I don't know. I think that everyone would probably entertain doing something else, but I think that you'd probably get into it, and then it would become the same thing where, yeah, there's good days and there's bad days, and there's days where it's frustrating and there's days where you struggle, but it's probably similar to marriage and relationships, where you have to put in the effort you have to make it work. It's not always perfect. You can manage it to look elsewhere. Can
be foolish. Welcome back to another midweek modern craftsman. Have you ever asked yourself what you'd be doing if you weren't in your current career? So I recently posed that question to somebody, and then I turned it back on myself, and it made me reflect on how I stumbled into construction and how close I came to choosing another path. So this week, I'm diving into that what if, and exploring the path I didn't take and maybe why that still matters, before we get going.
Today, I want to give a quick plug to the contractor coalition Summit. We are holding an event June 19 through the 23rd if you are interested in attending, it's in Omaha, Nebraska. I have a special offer, 25% off the ticket price for that event. You can shoot me an email, Tyler at TRG, home concepts.com, or you can DM us directly at contractor coalition Summit. So that's contractor coalition summit on Instagram, shoot us a DM, tell them that I sent you. Also, there is an alumni package,
which is a distilled version of this event. If you're interested in coming to that the first 50, we are offering free pre free passes too. So again, shoot an email to me, Tyler at TRG, homeconcepts.com or shoot us a DM contractor coalition summit on Instagram and tell them that I sent you again for 25% off if you are a new attendee for the full event. It's a four day event. Well, June, 19, 20th, 21st 27th 23rd five, a little
four and a half days. And if you are interested in attending the condensed version of that, and you're an alumni, we can get you in for free. So do not sleep on that. I recently asked a client
of mine what they would be doing. And the the catalyst behind that question was somebody who was unhappy with what they were doing in their career, the direction that was heading and that, you know, they would, if they were putting this much effort into something else, that they'd probably be even more success, more successful than where they are now, and not struggling quite as much, which might be here. He neither here
nor there. I'm so sorry I cannot talk today, maybe too much coffee, and I've been sitting inside all day doing podcast stuff and emails and drank a lot of coffee, and it's raining outside, so I might just have way too much energy here. But after I asked the question, I realized like that, that question is a lot harder to answer than you would think. And
I guess it brought me back to young Tyler. You know, high school age, college age, when you were told that you have to choose what you want to do for the rest of your life, and how difficult that can be, and how that made me feel. And for much of my life as a young kid, you know, into adolescence, into early adulthood, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, and that uncertainty continued until I stumbled into what I'm doing now. And even what I'm doing now isn't necessarily what I got
into this for. And if you'd asked me, you know, 15 years ago, that I'd be doing what I do today, I probably laugh at you. But yeah, things have changed. If you look at it day by day, slow, natural progression evolution. But when I look at big picture, how it's changed, and what I got into this for, and the reasons I got into this, it's a lot, it's a lot different
than I had anticipated. But again, like when I was younger, that that pressure to attend college and to have it all figured out, it was overwhelming, and I didn't know how I wanted to spend almost every day of my adult life at 1617, years old, even at 22 years old, I still didn't know. But when I got into construction, I didn't it was, it was more of a means to an end. I didn't want to go to work for somebody. I didn't want to work for another small
contractor. I figured, right, I could do handyman stuff and paint for 35 bucks an hour, be more than my my peers were making at that point, either in college or shortly after. And pretty quickly realized that I was very naive and very foolish for thinking that this was going to be an easy path to financial
and professional success. So yeah, one thing led to another when I got done College, pretty much immediately after I started my own business, worked my way up, handyman stuff, painting stuff, I'm sure you guys heard it before, into bathrooms, kitchen, small cabinet jobs, full scale remodeling. You know, a few people working for me went back to myself, subcontractor, model, part time help these days. I have a lot more going on outside of just on the job work. But yeah, it's it's a lot
different than what I anticipated. And I'm not sure you know, if I would have known this going into it at at 2325 years old, what I would think of all this, but I was, I was pretty unsure of where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do at that age. And it it was actually it created a lot of anxiety for me, feeling as though I needed to figure it out. So the question remains, what would I be doing if I weren't a
Residential Contractor? So when I applied to college, I saw two paths, and the thought behind all of this was, what can I do every single day? What do I want to be doing with my life? What do I want to be doing with my career that I can make a decent
living, have a decent lifestyle, support myself. And I saw this going two ways, so I was thinking more so from like an academic perspective, what was the only thing in school that I felt I could do for another four years, aside from gym class, electives like cooking, music, whatever other electives I floated through. But I always enjoyed science, and I always enjoyed biology, environmental sciences. Not as much the physics and chemistry, because they were all pretty much math
based. I did well on them. But I really I liked from the time I was a little kid, I liked nature. I liked learning about plants. I like learning about animals, biology. So that that was one path, right? I was going to go to school and I was going to be a science major, so I found a school that supported that. That was University of Colorado in Boulder. I want to get away. I wanted to live, you know, be in the outdoors, something different than New Jersey. And then the other
career path. I always enjoyed being outside. I enjoyed working with my hands, doing lawn maintenance. And I know that that's not really what it entails. But plants, you know, just typical upkeep. I like being outside. I loved the woods. And I was thinking, I could, I could be a landscape architect. I could get into that. I could possibly start a landscaping company, or I could do landscape design work. So I applied to a program at Virginia Tech, which I believe, I don't
know, 1520, years later, was a five year program. It was, it was a pretty selective program, but I got into that, and I opted to go the science route. Don't ask me why. I think that I like at that point, wanted to get away. I wanted to try something new. In hindsight, that like was not the path for me. It didn't work out. I learned pretty quickly. This isn't what I want to be doing. You know, when I when I really got down to it and the rubber hit the road, it's just not how I wanted. I didn't
see really a path or an end. I didn't want to become a scientist. I didn't want to teach. So what? What was I going to do with a science degree? I didn't want to be doing research, so I ended up dropping out, and then I ended up going back to school at Drexel for construction management, because that was the last thing, right. I knew construction I'd grown up doing it, and that was like another safe way for me to get through college. But in hindsight, the landscape
architecture probably would have been a great path for me. A lot of opportunity there, right? I could have a business, I could do that type of work, I could manage that type of work. I could handle the design. I think that there's an opportunity for that type of work at a small scale to be doing some higher end renovations, landscape and exterior Renovations in New Jersey. It's similar to what I'm doing now. And I know that it's not completely different from construction, but at the same
time, like they're two fully different things. And I look back and I think that that's something that could have suited me well, would it be better than what I'm doing now? I don't really know, but I do know that I continue to have a passion for those type of things. I enjoy being outside. I like looking at what people are doing with landscape design, with
plantings. My wife will find me sitting on my phone in bed watching videos or on my computer watching YouTube videos of how to eradicate nuisance plants and invasive species on my phone. And I know you don't have to say it. My wife is so lucky that she landed me. What a catch. No, I just it's always something. I enjoy being outside. I enjoy nature, I enjoy plants. I enjoy learning about native plants, trees. I just, I
don't know why. I just, I've always found it super fascinating nature and outdoors and the elements, and I enjoy being outside. I'm not sure why, but it's something that's always spoke to me, and it's something that I enjoy doing, even on her property. I enjoy going over there and being outside and making small little changes. You know, I planted a tree for Rachel's birthday, uh, yesterday, and I just, it's
something that resonates deeply with me. I can't really explain it, and I know that I'm being naive, saying that, yeah, being a landscape architect, or starting a landscape company, or working for somebody, because you like planting a tree every now and then, I understand what that sounds like. It's the only other thing really that I consider I'd be able to do long
term. I do enjoy teaching, but I think that I would struggle with that as well, if it weren't on my own program, if I had to follow somebody else's curriculum, if there were too many rules in place, I don't know if I would survive that, and I don't really, I don't regret the path that I've taken. I'm super grateful for where I am. I don't know. You know, you think about, what else would I do if I didn't need the money, right? If you didn't have to work, what would you do with
your time? And would it be construction? Would I? Would I continue to be working for for clients, and I don't know, 100% if I would be. It's a very difficult career. It can be cutthroat. There's a lot of variables. It is. It is not the easiest to systemize. So in hindsight, it's probably not the best career path for me, given you know, my wants and needs and desire to control things and have them turn out a certain way. I think that that that makes it very difficult for me.
I would assume that I probably struggle with that, with the the landscape architecture thing as well, but I don't know, like I don't necessarily have regrets about the path that I've chosen. I'm super grateful to be where I am, and it's provided me so much, and I've learned so much. But is it the grass is always greener? Do you see? Hey, I would live somewhere else. I could do something else. If money were no object, would I
choose a different career path? And I don't know, I think that everyone would probably entertain doing something else, but I think that you'd probably get into it, and then it would become the same thing where, yeah, there's good days and there's bad days, and there's days where it's frustrating and there's days where you struggle, but it's probably similar to marriage and relationships, where you have to put in the effort, you have to make it work. It's not always perfect.
You can manage it. To look elsewhere. Can be foolish. Yeah, I think that that's the only other avenue that I really considered growing up. Obviously, I considered going the science route, and that was pretty short lived when I got in, I'm taking physics and bio, and I'm like, why is this all math, chemistry, all math, and realizing that wasn't what I wanted to be doing, and then somewhat panicking, being like, I need to choose another path. I need to, you know, not waste
this money. I need to get home figure out what I want to do. I think I did fall into construction some, which I think a lot of us have. It wasn't necessarily like, Hey, this is, I'm going to chase this down. I'm going to be the absolute best of this. My personality leads me towards that and probably funneled me down that road, and channeled me down that road of, hey, if I'm going to. Do this. I want to be the best that I can absolutely be at it, but I think that probably would
be the case if I had done anything. But yeah, I'd be curious to hear you guys and girls. Do you ever rate is it like, Hey, I wish there were an opportunity for a career change. Hey, I wish you know when I had the opportunity to go left or right. I wish I had chosen left instead of right. I wish I had taken that job. I wish I had gone to college for this. Or is
that just senseless? But still, I think that, I think I could get down with doing some landscaping work and owning a landscape company, and I know that there's struggles with that, but the landscape design, and I wouldn't want it to be huge, and I understand the challenges of that as well, but it's just something that I've always I've always enjoyed Learning about, and I feel that there, there's no cap to how much you can learn with something like that, and I'm
still learning every single day, and I'm excited. That's one thing that I'm very excited about with our build and working with my buddy Tom, and getting to pick and choose what we do there, and kind of start from ground zero and make our property look like it's always been there with native species and not having it over overly manicured. And I'm really excited about that. And that's something with the landscape
architecture that I feel like people aren't doing as much. I think that we might have a push towards that with like, the urban meadow movement and everything else, where it's like, hey, let's stop dumping a bunch of pesticides and herbicides on our lawns to make them green, when it's actually, you know, hurting all of us in the long run. But that's something that interests me a lot and continues to do, and I'm looking forward to digging into that with our build, which would
be fun and make for some really good content. You know, right now, the focus is getting the house in the ground and then out of the ground. But then, you know, towards the end of this, we're going to be working on the outside, in the landscape, and making, you know, being good stewards for this home, this property, and I'm really excited to see what that looks like, and work with my buddy Tom and Rachel on that. You know, we just planted our our first tree for the property for Rachel's
birthday that we purchased. So if you saw my Instagram, we did that, we got her a pretty nice sized Willow oak that we planted recently, and I'm excited about it. So I pose you guys the same question, if you weren't where you are right now, if money weren't an issue, would you explore a different path? Do you Do you feel that you are or could be better suited for something else? I would love to hear that. One other thing that I wanted to discuss quickly here, Nick and I had a workshop
last week on scaling. We gave away a free resource to everyone on our newsletter, and then we dug into that, and we dug into some of the nuances of scaling. We we introduced the scaling course that we've been developing, some of the resources in that that course is currently up for sale. I believe Nick has a discount for that. So if you're interested, and you go to check out, shoot me an email. Tyler at TRG, home concepts.com,
I think I can get you a maybe 20% off for that. I don't know how long he's running that for, but you can go to modern craftsman.co and check out all the courses that we've developed. They are currently open for enrollment. I know Nick has a coupon that he gave out to a bunch of people. So again, if you're interested, let me know. But moving forward, Nick and I are going to continue to give away a bunch of those resources. And what we want to be doing is
monthly. We want to be holding these workshops. We can get on we can talk about an aspect of this course, and you don't need to be enrolled in the course. We're going to give you whatever we're going to be discussing beforehand, as long as you're on that newsletter. So make sure that you sign up for the
newsletter. The workshop is going to be free. The resource is going to be free, and hopefully it's going to show you just how valuable this information, these courses, can be to you just by hey, let's give 45 minutes worth of information that we packed into here and check it out and then explain to you how much a lot of these resources can change your life. So if you're not signed up for the newsletter, please do that. You. And let us know if you have any suggestions as far
as coursework, things you want us to dig into. The idea is to be pulling resources from these courses and discuss them. But if you have something else that you want to discuss too, right? Once a month is a lot that we're going to be preparing for. These things we're still trying to sort out when we want to be
doing them. We've been doing a lot of them on Fridays at 3pm Eastern Time, which I felt is a good idea, because it's like, hey, it's lunchtime for people on the West Coast, on the east coast, you know, it's kind of starting towards the weekend. Maybe you can dip out of the office earlier or put a block on your calendar. If there's a better time or day that works for you. We want to get that scheduled so that's consistent each and every month, so that you guys and girls don't miss
out on what we have to offer. So again, you can shoot me an email tyler@trghomeconcepts.com to discuss that more. I'm still doing consulting, if you guys are interested in consulting again, once or twice a week, most of my clients are small
owner operators. Have 2345, employees, smaller businesses, if you're struggling with capturing time, if you're struggling with profitability, if you're struggling with just the nuances of running a small business and having a life and a family and everything else, and you're interested in learning what I've done to change that in some of my systems. Shoot me an email, tyler@trghomeconcepts.com and I can explain what that looks like to get booked. That's it for this week. Nice, quick,
easy, short, I had too much coffee. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm curious to see what you'd be doing if you were not a contractor for me, obviously you heard some sort of living or career in in the outdoors, Landscape Architecture, Landscape Design, possibly owning a landscape company, maybe design, build, type of deal. Who knows? I like being outside. I like the hard work. I like seeing those, those big
changes take place quickly. But I'd love to hear from you guys, girls, what you would be doing if anything, if money weren't an object, or you had, you know, a second shot at starting all over again. All right, as always, I appreciate it. Appreciate who came everyone who came out to our last workshop, who's enrolled in this course, who's enrolled in any courses, if you're interested in the scaling course and you want Nick's discount code, I'm not sure how long he's going to keep that up.
I believe it's for 20% but you can shoot me an email and you would just apply that at checkout. All right, I'll catch you guys next week.