Episode 70: Why Every Builder Must Have Tenacity With Stacey Shotwell

In episode 70 of the Professional Builders Secrets podcast, we’re joined by Stacey Shotwell, Project Manager with Parks-Hatherley Custom Homes, based in Texas, United States. Throughout this episode, Stacey tackles the tenacious moves that contributed to his success and the overall need for tenacity in the building industry.

 

Inside episode 70 you will discover

• How much time Stacey spends working on the business and the systems he utilises
• How Stacey made the move from cutting hair, to the building industry and found his purpose in life
• Memorable mistakes that define who Stacey is today
• Defining moments that have contributed to his success
• What exactly goes into having a tenacious mindset
• And much, much more.

 

Listen to the full episode to learn about Stacey’s story including all of the highs and lows, and find out exactly why he believes builders must have tenacity.

 

Stacey Shotwell - Project Manager, Parks-Hatherley Custom Homes

 

Stacey builds homes in the Gunter, Frisco, and Prosper areas and has been in the building industry since 1997. He initially got his start in the world of construction through real estate, but long before that, he was a barber. He started out flipping homes, but couldn't find the workers to get projects finished, so Stacey took on the responsibility for himself and the rest is history.

Connect with Stacey

 

Timeline

1:31 About Stacey and how he got into building

3:50 Memorable mistakes that define who Stacey is today

10:48 Some of the tenacious moves that contributed to Stacey’s success

15:04 How Stacey came across APB and his relationship with the company today

16:23 Advice for other builders who are thinking of joining APB

24:31 Stacey’s advice for other builders preparing for the future

 

Links, Resources & More

Parks-Hatherley

APB Website

APB on Instagram

APB on Facebook

APB on YouTube

Join the Professional Builders Secrets Facebook group for builders & connect with professional builders world-wide.

Stacey Shotwell:

I'm 100% honest about everything that goes on with the homes. 

Stacey Shotwell:

You have to just lay out all of your expectations upfront. 

Stacey Shotwell:

Once I got APB, I was able to zone right in on my weaknesses. 

Stacey Shotwell:

It gave me so much more confidence in being a builder. 

Stacey Shotwell:

To be successful, you’ve got to stick to your plan.

Stacey Shotwell:

You have to be able to roll with the punches.

Bosco Anthony:

Hello, and welcome to the Professional Builders Secrets podcast, a podcast by the Association of Professional Builders (APB) for building company owners, general managers, VPs and emerging leaders. Here we discuss all things running a professional building company from sales processes, financials, operations and marketing.

Bosco Anthony:

We have another exciting episode from the Professional Builders Secrets podcast. Joining us today is Stacey Shotwell, Project Manager with Parks-Hatherley Custom Homes. Stacey, it’s lovely to have you on board.

Stacey Shotwell:

It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Bosco Anthony:

So Stacey, can you tell us a little bit about what you do today and how you got into this fabulous world of building?

Stacey Shotwell:

I'm in the Dallas Fort Worth area. I'm building homes in an area called Gunter, Frisco, Prosper, in that area. I got into the world of construction through real estate. I used to actually be a barber. I started flipping homes, and couldn't find the workers to get my homes done.

Stacey Shotwell:

So I had to stop cutting a customer, run out to the job site and start working on my own homes. Then it just became an issue where I was at the homes every day working. People started saying, "Hey, can you fix this? Can you do that?" I became a contractor/barber, and that's what really got me started.

Bosco Anthony:

So I've got to ask, do you still barber on the side today?

Stacey Shotwell:

No, I stopped. I cut my last customer in November of 1997.

Bosco Anthony:

Oh, it's been a while. Okay, fair enough.

Stacey Shotwell:

Yeah. I’ve been building ever since.

Bosco Anthony:

Let's talk about this. So, you were cutting hair. How did you get started in the industry? And how did you discover your purpose in life? Was this your purpose in life?

Stacey Shotwell:

That's a good question. My family were builders in Bermuda. That's where I'm actually from, from Bermuda. My grandfather and my uncle raised me. I had a dad in the house, but my grandfather and my uncle really were instrumental in my upbringing, is what I should say.

Stacey Shotwell:

I used to be on the job site with them in Bermuda, which is a totally different construction process. My grandfather passed, and we were very close. One night I had a dream about him. Well, it was an event; I don't know if it was a dream or not. But he came to me and told me that I'm supposed to be building homes.

Stacey Shotwell:

He showed me a future picture of us, and he was guiding me in. I was backing in a tractor or something, and we were building a subdivision. He said, "This is what you're supposed to be doing." And I woke up thinking, "What?" And that let me know, "Okay, maybe I shouldn't be in this hair industry. I need to be doing something else." And that's what really got my mind going into construction.

Bosco Anthony:

So when you get started, obviously you make some mistakes that everyone makes in the industry that you always remember and define your journey. What were some of those memorable mistakes that you made when you first got started that define who you are today?

Stacey Shotwell:

Trusting everybody to do what they said they were going to do.

Bosco Anthony:

Oh, it's as simple as that?

Stacey Shotwell:

Yeah. Because when you're starting out, you don't know that people are out to get you. You're thinking, "Okay. I'm honest, so they're honest. This is going to be a beneficial relationship." But then you see what's going on, and you have to put those blockers up to hold everybody off.

Stacey Shotwell:

Starting out, you don’t do that. You let everybody in, you talk too much, you believe too much, and that's the biggest pitfall. I still carry that around to this day. We have a screening process for our customers. I don't even talk to our customers until maybe the third or fourth meeting because of that. Because I'm a nice guy sometimes, I'll give away the farm, so I have to do that.

Bosco Anthony:

So tell me a little bit about being burnt. You talked a little bit about how that stays with you. What were some of either the worst clients or subcontractors that you've had? And what did you learn from that? And how do you avoid getting more like that?

Stacey Shotwell:

The worst customer I ever had was Mrs Johnson. Mrs Johnson, if you're watching, I'm sorry, but you are the worst. I've ran into Mrs Johnsons since then. There's a Mrs Johnson on every block. So these Mrs Johnsons, they want you to give them everything that they didn't ask for, but they believe that you should know they want it.

Stacey Shotwell:

To stop that from happening, you have to just lay out all of your expectations upfront. So that's how I prevent it from happening now. I still run into a few Mrs Johnsons here and there, but I'm able to mitigate how much we lose in the transaction as far as information and conversation. I lay out, "This is what we're going to do, nothing extra is going to happen. If you need me to know something, please let us know before we get started. You can't do any changes after stage two with us. Once the foundation is poured, there's no more changes." So that really stops all that from happening. We stop it from happening.

Bosco Anthony:

Does that reflect in your contracts?

Stacey Shotwell:

Yes. But customers don't always go by contract. They do what they want to do anyway.

Bosco Anthony:

Fair enough. So what are you known for today in the industry by your clients? Obviously, you've been doing this now for a while. You mentioned that you're in the Dallas area as well. So what do they know when they pick up the phone and they call Parks-Hatherley Custom Homes?

Stacey Shotwell:

I actually started when I moved to Dallas. I couldn't bring my company. I had to work for a different builder. So I worked for the largest national home builder in the world. I worked for them for seven years, and I created a persona that I carry around with me now. It was the guy I wanted to be then, but I couldn't be.

Stacey Shotwell:

That's the honest guy, so I'm 100% honest about everything that goes on with the homes. I don't give them false pretences, I don't give false expectations. I tell them upfront, "I can do this, but it's not my specialty. I don't like it. If that's what you want, we can do it." And I use the word ‘beautiful.’ When I was working for Lennar, I used to get these big banners, and I would stick them on all my doors. They said, "This beautiful Lennar home is being built by Stacey Shotwell." So then people started calling Lennar and asking for Stacey Shotwell to build their home. So that really pushed me out there. I got a lot of clients, prospects who would call and say, "Can you build us a home?" “Right now, I cannot, because I'm working for a different builder.” I just said their name four times. I’m sorry about that.

Stacey Shotwell:

That propelled me into the area of being known as honest and upfront right there. I have a lot of customers from the Indian population, and that's one thing that hits big with them. They know they can trust me. I've been told that they had the same situations before where they got lied to by contractors, and I'm the only one that's been honest with them. So I'd say the honesty, that's the big thing.

Bosco Anthony:

Would you say that you've had to build some tenacity as well where you are today? And if so, why should every builder be tenacious in this industry?

Stacey Shotwell:

Well, not only every builder, everybody in the world. Anybody who wants to improve themselves, improve upon their business, their marriage, their relationship with their children, you have to have tenacity. I use a different word to describe tenacity. I use ‘grit,’ because sometimes being tenacious can be dirty, and grit allows for a little dirt to get under your fingernails. You have to put it at grit, put it at work to get accomplished what you're trying to do.

Stacey Shotwell:

You have to be able to roll with the punches. And speaking of the punches, like Mike Tyson said, building is a lot like a boxing match. You come out, “Ding, ding, ding.” You start, and then the punches fly. You get hit and you have to think. Mike Tyson said, "Everybody's got a plan until I punch him in the face," and that's how construction is every day.

Stacey Shotwell:

You get up in the morning, thinking, "Okay." And then wham, wham all day long. So that tenacity, that's what allows you to fall back on the ground, pick up your plan and say, "Okay, I'm supposed to do this. Let me stick to the plan." So you have to have that. If you don't have tenacity, you're not going to be a good company. You'll last maybe a year and a half in the industry, and that will be purely from marketing.

Bosco Anthony:

So what goes into having a great mindset? And when was the last time you had to apply that grit mindset for your own business as well?

Stacey Shotwell:

I’ve got that right there. Mindset and gratitude right behind me because I had a lot of issues in my first endeavour with custom homes. I hired a professional business coach, and he's also a licensed therapist. So whenever my mindset gets kicked out of line, I can pick up the phone, make a call and get right back there.

Stacey Shotwell:

The mindset is the difference between saying yes to something that's going to cost you an extra $10,000 or saying no. Your mindset could say, "Well, I didn't deliver, so I’d better do what I can to keep this client happy." Or you can be in the mindset of thinking, "I'm delivering the perfect product to you so I don't have to take a loss. We can discuss this, and we can make it beneficial for both parties." So that mindset is extremely important as well.

Bosco Anthony:

When you look at your success today, what were some of those tenacious moves that you had to make? And you mentioned a little bit about your family, right?

Stacey Shotwell:

Telling them, "No. I'm not going accept this negative belief you have about me. I'm going to stick to my plan and I'm going to make it happen." That was the hardest part. With everything else, I expect everybody else to put up resistance. But I didn't expect it from my family. That was rough. And getting licensed was rough as well.

Bosco Anthony:

Why was getting a license rough? Was it the critics around you who were constantly saying you can't do this? Or was it your own inner battles? How did you overcome that?

Stacey Shotwell:

I was operating in a city that was corrupt, and I didn't have the right politicians around me to secure a contracting licence. So I had to take the test a few times to pass. I answered the questions exactly the same way every time. Down here in Texas though, you don't have to have a licence, so it's a little different.

Stacey Shotwell:

But up north where I was originally building, it's pretty rough. We had labour unions and things like that. There was a lot of opposition. Pretty much every person I encountered was in opposition. They wanted to get something from me.

Stacey Shotwell:

I've had inspectors come to me and ask me to pay a car note. They’d say, "Yeah, my car loan is due, and you need this house passed.” I’d think, "Wow. Can we just do the inspection and make it the way it's supposed to be?" So I ran into a lot of that. But it was a corrupt area. It was very corrupt.

Bosco Anthony:

How much time do you spend today working on your business? Would you say you're working on your business a little bit more?

Stacey Shotwell:

Before the rush, before the pricing increases began a little while back, I worked on the business probably about four hours a day. I'm probably down to about two hours now. What I do is a little different. I'll start my day as a project manager. Nobody knows I own the company.

Stacey Shotwell:

They believe that I'm just a project manager representing the company. And when I come home, I have to switch hats and then go through all my systems. So I do a checklist, and the checklist is very high view – it shows me not necessarily where I failed, but where my company failed that day. I use that to build the business. So I'm working on the business pretty much from six o'clock until dinnertime. So two or three hours a night. Maybe two hours. I don't want to say three. Two hours.

Stacey Shotwell:

So I'm in the business all day, and I'm working on the business for about two hours a day. But those systems are what help me to keep everything in check. It's not perfect, but it allows me to see where I'm weak, where the business is weak. Then, once I find that weak spot, I log right into APB. I can pick up a module and say, "Okay, I need training on this area right here."

Stacey Shotwell:

I'll watch that module over and over and over, and I didn't do that before I had APB. Once I got APB, I was able to zone right in on my weaknesses and say, "Oh, there's a module for that. Oh, I suck at dealing with customers. There's a module for that." So it just made it very easy to do. I look forward to doing it, actually because it's a relief from the rest of the day.

Bosco Anthony:

Yeah, it breaks up your day a little bit. Before we talk about APB and how you actually got to know them, tell me a little bit about the systems that you enjoy using, or what are some of the systems that you're using? You talked about the fact that you're in the systems as well. What are some of the systems that you currently use that really help your business?

Stacey Shotwell:

As far as software, we use Buildertrend. I was using CoConstruct for a while, but Buildertrend just offered more. And I believe, personally, it was easy to expand the company with Buildertrend. So I have a purchasing department now, I have a legal team, I have accountants in there.

Stacey Shotwell:

Everybody's able to log in and see what's going on, so I love that. But the first real business tool I used as far as software was Google Keep, believe it or not. That's what made me a star at Lennar. I used Google Keep, and I would make these long checklists. I just made a template for the checklist and I could check off everything. It gave me the consistency that I needed, so Google Keep was nice.

Bosco Anthony:

How did you come across APB? And what is your relationship with them today?

Stacey Shotwell:

I came across them, I believe it was from a YouTube video. It was a video a long time ago. It's been a while back. I've been with them for a little while. I didn't think that they could help me because they were in Australia. I was thinking, "What do they know about this?" But then I did little research, or what we call research. I watched a few videos and read a few reviews.

Stacey Shotwell:

I came to the realisation that construction's construction wherever you are. You’ve got Mrs Johnsons in Australia, you’ve got them in England, you’ve got them in South Africa, you’ve got them everywhere. So it made it easy. Then when I saw the layout, how they had it structured, it gave me so much more confidence in being a builder. When I went back out on my own, I was worried that I didn't have the structure.

Stacey Shotwell:

Honestly, working with APB gave me the confidence to implement the structure. I realised, "Okay, I know I'm doing this right now. I have an industry standard to look at to see if I'm correct or if I'm wrong." And if I think I'm wrong, I can pick up the phone and call someone. So it was pretty much a no-brainer for me.

Bosco Anthony:

For our listeners out there, APB also has coaches in the US too. I've had Erik on the podcast before as well.

Stacey Shotwell:

Oh, yeah. Erik Cofield. Yeah, that's my coach.

Bosco Anthony:

Erik's from the US. We also have Clint in Canada as well for our Canadian friends. But what advice would you give other builders considering APB? You talked a little bit about confidence. So obviously, when you're going out, there's a lot of fears that you have to manage. What do you feel builders need to do to become successful? And how do they approach APB?

Stacey Shotwell:

Well, to be successful, you’ve got to stick to your plan. You can't get into the job thinking, "I can fix this down the road." You got to have everything worked out and planned out right away. Like Mike Tyson said, "Everybody's got a plan until I punch them in the face." You get punched in the face every day in construction, so you’ve got to have that plan, and that's where APB comes in.

Stacey Shotwell:

They solidify your plan. You know if your plan is correct or not by talking to people like Erik and getting everything legitimately written out, finding your weaknesses, knowing where to focus your energy on. That's imperative for any builder.

Stacey Shotwell:

If you want to make it in an industry, you have to have a big brother to tell you what you should be doing. It's like having a coach in a boxing ring; you’ve got to have that coach on the side telling you what to do. Because you're in the fight, you're just swinging and you don't really see what's going on. APB is that coach.

Bosco Anthony:

What were some of the key struggles that you encountered in the building industry post-licensing? You mentioned that you were in a pretty corrupt part of town, you had a lot of scenarios where people were looking for handouts. After you got your licensing and you got into the industry, what were some of those key struggles in that process of growing the business? Would you change anything today?

Stacey Shotwell:

Well, I was very young. I was 23, 24. So it was a struggle to be taken seriously. That was a huge thing. So I did a whole lot of advertising. I got billboards, magazines and I had a $30,000 a month advertising budget in 2003, 2004. That was a lot back then. Now, that's nothing. But that was a lot of money back then. I would say that the advertising, that form of advertising, is no longer needed. You can basically put yourself out there on social media, through people like APB and situations like that. You can expose yourself. And what was the other part of the question?

Bosco Anthony:

The other part was what were some of those key struggles that you had? You mentioned a little bit about the advertising. So I was just curious, how did you overcome those key struggles?

Stacey Shotwell:

I overcame them with grit, with tenacity, just staying to my course. Even back then, I had a plan. The plan wasn't a good plan, but it was enough to keep me going. That was the struggle, just not giving up. You have to put all your energy into it. The moment you say, "Oh, I think I’ve got this, I understand it," you get hit again. So that tenacity has to be in check all the time. You have to be like a rubber band: tenacity and elasticity.

Bosco Anthony:

Tenacity and elasticity. I'm going to use that. I have a question for you about the $30,000 a month on advertising; you mentioned that you were advertising that much. Was that effective at that time? Obviously, we're now in a digital era. But how did that work for you? Did that actually bring you any success?

Stacey Shotwell:

I got one call from someone in Minnesota and I was in Indiana, and I couldn't do the job. All that advertising, one call. Every home project that I got in Indiana came from them seeing a yard sign in front of the home. Those yard signs are magic.

Stacey Shotwell:

That's all I use now really. We have a realtor who does our marketing for us. I basically use yard signs and a website. People they see the yard sign and then they go to the website. Yard signs are king.

Bosco Anthony:

Wow.

Stacey Shotwell:

I have APB on my yard sign too. I have the company name, and then I have APB at the bottom.

Bosco Anthony:

Oh, wow.

Stacey Shotwell:

It gives me a lot of credentials. Yeah, a lot of validity.

Bosco Anthony:

Excellent. That's great to hear. You’re actually the first builder I've heard who’s used our yard sign and it's generated quite a bit of traffic. How does APB help you with your building company today? How did it help you? So you've got a coach, you mentioned, and you've worked with Erik as well. What was the big transformation for your business?

Stacey Shotwell:

Believing that the other person you're talking to is correct and that you're wrong.

Bosco Anthony:

Wow.

Stacey Shotwell:

That's the hardest part, because my grandfather really was instrumental in me being raised. He was an old Portuguese carpenter. When he said something, he was right and that was it. And I adopted that, "I'm right, you're wrong." So even if I kept it inside, I still felt, "Okay. Yeah, I'm going to listen, but I know what I'm talking about."

Stacey Shotwell:

But when you get coaches who have been in the industry and they can relate to what you're talking about, coaches like Erik, you really have to just put that down and listen to what they're saying because they know. Again, they're your coach, you're in the fight. They can see what's going on. So it is very important to listen to those coaches and do what they're asking you to do and keep that tenacity in check. Keep it there.

Bosco Anthony:

So what are you planning for in the future? Obviously, we're going through uncertain times, we have been for a while and the world's changing. What does Stacey do? What are you focusing on?

Stacey Shotwell:

Stacey buys more land. That's what I'm doing.

Bosco Anthony:

Tell me a little bit about this.

Stacey Shotwell:

I'm not believing in what they call the downturn. It's a business cycle. I've been through enough of them, so I understand what's going on. This is a buying opportunity. So we've just filled up our land portfolio with more land. We're doing two subdivisions right now. I believe that these downturns are an opportunity to bring fresh buyers in.

Stacey Shotwell:

A lot of people sat on the sidelines and thought, "I'm not going to buy right now, the price is too high." They still have the money. The interest rates are a small issue, but it's not that big an issue. You can always refinance. I did some day trading for 10 years, so I've been through the roller coasters, I see what happens. And I don't fall for the attitude, "Oh, we’ve got to liquidate, we’ve got to do this."

Stacey Shotwell:

Actually, I didn't even raise my prices during the price surge we had. My prices have been the same all the way through. I just closed on that project I told you about. We could have got 20% more, but I didn't raise the price. We kept the pricing where it is. So I'm just going to stay right in the middle there. Keep buying land and keep the stuff coming.

Bosco Anthony:

So what do you think has been the contributing factor to your success? You talked a little bit about your grandfather and your uncle playing a really big role in your upbringing. You talked a little bit about coaching, you talked a little bit about having grit. If you look back now on your illustrious career, and if you had to go with either a defining moment or something that's really helped contribute to your success, what would that be?

Stacey Shotwell:

A defining moment. I was at a church revival. I didn't want to go; my mother-in-law made me go. We get there and it's a lady, and she's preaching. She's an evangelist. They brought her in from a different area; she was from a couple of states away. She walks in, and I was still a barber at the time, just straddling the fence. She's on stage, and there’s a crowd of people.

Stacey Shotwell:

She calls me out of the crowd, pulls me up there on stage and says, "God wants you to be a builder. God wants you to build subdivisions." I'm thinking, "Okay, who told this lady what I was talking about yesterday?" She didn't know me, I didn't know her. That right there, that was about six months after the dream I had about my grandfather.

Stacey Shotwell:

So those two things right there were defining moments. I was thinking, "Okay, I don't have a choice. This is what I'm supposed to be doing." That was it for me, and that's what gives me my tenacity. I can't quit. And I know it's going to be rough because when God tells you to do something, it's like the world comes against you. But that's what makes you keep fighting.

Bosco Anthony:

What should builders prepare for in the coming months and in the coming years? You've taken a strategic approach, you're looking at land, you're looking at all these different projects. But for the builders out there who are struggling or don't know what to do, what's your advice for them to prepare for the future?

Stacey Shotwell:

It depends on the future they see. If they see the future where they're going to be slow, then stock up on materials, get a warehouse and start holding things. Don't throw away everything on the job site. We usually throw away about $4,000 or $5,000 worth of material at the end of a job. Now, I'm stocking that stuff. And that's because I see a different future. If you see a future where it's going to keep going the way it is, then alternate your plan to work with that. Just stay adaptive, stay nimble. It's like a boxing match. I don't know why I keep going back to boxing. I don't box. But you have to duck and move. You’ve got to keep moving.

Stacey Shotwell:

That's the biggest thing. Don't get complacent thinking, "Oh, I'm a builder. This is what I build, this is the way I do it. I've done them like this for 20 years." Well, that doesn't work all the time. A lot of people go out of business because they cannot adapt. That's the biggest thing I would say.

Bosco Anthony:

How do you get your leads today? You talked a little bit about the yard signs, but do you get a lot of referrals? You talked a little bit about being called the honest guy. How do people find Stacey today? And who wants to work with you?

Stacey Shotwell:

So, my realtor does most of the marketing. He does MLS [multiple listing service] shots and puts everything on MLS. But those yard signs are golden. In some of the communities that I'm building in, they talk a lot. They'll say, "Hey, if you want a home built, you should go talk to this guy." So it's word of mouth, it's personality.

Stacey Shotwell:

The website is there. But I believe the website comes into play after a person has already heard about us. They go to the website to verify. So your website, to me, is your verification tool. Your product is everything. If you have nice products sitting there and you have a nice reputation, I think you're golden. That's the biggest thing.

Bosco Anthony:

How are you known in the industry? You talked a little bit about being known by certain communities as the honest guy. But for the companies that you've worked for or the bigger competitors out there, do they know you because of the product and service you put out there? How are you perceived by your fellow competitors?

Stacey Shotwell:

I don't know. We've had small conferences where 20 or 30 builders in my arena are involved, and I go to some conventions where there are larger builders. I like to keep a low profile and not really be the guy that everybody expects you to be when you're building. I don't know how they feel. I really don't know. That's a hard question to answer. I don't know.

Bosco Anthony:

Fair enough.

Stacey Shotwell:

But actually, I don't care. That's golden because I'm not going to modify what our company is doing and what we stand for because somebody else thinks a certain way. I actually had a company come to me, and they invited me to a golf outing. They said, "We can get all your materials for you really cheaply. All you’ve got to do is give us $3,000 and we'll take care of you, blah, blah, blah."

Stacey Shotwell:

I said, "Okay." And they showed me these papers showing big discounts, 20% discounts on lumber package pricing. So I said, "Okay, I'll do it." They called me back a couple days later and they said, "We need you to do a questionnaire. We have to do an investigation, and we need you to come down and we’ll ask you these questions." I said, "What is this about?" He said, "Well, we just want to verify that your company is who you say you are."

Stacey Shotwell:

I stopped them right there and I said, "No, I'm not interested anymore." I said, "The moment I have to prove myself to my own industry, I'm failing." So I'm not going to even start that. I proved myself to my buyers. That's the only crowd that I'm going to prove myself to, and I cut it loose. I found out later on that the product they were pushing – and I hope they're not affiliated – wasn't what it was supposed to be, anyway. It was a bunch of marketing, and they prey on builders who are trying to save a dollar.

Bosco Anthony:

I could talk to you for ages, but I'll ask you my final question. It's been great getting to know you a little bit. But where do you feel the building industry is going, and what is it evolving to? If you think about the future, what do you think of the future of the industry that you're in?

Stacey Shotwell:

The industry as a whole is still stuck in the past. There's a lot of technologies that we have not adapted to that are starting to come out, like the 3D printing right now. 3D printing has a bad rap, in this area it does. I actually just saw an article about a Texas builder, I think from Austin, Texas. He just got a $57 million contract to do 3D homes on the moon. On the moon!

Stacey Shotwell:

I thought, "This can't be real." But a news station picked it up. So with things like that, if we are looking down the road, and we see we can adapt things to construction that will allow or facilitate building on the moon, that really shows me that this industry is prehistoric. If we're already looking at building on the moon, we're still doing things the same way we did, the only upgrades we have are because of a code change; that's horrible.

Stacey Shotwell:

So I'd like to see new materials, I'd like to see fireproof lumber, I'd like to see steel beams that don't give way if you have a fire. I've tried mixing materials to keep homes safe, to make them safer. And I would like to see more safety in a home.

Stacey Shotwell:

If a hurricane comes or a tornado comes, we shouldn't see a whole block devastated. We've come too far. You can be in a two-seater econobox, doing 60 miles an hour and have a crash and walk away. Why do you sit in your home and worry about a tornado coming? You shouldn't have to. Our products and our technology need to change.

Bosco Anthony:

Stacey, do you see Parks-Hatherley Custom Homes on the moon in the future anytime soon? Or is that an aspiration for the future?

Stacey Shotwell:

No, I don't. I don't aspire to be there. Not at all. That was my first question, "Okay, if we get the job on the moon, where do you put the porta-potty? How can I get a porta-potty out there?" It's going to float away.

Bosco Anthony:

I'm just thinking if the Dallas Cowboys are going to be playing on the moon anytime soon, because it'd be a boring Sunday without any NFL football on Sunday.

Stacey Shotwell:

That's right.

Bosco Anthony:

Well, listen my man, it's been great having you here, great getting to know a little bit about you. The next time you talk to Erik, tell him I say hi. And thanks for being here. We really appreciate your insights, your story, and going back to that grit mindset as well. I'm wishing you all the best in your success as well as a builder in the future.

Stacey Shotwell:

Thank you, sir. I’ll talk to you soon.

Bosco Anthony:

Awesome.

Bosco Anthony:

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