Building Up: Erin and Grant Stahla

Pete: 00:00:17

Hello and welcome to Get Flushed. I'm Pete. When I launched this podcast four years ago, I said that one of my primary aims for the show was to share insights and stories from the men.

Pete: 00:00:26

And women who live and work in.

Pete: 00:00:27

The sanitation industry around the world.

With that in mind, today's episode features Erin and Grant Staler, a married couple and business partners who run Staler Services, a luxury restroom rental business based in Omaha, Nebraska. This is a pretty wide ranging conversation.

We hear how Grant launched the business 11 years ago, how he met Erin, and the impact she's made since she joined the business in a full time role.

The pair talk about their vision, their faith, their plans for the future, and they share news of their latest ventures, Staler Leads and Staler Logistics. I'll let Erin and Grant tell you the rest.

Pete: 00:01:04

So I'm joined today by Grant and Erin Stahler from Stahlor Services over in Nebraska. Guys, welcome to the show.

Grant: 00:01:10

Thank you so much for having us.

Erin: 00:01:12

Yeah, excited to be here.

Pete: 00:01:13

Floor's entirely yours. Perhaps it might be best if we start with just a quick introduction to the company and tell us what you do and where you're at.

Erin: 00:01:21

Quick intro. Started this about 11 years ago, so just over a decade and and just with one restroom trailer.

Coming out of college and so we've gradually grown it to today we're in three locations, Denver, Colorado, Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska where Aaron and I live and work on it full time together.

Pete: 00:01:44

I've got to ask, what made you come out of college and get into sanitation?

Erin: 00:01:48

Grew up in the blue collar industry. So thinking about lifestyle and how Aaron and I weren't married at that point. We didn't know each other.

But thinking about how do we lead into and prepare for this marriage and have a business that is works well with being married and having kids and can scale across the US So sanitation is an awesome industry for that.

Pete: 00:02:08

I'd agree with you. Erin, your thoughts?

Grant: 00:02:10

Grant and I have been married three years in February now and we've just been figuring out kind of like how we do business together, matching kind of like our backgrounds and seeing where our skills kind of line up.

Thankfully it's been a fun journey with a lot of our skill sets are either in step or very complimentary, which we know we're blessed there because that's not always the case. Our first date was talking about marketing and org charts and just business in general.

So that really set a good foundation where we're at today and where we want to continue to go. So it's really been fun. It's been challenging. Of course, as anyone involved in business knows. It's not all roses but.

But it's kind of the journey that you have to start looking at versus the destination. And I know that's kind of a cheesy quote but it really is true. If you're enjoying your day to day, it makes the journey worth it.

And you're not just trying to get to X someday because who knows if that's really your true happiness spot. So we're just looking forward to continuing to figure out business how we work well together and excited to be here today.

Pete: 00:03:10

So if you're running in three locations, does that mean someone's doing lots of traveling or have you got good crews and managers on the ground?

Grant: 00:03:17

We have an awesome team set up at each location of one to two people. Kansas City, we've been there for a few years now and Denver for three. And so that's just something that we've continued to figure out.

How do you do team from afar? How do you make sure that everyone is on the same page? How do you hire from afar?

That's kind of been the more challenging thing I think as we continue to go down this path of remote because you can kind of get in a good sink if you hire the right person. Managing and leading from afar is cake if you have the right people.

So we've just been figuring out who the right people are on the bus and going from there. But yeah, that presents its own set of challenges.

Pete: 00:03:54

It really does. And it's hard work at times. Even harder if you've not got the right people.

Grant: 00:04:00

Absolutely. It makes all the difference.

Pete: 00:04:02

Sometimes you only find out you haven't got the right people after the event.

Grant: 00:04:06

Oh man, that's so yeah, the event in quotes and we're all like inserting our event.

Pete: 00:04:11

So what are the main product lines that Starless Services are pushing at the moment?

Erin: 00:04:16

We have restroom trailers and shower trailers. So we specialize in specialty trailers. We own about 60.

We have anywhere from 2 to 10 stall restroom trailers and then 3 to 8 station shower trailers and then we have handicap accessible trailers as well.

In our area we cover about a three hour radius around around our local shops and then we'll help do the logistics for specialty trailer jobs around the US today we're booking a job in 23 hours away because it's a one year job and it's kind of complicated and requires one of our big shower trailers.

Pete: 00:04:54

Typical client base.

Erin: 00:04:56

Commercial is most of our revenue but we serve everyone we're able to serve events there, a lot more turns every weekend there's a different customer for an event during our six month on season and then for commercial drives, more revenue, but there's fewer clients out there.

So we're going to be working for the contractors that are remodeling the big box stores or the distribution centers or disaster relief, helping out with hurricanes and fires, floods and then if someone's pipes freeze, we're there to help.

Pete: 00:05:29

So my experience with trailers is the biggest challenges were always power, water and then removal of the waste. How do you manage that if you're working remotely?

Grant: 00:05:39

So when we have a trailer that is outside of our kind of typical radius, we work with local vendors to have our trailer serviced, cleaned.

That might be one company, it might be multiple companies, but we love like being able to connect with the entire industry so that, you know, it's not just that we have a job, it's hopefully that rising tide that lifts all ships.

Pete: 00:06:00

I like it. It's a very collaborative approach. You spread the love with everybody. Other people get to earn off the back of your hire. It's good business model.

Erin: 00:06:08

Yeah. And it's something we're passionate about. We've gone down the path of we own all the equipment, we service all of the trailers.

We had the model of we're the ones that do everything, that do all the delivery, all the setup and we've had to back that down because it's such a, it's an asset heavy business. So we found that it's, it's really good to try to use that local player as much as possible. So the, the closer it is to the job, the better it is.

The customer is going to get better service and then we don't have to buy every single piece of equipment and scale just for a job that's going to end in seven months. And then that local provider can use the equipment and make sure it's more utilized and get more profit. They're very symbiotic.

Pete: 00:06:54

You've got a fair geographical spread of your business base there. And I'd be interested to find out how you've built those relationships with other service providers so that you can extend your reach.

Grant: 00:07:04

Yeah, we've done that in a couple of different ways. And Grant, you'll have to add onto this because you've been in the business for 11 years.

Basically over the past 11 years it's been just a lot of conversations is the biggest way that we've just deepened relationships over time.

Going to different events in the Industry has been really helpful, making the calls, you know, just figuring out, hey, we have a job here, so who's in the area? And just, yeah, picking up the phone and learning more about that local provider.

It's awesome because I think everyone says this where the sanitation industry is very welcoming and really enjoys making connections. And it stands true from what we've seen as well.

Pete: 00:07:42

I've worked with some companies that have been quite robust in the way they.

Pete: 00:07:45

Deal with other providers.

Pete: 00:07:48

But it's encouraging to hear that you've had good feedback and good response from other sanitation companies who have seen you as an opportunity to work together and not as a threat moving into their area, poaching their business. Maybe that's something to do with the fact that you're very specialized.

Erin: 00:08:03

Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. We're specialized. So we're going to pop into an area, then pop back out.

We only provide services in the specialty realm, so we're not going to go in and provide plastic porta potties in an area because that's something that everyone has and the local provider can provide. But we might come in with a handicap accessible Restroom trailer that's $110,000.

And we'll use that local service to help with plumbing or electrical or setting up the steps or connecting water, doing water fills, waste tank pumps. We need help. But then they need that specialty trailer that we have.

Pete: 00:08:39

And do you have a sub hire? Another sanitation company rang and said, oh, Grant, we need that accessible trailer for three weeks. Do you work with them in that way as well?

Erin: 00:08:48

Yep, all the time. We love subletting and we sublet to. And we sublet from people.

So if anyone has any excess inventory and we have a job, we love renting from other people too.

Pete: 00:08:59

So, Erin, I'll just pick up on something. You said that Grant's been in the business for 11 years. Does that mean you're a late comer to the party?

Grant: 00:09:06

I am, I am, yeah. I joined about three. Three years ago, officially, once we were married and then kind of throughout our dating process.

We of course were talking business from first date and kind of continued that on officially have been in the business for three years and sort of unofficially for the few months while we were dating as well.

Pete: 00:09:27

And how's it been coming into the business where no doubt Grant had his established way of working and his roles and responsibilities. Have you managed to carve out a fairly niche position or have you just done whatever needs doing?

Grant: 00:09:40

That was kind of a delicate thing, I think Coming in after the business was very established and figuring out, like, what skill sets do I have? What does the business need? Who do we already have at the table as far as, like, their skill sets?

And then just trying to be very thoughtful in how we approached it. I don't think there's a perfect way to do it. I guess if there was a perfect way, we didn't do it perfectly is more accurate.

If I were to give advice to somebody in that situation, it's like, there is no perfect way to do it. People will all have their own thoughts on how it should be done.

But I think it's just important that you're being thoughtful through the process and that's really what's going to come through. At the end of the day.

It's difficult, I think, sometimes for people to accept change, and especially at a higher level where, you know, it was granted as the sole owner, the sole leader, and then how does that change when there's a spouse that comes in and is very active in the business and desires to be a part of it, not only on paper legally, but, you know, in the day to day, that changes a lot of things for a lot of people. And we were very understanding of that and just knew it would take time.

Erin: 00:10:55

I remember a time when we were married or just married and our leadership team was asking, well, this is kind of a different process because normally if we hire another leadership team member on this would be something that we would do together. And with Aaron, it's just like, okay, Aaron's here.

And I think that's hard for people to feel that, you know, their business is moving in a direction. And when you bring in another ownership group in which Aaron and I now, you know, once we're married, we're a unit. We're 100% on each other's team.

And so that's going to change our vision and trajectory as a business. And we weren't that big of a company. We might have been 15 people doing a couple million dollars a year, but it's still kind of a big shift to turn.

We were really intentional. Aaron was very thoughtful.

He's a powerhouse and came from leading a chick fil a with over 100 people and had a lot of skill sets and has a lot of skill sets and things to offer.

But it's a different way of doing business, which we've adopted many of the ways because they're right and they're proven and she's done really well with them and we both believe in them. It's tough.

And it's something to try to do intentionally and be thoughtful and caring and just like our leadership team was thoughtful and caring and so were we and we got through the process. But it's something to be intentional about.

Pete: 00:12:16

I think it's a really great challenge to have though. You know, it's your company and to bring somebody in who shares that passion.

You'd struggle to find an employee if you recruited a manager who shared that same passion and vision.

Erin: 00:12:30

Yeah, you wouldn't.

Pete: 00:12:31

No, not at all. I remember talking to David and Janice at jbar and their business is massively built around their relationship and their faith.

So it's a proven model.

Grant: 00:12:42

It really is.

It's interesting thinking about like succession planning too with businesses because I think oftentimes, like the sanitation industry is really neat and feels very family owned. Like it gets passed on to one generation to the next. And of course each generation kind of does it their own way or revamps things.

Grant started it and then we're the first time owners when it goes from like one owner to two owners, you know, and there had never been that changeover of, of ownership before or any difference there. I think that was also a unique challenge, but it also gave us more, I think, empathy for when people are going through a tough time in business.

When it comes to relationships and wanting to do things right. It's not just a copy paste or you listen to a podcast and you do what they say or, you know, you read a book and you apply that.

There's so many intricate moving pieces with it and people are involved and it's going to be different every single time. But we really look up to the folks in, in any business who are married or, or desiring to do it as a family or just have the heart behind that.

Pete: 00:13:44

What's the longer term plan? Have you thought about how things might look in 5, 10, 20 years time?

Grant: 00:13:50

Yeah. So that's something that we're excited about.

We've just really been on a journey of figuring out, you know, when we're 80, what do we want to look back on and say that we've done. It's that whole begin with the end in mind process. It's a little bit morbid.

I was at a networking event this morning and we're asking different questions just around the table about each other's businesses. And I was describing that we're, we're really wanting to figure out what our life work is in this stage of our business.

And in some ways we're looking to have our Midlife crisis now, which is funny because people kind of, I think, try to push off their midlife crisis or, you know, they don't really want to have it. But we're like, bring it on.

Let's figure out, like, where we're supposed to be, what we want to do every day, and figure out how to start getting there now instead of waking up at 50s, 60s and think, oh man, now what do I actually want to do with my life?

We're trying to figure that out very intentionally with the business in mind, because we know that it's not just us that's impacted by having that figured out and doing it in a way that it's not pressurized for us to go and do. This is enjoyable. It's fun. It's something that, you know, maybe not everyone gets to do or takes the time to do.

So we're really looking forward to being again, intentional and figuring out kind of the strategy behind the next 5, 10, 15 years. Instead of just setting the course like, here's what we've done, let's just build on that and keep, keep moving forward.

We always just want to evaluate what are we doing? Is that what we want to continue doing? And if it is, how can we do that better or different?

Basically, we don't want to get stuck in a rut of thinking, this is what we do, this is what we do, this is what we do.

Pete: 00:15:26

I'm really pleased to hear you say that you're having these conversations now because so many of the business owners I've talked to get stuck in the day to day grind. You know, the driver calls in sick so they have to jump in the truck.

And the quote you hear most of all is, you know, work on your business, not in it. And it seems to me that you've got a real good handle on that.

Erin: 00:15:43

And even more than working on our business, we're trying to work on what's most important. We see the priorities as God. First our faith is priority, and then our marriage is after that. So thinking about, like, where does the business sit?

Well, it's under God, it's under our faith, it's under marriage. That doesn't mean it's not important, but it means that we want to figure out what Aaron's built to do.

Let's lean into what Grant's built to do, and then more important, like, what are we built to do together? And I think it's, it's not just one plus one equals two.

It's a lot more complicated because it's Two unique individuals and everyone's unique and you're trying to think through like what is Aaron plus Grant's purpose?

What are these married business owners that are working together and they're, they're pushing a business together but ultimately what's their purpose? What are they created to do?

And then after that we can think through our business and then we can make purchases and hires according to what our purpose is.

And the cool thing about that is we're not so concerned about M and A and acquisition and selling in three years because we're so sick of hopping in the truck and filling in for the driver. We're thinking about, oh man, this is what I thrive doing.

I'm so excited to buy this truckload of plastic Porta Potties because this is like on track with what Aaron and I are built to do. And it's more of a legacy that you're building and that can be transitional.

You don't have to stay in the same business the whole time but it's on purpose and you're on a path. So we, we're passionate about finding our purpose as a unit but then also we want everyone to have their purpose and everyone's going to be unique.

But now is a great time. It's January of 25. It's great time to think about like how are we going to set up this year but also what's our three year picture?

What's that look like? And then specifically as a, as a couple, what does that look like?

Pete: 00:17:38

Aaron, did you want to come in there?

Grant: 00:17:40

Well I also wanted to mention that you know we're talking about like these, these big, big thoughts that we're really wanting to be strategic with. But also you know there's a point where we're just in reality too.

I mean we were just you know, at one of our shops for two and a half months because you know we're looking for the right team members. So we are definitely understand like the day to day piece of it. It's not that we're completely removed, we're absolutely not.

We're driving the routes too. So it's something that we just want to make sure we're thinking of both sides while doing business.

Pete: 00:18:11

Well my follow on question to that was you've put or you're putting a lot of time and effort into thinking about the strategy, the vision, the direction going forwards.

I know from our previous conversations on your websites that you've actually started to develop and nurture some other avenues to STARLA as a business entity. How Are you recording that and sharing it with others? Are you whiteboard people or is it written down? Have you got a playbook?

Erin: 00:18:37

We've gone through a big business strategy time the last few years where we've pushed into how's a specialty trailer business? What's a model that works?

And I think we struggle with that because it's such a unique product that it's kind of hard to support yourself as just a specialty trailer rental company within an area. And we kind of just wanted to be specialty trailer rental people. We didn't want to bring on plastics or temp vents or dumpsters or whatever.

So we're kind of making it hard on ourselves. And one of the things that we figured out was we needed to build some other avenues alongside this.

If we're not going to do other rentals, then we needed to figure out.

Pete: 00:19:17

Something else, some other revenue stream.

Erin: 00:19:19

Yeah. And it wasn't asset heavy and seasonal. It was asset light and consistent. It's profitable.

And so we've really been leaning into the sanitation industry to vertically integrate. So different things like staleads.com we pull in leads and then we sell them to other sanitation companies for jobs that we can't do.

Maybe in Wisconsin or California or Texas, it's a weekend event for Porta Potties or roll offs or they need a restroom trailer for a week. Like we're not going to do that. So we created a sanitation marketplace with STA leads.

And then also we started STA Logistics middle of last year where we're officially going out across the US and providing specialty trailer logistics services where we take these complicated multiple vendor jobs and we make it simple for the end user and we utilize those local, those local people and we stay in our lane. I mean we're doing specialty trailers and that's what we do every day with our trailers.

And whether they're ours or someone else's, they're going to be the same, the same system. Those are some different avenues.

And then Aaron and I, we're excited about this industry and we're diversifying and being more vertically integrated to make it so that we're not just doing specialty trailer rentals in our three areas.

Pete: 00:20:36

So both of those add on or extra divisions, let's call them of Staler. They're very different from the brokerage model that Joe Shelton talked about, aren't they?

Erin: 00:20:46

So Staler Logistics is the brokerage.

It's kind of different in the same we're doing the logistics and brokering of specialty trailer rentals across the US but it's still the same process of how we talk to customers, how we do sales, how we do operations and logistics. The only thing is, it's not all of our trucks, it's not all of our trailers, and then we're using other people. If.

If a toilet breaks, we might be sending a plumber out there.

Pete: 00:21:14

The key element there is that the customer, the end user who's hiring the gear, is dealing with Staler, whereas the Leeds business is not the same as that.

Erin: 00:21:24

Yeah, Staler leads is people from other toilet companies can buy and sell their excess leads that are outside of their service area.

So what happens is you take the customer info and you add it to the marketplace, and it just takes a couple minutes, and then a local company to that lead can buy it, and then they respond direct and give that customer a bid. So you can sell that lead up to three times.

And so either you have three different companies buying it and providing the customer three different bids, which is something they want, or one person can buy all three shares. If they really want that job. They can spend, you know, 15 bucks or 20 bucks and buy all three shares and then give that end user a competitive bid.

And they can choose. They can choose if they want it or not.

So it's making it so that we don't have to rely just on Google AdWords and spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars every month to get all of our leads. It makes it so that we as a sanitation industry can lean on each other. Say, hey, you, that's three states over.

I have a lead for you, A customer that wants info, and I think you do a great job at it. Will you give me $7 or $15? Because typically you're going to spend anywhere from 30 to $100 per lead.

So there should be a little bit of compensation back. And then it can be, you know, there can be reciprocity because it's a marketplace that goes both ways.

Pete: 00:22:55

And has it taken off? Has it proved popular with both customers and other vendors?

Erin: 00:22:59

It's been a little slower as we've been focusing on operations and Staler logistics. I'm probably the main holdup on that in that I need to have more time devoted into it.

But it's one of those things where it's just a solid product and a solid system for people to be able to use. So right now there's slow momentum, but it's a momentum that we don't see slowing down.

Pete: 00:23:24

A lot of that would just be about awareness, surely, and the time to.

Erin: 00:23:27

Continue to build out more systems and integrations with other softwares.

Pete: 00:23:31

A lot of restroom companies, sanitation businesses, will buy the dumpsters or the temporary fencing, which just adds a whole complexity and it's resource heavy. You need to buy the equipment and you need somebody and a truck and it just carries on. This seems to be more software based.

Grant: 00:23:47

It is, yeah.

Because we, we realize, I mean, there's a lot of incredible companies out there and our customers, you know, they're always going to need something from the sanitation industry, whether or not we personally have it or not. So it's like, how can we do a better job of matching the right person with the right job in the right location?

And doing different advertising doesn't necessarily lead to that.

So how do we take a lead that we're not going to be able to use or serve that customer well and just like, call it what it is like, we cannot help this customer, but how do we help that customer find the person that can help them? So it's kind of a matching website in a way too, of like, how do we just like match a job or the right company with the right customer?

And that's a big deal to us too.

Just to make sure that, you know, companies are thriving throughout this and, and making sure that the customer, at the end of the day, they reached out to us. We can't help them, but let's find somebody who can.

Pete: 00:24:43

It's innovative, it's collaborative. You're giving people an opportunity to grow and expand. What's not to like?

Erin: 00:24:51

Yeah, you hit it on the head. We provide that person that's starting out with 20 plastics or one restroom trailer the opportunity to spend $5 and get a customer.

Grant: 00:25:02

And I think a lot of this came from not having the correct amount of leads coming in at the right time. So we went through a lot of iter of trying to figure out, like, we know people need this, where are they, how do we find them?

And just went down this huge trail. And I'm guessing a lot of businesses can relate or owners or, you know, marketing directors to where are these people?

Because we know that they need it. Any business can use what we have.

So we went down just this huge track of trying to figure out where are these people, where are the right leads for where we are. And because of that, it just like opened up this whole world of like, man, there's a ton of people that need to be served.

How do we make sure that they are served?

And really just like not wanting other businesses to have to go through that because we've been there, we felt when the leads dried up and we didn't know what to do. So we don't want to be so beholden basically to Google. And a lot of times is what it comes down to.

And social media posts aren't going to cut it a lot of times. So how do we create another area where we all can go to find leads?

Pete: 00:26:05

Networking is the key, isn't it? And you just offered another opportunity or another vehicle for networking and it's immediate.

I imagine that as soon as a customer says, hey, we've got this lead, can you help find us a vendor? You can have that up online pretty quickly, I'm guessing.

Erin: 00:26:20

Yep, Yep. No overhead for anyone to post. There's no subscription or anything. They can post it for free.

Pete: 00:26:26

And what work went into building the platform grant was that labor intensive?

Erin: 00:26:31

Erin and my passion is marketing, so I really enjoy the back end. She enjoys the front end and user experience.

And so we enjoy building out things that are helpful to people and we really enjoy hitting the top of the funnel for the whole sanitation industry. We, we enjoy thinking about how do we, how do we reach a lot of people with value add products.

And then we'd spend over a million dollars in Google Ads and probably over $500,000 of that was wasted. And so we have some pain points that were so real to us. And so this is just a passion project.

And also we feel like it is the rising tide that lifts all ships.

And we're not in this to make a fortune from stale leads from this marketplace, but it is a place where we can create more efficiency and utilization for people and for ourselves. And that's something we believe will pay off in the end.

Pete: 00:27:23

When I first met Angelique at AirVote, they didn't really have any customers in the sanitation space and they've worked really hard to network. You know, they've been to Nuts and Bolts and to the Pumper show and they joined the psai.

They've done heaps of backend work, just boots on the ground to let people know what airvote does and how it can help them. Have you done anything like that with Staler Leads?

Erin: 00:27:46

We're going to Nuts and Bolts. With PSAI and Wet show, we'll definitely be communicating with a bunch of trailer company owners and plastic Porta Potty company owners.

We talk to them all the time over the phone and email because we do a lot of business in the. Just back and forth. So we're always talking to people about it when we Feel like it could help.

We're excited to go to Nuts and Bolts this February and wet show. And we also love Aervo, Angelique and Dimitri. They're awesome people.

Pete: 00:28:14

While we're talking, I'm just thinking I can see that they could do an add on that. You. You went straight to staylords. That's a good marriage.

Erin: 00:28:27

That's right. Yeah. They're wonderful. We love them.

Pete: 00:28:30

A great success story. It's just incredible how that's taken off and they've moved beyond just their original industry.

Their original focus was restaurants and they've just grown and grown and grown in scope. It's great. I'm guessing you could do the same with Staler leads just need to be about sanitation.

Erin: 00:28:48

That's something we're open to in the future. Looking at other industries, other service based or blue collar industries, specifically rental industries.

So man lifts and skid loaders and all that. But there's something unique with sanitation. It's high service and it's rental. So it's combining those two things is sort of a unique thing.

Pete: 00:29:08

Is it just US based at the moment or has it got potential to grow and go international?

Erin: 00:29:13

Right now it's just US based. We're about six months in. So, you know, in another six months it's going to look a lot different. Absolutely. It can go international.

We wouldn't have any issues with that.

Pete: 00:29:23

I guess you play into your strengths. That's great.

Erin: 00:29:25

Yeah. It's kind of fun being able to lean into marketing and growth and scale. That's something we enjoy.

And then also the other things that we really enjoy and kind of leaned into is team engagement, operational development, just working on our standard operating procedures as a company.

So Aaron's really led the charge with an inward focus, making sure that we have the right SOPs and people and training and interviewing and that's been incredible. What Aaron's been leaning into.

Pete: 00:29:55

I'd imagine that would be really important if you're working remotely and you've got other people from outside of Staler servicing your units, looking after them while they're on the ground to make sure that they hit your standards.

Grant: 00:30:07

Absolutely. Yeah.

We want to make sure that we're starting with our team being incredibly strong and understanding what the vision is and you know, what our quality of work is or the standard there and then being able to kind of focus outward as we go.

Pete: 00:30:22

What's that look like internally then, Erin, how have you managed to push that forward or what have you done to push that forward?

Grant: 00:30:28

So just making sure that we're hiring the right people at the right time. Often our prayer is just like, lord, bring us the right people at the right time.

Also, very practically speaking, it's like, how do you figure out when you need another person? What's that look like? With the amount of work you have, how can you forecast that out so that one or two or your team isn't slammed?

Just making sure that you're scaling each shop and each team at the right level and the right timing.

We've really had to figure out what our process is for hiring, so I've gone into different versions of that, and I'm sure if we talk even a few months from now, hopefully it'll be better than it is today. But we've really focused in on, you know, if we hire the right people, the rest of it is going to fall into place.

And just knowing that even after that, there's a lot of training, a lot of development, a lot of coaching, and a lot of trust, really, from that person on the other end, too, because they're devoting their days, their hours, their time, their thoughts to what they're doing every day. So that's a big deal.

And I always encourage people when they're going through the interviewing process on their end of, like, ask a lot of questions, decide if you want to do this, not just figure out, can I do a good job in the interview process, or do I think I could do a good job, you know, if I were hired. Yes, those are important things to think about. But really, we were talking about life purpose at the beginning of this.

I'm trying to pull back the curtain a little bit, too, and figure out, you know, is this person meant to do this type of work? Will that actually bring them joy? Is it going to be something that pushes them in the long run?

Again, it's a little bit of a matching game, right, as to who's the right person for the right job. And not just like, okay, where's a warm body? Let's get this person in here.

So it's a song and a dance, and it's something that we want to continue to focus on and get better at.

Pete: 00:32:15

I'm sure every operator listening to this will agree with you. They're Finding the right people is such a hard challenge.

You know, I look back at the roles I've had and the people I've interviewed and people I have and haven't hired, and, man, it's hard to get it right.

Grant: 00:32:29

It really is. And something you said there was key that you have and haven't hired. That's a big, big piece of it, is knowing when to say no.

There's been multiple times where it's like, gosh, this person is perfect on paper. They had a good interview. There's just something that isn't quite right.

And maybe you can't even suss that out in the interview, but it's just like there's something that's off and I can't name it, but I know it's not going to get better with time. So being able to just identify it and call it what it is and not have to force it through is such a key part of it.

Pete: 00:32:59

I always hark back to, you know, as a young fellow going out buying new clothes, I'd try pants on and look at them in the mirror, and this little voice in the back of my head would say, no, no, you've got to listen to that inner voice. You've got to pay heed to that, I think.

Grant: 00:33:13

Yeah. And a lot of this is because we have learned the hard way for years. And so it's like, gosh, how.

How can we just not keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results? Let's figure out how to get kind of to the root of this.

And that's come with some pain, to be quite honest, like Grant and I being willing to step in times, you know, where you could have hired somebody and kind of perpetuated the cycle. It's like, okay, we need to just, like, buy some time right now to figure out where this person is that. That we do need to hire for this spot.

So how do we just bridge the gap? No, it's not going to be ideal.

There's things that we need to communicate with our team during that time, too, of, hey, it's not that people aren't applying. They are applying. It's just that we desire to, like, pair you with the right person so that everyone can enjoy their day.

We don't always get that right, but the desire is there, and it's something that we've just found. I don't know. You can do business, but unless you're doing business with people that you like enjoy, it feels more like work.

Pete: 00:34:09

I think it's difficult because sanitation is not one of those sexy industries that the kids want to work in. So you're struggling to attract the right applicants. In the first instance.

Erin: 00:34:20

Yeah, you kind of have to woo them with other things. Like, you have to have this strong vision, the strong culture, the cool trucks. You have to sort of woo them with maybe three out of five things.

If you can't pay well, then maybe you have a strong culture and a strong vision.

Pete: 00:34:34

Well, I get the feeling that Staler as a company is going in the right direction, that you're building it in a very organic way, that it's very values driven, it's very heartfelt. I think you're doing all the right things.

Grant: 00:34:47

Well, thank you. We appreciate that. I think it's often hard to see the forest through the trees with that, but. But that's definitely the goal.

And the intent is to just create a place that's enjoyable to. To be in, where people feel motivated and clear on their direction of. Of where they want to go.

And that really comes back to like, hey, does Grant know? Does Aaron know? You know where that is? And things kind of fall in place after that.

And I think just figuring out too, like how your team works, how the different structures are creating clear job descriptions, like all of that seems very minor, but it really does go into the larger picture. But, um, really appreciate you saying that, Pete. That's very encouraging.

Pete: 00:35:25

So are you welcome? Really important, we haven't mentioned how do people find out about your companies?

Grant: 00:35:30

So we're at stock. You can find us there. Stelaleads.com you can find us there. We're also on social media, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

So we're looking to build out more of a social presence in the near future. So we're excited about that. But for now, Staler.com is kind of the main area you can find us.

Pete: 00:35:49

And should we just spell that out loud for people who aren't familiar with the name?

Grant: 00:35:53

Yes. STA S T-A H L A dot com.

Pete: 00:35:57

Excellent. I'll put all of those links in the notes for the show to make sure that people can find you.

And I would encourage anyone who's a vendor who's not been working in partnership with you maybe to reach out and make contact and let you know that they're there.

Erin: 00:36:09

If they hop on a stale of leads, they can create their own vendor profile and they can upload their leads. And like we said earlier, you can upload them right away.

With STA Logistics, we enjoy working with sanitation companies all over the US and so we'll figure out, you know, what sort of inventory people have, we'll put it in our system, and then if we have any jobs in that area, we'll. We'll definitely be reaching out to get pricing and see if that timing works for the company.

Pete: 00:36:34

Is there anything else that you'd like to cover that we haven't covered?

Erin: 00:36:37

No, this has been great. We've appreciated this time to talk.

Pete: 00:36:41

I'm very grateful that you've been able to come on the show.

Erin: 00:36:43

We'd love to have more conversations with you about current topic or things that you're thinking about or we're going through.

Pete: 00:36:50

Great to talk to you guys. You enjoy the weekend and I'll be in touch soon.

Erin: 00:36:53

Sounds good. See you, Pete.

Grant: 00:36:55

Sounds good. Bye.

Pete: 00:36:56

Take care. Bye.

Pete: 00:37:00

I'd like to thank both Aaron and Grant for taking the time to record this episode.

I've had a few health issues this year and it took me much longer to complete the edit than I expected, so I'd like to apologize to them both for the delay and thank them for their patience.

As Erin said in the recording, you can find out more about Staler by visiting their website, Stahler.com that's S-T-A H L A.com or follow the links in the notes for this episode. As usual, I'd like to thank you for your time. I've been Pete and you've been listening to Get Flushed, the world's favorite sanitation podcast.

Grant: 00:37:35

SA.