Hey everyone. Well, this is a little bit of an impromptu episode.

Um tons of stuff going on. I'm sure everyone that listens to this podcast on

any bit of a regular basis is very busy themselves and understands that, you know, projects starting, projects finishing all of that good fun stuff just makes for sometimes uh certain things to be prioritized or need to be prioritized rather. Uh tons of exciting stuff going on. Um currently we've got one project finishing one project in the middle, another project starting two that are robustly progressing through pre-construction and then of course there's all the other fun stuff that goes along with that. But um one of the other main things that I did want to give a shout out to is Modern in

Denver, Design in Bloom. We are the

title sponsors this year.

Uh Danny over there. Um just immense amount of appreciation for his perspective on the industry and I I've always appreciated what they're doing there. So we have had a great time at the event in the past and decided to be a part of it this year. That event is coming up at the end of this month. It is May 28th done at

Workplace Resource. If you guys haven't gotten tickets already. Um they're all online and stuff like that. I'm sure you'll be able to find them if you're in the industry. Uh we're going to be doing something a little bit different than I think in the past. Just we're just simply trying to let people know what Fern Hill is. And what we're trying to accomplish and

the fact that we're proud of it and excited by it and that there's other people that are proud of it and excited by it and that the more we feel that we're able to integrate into the community and

I guess the other side of that too is that the more we're welcomed into the community the the better Fern Hill is, better the product is, the better the services. And

I I hope that there's other people involved in this industry or that have interacted with Fernhill that feel the same way. So, I hope to see everyone there. Uh we're looking forward to it and I'm sure at the very least it's going to be a good time. So,

this episode that's kind of impromptu recorder, what I want to talk about is this idea that I've been

really aware of, I think, for a long time, but really, really focusing on here in

the short term. But, it's this idea of

storytelling and you know, like a story

brand, that my company needs to be the guide, not the hero in the story. And I

think that's the case for any company that's involved in a custom home, because in the end the client has to be

the hero. That is the way that that story is supposed to go. And I think

that's that's not an easy thing. That you know, there's a reality about these custom homes and it's not easy. It it

it's not meant to just be a walk in the park.

It's also not meant to be the world's hardest thing, either. There's there's different ways of doing this that that set people up for success and there's multiple ways of doing it that set people up for success in the end. And one thing that I in

I guess really trying to spend some time thinking about how to do that,

that I've focused on or I've come to really believe in, is this ability to

create a relationship with a client

where they know that there are going to be inevitable moments where you are going to give them information they might not want to hear.

They might you know, it's very easy to just tell somebody yes all the time. But, I I've told clients this in the past and I continue to do so that if I'm just saying yes to everything, you should be very worried. Um that's not me doing a good job. That's not me managing expectations. That's not me managing, uh, you know, the the outcome of this project. It has to be that when I am

suggesting that, "Hey, we should be doing this that maybe isn't the ideal option. Maybe it's the

maybe it's not the fancy faucet or the super fancy millwork detail in the living room or whatever it might be.

I have to work on educating and

developing relationships with clients

and designers where when that happens without me saying such, they recognize that that's me doing my job. That is me advocating

for them to get a product closer to the brief that we established. It's It's not me,

uh, trying to control them. It's not me trying to,

you know, satisfy one thing in order to compensate on the other, anything like that. It It It's us as a company taking our expertise

within this industry and applying it to

the situation in a way that we think benefits that client. I think that that's a a lot very much

much easier said than done. And I think

it's also why a lot of our clients that we've had the most successful relationships with tend to have some kind of understanding of project management, business, things

like that that, you know, it's it's the easiest sell in the world for me to tell you that this is going to be the easiest thing. It's going to take less time than you wanted. And it's probably going to also cost less time than you or take less time than we wanted it to. That That's not setting anyone up for success because I look at how I want these things to end.

And I I I tell this to clients all the time.

The odds of it being that,

you know, there's not a a or two where you're like, "Ah, gosh darn it, from here, come on." It's probably going to happen. We're going to be communicating for 2 or 3 years, and it might not even be that that that that might even be an emotional reaction. That is part of presidential construction. Um it's my job to make sure that the communication chains are always there to provide you the information, hold space for those emotions um within reason uh within professional boundaries, I guess. But though it should be that when those moments do come up though that you're able to then in turn welcome our input and there's a reality to that. You know, I say uh you know, I've had many clients I'm as I'm sure everyone where hey

this is not this detail uh let's let's

say it's uh concealed base. I don't view that detail as being consistent with the

brief of this project and you know, maybe it's the the budget frankly and

maybe it's not so much that specific item, but I just don't think that that detail translates over a larger scale to be in

alignment with that budget what and what it means in the long run.

Clients can still choose that detail

within reason. I want to make sure that they know what that means. Sometimes,

you know, if that isn't figured out ahead of time far enough or if that's a change, you know, that that there's real-time impacts and real-time delays that occur as a result of that. But you know it is their project in the end.

It's just that I want them to know that when I tell them, "Hey, I don't think so."

that that's why they hired me. And I have one client right now that

I really appreciate him. He is clearly a very intelligent businessman um very successful and

as we've gone through this process, you know, I obviously we're creating confidence with each other, him as my client and as his contractor, um in in tandem with the design the designer. But every time I go, "Hey,

um so-and-so, I let's push the brakes here a minute. Let me dig into this. I don't know."

And he loves the term that I always use. I always refer to things as levers. We have to be able to make sure that we always are aware of the levers that we have, the levers we don't have, and if we want or need more or less.

And most of the time without even being

without even me having to come back the next time, I'll get a text message or or some kind of comment being like, "Nope, Alex, no worries. Take it off the table. You're right."

I think that that's the process working and

you know, it's not going to universally work. There's going to be moments when

you know, human nature gets the better of all of us and I understand that realities. But

the reason I brought this all up is

because it is

when I tie it back to the Design in Bloom

event, that event to me is about relationships within the industry. And then I think about this other initiative that I'm currently focusing on to make sure that I'm the guide and I have people, you know, we have the people's trust, the client's trust, the designer's trust, the trades trade partners trust and all that.

Business is about relationships and the

ability to communicate and the underlying mechanism in all of that is trust. But you know, it's not just numbers, change orders, or budget reports, schedule

impact, you know, analysis and all this. It it it's this under land underlying understanding that we are trying to build something special. Trying to build something unique.

And and most importantly, we are trying to build a home. And I think that when I try to communicate

to people that I am their guide without saying

such, that's the place I actually need to start. That's the place I need to get better at at communicating on. Uh And those are the kind of clients that I need to be looking to align with. And and frankly, kind of designers um and so

forth the chain. And so, I don't know. Just something that's been on my mind and I I

sure if anyone journals or anything like I do, sometimes just recording these episodes and getting things off my chest. There's probably about 75 of them on my hard drive right now that I will never ever see the light of day, but they're almost therapeutic in a way for me to talk them through, hear myself uh

ramble. Uh But yeah, that's my thoughts. And uh if

you guys are at Design and Bloom, please come say hi. Uh I I if we already know

each other, um amazing. Excited to see

you again. If we don't, please. Uh especially if you listen to the podcast because the

uh I I I want to build more momentum

behind this and continue to build the community that it's kind of already created for me. Um and I hope for other people as well, but just getting that feedback, I can't even tell you. For something that doesn't necessarily have high returns or

or anything like that, especially on the on the uh counting books, let's say.

Just sometimes getting that feedback that there's a level of even small

appreciation is it matters. So, thanks.