Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Grow Show, powered by Stihl. On the Grow Show. We share ideas, tips, tactics, and insights to help you grow your landscaping business. Based on our team's 40 years of experience running a landscaping company and working with other owners and their teams to do the same. New episodes are released weekly on Wednesdays.
Without further ado, here's your host, Marty Grand. Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever the case may be. This is Marty Grr from Grender Landscaping Company and The Grow Group, and we are on the Grow Show today with my great friend, the Grow Show, powered by Steele with my great friend from Steele, and soon to be yours too.
Roger Phelps. Roger, how are you? Hey, how are you? Marty great to be here with you. Well, it's always great to be with you. You always are smiling. You have a positive outlook on life and I, and I so cherish the friendship that we've developed through the. Um, you're, you're at Steel. You've been there a while.
I know your story, but there's, there's a lot to learn, um, from just talking about Roger. Tell us how you ended up at Steel. Give us a little bit of, of a background so people can get to know you a little bit. Well, I, I can tell you it's not the normal career path. So that's one thing I can tell people is like, where you start is not where you end.
So, uh, amen. Yeah. Born in, born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. So I can talk like this too. Um, but, uh, you know, went to the Naval Academy, graduated in 85. I did eight years active duty, uh, surface line. Uh, literally traveled around the world twice. Uh, did a couple of tours in the Persian Gulf, uh, and after, uh, two years active and two, uh, eight years active and two years in the Reserves, um, decided I had an opportunity to pursue other, uh, areas.
And, uh, you know, my wife, God bless her, uh, posed a very interesting question. She said, you know, you can do what you can do or do what you want to do. She said, what do you love it? To do. Yeah, I, it was one of those that really stopped me in my tracks cuz obviously getting out of the Navy, I could have gone to the beltway bandits and selling weapons systems and so forth.
But, you know, honestly, I found that I really, I wanted to help people and, uh, entertained them, make them smile. And uh, so I got out and actually went into the event business. Uh, I went from shooting missiles to booking bands. So, and obviously, you know, career choice, but. No, it's interesting. I found that my collateral duties in the Navy always ended up being something in the area of either events or public relations.
And so that's what I started focusing on. Um, so after a stint with a private company, the city of Norfolk, as an operations manager and executive director for a major, uh, tall ships event and, uh, handling events for a, uh, international arts festival. Um, I was basically introduced to Steel. They had a position open to produce the Steel Timber Sports series.
I said, wait a second, you mean I get to play with axes, chainsaws and produce a television show for espn n I'm your man. Right? So, uh, got the job and I guess I didn't mess it up too badly cuz uh, within a couple of years I had, uh, inherited. Relations. A few years after that, I actually saw, kind of read the tea leaves, saw the power of social media, and I actually had the opportunity to present social media and the need for a social media program to hunts Peter Steele, uh, the son of our founder.
So, as you can imagine, Presenting Facebook to a 71 year old German engineer was, uh, was a challenging task. But to his credit, uh, you know, after I got done, he asked, uh, one question, I think, and, uh, immediately understood it, which is really, I think, goes to the power of this company and the leadership, but said, yes, pursue it.
So, uh, here I am now, 22 years later, um, corporate communications manager. So I handle our social media, our COR corporate pr. Event marketing, strategic partnerships. And of course I still work with the timber sports, but we've added a new program and now we're branching out into influencers and, uh, yeah.
You know, and, and partnerships like the one we enjoy with you and the other associations. So it's been a great career. So I know leadership is, is a very, very important topic to you. Um, and you know, this is the Grow Show here, so it's my show. I can tell the truth. Um, we had you, uh, you're a sponsor of, of Grow our annual event.
We do. And a couple years ago we were in New Orleans and I asked you if you would do the keynote to wrap us up with, and you said, well, of course I'll do it. And I had seen you speak, Roger. I spent enough time with you. I knew you'd do a great job. I believe I told you we had a couple people in the audience that complained that somebody from Steel was gonna come up at the end and talk about equipment for an hour.
Why would Marty do that? That's terrible. I'm leave. I'm leaving early. And that's not what happened. You get, you had us all on the edge of our seats for 45 minutes talking about leadership and other things. I know leadership is an important subject to you, your time at the Naval Academy, how did that shape you as a leader?
You know, I mean, you're right. Uh, you've obviously hit on a, a hot button for me because I think it really, I, I, I don't know how to, I don't think you can overstress and overemphasize how important leadership is in life. Right. Um, you know, I really, I, I was fortunate. I mean, the Naval Academy, obviously it's, its mission is to train the future leaders of the US Navy.
Um, I wasn't thinking that when I went in, you know, I had visions of Errol Flynn and Swashbuckling and so forth. I was quickly abused of that, uh, in my first year as they beat me around the head and shoulders. But, um, but the, but the leadership training, you know, was amazing. And it was significant because, you know, obviously probably nowhere else but in combat is, is leadership more important?
Um, but I did learn a few things. You know, I started determining that leadership is not authority. Leadership is not management. Leadership is the realm of inspiration. It is the realm of compassion. It is the realm of building trust. It's leading from the front. You know, I mean, that's really what started this journey for me because, um, I've been fortunate.
I've, I've had examples of really poor leaders and really good leaders and I think that as you and I have always talked about, I mean all of us, we should be learning from the pros and the cons, right? And, you know, glean from both and, and shape our own lives. Um, but you know, really what has come down to is I started to realize is.
That, you know, people follow for a variety of reasons. I mean, one I would think would be, you know, a positional reason. Alright, you're the president or you're the owner, and so therefore I take your, my orders. Um, another might be legal, you know, I'm a, I'm a police officer or I have a legal authority over you.
Right? But, and, but, but, but finally I'd say it's influence. It's, it's this, when people follow. Out of voluntary because they voluntarily follow you because they trust you and they honestly believe that you care about them. Right. That is the most powerful organization ever, and, and that's really what I took away from that and through my time, I've, I've tried to mold myself after that.
I think leadership is one of those things. I, I don't think there is such a thing as a born. Yeah, I think leadership is a, a lifelong pursuit. It's something that you need to continuously hone, right? That we all need to do that. Which is why I think, you know, things like grow where we spend time on leadership, right.
Um, is so valuable. But, uh, yeah, that's really what's kind of helped shape my, at least my attitude towards it. I, I hope I'm modeling it, but, well, you have, you have. Well, you have a lot of emotional intelligence. You understand it's not about you. Um, I, I've witnessed that firsthand on many occasions. When you were at Grow, you told a story about your wife, Andrea, and her business, and it was, you were talking to all of us about, you know, being someone or having a mission and a vision that someone would wanna follow.
Right. Do you remember the story? Would you, would you wanna share it again? Cause I, when you said it, I was, That was like an epiphany for me to, to be very mindful about what our saying, what we're saying as owners, because we don't realize sometimes how poorly we're coming across and self-centered. We, we can be y you know, it's fascinating.
I, I, I mean, I remember that and I remember the context because, I mean, I think you and I are both kind of a, a fan of Simon Sinek and the power of why. And so I've kind of molded Yep. My, my personal belief system after that. Why? And again, it goes back to why, why do I do something? Why do I get up in the morning?
Why, you know, why should anyone else care that I got up that morning? So what motivates me or us as individuals? And, and again, we're back to that whole issue of leadership and that's the realm of why. And, uh, I remember my, I was sharing my presentation with my wife and she was laughing because I was kind of using the.
You know, and getting to the motivation and she goes, oh, you mean not like the one with the company I work for? Where the mission statement was to deliver maximum profit for our shareholders, right? I was like, oh boy, I, you know, if I was working for that company, I can't wait to roll out of bed, right? So that I can deliver some sort of whopping bid dividend for some guy who knows nothing about the business, right?
Who plunked a bunch of investment dollars in it. I mean, is that. Is that truly how you're trying to motivate your people? Right? Right. Yeah. And that it would always stick with me because you know, your words and your, and your inspiration or what you share with your people matters. Why are they getting up in the morning?
Right. Why are they working? Why do they care about quality or efficiency or whatever? Is it because somebody, somewhere gets a new Mercedes? Right? I, I don't know. I mean, it's just, it really stuck with me and I, it's made me more mindful of that. Well, I, I think you make a great point, and I think part of the challenge of a leader is, you know, and you indicated this, Roger, you're never real.
You're never done. Okay. It's not like you'd be like, I got leadership figured out. I don't get any more help there. I don't need to read another book. I don't need to listen to anybody. I got it. Well, I, I think if you start saying that, you obviously ain't got it Okay. To use poor grammar. Yeah, I know. Well, complacency kills, man.
It does. Complacency kills. And, and why? Um, maybe for the top three people in that company that your wife worked at, maybe that would resonate with them to a degree. For the majority of the people in an organization, you know, they're not working to improve your EBITDA owners that are with us today. You know, you got a picture of a new bass boat and you're telling 'em, let's have a good year so I can get my bass boat.
I mean, hello. Talk about insensitive and getting people to check out you. You've gotta have a message that resonates with everyone. That's absolutely, I, I guess you can't always have a message that resonates with everyone, but you have to have one that, those that are, that are interested in being part of your organization, that it resonates with the majority.
Yeah. I, I, I think that's it. I mean, yeah, I mean, there's no such thing as, you know, one size fits all the perfect message or whatever. I mean, we're human beings. There's, there's no way it will. But a vast majority, you can certainly figure that. You know, I mean, it's the old saying, two guys laying bricks, you know, and one, and you ask what they're doing.
One guy says, I'm laying bricks. Right. The other guy says, I'm building a church. Which one's more inspired? Right, right. Exactly. Exactly. What, what's a, when you look back on your 22 years at Steel, your time in the Naval Academy, the couple other positions you had in between the Naval Academy and joining Steel, what are, what are some mistakes that you made that maybe we could all learn?
You know, I think the first mistake I made when I, I will, I will say this and, and this is just a personal philosophy thing. I think all of us were motivated by two emotions. That's it. Fear and love. You know, a lot of what we do, a lot of the mistakes we make are probably out of a, of a situation where we're afraid of something.
Are we afraid of being embarrassed? Are we afraid of failure? Whatever. It's, and so I'll start there. I mean, my, my first division officer tour, you know, I'm 23 years old. I'm straight out of the academy. I'm on a ship. I'm in charge of a 32 man division, 23 years. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I got multiple millions of dollars worth of equipment at my, I mean, you, you wanna talk about intimidation and, yeah.
And so, but out of fear, I felt like I needed to be the, the smartest guy in the room, and it was my way or the highway. I didn't wanna hear from anybody. Right. Yeah. So I think that's common. There was. And I was always driving for better and better out of the, out of the goodness of my heart. I wanted us to continuously improve.
And I remember the one day the senior chief pulled me aside, he said, you know, Mr. Phelps, do you realize that every time you give a compliment, it's followed by a butt? And it had floored me. I'm like, no way. That's not what I do. And sure enough, the very next day I heard myself saying, great job guys. But.
And I was like, yeah, so you know, I was lacking it. And then understanding that I had great people working for me. I needed to trust them. You know, I needed to trust. My job was to set, maybe work with them and set the vision in the direction of what we were doing. Right. It was their job. And then get out of their way.
Right. Amen. Don't let them do what they were there. I would say that's the one thing, the one thing, the second mistake I've definitely made that I'm working on is, you know, invariably people are coming in with me to me and wanting, Hey, we got a problem, or we have a situation, or whatever. And I'm a, I'm a fixer by nature, right?
So, you know, my initial thought is, Do this, do this, do this, do this. Right. I mean, just do this now. Go away. Um, but what I realize is I'm actually training those people to be helpless. Yeah. You know, you know, you're right. You're enabling them. Yes. Yeah. I'm telling them I don't trust them, I don't rely on them.
They need to wait for me to make the decision. Right. And I'm also letting 'em off the. So I, I remember a great saying. It's about a monkey. You know, the person comes into your office, they got a monkey on their back. Yep. Well, guess what? Right? I'm happy to pet the monkey. I'm happy to feed the monkey. I'm happy to make it dance.
Whatever you want. Right? But guess what? You're leaving with that monkey. Don't gimme that monkey. Right. Right. So true. I, yeah, I'd say those are the two big ones. Well, and a big, yeah, there's plenty more. Well, I know, I mean, heck, we could probably have a nine month long podcast if we were gonna talk about the mistakes I made.
Um, but you really made me think of something because I think when you say, when you give a compliment and then you say, They don't remember what you said before, but they only, they only remember and hear what you say after that. Exactly. Right. That is a small nuance about communication and high, and leaders with high emotional intelligence and understand things that, that, that can be dangerous.
Um, yep. You know, I, I know you're absolutely right. Right. And, and, and I know it's. As I've gotten older and more mature as a leader, I'm, I'm much more careful now at age 54 even than I was at 44 about the battles that I pick, you know? Yeah. There's, we're trying to get better together and while you know, you or I are a guy that wants the, the improvement to go from here to here, Really, we're looking for steps.
We're looking for people to get better. Um, yeah, it definitely has to be, it, it needs to be a, a process. It needs to be a philosophy of continuous improvement. Amen. And, and we, and that means risk. Yes. I mean, you have to allow your people the opportunity to fail. Amen. Um, now you don't want to be stupid about it, but at the same time, they've gotta have the ability to, to stretch.
And that's how they learn. That that's how, yeah. Agreed. Yeah. Plain and simple. Roger Steel is a powerhouse. I mean, they're, they are, um, literally and figuratively. They're a wonderful company. We love your equipment. I've been running your weed eaters since I was 14 years old, so 40 years on those orange things.
Um, I've had the wonderful opportunity to get a private, confidential tour of the plant with. I've seen firsthand the pride that goes into that manufacturing, and I've been a lot of manufacturing plants. I have never seen one that was as clean and full of happy people as I saw in your place. Um, it would appear to me, you have a wonderful culture there.
Now I know Steel is a multi-billion dollar company. The Grow Show was talking predominantly to small business owners. So I understand why our listeners today might say, well, I, I don't see how I can draw a common with a multi-billion dollar company that has this beautiful manufacturing plant. I say, oh, Contrera, I think you can.
How does Steel, you have a great culture. What goes into that great culture? Help us learn from. You know, I mean, I, I, I want to address that last comment you just said because I, you know, the, think about the history of. All right. It was 1926 and Andrea Steel was a young German engineer and uh, you know, he saw those guys out there in the black forest using handsaws and axes and said, there has to be a better way.
Right. And he went out and invented the world's first electric chainsaw, and he started out of a small garage. You know, with 20 people or whatever, and it grew to a global company. And you know, in 1974, steel Incorporated started here in the US as a subsidiary of the global company with manufacturing. And we had 2050 people.
In a 20,000 square foot space, you know, and we were assembling one model at chainsaw. So, you know, humble beginnings doesn't mean much. I mean, I think the way you go from humble beginnings to a global or a national company is because of your culture. Right. Because it, and, and it's really interesting that you asked that question because just yesterday, I was working with my, uh, colleagues in Germany.
They have a new career brochure that they give out to new people who are being hired on, and I'm helping them do the translation from German to English. And so all of these things were being called out. So it's amazing that you just said that. But you know, when I think about it, it really goes back to the fact that it, you know, it is a family concern.
I think everything begins and ends with the family. I mean, we are privately owned, but we're. Family owned. We're now in what we call G three, the third generation, and G4 has already. In positions of leadership. Um, and, and it doesn't mean that every company has to be family owned, but it's, it's, what does that mean?
Well, it means that the culture, the the why behind we, what we do, the overall tone, everything is being set by the family and you set the process up. And, and when I looked at it, it really is about that everything that we. Is rooted with that why, of finding a better way to make it easier, safer, more efficient, more effective for our customers to work with and in nature.
And, and as an extension of that, you know, this idea that we've got roots in nature and that really, I mean, you think about almost all of our tools are being used by people who are caring for nature in some way, whether it's tree care or landscaping or whatever. I, I never thought about that. You're right.
And it is, and, and so you know, this idea of sustainability, that we have a responsibility to the planet, but sustainability means so many more things. You know, I'm on the N A L P Sustainability Council now and we're talking about, you know, sustainability. Yes. But it means the continuation of, so there's business sustainability, there's personal sustainability, there's so, you know, this, this idea that we've got roots in nature and that we this power to grow.
Which I think is hilarious. Not hilarious, but I think it's just so wonderful that we're working with a grow group, right? When one of our fundamental premises is that we have the power to grow, right? As individual employees, we have the power to grow our, our, our careers. Um, the fact that we only distribute through our independent retailers.
Uh, so we're giving them, which is amazing when you think about it. Yeah, they haven't succumbeded to, you know, major distribution discount retailers. It's cool. Well, and, and, and again, I mean, that goes back to the family. I mean, Mr. Steele himself said, you know, if I was in it just to make the money, I would've made a lot of different decisions.
Right. So, you know, we have the ability to make decisions now that are not financially quote unquote wise in the near term, but we know that in the long term will be for the good of the company. Yep. So, you know, that power to grow, that this idea that yes, we have our roots in tradition, but we're able to grow into innovation and, and embrace new technologies and, and, And then finally, like I said, it end starts and ends with the family.
The fact that we as employees, honestly, and I know this is, it may sound trite and everyone says, yeah, you have to say that, but honestly, at this point in my career, I don't. Right. So the, the point is, I feel treated like family. Yeah. You know, the, the people around me all bleed orange. And, and we don't, we don't spend hours here because of the paycheck, because, you know, my dad always used to say, no amount of money makes a bad job.
Good. Yeah. We do it because we believe that A, we're doing something important. We're doing something meaningful. We're doing it with people we care about. I trust that the company's gonna take care of me, right. I want to take care of the company and frankly, I'm proud as hell to get on a plane and have the steel logo on my shirt and I can't wait for the person to go, right.
Oh man, I have a steel O something like, exactly. Hey man, that's like 50 years old. Do you wanna get a new one? Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah, I, I honestly believe that that trickles down and when you feel like you're part of something important, something meaningful, um, Yeah. It's easy to smile. Well, and I, I was, I mean, I was really struck by the culture from the guard shack, the, the cleanliness of the grounds, the cleanliness of the manufacturing plant, the people that we interacted on the shop floor, the, the one station where they were making the chainsaws.
Yeah. The thing puts fuel in it and then sucks the fuel out in this like clean environment. Even Emily, who's, you know, half my age was with us on that tour, was like, what in the world is, look at that. I mean, and there were people smiling. Yeah, isn't that cool? The one guy said to me, isn't it cool I get to work on this all day?
Um, you know, I, I'm always mindful of that stuff because we don't own our employees. Okay. No, they can, they can leave whenever they want. Yeah. Um, and they were doing good work. They were happy, and, and you've provided some good insight on there. Uh, thank you very much. Um, you also mentioned N A L P, the National Associational Landscape Professionals, an association that both of us are very fond of.
I'm most fond of N A L P for the advocacy work that they do on behalf of landscape professionals everywhere. Um, you and I are are active in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition. You have made a far bigger impact there than I have as a sponsor and an mc. Um, tell us a little bit more about the National Collegiate Landscape Competition and why you love that event and what other landscape pros that are with us today could glean from that.
Y you know what I'm, I think this could probably sum it all up. Uh, two weeks ago I was at the N A L P Leaders Forum, right? Uh, where, I don't know, 20, 30 of the top 100 landscape companies were represented with CEOs and other people. And I mean, it was all the heavy hitters, you know, we're walking around and I spotted this young man and I said, man, that guy looks really familiar.
And, and I walked over to him and sure. I mean, this was a gentleman that I had met 15, I think 15 years ago at the N C L C as a college competitor. Geez. Who now owned his own landscape company who had, you know, who was investing in the trip to Maui. Right. And, and everything else so that he could interact with heavy hitters, you know, Like the Frank Marias and like the Bob Grovers and Green from them, and I'm thinking, holy cow, that's what this industry is all about.
Yeah. The opportunity to go from college student and, or like you, you know, a single mower. To a multimillion dollar business. Right. And, and so when I look at the N C L C, I mean, I don't see college students. I don't see students at all. I see the future of our industry, future of our community, the future of our economy, the future of our planet.
And I tell you, being able to, in any small. Inspire those individuals, um, provide, you know, meaning sharing with them my mistakes. Right? Right. So hopefully they can avoid those and maybe make new ones. But, you know, I, to me, that, that opportunity, to me, I consider it a true privilege. Right. And honestly, Marty, a blessing that we have the ability to interact with those kids.
I understand. I, I know for myself the. 10 years cuz I'm no longer a kid, unfortunately. Um, I, I enjoy being around young people to figure out what makes 'em click because they're the future of our business and we have to, from a marketing perspective, understand them better. And from a company culture perspective, right?
We have to understand them better. And if you don't spend any time being around those, you're trying to lead in the future. I just don't see how you're gonna get better. I, I, I think it's critically important to have a dialogue with young folks. Yeah. I, I, I think that's it. I mean, I think as leaders we're agents of change.
Yeah. You know, I mean, I mean that, uh, like I said, complacency kills stagnant. Mm-hmm. You know, what is it the, uh, stagnant water just gets scum on the pond. Right. You gotta keep moving and you gotta keep adjusting. And let's face it, this incoming workforce has different priorities. Yeah. It doesn't mean they don't wanna.
I think that it's just that their motivations are slightly different. I mean, we come from a generation where, you know, we kind of lived to work. Right? And, and they work to live and they're much more meaning driven Yes. Than we are. I agree with you. We were, I think, and it doesn't make it right or wrong, it's, it's No, no.
And you gotta structure that culture that adapts. And I think that's actually one of the challenges. That's why I love the sessions that you provide, because again, it's, it's, it's like, Hey, I've got a very diverse workforce here. I've got everything from boomers all the way down to, you know, somebody who was born before I even wanted.
Think about it. Right. You know, I mean, I don't, you know, it's like, it seems like two days ago, but I mean, there's kids now that come in here to apply for jobs and they were born in the 2000, you know, they got a two zero in front of their birthday. Like, that's not, yeah, yeah. But, but, but in all seriousness, you know, that again, I mean, as a leader, that's the challenge.
We've gotta figure out how to lead for all, all of them. And, and frankly bring them along. So again, I think the opportunity to sit down with these young people and be, and learn that, you know, they are, they want this, they have ideas, they have, it's exciting. And I, I look forward to more of that. And then obviously inspiring them or hopefully inspiring them to participate in the association because, well, you do, and, and you're not phony.
I mean, I've seen you, you, you remember people and you single 'em out in a good. And you make connections and you're making an impact. We got a few more minutes here on The Gross Show with Roger Phelps from Steel Corporation. Um, the Future for Steel. I know that they have evolved into a tremendous amount of battery operated equipment, um, as a side commercial I truly believe.
Every man in the world should have a battery operated steel chainsaw in their garage. We, we had a windstorm come through and I had some small limbs come down and I took my battery operated chainsaw out. I didn't have to worry about having fuel or two cycle or anything. I put on all my safety equipment, my chaffs, my helmet, and I went out and that thing, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Um, that's my favorite steel tool. But here at the company, we're gradually outfitting all of our maintenance crews with steel's, battery operated equipment. Um, we have a tremendous amount of your gas operated equipment, but let's talk a little bit about where is the industry going with handheld equipment, and I really want you to touch on battery and maybe dispel some of the misnomers that folks may have.
Yeah, I think, you know, battery and in fact Al uh, you know, I, I enjoy that last year, I think at the Grow Conference we had a session. We'll be doing more of that as well in the future. Right. Um, but you know, I think, I, I think when I think about the future of the company, I mean, yes, it really is both. I mean, I think we all know how important gas and, and everything has a place.
So I would say that our future really involves a responsible approach. To the power that's being used, whether that's gas and making it more fuel efficient, making it less emission, making it lower noise to address those sustainability concerns, and as well as battery. Because let's face it, I mean the battery technology is definitely improving, but I'm not gonna sit here and say that it's some sort of panacea and that everything has been solved.
Right? There are some real challenges. At the same time, there's some real advantages. And so I'd say in addition to the technology of the batteries, where the run times are improving, the charging times are are being shortened, the charging solutions are improving the way the batteries communicate with the tools.
Is improving to ensure you get the maximum flow of energy, right? The tools themselves, I mean, our brand new 1 35 line, um, is built right here in Virginia Beach and it's using basic, fundamentally all the same components as our gas equipment is just as powered by a battery unit. Um, the life cycles of the battery are increasing, so the numbers of times that you can charge, it increases over time.
So, you know, I, I would say that, you know, that, that all of that's improving. Um, I would say that right now for the majority of the tools, you are in fact getting gas comparable performance. Um, the only one I, and I am. Flat out with everybody, and I don't care what brand you use, but right now the blowers, right?
The blowers are the biggest consumers of energy, and therefore the performance of the blower is not comp. I mean, it's comparable to a low end backpack, right? But, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's one of those that's a little bit challenging. So, um, you know, so really the future of ours, our future is not just the products, but it's creating.
Creating calculators, creating resources and tools that a landscaper such as yourself can go in and say, Hey, look, this is my operation now. I wanna go battery. What's the comparable tool? If I burn this much gas, how many charges of battery do I need? And what are my options of charging either overnight or in the field?
And then how much work work can I get out of it? Because everyone's focused on run time. Of course, I ask someone, well, how long does your unit run on a tank of gas? And I don't know, you know, I wanted something. Right. Well, we need to, we need to kind of adjust, but hey, let's face it. You mentioned N A L P and you know the work that Andrew Bray is doing?
Oh, Andrew Bra is terrific. I mean, we have to, the threat is out there. So I guess the question now for most of your listeners and your landscapers is, do you wanna be, do you wanna be part of the problem, you know, or wait for the problem to, uh, you know, overtake you, right? Or do you wanna get out ahead of it?
And I, and I would definitely recommend that everybody at least adopt maybe one. And learn from that. Our, our, our team loves the stuff. It, it's, I think it's a little bit akin to somebody driving a Prius in that you feel good using the equipment, you feel like you're doing good. Um, and, and I appreciate that.
I will also tell you, for everyone that's joined us, I have two son-in-laws now, Roger, and I am father-in-law of the, probably the decade. And it's so hard to buy presents. And so I started out with the steel battery powered, uh, mower for both of my son-in-laws when they got their first house with my daughters.
Then I got 'em, the weed eater, then I got 'em, the blower. There's a couple other things I have in mind that little battery operated. Oh, the gta, which are very hard to get. That's killer. Yeah. You know, so anyway, that's, that's a tip there. And I think what you said is right. I mean, in the fall we have to bring out the big boys, the, the big steel, uh, backpack blowers to, to move the leaves like we do.
But for the majority of the tasks in Dayton, Ohio, from March 15th to about October 1st, The battery operate equipment in it's all steel here has performed terrific. The maintenance on 'em is hardly anything and we, they love 'em. Um, we have some women that work on the cruise and they appreciate the lightweight of some of that stuff.
And I just gotta tell you, I mean, we're big fans of it. Well, I think most people are finding that, and you know, it has some real advantages too. I mean, when you look at the hedge trimmers for instance, you know, because an electric motor has higher torque, uh, than a gas power, you have less chance of bogging down.
So you actually get cleaner cuts. I didn't, you know, the blades. The blades on those are hedge trimmers are exactly the same as the gas powered ones, but now it's being powered by an electric motor that can power through the stems. And so, you know, you find advantages like that guys go home and their wives or their spouses say, you know, you don't, you don't smell like two cycle fuel anymore.
Anymore. Exactly. And the trailer doesn't smell that. Or the trailer and. Yeah, I will say this, I mean, you know, people are focusing on the initial startup cost of, and it is, it's more expensive. But I would, I would really encourage people, and we're coming up with tools to do this, is to start extrapolating out if you compare the cost of, you know, a watt or whatever of.
Of electricity it takes to recharge the battery. And you do that over the time. I mean, you start seeing that you could potentially start breaking even depending on hours of run time, right? When you factor in fuel costs, two cycle fuel, nicks, maintenance costs, things like, you know, whatever. So again, we're gonna try to help people make the right decision for their operation.
I'm not, You know, going either way. I mean, we, we are still cranking out gas equipment, we're still cranking out battery equipment. Agreed. We've been making it here in the US now. Agreed. Which is awesome. Yeah. Roger, it's, it's been awesome to, to be with you. Um, the most impactful thing that you said to me in the last 40 minutes was, find a better way.
Yep. And I think that is a mindset of a winner. I think that winners like Roger Phelps, the Steel Corporation, Finding, finding a better way is the mindset we should have on a daily basis, find a better way to get along with people. Yes. Find a better way to make equipment, find a better way to fix things.
You know, all those things. And, and I think when you wake up engaged, you put a smile on your face, maybe even if you don't feel like smiling, which Roger you and I both know at our age, there's some days that are like that and, and we find a better way. We're gonna. You got it. You're right. Let's do it. How can people get ahold of you?
How can, if someone wants to get a demo of battery equipment, if someone wants to get a gas powered blower, if someone wants to flip their fleet, what should they do? Roger? Well, I mean everything starts with our website. So go to steel usa.com, steel usa.com, and uh, there's an entire, you know, slash professional that's the entire area for professional products and assets.
And if you go further steel usa.com/professional/training okay, you can actually enter in a desire to have someone either come out and our guys do that cuz we're perfect. We have 11 regional distributors. They can offer you professional safety and operation training at no cost and can bring a demonstration of, uh, battery equipment.
So, uh, your, your listeners, your viewers can try it out for themselves and see if it's right for them. Well, I would highly encourage everyone to do that. We, Brian Equipment is the, is the distributor here in the Ohio area. They have extremely knowledgeable people. I know when you and I were in Nashville last week for Grow.
Some of those men were out with us for dinner. They couldn't be nicer. They're knowledgeable. Heck, I even bought a machine from for my daughter and he delivered it to her house, so that's awesome. Who lives in Nashville? So I don't know how you could ask any better. Roger, you're a gentleman. You're a scholar.
The Gro Group appreciates your support. I appreciate everything that you do for the industry. We so enjoyed having you on the Grow Show today, powered by Steele. Have a great day. Thanks Marty. Take care. So long. Everyone. Thank you for listening to this episode of The Grow Show. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
And head to Grow group inc.com for more information and resources to grow your landscaping business. A special thanks to the folks at Steele whose. This podcast possible and whose reliable handheld power equipment makes our drives easier daily. We'll talk to you next week.
