Shed Geek Podcast
The Shed Geek Podcast offers an in depth analysis of the ever growing and robust Shed Industry. Listeners will experience a variety of guests who identify or specialize in particular niche areas of the Shed Industry. You will be engaged as you hear amateur and professional personalities discuss topics such as: Shed hauling, sales, marketing, Rent to Own, shed history, shed faith, and much more. Host Shannon Latham is a self proclaimed "Shed Geek" who attempts to take you through discussions that are as exciting as the industry itself. Listeners of this podcast include those who play a role directly or indirectly with the Shed Industry itself.
Shed Geek Podcast
Personal Growth and Professional Insights in Shed Design
Join us as we journey through the fascinating world of the shed industry with Jonah and Ethan Guenther, two seasoned experts who provide an insider's perspective on this transformation. Jonah shares his decades of experience with Cumberland Barn Moving and its partnership with Old Hickory Buildings, while Ethan offers a fresh take on growing Elite Backyard Structures from the ground up. Their stories highlight the unique blend of professionalism and camaraderie that defines their community, whether you're in a suit or cowboy boots.
Expect to gain insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping the shed industry today. We talk about the emergence of rent-to-own sheds, the high standards expected from builders, and how the industry has adapted to meet these expectations. There's an emphasis on the importance of craftsmanship, effective communication, and the adaptability needed to cater to a growing demand for customized shed solutions. This episode also touches on the intriguing trend of converting sheds into homes, presenting both challenges and opportunities for businesses adjusting to these new consumer demands.
Beyond the technical aspects, we explore the heart of the industry: its impact on community and personal growth. From the power of setting sales expectations to the transformative potential of rehabilitation programs like Malachi Dads, we shed light on the broader themes of purpose and compassion that drive those involved. As we wrap up, there's a heartfelt reminder of the shared journey and mutual support that bind this passionate community, culminating in a simple yet profound prayer that underscores life's blessings.
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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Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast On this rainy day. Didn't know what to expect today, coming down here to Tennessee, but you guys will get a kick out of this. I made sure to pack up everything I had last night, got all the equipment in the trunk, did all the checks right Like, got this, got that, got this. And I was like you know, I really need to get back to my bow tie and suspenders. I've been wearing regular civilian clothes for a while and not really branding myself. Well, oh, I'll get that in the morning. Anybody do that. Mental notes are a dangerous thing. I'll. I'll grab that in the morning. Left this morning at 6 am white button down shirt sitting right there in the closet where it belongs. So you guys get me in a hoodie and I'm not branding.
JONAH GUENTHER:Well, you're doing fine. So we, we like us, we like to be comfortable yeah, that's right.
SHED GEEK:That's one thing I can't say enough about in this industry is they're very welcoming. You can walk in in a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots and in a lot of places that's just as professional as a suit and tie, and I appreciate that. Well, I'll tell you what let's introduce, who we've got on the show today.
SHED GEEK:If you guys want to go one at a time, maybe your name, your business, just a maybe a little brief summary of what you guys do
JONAH GUENTHER:yeah, hey guys, um, my name is Jonah Guenther and I've been, uh, doing sheds since, uh, I like to say I've been hauling sheds since the 1900s, so I've been at it a little while. Um, but I, my company name is a Cumberland Barn Moving and I have two trucks and trailers. My nephew runs the one for me and I do the other one. So, we contract and work for a company called Old Hickory Buildings and we do their deliveries and repos and moves and stuff in this area.
SHED GEEK:Excellent.
SHED GEEK:And you guys are. Where are we actually at? Are we in Crossville?
JONAH GUENTHER:Yeah, we're in the Crossville area when I live is actually a Monterey address.
SHED GEEK:Okay.
JONAH GUENTHER:But yeah, we're on the Cumberland Plateau here, right close to Bucky's. We've got Bucky's.
SHED GEEK:And I noticed you have a dollar store.
ETHAN GUENTHER:A couple of those, yeah,
SHED GEEK:you know, it's real
JONAH GUENTHER:We have as many dollar stores as we have ticks yeah.
SHED GEEK:They pop up everywhere. You can be in the middle of nowhere and you're like, hey, they got a dollar general. But you pretty well say that about everywhere.
JONAH GUENTHER:Yep, it is convenient, though I will say I like having a dollar general.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, it's close by. And then this is your son, ethan, is that right?
ETHAN GUENTHER:Yeah, I'm Ethan Gunther, co-owner of Elite Backyard Structures, Grew up in the shed industry with Dad and started me and my brother-in-law, Gary. He's not here today, but we started this what two and a half years ago, three years ago now, and growing every day.
SHED GEEK:Second-generation shed guy here and young, young guy, he's 23, and he's making moves and I love to see that because when you've kind of grown up in it you have a competitive advantage. I think you got to see it for a little bit of time.
JONAH GUENTHER:One thing I didn't mention is that I started hauling in 97, but in 2011 I had the opportunity to put in a little shop for Old Hickory. At that time, they were doing the pressure treated sheds and so there was a opportunity. Coming in seemed like the metal and some of the painted was taken off, and so I put in just a little shop. I'm probably their smallest shop, but we do build about 450 buildings a year.
SHED GEEK:Oh, wow, that's great so.
JONAH GUENTHER:Ethan grew up, you know, 2011. You would have been what
ETHAN GUENTHER:I'd have been 10. 10. Yeah,
JONAH GUENTHER:so, yeah, he started building sheds. You know, after school he'd come out and do shingling and stuff and then by the time he got out of school at 14, I guess he became my best builder. He was pretty fast.
SHED GEEK:That's awesome.
SHED GEEK:Well, Old Hickory to me they're as big a name in this industry as what you can possibly see. It seems like what they've done over there. Brian Berryman right, you know, I just hear such good things. I think I met him one time. This is something that maybe even the podcast audience doesn't know. We were the first back then Metal Max dealer in Illinois whenever they had moved north out of Murfreesboro, so like I think it was Richard that came down and see us and then they changed the name shortly after to Max Steel.
JONAH GUENTHER:You probably knew Jeff Carmen then?
SHED GEEK:So the name sounds familiar
JONAH GUENTHER:he's retired from Metal Max,
SHED GEEK:okay, yeah but we, we had just started with them took off really quick.
SHED GEEK:you know, one like uh, I think it was called like a horizon award with them early on and um, it just wasn't too long after that that we started transitioning kind of away from sales. But it was great, they made a great product. So, we used to go down to Murfreesboro a lot I've got family down there so it's convenient to go see them and they had just a shout out to them, because anymore if you're in, if you're in the shed business, it's hard to know where it bleeds over into other business and industry. You know, and uh, of course some of these guys are so big that they're, you know get to the point where they're like, hey, we got to order our own roll.
SHED GEEK:former start making our own metal.
SHED GEEK:When you're making metal you're like, hey, maybe we can just, you know, put metal on these sheds, and then you've kind of seen the progression of some of this stuff over time. But, uh, I just want to give a shout out to them because, you know, I feel like they're a quiet giant. I like to call them they're, they're, they're, you know they really. Uh, probably it's not understood how big they are, but how well they've done business over the years.
SHED GEEK:So a shout out to them and, uh, thank you to them you know for all leading the way in the industry for so many years and they have.
JONAH GUENTHER:Maybe we'll get into, when I transitioned, that I came to work for them in 2006 okay, and uh and Brian was. It was just a few guys at that time and about two shops wow three shops at that time. Yeah, yeah.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, well, we're in Tennessee. That Old Hickory name is definitely seen everywhere here in Tennessee, but I think they're probably in all lower 48. I mean, they're a big company and they seem to do excellent and are always kind. All their dealers are always kind. Anytime I get to meet them some that have been on the show and they seem highly organized. So again, thank you for what they've done. Jonah, tell me a little bit about how you got started in the industry. Did you just wake up one day and say I want to be a shed hauler? Is that how this works?
JONAH GUENTHER:No, it kind of came to me Okay, in 97, I was dating, and we were going to get married in November of 97, and this was in August. I had a cousin that had been hauling for a guy in Clark Range that had started up there in 93. And he had started hauling for him in 93 and then decided he was going to get out of it, and he sold it to another guy, his truck and trailer, and that guy didn't last, I guess, about six months or so. He was just like this is not for me and so, anyway, got kicked back to him hey, would you come take your job back? And uh, he was uh not really into being on the road all the time. He was newly married.
JONAH GUENTHER:So, he came to me and asked me hey, would you be interested in driving for me a couple days a week? You know hauling sheds, so I'm not on the road all the time. And I remember thinking, well, yeah, I could handle that. I know my way around with a truck and trailer pretty good, so that'd be something I could probably do. But at the same time, I thought this is not long term. I said this guy that's building sheds there, he's been there since 93. This is 97. You know it's not going to be long everybody.
JONAH GUENTHER:His brother is going to have a storage shed and I thought I seriously, I thought, well, I'll just do it while it lasts, you know. But so, it wasn't long, and I realized there is more going on than what is being met. At that time there was only two haulers in this area in the cummerbund plateau um and I. I worked for him driving his truck and trailer by the hour, and also the guy that had um that owned the shop. He had his own truck and trailer that he did some wholesale excuse me, he did some wholesale dealers and so I would drive it a couple days a week. Uh, running those lots and so I ended up hauling full time actually was farming with some of my family. We did the sorghum production, okay, and so I assume I've heard.
SHED GEEK:I just so you know. I have heard the, it's, it's Guenther
JONAH GUENTHER:Guenther
SHED GEEK:The Guenther name goes synonymous with sorghum and molasses, like you guys have that's our family, that's my brothers okay, I I've heard this already so I can't say I've eavesdropped on you, but I have heard that already and I'm like that's, that's interesting. I might have to look into where they keep their, their sorghum.
JONAH GUENTHER:So well, you're not terrible, far from where they're producing right now. Okay, they're cooking today, but anyway, I kind of moved out of the farming and just started doing sheds full time. Um, in 2001, uh, I had opportunity. There was a gentleman, Tennessee Dutch Barnes. I don't know if you've heard that name.
JONAH GUENTHER:I have Marion Garber. He started up and he was needing a hauler and so I bought a 93 Dodge that was a converted three-quarter ton, it had duals on it and I ordered a trailer from up in Pennsylvania at Creekside Welding. And that was in the days I thought okay.
SHED GEEK:Did James have it then Was that PD?
JONAH GUENTHER:It was PD.
SHED GEEK:Yeah.
JONAH GUENTHER:PD built my first trailer. Love PD, awesome guy Just salt of the earth.
SHED GEEK:I know and I always like to bring this up whenever he's mentioned on it. You know that him and his wife wed the exact same day in Europe me and my wife wed. So anytime I tell my wife happy anniversary, I just immediately send him a text message Awesome Great guy.
JONAH GUENTHER:Yeah, PD, yeah, he's a great guy.
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JONAH GUENTHER:You know, when we were going over on the phone as to you know what options we were going to. You know remote control wasn't even available. Right Side shift wheels were not an option. The side shift tail was. That was an $1,800 option. And this is 2001,. And you know, I'm just getting into it and I said, nah, I'm not gonna do it. I said I can jack that shed sideways, I'm in your time for eighteen hundred dollars. Well, guess what? I got my truck and trailer started hauling. It was six months, and I says I gotta have a side shift tail and spent twenty-two hundred dollars.
JONAH GUENTHER:Having that, but uh listen, learn there somewhere. Yes, that's right, yeah and so then, um, James, uh bought out pd right yes, I believe so he built my next trailer I. I bought a new trailer in 2006 then and had I was the first guy to have side shift wheels in this area that I know of okay, he had.
JONAH GUENTHER:Just, I think maybe Pine hill was doing some, but they weren't, as it wasn't one of those options that came on every trailer. Okay, so in 2006, I got a trailer with side shift wheels and I was revolutionizing and it had a remote, so I was like the new kid on the block, you know so, and what was you telling me?
SHED GEEK:you're not a social media guy. See you're, you're the original tech guy. You're, you know, you're the original tech techie. Uh, new, yeah, new, new, uh, remote and uh well, sideways wheels is still like shed hauling equipment is still in general. It's still a bit of an anomaly to the consumer, I think it is whenever you show up and move something around so easily, uh, they're just impressed with the equipment. I find that the customers just stand at all a lot of times I like to.
JONAH GUENTHER:I like to, you know, play their bluff sometimes I. I remember one time I was delivering a shed and this guy was just really giddy, you know like hey, he was just like what can I do to help? And he just he wasn't picky, he was just really nice. And I said to him, I said, are you, would you like that in? You know, I had it unloaded, and the front was sitting on the tail. I said, or, that's doesn't look quite straight, does it? And he goes no, but I didn't really want to ask is there a way we could move it over? I said I'll tell you what. I've got that tail greased pretty good. I said, if you push on that side, throw your shoulder into it and I'll pull over here. I said I think we can maybe slide this thing over. And so, I had my remote, you know my hand, and I, he, I said, okay, go. And he leaned into it. I just hit and he almost spun out because it just went away from me.
SHED GEEK:I like playing tricks.
SHED GEEK:Oh no, I love it I love it he uh, he knew I had him and uh, yeah, he fell into that one uh, well, I the first time I saw a guy put a shed on rollers and it wasn't quite right, and he just went over and like shoved it over. I was kind of like, wait a minute, that's, that's a real thing, you can do that. And I thought either this guy's really strong or, uh, so like my shed hauling equip, uh, knowledge is, you know, um, I still got a long way to go if I were gonna haul sheds, but I always stay, you know, amazed, you, watching it, watching sometimes the, uh, the young guys who go out and help with their dad, and like how they get involved in what they do. And you know, I can remember my dad making us work very young. We didn't have, you know, shed hauling, it's not what we did, but, uh, I'm impressed by just the work ethic. You know, sometimes in the.
ETHAN GUENTHER:a lot of blocks for this guy right here Made a lot of trips to the truck.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, that's when you're young, it's. You know, that's kind of your job until you graduate into something bigger. But you have, you know, like, do you still haul or do you focus on?
ETHAN GUENTHER:building. Every so often my brother-in-law, who were your partners in Elite. I kind of take care of the shop like a day-to-day production and he does the deliveries. And if we have like a 14-wide or a 16-wide escort, I'll escort him and I'll help him set up. That's about all the hauling I do Now. I'm mainly here at the shop, at the office, okay.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Now do you put in a lot of time building still I have some steps to building that I still do Like I make a lot of our own fascia, trim and stuff on a bench here I custom make Whatever we need custom. I always do that. I mean I have a great group of guys that work. But it's easier for me to do that because I kind of have that vision of what I want to be like and if I can just make it for them then I know it's gonna be right, but uh, no, I have a great crew.
SHED GEEK:But, yeah, I do build a little bit. Um, so, yeah, I, well, I, I saw some of the buildings out here whenever I pulled in and in spite of it raining, I was able to take a look at, uh, you know, from a distance and it looks like a really nice quality building, thank you. Um, you know we see a lot, you know, we see the all the good, the bad and in between, and, uh, really looks like. You know, I always say we have our work cut out for us compared to those Lancaster guys up in Pennsylvania. They make a good shed up there and every time I go up there I'm always impressed to see something new that hasn't quite hit the Midwest yet.
SHED GEEK:And it's exciting, whenever I get around builders in the Midwest that are visionaries and, you know, providing that same level of quality that you see up there at times. So, I brag those guys up. So, they've got a lot of you know, they've got a lot of value. But I kind of hold them, hold the standard high. Now If the quality starts going down, we're going to have to get them. Yeah, so, Jonah, tell me a little bit more about, like kind of, what you've graduated into since then this is 97. Surely, you've seen some things in the shed industry over the years, um since doing this, since you know for quite some time now you know, when I first started, hauling the rent to own thing was not even a.
JONAH GUENTHER:It was not. Nobody knew about it, or nobody was doing it. That was way too risky. Give somebody a shed on payments, you know what are you going to what are you going to? And so, my upbringing is Mennonite and so you know the whole conscientious thing. You know you wouldn't take back from someone.
JONAH GUENTHER:You know, the Bible says if someone takes away your coat, give them your cloak also, and so how are we going to reconcile this? Now I've delivered a shed, now I'm going to go take it back from him. And I actually, when that came in was basically when Old Hickory moved into the area Crossville here was I think it was Brian's first sales lot, if I'm not mistaken and so I was working for the other company and I heard the talk you know about this company coming in with rent to own and it was kind of it was kind of mocked a little bit as to like. However, you're going to go belly up, you know, but how funny is that sheds out on people's yards.
JONAH GUENTHER:You know they haven't even paid for it yet, and so anyway, I wrestled with it as a hauler, with having to go do repos, and I actually brought it up at a bible study one evening and I said, you know, I'm kind of, you know, it's kind of going into this phase, and now I'm being asked to go pick up buildings. Like how do I reconcile?
JONAH GUENTHER:what Jesus said and, and so the pastor said well, it is a rent to own. It is not their building at this time, they are buying it on payments. He goes this I would say it is actually the rental company's building that you're retrieving for them. But this I would say to you when you go on that property to retrieve that building, you should act like a Christian.
SHED GEEK:Oh, what a, what a, if we don't get nothing out of this entire interview. I feel like we should put that on a soundbite and a loop over and over and over.
JONAH GUENTHER:And you know I've, over the years, I've I'm not sure what maybe my persona. I had a few, I had a few sticky ones. You know I got threatened. You know I don't know what if it was me, um, but I have had a lot less trouble in the last 10 years with just you know um, your approach, contentious situations, and I think a lot of it has to do too. I I'll throw it back to the rental companies. They have a lot more information to be able to work with. They've done a lot more legwork. That customer knows that they're defaulted, and they have been given ample opportunity to reconcile that. And so, they know I'm coming and I'm not a surprise and where, in the early days, it was by mail, it was by the communication wasn't there? Maybe they didn't get the notice you know, and so there was a lot of people were really, you know we had confrontation, um, I didn't enjoy that yeah, I do have some funny stories, though.
JONAH GUENTHER:Ethan got. Ethan got involved with some repos and some things, some buildings that disappeared and the way we retrieved them. Oh yeah, I do enjoy doing a little investigation. I will say there's been some buildings that have disappeared, and I found them for the rental company.
SHED GEEK:Oh, that's awesome,
JONAH GUENTHER:Not the law company.
JONAH GUENTHER:This is a. Any haulers that are looking for a disappeared building. This is, I have found, the best place to start is the next-door neighbor. What have you seen? Did you see a truck and trailer come in here? Was it a rollback? What color was it, you know? Did you see a truck and trailer come in here? Was it a rollback? What color?
ETHAN GUENTHER:was it.
JONAH GUENTHER:You know, did you see something? Next door neighbor, somebody on that small street has probably seen something and you know we probably don't have the time to go into a few of those stories.
JONAH GUENTHER:But
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JONAH GUENTHER:That's how I started one. I went out to repo it and they wouldn't respond at all. And I have a brother that hauls as well and he about two days later sent me a text saying hey, are you needing to repo this building perchance? He gave me the address. I said yeah, he goes. Well, I went out to move it for them and they're wanting to move it. He says I smelled a rat and said, well, I can't do it today to give you opportunity to go get it.
JONAH GUENTHER:I went the next morning it was gone. So, I did that exact thing. I started the first door, next door neighbor second, and the third person down the road. Yeah, I saw a building go out here last night on a rollback and I said, well, can you give me a detail? You know what color rollback was it? They described it. So, I went out. There was about three or four wrecker services down that highway and I started asking questions hey, who owns? And by before noon I had that that building pinpointed, located, and I just told him. I said, hey, this isn't between you and me, but I will tell you you're fixing to get hit, you know, by the rental company because you just moved stolen property. Yeah, and I said there'll not be a word said. If you'll just tell me where that building is at, I can go pick it up. And he, he told me where it was at. I went and picked it up.
JONAH GUENTHER:That was fun.
SHED GEEK:No, you might have missed your calling. I think, in spite of being a great shed hauler, you might have been a better detective. I'm not sure, but I like your approach.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Yeah, he can sniff a shed out.
JONAH GUENTHER:I've had about three or four of those situations where it took me about three months, but I found the shed and got it for them?
SHED GEEK:Yeah, well, there's. So, you know, you can blame a lot of things Decline of society, lack of information there's a million things that we could, you know, really go into. But I think it does start with education, you know, and like making sure that you know the manufacturer, the, the dealer, those who sell and those who haul are all involved in the process. But whenever it's you know, locks, locks keep an honest thief out, right that's what I've always been told.
SHED GEEK:You know, lock's not going to keep everyone out, it just keeps a thief honest. And the same with windows or doors in the house, like you know, like I I don't know, I don't get super political or anything on the show, but like we're a 2A defender here, and not because we mean harm to anybody but because it's like I've explained to my wife, I was like you know, that door will only keep someone out if they want to stay out, you know. So, we want to protect our family. So, there's my one, and probably only political, you know position for the podcast for this year. So, but it's just one of those things where I think I think typically, you know, like they say with police officers, uniform presence stops most crime. I think it's the same way with rent and with pickups and returns and things like that. I think that your point's very well taken, that you didn't have all that information in the beginning.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, so you're kind of like going out unarmed without any information initially, and the companies have become much more organized, and I think we do that through conversation like this. I think we do that at the shed expo, I think we do that at hauler events, you know, whatever it is more that we can get together and increase communication. The root of that is community. Yep, so you're increasing community whenever you increase communication. So for anyone who says we should talk less, I feel like that's a deficit, you know. So so I enjoy these conversations. I learn something more, a little bit each time. We're 250 episodes in and I still learn things all the time, because people see things from a different perspective.
JONAH GUENTHER:For sure you know, I think of you know how do we view other people? Like is going to affect how we do our work. If we feel like people are out to get us, we're going to act in that like manner. But if we're actually put on their shoes and think you know what's it like for them, I'll give a story, if that's okay, yeah, of one time I was sent out to go pick up a building that was on a 36 month contract and it was 32 months into it and it was just about two weeks before Christmas or maybe a week before Christmas and, uh, I showed up at the property.
JONAH GUENTHER:I knew where this building was, I'd been by there a lot of times and the lady came out and I just saw this strickenness on her face, like don't tell me, why are you here. And so, I said why I was here. She goes, yes, but I know. But we had agreed with the rental company. They had some really hard times, and they thought they had made an agreement with the rental company that when we get our tax return in January, we'll pay it off.
JONAH GUENTHER:They only lacked like four more payments, had some late fees and things, and so I said okay. So, I called up the rental company and he was a little obstinate, honestly. He was just like well, they haven't made their payments and no, we didn't agree to that and whatever. And I just felt like he didn't have a graceful heart to try to help this situation and I says I'd like to see us give her the chance to be able to. She's saying she can pay it off.
JONAH GUENTHER:I think it was in three weeks or something like that. And well, who's going to pay for your trip out there? I said, well, I tell you what, if you'll give her the opportunity, if you'll let her keep the building and see if she can do what she says, I said there'll be no charge for my time and the trip out here. And well, okay, all right. And the day that she said they would be able to get a that payment made was the day I got a cancellation on that repo.
JONAH GUENTHER:You know, sometimes, yeah, that's a risk you take, right, they may just really, but you can tell when somebody is really down and out. And I feel like us as haulers yeah, it's inconvenient and we have a family to feed too but possibly we could really make a lot of difference in someone's life by saying, okay, I'll come by Friday, you can have your stuff out of it, or whatever, to make it easier for them. I feel like that is going to help our industry not have a stigma like those guys are just there to get you whenever you're behind.
JONAH GUENTHER:At the end of the day you know, for those who know the Lord and want to live for the Lord, we have an opportunity to live that out by being kind and um and giving and forgiving. I mean, you know, we run into, we have people cuss us and all that calls all kinds of things like that.
JONAH GUENTHER:They're not really mad at us, we're just, we're just the guy in the in the scope, that's right. Um, so I think we really have, uh, the opportunity, as, as haul haulers, we're the last impression that that customer has of the shed company. You know, they may have a beautiful building that's built to their precise specs, but if the shed guy's got a bad attitude, is sloppy with his work, doesn't, you know, put enough block in it, that that's like, yeah, that's, that's like buying a diamond in a paper bag. You know what I mean. So, I, that's just, that's my.
SHED GEEK:I feel like we have that opportunity to either make our shed company we're the, we're just the last guy standing for that shed company Jonah, I just want you to know I have never worried about job security on the podcast, but I hope you never start a podcast because I think I would listen to you more than I listen to my own. Gosh Ethan, you know, like guys seem to take one of two positions. Guys seem to take one of two positions, a father following dad's footsteps and just you know, soak up everything or, or go and be opposite and almost kind of like resistant to dad's teachings, like what?
ETHAN GUENTHER:an awesome father to have. Yeah, I'm very blessed.
SHED GEEK:Like just you know, I just want to say, like your, your spirit, like just exudes like, like just exactly everything that I feel like so many of us need and, uh, you, you have a great voice and then, on top of that, you have a lot of reason in your arguments and, as 250 of these and this it's really awesome to to listen to kind of you break down the thought process and, um, um, yeah, I can see why you've been successful, but everything you're saying is is absolutely, it's absolutely true, it's how you approach, because it's, it's ultimately the I like to say it's the people business, not the shed business.
SHED GEEK:The sheds are just the, the, the apparatus of the product that God give us. We could be in tractors or cars, or our dirt work or you name it. You know concrete and we would still have to that customer is the same customer.
JONAH GUENTHER:We still have to figure out how we're going to approach that absolutely, and you know I'll say I'll give tribute to one of the things that molded some of what I just said anywhere on any device Designed to transform anyone into a shed-selling success.
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JONAH GUENTHER:When I was, it was in the late 90s. I think I had been hauling sheds for maybe a couple years and this whole thing of when you show up you know the customer has this is where they would like their building, or they have a second plan, but you know that the first plan is actually what they really would like. Well, yeah, that may be more work for me and it's really harder. Would like well, yeah, that may be more work for me and it's really harder. But like, there was an experience I had. A close store neighbor to me had a mobile home move that he was going to live in. He was a single man and the, the toters. They came out and it was late in the day, and they wanted to get done and all that. And they just kind of got saucy with the angle that he wanted it, uh-huh, yeah, and they were just frustrated and just didn't really want to accommodate him. And I remember standing there with him and he just kind of threw up his hands. Well, just put it where you can then. And I thought that's just not the way to do your customer.
JONAH GUENTHER:I was at a car dealership where they had someone hired that all they did is sat among the people in the waiting room hey, how's your day? What's going on your car? They said we just want you to know your car is the most important car on this whole premise. See, it wasn't the most important car, but to me it is, yeah, and to him it is the most important car, but to me it is yeah, and to him it's his most important car. And so when we're on the site, yeah, we have pressure, we need to be doing two or three more jobs yet today, but we need to take care and satisfy that customer we're with right now. Yeah, now when we leave, they know that. And see, someone said I don't care how much you know until I know how much you care. Yeah, and that's. If we can do that, we're going to better the shed industry. Just the whole experience yeah, it's, it's.
SHED GEEK:It's not just about us. There's a image to uphold as an industry as a whole, and I enjoy conversation with some of the guys I've talked to who said you know, this wasn't an industry whenever I was growing up, this was just a job. It's grown into an industry and we're still kind of recognizing the maturity of that playing out in front of our eyes, of that uh playing out and in front of our eyes and it may be five or ten more years before we really grasp that just how organized it is or has become throughout the years. New technologies, you know, new equipment, uh, things that have changed, uh over time. What, what have you guys seen that surprises you the most in terms of, like, just how things have changed. You kind of started this on a whim but it's become a full-on career and second generation now builder and has hauled and so like what, what surprises you guys the most? What maybe changes have you seen the most? Or or where do you think it's going?
ETHAN GUENTHER:Is that like my question? It's kind of hard to tell. The last couple of years have obviously been a lot of change in the way we have to approach our sales. With the economy not doing as great as it is, smaller buildings are selling a lot more for us. One thing that has changed a lot that I've been dealing with lately is a lot of people want to buy my building to finish it out for a home, and so I've had. You know, it's always, it'll always come back to me, because if they buy the building for a home they're going to want, and then the inspector comes in, well, it's not going to pass code, it's a storage shed, and so that's something I've been noticing a lot of is like we've had to. Our framing has had to be more stout, if you want to mean up to code stuff like that. So that's kind of like the direction our business is going. I can't speak for other people in the industry, um, but uh, yeah, I don't know you think?
SHED GEEK:do you think, um, there'll be more companies moving toward like the process to become like modular certified so that they can meet all the the codes that?
ETHAN GUENTHER:I would say so, yeah, so we're looking. We've been looking in that direction a little bit now.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, it's a lot of work to get set up as a modular, a lot of stuff in the back to do everything.
SHED GEEK:So much it sort of changes your business, not philosophy, but maybe your plan in some respects that you do start out as one thing like a storage provider, one thing like a storage provider. You kind of get drug into the other side where you're like, oh, now we've got to meet all these international building codes and local municipalities and we've got to understand all of this and like, what does it take to do that? And then you know, for some they say, well, I'll make my exit before I, that's not what I got into. And then others will say, well, hey, this is great opportunity, and I want to embrace this. So, I'm willing to change my, my plan. But it does change a lot, it's not just a flip of a day.
SHED GEEK:We're doing this now all of a sudden.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Now you've got a lot to look at, a lot of extra steps you have to take, but yeah, well that's uh so.
SHED GEEK:So, tell me a little bit about elite. And then, uh, I just you guys here. You are young guy, you, you know you're, you're moving buildings out of here. You guys primarily serve Tennessee.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Yeah, as of now. I mean we've hit Georgia and Alabama like a little bit, but they've all been sold here in Tennessee.
SHED GEEK:Yeah.
ETHAN GUENTHER:So, I mean, I guess how I got started in this is I was obviously working for dad at his shop, since I was like old enough to have a job, I guess it probably a little before then too. You know after school and whatnot um, you know good thing, osha didn't ever show up there, but uh hey, it's family, it's family, family business, I mean I could just walked home like it was the house is right there yeah but uh, yeah, I was uh late one evening.
ETHAN GUENTHER:I was trying to finish up a build um that I was working on, and I think I was because I was leaving the next day. My, my fiancee, was from Indiana. I was gonna be leaving head up there, so I was working late to get this building done. And dad walks in. He's like hey, there's this guy called me, want to sell this little shed company. He's got and like do you know anyone that wants to buy it? And I was kind of like well, maybe I do. You know I was.
ETHAN GUENTHER:I was burned out and you know of just being a builder um, and man, if I could go back, I would love to go back. Just being a builder. It's, it was. It was the life I had. I had it really good, um, but yeah, so it was on a whim, not really on a whim, I should say. But uh, but yeah, so it was on a whim, not really on a whim, I should say.
ETHAN GUENTHER:But me and my brother-in-law, like I couldn't take it on by myself, like I knew the process of building sheds, like I could build a shed. I didn't have the closest idea of how to run a business, like you know what paperwork do you need? How do you start an LLC? Like I didn't know that stuff. My brother-in-law, Gary, shout out to him. He's very, he's very smart, very business-minded guy. And so, we came together and like, do you want to start this? Like go 50, 50 in it. And it's kind of like, oh, you know, well, let's go talk to the guy. I went and talked to him, looked at his numbers. He had really good numbers. Um, there were covid numbers, you know. But uh, uh. So, yeah, just good numbers were like wow, like it's really good opportunity here. So, we, you know, found someone to give us a loan to buy them out. And here we are now, three years later, have our own shop now.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Um, that's awesome A lot of work but we're still in the baby stages. But it's growing good.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, that's awesome. So, are you, you guys, gonna do a little fairly traditional like sales model as far as like opening up other sales lots and things like that?
ETHAN GUENTHER:yeah, that's the plan right now. We just sell on uh uh dealers that have other vendors on them. So, our building, we primarily build a vinyl building vinyl side so, uh, no one else in Tennessee likes to build those right now. I don't know, maybe one or two others, but they're not the ideal shed to build. They're a lot more details and stuff like that, but we enjoy building them. I like the way they look and HOAs are a good thing we can match a house perfectly.
ETHAN GUENTHER:So that's been a big thing for us is, like you know, if someone comes to us like, match your house perfectly. Like, if we don't have the siding in stock, we can get it for you.
SHED GEEK:Maybe, you never know, somebody out there's listening, they're in Tennessee, they want to holler at you. At least they'll know where to come find you and, yeah, and talk to you, because you, you know, I like to think that everybody's always open to see what's possible, what's sort of been your philosophy for your customers? Like, what does Elite stand for? What do you, what are your, what's your mission, your vision, your values? Like what do you, what do you guys want to accomplish? Or what, what's the message to your customer?
ETHAN GUENTHER:yeah, well, you know, growing up, like my dad was saying, like you know, taking the extra time to to really meet someone's needs. And I know we all say in the shed, you know we'll build a dream shed for everyone right and I'm kind of like. I mean in my, when I look at it, I'm like a shed is a shed, but also if my name is attached to that, I want to be something that is, that's nice, that's going to last.
ETHAN GUENTHER:I don't want to have be going back and always fixing stuff. You know quality is obviously. We all want quality over quantity that's what we always say quality over quantity, um, and yeah, just you know building a good product and it lasting. You know something that can be that. You know maintenance is easy on it, like you know vinyl products just pressure wash it off. You know, try to build stuff, build stuff nice and, yeah, I, I couldn't agree more.
SHED GEEK:No, I, I think it's awesome. Any, any stories that come to mind, running with your dad all those years building, hauling, hauling, any of that, anything that stands out good or bad.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Oh, lots of good stuff. I never really enjoyed hauling. Like when we started this that's what I told Gary. I said I don't want to haul buildings. That's not my thing. I never really enjoyed it. I mean I had great times with dad and going out and repos and some of his sketchy repos that he's done. But my wife doesn't like if we're going out and doing repos. She's like I don't know if you should be going with that, but we haven't done anything lately. It was too sketchy but we did go snag some buildings in a very small window of time when they're not home and you can get in there and get out.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, sometimes I don't know where customers have. They're not home and he can get in there and get out. But uh, yeah, yeah, sometimes, you know, I don't know where customers have. I don't know if it's setting expectations, Jonah, in the beginning I think we try to.
SHED GEEK:I think sales people, many sales people, try to um, but maybe it's just a training or educational perspective there to kind of like you know it's tough when you're in sales. Yeah, they're they from lot to lot and some people are shopping, you know sensitivity on time. You know they're a little bit more impulsive. Maybe they don't want to take the time because they don't want to do song and dance of what like a sales process is.
SHED GEEK:But I think for the guys and gals that really, really care and take their time you know that's something we do a lot of times in any services we offer is I like to try to always set the, the, the um scene by almost starting initially and saying hey, can I have your full attention and time, you know, so that we can make sure that we answer all of your questions thoroughly. But then you can ask questions and if we hurry this process, a lot of stuff's going to get missed. But if they're like hey, going down here to you, know this company, what's your price? I mean, I've talked about those guys that have come in the in the office whenever I sold sheds and they'd have one foot in the door, one foot out guy down here costs this much. Can you match it, you know? If not, they're going to go, I'm like hey and sit down and talk to me because, like, I want to get beat on my product. I don't just want to get beat on my price.
SHED GEEK:yeah, you know, because like, then it comes a race to the bottom, you know, and who can just sell the cheapest building, you know, and then like no one wins.
Speaker 4:What's the?
SHED GEEK:what's the old? What is that? What is that saying? You know the uh price of uh poor quality is remembered long after the uh, the bitterness of poor quality, yeah, is remembered long after the bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the benefit of low price. So, like, low price has been remembered for the day, but that building's with them for a lifetime.
ETHAN GUENTHER:Yeah.
SHED GEEK:And maybe a short lifetime if it's not built very well.
JONAH GUENTHER:Yeah, yeah, you know, you've heard the saying it's something that's worth doing, is worth doing right. And I find that, on the job just setting up buildings, I may be in a hurry and I'm overwhelmed, but to just go ahead and make sure those blocks are straight and that it's a good job, yeah, it just doesn't take a lot more energy to make sure it's right. Yeah, it just doesn't take a lot more energy to make sure it's right. Yeah.
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SHED GEEK:And in the end, guys, I can't say enough about, like, how much I've enjoyed even just this short time sitting and talking to you.
SHED GEEK:You know, 45 minutes goes by really fast it does when you have a good conversation there's probably, you know, another hour of conversation that we can have and, who knows, maybe we can have that again in the future. Um, it's just you. You guys are just really easy to talk to. I have been doing something for the last oh, maybe six months or so and might catch you guys off guard with this, so, but I usually say, hey, I'm asking you guys questions and things like that, but do you guys have any questions? We travel around, you know.
SHED GEEK:Obviously, we've expanded into the marketing RTO finance world. We don't have it all figured out. We still learn from a lot of the leaders in the industry and appreciate them. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be where we are have the opportunity. But I guess my question is do you guys have any questions? Podcasting shed related, it really doesn't matter, Jonah, we didn't even get into and I really want to discuss this with you that you do, uh, prison ministry, which is something me and you connected with very heavily on, and I really feel like we can do a podcast sometime where we can. I just want to follow up on this because I really want to pick your brain on like where that's been a big part of your life. Hebrews 13 3 says be with those in prison, as though you were in prison yourself.
SHED GEEK:You know, two-thirds of the New Testament Bible was written from prison you know, and I think we, we under, like, we under, what am I trying to say? We, we, we just undersell, that we don't pay attention to it enough. That you know we're not called to have easy days all the time, we're not called to not go through difficult things and, and the bible says that he draws near the brokenhearted. And you know, I can only imagine that most people in those situations are away from their family. You know they're, they're, they're. You know supposedly repaying their debt to society and and and and oftentimes.
SHED GEEK:We've set up a system in the United States that is not beneficial to rehabilitation but more focused on retribution, and that's, to me, opposite of what God's Word teaches, and I know that I'm probably going to get some hate mail for that. You know, like you can't fix a person that doesn't want to be fixed, and I get that. But you know there's like 90% of people are in for nonviolent crimes. You know over 600,000 inmates get released every year. You go to your churches, your markets, your stores. Do you want them to be rehabilitated or have had an experience that has allowed them to transform and change their lives, or do you want them to go in with what I like to call an associates of misdemeanor and come out with a bachelor's degree of felony, you know and like learn more you know bad behavior.
SHED GEEK:So, like I, I always admire guys who do that work and who go into prisons and who try to give agape love to some of the most unloved well, you know, uh, uh, I have my own story.
JONAH GUENTHER:Um, you know I own story. I love to tell it. We don't have the time for it today.
SHED GEEK:No, go for it, it's my own personal story, but actually Ethan is involved.
JONAH GUENTHER:He goes to prison. We go three Thursdays a month the second, third and fourth Thursdays of the month and do you want me to tell about?
SHED GEEK:it. Go for it. If you guys are okay on time, I'm okay, yeah.
JONAH GUENTHER:I'm good for time. Yeah, go for it.
SHED GEEK:I think the listeners will enjoy this.
JONAH GUENTHER:I think it was 2013, 12 or 13. Some guys came to our church. They were recruiting. They were needing volunteers to go into the prison. They were doing a program called Malachi Dads.
SHED GEEK:I've heard of Malachi Dads.
JONAH GUENTHER:yes, it's HR Ministries. Yeah, Harold Riley. Yeah, Do you know?
SHED GEEK:Harold. I know who he is. We've talked several times. Really yeah, I got my own story there. Yeah, everyone has a story.
JONAH GUENTHER:Yeah, we all have a story, but, anyway, one of the things that, um, you know, I love being a dad and I always wanted to do dad, to be a good dad, like to do dad. Well, yes, but I had my own story, my own clutches and the things that you know, that, um, that I've struggled with, and but one of the things that they said was, just because these men are incarcerated doesn't mean that they're not still dead, and I had never thought of that. You know, their children are on the outside and are they connecting? So that's what Malachi Dads really is.
JONAH GUENTHER:It's based on the last verse of the Old Testament. It says Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. That's the last verse of the Old Testament. So that's what Malachi Dads is built on. Is that turning the hearts of fathers to children and the hearts of children to fathers. So, we go in, and it's a 16-week program. It was the first program. So, we go in, and it's a 16-week program is the first program, and they have the opportunity to take some commitment on their part some workbooks.
JONAH GUENTHER:They're required to write each of their children two letters a month. They're to journal, they're to do their homework and all that. So that's what Ethan and I are involved in. He came on what's it been?
ETHAN GUENTHER:a year, a year, a year and a half, yeah, a year and a half.
JONAH GUENTHER:Yep, even though he's not a dad yet, there's other parts of the curriculum that he can enter into. A little bit more than the first. One is very focused on who are you as a dad like? What's your? How are you approaching being fathering? You know, just because you're here doesn't mean you don't still have responsibility, just engaging them with that as a new thought that they still are responsible for their children and even though they're, they feel like they're rejected by society.
JONAH GUENTHER:christ is receiving them, giving them an opportunity for new life, to be born again, and that ultimately is the rehabilitation is a new life in Christ.
SHED GEEK:I love it. My story, you know somewhat, just quickly, is you know, I remember going to church, finding you know a new church and God before you know, the shed industry. But I feel like I learned, my mind was opened up to a whole new experience whenever I went through one of my own personal you know personal crises. You know, and was invited to church that turned me into the industry. That's why I always feel like this is industry's just really meant for me is because it was the way that it, you know, came together and, um, I remember going to. They used to have the Lifeway Christian bookstores I don't know if you remember those and we had one in Paducah and I remember going in and seeing an hr card there really and uh yeah that's uh right outside of Dixon, not Dixon, Kentucky, but he's in, oh, he's there in Kentucky, outside of Eddyville.
JONAH GUENTHER:I can't think of the name. I should know.
SHED GEEK:But he was involved with like Teen Challenge and we were involved with those like the one that's there in Dixon. It actually sits right behind a barn builder. There's an Amish barn builder that sets up their quality built barns and I'd pass them all the time and you know uh got to know them, and Ivan Yoder and uh. So it's just, it's a small world but I go visit, you know the guys, and we've, you know, sent some guys through that facility to try to get cleaned up, because I'm kind of like you, you know the nuclear family is a very important thing to me. So I love to see, like you know, moms be able to be moms and dads be dads. And you know you can't do that when you're absent or you're caught in addiction or you're in prison, you're incarcerated.
SHED GEEK:But most of those guys are going to get out at some point and the question is where are we really coming together to support them as a community? I have found some of the most talented people have been in prison. I mean, just really think about the stories of the Bible, you know, just alone and and like what we're supposed to learn from that. So, like you know, it doesn't mean that you have to become the world you know, to be the world. You know what I mean.
JONAH GUENTHER:Like change the world but you have to.
SHED GEEK:You know, I do think that you, you have to soften your heart to the idea that, like you find that, even though we didn't have to go through that thing, we can be help and assistance because we've all went through something. You know our own personal thing. And, and what does the word say?
SHED GEEK:you know, he puts a, he puts a song in our heart and I used to always like to tell people like you don't get to hear my song and I don't get to hear yours, but we don't when we hear it. So you know, and that was important to me, some of the most talented people I know are felons, you know, and we won't give them a job and you know things like that. So like they have to get creative, find their own resources, and sometimes they become way more talented than some of us who have went without any felons. But that resistance built the strength right. It's like weightlifting it's only the resistance that builds the muscle. It's as easy, everyone would do it. So we can talk about these things for hours, because they're very near and dear to my heart.
JONAH GUENTHER:You mentioned being at the shed, expos and stuff, and we're like a sponge where something is always impacting us.
JONAH GUENTHER:And we are impacting, yes, it's a give and take, and at a shed expo in North Carolina that was in probably 2019, 17, 18. I'm not sure what year that was, but one of the vendors there I don't know who he was, but maybe he listens to this and I just would throw out a shout out to him he had a little plaque on his desk and it said almost everyone you meet today is fighting a battle you know nothing of or nothing about Be kind dot dot, or nothing about Be kind Dot dot dot, just be kind. You know. That has so impacted me to realize even people that feel it looks like they have the world by the tail, everything's going really good. That's just a facade. So, whether we're hauling sheds, whether we're doing whatever we're doing, people is what matters and souls and like, can I be a conduit in some way for God to be conduiting grace to these people that I encounter hauling sheds?
SHED GEEK:Or am I just?
JONAH GUENTHER:out. I got a dollar to win, you know yeah yeah hello shed sellers.
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SHED GEEK:Well, that's the temptation of our flesh. You know what I mean. And, uh, you know, at the end of the day, you have all the dollars in the world, but what are you going to do with them? It's, you know, that's. What's more important is, uh, it's like I told you before we got started it doesn't matter how much money I'm given, I'll ultimately have to reconcile with the reality that there's a purpose I serve for being here, and part of that is to give back. Give back what you've learned, give back what you've earned, give back what. So, like you know, like I think that we're called to do that and I think you can be, you can, you can change the nature of that message by saying you know, um, it's, it's more about what I can win, um, but I, I really feel like there's, that's, that's a true um. What am I trying to say here? That is a true confidence buster. That's a, that's a. You know, like, you don't really have as much conviction in your own confidence as much as you think you do whenever you only have to play to win all the time. You know, like I still love the old, the old phrase can't win for losing, because it just reminds me that you can, you know, attempt to lose and it and it'd be okay, like there's.
SHED GEEK:There's been many things I've had to step away from because I knew they weren't for me, but I think that's just God testing you, challenging you, figuring out where you are. Guys, I can't, I can't say enough about how much I appreciate the conversation. If I'd have thought I was going to hear Harold's name today or Malachi Dad's, it just reminds me of something that again, is near and dear to my heart, some things I haven't been able to focus on for some time, and I hope that one day I can find my way back to that a little bit more. And it's just a reminder. You guys are awesome. It seems like you guys run an awesome company and I really feel like we could talk for hours, and I don't know if anybody would enjoy that, but we could do it. Any questions that you guys have, anything that's just on your mind that you would want to ask, I don't mind answering in complete transparency. I try to do that every time. If you don't have any questions. It's fine, but if anything, comes to mind.
JONAH GUENTHER:I don't have any questions, I just appreciate just. You know someone like you out here doing what you're doing, and I'm not a media guy. I don't even have Facebook, you can tell. Yeah, I'm not a media guy. So, when Preston texted me and wondered you know if I'd be interested to do is it like a podcast? I don't even, and so my daughter helped me look up podcasts and I, so I listened to a couple of your episodes. I was like you know, I I just feel like I'm so busy that I don't. I'm always distracted, I wouldn't have time, but anyway there are well.
SHED GEEK:He said you'd be a good one, and he was not wrong. I've enjoyed this thoroughly, and I think the audience will too so we appreciate the time.
JONAH GUENTHER:Thank you for having interest in our lives and we're just yeah, just thank you for the opportunity.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, hey, I wish you guys all the best. Uh, you know, my favorite saying here lately is uh, even if, uh which I don't think we compete in any way but even if we compete, we're not in gangs, we're in the shed business. So let's lower the rhetoric and the tone a little bit. We hear a lot about that in the political realm. Maybe we can do that even in our own personal relationship and industry and business. Call a friend, call a competitor, wish them well. Today we're all in this together. None of us get out alive and we just need to remember to try to do the best we can. All that said, we're not perfect. Allow us the grace, we'll make mistakes, but, um, absolutely, yeah, I appreciate you guys so much. You guys seem like guys I'd want. When I'm not on the podcast, I'm probably pretty boring. Actually, you guys might be like.
SHED GEEK:I don't know he's okay. I'm a fan of prayer. I believe in prayer. Jonah, would I be asking too much if I asked you to just sort of pray over the industry? I usually take the lead on that, but I just kind of feel led to ask if you You're welcome to. No, go for it. I feel like I've learned a lot from being here with you today and it's been sort of a personal win for me and I just appreciate your spirit.
JONAH GUENTHER:It's really welcome, okay let's pray, dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this day, and thank you for this day, and thank you for the part of life that you've allowed us to be a part of. Lord. We just ask for all the shed haulers, the sales people, the builders Just thank you, lord, that you've given us an opportunity whereby we can provide for our families and in that exchange of industry, and we just would pray that you would help us to remember that we have nothing that we haven't received.
JONAH GUENTHER:And you've given us a wonderful country to be able to work and to go forward and to provide. And we just ask, lord, that we could keep the great focus of your kingdom forefront, that all these things that we have and enjoy are just fleeting and they are not eternal, but what souls that we impact in doing it is what matters. And so, lord, help us to all stop and check our own hearts and just remember the things that are important and the things that are truly internal. And we just thank you for Shannon here and ask that you would bless what he's doing in bringing conversation and content for us to all converse with. And let's ask a blessing upon what he's doing here. We thank you, lord, we just ask that maybe someone can be touched today as a result of what he's doing. And, lord, thank you for loving us when we were yet sinners, and we just love you, lord, and thank you in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
SHED GEEK:I know I didn't warn you for that, so I appreciate that you. I'm always so nervous to ask anyone to pray, but you know what does that saying go? If someone had to use the evidence to convict you of being a Christian, today would there be enough, and I always feel like we just got to. You know, be able to meet the calling, and you know so you'll like this. I'll go ahead and leave this on here for the audience, if they don't edit it out, if it doesn't get too long. But I'm always nervous.
SHED GEEK:I've told the story, I think. One time before I used to work with a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The one thing we would do is, uh, we would try to encourage the guys to pray, to be comfortable with being able to speak audibly, out loud, you know, and, and, and in a group and pray over our meal, and, uh, I never will forget this. It's one of my favorite stories. I asked the guy one time. I said, uh, he always got out of. His name was Alvin. He always get out of praying. I don't know he's sneaky, he'd always get out of. Oh, don't call me, you know, whatever. There's like four or five of us around one day and I said Alvin, I said do you want to go over the meal real quick? Bless our food. And I never will forget. It was as funny to look at as it was to listen. So, like you guys might appreciate this For those of you who are watching on YouTube, he kind of had this little shocked look on his face and he goes yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll pray.
SHED GEEK:Yeah, yeah, I'll pray. Okay, yeah, yeah, you'll pray. Yeah, yeah, I'll pray. Okay, yeah, yeah. You guys bow your heads, bow your heads, yeah. He said Lord, today is a good day, it was a good, good day. And then he goes, like with his facial expression, he goes and well, amen. And we all kind of laughed, but we all said amen. And I never remember a prayer in the entire time I worked there that anyone else uttered than that prayer so simple, so easy, that sometimes we got to say it was a good day, it was a good, good day and thank you. And he didn't overcomplicate it and it's the only one I've ever remembered anyone saying so. I love to tell that story. It was just too good not to be there.
JONAH GUENTHER:You're out to eat with somebody sometime and you want them to pray.
SHED GEEK:A good way to say it is if I to eat with somebody sometime and you want them to pray. A good way to say it is if I pay you pray, yeah, there you go. Yeah, guys, I appreciate it, appreciate you. Being on here, uh means a lot thank you, yes, thank you so much, all right