Transcription

• Speaker #0

  Hello and welcome to the Skilled AF podcast, a podcast elevating the voices that are shifting the face and future of the skilled trades. I'm your host, Amanda Lucchetti, founder of the Skilled Project, a platform shaping how skilled trades and construction careers are seen, accessed, and experienced. You can learn more at theskilledproject.com. Hi. Today's guest is Colin White. founder and CEO of Blue Gopher, a last mile delivery company built specifically for the construction industry. In this conversation, we talk about Colin's path, entrepreneurship from construction management, his vision for revolutionizing construction through Blue Gopher, his expansion plans beyond Ohio, and how protecting people's time is essential to a healthier industry. Wherever you're at in the world, we hope you enjoy. Today I have here Mr. Colin White. He is the founder and CEO of Blue Gopher, a last mile delivery company for construction. He's on a mission to revolutionize the construction industry. And he got his start actually in the industry before pivoting to be an entrepreneur in the space. And so I'm so excited and looking forward to talking to you about your journey, your story, Blue Gopher, innovation, your point of view, all of it. So welcome to the show. Excited to have you on.

• Speaker #1

  Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.

• Speaker #0

  So let's start with your journey. Where did the idea for Blue Gopher come from?

• Speaker #1

  Well, I went to school for construction management, went to University of Cincinnati. I got my degree in construction management out of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. And I told myself while I was in those classes, taking those structures classes, those calculus two and physics and all those hard classes that were just giving me the blues at the time that I'm not going to sit. through this and go through what I'm going through just to work for somebody else. Like, this is going to help catapult me to that next level. I just didn't know what it was. I didn't know what that looked like. So I always had this kind of seed planted in the back of my head that, okay, while I am in this industry working, I'm going to be looking for lanes and looking for avenues and looking for ways to innovate, create, and help add value to the industry. So Even then, when I was in school, I had an entrepreneurial kind of mind, connotation. So I didn't even know what it was yet. So after I graduated and I worked in the industry for a few years, about three or four years, I noticed that companies were coming on strong. So this is like at the beginning of Lyft and Uber. This is like the beginning of Postmates and DoorDash and all that kind of stuff. Like this is 2015, 2014. And I said, man. People are really focusing on moving people and moving food, but what if they just focused on construction materials, tools, and equipment? I think there might be something there because I was a project manager sitting in the job trailer in the middle of nowhere outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and I found myself having to go to Lowe's or Home Depot to pick up those small items. I call them, you know, it's always a nickel holding up a dime. We were really good at the long lead items, really good at getting that. material there, but it was always something silly that I would have to use my lunch break and go get, whether that's a tarp or a shovel or some bungee straps or whatever it is. I was like, I would gladly pay somebody to pick this up and bring it out here to me because now I got to spend my whole lunch hour running errands for the job to make sure the job runs smooth. And Lord knows we all have better things that we could be doing with our time. That's on top of the mental health aspects of it and getting an actual break during the workday. I could be doing payroll or I could be doing some other form of office work while I'm doing that. So now I have to stay late because I had to run during lunch. So that was like the beginning of the blue gopher. That's when it was kind of like, hmm, I see this is going on. How can we innovate it, tweak it, make it work for construction? And then fast forward from 2015 to 2018, that's when I put it on paper and decided, OK, this is what I want it to look like. It was a good old fashioned web. Blue Gopher, not even spelled the way I spell it now, but it was something, you know, it was like, okay. And it was obtainable because I could do this little money down. I was able to build this with no startup capital, no seed money, just straight bootstrapping. And for each job that we get, the money we get for that job, we're able to pay our drivers and the overhead is relatively low.

• Speaker #0

  That's amazing. You've set this intention for years. I love that.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, that's a great way. Yeah, intention. Exactly.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, very intentional. I mean, were there any entrepreneurs in your family? Anyone in construction in your family? It was just like all you.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. So we were having our pre-conversation. I was telling you about my grandfather. He's just a hustler. He's from Cleveland. He worked for the steel mill and every so often he would get laid off. So he had, it was like white moving something along those lines. So he would just help neighbors, people in the neighborhood move. So my dad has fond memories of its summers. going to work with him and helping him, you know, just move people. So it was like moving service. It was hauling trash out, you know, that kind of stuff. So I guess you could say that it has been planted generations ago. Like this is something that maybe has been started, you know, since the 60s and 70s. Not my parents, my immediate parents, my dad, he retired from Honda. So he worked in maintenance. So he did work with his hands. He was a blue collar worker, but not in a quote unquote construction space, more of a automotive manufacturing type of capacity. He worked maintenance. So he would work on the robots and stuff that went down on the conveyor belt and on the assembly line. So to answer your question, yes and no. My background is traditional. You know, we have nine to fivers in our family. So even me stepping out and chasing this dream. is a big deal. You know, I tell people a lot of times, there's two things that you cherish. You want your freedom or you want your security. Which one turns you on? Which one gets you going? And for me, it's freedom. And to be able to have a business and build it. And, you know, I think Mark Cuban said it on Shark Tank, like, I'd rather make $50,000 a year doing what I love to do, building my thing, than to make $150,000 for somebody else. That really sticks with me. You This is something that it's mine. Something I'm building is my baby. You know, it's very satisfying.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, I was going to say it's your baby.

• Speaker #1

  It is my other baby. So technically, let's see my second. So my daughter was born in February of 18. And this was born officially in November of 18. So yeah, it is. It definitely is.

• Speaker #0

  Well, you've obviously described the Blue Gopher. It's last mile delivery. And I'm just curious about... what types of materials and equipment actually get delivered? What types of contractors use your service? Or is it specifically folks on the ground trades people using your service? And obviously you're in Ohio, so you're focused right now within Ohio, but would love to hear more about the day-to-day and some of the logistics side of it.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, we are in Columbus, Ohio. That's where I live. We also service Dayton, Ohio and Cincinnati. We have a bigger pool of drivers in Columbus, but I tell people, hey, We'll go anywhere if the pay is good. If you're going to pay us to go, we'll make sure we can go. A lot of our customers are your mid-range to smaller contractors. So, you know, a lot of stand-in vans, you know, people that don't really have big crews. They can't really afford to pay somebody to have them on staff as a gopher or maybe a lesser tradesman or apprentice. So they can hire us as needed. We're your gopher on demand. So we get those medium-sized to small-sized contractors, typically residential or commercial. It doesn't matter. We do anything from a mini excavator bobcat, it's about 10,000 pounds, down to a box of screws, you know. So we have drivers in our pool that have four-door sedans, SUVs, pickup trucks, all the way up to box trucks, rollbacks, flatbeds. You name it, we pretty much have delivered. I even delivered on my motorcycle. one time because it just made more sense to just throw some fittings in my backpack, put it on there. And the gas, the cost efficiency was just too good to pass up. And it gave me an excuse to be on the bike. So, you know, I always take those opportunities when I can, when it's nice outside.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah. It'd be dangerous.

• Speaker #1

  Not now, but I mean, that's pretty much who we serve. Anybody like, I find that the larger companies that typically have systems built in for their delivery. They have somebody at the warehouse that just runs and gets stuff. And I tell them all the time, look, nobody has a crystal ball. No one knows what's going to happen. We're here for you when you need us. And that's it. We're just your gopher on demand. Right now, we've been getting a lot of cabinet deliveries. I just have a really good friend of mine who became a friend through Blue Gopher. He's one of our customers since the beginning, and he's given us a lot of cabinet work. So we deliver a lot of cabinets for third-party companies. So a lot of cabinet companies either, A, they can't get anybody over there to pick up the cabinets and deliver them to the job, so they hire us to do that. Or the cabinet, the company, will hire us out if their truck is down or they need somebody to deliver cabinets to some of their customers. So that's been a niche we've been able to fill. here as of late, it's been really heavy. Prior to that, our big niche was the mini excavators and bobcats for a smaller mom and pop construction equipment company. They have since gone out of business. So that business has gone down, but we're still here for the big boys. So United Rentals, Sunbelt, all you guys listening, we're here for you. If you ever need our service, if you're in the Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati area, give us a call. We'd love to help you out.

• Speaker #0

  And what's your turnaround? Like how quickly can somebody get a delivery through you?

• Speaker #1

  So I don't guarantee this because, you know, guarantees get you in trouble. But I tell people a 90 minute turnaround. So if you need something here by noon, we should be getting it to you. And the reason why I can't guarantee that is because sometimes it's like kind of like the fire station. Like, you know, there's a fire alarm, right? There's a fire, fire. We get everything going. We're there. Then we get the lows and then we got to wait. because they said it was picked. They said it was ready, but it's not ready. So now we're waiting on them. So it's like, you hurry up and wait. And a lot of times the customer's like, where are you at? We're still here at Lowe's and we're waiting on them to, they told me it was ready. I hear you, but this is just what it is sometimes. The left sometimes doesn't know what the right is doing. So, you know, you're just a victim of circumstance. But I like to tell people, just let us know and we'll get it to you same day. Better than a lot of other companies out there who will say, I know one customer needed some cabinets delivered from Lowe's. And he said, Lowe's is going to take them a week to get the cabinets. And it was like three cabinets. I said, no, we got it. You want it today or you want it tomorrow morning? He said, tomorrow morning would be perfect.

• Speaker #0

  Hell yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. Well, and like I was going to ask you, like, I know that DoorDash has a relationship with like Home Depot, right? And are they delivering cabinets? I don't know.

• Speaker #1

  I imagine their relationship is kind of like Instacart. My wife loves Instacart. That's her go-to. I wish it wouldn't, but it's convenient. But they go in and they shop and they pick the stuff out. But I don't imagine my door dasher picking up my vanity for me for my bathroom remodel, my tub, something like that. That's just a little bit too big to put in a hatchback.

• Speaker #0

  Totally.

• Speaker #1

  You might need a pickup truck for that.

• Speaker #0

  I got a story for you for another time.

• Speaker #1

  Oh.

• Speaker #0

  don't tell me you strapped your vanity to the top of your pickup for so I ran this helped with this construction camp teen girls camp and we had a bunch of plexiglass and I was like oh I'll fit it and I had like a SUV didn't fit and it was an absolute it was hilarious I had like a man helping me and then anyways but I called my father-in-law he's a general contractor I was like anyway I can get a truck yeah

• Speaker #1

  Ha

• Speaker #0

  and so then I ended up one of his supes came over and helped me with his truck I was like this is ridiculous I mean it was amazing I got the help but it took like an hour and a half out of my day and I wasn't like very far away yeah I was very close to my home but it was just funny and that's the thing is that in your mind you're like oh this is going to be easy this is going to be quick hour

• Speaker #1

  you know like less than an hour I'm going to get in I'm going to get out and then you get in it and you're like man where is my afternoon gone like I don't even feel like doing the work now because it took so long.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, I was late to pick up my kid.

• Speaker #1

  So imagine just being able to make that call or put that order. Hey, Blue Gopher, you know, they're on the way. We call them, they're on the way, they're doing it. So by the time I get done doing what I need to do, it's there, it's ready to go. We're ready to rock.

• Speaker #0

  Well, and like, obviously you've been in the industry. You have a unique point of view. You understand pain points a lot better than a lot of other people, right? And so do your drivers. Are they in construction? Have they worked construction or is that a prerequisite or no?

• Speaker #1

  It's not a prerequisite because at that point, their biggest service is picking up A, taking it to B. And nine times out of 10, there's a crew there to offload them. If not, typically we tell them, hey, offload in the garage, stage it in there. And it's really not too much that they need to know. They just need to be reliable and say what they're going to do. and do what they're going to say. That's basically really all I need them to do. Our drivers are bigger than drivers. They're ambassadors at that point. They're really there to be an extension of the white glove service that is Blue Gopher. This is a service. This is something that you're paying for. We just want you to be on your best behavior and treat it like it's grandma's house. How would you present this? How would you do this if you were delivering to your grandma? Usually when you say stuff like that, okay, I get it. And I use the term ambassadors because I'm not their boss. I'm just putting them in positions. to get work and to succeed. Because if they look bad, I look bad. And we all look bad. And the whole system kind of goes down the crapper, right? We all have to do our part. I'm the face. I'm getting the leads and I'm helping get the business. I need you to help keep that business and hopefully grow it because you're giving exceptional service. And you are giving that five-star Blue Gopher service that we require, which doesn't take much. It's construction, right? We know who we're dealing with. We're not dealing with the most uppity people. Just get it there when you say you're going to get it there.

• Speaker #0

  And communicate. And yeah,

• Speaker #1

  communicate. If you're going to be late, just let me know so I can let them know. Just small stuff like that. But in this industry, it doesn't take much to give that five-star service.

• Speaker #0

  Makes sense. With your drivers, you have 30 drivers?

• Speaker #1

  30 drivers in our pool, in the driver.

• Speaker #0

  In your pool. I believe you're saying they make a lot more. than they would make elsewhere. Is that correct?

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. So per delivery, the lowest that they're going to make is $25, $30 in that range because the cheapest delivery for us is $60. So that's if you want us to go and get some paintbrushes and pick it up, $60 is the minimum. I would suggest you put some more stuff on there to make it worth the trip. But off of that, our drivers are getting either half to two thirds of it. So you can do the math on the $60 that. Okay, they can make anywhere between $30, $35 on that one delivery, which I order too much DoorDash and I see how much they're making when they go and pick up my McDonald's or deliver my Wingstop. So plus the tip. And we haven't really even integrated like a tip feature on our app. But once we get that, that's going to definitely grow. Now, customers are more than welcome to tip, you know, when they get there, give them cash or whatnot. But we don't really promote that feature. because we feel like they're getting a pretty nice amount out of each delivery.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, that's really cool that you've been able to figure out that type of a model and the fact that these are bigger ticket items. It makes sense.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. And it kind of grows. If it's in a car, just think $60. If it's just a pickup, $100. If it's in a pickup, but maybe it's got to hang out a little bit, you need that red flag on the back of it just to warn people, think about $150. If it's something that requires... requires maybe a flatbed, a little bit heavier, $200. And then typically for our Bobcat and like the Bobcat rentals and mini excavators, there's usually $400 round trip, so $200. And that's kind of been our model. That's kind of like the top end and the bottom end. Now, flat rate is within 270, so within central Ohio. So 270 is our outer belt that surrounds Columbus. So if it's inside of there, it's going to be a flat rate. Anything outside of that, take that base price and basically add a dollar a mile to that.

• Speaker #0

  Got it. It seems like people are like, well, this is worth it for me. Because one, if you think about what backs up a job and then what that ends up doing, if you can't get your cabinets installed, then...

• Speaker #1

  For us, you're in construction, you get it. You understand the time value. My time is worth this $60 item. Colin, I was in the trailer outside Nashville, Tennessee. would have gladly paid $60 to get that tarp. So I wouldn't have to go out, waste my energy, my time, so I could just enjoy my lunch and do stuff that I would like to do instead of stuff for the job. Gladly pay that figure. And it's the hidden time waste, you know, like we talked about. Like, oh, I'm just going to go here in 30 minutes. And then it's like, well, it took me two hours because once I got there, it wasn't ready. So then, well, I might as well do some more shopping while I'm there. And, well, I'm here. It's lunchtime. Let me go ahead and stop and get a burger. well let me get my cigarettes let me get my chew my dip you know that is like wow this is something i thought my head take 30 minutes and it's taking three hours what and then you complain about there not being enough hours in the day or i don't have enough time to do what i need to do and it's like well you just wasted three hours like you either a you got there late you said you told the customer you're gonna get there at eight so you took that time at the front end you don't get there till 10 so now the customer's already bad because they don't know because you we're not good communicators, construction. I'm saying myself, you know, I'm in the construction realm. We do our best, but most likely contractors aren't the best communicators. So you're doing the right things. You're trying, but you're not communicating that to the customer. So they don't know what's going on all the time. You could have been there at eight, could have interfaced with the customer. You could have got things together, got them organized. And by the time you really needed to get to work, Blue Gopher is on the way, dropped off your stuff. And now you're off to the races. you're more productive with your time, you're more efficient, you're able to get more done in a day.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah. You brought up the point of like, oh, hey, you get your lunch back. Oh, you, hey, you might be going home early, be with your family or whatever. Yeah. It's just, it's those little things that add up that you don't really think about. And then you're like, oh, this could have been outsourced in a way different way.

• Speaker #1

  It could have, but a lot of people just don't know that it exists. And it was kind of the point of wanting to come on here with you and just share the gospel, let people know that, hey, this is an option in your hometown. You know, Blue Gopher. is not everywhere, but there are blue gophers, companies that do what I do around the country that can help you. So I really just want to raise awareness to that final delivery, that last mile delivery service for construction is out here. And it's for the betterment of the industry, if you ask me. I'm not greedy, Amanda. I want us all to win. I want us all to do better as an industry. And this new innovation, this new lane that we've created, is definitely that it can help.

• Speaker #0

  Well, you're talking about right now, there's other similar, I would say around the country or whatever, but like Blue Gopher itself, you're in Ohio. Where are you looking to expand? I know you're really trying to crack Ohio right now.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Are there other states around you that you think are next or are you looking at East Coast, West Coast? I'm curious what you're thinking.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, I'm a Midwest guy. So I would definitely like to lock down the Midwest. Maybe some Kentucky. I know that's the South, but maybe get Louisville, maybe northern Kentucky, get that area since we are in Cincinnati already. That's kind of not an easy territory, but that's a territory that's, you know, within striking distance. So when you open up Kentucky, then you automatically have Indiana in there. I love to go north through Cleveland and Toledo, Pennsylvania. So Pittsburgh. So at least that west side of Pennsylvania. where Pittsburgh is, up to Detroit. So those are like off the top of my head, the states and the cities that I could see Blue Gopher really getting into. So the big ones, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Louisville, what I say, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Those would be the cities that I'd like to see Blue Gopher at next.

• Speaker #0

  What do you think you would need in order to get that? I'm just trying to manifest it with you.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, yeah. I think if I want to do a lift like that, I'm going to need some help. I'm going to need some seed funding and going to need some investors. That's a heavy lift for grassroots, you know, just for a grassroots operation such as Blue Gopher. We're all going to need some help with that, which is doable. You know, it's very doable. I feel like our model is set up to succeed. There's plenty of, like, avenues that we could charge on. Like, we could easily charge people to be in the pool. Like, we could charge, you know. just to sign customers up, you know, make you pay a monthly subscription just to even have access to Blue Gopher. You know, there's other like avenues that I've explored, but I'm like, I just don't think that's what we want to do right now. It's a test model. We're out here, we're getting it out to the people. It's not well known enough. The industry is not strong enough yet for it to be on its own, but it's coming. You know, it just takes time. We're looking for early adopters. at this point.

• Speaker #0

  I'm thinking like the whole motto, start small, dream big. You got to crack it, small.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, start local, think global, right? That's the same, yeah, the same idea.

• Speaker #0

  Well, I want to actually ask you about more on this innovation side. Obviously, the construction industry as a whole is like very behind compared to other industries when it comes to like innovation, right? Obviously, you saw this as an opportunity. Are you thinking about that you're like, oh, this... is ripe for innovation or disruption within the construction space?

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. I mean, I would like Blue Gopher to be the first domino of many businesses that I have. And the second domino would be Blue Gopher Depot. So basically, instead of going to Home Depot, Lowe's, wherever, we have our own depot. So we're not the middleman anymore. We are the man. So kind of in a sense of a... warehouse type space like Amazon, but you get everything from the Blue Gopher Depot. And then I actually do have a site in mind here in Columbus to start that and kind of think on it as a like CVS Walgreens compared to a Target or Walmart. You know, you have your big box stores, but you know, I just need some cough medicine. I don't want to go all the way to Walmart, go in the parking lot, fight the traffic, deal with all the people in there, get in there, walk. to the pharmacy section and then all the registers be closed and you got to do the self-checkout. But there's only one person there helping the people at the self-checkout. There's 15 people in front of you. You're already sick. You don't feel well. I just want cough syrup. And, you know, you had to go through all that. It's just a lot easier to go to Rite Aid or Walgreens or CVS to get that. Same with with the Blue Gopher Depot. You just need some bags of Quikrete. Why do I have to go all the way inside, go to register, you know, park my truck out in the parking lot? Just come to Blue Gopher Depot or order it. We'll we'll drop it off to you. But we understand, right, Amanda, that construction is old school. A lot of people just like to do things themselves. So come to a smaller location. and get everything that you need without wasting that time of going through the big box. So that is the next iteration of Blue Gopher is the Blue Gopher Depot. And just being everything for everybody as far as construction needs, as far as material, tools, and equipment. So that's the next step in the Blue Gopher saga.

• Speaker #0

  And the journey.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Well, you've chosen to stay in construction. Rather than you have these people that have never worked in construction that are coming in, right? You've stayed in the industry, are trying to disrupt it almost from like the inside is the best way to put it. But like, what do you genuinely love about the industry? You went and got your degree in construction management. Like what has kept you in construction?

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, that is a great question. So I love the idea of taking something from nothing, building something from nothing. Like it was literally an idea that was grown on a piece of paper. And then it was brought to life by a contractor and trades and you leave and it's this thing that's going to be here hopefully forever, right? That's the idea, you know, being able to go downtown Cincinnati. And even though my kids don't care, but tell them, hey, you know, your daddy worked on the Queen City Tower, you know, that's the tallest building in Cincinnati. Oh, you know, those apartments over there, the South Shore Towers, you know, your dad worked on that, you know, to be able to have that pride in the work, like being able to see that. I think that's really cool. Also, being able to work on a team, being able to work together with all these different people, all these movement pieces. And, you know, as a project manager, that's really it. You're like a conductor in the orchestra. And you're just, it's just sweet music when everything is harmonized and everything is humming and coming together. And you're able to bring all these different types of people together like a weave and we do great work. So I think those are you the two top of my mind that I love about construction is the collaboration and being able to take something from nothing. It's an amazing thing.

• Speaker #0

  That's amazing. Half my interviews have been the, oh, that's the building I built, guys. They love it. They're like, there's so much pride in it. And maybe the kids don't care, but what a cool experience to be able to say that.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, I agree.

• Speaker #0

  Well, on the flip of it, what frustrates you the most about the industry. What feels... unnecessarily hard, I guess.

• Speaker #1

  I feel the industry is very old school. It's very good old boys network. They look at people like yourself and myself as outsiders and like, we're full, we're good. Because like we already said, the construction industry is an old industry. And be honest, they haven't been kindly to people like you and I in the past. And things that I overcome and try to fight. on a daily is just the way I look. People aren't expecting me to say what I say or have the experience that I have just because I'm a black man. And, you know, it's not an excuse. I'm not using that as like, oh, well, I'm not going to be able to grow blue gopher because I'm black and might as well go home. No, it's just something you just have to overcome because if you fall down seven, you get up eight, right? You only need one yes to change this whole thing. So I'm out constantly every day over. coming that. And it's going to come. It's just a matter of time. It's just maybe it would come a little bit quicker because I'll give you a stat. Construction project managers is less than 4% across the board. And when you're dealing in an industry where you have less than 4% representation, you kind of get what you get. But I've got to fight every day to kind of change that narrative and change people's mind and their perspectives on who I am and what I look like and what my people can do and add to the industry. And, um, I'm proud to wear that. I'm proud to be able to go out there every day and lay it on the line and do my best to help people out. Because at the end of the day, that's all I'm trying to do. All I'm trying to do is add value. Just trying to provide you a service. This is something that I feel like I can give back to the industry. And I tell people, I'm giving you $20 worth of value for $5 back.

• Speaker #0

  That's it. I'm not asking for too much, but I want to provide this service for you, this value for you. I want a little bit back, but you're going to gain so much more because it's not just today. It's not just tomorrow. It's the day after that. It's the month. It's the year. And you're like, whoa,

• Speaker #1

  it stocks up.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, it stocks up. It is the compound effect is real. And if you spend an hour a day at the home improvement store, just because that's what you're used to doing. I'm going to get it. I'm going to do it. Okay, let's say you spend an hour a day doing it. That's 30 working days at the end of the year that you just wasted going to do it because you just want to do it yourself. How many jobs could you do? Your dad is in the industry. How many jobs could he have done in 30 days? You know? Yeah,

• Speaker #1

  I don't even want to talk about that. That man loves his Home Depot and also the side Costco run. So, yeah.

• Speaker #0

  It's the everything, right? It's the missing the dance recitals. And it's the, oh, I got to work on Saturday because I got to make up for what I lacked on during the week. So much time could be better spent. And one good thing that I am hopeful for in the future is that the millennials, the Gen Zers, is that the ones like, right? Gen X?

• Speaker #1

  Gen Z, and then I think it's like Gen Alpha after that. And then I don't know what happens after that.

• Speaker #0

  I always get X and Z mixed up.

• Speaker #1

  Our kid is then a part of that. And then I'm like, I don't even know what that means. Then I feel just old.

• Speaker #0

  Because we all, it's crazy to think about it. But, you know, I'll be 40 next year. And I know other 86ers and 40-year-olds, we value our time with our family. Not saying that my dad and his dad didn't love his family. It's just they valued being a provider and doing whatever it took to do that. We have more value in spending time and what that looks like. I think there was a study that said millennial dads spend like 40% more time with their kids now than their parents spent with them. That's the truth. I am living proof of that. You know, our values are different. You know, we want to provide as well. But I want to provide by having a service out there that doesn't need me every day into it, but it's still making money and it's still doing good. and helps the industry. And I don't have to work 12 hours a day in order to do that. So it's the same grit, same grind, just a little bit different execution, if that makes sense.

• Speaker #1

  I've said this in other episodes and with other people, but my theory of change is just around the values. It's like you design your life and support systems around those values. And I think you're pointing on something really important about millennial parents. So many of them are going to be in leadership positions within the construction industry. And it's like those, I think, structures and the way that they've operated, I would say historically, are probably going to change just because of the values that these people have, which is a good thing. I think at the end of the day is a good thing.

• Speaker #0

  It is because it's going to be like, oh, well, why are we doing that? We can get Blue Gopher to do that. It's a no brainer. And we didn't even touch on the shortage of the trades, the trade shortage. like the pool of people wanting to get into the construction industry is shrinking. So you used to have, I'll call them expendable people, people that you could just call gophers and just say, hey, they're on the team, but all they do is run and get stuff. No, you need every person doing the work if you're even going to get the work done.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah, that's a luxury. That was a luxury.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, that was a luxury that we don't have. We need everybody that we can get, literally everybody and I think Blue Gopher is there to help people realize that, like, okay, well, if I have a service, a third-party service that I can only pay when I need them, that means I can promote my runners. I can promote my people that are in the warehouse, and we can actually get them out there in apprenticeship programs and get them climbing the ladder. And I think that's worth it.

• Speaker #1

  I like that idea. That's actually a really cool and interesting model of what you could do. I could totally see how that, because you're almost like, if you're getting a pipeline of people interested about the work potentially too, like you're getting them exposed. And so there could be a whole world there too, on the education side.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah. Nobody wants to come off the street and just be a runner for a construction company. You know, you want to be a carpenter or you want to be, you know, apprentice on a plumbing staff or HVAC or electrical contractor. You know, you don't want to just be there and just be the last guy on the totem pole. You want to actually do the work. So I get it. You get on there to learn certain things, but we don't really have that luxury anymore to have time to learn that. It's like we need you now to get to work so we can get all this work done because there's so much work out there already. We don't have enough people to do it.

• Speaker #1

  For sure. Well, Colin, I've really enjoyed our conversation. I want to ask one question before we wrap, but is there anyone you would like to thank for where you are today?

• Speaker #0

  Yeah. So I want to definitely shout out my co-founder, Terrence Chambers. That's my CTO. He's behind the scenes guy. He keeps me going. He's the battery in my back. So I would not be doing him justice or Blue Gopher justice if I didn't shout him out. So shout out to you, Terrence, you know, my wife. my family, my kids love them. You know, my wife is my rock. So, you know, as I go through this transitional period of building this business, she's definitely holding us down. So I want to shout out to her. So shout out to Sierra White and, you know, my kids, Grayson and Remington, love y'all. The whole construction industry as a place to grow, it's been good to me. It has its issues. It has its things, right? Every industry does, but at the end of the day, there's no love lost. And I know that there's much more to give to the industry to help out so we can give back to me and others. So. Well,

• Speaker #1

  thank you, Colin. And one, you reached out to me and I was like, Ooh, I want to learn more about you and like what you're doing. And I'm so glad that you trusted me to give obviously your voice a platform to be heard and what you're doing. And I really wish you all the success in the world. And I can't wait to watch Blue Gopher grow. And I know you're like, I want the Midwest to lock that down, but I would love to see this on the West Coast. And so there's a lot of potential here.

• Speaker #0

  You're coming. You just asked where we're going next.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah.

• Speaker #0

  Remember, start local, think global, right? We're going to be worldwide one day. And we're going to have you to think for that as well. So we appreciate you helping us along the way.

• Speaker #1

  Thank you. You have an app. So for people that are within the Ohio area, can you go on the Apple Store and Android and download your app?

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, so Terrence, if you're hearing this, the Android people are asking. So we have some bugs in the Android side of the app. So he's working through those. But it is fully downloadable through the iOS, the Apple Store. If that's not your drive, you just want to call me or text me. The number is 614-636-4674. Again, that's 614-636-4674. That 4674 is GOF. I did not plan that. That's just how God works. I cannot. Yeah. So it's 614-636-GOPH. That's what the word is. No way.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. Incredible.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah.

• Speaker #1

  Yeah. No, universe is channeling, baby.

• Speaker #0

  Yeah, it is. And then you can go to our website. It's bluegopherapp.com. That's B-L-U-E-G-O-P-H-E-R-A-P-P.com. You can check us out there. Also, our social media, Instagram is Blue Gopher app as well. So follow us, like our stuff, tell a friend about us. That's what I tell people. Just let people know that we exist. So send this, pass this to a friend, especially if they're in the Ohio area and tell them to connect with me. I love to talk.

• Speaker #1

  Thank you. I love the plugs and we're rooting for you and Terrence and your whole team. Thank you for chatting with me.

• Speaker #0

  Thank you for having me.

• Speaker #1

  Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the skilled AF podcast. If you enjoyed it, please rate, review, subscribe to it, wherever you're listening. And if you want to stay connected, partner, you name it, head over to the skilled project.com or follow us on social media at the skilled project until next time. Stay skilled AF.