An AV and integration-focused podcast broadcast weekly

This week's episode of Automation Unplugged our guest is John Carter — CEO of Multimedia Solutions and Powered Solutions.

About this episode:

John began his career as a technician in his family’s security company before purchasing the business and expanding into AV and low-voltage solutions. With a vision for growth, he founded Multimedia Solutions in the late 90s, transforming it from three technicians in a storage unit into a regional powerhouse with offices in Dallas, Austin, and Houston. Four years ago, he launched Powered Solutions, an electrical division that complements his AV business and allows his team to deliver multimillion-dollar projects across Texas.

In this episode, John and I discussed:

• The strategy behind building both AV and electrical divisions.
• How industry peer networks have impacted his growth journey.
• How family and resilience have shaped his leadership style.

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Transcript

Ron:

Hello. Hello there. Ron Callis with another episode of Automation Unplugged. Automation Unplugged is brought to you by my day job at one Firefly as always, and we're gonna jump right into it today. I've got, uh, an, an industry veteran. Uh, you know, this person, you've probably seen him at shows, seen him on stage, seen him, uh, speak or in webinars. Uh, he's just a, a, a powerhouse entrepreneur. Uh, I think you're gonna quickly learn. He's, he is also rather humble in his approach, uh, to life and business. But, uh, is running a business that is, uh, incredibly impressive. So I look forward to jumping in. Uh, today I'm bringing you John Carter. He is the CEO of Powered Solutions and Multimedia Solutions. Uh, right out of Farmer's Branch, Texas. So let's go ahead and, uh, let me bring John in and we'll say hello, John. How are you sir?

John:

Pretty good. How you doing?

Ron:

I am good. Uh, when we were talking pre show, you admitted to me you're like, Ron, I don't do this very often.

John:

No. This be how many podcast, actually? So

Ron:

first podcast. Awesome. Well, I, I think you'll find I don't bite and, uh, this'll be pretty fun. It'll be pretty easy. Um, John, just for our audience, uh, tell us a little bit, uh, give us just a snapshot. What is Powered Solutions and what is multimedia solutions? What type of projects do you do and where do you do those projects?

John:

Oh, uh, multimedia Solutions is, uh, the, the older company, it's been in business since, uh, 96. Uh, 90, actually 83, and then I own it since 96. Um, it is your low voltage automation, home theater, all that kind of stuff. Um, powered solutions sister company that I created about four years ago. Um, and it's all electrical high voltage. So I wanted to bring, I feel like that our markets we're missing, uh, somebody that cares. The, the detail in automation in a low voltage company, automation company carried over to a powered company. So that's the reason why I did it.

Ron:

Uh, on the multimedia side, what, what is a, what's an average project and, uh, and then what's like a small project and what would be like a big project?

John:

Oh, man. An average project is still, I mean, the whole house, we do all the wiring in house. Um, so we start to finish, meet the clients, do all that. Um, so a, a small one's probably about five to, to 10 grand if we're doing wiring only or something like that. And then they can get all the way with equipment, 25 50. Um, we just finished a project that combined both companies powered solutions and multimedia solutions. Uh, just finished it last year and it was a little, about three, 3.5 million for the job. Um, so there, there's a range. Um, they, it just depends on the client, um,

Ron:

that, that project type, uh, I'll just call it, I'll put a category call, 1 million plus, I mean mm-hmm. Do you guys do. Do, do you do 10 of those a year? Like couple of those a year? Is that every few years you'll do something because that's a big project.

John:

Yeah. I mean the 3 million park. Yeah. Um, we were getting, um, we did another high, high fence ranch, but it was only audio, video, um, down in, uh, west Texas. Um, and we did it and it was probably two five. Um. We don't get a, you don't get a lot of 'em. Right. And, and there's certain clients that just wanna do it. But since I started the electrical company and we're, uh, swimming, I call it swimming upstream, just doing nothing but high end stuff, we're starting to see a lot more. I mean, it's not, uh, out of the question we just did recently, I landed three jobs that are over a million dollars just in electrical. Right. And that's not, that's before lighting, before design, before anything. This high voltage only in there. We, we've got budget numbers for things, but I've got, um, I've got a couple projects now we're doing, uh, another one that's gonna be probably a little bit over 2 million, uh, and then a little baby one that'll probably be low nines. So, I mean, we're, we're starting to see a lot more of them.

Ron:

I'm curious, uh, I know I'm jumping ahead here, but, uh, you, you're, you mentioned the electrical business, um, was the, was powered solutions born, uh, are conceived to. If I design to do the electrical in the projects where you were also doing the av, or do you go and pursue, you'll pursue different projects and different relationships with those businesses.

John:

Originally, that's what my thought was, right? Is to, uh, to be able to marry them. Right. I'm getting to the point where I don't have to marry 'em. I don't, it doesn't have to be. Um, because I mean, there's a lot of AV companies out there and there's a lot of great companies in Dallas, right, Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Right. And I've always told a builder, if they're not, if they're unhappy with a, uh, with a group or they're, let me rephrase this. If they're happy with a group, don't come to me. I mean, don't leave a guy because you're trying to get a number or something like that. You got a lot of good people out there. Um, but if you're unhappy, let's talk. Right. Um, the, the electrical, I wanted to bring the detail in the audio video world to the electrical, because majority of your electricians just want to get in and out. They want to turn and burn the house. They're looking for the next house. Right. I'd rather. Uh, the way we work at, uh, multimedia solutions is we educate, right? Uh, we're not hard salespeople. That's not what want got us to do. I don't want 'em overselling anybody. I want 'em to educate the client what's out there and let them pick. Um, what I'm taking that over to the electrical side because electricians, again, just tell me where you want to put it, is what they want. Instead of somebody educating a client and going through the process with them, there's so much more. The goal for me as a, an owner of these two businesses, I want own more of one house than more houses. Uh, 'cause I mean, if you think about it, if I'm selling a $500,000 AV system, right? And then I got a $500,000 electrical job, man, that's a million bucks in one house, right? So why, why do I want to chase more real estate instead of just work combined on the real estate that you're doing, right? So that's the goal. Um, and I think it's been very successful so far. For us a lot of work.

Ron:

There's, there's a lot about the electrical side. I don't know. I know that, I don't know. So I'm gonna ask a clarifying question. And that is, I perceive that on the AV side of the business, you can operate that business at higher gross margins on service and labor, well, labor and hardware. And on the electrical side, I've always, I, I think I've heard anecdotally that those businesses operate at lower margins or thinner margins. And it, what's the big differences of how you run company A versus company b? I mean, are they similar or are they very different? And does that lead to you managing or running the business differently?

John:

They, I mean, they are similar and they are different. I know that's just like a yes or no. That's one, one phrase I hate, right, is yes and no. Right. Um, but yes, they are several. Is

Ron:

it a long form podcast so you can explain?

John:

Yeah. So they're yes, they're yes and no. Um, getting into it, I was naive, right? Um, I thought it was gonna be just like it's pulling wire, doing whatever, right? Um, I happened, I met my, I actually have a partner on, uh, the electrical side. Okay. Um, he's a master electrician. Been doing it 30 years. Um, he's not like a, um, I started interviewing other masters and, and going through this process, there's people that take the test and get their masters right? And then there's guys that really know their, their industry. This guy knows his industry. Very humble guy. Very, uh, country guy. Just a, just a good dude. Um. I, I, I, I was doing multiple high-end AV jobs with a real high-end client, uh, builder. And, um, he was always there and I'm like, Hey dude, we need to do this, right? So he ended up getting irritated at his other company that he was at be, um, they changed hands ownership. And so he decided to come be with me to start this. Um, so the margins are lower, right? I mean, there's no, it, it, it just depends. But the realm that he played in, right? Was he, he did a lot of jobs where they were hard to budget, so he would do time and material jobs. Well, a lot of our issues that we have in our industry, right, is you, you're bidding a job and you're taking a lot of the guys times, you're taking shots in the dark, right? You're take, you're like, oh, I'm going to do this type of labor for it and everything like that. But you don't know what you run into. And sometimes your labor's great, sometimes your labor's not so good, right? So he, it, I didn't know about the time and material when I asked him to join me. Right? That helps. But we also play where we bid the projects out. Right? And, um, I, I've found that if you, um. Are better at what you do, right? You're, you're, you're a higher end electrician. Your attention to detail, I mean, again, if you look at these jobs, and a lot of people like pre-wire where their, all the lines are straight and everything's good. If you do that in electrical and you show these guys, that's really a, you're taking your time and doing it. They'll pay you more. They'll pay you more because they want the quality. They don't necessarily want the running around and all that. I think that the electricians have, uh, diluted the market, right, and not have, uh, not. Maybe took, uh, took pride in what they did per se. Maybe, and I'm not mean. So they a, a

Ron:

lesser product for less. Yeah. I mean, I think they deliver a higher quality product, right? They,

John:

they, they, they let the builder drive that, right? And they, and you do that 'cause you see that in production and you see that out there. It's about the bottom line, close out the deal so they can, uh, the, the builder can make whatever they need to make on the deal. So we're not swimming in that realm, right? We're going up to the high end stuff. And they want attention to detail, they want all that stuff. So it's been a very, uh, very high end. And you'll still get it though. You'll still get builders that say they're high end, they're doing it, but then they're still pricing it out, kind of like a, a, a project, uh, like a project for a real high-end, uh, track house, right? So you'll still see that. Um, but we've built relationships with people and starting to build relationships with people that know that the quality that they're gonna get with us is. Uh, hopefully the best out there. I mean, but we, again, we have great electricity. Some, there's some, there's about five really good, great electricians in the area. Right? And again, I don't want to be the guy that dilutes the market. I wanna just Fair price, fair service. Right. Is what it is. So

Ron:

I, I'm gonna ask a bit, uh, ask a bit of a nuanced question, but the, the topic of digital lighting and just lighting, design fixtures, all control is a, it's a quite popular topic with a lot of people I talk to. And so I'm curious either across multimedia and or across, uh, powered solutions, um, are the projects that you are getting involved in are, are you typically involved in the design and specification of the lighting in those projects? Or do you, sometimes you are and sometimes you're not.

John:

Sometimes you are and sometimes you're not. Right. Uh, a lot of, uh, architects, really nice architects in Dallas. Right. They already have lighting guys that they deal with. Right. The lighting specifiers and all that. So I don't rock that boat. I, I can offer it for any client that needs it. Um, but I, uh, but it's not something that we don't lead with that, um, just because we've gotta figure out if that person's already on there. Right. We don't wanna burn bridges with any lane designers or architects or anything like that. So we don't lead with it, but it is something we can do if they need it. Um, but we, we will work with anybody on that.

Ron:

Got it. Makes sense. Uh, we are, we're recording this show. We're giving a little show secret here. We're recording this before C Dia, but it's gonna come out after C Dia. Uh, I'm curious, are you, are you or any of your team gonna go to Denver this year? Are you guys gonna go to C Dia?

John:

Yeah, we're, um, I'm only going three deep this time. Normally I go, uh, normally I go, I, I mean, I, I think at one time I took 30. Right. I was gonna say, I'm

Ron:

seeing you bring some crews to that show. Yeah.

John:

I, I did that. I think, um, again, this goes back to being a, uh, learning as you go, right? Yeah. Um, I brought a real CFO in to the company, uh, at, uh, November. Um, and she has shown me how to look at numbers way more than I've ever, uh, learned how to look at 'em, right? And it's like, well, you don't need to spend this kind of money to go all to go there, because I mean, it's a, when you were sending 30 people, all right, you weren't really picking the 30 deserving people, right? You're just picking everybody. And, uh, my group. God bless 'em. They like to have fun. And, um, and I used to do that myself. I wasn't very good. I've been there doing that job. There's no shame. I wasn't leading by example, right? I was, I was leading by example, but it was the wrong example. I to the

Ron:

wrong example, right?

John:

So I was the biggest kid in the crowd. So, um, yeah, we're going three. Um, one of the guy, one of the guys that's coming with me is only, uh, this is his second year with me. Um, he, I call he, you would. He's on the electrical side, he's my service manager, and he's about 26 and he's, and he's like one of these unicorn guys, right? You just, he's just awesome. Um, just what you would want your son to grow up to be. Right. And he's, he's that, he's that young kid that's eager to learn and all that. And it's just that, that's so hard to find in a young person sometimes these days. And then I'm bringing my COO, right? So, um, yeah, I think that we, uh, we are being more diligent on how we spend, uh, our money and how we want to, uh, how we want to. We've got a lot of big plans, uh, for the future, and we're trying to set our company up for success to do that.

Ron:

Got it. So translation is a little more conservative in this fall season with C Dia.

John:

Yeah. I mean, plus, I mean, I really been disappointed in CD the last couple years, right? I mean, uh, I mean, ever since COVID, right? They, they, there's not a lot, like, they don't bring out a lot of new stuff. I mean, you're seeing like the same stuff. They, they're taking a while to turn things over and all that. You're seeing all your buddies. I mean, to be totally honest with you, I get more out of going to ProSource, right? And, and talking to them guys and, and then meeting my guys that I am on a text thread with at, at a remote location to talk to business. I get way more stuff out of that right. Than they go look at product that might come out soon, might not come out soon, or it's already been out nine months and they're just showing it to me. Um, I do like seeing defenders. I do like seeing my friends, um, but as something that is better for my group long term, that's probably not where I need to spend the money.

Ron:

Got it. All right. Well, we're gonna circle back to ProSource, but before I do that, I, I want to. I want to go back into your background and just hear the story if you're willing to share it, you know, feel free to go back as, as far as you're willing to go. Tell, tell us how, how John Carter landed here today. This mature entrepreneur that's fit and, and running a, a, one of the larger operations in the country where, come from my

John:

all fooled, um, uh, man, I, I, I, my dad started, uh, my dad's, um, started the company as a security company. It was called Carter, uh, Carter Communications. He worked for, he, his background was, uh, cable TV industry, like Comcast and all that, right? So he, um, he came, we moved, we lived in Georgia. I lived, I grew up in Georgia until my middle school. That's really, I'm a big Georgia Bulldog fan. And, and, and that's probably the only them and the Braves are the only ones I kept from my childhood. Everything else is Dallas, unfortunately. Yes. Michael Parsons got traded. We already know this. Um. Yeah, Jerry Jones. Um, so, so I, I, during the, um, when I was younger, he would do like cable boxes and stuff, and I would put the chips in the cable boxes, like just, he would gimme money. I would get these little plastic sleeves of chips and I would put 'em in the cable boxes so people could get their cable channels. So I did, I started doing that for, uh, a while, and then he started this company to do security, and we were doing all of our businesses in the lost cleanest association area. So it was, they had their own monitoring station and all that. So we did all the wiring and all the custom builders wanted us to do the wiring of it, and they were like that. So my dad did that. And I remember during high school, I would, on summertime, I would just go work with him, pulling wire, going underneath houses, digging trenches. I remember him dropping me off and I would dig a, um, I would dig 150 foot trench. Right. And, and were,

Ron:

were you at least getting paid.

John:

I was getting paid. I was getting paid. I mean, I, I mean, I was getting Yeah, yeah. You wouldnt call pay now. But yeah, I was getting paid back then it was money. Right. So I would do that. And I mean, some of the lost cleanest dirt is some of the hardest dirt It is, right? So it was just really, you, it would take you forever to dig this. And you're not using a trencher, right? I'm using a spade shovel, getting it in. It just, it just summertime in Texas heat, it's not very cool. So it was, that was my life, right? So, oh yeah. Did that. Um, so when I graduated, I went, uh, I kind of was working at a different job. That job didn't work out, so my dad offered me to come, uh, work for him. Um, me and my dad. Uh, I love 'em, but we don't have a great relationship. Right. I used to get fired every day. I worked for 'em, so I mean, I didn't agree with them and I'd get fired and then my mom would hire me back. Um, so how big of

Ron:

a operation was that company that your dad was running? Was that was that business was called. What was it called? It was called Carter Communication. Carter

John:

Communication. So I think at their height, maybe it was 10, 10 to 14 people. Right. Uh, is what it was. And then, um, so, um, my parents adopted four kids. Right? So, um, and, and, but I was already in high school. I was already outta high school, whatever when this happened. So, um, my dad got all, he, he would be in and out of the, um, owning a small business and dealing with clients and stuff. Uh, I think it kind of frustrated him, um, with the personal, one of the more

Ron:

stressful things anybody can ever choose to do.

John:

Yeah. So he got to the point where he was done, right. And he got, uh, he got offered a, a. I head of construction in Denver. So he packed up the family and moved to Denver and me and my, me and Jen, um, my bride, um, just got married. Um, and she was working at the office as a, uh, as a off, uh, answering the phones and stuff. 'cause she, her job, when she came back from our honeymoon, they, uh, eliminated her job. Um, so she came and worked there. So he went and did that and left us running it. So when he left, he left us. Uh, it was, uh, me and two other guys with her in a public storage facility. She wasn't in the, she wasn't in the public. She was at a, a, a remote location. But me and the other guys were at a public storage location. We ended up, um, that was, we did that for a little bit. Um, we ended up buying a, uh, not buying, renting an office. So we finally got our first office. It was one in one office, in a track office place, old carpet. It just one big room, a bathroom and a warehouse. That's all it was. Right? So you had three, four desks in there and you did that. So, um, did that. And then, um, about that time, I, I wanted to buy my, my, uh, my f oh, I wanted to save more money. I was making $30,000 with my dad, right. So I worked at, I went and my brother-in-law got me a job. He was a warehouse guy at Circuit City. So I went and worked at Circuit City as a audio sales guy, right. So people didn't know, know me, and I don't know if they know him now, right? It's, I had to go up to a room and I don't know anybody. It's like I, that's not something that I'm comfortable in doing. Right. Uh, self confidence. You more introverted.

Ron:

It's not your comfortable. Well,

John:

yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm I introverted in a certain sense. Right. But it, I think it's, I guess you could change that a little bit and I think I've changed it a little bit. But I, um, just bringing up brand new conversations to people was hard. And, and man, going to Circuit City was the best remedy for that, right? I mean, because that's all you're meeting is people walking up to you and you selling stuff and, and what it was doing is they didn't have installed Right. Install. So I would get jobs from them. These people wanna buy these speakers and stuff like that. And they're like, Hey, do you know you're making song? I'm like, well, matter of fact, I do. I can, I can help you out with that. So I met some good friends doing that, right? Um, and so, so we did that and did that. I worked, uh, seven days a week for two years straight. Um, I made $30,000 with my dad and I made $30,000 with the Circuit City working. So I worked Monday through Friday with my dad, Friday through Sunday at Circuit City. And uh, so I did that to save enough to buy my first house. Um, so we bought my first, we bought our first house. We, um, the company started growing a little bit like I. Um, I used to do a company called Standard Pacific Homes. We did more track homes at the beginning. Right. So I did that. Is it still

Ron:

with Carter Communications?

John:

Yeah. Well, no, we, in 99 we switched it to multiracial. I never really liked the Carter Communications 'cause what would happen is like the Mike Tyson fight would happen and we get a bunch of calls 'cause they think they're called charter communications. Right. There was a company called Charter and they were a cable TV provider. I have never been cussed out so many times when somebody can't watch Mike Tyson fight, it would be on the voicemail of our office. So, uh, so we had to get rid of it. So I did, uh, I, I picked out multimedia solutions, uh, because I wanted to, I didn't want to pigeonhole me into like, custom home theater store or whatever. I wanted to be able to nice

Ron:

and broad. You could do whatever you want. I wanna

John:

be able to do multiple things. Right. For a house.

Ron:

Yeah.

John:

So we did that. Um, and then we bought our, um, we built our first, I don't know when it was, but, uh, I built a, uh, I built an office building, um, not too far from a DII bought a lot, built my first building, and then, uh, was there about five years and then kind of grew from there. Um, uh, I got one story too. So I used to do standard Pacific stuff. So a lot of people know me because I've done a lot of toll stuff. Right. I've done toll in the state of Texas for almost, uh, 30 years.

Ron:

Toll's on the highways. Toll

John:

Brothers.

Ron:

Toll. Oh, toll Brothers,

John:

okay. Yeah. Toll Brothers homes. So I've, I've done their stuff when they were smaller here. Right. I got in with them a long time ago. And, um, this is, I guess this story is, you never know. What you're going, uh, what, what's gonna be thrown your way? 'cause you can, 25 cents can get, or, or 5 cents can get you a, a, a big job. Right? So story behind the Toll Brothers get was, is that I worked for San Pacific Homes, one of the builders left, right? And, and went over to Toll Brothers. And, uh, they weren't happy or he wanted me to look at something and, and look at because he couldn't get response from the existing company that was there, right? So I go out there and I look at it and, um, he's like, man, I can't get this window to work. So I go, okay, lemme check it. So, and I was a technician at the time, right? I was technician selling, doing whatever. I was out in the field doing it. So I pulled the contact up. They, uh, they had twisted the wires together and stuck it together with bubblegum. And that's how I got the Toll Brothers account, which we ended up being, to this day, a multimillion dollar account because one, somebody else's tech put a bubblegum. On a, uh, on a contact connection to a wire. That's

Ron:

crazy.

John:

Yeah. And, and Toll Brothers is to this day, like I'm, I'm a loyal guy and uh, I don't go seek and track business. Right. I don't, that's not my forte. Toll's always been somebody that's allowed me to talk to clients and deal all that and it's always been a good account for me. Um, they're kind of changing their, the way they do business now, um, which is, it's, it's shame. Um, but, uh, but that's how I cut my, that's how I got, that's how I got in Austin and Houston. They have asked me to go down in these other areas right. To do both of these. I, it took me two times going to Austin. I went to Toll one time, um, in Austin and didn't work out, so I pulled out 'cause we weren't making money or anything like that. And then I went back in when they asked me to go back in again. And then when I was in Houston, uh, I found out, uh, it's actually found out at CD at one time, um, that I was getting the, they wanted me to go to Houston and that's where I hired my guy that started the Houston location in Houston. That year to go there. So they kind of grew from there. Um, started doing what, what year

Ron:

are we at right now,

John:

man? I wanna say, uh, juicy little pivot that happened. It's right. Probably, probably, uh, 2015. Right? Uh, tell me about what

Ron:

happened in 2010.

John:

Okay. You're gonna make me go back now.

Ron:

Make you go back. Backtrack. Welcome back.

John:

I mean, I think I, um, I think I learned a lot of self about in 2010. That's when the bubble, right? It's when all the, the, this things hit. So, um,

Ron:

I was on the backside of the great, right? I was

John:

probably, I was probably about. 15 to 20 employees in, in Texas, um, in Dallas. Right. And, uh, so I, uh, being a owner of a company and being that you don't have partners, I didn't, I've never had a partner except for the electrical side. It can kind of get lonely. Right? You can't ask people questions. I don't, I kept them myself. I didn't have anything. So I got to the point where I, I didn't think I, I was a leader for our company, so I, it wasn't I was looking for a payday or anything like that. I sold the company, right. Um, I sold the company to an, uh, a company that was trying to buy, I guess it was almost like a, um. I wouldn't classify as a bras per se, but he was buying different, like, types of companies like ours. Um, was it industry

Ron:

m and a? Sort of, yeah. It was kind of the industry,

John:

but it was more commercial driven. Right. More than residential driven. Um, so he was, he was doing that, it was a guy out in Evansville, Indiana. Um, so they taught the game. I'm like, okay, let's do this. Um, they, uh, I was doing $1.4 million in business. They, uh, they were gonna pay me, uh, $1.2 million of business 1.2. And it was, I told 'em to stretch it. Right. I told 'em to stretch it out. They paid me out a little bit and they were gonna keep me on for like, I was making 200 grand a year. Right. Uh, as, uh, the running the business. Right. Um, and they were gonna pay me in the installments. So they paid me. My first installment was like 90 k. Right. But right off the bat, they quit. They didn't pay my employees. Right. They didn't pay their payroll. They didn't pay their health insurance, they didn't doing that. So I took that 90 K and paid all that for 'em. Right. And this lasted for, uh, about nine months. Um, and I sounds like they were

Ron:

reneging on their deal, right? Well, I

John:

mean, dude, I, I, I, I don't, I, I am, I, I'm a handshake guy. I am a word guy and all that stuff. So I take people for their word and something was off from it to begin with, right? Um, like we, like they had us go to a sales meeting and they wanted to talk about, uh, sales leads that they had, right? So I'm sitting in this meeting and this meeting, and another guy and one of my other guys, sales guys, and we're sitting there and we're, and we're in this group of people and they're like, Hey, yeah, let's talk about, I guess people call 'em pipeline, right? What in your pipeline? What you got going on? And you had guys like, well, I got, I got an end with Disney. And I'm like, okay, well, and I, I turn around, I'm like, oh man, that's cool. How did you get that? And he goes, man, I just called the reception there and I'm becoming friends with the receptionist. And I looked at my buddy and I'm like, dude. I don't know. F is that a lead? That ain't nothing. I mean, and they would do this and like, they had a, they had a lead for flying Jay and, uh, the big, uh, the, the, the truck stop place, right? And it's the same thing. Oh, I know somebody over there, right? And it's like, these aren't leads. I'm, I, I don't like, one thing with my company, right, is I don't like forecast if I only put when I, when I put my forecast in, I'm either, I'm pretty sure I'm getting a job. It's not something I'm just throwing out there, right? So I don't believe in fluff numbers and that's all that thing was, is a fluff number deal. And I was just like, what the f Again, I don't wanna cuss. I'm a big cuss, but, uh, I'll try to keep it down. Um, the, so I, I go there and we're walking away and I'm like, man, this is not good. So then they, um, did it again. They didn't pay payroll, they didn't do anything. This is like when it was right over. And, um, so I flew to, uh, I flew to St. Louis to meet 'em. Uh, it was kind of like mafia style, right? I was in a hotel room, there's five people around me, and I'm sitting in this chair. I felt like, this is light. There's on me. I thought it was being inter interrogated. Interrogated, right? And they're like, Hey, you with us and all that. I'm like, yeah, I'm with you. If y'all just pay your bills, right? Just pay these people. I didn't do this. I wa I, I was looking, my self-confidence was like, I wa I didn't know if I was, it was meant to be the leader for this group. I wanted to give my team the best shot possible. I didn't, at the end of the day, I mean, the, the, I I wasn't wanting the 1.2 upfront or anything like that. I would just pay it out, whatever, right? Um, so we're sitting there and I'm like, yeah, I'm with you. So I get, I get that 90 grand check. I cash it and I shut all the doors, quit sending them the checks, and, um. And I paid my, all my, all the money that people were owed. And all these guys are staying because of me, right? These guys are looking at me and I, I'm like, I, that these families and all this other stuff. And I'm like, dude. So that, that was really tough. But, uh, that's not what screwed me, but screwed me was the fact that I trust people and, uh, they wanted to keep my tax ID number because if they changed the name of the company or did something with the company, the tax ID would go to zero. So they would lose their credit. My, I would lose my credit at all the vendors. Well. Uh, John wasn't very smart. Uh, again, my belly ground, I, I, I went to junior college, barely showed up to class, didn't do any of that. Som most of my stuff is hard knocks learning, right? So.

Ron:

Sure.

John:

So we, um, we found out that doing something right

Ron:

with the business you're running today.

John:

Yeah. Well, it's, I, I, I give, I give all the credit to the people, the people that I'm just, I'm just, I feel like I'm one of the, the, I'm just the head clown in the circus. Right. Uh, I got a lot of people that, that really care and all that. So come to find out, um. They had Ray, uh, they accumulated about $500,000 worth of debt. Oof. While they were, uh, using my accounts. 'cause I had good standing accounts for their other companies where they, I guess they didn't have good standing accounts. Right? I did not know that until after I pulled the plug. Um, so a, another story from that, right, is I'm a big foxhole guy who's gonna be with me. I don't, I I look at vendors as, uh, I want it to be partners who's gonna be there when the storms are. I'm a upfront guy. I'm not. And um, so I went to my vendors and I'm like, Hey guys, this is what's going on. I'll do what I can to take care of it. All this other stuff. Um, I didn't have any money from any of the sell or anything like that because I mean, they only got, uh, what, 180 grand from it and it all went to payroll and, and, and all that stuff. I didn't buy anything or anything like that. So. I owed a DIA hundred grand and I owed, uh, Westco 10 grand. And, uh, the, the, and I was friends with both guys, probably more friends with the Westco sales guy than I was with the a DI guy at the time. And, um, so I, I, one day I, I would tell him, I'm, I'll pay you, just be, bear with me. Well, one Friday the Westco guy called me and literally be, waited me, berated me, um, and, and just yelling at me, scream at me on the phone

Ron:

sales guy or somebody in the office. Yeah, he

John:

was the head of accounting and, uh, it wasn't my buddy 'cause my buddy wouldn't do that. Right. And he goes, and my buddy was always cool by it, right? He wasn't getting commission on or anything like that. He understood what was going on. I was upfront, showed everybody contracts and all that stuff. So he, um, he, he. Hit me wrong. And, um, I went and found the 10 grand and paid him the 10 grand and I told him I would never buy anything from him again. Um, and then the a DI guy worked for me, it worked with me. He's like, dude, just tell me what it is. I mean, I owed him 10 times the amount. Right. So the, the branch manager, um, it worked, it worked with me and all that. And, uh, ended up doing, next year I ended up doing a million bucks worth of business with a DI and that didn't do anything with the other group. And now the, uh, branch old branch manager is the guy that runs my Dallas branch manager. He's my Dallas branch manager. 'cause he got tired of being with a DI and all that back in the day. Wow. So he works, he works with me now. Um, so I'm a, once I feel like I'm a number to somebody, or once I feel like you, you, you, it's not a, um. A, uh, give and take relationship, then, uh, then that's pretty easily, you can be outta my inner circle at that point, because I mean, I believe in doing life with people and I might, I'm not a number and I'll never be a number. So, um, so we did that, um, expanded, uh, all. So did you

Ron:

re, uh, the brand Uhhuh, did you restart the, or start a new company or were you

John:

No, I, I paid off all the debt. Right. I didn't have to the, the, I sent them, I sent them, sent them all the stuff and everything like that. And I didn't have to take anything back. I didn't, I left the tax id, what it was, I had to pay it off anyway. Right. So it didn't really matter.

Ron:

So you had to pay the debt incurred and then you were able, those guys gone. Yeah, I paid everything that done

John:

Right. I paid all, I didn't leave any. That's when, man, it doesn't. That's one thing. If, if it's a debt of mine or something my company has to do, I will do my best to take care of it. Right. And, and do that. Yeah. 'cause at the end of the day, the, it's a, unfortunately, as a business owner, you get a lot of your, uh, worth outta your company. Right. So if I'm not the guy that's going to, I don't want to ever screw anybody over, customer, a vendor, anybody. Right? That's not, or, or a teammate. That's not my goal. And that'll never be my goal. I can't, I wanna sleep at night. I don't want to do any of that. So, um, that's not something that, that, that I'm going to ever do. Um, so, but yeah, we just kept going. Uh, same team. I didn't lose anybody during it. I mean, it was, yeah, we were all young at the time. Right. We're all young. We had kids. We, I mean, I got two daughters and they were, when they were, it was 10,010. So I would've had a, uh, a seven, a 6-year-old and a, uh, and a 2-year-old. And no, it would've been more than that. It would've been an 8-year-old and 2-year-old, uh, girls. So, I mean, it's like. Man, I, I mean, I, I'm a Christ believer, right? And I, I've probably never been in, I, I, a lot of tears, a lot of praying to get out of it. Right? Um, just get me out of it. I'll do better, right. But all that stuff, um, it, it was definitely a humbling experience doing it. Um, and then looking at your people, knowing what you're going through and all that stuff, right? Um, it, it, it was, it was tough. It was tough, right? There's a lot of pride in that and, um, and, and trying to figure out, uh. Because I, my worth was tied into it. Uh, I didn't feel very highly of myself at the time. Right, because you, you're, you're letting your team down even though they're not saying it. Right. Because they're always, they're, they're, I've got such good people and, and they'll be there for you whenever you need 'em. Right. And, but I'm the kind of person that never wants to ask. Right. I never want to ask people to be there for me. I wanna always be the person that's there. I don't wanna be somebody. I have a hard time, uh, getting accolades or anything like that. 'cause I don't want that. I wanna give it to my team, the people that made it possible. It's not me at all. I mean, I, again, I, I was joking about it. Today we do a, these days we do a, um, an all hands meeting. 'cause I, that was one thing my CFO wanted to do. My new CFO, she wanted to do all hands meeting. So we do all hands meeting at the end of every, um. Uh, the Friday of the last, last Friday of the month, and today was, uh, our word was our why, right? So we go around the, there's a lot of people that talk right? And say their why's. And I kind of broke down my why. And my why was to be able to, I don't look, my, my teammates, uh, me being again, I, I, I laugh. I, I think God put me in this position so he can just laugh at me, right? Watch this. Let me see him squirm. Whatever, right? Or do whatever. So I, I'm sitting there and my why is, uh, I, I look at my, uh, teammates, right? Is I'm not responsible for the, I think we're like 85 heads now. We were at one 10 at one time. We're restructuring and we're doing a bunch of stuff to, to try to be a, a business, not a hobby. Um. My, my why is is their family right. And my family Right. If they win, I win. Right. And it's not just them 85 people. Yeah. I mean, you're talking that's a hundred, that's 400 something people. 'cause they got kids, right. And all this stuff and that you're responsible for. And it's a, it's a lot. And I don't wanna screw that up, man. That's a, I don't wanna mess it up with my family much less four oh people. I mean that's, it's kinda humbling when you think about it.

Ron:

Tell me about, uh, I, I know from a few years ago, or sometime back when you and I were chatting maybe at a show that you guys were, had expanded into different states and you were doing work on the East coast, you were doing work in Denver. Uh, you were, you know, I mean, heck, you guys seem to be everywhere. And I, I know from dialogue that you've pulled some of that back. Can you kind of take, uh, uh, uh, geographically pulled some of that back to Texas? Can you kinda take us through that journey and that decision making? Yeah.

John:

Uh, I did all my stuff was, uh, all my other stuff outta states was multifamily, which we do a lot of multifamily stuff. Um, I hooked up with, uh, I had a designer, um, and really good dude and still a friend, um, that get, that would recommend us for jobs, right? So, um, I got a call one time and my first job I ever did was in Tampa. Um, and I'm like, I man, I, I'm a guy that doesn't say no, I'm gonna figure out how to do it. I'm gonna give him a price for it. I'll do the job as long as you can meet what my budgetary needs are for the job. So I did it. I mean, and we, I thought we were making good money. Um, I mean, at the time, uh, I don't, being a company of our size right, can hide a lot of flaws, right? You have so much revenue that's coming in, right? And you got so much revenues coming out, right? And, and I'm gonna be honest. We didn't know, we didn't look at numbers or know numbers right. Or understand numbers until almost a year from now, or a year from this date, right. When our new CFO came in, right? We had other C we had a CFO that did it, whatever. And she said, oh, you can't spend here, can't do this. Whatever. It, it never ended up being, um, we never got numbers, like looking at budgets, looking at this other stuff, going back and looking at your cell phone bill. My CFO found $3,000 that we were paying a month on cell phone bills that nobody was using. Wow. And it's, and it's like I did not. I'm learning a lot, right? I no more number about numbers now. Right? Again, like I said before, I was running this business as a hobby and not a business, right? It was, you could do whatever you want. You go the sky's the limit, right? Disposable income.

Ron:

So did you ultimately say no to those types of projects once you better understood those numbers?

John:

Well, I didn't, well, what happened was, is that I did all these jobs and everything like that and, uh, and it was starting to get hard to find people. Like finding people these days is kind of hard. Any good people, I had some loyal people that did it, but then they, they, being that I didn't have offices in these other areas, you had a guy from Florida that was traveling up the East coast, I would do, I did projects in Atlanta, I did projects in Florida, I did projects in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. I would do all these projects, right. And these guys would travel. I mean, they would do, quality of life sucked, right? And they, they're always, they're, they're, they're 10 days on a week off or something like that, right? But at the end of the day, it's not worth the 10 days on to get the seven days off because you're not, you're away from your family. Yeah. So between that. The, the, the tipping point was Denver. I had an office in Denver, but dude, finding people that work in Denver, God bless y'all. Um, it, it is the, I I I went through people. I was paying people good money, man. And I had a, I had a, um, the Denver, uh. What, what became the blowing point, and I said, enough was I had a big project. It is a $1.2 million project we're doing in Denver and we do access control, right? So in Dallas, and majority of your others, your other state, your states, you can, uh. You can submit plans and all that, and then you can, uh, and then you, um, then you get it approved by the city and then it's good. Right? And in that time, if you change people or anything like that, it's okay. Your plans are submitted, doesn't matter. It's tied to your company. Well, I paid that, that my head guy in Denver, um, went through, uh, I want him to get the license because in Denver it goes by the person, not by this company, even though the company is the one that's responsible for it all. Wow. It's tied to a person. Right. So, uh, paid for this guy to go to class and learn this good stuff. He, he had to take the test five times. He fi he finally passed, right? So he passed. Submitted these plans, um, in Denver, and again, submitting plans in Denver for access control. You're looking at a good two months before they turn the plans, right? And that's it. That's before they respond to you the first time to flag you on all the stuff that you, that you gotta fix, right?

Ron:

Yeah.

John:

Well that happens. Uh, he does it and everything like that and submits it. The next day, uh, about three weeks later, he decides to steal from me. Quit. And uh, and just leaves, right? Well, what happens is, is that we are on a time crunch, right? So the city of Denver would not allow somebody else to pick it up. So I had to resubmit it with somebody else. I had to pay a third party to resubmit it and do it. It took another two months. In that time, I had to pay for two security guards to stay at the, uh, at the premises. And they, uh, liquid damaged me for $130,000. And, uh, I was like, and these were, these were supposed to be my, again, supposed to be my friends, right? Uh, me and my build relationships with these guys. And they were like, yep, ain't much I can do. Um, so I, uh, paid 130 grand and that's when it started. I'm like, I'm out. I can't do it anymore. I could care. I could give two craps about this place now. Um, so I finished my last project there. Um. Uh, man, uh, I've still got a guy there, um, that he's finishing up some stuff for me and stuff. And whether or not he's going to, he's gonna decide whether or not he wants to, uh, be with us and do design and stuff, or he might, I got some other guys that are trumping at the bit that, that would like to talk to him, um, too. So, and, but he is a really good dude. Um, so Wow. Learning, learning process, right? And, and it was very, uh, I felt like it was very unfair. Um, and again, I, I became a number to that group and that number does not inc. They, they're not in, I still do business for the company. Uh, 'cause I have a great relationship in Texas with them. Um, but I'm not going anywhere else. I'd much rather stick my resources into, um, the electrical company and owning, uh, owning the, the three, uh, Dallas, Austin, Houston locations.

Ron:

So you have, you mentioned 80 plus people on staff. You have a a 20 million plus dollar revenue business. We don't have to get specifics, but it's a large, large operation. And what would be advice, John, that you would give younger entrepreneurs in this space that are listening, whether listening or watching? What, what would be a couple of pieces, pieces of advice that you'd give them that would lead to higher probabilities of success?

John:

Man, if I would've found my people before, I mean, I, uh, my people meaning, um, I belong to, to the Bang Text Thread, right? These are all entrepreneurs all over the country and they're, dude, there are some smart dudes on it. And, uh, and I'm in awe of, uh, that they, that they allowed me on it sometimes, right? And, and what I give to them compared to what they give to me, right? They've made me, that's one thing is I, I, um. I ask my team when they're wanting to hire somebody or they're having a discussion about a person, I ask 'em to ask one question, right? The question is, do do this. Does this person make us better? Right? Do they make, do they make us better? And, um, that, that group makes me better. And, uh, I mean, Mark Fisher, I, like I said, I kept to myself forever, right? And, and all that. And I, um, mark Fisher's like, dude, nobody knows about you. You need to come talk to these people. Come talk to this people. You need to do this. He and I got on, um, I, I met my, some of my good friends, um, my best friends at the time. I mean, one of 'em, still my best friend. And, um, met some friends at, uh, a control four deal with Toll, right? I met, I met, um. That's when I met, uh, it was Control four Deal. Um, I believe I'm, uh, I didn't meet him yet, but it was, uh, it was Eric Rodin, which he's no longer with us, um, at E four California. Um, and, uh, Jim Shapiro, I met them at an event in Austin. And, uh, me and Jim are buddies ever since. Um, our families hang out, all that. Uh, yeah, I miss Eric. Eric was a good dude. Very smart guy. Um, yeah, so he was, we were all good friends and we talked and stuff, and then that grew and Mark introduced me to, uh, the, the other groups I'm in the, the, the thread with. And, uh, and all them guys are awesome. I mean, I, if you're young. And you wanna, uh, you want to be the best at what you do. You need to listen to other people, listen to other groups, um, find your people and, and, and surround yourself by smart guys, smarter guys than you. Not just in your company, but who you do life with, who you talk to, who you 'cause I mean, doing what we do doing, being an owner of this, right? And again, I don't like the board owner. I don't like, uh, any of that. Again, if God put you ahead of your group, it's your responsibility to surround yourself with the best people possible. And, um, and I learned more. I've probably, number one, I've talked to you about the numbers, right? I learned more about numbers in this last year than I've ever had in my life. Well, I've learned more about the business in the last 10 years that I've belonged to that group. And started knowing these people. And, uh, and I would, uh, I would not be where I am today or even striving to be who I'm trying to strive. I I haven't even touched the surface that I, that where I wanna be, and I wouldn't even be that close without that group.

Ron:

Awesome, awesome advice. I agree. Your network is, uh, one of the keys to success for sure. Uh, I've, I've gotta touch on, I'm mindful of time, uh, but I've gotta touch on your fitness journey. John, uh, you, you, you and I have been on similar paths. I didn't even know that until just a little bit ago. And, uh, tell us about this, this journey that you're on and, and kind of what it means to you.

John:

Um, man. Uh. I was the guy that never took his shirt off at the, at the beach. Right? Not that guy. Uh, I was a big guy. I've always been like that, like when I was in a pool or I was, whatever. Right. My kids have never seen me with the shirt off. Right. Uh, in a, in a pool setting or something like that. They might seen me in the house, but I didn't really walk around the house with the shirt off or anything like that. So in 50, I decided to, and of course, my laziness and not not doing it. So at 52, I decided to, um, get in the best shape of my life. Um, and I went on a journey to do that. Um, so I did, I, I, I mean, I, I don't have a problem saying I did tirzepatide to start it off, right? So, um, at that same time, it was Memorial Day, it'll be three years. This Memorial Day I quit drinking. Um, I come, me and my wife come from alcoholic families. Um, so I, when I was a kid, I swore I never would drink. And, um, and the world gets you right. World gets you and get, takes you down path that you don't want to get, go down. And I did that for quite a while. Um, so I decided I wanna be a better person, better human, better. Everything. So I went on the journey of that and I started going to CrossFit and, uh, and surround, I found like real people at CrossFit and, and my CrossFit gym is like, uh, I, I don't, again, I wouldn't be where I'm at now without that group and my men's group that I belong to as well. Um. And I went through that, decided I dropped 80 pounds. Um, wow. 85. I dropped about 85. I was about three 10. And, um, my lowest I got here was about, uh, two 15. Um, and I'm sitting in about 2 35 right now, and I've been in this for a while. Um, so I'm trying to, um, again, be in my best shape again. I, Brad Larkin, Mark Fisher, uh, um, you got all Pete. Uh, all them guys, um, uh, Lee, all them guys are part of it, right? And we, we, that the motivational group there? Yeah. Well, yeah. No, we, we have, we have a text group where we all talk business and then there's also a text group. We talk fitness like Palmer, Palmer, my god. That man, uh, and I'm talking about Chris Palmer. Yeah. And, uh, and dude, he's a very motivational guy and all that stuff. And it's, it's been good to watch them guys. I mean, 'cause they, they, they, they chime in every day. They work out and all that stuff, and they chime in on you. And I again,

Ron:

what, what's your routine look like?

John:

Like on

Ron:

a, on a given business day and weekend, just high level?

John:

Uh, high level. I'm, I'm, I'm eating five days a week. I mean, five times a week, sorry, five days a week. Five times a week. So I'm doing about six ounces of everything. Uh, protein and stuff, keeping lean, low carb. Uh, I do, I wake up at about three 30, uh, actually no, four 30 Dallas time. Um, and I go to the gym. I'm there about five 30. I don't leave till about almost eight. Um, and I'll do a, I'll do, what I'll do is I do a CrossFit workout and then I'll do weights. Um, so I do that about five,

Ron:

like a hit, uh, cardio type workout.

John:

Yeah. Depending on what it's, if there's not a lot of cardio, then, uh, then I'll hit cardio at night. Um, I try to get, I try to do that. Um, when I first started, man, I, I was doing two days. Day and night. I was, I was, I was. You were in it to win it, dude. I was. I was not playing, but that might help. I was got on TRT at the time too, and I was like, oh, so you were gonna run through a wall one way or another? So yeah, it was, it was definitely a, uh, definitely you felt indestructible, but I mean, I think. I think also, man, to be honest with you, I think people don't, people don't see themselves right? In your day to day, you don't see how you are projecting yourself in life. And, um, I feel like, uh, I feel like I've been just going through motions for about seven years now, right? I haven't been out hunting, I haven't been out, uh, trying to, uh, grow business. 'cause we already had business, right? I mean, I didn't really start doing that. I had other people that grew business. Now, um, now I'm back and I am going out in business and I'm going, uh, I'm going out and meeting people and doing all that. And it's kind of what, uh, how I did outgrew it. Right now I'm taking it to the next level with the electrical and all that other stuff because I got big goals for this thing and, uh, and what I'm doing. So I think being healthy, um. Has changed my mindset on how I, um, feel about myself and feel about, um, feel about, uh, interacting with people more. And, um, don't get me wrong, I still see the, I mean, when I look, it's, I still see the fat guy, right? Uh, and all that stuff. Um, but there's something about it. I carry myself better and, uh, and, and it makes me more proud, although I, again, I don't like accolades and people are like, man, you look good. You do this, whatever. And I'm like, yeah, I don't need to hear that. Right? So, um, but I, I enjoy CrossFit. Um, I know people said, worry about it getting to you, getting hurt and all that other stuff. It's get the rapid gets, the reason why people get hurt is they, they, they do not check their pride at the door. It's okay if you're sitting by and, and you got 150 pound girl that's fit and she's doing more weight than you. It is what it is. Let, it's what? It's so you gotta leave it at the door. Leave your pride in the door. You cannot let the pride, pride is the reason why people get hurt, right? Yeah. It's not if you, if you just are okay comfortable in yourself and being that, yeah, it is what it is, you'll be fine. But it, once you let that pride get you, pride is an m effort, man, it'll, it'll take you out in more ways than one.

Ron:

I, I love it. I love it. I wanna close on this and then we'll, we'll give people sign offs and handles on how to get in touch with you. John, you, uh, I, I think you and I both would agree, uh, uh, entrepreneurship, uh, is challenging. It's got its ups and downs and everything in between, and through all of that, uh, you've managed to, to be married for almost 30 years. You have two, uh, beautiful daughters. Um, what, uh, what, what are kind of your takeaways, how have you managed to, to make entrepreneurship and running a business work and, and running a family and, and staying married to your beautiful bride for so long?

John:

Oh man. Uh, I would say, um, that's all on her. Um, it, it, I, I mean, I've drug, I've drugged my family probably through the ringer, right? Uh, I mean, when you're, I'm the guy that doesn't put his phone down. I'm the guy that answers every call. Um, somebody calls me, I answer it a day or night, it doesn't matter. Um, so there's a lot of probably regret there, right? Uh, and everything. Um, I have, uh, I could have, I probably could have been a, uh, not probably, I could have been a better husband, a better father. Um, I would, I would, if I'm, again, talking to the young ones, the, I mean, it's never too late, right? But, um. You work life balance has to be there. You, you have to be able to, it'll be okay if you do not answer that one call the first time, right? So, I mean, I would,

Ron:

are you better at that today, John?

John:

No, no. Old dogs and new tricks don't work. So is this a do

Ron:

what I say, don't do what I do?

John:

Yeah. Yeah. I, I mean, no, lemme say that. I mean, I, uh, I'm better at it now because I have people that I trust. That do it, right? If I, if I was in a smaller business and I'm doing most of it, it'd be hard for me to do it right because I couldn't trust what it is. I have surrounded myself and grown up with a lot of really awesome individuals that have stepped up and stepped in, and now that I'm treating this like a business, they're also treating it like a business and the people are stepping up and doing things. So it, there's a lot of things that, uh, do not get to me. Um. Which I don't like. Um, but it's a nature of growing. Um, so, um, I just do love big, live big and, and, and do good. So

Ron:

we're gonna close on that. John, that's awesome. Uh, thank you for coming on the show, man. This was, uh, a lot of fun.

John:

I appreciate the invite. I mean, it's, it was definitely, it was, man, I do, I don't really talk about my story. Um, I mean, the guy, majority of the guys on my text thread and all that know it, right? But man, if I could help anybody and, and, and take something away, um, and give somebody something, a snippet and, and help somebody, then, then it was well worth one person, right? That's all it takes.

Ron:

I'm putting across the screen here, uh, the website, it's multimedia solutions group.com. Uh, is it okay if we give out your cell phone, John? Sure. Yeah.

John:

Best way to get me.

Ron:

Best way to get you are, are you, do you answer the phone or should people text you? What's the best way?

John:

Uh, either, Hey, as long as your thing doesn't come across spam risk, and then we'll be okay.

Ron:

Yeah. If it comes across spam, it's not getting answered.

John:

Nope. All right. You leave a voicemail and I'll call you back.

Ron:

There you go. All right. So that cell phone is (469) 628-1275. You can call John Direct and, uh, John uh, said he was okay with his email. So that's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. So John, I just wanna thank you one more time, man. Thanks for coming on Automation Unplugged and, and sharing so openly. I know there's a lot of people that are gonna get a lot out of this.

John:

Well, thank you, sir. I appreciate the, the invite for sure.

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Ron Callis is the CEO of One Firefly, LLC, a digital marketing agency based out of South Florida and creator of Automation Unplugged. Founded in 2007, One Firefly has quickly became the leading marketing firm specializing in the integrated technology and security space. The One Firefly team work hard to create innovative solutions to help Integrators boost their online presence, such as the elite website solution, Mercury Pro.

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Resources and links from the interview:

• John Carter LinkedIn Profile Page


• Powered Solutiosn LinkedIn Profile Page


• Learn about Powered Solutions' Team

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