Foam & Friends
The Foam & friends podcast is hosted by Todd Cook, a spray foam insulation contractor with the gift to gab. We sit and talk with real people in the SPF industry about everything from foam, to family, to life, goals, and whatever else comes to mind. Some episodes may be more serious, and some might be more lighthearted, but our goal is for all of them to give entertainment and value of your time.
Foam & Friends
#020 Todd Bolton
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Todd and I Talk about his new book “A Spray Foamer’s Survival Guide, Change the World One Set of Foam at a time, his growing family and his journey into HVAC and Spray foam.
Link to purchase his book on Amazon. https://a.co/d/0iTwD1Wl
Back After The Lost Recording
SPEAKER_01Okay. Well, after uh a couple weekends ago at uh spring home worldwide carnival, we're back again, and I got Todd Bolton again. I actually had him uh at the carnival, but uh we had some technical difficulties and it was actually I figured it out it was it was my fault I was making a making a mistake on the computer with the microphones and so the sounds bad. So Todd, the one you were in, uh was the one was one of them that didn't didn't go through. I actually got some. But anyway, I'm glad to have you back, man. I told I told everybody, and that still stands, that anybody who was on, I I still want to get you on again. We'll do it again. But Todd, busy man. You are a busy, busy guy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I uh I stay a little too busy. I tend to bite off more than I can too, I suppose. I've I've kind of got this mentality of I just go and figure it out when I get there. So I might keep a I keep a little too many irons in the fire, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, if you can, if you can, if you can do it, I guess. Last night was Monday, we had the uh the spray jones, Mike Dinah, and uh Bill and John, Stephen Davis. And I think you're I was out in the garage just trying to make something out of it because it's a mess. And your name must have been mentioned like 20 times in that conversation. Must have made you feel kind of good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm a little starstruck, be honest with you. So I've watched Spray Jones for years, you know, never thought that he would be mentioning me, but after after talking to him in in Minneapolis, we've become friends, I think. Yeah, I I think that he's he's misunderstood and I think misrepresented in the industry sometimes. And I think that our conversation that we had was probably you probably pulled the plug on that one in Minneapolis on purpose. Just to just to stifle a little controversy there.
SPEAKER_01That's funny that because I mean a few times, I mean, here we are. Of course, you know, there's a couple drinks gone around, you know. We were all pretty good, but he's talking about the the industry and the future of it and everything. And he's like, I'm sorry to sorry to ruin your podcast. And I'm like, You're not ruining it at all. I mean, I want anybody who's who's here with me on the Foam and Friends podcast, I want you to be you, whatever you is, right? And so, yeah, you know, whatever you is, and so no, you're not ruining it all. I'm speak, say whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00That's no, I'm just kidding. I think it was a great conversation, it was fascinating. And I hate that I hate that it got got lost like that, but um, I know I do I trust me, I hate it a lot more than you.
SPEAKER_01So um I was able to salvage the first conversation I had, which was about an hour and 15 minutes, and that's gonna be online here uh tonight or tomorrow. And then there was another one shortly. We realized there was more time before dinner, so we had a little bit Tyler Fisk, Bob Sellers, and I don't even remember. It was anyway. And then after dinner, after the giveaways and everything, we did all that with you and and with a bunch of guys. We I mean I had Frank, Frank Mortal, and his son was on junior. The guy that kid was killing me. I mean, it was like that. That was one part that I thought was this is gonna be really good, and I lost that too. So oh well, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was um you know, I think it was a stroke of genius to have be set up just outside the conference like that and then be able to just bring folks in as they pass by. You know, uh that was neat, and uh, I was thinking in my mind every time I walked by and seen somebody new sitting there, I was wondering how you were gonna edit and filter through all that through all that film.
SPEAKER_01Didn't want to be in your shoes to do all that, but I don't like to edit any more than I have to, like I let it just be completely raw. Sometimes you gotta edit a little bit, but that was actually John Fredco's stroke of genius. He told me to bring the podcast equipment, which I wasn't sure if I was going to or not. And he said, Bring it. I said, Okay, fine. And so I did, and then when we get there, you know, I said, Let's get a couple extra microphones. He he gave me two more, and so I only had two, and he gave me two more, and then he said, This is where I want you to do it. And I said, Okay, John, whatever you want, brother. So we we did, and it was fun, and I will definitely do it again. This time I'm gonna make sure I'm a little up on my game. What I did was I actually just a one click of the computer that I forgot to hit, and that's all it was. That's all that it took. So it was a it was uh it's a learning curve for me. I am not a podcaster by by any stretch. I mean, I'm not a I'm not much with the technical, but I'm getting there, and I'm I'm really just better at you know, yapping my mouth. So anyway, that was John's that was John's uh brainchild there. So
New Baby And A Busy Life
SPEAKER_01but anyway, let's talk about let's talk about you for a minute. I first thing you there's a lot, a lot to talk about. You've got a new one. A new baby.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, three weeks old. It's uh it's it's it's been you know, I'm I'm 43. I didn't expect to have any more at this age, but I I I do and and love them nonetheless, but sure didn't expect to have any. But you know, my my wife's a great mom, so she she takes care of them and does everything necessary and and uh you know she don't she don't make me get up a whole lot in the middle of the night. I try to help, but she's just such a good mom. I don't try to get in where I can.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's important. You definitely gotta you gotta make babies with uh good moms.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm married outside of my league, so I gotta keep her pregnant to hang on to her.
SPEAKER_01Uh oh.
SPEAKER_00Well no, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01That's good, man. Yeah, I saw you at a lot of the events. Never really got a chance to meet you until this past a couple weekends ago, and it was great. I was really glad to. You know, big weekend for you. First off, I mean, you just released this book, which is getting great reviews. Everybody's so happy to have it, and everyone's saying good things about it, and everybody wants you to sign it and all that. So let's let's talk about the book for a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah,
A Spray Foam Book For Beginners
SPEAKER_00it's it's become quite popular. It's really it's really cool to get on Spray Foam Worldwide and see people post that I've got my book or get arrived and see all these posts. And and yeah, I think one specific post was, Did you even get one if you didn't post it? So it's it's really neat to see everyone getting so involved with it. I think we're at 150 copies sold now at in four countries US, Canada, Poland, and and Australia. Wow. So my personal goal was 100. I and I didn't know what to expect. I'm like, I'll be lucky if I sell 10. Nobody really wants to listen to me, but but no, it's been it's been a blessing. It's been really cool. And I've gotten kind of obsessed to get on online on on the on on the the page where it keeps up with all the orders just to see another one click and another one sold, another one sold.
SPEAKER_01So I would be obsessed about that too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's getting I mean it's getting a little out of hand. So I I've got to I've got to rein in on that. But yeah, up we're up to 150 sold, and and I think it's a really good book, really. I mean, just for just breaking spray foam down into layman's terms, you know, for people first starting out in the industry and just giving them a general understanding of the jargon at square one and being able to build from there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, that's a great idea. I mean, a lot of people might want to get into spray foam, but they might be a little overcome about all the little things. And if you got something like that, you know, it's like listen, if you're a if you're a blue collar sort of guy, you know, here's here's a book that that might work for you. You don't have to worry about maybe some too technical terms that they'll not gonna understand.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, everything that I I come across, and even doing research for the book, like everything is very technically inclined. So if you don't already understand the jargon, you kind of get get behind. It's like getting into spray film industry is like if you're in grade school, it's like starting in the second grade. So I just wanted to break it back down and go back to square one and get folks a kindergarten version to start at and let it build from there. And then and then we'll go from there. I'm about halfway through my second book. So then that's the one that I'm really excited about.
SPEAKER_01You mind give us any insight on what that's gonna be titled?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it's more. I mean, I've I'm I'm a spray foam guy and I think I'm pretty good at it. But if someone asks me who I am, I'm a building science guy. And so my the next book kind of leans on into my building science background a little bit more. It talks more, it's called the ventilation playbook for encapsulated addicts. So it it breaks down a few formulas. It shows people how to uh how to condition the space in the attic, you know, once it's spray foam, whether you're using a dehumidifier, supply air from an HVAC system, passive air grills, exhaust fans with humidostats. It breaks all those applications down and and and and explains how to do the formulas to understand the CFMs and the amount of volume needed. So the next one I think is going to be really good. It'll be far more interesting for people that are experienced in the industry.
SPEAKER_01Sure. Well, that's great. I mean, yeah, I mean, building science wasn't really a thing, you know, going back 40 years ago, let's just say, you know, we're we didn't have a whole lot of air conditioning. I mean, I grew up in a house without central air. We'd be lucky to have a little window unit, you know, in a bedroom. Houses just breathed like crazy, and you know, you heated them and cooled them like crazy, or maybe who heated. But there's a whole lot more to it today than it's like a car, really. I mean, cars were very simple back then too. But once you start throwing all these extra things at it, you gotta think about when you fix something, you're gonna have to, or when you when you when you make something better, you're gonna have to figure out how it's going to change the rest of it, you know, that's right and all that.
SPEAKER_00So well, everything's evolving in the world, and as times evolve, you either have to keep up or get left behind. So and and I think that that that statement rings true in a lot of aspects for the spray foam industry.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But you know, as part
The Next Book On Ventilation
SPEAKER_00of it in in the second book, I think spray foam business is hard. It's it's it's genuinely a hard business to be in. I'm I'm in the air conditioning industry and the spray foam industry, and it's as much as I hate to say it, it's a whole lot easier for me to make money in the air conditioning industry. I just have a passion for spray foam and couple them together.
SPEAKER_01Is it really? It's a lot easier to make money. Elaborate on that a little bit. You know just the phone rings a lot more?
SPEAKER_00No, it's just the margins are better. Uh the margins are slightly better. How do I say this? It's it's easier to have qualified people that know what they're doing in the HVAC industry than it is in the spray foam industry.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I'm fortunate I've got some good guys, but it's not like I can put out a job ad today and and and have a ton of applicants for guys that are actually qualified sprayers. In the HVAC industry, there's a lot of qualified guys out there. There's a huge pool to choose from. You know, it's just a matter of being able to entice the right people to come to work with you. And and fortunately, I've got some really good people. My two HVAC managers, I go way, way back. When I first started in the HVA, HVAC industry coming out of high school or out of college, one was a lead man and the other one was a supervisor at the company that I uh that I worked for for 10, 12 years. And and so now they both they both work with me, so it's come full circle. It's really, really neat experience to be able to reconnect with those guys.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. So, so and and yeah, like you said, I mean, if you're if you're trained professionally, let's say, trained, I don't know, through college, whatever, and you've got your all your certification, all your everything for HVAC, you know, yeah, you can kind of charge more. There's maybe less competition than something like spray foam, where yeah, I mean, we talked about it a lot last night. I didn't talk about it, I listened to it in my garage. But um there's a lot of people out there who
Why HVAC Feels Easier Than Foam
SPEAKER_01just get into it. And I'm one of those people, honestly. I'm totally one of those people. But I'm also one of the people that really took took it to heart and said, This is this is my industry, I want to learn everything about it, and and I did good work. Not to say there's any jobs out there that I probably shouldn't have done certain things or whatever. I think we can all say, Yeah, in the beginning, maybe we made some you know, bad choices. But I didn't I tried to to to uh to to not get uh in trouble as as much as possible, where some people just don't care. So yeah, I can I can see that. So going with your HVAC background, at what point did you decide I want to get into spray foam? And tell me about your thought process about that, because I mean it this kind of this must have kind of happened, you know, at some point in time where you decided I don't want to do just HBAC. I want to do spray foam as well.
SPEAKER_00I think it's a bit of a snowball effect and just trying to forge my own path. I don't know, years ago I I don't uh I've always had a will to be a little different, to get a little outside the box and think a little bit differently than everybody else. I've never wanted to be mainstream to just follow the same path that everybody else follows. The one thing that I can't stand about the HVAC industry is that I don't know, some years ago, over time, the HVAC industry is has turned from a service industry to a sales industry. So it's like every technician that's sent out to go to go to a service call, they're looking at what they can sell, not how they can just fix something. And I say that and and and I say that lightly. There's some good guys out there, but the vast majority of HVAC companies, especially the large ones, they're meant to, they're meant to sell. They sell, sell, sell. And I yeah, I I never wanted to go down that path. It's it's it's really hard for me to go to some 80-year-old lady's house that has an HVAC system that has a bad TXV and is still under warranty, and and I claim other issues and tell her she needs a new system and and sell her a new system, and that's basically where the HVAC industry is today. Um so you know, it's it's it's it's all about getting your foot in the door and seeing what you can sell. I wanted to go a different direction. I'm new construction only, so my my the extent of my service calls are just warranty. If we put something in and it fails or there's an issue, then we go back and fix it. But I'm not living in the rat race of running to homeowner to homeowner to homeowner. It's because it it it it's it's difficult to keep up with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I mean, like I said, some something must have clicked where you're just like, I want to get into spray foam.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, just growing up in the industry and and forging my own path, I just saw a disconnect between the HVAC and the spray foam industry. They're I've always said that they're inverse coefficients of each other, they're two sides of the same coin, yet they're always treated separately. So I just I just decided that I I wanted to bridge that gap and and treat them as one. And you know, it's just kind of what I just gradually started doing,
Bridging HVAC And Spray Foam
SPEAKER_00and and that's that's where I am today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So who'd you reach out to first? What's that? Who did you reach out to when you decided you were gonna look into the spray foam industry?
SPEAKER_00Well, I've got a lot of good contacts in the spray foam industry. When I initially got into the industry, I did a lot of work with the Pro Foam guys out of Georgia. Super generous people. In particular, there was one sales rep, Elliot Turpin, and he's just second to none. If anybody is looking to get into the industry, they should reach out to him. He's a fantastic guy and just a good person. So I worked a lot with Pro Foam, but you know, I don't I it's it's hard to say because I've met so many people so fast because I bought my first rig in 2020, so uh, you know, things for me have had has evolved very quickly. Now, I delved into the spray foam industry before that, but it was it was subcontracting and using subcontractors for different things. Buying your own rig and getting and and taking that step, that's kind of a beast of its own. Seems like in the spray foam industry there's more margin for well, how do I say there's less margin for error, there's more liability. It's really easy to lose money, if that makes sense versus the versus the HVHC industry, which sounds backwards, but it's really easy to get over spray on something or have something in your rig fail or somebody get hurt. It just it just seems like there's a there's a lot more opportunity for things to fail in the spray foam industry. So I say there's there's much less margin for error.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Yeah. No, I got in with uh spray foam, uh well, sorry, with Pro Foam as well. That's that's that was I contacted them and and they you know worked with me. So uh that was that was great because I needed somebody because I didn't really know a lot.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, it was it was like having a safety net working with those guys. You know, if if there was ever an issue, it was they were down me on the spot, and they were really good to me. They were generous people, and yeah, I don't have anything bad to say about those guys. Fantastic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, in fact, I noticed that you dedicated the book to Doug Comet to Doug, who I never had the pleasure to get to meet, but you know, he tragically died in a motorcycle accident.
Mentors And Publishing Fear
SPEAKER_01Was it earlier this year? Was it was it this year December? It was December, okay. Yeah, December.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, at his house in Puerto Rico. It's tragic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. What was your relationship with him, or did you have one?
SPEAKER_00Doug was a bit of a a mentor of mine. We had some brief business dealings, but we maintained a very good friendship. And Doug's one of those people that is just a huge, a big idea guy. So I I feed off of that because I'm a big idea person and and I I get outside the box and sometimes I have to rein myself in. So when it was when I got around Doug and got to hanging around him, he made me realize a lot that that you could just exist on your own terms and you didn't have to fall in place with other people. And that that's what Doug did. He just kind of forged his own path and left a huge wake everywhere he went. And you know, just just full of big ideas in life, and that's that's just the kind of person I've always wanted to be. So yeah, I was really fortunate for the amount of time that I did get to spend with him to be able to learn just life in general, marketing. You know, I learned all kinds of things from that guy. It's just a wealth of knowledge.
SPEAKER_01Good to have. So with your with your book, kind of curious. Like when I started this podcast, it was like I had you had these voices, right? You're like, sure, you you don't really have any business doing a spray foam podcast. Like you're you're not one of the guys who's been in the industry for a long time, you're not, you haven't done, you know, a little a lot. And it's like, hey, you know, whatever. I'm just gonna do it. And if people like it, great. And if people don't, then well, that's too bad for them, I guess. But but I did it anyway, and I would imagine those voices must have been inside your head. Am I right or not?
SPEAKER_00I I have been terrified to release it, if I'm being quite honest.
SPEAKER_01Good. I'm glad you're honest. Because we got something in common then, all right. So yeah, tell me about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it it released right before right before we went to Minnesota. And I'm like, well, fortunately, while I was in Minnesota, the whole thing, the whole, the whole thing that I was thinking the entire time was, well, at least nobody has had the opportunity to read it while I'm here. So I don't have to deal with any repercussions face to face. I can I can I can kick this can down the road. You know, I I I don't know. It was just it's a terrifying experience because you don't really know how you're gonna be accepted. And and I heard I've heard some negative things, I've heard some great things, which is to be expected, I suppose. And you know, when I was talking to Mike uh Spray Jones, you know, he he he Yeah, I really like I really like that guy. I'm gonna follow him much closer, but you know, he it was like he told me in it in dealing with his own experiences there's people that want to do things that just won't get out and do it. They're perfectly capable of doing it, they just won't make that decision and won't make that step and and take it and move forward. And those are the guys that'll be the naysayers because of something that they felt like they could have done but didn't do. Um so you're always gonna have those people to critique you. And I was just kind of terrified as to how many people that were gonna be. I was really dreading getting on spray foam worldwide and and every post be somebody finding a different line that they could pick apart about something that they interpreted differently, you know. So fortunately it's been good. Everybody just sent pictures of the cover and said they got the book.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think it's been really, really good overall for sure. And yeah, you know, if you don't do anything, if you don't go outside your comfort zone and do something huge, you know, uh if you don't have any haters, are you really doing anything at all? So I mean, I think it's awesome. I commend you.
SPEAKER_00Well well, you know, here's what's surprising to me is because there, admittingly so, are a ton of people in this industry that are far smarter than I am, that know a lot more about spray foam than I do. Yeah. It's wild to me that nobody has nobody has taken that step to actually create a book series. There might be a a couple of them, I think, I think Tom Harris has a book out there, and you know, it's very, very technical. But it just surprised me that you know, as long as the industry has been involved, and if you get online and you start searching Google, you start Googling books, there's there's nothing that really stands out that that can explain this the whole spray foam experience to you from just what spray foam is, how it works, and and just build up from there. So it really took me back that there's nothing there actually that I could reach out to find. So I just decided to create it and hopefully it would be accepted. And so far it is.
SPEAKER_01So far, I I'm I'm sure you've got your your haters, whatever, but don't don't pay attention to them because you know the the industry is one step better because of it, right? I mean, I feel like I said, I'm I decided to start talking to spray foam friends, and I'm hoping the industry is just a little bit better because of it. So it's awesome. It's awesome. I'm I'm really glad you decided to, you know, not worry about that vo those voices and just do it. And you saw it all the way through to the end to to where it's published and where it's printed, and and people are buying it. I mean, congratulations. And and thank you. Thank you for for doing that. There's a ton of people out there that will learn from it, just like just like Mike Dinah, also Spray Jones. If you don't know that name, if you don't know the Mike Dinah name, it's Spray Jones. You know, he started out, we were talking, we were sitting around a table and doing the podcast that didn't end up working. But you and me and Mike and Nick Bloomberg were all sitting around, and you know, he basically talked about how he started with one single YouTube video, and then he did more and more and more. And I personally know people that have kind of gotten into the industry by watching his videos and figuring it all out. So it's still in a it's still a very young industry, still a whole lot to it's still it's we've still got all I mean fiberglass, I don't think, in my opinion, isn't gonna be around forever. So the the the latest and greatest is is the product that we use, the product that we spray. Right. So we we are kind of the the foundation, if you want, for the people that are gonna be doing this in 20, 30 years and and more. So you gotta have a book and you gotta have all these different channels of ways that people that are getting into it can get knowledge. Even if you're just you you start working for a spray foam insulation company and you don't really know what to do, but you want to prepare for this new job you got, you know, you gotta go somewhere and you'll find you know these books and these videos and these these whatever. And that's better than nothing, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think I think any resource that we can get put out, regardless of the regardless of the vessel, is gonna be a bonus for the for the industry. I mean, you know, someone might read my book and there might be a few things that that they may disagree with. There may be a lot of it, most of it that they already know, but there might be that one nugget in there that just made it worthwhile. And I yeah, I think I think it's important to keep in certain those nuggets throughout the industry wherever we can.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Turning A Raffle Into Donations
SPEAKER_01So today is August 4. So primary election day for a lot of people. That's the re actual recording date today. But anyway, so that would make it about nine days ago, 10 days ago that we were out there in Minnesota. And you won a you won a set of foam from NCFI. Thank you, NCFI. Tell us about that whole story, because I wanna I don't want to tell it for you.
SPEAKER_00I did, yeah. So well, I didn't expect to win anything. Sure enough, I I I I won two raffles almost back to back, but one was a set of foam from NCFI. And of course, we've got the project coming up from for Change the World One Set of Foam at a time in Kentucky. And when I got up on stage to to give Wesley Wyker the award for badass prayer of the year, I was like, you know, here's a here's an opportunity that I can that I can compound the blessing. And and I knew I I knew exactly what was gonna happen. I'm not, you know, I'm not naive. I got up on stage and and I was like, hey, I've I've won this set of foam and I want to donate it to the Kentucky Fellowship Project. But in order for me to do that, I'm gonna need a manufacturer to match me. And and I knew exactly what was gonna happen. It's you know, our manufacturers in the industry are second to none, they're so generous. But looking straight ahead, I just immediately seen Kevin with uh with ambitious hand go up, several guys from Quadrant went up, uh UPC went up. So instantly we turned one set of free foam that was a blessing into multiple sets of free foam. I don't want to say free, you know. Yeah, I guess that's just that's the term I'll use. It's free. It's free for a for a good cause. So, you know, it was a set of foam that that I didn't arrive there with, and there was no reason for me to have to go home with it when I could turn it into something better for the industry. And then since then, you know, we've had so that was that was uh ambit quadrant. Ambit quadrant.
SPEAKER_01I think I think Rusty's I don't know if Rusty UPC can give away sets, but he did.
SPEAKER_00I think he's got a little pull. You know, I was well, yeah, I was in I was in intentionally not saying Rusty's name because I wasn't sure if holding to it, yeah. Well he but the thing is is is if UPC told Rusty no, Rusty would pay for it and just bring it himself.
SPEAKER_01He would, and I don't think UBC would back out at this point. They might take it out of his paycheck.
SPEAKER_00You know, Rusty's one of my favorite people in the industry. He you know, we I've gotten so close with Rusty, and and my wife absolutely loves him and his wife. Yeah, so I yeah, I I hate that he's all the way on the other side of the coast from me, but the truth is I think I think now I see him more than I see a lot of my own family. Really? Just from getting together at so many events, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, yeah. Rusty, Rusty's hand went up really quick, and and I was in in my mind, I'm thinking, well, I guess we'll see how this goes. But if you if UPC don't send it, Rusty will bring it. Yeah, but but since then, you know, I've had Central Eurythane reached out. Oh, wow. Who else? Central UF Central Eurythane. Accufoam reached out today. Of course, Accufoam stays involved, which all these guys stay involved with all of our projects. Everybody's reached out. It's been it's it's been fantastic. Cameron Ashley's getting involved. Uh, Huntsman reached out, they're getting involved. Of course, Patriot, uh, Mark stays involved. Mark Mark's one of those guys where he's always said, it doesn't matter what you're doing, just know that I'm I'm I'm I'm a part of it. So you know, I originally didn't put his name down on the sponsors and he commented on something. I was like, yeah, I'm sorry. I I know just to assume that Patriot's going to be involved in whatever we do. So many, I mean, there's so many good people in the industry, and I hate if I'm missing somebody because everybody stays so so involved in just trying to help others.
SPEAKER_01So let's go to the the whole one
Change The World One Set
SPEAKER_01set at a time. Save the world one set at a time. So you and Eric Gladson kind of kind of got this whole thing going. Tell us a little bit about this. Yeah, I know he had a he had one in Wisconsin for, I think it was a VFW hall, is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So actually, if you look in this in in the summer edition of Spray Foam magazine, they they just released the one that they just released this week. There's a whole article on kind of the origins. They already did an interview with me of just taking and and taking spray foam, change the world one set of foam at a time back to back to kind of where it began. And uh that was really cool. Spray foam magazine stays involved in everything that we do and and and tries to give us as much exposure as possible. So we we certainly certainly appreciate that. But yeah, they did a really, really good article, but you know, it kind of really all started when I don't know, oh not when I first got the industry, but the first thing that I got involved with with Spray Foam Worldwide Worldwide was Evans project up in Boston where they had the monster house, the removal.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that was when I kind of just met everybody. It just showed up up there, the blue, and it was such a great experience. It was so heartfelt. There's so much camaraderie, camaraderie that was built there. Like I left there just kind of yearning for more. I'm like, there's there's gotta be more to this. So I just kind of took it upon myself to to keep going, and Eric's been locked up, you know, every step of the way as well. So the two of us have just kind of snowballed this thing into something that's becoming much more than we anticipated.
SPEAKER_01But that's great. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say, but our next step is to get our 5013, and and we do want to move it into an actual nonprofit, and uh, and and you know, we have a vision for this thing that that we hope we can make come to fruition.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's great. So the one that's coming up here is October what?
SPEAKER_00October 9th, 10th, and 11th.
SPEAKER_01And then is it Friday, Saturday, Sunday? Or what is it?
SPEAKER_00Friday, Saturday, Saturday. Yeah, we try to do them on the weekend.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But just because we are busy, we're all contractors, we're all regular people. You know, we have families and customers, right? So it's it it it becomes a little bit of a strain on us, if I'm being honest, because we, you know, we're we're trying to get all these things coordinated, and then you know, we try to make sure that we can do it on the weekend and and not take away too much from from our business time.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, and you're running your own business also, so that's obviously that's a lot. Well, what part of Kentucky would you say this is? Columbia, Kentucky, which is like east-west.
SPEAKER_00You know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I think it's I'm just wondering about people who live on, you know, people who are gonna maybe make it depending on I think it's almost I think it's almost central Kentucky. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00All right, yeah. And and my wife and I were up there this past weekend, and of course we took our three uh three-week old with us and and and our three three-year-old with us, and we turned a seven-hour drive into an 11 and a half hour drive from stops.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's the way it worked.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00What I didn't realize was how beautiful Kentucky is, the part that we were in. I mean, it was just just just beautiful. I mean, most of the ride for us was mountains, and when you come out in the mountains, it's rolling hills and still feels like the mountains. It's just a beautiful place. Everything was clean and well kept and really excited to go back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if I have any sort of premonition or something like that, I I think you guys are gonna have plenty of help
Kentucky Project Plan And Foam Mix
SPEAKER_01this one. Which is too, but this one's gonna be maybe like more people than you need, maybe.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, we will, which is great because because these things are twofold, really. I mean, doing the work and getting the work done, that's just that's just a part of it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And and and it's not even the biggest part because the work's gonna get done. The biggest part really is the camaraderie that we build when we're there. Like my my best friends in the world are now guys that I travel around the U.S. with and try to do charity projects with. It's the same guys that there's a core group of people that are definitely gonna show up, and then there's some other guys that show up when they can, and which is certainly, certainly appreciated. And then we look forward to the guys that are that are starting to step in and start to tip in and see where this thing goes. But my best friends literally are the guys that I go meet at at these conferences or at these charity events and and hang out with. When I'm home, when I'm here in my element, it's work and family. There's no real there's there's no play and and as far as going and hanging out with people, I just don't really have time for it. So my you know, my best friends really are the guys that the guys that we show up with. So the more people that the the more people that can show up and experience that, the better. Because I mean it's just it's a fellowship that you can't really can't really put to put to words.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I'm gonna, I mean, you kind of gave me a informal invite online, and I I mean when you were when we were in in Minnesota, I guess like I'm gonna try to make this one. So get the Foam and Friends podcast out there too, just for the heck of it. And you know, be able to have those conversations that are kind of active in the moment when we're there, which I think would be really, really neat. That'd be a lot of fun. So I'm I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna do everything I can to make it. I don't I don't see any real big reason why I couldn't. So plan on me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's great. I think I'll be I'll be excited to look back and see the conversations so people can really translate what's going on while they're there in the moment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, it'll be it'll it'll be really interesting because some of the best conversations that we have do happen when when the works kind of settle down and the guys are circled up, guys, girls, who's ever, whoever's with us. And this one in particular, you know, I just look forward to sitting around a campfire and just just chopping it up and just talking life with everyone.
SPEAKER_01All right. So what this is a fellowship was like a church.
SPEAKER_00Yep. It's it's it's the the Borean Fellowship. It's it's JT Myers Community Church.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think I just saw that maybe today. It's it's JT Myers, it's his it's his church.
SPEAKER_00It's yeah, it's JT Myers Church. And so JT Meyer has is is the GC on this church. And and they're building this with all volunteer help from like the like everything is just being being built, constructed from from members of the church. And JT certainly didn't ask for any help. And initially, uh, you know, when when I first approached him about it, it was like, hey, you know, let's because he was gonna phone, but I was like, I at the very least, I I'm gonna bring my rig, and you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna help you phone this thing. And then it it just it just caught grip to turn into another project. And uh, you know, it's it's very well deserved because JT is one of those guys that shows up for the industry and and he just stays quiet and and and does what needs to be done. So I'm excited to be able to help give back to somebody that continues to give to the industry and and you know, and and and and he will continue to to give for years and years. And my wife and I got to go spend the weekend with him this weekend and hang out with him and his family, and that was that was a blessing. They're just they're just really good people. And I'm just excited to be able to help them and and spend some more time with them.
SPEAKER_01How much foam are we talking?
SPEAKER_00Eight sets.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. So we're we're we're about there with the with the door.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, we're there, we're there now with the foam. So yeah, this was gonna be really interesting because initially he was gonna do it all closed cell. But I you know, I I kind of chimed in, and I'm like the building science guy says, and me says that if you if you wrap this whole church in closed sale, we're gonna have a lot of reverbs. So we're gonna do some closed cell and some open cell just for some sound absorption purposes.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, well, there's a lot of sound going in churches, so uh definitely need to think about that acoustical value, all that. Yeah, yeah.
The Crash That Changed Everything
SPEAKER_01I heard a little bit of your your story on Spencer's podcast about like this this car accident you got in it. What was it? Oh goodness. Do I have do you want to talk about it again?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you don't have to go in length. It's just it's it's kind of inspiring, it's kind of interesting. Yeah, a lot of people that know you don't really know that that that that happened.
SPEAKER_00Most people don't know. Yeah, most people don't know that my left leg has a has a titanium bone in it. Oh, really? I don't know about that either. Yeah, so in 2020, 2020 was a rough year. 2020 was tough.
SPEAKER_01Even for people who aren't in car accidents.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So I fell asleep at the wheel, and I was going straight, and I continued to go straight when the when the road turned. So, you know, but the road moved and I didn't, and I ended up hitting a a concrete cult covered underneath one of the driveways, and and I flipped, it rolled the car, they said about eight times, and I was I was ejected through the windshield. I I went through the windshield and hit a tree. So yeah, you know, the good lord kept me around for for some reason because the surgeons didn't understand how I was still alive and spent spent about a week in ICU and did some surgery on me, and fortunately, fortunately I survived. But it was a very tough experience for me. It was a it was a huge spiritual awakening for me. I experienced some things that I couldn't understand. Don't know if I still understand it, but it was a it was a very spiritual experience, and it really changed my entire paradigm on on life. So I feel like at times that's gifted with a second chance. So my purpose here is to do as much as I can with it. And that's one of the main factors that continues to drive me is is is is that experience. It's something that uh I don't wish on anyone by any stretch of imagination, but I'm certainly not yeah, I'm certainly don't mind that it happened to me because it did it did put some things into perspective for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's pretty wild how some of the worst thing in the world that happened to you can can turn into a blessing. And you met your wife that way or or something like that.
SPEAKER_00Well, I had uh well, I just met my wife with who who is my wife now. I had just met her, and you know, I think a lot of times people bond through traumatic experiences. And you know, we she was riding with me, and it's of course she had her seatbelt on and she didn't she didn't get ejected, but she got out of the vehicle and I was unconscious. My my my tricep was hanging off my arm, so she was she grabbed me and she was holding my arm and holding my tricep back in place. And if anybody sees this big scar down my arm and down my backside, that's that's what that was. But it was a very traumatic experience. But afterwards, you know, I went into ICU, she didn't want to leave my side. I was bedridden when I came home, and you know like literally we had we had just met, I mean, with you know, weeks, so to speak, and she didn't want to leave my side and and I won't say weeks, it was a couple of months, but she stayed, she stayed there, helped me out, just pampered me. You know, a lot of people at that point in time, you'd someone you just met would have just been like, okay, I'm gonna wash my hands of this, maybe it'll circle back up. But she stayed, and and that carried a lot of marriage. And here we are today, married. As a matter of fact, we got married in Vegas. Uh the spray foam worldwide conference.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Oh man, yeah. Wow, hey, that's that's great. I mean, it's uh it's terrible that you went through the all that, but it's great you found love in a tragic situation like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And it makes for a good story.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it does make a good story.
SPEAKER_00You know, when we went to Vegas, she said we were on the way to Vegas, and she said, Don't even, don't even mention getting married, because I am not marrying you in Vegas. And I'm like, hey, of course, I wouldn't, I wouldn't expect that. And we got to Vegas and she started seeing all those chapels, and it didn't take it didn't take long. We had a spray foam wedding, but the chapel was full of people from spray foam worldwide. It was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I remember the pictures. So what she she softened her heart on getting married in Vegas once once all that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was a good experience. It was a really cool experience. I wouldn't change it. I didn't realize the the the marriage line in Vegas, the department that they have. It's like I call it the DMV of marriages. You go in there and pull your number and call your name, and it's it's just like going through the DMV, but you get a marriage license. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, her dad wasn't her dad's not upset, is he? No. Okay. That's good. Just wondering about how he was thinking about walking her down or whatnot. But no, it's great. You know, it sounds like you got some really, really great stories. That's what that's part of the reason I was like, you know, of all the people that I lost on this, you know, this podcast that we had in Minnesota, I'm like, you were one of the guys. I was like, I really, really gotta get him back though, because you know, I just know you have so much to tell, and and yeah with the book and everything, I mean that's it's great. Yeah, loving it. And then you had some sort of was it was it did you do like a save the world one set at a time for? Out by you with the hurricane? Or was that not really actual? I can't remember. Tell me about
Hurricane Relief And Hard Stories
SPEAKER_01that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I've done a couple of them out here. And yeah, the one, the it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be hard to top the emotion that we all felt when we were in Western North Carolina after the hurricane. Dealing with those families and the friends of people that had lost loved ones and listening to the stories and being there in that situation. I mean, everything just looked post-apocalyptic. It was a really wild situation. And you can't really express how little help that the people there were actually getting. As a matter of fact, Evan and Joey, they loaded this huge, huge trailer, flatbed trailer up with an enormous amount of food and products and drove all the way from New York and Boston all the way down to here to unload it here. And during that whole process, my warehouse and my and my and my shop kind of turned into a food bank for a few months. And you know, it was just it was just constant on the go to North Carolina, just trying to reach people. Then when we did the project there and everybody just converged on it, you know, we were able to sit with the family and and and sit on the porch with Ms. Parazziti and just listen to their family stories, and that was their family house. And it was a it was a it was an extremely emotional situation. And you know, we rode just up the just up the street, and we went up to the to a mountain where we had met a guy, and he was telling his stories, and we we passed a house on the way just up the street from where they were, and there was nothing there but a fireplace and a cross. So we were asking the guy up the street, well, you know, what had you know, what what was going on with that with the cross for and come to find out that that that little house was a guy named Lenny. It's something I'll never forget. A guy named Lenny, he was like the local local musician there. And the neighbor said that they saw when the when the water started coming up, the neighbor said he saw Linny come out on the front porch, and the neighbor went out of his house and went up the hill off the back porch, and he said he never saw Linny come out the back door. And next thing you knew, the whole house just washed down the river, and that was the last time they never found him. So you know, and and there were so many stories like that. It's just something that you know, it's an emotion that I don't something catastrophic would have to happen to recreate that. Uh and that's something that you know I definitely don't want to happen.
SPEAKER_01And it was it was uh what was it like a incredible amount of water being forced down a river? How did that whole yeah?
SPEAKER_00I mean, so through the mountains, you know, you everything's valleys and rivers. So water just rushes to specific places and and gushes down the river. And a lot of it flooded extremely, you know, extremely flooded, and you know, just in volumes that'd never been seen before. And it was uh it was wild to really see how much damage that the water did, just how powerful Mother Nature is, just full bridges, concrete and rebar, the whole bridge is just swiped and gone. It's just wild. It was very it i it was wild, and there's there's one picture and I think I posted online. I think it was put in Spray Phone magazine when they did an article on that one after it was done. But just a couple of guys standing on the end of the bridge just pointing and looking out, and and the bridge was chopped off. It's just super apocalyptic, almost like you know, almost something from a map on a video game or something. But it's just one of those things I'll never forget. And just really fortunate to have been able to have been a part of that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Wow. Must be uh yeah, very emotional. Yeah.
Final Invite And October Dates
SPEAKER_01Well, I've uh our time is getting getting close to done here because I gotta I got another one. Say, let me see if I can turn the camera here. Let's see if you can make out who this is over here. Can you see? He's gonna have to get his face a little closer. What's up, buddy? Put those headphones on and say hi to Todd. You have to get over here. Dan's up next.
SPEAKER_00What's up, Todd? What's up, big guy? You doing good. Good, good, good. So I'm glad I'm glad you just put Dan on the spot because he's kind of close to Kentucky, and I was really hoping he was gonna show up. I was just talking about Dan yesterday with someone. I'm like, I really hope Dan makes it this thing. So I'm gonna put you on the spot and ask you to come, Dan.
unknownYeah, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01For those of you listening, this is Dan Mother Shedd. Yeah, he's up next. Oh, wait, you and Eric. I'm ready. I think I should be there for sure.
SPEAKER_00Good. We we we'd love to have you. It's it's all it's it's a great experience when Dan came up to to Wisconsin and to watch him teach people and explain foam and just be in his element and just sharing knowledge is you know, it's it's a really, really cool experience to be able to see him interact with everyone. So I'd really really like to have him back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I think now he's even more uh excited about coming too. So it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Anyone out there again, October, what do you say, 9, 10, 11? 90th and 11th, that's right. 9, 10th and 11th. Okay, so yeah, we'll uh we'll we'll get a bunch of people out there. It should be a lot of a lot of a lot of good times and hard work and fellowship and all that stuff. So looking forward to it. Todd, hey man, thank you so much for for being on. I really do appreciate it. I really you're one of those people I I mean there's a lot of people that I want to get to know, but you're definitely high on the list. So good luck with the book. And if I don't, I'll I'll I'll see you in October, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, appreciate you having me having me. We'll see you soon. All right, man. Have a good one. Take care. Yeah, bye.