Speaker 1 (00:00):
<Silence>
Speaker 2 (00:09): Howdy to all the General Contractors Baton Rouge.
Welcome to the K-Cup, the official podcast of Kelly Construction Group. I’m Joe Nor Tripp, your host, and I’m here with John Kelly, the CEO, and founder of Kelly Construction Group. And this is episode one of the K-Cup. And we’re excited that you’re here with us. And today’s gonna be kind of an introduction to John and the company. He’s gonna tell us a little bit about his journey to here and kick this thing off. So, before we, we get onto the story a little bit just wanted to talk with you a little bit about the show. We know that we’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. We’ve talked about it and kicked it around. And so the days finally come ready or not. Here we are <laugh>, right? And hopefully we’ll, we’ll grow with the show and get better at what we’re doing here. But I wanted to talk to you a little bit about your vision for the show, just so that, you know, we can kind of lay the groundwork as to what can be expected. So what do you, how do you see this thing unfolding?
Speaker 3 (01:10): DId I give a shout out to General Contractors Baton Rouge?
No, I’m definitely glad to get the show going. I know I didn’t have any ligaments or tendons left. I mean, you were twisting this arm, so I had to go ahead and start it before you pulled it clean off there. Yeah. Yeah. I was, was twisting glad glad we we did finally get it going. And me too. You know, I guess I hope what we accomplish with this show is just you know, be able to bring some value to, you know, people that we may potentially work with. Yeah. Bring value to other entrepreneurs, other people starting businesses just maybe they can learn some stuff from, you know, some of the things that we’ve done. Absolutely. So we wanna talk about some of those experiences. Yeah. And just, just share what it’s been like for us, and hopefully we can share our journey and, and some people can take something away from it they can use. So that’s really what I, I hope to get from this show,
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Honestly. Awesome. I know that you had mentioned that eventually you’d like to actually have guests on. What, what, how do you see that happening?
Speaker 3 (02:05): Some of those guests will be General Contractors Baton Rouge.
Yeah, I mean, my idea for that is just to get some different perspective. I mean, we’re, we’re gonna talk about business from our perspective and the, the things and challenges that we’ve been up against. But I would like to bring some other people in that can share some of their experiences. And also, you know, maybe some people that we’ve worked with that can share what it’s like to work with us, and then maybe even some people that’s helped us along the way, shared a little wisdom or whatever it may be. Maybe bring some of those people on and have them share some of their, you know, some of their wisdom that we’ve been fortunate enough to get.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, that sounds great. I, I look forward to that aspect. It’ll be really neat if we’ll be able to actually, like you say, have guests and do some interviews and stuff like that. Get some outside insight into you know, what we’ve been able to do and relationships that we’ve already formed. And hopefully, you know, we’ll be ongoing. So look forward to that. And and I’m excited that we’re getting this opportunity again. Like I said, this is great. I have been after you for a long time to do this. I feel like it’s the future, you know, video is the future, and I feel like people want to be able to connect with their brands that they support, you know, and I, and I know that you have a lot of supporters in the community. A lot of people like what you’ve been doing with the company and they like our culture and all that.
Speaker 2 (03:20): This pertains to General Contractors Baton Rouge.
So I think it’s just a natural extension of that to, you know, be able to, you know, be seen on video talking about that and sharing that with others. And, ’cause that’s how some people get their news and their media is just strictly through video. So it’s neat that we can add that feature and, and you know, add that those people to our audience and, and our, our family of sorts, you know, so. Pretty cool. All right. So you’re in the hot seat today, so we’re gonna get right into it. The very first question I want to ask you is about your, you know, what inspired you, what inspired you to start your company and what keeps that, you know, that fire lit through all the ups and downs that come with being a business owner?
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Well, you know, I, I think from early on I always wanted to have a company. I don’t really know where that came from. I just kind of, in my mind, wanted to have a company, I think. But what I was able to do is right outta college, I went to work for a company a couple hours away. Went to work for those guys and ended up being a really good company and some really good people. And while I was there, you know, knowing that I wanted to have a business and seeing how these guys operated really kind of, really kind of brought in into focus even more of, of why I wanted to have a company. Hmm. And you know, that guy when I was, when getting ready to move there, just outta college, you know, didn’t have a lot of money and having to relocate would with no questions asked, he pretty much suggested that, you know, they take care of all the moving expense, get me set up a place to live and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (04:54): An once again I want to share this with General Contractors Baton Rouge.
So that was a really good gesture in my eyes. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. And I’ve seen him do that kind of stuff quite a few times for his longtime employees, you know, help him in a lot of different ways. Mm. And, and actually after, after I was there for, you know, probably a year and a half or two years, something else kind of popped up that he was able to really kind of help me out in a big way. Nice. And, and really with no questions asked. Wow. so I was just able to see him do some really cool stuff for some employees and just other people. And I thought it would be nice to be able to do that. Yeah. And to me, having a company and, you know, being able to make your own money if you will, would, would kind of really give me that opportunity. So if you are among the General Contractors Baton Rouge I hope this helps you.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah. so the first opportunity that I got to start a company, I jumped on it. My wife and I were relocating back here to Baton Rouge. This is where, you know, we were from, and yeah. Just wanted to get back to the area. Sure. she had a, a pretty decent job lined up, no kids or anything like that yet, so it just felt like the right time to kind of step out on a limb. Yeah. And and we did it. It’s been a great experience. You know, fortunately I have been able to, to do a little bit of that. I have been able to help, I have been able to give back. And, and I’ve really enjoyed doing that in a big way. And, and honestly, I hope to be able to continue to do that a lot more and a lot more often as our company continues to grow.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
So that’s really the reasoning behind having a company. And to answer your question as far as why do I want to see it to continue to grow, yeah. That, that answers the question. I just, I want to continue. I obviously, I wanna provide for my family in a way that’s, that’s fitting and, and, you know, to somebody that works hard, but but also wanna be able to give back and, and see other families and, and other people grow. And, and that’s what I hope for our team. So yeah. That’s really why I do what, what I do.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
That’s awesome. I mean, that’s a great why and, and you know, speaking for the team I can tell you that we all appreciate that attitude and, and, and it comes across in the day to day and you know, it sets the tone for the culture and it’s, it’s just nice and it’s also inspirational. It makes other people want to, you also just like your former boss inspired you, you’re inspiring others to want to also be able to, you know, hopefully carry that flame down the road, you know? Right. And hopefully we have some young men working for us. Hopefully you’re inspiring them as well to be like that and be able to not just have enough for yourself, but to even be able to help others a little bit and you know, and, you know, be inspirational in that regard that you’re, you’re helping others.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So that’s awesome, man. That’s a, that’s a great reason why. And inspiration is, was definitely solid. So we appreciate that. So, all right, let’s get on to, I know that you’re big on mission, you know, and I know that you have a mission statement, that’s how important it’s to you. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe you could just explain, you know, just what you know, I guess the basis of your mission really, is that you’ve defined and, and how that affects your team and, and you know, the client that you’re wanting to serve.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah. So our mission here is to create exceptional service while also creating an atmosphere that our employees can, you know, thrive in personally and and professionally. And that is something that we, we talk about week in and week out. We repeat our mission statement over in, in most all of our meetings, just because that’s the way that we wanna be operating. We, we want our clients to literally get the best experience that they’ve ever gotten. When it comes to business, I know, you know, simple example, you go to a restaurant or whatever and you have a good waiter or a good waitress, they do a great job. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. It sticks out. You wanna take care of ’em. You want to tell ’em, Hey man, you’re doing awesome. Like, keep it up. Yeah. And, and, you know, that’s the experience that we want our customers to get when we do business.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
We want ’em to come back. We want ’em to think it was the best thing ever. And, and we get that a lot. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. So to me that means, you know, we’re hitting our mission, we’re doing what we’re trying to do. And, and we do reiterate it week in and week out. And also from our, you know, from our employee standpoint, we want you guys to grow. We want you to grow professionally, we want you to grow personally, financially and that’s things that we talk about week in and week out. And I think that we move the needle in all of those categories. I feel like when we do talk about it, you know, everybody here, Shane, shares the same sentiment that, that we do do that mm-hmm <affirmative>. So that’s our mission. And, and we try to stick to it. We try to operate in it day in and day out.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s great. And like on the employee side, like I noticed that your, you know, your style of management is, you’re not a micromanager. You have very high standards, but at the same time, you let people have the opportunity to find their feet, so to speak, and figure out, you know, how they can execute their job. As long as they’re executing it within that framework, you know, that’s required to, to produce a good result, you’re very flexible otherwise, which is really great. ’cause It just removes all the pressure off somebody and really lets them think and get involved in their processes instead of worrying about somebody hovering over their backside, you know, wondering when they’re gonna get this done. And it shows in the, in the way things are done. And, and when something needs to be done that’s a little above and beyond, or takes a little extra effort, you never hear them hesitate to do that because they’re happy to do it, because you know of, of, of that opportunity to be able to have the opportunity to work things out and find their their way.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
So that’s great. So, and as far as on the client side, I’ve witnessed that with the clients. I know that you know, you’re big on communication and that has carried on through the organization. We’re all, I think we’re all you know, good at communicating. You know, we’re, we, you know, we text, we call, we follow up with emails. I mean, we’re, we’re just go, you know, whatever’s needed to get the information out. We’re, we’re good at doing that. And I think that’s due to the example that you set and, you know, knowing what the mission is, that the client has a good experience. We know the quickest way to, you know, to turn a good client into a bad one is just not communicate. Yeah. And so we try to, you know, that’s a no-brainer almost, you know, to, to have a good experience, just communicate, you know, don’t leave ’em hanging.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So you know, great example on that too. So we appreciate that about your mission, about caring about the client and caring about your people, and I think that, you know, pays dividends tenfold coming back to the company. So the last one is a big one. I know that this is something that you know, as being part of your team, I’ve learned that you really care a lot about culture and have worked really hard to develop a certain kind of culture. So could you share with us your philosophy about culture? You know, the role that you think it plays in a business and how you, what you’ve done to shape that culture here to the, to the way that you have it that’s, that’s working so well.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yeah. So I think that, you know, culture ultimately is how we do work, and it’s how we reach the goals that, you know, we’re trying to reach. But you know, when I think about culture, it’s, it’s the atmosphere that we have to come work in every day. It’s what we have to come be a part of. Yeah. And and you want that to be pleasant. Yeah. you know, I know I can think of other jobs and other things, other areas I’ve worked in that, that the atmosphere wasn’t so pleasant. Yeah. And it wasn’t real, it wasn’t a real good experience. Yeah. So if I’m wanting my clients to have a great experience, but I’m not having a good experience that don’t translate that don’t, that’s not how it works.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Great point. <Laugh>.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
So I think that if, if we come here and we create an atmosphere that we enjoy, then that in turn, you know, sh goes over to our client and they’re able to enjoy the process with us. Absolutely. you know, I think, you know, where we work out, the office, the setting, I think that’s some part of it. But I think the biggest part of culture is just people. Yeah. And, and getting the people nailed down and getting the people right. Yeah. So we spent a great amount of time during our hiring process before we just bring anybody onto the teams to make sure that they do fit our culture and to make sure that they are gonna be somebody that we can just bring right in and, and just be a good fit right off the bat. Yeah. you know, there’s a three or four part process to our hiring that that really, really lends itself to finding the right person.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah. it can be a little bit of a long process, but it’s also seemed to be a valuable process because Yeah. You know, we have a pretty high retention rate. There’s only one or two employees that have ever kind of come on board and end up end up going somewhere else. Yeah. so I think that we do a really good job finding the right people mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, and I think that makes building the culture easy. We, we don’t usually have a lot of kickback to the things that we’re trying to do or things that we’re trying to implement. Yeah. and we have a lot of team players. So that’s, that’s really the main focus for me to get the culture right, is, is getting the right people. I think the rest of the stuff you can just take care of, you almost wanna say with money, but really just, just kind of set in the mood with, with the office and the different things that, that, you know, you have to be in every day.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
The people’s the part that’s kind of outta control, so you gotta make sure you pick that person right the first time. Yeah. And we’ve been able to do that. We have a great team. We have a great culture. We, we hear that all the time. I constantly get texts about superintendents and PMs about how, you know, Hey, your guys are great. Yeah. The best, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. So we see that all the time and something that I’m proud of you know, like you said, I feel like I do have some small part in getting that team right. <Laugh>. But
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I’d say a large part
Speaker 3 (15:01):
<Laugh>. But, but everybody also has to, to buy into our mission and buy into a lot of the things that we’re talking about today for that culture to work. And, and fortunately we’ve, we’ve been able to do that. I feel like we have a great culture here. Everybody likes to come to work, everybody likes to get the job done. Yeah. So I think that’s why culture is important.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah. Well that’s, you know, you hit all the, all the high points as to why anyone would think culture is important, and you definitely you definitely feel it around here. You definitely see the, the the benefits of you. Like you said, it’s, it’s kind of a lengthy process, the way you bring people on. You interview differently than any anybody I’ve ever seen interview before with the group interview scenario, which I think is pretty, pretty innovative and pretty cool. And and it definitely it definitely does speak to, you know, the people that, I guess, I don’t know how you would say it. You said something before, like, the cream rises to the top or something, but Yeah. Yeah. They, in that interview situation, it’s like they kind of stick out to you pretty quick who’s gonna be able to mesh into the team. Right. And and you see it here because literally everybody just is happy to work together. Yeah. Like, I mean, I, I’ve worked in places where you just dreaded going in the door, you know, and I’ve never felt like that once here. Never once in Right. Over five years.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Two, the other key part too is, is when there is a little riff or there is some kinda little issue, and we’re not perfect here. We, we, we run into little stuff. Oh yeah. It’s just, we get together and we hash it out. We get in the conference room and we talk about what, what’s there and Yeah. You know, it’s a sign of a great team when you can come in there and say, Hey man, I don’t really like the way you’re doing this. Yeah. And you don’t have anybody stomping outta the room slamming doors. That’s right. We’re, we’re all open to, to that criticism and, and we make sure we get it right. Yeah. so yeah, it’s, it’s a big part of, of who we are and, and culture’s huge here, so,
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Yeah. That’s great, man. So this has been great. It’s good to get a little introduction into the, the company and know a little bit about you as a person, as a business owner, what drives you and what keeps you going <laugh>. I think the vision thing was really cool. I mean, it’s it’s nice that the vision isn’t, is isn’t just self-serving. It’s really more I guess you’d call it family and community driven than anything really. Yeah. Which is kind of cool. And very inspirational. So anyways, we hope that you enjoyed this little introduction to, to getting to know John A. Little bit and getting to understand what has brought the Kelly Construction Group about and and how it’s come to be. We look forward to having a lot more episodes with you all and being able to share valuable business insights.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
John has 17 years in the business as a general contractor. Anybody that knows the business knows that it’s not what you’d call a cakewalk. It is a challenging business, very doable, but takes a lot of focus, a lot of dedication. And after 17 years in the industry, there’s a lot there that anyone could benefit from that runs their own company or is thinking about starting their own company. So we hope that you continue to join us. We’re excited to be here. And we’re just gonna keep doing this now every week we’re gonna bring you an episode and hopefully bring some sort of nugget of, of value that you can use in your day-to-day life. So thanks for joining us here. Catch us again at the K-Cup. You can catch us on YouTube at the K-Cup, and you can follow us on LinkedIn. Our page is the Kelly Construction Group, and if you have any questions, feel free to leave questions in the comment sections. We’re definitely gonna look at those. And if you have questions about the company or, or something that came up in the show, we’ll be definitely looking at your comments there so that we can get back to you with an answer for your questions. So enjoyed it and thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Cut.