Interview with Chris Seeger, Co-Owner of Chesterfield Service Mechanical Service Industry

We engage in conversations with successful business owners to learn the little things that made the journey of building their companies special. Then we discuss how they plan to hand off their business to the next generation of leadership.

This episode is with special guest Chris Seeger, Co-Owner of Chesterfield Service.

Chris is a second-generation co-owner and steward of Chesterfield Service, overseeing a team of over seventy skilled professionals who provide comprehensive mechanical services for homes and businesses. In 1976, Chris's father, Charlie, founded Chesterfield Service with nothing more than a van and a vision. Upon graduating from West County Trade School in 1985, Chris joined the company as its fourth employee. He has since embraced a continuous learning journey, gaining knowledge through hands-on experience, and eagerly working towards earning his doctorate in Hard Knocks.

Chris instills his team with a powerful mission: to deliver Exceptional Service that reflects their devotion to God and commitment to serving people. Since acquiring the business in 2009, the company has experienced remarkable growth, consistently achieving annual growth rates of over twenty percent. Their exceptional performance has earned them numerous accolades, including the prestigious 2023 Top Workplaces award, the BBB Torch award, and the national Best of the Best recognition. With an impressive collection of nearly 13,000 genuine client reviews, it is evident that their mission is resonating with their satisfied customers.

Recognizing the importance of lifelong learning and nurturing future talent, Chris actively engages in the development of the next generation. He and his team are actively involved in guiding and supporting educational initiatives at Ranken Technical College, American Trade School North, and South County Vocational Tech.

To get in touch with Chris or his dedicated team, you can reach them at 636-532-5841 or visit their website at Chesterfieldservice.com. 

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About Steven Denny: Steven Denny co-founded Innovative Business Advisors in 2018 and serves as a Managing Member of the firm. Steve has been actively engaged in M/A activities in a wide variety of industries for the last 14 years and has developed specific products to assist clients in growing their profitability and enterprise value. His specialty is working with established private companies in the lower middle market with annual revenues from $1 – 50 million.

Transcript

00:02

Welcome to the You Don't Know What You Don't Know podcast, by Innovative Business Advisors, successful business owners who have started, grown and led businesses share their journey and direction for the benefit of those traveling the same path.

00:17

Well, folks, here we are today in beautiful St. Louis and I'm honored to have Chris Seeger with us. Chris is a second generation co-owner and the steward of Chesterfield Services, which is a very large heating and air conditioning service organization here in St. Louis, Missouri. And Chris has got a team of over 70 skilled professionals who provide comprehensive mechanical services for homes and businesses. And folks, this is a family business. Chris's dad, Charlie, founded Chesterfield Service in 1976, basically with nothing more than a van and a vision. And business has taken off to the point that they've got 70 skilled professionals. So Chris actually went to school at West County Trade, and after graduating joined his dad's company as employee number four, and since then he's embraced a continuous learning journey. And I can speak personally to that. Chris and I are in a large group together and Chris is a, is a learning magnet, where he believes he's gaining knowledge through his hands on experience and eagerly working towards earning his doctorate at hard knocks. Man, I think you got that. It might be a PhD at this point. Chris instills his team with a powerful mission to deliver exceptional service that reflects their devotion to God and to serving people. Since acquiring the business in 2009 from his dad, the company has experienced remarkable growth consistently achieving annual growth rates over 20%. Their exceptional performance has earned them numerous accolades, including the prestigious 2023 Top Workplaces Award. That is really large, because the app is nominated and voted by the folks that work for you as well. So that's a, that's a key piece of that. And that's very prestigious. They also are a BBB, Torch Award Winner, and national Best of the Best recognition. So, impressive collection of nearly 13,000 genuine client reviews, it's evident that their mission is really resonating with their customers so. Recognizing the importance of lifelong learning and nurturing future talent, Chris actively engages in development of the next generation. He and his team are also very involved in working and supporting educational initiatives at Rankin Technical College, the American Technical School North and South County Vocational Tech. Chris honored to have you today, really excited to jump into this conversation.

02:58

Steve, thank you so much, man. That's great. I don't know what else to say other than all that, geez. Really built me up there. 

03:10

Well, it's all true, right? It's true. It's true.

03:15

It's true. It's true. That's, that's correct. Man. Ya know, it's been a you know, it's been a, it's been a quite a little journey so far. So I'm hoping to continue.

03:24

So I never asked you this before when, you know, when you were you were growing up your dad had started the business, right? When you were in high school and so forth and thinking about what you're going to do after high school, was, was that the path for you? Joining dad's, dad's company. Was that what your thought process was?

03:40

So here's the thing. I mean, you know, as a kid, so dad started the business in 76. That would have put me at 10 years old. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, six, seven years old. And so, you know, I saw that, I saw that in front of me, right. And I saw what he was doing. But I also had the stories of my grandparents and great grandparents were all entrepreneurial people. And, you know, at the time, that was kind of, you know, I just, you know, I can't really say that there was an exact time that I said, that's what I'm going to do. I just kind of always had it in my blood, like, hey, that's, you know, that's the route I want to take. My dad did make me work for a couple of different folks, like, you're gonna work for somebody else before you come to work for me. One was St. Louis County Water Company, and I worked there as a laborer for for about a year, just so I could see what union labor work was all about, you know? And not that I wasn't used to hard work it’s just that the union way was a little different than what I had had in the past. And prior to that, you know, some other odd jobs for, you know, two or three months at a time doing things with other people. And it really, you know, I just admired my father for what he did, right? I watched and saw what he did. And I'm like, you know, that just seems to be what I want to do. And so, as an entrepreneurial kid, I'd go with my grandfather to these estate auctions and different stuff like that. And I started out buying bicycles. I’d buy bikes, fix them up, and then sell them. Back in the day, we had this thing called the Trading Times, it was a local small paper, and you'd sell, buy, you know, buy bikes, sell bikes, and then I went from that to cars and motorcycles and stuff like that. So I was always this kid that was wheeling dealing and stuff for side money. And it turned into this, man, over time. So yeah.

05:29

It's amazing, you know, you and I are from the same generation, you know, and it's sort of like growing up back then my dad said, you know, you're either gonna go to work, you're gonna go to college, right? Or you're gonna go in the military. That was the choices after high school and, and I had exactly the same experience. We had this thing called the Pennysaver out where I grew up. Yeah, oh, yeah, I know that one. Building bikes, building eventually cars, buying cars, cleaning them up, fixing them up, that kind of stuff, right? Yeah. But, but it's, it's, it is fascinating in that regard. So you know, you, sounds like you knew from an early point in time that hey, you're gonna get into the business probably with pops or that that's what you wanted to do.

06:10

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So it was like, I never want to have the mechan-, I had the mechanical ability. I had it all, I had that side all around me, and then just seeing you know, seeing the freedom sort of that that you know, being your own boss kind of brought tickled my fancy, you say that, yeah. Yeah,

06:29

I get that completely. What makes your business special or different? I mean, there's a lot, a lot of folks that are in the, in the heating and cooling business, so what makes Chesterfield Service special?

06:40

Well, I'd say there's two parts to that, being special. One, the client facing side is we're kind of a one stop shop. Right? So we kind of, not only do we we do heating, cooling, we do plumbing, we do electrical work, we do appliance repair, we do gas fireplace stuff. So when you're having a problem at your house, about the only thing that I don't take care of is your sprinkler system and maybe your garage doors. At least not yet. Not yet. Right? Yeah, yeah. So that that's, that's, that's, that. From the team side, man, we really focus hard on work life balance. That's one of the things that was really out of whack with my dad. And I saw how that kind of culturally is in a lot of the trades, where guys kind of have a tendency to be, feel like a number. They kind of feel like, man, they just want me here to get this done and work me to death and that kind of stuff. And so we've really tried hard to have a, to have a focus on that for our teammates.

07:45

Well, and I, I'd say being voted as one of the best places to work, I mean, your your teammates, certainly recognize that. And having been part of the team at C12 that's going in and talking with your teammates, I can tell you, they, they really honor that with you guys every day. I think that is one of the things that makes your company so very, very special. And so, so unique. It's very hard to find that. A lot of people talk that game, but living up to it, and then being recognized for it, wow, that's quite an honor.

08:17

Thanks, it is hard. I mean, you know, you get to that time of year when it's 95 degrees outside, and you got calls coming in, you're like, Man, I'm sorry, we’ve got to shut it down at a certain point. Because these guys are just getting burned out. And you know, or, you know, just the overall lack of of talent in the field and getting guys that can really do what they can do. Man that's, you know, you can easily just trash those guys because, you know, we can book calls all day for you and all night. And all weekend. And all weekend. Yeah, I know. That’s exactly right. Yeah. It's kind of crazy that way, but yeah.

09:00

Yeah, that that's good. But you guys are also you know, Johnny on the Spot. I mean, I've used you a couple of times as well and you are right there. So you guys, your responsiveness to your customers is also pretty remarkable.

09:15

Thanks, we try. And it's it's through really diligence on our, on our office manager side and our team lead side to have those fresh guys and know that, hey, one, we've got enough staff that we can turn those guys to whether even if they do work a 12 or 14 hour day one day, right, they're not doing it repetitively. I mean, and that was the challenge we had back when I was running with Dad was that man, you know, there were times we were running like 85, 86 hours a week, you know. And this was week after week after week after week, man, that gets real old real fast because that's just go home, go to bed, get something to eat, come back to work seven days a week. So it just gets, that that just does it. That’ll make an old man out of you quick. If you're getting going and you're like, I'm done with this man, that's, that's no fun at all. And I couldn't imagine doing that with a wife and family and stuff like that. And so

10:17

yeah, that's that's a challenge for us. But it's also probably one of our strengths.

10:24

Well, you know, you guys have, you guys have really grown. I mean, if you're employee number four, now, you're you guys have got to have what 70, 80 folks total?

10:36

I think we're riding around 75 ish. Yeah.

10:40

So what a level of growth. What are you, Chris, what are you most proud of in the business so far?

10:46

You know, honestly, it goes right back to our staff. We've got a group of professional people that just love what they do. Day in and day out, it makes my job so easier, so much easier. I can remember back in the day coming in, and like, you know, I'm going back to Dad again, but Dad would hire a Jiffy Lube, tech, you know, kind of guy and like, I can train you to do this, ride with them and get them going and stuff like that. But their heart wasn't in it. And it wasn't their, it wasn't like their, their calling, right. Like they're a mechanic, but it wasn't like what they just dug, right. And now I'm surrounded by heating and cooling nerds, plumbing nerds, electrical nerds. And that's what they all talk about, man, and they come in and like, oh, man, you should have seen that. And they're geeking out on this technical side of what they do day in and day out. It's fun to listen to. It's exciting for the other guys around them because it just pulls them in. And it's just, it makes it a lot more fun. Because it's the you know, we call them the zebras. If they found a zebra, what was the zebra you had this week, man, not everybody's finding the zebra, the unicorn and what was it? How do we fix it? How do we get to if that's it? You know, 90% of the time, these guys are getting out on us saying, you know, it's a very similar thing. It's the same kind of situation or whatever. And you can have a unicorn or zebra with a client too, right? You never know what you're walking into. The problem getting to live all within the controller and not the control. And so sometimes it's fixing the client too. And so our guys are you know, our guys are good at that.

12:20

Yeah. Well, we both have been business owners for a long time, right? And I know that, I know and you know that it's not always a bed of roses every day. It's not always success after success after success, right? No, it's really not. I wonder if you'd share one of the one of the business, big biggest business failures that you've had and what, what you may have learned from that.

12:45

So I would say one, probably the biggest failure that I had right off the, was really right off the bat. And so we had, we had purchase, purchased the business from my father. My dad kept the books, close to chest man, that was it was a tight seal. I knew if we had money in the bank, or we didn't, which may have been about all he knew. It was one of those things. And so Travis and I made it, made a deal. It was a challenging situation with him, he was, he was having real health problems. He wasn't thinking clearly, stuff like that. We made a deal with our father to purchase the business. And when we did, we didn't take into consideration on when our service agreements were due, and what that meant to us going down in the year to come. And so we purchased the business January 1 of 2009. And all the service agreements that had been collected for 2009 were already in the bank and he took the bank with him. He took the bank with him. He took the bank with him, man. And so we started on a very thin line of credit with not only owing the line of credit, but also in labor for the next year on all the service agreements so we just assumed. Now that was our lifeblood, I’ll give you that, but he had already banked all of the service agreement money, which was a substantial amount for back then to push us through the next two to three months to get us in the springtime. And so that was probably, just not considering everything in that, that was probably one of the biggest challenges that we had to work through. Because man it was super duper thin. That was a tight, tight, tight time. And we're like, oh my gosh, what did we just do? And it took us a minute to go like, that was you know, had like a little off what, I didn't even think about this. You know, and so not not knowing that part of it. That's that was probably one of the biggest challenges that we ever had to overcome really. That goes back to us, Travis and I really, we knew we knew the business management side, we knew the technical side of it. We didn't know the money side of it at all, man. We immediately hired a coaching firm for just for heating and cooling. They came alongside of us and really, yeah, that was probably one of the best moves we ever made.

15:09

Putting your hand up asking for help. Yeah,

15:11

yeah, we shot our hand up real fast and said, okay, man, here's where we’re at. And, man, they came alongside of us. And really, if we hadn't, if we hadn't done that move, that may have finished us right there. So, yeah. So two in one.

15:27

I’ll tell you it's so cool, too, because I think you're right. I mean, you've heard me say this many times. Many times, business owners, we’re such technical experts at what we do, right? We, we, you know, in your case, you guys are celebrating the zebras that you find and chase and and, you know, geeking out over the, over the work you do. But it's the, it's the the money side, the business blocking and tackling that we so often don't bring to the table and that creates a lot of challenges. But you guys walked through the fire and you were smart enough to put your hand up and get some professional help and say, you know, show me, show me what we need to learn here and what we need to get, to get done.

16:08

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was tough man. And it was, it was even tougher selling that to my wife and Travis's wife because we're all kind of in there, you know. My wife’s like, you're gonna spend that, you don't have that. And I’m like, I don't think we're gonna have it at all, I just made the biggest financial mistake of our lives here. And so yeah, that was, that was that was a hard sell on that one. And so luckily, she just went, Well, okay, that's what we gotta do and so.

16:43

Move that, move the clock forward five or six years about the middle, you know, you guys have owned it since 09, right. Yeah. So you know, that was right out of the gate, you learned a pretty tough lesson. But yeah, five or six years in, what was it like in the middle? Has there been, was there some additional learnings that you guys had to, had to kind of learn?

17:03

Every day, remember, school of hard knocks, Steve. This is a daily task, man. No, I would say, the middle brought, you know, we had, we'd had some growth, and we had had some really dedicated, so when we purchased the business, the company had 17 employees. Within that first year, we took it down to 12. Okay, so we really grew it from 12 up and, and we had, and we still have about eight or nine of those employees still with us today.

17:39

Okay. That is so cool.

17:40

And so, but some of them, we don't, and I would say in that that middle is that some of the people who got us to the middle or to you know, to that spot, aren't able to get us to where we're going now. Right. And so those were, those were, that's, that's hard. You know, when you're dealing with folks that are really truly committed, and they just they, they sometimes don't have the ability to help you bring it forward. And going through some of that in the middle is a challenge, right. And so trying to either find new roles for them or find a different place where they feel significant as they were as they are, to, or splitting some of their tasks off and visualizing some of that stuff. That that was probably one of our biggest challenges as we kind of grew, being able to get the right person in the right seat on the bus, you know. And making those hard choices like, yeah, we really do, this really is, we're committed to this and just going down that road getting really good processes and procedures in place of sticking to them,

18:45

man, so. Did you find that not only for the people but you know, the vendors and suppliers and and other folks as well. 100%. The people that got you to where you were may not be qualified to take you where you want to go?

19:01

Yeah, the vendor, vendors, the vendors were another side of that. And we had a commitment to a manufacturer from the time really my dad opened the door until let's see, it would have been 2014 and we made a, we made our major change in vendors for heating and cooling and it's been the best thing that we ever did, you know. We, had we stuck with the, with the vendor we had previously it was just costing us a ton of money and once we got down and we figured out what that partnership was costing us on a yearly basis, we're just like man oh man, we just we can't afford to do business with you guys anymore. We went to, you know we went to him had two or three, because we were one of their best and you know brightest stars, you know, we were the top 10 guy, we were the this and that, you know, and then all that and and we just said you know this is here's the brass tacks of what's going on man and unless we can change that some way some way really, really fast, we're gonna have to make a, we're gonna have to make a crucial decision here and it's going to be leaving you guys. I hate to say it, but yeah, and so yeah, 100%. That happens, that has happened off and on. And as, as we've grown in some of our relationships with warranty companies and some of our relationships with, you know a lot of guys in our industrial start off as a, as a home warranty company, and that, if you’re a one or two or three or 5 man band, that's maybe not such a bad way to start. I mean, you can gain some clients and some traction that way. But as you go, it just doesn't make sense. And so, you know, knowing your numbers, man, and finding out exactly what that is and knowing knowing, you know, your true cost to having a guy in the home, ride a truck out there and and spend the time is crucial. Yeah.

20:58

And seems like the bigger you get, the more important it is to. Yeah. To know those things, without question. Today, as you and Travis are looking forward, I imagine your challenges are different in that regard. And, you know, what do you, what do you guys see as you're thinking about today and the next five years? What, what are the, what are the kinds of things you're gonna have to kind of bite off and learn and maybe, hopefully not learn them through the school of hard knocks, you know, definitely, definitely using some of the some of the knowledge you’ve gained, what do you, what do you hope to, to move forward? Well,

21:36

we really, you know, the challenges that we're looking at now is really just this, you know, this rapid growth. We've had a, had this weird situation with COVID, where we've had, you know, a quiet quit, have a bunch of guys who are my age and maybe even a little bit younger, that are either change and decide to go someplace else, or the guys that are five to 10 years in front of me there for sure like, hey, I'm kind of out and I'm done. And so finding a path for, you know, the millennials to come into and the Gen whatever's come into, and have a true path for them. We're having to be very, very diligent on this, this is where we need you to come in at this is, this is the path and and this is the true pathway we have for you for the next 12, 24, 36 months, and this is what it's going to lead to so they have a very clear forecast of where they're going and what the opportunities may be as they move forward. And so finding that, finding those folks. And I think it's changing a little bit. I'm seeing a change in enrollees at some of these tech schools, and them coupled with, or it seems like we're getting a higher grade of guys and gals coming in the front door, that really are like, Yeah, you know, maybe college isn't my path on this deal. And we've even had quite a few people, it's a second career. We've got several guys that have decided, hey, you know, I'm not going to be the IT guy anymore, I'm not going to be the whatever the case may be of truck driver or whatever it might have been, and decided to come into to one of the trades just because it's there's huge opportunities there right now so.

23:20

Well, you’ve got a great company to for folks coming in. I mean, you got, you got great equipment, you put your guys in state of the art equipment, you you know, you clothe them, you make them look like the true professionals that they are and you know, you got a whole support team that loves on them, so you guys got a lot to offer in that regard.

23:39

Well, some of that stuff, I mean, anymore, some of the technology is getting is, is beginning to get a little bit crazy too. This whole, we've got a, we've got a thing now where you can actually book a call with a technician. So if you're a handy person or something like that, we can actually book a call and a technician will walk you through the majority of repair. I mean, you're not going to get, you know, sometimes you're limited by the hand tools that the client has. But we can live wire you, I mean, if you’ve got a headset on and you know you're ready to go, we'll get into this thing with you. And some of this stuff is pretty, you know, not bad to get into and work on, some of it you just, you don't want to touch right. Someone that has high voltage, somebody has really hands off type of thing, but you know, that that plays in on our own technician side too, right. So we can, we can, Hey man put the, put the, put the thing on, let me see what you're doing, what you're, where your hands are going. What are you testing? What are you doing here or there? And so the technical backup that we have now remotely is great, you know? So that's kind of cool. That's kind of the fun part.

24:47

Well, I got, I got some information to share with you as well. I was having a really interesting discussion with a professional in one of the big schools and last year college enrollment, particularly for white men, is off significantly. Wow. While in 2020 2024 fall enrollment, that trend is continuing. And a lot of the, of the people in the higher education movement are concerned by that, right? So I think what you're seeing is happening. A lot of guys are just deciding that, hey, you know, what do I, what am I going to college for for four years at a, and a nice student loan, and then come out and I'm an indentured servitude. Now, they can go into the trades, and over the course of two years, pick up a skill, a skill that they can come out and gosh, make, you know, high five figures, probably six figures in their first year if they, they work enough and, and it's, it's hard, hard to argue with that.

25:45

Well, not only that, working through some of these trade schools, and depending on what employer you choose, they'll pay you to go through school while you're actually working for them. I'm actually one of those guys. And so, if you're, if you're six months in well, what we kind of do is like, okay, they're they're set, let's say the school is 16, 16 month course or something like that, okay, you you've been committed to the school, you've been attending regularly, you’ve got good attendance for six months, everything's looking good, the teachers like you, you're all that kind of stuff, okay, that kind of qualifies you for for us to go, Okay, here's the deal, right? We'll pay you, we’ll pay you to come to work for us, you can go to night school, so long as your grades stay up, we're going to pay your, pay for night school once you graduate kind of thing. And so man, it's it's kind of a, man, if you can get school paid for and and get paid while you're going, you know, the whole thing, the math is incredible. If you, if you, if you start figuring it, and you see a guy that's coming straight out of high school goes into a trade school for 16 months, or whatever the the deal, you know, whatever they decide to do, that's typically about how long it takes to get trained on even at night that way. And even if you're working a part time job, while you're doing that, which is really plausible. The guys who go to college and get a four year and the money that they're stacking up against themselves during that four years, man that that compounding interest on that, as you go that, it never comes back. Because, you know, these guys are, you know, it's basically winds up being a zero cost for schooling plus, they're getting paid while they're doing it. And so it's just a, compounded it, that that 250 to $400,000 invested properly over the next, you know, amount of time can never be made back up, especially at a 22 to 25 year old age, you know, type deal. So, long term, it's awesome.

27:52

It's astounding. I think trade school is the best deal. As you know, I know you're big supporters of Rankin, and I was talking to the President over there and 100% of their graduates have got multiple job offers. Yeah. 100% multiple job offers. And their, I think their, he was telling me their average first year earnings are in the high 60s. So unbelievable opportunities.

28:16

Yeah. Yeah, it really isn't. We, we saw, a good and a bad story if you got a minute. Of course. We had a guy coming through the electrical trade side and this kid was super sharp. I mean, he was just a great kid coming through and and just on fire just, he was just one of these kids you wanted to be around right? Like he's just doing it all, right, and smart, sharp as a tack. And decided, he was one of these kids decided, Hey, I'm gonna do this trade, got into the robotic side of it. He was working for me and I kind of had this feeling like man, I don't know, he's so sharp, I don't know that I'm going to be able to keep him you know, and sure enough, we said well, you know, we're gonna we're gonna pay you whatever the scale is when you're coming out of it. So basically, he had worked for us as a parts and helper and apprentice for about six months and I think he was, came out he was making about 25 ish dollars an hour or something like that. He was approached by Toyota Motor Company, and I think he wound up leaving for almost double that per hour. Unbelievable.

29:27

It's just amazing. Yeah, that stuff wasn’t out there when you and I were coming up. Oh, yeah. No.

29:37

Sadly to say I probably wouldn't be a business owner if it were, right. I’d probably be working for Chrysler or Dodge or somebody, you know. Yeah. So well,

29:49

Well, you and Travis it's it's fascinating as well, I, you mentioned your brother Travis a couple of times in this discussion and and I'll just recognize you guys are brothers, right? And you guys went into this together, and so you’ve got, you’ve got basically a partnership with you and Travis and of course, your wives as well in this whole deal. As you guys work through this now you're what are you 14, 15 years in? Yeah, yeah. So we purchased in 2009. So yeah, yeah. Do you and Travis sit down and think about what's your vision for the business after you guys retire and, and have you begun to think about, are you, when's the right time to start putting a plan in place to get there?

30:36

Well, it's probably now Steve. It's one of those things that our company as a whole, I've never, you know, I'm kind of a Christian guy, right. And I don't, I've never read

30:49

You’re not kind of, you’re a strong Christian guy.

30:52

I've never heard anyplace where it goes, retire and then move to Florida. Right. And so that's not really ever been in the books. But I can say I do want to, I do want to be able to set this company up so that it'll run itself. I'm really working hard to have a solid team of managers that can take this company to the next level, really, and we've got some of those people there, without a doubt. I mean, the some of the some of the staff, a lot of the staff that we've got are just, you know that, one of the coaches that I had is one of his things were, you know, always hire somebody smarter than you. And I took that to heart. And I've really tried to do that over and over again. And doing that it's setting this company up for success as it goes, as it goes down the road. Hopefully, generationally, it'll continue to go. Travis and I both have kids in the business, not a lot, I've got one and Travis's got one. Awesome. Who knows where that'll lead. But regardless, even if they would want to stay in the role that they're in, man, that the dedication that the employees have there, and, and what they're doing day in and day out, just the company, I can't, I can't imagine it not continuing to thrive and go down the road, whether Travis and I are there or not. And that's really what we want to try to try to make happen. So if there's a way that I can make it so that, you know, I'm a figurehead. I'm like one of the, there's a couple of guys in our industry that I could name off that are, that are doing the same thing. Basically, I'll give kudos to Mr. Welsh, furnace guy. He's one, great guy, great guy and really run a business really, really well. He's, for sure a mentor, not only to me, but almost everybody in the industry if they watched his path, just done an outstanding job of really been a great competitor and a solid guy to look up to, so.

32:47

Yeah, without question. Without question. And you guys, you really do have some sharp folks in your organization. I've met several of those folks and you hang around with a pretty cool group.

33:01

I do, the C12 group of guys ain't bad either.

33:09

Yeah, C12’s a fun group, fun group. Awesome. Well, you know it's it's it's amazing. Just a, just a country kid that you know, learned how to fix heating and air conditioning, right? And here you're running this huge organization now serving the whole metro area. I, your reach is pretty big. I mean, you guys go, you go to Columbia, you go to the middle of the state, you go out that far?

33:34

Not quite yet. No, no, we don't quite make it out to Colombia. But as far west as we go, it'd be like Warrenton, but we go all the way up to past Troy now, I guess Hawk Point maybe or something up north. Fantastic. Okay. And then down south we're going all the way down into, oh gosh. And I don't even know how far south we're going. Way further south than you would think.

33:55

I know in, well I know you're in Hillsborough. I saw your trucks down there. My my daughter and her husband lived down there and when I was down there visiting him I, I saw your trucks in the area down there.

34:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're probably our next you know, we kind of we've got a little spot up in Troy now and we're servicing out of Troy. We bought a little business up there. And then probably next move would probably be do something more south down, you know, 55 and Imperial area, probably something like that if I had to guess so. Who knows what the future holds, man.

34:29

Many good things, many good things. I'm with you. I keep reading the Bible. I don't see anything in there about retirement. But I, but I see a lot in there about stewardship. And you and Travis are outstanding stewards. You guys do great work.

34:42

Thank you very much. Awesome.

34:45

How can folks, how can how can folks get in touch with you and your company? If they'd like to learn more about your company and the things that you can provide? What's the best way for them to do that?

34:55

Company wise is Chesterfieldservice.com. You should be able to find us pretty easily on the internet that way. You can book service calls that way. If you're wanting to try to just get a hold of me, leave a message with any of the gals, our mainline number’s 636-532-5841. Be happy to get a message through to me, I'll be happy to call you back. If you're a guy that's somewhere along the line or you're having a struggle with this or that, you're listening to this podcast, I'd be happy to chat with you about you know, school of hard knocks, I'll sign you right up.

35:28

Awesome. Awesome. Well, Chris, it's my honor. I love playing with you at C12 every month and I'm just very grateful that you'd come in and share some of your your wisdom and superpower with our group because you and your brother have done, done it, done an amazing job and you've done it the right way. So there's, there's an awful lot for you guys to be proud of. And there's a outstanding example for many business owners that that do want to grow and grow you know and grow at a at a high rate. You're a great resource in that regard. So thank you. I

36:04

mean, you're. Thank you. I appreciate that, Steve.

36:07

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