Cold Open + Show Intro

SPEAKER_05 0:00

And Dave Stein was very smart. He brought in never fewer than a dozen people with him every time he came in. So, you know, he brought you business too.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Swell my collection.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

The way to a woman's heart is money. Yeah, yeah.

Meet David Stine & Stephanie Abbajay

SPEAKER_01 0:17

If you wanna hear about St. Louis, tune into the Bucket List show weekly. Hear what Marissa and Luke say. It drops every Wednesday. Got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rap St. Louis. What to do in the loo on a late night? I maybe what to do on a date night. Yeah. Bucket list as you cover, they know what's going on. What's going on? They'll give you pay. 18 different things to do on 19. If you need one more to choose, yeah. This city, city, city is a place we call home. A place we call home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

St. Louis, welcome back to another episode of the STL Bucket List Show, highlighting the people, places, and events that make St. Louis special. One of those people and people, multiple, are here in the studio today that make St. Louis special. You guys have your fingerprints on so many places that people go to, even if they didn't know they were there. So I have Dave Stein and Stephanie Abigail in the studio today, married duo, parents, entrepreneurs, uh, community business leaders, um, and really just people that that help elevate St. Louis. So I appreciate you guys both for coming in the studio today. Thanks so much. Yeah, thanks for having me. Um, I have this cutting board at my house, and I've been at a bunch of different restaurants that you guys um, and I'm just gonna name off a few of these. I mean, you guys have worked with some of the best in the business from Forehands to Balkan Treat Box to Niche Food Group and Girard, Bengelina, Ben Paremba, um, you know, Katie Lee, absolutely, Boxhill Grocer, Louie. I mean, all, I mean, I the list, I could literally do a 35-minute podcast talking about each of these clients. And I honestly think you guys should do some sort of like a wood table podcast with your clients. I think that would be good content.

SPEAKER_05 1:58

It'd be a lot of content.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yeah, because you guys are you guys, one thing I like about you guys is your social media strategy, and that's what you do, right? Yeah, um, is really, you know, organic, but it works, you know, and it's like it's not overproduced. It's just like, hey, what we're doing today, like him getting out of the truck with a piece of wood and then going in a house, like you don't need a professional film crew. And I saw you guys did have one down with Demetrius, though, which I love. I love that place. Yeah, Nobleton's is incredible too. I did a barrel with him. Uh I partnered with Lit Cigar Lounge and we did a barrel and I got to like siphon it out, and we were trying. I mean, by the end of that, I was like, dude, this is way too far from home. Can somebody drive me home? Because I tried like 17 barrels, and it's but his whole place out there, and then um in over in Caudleville, I went to a spot over in Caudleville, Cottle Village. With him and Steve Savage. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Yeah, we worked with Steve down at the Midwestern as well.

From Farm Roots to Law School to Woodworking

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yep, yeah. Yep, yep. No, that's amazing. So I want to first take a step back and you know, learn about how this whole thing came about. So, you know, nowadays you don't see people doing the what you guys are doing as much anymore, especially in you know, on a local scale. So um, if one of you guys want to jump in, first of all, tell me how the this whole business started and how long you've been in business, and and then I want to learn about your guys' love story after.

unknown 3:07

Oh boy, oh boy.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Well, I I think I the condensed version is probably the best. So I grew up on a dairy farm right across the river over here in Illinois. Uh, we had about a thousand acres. Uh we milked cows during the whole year, but then in the wintertime we would do a little bit of forestry. Yep. And so I really enjoyed doing that kind of work. Yep. Um, I I just grew up working with my hands and and we did everything on the farm. So from growing our own food to making our own furniture. So I just kind of grew up in that tradition. And uh then I went off and I went to college and I went to law school, and during those times I was sort of keep a little small wood shop on the side, just kind of making things for myself and family members and close friends. And then uh once I graduated from law school and we got married, um, I worked, I passed the bar and I worked for a year as an attorney, and I was taking on bigger and bigger commissions and just working my spare time. And I really didn't enjoy the office life. I I liked the intellectual rigor of it, but I was not a good office person. And so Stephanie always been super encouraging. She's like, you know, why don't you just quit and just do the woodworking full time? And that was the sort of little uh encouragement that I needed to just go ahead and do it. And so that's how we got started. And then I was in DC then, that was 1997. So in 97 I graduated law school, got married, got married, bought a house, started this business. We opened a bar, we opened a restaurant, we've we've been in those businesses before. Um, and then you know, started started Steinwoodworking and a year later, you know, quit quit uh we just took it on full time.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

I was in 1997. So your kids kind of grew up with that being what they knew you guys for. For sure, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Our son was born in uh the last baby born in 1999 in DC.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

So they never knew you as a lawyer then. No, that's funny.

SPEAKER_05 4:55

And then we moved back here in 2002 to a farm adjacent to his family's farm and relocated the business.

Leaving D.C. for the Midwest

SPEAKER_02 5:02

That's such a big switch up because like when you when you become a lawyer in in the movies and the TV shows, you see the big high-rise buildings, Washington, DC, and then you literally, you know. So where did you guys meet at actually? Did you guys meet in DC?

SPEAKER_05 5:15

We met in DC. I used to own a bar and a nightclub and a restaurant, and Dave Stein was one of my one of my customers. Um he sort of stalked me for six months until I agreed to.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

But at the time it was that was not illegal. This was back when you could like stalk in the same bar. Yeah, stalking was how you met people.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

You didn't have Tinder in all these apps.

SPEAKER_05 5:34

Actually, our very first paying customer was this lovely young woman, and she we put her dollar bill on the wall, and she went home that night and said to her roommate, I just met your future wife. And her roommate was Dave Stein. So she brought him in the next day. He had just started law school, and Dave Stein was very smart. He brought in never fewer than a dozen people with him every time he came in. So, you know, he brought you business.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

Well, you know, the money the the the way to a woman's heart is is money.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, 12 customers and they all spent a lot. Minimum, yeah, yeah. Um, so you guys have always kind of been people, pe people, you know, you surrounded yourself. So I want to learn how that decision of you convincing him to leave, because like when you think of this perfect life, you think of oh, lawyer, and we live in DC, we have this house in the city, but then you guys made this huge pivot, this huge shift to move. He convinced you convinced him to start the business, but then how did he convince you to move to this to this farm or back to St. Louis? Because you you probably hadn't only visited during like just to visit family, like during Christmas and holidays.

SPEAKER_05 6:31

Um, and you know, I lived in DC for 15 years. I grew up in Slate, Ohio. I'm not a rural girl, not a country girl.

SPEAKER_06 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:37

And one summer we were visiting Illinois. It was the fourth of July, and it was 2001. And it was one of these weekends where it was maybe 78 degrees, no humidity, it was beautiful, and our son Oscar was a year and a half old, and he's running around the cornfield with the chickens and my mother-in-law and the garden, and I was just like all his cousins, and I thought, DC is crazy. We had a bar, a nightclub, and a restaurant, and Steinwood working at the time. We were just firing on all cylinders constantly, and I thought, we should just sell everything and move to the country. So we did. And then a few months later, September 11th happened. Oh, and then we thought we need to get out of DC.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Yeah, we made the right, we felt it just made us really. We were because you were still kind of making it. We were in DC, yeah. Yeah, we were in DC, and you could you actually um it was really surreal that whole day. You could see the Pentagon burning from our house. I mean, it was nuts.

SPEAKER_05 7:28

So but then we moved, and then I realized I had made a huge mistake.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Oh, so then so then yeah, walk me through that because like you're this nightlife, this fast pace, you had like the We didn't even have a car.

SPEAKER_05 7:38

We'd walk in.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

And you had the young family, you had two kids, and you had no car and you're you've been to our farm, it's in the middle of nowhere.

SPEAKER_05 7:44

It's only 35 miles from St. Louis, but it was a huge culture shock. So that first year you can walk anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Like, yeah, when we lived in DC, we would park the car and not move it for a month. We would walk everywhere. Yeah, just do whatever. Just do dinner by the evening. Like you're just like, all right, I'm gonna go pick up.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Take them together butcher show.

SPEAKER_04 7:59

You know, just do I took the metro to work when I used to work and you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

First Community Credit Union is the official banking partner of STL Bucketless. They've been serving St. Louis families for 90 plus years with 40 plus local branches and over 400,000 members from personal credit loans to mortgages to kids and teen accounts. They also have a partnership with the STL Blues. You see, Louie here if you're watching on YouTube. Uh, we're proud to use First Community. I use it for my own family and my own business. Um, we're excited for them to be the official banking partner of STL Bucket List. And that's uh big change. Then yeah, that was tough for you guys. And then I guess, you know, how did how did how did that move change the business trajectory? I guess.

SPEAKER_05 8:38

Because you know, that that's probably a good question to like that's a very good question because all of our clients were in DC and on the East Coast and the West Coast, and then we move here. And the f the initial reaction to the company I don't want to say they didn't get it, but it was it was hard to tell our story. And we found that people really preferred to per purchase their artisanal furniture from the East Coast or the West Coast. It wasn't a mistrust of the company, but they they hadn't yet embraced the local, sustainable, green part of our company.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

St. Louis has come a long way, I think, in in embracing local people. Um you used to have to kind of leave and then you could come back. Um we had a great friend and a really great client, Jack Randall, who owned the Randall Gallery at 13th and Martin Luther King. And he would say, Listen, you know, I've been in St. Louis my whole life, and people will come to your art opening and they'll eat your cheese and drink your wine. They won't spend a dime at home, but they'll go to Chicago for the same opening and buy everything and have it shipped home. So, you know, it it's come a long way since then. I think people like Kevin Ashin, Gerard Kraft, um, and a lot of these other entrepreneurs have made it cool to uh by local. By local. Yeah, yeah. You know, support local architectures. The national culture has changed too. Yeah. You know, it used to be if it's from the Midwest, it's not good enough. Meanwhile, on the West Coast and on the East Coast, I'd shake somebody's hand and they'd be like, I know you're gonna do what you do because you're from the Midwest. You know, it's grow up on a farm.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

I mean, it's a different energy that you can feel it with the people that you meet.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

And it was the greatest thing too. When we moved back here, uh, I was closer to the forest and everything where I did, you know, most of my work. And then you go to Brooklyn or you go to LA, you sell stuff at Brooklyn or LA prices, and then you come home and you live at Midwest prices. So you can do pretty well if you're willing to do it. And it's it was it was a very difficult uh yeah road to hoe road hoe there to get going.

SPEAKER_05 10:33

But once it was also pre-social media, pre-internet, pre-marketing. So you really did you more?

SPEAKER_02 10:38

I mean, you you unless you could afford big print ads or something. Well, we we used to do shows.

Trade Shows & Building the Brand

SPEAKER_05 10:42

We would do 18 shows a year, architectural digest show, dwell on design, yeah. Um shows out well.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

From the marketing angle of it too, Stephanie came up with a plan uh along with me at the very beginning. You know, the first couple years we did shows, we would do like 10 shows on the East Coast one year. Okay, three of these worked. Now they're in the rotation. Then we're gonna do 10 shows in the south. Okay, one of those worked. We'll keep that in the rotation. And then we worked our way across the country and literally did hundreds of thousands of miles in the truck. That's awesome. And just went to shows and met people. And back, you know, before big internet and people were more comfortable with the way they do things now. You people wanted to meet you and shake your hand and feel the product and you know, see what was going on. And you know, we we've taken that aspect and that um part of our business straight through to now where we don't meet every one of our clients, but we still have that relationship with them when they're involved in every aspect of the product from uh the initial choice of the wood through the design through the finish and then through delivery details. So it it really was a good way to lay the base. But we since the pandemic, we haven't done any shows, I don't think. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Um, yeah, it is your social media website, like that's your brand though, has changed because now the the sales are a little bit now. I wouldn't I would never use the word easy, but it's like they're coming to you now because you built this brand. That's exactly what it's like. That took 20 plus 20.

SPEAKER_05 12:04

It did take a long time, yeah. It's true. That's true. That's a very good point.

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Most people come to us now with a pretty good idea of what we do. And Stephanie, since she came on the business full-time, what, 10 years ago, 12 years ago?

SPEAKER_05 12:16

Uh 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Okay. Well, anyway.

SPEAKER_05 12:19

2005.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Was it really? Yeah.

Stephanie Joins the Business

SPEAKER_05 12:22

Well, time flies, honey. Time flies.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, yeah. Well, she um she does such a great job of um not being a gatekeeper so much, but just making sure Oh no, I'm a gatekeeper.

SPEAKER_05 12:34

You can't talk to Dave Stein until you go through me. I make sure that any inquiry that comes in is A something we want to do, yeah, yeah, B something we can do, and C something we want to, you know, partner with that client. And then I won't involve Dave Stein until he needs he's involved in all the design, obviously. But a lot of people want Dave Stein's attention. So I'm I am your aid keeper to make sure that we maximize your time.

SPEAKER_03 12:57

And it's worked out really well. You know, I when when we started building this business, um, you know, you wear a lot of hats when you're when you're building your own business, you know that as well as anybody. And um, the more we could sort of take some of those things off my plate, the better. So I could actually concentrate on building more furniture and making sure the the guys in the shop have what they need to build furniture and make things run smoothly.

SPEAKER_05 13:19

And we try to run it like back of the house, front of the house. Yeah, it's pretty simple.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

And I've noticed that even like booking this podcast, like, you know, he's like, email Stephanie.

SPEAKER_05 13:27

Yeah, and then I was like, Yeah, and that was actually me telling you to email on his Instagram page.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Yeah, so that's where the thing is like, dude, I'm sorry I missed this. And I'm like, it's all good. I'll email Stephanie and we were booked in like five minutes.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:37

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

Yeah, people see me um out at a restaurant or something, go, how much for a table like this? I'm like, I have no idea. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

That's kind of how I've done my stuff too. Like, I've really, when I was so involved, I was so emotional about everything, and I was so emotional about the business owner. So we have a marketing company, and I'm like, I just want to help them.

SPEAKER_06 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

So I'll just do it because I know my costs in my mind, but like that's not what the business cost needs to run. And that's when you get yourself in trouble. And you want to help everybody out, yeah, but you want to run a business. So having a second person in the mix that stands on business helps everything run so that the creative, it's like the creative and the admin work together, like creatives that even artists, it's like every artist needs a good agent or a good manager to help sell their product, you know, because artists will just give it to you because they want you to have it in your house.

Working as a Married Couple

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Yeah, and I I got in that mind a number of times, you know, somebody would call me up in in the middle of the day and say, Oh, I need something tomorrow, and I'd be like, sure, no problem, do it. And then everything else would get pushed to the side, and then that is no way to run a business.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

So, what are some of the challenges? I guess working together, you know, these husband and the husband and wife team is so special, but it's so difficult at the same time. And, you know, when I started my business, we work together, and as we build our family, I've been kind of locking into the business, but hopefully we'll it'll come back, you know. But yeah, what are some of those challenges? Because I I think one of the biggest things I love about my my wife now having her own job at a school is when we get home, we talk about different things that happen that day. But you guys work and you know everything that not always, but like you know everything that happened. You're like, oh, I met with this, I met with them, and you're like, Oh, yeah, I talked to them, I talked to them, and then you just like don't even want to talk anymore. You're just like turn on some BS TV and like drink wine and just like.

SPEAKER_05 15:09

Yeah, exactly. It's funny you should say that because we were just having this conversation yesterday. The most important thing is in working with your partner, your spouse, is you have to have boundaries, you have to have a delineation between work and home life. And that took us a long time to learn because we would work, Dave Sign will physically work until eight, nine, ten o'clock at night. Yeah, but I need to shut down and run the household and deal with the kids. So we had to really talk about no more work after five o'clock or six o'clock, no pillow talk. I cannot talk about you know what Gerard Craft needs at his next restaurant when I'm going to bed at 9:30 at night, because then that's all I'll think about. Or Dave can talk about it until 9 30 and then fall asleep in two seconds. But then my mind is racing. So setting boundaries and having clear responsibilities has been key. And a lot of grace. You have to have grace when you work with your partner.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Yeah. And and in the other, yes, and the other thing I would say is um it's a constant negotiation. Like we didn't come up with some constitution at the beginning of our marriage, and then now we just refer back to that. Our relationship, whether it's business and personal or family, it changes day to day. It literally changes day to day, you know.

SPEAKER_05 16:21

Constantly talking about things.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Yeah, and it's just um, and I think that's a really good way to do it. It's a true partnership. Yeah, um, we sometimes fall back into sort of more traditional gender roles, but we're still all doing everything all the time.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's special. Yeah, it is it is hard, but like when you actually do do it successfully, like you guys have done everything, become stronger, and then your business is your life, your family is your business, your clients are your friends.

SPEAKER_05 16:47

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

And and I grew up um, you know, on a dairy farm, a family farm that's been in four generations in the family. So I understand what it's like to work with your family and how the difficulties that that presents, as well as the positive uh things about that.

SPEAKER_05 17:01

It's not for everybody.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:02

I think you have to have the right personality and you have to have your ego in a certain healthy framework because if you need to be the center of attention, it might not work in a partnership like that.

Breaking Into STL’s Restaurant Scene

SPEAKER_02 17:13

So for over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing hope, healing, and opportunities to the St. Louis community. With over 40,000 employees across four states, they're not only delivering exceptional care, they're one of the region's largest employers, shaping the future of healthcare. We're proud to present SSM Health as the official healthcare partner of the STL bucket list show. If you've dreamed of a career where you're truly making a difference every day, SSM Health can help you take that to the next step. Learn more at their website in the link in the show notes. So I want to talk about that move to St. Louis again. So was there an aha moment in your journey? Because obviously you've sold these pieces in the w on the East Coast and you've done incredible things, but like when you got to St. Louis, was there a certain project that you were able to do that opened your eyes up to this community? Like when you're like, man, I think we can really build this in St. Louis.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Well, I I think I'll take this. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that was it. We we weren't selling anything in St. Louis, we were still East Coast, West Coast, mountain states, uh a little bit in Chicago.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Like at homes and restaurants, or were you most like a lot of both almost all residential?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Almost all residential at that point, but some through architects and designers and stuff too.

SPEAKER_05 18:17

And we had done the St. Louis uh Art Show, which is a great show a few times and gotten a lot of positive attention.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

And then well, and then um Gerard decided to move Niche over to uh Clayton, yeah, and he wanted to do everything. I I think it was within a hundred miles.

SPEAKER_05 18:32

Something like that.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

So not only the food uh and you know the drinks and that stuff, but also the furniture, the artwork, everything. And so uh a great designer had met us at the St. Louis Horror Fair, Blair Questkin, right? And she was Gerard's designer at the time and introduced uh he and uh he was with Adam at the time, and they came out to the farm, they picked out slabs, we hit it off, um, and we did all the tables for the new niche over in Clayton. And then that led further to, you know, meeting other people in the restaurant industry. And Steph and I have such a big place in our heart for the restaurant business. She grew up in the most uh famous bar in Toledo, Ohio, her dad owned. Oh, really? And then my mom opened My Just Desserts in Alton when I was a kid, and then we had opened bars and restaurants all around. So we have a soft spot in our heart for the stuff. Yeah, so we understand what it's like.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

Yeah, and we really admire not just a transaction selling a table. We don't want to be in that industry, but we love we love being a part of it. Yeah, exactly. And now you guys have like been so so what year was that 2008?

SPEAKER_05 19:42

Oh gosh, I'll have to look that up.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Because he had it in Benton Park, right? It was in Benton Park. This is when he moved it into the Centine building. Oh, okay. Yeah, I can't remember when it was. It was maybe 08, maybe 07. And that was before like restaurants in St. Louis were going as hard as they do now with this design. So that was like, and I talked to him on the podcast of when he moved to St. Louis, what that impact had on everybody else. And I think that people don't talk about that enough. They don't.

SPEAKER_05 20:06

I mean, he really is the godfather of it all.

Growth Through Community & Relationships

SPEAKER_03 20:08

It's really it's something well yeah, and I think he would say too, Nashin. You know, Nashin came uh from out west, and then they happened to be right down the street from each other. Yeah, and a great St. Louis thing that happened is they were very supportive of each other from day one.

SPEAKER_05 20:24

Which is unusual among restaurant communities.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

So many people are so competitive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But in St.

SPEAKER_05 20:29

Louis, they really do embrace each other and a rising tide lifts all boats.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

It's really a And they visit each other a lot. I see people visiting, they post, they share. Absolutely. I was talking to Quee and like randomly. Yeah, he's the godfather. But he was like telling me he drove to Chicago in a snowstorm in his big truck, picked up materials for all these other Asian restaurants because they needed like the certain material, and he like delivered it to all of them so they could stay open. Like, who does it?

SPEAKER_06 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Who drives all the way to Chicago in a snowstorm and comes back 10 hours around trip?

SPEAKER_06 20:55

He's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Just to help other people sell when he could have been the only one that would sell. That's exactly right. Yeah, and that's the stuff that people do. And yeah, he's great. You guys have been able to, you know, and the cool thing, I was talking one of my close friends, Elliot, over at Scouts. Oh, we love Elliot. Yeah, I grew up with him. He was at my wedding. So I grew up in uh Lake St. Louis, Darden Prairie, and his parents, Jeff and Mary, had a house in Darden Prairie. And we went to high school together and went to the city. That's great. We love those guys. So Brandon, too. We all went to high school together, Brandon, Elliot, me, and my wife, and everything.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

They're such a great team. And doing that project with them was so meaningful to us because we've known Elliot for ages.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:28

And Jeff and Mary. And then they chose, tell them about the wood they chose for scouts.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Well, the hickory, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:35

Which is a super unusual wood. Nobody else has it. And those guys are so unique. So it was really wonderful for us to work with them on something that was really unique.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Yeah, and you know what's funny is too is we we've been around long enough now and we've done a lot of different projects. And so we've known Elliot, of course, and then Brandon. We met through Elliot. And then um Will, who's the GM over there. Well, I mean, I guess they're all together. They're partners, yeah. They're all partner on the project. Yep. Will was at last hotel. We met him through. Ebbie, when she was working there, and they're just like, No, we just we're using you. So, like it's you're part of the team. So, which is you know, it's so great to be thought of that way, and you know, then you do everything you can to help the folks that that that are like that.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

And it sounds cheesy, but it's we're so sincere. It is so uh important to us to work with people we love and respect and get to work with them on helping them achieve their vision. I mean, it sounds corny, but it's really true. We take it really seriously.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

That's what we really like to do. Yeah, we put our hearts.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

And what's different about the restaurant, like yes, you could sell it to somebody's home, like the one you did with Katie, which is unbelievable. Um, and you can go eat there. But a lot of people that you sell to, they're not inviting you over. Some of them will, but at the restaurant, you can actually go sit at that table. And I sat at that table for our Christmas party. We had 12, it was eight or 10 times. And we we had our Christmas party at Scouts. Yeah, so that table is a community table, and he's not just reserving it for groups, he's letting two and two too sit next to each other.

SPEAKER_06 23:01

Yeah, yeah.

Trade Deals & Business Philosophy

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Um, and you guys can go sit. And and one of the things that he told me, and I don't know if you guys want to get into it, but the way you guys help restaurant owners with different trades and different things that you can do to then bring business their way, and then you guys can then go, you have an excuse to keep going back there. That's exactly right. That's it. Well, that's unique, very unique.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

Yeah, it's that, and it's a rising tide lifts all boats things too. When we first did that deal with Gerard to do the tables for niche, uh, our pricing was too high for them. Yeah. And he said, I'm gonna take care of it. And he basically went to his investors and said, Listen, we're gonna do some of this in credit and we're gonna do some of it in payments, but I want this guy's stuff in our place and just kind of bulldoze his way through. And so we try to be as flexible as we can with our clients as well. Yeah, we're doing a lot of stuff with good company right now. And you know, those guys are just starting out, but they are like a tiger. Yeah, they are doing a ton of stuff. Yeah, Jordan is the greatest.

SPEAKER_05 23:56

He's great. Um, but we do, we'll take a big chunk of our uh price and credit at the establishment. Yeah, we'll take a as chunk a chunk as big as they're comfortable giving us, which usually is pretty big because it lowers their price point. Yeah. And then we can come in and enjoy the competition. And show your clients that piece. And bring clients in the street. Well, that's the whole thing too.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

You know, it's a log rolling in our time kind of thing. You know, we bring clients in and and then it helps the restaurant. Everybody is.

SPEAKER_05 24:24

Everybody shares on social media, it's really symbiotic.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

Yeah, and we are um, you know, I've gotten a little bit of pushback through the years from some people who just think it's um, I don't know what it is. Uh is it is it you mean too close to your vendor or whatever if you're good friends with us. But we are really sincere. We're friends with our clients. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

You know, if you don't want to be friends, that's okay. Yeah, that's fine too.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

But you know, we you have our friendship if you want it.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah. If Loving Where You Work is on your STL bucket list, you should definitely know about Serendipity Labs in Clayton. We are more than just a coworking space. We're an upscale, hospitality-driven workplace with coworking, private offices, team rooms, and meeting and event spaces that don't feel sad. It's all wrapped up in an incredible community. Real networking, fun events, legit coffee, and fruit-infused water that might ruin regular water for you forever. If you're building something in St. Louis, come work somewhere you actually want to show up. And as a listener perk, enjoy 20% off meeting and event space or one free week of coworking or a day office. Serendipity labs, basically it's work, but better.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

Yeah, I'm like that too. And we, you know, our marketing agency, we do the same thing. Like, there's this butcher shop, um, a new one in Darden Prairie, and she invited us out and she's like, I can do this, and then I'll give you this much in product. And I was like, Well, I'm gonna use the product. It's farm fresh beef. It's out, it's called Quarter Butcher over in uh over in Darden Prairie. And I we did the trade, and then I started doing that more. And I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna go out to eat anyways. And I'm like, you know, and it's like, yeah, but it it's one of those things where it's like, especially in the restaurant industry, you guys actually understand how hard it is to get open. You know, it's not just like you guys are a big upfront expense for the I mean, between the stone, the bar, yeah, all the stuff, like you guys are one of those things.

SPEAKER_05 26:01

We're a big line on it, and we understand that it's not in everybody's budget.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 26:06

And we'll try to work with their budgets as much as we can, and then sometimes it doesn't work out and there's no hard feelings. Like we totally understand that numbers are numbers.

Major Projects (Energizer Park & More)

SPEAKER_02 26:13

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So the the niche job kind of opened up these doors for you. Was there another job in your journey that you stepped back and said, like, this is badass, like this specific piece? Like, probably that might be a question for for you, or you I don't know. If there was there like a piece and where you guys kind of like looked and you're like, this is the craziest shit I've ever done before in my life.

SPEAKER_05 26:32

Well, we've done a ton of stuff like that, but the the the recent job that really I was very excited about was we did um a lot of tables for the soccer stadium. Okay, uh Energy Energizer Park. Yeah, yeah, Energizer Park. And in the pitch club and a couple of the other private clubs, and for Gerard and a couple of the other uh restaurant tours. And that is such a cool facility. That was such a cool project. We were so thrilled to be part of that. And the reason we uh got it is because we had done a when the arch opened its new grounds, um, we put in a giant 22-foot long the huge two huge tables in the uh for their gala opening. Yeah, and Carolyn Kindle uh saw and she was like, Okay, when I do something else, I'm gonna hire you guys. Oh, it's fine. We just we're thrilled just to be here.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

And then sure enough, that was before she opened the stadium. You're like, oh yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_05 27:26

She ordered furniture for her house and for her mother's house. And then when the stadium came, she's like, we want these guys in the stadium. It's really that's incredible, and that was an elongate.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

And that was another Girard hookup too. Girard invited us to put tables in there for that big dinner.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

So all those things connect, and it's like, you know, that moment in 2008, that first big restaurant project changed the trajectory of what you guys do. And now we're eight, is it I can't even do public math right now. A 16 years later, 18 years later, and it's like you guys are, you know, you know, really doing all these projects, and I see your guys' stamp everywhere, and and I see your guys' social media going to visit. And that's why I was like, man, you guys need to do a podcast because I feel like you could do it at the restaurants on your tables before you install it. We're gonna leave the podcasting to you. Yeah, but that's uh yeah, that's a whole nother thing. So um I guess um, you know, what are you know what are some of the future goals? Because as you guys keep continue to to do this, you know, it's becoming more and more rare that this this craft, you know. I don't know if you have younger, you know, people mentoring with you and stuff like that, but like what is the future of the industry actually look like?

SPEAKER_03 28:26

And well, that's a really good question. The future of the industry, I think there'll always still be a place for the niche that we've kind of created. I mean, super high-end, super custom, very uh responsive to people's wants and needs. Um, if you just need some place to put a uh a plate so you can eat dinner, I mean that that's available. Yeah, you know, at Walmart or wherever. But if you want to make a commitment and sort of get something that's nicer, that maybe you'll have an heirloom and you'll pass it down to your kids. Or, you know, maybe your style has reached a point where you know you really want to design something, you know, with your furniture maker. I think there'll always be a place for that type of business. Um we do have younger guys working with us. Our guy, Eli, who runs the shop now basically, you know, he's been with us for 13 years. Um great guy. Um we have had a little bit of difficulty recruiting younger guys um to sort of fill his place. We we uh it's just difficult. Not a lot of people want to work that hard. Um and I'm not putting myself over as being the hardest working guy in show business or anything, but we yeah, we put in a lot of hours and well, you won't see me at the ball game a lot or at the at the blues game a lot. Um I do enjoy all that stuff, but we're working. Yeah, you know, we're in the woods, we're in the wood shop, we're delivering furniture, we're meeting with clients. Um there's a lot of vertically integrated.

SPEAKER_05 29:46

It's yeah, from harvesting the wood to delivering it, wherever everything's like.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

And I think that's pretty unusual. I know a lot of woodworkers around the country, and very few of them are have the luxury of having their own forest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:58

Um but I think people increasingly want something that's either super high designed, which is not what we do, or they want something organic and natural, which is what we do.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Which is popular now. Exactly.

AI vs Handmade Work

SPEAKER_05 30:09

And I feel like with the advent of AI, we're kind of kind of gonna go the route of live theater versus AI generated. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, of course. When you're working with us, you're working with humans who are working with actual wood that they have touched and harvested. Not like 3D printed. Exactly. It's it's really natural. So I think it's always gonna have a place in people's hearts.

SPEAKER_04 30:27

Yeah, if you like cheap fake stuff, we're not for you. We're not, yeah, that's nice.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

I I get that 1000%. And I mean, I think that that you it's interesting that you mentioned AI because it's one of those industries that's like AI, you know, you can't replicate what you guys are doing. I mean, exactly. Maybe a hundred, maybe it can't one day, but like for right now, you guys are pretty safe.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

Yeah, there's a great, there's a great uh there's a great uh furniture making meme about it's like uh AI will never take my job. It could never cut this board this short every time.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

Yeah, it'll never, but in and same with even the how you talk to clients, it's like it's so simple to just put an automation in to like have replies, but it's like it's so easy to just reply.

SPEAKER_05 31:03

It's so funny you said that somebody was nagging me the other day why I'm not using Chat GPT to reply to clients. I was like, why would I do that? Like I talk to our clients. That's not why.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Well, the simple answer is because we reply to clients, yeah. And it would be disrespectful to have a computer type for you, and then they would know it wasn't you.

SPEAKER_05 31:19

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

You know, you ask about it. I want to see a mistake in the I want to see you miss a period or miss a thing or uncapitalize something.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

And you ask about like the future of our sort of business too. And for me, it's so simple. It it's um young young people or or people who want to change careers, they ask me all the time, oh, how do you do how you do it?

SPEAKER_04 31:36

Like, first of all, when somebody calls you, pick up the phone. Yeah, answer the answer the phone call. Yeah, get back to them immediately. Stop what you're doing and get back to them. If you want to have a job and do this, that's what you have to do. And it's an AI is not that, yeah.

Advice for Entrepreneurs

SPEAKER_02 31:49

An auto response is not that. Yeah, when people fill out our form on our website, I call them and they're like, whoa. And I was like, hey, I just saw all your info, you have all your info here, and then they think it's weird. And then I set up a meeting immediately. And it's like I used to be in uh sales, I was uh I was in roofing sales, which is crazy. But like I knocked on the doors to get the deal. So I'm like, now that we have a lead coming in, like I cherish that. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, that's weird. Because I used to call hundred knocks. Yeah, it's yeah, it's different. And it's like, you know, our industry and marketing and website building and ads and Google ads and Facebook ads, like we're getting hit really hard. Yeah, but my customers are still choosing to pay with us because they're taught it's you're working with people. Yeah, so I would rather pay people than Silicon Valley and Meta and Elon and Mark Zuckerberg and like these people that don't even care about you. Yeah. When it's like I just want a service, widget they just want a service. So it's like they call me if if one of, you know, we work with Ben Perimba or any of those guys. Hey, I need you out here for a photo shoot. We're doing a cool thing. Boom, we're out there, boom, photo shoot post, you know, done. So it's like, you know, you could do it yourself, but you know better than anyone. It's a grind. It is a grind. Yeah. Um, because your guys' content is is you know really good and you guys post a lot, but there's some months where you're like, I have no motivation to post. Like you don't, it's not like you're it you post and that's how you get like you get clients through that, but it's like you don't need to like run an ad and that's your Facebook ad and do a Google ad. Because you guys have been there before when you are buying ads and you're like, hey, I need an ROI off this event that I go to because you're paying a lot of money. That's right. Costs a lot of money to go there. I need to get three clients out of this, you know, and and we've been there before too. But so 29 years in business, you guys are leaders in the industry. Um, coming up on 30. What does it mean? And Dave, I want to pass this to you. I mean, what does it mean to be able to build on your family farm and be there and be in business for 30 years and now be a leader and really be the guy? You know, it's cool to be the titan of, and I'm not just saying that to hype you up. It's like there's something special, and we feel like that with like our Instagram is like we built the page that everybody wants to go to to find things to do. And it's like that's really I don't take that for granted though. I think that it's there's a privilege, but there's also a pressure for the other woodworkers in town. It's like you're setting the standard for pricing, and you're not even price, but you're setting the standard for a lot of younger companies that are doing stuff.

SPEAKER_03 33:52

Well, I guess I really didn't, I I haven't thought about it that way, to be honest with you. Um we're just trying to do what we do, and well you're probably gonna cry, so please raise yourself. I usually cry, but no.

Meaningful Projects & Family Legacy

SPEAKER_02 34:02

Um the STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by Suede Dispensary with 11 Missouri area locations. Suede does so much for the St. Louis community. We've been working with this team for a couple years back since Medical was here, and we're excited to support their new product launches, events, and community initiatives. We couldn't be happier to work with this premier cannabis brand, and we're excited for them to sponsor the show. Enjoy the rest of the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

No, it does mean a lot to me to help our clients realize their visions, honestly. That's what makes me really happy. That's what I like doing. Um, one story that pops out to me, and it's it's a guy who doesn't need any of my help, but during the pandemic, Kevin Nashin was everybody was scrambling. And he's like, Man, I I I think I need to get rid of tablecloths because tablecloths are or uh they're they're they're um worried that it's gonna be have COVID in or whatever. So he comes out and he's like, I don't know how we're gonna do this. These tables are gonna be, and I think the number was$30,000. It's gonna be$30,000 to redo all the tables for our place. And I just can't justify that. Like, I don't know how I could do that. And I'm like, oh, we're thinking about it. Like, well, what do you pay every year for linens? Turns out he was paying$30,000 to have his linens laundered every year.

SPEAKER_04 35:10

I'm like, well, dude, do this once.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Yeah, and now that's off your and so working with clients to come up with solutions like that, same way with scouts. They wanted something different, they wanted something that wasn't, you know, quite as expensive if they they they had their budget conscious. We had this beautiful hickory that's not a super popular wood. The only reason why is just it's just not out there that much. And so we did hickory with those guys, and we're able to allow them to achieve their vision on their budget and on their timeline with you know super high quality stuff. And I think it happens again and again. We just did it with Katie's out in Crestwood, too. She had a design team that had a lot of wants, like the wants were high, right? But then there's still budgetary concerns, time constraints, things like that. And we ended up building a bar out there that we've never built anything like it. We did it on site, it's like a hundred feet of bar, and we hand-carved it and did everything right on site. And it's just unlike anything else you'll find I don't know, maybe in the Midwest. I mean, it's just really far out. And working together with them uh, you know, made me so happy to sort of see the vision through, like the vision that we came up with together.

SPEAKER_06 36:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

And then to be able to work on the farm and like um still use the the materials that my grandfather and I harvested.

SPEAKER_05 36:30

Never know. It's okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Every time.

SPEAKER_05 36:33

It's true though.

SPEAKER_03 36:34

But it is um I think it's sentimental about it. It's great. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:36

When you you you were saying that you uh just use some cherry for Oh when we did when we did uh Box Hill.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

Box Hill, the cherry a lot of the cherry that we have shelves is at the shelvy in the big round where you come in and pay.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

So a lot of desk, but it like curves all the way around. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

A lot of that cherry we harvested when I was like 12 years old. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 36:58

Yeah, so so millions using that for somebody like Matt is pretty special.

SPEAKER_02 37:02

So and that's why it's like getting to walk in there, like you just are like, man, I just want to be in this space. And it's like that's so special. And the family business element of you know, in and I'm I I I guess your grandfather has passed, and oh yeah, yeah. Was he able to see kind of the the business at all? Kind of growing up. Uh he saw the beginnings of it.

SPEAKER_05 37:20

If you came to DC and visited our nightclub and bar, what would he be saying right now?

SPEAKER_02 37:23

I mean, that's that's just you know, it's to see what you're operating on the farm, the big parties you guys have.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

He'd be very supportive of it, but he would wonder why I was here and not working. Okay. Oh, it's not doing a real job. Yeah, no, he would wonder why I was here talking to you and not what's going on. Oh, he would make fun of you in the woodship.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

He'd poke fun at him.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

Like, what are you doing on Instagram making video? He'd be like, just go in the shop. Oh, I think Instagram would blow him away.

SPEAKER_05 37:45

But you know, it's funny, it's a family business, but neither of our children is interested. He was gonna ask that. Not at all. They're gone. Not at all.

SPEAKER_03 37:52

And they both had to work in the woodshop growing up. We worked in the woods, you know, the whole thing.

SPEAKER_05 37:56

But they worked shows with us.

Next Generation & Life Outside Work

SPEAKER_03 37:58

Yeah, but they're just not into it. And I think that's great. I think you need to do your own thing. Yeah, right. Go and you never know. Oscar's in an artistic endeavor. He he works with Artemis Quibble making leather belts and all kinds of amazing leather goods here in Webster. Yeah, and then our daughter is uh just finishing up uh school at DePaul, and she's she's gonna be a film person, yeah. Yeah, she's so you know, get out there and do it.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

Yeah, well, and and and the more you think about it, it's like, you know, my dad is a union bricklayer, and my all my family is union contractors, and they used to be like, you know, my hand, like I'm doing digital stuff, and my dad was like, I used to be so worried about you because like I wasn't into going to do bricks with them. Sure. But I was like, Dad, I'm building these things online, I'm building all these things, I'm making money, I'm showing them. He's like, No, no, no, no, he's like, he didn't think it's real. It wasn't real to him, it's still not real until he came here and saw everybody working. Yeah, yeah. And he's like, Oh wow, you have 12 people. Yeah, everybody here's young, it's their first jobs out of college, and then now he tells everybody he's like, Do you follow? He's not on Instagram. My mom and him have a joint Instagram, they have an egg photo, not even a profile picture for 67. So it's like they have an egg profile, which is just the standard one, and then it says Ken and Barb, Ken and Barbie, that's their names. And then they just follow like me and like two other people.

SPEAKER_05 39:09

So they can share it with you.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

But then all they see is my stuff. They're like, You're doing all this. I'm like, you need to follow more people so that you don't just see our stuff all the time.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

Um legal admit that your dad's your dad is Ken and your mom is Barbie. Yes, yeah. That's a lot of people.

STL Bucket List Picks

SPEAKER_02 39:22

And they were born in 1959, which is when the Barbie and Ken were invented. It was that when Barbie was invented in 1959. But I never talked because our grandparents have been gone for so long. I never asked them if, like, did you name her Barbie because Barbie came out? Probably.

SPEAKER_05 39:35

I mean, probably you need to get them on the on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

I know. Well, I want to do those like episodes with people like your parents, and like you private though. You can record an episode and then you keep it and put it in a lot of people. That's a great idea. And then you guys could have had an episode with your grandfather, and then you could just play it one time. Or you have us interview them. Like uh McKernan does it. Uh Tim McKernan does those episodes called Sound Story, and he like interviews people's parents and he asks the question. So you have like Tim McKernan, like a famous announcer guy doing the interview, and it's like you pay to have your dad go on, or your mom, or something, or your kids interview you.

SPEAKER_05 40:07

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

Um, so that that's really fun. This episode is sponsored by Upshot Coffee, three St. Louis area locations in Cottleville, Break Shop in St. Charles, and their new Hi-Fi location in Clayton. I personally use Upshot Coffee every day at my espresso machine at home, and I try to visit one of the shops at least once a week. They source the beans responsibly from local farms all across the world, um, and they take care of their staff and they take care of the community. Let's get back to the show. I was gonna ask you guys the STL bucket list question, but you guys have so many bucket list spots, and I know it's so hard to shout out all your clients.

SPEAKER_05 40:39

So we discussed this.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Yeah, we've been thinking about it though. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:41

Okay, because I was gonna ask if I was like, I wasn't gonna share my bucket list with Dave. I was like, I'll share with you, but you can't steal my bucket list. Because we have so many, I mean, as you know, hundreds of clients, and we love them all. Yeah, I can't say where who my favorites are. So my bucket list is if somebody were coming to visit me in St. Louis, and we have a little house in St. Louis that's behind uh Parker's table, um it's a walking bucket list.

SPEAKER_06 41:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 41:06

So mine is very it's very prescribed. It's you stay at the Cheshire. This is a no-car weekend. You fly in, you stay at the Cheshire, you walk down in the morning for breakfast at Caldi's, you get a scone and a cup of coffee, and you walk over to Forest Park, you do the museums, the zoo. Um I'd say lunch at the boathouse, but I don't know what's happening at the boathouse, so I'm not sure. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna walk back to the Cheshire and you're gonna get a St. Paul sandwich at Chinese Express, which is great. The first time I had it, I was like, what is this horrible, wonderful, delicious, amazing thing? So that's your lunch. Then you go to Cheshire, you hang out the pool for a little bit, and then you go back down De Mun, which is the greatest street in St. Louis.

SPEAKER_02 41:47

Yeah, it's so pretty.

SPEAKER_05 41:48

You go to Sasha's for a glass of wine, and then you do dinner at Louis, and then you do dessert at Clementine's. And then the next day you go to a movie at maybe the high point. And maybe grab a burger at the high point. So anyway, so my bucket list is just walking in the De Mun neighborhood. So don't get mad at me if I didn't mention it.

SPEAKER_03 42:05

I love that. And I think mine is more of like uh gastronomic food explosion. Like I would like a great night for me would be cocktails at Nota.

SPEAKER_05 42:17

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:18

And then I think I would maybe grab another cocktail. I would go down to Whiteown then. And I would grab a cocktail at Barmorrow sit at that beautiful bar. Uh or maybe one of our table. And then I would go to uh dinner at Louie again to be with you, and then late night, like 11 o'clock, 10 30, oysters, french fries, and martini in the car at Wright's Tavern.

SPEAKER_05 42:52

Then there's no Brass Free Burger, there's like see, it's too hard.

SPEAKER_02 42:55

There's no bulk and there's no Telva. It's like, yeah. And I've been struggling with that now when we have Littles, is like I only get a couple nights a month now, where we really lock in on date nights and we try to get as much in the movies as we can, but it's so hard. It's so hard. And then one of the big challenges is all these new places that are opening, and I'm like, I want to go visit them, but like I only have two date, like I try not to abuse my parents, and like I only have two date nights a month. I gotta make these count. Yeah, and that's when you're like, I gotta make sure I hit up all my friends that I see the people that I work with.

SPEAKER_05 43:21

You want to go with your favorites or what's new?

SPEAKER_02 43:23

It's challenging. It is so hard.

SPEAKER_05 43:25

We feel your pain, it's hard.

SPEAKER_02 43:26

It's hard. And then, yeah, so that and yeah, but that's really good. Yeah, nota's cocktails are unbelievable. It's such a cool space to do it.

Networking, Growth & Future Plans

SPEAKER_03 43:32

Yeah, it's a cool space. I just think that's the greatest. We also get to hit up a lot of places for lunch, like places we do business stuff. Like we'll go to uh five star. Yeah, and we'll have five star out to clear cocktail when we're out there.

SPEAKER_05 43:43

The gramophone, good company. Yeah, Katie's pizza.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

And you guys get to get lunch as through deliveries and meetings.

SPEAKER_05 43:48

Yeah, like we're here all day today on deliveries and and meetings, so we're like, you know, yeah, we might hit Peacemaker for lunch today.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Yeah, that'll be awesome. Or fine.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

But anyway, we're pretty we're pretty lucky. And it's funny you brought that up earlier about like What would your grandfather say? Um, I think he would get it. My dad still doesn't get it. He's like, Why are you guys out to eat all the time? How are you spending all this money? What how's that making you money? Yeah, he's it's funny he just doesn't understand. I've been like, you know, first of all, we like it. Second of all, we know we do stuff in trade, and third of all, it's great for business. Yeah, we go out and we meet people, we see our clients, you know, you can't just be in Dow sitting at your farm in the corner, twiddling your thumbs, hoping somebody finds you.

SPEAKER_02 44:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:27

Yeah, you gotta go out and get them.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Yeah, it's network. I mean, just like any industry, just like lawyers, you take people out to lunch. Right, it's networking. You gotta do it. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 44:35

Yeah, and it helps that we like it too.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

It's not torture for us. So, as you guys are in this next phase of life, so your kids are out of the house now and stuff. So, you know, as you guys continue to build, I mean, is this a business that that you know continues to go? I mean, like, I mean, is there can you retire from it? I mean, is it like what is that like? Because you guys are I mean, you guys still have a long way to go, it seems like.

SPEAKER_03 44:53

Yeah, we we we have sort of uh um inklings of success succession plan. I mean, we actually do have a succession plan, but we haven't really implemented it yet. We still feel good, we still I still like working um every day. We have been um taking more time off now that Eli has really come into his own as managing the shop and able to, you know, get tons of work done when we're not there along with our other um employees. So, you know, I I think the move is we keep uh we stay in our lane. One thing I should have probably mentioned earlier that's been so great since Stephanie has come on, is is we just we do what we do. We do big flat surfaces. If you need somebody to come in and make funny little shelving or like uh hidden cabinets, that's just not and we don't do that. We stay on our lane, we make big flat surfaces. You do it, we celebrate beautiful Midwestern hardwoods, and that's what we do. And so Stephanie probably turns away way more business than we take. Um, and we're gonna keep doing that, refining our role and continue to just stay in this lane that has been so good for us, and we know what we're doing in this lane. Yeah, so uh I I think that's the move for the future. We just keep keep doing that, and as long as my body holds out, yeah, we'll keep working.

SPEAKER_05 46:04

You're probably 14 years away from even thinking about retiring, I think.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

Yeah, I hope so. And I don't do as much physicality as I used to do, but I'm still in there every day. I still see lifting stuff.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Getting out of the band. I see those videos when you and the guys are you and the younger guys are going to do with the thing. And but I think that that's cool that you guys are able to curate what you want because at one point you were taking what you could get. And that's feeling and I do that too, and we're trying to work on that with our business.

SPEAKER_05 46:30

You kind of have to, because you have to build and you need money to build.

Outro

SPEAKER_02 46:33

Not every dollar is a good dollar, though. And it's like, and it is, and it stresses your team out when you take on jobs like that. It stresses you out because you don't know what like I don't know if I'm a professional at this, or might be a better person to build you a shelf. Yeah, you know flats and you're like, you could build them all day long, but it's like, is that gonna mess up your guys's, you know, and then you're known for what you're known for? Just like, you know, I wish more people would do that. I'm I'm seeing more businesses and more contractors. We only do this stonework or we only do countertops. Yeah. And I was just talking to the Stone Reserve and I was talking to Metro Marble out in Illinois, and they've been working with us a little bit, but they're like, we just fabricate stone and then we give it to them to put it in and the contract. We don't want to sell you a cabinet. We don't want to sell you, we're not gonna install. And I went to their warehouse, four football fields long of stone. It's like they're killing it with just what they do. Yeah, yeah. It's smart and and that's the thing. But no, I I mean I appreciate your guys' time and and and really, you know, getting to share your story. And I I like that you know I get to see your guys' work in the physical world. So that's a cool thing that you know, uh, me from the digital world is like you guys are actually putting product into the world, something physical, and and you're building something with your hands. And I think that both your kids actually pick that up because although they're not doing that, you have a maker and then a photographer and a filmmaker, and they're gonna be putting things out just in a different way. So I think that that's really special. But I thank you guys for coming on today. Thank you. This was great. We're big fans. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_05 47:49

Thank you for all you do for St. Louis. It's really terrific.

SPEAKER_02 47:52

We're trying, we're trying. So appreciate it, guys. See you next week.

SPEAKER_05 47:54

Thank you. Thank you.

unknown 47:56

St.

SPEAKER_02 47:56

Louis, thanks for listening. Everything we do here is about telling the story of this city, and that doesn't stop with this show. On the Bucketless Podcast Network, we're diving even deeper into the people, places, and moments that make this city what it is. Meet Me in Music with Neil Salcett captures the sound of the city, past and present, ending each episode with a live performance. For my Foodie Lovers, the sauce with Lauren Healy brings you inside the restaurants that define our culture every Tuesday. Gateway to Growth with Jamal Cornelius highlights the stories behind the people that make St. Louis work. And every Thursday, Bryce breaks down your weekend with This Week in St. Louis. More stories, more voices. Explore the full bucket list podcast network wherever you listen.