Building a legacy: How a father-daughter dynamic adds new perspective

Charley Burtwistle:

What is up everybody? Welcome back to another episode of “The Building Code.” If you are watching on YouTube, you’ll notice that the person beside me is not Zach Wojtowicz, but instead is my dad, James Burtwistle. How’s it going, dad?

James Burtwistle:

Going just great. Great to be here.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, super-pumped to have you. The reason that we have Mr. Burtwistle, the original Mr. Burtwistle, on here is this is a special Father’s Day episode, so we’ll be interviewing a father-daughter duo as well, too. But curious, you just squeezed your way into this opportunity. I’d love to hear about how you ended up on “The Building Code” today.

James Burtwistle:

Well, I went to the IBS Show out in Las Vegas and got to visiting with Courtney, I believe. And first of all, I was pimping her for some Buildertrend stuff and she says, “Well, Charley hasn’t given you any of this stuff yet?” I was like, “No, he’s pretty tight with it.” And so, she came out of a whole armful of stuff, hats and what have you, and a nice mug. And then she asked something about background on a podcast and I said, “Well, I wouldn’t mind being on a pod-” She goes, “That’d be great. What a great idea.” And that’s how I ended up here.

Charley Burtwistle:

If people have listened to this podcast religiously, you’ll know I often complain to Zach and team about my ability to not get to travel. He’s always all over the country, and a prime example was the International Builders’ Show this year, which I did not get to go to. And then I have to check my phone and see my dad gallivanting across the floor, meeting with our CEO, CRO, Courtney, obviously. And everyone is sending me pictures like, “Oh, your dad’s so great. We’re having such a good time,” just rubbing my face in it. So, I’m glad you got to enjoy that.

James Burtwistle:

Hey, in fairness, I heard about the International Builders’ Show from Charley, and I don’t know if he’s said anything in the past, but I am going to build a house out on the ranch. And he says, “Dad, if you went to this International Builders’ Show, you might be able to get some really cool ideas.” And boy did I, but another really cool thing was being able to hang around the Buildertrend booth. Any of you out there that have never been to the International Builders’ Show, you need to make the Buildertrend booth your one-stop shop.

Charley Burtwistle:

Absolutely, love that. Before we jump into the interview, one reason we wanted to have you on is obviously because it’s a Father’s Day episode and you are my father. But the other reason is just your background teaching in building construction. I’ve been wondering if you could give the listeners just a little bit of overview of the experience you have there.

James Burtwistle:

Yeah, from the building side of things I’ve mentioned Charley’s a fifth generation cattle rancher, although he has moved off the ranch, temporarily, anyway. So, when you grow up on a ranch, there’s always stuff to fix, you build a lot of fence. And, actually, when I went to college, I majored in industrial arts, so I had some shop background there and I did get my teaching degree while I was playing football at Wayne State. And my mom was a 40-year educator and my dad, just eighth grade education, never really left the ranch except for four years in the service.

But anyway, I just always wondered what it would be like to teach because I had my teaching degree and I had done some coaching and some substitute teaching. And I got to be mid-forties and I’m like, “I think I’m going to do this.” I actually got an opportunity to teach at Ord for one semester and they actually had me set up their building construction curriculum. And then the job opportunity opened 30 miles from our ranch, a year later, in O’Neill, Nebraska, and I taught there for 13 years. And I really enjoyed it. I taught building construction, exploring technology and drafting.

Charley Burtwistle:

Love it. And of course we had the Burtwistle and Son Roofing LLC.

James Burtwistle:

Yeah. The year Charley graduated, I think it might even been his idea, he says, “Dad, we ought to just do a little roofing in the summer.” And it turned out really well, it was a nice little moneymaker for us. It was hard work for a guy in his mid-fifties, but we overcame and it was a great opportunity. I wouldn’t trade those three summers for anything. It was just a good bonding opportunity and really enjoyed it. And gave Charley a little boots-on-the-ground experience with the construction industry.

Charley Burtwistle:

Absolutely. It all started from there. Well, really, really happy to have you on here today, Dad. We are going to get our two guests in here now, Cassie and Max from Tru Builders out in Arizona. Father-daughter duo. Really, really interested to hear their perspective of just interpersonal, how they work together and their family, how they foster a culture of community and family-oriented goals at their company. I’m sure it’s going to be great. So, without further ado, let’s get them in here.

Hello Cassie and Max, welcome to “The Building Code.” Super, super excited to have you. Very special episode today and you two are the perfect people to be a part of it. First question we always like to ask is just tell us a little bit about yourselves and maybe a little bit of background in how you guys got into construction and where you’re at today.

Max Christiansen:

Sure. Thank you so much for having us on. We really appreciate it. I started in construction when I was a young kid because my father was a contractor, so technically I’m second generation, Cassie’s, third generation. I started working with my dad when I was 10. Man, I worked all summer long, and he paid me a $20 bill. And then, when I was 11, worked all summer, he gave me a $50. When I was 12, we worked all summer, I worked all summer for him, gave me a $100 bill, and he goes, “Okay, Max. Now I’ve taught you how to work, and I haven’t paid you much.” So, my dad definitely taught me a work ethic.

He ended up retiring when I was 19, 20 years old, he semi-retired, and so, I worked with him throughout the summers, but then when he retired, I ended up being a ski bum for about four years. Worked construction in the summertime. And then I went to work for a national builder when I was about 23, 24 years old, somewhere in there. And then have been self-employed since 1999. That’s my story.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, he has been in it forever. I always tell people, I’m like, “Yeah, I just grew up around it. So, that’s how I know everything that I know.” But I’ve been working in construction and for Tru Builders for about seven-and-a-half years now, and it’s super-fun, actually. I did take some business management and design classes, but I learned a lot of it organically through my dad, also through my mom. She did a lot of design when I was growing up, too, so, it’s a whole family affair over here.

Charley Burtwistle:

Did you have the same pay scale as your dad? Did you go $20, $50, $100 on the way there? Max, did you pay a little better?

Cassie Parra:

I wish. No, I was always like, “When did you first start doing things?” I was like, “Man, I was in the office when I was 13, just trying to get some allowance money.” I’m like, “Dad, you need me to file something? I’ll do anything for you.” And so, that was really fun.

James Burtwistle:

It’s awesome to see a father-daughter team in the industry. Can you talk about how this dynamic makes your company a little bit unique?

Max Christiansen:

Sure. I think that it’s fairly common to see second and third generations that are father, grandfather, son, grandson, but I think it’s a little bit different when there’s a daughter involved. And so, I think that gives us a little bit of a unique perspective.

The other thing is that Cassie is much more on the design end, but she knows every part of the business because when she first came to work for us, she basically shadowed me for six months. I wanted to make sure, “Hey Cassie, I don’t know if this is really something that you want to do, but just shadow me for six months and then you can figure out, if this is something that you want to do, what aspect of the company that you want to be in.”

The other thing that I want to share with you is that we do have six kids and all of our six kids have worked for the company for a minimum of six months. Cassie is the only one that said, “Yes, this is what I want to do.”

Charley Burtwistle:

The chosen one.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, exactly. Coolest one. No, just kidding. They’re all awesome, but they all went on to do things that they loved a lot more. And I think that is unique about us because we are a father-daughter team, and I think it just goes to show, our story’s on our website and so many people look at it and they’re like, “Wow, that’s so cool. I never would’ve thought a father and daughter would run a construction business.” Because, obviously, it is primarily run by men, but it’s such a cool experience, and I think they get a lot of a different perspective from it, coming from a woman and then also coming from a father-daughter duo. A lot of our clients love it, and our trades think it’s really cool, too.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, absolutely, it’s definitely unique. A question I have that’s not necessarily on our list, but dumping a little bit more into the father-child dynamic. I’d be interested to hear what was the initial dynamic of Cassie coming into the business? I’m thinking more so, my dad and I had a roofing company growing up, and I don’t want to necessarily use Changing of the Guard, but how do you, I want to hear both of your perspectives, maybe Max first, how do you go from, “Okay, this is my child that’s helping out around the business,” to, “This is my business partner actually making decisions, and I’m not the only one running it anymore.” When did that switch-over happen and maybe what’s the dynamic like today?

Max Christiansen:

Sure. It was probably about two-and-a-half to three years after Cassie came to work for us. My wife, Lori and I, she’s an integral part of the company as well. She does the accounting and the HR, behind the scenes stuff but super, super important. But after about two and a half to three years, Cassie came to us and said, “Hey, I think this is something that I really, really want to do.”

Because prior to that, quite frankly, I didn’t want to do this for the rest of my life. My wife and I have plans, we wanted do some travel, we wanted to do some other things, see grandkids, all that other stuff. And so, when she said that, it was like, “Awesome, great.”

So, we started including her in all of our meetings. Lori and I would have our own, what we would call executive meetings. Cassie was part of that. So, from early on, she was part of the executive meetings and we really valued her opinion. It was super-important for that.

Charley Burtwistle:

And then Cassie, maybe from your perspective, when did it stop seeming like shadowing and started seeming more so running and being an operational part of the business? Did you ever feel like you were stepping on toes maybe as you were getting into that or was it pretty seamless?

Cassie Parra:

I think that there may have been a couple toes stepped on here or there, but I think that’s just the nature of growing and scaling your business and moving into different things. One thing that always stands out to me is, I used to do so much of it with him, and I don’t know what he was doing or what I was doing, but he was like, “Hey, can you just go do this?” And I was like, “Yeah,” and I went and did it and the trade was like, “Wow, this was so awesome. I didn’t think you knew any of this stuff because you don’t really talk much.” Because he was always talking over me, but that’s just personality. And so, that was really cool.

And then from there, I think I just was like, “I totally know all this, I’m just going to do it.” And that’s when I started to transition over into more of the operations manager, an executive of the company. And we definitely stay in our boxes as much as possible, which is really nice. And I know that when I’m making decisions, or I’m bringing things up, he always says, he’s like, “Well, if I’m not going to be here, it’s your decision.” So, that’s really good. I love that respect aspect of it, too.

James Burtwistle:

And good for you, Max, for giving her that freedom to do that. My question is how many different crews do you guys have?

Max Christiansen:

We self-perform a certain amount of our work and then we have our preferred trade partners. What we self-perform is, we self-perform all of our demo. Just take a step back, primarily we do additions, remodels, kitchens and baths. We will also do select custom homes, as well. That is actually my forte, that’s what I did for a long time up until ’08 and ’09 when that just flattened out and then we started doing additions and remodels.

So, when it comes to crews, we have two main crews out in the field. One is more specifically designed for the rough and the framing end of it, and another one is more specifically designed for the back end, the trim, carpentry, millwork, things like that. But what we do self-perform is we self-perform all of our own demo. We do most of our own structural framing and then millwork, trim, carpentry, those types of things. And then everything else we trade partner out.

James Burtwistle:

Cassie, I know the construction industry is dominated by males, do you run into any conflicts when you’re out with the crews or are you pretty well received? Or they know they don’t mess with you or they got to deal with Max?

Cassie Parra:

I definitely have had some bad experiences with different trades and just new people that don’t really know who I am. I would say I get tested a lot. They always test me with their different questions and they do come off pretty passive-aggressive, but I think that’s just the type of industry that we’re in. And I know that we’re definitely heading in a different direction, which I love to see. But I have run into quite a few people that didn’t like me on the job site and didn’t take things from me.

So, we just came to the decision early on, if we ever had issues like that, we just would no longer work with that trade or we’d move past it because it just wasn’t a good fit for us. And we really value our trade partners and our employees, so we want to make sure that we obviously respect them and they respect us, vice versa. But I’ve definitely had some difficult conversations, here and there.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I can’t imagine. I can and I can’t, but something I was curious on, you mentioned the “Our Story” on your website and the family values and culture that you guys bring, which I think is awesome. A lot of the recent episodes of “The Building Code” that we’ve been talking about is just how to set up your business for success, maintaining and retaining talent, making it a fun place to work, ensuring that it’s not just a business but it is a family. And you guys are literally leading from the front there in that dynamic.

But I’m curious for, how you foster that culture for the non-family members that are a part of your business and how do you keep those same values and make sure it translates to your entire staff? I think that’s something that a lot of our listeners are trying to do organically, outside of the typical family nature that you guys have.

Max Christiansen:

Yeah, I think I’ll go ahead and address that first. I think a lot of companies have what’s called an organizational chart. We have what’s called an accountability chart, so it’s a little bit different. We have four main boxes to our company, one is Sales and Marketing, the other one’s Pre-Construction, and then Construction and Production and then HR and Accounting.

And so, because of the fact that we have that, everybody is accountable for their job and for their job description and we give them the responsibility and the authority to be able to do that. For me, my box is sales and marketing. Cassie’s is pre-construction, and then we have another person that does production and then, Lori, and by the way, Jason, who is Cassie’s husband, he’s over there, they are both over there in HR and accounting. So, I think that’s the foundation of where we’re at. We just make sure that everybody is accountable for what they do.

When it comes to core values and family values, it’s just something that we’ve always done. We’ve treated our trade partners, suppliers and employees like family. And that was part of actually me growing up with my dad. I remember that my dad’s trade partners and suppliers, they were like family to him, as well. We consider ourselves a relationship-based builder, not just with our clients but with our trade partners.

My roofing contractor’s been with me for 24 years. My fabricator has been with me for over 20 years. We have trade partners and suppliers that we have over 20 years’ worth of relationships. And so, I think because we value that so much that’s reciprocated then, back to us as well from our trade partners, from our suppliers and from our employees as well. We always just tell people, “Look family first.”

The other thing, too, I tell our employees, I know Cassie does all the time, “Look, if you’re not having fun, go do something else.” I’m really a fun guy, I think, for the most part, and if we’re not having fun, let’s figure it out so that we can have fun.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, I think for me, our company’s split in different generations and age and dynamics and things like that, but I always strive to make sure everybody feels included. And just the environment overall, they all know they’re not just a number to this company. We try really hard to give them good incentives and good just, feeling when they work here. They love the environment and they love everything that they get, and they know that they really are like family to us.

And they respect us with that and they come to work every day with their A-game, doing exactly what they know that they need to do because they’re invested in it, as well, which we have found that so many of our employees do really invest in the company because they want to see it grow. They love what they do here and they just love the environment overall. I think that’s one of my favorite things about Tru Builders, it’s just the company culture that we have here. It’s really awesome.

James Burtwistle:

Yeah, I think when you have employees that take pride in their work, that carries over and that really helps your reputation as well. And I think that’s really good that you’re doing it.

Hey, I had another question for you, when you do have a disagreement on the job, different opinions and stuff when making your business decisions as a family, how do you guys handle that?

Max Christiansen:

Yeah, that’s a good question.

Charley Burtwistle:

The little look there between you guys, I can tell this might be a bit of a spicy question. Hard-hitting ones.

Max Christiansen:

Here’s a classic example. We just finished up a small addition to our offices. We were just packed, we’re adding more staff, so we added a couple more offices. And I had the basic layout, got the layout, and I told Cassie, I said, “Whatever you want to do.”

Lori and I are in the process of, in the next three to five years, we’re going to be stepping back. So, if it has to do with the normal day-to-day stuff, I think we’re squared on that. If it has anything to do with down the road, three, five years, I just look at Cassie and say, “What do you want to do?” So, it makes it pretty simple, I think anyway.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, I think so, too. I think when we first started, and I first moved into that executive role, I think setting up those different expectations helped us a lot. But I definitely think we did butt heads in different areas because I am a systemizer, that’s what I love to do. I love to make systems and make everything run smoothly.

And I think everybody has different opinions, especially working with a family dynamic, it’s always like, “Why aren’t you listening to what I have to say?” I’m like, “No, we’re all trying to work toward the same goal.” And so, we really just put that as the face of why we’re making all these decisions and then just understanding we’re all in different boxes. I don’t know exactly what’s best for every box, and I take the executive that’s in that box, and I really value their information, and I’m not just going to spearhead it only to what I want to do. So, we try to value each other’s opinions a lot and just understand that, obviously, we don’t know everything, and we want to do it together.

James Burtwistle:

What are some of the more memorable projects you guys have done? Or is there any one or maybe a couple that really stood out or have stood out for you?

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, of course.

Max Christiansen:

I’ll go, this was about five years ago, maybe. Yeah, I think five years ago we had a very large project. It was a whole-home remodel where we were literally moving the kitchen from one side of the house to the other, moving walls, putting in big pivot doors, all kinds of stuff. And we had a couple of meetings with this client, out-of-state client, they flew in. And I realized, “Holy smokes, I double-booked myself on an appointment.”

And so, we had this last appointment where we were going to close them on the contract, and I sat down with them for about maybe 10 or 15 minutes and I said, “You know what, I apologize. I’ve got another appointment, but you’re in good hands with Cassie, and she’ll take care of you.” And Cassie just looked at me and she went, “Really?” And so, an hour-and-a-half later she calls me, and she goes, “Okay, dad, I closed the deal. I got a signed contract.”

Cassie Parra:

Left me out in the dust. I think it was just funny because he didn’t tell me before. He didn’t tell me he was going to leave. I think he just wanted to see what I was going to do.

Max Christiansen:

But you got this. You got this, girl. And it ended up being an amazing project. They loved it. We did some really fun and unique things with them. The other thing, too, is this couple, they were in their mid-sixties and here’s Cassie, I think you were 20 at the time, 21.

Cassie Parra:

I was 20. I was fresh. And I’m like, “Yeah, I got this. I’m going to do it.”

Max Christiansen:

And you should tell him about Anderson.

Cassie Parra:

Oh, he thinks this is so memorable because he was standing there literally jaw on the floor in shock. I had this client, she was so set on making this design decision, and I just kept telling her, I was like, “I really don’t think that’s going to work with the overall design that you’re looking for and exactly what you’re trying to achieve with your job.” And she just kept coming at me like, “No, I know exactly what I want and I don’t care about anything else.” I’m like, “But you came to me saying you want it to be cohesive.”

Max was just standing there in the background and eventually I was like, “Okay, I understand that but if you want to do that, we’re just not going to work with you.” And he was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you just told her that.” I was like, “Yeah, if she’s going to be difficult I’m not going to work with her, and we’re not going to bring her project on.” And I think he thinks that’s so memorable because he was like, “I’m so proud of you for telling them, ‘No way, we’re not dealing with that.'”

Max Christiansen:

And again, these clients are … We do a lot of work in the Northwest Valley, which is in the Sun Cities area, so there’s a lot of retired people. And so, she did that, she said that, and the client just stepped back and went, “Okay, then we’ll just go ahead and do what you say, and we’re fine. Okay.”

Cassie Parra:

It was funny.

Max Christiansen:

Yeah. And that kitchen, that project turned out amazing. It really did.

Cassie Parra:

Clients really, they don’t know exactly what they want sometimes, and it’s our job to help them and teach them along the way for it.

Charley Burtwistle:

Oh yeah. The entire construction process, obviously, is very complicated but the pre-construction design part of things is … I would just pull my hair out constantly. Coming to you for advice but also, they’re the customer, they’re always right. How do you work with their ideas? But if you know their ideas aren’t going to be good, how do you be firm about your suggestions there?

And I think there are times, and that’s something that we’ve talked about on here before, of being selective on who you work with. It frees up a ton of stress. It’s not 90% of jobs that are really frustrating and stressful, it’s that 10%. So, being selective in little increments there can clear your head space and runway in the long run there.

But yeah, definitely both of those stories, they both had happy endings, and I think they just speak to, you guys clearly have a great relationship and a lot of trust, which is why you’re so successful. I definitely remember the first job site that you had left for and said, “Okay, can you handle this here?” I was like, “I don’t know.” I wasn’t as confident as Cassie was, but got it done. So, those are both awesome stories.

Cassie Parra:

For sure, I feel like some of it is … I was just talking to a couple other women in construction, and I was like, “Listen, I faked it until I made it, until I knew exactly what I was doing because I was like, coming into it, I just have to seem very confident, like I do know what I’m talking about. Because if I know what I’m talking about, but I come off timid, some clients just really don’t receive that well. So, I was like, “I’m just going to stick it out, and I’m just going to show I can do this.”

Charley Burtwistle:

Hell, yeah. And it worked out.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah.

Charley Burtwistle:

Love that. It wouldn’t be a Buildertrend podcast if we didn’t ask at least one question about the technology side of the business. I know we were talking about this before we hopped on the interview, you’ve been to BTU a couple times. But when did you guys onboard with Buildertrend and how has that integrated your systems, transitioning into more technology-based project management?

Max Christiansen:

Well, we had been using CoConstruct since 2017 and when CoConstruct was bought out by Buildertrend, it was like, “Okay,” so we saw the writing on the wall. And I will tell you this is a pretty interesting thing. I had my heels dug in a little bit, going onto Buildertrend, my wife Lori did, too. We went to IBS, International Builders’ Show, in ’23 right?

Cassie Parra:

Yeah.

Max Christiansen:

Last year.

Cassie Parra:

And I called you guys and I just was like, “Hey, can I set up a time to do a demo?” And they’re like, “Yeah.” I literally texted my parents, I was like, “Hey, meet me at this booth.” And they’re like, “Okay.” And I literally sat them down, I was like, “We’re switching to Buildertrend today.”

I had already done so many demos with you guys, and it was just crazy the difference of everything that I could do and just the systematizing version of it. That’s one of my favorite things about it, is knowing that I can just template it, and it’s there and it’s so easy, I’m not going back and doing rework for things. And once they saw the demo, they’re like, “Okay, we’re going to switch.” So, we switched, and we’ve been using Buildertrend since February of ’21.

Max Christiansen:

Of ’23.

Cassie Parra:

Oh, ’23, sorry.

Max Christiansen:

’23, yeah.

Cassie Parra:

We just hit our one year mark, and I did go back to the Buildertrend University, I actually went twice because my brother does live in Omaha, so it was fun. I got to go visit family and do work at the same time. But the first time I went, I think I was a month in, I was still just doing my setup. And I tell people all the time that are like, “I’m just starting Buildertrend.” I’m like, “You just have to go to the university.”

Before I even started using it fully, I went to the university, and that really set me up for success. Going through it, having actual hands-on training, my coach was amazing. I got to meet him in person and just go through that and really learn the best way that it could work for my business. Because what’s so amazing about Buildertrend is that it can be really changed and formatted to fit everybody’s individual business. So, it works well for everybody.

Max Christiansen:

And then we went back, you went initially and then about three or four months later, I went back with Cassie to a Super-User. And literally, we get into Buildertrend, you guys have amazing offices, too, by the way, and anybody listening to this, if you don’t go to BTU, I’m just telling yourself you’re shooting yourselves in the foot. Just do it. Just go. Anyway, I went there and literally within an hour, I had my name tag, it was Max. I just changed it and just put Cassie’s dad.

James Burtwistle:

There you go.

Charley Burtwistle:

The local legend around the office.

Max Christiansen:

Yeah.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, it was such a great time. You guys have such an amazing team, and you guys’ culture, I know you guys asked us about ours, but definitely, Buildertrend’s culture has been so amazing. And every time I reach out to you guys and my coach, always so helpful and just really gets us where we need to be for everything.

James Burtwistle:

My question for you guys is, do you find your clients enjoy being able to use Buildertrend as well?

Cassie Parra:

Yeah. We do have definitely a wide demographic of clients like Max, my dad, had mentioned before. We do a lot of work in the Sun Cities, which is a 55 and up community, and then we have some younger clients, as well. So, we were nervous, at first, even when we started CoConstruct, like, “How is this going to be received?”

But we really just take that extra step. We sit down with our clients when we’re in the pre-construction phase, and I bring my iPad, or I bring my laptop or one of my designers do it, and they just go through, show them your guys’ little PDF, walk through the system with them and they really enjoy that. They love the system. I have so many clients that log on every day, they’re looking at the pictures, they’re so excited this is happening. And we just really sell it as such a value and asset to us, and they receive that very well.

And not just our clients, but also our trades, suppliers use it as well. So, knowing that we’re all communicating on the same platform, and we just really show them the benefits of it, they really buy into it, which we really appreciate.

We actually did a little Buildertrend training here at our office, as well, with some of our trades to show them using it, and we do Zoom calls with them to help them where we can. So, we really try to foster that. Just like Max said, we are a relationship-builder. So, we try to take the extra mile in every aspect, including Buildertrend because this is one of the things that does drive our company. So, we want to show them the usefulness of it and just take that time.

Max Christiansen:

The other thing is, we’ve taken it one step further to a couple of different things. In our pre-construction contract and in our contract it is required that our clients use Buildertrend. It is a contractual requirement. But before that too, we set up a customer guideline handbook.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, a little guide book for them.

Max Christiansen:

Really simple, and we just lay out the advantages of why you want to do this. This is one of the things that sets us apart as Tru Builders from some of the other builders out there that don’t have Buildertrend. And so, it’s a huge advantage when it comes … And so, we educate our clients, “This is what we do, this is why we do it. And yeah, you’re required to log in.” And it’s amazing, once they get it, just like Cassie said, they like it, they love it.

Cassie Parra:

And they’re on it all the time.

James Burtwistle:

When Charley first started to work for Buildertrend, I have a friend in O’Neill, Nebraska, which is about three hours from Omaha, and she was actually building a home in Lincoln, and her contractor was using Buildertrend. And she says, “Oh, Buildertrend is wonderful. It’s just allowed me to … where I’m so far away, I’m still able to keep up on the contract.” And she had nothing but great things to say about Buildertrend. And I said, “Well, maybe Charley’s got a great company he’s working for here.” That’s why I had that question for you.

Max Christiansen:

That’s a great question. Thank you for asking that.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, and appreciate the free promo guys, you guys, if you ever want to get into sales, I’m sure Buildertrend has a role for you guys here on the floor.

Cassie Parra:

I know, I’m like, “Anytime, you guys.” My brother, his name’s Nathan. He was so awesome. When you guys used one of my videos for a promo, he sent me the link and I was like, “I can’t believe this.” He’s like, “You’re famous.”

Charley Burtwistle:

Love that. Yeah. Well you guys are obviously the picture-perfect Buildertrend user, so hearing and sharing your guys’ stories and talking through potential Buildertrend users, as well. It’s like, “Hey, here are the benefits. Here’s how you can get set up.” Obviously, we want to shout that from the rooftop, so I appreciate all you guys have done to help spread that word.

We are getting a little close to time, but I think one last question that would be a good one to end on is just advice that you guys have for families, family members getting into the construction … well not even construction business, but just getting into business together. What are some advice that you guys would have for them?

Max Christiansen:

I think for me, you have to give that family member time. Give them time to figure out what they want to do and where they may or may not want to fit into the business. You got to let them decide for themselves, allow them to make mistakes. Everybody’s going to make mistakes. None of us are perfect.

And then, over and above that, manage some expectations up front. Have fun. I’m all about having fun. If you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing, and if you’re not hashing about it, go do something else.

And then the only other thing is that, when you leave work, business is done. And then, just being able to separate that business from personal. It is interesting though, that once Cassie decided, “Hey, yes, this is really what I want to do,” we really stayed focused on, “Okay, work’s work, business is business, and then personal is personal.” It’s amazing how many times we’d be on our personal time hanging out doing something else, and Cassie would go and she would start bringing up work, and I’d look at her and I’d go, “Really?”

Cassie Parra:

I’m like, “Sorry, it’s just on my mind.” No, I think for me, personally, what I really loved about coming into Tru Builders with my parents, and especially my dad, is he never limited my growth here. He always pushed me, and I strived to be better because I saw how much him, as an individual, was pushed. And he is so amazing in everything that he’s done. He has obviously been in the business for a really long time, and that was just a work ethic for me to continue to move forward and just do what I’m doing.

And I always tell people, someone just asked me this, I’m like, “Yes, expectations are great.” But I didn’t go into it thinking, “Oh, I’m just going to be doing this.” And he never once capped where I could grow or where I could see myself. And that was so amazing. He’s always my cheerleader pushing me and telling me, “Yes, you can do this. Where do you want to see the business? Where do you want to be? Not just in the business but in your personal life.” And so, it was just continuing to push us.

And I think that’s the biggest advice. Don’t put people in boxes or don’t say, “Oh, you can only do this part of the business.” You’re going into it, you have to really just value each other’s opinion and just understand you guys are all striving for the same goal at the end of the day. To be successful, which is measured in so many different ways. But more importantly, are you happy with what you’re doing and love it there?

James Burtwistle:

Yeah. You guys are a testament to if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. And that’s what I kept thinking when you were talking about that.

And this is going to be a Father’s Day episode so, Max, I see why you’re so very, very proud, and it’s cool that this is going to be airing on Father’s Day. And if you haven’t figured it out, I’m pretty proud of my son, too.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah.

Max Christiansen:

Well, you should be. That’s awesome.

Charley Burtwistle:

A lot of love. Fantastic end of the episode, and I think that we can definitely get you guys back on a couple more times. I’d love to check in a year from now and see how things are going. I also would love to get your husband on here, Cassie. We can do a wife-husband dynamic, similar format, we’ll just hit all the different family relationships.

Cassie Parra:

Yeah, I like everything guys. We can do it all.

Charley Burtwistle:

Thank you guys so much. You’re both great, and I really enjoyed … I can tell you have a fun, loving dynamic. It’s been great talking to you guys today.

Cassie Parra:

Of course. Any time.

Max Christiansen:

Hey, thanks for having us. Really appreciate it.

Charley Burtwistle:

Well, Dad, we just wrapped up with Cassie and Max from Tru Builders, and we just wrapped up with your first ever podcast appearance. So, really, really interested before we get to you, which I do want to get to get some feedback, what’d you think of Cassie and Max?

James Burtwistle:

Just seems like they have a great relationship. It sounds like their company is really thriving, and what I really got was the joy they seem to have working. And like I told them, I said, “If you enjoy a job, you’re never going to work a day in your life.” And I think they exemplified that.

Charley Burtwistle:

Yeah, I thought the story Max brought up of like, “Well, we try to keep work and family time separate, but now Cassie’s talking to me about work during personal time.” Just a quick little anecdote. I got married a couple weeks ago, or I guess a couple months ago by the time this airs, and my boss, Jason, who I became close personal friends with, was there, and we were talking about work stuff. And his girlfriend, Lauren, came over and was like, “Are you guys talking about work? It’s Charley’s wedding?” I’m like, “No, this is best. I would love to talk about work right now. I don’t want to go make small talk with a hundred other people. This is perfect. Thank you for doing that.”

And that’s just what reminded me of when you can talk about work in your personal time and enjoy it, obviously, you’re doing something you love and I love that anecdote from Cassie.

Okay, so now to you, what did your first ever podcast appearance, did it live up to the hype?

James Burtwistle:

Yeah, I would say it did. I’m a Joe Rogan fan, so it’s fun to be able to get behind the mic here, and I could see myself doing this again.

Charley Burtwistle:

I know. Well, you have the bald head, so if you weren’t wearing a hat and you’d wear a little tighter T-shirt, people might kind of pass you off for JRE.

Well, thank you very much for coming in. For those listening, James drove up three hours to be here today, so really, really appreciate the time. Appreciate you being such a great father.

And to all the fathers out there listening to this on this special Father’s Day episode, thank you for all you do from a son. I’ll never be able to thank you for being a father to me and all you’ve taught me growing up, not just about construction, but about life as well. So, appreciate you.

James Burtwistle:

Absolutely. And I hope all the fathers out there are lucky enough to have great kids like I have. I got to throw a prop out to his sister, Samantha, as well.

Charley Burtwistle:

Absolutely. Well, that will do it. We will see James on here one year from now on Father’s Day again. Just kidding. Maybe we can sneak you in before then.

James Burtwistle:

Easy come on.

Charley Burtwistle:

But thank you for listening, as always. Check us out anywhere you listen to a podcast. Would really appreciate a like, review, subscribe if you can. And you can join The Building Code Crew on Facebook. Otherwise, we’ll see you next time.