8/22/25 Getting Down to Business: Doug Oakes of Can-Do-Crew Plumbing, Heating & AC

The Moneywise Radio Show and Podcast Friday, August 22nd BE MONEYWISE. Moneywise Wealth Management I "The Moneywise Guys" podcast call: 661-847-1000 text in anytime: 661-396-1000 website: www. MoneywiseGuys.com facebook: Moneywise_Wealth_Management LinkedIn: Moneywise_Wealth_Management Guest: Doug Oakes, Owner of Can Do Crew Plumbing, Heating & AC website phone: 661-665-6619

• 0:00Speaker 00

  From the Garo Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway, here is Money Wise. Call or text into the show 24/7 at 396-1000.

• 0:39Speaker 00

  Here is Money Wise. Money, money, money, money.

• 0:44Speaker 01

  One of the good shows, man.

• 0:53Speaker 02

  Hey, guys.

• 0:54Speaker 01

  Hey.

• 0:55Speaker 02

  Hey, we're on.

• 0:56Speaker 01

  I know.

• 0:56Speaker 02

  Oh, hey. Hey there.

• 0:58Speaker 01

  We knew that, Steve. We were waiting on you.

• 1:00Speaker 02

  Do you know what happened? We had a training and a workshop last week, and I wasn't on the air at all. And it's just that fast that you fall off your bike.

• 1:10Speaker 01

  Can't believe it.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  You forget how to ride your bike, just like that. Welcome to the Money Wise Show. We are live from the Garo Ellis padded radio room off Stockdale Highway. I'm your host today.

• 1:24Speaker 02

  It is business time, and we got a great guest today. Cannot wait to get into some conversation. And I'm your host, Chris Peltier with...

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Seth Perry. So happy to be here on a Friday.

• 1:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, we haven't done a Friday in a while, so, you know, sometimes that's when we have some wonderful guests from the community come in, whether it be nonprofits talking about the good things that they're doing in our community, or just some business folks sharing their story. We want to try to do everything we can to highlight local businesses and also share their stories, because hopefully it will convince you, if you're thinking about entrepreneurship, or business ownership, or whatever.

• 1:56Speaker 01

  The big goal of the show today is to inspire the entrepreneur that's on the fence. Because we have an extremely successful one sitting about four feet away.

• 2:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, so you have to stick around to find out who we're talking about. We're not even going to put it out there yet. But before we talk about that, we got a couple of great questions that came in. And we're also going to go over the markets a little bit. You know, we always talk about the daily thing. We always try to give a little bit of a break, a breakdown and also like looking back at the history because you know, day by day, sometimes it's, it's trying to see the forest through the trees. But today was kind of a big day.

• 2:32Speaker 01

  Huge day.

• 2:33Speaker 02

  Huge day.

• 2:34Speaker 01

  For lots of reasons.

• 2:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, the market's been pulling back a little bit at the start of this quarter and there's been, you know, some, some different concerns and then Powell came out at their last discussion, did not raise interest rates. The market didn't, didn't like that. And then all of a sudden, what, what went on today? What was some of the news?

• 2:53Speaker 01

  Well, we were busy. We were doing a little community give back, so we missed the speech, but essentially, I guess he hinted as strongly as he could the possible rate cuts and everything else I've been reading, everything else I've been hearing. It's like, yep, September, they're cutting the rates. Now, we don't know for sure, but the market liked that. I just found out, you know, we're coming in here and prepping for the show and I look up and I hadn't heard the news that the US government bought 10% of Intel, which is a lot of different ways to look at that. Now, I need to do my homework as an advisor, but just initial instinct, government buying a massive company, that's a big ownership stake.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's interesting, you know, because the, the government does have a balance sheet. They, I mean, it's one of the things when we're talking about the Fed and all their things is, is they buy bonds and they put things on their ledger. So I actually don't know how common that type of decision is. So we might do a little research here when we go to break, in our 30 second break. I mean, we'll do extensive research. I mean, we'll be able to fully exhaust all historical, historical government purchases.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Our teams and our analysts, I've already reached out to Hong Kong.

• 4:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, and we're going to have that, we're going to have that within 30 minutes of our break. So, but, but the market reacted to some of the decisions, you know, or the strong hint on raising the, the rates. I can almost hear in the back of my mind, Mr. Gero Ellis, don't fight the Fed. That was something I've said all the time on the show, don't fight the feds. But with that being said, one of the things I joked with Seth this morning when we were talking about some things is you also can't try to time the market because the market might go up for the next two weeks and then when they actually raise rates or I'm sorry, lower rates, the market might actually go down because it already got baked in to what happened the two weeks prior to. So, timing the market is unfortunately what they call a fool's game.

• 4:50Speaker 02

  Um, but it does, it's fine to try to understand or what's going on or what's pushing things around. Um, it is truly the day traders and, and real big speculators that are wanting to see what's going on a daily basis. Now, when you have a radio show and a podcast, it has a daily broadcast, we talk about the daily numbers. So we try to kind of jump through all the headlines and the different things to help you understand that. But in reality, long-term, not a big deal, but some of these things are pushing the markets around right now. The S and P 500 actually was up about 1.5%. Uh, it closed at 6,466 today. Nasdaq's at 21,496. It's up almost 2%, 1.88.

• 5:31Speaker 02

  And the old dumb Dow that we talk about, uh, it's at 45,00631. It's up almost, uh, 2% as well, just like the Nasdaq. So.

• 5:41Speaker 01

  Close to record territory. I almost, I thought the Dow or the Nasdaq actually hit a record. The S and P is just, just shy of a record, I believe.

• 5:49Speaker 02

  As far as close or did it hit in the day? So, you know, long story short, you know, the market is bullish on that. But like I said, that's where like timing the market can be fool's game or trying to play what the feds are going to do or how it's going to shake out. Because don't be surprised that if some news comes out in the next two weeks that his really bullish stance on we're going to lower interest rates. Uh, well, if in the next two weeks, some things indicate really high inflation, guess what? He may change his tune and he's gonna, he's gonna come out and he's gonna say, no, we're gonna stay steady as he is. So.

• 6:18Speaker 01

  Our local, uh, housing market could use a cool off on the interest rates. I, I know that right now, uh, speaking to someone very enmeshed, enmeshed, enmeshed?

• 6:27Speaker 02

  Yeah. Just make it, yeah.

• 6:29Speaker 01

  Someone very enmeshed into the industry said. You know, it's definitely a buyer's market. Housing's expensive. I don't know something fun you you guys can do if you locked into a low rate. Run your current mortgage balance with your rate and then compare it to today's rate and it's jaw dropping just how much.

• 6:46Speaker 02

  How much more you're paying in interest.

• 6:47Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 6:48Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:49Speaker 01

  You'd be paying about forty percent more just for your house.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  But the good news is is it's more, but it's only for thirty years.

• 6:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:57Speaker 02

  It's not like a long term loan or anything. Just kidding there. Yeah, my heart goes out to some of the people trying to enter the world of of homeownership and different things. They're trying to navigate that. It is challenging. I remember being overwhelmed about this years ago and home prices were a lot lower. You know, it it it income and wages hasn't necessarily ballooned up. It's higher. But but I, you know, it's just challenging. I I'm a dad of three daughters. Two have already kind of jumped out there and gotten to a adult adult world. And it's a challenge for these young families and young people that are trying to buy houses and do different things. So.

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Before we go to break real quick, I was gonna say, something came in here that said, I love that you guys named your studio after Gero. He was my advisor for twenty plus years. Just wanted to see if you guys could share any updates on his health. Thank you. Mr. Gero Ellis is doing good. He's had some some unfortunate loss in his life with the passing of his oldest daughter. And so they are recovering from that and obviously all devastated as we all are. She was a wonderful, wonderful daughter, mom, sister, friend. Made a huge impact while she was here with us, had a very impactful remembrance of life. And so they are recovering from that. Gero's doing as good as can be.

• 8:17Speaker 02

  Just just trying to make the most of of what he's able to still accomplish. So. Short walks, trying to figure out communication still and and communicating with him is as that's kind of the hold up there. But Gero's doing good. He's in great spirits. And he is a Wyoming state champion wrestler. So he's got some, he's got some fight, some fight in the dog. So. So he ain't gonna give up and he's gonna keep keep going. So thank you for that thought and and working with Gero for all those years. Really appreciate that. And we love all of his clients and we're hoping to carry on his legacy and working with those folks. The next question that came in said, I'm curious about something practical. California has this property tax postponement program for homeowners 62 and older. Is this something

• 9:02Speaker 02

  you'd actually recommend to your clients here in Bakersfield? Or is it one of those programs that sounds good but has hidden downsides?

• 9:10Speaker 01

  We found the hidden downside. I'll be honest, I wasn't 100% familiar with this. Did a little research, did a little homework. I view it as kind of a last resort, but it may not be a bad idea because it's going to free up, so say you have somebody and their property taxes are 4,000 a year, you know, from their, if it's baked into their mortgage, you know, it's going to save them a few hundred bucks a month. Here's the deal. You have to be 62 years or older and at an income threshold, I believe of around 54,000. So if you make less than 54,000, you can prove your age and you have at least 40% equity in your home, 40% equity. Then, starting in September, September 2025, you can apply. It's called

• 9:55Speaker 01

  a PTP application form, and that's a property tax postponement. And basically, you don't have to pay your property tax anymore until you sell, die, or there was one other one, but basically until you get rid of your home. Now, the hidden fee, the state's going to charge you 5% interest. So it is simple interest, so it's not the end of the world. But I could definitely see making an argument for this for several people for a lot of different reasons.

• 10:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:24Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 10:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, it doesn't sound as bad as some solutions that folks look for to free up some capital. Reverse mortgages can be advantageous for certain situations, but there's a lot of unknowns that a lot of times are behind the scenes or those unknown risks. We've seen different things like this that on the surface, even like, I forget what they were called, back in the day it was like hero loans or something like that. A lot of people were using them to put on solar, different things. And it was like behind the scenes, there was really high interest. And even though in one sense it was trying to help people, it does have some adverse effects. But this is a way that it could free up some, um, some monthly money. And so if somebody's like having to put money on credit cards and pay 20 something percent interest.

• 11:10Speaker 02

  And instead you don't have that payment anymore and you're able to, to, to not have to go to higher interest options, um, it could make sense. But just like with all things, it's not free money. It's pay later money. Um, so be very, uh, um, you know, careful about going into that and, and whether or not it makes sense for you. So, um, but yeah, that's, that's great. So, uh,

• 11:31Speaker 03

  Good questions.

• 11:31Speaker 02

  Yeah. Great questions. If you have any more, you always can join the show 661-396-1000. And so drum roll. Goes into the fact that who's our guest today? Mr. Doug Oakes from the Can Do Crew. He's going to come back after the break. So make sure to stick around when we come back. We're going to get down to business with Doug Oakes.

• 11:52Speaker 00

  Are you nearing retirement and currently working with a financial advisor? Are you not sure if you're invested appropriately? Call our offices at 661-847-1000 to sit down with a Money Wise Financial Advisor.

• 12:10Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 12:12Speaker 02

  Taking care of business.

• 12:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 12:14Speaker 02

  Perfect intro song for the Can Do Crew. Who am I talking about? Doug Oakes and the Can Do Crew? Who has been serving our community for two decades?

• 12:27Speaker 03

  We, we have actually in, in one form or fashion, 35 years now.

• 12:31Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 12:31Speaker 03

  As for myself, I'm going on my fifth year in business ownership. So,

• 12:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:35Speaker 03

  I can't personally lay claim to that, but, uh,

• 12:38Speaker 02

  But all together.

• 12:39Speaker 03

  All together. 1993, the original owner, uh, began as a plumber in this community and it's gone through a few iterations.

• 12:46Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean, and you have to do that.

• 12:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  You know, I mean, it, it, it's becoming more and more rare that a company can like jump in and this is what we do and, and not change and adapt and, uh, maybe merge or, or, or, uh, increase, uh, services offered, which it kind of sounds like you were doing. So, tell us a little bit about your story then. That's a little bit of the history of kind of everybody merging together. So, is, did you grow up in the trades and the family? You just jumped in there and that was what you were doing? What got you down this path?

• 13:19Speaker 03

  I have a unique entry into the trades. It began, I was a preacher's son growing up in Ohio, so don't hold my Yankee roots against me. But I followed, you know, his, his career. I was a missionary in Mexico, got my Master's of Divinity in Lubbock, Texas. But I met a Bakersfield gal who Seth is pretty familiar with. And when we started our family, we were living in Oklahoma. I was a youth pastor out there. And we kind of got to the point where we had to flip a coin and decide my family or hers. And Ohio had too much freezing rain and snow and California sounded a lot nicer. Yeah.

• 14:03Speaker 03

  Happy wife, happy life. So I Amen. We went, we went this direction and, you know, my career options were kind of, you know, I, we could, we could have continued to pursue ministry, but that was going to put us in, you know, Yeah. wherever God called you, right? You didn't know exactly where you would land. Right. So I, I came out here, the first job I got was with an oilfield, uh, blue collar, that's where I kind of got introduced to blue collar trades. Yeah. Cause I was working with an oilfield construction company, um, working out on era properties for most of that time. Spent about 12 years, uh, doing that. Yeah. And, uh, learned a lot, uh, you know, I got, I probably got my 10,000 hours of education. They say what 10,000 hours is supposed to give you. Yeah. Your education.

• 14:47Speaker 03

  I figured that was about the drive time over 12 years, listening to podcasts, uh, you know, listening to books, leadership and marketing and the whole nine yards. Yeah. And I gradually moved up in a lot of leadership roles in that oilfield company. So I was exposed to all aspects of running a business. The key difference being I'd never write, I was not the one writing the paychecks. Yeah. And so my naivete, I, I ended up moving from, you know, overseeing up to 400, you know, contractors in that, in that operations manager role to, to, uh,

• 15:20Speaker 03

  You know, buying a company that had five employees.

• 15:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:23Speaker 03

  And in my naivete, I was like, oh, this is gonna be easy, right?

• 15:26Speaker 02

  Right.

• 15:26Speaker 01

  I can handle this, man. Nothing to it.

• 15:29Speaker 03

  But I, now I'm the accountant, now I'm the marketer, now I'm the CEO, now I'm the estimator. And wearing all those hats, it was, it was a bit of a wake-up call for the first couple of years, but it's been an exciting journey.

• 15:40Speaker 01

  What kind of led you toward HVAC versus any of the other trades?

• 15:45Speaker 03

  So.

• 15:46Speaker 02

  It was 112 degrees.

• 15:49Speaker 01

  He saw it as, as there's always gonna be opportunity.

• 15:51Speaker 02

  He was sitting there sweating in a new Bakersfield summer day.

• 15:54Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 15:55Speaker 03

  So I took over ownership in, on December 1st of 2020, so it was not that hot on December 1st.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Nothing else was going on during.

• 16:03Speaker 03

  And nothing, no, nothing else was going on in 2020.

• 16:05Speaker 01

  Normal time.

• 16:07Speaker 03

  So there were a few industries that I was not going to go in, in the middle of COVID. And, you know, very clearly, because I've experienced a number of Bakersfield summers, HVAC industry sounded like a pretty good option. But COVID threw a lot of things up in the, up in the mix. But that, that helped me, you know, channel my focus on what would be a, a business worth investing in. And, you know, to be honest, I, I just, I knew through the experience in the oil fields, because again, you had a, you had a pastor going into the oil fields, who, to be honest, back in 2008, when I got that job, I didn't even know what a flange was.

• 16:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 16:49Speaker 03

  And I learned over the course of time that you surround yourself with good people, that, you know, you can be successful in, in anything that you do. Especially if, you know, if you prize, you know, your culture and your values, and you step up as a leader, and you don't, you take that humble approach, right? And I think a lot of, one, one of the things that gets a lot of managers who were the technicians, who were driving the trucks, into issues as they try to grow the company, is that nobody can do it as well as they can.

• 17:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:16Speaker 03

  And, and they can, there can be a temptation to over-function in that role. I did not have that temptation, because I was not a plumber or an HVAC technician. And so from the very beginning, I knew that I had to surround myself from, you know. With quality people, put them on the right seat on the bus and just build the processes and establish the culture that would make us successful.

• 17:37Speaker 01

  And then the branding, we even joked about it, you know, I was like, hey, full transparency. I I saw the branding when it first came out. And you know, when you think of HVAC, you think of, you know, it's hardworking guys and this, that and the other. So I saw it. I'm like, this looks, I'm a little confused by this. And then weeks into it, dude, I see your vans everywhere. I love it now. I use you guys now and your name is everywhere. And I've talked specifically to your employees. I talked to the guys that came out, worked at my my house and my mom's house. And I think it was even when I scheduled, I'm like, hey, behind the scenes, really, what do you think? And they've loved working there, dude. Like, you've built a great brand. Tell us about that huge, uh, uh, marketing transformation.

• 18:16Speaker 03

  So about two years in, I was attending a conference and listened to the owner of a group called, um, they're out of New Jersey. And they're a branding company. And one of the things that they mentioned, and this is a struggle as you're trying to grow your company and get leads is your Google. Google controls a lot of this. So if you don't pay Google, you're you're not getting a lot of phone calls. Now, word of mouth is a great ideal and you can, you know, you can build that slowly over time, but you you really depend on where a lot of people's eyes are going. Now, today that's starting to shift to, you know, chat GPT and other means of searching, but it's been, Google has kind of held, held the purse strings.

• 18:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:56Speaker 03

  So to speak.

• 18:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:58Speaker 03

  And in this presentation, uh, one of the things that caught my attention is that eighty-five percent of homeowners, even ones that have gotten a significant install done in the last year. If you ask them, who did they do business with for that? Eighty-five percent can't remember the company that came out to do the business. So what does that mean? That means that they're going to go on their, the next time they need a plumber, next time they need an HVAC technician, they're going to go on to the search. Search engine and say plumber near me or high rated HVAC technician near me. And it's going to force them back into that pipeline where when they make that phone call to the, to the contractor of choice, that that contractor is paying.

• 19:36Speaker 03

  You know, the average cost for an HVAC job right now is like ninety, ninety dollars for a phone call from, from Google. So we go out there and pay, you know, it's a night, maybe it's a ninety-nine dollar diagnostic. Well, we paid ninety dollars just to, just to get that job, so.

• 19:48Speaker 01

  Can you explain that a little more? I'm a little confused on how it works.

• 19:51Speaker 03

  It's, uh, it's how it's, you know. For the average user of Google, it seems like, you know, it's free, right? Yeah. I paid for my internet, but I go on and I get to use. But it functions largely on the backs of businesses all over the world. Gotcha. And they're selling the advertising. Yep. So the placement, wherever you're placed on that first page of Google, there's a price for that. Got it.

• 20:14Speaker 02

  And they basically call this SEO, search engine optimization? Is that what you're talking about a little bit?

• 20:20Speaker 03

  Search engine would, can actually support a little bit more of the organic. It's a, that's a long-term play to be able to grow and rank organically at the bottom of the first page of Google.

• 20:31Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:32Speaker 03

  But if you're in that guaranteed section at the top.

• 20:34Speaker 02

  You're paying.

• 20:35Speaker 03

  Or if you see the sponsored ads, that's what we call the PPC ads.

• 20:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:38Speaker 03

  Those companies are paying for that placement.

• 20:41Speaker 02

  Do you pay per click or do you pay just to have yourself there?

• 20:45Speaker 03

  Both.

• 20:45Speaker 02

  Both.

• 20:46Speaker 03

  They've, the channels, yeah, the channels for, Google has a couple of different ways of getting money from the contractors. And one of them is pay per click and the other is position.

• 20:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, and you know, sometimes I think people might hear about this and kind of be like, that sounds like shady or that sounds like weird. It's like, well, maybe, because maybe some companies are like, we don't necessarily have the best technicians. We don't necessarily have the best processes and we're going to just pay a bunch of money and put ourselves up at the high of the list and we're going to get the calls. But obviously to run a super successful company, it's going to take both. You got to, you got to follow up and do what you say you're going to do. And you might want to pay a little bit to get up there so you can get in front of people. But, I mean, obviously we'd all like to say, hey, we're going to do just such a great job that, you know, word of mouth and this and that. But it is a changing world. And like you said, sometimes two or three years later, oh yeah, we had somebody come out and work on our AC and we totally forgot the name.

• 21:41Speaker 02

  And so it goes back to, back to Google, back to the search.

• 21:45Speaker 03

  Which gets back to your question about why rebrand. I had, I had an okay brand, but I would notice that, you know, when I'd look at a van, say, a mile away from me on the road, I would say, oh, that might be my van. I'd get closer and it was a Spectrum truck. Got it. Because I had my, my colors and the positioning of the lettering wasn't that much different than a Spectrum truck. And I would notice a few other brands, especially as I've driven to other cities where this, that was so standout that, you know, two miles away, you're like, that is so distinct, you know, what, and you're anxious to get closer to it. Well, when you have that kind of brand recognition and a name that's easy to remember, you can bypass Google, right?

• 22:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:25Speaker 03

  Because your customer begins to understand, hey, Can Do, how easy is it to remember Can Do Crew? And when I first rolled out with those, those, those brand reps, contractors were like, well, you don't have your phone number on there. Like, when's the last time that you actually wrote down?

• 22:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're gonna take the time.

• 22:40Speaker 03

  You need, all you need to remember is Can Do Crew.

• 22:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:43Speaker 03

  And because what are you gonna do? You're gonna search the name up. But if you search it directly and you dial the number directly, you're not paying for the...

• 22:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I'm, I'm honestly, I'm not biased. Like, I can't think of a, of a more well-known name right now in, in HVAC. Personally, I mean, just, just seeing the vans, the coloring. So how the name, how'd you come up with the name?

• 23:05Speaker 03

  So I didn't really have a dog in the fight because I'd bought something that I didn't create. I bought it as a, it was a stock sale when I bought On Time Home Services back in 2020. And so that didn't have that emotional attachment. So when I worked with the branding company, uh, which was Kick Charge Creative, it finally came back to me. Uh, I gave them a blank slate. I said, come up with some names. Here's my core values, here's our story, here's what we want to do. Um, come up with some names. And they gave me six names or so. And, uh, a lot of it, you know, with my faith background, there were some that had a little more attachment to, you know, that faith background. Uh, but Can Do Crew, and it, I, I'll be, I'll be honest, I've, I chuckled a little bit when I heard it. And it, it felt a little bit awkward.

• 23:50Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 23:51Speaker 03

  But it was a name you, all of us around the room are like, we're smiling. Every time we say the name, we're smiling.

• 23:57Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 23:57Speaker 03

  We can't, we almost can't say it with a frown on our face. And I've taught myself over time to lean into discomfort, whether it's growth, you know, or, you know, as in your, in your journey, if, if there's something that's a little bit uncomfortable. Tends to be a sign that you need to lean into.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  That's awesome, man. Great advice.

• 24:15Speaker 03

  So that's, that's really, that's, that's ultimately probably was the deciding factor for me because I felt a little bit uncomfortable. That needs to be the name we go.

• 24:22Speaker 02

  Well, let's go ahead and take a quick break. Again, we are talking with Doug Oakes, the CEO, CEO, president? What do you go by?

• 24:30Speaker 01

  The man. It says it on the shirt.

• 24:31Speaker 02

  Owner, owner, can do crew, plumbing, heating, air, and we're having a great conversation. Stick around. We'll be right back.

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Don't forget, Money Wise is more than a radio show. We're an independently owned, local wealth management firm with 60 plus years of collective experience. Our financial advisors are here to help you, Kern County. Together, let's be smart, be safe, be money wise.

• 25:01Speaker 02

  Maybe a, maybe a ode to air conditioning or something here? If you're in a ring of fire, I mean.

• 25:10Speaker 02

  Some Johnny Cash.

• 25:11Speaker 01

  Can I brag on Steve for a sec?

• 25:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, let's do it.

• 25:15Speaker 01

  He's gonna mute me. So came in this morning, we had some community service we had to go do and walk in the kitchen. I, speaking of branding, I had no idea that Foster's Donuts re-branded their boxes. I'm like, hey, these are great donuts. And something about that bright pink box made me think the donuts tasted better. But anyway, Steven brought donuts in for the family. And so, boom.

• 25:37Speaker 02

  Wait, for his, for his family? Cause I ate one.

• 25:39Speaker 01

  I hope it's not for his, cause I've eaten like two.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  It's easier not to eat them when you just buy them for everyone else and keep them taped and okay.

• 25:47Speaker 02

  I walked out of the kitchen this morning. I was like, who made me make a bad decision in the kitchen this morning?

• 25:51Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 25:52Speaker 02

  And you guys were already gone, uh, serving the community. Uh, once a month, we, we go out and, uh, fill boxes for, uh, the elderly program.

• 25:59Speaker 01

  We missed you too, boss. We, we missed you there, man.

• 26:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, we love it when we can have a bunch of people there and we try to, we try to get competitive and fill as many boxes as possible. Helping out Cap K and, uh, and putting together those boxes for folks. Yep. And obviously they've been one of the ones that have been hit by some of the, the, the Doge, uh, cuts and different things. And so there's good, bad and ugly that comes out of. All decisions by the uppity ups and you know as much as possible like to see resources going to elderly People that need that and then also ultimately at the end of the day also what they focus on are the kiddos. So there's a lot of opinions and different things, but Anything that's trying to put resources where it's needed like that, whether it be private nonprofits or whether it be

• 26:46Speaker 02

  Public government entities, we could all argue whether or not they're super efficient. But I hope to see more of that, those resources going to those folks. So, uh, good job you guys this morning. Thanks for, how many boxes did you do?

• 26:58Speaker 01

  I don't remember exactly, but it wasn't our record, but um, Maybe it was ten ish?

• 27:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, there you go. I was there and we only did eight, I think last time. So maybe I'm holding you guys back.

• 27:08Speaker 01

  Yeah. And you think, oh, just 10 boxes. It's pallets of boxes. And so it's, it's pretty intense, but.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  Yeah. So good deal. So again, we're, we're joined by Doug Oakes, uh, owner of Can Do Crew, talking about Rebranding and some of the different things that he's been doing. In some way, shape or form for a long time, serving and working here in our community. With some of the other folks who've joined. So, so when did you take over again?

• 27:34Speaker 03

  In December of 2020, so.

• 27:35Speaker 02

  2020. So you're like, world's falling apart. I'm going to just jump in and start a business.

• 27:40Speaker 01

  And you had five guys. Did you retain them initially or have to clean house a little bit?

• 27:45Speaker 03

  There was some natural house cleaning. It took some, took some time. And it really let a lot of it happen naturally. It wasn't just, hey, you know, you're fired, you're fired. It was, here's Where we're going, here's the values that we're going to live by and There's kind of, you know, people can tend to choose, is this the kind of accountability and environment that I want to be in or is this not for me? And you go through, we're at, you know, 33 employees now. So you, you go through a lot of, uh, You go through a lot of iterations in a short amount of time and, and folks that were there when it was five, some, Sometimes I just don't feel comfortable at the larger.

• 28:21Speaker 01

  My wife used to work at Gunlax and I, and I know, you know, great company. You know, Ken and it was running a, a great company and, but attrition was a problem. It's just kind of a problem in your industry.

• 28:33Speaker 01

  How are you managing that?

• 28:35Speaker 03

  Well, the branding has been huge, right? So visibility has been a big thing and people, especially, you know, when you... We do have a good number of trucks out there, but I think when a truck is memorable, I mean, 10 trucks could feel like 50 sometimes. And so I think there was kind of some inertia, this, you know, this impression that, you know, we are on the up and up, which is true, you know, but it wasn't like there's just 100 trucks out there all of a sudden. But, and so I think people kind of start to flow towards you in that regard, but the biggest thing has been, really, I think, how we've chosen to treat people. The number one reason I wanted to go into business for myself is because I had worked

• 29:19Speaker 03

  with companies where the KPI was the god of your performance, you know? We have KPIs, we have key performance indicators, I mean, data is important. But for me, it's lagging. I mean, I want to lead the company through the core values and behaviors, and if you do that well and you put some processes in place to support that, then the numbers kind of take care of themselves.

• 29:44Speaker 01

  Right.

• 29:45Speaker 03

  And, but I've worked with companies where the numbers were used. And in the other position, you know, it was kind of, we lead by these numbers and if you don't hit them, hmm.

• 29:55Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 29:55Speaker 03

  Yeah. And there wasn't enough emphasis on the behaviors that would actually support those numbers to begin with.

• 30:01Speaker 01

  Great point. I mean, that was 90 plus, 5% plus when I'm at the big red ship, Halliburton, man, it was just, yeah, yeah, focus more on the people component.

• 30:10Speaker 03

  And I wanted to own a company that I could be proud of and help, I had all this theory in mind with all the books and leadership classes I'd attended, and I'm like, I want to put it into practice, you know? I want to be able to create what I think can be created and hopefully set an example for other businesses to follow. Because I think businesses, if they're run responsibly...

• 30:33Speaker 03

  They can make a profit and they can also give back not only to the people that work there, but you know, to the community and you know, maybe even I tell my guys, there's no reason we can't think globally for the impact we can have at some point. Yeah.

• 30:46Speaker 02

  Well, it's kind of crazy when you talk about like running the company right. The funny thing is, is you raise the bar for everybody because if everybody's doing subpar work and everybody's having a subpar experience with, with five different companies, it doesn't seem to matter who you call. And then all of a sudden you have that one experience with, with a company that, that is doing things right. Not that everybody's perfect, but you definitely know when a company is, is striving for something different. You know, I mean, MoneyWise has been in business for 20 years now, 20 something years. And it's like, we're not perfect on every front. And, and as we've grown, there's, there's seasons that you go through. You may have loved, you know, MoneyWise right at the beginning because by golly, there was three of us and you know, not a whole lot of complexity in it. As we've

• 31:28Speaker 02

  grown, there's new challenges. There's new realities that come up. You mentioned earlier about kind of sharing, uh, wearing all the hats when you go into business ownership. What was, what was the most kind of eye opening or the thing that hit you the hardest maybe? As far as like, cause I know so many people are like, man, if I just ran my own business. And I'm like, it's not all roses. Like it's not, you know, and I don't, I don't want to discount it. There's definitely challenge of working for other people and making, you know, other people's visions and, and, and processes a reality. But for you, when you jumped in there and you had some of this theory, what was kind of the, the biggest thing that you were like, man, I did not realize that was that difficult?

• 32:07Speaker 03

  I don't think I realized what the monthly cycle was going to feel like. Cause we, I mean, by and large, we would hit our goals and even exceed them month after month after month. But as soon as that calendar flips to the first, it's a whole new budget again.

• 32:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:21Speaker 03

  Yeah. And it's, and, and in my head, you know, especially as we raise our costs and marketing, I mean, I know exactly if we don't sell, you know, $700,000 this month, we don't break even. Yeah. And, and as an owner, you know that in the back of your head and you're trying to lead in a way that I, hey, the, you know, under the water, it's paddling, but you gotta stay calm. You want to build. Confidence and say, and you trust, you learn, but you learn over the course of time to trust the process, to trust the market and the marketing and everything else you're doing. And it, it, it works.

• 32:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:54Speaker 03

  But it, but it really does early on in a business ownership's, you know, maturity cycle. It's, it stressed me out.

• 33:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:02Speaker 03

  It's like you're carrying that at home at night. I don't know if we can do this again.

• 33:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:05Speaker 03

  Another month.

• 33:06Speaker 02

  Yeah. So one of the big challenges too, for people making that jump, like you said, getting entrepreneurs off the fence or that are right there at the fence and stuff like that. It is financing or the, the money to get it started. So not that you have to share like major details or specifics or anything like that. But what, what was it? What direction did you go? Was it, was it small business loans? Was it, you know, you had something else happen or, or what do you share with people as far as how you kind of got your start?

• 33:34Speaker 03

  I think there was, I, I was blessed to have a wife who had a good job in the school system and healthcare. Um, so we could manage our day to day as a family based on her income. And we had saved up, I had, you know, 20 years of professional experience in other roles before we considered this as an option. So we, uh, and Dave Ram, I mean.

• 33:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 33:55Speaker 03

  We, we don't follow all of Dave Ramsey's this side of the fence, but he was extreme, his teaching was extremely important early on in our marriage.

• 34:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:02Speaker 03

  Set us, give ourselves the opportunity to take this kind of leap of faith.

• 34:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:07Speaker 03

  And so I, I vouch for him and, and most people's circumstances, especially starting out in life.

• 34:12Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 34:12Speaker 03

  Um, there's, there's a lot of, uh, a lot of value to the fiscal responsibility that he teaches.

• 34:17Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 34:18Speaker 03

  So, you know, we were prepared in those ways. Uh, I think a lot of people want to move into this kind of role maybe earlier than they should.

• 34:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:26Speaker 03

  Um, and take on too much. Um, we,

• 34:31Speaker 03

  we were very fortunate. I mean, this was not much different than maybe flipping a house in some ways. I mean, we, we, we found ourselves an opportunity that I don't know how often it would. And I don't think I realized how good of an opportunity it was when we found.

• 34:44Speaker 02

  And COVID had to play into that.

• 34:45Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 34:46Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 34:46Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 34:46Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 34:47Speaker 03

  There was some dissatisfaction about staying, continuing to do business in California and just ready for a change. It also was a purchase that. It came through biz buy sell listings. It wasn't a broker. I mean, if right now, private equity in our industry, I mean, every company is trying to build to invite a broker in between the barter seven, eight, nine X on the EBITDA. I did not have to deal with that. So it was, the purchase price was less than an average house in Bakersfield at the time. So.

• 35:19Speaker 02

  There you go. You got to take that and run with it. So yeah, finding that opportunity. But you know, I do love the kudos to Ramsey, by the way, because the thing that I love about Ramsey, and he was the start of my financial journey way back in the day when we were young in our marriage. Just the simple fact of taking control and telling every dollar where it goes. If you don't do that, I don't care how good of an opportunity you fall into in business or whatever, you're going to fail.

• 35:43Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:43Speaker 02

  If you don't, you know, take, take the bull by the horns and you tell every dollar where to go, it's going to find a place to go. And unfortunately, it's usually not in more efficient spending and better processes. But anyways, we had a great question come in that I want to jump into. So you can join too, 661-396-1000. We had, how would one train to work in the heating and AC? I have some kids that are almost 18 and looking to find something that the robots won't take over, lol.

• 36:09Speaker 03

  That's funny.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  That's true. Until a little robot walks in our house. But no, I think there's definitely something to be said about that. These are the types of jobs that, to an extent, can't be replaced completely. AI and technologies are going to help technicians.

• 36:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, there's a goldmine.

• 36:24Speaker 02

  It's going to help technicians be even better at what they do. They're going to probably have to use AI in some of this. But what, for somebody wanting to go down that path, what's a good, what's a good way to get education?

• 36:33Speaker 03

  I mean, there's a few different entry points. I've been fairly happy with relationships I've built with UEI and San Joaquin. That wasn't popular for a lot of owners to look there, because there is a sentiment that you have to reteach or unlearn things that you learn in the classroom when you get into the field. But one of the things I liked, there was, there was an investment that was made by everyone that chose to go through one of those schools.

• 36:59Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 37:00Speaker 03

  And finding some, yeah, there's, I mean, you get up in a 140 degree attic in the summer. And you haven't made any kind of personal investment into your education before that. It's pretty easy to walk away from the trade at that point.

• 37:12Speaker 01

  True, I mean, that's a great point.

• 37:14Speaker 03

  And so, we've built, some of the guys that are still with me were just fresh out of those schools. But you can, you know, I would say especially if HVAC is your path, to really start looking in February, early March. Don't be afraid to come on as an apprentice, just have that willing mindset. If you've got a good work ethic and you, and I've said this anywhere I've gone, if you will, if you will show up. And you will show up on time and you'll be dressed and ready for work.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  Ask lots of questions, have a good attitude.

• 37:46Speaker 03

  There's a good chance that you can be successful because the rep, especially in residential and what we're doing, the repetition as you ride along with technicians or as you do installs and you're getting to do this over and over and over again in the course of one year, the amount of, amount of learning that you can get to where you're standing on your own feet in a short amount of time is pretty incredible.

• 38:07Speaker 01

  That's awesome.

• 38:08Speaker 02

  One of the things too that we can throw out there, we've had a lot of discussions and tried to give kudos to Kern High School District for their CTEC program. That's your tax dollars at work, you know, we all don't necessarily love taxes and can kind of be a bad word, but when you do see it put into a work, they have a program there, there's an actual HVAC program through CTEC, through Kern High School District that the kids can actually take as part of their program there. So if they're not necessarily looking to go to a four-year UC or something like that where they have to have certain credits, they can get their education that is going to be more career-based, still getting a good education while also starting to learn some of those tools and skills and education.

• 38:47Speaker 01

  I'm pretty sure BC has a program that's probably a lot less expensive.

• 38:51Speaker 02

  Have you ever had any kids that went through the CTEC program yet? I mean, it's pretty new, but.

• 38:55Speaker 03

  Well, ROC, I don't know if they have a full-fledged HVAC because my wife's pretty plugged into that.

• 39:00Speaker 02

  It might just be training of some sort or maybe just an introduction.

• 39:04Speaker 03

  It's pretty limited, the HVAC, from what I understand, there's a, there's a big footprint needed for that kind of program. So it's definitely on their radar of something they want to build and make more robust. I know, I believe Bakersfield College is a really strong program up in Delano.

• 39:18Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 39:20Speaker 03

  That's definitely, as we grow and have more means to, you know, advance our, you know, our culture and especially go back to recruiting, we would, we would really love to have, and some companies, some larger companies that we have been coached by in the past, they have in-house training apprenticeship programs. There's, there's, there's hardly ever a more valuable loyal employee than one that you raise from the ground up. That you're, you're the one teaching them, instructing them and, and investing in their long-term success.

• 39:52Speaker 02

  Well, then it could really be beneficial for both because like you said, sometimes you go through a program and it's theory or they learn certain things. You're like, well, you know, this is actually how it works. And if they can kind of simultaneously do it with hands-on training and stuff, that's, that's awesome. So, anything else you want to leave our listeners with? If they want to get ahold of you, I mean, it's pretty easy. You just said, right? Just search Can Do Crew.

• 40:13Speaker 03

  Yep. Call, call Can Do Crew is the website. Tried to buy Can Do Crew, couldn't do it.

• 40:18Speaker 02

  Who has it? What, is some other company?

• 40:21Speaker 03

  Some sowing company from 2012. I mean, it's, yeah, totally random, but I couldn't get a response on that one. Okay, if, if I could, just real quickly, we're partnered with Lennox and we're accepting nominations through August 31st. Feel the Love. If you, if you Googled Feel the Love with Lennox, there's a nomination form. These are, this is a nationwide nomination form, but if you fill that out, we, we're looking for someone who has been giving back to the community, but maybe is down on their luck and has need of a new AC unit.

• 40:52Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 40:52Speaker 03

  So Lennox is providing the equipment. We're providing the labor. In September, we'll choose based on the nominations that are turned in this month.

• 40:59Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 40:59Speaker 03

  And in the second week of October, we get to go and bless that family with a brand new AC system.

• 41:03Speaker 02

  So if you know of a worthy family that, that kind of meets that criteria, they go to Feel the Love?

• 41:08Speaker 03

  FeelTheLove.com. And the nomination, it'll be self-explanatory when you get there.

• 41:14Speaker 02

  There you go. Well, Doug Oakes, again, owner of Can Do Crew. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your story.

• 41:18Speaker 03

  Thanks Doug. Appreciate you coming in, man.

• 41:19Speaker 02

  Hopefully you've inspired somebody. Thanks for the listeners throwing in some messages. We're going to come right back for our last segment.

• 41:25Speaker 00

  Need to get your financial fix on the go? If so, subscribe to the Money Wise Podcast and catch up on all past shows whenever?

• 41:37Speaker 02

  Welcome back.

• 41:38Speaker 01

  Howdy.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  Last segment. Thanks again to Doug Oakes with the Can Do Crew.

• 41:42Speaker 00

  I did have a side question for you guys. How was Maroon 5?

• 41:46Speaker 02

  Oh, sweet.

• 41:47Speaker 00

  Was it?

• 41:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, it was really cool. It was at The Shell. I think it's called The Shell in San Diego.

• 41:53Speaker 00

  That's so.

• 41:54Speaker 02

  And it's a little outdoor venue that they have that's dang beautiful, right alongside the water. And Maroon 5 played for hundreds, if not thousands, of folks that were at the same training that we were talking about being out last week. So I forget the guy's name, the lead singer. He doesn't like shirts.

• 42:14Speaker 01

  Let me ask my wife.

• 42:16Speaker 02

  I think it's...

• 42:17Speaker 01

  She'll know.

• 42:19Speaker 02

  Laverne and Shirley, what?

• 42:20Speaker 01

  Adam Levine?

• 42:21Speaker 02

  Oh, Adam Levine. Adam Levine.

• 42:23Speaker 01

  Adam Levine, that's it.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, he did okay.

• 42:25Speaker 01

  What does he have that we don't, Chris?

• 42:27Speaker 02

  I don't know. And I'll tell you what, I was singing out in the crowd and I didn't notice a big difference with his voice and mine. Whatever.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  But the people around you. Here's a message came in. "I've seen the work trucks all over town and didn't know they were local. Great marketing." Awesome.

• 42:42Speaker 02

  There you go, kudos.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  Kudos.

• 42:44Speaker 02

  One of the things I was gonna throw out there, one of the conversations we had earlier was the US government buying 10% of Intel or agreed to do that. What are we talking about here? We're talking about $8.9 billion investment from the US government.

• 43:00Speaker 01

  Huge.

• 43:01Speaker 02

  At $20.47 per share, buying 433 million shares of the chipmaker. Interesting. For those that don't, you know, understand that, the feds do buy bonds. That's how they mess with, that's how they adjust interest rates, based on trying to either help the economy or slow the economy down if inflation is getting out of control. So it's not uncommon when you kind of say, "Oh yeah, you know, there's a balance sheet. They actually own bonds." They sell bonds at times, they buy bonds at times, they do different things. Buying stock, though, however, is a little bit more of a rare situation.

• 43:42Speaker 01

  Has it happened before?

• 43:43Speaker 02

  It has happened in crisis and wartime.

• 43:49Speaker 02

  So that's a little bit interesting.

• 43:51Speaker 01

  Very interesting. I don't know how I feel about it, to be honest.

• 43:54Speaker 02

  So the US federal, the government, so let's see here, it's happened during

• 44:02Speaker 02

  AIG in 2008, when the financial crisis happened, there was a quote unquote bailout. They bought a large stake in it.

• 44:10Speaker 01

  I think it's conflict of interest. If you have the government that is setting the tax law, the tax code that businesses run by, I don't like it.

• 44:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I don't, I mean, the interesting thing is, I would love to hear more about it because right now it's just headlines and there's not a whole lot of reasonings or different things, but direct ownership, which would be considered nationalization, is extremely rare in the US.

• 44:32Speaker 01

  Are they majority owner?

• 44:33Speaker 02

  Governments.

• 44:35Speaker 01

  I wonder.

• 44:35Speaker 02

  Well, majority would be just meaning the largest.

• 44:38Speaker 01

  Largest, yeah.

• 44:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, largest would be different than majority owner, but yeah. Few wartime cases, there were railroad purchases during World War I, some utility companies during World War II. The financial crisis in 2008, there were temporary stakes in GM, AIG. There's also been recent issues with US automakers, GM, Chrysler. You know, again, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, those were some different things. So it's definitely rare, it's definitely unlike some things that we've seen and it hasn't necessarily had some sort of crisis situation that would warrant it. So here's what, here's what the MoneyWise listeners need to do. Stay disciplined.

• 45:16Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 45:16Speaker 02

  You don't necessarily make major moves because of one different thing or this and that, and we're going to do some research and homework.

• 45:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:22Speaker 02

  And we're going to keep talking about it here on this radio show.

• 45:24Speaker 01

  That's really good intel.

• 45:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:25Speaker 01

  Chris, thank you.

• 45:26Speaker 02

  Oh, oh geez. Got to end with the dad joke. I was trying to end on a high and he goes full dad joke mode on us. So hey, but you guys are what make the Money, the MoneyWise show great. Really, really appreciate you guys listening, sharing, getting out there and to our clients, appreciate you and the trust you've put in us here at MoneyWise.

• 45:43Speaker 01

  And thank you, Steve.

• 45:43Speaker 02

  661-847-1000. You can always get us ahold of us here if you need to review things. So thank you very much, Steve Z. You guys all have a great weekend. Be smart. Be safe. Be money wise.

• 46:02Speaker 04

  Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through LPL Financial. LPL Financial and MoneyWise Wealth Management are independently owned and operated.