Elevator Industry Education and Collaboration | Michael Carter
In this episode, I sat down with Michael Carter, a partner of MR Elevator in West Texas, to discuss his career journey. Michael shared the process of learning empathy, resilience, self-investment, and leadership on his way from apprentice to business owner. We also discussed the importance of continuous learning and the positive impact that it can have both within the elevator industry and in our communities at large.
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Transcript:
Michael Carter (00:00)
Who wants to be an elevator guy? And everybody’s gonna look at you. It’s oil field country. So where the schooling comes in, that that’s going to be something that is going to grow over time.
all about educating each other. That’s where my heart is, is educating folks, the industry, And even starting with elementary schools, getting them coloring books, right? You make it relative from a young age and it’s an investment. It’s gonna cost money and time.
But I really truly believe in that. You know, embrace it, you know, get the word out there. It’s like, hey, elevator industry, it’s a real thing. It’s an awesome career. This is a beautiful thing. And there’s a lot of skilled workers that work in those industries.
Just like, Hey, you going to college, you going to military, you going to the oil field. Well, I want the elevator industry to be part of that conversation because it is a very important industry land isn’t getting created. Buildings are going up.
And don’t think people are just gonna wanna start taking stairs on a regular basis. Statistics show it’s opposite of that. And we need to invest in it now. That’s gonna be a booming market here in the near future. It’s already going, you can drive out there and see, there’s changes coming, you can feel
Matt Allred (01:01)
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast brought to you by the Allred Group. I’m your host, Matt Allred. When talent is mission critical, call the Allred Group. With industry expertise, top talent, and exceptional customer service, you need the Allred Group on your side. Your priority is our priority. Call now, 404-890-0445. In this episode, I sat down with Michael Carter, a partner of MR Elevator in West Texas.
To discuss his career journey, Michael shared the process of learning empathy, resilience, self-investment, and leadership on his way from apprentice to business owner. We also discussed the importance of continuous learning and the positive impact that it can have both within the elevator industry and in our communities at large.
Matt Allred (01:48)
Michael, welcome to the show.
Michael Carter (01:51)
Thank you, sir. Nice to here, Matt. Thank you.
Matt Allred (01:53)
Thank you. I appreciate you being with me. I’ve always enjoyed talking to you and it’s kind of an exciting time. You’ve obviously made a big change recently and so I just want to start right there. What inspired you to leave your job and start your own thing?
Michael Carter (02:11)
Really, you know, it starts back from the beginning and it’s just following my heart on where I want to go with my career and, how I want to, cultivate my career throughout this industry. There’s opportunity and need. And, You know when I see it, it’s tough for me to, turn a blind eye. You know, I’d like to go right after it. So essentially it’s all following the dream.
Matt Allred (02:27)
Sure, Yeah,
yeah, well, and you told me that it starts from the beginning. Tell me a little bit about your beginning, right? How did you get where you are? What was that like, especially in early days?
Michael Carter (02:42)
Well, definitely early days, extremely early days. You know a month after I turned 18 years old, I ended up, getting a call to join the IUEC apprenticeship program and, you know, started my career from there, man. And, it was either that or the military. I signed up for both, you know, just being a high school dropout, I needed to do something. I went and got my GED and I needed to put options on the table and fate aligned.
Matt Allred (03:07)
Yeah, yeah. What were some of the hardest lessons that you learned? kind of, it sounds like you were young and not a whole lot of direction. It’s like maybe military, maybe this, maybe not if neither one worked out. So I got to figure out something, but a lot of learning that would have needed to happen. So I’m curious, what about some of your difficult learnings?
Michael Carter (03:29)
Well, the difficult learning side of that is learning how to be accepted by professionals. Because that’s what really opened my eyes to growing up as a young man and then stepping into the professional prestigious elevator industry. It’s serious business. So one of the first things you had to learn is how important everything that you did, every step of the way throughout the day, where that’s going to lead to the next step. it’s just so understanding the value.
and the importance of the role that you play, even as an apprentice, that individual you’re working with is trusting you with their that becomes very real, very quick. So very humbling to consider yourself a grown man when you’re 18 and you’re now understanding how real life is.
Matt Allred (04:14)
yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. And I mean, you told me one time about kind of a wake up call as you were doing construction. What was that like for you and what did that bring to you?
Michael Carter (04:26)
So, you know everybody thrives in success, right? And, working in construction, you know, it’s the first opportunity that I had to be a temporary mechanic. So yeah, I’ve obviously gone after it, enjoyed it for several years, but then when the, the 06, 07, 08 market hit, it really woke me up because all construction ceased. You know, people were getting pulled off of job sites, construction was just stopped and it was pretty creepy.
Being able to experience that, what that really did was it opened my eyes and how vulnerable we are to other people. And so at that point in time, I knew that I couldn’t just depend on everybody else for my livelihood. I needed to start looking into myself. And instead of allowing myself to become a single trick pony or a specialist at one thing, I really started looking into broadening my mindset on that and trying to get exposure to things that I didn’t have
Matt Allred (05:17)
Was it scary to consider maybe, you know, jumping out and doing something little different or learning new skills or leaving some of the safety that you’d found?
Michael Carter (05:27)
I think equally, each decision anybody makes in life, it’s going to have the fear factor to it. It’s going to play a role and it’s how you react to it. Being a first generation individual coming into the elevator trade, I was gifted with the knowledge from a friend’s dad I just took it and ran with it. And yeah, was it unknown? Absolutely. but if you know what’s behind you, it really doesn’t matter what’s in front of you.
You know, you’re going to learn lessons along the way and it does have its challenges and you have to embrace them and you got to invest in yourself.
Matt Allred (05:58)
Awesome. Who were some of your big mentors or maybe one mentor in particular that you felt like really made an impact in those early days?
Michael Carter (06:07)
Well, I’m going be honest with you, the most impactful individual person. And it wasn’t just so much about just working around. It was just who he was as an individual and how his perception of life was. And his name was Justin King. I had the pleasure working around that man for eight and half years. And one of the things that really resonated with me is he would always come after me and put more on me and just challenge me and push me. And I finally got to that point, was like, hey man, why are you always coming after me?
He broke it down to me very simply. And he said, I know you can handle it. I’m going to challenge you and keep pushing you. And he said, you need to understand, stop comparing yourself to other people. you need to be the best version of yourself every day. ⁓ so that’s what really, ⁓ inspired me to understand what the true meaning of empathy was and understand that there’s no standard, right? You set your own standards. And then if you’re doing it right, you’re going to push that standard to get better.
Matt Allred (07:01)
Yeah, how did it feel to know that he essentially was believing in you more than you believed in yourself? When he’s pushing you, you may have felt like it was an attack, right? What are you doing? You picking on me? He’s like, no, I see so much more in you.
Michael Carter (07:14)
Yeah. Oh yeah. was definitely my natural reaction to it, right. It was very defensive and confrontational. Like, Hey man, you know, something’s about to him taking the time and explaining it to me on a personal level. that personability of just human nature is everything, right? Because just because I have a perspective and I perceive something one way, if I wouldn’t have asked something or just stayed silent and walked away and mumbled it up, right.
I never would have learned that valuable lesson that helped inspire me to better myself from that day forward, to be perfectly honest with you
Matt Allred (07:45)
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like it helped you kind of see yourself in a new light and own this piece that, I can do more, right? I don’t need to sit back and settle for halfway. I can really be more than I even thought.
Michael Carter (07:59)
That’s right. That is absolutely right. And that’s where it starts is believing in yourself. And you know sometimes, it’s, a conversation, a podcast, you may inspire other people. And it’s not so much, I agree with everything you said, but what you can do is you can inspire the thought process and other people’s from their perspective. And, you know, I don’t ever take that lightly. So that’s, that’s, very important.
Matt Allred (08:16)
Absolutely.
Yeah, well, we all have our own gifts, right? So it’s not that, you know, any one person’s doing exactly what I need to do, but if I look at them and say, that motivates me to be more of me, well then, hey, it’s a win.
Michael Carter (08:34)
right. How do I become better? And you know, and the best way to do it is learn from other people, man. pay attention. You know, don’t be so self-consumed where, you can’t learn anything because if you’re doing that, now you’ve got a big problem, right? So, always embrace change, embrace influence to a certain degree, and just kind of, you know, bring it in and use it from your perspective to your advantage.
Matt Allred (08:54)
Right, well, and you said learning from other people. that can be good or bad, right? I imagine there were some people along your path. You’re like, man, I am not going to do that.
Michael Carter (09:03)
Yeah, I mean lessons are lessons. whether it’s a good positive influence of a lesson or it’s seeing a lesson learned from somebody else’s mistakes. At the end of the day, I look at lessons, good news, bad news. I tell everybody this. It’s like the end of the day, it’s just news, It’s just being direct and honest with yourself and knowing the situations and knowing for a fact what you don’t want to do and then figuring out the best way to avoid that along the travels.
Matt Allred (09:32)
Yeah,
absolutely. So a minute ago you mentioned learning a little bit more about empathy, sharing empathy. Tell me more about that because at least from previous conversations, that wasn’t something you came with by default. And so I’m curious, how did you mature in that way?
Michael Carter (09:47)
Well, the natural years of maturity has to take their effect in a young man. think we, we can all agree with that. So, you know, over, you know, the cultivation of my age, I’ve also my experiences. I mean, you know, with that empathy was really inspired by that conversation we just spoke of. I started trying to understand how am I going to be the best version of myself? Well, the only way to really do that is understand everybody that you’re working with and dealing with and understanding what they’re having to do and what you can do
to make their life, their position, their job, regardless, what can you do to make it better for them? And essentially that helps the whole team. And I am just driven on team. I capitalize the letter T in everything with team because it is important and it deserves respect. And it all starts there with empathy, understanding who you’re working with and trying to look at it through their perspective, right?
It didn’t mean you got to agree with it. It’s like, okay, at least now I can do my job because I took the time to listen. I invested into this individual, into this relationship, and now I’m better for it.
Matt Allred (10:53)
Absolutely. Like you said, it helps their life be better, their work. Part of what I’m hearing you say is, you give them the benefit of the doubt. And I remember somebody teaching me that years ago, that instead of blaming, instead of judging, instead of pointing fingers, and not that I’m perfect at it, right? I still have my moments, right? But if you give people the benefit of the doubt and go, you know trying to do the right thing. They’re just trying to get to work. They’re just trying to, you
Michael Carter (11:11)
It’s a prank.
Matt Allred (11:20)
Instead of assuming that everybody on the road is an idiot, right? Give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re just trying to do the best they can with what they got. Life’s a lot different.
Michael Carter (11:31)
That’s right. You know, removing yourself from it, you know, just putting yourself first, it also ties into great leadership. leadership is it’s a hundred percent selfless. Um, you never put yourself first. you want to be a true natural born leader, the whole meaning of that is, put yourself in harm’s way, protect the flock, right? Be a shepherd in life and try to cultivate that where everybody else does that for each other. and it’s all about reciprocation.
Matt Allred (11:41)
Good point.
Michael Carter (11:55)
You know, I tell everybody, you know, culture, it’s, could send out a memo all day long, but you know, culture is what do you bring to work with you every day? how are you responding to people? How empathetic are you to other people’s situations? This is saying poor me, and this is your fault and all this stuff. like, Hey, how can I help you? it’s like, don’t just sit back point, that’s why I tell everybody. I said, anybody can complain. My question to you is what did you do to better that situation first and foremost, before you come at me with complaints? And it’s just like, well,
I didn’t really think about it that way. It’s like, go try it and then let’s collaborate and
it out.
Matt Allred (12:28)
Well, what’s amazing about that is I think as individuals we have so much more
I shouldn’t even say control. We can control ourselves, but we have a lot more influence on situations if we would try and put our best foot out there. Well, did you try to talk with so-and-so? Right? ⁓ no. ⁓ Okay. Well, give it your best and you’ll probably solve it once you have that conversation.
Michael Carter (12:52)
Well, and you know, it’s the same thing, know, with each, you know, each person would come in contact with, right? You got to take ownership of who you are and what you’re actually trying to do. Um, so if I do anything that I try to do really well, it’s, it’s inspire, uh, people to believe in themselves. you do have the power of your, reaction to the situation, which is the limited control that we have in life is how you react. Right. Um, so.
inspiring somebody with the confidence and, believing in themselves as somebody once did for me. It’s just, it’s paying it forward. It’s like, Hey, think about it from this perspective. Think about this for one second. Right. Let’s, let’s all just step back and breathe. and I try to not be reactionary to people’s emotions. you know, and if you let your emotions dictate your actions, you’re not going to get very far because people are looking for good examples and not looking for everybody else just trying to step on you and move up.
Matt Allred (13:32)
Yeah.
Michael Carter (13:42)
I always tell everybody it’s like you’ve got to pick your team up above your head. And if you have the right team, they’re going to pull you up to that next level with them.
Matt Allred (13:48)
For sure. Yeah.
Tell me a little bit more about, you mentioned leadership. We talked about personal accountability. How did you really start learning about, you know, some of these principles that maybe they just didn’t come naturally. And so you obviously picked them up at some point, but what did you find most useful in your journey?
Michael Carter (14:08)
Um, honestly, listening, taking the time and asking questions and actually listening to people instead of just fishing for what you want to hear. what I wanted to hear was the truth and, all honesty, you know, people kind of nicknamed me the bandaid ripper too, because we’re just going to jump straight
- Um, let’s talk about this. figure it out. Right. I’m not going to waste anybody’s time. It’s like, you know, we have a problem. Let’s work together and let’s be done with it.
Matt Allred (14:26)
Love it.
Michael Carter (14:33)
That’s just the only way I look at it, I mean, it’s just continuation of the same efforts and it’s gonna get you where you need to be.
Matt Allred (14:41)
It’s amazing how far some honesty will go, right? Yeah, it can be hurtful at first, right? You rip the bandaid off and ooh, it’s gonna sting, but once you do, it’s like, wow, well now we can actually address the problem. Great, let’s fix it.
Michael Carter (14:55)
Yeah, let’s focus on the real task at hand, right? It’s not how you feel about the news I just gave you. It’s like, what are we going to collectively do to improve this process moving forward? And let’s hope that we use this lesson. You know, like I said, you know, failures and stuff, it’s all about perspective. I think everything is success in life depends on how you use it, right? So, you know, any of the failings that I’ve had, it’s called earning your stripes and it’s called getting better from it.
I mean, as long as you don’t make the same mistake twice, it was well worth your efforts. mistakes are very valuable
and embrace them.
Matt Allred (15:26)
Sure, well,
and even if you do make it twice, well, maybe you needed a double dose of that, right? I mean, I can’t say I’ve not made the same mistake twice.
Michael Carter (15:30)
Maybe you some help.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. mean, that’s the thing too. It’s we’re only human and everybody has their own limitations. You can surround me by a lot more people that are a lot better at everything than me. But, you know, you put me on their team. I’m going to figure out a way to make that team better. I’m going to figure out where I fit in to do my part and get that team to the finish line. And again,
It’s not about the individuals on the team. It’s about the team collectively. And that goes not just the elevator industry, but to the world. If people would slow down and embrace each other and support each other, we’re going to have a better world to live in.
Matt Allred (16:10)
So true, so true, yeah, I love that. So what motivated you to take an office role and kind of put yourself in a, take on more headache, right? I mean, it’s a big jump to move into the office.
Michael Carter (16:24)
100%. I always just try to tell myself, it’s like, how do I get better? What do you know? again, um, I’ll even admit, you know, you’ve got to do a self reflection every so often, um, to realize how judgmental you’re being of other people. so when you’re working in the field and you’re like, Oh, all this office does, they sit around and do that. Right. It’s like, yeah, well, I’m out here making the company all the money. What’s going on in the backgrounds. All they’re doing is going to parties and events and snoozing. And it’s like, you know,
You just get to see just a glimpse of it, from the field perspective. So again, being a student, the game of life, ⁓ you know, it’s like, Hey, you know what? I feel like I got a pretty good grasp of all these other sections of the industry from, you know, apprenticeship work all the way through every department, up to a mechanic in every department. OEM, independent. what am I missing? You know, I did the QEI, consulting, state inspections. It’s like, you know what? ⁓ it’s time for me to take on that quote unquote easy role.
You know and get in there and figure it out ⁓ and I embraced it and one of the main things I would contribute to My success throughout my career has been the people that I surround myself with and you know if you always treat people right You’re always gonna have good people around You know and nobody does anything in life by themselves successfully, If anybody wants to self-promote do that good for them ⁓ this guy, know, I need people around me,
I’m an extravert, I got to work with other people. I like to collaborate. I’m definitely a team contributor. I love working together. And that’s in a nutshell.
Matt Allred (17:51)
Yeah, so from there, I mean, you moved at some point to start your own business, which talk about a leap of faith, right? You’re leaping off a cliff. What was it that kind of led you that direction?
Michael Carter (18:03)
Well, just my experience throughout my career. again, my surroundings, people I’m around, you know, and my brother, you know, he’s always been a right-hand man in this industry and we’ve, we fought some good fights, man. And we’ve had proven success, track records. And so, you know, we always kind of, did the whole, bar talk out, man, we could do this someday and all this stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s always kind of been in the background. But the one thing that inspires it probably more than anything.
is again, kind of, you know, alluded to this earlier. like when you see the punishment in the customer space and an industry that you’re representing as a whole, and understanding, you know, that there’s great companies out there that support this as well. It’s not just not just me or one other person. There’s a lot of good companies out there trying to do the right thing, but what there is, is a lot more elevators and a lot more problems and there are good people standing up for what’s right. you know, so.
the extra push of motivation is like, hey, especially out in West Texas, in particular, it’s like, I’m gonna invest in this. I’m gonna invest in myself once again. I’m gonna go out to West Texas and I’m gonna do what I can. Am I gonna be successful? Regardless of revenue generated, I know it’s gonna be a success for myself, for my brother, just mentally, just.
earning that side of the industry, right? And you can’t do it. I’ve never actually been a full-fledged owner operator. So it’s another box I’m wanting to check. And the one thing about it, the fail safe of it, the beauty of the industry is, you know what my ultimate fallback is, Matt?
I pick my union card back up. I go back and I work in the field again. And you want to talk about a great, great safety net, a beautiful industry. And you know, the industry, the IUEC that’s what kind of gave me the confidence that, Hey, this is my ultimate fallback right here. Keep it clean, do everything right.
Matt Allred (19:32)
Sure, you can always work in the field, yeah.
Michael Carter (19:46)
And let’s go for it. You create your own safety net with the investments in yourself. And so it inspires you to be a part of the change.
Matt Allred (19:52)
Yeah, yeah. you,
for sure, for sure. So you started a business years before. How was that experience, how has that experience prepared you to do it again?
Michael Carter (20:03)
to take lessons in stride, you know, instead of the most valuable thing I took from that is, know, naturally, you know, when you invest in yourself like that and you spend a good chunk of money, and it’s what people would deem a failure, you know, where it didn’t actually get up off the ground. the most valuable thing I took from that is, you know, trying to understand that there’s a lot more that I need to know. when you think you’re ready, it’s kind of like parenting, right? you can learn as much as you want, read as many books as you can.
But ultimately sometimes you just got to jump and go figure it out. So after that first one, it really kind of woke me up. It’s like Hey, there’s so much that I don’t understand about this industry. Let me take this time and take a break from the field and let me go figure some things out. And I always kind of make a joke with people. I’m still trying to figure out who and what I want to do, you know, who I want to be and what I want to do when I get all grown up, you know, and it’s just like.
We’re always growing, we’re getting older, our perceptions change, reality changes with your perception. And just because I’m doing this today, doesn’t mean I’m just going to do this tomorrow. So I’m always trying to grow and it starts there. And I took that lesson and I started doing other things. And now that I’ve checked other boxes, it’s like, you know what? This is where my heart is. This is how I’m structured.
And I can’t turn it off. I’ve always worked massive hours for every company I’ve worked for. I’ve always put them before my family, which I shouldn’t have, but you know, that’s how passionate I am about it. So again, I better invest in myself at some point in time on that side of it while, you know, God willing, I can stay healthy long enough to be successful with it.
Matt Allred (21:37)
Yeah, no, that’s awesome. and one thing I’m not hearing from you is regret that you jumped out there and you tried it, right? You took away a lesson. It might’ve been an expensive lesson, but you know what? You learned it. You learned a lot and it affected where you are today.
Michael Carter (21:51)
100%. And you you always, you know, and I read that, I kind of read articles and I just try to learn from other people’s experience and perspectives. And you know, one of the ones that resonated with me over years, it’s like, when somebody’s on their death bed, they’re not sitting there, talking about, I shouldn’t have taken this chance. I shouldn’t have done this. Never in history has it been recorded that way. However, it could be there, but ultimately the regret is not taking the chance, not believing in yourself regret about what you should have done versus what you did do.
And if you’re blessed enough to talk about it at the end of the day, use it to your advantage.
Matt Allred (22:24)
Absolutely. Well, and I hear you talking about investing in yourself. at some point you picked up your QEI, you did some consulting. I mean, you really have kind of worked in every single corner of this industry and along the way, you know, picked up a lot of valuable knowledge and really given yourself the tools, the knowledge to, you talk about the safety net, right? You could really write your ticket pretty much any direction, right? You could go back into consulting. You could go back into, you know, working for the OEMs.
You can pick it.
Michael Carter (22:53)
Well, and you know, if I’m a hundred percent successful, you know, I aspire, to be part of the, the positive change in the industry. And, you know, I love consulting, they’re there for a reason, right? But why have consultants got so much more back, right? It’s because the industry allowed it to be a necessity part of it. And, you know, so, ultimately where my goals and dreams are, I don’t want to say my safety fallback is going to be in consulting.
because you got to be more hands-on to be part of the change. I mean, you can sit around and talk about it and implement, fines I’m not knocking it, but ultimately to follow my heart and believe it. I don’t really want to look at consulting as a fallback ultimately, because either I’m going out there and I’m making a positive change with my hands and my wrenches, or I’m out there in leadership, leading by example and influencing other people to do the same thing.
you know, because if you really want change, you’ve got to put your time and effort where it’s most valuable. And, know, I can advise all day long, but, know, it’s a lot easier to get on the operational side and get out there and lead by example.
Matt Allred (23:52)
Yeah, thank
you. let’s talk for a minute about West Texas, right? You mentioned that a minute ago and it sounds like that’s your next stop. Tell me why West Texas? What is it that appeals?
Michael Carter (24:06)
Well, predominantly because nobody’s done anything about it yet. You know, I know in the past years ago, it had a lot of attention out there, but over the years, its ownership has changed to more institutional investments instead of what I would call substance ownership of what we’re actually doing here. You know, it’s been let go. And just my natural reaction to it, it’s like, you know what?
It’s an opportunity. DFW is a hot growing market. I read something the other day at 7.6 million people has moved here just since
just in North Texas. Yeah. So business is booming and Texas is a beautiful state to work in, you
Matt Allred (24:38)
Wow. my gosh.
Michael Carter (24:44)
And you know, yeah, I could do business in DFW. I have all my connections throughout my career. I’ve never done anybody wrong. So I really don’t have anything to worry about to do business in DFW, but so is, you know, 500 other companies. Everybody’s wanting to go after the hot market.
So, more or less, it’s like, you know, you can, you can get in here and you can get your little piece of the pie and keep going and stuff like that. But ultimately it’s going to be price driven market. Um, so when I started researching a little bit more, you know, you look into West Texas and they they’re still missing that value. They don’t have all the companies running to them for their business and some, getting the envelope pushed. So ultimately I look at that as a need. And I think that it really aligns well, it meshes well with who we are.
and it’s, what they need. And like I said, again, when you talk to these folks, you could just see it pouring out in their eyes, their frustration because they have to answer for this stuff at end of the day. And again, with the empathy, it’s like, you know, us as vendors, you can understand somebody’s trusting you and bringing you in on your contract. You are now a reflection of them. If you take that lightly, that’s not good, man. That’s not good business. ⁓ so, you know, they really need people who care and want to invest their personal time
into their situations, and try to mutually come out of this on top. And I think it just aligns really well with who we are as individuals to get out there and give it a shot, man. And maybe someday we come back to the bigger market, but right now we’re needed elsewhere as well.
Matt Allred (26:11)
Yeah, I get that. Well, and You’ve talked about, you know, building an elevator school and really investing in that community, again, what motivates that? Where does that come from?
Michael Carter (26:22)
So it starts out with, I’m very good on collaboration and you know, was blessed enough to travel the country dealing with the IUEC, all the locals and stuff like that, that had come across great guys and everybody wants to work together. Well, they also have their limitations on what they can do because ultimately the IUEC is a business at the end of the day and business has to make sense and there’s a cost for it. Well, ultimately, if you pull out the map, you can understand that Texas is a pretty decent sized state from ear to ear, I mean, all the way across and it’s a tough area to cover.
so even collaborating, ⁓ you know, with, certain locals and stuff, it’s just, it’s not currently in the budget for them to invest that heavily in the market because it’s a long-term play. So there’s checks and balances that has to be answered for. so the best approach that I can do after, you know, consulting with these folks is, unfortunately I got to go on, a non-signatory, and get out there and start cultivating, labor and,
What better way than to train them correctly? I’m gonna use all of our knowledge and all the years of experience to a positive factor. I know some union folks, you shouldn’t be doing that. It’s like guys, I’m all about making the industry a better place and a safer place. So I want to get out there. I know the right and the wrong ways to do things for the most part. if I don’t, I’ll call somebody. And being able to do that and actually train people the correct way from the ground up.
You know you got, you got clay to mold, right? And then starting off the schooling, you know, people that work with the company, it’s like, Hey, I’m going to train you as part of you working here because you’re going to work with me. I’m about to trust you in my life. I’m going to invest a lot of time in you and make sure we’re all on the same page. you need to go home at the end of the day to your family because that’s why we do this. Right. When I just doing this for fun, these are careers, they are rewarding careers, but you still need to go home. Same way you come in. Right?
A step further on that is even just, where do you start? Right. Because, know, Who wants to be an elevator guy? And everybody’s gonna look at you. It’s oil field country. So where the schooling comes in, that that’s going to be something that is going to grow over time. You know, and ultimately, you know, I’m going to get some fun coloring books with educational programs. And I’m going to help you utilize my wife. She’s in the administration side and, you know, get her to preach for me and get me into these schools and stuff.
and get with fire departments and communicate with these folks locally as well because their life safety as well. And we can work together. It doesn’t always have to be spread apart. So it’s all about educating each other. That’s where my heart is, is educating folks, the industry, and just kind of helping people be better and be in a better surrounding. And even starting with elementary schools, getting them coloring books, right? You make it relative from a young age and it’s an investment. It’s gonna cost money and time.
But I really truly believe in that. Even the small things like that or throwing a county fair once a year on an annual basis to, hey, thank you guys. You know, embrace it, get the word out there. It’s like, hey, elevator industry, it’s a real thing. It’s an awesome career. It’s not all about pumping oil, guys. You know, it’s like, hey, This is a beautiful thing. And there’s a lot of skilled workers that work in those industries. And that’s been the biggest struggle from collaborating with IUEC is, you know, we lose guys to the oil field all the time out there because, they make more money.
And, in order to get in, it’s like, you’re not going to make the big rich money over overnight. You know, it’s, it’s an investment and you’ve got to understand it. And what I want to do is I want to cultivate the opportunity and it be a household conversation. Just like, Hey, you going to college, you going to military, you going to the oil field. Well, I want the elevator industry to be part of that conversation because it is a very important industry and you know, land isn’t getting created. Buildings are going up. You know, all you’re doing is adding floors going up.
And I don’t think people are just gonna wanna start taking stairs on a regular basis. Statistics
it’s opposite of that. And we need to invest in it now. And that’s That’s gonna be a booming market here in the near future. It’s already going, you can drive out there and see, there’s changes coming, you can feel it. And I wanna be a tip of the spear, be on the front end of it and see what I can do. And if there’s other companies out there that wanna work together and collaborate, I’m not opposed to that.
I mean, there’s enough out there for everybody. It’s like, let’s work together. Let’s make it a better place. And we’re all going to be successful and safe at end of the day.
Matt Allred (30:28)
Yeah, so true. So true. No, I love the vision. I love the passion. I love just your desire to make the world better, make the industry better, make people better. I mean, it’s inspiring and I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today.
Michael Carter (30:40)
Thank you. Well, I certainly appreciate your time. And, you know, if you ever just want to nerd out, man, you know, I really do. I mean, this is, this is what I breathe.
Matt Allred (30:48)
Yeah, I love it. I love it. And I wish you the best as you pursue your dreams.
Michael Carter (30:53)
Hey Matt, I appreciate you. I hope everybody’s being blessed out there and we’ll see you next time.
Matt Allred (30:58)
Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting. Please visit our YouTube channel @ElevatorCareers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net. Please like and subscribe and until next time, stay safe.