Experiences as President of an Elevator Industry Supplier | Blake Pilgrim
In this episode, I sat down with Blake Pilgrim, president of Wurtec, to discuss his experiences with leadership in the elevator industry. Blake shared key lessons he’s learned, difficult decisions he’s had to make in his position, and his views on the future of elevator technology.
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Transcript:
Blake Pilgrim (00:00)
Culture equals engagement, which therefore equals profit, right? So having a culture and being able to dictate what that is and make sure that that is upheld is incredibly important.
When we talk about our core values as a company, ambition, dedication, willing to accept responsibility, one of the key things, though, is integrity. And to me, integrity is the most important thing to uphold your reputation in the industry.
People want to work for a company that has integrity. And it takes a lifetime to build it up, but it takes 30 seconds to tear it down.
Matt Allred (00:32)
yeah,
yeah, and that’s just it, right? If you get one bad apple, if you leave them in, allow them to erode that, right? It’s like, yeah, you can kiss it goodbye quickly.
Blake Pilgrim (00:43)
Hire slow, fire fast, right?
Matt Allred (00:46)
Yep, that’s what they say.
Matt Allred (00:47)
Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast brought to you by the Allred Group. I’m your host, Matt Allred.
Does your workforce need a lift? At the Allred Group, we are committed to connecting your company with top talent that matches your needs. Give us a call at 404-890-0445.
Matt Allred (01:08)
In this episode, I sat down with Blake Pilgrim, president of Wurtec, to discuss his experiences with leadership in the elevator industry. Blake shared key lessons he’s learned, difficult decisions he’s had to make in this position, and his views on the future of elevator technology.
Matt Allred (01:24)
Blake, welcome to the show.
Blake Pilgrim (01:26)
Thank you, Matt. It’s a pleasure being here. I appreciate the invite.
Matt Allred (01:29)
Yeah, thank you. was great seeing you at the NAEC conference recently. And I’ve been looking forward to this, have wanted to talk to you for a while and just learn your career, about the company. And so first question I want to throw out at you is just what was your journey like into the elevator industry? And is this a direction you ever thought you would go?
Blake Pilgrim (01:49)
Yeah, thanks for that question. The answer is unequivocally no, it is not the direction I ever thought I would go. I was fortunate enough to ⁓ meet my bride at the University of Dayton and her family just happened to be in an industry that I knew nothing about. What I can say is I always had a desire to work for a small family owned company. I got to experience that a little bit in high school, working for a company by the name of Triad, they’re a supplier of ours. And I thought, man, what a cool lifestyle.
Matt Allred (02:08)
Mm-hmm.
Blake Pilgrim (02:18)
that these people have been able to afford. And in 2012, was afforded the opportunity to come over and be a part of it. And it’s been a blessing ever since.
Matt Allred (02:27)
That’s cool. What would you say are some of the biggest lessons you learned early on that still shape the way you run Wurtec today?
Blake Pilgrim (02:33)
Yeah, I think the lessons I’ve learned and man, I guess I’ll categorize them as three and I’ve learned a lot of lessons. But number one is culture equals engagement, equals profit, right? So
think having a culture and being able to ⁓ dictate what that is and make sure that that is upheld is incredibly important. The other is if you’re not growing, you’re dying. A lot of people say that, but I truly believe
You know, just even from a PNL standpoint, people want raises, everything goes up in expense, right? So you have to continue growing not only from a revenue standpoint, but also from kind of a lifelong learning standpoint. And I like to think I embody both of those. And then I’ve really learned this, I’ll just say over the last five years, and it sounds silly because I’m an accounting finance guy. But if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And that’s a Peter Drucker quote, but
It’s so important as your company gets larger that you have KPIs in place and a true understanding of what’s happening on a daily basis. If not, you’ll look back 30 days and say, how did we get where we
So I’m really taking this philosophy of we need some real time KPIs and transparency into what’s happening in the organization. So that makes sense.
Matt Allred (03:47)
Yeah, I know. Those are good.
Just a little bit on the culture thing and talking about how important that is. What would you say is the most important thing to make sure that the culture stays strong and vibrant?
Blake Pilgrim (03:59)
Yes, I think the most important thing, number one, is being in
and being seen by your company, right, as the leader. But it’s definitely leading by example. You know, when we talk about our core values as a company, ambition, dedication, willing to accept responsibility, you know, one of the key things, though, is integrity. And to me, integrity is the most important thing to uphold your reputation in the
People want to work for a company that has integrity. And it takes a lifetime to build it up, but it takes 30 seconds to tear it down.
Matt Allred (04:32)
yeah,
yeah, and that’s just it, right? If you get one bad apple, if you leave them in, allow them to erode that, right? It’s like, yeah, you can kiss it goodbye quickly. Hire slow fire fast, right? Yep, that’s what they say. Yeah, I mean, and as you journeyed through the organization, right? Was there a moment in your career where you realized you weren’t just working in the business anymore, but you were actually leading it? And what did that look like?
Blake Pilgrim (04:43)
Hire slow, fire fast, right? ⁓
So one thing we all know is it takes a lot of time to get some street cred within this industry, right? I think there are so many smart people and subject matter experts that can call your BS so quickly. I guess internally what I’ll say
Matt Allred (05:10)
Sure.
Blake Pilgrim (05:13)
I always learn that I think you are or you’re becoming a leader when people start looking at you in a meeting setting, because they want your opinion or they want you to help make an answer. So I remember the day that that happened.
Steve and I were talking about it. We were talking about succession planning.
And I think he even mentioned me. He said, Blake, I sat back in this past leadership team meeting, and I saw people look to you to help make the answer. And that’s a great sign, right?
Matt Allred (05:41)
Yeah,
yeah, yeah, that’s cool. I know for myself, you know, having even elsewhere right? like a nonprofit, I had a leadership role. It took me a while to believe it. Right. And I think that, you know, people looking at you or me in that case, and if I’m not yet feeling it, then they’re like, OK, who is running this show because he’s not yet believing it. It felt too much to me at the time. Right. So it took me maybe a couple of years to really wrap my head around this.
yeah, exactly.
Blake Pilgrim (06:09)
embrace it. Yeah. Yeah, I think
we all get I definitely still get imposter syndrome. mean, you know, am I am I really the right person for this role? Like, why me kind of thing? Am I trying to act like somebody else? But that’s pretty natural, right? And I think I need to go see a shrink but
Matt Allred (06:26)
Sure, think it’s…
Right, no, I think it’s very ⁓ common human experience, I believe, and yet ⁓ ultimately you just have to look inside and say, right, well, I’m it. So, you know, we forge ahead. So, very cool. What… Yeah, exactly. What do you say has been one, you know, some of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make as a CEO and what did that teach you about running the company?
Blake Pilgrim (06:43)
Do the best you can.
Yeah, usually, you know, the toughest decisions are around people, right? Maybe you’ve had somebody that’s worked for you for 30 years and they’ve kind of gone different ways within the company
Matt Allred (06:56)
Mm-hmm.
Blake Pilgrim (07:05)
you get to a point where you’ve kind of outgrown them and it’s hard for them to see that. So just having those tough conversations because I care deeply about everybody at Wurtec and we have roughly 170 people right now and that’s 170 families that are looking at me to make the right
I don’t know that answers your question, but it’s typically around people.
Matt Allred (07:21)
No, think it does. Yeah. Yeah,
yeah. mean, one of my one of my recent guests really said the same thing. He’d gone from mechanic to vice president of a major elevator corporation, right? And realizing that, you know, there’s a time at which, if someone becomes a cancer or they’ve, you know, kind of brought that into the organization, you you do have to make difficult decisions and it may be time to
to let them go, but it still can be heart wrenching, right? It’s a difficult thing to do, but his experience was that, you know, the organization is better off, right? It may hurt for a time, but ultimately, you know, the organization is going to live and it’s going to thrive and it’s going to be better. So I totally get that.
Blake Pilgrim (08:03)
Do the right thing
for the other 169 people, So, looking great and good.
Matt Allred (08:08)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because they’re being affected
by it too, for sure. Yep. So obviously, Wurtec sits at a very interesting part of the industry. Obviously, you don’t sell the elevators, you don’t own the buildings, but you support the people who do the work. And what do the tools and equipment side of the industry see that maybe others don’t see?
Blake Pilgrim (08:27)
Yeah, think first of all, Wurtex in a unique position where we have relationships with only almost every single independent elevator contractor in Canada and in the United
And then we have relationships with the OEMs and multinationals all the way at the KG or branch level to corporate, right? The factory level. So it’s really fun to see the differences in methodology between these companies. One thing that’s unique for us is we get to see how the best of the best
maybe install elevators, what their methods are, how they modernize, how they service and repair, what kind of technology they’re using.
we’re able to offer that up to the rest of the market. ⁓ And we’re blessed to be in that position.
Matt Allred (09:10)
That’s cool. Yeah, I’m sure you, in fact, I’ve heard people say, right, just different contractors, well, I was doing this and then I asked Wurtec to kind of help develop a tool, right? And I think that’s probably a lot of what you’re like, well, let’s see if we can build that, right? Let’s ⁓ help you do a great job. But then to your point, it’s now available because it’s been built. So.
Blake Pilgrim (09:30)
Yeah, I think
at our core and definitely because, you know, Steve Worth, who is an engineer, founded our company. At our core, we’re an engineering company, right? We love to collaborate with customers and try to solve their problems. And it’s typically around safety and efficiency within a hoistway. We’ve turned more into a sales organization with some of the talent that we brought on. But we’ll never lose that innovative kind of engineering side of our business.
Matt Allred (09:58)
Yeah, yeah. So my guess is that you have people coming to you and maybe they don’t even know how to use some of the efficiency tools. And so you’re not have an opportunity to say, well, if you do it this way, then this tool is helpful because you can, you and that’s probably like a light bulb going, what, really? You can do it that?
Blake Pilgrim (10:17)
Yeah, understand
the best practices. You’re exactly right. We have to be careful because we don’t want to give away some of our customers’ proprietary processes. But we certainly understand, again, how the best do it from an efficiency and safety standpoint. So it is fun and it opens up a lot of doors. I can’t tell you the last time I went to go call on a customer where they’re like, we don’t want to see you. They’re like, what do you have that’s new? Can you help us?
Matt Allred (10:41)
Hahaha
Blake Pilgrim (10:44)
Pretty cool place to be.
Matt Allred (10:45)
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, if somebody were to follow a mechanic for a full day, what would you say are some of the biggest inefficiencies or frustrations that they would notice, and how do you then solve those problems?
Blake Pilgrim (11:00)
Yeah, I mean, what comes to mind immediately is they can’t find the part or the tool that they
They’re stuck in a hoist way. It’s like, shoot, I need whatever it is, this button or this tool. Now I have to go find the Wurtec catalog or whatever, Sees catalog. I think that’s probably very frustrating. ⁓ So what we’ve tried to do is create, you know, basically an e-commerce platform. And what we’d love to do some days become the Amazon of the elevator industry, right? Like everybody…
and it’s the one stop shop. So we’re working on that. You know, the other piece is tech support. think as you specifically, as you get into like the 2019 text video code, you’re asking these mechanics to become network professionals, right? And you’re asking Wurtec who used to is used to making false cars and rail blocks to understand IT and networks, right?
we’ve all kind of grown on this learning curve together.
And we continue to invest in that because we know that is a massive pain point for the elevator companies.
Matt Allred (12:00)
Yeah, I
mean, I’m assuming you’ve had to augment your tech support teams. I mean, I know you came out communication system. And so now, like I say, you’ve got some pieces that aren’t metal tool, it’s software, it’s all of that.
Blake Pilgrim (12:16)
You said augment
the team and that’s 100 % accurate. We actually think of ourselves more as a technology company now than anything, right? And the number of software engineers that we’ve hired and what we’ve taken is we’ve taken IT people and said, Hey, we’re going to teach you about an elevator and how to help our customers troubleshoot. So we definitely augmented and again, staying true to our core of tools and helping people install modernized elevators. But we’ve got this whole other segment of our business.
Matt Allred (12:30)
wow.
Blake Pilgrim (12:43)
related to software and IT.
Matt Allred (12:45)
Yeah, when I
said augment, right, maybe you’ve doubled. don’t as far as the tech support, it’s like, yeah, we doubled our team size.
Blake Pilgrim (12:50)
⁓ Yeah,
well that definitely has happened. So it’s just the way it ⁓
Matt Allred (12:55)
Understood. Yeah, yeah,
Now, what would you say is the thing best from the average, right? From your vantage point as far as tools or efficiencies or maybe it’s mindset.
Blake Pilgrim (13:10)
Yeah, I think number one, starts
what are your core values or what do you believe in? And we believe in customer centricity, right? Like we absolutely want to take care of the customer. Now we believe taking care of our people allows that to happen, right? So 100 % we try treat our the most respect and give them the tools they need to be successful. Then it’s like, hey, customer’s number one, right? They’re the ones paying the bills.
the lights on, we got to take care of them. But I think the most important thing is that at Wurtec, we’re able to think long term. We are a privately held family company. I think I mentioned to you before, we want to be in this business for another 100 years
a privately held family business. And that just allows us to make know, looking out five years, not how do we just make a dollar today. So
Matt Allred (13:56)
Yeah,
yeah. And good point, right? You got to take care of the customer. You got to take care of the relationship. And they’ve got to know that they can come to you. They can rely on you. And their business is very much dependent upon you showing up with tech support and with tools and with support and all those things that they need. I mean, from where you sit, what would you say are some of the biggest challenges happening in the elevator industry right now that maybe people aren’t talking about yet?
Blake Pilgrim (14:22)
I think it’s a great question. I think of things
the harmonization of the elevator code, right? And the idea that we may be going to some ISO standard. I can see that that would be really important for some of the contractors, the global ones specifically. They will have able to have this like one global concept. So I’m guessing that’s a challenge for some of our customer base.
I think people are talking about this, but there’s obviously a knowledge gap between kind of like the Steve Worth generation and my generation of the technology that’s come out. And how do I even work on that? How do I even understand what’s wrong with the elevator? Right. If I’m in the hoist way, now we have these smart controllers. The idea there is it’s kind of like just points you in the right direction to solve whatever issue may be at hand. Where historically that would not be the case.
other challenges. mean, people talk about it, right, but it’s constant with, you know, price increases and inflation. It’s just really hard to manage. And I could see that if you didn’t have the staff to help you manage that,
you look down at your financials one day and you wonder why you lost money, right? mean, it’s just it’s just constant. I’m not sure that’s ever going to end. so that’s really important. I think those are the three things that come to mind. And I’m sure there are 20 others. So
Matt Allred (15:39)
Yeah,
yeah, absolutely. And obviously there’s a lot of talk about labor shortages and technology and consolidation. And which of those do you think will have the biggest impact on the industry over the next, 10, 15 years?
Blake Pilgrim (15:51)
I think it’s going to be technology. You know,
I think the days of come see my, come visit my elevator, whatever, once a month or once a year, and tell me what’s wrong. And then I’m going to trust that you’re going to fix it. Are going to be over at some point. It’s going to be more like, your you’re, ⁓ check engine light is on or, you’re getting a diagnostics report from GMC, right? GMC is telling you everything that’s going on with your elevator. You’re only going to service it as-needed. Obviously there’s code
complications with that. But I just think everything is going to get
and we’re going to have to learn to adapt to that and the days of just going out and seeing what’s wrong with the elevator without any knowledge are going to be over.
Matt Allred (16:33)
Yeah, and maybe we’ve already passed that in some ways just because I hear a lot of buzz out there, right? But not everybody’s, I guess, saying that. And I don’t know, right? I’m just an outside observer, but that’s a good point. How do you see the role of the mechanic changing over the next decade as the tools, technology, and equipment evolve?
Blake Pilgrim (16:38)
We have.
Yeah, I think we’re already seeing it. think they’re going to have to become more masters of technology. They’re going have to understand building infrastructure maybe more than they do today, more of like a network attitude because with everything becoming smarter, you’re probably going to turn less wrenches and it’s going to be more about using your brain and technology would be my guess.
Matt Allred (17:14)
Yeah, yeah,
that’s good point. I mean, obviously there’s already, welding to electrical to mechanical to pneumatic to, right, is all these pieces. ⁓ yeah, learn software, learn coding, learn, you know, networking. ⁓ It’s a lot, yeah.
Blake Pilgrim (17:28)
Yeah.
And you know, with the advent of MRLs and just different technology, it’s going to be less like, how do we rig and hoist this massive thing into the hoist way? It’s going to be more, you know, how do we make everything smaller and use less tooling and more technology? Right. So it’s pretty cool. And there’s a ton of opportunity there.
Matt Allred (17:47)
Yeah, yeah. ⁓
For sure, for sure, of being constantly reinvented, right? There’s always new pieces, new new things out. So it’ll be interesting to see where that goes. So ⁓ last question I have for you, if you were advising a 20 year old who was considering a career in the elevator industry, what path would you tell them to take and why?
Blake Pilgrim (18:10)
Yeah, you know, there’s the office side, I’ll call it the business side of the industry. And there’s what I’ll call the actual, you know, mechanic or helper side of the
Matt Allred (18:13)
Mm-hmm.
Blake Pilgrim (18:17)
I think it’s incredibly important for you to understand technically how an elevator works. And I, and I miss that, right? I wish there was an opportunity for me to get on a job site for two years and really understand how to install and modernize and service an elevator. think that could serve me well in my role today.
I’ve had to learn just from talking with customers, engineers and doing my own research. So I’d say if you really want to be an elevator man, get into the trade. But if you want to go more on the business side, I think an engineer is the way to go.
those are who customers want to talk to. You’re the one that’s going to help them solve their issues, whether it be on the supply side or even on the contracting side.
Matt Allred (18:56)
Yeah,
thank you that answer. ⁓ I’m intrigued because it was, know, both of them speak to the technical nature, right? Either learn hands on or, you know, become an engineer and, whether you’re supporting sales or design or whatever, the value of knowing from top to bottom, side to side, up and down, you know, every little piece and how they all work cannot be overstated from my experience in the industry.
Blake Pilgrim (19:04)
Yes.
Yeah, that’s where the credibility comes from, right? Because at end of the day, what we’re talking about is the safety of the riding public, but also the safety of the people installing the elevator. And there’s a lot of technical prowess that goes into making sure everybody’s safe.
Matt Allred (19:38)
Absolutely. Yeah, now that’s a great, great point. Blake, anything else you’d like to say before we wrap up today?
Blake Pilgrim (19:44)
No, I I’m just, think we’re all blessed to be in such a wonderful industry with great leaders, people that are trying to do the right thing every day. And, you know, with change comes opportunity. And I believe that for the next 100, 150 years, if we all see things through an open mind, there’s so many great things that we can bring to all of our companies. And I’ll just kind of leave it there.
Matt Allred (20:05)
Yeah, yeah. No,
that’s great. Thank you again for being with me today. I’ve enjoyed it. Appreciate your insights and thanks for being on the show.
Blake Pilgrim (20:14)
Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it.
Matt Allred (20:16)
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