I got over here and truly see a company that's trying to balance you, at that time two years ago it was we were still building.

Ashley Hardison:

Yeah, and still building the independent piece and, um, you know, Greg and Mike have this vision and of just having a hybrid model, if you will have corporate and independent, and they kind of live in sync and we do a really good job of that.

Sambassador:

You know, that's something I can confidently say that's, that's where their vision. Um, I gathered from Greg I didn't get to talk to Mike a whole lot, but I gathered from Greg that that is the vision to keep both of them, that ideally, ideally, it works best if you have both options.

Sambassador:

Yeah, yeah have both options. Yeah, yeah it's. You know what it's that's. That's across. Well, you've been involved in all parts of the shed industry. It's across the board. That way there's. You know, I know guys that are manufacturing and they're selling strictly online. They have no lots and they're doing great, and I'm saying you're leaving something on the table. I know guys that have lots and don't do anything online and I'm like and they're doing great and I'm saying no, you're leaving something on the table. You guys see that in the hauling side too, right, that it's important to. I like that, the hybrid model that you can. If you have the right people in place, you can make it work on the hauling side. Um, the hard part is to get people to understand that you're not trying to do one or the other correct, that is what how do?

Sambassador:

you, how do you go other than using motor mouth, Sam?

Ashley Hardison:

how do you get? How do you get people to? Understand that that's what you're doing um, I think we do a really good job to uh communicating that, like Wes and I worked a lot together when we're recruiting our new independent partners. Whoever decides is it's like hey, we, we want to make sure our corporate guys are fed, we want to make sure the independent guys are fed, and equally so because we have to have both of them for this business to be successful yeah, yeah, we will address it on the front side.

Wes Titus:

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked the question are you guys going to 100% corporate fleet?

Ashley Hardison:

And I'll say no People just assume that if you're doing one or the other in something.

Sambassador:

Well, first of all, we know what assume does, but we do it's people watch leaders and then they try to figure out what they think the leaders are doing. So, it's just a given that. Oh, I saw two Graceland semis the other day. You know, they're going corporate, you know.

Sambassador:

Well down there by us there's two semis, there's a pickup truck and every once in a while I'll see another pickup truck, and it's like you know. But I also understand that you guys have the other side. It's like you know, but I also understand that you guys have the other side.

Wes Titus:

But for the average person it's a little easy to yeah, and for those, you know that are already involved or those that might want to be involved. I mean, like I said, they may see the court, oh OK, well, they're just going corporate trucks. But yeah, we, just, we just address that head on. I've told everybody for years now, and I know Ashley does the same thing, it's years now and I know Ashley does the same thing.

Wes Titus:

It's just, I don't ever see a world where it will be all corporate or all independent. It's. It's going to be a hybrid that's that's what we'll have and it works.

Sambassador:

It works really well if you, yeah, the hats off to you, because if you can make that work, um, I feel like you get a dual fuel engine. You're not just dependent on one or the other. You can just get so much more done. You know, I bought a new generator. I'm a little bit of a prepper. I say that very carefully because people are.

Ashley Hardison:

Oh, he's a prepper.

Sambassador:

You know the world is falling, no, but if the world falls, you might want to come see me falling. No, but if the world falls, you might want to come see me. Um, but that's so when I went to buy a new generator. I have a really big diesel generator that'll run not only my house, it would run all my shops, like everything. If it really got bad. And I'm preppy enough that the generator is old enough that you know if we have an emp or something, it won't tear up my generator. It's an old diesel, it's going to run anyway. So, I'm a little bit that way.

Sambassador:

But I wanted a new generator that I can kind of roll around fairly easy. We have ice storms, power goes out. We have wind storms, power goes out. So, I went looking for a generator. So, as you can well imagine, I don't buy just a gas generator. I buy a generator that takes gas, it takes propane and it takes natural gas. So, I have three options, and that's basically the way I look at life. You always need more options, and that's what you're doing in the trucking side. It's just you do it in other areas too. This is just where we're having to focus on.

Sambassador:

So how do you? One of the ways I asked you how you do that, how you get the word out of whatever you guys showed up at the bash we did this year. So, I, you know, we got you to sponsor and host one and this time you know I was like, and you know that was my, that was my push for this. I hope I did a fairly good job at that, like when we even sent the emails and stuff out. I don't want people's money. We have to have the money. It's a necessary evil to run them, but I want the support. Personally, I want people to show up. Y'all want to talk about your bash experience at all.

Ashley Hardison:

Oh my gosh, I can't wait for October 2025. I'm ready for Texas experience at all. Oh my gosh, I can't wait for October 2025.

Sambassador:

You know what's crazy? I've got other. You're not the only one that's asking me.

Wes Titus:

I got other some of the rent known companies. We had just gotten to talk about it.

Ashley Hardison:

I think when we started talking about it last November, October, November, I guess, I think Jason, Jason actually brought it to our attention. And then, man, that would be super cool if we could get some people together and send a truck out there and have a booth ready. So, we got with marketing hey, these are our ideas, and you had worked with Jason for a potential sponsorship. I think is how it came about.

Sambassador:

Yeah, yeah.

Ashley Hardison:

And then it got in my hands and I went to marketing and hey, let's go, yeah, and the rest is history. But that was incredible.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, it was great, I enjoyed being there.

Sambassador:

Yeah, it was cool to have you all there. And the other thing we did is we got you guys involved with like some of the competitions and stuff. Did you have fun doing that I?

Ashley Hardison:

had a lot of fun doing that. So which one were we judging? The ground level, I think.

Sambassador:

You were doing the four cones, which one was the high point? I totally missed that.

Ashley Hardison:

I was way off. Yeah, I actually even admit that on this podcast. Then I had fun.

Sambassador:

I acted like they had it all wrong when I did that. They all looked at me like the dude has lost his mind and I played it off like my wife was, like I thought you were serious. I'm like hey if you're going to haulers, you're not going to get much over on them. And I was like if you're going to do it, you better be sold out to it and do it right. And they were like he has lost his mind. There's no way that one was yeah, yeah, oh yeah, it was fun.

Wes Titus:

I enjoyed being over there because everybody that came over to I mean, man, they were, they were getting into that.

Ashley Hardison:

Yeah, they were getting on the ground and, and you know, oh yeah, they're not going to do it halfway.

Wes Titus:

We weren't allowing any, you know, measuring devices you know, but I mean yeah that you know, using the eyeball, getting on the ground, going to every single corner in the middle and, yeah, guys were having a great time with I was. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Ashley Hardison:

I was, you know, just recording their answers basically yeah, but I enjoyed watching the everything yeah, well, they're like come here, man, come here. What do you think? What do you think you know? Come, look at this. Yeah, that was super cool. It is a lot of fun.

Sambassador:

Um, I don't even know. People are like what's your goal with the bash? And I used to be like what was just to get guys together, you guys together. You know, I preached for years on the hauler page that, um, competition is great. Um, the best thing you can do is walk across the street and shake the hand of your competition and work together. And we've done that.

Sambassador:

The haulers have done that very well in the fact that it doesn't matter who breaks down in your area. If you break down and you need help, you're gonna go help them, even if it's the guy that you know you're probably selling sheds against or whatever, it doesn't matter, because there's a bigger picture. Um, so I've always kind of said that that's the biggest influence. But anymore, the seeing the interaction with sponsors and getting to see people get to know each other. And now we're far enough in where some of these guys are starting to build relationships. They see each other every time. You know and I'll see them on Facebook and outside of the hauler page they're friends and they're talking to each other and I'm like how in the world do those two guys know each other?

Ashley Hardison:

Well, there's only one place. It all started at the bash.

Sambassador:

Yeah, guys know well, there's only one place all started at the bash starts. Yeah, they, they, you know they met up at the bash. It's kind of funny because social media still has this edge to it that you can almost tell when two people are going at it that they've never met each other, and then when they meet, something changes. So, I'm all about, I'm all about having a social presence. Don't get me wrong, that's important. You got to have social media presence, um, but to follow it up and to get the personal experience with those people, um, that's huge to me. Um, I feel like we could apply that more to corporate and to companies Like you guys. Do you get to travel any? Do you get to go meet your dealers? What do you think?

Sambassador:

Oh, yeah definitely

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Wes Titus:

Yeah, I mean well, especially in my role. I mean, I usually put on 40,000, 50,000 miles a year.

Wes Titus:

Nice, so you get out a lot yeah we get to go out you know, meet drivers and dealers and you know, scout new areas and just all you know all sorts of things. But yeah, I love stopping by and, just you know, meeting people that I've ever you know all sorts of things but yeah, I love stopping by and, just, you know, meeting people that I've never, you know, getting out of the office and getting a chance to the field and the office and so that's encouraged around here too. Not like saying my role. You know I have a little bit of a. That's an advantage I have.

Ashley Hardison:

I get to meet more of them than what some others may, but yeah, it's definitely an encouraged thing.

Wes Titus:

We do have quite a few people that will travel and get out and, you know, put a face to the name, you know they hear the voices, they talk to each other many times. Then you get to get out and meet them and you know maybe even get to some of their personal story and just get to know them better it's excellent.

Ashley Hardison:

That's nice, yeah.

Sambassador:

Even if you're like me, it takes you six times to see the face, to remember what the name is. You get to travel too. I do yeah, yeah, yeah, in fact I asked you if you're going to be at the expo yeah, and your answer was you're going to be in my neck of the woods.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm gonna be in your neck of the woods, yeah, so I think somebody should reschedule something there that doesn't that doesn't?

Sambassador:

it's like a double whammy to me. It's like I'm not even going to be home when you're down there and then you're not going to be at the expo, where all of us are going to be. It might depend.

Ashley Hardison:

I'll be there way before the expo.

Sambassador:

Oh, I hear you. Yeah, so you get to travel a lot. That's part of your job. So what are you doing?

Ashley Hardison:

You're just out meeting all your I'm going out, yeah, like Wes said, putting faces with names and you know, if it's something that a driving company, I feel. I'm very big on gut feelings. I think that's a God gift, is gut feelings. And we've had a couple of prospects that I've called west. I'm like man, I just I have a really good gut feeling. I just think if we can get in front of them, yeah, you know.

Sambassador:

But do you uh, rabbit trail for a minute on gut feelings. Um, we're all Christians, um, we talk about it. Um, one of the guys I don't remember who it was somebody told me last night they appreciate that I'm very open about that and I'm like, well, that's what you get. This is my ministry. I joke around. I tell people all the time I did prison ministry for 25 years and then I got into the shed industry and now I do shed ministry. These are my. The haulers don't know it, but they're my prisoners.

Sambassador:

Gut feelings. Do you ever notice that they're more accurate if you have a bad gut feeling or if you have a good gut?

Ashley Hardison:

feeling. I don't know that my gut can tell the difference between it's just a gut feeling and it's usually pretty spot on good or bad.

Sambassador:

I'm glad she's not calling it women's intuition, or else we wouldn't have a shot. We'd be done.

Sambassador:

That's what my wife would say She'd be like I told you so, my wife. And she'll tell you it's women's intuition, because he doesn't have any. So, here's the bad thing about me. I have bad gut feelings. Um, I have the gift of prophecy and I see stuff and 90% of it is bad stuff and nobody wants to listen to it, it's just a given. They don't want to hear it. So, I really have to work hard on my. I'm a positive guy by nature as far as that goes. Like if I see something that needs fixing or done, I'm kind of willing to jump in and do it. That's fine. But I tend to see what's coming quicker on the bad side than I do the good side. That's why I was asking you that, because you took it to the good side. You said I have a good gut feeling about this person and you want to go meet them or whatever. So put you on the spot. Does your gut hold up pretty good?

Ashley Hardison:

It does. It does it does, I'd say probably 98% of the time. Is she right?

Wes Titus:

She's telling the truth. Yeah, because, like I say, she'll call me and say hey, I've got a feeling about this guy. We need to go meet him.

Sambassador:

Let's go. So do you guys get to travel together much?

Ashley Hardison:

Sometimes Sometimes.

Wes Titus:

A lot of times we're going separate ways here, there and everywhere. But yeah, there's many times that we'll get to go into the same area and, like you, said with what she's doing and independent driver recruiting as one of her tasks. I mean, like I say, getting to meet people in person is is a great thing actually going out and sitting in front of the potential hauler and going over, rather than just there's just that level of getting out there and working with them in person huge difference you could tell them what you, what you can over the phone, but you know it's a huge difference that time and effort to actually go out and meet with them and so yeah, that's no, I will say we've.

Wes Titus:

We've been out a handful of times on that.

Sambassador:

And well they're driving for us and have been successful. Yep, it was one of the. So put me on the spot. Did the bash help Like, did you pick up any new faces? Because I told you I want my sponsors to feel like they get their money's worth.

Ashley Hardison:

New faces.

Sambassador:

Or did you just get to kind of like, like, build a deeper relationship with who you had?

Ashley Hardison:

Well, it kind of had a dual purpose for us being out there, yeah. We were able to Both sides. There were a couple of haulers that we were interested in talking to that we've had caught when would be at the bash, but then also knew there were a lot of guys that currently drive for us that would also be at the bash it's like oh okay, well, this is an opportunity.

Ashley Hardison:

we can go meet them and talk to them and build that relationship in person, but also potentially go ahead and start conversations with new haulers, and we had a couple of success out of the bash as well.

Wes Titus:

Nice, it was a great experience, like I said, one driver company that we never had heard of or met before, and got to meet them there.

Ashley Hardison:

They'd stop by and we all were chatting and now they do. Some hauling for us in.

Wes Titus:

Virginia.

Sambassador:

And the same thing.

Wes Titus:

We kind of got to see others that maybe we've talked to but, haven't got to see in a long time or, you know, maybe we're in an area now that they're in.

Sambassador:

And you guys had a company driver there.

Ashley Hardison:

We did, we did, yep.

Sambassador:

Remind me of his name. I haven't met him six times yet His name's Barry.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm going to refrain using his last name because I don't want somebody to steal him.

Ashley Hardison:

So, his name's not really even Barry.

Wes Titus:

Now wait a minute.

Ashley Hardison:

That's a cluck of disguise Wasn. Wasn't there a Berriot dinner last night?

Sambassador:

There is a Berriot dinner yes, oh see, y'all are just trying to confuse me.

Ashley Hardison:

Oh no, that's good. Now we have two Berries. Yeah, you got two of them.

Sambassador:

Yeah, berriot is Well now your boss man said that if you do a good job, you don't have to worry about your employees getting stolen true, true, I'd like to think that I did a pretty good job.

Ashley Hardison:

I mean, he did come. He and I worked at Cook together, so if that says anything, oh yeah yeah, so there there's a connection there's a connection.

Sambassador:

Yeah, I was digging for that and I actually got it.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm pretty good at some days, yeah, because you brought him, he came, yeah, he came shortly after I did, yeah, we uh, when I I had left and um, because of course I had a group, fleet group with Cook that I worked with for over a year, and Barry being one of them and I had promised my former boss but she's not with Leonard Cook now anyway, but I had promised her whenever I left that I wouldn't try to steal anybody. Recruit. Thank you, Recruit anybody.

Sambassador:

I was going to say there's a difference in stealing somebody and recruiting somebody. Because if they come of their own good nature, that's oh, I could go way out on a limb on that. That applies all the way across. I mean we could talk about builders, dealers, sales guys, everybody. I had a good talk with Greg about that.

Sambassador:

You know, treat your people right you don't have to worry about it and uh, at the end of the day, if, if you still have to worry about them, they're probably not the right people. Um, I'm pretty firm believer in that people, um, the people that I don't worry about, I don't have to perform for, touche, um, and that's when I the day I figured that out for my personal life, that's the day my life made a whole lot more sense. If you're having to perform for people, here's your free nugget for the day, I guess. But if you have to perform for people to be friends with them, they might not be the right friends, right, and it applies. It applies in work. You know, I love what I see here. You know, as any company and I even hear it back through the grapevine about me and I'm a one-man pony, you know. I mean, there's nothing to this show except me, and even I hear back stuff. I'm like, where in the world.

Ashley Hardison:

Did you hear that? You know where does that even?

Sambassador:

come from, I hear it about all the big companies.

Ashley Hardison:

I hear it about some of the smaller companies.

Sambassador:

even it's like Shannon has a good word. He said you know, you just go find out for yourself. Some days that's the best thing to do. And you guys actually invited me here. I don't know what's wrong with y'all.

Sambassador:

Y'all must have had a bump, bump your heads or something that day and Shannon sorry buddy, you know. Um, so I'm having a really good week, uh, or a really good week, a really good couple of weeks. Um, not only did I land his uh Graceland interview, but I also landed a sponsor that he's been working for. I can't talk about him yet because we don't officially have him on board, but it's somebody that's as important in the shed industry as you guys are, and when the ad comes out, it's going to be fun. We're. We had a blast putting it together the other night, um, but it's, it's. Uh. Yeah, sorry buddy, I'm up two to zero for the last three weeks on you.

Sambassador:

So where do you you're staying? I mean, like I asked you, you know, I said I'd like to know where you're at, where you came from, where you're going. You're not going anywhere.

Ashley Hardison:

I can confidently say I'm not going anywhere. If I go anywhere, it's just continue to grow here.

Sambassador:

Yeah, I mean yeah, grow here.

Ashley Hardison:

It's funny, you know I'm talking with well Danielle. She Grow here. It's funny, you know I'm talking with well Danielle. She's our corporate dispatch manager about two months ago and I was like what are your aspirations? And, of course, like everybody aspires to be VP and eventually the top dog, if you will. And I'm like you know, I'm actually really happy where I'm at.

Ashley Hardison:

Like.

Ashley Hardison:

I think I've just found my spot. Like I'm happy this is home.

Ashley Hardison:

Yes, this is home.

Wes Titus:

Yes, this is home. Yes, well, like I say, you know, like, like was said earlier, when, when you enjoy what you do and I've always said something similar everybody has to work. You know, people need to make an income yeah, so you might as well do something that you enjoy doing yeah because if you're just miserable doing what you're doing for a living, then you're probably in the, in the wrong line of work, and yeah, yeah, I, I mean 15 years in. I always say give me 25 more.

Sambassador:

I'm not going anywhere. That's awesome, because I'm thinking of where I'll be in 25 years. I'll be coming up here in my wheelchair to see you.

Ashley Hardison:

Well. I think shed hauling, which I'm sure both of y'all can attest to as well, once it sinks its hooks into you.

Sambassador:

Oh, you're done.

Ashley Hardison:

You're done, yeah.

Sambassador:

We watch guys leave. They come back. I get guys all the time on the hauler page. They're like man. That guy doesn't even haul sheds anymore. Why is he on here? And I'm like we've had a slogan on there for years Once a shed hauler always a hauler. And they'll probably come back, because they always leave. They come back. Because they always leave, they come back. Or you know, and the funny thing about it is they're more than happy to tell you they left, but they never tell you when they came back.

Ashley Hardison:

They just all of a sudden they're back hauling yeah and I'm like, oh, you're back again.

Sambassador:

I could name a whole bunch of names, right now, but I'll be nice.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, we probably could name a few as well. We just hired well sheds in general.

Ashley Hardison:

That way I mean shed haulings, that way and just you know the shed industry, the shed industry itself.

Wes Titus:

Like I say, it's just one of those.

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What was that? You heard that too, Sam. What was that? Oh, that wasn't supposed to come out what was it. Uh, I was given some confidential information. Not sure what I'm supposed to do now that you heard that though.

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Yep a diesel donkey like I used to have. Hey, there's a lot more stuff coming, but I've said enough. I'll get in trouble soon if I say any more.

Wes Titus:

Well, I think I talked to you last night a little bit. I told you a brief story of my wife's pastor up in Chicago area. Right before we're getting ready to get married. He pulled me to the side. He said now, what do you do for a living? I said I'm in the shed industry. I build sheds. He goes now. You really think you can support her? Of course he's suburbs of Chicago.

Ashley Hardison:

So I just told him.

Sambassador:

I said well, down south sheds means a little something different than what you all are used to up here, so we're not going to put a lot right outside of Windy City up there. Yeah, no plans on that right now no plans.

Wes Titus:

As soon as we get that drone delivery I'll let you know. But yeah, I spent a lot more time on the building side, but I did. I remember being out there at the shop one day and, uh, when the haulers pulled up and he's like, hey, my helper sick today, Couldn't, couldn't go with me, he goes yeah, give you a hundred bucks to ride with me and drive my truck back.

Wes Titus:

You know cause? I mean we were going far, I mean he was, you know, four hours one way to deliver a load, you know, and so you know he was going to drive up there with the load and I'll help him set it and then he was going to catch some, catch some, rest on the way back while I just drove and I said sure, so I just jumped in, that's awesome we headed up into Missouri and you know that's cool.

Wes Titus:

Then he handed me the keys. Uh, I said, all right, you're driving home. I was like all right, let's do it.

Ashley Hardison:

Hey, I love being in truck. One of my favorite places to be.

Wes Titus:

And on the mule oh my gosh.

Ashley Hardison:

yes, I love the mule. Oh, you were riding that mule around the shed, bash.

Wes Titus:

I'm telling you, I missed that. Oh my gosh, how did I miss that? I don't know.

Ashley Hardison:

I about ran over Jordan, though.

Sambassador:

He's like I can't believe I missed that because you guys know Melody.

Ashley Hardison:

Melody Troutman yes Well, I don't know her personally per se, but I've talked to her a couple times I call her the shed hound, because if you got missing sheds she can find them. I've heard she can find them.

Sambassador:

So anyway, we had some fun with well we, Jd Perry, had some fun with her at the Oklahoma barbecue. They do a competition where the women drive the mules to a course. So, Melody gets on there, but he takes his mule over with his remote. I should have done that with you. It is priceless. I did it in the Georgia barbecue last year when somebody was riding around on the thing. You can override it with a remote and then just like.

Sambassador:

JD had her going everywhere in circles and stuff and she was just what is going on. She was losing her mind over that thing. It is. It's a lot of, so there are a lot of challenges in this industry, but it's a lot of fun and I believe that. So back to what you said about if you enjoy what you're doing, you never work a day in your life. That's half of it. The other half of it is you have to have people.

Ashley Hardison:

You have to have the right people.

Sambassador:

I've been in places where I was doing what I enjoyed doing, but not with the right people. That is not any fun whatsoever it's true. And going out to eat with y'all. Last night hanging out with you, today, lunch and stuff hey, we're going out to eat again tonight too.

Ashley Hardison:

Yeah, absolutely.

Sambassador:

I see people that like to work together. Yeah, how do you speak to that? What makes that work?

Wes Titus:

I'd say it's just kind of it's almost like a lot of like-mindedness. There's a common core of not just Graceland and sheds but a lot of common bond of faith and friendship and it's almost like just extended family. That's a good word. Yeah, you're working with your family pretty much.

Ashley Hardison:

I couldn't agree more.

Sambassador:

And I just want to reiterate again when you found out that Cook wasn't going to work anymore and you think I'm going to lose my good job, I was heartbroken. It wasn't going to work anymore and you think, oh, I'm gonna lose my good job.

Ashley Hardison:

I was heartbroken I was, it wasn't so much the work I was yeah, I was sad for the. I was the people I was leaving I had formed such a bond and they had become so ingrained in my day-to-day. I spent obviously more time with them. So I'm working. I did some days with my kids, you know. So they become such a family and I'm like oh, no, like I no, like I'm not going to find that again, you know, and I'm like, wow, you know, so it's awesome.

Sambassador:

Would you have ever come to work at Graceland if Cook was still gone and you were still happy there?

Ashley Hardison:

You know, I don't know, I don't know what God would have, where he would have led me.

Sambassador:

He would have booted you out of there somehow, or?

Ashley Hardison:

another. Maybe I do feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. That's something I don't know. It was a real, not a strange feeling per se. You know the piece that surpasses all understanding and talks about in the Bible. Yeah, as soon as I walked in the doors for my interview, it was like this unbelievable peace I have never felt before when it came to a career. I'm like that's it. And then the PO box six, four, two, and I'm like, ah, now I know that's gone.

Sambassador:

I'm glad it was six, four, two, not six six, six She'd have been out the door. Well, I'm pretty sure Mr Daniel would have never put up with that in the first place.

Ashley Hardison:

You know, just the general, just the general sense. We all have a common goal. You know it's, it's of course we want, we want Graceland to succeed, but we want to take care of our customers. But our customers aren't just the external customers, the ones who buy the buildings. Right, we want to take care of the dealers. We want to take care of the haulers, the corporate guys, each other here in the office, because it takes all of us.

Ashley Hardison:

We can't succeed with an eye-minded kind of like what Mike was talking about earlier, with an eye-minded personality, and we're all forward thinkers.

Wes Titus:

Well, there's that. You know. You mentioned a little bit earlier about how's it work between having independent and corporate hauling.

Wes Titus:

And you know we had talked about how we. You know, just talk about that up front that we believe there's always a hybrid there. But I'll tell you, there becomes a hauling brotherhood even between the two of them. I've had an independent hauler call me and say hey, I was just driving by and I seen one of your trucks get his trailer stuck out there. I just pulled him out for you. I was like, hey, appreciate it, oh, absolutely.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, it's all one, like you said, just that if somebody's in need, whether they're working for the same company or a different company or, like you say, a corporate, you know independent.

Sambassador:

Why the shed industry latches on to me so much is the fact that we do have the common denominator of faith of still wanting the best for each other, not just on the hauler side, but all the way across the board, even the greedy builders. I got to get that in there just because I'm sorry. I'm being sarcastic, for those of y'all that don't understand sarcasm. But, um, you know, it's always the builders, they're the, they're the ones that are greedy. You know, we hear it all the time, but um, Gideon Zook talked about that on his episode, um, that when they needed a pack of lumber they'd go down to the other shop and get a pack of lumber from the guy that was building sheds against them.

Sambassador:

And I'm like, yes, that's the way it should be, and we do. We pull each other out. Especially if I'm driving a Ram and he's stuck with a Ford, I'll sure enough pull him out and I'll make him famous.

Ashley Hardison:

Or if he's broke down.

Ashley Hardison:

I'll hook up to him.

Ashley Hardison:

That explains your post last night about the red Ford.

Sambassador:

Now you got it, you figured it out. I'd rather push it. I'd rather push a Ford than ride in it, and I had to ride in one.

Wes Titus:

Well, I tell you, we bought a Ford once.

Ashley Hardison:

True story oh, it's still running.

Wes Titus:

I don't know. We got rid of it long ago.

Sambassador:

Yeah, the response the response the response to that from my ford guides is oh yeah, I'm still driving it and I'm like then why is ford the number one selling truck on the road? Because you got to keep having to buy more and more of them. No, it's good. I love what you guys are doing here, Love what you mean for the industry. It's kind of been cool to watch y'all raise up a little bit. Greg talked about it. He said you know, it's easy for a corporation to just get I don't want to call it tunnel vision, but just get focused on what you're doing in your day to day and not necessarily what's going on, and he wants that to change.

Sambassador:

He wants to be involved, even if personally it's different for him. I'm not going to get him on a podcast yet you watch.

Ashley Hardison:

I got to sit over there and talk to him for two hours. I'm telling you I could talk to the man and listen to the man for hours. He's definitely a visionary, like he wants to do everything that people are not doing, everything everybody else is not doing, if that makes sense, yeah.

Sambassador:

So, no, it was definitely fun to be able to sit and talk with him oh for sure. And all of you guys, each one of you. You know it's different personalities, but everything's driven by the same goals, which is cool to see. We've got plenty of time in here. See, it's like we're already almost at an hour. It's like amazing.

Wes Titus:

It's amazing how fast we're going. It passes so quick and I was kind of wondering, you know, Am I going to run out of stuff this night?

Sambassador:

No, it's like. And then all of a sudden you're like oh, I could get a second steam and we could go for a while. And then you end up with a Sam Byler episode that goes into two full episodes, but it is.

Sambassador:

It's just, you know, what do you put out there for guys that are thinking about you know they they'd kind of like to do one, do a podcast, be on it, but they're like, uh, nobody wants to hear from me, I don't have anything to say. How do you got anything you want to put out there for people like that? Like, is it hard to do? Did you enjoy it? I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I didn't get it.

Wes Titus:

I didn't think it was hard at all yeah it's you know but I like say I was kind of wondering.

Ashley Hardison:

I've never done a podcast so I was like, okay, well, how's this going to run? I haven't either, but I knew we'd be talking about sheds, so at that point, I knew. I had no problem talking and hauling, hauling and sheds.

Sambassador:

We could talk about building and sales. You do all that. We could get in all that.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm trying to get a second invite out of this deal and you guys aren't catching on. You know, I thought we discussed that already. I told you I was coming out oh, that's right.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, see, see, yeah. So what you doing next week? No, definitely anytime. What do you, what do you?

Sambassador:

see from y'all's perspective um, not Graceland, but from you guys personally. What do you see in the future of the shed industry? Like, does it bother you that we're a little bit slower right now? Do you think that's going to shake?

Ashley Hardison:

out and be fine.

Sambassador:

What's your mental attitudes?

Ashley Hardison:

I'm really not bothered by it. It ebbs and flows every two and a half, three, three and a half years. So we're just in that three and a half year mark. It will pick back up. I do see probably some consolidation happening and for the next six to 10 months, and maybe sooner than that, just depends on what happens with the economy. But, um, I like what we're doing and I know you used to ask for my personal, but also from a company standpoint.

Wes Titus:

Oh no, that's fine.

Sambassador:

Yeah.

Ashley Hardison:

I really like what, what we're doing, especially with our leaders in place and with the forward thinking that, like Greg talked about earlier the strategies that we've been working on for five years, and I'm really excited to see where we'll be in five more years, because I think we're going to be a powerhouse Right.

Wes Titus:

No, I would agree. I mean, all things are cyclical, you know, and you know you face an economic time that we're in, where inflation is high and you know money gets a little tight for people. But all things go in a cycle and I think it's just a time like this is just a time where there's more due diligence to dig in and make sure you have proper planning and focus.

Sambassador:

Thank you, yep.

Wes Titus:

And you know with you know Greg's vision and others for the company and things to come, and it's not just Grayson, like I said for everybody I don't worry about. Well, we mentioned it yesterday that as long as people have stuff, they're always going to need a shed. And as long as they get more stuff, they're going to need another shed. So, you know, yeah, I don't worry about an industry, that that we're in just being one, that that isn't to come down the road. They'll always be a need.

Ashley Hardison:

But yeah, you get in these times and it just, it just drives a focus to make sure you're properly planning and setting yourself up for the future yeah yeah, I think the companies who who've done that I'll obviously speak for us companies who have properly prepared and began strategizing in preparation in the event of something like a down economy happening, I think will be who you see.

Sambassador:

I've heard the word soft a lot lately. It's not that it's really down, it's just soft People. I still see people spending money.

Sambassador:

They're just more careful what they're spending it on right now. I did an interview with Jason Graber with Shed Suite a couple weeks ago. He said it's the fact that you have to go back, you have to know how to sell. You can't just write an order. You know when you go on through the other side of the cycle you can literally just about give somebody a stack full of papers in a couple buildings and just say write up the orders and well, we're back to selling sheds again and some of us are very good at it and we can sell sheds. And yeah, do your due diligence, keep track of it. It's good. Anything you want to add in closing, something far out there, anything?

Ashley Hardison:

at all. I can think of a bunch of things far out there but I'm not sure people want to hear about them.

Sambassador:

You can tell me tonight at dinner.

Ashley Hardison:

I want to hear these no, I'm so glad that you came to see us.

Sambassador:

Good.

Ashley Hardison:

I'm so glad you came to see us. I've been looking forward to it.

Sambassador:

Yeah, we've been looking forward to this for a while. I know a few months now I'm making. Yeah, it's like hey about this week I'm busy.

Ashley Hardison:

How about you? No, I'm free.

Sambassador:

Hey about this week.

Wes Titus:

It's an honor to be here and I've really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to even some more good times. I'd reiterate that We've enjoyed having you out here and, yeah, let's make it happen again sometime.

Sambassador:

Absolutely, I mean it's just yeah. So we always give opportunity for if anybody wants to get a hold of you. Do you want any information out there as far as if there's haulers out there looking for you or if you have dealers that you know? We're always looking for new partnerships and stuff. How does Grace do I just Google Graceland. com.

Ashley Hardison:

You could. That would get probably our parent line. But no, my corporate cell is 270-445-0177. So, if anybody's wanting to haul or wanting to discuss hauling any partnership information, pricing, whatever.

Sambassador:

Pricing. Do it one more time, because I got half of it in my head.

Ashley Hardison:

It's 270-445-0177.

Wes Titus:

Okay yeah, as far as.

Ashley Hardison:

Best way to get ahold of you is through her. Maybe, because I'm usually hey, wes Wait a minute.

Sambassador:

That's not what you call him.

Ashley Hardison:

Oh, my bad Westifer.

Ashley Hardison:

I learned a new name today. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Now you've got to keep track of two names.

Sambassador:

Oh, my word, I'll just call you Brad.

Ashley Hardison:

There you go, there you go or Chad or Chad, or Chad, chad or Brad.

Wes Titus:

Yeah, Any potential dealers. You know GracelandPortableBuildingscom. They can go on. Okay, we get leads through there people that are interested in Cool and you know, and you guys are still expanding, you're still looking for new business, absolutely.

Sambassador:

That's great. Yep, all right. Well, we're going to wrap this one up. If I don't, Shannon's going to split it and make me do it twice, so I don't really want to get that far in this time. But thank you guys so much for being on, and all you guys out there. Thank you for listening today, as always. Sambassador, your host with Friday Fun Days, and also, don't forget, you can find the shed geek. Oh boy, where do you find the shed geek? Shed geek. com. But Shannon always wants me to make sure. You know that the email has a newsletter, so read the newsletter. We always try to get your links in there. We'll post some pictures in there and stuff. So, thank you so much for listening to us today. I hope you guys have had a great day. Until next time, see y'all.