Legacy Over Hype: Slow, Steady, And Unshakable In A Storm

A 50-year shed business doesn’t survive on catchy pitches; it survives on trust. We sit with Mike Langston of Tampa Sheds to explore how a family company grew from corrugated aluminum buildings to a modern, code-savvy operation that anchors, delivers, and stands behind every promise. Mike shares how his grandfather’s rule—take care of the customer and the money takes care of itself—still guides decisions, from sending build-on-site leads to competitors to focusing on fit over features.

The conversation gets real on sales and service: listening twice as much as you talk, defusing the “I can build it cheaper” line with clarity, and respecting shoppers who compare lots without throwing mud. We unpack aluminum versus wood trade-offs, HOA realities, and why customers value people they can find tomorrow as much as prices they can see today. Then we go deep on resilience. After Hurricane Ian destroyed an entire location, Mike moved an RV to the site, fed neighbors and linemen, coordinated replacements with his manufacturer, and lived “all hands on deck” for months. That response wasn’t a campaign; it was character.

Leadership threads through every story: admitting mistakes, building a patient team, and joining peer groups to keep learning. We also look ahead. Automation with IdeaRoom and CAL eliminates triple checks and frees staff to serve, while a fourth-generation transition plan aims to beat the odds for family businesses. Collaboration over competition emerges as a theme—share what works, lift standards, and protect the industry from outsiders who only chase financing spreads.

If you care about small business leadership, customer experience, local reputation, hurricane readiness, or the nuts and bolts of selling sheds with integrity, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a fellow builder or dealer, and leave a review with your favorite takeaway so we can keep raising the bar together.

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This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Shed Pro

Identigrow
Solar Blaster
Cardinal Manufacturing
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Transcript

Sponsor Message: ShedPro Workflow

INTRO 0:00

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 filling 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 lead 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 Shed Geek, you'll get 25% off all setup fees. Check it out at shedpro.co/shed geek. Thank you, Shed Pro, for being our studio sponsor, and honestly, for building something that helps the industry.

Introducing Peter And Consulting Team

Shannon 1:33

Alright, welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast, where we are now in a little far. Well, we're not really farther south. We almost went west, but we got nicer weather for some reason here in Tampa. Uh and uh 62 degrees, but it's getting dark, and we're getting excited to go over to clear water and just experience more Florida while we're here in the area with Peter. Yes, Miller, nonetheless. Uh let's talk about before we before we get too far. Let's talk about Peter, first of all, has been a gentleman. He's been Stellar. You know him as Miller Sheds, you know him as Making Sale Simple, you know him as uh co-founder or founder or co-owner or whatever it is of uh Shed Sale Summit. I just know him as a friend first and a lot of other things second in in terms of business. But what I'm most proud of and most happy of is that he's joining the team at Shed Geek on the consulting side to offer Shed Geek consultation along with uh our friend Tyler Mayhan, uh our friend Richard Mashburn, uh, and Chris Sedlak. And uh Peter will be joining the host of those two where we can combine our powers like Captain Planet here and uh try to make for the best experience for those who want a consultation. So welcome Peter for that, first of all.

Peter Miller 2:55

Well, thank you very much. Definitely looking forward to talking to people in the uh arena of sheds and sales and how I can hopefully bring some value to them uh back into the shed world. Uh, like I've said before, I can only tell you what I've experienced. Um I'm not an expert per se, but I've had some experiences and happy to be able to share those with uh our future clients.

Shannon 3:20

Uh, you're gonna do great. We've already got two on. We're excited about that. So, we're looking forward to releasing this and getting it out there a little bit more. Hopefully, we'll be doing some of that either before or shortly after this podcast airs. Now, let's get to the man of the hour. Feel free to introduce yourself.

Mike Langston 3:36

Uh it's Mike Langston. I'm with uh Tampa Sheds here in beautiful Tampa, Florida. Um, we uh started this adventure. My grandparents started in 1976, so we're celebrating 50 years. Amazing. Uh I was just a young boy more in the way than helping at uh 10 years old, riding along with my grandfather and my uncle delivering storage sheds, and here we are, you know, 50 years later. 50 years later. Uh still uh still getting after it.

Meet Mike Langston And Tampa Sheds

Shannon 4:06

So, I could only imagine. My favorite question to ask over the last five years on the podcast is what did it look like then compared to what it looks like now? And that might take the whole podcast.

Then Versus Now: Products And Codes

Mike Langston 4:17

Yeah, it probably could. It's interesting. Uh my grandparents came out of South Georgia. They had been in in Florida, Tampa quite some time uh when they when they got started. And my grandfather was doing kitchen cabinets and carpet at the time he got started. Uh, had an opportunity to put a few silver corrugated buildings on a piece of property and sell them. At that time, they were conduit pipe frame, so they were this rounded roof kind of pipe. There was no colors, uh, there wasn't a whole lot of options. And uh that's how we got started. And I mean it just kept growing. He always felt like someday everybody would have a shed in Tampa and then he would go do something else. Uh but you know, it just it just kept growing from there. And um, you know, before we knew it, you know, it was more buildings and more work, and but we've always just been an independent dealer. Um we've been with the same manufacturer since 1978. Uh we're a handy house dealer, and uh just had a great relationship with them over the years. Uh they know our family, they feel like family. And uh so that you know that changed. And then, you know, of course, government always comes into play somewhere along the line. And over those years, you know, a storage shed was just a storage shed. Nobody uh in government cared anything about you putting a shed in your backyard. Now it's a whole nother deal. We have hurricane codes and permitting and all these fun things we get to deal with. Um so it's uh it's really been some things have feel gradual and some things feel like they've been like rocket ship.

Shannon 5:49

Uh it seems to be more and more, doesn't it? You know, with the oversight, unfortunately. And yeah, especially if you're in like, you know, like you have homes close by here, you're in HOAs and things like that. We're only we're only uh we actually made a mistake coming here. Uh and we ended up over by the airport in the buck stadium. So, we're only like I don't I think we traveled about 10 or 11 miles over this way. So I mean like we're in the heart of Tampa pretty much.

Mike Langston 6:14

Downtown uh from here is about uh six, seven miles. Uh but you can get fairly rural uh in just a few miles out. Um, you know, I'm actually grew up in the Plant City area. We have a location out there as well, and um, you know, in those areas, and it's funny, we service it all, the city. We, you know, some of the smaller buildings will go there, or in the commercial setting, you know, there's some bigger buildings, but so we have uh city ordinances, we have county ordinances, we have state things, HOA. So, it's a lot of fun uh down here in Florida to kind of negotiate those things. And uh, you know, meet the meet the code. I envy some of you guys that uh don't have to block an anchor. That's uh that seems like that would be a nice thing, maybe sometimes. But you know, speaking on that, my grandfather was the first one in the Tampa area to block an anchor. Uh and he didn't do it because he had to, but he just felt like it was the right way to do it, just at the building level. And uh he was he had a sixth grade education. It was very simple to him. Uh, you know, take care of the customer and the money will take care of itself. My grandmother was taking care of the money, she would watch it and make sure he actually got done. But he really did, you know, just take care of the customer, serve your customer, and the money will take care of itself over time. And that's what he did, and that's what we built. And so, we have a trust in the community. Uh or we feel like we do our reviews and stuff show that that you know people trust us and they come back and they refer their friends. And that's really been our marketing plan for 50 years more than anything else, is just referrals and being in the same location. Uh

Shannon 7:45

well, that's a that's a pretty good one. We got 50 years going for you. That's a benefit that's hard to kind of replace, isn't it?

Peter Miller 7:52

Absolutely. Yeah, I know um in sheds and stuff, because we have some lots as well here in in Florida, and the different codes that have come out really since I would say Hurricane Andrew was probably one of the main thing that started a lot of the um restrictions that we go through. And it's interesting every four years you have that updated new code that you have to follow. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. Well, well that's one of those things I think if there's any haulers listening to this, you know, they with the anchoring and different things, making sure that your anchor is deep enough into the ground. And if you have to, I don't know how you do it, but on some of ours we'll use chain to extend it if it's raised up higher or something along those lines. But 50 years of referrals uh is definitely uh something that most shed lots can't even talk about five years to some degree.

Shannon 8:49

Right, yeah. Um, a lot of new dealers, especially, you know, post-COVID. Yeah, we definitely saw manufacturing and dealers kind of come into the fray where, you know, uh, I think we talked about that earlier, was like, you know, not a good thing, but a good thing for business in terms of like sales and like uh but then it probably makes an unfair appearance for those looking to get into it in the sense that like this is simple, this is easy, and we can jump right in and it'll always be this.

Trust, Referrals, And Community Roots

Mike Langston 9:16

There's nothing simple about delivering a storage shed in August or July in Campbell, Florida. Uh when it's 110 degrees and uh you're trying to you know get one across the yard and not get on the septic tank or what have you. It can be uh it can it can be uh quite a quite an endeavor. But uh I've got a great we've got a great team. Um you know some of the employees have been with me over 20 uh 20 years, one in particular, and uh most of everybody else has been almost 10 years. So, we're we have a great group that feels like family, you know, and that's and that's always been something we've wanted to do. We want to take care of our people and uh so that trust, you know, building trust with the customer, building trust with our team, and then me just trying to be a lifelong learner and of leadership and to try to do it right. And when I when I get it wrong, and that happens fair enough, often enough to try to you know uh go back and say, hey, you know, kind of blew that one, you know, get a redo on it, and they're very gracious. And I try to be the same with them. I mean, right? Uh typically, you know, my feeling when we when we have a misstep, um whether it's in invoicing or whatever, uh it will frustrate me that maybe I haven't gave clarity around what should have been done or how we could have done it, not that my team member didn't care. And when you have that, like, okay, we're gonna just figure out how we can do this better so that doesn't happen again, it's not somebody doesn't care about the business or care about being Cecil. That's been something that's been from the beginning. My grandfather was that way, he had a lot of patience. Uh 17-year-old kid running wide open, you know, was his main helper on delivery crew, uh, couldn't get off fast enough on Friday. I mean, like this conversation could not be happening on a Friday. I had things to places to go, people to see, and uh, you know, and he'd be like, boy, just slow down. You gotta spend time with the people. And uh, you know, so uh it was great. And you know, and I said, you know, his customers, care of customers. The other thing is he understood that not everybody was his customer.

Shannon 11:20

Yeah.

Mike Langston 11:21

And if you were his customer, he would do anything to make you happy. But if the product he was selling or the service that he provided was not going to meet your need or make you happy, he didn't want your money just to have the money. He would make a friend and a trustworthy person in it, or he would rather you go somewhere you felt that you trusted the person or the product.

ADVERTISEMENT 11:49

Oh no!

ADVERTISEMENT 11:53

Sam, what's going on? Are you okay?

ADVERTISEMENT 11:56

Yes, I'm fine, Lisa. I was just trying to get a screwdriver and all this other stuff fell down. I'm ready to go buy a shed so we can have some space in this garage again.

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I agree. I keep looking at the shed Mr. Jenkins bought. Let's ask him where I got his.

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Howdy, neighbor. We're wondering, how do you like your shed?

ADVERTISEMENT 12:20

I love it. It's exactly what I needed, and I couldn't have asked for a better service. And where did you get it? I can't remember, but let me check. Something this nice will probably have the daughter's name on it somewhere. No, I'm sorry. I can't find a name anywhere.

ADVERTISEMENT 12:47

Well, we finally got a shed.

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Yes. I just hope we're happy. The thing is a lot more shoddy than I expected, and I'm sure I told them I wanted a window, but they didn't have it in the paperwork, so I couldn't argue. Boy, is this a lousy shed. We haven't even had it two years, have we?

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Post‑COVID Dealers And Delivery Reality

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Shannon 13:49

No, that makes a lot of sense. I think your granddad had a lot of sometimes they uh, you know, I feel like those guys are uh are just like the elders of our generation as we're growing up. I told Deanna this on the way down. Um, you know, they often plant seed uh that they may never be around to get a chance to experience. Uh to want to see the patience that exist in you now on a Friday. Yeah. It's like, well, I'm gonna plant this seed, but I'm not gonna get to see it because he's still got to go through it. And uh I've learned so much about that in life, is like there's been so many good people in my life, you know, that have like instilled good, sound, just deep seed to like I can't go back and say thank you. And I wish I could, you know, oftentimes. So, what a what a great story. I love it. So how do you guys know each other? Peter tells me you guys were in jail together? Yeah, is that right?

Mike Langston 14:42

Well, in the prison of sheds, absolutely. I've been locked in the shed for the last 50 years.

Peter Miller 14:50

Actually, I think, and you and you may have a different story than this, but I think it was Hurricane Ian in 2022. Um it ripped through Fort Myers and Port Charlotte and up in Arcadia. And I remember I was out with Peter Boyle and we were kind of surveying some of the damage, and we happened to go buy Tampa sheds there in Port Charlotte, right there at Northport, right of that that uh area. And Mike was out there cleaning up, and we stopped in and you know, met each other and started talking. And it's kind of like in the shed industry, when you're a shed person, you're in the industry, you usually click real quick. Um and it just started a friendship. We exchanged numbers and we've talked off and on since then, and uh just had this great opportunity. And I was listening to what you were saying there, Mike, about you know, with your employees and stuff, and I wanted to make mention to that, like the leadership that you have, how many leaders actually are willing to admit if they made a mistake and ask that employee to you know to work back and forth. And that that just speaks in volumes to me right there. You know, we know each other as friends, but then hearing you say that, that was just I that really meant a lot to me.

Building Teams, Patience, And Culture

Mike Langston 16:02

You know, and that it didn't happen overnight, right? Um I coached youth soccer for many years, and early on coaching, you know, I didn't want nobody to know what I didn't know. And I think in business it was the same way, right? So, I was very sealed up, whatever. In the later years of my coaching and in business, I want everybody to know what I don't know, right? And what I'm trying to learn and what I'm trying to figure out. And I will open it up maybe too much sometimes to people to show because I'm open to bring, you know, in. I would bring competitor coaches in to train my team on off nights. If they would come, I would pay them to come in. And you know, people are like, aren't you scared they're gonna steal your players? Like, no, my players, my players, love me, trust me, trust me. And if they want to go there and play, they should go there and play. Right? So we would bring them in and they would, you know, learn new ways, and the guy would approach it, maybe say the same thing I'm saying in a different way, same way in business with getting coaching and what have you. And it just opens you up because everybody knows, you may think that they don't know, but everybody knows you don't know it all, right? You're the only one that's kidding yourself if you think you're hiding it from them that that you got it all figured out. Because the guys that got it all figured out are usually the guys that that really can have a have a misstep, right? So, you know, I would I would suggest, you know, you have to be reserved, you have to be careful, it's business, right? And there are some wolves in sheep's clothes, so you need pay. But when you find someone that you can trust that can speak into your life and your business, um, I like the old African proverb, right? If you want to go, you know, fast, go by yourself. Yeah, right. And if you want to go long, you got to go with people. Yeah, and so I've had over the years um kind of like what I would call my personal board of directors. And there's people in that circle of mentors that they're not 100% around the people. Some are really strong in their faith, some are strong in finance, some are strong in business, some are strong in relationships. And I just try to surround myself with those kind of people that and then I'm part of that of their circle. And so we push and sharpen each other. And I would highly that it for someone who's new in business, or even if you've been a while, if you don't have a group of people around you that can call you on your junk, or you can call, and can, but also speak and in love, man, it's what we're doing life, right? We're doing life together.

Shannon 18:22

You think you're just in the shed industry, but you're really in the people business. Absolutely. You know, and the people business, I think Simon Sinek says, you know, 100% of businesses are run by 100% of people. So, if you don't know people, you don't know business. And like we get so trained to thinking like there's this robot, because like digitally there is, right? Like there is there's this uh whatever that records this automatically, right? Like there's this that records, this board that records, there is like uh a website that works while you're not there, right? There's all these different things, but like when it comes down to the people, that's something that you can't change. And like so obviously, business is about people, uh, and it and that's how you treat people. People remember how you they make you feel. That's what I was trying to come up with. People don't remember what you say, they remember how you made them feel, and you do your best to succeed in every opportunity uh to make people feel the right way, but you miss the mark sometimes, even with your customers. I mean, I don't I don't know what y'all's experience has been, but that's been mine.

Mike Langston 19:21

Oh, yeah absolutely. And you know, and when you can when you can solve a customer's problem, for me, that's the blessing. That's the cool part, right? And so, and I'm so I'm that's what I've tried to train my staff like, you know, we're not trying to sell them per se. We're trying to serve them. So if we serve them, we listen to what their problem is, and we have the tool to solve it, then then they should do business with us. We want to solve it because we know we're gonna do it right, we know we're gonna show up, we're gonna do what we say we're gonna do. If we don't have the tool or the product to solve it, then hey, let's see if we can help find them. I we personally don't do build on site sheds. That's just not something, it's not our sweet spot. There's a company in town that does it, they're a competitor, and I tell people if you're gonna do build on site, that's probably where you're gonna have to, you know, you're gonna have to go, you know, or we can if we can crane lift, we can find another option, right? We would do that. But it it's just the way it is. They're not they're not our customer right now. That doesn't mean they can't be our friend and they're part of our community. But if we serve them well in whatever capacity, they're not gonna forget that and they're gonna come back.

Peter Miller 20:26

Yeah. I think uh what you're saying there, if you can serve the customer and sometimes they're shocked that you're not trying to sell them something all the time, you're trying to solve that problem, like you had said. As long as you're solving that problem, the byproduct is you might get to sell a shed. You know, you're solving the problem, the problem solving.

Serve Don’t Sell: Fit Over Closing

Mike Langston 20:45

I could tell you some of our best years, um, we're on the corner here of major intersection. The next intersection, and if you turned left, there were three competitors side by side and us. So, we were all within less than a half a mile of each other. Some of our strongest years is when the four of us were all right here together, and you know, we're if in that time I was selling a little more, and they would shop and I'd and they'd say, Well, we're shopping. And I'd say, Oh, if you're shopping, go to the light, turn left, there's gonna be three competitors there. If you look at those three locations and you look at mine, you're gonna have a good feel for what the market has to offer. And then you just gotta decide who you want to do business with. I didn't say, well, this guy's building leaks, and this guy has bad windows, and this guy's doors. That's nonsense. Look, people are gonna make up their mind what they want to do. I would obviously I would tell him some what some of our what we think are our strong points of our shed. But they're shopping. They're gonna find, they're going to look around. So let them look around. Let them feel comfortable who they want. Some bought down there, a lot of them bought with us. Some of our best years.

Shannon 21:49

What is your best like what is your best thoughts on what you want customers to know if they are shopping at uh at Tampa Sheds or online or whatever. What uh what is your message to them if you could get something across to them?

Mike Langston 22:05

You know, I would recommend you know do business with someone you trust, right? Um you know we sell the aluminum product mostly uh here in Florida uh the wood is coming strong like in many areas a lot of people have got into the wood and you know there's advantages to the wood there's advantages to the aluminum um you know the thing that that we share with them you know we're not painting typically you're not painting aluminum for a very long time if ever it's a baked enamel so that's kind of a selling point uh that we have um you know there's no decay in the aluminum you know and that sort of thing so trust make sure you trust the people you're doing business with um and that you know of course I'm prejudiced to a to a brick and mortar you know right because that's what I you know that's what we have right and but I do think some of the online guys are really doing a good job in standing behind it. I think initially when some of that came out like in so many other industries uh you know a thing I'll tell customers like hey if we screw up you can come put your hands around my neck I'm like here I mean you can't you can find me you know I don't know if you're gonna find the guy online but I'm here and uh and of course we have an online presence and we and we sell out um and again not to trash any of the online guys it's just it's just two different things and if you like the kind of feel and look at it and you know I'm in my 50s so I still kind of that way but hey I'm you know the Amazon world you know whoever thought we'd buy shoes without putting them on and walking a little ways right um and then you have different level customers right you have a custom we have customers that this is I just need space in my backyard to get my garage cleaned out as long as it doesn't look bad and my neighbors aren't complaining I just need a box right to put stuff in. And yeah you want it quality there but and then you have others like oh no this is a yard piece right this is to add value to my property I want it to match the house. So, you have to understand what the customer is looking for to be able to provide it. And in some of those things um the wood can do some little more cutie a little more personalized things where the aluminum is kind of where it's at there you'll a little more utilitarian um so you know just figure out what you need what you want to service and then just do business with people that you that you trust and then if there's a problem with the product they should stand behind it. And it's not going to matter whether it's wood or aluminum or my brand or your brand it's really the people.

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Shannon 26:21

I think we get caught up sometimes Peter too much in when you're in the industry you get caught up too much in the industry. You don't you don't get a chance you sell to customers the way you buy and you know there's so like you don't really get to experience like uh just a clean slate letting somebody come in who's looking for a solution and you get to provide that without thinking about am I pushing metal am I pushing wood am I pushing this feature that feature uh am I really helping the customer right one of the things that I remember from years back was God gave you two ears and one mouth.

Peter Miller 26:58

Listen twice as much as you talk because the customer is going to tell you exactly what they are wanting. Now you may be able to input some ideas that they don't know about but listen to what they say and don't put your opinion over on what their desire is.

Aluminum Or Wood: Choose What Fits

Shannon 27:15

I remember getting really like just in the product knowledge part and it's because I was trying to learn. I wanted to make sure you know to be able to express exactly what our value proposition was when you came in and I got excited to be like you know I built for a little while so like I understood construction enough to know what a you know a single top plate or a double top plate was and I was like oh well we do double top plate so that's great. I need to make sure to focus on that as a featured benefit of what we do. And I can tell you that probably one out of a thousand people who bought really actually knew or cared for the most part. You could point it out and explain it to them but for the most part they weren't in in impressed by your product knowledge. And that guy typically gets out of the car he's got a measuring tape and a pad of paper with the measuring tape outside of that contractor he will also have this phrase in his back pocket when you start to uh can conversate with him I can probably build this cheaper myself to my grandfather's answer and mine as well they we would have to go I could build this thing much cheaper my grandfather you can't and he's like yeah like when can you start that's exactly I will buy everyone you can build cheaper because we need more sheds and we will buy them from you and that usually kind of we are so much alike that sometimes those little comments rub people the wrong way and I was like but you know what at the same time I was just always ready to say I told somebody recently I never did it but I said you should put a sign in your office that says there will be a 10% up charge for customers who return and purchase after mentioning they can buy uh build it cheaper themselves. Just as a joke to kind of almost stop that because they don't realize that you hear it so often.

Mike Langston 29:03

And then the other was uh I remember one time uh I just felt like I wasn't going to get the sale on this and the guy said I can build it cheaper myself and I said well do you know how much cheaper and he would be like I could probably do it for this you know that's you know $4,000 I can do it for two, three thousand and it's just like well listen we're looking to find new partners and we would love it if we can find a new partner who could provide us now can you do that and do uh 10 sheds a week or do you think you can I probably can I don't know but maybe I can only do five I said I'll tell you what I'll take five uh if you can build them this way uh to spec and then like can you get those to me next week and it's like well I don't know how I'm gonna get them to you and it's like well they got shed trailers and stuff that you can get he's like what's that cost I was like well I don't know 50 grand whatever what's that matter you could even all this money and so I would go and indulge myself and I you can't do this very often because you come across wrong but it's just like well I was hoping to get them from you and because I'm looking for partners like you said I want more sheds and it's not really the way it's I first of all I'm not recommending that yeah no when you've been in it when you've been in the game a little bit you sometimes you catch yourself and so I stay out of the front office a little bit more now because I don't sometimes don't have the patience I should have on certain things so yeah I but uh I've got a great patient staff but yeah my grandfather near the end you know people my we'd like it's like how does he sell anything but he was so plain spoken and he was just straight with some of the things he was saying and you got to realize you know this is a he made it into his 90s and um and so he was blessed enough to get to see some of the things we accomplished. But you know in his late 60s you know you still do it he was he was pretty direct I think would be the way to say it.

Peter Miller 30:46

And sometimes that actually wins business too I think that's all almost a generation gone because nowadays you don't hear that in the in in as much that I can tell in the older generation yeah um where we have a uh lady who actually we're gonna be interviewing uh Jerri Hayes is one of our sales ladies she's 82 years old and she tells you exactly how it is now she asks everybody who walks through that door if they're gonna buy a shed or not or if they want to buy a shed but she also is very clear and to the point.

Shannon 31:18

And um I think in today's salesperson they're not necessarily that that direct diplomacy everybody attempts to practice diplomacy at the highest level in which it's is possible because you are a salesperson you're not uh uh you know you're gonna kind of get the results of like your attitude so if you do take that hard approach like I talked about earlier you know people are gonna feel that and again they're gonna remember the way you feel and the reality is you're not looking for new partners you're not looking to buy those sheds you're actually looking to prove the guy wrong on why he can't do it but if you go too hard on that you're not only not gonna get a sale from him you're not gonna get a sale from anybody else around him and even if he's not buying that day the diplomacy says let me just let this person out the door off the hook as opposed to trying to go toe to toe with him and be like oh yeah well I bet you can't you know build it cheaper.

Listen Twice, Talk Once In Sales

Mike Langston 32:10

And you know what I tell you when when I'm in a good space when when when margin pressure's not bad and and and we have margin in our lives right and and the the hounds aren't chopping our feet to get a difficult customer can be fun to to serve. When you can take someone who comes in and from the minute they walk in they're like well you're too expensive and I don't know what this is and you just walk them through and you talk to them and you serve them and then you sell them and then in the end they give you a review on Google about how good you were and it's happened. But you've got to be you've got to be in the right place. And if you're running wide open and as probably many of the people that listen to this podcast are you know you're like yeah I don't have time to deal with this difficult person right now move on to a maybe some lower hanging fruit um and I've been there um so you're in good company uh you miss opportunities sometimes because typically the thing that they're most frustrated is really has nothing to do with you. There's something at home there's something at work. You know we're in a we'r e in a stressful time people are running wide open you know we have these uh these we can and you could get into a whole conversation about these uh collars that we have they're called an iPhone that kind of shock us all the time and distract us and take us away from what we should be focused on and um you know and all the other things you miss the opportunity sometimes to really just come around somebody and serve them and again like you said we're it's more than the shed business you know you're in the people business um you know there's something we say and I don't know who said it first but to be unclear is to be unkind. So that clarity around what you're trying to accomplish to be straight. And we know from people in our lives while you say wow they're really straight and direct or forward but you respect it because there's never any talking behind your back. They're clearly talking to you they tell you what their issue is with you or not with you and they're there for you. You know on a friendship level or a mentor level and and if at some level you can be able to your customer because you're trying to serve them then I heard it said you said to be unclear is to be unkind.

Shannon 34:15

I heard it said one time um oh gosh how does the how does it go? If you don't understand it well enough or if you can't explain it easily you don't understand it well enough yourself. So like you need to be able to like find the easiest path to be able to explain it. And of course people want like a yes answer to everything they ask when they are asking questions in sales you know yes they want you to be able to say yes yes we can do that yes we can get it delivered tomorrow yes we can take money off yes we can add features and take money off yes we can like they want they want that so a no becomes like and then there's some philosophy on that right behind get to the no quicker than you get to the yes and you've done I I'd love to talk about like some of your experiences with uh different leadership different uh programs that you've been in different things you've attended you know people you've met how this has worked out for you so I would I would highly recommend anybody who's doing business by their self try to get into some kind of organization or group where you can partner with other business leaders to uh push into each other to ask questions in a in a safe space.

Mike Langston 35:21

Uh I'm part of an organization called Community on demand and we're a group of about 30 business leaders throughout the United States and we have one gentleman out of Canada. We meet once a year in person and do a uh a little summit and then we meet online a couple times a week and in those calls we'll have a um maybe a winning Wednesday and you just come and bring you know hey it wins and as you know being a business you it can be pretty lonely sometimes right and you find out real quick when you run a business um your friends that you had from high school or college or what have you that work for people don't really understand what payroll is like when it's uh Friday and you're looking there and you know you gotta make it and it ain't it it's not looking like it's gonna make it right you got to figure this out. Or when you when you have a good sell and you make a a nice return and you can't celebrate it the same as you can with other people that have been there, right? And people that understand that the top line gross is vanity and the bottom line is sanity. It doesn't matter how much money somebody runs through their business it matters how much you get to keep and to share and to use with your family and your community. So our group is community on demand but there's several out there and I started on that journey with uh through entree leadership which was a Dave Ramsey program when they first launched out uh I went to um their conference that they have it's a five day um and it was just a total immersion in business and it's the first time I'd ever spent anywhere near that sort of money to do something like that. I was questioning whether I should but you know I was pulling my hair out I was you know just didn't know what direction to go. We went over there and within about 45 minutes of sitting in this room with these other small business leaders what we figured out was um some of us weren't as in good a shape as we thought we were and a lot of us weren't in as bad a shape as we thought we were you know we're probably one decision from running it in the ditch but we are in the road and we have a vehicle to drive. So, so it was just a wonderful time. I would highly recommend the uh entree leadership book as a starting point for anybody starting just to kind of get some framework around uh how you might want to run your business it's a great book by Dave Ramsey and then from there uh with this we do a book uh a month with this group that I'm in you know readers are leaders so um

Shannon 37:44

I love that phrase I've used it before readers are leaders I love to read I'm an audible guy so I'm listening to them a lot when I'm in the right there have a harder seven credits right now just like me and my wife, both. We like uh we love to audible but I love reading too and like honestly I don't even like TV's just boring almost to me anymore like unless it's a documentary or educational.

Mike Langston 38:04

That might be showing our age

Shannon 38:07

Did I just call myself old?

Peter Miller 38:10

I like documentaries but I grew up on them uh that was that was definitely one of the things I've always loved

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Mike Langston 39:20

Well, I can tell you our kid my kids would ride we'd go in the car and we're listening to the question behind the question which is a great book uh you know the uh the you know the tortoise in the hair he talks about Dave Ramsey always says he says you know it always seems like the tortoise is gonna win you know I never get it you know we're an overnight success it just took 50 years to get there you know and you know it's that's the that's the thing you know people think don't believe the hype if you're a young person getting started in this uh uh or in any business and you look around and you see this guy's got a Corvette and that guy's got a big listen it's slow and steady it's slow and steady and sometimes you're just grinding. And I will tell you the other thing that that was really relieving to me I'm a big John Maxwell fan as well and I was so surprised to hear him say one time you know vision casting is a big thing right have vision and set vision and orders of vision and it's all true right but some of us aren't as gifted in as others. And so, if you're not and this was what John said he was he said I just really didn't know this big vision where I was going to go, he says I just did the next right thing. And so, thank God it was like such a relief because like okay well that's what I'm trying to do just the next right thing right uh we're in a process now of transitioning to the fourth generation with our with our business and so we're just trying to do the next right thing to set that up to succeed. The stats on generational businesses are are horrible. It is they just they fail at at like a higher rate than anything. And so, we're working really hard to have a legacy play uh for this next generation uh to be able to continue in the family business or not if they choose not to. Right? So, we're trying to really make sure that you know they just don't feel like they have to do it because this is what the family's done that they be the person that God's called them to be. And uh so and in each of them we have I have a niece and a nephew that are also falling in behind my brother's side of the business. My son is falling in behind on mine and uh my father and grandfather were in the business. So it's a, you know I be a lifelong learner read what you can read and listen to eat the chicken and spit out the bones some of these books are terrible there's some things in there that are you're just like what in the world did I just read you know and I'm like okay I know I'm not the smartest guy but that just doesn't seem like that makes sense.

Shannon 41:43

So, it's like the guy who says you know maybe I'm the problem. Nah that don't that don't make any sense.

Peter Miller 41:52

I'll just put a plug in here one book that's just always going to be right no matter what is the Bible so make sure you're daily reading that if you and that's just my plug in it. Maybe some people don't agree with that but I'd say the Bible's the best book to read.

Community On Demand And Leadership

Shannon 42:04

Read those other ones but definitely the Bible brings you back in centers you like even as you get out there you know one of the biggest mistakes and I think I've told people this I think I was even sharing with you guys you know that I've done prison ministry before I've done drug and alcohol ministry it's not a fun ministry. It's not one that people love. It's not it's not like giving people water in Africa. It's not children's you know programs and like uh teaching them to be leaders or doing mission work in third world countries. It's like people they're the they're the unlovable but yet two thirds of the New Testament Bible is written right there you know in prison and you think about Paul and Silas if we said lock them up throw away the key imagine where where they would be today if that's the mentality we took but God thank goodness who we serve didn't have that mentality even when people do. So I've kind of like always been given the hard cases like I feel like by the Lord like love the ones that are unlovable because oftentimes you feel unlovable yourself or you uh uh uh you know you see something in them uh that's maybe pulling at you and like I've tried to even take that that mindset into back when I was selling sheds I remember a lot of times somebody would come into the lot and you would just feel I mean if you if you believe in this you'd feel the Holy Spirit almost tell you they're not here to buy a shed you're just you just happen to be in their path today. So it gives you an opportunity to minister but you know they're not there to buy a shed you know and I specifically remember one lady coming in and she was just tore up because she was looking for a shed but really what had happened was I think it was her son had died and her and her husband were trying to figure out where to put his stuff because he didn't want to get rid of it. But they wanted a memory of it but they were clearing out the room and they were like what do we do and she was like I came my husband wouldn't come because he was just like he just couldn't process coming and like talking about like moving his stuff and things. And uh she just started crying. She started crying and And like we just, you know, we just loved her and prayed for her and encouraged her and and and we knew like hey, I'm not trying to I'll I'll solve her problem today, but I don't think her problem's me trying to push uh a shed. If she wants to come back and buy a shed, that's fine. But you gotta look for those opportunities. And you know, I myself am wanting to uh get back into that, and I know that's gonna pull me away from this podcast some or possibly. So I'm trying to navigate what that's gonna look like, but it comes down to another book, another good book, Simon Sinek, which is fine or why.

Mike Langston 44:32

Yes, great book. We've done that in our group, and that's a that's a uh one that uh you know, just to push in and and and figure out why you're doing what you're doing. And and you know what, you have to go back and revisit that every so often too, because you get you get busy and you and you can lose it. I mean, we've ran uh that hurricane, and and just to go back to that, you know, Peter showed up, we were out there cleaning up. Um when the hurricane hit down there, um I had a choice to make. It totally destroyed our life, uh our lot. Um, a hundred and something thousand dollars worth of sheds were in a pile. I mean, they were literally in a pile. Um but but my staff that was down there was okay. Um and we were able to come alongside them and we got some generators and fuel down there for the community and did some other things. But then I had a hard decision to make. My the way we do business, I'm gonna stand behind what I say and what I say I'm gonna do. So, I knew we either had to close and just wait till it settled down, or it was gonna be all hands-on-deck. So, I pulled my team together and said to the Tampa team, I said, listen, I think it's all hands-on-deck. I think we need to do this, we need to get down there, we need to help these people are in a bad way. And yes, we're in business to serve uh and sell these product as well. So I basically moved down there for a year. I took my RV, I put it on the lot because we couldn't get back and forth. The time frames were just terrible to make this hundred-mile trek. And so, Peter came in at a time where I mean, we were exhausted. It was daylight till dark every day trying to clean up, then we're getting new sheds in, then we were trying to help people. Uh some of the sheds were still together, other people's sheds, brands, ours, whatever, were flipped over. We were standing them back up. But for basically for about a year and a half, I lived down there during the week, come back home on the weekend so that I could make sure we, if we said we were gonna give somebody a shed, we made sure we got it to them and got their stuff in there. And so Peter just came along at a time where it was just refreshing. Another shed guy had come by, you know, he was nice, and we just had a nice visit. And uh I'm sure he probably left and went, Boy, that guy's out of there, you know. But uh but it wasn't. He actually told me that.

Shannon 46:36

You gotta watch out for this guy.

Peter Miller 46:39

That was crazy. That was when we were in the prison cell.

Shannon 46:42

Yeah, well, the reason I know is because you know, after you bonded out, I came in and shared the cell with him. It's like that guy. Let me tell you about that guy.

Sponsors, Tools, And The Mule 9069

Mike Langston 46:51

Yeah, yeah. It was, it was, it was fun. And that was the first time. So Tampa has been blessed. We didn't have a direct hit in many, many years. So that that area had got hit with the four that had come across several years before, but I didn't own the location down there. So, it was the first time in business that I'd been where we had a basically a total loss of everything. And we had to start from kind of scratch again as far as the lot and getting it in order and getting everything cleaned up. And there's no manual on that. And uh, so you know, and you get down there, there was there was nowhere to eat, you know, we figured that out pretty quick. And so we ended up doing uh, and it's not too my horns, it just worked for us and for them. We brought a bunch of hamburgers and a grill down there, and we just took a uh four by eight sheet of plywood, probably from one of my floors of my buildings, and we wrote free hamburgers and set it out beside the road. And we had, you know, the electrical company coming by and different in families and stuff coming by. And they're like, no, no, no. I'm like, listen, we've no, just take a burger and go, you know, so you can find something to eat and uh the water. And it was it was a rough go of it for a few for a few weeks there, and then you know, and then it was stressful all the way through, but then we finally, you know, kind of got back in the rhythm and uh and it we really embedded ourselves in the community at that point because we were coming from Tampa to down there, uh we had some staff down there. Um, but that was a really trying time for us, right? And to try to figure that out, and then to make that decision, okay, either we I either I don't I decided I did not want to, if I couldn't do it and do it right, then I would rather close and just not be not be part of trying to sell than to take people's deposits, them hoping for a building because their roof was tore off or whatever, and us not be able to serve them. So, you know, got with our manufacturer and said, Hey, can you can you back me up? Can you get me up to speed? Get me what I needed. They promised they would. My staff in Tampa basically took over all my responsibilities in Tampa so I could be down there and I was delivering and I was cleaning the lot and we were mopping floors and doing all the things that you do, you know, because that's what you do when it's all hands-on deck.

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Slow And Steady: Next Right Thing

Shannon 49:52

Man, there's a lot of unsung heroes in the shed industry that do things that oftentimes get uh unnoticed uh because we're not, you know, always looking for the recognition, you know, uh uh most are. And like I just love hearing that story of like kind of how you guys met. I'm almost curious. This is just a uh a side note, if you will. This is a sidebar here. What uh I live in the Midwest, you know, and we're almost like the new Tornado Alley. I feel like Illinois actually had more um uh tornadoes than Oklahoma. Matter of fact, more than anybody, uh any other state in 2025. Um and I'm just almost curious, as a guy who would trust me, would love to move to Florida as long as I can move my whole family, the grandbabies and all, uh for the for the weather and and just you know um the culture and and all that. But uh what just how bad is it? You know, like whenever you guys get the hurricanes to run through here, what do you guys do with your what do you do with your lot? What do you do with your home? How do you guys approach these things as the energy starts to like, you know?

Peter Miller 50:54

We have like uh uh um unwritten script that everybody's gonna go buy all the bread and all the water out of the local grocery store. That's the toilet paper is definitely gonna go. So those things there just are out of the question as soon as you hear a hurricane's coming. But you can you kind of get used to it, I think, to a degree. You look at it and you say, yeah, if it's over a three, we might be a little worried. If it's under, you know, two, yeah, it's gonna be a little bit rough, but you anchor every single shed. You on a six by eight, eight by ten, you throw two anchors on either side. If you have enough anchors, you might do more. But on the you know, you just get everything kind of huddled together. I'v e seen some lots taken, put all their sheds just in a big circle. Um, just to try to, I guess, avoid that. Well, I don't know. Our experience has always been it's better just to keep them lined up how they are and just anchor them where they're at. That's just our experience. Um during that hurricane Ian, uh our location there in Arcadia, it got pretty well wiped off. I I think there was some tornado activity during that because we had uh a big forty foot wide steel structure that ended up on top of several buildings, probably about three or four hundred feet away. Um and there was a a 12 by 30 shed that was wrapped around the pole for the light in the center of the intersection, and it was anchored down. Uh you these things were all anchored down. It just when you have that much force coming through. But that's what we do. Mike, what did what do you do?

Mike Langston 52:27

We didn't know Peter at the time uh after the storm. We grouped all our buildings in a big pile circle. So, it kept them in a big crushed pile. It was nice. We didn't have to go chase them. Uh no, they were it was it was pretty crazy. If you we had a 12 by 30.

Shannon 52:42

Some assembly required, yeah. You know, you can still sell them, but one of them. Some assembly required.

Mike Langston 52:47

One particular 12 by 30, we have no idea where the top of it is. We never found the garage door in the top to it, and the floor was turned over on top of it. So, skids up, and there was not we have no idea where it was. We never found it. Um we had a uh a large still building. Uh our one staff there lived closer to the water, so she's like, she was going to her son's place in North Florida. She said, Hey, can I leave my car inside the steel building so it doesn't get flooded? And go with us, absolutely, you know. So she puts the car in the steel building. When I come around the corner that morning after the storm to see what we were getting into, I could see her car on the lot and there was no building. And I just was like, Oh, that car's gonna be totaled, right? Her car is gonna be totally total because the building's gone. There was a little tear in the bumper about that big. All the glass was in it, and crazy enough, beside the building, we had some corner trim and some different trim pieces that were stacked in the building. They were all laying there right where we had left them, but the building was gone. It was like so, yeah. So, so we didn't anchor. Uh, we will anchor next time. Uh, because in Tampa we had we had never really felt that direct hit. We'd had some pretty nasty storms, um, but had had never got that hit like that one. And what was so bad about Ian versus the others, it sat there. Mostly they just kind of run through. Yeah, it just sat there and just pounded uh that that area uh in those people. It was it was pretty pretty hard on. I mean, besides Andrew, I don't think, you know, for us, there's been much worse. Um I would agree.

Shannon 54:21

Well, I feel like time flies again when you're having fun, it's easy to get 50 minutes into a conversation and you don't even know it. Any shout-outs you want to give, uh just people in the industry, people that you've known, or services that's been beneficial to you.

Fourth‑Gen Transition And Faith

Mike Langston 54:35

Yeah, we're working right now. We've we're working with Idea Room. Uh Dan and I read Idea Room about uh four years ago. We started working with him, and you know, because we knew I'm techie just enough to be dangerous. Uh you know, I probably my people are like, oh, he's got another great idea. What is this gonna look like? Uh but we did idea room, and that has been we've really enjoyed that. I enjoyed working with them. Um and then uh Tristan with Cal. Tristan Keswick, we we're we worked with him kind of in the beginning when he was organizing some of that, and now uh we're trying to get that back on board. I would I would tell you, automation's happening, whether you like it or not, or whether you want it or not. And so, the quicker uh we can do that, and I think it might I believe it would be possibly even easier for someone newer coming in because they don't have all these old systems in place. We have systems to check and double check and triple check, but that's what it is. It's a trip triple check. When you can automate those down um so that you can spend more time serving customers than counting money. And when I say counting money, I'm not talking about there's a lot of it to count, it's just to make sure that the numbers are right, the inventory's right. You know, we got i it you can you can do what actually produces income for you, takes care of your family, you know, serves your employees, your team. And um, so I would speak for automation. And so we're working with Cal and with uh with Idea Room to meet that needs.

Shannon 55:56

Definitely, yeah. I can't say uh enough good. You know, uh Tristan's actually an advertiser here on the podcast, and we've uh known him for quite some time and worked with him ourselves, and like just blessings to him. He's just always uh uh such a good guy, honest guy, and uh wishing nothing but success for him as he continues in the future. Also, want to just give a quick shout out to Solar Blaster fans, uh uh sponsors for this trip down here to Florida. They help make these things happen. So, if you guys get a chance, just go check out the website Solar Blaster Fans. Buy a unit. You never know. You ain't gonna buy a pallet, buy a unit, buy one unit, check it out, see if it looks like it's beneficial for your customers. If so, use it. Uh install it on your uh uh uh sheds. I think Dan will take care of you. He's a great guy. So, thank you, Dan. Thank you, Tristan. Those guys are excellent. Peter, final thoughts? Anything that you want to add here?

Peter Miller 56:48

Well, just to uh take off that solar blaster fan. If you're in the sunshine state, you need to have solar. Um you're gonna use it quite a bit. And keeping your keeping your building that much cooler is definitely important. Um one of the things that I would say is uh Mike, thank you for the friendship. I think one of the things that is very cool in this is people would call us a competition as far as we have dealerships, he has dealerships, but we don't look at it as a fight. I look at it more as a collaboration. We can share information back and forth and the fact that, you know, hey, we run into a bad shed holler or something along those lines that we can help each other out. But then there's a lot of good things also at the same time that we can share. And I think collaboration in the shed industry is something that needs to probably grow. I think it would be better if we're fighting. I I've heard it said this way. If you throw mud, you're losing ground. And um well, at the very least, your hands are gonna be dirty. Yes. Yes. And I appreciate the friendship that we have, and definitely uh with Shed Geek, you know, you have given us a platform to sit here and talk about sheds, which we love and hate sometimes. But uh it is it is very uh beneficial to the industry, and I do thank you for all that you put into it.

Hurricane Ian: Total Loss And Response

Shannon 58:14

Man, we're just thankful the Lord gives us the opportunity. We know that he'll uh move us into the direction we need to. If it needs to end, he'll find a way to make it keep going if it needs to. Um, we're just trying to be the stewards the best we can, but you know, uh get it wrong. Obviously, sometimes we try to express humility. You know, me and Kyle used to always have a joke that said, you know, I'm the most humble person I know, you know, just as a joke, you know, just to you know to break the ice. But the reality is like it's hard to be, you know, like you go through different moments of life. And uh, I don't know, maybe it's Mark chapter six, verse two. Don't hold me to this shed industry, but I think it says no man's without honor except for among his family and his friends or in his hometown. And like, you know, some people just won't let you forget who you are. Uh they will never, you know, forget who you were at some point. But thank goodness that we have a God that, you know, like uh knows us for our heart and who we are and not just um the things we've done and who we've been, and uh, you know, and I think that that's awesome that he extends those mercies to not just me, but to all of us. And because of that, he gives us opportunities like this to just conversate. That's really all this is. It's a good conversation. And you said, you know, this is my favorite thing that you said to me, and I um um I just gave this nice little humble speech, and I'm gonna throw some ego in there because we need that, I guess. Um, but you said I felt like I knew you a little bit because you've listened to some of the shows. And I think that's the importance of things like video and the digital era and social media and what you're doing for your customers, because if they feel like they know you when you get there, it was kind of nice to like walk in. And even though I'd met you for the first time, you're like, I kind of feel like I know you or how you're gonna approach or ask questions, and it's just been just been a very easy conversation since we got here.

Mike Langston 59:57

It's been a great conversation, and I've enjoyed it, looked forward to it when uh Peter had said, you know, we're coming down and you know, would you be interested? I said, Well, you know, that's something different. It's not something I'd done before. Yeah. And uh I said, but you know, if we could share this idea, some of these things, and you know, the industry, we really do need to work together and find a way to get there's plenty of people outside of the industry that are trying to take advantage of us. If you've if you've been in it and you look around, I mean, and we're um I think I heard on one of your other podcasts, uh, the gentleman from StorMor said, you know, we're usually about eight years behind the things that can happen, right? Yeah. And I heard that and it's true. I mean, there's people trying to kind of take advantage of some of the financing and rent-to-own things, and these guys don't care about the shed business, they're just guys that are trying to get money off of these dealerships, um, like they did with the ATVs and uh you know in Fort Wheelers and what have you over the years. So, so if we stick together and we work and we talk on those things, hey, we're gonna be competitors. I'm a fierce competitor. I mean, I want to win as much as anybody else, Peter wants to win, but we're not looking to hurt each other, right? Right. And uh so you know, compete.

Shannon 1:01:07

I like to think that you guys are better friends than you are competitors. Absolutely, absolutely and that's the best way I think to say it. Um Mike, I just you know, like impressed by your facility here, impressed that everything here is a shed. From your bathroom to your office to just about everything here is a shed. And it's really beautiful. You guys have been here for a long time. I wish you nothing but success and all that you do. I thank you. I'm so humbled by your uh being willing to sit down with us here. Uh we enjoy getting to come down here to the Sunshine State, and we got some here now that we got to Tampa, uh, and very excited about tomorrow's interviews and uh Wednesdays. And uh Peter, just you know, appreciate you so much for helping to set these things up. It means a lot.

Peter Miller 1:01:48

Thank you. Appreciate you.

Shannon 1:01:49

Any final thoughts? You know, any questions?

Mike Langston 1:01:51

One thing that I've that uh I heard uh, and I know people have different opinions, but one thing I heard Andy Stanley say some time ago, and it's stuck with me, and I've and I've tried to kind of keep it in the forefront. Uh leadership is stewardship. It's temporary, and we're accountable. We won't always be the ones leading. So in in your time when God's put us in these positions, you know, there's much responsibility there. And so, to be able to be, you know, with you guys and visit and hopefully share something, you know, that maybe can help somebody avoid falling in a pothole that I fell in or what have you, that's uh that's a blessing to me. And I'm thankful for the opportunity.

Shannon 1:02:30

We've been looking at two and three-year deals, five-year deals. I've been having all those conversations. I don't know where it's gonna go. Like right now, here today, January 19th. I'm just like, I know that I'm good through the end of the year, you know, and what we want to do, what we want to accomplish. I haven't planned anything past that. We do have a couple of like long-term uh things that, you know, not only potential to do, but uh some that we're signed on with. Um, just thinking it through. And like, you know, like you said, you know, sometimes it's a temporary thing, sometimes it's a long-term thing. We know that we're gonna continue to podcast through 2026. You know, we hope that turns into 27 and 28. Maybe it looks a little different. Maybe it's not me, maybe it's someone else, or maybe it's uh it doesn't exist at all, or someone decides to come into this space and do it better, and like we can champion them. You know, uh Peter's champ, I've championed Peter with the Shed Cell Summit so much, you know. Absolutely I think he's like just taking that thing and ran with it, and I'm so excited. I hope people go to it because I know the hard work that you put into it. And like it's a bit it's a bit like ministry. You do it for the outcome, you certainly don't do it for the income.

Peter Miller 1:03:31

It's true. But I do thank you for the support. I mean, the support on that, and that's the one thing I want to give back to that is you've been willing to support things in the industry that has helped the industry, and that is very, very helpful.

Shannon 1:03:46

Well, appreciate that. Guys, it's been great. Thank you for this conversation. It's blessed me today.

OUTRO 1:03:53

Thanks again, Shed Pro for being the Shed Geeks studio sponsor. If you need any more information about Shed Pro 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.