This week's episode of Automation Unplugged we’re bringing you Adam Zell, CEO and Founder of Boston Automations.

About this episode:

After 15 years at a leading Silicon Valley software company, Adam transformed his passion for Smart Home technology into a thriving business. What began as a side venture installing gadgets evolved into Boston Automations. In 2018, he partnered with a Massachusetts hardware manufacturer, becoming the exclusive installer for Smart Home devices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Today, Boston Automations is a leader in the industry, managing New England’s largest smart home community and earning a reputation for innovation and excellence.

In the episode, we’ll cover:

• How Adam built long-standing partnerships that helped launch Boston Automations.
• Adam’s insights into growing a team, adopting new systems like EOS, and focusing on what matters most: client trust.
• Marketing strategies that make an impact, ranging from leveraging video and social media to implementing creative gifting campaigns that build strong relationships with architects, builders, and designers.

SEE ALSO: Show #286: Attracting Top Talent: Proven Strategies to Build Winning Teams

Transcript

Ron:

Hello there. Ron Callis with another episode of Automation Unplugged. It's a little chilly here in Florida. We're recording this in winter time and or winter in Florida, which means it's lower than 70 degrees. So it means we pull out our winter jackets. , and for those of you that are concerned for my health, I, yes, I actually know what cold is.

Ron:

I was just actually up in Virginia and it was in the twenties and thirties. , but here it's in the fifties. And , for us, we're Floridians, that is pretty darn cold. So I've got my winter wear on. Of course, my guest is laughing at me. Cause he's like, Ron, that is ridiculous. , that's because he's from up north.

Ron:

So today we have Adam Zell. He is a CEO and Founder of Boston Automations, and he is a Co-founder of Glare, which is a lighting and shading company. Adam is based out of the north. North Easton, Massachusetts. And , he and I were joking just before we started recording. , and he's like, Ron, are you going to do it in a Boston accent?

Ron:

And I was like, nope, I don't want to get eggs and tomatoes thrown at me for doing a bad accent, but I'll let him do the bad or the good accent cause he's from there. , so let's go ahead and bring in Adam and , let's get started. Adam, how are you, sir?

Adam:

Hey, Ron, doing great. Enjoying the morning. Yeah, you've got your winter wear on and your branded winter wear.

Ron:

So I've got my hat and you've got your jacket. Good job.

Adam:

Yeah.

Ron:

You can do that. And what is the, , the Boston way of saying, , North East?

Adam:

North, there you go, North. So Northeastern.

Ron:

Northeastern.

Adam:

And my accent isn't as bad anymore. , after spending a corporate life, I had to change it so people would stop asking me to, say, park the car in the Hobbit yard at the beginning of every meeting.

Ron:

Did you travel around the country in your previous job?

Adam:

Oh, the whole world. The whole world. Yeah.

Ron:

Okay. So that was like curiosity at the beginning of the meeting. Get Adam to say it. That's, that's funny. All right. So for those that do not know Boston Automations, tell us just a little bit about the business. Where do you guys do work? What type of stuff do you do?

Adam:

Sure. So we started year six right now. And , this past October, we have a primary focus now of doing luxury residential. Speck building has become a big thing out here in mass. So our focus right now, if you went and looked at a map and saw the city of Boston and went south down into Rhode Island.

Adam:

That is our primary focus. The reason we do not go above Boston is because the traffic is so bad here that you'd have to leave at 4am to get to a job for 8am and it's just not going to happen.

Ron:

How did the jobs up there get done? Are there, there are businesses, there's integrators up there that service that area?

Adam:

Yeah. The integration world isn't gigantic out here. We're all pretty tight knit. We know each other. We have very good relationships. So a lot of time there's passing jobs back and forth. Where if I get a job, that's north of Boston, I give it to one of my friends and they'll do the same thing if they get a job down here, because it's just, it's not a big area if you look at a map, but it is a long drive and no one wants to be doing that.

Ron:

Yeah, no, I just probably mentioned this story once or twice on this show. I've been doing the show for a long time. I remember when I went out to California back in my Lutron days and I had to do a sales call. I don't remember why, but I remember the details and the details are that.

Ron:

The, on the map, there was like a meeting, I don't know, like 40 miles away. And so I booked like, you know, an hour to get there and I did not know what LA traffic was. And if you go at the wrong time, that was like a three and a half or four hour drive. To go 40 miles needless to say, I missed the meeting and I said, Oh my gosh, this is terrible.

Ron:

And you know, you live out here, you need to buy a helicopter or something or just not get on the road. So it sounds like that's what it is for you up in, in the Boston market. You just gotta know where to go and when not to be on the road.

Adam:

And our, our, we have very significant pockets out here that we work in.

Adam:

So there's downtown Boston and there's the suburban areas where a lot of our businesses spec building has become a big thing because land is at a premium in Massachusetts. We don't have track developments of hundreds of acres of open space. So we see a lot of places where people will buy a 2 million home, knock it down and build something that's 6, 7, 8, 10 million.

Adam:

And that's kind of become our market. Of that spec building worlds where we're doing very high end luxury. Working directly with those builders and architects.

Ron:

Got it. All right. I appreciate it. Will you leave that area? Do you follow your clients to other parts of the country to do projects or do you pass those on to your friends around the country?

Adam:

We will typically pass those on just because even a team of nine is decent size, but certainly not big enough. To lose, lose half our guys for a couple months at a time.

Ron:

No, that makes sense. How was out of curiosity, how was 2024 for you, just in terms of business? Was it flat over 23? Was it a little bit up, a little bit down?What did you encounter?

Adam:

Way up and way up. Yes. And one was due to a large project I've been working on for two years. So that started to wrap up , and May 1st was their move in. So that was a big job that we had there. We've also been working on a development for the last six years. That was 92 custom homes.

Adam:

It's the largest smart home community in New England, and also a pretty significant size development for Massachusetts because you don't see a lot of those. 90 home development. So we were in phase three and a half of four throughout this year. So we had about 20 houses that we were working on and now we were down to about the last 10.

Adam:

Which we'll finish in 2025 in that development. So we'll have about 60 to 70 homes when all is said and done out of about 92. And that, that area.

Ron:

Tell me more how did you secure such a project?

Adam:

That was the beginning of my integration career. We were looking to move into that development.

Adam:

My wife and I wanted to. Find a new place to live, settling down with our family. I saw that development, met the sales team, and started talking with them. And of course, as a tech guy, my questions aren't like, what are you using to frame this house? What's the siding? It was who's doing technology in these homes and how do I ensure that it will be done properly?

Adam:

And it's just blank stares. What do you mean by technology? You're going to get a couple network cables. You can pick two speakers and that's about it. And I'm like, that's not good. So we did not buy there. However, I nagged the builder over and over and over again for about a year until he finally agreed to say, okay, we'll bring you on.

Adam:

As a partner in this. So the reason I didn't get the first 15 houses is because that was my year of nagging and persistence. And eventually he said, you know what? I think it makes sense because these first few homes have been asking for this stuff and now they moved in and we're having to cut open walls to run speakers and access points, and they were getting sick of it.

Adam:

So that was the beginning of my career in this world and our company. That's kind of how it all started.

Ron:

Just to go a little deeper into how you approach that. Did you work with the builder to put a standard tech package into every home or was all of it an upgrade option to the buyer?

Adam:

Everything was a la carte after we started out, the original vision was we're going to build out the four packages because you have to keep in mind that. I was pretty much a one man show starting out. I didn't know anything about this world and everything I heard about was technology packages. You have to offer packages.

Adam:

So that's what we started with. Come to realize after like two meetings, you sit down with a package and people are like, but I want that. And I want that and that, and those aren't all in the same package. What should I do? And I realized really quickly that there's no such thing as packages. And so that was our aha moment really, really quickly.

Adam:

And what we agree with the builder is that we would rough in that house for a flat number for X amount of things that was guaranteed. And then anything that the homeowner wanted in addition, we would do as an additional cost for roughing. Now what was unique about this is that the builder relationship I have is completely separate.

Adam:

So we are not Potter financing. We're not part of the home contract with the builder. It is all separate. The homeowner is hiring us. We work directly with them at all times. Okay. So simple things like we're doing under cabinet lighting in this house. And we have to pull that wire out of the wall under the cabinet right through that little one inch piece of wood in the cabinet.

Adam:

We don't do it in the right spot. That wire either gets trapped or behind tile and it's not fun. And so we had to work with the homeowner. Would have to call us and say, cabinets are coming in. Please make sure you're there versus the builder and PM calling us. So it was a little unique because they were still scared of technology, but now we're five years in and no other integration company has come into that development because we've given them such great service.

Adam:

We never had to worry about bidding. We just told people. This is what we're going to do for you. We will take care of you. We're not doing 20 percent off this 30 percent off. There's no deals. There's no price, you know, shopping, trust us. You're going to get great products at great prices, and we'll take care of you.

Adam:

And we're here six years later in the developments and still going.

Ron:

That's amazing. Well, one thing that I know about you, cause you and I actually, , although we're both in as our own, you and I had a nice sit down chat, , a bit ago at the total tech summit.

Adam:

Yes.

Ron:

And I'm actually embarrassed. Where were we? Where geographically, where were we in the country?

Adam:

It was in San Antonio.

Ron:

Okay. I don't know. I've had so many trips in the last 12 months. I couldn't even remember where I was. So we were in San Antonio. And one thing that I know is, is I'm not going to say unique because you're not the only one to say this, but you're of a rare breed that is saying this, that you're, you're very, What feels like exclusively focusing on, , your biz dev, your sales and your marketing activities around cultivating relationships with the design community, architects, designers, builders, and other trades.

Ron:

And so I want to go down that path. So for folks that are listening or watching, that's where we're going to go. First. But what I, what I want to get to even before that is your background, Adam, and you have, , , I'm going to say a unique background, maybe a unique background, like everybody I bring on the show, but, , you do have that tech and it background, so take us back in time, tell us where you come from and how did you ultimately land.

Ron:

I guess we just got a little bit of the origin and turn it to starting an integration firm But I just want to give the caveat Everybody that goes into a builder and notices they don't have a tech solution Their answer in life is not to go start up an automation company

Adam:

No,

Ron:

So there is more to the story that led to that being your outcome.So help us help us understand

Adam:

Yeah, so I was born and raised in the Boston area. I've only left a few times , to do certain things. Went to school at Northeastern University, which is not to be confused with my city of Northeastern differences there. So I spent my career, , previously in schooling, doing, , business and entrepreneurship.

Adam:

So we'll, we'll get back to entrepreneurship because I didn't use it for 20 years, but I guess it worked out in the end. So that was my, thing that we wanted to focus on personally was the whole business side of things. I, I pursued engineering, decided that was not for me. And so when I left Northeastern, the good thing about schooling there is that that is a co op program.

Adam:

So for five years, you are doing school, work, school, work, school, work. You never have a break. There's no summer vacation in college, going out and doing whatever you want. So you're always learning or working that five year period. And being in the Boston area, we had a lot of opportunities when you leave.

Adam:

So I got to work for the Boston beer company, Sam Adams. That was my first ever co-op. So I'm sitting two offices down from Jim Cook, the creator of Sam Adams. And got to work with him, ran the tech side of, , Sam Adams for a period of time there. I went down to Disney World, got to work in the Disney College program.

Adam:

And while you are running rides there, the true thing about Disney is that it is the most rigorous work environment you will ever be in. They treat you like you are part of the team, you are a cast member, but you will not show up late, ever. Yeah, you can't show up with a little bit of scruff ever. Like it teaches you to be a great employee and yeah, well disciplines.

Adam:

So that was another great experience. And then when I left school, I joined EMC. humongous tech company in the Boston area. And I just received a random phone call and they said we're hiring the first ever college program at EMC. So new college grads, that's a big thing nowadays. But back in 05, it was not.

Adam:

So they picked 12 of us from across the United States. Brought us to headquarters in Hopkinson mass and trained us to build data centers essentially. So we learned everything about storage arrays. , backups, running fiber optic cables, Cisco switching, all of that stuff. And we were essentially trained to become the EMC engineer for a variety of companies.

Ron:

That's it. How long was that? How long was that training program?

Adam:

6 months.

Ron:

That's so fascinating. When I started the, in, out of college, I got hired by Lutron and Lutron, that was in 2000. And so Lutron put us through a six month training program before we went out into the real world, into the wild that I hadn't heard of many companies doing something like that.

Ron:

So that's, that's neat that you had an opportunity to have an experience like that.

Adam:

And it was intense because I didn't know what a storage array was at 23 years old. And within six months I am trained, they give you clients, and now I'm managing multi million dollar infrastructures for medical companies and all sorts of tech companies, and they are trusting you to make sure that they are operational up to five nines.

Adam:

So there is no screwing up in that room. Super high pressure. VMware ended up becoming one of my clients and they were acquired by EMC. So the creator of virtualization and I eventually transitioned over to run the VMware data centers in the Cambridge office. So it was like 50 employees in that office.

Adam:

All pre IPO. I stayed with VMware for my entire career, eventually working my way up to run the data centers, , the engineering data centers in the U S side, and then decided to transition into the. internal , customer service, the IT tech support for the company. So we, my team that I ended up running for the entire globe, had about a hundred to 120 employees and we oversaw 60 offices and 25, 000 employees.

Adam:

It was intense and that was our

Ron:

Five day a week job. Or was that a six day a week job or a seven day a week job?

Adam:

That was a hundred hour a week job. However you want to look at it. Oh my gosh. It was nuts. So we were required. So that's every employee onboarding. We had to handle laptops. Taking care of the initial training classes.

Adam:

This is all the stuff we're doing and it was a great job. Very rewarding. You're working with executives every single day. It's high pressure, but it's something that you don't get to experience that often. And my proudest moment there was that I developed this internal team called Oasis. Which was essentially the Apple genius bar for VMware.

Adam:

So we built all these genius bars across the world. And that became a model for other I. T. Companies in Silicon Valley. So they took our model, they'd visit us, they'd see how we did it. We developed software internally because it's a software company. And that became a model that is now deployed across the world.

Adam:

With many other tech companies and

Ron:

Tell me a little bit more about Oasis. How, how would it work?

Adam:

Sure. So it was the similar model of genius bar. We developed internal software with an app. So we, that we had these gorgeous places you would go visit and our teams would be staffed inside of there. You'd book a ticket, whether it's something's not working or I want to add this software.

Adam:

I need to figure out how to do certain things. My fob is not working like the RSA fobs back in the day. That was like your life. And you

Ron:

entered and exited and got access to everywhere you need to be, right? Like your

Adam:

RSA security token, like tokens were the biggest nightmare. You forget it. And then you can't do anything for your job.

Adam:

You're, you're locked up. So we would have things set up for all those processes. So you would have to walk in. And you'd sit down and you'd go through with the team. We'd fix your issue, whether it's repairing a laptop, setting up software, and then you're either good to go, or we hold onto your system. We work on it and then we notify you.

Adam:

So that genius bar model was for everyone except executive support. But the interesting thing about that is that we gave such good service there. That the execs would still stroll in and get their stuff done at Oasis, rather than waiting for someone to come to the office. And we found that we fostered a relationship of people really trusting us, that we would get things done and they would just come and get their equipment serviced.

Adam:

So everything I built inside of that space with our team is really a transitional thing for that support model. And these tech companies that are so large that it's like running a city. Inside of a corporate environment like that,

Ron:

I'm just curious under that sort of pressure. And with that amount of responsibility, what, what were some of the keys to your being successful in that, that environment?

Ron:

Like, how did you think about your work or your team? Like what, any, anything that really sticks with you, really making a difference?

Adam:

So the, the good thing about the Silicon Valley world is that you're enabled to empower, to do whatever you'd like. The negative side of that is you're expected to get it done without, you know, thinking about what other factors are there.

Adam:

So I would be running standups. starting at 7 a. m. because we're doing our local ones. And then you're, you're, so we would start with Ireland really would be our first stand up. So I wasn't doing anything beyond that because it would be way too early. So we have our stand up on Europe first. And then we're doing them for the, across the entire country.

Adam:

So having those quick 15 minute standups every day with your team, video calls, go over what's happening, and then you're done, you hang up. So we made sure we were doing that every day without fail. You didn't know what

Ron:

exactly happens in a standup, a 15 minute standup. What, what's the agenda?

Adam:

Very quick details about hot topics.

Adam:

This is not getting into the weeds about anything. Okay. So if something went down overnight, if there was a major issue that would be discussed. Otherwise it was, today is, you know, Monday onboarding day. You guys got to get this done for your 20 employees. This is an issue we might've had yesterday. Make sure it's top of mind and maybe one other topic.

Adam:

So you cover maybe three things at most. And then everyone goes and does their thing. That's it.

Ron:

I want to zero in on another topic relating to people. And that is how would you handle lack of performance or poor performance? How, what was the remedy pro , approach and how quickly would somebody potentially be replaced?

Adam:

Fortunately, I had eight directors that were reported to me. And then inside of that team, we had teams. With other management styles. So what, so everyone knows what a PIP plan is. That's a big thing in the corporate world

Ron:

is for some listening. Describe what that, what that is.

Adam:

So a PIP is a personal improvement plans that you would run with an employee and you essentially go through the factors that you would like to see out of that employee, where things are lacking, and then you give them a reasonable target.

Adam:

For either 30, 60, or 90 days that they can achieve. There are some people who do things that are not achievable, that they say that's a way that they can get them out of the company. I never looked at it that way. We always found things that were achievable and then would work with an employee to help them grow to meet those goals.

Adam:

Now, sometimes a person just didn't want to be there and you can't control that. But our goal at the end of a PIP was always to say, you've achieved your goals. We're now at a good place. Let's stick with this and keep doing it. And that was our model there. Now with 120 people on the team, you're not always going to have rock stars across the board, but people will rise to the top of all the rock stars, and then there's going to be some people who just like fixing laptops.

Adam:

That's just, that's what they like doing, they go to the genius bar at Oasis the systems, let people do what they love to do. Didn't try fitting them in a square peg in a round hole. It just didn't make sense.

Ron:

Another random question regarding people, would you, when you were building out your teams, cause you, you had it's so many people across the world.

Ron:

Would you. In hiring, did you utilize personality assessments in any way? Or was like when you're bringing people onto your team?

Adam:

Yeah, I'm curious. We had, I can't even remember what they're all called nowadays, but that was part of the corporate culture is there was like disc profiles and all certain sort of things that we would run through people and have them fill out to see where they fit.

Adam:

In terms of a culture standpoint. So that was part of the onboarding back in the day when we were doing that. Now, sometimes you might just say, this guy's amazing. And maybe this profile isn't perfect. But we really, really want him and he's coming on board and we'll make it work.

Ron:

It wouldn't make or break anybody, but it would be added to the process.

Adam:

It's one of those things you keep in the back of your mind. Like this guy is going to fit, you know, this is his personality type. This is how you approach them. He's a fast talker. He's a slow talker. He's methodical. He's quick thinking. Those are the things you want to be aware of when you're communicating with certain people.

Ron:

Have you transitioned or carried any of those? Um, I'll just say the hiring methods over to your Boston Automations business or Glare. I would love to say that we're able to do that. It'd be okay to be honest and go, no, I haven't, but I've just, you know, maybe I

Adam:

would love to say like, oh yes, of course we can do that because our, our pool of candidates is hundreds and hundreds and that's not a reality where we're, it's a hard thing to find someone who's willing to rough in a house and 20 degree weather, rough in a house in 150 degree weather and also can program 50.

Adam:

Oh, he's not an addict. Yeah. When you go in the house and say,

Ron:

Where are you in the sun?

Adam:

Yeah. That's when you last one hour on the job and you're like, all right, we're done. Yeah. I

Ron:

don't, that's probably few and far between. So we're going to rough in a

Adam:

house and extreme temperatures, and then you have to go in front of a client and.

Adam:

Train them and do all these things. Like these are unique people who once they fit in, you know, you, they realize they love the job, but it's not, it's not for everybody. And that's why like our pool of candidates is not never ending in our world. We can't just go find an MBA who went to war and it's going to fit in inside of integration worlds.

Ron:

There are some of them out there, but they're, they're few and far between.

Adam:

Yeah.

Ron:

So what, what ended up , causing that transition or how did you exit that role?

Adam:

Yeah, when we were growing, , so we got acquired by Dell, which was not great for us, big behemoth of a company. And, at some point headquarters is in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley.

Adam:

And the message was right now you're in a position where you either have to come to headquarters to run the globe, or you can't do the job anymore. So find another job in the company, or you can move on, you know, take your severance, do whatever you'd like. But we're at a point where, you know, you have to make a decision here.

Adam:

This is a month after my first child was born. So my, my son is a month old and we're making a decision and it's like, we're not going to. We're not lifting up our entire life because the, the, the corporate it world is an acquisition might happen a month after that. And then they get rid of everybody.

Ron:

Right?

Adam:

No, I took my severance and it was the best thing I've ever done. I will not, I'll never change what I say about that. It was simply amazing. I got to spend the first year of my son's life with him every single day. So I was a stay at home Dad with him. Got to see him every day. Watched him grow. Got to be with my wife and family.

Adam:

So it was simply amazing. After that time, I got to think about what I wanted to do with my life because I am 15 years into that. It was very draining, rewarding, but also it takes a toll on you traveling the country to California once a month across the globe. It's a hard life. But you learn a lot. So after that, I went and I worked with a startup company.

Adam:

It's called Omni Charge Battery Bank Company. We helped them grow an educational division of that. And then I left after about a year and a half. And that's when I met a family friend who was working with a company called Building 36. They were a division that was acquired by Alarm.com and they made kind of smart HVAC products.

Adam:

So think like water leak detection , smart thermostats, all these things. And I started dabbling in that, always had a career in, in the tech world with people. Products and technology. So I knew I loved that stuff. And like I was buying consumer electronics myself and playing with things. So I knew that really made sense to me.

Adam:

Yeah. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And then I started dabbling with this product line and seeing how I could get it into people's hands. And it was just all these random things that happened over the span of like six to eight months. That went from me learning this product to me calling the CEO of the company and asking him why he wasn't making more products that integrated with more things in homes.

Adam:

And control systems, like there was no control system. So I started getting frustrated that I was working with this product line that was so limited by that happening. I'm making phone calls. And next thing I know, I'm a Control4 dealer and I'm onboarded with, , flip speakers. So I met Peter Dyroff, he owns the Strateras Rep Agency out here in New England, and he brought me on, took me under his wings and said, anything you need, I will help you because I see a future for you in this world.

Adam:

Just from a couple of phone calls.

Ron:

That's cool.

Adam:

He said, whatever you need, I will help you. And that phone call of me calling to ask him about Klipsch speakers changed my life, literally. And then I just started dabbling in more things, becoming a dealer for product lines and pestering builders until they agreed to work with me.

Adam:

And now that's kind of how things work is you don't just look, open a book and say, I'm going to become this person. You just try and try and try and you find what works for you. And a lot of things just naturally happen and work out.

Ron:

What, what have the six years been like? What, what is the progression of your business look like over that time?

Adam:

Yeah. The first year was just me and finding a person to help me. So whether it was a family friend or someone else. , a couple of electricians I would do 1099 with, I was not, I didn't know how to run books. I didn't know what quick, like quick books was and how to do things properly. So that was me getting people to just do random jobs for word of mouth.

Adam:

And eventually what I realized is that it's fake it till you make it in some instances, which would build a really nice website that looked like I was a larger company than I really was. So you build a site and you send people to it and you're like, Oh, a one man show who doesn't do anything. Won't have a site like this.

Ron:

I'm putting that on the screen. And for the record, one firefly did not build this site. We don't do any marketing for Adam. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm going to click through the site while you're, you're, you're talking.

Adam:

Yeah. So we, that was like, my first thing is building out the site to look more legitimate than we actually were.

Adam:

Not that we didn't have the skillset. We just didn't have. The team and people there. So over time, we slowly brought on a couple more people. And what I realized is that people wanted us to be part of their company because they trusted us. And that is a huge thing in this world is that you are in charge of someone's home.

Adam:

Every single thing they do in that house, whether it's their HVAC system, we're integrating with their lighting, their security, in terms of access control, there's all these things that, that we have to really, um, be in charge of, and that trust thing is a big deal and they, they trusted us. And you have our team page up on the screen right now, which people might not be able to see on the podcast, but we film all of our employees.

Adam:

You make sure they are part of our company. People get to see them, meet them online, and that's building a relationship because we're in it for the long haul. And just because you hire us today doesn't mean we're gone next week. We're probably going to be with you for a long time. And that's what we realized when we built this company, it's a family based company that I run with my wife, and we bring on team members that are basically part of our family.

Ron:

All right. So I am, by the way, I will share this URL, put it in the notes. I'll also put your website just right now. I'll put a ticker at the bottom of the screen. So it's bostonautomations. com. Um, but you have all of your texts. Well, all the members of your team are on camera talking to the camera. I love this.

Ron:

Now everybody's wondering how did you get your team to comply and be willing to go on camera and introduce themselves? Because this is so cool.

Adam:

There was zero pushback. None. The guys loved it. So we, a big thing with us is we provide everything. So you'll see in the videos. clothing, tools, trucks, everything the team gets from us.

Adam:

So I said, guys, we're going to one of our clients , our favorite houses we've worked on. It's in the South end of Boston. We're going to film content for us because what I've said is we need to be a differentiator in this world. We're competing with companies that are two, three, four, five times the size of us.

Adam:

And these are the certain things that I think Will make us stick out from the rest of the pack. And by me telling them that they were on board, it wasn't, there was no arm ringing or forcing people to be on video. It was us just talking with them and saying, this is what we want to do. So we did that.

Adam:

I hired a great film team. , out of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, video marketing, awesome guy. He's very personable and he really gets what we're looking for out of people when he's filming them and you know, he just asked the right questions. He's very engaging, makes you laugh. And that's kind of what you need from a film and marketing standpoint.

Adam:

Not just some guy that's going to put a camera in front of you and just say, talk. That's really what helped us get all this content that we needed.

Ron:

It's definitely what I'm noticing as I'm clicking around your website and for folks that are. Um, again, listening, I'm just, I'm navigating around the website. I've noticed you're utilizing a lot of imagery and a lot of video.

Ron:

, you also mentioned to me just before we started recording that you have a new, I guess you called it a hero video that you're going to be placing on the front page of your site. Yeah. What, what did you record and what can people expect to see and. When will they see it?

Adam:

Yeah. One thing that I've noticed, I've gone to a lot of sites is when you land on that, on that initial webpage, you want to be able to learn about a company in under one minute.

Adam:

I'm going there. Tell me about yourself. Reading text is okay, but video is good. So I, we spent a lot of time going back and forth with, , Mike who does marketing on my team and the video team discussing a script and what we wanted to get our point across. Number one was that we are a family business and we are here to be part of people's families and do everything we can to make their lives better.

Adam:

And so that was the key point of that hero video. And then we just talked about that. We didn't script anything. We didn't write stuff down. It was just all natural. Talk about why we love doing this, why it's so good. It's great for our family. And that's what we get across in that video is that when you bring us on to work with us, we become part of your team.

Adam:

We're not just someone you're hiring to get the job done. We're And then we walk away. And then that's where I think our world and some of the other trades are a little bit different. So you get the electricians HVAC plumbing, they're all, they do great work, but that's not really their goal. Like at the end of the day, if you ask the electrician what the homeowner's name is, they might have no idea.

Adam:

They just refer to things by a project name or a street address. And for us, we want to know their name. We want to know how many members are in their family, what they like doing. Are they music people, video people? That's the stuff that's important to us. So that's what we get across in that hero video is you get to meet my wife and I find out why we're passionate, learn about our family and why this has become such a great thing for us.

Adam:

And what I tell people all the time is usually if they call me at like 9 15, The first thing that they hear out of me is just dropped off the kids at school. And that's what I love about this world is that nothing prevents me from being with my family. I get to wake up with the kids every day. We get to do breakfast.

Adam:

We get ready for school. I bring them to school and then I start my day. And I know a lot of people who've grown up and they're like, I never saw my parents cause they spent their whole lives working and I didn't want that. And that's what was important to me.

Ron:

Yeah. I love that. And I love that you appreciate that so much, you know, for those maybe that have always had that, they might undervalue it or not realize that that's not always possible or not always true, they also may not always.

Ron:

Prioritize it as true, but I think that says a lot about you and your character that you, you really are prioritizing and valuing that time with family. I think that's smart. And I know your family appreciates that for sure.

Adam:

Same thing with holidays. Like we shut down our company from Christmas Eve all the way through the new year.

Adam:

Every year that we've been around and it's to spend time with your family. This is a paid vacation. Do not log in to email. Don't log into Slack. Just do your thing, do your thing with your family and spend time. And then we'll regroup after the new year. And it's always been like that.

Ron:

Love it. All right. I want to jump into what we'll call a rapid fire, but I got a number of different topics.

Ron:

I want to run by you here. Sure. Um, one is you, you did set up a separate business. Yes. You focus on lighting and shades. Yep. So you have Boston automations. And, , maybe give me the backstory on the separate business and what the goal or intent there was.

Adam:

So this was COVID times about four years ago where people were requesting more automated shades.

Adam:

So we all know that Lutron has been around for a long time and lighting has become popular for us. The reason it's become big in our world, in my opinion, is that electricians have not embraced the new technology. or didn't want to step up and start offering these things. Integrators saw that opportunity and have jumped at it.

Adam:

Shading people who are very good at high end drapery, high end window treatments haven't really embraced the technology. They've been scared of it. So the people who will step up are integrators like us who take on all the new stuff and the new challenges. So four years ago, I saw this, , worked with one of my previous clients.

Adam:

He wanted to get into our world and we spun off and created this separate company. My vision was it might not be huge today, but we're going to create the company. We're going to let it run. And maybe a few years we can invest more money and more time into it. Once my Boston Automations company has grown.

Adam:

So we're there today and we are now growing that company and it's exclusively shading and lighting. And the reason that I think that is the way to do it is because we've talked to a lot of high end architects, designers and clients who have said, I want to work with a window treatment company, or I want to work with a company that's focused on lighting.

Adam:

And while we're all together and while one company, they want that focus and they want to work with a company that has that as a focus,

Ron:

It just makes the customer. Some of your customers make them feel better.

Adam:

Yes, exactly. And that was the mentality behind it. And now we're at a point four years later where we're all in with this and we're making a big push with the company.

Adam:

So I saw it and that's my thing is I see things in the future. It might not work out today. Okay. Yeah, but I'm looking for longterm and that's

Ron:

where we are. I'm curious when you're looking into, you know, let's just say the next three years, 25, 26, 27, are you seeing the growth rate of both businesses being the same or do you, do you forecast, you predict a different rate of, of growth for those two businesses?

Adam:

I, so what, what I am seeing in my world right now is that we have control systems and over complicated things are starting to go down. I would always get that, keep my system simple, but now we're seeing that go up more and we're seeing less people ask to integrate every single thing in my house into a control system and make it automated.

Adam:

And it, you know, back in the day, people were bit by that. Like. You'd use the IR remote and the TV wouldn't get triggered and that wouldn't turn on and things are out of sync, but now people are asking less for that and more simplicity. So I see the important things like video distribution across an entire house.

Adam:

We never get that request. No one ever asks for it. The only time people are getting that is if. An integrator says, Hey, let me give you distribution across your entire home so you can have video tile and all these things. We aren't seeing this and we're not going forward. And one of the reasons that I choose not to is because the bane of our existence is service calls.

Adam:

We don't like them. Clients don't like them. So why offer a product that's going to give this much value, but have a potential negative Side

Ron:

asymmetric in the wrong way. Exactly. It doesn't make any sense. So yeah, a

Adam:

little bit of value, but a lot of negative downside potential there. So we're sticking with that.

Adam:

So I see the shading and lighting world. Growing way more than the very niche integration worlds. And that's just a reality because people are always going to need shades and lights because they will always have windows and they're going to need to be able to walk around their house at nighttime.

Ron:

What impact do you think this AI new world we're living in? And it's progressing fast. Yeah. What impact do you think that that's going to have on our space, whether in the resi automation, AV and automation space or lighting and shading, bundle it all together. If you look out the next five years, 10 years, what do you see?

Ron:

What's coming?

Adam:

I think the automation of the lighting and interacting with your home is going to change significantly. The infrastructure is not going to change. You are still going to need a wired network in your house, unless this 5g streaming from Verizon, all these companies become so cost effective and you have perfect signal everywhere that you can get rid of it.

Adam:

So I see infrastructure becoming huge and still being needed. Your backup battery that you're going to have in your house is probably going to become more popular, not less popular. And people rely on having that. So those things that we do to get a house ready, whether it's roughing in and hiding wires in the walls, just in case you need something in the future will always be required because you have to power things.

Adam:

Wireless power is not here. I don't know when it's coming, but it's not even being talked about. So we're not there yet. It's the interactive

Ron:

wireless power thing for that's not for real. That's like you're talking about Tesla.

Adam:

I'm saying like electricity shooting through the world. It's not. Yeah. Yeah.

Ron:

Yeah.

Adam:

I had an engineer I met in Cambridge because it's all smart college people around here.

Adam:

He was talking about this. Crazy wireless power technology, like, you know, Qi charging, but from a distance, like two or three feet, they were trying to develop that. I'm sure it's happening somewhere in Cambridge, but I haven't seen it yet. So I see that happening. And then the AI stuff, I think will be part of how you interact with your home in terms of walking around, because I love being able to walk into my rooms and lights turn on after certain times without me touching a single thing.

Adam:

Yeah, we do in every single house we do nowadays. For a toe kick lighting in bathrooms and kitchens, you walk down your steps at night. That sensor on the wall sees you and it turns on the toe kick in your kitchen so you can go get a snack or water. That stuff's happening. So I see those things becoming more popular where the AI is you dictate like Josh.AI create a scene in my house that turns on this light, this light, and this light at 10%.

Adam:

When I walk by this sensor, you can now do that with Josh and create a scene with your voice. So those things exist. I see that becoming more popular, but not necessarily getting rid of the technology products. People will still need them.

Ron:

No, I, I agree. I I was just, I, I'm just hearing you talk has caused a little brainstorm for me.

Ron:

, and we don't have to go too far, too much further down this rabbit hole, but I'm wondering. If this trend, which I concur, I'm, I'm hearing and seeing the same trend, , away from integrated, fully integrated systems towards more, , easier to service isolated or siloed systems, you know, app based systems.

Ron:

And, , I'm not saying that's right for every type of client. I think there's an argument for. integrated systems, you know, control systems, centralized systems for larger projects. I think there's a lot of logic for that,

Adam:

of course,

Ron:

that I'm, I'm wondering if the movement and, and the other projects towards the siloed or app systems, I'm wondering if, if.

Ron:

When there's finally an AI overlord on top of the system that does some of the, you know, think five years in the future, 10 years in the future, maybe it's two years in the future. I'm wondering if there's then an argument for that centralized control to actually come back into fashion. Whereas today it's, it's a service challenge.

Ron:

At least I've, I've heard that argument. I'm not on the installation side, but I've, I've heard that argument away from it and consumer demand. I've heard that argument as well. Maybe less consumers, um, at certain price tiers, maybe aren't requesting that. Right. Um, but I don't know, we'll have to, we'll have to wait and see, but I said this was rapid fire, so I have some other questions for you.

Ron:

Um, one is, , and you, you come from big business, you know, corporate America, big business, and so now you're in small business and you mentioned to me actually when we were sitting together at the total tech summit that you had a number of your friends in the industry that were running on EOS.

Adam:

And

Ron:

you've now started to investigate that.

Adam:

Yes. And

Ron:

I'm curious kind of where you are on that journey. What have you found out if you were to go down that path? Why would you go down that path? Kind of where are you at?

Adam:

I, I've been hearing about EOS for like two years and it would always just be someone mentioned the word EOS. I'm like, what the hell is that?

Adam:

No one ever elaborates on it, which was very puzzling to me. They would just be like, Oh, I'm, I'm on EOS. I'm running an EOS. And so I, I like, where can I

Ron:

buy that? Is it a pill? What is it?

Adam:

Why is it so magical? Like, why are you raving about this? How did it transform your company? Tell me more. Yeah. And it's, it's one of those things where you say it must be great because I never hear people say I'm on EOS and I hate it or I'm on it and it ruins my company.

Adam:

That does not come up. And I think the reason behind it is because it's a methodology. It's not a thing that you are buying and using. It's a mindset. It's how you run your company and how you transform things. And the reason that I am investigating this is because as we've grown from two to four to nine employees now, we're able to slowly offload roles and responsibilities to each other and to other people.

Adam:

So we aren't wearing 20 hats. My big thing now after hiring my director of operations is that I want to step back from a lot of these decision making processes. and allow him to take on these things and figure out what makes the most sense while I am focusing on the business development, the marketing, growing my company, and doing the sales side of things.

Adam:

And so as I've talked to people about what, why EOS makes sense for them, the biggest thing we, I got out of it is that You are breaking down your company into very specific job roles where there aren't two people making decisions. And so for our world, we have technicians, they're going out in the field, they're not calling three different people to find out where they have to be that day.

Adam:

It's one person you're calling. And when you want to make a decision about pulling the trigger on a platform, ultimately one person has to make that call after getting input from others. So that's what I really appreciate about this as someone who's worn every single hat in the company for five years, and most of them up until a year ago.

Adam:

I appreciate how I can slowly break things down for our team so that people have more of a focus and they don't feel like they're being pulled in a million directions. So I think EOS is probably being run in many different companies, just not called EOS. It's that mindset of making sure your company is operating in the right way.

Adam:

And then you get down to the, you know, the level 10 meetings and all that stuff that they're doing, which I feel like I'll eventually get there, but it's a big financial investment. Right. You want to try to deploy yourself. Which I think defeats the purpose of EOS. Right. You bring someone on, help your company get off the grounds, and then you, you start running.

Ron:

I, I, I went down that path, that journey. , I, I may have mentioned it once or twice on this show. I, I had, , I, I've said five. It's at least three. But I've had a good number of people I'd say from 2014 through 2019 that have known me. They've been my friends, been customers of ours, , said, Ron, you need to get on EOS.

Ron:

And they literally went as far, multiple customers handed me the full book. The traction book. I have several of the books right here on my bookshelf. I have more, a couple more on the back shelf. All of them were gifted to me, you know, maybe there was a sign there. And then finally in 2019, I went down that path and, and yes, we're dramatically better and different and my quality of life is better.

Ron:

And we're, we're, we're a company positioned to continue to scale as a result. But, I do think reading the book is a good step. There there's a, for anyone that's listening and is, you know, EOS curious. There's a really simple primer. It takes like an hour to read. It's called what the heck is EOS? Um, you can find it on Amazon and, , it's.

Ron:

It's my, I've recommended to people like have your leaders in your company, read that primer, and then just kind of workshop it, talk about it. Like, is that something that would be helpful? Would we be, would it help us accomplish that next level of organization or structure that would position us to continue to grow?

Ron:

And, , that was what I felt at One Firefly in 2019 is although we had grown nicely, I, it was hard for me as the leader and founder of the company to see how we would continue doing that with the structure and the people and the processes we had in place. And like, I, I lacked that clarity. You know, we, as leaders, we have to cast vision and look into the future.

Ron:

And it was hard for me to see that future with the way we were structured and the people and the structure we had. And, and I didn't know, cause I hadn't done it before. I didn't know how to get there. I didn't know, like, what is that missing thing in my life? And I think there's a lot of different systems.

Ron:

EOS is one of them. Scaling up is another one. , if anyone is watching this video or, or, , listening, you know, feel free to chat it into the social feed on the post, , and tell us other systems you're on. There's a lot of good systems out there, but EOS is a good one. So I've been, I'm excited for you that you're on this journey.

Adam:

Yeah. I've been listening to get a grip, which is the, like, it's a book, but it's audible and it, it's a company going through the EOS process, it's fake, but you get to listen to the whole thing about the awkward meetings that will happen and talking about good positives and negatives about teammates and things like that to get a very good understanding of what it would be like if you brought on an EOS implementer to help your company.

Ron:

Anybody that's listening and wants to, , you're curious. I'm happy to take those phone calls or emails and , at least share what our experience has been. Yeah. Um, I want to pivot. , we'll see, this might be the, our, our last topic here, Adam, you have, , and this actually, we're, we're, we're taking it full circle because we started this conversation talking about, you got into the industry because of a custom builder.

Ron:

I don't even, would you call that a custom builder or was that a track builder?

Adam:

It, the custom world is very hard. Everyone thinks they're a custom builder. It depends how custom you are. So a lot of them will start with like 20 models and you pick from those 20. Yes. You can tweak things, add rooms, stuff like that.

Adam:

Technically it's custom. But it's not like uber uber custom would be you're designing every single room custom would work and finish materials across the board. So there's all different classifications of that. And then there is spec custom, which is a guy that's doing custom with. But he's building a house in his head that might work for 20 different people.

Ron:

That's fair. You made a point when you and I were chatting at total tech summit, because we were talking about marketing and I asked, you know, the broad question, you know, do you do marketing? If so, to who? And you said, we exclusively are working on focusing on the design community, architects, designers, builders,

Adam:

right.

Ron:

Talk us through, why is that your decision? And, and, and how are you going about it?

Adam:

The reason that we went in that direction is number one, because we had success with that. That's how my company was formed. So that made sense for me to do that. And, , the, the other issue is that I didn't have the bandwidth to go out and market and then bring on 200 jobs a year where you get TV hanging bangs, fix my wifi, like all of those things we could do, but they didn't generate enough revenue to make, to grow a company to where I want it to Now, where I see the, the way we can do that.

Adam:

is we become the internal partner for all of these three trades. So ABID, architect, builder, interior designer, that's how we look at it. And if we become the internal partner for them, what I explained to those trades is that we are here to make you look better, extend an arm of your company. So you can add these services when your clients come to you and ask you questions, you don't have to say, Oh, I don't know about that.

Adam:

Let me get back to you. Now it's, of course we can take care of that. We have our team with Boston automations. They'll handle that part of the process with us because you don't go to a builder and ask about an electrical question. They're like, Oh, I don't know. I gotta go hire an electrician. They already have an electrician on staff.

Adam:

They have a plumber, they get an HVAC guy, they get a roofer. So why shouldn't they have? An internal guy or a team that does the technology designed for them. So that's the thought in my head is where I say that all of these builders should have this person like us, whether it's my company or someone else.

Adam:

In five years, they're all going to have that partner. I know for a fact that most of these large builders do not have integration partners. Half of the reason is because they've gotten bit by someone who didn't do a good job. And then the other half is the Massachusetts market. The houses sell so quickly that they don't even have to think about adding this stuff because it's going to sell no matter what.

Adam:

And they can just. sell the home, walk away and move on to the next one. So my goal out here is to explain to them that we can help them generate more revenue by offering a house that's been completely wired for the future. So it's a future ready home. It will sell for more money. And then after they sell that home, that one year warranty they're offering is a nightmare year for them because that homeowner is going to call them for everything.

Adam:

Why don't I have speakers in my ceiling in my primary bedroom? Why am I missing access point wiring throughout the house? Welcome all the cabling is not in a utility space. All these questions that they get nagged about for one year. We get that off their plate. We handle it all for them and that makes them look better and they make more money.

Adam:

So that's the selling point on the builder's side. And then with the architect's side, we're there to help with their lighting, design all of their pocket shades. They don't know how to do it properly. We fix all those things for them. If there's certain products like TV lifts or certain things that they don't know how to design, we can answer those questions for them.

Adam:

So we're also making the architect look better. And save them in the future when the builder starts framing this house and they're like How the hell do we get these shades in these windows? Because it's 2x4 framing, and we need a 2x10 cavity. And then they're like, crap, we gotta go back and redesign this whole thing.

Adam:

And then on the last side is the designer side, that is where I, I feel like that is where we will have the most success. And the reason behind that is because designers are very good at conceptualizing what they want. They are not always good at picking the right things that will make the most sense for the homeowner because that will look pretty.

Adam:

How the hell does it work? Who knows? But the designer wants to see it there. So we are now that internal technology designer for the interior designer to make their stuff work. That's in their head.

Ron:

What are you doing to cultivate? If this is your goal to secure more of these, what are you doing to, to get yourself more of these, these folks in your corner?

Ron:

So this is

Adam:

our, our challenge we've been facing the last six months. So we know who the top builders, designers and architects are in the New England region. So we've been going through. Instagram, looking at high quality posts of really beautiful homes , magazines, all different things and finding the best of the best, cultivating that list of builders and other people who we can help.

Adam:

And then the next step is to find ways to engage them to make it. I don't want to pitch it as you guys need me because I'm awesome. I want to be able to reach out to them and explain why they should be working with us because we can make their lives better. And that's my number one goal. And we have a few different ideas we're working on.

Adam:

So our, our marketing campaign, which we're going to be staging out at 90 day intervals of staging content. One particular thing that we were discussing with Savant is, , doing the, the backup battery and smart, , breaker solution. So they're going to be providing us with collateral that we can deploy.

Adam:

Or we'll, we'll call it like two or three things a week for six weeks. So our Instagram feed is going to be filled with this content. And then we're going to reach out to a builder and explain to them. Hey, have you heard about the smart power revolution? That's really transforming homes. And if you haven't gone into our Instagram page, you'll see the content we've been putting there.

Adam:

If you think it's interesting, let us come to you with the Savant team and we're going to do lunch and we're going to show you all about this stuff. We're not going to sell you something on the spot. We're just going to educate you about why this is something you should be bringing up to your homeowners.

Adam:

It's not going to cost you a lot of money to deploy this, but you're going to give them a solution that will make you different as a builder because other builders aren't offering. So that's one thing that we're doing, and we're going to do that with all different manufacturers. So it's not going to be just a savant thing.

Adam:

It'll be different topics we're going to do, and then we'll reach out to these trades about different things that we can offer, whether it is building side or design side. And, , if you want to talk about the gifting thing, that is our, our other strategy that we are really thinking hard about. And to, to reach out to trades, you want them to think about you.

Adam:

And a good way for them to think about you is you, you send them something that Is a product we work with on the technology side, but also something that they can receive and have and really love and appreciate. And because we work with Bang & Olufsen, there is a beautiful product, um, the Biolet 20, that is this very unique Bluetooth speaker.

Adam:

And we were trying to get this in the hands of all of our partners so that they can have something that is. Really frigging cool. Looks awesome. Sounds great. And it's different. And the reason we want it to be different is because when someone has this and they bring it to their beach house, or they go to the beach or a barbecue where they're hanging out and they have it with them, people are going to be like, what the hell is that?

Adam:

Why does it sound so good? And it looks really cool. And that inspires discussion and engagement. And they say, Oh, this came from Boston automations. They sent it over to us. I don't even know why they sent it, but we got it from them and it's an awesome thing. And so we'll always be in the back of their head, whether it's a week later or a year later, they may call us in the future and talk to us.

Ron:

I bet you next time you call their office. Yeah. You know, Oh, you're the people that sent us that awesome speaker, by the way, why did you do that?

Adam:

Yeah. The big thing that we talked about is we're not going to brand it. We're not going to slap our name on it, stickers, anything like that. It's just something for them to have.

Adam:

They enjoy it. And. No, if they want to call us because, you know, that we sent them something cool, so be it. And, that's going to be one of our outreach strategies because they're, it's a hard thing, of calling someone you don't cold call and be like, Hey, do you hate your current technology guy?

Adam:

That's not a good call. You don't start with negative things.

Ron:

No.

Adam:

So we're, we're coming up with all these ideas, but that's going to be, , our, our H one or Q one 2025 goal. Cool. It is to really partner with these companies and not so we can grow and be better, but we can help all of these people , offer better things to their clients.

Ron:

I love it, Adam. Well, you are clearly doing a lot, right? And, , it's, it's been a lot of fun getting to know you and, , and certainly diving through some of these, these topics with you. So for folks that are listening or watching, cause I, I understand from our conversation, you like to watch. So you'll watch YouTube versus listening to a podcast.

Ron:

Um, so for folks that are tuned in and they want to get to know you or, or meet you, what's the best way they can contact you?

Adam:

So we have a million ways to reach us. Website is bostonautomations.com. Our phone number is 781 333 8003. You can call us or text us and I would encourage people to start looking at our Instagram page because that's where you're going to see a lot of our content.

Adam:

It will be mixed in with actual project videos that we've been filming over the last six months and then a lot of the products that we work with. So, Plenty of ways to reach out. We are very heavy on content and we'd be happy to talk with people and any integrators that are listening that want to learn about, you know, ways that you can grow.

Adam:

I'm more than happy because without all the people helping me, I wouldn't be where I am today. So I'm obviously more than happy to talk with others about these things.

Ron:

Love it. Adam. It's been a pleasure having you on the show and, , I wish you continued success in 2025 and beyond.

Adam:

Okay. All right. Thanks, Ron.

Adam:

Have a good one.

Ron:

You too, bud.

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.

Resources and links from the interview:

• Adam Zell LinbkedIn Profile
• Boston Automations LinkedIn Profile
• Boston Automations Webpage