Shed Geek Podcast

A Finish Is A Promise: Protect The Brand On Every Shed

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 6 • Episode 9

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Shoppers judge a shed in seconds, and they judge it by the finish. We sat down with Pittsburgh Paints to unpack how a shed-first coatings program can transform more than the surface: faster throughput, tighter color control, easier sales, and a stronger brand at the lot.

We get into their rebrand and why the True Industrial division focuses on manufacturers’ realities—airless application on pre-primed siding, one-coat hide on tricky whites, and waterborne transparent urethanes that deliver the stained look without the slowdowns. You’ll hear practical shop wins: why air movement beats heat for drying water-based systems, how to set up fans so panels behave like it’s San Diego year-round, and the simple 50 percent overlap that erases zebra striping. The team explains why many shops can safely cut on-hand inventory by leaning on local stocking and next-day lead times, freeing up cash while keeping paint ready.

Color becomes a strategic weapon here. We talk trend-driven palettes, regional collections, and making selection painless for buyers. On the execution side, store-level QC locks a standard so every batch matches, and a quick drill mix before application and touch-up keeps color consistent in the field. The conversation stays hands-on: reps bring their own rigs, paint alongside your team, and tune processes in place—because technique, tip size, and prep are what turn product specs into real-world results.

We close by reframing warranty as partnership. Instead of a generic line on a brochure, it’s tailored to the manufacturer’s brand promise and customer expectations. If your name is on every shed, the finish is your reputation. This is a roadmap for builders and dealers who want coatings that sell the look, protect the structure, and streamline the work.

If you’re ready to sharpen your finish and your margins, hit play, then share your biggest paint or drying challenge—we’ll surface the best solutions. And if this helped, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to a fellow builder who needs a better finish strategy.

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

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

LuxGuard
Making Sales Simple
CAL

INTRO:

Hello and welcome back to the Shed Geek Podcast. Here's a message from our studio sponsor. Let's be real. Running a shed business today isn't just about building great sheds. The industry is changing fast. We're all feeling the squeeze, competing for fewer buyers, while expectations keep climbing. And yet I hear from many of you that you are still juggling spreadsheets, clunky software, or disconnected systems. You're spending more time managing chaos than actually growing your business. That's why I want to talk to you about our studio sponsor, ShedPro. If you're not already using them, I really think you should check them out. ShedPro combines your 3D configurator, point of sale, RTO contracts, inventory, deliveries, and dealer tools all in one platform. They even integrate cleanly into our Shed Geek marketing solutions. From website leads, to final delivery, you can quote, contract, collect payment, and schedule delivery in one clean workflow. No more double entries, no more back and forth chaos. Quoting is faster, orders are cleaner. And instead of chasing down paperwork, you're actually running your business. And if you mention ShedGeek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/ShedGeek. Thank you, ShedPro, for being our studio sponsor and honestly for building something that helps the industry.

Shannon:

Okay, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you so much for listening today. Please be sure to go check out the Shed Geek newsletter by subscribing. You can go to info@ shedgeek.com. Let us know you want to be added on there to learn about new products and uh services that are hitting the industry. Uh choosing to advertise here with our network, and we thank you so much for all of you that do. Uh, go buy something from these guys today. Tell them the Shed Geek sent you. Uh, and be sure to check out some of our pages, like the Shed Sales Professionals page. Um thank you so much, uh, Cord for joining me here today. It's an excellent opportunity. It's nice weather, and it's just a good day to talk about sheds. And right now, it's a good chance to talk about paint.

Cord :

Yes, absolutely. An essential part of the shed, if you want it to last, that is.

Shannon:

Very true. So we have the folks over here at Pittsburgh Paint. We're gonna introduce them now or let them introduce themselves. So you guys might may know Pittsburgh Paint a little bit from uh PPG. You've seen that name float around a little bit, and they are rebranding, and we're here to talk about that and all the things that are important to you as a shed manufacturer, a shed seller, and the information you want to give about paint uh uh and how that makes your shed last longer, as Cord said. So welcome, Jamie, welcome, Carter. We appreciate you guys being on the show. Uh it doesn't matter to me who goes first, but uh maybe uh Carter, since I'm you're on my left here. Uh, do you want to go first and just uh tell us who you are and what you do, sir?

Carter Burns:

Yeah, so Carter Burns with uh Pittsburgh Paint Company, the True Industrial Division. So uh I cover the state of North Carolina, Virginia, uh supporting our ADMs and then some direct accounts, uh bean chips.

Shannon:

I'll tell you what, I like your haircut too, bro. I know you can't see it, but it it took me a while.

Carter Burns:

I was very contemplating on what style for this uh network. I would just leave it natural. I don't know if you can tell that or not, but uh I probably spent more time on the beard than I did the hair.

Shannon:

I I trust a fellow with a bald head and a beard. That's all I'm saying. Uh Jamie, uh, you mind introducing yourself to the listeners? Uh for those that don't know you, who are you?

Jamie White:

Yes, absolutely. First of all, I want to say thank you, thank you to Shed Geek for having us on. We really appreciate this opportunity to visit with you and talk sheds and talk paint. So, I'm Jamie Watt. I'm also with Pittsburgh Paints and our True Industrial Division. I work as our BDM or national rep. So, I work nationally with a lot of our local and state reps and then also with some of our large, large accounts.

Shannon:

Excellent. Um well, tell me a little bit about this rebrand. Tell me a little bit about the the True Industrial and Pittsburgh Paint. Obviously, a name that I've known for quite some time. You hear it of the shed industry. I used to work as a sales rep, a sales manager. I mean, these were all things that we would have done. Uh, I started actually in purchasing for those of you who don't know for a large shed manufacturer. So, this was kind of my wheelhouse back in the day, 12 years ago, to go out and try out different products and see different things like paint. And, you know, I take a little bit of credit that I began to learn something, but I'm 12 years removed. And I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm gonna try to do my best here to ask questions that really matter for the shed seller and the shed manufacturer. But tell us a little bit about this rebrand because we heard about it at the expo this year and got a chance to talk with you guys. But uh, let's tell the audience what you guys are doing.

Jamie White:

Absolutely. So, number one, we're excited about it. We a lot of the a lot of your listeners would have would know us as PPG. That's how we hit the market eight, nine years ago into the shed industry. PPG sold a division at the end of 24. And so in February of 25, Pittsburgh Paints Company was established as an independent paint company. And we still have the same shed program with the service and the same reps and all of that is still us, but we are in the midst of doing our rebrand and bringing back a long historic name, which is Pittsburgh Paints. The true industrial side is our division that is really dedicated to manufacturers. So obviously, the shed industry falls under that. We also work with you know steel fab manufacturers of trailers and a lot of other things, but really dedicated and to partnering with manufacturers to not just bring products, but to bring a whole host of services to.

Shannon:

Very good. Go ahead, Cord.

Cord :

I had spoken to you all a little bit at the expo. Uh, and for anyone who's uh watching on YouTube, you can see this directly. But for anyone listening, I would encourage you to just uh go to the Pittsburgh Paints website uh and check it out because I think you guys have done a really great job with the rebrand itself. I mean, the logo, um, the sort of terminology that you're using is just really, really great. Um, very impactful. Um, you know, those are all the things that I think about, of course, in uh marketing and branding. So I guess hats off. I know you guys are on the uh account development, business development side of the business, but the team really did a great job putting you all in a good position uh to stand out in the market, I think.

Jamie White:

Agree. Our marketing team did a lot of behind the scenes work that uh the sales team doesn't always get to see and probably doesn't always fully appreciate, but it does give us a chance to really publicly thank them. 25 was a lot of transition behind the scenes. I don't know that our you know external customers necessarily felt it because again, they're dealing with a lot of the same people, but behind the scenes, the marketing team put in a lot of work, and we're excited about 26 because now we get to make that external, and our customers can really start to see a lot of that.

Cord :

Yeah, I always appreciate a good a little bit of rivalry between the marketing and the sales team. Oh you know, so uh, but yeah, it looks great, so hats off to them. Um Carter, maybe to uh uh to get us kicked off on your side, um you know, I know one thing the listeners always kind of enjoy is just to hear the journeys um that you all have come through to wind up as business development and account development managers uh you know in the industry. So maybe walk us through a little bit of that. And then you were telling me just a little bit off air about the sort of dedicated um dedicated uh shed team that you all have over there. So maybe a little combo hit here of uh how you've wound up in the the shed industry and how you've wound up on the dedicated uh shed division would be a good start.

Carter Burns:

Yeah, absolutely. So so my I always say my 50 cent backstory um from a very small town in North Carolina called Denton. Um my grandfather owned the local hardware lumber supply store, childhood best friend. His dad actually owned a storage building manufacturing company in town. So, in a sense, I've always kind of grown up around it. Um, but yeah, I've got over 10 years just dedicated to a coating background, um, cabinetry, furniture with lacquer, uh, and now the shed and then our other industrial products. Um but yeah, speaking around the having the division, it's overlooked sometimes because so many people they just want to run down the road and just grab a quick bucket of paint, or um, you know, it's because somebody is somebody has used it for so long. Having a division really dedicated to the marketplace, it's not something that you're gonna pay necessarily the premium. It's not something that, well, am I a big enough account? It's everybody. I've I've got accounts personally that, you know, I've got a guy in eastern North Carolina, he might only do 15,000 a year. I've got an account that is well over 200,000 a year. The nice thing with us is we have programs, we have offerings that everybody can take advantage of. So, if it's something where we just provide you, you know, maybe you have you're building the sheds, you own your own shed lot, and that is it. But how do you get out and advertise? Is it something where you can take advantage of to your point? We've got a phenomenal marketing program. Is it something where we create uh PDF sale sheets that we can share with that and we tailor it and we co-brand it? Is it something where we're doing in-house spray demos and training with new people? So um color palette assessments, you know, color is huge. And a lot of people get pocketed in that color is a product, it's not necessarily the service. Um, so there's a whole multitude of things that we do that we offer that having that division where we're not focused on uh exterior house paint, protective flooring, uh, commercial marine, powder coating. Uh while we look at all that as a company, the division is nice because we're solely focused on this very intimate um you know market segment of sheds and barns. So it's a huge value that we're trying to just promote out to let people know that it's here and we really do it it it sounds cliche, but we really do value that partnership um classification.

Shannon:

Yeah, I um I'm I'm I guess I'm thinking to myself like what a shed specific uh the true industrial shed specific division is gonna bring. Because sheds has kind of uh it's kind it's kind of gotten to grow up a little bit. I mean, we're not you know near that housing market, but I mean I think you're seeing a fairly decent maturing uh industry where it becomes a fairly decent segment for any company out there that's offering products at scale, right? Whether and there's there's only so much to go around on a shed, you know, whether we're doing metal, whether we're doing wood siding or uh you know vinyl or something like that. Uh you really just see the wood-sided uh buildings dominating the market. And like, so obviously, as they're dominating the market, there's a paint covering to some extent uh out there, whether it's stain, whether it's paint, they're covering it with something. How do you feel like Pittsburgh will sort of uh you already compete in that market, but what will this rebrand and like these new ideas, these new thoughts, the shed specific uh sort of uh uh entity? How will you guys sort of approach the shed industry, you know, here in 2026 moving forward over the next five years?

Jamie White:

That's a real good question. So Carter's kind of hit on it. I'll add a little bit to it of and you kind of said it there of what does it mean to have a dedicated team? So, when we talk about our industrial group, and I mentioned earlier, we focus on manufacturers. And so, like for me, that I I spent most of my industrial career focusing on steel fab. And in that, we're partnering with manufacturers who, yes, the coding is about aesthetics, but it also is providing protection. But even bigger than that, it's representing the name of the manufacturer. So, if you're building sheds or you're building trailers, your name's on that part. That's your reputation, and it's a big responsibility for us as a paint provider because we're the first thing you see. So when you look at a shed, paint may actually be the one of the smaller cost items on that shed, but it's the first thing everybody sees. Now, I'll back it up. If you're a shed builder, you may actually look at the carpentry and the trim and some of that. But someone buying a shed, most people driving down the road seeing a shed, covers the first thing they see. And so that's a big responsibility on our part and us partnering with them to understand not just, hey, you need paint and we sell paint, it's much more than that. It's you're manufacturing. Could you build more sheds in a day? Can we do something that helps you to be more efficient? Can we reduce the number of coats? Can we help you with marketing so that you sell more sheds? You know, can we train your painters to do some things that don't so they don't waste as much paint or they're more efficient in how they paint? Those are all things that when we say partnering with manufacturing really separates. And so, for us to have a group of industrial reps around the country that their focus is manufacturers and to get into the industries to learn where their problems are, to figure out solutions, so that codings is just a piece of what we bring, not the whole pie.

Cord :

That marketing piece is so super valuable. Um as we know. I mean, obviously, uh, you know, uh Shed Geek Marketing and and we have several marketing partners um to service the industry because the need is so huge. Um, I mean, the fact that you all are willing um you know to go and co-brand and create some of the materials um, you know, that are then available that can be used as promotion and advertisement, um, you know, is great. And it makes sense, right? I mean, if you're going to pick um which of your product partners, right, that you're going to sort of uh team up with when it comes to marketing, I think that paint makes a lot of sense because it is exactly what you're saying. Um that sort of the look of the building, whether it be the color, the finish, uh, the sheen, right, that that you kind of see whenever you are approaching those buildings, really is kind of the first impression from a consumer. I like that you made that distinction because our listeners uh, you know, will be thinking about the way something is framed or uh you know the way they built those runners or whatever else. Yeah. Right. But uh, but from the consumer perspective, it certainly is just how nice does how good does it look? I mean, it's a simple, a simple thing, a straightforward thing. Um, but it really is so much of that initial value proposition that you're kind of giving to the customer. Um I would kind of like to circle back to some of that marketing partnership, but I think our manufacturer listeners would probably be interested to hear a little bit about you know what those kind of shed specific paints and coatings just to understand what your process is, sort of what that maybe what that high-end, you know, the absolute uh top of the line uh and what that entails and why it why it sticks or why it penetrates or why it uh makes it last and ultimately gives their customers and their brand that sort of boost in value.

Jamie White:

Yeah, that's a good that's a good question too. So I think a lot of people, if you're not in the paint industry, you may catch yourself saying something like, you know, hey, paint paint. And I think there's a commercial running now where this guy in his live for painting a room, and you know, he's just he makes that comment on TV and I laugh every time because he says paint is paint. But for us, we're again this goes back to the industrial mindset, the partner with manufacturing. We dove into the shed industry and we saw the connection, obviously, because they're manufacturers, so a lot of their needs and their struggles align with our the rest of our customer base. But one of the things was we need products that are dedicated to them. So a lot of paint companies, us included, when their RD is working to develop a product, they're thinking, who's my target audience and who am I developing this product for? And a lot of paint companies, when they're doing exterior house paints, which is obviously applies to the shed industry in some ways, a lot of times they're thinking about homeowners. And they're thinking about a homeowner painting with it, and they're not as concerned about certain things to where for us, when we delve into the shed industry, it was like, hey, we've got a hundred plus years of making exterior house paint. So we're not concerned from a durability standpoint, but shed builders have a little bit extra need. How many sheds can they build? How more efficient can they be? Can this paint go farther? Can it cover in one coat instead of two? Things like that. That, you know, can we have a urethane that will dry fast? Can we have a transparent urethane that will be easy to spray and easy to get an even finish? So we made sure to sit around the table with RD and develop products that would really meet their needs and you know, tweak them to meet what they need. So, when we talk about our shed products, our shed paint has really high sag resistance. So, most guys are spraying with an airless sprayer, they're over the preponed surface, and it's very easy to get runs. So, ours is made to where it's high build, so they get a high-build finish, they can put it on heavier, they can get better coverage. A lot of times in the industry, whites are difficult. Um, if there's a painter listening to this, he's probably nodding his head. It can be difficult to paint with white. We're very proud of ours that we can get it in one coat. A lot of guys are going to do two because they're just comfortable with it. And then, so that's our shed paint. Then on the urethane side, same thing. Um, waterborne urethane has really hit this market heavy over the last eight years. And the ability to take a pre-prime shed and make it look stained was a huge advantage. And the urethane does that. But creating a urethane that could be sprayed in cooler temperatures, creating one that will dry super fast and really hard to give you that hard, durable finish was important. But on top of that, was creating one that was easier to spray and get an even appearance. Because when we're doing the semi transparent, we're making it look stained. It's not a Actually stained, it looks like it is. So being able to get an EV easy appearance and easy application was critical. And those are the kind of things that make something more shed specific rather than just paint being paint.

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Shannon:

Do you think those dynamics are being driven by the consumer, the end user of their product, or do you think that this is just uh research and development that's happening with manufacturers to say, let's take a look at some of this, you know, like urethane. I I remember ordering urethane definitely 12 years ago, and it just seemed like it was exactly your point. You know, it was very it was very new, or it was just, you know, paint was dominating the market 90% of the time. Uh, but it but it did take off out of nowhere. And I remember even as being a uh, you know, a uh uh uh shed seller myself, like this was something I pushed, but I noticed that our consumer requested this oftentimes when they came in. They were at least aware enough in their research to know, like, wait a minute, I I think I want something, I want your thane. Can you explain that to me? And I did my best. But what's your what's the professional's opinion on that?

Jamie White:

So we're talking from is it consumer driven or RD manufacturing driven? I think it'd be both. I think good manufacturers are going to listen to the consumers to see, or for in our case, the shed builder, what are issues you have with coatings? What are things you'd like to see in your coatings, and then we're going back to RD going, hey, this is important to them. And for us, it's not just the shed industry, it's the industrial or manufacturing industry as a whole. But if you really took the history of any of our industrial products, I'm guessing that the root you define that consumer conversation where we went out in the field, we found needs that they had, we developed products to meet them. So, it's a little bit of we're not just selling paint, we're selling solutions kind of mindset. So, I think it's a little bit of both, but I think that's a good thought.

Shannon:

Well, I'm curious. You almost stole my thunder here a little bit on two things I was wanting to bring out. You kind of mentioned it, but I wanted to I wanted to come back into it a little on the aesthetics and the durability. What do you get from like what do you see the most in shed manufacturers? What are they requesting? You guys have been around for a hundred years or whatever. I mean, you're coming from like a large knowledge base, and uh what do you what do you feel like you're seeing the most from the manufacturer? Like when you go to the shed expo, you know, are they talking about aesthetics? Is are they talking about new colors? Are they talking about you know something that's going to hold?

Carter Burns:

I would say yeah, I would say it's a little bit of both. I think, at least for me in this past expo, you definitely heard from the manufacturing side, I would say off the cuff, more on that durability. Um most everybody, the palette, I mean, if you again speaking from my marketplace, the colors are all very similar. Um, and that's one thing, that's one nice resource we have. Uh, and I'll circle back to the durability, but just on the aesthetic, you know, we have a dedicated person that is going to um show what is trending, what are the capabilities. Uh I'll speak personally, like one of one of my um shed manufacturers, we just got done doing a palette assessment where you know, we are introducing new colors, we are phasing out old colors that just may not be performing. Um, and on that same that same outlook of their core colors. And here's the nice thing, which again, um, you know, I keep speaking about that division. They didn't even ask for this, but we pitched it. It's a great idea. We're also coming out with three kind of segment color collections. So we're doing a coastal, we're doing kind of a you know, central, and we're doing kind of a mountainous. We've had questions from other accounts, you know. Hey, you know, I'm dead center in a collegiate town. Can I have kind of a collegiate palette? So that's something that the manufacturer themselves, they don't have to try to figure out well what will sell. We have people that'll do that, but definitely, I mean, again, durability 100%. You know, there are things coming out, um, you know, claims and touts of you know what this product can do. Um, and that's one thing that we've been very successful at. I mean, we, you know, we can kind of tout that we do not have a lot of callbacks um, you know, once that shed is out in the field. Um, so, you know, with the technology that we have, again, having that dedicated RD team that's focusing on our shed division, you know, whether it is um, you know, increasing that fade resistance, you know, increasing, you know, hey, how do we make sure we don't have dirt pickup? You know, how can we make sure that throughput where we can get out and um you know I'll classify it as kind of a you know uh ready for rain type scenario, but we have those technologies that most they're factoring that in when they're doing their large-scale RD for a house or a multifamily uh development, but the shed is different. You know, the shed is gonna be out there fully exposed, the shed is going to be out there in all the elements. You know, there is not always a big oak tree protecting it from the sun. There is not always, you know, um, you know, other uh structures protecting it from you know the wind and dirt. So, um I would say you know, durability and aesthetics are probably right there neck and neck. It's just gonna be dependent on who are you asking? Are you asking the consumer? Are you asking the manufacturer?

Cord :

You know, we've actually part of the 2026 kind of shed geek mission uh is to go more directly to the consumer, um, both you know, kind of outbound, right, with messaging and letting the consumer know that shed geek is a resource, uh, right, whenever they are uh kind of looking uh you know for a shed for a solution, um, but also to receive some of that feedback because you know, we find, and I think you know, anyone who's been in the industry for a while knows that the manufacturers by and large kind of drive the styles, the colors, you know, those sort of availabilities obviously have long kind of been in a little bit more insulated world. Um, you know, and so to kind of directly get some of that consumer feedback um, you know, on all things, on all things product, all things uh, you know, uh aesthetics and everything like that, that really is uh one of our aims in 2026. And so we would we would want to work with you guys uh you know, even going forward into this this year, um, you know, and making sure that when we get that feedback, we're able to pass it through to the people who can affect the change. But um, Carter, you know, I think for you, um, you know, being kind of uh on the ground as an account rep, I think you said, did you tell, did you say the Carolinas in Virginia? Is that where you're at?

Carter Burns:

Yeah, essentially. I try to go wherever they let me, but they try to keep me right there in the Carolinas in Virginia.

Cord :

Well, there's plenty of business out there.

Carter Burns:

That's a you know, I'm I I'm like a dog. If I I'm like a dog with a scent. I I'll go wherever. So I after the Shed Expo, I was trying to go out to Oregon and land an account. So, we'll uh but yeah, the Carolinas in Virginia.

Cord :

Well, you know, it uh you know you all have talked a lot about um you know how you really want to partner, truly partner with your uh with the manufacturers, with those, you know, who you're working with on efficiencies. Um, you know, it sounds like you obviously have a relationship. You've even thrown out a couple good examples for us of you know some accounts that you have, it sounds like. So, you know, maybe just um talk us through a little bit what it looks like to be a customer of Carter Burns and Pittsburgh Paints, and kind of like what do you expect? Are you know around on a on a regular basis? Uh just kind of walk me through you know how you approach that relationship.

Carter Burns:

Yeah, I mean I'm a sales guy, so I mean this with all good intentions from my colleagues, but there's nobody that does it like me. That said, we're all good. Everybody's an A-rated, I'm an A. But um no, I mean I love it.

Shannon:

I love it, man.

Carter Burns:

I'm but I've um I mean I'm serious. Like I've got accounts. I mean, I was traveling to a meeting and saw sheds on the side of the road, and I stopped in. The guy's like, hey, yeah, it's just me. I have one lot, um, I built it myself, and I took time and I talked with them. And the biggest thing for me, and it sounds so cliche, and probably there's gonna be people that roll their eyes to it. It's just taking the time and it's understanding that this person, Jamie said it earlier, they're building something that has their name associated to it. I genuinely have an interest in that. Again, I come from a family where my grandfather owned his own business. I've got friends that own their own businesses that we're shed building. So, it's really an intimate partnership where I will take as much information as you're willing to give me. Um, it's an old adage, or right here at the holiday times. I've already sent all my accounts a text saying, hey, if you guys are working, my phone will be on. Let me know. Um, you know, because we've got tax season coming up, people are going to start planning to use those refund checks. But no, it's really just understanding what they are wanting to get out of their company. Is it just we want to turn out as many sheds as possible? You know, the sheds used to always be the accessory for the home. That's not the case anymore. Now the shed could be the primary, the shed could be the escape. You know, is it the man cave or the she shed? Um, it could be an add-on at a restaurant and there's a golf simulator in there. The shed can be anything that you want it to be. So uh how do we encompass that and how do we make it one uh easy application for your painters, but easy selection for the consumer? So again, color used to always be thought about as a product. You know, there used to be great other marketing agencies that would make you think you have to use this color from this paint. And if you don't know, you just don't know. But color is not a product, so it's a service. How do we just match that color? Um and well, again, with us having, I mean, we've got over 600 stores nationwide. Um, we have partners that can, you know, if you have something where it's, you know, my dad had a custom motorcycle, I want the same shed color that's on his gas tank, we can match that. You have a James Hardy color or an HOA requirement, we can match that. Um, it's letting because honestly, that that's literally, you know, Jamie talked earlier about our you know, our RD with our product. Um, I have one kind of trick of the trade whenever I go out and do a demo that um yeah, I won't really share here. If any of the listeners want to see what that is, I'll come out and do a demo, but it's never failed yet, and it proves without a doubt our quality, our coverage, our hide. Once that's done, it normally falls around color. So once I once I get past the product and just the open-mindedness um objections, it comes to a color conversation. And then again, once they understand how big we are, but also how intimate we like to be, it it's really a no-brainer. Um, so it's understanding what we can do for them. As we mentioned earlier, if they are a small shed account, we'll still help co-brand and do sales sheets for them, um, do color sheets that they can hand out to their customers. If it's a larger account, then we can look at what does that entail? You know, how intricate are you going to be with your, you know, if you've got 20-some sales lots, you've got a national sales team, great. We'll still sit down and we'll we'll tailor something out that works from there. But it's really just sitting down with that account and finding out what is your goal, where are your touch points right now, and even what do you like currently? And then how do we build from that, showcasing what we have to offer.

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Jamie White:

So I'll just add that to the list of the Carter Burns experience.

Shannon:

So I just want you to know, Jamie, you ain't surprising, you ain't getting nothing by these two guys over here. Like we we snack more than we do anything over here at Shed Keeks.

Carter Burns:

Yeah, yeah. I'm a wild game hunter. So uh it's I I I've um Jamie stays far away from me anytime I tell him I'm going out in the woods or I'm smoking something. So, he uh he he's not trying anything that I'm coming up with.

Shannon:

We're gonna have to make it a point to come down there because that's right up our alley. You ain't gonna hurt our feelings any. We will be test dummies anytime you want.

Jamie White:

Um my best advice is don't asking, just eat it. Don't ask what it is.

Shannon:

Just go with it. Yeah, you're very good.

Cord :

Are you a duck hunter at all, Carter, or no?

Carter Burns:

What was that?

Cord :

Are you a duck hunter at all or no?

Carter Burns:

I've gone a couple times. Um, it's not the forte, but I, you know, I I'll break out my beretta or banana anytime you want to go, but no, I've I've got a freezer with um, you know, I just harvested a couple doughs. So I've got my venison, I've got my wild boar, I've got some elk. Unfortunately, I did not shoot it myself. It's still on the bucket list, but um, I've also got some kangaroo. So, if you uh wow. So, if you if you ever tried elk, I would highly recommend kangaroo. I kind of freaked out the Joey people at the last shed expo. I think I was the only person that asked them if they if they had ever tried kangaroo before. They kind of gave me a weird look.

Shannon:

That's so good, yeah.

Cord :

I was just gonna say, my son is now uh guiding duck hunts. Of course, we're here at the end of duck season this year, but if you're in this neck of the woods, uh, you know, he's really, really great at it. And he's doing some good work over there uh in southeast Missouri. So, if you're in the in the neighborhood during duck season, uh let's go do that because uh he's pretty he's pretty good at it, and we'll get to eat some, you said weird foods. One of my favorites is jalapeno duck cornbread. So those are three words that couldn't go together, but my goodness, do they taste good?

Carter Burns:

Well, I'm sure there's some sheds out in Missouri, so I'll let Jenga know I'll be booking the flight to Missouri here soon.

Cord :

That's right.

Shannon:

That's right. I'll tell you what, uh Coleman, Alabama, Lin Kaufmann, you better keep your kangaroos down there safe and sound uh around Carter, it sounds like them Joey lifts. But I thought that was pretty good, them bringing that uh kangaroo last year. Um uh I wanted to, a couple of things I wanted to do. Well, first, uh you know, my own personal story is you know, I I can certainly remember working for a door manufacturer and we use Pittsburgh, and there's actually a local store here in Paducah, Kentucky. So we used to order our paint from there. So we're we're you know, I became very familiar with the product years ago. Again, you know, I worked in purchasing, you know, for for shed companies. So like we would have done some demos, and I'll tell you what, I'd have taken you up on a demo anytime. If I thought I was getting food, I would have paid you to come give me a demo. Um, but but I wanted to ask a few questions here. Uh uh the first question I want to ask before before we we did like a little project this time. We said, hey, we're getting ready to to interview uh a paint supplier here for the shed industry. What questions would you have? And I got a couple of those, but my first question is a little bit more bland, it's not gonna be as specific as a as a shed uh manufacturer. Uh and one of the first questions I'm gonna get to here is from Arlen Rheil. Arlen and Mike Yoder out there at Westwood Sheds. You guys probably know I'm down in uh Dew West, South Carolina. Great group of guys, friends of the show, been on a couple of times. So I'm thankful, Arlen, you would participate and giving us a chance to ask the professionals here a question. But my question is very simple. What is the most important message that you uh as a paint supplier want shed manufacturers or shed sellers to know going into 2026? What's the top of your list?

Jamie White:

You're saying what's the most important question they should ask?

Shannon:

Well, what's the most important? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the most important piece of information that you want to get out to shed sellers and shed manufacturers going into this rebrand and just looking at 2026 and what paint coverings look like uh or urethane uh as a whole? What's the message you would want them to know if they don't have access to uh uh taking the time to learn about paint? You know. Most people just don't dive in that deep.

Jamie White:

That's a good question. So I think for me, if I'm looking at it from the most important thing they would need to know from us is there's more than paint. And I know Carter's hit on it, I've hit on it some, but we can't stress it enough. There's more to it than paint. It's the relationship, it's the services, it's the improving the efficiency of your business. And you asked something earlier, you and Carter had a conversation on what do we get asked the most, like at the shed show. Was it durability? Was it aesthetic? I am I'm sitting there listening thinking, you know, a lot of times we get asked only about durability and pricing because I think a lot of times they don't realize there's other things available to them. And so they don't even know to ask. And so that's kind of for me, if if I'm a shed builder looking at paints, ask about more than the product. What's the service going to be? What's the lead time going to be? One thing where we feel like we can bring an advantage is the local stocking and service. So, our ability to reduce your own hand inventory. If you run any kind of manufacturing business, inventory is a massive line item on your PL. Well, as we go into places and they'll have a thousand gallons, literally, a thousand gallons of paint sitting in their paint room. And then I'll ask, how many gallons do you spray a week? 50. But you're sitting on 20, 30, 40,000 of inventory that you only use 50 gallons a week, and you don't get that money back until you sell that shed, which that could be a while, depending on how you're doing your shed sales. So for us, one of the biggest conversations we end up having is we will again back to the partnership. We're not just selling you paint, we're trying to help your business and especially your paint business run more efficiently. If I can reduce your inventory from a thousand to two hundred, and you can get it with lead times of a day instead of three or four days, if you don't have to have it shipped somewhere because it's local, then that 40,000 goes back to your pocket. And that's cash flow. So a lot of times, I mean, if you're asking what's the most important question, is ask what else comes with the pain. What else do I have to do?

Shannon:

The collaborative efforts that you've talked about here, whether it be the uh sheets, the PDF sheets that you guys do, or just the collaborative marketing uh efforts, I would be curious at how you guys collaborate with you know uh others in the industry, you know, whether it be the actual uh siding providers or whatever. And I'm sure you have some thoughts on that, but I'm gonna get to Arlen's question here. Uh he just said, look, we we've experienced three main issues through the years. How to dry paint in the cold, humid climate that's typical for southeast winters. Uh easiest heating methods are often humid, uh gas, uh, and we use radiant barrier siding so it doesn't heat well uh from the from the inside out. What would you guys uh respond to Arlen on that?

Jamie White:

So the majority of the shed industry is going to be using water-based paints, and the biggest thing we found to help drying of water-based paints is air movement. Heat most people would think, hey, I just need it to be warmer. And heat will work a little bit, but heat's not as important as air movement. If you can get air blowing across that paint, it will draw the moisture out. And then drawing that water out of that coating leaves the coating. So the biggest thing we're running into, I'll do a demo at a shop and I'm talking air movement, and they'll go, oh yeah, we got fans, and they'll point up. And I'll look up, and 20 feet above us will be a ceiling fan, but you can't feel it. We're talking about I want the paint to think it's San Diego year-round, right? And we sell coatings in the far north, we sell coatings in Alaska, but we also sell coatings in Texas and Florida. So, the temperature, the weather, the environment are totally different. But the paint doesn't know it, it doesn't know where it's at. So if you can get fans, if you can get air movement, if you can get where there's a breeze across it, I sprayed urethane in a paint room that was 55 degrees. And we put fans on it and it dried like it was 80 degrees. But I've also painted where the guy cranked the heat up and it's 10 degrees outside, it's 95 in his shop, and the paint won't dry because it's so humid. So the biggest thing, regardless of time of year, is air movement. Um, one of the services we've kind of provided too is we've written tech articles that will talk about some of the key technical aspects of painting, some of the things that you'll run into, whether that's touch-up or air, you know, driving or whatever. So we've written tech articles that one for our sales team to help educate them, but two is a resource to leave with the painter. A lot of times you don't know what you don't know, and no one's taught you. So this is a resource to leave with you. But one of those articles speaks on that is speeding up dry time with air movement and using fans, and it's amazing how much faster. And then that goes back to the efficiency thing. The faster I can get it to dry, the faster I can get it out of the booth, faster I can get to the next shed to paint. So, and a lot of times air movement is cheaper than heat. So it's it's more cost efficient, too.

Shannon:

Gosh, it makes a lot of sense. I feel like I'm I'm getting a good education here myself on this. These are questions that take me back 12 years that would have been so much. I don't know if this is a question, but he just kind of said, you know, this was an issue throughout the years. Uh, you know, uh I guess something that he would like for you guys to at least address or give your thoughts on. Reliable color consistency. You know, what is uh what what do you guys do for that? I mean, from one batch to the next, how do we know what we're getting, right?

Jamie White:

Yeah, and color consistency can be a two-sided deal. So you've got the manufacturer side, that'd be us. We need to have high levels of quality control. So our factories are checking, uh doing QC on every batch they make. But then also at our store level, Carter talked about our ability to match your daddy's motorcycle or your HOA color. Well, if you want to run shed after shed of a certain color, we have QC processes at our store to where we have an original standard, and every gallon they make from day one to five years down the road is checked against that standard and doesn't leave until then. So on that side of the coin, that's our responsibility to ensure you get the same color over and over, and that's part of the partnership. On the flip side, we run into, and some of this is back to you don't know what you don't know, but shed builders can also help ensure it by just good paint practices. And one of those is mix your paint before you use it. And you don't need a fancy mixer like a store has. You can take a drill, and we're talking a 30-second deal. This is not time consuming, but if you'll mix it up before you paint the shed, and then a week later, two weeks, three week, a month, whenever you want to do a touch-up, if you'll take that bucket and drill mix it again, your consistency will go way up. And color inconsistency creates all kinds of problems, touch-up being one of them, but so much of it can be fixed on the painter side by good practices, and then making sure your paint manufacturing partner has good QC standards.

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Carter Burns:

Yeah, I was just gonna I was gonna echo on that. That again, that's one of the nice things that to Jamie's point, we without a doubt have to make sure our checks and balances are in place. But to the cop, you know, to his comment if you don't know what you don't know, how many times is the painter out, or does the painter, you know, for whatever reason is not there, and you're pulling the guy off of the line that is normally framing, and now he's got a paint. Having the local support and then also us as the regionals, uh to again, I think we commented earlier, like we'll come in, you have somebody that, you know, hey, they're gonna be my backup painter, but they're not really sprayed a lot. Some of the biggest stuff is just one, making sure you've got the right tip in, you've got the paint prepped. Again, that drill agitation is key. Making sure you're doing, you know, a um, you know, a 50% overlap, not trying to go just tell to tail is huge. So again, we come in, we take that time because again, we're we're partnered in with your business. Um, I was wanting to kind of also uh piggyback on the question of what do these guys need to know for 2026. If memory serves, I think I've got somewhere in my phone a text stream with Mike. So, the one thing I'd like for him to know is that offer to come out and do a demo still stands. Um, and we would love nothing else than to come out and at the end of the day, we're just showing you again what else is out there. Because so many people just, well, it's what we've always done, or I can get it, you know, right down the road. To me, that's what I'm gonna say. That's kind of when it is a pain is pain. But until you open the mind up to let every option come in, then you step back and say, okay, what makes sense for the business, what makes sense for the throughput, what makes sense for the customer, then let's make that decision. Um, so that would be my message is uh that demo opportunity is still out there, and I would love nothing else than to come down and showcase kind of what we can do.

Shannon:

Hey, you heard it, Mike and Arlen. These guys end up giving you uh uh uh a demo when you start with the paint. Um we like our steaks around here medium cooked. So just wink, wink, wink, uh Mike and Arlen. Uh great guys down there, really leaders in the industry. Always appreciate their insight on things. You kind of answered one of the one of the final questions earlier with your uh the conversation piece earlier where he was talking about color matching to homeowners uh or other buildings. If you guys want to touch on that some more too, that's fine. But Jonathan Hickman here also wrote in and asked a question, said, uh, you know, what types of stains uh can we put on smart siding? Uh do you guys want to tackle that? Is there any specific thought to uh specific products that are out there?

Jamie White:

Yeah, that's a that's a good question because I think there's a maybe a misperception, or maybe we're using paint turns and we all kind of have our own definitions of them. So, when we think about stain, generally in the paint industry, stain has always meant a product that was semi-transparent and that would penetrate. So, you're thinking about your deck at your house, you're thinking about your fence, maybe your cabin, and you're putting it on a raw wood that this product will penetrate, it'll give some color, it'll seal the wood. So that's always been stained. Well, with the with LP and dura temp and these pre-pine prime siding coming into the shed industry, that changed things. When the shed industry was heavily just T111, then you had to stain it. And everybody that's ever built a shed has built a T111 shed and put honey gold stain on it. I mean, that was just kind of all you could get. And so ordered a bunch of it.

Speaker 2:

I mean, ordered so much of it back in the day.

Jamie White:

We still sell a lot of it, but the with LP and DuraTemp and those companies coming in and with the pre-prime, the consumer still loves that rustic stain look. But you need a product that gets it. So I know we talked that earlier with the transparent urethane. The difference is though, the waterborne transparent urethanes that go on pre-prime, they're not stains, they're coatings. And the difference is a coating lays on top, a stain penetrates. So if you are putting it over a pre-prime surface, there's nothing to penetrate. It's already coated. So you've got to have a coating just lay on top and adhere to that primer. And I think that's a little bit of that maybe misnomer, misperception kind of thing. So, when we're talking the pre-primes, you really got to be looking at either paint, which is a coating but solid color, or you've got to be looking at semi-transparent urethans that appear stained. Now, we've run into shops where, again, you don't know what you don't know. And so they're taking stain that they put on a T111 building and they're spraying it on an LP or dura temp building. And it gets the right appearance, but it could take a long time to dry because it wants to soak into something and there's nothing there to soak into. So it's just laying there and it's not made for that. Um, so and then it opens the door to a lot of other technical issues that can hit you down the road. So I think it is really important to know stain is penetrating, that's for raw wood. Coatings are for your pre-primed, and you need to find one that has the appearance, whether solid or semi-transparent, that you're looking for.

Shannon:

Man, what a great. I feel like just an educational segment, like an educational webinar, would go such a long way if we could organize manufacturers to be able to have those questions, even an online demo to some extent, that just kind of uh discusses the more uh intimate, you know, questions that you get from the from the actual applicator themselves. I mean, that was my biggest problem, Carter. You addressed it earlier, that 50% overlay versus that tail-to-tale. I mean, trust me, I was a I was the tell-to-tell guy. I could not get it down whenever I was painting doors, painting trim. Like I it takes a special skill, you know, for the person who can apply correctly.

Carter Burns:

Yeah, and it's I mean, I I've seen it where, you know, I'll go out and do demos. Um, you know, and my biggest pet peeve, I hate just dropping product off and saying, hey, let me know how it works out. Um, it's two and far between when it happens. Um, but yeah, there then there's been times where you get the call and they say, Hey, you told me all this would work. Um, I'm not seeing it. We'll come out, we'll inspect. Um, and here's our biggest thing too. We anytime we make a suggestion to the finisher, um, and for any of those people that are listening that are our current opportunities or current customers, by no means are we ever trying to say, hey, you're doing something wrong. But we just like to bring to the table saying, hey, you know, just uh pull it in just a little bit. You're not gonna use more paint, you're not gonna waste paint, but you're gonna get that uh coverage. Um, and it's uh it's with any industry. Um, you know, I've got a big background in in lacquer with furniture and cabinetry. It's the same concept. You want that 50% overlay. If you're spraying trailers, if you're spraying dumpsters, again, 50%. That way you're gonna take out the zebra stripes, and if you can go tail to tail, that is phenomenal, but it's not needed, and you're gonna give yourself more headache than you are pets on the back, um, just in a in a reality sense.

Jamie White:

And I would add something to that. We, you know, Carter and I sales guys, we love taking people to mills, we love dealing with owners and purchasing agents. But I'll just tell you with my history, I painted houses in the past. I'm a son of a painter. The funnest part of the shed industry is putting paint clothes on and painting a shed with a guy. And the opportunity to go out and just get your hands dirty with it. And we will, you know, I've got a Greco 395 sitting six feet from me right now, covered in paint with stickers from states that it's traveled to on top of it, because that's one of the things we offer is we don't, Carter said it. I cringe if I'm they want me to just drop the paint off. I want to paint it with you and not so I can teach you. I like painting and I like painting sheds, and I learn from painters. And a lot of times there's a disconnect between the owner of the company or the purchasing manager and the painter. And they both have different things they're looking for, they both have different things that they need from a paint provider, but I want to hear from that painter what would make his or her life easier. And they can teach me tips and I can teach them things I've learned. But we love to paint with them. I like to bring my own airless. I understand they're in manufacturing, they got paint loaded up in theirs. They don't want to clean all that up just to test my paint. That's not efficient for them, and I'm not trying to stop their production. We bring our home airless, we'll sit up in the corner of the paint room. You got plenty of scrapboards. Let's play around, let's test it, let's see what it'll do, let's see what it won't do. Let's try some things. If it doesn't work for you, we'll go find something else. But that side of it's big. And being able to paint with them is a is a joy.

Shannon:

You speaking to the heart of the industry right there. I mean, that doesn't get any more, that doesn't get any more shed specific than that because uh shed folks want to see it before they uh before they jump into it. Yeah, prove it to me. They're all from the show me state, right? Yeah, like I want to I want to see. Uh, I know we're pushing an hour. Uh if you guys want, if we've got a little bit of time to address this, it may may be short-lived for your answer, and that's okay. We can always uh get some of this information in on a future episode or whatever. Uh Landon Walker did kind of ask about uh warranty questions. Do you guys uh do you guys have we're up against a uh hard stop here soon, but can you guys address sort of what warranty looks like?

Jamie White:

Yeah, Carter, you want to take that one?

Carter Burns:

Yeah, I mean, and uh not trying to skirt the issue or anything by any means, but this is the bottom line to kind of how we go about it. Uh we referenced it earlier, it's not a cookie cutter approach. Um, you know, we can I kind of resort back to the uh the Tommy Boy movie. You know, why do they put the warranty on the box? Because it makes everybody warm and busted. It's on the box. Here's what we do. I've Probably got uh you know 10 accounts, and I've also got 10 different warranties. Um, we're gonna give a warranty that is gonna cover the manufacturer, we're also gonna give a warranty that covers your homeowner. Um, so if they have something, and again, this is something where again we're partnering in. So I say this as non-loosely as possible, but if they have an issue that they feel adamant about, and it's going to one affect their aesthetics of their home, uh, if it also runs the risk of affecting the brand of the of the partner we're partnering with, then we're gonna sit down, we're gonna take a look at it. Um, so again, not uh I know I'm giving a vague answer, but it's more of what warranty do we need to give for the customer satisfaction and quality. And that is Taylor, you know, so many different shed companies have different warranties. You know, there are there are sheds that they offer a five, a 10. There are some accounts that will offer an extended warranty. We will still sit down and have a conversation and say, okay, here's what you offer, here's what we're prepared to do. Does this make sense? And that's really what it's about. It's not me telling you, here's my warranty, it's no questions asked. If you don't apply it correctly, I'm gonna void your warranty. We're not having those conversations on the nitty-gritty of it. We're sitting down saying, okay, hey, when we go on your landing page or if you're doing a sell sheet, what makes sense for your customer and your business? And that's pr that's how we go to go to market with our warranties.

Shannon:

Yeah, I'll tell you what. Oh, go ahead, Jamie. Go ahead.

Jamie White:

Just gonna add one thing. Carter said it well there. We're we don't warranties aren't part of our marketing package, they're part of our partnership package. Yeah, so when we sit down to cater a program for you, whether that's cover resources, tech resources, local stock, whatever you need to grow and make your shed business more efficient, warranty falls into that package. It's not part of our marketing program. And that's a there's a big difference in marketing warranty and it being a partnership. And we lean on the partnership side with it.

Shannon:

Very, very well said. Very well said, Carter, kudos to you, man, for the first Tommy Boy uh uh attributable conversation that we've had here at the Shed Geek podcast, bringing new stuff out today. Uh with Tommy Boy.

Carter Burns:

I figured I would hold I figured I would hold up on the butcher uh comment. Probably wise. Probably wise.

Shannon:

Probably a good call. Oh, it's too funny. And for those of you that get that reference, we are friends, just so you know. Um I uh well, I appreciate you guys so much. Court, any thoughts that you want? Uh any questions, any just uh just wrapping up here? Anything that you wanted to say? Uh uh I I've enjoyed this thoroughly.

Cord :

Yeah, no, I think uh even that last explanation, I think, just really encapsulates the whole approach that you guys are taking. Um, right? This isn't something that you're putting when it comes to warranty or you know, that's not something you're putting in a marketing package um, you know, to try and get people to call you, right? That's something that you want to talk about, want to want to truly partner on and say, hey, what makes sense for your customers? How do we make this a success? What are you offering and how can we be a part of that? I mean, it's it's hard for me to argue that there's a better way to approach warranty than just that. Because like you said, um if you have a blanket warranty on the product side, I mean, I guess, you know, that's a way to approach it. Um, but if it's not matching up with what the, you know, with the expectations of that manufacturer and then what they're saying to their customer, then what do you have other than a bunch of crosstalk? Um, you know, and that's not good for anybody, um, you know, whether it be at the point of the sale or whether it be down the line, right? So that makes a heck of a lot of sense to me. Um and just in general, you all's approach, whether it be uh that partnership on the warranty side, whether it be the efficiency and discovering that efficiency um, you know, within the operations itself, all the way through to um offering your in-house uh you know marketing services to that dealer and manufacturer level, to then put that in front of the customer. It just seems like you guys are really thinking about um, you know, how those partnerships work and where the value is uh you know to those partners themselves. And so, you know, for me it's just a kudos because it sounds like you all have thought through all of it and have taken the approach that you're gonna do what's best for your customers and your clients at all points in that equation. Um, you know, and that's not always the case. So uh from my perspective, Shannon, uh, you know, these guys uh seem like two really great guys and guys uh that have a great value prop. I would give them a call if I was building sheds. So that's my take on it.

Shannon:

If people want to get a hold of you, Carter, Jamie, what's the best way? Uh obviously, we'll have a uh a link here in our newsletter. So if you don't get our newsletter, again, info at shedge.com or just go to the website, get a hold of us somehow. We're plastered all over the internet. So reach out to us. We'll get you in touch with these guys if you don't know how already there's 600 stores loaded located uh all across the state, so you can probably uh throw a baseball and hit one today, you know. So uh definitely give them a uh a call. But how will they reach you guys? What's the best way to get a hold of you?

Jamie White:

Go ahead, Sorry.

Carter Burns:

Go ahead, Jim.

Jamie White:

I'm gonna say phone and email will be the best way. So we can give it out on here if it's gonna be part of your newsletter, whichever way you want to do it best. But I mean, we're regular guys, so call us, text us, email us, whatever works best for you. You know, we're happy to happy to work with you either way.

Carter Burns:

Yeah, and I just I was gonna echo that, and even you know, I I've even one of my largest accounts, I actually got in by um adding them on their director of operations on Facebook. So um, you know, we Jamie has a uh a saying for me that we'll hold here, but you know, we'll um while we've been talking about all of this, um I I'll kind of one of my last comments would be this we've told you about our program that it may come across as you know a premium program, and it is. It is a phenomenal program. It's something that nobody else is really tackling and doing. Um, so when you hear that, you're like, all right, what's there's a catch. It's a premium program and it's not at a premium price. And for anybody, whether it's you know um Mike that we referenced earlier, anybody out here um throughout the US, call us for a demo, you know, put us to the table to prove what we've been talking about. And then here's the other thing, too, is you know, again, we're big on partnering. If you're wanting us to come out and do a demo, and then it's gonna be the very cold shoulder of just give me your best price. We need to have a deeper conversation, um, especially for my accounts. Like I will speak specifically for mine. I'm just an educated redneck. Um, I hate dickering. I want to know what it's gonna take to win the business. I'm gonna show you what I can provide to cover your business. And let's just have that conversation. So, yes, it's a premium program, it's not at a premium price, and we're not new to this game. If anything, we're set to be for 2026 the driving force for the shed industry when it comes to paint and coatings.

Shannon:

Hey, what a good word. These guys, and I promise you, the listeners understand that well enough to know that they want the opportunity to sell to the customers whenever they walk in the door, too. So, they want a deeper level conversation when someone comes in. And if you're just trying to get the building out the door without any conversation, and you're just trying to go hit those price shoppers, you know, you can find out most of that information from the internet. But what Jamie said earlier is saddling up, putting on, you know, the paint clothes and getting out here with you, that's a different level of demo. That's a different level of customer service. And that's why we're proud uh that you guys are here with us on the Shed Geek podcast. And who knows, hopefully be more conversations to happen in the future in 2026. We're really excited, as Cord said earlier, about getting into that consumer space with a channel because we really believe the consumer does have a lot of say uh in the in this process. And sometimes, you know, we just don't know what to ask because we don't know what they want. So, we've got to get to that consumer and understand what are the things they're looking at. And uh, whichever one of you said it right off the cuff, you know, it's the first thing you notice about a shed. I mean, it's the first thing you notice about a shed. I had an OT111 shed that was in my in my yard at the last house. Guess what happened? You know, delamination, you know, and uh the stain was starting to pull away where it had dried, you know. We painted it, you know, went to Pittsburgh over here in Paducah, got a good paint, you know, talked to the rep there to find out what we needed to do to put on that. And like, look, I'm a big fan of T111. Don't get me wrong, I love it. It's been a great product for so many times. You know, it just it had sat in that yard for a long time, you know, and it really needed some attention or whatever. And uh, you know, you guys, you guys over in Paducah did a really good job for us whenever we were looking for that. So uh it speaks to the it speaks to the quality of what you do and the quality of people that you have working at the organization. I can't say enough good about uh just going back and forth with you guys and Bryce and everybody over there. Been very, very fun to talk to. And I'm wishing you guys nothing but success. And 2026, you ever get out to Paducah? Give us a holler. We can't get you kangaroo, but uh you know, we can we can get you McDonald's or something, you know.

Jamie White:

You got good eating in Paducah. I've been there a lot. I got my uh introduction to the shed industry in Paducah, so I will definitely hit you up next time I'm there.

Shannon:

Sure thing, sure thing. Come on over. Our office is sitting in a church building, so many. We'll uh we'll uh we'll eat together and pray together and all that good stuff. So um, hey, it's been awesome just getting to know you guys. Any final thoughts, any questions you have for us uh over here at Shed Geek? Any way that we can help you in any way, shape, or form?

Carter Burns:

No, just again, Jamie echoed it earlier. I mean, we're just extremely appreciative of the opportunity. You know, it was great to link up at the expo. Um, again, podcasting is you know, it's growing leaps and bounds. So, you know, I mean, the only thing that we could ask if anybody has if there's any questions outside of what didn't get covered on the podcast, or if there's any questions that come up throughout, use us as a resource, use us as a stepping board. And again, for any of the listeners that have questions, curiosities, you don't have to be a current buying customer to ask a question. Um, you know, just be open-minded when we come back and say, hey, how about we come out and you know, we do this together. That's the biggest thing. We're not trying to just sell a bucket of paint and move on. We want to do it together because again, there's multiple brands at stake. And even mine and Jamie and our other fellow uh specialists, we have our own brand that we carry day in and day out. So, um it might sound cliche, it might not be you know echoed in today's time, but it's a true fashion. Like we want to partner and we want to cater to an industry that you know is so intimate with you know its customers and manufacturers.

Jamie White:

Yeah, I don't have any questions either. I'll just echo the thank you. The opportunity to get to speak directly to this industry and shed builders is huge. A lot of times in marketing, you're kind of just broad and you don't get to speak direct to your market. So, you know, the shed show is always a blast, and uh getting to see your company grow over the last several years and the opportunity to sit down and talk sheds is huge. And we love this industry, and I love the people in it. I sell coatings and services to a lot of different industries, but none of them are quite like the shed industry. And you know, growing up in a small town in Arkansas, I've never dreamed I would travel the country selling shed pain. But it's been a visit and it's been a blast, and so this is just another step in it for the opportunity to finally get to be on the shed geek podcast. You know, my my family's sitting inside the house right now, waiting for me to get done, but they all think I'm famous now because I got on the podcast. So, you made me a hero, at least in my house, so I appreciate it.

Shannon:

I'll tell you what. That that means a lot to me, just that uh people would appreciate, you know, uh tuning in and listening. It's because of folks like you that provide great content with educational segments like this to the listeners that uh that makes these things possible. We were early adopters on podcasting, you know, we're five years in now, uh, but we believe that the it's the future because people like conversation and they want to understand. And when you're going down the road, sometimes music don't cut it. You just really want to hear about uh, you know, your products and the services and from the people and the professionals that provide it, like yourself. Uh, can't say enough good about Pittsburgh Paints and the rebrand and uh the true industrial uh uh you know whole everything that you're bringing. We've learned so much here today. Certainly welcome you guys back and can't say thank you enough, you know, for your time here today. So, uh we will see you guys soon. If you need more information, please go click uh uh click on the newsletter, just check it out. We'll have a picture on there, we'll have a thumbnail picture on there for those of you who watch on YouTube. Uh, if you get on our newsletter, click on that picture. Uh, it'll take you right to the information for these guys. We'll make sure to make it available uh as well, too, for anybody who reaches out. Info@ shedgeek.com. We thank you so much, Carter and Jamie, for being on with us today at Pittsburgh Paints. Uh, wish you all the success in 2026. Thank you. Thank you.

OUTRO:

Thanks again, Shed Pro, for being the Shed Geeks Studio sponsor. If you need any more information about ShedPro or about Shed Geek, just reach out. You can reach us by email at info@ Shedgeek.com. Or just go to our website, www.shedgeek.com and submit a form with your information, and we'll be in contact right away. Thank you again for listening, as always, to today's episode of the Shed Geek Podcast. Thank you and have a blessed day.