Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: If you want to do good on your projects, you always.
There's always a time frame with. For work, but if you want to succeed on it, you always have to put a little bit of extra time on your.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:10] Speaker A: From your. From.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Give it your all plus a little more.
[00:00:14] Speaker C: My mindset is if people tell me if they try to test me, I was like, okay, if you're going to try to test me, I'm going to show you what I can do.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: All right, so. So the Hernandez brothers for the win. Right? So we got Mr. Christian and Jesus today and you know, we just want to talk a little bit more about how Yalls journey here at Moss got started and where you guys are at now. Right. When did you start here at Moss, Christian?
[00:00:52] Speaker A: I started.
I've been here for seven and a half years. Yeah, I believe it's 2017, June 27th.
I started here.
Was that.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Was the company already here at this office or is it still back at.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: No, it was a. Naval's lane.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: On Naval's lane?
[00:01:07] Speaker A: No, no, it was lane Rock Island.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Yeah. But you started off here as a. As a labor, right?
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I started off as a labor in the Paula's crew.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: One of the foremans.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Yeah, he's still here around, roaming around some.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: How was that, how was it that you landed here at Moss? Like, did you know anybody or.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: So Pablo's wife is. Was. Is really good friends with my uncle's wife and that's how I got the job. Then one day I came out of. I used to work at pfg. It's like a warehouse where we did order selecting like for Red Lobster, like different restaurants.
And then we work night shift. So they were still. I guess they were having like a little get together at the.
My uncle's house. So I arrived there after the night shift and I met Paulo there. Yeah, he was. He was there drinking and he started talking about him working in construction. That's one of the main things I always wanted to do as a kid, work construction.
But it was kind of difficult because I had just gotten out of high school and once I didn't have a contact or a way to gain construction until Paulo was like, oh, I need some help, I need a labor. And that's how I jumped in with him.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Nice, nice, nice. So completely different industry. Right? You went from working in. In a warehouse to working outside in construction. Right. And you didn't know anything about monogram utilities at the time, right?
[00:02:36] Speaker A: No, I didn't. I started off as no knowing nothing, no experience nothing. Yeah, and it was kind of challenging at the beginning because when Paulo had a. I mean, he didn't speak good English. And when I had a get parts, he kind of just showed me pictures of the parts and me going to Ferguson, picking up parts. I was like in the counter going back and forth with you guys. No, I think this is what he needs. And in my mind I was like, man, I had to like start learning this. The name of the terminology, right?
[00:03:05] Speaker B: That's funny you say that because it's like, even with a lot of the equipment nowadays, like, like the shackle, right. What do the guys call the shackles in Spanish?
El Chaco. Right.
And. And you know that's not the proper terminology for it, right? It's not the proper word. I think if I'm not mistaken, it's called ungriete. Right.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: So it's.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: But we're just so accustomed to it here, just calling it or trying to. I guess we butcher the word and we call it whatever we think is best, right? Which is a shackle.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: And it's because the majority of time they, since they don't know that proper word in English for it, they always try to make up a nickname for it, right. Short phrased word for it. And then you go to different. You go to different people, different crews, and they're like, hey, I need this. And then they throw you out of that loop because now you learned it a different way. And then they, you go over there and they're. They're asking for the same thing. But then it's not. It's. You're thinking, hey, that's not how they call her over here. Like, it's the whole different.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: So. So you came in helping Pablo out as a laborer. How long was it before you moved up to a different position?
[00:04:08] Speaker A: So I was with him for, for a while as a laborer sometimes. Like since I was like a driver for him too. Yeah, we would go to jobs whenever I got rained down. Then I started, I went always.
I was, I looked, I looked to have the vision of always wanting to be on a machine, right. So then he started, like, show me little by little, hey, this is how you operate the machine. So I was with him as a labor, like for six months. Then we started. I would always be in the ditch with the guy. Started learning a little bit of how to shoot and grade lane, sending the laser, everything reading stakes. And then eventually the. The wheel loader operator had a. He quit on us. And there was no one on the loader. And with me Going back and forth, ditch, learned all this stuff and learning the machine a little bit. I was given the opportunity to get, get on the wheel loader.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Which was it. And it was kind of challenging because I was like, man, well, I know I'm new at this. I kind of already had it. Been on it for a couple times here and there and, and this slowly gave, started giving in on it. Like it took me a couple weeks and then it was, it seemed simple, right?
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: And it's, it's been, it was a great experience and I was, I was looking for it. Once I would go with Pablo on jobs and, and he would give me the opportunity. I was like, man, I think this is going to be. I mean, I, it looks like I'm gaining nothing out of it, but the long run, I think I'll be able to have the opportunity to get on the machine.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So, so you went from labor to, to kind of transitioning into like a multi position. Right. Because you would, you know, go down in the ditch and then you would also get on the machine. Right. So you're doing a little bit of everything just trying to help Pavel be successful as well. Right. And so that's, that's pretty cool. And like, what would you say was one of the most difficult parts of being on a crew? Like, you know, is it reading the plans, is it shooting grade, or is it, you know, like ordering material? What would you say is difficult?
[00:06:07] Speaker A: The, the most difficult is the communication with, I guess, the crew. I mean, if you, if you know, the majority of them don't speak good English, but if you're bilingual, that's, that's a good way to start because you, you're able to, to talk to them good. And, but there's challenges that are out there. Is that if you, if they see that you don't, that you don't try or you're not giving.
Willing to do something, or you see sl them that you're slacking off, they lose interest in you. Like the people like them, guys that you're working with, not specifically the foreman, they will, they don't really want to teach you, but there's, there's guys that see you, hey, like if you help them out there at the long run, they're like, hey, I could probably help them sit with the laser while I go do something else. And that's the way that made me feel.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Right. They benefited from it as well. Right. Not just, you know, not wanting to teach you aspect of things. Right.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Yeah. What about you so how long was it before you came? Because I'm assuming Christian started here first and then you came along, right?
[00:07:11] Speaker C: Yeah. So I. After he took the loader position, that's when I came in. He's like, hey, well, they're gonna need a new driver, so how about you want to jump in? I was like, I didn't have anything going, like, important at the time. I was.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: It was the same crew.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: The same crew. So I jump in, and I was like, you know, I'll just try to. I never worked in construction either, but I'm like, I'll try it. I'll see how it works.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: What would you do before that?
[00:07:35] Speaker C: The same thing. We worked together at pfg.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Oh, at the warehouse as well.
Just following each other's footsteps.
[00:07:42] Speaker A: That was on that warehouse. I was a freezer loader, dock operator. I managed the loading dock in the freezer side.
What was it like, 43 bay doors.
It was kind of challenging too, because you had a big responsibility in that portion. Cause you had to manage the dock doors, make sure the routes went out on time. They had a timeframe to when it was, but it wasn't my.
It was a. It was a good job, but it wasn't what I wanted to do.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Like, and when I get. I had the opportunity, I wanted to make it feel something to wear.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: But. But it, it. It even. It even seems like you guys working at a warehouse kind of gave you that. That point of view of, like, this, this isn't what I want to do. But it also helps you out with, you know, responsibility. Right. So I'm assuming you had your. Your days of the week. You had to work. You had a clock in, clock out. So you built responsibility.
You know, starting off there and then transitioning to Moss and, you know, joining a construction crew and doing utility work. Right. So, I mean, I can see that being, you know, a transition, beneficial transition.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: And it is big responsibility because at the.
The day like me when I was driving for Pablo, I had to make sure, get up on time, make sure to move the truck, the crew truck around. It was. And I didn't want to leave no one lead them to failure.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: I didn't want for it to depend on me not showing up to work early.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Because, you know, the guys are tough out the field. You show up late one day and, you know, and they start, you know, giving you crap for. For not showing up on time. You know, if you're. If not 10, 15 minutes early, you're late. Right. They're always Giving you crap, you know.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: And at the beginning, it was because majority of the crews are like family around here, right? They're. They have three out of the six or three out of seven. They know each other. They. They ride together, and they're always. They're a family.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Right.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: So at the beginning, you're kind of like.
You're like, middle journey yourself, like, man, if. Is it going to work out? Is it.
Should I fit in? And it all depends on you, right? If you make yourself fit in. And. And that's the way I kind of see it.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: Right.
[00:10:03] Speaker A: I did. I put everything to the side of me thinking, able, these guys are probably gonna. I'm not gonna be able to hang around with them. I try to always be made it to where it was fun and then made it to where they had confidence on. And trusted me on showing me things. Right?
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Yeah. So y' all worked together, right? For how long was it that y' all were on the same crew?
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Well, I was. He was with us. Jesus was with us for, like, four months, and then like four or six months, and then I was transitioned to a punch crew later on.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: So you became a foreman, and then you stayed back on that crew. And so what was your. Your path? Right, so you were a labor after labor. What did that look like?
[00:10:45] Speaker C: Well, I stayed for labor for a while. Like, I want to say two years, and then I got called up with another opportunity, another place, and so I left. But then I came back. I came back as a punch performance.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Okay, so you left, you know, as a laborer, you know, and decided to do.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I.
[00:11:02] Speaker C: Well, I was somewhere else and I did other positions. But, yeah, when I came back, punch foreman, it was a little different because I've never taken a leadership, like, of a crew, some vessel.
I have a lot of experience, good experiences, learning, and got a good career.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: What would you say is one of the most difficult parts of being informant to both of you guys? Right. Because it takes personality, it takes knowledge, it takes character. I mean, there's a lot of contributing factors to be being a good foreman. Right.
[00:11:35] Speaker C: Well, I think the biggest thing is motivating the guys to trust in you.
When I. When I was. I got moved up to mainline, the guys I had, they were with the foreman for, like, two years. So they were used to the way he. He ran things. So once you learn those guys trust and they trust you, they. They see that you're working with them, and that helps out a lot.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Yeah. So you're looking out for their best interest as well. Right. Yeah. What about you? What do you think is the most difficult?
[00:12:05] Speaker A: You know, the most difficult?
Lead them in the right direction.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: When I was handling the punch crew, it was tough riots.
A lot of people say punch work is easy, but it ain't. Sometimes it's more complicated because you already have a bunch of things around you. Right. So majority of the guys don't really like it because it's more hands on, work on. And the way I visioned all the time is if they see you working and doing it yourself with them, they always willing to try with you. Right. So my goal was to leave on the right direction and always make them do the work. That way they learn the process of it and, and next time we go to a different job, they, they already had a feeling for it.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: They wouldn't be scared of not wanting to do the work.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: So what do you think about the culture here at Moss? Right, because obviously you've been here for a while now, right? From, from the beginning to where we're at now. How cultured, what do you, what are your thoughts on it?
[00:13:01] Speaker A: I think it's changed a bunch. I mean I have seen since day one, they, they always said, I mean put the effort, try it. And we always look out, see what the guys like. They always look out and see and what way you can move on up on.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: You can get an opportunity. And now we felt that way and, and I had, I could say I had a really good leader. I. Parker gave me good opportunities, he had faith in me. And until to today, I mean I always done what I can, what's in my hands to not fail, make the company feel. I never, I always try to look out for.
It's. I see it as like a, like if I feel, I'm feeling everyone. Right.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: It's not only it, the word doesn't only depend just for me, it's. It affects her.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: What about you? What do you think about the culture here at Moss? Like what did you think of it? Like, because obviously you were working at a warehouse and then you became, you know, introduced to construction and the culture is obviously different from something as simple as, you know, thinking. Thinking of it as outdoors, indoors.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: So I mean the culture over there was. You didn't really get a chance to talk to anybody, to communicate. You were focused on your own work, trying to make your own. But over here is the team, you know, so over here you have to communicate well to your guys and communicate well with other people, the GCs, your superiors.
It's a Whole different thing. Because the way you communicate, it's.
It depends a lot like on the outcome. You know, if you have good communication and everything's going to go smooth, but if you don't, then it's not.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: You know, I think, I think we can always preach communication is leadership. Communication is leadership. And I think that's, that'll apply to a lot of, you know, situations, you know, you know, it's the solution to 99% of problems. Right. Is because if you don't communicate what it is that you're trying to get done or need, you know, you're just setting yourself up for failure. Right? Yeah. So y' all became foreman. I'm assuming after the pumpkin foreman you become foremans. Right. They promote you with, to the crew, with the foreman. But what was one of your first projects as a, as a foreman?
[00:15:17] Speaker A: My first project was, it's a kind of like a rehab job we had back then. We had half a million dollar projects and it was a school down in South Lake. I know it's Keller.
It was Lake Dallas.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Lake Dallas.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Lake Dallas. So that project was, it was pretty challenging. It was.
Since it's already existing school, you have to get ahead of the game, shoot your connections and then there's conflict everywhere.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: Right.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: You have lines all over the place. And it was a project where it wasn't big enough and we had a knock it out out of the ballpark pretty quick.
What helped me there is that what helps you there in those projects is that you're staying ahead and making sure if there's conflicts, go ahead and solve them prior before you reaching to that point. It was, and it wasn't that big of a job, but the crew I had was, it was really good crew. I had a good operator, a good pipe layer and the labor I was. He didn't know much at all. Just like I didn't know how I started. And that was one of my goals. Right. Try to teach him the way I was taught.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: Right.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And. And I was more hands on with the guy. So I feel like we did pretty good on that project because we all together communicated and solved the problem before we over and approached approach them to him.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: I'm assuming you did knock it out of the park or.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: No, we did. I believe we did good. We didn't. We did good on that project. It was, there was a bunch of issues in that project with elevations, everything hitting and, and that was. Since that was my first project, I always get home and you'll be like, man, I can.
It's A lot of you get to thinking, you're like, man, I can. I give him the opportunity I have to do something about it, take advantage of it. There's. When you start as a foreman, if you want to do good at your projects, you're always.
There's always a time frame with. For work, but if you want to succeed on it, you always have to put a little bit of extra time on your.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: From your all plus a little more.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. What about you? What was one of your first projects?
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Well, my very first project, like, full project was Methodist Medical City in Salina.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:44] Speaker C: I had challenges at the beginning because I didn't have a full crew, so I was missing that one of the key players, which is pipeline.
And so I had two laborers, and one of them, I was like, well, if you want to learn how to be a pipeline, right now's the chance we can learn throughout this project. So we spent maybe like a full month without a pipeline. But then eventually he learned enough, and I was like, just. Just give him the opportunity. And we got it and knocked it out of the ballpark, and it was great. That was a fun project because it's.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: A big responsibility to being a pipe player. Right? Because, I mean, you're the one that, at the end of the day, is. Is this the. The deciding factor if the elevation is correct? And, you know, it's. You know, you don't want any values, right. They always talk about bellies. They always talk about bellies, right? You don't want to have any bellies.
And so it's. It's a lot of pressure, too, Right. I mean, just as much as it is on. On the foreman, you know, there's a lot of pressure to become a pipe player. So I understand why it's. It's difficult, you know, to try to finish a job with not having a pipe there, you know, so that's.
I mean, that's where you just kind of go through your. Your struggles and come out winning at the end. Right. You just do what you can do what you want, need to do at the end of the day, get the job done. Right.
[00:19:00] Speaker A: And there's scenarios where when you have a project and you run into conflict after conflict after conflict, you get stressed, your crew gets stressed.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: They.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: They're always thinking, man, well, are we doing something like.
Or doing something wrong?
And eventually they start doubting on you, right? They start doubting about, like, see, doing the correct, correct thing. So I always tend to. When I had a conflict, I always bring them on. So hey, look, this is a conflict. Explain them that way. They had a, an idea how to solve it.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Just in case they say one day I had again got a day off.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: They had a, they had a feel for, of what needed to get done.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: To not just be stuck on one.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: That'll resolve the issue. Right? Yeah. Because I mean, you can't, you have to set them up for success. Right. So if you include them on all aspects of, of the project, then you can, you know, start leaving them with a little bit more responsibility. Right. Which is what I'm assuming they did with you too. Right. That's why you were able to move up is because you learned throughout that process. Right.
What was one of your, like biggest projects that you've done? Well, not necessarily big, but like a, like, let's say a high profile project you. You liked.
[00:20:16] Speaker A: Well, mine was P117 that's after, you.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: Know, become a superintendent. Right?
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
So before as a foreman.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Let's back up a little bit then. So you, you're a foreman. How long were you a foreman for?
[00:20:29] Speaker A: A year and a half. To your. Oh, like almost a year.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Quick.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a year and a half.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:36] Speaker C: Quick learner.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: And you, Parker saw something in you, right. He saw something in you that saying, we need to move this guy up.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: And believe me, he, like when I was a puncher, he pushed me to the limit too.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: I think he pushes a lot of us, trust me.
[00:20:51] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: He pushed me to limit and, and people take it differently, Right. I always took it like it was a good thing.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: I thought it was.
And it helped me stay focused and, and I mean, I guess it's, that's where I'm at right now. It's. I value the work I do because I think I always put the 100% on it and I think I threw another 10% on top of that.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: I mean, you, I've seen it personally and with other people here at Moss. Right. He's always going to push you to want to be the best person. Right. Best version of yourself. Right.
And he has good intentions because he wants you to succeed. Right. And you know, he's giving me my talks of like, hey, you need to be on top of this. Right. And you know, I got to just take it as, you know, he wants me to succeed and be good. Right. So in the wrong way. Some people don't like to, you know, anybody to tell them anything. Yeah.
[00:21:44] Speaker C: And one of my things is my mindset is if people tell me if they try to test me. I was like, okay, if you're going to try to test me, I'm going to show you what I can do. I'm going to show you what I can do. And that's this. That's a thing to say.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: You're going to DJ on.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:59] Speaker C: You want me to change the solid room?
[00:22:02] Speaker A: Believe it or not. Little quick story.
One day we're doing a punch working killer. And he needed to get knocked and we needed to get it finished, right. So we had a walk coming up. So it was 6:37 and we were working, we were prepping. We had to fix a water leak in a 1 inch service and we were forming back up to pour concrete the next day.
And he's. I never. I didn't think it was gonna circle in, right. And I was.
We were finishing forming it up and then all of a sudden I. I see the truck and I thought it was parking. I was like that's Parker's truck. But I acted like I didn't see nothing, right. And we kept working. And then sure enough I had to see park and jump off the truck. Like what are y' all doing? I was like we'll finish this thing up. Like shouldn't y' all be home? Like you said, we had to finish it.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: We surprised.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: He, he pushed it to the limits but he always, he always made sure that he didn't leave you behind. You know, that's a good thing involved, right?
[00:22:58] Speaker B: And that, that shows a lot, right that you know, he, he sees you put in the work but he's also have. Having to put in the work too right behind you, you know. And, and that motivates, it motivates you. It motivates the crew. And like, oh, this guy's out here. You know, we're out here.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: You know, there's been scenarios, I mean not only with me. I mean there's been a couple of times that he's put me do things that he's like man, I probably should put a big, a big crew to do that or type of work, right? And then he goes. And then I tell me I need a little bit of help. He. He would help me. But at the end of the day I would never say I have the theory to never say no. And that's. It could be a good thing, it can be a bad thing.
[00:23:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: But I never said no, right? I never had the heart to tell someone no. Like. And I just. I'll do it right?
As long as it's a good thing, right? It's not. You're not gonna go do something challenging where it's gonna put you in trouble.
[00:23:48] Speaker B: Yeah. But I think you know your limits. Yeah. You know your limits. You know what you can do, and you know where you can challenge yourself, because, I mean, no one's gonna want to set themselves up for. For failure. Right. And. And we sometimes just got to challenge ourselves. Right. Just because it's not in your scope or something you've never done, you just got kind of do it. You just got to do it.
[00:24:10] Speaker A: And that. And that's how I think they see what you're capable of. You say no, and then they challenge you. And then that challenge you. That challenge makes them think, oh, he does it. I mean, you can probably do a little bit more.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: And that's how you start moving on up.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: I mean, sometimes, you know, you know, he said it to me, like, get done.
Right.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: He's got to get it done.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: You know, and sometimes there's small little things that you just kind of make a decision.
That's probably one of the biggest things that I've seen that a lot of, you know, you guys, as supers and, you know, general superintendents, they just. They make the call to make the decision. Right. Because, you know, you know, Garrett's not going to be, you know, you're not going to be asking Garrett to make a decision or Parker. Every little decision, you guys have to execute. Yeah, they have to execute. And that's one of the biggest things, is just executing. But, I mean, that just comes with time, trust, and experience. Right. It's just, you know, being able to really execute these jobs. Execute these jobs. So then, year and a half, you said you're a foreman, and then you became superintendent.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Beginning superintendent.
[00:25:14] Speaker B: Running how many crews at the beginning?
[00:25:17] Speaker A: It was like, the first year I was a superintendent was like, seven, eight crews.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: That's a lot.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: And then it was a little challenging because the first. The first projects, I remember it was all Dallas.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: You became good friends with them, huh?
[00:25:36] Speaker A: And that's. And that's a good thing because you build a good relationship with inspectors. I mean, I can call an inspector right now, and he. He can do me a solid. There's. There's a bunch of things you can gain from doing tough work and.
And taking on the challenge, right?
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's the aspect of the relationship side of things. Right. Is building those relationships, whether it's, you know, GC or a developer or, you know, a city inspector. Right. Because at the end of the day, if you're not on good terms with that inspector. You're not getting anywhere. Right.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: And that was this.
Much of the people don't realize, but Dallas is not a one mobilization type job, because you're gonna have to come back.
There's conflicts after conflict. There's things that city loan on others, that's not there.
And there's a lot of challenges to where it's not only just the project, It's. It's traffic. There's people out there that you're dealing with.
So they're tough projects out there in Dallas. It's a.
A good way to challenge someone as well.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: Yeah. What about you? How long were you a foreman? Jesus.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: One year.
[00:26:43] Speaker B: A year or two. Hey, y' all move quick.
I don't play around.
[00:26:48] Speaker C: I really Cooper. It hasn't necessarily yet. So I called me the opportunity. I was like, everybody's kind of scared sometimes.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Natural, right?
[00:26:58] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, everybody's kind of scared, but, I mean, if you don't try, you'll never know. If you don't go out there and take the challenge, you'll never know. If you just give your best.
I mean, you determine the outcome. It's not.
You determine your own outcome depending on how work, how much work you put on it and all that stuff.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: Well, I mean, compare it to, like. I mean, I know one of your hobbies is DJing, right? Like, if you wouldn't have, like, put yourself out there, you would have never known what it. What you have, right? So it's like you had to just, you know.
[00:27:29] Speaker C: Well, I'll tell you what. Something that you brought that up.
When I first started aging, I was so scared because I love music. I love playing for people, but I was scared because everybody would look at you. You were like, the spot to sit or take you.
If you messed up, people would boo you, right? So they will look at you. So, like out here, I was like, well, if I messed up, I already messed up. Sometimes playing the wrong song, not at the right moment, right when you begin, like, you're gonna mess up sometime over here too. So, like, just keep going on. You just keep going. The show has to go on. I mean, just because you messed up doesn't mean the whole show is gonna end. So you continue. You just learn from it, okay, I'm not gonna do this again. And just keep. Keep working, you know, But.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: But it's.
You know, you have to also learn how to take those opportunities or not take the opportunity, but learn how to adjust. Right? Because some people don't adjust like if it was anybody else, they would have just, like, shut down. Like, man, I would have. And I would have got, you know, if I was in your shoes, I'd have probably got embarrassed. I would have probably just walked away. Leave. Someone else could dj, you know, hey, put the. Put Pandora or something.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: On YouTube. As if you do a wedding, perhaps there's always, like, they give you this itinerary, a timeline. And so, like, over here, you have a schedule to follow. So it's the same thing. So whether you're dealing with the audience and the bride and groom.
[00:28:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:28:49] Speaker C: So who runs?
But the audience are over there to enjoy. So it's like that over here.
Our general superintendents run, you know, but out there, it's the gc. They're the audience, so they see everything.
If you messed up out there, they're gonna see it, you know, so that's the way I think about it. And all that pressure that you feel at the beginning, like, you learn to cope with it.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: Cope with.
[00:29:15] Speaker C: You learn to live with it. You're like, okay, well, if I do this and I do this, most people are happy.
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Because there's some.
I mean, there's some GCs that are quite interesting. Right. They have their own teams that like doing things a certain way. And, you know, if, you know, you say the wrong thing and, you know you're on the bad side. Right. Not wanting to, obviously. Right. Because at the end of the day, we. We want to execute the job, but it just. Just comes with it. Sometimes it's challenging. How does. How does your fishing life, you know, come into play? You know, you. I know you like fishing a lot. You know, you got some. Some pretty nice fishing rods.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Is that why you have so many fishing rods? You stress them.
My shoes to buy more fishing rod.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: As I have to tell the wife, I need a new rod.
Yeah, It's.
It's like everything you have to try different.
Different.
Just like different projects, you have to try different. Different type of ways of running the project. So the same thing I do with fishing is.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: So the big question here is, how much did you fish when you were on P117.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Fish for a while, since I was in that project.
[00:30:40] Speaker B: So that means that you did a good job on that project. Right.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: And they noticed. I was like, I have a couple of weeks. And then they were like, hey, why don't you take vacation? So back to back, I was like, I needed it.
Yeah, that's a fun project. But it was kind of stressful.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: But you built a really Good relationship with the team, right? I mean.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: Oh yeah, they, they, right now they, they, they see us and they like man, we knock, we knock it down. Like we, we. It hasn't counted on us for them to be behind or anything like that. They were always ahead of what their schedule is and they, they look at us and like, oh look, I, we can depend on them, right? And just like we always, I've always told them, I mean we're, we're here to guide you the. Right. I mean, make sure y' all hit your schedule and we're not here. We're always here to accommodate what y' all need as, as a good customer. Y' all are from others.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: Like, but there is like, like how did you deal with it? Because there is a lot of pressure on this project. There was a lot of pressure on it, right? Because I mean it was, it's, it was a big name project, right? We all know what it's going to turn out to be. I mean it was, it was what, five crew project.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: It was.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: We had six, six crews, right? We had six crews. We had an on site safety. We had the safety rep for, for, you know, the gc and then we had their entire team there, right? So there's a lot of pressure, man.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: And it was kind of challenging too because like they had so different zones, right, different landings and they had a actual super tenant for each land, plus they had an assistant. So it was just not only one person I was dealing with, it was like seven of them at the same time, right?
[00:32:25] Speaker B: I heard there was one funny one.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a couple of them there. But like, we still, we're, we do a small punch out work for them still and sometimes they damage a couple of valve stacks ago and adjust for them as well. But they, they look at us and they, they're real happy every time we go to a meeting with them. They're general on their own side. General. He's. They're always saying good things about us and it's, it was a big challenge because they're at the beginning. They were all over us where it is. And it's understandable, right, because it's a big project. It's a.
Where it's the first time dealing with us, right? So they're kind of like in the end of where, hey, are they gonna help us out or we're gonna have to be on top of them or like. And they were kind of picky at the beginning, right? In the beginning of the project. It was, we did start off at the. With the wrong foot. At the very beginning, it was kind of nerve wracking, but then a couple weeks went by and they saw what we had and they were like, man, Lumarone, they're rocking and rolling. Yeah. You know, they. Even with rain days, they still.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: You must, you must have took them fishing.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: I mean, they had a decent sized pond for the.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: I don't know, I just, I just hope that, you know, maybe they slip us some tickets at the end of this project when they, you know.
[00:33:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll get away with couple.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Just don't forget about.
Forget about it.
No, that's, That's a cool project, man. And I think that that project, it speaks volume of. Of how far you've gotten, you know, here at Moss, right, because, I mean, we had this Christmas party, right, and you got an award, right? You got the. I think it was like mvp, right? And you know, you're, You're a valuable person and that. Garrett sees that, right? And, and you know, I've heard him walked always like, no, don't mess with that guy. You know, we need this guy, you know, don't mess with him. You know, and so, you know, they, they see the value in you. They respect you and all that. You know, everybody wants to work with you on, on the PM side because they, they know that they can, they can rely on you to, to execute these jobs. So that's pretty cool, man. I mean, I wish I, I could say that about a project.
I knocked this project out of the park, right? But it's just, you know, it's different work, right? Obviously it's a little different.
What about you? What's one of your projects right now? I know you're doing a lot with a lot of the Pope school projects, right?
That's kind of their, their bread and butter schools, right?
[00:35:01] Speaker C: So when I started out as a super, for me, it was a. Not dealing with the GC as much. I wasn't involved as a foreman as much as you are with supers, right?
So I took over a project that was already half started in the gc. I know they were in the wrong foot because of the lays and rain and all that stuff. So after that, I learned how to manage with the gcs. And lately with Pogue, I mean, they're. They're awesome to work with. They already know they trust Moss. So you just got to keep showing them that they can still trust in us. That's all you have to do. I mean, they started. They trusted Moss whenever in the beginning they Build a good relationship. And all you have to do is just go out there and show them that they can still keep trusting you.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: What's the name of that? That is it. He a project manager? Mr. Bob.
We, we all know Bob here at MOD.
Okay.
We know Bob.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: I think he's a topic sometimes.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: He's a good guy. We, we love you, Bob.
[00:36:02] Speaker C: At the end of the day, I mean, it's just like he has to get. He has a job to do.
[00:36:05] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah.
[00:36:07] Speaker C: I mean, you just have to work with. You have to work along with him and understand the way he sees things and make him understand these. Not make him, but let him know your point of view so maybe he can just in and see it, you know?
[00:36:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's.
Overall, I think that's one of the challenges that some GCs deal with is that, like, you know, Moss is obviously the utility contractor for the wet utilities, right? We're the experts in this work, right? They. They have the overall job to finish, but we're the experts on, on, on the ground utilities on the wet, wet side, right? And, and sometimes their vision clashes with our vision of the schedule. And, and, you know, our, our conflicts that we think that we're going to run into compared to the conflicts that they think that we're going to run into. And so it's just kind of like, you know, who's right, who's wrong. Right? And it's not about that. It's about like, you know, it's all, you know, yeah. How are we going to do this? And what's the end goal here? Right?
[00:37:07] Speaker A: And, and that's a. And that's part of our job as superintendent is to be able to learn and acknowledge how to manage that type of deal. Because everyone has a job to do at the end of the day, and their job is to hit a schedule, and our job is to help them hit their schedule.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: Right?
[00:37:24] Speaker A: But it's, it's.
And everyone's going to deal with it, right? Everyone has a bad day. So I tend, typically don't blame them all for when they get grumpy or start, get a hand with us, try to scream, because later on they come back and apologize. Apologize. They'd be like, It'd be something weird, right? Be like, man, it's not that you're not doing good. It's that I was having a bad day, so I have to get some talent.
[00:37:50] Speaker B: So it's like getting a little crazy.
Too late to go crazy.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: It is the same day, right? It's like us with the. With the guys, right? We always try to make it to where they trust us and life. It just don't work. Sometimes they even come with us with, like, personal issues, right.
We try to maintain that type of culture around and. And there's days that we. We go in there and do our job, right? We have to be strict with them, be like, hey, you know what, guys? Apart from everything, we have to make sure you are still on track, on focus, because we have to follow protocols of safety because it all can be just friendly on the field. You have to maintain a goal of focus and. And it can be fun once in a while, but it's.
It's a whole different deal from just.
[00:38:41] Speaker B: Being.
[00:38:44] Speaker A: Grumpy all the time.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: So. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, Garrett's thing is the proven process, right. He preaches that, right. Because he firmly believes in it. Right. You know, and we have like, the. The moss. You guys coming in. What are your thoughts on the monster? You guys, like, what do you think about the process?
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Like, you know, I think it's a pretty program. They.
They experience a lot of different things. We experienced different things. Like, they. You're like, man, well, there's a. This is.
There's some. There's some times that you can actually show more like a learning process, like, to a person that has. Has no clue of what they're looking at, has no clue of what there has to be done, right? And they. Sometimes they see, like, way, well, these guys are not just about work. Sometimes they see us actually communicating, laughing with the guys as well, right? So they can. They go out on the field and they. They see a little bit of everything, right? They come to the office and see a little of everything. Yeah, they.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: And.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: And I think this first time they were a little bit lost. They were a little bit lost. And it's like everything, right? When it's your first time, be 100 perfect. But I think it's a good opportunity for you to find a good person, a perfect fitment for someone that, yeah, is willing to learn.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: Well, it's like, like, like D, right? D was one of our first Mossu candidates, right? That, you know, it was D. D Landon and. And Maurice. Right? And. And Kelvin.
But like, I've heard D talk about the field and it's like, man, he has, like, mad respect for the fields guys, right? Because he's like, man, these guys are smart. These guys are geniuses. Like, it. It's. A lot of people don't realize how complex it is to, to, to complete these jobs, right? And so he's like, man, I didn't realize construction, you know, I didn't realize that that inlet right there, that's what it was. Or we put in that, that in the ground, you know, and so it gives you a different perspective, right?
[00:40:43] Speaker C: It makes you look at things a little bit different. Because before I know about anything about utilities, you know, I would drive by and now I drive by, I was like, oh, look that inlay or look at that, look at that hydrant or look at this.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: It's a little creepy.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:40:56] Speaker C: So I didn't do that before. I was just driving. I didn't even know what it was, you know, and well then they have a, they had an opportunity to do a hands on.
So like, you know, they didn't, they didn't just explain to them what it was going to be done. They actually showed them.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Because if you really think about it, if you really think about it, since you wake up in the morning, right? You know, I don't know, I can't speak for everybody, right? But one of the first things I do is, you know, brush your teeth, like turn on the water, right?
You know, maybe it wasn't us that installed that underground utility, but someone had to install that water line for you to be able to turn on that water, right? And we don't think about it, we just take it for granted that like, we got water, we got water. And so I mean, that's how impactful Moss Utilities is, right? Because we, not only do we do, you know, subdivisions, we do schools, right? You know, the kids at the schools are able to, you know, turn on the faucet so they can wash their hands, right? They're able to cook the food and, and there's, you know, you know, commercial, you know, projects that we're on, the warehouses, right? You know, that's impacting all the people that are going to be working there, right? So it's a bigger impact than what a lot of people think. There's way bigger impact.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: It's like you say there's things that people don't realize and they acknowledge now that they say, like you used to turn on just the water. The first thing you did to do to brush your teeth, right? Now they're like, what happens that that water line is broken around? I have water.
Well, now they know that the service provided them proper easement, you know, so now they have in mind, oh, let me go check, man, maybe I have a leak outside in the actual water service where the meter is right. So they. They learn different things. And just like Jesus said, like, when I go to parks or to the ceiling, you're like sitting in the bench and you see a water valve. Oh, look, there's a water valve. Oh, look at that hydrant down. So the. In the back of the hydrant, go look at the day. Oh, that's a really old hydrant. And things that you never used to do.
[00:42:56] Speaker B: Right.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: So you always thank them.
Now that you know about it, you start thinking about looking at it. It's always sufficient on you and you. When you go to different places, if there is.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: If there's one message that you could send to the field, like if you could give a message to like someone that's a laborer, right. Because you were there at one point, what would you tell them?
[00:43:17] Speaker A: I would always tell them. You know what, though?
Always look at as a game for you and don't think that you're going shut up for just to get a paycheck. Always look at. Look as if giving you 100 will get you somewhere one day.
Yeah. You're never. I would always. Not always preach to you because, I mean, Ricardo, that's what I always tell him. Like, he was like, hey, he. He's seen it in me too, because he always told me, I think you're going to be one day. You're going to be a former superintendent. And I would have been out of now. I don't think so. I'll be. I want to be, but it's still far from it.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: Yeah. And he's a foreman, right?
He's a farmer.
[00:43:55] Speaker A: And that's the thing I've seen. Right. So he was a former. Not promoter. And I saw that he had the ability. And he's a great foreman. He's still. He's.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: That's good.
[00:44:06] Speaker A: He's with me and he's one of.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Mr. Miyake. That's why he had a good teacher. A teacher. I mean, it is what it is. You also have to give yourself the credit too. Right.
What about you? Jesus. If you could tell the guy something out in the field, like a crew, a foreman, I mean, you know, just.
[00:44:26] Speaker C: Tell them, like, the process is not going to be easy. There's going to be days where you get home, you're going to be tired. But just learn as much as you can learn.
Just keep. Keep fighting to get up.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:38] Speaker C: The opportunity is going to be given. Trust the process and then just trust the process.
[00:44:42] Speaker B: Just the process.
[00:44:44] Speaker C: You're not gonna be. You're not gonna make it out there if you don't. If you don't work for it. Yeah, Just a process, that's all.
[00:44:49] Speaker B: I really need you to, like. To, like, like, DJ a song for, like, monsters and then for the pickleball tournament, you know, just DJ some music.
Don't they pretty cool?
[00:45:00] Speaker C: Don't make me put, like, a bunch of rock music because y' all go crazy or something. Calm.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: Start playing some classical music or something.
[00:45:10] Speaker C: We have people falling asleep.
[00:45:11] Speaker B: Yeah, no, no, no. Definitely not. No. You know, it'd be cool, though. Like, for the field Christmas party, maybe they get you to dj.
[00:45:19] Speaker C: I'll be happy to do it.
I mean, on that career, I didn't think I would go far. And I've had opportunities where, like, I was, like, mind blown sometimes, you know? So, like, it's just.
We'll keep working hard. And that's why I learned that if you keep working hard, you get places.
[00:45:36] Speaker B: Yeah, you get good places, right? And then we gotta. We gotta set you up for. For fishing. Being. Being fishing guy.
Hey, I. I've been telling you, man, you need to take me fishing. You need to take me fishing. You know, I don't know what I gotta do, but you gotta take me fish.
[00:45:51] Speaker A: It's all about patience.
I'm waiting.
[00:45:57] Speaker C: On your patience first.
[00:46:00] Speaker B: No. Well, I appreciate you guys coming on today. You know, it means a lot to Moss and to the field, and so I just want to thank you guys for coming on today and giving us your little background and your stories and your experience here at Moss.
[00:46:15] Speaker C: I appreciate the invitation. It was a pleasure meeting you.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: Appreciate it.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: It's fun talking about how we do business out there, and it's fun having lectures of other guys how we moved up on. Like, always preaching that.
Because that way someone.
Someone that hears about it, they're going to be like, man, I want to be like that guy one day. Just like I see. I see it on a lot of people. I'm like, man, I want to get up there one day.
So it was a good talk to have.
[00:46:44] Speaker B: I say, you know, like, it is me.
