Intro:
00:00:00
Welcome to the Construction Disruption Podcast, where we
Intro:
00:00:04
uncover the future of design, building, and remodeling.
Todd Miller:
00:00:17
I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer
Todd Miller:
00:00:20
of specialty metal roofing and other building materials, and
Todd Miller:
00:00:24
welcome to Construction Disruption.
Todd Miller:
00:00:27
Um, we're real excited about today's episode.
Todd Miller:
00:00:29
As always, we have a great guest, so, uh, let's go ahead and get things going.
Todd Miller:
00:00:34
So, of course, here on the show, we cover a wide variety of topics, topics
Todd Miller:
00:00:37
and we have a wide variety of guests and this episode is no different.
Todd Miller:
00:00:42
Today we're talking with Matt Vetter, president of Schafer Construction
Todd Miller:
00:00:46
based in Brighton, Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:00:48
As head of a construction company that does a wide variety of work from
Todd Miller:
00:00:52
industrial and commercial buildings to multi family religious buildings and
Todd Miller:
00:00:58
everything in between, Matt sees some of the unique and varied challenges
Todd Miller:
00:01:03
that are faced by our industry.
Todd Miller:
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And aside from his work at Schafer, he is facing these challenges head
Todd Miller:
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on in a number of ways, trying to solve them for our industry and
Todd Miller:
00:01:13
to take us all to a higher level.
Todd Miller:
00:01:16
Um, well, we're going to dig into all that here in just a little bit, but first
Todd Miller:
00:01:19
Matt, Welcome to Construction Disruption.
Todd Miller:
00:01:22
Pleasure to have you here today.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:23
Thank you for having me, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:24
I've been excited to come on.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:25
I know we, we scheduled this quite a while ago, so I'm glad it's finally here.
Todd Miller:
00:01:29
Well, I am as well.
Todd Miller:
00:01:30
So a lot of times we start the show with a really lame dad joke,
Todd Miller:
00:01:34
and sometimes we have a co host, so we do those in between us.
Todd Miller:
00:01:37
Well, you're going to be the victim of my dad joke today, if that's okay.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:41
Hey fire away
Todd Miller:
00:01:43
Okay, so I I read the other day, um that the
Todd Miller:
00:01:47
average dog barks 267 times a day.
Todd Miller:
00:01:52
It seems to like a lot I have one that barks probably a lot more
Todd Miller:
00:01:55
than that and one a lot less Um, of course keep in mind that 267 is
Todd Miller:
00:02:01
only a rough estimate Rough, rough.
Todd Miller:
00:02:04
Got it.
Todd Miller:
00:02:04
Yeah, it's as good as it gets.
Todd Miller:
00:02:08
Anyway.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:09
It's a good estimator joke.
Todd Miller:
00:02:12
Well, we want to focus on things that you're doing today
Todd Miller:
00:02:15
to help our industry because I think you're really doing some unique and
Todd Miller:
00:02:20
special things to benefit our industry.
Todd Miller:
00:02:22
But, um, first of all start out by telling us a little bit about your own history.
Todd Miller:
00:02:27
Um, how you got involved with Schafer Construction and, uh, became head of it,
Todd Miller:
00:02:31
and, um, tell us, give us an overview of the types of work that Schafer
Todd Miller:
00:02:36
Construction, uh, gets involved with.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:38
Sure.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:38
So, um, I started in the construction world when I was 17 years old.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:44
I worked for a residential, uh, framing and remodeling crew.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:48
We did custom homes and additions, remodels.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:52
Decks, garages, you name it.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:54
Um, I did residential work, uh, via that company and another company that I
Matt Vetter:
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formed, uh, way back then for a number of years, um, 2008 came around and, and the
Matt Vetter:
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residential markets, as everybody knows, kind of took a tailspin to put it lightly,
Todd Miller:
00:03:10
remember it all too well.
Todd Miller:
00:03:12
Yes.
Todd Miller:
00:03:12
Yeah,
Matt Vetter:
00:03:12
yeah, I do too.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:14
Um, Luckily, you know, by, by the grace of God, I had an opportunity
Matt Vetter:
00:03:18
to kind of follow my lap to, to jump ships and move from the residential
Matt Vetter:
00:03:22
world into the commercial world.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:24
Uh, and I spent the next decade building quick serve pizza
Matt Vetter:
00:03:28
restaurants across the country.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:30
Um, you could probably guess which one, but when the economy had
Matt Vetter:
00:03:33
tanked, cheap pizza was a pretty hot.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:36
Item, uh, so we were, we were busy.
Matt Vetter:
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We were building hundreds and hundreds of these things a year.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:41
Um, and it was, it was fun.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:43
It was, you know, I made great money, but I traveled a ton and that that kind
Matt Vetter:
00:03:47
of took its toll on me after a while.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:48
So I put roots back down here and in southeastern Michigan, um, headed
Matt Vetter:
00:03:53
up a pre construction department for a large local general contractor
Matt Vetter:
00:03:58
here for a number of years.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:00
And then, uh, as luck would have it, had another opportunity, um,
Matt Vetter:
00:04:04
to come out to Brighton, Michigan and purchase Schafer construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:08
So that's what I did.
Matt Vetter:
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I kind of jumped on it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:10
Um, when, when opportunity knocks you, you should open the door every single time.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:15
Love that.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:16
A little quick background on Schafer.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:18
We've been, uh, in operation since 1997.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:22
Um, we build today.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:24
We build literally everything other than single family homes.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:26
So, as you mentioned, a lot of light industrial, uh, office product,
Matt Vetter:
00:04:30
although not as much office today as we, we used to, um, religious
Matt Vetter:
00:04:34
institutions, recreational facilities, um, municipal projects, you name it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:40
We, we, uh, we'll tackle it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:41
So it's been, uh, it's been a great last, uh, seven years.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:45
Um, and we're, we're looking forward to the future.
Todd Miller:
00:04:48
How is the construction industry in Southeast Michigan right now?
Todd Miller:
00:04:51
Is it, I mean, there's a lot of work going on and a lot still on the books
Todd Miller:
00:04:54
or what are you seeing out there?
Matt Vetter:
00:04:56
You know, to be honest, Todd, we have not seen any slowdown whatsoever.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:00
We're still feeding off of the pent up demand from the, from the COVID mess.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:07
And that continues to kind of feed our, our, uh, Revenue goals and we'll take it.
Todd Miller:
00:05:13
Well, that's great.
Todd Miller:
00:05:14
And you know, what I find so often is the companies that are doing things.
Todd Miller:
00:05:18
Well, um, they tend to, to weather some of those ups and downs a
Todd Miller:
00:05:21
whole lot better than the others.
Todd Miller:
00:05:23
So good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:05:24
So Brighton, Michigan, there's a ski slope there.
Todd Miller:
00:05:28
Isn't there?
Todd Miller:
00:05:28
Am I mistaken on that?
Todd Miller:
00:05:29
Well,
Matt Vetter:
00:05:30
you're right.
Matt Vetter:
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Mount Brighton.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:31
I spent the majority of my childhood and teenage years, uh, snowboarding out here.
Todd Miller:
00:05:36
Oh, awesome.
Todd Miller:
00:05:38
Yeah, my business partner is actually from Northwest Ohio, Napoleon, Ohio, and
Todd Miller:
00:05:42
I believe Brighton is one of the areas his family used to go skiing years ago, so.
Todd Miller:
00:05:48
So one of the things is I picked around on Schafer Construction's website,
Todd Miller:
00:05:52
and it was really thought provoking.
Todd Miller:
00:05:53
through your foundation that you've started that I first came to know you.
Todd Miller:
00:05:57
But as I picked around on Schafer's website, um, your core values really hit
Todd Miller:
00:06:02
me a lot of times core values are just one word and you kind of see the same thing on
Todd Miller:
00:06:08
everyone's site, but, um, yours are really specific and a little bit more defined.
Todd Miller:
00:06:13
So, um, your core values are put the project first.
Todd Miller:
00:06:17
Be the problem solver.
Todd Miller:
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Love that.
Todd Miller:
00:06:20
Always embody honesty and integrity.
Todd Miller:
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Be respectful and have a 100 and 0 mindset.
Todd Miller:
00:06:27
Um, tell us a little bit about what those core values mean to your company and even
Todd Miller:
00:06:32
how they impact your daily activities.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:35
Um, great question.
Matt Vetter:
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Uh, and I love answering it because they mean literally everything to the company.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:40
Um, we made a conscious effort.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:43
About six years ago to really shift our focus from just, uh, you know,
Matt Vetter:
00:06:49
your standard construction company to, to affirm really doing great things.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:53
And we recognize that the way to do that is to build a culture.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:57
And the way to build a culture is to base your company on, on a very
Matt Vetter:
00:07:00
strict and rigid set of core values.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:02
So, uh, we came up with this list and it's changed a bit over
Matt Vetter:
00:07:07
the years, um, but not much.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:09
We, we hire.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:10
By these values, we fire by these values when necessary.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:14
We we vet potential clients and partners by these these core values.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:18
Um, you know, it's it's far more than a pretty picture on the
Matt Vetter:
00:07:23
wall in our conference room.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:24
It really is a a It's our North star, you know, it guides us in everything we do.
Todd Miller:
00:07:30
That's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:07:30
Well, your, your last core value, the have a hundred and no mindset, um, give
Todd Miller:
00:07:36
me a little bit of background or, you know, what that, what that means to you.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:39
Yeah.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:40
So that's the one that everyone asks about and it's actually my favorite.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:43
And, um, so a hundred to zero mindset is, is the mentality that when we commit to
Matt Vetter:
00:07:48
going and doing anything, whether that's going after a prospect, whether it's
Matt Vetter:
00:07:52
a project we've signed, whether it's.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:55
Starting a foundation doesn't doesn't matter if we're going to commit resources
Matt Vetter:
00:07:59
and commit our our brainpower to going after something we're going to fight so
Matt Vetter:
00:08:05
fiercely to win that we want to run the score up on our our opponent 100 to 0.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:10
There are there are no opportunities for for anything less.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:13
It is.
Matt Vetter:
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It is.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:14
We are going to crush anyone in our way.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:16
Respectfully, uh, and, and, and win.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:19
And that's, that's how we continue to operate to this day.
Todd Miller:
00:08:23
Oh, I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:08:24
And that, what a great rallying cry that becomes for your entire organization
Todd Miller:
00:08:29
to have that kind of mindset.
Todd Miller:
00:08:31
Um, love it.
Todd Miller:
00:08:32
That's great.
Todd Miller:
00:08:32
You know, one of the things I I've been talking some about lately is,
Todd Miller:
00:08:37
um, I'm seeing a lot in some of the leadership books out there about how
Todd Miller:
00:08:42
core values are really What a lot of companies are focusing on now more
Todd Miller:
00:08:47
than mission, because I think in our fast changing world, sometimes that
Todd Miller:
00:08:52
mission has to stay a little bit fluid, but it's going to be fluid within
Todd Miller:
00:08:57
the boundaries of your core values.
Todd Miller:
00:08:59
Is that kind of what you find?
Todd Miller:
00:09:00
Also?
Matt Vetter:
00:09:02
Yes, because.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:04
The precision it takes to, to set up a mission statement that it can, whether
Matt Vetter:
00:09:10
the time, right, whether your entire existence as a company, it's, it's almost
Matt Vetter:
00:09:15
immeasurable and it's almost impossible to do because the economy is always changing.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:19
The environment's always changing your clientele changes.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:22
There's so many things changing.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:24
And so I think that having that core values really as a structural
Matt Vetter:
00:09:29
piece to stand on, it allows you to Almost manipulate your, your mission
Matt Vetter:
00:09:34
statement as you continue to progress and grow through the industry.
Todd Miller:
00:09:39
Absolutely.
Todd Miller:
00:09:40
I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:09:40
And it's just been interesting how I've seen that.
Todd Miller:
00:09:43
I really first started taking note of it from a lot of leadership
Todd Miller:
00:09:47
things, probably 6, 8 months ago, but just makes a whole lot of sense.
Todd Miller:
00:09:52
And if you can get your entire organization driving
Todd Miller:
00:09:55
behind the same core values.
Todd Miller:
00:09:57
Um, that's going to carry you a long way.
Todd Miller:
00:10:00
So, so back in January of 2021, I believe, which was kind of the height
Todd Miller:
00:10:06
of COVID for a lot of folks, um, like many folks, including those of us
Todd Miller:
00:10:11
here at construction disruption, you decided to start a podcast, uh, that
Todd Miller:
00:10:15
you named the construction corner.
Todd Miller:
00:10:18
Uh, can you tell us a little bit about what you do on the show and
Todd Miller:
00:10:21
what your goal is through the podcast?
Matt Vetter:
00:10:24
Yeah, so just to clarify a bit, I joined an existing show.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:28
Um, one of my very best friends, Dylan Mitchell started it a couple of years
Matt Vetter:
00:10:33
prior to that, I joined as co host in 21.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:36
And, um, you know, our goal in that show is really to, To bring awareness
Matt Vetter:
00:10:42
to the industry that that we both know and love that we all know and love.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:45
Um, we, we had, you know, have a very wide variety of guests on that can speak to
Matt Vetter:
00:10:51
different different areas of construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:53
We, we never really focused too heavily on on the commercial versus residential side.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:59
Dylan, my, my co host is an electrical engineer.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:01
I'm obviously a former carpenter, so I'm, you know, one step above a pirate, but,
Matt Vetter:
00:11:06
but I do like to talk from time to time.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:08
So the two of us kind of had that opposite side of the, uh, of the
Matt Vetter:
00:11:12
prospect table mentality to, to go about these conversations.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:15
So it's been, uh, it's been a lot of fun and had a lot of
Matt Vetter:
00:11:18
good conversations through that.
Todd Miller:
00:11:19
Man, that's great.
Todd Miller:
00:11:20
And I find that you can learn so much also, um,
Matt Vetter:
00:11:24
just seconding that you can, you learn a ton by having conversations.
Todd Miller:
00:11:28
So just to tell our audience, um, we are doing
Todd Miller:
00:11:30
challenge words again this episode.
Todd Miller:
00:11:32
No pirate was not Matt's challenge word Um, but kind of keep the ear out
Todd Miller:
00:11:37
for any words that we might use that might be a little bit different That we
Todd Miller:
00:11:41
have both been challenged to work into the conversation Later on the show.
Todd Miller:
00:11:44
I'll tell you whether we were successful or not.
Todd Miller:
00:11:46
So, um, yeah, no, I I I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:11:50
So you've got quite a few episodes under your belt now also with podcast
Matt Vetter:
00:11:54
Oh, yeah, we're, we're, uh, I don't remember a few hundred by now.
Todd Miller:
00:11:58
They build up quick, that's for sure.
Matt Vetter:
00:12:01
Yes.
Todd Miller:
00:12:02
Well, that's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:12:02
We'll keep up the good work.
Todd Miller:
00:12:04
I've been listening to it a little bit here and there, and I want to
Todd Miller:
00:12:07
make it part of my regular listening.
Todd Miller:
00:12:09
My problem is I only have about a 10 minute commute to and from work every day.
Todd Miller:
00:12:13
That would be my podcast time, but it's a pretty short drive.
Todd Miller:
00:12:18
So after that, then, um, just earlier in 2024, and this was kind of where I,
Todd Miller:
00:12:25
uh, first became aware of you, Matt.
Todd Miller:
00:12:26
I saw a press release or something that you had out there.
Todd Miller:
00:12:30
Um, you started something called the Build Better Foundation.
Todd Miller:
00:12:35
And your tagline for the foundation is make the trades cool again, which I love.
Todd Miller:
00:12:41
Um, I assume you started the Build Better Foundation because you saw a
Todd Miller:
00:12:45
concern in the construction industry that you wanted to try to address.
Todd Miller:
00:12:49
Um, in particular, maybe in Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:12:51
Can you tell us a little bit about what you saw that became
Todd Miller:
00:12:54
the impetus for you to say, hey, I want to do something about this?
Matt Vetter:
00:12:58
It's a systemic problem that frankly, all of us
Matt Vetter:
00:13:02
in the industry are to blame for.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:04
And it's, it's been going on for the past 20 plus years in that we allowed
Matt Vetter:
00:13:10
the public school systems in particular to, to really beat college as the
Matt Vetter:
00:13:15
only option into our, our heads and into now the heads of our children and
Matt Vetter:
00:13:19
their children, um, you know, when I was growing up and when I was in high
Matt Vetter:
00:13:23
school, we had, it wasn't trade school.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:25
Then it was called voc tech and.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:28
It was looked at as it was the option for the burnouts for
Matt Vetter:
00:13:31
the kids who couldn't graduate.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:33
You know, it was, it was, it was low tier option mentality.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:36
And it was, there was never a, a push or even the conversation that there's
Matt Vetter:
00:13:42
alternatives out there to a 4 year degree and construction is obviously, uh, uh,
Matt Vetter:
00:13:47
an industry that while 4 year degrees are, are valuable to some aspect and
Matt Vetter:
00:13:52
what we do, uh, it's not a requirement.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:55
And it, again, it's been going on for forever and it's just something that
Matt Vetter:
00:14:00
kind of has been boiling and boiling inside me for a very long time.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:04
You know, we, we don't have.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:06
Young people flooding into the industry.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:08
Like we need, you know, you asked me earlier how the, how the market is here.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:12
And it's great.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:13
The problem is we have all the projects that we need.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:18
What we don't have is the people to build them.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:21
And, you know, we share for constructions, a paper GC, we
Matt Vetter:
00:14:24
don't self perform anything.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:26
We manage the deals and the projects.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:28
So the labor market for us is not as critical, but But all of
Matt Vetter:
00:14:32
our specialty contractors, our trade partners, they rely on that.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:37
And so what build better foundation is, is aiming to do.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:41
And in our first initiative now is we're actually having a launch
Matt Vetter:
00:14:44
party in a couple of weeks.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:45
We're going to start providing scholarships to, to kids or to anyone
Matt Vetter:
00:14:50
looking to get into either a trade school or even a, you know, a four year CM
Matt Vetter:
00:14:55
program or, or an apprenticeship, um, something that's Just to kind of help
Matt Vetter:
00:15:00
them get a little seed money, whether it's, you know, paying for books,
Matt Vetter:
00:15:04
paying for tools, paying for boots.
Matt Vetter:
00:15:06
I don't, I don't really care.
Matt Vetter:
00:15:08
Um, the goal is just to, to do our little bit that we can to try and help raise
Matt Vetter:
00:15:13
awareness and, and try and get more interest and involvement in the industry
Matt Vetter:
00:15:17
that frankly, we all, we all love.
Todd Miller:
00:15:19
No, I, I hear you and I love and applaud what you're doing.
Todd Miller:
00:15:24
Um, it's funny, you know, a few years ago, um, When unemployment rates,
Todd Miller:
00:15:31
you know, just were running so low and they were telling us, gosh,
Todd Miller:
00:15:34
they're lower than even the number of people who don't want to work.
Todd Miller:
00:15:37
Um, you know, and I think that brought a lot of attention and people
Todd Miller:
00:15:42
started focusing on the construction trades and the shortages, but, uh,
Todd Miller:
00:15:47
you, you hit the nail on the head.
Todd Miller:
00:15:48
We started experiencing this 20, 25 years ago, um, just with a
Todd Miller:
00:15:53
lower influx of new folks into our, uh, Into our great industry here.
Todd Miller:
00:15:59
So, um, yeah, so, so, uh, you know, I, I know that you're raising funds and
Todd Miller:
00:16:04
you're going to start the scholarship program, um, any other, you know,
Todd Miller:
00:16:09
insight as far as what you're doing or, you know, how, how are you managing
Todd Miller:
00:16:13
to gain traction with the foundation and get some interest out there?
Todd Miller:
00:16:18
Uh, I can imagine we've got some listeners are saying, wow, I
Todd Miller:
00:16:21
ought to start that in my area.
Todd Miller:
00:16:23
Um, tell us a little bit about, you know, how you get off the this
Todd Miller:
00:16:26
off the ground and make it happen.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:28
Um, it's not been easy.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:30
Um, contrary to popular belief or to my mistaken belief, setting up an actual 501
Matt Vetter:
00:16:36
C3 is a tremendously difficult process and go figure the IRS doesn't, doesn't
Matt Vetter:
00:16:41
make it easy for you to not pay taxes.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:43
So, um, it's been kind of a labor of love that took frankly, almost a
Matt Vetter:
00:16:47
year before we were able to launch.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:50
Um, you know, social medias.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:53
Great.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:54
Um, as much as I, I love to hate it, it, it helps us get our word out.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:58
It's, it's how I met you, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:59
And, um, you know, that, that's, that's been huge for us.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:03
Podcasting is, is another, uh, media choice where, you know, it's,
Matt Vetter:
00:17:08
it's low cost, but it's high reach.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:10
And it's, it's just a matter of, of.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:13
You know, a pyramid stack.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:15
And if we can have one conversation today, but you've got 50 or a hundred or however
Matt Vetter:
00:17:20
many listeners, you know, the hope is each one of those listeners might take a piece
Matt Vetter:
00:17:24
of this and then go talk to somebody else.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:26
And it just keeps kind of spider webbing from there.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:28
So we don't do a lot of, you know, typical marketing yet.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:32
Um, obviously as a startup, we're, we're pretty strapped for, for budgeting.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:37
We want to put most of the money that we have into actually, you know, Helping
Matt Vetter:
00:17:40
those folks who are trying to get into the industry versus, you know, spending it
Matt Vetter:
00:17:43
on, on ad spend or, or things like that.
Todd Miller:
00:17:46
Well, and it's interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:17:48
So I'm involved with a national trade organization that started
Todd Miller:
00:17:52
a scholarship program recently.
Todd Miller:
00:17:54
And, um, interestingly, as, as we looked at it.
Todd Miller:
00:17:58
Um, our initial scholarships are not even requiring you to be in the trades.
Todd Miller:
00:18:02
I think we want to get there eventually, but we were initial like, we're not
Todd Miller:
00:18:06
sure we can even give away these scholarships if we restricted to that.
Todd Miller:
00:18:10
Um, and we were restricting it to children or grandchildren
Todd Miller:
00:18:13
of, Members of the organization.
Todd Miller:
00:18:16
Um, but so I, I, I agree with you.
Todd Miller:
00:18:19
These things take a little bit of time, but on the other hand, um, that's kind
Todd Miller:
00:18:23
of what makes you a change maker out there and what drives some changes.
Todd Miller:
00:18:27
So I'm kind of curious.
Todd Miller:
00:18:29
I mean, what is it in you?
Todd Miller:
00:18:32
I mean, you, you could.
Todd Miller:
00:18:33
Live just fine.
Todd Miller:
00:18:34
You could, you could still be building, building pizza stores, but you know,
Todd Miller:
00:18:38
you could live just fine, uh, heading up Schafer construction and not have to have
Todd Miller:
00:18:43
all these other things on your plate.
Todd Miller:
00:18:44
What is it that kind of drives you personally saying, Hey, I want to, I want
Todd Miller:
00:18:49
to be a bigger part of change than this.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:51
Um, that's pretty deep question, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:54
I wasn't it's a good question.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:57
You know, I, I candidly, I've done really well in my career and, and I've, I've
Matt Vetter:
00:19:03
proven to myself, I've proven to my, my family and my, my friends that this
Matt Vetter:
00:19:07
is a, not just a viable career choice, but it's a potentially very lucrative
Matt Vetter:
00:19:12
and very successful career choice.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:14
And you're right, I could, I could do nothing else and I could do less
Matt Vetter:
00:19:19
than I do and still be perfectly fine.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:21
But, you know, it seems sounds a little cheesy, but I want to make my mark, right?
Matt Vetter:
00:19:27
We built great buildings and that's, that's fine and good.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:29
We.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:30
We build a lot of cool stuff at the construction company, but if I can
Matt Vetter:
00:19:34
do a very small part, if we through the organization can do a small part
Matt Vetter:
00:19:38
to then boost the industry, that's allowed us to find this success.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:42
It's like a, it's like a triple win for me.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:44
So that's kind of, it's that a hundred to zero mindset, right?
Matt Vetter:
00:19:47
I, I don't want to stop.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:49
So I like stacking up the chips.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:51
I like seeing the wins and if I can promote and provide an
Matt Vetter:
00:19:56
opportunity for somebody else to also then see those wins and that's.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:01
That's all I can ask for.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:02
That's great for me.
Todd Miller:
00:20:03
Yeah, I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:20:05
And you're right.
Todd Miller:
00:20:06
It's so easy.
Todd Miller:
00:20:07
And, you know, I'll even have people come into my life or saying, Todd, slow down.
Todd Miller:
00:20:11
You got to do less right now.
Todd Miller:
00:20:13
I'm doing what I'm driven to do and why I feel like I'm called to do.
Todd Miller:
00:20:16
Um, well, I'm kind of curious, you know, speaking of that,
Todd Miller:
00:20:19
how do you balance it all?
Todd Miller:
00:20:21
Um, where do you find the space and the place to kind of recharge
Todd Miller:
00:20:25
yourself and be able to keep all this, all these plates spinning?
Matt Vetter:
00:20:29
So I get asked that all the time and people say the same thing, you
Matt Vetter:
00:20:32
know, you need to slow down, you need to find more balance and, um, I'm not going
Matt Vetter:
00:20:38
to swear on your podcast, but I find that the term work life balance is BS.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:43
There, there is, when you're an entrepreneur, there is no such thing.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:47
There is no such thing at all.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:48
What, what there is though, is finding.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:52
A way that you can satisfy all of your needs and the needs of those
Matt Vetter:
00:20:55
around you who, who rely on you while still keeping the ship afloat.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:00
And, and I think that's different than balance in my mind anyways.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:04
So, um, you know, I've got three, three boys and a wife and some dogs.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:10
And, you know, there's, there's a lot of, of needs out there.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:13
There are a lot of buckets that I need to fill, but, um, in my mind, I can't do.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:18
Any one of those without all of the others.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:20
Also.
Todd Miller:
00:21:22
Yeah, I think that's interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:21:24
You know, I, especially in the summer, I tend to be a pretty big baseball fan.
Todd Miller:
00:21:28
And of course, my team is the Reds.
Todd Miller:
00:21:31
You you might be more of a Tigers fan up there, but, um, yeah, Yeah, it's
Todd Miller:
00:21:36
interesting as I watch those players, I love seeing, you know, the stories
Todd Miller:
00:21:41
about them personally because of what it takes to them to be, you know,
Todd Miller:
00:21:45
an elite level athlete like that.
Todd Miller:
00:21:48
And, you know, make no mistake about it.
Todd Miller:
00:21:49
They are.
Todd Miller:
00:21:51
I mean, they're doing things every day that the rest of us could never
Todd Miller:
00:21:53
dream of doing, even though we may look at it and think we could.
Todd Miller:
00:21:57
Um, and yet, you know, You know, you talk about them and how do they achieve
Todd Miller:
00:22:03
work life balance, and I agree with you.
Todd Miller:
00:22:05
It's kind of baloney.
Todd Miller:
00:22:07
Um, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but, but I guess, you know, you talk
Todd Miller:
00:22:11
about, okay, well, they're an athlete and they're doing what they're called to do.
Todd Miller:
00:22:15
Well, those of us in business are doing what we're called to do also.
Todd Miller:
00:22:19
Um, and it takes commitment and it takes a lot of drive and
Todd Miller:
00:22:22
perseverance and a lot of hard work.
Todd Miller:
00:22:24
So, um, kudos to you.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:27
All right.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:27
Thank you.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:28
And you're right.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:28
I mean, I'm more of a basketball guy myself.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:31
I'll relate things to Michael Jordan or to Kobe Bryant.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:34
You know, those two, they were in the gym at three o'clock in the morning and they
Matt Vetter:
00:22:39
were in the gym immediately after games.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:41
And, you know, there's a different mentality.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:44
You have to have to be successful as an owner and not everyone needs that.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:49
We don't, we don't want everyone to be an entrepreneur or a leader of a company.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:53
We need people that just want to work and there's nothing wrong with that, but
Todd Miller:
00:22:58
absolutely.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:59
You know, and I just think that's, that's part
Matt Vetter:
00:23:01
of the burden that we bear.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:03
As entrepreneurs is, is the lack of that, that, you know, admitted
Matt Vetter:
00:23:08
work life balance concept.
Todd Miller:
00:23:10
Yeah.
Todd Miller:
00:23:10
Interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:23:11
Well, I'm kind of curious who have been some of the strong mentors or positive
Todd Miller:
00:23:15
influencers in your life, uh, along the way, anyone in particular come to mind.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:20
Uh, my father is a huge one.
Todd Miller:
00:23:23
He
Matt Vetter:
00:23:23
suffered a massive setback professionally when I was in high school.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:28
Uh, and rather than, you know, tucking tail and admitting defeat and, and.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:32
You know, laying down for the rest of his life.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:34
He turned it around and and Started his own company.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:39
Um, that, which was kind of my first real taste of, of entrepreneurship.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:43
And I saw that and I thought, wow, my, you know, dad's his own boss.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:47
How, how the heck do you do that?
Matt Vetter:
00:23:48
Mm-Hmm, . Um, so, you know, that that was a, a pivotal moment in my life.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:52
And, you know, I've, I've learned a lot through those experiences.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:55
Certainly.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:55
Um, I have other mentors along the way too, but, you know, I, I would say is a,
Matt Vetter:
00:24:00
a, a kind of life altering, uh, moment.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:04
That, that was it.
Todd Miller:
00:24:05
Yeah, very interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:24:07
Well, you and I, you're a lot younger than me, but you and I have very
Todd Miller:
00:24:10
similar stories because I've got similar experience with my father also.
Todd Miller:
00:24:14
So, uh, very interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:24:16
Well, Matt, it's been a great time talking to you.
Todd Miller:
00:24:19
We're kind of close to wrapping up, but we kind of call the business
Todd Miller:
00:24:22
end of things and here in a little bit, we'll give you a chance to
Todd Miller:
00:24:25
share all your contact information.
Todd Miller:
00:24:28
Um, but is there anything we haven't covered today that you wanted to be
Todd Miller:
00:24:32
sure and share with our audience?
Matt Vetter:
00:24:34
No, I think we've touched on it.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:35
You know, obviously my my big focus right now outside of the construction
Matt Vetter:
00:24:38
company is is the build better foundation.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:40
So any, any, any way anyone can help either financially or or just helping to
Matt Vetter:
00:24:45
get the word out is is always appreciated.
Todd Miller:
00:24:48
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:24:49
And I'm sure you'd love to talk with folks who may want to start something
Todd Miller:
00:24:52
similar in their regions to and share with them what you've learned.
Todd Miller:
00:24:56
That's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:24:57
Well, and I will tell you if you're someplace in Southeast Michigan
Todd Miller:
00:25:01
and looking to have a building built, uh, Schafer construct should
Todd Miller:
00:25:04
be a great option to talk to you.
Todd Miller:
00:25:06
So that's cool too.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:07
We do that too.
Todd Miller:
00:25:10
Well, before we close out, I am going to invite
Todd Miller:
00:25:12
you to take part in something we call our rapid fire questions.
Todd Miller:
00:25:16
They're not really that rapid, but we'll do them as quick as we can.
Todd Miller:
00:25:20
Um, so these are seven questions kind of out of the blue that you have no idea.
Todd Miller:
00:25:24
We're going to ask, um, are you up to the challenge of rapid fire fire away?
Todd Miller:
00:25:29
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:25:29
And I think I said, we're going to ask, I guess it's going to be me.
Todd Miller:
00:25:32
Um, but anyway.
Todd Miller:
00:25:35
Number one, what is a product or service that you've purchased in recent years
Todd Miller:
00:25:40
that has been a real game changer for you?
Todd Miller:
00:25:42
Sort of a, where have you been all my life
Matt Vetter:
00:25:44
moment?
Matt Vetter:
00:25:46
Uh, I joined a entrepreneurial mastermind called the Arate Syndicate
Matt Vetter:
00:25:51
about four years ago, and it has been an absolute game changer.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:55
I wish I had started.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:56
Much sooner.
Todd Miller:
00:25:58
So for our audience that doesn't know, tell us a little bit
Todd Miller:
00:26:01
about how that mastermind group works.
Todd Miller:
00:26:03
Does it meet once a week, once a month virtual, I assume?
Matt Vetter:
00:26:07
Yeah, it's virtual meetings.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:09
Primarily.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:09
There's a, there's a call 3 times a week on on zoom.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:13
There's a, I'm sorry, 3 times a month on zoom.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:17
Uh, a Facebook group.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:18
And then a few times a year, there are opportunities for in person meetups.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:22
Um, all of which I've done all the above.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:25
And it's from a, from a business ownership perspective, it is, it is
Matt Vetter:
00:26:30
1000 percent changed the trajectory of,
Matt Vetter:
00:26:33
of where Schafer construction
Matt Vetter:
00:26:35
is going and, and where we were.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:36
And it's, you know, It's been a very beneficial thing.
Todd Miller:
00:26:39
Uh, cool.
Todd Miller:
00:26:40
Good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:26:40
That's great.
Todd Miller:
00:26:41
Question number two, if you could have any superpower, what superpower
Todd Miller:
00:26:46
would you choose to have and why?
Matt Vetter:
00:26:48
I've always thought flying would be cool.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:51
Um, I don't really know why maybe, maybe to cut down on my commute, maybe.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:54
So I don't have to fly commercial.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:56
Uh, so I guess until I get my, my first jet.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:59
Um, being able to just to fly like Superman would be, would be kind of fun.
Todd Miller:
00:27:03
There you go.
Todd Miller:
00:27:03
Sounds good to me.
Todd Miller:
00:27:05
Okay.
Todd Miller:
00:27:06
Question number three.
Todd Miller:
00:27:07
Do you have a bucket list vacation?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:09
Um, I have a lot of bucket list vacations.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:12
Um, my wife and I are, she's a very similar mindset to me and we're,
Matt Vetter:
00:27:17
we're always working on something.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:19
So we, we've become very good at kind of coupling our travel options with,
Matt Vetter:
00:27:24
um, Our entrepreneurial ventures.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:26
So everywhere we go to where we always are going kind of with the
Matt Vetter:
00:27:30
look in the eye of, you know, how can we turn this into something new?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:35
How can we turn this into either another business or an opportunity?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:38
And so really any, anywhere we go that we haven't been yet, our
Matt Vetter:
00:27:42
bucket list adventures to us.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:44
Good deal.
Todd Miller:
00:27:46
Well, this next one is a would you rather question.
Todd Miller:
00:27:49
Would you, would you rather have spaghetti for your hair
Todd Miller:
00:27:53
or maple syrup for your sweat?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:57
Um, boy, that's equally, equally disgusting.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:01
I think I would go with, uh, with maple syrup, I guess.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:05
And I don't have a good answer.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:07
I like maple syrup more than I like spaghetti.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:11
We'll leave it at that.
Todd Miller:
00:28:13
See, I would take the spaghetti because I haven't
Todd Miller:
00:28:15
had hair in about 30 years, so I'd have to go with that.
Todd Miller:
00:28:19
Okay, another would you rather question.
Todd Miller:
00:28:22
Would you rather have a permanent clown face or would you rather always
Todd Miller:
00:28:28
have to wear giant clown shoes?
Matt Vetter:
00:28:31
I'm a shoe guy.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:34
I'd go with the shoes.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:35
I like my my Jordans and my my cowboy boots, but I I'd add
Matt Vetter:
00:28:39
some clown shoes into the mix.
Todd Miller:
00:28:41
There you go.
Todd Miller:
00:28:41
Love it.
Todd Miller:
00:28:43
Okay.
Todd Miller:
00:28:43
Next to last question.
Todd Miller:
00:28:44
If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would
Todd Miller:
00:28:48
you choose to have dinner with
Matt Vetter:
00:28:50
historical figure?
Matt Vetter:
00:28:53
I would probably go with, uh, you know, a John Adams or a Paul Revere type.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:58
Type figure just to kind of pick their brain on, you know, what, what their,
Matt Vetter:
00:29:03
what their mindset was, what their, uh, what their core values were when
Matt Vetter:
00:29:06
they were, you know, working on, on the revolution and the constitution
Matt Vetter:
00:29:09
and that phase of our country's existence, that'd be pretty neat to me
Matt Vetter:
00:29:13
to understand more on a deeper level, especially given where we are today.
Todd Miller:
00:29:18
Yeah, I agree.
Todd Miller:
00:29:19
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:29:20
And I love the flag.
Todd Miller:
00:29:21
You said, uh, they're behind you.
Todd Miller:
00:29:22
You said a friend made that for
Matt Vetter:
00:29:24
you.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:24
He did.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:25
I have a good friend.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:26
He, uh, he owns a company unrelated to woodworking.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:29
Um, but he's also a pretty accomplished woodworker.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:32
So he made this and shipped it up from, uh, shipped it over from New Jersey.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:36
Uh, and it's, it's hung on my wall ever since.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:38
Wow, that's beautiful.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:39
Thank
Todd Miller:
00:29:39
you.
Todd Miller:
00:29:40
Last question.
Todd Miller:
00:29:41
What would you like to be for remembered for at the end of your days?
Matt Vetter:
00:29:45
I think that's easy.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:46
Everybody wants to be remembered for making a difference making a positive
Matt Vetter:
00:29:49
change You know and that's that kind of goes along with the question you asked
Matt Vetter:
00:29:52
me earlier and why I do all that I do um You know, it'd be pretty boring to
Matt Vetter:
00:29:57
me to just live a mediocre existence.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:00
That's never interested me.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:02
Um, never been a guy that wanted to punch a clock and, and go sit down and, and, you
Matt Vetter:
00:30:07
know, watch TV every night so I can turn my time into, into valuable production
Matt Vetter:
00:30:13
and make, make a positive impact.
Todd Miller:
00:30:16
Good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:30:17
Well, you are well on the path to making that difference and
Todd Miller:
00:30:20
you are making that difference.
Todd Miller:
00:30:21
So it's been great.
Todd Miller:
00:30:22
So Matt, thank you again, um for folks who want to get in touch with you or learn
Todd Miller:
00:30:28
more about Schafer construction
Todd Miller:
00:30:30
or the construction corner podcast or The build better
Todd Miller:
00:30:33
foundation, uh, what are the best ways for them to do that?
Todd Miller:
00:30:36
And we'll put this information in the show notes as well, by the way.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:40
I appreciate that todd Um easiest way to get a hold
Matt Vetter:
00:30:43
of me is my my personal linkedin.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:45
It's Matt Vetter Pretty easy to find.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:48
Uh, the website company website is Schafer Construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:51
net.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:52
Um, through that site, you can get to the build better foundation also.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:55
So it's all a pretty easy one stop shop.
Todd Miller:
00:30:58
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:30:59
Well, we encourage everyone to check that out and, and especially
Todd Miller:
00:31:03
check out what Matt's doing through the build better foundation.
Todd Miller:
00:31:06
And, uh, it's an important part of, uh, continuing our industry and
Todd Miller:
00:31:11
hopefully improving it on our industry.
Todd Miller:
00:31:13
And, uh, so check that out for sure.
Todd Miller:
00:31:16
So Matt, I have to ask you, did you get your challenge word in?
Matt Vetter:
00:31:21
I sure did.
Matt Vetter:
00:31:21
I used precision when I talked about the precision of making
Matt Vetter:
00:31:25
crafting a mission statement that can withstand the test of time
Todd Miller:
00:31:29
and you did it.
Todd Miller:
00:31:30
Well, you're right.
Todd Miller:
00:31:30
I remember it now, but went right over my head at the time I worked mine in,
Todd Miller:
00:31:35
which was traction didn't use it that way.
Todd Miller:
00:31:39
But for all you business owners out there, Matt and I were
Todd Miller:
00:31:42
talking about the book traction.
Todd Miller:
00:31:44
Great business leadership book, business management book.
Todd Miller:
00:31:48
So we highly recommend that if you're looking for something.
Todd Miller:
00:31:51
Matt, this has been great.
Todd Miller:
00:31:52
Thank you so much.
Todd Miller:
00:31:53
It's been really good to get to know you and to learn more about what you're doing.
Todd Miller:
00:31:56
Keep up the great work.
Todd Miller:
00:31:57
I
Matt Vetter:
00:31:58
appreciate it, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:31:59
It's been fun.
Todd Miller:
00:32:01
Well, thank you to our audience for tuning into
Todd Miller:
00:32:03
this very special episode of Construction Disruption with Matt
Todd Miller:
00:32:07
Vetter of Schafer Construction
Todd Miller:
00:32:09
based in Brighton, Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:32:11
Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
Todd Miller:
00:32:14
Don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts or YouTube.
Todd Miller:
00:32:18
Um, we always have great guests just like today, and we appreciate that.
Todd Miller:
00:32:21
Um, but until the next time we're together, keep on disrupting and
Todd Miller:
00:32:24
challenging, looking for better ways of doing things, and don't forget to
Todd Miller:
00:32:28
have a positive impact on everyone you encounter, make them smile, give them
Todd Miller:
00:32:32
encouragement, so God bless and take care.
Todd Miller:
00:32:36
This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode
Todd Miller:
00:32:39
of Construction Disruption.
Intro:
00:32:43
This podcast is produced by Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of specialty
Intro:
00:32:48
metal roofing and other building products.
00:00:00
Welcome to the Construction Disruption Podcast, where we
Intro:
00:00:04
uncover the future of design, building, and remodeling.
Todd Miller:
00:00:17
I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, manufacturer
Todd Miller:
00:00:20
of specialty metal roofing and other building materials, and
Todd Miller:
00:00:24
welcome to Construction Disruption.
Todd Miller:
00:00:27
Um, we're real excited about today's episode.
Todd Miller:
00:00:29
As always, we have a great guest, so, uh, let's go ahead and get things going.
Todd Miller:
00:00:34
So, of course, here on the show, we cover a wide variety of topics, topics
Todd Miller:
00:00:37
and we have a wide variety of guests and this episode is no different.
Todd Miller:
00:00:42
Today we're talking with Matt Vetter, president of Schafer Construction
Todd Miller:
00:00:46
based in Brighton, Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:00:48
As head of a construction company that does a wide variety of work from
Todd Miller:
00:00:52
industrial and commercial buildings to multi family religious buildings and
Todd Miller:
00:00:58
everything in between, Matt sees some of the unique and varied challenges
Todd Miller:
00:01:03
that are faced by our industry.
Todd Miller:
00:01:05
And aside from his work at Schafer, he is facing these challenges head
Todd Miller:
00:01:10
on in a number of ways, trying to solve them for our industry and
Todd Miller:
00:01:13
to take us all to a higher level.
Todd Miller:
00:01:16
Um, well, we're going to dig into all that here in just a little bit, but first
Todd Miller:
00:01:19
Matt, Welcome to Construction Disruption.
Todd Miller:
00:01:22
Pleasure to have you here today.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:23
Thank you for having me, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:24
I've been excited to come on.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:25
I know we, we scheduled this quite a while ago, so I'm glad it's finally here.
Todd Miller:
00:01:29
Well, I am as well.
Todd Miller:
00:01:30
So a lot of times we start the show with a really lame dad joke,
Todd Miller:
00:01:34
and sometimes we have a co host, so we do those in between us.
Todd Miller:
00:01:37
Well, you're going to be the victim of my dad joke today, if that's okay.
Matt Vetter:
00:01:41
Hey fire away
Todd Miller:
00:01:43
Okay, so I I read the other day, um that the
Todd Miller:
00:01:47
average dog barks 267 times a day.
Todd Miller:
00:01:52
It seems to like a lot I have one that barks probably a lot more
Todd Miller:
00:01:55
than that and one a lot less Um, of course keep in mind that 267 is
Todd Miller:
00:02:01
only a rough estimate Rough, rough.
Todd Miller:
00:02:04
Got it.
Todd Miller:
00:02:04
Yeah, it's as good as it gets.
Todd Miller:
00:02:08
Anyway.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:09
It's a good estimator joke.
Todd Miller:
00:02:12
Well, we want to focus on things that you're doing today
Todd Miller:
00:02:15
to help our industry because I think you're really doing some unique and
Todd Miller:
00:02:20
special things to benefit our industry.
Todd Miller:
00:02:22
But, um, first of all start out by telling us a little bit about your own history.
Todd Miller:
00:02:27
Um, how you got involved with Schafer Construction and, uh, became head of it,
Todd Miller:
00:02:31
and, um, tell us, give us an overview of the types of work that Schafer
Todd Miller:
00:02:36
Construction, uh, gets involved with.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:38
Sure.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:38
So, um, I started in the construction world when I was 17 years old.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:44
I worked for a residential, uh, framing and remodeling crew.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:48
We did custom homes and additions, remodels.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:52
Decks, garages, you name it.
Matt Vetter:
00:02:54
Um, I did residential work, uh, via that company and another company that I
Matt Vetter:
00:02:59
formed, uh, way back then for a number of years, um, 2008 came around and, and the
Matt Vetter:
00:03:05
residential markets, as everybody knows, kind of took a tailspin to put it lightly,
Todd Miller:
00:03:10
remember it all too well.
Todd Miller:
00:03:12
Yes.
Todd Miller:
00:03:12
Yeah,
Matt Vetter:
00:03:12
yeah, I do too.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:14
Um, Luckily, you know, by, by the grace of God, I had an opportunity
Matt Vetter:
00:03:18
to kind of follow my lap to, to jump ships and move from the residential
Matt Vetter:
00:03:22
world into the commercial world.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:24
Uh, and I spent the next decade building quick serve pizza
Matt Vetter:
00:03:28
restaurants across the country.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:30
Um, you could probably guess which one, but when the economy had
Matt Vetter:
00:03:33
tanked, cheap pizza was a pretty hot.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:36
Item, uh, so we were, we were busy.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:38
We were building hundreds and hundreds of these things a year.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:41
Um, and it was, it was fun.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:43
It was, you know, I made great money, but I traveled a ton and that that kind
Matt Vetter:
00:03:47
of took its toll on me after a while.
Matt Vetter:
00:03:48
So I put roots back down here and in southeastern Michigan, um, headed
Matt Vetter:
00:03:53
up a pre construction department for a large local general contractor
Matt Vetter:
00:03:58
here for a number of years.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:00
And then, uh, as luck would have it, had another opportunity, um,
Matt Vetter:
00:04:04
to come out to Brighton, Michigan and purchase Schafer construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:08
So that's what I did.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:09
I kind of jumped on it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:10
Um, when, when opportunity knocks you, you should open the door every single time.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:15
Love that.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:16
A little quick background on Schafer.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:18
We've been, uh, in operation since 1997.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:22
Um, we build today.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:24
We build literally everything other than single family homes.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:26
So, as you mentioned, a lot of light industrial, uh, office product,
Matt Vetter:
00:04:30
although not as much office today as we, we used to, um, religious
Matt Vetter:
00:04:34
institutions, recreational facilities, um, municipal projects, you name it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:40
We, we, uh, we'll tackle it.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:41
So it's been, uh, it's been a great last, uh, seven years.
Matt Vetter:
00:04:45
Um, and we're, we're looking forward to the future.
Todd Miller:
00:04:48
How is the construction industry in Southeast Michigan right now?
Todd Miller:
00:04:51
Is it, I mean, there's a lot of work going on and a lot still on the books
Todd Miller:
00:04:54
or what are you seeing out there?
Matt Vetter:
00:04:56
You know, to be honest, Todd, we have not seen any slowdown whatsoever.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:00
We're still feeding off of the pent up demand from the, from the COVID mess.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:07
And that continues to kind of feed our, our, uh, Revenue goals and we'll take it.
Todd Miller:
00:05:13
Well, that's great.
Todd Miller:
00:05:14
And you know, what I find so often is the companies that are doing things.
Todd Miller:
00:05:18
Well, um, they tend to, to weather some of those ups and downs a
Todd Miller:
00:05:21
whole lot better than the others.
Todd Miller:
00:05:23
So good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:05:24
So Brighton, Michigan, there's a ski slope there.
Todd Miller:
00:05:28
Isn't there?
Todd Miller:
00:05:28
Am I mistaken on that?
Todd Miller:
00:05:29
Well,
Matt Vetter:
00:05:30
you're right.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:30
Mount Brighton.
Matt Vetter:
00:05:31
I spent the majority of my childhood and teenage years, uh, snowboarding out here.
Todd Miller:
00:05:36
Oh, awesome.
Todd Miller:
00:05:38
Yeah, my business partner is actually from Northwest Ohio, Napoleon, Ohio, and
Todd Miller:
00:05:42
I believe Brighton is one of the areas his family used to go skiing years ago, so.
Todd Miller:
00:05:48
So one of the things is I picked around on Schafer Construction's website,
Todd Miller:
00:05:52
and it was really thought provoking.
Todd Miller:
00:05:53
through your foundation that you've started that I first came to know you.
Todd Miller:
00:05:57
But as I picked around on Schafer's website, um, your core values really hit
Todd Miller:
00:06:02
me a lot of times core values are just one word and you kind of see the same thing on
Todd Miller:
00:06:08
everyone's site, but, um, yours are really specific and a little bit more defined.
Todd Miller:
00:06:13
So, um, your core values are put the project first.
Todd Miller:
00:06:17
Be the problem solver.
Todd Miller:
00:06:19
Love that.
Todd Miller:
00:06:20
Always embody honesty and integrity.
Todd Miller:
00:06:23
Be respectful and have a 100 and 0 mindset.
Todd Miller:
00:06:27
Um, tell us a little bit about what those core values mean to your company and even
Todd Miller:
00:06:32
how they impact your daily activities.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:35
Um, great question.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:37
Uh, and I love answering it because they mean literally everything to the company.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:40
Um, we made a conscious effort.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:43
About six years ago to really shift our focus from just, uh, you know,
Matt Vetter:
00:06:49
your standard construction company to, to affirm really doing great things.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:53
And we recognize that the way to do that is to build a culture.
Matt Vetter:
00:06:57
And the way to build a culture is to base your company on, on a very
Matt Vetter:
00:07:00
strict and rigid set of core values.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:02
So, uh, we came up with this list and it's changed a bit over
Matt Vetter:
00:07:07
the years, um, but not much.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:09
We, we hire.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:10
By these values, we fire by these values when necessary.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:14
We we vet potential clients and partners by these these core values.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:18
Um, you know, it's it's far more than a pretty picture on the
Matt Vetter:
00:07:23
wall in our conference room.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:24
It really is a a It's our North star, you know, it guides us in everything we do.
Todd Miller:
00:07:30
That's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:07:30
Well, your, your last core value, the have a hundred and no mindset, um, give
Todd Miller:
00:07:36
me a little bit of background or, you know, what that, what that means to you.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:39
Yeah.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:40
So that's the one that everyone asks about and it's actually my favorite.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:43
And, um, so a hundred to zero mindset is, is the mentality that when we commit to
Matt Vetter:
00:07:48
going and doing anything, whether that's going after a prospect, whether it's
Matt Vetter:
00:07:52
a project we've signed, whether it's.
Matt Vetter:
00:07:55
Starting a foundation doesn't doesn't matter if we're going to commit resources
Matt Vetter:
00:07:59
and commit our our brainpower to going after something we're going to fight so
Matt Vetter:
00:08:05
fiercely to win that we want to run the score up on our our opponent 100 to 0.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:10
There are there are no opportunities for for anything less.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:13
It is.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:14
It is.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:14
We are going to crush anyone in our way.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:16
Respectfully, uh, and, and, and win.
Matt Vetter:
00:08:19
And that's, that's how we continue to operate to this day.
Todd Miller:
00:08:23
Oh, I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:08:24
And that, what a great rallying cry that becomes for your entire organization
Todd Miller:
00:08:29
to have that kind of mindset.
Todd Miller:
00:08:31
Um, love it.
Todd Miller:
00:08:32
That's great.
Todd Miller:
00:08:32
You know, one of the things I I've been talking some about lately is,
Todd Miller:
00:08:37
um, I'm seeing a lot in some of the leadership books out there about how
Todd Miller:
00:08:42
core values are really What a lot of companies are focusing on now more
Todd Miller:
00:08:47
than mission, because I think in our fast changing world, sometimes that
Todd Miller:
00:08:52
mission has to stay a little bit fluid, but it's going to be fluid within
Todd Miller:
00:08:57
the boundaries of your core values.
Todd Miller:
00:08:59
Is that kind of what you find?
Todd Miller:
00:09:00
Also?
Matt Vetter:
00:09:02
Yes, because.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:04
The precision it takes to, to set up a mission statement that it can, whether
Matt Vetter:
00:09:10
the time, right, whether your entire existence as a company, it's, it's almost
Matt Vetter:
00:09:15
immeasurable and it's almost impossible to do because the economy is always changing.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:19
The environment's always changing your clientele changes.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:22
There's so many things changing.
Matt Vetter:
00:09:24
And so I think that having that core values really as a structural
Matt Vetter:
00:09:29
piece to stand on, it allows you to Almost manipulate your, your mission
Matt Vetter:
00:09:34
statement as you continue to progress and grow through the industry.
Todd Miller:
00:09:39
Absolutely.
Todd Miller:
00:09:40
I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:09:40
And it's just been interesting how I've seen that.
Todd Miller:
00:09:43
I really first started taking note of it from a lot of leadership
Todd Miller:
00:09:47
things, probably 6, 8 months ago, but just makes a whole lot of sense.
Todd Miller:
00:09:52
And if you can get your entire organization driving
Todd Miller:
00:09:55
behind the same core values.
Todd Miller:
00:09:57
Um, that's going to carry you a long way.
Todd Miller:
00:10:00
So, so back in January of 2021, I believe, which was kind of the height
Todd Miller:
00:10:06
of COVID for a lot of folks, um, like many folks, including those of us
Todd Miller:
00:10:11
here at construction disruption, you decided to start a podcast, uh, that
Todd Miller:
00:10:15
you named the construction corner.
Todd Miller:
00:10:18
Uh, can you tell us a little bit about what you do on the show and
Todd Miller:
00:10:21
what your goal is through the podcast?
Matt Vetter:
00:10:24
Yeah, so just to clarify a bit, I joined an existing show.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:28
Um, one of my very best friends, Dylan Mitchell started it a couple of years
Matt Vetter:
00:10:33
prior to that, I joined as co host in 21.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:36
And, um, you know, our goal in that show is really to, To bring awareness
Matt Vetter:
00:10:42
to the industry that that we both know and love that we all know and love.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:45
Um, we, we had, you know, have a very wide variety of guests on that can speak to
Matt Vetter:
00:10:51
different different areas of construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:53
We, we never really focused too heavily on on the commercial versus residential side.
Matt Vetter:
00:10:59
Dylan, my, my co host is an electrical engineer.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:01
I'm obviously a former carpenter, so I'm, you know, one step above a pirate, but,
Matt Vetter:
00:11:06
but I do like to talk from time to time.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:08
So the two of us kind of had that opposite side of the, uh, of the
Matt Vetter:
00:11:12
prospect table mentality to, to go about these conversations.
Matt Vetter:
00:11:15
So it's been, uh, it's been a lot of fun and had a lot of
Matt Vetter:
00:11:18
good conversations through that.
Todd Miller:
00:11:19
Man, that's great.
Todd Miller:
00:11:20
And I find that you can learn so much also, um,
Matt Vetter:
00:11:24
just seconding that you can, you learn a ton by having conversations.
Todd Miller:
00:11:28
So just to tell our audience, um, we are doing
Todd Miller:
00:11:30
challenge words again this episode.
Todd Miller:
00:11:32
No pirate was not Matt's challenge word Um, but kind of keep the ear out
Todd Miller:
00:11:37
for any words that we might use that might be a little bit different That we
Todd Miller:
00:11:41
have both been challenged to work into the conversation Later on the show.
Todd Miller:
00:11:44
I'll tell you whether we were successful or not.
Todd Miller:
00:11:46
So, um, yeah, no, I I I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:11:50
So you've got quite a few episodes under your belt now also with podcast
Matt Vetter:
00:11:54
Oh, yeah, we're, we're, uh, I don't remember a few hundred by now.
Todd Miller:
00:11:58
They build up quick, that's for sure.
Matt Vetter:
00:12:01
Yes.
Todd Miller:
00:12:02
Well, that's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:12:02
We'll keep up the good work.
Todd Miller:
00:12:04
I've been listening to it a little bit here and there, and I want to
Todd Miller:
00:12:07
make it part of my regular listening.
Todd Miller:
00:12:09
My problem is I only have about a 10 minute commute to and from work every day.
Todd Miller:
00:12:13
That would be my podcast time, but it's a pretty short drive.
Todd Miller:
00:12:18
So after that, then, um, just earlier in 2024, and this was kind of where I,
Todd Miller:
00:12:25
uh, first became aware of you, Matt.
Todd Miller:
00:12:26
I saw a press release or something that you had out there.
Todd Miller:
00:12:30
Um, you started something called the Build Better Foundation.
Todd Miller:
00:12:35
And your tagline for the foundation is make the trades cool again, which I love.
Todd Miller:
00:12:41
Um, I assume you started the Build Better Foundation because you saw a
Todd Miller:
00:12:45
concern in the construction industry that you wanted to try to address.
Todd Miller:
00:12:49
Um, in particular, maybe in Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:12:51
Can you tell us a little bit about what you saw that became
Todd Miller:
00:12:54
the impetus for you to say, hey, I want to do something about this?
Matt Vetter:
00:12:58
It's a systemic problem that frankly, all of us
Matt Vetter:
00:13:02
in the industry are to blame for.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:04
And it's, it's been going on for the past 20 plus years in that we allowed
Matt Vetter:
00:13:10
the public school systems in particular to, to really beat college as the
Matt Vetter:
00:13:15
only option into our, our heads and into now the heads of our children and
Matt Vetter:
00:13:19
their children, um, you know, when I was growing up and when I was in high
Matt Vetter:
00:13:23
school, we had, it wasn't trade school.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:25
Then it was called voc tech and.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:28
It was looked at as it was the option for the burnouts for
Matt Vetter:
00:13:31
the kids who couldn't graduate.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:33
You know, it was, it was, it was low tier option mentality.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:36
And it was, there was never a, a push or even the conversation that there's
Matt Vetter:
00:13:42
alternatives out there to a 4 year degree and construction is obviously, uh, uh,
Matt Vetter:
00:13:47
an industry that while 4 year degrees are, are valuable to some aspect and
Matt Vetter:
00:13:52
what we do, uh, it's not a requirement.
Matt Vetter:
00:13:55
And it, again, it's been going on for forever and it's just something that
Matt Vetter:
00:14:00
kind of has been boiling and boiling inside me for a very long time.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:04
You know, we, we don't have.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:06
Young people flooding into the industry.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:08
Like we need, you know, you asked me earlier how the, how the market is here.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:12
And it's great.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:13
The problem is we have all the projects that we need.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:18
What we don't have is the people to build them.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:21
And, you know, we share for constructions, a paper GC, we
Matt Vetter:
00:14:24
don't self perform anything.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:26
We manage the deals and the projects.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:28
So the labor market for us is not as critical, but But all of
Matt Vetter:
00:14:32
our specialty contractors, our trade partners, they rely on that.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:37
And so what build better foundation is, is aiming to do.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:41
And in our first initiative now is we're actually having a launch
Matt Vetter:
00:14:44
party in a couple of weeks.
Matt Vetter:
00:14:45
We're going to start providing scholarships to, to kids or to anyone
Matt Vetter:
00:14:50
looking to get into either a trade school or even a, you know, a four year CM
Matt Vetter:
00:14:55
program or, or an apprenticeship, um, something that's Just to kind of help
Matt Vetter:
00:15:00
them get a little seed money, whether it's, you know, paying for books,
Matt Vetter:
00:15:04
paying for tools, paying for boots.
Matt Vetter:
00:15:06
I don't, I don't really care.
Matt Vetter:
00:15:08
Um, the goal is just to, to do our little bit that we can to try and help raise
Matt Vetter:
00:15:13
awareness and, and try and get more interest and involvement in the industry
Matt Vetter:
00:15:17
that frankly, we all, we all love.
Todd Miller:
00:15:19
No, I, I hear you and I love and applaud what you're doing.
Todd Miller:
00:15:24
Um, it's funny, you know, a few years ago, um, When unemployment rates,
Todd Miller:
00:15:31
you know, just were running so low and they were telling us, gosh,
Todd Miller:
00:15:34
they're lower than even the number of people who don't want to work.
Todd Miller:
00:15:37
Um, you know, and I think that brought a lot of attention and people
Todd Miller:
00:15:42
started focusing on the construction trades and the shortages, but, uh,
Todd Miller:
00:15:47
you, you hit the nail on the head.
Todd Miller:
00:15:48
We started experiencing this 20, 25 years ago, um, just with a
Todd Miller:
00:15:53
lower influx of new folks into our, uh, Into our great industry here.
Todd Miller:
00:15:59
So, um, yeah, so, so, uh, you know, I, I know that you're raising funds and
Todd Miller:
00:16:04
you're going to start the scholarship program, um, any other, you know,
Todd Miller:
00:16:09
insight as far as what you're doing or, you know, how, how are you managing
Todd Miller:
00:16:13
to gain traction with the foundation and get some interest out there?
Todd Miller:
00:16:18
Uh, I can imagine we've got some listeners are saying, wow, I
Todd Miller:
00:16:21
ought to start that in my area.
Todd Miller:
00:16:23
Um, tell us a little bit about, you know, how you get off the this
Todd Miller:
00:16:26
off the ground and make it happen.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:28
Um, it's not been easy.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:30
Um, contrary to popular belief or to my mistaken belief, setting up an actual 501
Matt Vetter:
00:16:36
C3 is a tremendously difficult process and go figure the IRS doesn't, doesn't
Matt Vetter:
00:16:41
make it easy for you to not pay taxes.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:43
So, um, it's been kind of a labor of love that took frankly, almost a
Matt Vetter:
00:16:47
year before we were able to launch.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:50
Um, you know, social medias.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:53
Great.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:54
Um, as much as I, I love to hate it, it, it helps us get our word out.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:58
It's, it's how I met you, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:16:59
And, um, you know, that, that's, that's been huge for us.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:03
Podcasting is, is another, uh, media choice where, you know, it's,
Matt Vetter:
00:17:08
it's low cost, but it's high reach.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:10
And it's, it's just a matter of, of.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:13
You know, a pyramid stack.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:15
And if we can have one conversation today, but you've got 50 or a hundred or however
Matt Vetter:
00:17:20
many listeners, you know, the hope is each one of those listeners might take a piece
Matt Vetter:
00:17:24
of this and then go talk to somebody else.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:26
And it just keeps kind of spider webbing from there.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:28
So we don't do a lot of, you know, typical marketing yet.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:32
Um, obviously as a startup, we're, we're pretty strapped for, for budgeting.
Matt Vetter:
00:17:37
We want to put most of the money that we have into actually, you know, Helping
Matt Vetter:
00:17:40
those folks who are trying to get into the industry versus, you know, spending it
Matt Vetter:
00:17:43
on, on ad spend or, or things like that.
Todd Miller:
00:17:46
Well, and it's interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:17:48
So I'm involved with a national trade organization that started
Todd Miller:
00:17:52
a scholarship program recently.
Todd Miller:
00:17:54
And, um, interestingly, as, as we looked at it.
Todd Miller:
00:17:58
Um, our initial scholarships are not even requiring you to be in the trades.
Todd Miller:
00:18:02
I think we want to get there eventually, but we were initial like, we're not
Todd Miller:
00:18:06
sure we can even give away these scholarships if we restricted to that.
Todd Miller:
00:18:10
Um, and we were restricting it to children or grandchildren
Todd Miller:
00:18:13
of, Members of the organization.
Todd Miller:
00:18:16
Um, but so I, I, I agree with you.
Todd Miller:
00:18:19
These things take a little bit of time, but on the other hand, um, that's kind
Todd Miller:
00:18:23
of what makes you a change maker out there and what drives some changes.
Todd Miller:
00:18:27
So I'm kind of curious.
Todd Miller:
00:18:29
I mean, what is it in you?
Todd Miller:
00:18:32
I mean, you, you could.
Todd Miller:
00:18:33
Live just fine.
Todd Miller:
00:18:34
You could, you could still be building, building pizza stores, but you know,
Todd Miller:
00:18:38
you could live just fine, uh, heading up Schafer construction and not have to have
Todd Miller:
00:18:43
all these other things on your plate.
Todd Miller:
00:18:44
What is it that kind of drives you personally saying, Hey, I want to, I want
Todd Miller:
00:18:49
to be a bigger part of change than this.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:51
Um, that's pretty deep question, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:54
I wasn't it's a good question.
Matt Vetter:
00:18:57
You know, I, I candidly, I've done really well in my career and, and I've, I've
Matt Vetter:
00:19:03
proven to myself, I've proven to my, my family and my, my friends that this
Matt Vetter:
00:19:07
is a, not just a viable career choice, but it's a potentially very lucrative
Matt Vetter:
00:19:12
and very successful career choice.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:14
And you're right, I could, I could do nothing else and I could do less
Matt Vetter:
00:19:19
than I do and still be perfectly fine.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:21
But, you know, it seems sounds a little cheesy, but I want to make my mark, right?
Matt Vetter:
00:19:27
We built great buildings and that's, that's fine and good.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:29
We.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:30
We build a lot of cool stuff at the construction company, but if I can
Matt Vetter:
00:19:34
do a very small part, if we through the organization can do a small part
Matt Vetter:
00:19:38
to then boost the industry, that's allowed us to find this success.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:42
It's like a, it's like a triple win for me.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:44
So that's kind of, it's that a hundred to zero mindset, right?
Matt Vetter:
00:19:47
I, I don't want to stop.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:49
So I like stacking up the chips.
Matt Vetter:
00:19:51
I like seeing the wins and if I can promote and provide an
Matt Vetter:
00:19:56
opportunity for somebody else to also then see those wins and that's.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:01
That's all I can ask for.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:02
That's great for me.
Todd Miller:
00:20:03
Yeah, I love it.
Todd Miller:
00:20:05
And you're right.
Todd Miller:
00:20:06
It's so easy.
Todd Miller:
00:20:07
And, you know, I'll even have people come into my life or saying, Todd, slow down.
Todd Miller:
00:20:11
You got to do less right now.
Todd Miller:
00:20:13
I'm doing what I'm driven to do and why I feel like I'm called to do.
Todd Miller:
00:20:16
Um, well, I'm kind of curious, you know, speaking of that,
Todd Miller:
00:20:19
how do you balance it all?
Todd Miller:
00:20:21
Um, where do you find the space and the place to kind of recharge
Todd Miller:
00:20:25
yourself and be able to keep all this, all these plates spinning?
Matt Vetter:
00:20:29
So I get asked that all the time and people say the same thing, you
Matt Vetter:
00:20:32
know, you need to slow down, you need to find more balance and, um, I'm not going
Matt Vetter:
00:20:38
to swear on your podcast, but I find that the term work life balance is BS.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:43
There, there is, when you're an entrepreneur, there is no such thing.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:47
There is no such thing at all.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:48
What, what there is though, is finding.
Matt Vetter:
00:20:52
A way that you can satisfy all of your needs and the needs of those
Matt Vetter:
00:20:55
around you who, who rely on you while still keeping the ship afloat.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:00
And, and I think that's different than balance in my mind anyways.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:04
So, um, you know, I've got three, three boys and a wife and some dogs.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:10
And, you know, there's, there's a lot of, of needs out there.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:13
There are a lot of buckets that I need to fill, but, um, in my mind, I can't do.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:18
Any one of those without all of the others.
Matt Vetter:
00:21:20
Also.
Todd Miller:
00:21:22
Yeah, I think that's interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:21:24
You know, I, especially in the summer, I tend to be a pretty big baseball fan.
Todd Miller:
00:21:28
And of course, my team is the Reds.
Todd Miller:
00:21:31
You you might be more of a Tigers fan up there, but, um, yeah, Yeah, it's
Todd Miller:
00:21:36
interesting as I watch those players, I love seeing, you know, the stories
Todd Miller:
00:21:41
about them personally because of what it takes to them to be, you know,
Todd Miller:
00:21:45
an elite level athlete like that.
Todd Miller:
00:21:48
And, you know, make no mistake about it.
Todd Miller:
00:21:49
They are.
Todd Miller:
00:21:51
I mean, they're doing things every day that the rest of us could never
Todd Miller:
00:21:53
dream of doing, even though we may look at it and think we could.
Todd Miller:
00:21:57
Um, and yet, you know, You know, you talk about them and how do they achieve
Todd Miller:
00:22:03
work life balance, and I agree with you.
Todd Miller:
00:22:05
It's kind of baloney.
Todd Miller:
00:22:07
Um, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but, but I guess, you know, you talk
Todd Miller:
00:22:11
about, okay, well, they're an athlete and they're doing what they're called to do.
Todd Miller:
00:22:15
Well, those of us in business are doing what we're called to do also.
Todd Miller:
00:22:19
Um, and it takes commitment and it takes a lot of drive and
Todd Miller:
00:22:22
perseverance and a lot of hard work.
Todd Miller:
00:22:24
So, um, kudos to you.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:27
All right.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:27
Thank you.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:28
And you're right.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:28
I mean, I'm more of a basketball guy myself.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:31
I'll relate things to Michael Jordan or to Kobe Bryant.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:34
You know, those two, they were in the gym at three o'clock in the morning and they
Matt Vetter:
00:22:39
were in the gym immediately after games.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:41
And, you know, there's a different mentality.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:44
You have to have to be successful as an owner and not everyone needs that.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:49
We don't, we don't want everyone to be an entrepreneur or a leader of a company.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:53
We need people that just want to work and there's nothing wrong with that, but
Todd Miller:
00:22:58
absolutely.
Matt Vetter:
00:22:59
You know, and I just think that's, that's part
Matt Vetter:
00:23:01
of the burden that we bear.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:03
As entrepreneurs is, is the lack of that, that, you know, admitted
Matt Vetter:
00:23:08
work life balance concept.
Todd Miller:
00:23:10
Yeah.
Todd Miller:
00:23:10
Interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:23:11
Well, I'm kind of curious who have been some of the strong mentors or positive
Todd Miller:
00:23:15
influencers in your life, uh, along the way, anyone in particular come to mind.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:20
Uh, my father is a huge one.
Todd Miller:
00:23:23
He
Matt Vetter:
00:23:23
suffered a massive setback professionally when I was in high school.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:28
Uh, and rather than, you know, tucking tail and admitting defeat and, and.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:32
You know, laying down for the rest of his life.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:34
He turned it around and and Started his own company.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:39
Um, that, which was kind of my first real taste of, of entrepreneurship.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:43
And I saw that and I thought, wow, my, you know, dad's his own boss.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:47
How, how the heck do you do that?
Matt Vetter:
00:23:48
Mm-Hmm, . Um, so, you know, that that was a, a pivotal moment in my life.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:52
And, you know, I've, I've learned a lot through those experiences.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:55
Certainly.
Matt Vetter:
00:23:55
Um, I have other mentors along the way too, but, you know, I, I would say is a,
Matt Vetter:
00:24:00
a, a kind of life altering, uh, moment.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:04
That, that was it.
Todd Miller:
00:24:05
Yeah, very interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:24:07
Well, you and I, you're a lot younger than me, but you and I have very
Todd Miller:
00:24:10
similar stories because I've got similar experience with my father also.
Todd Miller:
00:24:14
So, uh, very interesting.
Todd Miller:
00:24:16
Well, Matt, it's been a great time talking to you.
Todd Miller:
00:24:19
We're kind of close to wrapping up, but we kind of call the business
Todd Miller:
00:24:22
end of things and here in a little bit, we'll give you a chance to
Todd Miller:
00:24:25
share all your contact information.
Todd Miller:
00:24:28
Um, but is there anything we haven't covered today that you wanted to be
Todd Miller:
00:24:32
sure and share with our audience?
Matt Vetter:
00:24:34
No, I think we've touched on it.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:35
You know, obviously my my big focus right now outside of the construction
Matt Vetter:
00:24:38
company is is the build better foundation.
Matt Vetter:
00:24:40
So any, any, any way anyone can help either financially or or just helping to
Matt Vetter:
00:24:45
get the word out is is always appreciated.
Todd Miller:
00:24:48
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:24:49
And I'm sure you'd love to talk with folks who may want to start something
Todd Miller:
00:24:52
similar in their regions to and share with them what you've learned.
Todd Miller:
00:24:56
That's cool.
Todd Miller:
00:24:57
Well, and I will tell you if you're someplace in Southeast Michigan
Todd Miller:
00:25:01
and looking to have a building built, uh, Schafer construct should
Todd Miller:
00:25:04
be a great option to talk to you.
Todd Miller:
00:25:06
So that's cool too.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:07
We do that too.
Todd Miller:
00:25:10
Well, before we close out, I am going to invite
Todd Miller:
00:25:12
you to take part in something we call our rapid fire questions.
Todd Miller:
00:25:16
They're not really that rapid, but we'll do them as quick as we can.
Todd Miller:
00:25:20
Um, so these are seven questions kind of out of the blue that you have no idea.
Todd Miller:
00:25:24
We're going to ask, um, are you up to the challenge of rapid fire fire away?
Todd Miller:
00:25:29
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:25:29
And I think I said, we're going to ask, I guess it's going to be me.
Todd Miller:
00:25:32
Um, but anyway.
Todd Miller:
00:25:35
Number one, what is a product or service that you've purchased in recent years
Todd Miller:
00:25:40
that has been a real game changer for you?
Todd Miller:
00:25:42
Sort of a, where have you been all my life
Matt Vetter:
00:25:44
moment?
Matt Vetter:
00:25:46
Uh, I joined a entrepreneurial mastermind called the Arate Syndicate
Matt Vetter:
00:25:51
about four years ago, and it has been an absolute game changer.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:55
I wish I had started.
Matt Vetter:
00:25:56
Much sooner.
Todd Miller:
00:25:58
So for our audience that doesn't know, tell us a little bit
Todd Miller:
00:26:01
about how that mastermind group works.
Todd Miller:
00:26:03
Does it meet once a week, once a month virtual, I assume?
Matt Vetter:
00:26:07
Yeah, it's virtual meetings.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:09
Primarily.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:09
There's a, there's a call 3 times a week on on zoom.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:13
There's a, I'm sorry, 3 times a month on zoom.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:17
Uh, a Facebook group.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:18
And then a few times a year, there are opportunities for in person meetups.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:22
Um, all of which I've done all the above.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:25
And it's from a, from a business ownership perspective, it is, it is
Matt Vetter:
00:26:30
1000 percent changed the trajectory of,
Matt Vetter:
00:26:33
of where Schafer construction
Matt Vetter:
00:26:35
is going and, and where we were.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:36
And it's, you know, It's been a very beneficial thing.
Todd Miller:
00:26:39
Uh, cool.
Todd Miller:
00:26:40
Good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:26:40
That's great.
Todd Miller:
00:26:41
Question number two, if you could have any superpower, what superpower
Todd Miller:
00:26:46
would you choose to have and why?
Matt Vetter:
00:26:48
I've always thought flying would be cool.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:51
Um, I don't really know why maybe, maybe to cut down on my commute, maybe.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:54
So I don't have to fly commercial.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:56
Uh, so I guess until I get my, my first jet.
Matt Vetter:
00:26:59
Um, being able to just to fly like Superman would be, would be kind of fun.
Todd Miller:
00:27:03
There you go.
Todd Miller:
00:27:03
Sounds good to me.
Todd Miller:
00:27:05
Okay.
Todd Miller:
00:27:06
Question number three.
Todd Miller:
00:27:07
Do you have a bucket list vacation?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:09
Um, I have a lot of bucket list vacations.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:12
Um, my wife and I are, she's a very similar mindset to me and we're,
Matt Vetter:
00:27:17
we're always working on something.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:19
So we, we've become very good at kind of coupling our travel options with,
Matt Vetter:
00:27:24
um, Our entrepreneurial ventures.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:26
So everywhere we go to where we always are going kind of with the
Matt Vetter:
00:27:30
look in the eye of, you know, how can we turn this into something new?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:35
How can we turn this into either another business or an opportunity?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:38
And so really any, anywhere we go that we haven't been yet, our
Matt Vetter:
00:27:42
bucket list adventures to us.
Matt Vetter:
00:27:44
Good deal.
Todd Miller:
00:27:46
Well, this next one is a would you rather question.
Todd Miller:
00:27:49
Would you, would you rather have spaghetti for your hair
Todd Miller:
00:27:53
or maple syrup for your sweat?
Matt Vetter:
00:27:57
Um, boy, that's equally, equally disgusting.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:01
I think I would go with, uh, with maple syrup, I guess.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:05
And I don't have a good answer.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:07
I like maple syrup more than I like spaghetti.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:11
We'll leave it at that.
Todd Miller:
00:28:13
See, I would take the spaghetti because I haven't
Todd Miller:
00:28:15
had hair in about 30 years, so I'd have to go with that.
Todd Miller:
00:28:19
Okay, another would you rather question.
Todd Miller:
00:28:22
Would you rather have a permanent clown face or would you rather always
Todd Miller:
00:28:28
have to wear giant clown shoes?
Matt Vetter:
00:28:31
I'm a shoe guy.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:34
I'd go with the shoes.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:35
I like my my Jordans and my my cowboy boots, but I I'd add
Matt Vetter:
00:28:39
some clown shoes into the mix.
Todd Miller:
00:28:41
There you go.
Todd Miller:
00:28:41
Love it.
Todd Miller:
00:28:43
Okay.
Todd Miller:
00:28:43
Next to last question.
Todd Miller:
00:28:44
If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would
Todd Miller:
00:28:48
you choose to have dinner with
Matt Vetter:
00:28:50
historical figure?
Matt Vetter:
00:28:53
I would probably go with, uh, you know, a John Adams or a Paul Revere type.
Matt Vetter:
00:28:58
Type figure just to kind of pick their brain on, you know, what, what their,
Matt Vetter:
00:29:03
what their mindset was, what their, uh, what their core values were when
Matt Vetter:
00:29:06
they were, you know, working on, on the revolution and the constitution
Matt Vetter:
00:29:09
and that phase of our country's existence, that'd be pretty neat to me
Matt Vetter:
00:29:13
to understand more on a deeper level, especially given where we are today.
Todd Miller:
00:29:18
Yeah, I agree.
Todd Miller:
00:29:19
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:29:20
And I love the flag.
Todd Miller:
00:29:21
You said, uh, they're behind you.
Todd Miller:
00:29:22
You said a friend made that for
Matt Vetter:
00:29:24
you.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:24
He did.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:25
I have a good friend.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:26
He, uh, he owns a company unrelated to woodworking.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:29
Um, but he's also a pretty accomplished woodworker.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:32
So he made this and shipped it up from, uh, shipped it over from New Jersey.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:36
Uh, and it's, it's hung on my wall ever since.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:38
Wow, that's beautiful.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:39
Thank
Todd Miller:
00:29:39
you.
Todd Miller:
00:29:40
Last question.
Todd Miller:
00:29:41
What would you like to be for remembered for at the end of your days?
Matt Vetter:
00:29:45
I think that's easy.
Matt Vetter:
00:29:46
Everybody wants to be remembered for making a difference making a positive
Matt Vetter:
00:29:49
change You know and that's that kind of goes along with the question you asked
Matt Vetter:
00:29:52
me earlier and why I do all that I do um You know, it'd be pretty boring to
Matt Vetter:
00:29:57
me to just live a mediocre existence.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:00
That's never interested me.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:02
Um, never been a guy that wanted to punch a clock and, and go sit down and, and, you
Matt Vetter:
00:30:07
know, watch TV every night so I can turn my time into, into valuable production
Matt Vetter:
00:30:13
and make, make a positive impact.
Todd Miller:
00:30:16
Good for you.
Todd Miller:
00:30:17
Well, you are well on the path to making that difference and
Todd Miller:
00:30:20
you are making that difference.
Todd Miller:
00:30:21
So it's been great.
Todd Miller:
00:30:22
So Matt, thank you again, um for folks who want to get in touch with you or learn
Todd Miller:
00:30:28
more about Schafer construction
Todd Miller:
00:30:30
or the construction corner podcast or The build better
Todd Miller:
00:30:33
foundation, uh, what are the best ways for them to do that?
Todd Miller:
00:30:36
And we'll put this information in the show notes as well, by the way.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:40
I appreciate that todd Um easiest way to get a hold
Matt Vetter:
00:30:43
of me is my my personal linkedin.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:45
It's Matt Vetter Pretty easy to find.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:48
Uh, the website company website is Schafer Construction.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:51
net.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:52
Um, through that site, you can get to the build better foundation also.
Matt Vetter:
00:30:55
So it's all a pretty easy one stop shop.
Todd Miller:
00:30:58
Cool.
Todd Miller:
00:30:59
Well, we encourage everyone to check that out and, and especially
Todd Miller:
00:31:03
check out what Matt's doing through the build better foundation.
Todd Miller:
00:31:06
And, uh, it's an important part of, uh, continuing our industry and
Todd Miller:
00:31:11
hopefully improving it on our industry.
Todd Miller:
00:31:13
And, uh, so check that out for sure.
Todd Miller:
00:31:16
So Matt, I have to ask you, did you get your challenge word in?
Matt Vetter:
00:31:21
I sure did.
Matt Vetter:
00:31:21
I used precision when I talked about the precision of making
Matt Vetter:
00:31:25
crafting a mission statement that can withstand the test of time
Todd Miller:
00:31:29
and you did it.
Todd Miller:
00:31:30
Well, you're right.
Todd Miller:
00:31:30
I remember it now, but went right over my head at the time I worked mine in,
Todd Miller:
00:31:35
which was traction didn't use it that way.
Todd Miller:
00:31:39
But for all you business owners out there, Matt and I were
Todd Miller:
00:31:42
talking about the book traction.
Todd Miller:
00:31:44
Great business leadership book, business management book.
Todd Miller:
00:31:48
So we highly recommend that if you're looking for something.
Todd Miller:
00:31:51
Matt, this has been great.
Todd Miller:
00:31:52
Thank you so much.
Todd Miller:
00:31:53
It's been really good to get to know you and to learn more about what you're doing.
Todd Miller:
00:31:56
Keep up the great work.
Todd Miller:
00:31:57
I
Matt Vetter:
00:31:58
appreciate it, Todd.
Matt Vetter:
00:31:59
It's been fun.
Todd Miller:
00:32:01
Well, thank you to our audience for tuning into
Todd Miller:
00:32:03
this very special episode of Construction Disruption with Matt
Todd Miller:
00:32:07
Vetter of Schafer Construction
Todd Miller:
00:32:09
based in Brighton, Michigan.
Todd Miller:
00:32:11
Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.
Todd Miller:
00:32:14
Don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts or YouTube.
Todd Miller:
00:32:18
Um, we always have great guests just like today, and we appreciate that.
Todd Miller:
00:32:21
Um, but until the next time we're together, keep on disrupting and
Todd Miller:
00:32:24
challenging, looking for better ways of doing things, and don't forget to
Todd Miller:
00:32:28
have a positive impact on everyone you encounter, make them smile, give them
Todd Miller:
00:32:32
encouragement, so God bless and take care.
Todd Miller:
00:32:36
This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode
Todd Miller:
00:32:39
of Construction Disruption.
Intro:
00:32:43
This podcast is produced by Isaiah Industries, manufacturer of specialty
Intro:
00:32:48
metal roofing and other building products.
