Colin O'Day, the sales manager at Hansen Ford and former top salesman, joins me on the show today to discuss being a sales manager and his Air B&B business.
[00:00:07] Welcome back to another episode of The Vision Pod, where guests are hand-picked to bring value to your everyday life. Enjoy.
[00:00:27] Thanks for coming on Colin. This is Colin ODay. He was my sales manager at Hanson Ford. Youngest sales manager in history?
[00:00:36] Ever.
[00:00:37] Ever?
[00:00:38] In Canada.
[00:00:39] Yeah.
[00:00:40] Brand champion.
[00:00:42] Yeah.
[00:00:43] So what do you like most about being a sales manager?
[00:00:47] What I like most, I think, is just having the ability, and not really the ability, but the opportunity to create culture.
[00:01:00] And the dealership, I think, for a while has had a pretty healthy culture just among salespeople and just everyone, I think.
[00:01:12] So I think this role, like I've started, it's almost been a year now.
[00:01:17] Yeah, and that's just one thing I think is the best part of the job.
[00:01:22] You know, obviously, you know, being able to help customers from getting into a bigger truck or getting a vehicle that needs more seats, like that's all great.
[00:01:32] But, you know, I think just working with people, like the staff that we have, the salespeople, I think that's one of the best parts for me.
[00:01:39] So, yeah.
[00:01:41] What do you think makes a good salesman?
[00:01:44] What's your favorite, like, character traits of your salespeople?
[00:01:51] The first one that comes to mind would just be just motivation.
[00:01:57] That can be really challenging in an industry that kind of has ups and downs, like busy seasons, slow seasons.
[00:02:04] And it can be emotionally challenging.
[00:02:07] Like you could go a week, sometimes two weeks without selling a car.
[00:02:10] And that can really kill your motivation.
[00:02:13] But I think, like, you don't have to know a lot about cars.
[00:02:17] You don't have to be a mechanic or know what engines and what.
[00:02:23] Like, yeah, it's important because, you know, people are comparing lots of different vehicles.
[00:02:27] But if you're just a hard worker and you're motivated to talk to people, to get deals done, to help people out, yeah, to get another sale, you'll do really well.
[00:02:37] I think that's just the first thing.
[00:02:41] Yeah, I think besides that, I would say, you know, attitude is a good one.
[00:02:48] There's a lot of people that attitude and it kind of ties into being motivated.
[00:02:56] Because when you go through those slumps of the slower seasons, you don't sell anyone for two weeks.
[00:03:02] You don't talk to anyone for three days.
[00:03:05] If you don't have a good attitude and if you don't have joy in your life, if you don't have, if you're not thankful, it's easy for your attitude to just be terrible.
[00:03:17] And when you have a bad attitude, customers and, you know, the guests we have coming in, they can sense that.
[00:03:22] They can feel that you're having a bad day and they're probably not going to buy from you because they're going to another dealership.
[00:03:29] Maybe they're going to five.
[00:03:31] And if they have a bad experience just because you have a bad attitude, they're probably not going to buy from you.
[00:03:36] So if you're motivated, you have a good attitude.
[00:03:39] And if you can just be consistent with those things, that's probably like the third one.
[00:03:43] I haven't thought about this really.
[00:03:46] I like it.
[00:03:47] Top three.
[00:03:48] Yeah, that's probably the third one.
[00:03:49] If you can just be consistent with those two things, then you're going to be a good car salesman.
[00:03:55] So on those sad days and days you don't really want to be there, how do you keep a positive attitude or how do you help people?
[00:04:05] You play video games.
[00:04:06] You throw the football around.
[00:04:08] Yeah.
[00:04:09] No, that is kind of part of it, I think.
[00:04:12] I think we have a pretty relaxed environment as a dealership compared to most.
[00:04:18] I have only ever worked at one dealership, which is Hanson.
[00:04:22] But we've had a lot of salespeople come and go and I've just heard what other dealerships can be like.
[00:04:28] Like other dealerships, there can be a lot of screaming.
[00:04:31] There can be really high expectations.
[00:04:34] You can have, you know, like you can't go home if you don't make 30 phone calls.
[00:04:39] And you can't come into work the next day if you don't have an appointment or two.
[00:04:45] So, you know, I kind of joke about that.
[00:04:47] But it is, I think, important to, you know, not take it too seriously and just to be busy with the people around you, like the guys you're competing with.
[00:05:00] If you can just, you know, remain friends with those guys, you know, do those things.
[00:05:05] But on a more serious note, you know, I think just making phone calls, staying outside, just staying busy.
[00:05:17] Busy attracts busy.
[00:05:18] That's something we say often.
[00:05:20] One of our sales guys, you actually had him on the podcast, Jason.
[00:05:25] He just always stays busy and he's our best sales guy and probably the best sales guy in the city because he just stays busy all the time.
[00:05:33] He's either outside recording a video of a vehicle.
[00:05:36] He's calling customers.
[00:05:38] He's sending emails.
[00:05:39] He's doing deliveries.
[00:05:41] He just stays busy.
[00:05:43] And through that, he just, you know, your motivation stays up.
[00:05:47] Your attitude stays up just because it feels like you're doing something.
[00:05:51] And some guys, as, you know, you've seen because you worked there, can just sit around and then it just, things get worse and worse.
[00:05:59] So, yeah.
[00:06:00] Yeah.
[00:06:00] Yeah, it's definitely, definitely something hard to do.
[00:06:03] Put a, try to put a smile on every single day.
[00:06:06] Yes.
[00:06:06] Yeah.
[00:06:07] Because they're long days, you know, it's 10 hour days and there might not be a customer walking through the door for a few days.
[00:06:14] And then you have to just be ready, you know, to give them that customer your all because that's how you're going to make money is if you sell that person.
[00:06:22] So, yeah.
[00:06:24] Yeah.
[00:06:24] Yeah.
[00:06:25] I know the morning meetings were pretty, were pretty big there.
[00:06:28] Was that kind of something that you had to learn quickly?
[00:06:30] How to run a meeting and what's kind of important for you to learn?
[00:06:35] I, I think I was ready for it.
[00:06:37] Uh, I was able to, I've been able to watch Dan, um, you know, run the meetings.
[00:06:43] Dan's our general manager.
[00:06:44] Uh, and he started the same week that I did four years ago.
[00:06:48] And so, you know, I've, I've basically just been able to, you know, copy what he does or at least I try to.
[00:06:54] He obviously has years and years of experience on me, but, um, yeah, if I can just kind of do what he does, like I've seen success in the way he runs things.
[00:07:04] And so that's kind of, that's what I hope to do.
[00:07:07] Um, you, I think I've, I think I'm slowly getting better at first.
[00:07:12] I was maybe a little too, not too structured, but, uh, you know, forget to think about the important things or one of the goals that I had was to, you know, just publicly and regularly, um, praise the sales guys, you know, like sales guys can have a, have a big ego, um, on both sides.
[00:07:34] Like if, if things are going really good, they're really good.
[00:07:37] And, but it's also pretty easy to hurt them and hurt their ego.
[00:07:40] So if you just keep people positive just by, you know, you know, Jason had a great month.
[00:07:47] He sold, you know, 15, 20 cars, just like constantly, you know, reminding everyone else.
[00:07:53] And just for them to hear that in a group, I think is important.
[00:07:56] So, um, but it's, it is hard like every morning or the night usually.
[00:08:01] So we have Wednesday, Monday morning meeting, Wednesday morning meeting, Friday morning meeting.
[00:08:07] And after each meeting, I'm already making notes in my phone for the next meeting, like what I want to talk about.
[00:08:13] Um, and I, yeah.
[00:08:15] And I also have to just remember to be consistent with, you know, Hey, are we making sure people's phones are getting connected?
[00:08:21] We were only at, you know, 80%.
[00:08:24] We want to get to a hundred percent.
[00:08:25] Um, Hey, we've got the, the sales dinner tonight, you know, so just things like just to be consistent with it is, is, is not always easy.
[00:08:35] So I just have to, that's just the way that I'm organized with the meetings and, and, uh, seems the meetings I think go well.
[00:08:41] For sure.
[00:08:42] Yeah, they do.
[00:08:43] Yeah.
[00:08:43] Um, yeah, being a salesman, you kind of have to be able to shut off when you go home.
[00:08:48] So you're not always thinking about what you did, what you could have done.
[00:08:52] You, um, picked up climbing.
[00:08:54] What do you like about climbing?
[00:08:57] Climbing is fun.
[00:08:58] I, I picked that up probably like eight, seven or eight years ago.
[00:09:04] I, it was part of like school.
[00:09:06] Uh, I was doing an outdoor leadership program, um, for my degree.
[00:09:10] And, and that was just like the first two years, like half the year you're doing, you're learning like outdoor skills.
[00:09:15] And so I kind of, I started to learn about ropes and knots and, and yeah, climbing.
[00:09:23] It wasn't my favorite because I liked the faster paced extreme sports.
[00:09:28] You know, I mean, rock climbing is an extreme sport, but stuff that just, yeah, it's faster.
[00:09:33] Like whitewater rafting or long kayaking.
[00:09:36] Downhill longboarding.
[00:09:37] Yeah, downhill longboarding and like mountain biking, all of that stuff.
[00:09:40] So, um, I think now it maybe just fits more into, um, uh, not necessarily into my comfort zone, but I just, it's, it's safer.
[00:09:51] I think it is.
[00:09:52] People look at rock climbing and they, they say like, oh, that's pretty dangerous right off the, right off the go.
[00:09:58] But, and they see people like Alex Honnold that just does like free soloing.
[00:10:03] So he's not climbing the throat, but climbing when done, done properly and safely is, is like the safest thing you could do.
[00:10:11] So, um, that's been fun.
[00:10:12] I wish I could do it more, but you know, it's a three hour drive one way and I have three kids and a family.
[00:10:19] So it's, it's harder to do now, but yeah.
[00:10:22] So that's, it's, I still love doing it and I'd love to go every weekend if I could.
[00:10:27] Yeah.
[00:10:27] Yeah.
[00:10:28] That's cool.
[00:10:28] What, what, what would be your favorite of those, uh, of your, of your extreme sports that you do?
[00:10:33] I would say climbing.
[00:10:35] Okay.
[00:10:36] Yeah.
[00:10:36] It's, it's pretty versatile and it also just gets you to places that almost no one has ever
[00:10:42] been or is ever going to go.
[00:10:43] Um, you know, mountain biking, a lot of people do that.
[00:10:47] Um, a lot of people also get very hurt doing that if they try to do it.
[00:10:50] Like I'm not, I'm just not good enough to not get hurt.
[00:10:53] So, and I want to go fast like the pros do.
[00:10:56] So I'm just like, I gotta, I can't go.
[00:11:00] Yeah.
[00:11:00] I gotta be careful with that.
[00:11:01] But, and, uh, so rock climbing, it's like the hike on the way there, you call it the
[00:11:06] approach.
[00:11:06] So you, you know, you do usually a beautiful hike and something about all of the gear, like
[00:11:13] putting on like a full harness with just like, it's just loaded with carabiners and, and slings
[00:11:19] and belay devices.
[00:11:21] It's just loaded up heavy and you're using like all that gear just to, and you need that
[00:11:26] gear to get you up to the top of the mountain and also to get you down.
[00:11:30] So, and the view is always, is always so rewarding.
[00:11:33] Um, and again, it's like most places or most times it's a place, it's a view that no one
[00:11:39] else is going to see.
[00:11:40] It's just going to be the people that did that rock climb.
[00:11:42] So, yeah.
[00:11:44] Yeah.
[00:11:44] So you have, uh, two boys and one girl.
[00:11:47] That's probably why you're a little more conservative now.
[00:11:49] Yeah.
[00:11:49] Yeah.
[00:11:50] Or you're doing your sports.
[00:11:51] Um, yeah.
[00:11:53] How's that, what's that been like, uh, starting a family?
[00:11:56] Uh, it's been, you know, a lot of work.
[00:12:00] It's been really fun.
[00:12:01] Um, but it, and it's just busy.
[00:12:03] Yeah.
[00:12:04] Uh, it feels like this last week we had something, or at least I had something going on like every
[00:12:11] night of the week and it was just too busy, you know, or I felt, I felt, uh, maybe a little
[00:12:17] overwhelmed.
[00:12:18] Uh, but I think if, I don't think if, if I had, if I didn't have kids, I probably wouldn't
[00:12:23] have felt that way.
[00:12:25] Um, so it's just, yeah, I just have more of a desire and now that we're out on an acreage,
[00:12:29] I just have more of a desire to just be at home with them and just to play.
[00:12:33] And cause it's, and they're at that age too, where a couple of years ago they, you know,
[00:12:37] they're not walking yet or talking or, you know, maybe not really noticing as much.
[00:12:42] Um, still important to be at home for the dad for, I think any age, but, but now it's
[00:12:48] just like, it's, they're fun to, fun to hang out with.
[00:12:50] So yeah, yeah, it's been, it's been, uh, it's been good.
[00:12:54] Yeah.
[00:12:54] Pretty, pretty rowdy couple of boys.
[00:12:56] Yeah, they are.
[00:12:57] Yeah.
[00:12:58] Wilder and Briggs and yeah, they're, they're crazy.
[00:13:02] Last night Wilder is, he's just, he always just wants to fight, you know, like right
[00:13:07] where I get home, he's just trying to punch me right away.
[00:13:10] And, and then, so we ended up going down to the basement.
[00:13:13] Wilder and I are just fighting and Briggs is just off to the side, like just setting
[00:13:17] up a train set and he's a year and a half younger and he just doesn't have as much interest
[00:13:23] in fighting.
[00:13:24] He's over, he's over building trains and towers and all that.
[00:13:28] So they're just, they're different, different kids.
[00:13:30] Yeah.
[00:13:31] Yeah.
[00:13:31] So when you were doing car sales, you got into, um, investing in real estate.
[00:13:37] How'd you get into that?
[00:13:39] Yeah.
[00:13:40] Yeah.
[00:13:40] So yeah, sales has allowed me to invest, like you said.
[00:13:46] And, um, and I, my brother-in-law told me about a book, um, cannot remember the name
[00:13:56] of the book because it was a, it was a couple of years ago, but it's, it's, uh, it's about
[00:14:00] short term rentals.
[00:14:01] Uh, so Airbnb or, or, or Virbo.
[00:14:04] Um, and it just, I wanted something that was kind of, kind of like a business.
[00:14:10] We had already had a rental property that would like, we were living in the basement.
[00:14:13] It was an up down in Grand Prairie here and we rented out the, rented out the upstairs long
[00:14:18] term.
[00:14:19] Um, but getting into short term rentals that really, really intrigued me just because of the potential
[00:14:25] cashflow.
[00:14:26] Um, so I read this book and I just like, I literally, I literally followed the steps of
[00:14:32] the book as I read it.
[00:14:34] So like, I wasn't even really, I hadn't even finished the book yet.
[00:14:37] And I was like already doing it.
[00:14:38] Like I was already buying properties or I bought one property and set it up before I even finished
[00:14:44] the book.
[00:14:44] Some might say that's crazy.
[00:14:46] I like taking risks for the most part, um, with money.
[00:14:51] Yeah.
[00:14:51] I just, I don't, I think I have an open hand about it.
[00:14:55] And so I just kind of went for it.
[00:14:57] Uh, I did really study, I take, I took some time.
[00:15:00] It wasn't like over a week, but I took some time to just study different markets to invest
[00:15:05] in, in, in a short term rental or with Airbnb.
[00:15:08] So that I did take, I did take a few months looking at that.
[00:15:14] Um, the best markets are going to be your vacation markets.
[00:15:19] Um, it really depends on like what type of home you have, like how many bedrooms.
[00:15:23] Um, where it is, you know, whether it's in like a, a city or, um, it's like a regional
[00:15:30] drivable location or if it's like a fly-in vacation destination.
[00:15:35] Um, so I just wanted from what I saw in the data that, that I looked at, um, the, those
[00:15:42] short term or the, uh, the, the drivable, like regional drivable markets.
[00:15:47] A lot of them usually are national parks, like in Canada or in the U S um, through COVID those,
[00:15:54] those did really well.
[00:15:56] Um, this book and what data shows is like, no matter what the economy is doing, people
[00:16:02] are always going to vacation.
[00:16:03] So, however, some of those fly-in destination, uh, markets, they'll probably struggle just
[00:16:11] because there are families out there that the ones that could afford to go to Hawaii or
[00:16:16] go fly to Orlando, they're not going to spend that much anymore because the economy is not
[00:16:21] doing so well.
[00:16:22] They're still going to vacation.
[00:16:23] So they're going to now spend a week going to a national park or going to, uh, going to,
[00:16:28] um, yeah, to the mountains or going to the lake.
[00:16:31] And they're usually going to rent a home because it's just an affordable way to travel with your
[00:16:36] family or friends.
[00:16:37] Um, I don't have enough money to buy a house in, in, uh, Banff or, uh, in places like that.
[00:16:45] So we chose Hinton.
[00:16:47] We, we feel Hinton is, it does attract people from, from all over the world.
[00:16:52] We've had, we've had guests from, from Sri Lanka, China, um, Czech Republic, almost like,
[00:17:01] yeah, almost not every country, but all over the place.
[00:17:04] Like it's, it's been crazy just to see like people are coming to stay at our house in Hinton
[00:17:08] to see Jasper National Park.
[00:17:10] If you're from Grand Prairie, you think of Hinton as just like, you, you never actually
[00:17:15] go into Hinton.
[00:17:16] You just kind of drive past it to go to, you don't even go through it to go to Jasper.
[00:17:19] But if someone wants to stay in Jasper, it's extremely expensive.
[00:17:25] Yeah.
[00:17:25] There's families that can afford it, but if families are traveling together, like eight,
[00:17:29] 10 people, it's yeah.
[00:17:31] There's a lot of people still that aren't in that 1% that can't afford to actually stay
[00:17:35] in Jasper.
[00:17:36] So they're willing to drive the 45 minutes.
[00:17:38] Um, so it's done well and well enough to buy another house the next year.
[00:17:43] And, um, they recently just put a cap on buying Airbnbs there.
[00:17:48] So that's good news for us.
[00:17:50] Oh really?
[00:17:50] Yeah.
[00:17:50] So I mean, would have, uh, well, like you, you just, I don't know the number.
[00:17:54] Um, but if you're one, like if I want to try to go and buy a house right now in Hinton
[00:17:58] and I say, I want an Airbnb, they would tell me no.
[00:18:02] Wow.
[00:18:02] Um, so wish I would have bought more back when I did, but people have just seen the success
[00:18:07] and in the short term rental market there.
[00:18:10] So yeah.
[00:18:11] Yeah.
[00:18:12] One of the outsides to short term rentals is management.
[00:18:15] How much management do you deal with?
[00:18:18] So I, uh, I have a really good team, uh, set up in Hinton.
[00:18:22] I obviously can't go and just clean it.
[00:18:24] It's over three hours away or, or, or can't do any of that.
[00:18:27] So there's a lot of technologies and softwares that just help you help you manage that, uh,
[00:18:33] your short term rental.
[00:18:34] So it starts with, you, you do need people, um, in this book, uh, I'll share the name of
[00:18:41] it later.
[00:18:42] Uh, when I find out what it is in the name of the, in the book, it just talks about, it's
[00:18:47] Airbnb for dummies.
[00:18:48] Yeah.
[00:18:50] I'm just kidding.
[00:18:51] Um, it talks about needing, needing a team.
[00:18:56] And, and if you're on a, like a smaller scale, like I am, you really just need like a cleaning
[00:19:01] team and a handyman.
[00:19:02] And so that's all I have right now.
[00:19:04] And, um, and they're, they're awesome.
[00:19:06] Like I couldn't do it without them.
[00:19:08] Um, obviously I couldn't go and clean it.
[00:19:10] And so just to keep reviews up and there's always things happening with, you know, with
[00:19:15] houses that needs, um, you know, you need to shovel the driveway or you need to put new
[00:19:19] light bulbs in or a new hot water tank, you know, anything can happen.
[00:19:24] So, um, but I have some good softwares that just allow me to set pricing, um, number of
[00:19:30] nights available.
[00:19:31] Like there's a, there's a lot of stuff that goes into it and it has taken me a little
[00:19:34] bit to, to really get it dialed in.
[00:19:37] And I think I'm there right now.
[00:19:39] Yeah.
[00:19:40] It's just like, it's just kind of runs itself and I do have to look at it, you know, a couple
[00:19:44] of times a week, but it's doesn't take up much time.
[00:19:46] Yeah.
[00:19:47] That's good.
[00:19:48] Yeah.
[00:19:48] Yeah.
[00:19:49] Um, what, uh, what role has like your belief in, I mean, God had for you in, in your,
[00:19:58] uh, like journey to success.
[00:20:01] Hmm.
[00:20:03] Um, you know, my, my relationship with God and my faith has, has been a lot like I was
[00:20:12] telling this to someone yesterday.
[00:20:14] I think it's just been a lot like the Israelites.
[00:20:16] And I think most people can relate to that.
[00:20:19] The Israelites and the old Testament where one day they're, they're praising God.
[00:20:25] Everything is good.
[00:20:27] He's the only God.
[00:20:28] And, uh, and they, they love him and they're making sacrifices.
[00:20:32] And, um, and then the next day or the next year, however long it might be for someone,
[00:20:38] you forgot, you know, you've forgotten what God has done.
[00:20:41] You've forgotten God's goodness.
[00:20:42] And then you go and you start worshiping another God, whether it's your phone or whether it's
[00:20:47] money.
[00:20:48] Um, and so, you know, I've, I've been, that's been me, you know, for a lot of my life.
[00:20:53] And, um, yeah, you know, I, I think lately I've just been, I've just been able to, or God's
[00:21:02] given me the ability to just be, to just be content with, with what I have.
[00:21:06] I think I've gone through, I've gone through phases, like especially in sales because it's,
[00:21:11] you know, all of a sudden I'm, I'm like a college student or, um, you know, like a ranch hand
[00:21:17] and I'm not making much money.
[00:21:19] And then all of a sudden I go into sales and I'm just working hard and I'm, you know, making
[00:21:23] way more money than I ever have before.
[00:21:25] And so you can just, there's a certain level of pride that can come up in, in you, in you
[00:21:30] or in anyone.
[00:21:31] And, um, so yeah, like I, I haven't done it all right.
[00:21:37] I haven't, I haven't done it well.
[00:21:39] I haven't been faithful to the Lord the whole time.
[00:21:42] Um, and I just, yeah, thank God that I, I haven't lost anything.
[00:21:47] You know, I think I've, I've, it's not like I've ever doubted God, but it's just like I've,
[00:21:52] I've gone, fallen into sin or I've forgotten God's goodness and, or I haven't been content.
[00:21:57] I've just wanted more.
[00:21:59] Um.
[00:21:59] But you're seeing breakthrough.
[00:22:01] Yeah.
[00:22:02] I think the, I think this past year, it was actually right after you left.
[00:22:05] No, I'm kidding.
[00:22:07] No, I'm kidding.
[00:22:09] Remember when I showed up.
[00:22:10] Yeah.
[00:22:12] Yeah.
[00:22:13] No, I, I think, uh, you know, we, we've been going to a new church and we're just a part
[00:22:17] of a new community.
[00:22:19] And, um, you know, I don't want to say it's just all of, all where I've been living, but
[00:22:24] I think God has just been working in my heart and in my life.
[00:22:28] And I've just had more of a desire to give, um, whether it's just, whether it's my time
[00:22:34] or to give financially.
[00:22:35] Um, and I never, it's, it's not like I'm, I'm probably, I'm making less now as a sales
[00:22:40] manager than I was as a salesman.
[00:22:42] And so, yeah, it's, it's not really about the amount, but it's just like, I think, yeah,
[00:22:47] God's just been working in me and he'll always will be because I'm a, I'm a sinner.
[00:22:53] So, so do you justify, uh, just getting paid less, um, just because you're learning a new
[00:22:59] skill?
[00:23:00] Well, yeah, I think that that's part of it.
[00:23:03] Yeah.
[00:23:03] Um, being able to lead a team.
[00:23:05] Yeah.
[00:23:05] Being able to lead a team.
[00:23:06] Like I knew and, and my GM, yeah, like he's, he, he talked about it with me.
[00:23:11] Like sometimes you need to, you know, be able to take, you know, one or two steps backwards
[00:23:19] to then later on, you know, take three or four steps forward.
[00:23:24] A lot of people, like if you're in a, if you're an employee in a, in a, in a business, there's
[00:23:30] a lot of times you can, you can kind of plateau, you know?
[00:23:33] And so I think most of your listeners probably don't fall into that category.
[00:23:37] Maybe they do.
[00:23:39] Um, so I think that was, that was me as a salesperson, you know, like, yeah, the job
[00:23:46] is so rewarding.
[00:23:47] I love the job because it was just like, however I perform is like, if I perform better, I'm
[00:23:53] going to make more money.
[00:23:54] You know, there, there's all, there is a certain limit to that.
[00:23:57] So I just wanted to, I just wanted to improve my skills.
[00:24:01] I think it was the next step.
[00:24:02] I feel like God was calling me to do that just so that I could have a bit more influence
[00:24:07] in, in the people around me.
[00:24:09] Um, and mostly, yeah.
[00:24:11] And a lot of it was just to like, to learn.
[00:24:13] So I guess to answer your question, it's like, yeah, I was, I'm in a, I'm in a learning
[00:24:17] stage right now and I've learned a ton.
[00:24:20] Like I've.
[00:24:21] What would you say the biggest things you've learned is?
[00:24:24] Um, one of them would probably be just, yeah.
[00:24:31] Like how challenging it is to just manage people and manage a business and like advantage
[00:24:39] of business.
[00:24:39] I think of, I think of my department, like the new sales department.
[00:24:44] I just, I pretend it's my business, you know, like I think if you're an employee out there,
[00:24:50] um, and you do want to, yeah, you do want to exceed and succeed and grow, um, and eventually
[00:24:57] have your own business.
[00:24:58] If you're in a place where you are an employee, just pretend it's yours.
[00:25:02] So, and it's just, yeah, you're going to, you're going to be more motivated.
[00:25:06] You're going to be more willing to learn, be willing to make mistakes and learn from those
[00:25:10] mistakes.
[00:25:11] And so, um, yeah, that, that's been like, it's not easy, like just dealing with people.
[00:25:17] There's so many different types of people out there that, you know, in, in your business,
[00:25:22] like in, in my little business at the dealership, it's just pretty much just like my sales guys.
[00:25:27] And one of them, you know, with one guy, I don't have to, he's good all the time.
[00:25:32] I don't have, I can leave him alone and he's going to do well.
[00:25:35] And then there's other people like I need to, I need to like be encouraging them and talking
[00:25:40] with them, setting goals, helping them out daily.
[00:25:43] And there's everyone in between.
[00:25:44] Um, and then on top of that with the people, it's just like looking at all the numbers, um,
[00:25:50] and you know, how, where we're making money, where our opportunities are.
[00:25:56] Uh, so it's just something like I, I never, you know, if you're starting a business, I
[00:26:01] think for the first time, you're, you're probably going to learn those things as you go.
[00:26:05] And that's why it's risky just starting a business from scratch on your own.
[00:26:09] Um, so now it's like, but let's say today I go and try to start my own business.
[00:26:16] You know, I would obviously I'm going to say, yeah, I'm going to succeed.
[00:26:20] Maybe, but maybe I don't, you know, maybe there's a lot, maybe there's a lot more I need
[00:26:23] to learn that this hasn't been put on, put on, put on my table yet.
[00:26:27] So, but for sure.
[00:26:28] Yeah.
[00:26:28] Like knowing how to read those, those sheets and those statements.
[00:26:31] Yeah.
[00:26:32] That, that'll help you.
[00:26:33] Um, and then, uh, they're paying you to make those mistakes.
[00:26:37] You're not losing money making those mistakes.
[00:26:39] Yeah, exactly.
[00:26:40] Which is definitely, definitely a good thing to be.
[00:26:43] Yeah.
[00:26:44] So, um, you are from Michigan.
[00:26:47] You're one of the rare people who have, who was born in the U S and then came to Canada
[00:26:52] and stayed in Canada.
[00:26:53] Mm-hmm.
[00:26:54] Uh, what are some differences and why did you stay in Canada?
[00:27:01] Um, some differences.
[00:27:03] Yeah.
[00:27:03] Like, uh, it's a lot, it's a lot darker here in the winter.
[00:27:08] Uh, yeah.
[00:27:10] Yeah.
[00:27:11] Culturally, I mean, in Grand Prairie, it's, it's very unique.
[00:27:15] We have, uh, yeah, a lot, it's very blue collar for the most part.
[00:27:22] And yeah, just like the success and the money that just the energy industry brings in is
[00:27:29] just like, I've never seen it before.
[00:27:31] And, you know, like growing up back home, you don't have, or like if you're an 18 to,
[00:27:38] 18 to 29 year old, like you're broke.
[00:27:40] Like you've got, you're in debt, like majorly with student loans mostly.
[00:27:45] And then, yeah, like it's, and then here it's just like, there's 18 year olds that are making
[00:27:51] like 200 grand a year or 150 or whatever.
[00:27:54] Yeah.
[00:27:54] And they're driving insane trucks with a sled and a quad on it.
[00:27:58] And, and, uh, it's just like so different culturally.
[00:28:02] And, and there's a lot of, you know, I mean, any major like city center and, and I didn't
[00:28:08] grow up in a huge city, but you know, it was like a hundred thousand people, but that's just
[00:28:13] probably the biggest difference is just seeing like, you know, what a, what a culture can look
[00:28:18] like with like a blue collar and just opportunity.
[00:28:22] Like there's, there's just so much of it here.
[00:28:24] It's just, uh, cause it brings a different type of person, you know, like the, the blue
[00:28:29] collar, it's not everyone obviously, but it's just a different type of, different type of
[00:28:33] person.
[00:28:33] And so that's one of the big differences, uh, sports, you know, everyone, most people love
[00:28:40] hockey here.
[00:28:42] They're probably still not as like, still not as passionate about the sports as we are in
[00:28:48] the States, you know, and it doesn't matter the sport, you know, whether it's baseball
[00:28:51] or football or basketball, like in the States, it's just on another level, like just the commitment
[00:28:57] to the college games and, and pro sports games.
[00:29:01] Like, it's just, it's just a different level, um, than it is here.
[00:29:05] Um, and I think, yeah, I guess, why did I, why did I leave?
[00:29:11] I was a girl, you know, I met my wife at a Bible school in Montana and the next year I did
[00:29:18] a YWAM, so I was overseas, New Zealand and Nepal.
[00:29:22] And then I just followed her up here.
[00:29:23] She was, she was from this area.
[00:29:25] And so I just, I committed to go to, to Bible, cause I wanted to further my education.
[00:29:29] I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life yet.
[00:29:32] Still don't really.
[00:29:34] Uh, and so I just followed her up here and we've stayed.
[00:29:37] So it's just like, uh, and I like it, you know, we, I, I don't, uh, yeah, I'll never
[00:29:43] miss like the, just the amount of people there are like back home and a lot of places in
[00:29:49] the States.
[00:29:49] It's just, it's just very, very, yeah, just overpopulated in a lot of places.
[00:29:55] And so I just appreciate like just the open space here.
[00:29:59] Um, yeah.
[00:30:01] Yeah.
[00:30:01] Sometimes it's good to see prairies again.
[00:30:03] Yeah.
[00:30:04] Yeah.
[00:30:04] It's nice.
[00:30:05] It's, it's good.
[00:30:06] It's, I do, I do appreciate the trees back home in Michigan.
[00:30:11] It's like, if you've been to Ontario, it's just huge oak and maple and cherry and, and
[00:30:17] the leaves, you know, the, the colors of the leaves, red, orange, yellow, you know, browns,
[00:30:23] greens in the fall.
[00:30:25] It's, it's beautiful.
[00:30:26] So had you been to Canada before?
[00:30:30] Uh, I think only to Niagara Falls.
[00:30:33] I think that's it.
[00:30:35] Okay.
[00:30:35] Yeah.
[00:30:36] Yeah.
[00:30:36] That's it.
[00:30:37] Okay, cool.
[00:30:38] Yeah.
[00:30:39] What did you think of New Zealand when you went there?
[00:30:41] New Zealand was, was awesome.
[00:30:43] Um, it's, it's really cool.
[00:30:46] Like there's, it's such a small country.
[00:30:48] Like it reminds me, I, I'd have to see it on a map, but I feel like it's even, yeah,
[00:30:52] it's definitely smaller than California.
[00:30:55] And you have like the landscapes and the, the geography that like the U S does.
[00:31:02] Like the U S is pretty unique because it's got mountains, oceans, lakes, deserts, caves,
[00:31:09] canyons.
[00:31:10] Like it's, it's got, it's got everything, but it's in a huge area.
[00:31:14] Like we grew up traveling to all the national parks, but New Zealand has like all of those
[00:31:19] things, but it's in such a small area.
[00:31:21] Like you can drive across the country, which is an Island in a couple hours, you know, you
[00:31:26] can drive from what, you know, it's, it's so you're just able to do a lot more there.
[00:31:30] And, um, and it is beautiful.
[00:31:33] Like there's, yeah, it has all of those things.
[00:31:35] We, we were mostly on the South Island, saw mountains, like got to go to Queenstown, which
[00:31:42] is where like the, if you've seen Lord of the Rings, it's the mountains of Mordor that
[00:31:46] they film.
[00:31:46] It's right there.
[00:31:47] I've got a cool picture of me longboarding down a hill and, and it's just Mordor right
[00:31:52] behind me.
[00:31:53] So yeah, it was good.
[00:31:54] Really good food.
[00:31:55] It's, it's fresh there.
[00:31:57] The people there.
[00:31:59] Yeah.
[00:31:59] Good people there.
[00:32:00] And that was for Bible college?
[00:32:01] That was with YWAM.
[00:32:02] Yeah.
[00:32:03] We were there for three.
[00:32:04] I was on in New Zealand for three months.
[00:32:06] Then we got to choose where we went for our outreach.
[00:32:09] So it's just like the mission trip part of the, part of the YWAM.
[00:32:14] So I got to choose, um, there's a few different places you could go to India or Nepal or India
[00:32:20] and Nepal.
[00:32:20] You went to, always went to two countries.
[00:32:23] There was, um, India and another country.
[00:32:27] There was New Zealand, like North Island of New Zealand.
[00:32:30] And Nepal, um, and a couple others that I can't remember.
[00:32:34] So I went to the North Island of New Zealand for a few weeks and then we spent the remaining,
[00:32:39] the remainder of the time in Nepal, which was, in my opinion, just a better experience
[00:32:44] than New Zealand was.
[00:32:45] Oh, wow.
[00:32:46] It's so, so different culturally, like very, very third world.
[00:32:50] For sure.
[00:32:51] Um, you know, the closest, um, the closest experience I had to, to that type of poverty
[00:32:59] was Guatemala, which is like nothing really compared to Nepal.
[00:33:02] So Nepal was amazing, like completely different foods.
[00:33:06] Um, you, you know, I stood out like a sore thumb, just like a tall, tall for them.
[00:33:13] Right.
[00:33:13] Yeah.
[00:33:14] Six foot, like blonde, white man walking around.
[00:33:18] Like, so in a crowd, it's just like easy to see over all these little Nepalis.
[00:33:21] When we went to, uh, when I was in Asia and we went to the malls and stuff like that, when
[00:33:26] we saw a white person, I was like, it's a brother.
[00:33:29] Yeah.
[00:33:29] Yeah.
[00:33:31] It's just so rare.
[00:33:33] Yeah.
[00:33:33] But yeah, it's so crazy level of like, of poverty there.
[00:33:37] Like you, you go to like these jungles an hour out of town and it's just almost nothing.
[00:33:43] They, they, they have next to nothing and they're happier than, than most people.
[00:33:47] They're discontent.
[00:33:48] Yeah.
[00:33:49] But yeah, uh, thanks for coming on the show, Colin.
[00:33:52] It was good to have you.
[00:33:53] Yeah.
[00:33:53] Thanks for having me.
[00:33:54] No problem.
[00:33:57] Thank you everyone for listening.
[00:33:59] If you guys learned something or found it interesting, please share the video with someone as it helps
[00:34:05] me out a lot.
[00:34:06] Thanks.