Shed Geek Podcast

Cultivating a Business Landscape Rooted in Faith with Leland Ulrich

April 10, 2024 Shed Geek Podcast Season 4 Episode 28
Cultivating a Business Landscape Rooted in Faith with Leland Ulrich
Shed Geek Podcast
More Info
Shed Geek Podcast
Cultivating a Business Landscape Rooted in Faith with Leland Ulrich
Apr 10, 2024 Season 4 Episode 28
Shed Geek Podcast

When Leland Ulrich speaks about the convergence of faith and entrepreneurship, one can't help but be drawn into his vision of creating sustainable kingdom communities. From the mission fields of Costa Rica to the inception of Leland's Industries in Texas, his tale is one of a steadfast journey through the realms of business and spirituality. In our enlightening conversation, Leland unravels the threads of his life—how his missionary upbringing shaped his worldview and the way he's sculpting the shed industry, not just to build structures but to forge stronger community bonds and foster growth in line with spiritual values.

Venturing into the heart of Leland's craft, we explore the profound transformation of sheds over the years—from basic storage units to modern multipurpose spaces—and how this metamorphosis mirrors the evolution of Leland's own business practices. His stories of early days, when the industry was a mere seedling, contrast sharply with today's technologically advanced operations, providing a backdrop to discuss the critical role of cohesive marketing strategies and the birth of the vital National Barn & Storage Rental Association. Leland's recount of this journey is a testament to the industry's heritage and the collective progress of those who've helped shape it.

In the final threads of our discussion, leadership takes center stage. Drawing parallels with the scalable growth modeled by Jesus, Leland shares the intricate dance of leading while fostering accountability and maintaining core values. We then extend into the realms of collaboration, competition, and the delicate balance of control—all underpinned by Leland's commitment to his faith and community. The episode culminates with a prayer, encapsulating the entrepreneurial spirit that has guided Leland and offering a moment of reflection and gratitude for all those who walk a similar path. Join us for this heartfelt narrative, where business acumen and spiritual devotion intertwine to inspire a new vision for industry and community alike.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.

To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.

To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.


This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber

Identigrow
Shed Geek Marketing
Shed Suite
Realwork Labs

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

When Leland Ulrich speaks about the convergence of faith and entrepreneurship, one can't help but be drawn into his vision of creating sustainable kingdom communities. From the mission fields of Costa Rica to the inception of Leland's Industries in Texas, his tale is one of a steadfast journey through the realms of business and spirituality. In our enlightening conversation, Leland unravels the threads of his life—how his missionary upbringing shaped his worldview and the way he's sculpting the shed industry, not just to build structures but to forge stronger community bonds and foster growth in line with spiritual values.

Venturing into the heart of Leland's craft, we explore the profound transformation of sheds over the years—from basic storage units to modern multipurpose spaces—and how this metamorphosis mirrors the evolution of Leland's own business practices. His stories of early days, when the industry was a mere seedling, contrast sharply with today's technologically advanced operations, providing a backdrop to discuss the critical role of cohesive marketing strategies and the birth of the vital National Barn & Storage Rental Association. Leland's recount of this journey is a testament to the industry's heritage and the collective progress of those who've helped shape it.

In the final threads of our discussion, leadership takes center stage. Drawing parallels with the scalable growth modeled by Jesus, Leland shares the intricate dance of leading while fostering accountability and maintaining core values. We then extend into the realms of collaboration, competition, and the delicate balance of control—all underpinned by Leland's commitment to his faith and community. The episode culminates with a prayer, encapsulating the entrepreneurial spirit that has guided Leland and offering a moment of reflection and gratitude for all those who walk a similar path. Join us for this heartfelt narrative, where business acumen and spiritual devotion intertwine to inspire a new vision for industry and community alike.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.

To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.

To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.


This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber

Identigrow
Shed Geek Marketing
Shed Suite
Realwork Labs

SHED GEEK:

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast. Long-anticipated opportunity here this morning getting to sit down with some fine folks down here in Texas. Well, at least one, At least one fine individual here.

Travis Beachy:

Yeah, I don't know if I can count myself in there, but at least the guy to my left here.

Leland Ulrich:

I appreciate you, Travis.

Travis Beachy:

Ask my wife, I guess.

SHED GEEK:

I love to love to tease travis. He's so good. But uh, uh, leland, thank you for coming on to the show, welcome.

Leland Ulrich:

And uh, for those that don't know, do you just want to introduce yourself, your company, a little bit about who you are and what you do sure, leland ulrich, here with um, with l Industries, we have Leland's Sheds, several Leland's companies as well, as we're a part of a house of brands under Corlin Partners. So we have companies across the country. Some of them you would recognize as our brand, some of them you would not, and that's very intentional, because we are a house of brands, not a branded house, and we run a decentralized organization, not a branded house, and we run a decentralized organization, not a centralized organization, corporate but decentralized. Been in this industry for 33 years, started building sheds 33 years ago, started building cabins 30 years ago. The shed industry is an industry I care a lot about. I was born and raised in Costa Rica, I'm a third-generation missionary kid and with that comes some interesting challenges.

SHED GEEK:

Don't know if you ever heard of the concept of third-culture kids? I have not, and I'm interested. I'm going to have you pull it just a little closer if you don't care.

Leland Ulrich:

Sure Coming back to this country as a 16-year-old. My family moved back from Costa Rica in 1990. Okay, and that's the year I started building sheds in the fall of 1990. That was in Kentucky in the fall of 1999.

Leland Ulrich:

My wife and I and our two children moved to Texas and started over. That was quite a journey. I had learned a lot about sheds in those 10 years, Started from absolute scratch. But as a family we come from a background of dairy and agriculture and I was one of the first that kind of jumped ship from that and moved to sheds, and today most of our family is in sheds one way or another. So it's it's been a fun ride very cool story.

SHED GEEK:

I love the corporate but decentralized I. I love the way that you explain that and being a house of brands instead of a branded house. What a clever way to spell that out. Well, I appreciate yes, definitely you blazing the trail for so many of us to come behind and be given the opportunity really to do what we do. The Lord could have put us in anything he chose.

SHED GEEK:

Sheds that is correct and it's really nice to be around like-minded folks that are believers. That's a part of the culture of the industry I hadn't always had that. I did some home building for a small time and that's not, you know, like. I didn't experience that very often. And now I meet so many people of faith and I'm like man, where was this? When I was 20 years old, I needed this, I needed that structure for someone to take me under their wing, uh, but thankful it's here now and and we get to experience it. So what? Um, oh, there's just so many directions to go. There's so many directions. Um, let's start with family. Um, you know why mission work and how did that sort of change things for you and your, your outview on life?

Leland Ulrich:

yeah, you know probably way more than I uh realize, because I don't know what it's like to not have been born on the mission field and grow up, so I don't know what the alternative?

Travis Beachy:

what that other path looks like. I don't know what that other path looks like other than to.

Leland Ulrich:

You know, look at my friends, my cousins and other people that did not. Um, but you know, I think in. I think in a real way. Probably the biggest thing that it did for me is to realize that people are more the same around the world than we give credit to and that as humanity, we all have the same need and we share the same globe and we share the need of Jesus in our lives. And, of course, growing up in the mission field with not a lot of resources, it did, I think, alter how I think about resources For me, resources growing up and when I say this I stand on my dad's shoulders and on my grandpa's shoulders.

Leland Ulrich:

My grandpa's the one that made the decision in 69 to move to Costa Rica and my dad was his first job in Costa Rica was he was the first staff member in a children's home in Costa Rica that later got shut down by the local government. That was quite a journey for him. I got to later start be involved in starting an orphanage in Mexico called Shadding Light Children's Home and I've always felt like I stood on my dad's shoulders in doing that. So, from when we moved to the US in 1990, it was the burden that I carried in the mindset.

Leland Ulrich:

The mind map that I had was you know, here we are in a land of opportunity. What can I do to take advantage of this opportunity and help missions, help people? And I think it really impacted my mind to see business as a resource for building God's kingdom, and that's where my vision and mission comes from. I am happy to be on this episode to get to share my vision and my mission and our core values, which I'll share now because I'll kind of use those throughout the episode, because I care about not only our company, I care about this industry, and so the vision that God gave me as a 16-year-old I did not understand it as a 16-year-old, but I feel like God is part of my call and I feel like I have tried to be faithful over the years to that vision.

Leland Ulrich:

The vision is sustainable kingdom communities and I think you can kind of see how that connects with having grown up in the mission field.

Speaker 5:

That was my focus as a 16-year-old sustainable kingdom communities.

Leland Ulrich:

So that is our vision today at Corland Partners level and at each one of the companies level, at the top level, and our mission statement which is a mission statement is how you get to your vision statement is building sustainable kingdom communities, one business at a time, and understanding that business. What I was called to, although as a 16 year old, I I knew nothing about it, didn't understand and uh, and the shed industry might not appreciate me saying this part, but I got into sheds because it was simple yeah, and it was something.

Leland Ulrich:

Yeah, it was something that I could do, and I did what every other shed builder uh has done I, I built a shed, hung out my shingle and uh, and and kind of went from there. Uh, very quickly understood that, um, as we grow, I I need to have some clearly identified core values. So today our core values are god matters, people matter, radical candor, an interesting one, a learning environment, certainly applicable to the shed industry. And then our fifth core value is own it. And so we care deeply about those core values as it connects to our mission statement building sustainable kingdom communities, one business at a time which takes us to our vision statement, which is sustainable kingdom communities For Leland Sheds. We break that down building sustainable kingdom communities, one shed at a time.

SHED GEEK:

Nice.

Leland Ulrich:

And we use a slogan that says built for one, and there's multiple meanings to that, first and foremost for Jesus Christ. And when we're building that shed, we teach our builders you're not building a thousand sheds, you're building one shed a thousand times. There's a big difference in that mindset and we want them to think about. We like for our builders to look at the name of the customer that they're building for and put themselves in that customer's shoes. This is the one shed that customer's building and we should show that through that build, through the sale, through the delivery, and it's a way for us to really make an impact back to the local community. And so, as a family, that became an important part of who we are, what we do and really how we make our vision, mission and our core values practical.

SHED GEEK:

I love the thoughts that are provoked from sort of some of your commentary there we're building not 1,000 sheds, we're building one shed 1,000 times. This is unique and it's individual. If this isn't cookie cutter, this isn't that's correct. So that experience should be the same experience for each customer, as you build it, as it's sold, as it's delivered. The customer service, aftercare, all of it, travis, that matters.

Travis Beachy:

I mean it's a good word If you think about shop builders. They just you know. You wake up, you put your tool belt on and there you are building again. You know day in and day out and just looking at I mean if anybody's listening right now, that's building sheds. Today, just look at that you know name on that sales order. And just today, just look at that name on that sales order and just think about if that was you and you just spent $5,000 on this shed. And it makes it more personable. It's not just another shed. I like that.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, it's easy to think I can just skip a little bit here, I can cut a corner there. If it's just the 998th shed, I'm building. That's correct. But if it's the one shed I'm building for this one customer and I treat it that way. That's probably your own, it kind of you know. Treat it like you own it. Treat the business like it's yours and it'll feel like it's yours and very much.

Leland Ulrich:

So we tell our builders um, you know, if, of course, not all of our builders are believers, but for those that are, and even for those that are not, if they pray for their, the person that they're building, that shed, for something happens. Something happens in their heart. Something happens for the client and you're really bringing God's presence into the experience, and a side benefit is you usually end up with better quality on the shed, and a side benefit is you usually end up with better quality on the shed.

SHED GEEK:

How many people don't see the opportunity to minister through their work? And there's a really good opportunity to do that because people are coming to your sales lot, they're engaging with you on social media, whatever it looks like, and there's opportunity in all of those to sort of do what your grandpa saw to take it to another country and to see that manifest through his son and his grandsons, and just look at the legacy that it tells over time. You have that same opportunity every day when a customer comes to your lot. Uh, travis, you see customers coming to the lot and and and if all you see is money signs as soon as they show up, you may be missing a larger opportunity yeah, for sure.

Travis Beachy:

Well, and I think you also just decrease your chance of making the sale because you're thinking about yourself. You know, when you start thinking about yourself and sales that's, that's challenging, you know, because then you're not focusing on the needs of the client anymore, you know, I like that, I like that concept and that ministry, bringing ministry or bringing Christ into your business, your relationship with Jesus.

Travis Beachy:

You know most people in America know about Jesus, so you don't need to put a bunch of you know plaques up on your wall, you don't need to have a bunch of Bible verses at your sales lot, but just simply like praying, talking to the Holy Spirit about hey, you know, give me ears to really hear what this person's problem is, because you're getting some crazy stories. I mean husbands and wives fighting we want this color, we want that color. You know, I got to get a shed because I just got divorced and I got to find a place to put my stuff. My child just died. You're getting some crazy stories.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, all of those. I remember all of those for sure.

Travis Beachy:

And just, you know, it's a great opportunity for us as believers to just take that in and just silently, just within ourselves, talk to the Holy Spirit about that and just ask the Holy Spirit how he wants us to help that customer, talk to that customer, serve that customer. It doesn't have to be this, you know, throwing a bunch of Bible verses at him and this loud like, but just being in tune with the Spirit and how he wants you to to serve that client, you know.

Leland Ulrich:

I love that and one of my favorites on that one is when a client comes into one of our locations and that you know you've prayed and you've prepared for the day and maybe you don't have any bible verses up or maybe you haven't even said anything about they say it just feels different here.

Travis Beachy:

Yeah, it's beautiful that always touches me when.

Leland Ulrich:

I hear that.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, that's awesome.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, I love it.

SHED GEEK:

I love the, the vision that you've cast there for the company. I feel like that is something that you don't you. You know, in business there's a tendency that as you begin to um grow that the original thought and vision gets sort of watered down because not everybody has the same gusto for what your vision was. So, you know, if you've ever played the telephone game I don't know if you've ever seen that where everybody stands, you know 30 people in a row, 20 people in a row, and you mimic some kind of action and everybody turns around and mimics it to the next one and by the time it gets to the last person, they have no clue where it started and it's the same way with communication in the workplace but you've set forth a vision that is clear and that I feel like can be understood through the telephone line all the way down to the last person that reaches it.

SHED GEEK:

So if a new hire comes in, they understand what the company stands for immediately.

Leland Ulrich:

And that's why it's so important to have you know clear vision and mission and core values and documented. But it doesn't really make a difference until it becomes the culture of the organization.

Travis Beachy:

Yeah.

Leland Ulrich:

So we deeply care about that culture and that's, you know's brought in through your leadership, but it has to affect everyone. No one is exempt and that's why we care so much about our builders, our drivers, the people that are representing in the field. Everyone matters in that chain because you can have whatever you want hanging on your plaque, on your wall.

Leland Ulrich:

But if travis, when he's representing that client, uh, in the field, or the driver, uh, when he's delivering that shed in the field, is portraying something completely different, it becomes a mockery that's right yeah, and and what do you do when, uh, uh, when that happens, uh, we we've faced that challenge, you know, with growing and with having locations, um in different parts of the country, um, maintaining that freshness of the vision and the mission and having that be a part of the organization.

Leland Ulrich:

That's truly a challenge and all of you out there, uh, listening to this podcast, know that and that's where that kind candor comes in, though right, that's where that kind candor comes in, though right, that's where that kind candor yeah, tough conversations, tough conversations and well, you know, I've had employees, uh, sign up, start working for us in a month or two into it, come to me and say, well, um, you know, I thought I was signing up for a company that had all these core values. And I tell them, let me remind you, I hired you because we're not there yet. Can you help me get there? And I think that posture is very important, because we will make mistakes. And that's back to our fifth core values own it. When we make mistakes, we have to own it yeah, I love it yeah 100.

SHED GEEK:

So so, switching gears, you go through growing up in Costa Rica. You come here in 1990. You start building. That's the beginning of 33 years. And just a simple question what's different? What's different now?

Leland Ulrich:

As in from Costa Rica to this country or from back then to now.

SHED GEEK:

Back then to now in the shed industry.

Leland Ulrich:

In the shed industry. Oh, my goodness, there's a lot of things that are very different, right? So when I think back to the first year that we started, we only built one size of shed and that was an eight by ten um travis. That's all we had patterns for.

Leland Ulrich:

Oh wow um and I remember, uh, in the second year, when we built our first 10 by 16. Let me tell you that was a monster and it almost broke our trailer. Um, thankfully, uh, there's some better trailers on the market today, but just that concept that there was the size. I have been amazed at how the size of this product has grown. The other huge change that I have seen is when we first started building sheds and maybe that was more just because of where we were building sheds or what we were building and selling, but most of what we sold was just a storage shed. You know, we didn't really think about anything different, it was a storage shed. And I remember when I sold the 10 by 16, this individual came to us and says I want a 10 by 16, not an 8 by 10. And, by the way, we sold those 8 by 10s all day long back in 1994, 475 plus times oh my goodness, that's crazy.

Travis Beachy:

Was it the mini barn style, the gambrel?

SHED GEEK:

roof, or was it a? Frame it was the mini barn yeah, if you can make that happen, I'll gladly pull one home today as with many other people, you know.

Leland Ulrich:

I'm not sure where the prices of options are, but you know how many options do we have today that are more that or more?

Travis Beachy:

oh yeah, for sure that.

Leland Ulrich:

That's interesting to me, that and you know, when the first individual that wanted a different size he wanted that 10 by 16 he came to us and he said I, I don't want just a storage shed. And I remember those words so clearly and to me it started in my mind a pivot of how I was seeing the shed industry. He said I want a shed for my workout station and he had just bought a bunch of workout equipment and he said he wanted a place to put this in. And I built that shed myself. I delivered that shed myself.

Leland Ulrich:

I delivered that shed myself and I even helped him carry some of his weightlifting equipment in that he needed help with and I remember watching the joy with which he set up that shed and I stayed late into the evening helping him set up his shed and I remember standing in that shed looking at that workout equipment in this would have been in 91 and thinking the shed industry is going to grow and it's going to change in ways that that I think maybe few of us understand and I I caught a glimpse and a vision and if I go fast forward to 2024, it's intriguing to me of the much lower percentage of what we sell today is a shed for lawnmowers, christmas lights and just what we would call just the shed, and how much more is for all the other categories that we're now selling to, so that that, to me, is a huge change.

Leland Ulrich:

Another, another big change that I saw, in addition to just the size and the use, is the innovation of the materials, right, the. You know, when we started, the materials that were there for us to use it was basically whatever you could find at a Lowe's or a Home Depot or a building, a local building supply. We bought most of our materials either at Lowe's or Tompkinsville Building Supply. In Tompkinsville, kentucky, in the first number of years there was another little lumber yard called Lion's Lumber. I don't think they exist today, but you know there was not the support for the industry. Support for the industry, uh. And so today, the uh. If you hang your shingle out and you put, all you got to do is put a website, a little website, up. You can even do it yourself and put a number on there and an address, and, I kid you not, you will have a swarm of vendors. Uh, descend upon your place and amongst those, for every lumber supply vendor, you'll have about 10 rent-to-own companies show up as well.

Speaker 5:

For sure, and so when we started, I didn't even know what rent-to-own was.

Leland Ulrich:

It wasn't until the second year that we kind of discovered that piece of it. I'd heard about it, was very intrigued with it and wanted to offer that to our clients, but didn't understand what that tool was. So, yes, a lot of changes in the industry, but I think they've all been good changes. I'm very happy to be a part of this industry and I care about this industry. When Travis first asked me if I would be willing to take this and do this episode, historically I've said no, and my 19-year-old son gets the credit for me being on here. He said, dad, you should do it, show your face to the industry. And I'm here because I care. I care about this industry. I really think that we are all on the same side of the fence. We're all part of the industry and anything that we can do as a company, in a small way, to help the industry be a better place, that's our heart.

SHED GEEK:

That's pretty awesome. So many similarities between you and I and just different worlds. Just hearing you have a 19-year-old son. I have my 19-year-old son here with me today. That's very cool. I'm thinking we're probably pretty close age-wise when I hear you say you moved back in 1990, you know, from Costa Rica, and just kind of putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

SHED GEEK:

And then Kentucky I mean I was born in Paducah, so I was born in Kentucky technically and we've kind of stayed around there, uh, in that area. But you know, um, kentucky just feels more like home even than Illinois, uh, in, in many ways I know the state so much better and, uh, doing our, our ancestry, I saw that you know our family name came over and and middle Kentucky, middle Tennessee, was where our family name kind of landed and there's still a lot of like. I went somewhere near south of Campbellsville, kentucky, not too long ago and there's a lot of Lathams in that community down there and I was actually there on business and the guy was like, are you kind of any Lathams around here? I was looking for something in particular and I told him my name and he's like man, there's a ton of lathams around here. You're not kin to any of them. I looked that up, leland, you may appreciate this, I think you, you may be a bit of a historian listening to you talk here today um, I found that the, the latham name, the origin of it, was meant down by the barn. Uh, and I was like, what appropriate, what an appropriate like industry to end up in that that was the. You know where it was derived from down by the barn. That's the meaning of the name.

SHED GEEK:

So, yeah, a lot of changes. You talk about the size, the pricing, the style, the options and you're right right, 100 on everything else. Once you get started, you know everyone descends and and and really, uh, it's, it's a maturing industry and um, you, you had mentioned because afg is kind of a lot of times maybe maybe I've got this wrong, but recognized as both the shed company but an rto provider um, you get into that in year two and you're like, wow, this is, uh, this is a whole different thing. In in whatever year, 91, 92, um is, I don't know when the origin of afg started, like what, what year it technically started? But what changes? What changes have you seen there? I would love to at some point segue into the NBSRA, just because I feel like you were such a part of that and I want you to elaborate on that, because you'd have to educate me on sort of how some of that came together.

Leland Ulrich:

Sure, I'd be happy to. When we started building sheds I had no roadmap or had not envisioned where things are at today. I think our call was to just get up every morning and be obedient and do what was set in front of us, which I feel like I did. And as we did that, the organization continued to grow. With the move to Texas it really forced us to think differently, kind of think outside the box. We didn't have a lot of competition when we first came to Texas in the shed industry. There would have been Heartland and Tough Shed, which I don't think would have even necessarily been Tough Shed back then. There was, you know, some of the older companies were around and, interestingly, cook Portable Buildings, which I think we all know is kind of the grandfather of the treated shed. Right, a lot of people think of maybe some other brands as the godfather of that, but a lot of that goes back to Cook.

SHED GEEK:

Right in my neck of the woods I talk about it all the time Cobden, illinois, starting in 1986, and my brother bought a Cook shed in 98. I remember he bought that on Rentown back then, if I remember correctly. But Cook had such a presence in our area and then, I think, florida, maybe Missouri, texas, they had branched out and still have friends that work there today, right, just because I grew up with them and and I told Travis this yesterday, I said they had branded so well, not on purpose, just the way it. It come together, kind of like whenever people say Amish or Mennonite craftsmanship, it's, it's, it's so, contrary to the Amish and Mennonite wanting to be seen as superior, it's it's like an accident, yeah and yeah, it's just by doing a good job.

SHED GEEK:

What you'll usually hear on the community. If you hear well that's, you know that's Amish or Mennonite, built like. Most people around me who grew up would be like well, you know what that means? Right, I'm like no, and they're like well, that that means it's built well. And it's like what a testimony to like not wanting to be seen in a superior light, that by doing what's natural, you kind of were elevated. But Cook did that in the way that and I want you to finish here, I'm sorry to railroad this here when we sold sheds, people would come up and say what kind of cook shed? You got here and we were like well, these are like summit portable buildings. And they would say I've never heard of a summit cook shed. And you're just like oh goodness, I can't. You know what I mean. How do I compete with like? But but they had done such a good job that people just know these are good sheds, cook's a good brand, so you go by.

Leland Ulrich:

I'm sorry, oh, that's uh, but that's good because it's, I think you know, giving recognition of some of the early founders in the industry, uh, is important and and you know, as we, as, as our company took off and we were growing, kind of continuing that legacy of building that quality and building in the mind of the client. Because I want to reiterate here for all shed builders out there, any time that you put another shed builder down and you say that their shed is trash, what they're going to remember is shed is trash.

Speaker 5:

They're not going to remember the their part.

Leland Ulrich:

And so I think, if we are truly concerned about our competitors' quality, go over there and show them and help them, because we all suffer, we all rise and fall together with the client. But as we were growing here in Texas, we kind of had the wide open space.

Leland Ulrich:

It was very different from Kentucky in that we do have the wide open spaces and I love big roads and uh, so things were just very different. We really stressed out the pine hill trailers at a very early stage and, uh, and a number of other trailer manufacturers and and for all the trailer manufacturers out there that we work with the way they stepped up to the plate and built and even some of them kind of started referencing building the trailers for Texas, right, because they knew that if they could build a trailer that would hold up in Texas it would probably hold up in most other states.

Leland Ulrich:

And as we continued to grow, needless to say, two things happened. We started having competitors notice what we were doing and competitors from other states move into the area. But in addition, our company is no different than every other shed company up there's. We do very good at having children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, right, and so we weren't going that long until, you know, an employee breaks off and does his own thing, and Corey and I have always Corey's, my partner, corey Yoder, and we have, starting from the time we started in Texas, and we always took the posture that if they wanted to do that, that's okay. Just can't do it while you're working with us and just let us know when your prayer breakfast grand opening is and we want to come over there and have a prayer blessing for your company. And I think today I can honestly say that for all the shed competitors that are in this area that we have a great relationship and I love that in this area that we have a great relationship and I I love that and I cherish that.

Leland Ulrich:

Well, as we continue to grow and our rent to own was growing white right with that. Yeah, the, we started doing um rent to own also for, uh, some other manufacturers, um, in our house of brands mindset I'm not only in the shed industry and so in the financial part that we were growing, which is kind of another pillar to our group of companies, that portion started growing. An interesting side note that happened to that surprise, surprise, I started getting phone calls from people all over the country that said we want to start doing rent two and two. Would you teach us how? By the way, we're not in your neck of the woods, so we're not competitors. Well, at the time I, um, I the internet was not the internet.

Leland Ulrich:

Yeah, you're still writing up rto contracts on paper and that is correct you know. Keep in mind that, uh, my first computer was a windows 95 right, and so um, you know, for the young people out there today. I think they kind of think that the internet always was.

Speaker 5:

Well, that wasn't that way right.

Leland Ulrich:

And so guess what we had? We had a physical copy of a contract right.

SHED GEEK:

I wonder if that makes its way around Leland.

Leland Ulrich:

Oh, I have seen versions of that contract in many different states today. But here's where the fun story starts with NBSRA, when we started doing rent-to-own here in Texas and we really got serious about that. What we discovered very quickly because we had looked at using early on maybe some other rent-to-own companies but never really did. We always did our own. What we discovered very quickly is one there was not a lot of support legally for rent-to-own on sheds and there was not an industry built up around it. As we became more familiar with what was going on with Rent to Own, it was kind of a wild west and everyone was kind of doing whatever they felt like doing.

Leland Ulrich:

And I was determined that if we're going to do it Rent to Own, it has to comply with our kingdom values and it has to comply with our vision and mission statement and our core values. To comply with our vision and mission statement and our core values, which means that we're going to pay attention to how we do this and every detail matters. In our pursuit for that, we joined up with TERRA, which is Texas Association of Rental Agencies. Through that organization we discovered Ed Wynn and I remember in the early days meeting with Edwin I did not understand who he was at the time and I just want to put a shout out here for Edwin because he's been a tremendous builder and sponsor and has helped this industry become a much, much better industry. And in visiting with Ed I told Ed my vision for what we wanted to do with rent to own in sheds and I told him my vision and mission statement and my core values and he found that very odd. He says I've never heard anything like that.

Leland Ulrich:

And he was intrigued by it and I would say Ed took me under his wings and he started mentoring me and he says if you want to know anything about legal and rent-to-own, I'm here to help you. And he actually did a lot of mentoring for me in those early days that I now credit back to him. I understand that he did that. He never charged me for you know, I got to had his cell phone number, got to visit with him at the events as well as create that relationship. What that caused is we were straight out the gate, we were set up correctly and Corey and I cared not only about the legal part but also about the tax implication parts. If you're in the rent-to-own you're going to have to understand some things about taxes. As we engaged in that, we started getting some requests. I had a friend call me from another state and say I hear that you're doing well with rent-to-own. I have some money, I want to start in rent-to-own. I'm not in your area, would you help me? And my answer to them was sure, I don't know that I can help you, but I can tell you some things not to do. And so that friend, that particular friend wanted to know if he could fly out here and spend two days with me. I said, well, I don't think it's worth your time, but if you want to take your time, I'd love to spend some time with you. We did Make a long story short. That happened about 30 times over. I call them my students. Most of them today would not claim that and would not give recognition to that, because we're competitors and I understand that and I respect that. But it was a lot of fun spending time with them in those early days is that they weren't necessarily getting the help that they needed to stay on track and the Wild West continued to permeate rent-to-own for sheds. As I saw that I was speaking with Ed Wynn and I said Ed, I think that our shed companies, the rent-to-own shed companies, should sign up with APRO, which is the Association of Progressive Rental Associations, so that they could learn the things that we're learning. And that's when he looked at me straight in the eye and he says, leland, you should start your own association for the sheds. Because he said it's very, very different and the vision that you all have for the kind of association that this should be is very different than the other associations. I will support that mindset if you want to move forward with that.

Leland Ulrich:

I spent about six years in kind of building up the vision for that years in kind of building up the vision for that and mostly what I did is I called about 30 of those companies and I said you know, you owe me one. Would you meet with me in Nashville, tennessee, I want to have a meeting? At that meeting I shared the vision for MBSRA that was before the name existed and in that meeting, the buy-in there. It took about six years to get everyone agreed to come to that meeting some of them. I had longer conversations with others, but the the overwhelming resistance was are you saying you want us competitors on the same room? No way. And I made an appeal to them uh, one to one, many times over that we need to collaborate and we really need to be together on this. And after some time of vision casting on that, those 30 people came together. We had about 30 people together in nashville, tennessee.

Leland Ulrich:

At that meeting I shared division, we collaborated, had a lot of discussion, had a good time and I think the biggest surprise that everyone had was that no one got hurt and we had such a great time and I think they saw in that meeting, you know, what this can work and we probably should do this and I am humbled by how that group really caught the vision and a motion was made and I would like to give a shout out to paul weaver from ohio, um, who was there present in that meeting and he's actually the one that made the motion. Um, do not remember who seconded it, but it was a unanimous vote and that's where the organization started. That group elected me in that meeting as the first board member and asked me to put the first board together, which we put, the first group of five board directors together, and the organization has went from there. It was a very difficult journey for many years.

Leland Ulrich:

In those early years, a lot of hesitation by the industry and a lot of people that a lot of companies that did not join because they didn't want to be associated with. But I think, mostly due to Ed Wynn's influence and then to the greatness of the people that became a part of that, it soon took a life of its own and you know, today I think it's very much accepted as the National Barn and Storage Rental Association of America, right, and so I'm just very honored to have to be of the board now, to be an ex officio and and to see that organization go on and go to places that I couldn't have taken it. And so again here a shout out to the current board. I think they're doing a really great job of putting that event together and continuing building on what the vision was for that.

SHED GEEK:

Very nice, very cool. So many thoughts come to mind as you as you speak there. One one that came to mind almost immediately was you said you know, maybe those, those folks wouldn't claim, you know, your help early on. And there's a saying that says you know, you either die young the hero or you live long enough to be the villain. So, uh, sometimes that's just what happens. Uh, you don't always get the credit, but uh that's okay.

Leland Ulrich:

I don't need the credit.

SHED GEEK:

I'm not looking for that love to be behind the scenes sure, sure, typically speaking, um, ideas and creativity, they're well, I don't know about you, leland, I know for me it's a, it's an imperative part of my personality that I embrace very much. So, unfortunately, you know, there's a weakness whenever you, you tend to scale on trailblazing side, ideal side, creative side, and that might be implementation. And I don't know if that's you, but I know for myself, speaking for myself. Those are the areas that I struggle with is is finding the people who know how to, like, take a vision and then, like, really do something good with it. Um, I agree with you, I don't, you know, it's not the credit that you need. Uh, I think, more than anything, I just don't want to be forgotten through the process. Uh, you know, uh, or or? Uh, I don't need championed, I just don't don to be forgotten through the process, you know, or I don't need championed, I just don't need forgotten, right?

Leland Ulrich:

Let me give you a little tidbit there of kind of how I feel about this is, you know, I think one of the deepest needs of the human heart is the need to belong. And you know the I think the shed industry has created a center of belonging and a sense of belonging for a lot of people. And you know, it's part of the reason that I agreed to be on this podcast, because I care about this industry and helping create that center of belonging, that sense of belonging. The shed industry is a very special industry, a very special group of people and everything that you're good excuse me everything that all of us can do to participate with that and to really help create that central belonging.

Leland Ulrich:

So the credit is maybe not a big thing, but I would like to belong to the right fair.

Travis Beachy:

Yeah, I love it. I think, I think, um, something, I think we can build things up in our heads about the competition when we then when we get in a room, you know you were, you were saying, everybody was real fearful, and then they all got in room together and it wasn't it wasn't.

Travis Beachy:

It wasn't this monster that they made it out to be and I think, um, whether it's uh, you know, the shed haulers do a great job with this, even better than the sales side of the industry. I feel like the sales side of the industry that I'm on, we're kind of lagging a little bit. We're still kind of, you know, I don't know if we want to get together. I don't know. You know, and the shed haulers have done a great job with that. Mbsra did a great. The Shed Expo is great with that.

Travis Beachy:

You know, and I think if you can get in a room and just chat, you find out you have more in common. You find out you're going through some of the same challenges, and it's not just this. You know, big blown-up fear that you've created. That's all fake actually in your mind. Leland transitioning we could talk for another hour on all that Easy.

Travis Beachy:

But I'm curious, you know, know, there's a lot of, uh, entrepreneurs, business people that listen to this podcast. There's a lot of, uh, young bucks that listen to this podcast and some and some seasoned veterans. But, um, you know you've done and I know you're really modest with with all the things that you're involved in, but talk to us a little bit about focus. Talk to us a little bit about um. You know there's some people that don't want to do their own rent to own because it takes cash and now they can't grow the manufacturing side of their business. So they made that strategic decision.

Travis Beachy:

Talk to us about how you think through opportunities. Say yes to one thing means saying maybe no to another thing. Why did you take some of your cash and put it in rent to own versus using that money to grow the manufacturing side of it? You know why are you involved in all the different things that you are? Is that just what brings you joy? You know you hear a lot of people say that. You know focus is so key. Talk to us about how you think through opportunities, especially early on, like when you were early on, like that.

Leland Ulrich:

No, very, very good and very pertinent topic for me. But I'll start by saying I think about it very differently now than I did back in my first number of years. So this being 33 years, I would say the first 15 years. I kind of thought about it one way and it was kind of reflected on what happened there. And the older I get, the more I understand the power of now and of focus right. If you go after too many things at the same time, you really get watered down. So focus is incredibly important. It is a reason why I chose the House of Brands approach. Is was first and foremost, and the decentralized model that we put in place was first and foremost because our vision and mission. We felt that our vision and mission could be much better accomplished. But I also understood my own limitations. My dad tried to teach me at a very young age understand your own weaknesses and, where you're weak, partner with people that are strong in those areas.

SHED GEEK:

Absolutely. Great word, absolutely.

Leland Ulrich:

And you know, travis, that's why I need so many partners, because I have so many weaknesses. And I don't say that tongue in cheek, I really mean that.

Travis Beachy:

Yeah.

Leland Ulrich:

And so what I really mean? That, yeah, and so what I, what I learned, is that focus is incredibly important and in the as so, we, we, we have a lot of companies and we have a lot of opportunities that we had went after that today are in the graveyard. You know, those are the ones that I don't like to talk about and nobody likes, but you know what those taught me. Probably, as you know, those are the ones that I don't like to talk about and nobody likes, but you know what those taught me, probably as much or more lessons than the ones that are thriving today. And you know, if I would have it to start over with, would I do both a rent-to-own and the manufacturing side? I don't know, because it is a. I think if we would have not done the rent-to-own piece, you know, possibly today we would be a much larger manufacturer. Right, because it is a loss of focus. It's, you know, there's you're trying to run it all yourself is that your focus gets divided and before you know it, you have, you know, one company supporting the other company and both companies are not running it at an optimal. And now, as we have continued to grow and uh have uh, built the organization and built leadership. Um.

Leland Ulrich:

What pivoted for me, travis, and the word focus, is what I understood that that I needed to pivot from building sheds to building leaders, and sheds just happens to be what we build now. I care about the sheds and I very much care about the shed industry, but let me tell you, what I really care about is I care about the people, and and you can only build um, you can only have meaningful relationships, one at a time that's right, and I think jesus showed us the, the perfect model for years, um and I think this is very pertinent to the question you're asking how do you do this thing of focus?

Leland Ulrich:

and so a question I was asking myself for years is once I really got focused into this leadership, because I couldn't find enough leaders, uh, fast enough to do what, uh to execute. You know we're talking about the implementation. I'm a process driven visionary, um, and so I want to see the processes and I want to see that implementation, because a vision without implementation is hallucination I have no interest in.

SHED GEEK:

Let's go. Faith without works is dead. Right, Faith without works is dead.

Leland Ulrich:

And so I kept asking myself the question how did Jesus build the largest organization that has ever existed that has lasted over 2,000 years? And he built that organization, the Christian faith and the Christian community, and he did that in only three short years with 12 cantankerous men. I wanted to understand that, and in searching the scriptures and really trying to understand that, I'm like there's got to be an answer in there of how you do scalability. And I was chasing scalability for a number of years and I've read a lot of great books like Vern, harnish, patrick, lencioni there's a lot of great, great authors out there the Great Game of Business there's so many great books out there that talk to you about how to scale, that talk to you about how to scale. But where I found the true master of scale? It's the power of one. When Jesus died for me, he died for me, and when Jesus discipled each one of his 12 disciples, he discipled individually and you don't see Jesus saying, oh, I have a great project to put together here, let me get about a million men and train them very quickly and deploy them. He understood the power of multiplication, and so you can't have focus and growth without understanding multiplication and what I learned at a very young age is I was trying to grow by addition instead of by multiplication and growing. This is the painful part of growth. It's a series of letting go. You cannot grow without letting go.

Leland Ulrich:

The answer that I found in the scriptures of what Jesus taught on this thing of focus is with one word it's discipleship. And I'll give you here the five steps of discipleship. That has transformed how I do leadership development and how we lead our organizations, and we have tried to permeate this into our organization. The five steps of discipleship are first, show, second, I'm sorry. First tell, show, observe, analyze and adjust by telling. And there's the continuous improvement of discipleship.

Leland Ulrich:

And what often happens is we tell someone and we show someone and we do this, I'm sorry. We tell someone and then we adjust. I tell my son go, do this or thus, and then I tell him you didn't do it right, now do this, and we tell, and then we adjust and we don't go through the five steps of discipleship. Good word Learning how to really focus in and learning how to say no to everything that I cannot bring full focus to. How do you do growth? You need to have the people in place that can create that central belonging and that can create that focus. Don't go faster than what you can.

Travis Beachy:

Grow your people yeah, that's a good word right there. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's uh and it's not and it's I'm sure. I'm sure you found that it's messy a little bit. You go from, you know, like just thinking about you in the early days. You go from predominantly building your own sheds. You know you were probably selling them, building them and delivering them.

Leland Ulrich:

That is correct.

Travis Beachy:

And then all of it. And now, okay, now you want to. Now you want some help, you want you want to grow this thing a little bit. So I need to find a builder or whatever spot you don't enjoy the most, that you need to backfill. I need to find a delivery driver. So now you are selling, you're building and you're training a delivery driver, and I think that's where a lot of just that grind right there. Talk to us about that like you're kind of wobbling, like you don't know if this guy's gonna work out, you don't know if this gal is gonna work out, um, but you gotta try it, otherwise you're just you gotta be okay with being a one-man band yes, so two observations to that.

Leland Ulrich:

One is um, look for people that want to do that, not that have to do that, whatever the that is, and it is very messy. Working with people is messy, we all know that. What really has helped me is one I only want to work with people that want to work with me. Yeah, and I don't like to build legal contracts or structures around me to keep the people inside of the. If I'm building fences to keep them inside, um, I'm already on the wrong foot. Yeah, right, I want them to be there on their own accord. The second piece that I have found that is critically important and it connects with this center belonging idea is voluntary accountability. I look for people that are that, uh, comply with our core values, that they have those core values, but then they're, they are wired in such a way that they understand voluntary accountability.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, it's a big one, that's a huge, it is I mean that's night and day between you.

Leland Ulrich:

look at someone who's not that and someone who is that in terms it is I mean that's night and day between you.

Travis Beachy:

Look at someone who's not that and someone who is that in terms of an employee or team member. It's drastic.

SHED GEEK:

The world teaches you something different. It teaches you to cast blame wherever you might, but don't cast blame on yourself.

Leland Ulrich:

And what that creates. This is what that creates Voluntary accountability creates centers of belonging. Forced accountability creates centers of existing huge difference. Yeah, man, that's, that's deep and good really good stuff.

SHED GEEK:

Yeah, so many things you said in there to you could pick apart, and not pick apart in a bad way. I mean just like go down rabbit trails on where it adds value to people's day, I think. And this, this is a cool thing about sitting down in conversation um, anybody who says, oh, I don't know, I have to think about that. You know you might compete, I'm like all the more reason to have dialogue that very all the more reason to have dialogue.

SHED GEEK:

It's far from a reason to go into a a cocoon and say, well, we'll just we'll not be involved in any way, shape or form. Um, I, the way I look at it is, you know, collaboration makes us better and competition makes us better too. You know, I think you have to look at both sides of the spectrum and

SHED GEEK:

I think that if you can see both sides of it and realize that competition actually makes us better because it makes us sharper, that you can't ever completely own it, establish it and then expect it will not change, because the the only thing that stays the same is change. So if you, if you don't embrace it, you, you, you get comfortable yeah you get complacent and then the next thing you know, somebody finds opportunity.

SHED GEEK:

They're not doing that to you, they're doing that for themselves and for their family and for their community, that they, you know their ministry, my family's my first ministry. I have to take care of them. You know what I mean. And if that means I'm in competition with someone, I'm like, well, hey, I, I have to eat too, I have to survive too, you know. So I'm not doing this to you, I'm doing this for us.

SHED GEEK:

And I think I said something last night on the phone. I said um to my, my friend dylan. I said you know, being offended is always a choice. In every single situation. 100 of the time, it's always a choice. You'll choose to be offended. I've chosen to be offended many times in my life. And and and if you really tap into that and you realize the power of letting go you said that the key to scalability is a series of decisions of letting go and I think if somebody just really hears that today, just taps into that, that you start to realize that it's like, because that's a control thing, isn't it? You ultimately have control and you're starting to let go of some of this control. Correct, and that's what actually creates your growth. But it's the one thing that it's hard to do, and I've seen that shed manufacturers a lot whenever they say you know I'm at 1.5, you know in sales, but I can't figure out how you get to that.

Leland Ulrich:

10 mark probably starts with a lot of letting go and often more letting go than than most of us want to do, because letting go is painful yeah, yeah, I mean, and just talking about you know I like how you, I like how you kind of looked at jesus's model on on leadership there.

Travis Beachy:

Talk about um, you talk about you want to talk about. The ultimate letting go is jesus, where he entrusts us rascals to to show people who he is and and have his love flow through us.

Travis Beachy:

I mean, what a ludicrous decision. Yeah, you know, I mean we are prone to nothing but sin and um, we're selfish and we're arrogant and and he's like, yeah, you are the, you're the people. Yeah, you're the people that I want to have my love flow through and to show others what that looks like and man, that is. There's a lot of humility. I mean, it's jesus, obviously, but there's a lot of humility in that and, um, I, I just it's probably one of the questions I want to ask him when I get to heaven is. I mean, were you just mad when you thought this up?

Speaker 5:

I mean that's just crazy.

Travis Beachy:

I often think about that and how just insane that that is and how we butcher it and how we mess it up and how we're just bad examples of who he really is to other people and we hurt other people even in our best efforts sometimes, and he's just like yeah, I still believe in you and you're the ones that I want to carry the torch.

SHED GEEK:

He's just like, yeah, I still believe in you and you're the ones that I want to carry the torch, striving for perfection and never reaching the goal on a daily. You know it's so tough, it's so tough to I don't know. For me it's like I know I mess up, I always. You know Jesus, the Bible says you know he places a song in your heart and I've always told people, people, I believe that that's a song that only he can hear and that's a song that only you sing with him. And uh, that's why it's individual. Um, you know you, you other people can't hear your song and you don't get to hear everybody else's. But you know, when you hear that voice of god, you know when you hear that song that he's talking to you and you can explain it to somebody. But it'll never be the same. But when they hear their song, they get it and they say I don't understand it all, but I get it, I hear it and I understand it. Uh, and that's that's. That's that individual aspect that he places on you. And uh, that's why I always say, leland, I tell people this is not a pitch, I, I don't sell Jesus. That's not what we do on the podcast, not what we do in the shed industry, but everyone's unique. Everyone's unique and everyone has a story, and you'd be surprised at how many people are like, well, I don't know, maybe I would come on there, but I don't want to seem bragging. I don't want to seem like I'm you know, hey, uh, no one's going to be bragging in comparison to our maker, Like it all leads to it, all leads to him. But you can brag on him through your individuality and your neatness and your uniqueness and your storytelling and and just your shed story. That's why I like to invite people on here, because it creates community. Anything I get involved in in business will always hold a second light to being able to do these things right here. Set with people, talk about faith, try and figure out the world and you know whether it's business or faith or family, whatever it is, and believe it or not. We're already over an hour and I know you've got a hard line that you're coming up against.

SHED GEEK:

I do want to say something real quick. I want to say we did get a chance to do an episode with Edwin at the NBSRA. I've not released it, not because I don't want to, but because it's a terrible mistake on our part that we just didn't uh have our wireless mics and there was a lot of noise in the hallway and there was obviously people standing around watching and it was an excellent show, but you just can't hear his audio and that's an error on our part, you know, because I felt like that would have been excellent and there was a lot of good gems in that. Uh, so that's on me. Maybe we can make it happen again in the future.

SHED GEEK:

Ed is, you know, uh, um, his time is very valuable. So, uh, you, you know, I want to respect that and we made a mistake by not having that prepared. But it was a good interview, at least that I got guys, even if none of you guys get to hear it. It was a fun time and Ed is such a unique individual. You can't help but like him, that's correct. I mean you just there's something sort of you can't help but like him, that's correct.

SHED GEEK:

I mean, there's something sort of you know and he would probably be like I don't even care that you're saying that, that's right, but that still makes you like him more. There's something weird, some weird dynamic there. But I appreciate all that you said. I appreciate you coming on. I feel like we could talk for two or three hours and it'd be no problem. I hope you'll consider sitting with me again sometime in the future, uh, if it makes sense for you. Um travis, I appreciate you putting this together. It means a lot to me and, uh, I'm telling you, man, you mimic a lot of the qualities more than anyone I've ever found, of what the essence of the shed geek podcast should be, and your questions and your thought and the way that you put things together and, uh, I appreciate that. I appreciate that man.

Travis Beachy:

It's very kind of you. Yeah, thanks for coming on Leland and, uh, I'll just you know, uh, we didn't really go into this dynamic but we were. Uh, leland is a manufacturing partner with uh farming yard, so we sell Leland's sheds. So if you're, you know, in Texas, I'll give Leland's a little plug here. You know, we've worked with other manufacturers for sheds and they've not always done what they said that they're going to do, which causes frustration for our customers and for us. And so it's one thing that we've really enjoyed working with Leland's is they do what they say they're going to do. Leland's has made a lot of changes over the last five years. They're trying to really do great by the dealers. They're really trying to build a great product in the Texas market and they're doing that. And so if you're a dealer here in Texas and you're listening to this and you're looking for a manufacturing partner to partner up with, hit up Leland's. It's a great brand to be partnering with, great testimony.

Leland Ulrich:

Thank you, travis, and we've been very proud to partner with you at Farmer Yard and we have really enjoyed putting that model together to where we have the respect between the brands. You know, because a lot of manufacturers out there say, well, you know, I only want dealers selling for me that sell uh my brand with my brand with.

Travis Beachy:

There's such a thing as a product brand and there's a retail brand, and the day I understood that and understood how to take a product brand and create a good relationship with the retail brand and how to work that yeah, um, and you have uh just yeah great at helping us develop that, yeah, and grow that, and just really proud to be partnered yeah, that's what we like, because, I mean, farming yard is a retail brand, we're the best buy, we're the, the heb, if you will, and and we try to partner with really great brands that our customers are going to love, and so, um, you know, not all manufacturers are about that, and so, having a manufacturer partner like y'all that get that, that understand that um is, is beautiful for us and ultimately, my personal opinion, serves the client better, uh, which is what I care about the most. So, um, yeah, appreciate you guys's uh you know, um adaptability to that and your openness to that well, thank you and maybe just a message broadly to the shed industry.

Leland Ulrich:

It's uh, I was, I'm honored to be on this podcast, uh, with you two, and I just wish the best to everyone in this industry and and wherever we can collaborate. I like that you opened up with the word collaboration very fitting word, uh, for this industry, and I want to do my part to be a good member of this industry and um and and help create that center belonging in the shed industry. Thank you for what you are.

SHED GEEK:

I love it. I love it. I appreciate that. Thank you so much, travis, you want to pray us out of here? Maybe pray over the shed industry?

Travis Beachy:

Absolutely, that'd be all right, absolutely, let's do it. Thanks God for this opportunity to sit down with uh Leland. Thanks for all the um. You know the the the path that he's paved over 30 years in the industry. A lot of us have not been in the industry that long and we're benefiting from a lot of the hard work that industry leaders have put in that have come before us. I pray that you continue to bless Leland and Corey in their various business adventures, both their nonprofit work and their for-profit work. I pray that you continue to give them wisdom. Thanks for this opportunity to sit down.

Travis Beachy:

We pray for each one that's listening to this right now, whether they're struggling with their finances right now, struggling to find good team members, struggling to find good partners, or maybe they're on a winning streak right now and things are going really well. I pray that you would increase give them enough challenges to grow their faith and their belief and give them enough wins to put air in their sails, to give them the strength and the courage to continue on doing what you've put into their heart and pray for safety and thanks for this opportunity to serve so many of our fellow Americans with their storage needs. Pray that you bless Shannon with the podcast. Continue to make it prosper and make it grow. And thanks that you love us. In your name we pray, amen.

SHED GEEK:

Amen. Appreciate it so much guys, Thank you.

Building Sustainable Kingdom Communities One Shed
Maintaining Vision and Culture in Business
Evolution of the Shed Industry
Building a National Rent-to-Own Association
Lessons in Leadership and Growth
The Power of Collaboration and Competition
Prayer for Success in Business