Passion and Perseverance with Ryan and Sarah Woodland

I was honored to share time and studio with Ryan and Sarah Woodland recently, and I'm proud to call Ryan a member of Flowco Think Tank and a friend. In the three-plus years I've known Ryan, he's grown his Woodland home marketplace from a half-million-dollar business into a two-million-dollar per year and profitable operation, and largely worked himself out of a job in that company, and he's been developing his skills, acquired from decades of experience contracting, doing fix-and-flips and custom home building, and has been building a systems manager, 56-unit patio home, semi-custom production build project in West Greeley. Sarah is the co-founder of Woodland Family Homes, but spends most of her time in brokerage at Orland Company, which was founded by her grandfather. She met Ryan when she was living in California, but preparing to move back to Noco, but decided to stay a while and bring him along back to his deeper family roots, going back to the 1800s. Sarah traced their journey of passion for community and real estate and business, and the journey of this family legacy project. Not to miss in this episode is a local experience story from Ryan's firefighting days in California during EMS training when a dirty needle from a regular customer poked him into elbow and caused a systemic infection that put him in the ICU and almost killed him. It's a wild tail, and it leads directly to why Northern Colorado. So please tune in and enjoy my conversation with Ryan and Sarah Woodland. Welcome to the Local Experience Podcast. On this show you'll get to know business and community leaders from all around Northern Colorado and beyond. Our guests share their stories, and through it all you'll be inspired and entertained. These conversations are real and raw, and no topics are off limits. So pop in a breath mint and get ready to meet our latest guest. Welcome back to the Local Experience Podcast. My guest today are Ryan and Sarah Woodland. Ryan is the president and CEO of Woodland Home Marketplace and Woodland Home Company. And Sarah is a broker with or land company as well as co-founder and special consultant at Woodland Homes. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's start with when did Woodland Homes like sprout? About 2016. 16. Retired on 9-11 from the fire department in Southern California. Okay. We moved to Genesee and started building two patio homes and put a branch in Greeley. Got right in there. And what was the, you were, you were in LA and then you just like moved out, you had a little money and could spec a couple of houses and let's do it. How did you learn how to build houses? Yeah. Well we haven't ever built from the ground up but I started pretty early, 12 or 13, standing on a five gallon bucket, pulling wallpaper from my dad and then worked for him all through high school and started my own company at 18 so constantly in the construction world got you got you. And then always flipping house on the side. Oh Sarah. Well you were a fireman and you were design consultant Sarah as well as were you in real estate as well already? I was to a certain extent. I worked in commercial real estate right out of college so I had that background but commercial real estate was not my lane. Yeah. So it took some time off but you know worked with Ryan on our flips and then, and then parlayed into residential real estate full time after. Cool. Let's set the stage a little bit for listeners so let's talk first about Woodland Home Market Place because that was really your focus when you joined Looko Think Tank Ryan what that's three and a half years ago now. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of that was for the group searching out your company that you founded was Woodland Home Company had at its ups and downs of Grocery Avenue at some point eight employees. Oh well. It was really chaotic. Multiple flips going on and that was really poorly managed by me but then we, the land development project that sparked Woodland Home Market Place was a 146 acre farm that had I think 35,000 sheep in production at its peak as a band in farms it, it was affordable and had water on it but it needed to be a massive, you know, like somebody spending a whole bunch of hours tearing down sheep fence. It's been, it's been for four years and $350,000 to get it towards presentable and saleable. Oh well. But there was a lot of really old wood there and as we took it down piece by piece and began to sell it to Front Range Timber who was a past competitor that's no longer around and we've bought their equipment since and other retail reclaimed companies would say hey, we have this. Right. And we'd sell that and go man, this is, this works okay. What are how much these guys are still at it for? Yeah. And it seemed a lot easier to earn than in the construction industry at the time probably because we weren't acclimated very well. I think to the systems built enough. Yeah, exactly. So that brought on the staff and then learning how to manage the staff, I was like I just need to get some some progress here. That's why it's sought out, you know, I think. Yeah, yeah. Well, you made a tremendous change. I mean, you were, you were busier than a three arm paper hanger or one arm paper hanger is that joke. But when you, when you first joined and now you've got woodland home marketplace really, you're spending five hours a week or something on that or 10 or something, right? Yeah, it's really the, the teams were really good talented. They've, you know, the revenue is not insane at 1.8 million last year, but it's triple what it was the previous year and not having to be involved and have it be profitable as a blessing in small business. Yeah. So it's, it's been awesome. And have you sold through most of that cheap Vince now then? Yeah. There's probably, I'd say, five or six, 53 foot flatbeds that left that farm at a discount of price because we're through that we began to learn the market. And now, so now you find other reclaimed wood and stuff like that. Yeah, we were at this one where at the higher end of that market. So we found the best distributors for floors, beams, mantle, stair treads, extra cladding, they're really modified products and we just find who does it the best on the nation and mostly broker the product and then build custom products in the shop or manufacture to whatever one is. Yeah, it's like semi-customized finishes because you got this base stock. Sarah, I want to ask you, what were you thinking when Ryan bought that farm? Well, we were in it together, so you were, so it wasn't Ryan, but it wasn't like his, he found it, you were like, hey, this is an opportunity here if you're willing to work hard enough. Pretty much another broker in my office had it listed and it was sitting on the market for some time. Nobody wanted to take it on because it was a tremendous amount of work. And so we went to see it one day and we're just crazy enough to take it on and so thankful that we did. But yeah, that was, it was very insightful on his part to see that wood. And really at the time we were just thinking we could recoup some of the cost, yes. Yeah. Exactly. And that's now parleyed into what he's built with it today. It's fun to put up a business on it, that's pretty cool. And you were more involved in woodland homes at that time as well, is that true? To a certain extent, yes. I mean, we started that. I remember doing the first website for Woodland Home Company in our kitchen, which is not something that I am very good at at all. So it's come a long way. But yeah, we started that together and that's really taken off as well. So now it's kind of beyond my capacity and into, you know, he's really got a great team that handles all of those functions and I'm just able to come in and eat it. Right. Well, and you can do real estate and relationships and connections, seems to be part of your special sauce. Exactly. And so we're able to work together in some capacity, but each of our own thing, which is a great fit right now. And do you have a specialty in real estate? We have our brokerage specializes historically in selling farms and ranches, which is why this particular farm kind of came across our office. My grandfather started the company, Orlean Company in 1968. So it's a family company. My dad is the current managing broker. Okay. And I work with him. So yeah, I've, I mean, obviously been around it my whole life and did some other things for a while just to see, you know, test things out in my 20s and 30s, but came back to this and love it so much. So it's, it's a nice fit in what Ryan does as well. So were you guys together, were you from California, like tell me about this is kind of going back into the time capsule maybe before it's time, but how did you guys connect? Because you're obviously a local Ryan, you were from California, or where did you come from? That's interesting because we're just spending time naming our patio homes and going back to both of our family's original history in 1874 and original settlers here in Greeley and a lot of things that nature. But yes, to answer your point from the Greeley roots in 1874 to my grandfather in the military to San Diego to my mother and I were born in Pasadena. Yep. My grandfather moved to, gosh, that area of the country for Boeing, you know, right after World War II and so our family was there and then my mother moved back to North Dakota when she was 18. She's like, I'm out of here, which seemed pretty crazy to me all through my growing up years. But I reestablish us in those old family roots kind of and the family tree died in California and flourishes in North Dakota. Anyway, you brought your, your tree back. Yeah. Yeah, and then I guess she was in San Diego for school and I was up a little bit in North still, Los Angeles County, Southern California, but there's a, we met at a country concert that just I think was just, you know, last weekend of April here, not Coachella, but stage coach. I've heard about that before. Yeah. And literally someone just bumped into her and she had a beer in her hand and she covered me in the beer and I'm just like, there's, you know, better ways to meet somebody and I was mortified. And the guy was just hammered and I was like, well, you're a beer and you know, we're young, single firemen with a bunch of buddies where I don't think she was looking to find anybody to date. Neither was I. And then he stumbles off and she's like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I'm like, well, let's go get you a beer. And then we. Oh, because he didn't follow through. Oh, he couldn't even. He's not. Yeah. He was vertical, but not all the way there's love and life for sure. Yeah. And so yeah, we went and got a beer and then just that was it. That was the end of that. Yeah. That was it. It wasn't for both of you. Like, you knew after a week. No, it's funny. She can tell that part for me. It was. I was like, oh, I think that I can land this one. Yeah. But I asked her, you know, hey, I think we should like date exclusively. And she's like, no, I'm moving back to Colorado. I was like, oh, well, I guess that's that, you know, fair enough. And I don't know what changed. She could explain that part, but then she tells me a little later, hey, I'm going to stick around. Yeah. Something in me was checking on me and said, you should think about this. We were going to get back to Colorado. Yeah. And that wasn't really the plan, but when we met, I was planning to move back. So I was honest about that. And then, you know, I was thinking, what am I, what am I doing? This is a great guy. So I ended up staying in California, gosh, for another five years. Yeah, because I was 2011, that's brand new on the floor. I think it's on my first spot. This is probably first quarter of 2011 fresh out of the academy there for Los Angeles County Fire Department. Okay. So we usually retired from the Fire Department. You five years and a half. Did you get a retirement after just that time? Yeah. 39 when I'm 43, I'll get $343. See? Yeah. Yeah. Did you get a retirement? Yeah. No, I think it was, it was great being out there. I need to interrupt this, but from the stories I've heard, like, California Fire Department weren't hiring any white dudes at all for, like, a long time, or would that just start after you were there or what? Yeah. Seven years and 32 tests, and I scored a 98% three times 99 and 100 once, and I did make it difficult. Yeah. And I was on the written exam and getting a band A for oral exam, and some of that was because veterans received additional points, which I think they should. Yeah. So you can get a 97 and have plus five or a hundred and part of your qualifications. Yeah. Another point, I remember vividly Pasadena Fire Department. They said they were going to hire 20 individuals. And when I was in the Battalion Chiefs interview, I was not the same ethnicity, and there was some fire chief at his phone out, you know, pretty much making a mocker of me during my interview. I was not selected. Like, you had no chance. Hmm. And this guy thinks he's got a chance to get another retirement. He's got a bike guy with a shaved head, and so I received a phone call at that of the 20 finalists. We were going to hire 20, but we're only hiring 18 year one of two alternates. And I said, well, there's nothing I could do better to improve. And he said, no, we just strive to represent the diversity of our community in the Fire Department, meaning you're not the right skin color. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That brings it home. I've got to keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Weave us off of woodland homes, but it's interesting. Good stuff. Yeah. It's kind of idiot and high school, and made a lot of mistakes. I think the resonating part was that people looked at me like, you're not going to have any value. And so senior, you're a fireman came in, he was big and jacked and strong, and there's a super cool video with like ACDC Hell's Bells playing of a guy cutting over a faux finish fire coming out. And I was like, that's what I'm going to do. And so I was it. I just went home from out in junior college at Mount Sac, got a fire science degree. I've worked, you know, 50 hours and went to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7 to 10 to get that degree, and I just get a testing. And what were you doing for a career during the rest of this time? As self-employed as a general contractor, and I was giving my son days to volunteer at Laverne Fire Department for 24 hours a day for $25 to have a resume builder to that for a while. Like two and a half, three years. That is some serious COVID, but it's grind, it's grind, but I don't meet guys like this very often. Well, and I didn't know him at that time when we met, he had just been hired. Is that right? Oh, so you're refreshing the fireman, isn't it? Fresh in the fireman. You don't have to watch him grind. No, I didn't. But I know him and knowing his personality, that's that's very unbranded. Let's move back to, let's set the stage with Woodland Holmes, and then I want to talk about this new project you're working on soon as well, but so Woodland Home Marketplace has really become kind of a supplier, sorcerer, and customizer of interesting materials, and putting them in higher end homes around the region, up to the mountains, too, I imagine, stuff like that. Yeah, the Connolly Divides responsible for a large amount of national product, all the hardwoods, like oak, some of the desired mixed hardwoods, they come from the East Coast, East of the Mississippi, and they're, you know, Aspen, Vale, Breck, Tell Your Ride, Eagle. There's a lot of product that's coming across the East Coast that's being installed there. So that's an ideal market, Steamboat as well, those are some of the plan sets that come across our desks that are really attractive in our ideal client. Cool. Yeah. So Woodland Holmes is, like, taking a big step this year and kind of going from a custom home builder into a production home builder, basically, is that not a production home, like a semi-custom home builder or a town home builder. No, I think your spot, and it's a completely different type of business altogether, I think, from looking at, hey, here's your home that you'd like to build, here's how we can serve you, and this is the split opportunity where we have complete control of select home products, and we can look at what we purchased for and see what we think the market brings and work within that to find our margin that we'd like. Yep. You know, we're securing a Cosplus contract with you. That's pretty, we're used to that. No. Now, it's like we've got 56 luxury patty homes to build, pushing a price point, in greatly for quality, providing a unique niche type of product. So I think it's exciting, but it was a complete rebuild, and, you know, the new land is built to prepare for that, I've, you know, happened to share a chapter with you, and I got to tell you, I was so impressed with your organizational ability and that software and how you have it set up with timelines and stuff, and I don't know what would be important enough for me to build that kind of systems, it's amazing. So who goes to you on that? I want to jump over to you, Sarah, for a moment, and describe the property and where this, the setting is for this project, because you're kind of the real estate guru of the region, not that Ryan doesn't have his chops, I'm sure. He does, yeah. So the cash is our community that we're bringing to market, and it sits basically between Greeley and Windsor, so right in between 83rd Avenue and 95th Avenue and Greeley. We'll be directly west of Puderva Ranch, which is also a development that our company did years ago, so it's a beautiful property, beautiful setting, there's the bluffs and gorgeous views, lakes on the property that are incredible. The Puderva trail goes right through it, so it's very idyllic. The property itself was compiled over, gosh, the last 25, 30 years by the developer. So there's much larger than just the town home segment? Yes, yes. In total, it's about 750 acres. Oh, wow. So more than a section of land. Yes, yes. And over a long time, this isn't going to be a two-year project, it'll be probably the project of certainly my lifetime, but really just a gorgeous setting, great location. Yeah, the hills there are amazing. And the river plus the mountain views from there is pretty awesome. Yes. It's incredible. We're, you know, been grateful to have the opportunity to build there, and really the goal is to bring in builders of, you know, high quality really throughout the whole spectrum. So high-end estate homes to, you know, town homes and everything in between, but really wanting to have a certain level of quality there. So is the cash the whole big project? Yes. Is that right? Okay. Gotcha. Town-homes segment here, or is that they don't have special names, it's just the town homes along the first stretch there. Well, the first phase is, it'll be a combination of estate homes. So along the river kind of, yeah, well, along the lakes, but the river is right there as well. Yes. And so the lakes that keep you protected from the river. Right. Right. So we're referring to that as the lake reserve, which is kind of that section. I think that's just water side way. Yes. Okay. This is kind of the main road that goes through there. Okay. So that's the lake reserve, but that will include the patios as well as you guys with little homes doing custom full custom homes as well as other high-end builders. Yes. So we're working on compiling, we're calling it a builder's guild of, we're hoping to target like five or six builders that are preferred builders. And then anyone outside of that list would just need to be approved. Okay. So it's not super exclusive. I mean, it is super exclusive. Yes. They're going to have to bring the chops. Right. You might have to know them first, but they'll have to bring some credit. You can of course bring someone outside of the, you know, approved or preferred, but you just would have to be vetted by the development. They're just protecting the values of the homes. Sure. People that are investing into those lots and building a beautiful home we want to. Because those are going to be what? Sorry, they're up like two to five million dollar homes, kind of. I would say probably three to seven. Probably more than two to three range. Okay. Yeah. Which for the greedy market. It's still at the higher end of the market place for sure. It's not the country club necessarily yet. Right. I mean, it can go as high. I mean, they're custom. So they can go on up into five. But we anticipate. You want to. Exactly. We anticipate at least in the short term, they'll be in the two to three million dollars. The builders in that group that are being interviewed are definitely capable of that price point in the shirt. Right. Individuals, you know, comfortable investing in that. There. So we'll see. That's a fun part. Well, I think with Martin's project, they're not too far away. How far away are you from the Cascadia thing? Not too far at all. We're just east of it. Okay. So, yeah. You about running to it, just heading directly east and less than five minutes. Right. Yeah. So, I think that as that unfolds, that probably is positive vibe because you guys will be between that and really. So you'll be kind of in between. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And how some of the commercial may play out, there's, you know, higher end commercials, such as Sprouts and others, that would be really attractive for Greeley on the West in there. Yeah. I would like to see you go in there if that's. That'd be fantastic. For sure. Right on those conduits. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Talk to me about the town home portion because I was out there a few weeks ago and so it's basically across the road from the, the ponds, did you call it, lakes, yeah. The lakes. And that's kind of stretched out and that's kind of the next, the other phase that's actually going to be building right away. Yeah, actually planning to submit our first permit tomorrow. So we'll see. Yeah. And Greeley's telling us 30 days we have our DRC approval. We've got addresses, names finally selected. There's 56 are actually luxury patio homes. So they're not town homes, they're, they're, they're, they're single family dwellings patios. Thank you. Yeah. Four options, plan one, plan two, plan two, point one and plan three. There's some heritage names based on, we talked about my family and Virgil Stoddard coming here in 1874's and the loved one, museum, Virgil. Some of his things he's done with the foot and stoddard livery and for example, one of the homes is named Cleveland because he had a building on Cleveland in fourth home. And the one's named Sterling because he was known to have a Sterling reputation in business. He's neat, you know, kind of carrying that timeline along, but we'll have four different options to being a ranch, one being a ranch with a story and a half, which involves a law for the wet bar bedroom and a bathroom. And plan three is kind of our, our largest square footage, approaching 3000 square foot. Okay. And there's plenty of options in there. That's got a full family option is probably a lot of, not retired, but going to retire in 10 years and I don't want to bother lawn anymore or kind of stuff, is that what we're talking about? Absolutely. The landscaping is on the front elevation and it'll be supplied and installed by with the homecoming, but it's completely maintained by the HOA. If you want to lock and leave residences, about as good as it gets that I've seen there. Right. I think we're really targeting the buyer that they potentially have a nice estate home or, you know, a custom home currently that their kids are maybe gone and they just don't want to keep up with that. 40 to 700 square feet anymore. Right. But they do have an eye for quality and Ryan and Woodland Home Company can certainly bring that quality, but just give it to them in a package that is, you know, a lock and leave and just a great option as a realtor we've seen or I've seen a big need for that in Greeley. And so I think that this product will really fill that void. So you like people contact you looking for this kind of thing and they just, it doesn't exist, kind of? I would say not in Greeley. I mean, there's options in Windsor. Or the Colorado. Right. Yes. There are certainly options beyond Greeley, but really for Greeley, we don't have anything to speak of. Certainly in your product that fits this. Well, and, you know, like Fort Collins and Lovelin aren't going to grow nearly as much as Greeley and Evans and some of those other towns over there or it's partly based on just water, having water to put into houses so people can live there. Exactly. And so, you know, as that 20 year absorption of this project comes out, I think there's you know, more and more kind of momentum to be gained by the marketplace in that. I suspect anyway. I would agree. Yeah. So how did you decide on the styles? I don't know. Is that a Sheridan Devar? Are you in the design room with this? I think I'm sure. Sheridan, we can speak to that. I mean, some of it is based off of successful Texas development, this Alley load type. She's gone. We've both gone to hundreds of cashmains, but she's tripled that count for me every Tuesday for years now, watching this all unfold in the site. So I mean, I guess you could speak to how the layout occurred and what the product selection, how it is what it is today. Well, I think it's really been a collaborative effort. I mean, we have worked with God and Incidic. There are architects on a Denver that are doing the architectural control for essentially all of the cash, and I was so impressed with their work that I introduced them to Ryan. I thought they would be a good fit to be the architects of the actual patio homes as well. And so they've done beautiful, beautiful architecture. We're really excited about that. And then we've brought on, I mean, really it's a whole team. We have an amazing interior designer and consultants, and it's certainly a collaborative effort, but it's taken a lot of years to get to this point, and certainly a lot of long hours lately. And I certainly can't take credit for most of it. You're not doing the long hours of the grind, is it really? No, definitely not lately, and our team has really come together, especially in these last few months, and it's been really neat to watch. What's cool is that to have a minor point of pride with how much progress you've made letting Woodland Home Marketplace become its own business without instant oversight from you and everything, you probably couldn't have done this without that. You had to shut the marketplace down or something, which would have been a shame because then you got five, seven good people that don't have a job anymore or whatever. I don't dwell on that for a moment with me, I guess, and probably give some kudos to the folks that are really leading the team over there at Woodland Homes because that feels appropriate. Yeah, absolutely. I think they're aware of that, and that is the conversation that was had. And I don't, you know, there are teams small enough with four in the shop that I think they're all key players. I mean, Lyork's new, but Joe and our sales and business growth is very solid, Brad's and exceptional cabinet builder, he comes out of Salt Lake, he's been the cabinet shop for 30 years. Cool. He won't tell you, but he's built for Tiger Woods and other really high-end celebrities and at a deer valley, veille, aspen, so he can build anything. Right. And Andre, that's our lead shop assistant there is just the best guy. He'll do anything. He's got the greatest attitude. If you got someone that's going to row in a boat next to you, you want that guy? Yeah. That's new. We're still learning of, you know, what his capacity and ability is, but they're aware of that. We have those conversations. If you, if we want to keep this going, what do you want out of being here? How can we get that for you? And this is what I need because I'm not going to be as available. Yeah. And we got to see if that works here before we get to here because that here is the timeline here. Yeah. Because if not, to your point, I can't just watch things go downhill and have this additional stress or all this stuff while we have this problem. You can't be a high performance home builder while being distracted too much by that. And this is a big reason of why by retired in 2016 because this was such a substantial opportunity and we needed to get out here and get repetitions in and make our mistakes and earn our, you know, a stressful company and just get out and go and build and do the things. Well, how many flips did you do in the last 10 years? Oh gosh. The last count. It's at least 30 for sure. And, yeah, you know, and how many custom builds before all of this, we're, we're signing two more here and I think that puts us at, you know, just under 20, right to date for it. Yeah. So you've earned a lot of those stripes. I really, I think that's cool. Your, your combination of determination and confidence and humility, I just got to give you some kudos because you're like, I'm not ready to take something on that big, but we know there's something big coming because you had the inside track. You knew about this development in process, Sarah, for even back when? Yes. Yes. It's actually, so my father's the developer on Putover Ranch. He's the developer on the cash. So I've been aware of this vision for, I mean, 20 years. Right. Right. But it was, you know, we knew that that would take a long time to get going and he wasn't running dollars down on your business because you know, you know, all the dollars he had for development. Yes. And he also knew that we, you know, he also knew that we needed to, you know, get out there and then on our own, yeah, absolutely. So there was, we've been provided a lot of opportunity, but we've had to earn it too. So, yeah, I mean, that was my inside track is that, you knew about it. I knew about it for many years, but you were good enough to get that. Yeah, absolutely. And I still, you know, to, to the stage moving forward, I want to prove that. That didn't have anything to do with your selection of the young fireman at the time. It might be an amazing home builder, too. I didn't know that. It was not on my radar. And I also had no idea that he had the Greeley connection, which I find so interesting. Yeah. I mean, who would, who would know that? So, yeah, that all, I mean, just falling into place. Awesome. Yeah. What else? Going back to your, yeah, sorry to interrupt, but to her father, I have a lot of respect from business, but it's, it's amazing. He will provide opportunity, but he's going to make sure that you earn it and show your capable. And I really respect that about him. Yeah. There's no free handouts. Um, he's, he's definitely, uh, he's sharp and he's earned every bit to where he's at. It's, it's really, it's neat to be around him. It's just cool to have someone to be near to see, yeah, as a mentor in that regard. So for sure. That was a big part of me. He's not telling you what to do, but he is mentoring you without, with a light touch, probably. And then you talk about those projects and I call that like $50 million of complete work. That's a lot of mistakes. And he'll sit there and he'll go, yep, I don't see how that goes for you. And he's going to let you, he's not going to say, you need to do this and that'll make this better. He's going to say, well, well, how'd that go? And so it's good for us to go through that. I think it poises us better because we have to stay in our own two feet and make our own decisions. Yeah. I don't have, have we talked about my background at all? My dad started a farm like when I was first grader. Like he was a motorcycle mechanic in North Dakota, yeah. And he's since grown it to him in my brother to a 10,000 acre farm. But he worked at the motorcycle shop and worked the farm evenings and weekends. From the time I was a first grader until I was 11th grader. And finally, he could quit the motorcycle shop. And when I went off to college, he's like son, the farm's doing a little better now and we could probably help you with your school. But I think you get a lot more out of it if you pay for it yourself. You know, and it's a different world now than it was then and my $22,000 of student loans wasn't that terrible. But it was like the kids that flunked out were daddy was paying for it. Right. And so there's so much harm you can do to kids by over equipping them in some ways. Over opportunity in them is a different story. Yeah. I find that lying to you because you want the best for them. But it's like, you know, there's a helicopter in the long rowing parents, right? Like lawnmowers are blatantly destroying the obstructions or just helicopters or guys in them and saying, don't do that. Right. And we, it's okay. Is that an acceptable damage that's going to happen versus are they going to actually get hurt? Yeah. It gets figured out as a parent that we'll try to do well, I guess. Yeah. After we come back from our first break, I want to get into your guys' family, your kiddos and stuff like that and dig in some of these principles as well. But before we do that, I have gifts for you. This is your custom loco experience, sunglasses, as well as this crazy ginger hot sauce. And some old heritage loco, loco think tank cups and a note suitable for framing, if I ever get famous. And kombucha starter, and I can tell you how to make it right now, if you like. I would love that. Yes. This is very good, by the way. It's very, very good. I'm glad you like it. So I've been making it as sun tea when it's warm enough, but otherwise you can just make sweet tea, basically. And so what I do is I have two one gallon jugs, a little over gallon. They're like 132 ounces or something, so it's a little head space. And you screen them with the. It's like stuff that's kind of like keeps the flies out and stuff like that. Like a mesh. Yeah, like a mesh thing. There's a certain word for it anyway. I don't remember that. But basically there's a gallon of sweet tea. So for me, I actually just mix my, I mix sun tea out in the patio. I have this critter right there in it, because this is a scoby. It's a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. And this is the starter from last one, the mother that grew in this last batch of a gallon was about really close to a pound, like it was a ton. And so that critter basically takes the sugar out of your sweet tea and turns it into kind of a vinegary kind of thing, the kombucha thing, and then adds a bunch of probiotic good stuff for your gut. And kombucha is too expensive. It's like four bucks a bottle at the store, right, but this is like two bucks a gallon. So you need one cup of white sugar, or you can replace that with two thirds of a cup of honey. I tend to prefer like mostly honey some sugar, which seems to grow the healthiest scobies. And then eight bags of lipden tea or however much black tea, somebody gifted me with a bunch of aged tea bags on the string. Yeah. Nice in there. Yep. Nice. And just put it on your patio, or if you have to cook it on the stove, you can just heat up a gallon of water and put the tea in there and make the tea. Then add your honey and sugar so that it mixes in there good. And then put the cheese cloth. A cheese cloth. And I remember band over the thing, so it can breathe. And in a week it's changed a little bit. In two weeks for me, it's about perfect. You were about a two and a half week or here because we went to Florida. And in about four weeks, it tastes like vinegar more. And it's always good for you. And then you can also do crazy things like if you boil it on a stove, you can throw some berries in there. Or you can use herbal teas. Or you can use molasses instead of sugar for kicks and grins or brown sugar. Or you can experiment. And just, you know, as long as the critter doesn't have any mold on it, it won't kill you either. I don't know. So I drink a gallon a week and I rotate it. So I harvest one every week and I start a new batch and then it brews for two weeks and then I get another fresh gallon every week. That's awesome. How long have you been doing that? Since January of 2020. So you got it? No. I don't know that I've, yeah, I got it made the most efficient for the flavors that I would have. I'd probably ruined that and just turned a vinegar. No, I don't think so. I think you'll like it. Yeah. But if you don't want it, you know. Well, happy to try. As you grow it and it has more time on it, does it become more potent or have more probiotics or when you say the flavor changes is just, it gets more tart and stuff. It might be healthier still, then you can take it as a tonic and take a stick of teaspoon, right? Oh, and this is the final step. So this is how you start the next batch. And so a little bit of the kombucha and the critter. But you can actually take store bought kombucha, add some sugar to it, grow a fresh critter and start your own brew system if you want to. Oh, wow. So anyway, knowing that Ryan, you've been, been teetoddling mostly for a while and for me, this is the thing that I crave aside from like a beer or a bourbon and stuff like that. Yeah. I'm going to get alternatives now like recess, hot water and yeah, that's a good to lie. Yeah, you know, whatever. But they don't, they don't make a gut happy with kombucha, so that's my secondary gift to you. You choose not to grow it. It does take, what does it take? It takes about 20 minutes once a week. Okay. We got that. Once you get a set up going. Nice. Let's try it. Yeah. Thank you very much. Right. Like you can. After the project is going good, then maybe I'll try it. I'll give you a fresh go. Like before, to have a homie. That's good. That's part of the conversation you shouldn't bring up. I'm going to pop these. I'm going to take it. We're going to take a break. We'll get into that, too. This will be a counseling session, the time we're done. Right. This episode is sponsored by LocoThinkTank. LocoThinkTank provides spiritual collaboration for business owners. We build smart, safe places to help business leaders navigate every stage of the business journey and we love what we do and who we do it with. Our model features gift-back minded business veterans and the role of Loco facilitators and we're always looking for abundance minded individuals to add to our membership, facilitator team, local community, or to feature on this podcast. Listeners of this podcast who go on to become members of LocoThinkTank get their sixth month of membership for free. Just mention the Loco Experience Podcast on your application. To learn more, visit our website at locothinktank.com. That's l-o-c-o-thinktank.com. So when we jumped, we were kind of talking about kind of the facts on the ground right now what the stage is, how many, how many, like if you had your ideal situation for the rest of your play out, like, how many tone homes could you build? You said you got first permit, you're going to put a few in the ground right away? Yep. We're going to go for four or five here. We have a substantial line of credit with the solid rate capacity for the team, where we start kind of being in fishing or having to deal with those issues 25 a year, I think so. Wow. I think we could do our current PM has completed 25 in a year himself, so. Wow. Okay. So you're ready if the volume is high, but realistically it'll probably not start that fast because the roads are just going in and stuff, right? So we're the tip of the spear there, we're the first homes in the development, so just coming out conservative and trying to, you know, not be overly risky and leverage ourselves too much to add, and also really making sure we nailed on the quality, so putting a really strong model on the market. Yep. So build those first, see how many contracts you get, but maybe build five, ten and then fifteen, then twenty. Yeah, wait, see how it rolls. If you ask the tons of friends in Greeley and surrounding realtor markets and everything and some say, oh, you're going to for sure close 20 homes of first year and then some will say you're never going to sell one, so you just have to go out and do those. Everybody knows something. So talk, can you jump me into future phases a little bit, so this is going to go up that hillside up to the south, I guess? Yep, exactly. So we, the property spans from the river to 10th, essentially, so all the way up and then between 83rd and 95th, essentially, so yes. The first phase, as I mentioned, will be the state homes or the state lots and the patio homes that Ryan is doing, and then the rest is honestly a little bit to be determined. I think we'll progress to the south, however, if someone wanted to come in and do something immediately off of 10th, we could do that as well. But the whole theme has to kind of fit the cache. Exactly. So like a big national builder wanted to take down a big chunk. That's fine as long as you meet our design standards and stuff. Exactly. So there, I mean, realistically, there will be portions that will be sold off to, you know, builders. Or whatever. Right. However, we, even in that, we want to be very mindful of who those builders are. So not them. What? I'm not saying that. No, they would be great. But, you know, again, we'll have all different price points and we want to have a little something for everyone. But we do really want to have that certain level of quality and level of detail throughout. So, they father takes a lot of pride in what he does. He's built this land in ownership over two decades. So he's going to make them sure that it's going to turn out something he's really proud of. Right. This is his legacy project, absolutely. Exactly. So everything from, I mean, the meetings that Ryan mentioned earlier that I've been in for the last decade really have been, I mean, everything from every detail. I mean, we're considering all of it. And so for you, in some ways, it's a part of helping him to extend his legacy. Yes. Is that fair? Yes. Which is very important to me. Yeah. Thank you to Purpose Driven Wealth of Thrive and for sponsoring our Purpose Driven Questions segment. At Purpose Driven Wealth, they believe financial clarity leads to a life of contentment and purpose. Their mission is to help guide clients using a values driven, stewardship-based approach, focused on provision, contentment, and enjoyment. With more than a century of experience, Thrive and helps individuals and families navigate life and business transitions and prepare for the future while creating space to live generously and give back in meaningful ways. To learn more about Purpose Driven Wealth, please call 970-330-7411 for a complimentary initial consultation. And now onto the questions. Let's talk about Purpose. This is the Purpose Driven Questions segment. So I've got a list of questions here that are sometimes I modify them based on my notions even. But this is sponsored by Purpose Driven Wealth and we're thankful for that. I want to talk about both of you have kind of exhibited this really strong sense of purpose. Was that planted by parents? Are there other mentors who or what really would you charter that to, I guess, and Sarah, I'll let you jump first if you don't mind? No, I don't mind. I think a big portion of my sense of purpose would be honoring my grandfather and my father that have come before me in this business and wanting to do a good job to honor that legacy. Of course, my immediate family Ryan and our son is the most important. The most important, yes. So that's a huge, huge, you know, aspect of what drives me. For sure. Yeah, I was doing the math and that's like 70 years old company. That was 68. Yeah, 68. So that's 42 plus 26 is, yeah, 68, right? That's 68. Right? That's 68. Yeah, that's 42 plus 46. Yeah, no, 42 plus 26 is 68. So it was founded in 68 and it's 68 years old this year, you should do something special for that. We should. That's a good idea. Super 68. There you go. Steps of fork got any more money out of us right now. It's really tight. No, this is Orlando company. Yes. Yeah. That's fair. Yes. How about you, right? If I turn to that same question, you're talking about kind of a chip on your solder style at the fireman stuff. I think that I've always just kind of wanted to be the best that whatever I chose to do. And her father actually said that at our wedding, you know, as I got to know Ryan, I, you know, I think it's not to be better than anybody. Just showed myself what I can do, you know, because you've been told a lot in life. And like I said, the chip on your shoulder of, oh, you, that guy's not going to have any value. Yeah. We know that at a young age. Look, he's not going to amount. So it's to prove yourself, like, look, you can, and just trying to be the best you can. Yeah. Personally, for yourself. Compare yourself to yourself. To me. Yeah. And the year before or the year before. Am I getting better? Am I evolving? Am I doing the very best I can? That's all. That's what makes me happy. Yeah. I want to talk about, like, there's some words that are kind of similar, like philosophy, theology, ideology. Like, what do you resonate with in those words and what do they, what place do they have for you? What was the third one? Ideology, philosophy and theology. Man, I guess for me, when philosophy and ideology, not so much theology, but I think with our son and the type of parent that I would like to be on, I think she, she feels that as way. We, in her family, we just finished a branding with 80 of 80 black angles last weekend. Okay. Our son's there working the brand with her dad. I know it's special to him. Not just a good, hard day's work, I think we're just really wanting to, those aren't silver spoon kind of activities. No. Yeah, we're just really, and we like, that's the reason why we like buying, mistorqued buying the old homes or the abandoned farms, because there's a lot of hard work to be done, but at the end of that, there's rewards. So I think as far as philosophy and ideology, it's showing our son that you don't have to start with a lot, but if you're going to work really hard, there's a reward that's there. Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. I think they add on that. I would add on, and just in terms of philosophy, I think, you know, is going back to my family again and the ranch that has been in our family on that side for since 1883 and has kind of parlayed into Noah is becoming the cash and, oh, that's a portion of the historic. Well, no, our, so that ranch, the 1883 ranch is up in Gramby, but, no, that's okay. I didn't, I was very clear, but then, you know, coming from that ranch down to the ranch, which is now becoming the cash, I mean, that's all, you know, it's kind of sequential and how that all worked, but I think the philosophy of just, you know, to Ryan's point, working hard, honesty, integrity, doing what you say you're going to do, you know, all of those things and just that common thread throughout our work and our history, I think, and what we'd like to see for us in the future. Fair enough. I'm going to do, we're going to do a jump in the time machine here shortly. Is there anything else you want to make sure people know about either the larger project or these town homes while we're here, just come and, come and see the first one when it's ready in three months or four months or what's the first, uh, yeah. We had a, we have in weekly meetings, you know, build or update meetings with our staff and team and we'll be putting a lot of material out on our social media on Facebook and Instagram at Woodland Home Company. Okay. So that will be some sneak peeks and some breadcrumbs coming out. Cool. And that'll, of course, swing pit foundations and framing and further along, we get our model home. The selection center is being completed here shortly. So outside, dates there to bring realtors and local individuals around to see, because in the selection center has products we're obviously selling and that's an old 1900s farmhouse 1937 that we've rehabilitated, because that's obviously in our real house, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's very cool. Oh, easy part. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Seven-hours quirky? No problem. Right. Those are, we're rolling those out here shortly and just excited to all of those pages is a good place to, yeah. So you got a great website there and stuff, but let's just see progress is there. Yeah. We just made a large investment into our website to elevate it to really be competitive in that upper end market. It's really attractive in my opinion. It's, I'm excited for, I haven't looked into the one. The new one? It hasn't even rolled out yet. It'll be a few more weeks. Okay. So check that out. It'll be great. We're excited. Do we just say to get to work? It's an opportunity. Like we said, we've, we've been excited for a decade and it's time to get to work. So we're just pumped to have a really cool show we can do, right? Yeah, the culmination of a decades worth of work to get ready for this. Yeah. Well, I would just to add on to that, the selection center is what we've been referring to it as, but we've recently named it the bunkhouse, which I'm super excited about. And really the concept is it's an old farmstead that was on the property. And originally the thought was that we would take all of that down and I fought pretty hard to keep it. Okay. I just love that whole concept. There's two farmhouses, kind of an old garage and, you know, some other outbuildings that I just think are super cool. So finally convinced our team, the cash team to save it. And now it's, you know, being rehabilitated and our concept with that is that we'll become kind of a, kind of a just farm concept, kind of like commercial, really cool coffee shop or, you know, for a fancy restaurant, probably fit nicely. Yes, exactly. So super excited about that because that's, you know, the one thing right now that's horizontal, you know, versus all the, you know, vertical, or I'm sorry, one thing that's vertical, not the horizontal infrastructure. So that's fun to see. And that'll be our first, our first thing that will be coming up wet in June. We'll probably have the selection center completed photography, June 18th on the schedule. And yeah, soft openings after, shortly after. And then yeah, we'll be, should be in the ground July with the first wave street capes ready to go. We're releasing the street capes, permits are getting approved and starting color renderings, all the fun stuff. So, right, right. Yeah, it is a little ways, like I think about the, all that still has to happen yet. Yes. Yeah. But there could be houses completed this year. Absolutely. Yeah, we, if we move quick and get some interest, especially the ranch, a little bit smaller square footage. Yeah. You know, as fast as we can without sacrificing quality, right, that's our, that's been our motto. We have some for sale holidays, you know, you might be able to close by the first year that's our goal about to move and quick. So now we're going to jump in the time machine. We had a little flash of Ryan on a bucket strip of wallpaper, but otherwise we don't do too much about the early years, although we've had some hints from you Sarah, but why don't we, we go, we're back to first grade for you. Okay. What, what was your circumstance in the, in the world your dad was already in the realistic company was his dad? Yes. Still the owner of it at that time. Did you work for his dad kind of thing? Yes. At that time, let's see. We were living in Greeley and my grandfather would have had the Orland Company office in Denver. My dad had just probably around that time in the early 80s, from mid 80s, branched off. I know. It's been a while. Mid late 80s. They had branched off and he was starting Orland Company, the Greeley office. Oh, I see. I mean, you worked probably with and for for a while, but then he kind of had a chance to run. Yeah. Downtown Greeley. That's cool. Originally, I was downtown Greeley and it was he and my uncle. Both my uncles were involved with the company as well for some time and so he was with the Orland there and and at the time, I mean, the real estate landscape was very, very different than it is now. Yeah. But he was hustling and we were living ups and downs and ups and downs and we were living in a little farmstead that is now puter of a ranch. Oh, really? Yes. That's the place I grew up on and that old barn, it's not really so old, but the barn, that big red barn that's in Greeley, that was the barn in our home place. Oh, interesting. Yeah. If you'd talk to him about those days, when he'd answer his phone, they'd say, Ed, what are you doing? He said, I'm walking around the parking lot looking for pennies. Yeah. He hustled. Yeah. Was there, you have siblings? No. No, just only child and was your mom working or just watching you? Yeah, no, she was working as well. That was an undertaking. She actually owned Greeley Hatworks, which she's since sold, when I was in high school, she sold it to Trent Johnson, his own her now. Okay. And he's taken it to a whole different level, which is really exciting to see. So they're both entrepreneurs, you grew up in complete entrepreneurs, I'm kind of, yeah. Yes, it was, yeah, I never knew anything else. Sometimes they had a little bit of money, sometimes they had almost nothing and they always worked hard. They always worked hard. And it kept getting better. Yeah. You know, I suspect also, they know it was with the case in my family's farm situation, but just, you know, you keep working hard for a long time and eventually it starts to come together. Exactly. Yeah. So they were very hardworking and really sweet memories from that time. Let's talk about you as you go off to school, where you sassy, where you're smart, where you're athletic, what was your, what was your, what was your friends and first or second creative talk said about you? Oh gosh. I don't know. I don't know. It was great if that's easier. Oh, probably pretty sassy. I don't think they would have said I was very athletic. I laugh because our son, he jokes that he got all of his athleticism from his dad, which is probably true. Mom, can you even catch it? Yeah. Yeah. I was, you know, honoring, had a bunch of cousins, we'd run around, I was in 4-H, showing steers and... Okay. So you go around close family, even though you're your only child, you still have a family exposure. Family exposure. It's so encouraging, right? Yeah. A lot of cousins that are very, very close in age and like my sisters. So... Yeah, cool. In some ways, I feel like an only child in some ways I don't. And how did you find school? Was that fun, easy, annoying? Um, it wasn't necessarily easy, I had to work at it, but yeah, it was, you know, it was what it was. Kind of something I had to do, but yeah. Ryan, let's drop down to you first grade Ryan, same circumstance, you have siblings as well. Yeah, do you have siblings? I have two younger brothers. Okay. Um, well there's a three and a half year gap from the middle brother and then the youngest um, gosh, I'm 39, he's about 20, it's 2000. You were 13, I think when he was born, yeah. I was 10 when my youngest brother was born, almost to the oldest. Okay. Somewhere in high school, I think, yeah, sophomore or something, my mom goes, hey, by the way, I guess what. So we joke with him about that by the, um, yeah, so first grade, I went to a, um, you know, I was really blessed to go to a private Christian school, um, and I thought that was great. I think the education system, there was awesome, um, always into sports. Okay. So it was always outside. You know, that was a kind of a group in the genre of where, yeah, you just, we're all the BMX bikes, we're lying around, um, that's where all the kids were, right? Right. Just get back to where the lights were off. Totally. Yeah, totally. And, uh, yeah, just always outside doing things. My family always had German Twitter pointers because my dad was always into feds and hunting. He still has a feds and hunting company. Oh, really? Yeah. Just north of the Mexico border there. Oh, wow. So we always had a ton of fun dogs top in the pool. Okay. So you weren't the city kid that I was imagining growing up in passes, you know, you were out doing stuff more. Yeah. Always on a bike. I would, um, I mean, you know, past first grade, I'd ride my bike to the paintball store to go work on paintball guns for free so I could get paintballs to go play paintball. You know, uh, just because we didn't, you know, my parents were, we were successful middle class, but weren't abundantly living by any means. Yeah. Yeah. I could have money for food. Well, you did a contractor already when you were a kiddo? Yeah. Um, he did a lot of wall paperwork. He's really, really talented at that. Very detail oriented. My mom worked, uh, for a Merry Quest, um, during that really successful period of those bad loans. And, uh, so she was up there with, uh, um, I think that company had an offering of $66 billion and later sold for 12 or 13 billion, but there was, it was going. Wow. Um, so I was kind of typically the last, last couple of kids get picked up at school because my parents were working hard saying, just trying to live that American dream out and, you know, do the things, but we always had, um, gifts for our birthday parties and Christmas friends on the tree. Yeah. And you'd be, at least once a week, you know, yeah, yeah. By no means struggling, just, yeah, fortunate, um, and we got a long typical, my younger brother would always tattle on me and I was, I was trying to jump off the roof or run my bike into the pool. So he was the middle one that was, yeah, yeah, getting along and, uh, but always telling on me. So I always got the spankings and he never got one, but, uh, yeah, I never really got any spankings. I have a younger brother, two and a half years younger, but I convinced him to try to get a good run for it one time and try to pull the tree down with his bicycle. What he was way too young for me to do that. Yeah. I was kind of cruel. And you have, yeah. Well, all this can be, you have a two, you said? I have a sister too. I've got you. So two and a half years younger brother and then a sister, five years younger and then a brother, ten years younger. And you were in North Dakota, um, your entire childhood as well? Yep. Yep. And tell me, well, I moved to Minnesota for a year on the way to getting here, but yeah, all my, all my grown-up years. And very, a village of a hundred kids, or a hundred people. Oh, really? Right. So it was like, you know, a six-square block kind of area plus the five miles around that if you wanted to ride your bike that far, you know, so very much free-range style as well. Both, in both of our cases, because it was cultural for our families, at least, and in your case, the, there was so busy they didn't have time to worry about you or about yourself. So I had to figure out, um, my, my dad grew up where his dad would drop him off and give him a box of like a hundred shells of a 22 and a six-pack of soda and say, hey, just meet you back here at dark and he would just go away for the day. So they'd, you know, like literally kids would drink a soda and I'm going to go put this down in this rock and we'll shoot it and as they're like putting the soda bottle down, they're like shooting it out of each other's hands. So just like, you know, no supervision. So my dad didn't have like, you know, he wasn't like, hey, really be careful. It was just kind of, he's like, I raised my kids by Darwin. Yeah. So there's, yeah. And how was your approach to school? Um, you mentioned you were kind of, uh, didn't engage well, at least in the later high school years, right? Yeah. I went to, from the private school, we did, started to do well in basketball. We won the sixth grade national champion show in a school awarded us for that and I began to go to summer camps and was kind of winning a little thing basketball stood in started that way. But so I started selecting which school I would go to and I picked a school sand demons that are really good, really tough coach, but really good. And so once I got there, I just, I don't know, I didn't really, I don't know what really happened there. I just, I just wanted to play basketball and didn't care for school or wanted to do anything but school. So it wasn't any family circumstances necessarily, nothing like that. It was just, no, I didn't have the front group just, my dad was pretty conditional. If you're doing well in basketball, then you, everything's great. Yeah. And so, um, you know, as long as I was going well, things are really good in that regard. But I just was ditching school, not wanting to go, cost was boring. I don't know why that really, looking back, I don't know why that was like that because I really applied to college and did really well because I had found my path, right? But I think I was just kind of wandering and like fitting in. I think high school is generally like the competition of like, yeah, like, you were competing at one thing. It was basketball. Yeah. I think it didn't matter or whatever. And I was in, I was in a brand new school where I didn't know anybody and they all came from there. Like everybody, you know, you were like a brand new kid there or something, maybe acting out to try to give you a longer fit in, but, um, and I got a lot of attention from people in school for the basketball stuff. So it was easy to, you know. I'm guessing you were big early, I was six foot one and I was five foot one and 110 pounds of the freshman, a six foot one, a hundred and eighty junior year. Holy crap. Yeah. Yeah. You're putting two years. That's funny. So I tell people, I was, I was crit the squirt. Yeah. So I was four foot 11 in seventh grade, um, and then at the end of tenth grade, I was five foot one. So I grew nothing in for it. And then by the end of college, uh, end of high school two years later, I was six foot two. Wow. Yeah. So I grew a foot in a inch in two years. Sounds like you did this. You did it actually in two years. Two years. And I actually grew a foot in two years. Wow. I don't know how you did with it, but blew me up. It tore my tendons up. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I had a lot of pain and awkwardness, um, but I didn't like suffer. Yeah. So you were a little guy when you were in the national champion team as a six grader. You were still just a little shabber. Yeah. That's point guard. Interesting. Oh, yeah. So that's hilarious. Yeah. I was kind of the same. I went from point guard to having to try to be, you know, a forward. Exactly. And, and for me, though, I, I blew up to six foot one and a hundred and thirty two pounds. So I didn't get any, any mass. And so then I got all these kids pushing me around. I can't even really play anymore. You know, I can't dribble effectively because I'm so tall and dorky and I can't body up downtown. So I couldn't ask for anyway. I digress. This show isn't about me. Okay. So, um, so yeah, you would kind of talk about kind of that, that season and then finding that, uh, do you want to, do you know the name of the guy, the fireman that came and talked to your school that set you on fire? Oh, I wish, I wish I did. Yeah. Um, because that's cool for him to know. Yeah. Um, it would be, I'm sure I'm sure you know he's doing that off duty and I made sure I got a great buddy, Leo Alvarez, um, and we worked, um, at 26 and a little plenty and we'd go on our time off and do what we call show means. We go up to the school and go to the kiddos. Hey, we have to put your turnouts on. 60 seconds. Jammer got to have a race and do all these things to show the kiddos the gear and he put down on and we made sure to be reaching out to the community on our own time. I know he did that. He wasn't getting paid for that. Right. So I thought that was pretty neat just to be like, Hey, you know, you know, each one, teach one kind of thing. Like you, you've established yourself in a good position. This is a great paying job and Southern California, it's, there's San Francisco, although it's the highest cost of living, those guys make $200, $800,000, you know, pretty easily and I really kind of would pay 150,000 to 250K as a reasonable for sure. Yeah. 10 years ago. Whatever. Plus in the benefit package and, um, in the quality life, uh, and with the guys and gals on the job, sure, it's got so much job. It's a sweet job, right? Yeah. I don't know what your routine was. But a lot of guys work, you know, 10 days on and 15 days off or things like that. Yeah. 120 calendar days out of the year to, you know, a green day and black day or a red day on the schedule. Right. You earn one vacation day a month. You're required to take an AV, which is four days off, which is a half a month. So it's got a lot to offer for quality life. And so the fact that that person or that man, you know, had that established for himself and it's like, I'm going to go here to these high school kids and try to get back to those pretty neat, you know, pretty cool. Worked for me. I mean, who knows? To be honest. Yeah. And you have what's called your new point moments of impact. Mm hmm. You look at what would I have continued to do with parting or whatever else that would have just, you know, what could have ended up, but could, would you have drinking, drove and hit a family or something or have made a life changing decision that that really chewed me up to, you know, getting out of that. Well, we're still here. Like, tell me about your family's faith background, were they actively engaged in church and stuff to send you to a private school? My mom, group Catholic, my dad's side is very complicated. My dad's father is a very interesting individual from a bare-knuckle boxer in Canada to a pastor and then to a painting contractor. Okay. He would cross-country ski across these small villages in Canada to go preach the word and that really had impact on my grandmother on his side and she became atheist. And I'm not sure of my dad's true belief, but I know that his two brothers are atheist and because it was hard to watch their father do that. But my mom had a strong Catholic background, I think she was like, no, we're putting him in here. Okay. And so that was, I'm being thankful for that because I'm, I'm Christian, I love, you know, that part of my life. And I think there's really great values in the Bible. And when did that come, did it come back around for you then? You know, when I was in high school and I was being an idiot, I just decided to go to a church I still love. It's Christ Church of the Valley in Kaffee, and I decided I'm going to go here. And that's where I met Jeff Feins and Dane Johnson who pastored our wedding and still talked to him today. Well, Dane, that I've had on the podcast. Dane Johnson, I don't know, he's from Southern California. Oh, that's a different guy. There's a Dane Johnson here in Fort Collins, it's like operations and systems building nerd. Oh, no. Different. Hey, Dane, where are we going? Yeah. And Jeff Feins was a basketball player. He just, I liked his message. He held you accountable for your behaviors and he found the good in the Bible, but also held you accountable to what we shall not be doing, you know, but without being is still a Presbyterian. So it was accepting and this is a place where everyone's welcome because there's certain parts of Christianity, personally, I feel like was, you know, the, Christianity has this thing. Like everyone's being judged. I rejected Christianity for a lot of my growing up years because of that notion. Yeah. And the church I've fallen into is kind of more Presbyterian, I guess that's part of the way. And that place was kind of like, hey, look, there's an easy thing to consider here. There's God who's perfect, God Christ, the Holy Spirit, and then there's us and we're all the same who are not perfect. And I was like, well, that's an even playing ground to understand we're all just trying to be better. Yeah. Sarah, I'm going to bounce back to you. Okay. You're a teenager. What's your, what's your lifestyle, what's your circle stands by now, are you still, are you still steady in school, nothing special? Let's see, time I'm a teenager. Yeah. So elementary school, you're setting your pointer towards San Diego soon, which is a big step for a girl from Greeley, perhaps. Yes. That's true. Let's see, elementary, I was in Greeley, then I shifted to Platt Valley for a short time, which is in Cursey. That's where my cousins were, so I wanted to be with them. And then started playing club volleyball and got to be really close with some of the girls. Okay, so you're athletic. At least enough for volleyball. At least enough for that. You left off the skating when you were younger. Oh, gosh. That's a different story. We're talking about high school now. Where did skating come in? Oh, right. For a short stint, when I was young, I was a figure skater, like a roller skater. Speed skater. Speed skater. Well, speed skater in the night did like, like figure skating, but on roller skates. Okay. That's pretty impressive, actually. So when you're just saying, Diego, you're like, look at my skills on the boardwalk, good stuff. No. But then I had hung my skates. Oh, what a set. But I know a little bit. There's some funny pictures that my mom still likes to have out and about in her house, so everybody can see. I've seen a few trophies. Yeah, and there's some trophies. Okay. Well, there's not much people doing people doing it, so I'm just kidding. They might have been from Wyoming. True. No, my poor mom, she would, you know, take me to these skating competitions all over like in Nebraska. Oh, yeah. Because you had to go a long way. You did. Plus this group of people. Yes. It's true. Skaters, yeah. I don't even know how I fell into that. I want to know more. Okay. Like figure skating, like my nieces do up in North Dakota, but it's on roller skates, on roller skates. Roller skates. Yes. Okay. Yes. So I don't know what, I mean, I'm sure that there's like an official term for it. I don't know what that would be. Just roller skates. I know about regular roller skating and I know roller derby. Right. And I'm a big fan of that. But it doesn't look like you're qualified. No. You're not crazy enough or big enough. Oh. There's a hole. There's a hole. A sport. And I couldn't really speak to it today. I've not done it for a long time. It was a season. It was a season. Thanks Ryan for making it right. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for bringing that up. And the pictures are like really young and really fast. Yes. I was. Thank you. I was actually pretty good at it. So you're you're you're winding up with high school. You're sitting your pointer. What? Yeah. Decision tree. So high school. I ended up shifting to Valley high school, which is in Gilkrest and played volleyball all those years and really just at the time all I wanted to do is go somewhere warm that had a beach. And that was truly my my North Star at the time. And. There. Yeah. I just I didn't want to be in Greeley. I wanted to you know go live go live on the beach somewhere. So that's precisely what I did. Was there other options high on your list or what you learned about San Diego? You know we I looked at Hawaii and then I we went and looked at that school and I thought you know it's a little too far probably. Right. And we had taken a family trip to. 14 hours. Right. Get home to Christmas. Exactly. 14 hours back. So I think my parents were pretty excited that I I settled on San Diego and we had just taken a trip out there and I truly I don't even know how I ended up at my school. It just it was pure luck I guess because I didn't at the time have a clear vision. I you know was just I wanted a beach that's literally my thought process at the time. You know what would be the coolest thing is if there were like more islands like Catalina Island and stuff like a big grip of like Indonesia off the coast. Yeah. That would be amazing. You wouldn't have all that Gulf Stream impact right up in our coast. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah. It would probably kill butterflies in Japan or something then be a disaster. So how did you how did you take to it? I loved it. I ended up at University of San Diego which is a beautiful school right on the water. Yeah. Not right on the water but you can see the water from your classroom. So I thought that was pretty neat and thankfully again it was just it's a great school and I had to work very hard harder than I'd ever worked before. Yeah. But what did you go for? I have a degree in political science and a minor in business. Would you like to get political in this conversation? I don't know. I don't know. I'm in a situation going on right now. How do you think the ceasefire will hold? I don't know. I shouldn't speak to it. My thought with political science at the time was that I wanted to be a lawyer. So I thought that that would be a good undergrad. Yeah. And then by the time I had finished my undergrad I was just so burnt out on school. I never followed through on that. People care about me and this podcast necessarily but of course they do. Yeah. So in high school after I quit basketball I had more time and chorus because I was a kind of hoodlum too for a while. But I had like three study halls two days a week and two study halls one day a week or something like that. Anyway, a lot of study halls. So I consume every news week, every US news and world report, every Wall Street Journal, every popular science, every popular mechanics. I read every article in every one of those magazines. And so when I got to college and took a political science 101 class in my third year or something like that. I was like, oh my god, I know you're like, I'm just going to read my magazine. Yeah. Anyway, I digress. It was an interesting, like I was such a novice about any part of the world because I grew up in a hotter person village. Right. But I knew about the big world. I just didn't, I didn't really know about the intermediate size world. Like what I call it. I thought I was going to be dumber than all the kids at college because that was where the smart kids all went. You know what I was just from this village. Anyway, interesting. I digress. That's my experience with political science classes. It's been a while for me. But yeah. Ryan, you got your pointer set on trying. What was it? Fire tick? What did you say? Yeah, fire science. It's an associate's degree. Okay. So there was a kind of a wandering path at that time of, you know, what's this? It was clear. Yeah. I mean, you didn't need a bachelor's degree necessarily or anything. Yeah. It was something to pursue, but it wasn't necessarily the top tier item. Yeah. I think looking back, which I didn't like. I didn't like the EMS site. I wanted to be on the fire truck. Yeah. It's like the fires. You know, use the chainsaws. The guy cut in the hole with the fire coming through. That's what I wanted to do. Yeah. I wanted to be on the hose line going into building on fire. Not putting the band aids on. I thought that was not. Yeah, drag people out of mangled cars. Yeah. Yeah, using the jaws of life. Right. I'll put the fire out with the vehicles on fire. But I don't want to put band aids on. And realize that when you get there, 80% of call volumes medical. And the most direct pass in California, which is a dual function firefighter, which is EMS and fire will be to get into the EMTC as soon as possible. Gotcha. Get your minimum hours and go to paramedic school. Gotcha. So instead of doing contraction for those between years, you probably could have done that for maybe a faster path. I mean, maybe a great trucky, which I'd never really worked on trucks for over times. Because they're so sought after, but forcing a door and using tools and pulling ceiling and doing overhaul. Like that was just regular. That's a demo job to me. Yeah. Right. Yeah. For sure. Like, it was a second nature for you, whereas for a lot of people who had never done anything like that. Yeah. You could look at a door if you've hung 700 of them. Know how to open it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good point. The EMS route was you'd get in there fast. As soon as you had a medic, the value of being a medic was like IOS in the farm for three years. I got a phone call on a random Wednesday, hair drafted to medic school. So that means we got to pay this guy who's making 150K a year to sit down and seat. And we got to pay for his college to go to paramedic school. So he's not serving. So if you already have that, that'd be better. It's just money. Yeah. Interesting. I said, you've got the medical license. You're going to save a bunch of money if we hire you. And so, like, after your education, even before that, were you doing house stuff? You said you started your own business when you were like 18 or 19. Was that your trades do or? Yeah. I bought my first house with some down payment assistance from my family in a town called Glendora in a great time to buy in 2007. And so I really poured in 50,000 of sweat equity. That was the material cost only. And so that was the first flip ever, first purchase, first house. And then that one would just have to take that on the chin and lose 60,000 to understand like, okay, you need to be aware of that of what your market conditions are. Even for 21 realtor tells you it's a perfect time to buy. You should probably pay attention. So that was the first steep learning lessons because that took a long time at 21 to say $60,000 for me. Right. And then that year being self-employed was really a pathetic income wise because there was nobody spending money. And that was the first turn of my realize, oh, maybe it's not, I should come back to you know, waiter or whatever. Well, then you go into 2008, 2009, still not much upside opportunities. You know, prices hadn't settled much, but you were still, I guess, working on other people's projects instead then. Yeah, I still just grit it through it, you know, and we've adjusted my lifestyle. I mean, I just, I paid $250 to sleep on a buddy's couch and just said, I'm going to keep figuring it away to like all lower my lifestyle to whatever it takes to. Okay. You know, that he was a fireman and you knew I was pursuing to be a fireman. Yeah. I said, hey, this just happened. I have to sell my house. I can't. Seven feet. I was at a room for 500 of a bedroom. I'm like, hey, I'd go further. What's a couch look like at your place? And he's a good friend to do that. So that's pretty wild. I just got to get through. It'll get better, but it's not right now. Yeah. So financially, that was your low point, probably. Yeah. Yeah. And a couple of it. Right. There's been some other scary things with bigger numbers. Yeah. But here we are. And so, I guess, I imagine then were you, when you were contracting those years between getting on the fire department, were you doing fix-and-flips? Were you working for other people's projects, too? Yeah, both. Like they were hiring to do kitchens or bathrooms or additions, remodels, whatever. Were you licensed? Yes. Okay. Yeah, that was tough, because LLC was 750 a year to renew. I think it's like 10 or 25 here per year. I forget. I think she's mostly taking care of the renewals, but workers' compensation had to be paid through the state of California for the first three years. It was three times the market price of the private sector. So you got a full gap there. Do you want all of these? Block. When you flip and you sell, the state pulls the tax right out that day. Wow. It's a tough place. And then you had to fill your tank up and do the other things. So we're just thinking of all these things as we're working really hard and going, man, there's got to be a easier way to do some of this stuff. Right. That's why there was a big attraction to weld. Have you been watching this? Dude, it's been putting up the crazy commercials and stuff running for LA mayor against Karen Bass. Which one? His name? Preston? Something? Probably the prior. I don't know. I may have seen a couple. Anyway, apparently he was on Rogan the other day. It hasn't come out yet, but he's running for LA mayor and he's just like... He basically put this huge commercial of like the let them eat cake. The aim of going and that's the bureaucrats and the politicians. I haven't been able to rebuild my house that I lived in for 25 years. All these just different things. Let's just suffer. And I think he's going to win. I think the Republican or independent or whatever he's calling himself is going to win the mayor's race. He looks like he's got a really strong following. I don't know. I think that place of weather is so beautiful, but there's so much that's so difficult. Even I have buddies that they're like, I know, man. It's going to look the other way, but it's tough. And if you're rooted, we were there. It's a really big decision to change everything. Because you're just like, oh, you want to make 200,000 here and then just go to nothing? You're a fireman. You're on the inside, right? You're an insider. People work seven years to try to get on the inside track. There's 7,000 people that apply for that job this year guarantee if not 90,000. That's a big, big change. If you didn't have this to come back to, and I know it's been a while now, but do you think you would still be there? Or do you think it would have moved by now through COVID nation and the craziness subsequent? I always kind of had a hard time with certain aspects of being an employee and some union things. So I was not necessarily doing an ideal retreat in some ways anyway. Necessarily the fire department. I have nothing bad to say about that. I think it's amazing in general, but I don't know that I was always suited to be an employee. So I'd rather take the risk and the stress or the pressure. Whether you move to here or some other place. Yeah, because I found that. I kind of got a B early and provide first relief. And then maybe take last relief and start thinking, I feel like a 26 hour fireman. The first and that's taken first relief and shown up late. He's a 22 hour fireman. We're getting paid the same. I looked at what if I can hang one door per day and it's 200 per door, but I can hang 10 doors. That's 2000. What if I can hire 10 people and they can hang 10 doors per day? I just started thinking that this is our door. I know where this goes with where my cost living bonus is and what I like. Which is great, but is it worth which decision will you think of? And you know, we'll be haunting you by the end of your day. Yeah. Yeah. Your regrets more than your losses. Yeah. And there's been there's and stuff like that for a few years where you're like, oh man, this is not the best decision. But also you look at the upside and some of the better times and maybe maybe things might be headed. And they're like, hey, if we just keep going, it'll it'll work out. Yeah. I want to talk about your kids. Do you want to talk about your kids? Sure. We have one. We have one. Okay. So no more coming. No, I don't think so. That's a surprise. Right. Right. As long as that. Okay. I'm sorry. For some reason I had that you had a pair, but who is this? Weston. Weston. Weston, woodland. Yes. He's the sweetest. Yeah. He's eight years old now. Okay. And yeah. He catches a ball better than mom. Oh, absolutely. Yes. He's a little athlete. So it takes after dad. You know, everything we do wrong. That's good to you. But yeah. He loves, he loves. We got him in every report. Basically kind of a couple years into this entrepreneurial adventure. And what did you guys get married if I may? 2013. Okay. So you have a few years of childlessness as well. Yeah. You don't get to do all the fun stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then we moved back here in 2016 and Weston was born in 2017. Yeah. So it was meant to be. It was. It was. It was made of Colorado and now. Yes. Yes. And how would you describe... It's called it first grade Weston and now he's probably like a third grader or something. Second. Second grade. Okay. So he hasn't changed much since that first grade time, right? You know, he's spent a lot of time growing up in the ranch and farm. Like he's still helping feed the cows. He's branded. Yeah. Yeah. Um, he's got a horse named Brownie. He's getting comfortable on them. Cool. So some of those philosophy and ideologies. He's a little free range still. Yeah. So I think that he's got a really kind heart. Yes. And he's not afraid to get in there and work. And, um, you know, he wants to contribute. What do you... I asked him like a year ago, hey, what do you think Dad's doing well? And what can Dad improve on? He goes, well, you throw the football really good. That is it. I was thinking, is it going to be a philosophical answer or a seven-year-old answer? Yeah. And I'm like, well, that's a seven-year-old answer. But then the amazing answer was, um, you know, I don't want you to do things for me. I want you to show me what needs to be done and I'll do it myself. And I was like, wow. Like that's pretty cool. I mean, insightful for a seven-year-old. Yeah. It's good for a leverage role. He wants to get in there and kind of figure stuff out. Yeah. I like that about him as well. He's not like, hey, do this for me. Yeah. A lot of people learn tactily as well. It seems like that's his pursuit right now. Yeah. Yeah. So, before we get into the local experience, I've got a couple of distinctive experiences, opportunities here. Um, we've got our crazy ginger hot sauce that you gifted a bit earlier. Mm-hmm. And I've got some chips here available. I made a baby one for you, Sarah. Okay. Let's try it. It's that one there. This one here, okay. Yeah. That one there. Ryan, that's a moderate one for you. If you want the big one, you can. But moderate. It's just fine. This is a delicious sauce put together for us by Matador Mexican Grill. Mm-hmm. And ginger is a predominant ingredient as well as fresh garlic, habanero, peach, and bell pepper. Okay. And a touch of ghost pepper. Thanks. Oh, okay. So, we'll see. What's your family heritage, Sarah? You know? Mm-hmm. My mom is full Swiss. Okay. The Swiss don't have too much spice to learn, it's usually. Nope. Mm-hmm. I love it. Yeah. It's great. It is good. It's actually really good. Yeah. It's a little bit of ginger, but it's very soft. Um, just a hint. It's not nice. I'm not overdone for itself, right? Or for a hot sauce. Yeah. Sarah, you're talking about how much you respect and love the cash restaurant. Yes. And even that there should be a cash at the cash someday, perhaps. Yes. And I wanted to share with you that, you know, ginger has become a friend and I came up with the idea of this hot sauce name. And then we were starting to work on things and I was like, I can't just roll out with this. I got a text ginger and be like, just so you know, I wasn't thinking about you at all. I named this hot sauce. I was thinking about Mindy Bryant down at edge optics. Um, so Mindy, if you hear this, sorry. But I did throw you one of the buzz so that I could make sure my reputation with ginger grams stayed good. There you go. But in ginger, if you listen to this one, uh, I'm going to introduce you guys one of these days. I would love that. Yeah. And, uh, any tasting notes? I like it out. I've never had a hot sauce with ginger, but like I said, it's not, it didn't, it's not overwhelming or it takes over. Yeah. It's good. It's not. The ginger is kind of about the color and the flavor, right? Yeah. Yeah. You said eight out of 10. So I was someone that teamed me to leave. I was too. I was like, yeah. It's my German Canadian background. What do you say German and Canadian? What's that mean? Like, there's some French Canadian maybe? Yeah. No, probably. Stoddard actually from Germany to Sullivan, New York, and like late 1800s, and to Greeley in 1874. Okay. Yeah. So the bears actually came to New York in 1750s somewhere. Oh, wow. But we were very nonproductive apparently because there's only like 50,000 of us in the whole country after 20 years. Not stuck. So anyway, I digress. It's an English surname. Ryan, would you like to try the Wiz-Kell? Yeah. This is the featured spirit of seed and spirit distilling. Thank you, seed and spirit distilling for the spirit sponsorship. That everybody, that is packed with flavor right there. Very smoky. Yeah. Love the oaky smoky flavor there. I don't know that it ever had a whiskey tequila blend. There it never has been. They have actually the copyright on that name of Wiz-Kell because they're the first to actually do that. Wow. That's cool. And they will be open in about a month or two down at the old funclarings. They're new tasting. So they'll have a oyster bar as well as a full bar beers. New Belgium's due to beer specific for them. What would you make in a cocktail with that? Because I'm really glad you shared it because it's great. But if you were to told me I have this whiskey and dicky lime with bad, you know. What do I believe you? Is it cocktail? Yeah. I wouldn't. Just neat. Because I drink rocks or neat mostly. But as you wouldn't put a lime. There is. I'm trying to think what you'd earn in short. Joel was on the show a couple of months ago and he shared a Wiz-Kell recipe and that's really rock and good and I drank a black. It might take like a cube with a, you know, like an orange wedge. Yeah. It would be nice just a little. Well, in some orange bitters or something like that, even just a little bit. I don't want to change it too much. Yep. Kind of like a yes. Like flirting with an old passion. There you go. Let's syrup. Not so much syrup. No, because you'll get rid of that nice, oaky flavor. Yeah. That's a strong oaky flavor. It's nice. It adds a lot of boldness to it. Agreed. That's what you should call the cocktail. Flirting with an old passion. Flirting with an old passion. All right. All right. So, thank you. Would you like one more chip? You're good for that. Good. Thanks. Okay. The local experience of the craze goes story that you're willing to share from your lifetime. And have you guys decided who wants to go first? I think Brian would like to go first. Yeah. Okay. I think mine's pretty easy. The one of the defining moments when I was at 54s in Southgate, where I've tried to drop to a domestic school and went back to that station was I was in the back of an ambulance as a paramedic with great group guys. And it's a guy there all saved the details. But he would try to drink himself to death on a regular basis, so as a regular in the EMS, same corner, same general area, actually picked him up in hospital scrubs so he'd go shower, get his food and come back out to the street and continue on. Wow. But he's like, yeah, so I'm just trying to section his airway so we can keep him alive until the next event. Yeah. Normally when you're going over railroad tracks, someone on the front will say tracks and so, you know, if you're straddling someone, you can brace for it. But we hit some tracks and I felt like, oh, you know, hit him on this coat and like I feel this a little prick, but I'm like, ah, you know, no big done on think of anything. And so we may we get him tour needs to go go back to the station, go to sleep, also my elbow just starts getting really big. It was like, great on my elbow, you know, so like you hit your elbow with it with the tracks. And one of his dirty needles, oh shit, yeah, yeah. So then I go like to the hospital and because I can't sleep in my arm, like on a hangar, I'm just trying to like, this guy's a cockroach, right? So yeah, so, so they go to give me the ethyl methyl bad stuff and this will make it better and they're like, oh, it's not making it better. And the doctor at Fiddle Presumterian Glendorgo say that that's not good. We're probably going to shuffle you over to the ICU. I got to put a line in your heart because if this next one doesn't work, I don't know if you'll make it. And I'm like, I'm 27, this is stupid. But like you said, the, the, the intensity of the resistance that he had, he's so resistant to so much bacteria and everything else. So the footage that we're attacking, MRSA, yeah, MRSA, VRE, those are like, like, child's play, which would put us out, you know, whoa, so, um, but that's. So what happens? So you go to ICU. And he gives me a medication that makes me profusely sweat. And then within 72 hours, I'm ready to go back to work. But it was really, the experience was being able to hear someone tell you at 27, if this doesn't work, I'm concerned that we have about 24 hours or this is going to go systemic and become septic, it's going to infect your heart. Holy shit. And I'm just like, man, this really got aggressive quickly, didn't it? Right. So that was probably. To think about the danger that is based in, frankly, and all those in it, like, what you think about Skid Row or whatever, like, or what LA has become in a bit, like, it's not just homeless people, they're dangerous, feral people on his behalf. You ever seen the movie, or the show Dexter, his parents, we were, we're really heavy in the Mexican cartel, 97% Central American in our district. And his parents were drug traffickers for the cartel, and they were executed right in front of him. He was like three or four. Well, but I go back to work, same call, same dude, right, and first shift back. And I'm like, like, is this what I want to do? And just asking questions, and there's a lot of internal dialogue that really promoted the move to here because I was like, thinking of that, like, you know, you have to get HIV testing, AIDS testing, double negative results and stuff, like, it's, like, it's to have all these feelings of life, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's because you're the first front line in interacting with the demographic, but they're in people's neighborhoods and stuff all the time. Oh, there's two, right? We do infecting each other with all these stuff. We do it for your physical training, we go, we're under the hydrant and back, that's a quarter mile. There's just gallons of urine and hypodermic needles all over the sidewalk, so it's regular there. It was 10 years ago. Yeah. So 2011 to 16, yeah, yeah, I think we were just married. And I thought it was great. I was in my early 20s. I was like, this is the coolest thing ever. I'm like in the stuff. This is where all the action was at, we had 170 fires a year, you're running anywhere from 12 to 20 calls a day, it makes a blast, like, but, you know, that thing hearing that and I could be HIV positive for us in my life or, you know, and then getting married and where do we want to have kids? Right. This was something that resonated with me. Thank you. That's a wild, like, it was quick, right, three days later, you were back to work. Yeah, thank God. Damn, you're tired at the meantime. Yeah. Yeah. Start to get double negative results for the test, so you're not like out of it, but, yeah, you feel good, you can work while, you know, you can just hop that, sir. No, I know, I should've gone first, because I know I'm super boring now. Yeah, mine is a little bit more like-hearted and not really quite as interesting, but- Look, crazy goes a lot of different ways. Yeah, exactly. Our local community is in the way we translate locals, so- Okay, exactly. So I'll bring something for the other audience. I mentioned earlier that my mom is full Swiss, so she actually has a brother in Switzerland. You're very dark-haired for a full Swiss. Yeah, the Swiss is, oh, the Swiss is our mixes too, because they're people from all over- Exactly. They're just a little better than everybody else. I mean, don't get inside. No. Yeah, I don't know, I get- My wife's mother was, well, my wife is part Swiss, and so- Okay, so- So- So- Oh, okay. Well, they're my little truth to that, yeah. And she was a gem, honestly, she was one of the top five, or top two, top one most amazing women. And her mom's as sweet as it gets, for sure. Yeah. So- Yeah. So, when I'm in high school, my parents send me over there all by myself, and I had cousins that I was hanging out with, so- but that was like the first time I had traveled overseas by myself, and navigating all of it- Just for like a week, or for like a semester, or- I think I was, no, it was like two or three weeks, not a semester, yeah, when I stayed with my aunt and uncle and cousins, but one of my cousins had moved, he was a little bit older than me, and he had moved to his own apartment in Zurich. So I like- Oh, yeah, I'm like, oh, this is super cool, like teenager in Zurich with my cousin who's not that much older, so he's, you know, it's fun, and we are walking, we're walking by Lake Zurich, and he's like, well, don't you think it'd be fun if we just like jumped in? And so like at midnight or something, we just like jump in Lake Zurich and swim around and then it was like, I don't know, for me, that was- Cold? Is it cloud? Yeah. Like I think a Switzerland is like being cold, like the ice melts into the lake, because it wasn't- I think it was, I think it was brisk, yeah, I don't know, but I mean, for me- You're close, I assume. Yes, yes, I was close, but- And you calm just- Dripping what? Yeah, but I mean, it was fun, and for me that was like- That's pretty memorable. I'm not that crazy, so that was one of my crazy ones, yeah, but- So- I dig it. Well, you can, Ryan, you can surprise her sometime when you're up at steamboat or something like that, be like, hey, let's go jump in the lake. Yeah, exactly. I think I got to go- I got to go a bunchy jump in on one of our first couple beats at the St. Monica. Okay, here. That's true. That was pretty cool. I probably wouldn't do that today. Yeah. I wanted to- Cold for you is probably really safe. Right. Right, like if you go to Guadalara or Mexico or something like- Right. I don't know. Really? Right. Yeah, I got three inspections just last week. Exactly. Exactly. You got to pay $2 or $8.5 for a $4,000 or $5,000 fee if you don't have your certificate. Exactly. Exactly. But yeah, that's when we were first eating, and I really wanted to impress you, I think, so- Yeah. I did that. I did that. Yeah. Well, for our listeners, go follow Woodland Home Company on your Instagram, or whatever. Yeah. And go check out the home center sometime, come around, or the bunkhouse. The bunkhouse. Yeah. Sometime in late June or so, it should be ready to go. Yeah. You can kind of get an idea of what you could have down there. Absolutely. We'll plan a couple of events. We don't have dates for those quite yet, but we're getting there. So definitely follow us for more information. More release, some info on the socials that I have, all that difference, and there's been to the previous point. There's just been a lot of moving parts. We just simplified names. I think I've done so much at so fast of time. Yeah. It's really fun to have that opportunity, like I said, and try to make the most of it. We're just giving it our best shot. I can't wait to get into the ground, so we're excited to get to this point where we're like, can show what we can do. And I think that we're really excited to build something that's maybe heritage related instead of maybe nothing. It's the national and that large production setting, but we're local and we're bringing the local product. So that's kind of what we're hoping to bring. Unusual, frankly, like there aren't that many local builders, and even taking on a 56-padiahome type project. Yeah. It'll be nice. It'll be nice. It'll be nice. Nice blend. Yeah. Well, it got to be you too. I'm really proud of you. And I look forward to seeing those things spring on the ground. I'm going fast. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Both of us. Thanks, Kurt. Hi, this is Kurt Bear, host of the local experience. And I wanted to let our listeners know that beginning in June of 2026, we're going to be releasing podcast episodes on Wednesday mornings instead of on Saturdays. So we've touched the Saturdays for a while, meh, honestly, we were better on Wednesdays before. So we're heading back to that and I hope to see you there every Wednesday with a new episode of the local experience.